Let's Catch Up

Have I mentioned it feels really good to be blogging again? Because it feels great. You'd think after taking a few months off from blogging I might have some huge life news to share but I really don't. Life has just been chugging along and although I don't have any huge developments to share, we've had a busy summer and I do have some life happenings to update you on.

I guess I should start with my latest injury. If you've been around for a while, you might know that I broke my finger a few years ago playing kickball. I know you're probably wondering how that's even possible, but I am proof that it is in fact, entirely possible to break your finger playing kickball. Well, in July I somehow managed to sustain an injury almost as embarrassing as that. I broke my big toe dancing at a wedding. It was the end of the night and shoes were off, music was playing and the dancefloor was covered in drinks that had been spilled throughout the evening. Before I go any further, I should add that I really hadn't had a whole lot to drink. Moving on--

Copperhead Road came on and well, I just love line dancing to that song. If you know this song, you know that the song gets faster and faster as it goes on and well, toward the end I kicked up my heels and slipped on the wet floor. My big toe broke my fall and I knew immediately it was not a good situation. I went to the doctor the next day and found out I had broken the bone in my big toe and I've been sporting this fashionable old lady surgical book ever since. The good news is I should be out of the boot soon and after a few months more, I should be cleared for running and whatnot again.

What else? Well, I was laid off from my job at the consulting firm in June. This was for the best as I was pretty unhappy there and feeling lost career-wise. Still, it wasn't ideal to be let go without much notice and I didn't want to be completely without a job. Thankfully, through a friend I landed a job as an assistant at an attorney's office here in Orlando. I can't say this is what I think I'm meant to be doing at this stage of my life, but I have a secure job where I make decent money and have great benefits. I am also working less than 10 minutes from home for once and it is really nice to have such a short commute.

Even though the summer is Jonathan's busiest time of year, we've still managed to sneak away for a few much needed weekend getaways. Toward the end of July, Jonathan surprised me with a last minute weekend away at our favorite Bed & Breakfast in St. Augustine. I was feeling a little overwhelmed with my broken toe and trying to settle into a new job, plus Jonathan had been working like crazy so his timing couldn't have been better. We stayed in the most perfect room, toured and had a few fancy drinks at the St. Augustine Distillery and enjoyed an awesome seafood dinner and perused the streets of St. Augustine. It was one of those weekends away where you don't realize how much you needed the quality time together until you get it. I'll never forget this trip!

Later in August, it was my turn to surprise Jonathan with a weekend of fun. I booked us a couples massage and a fancy room at the Waldorf Astoria for a night and managed to keep our destination a secret until we pulled up to the hotel. We live about 40 minutes from the hotel so it was nice to get away without having to make a big trip out of it. Jonathan's job takes a bit of a toll on him in the summers when he's working 6 days a week in the Florida heat. I wanted to treat him to a luxurious, relaxing weekend and it was just perfect!

Over the last several months, we've been working hard to save money and plan financially for our future. I have to admit that Jonathan has more of the financial mindset than I do and I'm so thankful for his dedication and interest in financial planning. With anything else, it is super important for us to be on the same page so within the last few months, our financial planning has really become a team effort. We started Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and it has done amazing things for our relationship and our finances. For the first time in both of our lives, we are living off a very well-thought out budget and we're sticking to our plan to get where we want to be in a few years and even several years from now.

It's been a really cool way for us to connect and it feels good to be doing this together and holding each other accountable. We've moved to a cash envelope system for most of our expenses and it's been eye opening to change our habits when it comes to spending money on eating out, drinking, shopping and those other miscellaneous expenses you don't really think about. I'm pleasantly surprised by how pumped up I am about the whole thing but it really has been awesome for us as a couple.

Over the last few months, I've also become hooked on a new fitness routine. Jonathan met one of the owners of a fitness boot camp his business networking group and she offered a free trial for me to check it out. I was pretty hesitant due to the fact that I was hardcore against group fitness and I was kind of in a fitness rut in general. I wasn't thrilled but Jonathan told me I should at least give it a try.

I will say that I had no idea what I was in for. From what Jonathan told me, I knew it was a 30 minute group class led by a trainer but I really didn't have much else to go off of. I figured 30 minutes of anything couldn't be that bad.

I was wrong.

By the end of class, I was in tears and in complete shock by how difficult the workout was. I was so not prepared for the intensity of the workout. Seriously at one point the trainer had us doing squats and lifting a tire in the air. I couldn't even pick up the tire by the time I got to that station. It was pretty pathetic.

I was so beside myself I couldn't even speak to Jonathan right after class - I was so mad at him for convincing me to try it and also a little mostly mad at myself for being so out of shape. I feel bad for taking it out on my sweet husband but in the heat of the moment, I could only blame him for bring this torture into my life!

Obviously it was all for the best because months later I am showing up at that same torture chamber workout facility at least 3x a week and I'm absolutely loving it. Each class is 30 minutes of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) led by an experienced trainer and my favorite part is that every class is different. It's a more intense workout than anything I would have done in the past. I'm talking burpees, pushups, jump squats, planks -- basically all things I would have said no thank you to in the past. Now you can see why I was in tears after that first class. I was only a few weeks in when I was already able to see changes in my body and a few months later, I haven't grown bored with the workouts -- each class pushes me and kicks my butt. It's a really good feeling to know I'm spending less time working out every day than I used to, but I'm seeing better overall results than anything I've tried before. The trainers have been great modifying the workouts to adapt to my injury over the last several weeks, too. I am seriously so glad Jonathan pushed me to give it a try and then after that first class, convinced me to go back there! 

I know that post was all over the place, but that kinda sums up the last few months of my life. I'm glad we're all caught up and if all goes as planned, I'll be back Friday with more randomness because I'm bringing back A Few Things on Friday. 

See you then!