Hellloooooo....

I had thought about trying to make this one of those ‘if you and I were having coffee together I’d tell you…’ posts but really this is just a brain dump of me trying to play catch-up. It has been over a MONTH! Can you believe it? I mean, I knew I would be taking a hiatus but man- that was a long one.

Well, first and foremost. I should introduce myself. Hi, I’m Dacia Larin…that’s right. I got hitched! On 10/17 Erick and I made it official. There are not enough stories, pictures, videos, etc. from that day to adequately paint the picture of how amazing it was. The whole weekend was perfect- start to finish. I haven’t gotten my official wedding photos yet but I have a collection of about 300 compiled from ones I took myself plus those from people that attended out on FB, I have a few on IG, and I have this super amazing slideshow that Dre, our friend and photographer, put together. In case you want to see inside our wedding day.

Wedding Slideshow

Password: larootwedding

Some of my favorites from the wedding

I do hope that one day I can sit down and tell you all about the wedding weekend. Although it would probably need to be like a 4 part post. If you are interested at all in me doing that please let me know.

Since I have been away I finished up one of the two courses I was taking this semester. I actually took my final from my hotel room in Austin. That’s right- I haven’t posted since before ACL.  So much I am behind on. And wrapped up my final project the week before my wedding. Needless to say taking an 8 week accelerated course while planning and finalizing a wedding was not a great idea for my mental well-being. But I survived. And I got an A!

A crazy thing happened while I was in Austin…I cut my foot open on a rusty nut on a bolt sticking out of the sidewalk. There must have been a sign bolted down at some point and then removed and the bolts were left behind. Who knows, it was totally random. This required a trip to urgent care, a tetanus shot and a 10 day supply of antibiotics. That was so not awesome. It happened Sunday morning on the way to breakfast so Sunday at ACL was interesting. Definitely not how I wanted to end the most amazing ACL trip ever. All in all it was still an amazing time and I managed to make through almost all of Sunday’s shows- I just had to deal with the pain, the shoe issues and the gross antibiotics feelings for a while afterwards.

Sad to say it but I think next year will be Lollapalooza for us since it coincides with Fitbloggin' in Indy...ACL 2017 for sure! 

What else, what else…

Oh, weight loss.

Hmmmm….

Well, I am back at it again. Tracking, meal planning- the whole shebang. I gained a lot after/from ACL (I blame some of it on beers and burritos every day but I also blame those damn antibiotics) and then with the wedding life was just a bit too crazy for me to care. When I wasn’t traveling or wedding’ing I made the best choices I could- I cooked meals at home, I got in exercise when I could, I tracked, but during those other times- not a fuck was given. #truth Weight Watchers was the last thing on my mind.

I have gone back in and updated my weight loss tracking page for the last 4 weigh-ins I didn’t write about and I also updated my goals. A lot has changed in a month….more so than just my name.

So here I am. About a week back into my normal-ish routine and I am still working on it. The meal planning/prepping is almost always like second nature and I am pretty good at bouncing back into 80/20 but the activity is where I am losing focus. I just don’t know what I want to do right now. Yoga? Cize? I want to ride my bike all the time but I am limited there although I am planning on bringing one of my bikes to work so I can ride around during the day. I don’t feel like running – boring- and I don’t feel like even going to the gym. I just want to cuddle with my HUSBAND and our puppy and do that all the time. Why isn’t that enough? I am also cursing daylight standard (that's what this is right?) time for coming this weekend to steal my after work sunshine. Ugh! I hate this time of year.

Anywho that is where I am right now. Still working, still taking classes, still working on my weight loss mojo just now I am doing so as a married woman. Which really doesn’t change much of anything, I just like to talk about being married.

I will be back soon to check in after this weekend’s weigh-in and will hopefully have some fun Halloween pics to share with you and maybe even some ideas about how to get my fitness groove back. If you know how, please do tell ;)

Love and hugs,

Dacia

xoxoxoxox

Catching Up and Checking In...

It has been a crazy, whirlwind these last two weeks.  We drove from our home in Pensacola all the way to Austin (and then down to San Antonio) to spend time with friends and catch two days of Austin City Limits music festival. It was so much fun. So, so, so much fun! All of the bands we saw totally rocked, the weather was perfect, and I got to spend time with some of my favorite people. Oh, and we got to stop at a new brewery on our way home from Texas- Bayou Teche in Louisiana. It was awesome. Their facility/tap room just opened this past summer so it was really nice to find them, try out some of their incredible beers (ALL of them were great) and meet some of the owners, employees and locals. I randomly ended up trading my old iPhone case for a DVD of documentary made by this local woman I met there. I just love how the most random things happen when we travel.

Unfortunately, as we were headed out from Baton Rouge to Austin we received some heartbreaking news- the puppy we were planning to pick up the weekend of the 18^th (yes, this upcoming weekend) was very ill and the owner contacted me because she was going to have to put him down. Long story short, Charlie (now known as Darwin) has a neurological disorder which is affecting his ability/desire to eat. Thankfully, though Darwin was taken in by the vet and he is still hanging in there, being handfed, and we are all praying that he can recover, although it is unlikely. Right now, that is a decision for the vet to make as they have taken over care and ownership of little Darwin.

That was some really tough news to hear, especially when I thought little Charlie/Darwin was going to be put down. I am still really sad about losing our puppy but knowing he is under the best care and still fighting the good fight helps get me through the day. It was a rough day. I know that there is a dog in our future, now was just clearly not the time.

Wow…that was hard to write. I am still a mess over this whole thing. Especially after losing my Maggie and Ruby earlier this year (who are happy with their current/new family- I still check in on them) and dealing with the guilt that I couldn’t do more to keep them. It certainly hasn’t been easy but I hope in time it will get easier…

Ok, so that was our Texas trip…the good and the bad. I am always thankful that there are so many amazing people in my life to help me through the bad. When I talked about Charlie on FB (because honestly I did not want to recount that story again and again to my friends and family) I received an outpouring of kind words and support and it has made this whole thing somewhat bearable.

Once I was back from Texas I had a really short two days back at home until I took off for NYC. I can’t tell you why I went to New York but if you think about it long and hard, and you know the person I was in NY with, then you can probably figure it out. I have to wait three months to talk about it…that is quite the challenge. But, I am so excited to be able to share all of the details with you when I can and I am feeling so lucky and honored to be able to have had such an opportunity. But for now…mum’s the word.

While I was in NY I got to do some fun tourist things (Empire State Building, Central Park), eat some phenomenal vegan food, and spend time with my bestie and my ‘sister’. Thankfully I was able to extend my time in NY and that allowed for a meet up with my ‘sister’ Kelly (someone that has been a HUGE part of my journey these past few years) and that my best friend Jaime came to NY to spend the day with me. It was so much fun. Definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity and I am so happy I had some of my favorite people there with me to celebrate. And celebrate we did J

 

Training while traveling was…interesting. I was able to fit in every run for week’s five and six except for my long run for week 6. I had every intention to run my long run through Central Park but rainy, cold weather kept me from that. Timing wise, I just couldn’t fit in a long run at the gym before Jaime arrived at Penn so I just chalked that one up to life and enjoyed the day with my friend that I see once, maybe twice a year. Priorities. Friends come first J

I also had a mid-term due while I was traveling in NY. I always seem to be away during mid-terms and finals and find myself writing papers/completing projects from 35,000 feet. It is something I think I am getting better at but it doesn’t make it any less stressful. Not complaining though. I am lucky to be able to work on my third degree, for free. It is definitely a great perk of this job and it allows me to work towards a big life goal of mine. I just wish I my professors would let me submit work on my own timetable ;)

So, that is about it. I think you are all caught up. This week I am back to my normal half marathon training and meeting with my personal trainer. I also have some fun stuff planned for the weekend, including a ghost tour and a 5K with E, but it is all local (mostly) and I am so happy about that. We are home for two more months and I am really excited to be able to get back into my routine and get prepped for the holidays! Can you believe we are just 2 weeks out from Halloween???

Love and hugs,

Dacia

xoxoxoxox