digital scrapbooking

Well, I have a sinus infection. Blah! The doctor told me I had to rest, so the anniversary plans are postponed. :( However, this gives me time to play with my new digital software, My Digital Studio by Stampin' Up. I am completely digitally challenged, so I've been playing with this for a few days and here is what I've come up with so far:

As you can see, they're not perfect, and it has been quite a learning curve for me! But it's really fun! There are still lots of things I need to figure out, but I'm happy with my progress so far!

day four

We have actually succeeded in getting up every day this week and walking! We are so proud - and a little sore! :) One day left, and we're taking the weekend off. Since our anniversary is this coming Wednesday, we're celebrating this weekend. Brian is surprising me on Saturday with something!! I can't wait!!

2 days in

Well, we did it! We got up yesterday AND today and walked! It was harder today - doesn't it take like 3 weeks to make a habit? I will be excited when my body is used to getting up at 7am! We both have a lot more energy during the day though, and we've been feeling good. I'll keep you posted on how things progress.

wow

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted! I wonder if anyone even reads my blog anymore! Well, readers or no readers, this has been a source of accountability for me, and it's time for me to get back to it.

Let's get right to the point: I've gained some weight. Not a lot, just about 8-9 pounds - I thought that was pretty good, keeping off that much of the 43 pounds I lost 3 years ago! However, I've completely stopped exercising and with all the trouble we've had this year (with our house and everything we own and Brian's job), I started eating badly. Fast food, ice cream, fast food, etc. I'm a stress eater, it's no secret. Even though I've only gained 8-9 pounds, it seems like 25 - all of the muscle I had acquired has turned into fat. BELLY fat, of course.

So today I went clothes shopping and was horrified to see what I looked like in those store lights and 3-way mirrors! I swore when I lost the weight before that I would NOT let myself get huge again, so I am going to have to take drastic measures RIGHT NOW! I gave away all my "fat" clothes, so if I don't do something now, I'm going to have to buy new clothes in bigger sizes and that's just not an option.

Brian is on board too - he needs to lose a few pounds. Of course, I think he looks hot, but his doctor says he needs to lose some. Since we work late into the evening and rarely have dinner before 8:00, exercising at night is kinda hard - we're exhausted after dinner. The only way we're going to fit exercise into our crazy schedules is to do it first thing in the morning.

OK, we are NOT morning people. We both start work at 10:00, so we are NOT up early. We appreciate our sleep. We love our sleep. We have tried before to get up early to exercise. This time it HAS to work! It just HAS to! So I'm blogging about it, cause if we don't do it, I'll be embarrassed since I wrote about it online!

Tomorrow is the day. The cats have been waking us up at 7am every day for awhile now, so tomorrow, we're just going to take the hint and get up. You guys root for us, ok? If we can do it tomorrow, we will prove to ourselves that we can do it!! I'm so motivated! I'm going to look for healthy recipes now!

4 days and counting

Our vacation is fast approaching! I am in a craze of list-making, doing laundry, packing, scheduling, preparing, etc. Amazingly, Brian has this WHOLE weekend off!! It's been great to spend some time together while discussing all the fun we are going to have! Looks like we got the flip just in the nick of time - we will certainly share some videos from our trip.

We're leaving Friday morning for Miami...Friday night we're staying at the Epic Hotel - we have a waterview room with a balcony. I'm SO excited - we never splurge on things like this, but we found a great deal online! Also, in a bizarre twist of fate, Carnival called us a few weeks ago and offered us a fantastic price on a suite, so we upgraded!

On our cruise we're going to Ocho Rios, Jamaica; Georgetown, Grand Cayman; and Roatan, Honduras. We are so looking forward to this much-needed vacation after the crazy hours Brian has been keeping. We've booked beach trips on two of the islands, and they are both somewhat secluded beaches - we are wanting some relaxation and peace.

Tomorrow we're going out to buy some essentials. Brian needs some sunglasses, and we also need to buy a 24-pack of water. And hopefully we can start putting some clothes in the suitcase so we won't accidentally wear them. We've already checked out several books from the library. A week of sun, solitude, and unlimited time with my sweet hubby...what more could I want? Stay tuned. I'll be sure to journal along the way.

a new flip

I'm so excited...I just ordered a Flip! I'm mainly going to use it for Kindermusik, but I'm sure you'll see some cat videos and maybe even some bits and pieces of our upcoming vacation! Stay tuned...

impress me

I just sat down to watch Idol. I will watch this 2 hour show in like 45 minutes probably. My whole attitude is...impress me. The show has started, and I'm not at ALL impressed so far. I'll blog as I go.

Oh yay - Matt Giraud is about to sing - I'm excited for this. OK. He's a good singer, and he's doing ok, but I'm really disappointed he's not doing something more bluesy. He was so amazing doing "Georgia on My Mind" in Hollywood. OK, Kara just said exactly what I just said. LOL I still really hope he makes it through, because he is seriously talented.

There are some really weird people on this show tonight. One of them is this little red-headed 16-year-old. I hate to tell the judges, but she is totally not using her voice properly in the upper register. She's not going to be singing forever if she keeps that up. I liked the beginning of the song, but when she started pushing it on the chorus, it hurt me. Also, all the jerky movements she was doing drove me nuts. She'll probably go through tonight. But I guess I shouldn't say that until I've heard all 12.

Oh, here's Kai - I've been looking forward to hearing him, even if I don't really like his hair. I really like his voice. Don't know if this is my favorite song he's ever done.

OK, I like Adam. I think he's talented, but he's not my favorite ever. He has a serious range, though.

Nobody rocked me tonight. But I hope Matt Giraud goes through.

idol stand-outs

Just for reference, here are the Idol contestants that I think have stood out so far. Keep in mind that I haven't seen NEARLY all of the audition shows, so I haven't even heard all of the top 36 sing yet. But here's what I have so far:

Danny Gokey - he's just my favorite, all the way around

Lil Rounds

Kai Kalama

Matt Giraud - loved his rendition of "Georgia On My Mind" during Hollywood week

Michael Sarver - didn't think he did that great last night, but this is a guy who, if he doesn't make it through tonight, could be a good candidate for a wild card

Ricky Braddy - I hadn't heard him sing before last night, but I thought he had a really smooth voice. I hope he makes it through.

Alexis Grace - I thought she did well last night and I haven't heard her very much besides that.

OK, those are the people who have impressed me so far. As you can see, the girls need to step it up! LOL

My picks to go through tonight:
Danny Gokey
Alexis Grace
Ricky Braddy

I guess I'm blogging again!

the latest thing that made me laugh

(Updates on the house to come later, I'm too lazy to go get the card out of my camera.)

So Brian called a little bit ago to say he was on his way home. Here's how the conversation went:

K: Hey. Are you on your way home?
B: Yes, and I've tried to call you 3 times and it's gone straight to voicemail.
K: (quietly) I was voting for Idol.
B: What?
K: I WAS VOTING!!!!
B: (dying laughing)
K: Shut up!
B: OK!
K: There's this awesome guy, I have liked him from the beginning, and I had to vote for him, but I haven't been able to get through yet!

:)

Danny Gokey rocks. I swore I wouldn't watch Idol this year because Dreadlocks Ladyface guy got WAY too far last year and we all know he can't sing a lick. It makes me so mad when they vote through people who can't sing! Anyway, I saw part of ONE audition show and Danny was on there. So I watched a little of Hollywood week just so I could see if he did well. Of course he did, so I had to watch him tonight. What a crazy show! I didn't really like any of the girls. But Danny was awesome. Stay tuned.

(If they start voting off the good singers, I'm never watching again!)

new floors

It's a good thing that this blog is not recorded, because my voice sounds ridiculous. I have bronchitis and have been home sick for most of the week. Yuck. The best part is that there are workers in and out of my house while I'm trying to rest and heal. :P Yes, I'm being sarcastic.

However, the mold stuff is done and today the flooring people are here. Today is the day that I have felt the worst. I should be feeling better, right? But it's getting worse so I'm getting antibiotics today. I will have to venture out and go pick them up.

Anyway, as I said, the flooring people are here. They're making a mess and it smells weird and they're very loud, but I just went in to see how they were doing and this is what I found:

How gorgeous is that?! That's our bedroom! It's so beautiful I almost cried. I'm not one of those people who can picture how everything is going to look, so I was so surprised...it looks prettier than I ever even imagined. It even made me feel a little bit better.

Of course, there's still a lot of work to be done. Here's a nice shot of the den and dining room:

I will post more pictures as they finish more rooms.
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OK, I'm adding more pictures - several hours later, here is the progress. Basically, my entire house is a mess again. *sigh* But I will have pretty floors! That's all that matters, right?

Here's the front hallway, the pad is partially down:
View from our master bath into our closet:
View from master bed into master bath (all the stuff from our closet is in there):
My office/scraproom, full of junk again:
Kitchen, with everything from the china cabinet and curio emptied out, along with other furniture and stuff:
The dining room, full of furniture earlier, now they moved it all into the den:

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OK, here are a few more pictures. It's 6:00 now and they have been here since 9:00 this morning. These guys are GOOD! I just want them to finish a room so I can start putting things away!

The dining room:
View from the den:
View from the front door: