Weekly Wrap-Up

So since I've done ZERO workouts since...oh...September...I don't have any "Sunday Sweats" to share with you this week.  Instead, here's a weekly wrap-up of what's been going on in my life lately.

Monday was another work day and Aniyah's last race of the season.  She did really well - placed 29th - her best yet!

Tuesday hit us with a flash flood in the late afternoon.  Came home after a long day at work to this:

One inch of muddy water in our living room.  Yeah.  Fun.  What really made me rage though, was finding out that Joey threw out a brand new pair of shoes I just got on Monday.  I did make him replace them as well as order two pairs of new boots - but no, I'm still not over it.

Wednesday was the night that Joey's parents flew back in from Hawaii after attending his Uncle Albert's funeral.  They came back with loads of snacks.  Sorry, don't have a good photo of those because we've already ripped them all open.

Thursday was Joey's dad's birthday so we had a little dinner get-together with the family.

Friday ended up being work-fuck-off day because our office and surrounding areas had no water.  We got to leave early so I was able to pick up the kids from school, go to my dental appointment, take my kiddies for a little shopping and grab a pizza on the way home.

Saturday and today were spent at work.  Yup.  I had to work all weekend long.  I also had the kids with me since Joey was busy doing yard work, running errands, etc.  Oh, and I just realized that a dress of mine has gone missing.  I had wanted it for a month so I finally splurged on it last month and haven't even worn it yet.  Now, I cannot find it anywhere.  Seriously, WTF.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that I'm drinking a bottle of moscato right now.  How was your week?

Recap: Round 1.

So it's finally the end of April.  We've finished the first 1/3 of the year!  Yay!  Time to tally up our wins and losses and get ready for the second round.

I had laid out my 2015 domination plan back in December and had mentioned that for the first four months of this year, my goal was to "START".  Start good habits, start living the life I want, start doing.  I have to admit that I have been slacking off a lot.  But, when I look back at the things that I was able to do I'm pretty satisfied with my progress.

Here's what I've been able to start so far:

Working out - I started the year off doing HIIT and yoga but then sort of fell into a funk.  I've recently regained my motivation and am trying to keep it going.  I've actually got a workout planned right after I hit publish on this post!

Painting - Chloe got a bunch of art supplies for her birthday in March (thanks Frank, Ardyce & Dara!) so we broke them out and we all started painting.  I also started the Watercolor course on Creativebug and have been trying to learn the basics of watercolor.  I've even picked up a few new paints and supplies to experiment with.  My kids are loving our little painting sessions.  Chloe even put out a sign to try and sell her paintings.

Budgeting - Okay, so this one is mostly a fail.  I try to budget but it just doesn't work.  There's always some kind of issue that comes up that we need to spend money on.  Birthdays, the electrical and now the plumbing in the bathroom needs to be fixed.  It never ends.  I know I can do better at it and I plan to.

Younique - I'm proud to say that I'm finally a Yellow Status presenter!  Still nowhere near Black, but it's a step up from White so I'm happy.  I've been trying to promote and make sales as much as my schedule will allow but I know I could do so much better if I took it up another notch or two.  Sorry if you're sick of my Younique posts but I'm just so in love with their products!  I'll be doing more giveaways soon so you can all get a chance to win a few of the things I've been gushing about.

Blogging - Yeah, I've gotten pretty lax on this.  I continued to do the Monthly Mantras and I've popped in every now and again but it hasn't been enough and I know it.  Trying to organize my time and find balance with my real life so that I can blog more.

Business Goals - I've actually started and completed a couple pieces and I'm still really proud of myself for doing so!  I made a kimono and got tons of compliments on it and I also made a dress for Chloe that she and everyone else loved!  I'm currently working on another kimono cardigan and have been trying to figure out the size and proportions for swimwear that I plan to start sewing together this weekend.  I've also figured out a way to make some money locally to sell my completed products and get some feedback from potential customers.  I'll let you know more as I go along.  Don't want to get ahead of myself again.

So that's what I've been working on for the past four months.  I know I could have done a lot more if I had just gotten my lazy butt moving.  Now that we're heading into the second round of the year, I'm determined to kick ass!   Come back tomorrow to see my "PROGRESS" strategy and the Monthly Mantra for May!

What about you?  What have you been able to start so far this year?  How's your progress?  No, really.  ;-)

April's Behind-the-Blog Recap

It's Wednesday, which is usually confession time around here, but since it's the last day of April, I thought I might do a monthly recap of some of the stuff that you may not have seen/read around here, which means I'm still getting my confessions in too.  Two ducks, one stone, right?

This month was a very productive one for the blog.  I'm really surprised at how many posts I was able to pump out and how much reader interaction was going on up in here!  A huge thank you to all of you!

1.  Though I owe the majority of this month's blogging awesomeness to my blog planner, here's some other stuff that helped me get my blogging mojo back:

//Desktop wallpaper by Cocorina.  I mean, how can you not be inspired to blog when you see this on your screen every day?

//Printable calendars by So Pupuka and Oh the Lovely Things.  I'm the kind of person that needs to have something to cross off, so these calendars help me stay on track.  I have one at work and one at home.

2.  One of the benefits of my blogging boost this month was the amount of photos I was able to take.  Usually I'm too lazy or too caught-up-in-the-moment to stop and take a picture, but this month I was able to get a few shots of some of the things we did this month:

 Ritidian Beach, Guam

 Guam's 'Smokin Wheels' Event

 Merizo Pier at night

 Practicing their egg hunting skills before the big day...

 Swinging away in Merizo

My phone was so excited about all the camera use that it got a couple shots of the inside of my pocket.

 Paparazzi fail.  Trying to sneak a picture of my dad's doppelganger at the post office.

Our spread for the Merizo Fiesta.

3.  This month was full of new beginnings for me.  The beginning of getting my blog on the track I want it to be on, the beginning of my "for real" wedding planning, and the beginning of many new friendships with new bloggers.

Today was also the beginning of my healthy-ish lifestyle after calling myself out on it yesterday.  This morning I dragged my ass out of bed, put on some tunes, and did 30 minutes of yoga.  It was just enough to energize me but I felt like pushing myself just a little bit harder before I hopped into the shower so I did this quick circuit:

By the 4th burpee I was pretty much dying but I stuck to it and finished.  (Go, me!)  And instead of drinking 4 cups of coffee and binging on sweets and fatty foods all day, I am proud to say that I only had 1 cup of coffee all day and have been drinking water after that.  My homegirl Kathy suggested a sort of schedule to keep me on track until my body (and mind) get used to it so here's my master plan, since I'm all about planning this month:

6am - Work.  It.  Out.

8am - Light breakfast/snack.

10am - No more coffee.  Water only for the rest of the day.

12pm - Lunch, but no overindulging.

2pm - Snack on almonds or apple chips.

4pm - Tea time.

6pm - Dinner.

I'm not able to stick to those 'meal plan' things.  I like the freedom to eat what I want, but this time I'll save my cravings and indulgences for dinner time and try not to OVER indulge.  Unfortunately I didn't have breakfast or lunch today because I was supposed to have a dental appointment and had errands to run, but I did munch on some almonds and though I did indulge in some yummy Doritos, I only allowed myself a small amount before closing the giant bag and shoving it back in my desk.  Uh, I believe that's a point for me!

So what are some of your favorite moments from this month?  Anything new?  How are you with your fitness habits?

Hey, April!

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like this weekend went by way too fast!  It was a busy/crazy/chaotic weekend that left me with very little time to rest, but plenty of time to get shit done.  Here's a quick recap of what went down...

Friday was insanely exhausting for me.  I was stressed out and on the verge of an anxiety attack all day - so much so that I even sent texts to my friends asking them if they could bring Jell-O shots to the baseball game that night.  It was barely 11:00am when I texted.  That night I was able to unwind a little thanks to eight Jell-O shots and one Strawberrita.

 

Saturday morning was a doozy.  I woke up at 6am, got the girls up, and we started getting ready for the garage sale.  The girls had stuff in bags already so all they had to do was set it up on the tables.  I, on the other hand, just grabbed things out of the house and put them up for sale.  Basically anything I hadn't worn in the past 2 months and anything I was trying to get rid of on Poshmark was fair game.

The turnout was alright, considering we didn't really advertise.  I did post a listing on Craigslist, but that's about it.  Thankfully, there were two other garage sales happening in the neighborhood so we got some traffic from them.  I made $50 so I was pretty satisfied considering my prices were dirt cheap - sold a bundle of three designer knock-off bags for $5, a pair of brand new Roxy shoes for $2, and gave away a few items for free to some customers.

Saturday afternoon we FINALLY painted the living room!  I had originally wanted to just do plain, white walls but Joey surprised me with a completely different color: North Coast.  I was unsure about it at first, but once the paint went up, it really brightened the room.  "It's a happy color!" as Joey says, and it really is.  I literally cannot walk into the living area without having a hint of a smile on my face.  I didn't get any photos since it's not completely finished yet but I'll do a post once the living room is put back together.  But, just in case you were wondering what North Coast looks like, it's the blue in the photo.

Saturday night was our downtime.  After staying up late the previous night and waking up to an early start in the morning we were all too tired to do anything but relax.

Sunday was Joey's birthday - his 32nd, I might add - so he woke up early and played golf while the kids and I cleaned up the house a bit.  After he got home, we all got ready and had a "family day" together.  Shopping, mini-golf, and the Merizo Crab Festival were on our itinerary.

Now that March is over I feel like I finally have a little time to recoup.  April is usually a slow month for us (no birthdays, family events, etc.) so I'm hoping to dedicate most of that time to blogging - updating, redesign, posting, etc.  I'm also motivated to start sewing again and am hoping to start creating some swimwear and maybe a few kimono cardigans for this summer - once I save money to buy fabric and material, that is.

So come on, April.  Bring it on!  I'm ready.  Are you?

Weekend + Beginning of the Week Recap

Well hello again, folks!  I'm sorry I've been M.O.B. (missing on blog) for the past few days.  This weekend was a pretty productive one and the first two days of the week were extremely busy for me.  I haven't had any time to write and haven't really been able to take a trip around blogland this week yet so I'm warming up my seat for a day full of blog visits - be ready, people.

Anyway, before I get lost in the blogosphere, here's a recap of what went down since Friday's post...

I got to thinking about my "Bucket List" on Friday night and have decided that I need to overhaul the whole thing.  I'm thinking of simplifying it more - maybe a 30 before 30 list instead?  Idk.  But after I looked over it again and saw the Read 100 books in one year goal, I promptly downloaded two new books to my Kindle:  The Fault In Our Stars and Soysauce for Beginners.  I finished the first book in 3 hours and I'm halfway through the second book (hopefully I'll have time to finish it tonight).

We were supposed to have an early start on Saturday morning to go to the Fitness Fair, but since I stayed up reading until the wee hours of the morning, we were a little behind schedule.  Fortunately, the kids slept early so it wasn't such a pain to wake them up and get them ready.  They had a blast at the Fitness Fair that day and I was even able to sign up for a gym membership!  And it was free!  I guess I can half cross that off my bucket list since it says Subscribe to a gym (and actively participate).  Now the only thing to do is find time to go there.

 Hula-hooping while trying to shoot in in the basket - that's talent!

And since we're talking fitness, I got back into it!  I re-started my Nike+ Training Program on Monday so I got a 30 minute workout done on Monday night and walked a mile last night on the path around the Paseo Stadium during Joey's game.  I was aiming for 3 miles, but the kids (mostly Chloe - the prima donna) were getting tired and wanted to go sit down and watch the game.  They lost.

Post-Workout Selfie

Things have finally calmed down at work this week so I'm thankful to be able to relax a little bit during the day.  Unfortunately, I think my body is going into shock from not having a million things to do at once because I had an anxiety episode yesterday which made me stressed out, confused, and indecisive, which ultimately made me start crying several times during the day yesterday.  I also woke up in a panic this morning because my heart was racing like crazy.  I think maybe I should go see a doctor.  Or smoke a joint.  Just kidding. 

Weekend Recap

Hello lovelies!  It's Monday again and the weekend is officially over.  You know what else is over??  My #icant slump!  Whoop whoop!

Thanks to all the comments from you lovely readers as well as the mood boost from my surprise flower sculpture on Valentine's Day, I was able to turn things around and had a pretty productive weekend.  I realize now that my #iknowican list was a little ambitious since I didn't really do exactly what I had planned, but here's what did happen this weekend:

- Went to a baseball game.

- Cleared up my closet.

- Had some good ol' family fun.

- Got a new dining table.

- Cleared up the kids' old stuff.

- Hung a picture.

- Recycled the box from my mirror into art. 

- Bought a new beauty product to try (and review).

- Paid some bills.

- Responded to comments/emails and cleared out my inbox.

- Took some time to relax.

And I'm sorry for the short, generic post today.  I had planned to add in photos and stuff but I've actually been busy trying to update the rest of the blog since all my other pages have been neglected for quite some time.  Be on the lookout for updates here and there (about me, bucket list, sponsor page, etc.) as I finally get the ball rolling on the new blog design.

Just a Little Weekend Recap

This morning I came in to work to find this on my desk:

This letter made my week!  Its little things like this that make my heart melt.  It has been so long since I've gotten a letter from anyone - bills and junk mail don't count - that I totally lit up this morning when I saw this.  There's just something so amazing about receiving a handwritten, heartfelt letter.  No email, tweet, comment, or text message can compare.  Thank you Heather, you can bet that I'll be writing back to you ASAP!

So how was everyone's weekend?  Ours was definitely fun-filled!  We had planned on taking the kids to Chuck-E-Cheese's on Friday night for my cousin's fundraiser, but unfortunately we had to miss out on that one because Aniyah's first holy communion practice took longer than we expected (we didn't leave the church until after 9pm - and we didn't have dinner yet so we were all grouchy).

Our plans for Saturday were also messed up a little too but we turned it into a great day.  I had planned on going yard sale hunting but we woke up late.  Lol.  We had also planned on going to the beach, but it had rained and I never go to the beach after it rains because of the runoff (the dirt, mud, and debris that gets washed out into the ocean).  So what did we do instead?  Paint!

The girls and I went to the craft store, bought some acrylic paint and canvas paper, and had a blast!  They loved experimenting with different color combinations and seeing how different brush sizes had different effects.  It was a lot of fun just being able to create something so colorful on a dreary day.

Afterwards, we went to watch Joey's team play baseball and the kids had a lot of fun running around the field in the new shoes we bought them.  Trace decided it would be fun to slide in the dirt like a real baseball player 50 billion times.  I had to strip him down before he got in the car because he was covered in red dirt from head to toe.  Boys will be boys...

Sunday was a super busy day for us because Aniyah received her first holy communion!  I did her hair in the morning and she dressed up with her veil, stockings, dress, and shoes.  She looked amazing and Chloe kept asking her who she was marrying (lol).  We were so proud of her and she was beaming the whole way through the ceremony.  Well, okay not the WHOLE way.  She did make a face after she drank some of the wine which made us all laugh.  But she carried herself like a lady, which almost made me cry - why do they have to grow up so quickly!?

Anyway, so after everything was over, we had lunch at Joey's parents' house with his family and the kids finally got to go to Chuck-E-Cheese's last night.  It was so funny because Aniyah finally got the hang of the Jump Rope game so she was stuck on that all night long.  She was so into it that she kicked off her slippers and she was sweating!  It was hilarious but she was so stoked that she was winning so much - and jump roping is her favorite thing to do so she had a BLAST!

With all the chaos that we usually face on the weekends, this past weekend was much needed and full of quality time with our little family.  Sometimes being able to focus on family bonding is more important than spending an entire weekend cleaning or running errands.  Which reminds me that I really need to do laundry tonight.  Lol.

Oh yeah, and before I forget, I'll be posting today's Makeup Monday post a little late because I'll be vlogging for the first time.  I'm linking up with Jenna over at The Life of the Wife for "The Girl Behind the Blog" series, so stay tuned!