My Plan of Attack

This weekend went by extremely fast. Yesterday especially.  We hosted my cousin, his wife, and their almost 2 year old this weekend. We had a great time catching up, eating all of their favorites (Alexandria is famous for 3 things: flooding when it rains for days, large balls (largest ball of paint and one time there was a huge hair ball in the sewer or something like that), and Pizza King) and enjoying some beverages. It was a pretty good weekend. Tucker was a party animal both nights and didn't go to bed until 11 Friday and 12 on Saturday, then proceeded to get up at his normal 7:30am. Thanks, bud!

Now that my first busy time at work has come and gone and I've had some time to adjust to being a working mom, its time to work on this baby weight. I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself until after March 15th so that way I wasn't too stressed out. It's time to get down to business.

Here is the "plan"
1. Reunite with Jillian for 30 Day Shred - I'm looking forward to this just as much as I'm not looking forward to it.
2. Couch to 5K - I don't run so this will be interesting. This will be the hard part as I will find every excuse in the book to not do this... I can't run there is a 10% chance of rain.
3. LoseIt app - I have a feeling I'm going to "forget" to log things. Like the ice cream I eat directly from the tub because I feel like I eat less that way. Riiiiiiight.

I'm giving myself until June to complete 1 and 2.  I committed to a 5K with Danny in June and I want to be ready for it. Plus, I want to try to mix the Shred up a little bit unlike last time where I did it 28 days in a row. (I quit 2 days early because I found out I was pregnant. Dumb move, Erin)

My plan is to do the Shred one days Danny is at work and then run on days that he is home. I don't trust myself to run with the stroller. I can barely steer that thing in a straight line walking. Most Sundays are rest days except 2 I think. I've got this shit mapped out all the way through and its written in my planner.

I haven't quite decided when I want to weigh in. I'm thinking Saturday mornings since they aren't so rushed all the time. I mean, I'll probably step on the scale everyday expecting a 2 pound loss every day, but I don't know when I'll weight in for serious.

It is officially past the time where I need to start working. I will keep you all updated. Hopefully I'll have before and after pics. Maybe progress pics? We shall see.

Oh, and happy Opening Day! This Monday just got a lot better.

The ABCs of Me

I know you're all dying to know everything there is to know about me, so I stole this fun little post from Julie @ Just the Joy's. She posted it yesterday and I love these kinds of posts. They allow you to learn more about other bloggers, and maybe even something about yourself.

A - Age: 24

B - Birthday: August 21st. Write it down.

C - Color: green.

D - Drink: Wine. Kidding... sort of. I try to drink at least 100oz of water per day. I tried to do this before I was pregnant and its especially important now that I'm breastfeeding. I can conquer the world with the right amount of Diet Mountain Dew though. Crystal Light Energy is pretty important too.

E - Eyes: Green

F - Flashback: Most of my flashbacks when I'm sitting in my office are of my dad since it was his office. One particular memory that I always think about when it gets to be softball season is when we won sectional my senior year. After our team rushed to the field, got our trophy and took the pictures, we got to go see our family. My dad was the first person I ran too. He was my coach until I reached high school and even when he technically wasn't, I always viewed him as my coach. It was a special moment for sure.

G - Gent: These dudes right here.

 

H - Hobby: shopping is one that I do regularly. I love finding a deal. I also enjoy DIY projects (small ones, not like building shit). But a lot of times, its like this:

 

I - Indulgence -  Wine. Every. Single. Night.

 

 

J - Job: I own a crop insurance agency. I also sell auto, home, farm and commercial insurance. I talked more about how I took on this job HERE.

K - Kiddos: Tucker Paul and Diesel

 

L - Love: The Hubs, Tucker& Diesel, our families, my friends, DVR and bedtime.

M - Music: 99% country, 1% classic rock songs that my dad had drilled into my head because they were important to know.

N - Nickname: Erin Shell by my family, EO by my friends and softball team/coaches.

O - One Wish: That my husband, Tucker and future childrens' dreams are all fulfilled. And that when I grow up I look like Carrie Underwood.

P - Pets: Diesel. I talked about my four legged baby HERE

Q - Quote: You are braver than you believe, stronger then you seem, smarter than you think, and loved more than you know.

R - Residence: We bought our house in November 2012. It sits on 4.5 acres in the back of a pretty trashy neighborhood, but it has 4.5 acres and that's all we really cared about.  It has a 3 car garage and (hopefully) someday soon we can add on a master bedroom & bathroom.

S - Siblings: just my little bubby, Drew. He is 22.

 

T - Temperature: I LOOOOOVE spring and fall. Blazing hot summer is not my fave and this winter that we've had has been hellacious. So, Indiana is pretty much the perfect place for me to live.

U - University: Ball State University. Chirp Chirp.

V - Vehicle: 2010 Jeep Liberty. It has been a perfect vehicle for me for the last 3.5 years. It handles the snow like a boss and is pretty roomy. I would love to have a Tahoe or Yukon, but my bank account would like a Traverse or Acadia much better.

W - Worst Habit: I cuss like a sailor. And if I could stop eating ice cream or a bowl of cereal every night that would be great too.

X - XRays: Oh wow, um, pretty much every part of my body.

Y - Yuck: one uppers, livers&gizzards (never had them and don't plan on it) raw onions, this winter.

Z - Zodiac - Leo

Happy Thursday! Thursdays are my fave!

Super Woman

It's not even 9am and I am exhausted. As I was filling the green water bottle that I've been using for at least the last 2 weeks without being washed, I determined it was one of those days that was going to require a second dose of caffeine in the A.M.. This is in addition to the cup of coffee that I had just finished and the Diet Mt. Dew or Crystal Light Energy I'll have at lunch.

Saturday my cousin messaged me on FB and said that him and his wife (we call them Chicah... Chad and Micah) and their daughter (Little Chicah) wanted to make a trip up here soon. He just so happened to have a 3 day weekend this coming weekend and Danny is off Thursday thru Sunday. So we said come on up. Then we looked at our house and it is in no way shape or form suitable for house guests. The one bathroom we have hasn't been cleaned in probably months, the kitchen was cleaned 2 Sundays ago but you wouldn't know it, the living room furniture has a thick layer of dog hair and drool, and the spare bedroom is housing a love seat, a big boy car seat and boxes of Goodwill stuff.

So, in the midst of making bottles, packing up pump shit, and going over the list of stuff I have to do tonight and at work today, I ended my chain of thought with "I need a f%!&in cape"   Here is what I've decided: When new moms are discharged from the hospital, included in their goody bags of things like post partum care instructions, that nice water squirter, and mesh undies, there should also by a Super Woman cape. This cape would have super powers of course.

I started thinking about what my cape would come with:
- a baby weight sucker
- something that would make the consistent 6-7 hours of sleep every night enough
- 30 minutes every day where time literally stopped and you could do whatever you wanted in that 30 minutes and it didn't count against the 24 hours you are already given
- a reminder of the healthy foods you ate before you were pregnant
- a naptime button. Not for the baby, but for me. If you push it, you instantly are taking a power nap.

As I walked to the garage, carrying the baby in the car seat on one arm and diaper bag on the other shoulder and finally realized that my legs and ass were sore from Zumba last night, I already felt like Super Woman. And I decided that all moms are Super Woman. Working moms, stay at home moms, single moms, married moms, moms of 1 child, moms of 5 children, moms of babies, moms of grown children. Even moms-to-be, because lets be honest, pregnancy isn't easy, regardless of how great you might feel all the time.

So, all you moms out there. Old, new or soon-to-be... Give yourself a pat on the back. Your house might not be spotless, your body might be unrecognizable and your eyelids might feel like they weight a whole pound each, but no one can do it like you.

Monday Memoirs: Senior Year Fall Break

One of my favorite link-ups is Monday Memoirs hosted by Royal @ Royal Proclaims. It couldn't have come at a better time either.  There is a new song by Justin Moore that's got me feeling all sentimental and what not. Probably with some help of new mom hormones too, but whatev. 

I LOVE Justin Moore's music and this new song, Let The Night Roll, has to be my favorite by him. As soon as I heard the first verse and chorus it immediately took me back to the fall break my senior year of high school.

It was Thursday evening and I had made last minute plans with Danny. The guy I always swore up and down that I would never date. But something made me say yes when he asked if I wanted to hang out with him that night. I met him at his house and we got in his truck. He told me he had to go feed at the farm he was working at and then we had the rest of the night open. I watched him work for the next 20 minutes and wondered what the hell I was doing sitting in a barn with all these sheep with this guy. I didn't belong in a barn and I certainly didn't think I belonged with Danny.

We got back in the truck and took off driving. As the sun went down we drove around listening to the new Rascal Flatts cd, taking turns picking left, right or straight. Two and a half hours and 13 songs later, we had covered the northern half of Madison county and probably even part of Grant. Mr. Biggest Flirt finally made his move and slid his hand over on top of mine.

After the cd ran out of songs a couple times, we decided to stop by a bonfire that my best friend and one of Danny's oldest friends was having. When we showed up together, she and just about everyone else was a little confused. She finally asked what was going on and I told her I didn't have any idea. Danny and I spending time together was just about the last thing anyone expected, but once everyone saw us together, it just made sense. After a couple hours we decided it was time to leave. We were having such a great time that we didn't want the night to end, so Danny took the long way back to my house. We were so distracted by what was happening that we pulled in the driveway and my car wasn't there. It was at his house. We headed back to his house and at the stop sign down the road from my house in the middle of us laughing, he kissed me. And it was right then that I knew I was in trouble when it came to Danny and this wasn't going to be a one time thing.

At a different bonfire a few months before. I thought he was such a tool :)

Six years later, we're still driving around holding hands and taking turns picking left, right or straight.

What do I do?

I've spent some time on this blog bitching about work and how busy it can get. Sometimes I'll even say I like what I do and love having so much flexibility. But I've never really gone into what it is that I do, or how I even got here. If any of you are like me, you're a nib shit and when people complain or say they love something, you want to know what that something is. And unlike most people who are limited to what they can say about their jobs because their employer would get mad, I don't have to worry about that since I am my employer.

When my dad passed away in June of 2010, I knew without hesitation that I wanted to keep his businesses. Yes, there was more than 1. The initial response I got from people (read: my dad's family) was "you are 20 years old, you can't run a business." I basically said, "kiss my ass and watch me." Which that was a fight in itself since my aunt was left in charge of everything. I knew there was the potential to fall on my face, but I had to at least give it a shot and I would rather give it my all and not succeed than to just sell it and watch someone else benefit from something that my dad built from the ground up. I knew in high school that I wanted to work with my dad when I got out of college, and I even worked with him during my first 2 years of school during the summer and throughout my sophomore year doing the payroll and bookkeeping for him.

I got the big head and cheeks honest

So, a month before my 21st birthday, I went from being a full-time college student thinking about being the president of her sorority, to being a full-time college student who was the president of a crop insurance agency and a landlord (that part is boring and a complete and total pain in the ass). My roles have changed since I started doing this almost 4 years ago. At first I was mostly just a business manager and handled the behind the scenes things. I continued payroll, I maintained our contracts with the companies that we wrote for, and basically just made sure everyone was kept happy. Last January my role changed drastically.

Despite handing the agent and secretary the world on a silver f'ing platter like my dad did and keeping things basically the same as they were when my dad was around, they walked out last January and left my brother and I hanging, not knowing what was going to happen. I went from being behind the scenes to running the whole damn show with the help of my brother and one of my dad's other friends who had JUST decided to come work with us and was starting the day they left. After a month of going back and forth on selling, keeping, selling, keeping, running to Mexico,  selling, keeping... we kept the business and I started a new fight. We had a month and a half at that point to keep as much business as we could (all policies have to be sold by March 15th every year) and then we would see where we stood in April. We ended up keeping about half of the business and it is a blessing that those two left.

There are days that I really don't like what I do and I tell Danny and my mom that all the time. There are things that I think I would enjoy about a regular 9-5 job. All the problems that I deal with would be someone else's problem, I could leave work at work more, and I would have the social aspect of it. But then I then there are the days where it's all completely worth it. Like when my dad's very first customer calls and says "I'm staying with you because I loved your dad" and it almost makes me cry. Or when its 65 degrees out in May and I want to take my dog for a walk. I also get to work with my brother. Working with family is never an easy thing, but it's worth it. And now when Danny stops by with Tucker and says he's going to get a hair cut, I can say just leave him here with me for the hour or so you'll be gone.

I don't know if I'll be doing this forever. There are days that I want too and there are days that I want to find the highest bidder and leave and never look back. But then I think about my dad and how hard he worked, and how far I've come to keep that going. The sleepless nights, the tears, the screaming matches with my aunt (different story for a different day) and the long days. I don't want that to all be for nothing.

And there you have it.

Happy St. Patricks Day

You know how I know I'm a mom now?

I don't recall every celebrating St. Patrick's Day once class parties stopped happening. Which is bull shit that they do. High school students love cupcakes and goody bags too. Even now Danny and I don't celebrate St. Patrick's Day. I think the year before last we talked a big game and "planned" on going to a bar in town for their St. Patty's Day party to get drunk, but I'm pretty sure we ended up ordering take out from somewhere and going to bed around 10.

But now that I have a cute 13lb-chubby cheek-handsome baby boy to show off dress, St. Patrick's Day deserves some celebrating. I picked up this cute shirt at Old Navy a few weeks ago. And by picked up I mean I was on my way to the register and fell victim to the pile of St. Patty's day onesies that they have waiting there with the dog toys and plastic cups, ready and waiting for "those mom's."

I'm still going to pinch him

He is stinkin' cute though so it's worth the whole $7 I paid for it.

Speaking of stinkin... I am not lying when I tell this story. So I am taking Tuck's picture this morning. He's sitting in his chair and he starts leaning over onto his right arm. He gets comfy and lets out a huge fart. 3 months old and he's already practicing the "one cheek sneak." His Papaw Dan would be so proud.

Happy St. Patricks' Day everyone!

Five on Friday

Lets face it... the thing ya'll have missed most when it comes to this blog is hearing about the random shit that goes on in my life and in my head. No? Here are the 5 things that I'm thinking/loving right now instead of the fact that I have a truckload of work to do being that it is the last day of sales season. Well, its technically Monday since the 15th is a Saturday, but whatever. Either way, I'll probably drink a celebratory glass of wine today AND Monday. While I'm still here at work.

1. So I mentioned on Monday that my eating has been pretty shitty and things just aren't going well. Turns out that despite my bad habits of having a bowl of cereal, ice cream or wine or two out of the 3 every night I've managed to lost 5 pounds. Granted, I haven't weighed myself for real for about a month. I stepped on the scale Sunday maybe, but I was fully clothed and wanted to see what my chunky baby was weighing now (13.2 lbs was the difference between my large number and the larger number while holding him). Seeing that loss has given me the motivation to really get it in gear.

2. Have you tried these?

My mom picked some up when she went grocery shopping for us after Tucker was born. LOVE THEM! This is my favorite flavor, but they have a handful of others. So yummy.

3. I haven't talked about my boobs lately so lets catch up on that. I've read on a couple forums that for some moms and babies that have had trouble, one day things just clicked and got so much better. Well, I'm happy (and hesitant) to say that I think we've had that click. Things have gotten so much better and I've been able to nurse him right before bed the last 2 nights and he still continued to sleep through the night. The lactation consultant from the hospital also called to check up on us Wednesday. She was so helpful and encouraging in the beginning and I honestly haven't talked to her since January. So I thought that was sweet.

4. There is some retail therapy on the agenda of Saturday with my mama and I've got plans to buy at least 2 new pairs of shoes, maybe a third. I've been on the hunt for brown boots for about 3 years. Well, I had to buy new black boots for my Gram's funeral since it was forecasted to snow again and mine had broke the week before. I found some at DSW, which surprised me because boots that I like are hard to find. Well, they had brown too. I only bought the black ones to really test them out and I had to have them. Now I'm going back for the brown ones. I've decided its time for new Sperry's too. 3.5 years in one pair is too long since I wear them nearly every day to work. The third pair is some Nike Frees. They seem super comfy and everyone knows new shoes help you work out.

5. Lent is in full swing around the world and at our house. I decided to give up peanut butter and Danny decided to give up sweet tea and pop. I also unconsciously gave up Target. I decided for the whole month of March to stay out of the store and then decided I might as well keep it up until Lent is over. The problem with that is how am I suppose to make Tucker his first Easter basket. Maybe this will remind me that there are other stores :)

long time no see

Well Hello! I know its been a while, but don't say I didn't warn you. Life has been pretty crazy lately, partly good, partly bad. What has happened since I left off two whole Mondays ago?

Grammy lost her fight on February 27th at 12:03 a.m.  On Thirsty Thursday.  My dad's favorite part of the week was Thirsty Thursday. It was so fitting that she waited until a Thursday to go be with him again. We had her showing and funeral the following Monday and Tuesday. We actually had what seemed like a pre-funeral party. Who does that? My family of course. There was nothing she loved more than a party (aside from my dad, aunt and her grandkids). My aunt's friends from where she lives were in town and we got together out in the barn at my brother's with them, my dads friends and our family.  It lightened the mood of a sad time so it was kind of nice. A week before she passed, she got to "hold" Tucker one more time. It was so precious to see. He gave her quite a few smiles in her last days and I'll never forget it.

Tucker and his Great Grammy.

Nothing will ever be as interesting as the ceiling fan

My eating has been less than stellar the last couple of weeks. Between work being crazy, rushing here and there, and the funeral, I've been slacking off. Hardcore. I really need to buckle down. Summertime is going to be here before I know it and at this point, putting shorts on makes me want to cry, let alone what a bathing suit would be like. I wasn't going to go to Zumba this week due to it being the last week of sales season at work, but I felt like a busted can of biscuits all day yesterday, so I'm going.

Tucker turned 3 months old last Tuesday. He is such a good baby and I am so lucky.  He gets really fussy in the evenings, but he sleeps through the night. I'm not talking 6 hours, I'm talking 8-10 hours. It. Is. Wonderful! So, I'll take the couple hours of fussiness over him not sleeping all night long any day. The fussiness is just him wanting to eat, eat and eat until its bedtime. Speaking of bedtime, all week last week I was worried about how he'd react to the time change. Normal bedtime for him is between 9 and 9:30, which meant he wouldn't go to sleep until 10 or 10:30. Nope. He fooled me. He started winding down at 8:30 last night and was in bed by 9. Which was really 8. At this rate, he's gonna get a freakin Corvette for his 16th birthday. 

That's what has been going on since I last left off. Nothing too exciting, but that's okay.