Resolutions, Cars and the Joy of Having a Rib Cage

So, this week went better in regards to my resolutions. I think bringing it up in my blog earlier this week really helped me get excited about the resolutions I had made as well as why I had made them! Some of my resolutions I did more days that I had originally planned. I also felt like I had been cheating a little bit on some of my resolutions last week so I resolved to be better about them this week. I definitely managed to be better about them! I feel great about my week! Yay!

Two weeks ago today, TJ was heading up to Arapahoe Basin for Ski Patrol tryouts and heading up I-70 on a Saturday morning has a ton of traffic. Long story short, an accident happened, no one was hurt and our vehicle had way more damage than the other person’s. Took it to see how much the damage was and it was totaled. So, we have been driving around a rental car for the past couple of weeks. A Dodge Avenger. The nerd inside me definitely was super excited about the name. Lol. We drove it around until just the other day we found a car that met our needs almost exactly. We bought a 2006 scion. It is one of those boxy looking cars. I don’t have pictures at the moment and TJ took it to work so there will be pictures later! But it has so much room inside. Enough for a couple friends as well as two pups! It gets just as good of gas as the Honda Fit if not better. So, there we are, we have a new addition to the Parnell household!

Around the same time as the accident, I must have fallen skiing or something. I have had sore rib since. The only thing I can remember is doing a Jillian Michaels DVD and not being able to finish because my rib was killing me! So, it has been super sore off and on since then. I’m trying to just take it easy and let the rib heal. I have come to realize I am terrible at taking it easy. First, I have a relatively physically demanding job. I do a lot of stocking shifts at work which means some lifting of sometimes heavy boxes. I love stocking but my rib does not. Lol. Then I just want to be outside, hiking or skiing or walking the dogs. That is not a good idea right now. Today was 50 degrees! It was screaming to have me outside because that is the warmest it has been in a while! But I am doing as the doctor (aka TJ) ordered and trying to lay around and let it heal. Seriously, so much harder than it seems!

Well, anyway. I’m off to laying around again!

See ya!

The Month of February Has Begun

I can’t believe that the shortest month of the year has already started AND that we are already four days into it!!! How crazy is that?! I feel like sometimes life just goes by so quickly. It was two months ago that I said I was going to try and take the month of December a little slower and enjoy the holidays. We all know how that turned out. Although life is going by super quick as it usually does, I have been taking time to enjoy things over the past month or so. After reading The Happiness Project (I know, I know I really should stop talking about it. ) I really wanted to change things to enjoy life a little more. Some small, some daily, some a little more daring, but mostly just being able to say no.

I realized I was saying yes to things that I did not particularly enjoy or things that really did me no good. In January, our membership to the rock climbing gym expired. We decided to let it expire. We did not want to renew because we realized we weren’t using it. At first, we were both really torn. We felt like we should renew but we did not really want to. After it expired, we had a little money to ski. That monthly membership fee was no longer coming out and that freed up a little bit of play money. Then we found out we had free skiing at a mountain not too far. Oh man, we have gone skiing at least once a week for the past month. Amazing! It was such a great decision. Not only am I happier but I am getting out more and being way more active than I was with the gym membership. So that being sad, we will be social rock climbers but it is not something that we are desperately pushing for. I said no to something that was just nagging at my brain and said yes to my favorite activity ever! So much happier!

I also started saying no to so many sweets and sodas. I love soda. It really is a weakness for me. One of the resolutions I made this year was to avoid soda 3 times a week. I thought to myself, this should be a piece of cake. No way. I did not realize how much I love soda until I started cutting it out of my diet. This has been the hardest resolution for me to keep. There have been times when all I want is to drink a soda! But I am in week 4 of my resolutions and so far so good! I have managed to avoid soda twice this week so only one more day and its only Tuesday! I know it may not seem like a lofty goal but I find it better to start small and incorporate it into life that try and go cold turkey because then I just get frustrated.

Another thing that I gleaned from the book that shall not be named is she did resolutions each month. She focused on an area each month and worked on it. I have decided to attempt that for February as least. I don’t know if it will continue into the rest of the months but this month it will happen. The rooms that I live in day in and day out tend to get really cluttered and messy. That is only 5 rooms (not counting the basement or Matt’s room) that I need to focus on. I want to de-clutter this place. I want to focus on eliminating items that I don’t use or use up items I forget about and buy something similar in place of. I want less things to end up cluttering up my bedroom floor and to be able to breathe easy after a brief clean-up at the end of the day. So, February is de-clutter month in the Parnell household. I am sure you will hear about my victories and failures throughout or at least at the end.

Anyway, off to look for a car!

See ya!

Book Review: The Happiness Project

I just read The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. Usually, I take some time to process the book before posting but honestly, I have been processing as I have been reading the book. This book was a really good read! She takes 12 majors areas in her life that she wants to improve her happiness through everyday changes. She makes resolutions for each month and keeps track on how she does everyday. And then when she goes on to the next month, she still attempts to keep up with the previous month but shifts her focus to the resolutions of the current month.

Pros: She made very practical resolutions. They were things that every person could do. She was down to earth and very inspiring. I loved how she took her resolutions seriously but also didn’t and just tried to enjoy life also. She was funny and enjoyable. She had such a great sense of humor. I loved how brutally honest she was about her failures and her victories. It was wonderful! (I also realized I am using the word wonderful a lot!)

Cons: There were aspects of her life that I could not quite relate to. She had young kids and lived in an apartment in NYC. I have pups (which I guess are like kids) and own a house in the suburbs of Denver. Super different. She also made some references I had no idea about but did end up doing a good job of explaining them.

Overall: What a great read! I really do recommend reading the book. It is such a great book to start the year off with. Reading it in January gets you so excited to be a better person and change some things in the upcoming year. I had some vague resolutions for 2014 but while I was reading this book I made them a little more concrete. I started focusing on things weekly. I want to make some changes (moderate) so that I can increase my happiness and well being this year.  I would like to say, so far so good! W00t!

I have knocked a couple things off of my To-Do list. Read a couple books and made a few things. Pictures to come soon!

See ya!

2014!!!!

Happy New Year everybody!!! Hope you all had a safe and fun New Year’s Eve! TJ and I just stayed in, had a delicious dinner and watched the Walking Dead marathon that was going on lol.  We watched the ball drop and then proceeded to fall asleep watching Modern Family. I know, super exciting! 

I love new years. It means a fresh start and I fully intend to take advantage of that in the new year. I have some things that I want to change in the new year. I have some things I want to finish in the new year. I definitely want to dedicate more time to this blog! Thanks for all of your support in 2013! I can’t wait to share 2014 with you! 

I know that December and capturing it in pictures ended up being a flop. working retail during the holidays ended up getting the best of my december again. Oh well. Such is life. We had a great Christmas with friends! The majority of us ended up being sick together so that was kind of entertaining whenever someone tried to laugh and ended up having a coughing fit instead. 

With 2014, I do have some goals in mind. Nothing too huge. But might as well share a little bit of what I have in mind.

~ pay down some if not most of our debt. No matter what, I want to work to get this debt paid down. 

~ Finish my reading list. Obviously I failed at taking care of it in 52 weeks…. but I told you I would finish it, so I’m going to finish it. 

~ knock a couple things off of my to do list around the house and just in general. super vague I know but I don’t have anything specific in mind. I just want to try some things that I have been meaning to try and not just waste time. 

All of that being said, I do have a book to knock off the list. I just finished reading Eldest by Christopher Paolini. It is the second book in the Eragon series. Definitely a good read if you like fiction. It was a fun read and I got swept away by the story. I don’t have a full review of it today but keep an eye out for other reviews coming your way!

See ya! 
Happy New Year!