Running thru life.... Motivating my ass!

Lately I have had to try real hard to motivate myself to run.

Do not get me wrong- I will gladly run 3 miles 4-5 times a week.

But.... anything beyond that I am having to bribe myself. 

Monday I told myself if I ran 5 miles then I could take an afternoon Nap- it worked. 

Thursday I told myself if I ran more than 3 miles (ran during my lunch break at work so did not have so much time) I could relax Thursday night with painting my nails. 

I know- this is absurd. 

I am a grown woman.

I should not have to BRIBE MYSELF!

This is for my health we are talking about!

But I am just not motivated lately. 

I get running and then I start to think about all the things I need to get done- Refinancing, Taxes, Birthday gifts for so-so, schedule changes at work, etc. 

So while ready my book of the week

100 Habits of Happy People

One of the habits was:

Think about only 1 thing when falling asleep. 

This totally makes sense about sleeping. 

So while in bed last night- I thought (while I was trying to fall asleep) on how I am going to use this habit towards running-  1 thought and that is it! 

We will see how it works this week and will let you know. 

Running thru life... Early V Gift

My awesome husband got me an early Valentine's gift.  

I say Valentine's gift because I already advised him, because this gift is so awesome I do not expect anything for Valentine's Day (and I actually mean it)!

My Iphone.....4S!

To make a long story short, I was on my third Droid when it stopped working all together.  It would not make a phone call, the gsp did not work.  It was a nightmare!  After getting lost in the dark in Arlington one night while trying to make my way home around a terrible beltway accident and breaking down on the phone with my hubby because my gps was not work and I had to try multiple times to get my phone work- he walked into the Verizon store with me. 

 My husband has only seen me break down twice in the two years we have been together
1) When he took me on a rollercoster at Kings Dominon- Keep in mind I hate heights! 
Yes I starting having a panic attack while the rolle coaster was going up- not one of my finest moments
2) Stranded in Arlington

At the Verizon store I stood there (because I was beyond frustrated at this point to be here for what would be my 4th Droid in less than 2 years because they kept giving me refurbished droids - which SUCK!) while Joe talked and explained to the young lady our issue.  

She answered with well lets look up your accounts.  

The what came next was a miracle....

"Well you are actually eligible for an early upgrade, and Joseph has a credit on his account which we could use for Laura." 

We then walked over to the Iphones, I smiled and Joe said- "Let's do it!'

So that night he ordered me my iphone which came in the mail a couple days later. 

Joe ended up keeping his Droid because he really is not sure if he is ready for an iphone since he does not use his phone like I do.  

I am in love!!!

But it really does confirm that I have the best hubby every!

He used his credit towards my iphone which made is extremely affordable!

=0)

Happy Early V- DAY to me!!!

Running thru life... SAD!

Today I will be eating dinner by myself, taking Clemson on a walk by myself, all because my hubby will be starting classes again tonight.  It has been nice having a break with him home and helping, I totally love it!

But I have to remind myself- we are doing this for the greater good.
Yes I say we because I have realized it is a team effort.  He does the studying, the programing, gosh I can not even understand what is written on his whiteboard in his office right now, but I do the cooking, the arranging, the reminding, the finances, the day to day stuff.

It is frustrating at times, especially when you do not know when the end will be.
Maybe 3-6 years!! OMG that is a long time!  But 2 years have already gone by- we are vested!
We can do this!

So tonight while I eat my bowl of cereal for dinner, I will try to smile because it is for the greater good!

One day he will be Dr Hecker and I will be very very proud of him when that happens,
as I am proud of him now for working so hard at something I have no understanding at.

=0)
It is the price of greatness!!!

Running thru life...Growing up

It hit me last year that I am growing up.  

I have a career, a family, a home, and a life I love.  

I worry about work, weekly menus, schedules, finances, etc.  

So another part of growing up is making a Will!

Urrrrr

Not something that I was looking forward to.  

I looked it to multiple ways you can go about making a will:

1) Lawyer

Too expensive considering right now we just need something basic.

2) Online Programs

Too risky, I do not feel comfortable placing our information into a internet site. 

3) CD programs

Decided this was the best option for us. 

After deciding to go with a CD Program, I started researching which one would be the best options.  

I ended up going with Quicken WillMaker Plus because it got pretty good reviews and above people commented it was easy to use.
I ordered from Best Buy because we had a gift card from when we purchased our fridge back in October.
Cost:  $0 

 It was super easy.  

I loaded it and then it walked me thru step by step asking me questions and filling in the appropriate information.

It allowed me:

• Establish our last will and testament and stay in control of who inherits our property
• Specify our Health Care Directive and lay out our wishes for medical care
• Name a Financial Power of Attorney
• Describe our preferences for burial, cremation, memorials, obituaries and more
• Provide our executor with all the forms and instructions he or she needs to do the job, including checklists, letters, notices, claim forms and more

So finally, I did it this weekend.   

After about three hours of sitting in front of a computer, all the forms are done.  

Printed off.

Now I just have to find a notary to witness our signatures and then we should be good to go.

I know it is hard growing up but it is even harder making a will/advance directive/end of life decisions.  It was good process for me and my hubby to go thru to make sure we are on the same page.  I also loved that they had a pet section so we could make sure that if anything did happen to us that our family would know what to do with Clemson.


The Will Maker also has stuff for your children which we obviously did not have to fill out- but it is there.  

The other nice part is if for any reason some major changes, we can just change it in the program and get it re-notarized.

Here's to growing up!

Running thru life... Good Raining Day Projects

Joe's Parents are moving which means we have been fortunate enough to inherit some of their stuff.  Up to this point most of it has been yard tools, extra snow shovel,  Globe, silver trays, crystal, a beautiful rocking chair, Joe's baby stuff including his baby high chair, etc.  With our house being small it has been a working project of arranging things.  

So while it was yucky this weekend we did just that.  

We rearranged the garage!  That was a project!!!

We decided on a place to put the globe.

I love the idea of having a globe in your house!

This re-arranging stuff brought on the discuss of a purchasing a Buffet to store all our china/silver/glasses.  We discussed it almost a year ago and decided that it was not a necessary purchase.  

However, we are running out of room to place stuff.  

Furthermore, we are at a point in our life right now that we can justify this purchase specifically because we received money for Christmas that would cover it.    We have no other big purchases for the house this year other than putting a storm door in and getting new carpets only in the basement which should not be too pricey since we are just doing two very small rooms. 

And Crate and Barrel still offers the matching one to our dinning room table.  

This would mean more re-arranging stuff since right now we have a wine bar that sits next to the dinning room table.  So this weekend we played with places to put it as the buffet would have to go where the wine bar is. 

Current Locations

 Where we are thinking of moving it

We discussed and discussed

about it yesterday.  Finally, I called C & B to find out it availability and they said it is currently back-ordered and would not be available to March.  

Which would actually be perfect.  

So we will see.....

hmmmmm....

Running thru life... Cookies with Tea

On Sunday while I was working on our Will and Finances, 

I decided I needed to give my hubby a "task" because he was driving me insane while I was trying to get work done.  

So I asked him to bake some Shortbread Cookies for us to have with our tea.

So he used an old family recipe:

1 cup butter softened

3/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar

3 c. flour

pinch of salt

Cream butter, add sugar

Beat until light and fluffy.

Combine flour and salt.

Add to creamed mixture.

Beat well.

Roll dough out on floured board to 1/4 inch thickness.

Cut out with 3 inch cookie cutters.

Place on ungreased cookie sheets.  

Bake for 30 minutes until lightly browned.

Store in airtight container with waxed paper between layers.  

 He used a variety of cookie cutters =0)

Yummy Cookies!
At least I had something to look forward to after finishing our wills- how depressing.
More to come!

Running thru life... Crockpot ????

Our friends had their baby which we are so excited about meeting!

Joe and I wanted to make something for dinner for them that we could take over already prepared ready for them to eat.  I started searching.  I receive  Family Circle Magazine as a gift so I whipped it out and started looking for recipes.

My co-worker has been raving about Crockpotting, so I thought I would give it a whirl!

Beef Stew with Potato Dumplings

Makes 6 servings

Prep Time- Less than 10 minutes

Cook time  LOW  7 1/2 hrs  High 5 hours

Ingredients:

• 1 pound chuck steak, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 medium-size carrots, cut into 1/4-inch-thick coins
• 1 10 ounce package cremini mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1 pound package frozen pearl onions
• 1 1/2 cups low-sodium beef broth
• 3/4 teaspoon dry red wine
• 3/4 cup dried thyme
• 1 17 1/2 ounce package gnocchi

Directions

1. In large bowl, toss together steak, flour and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Place steak in slow cooker with carrots,mushrooms, garlic, onions, broth, red wine and 1/2 teaspoon thyme. Cover and cook on HIGH for 5 hours or LOW for 7 hours.
2. Remove lid and stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon each salt and dried thyme and the gnocchi. Cover and cook an additional 30 minutes or until gnocchi is tender.

 

I ended up makes a double patch so that we can have some this week since Joe will be back in school.

I also used fresh pearl onions because Joe and I are on the fresh kick.  

I think it turned out great- We started it at 11 am yesterday so it was done at  4 pm.  

Then I packaged it up in our CorningWare AnyWare French Carry Case

All and all I think the meal was a success and so easy!

I am definitely a fan of crock-potting and will be doing much more of it this winter!