In June, I was promoted to a position of Business Systems Analyst within my company. The role is the most technical role I've ever had. I am really, very much enjoying it. I love the sense of empowerment it gives me to be able to speak to how we should structure solutions to issues and to have some authority again. This was a secret goal of mine - Goal #7 for this year.
Also in June, we had a roadtrip back to Kansas to see Mr. Smith's parents and sister. We had a very good time seeing the sites of Wichita and sampling as much of the local cuisine as we could. We even got to drive down to Oklahoma and see my grandparents, who I hadn't seen since 2010. We were supposed to drive back through Wyoming on the way home to celebrate my sister KiKi's engagement, but weren't able to as I had an uncle pass away. Mr. Smith and I instead hightailed it back down to Oklahoma to support my aunt.
After a couple of days, we parted ways and made the journey back home, but our poor puppy Lavi got sick on the way, we were hoping just from carsickness. Since it seemed the worse case of car sickness we'd witnessed from her, we rushed her to the vet the next day and she stayed for nearly a week before passing away the following Saturday in her sleep from a terrible bout of pancreatitis. She was only 1 year and 3 months old.
It was hard for a very long time to do anything but get up, go to work, rinse and repeat. Sleep didn't come easy and I lost my appetite for quite a while. The lady we got Lavi from offered us another puppy from a recent litter of hers, so we agreed to wait a couple months and try again. We got Tali, Lav's sister's pup, in September, the weekend after Labor Day. I forgot how difficult it is to train a new puppy. We're still struggling with potty training.
There are lots of times where I'm overwhelmed with the memory of Lavender because Tali is doing something similar that I honestly just break down in tears. It is terrible to have lost our puppy. I often feel like we failed her by putting her through a stressful situation (roadtripping) that made her sick.
Well, now it's October. I've still got 2 months to try and get through as much as I can of the goals I set in January. :)
Status report:
Goal #1 Dialing In My Food, Sleep and Exercise - Down to 140lbs or 26" by June 2016
- Weight: I am now at my heaviest at 180lbs. I don't look terribly heavy, I think. You can see the outline of my abdominals, but I can definitely feel the difference in that I get winded easily, so I do feel too heavy, and a couple items of clothing are quite tight.
- Sleep has finally gotten (mostly) back to normal. I want to dial it back in so we are going to bed by 9 or 9:30 and getting up consistently at 5:30. Aaron is going to school in Tualatin, so he has to get up to commute pretty early. He wakes me up when he gets up, so we might as well keep it consistent.
- Exercise: I've been doing exercise sporadically, about 1 time per week. I'd like to get it to once a day, consistently.
- Diet: Our diet has been horrendous lately. Our tummies have been incredibly upset and don't even get me started on the mound of takeout containers we've brought into the house recently. Frankly, it's embarrassing, haha. Both Aaron and I have decided, starting tomorrow, that we are off anything that makes us feel like crap (sugar, dairy, bread, mostly). I'll be digging back into meal planning soon. We also decided we'll use this year's tax return to buy some grass-fed meat in bulk, so that will be a wonderful help for next year.
- I've still got the client I signed on in March and we've worked so well together. I like that I get a variety of challenges. I am making anywhere from $60-$300/month. I'd like to sign on another client, but with the promotion, I've had a lot of late nights with my day job. The last thing I want to do is sign someone on and not be able to handle my first client because of my prior work commitments.
- I'm not sure this one will happen. My work has refused to pay for this and I'm not sure if I am willing to shell out for this certification if I am on a more technical career path. I'm still thinking about it, but it's on hold for now.
- I think I want to revamp this a little. Right now we've been doing a "Sunday Reset" which we clean pretty much every room in the house and reset it to how it is supposed to look. I'll be honest, I really hate the daily chore model. I'm thinking a mix of "Sunday Reset" and "Nighttime Reset" might be the way to go. More on that later.
- I am rocking this one. I feel like I got my Spring/Summer capsule wardrobe to a really good spot. I'll have some small gaps to fill (new camisoles, stockings, ballet flats, white capris, etc.), but otherwise I love my capsule and had a blast putting everything together. Rare was the day where I couldn't find a thing to wear.
- I've pulled out my Fall/Winter capsule and for the most part everything looks good. I'll be looking to fill in gaps (stockings will be on the list once Tali stops nipping at my legs).
- Lingerie capsule wardrobe is on my list of things to develop as well. Shannon at The Simply Luxurious Life suggests in this podcast episode that buying a new lingerie set every year is an easy, affordable way to build a lingerie capsule wardrobe. I've mentioned as much to Mr. Smith. We'll see how it goes. Normally, I buy 1 bra and 3 different bottoms in various cuts to get the most wear out of a set. That really seems to be working for me and now I'd like some variety in color/cut, etc.
- We are currently working on paying off our personal loan we took out for our honeymoon and Aaron's grandma's funeral. We have ~$4,700 left to payoff and should have that done by January.
- Next up:
- Aaron's car: ~$9,500
- *Aaron's small Student Loan: ~$7,100
- *Aaron's large Student Loan: ~$23,500
- Sierra's Car: ~$15,000
- *I am hoping that Aaron's next employer will be willing to assist with his student loans. *Fingers Crossed!*
I feel like the only thing that will take daily, habitual effort on my part is Goal #1, so I'll be focused on making that goal the priority. Once I have my sleep, food and exercise dialed in, my foundation for real change will be in place no matter what life throws my way.
