101 in 1001 Update #3!

Wow this month flew by! I meant to update my running progress a few weeks ago, but I haven't had the chance since....I GOT A JOB!!! Wooo! After almost 7 steady months of job searching it finally happened. I am now an accounting coordinator at a large moving company. I started December 6, and it's been going very well so far! How I got my job is a fairly ironic story involving a deer and an isolated country road, but I think that story deserves it's own blog post. With that said, having a job is definitely the reason that I'm slacking with this whole blogging thing, as I thought I was getting a lot better at it recently. I've thought about adding a tab where I post recipes either weekly or monthly. At first I was thinking weekly, but when I come home from work I'm pretty exhausted, so I'm going to go with monthly. That was the new blogging development that I hinted at in my last update. So get ready for Menu Monthlies, where I will post a few of my tried and true recipes!

Moving on to my running progress, I was actually doing really well at the beginning of this month and did my four runs, but then I 1) Got hit by a deer and didn't have a car for a little while, 2) Got a job and was extremely exhausted after work every day, and 3) Caught a really bad cold and couldn't go out for a run anyways. With that stuff plus Christmas, I haven't been to the gym in at least 2 weeks. So the new year is a great excuse to step it back up! I did complete week 3 of my C25K with relative ease, and I may repeat it since I won't be as accustomed to running next week. I'm definitely getting more used to being up earlier every day and working, and since I'm over my cold now and have my car back I'm actually really looking forward to working it out at the gym again!

As for my 101 in 1001 list, this month I am adding one goal. This goal was incredibly important to me, caused me many sleepless nights, seemingly endless amounts of tears, and had me endure criticism from myself and others. You guessed it - the job thing. I never wanted to publicly put it on my list, but it has always been on there in my mind, so I've decided to put it in my freebie slot for my wedding. That may seem like an odd choice, but it's necessary wedding funding, so I say good enough!

Completed Goals:

59. Spend our first Christmas morning together in our new house - This was kind of a freebie, but it meant so much to Jeff, who really hasn't woken up in a home of his own on Christmas for quite some time

74. Get a job! (So I can start paying for all this wedding stuff) - I am so relieved now, it's cliche but it's really like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders!

78. Organize the storage area in the basement - We have finally gotten rid of our moving boxes in the storage area! 

85. Organize all closets - With the end of the boxes also came the end of the disorganization of our closets

Goals I'm Working On:

6. Go for a run at least once every week, weather permitting (10/143)

34. Try 8 new foods (4/8) - I tried venison this month after this whole deer incident (I never wanted to eat Bambi before he tried to run me off the road)

48. Go on one date night a month (4/32) - We're going on a New Year's date night tomorrow, we have reservations at a new restaurant and then we're seeing The Hobbit in 3D!

49. Take a picture of Jeff and I once a month (3/32)

Christmas Eve

58. Try three new restaurants together (1/3)
63. Book a photographer - We're meeting with a photographer in two weeks to see more of her portfolio, I like what I've seen so far!

I added one goal this month:
74. Get a job! (So I can start paying for all this wedding stuff)

Completed: 10/101

Christmas Decor

I love winter in general. Call me crazy, but I think that there is something incredibly beautiful and peaceful about watching the snow fall when you're inside, holding a cup of hot chocolate. When I was in school and stressing out over a paper or studying for exams, I would look out the window and see the snow falling and it would calm me down. An overwhelming feeling of peace would come over me, and I would think, 'I'm OK'.

I have always LOVED Christmas. Absolutely loved it. From the earliest time I can remember, Christmas has always been my hands-down favorite time of year. It has less to do with the whole presents thing and more to do with snow, Christmas music, the smell of Christmas trees, decorating, the baking, the meaning behind it, the food, yummy hot beverages like hot chocolate and apple cider, wrapping presents, and getting together and spending time with people I love. And that's only the beginning of why I think this time of year is awesome. I used to wake up around 5:00 in the morning on Christmas morning, just so excited to get my favorite day of the year started. I actually only stopped doing this when I was in university and slept in a little bit on Christmas morning, not because I wasn't excited anymore but mainly because I was just always overtired then. So get ready Jeff, I may be up at 5am this year on Christmas Day!

Thus, given my feelings regarding this season, I have been extremely happy the past few days getting all of my Christmas decorations together. I'm so excited to spend my first Christmas with Jeff in our own home, and I think that feeling of love, and creating traditions for ourselves has really pushed me into action. I got super inspired and created my own Christmas artwork, which turned out fairly well, so I thought I'd share my decor ideas here.

My countdown to Christmas is on!

My Charles Dickens village 

My "mantle" 

I painted this design based off of a greeting card I found

I found the idea for this candle on Pinterest

The inspiration for this display also came from Pinterest - love that website 

My table decor - I picked up a huge box of ornaments at Liquidation World for around $10!! I ended up using them in my table decor, decor for my mantle, and on my tree!

First Christmas tree in our house :) 

A look at the living room

101 in 1001 and C25K Update

Ok so I'm slightly late on my C25K update as well as my 101 in 1001 update, but whatever. I said I'd post about how my running was going last week, but I never made it to the computer when I felt like writing the post. I have a whole slew of upcoming posts, plus a future thought for blog development, so I guess December will be a busy blogging month if I actually stay on top of things.

My running is going pretty well - I no longer feel as if I'm going to die when I run for longer than 60 seconds and I feel more confident in my ability to make it to 20 minutes on the treadmill, so I suppose that's progress. I completed all my week one runs, and am slightly behind on my week two runs, but I'm hoping to catch up this week. I have also been counting calories with a free Blackberry app and I find that it's really helpful to keep track of my food intake in relation to how much exercise I've had that day. I didn't think it was possible, but I am more glued to my Blackberry than ever now!

As for my 101 in 1001 list, things are still moving along fairly well. This month I decided to make two revisions to my list: #3. Lose 5 pounds for wedding, and #53. Do something nice for Jeff every week. I've lost over 5 pounds in the past two months, so I've decided to 'up the ante' a little bit in that regard. As for #53, it's just too hard to keep track of! I'm not saying that I'm going to stop doing nice stuff for Jeff or that I haven't done anything nice this month, just that I probably won't keep track of this one for the remainder of my 1001 days. Haha, sorry Jeff!

Completed Goals:
3. Lose 5 pounds for wedding - my new goal is to lose 15 more pounds before the big day, so I'm putting this goal in the 'freebie' slot
22. Make a new friend - I have a new workout buddy!
57. Write a letter to Jeff, for him to open 10 years from now - I'm pretty sure I won't be able to find this letter 10 years from now

Goals I'm Working On:
5. Skate once a week, once registered - I'm skating once a week right now, but I'm not registered at the moment so I'm not sure how long this will go on for
6. Go for a run at least once every week, weather permitting (6/143) - much better than last month!
11. Do a Couch to 5k running plan
34. Try 8 new foods (3/8) - I tried potato galette, profiteroles, and slow-cooked chicken tacos and I liked every dish!
48. Go on one date night a month (3/32) - Jeff and I went to see Victoria Park light up and then we grabbed a hot chocolate and talked, it was really nice :) 
49. Take a picture of Jeff and I once a month (2/32) - I got a photo of us at our date night in Victoria Park

Yes I know it's incredibly blurry, but I love how Christmas-y it is! 

67. Create slideshow of pictures of Jeff and I for wedding reception - Ok I've really only started asking people for wedding pictures of our grandparents, but that still counts as working on it right?
81. Hang Christmas lights every year (1/3)
82. Mail Christmas cards every year (1/3) - my Christmas cards never made it out of the box last year, so this is definitely an improvement 

I added one goal this month:
15. Lose an additional 15 pounds before I get married

Completed: 6/101