Pre-Honeymoon Fitness Challenge

So I'm terrified to admit it, but my honeymoon is less than a month away and I'm disappointed in myself for not losing the 30+ pounds I had planned.  Now, my hubby (sweet, sweet Papa Fox) has no issues with how I look or the shape of my body.  I, however, am not totally content with where I'm at right now.  Behold, the two 30 day challenges I've taken on to help get into a good exercise habit:

Have you seen these on Pinterest, lately?  If you follow anyone who has any desire to workout in the new year, these probably look pretty familiar.  I chose these two because they didn't seem overly difficult.  Apparently, she thought the same thing since her challenge was the same two exact challenges.  They are two totally separate challenges, but they both didn't seem unattainable, so here I am.

I've just completed day 11 with no gripes about setting aside (maybe) 5 minutes of my day.  One thing I have found is that I do my planks in 30-45 second intervals.  I'm just not to the point where I can sit in a plank for a minute straight.  And that's okay!  I'm still getting in the correct amounts per day (it's only been up to a minute so far, but you get my drift), so I don't think I'm missing the point.  As for the squats, they were super easy before they got up past 100, so I usually break them down into intervals of 20 and rest for a few seconds in between.  Again, still completing the number in the challenge, just broken down into feasible amounts for my own sanity capacity.

To the best of my ability, I also take my son on long 1 hour walks on random days when I'm up to it or if the weather permits.  Honestly, I think this challenge has made me gain weight (remember, muscle weighs more than fat!) which is a little frustrating since I lost 8 pounds since thanksgiving, but I'll roll with the punches.

Why do I want to lose 30 pounds?  Because that's how much I've gained since I gave birth to my son.  Funny thing is that I actually was down to my pre-pregnancy weight within a couple months of giving birth to my son.  Sad part is that while breastfeeding, I got comfortable not having to work too hard to lose weight, so when he was weaned, those 30lbs crept right back.  Yep, no baby, no reason except my own neglect.  Now, I'm at my (almost) peak pregnancy weight and not pregnant.  YIKES.

What now?  Now, I'm facing the fact that I will not be down to my pre-pregnancy weight before my honeymoon in less than a month.  I'm okay with that, I can accept this reality.  One thing that I can't accept is becoming pregnant again at my peak pregnancy weight to start.  Not happening.  So, I've come up with a realistic goal of getting back down to my pre-pregnancy weight by May 2014.  On my son's third birthday, I hope to be the same weight I was when he was conceived.  Bring it on!

Spring Semester

As I wait patiently for the books I ordered almost 2 weeks ago (the curse of renting textbooks), I'm still not saved from the start of my Spring 2014 semester that began on Monday.  Despite having four of the six books I need for my courses, it seems the most important two books are the ones I'm still waiting to receive.  Same goes for Papa Fox, who has his in person class tonight, and no book for the course because the company we rented our books from seem to be a little ditzy this time around.

Last semester was pretty easy because it was a transition into the schooling habit, freshman level courses and all pretty simple beyond belief.  Not to say that this semester looks challenging, but it seems as though many of the classes get started into the real heart of the work from pretty much the start.  It's been a few days and already I've come to realize that I've got a 3 page paper due on Sunday (for one of the classes whose book I don't yet have) in combination with various other assignments that already demand much more than some of the courses last semester.

Regardless, I'm up for the challenge and more than ready to buckle down to get all this done as quickly as possible.  In an 18-month associates program, it's expected that I might feel a bit overstretched at times, but I feel it's more than worth it for the end result.  In addition, I have yet to pay up a single penny in tuition thanks to the community college tuition rates and federal financial aid.  Even with all this, I think it's more exciting that this is Papa Fox's final semester to get his BSBA and is worth much more attention than my second semester back to college.

Starting anew

Just trying to write this, I feel guilty and disappointed in myself.  I won't let it stop me, though, because I want to start fresh, restart my habits, and push through like a trooper.  Once I decided that I was going to go back to school, everything besides school and family just became mud - stuff that slowed me down and distracted me and had no purpose or value in the big picture.  Only after the semester ended and I sat down with no school work to distract me did I realize the absurdity of my evaluations.

For the sake of my own sanity, I defend my full concentration on school based on the fact that I am taking 6 classes each semester (including this Spring 2014) for a total of 18 credit hours which is pretty demanding.  Although I realized the disappointment I have in myself when I do nothing but family and school, I don't regret my choice to be fully immersed in my first semester back.  Walking away with a 4.0 GPA and the knowledge from my experience, I now know what luxuries I can afford and how to best balance my school/home/self life.

It's time to pay more attention to myself.  I know that can sound selfish, but it's not at all.  I dedicated  the last 3+ years to focusing on growing, birthing, and raising my amazing son and becoming a wife to my loving husband, wedding planning included.  Slowly, as Baby Fox continues to grow, Papa Fox and I are coming out of our shells and learning how to be ourselves and how to be married and how to be adults and parents all at the same time.  As the new year embarks, it seems I have so much to look forward to and I don't want to feel like I missed out or that I should have done more.

No one said this would be easy, and it certainly isn't at times, and yet, it can be so effortless at other times.  Regardless, I want to be a living example for my son and I want to be an amazing wife for my husband while simultaneously pursuing goals and achieving dreams for myself.  Giving attention to myself is for more than just myself because it's for my future, Baby Fox's future, Papa Fox's future, and for all the hopes and dreams that we all share as a family.

So I'm back.  To the best of my ability.  I may not be back often and I may not be the model citizen I had hoped to be when I started this journey some time ago, but I'm not giving up.  For now, that's all I need to get started.

Disappearing Act

I'm such a goofball - sorry to be gone like that.  Everything kind of got out of control last week and it's barely (and I mean barely) gotten under control this week.  Phew, so here's what's happened.

1. I got an emergency root canal on Tuesday.  First one, Papa Fox took off, and uninsured. UGH.
2. Family moved down to Hawaii Tuesday evening.  Long story about that.
3. Had to get a temporary crown put on Wednesday and said family had to babysit. Guilty.
4. Thursday was an unexpected dental visit (3 IN A ROW!) and Papa Fox took off.
5. Then there was a surprise car repair on Friday from the family who borrowed it.
6.  We had a laundry list of things to do on Saturday, many of which didn't get done.
7. Grocery shopping on Sunday and just all around a recuperating kind of day.
8. Lunch with my BFF and her daughter on Monday while getting her bridesmaid dress pressed.
9. Regal Summer Movie (The Lorax) this morning, just us, Baby Fox and Lady Fox.

So one more time now: PHEW! Just reading the list makes me need to catch my breath.  And mind you, this isn't even over yet.  We're just a few days out from the wedding, I still need to get my permanent crown put onto my tooth, and the newly-moved-to-Hawaii family doesn't even have their cars yet.  Add on the upcoming Independence Day weekend followed by Papa Fox's "boys weekend" (in place of his bachelor party) and then ALLLLLLL the family (no kidding) comes into town next week for the wedding.

Holy guacamole this is going to be chaotic...

Doggy Grooming

I was asked by my mother yesterday to bathe and groom our dog, Dooney.  So above you see his before picture.  Not really anything terrible since my mom groomed him maybe two weeks ago.  Today was an eventful day for us, though, so this is the only thing I really had a chance to sit down and give my stamp of achievement.  Aside from running to Walmart, having breakfast with Baby Fox at Zippy's, and picking up our tickets for tonights 3D showing of "World War Z", it was a day of mostly errands.

Above you see Dooney's after picture.  I know, what's the big deal?  Nothing really, I just think my dog is friggin adorable and you should be able to enjoy his sweet face just like I do every day.  To be time conscious, before we left for breakfast, I bathed him and threw in a load of laundry.  When Dooney gets a bath, we turn off all fans and allow the house to be warmer than usual so that he's not shivering freezing waiting to dry, so it's better for us that we were gone during that time.  We were able to come home, toss in a second load of laundry, tear up some construction paper into scraps for color play later, and get Baby Fox down for his nap.  While he napped, I groomed my pup!  Oh, and blogged.

Laptop Swap

Yesterday was pretty dismal when two very disappointing things were realized for Papa Fox.
1)  We completely miscalculated (by A LOT) his college graduation date, and
2)  His computer was kaput. Blue-screen-of-death done-zo. D-E-A-D.

How on earth we magically deleted an entire semester is beyond me.  Seriously, we overcompensated his graduation date by an entire semester and just realized it yesterday.  Don't ask me how because he had to correct me in all my optimism.  Shrug it off.

Then there was the laptop.  How or why is also beyond me.  Then again, it's not my computer, so I don't use it everyday and see the small annoying signs of despair like Papa Fox would, but still, it seemed so sudden.  Like a terrible accident.  Regardless, I know as well as Papa Fox that BSOD is never a good sign and usually not worth trying to fight, so we bought him a new laptop.

Here's my take on the whole situation.  This dead laptop (red one above) lasted three years, almost to the month.  Dead Red up there was given to him July of 2010 and here we are, June 2013, with the blue-screen-of-death.  All things considered, I feel like I expected more, but, I'm also an Apple addict (iLife all the way) and my laptop from which I'm communicating from was purchased in 2007.  Granted, my laptop is completely behind in software (by two upgrades, I know, I cry...) and the CD drive crapped out just days after my two year applecare expired, but, still very much alive!  So maybe that skews my expectations a bit.

Lucky for us (I think, anyway), there was a laptop on sale for $279 at Best Buy today as one of their Father's day specials.  Considering Dead Red didn't have a CD drive like the new one and he's going from a Netbook to a Laptop, it's kind of an upgrade.  One thing did kind of nag me, though - when I bought it, the gentleman helping me tried to upsell me on an Asus because he said that this particular laptop is the bottom of the bottom and it's not expected to last very long and it is apparently slow when it comes to processing.  Only time will tell and I'm sure Papa Fox won't care since, really, it just needs to last him until he finishes his next spring semester, but it still kind of bugs me. Inception.

Up and Running

It's looking like I've got everything up and running. Although I may not have anything valuable on my social networking sites (yet!), everything is all setup and ready to go. Phew, adjusting from Wordpress to Blogger is a little different. Luckily, it wasn't too difficult.

Even though I set up the blog today, Baby Fox and I were able to get some fun time at the park and some pool time to boot! Although we had some good fun, playing with neighbors dogs and kicking the ball around, it's a little bit of a bummer that I didn't tackle the house today. Why the house, you may ask, well, since we just moved out of one family members house and into another family members home, there's a little rearranging and finagling required. Fret not, it will get done!

Anyways, Papa Fox has a whole bunch of finals this week, so it's probably best to focus our efforts in one concentration for the moment. Hopefully we'll be able to start a healthier meal plan, maybe get on a exercise routine, and get the house into tip top shape once the week comes to an end. Only time will tell, but stick around and see what gets done.