Crafts, as promised

Well, to keep myself motivated in the craft department, I am going to post the only two crafts I have done this year.

The first is I sewed curtains for our bedroom. Really, they are ridiculously simple because all I did was take a flat sheet I got for $2 from a thrift store, cut it in half, sew it and hang it up. I also sewed a curtain to hang about our kitchen cabinets, to hide all the junk up there but I haven't hung it up yet. Here is a picture, I apologize in advance for the poor quality of the picture, too lazy to get the camera out so I used my phone.

The other craft I did was make a garland for a window in our living room. I think it turned out pretty cute but it took forever and may have given me carpal tunnel. I cut our hundreds of circles from a old book, magazines, fabric, paper bags, napkins, etc. Anything that would give it interesting texture. I did three sizes of circles. I then strung it on yarn and hung it from nails. Here are some pictures:
And here is a close up of all those circles. I think if I were to do it again, I would use one of those scrapbook automatic circle cutters because each "ball" is around 50 or so circles!
Alright, off to plan a craft for tomorrow because it is a bank holiday!!!

Two posts, one day = victory!

I am ba-ack!

Believe it or not, but I am back to blogging....

It is funny to read how many times I have typed that,

so I will just say that I am back for now!

And have some super glorious lists for you to read............

Changes have happened since my last blog. They are as follows:

1. Moved to Ypsilanti, MI. (Loving it!)

2. New jobs for Brian and I. I am a personal banker and he is back to social work.

3. We stopped working out but have recently begun to work out again.

4. Probably tons more but I can't think of it at this time.

My resolutions for this year (2011!)

1. Read 50 books, I am 4 books deep right now. Must continue the momentum!

2. Pay off credit card.

3. Lose weight. Duh.

4. Keep the house cleaner.

5. Blog more, which is possible because we now have internet!

6. Craft more.

Books I have read so far this year:

1. Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz. It was pretty good. It is an intersting story but I almost feel like too much happened. The coolest part is that it is told in different perspectives.

2. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collines. GREAT book. It is a trilogy and by far the most superior of the three. I recommend it! The characters are great, couldn't stop reading it.

3. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. I have hopped on the Neil Gaiman train and I don't plan on ever leaving it. He is awesome. The story is bizarre, gross, hilarious and made me need to write myself. He is a great story teller!

4. Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore. It was pretty good, entertaining and about vampires (which of course I love). There were funny parts and scary parts but overall, just very entertaining.

Up next.... The Corrections by Jonathon Franzen

I am done with lists for now.... next blog will be crafts!

Moving agin...

In a week from tomorrow, we will be moving into our sixth residence as a couple.

That's right.... our sixth! And we hope to be there a loooong while.

And as it turns out, I only have one day left of commuting.

Why?

Because I have off Fridays and on Wednesday I got some good news.

I was talking to my supervisor about if I had any vacation days left.

I had taken a couple of sick days and thought they were taken out of my vacation days.

They are not!

So, it turns out I have 3 days left of vacation I need to use before July.

And too many people had already requested June

So, I have off next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Just in time to do some major packing, cleaning and crafting.

I have big plans, lets see how much gets accomplished.

Things I want to make:

place mats, curtains, finish a dog bed for potter and paint our new coffee table.

I will post a picture of it when I am done, it is pretty awesome.

Other news, Brian has officially joined the workforce again.

He is liking his new job and has to wear a suit everyday.

It is good that he looks mighty fine in a suit....!

We went suit shopping last weekend and found some great sales.

I have not been working out besides the 2 mile walk everyday.

I fail....

I am just too tired when I leave the house at 6:45 and get home around 9.

I know, excuses, excuses...

Brian has been taking Potter on runs with him

And she has also lost some weight.

I have still lost 5.5 pounds since I have had to commute.

Bringing my total weight loss to 35.5 pounds.

Not too shabby.

But I am going to start working out again, in one weeks time.

I am going to have two hours a day back again!

Now, I must get back to business.

So much to do and so little time.

Also, in the words of a famous LaBenne:

"It is one sleep until Brian's birthday"

In everyday English, that means that Brian's birthday is tomorrow

We are celebrating with some sushi and Oberweis ice cream sundaes.

Must get cleaning. Good day for now.

Oh how things change...

Changes. Brian and my life has been going through a whole lot of changes. The first this is that I will be switching campuses again at work. I am going back to work at the Chicago campus, so I am back to commuting. It is a whole long story of why I am going back, but the main reason is that I am quote "the lowest on the totem pole" and "our campus is overstaffed." It led us into thinking, well.... what about moving to Chicago then? So I don't have a 3 hour commute everyday? WE ARE! We looked at apartments and asked around to everyone we know and we found out one of my coworkers is moving out of this adorable place in Lincoln Square. We went and looked at it and signed the lease. We get our keys May 28th! Here it is!

And along with that we get a view of this from our rooftop! Isn't it awesome?
The apartment is just a one bedroom but it is pretty good sized. It has a fake fireplace with shelves and we can't wait for it. Brian has been interviewing like crazy lately. He is actually at an interview right now and I am anxiously waiting by my phone to hear how it went.

Weight loss... drumroll...

Brian weighed in today and has officially lost the same amount of weight that our dog Potter weighs. Isn't that crazy to think about? He has lost 40 lbs. 40 lbs! Isn't that awesome? He was disappointed by low weight loss the last week or so but he lost 4 lbs this week.

I am a little disappointed in my 1 lb loss this week, especially after my last chance workout last night where my legs almost gave out. I am down 30 lbs. Not too bad, but it is no 40 lbs, that's for sure. Although, I am officially wearing pants from my junior year of college, so that is a good feeling.

Dog training has been going great! Ian (or my bff) is so good. Wednesday night we had both dogs in the living room on leashes all night. At one point, I was laying on the floor with Rudy on one side, Potter on the other and I asked them to shake and they both shook my hands. It was so adorable my head almost exploded.

Ok, I am off to do something more productive. Have a good weekend!

Spring breaking...

Well, I am officially on spring break (one day long spring break, whoohoo!) I also officially have a sinus infection and the meds are making my stomach hurt but my face is feeling better. I got a large punch in the stomach at work yesterday. I found out that in two weeks most likely be transferring back to the Chicago campus. That means I am losing 15 hours of my life a week again, plus I don't think I will be able to have Fridays off anymore. I guess things can only go my way for a little while...

On to happier news, Brian's parents and sister are coming to Illinois tonight!! We can't wait and have lots of fun activities planned. Plus, the weather is beautiful outside.

I will do a 5k race post soon. It went well!

Potter had her first visit with the dog trainer yesterday. It went really well and she walks 500x better on the leash now. And at one point she was walking on a leash next to Rudy. It was pretty awesome. The dog trainer is tall, named Ian and had a red shirt that said "Ian." He is totally magical!! But now he says we have to put Potters food in a bowl by us while we eat and when we are done eating we can give it to her. And she can't jump up on our bed anymore also, which is sad.

Alright, have to clean the bathrooms and enjoy the nice weather before the in-laws get here. Have a good Easter weekend!

P.S. Brian and I both lost two pounds this week. It is a little surprising b/c I missed working out two days and when I did go I didn't work out as hard as normal b/c of my headache.

I've got the blahs...

Let me be honest with you and vent a little. I am feeling stressed out. I am stressed and I don't want to work out and my head hurts. I don't think it is a stress headache but I made a doctors appointment for tomorrow. It could be a sinus infection, they like me and tend to infect me. Did I mention I don't feel like working out tonight, but I will. (edit: I didn't work out...I fail)

Why am I stressed?

I am stressed because of money, because Brian still needs a job, because cars are expensive, because we are no closer to figuring out what we want to do with out lives, because I am tired of being chubby but tired of working out, because we don't have many friends in Illinois, because I am not good at making friends, because I am stressed it makes me not want to hang out with the friends we have, because my job is stressful right now, because because because...

I should feel lucky because we have great family, super cheap place to live and so on but today I feel cranky and miserable and whiney. That's right! Tomorrow I will feel better. Right?

Anways, hope you are feeling more optimistic than I am. Have a good night.

Drumroll please...

The official weigh-in took place today.

so...

Brian lost 4 pounds this past week.

Bringing his total weight loss to 34 pounds!

Can you believe that?

I lost 3 pounds this past week.

Bringing my total weight loss to 25 pounds!

I will say I am pretty proud of us.

Not too bad for first weighing ourselves around January 7th.

Of course, it is a little frustrating

that Brian loses weight faster than me.

Especially because I usually try to eat

only half of what he does.

Oh, well.

At least the weight is coming off.

Wish us luck!

The big 5k is tomorrow.

And we need all the luck we can get

because Brian's foot has been hurting

and I find it harder to breath

while running outside compared to the treadmill.

Causing me to worry that I might suffocate

and die while running the race...

Now we are off to clean the house

in preparation for my sister's 40th

birthday party on Saturday night.

Have a good weekend everyone!!!!