Funky Friday

I've decided that I'm in a funk! I'm not exactly sure why, things in my life are going pretty well. Wedding plans are coming together more and more every day (just over 4 months to go!), our house is actually starting to look like a home, minus the bathroom that we hate...contractor coming soon :) work is going great and I'm surrounded by amazing people. So what is wrong with me?!?

A little back story: Being a Fitness and Wellness major in college, I was always in the gym. I even made it a point to hop on the elliptical for 2 hours a day twice a week between classes (an hour in the am and an hour in the pm...no way could i do 2 solid hours). Since graduating and moving away from my million dollar student gym at EKU, my motivation, and the convenience has been very little. I've always walked, having dogs, it's a definite must but I've never really been interested in running or anything. So, last year, I decided to give our local Y a shot. I found a couple fitness classes that I really liked and even convinced my friend Kali to go with me. We were doing so well and going 3 times a week...then she went on vacation! Let's face it, working out is always more fun with someone. After her vacation, I went on vacation so missing two consecutive weeks was all the distraction I needed. I would say it has been August since I've been to a Body Pump class, which I really liked. I did test a few spinning classes at the advice of my soon to be sister-in-law (Kelsey) and I enjoyed it for the most part. So, here is my problem. I commute just over an hour to work, the latest class the Y offers is at 5:30 and I do not get to leave work until 5...do you see where I'm going with this?

Tonight, Keil and I went to dinner at Tumbleweed and then ventured around our little mall (mostly to wait out the rain) and I ran into Hibbetts. I a shoe freak...self proclaimed! You'd say it too if you saw my closet! For some reason I'm convinced that if I had cool new workout shoes, I'd workout. I think I'd really like to start running...crazy, I know. But, I know I will need good running shoes or I'll just be miserable. I found a pair of the new Reebok Run Tones, a new version of the Easy Tone, that were super comfortable. They aren't too cute but like the salesman said, you don't buy running shoes for style (obviously he's never seen my shoe collection either).

Now, I know you're wondering if I bought the shoes...NO (that's right, I said no). I did, however, make a deal with myself that if I workout everyday for 2 weeks, no excuses, I can get the new shoes. I mean really, there is no reason to buy new workout shoes in hopes that they will motivate me to workout. I figure, my reward for working out will be the shoes :) I know that not only will I get to sport some new shoes but I'll feel better and look better, which is the ultimate goal. I know that becoming more active again will make a huge difference in me...I've just got to get there! Keil thinks I'm crazy but I think he's willing to go along with it. Wish me luck...I really want those shoes

Happy 1st Birthday!

Davin has officially made it one whole year! In honor of his birthday I decided to show off some pics of his first year.

My Love(s)

On Saturday, we took Davin to have his 1st birthday pictures made. Gosh, can you believe it's already been year since that amazing little boy entered this world and stole my heart? I sure can't! While we were there, we had the photographer take a few shots of Aryanna too...she wasn't too happy about having her picture taken (she'll get over that). As Davin's birthday gets closer, I can't help but think about all of the extreme ups and downs that have taken place over the last year...boy, has it been a wild ride! Everyone says that when you become a mother for the first time, you experience "real love", I believe it has happened already for me! That little boy is the absolute light of my life. He is such an important part of my life and always will be, I just hope he knows how much he is loved by so many people. As you know, we were recently blessed with the birth of my niece. Less than one year after Davin's arrival, we had another special delivery, Aryanna! I cannot wait to get to know her and all of the little things that make her special...she has a tough act to follow but I'm sure she'll bring just as much joy and happiness to all of us as Davin does. Anyway, here are a few shots from their session on Saturday!The Birthday Boy!Goodnite y'all :)

Aryanna Lashay Marie

Yesterday morning at 11:09am the world became a little more beautiful! My niece FINALLY arrived. She weighed in at 7lbs 5oz and was 20.5 inches long, she has a very little bit of blonde hair and her eyes are blue! When my nephew, Davin, was born I was a bit of a chicken and didn't watch the birth, I waited in the waiting room down the hall once the pushing part started. But for some reason yesterday I was completely intrigued and wanted to watch the whole thing. Start to finish, I was there (and my eyes were open the whole time). My mom laughs because when the doctor and nurses would tell Shynika to push, I would push too! I guess I thought I was helping! Her delivery was grueling, Aryanna was "sunny side up" meaning her face was up instead of down and it made her entry into our lives a little more difficult. She also had some issues earlier in the morning, she had a bowel movement inside the uterus, which can be pretty serious. But, the nurses were prepared and as soon as she was out they were suctioning her lungs and airways to remove all of the meconium. They were very successful and she didn't even have to spend anytime in the NICU.

She is absolutely perfect and we couldn't be more excited that she is finally here! Mom and baby are both doing great and are expected to get to go home on Wednesday. Big Brother, Davin, just wants to give her kisses!

Q: Where Have I Been?

A: Drowning in this move!

We closed on the house last Tuesday, 8 days ago, and in that short amount of time I seem to have misplaced my life. Luckily, I have a super considerate supervisor and she allowed me to have 2 days off last week to work on house stuff. So, Tuesday and Wednesday I worked much harder than I would have if I had spent the day in the office. Tuesday I painted the kitchen, clean the dishwasher, refrigerator, oven and all of the kitchen cabinets (which I plan to paint soon). On Wednesday, our mothers came to the rescue! Instead of being there by myself for 12 hours I was blessed with the company of Keil's mom and mine. We worked nonstop and actually got a big chunk of stuff accomplished: painted the living room, stairways and hallway upstairs, primed our master bedroom (because Keil wanted to paint it red) and did a ton of cleaning. That evening, Keil and our dad's moved furniture in...that is where it got a little crazy!
In the beginning of this whole house buying process, we decided that we would work on the house and get the majority of the stuff accomplished before moving in a single thing! The original timeline went something like this: closing date, April 30, cleaning and painting until all rooms are ready for move-in (tentatively May 15) and THEN move-in, unpack and live happily ever after! Well, at least it was a good plan! Here is the way it has actually gone: closing date April 27, painting of 2 rooms and living room/dining room furniture moved in along with millions of boxes on April 28...continuous work and moving and unpacking to date! Me losing my mind April 30...I know we will make it but sometimes the craziness is more than I can handle. I just want to know where all of my stuff is and that it is accessible at all times. Is that too much to ask?
We actually spent our first night there on Friday (April 30)...on our mattress in the living room floor. Being a split level house, the stairway going down to our bedroom is not tall enough for our box spring to fit so we've had to special order a queen size, double box spring. They estimate delivery early next week. So for now, our mattress in on the floor in our bedroom (I could only take the mattress being in the living room for 2 days).
The puppies are adjusting well. Toby and Jenna were a little skeptical of the stairs for a day or so, they would just stand there and look at us like we were crazy! Levi never had that problem...he's been full blast since day 1. He even made a new friend, we call him Charlee. He's the cutest little dog and has been camped out on our deck since Saturday...maybe we'll keep him because he and Levi are like 2 peas in a pod!
Little by little it is starting to look like a home and I couldn't be more glad! We took the cover off of the pool on Sunday and have been cleaning leaves and whirly birds out of it ever since. Maybe we'll actually get to open it soon...that'll definitely help my sadness about the chaos! Last night I hung curtains in our bedroom and living room but I refuse to hang them elsewhere until those rooms are painted (only 4 more rooms to go!)
Tonight's task: Paint Master Bath and hopefully I can coax Keil into helping so it will not take as long!
Anyway...here is the new casa (well, the outside anway) More pics to come, I promise!