love. dreams. and weight loss. {an update}

wow - it's been almost 3 months since I last posted.

here's a quick recap:

May 23: Chris and I had our 3rd anniversary. it was a monday and we were leaving the next day for my brother's wedding, so we didn't really celebrate on the actual date. But we went to Kansas City for the weekend after the wedding to celebrate. i can't believe it's been three years. the last three years. it's been a crazy 3 years. we've gone through so much: good, bad, ugly, and everything in between. I'm so blessed to have Chris as my best friend and husband. I LOVE YOU!!!

May 27: Shay and Haley got married! it was a blast! if you don't know this about me, here's a free random trivia about Lauren: I LOVE WEDDINGS! i love everything about weddings: the flowers, the dress, the cake, the invitations, the people, the dancing, the love, and especially the photography! it just can't get enough of it. and for it to be my brother and new sister's wedding was just the icing on the cake (pun absolutely intended). :D

May 28-30: Chris and I celebrated our anniversary in Kansas City. Sorry - didn't take any pics, but we had fun walking around The Plaza (an outdoor mallish place). We went to dinner at Brazilian restaurant (all you can eat meat - yummo!), got gelato, listened to music, and enjoyed every minute.

June 11: we helped move Shaley into their apartment in Marion.

Our close friends, the Schwarze's, moved to Australia to be missionaries for two years. we've spent lots of time with Shaley. we went on a little trip (more on that in the future). ace is still a big ball of energy. and we have been anticipating what God has in store for us.

The Lord gave me the word, dream, for this year. The word dream has never really appeared to me. Maybe it's because when I was in junior high, "dream" was written on a ton of pink and blue girly things surrounded by clouds. (if you were a junior high girl around 2000, and you shopped at the store, Claire's, you know what I'm talking about).

change is coming for the Snider's (no, i'm not pregnant), but nothing is set in stone. as things pan out, I will keep you all posted. please be in prayer for us as we prepare and seek what God's will for us is.

if you read my last post i mentioned starting a new blog. it's in the works, and have no idea when it will be up.

now for a weight loss update:

minimal progress at best.

unfortunately, i seem to have lost the initial motivation with which i began this whole journey. it's frustrating, especially knowing that i could have lost a lot more weight since i started this process.

i'm trying to figure some things out - like what i need to change in order to continue losing weight. the good news is that i have been maintaining, i just haven't been losing. i think it's partly that i feel i need a weight loss buddy (someone else trying to lose weight and work out with), but i don't really have someone here for that. chris is very supportive, but he gets quite the workout at Starbucks and usually isn't up to working out with me. also - i think i just need a fire lit under my butt. not sure what that looks like exactly, but i need it. i have so many goals and dreams - so you would think that that would be all the motivation that i need. obviously not. so i need to figure out what it is that will trigger the switch in me to jumpstart my weight loss again.

i realized last night that i have so many dreams and goals i want to pursue, but so much of my mental, physical, and emotional energy is spent on this weight loss journey. i need to reach my weight loss goals so that i can focus on pursuing my other dreams. the sooner i reach my weight loss goals, the sooner i can start pursuing my other dreams with all my energy.

so...i think i'm going to apply/audition to the biggest loser. i'm waiting until they post the website for the application. your support on FB and Twitter would be awesome! i feel like getting on BL13 is a bit of a long shot, but you never know.

so there is my update on our lives right now. as i said before - changes are coming, and i'm excited for the future. i will keep updating as things progress!

thanks for stopping by!

~L

coming soon...

...a new blog!

i'm excited to announce that i have a new blog coming soon.

it's called, "More than a Scale," and it is specifically to document my weight loss journey, share recipes and workout tips, and inspirational stories and to hopefully give motivation and inspiration to others trying to lose weight and get healthy.

so stay tuned for the launch of this new blog!

love,

lauren

another milestone

today, i crossed over to another "decade" in my weight. this is huge. since i don't remember the last time i was in my last decade, i really don't remember the last time i was at this weight. i'm still in the upper numbers of this "decade," but it's progress. it keeps me motivated to keep moving those numbers down!

my goal is still 30 pounds by May 27th (my brother's wedding). at this point i've lost 8 pounds toward this goal, so i have about 2 months to lose 22 pounds. a big goal, but i'm going to do my best!

this new goal has been slow going. it's been hard to get motivated again. but i'm doing it. i think before Paige's wedding, i had my numbers off a bit. so if i've figured it out right this time, i've lost a total of 29 pounds in 5 and 1/2 months. thinking about it, it doesn't seem like much in that amount of time. but i don't want to lessen what i have accomplished, (and i can't compare myself to those on the Biggest Loser - ha). i've made a lot of changes, and i'm still developing those habits. and i've lost almost 30 pounds!!!

thank you for all your love and support. i really appreciate it!

love,

~lauren

cake pops [part 2]

since the practice batch was such a hit, i decided to make these cake pops for Haley's shower.

this time, i took some pictures along the way, so you could see "the process."

i didn't get any pictures of baking the cake or rolling the balls (that's pretty self-explanatory).

after rolling the balls, put the sticks in and then refrigerate for a few hours (i refrigerated overnight).

i had the cake balls sitting out while i was coating them in chocolate, but they started to warm up again and fall off of the sticks. so, i put them in the freezer and would take a few out as i needed them.

the mess i was making.

it may be hard to tell in the above picture, but i put water in the pot, then put a glass measuring cup into the pot. i melted the chocolate in the glass measuring pot because it was a smaller area, (smaller than my small pot), and made dunking the pops easier. (this idea was curtesy of my very creative husband).

if you have one of those double pots where the water sits in the bottom and heats the top pot, i would recommend using that. i don't have one, so using the measuring cup was a great alternative.

i used double stacked Styrofoam cups to put the cake pops to dry. i would recommend a Styrofoam block (you can get these at Michaels or other craft stores), but i was too cheap to buy one. these worked pretty well, but sometimes the pops made it too top heavy and they fell over. ha. other than that, they worked well.

and here they are...

at the shower, i tried to come up with a creative way to display them. it didn't quite come out the way i had envisioned, but it worked out ok.

i used Starbucks plastic cups for the stands. chris pokes holes in them, then i covered them with gold tissue paper, and stuck the cake pops in the holes.

this was a bit time consuming, so i ended up flipping some of the cups over and just placing the pops in the cups like a cake pop bouquet.

i also stood some on a plate just for a different look.

i was pleased with them, and they tasted delicious. i totally recommend these for a party! enjoy!

~lauren

Haley's shower

last weekend, Haley's bridesmaids from IWU and I threw her an intimate bridal shower, so that she could celebrate with her school friends that likely won't make it to the wedding.

we had a blast and lots of laughs.

here are some pictures from the day.

some delicious food...

we had a potluck desert table (actually 2 tables).

lots of people brought snacks and deserts - we

had way too much food, but it was all delicious!

one of Haley's bridesmaids, Anne, made this

framed picture - so creative and gorgeous.

this was Anne's flower arrangement, too.

i made this 'B' our of tissue paper flowers.

i got the idea and the DIY tutorial from

hostess with the mostess. go here to find out

how to make the little flowers.

cake pops! check out my last post where i shared

how to make these delicious pops of yumminess.

then check out my next post for some more yummy

pop pics.

we played a game where Haley had to answer

questions about Shay. if she got a question

wrong, she had to hold a marshmallow in her

mouth. it was hilarious (maybe not for Haley,

but it was for the rest of us).

another game.

lots of laughs!

group picture.

and of course, the silly pose.

me and my (almost) sister.

me, Haley, and sam. (sam was a bridesmaid in

my wedding).

Haley and her Indiana bridesmaids.

thanks, Haley, for letting us shower you. i'm so excited and blessed that you will be my sister. i can't wait until May 27th, when you get to marry my brother! love you, Hales.

~Lauren

cake balls

if you've read my last couple of blog posts, you may be wondering why i am making/blogging about these cake balls.

well, would you look at them?

they are delicious.

in my defense - i'm actually making them for my future sister-in-law's shower. i did a test run yesterday to see how they would turn out - and i'm planning to take some to church and some to work so that i will not eat them all!!!

i got this idea from bakerella. you can get the recipe here - such cute and creative ideas.

side note - check out hostess with the mostess website for some great party ideas. or you can check out hostess with the mostess blog to see specific party themes/decor. a lot of it is way over the top, but you can get some great ideas.

anyway - i'm planning to make the cake pops - same as the cake balls but with a lollipop stick in them - for the shower. i didn't have the sticks last night so i just made the balls.

picture from bakerella.com

i'm not the most creative person in the world especially when it comes to things like crafts and baking - so i had no idea how these were going to turn out, but they actually turned out pretty good. i need to do a little tweaking and work on the icing decorating, but they tasted great. so i may not be Betty Crocker, but i felt very creative making these little guys.

i made these with funfettie cake and vanilla frosting - then coated them in vanilla and chocolate almond bark. also, i made the cake with egg whites instead of whole eggs. not sure how much healthier that made them, but i tried.

you can use whatever flavors of cake, icing, and coating you want. if you check out bakerella.com you will see that you can get pretty crazy with these - using different colors of chocolate coating, sprinkles, candy, cake shapes - the list goes on.

they are a bit time consuming, so if you don't want to make them - Starbucks is now carrying them.

so here they are - the oh-so-delicious-sugar-filled-can't-eat-them-very-often-but-will-be-a-big hit-at-a-party-CAKE BALLS!

love,

lauren

(the not-so-aspiring baker)

skinny jeans

so yesterday, i went shopping.

i haven't been shopping for a very long time for multiple reasons:

no money

i didn't need new clothes

i was afraid to spend money on new clothes if i was just going to lose more weight and have to buy even more clothes.

but when my husband called my other jeans "frumpy" (in a loving way, of course) that was my cue to go buy some new jeans. and let me tell you - it was very exciting to fit into a smaller size and they are "skinny" jeans, at that.

ok - i've gotten a bit ahead of myself - let me go back a bit.

ever since i came back from vacation in CA, i haven't been very diligent in my weight loss. i would exercise some, try to eat healthy - then i would go a few days without a good workout or have some junk food. but i wasn't losing - i was just maintaining my weight. on the bright side, i wasn't gaining it back, however, i wasn't working to reach my next goal.

so i read some old journal entries from when i first started losing weight. reading these reminded me how i felt when i first started. it reminded me how lost and frustrated and overwhelmed i was feeling. it reminded me that i don't want to go back to that place.

it also reminded me of Psalm 86 - i found this chapter in the beginning of my journey and it had become my prayer through this time. i had forgotten all about it, but it reminded me that i needed to place God first in my life - above all else - food, exercise, work, and even my husband. it helped me to refocus on losing weight.

now, i'm not saying that since reading those entries i've been perfect and lost a ton of weight. i have started losing again, but i have also still had chocolate and sweets and some not so healthy meals. but i'm refocusing.

i'm beginning to find a balance. however, in order to lose weight, it's not going to be completely balanced - i need to burn more calories than i'm consuming (thank you Jillian Michaels) - but if i deny myself all forms of sugar, i will eventually crave it so much that i will eat a ton of sugar and then feel like crap - emotionally and physically.

i haven't quite figured this balance out, but i do think i'm close to figuring out a lifestyle that i can live with.

the other day i realized that i have been on this journey for about 5 months. there have been ups and downs, but i have been pretty consistent for 5 MONTHS! that's huge for me. my whole life i've felt that i needed a quick fix - and even though i knew in my head that there wasn't one - i kept searching for one because i didn't want to put in the work to make it happen.

in the past 5 months, i've developed habits to create a lifestyle that is healthy-er than when i started. it's not perfect - it might not be up to Bob and Jillian or my doctor's standards, but it's working. i've become ok with the process - with the fact that it's not an overnight thing - with the idea that it could take me over a year or more to lose all the weight i need to. a year can seem overwhelming - and for a crash diet, a year is an eternity. but a year is not very long when it means i'm starting habits to create a lifestyle i can live with forever. it's a daily thing. choosing TODAY to make healthy choices.

as i said earlier - i don't have this all figured out, but i am learning. i'm growing. i'm changing. sometimes i fail and it can be debilitating. the guilt can be consuming. but i'm trying to learn that one missed workout or one night of splurging on cupcakes is not the end of the world. my God is bigger than me - pun intended. my God is bigger than my weight loss journey. my God can use my weight loss to develop characteristics in me that i may not have learned or developed otherwise. my faith is growing through this process - and it is a process. slowly but surely, i'm losing weight.

i'm getting healthy.

and i'm buying skinny jeans. :D

with love,

Lauren