Currently Listening Feels Like Today By Rascal Flatts see related

Good evening all! Guess what...I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. It is just that after sitting at a computer all day, I have no interest in coming home and looking at them anymore. The downside of writing all day I guess.

Alot has been going on here. Except for the laundry room and guest room, our house is complete! My parents came up Mothers day and we spent the day wallpapering the house. Why she wanted to work on mother's day I have no idea, but I wasn't going to stop her! Updated pictures are on our webshots page of both the inside and outside landscaping. Feel free to take a peek! I am not sure the direct link to get to our page without it being the user page...sorry.

On the work front- since my last post we had filled the government reporter position and then after a month, that person quit and now we have replaced that person again. She starts on July 1, so my time filling in at the Lenoir City Council is short lived this time. A part of me wants to take that over full-time and pass Rhodhiss off to someone else, but at the same time, I am just now making progress with the people in Rhodhiss and I don't want to break that. I have been getting a lot of compliments at work, but nothing that really stands out other then  them thanking me for meeting deadlines on time..and handling hometown really well.

On the weightloss front- Ladies and Gentleman..I have lost 31 pounds since my wedding day!!!!! Does that not rock! At one time in my life, I thought the weight I was at when I left college was going to be it for the rest of my life. I finally figured out what worked to lose the weight, and am going to take it another step. I want to lose 40 more pounds! After that I want to find a way to maintain and be happy.However, my workouts at home and diet is no longer working properly. Tex and I have decided to join a gym. Today was our first day going, and I am already really happy about doing it. We have a personal trainer who will meet and workout with us on a somewhat regular basis, and though he isn't a certified nutritionist, he is very helpful in telling us what we need to eat. He stressed the 5 meals a day program and also answered several myths. No, it doesn't matter how late at night you eat, except that if you do eat right before bed, it needs to be healthy. You need to drink half of your weight in ounces of water. For example, if you were 100 pounds, you would need 50 ounces of water. Also, that supposed fact that you need to not eat carbs after about mid afternoon is mostly true. ONly eat carbs at dinner if you are going to be active that evening- walking or going out with friends type thing. I am very excited and with Tex and the trainers help, I really think the latst 40 pounds will drop quickly!!! YAY FOR REINSTATED OPERATION GET FIT!!! I am committed 110% this time!!!!!

Other than that, not much is going on. I got my haircut the other week so that is pretty cool. I am going to take an updated picture that reflects the weight loss and my haircut and get it posted for all to share. I found only 1 downside to losing weight.....I can't afford to maitain a wardrobe. All of my clothes are TOO big!!! I look absolutely ridiculous!

Alrighty, off to drink a few more glasses of water and sneak in 1 last meal before bed! Have a great rest of the weekend.

Lindy

PS- I found a new website that is really good about helping you keep track of what you eat and decent at tracking a workout program. If you are interested in knowing the site, and I will send you the link! Have a great day

Currently Watching United 93 see related

It has been 707 days since I first made an entry on Xanga. Isn't that exciting! Anyway, I decided I would stop in and say hello.

Not too much has been going on. Work has been keeping me extremely busy. I had 8 or 9 bylines last week as opposed to be usual 5 or 6. Pretty exciting! In fact, I don't think I had a free moment last week between writing, appointments and staff meetings. This week should be a lot calmer though because pretty much everything for the week is done! GO ME!!

This weekend has been a good weekend. Friday night we went and saw Daniel Lee Martin and Lee Greenwood in concert. It was to benefit the Charlotte Firefighters Association and it was a good concert. I really only knew 1 song the entire night, but Greenwood's other music isn't too bad. At times I couldn't understand what he was saying because the drums were too loud, but overall it was really good! Saturday we spent some of the day in Charlotte and then went to visit Zack and Anne in Winston-Salem. Zack was up visiting for the weekend and they took us to dinner and a movie. We saw "United 93" and let me tell you...that was a powerful movie! I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to sit through the whole thing, but they did it very tastefully. Several people in our theatre got up and left before it completely ended and others sat there until the credits finished and the lights came back on in disbelief. I heard many people blow noses and wipe tears away as the horror of the day came back. I couldn't help but think how their God could tell them that blowing up another country was a good thing to do when ours teaches us that we are all good at heart and to love everyone. It just doesn't quite make sense to me! I highly recommend the movie to people!

We also watched JarHead and Rent this weekend, and they were alright. Rent didn't hold my attention and Jarhead ended a little wierd, but overall they were good.

A lot of changes have happend to the house. We are still waiting to walpaper the final 2 walls in the house, but we have spent a great deal of time outside. We ripped up all of the flower beds that the Ganterts designed and have begun planting flowers we want - May Night Salvia and Azalea's. We also planted 2 dogwood trees out front and replaced a lot of the edging so we can stop battling black widow spiders. Yay for the prettty house. I will try to get some new pictures onto Webshots as soon as possible.

Now we are off to another hopeful week at work! Yay...hope everyone has a great week!!

See ya

Linda

Out from under a rock!

Hello! Long time no talk to!!!! Sorry it has been so long since I wrote in my live journal, but I haven't really had the desire to play on the computer much less the Internet. I have been doing well and things are going good.

Work has been going extremely well! In the past few weeks I have received MANY phone calls from the complimenting my writing. One woman even sent me a card earlier this week thanking me for my efforts! It really means a lot to me to get those phone calls because most times you only get feedback from the pissed off people!! It is kind of hard to praise about work right now because Tex has been struggling with his job- STUPID band parents!- but I wanted to at least mention some good things. Several of my stories last week received raved reviews including my front page story on Sunday about a safety awareness Rally in honor of a young women who was raped and murdered. http://www.newstopic.net/articles/2006/02/15/news/46raisingawarenessforch.txt

there is the link to check it out! Today my boss posted my Hometown Page on the wall for everyone to see the headline. Apparently he thought my headline was awesome and that everyone should know about it. The story was about one of our local ruritan club's who hosted a chicken dinner to raise money for scholarships. My headline was "Serving up Scholarships!" What brilliance right???

Other then work, nothing too exciting has been going on. Valentine's Day has come and went and now Walmart and other stores have moved on to the next big thing. So much for taking our time to enjoy a holiday right???

My parents are in Mexico right now enjoying a nice vacation. I wish I had a job where I earned a yearly vacation!! Oh well...such is life as journalist.

I think that is about all I have to report today, but I will try to write again soon. This weekend is Zach and Ann's wedding and I am pretty excited! Apparently we are to thank for their marriage because they met at our wedding!! Go us! Congrats Zach and Anne we are very happy for you!

Oh yeah...I am still on track with my New Year's Resolutions. I have been going to church every week - though getting paid to be there gives you the extra energy boost you need to go - and the weight loss is going on. I have only loss another 3 pounds so far, but hey...slowly and healthy is the best way right! My goal is to fit into one of my old dresses and as of now I can get in the dress, but have no way to zip it up!

Have a great night! I am off to workout and watching American Idol!

Lindy

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! and HAPPY 1-YEAR ANNIVERSARY BABY!!!!!!!

Where in the world did the year 2005 go? I know they say that time flies when you are having fun, but what if I want to slow life down a little? As we move into the beginning of another year, I decided I wanted to take a little time to reflect on the good, the bad and the ugly of 2005! It is long and sappy,but hey you got do it every once in awhile!

GOOD-

A WEDDING- What better way to start out 2005 then to have a wedding!! I don't really think I can ever top that. I am very happy that we got married Teddy Bear! Just like every relationship, we have our ups and downs, but that is what makes a relationship healthy! We don't exactly live in Pleasentville now do we! We have been through a lot together in our first year including a move, the purchase of a home, transition of several jobs, and pushing ourselves to the limits when it comes to money! How we ever made it through the summer, I have NO clue!! Oh and we also learned that slamming doors starts fires!  (For those who don't get that....we have been having trouble with our gas fire place in the house, and the other week when I slammed our bedroom door, the fire place came on at full blaze!) I love you baby and I can't wait to celebrate another 50+ anniversaries!

Friends' Weddings/Engagements- We had several friends who all opted to get married on the same day of the year! What made July 16, 2005 such a happy day to get married? Although it was not necessarily fun going to the wedding without my new husband, it was VERY exciting and rewarding to be a part of your wedding Nicole! It was a very nice weekend and I am extremely happy for you and Adam! Caren and David are very happy and although I didn't make it to their wedding, I get to see/talk to them occasionally now! Jon and Ashley's wedding was the first one Tex and I got to attend together this year, and what a gorgeous ceremony it was! I hate that we had to leave so early, but it was still a great time!

This holiday season also united several more of my close friends! Michel (my big brother) was proposed to during Thanksgiving as was my buddy Crazy Erin as I like to call her! Yay for several more weddings to attend soon! Several of our other wonderful friends got married, but we were unfortuntely not able to make it to their weddings. I am sure I am leaving some other's out, and I apologize!

BUYING A HOUSE- The experience of purchasing a house was awkwardly cool. Thanks to the wackiness of the people we bought the house from, we learned a lot of what not to do's! Remember everyone...you MUST pay your mortgage, or you lose your house!!!!! I think we picked a great house to call home and we began doing some decorating of the rooms. We are now in the process of finishing those decorations and beginning to upgrade a little. We are working on making our office a usable room rather then somewhere that stores some furniture! We are also making some improvements outside the home that will hopefully be for the better! Yay for being a happy homeowner!!

HAPPY JOBS- Both Tex and I are more or less living out our dreams. He is teaching band at his alma mater- which as always has its ups an downs. and I am reporting the "happy news" for a 6-day a week paper. I am working for the Lenoir News-Topic and enjoying each and every day! I work closely with an old professor of mine as well as some other great people. I don't think I could be any happier in terms of my job! Maybe a little raise would help  But then again, if I got into journalism to make a lot of money, then I better start learning how to be Barbara Walters!

SUCCESSFUL WEIGHT LOSS- Since getting Mono my freshman year of college, I have struggled with my weight. No matter what diet I pursued I never seemed to be able to lose the weight, until this year! I don't know what made it so easy for me this year, but I am thankful for it and hope to continue to lose it. When I got married, I know I was at my worst. I refused to get on the scale that week b/c I knew the numbers would be scary, however I knew about what I weighed and it was yucky. Since then, I think getting off the college lifestyle truly helped. Tex and I both changed our diets for the better this year and  Idon't think either of us really miss gorging on the junk food- I know I don't. I gave up all soda's- which used to be a real struggle for me. I barely eat any kind of potato chips or ice cream or other fun food. I had increased my intake in fruit and other healthy snacks and...My reward for all this..A loss of about 20 pounds and 2 pant sizes in 2005! My goal is to lose about anothe 40-50 this year. It may not work out that great, but if I could weigh what I did when I left for college again I would be in heaven!!

GO MOUNTAINEERS- This football season for our Alma Mater was simply AWESOME! Not only did we make it to most every game, but hello...NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!!!! I don't think it could have been any more exciting, unless we were still in the band! That way we could have been IN Chattanooga for free!!!!!

THE BAD!

WILMINGTON WOES- First of all, our 1930s built apartment SUCKED! The heat and air conditioning unit didn't know what the temperature was, or how to maintain a temperature. Our water heater had a leak which caused us to pay nearly $200 in electric bills for several months, there was always some kind of critter crawling around, and I don't mean Gigi! I still remember the day I went to eat a snack and kockroaches (sp?) came crawling out of the box....GROSS!!!!!!! Then over the summer when we went back to pack up and move, we found the hard way that Gigi did suffer from fleas, b/c 16 bizillion of them attacked us the night we went to move! There were also some happy things in the apartment, and it was "our" first place, but beyond that, I am NEVER going back to Wilmington!

TAYLORSVILLE POLITICS- The fall marching band season brought both high's and low's. Tex took his band to new levels by not only giving them more drill to learn for their show, but by challenging them musically. However, this newness wasn't accepted by the parents immediately. He had several parents and kids quit b/c they didn't like him and some of those who are still around try to find the negative in everything he does! Tex however is holding on strong and making the best of the situation. We just have to be careful here, as in all small town, about what you say or do. Since everyone knows everyone- especially since Tex grew up here- people tend to expect more of us than possibly others. His parents just know him as the little Ron who grew up on the farm, they don't know what he is like now with a college education and an adult. Always frustrating, but you get through it. I know there have been several times i have said, that's it I am moving I don't care anymore, but in actuallity, I am not moving. I am not going to let these sour pusses ruin my life!

THE UGLY-

 SUMMER 2005- Our surprise move took us by major surprise! I dont' think I ever want to move again simply because it is soooo expensive! Since we didn't have the chance to prepare for a move, the financial end of a move totally destroyed us. We were at the bare minimum for that summer finding ways to make about $200 stretch over 3 months. Tex didn't receive his final paycheck at Pender County Schools, so we were about $2,000 short that summer. We got to the point where we couldn't afford to come to Taylorsville to start searching for a place to live and me a job b/c the bills in Wilmington were still coming. We actually stayed with my parents for a few weeks to help cut costs. We appreciate them very much for opening the doors to help us, but once you are married and independent for several months, it is very hard to go home and say we messed up! However, although we were at our worse those months money wise, we both truly benefited from those times and are much better off now. I think that is when we truly started sticking to a budget for each month and now we know how to stretch the pennies to still eat those weeks we don't get paid! It is like most things in life...if God brings you to it, He will bring you through it!

As with everyone, I am sure there is a lot more we can reflect on over the past 365 days, but this entry is already long enough! I wish everyone a WONDERFUl 2006 and I hope that everyone sticks to those resolutions made! Happy New Year everyone and thank you Teddybear for an amazing first year!!!!

Lindy

What a week this has been. For only a 3 day work week, it sure did seem pretty long!! I didn't have too much to do at work this week so the 8 hour days seemed to drag on! It didn't help either that I was getting over the bronchitis or whatever ickiness Tex shared with me. Each morning I just wanted to stay in bed and cough all day, but I pushed myself to go to work and get through the new year! Hopefully I didn't get all my co-employees sick!!!

Right now I am enjoying a 4 day weekend in honor of my anniversary. I took Friday off as my last vacation day of the year and then we have Monday off at the ofifce to officially celebrate the new year! Unfortuntely Tex starts school back on Monday (stupid ice!) and so we opted to stay home for our anniversary as opposed to going to New Jersey to be with Nanny and PopPop. . I happy in the sense that you only have 1 first-year anniversary, so you might as well spend it alone, but I wanted to see my grandparents too. We are spending our holiday weekend working some on the house as well as relaxinga nd enjoying each other's company.

Friday we went grocery shopping, replaced that off-brand DVD-R that crashed and got the lighting for the house! We tried to be satisfied with an off-brand piece of technology, but when we wasted 4 DVD's in a row, I decided it was a waste of my time! Don't ever buy something for Ilo...they SUCK! YAY FOR EMERSON...it wasn't too expensive, but it works perfect. It isn't a sony, but it is close.

Tex spent the day yesterday installing some of the new lights and will finish it up today! We picked the perfect day to tear the old lights out of the ground for the solar lights...want to know why?...The Ganterts-who we bought the house from- came by to visit the nieghbors! OOPSIE!!! Hey they say you shouldn't go back by your old house b/c it will never look the same. When we went to visit our old house in Florida some years ago, the guy who bought it after my family had it damaged the house like crazy! We also went and ahead and cleaned up Christmas. It was sort of sad to take it down, and now the house looks so bare, but oh well! It will be here again next year soon!!!

Our new desk came on Thursday and the new tv cart should be here the first of next week! We started working on renovating the office and our grand idea is starting to come together! The only thing missing is the hook up DirecTV in the room. We have to get them out here to move an outlet. It will cost a little bit of money for their labor, but we are waiting until we can afford it! We also want to look into getting a futon or a twin bed for the room. Our goal is to make it the office/bonus room. We have it set up now where you can sit on the computer and watch television- without having the laptop live in the living room!! We are also looking to have a garage sale in a few weeks to sell some of the extra furniture and other goodies we have been wanting to sell for al ittle while. We found a home for our John Deere Dishes!!! Anyone need an Iced Tea maker??

My dad was right on one thing- once you get a house, there is always something to do! After we finish our current projects (the lights and office) we will go back to painting! Tex also wants to put up some shelves in the garage for storage and some other things. I know we need to be careful on how much money we pump into a first house, but then again, we don't plan on moving for a long time, so why not iprove on our house? Anyone want a free vacation in Taylorsville????

So it is New Year's Eve! How exciting. I remember this time last year being a nervous wreck! I was excited about the wedding rehearsal, but at the same time nervous. Today was the day that the nerves really hit me that I was getting married the following day. Now a year later, and my life has changed so much. I still can't believe it. I am 23 years old, a college graduate- GO MOUNTAINEERS! happily married, own a house, more or less have the job of my dreams- at least living out my dreams- and I have 2 wonderful kitties! If someone asked me a few years ago where I thought I would be after college, I prolly would have told them living in a shack on the side of the road begging for money! I just never thought it possible to already have so much at this age.  In so many ways I still feel like a kid who should be at home with mom and dad, but in other ways I have been forced to grow up, especailly when it comes to budgets and money!

Hope everyone has an awesome new year!!! I am sure I will right again tomorrow sometime, but who knows! Good Luck with all your new resolutions!!! Congrats to everyone who got married in 2005 and to everyone planning weddings for 06 or even 07!!

I LOVE THIS TIME OF THE YEAR!

Lindy