Time Is a-FLYin'

It's like I blinked and all of a sudden it's friggin October! Where HAS the time gone?!

So it's like I don't even know what I have and haven't told you guys. I guess I'll have to read back a few posts and then ponder on what all has happened that isn't included.

BUT until then... this is what I'll leave you with:

Studly got his official orders from the US Air Force - medical retirement it is! He's already on permissive/terminal leave and has been offered a GrrrrEAT job from an amazing company. He'll kind've be doing what he HAS been doing, but they'll also be training him with a new skill set to make it a bit different... hopefully more exciting for him.

We've decided that we're done here... in this house, that is. We'll be fixing up the kitchen, the one real thing we have left to do, and then putting the finishing touches on the rest of the house. Oddly enough, we're not relatively sure what we'll be doing once we reach that point. You see - with the market the way that it is, anything could happen. We'd love to sell it, but that would only work if we got at least what we paid for it originally, thanks to closing costs, listing fees, etc. Then there's always the option to rent our place out and get some good tenants to help pay the mortgage, but then we're worried we wouldn't be able to rent the place for what we currently pay monthly.

Either way, we'll be needing a new home. Since Studly just got his new job, we'll definitely be staying in the area. However, whether or not we rent a place or buy a new home will depend on which way we go with the current home. *sigh So many choices... so many possibilities. Whichever we end up choosing, there's a new wish list that will be forming. Aren't you excited?!

I've decided that I'll be chronicling the process here - with you guys. AND... that means that I'll actually be BLOGGING again! WOO! ha ha

**Crazy Neighbor Update** We went to court about the dog poop issue. (See? It even sounds ridiculous in a blog... how sad is that?!) They decided to postpone 3 months. It was actually for our benefit, but it's still silly. They wanted to be sure the outcome would include the judge saying "This is nuts. Drop it. Don't waste my time." It was actually kind've funny having the prosecuting attorney and Health Department giving us advice outside of the court room. ha ha... They just asked us to take pictures each time we clean up the back yard. So at least twice a week. We'll have TONS of photos come 7 December, but if it'll end this, then so be it. And I'm sure planning to move because of all this will certainly help our case. So stressed and harassed that we can't live peacefully in our own home. Sounds like a case to me, but who knows. I just hope the judge is a dog-lover. :-D

And while we're talking about crazy neighbors, I should tell you that I had another encounter... with the redneck, that is. She's a whack-job. Not that I doubted this fact before, but good GRACIOUS she just nailed it in a few more times. *sheesh

Other than that, i think I'm kind've out of some ideas, right now. Not to mention it's like quarter to midnight and I'm struggling to keep my eyes open as it is. GOSH I'm getting old!

Anywho - that'll update you for now. I know there's PLENTY more, but it'll come in due time. Until then, remember that even though I'm not making new blog posts a priority, I'm still all over y'alls. Seriously, though... and I LOVE it! You guys are the best.

Well, Toodles for now, my Sweets! I'm signing out.

Much love!!

Just Making Plans

Nothing too special to write about today. I have some things that I plan to write about in a few upcoming posts, but I need to relax and plan them out so I don't have 7 posts in a day and then go 2 weeks without blogging again. ha ha...

Tonight I'm getting dinner with my good pal, Laurie. Her and her family just returned from a pretty extended vacation with family, so I can't WAIT to get caught up on all the things that I missed and everything exciting that happened. It should be a great time of catching up... there's certainly never a dull moment when we're together, that's for sure!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Random Alert: There's a new show on USA called Covert Aff@irs. It's pretty good, but I'm not sure what I think about it, just yet. What about you guys? Have you seen it?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay. Back to reality. McStudly and I are hoping to plan a cruise sometime in the coming year. Neither of us have ever been on one, but... we're stoked! We've been saving while paying off our debt and are pretty much stoked about the thought of a cruise with just the two of us.

Actually, since we've been married, we've only been on "two" vacations alone together. Our honeymoon (obviously), and the one that earned the quotes around the number above, we took an impromptu weekend (and by weekend, I mean friday night into Saturday) at the ocean.

Other than that, we're pretty "green" when it comes to travel and romantic getaways. Well... not for too much longer! Anywho - more info to come on that, but I'm stoked and I'm hoping that all y'all that may have been on a cruise before will have plenty of advice for us on who to sail with (or maybe who not to sail with), and maybe where we should or shouldn't go.

Anywho - that's it for today. Looking forward to your input, and I guess I'll catch y'all later.

Toodles!

Involuntary Slackage

Hi! I'm still here!! I haven't disappeared or moved on... and I never meant to be an involuntary slacker. It just happened. LIFE just happened! It's been SO crazy around here. I won't give you excuses, though, because that's a waste of time and energy (that I don't really have either, to be honest with you), but here are a few updates as to what's going on in the Puhl house:

- We've been lucky enough to gain yet another psycho neighbor (yay us!) and are just giddy about that. *blank face*

- I've still been working hard at my internship to become a volunteer counselor at the local Pregnancy Clinic. It's been go aMAZingly! Seriously. I actually counselled my first client this past week (with observation, of course). I have around 6 weeks left, I believe, then my final observation and then *fingers crossed* it'll be official!

- Work has been absolutely absurd, lately. Busy busy BUSY! For both of us, really. McStudly has worked many-a long day, as of late, and I feel like I've put in WAY more hours than I'd really like. There's hopefully a gleam of light at the end of the tunnel, but it's still a bit too far away for us to be able to tell if it's a light or just dream.

- Still working steadily on things around the house. Making dents here and there in the progress and making it more organized and livable. The laundry area isn't finished just yet - we still need to finish painting and then hang the shelves and fabric, but it's SO much better already. We ended up buying an inexpensive rug for the floor in a dark color just to muffle puppy paws and hide the mud he tracks in. BUT no worries - we DID get the washer and dryer we wanted... a step up, in face. AND they're a gorgeous popping RED color. :-D

- Total Budget changes. Well... not total, but some really good ones. We'll be saving more, not adding to debt as we pay it off, and getting to wear even big home reno projects will be paid for in cash and NOT added debt. Squee!!


I'm SURE I'm forgetting a bazillion things, but hopefully I won't be so MIA in the coming days/weeks/months. I can't promise when things will change, but I am a-hoping that it's soon!

So basically, keep praying for the McStud and I. And feel free to leave some love. I miss my bloggy buddies - that's been the worst part of being too busy, but I have been doing my best to be able to at least read your blogs. I promise (but FYI, some of your sites are now unavailable from my work computer, which is when I used to catch up on my blog-reading at lunch. Boo!) I will keep that up, and even try to comment instead of just blog-stalking. ha ha ha


So basically... I miss you guys! But hopefully that will change soon. ;-)



Toodles!

Yet Another Renovation

McStudly and I are expecting our tax return any day, now. Actually, it'll be deposited on the 12th, according to the e-mail we received after we e-filed.

(Sidenote: Have I ever mentioned how much I enjoy doing our taxes? No, I'm being serious. I really, thoroughly enjoy it! Okay... I know I sound crazy, right now. Movingrightalong...)

Well, this year we're planning to finally renovate the laundry area downstairs. Can I hear a "woot woot"?! Yeah, it's pretty exciting...

When we bought the house, we figured the laundry area would eventually need to be updated, but it was pretty low on the list. Even though it came with the original washer and dryer, they still worked. That was over a year ago. Not long after we moved in, we realized that it took running the dryer about 1.5 times to really get things dry. Now that we've lived here for a while, we're up to running it 2.5, sometimes 3 times just to dry the laundry. And on top of that, we can't really wash a whole lot of clothes at one time - these aren't exactly high capacity appliances, ya see.

Along with old, dated appliances, we have this really crappy vinyl tile on the floor. By really crappy, I mean poorly installed, and horribly selected (obviously not in that order). It's this really gross green (again with the green... this woman was nuts for it!) and half of the tiles don't even stick anymore. It's just... not cool.

So here's what we're hoping to get done, down there:

1 - Appliances: New Washer/Dryer set. We were originally planning to go with a regular top-load washer and electric dryer, since we're not huge front-loader fans. However, the more we thought about it, the more we realized we'll need as much additional storage and work space as we can, down there. So now, the plan is to probably go with front-loaders (more info on that, later).

2 - Walls: There's this gross geometrical-style border just above the baseboards that needs to be removed. Then, we'll clean and paint the walls - probably the same color (by Valspar, Eddie Bauer's "Wicker") as the rest of the living room, to give the house a flow.

3 - Flooring: That old non-sticky vinyl tile has to go. So we've been researching a few options that will stand up to the high traffic and use of the laundry room (it's also the only passage to our backyard, so we're always taking Austin out through that space). Right now we're between regular tile (which wouldn't be easy to keep cleaned in that space), vinyl hardwood planks (looks just like hardwood, and water resistant, but not a "selling" feature), and really anything else is still a possibility. But we also need to replace the carpet on the stairs, so we're actually planning to put in some outdoor carpet (to stand up to the mud our dog sneaks in with occasionally) in a dark-ish color (to help hide the dirt Austin seems to track in with each trip outside).

4 - Railing: The stair railing that is going down those stairs is... eh... not good. It's wood at the top, and partially painted white near the bottom. And now it's gotten worn down from when Austin was little and we tried keeping him down there instead of in his crate (it didn't work out, since he chewed on the railing and tried to pull up the stair carpet!). So we originally thought about refinishing that railing, but have since nixxed (is that a word?) that. We'll be replacing it with a new railing that will eventually match the railing upstairs (when we get around to replacing that one).

5 - Door: The downstairs door does it's job... but that's about it. It's yellowed (thanks to our chain-smoking previous owner) and isn't the prettiest. So we're going to try maybe painting it and hanging blinds in front of the window (but secretly, I'm not above just replacing the thing!).

6 - Heater: We have a baseboard heater downstairs, and it makes me nervous. It's old (though it does still work) and it's an ugly brown/tan color. Ideally, I want to replace it, but I'm not sure if we can. And honestly, I'm not sure that we could find anything safer to put in it's place. Baseboard heaters in general make me nervous, so getting another one probably won't make me feel any better, but I'm wondering if we can get one that at least won't be such an eye sore and will look a lot better when we go to sell in a few years.

7 - Storage: We have NONE! Unless you count putting stuff on top of the dryer, there's no where to put anything. This may seem like it would have a simple solution, but unfortunately it's not that simple. On the left wall is a set of three water valves that need to be easily accessible. In a perfect world, we could hang a shelving/cabinet unit and cut a hole to fit the valves inside... we have a fuse box on the right side. So we can't just cut a hole for something like that (obviously) and definitely can't make it hard to access. And hanging something just to the left would look awkward (take my word for it), so that's not really an option, either. So we basically have one solid option: shelves. I'm good with this option. I am. BUT (you knew there'd be a "but", didn't you?!) just hanging shelves means that you'll have to look at those water valves and fuse box, also. I'm pretty sure they'll stick out even more once the walls have been painted, too, so we're researching a few options for covering those bad boys up.

Anywho - that's the plan, for now. It's a big one, but it's still doable (that's what she said). Hopefully in a month or two, we'll have some after pictures to show you all (not without some good before shots, that is). In the meantime, my sister is helping me put a mood board together (and by "helping", I mean I'm giving her the info, and she's making it... just to clarify), so look for that in the next few days. Hopefully, having this info and the mood board will convince McStudly that my plan is awesome and my genius shouldn't be doubted.

...a girl can dream, can't she?!

BRB?!

Well, I just posted about excuses and being a blog slacker, and I'm still at it, aren't I? Well, a co-worker has been out for a bit, due to family emergencies (which I may share about later, once I talk to her, it's so sad) and on top of covering for her, I've been really into sewing and being crafty.

I have a few things to show you that I'm super proud of... can't wait to see what you think!!


Other than that, just got news that the military wants to do some more tests/procedures on McStudly. Well, I should say they want to period, because they weren't the ones who did it last time, and if you know anything about the military, it's not done right unless they are the ones who did it. (Can I get an Amen form my fellow MilWives?!)


Anywho - over the next 10 days or so I may still be a bit of a slacker. Tonight I'm "babysitting" a friend's little boy, so I may phone in a pic or two, depending on his mood, but otherwise I may not have a lot to blog about...

I have SO many topics and ideas and things I want to blog about, but haven't had the chance to sit down and do it. So we'll see what happens.



So sorry, guys, and hopefully I'm not lowing friends because of my slackiness! :-( I am still reading all of your blogs (which is maybe why I don't have time to write my own?) and trying to comment, but after doing that I don't find much time to write between everything else that's going on.

Anywho - I gotta run (what else is new?!), but I will try to catch up with you guys as soon as I get the chance. Toodles!






**PS: If you get the chance, and wouldn't mind, please send up a prayer for my Grampa. My Momma Bear's Dad is getting pretty old and now in a nursing home. The three girls (mom and her two sisters) are doing what they can, but only 1 of them lives anywhere near where he is. There is more health stuff going on, and in his own words, he says he's just "ready to go see mother", which is what he called their mom, who passed several years back. God love him, he's such a sweet hearted man, but I know this is really tough for all of them. Keep them in your prayers, will you? Thanks, guys. Take care!

Slackie McSlackerpants

I know... I know. I've been super busy!



The Grandparents' Visit:



They're gone, now, but it was SO great to have them in town. McStudly and I felt horrible that the house was such an awful mess while they were here, but we still had a good time with them. I took off work early a few of the afternoons so that we could spend some time together and it was lovely!



We went to downtown Annapolis and got some yummy Ice Cream. Walked around the docks and just relaxed in the beautiful weather. We also took Grandma out to dinner for her birthday on Tuesday. Happy birthday!!



McStudly was able to spend a lot of quality one-on-two time with them (haha) and it was really good for him to be able to catch up as much as they did. They'll be back in the area in a few more weeks for the results of the testing that brought them into town in the first place, and hopefully by then we'll have a nice put-together house for them to stay in. At least that's what we're aiming for! :-)





The House:



Speaking of the house, it's still in the same condition that it was last week. Carpet chunks missing. A walkway of bathroom rungs along the floors And I still can't walk around without shoes on, for fear of hurting my tootsies. No fun! But we at least have the companies lined up to do the work. One of them has already completed their estimate and are waiting to hear back from the insurance company to get to work, and the other should be coming out to make an estimate sometime this week, we believe.



Keep praying for us - having the house the way it is has proven quite stressful, and allows for Austin to constantly be getting into things. Ugh!! Hopefully this will all be over soon, and we'll be better off than we were before "the incident". ;-)





Youth Convention:



The trip to Virginia with the church's youth group proved to be quite an adventure. You get that big of a group of hormonal little humans together and there's bound to be some kind of drama. All in all, though, it was a lot of fun. I got to know some of the students a little better and think I built a little more of a relationship with them...



And a few of the girls seemed to really enjoy getting to meet "Bon Qui Qui". (my version of the Bon Qui Qui from that old MADtv skit. If you haven't seen Bon Qui Qui and King Burger, then you definitely need to check it out: "Esscuze me?! Don't you see dat I'm havin a convuhsation? Don't innarupt. Rude!" Oh... good times).



I have to admit, though - during the concert on Saturday, by The Afters, they did a little mini-Beyonce. No really. They started going "Alllll the single ladies..." and yes... they did it. And it's been stuck in my head ever since!!



The kids especially liked how I knew the little dance she did. I don't think they expected that. "Sarah, you are not white!" (I think that was supposed to be a compliment? Any other thoughts?!) We were laughing... and I was just a dancin' fool. It was good times, though. When you're sleep deprived and surrounded by teenagers, you tend to do some crazy things, that's for sure!!



We all got back in one piece, and there wasn't too too much drama to speak of. Thank the LORD!







Anything/Everything else:



Not much else is going on. The NFL draft is over, and Dallas drafted a WR from Oklahoma. That's the perfect mix of our favorite teams. Cowboys and Sooners... what a combination! :-)







And I almost forgot!!! A little over a year ago, My Dog Ate My Phone. No really... I'm not even kidding you. It was ruined. It was my favorite phone ever!! I got the original EnV before it was cool. AND it was orange. I LOVED that phone!! For real, man! But after the dog ate it, since I didn't have insurance on it (I know... I know: ALWAYS buy insurance!), we couldn't afford to pay full retail price for any of the Verizon phones (do you know how inSANEly expensive they are at full retail price. It's riDONKulous!). So I bought my Pap Bear's old Pocket PC (which I hated, btw) and used that until McStudly got a new phone. Then I used Mcstudly's old phone...



...until YESTERDAY!!!!!



I FINALLY got a new phone! And I LOVE my new Blackberry Storm. It really is awesome. I never tend to pay $200 (thanks to my two-year agreement) on a cell phone, but after going a year and a half with old hand-me-down phones, and not liking ANY of them, McStudly and I both thought that I had earned it.



We thought that we could do the whole "Buy-one, Get-one-Free" deal that they were having and get him a new phone as well, since he's not crazy about his Dare, but there's a catch (if course) to that deal. You have to either be adding a new line, or have both phones up for an upgrade. Since neither of those applied to us, my McStud will have to stick to his only one-year-old phone for another year until it's his turn.



But for now, here she is:

Meet Hally. (As in Berry - as in Blackberry... see? I'm pretty creative, I am I am.)

Isn't she pretty? I LOVE it! So far I have yet to figure out how, but I am also allowed to put songs onto my phone from my computer.. and don't worry, I DEFinitely bought insurance on this lil' lady. I am SO not playing that again! That'll save some money on not having to download ring tones, eh? :-)

And it really is neat how the screen clicks. *sigh* Yay for Verizon's two-year renewal agreements!! Soon I'll be purchasing a little silicone case-age for her as well. Probably pink. Of course... cause Pink, like Berry? I know... I'm awesome. :-P

Well, that about updates you on most things. How are things with you guys? I'm trying my best to catch up with everyones' blogs. I can't believe I went so long without reading/writing anything.

How did I EVER manage?

Mr. Moulton

I talked to the Health Department guy again. He didn't even bother going to the house again today. He told me that he talked to the "complainant" and she said "there's only one pile out there" and he informed her that this is not a violation, so there was no point in his even going there.

So I said "Do you think she'll just continue to complain, even if I am cleaning the yard every two to three days?" And he said "Yes - that's the impression I have." So he's not worried about it.


Again we say in a loud and clear voice - there is NO violation! And he said, in reference to her continuing to call, "Don't worry. I will endure."

He's a nice guy, this Mr. Moulton. I cannot, however, say the same about her.





Thank you, Jesus - and Lord... give me strength!

Mr. Health Department

Well, just to update you guys - the guy from the Health Department finally called me back. We had all of a 2 - 3 minute conversation, and as it turns out (put on your shocked face, for me witht his one) I'm not in violation of any Anne Arundel County Health Codes.


Blah Blah Blah


Long story short, our suspicions have been confirmed. She's off the wagon, and I'm sitting very comfortably in compliance with HOA and County rules and regulations.




*sigh




Ain't it good to be proved right, sometimes? Wow... it feeld good.

Now this doesn't mean that I'm in the clear. I'm sure she'll try something else, but at least I've been advised in what to do, should that happen again. I'll plan to keep you in-the-know about my crazy Neighbor Lady and this whoel thing hopefully blows over, but for today... let's just rejoice in knowing that things are ok.







WOOOHOOOO!!!!

We Got the...

How stinking AWESOME is that?!?!


We have the home inspection today, so say a prayer for us that all goes smoothly. As of now, settlement is set for 28 August. :-D




I can't wait!!

*Fingers Crossed

So McStudly and I put an offer on another house, last night (after a very long, high stress week, that is), and we're currently waiting on pins and needles for the reply.

I just got a call from Sheena (our Realtor) and she let me know that she sent over all of the paperwork last night, and confirmed receipt with the Seller's Agent. So... here we go again.


We're super excited about this place (both of us are!). It will need a little TLC to make it our own, but it's such a great starter place. We love it! And the only real TLC it will need outside of updating the kitchen counters and appliances is to remove the wallpaper in the bathroom upstairs (and it even has a matching shower curtain! nice...) and paint there, the the master bedroom, and... that's probably it.


I'm so anxious to find out. Here's to hopin'!






(... and you wouldn't mind sayin' a little prayer for us, would ya? Yeah... I didn't think so. Thanks, guys. You're the best!)

No Go

Just to keep you all updated...


We didn't get the house. They accepted someone else's offer. So.. back to the drawing board!

Just a lil' Update

Okay - jsut to keep you all informed -


Kyle and I put an offer on a house yesterday... just a little townhome that we think wil lbe perfect for us, after a little paint and "sweat equity".


So we're on edge, waiting on pins and needles... just waiting for the word. If these people jsut accept it, it'd be the best deal ever!! But if not, I'm sure hoping they at least counter-offer with a deal that's still really good.





Here's to hoping, right?!

;-)

Progress

Okie Doke-

In my first blog, I challenged myself to improving a lot of things about... well... myself. I got a lot of great comments from it, both online and in person, and have tried to really "apply" the advice I've been given. So let's take a look back and see how I've been doing, shall we?

I'll mark Green on the things that I feel I have improved, and Red on the things I can't say that about without lying... hopefully there won't be much red. Let's see:

#1 - Housekeeping
Okay. So I started off really strong, and then slacked off a bit again, BUT I'm back in high gear. The house looks great (AND this is AFTER I had a "party" at my house this weekend. GO ME!!). The only bad thing right now is more dishes (it's amazing how how you can't fit NEARLY as much as you thought you could into a single dishwasher load! And I've done two since Saturday night!). BUT since McStudly is at home today, he's supposed to be catching up on that (since this is a marriage and a partnership - it REALLY comes in handy for these kinds of things!!). As for Laundry, I have done LOTS of loads, lately, Kyle has thrown in a few, too, and just last night, I finished all but ONE basket of folding. :-) So... we're well on our way. Now, in all honesty we're probably only HALFWAY done everything (we've got TONS of clothes!), but that's still improvement, right? So... as we're going through things, we're setting aside things we don't wear or that don't fit, so we can finally get rid of them and have a normal sized wardrobe (and so that I have an excuse to go shopping again. It's been SOOO long and I miss it!). The house doesn't smell like I have a dog - I mean... you can't tell. :-D That's FANTASTIC to me!! The bookshelf is finally organized. The kitchen looks great (minus the dishes, that is). The bathroom is nice and neat (as long as McStudly keeps wiping up his lil' stubbles off the sink in the morning - great job, Sweety!). The spare bedroom could use a little more work... maybe a lotta more, BUT it's still pretty organized. :-)

#2 - Quiet Time
This is embarrassing. :-( I'm not very good at balancing my time. I have done better, so I suppose I COULD put it in green, but I haven't gotten to where I NEED to be with it. I've gotten great at praying more, for the most part, and I do more research on the Bible, etc, BUT I don't really sit down and just focus on God and read the Bible and meditate on it. And THAT'S where I need to be. It's like I skip the whole relational part of it. I've got the research, and the talking down, now I need to get better at the focusing and the sit-down-and-shut-up part of it. But that's SOOOO hard for me!! (No peanut gallery comments, please). It's just not something others can teach you - you have to figure out that kind of thing on your own. And it's not easy. But BOY am I glad that my God so patient. And BTW - I'm a FIRM believer in the fact that God has a sense of humor - Lord knows I provide him with PLENTY of entertainment. ;-) I'm a good laugh, for him, and I'm okay with that... but he wants more than a laugh and a big mouth who doesn't listen. And that's where I'm not doing so hot.

#3 - Money
We're doing WAY better!! We've started doing a "cash allowance" type of thing. We each get the same set amount of money for a two week period. That's it. Now, we didn't do so hot with our Memorial Day weekend, but in my opinion - Holiday weekends are more expensive, so it's all good. We were both okay with that. So... all is well. We're a little tight this week, because of it. But we'll probably take out a bit more to cover for the fact that it WAS a Holiday weekend last weekend. So... no worries. Next weekend means we get our new allowance! WOOHOO!! Just FYI - the allowance is for eating out, etc. Not as much other things. Neither one of us go shopping, really. And if we do, we run it by each other before we buy anything, really. The rule is really only for anything over $100, BUT we kind've do it anyways. We keep each other in the loop on money, so neither one of us can blame the other! ha ha - it's worked so far! Also - we've started a Credit Check Monitoring Program with our bank (because USAA rocks my socks!) and we're learning a LOT about what effects what. I've ALSO learned that you have to track things down to have them removed, even if the allotted time has passed for them already (which some people didn't know - check your credit!! But it's SO important to know this kind of stuff, and I'm glad we're figuring everything out. :-) Also - we're saving up to buy a house this summer (hopefully)!! No more "new car" talk. If I get a car, it'll be a "New-to-me" car, and it won't be this year, most likely. Probably next year or so... But to sum up - our debt is REALLY lowering (still waiting on that economic stimulus check, Dubbya!) and our savings will soon be piling up, as well. :-) So it looks to me like we're on our way!

and FINALLY... (drumroll please)

#4 - Exercise
Woohoo!! So I'm not like running 12 miles a day or anything crazy, BUT I'm doing better. Austin is getting good walks, most days, and I sometimes even run with him a bit. He's also getting walks with McStudly, when he's not working, and he's LOVING life! I plan on pulling out the pilates again, now that the house is pretty clean (though I was HOPING to wait on that new carpet... it may take a little longer for that than we thought) and manageable. I would LOVE to get a Wii and Wii fitness, but I'm not seeing that happening anytime soon - especially with the progress we've made and are making in the Moola Arena. But... I'm slowly feeling better about myself, and I KNOW the dog is happier than he was!! ha ha ha. I've also been trying to balance out my eating. If I DO eat something not-so-good for me, I try not to eat as MUCH. And I've been throwing in some salads before the other food, to help fill myself with something healthier before the bad stuff, and then not stuff myself until full, but eat until just past satisfied (I'm not disciplined enough, yet, to stop AT satisfied). So... I think all is going well.


Alrighty - so that's my update. How have YOU been doing in these areas?! Let's be honest, people. It feels good - I promise!!