Pre-Christmas Trip

On the Saturday before Christmas, Wyatt and I headed out for a mini vacation. We went to Hot Springs, Arkansas. Why Hot Springs, you might ask? Good question. We had both been there before, and it is truly a beautiful part of the country. It is a great place to go to get away and enjoy nature, and not too far of a drive from Houston. So, Wyatt found a great Bed and Breakfast, and we took off.

We arrived on Saturday and stayed until Tuesday. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

The lake behind our lodge.

One of the lovely stores in Hot Springs.  Wyatt insisted I take a picture of it, and I'm glad I did. 

Us at the Christmas light show at Garvan Woodland Gardens.  It was truly impressive!

And one of us behind the lodge.

On Tuesday, we took a slight detour on our way home and stayed at Wyatt's Granny and Pawpaw's house in Hemphill, Texas. We had a great time visiting with them, and we also enjoyed Granny's delicious macaroons and fruit cake cookies. It was a great visit and overall a great pre-Christmas trip.

Another update...5 months later

So, I am way overdue on an update. I can't believe it's been 5 months since I last blogged. You might think I fell off the blogging wagon because I didn't have much to say, but quite to the contrary, we have had a TON going on, and I guess I've been so busy, blogging got dropped off my list of things to keep up with. But, I am now back, and am going to aim to blog at least once a week for 2010 (hopefully more, but I'm keeping my expectations low).

So, to give you a quick update of what's been going on in Smith land, we did finally close on the house on November 17th. It was a crazy process. Long story, but it was truly a miracle that we were able to close on the house. We had so many roadblocks in the process, and we had many moments we knew the deal wasn't going to go through unless God answered some serious prayers. So, we are glad the house is closed on and happy that the renovations are progressing so far. I have a lot of pictures of the progress, so I'll post some before and after shots in a post soon. We're thinking that the house will be completed in April, so we're moving along.

As for the Shred, I didn't end up making it through the full 30 days, but I did make it to about day 18. I love the program and was getting good results with it, but my knees started hurting a lot (probably due to the ridiculous number of lunges I was doing), so I decided to take a break from the program. On the positive side, though, even without finishing the Shred, I met my weight goal in December. No shortcuts or tricks, just a whole lot of consistent working out and not a whole lot of food that my body didn't need.

Also, I've updated the blog even more since my last post. Again, I used Shabby Blogs to make the changes, and I think it turned out well. I'm still planning on making a few more changes (want to change the header and my signature), but I'm at the limit of my blogging skills right now, so I either need to meet a blogging genius or I need to learn some more before I'm able to finish.

That's all the updating I'll do for now. Be expecting more frequent posts in 2010.

House, Shred & Blog Update

I have a few updates to post about, and in the spirit of conservation, figured I'd combine them into one blog post.

First, the house. We are officially in the option period for the house I mentioned in my last post. This week, Wyatt has been working like crazy to schedule inspections, estimates and meetings with potential builders. It looks like almost all of those meetings will happen this week, so we should know a lot more by the end of this week. Our closing date is set for Friday, October 9th, which sounds like a long way off, but we have a LOT to do before then.

We'll be doing a lot to the house once it's ours, so we're trying to get as many of the plans ready to go now so we can move quickly come October. Right now, the tentative plan is to add on a master bedroom, bath, and closet, a mudroom along with a little expansion onto the kitchen, and a front porch hopefully also with an expansion on the living room. The house is currently 3 bedrooms and 1 bath and is about 1200 square feet, so the additions should give us some great added space.

Here are a couple pictures of the house as it looks right now. Disclaimer: it currently looks pretty gloomy from the front. We are planning on repainting the house (with a different color scheme), trimming the huge magnolia tree, removing all the landscaping that currently blocks the window on the far right side, and adding a front porch. So, it will be a work in progress, but we see great potential and are excited to get to watch it evolve. Without further ado...the pictures.

Second, the shredding. I am now on day 12 of the 30 Day Shred and am holding steady (well, at least somewhat steady) at Level 2. I honestly didn't think I would get to a point where I could do Level 2 without feeling like I was about to faint, but it has gotten a little (emphasis on little) easier over the past week I've been doing it. I'm able to hold the plank pose on most of the moves for the whole time now. Yes, I still hate the plank pose, but at least I feel like I'm able to meet its match a little more now than I was at the start of Level 2. I'm down 3.6 pounds as of today, which I'm pretty happy about.

Third, I've been updating the blog over the past couple of weeks. Mainly I've been using the resources on Shabby Blogs and Shabby Blog's Blog (confusing, no?) to do the updating, which is great, because everything on there is free and super cute. I added a cute font from the Kevin & Amanda site, which wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I also made the blog 3 columns rather than 2, added some buttons, reorganized my links, added my signature, and added a custom border. I still have a few kinks to work out and items to add, but overall, I think it's coming along pretty well. I give myself bonus points for even attempting this since I am far from a computer expert. If I can do it, anyone can!

We found a house, and another, and another, and another, ok hopefully this one's it!

We're hot on the trail of buying a house. We've already made offers on 2 houses, and have also made informal/verbal offers on 2 others. We liked all the houses we made offers on (obviously), but they didn't end up working out for one reason or another.

This week, we made an offer on another house, and we're hopeful it will end up working out. This house has the same floorplan and lot size as 2 others that we made informal offers on, but it is priced way better. A bonus is that it looks like it has been well maintained. This is great news, considering the house from the most recent offer had more issues than I could even begin to explain.

If this offer works out, we'll be moving much closer to both of our jobs, our church, and most of our friends. This would be a huge change for us, since in our 5 years of marriage, we've never lived closer than 20 miles away from work or church. We're praying that God shows us His best plan throughout this process; we've already seen His hand in the offers that didn't go through.

When and if we hear back that our most recent offer is accepted, I'll post pictures of it here. It would definitely be a fixer-upper, but I've come to a place where I'm really good with that. I know in time we can make it exactly what we want, and in the meantime, I'm sure we'll learn some great lessons in patience.

We'll see what happens... So exciting!

30 Day Shred - Day 6

I have embarked on a jouney of self torture, and done so absolutely voluntarily. What am I talking about? Look below...



The 30 Day Shred is a workout program by Jillian Michaels, who you might have seen as a trainer on a little show called "The Biggest Loser." The program is, obviously, intended to last 30 days, and to get you seriously shredded. You work out using the DVD for right about 20 minutes a day, every day, for 30 days. All you need to do it are 3 or 5 lb. hand weights and a mat. It combines cardio, strenghth and abs into the workout.

There are 3 levels on the program; you move up to the next level when you feel ready. My definition of "feeling ready" thus far has been when I feel a little less like I'm going to die by then end of the workout than I did on the first day of that level.

I am on day 6 right now. I did a number of days of Level 1 before I got really consistent with the program, so I moved up to Level 2 on Wednesday of this week. Wyatt actually joined me for this workout, and even he thought it was hard. That made me feel better, since I was really, really struggling through the session. Level 2 involves lots of moves in the plank position (kind of like push up position); I am now an official hater of the plank position. So hard! Sweat was dripping by the end of the 20 minutes, seriously dripping.

I'm going to keep at it through the 30 days and then plan to keep doing it 3-4 times a week after that. I'll keep you updated on my progress. Thus far, I'm down 2 pounds (at least that's what my scale tells me, hopefully it's not a dream). Disclaimer on that, though, I am not just doing the Shred right now. I'm also doing cardio (running or elliptical) for ~ 35-45 mintues 5-6 times a week and being mindful of what I eat.

Happy shredding and happy (almost) Friday!

My First Triathlon

Last weekend, I completed my first triathlon. It was the couples triathlon in Austin. You could compete with a friend, family member, spouse, or really anyone else you want to. You complete the triathlon as an individual, but they add up your time and your partner's time at the end to place you.

I partnered up with my friend Abby, who is a seasoned triathlete. This was a good move; she definitely knew what she was doing. I don't know how I would have made it through without her!

Abby and me before the madness began. Notice I am smiling here.

The swim...open water in Decker Lake. It was an 800 meter (1/2 mile) swim. It was very hard to see where you were going, so you had to try to stay within the pack of swimmers or you might end up veering off course. This was my favorite part by far (and also the quickest part for me).

The bike. Oh my goodness...I almost died on this portion. It was 11.2 miles with almost constant hills. That's all I'll say about this part.


The run. It was a 5K (3.1 miles), so I thought it would be easy. Nope. After the bike, my legs were dead. There were a few hills on this part too, and I just didn't have the energy I needed to keep up any semblance of speed. At this point, the goal changed from getting a good time to mere survival, bonus points if I survived without throwing up.


The blessed finish line. End time was around 1 hour 48 minutes.


Hoping I don't collapse...


Trying to be enthusiastic without collapsing... VERY happy to be done!



All in all, it was a really hard event for me, but I know a lot of that has to do with the fact that I didn't train on the road for the bike portion, and I used a mountain bike rather than a road bike. Although the mountain bike I used was a great one (thanks, Abby), I'm told that a road bike really makes it easier on the hills.

Call me crazy (I probably am), but I am definitely up for another triathlon. I would just be sure to train really hard on the bike part beforehand. I think that would make all the difference.

Still Here!

We're still here! It's been busy the past month, and it looks to get even busier over May and June.

This past weekend, we traveled to Hemphill, TX, for Wyatt's Great Uncle John's 90th birthday party. This was a birthday party/family reunion combo., and we were so glad we got to go. It's always neat to go to Hemphill with Wyatt. He has so many stories and memories from that town; I enjoy getting a better picture of what his childhood was like. Most importantly, his Granny and PawPaw live there and we love getting to see them.

At the beginning of the party, Wyatt's Great Uncle Raymond led us in a prayer. It was so neat to hear him pray the way he did. It wasn't a run of the mill "thanks for the food" prayer; it was a prayer thanking God for Uncle John's life and the legacy he is creating for the family. Uncle Raymond thanked God for working through the good and the bad, for being sovereign and having a purpose for each and every life event. It was so clear that he has led a life of devotion to Christ and that he desires the same for his whole family, the young and the old. I am really blessed to see such deep devotion to Jesus and to know that I am part of that heritage also.

I have pictures from the party that I hope to add soon...so be on the look out.

Next weekend, we'll be in Arlington for a couples shower. The shower is for Wyatt's cousin Jonathan, who is getting married on June 6th. We're excited for Jonathan and I'm looking forward to meeting his fiance, Bethany.

In other events, I'm doing my best to get back into a consistent work out routine (which is stinking hard!). I'm considering registering for the 2010 Houston Marathon and am deciding whether or not I should join a training group.

I'm also ramping up my Arbonne business, which I'm excited about. So many new and exciting products have come out in the past couple of months, and being a consultant gives me a legitimate excuse to buy them. I have to try each and every one of them out before I can recommend them to others, right? (This is the logic I try to use on Wyatt, with limited success).

Ellie seems to have recovered from her injury. We never figured out for sure what was wrong, but she seems to be back at full speed again. I'm glad about that; trying to keep a lab sedentary is not easy or fun.

Lots more is coming up in May- Wyatt's 30th birthday on May 13th, various and assorted graduations, and our 5 year wedding anniversary on May 29th. I'll do my best to be a better blogger and actually post about these events as they happen.