Christmas 2010

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New car and pending vacation

Well today I say goodbye to my Pontiac G6. It's a little bittersweet. It's been a great car for 3.5 years but sadly they no longer make the Pontiac and my car is out of warranty. Recently something went wrong with it and luckily it was covered under the Powertrain warranty. But this got me and the hubs thinking...maybe we should just trade it in and get a lease vehicle. I pretty much drove everything European under the sun. The Infinity was high on the list, but the hubs didn't like that it was rear wheel drive. Cross it off. Next was the Volkswagen CC. It was an awesome car but the lease rate wasn't right. Hold off for negotiations. Next was Mercedes. The C300 was so common looking. Hyundai actually makes a car now that looks just like it for a lot less than $500 a month. And this car had nothing in it. Big fat X! Finally with a little convincing we went back American. I stopped in to see my good family friend and car salesman at Everrett GMC and he and the hubs convinced me to drive the 2011 Buick Regal. Just to be clear, I used to have one of these. It's what I traded in 3.5 years ago for the Pontiac. But boy have things changed in 11 years! Lol! This one looks more like a BMW 5 series than the granny car I had to drive after wrecking a new car when I was 16. It has heated seats, leather, XM, a moonroof, all the gadgets a girl could want, minus Nav, but I never go anywhere so who needs it! So my car payment will be about $2 less than what we're paying now and everything is covered under warranty for 4 years. But the good news, in 39 months it goes back to the dealer so I don't have to worry about it. I feel like it's a good financial move for us. You don't want the unexpected to happen with a car and be out of pocket hundreds to thousands of dollars. Especially while building a new house...which we signed our real estate contract this weekend and will be meeting with the builder to get a final rendering!!! I'm so stoked! I really can't wait to move, which once again will be bittersweet, but I will have a backyard and more closet space and room for furbabies and other babies! I'm just really excited for the next step in our life together.

As for vacation, 5 days of work left! Which reminds me....I must make a packing list, pronto! I crazy like that, but I can't forget anything. I'm super excited to go to DC because I've never truly been. On a college trip in HS we went to Georgetown and got to roam around there for a bit. And it was amazing. I loved everything about that town. So I'm excited to get to go into the heart of DC and see Lincoln and the Washington Memorial, and the Vietnam Wall and all the good stuff that goes along with it. But I'm also excited to go shopping!! I might have a slight shopping problem, but nothing premium stores can't cure! So on Sunday I will be leaving on a jet plane for our nation's capitol and helping to pull us out of this recession! I do what I can. :) Then the week after we get back I get to go get my Christmas tree! Oh my where has the year gone!

1 Year!

The hubs and I made it to our one year anniversary! Not that there was ever a doubt that we would. Now I don't have another theme anniversary to prepare for until our 5 year. The 1 year was the paper/clock anniversary. I had a really cute idea until the hubs spoiled it. It initially started out that I would get him stationary as his paper gift and then when he thought that's all he got, I would surprise him with this particular brand of pen he likes. It's ridiculous for a pen if you ask me but to each their own. Instead, he did get the pen since he figured out he was getting one and I made him a "today is" calendar with each day having a reason on why I love him. Needless to say he loved both gifts.

Now on to me!! He went with the clock approach. I got a new watch that I love and a new giant clock. My old one from Target broke somehow (it won't keep time) so he replaced it with a big one from Pottery Barn. I absolutely love it!!

We pretty much took it easy all weekend even though I did go out and test drive new cars. Mine has been having some issues lately so we're weighing our options. Do we wait for it to go kaput or do we trade it in and lease something else. So far I'm like the the VW CC but the lease pricing isn't quiet where we want it. Guess we'll have to wait and see what happens on that front. But for now, my car is out of the shop and running like new! (knock on wood)

Lastly, last night we went to dinner at Arthur's, which I highly recommend. Great ambiance, great service, and just a great celebration place all around. When I ordered dessert they wrote "Happy 1 year anniversary to the Verbos'" in chocolate. It was pretty cool! Then on home to eat one year old cake...this was the part I was least looking forward to. Honestly, it wasn't that bad. The wedding cake retained most of it's flavor. However, the grooms cake was pretty rough after a year. We took a bite of each and promptly threw them out!

All in all, it was a great weekend and it's been a great 1 year anniversary. I'm looking forward to many more to come, but the 1st will always be the biggest and best milestone.

Game on!

So it's finally here...we've all been anticipating it for months on months. That's right, it's finally College Football Season! Yes, to me it's a season and I can't wait. This weekend is the first LR game and the hubs and I have our tickets and now are praying it doesn't rain. We can't miss this one since we won't be here for the AR vs. LSU game. I'm pretty upset about it since I haven't been in a few years, but he gave me two options. One go to the AR vs. LSU game...or two go shopping at King of Prussia the day after Thanksgiving. For those who don't know, it's only the largest shopping center (based on square footage) in the US. Mall of America is technically the largest but doesn't have as many retail stores. They win sheerly for the theme park, which I think is cheating. So bring on the shopping. Ok so that may make me a fair weather fan, but Crate and Barrel is just irresistable to me, especially on Black Friday...and I may have a small shopping problem. While we are up that way for Thanksgiving, we'll be stopping off in DC. I can't wait to take in the shopping, I mean sites, while we're there too! It will be a nice little three day vacay for me and the hubs and hopefully we'll get to celebrate our 1 year anniversary somewhere nice while we're there, even if it is two weeks after the fact.

So overall, the Hogs look pretty good so far. We did play what I call a cupcake team on Saturday night, but somehow our crappy kicker seemed to do better for himself. Maybe he went to kicker camp over the summer or something. Last year he cost us TWO important games. One was FL, the other LSU. We CANNOT let that happen again this year. So here's to hoping for a good season!!!

Over Labor Day, the hubs and I labored away on our yard. We starting to do small things to make our house stand out from the others and our yard is one area that definitely needed some work. When our builder cut the land, he didn't grade it right so the water pools in the backyard in sections and kills the grass. One such area was where I had some really nice grass growing and thought it would survive, but alas the gutter killed it all with the water. It doesn't help that our "lawn maintenance included" gardeners suck! I would fire them, but oh wait, it's built into our mortgage. So over the weekend, the hubs and I made three trips to Home Depot. We made little rock gardens. One along the fence where the grass won't grow and the other to pseudo-extend our patio. Looks pretty spiffy if you ask me. We also did it in the front yard where the other gutter was. I went out one day and the grass was completely gone and it was creating a mud hole. No more of that. New rock and mulch garden and new boxwoods down the side of the house. It took about two hours and like I said three trips to Home Depot but I think it was totally worth it. The house will most likely go on the market in March so here's hoping that something moves betweeen now and then in our neighborhood. Approximately 5% is up for sale now, but the competition is pretty weak if I say so myself. Maybe I'm biased, but I guess we'll find out come March!

Moving on

We finally found flat land in Little Rock!!! I never thought it would happen and almost had a meltdown over spending more money to build on a crawl space. Sounds ridiculous doesn't it. Well a few weekends ago our builder spent three hours driving us around town until we finally decided on a new neighborhood in Chenal. I was a little iffy about it since it just opened last year and they haven't had any takers, but our builder had a meeting with Chenal Properties and apparently things are turning around there. They have 3 prospective pre-solds and he agreed to build a spec home next to us so we wouldn't be all alone in this subdivision. Hopefully it will be the jump start the neighborhood needs. It really is the perfect location for us. It's a smidge further for the hubs to drive but it's only 3 miles from my work. Wohoo! Also, we can have a doggie friendly backyard. I can't wait. It might be a couple of years (unfortunately) before we get a dog though. Apparently starting a family takes priority to the hubs and he doesn't think I can handle a newborn,a puppy, a cat, and him all at once. Ok he might have a point, but honestly I'd rather have the puppy. Easier to potty train. :) So hopefully after the beginning of next year we'll be breaking ground on our new house. Honestly, I'll be sad to see our current house go, but we've just run out of space. The hubs broke ground on it before we got together so it was supposed to be his bachelor pad. Then I come along and completely change everything. He even changed the closet plans to include a built in shoe rack just for me! That's how you know you're loved! Even though I would love one day to have the closet that Big built for Carrie in Sex and the City. I already have the shoes all I need is the closet! Is that too much to ask? :) So other than looking through house plans and trying to decide what we want to do not a whole lot has been going on. Things have definitely been slower this year and that has been a nice reprieve to the constant running around that we did last year. Planning a wedding will definitely suck the life out of you. It's been nice to just enjoy our time together and not have to worry about keep appointments and deciding random details. I plan on keeping the hubs forever because I would never have another wedding...and it's an added bonus that I happen to adore and love him. But it looks like things will pick up speed as the rest of the year goes by getting started designing a new house and then in the fall we're planning a trip to DC since his fam is over that way. It's always nice to throw in a mini-vacay with a mix of holidays. There is just one more thing I'm looking forward to...FOOTBALL SEASON!!! Hey U of A, can you send me my tickets now please? Go Hogs!

For every season...

This season has proven to be an interesting and difficult one. First of all it is hotter than ever in June. It's not even July yet and it's already up to 100 degrees on a sunny day. It kind of makes me long for last summer when we had all the storms and it was nice and cool. However, that didn't bode well for lake visits.
We had our first official lake trip a couple of weekends ago and everything went great. Since my parents have a boat, we kind of mooch off of them until we decide we want to buy our own. Last summer was definetly an experience on learning how to park it. But this time, the hubs was a pro! First try! I was so proud! It seems like such a small feat, but believe me it's hard to park those bad boys. So other than a small sunburn (albeit an odd shaped one) the lake was great. The water was a nice temp, but there was so much traffic out there you could hardly stay in one place and swim without getting taken over by someone's wake. I just hope it calms down soon. We did venture to a marina that earlier this summer pretty much got destroyed. I can't remember what the name of the storm was, but pretty much hot and cold collide over water and the result is horrible. It picked the entire marina up and threw it all over the place. There are crumpled boat docks everywhere and pieces of boat on land. It was pretty amazing to see and sad for the boat owners. I guess that's what you have insurance for though. Talk about a freak accident.
Other than that, last week we attended our first political "rally." All sorts of political big whigs were there and it was awesome to be a part of it. Hopefully one of the republican candidates for President was there...if all goes well in a few years. :) I didn't think I would be that interested in politics but I enjoyed hearing the different speakers and learn about the current deficiencies in our state government. Now I know it was a one sided argument, but it lacked the common mud slinging that you normally see. It was a refreshing change.
As for the hard part, the hubs lost a co-worker this week. His grandfather's business partner's step-son passed away at 25. It's been rough dealing with all the emotions that come along with it. I had maybe met the guy once, but what ate at me was the age. No one should ever die at 25! I'm 25 and I would go out kicking and screaming that I'm not ready. For him, there were lots of in office stressors as well as dealing with the emotions he felt on the loss. So in our household, the emotions have run the gamut from happy to sad, the crying. I must say though, that the memorial service was one of the better ones I've experienced. I enjoyed the celebration aspect of his short life, rather than the mourning side. I hope that when my time does come, people will laugh and get drunk at a wake and relish the time they had with me, rather than cry over the loss. So here's to life, no matter how long or how short it's definitely worth living for!

Always running...

Once this week is over I think me and the hubs will breathe a collective sigh. Last weekend we had Memorial Day, which included going downtown twice for Riverfest and staying out way past our bedtime (yes, we're old!), the hubs playing golf, and then a cookout with the grandparents. We were supposed to go downtown to watch the fireworks but got wrapped up in a Law and Order SVU marathon instead. Our collective thought was there will be more in about a month. Oh well. Then this week starts 4-ball...blah! I'm not a fan, but the hubs lives for this time of year. Thursday is the Seafood buffet, band, and drawing for the shoot out at the club. Last time we went together was our 2nd date. In that time period I got asked by people how long we had been married, why we didn't have children, why I worked, and the list kept getting more and more offensive. See, old rich people just have no sense sometimes. Needless to say after that rough patch, I agreed to go out with him for a third time. We just had to avoid the club at all cost. I personally don't think I fit in very well there. It's just a little stuffy for my liking. Maybe it's because I'm not a socialite or a golfer. So we'll see how round 2 goes tomorrow. Then Friday if he gets selected for the shootout we'll be back. Then I'm a golf widow! All weekend to lounge on the couch. Honestly it'll be nice to do nothing, but I may indulge in some pampering. I am way past due for a mani and a pedi. Even my car might get some, since I'm way past due for an oil change. Blah!!!! I'm too impatient to sit there and wait so I've been putting it off for a few months. I guess I'll have to break down and do it.
Also, last night we were at the club again. Jim Keet is running for govenor of Arkansas and the hubs wants to support him. He's kind of a friend of the family, so I tagged along. Honestly, it wasn't half bad. He has a lot of great ideas and I would love to actually see them implemented. But after we got home last night the hubs tells me he wants to run for office someday. I am not cut out to be a politicans wife at all. So not me. But I guess we'll just have to wait that out for a while. But in the meantime it could be fun to get involved even if sometimes all I'm searching for is a little down time.

Is my fat showing?

Is my fat showing?

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On the go...

Well it's officially my second work week back after vacation and luckily it will be a short one followed up by a three day weekend. After spending a week on the beautiful white beaches of Destin doing absolutely nothing, the last thing I wanted to do was come back to work....groan! And it wasn't easy. Hubs and I decided to make the 10 hour drive home in one day. I helped out with the driving and for my part it was nice and overcast. Every time he started to drive it would pour in buckets. Despite all of that we had a fantastic vacation and I think I may have relaxed myself a little too much. Coming back to work and playing catch up was not fun at all. It's amazing what you can miss out on in just one short week. While on vacation and once we got home I didn't really watch what I was eating so I managed to gain 4 pounds...ugh! I was doing so well. Now I will be cooking most nights and not letting hubs order pizza. I mean we had pizza twice in one week....who does that? I'm really starting to feel like a fatty when that happens! So this is the start of a new week; time to be a little more conscientious.
Last weekend was also the dreaded stair climb. I made it all the way to the top. Yay!! I paced myself a little more this time then last so I made it past 16 without a problem. I didn't think I would make it to 31 without stopping so I took a short break on 20 to catch my breath. On 31 I really needed a breather and chance to psych myself up about finishing. At that point I only had 16 more flights to go. That was cake walk! Once I made it to the top, I felt accomplished. I felt as if I had defeated the building instead of it defeating me. It just shows that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to and I did! Now if they do it again next year I can't guarantee I'll put myself through that torture again. :)
In other news, being a homeowner SUCKS!!! Owning a new home is just like owning a new car. Once the warranty expires it all falls apart. First it was our pantry doors which our builder was so gracious to come and fix for the third time...please note sarcasam in that statement. It was supposed to be fixed before closing and never happened. Second our AC went out this weekend. It didn't completely go kaput, but apparently it ran out of freon. How does that happen in 1.5 years? So needless to say we have been sleeping with ceiling fans, a box fan, a smaller fan, and a cold humidifier to keep us cool at night, oh and the windows open. When hubs got home yesterday after I had left it was 86 degrees in our house. We finally got it down to around 82 but it was still sweltering. Hopefully after our AC guy finishes today we will be good to go. I'm looking forward to a nice cool 72 in our house. However, I did propose to hubs that we put our house on the market and find a nice big apartment so we don't have to worry about these sort of things. Sad thing is, he thought about it for a minute...oh well! I think we'll keep trucking on to see what happens next.

Hi, my name is Procrastination

Thursday (1 day before vacay)
Time: 7:00pm- Start packing (uncharactaristiclly so)without a packing list! So not me!
7:10 - Oh crap! Must finish laundry so I can pack more stuff I won't need

7:45 - Dinner arrives, must take AT LEAST 20 minute break

8:15 - Finish packing clothes and shoes only, must rest to watch Grey's Anatomy

8:30 - Gets bored starts to finish art project

9:10 - Ready for bed

9:10:01 - Crap! Sink full of dishes and dishwasher full

10:00 - Finally in bed and house all clean

Today is a different story...I woke up early and met my trainer which I NEVER do. 630am and I do not agree. I've tried to forge a relationship in the past but for whatever reason that time really hates me. So therefore, if we can't get along, I'll just avoid it. I did manage to pack a few more essentials this morning, but I'm pretty tapped out on toiletries so I convinced the hubs we'll just pick those up in Destin. And this is how, ladies and gents, you spend $100 at Walgreens. It's just everything is so shiny and new. Damn marketing ploys! They get me everytime. And I worked in advertising, you would think I would be immune by now.

So now we just have to hit the bank, hit the house and get the last remaining items, say buh-bye to puss cat for a week and hit the road. Hopefully by 7pm I will be relaxing at our half way point and possibly enjoying a fruity adult libation. Last time we stayed at our half way point we walked around the quaint little town and found an awesome Italian Restaurant that had the most amazing scallops I have ever eaten. EVER! They were HUGE! And so tender and so yummy, but unfortunatly due to a down economy said scallops are no more. I was so bummed to hear that I will not be feasting at the Italian restaurant tonight. So mission uno for Destin, find giant delicious scallops! Something about being two days away from all the seafood I can eat just keeps me itching to leave. Plus there's the beach, that's always a perk.

However, vacation will not be all fun and games. I will still most likely be up by 830am because hubs has this unusual ability to wake up early (ie 6am) every where he goes. I simply refuse to get up that early so he does whatever for a couple of hours and once he's run out of options he comes whining to me like a kid on Christmas for me to please, please, please get out of bed. Well I will have to force myself because my trainer is making me work out while I am down there. See I have this little thing called a stair climb in two weeks and after the practice climb I thought I was going to DIE! Climbing 16 flight did not sit well with my lungs. I think they contemplated leaving me for a minute but I convinced them to stay and finished in under 3 minutes! Whew! So my trainers thought is "oh you're staying in a high rise condo. Perfect practice!" So while I am there I have to climb stairs so I can be ready in two weeks to do 39 floors. The upside, maybe I'll come back a few pounds lighter. The downside...I mean really, who wants to work out on vacation....not this girl! So in approximately 24 hours I will be in Destin! Here's to blue skies and not a drop of oil in sight. Cabana boy, bring me a drink!

The best laid plans...

They don't always go as you intend. In my experience they seem to veer left when I'm going right. Take for example off-shore drilling. Bear with me while I make this COMPLETELY about me. I cannot believe for one second this happened TWO WEEKS before my scheduled vacation. Now I'm stressed thinking it's going to be a big mess down in Destin. Now on the opposite hand, this is such a sad loss for many families and I feel deeply sorry for them. These are the sort of things that should never happen and a family should never have to experience. I'm sure BP's best laid plan was to drill and move on. Now they have no clue when or how they are going to fix this. Their estimated time line could take MONTHS! How many other creatures have to suffer because of man's mistake. Right now, you have 20 families out there wondering where there loved one's bodies might be and then we have to deal with the ecological crisis on top of it. The article this morning mentioned 4 whales in the oil. At what point does the Coast Guard and BP come along and ask for help. Not that I'm a PETA activist by any measure, but surely it can't be safe to swim in oil. Poor whales...so that's my soapbox for the day. Moving on. Here's to a quick recovery.

In other news, I've decided to start a new project. I was visiting this website the other day and they had home accessories on sale. I love, love, love home accessories. I can't get enough. Currently I'm on a quest for the perfect floor lamp, I found one, but yet hubs can't justify spending $400 on a lamp. Can't say I blame him. Even though I did admit to him that one day I would like the means to be able to circle things in the Pottery Barn catalogue and have him surprise me with gifts. Like I said, I can't have enough home accessories. So back to the art project. They had this saying painted on a wooden board and it spoke to me and meant a lot to me. There are certain aspects I just identify with and this was one of them. It was 50% off and I misread it and thought it was $21. What a steal!! Until I realized there was an extra 1 in there. $211 for something stenciled on to wood. I don't think so. So then the lightbulb goes off in my head. I can make this! So this weekend we are heading out to Hobbylobby/Michaels/et al to find me some supplies. I'm pretty pumped. I mean anyone can stencil right? Plus my color scheme is going to be way cooler and it won't be on wood, but that would be too heavy to hang on the wall anyway.

Also, this weekend we have the practice climb for the upcoming American Lung Association stair climb. On Saturday I only have to do 16 flights of stairs. I use the term "only" loosely. I did however succesfully do 39 flights on the stair climber the other night but I think that's a bit different. My trainer keeps encouraging me telling me I can make it but I'm starting to get that self doubt. Somehow I'll go on and finish it all and then give myself one big pat on the back. This is the closest I'll ever come to participating in athletic races. I mean a marathon just sounds like hell to me. I don't even want to drive 26.2 miles, let alone run it. So we shall see how it goes.

Remaining time until vacation: 1 week until we are on our way!!

The countdown is on...

Three more weeks until the beach!!! We haven't been to Destin since August of 2008 so I'm pretty pumped to be heading back. Last time we, went the hubs and I were only together 3 months as boyfriend/girlfriend. I should have know it was meant to be then when you can go on a weeklong trip with someone you hardly know. Well in all fairness we had talked for about 4 months before our first date, so I knew enough to know he wasn't a serial killer! Now it will be our 6 month wedding anniversary (cheesy I know) but I couldn't think of a better place to spend it. The whole place is just so serene. Hopefully too many kiddos won't be out of school by the time we get down there. Last time we were down there, my bff in college told me she was engaged (to a man I had never met). I was beyond thrilled for her and luckily he turned out to be a pretty good guy. Now as we're preparing to go to Florida she is preparing to have a baby!!! Cover your ears now...EEEEEKKKKK!!! I am once again beyond excited. She sent me her first sonogram picture in a picture message and I literally squealed in excitment in my car. I'm sure the people parked around me could hear. Now the hubs is worried I will be throwing the "B" word around more. Honestly, I'm not in a huge rush. Well first we MUST have a bigger house. Me, hubs, cat, and baby will not fit in 1350 sq ft. Well it could, but I'm not ok with that close of quarters. Plus at the moment, our spare bedroom is more of an oversized closet. I would have to have much more closet space before I even considered the "B" word. At the moment we're not necessarily selling, but we have been looking. We've been talking about building again if we don't find anything by maybe the end of the year. Honestly, all the blood, sweat, and tears are worth every minute once you move in. There were literal tears with fridge #2. The first was the wrong one (Metro's mistake, not ours...even though it was bad ass). #2 waaaayyyy too big, so I cried and thought we would never find the perfect one. Lo and behold Sears was my Fridge savior. Who would have thought? But I digress.

Either way, I have three weeks to get ready for the beach. I have a physical next week at the doctor and hopefully everything will go a-ok there. I'm hoping to resolve an ongoing issue since last October. If he could find the source and
"cure" me I would be very grateful. It's just been a nuiscance for a while now. I'm sure all will go well and I can continue with my gym progress. I feel like I've plateued again so I have to find something to get me over that hump. My trainer and I've started doing a bootcamp like workout on Saturday's so maybe that will help. I've got to keep at it though because in a little over a month I'm supposed to climb the metropolitan building for the American Lung Association. 39 flights of stairs!! Hopefully I can make it. I guess the practice climb of 16 flights will tell me if I can do it or not!

The Master's are coming....

It is time for my annual golf hibernation. Usually during the summer and spring months the hubs forces me in front of the television to watch a sport that is equivalent to watching paint dry. Yes I have watched paint dry, and yes it was more exciting that golf. But that's beyond the point. So here comes Tiger's grand re-entrance to the sport and I use that term loosely. I equate golf to curling. It really has no point...at all! Personally I think it's a little conceited of Tiger to make his grand entrance into one of the "elite" tournaments. I mean I guess when you're ego is the size of his then it's only fair. And what's up with the 90 body guards. Does it really take that many men to scare off some hookers, I mean mistresses...oh same difference. Ok I digress. So either way, the hubs is all excited because the Master's have finally arrived. You would think the way he's been acting that he's about to get a really big present on Christmas morning. So I'm sure this weekend will consist of me cuddled up and sleeping while he watches grown me use a stick to wack a ball. Hmmm, maybe there is something behind it. In the last two years I've watched so much golf, that I can actually now differentiate the players. I can also describe to you a boggey, birdie, and a par. The numbering system actually makes some sense now and I have a few favorite players. I guess that napping thing isn't working ou too well.

So onto my goals for the week. I have successfully cut down to one soda a day and switched to Dr. Pepper. The odd thing is that I've found when I drink it in the morning it makes me full and less likely to eat breakfast. I don't know if this is a good or bad thing. Honestly I haven't seen my energy level decrease like I thought it would. I've always gotten sleepy in the afternoon so maybe Diet Coke wasn't the wonder drug I thought it was. So let's be honest, I did crack last night and had 1/2 of a diet coke. The taste was awful and honestly I think it might have made me somewhat sick. So now I think I will just stick with my water and Vitamin Water with zero calories! It's new and it's wonderful. It taste the same as the old one just no calories. I don't know how they do it, but hey I'm not hear to ask questions.

Next up on the agenda is the stair climb at Metropolitan Tower for the American Lung Association. Hopefully I'll be able to make it up all 39 floors. Apparently, it's somewhere around 1,000 steps. My trainer thinks I can make it. We'll see how the practice climb goes May 1st. Wohoo! That one's only 16 floors, but I figure if I can make it that far then I can keep pushing myself. I just have to remember, you can do anything you set your mind to...almost.

Kicking the Habit...

Last week I have decided to turn over a new leaf...slowly. Ever since I can remember I've been drinking soda. My mom used to pack one for me in lunch box so I would say around 12 is when I would have started the habit. I don't blame her, I could choose whether or not to drink it and I certainly could have stopped instead of waiting 13 years to choose so. In a way, caffeine addiction is almost like being an alcoholic. You feel as if you need it to jump start your day, you become angry and cranky without it and without the proper support you finally cave and go back to it. After talking it over with my trainer, he told me I need to go cold turkey. Honestly, I don't think I'm strong enough. But he did tell me that switching from Diet to regular would help. That's not to say that I can put away three Dr. Pepper's a day versus 3 Diet Coke's and expect to loose weight, but I am substituting and keeping it to one a day. Or I try my best on most days. Last week was pretty succesful overall. On the days I did slip up I would have a diet coke so my consumption has gone from three a day to one or two. My plan is to be off soda completely by the end of the summer. In a way I've realized I've become dependent on a product that I don't need. The body can't break down the aspartame and in turn takes it and stores fat. Doesn't it amaze you at all the people who drink a so called Diet Drink and are still fat? What it boils down to in the end is that it also creates cravings. Without the sugar by product you are constantly looking for something else to much on. Overall it's about creating a healthier lifestyle. The first step for me last year was to signifacantly cut back on my alcohol intake. Now this is not to say that I don't imbibe every once in a while, Hello Vegas!, but I do try to limit it. In turn it has made me a cheap date which the hubs does appreciate. I used to be at a point, especially while wedding planning, where I would have probably three or 4 glasses of wine in a week. Now I generally only drink with company, such as dinner with parents on Sunday, or when we occassionally go out with friends. I have found that has made me feel better and has helped to shed a few pounds. It's easy to eliminate the things that aren't a neccessity.
My next step in my plan is to start meal planning. We ordered the Biggest Loser cookbook about a month ago and have maybe used one recipe out of the entire thing. So last night I wrote down the names and what nights we would have them. Now we have to do the grocery shopping, but after that I have all of our meals picked out for two weeks. It makes it simpler so we don't come home exhausted and wonder what to eat and then opt for fast food. My hope in the long run is that we'll eventually cut out a vast majority of our eating out expense. We analyzed out bank statement one month and found that we ate out 26 of 30 days. All the money down the drain and I'm sure the added poundage we don't need. So here's a new start to saving for a rainy day and potentially a bigger house. Because after all one of these days we'll want to start a family and we definetly won't be able to afford that. Nor do I want a child who becomes accustomed to that lifestyle.
Also, the other motivational boost....Destin in a month and half!! Nobody wants to be the tubby girl on the beach!

These boots aren't made for walkin'...

Recently the hubs and I returned from a vacation/business trip to Las Vegas. We headed out a couple of days early before his trip to enjoy some time to ourselves. I was so not prepared for what faces us. I don't think you can fully understand the size of the Las Vegas strip until you have walked it in flip flops. On day one my legs felt like I had endured one of the toughest workouts of their life. The next day I thought I would be wiser and opt of tennis shoes. Fail! Nothing can compensate for the amount of stress that concrete puts on your feet. I don't necessarily know if it is from walking from casino to casino or if it's once your inside it goes for miles. Literally, some go for miles. They are in the process of building a new casino downtown and the commercial mentioned that it is 67,000 acres. I'm no math whiz, but even in my book that is HUGE!!!! Needless to say, I wasn't nor have been very diet conscience lately. The food in that town is awesome but luckily with all the trekking I managed to stay the same. Now it's time to get back to the gym this weekend. I think the biggest downfall in the last month was me getting sick. I came down with the terrible crud and had no energy to eat/work out. The upside is I did lose 5 pounds and it's managed to stay off. Now I've plateaued again. So to get me over the bad food hump I've enlisted some more help. There is a wonderful website that has an online food journal. No adding, no guessing how much is in something. You simply type in what you ate and how much of it and it compiles it all on that day for you. Pretty simple and it helps you keep track of what you ate. I know looking back it kind of makes me feel like a fatty, which in the end helps me to control what I eat. Now that things are settling down again, I can jump back on the exercise bandwagon. I'm not going to lie, I kind of miss it.

Oh the torture....

So it's been ahile and the diet is not going so hot. I'm trying, honestly, and I think I have new motivation. We're going to the beach again soon! Wohoo! In a few long months I'll get to go back to Destin, lay on the beach, drink too much, eat too much, and shop too much. So here's my game plan. Between now and May I plan to lose 10 pounds. Doesn't sound too hard right? That's like 2.5 pounds a month. I could do that in my sleep! Well at least that's what I tell myself. Doesn't always happen that way though. So my trainer has decided that I need to spice up my cardio routine. I just think I need a routine, and a good workout buddy. I'm accepting applications. The hubs does ok, when he goes. He's a busy man so sometimes I have to be my own motivation and belive me that's hard. So this week I will have successfully been to do cardio 4 times. That's about 2 more times than the average week and I am SORE! Last weekend my trainer introduced me to the bike. Not the kind that you kick back and read a magazine while you pedal bike, this is the sit up and sweat it out Lance Armstrong type bike. Goal: 8 miles in 30 minutes. Check! I have one of these go-getter attitudes that you tell me I can do this and I will go above and beyond. My first time I did 9.30 miles so now he's decided I should do 10 miles. Last night I did 9.5 and that was where I was spinning so fast I thought the bike was going to sprout wheels and ride away with me. But...I finished and felt accomplished! Tonight, we take it easy. So I get home last night and do some relaxation yoga on the Wii to wind down from all that cardio and lo and behold I have lost 1.8lbs! Wohoo!!! Then it tells me I only have 22 more lbs to go to my goal. Hopefully, my Biggest Loser cookbook will be here soon and we can kickstart our diet plan!

New Year, New Me!

Happy 2010! Over the long weekend the new diet plan went right out the window. First there was NYE which was appropriately celebrated by lunch at a Mexican Restaurant, dinner at a Tapas restaurant, and then off to our favorite watering hole. Not a very healthy day to say the least. After over indulging and waking up feeling pretty happy with myself that I didn't have a hangover, I thought I would start the day off right. Needless to say that didn't happen...AT ALL. Instead the hubs decides that he is going to run out and grab something for breakfast. What does he come home with? McDonald's, my archnemisis for my stomach and hips! Back in college I remember it was the greatest cure to a hangover, now it's just the devil. That is unless I decide to go on the drive-thru diet like the woman who magically lost 100lbs eating only Taco Bell. How does that even happen? I think I'll stick with working out. Well after laying around the house and wasting half the morning, I finally convince hubs that we should go to the gym. By the time I left, you would have thought I haven't seen the place in ten years. Cardio = bad time! If there were something fun about it I might enjoy it more. The Wii Fit does have some aerobics that are pretty entertaining, but it seems to focus more on yoga. We do better in the afternoon after going to Fresh Market...my weakness...and get some turkey and bread and cottage cheese (which Hubs refuses to eat, he makes a face like a three year old everytime we eat it). So we're doing better until it's time to go to dinner with the grandparents. Rolls, apple sauce, pork, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes. Yum! Anyone who has grandparents know they always over cook! Day Two, shot! Moving on to day three....that day is the liberty bowl. Football without beer is like a day without sunshine! But at least we opted for Michelob Ultra. It's as low as I can go. I tried Miller 64, but that was like drinking beer flavored water. I think I'll absorb the other 31 calories per beer, thanks! Originally we were going to grill some chicken and have fajitas, well that is until I brought up the beer. And oh so thoughtful husband says, "hey let's get some pizza too." The other necessity to college football! So that week/end is completely down the drain! The upside? We won the football game!