Hunger Games

Yesterday after work I was feeling pretty yucky so I came home to rest. After an hour or so I headed to Denise's new apartment and spent a little time with her before heading home to hit the gym with my hub.

Unfortunately a few poorly chosen words sparked an intense fight/discussion and I felt it best that he go alone. I ended up going for a long walk to workout and clear my head. When I returned home, I decided to pop in an old workout dance video. Does anyone else feel impossibly silly when working out alone in a spare bedroom with a judgemental cat watching your every move? I ended up giving up. Instead, I pulled out my old workout routine from my senior year in weight lifting. I thought I would die! I can't believe I used to do all that. Now I'm even more determined to get going so I can do that routine plus some!

Right before bed I started The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  Its the first of a three part series! I've heard lots of good things so I'll report back and let ya know how it goes!

A Little Bit of Everything - Updated

Updated: Sorry for the formatting issues today. That is the price I pay for having a lot of different interfaces working together to make this blog happen. It's a lot like me and Mexican food. Sometimes we just don't agree with each other. ;)


There are a few things I would like to say before starting my weekly goal wrap up.

-It makes me feel bad about myself when my cat kneads his paws on my stomach.
-Apparently, being skinny is not enough incentive for me to get my lard-butt to the gym. Hmph.
-Downloading new music gives me a rush of happiness that is hard to describe.
-Ditching FPU to go to Olive Garden with two of your favorite people in the world makes for a ridiculously entertaining night.
-There are few things more relaxing than cuddling with my cat when he's purring.
-The walls are much too thin when I am listening to music and type-type typing on my keyboard and I can still hear and make out the words from the TV that Bryan is watching. Must not forget this nugget of information should guests ever stay in our living room. Awkward!

On to the weekly wrap up! I have to say, I kicked major buttocks this week. You should be proud. Hell, I'm proud and that is all that truly matters. Last weeks goals were:

Week of January 24, 2011

-Continue Laundering

-Unpack at least 5 boxes

-Tidy the beach room

-Finish decorating the master bedroom

-Organize Items for Yard Sale

And I ended with:

Week of January 24, 2011

-Continue Laundering

-Unpack at least 5 boxes

-Tidy the beach room

-Finish decorating the master bedroom

-Organize Items for Yard Sale

Can you hear that?  It's the sound of me patting my own back. Four out of five? What WHAT! So proud. I definitely continued to launder last week. And as you saw in my previous post, I unloaded way more than 5 boxes. I managed to clean up the beach room as much as I could with my own muscles. Will need husband to help move heavy things. While unpacking, I also managed to set aside and sort a ton of clothes and other items to be sold. That will continue to be a goal as I unpack boxes. I want to purge!


For the this week, my goals are:

Week of January 31, 2011

-Continue Laundering

-Unpack another 5 boxes

-Steam the master bedroom curtains

-Hang the master bedroom curtains

-Organize Jewelry

This week is a rather light week because my husband and I have big plans, so I'll have to spend most of the week preparing for that. Also, Denise moved into her new apartment so I'll be over there to help her get settled in to her new place.


And now, for the part of the post that you probably weren't expecting! The month-end wrap up of my yearly goals!

1. Get fit & get active

2. Challenge my marriage

3. Walk with God

4. Get unpacked and organized

The above four items were the main points in my life where I wanted to challenge myself as outlined for what I like to call 2011: My Year! Every month at the end of the month, I want to go over each one and how I did.


1. Get fit & get active
I'm going to be honest - I was more active in the fact that I didn't just sit on my patootie and watch TV. I was really busy this month. It helped that I challenged myself with weekly goals with things that were more active like laundry and unpacking boxes. When it comes to the gym though,  I get a big fat fail grade. I went once. I worked out on my own maybe twice. Unacceptable. Will need to do much better in February.


2. Challenge my marriage
Does having a grocery stand-off count? Because other than facing off about normal married problems and about my lack of desire to go to the gym, there hasn't been much challenging going on. I haven't even picked up the Love Dare book. Bryan and I haven't had a date night in God knows how long and we've been bickering more than we have been loving. However, because of how busy we have been busy, we've had more than a few stolen moments of long kisses and extra cuddling in the mornings on the weekends which has been nice. I hope that we can turn the tides so that we have much more love going on and much less bickering.


3.  Walk with God
This is area where I have failed the worst. I know that this is the most important item on my yearly goal list. I know that a relationship with God will give me the encouragement to get healthy and to have a happy marriage that can withstand anything. In my life, the times that I have stood with God have been the times that I have been the strongest. I am so weak and difficult, and His grace soothes and simplifies life. In an effort to fix this lacking area of my life, Bryan and I will be attending a weekly bible study at his mom's house with a few other couples. I'm really excited about it and I'm hoping that this can give me a big push in the right direction.


4. Get unpacked and get organized
I am feeling a whole lot better with this item. Things are certainly not where I want them to be when it comes to the house but I am definitely on the right track. I haven't done a whole lot of decorating but I have a decor closet that I have been organizing everything in, so when the time comes and more boxes are unpacked I can take a look at my inventory and know what I have to work with. This will help us to save money and it's a great incentive to keep unpacking!


I can say that when I started my yearly goals I hoped that I would be further along in some area and I am a tad disappointed that I didn't try harder. Looking back, I could have tried harder. But, instead of berating myself because I am human and endlessly flawed, I look at February as a new month. I can mold it to be what I need it to be and I can always do better. And I intend on doing just that.

A Grocery-Mexican Stand-off. Kind of.

I started to write a post for Friday and it just wasn't coming organically. I decided to just scrap it and enjoy the weekend. I'm positive that you were (all five of you, hi mom!) sitting at your computers anxiously awaiting my post and were so disappointed that it never came that it ruined your entire weekend. I apologize. :)

Life is about to get really busy for us. I'm already feeling really anxious and apprehensive about the changes. I think they will be good though. Let's take a look at what a typical week will be like in the little house on Birch.

Monday - Financial Peace University
Tuesday - Bryan has worship practice
Wednesday - Free night
Thursday - Bible study
Friday - Bryan has a gig
Saturday - Bryan has a gig
Sunday - Church/Free day

On top of all that is working full time, going to the gym to get rid of the extra...ohh.... bazillion pounds that have latched on to my love-handle and buttock areas and I will basically only see my husband a few nights a week which means that the burden of chores will fall on me. Super duper.

My friend, Anna, likes to laugh and shake her head at me because lately I have been in a Mexican stand-off of sorts with Bryan about grocery shopping. I was feeling really discouraged and unappreciated about the fact that I would spend a ridiculous amount of my time planning meals, going grocery shopping, unloading and putting away all the groceries and then cooking said meals for Bryan. There was always a lot of the following:

"You're cooking tonight? Ugggghhh, I don't feel like cleaning the kitchen."
"We're having WHAT for dinner?"
"Are we having meat tonight?"
"Uhhh, it was alright."
"Don't cook tonight. Come on. You are tired. Let's just go grab something and watch a movie."
"I don't want to clean the kitchen tonight, I'm so tired."

The deal in my house is that if I'm cookin', you're cleanin'. And wouldn't you know it that after almost every meal I would have ask Bryan if he was going to clean the kitchen and lots of times I would get mumblings and grumblings about how he hates cleaning the kitchen. OH REALLY?

Do I look like I love planning, shopping, putting away and cooking the groceries? Do you think that I look forward to doing this? No. When I was a little girl I never glamorized the whole shopping/cooking thing because its a CHORE. There is a difference between having to do something and wanting to do something.

Anyways, I was getting super frustrated with the entire lot of it and it came to the point where I lost what little desire I had in the first place to cook because of remarks and comments from the only other member of my little family that has opposable thumbs and can, ya know, actually speak English. It became too much trouble and ended up that week after week the food I purchased  would be uneaten, would spoil and would then be thrown away...BY ME. Angry. Is what it made me.

So, after one very calm discussion with Bryan where I did not completely overreact and I most certainly did not tell him in a loud voice that he could shove "it" and that I quit and I definitely did not blame aforementioned extra pounds on him and he's evil ways.

None of that happened.

Alas, I feel that it has come to an end and I must return to cooking. Sigh. Especially since Bryan will never be home and I cannot continue to eat like he does. I must return to the land of meal planning and it should be a blast.

On another note, today was Bryan's first day on the worship team and I am very proud of him for getting involved in a ministry as quickly as he has. :) I may talk a bunch of smack about him, but the man can be pretty amazing and sometimes he just blows me away...... when he isn't making my blood pressure rise.

Bryan is the cutie in the middle. Again, I realize you're blown away by the photography. Yes, I'm available for bookings.

Hook, Line and Sinker.

This post has nothing to do with fishing.

I've mentioned before that I one of my guest rooms to double-duty as an office. I call this room the "purpley room" because that's what I want. For the past year or so I have fallen hard for the grayish purple tone for a bedroom theme. The purple definitely has to have that gray, foggy color to it, but it is purple none the less.

I also mentioned that now that I actually have a house where I can paint the walls, I can't decide what I want to do. I've been looking for inspiration like crazy and I hadn't found anything that hit home. That is, until I went to a blog that I lurve. Life Begins at Thirty, Right? I've mentioned it before. I love Janice's blog and she has great taste. Apparently, she's been thinking about doing a stripe wall on one of her guest bedroom walls and so she posted some inspiration. I was just scrolling right on through when my heart skipped a beat. Literally. I know it may be sad, but it made me swoon. It was swoon-worthy. Completely.

Are you ready? I hope you are sitting down.

Image: House To Home

I love it. LOVE IT. The grayish dark purple, that gorgeous metallic silver, the cream colored bedside tables. Be still my beating heart. It was exactly what I wanted and I didn't even know it. I knew that I wanted something bold and impressive, something that would inspire me while I worked and this is just the thing.

I just wish I knew the colors. I know the company is Crown in the UK (It says so when you follow the link) But of course they don't have paint match numbers. I will do some more digging. At least I have a place to start.

As soon as I get all the boxes I have left unpacked, this will be my first project! Cannot wait. :)

While I Wasn't Blogging...

Yeah, all I have to say is: I rock. And I'm tired. And I actually did eight boxes, but two of them didn't make it. I may have ripped them apart in hulk-like fury. It happens. 

Hibernating to Heal

I know I promised that I would write about all the fabulous loot I scored at Michael's on the cheap, but sometimes life happens and posts don't get written. I'm about to get real for a second.

Last night, while talking to my hubby, he asked if I was still feeling weird and I replied that I was, although I couldn't pinpoint how I've felt. It's pretty hard to describe. He said that he feels that way sometimes, and that it's like a disassociation with my surrounds. He literally hit it on the head. I feel ungrounded. With people that I usually feel ridiculously comfortable with, I feel aloof and awkward. I can't seem to find my place. I feel disconnected and it's disconcerting. It honestly the most uncomfortable feeling ever.

I'm awkward. I am really shy. It's hard for me to be the first person to try to connect with someone else. It's not that I can't, or that I am bad at connecting. I've always been really good at dealing with people and talking to them. It's having the courage to connect with someone first. If someone opens the line, then I can easily steer the conversation and be personable. But opening the line first? No way. I'm awful at it. I feel awkward and like this person is going to think I'm an idiot. I fumble. And I HATE that feeling. That feeling though? Ten times better than what I feel right now. 

Even though I feel this way, I still laugh when something is funny. I still have all my normal reactions to things. When I read something sad, I want to cry. It's not that I feel like I'm in a fog or I am temporarily rendered emotionless. It's just that I feel like there is a wall between me and whomever I happen to be with. 

I wish I had some light at the end of the tunnel paragraph to put here; Alas, I am in the throes of it. I'm just staying positive and I'm going to spend some time at home, working on my house and let my mind just work itself out. I know that this is not forever and that eventually it'll be gone. Until then I just continue with life. I guess you could say that I am hibernating and come spring, I'll be alright. 

I hope. 

Don't Expect Much/Weekly Goals

*Hey ya'll. I forgot to publish this to post this morning, so I jumped on to publish it on my lunch. :) Sorry for the delay. Yes, I am fully aware that you probably don't schedule your mornings around my posts, but I still try to stay consistent. 

This weekend was pretty low-key at our house. I went to a movie, No Strings Attached, with Denise, her cousin and Anna. It was a pretty good movie. I started getting a really bad migraine during the movie and ended up having to take my strong headache medicine.

On Saturday I went to my mom's house in the morning to hang out and we ended up hanging out all day! Bryan's company moved into a new building and we ended up going to the grand opening, and I won a digital picture frame! I was the first number called and I couldn't believe it! I never win anything! I'll post about it once I set it up. :)

After, we hit up Michael's and I scored a bunch of loot - but that's a post for tomorrow. We met up with her husband, Larry for dinner and it was a blast. Towards the end of dinner I started having a really weird feeling. I had made plans to go to a local wine bar after dinner but I was really bumming, hard. I don't know if it was the onset of a headache I had later that night or what. But I ended up going home and slumming it on the couch. 

On Sunday, I opted to stay home from church because of my mood and later in the afternoon, Bryan and I went to Visalia to run some errands. Which turned out to be a long and not so fabulous time. I was so discouraged on the way home and I was talking whining to Bryan so when we got home, he helped me clean up our room, do more laundry AND he cleaned up the kitchen. 

I love that man. 

On another note, I'm deciding to do the weekly goals early even though I wrote the post so late last week. 

Here is what I was supposed to get done: 

Week of January 16, 2011

-Continue Laundering

-Clean and decorate master bedroom

-Look at paint inspiration for the master bedroom

-Look at light fixtures for my entryway

-Unpack five boxes from the garage

And here is what I did:

Week of January 16, 2011

-Continue Laundering

-Clean and decorate master bedroom

-Look at paint inspiration for the master bedroom

-Look at light fixtures for my entryway

-Unpack five boxes from the garage

-Continue Laundering

SO CLOSE! Bryan and I have maybe four loads of laundry until we are completely -done- with it all! YAY. The end is near!

-Clean and decorate master bedroom 

Like I said, last night we did manage to clean the heck out of our master bedroom, but there wasn't time to decorate. Wait, does putting one of these in the room count? 

Image: Partylite

I think it should. 

-Look at paint inspiration for master bedroom.

Post coming soon. But I did look around and I am clueless. 

-Look at light fixtures for my entryway.

I haven't found 'the one' yet, but I'm still hunting! Didn't catch the first post? Click here.

-Unpack 5 boxes. 

FAIL. That's really all I gotta say about that. 

As you can see, I am getting progressively better. I WILL toot my own horn by saying that last night, I also went into the Beach Room and tidied up a bit (finally). :) I will also say that I'm a cheater because that is one of things on this weeks list! 

Week of January 24, 2011

-Continue Laundering

-Unpack 5 boxes

-Tidy the beach room

-Finish decorating the master bedroom

-Organize Items for Yard Sale

Here's hoping that I can do as well as I did last week!