So for a fun little hobby, I write reviews on Yelp for places because I love exploring restaurants, festivals and anything new!!! Soooooo I'm super excited because I got nominated by Yelp for something special...

I made it to yelp elite status...

 without actually trying I'm in!!! 

Sooooooooo normally people nominate themselves to become YELP ELITE, buuuuut I had noticed that the reviewers that were YELP ELITE had like 100's, some even 1000's of reviews written and I only had like 35ish written so I was like, oh there's no way I have enough written yet!!! Buuuuut I was contacted and notified by the yelp community manager about being nominated and if I would accept!!! 

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They said I was chosen because they noticed in my reviews all of my descriptive words, my humor,  my tip-giving advice, my details, that I was informative,  and gave constructive honesty, also my enthusiasm and succulent pictures!!! I wasn't even trying to become YELP ELITE, I was just being ME and having fun while going on food adventures and exploring my city!!! 

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WHAT DOES THIS MEAN???

This means I get a special badge in my profile and invites to free events to test new restaurants, see exhibits, festivals, museums and stuff!!!  Annnnnnnd for some events, which are complimentary, I'll be able to RSVP with one guest!!! I'm sooooo stoked!!!

You can read my reviews HERE 

♥Mary Frances :)

PROOF that God thinks about ME!!!

Succulents

Succulents are God's proof that during creation, He specifically thought about ME...

Mary, Mar Bear!!!

(Are these soooo CUUUUUTE???)

 SUCCULENTS!!!

Even the name is superrrrr cool...it just sounds like how you would describe something exotic and delicious...it was sooooo SUCCULENT!!! She has a very succulent personality!! The pear was soooooo juicy and succulent!!! 

 I know God was thinking of me when He created succulents for ONE REASON ALONE...they only have to be watered, ONCE A MONTH!!! Now IF you know me, you know that I tend to FORGET THINGS! How am I supposed to remember to water a plant EVERY DAY???? Or even EVERY OTHER DAY???? Usually, they end up DEAD!!! Buuuuuuuuuut I like to imagine, that when God was making all the plants during creation, that He thought, NOW, one day, far off from now, BUUUUUUUUUUUUT one day, I'm going to make someone named MARY!!! She's going to be this amazingly brilliant creation, that loves flowers and nature, buuuuuuuut will also be forgetful, I should create something that she TOO can enjoy and take care of....sooooooooo BOOM...God made SUCCULENTS!!! 

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What about you??? What did God create that you can't help but think GOD  was thinking of YOU when He made that???

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"But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows." (Luke 12:7)

Mary Frances :)

Horseback riding!!!!

Soooooooooo as you all know, being able to go horseback riding was on my list of weight loss goals!!! I had researched it online and the weight limit was 250 at most places, SOOOOOOO, with hitting 249 this past week, I knew that it was time to experience this new goal ANNNNNND Thursday was my chosen day to go, since most places are taking their horses to cooler weather for the summer!! There was NO WAY I was waiting till the end of October to go!!! 

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Don't worry, found a RIDING skirt on amazon for NEXT TIME!!! Because I will be doing this again, definitely a new hobby I'm going to learn!!! I chose to go to Cave Creek Trail Rides for my first time riding, it was recommended to me by the lady waxing my eyebrows, LOL, annnnnd since I grew up in this town I was liiiiiiike SUUUUURE!!!

Celebrating 110 pounds lost!!!

Soooooooooooooo to be honest, I was scared OUT OF MY MIND when I was ACTUALLY on top...Like...OMW...THIS IS A ANIMAL...IT HAS IT A MIND OF ITS OWN...ANNNNND THIS IS REALLY HIGH OFF THE GROUND...EEEEEEKS!!! Buuut after a while, I relaxed, they said I was riding like pro, apparently I had really good riding posture...NOT QUITE as at getting OFF THE HORSE!!! BAHAHAHA!!!

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Sooooooooooooo yeah, basically we went all through the desert...That was the thing that scared me, cuz there were cactus and stuff, I was like, I don't want my horse to get to close to the cactus and get mad and buck me off, also they said it was rattlesnake season...soooo YOU NEVER KNOW!!! Next time, I'm going to take the trail UP THE MOUNTAIN...it's like a 2 hour ride!! OOOOOH ANNNNNNND...we're going to go in a group, it's going to be a BLAST!!! 

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My horses name was Teddy Bear!!! Is that liiiiiiike the most MAR-BEARISH name everrrrrr???

The lady riding in front of me was asking if it was fly season because there were so many flies around the horses, I'm like, THEY'RE HORSES LADY...HORSES...Pooping and peeing like every 10 minutes, whada ya expect to be around them???

 Of course I HAD TO TAKE A SELFIE at some point...I mean, I may have been scared out of my mind...buuuuuuuuuuut...How could I NOT take a selfie???

Next riding session will be this summer...In the bay...AT THE BEACH...How amaaaazing is that??? IF I can find a place, apparently, most places over there are saying 200 pounds is their limit, and I don't quite think I'll be there by August!!! LOL!!! If anyone knows of any good places let me know!!!!

♥Mary Frances :)
P.S. I smelled DISGUSTING afterwards, I HAD to take a shower ASAP!!! LOL 

Coolest compliment!!!

So I post this before and after picture of myself on my family Groupme and my brother gave me one of the coolest compliments everrrrr!!!

He said, referring to my before and after picture "Same Self-Confidence though, not very many people can say that!" And I thought, that's just about THE COOLEST COMPLIMENT I've gotten during my whole weight loss journey! No, no, THAT IS THE COOLEST COMPLIMENT I HAVE GOTTEN!!!  Although, I would HAVE to say, that I think what my brother ACTUALLY meant is "Same SELF-ESTEEM" Because self-esteem is overall how you view and value yourself as a person, self-confidence is how you feel in your ability to do something.  Because one of my biggest fears with weight loss surgery, which I will go into more details in another post, was that in the process of losing weight, I would ALSO LOSE ME!!! :,( 

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I talked HERE about my over all self-esteem from a legit mental health test I had to take before they started the weight loss journey process!!! The phsycholgist said he had NEVER had a client score as high as me..bahahahaaaa 

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For example, my confidence may be high when it comes to public speaking or writing because I KNOW that these are strong areas in my abilities, buuuut when it comes to math, my self-confidence may not be very high, not because I think lowly of myself as a person, BUUUUT because I know this is a weakness of mine, HOWEVERRR, self-confidence can improve with learning and studying...soooo if anyone out there wants to tutor me in math...HEEEEEEEY...LOL Anyways, soooo in certain areas, my self-confidence HAS gone up with weight loss when it comes to being able to wear certain clothes because they look better now and in physical activities because with weight loss has come increased ability to become better in physical activities!!! 

However, my SELF-CONFIDENCE, which is what my brother was ACTUALLY referring to, IS THE SAME!!! And TO ME that is THE COOLEST COMPLIMENT EVERRRRR!!! Because ultimately what that means is this, I'm STILL THE SAME ME! ME has NOT been lost in the midst of MY WEIGHT LOSS!!! Believe it or NOT, that was LITERALLY my biggest fear OVERALL with having weight loss surgery, I didn't want to LOSE ME...I LOVE BEING ME!!!

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I still know what I knew BEFORE weight loss, I am a child of God, my heart, my life, my being belongs to Him! I was made by Him, and FOR HIM! I am beautiful BECAUSE He created me in HIS IMAGE! I am HIS handiwork! His masterpiece! HIS DESIGN!!! My outward appearance may have changed, BUT WHO I AM HAS NOT, I am STILL God's girl...I am still my hilarious, warm-hearted, quirky, fun-loving SELF!!!

I AM SITLL MARY...

I AM STILL MAR BEAR!!! 

♥Mary Frances :)

Mar Bear heart!!!

I have to share something with you all!!! Sooooooo anytime I use lip balm or chapstick or anything on my lips I almost always get sores... Reason #58576934040 WHY I DON'T WEAR MAKE UP!!! I'll do a blog post sometime on ALL THE REASONS, buuuuut anyways, yeah, Idk why but I always get sores on my lips...I guess my lips are very sensitive...like my heart...hee,hee...;) Anywayz,

♥

So I got this sore on my lip and it was totally bugging me...LIKE IT HURTS!!! Sooooo i'm like at a red light, looking in my car mirror at my lip sore when all of the sudden I notice that MY LIP SORE IS IN THE SHAPE OF A HEART!!! ♥♥♥♥

SEEEEEE!!!

A perfect little heart!!!

Isn't it ADOARABLE????👏💕👏

It's a Mar Bear ♥HEART♥!!!

I LOOOOOOVE IT SOOOOOO MUCH!!!! I pretty much swooned at myself ON THE SPOT!!!! It's SOOOOOOO CUUUUUUUUTE!!!!!! ♥♥♥♥ Annnnnnd even tho it HURTS there's this part of me that hopes it NEVERRRR HEALS!!!♥ It only seems right that I MARY, would be foreverrrrr branded with a HEART!!!

PURRRRRRRRRR!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

Brain Hugs!!!

Q:HOW DO YOU GIVE

YOUR BRAIN A HUG???

A: You just drink

COFFEE of course!!!

♥

Soooooo maybe I do drink A LOT OF COFFEE,

what can I say, I'm MAR BEAR...

EVEN MY BRAIN LIKES HUGS!!!

(Awww!!!! PURRRR!!!!)

Happy Monday Everyone!!! Get yo coffee on!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

 

 

Guess what today is?!?!

Yes that's right my friends...

If you guessed National Teddy Bear day, you are either, AWESOME LIKE ME, you were listening KFLR this morning, OR you were one of the blessed people to get a text from me announcing the day!!! Hee, hee!!!

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If your wondering, WHY this National holiday has anything to do with ME, hold up, i'll explain it to you all. You see, I LOVE CUUUUUTE things...annnnnnnnnnd...Teddy bears happen to be on my list of CUUUUUUUTE things!!!

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SECOND and MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL...

I am MAR BEAR

God's teddy bear gift to YOU ALL!!!! ;) Purrrrrrrrrr!!!!

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Sooooooooo take a moment today to think about Mar Bear the teddy bear that purrrrrs!!! And Mar HUGS the next time we see each other!!!  Mar Bear handshakes to all males...LOL

♥Mary Frances :)

Bumble bee!!!

Sooooooooooo I wore this outfit to church a couple of weeks ago and someone said I looked like a bumble bee!!!! You know, black and yellow...BZZZZZ...AHA...Without even thinking about it, I was like, I KNOW RIGHT???? Annnnnnnd i'm looking ...

WAITING for my...

HONEY!!!

AHAHAHAAHAHAHA!!! Good one Mar Bear, GOOD ONE!!!

 Hey i'm NOT REALLY a BEE, im a BEAR, waiting for her honey!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

What Mar means in Amharic...

Okaaaaay sooooo...When Hanna and Anali were here, we were having a discussion about my nickname,

 MAR BEAR!!!

Also, people just call me Mar too...Mar, Mar-Mar or Mar Bear...

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Now you may have difficulty understanding this, since you can't ACTUALLY hear me talking, buuuut...Anali was like, so why is your nickname Mar Bear?! And she prounounced Mar like the way you would prounounce bar, in candy bar.

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Now people mistake Mar when they see it ALL the time, so I just explained it to her. No, no, its NOT Mar, like bar, its Mar, like the first part of my name without the Y. Mar, prounounced like Mer, from MERRY Christmas. So Anali is like OH ok and she gets it...MAR BEAR!!! :)

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So Hanna is sitting there and she is like, WELL, in Amharic, which is the Ethiopian language, Mar, not sure of the exact spelling, buuuuuut MAR, prounounced like Bar, ACTUALLY means HONEY!!! So Mar Bear, prounounced WRONG actually means...

HONEY BEAR!!!

NOW you can't tell me thats NOT GOD!!!

Mar Bear... HONEY BEAR!!! Think about it, HONEY BEAR!!! That fits me EXACTLEY!!! Cuz i'm sweet and fluffy and soft and CUDDLY!!! (I'm purrin right now...those of you that KNOW ME...KNOWS what that means;) Awwwww...THANK GOD FOR AMHARIC!!!  Mar...its probabley the ONLY word i'll everrrrr learn, BUUUUT honestly, is there ANY OTHER WORD that I would need?!?! I think NOT!!! ;)

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So HOWEVER you say Mar Bear, EITHER WAY IS FINE NOW!!! Or you can even JUST call me HONEY BEAR!!! :) Annnnd if your handsome enough, and on-fire-for-God ENOUGH, feel free to just straigh up call me...

MAR!!! ;)

(Pronounced like BAR!!!:]

♥Mary Frances :)

ME as a...

Soooooooooo i'm in my room preparing for bed the other night when I hear my sis bust up laughing! Then she yells out from the front of the house, MARY, i'm looking at this picture and it TOTALLLLLY reminds me of YOU!!! I'm like oh ok...she is LIKE MARY!!! COME HERE!!! YOU JUST HAAAAAAAAAAVE to see this!!!!!!

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Sooooooooooo i'm thinkin who could EVERRRR possibley look like ME??? I mean HELLLLLOOOO I'm Mary Bear!!! I am my OWN PERSON...ONE OF A KIND!!!! Buuuuuut my sister is INSISTING sooooo i'm like, OH okaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!

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She is like LOOK MARY!!! This is sooooooooooo YOU!!! And I look at the computer screen and just start SQUEELIN at...

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THIS PIC!!!

ME AS A CAT!!!

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I'm like OMW!!! That IS totally ME!!!!!! Adorabley, irresistabley CUTE...MAR BEAR!!! I asked her WHAT about the pic reminded her of ME? The way the cat looked??? OR WHAT the pic said??? She was just laughing and was BOTH!!! Thats TOTALLY something you would say, (when I get married!;) and the way you look...Its JUST YOU!!! I was like AWWWWW!!! Like a TOTAL COMPLIMENT!!!

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LOOK!!!

Can you all see the resemblance???

Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

Talkin about me!!!

I was wiping down tables after a youth fundraiser a couple of Sunday nights ago and I was going around a group of people that were still eating and they looked up at me said... We're talkin about YOU!!! I just smiled and said OH REALLY??? Then they kind of just looked at me expectantley like, don't you what to know what we're saying?!?!

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I was like, OH its ok! Go ahead...Keep talkin! KEEP TALKING!!! I'm sooooo NOT EVEN worried about what your sayin!!! I'm all, I know that WHATEVERRRR it is, it has GOT to be...

 GOoOoOoOoOoD!!!

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Cuz, I mean like, HELLLLLLOOOOO...

YOUR TALKING ABOUT ME!!!!!

MAR BEAR!!!

As IF...

 there is even ANYTHING bad to say!!! ;)

♥Mary Frances :)

You know that ONE person...

You know that ONE person, that when the church starts singing, "I'm so glad I'm a part, OF the family of God...AND the song leader tells everyone in the church go around and greet each other, and so everyone does. Then there is ALWAYS that ONE PERSON that is still OUT hugging people while the church has already moved onto the next song...you know that ONE person??? WELL...

THATS ME!!!

Just can't help it...and if your my sista...

Don't EVEN put out your hand out for me to shake...

I'm ITALIAN...I GIVE HUGS!!!

Thats why they call me, Mar Bear!!! :)