Waiting To Exhale

Hey Ya’ll!

I hope all is great. 11 days until Christmas but who’s counting lol. Christmas is my favorite holiday and I just love everything that comes with it. Family time, Christmas decorations, gifts, giving back, reflecting on the real reason of Christmas, and Christmas movies of course. I just love it!

This weekend was an exciting one for me because it was my cousins and I annual “Waiting To Exhale Party”. This is a gathering where all my female cousins come together, eat dinner, exchange gifts, and just exhale and have girl talk. My grandma had 11 kids so I have A LOT of cousins and we were all raised very close so even though we all are grown and have our separate lives we still try to do things together. I love our waiting to exhale parties because we just let loose and talk about any and everything. This year it was held at my place so I kicked my husband out and brought the girls in for a sleep over. We had dinner at the Olive Garden then came back to my place for drinks, gift exchange, and girl talk.

We had so much fun that I actually forgot to take pics..oops!. When we get together we always have a great time but our waiting to exhale parties are extra special for all of us and I can’t wait to do it all over again next year around this time!

only pic I took, my sis and I

Its Been To Long!

Hey Ya'll!

Oh how I've missed blogging. Sooo my laptop could no longer continue and died on me :( It had a good run but it was time for it to go. I used my husband laptop for a couple of blogs but I don't like his computer so I decided to take a break from blogging until I got another computer and today I was blessed with one (Thanks Dad!!) so I'm backkkkkkkkkk :) Gotta love Black Friday.

But anywho HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know I did. It was at my mom's this year and I had the pleasure of having Ryan grandparents join us. I was glad to know they had a great time and I had a great time as always with my fam.

Nothing new has been going on lately with me. Life is going great. I really have no complaints. For this post I'll just post pics of what's been going on in my life lately.

Enjoy!

My sis, mom, and I gave my dad a Surprise 55th Bday party

I went to Miami with my best friends

Attended Homecoming. GO VSU!

Froze my buns off at my husband football games

Yup! I'm still married

& Yup I'm still natural

attended my first NFL game

Like who like's the bucs!?! The one and only bucs fan I know and we lost :(

Was able to participate in FEED THE DMV!!!

attended "Friendsgiving" Love my friends!

Took our first Christmas pics
 

awww love this one!

Made some chocolate covered pretzels for Friendsgiving. They weren't perfect but they sure were good and a big hit!

We Made It

Hey Ya’ll!!!

Hope all is well. All I can say right now is that life is GREAT!!! I have no complaints. I couldn’t be more happier but I have great news…WE MADE IT! My husband and I celebrated our one year anniversary on August 17^th. Can you believe it?!? Time really flew by. I’ve been married for a year and it feels good lol. The year was an interesting one because this was the first time ever that Ryan and I lived together so that was a big adjustment and it was the first time that we really had to deal with each other flaws. I love my husband dearly but Ryan and I were raised differently so getting our ways in tune with each was a journey but we made it though and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Don’t get me wrong the good outweighed the bad but I’m glad we finally got over that little hump. 

To celebrate our anniversary we kept it real simple. Yes, our one year anniversary was a big deal but we are trying to save up for a house so for all who have been down that road ya’ll know how that goes so we did a nice getaway to Virginia Beach and Norfolk. We left for the beach Saturday morning, tanned in the sun for a few hours, then went to downtown Norfolk where we stayed overnight. The 757 area is like second home for Ryan so it felt good for him to be back. I love the 757 area. When I was in high school I always said I wanted to attend ODU and reside in Hampton, VA but that didn’t go as planned lol. Later that evening Ryan had a football game in Williamsburg so we did the game thing then hit it back up 64 E to the hotel. Sunday, we went to see the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie which was great by the way then and had a nice dinner on the Spirit of Norfolk. The Spirit of Norfolk was really nice and the food was great! Ohhh and I can't forgot about the cake!! Of course we ate the top layer of our cake. The cake looked a little beat up lol but it was too good! 

That pretty much sums up our anniversary weekend! We both had a great time and we both can’t wait to see what year number two will bring!!!!

Talk to ya’ll later :)

My love for BB cream

Hey Ya’ll!

Sheesh…I haven’t blogged in a minute. I really don’t have a reason why, just haven’t. But anyways I’m here today to talk about my love for BB Cream! 

I’m not into makeup at all. My daily face routine consists of face wash, moisturizer, eye liner, mascara, and a brow pencil. Makeup and I don’t have a close relationship and I’m perfectly fine with that but after looking at different makeup blogs I was looking for something to give me a clean and smooth finish on my face without it being foundation. I don’t suffer from acne and I don’t have a lot of face blemishes that are unattractive to me but I still wanted that even tone look.  Last year sometime I was introduced to a BB cream by Smashbox and let me tell you I fell in love. I went through that little tube of BB cream so quick LoL. The price of it was $40 + tax and I got it from Sephora but after that first bottle I never went back to buy anymore (why, I really don’t know). 

While in Target the other day I was like let me look for a cheaper BB cream and I ran across some Maybelline. For $8 I was like let me give it a try and I got it in the shade "Dark". After trying it out I was not pleased at all. There was no coverage for me and it didn’t give me that even tone look. I sent a pic to a friend of mine who is a MUA and she told me immediately to take it back lol. She then told me to try out a BB cream by Black Radiance. I instantly went to my nearest drugstore and I got Black Radiance BB cream in the shade Brown Sugar. I applied it with a foundation brush and after I applied it I was in love. It gave me the coverage I wanted and it didn’t even look like I had any makeup on at all plus it was only $5.99!!! I sent a before and after pic to my MUA and she instantly said it was a winner!!! 

This past weekend has been a hot one and I’ve worn the BB cream without any complaints. I am in love!!! I’ve heard of Black Radiance before but now I can truly say that I am a fan. I plan to go back to buy more BB cream just to have them in stock LoL. 

Before & After

If you’re a non-makeup wearer like me and is looking for some face coverage try out Black Radiance BB cream. Trust me you won’t be disappointed! 

Black Radiance can be found in Walmart, Target, and your local drug stores and their prices are very reasonable.

Still on the journey.....

Hey Ya’ll!!

I hope all is well. I haven’t blogged in so long… I know, I know tisk tisk on me lol. Well just a little update I’m still on my weight loss journey. I weighed myself this morning and I’m 199 pounds…yayyyy!!! I hit a little road block since my last post but now I’m back on track (again). Also, I gave up meat before 6pm for lent. Since lent I can tell that my body has changed for the good. I feel so lighter now and I also have a lot more energy when I’m working out. I may make this no meat before 6pm a lifestyle change but we’ll see.

Left: May 2009, Right: September 2013

On Monday, I will be embarking on a weight loss challenge with a good friend of mine. The goal is to lose 20 pounds by June 1^st. I KNOW that’s achievable! There is a prize and we will weigh in weekly and use the myfitnesspal app to monitor our process. I’m so excited because I know I’m going to win :) hehe

Nothing like good friends as gym partners

To help guide me on this journey I bought the polar watch. I was debating on getting it because there are so many other brands out there that serve the same purpose and that are much cheaper but after doing more research I decided to just go with the polar and I'm glad I did. I love that darn watch. Seeing how many calories I burn during a workout just motivates me to burn more on the next go around.

Losing weight can be difficult but as long as you have determination, drive, and the will to change your lifestyle then losing weight can come with a breeze. I’m just glad to have some great people in my life that encourages and motivates me to keep pushing toward my goal. I’m not losing weight just to lose weight. I want to be a healthier Monica! I plan to live a long wonderful life so being healthy is the key to that. I also want to have kids in the near future so I want to be healthy going into my pregnancy.

Stay tuned for more updates. If you’re on this journey with me KEEP PUSHING! Don’t give up, roadblocks will come but just back up a little, go around it, and keep it going like nothing ever happened :)

Back on the Journey!

Hey Ya’ll! 

So, spring is quickly approaching and it’s time to focus on my health. For my wedding back in August of 2013 I got down to 195 but while on my honeymoon I was enjoying life, my husband, and FOOD (plantains, rice, and everything fried) which resulted in me going up to 207….Yikes! My ultimate goal is to get out the 200’s so that’s what I plan to do.

Two weeks ago I started this workout called T25. The workout is by Shaun T and he also did Insanity. I love T25 because it’s quick and straight to the point. Although, the workouts are only 25 minutes, Shaun T pushes you to the max. I swear I’ve used muscles that I never knew I had lol. After two weeks I already see results! My legs and arms are firmer and my stomach has went down. I feel amazing after I do the workouts and I can’t wait to see my results after month three. In the beginning of the first week I weighed 207 but now I am currently 201.5 and my goal is to get to 175-180.

My first day doing T25

I have drastically cut my eating habits in half and I use the app my fitness pal. You wouldn’t believe how recording what you eat can have a major impact on weight loss.  I do slip up here and there but I just get back on track and keep it going like nothing ever happened. Getting skinny is not on my agenda because I love my curves too much and I don’t plan to get to my goal overnight so I’m taking this process slow. I hope to be at my goal by June 1^st.

week 1 done! I think I see potential abs...lmbo

Along with T25 I also go to the gym with my husband and do additional workouts at home such as TaeBo whenever I get the chance. It’s nothing like having a support system. My husband has been there to motivate me from day one. I love how we motivate each other and have each other back. He is also trying to get healthier and shed a few pounds. I love him the way he is but if he wants to lose weight then we’ll be in this together! I love it when he does T25 with me! Poor tink be so tired after the workout but he never complains. Also, my best friend India has been in my corner with my weight loss journey. She also uses my fitness pal with me and we’re always talking about what we ate during the day, different workouts, and what we can do to gain better results as she is also trying to shed a few pounds. 

just finished working out

Follow me on Instagram @mzmoniboo as I’m using that as a platform for my weight loss journey. I want to start posting pics and videos of my process and from that I hope to encourage others who are on a weight loss journey or who is thinking about embarking on one!!!

Stay tuned for more posts about this crazy but hopefully rewarding journey I’m on :D