And so it begins....

Here I am not even a month in and I am already falling into bad habits. While my January resolution of "A different outfit everyday" is going surprisingly well, the idea of a healthier lifestyle is looking more and more like "I'll get to it when I get to it." I don't know why I lack the motivation to stay strong and break the cycle of procrastination. I have been skipping the gym, which I totally get pissed about; I have been eating larger portions and crappier food. So of course when I weigh myself the number keeps slowly but surely increasing. I know we all get slumps so I just need to push though it. Brian said he will help me too.
On the other hand, I have been doing other things though that I have to say I am quite proud of. Today for example I went to my very first Women's Retreat through my church. I have to say I was nervous, I have only recently become motivated in my faith, but I feel as though this is exactly where I am supposed to be. We had a one day "retreat" today and I had a fabulous time. Now I would be lying if I said I was 100% satisfied; I think my teacher training and event planning backgrounds have ruined me for events. I find it very hard to tolerate miss managed time and poor planning. But once I got passed all of that, I really did have a great time. We had yummy food, good laughs, a fun raffle, I met some new people, and I even left with a new recipe and some wooden spoons. I spent a lot of time thinking about God's plan for me and my family and I feel renewed so to speak.
I also have been writing daily. One of my Creative Writing III students gave me a box of note cards with ever date of this year stamped on it. I have to write everyday on one of the note cards. It is a freaking adorable idea and I love the girl for thinking it was something I would enjoy.

I guess all in all it hasn't been so bad. I have been taking time for me, growing in my faith, and I ave been sticking to a couple of resolutions ;). I will keep pushing forward and I sure the other things will fall into place.

No Excuses

I am fully aware that with January comes a tide of "Resolutionists." Well-meaning individuals who makes vows to change , join gyms, less fast food, more whatever... I may be slightly ashamed to admit it, but I too have been among the ranks of those who have set out against all odds of normal, everyday living and failed to change. But, like most, I will once again try.

In addition to the obvious resolutions :

- Lose weight

- Get healthy

- More time with family

- Get organized

- Blog weekly

I have decided to attack things a slightly different way.

I will of course continue on toward my goal of losing 40 lbs by August but I will also attempt 12 different resolutions throughout the year.

January- I must wear a different outfit everyday (including weekends). My closest is full and yet I find myself wearing only about 10% of what's in it. This is a great way to force me to wear some of the clothes in the back of the abyss and decide whether or not I will actually wear them. :)

February- No Fast Food February. Our whole family will give up fast food for the entire month. We don't eat out daily, but we do rely on fast food more often then we should and this is a great way to stop and think about what we eat.

March- Different meal every week. This may seem similar to February's resolution, but this one will require us to not only eat something different everyday, but we will also need to cook something new (out of one of my 8,000 cook books) once a week.

April- 30 different hairstyles. I am the queen of repetition and comfort. I do absolutely nothing special with my hair and I always wish I would. Now I HAVE to; I have no choice. :)

May- A picture a Day. I always see people doing the 30 day picture challenge and I want to do it too. I love photography and now I get to try it out myself.

June- Hand-write 10 letters and send them the old fashioned way. Since I will be spending the majority of June in Moscow, Idaho working on my Masters Degree I figured that would be a perfect chance to write some letters.

July- No video/computer games. No angry birds, words with friends, zombies anything. One month with touching a video game on the Wii, Xbox, computer, phone or wherever else I might find one.

August- Limit TV to one hour a day. While I don't watch an obscene amount for TV, it does seem to always be on in the background. I want to spend more time with my family and more time on myself and watching TV doesn't help that.

September- No Candy! School starts and my old habits of snacking and poor eating kick into high gear. This should help keep me in check.

October- 30 minutes of exercise a day. Even though I plan on being to my goal weight by then, I know that with school comes stress and this will help me maintain my weight.

November- No Shave November. This is my funny one... Poor Brian. :)

December- No Diet Coke. I put this one off for as long as I could. This is a very tough one for me, but hopefully the cold weather will help encourage me to drink more hot drinks.

Now all I need to do is maintain my focus and stay motivated. Good Luck right? ;)

Summertime and the living's not easy...

Well this has been a very challenging summer to say the least. Instead of going into detail (which might take months to do), I've set up a simple, straight forward outline.

May- Alice turns two. :)
-Unappreciated at work. :(
-Derek Graduates from U of I with a Bachelor's in Poly Sci. :)
- Watch my first class graduate from high school. :)

June- (WORST MONTH EVER)
- Get a new(er) car :)
-Derek passes away after a 19 month battle with cancer :(
- Summer school in Moscow for a month :/
- Hotel room floods :(
- First 4th of July without Brian and Alice :(

July- Return home from summer school :)
-Marriage on the rocks :(
- Weight loss challenge is over (lose 35lbs) :)
- Brian gets a full-time job :)
- High School reunion :)

August- 6 year anniversary (marriage on the mend and feeling great) :)
- Alice goes to daycare. :(
- Get back to the gym :)
-Prepping for school. :/

As of now I am challenging myself not to dwell on the past. I want to focus on the future while living for today.

Day 9

Day Nine: Wednesday, March 30^th.

We woke up bright and dearly today to get on the bus to take us to the glorious city of Toledo. Everyone was still exhausted and the 2 hour drive only aided our sleepiness, but nonetheless when we arrived we were all excited. Before we began our walking tour, we took a quick photo stop over looking part of the city and some ancient ruins (possibly Roman Baths).
We first stopped for a sword making presentation. It was really exciting to see the whole process. Afterward we went down to the gift shop area and once again did some souvenir shopping.
We then began our walk through the city with the most wonderful guide, Carlos. He gave us a personal connection to Toledo (he lives in town) as well as a great, historical information. Toledo is meant to be walked and we headed into the upper part of the city by taking an incredibly large (and expensive-2 million dollar to build) escalator.
We also visited Santa María la Blanca, an old Synagogue that was built by Muslims that is now a Christian church (talk about Holy Toledo). :) We visited oldest churches in Toledo, Cathedral of Saint Mary of Toledo. They say it took over 200 years to complete. And we were even able to view the original The Burial of the Count Orgaz by El Greco. Crazy.
We split into groups and we walked around the city for lunch and some final Toledo souvenir shopping.
Brian and I both fell in love with the city. We want to move there and live there forever!
We loaded back on the bus and headed back into Madrid.
We were a pretty tight schedule so when we arrived back in Madrid we headed straight for the Carrol de la Moreria to watch a live Flamenco Performance. We arrived with some time to spare so Brian and I went to look for a coffee, a bar/cafe had the most AMAZING cinnamon cappuccino in the world and I savored every second if it.
Finally the time for flamenco had arrived. We had been warned about the sweaty dancers and small stage, but none of that mattered. The performance was awesome. The dancers were phenomenal and the atmosphere was perfect. We later found out that this place has hosted it's fair share of celebrities including Natalie Portman, Mariah Carey, Samuel L Jackson, and Jude law. Fancy fancy.
The last stop was dinner. We drove back into the more centralized part of Madrid and walked around town until it was time for dinner. We ate at a very "popular in Spain" place called the Museo del Jamon. This place is a freaking meat museum, not vegetarian friendly might I add. The smell alone caused my body to tighten up, but luckily we were downstairs and the air was not as pungent. After trying to feed me ham twice they finally brought me an interesting egg dish. Weird, but tasty. I have chosen to forget/block out most of the Museo del Jamon experience.

After dinner it was obvious we all needed to get back to the hotel and get some sleep. So we all went to bed preparing our bodies for the 18 hours of travel ahead...

Day Eight

Day Eight: Tuesday, March 29^th.

Today we arrived in Spain! We woke up to the gentle rocking (ok maybe not so gentle) of the train as we were about an hour outside of Madrid. The train supplied each guest with a breakfast box (doughnut, apple, plain yogurt and a juice box) and we all managed to get dressed, washed up and prepared for our day in Madrid.

We pulled into the train station, gathered all our kids and luggage and made way for the hotel. The hotel located just above the train station in Spain. It was by far the best hotel we stayed in. It was a four star hotel with great service, beautiful décor, and a great vibe. We all quickly changed, cleaned up and once again gathered onto a bus for our very first city tour of Madrid.

We spent three hours wit our guide Jorge. He took us all around Madrid. We stopped at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu where Real Madrid play for a photo shoot and then ventured over to the Royal Palace. The only problem I had with visiting these beautiful palaces was that you are not allowed to take pictures. We got off the bus and walked to the Royal Palace, it was here Brian and I realized we had left our money on the bus (it was safe, just inconvenient). I was grumpy and without caffeine so I took it out on him, but lucky for me he loves me in spite of my faults. ;) The Royal Palace was beautiful and just a bit above the city that you had a spectacular view. We had a great tour inside and even walked trough the Throne Room (which was used to host a visit from Prince Charles and Camilla Parker the very next day).

After the royal Palace we all headed to the Puerto del Sol to do some shopping. Spain is amazing. Everything slows down. People are calm and chill and it’s as if time doesn’t really matter. They sleep in, takes naps after lunch, eat late late dinners and literally dance the night away. I love Spain. One we wondered around the Puerto del Sol we set off for the Plaza Mayor. It was beautiful too. There were street performers everywhere. We saw Dora the Explore, Mickey Mouse, an invisible man Chewbacca, a storm trooper and many others. All this was in addition to the amazing shops, coffee and pastries that Madrid had to offer.

My favorite thing about Europe is if I want to eat or drink I do, no regrets!

We finally left the Puerto del Sol and made our way to dinner at a buffet called Fres Co. I

tried a dish called paella and fell in LOVE. Now if only I can recreate it at home.

After dinner we were able to let anyone call home with the help of Google talk and Brian’s netbook. Calls were made, kids cried (I did too), everyone showered, relaxed and went to bed.

It was a great day to be in Spain.

Day Seven

Day Seven: Monday, March 28.

Today was our last day in Paris and even though I had a great time I was excited to move on and see Spain. We started the day at Norte Dame. We made it a point to not go inside yesterday because we knew we would be back today, but this also gave a slight advantage to head to the Latin Quarter since we didn’t need to take so many outside pictures. ;) Once again I had already been inside and instead of dealing with crowds I decided to go look around while Brian and the crew at a look inside. When Brain was done e and I headed to the Latin Quarter where we saw a Banksy, souvenir shopped, saw more of the cool mosaic art that is around town and ate the BEST CREPES EVER!!! (lime and sugar who would have thought?)

After Norte Dame we all headed to the Centre Pompidou. It was this crazy building that was designed inside out. It is some sort of museum, but the whole building is crazy. WE grabbed some food, sat down and ate, we walked around a bit and grabbed some coffee. It was a nice little break.

We then headed to Père Lachaise cemetery. This is to the graves of Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Chopin, Edith Piaf, Sarah Bernard, Marcel Proust, Colette, Maria Callas, Modigliani and the famous lover/seducer Casanova. It was breath-taking and haunting. The tombs, vaults, and sculptures were all so amazing. It was a great way to end our stay in Paris.

From here we went back to the hotel, grabbed our luggage, grabbed some snacks from a local grocery store and proceeded on toward the train station where we waited for the train we would spend the next 14 hours of our lives on.

At the train station Brian and I enjoyed some coffee and tiramisu, and everyone ate a boxed dinner consisting of a pesto pasta and a doughnut. Brian and I shared a couchette with Denise and Shani, and even thought it had its awkward moments it wasn’t too bad. We watched a movie on the netbook, enjoyed some French cheeses and snacks, read a little and attempted to get a good eight hours of sleep.

Day Six

Day Six- Sunday, March 27^th.

Today we woke up bright and early to an amazing breakfast buffet full of cheese and eggs, pastries, and meats for the carnivores., but for some reason it was one of the only meals I forgot to take pictures of, but it was delicious.

We then all loaded onto yet another bus to have a nice little city tour of Paris. We picked up our tour guide (Valerie), which whom I was not impressed, and took a drive around the City of Lights. We saw everything it seemed: The Bastille, Tour Eiffel, Norte Dame, ect. We then stopped by the Palace of the Invalides and Napoleon’s tomb (turns out the French still really love him).

After a quick look around and a coffee break, we fought of some aggressive North African salesmen and loaded back onto the bus (they are EVERWHERE in Paris). From here we headed to the Louvre. Our tour guide told us that if you spent three minutes looking at every piece inside the Louvre it would take you over three months to get through everything. Wow! SO Brian and I knew our time was limited. We had 2 ½ hours to go through the Louvre and to eat lunch so we definitely had to hustle. Brian really didn’t want to see the Mona Lisa (weirdo) and since I have seen her we went to all the exhibits that he wanted to. Brian wanted to see mostly see sculpture and so we spend a couple hours wandering the sculptures exhibits and we saw some amazing pieces. And it was perfect being able to walk around the Louvre with my soul mate. The last time I was there it was great, but there is something to be said about being there with him and seeing his excitement and appreciation for all the art. After a slight communication error and losing Brian for 15 minutes we found each other and headed upstairs for lunch. The Louvre has some pretty spending vendors, but we managed to find a slightly less expensive place and picked up a quick bite.

Our 2 ½ hours was up and the whole group met back up in front of the Louvre. From here we split up into two groups. The main group went to the Montparnasse Tour, since the Eiffel Tour takes so long to get into (it took me 2 hours last time) Daz decided that this was another great option. The tour is 689 feet tall and as an amazing view of all of Paris. Brian didn’t especially want to go so he volunteered to stay behind with anyone else who didn’t want to go. Four kids chose not to go and so Brian and I both stayed behind and the six of us went on a little adventure. We wanted to check out the Latin Quarter and Norte Dame and find some crepes.

We walked toward Norte Dame and on the way found a little crepe stand so we veered off course and ordered some amazingly delicious crepes. From there we continued to walk to Norte Dame. We stopped to take pictures of Sainte-Chapelle, said to house the Crown of Thorns, and then we continued on to Norte Dame. We didn’t want to go in becausee we knew we would do that tomorrow, but we took some pictures, and walked around the cathedral. We only had a couple of hours to spend exploring before we needed to meet everyone for dinner, but it was a great little adventure.

We met the group back at a little restaurant on the Rue de Gobelin (awesome name) and sat down for dinner. Dinner was okay. The food was a little bland, but we were able to enjoy a nice meal as the only group in the place. We even were able to sing for Denise (it was her 63 birthday). Even though the food was bland the chocolate moose we had for dessert was not and it might have made up for the dinner. ;)

After dinner we took a boat cruise on the Seine River. We were lucky enough to get seats on the outer back deck of the boat (last time I was there I was inside in and a little jealous). It was beautiful, and once again such a wonderful thing to be able to do with Brian. By the end of the tour it started to rain, but most of us just popped out the umbrellas and toughed it out. It was too beautiful to go inside.

The boat cruise was over and everyone went out and wandered around as we waited for the Tour Eiffel to light up. At 8:00 it lights up and then at 9:00 for 5 minute it twinkles. Beautiful.