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.

The new job

I started my new job on Monday and I am very happy with it! I like the people I work with and though the stuff I have done so far is somewhat easy, I am looking forward to learning more processes and doing harder work. It is pretty quiet in my department unlike my old job. In my old job, everyone talked on the phone all day long so it was pretty noisy at times. In my new job, it is pretty quiet most of the time and I even listen to my ipod when I am doing something long and tedious.

I am studying for my Series 24 exam and last night I read one of the chapters and felt really good about how much I remembered so I took the online test reviewing that chapter and got an 80%! That is awesome since you only have to get a 70% on the 24 to pass it. Granted that was just one section but I am pretty excited to get this done with! The 24 is required for my job so I have to pass the test but the good news is, I have three months, so if I don't pass the test the first time, I can take it again. I don't want to have to take it a second time but if I have to I will.

Overall I am pretty excited. It has only been three days but I think I will like this job overall a lot more than my last job. I no longer dread going to work everyday. Yay for me!

Holy cow!

Where does the time go? I was just looking at my last post and it was over a week ago!

I have been sick as a dog this week but had to go to work anyway because I don't have enough PTO to take a day off and would get in trouble if I had more absences. I have been going to bed at ridiculously early hours this week because I am so tired. This week has flown by!

I can't wait to start my new job - 2 more days in my current job and on to the new one! It is a promotion I guess so I am pretty excited. It is also doing something I think I will enjoy more than what I am doing now. Tomorrow and Friday, I get to meet some of my new co-workers, see where my new desk is and move all of my stuff upstairs. I work on the second floor right now and am moving to the third. I will really miss all of my current co-workers. They are a lot of fun and are all pretty awesome!

There is nothing else really new in our life. Just working and sleeping and trying to get over this cold.

Hopefully I will have something interesting to write about soon, but for now, I've got nothing.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Well then, it is Tuesday and here we go.

- I got a new job! Woohoo! It is at the same company but in a different department. I applied for two jobs and the one I thought I wanted, I didn't get. But I didn't realize until now that the one I ended up getting actually pays more and will probably be just as good or better in the long run. I start on the 29th and I couldn't be more excited! I am not so fond of the job I have now as many of my previous posts have shown. I know I complained way too much in the past but I really don't like the job I have now and CAN'T wait to start the new one! I got just about a 20% raise! Woot!

- Now that I am feeling happier about the job situation, I think it is time to get healthier. I took the first step by going to my doctor two weeks ago and I have a follow up appointement in April. I am going to work on taking care of myself more and it's time to start eating better and exercising more. I admit, it is much easier to want to take care of yourself when you are in a good mood.

- My sister is coming to town this weekend with her two kids and I can't wait to see her! She hasn't seen Xander walk so hopefully it will be fun for her to see him. Her little boy is almost a year too and that is crazy to me - he just seems like a little baby to me still. Love family!

- I am trying to grow my hair out. I am about 99% certain I have mentioned that before but it ist starting to get a little longer and I am excited. I just want it to be longer by summer so when it is really hot out, I can pull it back.

- My house suffers during the week as it seems like I am always so tired during the week that I never want to clean or do much other than relax and play with my baby. My poor house looks pretty bad during the week but I am not sure I care.

- We have a repair to make on one of our cars and I am not looking forward to it (but who does look forward to car repairs?). It makes us think more seriously about maybe getting a different car. I would like to get a new car just so we don't have to worry about the risk of a major repair. Not sure what will happen with this but I will get back to you!

- I am so ready for the weekend even though it is only Tuesday. At least tomorrow is hump day! Also, it is much easier to stomach my job knowing that I only have a week and a half left of it. Yay! (Have I mentioned I don't like the job I am currently in? It makes me sooooo thankful for the new one!)

- I need a vacation. And on another random note, we need to have a garage sale. I think we are going to try to have one sometime this spring to get rid of a bunch of junk. Ugh - we have so much crap!

Oh, and check out the un-mom for more Tuesday randomness!

Soooo.....this is why I'm fat?!

Warning: This could be a very boring post if you don't care about my medical condition. I just wanted to write about this for my own sake and to let all of the thoughts out of my head regarding this.

So, last week, I went to the doctor - my Diabetes doctor. She said 'you're not taking as good of yourself as you could be'. I said 'no duh'. Just kidding. I said, 'I know, it's been hard'. She then proceeded to tell me that there may be this drug that I might be able to start taking once I get my blood sugar in better control and if I lose some weight.

She told me about this drug called Symlin. There have been studies done recently that showed that while insulin is the main hormone that type 1 diabetics are missing and need to replace, there is another hormone that is missing that can help with your diabetes also. It is called Amylin. Funny how this is the first time I have even heard about this hormone or this drug. Anyway, she said there is a newer drug on the market (FDA approved) called Smylin which is the hormone Amylin and it can help people maintain better blood sugar control as well as lose weight. Not only do I want to control my blood sugar better for better health but I want to lose weight also (duh).

I guess this hormone they call Amylin helps keep your blood sugar from spiking after meals as well as decreases glucagon secretion, decreases appetite, and delays gastric emptying. I have read enough about it now to know that most patients who use it who are overweight are able to lose weight because it makes you feel fuller sooner while eating and stay feeling fuller longer. For me this is huge because that is what I told my doctor - I always feel hungry. Even if I feel full for a short time with a meal - I always seem to be hungry an hour later! It is ridiculous! I am hoping if I can get on this drug it will help me. I am not expecting a miracle solution but I think it will help me slowly over time and long term. I hate always feeling hungry and I feel like such a pig sometimes but now I am realizing it's not really my fault - I don't just have a complete lack of control. Everyone else who is not diabetic has this huge advantage in that their body tells them much sooner when to stop eating and also that they are full much sooner than my body does. Sorry if anyone thinks this seems like a cop out, but I have gained so much weight since being diagnosed with diabetes 4 years ago and I have never been this heavy in my whole life. It does lead me to believe there is more to it. My doctor basically confirmed what I have been hoping all along - it is not all my fault that I am fat (or not all my fault).

I feel a little better having this knowledge, but I am also bummed that I never heard about this before and wasn't given the chance to use this sooner. I have had times where my blood sugar was in very good control (the best it ever was, was early in my pregnancy with X because I was so careful about it) but that didn't mean I was thin then.

I struggle with my weight and every day I wish it was easier for me to diet and to want to exercise. I think the diabetes and my constantly too high blood sugar make me tired and sluggish and that makes me not want to exercise and not having the correct hormones makes me feel hungry all of the time. I have always had an issue with my size - even when I was skinnier. It is funny how back when I was skinnier, I thought I was so fat. Crazy. I am not expecting a miracle but I am hoping this will make life a little easier for me. Once I am given the chance to go on the drug, I will hopefully have good results and lose some weight.

I hope this doesn't turn out to be a big disappointment but I will just have to wait and see!

My little man

Just a couple of pictures of my sweetie pie! He continues to grow and change so fast! We love him more than we ever thought possible!


Eating goldfish crackers while typing on the computer - so talented!

'I'm busy mom - come back later!'

Messy face, making a mess in the kitchen. (Notice his shoes - I made them for him but they don't match his outfit).

Look at that mess! He discovered the cupboards!

Playing with cousin Sam at Sam's house.

Playing with the baby gate.

Just walking around!

Helping with our cleaning day - emptying the trash!

Dad put on new door knobs and Xander helped with the screwdriver!

A bunch of sickies

No fun. I'm sick, the kiddo is sick and the hubby is now sick too. He just came down with it in the last day or two and I've had it since early last week. Xander started getting sick maybe Monday or Tuesday but got a lot worse after he got his shots on Wednesday. He is so sick and I feel so bad for him! This is the first real cold he has had since he was born. He has had about two runny noses before but no fever and no cough....until now. Poor baby!

I think we are just going to lay low as much as possible until we get better. Not sure if I will make it work tomorrow - it partly depends on me and how I feel and also X and how he is. I didn't go to work Friday but don't feel the least bit guilty because there have been so many others sick at work, so who can blame me for getting sick? Right!? :)

Looking forward to feeling better and starting to work out again. I started Monday but that got put on hold quick since I got sick. Here's to better health!!!

What I've been up to

The answer to the title is not much, yet quite a bit.

I think what I have been up to is not much that is interesting but quite a bit - enough to where I've felt like I haven't had much time to write.

I started feeling sick on Tuesday. I am getting sicker by the day but still am not that sick yet. Hoping the full blown nasty cold stays away.

Kiddo had his 15 month appointment yesterday and got shots. He was already starting to come down with a little bit of a cold and the shots seemed to make him worse. Now he has a cough and still has the runny nose and has had a low grade fever and is majorly lethargic. Last night, all he did was lay in my or Todd's arms the whole evening. A far cry from his normal wandering around looking at and touching things and picking everything up! Poor baby!

Todd has been doing great with the house projects. We just need to get a few more door knobs put on and all of the projects we have started so far will be done. He got the new light put up in the entryway this week (so much better looking than the old one).

Work has been dragging this week and each day seems longer and longer. I dread going to work everyday but once I am there, find that it is not as bad as I thought it would be. Still, I don't enjoy it and am hoping for a chance at one of the two jobs I applied for within the company.

Todd had a busy week this week with inventory and other normal work stuff. He had to work overnight on Tuesday night and I slept terrible without him home. I guess I have become very dependant on him for my comfort and safety. I guess that is how I want it!

Looking forward to the weekend as usual. I am hoping to get some serious cleaning done around the house as it has become a huge pit since we started all these small projects. I am not going to put too much pressure on myself but I do want to get some stuff done.

I decided to start my couch to 5k running again on Monday but started feeling sick on Tuesday so once I am better (hopefully by next Monday at the latest) I am going to start again. I am kind of excited to get back to the point where I can run more. I need to drop some serious lbs and hopefully this will get me started.

I decided to grow my hair out (again) and am wondering how long it will take to get it where I really want it. I am thinking two full years but maybe closer to a year and a half or less. The thing is, I have to keep up on the color, otherwise I will hate it. If I try to let it grow and don't get the color done often enough then I end up hating it and wanting to chop it all off. We will see how this one goes. I am notorious for chopping my hair every time it starts getting a little longer. I haven't had long hair since high school - 9 years ago!

Time for bed. Since I am fighting off this cold I am trying to get good sleep and haven't done so well most of this week. Sweet dreams!

My week so far

Glad it is Thursday night, which means tomorrow is Friday! I am ready for this week to be over even though it was a short one. I have said it before and I will say it again - I don't love my job. But on that note, I am excited because there are two new jobs that opened up at my company that I am very interested in. Also, it's a small promotion but it's not like it would be a long shot or way out of my league to get either of those jobs so I would say I have a decent chance. Even though I have only worked at the company for four months, I have industry knowledge and my 7 and 63 which might help me get a different job. I am already starting to feel a little happier at the thought of getting another job within the company and actually somewhat enjoying my job each day, or at least not dreading it as much as the one I have now.

I was watching the olympics tonight and I picked Xander up to take him up to bed and he pointed at the tv. It was Jeremy Abbott ice skating and I said 'say night-night to Jeremy'. :) I am such a dork, but Xander did his little wave that he does when he say bye or good night and it was so cute!

This is not really part of my week but more part of my life in general. I have type 1 diabetes and most days I don't think much about it but every once in a while I hate it or it makes me mad, sad or frustrated. I went to give myself my 24 hour insulin tonight and when I injected myself, it left a huge bubble under my skin as it sometimes (actually rarely) does. It is so gross! It just looks like a bubble under my skin about the size of a quarter. It goes away eventually once the insulin makes its way into my body further but how yucky is that?! Sorry, just had to share.

We decided to be smart about our tax return money and a potential bonus Todd will get this year. We decided to take a chunk of the money and improve some small things in our house. We have already put cabinet pulls on all of the cabinets and knobs on all of the drawers in the kitchen. Todd replaced one of the two bathroom faucets - they need replacing very badly. He also picked out and installed a new kitchen faucet on Wednesday - I am so proud of him that he was able to figure it out in a few hours! That was also something that needed replacing badly. We also found new door knobs that work. We are replacing the ones we have from a shiny gold finish to all matted silver finish. He has already switched a few out and we had to buy a few different brands to find one that would fit. I am so excited even though those things seem like small changes - they make a nice visual impact.

Anyway, this weekend we are going to go out and do more shopping for household things. Oh, I forgot to mention that I also found curtains for the living room this week. I even managed to find some on clearance that work well with our living room! The funny thing is, we have lived in this house four years and have never even put curtains up in the living room. How sad is that? Anyway, we are going to get a set of vertical blinds to go over our back patio door, possibly get a second bathroom faucet, a light fixture for our bathroom (silver to replace gold) and we might get a new light fixture for the ceiling in our living room. We are also thinking about getting a headboard and footboard for our bed but haven't decided on that yet.

I am so, so excited to make our house a little nicer! Now if only we had money to replace the carpet!

I think this weekend we are also going to get together with the family for my sister-in-laws birthday. I love getting together with family so that should be fun. Family is so special to me. Sorry to sound cheesy but it is so true!

Valentine's Day

Here is how our v-day turned out. Saturday night, Todd brought me home some flowers and I love them! Not to ruin the fun, but Todd knows that I hate when he spends a fortune on flowers, especially around v-day because they jack up the price so much. While I think it is a romantic gesture, to me it is a big waste of money. Flowers die where as most other gifts last longer (with the exception of chocolate - haha). Anyway, he got me these really pretty flowers and didn't spend a ton so I love them even more! Here is a picture of them.

We decided not to spend much on v-day since we have a lot more important things to spend our money on right now. He got me a cute pair of pink slippers (which I asked for) that have a hard sole (something I asked that the slippers have). He also got me this nice new alarm clock as the one I have is little and crappy. Also, it seems to not work as well as it used to - there have been a few times recently that I hit the snooze button and it never went off again and because of that, I was almost late to work.

Anyway, I decided to get him a Huskers insulated coffee mug and a pilsner glass with the Huskers logo on it too. I also got him some nice chocolates.

We then had a yummy dinner of pizza. Yeah, it was a little boring but it was heart shaped! I thought it would be fun to get that for dinner since I knew Todd would be hungry when he got home. Overall, it was a nice day. Hope everyone else enjoyed their day!

First day off

Yay! Today is my first day off of five. I am so happy to have some time off to do what I want and also do some things I need to get done.

So here are the plans for the day.

-Take a shower (I know it's sad that I have to list this, but on a day off, it is very easy to slack and just lay around in pj's all day).

-Clean the kitchen and do the dishes.

-Wash our sheets and pillow cases and our pillows.

-Sort my coupons.

-Go out to look at some household items (we are thinking about getting a few things with our tax return money including curtains, a kitchen table and a headboard/footboard or bedroom set).

-Run to Walgreens to get a few things.

-Order some pictures for the scrapbook.

-Buy a seam ripper so I can work on the baby shoes for X.

Ok, hopefully that isn't too much but I sure am going to try to get it all done. If I even get a few things done off of my list I will be pretty happy!