Bored at work

I'm currently sitting at work waiting on 4:30 to get here (I have 2 hrs 9 mins to go).  It has been such a long day, and I didn't even get here until 11! 

When I leave here I'm meeting a friend to go to "Body Pump" class.  The new year has inspired the typical weight loss/get in shape plan.  Over the last year and a half,  I have lost a total of 30lbs. Which is crazy to me.... 1) Because I can't believe I needed to lose that much weight 2) I just can't believe I actually did it. 

I'm hoping to lose another 30 this year.  And by this year I mean before the summer ;)  Or at least 20 by the time summer gets here!  I want to start running again, but its so cold outside and cold weather is not very motivating.  So for now I'm going to get in the habit of taking the indoor fitness classes. 

Usually starting a new year isn't that big of a deal for me, but this year I have found myself more excited than usual.  Excited may not be the right word, but I am definitely anticipating what 2011 holds more than I have any other year in a while.  There are three areas in my life that I'm really choosing to focus on:

1.  My spiritual life/walk with the Lord.
     -  I have been on an interesting "Spiritual Journey" over the past 6 years.  A journey that has definitely been different than the one I would have chosen for myself.  I'm sure I'm not the only one that can say that.  I'm at a place now where the only way I know how to really describe it, is I am ready to go deeper with the Lord.  You know the feeling you have when you start a new relationship?  Where you are really excited about what's to come?  That's where I am right now.  I have no idea what's coming, but I feel like I'm ready. 

2.  Finances
    -I have seen a lot of people who feel like the Lord is moving them to do something, but finances seem to stand in the way one way or another.  I know with God all things are possible, but I also know for me personally there are things I need to be doing/taking care of now so that I am doing my part. 

3.  Getting in shape
     -I've pretty much said all I'm going to say about this already in this post.  But I'm more motivated than I have been in a long time.

One other area I'm working on is what I'm doing with my time.  I'm the worst ever at volunteering to do things that I really have no desire to do.  I stress myself out over things that aren't important to me.  I know that sounds selfish, but the problem is I do things that other people enjoy doing or simply because I think there isn't anyone else to do it.  But because I'm doing them, those people aren't.  And in order to focus on these other 3 things, I need to evaluate what I'm doing with my time.  So I'm definitely learning to say no to a lot of things.  Or more importantly learning to keep my mouth shut and my hand down when asked to volunteer for something.  And I'm learning that down time is ok.  I don't have to constantly be on the go. 

So that's just a little about why I'm looking forward to 2011.
And just for fun, here is a picture from 10 years ago.....
I'm on the front row, 2nd from the right.

Tonight we start our new small group, which I just remembered I'm supposed to be taking a dessert to!  P.S.  It's these kind of things that makes losing weight not very easy!  Looks like it's probably going to be raw cookie dough to bake when I get there.  I'm sure the ladies won't mind!

Happy Monday!

I'm getting old!

You know you're getting older when these are your favorite Christmas

gifts :(

But this vacuum is awesome!  Especially for hardwood floors.

So one thing I have figured out recently is that furniture is expensive!  And when it comes to decorating, I want everything done immediately.  I don't like waiting. 

So when I found out I would be moving, my cousin and I began making a list of things that we would need.  I bought a couch from my friends that lived in our house before us.  They were wanting something different and I loved the couch so I just bought it from them.  Lucky for me it was in great condition!

This is the couch.  I just got the picture from Ashley Furnitures website.

As soon as I knew we were moving, I began looking for furniture at yard sales and thrift stores (I call it "treasure hunting." And I LOVE treasure hunting!)

This was my first find.  I actually found 3 of them.  They came out of an old church that was close to our house.  They were not much to look at but the guy sold me 3 of them for $10. 

Before

After

I basically just sanded and painted two of them and they are now in our foyer.  The walls in there are a chocolate brown.  I'll put pictures of that up later.

For my next find I knew I wanted a buffet for our dining room.  I found this one at a yard sale and negotiated with the man so I got it for $30.  I was pretty impressed with myself.  Especially since my negotiating skills are lacking!

Before

After

(It's a terrible picture but I painted it a smokey gray color and the hardware is white.  I love it!  Except that the drawers get stuck, any suggestions on how to fix that?  They stick from the paint.  The picture is thanks to Karley.  I saw it in a resturant here in B'ham and she did a replica for me.  I'm having a frame made for it.  The size is not standard so I couldn't buy one.  The lamp is from a yard sale but has since been moved and replaced and the red candle sticks are from the thrift store.)

I got this chair from my granddad's storage buildings.  The same place I got this.  So it was free.

After

(I know it's bold, but I loved this fabric!)

This is a table we put in the kitchen.  There isn't a lot of room so it needed to be something small.  My cousin had this so she painted it and recovered the chair.  She also made a valence to hang on the window.

Before

After

There is another chair but it wasn't finished at the time I took the picture.

 So that's all for now.  There are still several things to show you, so hopefully I'll have those up soon!