Goals & plans for 2015

Oh hello, my long-neglected blog! Who knew adding a baby to the mix AND going back to work full-time was so time consuming? ;)

I love the beginning of the year for the fresh start it brings. Out with the old, in with the new. I typically make a huge list of very specific resolutions and get so overwhelmed with sticking to all of them that I fail miserably to stick with even one.

There are several things I want to accomplish this year, but I'm cutting myself some slack and picking more realistic goals so I don't set myself up for failure :) Ironically, one of my goals this year is to let go of the need for perfection, so this will be a good exercise for that.

Here's some things I'd like to see happen this year:

• Get Oliver (mostly) potty trained. We started the potty training process last June and he is 100% potty trained at home when he's naked. He runs right to the bathroom when he has to go and never has a problem. But apparently letting your kid run around in public naked is a no-no, so we still have some work to do :) 
• Set up a little photo studio in our house. Oregon is too cold and/or wet a good portion of the year to do outdoor photos, so we're finally bringing the photos indoors. We're drawing up plans right now and hope to have something set up later this month in time for Valentine's Day mini sessions :)
• Pay off my student loans this year. I think I have until the end of 2016 to pay them off, but I've been paying extra as often as possible and hope to be totally done by October of this year. 
• Explore Oregon more. We rarely leave the city (or even our house) anymore, but there is so much beauty to see in this state and I am eager to expose the kids to it. I'm aiming for 1 day-trip each month, even if it's super close (but it has to be a new-to-us place).
• Eat less sugar. I have a sweet tooth like none other and have noticed that Oliver asks for sugary stuff a lot more often now :( So it's time to cut back and lead by example with what I eat.
• Do one small house project a month. Our tentative plan is to put our house up for sale Spring 2016, so we need to start doing a little at a time so its ready by then. We need new carpet, new tile in the bathrooms, a new fence in the backyard, new grass/landscaping and minor repairs inside & outside. We also need to pare our belongings down as we go along, but I'm married to a hoarder (i.e.: I finally convinced him to get rid of his floppy disc collection just a few years back) so it will be tough. lol
• Be in more photos. I'm always the one behind the camera and it bums me out to look through my photos and only have a handful of shots with me & the kids in them :( So that is definitely something to work on for this year!

These are the main ones. Of course I am always looking to improve in all areas of my life (exercise more! watch less tv! read to the kids more! spend less!), but the items above are ones that I feel are not only very important, but also attainable. So wish me luck and hopefully I will have a chance to check back in in the next few months to share my progress :)

Best wishes for 2015 to you & yours :)

Project Refresh: Month 4

Hello December, one of my favorite months of the year! I absolutely love Christmas and all that comes with it. Christmas movies, music, decorations, lights, buying gifts, spending time with family... It's even better now with a 19 month old that is curious about everything and so easily excited :)

My goals for month 3 were a bust :( I did 2 or 3 things on my list, but that was it, so I'm moving on. Some unexpected things came up that took up a lot of our time and made it hard to get on task.

For month 4, I know we will be really busy with holiday stuff, so I'm only working towards a few goals this time.

Project Refresh: Month 4

• Try to make the majority of our Christmas gifts this year as we don't have much money to spend.
• Finish up said Christmas gifts earlier than Christmas Eve! haha. I'm the worst when it comes to procrastination.
• Start a holiday tradition with Oliver
• Have a stress-free and fun month :)

Enjoy the holiday season everyone!

Motivation (or lack thereof)

Getting to stay home with my son these last 2 months has been great. I don't have to wake up before 6am anymore, I can stay in my pajamas and play with Oliver all day, I have unlimited snacks (this one is dangerous, just ask my scale!), I don't have to go out in the cold/rainy weather, etc.

BUT... I think it's starting to take it's toll on me. I thrive on structure and routine and there isn't much of that these days. My life revolves around Oliver and what he needs at any given time. Everyday is a little bit different, nap times are hit and miss these days, Oliver likes a food one day and hates it the next, Derek's work schedule is always changing. It's diving me a little crazy, to be honest. I kinda miss going to work at a set time, knowing my tasks for the day, taking a lunch break at the same time, chatting with real life adults and going home at a certain time. Don't get me wrong, being home with Oliver is absolutely the best thing for both of us right now, I just feel like I need to re-evaluate our daily routine and tweak some things. All my energy goes towards raising Oliver and keeping the house together that there's not much left at the end of the day. When Oliver goes to sleep at 7:30pm, I'm ready to crash too.

I don't like how lazy and unmotivated I've become. Eating candy all day and sitting around is fun for a few days, but it shouldn't be a long-term plan. lol! I need to start over and get things back on track or I will lose my mind. My eating habits are quite embarrassing right now and I can't remember the last time I exercised. I think this is a big part of why I'm exhausted and dragging most of the day. It's a good place to start and I'm hoping by making those little changes, I'll keep it going with everything else in my daily life (if I had a dollar for every time I said that...)

I'm still not sure when's the right time to go back to work (that's a whole other blog post), but I don't want to look back at this time and regret how I spent it. Oliver deserves more fun adventures around town and more play dates, not just staying at home with boring mom all day :) He'll never be this young again and I may never get the chance to stay home with him again, so I want to do as many fun things with him as possible.

Project Refresh: Month 3

Happy November 1st! I love the beginning of a new month. I get to look back at the previous month to see what went well/what didn't and plan new goals for the current month. It's even more exciting that the holidays are coming up so quickly and that Thanksgiving is this month! I can't wait :)

So how did I do on last month's goals?

• Find the perfect gift for my sister's 18th birthday: Yes! My brother actually found it, but we (Derek & I, my brother & sis-in-law) got my sister a beautiful diamond musical note necklace.
  
  
  
• Book and shoot 2 senior sessions: We only did 1 senior session in October, but we did have some other sessions to make up for it
• Lose 3 pounds: I did, then I gained a pound back at the end of the month. lol. 
• Get the guest bed cleared off by selling or donating everything on it: This is still a work in progress. It's about 50% cleared and everything is listed on ebay/Craigslist, I'm just waiting for people to buy our stuff :)
• Pick out a cute Halloween costume for Oliver: Yup, we found a cute (& warm) dinosaur outfit for Oliver to wear on Halloween. He loved it & looked so cute! Derek & I didn't dress up this year, maybe next time.
  

• Go through my bedroom closet & dresser to organize and purge clothes I don't wear or like: I didn't get rid of many things, but I did organize and clean up my dresser/closet, so this was a success.
• Take Oliver to get his first haircut: We did and he looks so grown-up now! He didn't mind getting his hair cut and I'm glad we finally did it. 
  
  
  I'd rate October a B+. I'm getting the hang of getting stuff done with a curious & hyperactive toddler around 24/7, but I still have some work to do. So what's on the agenda for November?
  
  
  Project Refresh: Month 3
  • I want to make/put some bookshelves up in Oliver's room finally (like this: http://mekhart.blogspot.com/2011/02/nursery-room-book-shelves.html) Oliver has so many cool books & I want to display them & keep them in one location.
  • Get a little greenhouse made for the backyard to put all our plants in for the winter
  • Finish cleaning out & organizing my filing cabinet
  • Get an updated home inventory list put together for insurance purposes (this has been on my to-do list for the last 2 years & I keep putting it off)
  • Set up the tripod & take a great family photo (for Christmas cards, perhaps?)
  • Have a dinner/movie night over at our house with family or friends

  
  

  Have a great weekend everyone! xo

Project Refresh: Month 2

So month 1 of my project is coming to an end and I'd give myself a 'C+' for accomplishing my goals. I am definitely taking more photos (at least one a day) so that was a success. Sticking to a schedule has been tough since every day is different, but I have been more productive whenever Oliver is sleeping, so that one's a mixed bag.

Clearing the clutter was the one I was most excited to dive into, but I just haven't had any time. We've been really busy with photo shoots, which means I spent most of my free time in September with my BFF Photoshop. Being a perfectionist means our clients get beautiful looking photos, but it also means I spend way too much time editing to make each photo amazing.

So onto October. I thought it would be better to break my goals into more specific tasks instead of all-encompassing objectives.

Project Refresh: Month 2

• Find the perfect gift for my sister's 18th birthday
• Book and shoot 2 senior sessions
• Lose 3 pounds (I hate random numbers like that, but I don't think anything above 3 is realistic. lol) by eating less carbs/more veggies & working out 3 times a week
• Get the guest bed cleared off by selling or donating everything on it (I cleared out our office closet and stuck all the random stuff on the bed to deal with later. It's been there over a month now)
• Pick out a cute Halloween costume for Oliver (bonus points if Derek & I dress up this year too!)
• Go through my bedroom closet & dresser to organize and purge clothes I don't wear or like
• Take Oliver to get his first haircut (I know, I love the curls too! But I think it's time to lighten the load on his head. haha)

I like that these goals are simplified and measurable, instead of a vague 'organize the house' which could take a year to complete and is never really done. So better luck for month 2, eh? :)

Project Refresh: Month 1

We're about half-way through the month so I thought I'd check in with where I am on my monthly goals:

Project Refresh: Month 1

• Stick to a schedule: When I was unemployed in 2009-2010, I loved to map out my entire day, hour-by-hour down to the exact time I would eat my lunch (it would always coincide with People's Court at 12pm. lol). I crave routine and a schedule and knowing what I'll be doing at what time. Newsflash: Your kid doesn't care what time People's Court is on or what tasks you've planned out for your day! I'm lucky that Oliver usually takes 2 naps during the day and I scramble to get things done during that time, but the rest of the day is spent feeding/changing/playing with Oliver. It's a little frustrating, but I'm getting used to being more productive in those little pockets of time that I do have.
• Take more photos: I've kept up with taking photos every day, so this one has been a success so far!
• Clear the clutter: Sadly, I haven't had much time to focus on this category at all. During Oliver's nap times, I've been editing photos like a madwoman (we've been really busy these past few weeks) and that has taken most of my free time. I'm all caught up at the moment (although Derek is at a wedding taking photos as I type this, so more editing is coming up) so I'm hoping to tackle at least a closet or two in the next week.

All in all, I'm enjoying unemployment and hanging out with my little dude every day. I just feel like I'm so behind on things and will never get caught up, but I guess that won't change anytime soon :)

Project Refresh: Month 1

September 1st is a significant date for a few reasons. It signals the start of a brand new month. It means I become unemployed in 3 days. Also, it's the date that my husband and I started dating way back in 2002 :)

Much like New Years Day, I see today as a time to start over and start tackling all the projects I've put off & goals I've given up on. Working full-time while being a new mom is exhausting and doesn't leave time for much else. I'm feeling inspired & excited by all the extra time I will soon have and have been making lists of all the things I want to accomplish or work on these next few months at home.

I don't know how long I'll get to stay home with my son, or what distractions will come up, so I've prioritized my list and will start with the most important things first. I give you...

Project Refresh: Month 1

• Stick to a schedule: I work best when I have specific tasks to get done and makes lists of those items. If I go by memory, I'll only remember a few things and spend the rest of the day reading celebrity gossip. So planning out my day ahead of time is key to making sure I don't waste my time.
• Take more photos: I took many, many photos of Oliver his first year and have really been slacking on that since his birthday. So I'm starting up my 365 project again (starting today!) to make sure I capture not just Oliver as he grows, but our house, friends/family, events, trips we take, the beauty of Oregon, etc. I miss photography and am ready to get back into it!
• Clear the clutter: I am beyond ready to start organizing closets and getting our house cleared out. We keep adding more and more stuff and it's just become overwhelming. It's hard to find things and all the stuff everywhere just drives me crazy! So I'm going room by room and getting rid of as many things as I can, so we can appreciate (and find) the stuff we really like and use.

I have dozens of other tasks on my list, but will start with these ones for the month of September. I'll check back at the end of the month to give an update on how I did, but I'm motivated and ready to dive in!

xo

Budgets & money talk

I'm probably in the minority here, but I love budgeting and tracking our income/expenses every month. I find it fun :) With me losing my job in about 2 months, being strict with our spending is more important than ever. So I'm taking a closer look at what we have going out each month and how we can make some extra money & cut expenses while I'm on unemployment.

At the beginning of each month, I print out the previous month's bank statement (we only have 1 checking account which makes it easy; we also have an online saving's account that we make transfers to when we have extra money). I have an excel spreadsheet where I enter our income & expenses. It breaks down each category of expenses to help us pinpoint if we're spending too much in a certain area. I plug the items from our bank statement into the excel spreadsheet and keep my fingers crossed that we made more than we spent that month. lol. Honestly, we usually go over a little bit or just break even.

If you're looking for a less manual way of keeping track of your spending, I'd highly recommend mint.com! You enter in your bank info and any other loans/investments/etc you have and it calculates everything for you. I also use Mint, but I like having a paper copy of our monthly spending that I refer back to later, so I'm sticking with the excel spreadsheet for now :)

Here's how I have my spreadsheet broken down:

Income

• Includes wages from both our jobs, money from photography sessions and misc. income (like selling something on ebay/Craigslist)
• How to increase = Getting a raise is out of the question, so more photography and selling things we don't need/use anymore is the only way to up our income.

Home Expenses

• Mortgage, utilities, home improvement = typically eats up 50% of our income. Ouch!
• How to decrease = Re-financing our mortgage is not possible and we keep our thermostat low in the winter and high in the summer to reduce our heating/cooling bills. We can water our lawn less frequently in the summer and take quicker showers. We don't have a landline and our cellphone bill is about as cheap as it can get. We are pretty much as low as we're going to get in this category, unfortunately. Owning a home is expensive!

Food

• Grocery store & fast food/eating out = this category is always much higher than I'd like to admit, usually about 10%
• How to decrease = Meal planning and coupon clipping will really help us save on grocery store trips. This is something I really need to be diligent about; having more free time when I'm unemployed will also help me get organized in this area. We don't eat out all that often, but when we do, we should only go to places where we have a good coupon (we bought an 'Entertainment' coupon book that has many BOGO meals at restaurants in town).

Transportation

• Gas, car insurance, car repairs/maintenance = unless we have a major issue with one of our cars, we're usually at 6%
• How to decrease = Plan out our errand trips so we don't end up forgetting something and having to drive back across town again. Buy things online when it makes sense (we get free shipping & 5% off at Target by having their debit card). I plan on selling my car once I lose my job, so that will cut back on gas and insurance a bit (and increase our savings).

Entertainment

• Cable, netflix, internet = 2%
• How to decrease = I love Netflix, so I refuse to get rid of that :) We pay $21 a month for basic cable, but we never use it, so I'm thinking we can drop that. We may also lower our internet package (we have the fastest one available) to save a little more.

Health

• Doctor/dentist visits, prescriptions, life insurance = we rarely have any expense in this category besides life insurance, which is 1%
• How to decrease = Life insurance is a fixed expense, and the other items are so rare that this category is as low as it will get :)

Personal

• Health/beauty, clothes, haircuts, etc = some months we have nothing, some months we have several expenses; max of 2% for the most part
• How to decrease = Use as many coupons as possible, go through our closets to sell old clothes or re-discover items we forgot we had instead of buying new ones, look for hair cut specials on Facebook 

Financial obligations

• Credit cards, car payment, student loans = right around 15%
• How to decrease = We don't have any credit card debt, we just have a car payment and a student loan payment each month. This is a fixed expense, but I do pay a little more each month to get it paid off faster. We should have both wiped out in about 3 years. If push came to shove, I could drop back to the minimum payment to save a little.

Misc. Expenses

• This is the "junk drawer" of our budget. We track random purchases at Target/Walmart, pet expenses, gifts, post office fees, Oliver diapers/toys/etc, anything that we didn't know what category to use goes here. Fluctuates monthly, usually depending on how many Target trips we took that month :) = 10-15%
• How to decrease = We always use a dog food coupon for Maggie, but could do a little more research to find coupons for household stuff we buy each month. Buying diapers in bulk when we find a good sale is a good idea, especially if we can find coupons to use as well. Oliver's clothes/toys are usually bought used or given to us, so that saves a ton. Cutting down on shopping trips will prevent impulse buys and bringing home things we really don't need. I'd really like to start making more gifts, instead of just buying a gift or gift card, so that will require more planning/thought on my part.

Overall, I think we do pretty good at staying within our budget, but there is definitely room for improvement! I'm hoping all the extra time I'll have starting September will help get me organized and back to being more frugal. Being a working mom means I spend a lot more than I should on convenience items, a habit I'd like to discontinue ASAP.

While I'm thrilled I'll get to be a stay-at-home mom for a little while, I'm a bit nervous about our fiances and if we can make this work. It helps that we have about 3 months worth of an emergency fund and I'll be getting a payout for severance and un-used vacation time, so I'm thinking 6 months of staying home with Oliver is do-able. I've always been a frugal person so as long as I can rein in Derek's spending, I think we'll be ok :)

June update

I really suck at this blogging thing, my apologies! I only think about updating when I'm at work or out & about, never when I'm actually on my computer with some free time. So here's the latest:

Oliver
He's turning 13 months tomorrow and walks around by himself like a champ. He's really good about sitting down if he feels off balance, instead of falling over. He loves to eat and will try anything we put before him. We haven't found anything that he hates yet, knock on wood! He still has rice cereal everyday, but is mostly eating whatever we are and loving it. He is very independent and has no problem playing with his toys by himself for long stretches of time. He is still such a great sleeper and for that we are so grateful! He's usually down by 8pm and wakes up around 8am, unless he has to go to grandma's for the day. We are having so much fun with this little guy :)

Work

I've worked at a local bank for the past 2.5 years and will be losing my job in September. I'm really sad about leaving my co-workers since they have become like family, but I am excited to stay home with Oliver for at least a few months :) I'm also looking forward to getting back into accounting and hopefully making more money than I currently make. I see this as a positive opportunity and am hoping for the best.

Health

I'm still walking on a regular basis (usually 30-40 minutes a day) and am trying to squeeze in some exercise after I get home from work, but it's tough. By the time Oliver's in bed, it's about 8 and I just want to relax a little (aka waste time on Pinterest. haha) and go to bed. So that's definitely something I need to work on. My diet's about the same, but I've been eating more veggies & cooking at home more. I planned our meals ahead of time this week and it really made a big difference. Doing the prep work the night before meant I could just throw everything together when I got home from work and dinner would be done in 20 minutes. I also want to use my crock pot more often, I love that thing!

House

Our tentative goal is to put our house up for sale spring 2015. The housing market hasn't been kind to us and we owe much more than our house is worth right now, so we're going to spruce things up and keep our fingers crossed that we break even in 2 years. I have a huge list of little projects I want to do around the house and am eager to get started on it once my job ends in September. I have no idea what I'm doing, but plan on documenting it to provide some entertainment for my 2 blog readers (lol)

Etc.

There's not much else going on around here. We're just keeping busy with work and Oliver and photography stuff from time to time. I'm looking forward to taking more family walks and trips as the weather gets nicer. We're hoping to add another kid to our family in the very near future, but we'll see if that works out :)

I'll do my best to update a little more often, I just don't have any ideas on what to write about or much time to post. Come September, though, I won't have much of an excuse anymore :)

I'm still here :)

I'm not a good blogger, if you haven't figured that one out yet :) I have good intentions but always forget to update.

I've been busy planning our son's 1st birthday, among other things. I have been regularly exercising and eating healthier stuff, I just haven't been on here bragging about it. lol. I usually walk 3 times a day during my breaks & lunch for about an hour total. It helps that Oregon has been having gorgeous weather lately so it's not such a chore to get my exercise in.

I think I've lost a pound or so, but not much of a difference to post updated photos or stats or anything.

Maybe someday I'll get better at posting more, but at the moment I'm just busy with other things, like this cute little guy :)

Hot pink

I've found my motivation to exercise! How adorable is this bikini?! It will be mine once I'm in shape enough to wear it out in public. haha.

And with that, I'm off to put on my yoga pants and get to work :)

Baby steps

Any guesses on how many times I've worked out since my last blog post; the one where I swore I was going to get in to shape? That would be 1 time and it doesn't even really count since I didn't work up a sweat.

I tend to put so much pressure on myself before I even start that I convince myself that I'm heading for failure. So I never quite get off the ground and end up giving up a few days or weeks later.

I'm the type of person that needs to be pushed, be held accountable, have an attainable goal and action plan. I'm 0 for 4 on those things. I need to get back to basics and start from scratch on this one. Just saying I'm going to get into shape obviously isn't going to work.

So here's the plan: Every Sunday, I will (attempt to) post an entry about how often I worked out and for how long. Once a month, I'll post my newest stats and possibly a photo. I want to start taking walks again on my breaks at work, but with the cold/rainy weather, I don't know how likely I'd be to stick to that plan. So I'll start doing workouts on the xBox kinect for the time being to ease into this.

For every week that I exercise 5 days for 20 minutes or more, I'll take $20 out of the bank to spend on myself, on whatever I want (except for food/snacks). I'll continue to increase the amount of minutes per day once I get a routine set that I can stick with.

I'll be starting this February 1st and will have my 1st update next weekend. Feel free to send me lots of photos of in-shape ladies to prevent me from sitting around eating candy all day. lol. That sounds more likely than me working out, but I'm hoping by starting small that I'll get into a groove and keep going with it.

Post-baby body update

I've been putting this post off for months, but it's time to get motivated and get to work! I'm just about back down to my pre-pregnancy weight, which doesn't mean all that much since things have kinda shifted around. lol. Gaining 35+ pounds and having a baby messes with your body; who knew?! ;)

This is me, May 2011, a few months before getting pregnant.

Stats:
Weight - 113
Chest - 34"
Waist - 25.5"
Hips - 35.5"

This is me now, January 2013, 8 months after having a baby.

Stats:

Weight - 115

Chest - 35.5"

Waist - 27.5"

Hips - 35.5"

I don't look all that much different, but I'm still holding onto extra junk in the middle that is driving me crazy and causing a not-so-awesome muffin top. So my main focus is going to be working on my mid-section in hopes I don't have to buy all new loose-fitting shirts :)

I really don't have a plan of attack this time around. I KNOW what I need to do, it's just hard to get the energy and motivation to do it. Working full-time and being a mom to a very energetic little boy is exhausting. The last thing I want to do when I put Oliver down to bed is work out, but I know it has to be done. I also need to tweak my diet to include a lot more fruits/veggies and a lot less carbs/sugar, but just the thought of all that menu planning/grocery shopping/cooking makes me tired.

Exercising outside is pretty much out of the question since I hate the cold/wet weather and I will just find excuses to not do it. I'm thinking it's time to dust off the old xBox Kinect and at least get moving a little more each day. Once I get a routine going and start eating healthier, I'll check in again in a month or so and see if there's been any progress. Or to fess up if I quit after 2 days and went back to eating donuts. lol.

So there you have it. Embarrassing bikini photos AND a vow to put down the chocolate & get my body moving. How much worse can this day get?! :)

Wish me luck! 

10 before 30 updated

Oh hello blog, I forgot all about you! Working full time and raising a kid really takes every last minute of my day, but I love it.

I really want to get back into updating regularly and expanding my blog, so fingers crossed that I can squeeze in some time throughout the week to work on that :)

So I recently turned 30 and thought I would re-visit my '10 before 30' list to see how I did. These were goals that I felt were achievable before the end of 2012, but I seemed to over-estimate myself & how much time I had (as usual). See list & comments on each below.

1. Volunteer at a homeless shelter.

Sadly, I didn't get around to this one, but I'd really like to in 2013.

2. Save enough money (at least $1,500) to extend my maternity leave 4 weeks. (I'll have 2 weeks of paid vacation and hopefully 2 weeks of paid sick time, but that's it. The longer I can stay home, the better!)

I was able to stay home with Oliver for 8.5 weeks, so this was a success!

3. Photograph 2 weddings.

I didn't photograph any :( Hoping for better luck in 2013.

4. Make one new lifelong friend.

Yup :)

5. Take our dog Maggie for more walks; at least 3 a week. I'm a bad dog mom, I know :(

We kept this one up during maternity leave and in the summer months, but once we went back to work, there just wasn't time :( Plus, I can't push a stroller and walk an energetic dog at the same time. I'm not that talented yet. haha

6. Plan one last weekend trip for my husband & I before the baby comes. Somewhere cheap (but fun) and within driving distance is the goal.

We took a few day trips, so I think that counts :)

7. Trade in our queen for a king size bed.

Still working on this one...

8. Continue with my 365 project, taking a photo every single day until the end of the year.

This was a success! Check out my Flickr gallery to see my year: Project 365 - 2012

9. Take an overnight trip out of town with our baby boy later this year.

We took a weekend trip to the lake when Oliver was a few weeks old. He went on a boat and we watched dad fish. It was a lot of fun, but exhausting with him being so young.

10. Sell my current car and get a 4-door without spending much money.

All the cars I like require us taking out another car loan and I'm not willing to do that right now. So this goal is on the back burner for now.

10 before 30 list

Last May, I posted a '30 before 30' list - a list of 30 goals I wanted to accomplish before my 30th birthday (December 2012). I went back and re-read my goals and they were all pretty unlikely to happen before the end of this year. lol. So I'm paring down to 10 realistic goals/resolutions that I hope to really make happen before December 20th, 2012.

1. Volunteer at a homeless shelter.

2. Save enough money (at least $1,500) to extend my maternity leave 4 weeks. (I'll have 2 weeks of paid vacation and hopefully 2 weeks of paid sick time, but that's it. The longer I can stay home, the better!)

3. Photograph 2 weddings.

4. Make one new lifelong friend.

5. Take our dog Maggie for more walks; at least 3 a week. I'm a bad dog mom, I know :(

6. Plan one last weekend trip for my husband & I before the baby comes. Somewhere cheap (but fun) and within driving distance is the goal.

7. Trade in our queen for a king size bed.

8. Continue with my 365 project, taking a photo every single day until the end of the year.

9. Take an overnight trip out of town with our baby boy later this year.

10. Sell my current car and get a 4-door without spending much money.

We'll see where this year takes us and how close I'll get to reaching these goals :)

Thanks sista!

My sister-in-law Amber mentioned me in her blog entry about getting into shape. Now I feel guilty for being lazy and not following through on the fitness goals I've set for myself. So now that I've been called out, it's time to get back on track and tone up!

I leave for California on August 14th and am determined to work out every. single. day until that date. I worked out last night for the first time in weeks, so that's a start. I figure if I can make it until August 14th, I will be motivated to continue when I come back from vacation.

Since we all need a little visual stimulation, how about a few photos from (you guessed it!) pinterest. If these won't make you get off your lazy ass, I'm not sure what will :)

7/10 body update

Guys, I have failed miserably at this exercising/getting in shape thing. By the time I get home from work, I'm too tired to work out, so I sit around and watch tv or read magazines. I really, REALLY need to start moving even if it's just a little walk around the block. I have been eating healthier though, but it still doesn't make much of a difference since I've always had a decent diet.

Here's my latest stats, compared to when I started in May. Hopefully these next few weeks I can get motivated to work out and start toning up. Fingers crossed, right? :)

• A little over 5'3"
• Weight: 113.5 --> 112
• Chest: 33.5" --> 34.5"
• Waist: 26.5" --> 25.5"
• Between waist & hips: 33.5" --> 32"
• Hips: 35.5" --> 35.5"

6/19 body update

I'm terrible at this blogging stuff, I apologize :) Life has been crazy lately, but then again, it seems to always be like that. I just need to make more time to post updates here.

So let's check in with my measurements from Sunday. It's been 2 1/2 weeks since I last updated them, but I want to compare from the beginning (aka May 22nd).

• A little over 5'3"
• Weight: 113.5 --> 113
• Chest: 33.5" --> 34"
• Waist: 26.5" --> 25.5"
• Between waist & hips: 33.5" --> 32"
• Hips: 35.5" --> 35.5"

Not much of an improvement, but honestly, I haven't been working out as much as I had intended. Still only a few times a week, when I was hoping it would become a daily thing. I have to remind myself that starting small is better than nothing at all. I'm not an athlete in any sense of the word, so thinking I could go all out, every single day from the very beginning was pretty unrealistic.

With the weather finally getting nicer here in Oregon, I'm looking forward to going for more walks with our dog and more long bike rides with my husband. Those activities don't feel like exercise to me, so it's easy to burn calories without even realizing it.

I really will try to update again in the next few days with all that's going on around here, mainly the fact that my older sister is coming to live with us in 2 weeks. That would help explain a lot of the craziness in my life right now :) So much to do, so little time.

Planning for our dream house

My husband & I were talking about the future today and the fact that our 10 year wedding anniversary is coming up in 3 years. I really want to have a big (but casual) vow renewal/anniversary party with all our close friends & family. We got married so young that we really had no clue what we wanted, nor did we have much money to spend. I'd love to have a "re-do" so to speak, but much less formal and much more fun :)

The more I thought about it, the more I'm convinced we should hold off until our 15 year anniversary. Why? That would give our current house time to increase in value and give us a chance to save up for our dream house. Then we could have an amazing party right at our own house. We would love to buy a piece of land and design a house the exact way we want it. We've talked about this for years and only intended to stay in this house for 5 or so years, but our house value tanked and there's no way we can sell anytime soon. So instead we wait and save money and get ideas for our future house.

Enter my newest obsession: Pinterest

Please tell me I'm not the only one that spends hours each week browsing and lusting after the gorgeous ideas/photos/inspiration! I can't get enough of that site and have already gotten some great ideas to incorporate in our future house. Below are some of my favorites that may not be feasible for us, but it's still fun to dream, right? :)

A huge deck is a must!

Love this bold door.

How cute is this front entrance??

I'm digging all the white for this living room.

Or maybe something fun & colorful like this?

Gorgeous dining room.

AMAZING pantry!

Nice & bright (& huge!) kitchen.

I've always wanted a little reading nook. This is adorable!

I want our office to be bold & fun like this one. Perfect for meeting photography clients.

If we ever have kids, I would LOVE to have their book displayed like that.

Cute nursery idea.

ADORE this guest bathroom!!

I kind of like this clean, simple master bedroom. It would need to be bigger though :)

Master bathroom: yes, please!!

Or this one.

Best closet ever, am I right?! :)

Gorgeous loft space.

Lots of space for gardening :) Or...

I freaking wish!!

Now we only need to win the lottery within the next 8 years and we'll be all set ;) It's always good to have lofty goals, isn't it?

6/5 body update

It's been 2 weeks since I posted my measurements & vowed to exercise like crazy in order to tone up and lose some inches. So how did I do the past 2 weeks? Eh. I did exercise a few times each week, but wasn't as consistent as I'd like to be. I haven't worked up the courage to go running yet since I'm dreading the 3 days soreness that is sure to follow. lol.

I'm thinking I might go for some long bike rides instead since they are easier on my knees and are a lot funner (for me) than running. So we'll see. Let's compare measurements, shall we? (5/22 numbers are first, followed by 6/5 numbers)

• A little over 5'3"
• Weight: 113.5 -->113
• Chest: 33.5" --> 34"
• Waist: 26.5" --> 26"
• Between waist & hips: 33.5" --> 32.5"
• Hips: 35.5" --> 35.5"

My main goal was to get that area between my waist & hips down by an inch and I accomplished that! So I'm happy. My goal for the next 2 weeks is get my waist down half an inch and continue working on that dreaded mid-section that I hate so much. I don't have a photo this time, but I'll have one in 2 weeks to compare to the before photo. I'm hoping for a noticeable change, but who knows :)