Weight Loss Update: October Mini Goals

I've decided that starting over is harder than starting the first time. I'm sure this sounds crazy since I now know the strategies and resources, but I also know what it feels like and how hard it is. A low carb lifestyle is something I have to work at daily and since the end of July, I've backtracked a lot. 

So, hello October. I know how hard this next month will be because I've been here before. I know what it takes and I know I have to make a fierce commitment if I want to see change. I've decided to commit to some mini goals. I have a great accountability partner and I want to help motivate and encourage her as much as she does me. We can do this!

October Mini Goals

-Log ALL food in MyFitnessPal app

-Remain consciously positive and grateful 

-Give myself some grace for slip ups

-Plan ahead for meals out

- Meal prep my lunches

-Exercise 3 or more times a week

There you have it. To my readers, hold me accountable. I want to do this. I need to do this.

I can do this.

March 2015 Goals

I’ve been revisiting my February Goals and I’m very pleased with our success. The only room that did not get completely purged was the kitchen. We’re still working on that. There are also a couple little odds and ends in each room (primarily deep cleaning tasks) that we’re still working on. I want to keep the momentum going so we’re adding some new goals for March.

March Goals

Week 1-2: G’s room

While we’re in this house, G’s room will also serve as the nursery. The baby will be with us until he’s sleeping most of the night so that she’ll have fewer interruptions at night. We’re hoping for the same success that we had with G. She was moved into her own room at a month old (trust me, we all slept better…) and she was sleeping through the night by 2 months old. With that being said, I’m  trying to decide what to do about decorating, painting, etc. The walls are currently a pretty spring green color with white trim. I’ve found an adorable theme that I’m longing to use but I’m not sure if it will be worth it considering we don’t know how long we’ll be in this house. While painting would not be a major undertaking, we’re just trying to decide if it would make a huge difference when it comes time to sell. Thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.

I plan to finish going through her closet and add any unnecessary items to the upcoming consignment sale. Everything will be dusted and wiped down and miscellaneous decorations and keepsakes will be boxed up. I want to get her room down to the basics.

Weeks 3-4: Master Bedroom

This will undoubtedly be a labor of love. I plan to go through ALL of our clothes and rid our drawers, closets and tubs of clothing that we no longer wear. I already have two full garbage bags. Our room will need to be repainted and the closet needs to be finished. The closets in our home were not finished when we moved in. Oddly enough the house was built in the late 60’s and apparently closets were not a big deal. They were nothing but rafters and exposed roofing. We insulated, dry walled, painted and put in flooring into the other bedroom closet. We just haven’t gotten around to ours…but now it is time. I want to try and sell or donate any furniture that we’re not planning on taking with us in the move.

It’s hard not to become overwhelmed in the process. Our goal is to have the house up for sale at the beginning of April. Some of the other things that we would like to have done or need to have done prior to doing so are…

-painting the hallway

-painting the stairwell

-finish repainting the ceilings

-wash the windows inside and out

- basic landscaping

-removing miscellaneous items from the back of the property

While my pregnant brain is already on overload, I’m trying to stay focused and do what I can. My husband has been a huge help and, while we have a lot left to do, we’re pushing on. We’ve been praying about this decision for a long time and we feel we’re doing what we should at this point (despite expecting a baby in about 4 months). God’s timing will be perfect. Part of our prayer is that the Lord is preparing the right family for our home. We know that we’re doing what we can with our budget and time and we believe that the right family will look past whatever flaws there may be and see the true country charm, stable foundation and beautiful setting that comes with our house.

Linking up with Andrea for Monthly Goals

Goodbye Stuff

Have you ever stood in your house and just looked around…only to find that every room is a mess? I mean every room. Well I did and it was a little overwhelming. We’ve had an entire week home because of the snow and you would think that my house would be spotless! You would think…In my defense, I have a toddler who “helps” in the  most unproductive of ways and I’ve been working diligently on my monthly goals.

The goals are meant to help us purge the house of anything we’re not using and/or do not want to take with us when we move. I’m also trying to begin boxing up things that we aren’t using now but will want to use in our new home. This is quite an undertaking. Our home consists of my life and his life combined, many, many things that were in the house when we moved in, objects that we’ve acquired in our almost 7 years of marriage, and of course all of the things that have been given to us as gifts or hand-me-downs. Yikes! 

Currently I have 2 bags of clothing/stuffed animals and two huge boxes ready to donate. I have a huge pile of little girl clothes on hangers ready to be tagged for an upcoming consignment sale, as well as multiple other items that I still have to enter, prepare and tag. No wonder my house is a mess. I suppose all of these things just make the dishes in the sink seem more than what they are and the laundry more content in the basket. One thing is for sure, when I look past the dishes and the unfolded laundry I still see that we still have entirely too much stuff.

Dictionary.com defines stuff as “material to be worked upon or to be used in making something.” I’ve begun applying this definition to the things that are in our home. If it is something that still needs to be worked upon (and hasn’t been touched in the last 3-6 months) it’s out. If we have not used it in the last year (clothing included) then we’ll part ways. If the item does not help to make our house a home in beauty or function, then out it goes. Using these guidelines I’m finding it much easier to let it go. I’ve even made a simple print out to hang or place in the room I’m working on. It helps by my husband and I stay focused on the task at hand.

So far we’ve successfully purged the living room and the dining room. I’ve also gone through all of G’s clothes (newborn to 24 months). I had some that were ruined, so they were trashed or will be reused as dust rags. I ended up with a decent size box full of donation items and then a slightly smaller pile that I will be cosigning (and what does not sell will be donated.) I was also thrilled to discover that I had a very small selection of gender neutral clothing items (and then of course random firefighter items) that I’ll be able to use for our sweet boy that’s due in July.

There are only two real issues that I’ve encountered during this process:

1. I’m still on moderate bed rest so my lifting has to be limited (not to mention how a growing belly impacts one’s ability to do certain things.)

2. My husband seems to have much more attachment to items in our home than I do. Don’t even get me started on his t-shirts.

It’s been hard to work around the lifting since my husband worked a 72 hour shift (Monday-Wednesday) and worked another 24 hour shift on Friday. Saturday was filled with his volunteer fire departments annual dinner fundraiser and then of course Sunday had us snowed in from another 7 or so inches of snow on top of what we already had (and it's our designated day of rest). Overall though I’m pleased with our progress and whether it’s the nesting phase that I’m hitting early or the realization that April will be here before we know it, I’m on a roll and I’m trying to keep the momentum. As we prepare our home for sale, I’d love to hear any other words of wisdom or advice for this current phase of our lives.

Linking up for Mommy Moments

Mid-month Goal Check In

Is anyone else having a hard time believing it is the middle of February?! Crazy! The month is flying by and with this pace, it's important I stay focused on the tasks at hand.

At the beginning of February I made a list of goals to help purge our home of anything we don't want to take with us when we move. The goal is to put the house on the market April 1st. It's coming way too quickly.

However, I must say that I'm pretty proud of our progress.  I have a couple of bags and two very large boxes ready to donate...and we've only gone through the living and dining room! I'm dreading this week's task...the kitchen.

::via::

These goals have taken a lot of discipline.  My husband and I would both much rather do almost anything than clean out junk drawers and fill boxes with things that have collected unnecessarily over the years. However,  we're seeing great reward. It's refreshing to look in a cabinet or on a shelf and see order. I love knowing things in our home have a purpose and a place instead of just wasting space. (This is also helping fuel these early nesting feelings I've been having).

What's more exciting is that I have off today thanks to winter weather that's on the way; maybe I'll get a jump on the kitchen today. If we get what they're calling for, I may have tomorrow off too...it looks like the groundhog was right.

Linking up for Mommy Moments

February: Organization

::via::

I'm not one for making so called resolutions,  but I decided to embrace the term and dedicate February to organizing our home. Jess, over at Sweet Little Ones, joins a monthly link up that specifically focuses on making monthly resolutions. This got me inspired.

We've decided to officially put our house on the market April 1st. We're trusting in God's provision and timing on this big step. It's all a little tricky...I'm due with Baby #2 in July and we'll definitely need a place to live once our house sells. Unfortunately we can't begin building our new house until we sell this house. We have a plan that we're hopeful will work, but once again, there are a lot of factors involved. I know this sounds crazy with a new one on the way but we really feel now is the time to move forward.

With all that being said we still have some things we'd like/need to do before April. My hubby and I sat down and came up with a plan that will serve as my resolution for the month of February. We're resolving to organize/purge one room a week.

::via::

Week 1: Living room
This will include cleaning out the drawers in both the entertainment center and the DVD cabinet. We'll go through the DVDs and donate any that we get rid of. We'll also give the walls and ceiling fan a good wipe down and wash the curtains.

Week 2: Dining room
We have a little coffee cart that desperately needs organized. I need to reduce the number of mugs considering we have quite a bulky, eclectic collection. I need to go through my cook books and the other shelves on the other cabinet. We also have a bookshelf that I need to sort through.  I have plans to get rid of it, much to my husband's dismay...but it makes the space cramped and I'm ready for it to go.

Week 3: Kitchen
This one has me flinching. We need to go through all of the cabinets and the island. The fan needs dusted. I'd like to get the bead board officially painted this week but we'll see.

Week 4: Playroom
This room is still a work in progress but even so it needs some organization.  Our sweet girl has so many toys...too many really. We know that there are more than enough to keep her and future kids busy for years to come even with a decent purging.

I'm really looking forward to making some headway. I'm already working on a resolution for March...maybe it's some early nesting or just feeling the time crunch but we're motivated. Let it begin!

Linking up with Andrea for Monthly Goals.