lessons in contentment

I'm going to do that ever-annoying blogger apology, you guys.



I'm sorry that I haven't blogged that much lately. Between my Friday Favorites and an occasional Monday Dose of Cuteness, you're probably like, What is going on with this girl?

Well. Let me tell you. Nathan and I are deep into a state of change. God, that sounds so dramatic. We're not molting.

This is how it started...

1. We're five weeks into working with a personal trainer and cracking down on our paleo diet. Seriously. Friday marks the five weeks mark, and the program is initially 12 weeks. Nearly halfway there! (Cue Bon Jovi "Livin on a Prayer") Not that we'll stop working out at 12 weeks, but we'll go into a sort of maintaining phase. At that point, Nathan and I should be able to do sweet jump kicks like this:


Kidding. Sort of.

I've noticed a huge difference in how I feel, how I look, what I'm able to do physically, how my clothes fit me, and how much money we're saving on eating out. (For the record, we are allowed one cheat meal a week, and so far, we've gone so overboard with carbs on the weekly cheat meal that we basically both enter a comatose state and soon after feel nauseous, followed by pangs of regret and shaking our fists to heaven saying, "It's not worth it!") All that to say, I don't really miss carbs or even sugar. I never would've thought a diet like this would have been balanced or healthy, but a couple months ago, our lives took a new course when Nathan's mother recommended he read this book. And if you get Nathan started, he will convert you within ten minutes. The last time I heard him speak this passionately was about a little band called Radiohead. That, and anything with the words "camera, photography, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Nikon, (and most recently) Mamiya" in the sentence. But I digress.



Between diabetes and high-blood pressure running in both our families, we decided to make a drastic change. And I can't tell you how much it's improved the way I feel on a daily basis. Couple that with the training with our good friend and Crossfit aficionado, Jeremiah, and we're entering this new path of change for the better. The irony is that to reach a place of contentment with my health/body/ability I really needed to make a change because I couldn't be content with where we were: eating crap food every night and acting lathargic. I hate to say this, but before this diet, I couldn't remember the last green vegetable I'd eaten. I was slowly but surely going from a skinny-fat to just plain fat, and every year I'd buy clothes in larger sizes. No good. Not content.

On to the next massive point of change:

2. We are househunting for our very first home! It's time. After nine years of living and renting in Austin, we love it and think we're here to stay. Sure, the summers are hot. Sure, the allergies are hideous. But there are SOOOO many other things to love that we are incredibly happy and want to build a home here.



We also believe that the right house will help grow our business, and I can't express in words how exciting that is! We've put all the details together, and when our lease is up at the end of summer, we may very well find ourselves in a house. To help get there, it's critical to crack down on our finances, so we've decided to become grown-ups and abide by a budget. Sounds terrifying, right?



Only this is part of where the contentment comes in as well. In thinking about a new home, and looking at homes with our realtor, I really see our future. But getting to that future means we both have to sacrifice and stop buying things we don't need, and put more in savings. I fully believe we have everything we need, and more. Months ago, I would obsessively scour Anthro online on the first day we were paid, to see what I wanted to buy that I didn't need. When my monthly mad money was gone, I would often sell books and movies back to Halfprice in desperation so I could buy a new pair of shoes that I didn't need. The theme here is that these are all possessions I don't need. I don't need lattes every morning from a coffeehouse. I don't need to stop by Specs and pick up cider three nights a week. And while it hurts me to say, I don't actually need new bags, shoes, and dresses. Even from Anthro. I simply don't need them. I can't tell you how liberating it is to say those words, and I think it's a big step for us toward our future. Which is far more exciting than anything I could buy in a store.

I've reached a terrible crossroads.

Possibly more terrible than the Britney Spears movie. (Which Nathan and I saw at the Alamo Drafthouse as a Mister Sinus Theater, I might add.)

The crossroads has presented me with the following two options:

Option 1 -- Lose weight.

Option 2 -- Buy new clothes.

While I was tempted to enter into option 2 just last night when I swore I heard the bargain-basement sirens of TJ Maxx calling my name, I soon came to realize that the better of the two is really Option 1.

I just don't relish all the hard work. Gilmore Girls workout continues tomorrow.

Meet my new personal trainer.

That's right, ladies and gentleman. I give you Lorelei Gilmore.

Every day Gilmore Girls comes on ABC Family at 4:00. Every day I DVR it, and watch it. One hour of my life. Every day. Because I love that show, OK?
Every day, at the same exact time, All Star Workouts comes on the Fit Network. And most of the time, the trainers are really annoying to listen to, because they're always barking orders at you, like, "Keep on moving! Push through the pain!" and that kind of thing.
I would also like to note that generally, if you're watching a show you like, it will distract you from all the hard work you're doing. I also recently read that if you really want to lose weight, you realistically have to workout an hour a day. None of this 30 minute nonsense.
So, my new plan (and I've already been successful, I might add) is to workout every day for an hour while I watch Gilmore Girls. I just put the workout on the tiny square on the TV so I don't have to listen to the trainers, and before I know it, my workout is over. Fantastic! I love the Gilmore Girls Workout.

Don't you hate it when

you have an absolutely fabulous morning at work, followed by a real crap afternoon, and then, all you can remember about your whole day is the bad part?

That just happened to me, and I, of course, told Nathan all the gory details about the oogy part, and then like 2 HOURS LATER I remembered this amazing thing that happened in the morning that I forgot all about.

Seriously. It was such a big deal that I had to pause 24 just so I could say something about it.


In other news, we had pigs-in-a-blanket and potato skins with shandies for dinner. For the second night in a row.
I'm pretty sure we go back to P90X tomorrow, and something tells me shandies aren't in the diet. Since probably beer and lemonade BOTH count as carbs. In the meantime, I might need a refill.

Is there really anything to complain about when you lose weight?

Yes, actually.
I'm now too thin for my fat pants, but too big for my skinny pants.
What in the blazes did I wear when I was in the middle last time?

Summer is here again.

For most people who live in Texas, that's not such a great thing.
For teachers who live in Texas (or anywhere else for that matter), it's a glorious thing.

This year's annual summer playlist is already concocted and ready to be shared. Let me know if you'd like a copy. Making summer mixtapes is one of my rituals, and I sort of wish it was a ritual for everyone, because how great would that be? And you guys all know that when I say mixtape, I really mean mixCD, right? It's just so much cooler and nostalgic to say mixtape. I think I still have some of favorite old mixtapes in a dusty box in the top of my closet. The one from my best friend, Amber, in 7th grade that was full of Suzanne Vega, Morrisey, and was my first introduction to Tori. The one from one of my high school boyfriends, Zach, that showcased early Oasis, Pavement, the Jesus and Mary Chain, and the first song on both sides was our song, Hold My Hand, by Hootie and the Blowfish. Which one of the mixtapes would you say was cooler? To find the answer, stay tuned until the end of this post.

I also have lost a total of 5 pounds on our new Abs-Diet-workout-5-days-a-week-alternating-cardio-and-weights-Diet/Intervention Plan. I pulled out three of my favorite old skirts that I can no longer wear appropriately in public as motivation. My goal is to be able to wear them on our trip to Marfa for our anniversary.

In other news, we start our ballroom dancing class on Thursday. I absolutely can't wait. We may get there and find the only other people in the class are our friends who we convinced to sign up, but that would still be great.

The answer is A, the coolest mixtape was the one from my best friend in 7th grade, Amber. Because even though it did have Primus, it also had the live version of Somebody by Depeche Mode, and that makes it infinitely cooler.

I should probably blog.

It's been a while.
But all I'm doing at the moment is working six days a week,
trying to say "yes" to weight training and cardio and "no" to junk food,
going to bed before 10 on a regular basis because of allergies or exhaustion,
and trying to bring myself to face rewriting the end of my book.
Again.
So when you put all that together, it's not so much fun.
And not so much the stuff of great blogs.
I'm sure you understand.

Tennis, anyone?

Sometimes Nathan and I get these crazy ideas. Like that time we decided to buy a toy $20 cotton-candy maker from Walgreens, and it sort of worked one time, before it burned out.

Our new thing is tennis. Yes, tennis. (This may have come from Nathan watching some Wimbledon while we were at my parents' house over the fourth, but I'm not sure.) Also, the pool at our apartments is closed for renovations, so we can't work out by swimming. Great timing, guys! But I digress.

So we talked about it, got all excited, bought racquets and balls at Target, and then went with Jenny and Stace to play doubles. Apparently there are tennis courts at this park right behind our apartment. Who knew?

I am happy to report that even though I'm currently one step above sucking, I really, really like tennis. I like a sport! With the exemption of skiing, I've never been very athletic, but I am super competitive, as many of you know. So that's working in my favor as I try to improve. Today Stacy and I went in the late morning to play, and she helped me correct the way I swing my racquet. The other great thing is that even if you have to chase a tennis ball around, you're STILL buring calories. Nice!