Friday, April 28, 2017

Garbage

Is anyone on here an emotional eater?

You eat when you are happy? Or sad? Or stressed?

I have found that I have turned into an emotional eater.




Yesterday my whole day was thrown off when I got a phone call reminding me I had forgotten a commitment. I was late. I hadnt eaten anything and I basically threw Nash in the car and we rushed over lickity split.

Well...my healthy food choices arent at the house where I was...so I made a not so great breakfast choice. And one thing led to another because then it was almost 3 PM, and we could finally go home, but Nash and I both hadnt eaten lunch, he was late for a nap, and I was stressed out. I grabbed a Pepsi and drank it...putting me well over my sugar allotment for the day.

I was so mad at myself and stressed about work that instead of exercising, I sat there mad at myself...FOR NASH'S WHOLE NAPTIME! Gah.

Today, I did great at breakfast and was on track to have a great lunch when Nash asked for jack in the box (he never asks for food....) so i looked up taco nutrition facts and decided i could fit those in my meal plan today. I got a side salad as well. I ate about 6 of Nash's fries and my salad and could have been done. But i bought the tacos dang it and so I ate them.

Now, instead of working out, I want to puke my guts out. Too much fried stuff and my tummy is ANGRY.

Tell me this gets easier to navigate. Please?!

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Week 1

So I've been on this new diet and med schedule for 7 days now.

Thoughts on it.

At first I was afraid....i was petrified. HA! But seriously.

There is nothing worse than someone saying "lose weight" and not giving you any direction or help in that regard. Its way worse when its a doctor who is supposed to be helping you.

I have messed up hormones and i'm basically insulin resistant. If you want to know what insulin resistance is here is a link.

((The interesting thing about all of my conditions is that they all started or activated when I got married. How weird is that?!))

Anyways, doctors wont officially say i have insulin resistance, but they treat me like I do. And insulin resistance causes me to gain weight and have it be a complete BEAR to get rid of.

No one has ever really helped me with my diet and how it would work with my pre-existing conditions (PCOS, IR, and High Blood Pressure). I felt so lost and overwhelmed and I tend to panic. I can thank my anxiety for that.

This is my second endocrinologist that I have been to. She gave me some perimeters of where she wants my eating, wants me to exercise 3 days a week minimum, do intermittent fasting (not widely done, but has been tested on insulin resistant patients and seems to help), as well as taking my medication.

I just completed week one.

I'm on my period and i wanted all the chocolate and didnt want to move because of cramping. It was really hard at first because I felt like I couldnt eat anything. I all of the sudden was viewing food as an enemy....which isnt healthy. I took me until yesterday, but I think I'm finally starting to figure this out. I ate out at Applebees yesterday. I ate half of my meal (and was full!) and it still fit into all of my categories!! My carbs, my calories, my sugars, my fats! I realized that I still could have good food, even with a restrictive diet. I even got to eat my leftovers for lunch today!

My water intake probably hasnt been this high since I was pregnant either. I have been dehydrating myself for a long time.

And I'm down 3 pounds.

:) Hoping to keep it up!!

Monday, April 24, 2017

Dreaming of a porch

I've always loved the idea of a beautiful porch leading up to the entrance of my home.

I love the look of the double door entry as well--it looks so grand, and how beautiful to decorate for the holidays!

I've always wanted a swing and a sitting area, maybe pots filled with flowers if I could keep them alive.

But alas, we did not move into a home with this potential. It would take building the house out and over in order to create something like this...and that just isn't going to happen.

So I can dream. :)

Also, if we ever get to build that cabin at my ranch, I am DETERMINED that it have a wrap around porch around the whole thing.

And you better believe it will have a swing. :)

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Back to the grind

So, as many of you know, i have infertility issues.

Say whaaa? (right?) ::sarcasm::

Anyways, in the last year, my body and the flip flopped hormones and the insulin resistance that I now have, plus the awesome high blood pressure the last pregnancy has saddled me with HAVE TAKEN THEIR TOLL on my poor body.

I had been going to an endocrinologist for awhile in 2016, but he wasnt concerned with me. In fact he turfed me to his PA for all of my appointments except the first one. I wasnt a priority. And I needed help, and he didnt give it to me.

I stopped going to him. And then my prescription ran out.

Since I was off my medication that helped with the insulin problem...i've had major weight issues because of that. (my body doesnt process insulin anymore...so no matter how many calories I count or diets i go on--my body just holds on to that fat. freaking a man. so unfair)

EVENTUALLY (and sooner than later) I'd like to get pregnant again--(especially considering I have to have a hysterectomy at an early age thanks to the cancer gene I've inherited from my mom.)

I needed to see a new Endo. A neighbor gave me the info of her old doc who she loved.

I had my first appointment yesterday.

I cant say that I love her...but at least I have someone who can help look out for me and figure some stuff out.

So I'm back to the grind. Diet, exercise, medication, managing my stress (betrayal trauma is laughing at me) and hopefully getting more sleep.

Wish me luck.


Monday, April 17, 2017

The 3rd Bedroom.

Dun, Dun, DUUUUUUNNNNN!

So last October we repainted the inside of our home (with the exceptions of the bedrooms). Everything is open plan and so it honestly feels like one giant space. Before we moved in, we had painted Nash's room, and we were fine with the color of our room (its kinda like periwinkle). However, both hall baths, the 3rd bedroom, the living room, the hall, the kitchen, dining, and family room were all this pinkish brown paint.

I knew I didnt love it when we moved in, but as everyone kept telling me, it wasnt that bad and it was already done. So i lived with it for 2 years. Over the weekend of our anniversary, the plans we had to go out of town fell through, so we used those 2 days to completely dismantle our home and paint. Nash was half hating that we weren't paying attention to him, and half loving the freedom he had. Lol.

BEFORE::

Kitchen:


Living room:




Laundry Room:



Nash's bathroom:



Dining Room:


Family Room:





AFTER::
Kitchen/Dining:

Living Room:




Hall:


Laundry Room (Same color in Nash's bath):

I obviously was so tired and scatter brained that I didnt take pictures of every room. But you get the idea!! As I change things up more I'm sure I'll do more posts on the rooms!


I chose a great neutral color called burnished clay from behr that I picked up at Home Depot. Jace wasn't so sure about it, but by the time it dried we both fell in love. It completely brightened up our home (which it needed!! everything was so monochromatic and dark and a little depressing). I also picked out a bright and cheery blue for my laundry room and Nash's bathroom. When Jace saw the laundry room for the first time he said, "hey! i actually want to spend time in here!" Since we were "going for it", I took the time to paint our front and back door a beautiful Navy blue. The doors are weird, they have metal casings on the front and back of them that makes painting them tricky. I did 2-3 coats, and honestly they probably could use another. After doing all that in 2 days....we completely ran out of steam when it came to painting the 3rd bedroom.

I mean, it was a catch all room that we didn't spend any time in, so why bother with it, right?

Well after living with that for another 6 months....I was over it again. ha!!

We had Jace's family coming to our house for Easter, and I decided that was enough motivation to clean out the room, re-organize, and paint.

Jace was able to help some with the painting, but I did all the clearing out, organizing, and of course painting. That room has built in desks and every nook and cranny were painted in that pink brown. It was another 2 days of work, but WOW. what a difference!! I cant believe that we actually have a functioning room!! I can get to every single thing, all of Jace's guitars are up off the ground, my books have a home. I actually have kept that bedroom door open for the last 5 days, I just love looking at it!!

Someday, we will get carpet installed in it (since hopefully it will become another child's room), but until then, I am happy with the result! The closet is the only space in the whole house where that old paint color resides. Hooray!!



Monday, April 10, 2017

Customer Service

Is customer service dead?

My mom and I bought the proform hybrid trainer pro off their website a few weeks ago. Chris and Heidi Powell (trainers from extreme weight loss) endorse it. I read reviews of the bike/elliptical machine and I was sold! for less than $1000 i could have 2 work out machines!

Jace and I are trying to get alot healthier. In general, but I'm hoping to get pregnant and I need to be in better shape before that can happen.

I have a bad knee and this machine fit into the category that I needed it to!

We ordered. It finally came. My machine was BROKEN. and missing a part anyways. ::crying::

After talking online to the representative, he had me call to get a replacement. I called that number and they were closed. Then they are closed Saturdays and Sundays. I finally got through and she was sending me a new machine. I now was responsible for the old machine. ((i have to throw away their garbage for them, awesome))

My moms was broken as well, but it was cosmetic, and not worth the hassle of trying to get it repaired. Jace and I spent 2 hours putting hers together for her.

Our new machine finally came. Since Jace and I put together my moms, it went alot faster. However, still just over an hour. We plugged it in and....ITS BROKEN. Not lying. The machine is making a horrible clicking noise as soon as it has power and the pedals have major resistance.

I chatted online with a representative (they want you to start there first) and he said he couldnt help me. So i called the number from before. I had to wait for 20 minutes and then the guy made me put the batteries in my machine and hold the phone to it to prove that it was making noise. He put me on hold twice trying to figure it out.

My options were to disassemble it, try to repackage it, and send it in for a refund OR they would send a part and a tech to fix it whenever the part showed up. Thats it. Those were my two options.

I expressed my disappointment with the product, and the fact that 3 machines were bought and ALL were faulty. His response was "it is inconvenient, yes".

I worked in retail, and so I know that he has no real power, but where is the compassion? What happened to customers being right and wanting to make them happy? So, is customer service dead?


Tuesday, April 4, 2017

My home. and Dreams.

I've shared very little of my home in pictures.

When we moved in 2 years ago, less than 2 weeks in, I learned of Jace's pornography addiction. 
About a year later, he relapsed.

My hours got cut more than half at my job as a respite provider and money became tight as we tried to pay off debt.

Basically, the last 2 years I have been in what we call "Survival Mode" and tackling house projects and then taking pictures of them were PRETTY low on the list.



The house we moved into wasn't in desperate need of changing by any means. The woman we bought the house from had done some remodeling 10 or so years prior. However, it just wasn't ME.

The whole house was MUCH MUCH darker than I like. The walls in every single room with the exception of the "master" and nash's room were painted this pinkish brown. The whole house with the exception of 3 rooms is tiled in this brown tile with dark brown grout. The cabinets are maple with antiquing done on the insets :(, the hardware are all antique bronze (as well as every fixture--lights, fans, faucets, etc), the counters are a black/brown laminate, the appliances are all black, even the shades on the fans are brown tinted. 

I had this conversation on the blog last fall, about needing some color options, because ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH. I had been here living in this for almost 2 years and I wanted it to start feeling like me! 

When we moved in, we painted the old master (which was painted GREEN) before we moved in and we turned that into Nash's room. Loved it. Our bedroom that we made the master is a periwinkle...and honestly I don't dislike it enough to change it right now. But the rest of the house is wide open to one another and I was tired of the pink tones. So I picked out this great clay color and we painted the halls, the kitchen, the dining, the family room, and the living room. We then painted the laundry room and nash's bathroom a fun light blue color. I painted our front and back doors Navy blue. LOVE.

As we have lived here, things that the previous owner had bought for the home have started to crap out on us. So slowly we are replacing things. Like, we have a new hot water heater now, a new disposal, a new faucet in a bathroom, and a new dishwasher. The fridge is on the way out too, so we'll probably have to get a new one of those soon as well.

We also inherited ALOT of dying trees. They didn't know they weren't properly tending to them, but we had an arborist come out and all the trees had center rot and all the irrigation and fertilizer and loving care wasn't going to help them. So, so far we have taken out 1 grapefruit tree, 1 pitiful lemon tree, 1 tangerine tree, 1 mulberry tree, and 1 piece of crap whatever tree. We have 2 left--and orange and another mulberry. The orange will be coming down in the next couple weeks (should've happened after Christmas...oh well) and we still need to check on the other mulberry. Long term goal is to plant another good shade tree in the front and a lemon tree in the back eventually (we love the space we have gained in the backyard!)

We need a new roof. The previous owners really needed a new roof and never did anything about it. So that's on the list.

The bricks on the outside of our home are disintegrating from wear and sun. The mortar comes out if you touch it! That will need to be taken care of as well. The house has siding on it, but its YELLOW! Blech! We will get that replaced with white.

I plan on planting beautiful shrubs and roses along the front...once we get the brick figured out.

The inside will get a COMPLETE remodel. Flooring, counters, fixtures, etc. 
and EVENTUALLY we will do a large addition off the back--big photography studio for me, a powder room, a real master bedroom and bathroom, and underneath that a BASEMENT with a gameroom, storage, and possibly a guest bedroom and bathroom. 
(you know in 40 years when we can afford that!)

I have such big plans and goals for my home. I thought I'd post some inspiration pictures here. I can see it exactly how I want it in my head...and it will look awesome!

Kitchen:
Wood flooring
Navy bottom cabinets
White uppers
White quartz countertops
White subway tile backsplash
Nickle fixtures
Stainless Steel appliances


(a nice mid-tone laminate--with extra water protection as it will be in our kitchen)



(i would do nickel or chrome fixtures/hardware, not brass)


Master bedroom/bath:

(large square tub and shower combo in light calming colors)


(double vanity, square sinks, light calming colors with storage!)

If you've ever been in the Mesa Temple's baptistry, the floor in there is the color inspiration for my future master bath. Small check mosaic tiles in sea green, blue, white...i couldnt find exactly what I was searching for online, but i'll know it when I see it!



Master Closet:
In our current "master" there isnt a lot of extra space and minimal closet space. By building out a wall we can do a simple walk in closet. I cant wait!! (These pictures are of a closet that will be bigger than what we will be able to do.)



Living Room:
New carpet
Built-ins

(gray soft/cozy carpet)


(these built ins are amazing! I watched when the blogger DIY'ed most of these herself (with her dad!) I would have plenty of storage for extra things underneath, as well as plenty of book space above!! I have a HUGE wall this would go on in my living room!!)