A Little Introduction

Welcome to my first attempt at blogging! I have been thinking about starting a blog for probably the past 3 years -- seriously, 3 years -- but have never really seen the point. To be honest, I live a fairly dull life and in my head I just kept thinking who in the world is going to want to read about what time I woke up today or what I bought at the store or what mediocre, bland diet food I begrudgingly choked down when all I really wanted was some chicken fingers and a Blizzard from Dairy Queen?! But then I thought about it some more and realized that those are exactly the kind of things I enjoy reading about on other people's blogs. I love reading about the ups, downs and in-betweens in people's lives, so maybe someone out there will get a chuckle when I post a picture of my incredibly silly dog tangled in my blinds, will get excited (and stressed!) with me as my wedding day gets closer and closer or will relate when I write about going over to a skinny-minny friend's house and struggling with my inner fat-girl deamons on whether or not I should eat that spicy queso and drink that oh-so-amazingly-delicious margarita. So, for anyone who cares or who simply has nothing better to do with their time, keep reading cuz here goes nothing!

I guess I'll start off with a little about me:

• My name is Ellen...guess I should have said that earlier!
• I am 24 years old.
• I currently live in Houston, Texas but grew up all over the world as a result of my dad's job in the oil industry. I've lived in Trinidad and Tobago, Egypt, Bolivia, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Denmark and Malaysia and have traveled to 42 countries at last count! In the U.S., I have had the privilege of living in Houston, San Antonio, College Station, Austin, Tulsa, and Washington, DC.
• I received my BA in Political Science and Spanish from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas and just finished graduate school in International Relations (go figure!) at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas (Whoop!).
• I work as an intelligence analyst for a private firm in the Houston area (I would tell you more, but then I'd have to kill you...hehe!)
• I am the proud dog Mommy of a little Chihuahua mix, Wally.
• I am getting married in October 2012 to my best friend and childhood sweetheart. We have known each other since we were 10 years old and have been together for the last 6 1/2 years! 
• I am trying to lose at least 40 lbs (preferably 50) before my wedding so I can be more a more healthy, active and overall awesome wife (who am I kidding?! I want jaws to drop when people see me in my wedding dress and for my future husband's eyes to bug out of his head when he sees me in a bikini on our honeymoon!). 

As you might have guessed by the title, I started this blog mostly as a way to track my attempt to lose weight before my wedding next year -- and as a way to save my fiance from having to listen to me talk incessantly about how much I weigh, what I ate for dinner and how long I ran on the treadmill. Poor guy, there's only so many times he can tell me "good job" before he is going to totally lose it!

However, I'm sure that from time to time (well, maybe every day) there will be some random ramblings about my life in general and lengthy discussions about wedding planning stresses, hassles and triumphs (because again, there is only so long the fiance can handle discussions about centerpieces, engagement picture outfits and whether I should wear my hair up or down on the wedding day). Hopefully this blog will be entertaining, hopefully I'll keep up with it and hopefully I can meet some new friends (and get helpful advice!) along the way!

Just to get everyone on the same page before I say sayonara, I started my "weight loss journey" (that just sounds so cheesey!) in July at 205 lbs (the most I've ever weighed) and am now at 185! So, that's 20 lbs in just over 3 months and all I've been doing is eating healthier and working out 5 days a week (2 days with a personal trainer). I'm pretty pumped with my results so far but I know I still have a long road ahead of me before I can drop some jaws next October.

I'm sure, if you even read on, that you're exhausted and wish I'd just shut up at this point so I'll just leave it here for today. Adios!