Month in Review - January

I had a great but busy start to 2016 in January.

We started off by doing the Resolution Run & Polar Bear Plunge.  That was so much fun.  I really enjoyed starting the year off with that.  You do a mile run and then jump in the Puget Sound.  It kind of feels like you are washing away all the negativity and starting fresh, but damn was it cold.

Then we went to a cabin for hubby's Grandma's birthday at the base of Mt. Rainier.  It was really fun.  There was  snow and deer that you could just walk right up to.  We played some games and just had a nice relaxing time.

From the 13th to 18th we went to Disneyland for the Star Wars Half.  While we didn't get a chance to do as much as we would have liked ride wise (I was sick most of the trip and the one day we had a sitter lines were 80+ minutes for most rides!!!!) we had a blast as a family.  It was a great trip for relaxing family time.  I totally didn't PR because I was slacking in the training part but I finished.  Trip recap coming up soon.

Then we celebrated our 17 year anniversary by going to the Melting Pot and having a nice romantic dinner.

The last weekend of January we celebrated my Dad's birthday by going to his favorite restaurant Sizzler, browsed the Seattle Boat Show and then did a mass cleaning of the bathroom so we could put out our new Disney bathroom stuff.  Putting up all the new bathroom items makes me super excited to redo the bathroom.

My goals for next month are:

*Get back to the gym.  I have my gym bag all packed and ready to start this week.
*Research cameras.  I want to take better pictures and do some vlogs and it's time to upgrade my camera, I just don't know which one I want.
*Don't eat out. We have done ok this month and only eaten out a few times but my goal is to only eat out for my sisters Birthday.
*Do my first vlog.  I have been working on putting together one from our last trip, but man oh man does it take a long time to edit.  Plus the footage isn't that great so I have to do a lot of editing.

Here is to a fantastic February

Life

One of the biggest questions I get from friends, family and just regular people is how we travel so much.  I figured I would do a post on how we live our life in general which gives us the freedom to do so many things.  I am not saying this is right for everyone, but just what is right of us.

The hubby and I have been together for 17 years married for almost 11.  We met when I was still in High School.  Now I am not saying this is for everyone.  The hubby and I are very lucky to have the relationship we have and be where we are.  I love him more than anything in this world (except for the kiddo of course)   We have worked our butts off to get here.  He truly is my best friend and I know I can trust him with anything.  We have found what works for us and I am lucky to have a husband who has been willing to work through the ups and downs with me.  Crazy moments and all :)  The hubby and I have hit many a rough patch, and before we had the kiddo we separated for a small time period.  This truly was the best thing for our marriage.  It gave us the change to really see what we loved in each other and that we wanted nothing more than to be together and share our live with one another.  This isn't to say we don't have our arguments but we always find a way to work it out.

We bought our house a year before we got married, and luckily before the market went through the roof.  We only have about 950 square feet with two bedrooms and one bath.  I know a lot of people who can't believe we do it, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  This allows us to travel, have a boat, Seahawks tickets, etc.  I love having a smaller house.  It forces us to spend time together and really know what is going on with one another.  We eat all our dinners together, talk, and play a ton of games.  I feel like we are the Three Musketeers.


We spent years trying to get ourselves to a place where we have minimal debt and we lived with very little for a long time before we bought the house.  We had no cable TV, no Internet,  lived off of Raman Noodles & PB & J's and two very old vehicles we were given by our families when we were in High School.

When my Dad passed away a few years ago I was very lucky to have a decent inheritance.  This allowed us to pay off the hubbies vehicle and buy me a new one cash.  It also allowed us to buy "real" furniture for the house and pay off the final bit of debt we had.  We now have a few larger debts (mortgage & student loans, etc) and a few smaller debts and recurring monthly bills.  We learned many years ago that if we couldn't pay cash for it we didn't need it.  So we save up and pay cash for everything.

After my Dad died I took a really hard look at my life and thought what do I really want out of life.  Now before my dad got sick I always figured I would have a great big house with the newest vehicles and top of the line electronics which was how I grew up.  After my Dad got sick I realized none of that mattered to me.  All I could think about was memories I had with my Dad, which grew stronger after his passing.  My mom stayed at home while he worked.  He spent 30 years in the Air Force, followed by working at Boeing and the Post Office.  In 2003 my dad took to me Italy and I fell in love with traveling.  My Dad worked really hard to support our family and there were sometimes that he didn't get to spend as much time with us because he was TDY or had to work late. He would always say to me"Kiddo when I retire I am going to travel and I am taking you and your family with me"  It never happened.  My dad passed away at the age of 57.  He got sick with cancer at 56.  Way too young in my opinion to go, and with so much life left to live.  I made my decision at that moment that I didn't want to skimp on memories.


Coming up on my Dad's birthday this week and the 10 year anniversary of his passing in a few months, I am reminded that the decisions that the hubby and I have made in our lives are worth the sacrifices.  I look forward to making many more happy memories with my family.

Again I am not saying that this is how everyone should live, just how we live our lives.  I am a true believer that everyone must make their own happiness and just because your choices wouldn't make others happy or people are a bit mean to you don't let them effect your happiness, just be you.

We did it

Just a quick post to say "WE DID IT"  We accomplished the 5K as a family and then the hubby did the Rebel Challenge which was the 10K and half and I did the half.  We had a fun time but man oh man was it busy.  I am going to work on getting up a trip recap this weekend along with maybe a vlog or two.  I will keep you posted.  I still have to unpack which is the worst part of coming back from a trip lol.

Disneyland

I can't believe that our trip is so close.  I am really excited but also a bit nervous for the race.  We haven't been training as hard as we should have so here is hoping that we finish it.

We have meals booked at Carnation Cafe, Blue Bayou, Steakhouse 55, & Wine Country Trattoria.  Since we are only going to be there for a few days we didn't feel the need to book every meal at a sit down.  I am looking forward to a few meals at Sonoma Terrace (cheese, yummy), Trader Sam's, and the Cozy Cone.

We are running the 5K on the 15th in the AM and then will head into the parks.  The hubby has the 10k on the 16th so he will go back to the room and sleep while the kiddo and I hang out in the parks.  Then the kiddo and I will watch him cross the finish line, then we will head upstairs and get the kiddo ready for his kids races. Then it will be into the parks for a while followed by an early night so that the hubby and I can run the half on the 17th.  It's a quick trip but it's going to be fun.  Once of the only downsides is that the pool is closed at our hotel :(  We do get to use either Paradise Pier's pool or Grand Californian hotel.  We have always wanted to try out the pool at the Gran Californian so I am looking at this as a great opportunity to try it out to decide if we want to stay there in the future.

I am working on getting some Vlogs up on youtube I will post as soon as I get those up. I am hoping that we can get some good footage of our trip.

For now I am off to finish up my packing list.  Have a great night (or day whenever you are reading this)

2016 Resolutions

I had a really awesome first day of 2016.  The three of us started out by doing the resolution run, which was just a 1 mile run at a marina followed by the polar bear plunge.  It was sooooo cold but worth it.  It almost felt cleansing if that makes any sense.    Then my sister came over and we did our Christmas with her.  She had traveled out of town this year.  She got us some really awesome gifts, and I hope she likes hers.

So I decided that I would do resolutions again this year, but I am going to actually print them off this year and put them in front of me so I can't just forget them.  So without further ado...

*Get healthy - This means mentally, emotionally, and health wise.  I need to become my best self, not just for me but for my family as well.

*Run at least one race as a family each month - You will probably see a few pop up that were in last years that I want to carry over and really do.  We were talking and decided we will pick a 5K to do as a family each month no excuses.  We have the Star Wars one coming up in two weeks which will start us off on the right foot.

*Let go of fear - I haven't talked to much about it but I have anxiety and have for years.  Some days are better than others, but last year was really kind of rough on me.  I need to really get it under control and not allow it to be so prevalent this year.

*Keep getting organized - I did a good job of staying organized but I am just starting.  There is a lot more I can do like get a cleaning schedule, blog schedule, etc.  

*Be more "natural" - I want to stop using and eating so many chemicals.  I started doing to "No poo" method with my hair and I love it!!!!  My hair used to be super thin and just flat.  Since I had the week off during Christmas I decided why not.  No shampoo was working anymore.  I do rye flour and vinegar about every 2 or 3 days and rinse with water each day.  My hair hasn't been this healthy, full, and shiny ever.  I think I want to start going more natural in my soap, lotions, etc.  

*Blog more - I know that I don't have a lot of followers or anything but I really love doing this blog.  It's kind of neat to go back and see what was going on or what my thoughts were.  So I am trying to come up with a more standard blogging schedule with some decent content.  I have a few ideas lets see how good I am on follow through.

*Take more pictures & videos - I don't take a lot of pictures but I need to, and take better ones.  I would also like to take some classes.  I see something and i think it looks cool and I will take a picture then when I get home it looks crappy.  Part of that might be that I don't have the best camera so let's add that to the list too, get a better camera lol.  I also want to do more videos.  I did a lot when kiddo was a baby, but not so much anymore.  I love being able to look back on my home movies and I would love it if the kiddo had the same thing when he gets older.

*Work on the house -another one from last year.  So last year was supposed to be less trips, totally didn't happen.  This year we only have one big trip planned, the one in January, and maybe one or two smaller ones to Portland, Yakima, & maybe Vancouver.  We have been in our house for many years and keep talking about doing some home improvement projects but trips keep taking precedence.  Well we are hoping to take 3 weeks in 2017 and go to England and stay on a canal boat, so we have to save up our vacation this year, which means we should have some extra money to get some of those projects done.

*Get a better morning routine - I take the kiddo to school in the morning and hubby picks him up.  Well most morning I am super scattered and am rushing out the door to be on time.  I would like nothing better than to get up in the morning brew some tea, listen to some music, make the kiddo a healthy breakfast, then get ready.  That might make my day's so much better lol.

*Listen to music - I LOVE music.  I twas always front and center in my life growing up.  I was in choir, I played bells in my church, and we would do karaoke nights at our house.  Well, the hubby and I have very different taste in music so I just kind of stopped listening to music.  I think it's time to start doing it more.  I know that it won't bother the hubby but I just feel bad making him listen to something he doesn't like.  It might be time to make another trip to the record store and get some new records we can all listen too and enjoy.

*Purge, Purge, & Purge - So we have a pretty small house, about 950 square feet along with a detached garage and a basement that is like a cellar with our furnace, water heater, and laundry area.  I love our small house but we have a problem with stuff.  The three of us really like books, grandma's like to buy the kiddo toys, there is always that super awesome thing that you see in the store that is awesome and will change your life that is still sitting in the packaging a year later, etc etc.  I would really like to go through and purge about 50% of the stuff we have, and then organize the rest.    I also need to let go of a lot of the kiddo's baby items.  It's really hard for me to see his little newborn onesies or the little drum he played with all the time and get rid of it.  Knowing it is goign to a good home might help.  Maybe my friend with the twins could use some stuff lol.

*Learn to sail & sail more - I have been sailing for about 9 years now and I really enjoy it.  Our goal is when we retire we want to sail around the world together.  In order for us to do that I really need to learn more about sailing.  The hubby is a fantastic Captain but I would like to learn as much as I can.  We didn't get out last year as much as we would have liked to.  My goal this year between May and September we make it out once a week.

Wow, those are a lot of resolutions.  What are your resolutions or plans for 2016?