The Housewife Lobe of the Brain

My mind has been full of 'Oooo! I should blog about [insert fun event here]', and 'Please God, don't let me forget to blog about [insert forgotten unforgettable feeling here]', and lastly '[Everyday moment worth gold] would be a good thing to mention in my new re-vamped blog!'... but instead my body has been running in one thousand different directions and my mind is asleep by time my body finally gets to rest. So this particular entry is going to be almost a literal chunk from my housewife brain. Lots of random topics, all being planned and coordinated at once. :)

1) Walter and I had our first Date Night of 2011 last night. He had to work a little overtime, but when he got home he changed and we went out to Olive Garden to use up a gift card we received for Christmas. Being low on money, and starting to ease towards a diet, our goal was to spend UNDER the gift card and not spend a dime on the meal at all. Walter got the soup, salad, and bread sticks deal and I got the spinach-artichoke dip with the salad and bread sticks as well (of course!). It was a great night of talking, and people-watching, and was fun to 'stick to a budget' per say. Lord knows we need to do this is all the areas of our life... With the meal winding up being $2 (we couldn't leave just a 10% tip, with me being a past waitress and all) it was a nice night out. Afterwards, we went to Home Depot to get the final price of what our dryer will cost. We were given a new washer from my parents for a Christmas gift, because our washer was pulling clothes too far down and making little holes in all of our favorites pieces! Talk about frustrating! It was SUCH a nice gift to get and I was thrilled (funny the items we get excited about now, I am officially old...)! When my family heard this, they all started chipping in gift cards to Home Depot for their Christmas gifts! The dryer is about $550 and we have $350 in gift cards! The dryer will soon be ours and I can't wait to dread using our NEW one for doing laundry vs our old one... lol just kidding. I need an excuse to be excited to do a little laundry!

2) I'm reading a new book that Walter kind of suggested. While I was away on a mission trip in Mexico he stumbled across the book, 'Every Man, God's Man' by Stephen Arterburn and really enjoyed reading it. He's really interested in the 'Every Man' Series now, so I decided to pick up 'Every Woman's Battle' for myself and 'Every Man's Challenge' for him with he gift card I received from my brother and his family for my birthday! (Thanks Tim, Valerie, Michael, and Killian!!!) The book is reading really fast, and I am enjoying it. I am also realizing that I am actually 'unfaithful' to my husband. I know it's odd to read, and hard for me to even admit... thus the quotes to help a bit... however, the book is all about how women struggle with lusting after other men. While I didn't think this was ever an issue, I am realizing I do tease about being 'in love' with 'super hot' actors and I do compare him to others husbands from time to time. While I don't mean bad by it, I do catch myself saying '[blank]'s husband buys her flowers' and 'you would never [blank] say that about his wife!' I just want to cut all that crud out. My husband is unique and a true Godsent to me, and I am beyond blessed to have HIM and not whoever [blank] is! Check it out. Good read so far. (However, prepare for some nudges from the holy spirit if you choose to do so!)

3) I've been working on my weight lately, but I'm trying to ease into it. If I go all die-hard like always I'm sure to get burnt out quickly like always as well. This week I'm taking to make better choices when it comes to meals and start cutting back on all the soda I drink. Next week I'm going to get a little tougher and so on and so on. I'm planning to ease into a detox and weight loss plan from Arbonne's Figure 8 Detox and such. Basically shakes for breakfast and lunch, and dinner contains no caffeine, no gluten, no alcohol, no nitrates (sweetener, soy, vinegar...), no dairy, no sugar or honey, etc. What's left? You tell me! :) No really, things like chicken breast, brown rice, vegetables/fruits, nuts, etc. Not only do I want to loose weight I just want to GET HEALTHY! Who knows what all the fertility drugs and hormones have done to my body! *rolls eyes* I'm taking the next few months to get feeling good and wouldn't mind loosing at least 30lbs along the way. Some goals are: to decrease soda intake til it becomes a rare treat, loosing 15lbs by the end of January, 30lbs by the 1st of April, and so on... I'm sure there will be more to this later.

4) I'm itching to do something fun and crafty. Does anyone have some fun ideas on where I can get some easy and fun crafts to do? I need to stretch my imagination and creativity a bit, it's been a little while since I've done anything of the sort and I feel it being harder. I'm challenging myself to do SOMETHING semi artsy craftsy by next week!

5) This week I've really gotten back in touch with some amazing women I've missed over the last month of hiding. Tuesday I spent chatting with Sarah, Wednesday I had lunch with Rachel, Thursday I had breakfast with Connie AND then lunch with Jamie, and tomorrow I plan to have lunch with Leah (who has an amazing new blog I am now addicted to!) and pedicures back with Connie. I feel very blessed to have each of these women in my life, whatever role they play, I can definitely say they've all been influential to me!!! Thank you ladies!

6) Speaking of blessings, I am feeling more and more blessed to be involved with selling Thirty-One. I really enjoy every minute of it. I love connecting with women, the thrill of booking a party and having a great night ahead, and I don't even need to mention the products!! The new Spring line is coming out soon and I am IN LOVE with some of the new products, patterns, and specials! I don't intend this to be a plug, really, I'm just serious about loving this 'job'! However if you are interested you can find products here. The special this month and next are AMAZING! Thermal totes on sale and spend $31 and get 31% off an item! I'm my own best customer!

I am really excited for this year. The 'newness' has not warn off, and neither has the hopefulness a new year always brings. I feel really confident about this year. "This year is going to be MY year!" I claimed on facebook and I still stand by it. Speaking of which, something else I wanted to add was New Year's Resolutions, which I will post later tonight. I love setting goals and working towards them, (especially checking them off!) and I try to update my 43Things account frequently. Follow my current everyday goals and long term goals if you are interested. :) But for now, my husband just got home and I need to snuggle up to him! It's hard to be apart from him all day, and I want to take every opportunity to be with him as possible. Especially since today I re-found an amazing cute poem he wrote me over three years ago on facebook. Love that man!