Good Riddance Rental From Hell

Well friends, looks like we bought a house! I say *looks* because we don't close until the end of the month, and you just never know until the paperwork is signed and keys are in hand, amirite?

So now that the holidays are over and our Miami trip has concluded, it's time to start to pack. Oh, how I dread packing! But I have to be honest: I am SO excited to get out of the crappy rental home we've been in for the past year.

The rental from hell: Don't buy this place!

This was the rental from hell. The HVAC isn't the proper size for the house, so in the summer it's hot and in the winter it's freezing. It's not insulated, so it's drafty, and the windows are single-pane and original to the 1950's house. We've had $450/mo utility bills. The sewage has backed up into the yard three times (I'm talking toilet paper in the grass backup... Yeah...) The electrical wasn't done right, so I'm constantly blowing fuses. I have ONE outlet I can use my hairdryer on. One.

I would tell you what we pay in rent here, but you'd pass out. And I just get furious thinking about it.

Good. Freaking. Riddance.

I know I should be more attached to where we live now, since I was pregnant here and we brought Henry home from the hospital here. I adore the neighborhood... But I will not miss this house.

On to greener pastures! I've never been a homeowner before, and while the expense scares me half to death, I'm excited to live in a beautiful, quality home. I can finally get curtains hung in Henry's room to complete the nursery, and paint the walls colors I choose. We're re-doing the master bath so that it's exactly what I want.

So while moving is indeed a bummer... I am so excited to get out of the dumpy rental and into our first real home together!

Isn't the new home a beauty?! Yup.

Not-So-Mommy Monday: Weekend Recap

Because we escaped to Miami Beach this weekend, this post has nothing to do about motherhood, as I was baby-free and enjoying my freedom.

We did many things... Most of which I forgot to take pics of. Whenever I'm having a really good time, I usually forget about cameras and pics. Anyone else?!

So the weekend didn't get off to a good start: We missed our flight. Hubs thought we could get to the airport in 45 mins at rush hour (it takes this long when you can go 80 on the freeway...) I said we would need to double that. He told me he does it all the time and it would be fine. I got him to leave early enough to give us an hour... Turns out, I was right and an hour is not enough time to get to DFW at 8am rush hour.

We get booked on the next flight and and head to the prestigious airport TGIF enjoy some cocktails.

Many hours later, we land to see views like this!

Hey Miami!

Hey Fountainbleau!

Hubs had work meetings to attend to Thursday through Saturday, so I spent my time at the pool. With $24 a piece cocktails. I don't want to know how much I spent. Yikes.

$24 for a cocktail... But I got this keepsake cup! Worth it, right? Right...?

Friday night was hubs' work awards banquet, so we had to get all dressed up. I bought a new cocktail dress and felt all fancy!

This was my partner in crime while our husbands were in meetings all day: Ashley. We shopped and pool-sided it and drank!

Dinner selfie... Because why not

Saturday morning I was DEAD to the world. Three days and nights of nonstop partying caught up with this old lady! So dead, in fact, that I retired to the room with a cup of tea by 8pm. Amanda from Meet at the Barre was in town AND at the same hotel as us, but between her planned activities and my planned activities, we never got the chance to meet up. Boo.

Sunday hubs was officially off the clock for work, and we spent it relaxing, shopping and going out to a nice dinner together. We went for Cuban food... It was good, but not my favorite.

Cuban sandwich, Oxtail stew, and fried yuca

Today we're likely in the air, flying home as you read this. We had a great time (probably more so me, since hubs was stuck in work meetings most the time) but are ready to get back to this sweet little baby!

Screen shot of a pic sent of our little man! Can't wait for baby snuggles. It wouldn't be a Monday post without at least one pic of him, right?!

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend as much as I did! I have to tell you though... With the holidays, holiday travel and this trip, I'm now very excited to get back into a normal schedule.

High Five for {Miami Beach} Friday!

Hubs and I are in Miami Beach and my fam is kicking it in Dallas with Henry. My mom is the BEST.

I won't lie, a few days without the baby has been really refreshing! Love that little man, but I'm seriously loving some adult time!

Here are the Top 5 things I'm liking about Miami Beach:

1) The view isn't too shabby...

2) It's 80 degrees here. Dallas had swooped into some nasty freezing weather right as we left, and I don't miss that nonsense for anything.

3) The food! Seafood is some of my favorite, along with Cuban sandwiches. I've been in heaven since we got here.

4) The parties! Everyone here likes to party and have a great time.

5) We're celebrating our anniversary! (Actual anniversary isn't until Jan. 18) In our first year of marriage we had a baby and bought a home, so I'm thinking we'll move a mountain in our second year! Or just catch up on sleep, doing nothing. It remains to be seen.

Happy (almost) anniversary to us!

Have you ever been to Miami Beach? Where are some of your favorite places to travel?

As always, I'm linking up with Karli, Amanda and Natasha! Make sure to check out their lovely (and hysterical) blogs today to continue your Friday blog reading enjoyment. Because I know you already mentally checked out of work!
 

Why Fat-Free?

I asked hubs to run to the store to get half and half for me, since I had forgotten it at my weekly grocery store run. For me, half and half is MANDATORY for coffee - I can go without sugar, but not the cream. He was kind enough to make a stop and pick some up for me after work so that a woman wouldn't be deprived of her morning coffee.

I opened it the next morning without looking, because the need for coffee was strong. Nothing happens before coffee. Nothing.

I thought the coffee had a rather slimy texture, but it was coffee and I was tired so I stopped thinking. The next morning, I thought the same thing. And the next. Finally, I looked at the half and half more closely to realize poor hubs had picked up the "fat free" version. Whut! Nooooooooo.


Have you seen the ingredient list on that crap?! In case you haven't, there are 11 ingredients, only one of which I could pronounce. Do you know how many are supposed to be in half and half? One: Partially skimmed cream.

Here's the thing, friends. Fat won't make you fat. Fat (yes, even from dairy sources!) is part of a complete diet. That fat helps your body process the proteins that usually come along with fat. If you consume protein with no fat, your body doesn't digest the protein. I'm looking at you, egg white eaters! (Eat the whole egg to adsorb the protein AND get the vitamins in the yolk. Worried about calories? Eat fewer eggs. Simple as that.)

I digress.

This "fat free half and half" with all those fake and chemical-laden ingredients supports an environment in your body that promotes cell mutations. Cell mutations lead to diseases, including cancer. I cannot for the life of me understand why people continue to buy this crap! Why is it still on the shelves? Why do American's love to put fake food in their bodies? Why do we wonder why disease is on the rise in this country?

Stop buying fat-free garbage. Including skim milk (they add chemicals to it to color it so that it's actually appealing enough to drink - otherwise it would look like blue-watery-mucus. Which is what it is.) Fat, consumed in moderate quantities, doesn't make you fat. In fact, it's good for you! These chemicals are not.

Needless to say, I promptly dumped that "creamer" down the drain.

Mommy Monday: Torticollis Is A Pain

In case you want to catch up with Henry's torticollis adventure (adventure?! Sure, why not) I talked about my son's diagnosis here, and then explained that he would need a DOC band (aka helmet). I shared about his awesome DOC band design here.

Ok, are we all caught up? Excellent, here's the update:

Henry is coming along beautifully with the alterations to his head shape! He's been in the band for six weeks now, and if you didn't know there was anything wonky about his head shape, you'd never be able to guess from looking at him. The DOC band has worked wonders.

And the good news is that he's expected to get out of the band in another four to six weeks, competing the average amount of time babies spend in the band (10-12 weeks). Yay! I'll finally be able to kiss his sweet head and touch his growing blond locks. We've been diligent about making him wear it 23 hours a day, and it's paid off.

Henry snoozin' in his DOC Band

His torticollis, on the other hand, is being a tricky bastard to treat. Lil' H's head is remains tilted to one side, and he still favors that side when he sleeps. Now that he's sitting and standing up, it's become very clear that he has little strength in the one side of his neck.

We have seen a ton of improvement in his range of motion, but it's not enough if he's to get his band off in a few weeks. The problem being that if he goes back to sleeping on the one spot on his head, the flatness/mishapen-ness with return. And we didn't pay that much for a helmet to have the flatness return!

See how his head tilts to the side? That's that tricky torticollis.

 

So we're going to have to increase his physical therapy to twice a week. We've already been going for two months, and it looks like we'll be going for another four to six months to get this tricky torticollis worked out of his poor neck. I had no idea that it was so difficult to treat.

Perhaps we just have a severe case of it, but this stuff is a pain in the neck. Literally.

High Five for {Fitness} Friday + A GIVEAWAY!

I mentioned in my New Year's non-resolution post that I wanted to improve my physical fitness. It just so happens that we're going to Miami Beach for our anniversary this year (sans-baby, whoohoo!), so I went ahead and got a jump-start on that resolution goal in December. You know, to look acceptable at the beach.

Because while I DO want to be stronger, you can't blame a girl for wanting a little bit of a beach body for an actual beach trip, right? Don't judge.

Anyway, here are my Top 5 things I love about focusing on fitness:

1) New workout clothes. Hubs got me a few new things from Athleta for Christmas. Yes, those leggings and tank have sparkles in them. To quote hubs, "I knew you'd like them, because you love anything with sparkly s**t in it." #truth

Athleta Christmas haul! I think I like grey? :)

Sparkle close - up

2) Finding new workouts. To change your body, you have to keep it guessing with new workouts. I had been doing strictly yoga and barre, but switched it to HIIT/interval training/tabata style workouts. Holy cow, y'all. Look into them if you want your rump handed to you!

3) Seeing and hearing results. One of my favorite yogi's (I'll never completely switch out yoga for HIIT workouts) said, "Your arms are looking fabulous!" The same week I got on the scale to see my prebaby number. When you're dedicated and make time instead of excuses, you reap major rewards.

4) Feeling sore. Am I alone in this, or is feeling sore the next day an awesome feeling?!

5) Making new friends. At my club there's a group of us SAHM's who all go about the same time everyday, and we've gotten to know each other well. I really enjoy their company! Hanging with these lovely ladies transitions workouts from "I have to go to the gym" to "Yes! I GET to go to the gym!"

Did you set any physical fitness goals/non-resolutions for 2015? What are some of your favorite workouts?

Have a great weekend full of sweat and strength ;)

  


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New Year's Resolutions?

Happy NYE!

I've never been one for New Year's resolutions. My only experience with them has been the crazies who say they're going to overhaul their diet and lose an insane amount of weight. Two months into the next year, they're right back to their old habits and unhappy with themselves.

I thought, "Why would I want to do that? Resolutions only seem to set one up for disappointment."

Now that we have a wee one, I've found that planners, itineraries and goals are extremely important. If I don't actually write it down, the thought pops into my head, I think, "Yes! I need to do that!" and it's forgotten roughly a half hour later. Or when Henry throws a fit, whichever comes first.

That said, this will be the first year I'm actually going to set a few "resolutions" for 2015. So that I'm accountable for *something*, ya know?!

Here goes:

- Read more. I haven't finished a book in over a year. That's pathetic, isn't it? I want to devote 10-30 minutes at night for reading so that I can accomplish this and sleep better.

- Improve my physical performance. This has nothing to do with weight or size - I'm happy with where I'm at with both of those. However, I can currently do about five push ups. That's it. I want to increase that this year. I mean, c'mon. Five? That's just sad! Hello, increased strength.

- Keep on growing this blog. I've had SO much fun in 2014, and I only blogged half the year! I have some exciting things already lined up for 2015, and I can't believe this little "hobby" of mine is turning into what it is. Doing what you love truly leads to great things!

- Practice patience. I tend to get antsy and want things to happen faster, and spend a lot of time planning for the future. I want to focus on enjoying the present more in 2015. Life is so, so good. It's time to focus more on what I'm grateful for now, and less of what I'm aiming for and wish I had in the future.

What about you? Do you have any New Year's resolutions? Things you want to do more of or perhaps change about your life? Tell me all about them!