Year 4

Today marks the 4th year that we've owned our home. 

4 years ago we were in a 500 square foot apartment off the plaza. The location was great, the living space was not. Two adults and a dog in that tiny space was cramped, and I noticed it most of all once we moved.

The first week we moved in here, we felt like we were in some sort of mansion, calling out to each other if the other wasn't in our direct line of sight. 

And just as people said we would, we filled up the space. Filled it with things that make this house our home. Now that we have this spacious home, we can live comfortably with each other, and share our space with friends and family.

 

We're kind of like adults now,

hosting dinners

having movie nights

or inviting people over to play video games all night long, just like adults.

On this anniversary, I thought I would share some peeks at our space.

Holiday 100

I'm a personal trainer. It's my job. I chose this career because I like to workout. I am also a pretty regular person, so sometimes I don't like to workout.
I like to watch reality TV, just like the rest of you.
I like to eat crap sometimes, just like the rest of you.
Sometimes it feels good to not workout.
Sometimes it feels pretty great actually.

For the last few weeks, my workouts have been pretty sparse. With the cold weather and the darkness, my body just wants to hang out in pajamas any chance it gets. Now, I have worked out a little bit, probably averaging 2 hours a week-definitely not what I'm used to.

Recently I saw the Holiday 100 on Daily Mile and became re-motivated. (I do very well with goals).
The goal is to run 100 miles between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It averages to around 3.2 miles a day.

Today was day one. I ran 3 miles in 32 minutes and 11 seconds which is definitely not my all time best pace, but it's day one, right? My lungs were tight (I've been battling a cold/allergies for months), but my legs felt great and I felt happy knowing I was working toward a goal - and just working out again period.

I know I won't run everyday (tomorrow), but I know I'm going to get to 100 miles by Christmas. I feel excited and revived by my new goal.

I also feel a little red in the face and sweaty.

Are you participating in the Holiday 100 or do you have other holiday fitness goals?

Tattoos

I have been watching a lot of LA Ink lately on Netflix. (I love this show!)
It's a show about people getting tattoos and the reasons and stories behind the tattoos.

It always makes me feel like I want to get another tattoo, but when I turn off the TV and I'm back in the real world, I don't want one anymore.
I hate needles.
Also, I can't think of anything I want tattooed on my body bad enough to get another one.

I got my first and only tattoo as a Freshman in college at Mizzou.
It was the year 2000.
I had just met some of my best friends.
We were 18.
We were sitting around in the dorm, bored, and decided to go to the tattoo shop downtown for tattoos. We arrived and we each picked something from the displayed tattoos on the wall, paid our $50 and the man got to work.
I remember it hurt like crazy and I wanted to be done before the tattoo was done. At that point, I was fine with walking away with a half finished sun. Alas, I stayed until the end.

That night, we each walked away with a different tattoo.
1. a sun
2. the sign of Leo
3. a Chinese character
4. roses

I have since learned that people put thought into their tattoos. Perhaps they design it themselves, or it's a portrait of a loved one. Me? I picked mine from a display of pre-made designs.

Do I regret my tattoo? Absolutely not. Though the sun on my back may just look like a sun to some people to me it represents:
freedom
turning 18
starting college
meeting my best friends

I don't think about my tattoo much because I can't see it, but when I think about it, I love it.

books and food and travel...

I attended a continuing education class for my personal training certification this weekend. At one point, the speaker wanted us to write a list of things we would do during the day if we didn't have to work and we had enough money to live....we could do anything we wanted!

Among the things on my list were:
read
scrapbook
take pictures
walk Peanut
make good food
eat good food
travel

I didn't write 'train clients' on the list. I thought I should though, like a dedicated, motivated trainer would. I tried to peek at other people's lists. "Are they writing 'train clients'?"

I thought at the end of this exercise he was going to say those that didn't write 'train' were bad trainers or something. However, if I didn't get paid to do it, I wouldn't train clients. It's true.

It made me think about my career choice (I've been doing that a lot lately, actually). Should I have a job I would do whether I got paid or not? I guess that would be ideal. However, I do love what I do. I love my job. I may not be as motivated as this speaker (I'm definitely not), but I do love my clients and I love helping people get healthier and make better choices every day.

I also like to do a lot of other things too and I'm thankful I have the job that gives me enough free time to do the things I love to do, even though I don't get paid to do them.

What's on your list?

Simple Sunday, seven

This week, my Simple Sunday page is about the great date Zeb and I had on Thursday afternoon.

I started with the Elle's Studio sketch this week and then modified it a lot.

I've been really into bright colors lately which I think has served me well. In the beginning of my scrapbooking journey, I was very matchy matchy. I couldn't add colors to the pages without them being represented in the pictures I was using. Now, I like to play around with a lot of colors and I think my pages are better because of it.

A Day Date

Zeb and I....we're not like most couples. We don't have the kind of jobs that give us a "regular" life. We're not 9-5ers, we're nights and weekenders.

My schedule usually looks like a split shift with clients in the morning and clients in the evening.
Zeb works at a liquor store and a pizza place so his schedule has him working five nights a week, especially on the weekends.

So our date time isn't in the evenings or on the weekends.

This week we had a date Thursday afternoon.

We started with lunch at our favorite place, Chelly's.
When we walked in, one of the servers said "Welcome home." (That should give you some indication of how much we go there.) a lot a lot.

Then on to the 1:55 showing of The Rum Diary. It was set in Puerto Rico so the colors were beautiful to watch on the screen. The story was entertaining too.

A good day date, I'll say.

A Stop in Spiddal

I feel overwhelmed after a big event, like a vacation, or Christmas, when all I've been doing is taking pictures. After I come home there's the pressure of how to include it all in your scrapbook. Do you scrapbook all of it? Do you make one page for each day of vacation? So many questions!

So here I am, five months after arriving home from my trip to Ireland and I am still working on pages, trying to figure out what is important, what to include, what doesn't have to be in the scrapbook, etc.

Today I used the Elle's Studio sketch from this week, again (I'm obsessed) to document a stop during our Connemara bus tour. I thought this spot was perfectly Irish: a little cottage, ponies, a rock wall and green fields. Beautiful.