Updaaaate.

Our house is looking way more legit these days. With actual walls and things instead of those wood panels everywhere. It'll be finished at the end of this month (eep!) but we won't actually be living in it until July 20th or so. We'll close on July 16th... but we can't actually move in and call it ours until the money goes out of our back account and into the builder's little pocket. Oh, technicalities.

As you can see, the fence is comin right up in the backyard (I'm excited to plant a little rose bush back there) and the tile is laid down in the kitchen and entryway, and also in our bathrooms upstairs.

^ Our kitchen! with a pantry and a little powder room on the side and everything. That drain there is for the dishwasher in the island.

Also very cool, we bought this washer and dryer over memorial day weekend. There's something funny about being excited for a washer/dryer purpose... why am I that excited? I hate doing laundry... but hopefully these little babies will change that right up. And with the sale price, the washer was $250 cheaper than the listed price and the dryer, $100 cheaper. 

And it's super handy because RC Willey won't deliver the washer/dryer until July 20th when we're in the townhome. So we don't have to worry about storing it anywhere. Win win.

The Townhome

I'm pumped to show some photos of our townhome's progress (it's the second garage from the left). It's being built now (the driveway was just put in the other day, eep!) and we'll move in mid to late July.

We are spoiled with a great view of the mountains outside our bedroom window (on the second floor). I'm excited that the field isn't scheduled to be developed or built on for a while... that view gets me every time.

Our master bath is Brent's favorite part. It's luxuriously big with 2 sinks, a stand up shower, and this jetted tub. I mean, dude. My favorite part? Walk in closet. A win for everyone.

We visit the townhome at least once a week. Obsessed? yes. More photos to come? of course.

Work-ing it.

Work is in full force (as is spring weather... lovely enough) these days and I think I like it. SimTek Fence (where I'm a newly hired receptionist) is way different than any place I've ever worked. I'm one of two women that work here (with about 20 dudes) and I still feel crazy dumb asking questions about my job. Ha. I feel dumb asking questions about a task someone gives me and I feel even more dumb if I don't ask questions and then I do something wrong. I mean, that's a lose-lose.

But, I'm excited to really feel 100% comfortable. The people I work with are like all family ... hopefully I can work myself to that status. Eep.

Heather, the receptionist before me who's been training me these last weeks, had her last day at work today and the guys took her (and I got to tag along) out to lunch at PF Chang's. Hurray for when work pays for my lunch. But seriously, they were so sad to see her go. Everyone loves her. Dang I got big shoes to fill. So that makes me a bit nervous, especially cause my personality is quite a bit different than hers.... she's super quick-witted and shoots funny comebacks to all the guys' teasings... that's DEFINITELY not my strong point. But here's the thing... I'll be fine, right?

Anyhow, I did get to drive the company's jeep the other day (I had to pick up some chain from Home Depot) and it was legit. I mean, it was a rustic car... but it was awesome to drive the company car... somehow it got me all giddy... should I be embarrassed?

P.S. SimTek Fence is a fence manufacturer. There's a huge warehouse connected to the office with gargantuan machines that make our fence. The fence is made out of polyethylene, which is a fancy and really durable plastic, and is made in these huge ovens that freak me out when their doors open. And when I say warehouse, I mean WAREHOUSE. Like forklifts scooting around (like I seriously have to watch out for those things), shipping bays for 18-wheeler trucks, and hard hat areas sort of warehouse. I'm the receptionist, so I answer calls, ship out marketing materials, keep track of our employee's hours to email to our accountant, enter bills to be paid in Quickbooks, and file away paid bills.

P.P.S This blog about in vitro fertilization is so intense and real. The blogger goes through the process she went through trying to get pregnant, and it's crazy to get a step by step of the whole ordeal. I like this lady's blog quite a bit. She swears like a sailor... but I secretly love it.

Job Interviews, Doctors, and other things...

Tomorrow I have second interviews with two jobs. The first at 8:30am (eep!) for a full time receptionist position with Simtek Fence (they manufacture fencing and sell them to Home Depot's and other fence retailers nation wide...) and the second (fingers crossed for this one as it pays more and has benefits n adult things) at 10am for an office assistant position with Fibertel, Inc. (they install fiber optic internet cables for communication companies like Comcast).

I know I'm basically an immature child... but I've never interviewed for a position with 2 rounds of interviews... and somehow it seems very legit. I'm anxious.

I also went to the doctor today for a lil check up on my diabetes. I'll give you the good news and then the bad.

Good news (it's wordy!)... my Hemoglobin A1c test result was better than ever before. 6.9% ladies and  gentlemen. I literally squealed just a bit when I saw it (no, doc was not in the room to witness!) and maybe did a little dance.. I'm not sure...

The HbA1c (for short) test basically measures your average blood sugar over the last 3 months so the docs can sum up how you are taking care of yourself with just one little number. Test results range from 4%-14% and the lower the number, the better. A person without diabetes is in the 4-6% range (way to go, everyone else...).

A person with diabetes wants to obviously be at the same range as a non diabetic... but since thats pretty tough... a diabetic is considered in "good control" if they have a 5.5-7% test result. This little chart (yes I took a pic of it from the doc's office... no he didn't see me) shows it real nice...

So the top of the arrow shows your HbA1c score and the bottom of the arrow shows the average blood sugar you've maintained for the last 3 or so months.

I mean, 6.9% is at the high end of the "in-control" range, but it is WAY better than anything I've had before (in the past, it usually checked in about 8.3%). I asked, and was interested to know that doctors want a diabetic to be at 6.5% or lower before they try to have kids, and when a lady is pregnant, the docs really work hard to have the lady check in at 6%. I mean... that's not in our immediate future so don't get any ideas!  But hey, a sista's gotta be prepared.

Bad news: I cried at the doctor's office (as I previously mentioned, I am child!). He asked if I've been stressed. I said no. Then I cried.

He asked if everything was alright at home with Brent. I said OF COURSE! and then continued crying. So... it probably looked like I was a victim of abuse. Heavens. So then I cried more because I was giving the wrong impression and because I was embarrassed about crying.  All very stressful.

Anyhow. Other news? I weighed in today at 138 lbs. I'm sure it was just water weight... but I'll take it. Lately I've been obsessed with roasting carrots and cauliflower in the oven with cumin, salt, and garlic along with a little (actually a lot of it) no-fat Pam cooking spray-- surprisingly, seriously delicious. Also, unsweetened almond milk has WAY less calories than regular milk. And I like it. Win, win. Also, the doctor said I was low on Vitamin D (he said most diabetics are, but it's not clear why... weird. And he said a lotta new studies are showing Vitamin D does some serious good... for your heart, your mood, and a bunch of other things he rattled off...). So I picked some up. And gee, it's a horse pill.

Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as it looked.

Stinted progress.

I joined Gold's Gym a few days ago. And gee, is it beautiful. Its got a great space with lots of machines and classes to take. But let me just say, I took a cycling class last night- and it was awesomely intense. Really hard, really sweaty, etc. But yet... listen to this. I didn't lose any weight this morning.

Losing weight is depressing. I'm just gonna put that out there. PS I thought I ate alright... 1450 calories yesterday. So seriously. Why no change in numbers?

Anyway, its super annoying because I talked to a trainer at the gym (when I joined, I got a free consultation with a trainer- he just got my height, weight, etc. and found out my BMI and body fat percentage and gave me a few toning exercises for my upper body). Anyway, the trainer said the amount of calories my body burns per day, if I just sit all day, is 1900.

What?! Seriously. It can't be true. I keep track of my calories and when I eat even 1700 calories, I never lose weight the next day. Also, trainer said I should keep my heart rate at around 145 to be losing fat. If my heart rate goes up to what he called the "cardio range" of 160 or so, I'm no longer losing fat, but my fat is turning into muscle.

Again, what?! I thought that if you just exercised and lost calories (losing more calories than you eat) you'll lose weight. Anyway, needless to say I'm very confused about how to go forward. Should I only do enough cardio to raise my heart rate to 145? In my experience, that's not working tooooo hard. But will I just have to work out at a moderate level for a long time? Like an hour on the treadmill or elliptical instead of 25-30 minutes? I mean, that's boring... to spend an hour on the treadmill.

I'm just gonna try and eat around 1200-1400 calories a day still, because in my short experience that is the only time I lost any weight.

Also, this is random, but I just entered to win these really cute Minnetonka moccasins from a blog I follow, Cotton and Curls. I just had to blog about them to get an extra entry in the contest... so please indulge me!

The good and the bad

Brent and I bought this car! (Since this is a longer blog post, you can click on the "Read more" to finish... that way this post doesn't take up the whole blog page...)

Resolutions

I know this is so cliche... but humor me. 2013 is my year to slim down. This photo above is what I want to look like. I'm so nervous about it! I tried to lose weight in high school a few times, but it never worked and it would just make me bitter.

So, currently I'm at 142 lbs. (and 5' 4'') and my goal weight is 110 lbs. It sounds freaky saying it because the last time I weighed 110 lbs. I think I was in, like, 8th grade. Yea, creepy.

But this girl above looks dang good!

My goal is to eat between 1200-1500 calories a day (depending on if I work out or not) and get a gym membership. I've been counting calories the last two days using an app on my phone called "Fitness Pal." It's awesome because you just type in what you eat, and the app calculates how many calories are in your food and adds up the daily totals. It is eye opening because the calories I eat add up so fast! Day before yesterday, I had eaten 1250 calories before dinner time! yikes. But the app definitely helps me be conscious of what I eat, and I'm less likely to eat a second roll at dinner if I know they're 150 calories a piece (that happened at Texas Roadhouse the other day... a serious bummer).

Fingers crossed I can keep this dang new years goal.