I vow to help you love life, to always hold you with tenderness and to have the patience that love demands, to speak when words are needed and to share the silence when they are not and to live within the warmth of your heart and always call it home.

Saturday, December 31, 2011

New Year, New Chapter

As I look through a year of blogs and photos from 2011, I'm reminded how drastically life can change. This time last year my husband and I were closing in on our first year of marriage, living by ourselves in Stillwater, OK and starting our last undergraduate college semester at OSU. As of now we're closing in on our second year of marriage, living with his parents and working minimum wage jobs to survive. Oh how life can change. 2011 has had it's many challenges, but together we have met each one head on and became better for it.

We are looking forward to 2012 for many reasons. First, this will be the year we start our active duty military journey together! Secondly, the first reason will let us begin our financial plans that we have longed to put into motion since taking our money handling seminar back in 2009. Thirdly, the AF is moving us to Texas, where we can become completely independent as a couple and start really feeling like our own little family. This upcoming year may hold some fierce challenges (if the military has it's way), but I know we'll conquer and come out stronger because of them.

Of course, I must end with my personal expectations for the upcoming 365 days. In 2012 I will run my first full marathon (26.2 miles), tackle my final weight loss goal (only 8 lbs to go), become more involved with my dad and take the GRE for graduate school. Ready. Set. GO!!

Friday, December 30, 2011

New York City

My parents approached us this year around August with their usual question, "What would you like for Christmas?" Yes, my parents think about these things in August. We responded with the normal I don't knows, and that was that....until my cabin fever skyrocketed. 

My cousin recently moved to NYC to work for Apple, and I vowed that I would visit him before he began his next adventure elsewhere. I decided that I wanted an experience rather than a tangible gift, and asked for a plane ticket to NYC. My husband couldn't go due to his managerial duties at work, so I had a tough decision to make. We decided that this was an opportunity that I'd be crazy not to take, so off I went!

My cousin was the perfect tour guide and host. He weaseled his way into having the entire four days off while I was there. We took advantage of the time and hit every touristy site a visitor could imagine. Throughout our childhood we lived three blocks away from each other and together our first two years of college. We are very close. Even though I missed my husband greatly, I feel so grateful for the one-on-one time I got in with my cousin in the city that never sleeps! We toured the 9/11 Memorial, Rockefeller Center, Times Square, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 5th Avenue, Statue of Liberty, Public Library, Grand Central Station, Central Park and even found time to eat at Serendipity 3 (best dessert I've ever had). I can honestly say the best thing about visiting NYC was just to see and chat with him in person rather than using the phone or computer. I'm really looking forward to returning with my husband and play tour guide myself!


Monday, October 24, 2011

DIY Vanilla Extract


With the holidays quickly approaching comes the annual brainstorming of ideas for homemade Christmas gifts! We have done homemade gifts every year since we've been together. We enjoy baking and crafting gifts more than shopping at malls and departments stores, and it's always much more kind on our budget. One idea we loved was do-it-yourself vanilla extract. The recipe is so simple that we couldn't resist, especially with all the holiday chefs in our families that could put it to great use!


To get started all you need is a kind of seal-able jar or container, cheap vodka and whole vanilla beans

We ordered ours from this website http://www.myspicesage.com/

For a pint sized jar we placed 8 whole beans in each jar, then fill with vodka

 This needs to sit for at least 2 months for the beans and vodka to do their magic. When you're ready to use the extract you can leave the beans in the jar, no need to remove them. The longer you wait the better and more potent it gets! Enjoy!




























































Sick as a Dog

3am
10 pm
We knew that living in the country we should expect to run into snakes, spiders and scorpions. We soon found out it's hard to brief our dog on the rules of not sticking your nose into big, dark holes or getting within stinging reach of scorpions. We're not 100% sure on what exactly stung him in the face, but we're thinking a scorpion. There has been a severe drought here this summer, so the scorpions are continuously on a hunt for water sources which brings them into our house on a daily basis. On this night, I came home from work about 9:15pm and Zeus was fine, greeted me as usual. Around 10pm I noticed his muzzle had these hard bumps beneath the skin, and they were popping up at a scary rate. We gave him some children's benadryl then tried to call the vet. Of course it was a Saturday night and the vet didn't have an emergency phone line. I woke up about 3am to check on him and his poor little face had swelled to the size of a cantelope! As you can tell, he was miserable. We pumped him full of more children's benadryl and other drugs to help him with the pain and swelling. Luckily around noon the following day his face began to go back to normal, and then we got that return call from the vet. He said there was really nothing they could have done except give him more expensive versions of the medicine that we gave him. Thankfully Kit's mother is a nurse and knew what drugs a dog can have and what drugs can be taken with others. Funny thing is, when Zeus comes across scorpions now he veers far away from them and no longer has an uncontrollable urge to shove his nose at them. Old dogs can learn new tricks!

Sunday, August 7, 2011

E.M.T.

My husband and I knew our marriage would face some unique challenges and situations. We knew at some point my military career would dictate where we would live, when we could do things, and quite possibly limit or hinder my husband's career choices. Thankfully, I have one amazingly understanding partner in life, and he knew better than I did what all of this would mean. He has gracefully accepted that he will have to put his dreams of becoming a firefighter/police officer on hold (for how long we don't know), but it doesn't mean he has to take it laying down.

For our first assignment we will be at Goodfellow AFB in San Angelo TX for eight to ten months. Eight to ten months is long enough to get a temporary, insignificant job or be a stay-at-home hubby. He definitely doesn't want to play house hubby for that long, and I don't blame him. If the role were reversed, I wouldn't want to stay at home when I knew I could be contributing to our family by bringing in some extra, much needed income. He wanted to work, but he wanted the job to be meaningful and useful for the future. He did a little research and discovered people are more inclined to get hired onto a fire house if they have had some previous paramedic or E.M.T. experience. He was accepted and classes start August 15! The classes run until the beginning of December. We will have to spend a couple months a part, but it is a small sacrifice to make to be able to see my husband still follow the path that he wants so desperately to pursue. I'm one proud wife to see my husband further his education and still chase after his dream. He will make one helluva E.M.T.!

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Nature Calls


Hiking
My husband and I are currently living with his very loving and supporting parents in Sulphur, awaiting orders to move to Goodfellow AFB in Texas! Since we've been here we have re-kindled our love for nature and being healthy. We both love being outdoors, but with the 100+ degree heat we plan our time outside carefully. We live five minutes from the Lake of the Arbuckles and twenty minutes away from the Chickasaw National Park. The park has numerous challenging hiking trails, a chilly creek that is perfect for swimming and a wonderful lake that features a 3-mile cemented running path around it. Every week we usually run 12 miles, hike 6 miles and bike 16 miles. With my in-laws and I on weight watchers, we've all been very conscious about what we eat and focused on everything having a nutritive purpose. This new love affair with mother nature makes us feel stronger, but also has given our minds a much needed reprieve. We've even inspired my in-laws to start bike riding again, which has led to all of us exercising together 2-3 times a week. Even though October can't come soon enough, it will be a little sad saying goodbye to the mountains, hiking trails and lakes!

Friday, July 8, 2011

Baby You're A Firework

I love that time of the year when for two weeks I smell everyday of gunpowder and sweat, spend hours outside selling my expertise on the knowledge of firepower, and guzzle up to 120 ounces of water a day. Firework Selling Season!  My uncle owns the stand and has had me selling fireworks since I was about twelve years old. I absolutely love it. I love the manual labor of hauling boxes, working outside and playing saleswoman. The best part is seeing and working with family that I haven't seen since Christmas. One of the benefits of working there for so long is knowing everything there is to know about fireworks, still deciding what to do with all this now useless knowledge stored in my head!

Sadly, this is my last year to work with the family.  I had the opportunity to live in Enid with my parents for 2.5 weeks, and focus on working the stand. Every 4th of July the average person usually cooks out, relaxes and shoots off fireworks. My normal 4th of July is working a 12 hours shift in the heat, and catching tidbits of the local displays in the distance. Wouldn't trade it for a thing. I have had some amazing times, great memories and made some great money! Even though I will always miss the stand every year at this time, we're definitely looking forward to next year engaging in a normal 4th of July!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Europe Bound

When my husband and I first started talking about having children, the first thing we discussed were things we both wanted before we felt like we'd be completely ready to plunge head first into the parenting years. The most obvious was graduating college and having those degrees. CHECK! Then came other things like time to grow, mature and just time to enjoy one another. We definitely aren't in any hurry, no fevers yet! We get our baby fixes with our very close family friends The Spencers, The Campers and  The Houghs who supply us with ample baby playing time! We firmly believe these years we have together facing and devouring what the world has to offer will only build a stronger foundation for our family. Another big  stepping stone we both wanted to see happen was a backpacking trip through Europe. We decided it wouldn't make sense taking a trip like that when we had wee ones at home, and when we would have way better things/people to put our money toward.

Being the adventuresome couple we are, finally took the step of booking that round trip flight out of Paris, France! From there the planning, reserving trains and hostels, and guidebook reading only made us more excited! Originally we wanted to spend 3 weeks in Europe, but given our current situation of being nearly homeless, unemployed college graduates, we decided 1.5 weeks was plenty. Our journey will take us to the DDay sites in France, Paris France, Zurich Switzerland, Rome Italy, and Venice Italy! We truly couldn't of planned this trip without the generous support from both our parents, and we will be forever grateful!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

May Mahem

May started off with a bang for us! We brought the month in with a 13.10 mile run for the OKC Bombing Memorial. It was wet, stormy, and cold but the weather made it all the more worth while. We crossed the finish line together hand-in-hand at 2:35:46. We felt amazing that we accomplished something so physically challenging.

Then came graduation weekend! We had the pleasure of having all of our close friends and family join us for a wonderful luncheon at our home, followed by the graduation ceremony. Together we walked the walk and received our diplomas. Later that night, we welcomed the next chapter of our lives with our commissioning ceremony. My brother-in-law, 1Lt. Josh McVay, gave the oath, my parents pinned my rank on and my amazing husband gave my first salute. The whole program couldn't have gone better.

Now for the present....well we had a huge change of plans last week. The AF changed my job from a Biologist! We're saying goodbye to Ohio and hello to Texas.We will spend 6-12 months at San Angelo TX. In the final stages of my job training we will learn where our first assignment base will be. We still don't know our EAD date, could be anywhere from now to May 6, 2012, so right now we wait. We are very excited for the opportunity to have one last irresponsible summer before we plunge head first into adulthood.  Our lease ends in Stillwater May 31, so from there we head to his parent's beautiful lake home in Sulphur to await our next move. Thankfully we both have wonderful sets of parents who support us unconditionally and understand our unique situation. Until then, we'll enjoy our life in limbo!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

You and I

Don't you worry, there my honey
We might not have any money
But we've got our love to pay the bills

Maybe I think you're cute and funny,
Maybe I wanna do what bunnies do with you,
If you know what I mean

Oh, let's get rich and buy our parents homes in the South of France
Let's get rich and give everybody nice sweaters
and teach them how to dance
Let's get rich and build our house on a mountain
Making everybody look like ants
from way up there, you and I, you and I, you and I,

Well you might be a bit confused
and you might be a little bit bruised
but baby how we spoon like no one else
So I will help you read those books
If you will soothe my worried looks
and we will put the lonesome on the shelf

Oh let’s get rich and buy our parents homes in the South of France
Let's get rich and give everybody nice sweaters
and teach them how to dance
Let's get rich and build our house on a mountain
making everybody look like ants
from way up there you and I, you and I, you and I

Oh, let’s get rich and buy our parents homes in the south of France
Let's get rich and give everybody nice sweaters
and teach them how to dance
Let's get rich and build our house on a mountain
making everybody look like ants
from way up there you and I, you and I, you and I

As my precious husband was serenading this sweet song to me yesterday, I realized it fit our lives perfectly at the moment. We have so many dreams, maybe not to buy our parent's homes in the south of France :), but dreams nonetheless.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Dayton Bound

After months of waiting and twiddling our thumbs, the Air Force finally released our Enter Active Duty (EAD) date, June 6! We didn't want to go active right after graduation because we wanted some down time to spend with friends and family, and the AF heard our wishful thinking. This means that after June 6th, I start accruing pay and vacation days and Kit and I are officially on the government's healthcare. We finally have a light at the end of our tunnel. We haven't been informed on what day we actually have to be in Dayton, OH yet, but I assume it will be shortly after June 6. I am also scheduled, for the time being, a six week training course at Maxwell AFB in Alabama starting June 9th. Usually with training like this, Kit wouldn't be able to come with me. Luckily, this specific training session he will be able accompany me! We are definitly excited about it. We both decided a long time ago that the less time we're apart, the better. The only situation that Kit wouldn't be able to come with me would be that he landed the police job he's been putting so much effort into. Either way, a win-win situation!

I thought knowing these dates would bring a sense of ease to the chaos that is our life right now, but if anything, it made things even more unpredictable. We can't move forward with plans until we have a hard copy of our orders from the AF. Once again.....thumbs are twiddling.....but at least this time we can do it with excitment!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Yard Sale!

Spring is here! And along with spring comes SPRING CLEANING!! I absolutely love spring cleaning! It's a chance to go through every drawer, shelf and closet place for items our little family hasn't seen or used in a year. Usually we make Salvation Army happy campers by dropping our load off at their place, but instead this year we decided to try our hand at a garage sale. First we placed a three day ad in the local newspaper and posted some signs. Then came the tedious task of pricing all the individual items. I found this kind of challenging because I know what I paid for these items and it was a bit hard pricing them low enough to attract a buyer's eye. We mostly wanted to get rid of all our college furniture. You know, that cheap coffee table from Wal-Mart with the screw-on legs, the computer desk made from particle board and duct tape, and all the clothes I could gather. Finally, my mom and I (Kit was out of town all weekend, lucky guy) loaded up the drive way and waited for the people to come. Our friends, The Houghs, even pitched in some highly desired baby clothes and gear! We made roughly $400 from our items! Definitely worth taking a weekend to play saleswoman. We even set some pretty cute bait to lure in the buyers :)

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Hustling Is My Game

    For those of you not in college, money can sometimes be scarce. My husband and I both work two part time jobs, but have many bills. (Sigh) We have many plans for this summer and brainstormed on how to inflate our savings for our upcoming adventures. My husband has no room in his schedule, and since I have a pretty easy semester it seemed more logical that I earn some extra dough. I thought about waitressing a couple times a week, but with our busy life, I think I would frustrate my boss with all the days I needed off. I interviewed for a bar tending job, but no luck.

    So, I started my own tiny business. I'm my own boss and only employer. I choose my wages and days/hours I work each week. The work isn't glamorous, but isn't embarrassing either. I house keep! For those of you who don't know, I LOVE to clean and organize, so this wasn't a stretch for me. I got started by placing an ad in the Sunday paper and from that received about four calls. I interviewed each house by asking them what they wanted done, how many hours a week they needed me for and if they could pay what I wanted. I set my wage at $15/hour, stated what I wouldn't do (like clean cat litter boxes), and selected what day I would come clean. Sounds a tad overwhelming, but truly isn't. As it is now, I only clean twice a week, and earn an extra $120/week. No late smokey nights, no stiffs that don't know how to tip, and best of all, no working weekends. This is only temporary because we are due to move this summer, but for the mean time I'll enjoy being boss!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Dance First. Think Later.

Dancing is a huge part of my past. From the age of 9 to 18, I took belly dance classes and fell in love with dance! I've performed in shows, workshops and even taught my own classes. When I entered college in 2008, I couldn't juggle work, full-time school and dance. Sadly I had to put it on the back burner.

Now I've made room for it in my life again, and I have the pleasure of my husband's company! We both wanted to take a dance class this year, but the hard part was selecting one that we both felt comfortable in. We gave in to our spicy side and every Monday night we have salsa dance class for 1.5 hrs. We both love it! In salsa, the man leads with hand-felt pressure, the woman follows with counter-acting pressure. This is a little of what we've learned so far http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJtWyfFWfrA&feature=relmfu  Our instructor has his PhD in psychology along with 20 years dance experience, so not only can he dance, but he can obtain a sense of a couple's relationship just from watching them dance. I know this because he pulled us aside and just from watching us dance these past weeks, knew us pretty well. He looked at Kit and said, "Now she's one dominant pistol, so to lead, you have to make sure she can feel you. You must give her something to follow." Then came my turn, "Now you have to learn to follow, don't take the lead even when he needs help, you have to let him figure it out." He told us he could tell I was the more dominant personality and he the more submissive. That I needed to take a step back and Kit a step up for us to be able to dance well together. We accepted the challenge and over the last couple of weeks have experienced real chemistry dancing together. Within our relatioship we have also worked on taming my personality a little more and allowing more of Kit's to shine through. Who knew salsa class could be such good relationship counseling?

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Every Man Dies, Not Every Man Really Lives

Monday morning I woke to a call from my mother. She never calls me at 6:30 a.m. unless something important happens. In turn, I always sort of dread answering her early calls. This was definitely an important phone call. My maternal great grandmother passed away that morning. She had lived the last five or so years in a nursing home, so it wasn't totally unexpected. She was a very kind, creative and crafty sort of grandmother. Every time we'd visit she would give us some crocheted piece she'd been working on. I treasure those items a little more now.

I'm not the usual case when it comes to death. I'm one of those people that gets hit late. I'm strong when I hear the news. Strong when I sit down in the church surrounded by tears and black clothing. Still strong when all the family members I haven't seen in years whisper soothing words in my ear while they hug me. It is only way later, that it becomes my turn to cry. I have never been a very emotional person.  My dad even jokes that I'm a Snow White Queen, because I appear to be cold inside. I'm not quite the Ice Queen, I do feel and express my emotions, just not for the world to see. When my Grandmother June passed, I didn't shed a tear for seven months. Then all of a sudden, I came across my collection of porcelain dolls she gave me and let go.

My dear mother is very emotional. She cries at Hallmark cards, ASPCA commercials, and of course, funerals. I have many people in my life like this and I love them all for it. Through the years, and many deaths, I've taken the unemotional stance and have learned to be there for people like my mother at distressing times such as these. I am very much a rock for people in times of emotional need. So this week, my family will head up to Nebraska to pay our respects to my dear sweet Grandmother Duncan. God rest her kind soul.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

I Have a Dream

The dream is this, that we will finally be happy once we finish our goals. After we find the perfect spouse, attain the perfect job, and live the perfect life we will feel complete. Then we get there, and since we’re human, we immediately start dreaming of something else. Because if this is the dream, then I'd like to wake up, now please.

At some point, maybe we have accepted the dream as a nightmare. We tell ourselves the reality is better. We convince ourselves maybe it’s better to never dream at all. But the strongest of us, the most determined of us, we hold on to the dream, or we find ourselves faced with a fresh dream we never considered. We awake to find ourselves, against all odds, feeling hopeful. And if we’re lucky, we realize, in the face of everything, in the face of life, the true dream, is being able to dream at all.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

I Get Taxed for What!?

It's tax time and that means extra money to start the year off with! Woohoo! I got curious to see where my tax money that I didn't get back went to. Here is what I found.

A U.S. taxpayer earning the 2009 median income ($34,140) and paying $5,400 in federal income tax and FICA ponies up for the following:

Social Security             $1,040.70
Medicare      $625.51
Medicaid       $385.28
Interest on the national debt   $287.03
Combat Op in Iraq/Afghanistan $229.17
Military Personnel   $192.79
Veterans Benefits   $74.65
Federal Highways   $63.89
Health-care Research (NIH) $46.54
Foreign Aid   $46.08
Education Funding for low-income K-12 students $38.17
Military Retirement Benefits $32.60
Pell Grants for low-income college students $29.75
NASA Space Program $28.09
IRS $17.69
EPA $11.67
FBI $11.21
Head Start $10.91
Public Housing $10.50
National Parks $4.27
Drug Enforcement Administration $3.14
Amtrak $2.23
Smithsonian Museum $1.12
Funding for the arts $0.24
Salaries and benefits for members of Congress $0.19

Interesting......very interesting.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Financial Freedom

Money. Most often I wish that word didn't exist. I have seen troubled finances confine people's dreams, end marriages and even lead people to take their own lives. When I was single, I didn't have a real problem with cash flow. I was self-sustaining and with only myself to monitor, it was pretty maintainable. Now that I'm married, mo'  $$$ mo' problems, as my thug passioned husband likes to say.

Before we said "I do", my husband and I enrolled in a finance management class that his parent's highly recommended http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/home/  This class helped us tremendously. The class started from the very basics on how to budget and set boundaries for your family to mortgages and retirement. Not only did we walk out of the 12 week class informed, but on the SAME page as well. We learned that in most marriages one spouse, usually the woman, handles the budgeting and bill paying, while the other spouse just follows suite. We didn't want to fall into that habit, so we took charge together of our finances.

Every beginning of the month, Kit and I sit at our excel spreadsheet on the computer and cuss and discuss. First, we calculate what we will make total that month, since we both have part time jobs, ours varies monthly. On our spreadsheet we have two columns, one is for what we project our budget will be, the other column is what it actually amounts to. For instance, you may estimate the gas bill will be $35 but then you open the envelope and it's $55. Secondly, subtract the bare necessities like rent, utilities, insurances, any car/student loan payments, and subtract 10% of your total monthly income to put into a savings account. After those are done, we budget for our expenses like fuel, Netflix, and Wal-mart trips. This was one area we struggled in, so we took a page from Dave Ramsey and tried his advice. We were over spending greatly on trips to Wal-Mart and fuel so we bought two re loadable gift cards to Wal-Mart. At the beginning of each month we put $300 on one for fuel and $400 on the other for household/grocery/pet food. So each week we only spend 1/4 of the cards and if we happen to run out at the end of the month, then we tough it out till next month. This forces us to really monitor our driving around and take a calculator with us shopping so we don't overspend.

After all that is done, take a look at what you have left and that is the money that goes to eating out and entertainment. This usually only leaves us with about $50 a week to play and dine out on. As college students, we aren't saving for things like a down payment for a home or retirement yet, not until we both get full time jobs, so that maybe something you'd like to add to your budget. I really hope this helps! Sitting down every month together and setting boundaries has put an end to most of our squabbles, and allows us to control our money instead of our money controlling us.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Reciprocal Inspiration

     Inspiration. That's what my mother has been to me since I can remember. My mother is one ah-mazing woman. She was a best friend to me in junior high, biggest fan in the stands during soccer, volleyball, and basketball, my relationship counselor in high school, and my biggest driver to continue onto college. She once told me about her dream to become a nurse once upon a time. Sadly she had to give that up for her family, and just hearing the regret in her voice inspired me. I vowed to never have that regret in my voice if I could help it. With my parent's willingness to co-sign on loans, my college dreams materialized.

     With my college chapter coming to an end, I'm very proud to say I won't be the last Shellito hitting the college campus. Along with my brilliant brother who was accepted to UCO this week, my heavily-encouraged mother has plans to start at NOC Enid this summer/fall! She credits my relentless badgering for 4.5 years and just me. She said that I inspired her to go to college, to want more, and to push herself.

     So as I look back at my role model as a child, I smile with a warm heart because I was able to pay her back the best that I knew how. The role model became the role modelee. She is truly the most unselfish woman I know, and she deserves every good venture that comes her way. I know once she sets her mind to something, she will accomplish her goal. I'm now looking forward to the day where I get to sit in the stands and scream for her name when she collects her degree.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

New Year, New Chapter

    I love the New Year. First, it's special to me because for the rest of our lives, Kit and I will be celebrating one more year as a married unit! Secondly, it's always a good time to reevaluate your life, goals and desires for the year. Last year I only made one goal. I'm proud to say last year I kept up my goal. This is sort of gritty, but I don't have the best oral hygiene. I would only brush my teeth once in the morning, and maybe floss twice a month. Last year I needed to improve that, so I made a NY goal to brush twice a day, and try to sneak in a floss a couple times a week. I did it, and still going strong! I know that wasn't the usual NY goal but it was something I desperately needed to change if I wanted to keep my real teeth past 50. 

    This year I'm tackling more than one. I have a pretty lackadaisical semester for my last year of college, so I have a lot of time to focus on self improvement. 

1. Since I nailed brushing twice a day, I now want to floss everyday! I know for some of you, this may come easy, but if it doesn't, try it! This is my first priority this year.

2. The dreaded weight-loss goal. We all have one, even if we don't admit it right away. This past year my goal was to lost 15 lbs. I only got to 10lbs. lost. This year I want to lose a total of 12lbs. By college graduation day (May 7th!!!!) I want to have it all gone. That gives me 4 months, at 3 pounds a month. Totally doable. Thankfully I have a supportive husband on board that loves eating healthy and working out as much as I do, so maybe we'll both come out in our gowns 12 lbs. lighter! 

3. I love to run. Lucky me, I have a career in which it's part of my job to be able to run, so I must stay in good running condition. Last year my best friend trained for a half marathon and it inspired me. She wasn't a real runner before, but at the end she ran that whole 13.1 miles without stopping. She's amazing. That's what I aim to do May 1. I already signed up for the OKC Bombing Memorial Half Marathon, and I'm stoked to start training! I have a 12 week program to set me up for success, starts Feb 7th. If anyone wants to train with me, let me know and I can give you the schedule!

4. As I mentioned before, my school semester is pretty low key. With my 24 hrs a week job, I sit at a computer and watch movies, emails and facebook. I want to utilize my 24 hours a week in there, so I'm taking a page out of my sister-in-laws blog, and learning a foreign language. My husband has free access to Rosetta Stone, so I'm going to get as far as I can with Spanish. Since I have taken Spanish for 6 years, I am pretty familiar with the language already. Plus my husband is taking Spanish II in college this semester, so we can communicate and use it to strengthen each others skills. 

Ready. Set. GO!!!!!