workin' it..

well, more like workin' on it. i'm realizing that i feel, not unlike most people i'm sure, that a move to a totally new place brings a lot of chances to make change. i've noticed myself both purposefully, and even not so purposefully, shifting some things, so i figured i'd take a minute to share and document for a little accountability.

one. i've started working out. wha-wha-what?! yes, you read that right. it's happened for three days in a row; which is a conquest in itself for me. we now have a "family membership" to the YMCA just .6 miles from our apartment, and ruby and i have been there twice in the past three days. she gets to socialize (a.k.a. do her best not to tackle) kids in the kidzone (catchy name, right?), and i get up to three hours (holy moly, i doubt i'll ever use that much time) to work out. the first day, i had a thirty minute run/walk session on the treadmill before taking a core pilates class (which i liked a lot, by the way). new development, my knees cannot handle running. i kept trying to ignore/be in denial about the irritation i was feeling during the running portions of my time on the treadmill, but the uncomfortable achiness (blogger tells me this is not a word) i felt that night and the next day confirmed it.. i don't have strong knees (are strong knees even a thing?). so today, i cycled for 30 minutes and then stretched for awhile. i had a bit of momentary insanity during my stretching when i thought, "i can see why people get addicted to working out". i literally "LOL"ed at myself after i thought it.. this coming from the person who had to will herself out the door to get there. but hey, at least i know that attitude is in there somewhere, right? oh, and the third workout day comes from doing some netflix yoga last night before bed.

two. portion control. i made a conscious decision the other day to limit myself when it comes to snacking. don't get me wrong, i'm still snacking, i'm just not bringing the entire bag of chips or bowl of puppy chow to the couch with me.. i've started filling up a little ramekin with a reasonable amount of my snack of choice to help both satisfy my craving and keep overloading at bay. i know this is sort of a random one to share, but it's a somewhat big change for me so, there it is.

three. coooooooooooking more. we, as a family, fell into a somewhat large eating out rut before we left raleigh. daniel's hours are so nontraditional, our kitchen was tiny and hard to function in, but overall, we were just lazy and unwise when it came to cooking and spending that money. d and i have a huge desire for this time (however long it ends up being) in indiana to be a productive and profitable one for our family and future.. we will literally be kicking ourselves if we come away from it having paid off no debt and without a bit (hopefully a big bit) of savings. i know that one of the biggest shifts that will translate into those other changes is more home-cooked meals and resisting those extremely tempting nights out for dinner. i do have to say that smoking being allowed in restaurants in this state is a huge help in that area.. ick.

four. working to cultivate a more gentle tongue and patient spirit towards d and r. i will admit it wholeheartedly.. sometimes i can be a real "b". yep, that's right. i can have such a short fuse and be a great big cranky pants sometimes. i know that these times are very unbecoming of me and are teaching unhealthy and sinful ways to my daughter. on top of that, as much as daniel works and as many poor attitudes as he deals with on a daily basis, the last thing i want to do it be another one that he walks in the door to at night. and it's hard. it's often easier to want to make my "position known" in an unproductive and hurtful way, instead of taking a deep breath and asking for help. it's hard to clean up the same mess for the twenty-first time that day, and to speak calmly to a two year old who is loosing her ever-loving mind. but i know i can do it, and i know that He will help if i keep asking and trying. so, here's to that.

and five. thrifting. i've been a lover of thrift and yard sale shopping for quite a long time, but i've been a lover of target for that long too. but get this, people have yard sales from thursday through sunday here in indiana. what the what? so, i'm trying to buy less stuff new and spend more time combing through things people don't want to get what we need (and want). it saves money, and oh the thrill it brings.

well, there they are.. the works in progress. feel free to ask how they're going! i need all the help i can get.

so, no picture with this post, but maybe all 

of the (parenthesis) i used will make up for it?