Christa Lista

Yes, I am going to make a list...why not?  It is just about the end of 2011 and I've got a new year ahead of me.  I've got a pretty good feeling that 2012 is going to be a very decent year for me.

I've given up the 2nd job.  While all that extra dough is nice to have (and spend), it leaves absolutely no time for me to be able to enjoy this thing called life.  I now understand the proverb "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy".  While not entirely suited for my situation, I get it, I definitely get it.

I was sick.A.Lot.this past year.and I have no doubt that the whole no down-time thing played a very big role in me being sick.  That's not the life I want to live.  The down-time I did have was spent on the couch, stuffing my face with garbage because my body wanted nutrients and I thought I heard it say "Chocolate" and "Grilled Cheese sandwich".  I finally was able to translate what it really wanted when I stepped on the scale and realized I had gained back all of what I had lost.

One day this past November, I finally heard it loud and clear "Vitamins".  Ooooooh....okay.

Anyway, I've learned to appreciate my down-time.  I will no longer use it to do right by my pocket.  I will use it to do right by my body, my mind and my soul.  aka Balance

1. Make a bedtime and stick to it as best as you can (10:30pm)
2. Journal as often as possible (I've found that I enjoy getting inside my head and thinking out loud, even if it only makes sense to me)
3. Turn off the T.V. - it sucks me in every.single.time. and before I know it, I've wasted 4 hours on nonsense
4. Create - get the juices flowing and actually make things, finish projects I've started or intended to start but never got around to it.
5. Clean and keep clean.  Working 7 days a week doesn't offer much time to keep clean and organized, now with all of this new found time, I have no excuse really
6. Get on the lake - I've already started pricing out Inflatable water crafts and it looks like an inflatable Kayak may be just the right thing for me/us.  It will be great exercise too!
7. Get on the road - take day trips to places I haven't been such as Tallulah Falls, a gorgeous spot that I've been wanting to see since I found out I would be moving to GA back in 2004, it's time I get there.
8. Use the earth as my gym.  No one ever said you had to go to a fitness facility to get in a great workout.  I would love a bicycle
9. Give back - I would love to volunteer some of this new found time on a farm, getting sweaty and dirty.  Another great way to workout AND get some fresh veggies!
10. Meditate - woooooosaaaaaaaaahhhh  it feels good

I think I'll end it here for now.  I guess those are my top 10 things I'd like to get going on in the coming new year.  Looking forward to living a life of more purpose for my health instead of just work, I tried that, it's not all that great for me.

Mmmmmm...Chocolate

We finally did it...we purchased a NEW sofa!  (and a new mattress....can you tell it's tax return time).  We've needed both quite desperately.  BF purchased the Sofa and love seat set that we were temporarily using from a garage sale for $50 for the set.  It had served it's purpose of getting him by until he could afford some new stuff.  It had a cracked frame and was very uncomfortable to sleep sit/lounge on.  The mattress that we had?  Oh that was free...a very old (I am going to put it as made in the early 80s based on the dark floral satin fabric.)  It was awful, but free, and we had put a 4" memory foam topper on it to tide us over 'til we could afford a new mattress.  Well the time came and we had the cash and the deals found us (well, we had to actually go out to a store, but we weren't looking in particular to make these purchases, but the deals were there), so we went on a bit of a shopping spree and got this:

Picture from Big Lots.com

It is made by Simmons and it's called The Deluxe Beluga Chocolate (makes me think of chocolate cover whale bits..ewwww).  It's very firm yet comfortable and sits higher than our previous sofa did...I'm 5'5" and my feet don't touch the floor if I am sitting upright.  The only thing I hadn't noticed when it was sitting on the "showroom" floor were the legs.  After we got it home and unwrapped, we realized that the legs are made of plastic.  A bit of a disappointment, but the price was right and we were able to borrow a friends truck to get it home (not to mention we can always upgrade the legs in the future)  It really goes to show that you get what you pay for.  We thought we were getting a deal at a sale price of $299.99, and it still feels like a deal...the fabric of this sofa is so soft, like petting a soft kitty.  It's a velvety type thick corduroy that I hope will hold up for at least 5 years.  The cats are bound to scratch this bad boy up anyway, so it's probably better off that we didn't spend too much on it.  Regardless, we love it after the first day.  :) 

Oh and if you're wondering where we got it from, Big Lots.  :)  

Here it is enjoying it's new home in our space:

(yes that is a camera pic, the new cam had an unfortunate death last week...it involved a lunch tote and an unsealed (unbeknownst to me) water bottle...sigh)  We do plan to put a chair and ottoman/chaise/recliner/something-other-than-a-love-seat where the old love seat used to reside.  It really opens up the place to not have 2 heavy pieces.  There are no rules, right?  No one ever said you had to buy the matching love seat, did they?  For some reason, I've always purchased sofa and love seat sets....never realizing that things don't have to be all matchy matchy, even though I grew up in a house with one sofa and a recliner.  I'd like something comfortable, yet chic and fresh, or even retro inspired.  I haven't found anything yet that has inspired me enough to say "That's it!"  It will come to me.

...if it were up to BF, we'd have some sort of craziness like this:

Pretty sure this pic is from La-Z-Boy

now while they are very comfy and from the looks of it, quite functional (I think it even has a built in massager and beverage coolor), they just don't work for me when it comes to room design.  I'd like something with a bit more style, ya know, more of a design element and not as much function....though having my very own massage chair would be pretty cool.

And the mattress:

Big Lots Ad

We got the mattress at Big Lots as well....for the same price as the couch, $299.99 on sale.  It's made by Serta and is a mid-range quality from their line of mattresses.  It's very comfy, though I did toss and turn all night as usual.  Is a full nights rest ever in my future?  While I would have loved to Splurge on some higher quality stuff, we were and still are in need of several high ticket items (I think a dryer is up next)  The important thing is that we are happy with our purchases and didn't just settle, just because.

OH and having these new things (and getting rid of the old) had inspired me enough this morning to get some cleaning done!  That's never a bad thing!

I can't wait to get home and vacuum and then pet the new sofa!

Oh and sorry for putting the thought of Chocolate Covered Whale bits in your brain....Here, we can use this to sort of act like the bowl of coffee beans at the perfume counter

Life is good!