Day 2: A Little Migraine Goes a Long Way

Here's one way to curb your appetite. Get a migraine. I started getting one around 1:00 today, and it went from irritating headache to a mind-numbing, nauseating, miserable experience within an hour, even after taking two Excedrin Migraine. So much for OTC drugs. Unfortunately, my go-to migraine cure doesn't exactly fit in with my goal of healthy-eating this week. I've discovered that a Monster Apple from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory does the trick every time. I've done lots of research, trust me.

Day 1: The Trouble with Brownies

Here's the problem with brownies. When you make a batch, there's enough to feed at least a dozen or more people. That's why they're great for taking to church activities, right? But what about for Family Home Evening? There's only 4 of us here in the Hale Household, and after we've each had a brownie, there's still more than 3/4 of a pan full of brownies shamelessly hollering for you to have another. And another. And maybe just one more small one... Don't tell me this has never happened to you. I'm sure you know how loud and obnoxious those stinkin' brownies can be.

At this moment, there is still half a batch of brownies sitting on my kitchen counter (at least I didn't eat the whole dang thing). I did eat more than I should have, though. What's really frustrating is that I was doing so well up until then. I had a very nutritious Green Smoothie for breakfast, some chicken and rice for lunch, and homemade vegetable soup for dinner. I even exercised today! I pushed Hayden around the block for about 45 minutes, and then worked in the garden for about an hour or so. I was doing great! And then those delicious, despicable brownies. There's a reason it's called devil's food. Here's hoping for a better tomorrow.

Week 13: Healthy Habits- Good Eating

I've decided to change my format a little bit. The problem that I've been having is that I don't feel a week is really long enough to set and accomplish a lot of the goals I have. So, I'm going to stretch the focus out to about 3 weeks, concentrating on separate, specific things each week. This time, I want to focus on my health. I've been painfully aware lately that I've put back on 6 pounds since Christmas, completely the opposite way on the scale I've been meaning to go. It's my own fault. My exercise routine has gone from regular to rare, and I've been eating poorly. When Saturday night came around and I realized I'd eaten nothing but an apple (not so bad) and cake batter (not so good) all day, I knew it was time for a change. So this first week, I'm going to focus on my diet, on eating healthy things and leaving the cake batter alone. I'll try to squeeze some exercise in there, too, but I think I'll wait until next week to really focus on that, once I've got the eating thing under control. One step at a time here. Wish me luck!

Day 6: I Actually Did It!

At least partially. I doubt that my life will ever be completely devoid of some kind of clutter, but I think I made a huge leap this week. I have to admit that the past few days I put aside my endeavor to create order from chaos in my den. Jared took the kids up to Oregon to visit his parents, and I've had all kinds of time to myself! I hardly knew what to do! But don't you worry, I managed just fine. I did some shopping, saw TWO movies, stayed up to all hours, and slept in late. It's been fabulous! When I finally ran out of stuff to do late last night, I turned my attention back to the den. And wouldn't you know it! I got it done! I could actually work in here now if I wanted to. Need an embossing pen? Three yellow brads? The July issue of Clean Eating? I know exactly where they are. The only bummer is that Jared took the camera, so I can't show you my marvelously organized craft area. (Yeah, that picture isn't of my den, though I used the same brand of storage cubes for a lot of it.) Maybe I'll post it tomorrow night, when they get home.

Days 2 & 3: Den of Chaos!

After successfully getting my irises in on Monday, I was pretty gung ho about attacking my den, which is an official disaster area. However, Miss Hayden was a monster crankypants yesterday, not to mention into EVERYTHING. So by the lunchtime rolled around and I had still been unable to set so much as a foot into the den, I gave up, threw Hayden in the car, and figured I'd at least get some errands in. That way the day wouldn't be a total loss. We headed off to Stoneridge Mall and went straight to the Apple Store. My laptop charger cord has completely worn out around the edges and has all kinds of exposed wires that like to snap and sparkle. Since I thought this might possibly be dangerous (ya think?), I decided to take it in and get a new one. My jaw just about dropped, however, when I saw the price tag. $79.00 for a new cord? Yikes! Seeing the panic in my eyes, the sales guy said he'd check to see if my computer was still under warranty or qualified for a replacement part. And guess what! It did! So I got my new charger for free! Of course, just after I learned this fabulous news, I saw a text from Jared saying he'd just bought a new one online for $50. Well, I guess we'll have an extra one!

As for today, I don't know if it was the weather or something else, but I just didn't want to do anything today. After taking Jason to school, I actually sat on the couch in my jammies watching Project Runway on demand (a habit I picked up from Mom... thanks, Mom!). Hayden ran wild, efficiently clearing out my underwear drawer and scattering its contents throughout the house, as well as the bathroom cabinets and all its contents. But I just didn't have it in me to do anything about it. Finally, around 10:30, I dragged myself to the shower, got dressed, and hopped in the car again, just so I wouldn't be tempted to fall back onto the couch. I planned to go to Michaels, but instead, I called Jared and asked if we could join him for lunch. After lunch, we finally made it to Michaels, and I bought some storage cubes for the junk in the den. By then it was just about time to get Jason from school, so we went and picked him up, took him to piano, and sometime around 3:10, we finally made it home. I spent the rest of the evening picking up in the den. Though as I look around now, you can hardly tell. There's still a lot of work to do. The picture is of what I accomplished today, though. It's a start.

Day 1: A Beautiful Garden!

Okay, so I don't have a beautiful garden yet. But after today, I am one step closer. I picked up a huge garbage sack full of iris plants from the Morgan's a few days back, and each day I've found something else that took priority over getting them planted. But no more! Today I got the irises out of the ugly old garbage sack that was becoming a nagging eyesore in my backyard and got them planted! It took all afternoon and both me and Jared to get it finished, but it's DONE! Hooray! Wonder what I'll get done tomorrow?

Week 12: De-clutter Your Life!

You ever get that feeling? It starts out as a little nibble, then grows and grows until it becomes a vicious attack from a Great White Shark? It's called clutter, and it just accumulates and accumulates until all of a sudden you're up to your neck in it. That's how I feel my house, and sometimes my life in general, is at the moment. So this week I want to focus on cutting back. Cutting back on the junk in the house for one, but also cutting back on the I-have-to's and working towards a more peaceful, more zen ME! We'll see how it goes!