MIA again

I know that I had fully planned on blogging more but that just doesn't seem to be happening lately.  I quit Weight Watchers.  Tim and I haven't really followed the plan in months and there has been a change in leaders...just not a good match anymore.  I am so ready for warmer weather so I have that urge to be outside and exercise more, not to mention the awesome fresh produce that comes with the season!  I am planning on cooking quite a bit today.  In exchange for quitting Weight Watchers, Tim and I have agreed that we will cook better (and more often rather than eating out so much) and work out 3x a week with 2 workouts with the Wii U Shape Up game.  

So we got the place clean finally!  We still have one closet full of stuff that needs to be sorted through but it was clean enough for us to be able to easily have some friends over for a small party last weekend.

As for what's on board for the next little bit, today I'm working on some of the name change things that I haven't done yet.  This afternoon I will definitely need a nap since I woke up before 6 when Tim was getting ready for work.  Then I'll probably do a little cooking later (a lot of it will wait until tomorrow), look through some of my old pieces to start working on my new portfolio site since...oh yeah let me spill about that.

So I saw that my website domain was expiring next month and being the genius that I am, I totally decided that I needed a fresh start so I killed my website.  Took the whole thing down.  I still haven't decided if this is good or not.  I don't even know where I want to start with the new site design.  So yeah, I'm going to guess that I'll be working on that for a while this afternoon.  There's a site called Team Treehouse that has a ton of online classes for web design and programming.  Once things settle down a bit, I definitely will be looking into that.  

Right now things are a little crazy.  There's the whole sequestration and there's a rumor that we could have our workload reduced to 32 hours a week starting in April.  I don't even know what that's going to bring if Tim's workload doesn't pick up.  What a nightmare.  Hopefully Congress can actually figure this out.  Just for the record (and I'm so not political), I can't help but feel like this wouldn't be an issue if the members of Congress were facing a 20% pay cut.  Just saying. 

Week 2...done

I finally finished week two of the Couch to 5k program...ouch.  I decided to be a huge slacker and not hit the gym when I should have.  So instead I ended up running Friday AND Saturday when I could have been resting.  Great start to the weekend.  Ouch.  Next week kicks of week three...after that, I'm 1/3 done so I'm looking forward to actually being able to walk more than minute and a half bursts.  As far as the SparkPeople leaderboard...I think I'm out of the running.  I'm almost 40,000 steps behind the lowest person on the board.  Hey, I still have will have finished 145,000 steps by the end of the night.  SO that is always a good sign.  Especially for a slacker that was going about 3000 steps a day, maximum.  We finished setting up the decorations in the apartment.  I also kicked Tim off my desk, moved everything into place, sorted the bags of clothing to be donated and started going through the last few boxes in the second bedroom.  I've made soup and rolls from scratch this weekend as well as made some stir fry nooodles...no that isn't a typo.  They're these awesome yam noodles...no carbs, calories, guilt...good stuff for a heifer like me that would rather waste her calories on junk food or wine.  Today we saw Les Mis (amaaaaaazing) and had dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse (also very good, a little pricey for what it was but nice for me not to have to cook).  Its been busy but good.  Tim is watching a football game (playoffs or something, really not my thing) and I'm watching Private Practice while considering attacking another box.  I'm just not sure if I'm there yet.  We're having a few people over on the second though so I guess that I'm going to have to bite the bullet and clean.  Just maybe not this moment yet...

A small goal

Today was day two at the gym.  I feel great.  Sore, but strong knowing that if I stick to it, I'll shed this weight in no time and hopefully have better running stamina than I've had in...well since high school (please don't make me count the years).  Sparkpeople has joined with Fitbit (no, I'm not sponsoring this or any of that silliness...) so my goal for the month is to get on the leaderboard of the top 600 for the monthly steps challenge.  This morning I was 30k steps away from that goal.  By the end of today I was 28,500 steps away from that.  Not too bad!  If I could pick up 2, 500 a day...then I'll hit that goal within 2 weeks.  Theoretically.  I'm not sure that its doable but its a great goal for me :)  Tonight I'm watching Biggest Loser, which I am soooo not allowed to watch unless I've worked out or am going to work out the day watching it.  If I watch those people move and drop that weight, while I sit on the couch and munch on desserts, I'll totally feel like the biggest loser...in a bad way.  So, onward and upwards.  Or hopefully for the sake of my weight, downwards.

Week 2

So obviously I never ended up finishing the first week of the couch to 5k workout last week or I would have been squeeing like a banshee.  Ok, maybe banshees don't exactly squee but you get my drift.  Today was SO MUCH BETTER though, kicking off my week.  I tracked all my food (woot) and once I finish my green smoothie, I have enough calories left for a bowl of cereal or a small sandwich (totally leaning towards the cereal right now though).  Weigh in this past Saturday was so not pretty.  As in up almost 9 pounds.  Gross. But I did weigh in with jeans (usually I have a tank top and shorts) so hopefully that's part of it.  I'm thinking I may steal my mom's wii fit for my "off days"....some workout is better than no workout.

This week was a big, bodacious spending week.  We bought 3 more pieces of art work, all the stuff we need to hang the artwork in the apartment, 2 couches (it was WAY cheaper than a couch and chairs), 4 barstools, 2 bedside lamps PLUS the nightstands, Tim's desk and the Bluray player came this week.  So there's that too!  PHEW.  The couches will be in on Tuesday and I cannot wait!!  We gave away my big red couch from the old apartment to a cousin of mine that just bought his house so the husband and I have taken all the decorative pillows from the bedroom and fashioned them into a backrest for the living room wall.  Its not bad, but I'm really over it.  So new digs will get a new look in the new year!  I'm just glad that it will finally feel like we're living here!!!

Goodbye! Hello!

So long 2012!  Last year was CRAZY.  A few highlights consisted of:

-spending the new year sleeping 14 hours after an appendix removal
-squishing my freelance business to focus on...
-GETTING MARRIED
-moved into an apartment nearly twice the size of my old apartment
-honeymooned in Jamaica
-turned 26
-was a matron of honor
-nearly made it through the new year but passed out around 11 PM

PHEW!

I know that its been a while but I should be blogging up a storm soon!  I had a friend who said she wasn't doing new year's resolutions but was committed to several things.  That really struck a chord with me so here are a few things that I'm very committed to this year:
-blogging more
-losing the weight I've gained between the honeymoon/Christmas/life after wedding
-saving towards a house
-getting this apartment clean before we move again

This and next week will be super exciting!  We're getting furniture!!!!!!  We finally ordered Tim's desk, the nightstands and our bar stools.  Tomorrow we're going to Home Goods to see if there are any chairs that we love for the living room then onto Value City to buy our couch (or possibly 2 if we don't see any chairs that we like.  I am SO excited!!!  We also bought our bedroom wall art which means that we now have art work to put up in every room.  Sadly, this means that we really are going to have to clean really well this weekend and next to make sure that there's room for everything.  Totally worth it though!!

I started the couch to 5k program again and currently am trying to talk myself to get off this couch and do day 2 of the workout.  Maybe after I finish the next chapter or two of Fifty Shades Freed...

Another one Bites the Dust

So another month has quickly disappeared!  Christmas shopping madness is fully underway.  We're mostly done, with just a few odds and ends to get still.  Now the packages are rolling in like crazy.  I'm still having everything delivered to my parents' house.  So today I picked up five boxes and I'll be going over later to pick up about 5 or 6 more.  Then the rest will straggle in next week but that should be the bulk of them.  Two weeks from tomorrow, we leave for our honeymoon.  Crazy how time flies!  Today was my day off work so I got a couple errands done this morning, started working on my name change.  Then I was a waste of life for the rest of the day.  As in, two hour nap sort of waste of life.  Now I'm waiting for the husband to come home and probably will be wrapping the other presents that come in today.  We've mostly settled in and I would like to unpack the rest of the kitchen things tonight.  This is our weekend of NOTHING.  We have weight watchers in the morning, but otherwise it should be a relaxing weekend.  I need to pick out a few recipes to try this weekend and get some groceries.  I'm thinking I'll make a 2 week menu to give us enough to eat until we leave and then restock food when we get back.  Although maybe not even then since it's the week of insanity once we get back (birthday, Christmas, my friend's wedding weekend), so that may be a week of sandwiches and going out.

Thirty days

Wow it has been a while since I sat down and blogged.  Sorry about that.  Today is the 2 month marker of tim and my wedding...we haven't killed each other yet so we must be okay!  We've also been in this new apartment for a month now.  We still have several boxes packed but are slowly nesting.  I'm definitely thinking with our next move that I want to hire some movers to load up our stuff.  I'm totally ok with packing it all but my muscles still haven't gotten over moving week.

But I digress.  The new place is so great.  Our favorite oddball perks include a free use Flavia machine (like a Keurig but with packets instead of the k-cups) and a 24 hour gym.  Tim's personal favorite thing is the valet trash service.  It is pretty cool...Sunday through Thursday night we just have to put our trash outside the door by 8 PM and by 9 PM its taken away!  Neat but wow I would never pay for that silliness.  Speaking of which, I should probably get it out the door soon, before I forget again.

It's the thirty day marker to the Honeymoon.  I'm glad that we waited a little bit before taking it, it will be such a nice break after the craziness of the last few months.  Once it's over, we have my MoH's wedding and then no plans after that!

This past weekend we cooked a lot.  We made Chicken and Dumplings in the crockpot and then the hubs made a small vat of French Dip in the crockpot Monday.  The Au Jus wasn't quite right so that's a recipe that I may have to rework before sharing.  The Chicken and Dumplings (highly altered from the original) recipe will be posted here soon.  I do want to have another go at it and make it more soupy (not so...chicken pot pie sort of consistency) and lighten it up a smidgeon.

Thankfully, today was my last day of work for the week.  My brain is kaput.  Tomorrow is finally my post-wedding hair chop.  I'm so excited to get rid of my stale hair cut.  I go between 2 main styles...SHORT and LONG.  Short has a lot of layers and is kinda funky and long is a layer about shoulder length and the other is however long my hair is.  My hair person wants to do something drastic with lots of layers that isn't long or short.  I don't quite understand it myself so pictures to come!  Then I have a meeting with the old landlord to get the deposit back (yay extra money) and dinner with Tim's mom in the evening.  Saturday we have Weight Watchers in the morning and an afternoon Turkey Trot walk.  Just a little jealousy here...Life has been crazy lately (hence the not posting much lately) so my diet and exercise are all out of whack.  I haven't gained a ton...3ish pounds, but I'm so stinking close to my goal that its making me be in a funk.  Tim on the other hand has lost 11 pounds since we got marriage.  Soooo not right.  I'm having him put chips up really high in the pantry for me now.  It's nice being married to someone a few inches taller than me for stuff like this...versus my constantly jumping up and down on a step stool to do the same thing.

Derailed again.  Right.  Saturday we also need to get some groceries and if I don't have time Friday, stopping at the bank as well.  Sunday I have my dress fitting for my MoH's wedding and then a mulling wine tasting with some friends in the afternoon.  Then just 3 days of work and Turkey Day!!