Happy New Year

It's a good thing I didn't resolve to post more regularly! The bad part is, I plan on starting the Couch to 5K running program (I ran 5Ks every Saturday in the fall in high school...not so much now!), but it's currently 21 and feels like 8. I'm not exactly swimming in the cold weather exercise clothes, so I may have to find a few substitute resolutions until, say, March!

We had a pretty great New Year's. On New Year's Eve, as soon as Husband got off work, we high-tailed it out of town to get down to Nashville. We stayed up until midnight Eastern time (but Nashville is Central...does that still count?) and went to bed. Early early, alarms went off and we got up and hit the road to New Orleans! My dad's alma mater, Cincinnati, played in the Sugar bowl. My parents were definitely going to go and the calendar fell in a good way for us to make it, too. Very quick trip as we were in town for less than 24 hours, but we had a GREAT time...even though we lost :(

Husband and me in front of the Superdome

My mom and me getting accessorized on Bourbon St.

U C!

Cincinnati band

I PROMISE pictures of our master bedroom are coming. The painting is done and initial pictures taken, but I need to make the bed so I can take some of the furniture back in place for the finished product!

Accountability Beginnings

Not that I really think anyone actually keeps up with this thing, but I do and as my mother will tell you, I'm the only one that matters (love you, Mom)! I've been catching up on old posts at Molly's Happy House blog. I take inspiration from her as I try to do a better job cleaning our new, sparkling clean house than I did with our apartment. I made cleaning one of my New Year's goals (and generally failed miserably) and I'm hoping to salvage some of the year. This week is supposed to be very nice outside (so I'm going to try and exercise as well, goal #2!) as well as back to normal at work. Well, except for two days, but I don't have to teach; we're going to a conference here in town.
What the above rambling paragraph is getting at (I really wasn't kidding in the banner), one thing I really like that Molly does is list weekend goals. Every Friday, she lists the goals for the week and reports back on Monday as to how she did. I'm thinking of trying something like that, only maybe have fewer, general goals for the week. We'll see how it evolves. I didn't do so well with her cleaning challenge, though I may be able to pick up some tips. Again, these posts are more for me. If you happen to pick up useful info, yay!

Weekly Goals:
Monday (my half day at school): Check on supplies for Tuesday's Art project
jog/walk for 30 minutes
Sweep and Swiffer Wet master bathroom
Wash bath rugs
Clean bathroom sink bowls
Wipe bathroom counters (side note: get granite cleaner. For today, damp rag and wipe dry)
Dust living room
Meeting at church

Tuesday:
Sweep/Swiffer Wet kitchen, laundry room, breakfast nook, and entry (it sounds like a lot more than it is)
Vacuum living room and bedroom
Jog/walk if weather permits (currently only day this week of forecasted rain)

Wednesday:
Windex mirrors and other shiny surfaces

Thursday:
Wipe down tub and shower in MBath
Begin packing for Nashville!
Begin laundry if time allows

Friday:
Leave for Nashville!!!! We're heading down for the UK/Vandy game. Should be a good weekend for football. Plus the game is in the morning, so we'll get home in time for Saturday afternoon naps!

There's my first set of goals. I think I'll steal Molly's idea and keep my general cleaning schedule on the sidebar. I came up with it in January and worked for me until snow days and life in general made me lazy. We'll try it again.

Non-Resolution Challenge: Week...3?

I've fallen off the wagon. Not only have I fallen, but I've broken my leg and can't move! OK, it's not really that bad. That's the nice part about not having an official resolution :) I have a zillion excuses for why I've been less than faithful with meeting my goals. But they all boil down to me being lazy. I had a ton of meetings last week for some reason. On non-meeting days I stayed at school later than I meant to, prepping and chatting. Either way, late days = tired me = lazy me = things don't get done. And I thought Algebra would never be useful in real life! My weekend was no better: I chaperoned a youth lock-in with our kids and kids from another church. We had a blast, but the other church's kids had it in their heads that they were NOT sleeping. Which means chaperons don't sleep. I caught up Saturday afternoon, but that evening was a girls' night, which put me behind again. Luckily, I've had the past 2 days off because of snow and ice (I'm not quite sure why we were out Monday, but I'll take it). Tomorrow looks just as bad. So hopefully between now and later, my leg will heal and I'll be back on my feet.

Non-Resolution Challenge: Days 2-4

I'm almost a full week in to my first week of the non-resolution. So far so good too! I've really kept up with the cleaning schedule. I think the longest was vacuuming, which took all of 10 minutes. Being active...well, I've played Wii Fit everyday. While that's nothing to sneeze at, I haven't always participated in the most effective activities. One day I concentrated on balance games, since I'm HORRIBLE at those. I highly doubt that will actually burn my calories, but I managed to reach 2 stars on most of them!
Other than that, nothing much to report...

Non-Resolution Challenge: Day 1

I made a promise to myself that, in lieu of actual New Years resolutions, I would take the things people typically resolve and make 1-week goals for myself. I want to start cleaning the apartment on a regular basis and made out a schedule, so I don't have to set aside 3-4 hours to clean it when I can no longer stand how filthy it is. I want to do something physically active every day, whether it's play the Wii Fit (on the Strength Training Challenges, the trainer is a pansy BTW), go for a walk, or actually go all the way to the apartment's gym. I want to cook (really cook, no microwave pizzas) at home more as it's cheaper and healthier. I decided that the first day back to school would be the good starting point.
When I got home, I dusted the office, living room, and bedroom. I played Wii Fit for 40 min. Then I relaxed until Husband got home when I went to shower while he studied. I cooked a dinner of Kilbasa, biscuits, and leftover corn casserole. We also made plans for what to eat the rest of the week. We got very excited about the prospect of eating at home every night for a week, since we also cooked Sunday night. We decided if we did it, we'd celebrate Saturday evening with Moe's!
I feel pretty good on Day 1 of Week 1. Not overflowing with energy, but I don't feel like I'm about to fall asleep either. I'm going to hit the wall about Wednesday or Thursday though. At least with the cleaning and "working out." I'll keep y'all posted.