Ah! I've went double digit's on the weight loss journals now! Yay! At least I'm keeping up with the updating, even if the weight loss isn't as good. Still here to report that last Thursday I weighted myself and I was at 195.5 again. I seem to be stuck on the number. I had went up and down a little each week, but I think I've done well this week so I'm hoping tomorrow will be even better when I weigh in! I still need to exercise more. I really have to get that in gear already!

I am still looking for a job. I interviewed at the regional jail where my mom works for a receptionist job, but have yet to hear from them at all which leads me to believe that I did not get the job. Boo! There was a reporter job for the Coalfield Progress newspaper, but they wanted writing samples and probably a degree and I have neither. Sadness because I could have totally dug a job like that! Writing is definetly something I want to do one day. Still I need a job and soon. I do not want to have to go to White Ridge again. That work was just too much all together and with definitly not enough pay to make you feel better about it. I didn't even get a lunch break there 95% of the time.

Christmas shopping is OVER for me! I have everything now after yesterday. Only two little things have to be shipped in and they should be soon, way before Christmas. I have spent WAY too much money, but I always seem to and I always freak about my spending any money at all...I am a Scrooge!

I AM going back to school this semester! YAY! I have already signed up for all the classes I need. I have all my books, and I did have to buy a couple as one book changed and a couple had smaller add on books they wanted now. Mom is going to pay for the final semester. I was going to, but the tards at SWCC don't take my credit card, so that was out. Mom stepped up though and I am really grateful for that. Leah said she is going to be on my case to make sure I don't get lazy and I'm going to try to do my best. Everyone wish the best for me that I don't mess it up or they don't throw ANOTHER curveball my way.

I dyed my hair black. I know some people think I already have black hair, but I don't. I did when I was really young, but it had lightened up to a black/brown and so I was tired of my hair and bought a box of dye and Leah helped me out and now it is black! I like it! It's a lot darker then I had first thought, but the more I look at it the more I like it! I think I'm going to keep it that way for awhile now. I also want to cut it again. Haha I finally let it grow out a little past my shoulders and I'm already wanting to cut it again!

Leah's been having some health problems lately, so I hope she figures out what's going on and we can get her better. I like my friend healthy!

Well I think that's about it for now. I'll update again soon with hopefully even better news!

Okay, I'll go ahead and do the weight part of this journal. After trapiezing off to Tennessee Miami and then taking a cruise and back to Miami and then Tennessee and finally back home; I weighed myself last week and I was 194.5, which is a 1 lbs. lost! Not too good, but not too bad either. At least I lost weight this time. I think that mostly came about though because of all the walking me and Jessica did when we were traveling. That shows me that obviously I need to exercise more!

Speaking of the trip, my cruise was awesome! I drove to Jessica's and for once Knoxville didn't let me have it with the weather and traffic, although the detours on that road really suck! I finally got to see Jessica's house she bought! It was a pretty old house of the 20's or so. It still had a lot of that old charm about it. The people before had been renovating it and had been foreclosed on I believe, so Jessica has quite a bit of detail work to still do, but has most of the major parts done now. She has this awesome claw foot tub upstairs that is a dream to bathe in. Too bad it looks like one of those bathrooms out of a horror movie where something gets you or you slit your wrists! lol Seriously, it does. Don't take a bath at night! Later Jess told me other people told her it was haunted which I can totally see!

Anyways so we packed and her friend Tabby took us to the airport. I think I was more nervous to get on this plane then I did the first one, but that's just my nerves getting worse I believe. lol The flights were fine, we took a stop in Atlanta and there was a vanding machine that actually sold IPods, acessories and PSP's! It was weird, but cool! lol Miami was a lot better this time around. We walked around our hotel which was nice, but old. We went down to Brickell, which was okay, but not the best. Then the next day it was cruise time!

The cruise itself was too short! I don't think I like the shorter ones, but it wasn't bad or anything like that. It was a lot more fun this time around. Me and Jess met some guys to hang out with that were from NYC. They soooo talked like they were from there, but we called them the knights of New York because they were always trying to be nice and polite around us. lol There was Mike who was a nurse and Jess got along with him the best ;). Then Al who was a manager at a grocery store chain and was always telling us a story of some kind or another and was usually hilarious. Then there was Tim who was the one that ran off the most to be with the girlies and hang out, he too was funny. Then there was Benny a sweet italian kind of guy whose name really is Benny. lol

Anyways there were a lot more from New York but that's the main ones we hung out with usually. Halloween was a lot of fun and I dressed up as a geisha that turned out pretty damn good! Jessica was Medusa and her costume was awesome! It turned out so well! We had a blast and partied the night away. Then we went to Mexico and I was a little upset that day as (No one's fault) someone had to be air lifted off the boat and well we were quite late docking in Mexico and I didn't get to go snorkeling AT ALL even though I remembered to buy the freakin' expensive underwater camera to take pics. Still me and Jess made the best of it and she got to go parasailing! Then we walked around downtown Cozumel and we saw a Senor Frogs, which is THREE I've been to now! The best place though was called Carlos and Charlies and it was a BLAST! We got good real mexican food, lots of liquor, a congo line, dancing, balloon hats, way friendly waiters and a lot of laughs. It was really great.

After that we had a day at sea and then it was over! Sadness! We spent that day wandering around South Beach as we did the next a little bit and saw a naked guy jump in his car on the street and went swimming in the ocean. People thought it was cold there and it was like 70. lol Then I was back at Jessica's before I knew it, but I got to see Michael and that was great. Then I went home. It was a great, wonderful trip and I want to take a Halloween cruise every year!

This weekend I tagged along with Leah so she could go to a insurance class because she wants to become a bondsman eventually. Good money if you can hustle up the clients and all. We got to go see AJ at VT since he was about a 30 minute trip away. He was good and nice and crazy as always. It was great to see him. Right now I'm at Southwest Community College as Leah is trying her insurance test for the first time. We figured she should go ahead and try it, you never know she might pass, but its a really hard test and you have to pass it completely. I just hope Leah doesn't end up telling me how people can be sued by everything all the time now. At first stuff like that isn't bad when people learn new things and want to share it, but after awhile it gets annoying cause I'm just not into insurance or sueing people that much unless something horrible happened; not just because you can and you want to talk about it, but everyone knows you're not so you just look like a jerk even though you're not really a jerk at all. Sorry that doesn't make sense but me and Leah had a bit of an arguement about it over a Huddle House incident and I had to rant a little bit. It's cool and I still hope she passes. lol

Since I am at SWCC, I thought I would try to get my education in order. I only need one freakin' semester of classes to graduate with an associates already. Even AJ is ahead of me now! lol So I don't have any financial aid at all this semester as they took it away from me last school year, but I'm going to try to stick it out and pay somehow. I might have to put it on my credit card, which would suck monkey wang! Maybe mom and dad might be willing to help out, I don't know. Good news though, I looked at the catalog and every class I'm pretty sure I need is listed for the spring semeseter and I already have every book purchased! So no hidden extra costs there. Also all those classes can be media delivery, which means I don't have to come to SWCC at all! That will save on time and gas! So its not all bad, but it always seems like money is an issue with me. Shew! People who say money doesn't matter were obviously never broke and still needed stuff done and we all know money makes the world go round.

I'm going to try to find a job now that all my traveling is done. Leah's SI company will probably be hiring in January, so I will still hold out hope for them, but I will be looking hardcore in the meantime and if I find a good fit, I'm going for that. I just about need to work full time to pay my bills off and have a little extra to pay on the credit card and save. Not too mention pay for gas (which has went down a lot recently, YAY!). Still I don't mind cause I need it and so I'm going to do it.

2009 is going to be a very busy year so far! I have plans to finish my associates, work full time, and I will be moving in the summer sometime. Don't know where or when, but I am moving out and continuing on with my life! I might pick a school and get my bachelors, because I would be crazy happy with myself for being able to get that! Too bad I have no idea what to get...lol Plus I still plan on losing a lot of weight. Still I hope 2009 is the year of changes, good changes that is. I can only hope I don't fail myself again in the upcoming year!

Well first I'll update about my life. There has been a lot of changes going on! The first and most important is that my brother, Isaac and his long time girlfried Jennifer got married! The wedding was on October 18 in Houston, Texas. Me and my parents (who freakin' wanted to drive and did so!) went down there for a whole week before and got to visit with them and meet Jennifer's whole family who seem to live right around Houston. It was a good trip, I ate far too much compared to how little I moved around that week and I knew it was going to cost me. Still it was a beautiful wedding and I have pics up now on the internet of all the ones I took. I'll put the address at the bottom of this entry for anyone interested in looking at them.

Second important thing is that this next week I will be boozing/partying it up on another cruise! AH! Me and Jessica planned a Halloween one and it is going to be awesome! I'm going to be a geisha and have an awesome authentic long chinese dress and I bought the face make up too. Jessica is going to be a medusa woman which sounds awesome and her friends that are coming with us, well I forgot what they are I think one is a vampire. So this is going to be really fun I hope.

Third, I'm still jobless at the moment, but Angella just called me yesterday and left an offer for White Ridge again, but I don't know if I'm going to take it or not. I need a job as money is running out fast, but I don't want to be stuck there again like I was either. I'm thinking of maybe taking it as its only one day a week right now and then actively searching for a job or getting on at SI if they hire at the New Year.

Fourth, I am going to finish my associates degree! I don't know how I'm going to do that yet, as I have no money for it, but I will finish it! I only need 14 credits! I think I might take a loan out and just do it. I will feel so much better and confident if I can do that and know I can finish something.

Fifth, I am in need of a major over haul on my health. I'm going to go to my Grandma's doctor, Dr. Allan Mullins over in Norton as he offered to be our regular physician and let him do the works on me. I know I really need it and I know putting it off is stupid.

Okay, finally to the weight loss part! Sadly, I have gained a little weight back as I think it was from Houston. I now weigh in this morning at 195.5 lbs. Poo! Hopefully I will be able to work that off and I'm not worried about the cruise as I lost weight last time I was on one! lol Still I need to start exercising more and seeing to my diet better. I've been more lax with being home and not at LaKesha and Jerrad's. That household was a good learning tool and I need to be able to do it on my own now with the temptations and ease of other/worse food around me.

Alright well I think that's it for now. Here's that address and I'll check in again as soon as I can! http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y133/Silver85/IsaacJen%20Wedding%2010-18-08/

Well I'm back in Haysi, VA and you know...yay I guess. LOL No I like this place, its the home I grew up in, but it's just that I feel its holding me back from the rest of my life as there is nothing here! I don't know what I'm going to do, but I do know sometime by the end of the upcoming summer Erica is going to be living out of Dickenson County.

Now though on to the weight loss! I've done terrible about exercising although me and Leah are going to go walking/jogging as soon as she gets back from work today, so that is good.

The weight loss is a lil tricky. When I came back I checked that next Thursday and saw that my Grandma's scale said I weighed 194. Which is exciting but I don't know how I lost 5 lbs. that quickly which makes me think I really didn't. The only question now is which scale was correct? I didn't know so I just weighed myself again this last Thursday and it said 192. I know that's at least a 2 lbs. loss no matter what my actual weight is, so yay to that! And today I'm not sure what I weigh as there is a ban on weight scales in Leah's house. lol Still I know I have lost two more lbs and hopefully more for this week. I'll try to update again to tell my current weight and also keep trying to update on Thursdays as usual as I have found that there are free computers in our new library that I can use!

Also on a good motivation this past Sunday was Leah's dad Mitch's surprise birthday party and lots of her family was over to celebrate. I hwas helping Leah pull it off and her Pawpaw (Thelmar) saw me for the first time since before I had left for DC and he immediately said that I had lost a lot of weight! That was exciting to hear and I want to keep getting those kinds of reactions from people! So keep hoping, praying, sending me luck and don't eat that thoughts coming my way! Thank you!

Alright so this is my last post from Woodbridge as I am moving back to Haysi today! Okay that part really isn't that exciting, but hey its different in the fact I will be living with my Grandma instead of my parents. I hope it works out for the best.

Anyways, I just went and weighed myself and I weigh in at 199.6, which is back to my original weight in like the third weight loss journal exactly? Weird. Anyways I wish I had lost more, at least ten lbs before I had left here, but I am happy I lost anything! And almost losing 5 lbs while not changing my diet too drastically or doing much exercise is a small gain (or loss? lol) in the right direction.

I'm hoping to become more exercise oriented with the change in scenery and a little more me time in the morning and evenings without a couple kids running around needing stuff. Still its not much of an excuse as I usually had pretty much the entire day to myself up here, but whatever. We'll see.

Anyways keep sending the good thoughts and wishes my way. Also keep me in your thoughts as I drive 8 freaking hours back home! 8! That's a bit much even for me. Also I don't know if I will be able to post every Thursday anymore as I currently don't have internet at my home or my Grandma's. I might be able to swindle in some internet though soon. I hope so! Otherwise I will try to weigh myself on Sunday/Monday and post it when I get to Leah's house.

Peace and Love y'all!