Thirty Before 30: Thursday Update

#5 Recipe: I slacked on June's recipe. I made healthy lasagna but sort of just made it up as I went along. I cut up an onion and sauted it until soft then added in some zuchini and spinach and layered that with the lasagna noodles, sauce, mozzerella and ricotta cheese, and some cooked up ground turkey breast. It was actually, really really good. I used whole wheat noodles as well. The only thing is I guess I didn't need to bake it very long because the noodles on top got sort of... crunchy... so! don't overbake it if you try it. I promise to do better next month with a *new* recipe.

#6 New restaurant x2 - Arelios. They just opened by my job and I tried it out with a co-worker of mine after work. It was so good! Apparently it's a chain, so see if there's one in your area. They serve Chicago style pizza. I had a calzone type pizza (they called it something else), but it was HUGE and filled with spinach cheese and mushrooms. So good! I really wanted to try one of the desserts which was listed as a half a pound of chocolate chip cookie dough topped with ice cream, whipped cream and a cherry, but I was so full after my meal. Next time, I'll know to save room. :)
I hadn't planned on going out to eat at a new restaurant again in June, but my brother-in-law's father (yes, I said that right) was in town visiting us and we decided to grab something quick before dropping him off at the airport so we stopped at The Vortex in Little Five Points. I'm so glad we did because my husband, who has a motorcycle, goes to this biker bar pretty frequently with his friends. It was so good! I had the egghead sandwich (fried egg on a BLT with cheese on texas toast) with a side of plaintains. Everything was SO GOOD. I won't tell hubby because next time he asks if I want to go to bike night, I'm going!

#9 Current mile pace: last months pace 12:58, this months pace 12:20. Actually, I run about 2 miles in each time, and the second mile is much slower. I actual finished the first mile in under 10 minutes! But I would still like to be able to do it with just running the whole time (instead of run/walk/run/walk) So, I'm still trying to get up to that.

#10 Gym: Awesome! I'm doing great with going to the gym 3 times a week. I've been going 3-4 times a week all month. Even pushed myself one day that I got home late and went at 845 at night to do my cardio and chest workout. I'm proud (and so is hubby :)


#11 Pushups: 6. Don't laugh at me. It's better than last month :)

Mint.com

As a banker, I have to tell you one of the worst things I hear people say is "I don't use a checkbook." Seriously?! Most often, this comes with some sort of complaint attached to it and somehow, their lack of record keeping is supposed to be my problem? That's why I want to suggest Mint.com for anyone reading this and everyone who has used the "I don't balance my checkbook" complaint! It's a FREE financial management tool that brings all of your accounts (checking, savings, credit cards, mortgages, etc.) into one total management product.

One of the things I want to accomplish this year is (#29) to set a budget for myself and stick to it. Through using Mint.com, I've been able to see how much money each month I'm spending at Starbucks (more than I thought) and how much money we spend on gas and electric from month to month. By logging into this website once or twice a week, I'm able to hold myself accountable for what I've spent during the month. So, if $100 on Starbucks seems excessive for the month, now I can bring it down to $25 which (in my opinion) isn't that bad and put a little extra into savings.

After you set up your user name and password for the website, it will ask you what accounts you want to import. Mint will automatically take the last 3 months of activity and categorize the transactions from your chosen accounts into the appropriate categories. Occasionally, I'll have to change a transaction that should be categorized as "eating out" to "dry-cleaning," etc., but it usually gets it right. Once you have several months of history to view, you can view a bunch of different options on there. For example, I'm able to compare what our water or electric bill has been over the past year (or more if you have it stored) or see how much you spend on a specific store for the month or several months, etc.

I hope this website will help you as much as it has helped me - I find it to be very useful in balancing my checkbook ;)

Monday

Instead of sharing one of my motivating quotes this week, I'll share the one my manager gave us at work last week. You can tell me how motivated you are after reading this...

A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions. - Proverbs 18:2

jaiMelody is on Facebook!

I'm so excited to announce that I've started a fanpage for my Etsy Shop to help me reach my goal of selling 300 hoodies by my 30th birthday!


The hoodies are completely customizable with the brides name and wedding colors. Typically I stay with white and black hoodies, but can do additional colors upon special request. They make great gifts for engagements, wearing at Bachlorette partys, and especially for getting ready the morning of the wedding.

So, if you haven't already... head over to Facebook and LIKE my fanpage JAIMELODY DESIGNS! :)

Monday Motivation

I was taught that the way of progress is neither swift nor easy. - Marie Curie

Almost every day, my manager sends out an E-mail to our branch with some peice of information to motivate us for the sales of the week. This weeks motivation is being derived from that E-mail. I find it strangely odd that this is the motivational quote considering everything that is going on within my office, never-the-less, it is completely relevant. I'm not going to elaborate, but some of you already know the details... Have a great week!!

Water for Elephants & my Tomatos!

I FINALLY finished Water for Elephants! I bought this book in February I think? After the book club I belong to introduced it as one of the titles for the month. I just never got into it because I was afraid of reading about the treatment of animals in the story. And while the love story was definitely beautiful, my trepidation was accurate. Hubby and I made plans to see it with another couple and somehow the guys managed to let just us girls go see the movie while they went to see The Hangover 2... Normally, I'd be a little peeved, but at least I don't have to sit through that movie with him now. Seeing Your Highness was plenty stupidity for me for the next couple of months. :)

I have a pretty sensative stomach when it comes to brutality and animals or individuals and the story is written so well that I couldn't tear my eyes away quick enough to save myself from reading certain points where the animals were harmed. It takes a lot for me to well up with tears over anything, much less a book or movie, but I cried for both with Water for Elephants! Yes, there are a lot of things different in the book than were shown on the screen (there were whole characters missing!), but I don't think anything that was left out took away from the story and it still made for a good movie. I was impressed with Robert Pattinson; Reese Witherspoon, not so much. I can't really put my finger on what I didn't like about her character in this movie. I guess I just didn't see her feeding into his infatuation and when they finally got together, I was confused as to why she would have liked him. In the book, there is much greater detail for their love.

Overall, I'd probably give the book an 7-8. But remember my rating as a lot to do with the fact that I don't like seeing much of anything in the way of harming animals. If you get a chance to go see it in the movies, I would definitely recommend. :)

On another note, my tomatoes are doing MUCH better! I bought a new "pot" for them as Lindsay suggested. And they are just thriving now! I'm so happy that was an easy fix. I'll have to take some pictures for the next post at how much they are growing now :)

Thirty before 30: Thursday Update

#5 Here is May's recipe: Stuffed Chicken with Mozzerella and Basil and Sweet Potato Fries.
This turned out to be FANTASTIC and actually kind of easy. I was really looking for a recipe that would pull from all of the herbs in my garden since they are overgrowing and really need to be used. It calls for fresh basil, green onions (scallions), and parsley (hello? Did they write this specifically for me?) The only part I had a hard time with was gently pounding the chicken to 1/4 inch thickness. How does one gently pound a chicken??! I put each peice between wax paper and tried to pound it with a rolling pin and it did flatten, however, the chicken was fraying on the ends... I'm pretty sure that's not supposed to happen. Still, the recipe turned out delicious and right at my skill level.

I made the sauce, too, even though it's not pictured (my husband doesn't like mushrooms) and it was really good as well! I'm usually terrible with gravys and sauces because they don't thicken for me, or get too thick, but this was perfect. I'll definitely save it for another time to make! The sweet potato fries were insanely easy and taste great. I definitely recommend them for an easy side!

#9 Current mile pace: 12:58 (Although I usually run at least 2 miles in one session, I do it pretty slowly because I like to alternate running and walking, so my goal is to at least get up to doing the first full mile running.)
#10 Gym: Awful. I've only gone twice this month (Tuesday and Thursday this week). Ew. But in my defense, I've only been tracking since mid-month. So, as long as I go on Saturday, I should meet my 3 times a week for this week and hopefully that'll start a good trend for me.
#11 Pushups: 4. That's pretty sad. I've included the link here for the program I'm using that will hopefully get me to at least 50 push-ups in a row. My original goal was set at 100, but hubby doesn't think that's possible. (Thanks for the confidence, hun!) Either way, I plan on starting this week to try and increase my strength!
Situps: I'm starting out with 90 every other night. (30 reg, 30 to the left, and 30 to the right).
Random IPod song:  

Monday Motivation

As you think, so shall you be. Proverbs 23:7

Every Monday, my branch huddles together for a weekly meeting. We take turns giving motivation for the week for the team. This week it's my turn and this is the quote I am going to give. There's really no secret recipe towards becoming a better sales person, and I seriously doubt a few words every Monday morning are going to inspire the team to produce larger numbers. It's a continual process. 

Yes, this quote has been modernized. The version from the King James Bible is "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he." Still the same meaning, but it rolls off the tongue a little easier, no? Confidence in yourself and your skills must come first. Just because others want you to succeed, or even believe you will succeed, doesn't make your task at hand any easier. Knowing your self worth and capabilities in your own heart and mind will set you on the path to where you want to go.

Have a great week!

What's in your cup?

Lately, for me this has been a tough question. Some days it's definitely full. Others, I feel like I'm trying really hard to fill it up, but there must be a hole in the bottom. It's not that I'm not happy with myself, but rather, I'm disappointed in a lot of the things that are happening around me and I struggle with the words to express how I feel and what actions I can take to make things better on my own.

There's not much of a point to this post... Just some cute cartoons I found to help explain again the name I've picked for my blog.

 

Where ever you are, I hope you're making the most out of your Saturday and filling your glass to the tippy top! I got to work early this morning and treated myself to a full cup of carmel latte to help pick me up :)

Shh... Don't tell anyone but...

It's my birthday. Man, they always sneak up on me. I'm 29 years old today and becoming a thirty-something is coming closer every day. Everyone always says time flies but wow, it speeds up as you get older. When you're little and can't wait to do all the things grown-ups do, the time ticks by and you feel like you're moving at a snails pace. Well, now that I'm sitting here as a 29 year old(yikes), my snail has upgraded it's shell for a shiny new race car and we're speeding towards 30 leaving all those childhood dreams behind. So, it's true; life happens whether you're watching or not. It's not that I feel I haven't achieved anything in my 29 years, but that dream of what I will be and what I have become is very different. So, in honor of procrastination I'm taking on a little self-improvement task. This is my 30 before 30 project. I was inspired by another blogger, but the more I looked into this, the more I decided I want to do one for myself. So here's my list. Most of them are self-explanatory, so I'll save you some time and keep the details for later.

1. Start a blog
2. Write 3 letters about good service I've received
3. Visit Savannah, GA
4. Get a tattoo
5. Cook at least one new meal I've never cooked each month
6. Try one new restaurant each month
7. Read one book per month
8. Send birthday cards to friends and family
9. Run a mile in under 8 minutes
10. Stop making excuses for not going to the gym and go at least 3 times a week
11. Do 50 push-ups in one attempt
12. Lose 15 lbs
13. Spend a weekend without Internet or TV
14. Paint at least one room in my house
15. Keep my fuchsia alive for more than one season
16. Find a church that "fits"
17. Teach my dogs to sit and actually STAY
18. Get a job related to my degree
19. Get up to date on my scrapbook (that's been on pause since 2006...)
20. Recreate our wedding montage video (the one that died before being shown at the wedding)
21. Go to a drive-in movie
22. Shoot a gun
23. Try to make a baby
24. Volunteer 15 hours
25. Hit the 300 hoodie's sold milestone
26. Take a photoshop class
27. Learn to apply eye make-up correctly
28. Make a skin regimen to start preventing wrinkles
29. Make a budget and stick with it
30. Go out for New Years

I plan to use this blog to keep myself motivated and will periodically update my progress. I'm also going to make a big effort to post some meaning information here, so I hope you'll stay tuned.

Yay... Happy birthday to me :)