I'm not usually a resolutions type of girl, but this year I had quite a few on my list. Last year, I was too busy graduating, getting married and enjoying the Bahamas, so I didn't have time to make any. Stephen has a list and we also have a list for us to do together as a married couple because, come on, what newlywed couple doesn't make a joint resolution list? Some are not so much a resolution but more like a goal to accomplish this year.
To list a few of mine:
Cook healthy meals at least 5 days out of the week
Try something new each week
Be a more crafty gift giver
Do laundry like an adult and not throw them all in one load and turn the water on cool
Lose at least 10 pounds for a wedding in a few months
Learn to do one new thing this year (my top choice was cake decorating)
Stephen's list included:
Start Lombardi time (where you always arrive somewhere at least 15 minutes early)
Read at least one book per month
Try something new/do something creative at least once a week
Lose about 30 pounds before a wedding in a few months
Our combined list is part two of our challenge (which I will explain later)
Try the "debt snowball" that Dave Ramsey recommends
Learn to budget better
De-clutter our apartment
Buy a big girl/boy couch and sell our futon
So, this challenge really begins New Years Day when my family is gathered around the table enjoying a late breakfast and discussing resolutions. When both Stephen and I mention resolving to lose "X" amount of weight, my dad, mother-in-law, and my father-in-law also decide to lose "X" amount of weight before the wedding in a few months.
Alright, insert hilarious joke from a family member claiming they can lose more body percentage than us and thus beginning our challenge. We each put $10 in a pot and the person with the most body percent weight lost wins the money. This way the winner can buy a new pair of pants or shirt or whatever as an incentive to lose weight.
Part two of our challenge:
Shortly after that breakfast, as in a week after, Stephen and I decide to take the big step to be college loan free. By doing this, we agreed to live without certain things and doing more things to save us money so we can put towards killing our debt. I decided I could live without beef for a while to save us meat money and Stephen "claimed" he could give up peanut butter for a while. Now, I put the word claim in quotation marks because if anyone knows Stephen, he LOVES peanut butter. I mean, if it wasn't so high in calories and fat, he would live off of it day and night. He loves peanut butter so much, we should invest in stock.
Yesterday, he and I were going to go to the store to buy butter and milk to make cookies because we didn't want to COMPLETELY crush this weight loss challenge and embarrass my family. Anyways, before we left, he got that look in his face that he usually gets if we are in the store and he really, REALLY wants something. He sometimes tries to hide that look from me by telling me how nice I look. So he says to me:
Stephen: "Um...Do you think... well, I was thinking..."
Me: "What were you thinking?"
Stephen: "Well, you know how I said I could give up peanut butter?"
Me: "You can't, can you?"
Stephen: "NOOOOOO"
Me: "You just have to have peanut butter??"
Stephen: "........yes"
So that is how we ended up with more peanut butter in the apartment. Which you would think would make him happy, but instead he gets a bit sassy with me. We told all of our friends we were going to live as cheap as possible, and he gets sassy after his peanut butter. I was wearing two completely different colored socks and I had a sudden thought.
Me: "Hey Stephen. Do you want to know something weird about these socks?"
Stephen: "Uh, sure."
Me: "One of these socks has more padding on the bottom and it's throwing my balance off a bit."
Stephen stunned by the fact I didn't say the colors are different says like the sassy pants he is: "Really, that's the only thing you find weird about them??"
Yeah, Super sassy pants husband on board. That's the kind of sign I need on my car instead of those "baby on board" signs. So if you hear the sad song of my husband above your heads, send peanut butter. Also, if you have fun date ideas that don't cost anything, feel free to donate those ideas because we will be needing all the ideas we can get.
