Weigh In- Week 3

Normally I'm not happy to see a gain when I weigh in. Like any person who is attempting to lose weight, a gain on the scale (no matter how large or small) is associated with failure. That's what I told myself constantly and I believed it too.

But, it's happened this time on my third week of Weight Watcher's and when I stepped on the scale and saw a gain of 0.4 I celebrated.

 

Okay, so obviously I'm not excited about gaining, but after throwing caution to the wind and allowing the stress of moving to take over, a 0.4 pound gain is an absolute success. We were at the house all weekend until it was too dark to paint anymore and the choices were simple... Fast food or fast food. Of course I could have made better choices and I could have chosen my weight loss over the stress, but I didn't and there's that. Maybe I'll have learned something from this..

 

In all honesty, it pushed me to get back to tracking and to making better choices. I can't say how the rest of the week will go. I know that I'm already stressing, but it's going to get worse as the week progresses. I took Friday off of work and although I have a doctors appointment for my hip (more on this later) I plan on spending the rest of the day finishing up the packing at the apartment and continuing to work on unpacking the house.

 

Speaking of the house... More progress!

Imagine this without the paint cans..

 

 I am getting so excited for Saturday when the furniture comes! Until then I'm going to continue to unpack. My goal for tomorrow is to get the patio and porch set up as best as possible since we are hosting Father's Day at our house on Sunday. I also want to start the kids rooms so that I can finish those up on Friday.

There's still a lot to do, but it will get done in time. My family is already aware that the house will not be unpacked and are not expecting anything other same food, family and a good time together. Patrick and I have always been the kind to be 100% unpacked fast, so I don't see this being any different.

I will tell you that the more we get done the more it feels like our home. Staying there 24/7 will be strange at first, but in no time at all we will get used to it all and it will really feel like our home and our personalities will shine through.

I wouldn't have been able to get through this move without my husband though. He has been my rock and is always there when I start stressing about how much we have left to do. We are both getting pretty burnt out with everything we've been doing (as I'm sure our families are too since they've been helping so much), but he has been amazing and so helpful getting stuff over and unpacked from the truck into the house. He's also allowing me to decorate the house the way I want. I am still passing ideas by him, but he has been awesome and I am so grateful for him.

I'm sure there will be many more pictures to post after this weekend!

Painting- Day One

Yesterday marked day 2 of owning a home and day 1 of starting the painting we have planned for the house. I got there shortly after work and Patrick got there about an hour and a half later. Thankfully my parents were there to help during that time.

We got the walls washed and ready to be painted and another load of boxes was brought in. Patrick and I decided to stay a little after our parents left and painted the first item: a window frame. We got in one coat and decided to continue today.

Before:

During:

Another coat should do the trick and we will be doing that this morning before we tackle more of the house. 

So much to do! 

But it's already starting to feel like home.

 

This weekend we have planned for friends and family to come and help. We are hoping to be 100% done painting by the end of the day on Sunday. If we go over into next week, that's fine because we have until the 14th before the movers come, but we still have a lot of boxes to move ourselves.

 

We have planned on painting the following rooms:

living room

kids room

Isabel's room

kitchen

our bathroom

our bedroom

 

At some point we will also need to paint the garage, Patrick's man cave and the garage bathroom, but that will come in time.

April and May Goals

1.      Write in a journal every day: Fail. I don't know why.
2.       Take at least one picture a day: Success. Post coming soon!
3.       Run and/or walk 105 miles: Success. I ended the month with 106.42 miles.
4.       Run at least one mile every day to continue running streak: Success. Day 192 was yesterday and I'm so excited to have stuck with this streak for so long!
5.       Track on MFP: Success/Fail. I started each day with good intentions and tracked everything most days, but the last few days have been a minimum attempt.
6.       Read two books: Fail. I didn't even finish the first one. I've got a lot of reading to do in May!

 

1.       Have at least one child free date night with Patrick: We went to see The Price is Right being taped and had such a fantastic time together. It was a really great day!
2.       Work on blanket: Barely, but I did some work on it.
3.       Work on cross stitch: I am not as far as I thought I'd be or as far as I'd like to be, but I've worked on it in my spare time and it's coming along. Still a little worried that it's not going to look like what it should though.
4.       Work on coloring book: I did not really do much of anything to progress with this goal.
5.       Look into cake decorating classes: I looked online once, but made no further attempt to schedule anything.
6.       Stick to workouts as much as possible: I did really well in the middle of the month and for two weeks in particular when I was doing Body Revolution. Unfortunately it just got to be too much.

May Goals:
1. Write in a journal every day
2. Take at least one picture a day
3. Run and/or walk 105 miles
4. Run at least one mile every day to continue running streak
5. Track on MFP
6. Read 3 books and finish Three Weeks With My Brother

1. Have a wonderful time at the Ingrid Michaelson concert with Patrick
2. Work on cross stitch
3. Try to not obsess over buying a house
4. Get back on track with chore chart
5. Weigh less on May 31st than I do today on May 1st

Body Revolution Update #1

I started this 90 day program on April 14th and have been consistently following the program. Well, that's a lie. I have been following the workouts the way she has it set out, but I have not been following the food plan she has provided. In all honesty, that's not something that I can realistically follow and I am doing my best to stay within my calories on MFP. I am still learning how to balance both and maybe that's my downfall.

Week one and two are the same with the workout schedule and it's been a really good schedule so far. It's very different from both 30 Day Shred and Ripped in 30 and I like that each day is different because I am less likely to get bored with the program. The following is how a week of strength training looks:

Monday- Workout 1
Tuesday- Workout 2
Wednesday- Cardio 1
Thursday- Workout 1
Friday- Workout 2
Saturday- Cardio 1
Sunday- Rest

The workouts last about 30 minutes and it's very easy to fit in during the day. The first week I was better about doing it first thing in the morning before I started work, but this week I've been waiting until either my lunch break or after work. The best part is that I have yet to have a day that I have not looked forward to getting the workout done. Normally when I start a workout program the excitement of it wears off pretty fast and I despise the pending workout, but this time around I have actually been anticipating the time I get to spend doing it.

I know that it's going to be getting more difficult next week, but I have enjoyed building the foundation these first two weeks and think that it's going to be exciting to watch my body change and my strength improve.

I made the mistake of taking my measurements after I had already started the first week and made a second mistake in taking measurements again before the second week was over. Since the same DVDs are used two weeks in a row I have decided to update my measurements every other Sunday. I was disappointed earlier this week when I saw that I was gaining inches in every single area, but I have to just accept what my changes are and realize that everything is happening for a reason. I'm making very positive changes to myself, both physically and mentally.

Body revolution start date: April 14th

First measurements taken April 19th
Chest- 39.25
Waist- 33.5
Hips- 43.5
L thigh- 23.5
L arm- 12.25

Measurements taken April 27th
Chest- 39.5 (+.25)
Waist- 34 (+.5)
Hips- 44 (+.5)
L thigh- 23.75 (+.25)
L arm- 12.75 (0)

I know what the problem is and I'm working on finding a solution. Unfortunately I am still using food to deal with stress and to celebrate exciting changes. My food choices are not reflecting what I want out of this. I am starting each day with good intentions and I go downhill quickly thereafter. I am also not completing the entire day with tracking either and that is huge for me if I want to see any sort of success.

My main problem with food is that I cannot cook well. I find that I get anxiety even thinking about being in the kitchen. I rely heavily on Patrick or on easy to make prepackaged foods. It's not a good situation and I know the only solution is to practice in order to be more comfortable to make healthier options for myself.

I'm hoping to see some improvements with my measurements after this next set of DVDs. It's one thing to watch the scale go up when you're strength training, it's a completely different mind confusion when your measurements go up as well.

Thankful Thursday #6

1. I am thankful that I have been enjoying Body Revolution. Even though I peeked and my weight and measurements are up I know that I am doing something good for my body and it will work itself out in the end. I have to continue to remind myself that this is not something that will change overnight so there's no point crying about the lack of progress when in fact there is progress. I feel stronger and all around better.

2. I am thankful for house hunting. We have officially begun the process of looking for a house to buy and although we went out and looked at all of the houses that are available in our area in our price range and nothing worked out, it just means that our house isn't for sale yet and that we have to keep looking. Our house is out there and this process is actually kind of fun.

3. I am thankful that we have found a great system for keeping the apartment clean. It wasn't bad, but now the chores feel more even and we aren't feeling under appreciated or like one person is doing more than the other. We've fallen off a little this week for various reasons but we're both committed to getting back on track.

4. I am thankful for my husband and his use of the phrase "Your face..."

5. I am also thankful for my husband and for joining me once a week to workout. It can get kind of boring when you're doing a strength training DVD by yourself, but I truly look forward to that one day a week that he joins me. Even though he gives me the dirtiest of looks right when we finish, I think it's a good thing for both of us.

April Goals- Update

I seriously cannot believe that April is already halfway over. It seriously amazes me how fast time goes by…

Here’s where I am at with my goals so far for this month:

 

1.       Write in a journal every day: It amazes me how easy it has become to skip a day and have to start over. I am attempting this again with a start date of April 13th, however this time I am doing what I have been wanting to do but never got around to doing for the past 6 years… I am writing in a journal to Isabel.
2.       Take at least one picture a day: This month seems to be the month of photos by iPhone only. It’s actually been a lot easier to stop focusing on what the picture is taken with and to just take it. I’m really getting excited to see all 365 pictures once I’m all finished.
3.       Run and/or walk 105 miles: I am just slightly ahead of schedule and if everything goes as planned I can see myself ending the month with over 110 miles, but that may be generous.
4.       Run at least one mile every day to continue running streak: Today will mark day 177 once I get my run in. It’s amazing what doing something every day can do for you. I remember being so excited when I got to day 50 and now here I am almost to day 200. It’s actually pretty exciting for me to prove to myself that I can stick with something for this long and still want to continue to do it.
5.       Track on MFP: Today is day 26 of tracking. And I’m actually tracking this time. I had one day this past weekend that I really did not want to track, but I went in that night and finished tracking and it wasn’t even as bad as I thought it was going to be. I do need to get back to eating below or at my calories for the day, but for now I’m really excited to be in the habit of logging on every day and tracking. It is such an important tool and so helpful to me to see success.
6.       Read two books: I don’t know why this happens every single book I pick up but it takes forever for me to get into it or I start working on other goals and don’t have time/energy to read during the day or at night. I am definitely behind with this book, but from what I’ve read it’s a pretty quick read so I just need to set some time to finish it so that I have enough time to finish the next one for the month.

 

1.       Have at least one child free date night with Patrick: This has not happened yet, and I guess I will be counting our outing Thursday morning as our date. Patrick and I have found that we really enjoy watching The Price is Right together at night so we record the show in the morning and watch it together either at night or on the weekends. For my birthday he decided to make it a date for us to go watch the show being taped. It’s a first come first serve basis, so hopefully we’ll get there early enough to get to see the show being taped. I’m really excited to go!
2.       Work on blanket: I haven’t really been working much on the blanket, but I have finished one color and am working on another. Some days I just don’t care to crochet and other days it’s all I want to do. I go through phases with crafting and it may take me awhile to actually finish this thing, but once I do I’m sure it’s going to look pretty cool. To me anyway..
3.       Work on cross stitch: I am so excited about this one… My parents bought me a cross stitch program for Christmas one year which converts photos to cross stitch patterns. I am working on one now from our wedding and I’m hoping that it turns out well because if it does I plan on doing a lot of personalized gifts for Christmas.
4.       Work on coloring book: I’ve done very little in the coloring book, but I have one and that’s a good start.
5.       Look into cake decorating classes: I very briefly looked into this at the very beginning of the month but the class was already started. What I did find was that the classes through the local craft store is very affordable and is a 4 week class. I really like that idea because it spreads the information out over time and I think that will help me to retain the information provided as well as to see progress over the entire program. It’s a two part class, the first four weeks being the basics of decorating a cake (frosting, etc) and the second four week class is decorating the cake using fondant and icing shaped as flowers, etc.  I am a very VERY beginner baker, so this would be beyond exciting to extend my knowledge.
6.       Stick to workouts as much as possible: I’m working on it and I think now that I’m starting a new DVD program I will find it easier to stick to what I have planned. Basically, I’m doing the DVD for strength and running. If I get to the two walks I do at work, great. If I am able to make it to the gym, great. If not it’s fine too because they are not mandatory on the schedule.

Thankful Thursday #5

1. I am thankful for new running shoes. After having some major issues while training for the LA Marathon last year I decided it was pretty stupid of me to be so stubborn. I took my sisters advice and went to a running store to be professionally fitted. Prior to this I was wearing shoes from department stores and went by how they felt. That worked well until if didn't and that last pair of running shoes was almost my last. My generous parents bought me my first pair and I have refused to try anything since. Thankfully Amazon recently had an amazing sale and I stocked up on a few pairs to last me awhile. And, right after the race on Saturday I knew it was time for a shiny new pair to be broken in. My feet feel fantastic and it's like running on clouds.

2. I am thankful for detailed and color coordinated chore charts. And of course for a husband who is patient and understanding when it comes to my OCD. The apartment has stayed clean and on day two of our calendar I had to ask what I am supposed to do during the 20 minute pickup if I only have 5 minutes worth of stuff to do.. I can see this working for us!

3. I am grateful to my best friend for being willing to jump back into a workout routine to help hold me accountable. I know that it is so much easier for me to stay accountable when I have someone doing it with me. We've seen success together a few times before, I know that if we stick with it this time we will see success again.

4. I am thankful for my parents, who let me run after work. It is easier for me to run immediately after work because it doesn't give me the opportunity to sit down. Knowing myself I know that I won't get back up, so going for a 1-3 mile run around their neighborhood is so incredibly helpful, especially since I can keep going if the run feels good or stop if I'm just having a bad run day.

5. I am thankful for tomorrow. Both the fact that it's Friday and because it's weigh in. I'm excited to have a fresh week. I didn't do bad this week food-wise but could have done better fitness-wise. I have yet to take my progress picture for the month for fear of seeing the changes, but will be taking them tonight to post tomorrow. I've been peaking at the scale all week and today was my highest day and I'm still less than last week, so here's hoping there's a loss tomorrow!

April Goals

New Years Goals that will be included monthly:

1. Write in a journal every day
2. Take at least one picture a day
3. Run and/or walk 105 miles
4. Run at least one mile every day to continue running streak
5. Track on MFP
6. Read two books

April Goals:

1. Have at least one child free date night with Patrick
2. Work on blanket
3. Work on cross stitch
4. Work on coloring book
5. Look into cake decorating classes
6. Stick to workouts as much as possible

March Goals- Update

New Years Goals that will be included monthly:

1. Write in a journal every day-as was mentioned in my mid-month review, I skipped a few too many days and started over. I am back on track with journaling and am rather enjoying the nightly ritual. Hopefully I continue to keep it up because it really has been good for me.
2. Take at least one picture a day- going strong with this one. I have been enjoying seeing the pictures at the end of the month. It's been difficult some days to pick just one and other days I only take one picture in order to continue the streak.
3. Run and/or walk 105 miles- I passed the 105 mile mark. As of today I am at 109.81 for the month but I still have my run to complete tonight. It was a low mileage month, but still over my goal, so I am happy.
4. Run at least one mile every day to continue running streak- There is not much that will stop me from continuing my running streak. I do wish that I had made my goals a little smaller so that I could celebrate the small successes. Going from 100 days to 250 days in a row as a goal is a lot. Obviously it doesn't prevent me from reaching a milestone and celebrating that on my own. Today is day 162 in a row.
5. Track on MFP- I am on day 11 of my streak. And out of those 11 days I have tracked every single thing all 11 days. Woot Woot! If that's not the right way to start a streak then I don't know what is. I mean, yeah I could have stayed within my calories, but I'm not being picky right now. Getting in the habit of tracking is priority numero uno.
6. Read two books- I am still halfway through my second book for the month. It took me entirely too long to get into this book. Now that I'm about halfway through it is finally starting to hold my attention. I'm not really one to stop reading a book once I've started (except once, but that was just awful). I'm trying to get through it and can only hope that the next book I choose for my first book of April is an easy one (like Nicholas Sparks).

March Goals:

1. Have at least one child free date night with Patrick- We ended up going out last week on a "date". Isabel had Spring Break and since both Patrick and I were working early my parents agreed to let her spend the night. We had dinner with them at their house and then did a quick workout at the gym before it closed and then headed to the driving range to hit a bucket of balls. It was fun, spontaneous and all around a learning experience that 1. Tracy does not do well with golf and 2. Patrick should not bring Tracy to the driving range if he is looking for time to concentrate on his form.
2. Take Isabel to Paint-A-Dream (as a family)- We did not all end up going to Paint a Dream together as a family, however I did take Isabel and my niece to the Princess Party yesterday and they got to see Anna and Elsa again. They painted a crown, sang songs, ate a cupcake and listened to the sisters read a story. I think they had a good time.
3. Have a great 5K race with Isabel- We definitely had a great time (as explained at the halfway point update). She went for a quick run with me on Saturday since Patrick was out of town for the day and wouldn't be home until later. She didn't complain and we had fun going together. Maybe she'll be asking to run another race again sooner than I thought.

4. Throw Isabel the best birthday party EVER- Still what I would consider a success. My boss even told me that I could be a party planner in my next life. Although I loved planning our wedding and Isabel's birthday parties and think that they turned out well, I highly doubt I could ever do it for anyone else that I am not extremely close with and already know their style.  

5. Update budget and track- I will be updating our budget sheet tonight for the month of March. As of yesterday our net worth had fallen slightly (nothing significant) and I was highly impressed with how everything else fell. I knew that March was going to be a tough month to budget for and feel like we managed well. Could have been better, could have been a lot worse. I think April is going to be a very telling month for us and our budget as to how things will be for the majority of the year and I am actually looking forward to focusing on it.
6. Complete NMTZ Challenge- Failed.
7. Make progress on blanket- I briefly worked on the blanket for about 10 minutes a few days ago and it has since been sitting on the coffee table staring at me, feeling neglected. I am still on the purple color that I was on a month ago. I have a tendency to get in these craft moods and start these projects that I late regret and never finish. I can't begin to tell you how many cross stitch kits I have started and ended up getting rid of because they just sat there collecting dust. Hence why one of my goals on my bucket list is to actually finish one.
8. Do not go overboard (food wise) celebrating birthdays- I believe overall I did well. I really can't think of anything that I ordered that was too awful. I did soup and salad for my dinner, ordered what I wanted for my lunch at work and ate half and I tracked everything for my sisters birthday and ended up only going over by like 25 calories. I felt generally satisfied overall and can't recall a celebration this past month where I felt I overindulged (except maybe the day of Isabel's birthday party.

March Goals- Update

New Years Goals that will be included monthly:

1. Write in a journal every day- This is not happening anymore. I'm a little disappointed that I missed a few days, but I do plan on picking it back up. Writing in a journal for a year means a year straight, not necessarily January 1st- December 31st. It can be March 16th - March 15th.
2. Take at least one picture a day- Still going strong. I was better about using my actual camera for a while, but started relying on my phone again. It's time to start carrying the actual camera around again.
3. Run and/or walk 105 miles- Going strong and slightly ahead of schedule. This month has not been as high mileage as the last two, but I am still anticipating reaching (and maybe even slightly exceeding) my goal.
4. Run at least one mile every day to continue running streak- Check! I am doing really well with my streak and am trying to go out for more than one mile at a time. I was falling back and doing the bare minimum for running and so now my goal is to do two miles a day with the occasional days of only doing one to reach my goal. Life happens sometimes and you only can make time to get out for a short run, but you're still doing it...
5. Track on MFP- As I mentioned on Saturday, I missed a day of tracking so I am starting my streak over. I was hoping to use it as motivation to track everything, however I already failed that task by only tracking breakfast for the past few days. I think the anxiety of planning and throwing Isabel's birthday party was covered up by eating. A lot.. I'm thinking of taking a quick break from tracking for the rest of the month and getting back in it full force on April 1st. I will still be very conscious of what I am eating, but mentally I need the break through at least my birthday.
6. Read two books- One down one to go! Although I've started the first chapter twice already because I can't seem to stay interested before falling asleep. I may need to start it during the day so that I'm not lying down while reading which makes me more tired.

March Goals:

1. Have at least one child free date night with Patrick- Not yet, and I'm not sure if we will this month..
2. Take Isabel to Paint-A-Dream (as a family)- Not yet. She's going to be going up on the 30th for the princess party with the Frozen sisters, so this may not happen either. I will probably try to think of another date idea for us to do as a family, although we have done dinner out twice with just the three of us and that has been really nice.
3. Have a great 5K race with Isabel- Success! She did a fantastic job on the run and I am so proud of her. Her little legs worked hard to run with me the whole time and she only had one mini meltdown where she wanted to stop. We were at the halfway point and I distracted her by playing "I'm going on a picnic.." It worked and she finished in 41:31!

4. Throw Isabel the best birthday party EVER- I'm going to call this a success.. 

5. Update budget and track- still going strong with the budget and doing our best to get out of debt and build up our savings. Some days it feels like a challenge and like we will never be able to buy a house, but other days I feel like we're making huge strides.
6. Complete NMTZ Challenge- 3 on/1 off- Fail. Complete and utter fail.
7. Make progress on blanket- I think I've added a total of one row in the past two weeks. Need to spend some time focusing on that.
8. Do not go overboard (food wise) celebrating birthdays- So far I've done okay except for Isabel's birthday party. I felt good after Patrick's and Isabel's actual birthday dinners though, so that's a plus!

Thankful Thursday #2

A day late.. Whoops!

1. I am thankful for a wonderful, loving and understanding husband. His birthday was yesterday and his gift didn't quite make it in time. I'm hoping to receive it either today or tomorrow. Either way, it's late and he was very understanding and appreciative of what I got him. I love that about him and am thankful that he and I are both relatively easy going people.

2. I am thankful that my daughter tells me that she loves me more than Frozen. I mentioned this in her birthday post, but it makes me feel like I'm doing something right. Even after last night when she had a mini meltdown at dinner and I had to take her outside to talk and she told me that she doesn't even want to be my daughter anymore. I felt like a real mom at that point, but even more so that I kept my calm, told her that it was okay to feel that upset and that I still love her. Then this morning I am told that I am loved more than Frozen. Parenthood, worth every single minute.

3. I am thankful for all the help I have been offered for Isabel's birthday party tomorrow. I know that not everyone is able to be there beforehand to help decorate, but they are helping in so many other ways. To my sister and her family- thank you for offering us to use your house for the party. It helps in so many ways and I am so grateful! To my parents- thank you for all of the items you are letting me use to help decorate the party. I would be lost (and broke) if you weren't willing to let me use your dishes and miscellaneous items. To my best friend- thank you for offering to come over early to help set up. I know that you know what I am thinking of in regards to the set up, so having you there is a huge relief. And to give up the afternoon of your own birthday means so much.. To Patrick- thank you for being the errand boy and picking up the balloons, pizza, ice, etc. It's beyond helpful! I know tomorrow is going to be absolutely wonderful. I'm hoping my anxiety stays low so that I can appreciate and enjoy the day and with everyone helping I know I can do that.

4. I am thankful that the planning for Isabel's birthday is done and all that's left to do are little odds and ends for tomorrow (cutting out the pictures of Olaf, folding the paper for the snowflake cutting, putting together the coloring books, etc...) I am so excited to see how everything comes together and need to remember that everything is going to work out the way that it is supposed to.

5. I am thankful for missing a day of tracking on MFP. I will go into more detail at tomorrow's weigh in, but basically I think it was exactly what I needed.

Progress

This is not the easiest thing for me to post.. But I think it's pretty necessary for where I am at in this journey.

May 2013                                                                     March 2014

I am not where I want to be, but I'm also a lot farther than where I was. As I mentioned yesterday at my weigh in, I'm going to choose to focus on how far I've come and not how far I have left to go.

Since I am focusing on the progress I've made, I thought it would be a good idea to go back to one of my original starting pictures (from one of the multiple times I have started over).

Surprisingly, the photos on the left from May of 2013 are from when I weighed 181.8 pounds. No lie.

The photos on the right are from a couple days ago. March 2014. I weigh 181.4.

There is a 0.4 pound difference in these photos. Once again proof that the scale has no bearing on what you look or feel like. I feel healthier, I feel more physically fit, I feel so much more confident.

I am shocked at the difference I have made in 10 months, even if my weight has only changed by less than half a pound. I am excited to see what changes I have left to make on this journey. I think it's important to take progress photos so that when you are having a hard time seeing progress elsewhere you can look back to where you started.

When you see yourself every single day it's hard to notice the changes that are happening. Sometimes I still have days where I feel like the girl on the left. Just starting out, having a difficult time fitting into her clothes. Most days I feel like the girl on the right. The one who holds her head up high because she knows that she has made some amazing changes to her lifestyle.

I showed Patrick the pictures and he couldn't believe the changes either. Again, I truly believe it's because he sees me every day. He does his best to be supportive without saying the wrong things. It's difficult to compliment someone on their weight loss. It's a sensitive subject. Instead he focuses on my dedication and especially to what I am accomplishing physically with running. When he saw these pictures he told me that he was proud of me for everything I've accomplished to become a better, healthier, more confident person.

You know what?

I'm proud of me too.

Weigh In #13

Starting Weight: 189.2
Last Weeks Weight: 180.6
This Weeks Weight: 181.4

+/-: +0.8
Total +/-:  -7.8

Last Weeks Goals:

1. Track. Everything. Everyday. (hey, it will happen one of these weeks): I did really well tracking most of this week. But I fell off the wagon a little in the middle of the week and didn't even try to get back on. I let myself have a free for all and now I feel horrible about it both physically and mentally. I'm frustrated with myself for reaching a milestone two weeks ago and then letting it slip away because I did not have enough self control to eat healthy and use portion control. I know I will get back there and I'm now done focusing on the could have, should have, would have. This is where I'm at now and it's up to me to find a way to get back to where I want to be.
2. Find a better way to track water. Start small, 6 glasses a day: I did well with tracking up until the same time that I stopped focusing on tracking food. I was getting at least 6 glasses of water a day with some days being closer to and/or over 10 glasses. I stopped tracking though, so I don't actually know if I made it the whole week. Does anyone have a system they use that works?
3. Stick to workout schedule: I didn't quit stick to the schedule and have already stopped the NMTZ Challenge. What is wrong with me??? It's like I set myself up for failure when all I want is success.. I didn't get in the full 5 miles this weekend in one day because I had too many excuses not to. But I did get 2.04 miles on Saturday and 3.51 miles on Sunday. That counts, right?
4. Be self confident and own it: I have seen a tremendous difference in my self-confidence since starting to lose weight this time around. I have been focusing so much more on how I am feeling and less on what I weigh. I am also focusing on measuring success in different ways and not just based on the number on the scale. I have read too many articles (and experienced myself) about the scale being a liar and not the best tool to measure success or even progress. There are so many factors that can affect the scale one way or the other, and although it is a tool and can be helpful to reach certain goals, it's not the only tool and it doesn't tell the whole story.

The last few times I tried to lose weight I became obsessed with the scale and with seeing that number go down. It affected me to the point of questioning my self worth based on what the scale said. If I lost then I was able to do a happy dance and my whole life was validated because I saw success. If I gained then I would look at myself in the mirror and question everything. I honestly don't believe I saw the real me in the mirror, but a version of myself that was unacceptable in every possible way.

I decided for a while to put the scale away. To not care what I weighed and instead focus on how I feel. If I was hungry, I ate. Simple as that. I listened to my body and stopped eating when I was satisfied. Not full, not stuffed, satisfied. Unfortunately, this brought on more weight and although I was feeling better about myself for the first month or so it was showing that I was gaining weight and by the second month I was becoming frustrated with myself. My clothes wouldn't fit and it was affecting my marriage.

I don't know what happened or why it happened when it did, but in the middle of December I decided that I wanted to start the habit of tracking, portion control and making healthy choices overall. I was already in the middle of my running streak and had the daily exercise taken care of. At that point I was mainly focused on the eating. I had gained a lot of weight when I was training for my first marathon and since I had huge goals for 2014 and 2015, I wanted to get down to a healthier weight to make it easier to achieve these goals. The holiday's seem like the worst time to start trying to lose weight, but I viewed it as a challenge and ended up losing close to 6 pounds before the new year. The losing streak continued for 5 weeks before I saw my first gain and the yo-yoing of my weight began again.

 

I may not be where I want to be weight-wise. I may not be where I want to be measurement-wise. But I'm making progress and I'm trying my best to focus on that instead of where I want to be. I need to stop looking at what I have left and look at what I've already done. I'm becoming a better version of myself and not because I weigh less or have smaller measurements but because I am seeing who I really am in the mirror and because I am holding my head up higher with each passing day. I am who I am, whether I weigh 181.4 or 160 (my current "goal weight") has no bearing on who I am as a person.

 

 

 

Workout Schedule:
March 2nd - March 8th
Sunday: long distance run- 5 miles did not complete (I did get in 3.5 miles though to make a total of 5.5 for the weekend), NMTZ challenge completed
Monday: streak completed, NMTZ challenge completed
Tuesday: streak completed
Wednesday: streak completed, NMTZ challenge completed
Thursday: streak completed, NMTZ challenge completed, gym completed
Friday: streak completed, NMTZ challenge did not complete
Saturday: streak completed

This weeks goals:
1. Track
2. Follow workout schedule
3. Do not go overboard at birthdays

Workout schedule:
March 9th - March 15th
Sunday: San Diego Half Marathon
Monday: streak
Tuesday: streak
Wednesday: streak
Thursday (Patrick's birthday): streak
Friday (Isabel's birthday): streak
Saturday (Isabel's birthday party): Hope4Kids 5K

Get in two strength training sessions (using any DVD I choose) and one cross training session at the gym of a minimum of 30 minutes.

Measurements

Original measurements taken October 15th:

Chest: 41

Waist: 37.5

Hips: 45.5

L thigh: 26.5

L arm: 13

L calf: 14.5

 

Measurements taken February 22nd:

Chest: 39.25 (-1.75)

Waist: 33.25 (-4.25)

Hips: 43.25 (-2.25)

L thigh: 24 (-2.5)
L arm: 12.25 (-.75)

Current measurements taken March 8th:

Chest: 40 (-1)

Waist: 33 (-4.5)

Hips: 43.5 (-2)

L thigh: 24 (-2.5)

L arm: 12.25 (-.75)

My measurements are pretty close to the same with the exception of gaining in my chest (what the heck is that all about?!) and losing in my waist. I knew they were going to plateau at some point and this may be a good time to switch to taking measurements monthly along with my progress picture and body fat %. I will probably take them again in two weeks and then start taking them monthly starting April 1st.

 

 

Thankful Thursday #1

1. I am thankful that I have a job. My review went really well yesterday and I am thankful that my hard work and dedication was acknowledged and appreciated. I have yet to receive a negative review at my current job and I'm glad that my work ethic was brought up. I take pride in what I do and I go into work and do my absolute best. I go above and beyond what is required of me. Although I go most of the year feeling invisible, it was nice to spend a half hour talking about what an asset to the team I am.

2. I am thankful that we have a roof over our heads. Although we are both antsy to get to the next step and start looking into buying a house, we know that we are doing the responsible thing in waiting. We are so close to paying off debt and we are building up our savings as well. We have goals in mind of when we would like to start looking, so working towards those goals and seeing the progress we are making is part of the process. I think when the time is right we will just know and then the entire process of buying a house will be more fun than stressful.

3. I am thankful that I have a beautiful daughter that reminds me to not take life too seriously. She was getting dressed for school this morning and came out in an outfit that was a complete mix match of patterns and colors. I asked her to change the dress to something else and she started crying. You see, minutes earlier she asked me if she looked pretty in that dress. I responded with "You look beautiful in anything." The combination of the shoes and jacket was what warranted to request for a different outfit. Normally I don't say anything. I let her express her creativity with orange flowered pants and a purple striped shirt. It's just clothing. So I have no idea what made me ask her to change this morning. She came up to me and said "You told me I look pretty in anything." Shame on me for caring what other people will think of her outfit choice. A reminder to take a step back and realize what is important in life.

4. I am thankful that I have today off of work. I have an appointment I'm about to leave for and then am planning on sitting at the DMV for the rest of the afternoon, hopefully getting done before Isabel gets out of school. I have to renew my drivers license and since I've mailed it in the last two times I am required to go in and do an eye test and thumb print. Good thing I have a good book that I am looking forward to making some progress on while I am there. I decided to get it done today instead of waiting for an afternoon appointment and going after work because it's important to be an adult and do errands instead of going shopping on your day off. So I'm thankful for that too.

5. I am thankful that tomorrow is payday. I have really been enjoying our budget and watching where our money is going, including the debts going down and all of our savings going up. It's never fun to watch the money go out when the bills need to be paid, but it's so nice to be in this frame of mind where it's not just money leaving your account but money being used to put a roof over our heads, food in our bellies and other things like electricity and gas. I used to resent paying bills and having minimal money in our account for things like shopping or going out to eat. Instead, my frame of mind has become much more positive and I look forward to getting the bills. Weird.

March Goals

New Years Goals that will be included monthly:

1. Write in a journal every day
2. Take at least one picture a day
3. Run and/or walk 105 miles
4. Run at least one mile every day to continue running streak
5. Track on MFP
6. Read two books

March Goals:

1. Have at least one child free date night with Patrick
2. Take Isabel to Paint-A-Dream (as a family)
3. Have a great 5K race with Isabel
4. Throw Isabel the best birthday party EVER
5. Update budget and track
6. Complete NMTZ Challenge- 3 on/1 off
7. Make progress on blanket
8. Do not go overboard (food wise) celebrating birthdays

February Goals- Update

New Years Goals that will be included monthly:

1. Write in a journal every day: I am still writing in my journal and still fighting the temptation to go through and rewrite it. It's a really odd thing to be obsessive about since no one is reading my journal and not even I am going back through and reading past entries. I may at some point though and I think that's what bothers me. There are entries that I wrote so fast I can't even figure out what it says. I really am regretting not taking my time to write neatly. I even knew at the time that it would be something that would end up bothering me and yet I still did it. What an odd thing to be complainy about.
2. Take at least one picture a day: I need to get better about uploading the pictures daily so that I'm not sitting here trying to upload a bunch of pictures to the blog and then trying to figure out formatting all in one day. It's annoying and irritating. I got the big camera out on a couple of occasions and really enjoyed taking pictures of the kids and am looking forward to printing them out and framing them. We don't have a lot of wall space, so I will have to think of something creative to do. I am spending a lot of time working on other projects, so it's been a lot easier to just take pictures using my phone. I am looking into prompts for March to try to spark some creativity because I am pretty disappointed with the photo quality for this month. I know I can do better.
3. Run and/or walk 105 miles: It really doesn't feel like much of a challenge when you are enjoying it so much.. Looking back in my mileage log I only made it over 100 miles in February once and that was in 2012 (and I only went over by 0.92 miles). This year I am definitely more focused and ready to accomplish my goal of 1250 miles in one year (and actually on pace to go well over that). I finished the month at 120.77 miles.
4. Run at least one mile every day to continue running streak: Again, another challenge that hasn't been too difficult to keep up with. There is very little that will stop me from completing my goal of 500 days in a row. I've made it this far, there is no way that I am starting over now. Today is day 131.
5. Track on MFP: Most days were not 100% complete, but I did log on and had the best intentions every day to track and I call that a win. It means that I am dedicated to trying to make each day a healthy one. Whether it ends up that way or not is an entirely different story.
6. Read two books: Completed and happy to say that both books were really good. They were both by Nicholas Sparks, so not difficult to get through and of course touched the sappy romantic side. It's amazing how happy I can be in my marriage until I read one of his books and then start to wish my husband was more of the romantic type... But he wouldn't be the man I fell in love with if he was that way and I much prefer his sense of humor anyway.

February Goals:

1. Have at least one child free date night with Patrick:  Patrick and I went out for Valentine's. Although our plans got changed it was still a wonderful, simple evening. We did end up getting dinner at In-N-Out (which was amazing, as always) but the wait at the go kart place was two hours long. Since we were planning on picking Isabel up after our date we decided to postpone the go karts and go out for frozen yogurt instead. It was simply a wonderful evening.
2. Take Isabel bowling: We ended up taking all of the children bowling, including my niece. It was so much fun and I bowled my best game to date (a 182!). I have never bowled so well and was secretly hoping to break 200, but I think I jinxed myself on the tenth frame. It gave me some hope that if I actually put forth some effort to my bucket list goal of bowling a perfect game that I could at some point. Seriously though, before this game my highest score was at or around a 125 if that...
3. Plan Isabel's birthday party:  There are so many exciting things happening with the planning of Isabel's birthday. I can't even begin to explain how excited I am for her birthday to get here already.. I am doing my absolute best to not tell her of my super secret surprise. I've already told quite a few people and want to keep it a secret because she is going to freak out. I think I said this at the halfway point, but I have a feeling that my ideas are going to fall short of my expectations but completely blow her away. There is nothing that brings me more joy than to make her happy.
4. Cook dinner at least once: I'm not sure if I can consider this "making dinner" but I did put together dinner one night by heating up a dream dinners and some veggies. I guess it's better than not being in the kitchen at all? Granted the purpose of this goal was to get me to actually prepare and cook a meal so I don't think I should count this. I did bake some delicious cupcakes though for Valentine's day. The cupcake mix was packaged and I made the frosting from scratch. Strawberry cupcakes with vanilla frosting, except the cupcakes were white and the frosting was pink. It totally threw a couple people off.  
6. Spend less time on my phone: Still a work in progress. I find that there are a lot of things that I do on my phone (like track of MFP, communicate with my accountability buddies, banking, etc) however there are a lot of things that I can spend less time doing (like checking facebook). I have rekindled my love for pinterest as it is helping me piece together some great ideas for Isabel's birthday party.
7. Set up and stick to budget: I set up the budget for February at the beginning of the month and I have really been looking forward to updating it. I really love physically seeing our balances grow in our savings, our balances get smaller with our debts and overall seeing where our money is going each month. I'm sure once we have a few months completed we will be able to look over it all and see what needs to be adjusted (if anything) and continue improving.

David vs. Goliath

aka: Tracy vs. the hill.

Okay, not quite as extreme, but this hill is my Goliath and the challenge that I want to complete is being able to run intervals up the entire way without any extra walk breaks. 

Obviously I have yet to conquer this beast of a hill (at least that's how I see it). I'm sure there are many people who have done this and more. But so far the hill has won every single time in my story.

It is a mile long, extremely steep hill and I have had to walk up it many times. Enough to know that walking it alone can raise my heart rate, cause heavy breathing and make my legs burn. 

Yesterday's scheduled 6 mile training run turned into 7.73 miles when I decided to run from our apartment to my in laws. We were heading there anyway, might as well run right?

Unfortunately this course includes one pretty intense hill and Goliath. I made it through the first one, but by the time I started the big one I was already 5.3 miles in, exhausted from multiple factors (distance, the hill, heat, etc), and I was dizzy, out of breath and my heart rate was elevated. 

I made it four 30:1 intervals before Patrick showed up on his way to his parents. Like my night in shining armor, he arrived when I needed him most. He dropped off a cold water bottle and tried to encourage me to keep going. At that point I had hit my wall and I was beyond encouraging words so I just kept putting one foot in front of the other.

At the 6 mile mark (not yet halfway up the hill) I text Patrick to see if he could pick me up. I justified that I had made it the scheduled distance and it was okay to stop. I sat on the curb for no longer than 5 minutes before I felt like I could keep going. So I text him again, this time simply saying "never mind" and I kept going.

Once I got to the top I started my intervals again and made it the full distance. I'm glad I took the short break (being dizzy while running is not a good combination) and I'm glad I was able to finish.

I will defeat the hill at some point. Maybe I haven't been able to because it's always been the middle part of the course so I'm already spent by that point. Maybe I need to just park my car at the bottom and take it on as the first mile. 

Regardless of how it gets done, it will get done. 

February Mini Goals Update

New Years Goals that will be included monthly:

1. Write in a journal every day: I have consistently journaled every day since Christmas. I am loving it! Same as last month, I am still learning that it is okay to not have a lot of profound things to say every single day. Some days I write about something that's bothering me, most days I brag about what I'm accomplishing. It's been nice to see the journal slowly fill up. The OCD side of me is starting up with the voices of needing to start over and rewrite what I've already finished because there are certain pages that are messy almost to the point of illegible, but I am fighting that voice and realizing that it doesn't have to be perfect and that it gives it character. Or something like that...
2. Take at least one picture a day: I am still on track with this one, however I am finding that most days I am taking a picture for the sole purpose of getting a picture in for that day. Nothing fancy or creative happening for the most part and that's not as much fun for me. I may think about loosely following a photo challenge for the month of March to strike some creativity in the photography department. I really need to stop being lazy in this regards and take out my actual camera instead of depending on my iphone.
3. Run and/or walk 105 miles: I am doing well on this goal. I am still trying to get in two walks at work Monday-Friday as well as a run every day (some days I run farther than others). It definitely helps to be training and my long weekend runs are the main addition to my mileage. So far I am at 63.57/105.
4. Run at least one mile every day to continue running streak: Still streaking! I was just thinking the other day that my goal is 500 days in a row. What happens after day 500? Do I keep going? Do I take a break and start a new streak? Do I make a goal of 1000 days? What's next? Obviously I still have a ways to go to think about this, but I am pretty sure that if I get to day 500 I'm not going to stop. Yesterday was day 116.
5. Track on MFP: I have been consistently tracking for almost 65 days. Just about 300 days to go before I reach my goal of tracking for a year! Granted, some days are better than others and a lot of the time I forget a thing or two, and don't even get me started on tracking things like water or exercise... I think the main victory is that I start each day with the best intentions and that's going to have to be good enough. I know that if I want to be better then I'm going to have to stick to it and track every little thing, but as long as I'm doing that most days then it's a win in my book.
6. Read two books: I have finished one and have started the second one. It's taking me a little longer to get through this one, not because it's not interesting (because it is), but because by the time I go to bed at night (which is when/where I do most of my reading) I only make it through a couple pages before I'm zoning out and falling asleep. Then I have to reread it the next night because I forgot what it said. Since I'm already a relatively slow reader I need to set aside some time to get through this book and start a new one before the end of the month.

February Goals:

1. Have at least one child free date night with Patrick: The plan is to go out tonight.. Pretty cliche because it's Valentine's Day and what not, but we have only actually celebrated Valentine's Day by going out once in the past 4 years and we ended up going on the 13th. We do the whole card thing (and normally Patrick gets me roses and chocolates), but this year we decided to skip the flower/chocolate thing and use it as our date night. We are going to In-N-Out for dinner and MB2 Go Kart Racing afterwards.
2. Take Isabel bowling: We have not had the chance to go bowling yet this month, but I still plan on taking her. We have been able to do a few other mother/daughter things (including going to see The Fresh Beat Band concert), but I would still like the family to go bowling sometime soon.
3. Plan Isabel's birthday party: It is definitely in the works and a lot of items have been purchased already. She is having a Frozen themed birthday party and I am really excited for all of the ideas I have (most that I have found online). I think she's going to have a blast and it's the first year that we are inviting friends from school. Once I get over the panic of that idea I can focus more on the decorating and fun we will have.
4. Cook dinner at least once: Have not done this yet, but will start looking for a new recipe to try.
5. Have taxes done: done, filed, refund deposited in our account, half transferred to savings, two bills paid off, waiting for two more to come in to pay off. Patrick and I discussed this and agreed to splitting our tax return right down the middle and putting half towards our house savings and half towards our debt. By doing this we should be on track to get out of debt by July and we are now more than halfway towards our goal for beginning the process of looking for a house.
6. Spend less time on my phone: I am trying to be more conscious of this, especially when I am around other people, but it doesn't always work that way. I need to be less dependant on using it for everything and start focusing on spending a small amount of time here and there catching up on my to-do lists, tracking on MFP or adding mileage to runkeeper. I need to spend less time on emails and facebook.
7. Set up and stick to budget: This is the one I am most excited about. I sat down and looked through our budget for last month and used that as a guide for this month. I think we are doing a much better job of sticking to our budget and focusing on where we are spending our money. These first few months of the year are a little difficult to budget based on tax returns and birthday parties, but we are making it work and I am doing my best to spend wisely in regards to Isabel's birthday. I am really excited to look and see where we are at at the end of this month, and even more excited to see how debts go down and our net worth go up.

Love

With the most love focused holiday quickly approaching, I have become a little nostalgic of the most love focused day of my life. I will openly admit to the fact that looking through the photos from our wedding is something that provides pure joy and the only thing I would change from our wedding is that I would request more pictures.

Seriously.. that's all that I would change.

I absolutely love the pictures that we received and am so grateful that we found an amazing photographer. She was the first and only photographer we met with and we fell in love, not just with her work but with her personality. I mean, there was a point during the wedding when she took us away from everything to take a few more pictures and she and her assistant/second photographer ended up dancing for us to Cupid Shuffle.. It was a special moment.

I have been spending more time looking through our wedding album as it brings me so much happiness. Patrick and I have had our fair share of ups and downs and we are currently the happiest we've been in the (almost) five years we've been together. I think we've finally hit our groove and we're working together to make our marriage fantastic instead of working separately towards the same goal. I feel like we are a team and I am just really happy we're in a good place.

It's just nice to be able to have something so simple put a smile on your face and lift your mood...

"I promise to give you the best of myself and to ask no more than you can give. I promise to respect you and to realize that your desires are no less important than my own. I promise to share my time and attention with you, and to bring joy and strength to our relationship. I promise to grow with you, and to be willing to make changes in order to keep our relationship alive. I promise to comfort you with myself, to love you in good times as well as bad, with all that I am and all that I have forever for always and no matter what."

This will be the fourth Valentine's Day that Patrick and I have celebrated together, and our second as a married couple. The first year we went out for dinner at The Melting Pot. I got all dolled up (in a short black dress, red high heels and I even did my hair and make up!) and we spent too much money on delicious food. We chose to celebrate on the 13th to avoid the crowds.

The past two years have been simple and sweet, very "us" in the sense that we didn't go out and do anything. We're just not that way and would much rather enjoy a night in than a night out. We got each other cards and Patrick surprised me both years with roses and chocolates.

This year we have decided to go out again. We are using it as our one date night this month and my mom offered to watch Isabel for us for the night. We decided that we wanted to do something inexpensive (to keep with the whole budget/savings/paying off debt theme) and low key. I suggested In-N-Out for dinner and MB2 Go Kart Racing for afterwards. The entire evening should last about 2 hours and should cost us less than $40. Simple. Sweet. Different.

But it doesn't stop me from turning into the mushy lovey wife. I found a great card that I think he's going to love. We decided no presents this year (meaning no roses or chocolates) and I have a feeling that we are going to have our best Valentine's Day/date night yet!

Budgeting, Saving and Becoming Debt Free

Patrick and I have been working on our debt, trying to build our savings and all around attempting to budget our money for awhile now. I was recommended a budgeting website probably a good three years ago and have been using it ever since. Mint.com has been an amazing help to me (and I barely use any of the functions for it).

I am a very visual person, so seeing our budgets laid out helps me see where we can cut back and where we can adjust to make room for other things. I am able to see our debts (and adjust them as needed) which plays a part in seeing our networth (assets-debts). I have really enjoyed keeping track of these things and at the same time watching our debts decrease and our networth increase.

I have so many goals when it comes to our money. Shortly after Patrick and I got married we combined our finances over to my bank (we did this for the simple fact that I had already opened ten savings accounts at my bank). I also preferred to then be in charge of our finances- where the money goes, transferring to each savings account, paying the bills, etc. It is not that I didn't trust him with our money, but the fact that he never used a check registry honestly scared me a little. My slight obsessive compulsive side needed to see it all laid out and I was happy when he agreed to let me be in charge (with his input, of course).

The reason we have ten savings accounts is simply because we are saving for a lot of different things. We currently have the following savings accounts open:

Marley- instead of pet insurance we put $25 a month away into a savings account. When it's time to see the vet we transfer the money over. This way it is not an added expense, but rather just a small unnoticeable amount set aside. We will also use this in case of emergencies with her as well as when we find her a new scratching post as hers is well loved, but in need of being replaced (those things are expensive!)

Isabel, Leah and Kaleb college fund- It is never too early to start saving for college! Right now we put a small amount away every paycheck and eventually we will be able to help each of the children with their future goals. We are well aware that college is going to cost a lot more than we can afford and unfortunately we won't be able to send them off with college 100% paid for, but we do want to be able to help. Even if it's only a small amount.

Dopey Challenge- obviously flying to Florida, staying in a hotel room and paying for registration to the Dopey Challenge is going to cost a pretty penny. I have been paying myself $1 for every 1 mile I run and although it won't pay for the entire trip, it will help the cost.

Vacation- this is another account that we put a small amount in each paycheck. We really don't have any trips planned at the moment, but the savings does help when we do decide to go somewhere. Again, it usually doesn't pay for the whole thing, but it does help the cost and who knows, maybe if we continue to save we can eventually go on a big trip to somewhere amazing.

Christmas- in order to budget our money better around the holidays we decided last year to try a savings account. We put money aside each paycheck and then transfer it over when we start our holiday shopping. I do believe that I spent over the amount in our savings last year, but I still stayed below our budget and didn't feel as though it was over the top (like I did a few years ago and went into debt because I just kept buying gifts).

Retirement- Even though Patrick and I both have a 401K account through our work, we did decide to start a savings account for when we retire. The plan is to use our 401K after we retire for bills and miscellaneous grown up things and to use our savings accounts to travel.

New car- Patrick's car is going to be the first to go between the two of ours. He's put many miles on it on the trips down to pick up his children and back to drop them off. It comes at kind of a good time because we want to wait until we get out of debt before we put on more debt with a car loan. We are starting to look at 7 seaters because we want to have enough room for the three children and maybe a fourth if our lives take us down that path in a year or so.

House- this is our top priority at this point in regards to savings and we are trying to put as much as we can into this savings account. Some months we are able to put in more than others, but we are inching our way to our goal. Once our debts are paid off we will be able to contribute a lot more and we are hoping to be able to reach our goal and start looking into buying a house sometime in 2015.

As for our debt... We have made a payment plan schedule so that we can be debt free by August 2014. We are hoping that we receive a tax return this year and we have already decided that half will go into our house savings and half will go towards our debt no matter what the return may be. We have also agreed that at this point we are 100% focused on getting debt free as soon as possible so that we can then turn our attention to savings.

Of course we're not cutting out everything and we also want to make our budget livable, so we've added budgets for running and golf. This way we are able to still enjoy the things we want to do while fitting it into our budget. We each also get a cash allowance each paycheck so that we can buy whatever we want, no questions asked. I think this helps a lot because that way Patrick doesn't have to "ask permission" to buy something and vice versa.

We are going to see how the budget we created works for a few months before altering it. I know that certain things are not exact each month (like gas and electric bills as well as restaurants, groceries, gas/fuel and even our income, among other things). I think the main point in creating this is so that we are both on the same page and both focused on the same goals.

I know that it felt amazing when we were able to pay off one of Patrick's debts last month. He had been paying on it for a long while, so once we were able to make a plan and get it paid off you could tell the excitement. The hope is that we are debt free before our goal of August and that we take the time to celebrate the smallest of successes, even if it's a simple high five when we pay off a credit card or make a payment. I think that's an important part of it- celebrating.

I know, for me, that it is nice to have it all written down and I can visualize what we are doing. Like I previously said, I'm a visual person. I also like to have goals and to work towards them. Buying a house is something that we both really want to do and the sooner we do that the sooner we can work towards certain other goals (like growing our family). It will help to have a bigger place, especially for when the big kids are here. It will also be nice to have a home. Not that we don't consider the apartment our home, but it can feel a little too small most of the time. I would rather being paying towards something each month that is ours at the end of it all.

I am grateful to have a roof over my head and I am well aware that owning a home is not all rainbows and sunshine, but I can picture the fence, Patrick in the garage working on rebuilding a car, the dog running around the backyard, the kids playing in the living room, me baking in the kitchen (that's big enough to have more than one person in it at a time). I want that and I am going to put in the work to get it.

Here's to being debt free in 2014!