Spring Chores

It seems the weekends have been nice the past couple of weeks, but a day or two of non rainy, cold weather is all we get.  I hope it shapes up soon and stops raining; we have landscaping projects to get taken care of!  We have been working around the house the past couple of weeks to get some things checked off our to do list. 

First on our list of outdoor projects was to take out the pine tree in the front of our yard.  The tree was far too close to the house, and was blocking a lot of sunlight to the front yard.  A few weeks ago, the tree came down.  Taking that tree down was my first experience with an axe and a hatchet; it felt pretty good to cut something down!  Now, if only it would stop raining so we could get someone out to remove the stump that was left behind. 

The pine tree on the far left of this picture is the 

one that got cut down

The day after we took the tree out was too rainy to do anything outside, so we moved inside to replace the fan in our living room. The only light that we had in the living room was a small track light above the fire place and the two lamps we had on the end tables.  The living room had a total lack of light, so we bought a new fan with four lights in it.  The fan previously in the living room was dated and didn't have a light kit.  Installing the new fan was pretty easy, and we are thrilled with the amount of light the fan provides in the living room. 

Once we can get outside, we have some landscaping plans in the front yard.  For now, I am left planning which flowers to plant out front and what I am going to plant in my flower pots this year.  I know I have previously shared my rule about no plant in outdoor pots until Mother's Day.  We are two weeks out, so I'm getting pretty anxious.  I did plant my herb pots last weekend, but I'm concerned they might have been washed out this week with all the rain we have had.  I have a couple of new pot ideas this year.  I will share the start of one of them with you.


I bought a couple of plastic white urn style pots from Menards.  They were on sale last week for $9.00 per pot.  I bought a can of Rust-Oleum Metallic paint and spray painted them a nice amber color.  They look great in the sun and will look good on either side of the garage door this summer.  I currently have a couple of geraniums in the containers, but they have been staying in the garage to keep safe from all the rain this week. 

That is it for house projects for now.  Stay tuned, we have a lot more to come.  Landscaping season is just kicking off! 

Another Workout Update

I have been working with a personal trainer for about a month now, so I thought it was probably time to give an update for anyone who is curious how things are going.  I'm not going to lie to you and tell you it has been easy and tons of fun.  Don't get me wrong, my trainer has been great and my workouts with him have been awesome.  The "other stuff", has been frustrating.  For the most part, I have found it easy to stick to watching what I eat.  You would think working at home that I would be tempted to graze on unhealthy food all day, but I'm honestly not.  I keep some raw almonds or fruit nearby when I need a quick snack.  With the warmer temps lately, I have been craving ice cream more and more, which is really a weakness for me.  I love ice cream more than should be normal.  Luckily, I also love most frozen yogurt options, so it isn't as bad.  Don't worry, I do not sit down and eat a pint of ice cream in one night or anything like that. 

I think I wrote before about how weigh-in is every Tuesday and then every other Tuesday is weigh-in with measurements.  Weigh-ins have been the most frustrating part of my weeks.  I will go into a weigh-in feeling good and come out wanting to throw something at the wall.  My weight has stayed pretty much right at the same point for the last month.  Needless to say, it is beyond frustrating.  Bless my trainer and his attempts to cheer me up.  I also have to give props to Andrew for trying to keep my spirits up about the whole thing and reminding me that I am building muscle.  I also would like to point out that I seriously do not blame my trainer for my body's inability to cooperate with what I am trying to get it to do. 

No, I didn't think the pounds would just come pouring off, but I really thought I wouldn't still be at the same weight.  My saving grace in all this is that over the past month I have lost 12 total inches overall.  It adds up to a few inches here and there.  I think I am most excited about the inches coming off around my thighs and hips.  Those are inches that always seem to creep on the fastest.  Overall I feel better, I feel like I have more energy and stamina. 

I'm still not convinced that there isn't a larger issue going on health wise.  Four years ago when I lost weight before our wedding, I didn't have to try this hard.  I have never had to try this hard to drop the pounds.  I know I am a few years older, but I really don't feel like that counts as much of an excuse.  I will continue to give it my all and hope that my body catches on to what I am trying to get it to do.  In the mean time, I'm going to cross my fingers that the inches keep coming off each  week.  Has anyone else had similar struggles when trying to get the pounds to come off?  

 

Weight Loss Update

I'm heading into my third week of working with my personal trainer, so I thought I would share an update.  Every Tuesday I do a weigh in and every other week we also do measurements.  From my intro session with my trainer to my first week weigh in, I actually went up 2 lbs... not cool.  Last week at weigh in, I was down those two pounds.  In addition to the two pounds, I was down at least a part of an inch at my neck, chest, waist, thighs and abs.  I actually lost a couple of inches in my abs, which I was SUPER excited about!  My arms actually increased in inches, but that is muscle.  We have been busting it hard on my arms; need those sculpted arms for tank top season.  Overall, I feel like I'm finally making progress.  I will weigh in again tomorrow when I go in for training, so we will see if I keep knocking the pounds off.  

I have been tracking my food also as part of my training.  The fact that I have to track my food and share it with my trainer makes me think twice before I eat something.  Before I eat something, I find myself thinking about what kind of fuel it is going to be for my body.  I'm hungry when I get home from working out, but rather than eating a couple of cookies, I grab a handful of raw almonds.  The protein tides me over until dinner.  I have switched from eating cereal in the morning to eating a whole wheat bagel or waffle with peanut butter.  I don't think I have ever had so much peanut butter in my life; good thing I like peanut butter.  We have started to go through a ton of peanut butter now, so we had to pick some more up at the store this weekend.  I was happy to find that Jif Natural actually has half the amount of sodium as regular Jif peanut butter and doesn't cost any extra either.  My life saver with watching what I eat has been that coffee doesn't have any calories in it; who knew!

As for my workouts, I have been hitting the gym a bit more lately.  I have training twice per week for an hour.  During training, we are mostly working with weights.  Once I am done with training, I try to hit the elliptical for twenty minutes to finish off my workout.  Monday's I try and hit the elliptical for thirty to forty minutes.  Wednesday's are rest days.  I try to do something such as play with the dogs outside or take them for a walk.  Friday's I try to hit the elliptical for 30-40 minutes again.  I feel like the mix of weight work and cardio work is really what was missing in my workout.  I will finish with personal training in June.  My goal from now until then is to continue dropping two pounds per week.  If I can continue with that goal, I will be well on my way to my overall goal!   

Adventures In Personal Training

If you read the blog regularly, you know I have been working for nearly a year on my goal of shedding some pounds.  After Andrew and I got married two and a half years ago, the pounds started adding up.  I blame a great deal of factors for the weight gain;  Lack of regular workouts, a summer of no sleep on weekends and late night McDonald's runs after finishing working a wedding, a stressful job, and my own lack of concern. 

For several months last summer, I made the conscious effort to get to the gym at least three times per week.  In the past, that worked for me.  When I was 18, I worked out at Curves and dropped a significant amount of weight.  Slowly, the weight crept back on.  Before the wedding in 2011, I was attending Zumba classes at work once per week as well as a sculpting class.  In addition to those two forty minute classes each week, I was also working out in the gym at our apartment for thirty minutes once or twice each week.  The pounds came off and I was a happy camper.  I wouldn't say at any point we really started to "diet".  At some point, we began watching our sodium out of concern for Andrew's family history of heart conditions. 

After several months of working out and not seeing any results, I was frustrated and out of answers. At some point last June or July, I went to the doctor to have my thyroid tested; I was convinced that was what was preventing me from shedding the pounds.  My thyroid tested fine. My next attempt to drop the pounds that were continuing to creep on was to cut back on my carbs.  I cut out all our pasta, as much bread as possible, and anything with high sugar counts.  The hardest part of cutting carbs for me was to cut out my afternoon mocha.  I switched to black coffee with a little half and half.    Even with those the changes, the scale barely budged.  Late last year, I went back to my doctor for answers.  The answer I got was to see a dietitian.  I mulled that over for a few weeks and wasn't satisfied with that answer.

I have never had a total crap diet.  I don't go to McDonald's ever, except when they have shamrock shakes.  We cook and eat at home for the most part, I don't drink a ton of soda, I don't have junk food sitting around in the house.  I have always snacked on carrots and fruit.  I try to make fruits and veggies a regular part of my daily diet.  I will admit that I have a sweet tooth.  I love cookies, cake, and ice cream.  I am not willing to give up everything that tastes good.  After a while, I pushed all my issues with weight off on my stress level and decided there wasn't much else I could do about it.

I think I mentioned previously I had to find a new gym since leaving Principal.  Last week, I joined a local gym less than five minutes from our house.  As part of joining I had a couple free sessions with a personal trainer.  While working with my trainer last Friday, I realized it was time to make a total lifestyle change.  I signed up for 12 weeks of personal training; I am beyond thrilled!  We will work on strength and nutrition.  I will work with my trainer twice per week and hit the gym for cardio on my off days.  I feel like I am too young to be this out of shape and not happy with where my body is at.  I have taken responsibility for where I am at, how I got here, and how I am going to get where I want to be.  I will keep you all posted on my journey! 

Spring Cleaning

Since today is the first day of spring, I thought it was only appropriate to do a little bit of spring cleaning.  I am absolutely loving my new Dyson vacuum.  I think I have vacuumed more since I got the new vacuum than I did in the seven months we lived in this house before getting the vacuum.  That might be a little bit far from the truth, but I absolutely love using this vacuum!  I feel like the carpets are getting so much cleaner with it. 

So, the house got a good vacuum!  It always blows my mind how much hair it sucks up from the dogs.  I kind of wish I could vacuum down the dogs.... no matter how many times I brush them, I find white hair everywhere.  But, we wouldn't trade them for the world. 

The other thing I worked on tonight was cleaning out our bedroom.  With Andrew and I both being on the go lately, our bedroom has been a bit of a dumping ground.  There were suitcases everywhere and piles of laundry.  Everything has been picked up now, and I feel like it is a brand new room.  I felt like I had stacks of clothes all over the place and realized that we have two drawers in our bed for storage that weren't being used.  I put them to use, and man are they good storage!  I don't know about you guys, but there is something so satisfying about having an organized bedroom.  It is a huge stress reliever for me!   

The other thing I worked on while cleaning out our room was getting rid of some more clothes that I didn't wear this winter season.  If I go through a season and don't wear something, it gets put in the donate pile. 

My other spring "project" I finished this week, was signing up for a new gym.  When I worked at Principal, I worked out in the gym in my building.  Since I didn't have access to that gym any more, I needed to find a new one.  I lucked out that there is a gym less than five minutes from our house.  I have officially signed up and went to my first workout there today.  I'm excited to go to my first of two free sessions with a personal trainer tomorrow.  I hope to get some ideas to get past my current plateau. 

I hope the next spring cleaning project at this house involved cleaning up the yard and getting ready for landscaping projects.  If the weather would cooperate, I would be a happy camper. 

What is your spring cleaning routine?  Are you doing anything new and exciting this spring?  

Spring Is In The Air!

It is finally starting to feel like spring around here.  I am so sick of winter.  I know I'm not the only one in the house who has spring fever.  Andrew and I are ready to get out in the yard and start digging.  We have lots of plans for this year!

I'm glad to say I'm finally home from several weeks of being on the go for training for the new job.  I have spent a total of two weeks in Minneapolis for training and one week back home working with a co-worker.  I am really enjoying my new work and my new company.  It seems the last month, Andrew and I have been on the road on opposite weeks.  I will be glad to be in the same town for more than a few days. 

There are tons of things I look forward to in the spring!  I'm bummed this year because we only planted a few bulbs last fall.  We didn't have a ton of space to plant this year, but I hope to get more bulbs planted this coming fall.  If the bulbs come up that we did plant, we should have a few tulips and some iris to enjoy this spring.  I'm really looking forward to the lilac bushes blooming in the back yard.

My grandma always said not to plant flower pots until Mother's Day, so I will have to wait another month and a half before planting my flower points.  I'm thinking of painting a few of them this year to spruce things up a bit.

Until things starting peeking up out of the ground, I will have to look back at the bulbs I got to enjoy last spring in our old house!

Another New Toy!

Last weekend, while cleaning the house in preparation to be gone for training, our vacuum cleaner took a crapper.  Yes, it was something totally fixable, but not something I was willing to fix.  The belt on the vacuum broke; something that would cost probably $10 to fix by the time I ordered the part and had it shipped.  However, I had drawn my line in the sand with that vacuum.  We bought it when we first moved in together in the spring of 2010.  So, in vacuum age, I feel like four years really is not all that old.  Honestly, had we bought the belt and replaced it, we could have had several more years out of that thing.  But, I was done.  As the vacuum sat dead on the floor last Sunday, I decided it was time to cave and get what I had been drooling over since we got the dogs; a Dyson!  My hope is that it would like up to the hype and have some real suction to it to pick up the dog hair collecting in the house.  

I have had my eye on the Dyson vacuums for the past couple of years.  I came pretty close to getting one this past Black Friday, but didn't cave to the temptation.  I watched the prices get cut over the past couple on months as they prepared to launch the new lines.  When ours melted a belt last weekend and left the house smelling like burning rubber, I knew it was my chance.  I think Andrew agreed because he was sick of hearing me talk about it.  I read the exclusions on the 20% off Bed Bath & Beyond coupon very carefully, and it didn't mention anything about excluding Dyson's.  With coupon in hand, I went off to BBB to get my new vacuum. 

The assembly was quick on this vacuum, and I was soon off and running.  I was AMAZED at the sucking power of it.  I think there was probably dog hair sucked out of the carpet that had been there since we moved in.  The vacuum was also light as a feather to move around.  I am in love with this vacuum.  Obviously, I will want to determine the long term use on this vacuum to see if it was really worth the money and the hype, but so far I am satisfied with my purchase. 


We purchased the Dyson DC50 Animal Compact Ball Upright Vacuum.