Reality Check

I have not been shopping for clothes in...a while. Its of course due to my not losing weight. I really need to lose about 50 lbs. I have been wating to do this for some time now. I even tried weight watchers before the wedding. I took what I learned from weight watchers and I have tried to apply it to my daily food intake. Obviously I am not trying that hard but the things I learned are constantly in the back of my mind. Anyway, this really is a funny story... So today, I went to Target to get some food for lunch (healthy food of course) and I thought, why not browse the clothes section. I tried on about 10 things. A few were ok, but I didnt LOVE anything. I really cannot actually purchase any item without a friend there to tell me that it looks good. So everything went back. But, before I could take it back, I had to get it off my body. Have you ever had that moment when you have been able to get a shirt on, and you cannot get it off?? I had that moment 3 times today. I almost got to the point with one shirt where I thought I should scream for help. Arms over my head and everything. I even tried to reach for my phone so that I could document the trauma with a photo. Then I relized, I dont want that memory. I finally got the darn thing off and my face was a lovely shade of redish pink. I was exhausted! And then to not even buy anything...its a tad sad if you ask me. But, the good thing that happened to me in that dressing room was this...I must get back to thinking about my health. After the very recent and unexpected death of one of my bosses, I have been relaizing that there is more to this life that I am not experiencing because of my weight. And I dont want to live this way anymore. My boss and 2 fellow co-workers have recently joined a gym together. I passed on the opportunity. I have been the girl who spends money every month on a gym membership, only to stop going after about 4 visits. I am not sure what is going to work for me. I know I am a very unmotivated person just in general. Not just with exercising but with about everything. I need to figure out what will work for me and do it. I know Mark will do whatever I want. He is easy that way. I just need to get there. Somehow. My Mom mentions to me that she is afraid of what will happen when I get pregnant. I cant afford to gain anymore weight on my 5 foot frame. I know this deep down in my knower. I just dont like to think about it. This last weekend My Mom and I went to a womens confrence. Beth Moore was the speaker and she is fantastic. The entire weekend was based on Psalm 37. It was about the desires of our heart and how we deserve those things and how God wants us to have those things. We just have to lay them out before him and he will answer our prayers. I know we dont always get what we want, but I need to re-think what the desires of my heart are. Over a year ago, the answer would have been marriage. I got that. I finally got that, and I am married to the man I have been in love with for over 10 years. I also know that I want to be a MOM. More than almost anything in this world I want to know what it feels like to be a Mom. To raise a child and lead them in the way that they should go. After todays debacle in the Target dressing room, I realize that my health should be a desire of my heart. Meaning, taking care of myself, should be my desire. God wants me to take care of this body. And I have failed him. So I am going to take all of the circumstances of the last week, and turn my heart around. Get to know what is truly important. Give God my desires no matter how small.

House and Mini Getaway

Well, I can start this off with good news! We have the new tub and it is firmly in place. Now Mark can begin drywalling and getting that bathroom put back together. Mark started his final year of school yesterday. We are so excited to see what God has in store for us after he graduates. The house is coming along. I need to start hanging my pictures that the house can start to feel like home. Right now it still just feels like a shell with people in it. I am ready to make it feel a little more like us. Here are a few pictures of the last few days before move in. Dad Euser was busy priming our walls. He is looking lovely.

Next is a picture of our room.

The plastic was still on the floor but you get the idea. I have not taken many more pictures since this one. I will do that as soon as I get some stuff on the walls. :)

This last weekend Mark and I decided to take a leave of absence from the house and go on a mini trip. Kevin (Mark's youngest brother) works at Rainbow Trout Ranch, South West of Antonito. Its about a 5.5 hour drive from Denver. This is his second summer as a wrangler and he seems to be enjoying this summer job. Since the summer is quickly winding down, we decided to take a visit to see Kevin. We wanted to see what he did all day and experience life on the ranch. We left Friday after work and after some very annoying traffic, we arrived at about 11pm. Dear dear Kevin waited up for us so that he could take us to our cabin in the woods.

Breakfast was bright and early Saturday morning. Obviously these people dont know me. 7:30 am breakfast??!! Hmm, these people have not met me. I dont do anything before 9 am on the weekends. Especially after a late night drive the day before. But I bucked up and we were at the lodge for Breakfast, on time.

We dined on breakfast burritos and coffee. The best I have ever tasted. I could have sat and eaten them all day. But, we were on a schedule and needed to meet Kevin for our morning horseback ride.

Kevin took us on the river ride. I think he mentioned that it was one of the more favored rides. We got to walk in the river and get soaked! It was a blast. The ranch has a dog named Mudflap. We are not sure of her breed but boy is she sweet. She likes to go out with the first ride of the day and that happened to be us! What a treat! She loved to swim in the river and chase any, and I mean any stick we would throw. She was a little thing but she wanted to prove that she could handle the big guys!

After our 2.5 hour ride we made it back to the Ranch. A little more sore than when we left...I am still sore in places I didnt know had muscles. But, well worth the pain. Kevin was a great leader. We had some time to kill before lunch so we got cleaned up and headed back to the lodge. Kevin was able to eat with us. Grilled cheese and tomato soup. One of my favorite combos! We were able to meet a bunch of kids that Kevin works with and they seem to just adore him. After lunch we sat out on the huge wrap around porch and just let the scenery take us away.

One of the reasons we came to the ranch this weekend was for the rodeo. Kevin has become quite good at ropping and we wanted to check out his skills for ourselves.

After the rodeo, we hiked back up to the lodge and did some more sitting. It was so nice to just sit and close your eyes and let the mountain air just cover you. At 6:15 we headed down to the park by the river for a steak dinner. It was sooo good. Of course as soon as we were all seated th rain came. We ate fast and loaded up to get back to the lodge. At 8pm we had a sing along. The fire was roaring and we sat around and sang some old classics. Home On the Range was of course a favorite. Afer the sing along and talent show (the kids love to perform) we said our goodbyes and headed to bed. Kevin gets Sunday off so we knew he would sleep in right past breakfast. It is at 7:30 afterall. Mark and I joined a few of the other guests for our last meal together. Home made cinnamon rolls and hashbrowns. YUMMY! I dont know that I have ever tasted something so great. After breakfast it was time for us to hit the road. We wanted to beat the mountain traffic back to Denver. Luckily, we did and we were home in the early afternoon. We had a great weekend with Kevin and we are so thankful that we had the chance to go. He is in his element down there, and its a great sight to see.

Frustration

I know, its been forever since I have been on here. The house certainly keeps us busy every minute of the day. Since my last update we have moved in! Thats right, we finally live there! Not a single room is complete yet but they are getting there. The main bathroom renovation has hit us with some setbacks. Its very frustrating to have set backs when you are on such a tight schedule. Mark starts school on the 24th and we really wanted the bathroom to be done by then. Its not looking so good now. First we were sent a purple/sage window trim kit. We ordered white. I had been having dreams that we ended up with a purple tub. And would you believe it, that happened! It wasnt the tub but it was purple! So we had to send that back. Now today, Mark went to put the tub in, and its cracked!! I blame myself for not checking it sooner. Its been sitting in our garage for a couple of weeks now. Mark just took that back and we have a new one ordered. Wont be here for 10 days. You can imagine how upsetting that is. So now the bathroom project is on hold. Not the best of days but we will get over it. I guess I should look on the bright side...now Mark has plenty of time to get the "little" things done. Maybe I can get some pictures up on the walls soon and start making that house feel like home. Right now I feel like I am staying in someone elses house. Its kind of strange. I am charging the camera so that I can post some great "after" pictures. Stay tuned!

Overdue Update!

Well, as you can see from the pictures, a lot has changed in the last couple of weeks. We are just about done drywalling. Just a few more pieces to put up and mud. Then we can start texturing and finally get to painting! On Saturday one little project turned into a big one. My Dad was removing all of the fixtures in the bathroom to get ready for the new ones and we found MOLD! EWWWW...so after a little debate we decided to gut the bathroom and start it from scratch. There was no way we were going to fix half the bathroom and leave the mold. So, Dad took down all of the tile and today, will begin the demo. Hopefully we can have the new tub and tub wall ordered by the end of the week and work on getting the bathroom all put back together. Not a task we were expecting to take on at this point, but getting it done right is the number one priority. Mom started working on the base boards, they look better already! This has definitley been a family job. We would not be where we are without the help of our parents. They are such a blessing to Mark and I. Grandpa Euser has continued to plant flowers and our yard is something to be admired! I suppose that is about it for this post. Much more to do and many more updates to come!

Ode to Walls

Happy Monday!

Mark spent Friday afternoon/evening at the house. Back in 1958 when our house was built, they didnt insulate the walls. Since I tend to be cold almost all of the time, we thought it would be a good idea to get some insulation up. So he spent the day taking down a lot of the drywall. Saturday was supposed to be a day packed with house renovations. We picked up our washer and dryer from my good friend Gene and then spent the rest of the morning running errands. My mil (mother in law) called to tell us she found a fridge at a garage sale and that we should come check it out. We did, and bought it. The last major appliance! YEA! After some light lunch and chitty chat we headed to the house for some work. I took down the remaining wallpaper. I dont know what it was stuck to the wall with, but it did not want to come down! Took me much longer than I thought it would. My mil spent time stripping the wood so we can get that all painted. My fil (father in law) helped us move some electricity around so that we can move some doors and take down some walls. Mark worked on taking down such walls. What a difference a wall makes! Its awesome to see the transformation after one little wall comes down. We ended the day by checking out the BEAUTIFUL flowers Marks Grandfather planted for us. He turned that blank space into a beautiful little flower garden. Its great to have those green thumbs around! Sunday we went to Church and then had some wonderful BBQ. It was such a beautiful day we decided to take advantage of the "no homework" weekend and go to the mountains. We picked up the dog and headed to Mt. Evans! What a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Happy Monday! We made it through our first weekend of home renovation. We spent all day Saturday taking down wallpaper and ripping up carpet. Of course both of those changes lead us to some bad news. One of the walls has a bow in it and now Mark will need to knock that part down and see what the problem is. The carpet was hiding some horid animal scents if you get my drift. So bad in fact that the hardwood in that area will have to be replaced completely and fast! Otherwise, it was a very productive weekend in the new house. Many thanks to my in-laws who were helping us over the weekend and again today. This is definitley a family project!

Home Sweet Home

Well, I finally bit the bullet and created one of these. Welcome to 2009, I know, I know. I thought today would be the perfect day to start blogging. In about 2.5 hours from now Mark and I will be closing on our first home. After our wedding day, this will be the biggest step in our lives. The emotions are all over the place for me. I am obviously very excited but nervous and humbled all at the same time. It has taken us a lot to get here and I know its going to be worth all of the stress. The house we are buying is a bit of a fixer upper. Nothing major, but work none the less. I thought this might be the perfect way to document the changes that are made. So, hang in there and check back for updates as we begin the new phase of our married life.