Goodbye 2010....Hello 2011!!

Ok so Happy New Years! LOL  I thought I would update on how I did on my New Year's Resolutions from last year and make a few new ones for this one.  First things first....I'll list what 2010's goals were and if they were successful or not!
1.  Read 100 books in 2010-completed!!  I actually read 111 books last year!
2.  Lose (and keep off) 10-15 lbs-completed!  I exceeded this goal for once!  Very proud of myself.  I actually lost and kept off 30 lbs this last year!  I have now lost and kept off 40 lbs over the last 2 years!!!!  I can't believe it!
3.  Pay off our furniture-completed!  Barely did it but I got it paid off in December...which was good since Jan would have been with interest!
4.  Pay extra on our Sebring loan-failed! *unless you count the 43ish cents a month I round up on our payment!  But we also used a skip a pay so I'm pretty sure that counteracted all that change! Plus, my escort died this year and I wasn't expecting that so we had to get a new car this past year.  Luckily my parents were able to sell me their Escape and so now instead of one car payment, we have 2.
5.  Have a savings (and with more than a couple of bucks in it)-failed!  I have $6.80 in our savings right now...but I have also had to go to the doctor several times in the last few months and with no insurance, it adds ups quickly....so I did have savings until recently.


Ok....so that looks like all the resolutions I made last year....not too shabby if I don't say so myself!  I did better than I thought I would have!  Ok so I've been trying to come up with a few resolutions for 2011.  Here's what I have come up with....at least so far! lol

1. Read 100 books-I'm pretty sure that I can accomplish this goal again this year....at times it does seem like it's not going to happen though
2.  Lose and keep off 15 lbs....this will put my 5 lbs under my first MAJOR weight loss goal....and put me at a total of 55 lost total.  I think this is a reasonable goal....plus look at last year....I said 10 to 15 and I lost and kept off 30....it apparently can happen!
3.  Have a savings-I would like to have more than $6.80 at this time next year put away! lol....we'll see....
(maybe i can save up to $7!)
4.  Pay at least one extra car payment on a vehicle....it doesn't matter which one....I would just like to be ahead a little bit....or maybe a lot bit.....I'll dream big
5.  Get a new laptop and pay it off this year....I know it is inevitable....we will get one this year at some point...I just hope we will have no payment for a couple of months before we start in on a new one! 
6.  Update my wardrobe.....seriously I have been lacking in clothes for years....well work clothes and jeans at least....I hope to own more than one pair of jeans that fit and have new work pants because all of my slacks are seriously falling off my butt and have been for awhile now...yes this is a good problem but not if I can't find/buy any new ones!

OK....that seems like maybe I can accomplish those goals...and I'm stopping with 6 because I'm pretty sure I won't make it any farther if I just keep coming up with stuff!  Here's some random things about what has happened the last few months since I haven't updated on here in awhile....

We are now the proud parents of a beautiful kitty named Percy Tails....mostly going by Tails or Bubba lol
The first picture is of him the first day we had him....poor thing was starving to death so Terry saved him from Chisholm Corner and brought him home.  The next one is him sitting on all my books!  lol he does love boxes and books!  And the last one is him playing in the leaves outside.  He had been digging like a dog right before that pic!

Also, as I sorta said earlier...my escort died....yes the one I had in high school when I first got my license....I had it for 9 years...But I do love the Escape I have now!  Sooo thankful mom and dad were able to help us out by selling it to us!  Terry's mom got married this year and moved!  She got married on Sept 25 to Allen Lampman and now they live in Rush Springs.  Cory and Karissa both got jobs this year!  YAY!  And they also moved out to Rush.  So weird that I lived there for so long and now all of them live there!  Craziness......hmmm what else....oh I've been with the bank for 5 years now.....oh and sadly I have to go to new accounts training next week.  I really don't want to do new accounts but hey what can you do when your new boss pretty much doesn't give you an option....you just go and at least I'm getting to go with Mandy.  That part should be fun! lol  Well I'm going to end this now because it's 3:30 in the am and I really need to be going to bed.....Terry will be home from work in less than 3 hours...I should be asleep before that happens!  Well I'll try to update more often.....good night!  Oh and on one last side note...I also won free shoes three times this year from DSW!!  Although my hubby is trying to "buy" my last gift card from me so he can get new shoes so we will see.....

Free Shoes, Concerts, and the beginnings of a great summer!

So it's been FOREVER since I've posted on here so I thought I'd give it a whirl!  LOL....so anyways I went to Frontier City this past Saturday with my cousin Erica to see Kevin Fowler, Pat Green, and Mark McKinney in concert!  It was amazing!  We had a blast and we got to take our pics with Mark and Kevin.  And I was wearing my Johnny Cooper shirt and Mark McKinney said he loved it and knows him! HAHA!  It was great and he was super nice!  We were gonna get our pics with Pat Green too but after the concert he bought the first 100 beers so we knew we didn't stand a chance trying to get to him! 
Lets see....so I usually talk about my weight and my book goals on here so here we go......well I hadn't done the best diet wise until last week when I restarted my diet and lost almost 4 lbs!  I'm still trying hard to keep going.  Now we have the treadmill at the house so it makes it easier to workout when I work late.  Speaking of that, I still have to motivate myself to get up and do it in a little bit.  I always feel so much better if I just go ahead and exercise!  And my book goal is going okayish....I've completed 35 of the 100 books but to stay on track I really need to read 6 more books by a week from today.  Not sure how well that will work but I am in the middle of at least 3 so maybe I can power through it! LOL  Not too long ago I won a $75 gift card to DSW.com shoes!  I follow them on twitter and every Friday it's Free Shoe Friday day and I actually won after trying for months! LOL....now I'm determined to win again so I can buy some Reebok EasyTone shoes!  lol....I mean what's better than free shoes right? LOL....I originally got 3 pairs for it but one pair was too narrow so I took them back to the store Saturday and exchanged them and still had some money left over so tonight I ordered another pair....so now for about $17 I got 4 pairs of shoes from them!  So awesome! 
Not too much else going on in my life right now....getting excited to go see Lady Antebellem and Tim McGraw on June 13th with Terry at the Zoo Amp!  We're gonna stay a night in a hotel after ward with the jacuzzi in it!  YAY!  It's kinda a combined bday trip for us since we both have June bdays...then I am off work that week for vacation!  YAY!  I can't wait!
Really I don't have much else to talk about so i guess I'll get off here and go workout!  (Hopefully!) Wish me luck!
Love,
Gena Belena!

Spoiler!! Lots of rambling in this post!

So lots has gone on since my last post....most of which I am going to keep to myself.  It's made me extremely sad but sometimes stuff happens and you just have to deal with it and see what happens ....It's been hard on me but I'm trying to figure some stuff out on my own.  I know I've lost someone who I was very close with but I felt like I did what I thought was best for me at the time....I know I may not have handled it the best but I did what I thought needed to be done.  I still feel horrible and it hurts me every day to think that I've lost this person but I know it probably wouldn't be the same now anyway and I know why they wouldn't want to be around/talk to me anymore and I really just can't figure out how to put my feelings into words yet and I'm still not sure what to do or say or not say yet so sorry for the confusing message or non message or whatever this rambling idiot is putting {and by idiot, I mean me and my talking!  ; ) lol}

On a happier note, it is my 6th wedding anniversary tomorrow.  WOW...I can't believe it's already been that long...sometimes it seems like it has flown by and sometimes it seems like it should be longer! LOL....I'm super excited since we get to hang out and spend the day together and actually get to go do some stuff instead of just staying around the house.   I can't wait to go shopping tomorrow and just have a great time....now let's just hope the stores are ready for me and I can actually find stuff! LOL....Why does it always seem like you find the best stuff (and in your size) when you have no money to really shop....but when you have money and can spend it they have nothing that you like or that is in your size?  It's so frustrating! LOL  So wish me luck! 
 I have finished 16 of my 100 books for this year so not too bad so far.  I figured out that to easily finish my goal in time, I need to read a little over 8 books each month to stay on track.  Well so far so good since it's around the first of March and I'm halfway finished with #17 and #18 for my list.  Everything's been crazy lately or I would probably be a lot farther on this goal!  But I'm proud of myself so far!
I have recently restarted my diet post ice storm and have been doing pretty good.  Most days I have been staying within my calorie range (with the exception of the horrible week last week but hey I know I'm an emotional eater and I was extremely distraught and even though it didn't really help, I still endulged quite a bit) but stress kicked in and I guess evened out the poundage of my overeating because I still managed to lose weight.  I have also been working out at the Simmons Center...not as much as I would like but I've been making myself go at least 4 hours every weekend...I figure if I never excercise all week but can fit in 2 great workouts Saturday and Sunday that helps a lot.  It would be better if I did it more often though and I realize I would get faster results too. I know it's gonna take me awhile to get to what I want to be anyways and the more steady I lose the easier to keep it off for me.  I really have enjoyed running on the treadmill and riding the bike there and lifting (well only once so far! LOL) and swimming when I go though.  Oh and I'm super pumped cause we should be getting my treadmill in a couple of weeks!!!  We gotta get rid of our computer and desk first or at least the desk and move the computer to make it fit but then we'll have one in our home!  There are lots of days I wish we had one because I would make myself workout more often with it.

That's really about all my news or at least all I feel like sharing right now.  Oh and we found out my boss is prego this week too!  She's due at the beginning of November.  She's been trying to get pregnant for almost 2 years now so a big congrats to her!  I know this was long and rambley and probably pretty confusing and unthought out but that's about all for now....hope everyone has a great week!! 

Happy 2010 everyone!

So it's been a really long time since I've posted.  I'm going to try this year to blog more.  I tend to slack on this!  Well I thought I'd go ahead and write a couple of my new years resolutions.  I didn't make very many this year just because I know if I do, I don't follow through very well. My first one is to try and read 100 books this year.  I set my goal at 50 last year (in july mind you) and ended up reading 80 or so.  I feel pretty confident in this goal.  And I'm almost done with 2 books already!  Also, I always make one about dieting but this year instead of saying I want to lose 30 more pounds (which I do) I'm going to say I would like to be 10-15 lbs less than my current weight by the end of the year.  Yes that sounds like a weird goal but I know that I only diet for 1/2 a year or sometimes less so why go overboard with saying I want to stay at my goal weight even through the holidays.  This last year I lost a total of 30 lbs but I have only gained 10 back.  So being 20 lbs lighter than this time last year makes me realize I should set smaller long term goals and maybe if I slowly get used to pulling the weight off, I will keep it off easier and longer if I do it in 10-15 lbs a year.  So maybe in a couple more years...I can easily maintain my goal weight!  (still a longshot but worth a new approach!) I would also like to pay off our new furniture this year, and pay extra towards our new car and have a savings started (like a real one...not just a couple bucks like I normally have!)  So hopefully I can obtain a few of these things..(or all would be nice!)  Well hope everyone had a great holiday and I'm getting excited to get to work on these new goals this year and I'll be curious to see how well I do at them! 

Books (x 50)

Well I have now completed my 50 book challenge.  Well technically I finished the challenge on 9-9-09 but I just haven't gotten on here yet to share my news.  I'm very proud of myself for finishing my goal so quickly.  Acutally, I really suprised myself by not only following through and finishing it, but finishing it well before my deadline.  I started this goal around the middle of June I think and gave myself till the end of the year to read 50 books.  Well for lack of other news, I'm going to give my list of books that I read (not in any particular order) I will try to at least list the series in order in case anyone wants to know.  

1. Redemption-Karen Kingsbury- #1
2. Remember-"-#2
3. Return-"-#3
4. Rejoice-"-#4
5. Reunion-"-#5
6. Cape Refuge-Terri Blackstock #1
7. Southern Storm-"-#2
8. River's Edge-"-#3
9. Breaker's Reef-"-#4
10. Firefly Lane-Kristin Hannah
11. The Secret Life of Bees-Sue Monk Kidd
12. Apocalypse Dawn-Mel Odom-#1
13. Jane Eyre-Charlotte Bronte
14. Brink of Death-Brandilyn Collins-#1
15. Stain of Guilt-"-#2
16. Dead of Night-"-#3
17. Web of Lies-"-#4
18. Whispers of the Bayou-Mindy Starns Clark
19. sTORI telling-Tori Spelling
20. Journey to the Center of the Earth-Jules Verne
21. Fame-Karen Kingsbury-#1
22. Forgiven-"-#2
23. Found-"-#3
24. Family-"-#4
25. Forever-"-#5
26. Alaska-Tracie Peterson (4 novellas-A Light in the Window, Destiny's Road, Iditerod Dream, and Christmas Dream)
27. Sunrise-Karen Kingsbury-#1
28. Summer-"-#2
29. Someday-"-#3
30. Sunset-"-#4
31. Last Light-Terri Blackstock-#1
32. Night Light-"-#2
33. True Light-"-#3
34. Dawn's Light-"-#4
35. Land of my Heart-Tracie Peterson-#1
36. The Coming Storm-"-#2
37. The Dream Anew-"-#3
38. The Hope Within-"-#4
39. Violet Dawn-Brandilyn Collins-#1
40. Coral Moon-"-#2
41. Crimson Eve-"-#3
42. Amber Morn-"-#4
43. Love Comes Softly/Love's Enduring Promise-Janette Oaks #1 and #2 (in same book)
44. Monster-Frank Peretti
45. Double Minds-Terri Blackstock
46. BoneMan's Daughters-Ted Dekker
47. Redeeming Love-Francine Rivers
48. The Guardian-Nicholas Sparks
49. Dark Pursuit-Brandilyn Collins
50. Message in a Bottle-Nicholas Sparks

I have also finished Before I Wake by Dee Henderson so that makes me at 51 currently.  I will probably keep track of how many more I finished before the end of the year but no guarentees!  For the goal of 50 books, I made sure I read things that I haven't previously read in a book.  (Although I have seen some of them as movies lol) Most of them are Christian Fiction books with a few others mixed in there.  If you wanna know about any of them, just ask me and I'll see if I can remember! LOL

It's been awhile....

So it's been awhile since I've posted on here so I thought I would update a lil....well I guess everything's been going good lately...I had my vacation that ended Monday...it was fun! Last Friday night (the first night) Terry and I went shopping at Lawton and ate at El Chico. It was good and we had fun! Then I went and stayed with my parents and my mom and I watched Season 6 of One Tree Hill. It was good but I'm ready for season 7 to start...it begins sept. 14th....but I'm really sad that 2 of the main characters left the show...I just wonder what it will be like this season without them. I will miss them. Oh well....I'm sure it will be good anyways...oh and I also got some new clothes, new SHOES! YAY! lol, and some new books too!!

okay on my book goal (which is to read 50 books between the middle of like June-December) is going really good. Actually it's going better that I would have ever imagined it would. I am now only 4 (or technically 3 1/2) books away from my goal and it's still the beginning of Sept. I am really proud of myself. When I set this goal, I had no idea that I could accomplish it so soon! I figured that the last fews days of December I might be reading non-stop so I could finish it...if I even lasted that long lol...but now being so close and having SOOO long to finish it, I know that it can be done! I'm thinking that I may try to read 100 books next year and start in January. But part of that depends on if I go to school. I'm totally debating whether or not I should try to go. A big part of me wants to and the other part is terrified of it. I don't know if it's the teaching part or the school part or just the change of it all that scares me but I guess I just don't know what I should do. I mean this feels like a huge decision and I don't wanna try to go and then change my mind or finish and have no desire to go out and try it. I mean I love my job and it's a good one so part of me wonders if it's worth the risk and part of me thinks that if I don't go that I'll always regret it in some ways. UGH! Help please! LOL

Anyways...so today at work was Shanna's last day. It makes me sad that she's leaving but I'm happy for her and hope that she likes her new job. It will definately be different up there without her around (and quieter lol jk! we're all pretty loud most of the time! LOL)

Oh on a happy note...yesterday my wonderful hubby let me order these awesome Hello Kitty rings I've wanted FOREVER!! YAY!! I really would like it to be my new wedding ring but he doesn't much like the idea...I mean it's really pretty and it's in diamonds and has two eternity bands that go on both sides of Hello Kitty! I mean it's fancier than my wedding ring even though I love it! lol....for some weird reason he doesn't think that I should lol...oh well...lol at least I got it! Maybe I can slowly start doing it and see if he even notices lol...oh and I got a Hello Kitty Pez dispenser too lol hehehe.....I'll try to post pics of the ring when it arrives!! I guess that's all my news for now. Happy reading!!

Forever....and a day

So it feels to me like I haven't been on this thing in a really long time and it's about time for an update....so I mentioned in my last blog that I had a few goals I had decided to work on...here's an update on those...

• Exercise-well I have still yet to restart my program...just been feeling lazy and well basically I'm not ready for the commitment yet...lol
• Library-I mentioned that I was going to try to get books from the library soon...well I have twice now...and I am now officially a card carrying member!! I'm totally excited...(and I think that makes me a nerd! lol but I don't care!!)
• My 50 book goal-I feel like I'm doing great with this goal..as you may or may not know, I just started this goal around the middle of June...and I am currently finished with 15 books and I'm halfway through another and a quarter of the way through with one more lol and these are real books too....not little kid ones lol...although I may read some I'm not going to count them for the goal
• My hair-I'm learning to live with it...and it kinda goes into a ponytail now...it will stay most of the day but sometimes the front pieces are too short n it falls out...
• So this one isn't really a goal but I like using the bullet points...makes me feel important so I think for the rest of this blog I will use them! (plus it makes me look like I have a lot of goals if you don't read this far! LOL)
  
• My pool-oh so sad...it's days are numbered I'm afraid....it has now sprung leak #2 (and possibly more) I can't find the new leaks but it's on the bottom ring so the pool deflates and now it's probably about 3 or MAYBE 4 inches deep basically I can lay on the bottom of the pool and tan since most of my body isn't in the water and my head can't go under anymore...oh and yes it's a kiddie pool but it was past the knees when it wasn't leaky...sniffle sniffle

• my tan--despite the set back of my pool which I realized yesterday..I'm still working on my tan....for those of you who know me...you realize that when I say I'm tan...you may not can tell and think I'm still as white as can be...well let me tell you...lol....I am now darker this summer than I have been in probably more than 7-10 years...if not longer than that...actually...this may be the tannest I have ever been! lol so I'm really proud of me for that! YAY ME!
• There is another goal that I have been working on that I will say (for my own records) that I have been doing very well with lately...it's a personal goal that I am actually not sharing but I feel like it's been going pretty good and I've been proud of myself for that! go me!
• I am now going to set a new goal...or hobby maybe....so I've decided I want to start scrapbooking! I have no stuff to do it with yet and I'm trying to decide what all I want to buy for it....I think I wanna make 3 wedding ones...one for me, one for my parents, and one for Terry's mom....then I wanna make some fun ones and finish the one I started in high school from when I was a kid and stuff...so hopefully i will have enough funds to start this new thing...wish me luck with it..I'm not the most creative grape in the bunch! LOL
• I almost forgot...my cupcakes for the 4th of July were amazing if I do say so myself....They were red, white, n blue with chocolate frosting and blue sprinkles for a lil flair! LOL
• Terry and I also have bought a new set of silicone bake ware and have been baking with them a lot recently...love em...I made a marble fudge cake with chocolate frosting the other day...it was delish...I was a lil off center when I stacked them but it's me so what do you expect? lol
• The 4th of July was fun too....well part of it was really lonely since I was by myself all evening....the fireworks got cancelled here because we got rained out..and when I say rain I mean torrential downpour! Our street flooded up over the curbs in probably less that five minutes...I could've swam in the street...lol...hey it was deeper than my pool is now! LOL but they rescheduled them for Sunday (which was the next night) and my parents came and watched them with me! It was actually the worst one I 've seen in a long time...it was supposed to be bigger n better and like douple the fireworks (and our town always does a ton anyways!) but the rain ruined part of them since it didn't start raining unitl like 2 hours before the fireworks should've started that night lol...but it was still fun none the less....here's a pic of them!
  

Well this is about all I can come up with today other than I'm feeling lonely lately since my bestie hasn't had much time for me....lol...I know you're busy or I'm busy and we haven't been free the same weekends lately! lol Just know I love ya and miss ya and hopefully this not seeing each other stuff will stop soon or I'm gonna go crazy!

Haircuts, books, and goals

So it's been forever since i've posted...but today felt like a good day for it. I got my hair cut today...well I think it's cute but I hate it all at the same time. It's my own fault...I'm an idiot! lol....k I'll start at the beginning...So my hair is getting really long and almost impossible to brush because it's getting so tangley....so i thought I would cut it off to shoulder length. I got in the chair and she asked me if i wanted it at the shoulders or right above...i said why not...let's go above....but then she gave me a mirror to hold and ran the comb through the back of my hair and asked me to tell here where i wanted it at. When I thought it was where I wanted, i waited a second to make sure it was a little longer....since my hair was wet and it's shorter when it's dry...lol....duh...neways....so I'm thinking all is going goood...when she gets done and hands me the mirror I'm like good...cause it was shorter but i didn't think it was that much shorter at first. and well let's face it, when it's already too short what can you do but live with it? lol....i'm totally not getting extensions..i'll just have to deal. So I get to the car and run my hands through it and OMG!!! It's like as short as my jaw line! So it's like totally 2 inches or so shorter than I was hoping for!! If you know me, you know I LIVE for the ponytail! I hate fixing my hair and I'm always running late for everything....well I'm going to have to fix it every morning before work now...I'm usually late putting it in a ponytail!! How in the heck am I going to be able to fix it and make it there????? Very nuts!!! But it's not her fault...it's mine....I'm the one that said to cut it there....they shouldn't let me make decisions! LOL...I totally suck at them!! However, I did make one decision this week about a goal I have for myself for this year. Or at least the remainder of it.....here goes.....I have decided to read 50 books before the end of this year. I recently started reading a lot lately and the idea came to me last night.....so I've started myself a list and so far I'm almost done with book #10...and these have all been read in the last 2 or 3 weeks.....so far so good...I just hope i don't slow down too much so I can get to my goal....I'm going to have to join the library so I can get some more books....
I find this revelation funny since I just read my friend Angel's blog and she said just posted 2 blogs about reading...one is about her goal to read...you guessed it....50 books this year!...(I'm totally taking this as a sign since I stumbled across this today of all days!!) so wish me luck and hope for the best...with my hair and my books! lol....happy reading!