Unresolved in 2014

New Year's Day is THE day. The day that so many of us resolve to change our lives and our selves for the better. If I were to actually list all of the things that I need to change, we'd be here for days. No lie. Maybe weeks. Like much of the world population (only 8% according to Forbes magazine), I have never been good at keeping or achieving resolutions. So this year, I am not making any. Resolutions, that is. Changes, on the other hand, I would definitely like to see. Like being a better, more consistent blogger. 

Some of the areas that I want to see a shift in, and that I plan to blog more about, are (in no specific order)...

• my body (and body image), of course
• with the help of Plexus Slim
• hitting up the gym more consistently
• productivity
• accomplishing things at all times...even when sitting still (crafts, blogging, school work)
• FINISHING what I start
• my relationship with God
• has been non-existent, and I am ready for that to change
• myself in my marriage
• hard to explain...it's a blogpost in itself
• my savings account!
• myself in my profession
• TESS
• self-fulfillment
• if I am better at what I do, my students are better at what they do, right?
• socialization
• I have no life
• I need to get a life
• being more organized
• streamlining my household
• a more organized classroom (oh, that closet of mine)
• being a better parent

And the list could go on and on, but I will cease and desist with those. The first bloggy change you may notice is that I hope to do a Sunday Strategy every week. This weekly post will help me stay on track with a plan for each week. I already spend Sunday evenings doing school planning, why not add an hour devoted to 'life' planning? 

If you have resolutions, what are they? Are you a resolution keeper or a resolution breaker?

Oh, and 

Happy New Year 2014!!!

Pounding the Pavement

I am so not a runner. Never have been. I've always hated it when I run and things jiggle. It was something I first noticed in the sixth grade when we had to run the mile. I've been extremely conscious of not necessarily how I look when I run, but more how my body feels. Needless to say, when I purchased these adorable kicks, it wasn't for how they would feel when exercising (even though they are called 'Nike Free Run').

So tonight, the fam went to the gym. I did my warm-up, then did 60 crunches and three sets on the back extension machine. I intended to finish my workout with a 30-45 minute brisk walk on the treadmill. I hopped on, fired up the Kindle, and put in 35 minutes as I read and watched Hubs, Lefty, and Boo alternate running and walking laps on the track. I've lost seven pounds so far, but my immediate goal is to lose five more by my re-check with the doctor on February 20. To meet that goal, I really needed to bump up my workouts. Guess what I did? I got off the treadmill and got on the track. And then, I RAN. Two laps is all I did today, but now that I know I can...and get this...I liked it...I intend to do more tomorrow. Those shoes were great on the track...and cute! I may have to order another pair.

On the way home, I asked the girls if I looked stupid running. Boo simply said no; Lefty said that I didn't look stupid, but I looked like I hadn't run in a while. Great I said. Maybe I won't run tomorrow! Not that I really meant that...it felt so good to run. What she said next brought tears to my eyes, and probably made my year. Want to know what it was? She said...

"It doesn't matter how you looked Mom. I was so proud of you for getting out there and actually running."

She was proud of me? Hmm. I will run again tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that. And the day after the day after that.

Challenge Day 29/30...30 Days of Goals

I interpret this to be 30 goals that I can accomplish in 30 days, not necessarily a goal per day. Here goes!


1. lose 4 pounds

2. Get mah hair did

3. Finish my quilt class

4. Clean out my closet at school

5. Make a Christmas centerpiece

6. Try 4 new recipes

7. Begin a Warrior Quilt

8. Learn to make giant hair bows

9. Organize my sewing room

10. Sort Disney photos

11. Frame wedding photos

12. Begin Christmas shopping

13. Organize photos on PC

14. Finish tearing pages from workbooks

15. Plan school units 3 and 4 in literacy and math

16. Exercise 20 days

17. Go to church 

18. Find a new bloggy challenge!

19. Visit more blogs!

20. Watch "The Blind Side"

21. Buy new music for the car

22. Find a new pair of jeans

23. Let Lefty drive more. Yikes!

24. Drink 2 cups of tea a day, instead of tea only all day!

25. Take more pics!

26. No more school lunches!

27. Get a flu shot

28. Decide on a Christmas gift for Hubs

29. Post more on Love2Learn

30. Set back $1 for each day I don't buy a Coke

Monday Weigh In #4

Right about now is typically when I get discouraged and quit. I could definitely see myself doing that this time too...but I know that my lack of progress is my own damn fault. The scale read at 161.2 again this morning. Disappointing to say the least, especially since on Saturday morning I weighed in at 159.1. I was sick all weekend and took in less than 1800 calories over 2 days, but I did not exercise at all. In fact, from 11:00 Saturday night till 5:30 this morning, I was only awake a total of 6 hours. My exercise total for the week was 4 days, which is also discouraging. I put in that extra day, and still did not lose. Even so, I did work-out today and was very careful with my food/liquids, including drinking 4 bottles of water!

Goals for weigh in #5 (week 4):

• 5 workouts
• 3 bottles of water per day
• 2 lbs weight loss

On a more positive and very exciting note, I got a Kindle Saturday! I have yet to take it out of the box though, because when I do, it's all I'm going to want to do for a while...and I still have a real book to read! My plan is to wait until my book is almost finished, and then open it up to charge and possibly start downloading a book or two...any suggestions?

Monday Weigh In #3

Mondays are the days that I do my weekly weigh in, so it makes sense that the Monday blog will be the day that I will devote to my diet. I did not meet any of my goals this week. Now, I am not one to make excuses about anything, but I do have a valid one for this week. I had a visit from Mother Nature. So what, you say? My visits are particularly bad, as my cramping is always in my back. It always has been, since I was a teenager...so you should be used to it by now, you say? Yes I should, and I was, until I was in a car accident that basically broke my back a little over 3 years ago. It resulted in surgery to repair nerves that were damaged, but both the back and the nerves are still afftected by the injury, especially during the week of the curse of womanhood. During that week, I am lucky at times if I can walk upright without hobbling like I am 85. So I decided that what I must do from here on is to hit the diet and exercise that much harder through the three weeks in between periods, thus allowing me to slack off a bit when my body forces me to.

Given that I did not lose two pounds, I did lose a half a pound. I was pleased with this because it meant that although I sucked at my workouts, I did great on food choices and portion sizes. I only worked out twice last week. The goal this week again is to lose 2 pounds and to workout 4 days.

Since I was at home today in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr Day, I planned to cook something new and low calorie. I pulled a recipe from Debbi Does Dinner, and we worked together to pull it off with a few variations of our own, but not enough to change the caloric values. It was delish!!! Ours looked something like this:

My total weight loss for the course of the diet is 1.5 lbs so far. I hope to lose 2 lbs this week, looking forward to buying a pair of silver glitter TOMS when I hit the 10 lb mark. I figure to give myself some incentive, I should set some concrete (and fun) goals!

Also, as a side note, I did manage to get some pictures of Boo's bedroom re-do uploaded (finally). Check out the post Snow Day!!! to see them.