Well its been quite a while since my last post. Things got busy after Lilian's birthday with Adam's grandfather passing away on Veteran's day and the holidays. We flew back to VA for the service and stayed for about a week. We got back the week of Thanksgiving and of course I work retail, so naturally that week kicked off the holiday craziness. I pulled a 12 1/2 hour shift on Black Friday (we left the store at 4 a.m. and weren't even halfway finished cleaning up the mess). We had a decent Christmas, I think this year was the first year Adam and I both were able to afford gifts for each other...without opening a credit card for it lol. We've been working on paying things off so we had a few bucks to spare and I had a few checks with a little bit of overtime or holiday pay on them. So that was nice. Lilian got a TON of clothes and some games. She got a MobiGo and some games for it. MobiGo is made by Vtech and is just a little game system (I guess like a Nintendo DS) and she loves it. She's learned so much already from just the few weeks she's had it. It is recommended for ages 3-8 with different games for different age groups. We bought her a Disney Princess and a Chuggington game that are both ages 3-5 and a Disney Fairies one that is for 4-6. Each game cartridge has different games on it to teach different things and I've just been amazed how much she has mastered. She plays it a LOT more than she probably should, but she's learning so I just her be. I can even plug it into my computer and check her learning progress and download other games. Definitely a good investment. And it keeps her entertained when we go places, like the grocery store, where she normally gets bored really quick and starts driving me crazy lol.
New Years was ok...I was lucky and got the whole weekend off but we didn't have any plans and didn't make any. Normally I'm sick in some way or another for New Years. I blame Adam for that one. Our first New Year together I was an anti-biotic for an ear infection (well to prevent one, I had pressure build up in my ear...I couldn't get it to pop and the night before I decided to go to the Dr for it, I was laying down on a warm wash cloth and I felt something wet...there were two tiny specks of blood so we went to the ER. Of course they didn't see anything and just said the pressure probably popped a little hole and put me on the meds as a preventative measure) so I couldn't drink/really party. And then I woke up New Year's day with pink eye...on the same side of my head as the bad ear, fabulous right? The year after that Adam was in Iraq and I was perfectly healthy (this was after Lilian was born). The next year Adam and I both had REALLY bad food poisoning. That was fun...then last year I was still recovering from my tonsillectomy. So I like to joke Adam brought a New Years curse with him...but this year I was fine and healthy, just no plans. I'd like to think the curse is broken but we'll see about the next one.
This was also the first New Year I made a resolution. I never made them before because I know myself well enough to know I wouldn't keep them. But this year is different. After my struggle with sleeping issues and possible anxiety/depression problems through 2011, I want to be healthier. So I planned on working out this year. Then my dear friend Angie got engaged...she lives in Hawaii so guess where her August 12th wedding will be? Perfect motivation to keep me going. I did so good the first week. I went New Years day to the gym on post and just did some cardio. I HATE lifting weights so I figured I would just hit the gym for cardio (I also hate to just run...need some bikes and elipticals!) and I try to go a few times a week. When I can't go, I try to work out at home. I found a few youtube videos for some cardio at home workouts that kicked my butt. Then I decided to get started on my abs and downloaded Jillian Michael's 6 Week 6-pack. And she really kicks my butt. I'm wondering though if I even do the exercises right, I feel the burn everywhere but my abs...I guess we'll see. Now I'm no where near needing to lose weight. Actually I want to GAIN weight. I'm 25 and 5'1 and 98lbs...My goal is to reach at least 110 so I can start to donate blood. Seriously. I want to be able to donate blood. When we were home in WA this summer, hurricane Irene was threatening the East Coast. There was a blood drive in the little town of Ridgefield where Adam, my dad and my grandmother all donated (a family affair!) and there I stood, completely helpless. So that's my number goal. But in all honesty, if I tone myself and I'm happy with my appearance, I don't care what the scale says. I don't even own a scale, I get weighed at my dr appts and that's it. I'm not fat, but all my weight comes from what little fat I do have. I'm a skin and bones kind of girl with a good chunk of my body fat hanging out in my lower abdomin. Good-bye flab, hello fab is my main goal! I'm sure I'll get there, I have noticed a HUGE difference in my energy levels when I'm doing some sort of work out, even if its just an hour of cardio at the gym.
So that's life at the moment. Adam has one year left on his military contract and he's still up in the air about what to do. First he was just going to re-enlist and choose his duty station...it was a toss up between Fort Bragg (near his family) and Fort Lewis (near mine). He was leaning more towards Lewis so I was getting excited, then he drops the bomb on me last night that he might do this civilian contracting job FOR the military. It pays REALLY good I guess, but that means we'd stay in El Paso for a while longer. I'm used to it here now so I guess it wouldn't be THAT bad. I can see myself going up the chain with Old Navy so it wouldn't be completely horrible to stay. He has until right after we get back from Hawaii to re-enlist before his window closes, so I guess we'll see what happens between now and then.
