This year I...

Hold on to your hats folks, I'm back for another post!

It shouldn't surprise you to hear that it will be about my list of things-to-do for this next year. I like calling it a "to-do" list more than I like calling them goals. Crazy? Maybe but thats fine with me.

So, like last year, I just wrote up my list on a kitchen note pad and stuck it on my memo board.

Here it is!

• Learn to use the table saw
• line the kitchen cabinets
• finish snowman quilt
• line bathroom cabinets
• intall laundry nook outlet
• Make a perfect batch of rolls
• finish kitchen
• finish kitchen baseboards
• finish knitting socks
• finish baby girl quilt
• make baby room curtains
• paint pantry
• do something about master bed lights
• lose all baby weight
• pay off car 
• pay off furnace
• stay debt free!!

Okay. So they aren't terribly exciting goals, I know. But here's the thing. They are all things that I want to do, or learn or accomplish. So worthy, right? The first couple things on the list are roll-overs from last year, so theres that. I bought a knitting book about knitting socks and I taught myself how to knit. Now I just need to finish the socks right? So far, they are pretty bad looking but its okay! Its my first project. Also, I have yet to bake a batch of yeast bread that turned out. So this year I'd like to make that happen. Anyway, my ambitions all in a list. Woo-hoo! I'm looking forward to this year, even though we have welcomed it in with terrible colds all around. I mean, all three of us super sick and congested. Its been awesome. I have coughed so hard I thought I would send myself into labor. Its horrible. But aside from that, we have fun things to look forward to! New baby, fun adventures and good times to be had. 

Here's to the New Year!!!

This last year I...

Hey there. Me again. The missing owner of this here blog.

Sorry, so slow on the posting. I blame... nothing. I have no excuse. However, I thought, since we are nearing the end of the year, I would write up a list of the things I got done this year.

Earlier this year (I think?) I wrote up this list and stuck it on my memo board next to the computer in the kitchen. Its just a little reminder of the things that I want to get done.

Fancy. 

Here's what it says:

Emily's Goals:

• paint bathroom cabinets
• Line the rest of the kitchen
• paint nook
• install transition
• spray laundry baskets
• take down changing table
• potty train Liam
• finish snowman quilt (just need to put it all together)
• finish other christmas quilt
• finish valentines hanging
• line bathrooms with stick on tiles (1/2)
• paint hall baseboards
• finish laundry room shelves
• install outlet
• get rid of desk
• learn to use the table saw

The things in bold I finished, italicized I decided not to do anymore and underlined are almost done.

I'm pretty pleased with what I was able to get done. Some of the things seem really simple, like taking down the changing table but I'm fairly sure that if I hadn't written it down somewhere, I probably still wouldn't have gotten around to it. Obviously, this isn't all I did this whole year. That would be... pathetic. But these were specific things that I could think of that I wanted to accomplish. Some of them I added to the list in the anticipation that we would be having a baby join our family this year (which unfortunately didn't happen... but we are only 5.5 weeks out!) and other things are just so I could clear up the junk I have around my house. 

I'm excited to think about the things I want to get done for next year. I guess I'd better get started on my list now!

Week ? Check in

I know. I've been doing terrible at checking in. But guess what? I haven't been terrible at sticking to my goals.

Oh no. We've been rocking them actually.

Still (slowly) losing weight.

AND

Today. Today we effectively eliminated our credit card debt. SAY WHAT?!?!??!

Yes.

Today I pushed "send" for the last time.

I made the final payment on our final credit card.

That makes our total debt payoff $4619.17 since February 18!!!!!

Guys.

That means our car is going to be paid off in 6 months.

I feel awesome.

Its fantastic.

Check in: Week 3

I am writing this post today from the midst of a level one disaster kitchen.

Fact.

I'll tell ya why in a minute.

So we have successfully completed three weeks of the "Battle of the Bulge 2013" over here and it is going quite well.

We have gotten rid of a total 19.6 lbs of chub and $287.40 of debt which brings the debt payoff total to $778.40!!

I'm pretty pleased about it all really. I think that after this week we will have paid off the last of one credit card and we will have started making headway on the next! That is pretty exciting news for me!

Upsides:

We got our dishwasher and its lovely (or it would be if it were hooked up)
I have lost almost 10 lbs
Husband has lost 10 straight up! (I like when we lose at the same rate, though I know that pretty soon here he will probably keep losing and mine will... taper off somewhat. Darn men. Lucky sons...)
I have finished sanding all my cabinet doors
Its pretty much warm enough that Liam and I can walk to the park
I've really started branching out on recipes and have discovered a few DELICIOUS ones that are diet approved :)

Downsides:

Not having a car really doesn't get easier
The dishwasher isn't hooked up and I cant use the sink otherwise water starts spilling all over the place



So the upsides obviously outweigh the bad this week and thats good. This week wasn't nearly as hard as last week was. Hopefully things continue to go smoothly next week!

So back to the disaster. We got our dishwasher and husband thought that we had everything we needed to hook it up. We do have all the parts we need but because of where we need to put our dishwasher, none of the hookups are long enough. So basically the hot water is disconnected and if I run the cold water in the sink, water starts pouring out from under the dishwasher (that isn't hooked up but is put in its proper location). Also, my cabinets currently have no doors or drawer fronts. They are all either in the garage or in the laundry room. So that just adds to the overall look of disorder and confusion. (Anyone else imagine Sir. Topham Hat saying "you've cause confusion and delay"? Just me?)

Anyway, now that I'm almost 10 down, I think I can start looking towards making a plan of how much I actually want to lose. And how ambitious I think I should be. Am I going for my first year of college skinny (probably the smallest I have ever been) or more like the day I got married skinny (which was also pretty small but about 15 pounds heavier than the first year of college). I dunno. I don't think I'm going to worry about it too much. Yet. But its on my mind.

How did your week go? Any accomplishments you're proud of?

Check in : Week 2

Here we are again! Battle of the Bulge 2013 is still going on over here...

Upsides:

We paid off $155 of debt
We got our fridge fixed for realsies
We found a dishwasher for pretty cheap (and we didn't have to use a credit card to buy it)
Its finally getting warm so Liam and I are going to start exploring the public transit options for getting around
We found a long lost gift card to Lowes! $125 dollars baby!

Downsides:

We lost a total of 0 pounds over here
BUT
We didn't gain any, so win(?)
I get cabin fever not being able to leave


This week was hard. We didn't completely stray from our diet plan but we had alot of hang-ups. We have recommitted to following the plan and hopefully we will see some results next week.  I've had some health concerns so I went to the doctor and had some blood tests done and luckily those all came back normal, so thats a good thing for sure!

While I was in college, I had some really super awesome roommates. One of them had (and still does) a serious love for Diet Coke... come to think of it, I think almost all my roommates did (and probably still do). Well, we didn't really drink alot of soda in my house growing up so I had no preferences either way, until my first year of school. I developed a love for the Diet Coke. I don't have any false assumptions that is in anyway good for me. I just like it. I like how it tastes, and I pretty easily form an addiction to the caffeine that is a bear to get over. Well, its just not good for me and I think that this week I will work on quitting the Diet Coke. It'll probably be good for me. We'll see.

Now the debt diet part of our week. Darrell got his yearly bonus this week, so we made some extra purchases that we have been putting off. We got a new computer (the day it arrived our old laptop had a crash of epic proportions, I'm surprised it turned back on) and we bought a new dishwasher (unexpected but I'm glad it happened when it did), tires for our car (which as we've learned is a VERY expensive one to maintain) as well as a new pair of pants for me. I'm a pant snob, and I usually spend a little bit of money on them BUT I only own one pair at a time pretty much so when they wear our, I have to get new ones and my old ones wore out this week. The good thing is, we didn't have to go into any debt to make any of these purchases! And when I say that we paid off $155 dollars, that is in addition to our regular monthly payments. We have two credit cards we are working on getting rid of as well as a car loan, a student loan, a loan from Darrells dad and our mortgage. Our number one priorities are the two credit cards (one of which will be gone after I get paid for piano lessons this month!) and the car loan. We think we can get rid of those in 7-8 months. I I really hope so, cause then we can hopefully look at buying another car.

On the horizons for this week:

I just finished filling the gouges in my cabinets with wood filler, so sanding the kitchen cabinet doors and frames (this'll get its own post later this week)
installing the new dishwasher
getting new tires on the car
keep working on potty training liam
take down the changing table in his room

Things are looking good!

What are your goals for the year, month, week, today?


Want to know what "Battle of the Bulge 2013" is? Read here: We're going on a diet

Check in: 1 week later

Here I am again. One week into "battle of the bulge 2013".

It went well! Really, quite well. We are a collective 14 pounds lighter and $336 less in debt. I'm going to chalk it up as a win.

Downsides:

The dishwasher started leaking all over... looks like we need a new one.

or a bigger sink... (cause i have a little baby sink... two bowls and BAM it looks like its overflowing. seriously.)

I really miss eating popcorn.
And cookies.


And having a car...

Upsides:

Liam is well on his way to being potty trained.
I checked off about a billion things from my list like:
Getting darrell enrolled in next quarter
Selling our car
selling the tires that we bought a month ago for said car
calling and having fridge repair guy (which now he needs to come back cause the fridge is doing the same thing again)
submitted all paperwork to loan underwriter (it took like 15 minutes, what is my problem?)
finished my kindle cover
almost finished the embroidery for my christmas quilt
took down and put away half the christmas lights outside
finished installing the outlets in our kitchen from re-doing the kitchen backsplash

And lots more, but I can't really think of them right now


I get really excited when I look like 9 months down the road and we'll have a big bulk of our debt out of the way. Like really? I can't wait to not have a stupid car payment. That will really be fantastic.

I wonder if the weather on the upward swing (excpet for the "snow" storm we're supposed to get tomorrow) for the next 10 days will help ease my cabin fever. Its just been so darn cold that I can't got anywhere with the babe. I live fairly close to plenty of things. The library is like a mile away. It takes maybe a half an hour to walk there, but there has been either snow everywhere of your nose hairs start freezing when you walk outside its so cold. There is also a dollar store a mile and a half away and if I'm feeling really ambitious I can walk to the shopping center about 3 miles away. That might be less fun than I think since I don't really want to spend money. Though, since walking will be my only form of transportation for awhile that will probably aid in my weight loss goals. Hmmm guess its not so bad.

Oh and since we've been confined together, it has been confirmed that Liam like husband much more than he likes me.

Yesterday he sat himself down in the hall (in the dark, in front of the garage door) and when I asked him what he was doing he just looked at me, patted the ground and said "daddy." And he stayed there for like 20 minutes.

sheesh.

Want to know what "Battle of the Bulge 2013" is? Read here: We're going on a diet

what the what?!

So I have this dream of running a marathon someday. I don't know why, and I think it sounds pretty awful, but I really really really want to.

I also really really really want to go to Disney World again someday.

Last week I stumbled on the results of a disney half marathon. I got interested really quick, and I found this:

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™ 10-Miler Weekend

September 28–29, 2012

We double-dare you to brave dark and ghostly streets haunted by Disney villains. Your commemorative medal announces your towering triumph as you ride thrilling Disney's Hollywood Studios attractions till 3:00 a.m.!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Right?! So I think I'm going to see if somehow I can work this event. I really think it would be so much fun. And husband thinks it sounds pretty awsome too!!!! 



oh.my.

I'm so excited! I just checked my race time from the 5k I ran on Thanksgiving and I was very pleasantly surprised to see this:

135

5388

Emily MALLOY

0

00:40:04.3

00:17:31.400

12:55.6

So I finished 135th out of the 200 women in my age division, 1833 out of 3200 total people, with a time of forty minutes and four seconds. That is a whole 3 minutes faster than my previous 5k!!!!! That is so huge for me! I'm so excited! I'm going to keep running and hopefully be ready for a 10k when the next one rolls around. If I can just keep up my motivation throughout this freezing cold winter We're up against!!!        

running

i'm running.

i look silly i'm sure.

i have like zero endurance.

those blasted hills SURROUND my house.
(iblamethemfortheenduranceproblem)

i'm running a 5k in November.

i'm running a 10k any time after mid-December

i'm running a half marathon in April.

i'm running and i'm going to get stronger.

and faster

and feel better.

i'm running until i can run a marathon.
(can we say bucket list?)

i'm running.

I'm proud to say that I have faithfully followed a diet plan for two weeks solid!

Two whole weeks.

I'm also proud to say that in those two weeks (and a day) I have completely stopped drinking Diet Coke. (and anyother soda for that matter...)

aaaaand

I've lost 9 pounds!

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

so excited!

Whoop

Thats that noise I make when getting off the scale on a good morning.

Today it meant I'm down 6.4.

whoop!

Now I can either think of it as "only 43.6 to go" OR thats almost 28 cubes of butter GONE. I'm going with the butter outlook.

Fact

I am beyond thrilled. Since Monday, I've lost 4.8 pounds.

WHOOP!

Yup.

Thrilled.

GRADUATION DAY!!!

Hooray hooray hooray hooray we made it! That's right! Today it's officially offical. Darrell has joined me the awesomeness that is graduating from college! It was a fun day! I was there for the whole thing! And I am so proud of him!! Now onto grad school!! (for both of us please :) ) Here are some pirtures from the event:

I just can't believe that it has been two whole years since I graduated! Time sure does fly by.

Now to get ready for the next one :)

up hill both ways

you know how people like to pretend like things were hard "back in the old days"?
you know, they'd walk to school, up hill both ways?
fact: i ran a race that was literally up hill both ways.
literally.
doesn't make sense?

the race was a loop.
around  a street in salt lake.
the first third was up hill.
then down around a loop, then back up then back down to the end.

but i did it.

up hill both ways.

today i ran

i ran 2.23 miles in 30 minutes.

it was great!

now the countdown to the 5k is on.

7 days.

i can do this!!!

wish me luck!

and it may be small

but i ran for six minutes straight today at the gym.

yeah yeah, thats not very long but i haven't done that since about may.

sooooo i feel pretty good about it :)

goal

remember back in march-ish when i had that goal? the one to lose weight? well i'm happy to say that i had a successful go around the first time and in total i lost 15 pounds. good thing too. and now that i'm no longer pregnant, i'm going to continue on in my efforts of losing weight. since i had little boy i have lost 23 pounds. which puts me almost back to where i very first started way back in march. totally do-able. and i went to the gym yesterday and oh boy am i excited to start running again!!! i'll make sure to let you know how it goes!

just keepin on...

i think i keep doing the same things.


i keep doing laundry
and cleaning.
and cooking
and dishes
and working out.
and going to work
and hating my job daily.

its getting old.

so i have a job interview on tuesday
i get husband to do laundry
and dishes
i pretend like cleaning is a FUN GAME (it doesn't work most the time)
i work out not because i'm trying to gain a model figure... nay. i do it so i sleep better at night. (it works.) (and the model figure... well just give me till next february and i will KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF!!!) (if the creeps at the gym don't flirt with me... that just makes me leave early.)

i just have to remind myself that the good does out-weigh the bad. almost everyday there are more things i can be happy about than grumpy.

i suppose i'm learning.

goal :)

so i am pretty excited. 

here's why.

this week i lost 3.4 pounds.

that brings my grand total to 13.8!!!

i was a little bummed because last week i only lost .6 but my mom,

ever the optimist once again put it into perspective for me.

"thats still 2 cubes of butter."

and then she said "now imagine those cubes of butter and turn them into the little gobs of chicken fat that you usually cut off."

and then i felt better.

(gross)

Hurrahh!!!

i just ran.

and i feel GREAT!

i just ran 3.1 miles :)

and i did it in 39:25!!!

thats like a minute and a half faster than i was shooting for!

yay!