Weight Loss and Craftiness

So Nate and I had a great week this last week with consistently having two Herbalife shakes a day and 3 workouts! We are both starting to see some changes too! I lost 2lbs in a week and Nate's six-pack is already back (he is HARDCORE). I also am joining a Weight Loss Challenge at work that starts next week. My goals are to lose 15lbs in 12 weeks and to work out at least 4 times/week for 30 minutes or more each workout.

In the last week I also finished knitting my first baby blanket ever! It's so cute! Today I ordered some supplies to make cute burp cloths from Amazon (thanks to gift cards I got for Christmas, I only spent $5). I'm trying to find ways to be productive and creative and let my friends benefit from it! I have some more yarn to start on my next baby blanket and I'm looking forward to making a baby hat too.

The other thing on the agenda, we are continuing to pay off our debt very intensely. We are down to a medical bill, my student loans and Nate's student loans. We will be paying for his schooling with cash from here on out and are excited to be debt free in the next 18 months (or less!). Nate and I are very excited as we continue life together and make progress in our goals. Also, my sister got engaged! Nate and I are in the wedding party and are really enjoying getting to help plan a wedding just 9 months since our own wedding!

Weekend!

I had the day off yesterday and I was PRODUCTIVE! It was so wonderful to sleep in a little bit and then clean our apartment. I mean our whole apartment! I dropped Nate off at work, came home and got lunch, and got to work. I cleaned our kitchen, vacuumed, picked up the bedroom, ironed clothes that have been waiting for me to iron them for over a month, cleaned the bathroom and organized our spare room. The spare room had become "the room where everything went that did not have a place" since we moved in. After I finished cleaning, I relaxed and washed some M*A*S*H. After I relaxed for a bit, I went and picked Nate up from work, we came home and made dinner, relaxed and played Yahtzee! It was a wonderful day off.

Today I got to sleep in and then hang out with my sister and her fiance and Nate. It's been a great start to the weekend. I plan on finishing a baby blanket I've been working on for 3 weeks. I also hope to make some more origami flowers for my sister's wedding in July! I'm in a artsy/crafty mood this weekend, can you tell?

Eating has been going really well! Nate and I have been very consistent in 2 Herbalife shakes a day over the last 2 weeks and I'm working on snacking less at work (getting there...). I worked out 3 times this week and we are planning on a great workout today and tomorrow too.

Well, I'm off to do crafts and enjoy the weather today! Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend.

Easter Sunday

Today is Easter Sunday. A day that is dedicated to remembering Christ's resurrection. He died for our sins and rose again to conquer death for us.

This past week was a good week. Lots of work, some relaxation, and some great workouts! I am doing two Herbalife shakes a day and having better portion control for my third meal. I've been limiting my snacks and cutting back on sweets. Nate and I have also given up alcohol to aid in weight loss and trimming down on inches. This weekend we had a couple glasses of wine, but otherwise we have given it up for at least 30 days.

I hope y'all are all well. Have a wonderful week!

Couponing High

I don't know if you know about couponing, but I was taught how to coupon to save money while grocery shopping and it has saved us hundreds of dollars in the last few months. When I walk out of a store with 5 bags and having saved $13 (18% of our whole bill) I get, what I call, a "couponing high." I'm elated that a few minutes of clipping coupons and organizing them, on the weekends, can save us money. (To be fair, I need to shout out to Shari Hamlin for teaching me these skills. She taught  me how to coupon as a wedding gift last year and now, my husband and I LOVE to go grocery shopping and find out how much we can save.) I get a kick out of saving us money that we can put towards other areas of our budget.

On another note, my sister--Amy--got engaged this weekend!!! I am so excited for her and David as they move to this next chapter in life. I'm enjoying getting to help with wedding ideas and be on the other side of things only 8 months after my own wedding. Also, the wedding has provided another goal point for my weight loss goals. I have been relatively faithful (with the absence of Spring Break) in my endeavour to drink two Herbalife shakes a day. Over the last 3 weeks, I've done decently well. However, my new goal is to keep that up to lose 20lbs by the beginning of August! I appreciate all accountability and encouragement from y'all in my progress!

Well, I'm off to wrap up the evening with a couple episodes of M*A*S*H with my husband and head off to sleep.

Hump Day!

Today was a half day for work, drop off an application for another part-time job (to hopefully help with our budget plans), take a nap, wake up to take my husband dinner and help him at work, kind of day. Eventful, productive, restful and overall just good. PLUS we get to leave for spring break in 2 days!!!

We are going over the mountains to Montrose for 6 days for spring break and I can NOT wait! Nate will have a week free from homework, we will get to see all of his family and we both will get to enjoy a week off work. Praise God for breaks. We've been working our buns off the last couple months and both need to relax. Even better, most of my family will be coming with. So, just a warning, I'll not be blogging for a week, starting Saturday.

As far as working out/eating healthy. We have gotten back on track with our salad and fish/chicken/lean meat for dinner diet. I have been drinking two Herbalife shakes a day 5/7 days the last week or two which is helping. Working out has been going well, I've been taking walks on my breaks on the warmer days and we have worked out a few times at our new gym. I'm planning on three more workouts before leaving for vacation! I'm even waking up early--7am--(which for those of you who know me, is no small feat) and going to Zumba on Saturday morning before we leave town.

Well, I'll talk to y'all soon. Gonna go get some cleaning done.

Living Like No One Else Now...

One of my favorite Dave Ramsey quotes is, "Live like no one else now so you can live like no one else later." By making changes in our lifestyle now, cutting back and putting major effort into paying off debt and saving, we will be able to live like no one else later. We will be able to afford trips, the eating out and social events that we are missing this chapter. Needless to say, we are motivated to change this now and we want to keep our eye on the long term goal.

As far as eating and exercise, this week was pretty good. I had at least one Herbalife shake a day for meal replacements and there were a couple days when I had two Herbalife shakes. I'm feeling much better and more confident in my goals. We switched gyms to one that is a 5 minute walk away from our apartment and it's accessible 24/7. We have already gone a couple times and I'm looking forward to going 4-5 times this week before we leave on vacation Saturday.

I hope y'all had a great week and a good St. Patrick's Day! Have a relaxing Sunday.

We have 'Net!!!!

Sorry I've been so absent from my blogging...it's been close to 2 weeks since my last entry. As my last entry stated, we moved! Our new place is wonderful!!! It is twice the size of our previous apartment, has an extra bedroom/study, washer dryer hookups, kitchen nook, and (drum roll please) a DISHWASHER!!!!

Anyways, the last couple weeks have been insane with getting stuff switched over, moved, cleaned and put together. We are finally feeling mostly settled. Only a few more pictures to hang and the spare bedroom to organize. However we have not worked out that much or been able to keep up our healthy eating leading up to and immediately after the move. The week before the move, we ate out much more than usual. We also have only gone to the gym about three times in the last two weeks. However we tried to make healthy choices when eating out and I tried to work out some at work to counteract the lack of gym visits. We are also excited because, yesterday, we joined a gym that is in the strip mall one block from our apartment! It's saving us about $10-12/month in membership fees, plus it's open 24/7. We went today and got in a good 40 minute workout. Now Nate is hanging curtains and I'm off to see what I can organize in the next bit before dinner.

Aside from the move, but somewhat associated with it, we have re-worked our budget and are working on paying off our debt ASAP and getting as financially stable as possible. Let me just say that listening to Dave Ramsey's radio podcast every day has been very motivating and we are excited to get rid of what debt we do have!

Hope y'all have had a good couple weeks! I've missed hearing from  y'all.