Category Archives: Goals

Funky Mood!

Good evening!

I am in a bit of a funky mood! Do you ever feel like that?

I had a pretty good day at work, and this evening, as soon as I got home I pulled all of my bills together to schedule them to be automatically paid, like I do every month, and I had a little surprise on my cable bill.

Back in November, my sweetie and I decided that we had too much tele in our lives, and we took the huge step, at least at the time it felt like a huge step, to cut our super-duper-duper-CABLE back to regular, bare-bones basic cable.

Well, today, for the first time since then, I actually looked at our bill – what a novel concept right? I know, I honestly don’t know what I was thinking, thinking that the cable company would be looking out for me!! Anyway, I found a $16 discrepancy on our bill, which isn’t so bad all by itself, BUT I have been paying that $16 for every month for the past 8 months – OUCH! Ok, so maybe it isn’t enough to break the bank, but still I am giving away my hard earned money for nothing!!

I called their “Customer Service Line” and well, let’s just say, the customer wasn’t served very well! HOWEVER, I am not going to let it ruin my day, Jason is going to go down tomorrow and make sure that it is taken care of.

So, there you go!!

The thing that started this whole effort this evening, is that I have decided that I have got to stop turning a blind eye to my finances, pretending that I am thriving, when in reality I really had no freaking clue how I was doing!! Well, I have taken stock, and I am not doing as well as I thought I was doing, and it is going to take me a while to flip my financed right side up, but I have done it before and I will be more than able to do it again!! With LOTS and LOTS of patience!! 😉

I will keep you posted of my efforts!! Right now, I need to set up an actual budget to see what will be manageable!! Not to mention get ready to have some dinner with my sweetie!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! 😉

 

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

Chunky Dunkers is a weekly weight loss/get fit support group that meet here online every Wednesday evening to get the opportunity to comment, and cheer each other as you each go through your journey to get fit and healthy!!! We will discuss hints, tips, and ideas on losing weight, staying motivated, and achieving your fitness goals, whether that is to lose 5 pounds, to do 10 sit-ups, or just incorporate some healthy habits into your daily life!!

As always, everyone and anyone is welcome to join us, or you may feel free to just quietly follow along. I look forward to hearing about all of your successes!

Let me give you a quick progress of my week! I have lost the pound and a half that I had put on last week – YEAH!! It is amazing how that small number seems to make such a big difference in how I feel about what I am doing. Besides walking, and one night of swimming, I really haven’t done much of my regualr exercise routines! I skipped belly dancing and Zumba so far this week. I have been nursing some knee pain, and then twisted my ankle so am working through that! Jason has been doing a great job at cooking some really delicious and healthy food! It has made our week of healthy eating much easier!!

Anyway, the topic for conversation this evening:

What 5 things would you do if you knew that you could not fail???

Give that some thought, I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments section above!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

Swim Night with the Kiddies!

Good evening!

Tonight Jason and I had some very special visitors this evening. Nette, Megan, and Morgan came over to join Jason and I swimming this evening. We used to have swimming nights once a week, and we got out of that habit quite a few months ago, and it was nice to swim with them again!

We started out by having grilled hot-dogs together with baked beans, and Jason even got the kids puffed Cheetos – how fun!! We impatiently waited the recommended half hour before we went to the pool, and I was sure that Morgan was just going to bust a gut having to be patient to get there!! 😉

When we did finally get there, the pool was insanely-cold, so that part wasn’t too much fun, but it was fun playing with the kiddos, and hanging out in the not-too-hot-for-once hot-tub was pretty lovely. Jason and Morgan had fun making each other fall into the freezing cold water, that while I was enjoying the hot tub, all I could hear was Jason and Morgan both squealing with laughter!! 😉 Which is quite a happy noise to listen too!!

The kids were very excited that when we got done swimming they were going to get an ice cream sandwich. Morgan was impressed that his ice cream sandwich had THREE flavors in it – it was a Neapolitan!!! 😉 He just kept saying, “Look! It has more than one kind in it!” Too cute!!! 😉

As you can see, Morgan was almost completely done in by the time they were getting ready to go home, but then again, I think we all were!! All-in-all, we really did have a great visit! I am not sure when we will get the opportunity again, but I sure do hope it is soon!! I really love these kiddos (Nette included!)!!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

NOTE TO CHUNKY DUNKERS: Don’t forget, we are on for tomorrow evening around 7 – I will see you here!!! 😉

A Little Bit of Truth

Well, ladies and gentlemen.

I would love to tell you that I am having a great night, unfortunately I am not.

I would love to tell you that everything in my life is perfect, alas, that too, it is not.

I would love to tell you that I always have the right words to say, but sometimes the words get all used up and depleted. I feel a little like tonight is one of those nights.

I am going to share something seriously personal, and I want what I have to say to remain in this room, if you don’t mind. 😉 My sweetie and I are trying to decide if we should stay together or not.

Wow! even though I felt like I was whispering that so quietly, reading it here feels like I am yelling it at the top of my lungs.

You know, the fact of the matter is, is that I love that man like crazy, but I am learning that maybe sometimes love isn’t enough. Sometimes the annoyances of real life, and a lot of stupid little nothings get in the way of happiness. Sometimes choosing to stay with someone is just that, a choice. A choice to be happy. or a choice to be miserable. I can’t tell you which choice is which. and I honestly don’t know what choice is going to be made this evening.

I honestly couldn’t imagine my life without Jason. He has been my lover, soul mate, playmate, shoulder to cry on, cheerleader, protector, and my best friend for the past 17 years; but maybe it will all just turn out for the best. that is what I am banking on. one way or the other.

How sad is this posting – right?? I am sorry to be such a stick-in-the-mud, but I think instead of just pretending to smile and tell you all that everything is going honey-dorey. I thought a little bit of truth might just be in order.

As I close this post for the evening, I would love to tell you all to have a fabulous night, but I think I would rather just tell you to take care of yourself, and be thankful for those around you that you can share your love and life with, even if just for a short amount of time. Share your love with them completely, don’t hold back. Life truly is too short to be wasted.

Thank you so much for letting me go on, I am sure we will have it all worked out in the morning. We will see.

~Christina 🙂

Motivated!

Good evening!

This morning I stumbled across this quote that I haven’t been able to get out of my mind all day.

“What you can do or dream you can do, begin it, boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
~Johann von Goethe

There are so many odd projects laying around the house that seriously need my attention, and I know that I need to spend time crossing each one off of my list! But, right now, the big project is Jason and I are participating in a large garage sale this Saturday. This is the perfect opportunity to clear out a lot of the miscellaneous stuff that in all honesty Jason and I haven’t seen in years!! We spent a few hours this evening going through boxes, and it was so energizing to let go of all of that old stuff. It is true what they say about stuff literally weighing you down, mentally! I am learning to believe that is true.

Ok, confession time!! I might be just a bit of a shop-a-holic (ok, Jay, stop laughing!!). Ok, I’ve said it!! I don’t think I go too crazy money-wise because I pay myself first, pay all of my bills, I have a nice retirement fund and a savings account, but where I think it is really starting to hurt me is in my living space. We live in such a small condo, and it seems that no matter how much stuff I have leaving this place, I just seem to fill the new space with almost twice as much stuff! (That might be a slight exaggeration, but I am sure not by much!)

My biggest areas I have problems with this is books, and fashion!! I can’t pass up a good book, ESPECIALLY if I can find it for a FABULOUS price! and ANYTIME I find a cute dress, or other clothing item that makes me feel good, I just snatch it up – and sometimes in multiple colors!!! This is really starting to become a problem! I would like to tell you that I could stop anytime I want too, but I find that I use shopping to sometimes fill a void that I can sometimes feel in myself. Like something I am needing and I am hoping a certain book, or a certain top will somehow fill it. Crazy, I know! I hear myself saying it, and just think,

“SNAP OUT OF IT GIRL!!!”

Sad, I know!! I am hoping that our garage sale this weekend will really help me make a serious dent in all of the “STUFF”!! I am a little nervous that I am going to be making my hubbies head spin by how fast and how much stuff is leaving this house! I am being seriously RUTHLESS in what goes and what stays!! If we haven’t even seen in since we moved in here 5 years ago, why the heck do we have it still!! Now, there are some memorabilia that I have a different set of rules for, but for the most part, that only pertains to things like cards, and photos, which don’t take up a lot of room in this house!! Thankfully!!

And, if my sweetie and I are going to stay in this condo a few more years, then I owe it to the both of us to make every effort to turn it into our home, and not just a stopping point – like a sad hotel!! Now, a GLAMOROUS HOTEL??? I am SOOO there for that, but not what we have been living in up to this point!!

Also, I have realized today, that I have so much extra home decor and what nots that I could actually start an online home boutique. Don’t think I am not seriously contemplating that either!! That has always been one of my dreams, and this quote above is making me thinking that I just need to get brave, and open my own boutique!! How cool would that be??!!

Oh to dream out loud!!

That would be BLISS!!!

Anyway, I am going to head up to bed for the night, and dream of my new clutter free home!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! 😉

Chunky Dunker Night!

Good evening!

I am the type of person that has always been on the lookout for signs. I am a firm believer that there are signs all over the place telling you what direction to go next, you just have to know how to spot them. Well, today, I have been noticing signs all over the place about not giving up on your goals. I really needed to hear that today! Today I recommit myself to focusing on my top 4 goals, one of which is getting fit and healthy, which is why I bring this up tonight – on Chunky Dunker night!

Chunky Dunker, for those of you who may not know is a weekly weight loss/get fit support group that meet here online every Wednesday evening to get the opportunity to comment, and cheer each other as you each go through your journey to get fit and healthy!!! We will discuss hints, tips, and ideas on losing weight, staying motivated, and achieving your fitness goals, whether that is to lose 5 pounds, to do 10 sit-ups, or just incorporate some healthy habits into your daily life!!

As always, everyone and anyone is welcome to join us, or you may feel free to just quietly follow along. I look forward to hearing about all of your successes!

As for my week, I have done alright – not as good as I did last week, but I have been nursing a slight knee injury that seems to have knocked me for a little bit of a loop. Not to worry, I am going to get back into the swing of things by hitting the pool a couple of more times this week, especially since the thermostat is rising, and ANY way to keep cool, is good enough reason for me!! I haven’t actually lost any more weight, but I am dropping inches; and besides occasionally burning my candle at both ends, so to speak, I am feeling pretty peppy!! 😉

Well, that is enough about me this evening! I can’t wait to hear how all of you are doing! I will meet you in the comments section!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

Aaaaaah Hope!

Good evening!

You know what I’ve received as a gift today??

HOPE!!!

HOPE that things will get better, HOPE that I am not stuck in my job, HOPE that I am not stuck in my condo, and HOPE that I will get the opportunity to make my dreams come true! Someone gifted that to me today, and she may not even have known it! That someone was my realtor Nicole Shuba!! She was the same person who helped us find out condo, way back when – can you believe that we have been here 5 years????

I met with her after work today to find out if we had any kind of options, housing-wise,  in this market, or if we are just going to have to be a little more patient and wait it out! Her answer surprised me!!! She did say that we may have to just be patient and ride it out, but she also gave me a few ideas on things that I could do in the meantime, which was a breathe of fresh air!!

Not only that, she shared with me some of her goals that she has already accomplished – some goals that I also have on my list, mind you!! She showed me that if I just remain diligent, then I will be able to accomplish some of my goals too!!! Owning my little farm, traveling to Paris, and Italy, owning my own little business on the side, while I am waiting for the market to turn around, or at least for me to get my nest egg to where I want it to be so that I have some breathing room.

My meeting with her just reminded me that I am truly blessed, and that not only is God watching out for both my sweetie and myself, but He has bigger plans for us than we could have ever imagined, and they are on their way to us!!

Thank you, Nicole!! You truly did make my week!! I needed to hear everything you said, and to see your smiling face really put me at ease!! I can’t wait until I am able to have you sell this place, and help us purchase the next place – won’t that be an amazing day???

For all of the rest of us. I challenge us to go out of your way reach out to someone in your circle and share with them some words of encouragement! You may not know it, but maybe you will be making someone’s week too!

Have  a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

A Random Sunday!

Good evening!

I have come to the point in my book-loving life that I have too many books, and not enough time to read them all! Not to mention, some of them were given to me and I have NO idea what they are even about. I need to get two comfortable reading chairs and place them in my living room so that I can get some more reading time squeezed into my days! All of my friends and family think that I read all of the time, but really, I only read about 1/2 an hour before bed every evening. I wonder if that fact would surprise any of them??

Well, Jason and I are getting ready for our association’s annual garage sale, which is coming up this weekend, so I am doing my part to help get rid of any miscellaneous things in the house. Apparently Jason is going to be placing a whole TON of his things from his storage unit out for sale, which will be good, I think! When Jason and I lived in the old house, we used to hold 2 or 3 garage sales every Summer, so keep the plethora of belongings at bay was much easier than it is now!!

I have been dreaming about our farm that we hope to have some day. I have made an appointment with my mortgage broker for this Tuesday to find out what kind of options I have for either getting out of our condo, or refinancing so that we can pay a lower mortgage payments every month. I haven’t refinanced for the last three years, and I know my credit score has gone up, and interested rates have gone down. SO, hopefully I will hear SOMETHING good!! just as long as she doesn’t tell me that we will be stuck in this condo for the next 10 years – UGH!!! 😉

As for today? Well, Jason and I started early this morning, with the stereo playing some happy music to make our chores a little more fun!! I just LOVE having a clean house!! Then I had pulled out my mother’s no-bake cookie recipe that I had misplaced, but found this week, and decided to surprise Jason by making him a batch of those. They are so much easier than I remember, and still DELICIOUS!! Needless to say he was PLEASANTLY surprised!!! 😉

So, tonight, I am going to finish going through some of my books, set out an outfit for tomorrow. Oh, on a side note, I have to text Chris (one of my co-workers) every morning to make sure that she and I are not wearing the same thing – it happens a lot!!! 😉 So, I have started to setting out my clothes every evening, so that I am ready at a moments notice if I have to change anything!! LOL!! What we do for our friends!! 😉 and then I am going to climb into my freshly made bed this evening and catch up on a little reading before I fall to sleep!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! 😉

PS: By the way, all of these pictures were taken by me while my sweetie and I were having our morning breakfast of steel cut oats – YUM!! 😉

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

Tonight is Chunky Dunker night, and I have been looking forward to this night all week!! I post a new Chunky Dunker’s post every Wednesday evening, and you will have the opportunity to comment, and cheer each other as you each go through your journey to get fit and healthy!!! We will discuss hints, tips, and ideas on losing weight, staying motivated, and achieving your fitness goals, whether that is to lose 5 pounds, to do 10 sit-ups, or just incorporate some healthy habits into your daily life!!

I am happy to report that I have been working out, eating MOSTLY healthy, drinking my water, and am working on getting my sleeping back in check again! I did hit a small patch of roughness today, when I had a pretty stressful day at work, so I had asked my sweetie to make me some comfort food this evening, but IT WAS SO WORTH IT!!! Yum! 😉

I am just plugging along on my posts, and I even have an idea on putting up some random tutorials on how to do all different kinds of things like beauty, fashion, gardening, decorating, and other miscellaneous hints to help you, and me, turn your house into a home! I would love to hear your thoughts on that, in the comments section above!!

Anyway, let’s get this show on the road, and I will see you in the comments section for Chunky Dunker’s night!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

 

 

Gotta Dance!

Good evening!

I have gotten home from my belly dancing class this evening, and I am still really jazzed!! I have to tell you, it is such a happy class! It is hard for me to go there and not have an absolutely great time!! I know you must be sick of hearing me say it EVERY SINGLE WEEK, but I just LOVE BELLY DANCING!! and you know what, I think it isn’t just belly dancing anymore, I think I just love to dance!!!

Who knew??

I have never been a terribly physical person, I have always excelled at things that involve your mind, and thinking, or a talent like music, or the arts. Dance, which yes, I realize is also an art, I had just never thought it was something that was ever going to be in my repertoire, and I SO LOVE IT!!

Dancing has literally changed me.

It changes the way I see myself.

It changes the way I think about the future and what I now think is possible as opposed to what limitations I had previously placed on myself!

For the first time in my life, and I mean EVER, my inside and outside are starting to become more congruent!! They both are finally HAPPY!! I mean truly, unadulterated, no facade H-A-P-P-Y!!!

I wish that I had the opportunity to provide every single person out there to have this euphoric feeling that I am feeling now. I am convinced, now more than ever, that this feeling is the feeling of joy that is placed upon you when you are doing ANYTHING that honors your authentic self!! For me, right now, that is dancing, for you that might be cooking, singing, drawing, writing, sewing, walking, or whatever!!

My challenge to you this evening and for the rest of the week is to get out there and find an activity, ANY ACTIVITY that honors who you are on the inside – the best of who you are capable of being, and if you feel like sharing, please fee free to let me know in the comment section what that activity might be for you! You’ll never know who might come along and read what you have written – you just might inspire someone to get out there and find THERE OWN PERSONAL activity too!!

I look forward to chatting with you some more tomorrow! Until then…

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉