Where was I? Oh yes, I had declared 2009 the Year of Jen. But what did that really mean? It meant that in 2009 I would take care of myself. I decided I was going to make a few changes, big ones, but changes because I couldn’t just sit around anymore without some stuff getting done. I’ve made declarations in the past before but this time I was determined not to fail.

One of those changes was regarding my health. I immediately made an appointment to go to a bariatric surgery seminar in Modesto. It was put on by Memorial Hospital and I was very familiar not only with Modesto (born there!) but with that hospital. So alright, let’s go! The seminar I could attend was in February so I had some time to wait. When it finally rolled around I went to the seminar with my mother and we sat there with probably 50 other people learning about various procedures, benefits, risks, and finally some post-op patient testimonials. It was all very informative, some stuff I had read about during my research, but a lot of it was new. I filled out paperwork and was on track to schedule an appointment with a doctor there.

Waiting was the big pain in the butt. Not only did I have to wait what seemed forever to get an appointment, but it had to work with my schedule of being able to make my way from San Jose to Modesto.

When I finally had my meeting it was kind of odd, but at the same time kind of made sense. I walked in and a doctor discussed some of the overall details with me.. what I was looking into, what my BMI was, etc. Then she had me go talk to the insurance coordinator. Well my friends, that’s where I ran into my first roadblock. A minor one, but a roadblock nonetheless. She checked with my insurance and it said I would only qualify having this surgery at a Center of Excellence and a Center of Medical Excellence. The Memorial Hospital Bariatric Center is a COE, but Memorial Hospital itself is not a CME. Well crap! Here it was, what, March or April, and I had spent since JANUARY trying to get this worked out. Stupid me, I didn’t bother to call my insurance MYSELF prior to all of this. Note to anyone wanting some kind of surgery — inquire with your insurance first! I learned my lesson.

But it didn’t get me down and it did not stop the power of The Year of Jen!

The insurance coordinator said I could go to places like UC Davis or Good Samaritan in San Jose. Well after a little more research and some good recommendations from people who have had surgeries there, I opted for Good Sam, and it obviously fit well since I lived in San Jose.

I started to attend a free seminar put on by one of the bariatric surgeons; he goes over details for each kind of surgery and answers questions. The seminar is not only for those looking into the surgery but used as a group seminar for post-ops. It’s a really interesting format and everyone benefits from each seminar.

At the end of the seminar I asked him, “OK, what’s the next step for someone wanting to have surgery?” and he said to make an appointment with his office and we’ll go from there.

And that’s exactly what I did.

While some of you already know this, here’s probably the biggest news I’ve ever had about myself: on September 29, 2009, exactly 2 months ago, I had Gastric Bypass surgery.

You know how New Years comes around and most everyone attempts to make resolutions? Some people are really good and stick to them, but the majority don’t. We forget soon after the year starts, that determination and inspiration quickly disappears – usually succumbing to the day to day life, or simply because we weren’t that serious to begin with.

Like virtually everyone else in the world, over the years I’ve made several weight loss resolutions. When it comes to tackling that resolution throughout the year, I might make some strides; beginning (and paying for) some diet plan like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig or beginning a work out plan and sticking to it… for awhile.

Well hell, I’ve been doing that since high school at least. I’d be really good for awhile, then fall off the wagon. Rinse and repeat. But not only would I just fall off because of stupid reasons (splurging when I shouldn’t, for example) but also because I’d be discouraged with my efforts. I’d hardly lose any weight. It would seem that even if I worked hard at it, I wouldn’t get anywhere in a timely manner.

Now, for those people out there who have clearly beat the odds, lost all their weight by eating right and working out and it took them a long time, etc etc. That’s great. It worked for them and they could do it! That’s really awesome for them. One thing I’ve learned from various doctors is that it doesn’t happen that way for everyone and what I’ve chosen to do shouldn’t be considered the “easy way out” because when was the last time going in for surgery was an EASY thing?

But it wasn’t working for me and come March 2010 I will be 30 years old. I’d like to be out and about enjoying life by doing more physical things (hiking, swimming, learning to ski, etc) plus I’d like to have kids someday and there is no way I wanted to risk the health of a baby (and myself) by being so horribly overweight. Something more intense had to be done.

Let’s flashback to 2008 for a moment. My Uncle decided to get gastric bypass surgery. For the following months I’d ask a few questions and watch his progress. I’d hear some stories about how he was handling it; the food, the emotions, etc. Then I decided I’d start looking into it.. just to do some research. In the meantime, Adam and I were giving Jenny Craig another go. I was getting really tired of the “box food” as I had begun to call it. I had lost some weight on JC but it honestly felt like I was pushing a boulder uphill for most of the time.

Toward the end of 2008, my uncle had pretty much lost all his weight and looked and felt great. It was very inspiring! Around the same time a friend of mine from elementary/high school was blogging about similar issues and interest in the surgery. Reading her stories were also inspiring.

On December 31, 2008 I made my New Years resolution. I did not say “I will lose X amount of pounds this year!” I refused to put a specific goal to my resolution because that had always failed… instead, I took a more empowering position and declared that 2009 was going to be The Year of Jen.

Three days left and I would have completed NaBloPoMo 2009! Woo.. hoo!

I swear, next year I gotta prep better. I’d have more photos to share but I haven’t had a chance to get various crap OFF my computer so I can put new photos ON it. Yea yea you’ve heard it before.. like what two posts ago?

So Turkey Day is over and that means I’ve finally shared my personal news with many people (in person, as how I wanted to share it) and so it’s almost time for me to start blogging about it here. I figure everyone who reads this damn blog I’ve already talked to in person (cause there’s like what, seven of you that read this?) Could ya’ll comment or something so I can see who reads this? I’m curious! Just say hi. Don’t be shy!

Anyway, personal news.. will be in a post later, gotta finish writing it up.. but I can tell you what it is NOT.

I am not engaged.
I am not pregnant.
I did not win the lottery.
I did not join the circus.. though sometimes I’m tempted to!

what I really really want… *

So it’s Black Friday and I totally skipped out on all that crazy shopping. Mostly because a) I did not prepare any kind of list on what to get people but mostly because 2) I don’t have the funds to spend on a bunch of gifts.

However, keeping with the theme of today — as Rainn Wilson put it in a tweet — “Happy Black Friday everyone! So called because it’s the color of the corrosive decay of materialism that threatens to engulf us all! ” I thought I’d share a list of things I’d like Santa to bring me… because he totally reads my blog.

In no particular order:

The “Dreamy Diana Lens”
Found at Photojojo (one of the best photo-goody sites on the planet), this lens attaches to your DSLR with the aid of an adapter. (Canon, btw!) Photos have a dreamy look.. which yes.. can be achieved with some tweaking ala Photoshop or Lightroom – but that’s just not as COOL.

Polaroid Picture Frames
How spiffy doodles are these little suckers?! But then again, how many frames do I already own.. that lack photos in them.. hmm.. REGARDLESS.. I want! Gimme gimme. (Again, photojojo!)

The Fuji Instax Instant Camera
I mentioned this earlier.. I still WANT. I don’t necessarily NEED. Just want.

KitchenAid Mixer – in blue steel or pearl metallic
I looooove to bake (hellooo.. cupcakes, cake balls, tarts, trifles, etc etc etc!) I’m tired of using a hand mixer for all these yummy treats. If Santa could throw in some extra counterspace that’d be great.

Oh and why not throw in an iPhone or the new Droid through Verizon. Or both so I can figure out what the hell I want.

Thanks Santa, you’re the best!

(* Yes. I just quoted the Spice Girls.)

No photos right now but I made three desserts for Thanksgiving.
Mini pumpkin pies (in a mini cupcake/muffin pan), Pumpkin Crumb Cake, and Chocolate-Macadamia Nut tart.
All of ‘em went off really well!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone; someone enjoy a Moist Maker for me!

Tired from a day of traveling!

I have oodles of photos to go through, some of which are still stuck on two memory cards because I’ve sucked up every last drop of space on my laptop. That external hard drive I got the other day? Had to return it.. long story. But I got another and in order to use it, I need to upgrade my OS. In order to upgrade my OS I need to get files off my laptop. What a fun little merry-go-round I’m on! So I gotta throw some crap onto some DVDs.. free up some space. Blah, blah, blah.

Tomorrow is a day to rest.. and bake. I’ve got two desserts to make for Thanksgiving and would like to finish them at least halfway through the day.

I tasted cactus (a tiny bite of a deep fried piece) at a restaurant a day ago. It wasn’t all that good.. blech. But the photo of one – much better!

Adam has been in charge of picking where we eat while on our vacation. Well, for the most part. He does all the research and picks a few places and I check out the menu and we choose from there. Tonight’s dinner was in Flagstaff (since it was on the way back from the Grand Canyon) and we went to a place called Black Bart’s Steakhouse and Saloon.

We ordered some fried zucchini and I tasted a few – they were good and I could have totally gobbled them all up (well at least my mind thinks I could have.) Then came our order, prime rib for Adam (naturally) and shrimp kabobs for me. Ok.. Adam inhaled his prime rib, so I guess it was good. My shrimp kabobs were totally boring and overcooked. They didn’t put any kind of sauce, marinate — nothing on ‘em. Just threw ‘em on the bbq. Alongside was a veggie kabob.. again.. just veggies bbq’ed. Nothing saucy or juicy about them at all. I didn’t eat much, which was totally fine, but didn’t bother bringing them back with me since they were so overcooked.

But the food isn’t the whole story. At this restaurant all the wait staff take turns going up on stage and sing a song! They’ve got a piano player, and a stage with a bookshelf full of binders. From what I gather, there is a binder for each waiter/waitress. They go up there, pick a song and give it to the piano player and bam! begin singing. At first it was like.. uh.. ok.. this is .. odd? But man these people were GOOD. This is not silly karaoke or people who think they can sing. So it was really enjoyable! Then a couple of times, two of ‘em would go up there, or maybe three.. and then the whole staff would break out into song. When they would gather and sing Happy Birthday to someone it sounded SO MUCH BETTER than all those other restaurants and their silly versions of Happy Birthday with the clapping and noise.