No More Excuses + Making Some Personal Changes

I'm sitting here trying to figure out a clever way to start this post, but instead of white picket fencing things I am just going to lay it all out there.  So here goes...

Since moving into our temporary living space within our renovation, I've gained almost 10 pounds.  And to be honest, I'm feeling pretty unhappy with myself right now, and ya know I'm allowed to feel that way. I'm 5'4" so for my body this feels like a lot of weight.  I can be honest with myself and acknowledge that I have been drinking way more wine at night than I probably should, wearing gym clothes more often then I actually go to the gym, and I have not been handling stress in the right way at all.

Since I refussseeeeee to buy bigger jeans and make more excuses (and room) for my expanding butt, starting right now I am making some changes.

Here is how I plan to get myself back on track:

• Get back into running daily.  I love running and have almost given it up completely since moving.  And when I do go to the gym I need to turn off my phone to avoid distractions and just focus on myself for that one hour. That has definitely been one of my biggest problems.  I have the hardest time turning everything off. But people, instagram, e-mails, texts and googling for things for our house can all wait.

• Swap out wine on weeknights with yummy decaf tea.  I'm not saying no wine at all, I just need to get back to enjoying a glass here and there and not every single night. 

• Track my progress on Lose It!  My husband uses this app and he loves it. Not sure how I feel about counting and tracking every little single thing that I eat, but I am going to give it a shot. Has anyone else used this app? Did you like it? I would love hear. 

• Realize it's okay to put myself first sometimes when it comes to my mental and physical health. My husband is more than understanding and I just need to talk to him more.  I know he would completely understand if I told him I just need to go outside (away from the chaos) to clear my head and get some exercise. 

And that is the extent of my personal goals at this very moment. The reason I've decided to share this is because in some way it makes me feel more accountable for the things I do.  I need to work on myself and I am sure we can all relate to feeling like that at one point or another.  I will share an update with you next week on how things are going.

So here's to a healthy and positive new day! 

My Fall To-Do List + A Little Input From All of My Boys

shirt/jeans/shoes

Fall is here! Well not here here since it's still like 100 plus degrees in California, but regardless I am going to pretend like the weather is in the low 60s and put us all in plaid and get as festive as possible while we sweat our butts off because I friggin love all things fall.

For this year's fall to-do list I got all three of my boys input. So everyone has a little say this time around :)

1.  Take the boys apple picking and then bake something yummy like this with some of our pickings. Ian said he refuses to do this since he can just buy apples at Trader Joes hahah so his loss... the boys are excited ;)

2. Go on a scary movie date. Little fact about me...The last scary movie that I attempted to watch in a movie theater was Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I walked out 30 minutes in because I almost peed my pants I was so scared.  And that was back in high school!  So ya...it's been awhile. But I am ready to conquer my fear and squeeze the crap out of Ian's hand while we watch something horrifying.

3.  Have a star spotting, backyard tent campout where we eat popcorn and tell stories. -- This was 100% Max's idea and I love it.

4.  Watch a legit pig race. Well, √ we actually did this last weekend and it was literally the best thing ever!  The pigs all ran as fast as they could around this little track and it was so much fun to bet on which one we thought would win. Highlight of our pumpkin patch experience by far!

5.  Go to a pro football game with Ian.

6. Go to Oktoberfest with friends!

7. Make tons of trips to the Farmer's Market to pick up in season fruits and veggies

8. Make Paleo candy apples with the boys.

9. Make a trip to this giant corn maze and visit as many pumpkin patches as we can with jumpy slides. -- All Ronin :)

10. Go to an outdoor concert with my babe. The type where we bring a blanket, can just totally chill, and hopefully cuddle if the weather permits.

Our Real Life Fixer Upper: Picture Update!

Whewwww!! We have been beyond busy with all things house related, and so much has been happening in the last couple of weeks.  As of currently... half of the second floor has been removed, the downstairs is all framed, the reclaimed barn wood ceiling is up and painted white, and the exposed beams have been wrapped sanded stained and sealed (still need to finish bottom half obviously).  I am so thankful for the main crew that has been here daily working their asses off to get this project completed!

So here are a few pictures of what the interior of our barn (soon to be home) currently looks like...

So what do you guys think? I feel like we went from nothing going on to everything happening at once!

Also, if you want to see more day to day happenings of our barn conversion you can follow me along on Instagram.

FINALLY!

After weeks and weeks and weeks of waiting and waiting and waiting our barn conversion plans have FINALLY been approved by County!  I was actually starting to think our plans were being held hostage it was taking so long.  Not even joking.   

Up until this point we have been moving at turtle speed since we haven't been able to make any major structural changes without County approval, but I am no longer going to dwell on that because we are now able to start cranking on this renovation!  This week has been filled with concrete trucks, county inspections, and the sound of major demolition shaking our upstairs apartment and I could not be anymore excited about it!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend and I will be back soon with new pictures of what it's starting to look like inside :)

5 Honest Things That I Have Learned During Our Renovation

1. I can live with less.  We are currently living in the small apartment space above the horse stalls and let me just tell ya, the space is tight. Only the boys favorite toys and living necessities fit inside. Everything else is in storage. Our temporary kitchen is a "one person at a time" kinda space and we currently do not have a microwave, dishwasher or space for dishes.  Although, I do miss my microwave for reheating my coffee I have learned that even though all the extra "things" in a living space might make life more convenient but we can live perfectly fine without them. 

2. I DO need wine at the end of the day.  There will be no juice cleanses or detoxes in the near future that's for sure.  In fact, pretty sure I could live off of wine and ice cream sandwiches for the next 6 months and be perfectly fine. Just saying.

3.  We should have anticipated to spend a lot more money than we originally budgeted for.  Unexpected (expensive) things that we can't dodge have sprung up, and that's just the way renovations go.

4.  I have had to lower my expectations and realize I can't control things that are out of my control (duh). By lowering my expectations I'm not as disappointed with set backs and delays in the process. Although I still get mad as hell when people suck at what they are supposed to be doing. 

5.  Stress levels have been at an all time high these past few months, and frankly no one could have prepared us for how stressful this whole process would really be.  So making time for ourselves and our marriage away from all the chaos has been so incredibly important.

If you have been though a major remodel, renovation or new house build and made it out alive without losing your mind or divorcing your spouse (kidding...) I would love to hear any advice that you may have. 

Things That Make Me Say Yeay

Hot air balloon sighting in our backyard.  The boys get so excited every time they spot one.

A case of wine from my family's wine company,  Craveyon Cloud Wines.  Now these are the types of gifts I am talking about.  I usually prefer red/dry wines over sweet and fruity, but the Orange Muscat  has been one of my favorites.  It's the perfect summer sipping wine...or anytime sipping wine for that matter.

Ian teaching the boys the art of egg cracking and scrambled egg making.

A frontrunner cement tile sample for the powder bath. I am going in a slightly different direction with the interior design of our new home and I can't wait to share more.  Also, thank you for all of those who left opinions regarding our flooring.  It helped make our final decision so much easier!

Homemade pizza, which has become our newest tradition on Sunday evenings. I let the boys basically do everything and the result is always the ugliest yet yummiest pizza ever.

This has been the loooooogest week in the history of longest weeks.  Ian got home last night after being gone for a week on business and I could not be more excited for the long 3 day weekend that starts now.  We will be relaxing, making a trip to the beach, doing a little wine tasting and attempting to capture the remaining lizard that still resides in our kitchen..ughhhh.

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Unfiltered Chaos + I Can't Make This Stuff Up

I really try not to be one of those mom whiners but sometimes you just gotta get it out and share the crazy unfiltered chaos because I am sure I can't be the only one feeling like I am going to lose my mind from time to time.

So here goes:

Yesterday I woke up to a beeping insulin pump. It was time to change my sensor. I went to my diabetic drawer and realized I had forgotten to place a new order for sensors and I had none left. Now on a regular basis I would say that my sensors are not completely necessary but with all the stress of the renovation, my blood sugars have been bouncing all over the place so it's a necessity at this point of my life.  The boys were just waking up and being super demanding about what they wanted for breakfast.  I was already extra irritated so I did the whole speal about how they needed to eat the bowl of cereal that I poured for them or I would go outside and cook them up some squirrels like they eat in other countries.  And I am sure those kids are grateful, dammit!

So I am on hold with the customer service department for my sensors and apparently my insurance denied my order since I just placed an order last month. Long story short (for the sensors at least), I must have lost one of my box of sensors during the move and I was shit outta luck.  I was expressing my frustrations with the sweet lady on the other end of the phone when a family of LIZARDS runs across my kitchen floor! I'm talking two very large lizards and two tiny little baby ones.  I scream into the phone, "LIZARDS!!" and the poor lady must have thought that I had actually lost my freaking mind.  She was either so over me or just felt so bad for me, so she said she would send me an emergency supply in the meantime. So that was good...

So now to catch the lizards! All but one of the baby ones ran under the cabinets.  The boys thought this was the best thing ever. I did not.  I scooped up the scared baby lizard into a bowl with a plate on top and told the boys we were going to go let him go outside (where he freaking belongs). Our contractor was not there yet so we all walked outside and found a nice open spot to let him go. At that moment a crew of about 4 guys came around the corner.  I had forgotten that it was concrete pouring day.  I am wearing underwear, no bra and a short baggy shirt. UMMMMM....back inside back inside was all I could think of. The boys did not follow.  They wanted to stay outside and make sure the lizard was "safe." So at this point I am yelling pretty much in the meanest lowest voice for them to get their butts back inside.  They are outside freakin yelling back AT ME asking me if they could keep him as a pet!! WHAT?!

So the day went on.  I had to drive down to County AGAIN to see if our plans had been approved yet (they have not), and without our plans being approved we are basically stuck in limbo of everything not being done.  So that news sucked too.  It was finally the end of the day and I was thinking the worst was over and it was now time for wine.  I put the boys into the bath and decided to do a little laundry. So I went into the laundry room and apparently before we left for school, Max and Ronin had set up "traps" for the lizards.  And by traps I mean giant bowls of Berry Harvest Organic Jelly.  So there they were, the "traps" sitting on the floor with about a billion ants swarming them...meanwhile the boys were in the bath dumping out my very expensive shampoo to create more bubbles.

I just couldn't take anymore. So I half ass wiped up the ants, closed the laundry room door, and poured a very large glass of wine.  Also... the other three lizards have yet to be found.

So to all the ladies who feel like they might lose their minds from time to time, just know you are definitely not alone :)