New Year's Giveaway

Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new year-- can you believe 2010 is here already?!?

Well, in the spirit of the new year and all of those "need to get in shape" new year's resolutions, Elizabeth of A Wedding Story is giving away a new subscription to Fitness magazine.  Go here to check it out!

I started my "get fit" journey almost a year ago and I made a lot of progress, but unfortunately when MJ came home on leave, all that progress went down the drain and I gained 10lbs!  I already told him when he comes home this time, he's not going to be able to talk me out of going to the gym-- I even plan on working out on our cruise.

In just a few short weeks, I've mananged to drop 6 of those 10lbs and I'm getting back a lot of my muscle strength, THANK GOODNESS!!!  I was beginning to worry.  Nothing is more depressing than knowing you used to be able to lift a certain amount and no longer being able to. 

I wouldn't consider myself a competative person, but when you give me a challenge, I'm going to follow through on it.  I started the clean eating challenge and not long after that, I had my trainer take my measurements so I knew where I was starting from.  Let me just tell you-- I was NOT happy with them and ever since that day, I've watched my protein, carb, and calorie intake like no other; starting taking more supplements (like protein shakes and fish oil); and I spend at least an hour to an hour and a half in the gym every night.  I refuse to let myself get back to the way I was in February.

Here's to the new year, a new you and getting fit!

Bye-Bye Debt!

"Some debts are fun when you are acquiring them, but none are fun when you set about retiring them." ~Ogden Nash

I must admit that I have had quite a bit of fun acquiring a great many debts in my life.  I have managed to purchase a lot in just a few short years.  I have a degree, a nice car, and a LOT of nice shoes (I love shoes!!!)!  However, when MJ took this job overseas we agreed that we would use the money to pay for our wedding and to pay off our debt.

Well rotation one came and went very quickly.  We were successful in paying for our wedding and we paid for everything in cash so we came out of it with no debt.  Hooray for us!

Now we're in rotation two and we are well on our way.  We started by sitting down and creating an Excel spreadsheet with each debt listed.  We put down how much we were required to pay each month, what the actual payment we made was, and how much we ultimately owed.  Let me tell you, putting it all down on paper and seeing the bottom line can be pretty scary!  Who knew debt could add up so quickly?!

We were realistic though and knew that it would take several years to pay off our house, my student loans, and the car, but the credit cards would be fairly easy.  So we opted to pay our highest interest rate items first and save the house, student loans and car for the end.  As of tomorrow, we will have paid off 4 credit cards and put a signficant dent in several others! We've begun to have weekly conversations about our finances and what the next best step is.  It probably doesn't sound very exciting, but it sure is exciting to see $0 balance on your credit card statement.

I don't know about you, but I've got a good feeling about 2010!  Anyone else looking at the new year with hopes of getting out from underneath some debt?

Christmas

I'm back!  

I just returned from spending 5 days with my sister and her family. I flew up to DC on Wednesday and was greeted at the airport by my sister, mom, niece and nephew.
We spent all day Thursday just hanging around the house and doing some last minute shopping and then we spent that night wrapping those last minute gifts!

Christmas morning we all woke up to open some awesome presents!  Santa brought my niece a trunk full of dress up clothes and shoes and he brought my nephew the Wii.  They both were pretty excited!

Uncle MJ and Aunt Katie (yes, that's me... my family calls me Katie) bought Hannah her first pair of John Deere boots! They were just too cute for words and she loved them!

Then since we thought Santa might be bringing the Wii to my nephew, we bought him Mario Kart to play with the whole family.

Of course, Christmas (or any day for that matter) just isn't complete without a little craziness on behalf of my brother-in-law.

It was a great Christmas to say the least!  I had an awesome visit with my family and was quite sad to come home.

Did you all have a good Christmas too?

Bathroom Re-do

So as I've mentioned, I've been working a few home projects since MJ left and I thought I would show you a little sneak peek of what I've done.  I would show you the whole thing, but I haven't finished painting so it will pretty much lose it's effect.

Interestingly enough, while scouring through several blogs (mainly after ogling over Holly's work), I got the urge to start refinishing furniture.  I thought it would be a great hobby to keep me busy while MJ is away.  I convinced him that my first project should be the cabinets in our spare bathroom since I hated the color that they were.  So that same Saturday morning, I made MJ take me to Lowes to buy some power tools.  We came back with a plethora of things for my little refinishing arsenal.  I'm not gonna lie though-- MJ got a pretty good laugh at it all until he started to do some of the work and realized he enjoyed it too.  I love when I'm right!

So anyway, I thought I would give the cabinets a bit of a rustic feel.  The hardware that came on our cabinets is actually really nice so I kept that and went along with the oil-rubbed bronze look.


Here is your sneak peek--**


Before:

After:

And here is my quick tutorial--

I emptied the cabinet and removed the doors and hardware.  Then I used a power sander to sand each piece (220-grit paper).  I also used my 3M hand sander, but only on those tight spaces like that bottom portion underneath the doors. 

After everything was sanded, I used an oil-based primer.  After that, I painted on 3 coats of oil-based paint.  Now I will say, I hate oil-based paint just because it is difficult to clean up, but I definitely recommend it for cabinets unless you are going to use a sealer. 

Once those 3 coats were dry (which might I add takes forever on those doors when you can only do one side at a time), I used my 3M sander (180-grit paper) to rough up the edges of the doors and cabinet.  Then I took some Minwax stain and put it on the roughed up edges.  I put a bit of stain on the center of the doors too then wiped it off to get a little more rustic look.

After it all dried, I put the hardware back on, hung the doors back up, and viola!








**edited to add before photo

Christmas Spirit, Where Are You?

For some reason, I just can't get into the Christmas spirit this year. I mean sure I'm excited to spend the holidays with my friends and family in Virginia and Maryland, but it just doesn't feel like Christmas to me.

Normally I am the one who is dancing around to Christmas tunes long before Thanksgiving.  I am quick to switch the radio to the one station that plays only Christmas music between Thanksgiving and New Years too.  This year, I don't even want to listen to a single Christmas song.

I don't know if it's the fact that MJ isn't home or that I've been so preoccupied with things around the office and at home, but it practically feels like it's only summer or something (minus the freezing temperatures).  It probably doesn't help that I have done little in the way of decorating seeing as I won't be home. 

Let's hope things change a bit because I'm beginning to feel like a Scrooge!

Should Elin leave Tiger?

I don't think anyone can get away from the Tiger Woods debacle.  We've all heard about the many (13 to be exact) women that have come forth to admit to having an affair with Tiger.

It's all over the news-- should his wife stay with him or should she leave? Will she forgive him or return to Sweden?  Is Tiger a good father?  Are the kids in danger?  I mean, we all love a little marital strife, don't we?!

There are those that believe that because he is a pro athlete and puts himself out there, he should be held to a higher standard.  His "dirty laundry" gets aired whether he likes it or not, right?  Well, not exactly... at least not for me.  I personally don't believe it's any of my business (I also believe that what Bill Clinton did in the Oval Office isn't any of my business either- and yes, I did just say that).  And since this is my blog afterall and a place to express my opinions I thought I'd share my thoughts on this craziness.**

The past few mornings on my very early ride into work, a particular radio show has spent quite a bit of time flip flopping back and forth about the scandal.  On Friday morning, the radio hosts were reading snippets of news and stated that Elin knew all along that Tiger was not Mr. Perfect-- I believe the quote shared was something along the lines of "she knew he was a player."  Then on Monday morning's drive in, they were still talking about it all, except the focus seemed to be on the 13 other women and not so much on Elin.  And then this morning, it was back to being about Elin.

Here are just a few thoughts from me...

First, who am I to judge Tiger Woods?  I don't know him or what is going on in his life or within his marriage, so it really isn't any of my business or anyone's business for that matter.  How does anyone answer those questions I posed above-- I mean, sure you can answer for yourself and what you think you would do, but can you really say what is best for Tiger Woods and his family?  Can any of you say that 100%, without a doubt, if you were in Elin's shoes you would have it all figured out and know what to do?  I can't.  I'd like to think that I would be strong and would figure it out, but no, I don't know, without a doubt, what I would do.

Second, the radio mentioned this morning that Elin was seen without her wedding ring which means she's leaving him.  Or that's at least what people speculate because why else would she not be wearing her ring?!?  Okay, I don't know about any of you married people out there, but have you ever forgot to put your rings on in the morning or perhaps taken them off for a particular activity?  I know I have and believe it or not, that does not mean that I'm leaving my husband.  Honestly, the first thing that came to mind in the car when I heard that was Kate Gosselin.  Why you ask?  Because she still wears her ring and I remember it being quite a big deal during interviews.  Rings are simply a symbol.  They do not define a marriage.  As we all learned, Kate Gosselin wearing her ring did not mean that she wasn't leaving Jon so Elin taking hers off doesn't necessarily mean she is leaving Tiger.

Third, making a statement doesn't make everything okay.  I believe yesterday it was mentioned that the whole scandal wouldn't be so big if Tiger had or would just come out and make a statement.  And I'm not so sure I agree with this.  He has not come out with a statement to deny the allegations so I think it's safe to say the allegations are true-- he likely would have denied it if the allegations were false.  So what exactly would making a statement do?  Do we ask that all men or women who cheat come out and make a formal statement admitting their indiscretions?  Look, Tiger didn't marry me, have children with me or cheat on me.  Sure, he ruined his marriage and his reputation, but my life didn't change because of it. He doesn't owe me anything.

All I'm saying is Tiger Woods is still human and while I do not condone his actions, I don't feel it is my place to judge him or his family.  That is not part of my job description and it never was.




**I am not looking to prove anyone wrong or anger anyone, I'm just stating my opinion.

New Layout Is Here...

Well, the new layout has arrived! What do ya'll think?

You'll have to bear with me while I do some re-linking and updating, but I hope to be back in action and posting more often now!