The New Do

Warning – this is a total girl post.  :o)

I have had medium to long hair for a few years now, and as you can see from my profile picture, it was getting quite long.  It was down to the middle of my back for a few months, which I really loved, but it was so hot and heavy!  I had been toying with the idea of cutting it to shoulder length for quite some time, but it wasn’t until it started to get hot out that I finally had enough!  I cut off about a foot, ok maybe not a foot, but man it sure felt like it! It was at least somewhere between 4-6 inches and afterwards it felt so much lighter, cooler and healthier.  Brad wasn’t as crazy about it as I was, but I think it is a really good length because I can still put it up in a ponytail and it doesn’t take as long to fix all pretty like.  :o)  It’s been a couple weeks since I took the plunge and I am loving it!  What do you think?

 Shortly after the new cut:

A couple weeks after the cut: (I love the first picture - the flash on my phone as acting up and just about blinded me. Stupid thing.)

New Workouts

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything about my workouts, partly because I have been trying a new program and wanted to see how I liked it. The other reason is because I have been a little lazy and wasn’t sure if anyone really cared.  ;o) 

Anywhoo, the workouts that I have been doing are from an amazing lady named Tatianna at LovingFit.com. 

 She is from Russia, but currently lives in Florida and was a professional figure skater when she was younger.  Her workouts remind me a lot of the BodyRock workouts, but I think the workouts and her fitness advice are more beneficial.  BR used to post some fitness and nutrition advice, but they have moved away from that lately and focus only on the workouts. I have done their workouts for quite a few months, but never really saw a lot of benefits or results.  I think part of it was because I was over training and not taking enough rest days.  I would workout out consistently four times a day for two or three weeks, then I would hit a wall and feel so tired and worn out.  After reading through Tatianna’s posts, I realized that I may have been over training.  I have been doing a few of her workouts here and there, but because of my crazy C.N.A class schedule I have only been consistently doing her workouts for one week.  I am following her beginner workout routine, which is basically three days of full body workouts in a circuit, three days of rest and one active rest/light cardio day for six weeks, then rest for one week.  I think after the first six weeks I will move on to her intermediate workouts, which are split between upper body and lower body routines four times a week, with two days being interval training versus circuit, a light cardio day and two rest days, or one rest day and a light stretching day.  

So far I really like the workouts and the way they are structured.  She puts a lot of thought into the routines and how they will best benefit the body, plus she is a total form Nazi! She is more concerned with proper form versus time or number of reps. I need to start working out in front of a mirror to make sure I am using proper form because I know I have to catch myself toward the end of the workouts and slow myself down. I have a terrible tendency to want to rush through the reps when I am getting close to being finished with the workout. I also feel like I am already seeing some results, especially with my arms and stomach.  I have been adding two 30-second planks at the beginning and end of each workout and man! are they killer!  

I  just really enjoy reading through her blog and her fitness/nutrition tips and felt like I should share with everyone.  I really hope that if you are interested in fitness you will give her a try, she is amazing!  :o)

The House

I hope I am not jinxing anything by saying this, but WE ARE BUILDING A HOUSE!  AHHHHH!!! We just signed the contract and now we are awaiting the ground breaking!  I haven’t said anything mainly because I didn’t want things to go wrong and it not happen, and then have to explain everything.  I wanted to make sure it was a real possibility and that nothing would happen at the last minute, mainly because I am weird like that, and it happened with the last house we thought about buying.  :o)

Ok, now the fun part - details!

We are building a 1200sqft two bed, two bath house with an unfinished basement.  The basement will contain a third bed and bath along with an office and a big rec/family room.  The office could have been a bedroom, but there will be no egress window (mainly for cost purposes) and we wanted an office. This is the floor plan we used as a base (the basement plan is actually from another house).   

We have made some slight changes to it, however:

 

1.       The actual floor plan is 100sqft larger, this one is only 1103.

2.       The stairs are not curved and we moved them over to the right a few feet so the spare bed and bath are a little bigger (the kitchen wall is now in line with the middle of the stairs).

3.        The closet in the second bedroom is on the south wall instead of the north wall and is the full length of the wall.

4.       The laundry area is a little deeper than drawn here in this layout.  That way I’m not in the hallway when doing laundry. 

5.       The master bed doesn’t have the bay window; we loved it but removed for cost, so it is only 14x12 now.

6.       We added a sliding door to the patio from the master bed.

7.       The door to the master closet is now inside the bathroom.

8.       The garage is slightly bigger, 22x22.

9.       The basement is very similar to what we are doing, but the egress window is only on the north bedroom.

10.   The closet for the north bedroom is on the south wall, and the bathroom extends the full length.

11.   The bathroom is not as wide and is longer, which means the bedroom and office are bigger, roughly 13x11. 

12.   There is no closet in the office; the mechanical room runs the whole length. 

I think we are as close as we are going to get to making it perfect.  This isn’t our “dream home” or our “forever” home, but it is going to be a very nice first home.  We found a lot a couple of blocks from where we live now, but in a much quieter area.  We tried to buy a lot in a smaller town about 15 miles away, but they were asking waaay too much for it and wouldn’t budge on the price. It’s not the ideal location, but it will be a good location for this home.

I can’t tell you how excited I am to get things started!  I will admit though, I am also scared to death!  I mean, we are building a house!!!  We will have a MORTGAGE!  YIKES!!!  Even though we are excited to finally own a home, we are definitely not looking forward to the bigger house payment.   :o) 

Certified Nursing Aid Training

This post is long overdue, but I haven’t had a lot of time to write it, and when I did have time I didn’t feel like doing it.  :o)  I have completed my C.N.A class and a CPR class – both which were fairly easy, but very informative.  The class I took was online through We Care Online.  The people there were great and very helpful.  I did the clinical part at a nursing home about 30 miles away, and again, the staff and instructor were very helpful and friendly.  Our assignments were due each Monday and we had a week to complete them.  They consisted of reading a handful of chapters, posting answers to questions on the discussion board and then taking a unit quiz.  The clinical portion was basically the hands on training of what we read about.  We learned how to lift residents using gait belts and hydraulic lifts, how to properly bathe and clean the residents and feed them.  We spent one full shift shadowing other C.N.A’s in order to get a feel for what a day is really like.  Basically it is get the resident up for breakfast, help them change into clothes, brush teeth and hair and then make their beds and feed them if they need help.  After breakfast take them to their rooms or wherever they like to go until lunch, and then repeat for lunch and dinner.  It’s not too difficult, but it still takes a certain type of person. 

Even though the course was fairly simple, I am still nervous about actually working.  Like anything medical, the nurses and other C.N.A’s sometimes eat their own.  I am pretty sure I will get all the “scut” jobs and be treated like I should already be a pro, but once I get into the swing of things I am sure I will like it.  I think knowing that it is only a part time job and not my full time “have to have it in order to live” job will make me feel soooo much better.  I worked before at a place I hated but had to for the money, and it was awful.  Every day I had to bite my tongue so I didn’t say something that would get me fired, but oh! I wanted to tell them to shove it so badly!!   

After the class was completed, the director of the home instructed a few of us on CPR.  Normally you have to pay for this type of class, but they offered it to us free of charge and it only took a couple of hours.  Now, the only thing I have left to do is pass the state exam next month to become certified.

Vacation

The past couple weeks have been pretty hectic!  As you know, my sister Jessica was in town for a week with her two adorable rugrats, :o) and then my CNA class started.  It doesn't sound like much, but we did quite a bit while she was down here!  We went to the Cosmosphere, the Kids Museum, and the Zoo, plus I got the kids a little swimming pool to play in during the day. I haven't taken the zoo pics off my phone yet, so I'll have to post them later.  I really enjoyed seeing my sister and the kids, it was hard to say goodbye!

Here are some fun pictures at the Cosmosphere:

Love the bunny ears

Kids pretending to eject out of their seat

 Kansas Kids Museum:

Lexi shopping and putting away the groceries

Playing doctor to a sick Jess

Swimming in the pool: (I love how their heads are barely visible.)

Jumping on the trampoline

Trying to do a handstand

And just relaxing:

Watching Scooby Doo!

I think I wore them out!

Anniversary

I can't believe it, but the 16th marked our 4 year anniversary! It seems like only yesterday that I moved here from Tucson.  it seems each year that goes by gets keeps getting better and better, and I feel truly blessed to have such a wonderful, caring and supportive husband. We didn't really get to celebrate because my sister was in town and it was the first clinical day of my C.N.A class.  I did arrive home to these beautiful babies though - isn't the little monkey adorable?  :o)  It wasn't much, but I got him a bottle of Polo Black.  It smells really good on him, so really it was as much of a gift for me as it was for him. hehehe  I have class again this Saturday, but I might have to cook a nice dinner for us as a late celebration.  We have been so busy lately and I think it's about time we had a nice quiet evening together. We try to go out at least once a month or every other for a "date night," but since we are trying to save up for a house we haven't been doing that much lately. This will be a nice romantic substitute. 

A quick one

I have been busy the past couple weeks so I apologize for being non existent.  I am in the truck with Brad this weekend and will try to update monday. I have a lot  of fun things to share!