Finally back!

Well it is official! I am now a registered principal! And no, not for a school! :)

I took and passed my Series 24 exam today. You have to get a 70% or better to pass and I got a 76%. Not a great score, but since there is no difference if you get a 70 or a 90, I am happy! So much studying - I would have been pretty mad if I didn't pass! I did have to pass this test for work so if I didn't pass this time I would have had to take it again. I also get a raise for getting it so that is great!

I am been very absent from posting because all I have done most nights for the last week and a half is study! My poor kiddo got very little mommy time because I had to study so much. Now I have a whole long list of things I want to do since the test is over and I have my free time back! I could go on and on with a long list but I will just mention the few things I really want to do.

1. Start working out a lot.
2. Work on X's scrapbook.
3. Get stuff ready for a garage sale.
4. Spend time with my baby and hubby.
5. Make a budget for our house.

Those are the main goals I have over the next few weeks and after all of that studying, I feel like most of those should be no problem.

Happy Friday!

Where have I been?

Studying, that's where (or what I guess)!

A week from tomorrow I have to take my Series 24 test for work and I have been studying like mad recently and that is why I haven't posted in over a week! I am getting nervous and worried I won't pass, but I am sure if I keep studying at the rate I have and don't let up that I will pass. I have to get a 70% on the test to pass which may not seem that hard, but 3 of the other 5 people I work with in my department all failed the test at least once and they are all smart. Yikes!

Tonight we went to dinner and buffalo wild wings for some boneless wings and to watch the NFL draft and to see Suh get jipped out of the first pick overall. Oh, well, he was still the second pick in the first round and he still rocks and will make a huge impact on the Lions I think. He rocks!

I bought Xander this super cute little kids shopping cart off of Craigslist for $5. That was $5 well spent! He loves it and has been pushing it around everywhere!

I am ready for the weekend. Even though I have to study. A ton. It will be nice to sleep in a little bit and relax too.

We got a new car last week. I will have to post some pics of it soon too. It is a Subaru Impreza Outback Sport. It is pretty sharp looking and is fun to drive. We are splitting the time taking it to work as to not rack up too many miles on it. Todd drives more than twice the distance I do to work everyday so I am driving it sometimes even though it is sorta 'his' car.

Hopefully I will be around more once this test is done with next Friday! I guess it won't be done with if I don't pass because I will have to take it again a month later. Good luck to me!

Bike ride

We went on our first bike ride of the season last night. It wasn't great though because the bike I was using had a leak in the tire so it was mostly flat after not too long. Also, I am so out of shape that the bike ride was super hard but good since I need to work out more. Xander rode behind in the new (used) bike trailer we got for him. He seemed to enjoy it! Here are a few pics -


Ok, so this one is not from the bike ride but right after, playing in the garage.

Sorry, you don't see his face much with this one.

After the bike ride, he climbed back in the trailer.

Daddy was pulling him around.

More juice with George in the trailer.

Lots of randoms

Gosh I have been a bad blogger lately - not that very many people read it anyway and are holding their breath! :)

This last week has flown by and it's crazy to me that it is Saturday night. I have a million things to write about floating around in my head and I am hoping to get them all out and get a good night sleep tonight.

Xander had his first hair cut today! I can't believe it took 16 1/2 months, but we finally did it. I was a little nervous but it turned out great and out little guy looks handsome! I thought he might lose some of his curls when we cut it but he didn't. I think the top will actually curl up a little more because it is shorter now.



Getting his hair wet to cut.

He doesn't look too happy here.

All done! He looks like such a big boy!

He didn't squirm or fuss pretty much the whole time!

Got a chance to play with the sprayer bottle.

I also had a bad mom moment today - when I took Xander to get his hair cut today, we were walking back to daddy's office (I took him to Penney's salon and we saw daddy while we were there) and there was a door I had to hold open for him and I let it go a little too soon - WHACK! Right on his forehead the door hit him. He just made a little grunt and kept walking! I can't believe he didn't scream or even cry a little! It had to hurt because it left a decent sized red mark! Sorry baby!

Xander is a teething machine as I have previously stated. He has 12 teeth all the way in, the 13th is pretty much all the way through and I see the 14th! Overall he hasn't been too crabby but he has his moments.

I learned a lesson today regarding my frugal ways. I am pretty much a bargain shopper almost all of the time. I never buy anything full price and refuse to buy most things on a 'normal sale'. I pretty much have to have mega clearance or the lowest sale price to buy something when it comes to groceries and clothes and household items. So I was shopping at Sam's club (warehouse where you purchase items in bulk) and I got quite a few things to stock up. I was walking down one of the aisles and noticed the bulk shredded cheese. I looked at the price and at first glance though, 'I can get it cheaper at regular stores with a sale and/or coupons'. Uh, after re-calculating, I realized I was WRONG! What? I have learned a lot about couponing and bargain shopping in the last year and a half and realized that for about 95% of the things I buy, I can get it as cheap of cheaper at the regular stores with coupons and sales. Anyway, the 5 pound bag of cheddar cheese was $8.50 or somewhere right around there. I started thinking that was a terrible price until I realized the VERY cheapest I can get shredded cheese is $2/pound. Most normal bags of cheese are 8 ounces and the bottom dollar price you can get them is usually $1. So in order to get a pound of cheese, you have to get 2 bags. That is $2 then and for 5 pounds that would be $10! And that is pretty much the best price I have gotten cheese ever! I guess maybe once or twice I got 8 ounces for $0.50 but that is very rare and the coupons rarely line up with those mega sales so again, that is rare! Either way, I learned a lesson to double check some of the things that I thought were cheaper at the regular store. I did find out too that at least right now there milk is the cheapest in town if you don't mind buying generic.

And on yet another random note, I took a picture of the bush that is in our front yard. I like it but I hate it. It blooms once and the flowers literally last a week, fall off and don't return for a whole year. Ugh. I get to enjoy it for about 2 days and then not again for a year. Boooo. Who's idea was it to put that bush in our front yard? Not ours!

I am doing pretty good at growing my hair out for now. I have a hair appointment next week and am going to get some fresh color and just a tiny trim to keep my hair looking good but I don't want to lose any length. I am curious to see how long I can let it get.

No progress on the diet/exercise/lifestyle change yet. This week is the week though. I have already prepared myself mentally and now I bought a bunch of healthy food to eat this week so I will hopefully have a good start.

We are looking at getting a new car to replace the Jeep. The Jeep gets terrible gas mileage and the payment is more than the few cars we are looking at. Even if the insurance went up a little bit, we would still be saving a lot of money each month so this is looking like a win-win!

I am ready to have a garage sale! We have so much junk around the house that we could stand to get rid of.

Lastly, I will have to also post some pics from Easter last weekend. Maybe sometime this week!

Ready for change

I am ready. Ready for some changes.

It has been a long time coming. But I really am ready now. I am ready to lose my weight once and for all. I am starting today.

I don't have a gym membership and I don't need one.

I have a treadmill and weights and some workout videos and a neighborhood to walk in. I have my own body which can do a lot without any equipment.

I haven't figured it all out yet but I have needed to make this decision for a long time. I don't have an exact plan but this weekend I am figuring it out. I have made a few little efforts here and there in the last year but nothing firm and nothing serious. It is time.

There are a few things that motivate me.

I don't want my son to grow up with a 'fat' mom. It's not that I just don't want him to see me fat. I also really want to be able to play with him and do the things he wants to do as he gets older. I don't care if that sounds cliche. I want to be able to keep up with him.

I don't like looking in the mirror. Ever. I want to like what I see at least most of the time.

I don't have any clothes that fit well except maternity clothes. I admit it.

I am not healthy and I have no energy. I want to feel alive and energetic!

I need to lose 60 pounds. I admit it. I think I would be considered a healthy weight if I lost about 40 but even that is sad to say that I have that much weight to lose.

I avoid pictures at all costs. I don't want a bunch of pictures of me at this weight floating around. How sad is that? I don't even want family pictures with my kid and husband because I am afraid of how terrible I will look! Horrible.

I need to take better care of myself because of my diabetes. I have to take it more seriously once and for all. I don't want to have long term problems because I'm not taking care of myself now.

It is time to feel good about myself and feel normal.

Once I figure out what I am doing I will write about it. I have a few ideas of what I am going to do but will decide that soon.

More to come.