Before & After

I love a good before and after picture. Don't you?  Whether it is a picture of a piece of furniture or a room that has endured a huge overhaul, I love those dramatic transformations.  I was looking through old photos from the beginning of the year and found a few pictures that I took of Todd before he started working out. After his workout yesterday, I took more pictures of him and the change is amazing. Instead of writing more about his change, I'll just show you.

I would say "Before" and "After" in the pictures, but he is still working hard and not done on his journey - or so he tells me. I think he's done an AMAZING job, and I am such a proud wife. So what made him lose all this weight?

Well, in January, Todd decided to sign up for Tough Mudder. It is a 12 mile course full of 23 or so obstacles designed by the military. These aren't simple little obstacles - some of them include crawling through mud under barbed wire, a balance beam, running up walls, jumping in ice water, and the one that sounded the worst to me: running through a mess of electric wires. Yup, this wasn't just as little 5k, this was like running a half marathon with grueling obstacles. 

Todd had done some work-out regimens before, but he would start, then stop. Signing up for Tough Mudder was the best decision he could have made to jump start his weight loss. He had a goal in mind and something to train and strive for. Every morning he would get up at 6:00 am, drink his shakes (all I know is there is like five canisters of work out supplements/powders sitting on top of our fridge), and work out for an hour. He started with Insanity (which looked INSANE by my opinion). Next, he graduated to Insanity Asylum (Yup, even more insane), then did a mix of the two. He made ALOT healthier decisions when it came to eating and ate smaller portions. He said no to desserts, which if you know Todd, took alot of self-control!

The day of the Mudder event came and Todd was already down 30 pounds. The average time to finishing the course was 3 hours and Todd crushed it in 2 hours, 45 minutes. I got to see him on the last couple obstacles and I was one proud wife!

After the event, he hasn't stopped working out and eating healthy. He occasionally eats some chocolate brownie ice cream (which makes me feel good because I still like my sweets), but all in all, he makes much better choices. Now he has moved on the P90x2 workout. Todd tries to get me to work out with him - not a chance - I will just stick with my zumba or walking instead!

Anyways, I just wanted to share his story, because maybe his story will inspire you. It inspires me.

I HATE running. Like really hate it, but always thought I should do a 5k to push myself. Todd is doing another event called Warrior Dash, in September. It is a 5k and has obstacles too, but not on the same level of Tough Mudder. I was telling him I was thinking about doing it, but he went ahead and signed me up.  So, now I am doing a little training of my own. I'll let you know how that works out for me! haha

Five.

Five years ago, my life dramatically changed. I officially changed my relationship status on facebook from "being in a relationship" to "engaged." July 18, 2007 will always be a date of significance in our relationship, a day that I treasure. It is the day I said "YES!!" to marrying the love of my life!

So for those who don't know our engagement story - here it is!

It was the summer before our senior year of college. I was young, but at the time you feel old, and like you know everything. HA. We both lived in the twin cities and had summer jobs. Todd and I had been dating for over a year and we had had that "talk" so I knew a proposal was coming at some point. It was pretty ironic - I took Todd out on a date the night before our engagement. As we dined at PF Chang's, the topic of when we would get engaged came up. He said he wasn't ready and it would be sometime in the fall. I dropped the subject but many thoughts filled my head.

Todd had invited me to a "taste testing" at a hotel in his hometown on July 18. The hotel restaurant would be presenting dishes for a new menu and we would be a select few to try them out and give our opinion. It was a great ploy because I really thought we were going to test food.

I feel really bad, because the last 15 minutes of the hour or so long drive down to his hometown, I made him talk about WHY we weren't getting engaged til the fall. I wasn't upset, just really inquisitive. Earlier in the drive I had asked and he put me off, but my persistence won and he spent ten brutal minutes coming up with an excuse.

After ten minutes of torture on his part, we arrived. We were greeted at the door by his mother, who had invited us, and led to an empty ballroom with a lone table set up. It was a beautifully set table with two dozen roses, candles and eight place settings. We were the only ones in the room so I thought I would go freshen up before everyone else got there.

I tried to leave the room and Todd did not want me to go. He gave me a big hug just as a waitress was bringing a covered plate of food. I remember telling him that the food was coming out so I needed to run to the bathroom before we started. I was pretty much out of the ballroom when he lifted the lid of what I thought was food. There was a small white box. I was speechless and surprised.

It was one of those crazy moments that you have dreamed about, but then it happens and you really can't believe it is happening. I will never forget what he then said, "Obviously, we aren't here to test food. Autumn Brittney, Will you marry me?" I think he had to ask me a second time because I was so shocked. Obviously, I said a big YES!!

He then told me he had another surprise. We walked into an adjoining ballroom and there were our families. My family had traveled over two hours to be there for this moment. We celebrated by eating dinner in the restaurant and had a little engagement party. It. was. amazing.

I always thought I would kind of figure out that I was going to get engaged right before it happened. Todd isn't always the best at surprises. We usually have to exchange Christmas presents several days in advance because he is too excited to wait. I loved that I had no clue what he was up to and that he had taken the time to line everything up.

It is just so crazy to me that FIVE years has already passed. My love for him has grown so much since that amazing day I said yes.

Bathtub Photo Shoot

I took photos of Brecken for his invites and I wanted to get a "bathtub" feel for them. I used the white metal tub I have in his room that usually holds his stuffed animals. I filled it with alot of bubble bath so it would be nice and sudsy, however, he didn't really like the taste!

Brecken's Birthday Bash: The Invites

Just this past weekend, we celebrated Brecken's first birthday. It was a fun bash that had a bathtub/duck theme to it. Here is the invite I did for his party:

one.

 My baby boy turned one today. I have mixed emotions about today. On the one hand, I am super excited about him being a year old and all the amazing memories that we have shared over the past year. Everyday he is learning or discovering new things and I LOVE it. It is so amazing to see things through a different perspective - the perspective of my child. Mundane things, or things I would never be excited to do, are suddenly fun because he is experiencing it for the first time. This age is so fun.

But on the other hand, I am a bit nostalgic about the fact that he is no longer an infant, or a baby even. The past day, I have been reflecting on the events that were taking place a year ago. The events seem like they happened only yesterday and yet at the same time, lifetimes ago. You think you will easily remember all the details from that day, but yet time moves on and it is hard to remember his wrinkly body and shrieking cry. There are many parts of his birth I DON'T want to remember (like all the pain and all the recovery/new mom stuff after), but I wish I could go back and just cuddle the little 7 pound, 14 ounce bundle of joy just for a minute. Go back to the moment that they put him on my chest and soak it up.

This year has gone by way too fast. Everyone tells you that they grow up fast, and they are absolutely right. There were many times in the past year that it is hard to enjoy the moment, like the fact that he still has only slept through the night only a handful of times. Even the times that are hard to cherish, I still need to soak those moments up. Someday I will look back and long for those sleepless nights.

 This year has gone by so fast and this next year will probably only go faster. I am one proud momma when it comes to my boy! He has such a fun personality and I am excited to see how it develops in the next year. Happy 1st Birthday dear son! I love you so much and will try to soak up as many moments in the next year as you grow and discover in this coming year!

                                                                 My dear Brecken - the day of his birth. Here is his birth story

Reinspired

Reinspired. I'm not sure that is a word, but I am finally feeling inspired again with blogging. For the last several months, I haven't felt like writing. I didn't like the design of the blog, the name, and the list could keep going on. I finally did something about that. I changed up the name; changed up the look. Finally. I feel refreshed and reinspired to blog.

Obviously, I got a new name of the blog. Seasons of Autumn. After sessions of brainstorming with my aunt, mom and brother, they helped me come up with this name, along with many other strange and not so helpful suggestions! Ha!

I wanted a new, fresh title that was a play on my name and sort of explain my blog. There are so many seasons of life. The season of life I am in right now is being a fairly new mom and learning what life is like with a toddler. Just a year ago, I was in the season of wondering what it would be like to be a mom and being very pregnant. Then there was the season of being a BRAND new mom and all the challenges that brings. Each new season of life brings changes and challenges, both exciting and hard. I want to step back and reflect on those seasons of life, because just like the changing seasons of fall, winter, spring and summer, they are gone before you know it and it is faint memory.

I am not an expert at this motherhood thing - FAR from it - I'm just learning as I go. I just want to share what I do and things that have worked for me or creative projects I've done. I have gotten so much inspiration from reading other blogs and who knows, maybe I'll actually inspire someone with something I do.Well, I hope you enjoy my NEW blog and follow along through the seasons that life takes me.

11 months!

My sweet little guy is 11 months! Just one year ago, I was waddling around with a big ol' belly dreaming about what this little one would be like - his personality, his looks, and his smile. Now I cannot imagine my life without his open mouth kisses, his goofy personality, and his big brown eyes.

He is not walking yet, but I don't think it will be long. Breck loves anything with water - pool, bathtub, and splashing in his outside water table. He has been trying all new foods - strawberries, watermelon and sugar cookies are some of his favorites.  Breck is a happy little fella who is growing up waaaaaayyy too fast!!