Going Green

#55. Make a plan for what to do with the front yard. 
Piece of cake, how hard can it be, buy some plants and throw down some grass seed? 
Oh, how naive I was! 

I now understand why people hire landscapers and gardners to do this stuff.  I have spent countless hours and just about that many trips to Lowes & Furney's Nursery.  Here is a mid-project picture (it actually looks better now then it did prior to starting)

This is my first goal to go green,  it feels good to have something marked completed!

Hit the deck! (Day 4)

The following is an actual conversation that took place:

Neighbor- "you know your house really needs a deck"
Me- "yeah, we are thinking about building one"
Neighbor: "How soon?"
Me: "we are hoping to get it done this summer"
Neighbor- "Good, cause it looks like dookie without one"
(in order to keep this blog rating PG, certain words such as 'dookie' may be used in place of other more colorful words of like meaning)

If this had been the first time that someone had mentioned the need of a deck, I may have been shocked or even offended. This was not the first time. In fact, Brent and I were begining to think that our houses deck contruction was the topic of choice within the NorthHill community. One day, a deck construction book just showed up, we have no idea who left it, but we took it as the final sign that we must really need a deck.

All of that was told so that you will understand why Brent & I were so excited for our initial meeting with our new contractor, Claudio, this morning. #60 is officially underway!

(If you live in the Seattle area, and are in need of an honest, reliable and all around amazing guy who just happens to do fabulous work then let me know and I will give you his contact info)

Problems already?

I have been informed that I need to make a few changes to my list:

• #20 (memorize a large portion of scripture) wasn't specific enough.
• #13-18(lose 10,20,30,40,50,60 pounds)- was going to end up with me losing 210 pounds While that may sound nice it would put me at a negative number, and you know me, I'm not negative :D
  
  So here are my new goals:
  #20- Memorize James chapters 1-3
  #13- Lose 60 pounds (0/60)
  #14- Track progress by taking before, during, and after photo's
  #15- Take the boys to the YMCA youth fitness training class
  #16- Go to 10 group exercise classes (0/10)
  #17- Meet with a personal trainer for 6 consecutive weeks (0/6)
  #18- Use the wii fit 3x a week for 8 weeks (0/8)

Day 2

You are going to want to sit down for the news that I am about to tell you

..... Long drawn out dramatic pause......

I actually signed up for the Swim For Life event.

I know, shocking isn't it. I am totally terrified and quite certain that they may have to drudge the bottom of Lake Washington looking for that poor out of shape girl who actually thought that she could still swim 2 1/2 miles. I figure that it doesn't hurt to sign up, the entry fee was $45 and it is for a fantastic cause (blood donation awareness). Here is the link, so you can all sign up and join me :-) http://www.psbc.org/news_archive/swim2010.htm

I am hoping that by registering, I will be motivated to actually go out and do some practice swims. I am also secretly hoping that I will suprise myself and not be as out of shape as I think I am. On the registration form one of the questions was "Estimated swim time (min:sec/600 yds)" my answer was SLOW.

Let's start at the very begining, a very good place to start...

The goal of this blog is two-fold
1. I will complete 101 things in 1001 days (just under 3 years).
2. I will lose 60 pounds and tone up this out of shape body

Today a friend told me about the 101 in 1001 project. I thought, "I can do that!" I hate new year resolutions: I never have enough time and quite honestly I usually give up when I realize that there is no way that I will complete the task in the allotted time frame.

Last August I broke my foot and soon after was laid off. The down time that was forced on me was at first much needed, but now has allowed me to become lazy and unmotivated. I am attempting to change that by using this list of obtainable goals.

Now on to the second part of this blog. I have been toying with the idea of blogging about my journey to better health. I am pretty sure that most girls don't publicize their most personal details on the Internet, but I am not like most girls, so here it goes,
Age: 33 (40 days shy of 34)
Weight: 198
Pant Size: 12/14
Shirt: Extra Large

Yup, I did it! I put it all out there for the whole world (a.k.a. the people that I tell about and will read this blog) to see. Why, you ask? Simple, I am tired of being tired. I want to run and play with my boys and not be exhausted, enjoy the beauty of the Northwest, and I really want to say good bye to my muffin top.

So, the goal is simple, to complete my 101 list which in turn will help me to lose some weight. I am planning on documenting about each of the items that I complete on my list. Each item on my list specific and will in someway enhance my life and hopefully the lives of others.