My Buck Wild Christmas!

It's hard to believe that this year is almost over, and more importantly that it didn't end!!! Something else just dawned on me, Ginger In The Rye's one year anniversary is right around the corner! I hope that all of you are enjoying this blog as much as I am!


To begin, I finished my 3rd semester of college! I had pretty good grades and a lot to celebrate this holiday break.

Work is well, work, and I can't wait till I transfer to the U of A in the fall! I have met with 2 academic advisers and my future seems bright!

My favorite Sculpture in the quad at my College.

My ECONOMICS study partner Dani before our final. We pulled an all-nighter. 

On a VERY important note one of my favorite people just moved back to Tucson! Jaclyn Mae Gerhart is starting nursing school in January! Good luck! You go girl!

Did I mention she is part Turtle! 

After I finished School my sister, mother and I had a 12 month pre-planned trip to California to go to Disneyland and just take a mini-vaca, but my grandfather's health made a turn for the worst. Needless to say we stayed in Tucson and I just spent quality time with friends and family and made the best of a terrible situation!

My days were spent at the gym with friends which lead to sleepovers at night, followed by early mornings in the kitchen making delicious breakfasts!

Typical sleepover! 

To get in the Christmas spirit my buddies and I went to Tucson's famous Winterhaven Festival of Lights! It a neighborhood that requires its homeowners to put up lights for the holidays. Police direct traffic...it's kind of a big deal! It was so big that we went TWICE! 

A Typical House!

Even the streets are named for Christmas.

Getting coffee before winterhaven! 

Alyssa came out to play!

Jackie under the mistletoe in Winterhaven. FOREVER ALONE.

Can you find Claudia?

Me, Jackie, Zachy, Alicia, and Shayna!

Little Claudia and Me

Remember how I said it was kind of a big deal, one of my sister's friends Vanessa [she had a shout out on my last post] was asked to get married there! And....

She said "YES!"

Congrats Vanessa and Ryan! 

In Winterhaven there is a special house that has a wishing tree. Every year we make wishes! Claudia was really excited to make a wish! I hope mine comes true...it was really good.

Alyssa made a wish!

So did Jackie!

Other days we just enjoyed each others company!

Johnny Lovely.

Lets just say I am a great dancer, because I am,  but there is always room for improvement. So Jackie and Zach have been helping me get up to speed with the latest dances.

Twerkteam: Zachy and me!

However, if you are a native Tucsonan and are under the age of 21 you know that there is literally nothing to do in this town. A few nights have been spent with our favorite 6th grader Claudia. Painting nails and taking pictures...you know the usual.

But a lot nights/days were spent on the couch cracking jokes, watching UofA Basketball, and trying to find something to do!

Zachy and Jackie...that rhymes!

Hubby Material!

Sean Miller got my Cats to #3 in the Nation. Impressive! 

John and I! Go US!

Zach hates pictures..but I somehow got this one!

A lot of time was spent at the mall shopping for Christmas with every other last minute shopper.  It was quite a battle. Just thankful it's all over. 

John after a long day of shopping. We needed Panda! 

I must say that I have always been a fan of the Christmas season! Especially when I get to witness major life events. My former classmate Monique got married and I was honored to attend the reception! It was a great time. I got to see some of my other classmates and got a little dancing in! Congrats Monique and Brennan! Wishing you a lifetime of happiness!

First dance. Jackie [almost] cried. 

Jackie, Kevin, Me, and Gracie.
Cutting the cake.

Nic and Me! 

Amongst so many other activities Jackie's brother turned 22 and we were able to celebrate at Risky Business for a couple of hours. Happy Birthday Zach! 

Looks like were missing a few candles there. 

Finally Christmas Eve arrived! The typical Porter tradition of a white elephant gift exchange and sandwiches happened! I was happy that I could spend time with my family, especially my brother-in-law and sister, because I feel like I haven't seen them since they got married... and that was way back in April!

Me and Steph on the Eve of Xmas!

Steph and Cory

After Grandma's we headed to our family friend's house. The Salerno's always have a poppin' Christmas Eve and we were glad we could see them in their matching pajamas... and all of their animals!

Shannon, Me, and Kristin! Just in case you were wondering that is a 70 inch T.V
behind us....HOLY!

Christmas Day was spent with the family and I decided that Santa was pretty good to all of us this year. I hope that Santa was good to you too!

Cody and Nicole on Christmas! The next power couple! 

It was a pretty good Christmas! 

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and has a great New Years! 

Hope life continues to be beautiful wherever you are!

30 and Counting!

Tonight this post is quite emotional for me. I stepped on the scale today, and I am 31.5 pounds lighter, and I am still in shock! As I went to my sister's b-day party this weekend, the compliments started pouring in and I felt great. But It wasn't today till I stepped on that scale and saw myself in a new way. I have been working really hard lately and I am finally seeing myself in a new light. This is a life style change.

Aside from the compliments I was getting a lot of, "What are you doing?" "How is your diet?" "What is your workout routine?"

But the truth is, if I want a piece of chocolate, I will have it, not the whole bar(like I used to do) but some. As far as working out, I love working out with friends. We try to compete and it becomes more a game then a workout. Also the trick to staying on a machine for a long period of time is find a T.V, put your headphones in, and don't look down at your machine. Before you know it, it's an hour later!

The stair master is one awesome workout! 

But I am not finished. This 30 pounds is just a dent in the amount of weight that I am going to lose! I haven't come up with an exact number yet. I was think 60 maybe a flat 100. But I have a lot of time to decide!


Thank you to everyone, for the support, kind words, and to my mom for making the best protein smoothies in the world!

And you thought Watermelon season was over! 

Hope life is beautiful wherever you are! Stay healthy my friends!

P.S. My sister and her best friends from elementary to middle to high school to college and beyond  got together tonight and we had a girls night! In reflection, I hope that me and my friends will have a relationship like this! We had a blast! Funny thing is, 10 years ago I wasn't even allowed in my sister's room, let alone allowed to hangout with her friends! Boy have things changed...for the better!

Shout out to Vanessa! She is on the far left! It's her first appearance on the blog! 

Belated

Yesterday was my sister's 26th Birthday. My thought, WOW, only 4 more till she's 30.
She has been a great role model for me over the years, from graduating high school, college, and rocking out her job on the daily, she has shown me what hard work can do.

We get to celebrate in 2 weeks at Disney!

Happy Birthday Steph! Love you!

P.S. Only 26 days till the 'Fiscal Cliff'.

This Post...

...Is coming to you live, while I am on a bike at the gym. Just a little update. I'm down 27.5 pounds. I feel great and am sleeping through the night. But more importantly Christmas is right around the corner! While I was at work my parents started decorating without me. Hope everyone has a great holiday season! Also good luck on finals my fellow higher education seekers!!
Updated via iPhone!
----Shannen

19 Days.

19 Days ago was the last time that I wrote you guys, and I'm sorry, just been a little busy.

Some reasons why:

1)

I went to my Doctor, and the both of us agreed that a diet was in order. Good News I've lost 21.2 pounds. Bad News(Maybe) I haven't had a Dr.Pepper in 5 weeks. It's.Killing.Me. But, So.Worth.It.

I also went to a dietitian and got set up on a food/water intake plan and it's obviously working. I don't count calories or carbs, but I count protein and make sure that I have 100 ounces of water everyday! 

For example: Let's say you weight 100 pounds. Cut the total in half and thats how much protein you should have every single day. 

   

     100/2= 50 grams.

So lately my best friends have been protein shakes in the morning and Cliff(bars) Builders for Snacks during the day. 

Soy Protein>Whey Protein...for women at least!

             

Oh! My mom bought me a Ninja Blender and I have been making fresh(only) smoothies with greek yogurt and protein powder!

I just can't wait till this time next year to see what I look like. Abs are definitely in the works because I have been kicking my ass butt in the gym! 60 minutes of hard Cardio followed but rotating days of upper and lower body lifting everyday. Plus, I keep a food journal---it makes it harder to cheat that way!!! 

Finally broke down and got my own membership instead of mooching off Zach's
guest pass everyday!

Treadmills for days in the Cardio Theater!

Also I have been finding fun ways to workout...like riding my bike to work on the weekends!

Disclaimer: This picture was taken at the start of my diet.
I will take an after picture after my weight lost in the same location.
Typical Saturday afternoon after work!

2)

Antonio and me. Last game. Dugout! Thiz face!

The softball team that I play for, well, our season ended! Happy, because now I have more free time. Sad, because I was having so much fun!

We ended the season 5-7(Not bad) We lost in the second round of the playoffs to the undefeated first seed, so we can't complain there!

3)

Even though it feels like we just celebrated Halloween (because we did) now I have been helping Zach and his Mom set up for Christmas. They go all out...it's not even thanksgiving yet!

Zach's living room. 

Lights in the trees.

Lots of lights!

SO my Sister runs in marathons. Like last year she ran in the P.F Changs Rock-n-Roll marathon and for fun this past weekend she ran in the Dirty Girl Mud Run for her friend Christina's Birthday! They made t-shirts. I guess her days in Student Council making shirt will help you in life...someday! Way to go Steph! 

Mom doesn't like the shirt....neither does my dog.

                

Before

After

In other news, my prescription changed on my eyes so much I was forced to get new lenses, so I just got NEW frames too. A little different from my Ray Bans but no regrets!

Sorry not sorry for my facial expression!

And one more thing! I can't wait to get back to Disneyland for Christmas with my Mum and Sister! We leave one week after finals! Definitely gives me something to look forward to!  

Here's a few pics from last December at Disney!

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

P.S Im still in mourning. I thought America was ready for some R&R.

Guess Not. Good Luck, America.