Back To School Shopping

I have seen many blog posts about all the supplies people are buying for their classrooms.  I am a wee bit jealous, but I promised myself I was not going to buy a whole lot for my classroom this year because I still have stockpiles of stuff from previous years.  There isn't a whole lot that I NEED for my classroom.  Want, yes.  Need, NO!  Don't you worry though, I have done lots of back to school shopping, just in a different way.

 

After I had my daughter Whitney in November of 2011, the weight just wasn't coming off, in fact I gained more and more weight after having her.  In June of 2012 we took some generational pictures with my family and when we got them back I cried.  I hadn't realized how I looked until I saw the pictures.  Here is one with me and my girls. 

 

I realized I needed to take the steps to get healthy for myself and my family.  I started watching what I eat, and tried to completely cut out soda, but realistically I just cut WAY back on soda.   I HATE sweating with a fire burning passion.  It is gross.  *shudder*  I slowly started losing weight, but not how I would have liked.  I stuck with my plan when I felt like it, but any ounce of stress and the dark chocolate came out and the Diet Mt. Dew was back in my hand.  Here is a picture of my in November of 2012, about ten pounds down.

 

Sometime in the spring, I think around the end of February, our school decided to put on a Biggest Loser competition.  Everyone paid 20 dollars and three people who lost the biggest percentage of their body fat took the pot.  Money motivates me.  Losing money motivates me even more!  I jumped on the chance.  I knew for a fact that if I thought I was going to lose money, I would not pick up the dark chocolate, and I was right! I ended up getting 2nd place in our competition and lost 14 more pounds.  I am happy to say that I am now down 30 pounds from June 2012.   I am holding steady at my current weight, so I decided to join a Zumba class.  I sweat there, I don't like that part, but it is SO MUCH FUN!  I would go every night if I could.  I even bought the Zumba DVD's so I can do Zumba at home when my girls nap.  Here is a picture from this week, 30 pounds lighter than a year ago!

My back to school shopping this year has been for clothes.  Nothing fits me anymore.  My pajamas are even too big!  This is a good problem to have.  I am cheap. I refuse to pay full price for anything.  I have been bargain shopping and having so much fun.  The first time I went to try on clothes I had to take them ALL back because they were all 2 sizes too big!  So far I have scored the black sweater in the picture above for $8.00 at Kohls and the clothes in the pictures below!

The tan shirt on the left was $6.00 at Kohls.

The purple shirt next to it was on clearance for $5.25 at Maurices.

The off white shirt next to it was also $5.25 at Maurices.

The black and white striped shirt was on clearance for $6.00 at Maurices.

I also got a pair of blue jean trousers for $9.00 at Maurices, but they accidentally left the security tag on them so I need to take them back.  They are in my car because if I don't leave them in my car, I will forget to take care of it!



Both of these dresses are from Kohls.  I am short, like REALLY short.  Think 5 foot 1 short!  I have always wanted a Maxi dress but they are always ridiculously long on me!  The blue dress on the left was in the petites section of Kohls and with some wedges will be the perfect length!  That one was on sale for 25 dollars but my mom gave me $20 in Kohls cash so I only paid 5 dollars for it.  The one on the right was a little more expensive, but I LOVE it.  I think it was right around $20.  They have that same dress in black and white.  I really want to get it.  I have three weddings coming up and I think the black and white one would look great at a wedding.