Day 40: Fall is in the air.

Wednesday, August 30th

Oooh, I love this time of year! I love watching the leaves change, and feeling the cool breeze that cuts through the hot days. I love being able to wear jeans and jackets again. I love back-to-school, even when I'm not going back to school! Is that weird?

Tomorrow night my mom, dad, and I are going to a pre-season pro football game! I'm so excited. I have never been to a pro game before and I think it'll be fun. Clint's mom is going to watch Colby, so he'll get to hang out and have fun with his grandparents. Then Friday is Clint's dad's birthday, and Saturday is our friend Sage's first birthday party! We'll be home on Sunday and still have another day to hang out, since it's Labor Day weekend. I'm really looking forward to it.

Every night, when I go to bed, I am so excited for the next day. I have never experienced this before, unless I'm going on a trip or have something fun planned. I just love waking up, playing with Colby, putting him down for naps, cleaning, cooking, blogging, and drinking coffee. It makes me feel good to have a clean (or at least semi-clean) apartment, and a happy kid and husband. I know that much of the reason for my happiness is that I have found a good balance. I don't neglect myself. I make sure that if I'm tired I take a nap (when Colby's napping, of course). If I need a break because Colby has been exceptionally cranky that day, I hand him off to Clint and have some time to myself. I make time for everyone.

I am so happy in my life right now, and I couldn't imagine it any different. We are working towards owning a house sometime (hopefully) soon. We have healthy dinners and still have extra money to have fun. Our families are awesome, and our friends rock. I am one lucky woman. I am glad for the choices I have made in my life. They haven't always been the easy ones, but they have definitely been the right ones. I'm so fortunate, thankful, and absolutely grateful for what I have. It scares me to know that everything could be taken away from me in an instant, but there's no use in worrying about something I have no control over. I will just take each day as it comes, and enjoy every minute.

Shew. Sometimes I get kinda deep and Dr. Phil-ish don't I? Well I'm done. (For now anyway!)

Today's weather is looking kind of bleak. Just a preview of what's to come in the fall and winter, I guess. It's a darn good thing I love the rain. I couldn't live anywhere that's sunny all the time. Sometimes you just need a break from the sunshine, ya know? Plus, I am a strong believer that we are more appreciative of the sunny days because we don't get them all the time.

I was going to walk to Costco to pick up the invitations I ordered, but we'll see how the weather holds up. It's amazing to me, last fall we took our newborn Colby for walks in his stroller and there were lots of fall leaves on the path. This year we'll still go for walks on the same path and there will be more leaves, but Colby will be a toddler. It reminds me of one of those sappy movies that makes you cry when you see the montage of time passing. Ahhh, life. :o)

Okay, I think I'm going to do some Yoga while Colby's napping today. I feel so chunky lately, and I'm not 100% sure why. Maybe because Colby's not really breastfeeding anymore and I'm not burning those extra calories? Hmmmm...

Oh, wait! One more thing. Colby slept through the night last night! I am convinced that it is directly related to the fact that he's mostly on formula now. I think breastmilk is too easily digested and therefore makes him hungry faster. Ever since he started on formula, he's been sleeping longer and longer. I woke up at 5 this morning almost in a panic, "What's wrong? Is he alive? Should I go check on him?" I didn't check on him because I didn't want to wake him up, but I didn't really get back to sleep. Hopefully he continues this sleeping through the night trend. I could get used to it!

To Do:

1. Yoga

2. Walk

3. Pick up invites

4. Laundry

5. Dishes

6. Vaccuum

Day 39: Ahhh, I love nap time.

Tuesday, August 29th

I think I'm going to be totally lost when Colby decides to go down to one nap a day. I love the break in the morning (when I drink my coffee, mess around on the internet, take a shower) and in the afternoon (when I clean and start dinner). I don't know what I'm going to do when I have to do all of those things in one naptime. I think I'll have to sacrifice the shower. I kid, I kid!

Clint and I are trying SO hard to save money. We just set up a budget for ourselves and figured that we're spending way too much money on groceries and going out. So far, we're staying within the budget, but there are still 2 more weeks left of this "month" (we're going from the 15th of one month to the 14th of the next). It's so exciting to save money, but it sucks when you're trying to get started. I know it will all pay off once we see our savings growing, though.

I'm really excited because we just settled on my car accident from 2004. We got enough money to pay off my car! We're going to continue taking the amount of that car payment out each month, but put it into a CD or other high-interest savings. That's going to add up really fast, and we won't miss the money because we aren't used to having it in the first place! We're going to use that money as our "home improvement fund." We know we're going to have to buy a fixer-upper when we do eventually buy a house, so we want to have some cash on hand for new paint, carpet, water heater, whatever we'll need to fix it up! Now if we could only buy a house...

Man, we are so lucky to have such generous parents. They are always babysitting Colby, taking us to dinner, buying us stuff, helping us pay for other things. My parents are going to supply BBQ stuff for Colby's birthday. Clint's parents just gave us their 32" (or is it 35"...) TV with the stand. Not only that, they helped us move it up here. I feel so spoiled! I wish we could pay them back. I can't wait until we're making more money and we can treat them to dinner every once and a while. I know, they're parents and they don't expect it of us. I know they want to help us out because that's what parents do. I just hope they know how much we appreciate it. We are so lucky.

I'm not quite sure what's on today's agenda. I know I need to go for a walk, but I feel like I need to switch it up. Maybe I'll drive to another trail or something. This neighborhood is nice, but it gets boring walking the same way every day. Blech.

Calories Burned This Week: 265

To Do:

1. Walk

2. Mop Floors

3. Dishes

4. Laundry

Day 38: I dedicate this to Aunt Donna.

Monday, August 28th

See Aunt Donna, I told you I'd do it. You didn't believe me did you?

After attending a family get-together this weekend, I realized how many people actually read my rambling blogs and actually enjoy them, so I decided to get to writing them again! This is for all of my fans out there.

; )

Alrighty then, down to business. I was doing so bad at exercising and eating well, but I think I'm back on track. (Okay, with the exception of the crap I ate last weekend.) Clint and I have realized how much we spend on groceries and eating out, and decided to re-evaluate our spending. I have started planning meals for the week and shopping only on Sunday or Monday. That way, I don't find myself in the grocery store multiple times a week, spending money on stuff that we really don't need. Plus, I'm planning lots of healthy meals, so that's a double bonus! My cousin Leslie suggested the site allrecipes.com and I LOVE it. They have a kagillion recipes complete with nutrition facts and suggestions for side dishes to serve with the meal. It has been wonderful. I'm trying to fix us a couple of vegetarian meals every week too, because meat is so dog-gone expensive! So far so good!

Clint took one section of the CPA exam on Friday. We're crossing our fingers that he passed. He worked his butt of for this one, I'm positive that he aced it. He was so ready for that test. I'm so proud of my man! He's going to take this week off from studying, but has to get right back on it after the weekend. He has another test on October 7th!

Clint's mom took me shopping for a new outfit on Friday! My birthday isn't until 9/11, but there's nothing better than an early birthday present! I am so spoiled by my mother-in-law. I got two totally cute shirts and a pair of dark blue jeans that I don't have to have hemmed. Wait, I'm going to repeat that, because I don't think you were paying attention: I don't have to get them hemmed. Do you know what that means to a short person like me?! Oh, and to make it even better, they're hella cute. Now I just need to get myself a pair of sexy heels and my outfit will be complete.

Other than that, nothing else is new! Colby is a walking machine now, which is so cute and yet so scary. He's a clutz like his mama, so he gets a new bump, scratch, or bruise every day. Poor kid.

So much to do today. After Colby gets up from his nap and has some lunch, we're going to walk to Costco. I sent the invitation that my mom made in and got one copy made so I can make sure it turns out okay before I jump into ordering all of them. I still can't believe my baby is turning one...

To Do:

1. Walk

2. Pick up Invitation

3. Laundry

4. Dishes

5. Plan Meals for Week

6. Grocery Shopping

Day 37: What an awesome weekend!

Monday, August 14th

I did so bad at blogging last week! It was a pretty busy week, though, so you can't blame me. I still did my exercises for the most part, so that's good! I have come to the realization that I get checked out a lot when I rollerblade. I don't know if it's because not many people rollerblade anymore and I look like a total nerd because I still am, or if it's because I'm just too damn good looking to keep your eyes off me. I think I'll go with option two. Last week I was on the last stretch of road towards our place and these guys passed me. They turned around and slowed down. I started getting pretty worried at this point. Then, the driver opened his door and asked me how to get to the freeway. I gave them really quick directions, but didn't stop rollerblading. I was so afraid that they were going to try to grab me. But, thankfully, the driver closed the door and they drove off, but not before telling me, "Oh by the way, you look really good." Maybe I am just too damn good looking... ; )

This weekend was a great one. Friday night I went on a "date" with my friend Kendra. We had Mexican, went to Coldstone, and watched Step Up. It was such a fun time! I love being able to get away and have some ever-important girl talk. It's great!

Saturday my aunt and uncle had their 30th anniversary party. That was so much fun. They had awesome food, a really sweet slideshow, and we all got to learn how to Cha-Cha. Clint and I had tons of fun, and I think we got the dance down pretty well. I want to take more dance lessons with Clint since we have so much fun doing it. We loved taking Swing Dancing lessons, and we would have fun learning more.

Today is going to be a lot of errand running. I ended up selling 2 items on ebay, which is great, but I netted a total of $2 in profit. Don't worry, I won't spend it all in one place. So today I have to go to the post office to send the packages, among other not-fun errands. Wohoo!

This is probably going to be another bad week for blogging. I'm going down tomorrow to hang out and staying until Wednesday, when I'm meeting up with a few other mommies.

Have a great week!

To do:

1. Errands!

2. Fold laundry

3. Walk

4. Jog/Rollerblade

Day 36: Another new week!

Monday, August 7th

What a great weekend. We didn't do anything special, but just hanging out and not having to go anywhere was awesome. My mom came up as planned and she treated us to lunch at the Olive Garden. Then, after Colby went down for the night, she and I went to Applebee's and had drinks and dessert. It was fun to just hang out and laugh and not have to worry about where Colby is or what he's putting in his mouth.

Sunday we went to church. It's funny: when I was younger, I thought sitting through a church service was so boring. Now that I'm older and especially now that I have a child, it's actually a great break for me and somewhat relaxing. It's awesome too because Colby absolutely loves the nursery. Three different people complemented us on how well-behaved Colby is. They said he sat in the corner and just watched kids, laughed, and clapped his hands most of the time. So cute.

So this is another new week! I burned lots of calories last week and I hope to do just as well, if not better, this week. In addition, I think I'm going to join the message boards on Sparkpeople. It just helps to talk to people who are trying to loose weight. It's nice to hear their tips and tricks and just be able to comiserate with how tough it is to loose those last 15 pounds. My goal is to be 135 or less by September 25th, which is Colby's one year appointment. That's a little less than 2 months away, so I think I can do it.

Alrighty, hope everyone has a great week!

Total Calories Burned Last Week: 835!

To Do:

1. Walk

2. Jog/Rollerblade

3. Laundry

4. Dishes

5. Clean Bathroom

Day 35: Today I brag about Colby.

Friday, August 4th

Yesterday was great! Colby and I went for a walk to the coffee stand and back, and burned lots of calories. Okay, so I got a snickerdoodle at the coffee stand which was slightly counter-productive. Whatever. : ) I didn't do the strength training, although I think I will after I finish drinking my cup of coffee and typing this.

Today is already a great day. Colby is being so funny. He is starting to understand more and more of what I say and now he points at things, looks at me, and says "Dah" and waits until I tell him what it is. Then he'll point at it again and say, "Woahw." Everything is "Woahw" to him. It's cute because it sounds like whoa, but he ends it with a "w" like he's mixing it with the word "Wow." I don't know if that makes sense, but it would if you heard him.

Colby is also getting a lot more daring. He is standing up for long periods of time, totally unassisted. He took another step today, but fell because I said, "Oh my gosh!" really loud. Damn my enthusiasm.

I can't believe my little boy is growing up! He already has such a funny personality. He is changing every day, and that totally trips me out. And he looks different too. Every day I go to pick him up I feel like his face is slimmer or his hair is longer. Trippy. It's so exciting to watch him grow, but so sad too! I'm glad that we're going to wait a couple of years for number 2 though, because this is the only time I'm going to be able to focus all of my attention on one child. I think Colby's going to be a great big-brother, though. I can already tell. He loves other kids and babies!

I'm excited for this afternoon. I begged my mom to come up and hang out with me while Clint's studying for the CPA exam. I say I begged, but it didn't take much convincing. My parents hardly ever turn down an excuse to come see Colby. So, I think we're going to go to lunch and walk around the mall. I'm just glad to have some company. It gets lonely when Clint's studying. But it will all pay off when he passes! Oh man, when that happens we are going to PAR-TAY!

Oh! I posted some items on eBay last night. I'm nervous that they aren't going to sell though. I know, they haven't even been up for 24 hours yet and most of the bidding doesn't start until the end of the auction, so I shouldn't worry. Eh, we'll see!

Alrighty, I should probably be off to straighten up and hopefully do those exercises. I know I'm probably not going to do much in the way of exercising tonight, so I should do something today! Have an awesome weekend!

Calories Burned Yesterday:

• Walk 17 min/mile- 240 Cal.

Total Calories Burned This Week: 835

(My Sparkpeople goal for calories burned is 560. I have already blown that out of the water!

Go Lindsay, it's your birthday...)

To Do:

1. Dishes

2. Laundry

3. Straighten Up

Day 34: Sleep is glorious.

Thursday, August 3rd

Colby slept the whole night last night! I'm talkin' he went down at 8pm and woke up at 6:30am. He must've had a bad dream or his teeth were bugging him because at 9pm he woke up crying, but all it took was a little rocking and he was back down in minutes. After eating at 6:30am, he went back down until 9am! Do you understand what this means? I got sleep! Wonderful, glorious, uninterrupted sleep!

As a result, I am a new woman today. Refreshed and ready to face the day. No more whining. And what's better is that Colby is in a good mood too! (By the way, he refused to take his afternoon nap which resulted in many melt downs over minor things. And Colby was pretty upset too. Ha! I'm so funny!)

Today Clint didn't take the iPod, so we're definitely going for a walk. I think we'll go somewhere other than our neighborhood, though. I need a change of scenery. I'm looking forward to it!

I just made some money cooking for my parents and I'm going to buy Clint an iPod. He deserves it. He works so hard day in and day out. He gets up before 6am on most days and goes to work. He comes home by 5, spends time with Colby and eats dinner. By 6 he's studying dilligently for the CPA exam. By 9 he's working on his and Jesse's internet company that they're trying to get up and running. And yet, he still has time for us. He deserves to have his own iPod that he can go running with and bring to work. Now to decide what to engrave on the back...

Anyway, Colby's down for his first nap, so I'd better go take a shower. Have a good day!

Calories Burned Yesterday:

• Rollerblade 15 mins- 126 Cal.

Total Calories Burned This Week: 595

To Do:

1. Dishes

2. Walk

3. Strength Training Exercises

Day 33: Teeth and whining.

Wednesday, August 2nd

I said it once, and I'll say it again: teething sucks. Poor Colby looks like he's getting 4 teeth on top at the same time. Ouch. This means he's not sleeping very well at night, which means I'm not sleeping well. Double ouch. I am completely wiped out, even though I took a nap again this morning.

Today I went to the dentist. I haven't been to the dentist since 2004 because the dentist we had was a total a-hole and I didn't want to go back. Then Clint got his new job and we've had dental coverage, but I just haven't gotten around to making an appointment. (Woops, my bad.) My teeth weren't horrible, but it was clear that I hadn't been in for a while. I have 3 whopping cavities. They scheduled me to get them filled and tried to get me to have the white ones put in. They're waaay back in my mouth and by getting silver fillings I saved $155. Even so, it'll cost us $100 for the fillings and I don't even want to know how much this checkup, x-rays, and cleaning cost.

Excuse me while I rage for a bit... Ugh! Why is everything so damn expensive?! We just finished paying off medical bills from Colby's birth, and then we get this random $165 bill from some appointment I had in March of 2005. What is that?! So we paid that off last month and I'm thinking we're in the clear from random bills for a while, so we can save some extra moola, but then we go to the dentist and that's going to cost us a fortune. Clint has an appointment for next Friday and he thinks he'll probably have at least a few cavities, since I did. So there's more money for another checkup and likely more fillings. AHHHHH! Are we ever going to come out on top?! Are we ever going to be able to save money to get out of this damn apartment and into a house? Are we ever going to be able to afford to have another kid? At this point in time it looks bleak. Damnit.

So this leads to me feeling guilty about not working. Yet again. I hate feeling guilty about that. Yeah, I could go back to work. I could go back to evening shifts at some lame waitressing job, but that means I don't get to spend time with Clint. I could go and find a day job and put Colby in daycare, but first of all I don't want to, and second of all, it's expensive. I've researched the cost and I'd basically be working to pay daycare expenses. What's the point in that?

I'm tired today, can you tell? I'm tired and cranky and extremely pessimistic. I think I need chocolate. Chocolate almost always makes me feel better, even if it's just for a little bit. : ) But wait, chocolate would not only go against me trying to lose weight, but it could give me more cavities. Grand!

To top things off, Clint took my iPod to work today, so I haven't gone for a walk. I know, lame excuse, but I really don't enjoy walking without a soundtrack. I guess I'm a little ADD in that way.

Alright, I think I need another nap. That is, if I can get Colby to take one too. Oy. I don't know if anyone reads these blogs anymore, but if you do, I could really use some encouragement today.

Calories Burned Yesterday:

• Walk 17 min/mile for 26 mins- 124.8 Cal.

Total Calories Burned This Week: 469 Cal.

To Do:

1. Dishes

2. Jog/Rollerblade

Day 32: Rambling woman.

Tuesday, August 1st

I'm a little behind today. It has taken me longer than I anticipated to recover from the weekend, and I had to nap when Colby took his morning nap. It was good, though. I feel like I'm ready and rarin' to go now.

I don't know if I have mentioned it before, but there's this awesome site called Sparkpeople.com that I use on a regular basis. I was using it for a while to track everything I eat, but that got really old really fast. I also used it to get those quotes that until recently have been on each of my blogs. I'm sure I'll bring that back, but right now I'm too lazy. Anyway, there are a couple of features on there that I still use and love. One of them is the exercise tracker. You put in the exercise you did, and how long you did it for and it calculates how many calories you burned based on the height and weight info that you put into the system. It's awesome! Another cool thing is that it tracks your progress of weight loss as well as inches off your hips, waist, and neck. It's such a good site and the best part is that it's totally FREE! I love it.

I think I'm going to start tracking on here the calories I have burned the day before, and keep a running tally. That might help me out even more.

Can you believe it's already August?! Holy crap! Colby is going to be a year old next month! That absolutely blows my mind. I'm excited to watch him grow. He is already changing so much! If you haven't already, you should check out the videos of him on our family page. He's too cute for words.

I'm kind of excited about my own birthday this year. It isn't anything special, I'm just turning 24, and I don't plan on doing anything big, but I'm psyched. Here's why: When I turned 21, I got married 2 days later and therefore wasn't able to party it up. When I turned 22 I was pretty much broke. When I turned 23 I was pregnant. Now, I'm turning 24 and I'm not pregnant or getting married and although we're not rollin' in the dough, I think we could afford a night out on the town. That would be so much fun. Anyone wanna go party it up with me?

Speaking of money and rollin' in the dough... I am really motivated to save money. I mean, I usually am, but we haven't done the best job of it. Don't get me wrong, we're not dumb with our money and have a savings as well as a retirement account for Clint, but we both think we could do better about our spending. I'm going to try and find some good tips online for saving cash, I bet there are at least a few things we could be doing that we don't even think about. The more money we have saved away for a down payment on a house, or furniture, or whatever, the easier it will be to take that leap and actually buy a house. God, I want a house so bad. But I digress...

Yesterday I forgot that it was my night to go out and run or rollerblade, so I rollerbladed instead of crunches. Since tonight is Clint's run night I'll do them then! I took Colby in the stroller and rollerbladed for a couple of miles. Man, I thought it was a good workout rollerblading without the stroller, it is tough with it! Shew!

Alrighty, I have more I could ramble about, but I think I should shut up and start cleaning now.

Calories Burned Yesterday:

• Rollerblade 26 mins- 218.4 Cal.
• Walk 19 min/mile 30 mins- 126 Cal.

To Do:

1. Dishes

2. Laundry

3. Walk

4. Six Strength Training

Exercises

from Sparkpeople