Engagement Photos + A Favor!

Happy hump day!  And prepare for a little time-out from fitness content…time for a little ramble :)  Because it’s an exciting day around here – our engagement photos are up!  Yeah…talk about excitement.   I jumped around the room for about 10 minutes I was so excited when we got the email.  I can’t wait to print some off and hang them up.  They turned out so lovely – Adam and I are thrilled.  I think all of our really hard work of modeling paid off ;)

This one is my favorite!

Man, those thrift shop shoes were such a find. We even found a wall to match.

This is one of Adam’s favs!

Pictures along my favorite running trail – the canal!

Now here’s the part where I ask for a HUGE favor.  Our photographer (Emily Weis) is pretty fabulous and fun – she has a little contest of sorts.  If we can get her lots of comments we win some pretty awesome free stuff – yeah I said FREE!  Adam and I are hoping you all would be kind enough to help us out. All you need to do is go to our post (on her blog) and add your name, email, and a quick comment.  In the meantime you’ll get to see all of our pictures!  Sounds like a pretty fair trade to me.

Check out the pictures and comment-away!  Feel free to share with friends and family, or repost on your blog even!  We’d be forever indebted to the couple minutes spent commenting/sharing.

http://www.emilyweisphotographyblog.com/kelly-adam-downtown-indianapolis-engagement-session/

Hello and thanks from vacation-land!

-Kelly (and Adam in this case!)

All By Myself…

Don’t wanna be… all by myself!  (Sing it with me!)  Okay – yes, someone is maybe being a little melodramatic. That’s not quite the right song for it.  I guess in novel version it is: All On My Own…The Adventures of Kelly Learning to Feed Herself and Work Out Alone.  Yep you guessed it – Adam officially headed on down to the big city of Nashville!  He left yesterday morning, and so far I seem to be coping reasonably well.  I haven’t starved and I’ve even gotten my workouts in.  Success.  I mean, what more could you ask for?  In my endless experience of time alone (36 hours), I have gleaned some wisdom.

Tips for Working Out/Eating Alone:

1. It’s just you baby.  Yeah – if I don’t workout I’m just letting myself down.  Now that sounds like it could be de-motivating, but to me it’s almost more of a challenge.  Think selfishly – how could you let yourself down!?  Your body will thank you if you don’t.
2. Plan! Well – if I don’t plan my food, who will?  I have learned that I must plan ahead.  Because no one is around to make sure I do ;)
3. Make Time.  Yeah I know time doesn’t come out of thin air – but now I find myself needing to make the time to pack/plan food or come up with my goals.  I’m a one man team and I need to use my time wisely if this team is going to have success!  This morning I realized my alarm needs to be a bit earlier to have time to make food!
4. Print out a Schedule.  To me, there is nothing more gratifying than crossing something off the old to-do list.  If you need an external motivation, print off the work out sheet and start marking down those days.  It’s motivating, but also allows you to see progress.  Awesome.
5. Plan fun group activities. Though partner or group activities won’t be a daily part of my routine anymore, I’ve been talking to friends about possible Zumba dates.  And I’ve been planning runs I’ll do with Adam in Nashville.  Plan these social fitness times as something to look forward to – it will help you remain on your path!

I’m sure as I get more comfortable to working out stag I will gather more wisdom and do a legitimate post about it.  In the meantime – anyone have any helpful tips?  I could use all the help I can get!

Last days in Indy

Adam and I made the most of our time together as the days counted down.  Last Thursday we had a wonderfully relaxing Engagement Party!  It was more cookout style and we just relaxed and caught up with friends.  Adam’s parents ‘catered’ the event and it was divine (Adam’s mom is an amazing chef).  Such an awesome chance to celebrate before Adam hit the road.

We remembered to take a picture after it was dark and everyone left. Perfect.

Over the weekend we went to the wedding of a family friend.  It was absolutely gorgeous, and our first wedding together “post-engagement.”  It was fun to attend a wedding through the lens of planning one!  Sunday evening Adam and I went out to our favorite sushi restaurant for the last supper.  It was delish – and totally appropriate as the last date night in Indy.

Can you tell by the empty plate that we love sushi?

Monday was the day I’d been counting down for quite awhile: Engagement Picture Day!  I absolutely adore photography (good photography) so I was very nervous and anxious about this.  On Sunday the wise and all powerful internet reported a 60% chance of rain for Monday.  Nooooo!  I decided to just own it and went out to buy a couple umbrellas.  I googled “rainy engagement pictures” for ideas and started wrapping my mind around our totally cute rainy session.

Ready for anything!

See you can see my face through the umbrella. Sweet.

Well… Monday came around and it. was. perfection.  I kid you not – we had breathtaking weather.  It was a bit cloudy (ideal for photography) for some of the pics, and we had a nice soft sun for some as well.  We had so much fun.  Emily (Emily Weis Photography) was a blast to work with, and we enjoyed the experience thoroughly.  I ended up deciding to do my own hair and make-up.  I don’t wear make-up daily, but I have a love affair with it from an “on occasion” aspect. Many years of performing has helped me hone my craft.  Thankfully everything cooperated and my look came together!

Sorry for the selfie – went for a natural, but somewhat bold look. Success?

Adam’s hair and make-up was uneventful as well :)  Neither of us had any zits or issues  (a real concern)- so we got everything we could’ve asked for!  Perfect weather, ironed clothes, nice make-up, good hair day.  Incredible.  And you know what?  It was the perfect way to spend Adam’s last evening.  DISTRACTED.  I didn’t even really think about him moving because we were so busy running around town being models.  After our session we were ravenous.  We had a delightful treat of some Qdoba and passed out.

Being a model is hard work.

Such a model.

In the morning Adam blasted off to Nashville.  It kind of hurts to type that – but the other HUGE part of me is just tickled pink for him.  Yes it will be a challenging next few months, but Adam is onto the next step of his training.  And truthfully I am so thrilled for him.  In the meantime, it will be a great opportunity for me to learn and grow, and we’ll be married in January!  Sounds easy enough!

With just a few weeks until I see the results of our engagement shoot (not that I’m obsessively check her site) and vacation next week, there is plenty to look forward to!  Those thoughts keep me going when I just want to cry (or I just cry and feel better).  I’ve got my new workout plan and lots of summer events – it’s gonna be great folks!

Happy hump day!

-Kelly

What tips do you have for working out alone?  How do you keep pushing yourself?  How do you motivate yourself to eat meals instead of Cheez-its?