Puppy kisses

Underwater dog photos are the best! 

Hurray! We're so close to summer that it seems like it's 80 degrees in Seattle. What? Oh. It is 80 degrees out. Huh. Well good news readers...SUMMER CAME EARLY TO SEATTLE! (Talk about a sentence no one thought they'd read)
So, how have things been with our little family? Well, my husband is working for our family friend (And one of my ex-employers) with her business which is corporate housing. He's really been having a lot of fun and he's got to scope out a lot of apartments in the Seattle area. This week he'll be visiting one of the apartment complexes that we've been looking at moving to once he starts school in the Fall. He's going to tell me his thoughts and let me know if he thinks it will work for our little family.

Keep reading, friends!

My days have been a bit of the same old, same old. We've been training Juno, our new puppy, who is learning so fast. My time on weekdays is spent mainly in Seattle, as that is where my office is. But something exciting did happen recently...our company website is finally up. It needs a lot of tweaks and fixing, all of which is planned for this weekend, but it's finalyl up. You can check it out by clicking here. The page is beautiful, minus the fixes that need to happen, and it is wonderful to see the site connected to the domain. And I really love sharing it with everyone.
Recently, mainly due to my hour bus rides each day, my book consumption has really gone up. So, in response to this, I will start posting book reviews of some of the great and not so great books that have been gobbled up by me.
All in all, life has been a little busy but full of tons of puppy kisses. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Maybe I am insane

My goodness it has been awhile. This is my fault, of course. Our lives have been quite busy and well...I think a catch up is in order.

My husband and I decided to start a business on the side. With some help and insight from family members and friends, we're building up a company from scratch and hope to have it go live and start working on it in the coming months. Once we have the website and everything set up, there will be a post going farther into depth about this, but consider this your teaser.
In other family news, my husband, who has been desperately searching for a job for a year and three months (not that I'm counting), had his first day of work on Thursday. Does it need to be mentioned that this is exciting? I hope not, because it has pretty much made my month. Hell, my season. Perhaps my year.

 As you may be aware, we are currently living with my in-laws who have so graciously took us in while my husband searched high and low for a job, but with this new family change, we may be moving out soon! We're looking at moving out in May or June, depending on whether we want to pay down some credit card debt we have before heading out on our own. Sasha, our dog, has been getting used to being alone at home during the day. She's actually never had a day where someone wasn't just at the house with her. Needless to say, she's not a big fan so far.
This next week is going to be a busy one. My husband, best friend Steph, sister and I are all going to see the Hunger Games for a midnight showing on Thursday/Friday. And to make our weeks crazier, we're seeing Jeff Dunham on Saturday.
More updates will be coming more often. Sorry for not updating lately, as you can tell...we've been busy.

Relax and let live

I'd love to relax here...

This month has been stressful at best, reason for a person to be committed at worse. Thankfully, no one has managed to commit me and my emotional breakdowns have not been large enough to totally take me out of service. In fact, my emotional breakdowns happen to coincide with the two days of the week that are reserved for relazing: the weekend. So, instead of hanging with friends, playing Xbox, going on dates with my husband, my time has been spent mindlessly sifting through pins on Pinterest or sleeping. Thankfully, Pinterest is enough to completely chill me out after five to ten minutes, but the lying in bed and sleeping/sulking/refusing to remove myself from the dent that my body has created in the bed needs to stop. And after a confusing, frustrating and emotional resurgence of my good friend, Depression, on Saturday, I knew something had to be done.
My husband says that I live as if I'm continually running from crisis to crisis, few of them my own. For the most part I'm in agreement, but I think of it as being in almost a constant fight or flight mode. No matter how we define it, this constant stress still makes me a complete wreck more often than not. Well, starting Sunday, which happened to be yesterday, I promised myself that I will try to take everything that happens in stride. Try to relax and live this life. There should be no reason that I need to spend hours on Pinterest just to calm down after a stressful day. To spend more time laughing and being with my husband and puppy. They make me smile the most. Most of all, though, accepting that we can not force our lives to take a certain route. Everything happens for a reason. St. Francis of Assisi said it best, "Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Amen.

This makes me smile

So far, my attempts have not been fruitless. Despite running a bit late this morning, I just smiled, took a deep breath and just reminded myself that I would get to work shortly and that things would be okay. In fact, I managed to joke with my husband about the one thing that tends to set me off most, clothing. Or rather, my lack of cute clothing that fits. So far, it feels like I've accomplished so much by not freaking out, or even stressing about, the little things in life.
My husband is probably reading this and either nodding his head encouragingly, hoping that I'll keep it up or rolling his eyes, because I'm a neurotic crazy person. Or, more likely, both.

All I want for Christmas is...

The holidays are a time for family and being home. Unfortunately, home is a rather flexible term right now for our little family. We currently live with my husband's parents, who graciously took us in while we tried to get out feet under us. Six months later, we are still hopeful that my husband will find a job, but having so little space and not being able to start our lives is truly wearing on us. Right now, I'm writing this while my husband plays video games. Let's just say that it's hard to concentrate and write at the same time. But I don't want to ask him to turn it down or try to choose something that is more, well...silent, because this is our spot. The little area where we can be ourselves and pretend is home. For now.

So the one thing I want for Christmas is for my husband to get a job, so we can start making the home we've been dreaming of. I know he is trying his hardest and that the economy sucks so terribly bad, but please, if there is a god, please, let this happen for our family. I would be forever thankful and I know James, who is going stir crazy, would be thankful as well.

Getting my fitness on!

My life has been a whirlwind since I married my husband. Graduating college, moving in with my in-laws, receiving an awesome job, best friend getting ready to have her first child, husband struggling to find a job, economy taking a royal beating. It's been stressful, to say the least. And since I got married I have gained about...well, far too much for me to be comfortable with. But today, after stepping on the scale, I made a vow that I'm going to try to keep. I'm going to lose the weight.

Maybe it's my vanity that makes me want to lose the weight so I can attempt to be what society sees as beautiful. Maybe it's the fact that struggling to breathe because of asthma that wasn't there prior to the weight is starting to get to me. Maybe it's my desire to never have a freak out that sounds like omgimsofathowdigetthiswayihatemyselfnothingfits. More than likely, it's an accumulation of all of these things. No matter what, though, it ends here.

As many of my friends and Facebook friends know, my major in college was in accounting, which requred a large amount of business classes. In laymans terms, I'm a planner. So, below is a management plan for my weight loss. My management professor would be insanely proud, I'm sure.

Mission Statement: To become healthier through daily exercise and losing forty-two pounds, thus returning to a pre-wedding weight.

1. Maintain a daily exercise regimen
1. Wake up at 4:45 in the morning on Mondays through Thursdays for one hour exercise sessions at the gym
2. Either Fridays or Saturday require the gym, but one must be a rest day
3. Yoga sessions on Sundays
4. Train to start running long distances to help build up strength with lungs
2. Maintain a healthy diet
1. No. More. Fast. Food. (Everyone should now sell their stock in McDonalds and Jack in the Box)
2. At Starbucks, one of my greatest weaknesses due to me being a Seattlite, nothing with milk. Straight coffe and tea are okay.
3. Introduce more fruits and veggies as snacks
4. Eat a healthy, hearty breakfast each morning
3. Stay on top of plan
1. Work with husband, as he's going to be trying to lose weight too
2. Monitor food consumption and exercise daily
3. Report to this blog every Sunday regarding the progress of the plan

This will take me at least six months to accomplish, but with determination and hard work my husband and I can make it work.

Wish me luck!

My life needs GPS so I can find it

Beautiful Seattle in the Morning

Sometimes a kick in the butt is all you need to realize you need to change yourself. I suppose my kick in the butt came yesterday. My husband has been trying to get a job that was pretty much tailor made for him. He'd been in for two in-person interviews and one phone interview. He was a finalist. And instead of choosing any of the finalists, they contracted out. It's been heartbreaking because I know my husband is angry. Angry at the company for not saying that was an option, at the general health of the world and nation's economy, at himself for not getting the job. And it's heartbreaking. Because none of it is his fault.

Marriage is a confusing thing. We all see our parents and their successes and utter failures. We assume what marriage will be like and once you're in it, you realize it's not at all what you imagined it would be. But you cope. And you try. You give everything of yourself to the marriage and to your significant other. And I know it's cheesy, but the saying "If you bleed, I bleed" couldn't be truer. And with that sentiment and disappointment, I have received a kick in the butt.

Today I woke up at five in the morning, a time that is unheard of, and managed to drag my sorry butt as well as my husband's cute butt out of bed and to the gym. I read somewhere that exercise will improve your mood and outlook on things. I hope it does. For him. For me. Because we're in this together. And if waking up at an ungodly hour is what it takes to help both of us through one of the worst economic disasters since the 1930's, I will do it everyday. 

I love my life. I love our opportunities. I love the family that has so kindly brought us into their homes and taken care of us. But most of all, I love my husband. And always will.

Words to live by

"The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud." - Coco Chanel