Sometimes I tend to get a little wrapped up in only blogging about myself that I leave off information about Daniel and the dogs. If I wasn't blogging at all, then who would even blog about our life anyway? More than likely no one since no one in my family is a persistant blogger. So you are stuck with "the Todd's" blog which is mostly about Leslie.
However, today I will update the world on Daniel, my precious husband. Daniel hasn't had an emotionally easy month or so. With MeMe's death being around the holidays, it has taken a lot out of him physically, mentally, and emotionally. He became almost zombie like for a few days, which is acceptable, but also scary since I had never seen him like that before. He is extremely strong emotionally and was able to find a happy place and is learning to move on. It hasn't been the easiest thing to do, but he is a fighter. I am thankful to report that he is back to his ol' self now.
Last week Daniel started up another semester of school. He is taking 3 classes (which includes one internet class), and I know he will do wonderful! He has become super focused on accomplishing his goal to attain a degree. And for me, it makes me so proud to have a husband who has educational goals. (Leslie's PSA: Education is very important. Please don't let life pass you by without learning something new everyday.) He is a machine: he works 40 hours a week and will sit in a classroom for 3 hours at night. This is his job right now and it will pay off in the long run.
Meanwhile, the dogs are still loving and crazy as ever. Their favorite days are the ones where we stay at home, and they can run free inside and out. Tyson loves being outside as much as he does inside so he is known to go outside and lay in the grass about 8 times a day. He will try to get Jackson to chase him by making circles int he yard. Jackson usually just sits by the backdoor and watches him. Jackson will take advantage of going outside with Tyson multiple times a day, but only to get a treat when he comes back in. And on days that there is bread for treats, you can count on opening and closing the door at least 50 times. They love some bread!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
keeping my promise
2010 is already 1/24th complete and it really doesn't feel any different from 2009. Lots of my facebook friends have commented about how great 2010 is and will be. I am just not there yet. Am I missing something?
My resolution is well under way and it feels nice to eat "healthier" again. One vegetable and a salad are required for every dinner. I have drastically reduced my sweet intake. I don't feel like I need to eat a huge bowl of ice cream after dinner every night. The key is learning to control myself once my stomach is full. It hasn't been easy especially since Daniel continues that habit to some extent.
My hardest hurdle to overcome is realizing that I am a girl and I can't afford to continue eating like a growing teenage boy. Those days are the past and I miss them tremendously. I remember when I was about 15 Mom said that when it came to food consumption that she felt like she had a teenage son by the way that I used to eat. She actually thought she would dodge the bullet by not having to feed growing teenage boys mouths, but then I became a teenager. She was gravely mistaken. I could out eat most of my boyfriends during high school. And I am fairly certain that I can outeat Daniel. Oh heck...I have done that plenty of times already. He is no match for my stomach.
With the eating healthier has come exercising. A little over a week ago, we bought The Biggest Loser for wii and it is not joke! It is serious exercising compared Wii Fit. I actually broke a sweat! And I hate sweating...blah. I can't complain too much about it since it is working. I have lost 2-ish pounds since breaking a sweat. Go, me! 2 down and 8 more to go! The bad thing is that this past Saturday I over did it. I have had the WORST Charlie horse, ever! My right calf muscle is so tight that it feels like a brick. And you know that I can barely walk too. This injury is not good since it is restraining me from exercising.
My resolution is well under way and it feels nice to eat "healthier" again. One vegetable and a salad are required for every dinner. I have drastically reduced my sweet intake. I don't feel like I need to eat a huge bowl of ice cream after dinner every night. The key is learning to control myself once my stomach is full. It hasn't been easy especially since Daniel continues that habit to some extent.
My hardest hurdle to overcome is realizing that I am a girl and I can't afford to continue eating like a growing teenage boy. Those days are the past and I miss them tremendously. I remember when I was about 15 Mom said that when it came to food consumption that she felt like she had a teenage son by the way that I used to eat. She actually thought she would dodge the bullet by not having to feed growing teenage boys mouths, but then I became a teenager. She was gravely mistaken. I could out eat most of my boyfriends during high school. And I am fairly certain that I can outeat Daniel. Oh heck...I have done that plenty of times already. He is no match for my stomach.
With the eating healthier has come exercising. A little over a week ago, we bought The Biggest Loser for wii and it is not joke! It is serious exercising compared Wii Fit. I actually broke a sweat! And I hate sweating...blah. I can't complain too much about it since it is working. I have lost 2-ish pounds since breaking a sweat. Go, me! 2 down and 8 more to go! The bad thing is that this past Saturday I over did it. I have had the WORST Charlie horse, ever! My right calf muscle is so tight that it feels like a brick. And you know that I can barely walk too. This injury is not good since it is restraining me from exercising.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Leslie Todd, the next big thing (in the organizing world)
When I was a little girl, I always remember keeping a clean/neat room. Every Saturday was "chore day" and Sis and I would have to clean up our rooms along with other duties. As I grew older, I would always rearrange my room and frequently reorganize my drawers. My room was my pride and joy, because it was my responsiblity. If I ever had a friend or visitor come to my house, I would ALWAYS have them come see my room. It didn't matter who you were, you were coming to see my room. I am even like that today only with the whole house. If you are a guest in my home, be expected to take a tour of the house as soon as you come in the front door. I have cleaned the house especially for you so humor me.
In the 5th and 6th grades, I would rearrange/clean out/organize my classmates' tubs. (All of our books and notebooks wouldn't fit under our desk seats so we had plastic tubs to go under the book rack that attached under our seat.) Yes, I was extremely nerdy, but I loved being able to help my peers simplify their lives with a clean tub. In some ways, I always knew they would get better grades because of their clean and organized tub, and they would have me to thank.
While visiting home during the college years, somehow it was my duty to organize the kitchen cabinets and drawers. I was the only one (oh, lucky me) who was able to clean out the Lazy Susan cabinet in the kitchen. For some strange reason Sissy nor Mom couldn't seem to do as good of a job as I with cleaning that particular cabinet out (or maybe they were pushing the work off on me).
My love for organizing grew exponentially when I started watching "Clean Sweep" on TLC in college. I was a sophomore in college and I would clean out and organize my "under the bed" tubs at least twice per show.
I can't really remember exactly when it started (maybe high school), but I have organized Sissy's closet at least 10 or more times. The deal always was whatever clothes Sis didn't want/or couldn't wear, I would have dibs. I have received a lot of hand-me-downs over the past few years from Sis. Just take a look at one time's fun cleaning out process:
Frankly the pictures don't do it justice: the mess and the post-mess.
After years of cleaning and organizing my stuff along with others', my dream of becoming a professional organizer seemed out of reach. How many professional organizers do you know who live in Alabama? I mean this is like a big city and TV show type of a job. I had come to grips that this was a dream that I would die still wanting to achieve it until I actually met one...
Daniel is currently involved in a 9 month guys bible study. Back in October, his group had a spouse get-togerther at one of his group leaders' houses. After a wonderful meal, we had to go around and introduce ourselves. Y'know...the usual stuff: how long you have been married, jobs, kids, etc. I never expected one of the wives to say that her job is being a certified professional organizer. Immediately Daniel and I looked at each other and my dream of being a professional organizer suddenly jumped into the reality category. Of course, I talked with her about her profession and her schooling afterwards. She really helped direct show me the direction that I need to go.
Starting this Saturday, I begin my first official, unofficial job of working as a "professional" organizer. My first house is my Aunt Jane's. I call it my "dummy" house, but it might be more appropriately named my first "model" home. And when I say I am doing the house, I mean I am doing the whole house (minus the bedrooms)! I am starting in the kitchen and working my way to the other end of the house, not to mention the basement. I might need an entire year just to clean out the basement.
I am super excited about this door that God has opened for me. I have no idea where this path will take me or how "professional" I will become. I can only trust Him and be faithful in using my gifts to serve and honor Him.
In the 5th and 6th grades, I would rearrange/clean out/organize my classmates' tubs. (All of our books and notebooks wouldn't fit under our desk seats so we had plastic tubs to go under the book rack that attached under our seat.) Yes, I was extremely nerdy, but I loved being able to help my peers simplify their lives with a clean tub. In some ways, I always knew they would get better grades because of their clean and organized tub, and they would have me to thank.
While visiting home during the college years, somehow it was my duty to organize the kitchen cabinets and drawers. I was the only one (oh, lucky me) who was able to clean out the Lazy Susan cabinet in the kitchen. For some strange reason Sissy nor Mom couldn't seem to do as good of a job as I with cleaning that particular cabinet out (or maybe they were pushing the work off on me).
My love for organizing grew exponentially when I started watching "Clean Sweep" on TLC in college. I was a sophomore in college and I would clean out and organize my "under the bed" tubs at least twice per show.
I can't really remember exactly when it started (maybe high school), but I have organized Sissy's closet at least 10 or more times. The deal always was whatever clothes Sis didn't want/or couldn't wear, I would have dibs. I have received a lot of hand-me-downs over the past few years from Sis. Just take a look at one time's fun cleaning out process:
Before
After
Frankly the pictures don't do it justice: the mess and the post-mess.
After years of cleaning and organizing my stuff along with others', my dream of becoming a professional organizer seemed out of reach. How many professional organizers do you know who live in Alabama? I mean this is like a big city and TV show type of a job. I had come to grips that this was a dream that I would die still wanting to achieve it until I actually met one...
Daniel is currently involved in a 9 month guys bible study. Back in October, his group had a spouse get-togerther at one of his group leaders' houses. After a wonderful meal, we had to go around and introduce ourselves. Y'know...the usual stuff: how long you have been married, jobs, kids, etc. I never expected one of the wives to say that her job is being a certified professional organizer. Immediately Daniel and I looked at each other and my dream of being a professional organizer suddenly jumped into the reality category. Of course, I talked with her about her profession and her schooling afterwards. She really helped direct show me the direction that I need to go.
Starting this Saturday, I begin my first official, unofficial job of working as a "professional" organizer. My first house is my Aunt Jane's. I call it my "dummy" house, but it might be more appropriately named my first "model" home. And when I say I am doing the house, I mean I am doing the whole house (minus the bedrooms)! I am starting in the kitchen and working my way to the other end of the house, not to mention the basement. I might need an entire year just to clean out the basement.
I am super excited about this door that God has opened for me. I have no idea where this path will take me or how "professional" I will become. I can only trust Him and be faithful in using my gifts to serve and honor Him.
Friday, January 1, 2010
New Year's and Resolutions
2010 is upon us and WOW! 2009 was quite eventful:
-buying our first "together" son, Tyson
-buying our first house!
-moving/painting our first house
-Sis and Josh were married
-MeMe's death
- Sis moving to Germany to be with Josh
Am I missing something else? oh yeah, over that span I gained about 10 pounds. Just being frank with everyone. It bothered me at first, but then I have grown used to my new expanded self.
...which brings me to this year's resolutions. Daniel and I were talking a few nights ago about losing weight and what it will take for that to happen. I suggested that instead of "losing weight" that our resolution needs to be "to eat healthier and exercise more". I think starting at the source of the problem will (hopefully) influence the decrease in weight. I could be completely wrong, but it seems like a better place to start than to just automatically start losing weight. We will see how far this resolution will take us.
I am pleased to say that 2009's resolutions of reading and cooking more were met. (See here for a recap.) I read approximately 4-5 new books and actually learned how to cook using a recipe! 2009 was the first year that I have been able to keep to my resolutions all year. I think the key to keeping resolutions is to do something that you once had a passion for and pick up doing it again (such as reading). Or to try something new that you have always wanted to do, but were never given the chance to do (such as cooking).
-buying our first "together" son, Tyson
-buying our first house!
-moving/painting our first house
-Sis and Josh were married
-MeMe's death
- Sis moving to Germany to be with Josh
Am I missing something else? oh yeah, over that span I gained about 10 pounds. Just being frank with everyone. It bothered me at first, but then I have grown used to my new expanded self.
...which brings me to this year's resolutions. Daniel and I were talking a few nights ago about losing weight and what it will take for that to happen. I suggested that instead of "losing weight" that our resolution needs to be "to eat healthier and exercise more". I think starting at the source of the problem will (hopefully) influence the decrease in weight. I could be completely wrong, but it seems like a better place to start than to just automatically start losing weight. We will see how far this resolution will take us.
I am pleased to say that 2009's resolutions of reading and cooking more were met. (See here for a recap.) I read approximately 4-5 new books and actually learned how to cook using a recipe! 2009 was the first year that I have been able to keep to my resolutions all year. I think the key to keeping resolutions is to do something that you once had a passion for and pick up doing it again (such as reading). Or to try something new that you have always wanted to do, but were never given the chance to do (such as cooking).
New Year's Eve picture.
Happy New Year's! May God bless you and your family this year.
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