Turning a new leaf... again.

Over the past 2 months I have digressed in my life change. I have eaten way too many sweets, given up exercise, and have not been watching my portions. Suffice it to say i've fallen off the wagon. Is it disappointing? A bit Am I going to beat myself up over it? No. It is a '2 steps forward one step back' kind of thing... so at least ive made it one step!

Now that I am once again committed to a healthier me, I have decided to try a few different things. I am taking the advice of this article I read in Eating Well magazine and setting goals. My goal is to make it to a size 12 by losing 1-1 1/2 pounds a week. Of course my ultimate goal is to be healthy and have optimal cholesterol and triglyceride numbers, but losing weight will help me achieve that goal! I am also going to give myself a reward. When I reach my goal I will be able to go to a neighboring town to buy a cute vintage dress!

I have also just started an online journal to keep track of the foods I eat. I tend to think that if no one sees me eat unhealthy things than it doesnt count. That way of thinking has not served me well over the past couple of months, so it is time to change. By writing down all that I eat I have to face the fact that all food I eat contributes to my health.

I also need to start exercising again. Last week I walked to work all week. Doing little things like this is a goal that will help me achieve better 'good' cholesterol levels, which I need in order to be happy. Exercising also gives me more energy throughout the day.

All of this leads me back to you, my support system. I will need you to encourage me and be there for me while I get things back on track. I know I can count on you all to help me live better... you have all been wonderful so far!

Thanks!

Birds and Hypothetical Houses

Well, Christmas has come and gone once again. I had a great time in Illinois with the fams and friends. We got to see a lot of folks over the holidays and it was great! There were some friends I didn't get to see, but we did the best we could with the time we were given. The husband and I were even able to squeeze in a trip to the local museum, which was showing original prints of the paintings John Audubon created in the 1830's. For those not married to a bird watcher, John Audubon is a pretty big deal. Obviously, the husband was in heaven. I had fun too. The prints were in amazing condition and had great detail.

And I overheard boy having a conversation with his father:

Boy: Dad, that owl has BOOBS!!

Dad: [ignores son]

Boy: [Louder] Dad, that owl had BOOBS!

Dad: [unimpressed by sons observation] No, those are his feathers. His chest is just puffed out.

Boy: oh.

I can totally see the husband having a conversation with our hypothetical children like this.

I like to speak and think about hypothetical (and hopefully eventual) situations. Currently I am enjoying pretending to own a house. I fill the kitchen with fun, expensive gadgets, big chill appliances (in red), vintage canisters, and beautiful vintage table linens. I fill the whole house with decorations from the 1040's and 1950's of course. The bedroom contains matching bed and dressers, and I have my own dressing room and a fabulous wardrobe to fill the room (it is decked out with hats galore and vintage hair advertisements). My hypothetical house also has either a wrap around porch or an enclosed deck. And most importantly, connected to the house... is a garage. A nice, clean, 2 car garage. Oh how I long for a garage!

Someday, when i'm older and hopefully not so much in debt, we will have some of these things. In the meantime I will still enjoy the small, mismatched, comfy home I share with a beautiful cat and great husband.

Learning Curve

Our Apt is decorated, the tree is up, and the gifts are wrapped. Hooray, Christmas Season is finally here! I've learned a few things this year that hopefully will help me be more prepared come Christmas 2011.

• Start Projects Early - Every year I find great things to make people and every year I wait until the last minute to create them. I am a procrastinator but I do not thrive under pressure, which is very unfortunate. Mrs. Attempted Domestication, on the other hand, is a first-class procrastinator. In college she would wait until the night before a term paper was due, grab a box of cheap wine, and go to town. by 7 am she had written a masterpiece professors would fawn over.

• Take time for yourself (and your spouse if you have one) - Last night The Husband wanted to take some time and relax together, but I told him I didn't have time. After all, the floors needed to be swept and mopped, I needed to continue my sewing projects, and he had dishes to do! However, I then decided that those things could wait until tomorrow. The Holiday Season isn't about a clean floor and dishes; it is about the love that God gave us through Jesus and each other. Spending time with yourself, loved ones, and fabulous friends is not only a great gift, but it is also a necessity! So we relaxed, and it was wonderful. It gave me time to refocus, which was just what I needed!

In therapy I am learning to take responsibility for my actions and thoughts. In essence, it is up to me to change this behavior. It is hard to re-learn how to do things, but it is also empowering. I have the power to change things in my life in order to make things better! So, I am going to change this for next year. If I fail at it next year i'm not going to kick myself over it, I will brush myself off and try again.

Happy Holidays!

Potpourri

Sorry for the blogging break friends, but I was actually working... as a volunteer coordinator it always gets a bit busy before major holidays. Everyone wants to give back at the same time!

Anywho...

Things are going well here in good ole Indiana. Since it is the holiday season (YAY!) the husband and I will be spending a lot of time in the car traveling from here to there... which really means that he will drive and i will play sudoku and we will both listen to NPR for 3 hours straight. Because we are slightly obnoxious NPR fans, almost all of our stories start with "I heard on NPR that..." We are okay with this, but I'm not sure everyone else is.

My sister's baby shower went so well! My sister looked beautiful of course! We played the required game, ate delicious food, and she got a crap ton of awesome stuff! It was a great time and I got a ton of compliments on the invites, which was nice. Okay, very nice.

Now that the shower is dont I have to get cracking on the Christmas presents I am making. I am only making gifts for 2 people, but I am also going to make a ton of coffee sleeves... they will be great stocking stuffers! Speaking of gifts, the husband and I decided to forgo expensive gifts and to go on a trip/adventure instead. We still wanted something to open on Christmas though, so we are giving gifts of 20 bucks to each other. I'm pretty excited about this!

On another note, the husband and I are starting to build actual adult wardrobes. We are shopping clearances, sales, and consignment stores for all the 'essentials.' Goodbye ironic t- shirts! Hello v-neck sweaters and knee-length dresses! Of course I will still be wearing my vintage wear and retro dresses; they are the epitome of classy! And to top it off, this was not even my idea; the husband stumbled upon a mens fashion blog and the rest is history!

Okay, one more thing: I have started going to therapy again, and let me say the it. is. life-changing. I REALLY like my therapist. She knows what shes talking about, she gives me practical exercises and tips on how to manage my anxiety, and she makes it fun! We are focusing on my fear of storms, tornadoes, fire, water, and anything else that can potentially kill you and/or your loved ones. We are using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to treat the anxiety, and let me say... it is empowering!

I hope you all are doing well too; enjoy the holiday!

[Insert Clever Title Here]

Sorry i've been MIA lately friends! Many things have been happening here for the husband and me. Here is a quick run down:

• Ive started therapy again! I like my therapist so far; she seems to know her stuff and she also tries to make things fun. Plus she called me smart. :) I'm doing therapy for my anxiety.
• My sister's baby shower is next week (yay!!) so i've been busy preparing for that as well. I can't wait to see her and Baby Girl!
• The husband and I have paid off about 22% of our school loans! 3% more and we are upping the allowance we give ourselves each month! Woo-Hoo!!
• Our anniversary trip went splendidly! We piddled around small towns, ate out a lot, went to a state park, and finished the weekend off at Apt 16's Werewolf Bar Mitzvah Party. We had SO MUCH FUN!!

Ill post pictures of our fun times soon!

On Clothes

I can't wait until the time change happens. Waking up and being functional in the a.m. is more difficult for me when it is still pitch black outside. This past week I have not quite been myself, fashionably speaking; I believe I wore pants and came into work with wet hair twice!! While it is no sin, it is just weird for me these days because of my vintage obsessions. Proper ladies never did those things! :)

I was thinking about this last night in bed and said to the husband something like "when we become grown ups can I have nice clothes so I never look frumpy?" He look at me and apprehensively questioned "is that possible?" I thought for a while and concluded that no, it is not possible, at least for me. While I love to feel feminine and pretty, I also love sleep and being lazy. I responded that I guess it is not about the clothes I have or don't have, but rather about my laziness and decisions to sleep 'just another 15 minutes.'

However, I stick to my guns that I need better clothes. I mean, if I had no bad clothes I couldn't look frumpy...could I? :)

In other news, I finally finished the invitation to my sisters baby shower! Now it is time to start on the many Christmas gifts I am sewing!

A bit of this and that

I haven't posted lately mostly because I have been very busy making my sisters baby shower invites. I would LOVE to tell you all about them and the kick ass party coming up (on NOVEMBER 14th at 2:00pm), but the theme is a surprise! So the post about that will have to wait until I mail out the invites, which will be early next week.

Another thing I have been up to is vintage hairstyling. I am proud to say that after about a year and a half I have mastered the victory roll! My hair is long enough to roll the front now, so thats exciting! I haven't quite figured out how to marry my hairstyles (ie rollers) and morning exercising though. While I have no problem with people knowing that I wear rollers to bed, I do have a problem with people seeing me in my rollers whilst walking downtown at 6:15am. this may be another reason to try pincurls though; you can put a bandana around your head and no one can tell you have them in!

The husband and I have also been watching Mad Men. It has been praised for its realistic settings, outfits, and hair. It also has been praised for its accurate portrayal of life in the 1960's, which is a bit scary to me. This is because of the way that men treat women in the show. Only 1 woman so far has a high position in business, the men all treat women like they are not as smart as the men, and the men are also constantly making jokes about women and sex. ugh. No wonder there was another surge of feminism! While it has taken me a while to get used to seeing that, I do like the show. It is not my favorite (big love is better), but it is good!

So thats what this lady has been up to lately. I hope that you are all doing great!