Back To Normal

Hey Guys.

The New Year is upon us and we are finally getting back into our normal groove. Well. Whatever is normal for us now.

Right before the holidays, I had mentioned to Steve and the girls that they had to get their routine in better shape.

They were just getting lazier and lazier and...lazier...

I was getting up between 6 and 6:30am, working out, showering and getting ready for the day before anyone else got up.

I'd even be settled at my desk drinking coffee and opening up my computer before I heard anyone get up.

Then.

THEN!

They'd watch TV in PJs for a while.

Listen.

I'm not trying to nag.

I'm ALL FOR LOUNGING AROUND.

However. 

On school days, the girls just have to be in a better routine. 

They have to let off on the screen time.

I get it. COVID.

Homeschool.

It's radically different for all of us. 

But.

It was getting out of hand.

Steve would legit do school work with them while LAYING IN BED.

Like, who has the motivation to do it like that?

I tried really hard not to say anything at all because I'm not the parent that's homeschooling them on the daily. I'm "lucky" enough that I "get" to go up to my office and work at my full-time job.

What works for me doesn't always work for them or him.

BUT.

Like I said, it was getting out of hand.

So I spoke with Steve and said that it'd be a good idea to get in a better routine and he easily agreed and realized he was being very lazy.

So he's been getting up around the time I'm done with my workouts and he gets the girls breakfast ready and they are usually doing school by 9am.

MUCH BETTER.

OMG. 

They are cranking through school work so much faster and in my opinion, in better moods.

COVID is still like a wildfire right now and raging all over the place. I have no idea what it'll be like come Fall time. Will the kids go back to school?

We are now just back to our regular-scheduled lives. For now.

Nothing crazy coming up. 

Mila's birthday is next. 

So between now and April? 

Not much and I'm ok with that. 

This is the most recent pic of the girls I have. It's from Saturday (Jan. 8). I've been taking them to see the lobsters at this Wegmans for 6 years. We stop every time. 

Saddened

You know, last week was a tough week. Our nation experienced something...completely outrageous and stunning and quite simply, fucked up.  

Our Capitol was stormed, breached, attacked by a group of terrorists. 

A group of terrorists who were told by our sitting President "we love you, go home" after he told them to "march on the Capitol and fight."

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?

How this man hasn't been dragged out of office is beyond me.

It was terrible to watch on TV. 

Terrifying.

Realizing that all eyes are on our country, watching as it basically burns to the ground.

And realizing how weak we appear. 

How crazy we appear.

It's insane to me.

Try explaining this one to your kids. 

This is the world I'm raising my kids in. 

How do I explain that the President shouldn't be acting like this? 

It makes me sad that this is the world they are growing up in. Like what will it be like when they are grown? 

I just hope with the inauguration of Joe Biden, our nation will begin to heal and find unity again. I'm sure this period of time will go down in history for being an absolute shit show. I wonder how the history books will be written? 

We can only hope. Hope is a big word that has a LOT of meaning lately. 

Hope that we can rebuild ourselves into a stronger, more unified nation. 

Hope that the destruction this insane man caused in four short years isn't permanent. 

We can only hope. 

New Floors!

Remember back in November I mentioned how gross our master bedroom carpet was? 

Well apparently we picked a floor that was not in stock at the time.

So we waited. 

It finally arrived in December and when we went to schedule it, they said it would happen on Monday, January 4th.

And here we are.

I was SO excited because...well. Our carpets are just disgusting.

So after my workout and shower, I helped Steve get our bed out of the way.

I literally cannot with this floor. I want to hurl. 

This is when it gets fun!

The two nicest guys show up to do our floors. Independent contractors hired out by Home Depot.

Because we're having the floors done professionally, they have very stringent restrictions and limitations because of the warranty and standing behind their work.

All of this makes sense. 

The level-ness threshold if you will is 3/16 of an inch. 

As soon as the guy said that, we KNEW it wasn't going to work.

Our house is not level. It's one of those houses that was partially built somewhere else, then put together here. So we have a "seam" down the middle of our house where our main joist is and after settling, it's just not level.

So in order for them to do guarantee their work, our floor needs to meet their requirements. Which it doesn't.

Our options: having them put leveling stuff down (more $$ and having to RESCHEDULE) or doing it ourselves. 

UGH.

We're spending the extra $$. We want it done right.

And Steve is still recovering and while he's doing great, he probably shouldn't be laying down any floors. 

So here it is with the leveling stuff. The installers came, estimated the leveling stuff, came back to put it down and then left. 

This stuff needs 8 hours to dry which is great, so I'll be able to get into our bathroom later tonight/tomorrow morning. 

Luckily for us, the scheduler was able to get them back the NEXT DAY to put the floors in! I'm SO excited about this. I didn't want to have to go DAYS without using our bedroom. 

This is the LAST of the gross carpet to go! We replaced the gross carpet that was upstairs and our dogs are not allowed up there, so we are at least guaranteed to not have pet stains up there. 

Now we don't have ANY carpet downstairs, which is amazing. We have area rugs and will need a new one for our bedroom. Bella is still getting used to our floors and prefers the carpeted areas so she doesn't slide around. 

The good thing is, is that if the dogs ruin an area rug, we can throw it out and buy a freaking new one. 

Bye, Friends

Welp, we spent NYE with another family.

Steve's BFF (and best man at our wedding) and his family.

They are moving to South Carolina.

We've all been friends since high school.

Me and Nick's Junior Prom 1999. Steve was a freshman.

Our wedding, 2010

Christmas Tree hunting 2011

Snowmobiling, February 2017

Even through college, new jobs, moves (omg so many moves) we've always considered Nick family.

100%.

His GF, Baby Mama, SO (also from high school) got pregnant at the same time that I got pregnant with Ava. They are only 4 days apart in age. 

We did family things together and did joint birthday celebrations with the girls. 

It was perfect. 

Even though we lived in different towns (different counties), we tried to see each other month or so. 

We go on vacation together. You know, Nick and his family are seriously like family to us. We're all very comfortable with each other. 

When he lived in NYC, a group of us would go down and visit him every month. 

We even did New Year's Eve at a Club in NYC (VIP, Baby!) when Nick was living down there. 

Anyway, he's moving away.

And we had to say our goodbyes! 

We've obviously known they were moving for a while now. But going to their house two days before they move? It's all packed up and...sad. That's when I really got sad. But, again, SUPER happy for them!

We spent NYE with them, although we didn't stay long enough to watch the ball drop together. Steve had to work anyway and met me and the girls at Nick's house after work.

We ordered food and talked about our vacation to visit them next year. 

I didn't get any photos since we were enjoying each others' company and the girls literally ran circles around us - super fun when there's no furniture to get in the way! 

We'll miss them for sure, but are so happy for them! We'll also now have a place to stay when we visit Myrtle Beach 👌

Happy New Year from The Ruples!

Here we are, finally ending the year that would never end.

The year that felt like it stood still.

I can't even believe that we're almost to March.

Like, I haven't even processed last March yet.

We are still living in a completely modified manner.

Masks are completely normal.

I don't bring the kids shopping with me unless I have to.

We don't go place "just to go" anymore.

We spend a lot more time at home.

And with me losing my job and Steve's surgery, we spent a LOT of time together.

Time that I can now look back on and be grateful for (except when Steve was in pain - that was bad). 

There are a lot of things to be grateful for and a lot of things to look forward to as well.

What I want to do in the year 2021 is slow the fuck down.

Enjoy the little things more.

It's hard when you're literally in the moment and everything is just hard and it sucks.

But my girls are growing up fast and if I don't pay attention, I'll be packing up the trucks to take them away to college and I just can't like...let that happen without really trying my best to be present.

Having my new job will allow me to be more present while still providing for my family.

The flexibility alone will allow me to be a better (more sane), parent.

And halfway through the year 2020 is when I started to take care of ME.

And I plan to continue this for as long as I'm able to.

A healthier, happier me is beneficial for all. 

I hope everyone is able to enjoy some downtime. Enjoy their families and look forward to a better year. 

That's all we can hope for, right?

Working out - 28 Weeks into my Fitness Journey

28 weeks you guys! I can't even begin to describe how I'm feeling. I'm so proud of myself for sticking to this and finding a new normal. And enjoying the process. 

Recapping back to Week 25.

Working out has 100% become a habit. Not just a habit...something that I feel like I NEED to do each day. Call it a discipline. I don't want to call it motivation because let me tell you, there are plenty of days that I'm not motivated. And now that it's dark outside when I wake up...I even finish my workout and hop in the shower before the sun comes up.

It's crazy.

What I'm now figuring out is how to build muscle but lose fat (not just overall weight, but actual FAT LOSS). 

So because I started counting macros, I have a better understanding of what I eat and what it does for my body.

Figured you'd might want to see pics of me in real clothes. lol and let's be real, I'm wearing a sweatshirt that says "COZY" on it. 

The basement is a dark and dreary place and now that it's like pitch black when I go down there....ugggghhh.

The light switch for some reason is across the room so I have to walk alllll the way to the other side in the dark (whilst keeping an eye open for any HUGE SPIDERS).

WHATEVER. 

The end of Week 24 and the start of Week 25 I started using heavier weights more consistently. For any squats I do now, I add in dumbbells (12 per side). I REALLY felt it the next day! 

For almost all of my upper body I'm now using the 8lb dumbbells. Progressive overload, people.

Still doing about 4 sets at 15 reps for my upper body work. 

Post workout shoulder PUMP

Like I mentioned, another thing that I'm starting to do now that I'm in week 25, is really paying attention to what I'm eating. 

Don't worry, I started using an excel spreadsheet. I am looking for the right app to use. Any suggestions?

Anyway.

I'm increasing my protein intake because it's just too hard to get in 110grams with just food. I can usually get in around 70-80grams via meat or other foods, but the other 30-40grams is now coming from protein shakes, made with whey protein. Gluten and soy free. I mix it with 8oz of skim milk. I drink it 1-2X per day.

Protein and carbs (seasoned chicken breast and sweet potatoes)

Read that tilapia is a good source of protein with very little fat

All the protein. 

I shouldn't eat eggs, but since it's been a while, i let myself have one. This meal was DELISH. Scrambled eggs with spinach, a tiny bit of cheese, mashed avocado and beef. 

Working on them leggggggsss

I completed week 25 with no real issues or hiccups. 

The start of week 26 (December 9)

We had a surprisingly nice day on Friday and I took that opportunity to get Steve's snow tires over to the garage. 

Now remember that I moved my snow tires from the shed to the garage.

And then last weekend I moved my mom's snow tires from the shed to the garage.

And then it was the big ones.

Steve's tires are ginormous. For his Ford Expedition.

But it was a nice day out, so I figured it was the day to do it. Nothing worse than having to do it in the rain or snow or something.

It was super sunny out. I need to be careful of my face, or I'm going to get some serious crows feet. 

Not mad at this in December. It was 50 degrees out! 

Had to move these fuckers one by one. I burned 90 calories doing it. 

I'm still hanging in the same weight range as I expect to be. I'm upping my protein intake by a lot and being much more mindful of what I put in my mouth.

111 lbs this morning. 

Today (Sunday, December 13) was a decent day out (40's) and not raining or snowing so I am still taking the dogs for walks outside around our property. I put Bella's sweatshirt and harness on and off we went.

It was a decent 15-minute brisk walk. I don't want to be out there TOO long because MR will run into the woods and NOT listen to me and it's hunting season...so...

But, we're still feeling good about workouts. Like I mention above the newest thing for me is nutrition for these last couple of weeks. 

As I learn how to eat, I also want to learn how to grow muscles. Like really learn about the physiology of muscles so I can design my own workout programs. 

I just started focusing more on the kinds of workouts I should be doing. Since June, I've been doing full body workouts. 

Now I want to figure out how to break up my workouts and focus on certain body parts. 

So this past week, I started to focus on lower body/legs/glutes on Friday, upper body Saturday but going harder, lower body again Sunday morning (I added on a quick 10 minute arm circuit) and then at the end of each workout I will either do my slam ball for 2-3 minutes (without stopping), or pushups to failure. 

Sometimes, very rarely will I do both - either time restrictions or I'm just tired. It's just a good way to end my workout strong and on a good note. 

Grocery bill is going up also this week due to the sheer amount of protein I'm buying now. Plus my protein powder is $30. Not sure how long it will last me, but I'm drinking about 1-2 per day. I eat less during the work week (I get busy and forget to eat, not lying) so I will drink a shake. I tend to eat a bit more on weekends so I will only drink one on the weekend days. 

Week 26 COMPLETE Y'ALL. On to Week 27!

I have a confession to make: I bought a two-piece bathing suit. From some random site I found on Facebook. I was worried it'd be Barbie doll-sized but it's surprisingly cute and feels like it's decent quality. It doesn't feel cheap at all.

And um. 

Well...

It's my first "non-mom-body" bathing suit.

Listen, I'm all for being confident and YOU DO YOU.

I personally just felt more comfortable in a cute one-piece suit, that you know, held everything in and smoothed things out. 

I did get a couple of two-pieces this past summer and wore them. Around my family.

And these new ones? 

They are what you call "cheeky" lol.

Let's see if I actually wear them on vacation next year. 

Christmas 2020

We had a wonderful few days with family over the holidays.

Now that my mom is home and living with my sister, we have a little juggling to do.

We used to spend every holiday with Steve's parents because we're all local. 

With COVID and everything going on, my sister in law and her family are not traveling and ergo did not visit this year.

We decided to spend Christmas Eve with Steve's parents and have the girls enjoy their first Christmas of the season. We spent a lovely afternoon there, had lunch and opened presents. 

Super low-key this year

We measure the girls against this door every year. 

Ava being a goof

We spent a good part of the afternoon explaining to Grandpa what streaming TV is. 

Another Ruple tradition - hand prints on the tree skirt. 

We got home in the late afternoon and spent the rest of the evening as just the four of us. Did some last-minute gift wrapping and enjoyed each others' company. 

I made more Christmas treats.

My first time making Christmas Crack. It was delicious and I'll be making it each year! 

And of course, chocolate chip, for Steve

Christmas morning was magical. 

The girls came running into our room around 7:45am and there was a lot of giggling and "Santa came!"

They gave us a few minutes to get up and get some coffee going because...duh.

And then they went for it.

Santa brought stocking stuffers and a few gifts this year. 

Dad got new whiskey glasses! 

LAVA LAMPS! Remember those!?

LOL. Mila got a teeny, tiny drone. 

We stayed home and relaxed for the morning so the girls could play with all their new toys. We packed ourselves up around noon to head to my mom's house for Christmas #3!

New Wellie Wisher dolls! (From American Girl)

The hand-sewn stockings my mom made. Love them. 

My heart is so full. 

The aftermath. Holy shit so much stuff! It was so fun - the first Christmas with my side of the family in 9 years. I'm so grateful my girls get to experience this. 

I've been making prime rib for Christmas for...maybe 3-4 years now? I forget. 

So I was very excited to make it this year for my mom and sister!

Got us a 5.75lb prime rib.

Don't get me started on the "Rotisserie" story. It doesn't matter now because I have one. And let me just say that I have NEVER made a bad meal in this thing. Roasted chickens were a weekly thing when I first got it. But even if I only made prime rib with this thing once a year it'd be totally worth it. 

I literally "set it and forget it"

1.6 hours later...Perfection.

Jennifer made a Christmas tree salad! 

💖

I failed to get a photo of the whole family, because well, that's just me. Nothing formal around here!

We truly had such a wonderful time. We helped mom clean up dinner, packed up our stuff and headed home. Steve had to work the following day, the dogs had to go out and we had to get ourselves settled. 

Now I just have to put away all the Christmas decorations....ughhh....

This is the first time in several years that I'm working the week between Christmas and New Year's. The last two years the company I worked for at the time closed the week between. Prior to that, the company I worked for also closed the week between - all of those closures were a "surprise" and were definitely not a tradition - I think we were just lucky to enjoy it for the last few years.

Being the new girl and the "lowest person on the totem pole" I opted not to take any time off during the holiday season. 1) I work from home all the time now, so it's less stressful to actually work. 2) It's generally pretty quiet so I don't think I'll be too busy. 3) I want to save my PTO for what might be coming up in the next couple of months. I haven't gone public with it yet...and I'm not sure I will. If I'm being true to myself, I will. So time will tell. 

Anyway. 

Time to get back to the grind. Get back to real life. 

For 3 days. 

Then I have 4 days off again for New Years. 

But THEN, it's time to get back to real life. 

Bring it on, 2021!