Inspiration

A week or so ago I saw this on Pinterest** and it really struck me.  For so many years now I have been that person on the couch.

I work 50+ hours a week at a desk job.  After work, I would go home each night and flop down in front of the TV with my laptop and stay there until it was time for bed.  There was

So when I saw this picture I realized that no matter what form of exercise I added to my daily routine it was going to be more than I had been doing.

My routine for the past two weeks has been to get up at 6am and get immediately on the treadmill.  I make sure I have my workout clothes and sneakers laid out upstairs before I go to bed so I have no excuses.  Although 6am seems so early to me (I don't leave for work until 8am), it's good for me to get up and get motivated.  I walk for 30 minutes and then shower and leisurely get ready for work.  My goal with getting up so early is that when I'm ready to up my walk time to 45 minutes or an hour I won't have to get up any earlier.

So I figure 30 minutes every day is a heck of a lot more than I was doing before, and that's a good thing.

**Pinterest is an amazing site where you can 'pin' various pictures you find online onto your profile.  It's easier than downloading or bookmarking all the neat things you come across daily while browsing.  If your interested, you can follow me here!

Goal...and going public

The saying "fat and happy" really applies to me.  I've never been happier in my life.  I have an amazing husband and we have a great marriage.  I love my house.  Even my job isn't terrible these days.

But one thing that really isn't great is I've put on a lot of weight.  I've debated about 'going public' with my efforts to lose weight.  There are the definite pros (the support).  There are also the cons (admitting to everyone you have a problem).

However, the pros outweighed the cons.  Not to mention that if you know me 'in real life' then you already know I need to lose weight.  Just putting that out there!

So I'm starting to make some life changes.  I'm not talking about a diet, because diets don't work.  The changes I need to make are true lifestyle changes.  A couple of weeks ago we bought a used treadmill and I've been getting up to walk each morning.  I've also started paying a lot closer attention to what I eat and tracking it on the livestrong app on my phone.  

There are the obvious benefits of looking and feeling better, but I'm also concerned about health risks.  I turned 33 this year and I'm not getting any younger.  The other major factor is we'd love to have a baby, but it's not healthy for me (or the baby) to get pregnant while I'm this overweight.

So there it is.  There's my big dirty secret that I'm ready to change.

For a little bit of inspiration I want to post a picture of me from May of 2007.  I wasn't thin here, but I was pretty happy with how I looked.  In fact, this was taken in Washington DC, the day after Pat proposed.  I was a very happy girl!

I hope you'll join me on my journey!

What's three years?

What can you say about three years?  It seems like yesterday, and yet it seems as though we've been married forever.

I'm having a hard time finding something to write.  I've written multiple sentences just now and deleted them.  None of them seem just 'right'.

Is three years a long time?  Certainly not.  Then again...it kind of is.  It's not a 'big' anniversary like the first one was, or what I imagine the fifth, tenth etc will be like.

We're definitely not making a big deal of it, but I certainly didn't want it to pass by unrecognized here.

So here's to a very happy third anniversary (tomorrow, 9/27) to my amazing husband.  I love you.

Happy Birthday Hubby!

I love you!

Hello September!

September is my favorite month of the year. I love the crisp, cool air. I love the smells of fall. I love when the trees change color. I love apples. I love sweaters. I love fairs. I love everything about fall.

This September we'll be working on our new project. Restoring an old 1972 pinball machine. We bought it on Saturday and it's in really great shape, however it didn't do much when we plugged it in. Luckily my father has restored a 1965 machine by the same maufacturer (Gottlieb) so he stopped by this morning to get us started. Sure enough, he got it running for us!

Now, it still needs some rehab and some work, but I'm a lot more confident that we'll be able to get this back in 100% working order. I am so excited, I've always loved pinball (grew up having one) and now we'll have one of our own!

I have an addiction...

to office supplies.

I was sitting here at work staring at the huge stack of invoices sitting in front of me that needed my approval. I picked up my pen and immediately knew that this just wasn't happening. I needed a new pen.

I think it's the change in the air that makes me want to stock up on new pens and pencils.

I hopped in the car and headed over to Staples where there were tons of mothers and kids stocking up for the school year. Oh how I miss a fresh new notebook to write in.

Anyway, back to office supplies. I'm probably a pen snob, but I'm ok with that. When you sit at a desk all day it's the little things that make the time go by.

I've recently fallen in love with Pentel pens (specifically their EnerGel line). I have them in blue and purple and they are great pens.

Since I love them, I also got their silver and gold pens. They're ok, not as good as the EnerGel line. I was also intrigued by a Sharpie pencil. I love a good pencil and had high hopes for these. They disappointed. My only compliment is that they erase very, very well. If you're not a pencil snob, you may like them.

So now I'm back to work, ready to tackle this stack of invoies with my new silver Pentel pen in hand.

Burlington, Vermont

When I was in public accounting I had a few clients in Burlington and it was one of my favorite places to go to. I loved the atmosphere and thought it would be a great location to go back and visit when I wasn't working.

This summer has been very busy and Pat and I found ourselves in need of some time away. We debated about where to go and my friend Mary suggested going to Vermont. It was the perfect suggestion and just the right distance away.

So, we both took off a Friday from work and headed up. Burlington didn't disappoint. They were having their annual "Festival of Fools" that weekend so there were a lot of street performers downtown to entertain us. I really enjoyed them. I was also able to go back to my favorite restaurant, Sweet Tomatoes (a must if you're in Burlington). We ate outside on Church Street since it was such a gorgeous night and it couldn't have been more perfect.

The getaway was just what we needed to recharge and Burlington is a city we'll definitely be back to visit.

(Pictures to follow, someday)!