Closing Feb's books

Alright, sorry for being MIA this week, I've been really sick and then even when I felt better, I didn't REALLY feel better, just not quite as shitty as the week started. As a result, I haven't really done anything blog-worthy. I've slept a LOT this week!

I figure one thing I can take a look at is our February budget. It's not quite the end of the month, but pretty close. There will be some other expenses this weekend, but even with that, the month looks really good.

Furnishings- I spent about $85 at Ikea again today which isn't showing up in Mint yet so this budget will be about perfect.

Car Fund- I put $900 into our New Car Fund today and started a ticker on the right for our savings goals.

Mortgage & rent- Under b/c I'm sick of ELoan screwing up the way they apply our payments so I'm only sending them the bare minimum from here on out. Idiots.

Vacation - We need to buy our flights for our trip home in May. We have $700 budgeted but I have not even researched flights for 2 minutes. I have been on the computer very little, like I said, I've been sleeping a lot! So this expense will hit probably in March but it's still budgeted and we have the money!

Groceries - We'll buy more this weekend so that will be just about perfect.

Utilities - We've paid for things that just haven't cleared i.e. Sprint $114, Water/Sewer/Trash $139, etc. We're under in this category but not by as much as it seems.

Service & Parts - Our electric scooter is at the shop getting repaired but we haven't received a bill nor do we know how much it will cost yet. So again, this expense will hit in March, but we'll have $400 ready for it.

Gas & Fuel - Came way under here... we made a lot of trips back and forth when we were moving but I guess our gas expense didn't go up as much as I expected.

Chicas - My girlfriends arrive tomorrow so I'm planning to spend this money! YAY! Best money spent for sure!

Home Services - Okay, okay, it looks like we're about $1,000 over in this budget but we're really not. We budgeted this in January but the expenses didn't hit our account until February. Listen up Mint programmers- please let me adjust the dates on the Transactions tab!! I used to be able to do this and now I can't.

Clothing - Oops, we spent $30 more here!

Gym - I blogged about this earlier but I simply forgot to budget for a new gym membership since we moved. I prepaid for a year so that's why this is so much higher.

So overall, not a bad month at all! I felt like we spent so much money because compared to other months, we really did! But, it was all budgeted and we were smart about it so I'm happy with it.

Until tomorrow,
Kelsalynn

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This is pretty much how my day is going-

My ickiness this weekend turned into a full-fledged cold. I've only been awake for 1 hour and already, I've gone through that many tissues. I'm just sitting at home, called into work, and trying to get better.

Kelsalynn

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Pictures of Progress

Michael and I have never lived in the same place for more than two years. Even the house we own in Michigan, we only lived there 2 years before moving to Arizona.

It's no surprise then that I tend to feel like our place of residence is always sort of blah. We never have time to make it "ours" before moving on. And it doesn't make sense to buy new furniture every year or every other year, so our furniture never really fits the space.

I was browsing Apartment Therapy which is a neat website for various ways to do things if you rent. I found this picture which I used for inspiration:

While I love the "curtain" idea as a headboard for lots of reasons (easy to take with us), the inspiration room is a little too feminine. If I were single, I'd be all over it, but I'm pretty sure my husband wouldn't let me get away with a pink fabric. And that's okay because I tend to like things a bit more contemporary anyway.

Here's our finished look-

It looks even better in person in my opinion because the green is bright and we have rich purple curtains and black furniture. I'm really proud of us!

We also hung some pictures on the wall today and emptied a few boxes. There's still plenty more to go, but at least our friends and family are represented now-

Finally, we added some shelves to the dining room/kitchen and I have to say, I'm pretty happy with how they look. Stole it straight from an Ikea catalog!

Now that I'm writing this post, I'm realizing just how much we accomplished this weekend. Considering I'm still feeling under the weather, I'm happy with our progress. I tried to mix being productive with resting so there's still a lot left to do!

Until tomorrow,
Kelsalynn

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Co-Op

Michael and I placed our first order on Tuesday with a local co-op. It's a group of people who buy fruits and vegetables as a group in order to get a discount.

On Tuesday, you place an order for 1 basket (or as many baskets as you need) and you pick it up on Saturday. Since we make our meal plan on Sundays, it falls perfectly in line with that. Whatever fruits and vegetables we get on Saturday will be used to make our meals for the upcoming week. The cost of 1 basket? $15.

Is it worth it? I'll let you decide... here's what we got this morning for only $15.

If you live in Utah, Arizona, Washington, or Idaho and are interested in joining, check out Bountiful Baskets!

The bad news, as the day progressed yesterday, my throat started to get sore...and then more sore. I'm not feeling so hot but trying to nurse myself before getting really sick. It was inevitable- everyone has been sick in my office so it was bound to happen.

Until tomorrow,
Kelsalynn

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Legs

I'm sure I'm going to feel this one tomorrow. Tonight's leg workout was a doozy. At first, it didn't seem all that bad and it was really only 3 exercises, so how bad could it be?

On the 3rd and final exercise, my legs were so fatigued I kept losing my balance.

Of course I loved it though.

Here's what it looked like-
5 rounds of 6 reps each
Front Squat 65#
Single leg deadlift 20# dumbbells
Bulgarian split squat 20# dumbbells for round 1, then realized that was foolish and dropped it down to 10# dumbbells. The last time I did these though, I didn't use any weight so it's still an improvement!

I really like this gym Michael and I joined. It's nothing fancy, a lot like our old one in that regard, but it is brand new so all of the equipment is obviously barely used. The color scheme is black and red which I like when working out (see rant a while ago re: only pastel options for women's workout clothes, running shoes, mountain bikes, etc.)

And there's something else I like about it that I realized tonight...
There are a lot of FIT chicks at this gym. And I mean really fit, very tone, totally rad (did I just say rad?) ladies, which I love! At my old gym, I was by far the fittest woman and trust me, that is NOT tooting my horn, that's my way of telling you how most of the women were not at all fit! (i.e. me saying that is not me being conceited, it's me dissing my old gym's client base) In fact, there were a lot of older people at my old place and I guess I never really noticed or cared. When I would do pull-ups, I got a lot of stares but at my new gym, I'm like not even noticable. There are so many girls working out in the "meathead" section where I'm normally representing us ladies all by myself.

And these girls are bringing out my competitive nature. I don't want them to show me up! It's kind of fun and something I did not expect.

That fitness... on the moving front, the housekeepers did not show up for our appointment to clean our old apartment. I was obviously really pissed off originally, but after I finally touched base with the owner, it was an honest mistake and they are fitting us in on Monday morning instead. I would have liked to have it done and over with, but oh well. Tomorrow the carpets are all getting cleaned! YAY!

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Perfect timing

Thank the Lord for tonight's workout.

It was just what I needed.

I looked back through my blog and the last time I worked out was February 5th- YIKES! That's a long time ago. Hey, did you know the title of this blog is "kelsalynnFITlog?" Yeah, I might need to work on that ya think?

I feel like I can finally start thinking about exercising again...
Work is work and although it totally sucks right now, the change is over. I don't like where we are now compared to 2 months ago, but at least I know what I have to deal with, what obstacles lie ahead. The big changes are said and done, now I just have to roll with the punches for the rest. The anxiousness that was over my head for the past month is gone.

And then there's the move. We're in and we're slowly closing up the old place. Housekeepers com tomorrow, carpet cleaners come on Friday, we turn the keys in on Monday and our final walk through will be next week sometime. And there's still a tiny bit (understatement of the century) of unpacking yet to do but we're here and even with the boxes, our new place is much more comfortable and we already love it! It fits us!

I feel like I'm no longer in this LIMBO state-of-mind that I've been functioning in for over a month. Time to get back into the daily grind of working, working out, and simply enjoying life.

So, here's my workout:
4 rounds of 8 reps (PUSH from the other day)
65#,65#,55#,55# barbell bench press
push ups w/ ball- one arm on ball, one on floor, do push-up, roll ball to other hand, repeat

45# for all barbell shoulder press
handstand push-ups

tricep dips on the bench w/ feet on an exercise ball- totally hard!

Then I did the elliptical machine for 24 minutes- 5 minutes on level 8, 3 on level 4, repeat 3 times.

I was grunting and sweating and cursing during the weight lifting and it was the perfect medicine!

Now, if only I could find my keyboard so I can set it up and practice before Sanar arrives on Saturday... has anyone seen my flip flops because I can't find those either?  Gotta love moving...

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All moved in...

The movers moved all of our furniture yesterday.

I'm so excited! I finally got to sleep in our bed and it was wonderful. Our bedroom is really coming together. We'll probably do the headboard this weekend then I'll take pictures.

There are still SOOOO many boxes everywhere. Our office was the catch-all for just about everything since it's downstairs and out of the way. Slowly but surely we'll get through everything!

Work is driving me crazy this week. I'm cranky and stressed out. The new guy (kind of my boss, kind of not, he THINKS he's my boss) is just a fricken weirdo. He walks into my office yesterday AND today right as I'm walking in the door. Mind you, I don't have to be here until 8 AM, but I'm always here by 7:30, so I'm early. I have my purse on my shoulder still, haven't even sat down or turned on my computer and he says, "This is what I need..." then proceeds to tell me. No "Good morning", no "How was the move?" NOTHING! Just, "This is what I need." And then he continues to STAND over my shoulder while I get it for him.

He and I are very likely going to have issues. He's short and has little hands like the dude from the Burger King commercial and I think he tries to make up for his own insecurities by being a total prick. Not my favorite kind of person.

I'm going to play my Norah Jones CD and simply do my work the best way that I know how and try not to let his behavior dictate my reactions.

Tonight we'll be working out for the first time in well over a week. I'm so excited!!!

Until tomorrow,
KelsaLynn

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It's Sunday Already?

Holy cow, what a busy weekend! The move is mostly done. We made about 5-6 trips with the car throughout the weekend and loaded up all the things we needed and all the things we couldn't really box up. On Tuesday, our furniture will be here and that will help tremendously! Once we get settled and the furniture in place, I will take pictures. For now, you'll just have to be satisfied with the front:

It's cute right?

On the budgeting front, we've spent a shit-ton of money this weekend. HOWEVER- it was all budgeted. We bought two new nightstands, a dresser, coffee table, side tables, curtains, etc. Lots of stuff! I'm telling ya, paying for things in cash is quite gratifying.

There was one thing I bought today, however, that was not budgeted. And it's something I KNEW was coming I just completely forgot to budget for it. It's a new gym membership. I'm currently a member of LA Fitness but there isn't one close to our new place. Michael is a member of Fitness Factory which is less than 2 miles away. For $329, Michael and I could both be paid up for the whole year- that's 12 months of membership for both of us for about $27/month or $13.70 per person per month! I think that's a steal and well worth it! There's no registration fees or sign up fees, which tend to make me cranky because I mean, really, it costs you $49 or $149 or whatever to put my name in the computer? Very doubtful. Wow, sorry about the rant... soapbox over.

Back to my point- I spent $329 on a gym membership that was not budgeted. OOPS!

This week is crazy busy- movers, house cleaners, carpet shampooers, etc. Hopefully we'll get back to working out next week.

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Still here!

I know I've been MIA lately and I'm sorry... just not a whole lot to blog about honestly.

Michael has been sick all week so we haven't been to the gym (read: I'm not motivated enough to go by myself). Plus, I've been busy packing up and getting things ready for this weekend. We get the keys to our new place today and begin moving.

The plan is to move a bunch of our stuff ourselves this weekend and actually begin living there tonight. We'll sleep on an air mattress until Tuesday when our bed and other furniture is moved.

Once we get there tonight, I'll take some pictures so you can see our new place! I'm excited to finally get this move over with.

Until tomorrow,
Kelsalynn

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Okay, wow

I wasn't expecting all of the questions about my hair! I'm glad you seem to like it though.

So here's the deal with the curls-

• my hair is not naturally curly at all
• it took my hair stylist about 30 minutes to do the curls
• don't worry, she didn't have anyone after me and it was her idea!
• you use a curling iron but not in the same way you normally would
• you take a strand of your hair and wrap it around the barrel of the curling iron
• hold it there for a minute, then release, spritz with a bit of hairspray
• the position of the curling iron when you have your hair around it is horizontal, not vertical like when you put spiral curls in your hair
• comb fingers through the roots of your hair only
• I think it's fairly easy to accomplish, just time-consuming so you should probably try it
• unless she does it again, I will probably never invest that kind of time on my hair
• but it looked good right?

Don't ask me about the bullet points... some things just seem like a good idea.

Kelsalynn

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New Hairdo

Pretty excited- it's a lot darker than I normally go. No blonde highlights this time around- just low-lights and some red thrown in there (can't really see the red in the pic I don't think).

I love it!

PS: Amy, do you recognize what's around my neck?

Until tomorrow,
Kelsalynn

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Hobby vs Obligation

I'm seriously slacking again in the blog front- I've updated more consistently this week (because I've worked out more consistently) but I haven't read other blogs at all. I'm sorry.

It's because I started reading the 4th book in the Twilight series on Sunday and haven't been able to put it down! I have enjoyed the books so far but that's one thing I do not like about them- once I start reading, I can't stop!

I'm officially done now so I can start my life again. lol

Okay, so it's not THAT bad but they're very easy reads so yeah, I guess you just keep reading.

One thing I have not done this week is practice the piano. I guess my piano teacher will not be giving me any stickers or candy tomorrow during my weekly lesson. Bummer. Here's my take on it though-

I'm okay with not practicing and I'm not going to feel bad about it. Learning to play the piano is something I want to do, but it's something I want to ENJOY doing. I don't want it to become an obligation. Ever. So this past week, I was into my book, not into the piano, so what did I do? I read, and did not practice. The desire to play the piano was not there and I wasn't going to force myself to do it because it totally defeats the purpose of why I started it up in the first place.

So that's that.

Now I just have to tell my piano teacher. lol

So tonight after work I headed to the gym and did the following PULLworkout:
3 rounds of 4 reps
Pull-ups (did as strict as possible, knees/legs came up to give me a slight boost)
Bentover rows dumbbell rows (20#)
Wide grip lat pull downs (60#)
superset with
Hammer curls (20#)
Narrow grip cable row (60#)
superset with
Bicep curls (15#)

I'm proud of the pull-ups. I haven't done those in a while and I was able to do 11 of the 12 fairly strict.

11 days 'til we move! Wahoo! It's coming so fast!

Until tomorrow,
Kelsalynn

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Sore all over

This week I've been really good about working out, only skipping one day so far this week.

Sunday I did the Core workout, and yes, I'm stilling feel it. Everytime I try to get out of bed, I moan.

Tuesday I did the Push workout, and yes, my entire upper body and back is sore from those damn push-ups.

Then last night, I did the Legs workout, and what do you know, I wake up this morning and my legs are sore and tired. And I have to bike to work this morning! Let's just say I wasn't moving as fast as I normally do.

Legs-
Back squat 5 x 5 at 95#
superset with
High jumps 15 reps
Deadlifts  5 x 5 at 135#
superset with
Ball hamstring cursls 5 reps
One legged lunges/squats (not sure the name) - 5 x 5 w/ each leg

I feel really good about my workouts this week and I know the soreness is a good thing. Michael's FITR workout is very different from CrossFit and in some ways, even MORE challenging. It's like comparing apples and oranges though so maybe I should simply say they both kick my ass.

This week at work has been completely insane since I'm the only supervisor currently. I have this rule that you can tell what kind of day I'm having by what time my hair goes back in a ponytail. If it's not until 3 or 4 then it's probably a good day, but if it's 9 or 10, you might just want to stay away. Well, today, it's 7:50 AM right now and I just pulled my hair back- time to hit the ground running and get one thing done right after another, so stay out of my way!

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Push It

(push it real good)... you're totally going to have that song in your head now.

Anyway, so I had an awesome workout tonight. I did yesterday's FITR "Push" workout since I didn't workout yesterday (doh!).

Here's how it looked:
4 rounds 10 reps
dumbbell bench press - 20# each
plyometric push-ups- I did non-modified with a little jump up off my hands each rep. (Step right before you clap in the middle, which I can't do)

dumbbell shoulder press - 15# each (last 3 reps of last round had to go down to 10#)

bench dips

My abs are still sore from Sunday's FITR "Core" workout! I'm sure my arms will be sore for days after tonight.

Now I'm starving and can't wait to eat dinner.

Peace out homies!
Kelsalynn

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In case you missed it...

Make sure you watch the whole video. Totally impressive.

KelsaLynn

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