Since I'm not teaching summer school this year - my weeks are rather open, so I've decided that I need a project (or two) to occupy my time.

The first of which - the Push Up Challenge.

The challenge is simple - complete 100 consecutive push ups in six weeks.

For some of you this may be an easy feat, but for me - this is akin to climbing Mount Everest. I have the upper body strength of 90 year old.

I downloaded the 100 Push Ups app to keep track of my progress. Monday was Day 1 and after completing 10 push ups in TOTAL - my arms and chest felt like jello the next day.

And just to keep myself accountable and track my progress, I thought I would post a little video update here and there.

Yes, it's sad. I know.

But hopefully, I will be able to touch my nose to the floor and do more than one push up at a time in just a few short weeks. Here's hoping!

What are you up to this summer? Crossing anything off your life list or completing any challenges?

The last time I posted was in February - yeesh. While I may have taken a blog vacation, ok, blog coma, that doesn't mean I wasn't thinking about writing and this little space of mine. As I logged on to Bloglovin' each day to read about other's lives and happenings I was reminded about my own piece of the web where I should be sharing but I just wasn't interested in writing about my life for awhile. Chalk it up to being busy at school, arthritis draining the daylight out of me, or whatever excuse I want to insert here - I just didn't feel like it.

But now?

School's ending in 5 days and I'm not working summer school.

I'm ready to lay by the pool, read books, workout, eat better, blog more, and just be happy for 8 continuous weeks.

I think I'm ready.

Oh yeah. Definitely.

I've been on a mission this month to save some money. And with all the snow days in January (another one today - very surprised!) I've had plenty of time to devote to this mission.

As you might recall, I'm a follower of Dave Ramsey. Chris and I completed Financial Peace University in the summer of 2011 and we've definitely made some changes for the better - mostly being on the same page with our joint finances and making our money work for us. We tell our money where to go - it doesn't just disappear anymore!

Anywho, Dave posted a reminder on Facebook a few weeks back that it was a great time to review insurance policies and other services to see if there was any possibility of savings. Through a few emails and phone calls - I learned that I could save $400/year switching my auto insurance back to State Farm. Done and done.

I didn't stop there. Next I tackled our TV and internet bills. Currently we pay about $100/month for DirecTV and $46/month for DSL internet through AT&T. We've always been happy with both services but AT&T was running a crazy promotion - UVerse TV and Internet with great upgrades (a 3x faster internet than what we currently have, over 300 channels with Starz, HBO, and Showtime, free equipment/install, plus a $200 rebate). All for about $115/month. (It could have been lower but we chose an upgraded package because there was little difference between the next lowest package). That would be a savings of over $500/year.

I didn't immediately jump at that offer because DirecTV has always been great about offering some kind of deal if I called and asked what they could do. So that's what I did, called them up and explained the situation. They countered with 2 months of HBO for free (which I was already paying for - a savings of $32) and the rest of the movie channels free for an additional 2 months (a $46 value). There were unable to do more for me because I already had a $10 bill credit on my account which prohibited them from offering me anything better. Call back in 2 months they said.

That irked me.

Here I am saying I am going to choose a different provider and you want me to wait 2 months? This is my money DirecTV - I wanna save it NOW!

So I called up Uverse and it was installed yesterday. Thankyouverymuch.

Through a few phone calls I've already saved $900. BOOYAH. Excuse me while I go dive into my money pit.


Chris and I also setup flexible spending accounts through our employers to help with monthly medical costs - which should add up to another $300 in savings.

I feel so growns up when I actively try to save money and I also get a bit of thrill from reclaiming my money. Better in my pockets than theirs!

Are you focused on saving some dough in the new year? What is your plan of attack? Share your favorite tricks and tips in the comments, I'd love to read them!

Today is our third snow day, with a slight possibility of a fourth tomorrow because of snow that is supposed to make its way in overnight. No complaints from this girl. An extra three days of winter vacation is fine with me.

I'm starting to run out of ideas to keep myself busy - there hasn't been much on tv and gasp I may be tired of SVU marathons. Yesterday I got of the house with a friend who has four wheel drive for a trip to the mall. But given my state of laying around and eating Fritos all day, I'm in no mood to buy clothes.

Today's agenda: blog reading, painting my nails, and going to see our friend's new baby, Carmen! She was actually born last Friday but Chris has been sick and we stayed away so as not to get anyone sick. I made some subway art to hang in her room with the Cameo. Have I mentioned I love that machine?


Hope it's warm where you are!

Happy New Year!

Well, happy January 2nd. I've been a little lazy around here to properly greet the new year in a timely fashion...but I'm working on it.

My work laptop even got a pretty upgrade after I tested out how well the Cameo cut vinyl. It cuts REAL good!


The Cameo definitely has more features than the Cricut does so hopefully over the next few weeks I will get to craft more so I figure out all the cool stuff it can do.

I'm off to get ready for work tomorrow...another day of professional development. LOVELY!

5 years ago today I started this blog of mine. I really had no specific intentions when I started, just thought it looked like fun and wanted to join in.

It is neat to see how much has changed in the past five years - new jobs, new house, weddings, babies, vacations, and fun with family and friends.



And I can't forget the blog friends I've made - the community of blogging is definitely something I enjoy a lot more than I thought I would. The realization that a few people stop by here and read what's going on is still an odd thought to me but I'm glad for nonetheless.


There were also a few blog bonuses this year too - still can't believe I have a Sleep Number bed, fo' free!


Here's to another year of good times on the blog, cheers!

Christmas has come and gone and in it's wake a trail of ugly sweaters and fabulous presents to play with on winter break.

Chris and I spent Christmas eve at my parent's house donning our finest Christmas apparel sourced from Goodwill only hours before. Chris won the title of "Most Authentic". What can I say? The man loves a good theme party. Just wait for new year's eve....it's 90s themed.


We look good.

Santa was very good to me this year.  Either my family knows me incredibly well  or I'm really good at dropping hints. I'm thinking it's the latter.
It was the year of scarves for me - even though only one is pictured I received 5 - I will be quite stylish when I return to school this week. I was most surprised by the Silhouette Cameo. I usually have a pretty good idea of what to expect for Christmas and it wasn't even on my radar. It is amazing!

So far I have used my Clarisonic Mia everyday since Christmas and I'm in love! My skin feels so smooth and I swear it looks better. It probably helps that I haven't worn makeup in a few days too.

Chris outfitted me with a beautiful new purse and an Under Armour hoodie. It is unbelievably warm.

I have firm no makeup policy on Christmas day.

Christmas day was spent eating our way from house to house - breakfast and mimosas at my parents and lasagna for dinner at Chris's parents. We were exhausted and stuffed by the time we got home.

Unfortunately, Chris came down with an awful flu that kept him on the couch from Thursday to Sunday. Such a rotten way to spend a vacation...sick on the couch. Hopefully we will be able to get out of the house and have some fun before I head back to work on Thursday.

Eww...work.

I hope your weekend/Christmas was swell! I'm off to get my house back to normal. There's just something about the week after Christmas that makes me want to hyper organize everything. You can find me shopping for some storage bins and rocking out with my label maker the rest of the week!