Lately I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out what to post about next and haven’t found an ounce of inspiration. Not only do I lack inspiration but I have begun to question who exactly I am writing for?  I began this blog as part of an application for weddingbee and that didn’t get me anywhere.  I never heard anything from them so I just assumed that I was rejected.  Sadly to say I began to model my blog around different ones which had a lot more followers than I did. I’m grateful for those that follow me but seriously does anyone actually read my blog?  The last giveaway that I had flopped.  So, I have decided to do things differently around here. I’ve decided that having more followers is not what’s important to me but being myself is.

So, what’s going to change around here?

Me of course.  I’m not going to try to please a specific audience as much as I’m going to try to write from my heart.  I think this will work  better than attempting to figure out what people want to read about.  If I lose some followers along the way so be it as long as I’m keeping it real.

Last week I told you about my obsession with the Biggest Loser and about the goals I have to live a healthier lifestyle.  I’m not necessarily exercising to lose weight but I’m doing it to live a healthier life.  Although I’m not the thinnest individual in my family my overall health is relatively good.  I’ve had physical exams done and my cholesterol levels and other test have came out very good.  We live a pretty straight edge lifestyle in regards to drinking, drugs, and smoking.  I’m telling you this because I wanted to put it out there that my decision to exercise doesn’t come from anything more than wanting to live healthier life which is something that I had never felt before.  It has been about a month now since the hubby and I began exercising 5 out of 7 days a week.  I haven’t lost any weight that would warrant a “WOW” however I have noticed that my softball skills have gotten better overall.  The best part is that I don’t get out of breath in my attempts to out run  my hubby.  So now that we feel like we have taken this lifestyle change seriously we have begun the second part of my goals which is to run a half marathon.  I first asked the hubby a year ago to run a half marathon with my and he turned me down so I asked one of my friends and he said yes.  Fast forward to a few days ago as I was signing up for it he said, “sign me up for it too.”  Can you can imagine my excitement as he uttered those words?  I was completely excited because he is my other half and with him by my side there is no doubt that I can do it.

The half marathon I wanted to do was the Disneyland half marathon but since we’re frugal we decided to go for the Long Beach half marathon.

Ready or not we have until October 17th to practice for our half marathon.  We’ve walked a few 5k’s before but nothing like this so we are really excited about challenging ourselves.  I’ll keep you posted on our progress as the time gets closer.  For those of you that are wondering I’ve lost 4 lbs which means that I’m losing a pound a week.

Have you ever run a race?  If you have do you have any pointers for us?

Update: We conquered the 1/2 marathon and signed up to do another one!

The hubby and I have been living together for more than a year now and we finally got the hang of who’s responsible for doing what.

As I sit here waiting for our laundry to finish drying it occurred to me that it was never this easy.  When the hubby and I moved in we knew it was going to be difficult but we never imagined to what extent.

The Background:
The hubby was living at home up until we moved in together. On the other hand I had moved out of my parents house when I was 18 years-old. I lived with different roommates for almost ten years.

The Expectations:
I was supposed to take it easy on him because he was never required to do anything at home.  I was supposed to teach him what his mom never taught him.  I expected him to be a clean freak just like me and nagged him when I realized that he was on the other end.

The Compromise:
Finding a middle ground took a long time but it was really worth the effort we put into it because now we have an arrangement that we are happy with.  We both agreed that we want a clean and organized apartment and it was going to take both of us to accomplish that.  When one of us is not available to help out because of school or work demands then the other one steps up to do it. Doesn’t it sound dreamy?  Some might say it even sounds fair which it is, but it really took about a year to really work and get all the kinks out.


Who does what:
Laundry- we both do it.  When one of us does the laundry the other one puts the clothes away.
Ironing- he does it.  I HATE ironing. I don’t really know why but I really do so he irons everything.
Dishes/Kitchen/Bathroom- that’s all me.  Once in a while we do the dishes together but usually I do them as I go.  I don’t mind cleaning the bathroom and I feel like the kitchen is my domain since I love cooking and baking so I tell him to stay out.
Living Room-we both clean it as we go along.  He usually does the vacuuming because he knows how bad my allergies are.
Bedroom- we both do it.  He usually makes the bed and I organize the rest of the room.

I have to admit that at the beginning I nagged him about the little things like his shoes in the living room but I soon realized that it took less effort for me to ask nicely than to nag.  Working together has not only brought us together but has strengthen our marriage.  We are in a partnership and we now both take pride in what our apartment looks like.  When I have finals he’s usually the one cleaning up the kitchen and getting us dinner.  When he has deadlines to do I clean the apartment from top to bottom.  Learning to compromise and to break the usual gender roles was the key to our happiness and our chore dilemma.

So how are you handling the things that have to be done around the house?  What have you learned from living together with your significant other?