A Workout Update

I wish I had more of an update for you in regards to my weight, but I don't.  I have no lovely before and after photos to show you at the current time.  The only good news in this department as of late has been my health screening results from work today.  All my numbers look amazing according to the vendor we use.  I wanted to point out that all the numbers might look good, but my weight certainly doesn't. 

My weight, as of late, has been a major source of frustration.  In the past, if I worked out about three times per week the weight just kind of fell off for a while.  That hasn't really been the case this go around.  I don't know if my metabolism has slowed with a few more years on me or what the deal is, but I can't say I'm happy about it.  I even had my doctor test my thyroid levels a couple of weeks ago.  I thought since I have a family history of thyroid issues maybe that was keeping me from dropping the pounds.  Sadly, along with the rest of my blood work, my thyroid tests came back fine.  I say sadly because I was kind of hoping that was going to be the "easy answer" I was looking for.  I realize it wasn't the easy answer and would mean I would likely be on medication the rest of my life, but it would give me the answer I had been looking for as to why I can't seem to get the pounds to drop off.  The doctor offered to refer me to a dietitian or an endocrinologist for further blood workups.  I thought before we got that crazy, perhaps I should step up my own efforts. 

While I have been working out at least a couple times per week regularly, I know there is a lot more I could be doing.   Andrew and I don't eat totally crappy, but I know we could make improvements.  We try to limit eating out and try to also limit the amount of prepackaged foods we eat.  Andrew has a strong family history of heart conditions, so for several years we have been trying to watch our sodium.  Although watching sodium can take the fun out of some foods, we felt it was the best decision for our health.

I considered joining Weight Watchers online program.  If anyone has any thoughts or feedback on that, I would love to hear it.  I have tried to pick a couple of healthier meals for Andrew and I this week as well as watch what I'm eating throughout the day.  I have also tried to increase my fruit and veggie intake this week and watch my calories.  I'm especially trying to watch the calories I am drinking in through coffee and things.  I have limited myself to coffee drinks a couple afternoons this week rather than every day.  This one pains me because I really like my coffee, but if I have to cut on the coffee somewhere it has to be in the afternoon and not in the morning.  I didn't have coffee this morning until after my health screening, and it was an ugly thing.  I'm not a nice person to be around without my coffee, just ask Andrew how I am on the weekends. 

In addition to watching my food this week, I have also increased my workouts.  I have stepped up to three thirty minute workouts on the elliptical and tomorrow will be going to a Zumba class.  If you have never done Zumba, I highly recommend it.  I started when I was trying to get in shape before the wedding.  I love it because you get a great workout without really feeling like you worked out.  My goal is to get five workouts in each week; four during the week and something physical with the family on the weekends.  We have a lot of great trails and parks around that we can take advantage of.

So, there is the new plan; increase the workouts and be more intentional about what I eat.  I am going to try this for a few weeks and see if I see an impact in the weight department.  I was down a couple pounds today at my health screening from last week, so that is good news.  If I see no progress by the six week mark, I may have to re think this plan.    

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.  In our house, we celebrated father's day on Friday when Andrew came home from his week long work trip.  The puppies gave him a wonderful card and a CD!  We also made a trip to the dog park today to celebrate father's day.

I'm sure some of you are wondering about the house news; don't worry, we are too.  Things with the house we hope to purchase are going better than we could have imagined and moving along smoothly.  Things with the sale of our house have been rough from the time the offer came in.  The inspection on our house was this past Friday and we are still waiting to see what the buyer is going to come back and ask us to fix.  We hope not much because we don't have much to contribute to any further repairs on this house.  We have done our fair share of upkeep to this house: new fridge, new washer and dryer, new landscaping, new sump pump, new backwater valve, repaired grounding wires...

I guess we will see if the buyer sees things similarly.  Currently, they are running a radon test at our house and those results should be back tomorrow night.  We hope to hear about the inspection once the radon test is complete tomorrow night.  Of course, I don't know what to tell the buyer if the radon tests come back off the charts; we aren't in a position to pay for a radon mitigation system.  If we can get through inspection and appraisal we will be golden.  We hope to have our appraisal back on the house we are trying to buy by the end of the week.  We are just hoping that the inspection on our house doesn't tank the entire deal.  We haven't really even started packing yet for fear we will have to turn around and unpack. 

Maya All Grown Up

Today is an exciting day in our house, Maya officially turned one today.  She has been with us for about eight and a half of those months.  Even though she is a handful sometimes, we love her to the moon and back.  Buddy has learned to share his attention, but I think he also enjoys having someone to run around with. 

Of course to celebrate, we had to buy Maya a birthday cookie!  We couldn't leave the store without also buying something for Buddy, it was only fair.  So, Buddy got a Peanut Butter Cup. 

 Here is Maya and her Muddy Paws treat.  Andrew thought it was only fitting for her since she always comes in with muddy paws from digging in the yard!  You can't really tell in the photo, but the paper was still on the treat she was in such a big hurry. 

Let's just say Buddy got to his faster than I could take his photo, so here is Buddy after he just took a big bite! 

Here is a look back at Maya's first year with us! 

 Shortly after we brought Maya home in October.  She was about 16 weeks when we got her. 

 Buddy and Maya bff's! 

 All dressed up in their sweaters

Playing in the snow

 

Maya hanging out in the planter at grandma and grandpa's house

 

I'm pretty sure Maya still looks the same she did the day we got her.  She might have filled out a bit, but not much. 

 

 

 

Now, BIG ANNOUNCEMENT TIME.....

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Buddy and Maya will soon have a new yard to run around in.  I'm laughing as I write this because I'm guessing you all thought I was going to say Buddy and Maya were going to have a new brother or sister.  Sorry to disappoint, folks.  The week we wanted to take the house off the market, we had a showing that resulted in an offer.  We haven't had a showing on the house in over a month and were mentally prepared to take the house off the market and start doing some work on it.  I think I even shared some of our plans on here.  No news yet on where we are going, but we should know by this weekend.  Things are going to be moving fast around here for the next month or so. 

 

I told Andrew the next time I want something, I'm just going to forget about it and say I don't want it because that is when things seem to happen for me in life.  I'm not sure when I am going to learn that valuable lesson in life.  Things will happen when they are supposed to happen.  Andrew and I encountered each other in college when  I had decided I was just going to focus on school and stop worry so much about meeting someone.  When I mentally prepared to work a couple of part time jobs until I found something full time after I graduated, I received two full time offers in one day.  When we couldn't find a friend for Buddy that we thought was a good fit, I ran across Maya's litter.  I could probably go on for a while, but I think you all see my point.  

 

So, there is the big news in the Wood house for the week.  The emotions associated with this move have been a roller coaster.  I have to admit I feel a little bit of sadness at the thought of moving, but I think that has more to do with this being our first house together as a married couple.  I know wherever we go, we will make new memories together.  As Andrew would tell you, I'm not a fan of change and change here we come!  We will post more as we know more.     

 

A Belated Birthday Post

Storms seemed to be the theme of my birthday celebrations this year; let's hope it isn't foreshadowing the year to come.  My birthday festivities started off with a celebration with family and friends Memorial Day weekend at our house.  The plan was to grill and enjoy our patio, but Mother Nature had other plans.  Instead, we grilled and enjoyed the front porch on our house.  It made me glad to have the enclosed space and realize we don't use it near enough.  Everyone still had a good time, we think, despite the interruption in the original plan.  At one point, I believe we had sirens going off and a torrential downpour outside. 

My actual birthday was much the same for the weather.  It started off decent, but got a little dicey for a while.  Story of my birthday; spending some time in the vault at a jewelry store.  We were at a jewelry store when the sirens went off and a storm blew through, although I think it was only ever high winds.  That will be a memory I wont soon forget from this birthday.  But, our goal was accomplished while we were at the jewelry store.  I have never been much of a watch or bracelet person, but for some reason lately I have been wanting a watch; not just any watch, a really nice watch.  I didn't want a $25 special from Target; I had one of those and promptly broke it.  So, Andrew's birthday present to me was a beautiful new watch!  I am absolutely in love with it.  It has white ceramic in the band, diamonds around the face and rose gold, which is also in my wedding ring.  This is a Citizen Eco Drive watch, so it also doesn't need a battery to keep it going.  I know I will get many years of use out of this watch.    

 

I also got some new bling, as we like to say in my family, from my parents for my birthday.  Since pink is my favorite color, it is only fitting that I got some pink jewelry for my birthday!  Check out these awesome new earrings! 

 

 

Birthday's aren't about the gifts we get, they are about the people we share them with.  I shared my birthday with my wonderful family and friends who remind me daily that I am loved.  I am so grateful to have them all in my life. 

 

This week we have another birthday in our house; Maya is turning ONE!  There will of course be a birthday celebration complete with a birthday cookie for our birthday girl.  She is coming to the end of her official puppy days, but she is still very much a puppy filled with energy.  She keeps buddy on the go, which is a good thing for him; it keeps him young. 

The Great Bed Debate

This is a debate that has been ongoing in our house for about a year now.  Currently, we have a full sized bed, which works alright until you add two dogs into the mix and then things get interesting.  When we bought our house, it was vacant, so our bedroom looked pretty big.  Add some furniture in there, and it really starts to cut down on the space quickly.  Fast forward a few months, and we started trying to figure out how we were going to get our bedroom upstairs with the stair situation we have going on.  If you don't remember, we have the death trap stairs to access the second story:

 

What you can't really see from this photo is the landing at the top with a pretty tight corner and then another set of stairs that are a little more normal.  When we exhausted all options for what we could do with these stairs and brought in several contractors to consult on the stairs, we started weighing the options.  The weekend we took our bedroom apart to re-do the wall, we decided to try and get our bed upstairs just to see if it could be done.  I will save you the long version of that story and just say it couldn't be done; enter the discussions of moving.  

Well, now that the house selling thing hasn't been going so well and we are back to the possibility of staying at least for a while, we are also back to the bed debate.  I say, "we need a bigger bed" to which Andrew's response is "we can't fit a larger bed in our bedroom."  My response, "we can, you just don't want to cut down on the space in the bedroom."  That is pretty much how the discussion goes each time, and that is where it ends with no further discussion.  I think I'm going to go in there with my Frog Tape and tape off the floor so we can see exactly what it would look like. 

This morning I thought, "if I could have the perfect bedroom, what would it look like?"  I made my way to the Internet to see what I could find.  Here is what I came up with:

Source: shophomemakers.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Homemakers Furniture: Queen Storage Bed: Daniel's Amish: Bedroom: Beds

I love platform beds with storage.  I think they are a great practical use of space, and let's face it, who couldn't use more storage in their house?  My thought is perhaps if we had this bed, we wouldn't need night stands (mine is pretty much just full of junk) so that would be two pieces of furniture out of the room.  Some of the platform beds I have looked at are fairly close to the ground, which would eliminate the need for Buddy to have steps to get on the bed, but I think this is probably taller than our current bed, so we would need the steps.  Of course, I would love to have the other matching furniture to go with this, but it isn't a crisis.  Our current storage situation in the bedroom is working alright.  We each have our own dresser; mine is full, Andrew's not so much. 

Of course, if we got a larger bed we would also need a new comforter.  Actually, I think our current one is a full/queen, so we might be able to keep it and use it.  Lately, I have been on a kick with duvet covers though.  I found this one a while ago at Target that I like:

 

Source: target.com via Natalie on Pinterest

So, there you have the great bed debate that brought us to selling the house and back again.  Of course I will continue to keep you posted on where this ends up at. 

A "Finished" Project

For the sake of my own sanity, I'm calling the project on the side yard done.  OK, maybe it is only done for now.  I have a few things I would like to add at some point, but it isn't a crisis.  I was tired of looking at the bare dirt in that area since we didn't finish mulching at the end of last season.  That spot was in need of a few more plants and a lot more mulch.  You are supposed to mulch about 1 1/2 inches thick, and I don't think the mulch we put down in some areas last year was even 1/2 inch thick; it was not a good situation.  So, this weekend I set out to remedy that. 

I think I mentioned earlier this week I had picked up some new plants to fill in on what was left to plant.  I picked up three hostas and three ferns.  Growing up, my mom was always working in the yard and we always had flowers and plants.  However, we also always had sun, and lots of it.  We never even looked at shade plants because we didn't have any shade to plant in.  When Andrew and I bought this house and realized most of the yard is shade, I was a bit perplexed as to what I was going to plant.  I knew I could plant hostas in the shade, but that was all I had for ideas.  Through much research, I found several plants that are shade lovers; although, I think I'm becoming a bit of a hosta collector.  I find myself at the store reading the tags on hostas to determine if I have that variety.  There are thousands of different hostas out there, and I would love to have as many as possible in our yard.  While I was at Lowes early this week, I picked up three new varieties of hostas, and three ferns to try out. 

While I was trying to arrange my new plants, I ran into two issues that were cramping my design style.  The drain pipe for our sump pump runs through the side yard, and the tree roots from the tree in the back yard are massive and everywhere.  I was able to work around both though, and was happy with how things turned out.  Here is the side yard all finished up:

 

It may appear in the top photo that there is still more space to plant things, but don't let the photo fool you.  That is right up next to the tree, and I'm not messing with any more of those roots.  The tree wins the battle over planting more things.  I have a little more room for some ground covers, so I will probably fill in at some point.  If I can score some good deals at the end of the season like I did last year, that is probably how I will go about doing it.  I know it may look like I still have a lot of room in there to plant things, but I like to be a patient gardener and wait for things to grow.  We have three hostas in the front yard that I actually need to space out at some point because when they were planted they were planted right next to each other and now they are a little too close.   

 

While I was working on planting, Andrew was moving our compost pile around a little bit.  The pile we had created was a bit untamed, so he was working on containing it a little more.  When he finished moving it, we realized we had some very lovely black dirt where the pile used to be.  When I said growing up we had nothing but hot sun to plant in, we also had nothing but clay in the yard to plant in, which is less than ideal for growing anything.  So, buying this house and having a shovel go right through the rich black dirt was a bit of a treat.  In one hole alone yesterday, I encountered two or three earthworms.  When I think about leaving this house, I'm not sure I would want to leave the dirt behind.  I know these days when they build, they tend to haul off the top layer of dirt, which generally only leaves clay depending on where you are around here.  I have to say I rather enjoy digging in my rich soil.  Now that we have one project "done" in the yard, we have about fifty more to go.  Right now, we are trying to prioritize the project list.  Before the end of this growing season, we would like to have a spot prepared in the back yard for a garden, so we can get out first thing next year and plant that.  We also have a weed situation we would like to get under control, landscaping to do in the back corner of the back yard, landscaping on the other side of the deck, an extension on the front landscaping, and work on the side yard that is outside the fence.  That is only the list of outside projects, we have a growing list of indoor projects as well.   

A Birthday List

This week has been a week of ups and downs for us.  Yesterday, we got word that there was a non subject to sale offer put in on the house we had an offer in on, so we lost the offer on that house.  I was a tad upset, but knew that was a pretty strong possibility.  We took it as a sign that it wasn’t the house for us and we will find something else or know if we are intended to stay put for now.  Today, I got a call that there were some people in our neighborhood looking at houses and they wanted to look at ours.  Unfortunately, we only about thirty minutes notice and there was no way that was going to happen.  I am still waiting to hear if they are going to set a showing up or if we lost out on that one.  Things are a bit of a mess right now.  I have been cooking and baking and that makes for a messy kitchen.  Right before I got the call about people wanting to see the house, I had emailed about getting our house on the schedule to have the deck re stained and the trim re painted.  Some days, I feel like we have one foot in and one foot out, and it is a rather frustrating feeling.  I think it boils down to doing the smart and responsible thing, or doing what we want to do.  We don’t really NEED a bigger house at the moment. 

Speaking of want and need, my birthday is next week and it had me thinking about a birthday wish list.  I would like to reiterate that I don’t NEED anything and I am not intending this list to sound this way, it is simply a fun wish list

1. A tablet – I have considered several different options for tablets including an Ipad, a Kindle Fire, or other various brands of tablets that are out there these days.  I never bite the bullet and buy one because I can’t justify it.  While it would be nice to have when I am in the kitchen cooking of a new recipe I found on Pinterest rather than looking at it from my Ipod, that alone isn’t enough to justify the purchase.  It would also be nice to have one for night time rather than taking my whole laptop to bed with me, but again not enough to justify the purchase of one.

Source: gadling.com via Gadling on Pinterest


2. A new computer- My current laptop was purchased in 2010.  Yes, I realize that is only three years ago.  However, that laptop as seen a lot of use and probably some abuse.  The dogs have kicked it off the couch a time or two, the hard drive that was in it when I bought it died about a year and a half after I got the computer.  Rather than buying a new hard drive, we put one in my laptop from Andrew’s old laptop.  I went from a 500 GB hard drive to a 250 GB… you might see the issue there.  I think my current external hard drive is larger than my internal one.  I have a lot of music and photos on my computer, so those eat up a lot of space.  My current hard drive is on the last bit of space and I really don’t have a ton on it.  After the last hard drive crashed, I moved a lot of my photos to my external hard drive.  Andrew and I are both huge computer people, so one computer would be a bit of a problem for us. 


3. Earrings- A shiny pair of princess cut diamond stud earrings to be exact.  I would love a ½ ct. or greater.  Again, this is a wish list! 

Source: skylineempire.com via Skyline Empire on Pinterest


4. Tickets to a Green Bay Packers Game!


5. Tickets to Europe- Italy, France, England, Germany, you name a country and I want to go there.

Source: Uploaded by user via Cactus Language Training on Pinterest



6. $20,000- To renovate our house the way we want it.  While we are at it, I would really like to just win the lottery and pay off all our debt, who is with me?