A normal posting schedule.
Life has been so crazy busy with work that I have barely had enough time to sleep. Starting Feb I will have time for myself and plan to be back here full swing.
How have you all been? I have been reading (sort of) but not commenting much. Sorry about that, I really do care!!!
See you in a few weeks!!!!
**I dont have a plan made up yet telling me how to tackle such a task, so because you all love me so much, I know you want to share your tips with me. Or at least where to begin my research.**
My other goal is so new years typical, lose weight. As of this morning, I am at my heaviest. My goal for the wedding is 30 pounds, 6 pounds a month. Here is how I plan to tackle 6 pounds:
My meal plan:
Breakfast – 6:30am – A protein shake. I take a scoop of chocolate Muscle Milk and add 2/3 cup of skim milk and a tablespoon of peanut butter, mix it together and it keeps me full until lunchish
Lunchish – 11am- A bowl of Grape Nuts Cereal, cinnamon, sugar, and a banana. Because this is so full of fiber, it keeps me full until I am ready to leave work.
Dinner-6/7pm- depends on my mood. Maybe this should be a resolution too…I am so boring in the kitchen.
I have always followed a “eat more meals a day” type plan, but I am never really satisfied. I figured I would try this way for a month and see where that gets me. I am also going to plan my nights (or mornings) around the gym.
Other goals for the year:
Buy a House
Create a financial road map for post wedding
Not go crazy over this insane wedding planning (I am really starting to see why people run off and elope)
At least sign up for a half marathon (even if it is for 2014. I miss half training) (maybe even plan a runner meetup?!?!)
That is really all I can think of for this pictureless post.
How was your New Years?
What are your goals/resolutions?
LETS NOT FORGET!!! My year without french fries is officially OVER. You may remember my pact to give them up because I was a bit dependent on fries and hated to share. Matt challenged me to give them up and he would give up drinking pop. He lasted until April. I must say this challenge did not really bother me until about October. Around the end I was CRAVING that sweet sweet stick of happiness. I wanted to hit up a McDonalds right after midnight on the 1st, but I was just too tired to venture into the cold. Instead I waited until lunch yesterday to have my first bite
It was pretty anticlimatic if you ask me. The fries were just ok and you could tell bottom of the pile. I may just have to break my meal plan today and order some Chic-fil-a fries. Holy moly those are good!!!
Considering the world is pretty much ending this Friday, there is probably no need to actually set resolutions/goals for myself next year. But I am a pretty positive person and I will keep planning ahead. I have done a yearly wrap up before, so why stop tradition? If you want to see previous years, check out them out: 2011 and 2010.
Before I jump into 2013, lets reflect on my 2012.
January: My whole month was taken over by work (which will be the case for Jan 13), so not much happened. I did build an awesome headboard. I also rescued the kitten roaming our neighborhood. He was in bad shape, completely emaciated. Now he is a fat and happy cat living with my friend.
February: I signed up and started training for the Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston, SC. I redid an awesome antique chest. I ran the COLDEST 5k probably in the entire world. I went skiing for the first time.
March: I bought a car! I ran my first ever virtual 10k for Running with Spatulas! I ran the Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston, SC and boy that was the biggest mistake EVER!!!
April: I sidelined yet again by injury. Had another DIY project for the bedroom. Pretty slow month it seems like
May: Started training for Chicago RnR. Someone rearended my brand new car. Joined Twitter (@Redheadedsis). Went white water rafting and had the best time ever. You must look at those pictures!!
June: Was accepted to run the Peachtree Road Race! Rescued a DOG! Started Trails and Tails to help dogs in need (still a work in progress). Placed Peanut the dog in a great home.
July: Work took over my life for most of the month and I was beyond stressed. Birthday month!! Peachtree Road Race. My dad and younger sister came to visit. ENGAGED! DNS Chicago RnR 
August: Asked friend to be my Bridesmaids. Bought my WEDDING dress. Picked out my venue. Another furniture DIY: the nightstand edition.
September: Another slow month in my world. Went shopping and picked out all of the bridesmaid dresses.
October: I lived out of a suitcase this whole month. Visited Albuquerque for the first time for work. Worked a lot in Louisville. Visited my family in Chicago for a weekend.
November: We spent most of this month trying to figure out what our next move was going to be. We arent quite ready to buy a new house yet, so we had to find an apartment. Yeah, that was completed until two weeks ago…and we move in two weeks!!! Was accepted to start posting on The Budget Savvy Bride.
December: Finally found a place to live. We have been packing and prepping for our move. Ordered Save the Dates. Registered for the wedding. Made a cake topper that you have all convinced me to use on my wedding cake.
Whew! That was a heck of a post. I think I will save the resolution for the next post.
How did your year pan out?
I wanted to post on here quite a few times over the weekend with randomosities that I know you all love to pieces, but I have been unable to find anything appropriate to share since Friday. I have been utterly heartbroken after hearing about what happened in Newtown, CT. How could anyone be so evil? I would be lying if I said I dont cry when the news comes on. Or when they talk about it on the radio. My thoughts and prayers to go all of those families.
I think tomorrow I am going to go back to my regularly scheduled posting. In the meantime, here are all the posts from The Budget Savvy Bride that I have posted!!
How I asked the girls…which was posted here before
To end this post on a happy note…wedding planning is moving right along. I think there are only three MAJOR vendors we need to worry about: the officiant, the florist, and the wedding cake. Everything else is booked. We have registered for our gifts (this ordeal is for another post for sure!!!). Everyone has ordered their dresses. I ordered our Save the Dates and place cards for $7! Invites had been purchased, but still need wording.
There is one teeny tiny little detail that has not been completed and I dont know if or when it will be done. Matt only has one groomsman he has asked, his best man. I have begged and pleaded for him to take care of this, but with no result. Please tell me other people went through this. I completely stopped asking because apparently it is not that important for him to ask now. Sigh
How was your weekend?
I am starting to feel very prohibited by my wedding budget. I set a very tight budget on myself and at this point, I am about $2500 over. When I started tallying everything together, my heart kept dropping. I THINK I have everything covered, but there is no telling what I have yet to account for and what will push my budget over the edge. Personally, I do not want to think about it. My goal is cutting this baby down (which means I am going to have to give up some things).
About two weeks ago during my time off for Thanksgiving, I was inspired and feeling crafty. I have been casually looking around for cake toppers and havent really found anything I liked. Even the ones I did like were wayyy too expensive.
After browsing Etsy for awhile, I saw a few I thought were pretty cute, but $$. What I liked about these particular toppers was the added nostalgia they brought. When I was younger, I was obsessed with Fisher Price Little People. I had a metro city of things: two suburban houses, the beach house, the fire dept, the jail, the airport, the hospital, etc. I cannot remember a time when I WASNT playing with my “Jenny” people, as I so lovingly called them (I will admit I truly thought this was their official name until very recent times. I dont know WHY I thought they were called Jennies)
Yep, I had most of these. Source
Had this too! Source
After contemplating, I decided to whip out the glue gun and start working. I actually found a tutorial online showing how to do this and as soon as I find it again, I will post it.
What I bought:
Wooden Doll bodies – my store only had one size and one style
Large beads – I used the larger sized beads
3/16in dowel rods – You can use any type you want, I went cheap
7 inch circular plaque
wooden hearts
I first painted the plaque white and lined the bottom face with a navy blue ribbon. I could have painted this yellow, but I wanted to keep the bottom as simple as I could not knowing how much would be covered by my “Jennies.” Plus I need more navy in my decor, going a little yellow cray cray over here.
While the paint was drying, I had to do something drastic. I had to decapitate my doll body’s little head! The size just wasnt doing it for me and I wanted the head to be as proportional as possible. Marie Antoinnette would be proud!
I started working on the heads and trying to get the hair color as close as possible to our own (harder than expected). My head ended up being “redyed” because it did not match as much as I had hoped. The heads were pretty easy and could be easier when you are smart with your planning (someday I will learn). For the eyes, I painted the black lines on. As soon as I walked back to my office I realized that would have been easier with a thin tipped black sharpie. oh well. The little head that was viciously chopped off came back to life with purpose. I painted that the same color as my hair and glued it off center on the back of the head to represent an updo. No waste here!
Back to the body. Before painting or gluing to your body, I recommend at this point you drill the holes in the bottom of the body for the legs. All I did was find a drill bit that matched the size of the dowels and drilled little holes. Easy. If you wait until after you have painted, you could end up with a mess.
There are so many options to decorating your body, I wouldnt know where to start. I wanted to do something with glitter (shocking) so I painted my dress top on the body. After it dried, I wiped Elmers glue on it and sprinkled my glitter. This may or may not replicate my real dress 
The same for Jenny Matt’s body. I painted his body white for the shirt and yellow for his tie. After the paint dried, I hot glued the new heads to the bodies.
Legs time. I determined the length of the legs and cut them down to size. I sanded Jenny Matt’s down and painted them black (I assume he will have a black tux) (Oh goodness I am having images of Dumb and Dumber flash in my head) (Maybe I should take control of his outfit…there WERE threats of Dolphins colors). I used my trusty glue gun to fill in the holes on the bottom of the body and placed the legs inside. Snug as a bug. I marked the bottom of the legs with a small amount of paint and marked where I wanted the bottom portion to be placed on the base. I drilled my little holes.
With my Jenny, I wanted the bottom to be somewhat full. I had leftover satin fabric from my garter and cut to size the length I needed. I knew it wasnt going to pouf as much as I wanted so I grabbed my left over tulle and glued it to the bottom of her body. Then I glued the satin over that and I had instant pouf! I also cut a sliver of tulle and glued it to her “updo” for the veil.
Sorry for the dark pictures.
Once our Jennies were dressed and glued, I added a small heart with our initials. I had a few different sayings I wanted to write, but this seemed to work the best with the space given.
Here is the final product:
I opted to go armless because I could not find a material that I actually liked. Plus, they look good without arms I think. So what do you think? Do you think I should use this as a cake topper or go for something more traditional? Do you think it still looks a little plain?
Total cost for this project: $10.54
I generally try to do the right thing and follow all the rules, but this one time I had to pass up the opportunity. As a result, I am pretty sure I am going to Hell.
It all started this past Tuesday. The sun was still trying to rise and it was freezing, see your breathe outside cold. (I hate winter in case you were wondering. Blame it on growing up in Chicago). As I was leaving for work I realized I needed to take the trash out because it had a very special stank to it and the trash guys wouldnt be there until later in the evening. I loaded the stanky trash into my car and headed toward the compactor (we are in an apartment if you didnt know).
I will tell you whole heartedly I absolutely hate my apartment complex. I complain about it all the time. Matt and Barley are constantly sick from the mold growing in the walls, the management is dreadful to deal with, they are always trying to find a reason to “check on” apartments every month, and the people living within the confines are deplorable. It has gotten to the point where I hate walking around at night because who knows what will happen. I feel watched and sometimes followed. Oh, and we think someone is stealing gas from Matt’s car. Yep, that is where we live.
For you to understand what I dealt with on Tuesday, I am going to use the pictures below to describe.
Here is a view of what our entrance gate (which I understand is not a deterrant) looks like and the flow of traffic. (Sorry about the paint skills)
As you see, down toward the middle of the picture there is a little island that houses the callbox. I am somewhat annoyed by people that sneak into the gate because I have no idea what shady business you are up to in here. I cant fully be annoyed though because I follow people in out of sheer laziness.
Lately, it seems as though people have gotten smart and when you sit in front of the OUT gate, the gate opens up. No idea why, it just does. I think management has started catching on, so when I was leaving for work Tuesday I noticed they finally put large barrier cone barrels in between the gate and callbox.
As I pull up to the trash compactor, I notice a very sketchy car parked in front of the out gate. To me it looks like he is trying ot get in, but having no luck. His resolution was to just sit there. Keep in mind, this is the morning and people are leaving for work in school. Now your idiot self just blocked the gate so no one can leave. This is….until he sees me. He throws his car into reverse and parks it in front of the IN gate. Of course, I am watching this and decide to take my sweet time throwing the trash away. I made sure to get a good look of this man. He looked extrememly sketchy and like he was up to no good.
After he moved his car into the right lane, he got out and moved the barrier cones. I was back in my car at this point and decided to book it so he would miss the chance to get in, hoping the gates would close behind me quickly.
He saw me coming toward the gate and started running back to his car when it happened. He fell and he fell hard. I am very sure he sprained or broke his ankle because he was screaming in pain, but I dont know fully because I kept driving. I avoided eye contact and kept going.
I felt terrible as I drove away, but the guy was basically trying to break into the complex. I dont know what his plans were, but I cant trust anyone in our area. Maybe he lost his gate card and needed back in or maybe he was part of a group planning to break into other apartments. Maybe he was stealing Matt’s gas (seriously, can you believe that?) Over the past few weeks I have heard mulitple people shooting guns, there have been strange people banging on my door at night, and the cops are there ALL THE TIME. I have every right to feel uneasy about these types of goings on.
We know it is time to move (our lease ends in a month).
I told Matt about this (since he lives there and understands what I am saying) and before I could even start telling him I felt bad for the guy, he said I did the right thing because there are so many unsafe things going on lately.
Dont worry, our apartment is very aware of how bad it has gotten and after a year, this is their first step towards stopping it…barrier cones. Great job team!
If you arent friends with me on Facebook (shame shame), you missed my notification about my first post for The Budget Savvy Bride.
Check it out here. Its just an intro post letting her readers know who Matt and I are. I have already submitted three other posts to her for the next few weeks since busy season is starting.
Happy Thanksgiving week to my American friends!
Did you all have a fabulous weekend? It was pretty low key and stressful at the same time for me. Wedding planning….its so much harder when it is your own money!! Not to mention we may have to change the date AGAIN, which is much harder because of the fact we already booked our DJ and Caterer.
Friday, I hung out with my friend and ate some amazing sushi and tapas (favorite!). Saturday, I brought Barley to the vet because he is still not feeling well (sinus issues…just like Matt. I think our apartment has done this).
Poor Baby
After I got home, I slept the ENTIRE day. I think my body and mind was tired and obviously needed it. I woke up from my nap and noticed how amazing the weather was and decided to go for my run. More on that later. We then met our friends for some dinner and tried to catch a movie (Flight) but it was sold out. So we went back to our friend’s and watched Baylor and Stanford take down #1 and #2 in college football. This means Georgia is moving up to #3. We really control our own destiny and right now there are talks about Georgia playing in the National Championship. We have to beat out Georgia Tech this week (at home) and Alabama in the SEC Championship (in Atlanta…so at home). I am weary about that game because Bama is a powerhouse, but they were also beat out by Texas A&M. IF we DO win the SEC, we are off to Miami! I am not going to worry about this until it actually happens, but the words Georgia and National Championship in the same sentence are a once in a lifetime thing. The NCG is Jan 7….smack dab in the middle of my busiest show. If you had the opportunity to go, would you? Even though you have to be at work?
So really why we are here….running.
I have completed week one of C25K and I have to say it was pretty easy. It is nice to have someone in my ear telling me what to do. I think too often when I start a training cycle, I listen to my mind too much and I do not focus on my body. My “trainer” allows my mind to shut off and I can see where I am doing things wrong and where things are going right.
Week one I ran a total (sit down this will blow you away) of 6 miles. In the beginning my attack to this is running every other day. My feet are much happier and my legs get a day in between to re acclimate. What I have noticed from week one is just how out of it I am. I am much slower than before and I feel much heavier all around. I am having a hard time finding my form and my lungs are having a harder time readjusting. I have been very consistent with my pace which right now is ok. I will work on getting faster, but the object is to work on my form right now, not speed. (I am very aware I keep repeating this in each post, but as I write this I am catching myself playing the comparison game. “well in July I was busting out 10ks at a faster pace…”)
I am happy to finally be out there and as this program continues on, I am going to add more challenges. I am in the process of deciding if I want to be part of a gym again because I really miss taking classes multiple times a week. They were so motivating and fun.
How was your weekend?
I am so excited my first post with The Budget Savvy Bride will appear this week (I believe). Will you be following?
Any suggestions for an experienced runner coming back from another injury?
Next week wont come soon enough. I am taking the whole week off and I plan on working on my to do list tonight to see what sort of trouble I can get into.
First thing I would like to mention is it is official! I am going to be blogging once a week for The Budget Savvy Bride! I was introduced this week on her blog and I couldnt be more pumped! I have already written 5 posts in my draft folder since busy season is upon us.
Do you remember how I gave up French Fries for 2012 as my New Years Resolution? The year is almost up which means it is time for a new resolution and a plate of french fries. I know this post is probably premature in the new years talk, but I think I need to start shifting my focus and reevaluate some of my goals to accomplish what I want to accomplish in 2013 (if the world is still spinning).
Trust me, I know I have mentioned this before. In my running “career” I have had one goal in mind, train for a half marathon. My focus and drive was always 13.1 and smaller races in between. I craved that distance and it sometimes overwhelmed me (DNS RnR Chicago). Sometimes I was so pushed, I injured myself (stress fracture, damaged soft tissue). This time I think I need to start focusing on becoming a stronger runner for 13.1 via 3.1. I started my C25K program Tuesday and while I realized just how out of shape I am, I realized how good 2.1 miles felt. It was not my fastest 2.1 miles by any stretch of the imagination (14.23 minutes), but that is the reason I am doing C25k. I have taken too much time off and if I just ran 3 miles the way I used to, I would probably A)die B)get hurt.
So I am going to find a Jan 5k (as close to new years as possible) and run it. That will be my starting race for 2013 that I will use to build up my strength and PR the heck out of each 5k after that. Im not going to focus on 13.1, only 3.1. Then I will move up to the next distance and hopefully eventually hit the marathon circut. I so so so badly want to run a marathon.
The holidays are almost here. Can you believe NEXT WEEK!?! I would love to know where the year went.
Even though my days have been crazy and filled, I thought I would share some pictures of things that have made me happy over the past week. Hopefully they will make you happy too!
-I have told you all before, Matt has to eat gluten free. He has done such a great job with it and I am sure his stomach is thanking him to pieces. I am surprised how easy it was for him to transition to GF, but how hard it would be for me (see: lack of will power). You may also recall at some point this blog is supposed to feature BAKING and I have not baked this year. WHAT?!?! I dont want to bring things like that into the house and make it harder for Matt….until now. I found a local company that carries gluten free mixes. I heard baking GF is harder than you think and have yet to try it. I DID try this mix before purchasing and when I say this is one of the best cakes, I am not lying! I bought pumpkin cake (shown above), zucchini bread, regular bread, and chocolate cake. Now we can eat baked goods without the guilt.
-I originally picked out invitations for the wedding online and fell in love. The problem was I would have to make my own RSVP cards and information cards to include. Not really a problem, but you know. Friday after work I made my weekly trip to the big red bullseye and ran into the most adorable invitations. I was so torn with what to do, I sat in the card aisle for over 30 minutes. Dont mind me Target employees. The great thing about these invitations was they came with RSVP cards and after doing the math, I was going to save $160! Sold! I am madly in love with these ALMOST as much as the others, but I would rather have that money and apply it to something else.
-Friday I finished my biggest wedding project yet, the cake table tablecloth. Holy cow this was a HUGE undertaking and I have honestly surprised myself on actually being able to complete it with as few cuss words as I did. You only get to see a sneak peak though and soon I will have a breakdown of the how, the what, and the price. After this, I have learned just how much my sewing machine and I DONT get along. It was pretty brutal.
-My laundry helper. One helps with laundry and the other helps make the bed.
-This may not be happiness to most people, but I think its pretty darn funny. Last Monday I was at home making dinner when all the sudden I heard a loud crash. I swear someone had fallen off the roof of the building. Being a chicken when I am home alone, I didnt run to the door to look (because clearly killers make those sorts of noises), I ran to the bedroom window. What do I see? My stupid neighbor crashed into the apartment. I was so worried he hurt someone and was about to run downstairs when I flung the front door open and saw this sight. He drove into the stairwell. Idiot. I am not a fan of this man or his family. They are extremely loud and rude to people AND their dog. Now the columns and railings are completely messed up, but that is what happens when you are careless…….wow spiteful are we? LOL
-Last week I applied to become a Budget Savvy Bride blogger at The Budget Savvy Bride. This website next to Weddingbee is one I frequent the most. I found out I was chosen to start contributing. I am so excited and so nervous. I hope everyone likes me!
-I was told we cannot use this for any of our pictures. Sad
-But we can use this. Crummy picture I know!
So that is my happiness for the week.
What has made you happy this week? Or last week? Or this month?
