Liz's Progress Report 4

Goal: De-clutter

I've worked on de-cluttering my lifestyle, if that makes sense. I have really focused on only keeping what I really want, and not adding to clutter. I haven't gotten rid of a darn thing in weeks, but that is okay. We are using this move as a good reason to declutter, especially because we just picked up several huge boxes of Jeff's stuff from his sisters house that has been collecting dust since he moved in (back in 2010). When we move to the new place, we will go through and select what we want, and what we don't need. Example- I opened one box and saw a pastry brush- it was much cooler than the brush I have, so I know for certain we will get rid of that.

We also got some free furniture from Jeff's sister-- including a beautiful shelf I have to repaint, but it will display my GWTW collection (well, a small fraction of it). This saved money since we didn't have to buy a nice piece of furniture, and I can actually make use of the collection I am keeping. I can't possibly part with this collection, so I might as well display it and enjoy it.

Goal: Lose Weight

Stress eating is the worst.
I left my sneakers in my car, and the car was at the garage for 3 days last week. So I didn't run.
I quit my gym because it wasn't making me happy anymore, and it was annoying me that it cost $35 a month.

So, I failed. 

I did stop a medication that is proven to cause weight gain...so.....we can see what happens?
I also have been scheduling myself out on the grounds a lot. I'm hoping that wearing a lot of clothes in the heat can just help me sweat the pounds off.....

Goal for next week: Stop eating ice cream so much. Drink more water. Keep being outside.

Goal: Debt

My husband and I have been doing soo good planning our budget and really figuring out how much we have to spend- and then we got a little ahead of ourselves (and excited about the move) that we started planning all these big purchases (when I say "big" I mean a couple hundred for this, and possibly a couple hundred for something else- all in all it was way more money than we should have even thought about). We didn't actually get anything- so that is good. We came to our senses and realized we have more than we need in our lives- and we don't need any of that stuff we were looking at. My husband got mad at me when I got home because I had been looking up the furniture we wanted on craigslist. Sure, its cheaper, but its still money!!!

We came home and reevaluated our budget - and *gasp* we actually transferred money to our savings account. We have a plan that could really put us in a better place in as little as 4-5 months. We just can't get carried away.

Also this week BOTH our cars needed taken in to the shop. Not fun. But, now we have two working cars.

Goal: Career

I am happy to have a job that lets me be creative. I am also happy to have a job that I can be outside all day and work with little kids. I am excited for the next few weeks of working outside and doing programming. If I take things day by day, or week by week, it is much easier for me to figure out.
My personality doesn't really think like that, though. So, I'm just going to have to work on it. I am also excited to meet with J about our conference this fall. I actually was brainstorming my presentation yesterday and *gasp* got excited.

I told the COA last week that I was worried I lost my passion for this- but I have moments where I get excited about an idea, or when I get a kiss on the cheek from a senior citizen visitor who told me I should be very proud of myself-- that I realize I still have the passion.