I've become almost too lazy to even type that word, let alone this blog post. I'm having some serious issues with motivation lately. I'm having an intervention on MYSELF.
Output: Haven't slipped on athletic clothes in almost a month now. After work, I prefer stretchy pants I can wear under my jammies that have fruit on them. Acceptable substitute: stretchy jean shorts with a huge T-shirt. (I counted at least 4 places I can judge me in this category.)
Intake: Lately, major food groups are baked goods, buffalo wing sauce, and takeout/eating out. Sub-category = alcohol. This is the only area in which I have put forth any effort.
Bathroom scale: Holds open the bathroom door, occasionally I stub a toe on it, but have not stepped on it.
TV: Watching a lot of it. Too much to admit here.
Thinking: Can't bring myself to think outside of work. (Thus, the lack of posting here, among other areas).
The intervention started in earnest yesterday. AFTER I watched movies all day, ate my weight in Chinese takeout, and didn't shower until 8 p.m. Luckily, Tim and I are in this together and we started with a trip to Wal-Mart (jgfdhgfstufs) for groceries and a new bike (for Tim).
We bought lots of fresh produce, lean meat, and grains. Did NOT buy replacements for any baking ingredients to avoid late-night temptation. Lunch today was a healthy salad, and after work, we're hitting the trails -- which is awesome because I don't think I've even LOOKED at my bike in a year. I look forward to moving and having more energy.
On other fronts -- I still have lots of plans on the calendar between having the in-laws in town (now!), my new nephew coming (maybe tomorrow!), a camping/kayaking trip (that I won't talk myself out of), and more. August is going to fly by, I can feel it.
Especially (since I'm no longer lazy) if I start up my boards on Pinterest -- holy time waster, Batman! Check it out, if you haven't already....
Monday, July 25, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
27
When this weekend rolls around, I'll have another birthday come and go.
Last year's birthday was celebrated en route to a family reunion in SD. This year, planning to NOT drive anywhere and spend my birthday with the coolest people I know (one of whom is also having a birthday! Holla.)
Let's recap the year, shall we? These aren't in chronological order....
1. Tim came home.
2. 2 of my good friends got married
3. I got married
4. Found out I was going to be an aunt
5. Another year logged at RC, gets better every year!
6. Made some new friends, spent some GOOD TIMES with all friends
7. Deepened my relationship with Vino's and the Sip n' Stir
8. Signs of aging so far: Getting crankier and getting moles removed
9. Went to Mexico, Nashville, and Atlanta for the first time
10. Paid off my car
11. Started volunteering for the first time since high school
12. Re-discovered karaoke
13. Actually requested truffle oil as a birthday gift this year (I'm domesticated)
This is usually one of my favorite times of the year. It's hot, and there are lots of reasons to be outside and good people and good food. This weekend, despite our recent challenges, I'm looking forward to celebrating a damn good year -- so much has happened! I have so much to look forward to in the coming year... and because I feel like I'm on a roll, I'll list those, too....
1. New nephew
2. Tim gets a new career that makes him happy
3. We buy a house, hopefully
4. Trip to see Laura in Dubai (I'm thinking this trip is going to be one for the books, folks...)
5. Celebrate 1 year of being happily married
6. Maybe I'll run my first road race... if I can trick myself into thinking that I like to run
7. Crack the code into making creamy, cheesy things without scalding them and continue to feed people because it makes me happy
8. Other, exciting, unknown happy things
Cheers, everyone!
Last year's birthday was celebrated en route to a family reunion in SD. This year, planning to NOT drive anywhere and spend my birthday with the coolest people I know (one of whom is also having a birthday! Holla.)
Let's recap the year, shall we? These aren't in chronological order....
1. Tim came home.
2. 2 of my good friends got married
3. I got married
4. Found out I was going to be an aunt
5. Another year logged at RC, gets better every year!
6. Made some new friends, spent some GOOD TIMES with all friends
7. Deepened my relationship with Vino's and the Sip n' Stir
8. Signs of aging so far: Getting crankier and getting moles removed
9. Went to Mexico, Nashville, and Atlanta for the first time
10. Paid off my car
11. Started volunteering for the first time since high school
12. Re-discovered karaoke
13. Actually requested truffle oil as a birthday gift this year (I'm domesticated)
This is usually one of my favorite times of the year. It's hot, and there are lots of reasons to be outside and good people and good food. This weekend, despite our recent challenges, I'm looking forward to celebrating a damn good year -- so much has happened! I have so much to look forward to in the coming year... and because I feel like I'm on a roll, I'll list those, too....
1. New nephew
2. Tim gets a new career that makes him happy
3. We buy a house, hopefully
4. Trip to see Laura in Dubai (I'm thinking this trip is going to be one for the books, folks...)
5. Celebrate 1 year of being happily married
6. Maybe I'll run my first road race... if I can trick myself into thinking that I like to run
7. Crack the code into making creamy, cheesy things without scalding them and continue to feed people because it makes me happy
8. Other, exciting, unknown happy things
Cheers, everyone!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Pushing elephants up the stairs
We shall call this chapter "Obstacles."
So, long story short, we're not buying a house right now. We're looking for a job. The mister found out that his orders were being cut short because of another officer's personal issues and lack of federal budget. After September, his employment will end.
Before I launch into why this is making me eat Tums like I own stock in the company, here are the upsides:
We found out JUST in time to NOT buy a house.
We're young and childless, so if one of us loses a job, there's just 2 people + 1 cat to support
This career move was inevitable, so instead of making these decisions in 1.5 years, we can make them now.
All of the above is not keeping my mind from racing nearly every day, though. What happens if the troublesome economy goes from our doorstep into our home (i.e., 3 months won't be enough for us to find something else)? How long will it take us to recover from this setback?
How long until I feel confident that the bottom won't always drop out? (Perhaps the first way this failing economy is affecting us).
So much is up in the air right now, I'm doing the best I can to just ignore it, honestly.
I can't create jobs, I can't influence anyone to hire him, and I can't make time go faster.
I can help my husband draft a better cover letter, I can help him search for positions, I can say encouraging things, and I can hope for the best. I can plan for the worst (without expecting it).
Here's to making it through this phase with my/our sanity, healthy BMI, and liver in tact!
So, long story short, we're not buying a house right now. We're looking for a job. The mister found out that his orders were being cut short because of another officer's personal issues and lack of federal budget. After September, his employment will end.
Before I launch into why this is making me eat Tums like I own stock in the company, here are the upsides:
We found out JUST in time to NOT buy a house.
We're young and childless, so if one of us loses a job, there's just 2 people + 1 cat to support
This career move was inevitable, so instead of making these decisions in 1.5 years, we can make them now.
All of the above is not keeping my mind from racing nearly every day, though. What happens if the troublesome economy goes from our doorstep into our home (i.e., 3 months won't be enough for us to find something else)? How long will it take us to recover from this setback?
How long until I feel confident that the bottom won't always drop out? (Perhaps the first way this failing economy is affecting us).
So much is up in the air right now, I'm doing the best I can to just ignore it, honestly.
I can't create jobs, I can't influence anyone to hire him, and I can't make time go faster.
I can help my husband draft a better cover letter, I can help him search for positions, I can say encouraging things, and I can hope for the best. I can plan for the worst (without expecting it).
Here's to making it through this phase with my/our sanity, healthy BMI, and liver in tact!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
What a difference a day makes
I don't think we're ready to share all the details yet, but our house-buying plans are totally up in the air now. It was a really hard night last night, and we have a lot of decisions to make, but circumstances can change so quickly!
Hopefully, everything irons itself out and this post becomes irrelevant.......
Hopefully, everything irons itself out and this post becomes irrelevant.......
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
This is worse than dating
We've been so busy lately! When we aren't working or seeing friends, we've been looking at houses and last night, we made an offer on one.
We're currently in the frenzy of the counter-offer process, and I'm so nervous and excited! But even after we make it official with this property, we still don't know the full extent of surprises lurking around every corner (eh? eh? see the dating metaphor?)
We'll decide after inspection if it's true love, and accept the house with all its faults.
This still feels like a diversion from all those crazy "what am I doing in life" questions, and a massive one at that. Goodbye expendible income and free time! On the plus side, if we become home owners and property tax payers, we have more street cred if we wanted to show up at a city council meeting and complain.
I think I'm finally going to blast this post out to Facebook (after much hemming and hawing), so to my family and friends: If you are curious and begin following my blog, pretend you didn't when we talk about stuff in real life :) Less confusing that way.....
We're currently in the frenzy of the counter-offer process, and I'm so nervous and excited! But even after we make it official with this property, we still don't know the full extent of surprises lurking around every corner (eh? eh? see the dating metaphor?)
We'll decide after inspection if it's true love, and accept the house with all its faults.
This still feels like a diversion from all those crazy "what am I doing in life" questions, and a massive one at that. Goodbye expendible income and free time! On the plus side, if we become home owners and property tax payers, we have more street cred if we wanted to show up at a city council meeting and complain.
I think I'm finally going to blast this post out to Facebook (after much hemming and hawing), so to my family and friends: If you are curious and begin following my blog, pretend you didn't when we talk about stuff in real life :) Less confusing that way.....
Thursday, May 19, 2011
So.... we're buying a house?
All of a sudden, we went from hunker-down-in-the-apartment mode to... "let's just go ahead and buy a house."
We might be crazy. And both going through some stir-crazyness. But we figure this is a better diversion than having a baby. (Thankyouno).
So, here is what tipped the scales:
There is a good chance the husband's job will go from temporary to permanent status, or we will come across other jobs in the meantime.
And, our rent just went up.... again.
Aaaannnddd, we have a good chunk of money saved/interest rates are good... blah blah moneytalk.
So, we are meeting with banks and going to open houses. Soon, engaging with a Realtor. I think I'm pretty excited. I get easily attached to houses that remind me of the house I grew up in, so that's dangeous.
There's already one that I'm mentally moving us into when I can't sleep at night. Maybe the pieces will fall together, but it's so darling, full of character (read: hardwood floors, fireplace, built-ins) and seems low hassle (read: updates).
We'll see what happens! In the meantime, I'm cooking and baking like crazy to keep myself distracted. I just love it! Here's hoping me and the Mr. don't gain "newlywed" weight. Maybe that's already happened, but the only thing my scale does is hold open the bathroom door. Oh well, my pants still (mostly) fit.
Over and out!
We might be crazy. And both going through some stir-crazyness. But we figure this is a better diversion than having a baby. (Thankyouno).
So, here is what tipped the scales:
There is a good chance the husband's job will go from temporary to permanent status, or we will come across other jobs in the meantime.
And, our rent just went up.... again.
Aaaannnddd, we have a good chunk of money saved/interest rates are good... blah blah moneytalk.
So, we are meeting with banks and going to open houses. Soon, engaging with a Realtor. I think I'm pretty excited. I get easily attached to houses that remind me of the house I grew up in, so that's dangeous.
There's already one that I'm mentally moving us into when I can't sleep at night. Maybe the pieces will fall together, but it's so darling, full of character (read: hardwood floors, fireplace, built-ins) and seems low hassle (read: updates).
We'll see what happens! In the meantime, I'm cooking and baking like crazy to keep myself distracted. I just love it! Here's hoping me and the Mr. don't gain "newlywed" weight. Maybe that's already happened, but the only thing my scale does is hold open the bathroom door. Oh well, my pants still (mostly) fit.
Over and out!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Write it Out
The past few weeks have been sort of hard. It seems like I'm either really busy (with everything), or not at all.
On top of everything, my husband and I have been in big career discussions lately. I tend to be risk averse, so any big life discussions that involve shaky changes are hard for me.
We'll figure it out.
I spent my weekend with friends and food, and it was perfect. I tried a yeast dough for the second time in my life and it turned out perfectly! Pioneer Woman's Maple Cinnamon Rolls were a great project for Saturday afternoon. I love trying new recipes and not knowing how they'll turn out -- cooking and baking are my favorite sciences :) Someday, I'll find some patience to figure out how to post pictures here.
I'm just DYING to take a trip, too. Later this month and into June and July, I'm taking trips to St. Louis and Nashville (first time in Nashville!), but I also want to get away somewhere else. Almost a year ago, I took a trip to Paris and Italy with my then-boyfriend, then-fiancee (he proposed on the trip). It was his two weeks of R&R from a tour of duty in Iraq, and we couldn't have spent it any better. I.loved.that.trip.
During the day, we would sleep in, then eat a late breakfast at a cafe before planning a tourist-type activity. We walked around old cities, drank at cafes, rode in trains, and stayed in tiny hotel rooms. Two weeks of bliss! I love traveling, and I feel like there is never enough time to go where I want. I only get 2 weeks of vacation a year through my company, and a lot of it gets eaten up with family stuff every year. That, and I can't afford to take unpaid vacation ;)
If I had to rank my travel choices, here they are:
1. Deep south USA: Alabama/Georgia/Lousiana... this is part of our country I've never been and would LOVE to see. I want to eat real southern food and tour old plantations. Listen to southern blues. Drink sweet tea. Hear some drawlin'. You get the drill.
2. Greece/Mediterranean: Just want to see it :)
3. Germany/Spain: German heritage, two siblings who have studied abroad in Spain.
4. England: Taking a cue from Rick Steves (Sunday morning PBS! Yes!), I want to start in London, and then go into the countryside to smaller cities like Bath.
Sprinkled in there, I'm fantasizing about Carribean beaches/cruises. It better get warm in Iowa soon or I'll go crazy!
Enough for now... I'm fighting the urge to start googling flights and figuring out if I can squeeze a trip to Savannah into a weekend this summer, haha. Second tutoring lesson tonight and I'm all on my own! Margarito is really sweet and super smart, just lacks confidence in the English he's using (which is his third language). He's in for a treat -- I remember practically NOTHING from my high school Spanish classes, so English and wild hand gestures are all we've got!
On top of everything, my husband and I have been in big career discussions lately. I tend to be risk averse, so any big life discussions that involve shaky changes are hard for me.
We'll figure it out.
I spent my weekend with friends and food, and it was perfect. I tried a yeast dough for the second time in my life and it turned out perfectly! Pioneer Woman's Maple Cinnamon Rolls were a great project for Saturday afternoon. I love trying new recipes and not knowing how they'll turn out -- cooking and baking are my favorite sciences :) Someday, I'll find some patience to figure out how to post pictures here.
I'm just DYING to take a trip, too. Later this month and into June and July, I'm taking trips to St. Louis and Nashville (first time in Nashville!), but I also want to get away somewhere else. Almost a year ago, I took a trip to Paris and Italy with my then-boyfriend, then-fiancee (he proposed on the trip). It was his two weeks of R&R from a tour of duty in Iraq, and we couldn't have spent it any better. I.loved.that.trip.
During the day, we would sleep in, then eat a late breakfast at a cafe before planning a tourist-type activity. We walked around old cities, drank at cafes, rode in trains, and stayed in tiny hotel rooms. Two weeks of bliss! I love traveling, and I feel like there is never enough time to go where I want. I only get 2 weeks of vacation a year through my company, and a lot of it gets eaten up with family stuff every year. That, and I can't afford to take unpaid vacation ;)
If I had to rank my travel choices, here they are:
1. Deep south USA: Alabama/Georgia/Lousiana... this is part of our country I've never been and would LOVE to see. I want to eat real southern food and tour old plantations. Listen to southern blues. Drink sweet tea. Hear some drawlin'. You get the drill.
2. Greece/Mediterranean: Just want to see it :)
3. Germany/Spain: German heritage, two siblings who have studied abroad in Spain.
4. England: Taking a cue from Rick Steves (Sunday morning PBS! Yes!), I want to start in London, and then go into the countryside to smaller cities like Bath.
Sprinkled in there, I'm fantasizing about Carribean beaches/cruises. It better get warm in Iowa soon or I'll go crazy!
Enough for now... I'm fighting the urge to start googling flights and figuring out if I can squeeze a trip to Savannah into a weekend this summer, haha. Second tutoring lesson tonight and I'm all on my own! Margarito is really sweet and super smart, just lacks confidence in the English he's using (which is his third language). He's in for a treat -- I remember practically NOTHING from my high school Spanish classes, so English and wild hand gestures are all we've got!
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