saved by the bank

Today I came face to face with a realization that I had not fully laid down my desire for this house as my heart sunk to the floor after viewing the words

status: off market.

I was viewing new listings sent by my realtor and had opened up my trulia icon link (truila and zillow  have been very helpful, because their information is more home-buyer friendly ind typically include more photos), but it's also directly linked to "my favorite: house four" (see journey to my first place) so I stay focused on my dream and why I'm working so hard in the  next 60 days .  However, today was not one of those inspirational days as those 3 ugly words stared right at me as the page loaded, causing me to forget how to breath.

It's hard to remember sometimes, especially when your heart is so set on a dream to truly let it go, because without first laying down your desires God will be unable to fill you with His, which from experience is far better and more satisfying then anything I'd ever imagined.

IMAGE SOURCE  

Once I was able to regroup I called my Realtor to hear it straight from him.  He called me back once he spoke with the listing agent and to my relief, the listing has been temporarily removed for the next 30-60 days.  The owners have chosen to go forward with a full foreclosure now that the price has been lowered significantly.  During this time the bank will take full ownership of the property and will be setting up an appraisal and inspection before re-listing. 

I'm believing that this is God's way of showing me that this house has been reserved for me, because now no one can make an offer while the bank is performing their inspections and appraisals, which leaves plenty of time for me to have everything I need.  You can be sure that I'll still be checking up on the property on a regular basis and as soon as the status has changed I'll be calling my Realtor to write up the contract.   

p.s.

I'm also believing that the bank is going to re-list it at a lower price point.

I'm pretty confident that I'm blessed, because He is the way, the truth and the light of my life and with Him I will walk and not stumble as He leads me down the path of righteousness.

a pebbled dilemma

workout
Week 2 Friday
Strong is Sexy Fitness Challenge  

I chose today to skip my workout in order to say goodbye to  the beautiful patio set (pictured below) I bought at TJ MAXX.  I  picked it up the day after viewing the 2-bedroom apartment on Trindle, but at this point I don't know where I'm moving and there are just to many uncertainties.  It seemed easy return it and have my card balance be zero or keep it and take focus off saving for my down payment.  I went back and forth for a little over a week and finally sat down with my grandmother who helped me find the courage to return it.

I was pretty nervous, mainly because I really wanted the credit back on my card and since I'd never tried to return furniture before I wasn't sure their would be any snags and even though I still had 3 days before my 30 days were up.  It wasn't until they asked me for my card to credit my return and I signed the return slip that I felt such a sign of relief.  It was a success!  A victory Day!  and a learning experience. 

What did I learn?
Not  to purchase anything for my first home without first living in my new space.

LAST GOODBYE'S TO MY PATIO SET  

* Suicidal Sweat: a Bodyrock time challenge
* 10 to 20 minutes (or more) of your choice of cardio

READER QUESTION:
Do you have any decisions you've made lately that your glad for the outcome?

daily affirmation
I stand tall and move with grace

Proverbs

eats:
View Daily Eats
mashed potatoes; not the best idea of the day.

daily review:
* read Scale Down ch. 0 pg 00-00 (00 minutes)
* Tomorrow's Workout: Pilates Beginner Video by Blogilates
* in bed by 12pm and lights out by 12:30pm
* repeated the daily affirmations throughout the day
* noted my workouts and meals in my journal
* eats were pretty on. 

life smells good

Things have been coming up Roses for me this last week and I’m loving every minute of it.  It’s a combination of the new (gently used) cloths I bought last week from the thrifty store, the financial goodness, less stress, great hair days and staying true to my clean eating.  This is a very happy combination for me and it’s sparked a super confidence in me.  I feel super amazing, like I’m a model on the cover of Vogue Magazine.   That’s right I feel pretty & Strong!  You should have seen my arms this morning while I was doing my upper body workout.  They looked pretty ripped while I was doing my Triceps Kickbacks and Alternate Hammer Curls and I’m pretty sure a few of the guys were checking me out.  My outfit helped to, felt super confident in that.  It’s a new combination that I put together with a yellow a-tee that I used for another shirt that I added to a black sleeveless top so I had some color to my all black outfit.  I need color in my outfits.  I can’t stand wearing all back-so not me.   

This past week I’ve been doing well with my diet and even lost 2” in the last month.  After logging in a few meals, I realized how much I was really eating, about 1800 calories and that’s too much to lose anything.   This week I adjusted my meals so I’m eating differently on my weight training days and cardio-rest days so I’m not over eating on my lower intensity days.

I had an unspoken goal last week of walking every night along Riverside Park and I was glad when a friend of mine wanted to walk with me.  It gave us some time to hang out and catch up, plus he’s super close to the park so we can just walk from his place.  I really love having friends who want to get out and be active and I really hope at least during the summer they continue with that desire.  This week were getting together to workout outside twice a week.  He has a book he’s used before with some body strength workouts and then we’ll cool down with a walk.   I’m also going to keep my ears open to see if anyone wants to join us or workout with him on days when I’m not able.  I’m looking forward to it and it will be a nice change from my current workout.  Plus, I feel that I get better results working out at night so I should see a little more definition change.

I'm even excited about my new bathing suit.  I found a totally cute bikini halter top, but needed a bottom and when I was at TJ MAXX yesterday hoping to find bottoms to match I found a super cute green Roxxy Bikini that I can't wait to wear. 

The Suit from TJ MAXX is similar to this style, except mine is all green, instead of MEXICO on the butt it says ROXY and the Top also has a Roxy logo on it.  The bikini to the right is the one I bought trying to find a bottom to.  I'm much happier and feel far cuter in the ROXY suit. 

so close I can taste it

I love my life, but I never would have imagined that when I turned 30 I would be working half a month to pay on student loans and credit cards (and that's only the minimum payment).....YIKES!.  Though I'm proud to say that this last year has been a driving force in my finances.  I've been taking charge and clearing out the negatives on my card balances and it feels so fantastic because I'm so close I can taste.  It will be wonderfully to finally be card free, so I can really focus on clearing out my student loans.  This however, wont be so easy to knock out, but at least I'll be able to start.  

The last few weeks I've lost track at really how close I am and haven't really made any goals on knocking out my debt, until tonight.  The funny thing is that I really need to give thanks to the pompous ass I was ranting about the other week in my post from my gym.  Though I do have to give him ups as his social skills are improving.  I happened to run into him Wednesday night after my workout since I decided to sleep in Wednesday morning to give my legs a little more recovery time.  He came over and informed me of a new promo that ended Friday.  He mentioned $27 a session and I was ready to pounce then, but after further discussion it turned out to be a package deal of 3 visits a month at $96.  It's a slight savings since a normal 1 hour session is $40, but once you add in the $96 contract fee it brings it back up.   I did tell him I would check my finances and get back to him tomorrow.  

 Once I got home and unpacked all my gear and prepped for breakfast I reviewed my finances.  I knew that there wasn't going to be any give as my day job only covers my basis bills.  However, after doing a little math and seeing what extra funds I would have if-when my evening job has hours again I was a little giddy.  After playing with the numbers I concluded that if I can work a minimum of 3 shifts a week I would be able to pay off my debt by December while still being able to take advantage of the personal trainer promo, and have a little extra.  

As much as I was excited about this, I knew that I didn't want to sign any contract before I actually had a steady income of extra hours so I decided to pass on the training for now.  It really doesn't matter how much I would like to take advantage of the training services at my gym I really can't until I have paid off my card debt.  Once that's done I can focus on my creating an amazingly toned body.  I just need to stay focused in clearing out my debt and not take on any new financial additions that would distract me from clearing it out sooner.  Plus, I can't think of a better treat after clearing out your financial debt then treating yourself to a personal trainer to begin your body transformation. 

Since it will take a few months before I can really enjoy treating myself to personal training I"m going to stick with the 12-week program that I'll be starting next week.  It's a great program and once I gather my goals and create deadlines for my progress, which will help me to stay focused I know I'll be rewarded by changes in my body definition.  I also really really need to take progress photos.  I'm so bad at this and I know if I just take them, I will be more positive and less likely to have the feeling of why bother, because I'm just going to fail.  The goal is to take them this weekend and then update each month for the next 3 months.

my birthday is just around the corner

THE CHIROPRACTOR

I was hoping Monday when I went back to my Chiropractor that he would give me a little more freedom in my workout, but that wasn't the case.  My leg pain has been about a 1 or 2 this week, and it's been hard to remember to ice and I have to keep reminding myself to not increase my workout intensity so my muscle can completely heal.  The pros of the visit is to keep my body aligned and in proper form to prevent future injuries so I can keep running and.It was great to head back and get readjusted again and a back massage, which I really needed.    I also had the benefit of having a shoulder massage to help alleviate some of the stress that's been holding up in my shoulders.  I have another appointment scheduled for Monday (11th) for another checkup and adjustment.

MANTRA
I've been trying to work on my board this week so I can really focus on the power of the word.  I need to really believe that I can achieve my goals and unless I say them out loud and really visualize myself being fit.

Monday night  I was reading an article and the author stated "No matter how much you workout, if you don't make smarter food choices, you will not see that layer of padding around your waist or thighs go away."  I really need to focus on eating smarter.  I just seem to always cave and I really need a way out so I can see the body definition I've been working so hard for every morning at the gym.

Here are a few smarter choices I'm going to work on:
1) Eat only one piece of bread instead of two at any given meal.
2) choose egg whites over whole eggs.
3) Stick to only my morning coffee before my workout unless I'm really hungry and I will have a banana and PB so my body can focus on burning stored fat and not my breakfast during my workout.

MENU
food menu for next week
Pre-Workout Snack: PB + Banana and my morning cup of Joe
Post-Workout Snack: Protein Shake
Breakfast: Chia & Fruit Bowl Smoothie
Snack:  Granola + Yogurt + Kiwi + Cinnamon
Lunch: Flaxseed Donuts w/ Lemon Water
Dinner: Turkey Burger w/ Red Onion + Tomato Slice + Broccoli Sprouts + Honey Mustard (tsp) on Ezekiel Sesame Seed Burger Bun and Cantaloupe (cup)


NEW 4-WEEK ROUTINE
I've been doing a little research trying to find exercise cards, but I can't seem to find exactly what I'm looking for and debating on making my own to share as printable.  I want an easy way to create routines each month and change things up without having to use the internet.  I have a few ideas and one template I'm using as inspiration

ONE WEEK AND COUNTING
I can't believe that next weekend I'll be turning the big 3-0.  I've been really excited for this weekend , but the last few days my excitement has lowered mainly because I have a lot still to do before my trip to DC to celebrate and I'm just not ready yet.  I have nothing really major planned, but I am going dancing all weekend and hanging with some of my awesome dance friends.   It's going to be a great weekend, but I wish it were another month away so 1) my leg was closer to recovery and 2) I had a little more of a financial cushion.  It's not going to be an expensive weekend, but after forking out as much as I did for my car I know I'm pushing it for the weekend, but I just have to go, it's my 30th.  I never celebrated my 21st or 25th and I was never as excited for either of those birthday's as I am for this one.  I love the fact that I'm turning 30, it's a new leaf that's turning over in my life and I can't wait to see my new adventures.

MOM'S IN TOWN

Saturday my mom came into town and we headed up to my brothers new place to visit with him and his girlfriend.  The day didn't turn out anything like the plan, which caused a little strife on my end.    My mom drove almost two hours to see my brother and then I had to drive another half hour to see him.  The plan to my understanding was my brother and his girlfriend were going to meet us half way and have lunch with us.  With this plan I decided not to eat breakfast and only brought a protein shake for a quick post -workout snack so not to spoil my appetite.  We ended up driving to them and  only spent an hour with them since they already ate and his girlfriend was taking a nap before heading out to work, so it was another two hours  after my workout before we were able to finally eat and it was torture. 

CONQUERED THE DONUTS
Thursday was a victory day over two boxes of sweet and sugary donuts.  This meeting we have monthly brings donuts to share and this is the first time I have been able to resist them.  While everyone else was eating their donuts I was enjoying a bowl of pumpkin oat meal with raisins, strawberries and pecans.. This is a very proud moment for me.  I even said no to one of the guys who offered to split one with me.

Image source: http://blog.rosemontapthomes.com/around-town/469/