My Life as an Irish American Girl

Yesterday on Tuesday June 12th, I took a trip to JFK Airport. Wasn't flying anywhere though. It doesn't look that far on the subway. But when you actually start your journey on the F and the A train, it feels really LONG!

How I got there, I took the F train from Avenue X all the way to Jay Street Metro Tech. Then I went upstairs and transferred to the Far Rockaway bound A train. Well actually, I got on the wrong A train at first. The A train that was heading to Ozone Park. So I got off at Hoyt Schermerhorn and after waiting eight minutes, I was on my way to what I call my favorite place.

Fifteen stops later, I arrived at Howard Beach. Not only did the signs help me but I also followed the people with their suit cases. Obviously they were going to the airport. Before I could get through to the Air Train, I had to purchase a five dollar metro card.

I was very excited and getting goosebumps on my arms as a result of how happy I was. After ten minutes, the Air Train arrived at the Howard Beach station. When all the people got off, I hopped on and looked at the window. I got off at Terminal 2 and followed the people upstairs. I wasn't expecting to be allowed to get anywhere. Which I was right, I was only allowed to exit the airport or watch the people check in their bags.

After five minutes, I went back down stairs and waited for the Air Train. This time when I got on the Air Train, I took pictures of the planes. I'm sure people were looking at me thinking to themselves, "What is this girl doing?!" But I don't care what people think of me. Planes make me happy, it's my hobby.

So many different assortment of planes to look at. So awesome. Planes are really amazing. Although I HATE flying, I just like how cool planes look on the outside. The fact that planes are able to go around the world, blows my mind.

Here are some pictures from my adventure. Yes, I'll defiantly do it again! 

Losing weight is never easy. We can all agree that if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. It's been a tough two months in my journey to hit 180. But I'm happy to say I lost a total of six pounds. I started at 224 and dropped down to 217. Now my goal is to hit 207 pounds.

One of the biggest motivations right now is Ryan's wedding. Being a Brides Maid, I want to look good in my dress and of course be able to walk with out thigh pain. (Happy to say I haven't had thigh pain in two years) My other motivation is being able to fit into clothes and smaller sizes like a large or a medium. Since 2012, I had to shop in the plus size department. XL and 2XL which is something I want to eliminate in my life. If I can fit into a L or a M size clothing. Plus being able to fit into a new swim suit, my life would be complete.

My third motivation is my job. Those of you that don't know about my job, most of the time it's two hours while other times it can be five hours. That's how long I'm on my feet. Being on my feet for that long does hurt my back, but it also gives me the time to stretch out my legs while I'm standing. Which shows how badly I need to get in shape.

One good exercise I've been doing five days a week, is climbing up and down New York City Subway stairs. Defiantly a good for your legs because you are putting pressure on your legs as you walk up and down.

Next time I give you guys an update, I hope to be 207 or even better 200. We will have to wait and see what God has in store for me. If you have any questions about my weight loss journey, please feel free to ask me, I am more than happy to answer your questions.

It has been a long couple of weeks. But it's been a good couple of weeks. Happy to say I've been keeping myself busy during the week. Everyday, Monday through Friday I listen to music on Spotify while I eat my brunch before I go to work. I found a song that I really LOVE. If you like country, then you will love this song.

My brother Ryan texted me at 8:30am on Friday and I read it at 9:30am cause I'm not an early bird. He wanted to surprise my mom with flowers before she got home. So as last minute men think, they resort to the person they know won't say no. That person happened to be me, his sister. Another thing last minute men say is what he said to me, "I couldn't get them delivered." Keep in mind he could've but he waited till the day of to do it. I happily went to the flower store to do a good deed. Mom LOVED the flowers and the note that he wrote too. (To be honest he did write the note I just typed it up to it was visible for mom)

After work my parents and I went out for dinner to a Steak House called Outback. It's an Australian restaurant. They have french fries which they call Aussie Fries) I got the usual chicken tenders with fries. My Mom got the ribs and my dad got the ribs with BBQ chicken. I tried his chicken and it was DELICIOUS.

My brother Brendan bought brownies and cannolis from a famous bakery called Michael's. My parents and Brendan watched Jeopardy. Then I made my mom Rasberry Tea and myself regular Irish tea from Ireland.

On Saturday evening, Aunt Amy and my two little cousins Henry and William came over for dinner. Brendan made a delicious baked chicken with mashed potatos and gravy.

After dinner we taught Henry how to play the card game UNO. He won the first round and Brendan won the last round. Then we had a cup of tea with Carvel Ice Cream Cake.

Have to say Mom had a great birthday!

On Saturday, my dad and I went to Petco to get more sisters for Rhianna and Ashley. After asking a Petco expert if we could mix baby Bettas with full grown Bettas, we went over to the section where they had many different types of baby Betta fish.

This time Dad and I picked two Bettas we never heard of before. One is a Koi which is a Siamese fighting fish. The other Betta is a Elephant Ear. Two beautiful unique fish. The other two are the same as the ones we started with back in May of last year.

Sydney is a wide white Elephant Ear fish.

Betty is a baby pink fish. She's the size of a new born baby's finger.

Skylar is a navy blue baby fish. Same size as Betty.

Violet - is a wide pink mixed with a hint of purple.


I have an Australian pen pal friend who lives near Sydney. In honor of my friend, I decided to name one of my fish after the capital of Australia.

Now the moment you all been waiting for! *drum roll* Pictures of these beautiful Bettas. Just to let you all know, I had to zoom in on Betty and Skylar because they are very small and hard to see.

It was suppose to be a rainy nasty day in New York, but instead it was a beautiful warm day. Let me define warm. Warm in the spring time is 50-60 degrees. In this case it reached 50° which felt really nice. I still had my winter coat on because it was breezy and plus I didn't want to get sick.

At 9:15am, I woke up and texted my dad to see if it was raining in the City. FYI for those of you that aren't from New York, instead of calling it Manhattan, we like to use the term City. Anyway, my dad confirmed with his work buddy that it wasn't raining. So we decided to meet up for lunch on his lunch break. Not a very healthy choose, but it's delicious so we ate at Wendys.

My dad and I used to have our lunch date at Steak n Shake which was around the corner from his job. But now it moved to lower Manhattan. Let me get off topic for a second, RENT is VERY EXPENSIVE in the city. Especially ten short blocks from Times Square. Okay rant over.

Left my house at 9:50am to catch the 10:08am bus. Usually it comes early but this time it was late. But it wasn't a problem I managed to catch the train and get to where my dad on time.

We walked three blocks to Wendys, I got us a table upstairs in the resturant. He had a delicious burger and I had nuggets, fries and a small frosty. If you never been to Wendys, then you have to go and try this DELICIOUS frosty.

After I walked the sixteen blocks from my dad's job all the way to West 38th, I went into 7/11 and grabbed a cup of lipton tea. Then I found a bunch of benches outside Holiday Inn that were opened to the public. I was only five blocks from Times Square. One of my favorite places in the City.

That's when I took out my photography skills and snapped some pictures on my walk. I love walking in the city because I can get things off my chest. Expect you have to be a fast walker, cause everybody walks VERY fast like they are in a hurry. (Never understand why NYC people are like that) 

Mexico Airlines

Private Plane

Air Europa

Jet Blue Airlines

Japan Airlines

Air France

Hawaiian Airlines

Unknown Airline

United Airlines

Delta Airlines

British Airways

Quantas Airlines

Fedex

Henry (Left) William (Right) in their pajams singing

Henry and I built this together out of blocks

William eating a plain bagel as he says smiles

A selfie before bed time

Henry on his motorcycle bike

Last week I decided to put my game face on. It was time for me to take my weight loss seriously! If I keep going down the bad road, of becoming fatter, then I will sooner than later develop serious health issues. As I watch the TV show My 600 Pound Life, I remind myself how I do NOT want to end up like that person. Bed ridden, addicted to food, not able to bath, just NO! Two weeks ago, I had a wake up call. I wasn't losing any weight. Instead remaining at the same number for too long.

The time I was sixteen, I started gaining weight and eating non stop. At the time I figured it was normal for a teenager to be that way. I also drank lots of soda till I went to bed. But as I got older, I devoloped painful thigh pain. Everytime I'd walk, my thighs would rub together and create a painful rash. It was unbearable for me. It wasn't until I turned twenty-six that my thigh pain stopped.

At the age of twenty-six, only two weeks ago, I decided to go for long walks. Don't care where I'd walk to just as long as I walked. Two to three miles a day is what my goal remains. I REFUSE to gain more weight! I REFUSE to sit on the couch or in the kitchen all day eating like I did ten years ago! Most importantly I REFUSE to quit!

Last week I walked ten miles. Not in one day, but in one week. This week I plan to walk about the same weather permitting of course.

Please keep me in your prayers as I continue to battle my weight.

Thanks

On Saturday February 17th, my parents and I drove to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to visit my little brother Ryan and his fiancé (my soon to be sister in law).

When we arrived at their apartment, Ryan ordered lunch from Christopher's a sandwich place. I had chicken tenders and french fries.

 After lunch, He attempted to make me a cup of tea. This is the first time I ever seen someone prepare tea look so complicated to make. But I applaud his effort. Since Victoria wanted to get rid of this giant stuffed R2D2 which was taking up space in their closet, Ryan let me keep it.
My parents and I drove back to the hotel and took an hour nap. Then we went to the pool and the hot tub. The hot tub was relaxing but the pool was a little on the chilly side. But the best part of being in the hot tub, was watching the snow fall outside. When it snows in Harrisburg or any part of P.A, it REALLY snows. We got a total of four inches that evening. Keep in mind, I HATE snow!

After the pool, we drove carefully in the snow to the Longhorn Steak House for dinner. Never been there before. I got the chicken tenders and fries. Yes I LOVE chicken. It was delicious. Even better, service was excellent.

That same night, we went to Sheetz for dessert. For those of you that don't know what Sheetz is, Sheetz is a mixture between a gas station, convenience store and a fast food place. One thing that they have that's new is an ice cream machine with different toppings to choose from. I got chocolate and vanilla with rainbow sprinkles. It was DELICIOUS! In my opinion I thought it was equal with Carvel.

On Sunday, my dad wasn't feeling well, so Victoria and Ryan picked us up at the hotel. We went to L.C.B.C which stands for Lancaster County Bible Church.

For Lunch we went to Chili's one of my favorite restaurants. I got grilled chicken with french fries. The portion was small but it was delicious. Service was slow but we had nowhere to go so it turned out to be fine.

After lunch we went to the Colosseum. The Colosseum is exactly like an adult Chucky Cheese. Where you can win tickets then use your tickets to get prices. It was so much fun. Downstairs they had bowling which was really a lot of fun. I love bowling. I came in third place.

The four of us drove to Ryan and Victoria's apartment. I love their two cats Aegon and Khaleesi. Not sure what breed Aegon is but Khaleesi is partially a Maine Coon. Everytime I used the bathroom, Khaleesi would meow and put her paw on my shoulder. I love cats.

We were invited to have dinner at Victoria's mom's house in Palmyra. So we drove down there. The baked chicken was delicious. I met her mom's four cats, and Victoria's Step dad's boxer Max. We also met her step dad's parents. In my opinion, they seemed like friendly people. Easy to talk to.

Victoria drove us back to the hotel and we went to Sheetz for dessert. I got the ice cream again cause it's my one and only time I get to eat that stuff.

For our last day, my parents and I went to Walmart in Palmyra. One of my favorite places to shop cause it's so cheap and plus we don't have it in New York. I got new pajams that say "Oh Sheep it's Monday" and a poster that says "Be Your Own Kind Of Beautiful" Ryan met us in Walmart then I went in his car as we drove to Funcks for lunch. Funcks is a family resturant. I've been there twice it's delicous.

At Funcks, I got chicken thighs with french fries which was delicious. The three of us drove back to Brooklyn. It was a nice weekend vacation. Happy I got to see my Ryan and Victoria.