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!