Fire Up For Fall: Week Nine

I can’t believe that the end of this challenge is looming. I first joined in on the challenges during the Spring Fever challenge and it’s just crazy to think that we’ve come all the way to Fall already. It’s been another crazy week here at Chateau D. B returns to regular duty tomorrow, pending phone calls this afternoon to find out exactly what will be happening to us. Ever since we moved here last year, I just assumed that his return to regular duty would leave us at our current base. Now it’s sounding like that isn’t the likeliest possibility. I’ll know more after he makes his calls this afternoon, but the possibility of moving again is quite strong. Anyway, whether we stay here or move, change is once again looming large on our horizon. Until then though, we’ll just hurry up and wait.

1. What have you done this week towards your goals?

a. Do at least one random act of kindness a week.  Another check for this one! Last week, MJ asked about my RAK’s. They haven’t been big things, mostly I’ve been reaching out to people. One week it was including the wife of one of B’s coworkers in a group dinner. The husband was out of the country and she’d just had a kid so I invited her to dinner. Another week it was taking the time to listen to a girl I had just met talk through her pending divorce. Another week was reaching out to a girl at the gym. So, they aren’t big things by any means, just little things to help add some positivity to the universe.

b. Lose 8 lbs – that’s just one lb a week for the remainder of the challenge. So, after I talked all of last week about not trying to lose anymore…I dropped 2 pounds to this week. That’s probably mostly the disappearance of Aunt Flo. Still, I’m at 8 of 8 for pounds lost this challenge. It feels good to meet my goal on this one. I’m still not quite sure where my weight loss will lead me. I think I’m in the still trying just not actively trying stage. I wouldn’t mind weighing less, but I’m at a good weight for my body so I’m confused. I’m just going to keep eating healthy and try to get back into going to the gym regularly. Where things go from there, I’ll just have to see.

c. Practice piano at least 3 times a week. Don’t tell anyone…but I totally started practicing Christmas music this week. I’m getting all of my students to start playing some Christmas songs and just taking the time to enjoy this time of year musically.

d. Read 15 books Well, I re-started Harry Potter last night and read most of the first while B was on the phone, but that was it. I’m not sure what’s happened. It may be having added in students and increasing my work load. I think it’s mainly been spending the evenings playing video games with B and afternoons are dominated by the puppy. I’m sad to not make this goal, but I’ll keep working towards adding a few more books before next Monday.

e. Plan at least one date event with B each week.  This one has been going well. We’ve both gotten better at spending concentrated time together. He doesn’t even know that this is a goal of mine, but, it’s an important one to me. Just my focusing on us having time together has yielded positive results. Never get complacent in your relationships. They all have to be nourished in order to thrive.
2. What have you done to make yourself feel fabulous?

I got a hair cut on Friday. I used to be so adventurous with my hair. In college, whenever I was blue I’d just go get it all chopped off. This lead to more than one regretted hair cut, but was totally worth it because I never feared getting my hair cut. I’ve also always been a “it’s my hair I’ll do what I want with it” kind of girl. Until I met B. For the first 8 months of our relationship I made sure to keep my hair the same length, style, and color that it had been when I met him. Then I dyed my hair back to my natural color and he almost didn’t recognize me. Most of my hair cuts since I met him involved a trim that he didn’t even recognize as a cut. On Friday, I went and chopped it back into a layered bob. Where it’s been just past shoulder length for the last two years, it’s now swinging above my shoulders again.  I love it.
3. What is the most positive thing you’ve taken away from this challenge?

Adding positivity to my life and others. Reaching out to these random girls has mostly yielded no fruit. Even though they said they’d contact me, I’ve never heard from the gym girl or the divorce girl again. And that’s okay. With B’s coworker’s wife though, we’ve actually started to become friends. From one simple dinner invite, we’ve gone to having dinner as couples at least twice a week. I just wish I had reached out earlier.
4. It’s your last week, the run to the finish, what is your priority?

Staying sane. There are so many what-ifs floating around us right now that I’m having a hard time doing basic daily things. I just want to curl up in a ball until it’s all over. As far as my goals go, I want to just keep trying my best with all of them.
5. Fun Stuff: Desert Island, you can take 1 person, 1 famous person and 3 items besides food and water. Who and What do you take?

Of course I would take B. There’s no one else I’d rather be stranded with. I’m not a big celebrity person, but I’d totally take one of the Voltaggio brothers to cook all of my meals. Yummy food and good eye candy? Yes please. My three items would include our puppy, a solar powered kindle so we could read, and a hammock. I’m a pretty simple girl in some ways.

I hope you all have a great week. This next week will hopefully hold some good answers for our near future. I hope it does anyway. I’m ready to know something is going to be constant besides not knowing. My positive picture for this week is from last year’s trip to Grand Rapids right after we got married. Things were as uncertain then as they are now and we made it through splendidly.

B and I on a giant tire swing in Grand Rapids

~The Countess~

Fire Up for Fall: Week Eight

Well this last weekend was an amazingly busy one for Chateau D. We played hard. Saturday was a sushi lunch followed by B’s handball game that was followed by a late night dinner at the only German restaurant still open in our little village. (We’re so provincial, everything is closed up tight by 10pm on a Saturday) Sunday was sleeping in, even if some of it had to be on the couch after the dog woke us up, a pool showdown between B and I, my rugby boyfriend’s rugby game followed by dinner and drinks with said rugby boyfriend. (I promise that isn’t as weird as it sounds. Our good friend Cap plays rugby and he called B and asked if I’d be his “rugby girlfriend”  and wear his support shirt.)

Anyway, life is really good right now. On to FUFF 8! I can’t believe how quickly the weeks fly by.

1. What have you done this week to work towards your goals?

a. Do at least one random act of kindness a week.  Checkers! This has been the most fun part of the challenge and has helped me totally change my attitude about being out here. I’m also seeing more friendships start to blossom from this.

b. Lose 8 lbs – that’s just one lb a week for the remainder of the challenge. No loss this week. It’s (finally) my TOM, only 2 weeks late. That made for a nice scare. Friday night I sat at home and contemplated going to by a HPT for close to three hours. Decided I would if I didn’t start Sunday, thankfully, I started Sunday. I’m also not sure if I want to lose any more weight. I’m down 17 pounds overall since July and back to 155 which was the weight I entered college at. It’s on the lower end of health BMI for my height and I think I may switch to focusing on toning up again (guess who hasn’t been to the gym regularly since this challenge started?). So I may happily stop this goal at 6 of 8 lbs lost. Of course, I may decide to keep going, I haven’t decided yet.

c. Practice piano at least 3 times a week. I think I managed it. It wasn’t a good week for it. I was so hormonal that I just sat on my couch and played on Pinterest on my laptop. That site is my new addiction. Seriously, I’m texancountess on there and would love to follow you and inundate you with recipes that I’m trying.

d. Read 15 books I started two books this week. One I’m still planning on reading, I just got side tracked ( The Dark Mirror by Juliet Marillier) and one I’m completely skipping (The Piano Teacher) because the two main girls were so flighty and inane that they made me want to cry. So, still at 7 of 15 read for this challenge. Unless a miracle occurs (and it might since I’m hormonal and don’t want to move right now) I don’t think there’s any way I can make this goal. I’m still going to try.

e. Plan at least one date event with B each week.  Check again. It’s been really awesome to focus on us, even if it’s nothing more than running up to base to play nine ball. We always play best of seven, if we’re at 3-3 after the first six than we place wagers on the outcome. If one of us is stomping the other so that there is no need to bet, then the winner gets to claim a prize. I won 4-0 on Friday, and 4-2 on Sunday and still have both my prizes to claim. They’ll be good ones, I promise.
  2. What have you done to make yourself feel fabulous?

I quit caring about what a certain couple thinks about B and I. They were people we were working hard at becoming really good friends with when that imploded in our faces (I’ve posted about it before). It recently came out from another friend that they talk negatively about us enough that people we don’t even know, know us as the couple that “Jack and Jill” hate. We’ve actually not talked a lot about the situation (unless asked by people who know both sets of us, and there we’ve been totally honest from the beginning. I’m not going to lie to protect a couple that’s happy to slander me.) with our own friends. We had to be at the same event supporting a friend (the rugby game) as this couple on Sunday. I have been dreading it for the last two weeks. It was a total non event. We were the first ones there and everyone else in the group (some 10-15 people) organized themselves around us and Jack and Jill were the last ones there. They snuck in after halftime and hid in the back corner of the group and never even came close to approaching us. It was awesome to know that we don’t have to avoid them because they will avoid us. It’s just such a relief for me to quit caring. That may sound odd, but for me, it’s the nicest thing I’ve done for myself in a long time.
  3. How important is a social life to you? Are you a loner or a butterfly or somewhere in between?

I probably qualify for someone in between. Like, I don’t flit from person to person or know everyone in the bar. But a social life is super critical for me. I am one of those people who unwinds and recharges by spending time with other people. Crappy day at work? I’d rather go home and cook a meal and entertain friends than eat take out and be by myself. Spending time with friends relaxes me and makes me feel more ready to tackle the next obstacle on my course. It’s been interesting balancing that being married, because B is much more of a loner/stay at home type than I am. Not that he’s much of one, I’m just such an extrovert that everyone looks introverted and homebody-ish next to me.
  4. How do you balance life outside your home with healthy living?

I try to make good choices. But I refuse to stress about it. This weekend included eating out at both lunch and dinner on both Saturday and Sunday. I chose beforehand not to worry about the calorie count and I knew that exercise wasn’t going to happen because of the hectic schedule. It just means that during the week I’ll eat a bit cleaner and definitely try to get back into going to the gym. I do still use portion control though. I try to eat no more than I should and sometimes even less than I might want. It’s worked well for me. Like I said above though, the mental health boost from spending time with friends is much more important to my well-being than staying at home and eating a salad.
  5. What do you like to do for fun?

It’d be easier to answer the opposite of this. If I had to pick one activity though? It’d be going to sporting events. Now, y’all, I’m not at all athletic. B’s been trying to teach me racquetball for over a year now and I’m still likely to hit myself in the head with the racket once a game. But I love sports. Baseball, basketball, football (American), handball, rugby, if there’s a live event that I can go to, I will. I like to cheer, take pictures, heckle the other players, and explain the rules to newcomers. Indoors, outdoors, it doesn’t matter. I just like cheering on the athletes and spending my time in good company.

Positive Picture:

loki, the lap dog

It’s shaping up to be a good week here. Not quite as much going on this weekend, I think, though there’s still quite a bit that we’ll be doing. I’m hoping to knock out a few more books to at least get over ten books. Actually, that’s my goal, three books by the end of this week.

Hope everyone has a great week!

~The Countess~

Fire Up For Fall: Week Seven

Hello my FUFF friends! Last night was exhausting here at Chateau D. We stayed up way too late and then were awakened by a howling puppy at 0415. He’d managed to poop all over his crate so while B took him outside to let him finish his business I got the gagging job of cleaning that mess up. I wanted to cry and vomit. The dog is so lucky that we love him. And that he’s cute.

1. What have you done this week towards your goals?

a. Do at least one random act of kindness a week. Check.

b. Lose 8 lbs – that’s just one lb a week for the remainder of the challenge. Down another 1.5 this week for a total of 6 pounds lost this challenge! I’ve hit a point where I’m not sure how much more weight I want to lose so I’ll be working on deciding that over the next couple of weeks.

c. Practice piano at least 3 times a week. Check. I think I’ve decided that I want to learn a recital’s worth of music again. Makes life fun.

d. Read 15 books I read books this week! 2 more read, so I’m now at 7 of 15.

e. Plan at least one date event with B each week. Check again. We’re getting better at setting aside time weekly that’s just for us.
  2. What have you done to make you feel fabulous?

I threw a dinner party last night. Baked up some ribs in the oven, some potatoes, and made a fabulous cookie dough dip for dessert. I love hostessing events and feeding people, so this was a perfect way to end the weekend for me.
 3. How do you pull yourself out of a slump or prevent yourself falling in to one?

This one is tough. My go to answer when I lived in the States would be calling my Mom or some friends for retail therapy, a movie, drinks, anything to get my mind off of whatever was getting me down. I don’t really have that outlet here in Germany. So now, I try to just shake up my schedule and hit the gym.
4. Are you naturally positive or do you have to work at it? How do you keep yourself positive?

I consider myself an optimistic realist. I’m a pretty positive person until you give me a reason not to be. Or the weather gets me down. As to staying positive? I try to surround myself by positive people. It really helps me.
  5. I’m on Holiday right now, if you could go away anywhere tomorrow (and work wouldn’t get weird) where would you go?

I’ve traveled so much this last year that it still seems pretty unreal. Yet my list of places I want to visit is still long. I think that currently, thanks to the weather and my hormones, I’d want to go to Palma Majorca off the coast of Spain. I was invited to join a girl I don’t really know there, but it was in the middle of my teaching week and with really short notice. Now I want to go with B.

Positive Picture

i think this is going to be our christmas card photo

I have a busy week this week, I’ve added quite a few new students to my schedule and I’m pretty stoked about meeting all of them. I’ve also decided that I’m going to try and participate in NaNoWriMo and do the 30 Day Shred in November. Which means I have a lot of new things to start this week. I hope you all have a great week!

~The Countess~

Fire Up For Fall: Week Six

After an emotionally rough weekend, I’m looking forward to some normality this week. I’m glad I have FUFF to help me focus through the week.

1. What have you done to achieve your goals this week?

. Do at least one random act of kindness a week. Check!

b. Lose 8 lbs – that’s just one lb a week for the remainder of the challenge. Down another .5 this week for a total of 4.5 for the challenge. I’ve seen lower numbers all week, but TOM is knocking at my door, so I’m pleased to have any loss to report at all.

c. Practice piano at least 3 times a week. Check! The puppy is no longer as terrified of the piano as he was.

d. Read 15 books Still 5 of 15. I don’t think I’m going to make this one. My reading desire has all but fled. We’ll see how this week goes.

e. Plan at least one date event with B each week. Check! We did a dinner date on Wednesday and then an at home dinner and movie date on Friday.
2. What have you done to make yourself feel fabulous?

I let myself sleep in this weekend. The puppy has been getting us up earlier than we are used to getting up. So it was nice to sleep in and not worry about it.
3. Do you listen to music when you work out? What gets you fired up?

Sometimes I do. I hate the feeling of having ear buds in my ears. But it only seems to bother me if I’m working out indoors. I don’t actually care if the music “fires me up” or not as any music provides a distraction for me. Some of my favorite albums are Christopher O’Reilly’s True Love Waits and Hold Me To This – both piano arrangements of Radiohead, and Mumford and Sons Sigh No More. I listen to a lot of Irish traditional music too. Every now and then, I’ll even listen to a bit of pop or rock.

4. What’s your guilty pleasure music? How does it make you feel?

Country music hands down. When I was training as a classical musician, pop/rock could be tolerated  but country music was for the uneducated masses and to be avoided. Yes, I was a huge music snob. I really never listened to anything but classical or traditional music until I was in grad school. That’s when I started listening to country (really more like Southern Rock, I still can’t stand the twangy, whiny songs) and found that I like songs that are easy to sing along to and easy to get.

5. If today were a song what song would it be?

The above is probably my favorite String Quartet of all time. And this movement is my favorite. But the whole thing is fabulous. It’s the perfect song for a cold and cloudy day.

Positive Picture:

early morning fog on the alpsee

I’m not normally a fog and dreary day kind of girl, but I’m embracing that right now. I am however a sad song kind of girl, all the time. So if you ever need a melancholy song, give me a shout and I’ll share some of my favorites.

~The Countess~

Fire Up For Fall: Week Four

Hey everyone! I hope you’ve all had great weeks. Fall is truly arrived here in Germany. Our average temperatures this last weekend were in the low 50s and upper 40s. Brrrr.

1. What have you done this week to achieve your goals?

a. Do at least one random act of kindness a week. Check!

b. Lose 8 lbs – that’s just one lb a week for the remainder of the challenge. Down 1.5 this week for 2.5 of 8 lost so far.

c. Practice piano at least 3 times a week. I played twice this week, B started studying for the GMAT, so I curtailed my practicing to give him so quiet.

d. Read 15 books I’m still at 5 of 15. But we’re going on a bus trip *hopefully* this weekend that would afford quite a bit of time to read.

e. Plan at least one date event with B each week. Oh so successful this week. We did dinner and a movie at home. We’ve also worked more on spending constructive time together every evening. Amazing.
2. What have you done to make yourself feel fabulous?

I did two things this week. First, I took this weekend as a guilt-free weekend. Yes, I still logged my calories, but I didn’t worry about working out or staying under my calorie goals. And I still had a loss this week. I needed the chance to go eat some food that tasted good without worrying about where it was going. I’m so glad I did. Second, I bought some make up and some clothes today. I tend to feel very guilty about spending money, which I think I’ll blog about soon. So to go out and buy things that I want and need without feeling the need to apologize is an awesome accomplishment for me.
3. What is your go to food or activity when you’ve had a bad day?

My go-to food used to be Whataburger. It’s a Texas staple and was always what I wanted when I was PMSing or sick. My comfort foods range from banana bread or hamburgers to sushi, it really just depends on my day. I don’t really use food to cheer myself up though, that’s what my husband is for. My favorite go to activity is to either go to the gym or to go cuddle with my husband. There are no ills in this world that his hugs cannot fix.
4. What’s the last thing you did that you were really proud of?

Pride is an interesting thing. I am proud of myself for getting started on having all my finances tax ready (I’m self-employed and paid in cash so this is a pretty big deal.), I’m proud of myself for shopping without feeling guilty. I’m proud of myself for the 13.5 pounds that I’ve lost since July. I’m proud of myself for sleeping on our last flight back from the US to Germany. I’m proud of myself for standing up for myself. They’re all little things, but, these everyday choices are majorly contributing to my over all happiness, and I’m inordinately proud of that.
5. Fun Time:  What was your favorite school subject, and your least favorite? Why?

My least favorite subjects in school were Geometry and Science. Geometry I hands down hated. I was good at it, but I found it to be a waste of time. I couldn’t stand having to write out proofs that had already been proven. It seemed useless to me. And Sciences were just always boring to me, what can I say, I’m a humanities girl. Speaking of that, my favorite subjects were music, history, and music history. I actually have my Masters Degree in Historical Musicology.

Positive Picture

me with my three sibs and the newest husband in the family

Here’s to a great week for all of us!

~The Countess~

Fire Up For Fall: Week Three

Happy Monday Friends! It’s going to be a quiet one here at the Countess’ Castle today. We had major jet lag induced insomnia combined with an early morning for B. So, he’s sleeping it off and I’m going to go teach. Fun times. Anyway, I have noticed that I dread Mondays less thanks to having these challenges to post and read responses on. Have any of you noticed the same?

1. What have you done this week to help get to your goals?

a. Do at least one random act of kindness a week. Check!

b. Lose 8 lbs – that’s just one lb a week for the remainder of the challenge. 1 of 8 lost!

c. Practice piano at least 3 times a week. Check! Expanded my repertoire this week. Added some Prokofiev and Chopin to my Hindemith.

d. Read 15 books. Still at 5 of 15. But I made progress in the really big one that I’m working my way through.

e. Plan at least one date event with B each week. Check! We went and played pool together on Saturday afternoon.
  2. What have you done to make yourself feel fabulous?

I stuck with my eating goals and lost a pound. I’ve heard the quote before that, “Nothing tastes as good as _____ feels.” But I’ve never felt it’s power until this weekend.
  3. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? What are your goals? Ambitions?

In Five years? I see myself putting B through law school. I see us back in the States with no debt and significant savings accounts. My goals for the next few years are to:

1. Pay off all our debt and start IRAs.

2. Buy a grand piano.

Other than that? I’m already living out my dream job and I just want to support B and get him into his.
  4. Give us a tip or a fact. About anything, what is something great you’ve heard that everyone should know?

When you’re in a relationship with anyone, always talk about things before they become a big problem. So, when you’re in that stage of annoyed that you know will lead to anger or frustration, mention the issue then. You’re more likely to be calm and fair about it, which will make them more receptive to what you have to say.

Other than that, if you’re ever learning or teaching piano and want advice, ask away. Or if you’re trying to get command sponsership in the USAF on really short notice and with a tight time schedule, I’ve got that one down pat.
  5. Fun Question: What was your most recent dream that you can remember?

I normally remember all of my dreams. It is strange for me to wake up and not remember dreaming, but that’s what happened this morning. I’m the kind of person who has recurring dreams. So, I’ll dream the same situation over and over again. Not just the general topic or subject matter, but the specific details too. Which was cool when I was a kid and started having the same nightmares, because then I would realize I was in a nightmare and I wouldn’t let the bad things happen. I’d kind of just pause my dream and reset it and make it have a happy, non-scary ending. That awareness that I’m dreaming comes and goes, but always if the dream has a darker tone.

Positive Picture

yes please!

Well, I hope you all have a great start to your weeks!

~The Countess~