God damn right, it's a beautiful day!!!

I want to shout it from the rooftops! I feel AMAZING!

I have decided that right now is an opportunity in my life. An opportunity to focus on me. My schoolwork, my life and my body. I can cook healthy meals, I can take all of my vitamins at the right time, I can drink lots of water and I can exercise! Spencer and I bought our memberships to 24 hour fitness yesterday afternoon and this morning was our first workout. All I can say is Oh My Goodness! I have never had a more amazing workout!
Prior to being laid off we would use the corporate gym at my office. It wasn't terrible, but it was small. There were 3 elipticals, 4 treadmills, 2 bikes, a stairmaster and one of those all-in-one gyms with different machines on each of the 4 sides. Many times a machine would be broken, or need to be greased up and the room was often filled with loud squeaks, groans or the sound of feet pounding away as people ran on the treadmill. I always felt pretty good after leaving the gym and would be proud of myself if my hair was a little wet from sweat and my legs felt a little tired...
Today was completely different however! I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and burned nearly 400 calories! The machines are built better, they are designed with weight-loss and hard work in mind and I know the results are going to show in no time! They also have multiple tvs and so you can choose what show to watch. I tuned my sights onto Rachel Ray and laughed along with her, and Kristie Allie her guest for the day. That woman is HILARIOUS! I then did 2 sets of 25 reps on multiple arm and leg machines. My body feels good. It's not just a feeling of accomplishment, it's a thank you from my entire body and it just is making me feel amazing!

As I worked out I imagines myself in beautiful new clothes. A beautiful little floral dress with a tight bodice and A-line skirt that I picked up for 90% at the Dillards store closing. It's a bit small right now but I knew I would be losing weight for my wedding, plus it was 90% off! I keep picturing myself wearing it to my bridal shower, or maybe even our rehearsal dinner! A cute pair of shorts with a tank top as Spencer and I explore the Farmers Market buying fresh produce. A teeny new bikini for our (cross your fingers!) honeymoon in Jamaica...and of course...my wedding gown!!! Which is going to be even more amazing and beautiful everytime I try it on! I just know it!

I feel so wonderful right now. There is just nothing that could bring me down!
I hope you are all having fabulous fridays, and amazing weekends!
♥
Jenni

PS-I will be starting Wednesday Weigh-in next week. I want to share my progress, motivate myself to keep pushing and maybe help inspire someone else along the way!

Reflecting

The lovely Morgan at Let Me Help You Help Me did a wonderful post reflecting back on the past year. It made me realize how many huge changes i've made in my life over the last 12 months. I am borrowing her idea (with permission of course) because I think it's never too early to start reflecting and the perfect time to be thankful for all of the amazing gifts I have received.

In 2009, Life is Beautiful.
In January I made big changes in my life. I began the first step toward living the life I want...I began Grad School. I enrolled and was accepted into KU's school of Journalism to pursue a Masters in Marketing Communications. I eagerly attended my first classes and studied my heart out as best as I could.

In February I began to realize I needed a creative outlet. I created this blog and slowly began sharing a little bit of myself with my VERY few followers, and anyone else who felt the need to look. I began to start discovering things about myself and what truly made me happy. My first post was titled Hello World It was very basic. Just a few things about myself. I never imagined what this little adventure in blogging would evolve into, or how much I would learn to rely upon all of the amazing women i've met. :)

In March my nephew Collin Mitchell Osiek was born! He is the first baby we have had in our family in a long time and I loved being there for my sister while she brought him into this world. (all 10.2 lbs and 21" of him! ...mind you, my sister is 5'2") I have never been a baby person, but seeing my new little nephew was special, and it's something I will never forget. Spencer and I also took a trip to Chicago in March. We went with Spencer's sister, brother-in-law, his brother-in-laws brother and his girlfriend. It was a lot of fun! We walked the streets all day long finding cute little shops and riding the train from one end of town to the other. It was Spencer and I's first vacation together and it was really wonderful. :) I love that we match one another and can take a trip without having a fight or getting frustrated with one another. :)

In April I started out the month by taking photographs of my sister's new little family. Aren't they adorable!? We also entered and got accepted into Apartment Therapy's "small is cool" competition! We were contestants for 2 years in a row! Wasn't our apartment adorable? I LOVED it!
This month we also made the decision that we had maybe out-grown our beautiful little apartment and we were ready to move on and grow our family ( to the 4-legged kind) and our apartment didn't allow dogs. We actually got on a waitlist for a beautiful little german spitz puppy! The mommy was pregnant and was expected to deliver in June and have babies ready to go home by July! We signed up, and with deadline in mind began the process of apartment hunting....which then evolved into house hunting! Why rent when you can buy!?

In May we found our home. It was perfect. Exactly what we wanted! So we signed paperwork, put in our bids and waited... and we got accepted!!! We got our home and would be moving in 2 months! We were elated! and so excited to move into our home and grow our furry family...and then the news came. THe mommy of our puppy had had a false pregnancy...there were no puppies! Our little furball we had fallen in love with without ever seeing, was gone. I was deeply depressed. Spencer comforted me and told me that our puppy was still out there and that we would find her... We began researching breeds... we found the papillon and fell in love. We contacted a breeder who sent us puppy photos and it was done. We had found our baby. Our Mia! (PS- Vote for her) haha. I also finished my first semester of grad school with an A!

In June we got excited and did a LOT of waiting. I started my second grad school class. It was a sustainability class and it consumed my every free moment! To pass the time we waited on pins and needles each week for photos of our little baby and packed. At the end of the month we got our keys and signed our lives away! After the paperwork settled we rushed to our new home paintbrushes in hand and began to transform our house into a home.

In July we officially moved! We spent 2 days getting settled and ready for our Mia and then set off on a roadtrip to bring her home. We picked her up, swung by my sisters house to spend the night and brought our little Sock Monster into her home for the first time! We both had time off work so we spent a lot of time painting and decorating. I finished my summer class (thankfully! It was AWFUL) and we celebrated my 25th birthday!!! We spent a lot of time at home with our little girl playing with her, taking her to the park and running in the backyard.

August and September blurred together for us. We were painting, refinishing our floors, unpacking, organizing, cleaning, putting in crown molding, doing yard work and planning our housewarming party that was going to happen in october. We really wanted everything to go smoothly and look nice. :) Spencer bought a second scooter and began working on it. Eventually it will be painted sparkle pink and be given to me! We got our stimulus money and bought new Ikea furniture, put in flooring and bought a few things to make our house feel special. :) Mia continued to control our attention and shower us with love...but at the end of the month we got a suprise from Spencer's sister. A little puppy needed a home. When her and Mia met they became instant friends. We couldn't turn her away. We brought her in and lovingly named her, "The Betty Burger."

In October we celebrated Spencer's 26th birthday and got to know our puppies. We took a LOT of trips to the dog park where everyone fell in love with the two of them! We finally had our Housewarming party and it was a HUGE success! Lots of family came by to say hello and we ended up having people at the house until 4am partying and hanging out! It was a LOT of fun, and it was nice to have a beautiful home to show off and get to tell people all of the hardwork we had done in the past few months to make it feel like home. :) Toward the end of the month our girls became magicians and learned to jump over their baby gate!! We then ended October with a fantastic Halloween party where Spencer and I won best costume! Yup, lawn ornaments. We were hot. :) Mia and Betty were the real stars though and stole the show dressed as a turtle and a squirrel.

and in November so far this month has been fantastic! I have my 3rd semester class ending soon (and so far I have an A!), Collin has learned to crawl, our girls have been crazy little puppies and Spencer and I just celebrated a marvelous 3 years together. :) This year has been amazing, and it amazes me to think of how lucky I am. :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!!! I will be posting Sunny-Side-Up a day early this week and taking thursday to relax with family and deck the halls with Spencer. :)
~Hugs~
Jenni

Sunny Side-up please. :)

Life is good, great and wonderful. I recently realized I have spent way too much time worrying about past mistakes, fretting over things I can’t change and agonizing over what time it is and how long until the weekend. I am missing out on truly great things and wearing myself down from worry and frustration.
I have decided to let the past lie. To forgive myself when things don’t go as planned and to work toward being happy. Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not depressed, and I do not have any big dark secrets in my life right now. There has not been a recent event in my life that has thrown me into despair. It is simply the daily grind of living and me not letting myself let things go and move on. I think it’s affected me in more ways than I want to believe, and the days slip by much quicker than they used to. I don’t want to look back and think of all the time I wasted waiting for the clock to change and time to pass.
I want to embrace the moments and live my life happily. To have each precious minute mean something. To let go of anger, frustration, boredom and just be happy.
I have made a vow to myself to remember each morning that it is going to be a good day. To start my day out with positive affirmation and remember that I am truly blessed to have the life I do. To get ready and take the time to laugh at Mia throwing her toy as I curl my hair. To never forget to kiss Spencer good-bye on my way out the door. To relax and breathe deep on my drive to work, and to walk in with a smile and a friendly hello.
I think that bad moods are self-inflicted. They start the second you wake-up and if you don’t kick them in the butt they grow and fester. They affect your day and all of a sudden another things goes wrong and you fall down faster than a dog riding in a car.
I am going to live happy now, and this past week has been a testament to my promise of a happy life. I’ve started out each day positively and that feeling has lasted throughout the day. I don’t lie in bed worrying about things. I fall asleep quickly and drift off into blissful dreams. So, if any of you see me being negative remind me that its not worth it and I need to let go.
To help myself I’m starting “Sunny-Side-up Thursdays”. A list of the things that have brought me cheer this week, and made me feel fantastic! Every week I will post my Sunny Side-Up list. Why Thursdays? Because in college I used to have a tradition where me and all the girls ordered Chinese and watched Grays Anatomy together. Thursday nights were a ritual and something I looked forward to every week. Now I have a new Thursday ritual and I couldn’t be more excited!

Sunny-Side-Up Thursdays
Spencer and I received our “congratulations on your new house” surprise from the government! We’re going furniture shopping tonight!


I got some new music this week. Sara Bareilles, Black Eyed Peas and Matt & Kim have been playing non-stop since Wednesday and making me want to dance!

I ordered some beautiful necklaces on Etsy and they finally came in! White Owl (on left) and CosmicGirl


I won the The Brightside Project! I get my choose of gold post earrings from Viv + Ingrid …My only problem is choosing which pair I want! What do you guys think?


This little girl. She gets into everything and she tore a hole in the bottom of my Cherry Limeade cup the other day spilling limeade EVERYWHERE… but I love her and I smile a little more everyday when I see her.



Lost. I always wanted to watch it but I couldn’t justify spending the money to get the first season. Luckily my favorite thing ever, the Roku box from Netflix, has the first 4 seasons on it right now! I’m almost through the first season and I am HOOKED!

This was a long post, but it made me feel good and made me smile to write. I hope it brought a smile to your face as well, and don’t forget to live your life “sunny-side-up today!

.xo.
Jenni

20

I have finally done it. I am back in my routine of working out everyday. I used to go everyday about a year ago, but then I decided to go to grad school and I needed that time t study for my entrance exam, and study for class. It's hard to get back into the grind, and it took me a long time to get my rhythem back, but i've done it! My goal is to lose 20 pounds by the end of the summer. I find it totally do-able! And my reward for losing those 20 pounds is to have a nice dinner at the Melting Pot with Spencer. I've always wanted to go, and now I have something to look forward to, even if it is in not-so-distant future!