Crossing Our Fingers

Well today was the day! It finally happened! We finally had our home inspection!!!!!

I would like to say, “We had the inspection, and now we’re getting the house!!!” but apparently it’s a bit more complicated than that. It seems that when you are buying a house there is never a definite, “yes it’s ours everyone, we’re getting it!”, until the papers are signed and they place the keys in your hand.

But I can say that if everything goes as it’s supposed to go, we are getting this house and will be closing in the beginning of March!  It’s very confusing, I really want to be excited but things can still fall through at this point so I’ll guess we’re left in limbo until the end…. :/

This is the second time that I’ve been in the house and I just love it SO much! I can’t wait to post pictures once I’m a little more positive that everything is going to go through!

Now come the hard/annoying time in the process of starting to declutter and pack things up. I swear this Is my most loathed thing to do! The only upside is being able to go through our stuff and get rid of all that junk that we never use.

I really do love the fresh new start that moving into a new place brings though. You can start new with all your decorating and change things up in all your rooms!

I think I’m most excited to decorate Alannah’s room! We don’t really have anything up in her room right now. Our apartment is so small that there is not too much space to move stuff around and work with. She’s into so many different things right now that I’m going to have a blast picking a theme and putting it together! Here are some of my inspirations:

Owl Coat Rack

Button Tree

Where do you get your decorating inspirations from? Do you love moving or hate it?

On a side note I have decided to do the Warrior Dash this year in September! I figure that gives me plenty of time to get strong and in shape and get in some good running time outside. I did my first ever circuit training class and discovered how incredibly weak I really am….my body is literally sore from my shoulders to my toes! lol.

Have any of you ever done an adventure/obstacle run?

Lifes Little Frustrations

Sorry I haven’t posted in a couple days! I started at a new house this week taking care of an elderly woman. It’s an overnight shift so I might be a little sporadic with my posts for the next week while I adjust!

So today was supposed to (FINALLY) be the day we had our home inspection! We’ve literally been in the process of scheduling it for about a month now and it just has not been going smoothly at all. We were so excited to find out that it was finally going to happen this week! We could finally know for sure whether or not we would get this house.

Our appointment was at three so we showed up at about five minutes of.  We got out of our vehicle all excited knowing that this was it, this was the day! Then we see the construction worker…. apparently there was some miscommunication and the house was not at all ready to be dewinterized yet.

Now our inspection is scheduled for Friday, I’m really hoping with all my heart that this will finally be it!

So, you all know how much I’ve been obsessed with finding decorating/DIY ideas for this house. Well I just went looking for a good direct selling home decor company and stumbled upon this website:

Signature Home Styles

I absolutely LOVE everything in this catalog! I can’t wait to get a magazine and plan a party!

Have you ever done any direct selling parties? Which companies are your favorite?

Pressing on and Looking Forward

As I may have mentioned before I am extremely goal oriented and very motivated by the goals I set for myself! I’ve been keeping up with my running and today I ran 1.5 miles then walked and completed a “5k” on the treadmill. I can already feel myself getting stronger and more used to running. I set a goal to be able to run this year and I’m well on my way!

This is the only way I’ve come as far as I have! I started my “weight loss” or “get healthy” journey a little over a year now. I’m a part of this amazing gym that lets you do “childwatch” (watch kids in the nursery) for 3 hours a week and I get a free membership! It has been the only way that I could have a membership and stay motivated.

At the beginning of my journey, last year  in November I looked like this:

I had just started working out but was in a very depressed state of mind. I had a TERRIBLE self image and was so disgusted with myself any time I went shopping and saw the sizes I was in. Everything about how I saw myself was negative.  I hated going to the gym because when I was on the Elliptical machine even my FACE would jiggle! It was a rough start, but I eventually got in the mindset that I had to do this for me, and nothing was going to change unless I kept pressing on.

The following June I participated in my first 5k (That’s me on the right!):

I didn’t do so great due to an injury I was recovering from ( you can read all about that here: Running Against My Fears)  but I was on my way and was getting more, and more motivated. I felt so good when I got home from working out, healthier, happier, and I was starting to feel comfortable in my own skin again.

Then next goal I made was to participate in and finish a Triathlon that fall. It was an all women event and the course was 1/4 mile swim, 8 mile bike ride, 2.5 mile run. I finished it and felt SO amazing after that! I felt like I was really starting to become a bit of an athlete

November was my one year mark at my gym and on my journey! Here are my goals for this year:

1.I want to be able to run 5k by May and participate in the Fitcon 5k at the end of that month

2. I want to complete and compete in the Warrior Dash (for some reason I can’t link it here but look it up! It’s amazing!) at the beginning of June!

3. I want to do the Transformational Triathlon again this fall and beat my time from last year!

So here is a picture of where I was at my one year mark!

I’m pressing on and looking forward to all the challenges and goals I have set before me for this year! What are your health goals this year?

Learning to Cook

For those of you who know me, you know that cooking is something that I struggle with! For those of you who don’t know me here is a little info so you can see what I mean by the previous statement.

I can count on one hand how many meals I have made completely from scratch! Most of the meals I make on a regular basis are made using more premade ingredients than not. I also have a very difficult time cooking chicken when not in the crockpot! It’s always either too dry, or under-cooked.

I realize this morning that I am going to really have to learn to cook from scratch if I want to start eating wholesome and without much preservatives. This is a very daunting thought for me!  Here is an example of my “Signature Dishes”. :

Crockpot Salsa Chicken:

1 pkg. Chicken Breast

1 Jar of salsa

1 Can of Cream of Chicken Soup

1 Packet of Taco Seasoning

1. Place chicken in bottom of crock pot.

2. Mix remaining ingredients together in a bowl and pour over chicken.

3. Cook on low for 4-5 hrs. Serve over rice, or on whole wheat tortillas

 

5 Ingredient Crockpot Beef Stew:

1 lb. of Stewing Beef

1 Can of Tomato Sauce

1 Bag of Baby Carrots

5 Potatoes

1 Packet of Dry Onion Soup Mix

1. Braise meat, then place in crockpot

2. Chop potatoes and add in with carrrots

3. Mix together can of tomato sauce and onion soup with 1/2 can of water and pour over everything.

4. Cook on low for 4-5hrs.

 

Shepherds Pie:

1lb. of Ground Turkey

1 Can of Vegetables

1 Jar of Gravy

1 Packet of Instant Potatoes

1. Brown meat, then add gravy to it and place on bottom of casserole dish

2. Pour can of vegetable over it.

3. Follow directions for cooking potatoes, then spread over the top

4. Cook at 400 degrees for 20 min or until potatoes turn a golden brown

 

As you can see, I need a little help in the cooking wholesome and natural department!

I’m very excited because me, my mom, and my sisters are about to start a once a month cooking day! We’re going to rotate between our houses and whichever one of us is hosting at our house, we pick what recipe we’re all going to make together! I’m really hoping to learn a lot through this. My mom and both my other sisters are really good cooks so there is no way that I won’t come away from the experience with more knowledge!

What are some wholesome easy recipes that are your “signature dishes”? It looks like I need to be replacing mine soon!

 

Moving Forward

Things are finally moving forward! Our home inspection is finally supposed to be this next week! I feel like we’ve been waiting forever but I guess it’s only been a few weeks. This will be our final deciding factor on the house and I’m at the point that even if the decision is “no”, I will be relieved to finally have an answer!

In the process of house hunting and dreaming and planning how we will want things I have fallen in love with Pinterest! I have found a ton of amazing blogs through there with AMAZING do-it-yourself decorating ideas!

I am such an independent, decisive, and goal oriented person, that the thought of doing all these different crafts and project ourselves, for our own home just fills me with such a sense of pride. I know, I know, I haven’t even done anything yet, it’s a little too early for pride! But this is exactly how I am. I love researching how to do things, doing them myself, and being able to look at it and see all your hard work in something that is yours! Sometimes I feel like I’m such an odd duck because the majority of my friends/family are not half as decisive and driven as I constantly feel. I love planning and accomplishing things! But it definitely does help balance out a lot of my relationships.

Here are a few of the sites I’ve found through Pinterest  that I really like!:

All Things Thrifty

Ucreate

Becoming Martha

Penny Carnival

I can’t wait to try some of these amazing ideas out on my own home!

What are some of your favorite DIY sites?

Working on a New Me!

First of all, let me update you all on my running adventures.  So…. only about 2 hours after I finished my run yesterday, my legs were HURTING! Somehow I made it through the night and woke up to slightly sore muscles. I went to the gym, ran .6 miles to take it easy, then did my CX WORKS core class, only to find out that we were going to do a lot of gluteal/leg work! Phew! Somehow I made it through and am feeling quite accomplished today. (although very sore again!)

Now to move on to the new things I’ve been trying out.

I’ve recently become interested in changing my diet and switching to more of a plant based diet. I’m also trying to stay away from things that are processed. (for the most part)I want to cut down my dairy and meat intake so it totals only about 15-20% of my daily food intake.

I’m  still very open to being flexible on special occasions and such but I really want to make this the base of how I eat.

In light of these changes, this week I went out and bought some Almond Milk. It has the same amount of calcium as milk but it’s 50 calories less per serving. It’s also only about fifty cents more than what I usually buy! I’m generally not a fan of milk unless it’s chocolate so this works out good for me.

I’m not sure what to do about cheese. I really like my cheese and would love to try a healthier kind/alternative. All the substitutes or “healthier choices” I have tried in the past have been too processed for me to try again. This is definitely something I’m going to have to research and look into.

I’m hoping to get subscribed to a good food and recipe magazine so I can find some good recipes to keep me going. Any recommendations?

Any and all suggestions, recipes, or things that have worked for you are very welcome!!!

I will keep you informed as I go along, and maybe you’ll be inspired to embark on this journey with me!

Running Against My Fears

For those of you who read my Goals and Dream for 2012! section, you know that one of my goals for this year is to be able to run a 5k!

I really want to get beyond this!

Now, I’m going to be very open and honest here and admit that I had a terrible, embarrassing, scary thing that happened to me last May when I was getting really good and able to run 1 mile without stopping. I was at the gym, running on one of the treadmills I had never used before, getting ready for the 5k I had coming up in a week and a half. Let me take a moment and paint a picture for you. The treadmill I usually use is up on a side balcony where people rarely go and it’s nice and quiet. This treadmill I had never used before, well it was down in the middle of the weight room where all the guys workout, right outside both group fitness rooms, and you could see it from both balcony’s. So here I was running along , when all of the sudden I felt myself falling……I tried to catch myself but I landed on both of my knees with the treadmill going at a speed of 5.0, then I proceeded to hit the floor!People came from all around me asking if I was ok. To which I replied “I’m fine!” and laughed as tears formed in my eyes. I stumbled into the locker room, looked at my burning knees to discover that the skin was burned clear off of them and I was bleeding. I left to come home and somehow completed the 5k 2 weeks later. Needless to say, my knees where still bandaged and in a lot of pain so I didn’t end up doing much running. I have been terrified to get back on a treadmill ever since!

Today was a gym day so I decided that I would start that goal and get on a treadmill! Now, the first thing you need to know is that I haven’t run on a treadmill in about 6-8months. The last couple of times I tried I couldn’t do it without holding on, and would have to get off after about 10 minutes because I was so uncomfortable and feeling like I was going to fall off!

My goal getting on was to be able to go 20min. running for two songs, then walking for one and continuing that pattern until the 20 min. was up.  So I got up to my “old faithful”, the only one in the gym I feel comfortable on and started the 5k program. I had my ipod so I was listening to some rocking music which helped a ton! I had a 2 min. warmup and then it went right in to running. I ran for 17 minutes without stopping and realized that I had just run 1.3 miles! I had to take a breather at this point and walked for for minutes and then finished it off by running another .6 miles!   And can I just say I barely held on this time! What a motivating day this has been. I’m excited to see where I’ll be in the next few months! Do you have any fitness goals you are working on this year? Or perhaps an embarrassing gym story that mine reminded you of?

Trying Something New

So today I decided to stick to one of my goals for this new year and do something crafty for the week! I’m part of this amazing mom’s group at my church and today as a group we all learned (or attempted to learn!) how to crochet.

Now about 3 years ago was my real first attempt at crocheting but I never really got the hang of it. I had this great idea that I would make Alannah her first baby blanket to go home from the hospital in! Yeah, I barely got anything done on it before quitting!

Today I decided was going to be a fresh new start on this crocheting thing. I was going to get it down, and I was going to be great!…….2 hours later, with only 1 and an1/8th of a row done, I think I’m just going to stick to buying my scarves and blankets from the store! I really don’t have the patience to sit still and work on something for that long with so little achieved!

Hello world!

My life is full of a bunch of new changes coming with this new year! We are currently in the process of buying our first home!

I have been married for 5 years this March and have been a renter the whole duration of our marriage. We’ve lived in a terrible apartment (which we lived in for less than a year), and our current apartment (we have lived in for almost 4yrs.) that is seeming to get a little bit crazier every month.

In the past couple weeks I’ve become  SO excited at the thought of owning our own place, having our own yard, and just plain having privacy! Since we’ve been going through this process I really feel like I’m more motivated to get our house in order and begin making permanent changes in the home decor/organization department. I feel like I’ve just been freed from this renters mindset of  “We won’t be living here forever so why bother with this or that.”! It’s really quite exciting!

Does anyone know what I’m talking about here? Even though I’m excited I feel like I’ve gone a little bit crazy. I’m constantly thinking of decorating ideas, how I want every room in the hopeful new house to look, etc.

I’m excited to see all the new changes this new year brings for my family! And excited to have a place to write about it.