November Goals

Here's my November Goals list ... but first let's see how I did on my October goals ....

1. Up the rest of my weights this week and moving forward. 

Freaking fail fail fail fail. I've pretty much stopped working out for the past week and a half. I'm going through something ... it SUCKS .. and by "going through something" means not doing well and not able to pull myself out of it. 

2. Keep couponing! The more the better! 

YES!!! I recently wrote to all the companies who's products we use asking for coupons and a TON of them answered and mailed some to me ... so we've been saving little by little. I'll be sad once I've gone through them all.

3. Get to mass THREE weeks in October (A carry over from September)

Fail again. Saturday I get up with the puppy and let Jeff sleep in ... Sunday I get to sleep in ... so I have been choosing sleep over church .. I'm so sorry! :/ 

4. Find a dress for the Marine Corps Ball! EEeeekkkkkk! 

Not only did I FIND a dress ... but we went to the ball too! More pics on a later post, but here's what we looked like!! 

5. Buy at least two Christmas presents (Planning ahead so we aren't shocked with it all + travel expenses in December!) 

November was busy but we have gotten a few gifts ahead. 

6. Celebrate being married 6 months, October 12th!!! <3 

Yes we did!! Read more about it ::::HERE::::

7. Get to Joshua Tree National Park to star gaze. 

We DID get out to JTNP ... BUT the moon was high and full and it was the very beginning of the cooler weather, so we didn't last long. It was still fun :) 

November is almost over ... so even though this is titled "November Goals" I'm just going to tell you what we had planned for Nov instead.

- Mom was visiting for a week!
- Jamie and Brad are coming to visit for a weekend
- We were going to have Thanksgiving here at our house, but we are going to a friends family's home instead. 
- Duke had his third vet appointment (he's HUGE)
- I've been doing a lot of cleaning and getting the house ready
- We got our orders for where we are going to be stationed for the next three years
- I've been watching a ton of TV 

I'll write some more specific posts on things we've got going on in November with pics later :) 

Where DID September Go?

September went by with a blink of an eye.

Seriously, I can't believe it's over. Here's how I did on my September goals:
(If no one cares about these goals, it's totally fine! Keep coming back! :) I just like to keep track .. it keeps me moving forward!) 

1.  Get a puppy ... eeeeeekkkk!!!!!! Okay, that's not a goal .. it's an announcement! -- We DID get a puppy! His name is Duke and we are in love.  ... he is a stinker ..just nine weeks old yesterday. He still nips and bites but it's because he's a baby .. he doesn't like to let me SLEEP .. but he's doing great in the short time we've had him! Read and see more of him {HERE} And also know, that I'm officially a loser dog person who's obsessed with their dog. 

2. Come up with a YUMMY dessert (not healthy!) to take to Jamie's when we visit for the weekend... Yes! I did this too. I've made [these] before, in Michigan .. so I brought them to the housewarming party and they were a huge hit if I say so myself ;) Oh! They were called "Monster Cookies" .. soft, PB, oatmeal, chocolate chip and mini M&M cookies! I DID forget to take a pic though. Go check out the recipe.  

3. Purchase a plane ticket home for CHRISTMAS for me? As I said before, there were a few things in the way of this one. I haven't done it yet. 

4. Get to mass (church) THREE weeks in September. Fail. I went twice .. I'm working on it. I need to find a mass I like the music at, here. I've been spoiled at home.

5. Send two pieces of "just because" mail to anyone I see fit. I love mail. I'm going to call this a win. One just because and one thank you note :) 

6. GET ON A LIFTING SCHEDULE! I'm lifting four days a week. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. This whole week I upped almost everything ... I'm REALLY excited about it! Who knew??!?!

7. Watch the stars in Joshua Tree at least once in September. Nope. I wanted to .. we've been busy ... September FLEW by and now that we have the pup we would either have to bring him or keep him in is crate at home while we go ... so it didn't happen :( But we will go again soon. 

1. Up the rest of my weights this week and moving forward. 

2. Keep couponing! The more the better! 

3. Get to mass THREE weeks in October (A carry over from September)

4. Find a dress for the Marine Corps Ball! EEeeekkkkkk! 

5. Buy at least two Christmas presents (Planning ahead so we aren't shocked with it all + travel expenses in December!) 

6. Celebrate being married 6 months, October 12th!!! <3 

7. Get to Joshua Tree National Park to star gaze. 

September Goals

But first ... a quick update on my --August Goals--
If I'm honest, a few of these babies were completed over Labor Day weekend when I had my husband around!

1. Read at least one book. Just FINISHED reading Tatiana and Alexander .. The Bronze Horsemen #2 - by Paullina Simons on my Kindle Touch. Wow. I think it was 810 (or something close) pages ... It didn't have a happy ending, like most of the stuff I read but honestly I had already gotten "so far" that I had to push through and finish. 

You can see ... it was a lot of work ...

But I finally made it to ...

BOOK COMPLETE!! YAY!!

2. Get my photo wall up in our new living room. CHA CHING! I'm in love with this. Super thankful for a husband who can do things like this, no problem. (with his lovely assistant of course!) I'm really happy with how it turned out. What do you think?

3. Get EVERYTHING off of our kitchen table .. True story! I got that bad boy cleared off!

I put this mail organizer in the pantry, so it's hidden but it's a place for our mail, bills, lists and coupons to go.


4. Get 5+ boxes out of the guest room (more unpacking / donating / throwing away!) 

I ACTUALLY did this. 5 boxes at least. Are you serious? I didn't donate or throw anything away though. We still have so much junk up there in our poor guest room, but I made a dent! I truly don't know if this house will have a room for guests to stay ... the boys usually just sleep on the couches! I know you can't see a big difference, but I swear there is.

5. Try two new recipes. 
Can I please tell you how excited I am that I KILLED this goal? (13 in all, I think!)

Turkey Bacon Ranch Wraps (ok .. not a real recipe, just a new combo for us!)

Lemon Greek Chicken

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Pronto Pasta Bake (no pic)


Zucchini Lasagna (twice!)

Stuffed Red Peppers (I'm making them again tonight!)

Snickerdoodles

Carrot, Apple, Zucchini Bread

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Popsicles

Chicken Stuffed Zucchini

{Crock-Pot} Apple, Turkey Bacon, BBQ Chicken

Loaded Cauliflower Casserole

I'm making this again this week .. this pic is terrible .. I'll make it again and write about it. YUM!

Home made potato chips (no pic) I'm making more of these this week, I'll post pics and recipes :)

6. Truly start lifting weights on a schedule.
Ehhh ... I decided on a schedule .. I did a solid week .. Friday killed me and now I never want to do legs or abs again .. but I'll start again today (Wed) Wahhhhhhh :( 
This one is going back on the goals list for next month.

Okay!! On to September Goals!!! 

1.  Get a puppy ... eeeeeekkkk!!!!!! Okay, that's not a goal .. it's an announcement! Jeff and I are getting a puppy! I'll totally be posting pics when we get him in a few weeks, so buckle up. I'll try not to be a crazy dog person .. but they're adorable .. so really, buckle up for puppy pics.
So I guess this goal will be a multi, multi, multi part goal, all to be completed before we GET the puppy:

• Read about puppy training / crate / house training
• Purchase baby gates for the kitchen
• Purchase crate for puppy
• Set some house rules
• Get / make a few rags for puppy clean up
• Purchase puppy accident cleaning up supplies
• Research a VET close to our home
• Research puppy immunizations
• Research boarding dog fees while traveling
• Research a dog tag / license?

 Holy crap. It's okay, I'll get it done. I actually have looked into a few of these already ;)

2. Come up with a YUMMY dessert (not healthy!) to take to Jamie's when we visit for the weekend... I can't WAIT to see Jamie and Brad in San Diego in a week!!

3. Purchase a plane ticket home for CHRISTMAS for me? This is up in the air..I would LIKE to purchase tickets, but there are a few reasons it might have to wait. We'll have to see.

4. Get to mass (church) THREE weeks in September.

5. Send two pieces of "just because" mail to anyone I see fit. I love mail.

6. GET ON A LIFTING SCHEDULE! (Yelling at myself .. not you..)

7. Watch the stars in Joshua Tree at least once in September. 

I feel like that's a lot .. but we will see what I can accomplish! 

Do you have any goals for September? What are they? 

August Goals

I mention Erin's blog, from time to time on here. Mainly because she has some great ideas. She posts a few goals for the month and then updates on how she did. I think its such a great idea to have something written down to shoot for. I always enjoy reading hers and thought to myself ... why not me?! :)

Here we go ...

1. Read at least one book. (Just began reading Tatiana and Alexander .. The Bronze Horsemen #2 - by Paullina Simons on my Kindle .. having a hard time getting into it so far.)

2. Get my photo wall up in our new living room, a project I have to finish. We also have to buy a level & photo/paper cutter too.

3. Get EVERYTHING off of our kitchen table .. this is huge. We have really moved in. There is paperwork (what feels like) everywhere.

4. Get 5+ boxes out of the guest room (more unpacking / donating / throwing away!) - I need to move forward on this and I'm just not looking forward to it.

5. Try two new recipes. Pinterest or a cook book perhaps? WW Friendly of course!

6. Truly start lifting weights on a schedule.

Three Weird Things I'm Doing ...

The first thing is a "No Spend February"

I read this blog, Love, Fun and Football and they did a "No Spend January" and I wasn't quite ready yet but loved the idea. They are working on paying off their student loans and it's really inspiring. Now, I don't have a student loan but we do have a wedding and a move coming up and the more I save the better.

These no spend month's are popping up everywhere and now Kym at Travel Babbles is doing one too. I've jumped on board. I actually did February 1 but I didn't think to write about it here.

So first you write out a budget. For those of you who hate the "b" word .. that means you write down all your bills, how much they are and I included when they are due. I also wrote down all my income for the month and when they would be paid out to me. [Let's get real, I didn't write anything .. it's on an Excel spreadsheet]

I'm suuuuuper lucky so living at home, so I have minimal expenses. Phone bill, car insurance, health insurance, gym membership and gas for the car. I also added in a Valentine's day gift for Jeff and shipping - but I'm planning ahead for that and have chosen a specific amount to spend.
As for income I pretty much have 1 million jobs .. so I won't even write them all out for you. You get the idea.

Drum roll please ... My savings goal for my "No Spend February": $1,300.00 $1,000
*Update ... I didn't realize that I had a "Mid Winter Break" in February when I made this goal, so that means I am out two paychecks for one week ... let's aim for $1,000.00 and see how it goes.

Yep. I'm doin it people. I'm going to save at least $1,300.00 $1,000 this month. I'm also a save-a-holic and get totally high on this kind of crap ... so this is right up my alley. I'll let you know how I do.


Second thing is trying to wear a different shirt / outfit everyday for as long as I can

Yes, I'm a freak. Yes, this means I'm keeping track of what I'm wearing. But hear me out ... I've had to get rid of a LOT of my favorite clothes since losing my 45 lbs. Things that I didn't even wear much because I always tend to wear the same handful of things. So this is why I'm doing it:

1. It's wasteful to have all those clothes and not wear them.
2. I'm hoping to have to give all my clothes away again because they're too big again so I want to wear them first.
3. I was in a rut wearing the same stuff all the time.
4. A challenge is fun.
5. Less laundry .. hollllla!

So I've been wearing different pants, jeans, skirts etc. but obviously those I have to reuse. I have more shirts and accessories than bottoms. This challenge I've given myself is Monday through Friday, as on the weekends I am mostly in sweats or work out gear.

I've successfully completed four weeks so far. I wonder how much longer I can go.

 This ap is called "Pic Cal"

Look at all the laundry I don't have to do! I have two dressers and a closet full of clothes! ha ha!

Some of my favorite outfits so far:

The third and last weird thing I've done (not really doing) is that I made a motivation board

This is mine. What do you think?

I always see these on Pinterest and think "THAT is a cool idea" .. so I finally made one myself!


Yes, I know I should get a life. HAHA!!
Actually, I am a busy person believe it or not!

Thanks for reading my weirdness ... stop by again!

Time Will Pass Anyway

Things change. Little by little. Day by day. Minute by minute even.
Sometimes we have crappy days and sometimes we have good days that totally rock. We have to focus on how we feel on the good days ... that's what keeps us going. Don't put off your goals and dreams just because it will take time to get there. THE TIME WILL PASS ANYWAY. I love that.

When I started this journey:
- I could not run at all. Not even 15 seconds.
- I did not WANT to go to the gym.
- I was not excited about changing my eating habits.
- I almost never drank water.

Now:
- I can run about 2-3 minutes ... slowly but I call that a win... {Intervals are my friend}
- I crave the way I feel after my work out is over.
- I have learned to eat the things I want in moderation.
- On a good day I drink 60-100 oz of water.
- I also HATE the bloated / full / crap feeling after eating crap food.. Which I can honestly say I didn't know existed before, because that's how I always ate. (It doesn't always stop me ... lol ... but I hate it)

My goals going forward:
- Flatten my tummy .. partially by continuing to eat well and then by exercise (I don't know exactly how yet, but it will include lifting some amount and some exercise with weights)
- Tone up my arms with weights
- Move from my NOW SIZE 9/10 to a size 8
- Keep my weight under my NOW WEIGHT 145 lbs
- Aim for 130 lbs by Spring Break (April 18)
- Take things one day at a time
- Take some before pictures so that I can see my progress eventually


MY ULTIMATE DREAM GOAL:
Wear a bikini on our honeymoon. I told Jeff this goal, shortly after we got engaged and I was much further from it than I am now, but I have more work to do. I am on the road to that goal. Date to be determined ... I'm aiming for December 2014 .. but we will see!