Getting Organized

With the impending arrival of Willow (and SUMMER!), I feel myself starting the "nesting" stage. I'm overwhelmed with wanting to organize every nook and cranny in my house as well as paint everything. I've come to realize in the past few months that my disorganization is very much rubbing off on my kids and I really don't like that. If I can't keep myself organized, how on earth can I honestly expect my children to be organized? Disorganization causes our family so much more stress than need be and it's time that stops!

So, I decided to start with the biggest culprit--paperwork. We have an insane amount of paperwork coming into our home and not a lot of it seems to leave. This is actually the second goal in my organization plan (the first was creating meal plans & grocery lists on a consistent basis which I will post about in the future). I find it difficult to find papers I need when I need them because of this. I do have what I believe is a decent filing system but I'm not great at keeping up with it--and therein lies the issue. First and foremost, I need to set aside time each day to go through and organize any paperwork from that day. If I can do that every day, it should never get overwhelming and take me hours to go through it. I recently had an epiphany--I don't need to keep everything. I've always been the kind of person who keeps every single bank statement, receipt, explanation of benefits, etc. forever. I have banker's boxes downstairs with files from 10 years ago (I know...crazy and unnecessary)! So, I'm purging.

And all that brings me to the reason for my post--implementing and using a family binder. I've been researching different ways to use these and what to include but haven't been able to find the "perfect" one to fit my family's needs. Along comes my crafty side--I decided to take the best of what I found and create my own. I started with the basics from Thirty Handmade Days. She includes several free printable sheets including Babysitter Info, Health Insurance Info, Other Insurance Info, School Info, & Utilities (this is one that will be incredibly beneficial for me) in her post and explains how she uses her family binder. I love her idea of having different sections and will definitely include some of those sections in my binder. (Side note: if you have children, I highly recommend checking out the Accountability Binder and School Binder posts. I'll be doing a blog post about these as well in the future.) The next site I found is The Polka Dot Posie. She includes a tab on her website with Home Planner & Management pages as well as extras for seasons like Christmas and Thanksgiving, camping/vacations, and even has multiple sizes to fit existing planners (some free, some paid)! They're incredibly cute and I decided to use most of these since most of the work is already done for me and I really like the pattern. I just fill it out, pop it in my binder, and go. I did create a binder cover (printable here), calendar for the remainder of the year (printable here), and blog planner (printable here) using a grey chevron pattern to match the rest her printables. I'm really excited and will do a future update on how this is working out for our family and any changes I make.

Until next time, much love and many blessings!


♥Courtney♥

Counting My Blessings

As I sit here with my pumpkin coffee, I can't help but count my blessings. As I was going through my day yesterday, I realized that while my life may sometimes feel like a train wreck, though it may sometimes be painful, I have so much to be thankful for. I have a beautiful home even though it's almost always a mess. I have a vehicle to take me wherever I want to go. I have 3 amazing children who I couldn't possibly love more. I have the most wonderful husband I could ever ask for. But most of all, I have a Lord who has blessed me beyond words and sometimes, I forget that. I admit it. There are times when I forget just how awesome and amazing God is!

I want to talk about my husband for a minute. We've shared our laughter, tears, joys, sorrows, and love for the past 6 1/2 years, 2 1/2 of those being married. I know it sounds cliche but I fall more in love with him everyday. He provides for our family so I can stay home and raise our children. He comes home after a long, tiring, and stressful day at work and helps me with dinner and the kids. He takes out the trash for me. He lets me have a kid-free evening to sit at Panera and knit with friends. He watches our children so I can volunteer with the PTA. There's a million other things that he does for us that I don't even know about because he chooses to do them without recognition. I am amazed everyday at the unconditional love he has shown, is showing, and will continue showing me until death do us part. I don't always remember to tell him how much I appreciate everything he does for our family and I don't always remember to be kind.

As I was sitting at Panera last night, we had a discussion on how we as wives aren't always kind to our husbands. Even though we may be joking at times, the words we say and how we say them can come across as biting or even downright mean. I have found myself being more knit-picky and annoyed with little things since Harrison has been born. After that conversation, I decided I'm going to find only positive things to say to my husband. I'm honestly curious how much better this will make our relationship and help our communication.

Now that all the sappy stuff is out of the way, here's the low-down at the Kramers over the past few months. At the beginning of June, Harrison was born. The transition of going from 2 to 3 kids was much harder than I anticipated. We had a lot of feeding issues in the first month and a half and it's was pretty crazy and stressful in our house (hence why you're only now getting an update). Since then, my Little Love has started 3rd grade (3rd grade!!) and is enjoying every minute of it! Things are starting to settle down and become more routine like now and I'm thankful for that. For awhile there, I thought I might pull all my hair out! It's been a roller coaster of emotions but I'm enjoying every minute of it; and yes, even those pull-out-my-hair and sobbing times!

On that note, I'm off to get my Little Love up for school. Next time, I'll update with some pictures. Until then, much love and many blessings!


♥Courtney♥

Expansion

Our little family is really starting to expand, in every sense of the word. We started with just Little Love and I, then added Andy, then Love Bug, and now little Harrison is on the way. I'm scared... This pregnancy caught us so off-guard and it's been a whirlwind of overwhelming since. I'm not necessarily saying that's a bad thing; it's just...different. I know nothing about little boys. I think that's what's the most disconcerting.

Expansion is usually positive in the sense that things are growing, whether it be family, business, etc. Just in the past week, we've purchased a new vehicle, Little Love started Girl Scouts, and I added a new member to my Thirty-One team! After finding out we were pregnant with Harrison, we knew we needed a larger vehicle. A Hyundai Elentra and PT Cruiser just can't handle 3 children in car seats. We were originally thinking of purchasing a smaller SUV because I've always been stone cold set on NOT having a mini-van! Well, after looking at prices and sizes, we got a mini-van. Although there's really nothing mini about it. It's an 07' Dodge Grand Caravan. I've always owned small vehicles so driving this monster has been interesting to say the least. So far, I'm really happy with our purchase and our growing family has plenty of space now so hopefully we won't feel like sardine's when we head to the beach this year!

Little Love had her first Girl Scouts meeting this past Thursday. I'm not sure she knows exactly how she feels about it yet. She did say that she was disappointed because she thought that they'd be going camping and having s'mores and doing that kind of stuff. I tried to tell her that this is her first time and those things will be coming up, just not today. LoL! I'm a little nostalgic heading into the weekend because I'll be visiting the 4-H store where I used to shop for my patches and Girl Scout items to get Little Love's vest and patches. I can't wait to see her in her "uniform"!

Thirty-One has been pretty steady so far this year. My goal for this year is to grow my team. I would realistically like to have 4 girls under my lead by the end of August. I'm not sure how feasible that is since Harrison will be born in June, so June, July, and most of August will be consumed with adjusting to life with a new baby plus a toddler and not-so-little kid! I'm definitely going to try though. I've pretty much mapped out my game plan for the coming month's of what I'd like to have happen so we'll see how it all falls in to place. My first recruit signed up yesterday and I'm totally stoked about that! She's going to be a fantastic consultant! Now comes the learning process for me of being a mentor. :-)

Well, that's about all I have for now. I'm going to get ready for the day before Love Bug makes her appearance. Until next time, much love and many blessings!!


♥Courtney♥

DIYing - Hit or Miss

Recently I have been scouring Pinterest looking for ways to be more economical not only on my wallet but also towards the environment. Something I really want to do is make my own cleaners. I sometimes have trouble with commercial cleaners because of the smells, especially now that I'm pregnant. I don't particularly like the strong smell or amount of chemicals found in commercial cleaners either. And I really don't enjoy the price tag on a lot of them.

For the past 8 months, I've made my own powdered laundry detergent and have loved the results I get with our CD, but it doesn't seem to work as well on our clothing. My best guess is it's not working as well because we wash everything on cold except CD, which get washed on hot. The soap isn't really "melting" during the wash cycle. I found a liquid version of detergent that pretty much uses the same ingredients over at the One Income Family Living Blog and she had the same observations I did. It seemed incredibly simple and doesn't have many ingredients. Plus, she raved about the liquid version she tried so I was incredibly stoked to try it but severely disappointed in the results. Now, I don't know if it didn't work well because of the type of soap I used (Soft Soap instead of Fels Naptha) or what but I was definitely bummed about it. Actually, I still am... I might give it one more go and use Fels Naptha since that's what the recipe calls for and see how that works. Moving on...

I am in love with smells (good ones, not bad ones, in case you needed clarification). I'm a Febreeze junkie but can very rarely justify spending the money on it (even when I have a coupon), especially with how much I use it. I, of course, scoured Pinterest and the One Income Family Blog (if you click the link it'll take you to the recipe) had a recipe and I'm in LOVE! I bought a bottle of Snuggle in the Sweet Blossoms & Wildflowers scent and it smells amazing. I use it mainly on our bed linens in between washings and it's working just as well as Febreeze, plus it's ridiculously cheaper!

Another DIY recipe I found was to make hand sanitizer. I found this recipe over at the Little House Living blog and I LOVE it! (Hm... Pattern much??) I used Up & Up's green, moisturizing aloe vera gel in mine even though she says to use plain aloe vera gel. I like that it has more moisturizing properties and works just as well. It doesn't dry my hands out as much as regular sanitizer does. This is a fantastic alternative to washing your hands all the time, especially us mamas that are constantly changing diapers. I put in an old pump soap dispenser from Bath & Body Works and keep it near the kitchen sink.

The next DIY recipe I tried was making citrus infused vinegar. I really like the cleaning properties of vinegar but many times cannot stomach the smell. Side note: I still don't understand how people put vinegar on french fries! Over at My Merry Messy Life, she posted how to make it. It's sooooo easy! I used it for the first time this past weekend to clean my daughter's bathroom mirror and was pleasantly surprised that it cleaned just as well as Windex and left no streaks! I'll definitely be making a lot more of this to clean with. Now, I'll just have to eat more oranges. The next batch I want to make is lemon and lime.

The next few things I would like to try are making my own liquid hand soap (we run through it like there's no tomorrow and it gets expensive), making my own pad of paper (I use these all the time), and making my own fabric softener. I'll give my reviews once I make and try them.

Now on to more family oriented entertaining... I had my spring Thirty-One open house this past weekend and it was a lot of fun. Even though I only had 2 guests, it gave me a chance to sharpen up my talking points on the new products from my add-on kit, well brush up period because it's been a few months since I've had a home party. I have a party set-up next month and one in March already. I'm really hoping to get to the point where I'm doing at least 2 parties a week but would like to be doing at least 4 a week. I am working on building a team and have one lady who's about to join and another who may potentially join. My goal is to be a director by the time Harrison arrives in June.

Speaking of... I can't believe that I'm already half-way through this pregnancy! It feels like just yesterday we found out we were pregnant and in less than 6 months, we're going to hold another little baby. I am beyond excited but also a tad apprehensive. I don't know anything about baby boys! We're still trying to figure out the logistics of where Harrison and Love Bug will sleep in relation to each other but we have some time yet. :-) In the meantime, I'm just working on establishing some semblance of a cleaning routine and actually making/knitting some things for him. On an even happier note, I got the call from my OB this morning that my glucose levels came back normal so I don't have gestational diabetes! No finger pricking 4x's a day for me!! :-)

Well, that's about all I have for now so until next time, much love and many blessings!


♥Courtney♥

P.S. If you want to check out things I'm making for my LO's, check out my crafting blog, On My Needles.

Normality... Will it ever return?

Normality... What is it? Right now, it's eat, change and feed Trinity, clean the sink, change and feed Trinity, load the dishwasher, change and feed Trinity, wash diapers, change and feed Trinity, etc. You get the picture... Actually, things really are finally starting to settle down here. Trinity is getting herself on some semblance of a schedule (ah.. blessed sleep!). She's now sleeping through the night and taking 3 fairly long naps a day. It's definitely been helping with getting housework, bills, etc. finished. She had her 2 month check-up last week and it went well. She weighed in at 12 pounds 5 ounces and is 23 inches long. She's in the 75 percentile for height and weight. I did talk to her doctor about the weight gain (I don't remember Kristi gaining that much that quickly) but she assured me that it's in perfect alignment with her height. She's up to eating almost 7 ounces a sitting! We started adding rice cereal to each bottle because of her narfing every time we turn around. Since starting that, she's only actually spit-up once or twice and it hasn't been much. EDIT: She's preceded to narf 3 times today (two of those being on me!) so I take that back... I have to say not changing her clothes 5 times a day is nice!

We decided before she was born that we would be using cloth diapers instead of disposables. We started out with the Thirsties Duo covers and non-bleached prefolds. The covers come in adorable patterns so when it's hot (like it is today!), she can just run around in her diaper! At first, I was a little concerned about the prefolds because they didn't seem to fit her very well. I tried different ways of folding them under the covers but she still seemed to leak a lot, especially at night. I even tried doubling  up at night but no such luck. I have since found a new way of putting the prefold in and I haven't had any problems since (unless she sleeps for more than 4 hours)! I've also starting using the all-in-ones that I got from a friend and am in total LOVE with these! I didn't choose them to begin with because A. I just didn't get how to use them, and B. They were more expensive. Well, I see now why they cost a little more but let me tell you--it's completely worth it! SIDE NOTE: They cost a little more because they go from newborn size all the way to 35 or 40 pounds depending on the brand. They are especially great for sitters, on-the-go, and at night. The inserts definitely seem more absorbent than just using prefolds. (Jeez, I'm such a mom!) I've been using Nutty Bums, bumGenius, and FuzziBunz brands. My favorite, hands-down, is the Nutty Bums. They have so many snaps for a customized fit and work so well with Trinity. Now, my friend who gave them to me prefers the FuzziBunz and I have to admit that they are my least favorite. Every single time she wears it, she leaks--even if it's doubled up! So anyway... my goal is to get more all-in-ones and be completely switched over by the time she needs to go up to the next size in the Thirsties Duo's. And at this rate, that'll be in 2 weeks!!

Okay.. so moving on to some goal stuff. I'm going to be completely honest with you. I suck. At goals. I make them. Then I never achieve them. I guess I don't suck at goals, per say. I'm great at making them. I'm just horrible with follow through. One goal I am succeeding at is my weight loss. Since starting, I've lost just under 15 pounds (I started almost 4 weeks ago). I'm really excited about that because I'm that much closer to fitting into my pre-pregnancy clothes! Yes, I'm going to publicly admit that I'm still wearing maternity clothes. And I hate it. My plan was to start exercising with Zumba this week but at the advice of my health coach, I'm going to hold off on that for another couple of weeks. I'm really excited to incorporate it into my daily regimen, but I need to start off a little slower than that. So this week, my goal is to walk at least 20 minutes each day, not including today. I'm going to pack Trinity up tomorrow and head to our local park for a walk. It'll be nice to get out of the house and spend some time in nature. With that said, if I even remotely see a stink bug, I'm heading home!

The past few days I've actually done quiet time. I set this goal at the beginning of the year and just haven't gotten around to even attempting it. Well, I realized the other day that I just need to do it. That's it. Like Nike--not because I made it a goal or part of my daily checklist, but because I need to spend time in God's word. If I don't, how will I ever grow or know what I'm supposed to do as a follower of Jesus? Going to church on Sunday's for a brief lesson isn't enough. Something a pastor many years ago said made so much sense to me then but didn't really, really hit until just a few days ago. Going to church every week is a great thing but it can't be the only time you hear or study God's word because that makes you a lukewarm Christian. Sure, you can believe that Jesus died for your sins and you can even accept Him as your Lord and Savior. But unless you study his word, you won't grow or have a close relationship with Him. Part of my problem lies in the fact that I'm just so crazy forgetful. I asked Andy's sister how she remembers to do it, especially when she first started. She said that she remembers because one day she woke up and realized that she needed His word. When she said it, it made sense. But it didn't really click until just a couple of days ago. The more I read, the more I want to keep reading. I'm starting with Psalms, reading, and meditating on 2 each day. In just the few days I've been doing this, I'm already noticed how God is showing me things. One area where I struggle is finding the time to have quiet time. In the past week, I've noticed I have quiet time in the mornings and nights because I'm alone. When contemplating Psalm 5: 1-3, God showed me something in my study bible's notes. It states, "In the morning, our minds are more free from problems and then we can commit the whole day to God." Wow! Right there was the answer to my question. It's amazing to me how often God reveals His will to me through circumstances, situations, and other people! In Sunday's sermon, Manny closed with that our lifeline is our relationship with Jesus. I want my lifeline to be as secure as possible so I know this is something that I need.

I'm totally in love with New Release Tuesday. I've been a member of this site for many years but have never really utilized or explored it until a few weeks ago. They have free music downloads every week and an album preview. Today is the first day I've utilized the album preview--Thousand Foot Krutch. It's uh-mazing! It's being released tomorrow and I'm totally going to have to get it because it's just. that. good. If you enjoy Christian music, especially free, I highly recommend checking it out!

Schedules

I find this to be the most difficult thing about being a mom. Trinity not really being on any kind of schedule yet is definitely throwing a monkey wrench in my routine, especially housework. I know that I need to get a handle on this because Kristi is going to be starting soccer in a few weeks and I've got a few projects coming up as soon as spring hits. Speaking of...

We're so excited to be getting our yard finished this year! We have so many landscaping ideas for our house but haven't been able to start any of them because the yard needs the final grating and top soil (don't ask). The thing I'm most excited about is being able to get my veggie garden going. My goal is to sustain our family year round on the veges I grow. I'm not really sure if this will be feasible this year since I'm very new to this and don't have a very good track record of having a green thumb (right mom?)! I have a feeling this will be a learning year and I'm okay with that.

I've been trying to find ways to not only save our family money but also helping our environment. Growing our own vegetables (and eventually some fruits as well), making my own cleaners and detergents are just a few ways I've been trying to be more green. I recently made my own bathroom cleaner from a post I saw on Pinterest. I have to say that I'm loving not only it's cleaning power but also the price and non-chemical smell. (If you'd like to learn how, check out my Everyday Uses board on Pinterest.) Let's just say that vinegar and Dawn are my new best friends! I also recently made detergent for our dishwasher and am loving it as well! For about $12, we got all the ingredients and one batch should last us between 3-4 months (doing one load of dishes a day). We were paying upwards of $6 for the store bought kind and we were lucky if the container lasted 2 weeks! The dishes get squeaky clean and I'm noticing that we're not getting any kind of spotting on our dishes anymore either--double score! The next DIY project I'm going to tackle is making my own hand soap and laundry detergent. I'm a big fan of scented soaps, especially from Bath & Body Works. but notice they zap all moisture out of my hands (even the moisturizing ones)! On a side note, I think it's a conspiracy because if the soaps dry out your hands, then you'll have to buy their lotions as well. I just love that making things yourself can save a ton of money and let's face it, who doesn't want to save money? Plus, there's a pride factor in knowing exactly what is in your cabinets and where it came from. Moving on...

Baby Kramer (a.k.a. Trinity/Gizmo/Chunky Monkey) is growing like a weed already. She had her first check-up this past week. She weighs 9 pounds 1.4 ounces and is finally starting to fill out her 0-3 months clothing. We've been having some feeding issues since coming home from the hospital but we seem to have them mostly resolved. We've unfortunately had to start supplementing her with formula and rice cereal (as per her doctor's instructions). The breast milk and regular formula are just too thin and she keeps narfing them up so we're adding rice cereal to the breast milk and switched her to the rice starch added formula. I was really hoping we wouldn't have to introduce formula but we just don't see any other choice at the moment. I really think she's starting to look more and more like Andy which is good. (I really think he was starting to get a complex!) I just can't believe that she's 5 weeks old already! Here's one of her more recent photos:

For being a shutterbug most of the time I've been really lax about taking pictures the past few months. I'll have to make a mental note to take my camera with me everywhere.

Last weekend we got to hang out with the Wilt family and it was great spending time with them (we don't get to see them very often). Jill showed us the most hilarious clip that I wanted to share with you because I just died laughing while watching it!

I don't have too much to update on goals yet except for weight loss. I'm not really doing anything special yet but am down 24 pounds since giving birth. I only have 14 more to lose to hit my pre-pregnancy weight! I can't wait to rev that up more with exercise, which I'll be able to introduce in another week or so. I'm going to start Zumba and am totally stoked about it! I'm also going to be trying some new recipes this week that will hopefully aid in my weight loss. One snack I would like to try is homemade potato chips. I love crunchy snacks like celery, carrots, etc. but sometimes would like to have potato chips. I don't really like all the salt and additives they have so I want to see how healthy homemade ones can be. Another snack food I really want to try is spicy roasted chickpeas. I probably won't make them too spicy since it's something I'm hoping Kristi will eat. It would be a great snack food to send in her lunches! This past week I did try a couple of new recipes. I found a recipe for crock pot honey sesame chicken and it's amazing! Although this recipe isn't one that would aid in weight loss (at least I don't think it would), it's one that will be at least a once-a-month dish. My husband really doesn't like honey and he fell IN LOVE with this recipe (as did my 6 year old and we all know how picky she can be!). I also made a crock pot chicken tortilla soup and it was pretty good too. It definitely needs some sour cream and cheese added but other than that, it's simple to make and pretty flavorful. I was hoping to find a recipe that is similar to the kind Smokey Bones used to sell but that hasn't happened yet. I also tried the pumpkin pie smoothies I found on Pinterest (actually all the recipes I tried were from Pinterest). This was the recipe I was most excited about trying and was actually let down. To me, it just didn't taste right. I'm going to try making it again but lessen the amount of pumpkin puree and add more milk. I think the pumpkin puree flavor is too overpowering, even when adding a Truvia packet to sweeten it. I'll let you know how the second batch turns out.

I keep saying this but I really do need to update more so these posts don't get so incredibly long. Until next though, much love and many blessings!


♥Courtney♥

Life Changes

It's been a busy couple of weeks in the Kramer household. Super Bowl Sunday brought about the birth our daughter, Trinity. She was supposed induced on the 7th but decided to show up early--like 4:13 a.m. early. She's absolutely perfect!

I have to be honest and say that it has definitely been a more difficult transition than I anticipated. It's amazing to me how incredibly different Trinity and Kristi are at Trinity's age. Kristi slept 4-5 hours in between feedings from the day she was born and was all around a very good baby. She only ever cried when she needed something. Trinity is a good baby too--don't get me wrong--but she seems to be more needy. I'm not sure if that's because she's nursing so she needs fed more often?? All I know right now is that it is so vastly different than my experience with Kristi, not in a bad way, just...different. The other thing I'm finding crazy different is my hormone levels. With Kris, they were insane during pregnancy, I mean have-a-nervous-breakdown-every-other-day type insane. But afterwards they went away. This time, they all hit like the last month and seem to be surging crazily right now. I cry for no reason or for the stupidest things. Like last week... once I started, I just couldn't stop. I must have cried for about an hour (well it seemed like an hour). It's just crazy to me.

Trinity had her first check-up a few days after birth. She was born at 7 lbs 10.8 oz and when she left the hospital was down 7 oz. At her first check-up, she went up 2 ounces which is good but I guess wasn't quite enough so they brought her back the following Monday. I was definitely a little nervous for that weigh-in because we were really struggling with nursing. She's having latching issues and just seemed to not eat much. Oh, and she absolutely HATES formula so that wasn't an option. Thankfully though, when we went for that appointment she was up past her birth weight so the doctor was really happy. She just went in again yesterday and is already up to 8 lb 2 oz! Yesterday's appointment had to do with her narfing at almost every feeding. When I called to schedule her one and two month check-up appointments, I asked the nurse about it. I guess they were concerned about her not gaining enough weight so they had me bring her in. Thankfully, she doesn't. Her sphincter muscle (and all babies) won't mature until after she's a year old so we'll have to deal with the narfing for awhile. That was probably more than you needed and/or wanted to know... Moving on...

As of right now, I've really been struggling with my goals the past month. Normally, I would get on myself about that but I've decided that it is what it is. They're goals; therefore, they're the end result of the journey of accomplishment. As long as I keep striving towards completing them, I'm happy. So as of right now, I really don't have anything to report. In the spirit of goals though I do have a new one: losing the baby weight. Since the birth, I'm down almost 13 pounds. My first goal is to have the pregnancy weight off within 6 weeks (not really sure how realistic that is but I'm nursing so that should help??) and then hit my ultimate goal by summer. I think it should be doable but am not sure how nursing will affect that. I know I won't lose the weight quite as fast as I did with doing the 5 & 1 since I have to eat more but I can't wait to start!

On that note, I'm going to try and get a quick nap before she gets up again. Until next time, much love and many blessings!


♥Courtney♥

Goals: Why are they so hard to accomplish?

We are officially one month into the new year so I figured it was time for a goal update. Every time I make goals, especially those related to my business, I find myself trying to be realistic yet no matter how realistic they are, I just can't seem to achieve them. I had a major problem with this last year when it came to my TSFL business. I'm half-way through my first goals time-frame and have 1 client. I know if I want to hit my $2,000 goal by February 29, I'm really going to have to rev up. I'm thinking of different ways I can do that while having a new baby. I'll fill you in on that one once I figure it out.

Knitting: If you follow my crafting blog, On My Needles, you'll know that I'm actually doing pretty well with my 2012 knitting goals. I won't go into detail here since this is my more life/business-oriented blog so if you want to know, check it out!

Blogging at least 2 times a week: I'm doing okay on this one. I posted a total of 6 times in January which is the same as last year. While I didn't hit this goal entirely for January, I still did a decent amount of updating and will continue to strive toward reaching this goal (here's post #1 for this week).

Quiet time: Epic. Failure. It's the first of the month and I am making a commitment to achieve this goal this month!

Relational: I've definitely been doing better with this. I'm not exactly where I want to be, but I'm getting better and for now, that's all I can ask for.

I know I'm not perfect and I know that on any given day or any given month I probably won't hit all these goals. I'm okay with that as long as I'm continually working towards them.

The last few days have been pretty uneventful here. I'm just really trying to work on getting the house in order for when Trinity comes. I know that if it's not at least somewhat organized and taken care of prior to her birth, it'll be a train wreck afterwards. I've mostly gotten her room finished, there's just some things I need to get packed and taken to the garage. I, unfortunately, need my husband's help with that and he's not been so helpful as of late (not really his fault though). My main goal for today is to get the kitchen completely cleaned, floors, counters, fridge, etc. Once that's complete, I want to rearrange some things so I can find a place to put away the rest of the Christmas gifts that are still sitting under our tree. All the decorations are off the tree, it's just a matter of the hubby getting it back down in the garage. He was really silly in that when he brought the tree up, he filled in the space with other stuff so now he has to move all that stuff somewhere else to get the tree back in--hence why it's still sitting in our living room. I'm really hoping he'll take care of that this weekend.

My next big project I want to do is get into our garage and start sorting through the yard sale boxes. We have so many of them because we were planning to have a yard sale last year, but our location just isn't ideal for it. So I decided that anything we were going to sell, we're going to send to a local consignment shop and see what happens. The nice thing is, if it doesn't sell, I don't have to worry about it. I'm hoping that once those things are out of there we'll have a lot more room. We'd ultimately like to have our exercise room out there. I know this probably isn't going to happen until at least the end of March or beginning of April. I have a few boxes already packed and upstairs so I'm hoping to get those sent over before Trinity gets here next week.

For now, I'm just going to focus on the next few days. So until next time, much love and many blessings!


♥Courtney♥

9 Months and Counting

The last week or so has been one emotional roller coaster after another. It's not because of anything anyone did or didn't do. It's just my hormones raging. I feel like this time around my hormones have decided to wait until the very end of the pregnancy to show up and hit all at once. I remember with Kristi being emotional pretty much through the whole pregnancy. I mean, I'd have a crying breakdown every few days it seemed. This time, not even close, not even one of those until 2 weeks ago. With that said, I've now had those meltdown-type cryings like every other day the past 2 weeks--and it doesn't seem to be subsiding. I know one of the things that seems to spark these fests is the realization that we're not the most organized family in the world so every time I look around the house I want to pull my hair out and insanely, madly clean. I usually don't care that we have clutter because let's face it--we live in our house. We have a 6 year old who likes to do crafts and then jump into the next activity without cleaning up the previous activity (I have to admit she totally learned that from me). So I've tried coming up with something to help reduce clutter. For example, to reduce the amount of clutter with magazines (I subscribe to at least 10), as I read a magazine I dog-ear the pages I want to keep for future reference like articles or recipes. Once I'm finished reading, I rip those pages out and put them in a binder or my recipe box, then I toss the magazine. Well, I've been more than a little backed up on my reading so I have 2 stacks of magazines that still need to be read dating back to the summer. (I'm thinking one of those will go with me to the hospital since I'll have ample time to read them.) I'm also making a concerted effort to do something similar with all the catalogs I get. (The ones I mostly care about are the knitting/crafting ones.) Back at the beginning of December, I found the Amazon Wishlist toolbar for my browser so I can now create as many wishlists as I'd like and put anything from any website on them. Score! So I also utilize the dog-ear method for things I want and then go to the website and add them to my Purchase Later or Christmas/Birthday list, then toss the catalog. Since implementing this 2 weeks ago, I've already thrown away 4 magazines and as many if not more catalogs. I'm thinking I'll keep this method. Well, at least until I run out of room for binders that is!

Okay that was ranting a little so back to the original topic of my hormones...  I've been nesting. Crazily, hungrily, nesting, especially when it comes to Trinity's room/stuff. I'm mostly finished with her room. I just have to finish filing some paperwork, change the files out since it's the new year, and clean the top shelf of her closet so I can fit my Cricut and Rubbermaid container with said Cricut stuff in it. I have a few other things to remove but other than that, the rooms good. I have to finish making the organizer for the side of the changing table (I've created my own knitting pattern since I couldn't find one anywhere online which will also count toward my goal--yippee!), sew the bumpers for her crib, and finish knitting her crib blanket. The bumper project is the one I'm most worried about. I haven't sewn since middle school. My sister lent me her sewing machine but I'm most worried about trying to read the pattern and get them to turn out right. I picked up the fabric, batting, and ribbon last week on sale at Jo-Ann's so I'm hoping to get to this project this week. I'm about half-way finished knitting the organizer and 40% finished with the blanket, both of which are fairly fast knits. Now, if she decides to come early, I'm totally screwed!

Changing topics completely... I was so excited to wake up to snow on the ground this weekend! I feel like I've been dying this winter because of cold/snow withdrawal.  This is one of the craziest winter's I've seen in a very long time. I love winter and snow so it hasn't been my favorite winter thus far. A side note to Mother Nature--if you'd like to score more points, you still have time to send me a blizzard. The only thing I ask is that you don't send one when I have to go to the hospital for Trinity's delivery. That just wouldn't be nice. 

I'm pretty sure I've talked your ear off enough for tonight so until next time, much love and many blessings!


♥Courtney♥

Time Management

My nemesis for today: time management. It's something in which I severely lack skills. I have tried utilizing different methods to help but they never seem to stick (maybe because I haven't tried them long enough??). I don't know. What I do know is that I have to figure this out. It's going to be even more imperative once Trinity is here. I think one of my major issues is that I don't prioritize. I'm really good at making lists but prioritizing--not so much. I also think I don't realize how long tasks take so I end up only completing like one or two things. And then I feel discouraged. So, it's definitely something I need to work on. Today was a perfect example. My plan was to put the changing table together, finish the load of cloth diapers, and finish cleaning up/decluttering Trinity’s room all before Kristi got home. I started all this around 1 since that is when Andy was finished moving the furniture around. I got the changing table together, the closet reorganized, and the book shelf decluttered. I didn’t even have a chance to start on the computer desk before she got home. In my mind, that should have all been completed prior to her getting home but in reality, there just wasn’t enough time. The next things on my to-do list were to get Kris her snack, visit John in the hospital, hit Wal-mart for yogurt, and pick up dinner. All in all, I was thinking as long as we left the house by 4:30, we’d be home and finished eating by 6:30 at the latest. Well, 6:30 turned into almost 7 so that wasn’t as bad. Ugh! Sometimes trying to figure out my day can be so frustrating. Maybe I shouldn’t be so worried about always finishing everything on the list? Or maybe I should make the list with less items? I don’t know. I guess this is a learning process that everyone goes through and I just have to learn!

I did get a bunch of stuff done today which was great and made me feel good, even if it wasn’t everything on my list. I was really excited to go through all the baby clothes that we’ve gotten so far. There are soooo many adorable outfits that I can’t wait to put on Trinity! Now, it’s just the daunting task of washing everything. I was undecided if I wanted to just use the detergent we have or to buy the special, dye-free/fragrance-free stuff. I started out using that with Kristi and then changed over to using our regular detergent and she never had any problems. I have mixed feelings about it. I honestly think Trinity will be just fine using our regular detergent. I mean, she’ll be snuggling with all of us so she’ll be exposed to it anyway. Okay… I’m rambling now so on that note, I’m off for the evening. Until next time, much love and many blessings!

♥Courtney♥

Parenting

The hot topic of tonight's discussion is: parenting, specifically the art of discipline (well, I guess it's not really an art per se). I have to say that this is the single most awful part of parenting in my book. Throw all the dirty diapers, crying sessions, lack of sleep at me that you want. I can handle all that with ease and maybe even some finesse, but discipline? I hate it. I hate every aspect of it. I know, I know. It needs to be done if I want a well-adjusted and well-rounded child and I know that by disciplining her I am showing her that I love and care for her. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. Tonight, I'm really not liking it. I'm currently listening to my child cry herself to sleep because my discipline took away her favorite lovey, Dooda (those of you who know her know that she doesn't part with this lovey, especially at bedtime). I know it may seem harsh but we have honestly tried every other possible form of discipline that we can think of and nothing else has worked. We only had to do this one other time in the past few months so it's pretty effective. I hate causing her pain of any kind! She's my child and I love her and just want her to be happy all the time. I want what's best for her and know that what is best for her is boundaries, rules, and discipline. It's so hard for me to sit here, type this, and not just walk back and hand Dooda over to her. While that's what I truly want to do, I know I can't because that would completely defeat the purpose of the discipline and lesson I'm trying to instill. No one told me that disciplining your child would be one of the hardest and most painful parts of parenting. I remember when I was a kid, I thought my parents actually liked disciplining me! I never realized that disciplining me hurt them more than it did me! Okay...Ranting over.

Today was an entirely unproductive day. I had every intention of starting to take down Christmas decorations, put away the Christmas dishes, finish cleaning the kitchen, and a multitude of other things before Kris got home from school. Yeah, that just didn't happen. I woke up this morning around 4:30 and couldn't fall back to sleep until 6:30 and then my alarm went off at 7. I waited until 10 before attempting to go back to sleep so I could test my blood sugar and then laid back down until about 12:15. I felt so much better after sleeping. I have to be honest and say that I'm not really one for naps. During the holidays, when the whole family is snoozing after dinner, I'm the one knitting or reading. On Sundays (our rest day), when Andy and Kris are resting, I'm the one again knitting, reading, or doing stuff around the house. Even being 8 1/2 months pregnant, I haven't really felt an incredible need to nap during the day, except for this morning. While it felt good physically, it totally screwed me up mentally so hardly anything got done that I wanted (although I did manage to get the dishes finished and some laundry folded and put away). I guess I could be doing something around the house instead of sitting here typing this but hey... What's the fun in that? On that note, I'm going to catch up on some magazine reading (I've got 2 stacks dating back to the summer) and maybe knit another square on Trinity's baby blanket. Until next time, much love and many blessings!


♥Courtney♥

Overwhelmed

That completely describes my mood today. I don't mean just a little, but completely, totally, 100% overwhelmed--by everything. I don't even know what brought on this feeling; well, yes I do. After I got up this morning, the realization that I'm 35 weeks pregnant and in 3 weeks I'm going to have a squirming little bundle of joy crying every few hours really hit me (and I don't remember having this feeling with Kris). I started thinking about absolutely everything I still have to do and get and organize and just freaked! Her nursery is no where close to even being started. Thankfully, we're picking up the crib and changing table this weekend so at least that will be taken care of. I still have to go through bags of clothes that were given to us and figure out a place to put them. My plan was to make her crib set (the bumpers, skirt, sheet, valance, etc.) although now that's not looking like an option due to financial constraints. We haven't purchased the diapers yet and I'm not sure how or when we'll be able to do that. Then I started freaking because I need to find someone who can stay with Kris for the few days I'll be in the hospital so that she can still go to school--and that's not even half of what was racing through my mind today! I'm not going to bore you with my emotional, hormone-driven freak-out so let's move on to goals...

Business:

Tomorrow, I'm sitting down and mapping out the individual action plan(s) for each months goals. I know that having individual steps and breaking down the larger goals will help me be successful in achieving what I want. Once those are mapped out, it's on to putting them in motion.

Spiritual:

The goal that I set for myself was to spend a minimum of 15 minutes each day to read, ponder, and pray about scripture. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened. I have done some reading, especially each night with Kristi, but not the amount I wanted. I definitely need to step it up on this one.

Relational:

I've been in contact with more of my family and friends in the past week and have made some plans for get-together's--so far, so good!


So on that note, I don't really have anything else to talk about so I'm calling it an early night. Until next time, much love and many blessings!


♥Courtney♥

The first of the year

The first of each year is supposed to bring about change--change from old habits, change towards new goals--change. When I sit down and think about 2011, there are so many great and wonderful memories like marrying my best friend, finding out we're expecting, being in both of my sister's weddings, my honeymoon, vacation with the Echterlings, and a multitude of other things. There are also many things I had hoped to accomplish but did not. I'm not so sure I want to roll over those goals or not. What I do know is that goal help propel us forward, no matter what area of life they relate to. I have many different types of goals like business, knitting, blogging, personal, spiritual, and relational. Each area has its own set yet they are all intertwined and create the fabric of my life, essentially: me. So as I sit here and think about what it is I want to accomplish this year, I'm not only pondering specific things I want to accomplish but also how that will fit into my neat little box of time. Without further ado, here are my 2012 goals:

Business:

I've sat down and thought about this/these goals many times. I've had one main goal and that was to be an Executive Director by a certain time. I have yet to hit that. I'm revamping this to not reflect a position level but an actual dollar amount. By the end of 2012, I want to be making enough money to not only replace my previous income but also bring Andy home with me. That is my long-term, yearly goal. Here is how I'm going to get there:

• By February 29, be making a minimum of $2000 a month and supporting at least 25 clients
• By April 15, supporting at least 25 clients and have a minimum of 3 health coaches
• By May 31, be making a minimum of $3000 a month, supporting at least 25 clients, and have a minimum of 5 health coaches on my team
• By July 31, be a certified health coach
• By September 30, be making a minimum of $4500 a month, supporting at least 30 clients, and have a minimum of 7 health coaches
• By December 31, be making a minimum of $6000 a month, supporting at least 30 clients, and have a minimum of 10 health coaches

This is a really scary prospect to put it all out there, in open internet space. I know the minute I hit publish, that's it. I can't take it back. I honestly don't even know how many people will read this but even if no one does, it feels good to get it down on paper (well my computer screen). I have been struggling with motivation. I get all hyped up and ready to go but then that hype starts to fade and I lose the motivation to follow-through. Well, not this year! This is going to be the most amazing year yet for our family and for my business!

Knitting

I know I usually keep this part seperated from this blog since those posts alone can be pretty lengthy but I'm talking about goals. I have to include these because it's such an integral part of my life, my spirit, my being. So here's what I'm going to accomplish this year:

• Create at least 5 patterns with only 2 of those being dishcloths
• Knit one gift for every family member for Christmas and/or birthdays this year
• Have at least 15 completed projects by the end of the year

That doesn't seem so hard but when I think of some of the things I want to make people, I'm just not sure if there's going to be enough time to do that. I like challenges though!

Blogging

Last year, my goal was blog everyday, even if only something minute. That obviously didn't happen so I'm going to revamp that one a little too. I find that sometimes I just don't have anything to talk about. Instead of blogging every day, my goal this year is to blog at least twice a week. If I do more, great. I think this will be helpful not only to help me remember things (we all know how incredibly forgetful I am), but also help update family members who I don't always get to talk to on a regular basis on the happenings at the Kramer household. So this is number one for this week!

Spiritual

Last years goal for this was to have a quiet time every day. I started out pretty well with this but have since slacked. I don't have an excuse nor will I even attempt to make one. The simple fact is just that I need to do this every day. My goal to start out is to spend a minimum of 15 minutes reading the bible and pondering what I've read/praying about it. As of right now, the best time for me to do that is right after Kristi gets off to school. I have a few hours before Andy wakes up for the day in which to do that.

Last but certainly not least...

Relational

What I mean by relational is relationships. I'm very bad at keeping in contact with people. I say I'll call back but always forget (sorry mom!) and I don't make plans with people much. So my goal this year is to make more time not only for my friends and family, but also more quality for Kristi, Andy, and I.

Okay... so that about sums up goals for the year. I'll definitely be reflecting on these each week as well as revising them throughout the year so be sure to stay tuned! Moving on to the family part of this...

We celebrated Christmas with Kristi this past Monday. Andy's parents came over to join us for the day which was really great. It was so much fun spending time with them and letting them enjoy Kristi opening their gifts. We started with a pancake, egg, and turkey bacon breakfast (and of course coffee). Then moved on to preparing for his parents to arrive. I have to say that I was very proud of how patient Kristi was in delaying the opening of her presents until his parents arrived. We watched Kristi open all her gifts from them and Santa's gifts and then had lunch. We had steamed shrimp with potato salad and both were amazing! Next up was supposed to be watching the traditional Ruldolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (original 1964 clay-motion version), Frosty the Snowman, and A Charlie Brown Christmas. I downloaded and burned the movies the week before; however, failed to check the DVD and realized after trying to play it that the sound didn't work on the DVD. I stupidly already deleted the files from my computer so I couldn't even hook that up to the TV to play. So we watched Percy Jackson in HD instead. LoL! Not exactly Christmas but that's okay. We ended the day with a small ice cream dessert while Kristi tried out her new Innotab (her "kid" iPad as she likes to call it). Here's a couple of photo highlights:

Well, that's about all I have for today so until next time, much love and many blessings!


♥Courtney♥

Fall is Definitely Here

Oh yeah, fall is definitely here! This morning I took stock of exactly why I was feeling more of fall today than other day this year thus far. I'm thinking it had something to do with the 51 degree weather upon waking up and walking the dogs, the pumpkin bagel with homemade pumpkin cream cheese for breakfast, and sipping on my homemade pumpkin spiced coffee (and by homemade I mean I added pumpkin spice to the coffee grounds). Yeah... I absolutely love this time of year. Not only is it the return of everything pumpkin, but it's that much closer to winter and Christmas, which is hands down my absolute favorite time of the year.

I'm really excited that next Monday is Halloween. Halloween usually doesn't do anything for me, but this year, I actually get to take Kris trick-or-treating. I haven't been able to do that since she was very little. The last time she was here 2 years ago, I was really sick and unable to take her. This year, she's being Ariel from The Little Mermaid (big shocker!). I love that she's so much like me and this is one thing she and I can share together. Sometimes I feel a little left out in that area because she has the He-Man/She-Ra/Thundercats thing with Andy. Anyway...

Business is going great. I had a meeting with my business coach today which was completely invaluable! I have never felt more at ease with this business thing. I have found it so completely overwhelming and she really helped me see that it's not overwhelming at all. Just take things a step at a time, map out a plan, and manage time efficiently is about all I need to do. It makes me feel great and oh-so-excited to work for myself and be here for my family whenever I'm needed. :-)

This week has been pretty crazy so far. We've been dog-sitting Matt's two adorable dogs, so that's been crazy in and of itself. Our family is definitely not used to having to pick every little thing up and closing all our doors. Needless to say, they drank out of the toilet a few times (clean mind you) and chewed up a couple of Kristi's things but all in all it wasn't too bad. Monday I hung out with Wendy a little. After getting my hair done, we went for lunch at Chili's (love that place!). Yesterday we had a play date with one of Kristi's classmates. That was our second play date so far and both have been fun for both the kids and moms. I'm excited to spend some time with another mom which I definitely don't get to do very often. Today was mostly just working my business, knitting the rest of the ornaments for Carol, and spending time with Kristi. Thankfully, the rest of this week isn't terribly busy (definitely a blessing). Kris has a birthday party on Saturday and Sunday we're heading to York for Carol's birthday party. I'm really excited for that. It's not very often our whole family gets together so it'll be nice to spend some time together.

This past weekend was my sister's bridal shower and it was totally awesome! Everyone had so much fun. Here's a couple of pictures from the party:

Well that's about all I have for now so until next time, much love and many blessings!


♥Courtney♥

What Not to Crave

So two weeks ago I got a hankering for chocolate. Since most chocolate hurts my teeth (I have extremely sensitive teeth), I thought I'd try eating a Twix bar instead. Big. Mistake. OMGosh all I have wanted and craved in the past 2 weeks is Twix! I never realized just how much I LOVE them! I've been doing really well with eating healthy my whole pregnancy so I thought I'd treat myself and by a small bag of the fun-sized bars. Again I say... Big. Mistake. I have come to realize that I absolutely CANNOT control myself with these babies. That bag was seriously in my house less than 24 hours. So, being the health coach that I am, I now recognize that under no circumstances can Twix bars be in our house. I'm not really sure how I'm going to handle Halloween yet, but I have another week to figure that out!

My second and only other pregnancy craving so far has been muenster cheese. This was my absolute favorite cheese when I was a kid. I haven't had it since moving in with my husband 3 years ago. Although, now that I really think about it, I don't think I've had any since I was a tween. Oh wait, that's a lie. Anytime I've eaten at Isaac's, I've had it. I forgot it's on the Boardwalk Gull. LoL! Anyway... I was at the grocery store the other day and picked some up. Cheese has never tasted so good to me. :-) If you haven't tried muenster cheese before, I highly recommend it. Cheese is definitely one of those funny foods you have to be careful with. I mean, in the health sense. There are many positive attributes to cheese like calcium, protein, etc., but if you're not careful, it's very easy to eat more than the recommended amount; therefore, eating excess calories and fat. I've been doing great on that front so far. Speaking of...

On Monday, we had a baby appointment. I got to see my favorite doctor and ask lots of questions. One of the things I wanted to discuss with her was my weight. I guess as my stomach continues to grow, I'm noticing that that isn't the only thing growing. I wanted to make sure I am on a positive weight track with this pregnancy. One of my biggest regrets with Kristi's pregnancy was not eating healthy. And because of that, I am making a conscience effort to eat healthy with Trinity. Granted, I slip-up (um.. read above) but I can say that overall, I'm eating very well in comparison (thank you TSFL!). She said that I am actually under for my weight gain but that it's okay since I was a little overweight to start. As of that appointement, I have only gained 15 pounds and can gain up to 23 pounds by this point so that made me feel really good. She also discussed us getting a level two ultrasound. Since my last one was at 18 weeks, the technician was unable get very clear anatomy pictures. That's scheduled for Nov. 7th so we'll get to see Trinity again (yay!!) and verify that she's definitely a girl. LoL! Andy still thinks we're going to find different anatomy or he just likes teasing me about it. :-) Moving on...

TSFL is going well. I haven't actually signed up any new clients as of yet, but this week I made the decision that this is it. It's either now or never--I'm either going to do this or not. I've been dabbling with this since April of last year and haven't been focusing on my business; although, I still haven't quite figured out why. But this past week, I made the decision that it will be my primary focus. So I've started looking at the training videos, renewed my license, ordered the new file system, set goals, and am continuing to master my craft. I've made it a priority to do something everyday, whether it's 10 minutes reading the Habits of Health or an hour of phone calls--just something. I have found that when I constantly surround myself with it, my momentum stays up. I don't want to just be a health coach--I want to be a GREAT health coach; someone my clients can depend on. I want to work from the comfort of my own home and be in my pj's. I want to watch my children grow up and not miss a single step or milestone in their lives. Most of all, I want my family and I to be happy and healthy and stress-free (yes, I understand we'll never be completely stress-free). I want to be able to participate in functions at school and be an active member of South Hamilton's PTA, more than just going to a meeting every month. I want to volunteer more of my time at church and be a part of all the wonderful opportunities that are there like choir and Upwards Basketball. Being in business for myself will allow me to have all these things and then some. I'm just not sure why it's taken me so long to realize that.

Tomorrow is my sister's bridal shower. I'm so excited for her and can't wait to spend time with her, my mom, and bestie. We're going to have a lot of fun. I'm really looking forwad to her wedding in a couple of weeks as well. It's going to be beautiful as will she. Kris and I had our first fitting for our dresses tonight. I'm really surprised that she only has to shorten Kristi's straps. I thought she was going to have to take the sides in some. On mine, she has to take in the bust, add some extra boning in the back, and hem the bottom. All in all, not too much and she does amazing work!

On that note, I'm going to work on Carol's birthday present so until next time, much love and many blessings!

♥Courtney♥

Failed

Some call it lackadaisical; some call it lazy; and others just call it....BUSY! Yes, I realize I haven't updated in oh about 3 weeks-ish. And in light of that, I'm officially finished the 100 day photo challenge. I accept defeat. I know it only takes a few minutes to post but seriously, those few precious moments could be used to knit like, oh I don't know, at least 3 stitches! No seriously though... I've just been overwhelmingly busy. Each and every weekend is filled with a crazy amount of stuff because that's the only time we have as a family to do things. Okay, let me back up and explain...

I got very busy with cleaning our house and generally just stuff. Well, 2 weeks ago, I started a full time job with Rubber Sheet Roll as the senior administrator. I seriously love this company and my job. They're Christian based which is definitely a positive. Anyway... I started working 8:30-4 but have since changed to 9-5. The drive's not bad--only about 20 min and most of that is just because I have to drive at 25 mph through town. With that said, I do miss time with my soon-to-be hubby. We only see each other for about 10 minutes in the morning and then I leave. Since he works second shift, that's about all we have until Saturdays. I do have to say though that this lack of time spent together is already helping our relationship. We're already cherishing the little time we spend together.

So where am I with goals. Sadly enough, there's not much to report with those either. (You know, for not updating for almost a month, you'd think I'd have more to talk about!) So here goes:

Business: Neither is where I want them to be. Waugh Street Note Service has yet to do anything, despite my marketing efforts and I'm really not sure how to fix that. I'm also worried that this isn't going to go anywhere because now that I'm working full-time outside the house, I have that much less time for researching leads, especially since the courthouse is only open the hours I'm at work. I have a way of looking up leads online but it's uber expensive. TSFL really isn't going anywhere either. I was doing really well for awhile with making my prospect calls and whatnot but that seems to have died off. In some aspects, I just feel like such a failure at this stuff. I want to believe that I'm an awesome entrepreneur and that everything is going great but the reality that I'm facing is that it's not. I'm not really sure where to go from here...

Weight loss: Since last time I updated, I have no idea how much I'm down. With that said, since starting this journey, I've lost a total of 38.2 lbs. Definitely can't complain about that! I was supposed to start transition this week but decided that I'm going to stay on plan. I want to be at a healthy weight and have the habits instilled to stay at a healthy weight when we start trying for kids.

Room of the day: Well, that's not really a "room of the day" goal anymore. It's more like a clean-fest wherever, whenever.

Quiet time: Unfortunately, this is gone by the way side. I'm not really sure how to fit this in my schedule. I barely wake up in enough time to get ready for work. I thought about before bed but most nights, I'm just so exhausted and can't process any more information. I don't know. Maybe if I can squeeze in a verse or two day would be better than nothing at all??

Other than that, life hasn't been too crazy. The wedding is coming fast--only 24 days!!! I seriously can't believe it's so close! I'm going to be Mrs. Andrew Kramer... Awww! Anyway...

Something that struck me the other day was another blog I was reading. If you're not familiar with Shabby Blogs, you should totally check it out. The woman is seriously and beautifully creative and I very much envy her stuff. Which brings me to the point of telling you this... She posted an entry the other day titled Just Say NO to Blog Envy. What I found amazing is that this not only applies to blogs but also everyday life! There are so many things I'm envious of like curly hair, being super thin and still eating whatever I want, being the perfect mom, having money to do whatever, whenever I want, etc. But really...Why be envious? I mean, I am so incredibly blessed, more than I ever hoped to be. Why should I waste my time feeling bad that my life isn't exactly as I planned it or I don't have what everyone else has? The fact is, God made me unique. I'm creative, beautiful, fun, and love being alive. There is nothing else that God could give me to make me be any more awesome. I'm awesome because He made me that way. :-)

Well that's about all I have for today. Until next time, much love and many blessings!

♥Courtney♥

Myself & a family member (Day 26)

Okay... So yes, I'm falling behind again, but that's okay. Next installment of the photo challenge:

Bentzel & Slimmer families (my future in-laws)

Mom & niece

Sister

Mom, dad, & future brother-in-law

I know it's supposed to be one photo but I just don't have a photo of everyone. :-)

I get these feelings at times that blogging can be such a chore. But they're usually only fleeting moments. I really do enjoy blogging, especially about what's going on with my goals and such. I really think it helps me not only recount what's going on in a particular day/season in my life but also just put my thoughts and feelings on paper. I have a horrible memory so this is something I can look back on and be like, "Oh yeah! I totally forgot about that!" Anyway...

 Goals

Business: I've been doing pretty good on this front with TSFL. I've made a lot more prospecting calls as well as talking to people about it on my everyday journeys. It's getting much easier to talk to people about it and I love the feeling I get knowing I've helped someone. I've been making an effort to stay connected with the support calls and meetings each week. They're really helping me stay focused and revving me up. The tasting I held on the 19th was exciting and disappointing at the same time. I had a really great time and was definitely appreciative of my business coach coming along for the ride! It definitely gave me more confidence in myself as a health coach. I guess I get these concepts in my head of how I think things are supposed to go so when they don't go that way, it freaks me out. This has definitely been a difficult journey for me, not so much the business aspects of it but getting my confidence under me. I am wholeheartedly one of those people who need to know everything about my subject before trying to teach or help others. I hate being asked a question(s) and not know the answer(s). It's one of the qualities that make me such a great trainer (and possess a certain lack of modesty.. LoL!). Just this week, when speaking with my coach, I realized that I really don't need to know everything. It's really okay not to know everything because I have an amazing support system in this business. If I don't know the answer--which let's face it, I won't always know the answer no matter how much I study--I have an array of people who will and/or can point my client to where they need to go to find the answer. Another reason I feel I need to know everything is because I love teaching. It's been a passion since middle school. But again, I realized during that same call that teaching is not my job. My job is to point my clients in the right direction and let them take ownership of their journey. This week so far has been amazing with realizations and I am so excited to see what the future has in store with this!


Weight loss: I honestly have nothing to report here. My weigh in yesterday was definitely not anywhere close to being correct and I'm 99.9% sure it's because I drank a TON of soda on Sunday, and a lot of that within a few hours before going to bed. Yeah, learned my lesson on that one. Needless to say, I'll be laying off the soda, especially right before bed.

Room of the day: Pretty much the same. Getting done, for the most part. I at least get the rooms cleaned, just not always dusted.

Quiet time: I have to really get back on track with this. I'm disappointed in myself for not sticking with it and it's not that I don't want to, I just always seem to have a mountain of crap that gets in the way. I know I need to start going to bed earlier than midnight or 1 a.m. everyday. That will definitely help with me snoozing until I have to get Kris out of bed.

So what's been going on with me... Alot. We've been pretty busy, frustrated, annoyed, happy, sad, and a myriad of other emotions. Kristi and I have been solidly working on our wedding favors. We've got 39 of 67 completed (well as completed as can be). We picked up the centerpiece hurricane's over the weekend. I was really excited about that because they're gorgeous and perfect and only $1.50 a piece! Score! I'm totally stoked. We also picked up the pillar and taper candles for the unity set I'll be making/decorating. When I first started looking, I couldn't believe the price of unity candle sets! Craziness! I'll be able to make it perfectly what we want for a quarter of the cost. I love being crafty :-)

I am officially graduating with my degree on July 16th. I seriously felt like the day would never come. I have about 5 weeks of class and will be completely finished. All I have to do yet is order my cap and gown!

Well that's about all I have for now so until next time, much love and many blessings!

♥Courtney♥

Something that means a lot to me (Day 25)

The very first thing that pops into my head is family. I don't have a picture of all of them so for times sake, I'm not actually going to post a picture for this. Let's just say that all of my family has helped shape me into who I am today. Without them, I don't know where I'd be. They mean the absolute world to me (even though that's not always expressed)! I love each and every one of you and am so grateful that you are all in my life! <3<3<3

So a few months ago (I think??) I told you that one of my goals as a new cook was to take unhealthy recipes and try to make them healthier. Well, being back on plan has kind of hindered that process because of the limitations on what I can eat. I have definitely still been looking for healthier options for when we start transition and maintenance. I recently found a website called Sandy's Kitchen. She's a military wife who's husband is currently deployed. She's come up with many recipes that are 5&1 friendly and so far, I've tried three of them. They are all uh-mazing! I mean, really truly awesome! Of course, as a coach I always recommend double checking counts because as I am prone to do, people do make mistakes. One of the most amazing things about being a health coach is the amazing amount of support surrounding me not only as a client but also as a coach. One of my favorite supports is Nutritional Support. Whenever I find a recipe that isn't 5&1 friendly, I send it to them to see if there is a way to make it 5&1 friendly. That was a little off topic and I'm sorry... There really was a point to that blurb. No, really... There was! So anyway, on Saturday, I made her recipe for taco salad. I. Love. Tacos. Alot. So when I saw this, um yeah, I knew that was definitely first on my list! Here were my adjustments: I substituted Weight Watchers Shredded Mexican Cheese for the 2% Mexican Cheese called for in the recipe and did not use the salad dressing. Instead, I put 2 tbsp of salsa. Here's how it looked:

The next recipe I made was the Buffalo Chicken in the Slow Cooker. My modifications were substituting 1/4 of Texas Pete's Hot Sauce for the Frank's Hot Wing Sauce (the store didn't have Frank's) and only using 1 tbsp of salad dressing per serving instead of 2. I used Ken's Light Options Olive Oil & Vinegar. I also shredded my chicken before cooking it. I would also recommend using a smaller crock pot if available. Mine is a 5-qt (I think... All I know is it's BIG) and instead of taking 6 to 8 hours to cook on low, it only took 3. But it still turned out amazing!

Today, I made the Asian Lettuce Wraps. This is probably the one I was most excited for. I like most Asian foods and especially love PF Chang's lettuce wraps. I have to say, these were pretty amazing! My only modification to this was using a stir-fry seasoning in place of the szechwan seasoning. All the nutritional values were the same but the only szechwan seasoning I could find was hot & spicy. Now, that wouldn't bother me but there's no way on the planet Little Love would eat it. I used 93/7 ground turkey, not the beef. Even with substituting, it came out amazing! Kristi loved it!

Tomorrow, I'll be making the Mexican Fiesta Taco Turkey Burgers. I'll let you know how they turn out! On to goals...

Quiet time: Has definitely not been consistent. Needless to say, I'm finding it more difficult than I thought getting to bed earlier thus waking up earlier. I've been doing pretty good about being in bed no later than 11 and lights out at 11:30 or 12 (depending on how tired I am), but when that annoying sounds starts buzzing in my ear at 7 am, I just can't seem to get myself out of bed. I'll lay there and snooze for like 40 20 minutes before actually getting up. I do have to say though that I am much happier with sticking to my bedtime schedule and the fact that I'm at least cracking my bible open more than just Sundays. I know I can't change everything all at once, so I'm doing a little at a time and am happy with the progress I've made so far (which also pertains to my next goal).

Room of the day: See above.

Business: I've really been working my TSFL business. While I'm not feeling like I'm making much progress, I'm feeling more connected and like I'm on track. My goal was to be an Executive Director by the end of this month. I'm about 12 clients short of that goal, but I'm definitely working on it. Each and every day is a new challenge but yet, an old fear is put to rest. I finally figured out what was holding me back with this business (which I previously shared with you). Knowing now what that is has helped me move forward. Last week's leadership call gave me that final boost of motivation and will help me reach my goals. And while I'm on that specific subject, my goal right now is be an Executive Director by the end of March and have Andy home with us all the time by the end of the year. If I continue on the path I'm going, it is very attainable. And secretly, I'm actually trying to best myself to see just how fast I can get him home. :-)

Weight loss: Ugh! To spare you the gory details, there were certain aspects of this past week that I know affected my loss. Stupid nature!! I know I screwed up my condiment counts a few days this past week so I'm making sure to plan each day before it begins so I know exactly what condiments will be used when. I also have a proud moment to share along these lines. Andy and I both went to Eli's second birthday party on Sunday. Yes, I hear you saying... And????....I'm getting to that. We are both suckers for sweets, like cake, ice cream, etc. We knew we had this coming, so we planned ahead. He took along one of his bars and I took a brownie (which is very cake-like although I didn't end up actually eating it). We also brought our L&G meals (salads) to eat right at the beginning of the party so we wouldn't be starving the whole time while there. He and I both stayed completely OP the whole time! It was definitely a major victory for both of us and I couldn't be prouder of him (if you know us, you know why this is so exciting and needs to be shared)! 

Well, this is getting long so I'm off to read for a few. Until next time, much love and many blessings!

♥Courtney♥