Week Off - Part 2

Ok, "Week Off - Part 2" is really just 'What I did on Thursday,' but I thought I'd go ahead and keep the theme.

After getting my desk set up, some drawers organized, and my blog updated, I decided it was time to take this week of vacation up a notch and do something, well... vacation-y.

Hello Pool!

Alright so I'll be honest... I wore a skirt over my bathing suit (which was a tankini) the entire time because I just felt too self conscious to expose my legs. And because of that, I also didn't go into the pool, which I'm pretty sad about because it was so hot and the pool looked so good. It would be one thing if I didn't work there (this pool is at Job #2)... but I just can't bring myself to be in a bathing suit in front of my coworkers and members I see every time I work, at least not right now.

Well friends... I had a phone date with Rebecca while laying out, and let's just say.... I stayed out too long.

Oops

I love the sun, but clearly it was not loving me!

The rest of the day was spent picking up supplies for my latest home decor project. When Andy got home he helped me with it!

Used Coffee Bag Art!

I got some canvas bags that were used to ship coffee - these things are legit... un-roasted coffee beans were still falling out of them! We cut the bag down, stretched in on a blank canvas, and stapled it down. Tada!!! I think it looks pretty cool.

This morning I made another one (the bag has a different print on it). I thought this was all I would do, but now I've decided they need a little something more so I'm going to get some furniture tacks and nail them around to make a border. I think that will look cool (hopefully). Tonight when Andy gets home he has claimed that he will finally help me hang some things on the walls. Once that gets done I will definitely be posting more room reveal pics!

Alright, time to go to the hardware store for tacks, then to Sarah's Zumba class with Lisa, then... more pool? I know I know! I'm still red, but it's soooo nice out and I have a magazine I didn't finish looking at yesterday. I'll wear sunscreen!! It's my last official day of vacation after all... gotta make the most out of it!

Week Off - Part 1

Hi! I'm here! I can't believe I've abandoned the ol' blog for an entire week. But there's a decent reason...

I haven't been at work! Yes it's true - I typically update while at Job #1. HR notified me not too long ago that I had more vacation days than I thought, so I'm off this week! It's the last week of our fiscal year, so it's use 'em or lose 'em. I'm perfectly happy to take a week off. :-)

Here's what's been going on...

Friday: Yoga after work. Sadly Kristin was not feeling so stellar, so she had to leave halfway through, but I'm still glad we did it. :-) That night we got a surprise call from Andy's parent's asking if we wanted to meet them for dinner. We happened to have dinner near a casino, and you know me... I can't resist!

I won $11!!!

Future MOI - Cindy

Future FOI - Larry

Saturday: Worked at Job #2. Then tackled the basement. Room reveal!!

Shelves - righthand section is all wedding stuff!

Work bench

I SCRUBBED that wall - it was gross

I still owe you guys a picture of the laundry zone down in the basement. I felt really good about the work I did down there - not only getting it organized, but also taking care of lots of cobwebs (picture me psychotically brushing my arms anytime something touched me), and using zip ties to get the wires/cables tucked up nicely into the ceiling.

Sunday: Trip to Pittsburgh!!!!! I really needed to get to an IKEA to get a ton of candleholders for the wedding, but of course while we were there, Andy and I got some things for our new place.

At a gas station we stopped at - we shared one!

Mecca

The drive to Pittsburgh is 4.5 hours. Then we spent 4.5 hours in Ikea (could have stayed longer but the store was closing). And of course a 4.5 hour drive home. It was a LONG day, but totally worth it! I already want to go back!

Monday: Training with Vinny and Sarah (fun and hard). Then rest of the day was spent working on the place. Although these areas aren't finished, here's a sneak peak at the living room and another look at our dining room. Feel free to admire our new rugs.

Living Room - new rug and pillows

Dining Room - new rug

Dining Room - add curtains, plants, and decor!

Living Room - another new pillow

Monday was very fun and productive. :-)

Tuesday: Hair appointment... got some low lights this time.

Tada!

Best part about getting my hair done is getting to talk to my hair dresser. She just got married two weeks ago, so it was fun to hear all about her wedding. :-) I had to work at Job #2 that evening so I didn't get a whole lot else accomplished, although I did put my Seattle pictures in some frames... can't wait to hang them up!

Pictures I got last time I was home in WA

Wednesday: Worked on unpacking the bedroom... I'm amazed at how long it takes to do things... I really spent a lot of time in there, but I still can't really tell you what all I did (besides going through and organizing my jewelry). That evening was another Food Truck Rodeo! Kristin picked me up and we met Anna, Lisa, Will, Rose, and Andy there.

Hard to see... but this is the Food Truck Rodeo

Kristin, Babs, and empanadas!

Anna,  Lisa, and beer!

After the Food Truck Rodeo, everyone came back to see our new place, and then we played "The Game of Things" - Katie, this is still your game! Do you want me to mail it to you??

Thursday: We're all caught up now! This morning I uncovered and cleaned off my desk, hence, the blog update. In a bit I have a phone date with Rebecca. I can't wait to hear about how her first week back in college is going. Speaking of first days, today is my mom's first day of school with students. Good luck mom!!!

Ok friends, I'll add a quick note to say I have been eating like Mama June from Here Comes Honey Boo Boo... thankfully focusing on the house is keeping my mind occupied, because if I stopped to think about how I feel in my skin, well... I'd be pretty depressed right now. So far, ignoring the problem is keeping me going for now. I do intend to get back on track... soon...

Stay tuned for more frequent updates now that I've got a work space set up again. :-)

BargainBabs

Hi all - somehow there was a glitch and my post from yesterday was never published... so for the record, my "Power Outage" post was written on Thursday. Here are my thoughts for today...

I'm feeling better today. Not because I weigh less (in fact I weigh even more... I have gained 4+ pounds this week). No, it's definitely not that. It's because I have a new plan. You know how I like my plans.

New plan! Weigh myself once a week (encouraged strongly by Sarah, (thank you Sarah)), document all food that goes into my mouth, but try not to worry about what goes in quite as much. A more relaxed approach if you will. At this point I now have (at least) 21 pounds to lose before the wedding. But that is 358 days/51 weeks away, so as long as I lose about a half pound a week, I'll be just fine. I can afford the relaxed approach. Now don't get me wrong, this is going to be SOOOOOOO hard for me to do. It is not in my nature to be laid back and take it easy - to me that translates to lack of control - but I'm really going to try because I do think there's a lot of good in this method of living if I can just become comfortable with it.

Moving on.

Last night Andy and I had quite the adventure. We were able to borrow a truck to go pick up a free dining room table and bench (no chairs) that I found on Craigslist. To say the place was shady would be an understatement. Andy is still convinced there are drugs stashed in the legs of the table. But I don't care! I think it's a great table! And you certainly can't beat the price! FREE!!!!

New (to us) table and bench!

For now we're using the chairs from our old table. I think they work well together! Did I mention that I got this table and bench for FREE??!?!?!

Andy and I started enjoying the new addition this morning. We camped out, one on each end... I left the room for two seconds and when I came back, I laughed because we had a mirror image situation going on.

We are such dorks

Our old table would have made dual computing too cramped, so I'd say so far the new table is working out quite well.

Alright kiddos, I'm heading to yoga again tonight with Kristin, working at Job #2 tomorrow morning, and then thanks to a handful of vacation days I had left (use em or lose em) I will have some time to seriously unpack and get this place more functional. Prepare yourselves for some more exciting room reveals!

I'm having a power outage

I have no will power. I don't even have wedding power at this point. Went for a little walk outside today around 11:00am (counting so far as my exercise for the day), saw my reflection in a building, cried a little... let's just say the 'goings on' in my head are not so great right now. I talked to my mom for a bit and she told me I just need to relax and not try so hard. I know she's right... somehow I have to get out of this "all or nothing" mindset. I'll try again tomorrow...

But pushing my internal sadness aside, I had a very happy night last night. Anna came over to see our new place and have dinner - she is busy packing/moving so making dinner for her was my way of trying to help her out! Time for tacos!!

Taco Time!

Andy made it home in time for tacos too. And what better way to finish off a taco dinner than... a homemade pickle!

The pickles are ready!

Anna was the official tester

Andy did a really good job! They taste like... well they taste like pickles (although rather spicy). Success! Andy is now the master of poached eggs, water kefir, and pickles. A very random list, but hey, most guys can only make toast and cereal, so I'd say he's ahead of the pack.

Alright sorry to make this so short but I've got to hang it up and see if I can figure some sort of truck transportation situation for tonight... I found a free dining room table on Craigslist today and they've had a lot of other people wanting it too, so I have to figure out a way to actually pick it up fast, or I'm going to lose it! Wish me luck. :-/

Wedding Power

"Happy Tuesday." You all know Tuesday isn't my favorite day since it means working both jobs. This one started off on a bad note when I weighed and the scale went up for the second day in a row. It's frustrating because I am trying so hard to eat healthy and exercise... why is it going up?

Andy can usually tell pretty quickly when I'm unhappy after weighing myself. I said, "Wouldn't it be nice if you stepped on a scale and instead of a number it said, 'Good job Babs! I can tell you're working hard! Keep up the good work!!" But it doesn't say that. Instead it says, "You gained a pound." :-(

I told my mom I could feel my will power slipping, and she said I needed to turn that will power into wedding power! Good one Mom! I'll hang in there. Number on the scale aside - I do feel better just after a week of being back on track, so I know the hard work is worth it, even if it doesn't always show up in numerical form.

Instead of going downstairs and eating a big bad baddie breakfast (like I sometimes do when I get discouraged with the scale) I cleared a space in the second bedroom and did a 20 minute yoga video that I found online.

At home yoga zone

You can tell that room still has a long way to go before it is unpacked and put together. Anyway, once my hamstrings were slightly stretchier, I made a cup of coffee, threw on some shoes, and went for a walk outside. Andy, being nice and supportive, came with me. It was more of a stroll, but it was nice to be outside and walk around our new neighborhood. Much better way to start the day than with a breakfast binge-fest - plus now I can say I've exercised for the day. My streak continues!

Quick update about last night's activities. After work I made dinner, then worked at Job #2 (I'm trying to pick up a few extra hours here and there for wedding money). When I got home, someone had made a trip to the store to buy supplies...

Pickle Master Andy

Ye of little faith! I honestly didn't think he would make them, but I was definitely wrong! By the end of the day we should have a fresh batch of jalapeno/garlic/dill pickles. Sounds pretty good!

Alright friends, that's all for today. Hopefully tomorrow's trip to the scale will be a little better! (I know I know, I shouldn't weigh everyday, but it's so hard not to.)

Busy Bee

Get ready guys - lots of activities and pictures coming your way as I give you the "weekend update."

Friday after work I stuck to my word and went to yoga! Kristin joined too, which definitely made it better. Honestly the class was really good... my knee was able to handle "most" of the moves (or the teacher was able to help me modify). Sometimes I get bored in yoga because it doesn't feel like we do anything, and other times I get frustrated because everyone is doing hand stands and I'm still struggling to touch my toes... this was the perfect balance and gave me a good workout.

Babs and Kristin = zen yogis

When I got home from class there was a package waiting for me...

I love presents!!

THANK YOU NICHI!!!! Nichi was so nice and mailed me a housewarming/one year until wedding present. Can you believe that? Here she is growing a baby, going to work, walking her dogs, oh yeah... and still finding time to be incredibly thoughtful and caring. :-) I am so lucky to have her as a friend.

That night, Andy and I celebrated our future one year wedding anniversary with a romantic dinner at Chipotle and dessert at Yotality (frozen yogurt). Doesn't get much better than that, haha.

Now for some reason Andy and I have both been getting up naturally much earlier at our new place than our old, which meant on Saturday morning we were able to go to the public market before I had to go to work. And of course, we rode our bikes there!

See Mom... he got a helmet!

Now the problem with biking to the public market is that you can't buy tons of stuff (we only have one backpack). We got coffees, stocked up on veggies, and then biked back. Fast forward through a super quick shower and an annoying shift at Job #2, and Andy and I were on the road to get to the Hasting's Family Reunion on a farm in the middle of nowhere.

Andy's Grandma Joyce passed away earlier this year, so it was pretty touching when we saw this had been built on the farm...

Swings in memory of Joyce

The reunion was nice... the weather was great, there was a TON of food (including an entire roasted giant pig), and I met many of Andy's dad's relatives. Andy's Grandma Joyce was the oldest of 15 siblings, so there were a lot of people.

After a long drive back, we went to Rita's Water Ice (a new strange dessert place) briefly to say hi to Bipul (he was only in town one day, unfortunately the same day as work and the reunion so we weren't able to see him much at all). To say I was tired by the time we got home would be a serious understatement.

Now onto Sunday! Again... woke up super early... put some laundry away and then got my daily exercise taken care of. I ran to the gym (1 mile... holy cow it felt hard), did a little elliptical and some crunches, and then ran back. Then Andy and I decided to bike to a different farmer's market... this time to stock up on fruits. All of the produce looks amazing this time of year!

Giant Zucchini!

Andy and future pickles

Andy's turned into quite the kitchen scientist lately, which is sort of fitting considering he refers to that room as the "kitchen laboratory" thanks to all of my measuring devices and food scales. Anyway, he's been making water kefir, and while we were at the market on Sunday, he also decided he would make his own pickles. I find this somewhat interesting because whenever we go out to eat and they put a pickle spear on his plate, he never eats them, and I always end up eating them. I just assumed he didn't like them! Maybe he doesn't, but just wants to make them?? I'm not sure. They're still in their bag in the fridge, so we'll see what actually happens with them, haha.

Moving on, we biked home (with a quick stop at the bike shop because my handle bars were twisiting) and went on an unpacking/cleaning spree. Room reveal time!

Front Room/Entry Room

Tada! As you can imagine a lot of things were dumped in that space when we moved in. Now it is home to our bikes, shoes (in the box, but I just bought a shoe rack for them so they'll have a real home soon), a chair (I'm standing behind it so you can't see it), and... the box spring that won't fit upstairs. Hopefully we'll find a new home for that as well...On top of clearing the space of boxes and clutter, Andy also deep cleaned it, which sent him on a deep cleaning spree throughout the first floor. Things are look much better!

Around 4:00 I needed a break from looking at our mess, so I went over to Anna's new house to look at her mess instead, lol. I painted a wall while catching up with her and Lisa, and then headed to the grocery store to pick up a few things that weren't at the farmers' markets.

The rest of the evening was spent in the kitchen. I made dinner, which involved boiling fresh beets and making sausage stuffed zucchini boats.

Very proud of this dinner!

Once we were done eating I got back to work and made banana oat muffins from a recipe I found on Pinterest. By the time I crawled in bed, my entire body hurt. It was a long, but very productive, day! Overall - a solid weekend.

ONE YEAR UNTIL WEDDING!!!!!

You read that right friends. In 365 days I will be looking my most beautiful and getting maaaaarried!!!

Here's what that means... Over the next 365 days I need to:

1) Grow more hair. Alright, I'm always trying to grow more hair, but I will increase my efforts by trying to remember to take a multivitamin every day, and also maybe not styling it with hot tools so much (that will mean lots of mangy "beach" hair).

2) Become a gazelle. In order to become a gazelle I obviously need to lose weight (the goal is to lose at least 17.6 pounds... preferably 22.6 pounds). I have decided to do that I will...drum roll.... exercise EVERY SINGLE DAY until my wedding. That could mean just a ten minute walk on some days, but at least it's SOMETHING. I'm pretty excited about this. I will also try to be very careful about what I eat and make sure that if a splurge situation comes up, it stays a splurge only in that moment and doesn't carry over and turn into a week of binge eating. WWBE? What would brides eat? That will be the new motto.

A second part to becoming a gazelle is being more graceful, and for me that translates into better posture. Even though I get very bored with it, I'm going to force myself to do some yoga. I can't have slumped shoulders walking down the aisle!

3) Get uber organized. With working two jobs (and picking up extra shifts to earn more money for the wedding), exercising every day, and eating bride food, I will need to be suuuuper organized... those things alone require lots of planning in order to be successful, but on top of that I'll be planning the wedding too!

I guess if everything goes right, in one year I will be an organized hairy gazelle. Hmm... doesn't sound quite right, lol! Ok let's say I'll be the spitting image of Kate Middleton! That's better. ;-)

Before...

... and After!

Alright back to reality. I actually decided about a week ago that I would make a one-year wedding resolution to exercise every day, and when Monday rolled around I thought, why wait? Which has given me the incentive to try to get moving as much as possible.

Yesterday I rode my bike to work, went for a walk during my lunch break while having a phone date with Rebecca (I miss you Rebecca!!!), then biked to the tanning salon, then biked to the grocery store, biked home for dinner, then biked to the gym for Zumba, and biked back home. I am a biking fiend! Honestly my legs are very tired and my butt has definitely felt better. But it's still pretty fun.

Red Rosey and Rotisserie Chicken

Red Rosey making friends at the gym

Zumba last night was so much fun. I still can't do everything I used to be able to do (stupid knee) but I can do a lot more that I have been able to do since surgery (and before surgery), so that felt good. I also enjoyed watching Sarah shake her butt and it made me remember how I started stalking her and made me feel glad we are friends now. :-)

Zumba Sarah!!!

You will notice in the mirror in the picture I have my helmet on...ready to ride! Just so you can all be impressed like I was, Sarah ran 12 miles earlier that day, and the class I went to was the second class of the day she taught. Damn girl!! In addition to being an exercise enthusiast, Sarah is also an excellent baker. After class I was the lucky recipient of some of her homemade muffins. Yay!!

Andy approved!

I haven't tried one yet but they got the Brown "seal of approval" last night.

Currently I'm at work - after work I'm going to my first yoga class in who knows how long. I'm sure it will be unpleasant but I'm already proud of myself for going (and I haven't even gone yet!). Not sure what we'll be up to tonight, but I feel like Andy and I should do something fun as this date will be very special to us every year after this one. On Saturday I'll be working job #2 and then heading out for a Brown family gathering. No plans yet for Sunday... hoping to get lots of unpacking done so I can take pictures of other rooms for your viewing pleasure!

Hope you all have a good weekend too. :-)

OH! One more thing. This weekend my Mema is celebrating her 80th birthday down in Texas (even though she turned 80 back in December). Mema... I hope you have a GREAT party!!! Wish I were there to celebrate with you. :-)

On the move

Hello there! The weather has turned around and it's starting to look like summer (granted the end of summer) outside again, my three days of healthy eating and exercising have helped me feel happy and calm, and I'm excited to go to Zumba tonight (haven't really been able to do it since surgery). All in all, should be a good day.

Last night after work I answered Anna's pleas for painting help. Anna and Bips have bought a new house, but before they move in she wants to paint it (very good idea). Will, Rose, and Andy were there too (they were able to get there before I was done with work, so they really did the bulk of the job). With a little more work in the next few days, hopefully Anna and Bips can move into a house sans forest green trim work... seriously, who does that?!

Painting break = iPhone time

Now friends, if you will remember, I biked to work yesterday... which means I also biked to Anna's new place. Andy also biked to Anna's new place, so when we were all done, we both biked home together. It was our first time riding our bikes together, and it was really fun!

That night, Andy and I hit up Walmart in an attempt to figure out some sort of clothing storage solution for our bedroom. I think we've finally figured out a good solution (at least a first step). I will take pictures and post it once it's all put together. Stay tuned for that.

I've been trying to do one productive thing each morning before leaving for the office... Monday I collected hangers from a bag and hung them up, Tuesday I went to the gym, Wednesday I painted my nails, and this morning I cleaned out and organized the cabinet under the kitchen sink.

* angels sing *

It's hard to tell in the picture, but tucked in the back on the right hand side is a shower caddy that I used to hold the cleaners we don't use all that often (oven cleaner...things like that). Oh the little things that make my type-A self happy. :-)

Today I biked to work once again! Biking into work is harder than biking home - it's steadily uphill, my backpack is heavier since I have my lunch in it, and you're constantly biking into a head wind. But it's still a good way to get a little extra exercise in my day. Guess who else decided to bike in today??

A quick seat adjustment...

... and he's off!

Now Mom, Andy is well aware that he doesn't have a helmet yet, but he promises to get one soon. He wanted me to make sure you knew that!

Anyway, now I'm at the office trying to get myself organized here. There are 12 more business days until the new season starts, and I need to take 5 of those as vacation days. Use them or lose them! Woohoo vacation!

BicyclistBabs

Red Rosey rides again!!

That's right friends... I rode my bike to work again today. It's so hard! My legs get tired, I get sweaty, I'm out of breath, but it's still pretty cool. :-) What wasn't quite so cool was how cold it was (today is August 14th and the high is 66.... boooo). The wind is kickin' too which made for a chilly ride. Thankfully it didn't take too terribly long to warm up.

My office is big enough that I can bring my bike inside. Score!

Red Rosey at the office

What happens when things are a little slow around the office and you bring a bike inside?

Brian: Director of Patron Services

Brian is in the office next to mine. It naturally had to happen.

Yesterday was pretty much an average Tuesday... I worked both jobs - oh, interesting fact about Job #2... Duff McKagan (bass player for Guns 'n Roses) came in for a yoga class. According to the lucky yoga teacher that had him in her class, he told her he had been clean for 12 years and his new addiction was yoga. Ha! Between him, Tiger Woods, Lindsey Vonn, and the rest of the PGA players, the place has been quite a buzz with celeb sightings. Of course I didn't get to see the majority of them, but it's still exciting to hear about.

Duff McKagan: Addicted to Yoga

Tiger Woods: Addicted to Ladies

Lindsey Vonn: Addicted to Douche Bags

So yes, that was cool, but the thing I was most excited about yesterday was that I got up early and went to the gym before I went to work. Granted, I only did 30 minutes of cardio, but it's better than nothing! Gotta love the excitement of a new place and new routine. I hope it doesn't wear off too soon!

I also hope it warms up before I have to ride my bike home...