Monthly Archives: October 2012

WOW! How Time Flies!

Good evening!

I realized it has been a while since I have posted, and I wanted to make a point to get on this evening and give some quick updates on how everything is going.

Long story short…

Life is good!!

Physically:

As far as my weight loss goes, things have been going rather well. So far I am down about 75 pounds, but am plateuaing at the moment, which is frustrating, but very normal, so I am not too worried!! Now that the weather has gotten really cold and rainy, it has been a bit more difficult to get out and get moving, so I am going to have to get creative! Maybe some workout videos, or mall walking, or something like that! 🙂

I have to tell you, I am so proud of my sweetie! As you may remember, he had bariatric surgery 6 weeks before I had, and as of this morning he has lost 139 pounds so far, bring his total weight to under 300 pounds! Isn’t that AMAZING?? I am really just so proud of him!!! Keep up the good work, love!!! 🙂

Financially:

Jason and I are still going through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University, and we are making leaps and bounds kind of progress – at least to us!! You may know that there are 7 steps to Dave’s plan, and Jason and I have completed step 1, Put $1,000 away for a mini emergency fund. We are currenlty working on step 2, and that is to pay off all of your non-mortgage debt. This step is going to take us at least a year to complete.

We have been busily selling items from our home to try and help pay this debt off. I have sold most of my clothes on E-Bay, and Jason has sold a hide-a-bed-loveseat, and our old laptop! This has been great, because not only can we use the extra room in our tiny place, it has felt really good to get debt paid off. So far we have paid off 3 of our 6 credit cards, and 3 of our medical bills!! That is such a GREAT feeling! At this point, we are thinking this step will be finished in August 2013. YEAH!!!

Home:

Besides getting some items out of the house sold, Jason and I have been actively downsizing, purging unneeded belongings. Our goal is to have everything we own fit into our two bed, one car garage condo. It is just too insane to have so much STUFF when you think that only 2 people live here!! I know that we have been married 17 years, so we have had quite some time to accumulate all of this stuff. So, we have a lot of work to do to accomplish this goal, but I know in the past month or so, we have made a lot of progress!!

Work:

Work is good and work is not so good! It is good, because I am on a FABULOUS team, with supportive management. It is not so good because we have so much work to do and there are only 3 of us to get all of that work done. How we are going to manage without some serious stress (or some serious drinking (just kidding)) I have no idea!!! It doesn’t look like things are going to let up until about May or June of next year!! I guess we are just going to have to hunker down and do the best we can with what we’ve got!! GO TEAM!!! 😉

Sweetie:

Last but not least! Life really has been so good! Jason and I are doing great, our relationship is stronger than ever. It still awes me that even after 17 years of marriage you can actctually be in love with your spouse! Not only that, but passion doesn’t have to die – with some devoted time and attention, you really can keep the flame burning!! I think that it has been helpful that we are in better shape than when we were first married! Our energy levels are through the roof!!

I have said it before, and I have a feeling I will keep saying it again!!

LIFE IS GOOD!!

Ok, so I am done gushing and rambling about my life is going!!

I am off to spend a nice, quiet evening with my sweetie!!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening! ;-)

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

I am a Sucker For…List it Tuesday

Good afternoon!

I ran across a post on one of my favorite blogs, Artsyville. Every week, Aimee, chooses a topic to art and then post about, and she calls it “List it Tuesday”. Well, I have to tell you, I was immediately inspired! Between my love of arting, and love of making lists I thought that this weekly challenge would be right up my alley!!

This week’s topic is “I am a sucker for…”

Here is my sucker list:

I had so much fun doing this, and it gave me a reason and an excuse to get back into my art studio this evening!! I hope that I am able to make this a weekly feature of ChristinaVille!! 🙂

Here is to a FABULOUS evening! 😉

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

38 by 38

These are the thirty-eight goals I want to accomplish before I turn thirty-eight. October 10th, 2013, to be exact.

My 38 things!!

  1. Put $1,000 into a mini emergency fund
  2. Pay off all of my non-mortgage debt
  3. Regularly tithe 10% of our household income
  4. Downsize our belongings so that everything we own fit into our 2-bedroom, 1 car garage condo
  5. Jog a mile
  6. Take the train
  7. Go camping
  8. Blow bubbles out of the car window while on a road trip
  9. Clean out the garage
  10. Hike the longest trail at Silver Creek Falls
  11. Go on a walking tour of downtown Salem
  12. Take a cooking class
  13. Host a slumber party
  14. Create a new line of inspiring art pieces of at least 12 designs
  15. Start my own company
  16. Redesign my blog to make it a reflection of my personal style
  17. Invest in blog/career business cards
  18. Launch an interview series on my blog
  19. Send fifty handwritten handwritten notes
  20. Lose an accumulative 100 pounds
  21. Volunteer in a cause that is near and dear to my heart
  22. Ride my bike for an hour straight
  23. Have a weekend vacation at the coast
  24. Sell my entire collection of Pink Paisley Boutique jewelry (LET IT GO!)
  25. Host a movie-themed party
  26. Inspire someone to write a list of their own
  27. Be featured in a creative publication
  28. Try at least 12 new recipes
  29. Prepare a meal using fresh ingredients from the Farmer’s Market
  30. Use re-usable shopping bags for all grocery shopping for an entire month
  31. Read every Jane Austen novel
  32. Get a facial
  33. Revitalize 5 old pieces of furniture
  34. Teach an online class
  35. Read my Flying Lessons class book
  36. Wear bright red lipstick out in public for a day
  37. Have at least 48 artist dates
  38. Have fresh flowers in the house every week for at least 10 weeks

Here is to a FABULOUS 37th year of LIVING the GOOD LIFE!!! ;-)

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

Today Is My Birthday!

Good evening!

That’s right today is my birthday!!!

WHOO!! HOO!!! I am officially 37, as of 6:34 AM this morning!!

Since today is my birthday, I thought today would be the perfect day to go over my 37 by 37 list that I had created last year around my birthday! My 37 by 37 list is my list of thirty-seven goals I wanted to accomplish before I turned thirty-seven. I didn’t get everything accomplished that was on my list, but I did manage to get some pretty impressive things done this year!!

My 37 things!!

  1. get a passport
  2. jog a mile
  3. blog every day for a year(Done!)
  4. go to Women of Faith with my sisters
  5. take 100 pictures of historical buildings all over Oregon(Done!)
  6. take a decorating class
  7. make homemade marshmallows
  8. plant a veggie garden(Done!)
  9. take the train
  10. go camping
  11. blow bubbles out the car window – you would’ve thought I would have easily gotten this done, but I kept forgetting to actually do this (even though I bought the bubbles on day 2 of this list)!! 😉
  12. go for a walk in the rain(Done!)
  13. clean out the garage
  14. hike the longest trail at Silver Creek Falls – ok, so I didn’t hike the longest trail, but I did get one of the really long ones in!! I am calling that a win!!!
  15. go on a walking tour of downtown Portland
  16. take a cooking class
  17. get a tattoo(Done!)
  18. pick strawberries(Done!)
  19. bake homemade cinnamon rolls
  20. take an art class(Done!)
  21. set up a website
  22. teach myself how to take a picture using manual camera settings
  23. make at least 12 pieces of art(Done!)
  24.  lose 32.6 pounds(Done!) – matter of fact, I have lost 69.8 pounds so far this year!!
  25. put at least $1,200 in savings – I will have a $1000 in by Friday, so I came pretty close to this goal!
  26. visit a ghost town
  27. teach an online class
  28. make homemade yogurt
  29. read the entire Bible – No, this one is really hard for me! I think I am somewhere in Deuteronomy still!! 🙁
  30. crochet a queen-sized blanket using a difficult stitch(Done!)
  31. volunteer at a homeless shelter – I have been surprised by how difficult this one has been to find a place that will give you permission to volunteer, but I will keep trying!
  32. take a French class
  33. make a wild dance mix playlist. dance to it.(Done!)
  34. carve pumpkins with my niece and nephew(Done!)
  35. get my Visa paid off
  36. make a rag quilt
  37. make $1000 creatively

Some other things that I was able to get done this year, that I wasn’t planning on but am still so thankful and blessed to have gotten done was:

  • I had lost 50 pounds this year with just diet and exercise
  • I had gastric bypass surgery, which has helped me lose an additional 19.8 pounds
  • We found our church home, and just couldn’t be happier there
  • I have made a some new and dear girlfriends this year
  • My marriage is stronger than ever
  • Jason and I are finally on the same page financially, and are headed to build our dream lives

I have a new 38 by 38 list in the works for this upcoming year, but only time will tell to see what this new year will bring!! 🙂

Here’s to a FABULOUS 36th year, and an even better 37th one!!! ;-)

“If you want to have a different life, live differently!”

 

A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

Good evening!

Whew! Things have been fairly busy here, but I wanted to stop in the middle of my to-do list filled evening to touch base with you and let you know how everything is going here!!

This past weekend, my sweetie and I got the opportunity to go with our sister, Nette, and our niece and nephew, Megan and Morgan, and a few of their little friends to a really cool pumpkin patch out in the country! It was pretty cool in that they had a really large and intricate corn maze, tractor rides, pumpkin chucking, corn shooting, a zip line, a pitch black maze, mountain ‘o hay bale, and all sorts of neat things for the kids to do!! Jason and I really did have a lot of fun! It was perfect weather, the sun was shining, and the kids all had a great time too!!

In all honesty, I am still really beat from this weekend, and I have what feels like a mountain of things on my to-do list that needs to get done tonight, because my busy week is really just getting started!! So, instead of cutting it too short, I thought I would take this opportunity to share some of the pics from the pumpkin patch with you!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! ;-)

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!