Wait loss.

Every year around new years at my gym, which is pretty much only 3 now, i dread the slew of people who flood the machines in hopes of finally losing those stubborn pounds they've had since... Well, last new years. It sounds awful, because it is. I feel bad when people have awesome goals they had the nerve to work towards, then a few weeks later, I never see them again. About a month later the gym is back to empty, and I gladly and sadly have my machines back at my disposal.

Now, let's set the records straight here. I haven't been "skinny" since I was 21. I've been "normal" and "average" but not skinny. It's not that big of a deal to me, because I spent most of my life underweight, getting in trouble at work for not dressing professionally because it was my fault they don't make women's business clothes in something lower than size 0. It was such a frustrating time in my life, and I welcomed the 20 pounds I amassed when I moved into a home with a gentleman who cooked bomb home cooked meals. Who would have thought fast food kept me skinny and home cooked got me fat? Well, whatever the case, I gained weight. 20 lbs sounds like a lot, but I went from 89 to 109. I decided to try to lose some fat and tone down in december of 08.

I kept eating until I was full, drinking soda, and chomping on junk all day long. I worked out, I had definition and strength, but I also had fat on top of it. Here's the kicker: I work at a health lab. I got my results, and they still didn't scare me into changing completely, though it was a start. The kicker was winning that xbox kinect. And seeing my fat rolls on the infrared looking picture dancing/laughing back at me. Really, that's all it took.

I cut out soda, chocolate, bread, most cheese some dairy, and stuck to a strict vegetable, fruit, nut and tuna diet. On the first day I lost 3 pounds. Over the next two weeks, I was down 10. I eventually plateaued, and have held steady since. I know this isn't what I normally post about, but I feel so much healthier now, and I've been more active as a result. Which does pertain to the blog, because thats what i've spent all my time working on! I decided to take a break to meet my goal. Which wasn't an actual pound goal, but a feel better goal.

I don't own scales, so I made a deal with myself that I had to go to the gym in order to weigh myself, and it actually worked! In order to see my progress, I have to go make more. I'm happy to report after all that hard work, I got updated test results. I went from mostly yellows and reds in my cholesterol and particle areas to all green! My doctors and specialists at work were so impressed, which was the cherry on top. Well, mostly. The comments I get from people who noticed how good I look after just a month are the best. I haven't been as perfect sticking to it as I was at the beginning, but it's still steady. Right now I'm actually home sick, which sucks major, but I'm trying to stay good even though all I want is warm comfort food.

Maybe one day I'll get the nerve to post the difference in how I look. The highest I got was 120, which wasn't that bad. But it was still a huge difference from the 110 I am now. But hey, it's Thursday, thriftiness should be ensuing... So guess what? Eating healthier is way cheaper than not! It only costs about $125 a month to eat natural foods! No high fructose corn syrup, only slightly processed, or not at all, healthy goodness. I just wish I could encourage more people to follow suit. I used to think it was deprivation to eat only healthy. Now I know I was depriving myself by not eating healthy. Here is what my lunch looks like now:



It's so simple.



Lettuce, 1 strawberry, mandarin oranges, black olives, fat free raspberry vinaigrette, and a dash of those planters nut-trition things with dried cranberries, walnuts and dark chocolate covered peanuts. It took 5 minutes to prepare, and cost about a buck to make. I just rotate ingredients around in each salad. Sometimes I dump more fruit, sometimes I keep it simple with just oranges and walnuts. Rarely, I keep it all veggies. I'm just a big fruity person.

So i hope you feel encouraged to try a healthier lifestyle. Maybe I'll post more about it to show what else I learn to live simpler and healthier :) it won't happen overnight, but it's a fun journey.

My air is being centered.

Big things are happening guys. Namely, we've spent the last couple weeks getting quotes and debating on getting central air. Can you believe we have lived in this house almost 4 years with nothing more than ONE window ac unit and ONE floor furnace? Yeah, us either. So yesterday we hired a company through home depot, and they got started installing central air.

See, like many in this market, we lost value. We've always been undervalued because we didn't have central air, but not enough to devalue us the cost to actually install it. It may sound silly, but we only need it about 4 to 5 months out of the year. It's only 800 sf, so it stays a pretty stable temperature most of the year. Except winter, when it's 16 degrees out at night, and amerigas decides to be cute and NOT SHOW UP, leaving us without propane, thus no heat, or hot water. Yes, it is 2011, and there have been days we didn't have heat. It took days of Hussy calling them to get them to come, and when they finally did, they left cute notes on our empty tank to "next time, please call when it's at 20%." except we did, but it was actually at 60% when we called for them to come. Real cute.

So we had enough embarrassment, namely from rumor of us not having heat getting all the way up to my CEO, who offered the company sofas instead of sleeping in our cold house. It was time to suck it up and install central air. Conveniently, at the very moment we made that call, the value of our house went from $160,000 to $100,000. I get it, it's a sucky market. That's fine, but to be honest, I can't understand why the values fell from foreclosures in our neighborhood! We had several that foreclosed at 80000. If you can't afford $500 in a city where rent isn't even that cheap, where else is there to go? I felt bad for them, then I felt bad for me. Needless to say, we got lucky. Lucky because it encouraged us to keep the cheap mortgage and not buy a more expensive home in the country, yet. But when we do, rental homes in our neighborhood are going for $1,000 a month. We would make more money off rent than we would selling!

Plus, we have a fully updated inside and out house, with central air. Next to the rental house beside us, we look hot! But the best part about all of this is that having central air vents actually makes it feel more like a home. Is that weird? Maybe because it feels current and not straight out of the 50s. We actually don't want to move now. It was more of a blessing in disguise. So all those honest thoughts I just shared with you seem completely irrelevant. Our value will stabilize eventually, we'll be able to rent if we need to, but were finally content.

And just look at these beautiful vents!




Though, none of this will make us truly happy until amerigas removes the tank off our property. We have never had such poor customer service from ANY company before. Luckily weather crafters has been one of the best experiences we've had so far!

What Is It With Cats

And fresh laundry?

So much for that wrinkle-free dryer cycle.

Also, Happy Birthday Justin

Yeah, I had that poster several times on my Justin Timberlake wallpapered bedroom. It was worth waking up to each morning. Thanks Bop, Teen Beat, and Tiger beat for capitalizing on my allowance.

Hidden Treasure.

Last month I uncovered the update I had hidden from cyberspace since AUGUST.

I went from making do, then updating in the heat of the moment to something summery, light and airy that really wasn’t my style, to something that makes me super happy. I even loved the carpet, only because I love carpet. I like being able to walk around and be on something cushy and warm with or without socks. However, it was last updated when I was probably on the cusp of blossoming into a teenager. I’ve wanted to uncover what was underneath for ages, just for the sake of having a consistent flooring throughout our tiny 864sf house.

So I did. Last weekend. And it was glorious because OMG you guys it’s beautiful ORIGINAL 1951 HARDWOOD FLOORS. Which I full intend on having refinished to match the gorgeous laminate shade we put in the kitchen.

Hussy wasn’t too thrilled about me taking it up before we planned on refinishing it, because lets be honest. My intention of having a house with seamless flooring colors to make it more cohesive was only one half step closer to reality. Now instead of 5 different flooring colors and types, it’s just 4. Our bathroom laminate is purposely matched to our bedroom carpet, so once we refinish the hardwoods, it should LOOK like 2 different types.

Of course, my haunted house was upset I was tearing it up, apparently. I cut 2 of my fingers at the exact same square inch of carpet 5 times. 3 of the cuts were just on my fore finger.

But I persevered because the floors were looking oh-so-amazing, until I found this. 

No renovation in this house has been complete without uncovering tape so old and rotten I physically cannot get it up. I’ve been blessed with duct taped plumbing, taped up crumbling drywall, and even legit carpet tile tape. But why this tape was on here, I’ll never know. Maybe I don’t WANT to know. So I tried covering it up for the time being. With a cat.

J/K Y’ALL. But I did find these stupid staples not just on the edges of the room (which is my ultimate faveeeee thing to pull up 300 times!) but also through the center of the room. Ugh. I did find a quick and somewhat painless way of removing them that sped the job up.

And just as I was moving furniture back in place to move the old living room rug in here, my favorite 21 pounder Cooper decided to grab a front row seat. Or he was just waiting for me to feed him with the dinner that’s inside that chest.

Which leads us to what it looks like as of this weekend:

The space is more defined, and cleaning up the cat food that goes everywhere is a breeze. Plus, this room is our main walkway to the hall/bedrooms, so that’s way less filthy. I’ll be glad when winter is over and we can go back to the original sheer curtains I had for the room, and I can find some shelves for the blank wall on the left. But that was definitely 3 hours well spent!

I’m Such a Show Off!

At least, on The DIY Show Off!

 

So if you’ve stumbled upon my blog from there, welcome :) My husband and I spent about 3 months and $3,000 renovating our kitchen with our own bare hands, and I’m so proud that it took so little to make such a huge impact. In fact, I was so excited to post the grand reveal, that I completely forgot to show a single shot of my DIY curtains… which are really just Target napkins sewn together.

(HEY YOU: the green/blue version of these napkins are on clearance RIGHT NOW for next to NOTHING in price. The pattern is gorgeous, so go check them out before they’re gone!!)

 

I posted some of these pictures already back in the summer, but I think those big red puff balls, red microwave, yellow and orange hand towels and pink mixer make a little more sense when you can see the one thing in the room that pulls them together.

 

And although I left the obvious seams, I pretend it’s just character. ((Really, it’s laziness. Shhhhhh.))

So I hope all you new followers/readers/visitors will come back and join me some more. I’m so pumped to be featured (Thanks Roeshel! I love your site!) and even more excited to get to know more fellow bloggers. DIY Show Off is a huge source for finding awesome new inspiration from the blogging community, and I’m forever amazed at all the fantastic ideas people come up with and do themselves. I like to think I’m creative, but not as much as most of you guys!