I LOVE PRESENTS

Merry Christmas!

Our Christmas is about halfway through, and it's been a great day.  We had a nice Christmas breakfast, opened presents, lounged, played with the dog, lounged some more...and that's about where we're at!  We're going to go see Les Mis later this afternoon (which I am extremely excited about!).  Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year, and it's probably because of all the presents.  As a Non-Christian, non-believer, Christmas doesn't hold the same meaning for me (and my little family, as my husband is a non-believer as well).  To me, it's not really about Jesus, it's more about family, food, and just sharing in the moments.  It's about the presents.  But, it's not just that I'm greedy for goodies - don't get it wrong!  The allure of the presents for me is the thought that went into the gift.  I'm not going to lie, I got some great presents today.  The best part about this is that my family members really put thought into what I would like, and took time out of their day to get it for me, wrap it up, and send it across the country (well, Jake just had to wrap it and bring it downstairs).  It makes me feel so special and happy inside to know that not only do they know me so well that they managed to find the perfect gifts, but that even though I'm 3,000 miles away from some of them...I can still sense their presence during this special day.    That feels good.

Merry Christmas everyone!  And a Happy New Year!

Friday Project

Earlier today I went up into '*my' bedroom to watch some television.

*Jake and I each have our own bedrooms in this house, plus our actual bedroom that we sleep in.  A man and woman cave apiece, if you will.

  Anywho, my room actually resembled a cave! There were boxes filled of books, crafting stuff, etc all over the floor!  There was also a lot of loose, unorganized knick knacks and papers and things all over the room.  I started watching tv, and realized I should stop being lazy take this time to actually unpack and put things away.  I started, and finished just a couple of hours later!  It was nice to actually see my things put away and looking orderly.  I also hung up my artwork and put the empty boxes in the closet so it looks super tidy now.  Here's a picture of the finished product!

I tried to semi-organize the books.  Romance novels together, Birth books together, Harry Potter, academic, etc.  It looks really good, I think! I've also got a place for some of my crochet stuff, which is nice.  The two bottom drawers basically are my junk drawers....you need at least one in every room!

Sunday Exhaustion!

Sunday is definitely one of my favorite days of the week!  I love going to Search and Rescue (weather permitting) and all of my favorite shows are on!  This week Search and Rescue was so much fun!  We had our mini holiday party, and Archer got some gifts from one of the decoys :).  He did really well today, and did a blind find (where he doesn't see the decoy running and hiding) and found the decoy really fast!  He's getting even better every week!

The only downside is that I am just so exhausted every Sunday after training!  Once I sit down, I am loathe to get back up again...even going up the stairs is draining!  I also usually put my grocery shopping off until Sunday, so it's such a conundrum!  Even right now I am needing to go shopping, but am just so tired that I don't want to!

Here's a picture of Archer in his working dog vest :)

There are some days... (again)

There are some days where an act of senseless violence shakes you to your core.  The lights on the tree don't help.

There are some days...

There are some days where you spend an hour making dinner, and your husband takes one bite and proclaims: I can't eat this.  The sauce tastes too much like raw tomatoes.

*HEAD WANTS TO EXPLODE*

You hold your tongue, and say: Okay. Don't eat it.

And you look at the lights on the tree and feel a teensy bit better.

It's the Holiday Season!

(and Santa Clause, is comin' down!).

Thanksgiving is past..it was so much fun! My Dad lives close enough that he and his girlfriend were able to drive down and join us for the day.  We feasted!  I made everything from scratch (except the rolls!) and it was by far my best food yet.  My turkey was small this year, and it was so easy to cook!  And, it cooked perfectly!

It had the best color! I called it my 'Magazine Turkey' :). I guess if I had tied everything down then it definitely would have looked like it belonged in a magazine!  I also made gravy for the first time...and even though there was only a little bit (probably the worst part about a small bird) OH MY GOD it was amazing!!  My cooking skills have really increased since I've gotten married.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it is truly the holiday season!  Next weekend we're getting our tree, and I've already been listening to Christmas music.  I love this time of year!  Too bad it isn't cold.  Then it would be perfect.

Voting

I voted!  Luckily, I asked for an absentee ballot early in the game (and subsequently, sent it in way early) so it got in!  My state went Red...but the nation went Blue :).  I'm happy that Obama won (big ol' liberal over here!) but I do hope that we can FINALLY work together and not be gridlocked.  It won't be easy, but hopefully our Government officials can actually put the country first, instead of petty agendas. YAY OBAMA!

I hate coming up with blog post titles.

It's November!  I can finally start listening to Christmas music....YAY! I don't know what it is, but every year I am getting in the holiday spirit earlier and earlier...this year is no exception!  It's such a bummer that we don't get winter here, but apparently last year they did get snowflakes on Christmas, which would be great!  Even though we won't be headed back to the East Coast, I'm looking forward to the holidays.  I'm determined to make it the most spirit filled Christmas I can!  I'm talking holiday baking, holiday movies, lights, a big old tree (to go with our high ceilings) and I'm going to send out another Christmas card!  We're actually going to get some pictures taken close to the end of November, and I'm going to use those for our Christmas cards!  I did not grow up with people getting professional pictures taken, but it's a big part of the culture here!  There's many talented photographers, and I thought that it might be nice to have a family picture of us (Jake, me, and Archer) that someone else actually took. and edited. and made pretty.  Someone was offering a mini-session, just 20 minutes, so I said sure! I'm excited. Jake's not. Hah! Party pooper.

I'm also very excited about Thanksgiving, because my Dad and his girlfriend are coming to eat with us!  Every time I've made something for my Dad, something goes wrong...and I swear I'm a good cook; I am! So I'm determined to finally properly show off my cooking skills. This is actually the third Thanksgiving meal that I'll have cooked, and the last two were pretty delicious! It's nice that family will actually be here to celebrate with us.  I was not looking forward to Thanksgiving with just the two of us...I'm a big fan of huge Thanksgiving dinners!  Last year we had 10 people, we barely had seats enough for everyone!  It was so exciting.  This year we'll have 4 people, which is exactly the number of chairs that I have...so it must be perfect!

This Time of Year

I love this time of year!! Fall is hands down the best season of them all...unfortunately we don't live in a place that has seasons!! It's the worst! Bladdy Blah, there could be worse places to live and we live in one of the most beautiful places in the country - WHATEVER! It's been a year and a half of no real seasons! What is this nonsense? I still like this area, but I'm getting more and more ready to just get out of here!  Luckily, everything pumpkin still tastes good, and all my favorite tv shows are back on.  Silver lining!

Tomorrow is Halloween and since we actually live in a house I'm hoping that we get Trick-or-Treaters this year!  We've got good candy - Sour Patch Zombie Kids, mini Snickers, M & Ms, Twix, and mini Reese's! No eggs on our house ;).  Can't wait to see some cute costumes!  I wanted to get Archer a costume, but I think I'll put him out back so he's not barking when kids ring our door, and scaring them away!  I'm planning on doing a Harry Potter marathon...excited!!

Sometimes

Sometimes I laugh when I think about how a year ago I was contemplating having a baby.  Or, that we would have a baby after we moved to the next duty station.  WHAT WAS I THINKING?  LOL!  We are so not ready to be having a baby, and I am definitely not ready to give up even more of my freedom.  Some days I still get baby fever..usually after someone I know announces their pregnancy.  I get ideas of a little Jacob/Robin hybrid...and then I come to my senses!  No sleep, lots of crying, even less money.  I still want kids so badly, but man! right now is not the time.  Teehee! Hormones sure can be crazy!

Birth Number Two!

My second client had her baby!  Out of respect for her privacy, I won't post many details...but I will say that it was my first vaginal delivery, and it was amazing!  I'm still really really new to this, so I needed some help when it started to get really intense.  Luckily I have an amazing mentor who was able to come in for a couple of hours, and really give me some hands on guidance.  I feel so much more confident now that I've seen her work and been able to emulate the things that she does.  You can read all day long about things to do, but actually watching someone do them in person is so much more instructive.  I'm not a religious gal, but birth is so incredibly miraculous!  Seeing it in person is just incredible!  I'm really glad that I was finally able to see a vaginal delivery, and it was so amazing and beautiful!  I'm excited about my next birth!

Heh.

So yesterday I went on and on about how wonderful Archer is now.  This morning I woke up and it looked like a hurricane had happened in my living room because SOMEONE decided to tear up 2 paper towel rolls and SOMEONE decided to steal a bag of craisins too.  BAD BAD DOG!  :)

Search and Rescue

Let me start off this post by saying that while we love Archer dearly, I don't think that either of us realized what we were getting into when we brought him home!  'I love dogs' turned into 'my friend has a friend who's had GSD puppies - can we just go look' turned into 'OMGWENEEDTHISDOG'.  I've always loved German Shepherds, they are truly amazing animals...but holy hell is Archer high maintenance.  Anybody who is thinking about getting a working class dog should really really think about whether they actually want the responsibility of making sure that dog is mentally stimulated (which I've found is much more difficult to do than just tiring a dog out every day).  That being said, having Archer has been kind of a 'blessing in disguise' even though I really hate that saying! *Now, imagine me saying this in a Julia Child voice* He has turned into something for me to DO!  I've had a lot of time since I have not been working that much...and I have really put a lot of time and energy into training him.   Okay, now that that's out of the way, let's talk about Search and Rescue!

Part of Archer being a working dog is that he has an incredibly high DRIVE.  He needs something to do, or else he is just a freaking nightmare!  Part of the problem that we were having was that he really needed a job, but we just didn't know that!  I'm not sure what gave me the idea that we should look into SAR, but once I did, I was glad!  The group that we're part of directed me to a new obedience trainer (she's the president of SAR group, but also has an obedience school) and that change has been AMAZING! This new obedience school has made him an entirely new dog!  Basically all of the problems we've been having are now gone!  Wednesday nights we have obedience and Sunday mornings we do SAR.  We are in the early stages of training, so it's all about teaching Archer 'the game'.  Archer having that insane drive has been instrumental in teaching him the find game, because he wants to do it, and he wants to please me!  Sometimes they have to actually try and teach the dog to have a higher drive, but Archer's already got it, which I've been told will make training him to do this easier!  What happens is, someone goes and hides (not very far away) behind a tree or bush or something.  While that person is hiding, you're saying 'oh, where are they going, are you going to find them?' over and over to get them excited about wanting to follow that individual.  Then, you point them in the right direction and say GO FIND, and they run off to go find that person!  Once they do find them (usually they're a straight shot away) there's lots of praise and treats so they know they just did what you wanted.  It's so fun, and Archer just has the best time ever on Sundays!  Plus, because of all the mental stimulation, he's usually exhausted when we get home :).  One of the trainers even said that she thought he must have been made for it!  It's been so interesting and really a lot of fun.

On Sunday we were voted in to the group (but we won't be official members who pay dues until after our 3 month probation period is over).  But, we're in!  It's pretty exciting!

*I think if we had kids, Archer wouldn't need a job as much as he does now...because watching over the children would be his job!  Lots of GSD's are 'nanny' dogs and take it upon themselves to make sure that no harm befalls 'their' kids!  Isn't that just so cute?  Since we're currently childless, we've been able to find another outlet :)

And, here's your cute cute picture for the day!

He's getting pretty big, right?  We went and hung out at the local non-mall as part of his training.  He needs to learn how to be okay at other places!  He got compliments, pets, dog treats, and more compliments...good day for him!

Mary Kay

I have my own Mary Kay website! SO COOL!  Not sure if anybody actually reads this blog, but if you do, check it out!

Robin's Mary Kay website

Holy Crap, it's been a while!

So, I'm almost positive that the only people who view this blog are my family members...which is kind of understanding because as far as a blog goes, it's not that exciting, entertaining, or funny!  More like...a way to keep in touch with relatives who I'm not facebook friends with. Anywho, here's a brief update of all the things on my plate!

1. I definitely stopped doing the Beachbody stuff.  The workouts (while fun) were hurting my knees, and the dog stopped getting walked.  However, since I have stopped doing the workouts, the dog gets walked most every day....so my weight loss has continued!  The last I checked, I had lost 9 pounds, and I still have about 10 to go.  My goal weight is roughly 125...but there's always so much fluctuation throughout the month that I understand I won't weigh 125 every single day.

2. Archer and I started going to Search and Rescue Training!  I'll do another post soon about how cool Search and Rescue is and what a great fit it is for him...along with some updated pictures!  He's getting really, really big.  Basically, just know that now he's a working dog not only in title.

3. I GOT AN IPHONE.  It's totally awesome, and I take about 100 pictures a day of all of the animals, because it's just so dang convenient.

4. I got another Doula Client :).  She is due this upcoming Friday...!

5.  As of January, I will officially be in school again.  There are programs to help military spouses finish Associate's degrees, so I will be getting an Associates of Science in Small Business Management.  I want to learn more about how I should run my Doula Business.  I'm pretty excited to get started!

6. Since I ditched Team Beachbody, I wanted to come up with another way to make a little extra money.  SO...I turned to some products that I use daily!  I love everything they make, so it sort of seemed like a natural jump for me.  As of last Saturday, I'm now a Mary Kay consultant!  It really seems like a better fit for me.  Let's face it...I'm not a workout junkie.  I'm soft, not toned...and I'm fairly curvy.  But, I do love makeup, and I love their skin care.  And, I've already had more success doing it.  So, YAY!

Back to the soft, not toned thing.  It's pretty neat - since I started working out more often and trying to lose weight, I started really looking at other women's bodies.  I'd look and think, do I really want to look like that?  The ideal that I had in my head of what I wanted to look like - when I really thought about it, I realized it wasn't what I wanted to look like at all!  Yes, I want to lose about 10 pounds.  But, I like the frame that I've got.  I like being curvy, and soft.  It makes me feel like a woman.  If I had the body that I thought that I wanted...I wouldn't be happy with it!  Being too skinny just doesn't seem sexy to me.  So, I had a dose of reality, and it really gave my self confidence a boost.  I still have my fat days, and my I need to love weight moments...but they're not really what I worry about all the time.  It feels nice to feel more comfortable in my skin.

7. My best friend is moving away.  Their time here has come to an end, and while I'm so happy for her and her family, I'm sad for me!  I'm starting to make an effort to make new friends.  Has anybody else noticed how after you grow up, it's like a million times harder to make new friends and connect with people?! I mean, as a little kid, you just sort of click and instantly become friends, but that's only happened with like, 3 people since I've gotten out here! And now they're all gone! Frack.

Here's a cute photo :

....okay.  That was 3 cute photos!

On A Roll

So...we were supposed to be leaving the area sometime in October, but that has now changed.  Jake got what's called 'rolled'.  It means that they're giving him an opportunity to go back in the program, and get a better foundation in his language.  It's actually a really good thing for his school, and his old classmates told him that they were jealous that he was getting to do it.  It's not that he failed.  He's getting an opportunity to succeed more.  You actually have to have a high enough GPA to make them think that it's worth it, but a low enough GPA where they're worried that you might not pass the DLPT on the first try.  So, now he's basically guaranteed to pass the DLPT on the first try, and with a much higher score (which means more mula monthly).  We will now be in the area until sometime next July.  They didn't need to send him back that far, but unfortunately I guess it was the only class that could take him...so we'll be here for quite a bit longer!

The good news (besides what I was saying about passing the DLPT) is that we're already moved into our new big house, so we won't be stuck in that tiny apartment for an extra 9 months!  The bad news is that I'll have to try and make new friends, because all of ours will be moving away pretty soon!  Also, we won't be making it back to the East Coast this year...we'll have to wait!  I myself will be making a trip back to NC in April, but since Jake will have class he won't accompany me.  Anyways, that's the big news in our life for now.  Ta Ta Folks!

Brazil Butt Lift

So, I started my Brazil Butt Lift program 11 days ago...and I've followed it for 11 days!  I'm really proud of myself for sticking with it.  It's very challenging, but rewarding!  I already feel different, and I swear you can start to see changes!  My butt is getting my toned, and there's more definition in my tummy/legs!  It's also working on building up my upper body strength too, which was sorely lacking!  I know that if I stick with this, things will definitely change!  For the first 2 days, I couldn't even move!!  Now, I get sore, and my muscles are absolutely tired, but I can make it up the stairs without crying out in pain :).

What keeps me going is my vision of my ideal body.  I want it so bad!  I'm less concerned about eating meals out of the fat burning foods book that's included, and more concerned with the actual fitness aspect.  Once I started, I realized it was about so much more than just losing weight.  I want to be a healthier individual all around!  More veggies, more fruits, less snacks and fatty meats!  That's my new meal plan :).  Once I'm done with 30 days, I'll post a day 1 photo and a day 30 photo to look at the comparison...and then a day 60, 90, etc!

Finished Blanket!

I finished my goddaughter's blanket!  It took me months, but now it's done.  *And to think I agreed to make another one...I am literally insane.  Hindsight is 20/20, I'll have to crochet until my fingers bleed to finish this one in time!  Oy Vey*

Just a little thing, just a tiny thing: CAN YOU BELIEVE I ACTUALLY MADE THIS?  AmIRight?

Update

Wow, it's been a while!  Things have been pretty crazy in the past month.  We moved onto base housing in the beginning of June, and it's been a bit of an adjustment.  We're about 20 minutes further away from base than we used to be...but we have a house now!  Our house is humongous...I'm going to say probably 2.5 times as big as our apartment was!  Oh my gosh, it's amazing what having space can do for your relationship!  We are not nearly as snarky to each other, and we've hardly fought at all since moving in.  We were so on top of each other in our apartment, and now whenever there's any irritation, it's easy to just go into a separate room and just cool off!  Here's a picture of our house:

Also, Archer is really big now, or so I hear.  He always looks small to me!  We got him neutered a few weeks ago, and those were a hard couple of weeks!  Try having a 70 pound cooped up baby.  He acts just like a toddler...but he's a lot bigger.  I'm really glad that we can go back to walking every day and playing at the dog park.  He's much better behaved when he's tired.  He really enjoys the house.  We have almost no furniture, so there's lots of empty space for him to run around in.

It's July here, and while the weather should be hot and sunny...it's not.  It has been cold, foggy, and dreary ever since the beginning of July.  I would figuratively kill someone for a week of gorgeous hot, sunny weather!

I had my first birth, as a doula!  It was really really amazing, but in some ways I feel like I'm still recovering.  My sleep schedule is still off, from being up for 30 some straight hours, but mainly it was just such an experience to watch someone labor, and I feel like it was a little life changing?  I didn't actually get to see her deliver, because she needed a c-section last minute, but we got all the way dilated together.  It was definitely an experience.

Also, I am working on a new business venture!  I am now a coach and a member of Team Beachbody! It got started because I was interested in one of the fitness programs, and my fabulous coach Lisa let me know that because we're military, I can be a coach for free.  SO that's how that got started.  I've gotten the Brazil Butt Lift program (there's an awesome trial during the month of July to try it for 14.95 for 30 days, if you get the results you were looking for, you buy the program, if not, you send it back!).  I'm starting a challenge on August 1st, and I'm trying to get 5 other people to do it with me...so if anybody actually reads this blog and knows someone who would like to get healthy and lose weight, send them my way! my website for beachbody is this: Robin's Beachbody Website!

I want to take my blog in a little bit of a different direction...like an actual blog about my thoughts and such, instead of just life updates.

Yay!

I lost 5 pounds! I still need to lose a lot more, but I feel a lot more comfortable with the idea of hanging out at the pool in Vegas now!  woohoo!

I'm starting a program called Brazil Butt Lift in about 2 weeks...very excited about that!  It's a 90 day challenge so I should look pretty good when I head home in August to go to the beach!

Archer

He's such a goofball! Puppies are the biggest pains in the world, but also such a joy!  I have a love/hate relationship with him...I love him all the time but I hate how he wants to chew on everything (including me!).

He's gained almost 10 pounds since we've had him!  And everyday I wake up, and he looks taller!

Doula Workshop

This post is a long time coming!  It will probably be brief, because a lot of what I experienced doesn't feel like it can be explained (as far as emotionally)!

It was a long drive up to Nevada City, and when I finally arrived at the host house I was staying at, it was dark (and rainy!).  Also, it was in the middle of the woods, so I felt a little creeped out when I first arrived, but the people who I stayed with were so nice!  I basically just tried to settle down that night (Thursday), because I had absolutely no idea of what to expect from the weekend!  Friday morning came early, but I got out of bed fairly quickly because of my nerves!  The space where the workshop was was only about 5 minutes away.  The first couple of hours that morning was all introductions!  We ran really long, doing what Janine (the instructor) called "emptying our baskets."The first day was all Introduction To Childbirth, and there was a binder which we went through, and we watched videos, etc. etc.  The main thing that I took away from that day was that as women, our bodies are meant to do this!  Intervention is mostly unnecessary, and there are a lot of really awful side effects that can come along with said interventions.  So we mainly just talked about and looked at what a normal, natural birth is and what it looks like.  I left feeling like I learned a lot, and just basically feeling in awe about the miracle that is childbirth, and excited about learning some actual Doula skills!

Day 2 (Saturday) was the first day of Doula Training.  It's really hard to describe...there was another binder (much bigger!) and we went through certain parts of it throughout the day.  We watched a TON of videos, and we picked apart what could have been done better and what could have made the birth better.  Seriously, the biggest problem with birth in America (besides the insurance companies having doctors hands tied behind their backs, basically forcing them to do unnecessary interventions) is that women go to the hospital WAY too early!  Then they lay in bed, flipping the baby around, closing up the cervix, and prolonging labor and making it more painful!  Then, labor slows, so they get Pitocin.  Once they get Pitocin, labor becomes so painful that they need an epidural, which slows labor again! Or, vice versa, labor is already too painful, so they get an epidural, which slows labor and then they need Pitocin.  That is now the "normal" birth.  It's horrible!  I left that day with my head crammed full of information that I desperately wanted to remember, so I could share it with all the pregnant women I know!

Day 3 (Sunday) was a very loooong day.  We had been sitting on the ground (on pillows, but still) and my butt was hurting, my back was hurting, and I was having trouble still focusing.  Each day was like 8 hours long and it is really really hard to concentrate on the same thing for THAT LONG!  (I got a lot more empathy for what Jake has to do in school!)  Sunday we started talking about the things that go wrong in birth, and going into what each intervention actually is.  I saw a video of a c-section...it was gross looking!  I hate seeing surgeons cut into skin...eeesh!  We also had a breastfeeding consultant come and talk to us for a couple of hours.  Breast feeding is SO SO SO SO SO important and I really hate how formula is pushed onto new moms!  Most women stop breastfeeding in America at 6 weeks!  They need to keep breastfeeding for at least a year! It was a long last day, but at the end I kind of wished that we could keep going.

Unfortunately that night I got very very sick and I think that's why I avoided writing this!  My weekend was marred by that, and so it's hard for me to think about.  Overall, the weekend really made me in awe of what women's bodies can accomplish!  I just felt so inspired!  I really want to be able to help women in this special special time of their lives.  No one forgets their birth experience...it's something that really stays with women throughout their entire lives.  It's important to make it the best experience possible.

Baby Blanket: update!

I'm a 1/3 of the way done!  There will be 12 rows total, and I am currently on row 5. Here's the most recent picture I took!  (this is just the first 4 rows)

I am sad that I can't finish this blanket faster...I just get so tired after about 3 flowers!

New Family Member!

This is our adorable puppy Archer! We got him a few days ago, and he's a really good boy! He's picking up the crate training and potty training really quickly, and already knows a few commands! He's mastered sit, come, and he's pretty good at stay.  He's also learning down and shake, and I'm trying to teach him to army crawl! He also fetches, and doesn't bark when people come to the door!  That is NICE.  The cats are taking it okay, surprisingly, Lily better than Twinkie.  He just wants to play with them, which of course they do not understand.  But, they are doing better than when he first arrived, so they'll all be friends soon.  I'm glad that they haven't decided that the best way to get back at us is to pee on things!  Here's a pic of our new boy

Baby Blanket

I know that I haven't posted anything in a long while, but I suddenly got the urge to update my blog!  I know that I really need to post about my doula workshop weekend, but I need to devote more time into it because it's going to be a long post!

So, about this blanket!  I love to crochet, but I've only ever made scarves, so I was pretty scared to bridge the gap to something else!  But, no one ever gets better by doing the same exact thing, so when I came across this on pinterest, I could not resist!  here's the original link:

ADORABLE BABY BLANKET

I have struggled with this pattern in several different ways...it is much more intricate than a straight line back and forth!  The more flowers that I make, the better I get!  However, there was some real trouble with these damned 4 petal flowers on the ends of the even rows...made me want to rip my hair out!  I figured it out, and got better! Yay!  Here's my progress so far:

Birth Doula Training Workshop

Well, it's here! I'm leaving today to go to my Doula Workshop!  It's 4.5 hours away, and I'm not really excited about that.  I'm staying in someone's house...it's much cheaper than a hotel.  Friday's workshop will be 8 hours, and Saturday and Sunday's will be 9 hours apiece.  I'm a little nervous about trying to find my way to a city I've never been to, by myself.  I'm sure it will be an adventure.  I know I don't sound too enthused...I guess I'm just nervous?  I've been looking forward to this for months and now that it's here I feel a little apprehensive.  I brought several books and movies to keep myself entertained when I'm at the house, because I'm going to try my best to spend hardly any money!  This weekend is costing A LOT. I hope it pays off.

Dining Table

Here's a picture of our dining set! I got the placemats at IKEA, and this was our dinner from a few weeks ago...meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and asparagus? Either asparagus or green beans.  I got a cheap tablecloth from Target and I LOVE it! Not pictured here...don't have one yet!

birthday cheesecake

here's a picture of the cake I made for Jake's birthday...it was amazing!

GRR

So I've put on another 2 pounds since I've been working out.  I know that people say when you first start you tend to gain a little bit, and I get it, but maaaaan. I'm officially the heaviest I've ever been and that doesn't feel great.  Although, other than the weight thing I'm the healthiest I think I've ever been.  I've been eating vegetables regularly and going to the gym at least twice a week.  So if I don't step on the scale I feel good. It's really discouraging, but I'm going to try and keep up with my routine.  Decided that yoga really isn't working for me, because I hate it.  I'm going to try PiYo next and see if I like that better.

Jake's birthday was over the weekend and he got really drunk.  It was funny...until I had to take care of him all night.

Update on Resolutions

We're only 24 days into the New Year and already it's been going swimmingly.  I've kept up with my resolutions remarkably well, I think.  As you (the invisible reader - who I'm almost convinced doesn't exist!) might remember, one of my biggest resolutions was to lead a more active lifestyle.  I had said that the first week was to get my routine back, and after that I was hitting the gym!  My first week I went to Yoga on Monday night.  WOW!  That is a full body workout if there ever was one!  All of my body hurt for days afterwards!  I don't really enjoy it that much, but I know that it must be working, because I can truly feel how much strength my muscles lack!  The next day I went to Zumba - excellent cardio and a BLAST!  I was excited to go on Thursday (they only offer Zumba on Tuesdays and Thursdays) but when I got to the gym, they had cancelled the class for that day! So I only worked out twice the first week.  The next week I was planning on going to Monday night Yoga, only to realize that the gym is closed on federal holidays, and Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day! But I did go to Zumba Tues-Thurs that week and had an amazing time.  That brings us up to this week!  I went to Yoga last night (kind of hated it, but I need it), Zumba today, and I fully intend to go to Zumba on Thursday!  I am such a creature of habit, so I have made up my mind to have Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays be my workout days.  To a lot of people this may not seem like such a big deal, but I have been so stationery for so long that to go to the gym *gasp* 3 times a week!  Since I've started working out I've put on a pound or two, but I hear that is normal?  Your body sort of fights back at first...but I don't doubt that soon I will start to lose this stupid thyroid weight!  And then I can look like an older, pre-thyroid issue Robin! Okay, that was a lot of prattling about exercise.  Other news in my life:

I have started eating vegetables...and enjoying them. Crazy how your taste buds change!  I've been cooking dinner again...and cleaning up the dishes afterwards!  I quit my job.  I really hated it...not so much the work exactly, but I didn't feel like it was the right fit for me.  It created a lot of anxiety and I feel such a sense of relief to be done of it.  Not to worry though, I won't be lounging around the house for long! I am in the process of getting certified to be a birth Doula, you can be sure to hear of my progress as I move forward.  In other exciting news...I finally finally finally got a table! A dining table, with 4 chairs! It was fate, really.  Here's what happened:

One morning last week I went into our second bedroom (aka the JUNK room) and could barely open the closet because of all the crap we'd shoved in there!  I thought to myself "this is madness! not in my house!" So I proceeded to take EVERYTHING out, organize, throw things away, reorganize, etc.  At this point I took a look at a freecycle page where military sells to other military.  Someone was selling this small dining set for 60 dollars, and could deliver!  I asked Jake about it at lunch and he said go for it!  So then I started to take on the much much bigger task of cleaning out the entire room! I rearranged furniture, and took apart the desk all by myself!  I moved the table in further, put all the chairs around it...and voila! On Saturday I went on an IKEA trip (I managed to only spend 100 dollars...a feat in IKEA).  I got lots of organizing things, a standing lamp for the new dining room (we have no overhead lighting in our apartment), super cute placemats for the table, and some curtains for the room as well.  I am trying to make it as lovely a little room as possible...to entertain, to do my crafting in, and just to be able to eat dinner with my husband! It's not finished yet, there are certainly some things that need to be adjusted, but we've eaten dinner in here twice already and I LOVE it!

I am sitting in my new room at the table right now.  I just rolled some yarn into a ball for a project coming up, and am now typing this post!  I still love the placemats and especially the lamp from IKEA.  Here's a picture:

It's shade is made from paper, and I think it's absolutely lovely.

The cats are both laying in here keeping me company...I think that it's funny how your animals follow you from room to room.

Sorry that this post has been so long!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I myself have never been much of a New Years fan.  It always seems like a let down, and I never really get into the New Year resolution spirit.  HOWEVER this year was fantastic!  We went out with our best friends to this Japanese steakhouse where they cook the food in front of you..so much fun!  Then we went to our friend's house and played kinect games and apples to apples until about 3 in the morning! Also, this is the first year that I have actually made a resolution that I plan to stick to.  My goal for 2012 is to be a healthier, more productive person.  I would like my house to stay cleaner, I would like to lose 20 pounds by the end of the year, and I'd like to eat more vegetables!  I made myself a handy little star chart (we actually bought it several months ago, just stopped going through with it) - it has things like wake up before 9, eat 2 servings of fruit, vegetables, laundry, cook dinner, tidy up, etc! Also, I have my eye on this food processor (it's fantastic, even has a setting for pie dough!) - it costs about 180 dollars.  20 stars equals 10 dollars (I get a star for each task)..and I figure that I'll probably average about 20 stars a week. So, in about 18 weeks I should have earned my food processor :).  Next week I'll be starting my zumba/yoga routine during the day.  I'm pretty excited about what this year has to offer!  In about 2 weeks I'll be doing my doula workshop, and I've been doing my reading for that as well!  I'll be getting certified this year, and it is going to be great!  Sorry that this post has been kind of scattered, it's been a while!