My Happily Ever After

House Update

juleen76 — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:26:41 +0000

We’ve owned our house for over a month, and have done a ton of work to it, but I have yet to write a single blog about it or post a single photo. I have been awfully busy, but that is not the reason for the lack of posting. The problem is a lack of Internet! At the moment I am posting from my phone, therefore this will not be a very lengthy post. We have been having issues with getting out Internet connected since we bought the house. I won’t go into all of the boring details, but it came down to two things. The first was ongoing confusion about which is our new address and which was the old. And second, there was a problem with the phone lines coming in from the street which our DSL requires to connect. I got a call from ACD.net this morning informing me that AT&T had finally rectified the problem, and I went to plug in the modem and router, and realized that the electrician had snipped of the plug end of the phone line because he will be adding a wall socket for the phone once the drywall is done. Arrrrggghhhh! Hopefully we can come up with a temporary fix in the meantime! Regardless, sometime in the near future I will get caught up on posting about of the projects we have completed in the house, with lots of pictures included!

Filed under: Decorating, DIY, Home, Renovations Tagged: Decoration, renovations

Adventures in Weight Watching (Week 2)

juleen76 — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:06:59 +0000

This week I only lost .2 lbs, but at least I lost something! After so many weeks without losing, .2 lbs actually feels like a pretty huge accomplishment for me.
I’ve been pretty active lately with working on the new house, (even though I still gave not made it to the gym in a few weeks). I found a lot of the jobs we’ve been doing around the house listed in the activity points so it’s been kind of cool to be able to track all that hard work!
Unfortunately, I’ve also eaten every single activity point I’ve earned, hence the lack of any significant weight-loss. All this hard work has made me starving lately. I’m honestly not used being very hungry most of the time. Even after several hours without food, it is not typically hunger that motivates me to eat.
I’ve changed my weigh-in day from Thursday to Monday, and therefore the day my weekly points switches has also changed. This has thrown me off a bit with eating my flex points which I typically save for the weekend, but now feel like I’m running out before Monday arrives. I will give it a few more weeks and see how it goes, but may end up switching my weigh-in to Friday.
Hoping for a little more than .2 this week!

Filed under: Fitness, Food, Health, Weight Watchers Tagged: losing weight, Weight loss, weight watchers

Adventures in Weight Watching (Week 1)

juleen76 — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:24:54 +0000

I just weighed in after my first week returning to Weight Watchers after more than a month off. I ended up with a 3 lb loss, which really just brings me back down to where I was before I took a break.
I’ve definitely been in a bit of a slump for several months now, and haven’t really been losing anything (up a pound one week, down one the next). I’m hoping that this break will jump start things and get me losing consistently again.
My current short term goal is to lose at least 8.4 lbs by 2/27/12. Technically, I should be able to lose more than that, but I wanted to give myself an attainable goal because I’m not really in a good position to be disappointed again!
Weight Watchers has adjusted the program slightly for 2012, but I don’t know much about it yet. The two changes I’ve heard about are that you can now eat 3 points less than before if you do not experience weight-loss on your original number (I will definitely try this if I start to plateau again) and now you can use the Simply Filling method from day to day rather than only week to week. I’ve never actually done Simply Filling, but basically it is eating only Power Foods (foods known to be filling and sustain you) and you eat until you’re satisfied, no point counting is involved. Does anyone else have a better understanding of Points Plus 2012? I’d love to hear any other information. Because my Internet access is extremely limited right now, I haven’t really been able to find out much.

Filed under: Fitness, Food, Health, Weight Watchers Tagged: losing weight, Weight loss, Weight Watching

Adventures in Weight Watching (Week 0)

juleen76 — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:45:21 +0000

Just a little update, I weighed in today for the first time in over 30 days and have only gained 2.4 lbs. I’m pretty pleased with myself considering 1. I have not tracked in over 30 days, 2. There were 3 holidays in between, 3. It was in the middle of the day just after lunch rather than first thing in the morning when I usually do it, and 4. Its my time of the month. That’s pretty impressive, if I do say so myself! Hopefully I’ll have a big loss after this week, since I’m technically starting all over again!

Filed under: Fitness, Food, Health, Weight Watchers Tagged: losing weight, Weight loss, weight watchers

Adventures in Weight Watching

juleen76 — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 15:23:27 +0000

I ended up taking the last month off of Weight Watchers. Essentially, that just means I wasn’t weighing in or tracking points. It does not mean that I’ve made any drastic changes in my eating habits. One thing that did change is that I haven’t been to the gym much lately.
We’ve been in the process of moving for the last 30 days (and are far from done yet), living with family, our belonging in boxes scattered around other peoples homes, and now finally in our new home but with no kitchen. I finally found the box with my scale in it, but I’m a little nervous to step on it. We’ve mostly been eating the same things we were eating doing WW but with doing lots of eating in other peoples homes, and the holidays stuck in there, we haven’t had complete control of our food options, but we have done the best we can with what has been available.
Since its a new year, and I’m starting up again, I’m counting this as Week 1, so as long as my Internet is finally up and running at the house by then, next Monday should be my 2012, Week 1 post.

Filed under: Food, Health, Weight Watchers Tagged: losing weight, Weight loss, weight watchers

2011

juleen76 — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 15:03:04 +0000

This last year has been quite an adventure for us. We started the year with Noob going to school and starting a whole new career. Thankfully, he loves it, because it was my idea! We also went into business with my siblings, and opened The Wireless Zone of Lansing back in July. That has really made some big changes in our family relationships, all for the good! We’ve spent almost the entirety of 2011 on a hunt for our first house. We finally closed on our new home on December 9th and have been working on fixing it up since then. It will definitely take at least the first couple of months of 2012 for us to complete our projects (with lots of help from our family and friends). And after that we look forward to starting some other adventures, like puppies and babies, not necessarily in that order (NO, I AM NOT PREGNANT!!!). We are definitely eager to see what 2012 has in store for us!

Filed under: Faith, Family, Friends, Life, Raves, Relationships Tagged: New year

Just Say NO to Direct TV!!! (they don’t listen, but do it anyway)

juleen76 — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:43:54 +0000

Just had the most irritating phone call from DirecTV!!! They called to offer me a “movers discount” on their service. The representative insisted that I must pay a fee immediately to “lock-in” this discounted rate for tv, internet and home phone), and it would not be available at a later time. I told her that I could not make a decision like this without my husband (we do not currently have cable, or home phone, and are happy with our current internet provider) and that I did not have the extra funds available at the moment to even make the payment, due to the fact that I am buying a house tomorrow. She kept insisting that this is the best rate I will find and that I could be refunded later if I opted not to do it. I kept insisting that I could not make a decision like this on a whim and needed to speak with my husband and do some research to determine if this was a choice we wanted to make, AND kept reminding her that I did not even have the funds available to make the payment. She continually interrupted me and demanded “Why would you turn down an offer this great” and I once again reminded her of my reasoning. I told her that I felt like she was bullying me into a decision I was not prepared to make and that her behavior made me even less likely to sign up for their services in the future. I wanted to hang up on her, but decided to ask to speak to her supervisor instead. She put me on hold to get him, but them came back twice to try to change my mind. After waiting for about 15 minutes I finally hung up because she have wasted enough of my phone minutes. My hands are literally shaking as I type, I am so angry. What is wrong with sales people that even after they are called out about pressuring, and even called a bully, they can still insist that they aren’t trying to pressure you, they just don’t want you to miss out on a fabulous opportunity. NO, MEANS NO!!! Next time, you’re getting the hang up! No more Mrs. Polite from me!

Filed under: Attitude, Rants Tagged: direct tv, DirecTV

Top 10 Signs You’re Dating The Wrong Guy

juleen76 — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 17:49:12 +0000

I just read 10 Signs To Know You’re Dating The Wrong Guy by Kandee Johnson (one of my favorite beauty bloggers) and decided it would be fun to write my own version.

Top 10 Signs You’re Dating The Wrong Guy:

10. He can’t stop talking about his ex, who he’s clearly still in love with, even though he states the opposite.

9. He is laid off from his job and spends all of his unemployment check on baseball cards, while you buy his groceries, put gas in his car, and take him out for dinner.

8. He decides to quit his job and travel for three months, leaving you behind.

7. He goes on vacation with YOUR friends, and spends the entire trip hanging out with some girl he met on the beach, while you had to stay home because your couldn’t afford the trip or the time off of work.

6. He promises to break up with the girl he’s dating if you’ll go out with him, or asks you out while he knows you’re seeing another guy.

5. He has sex with another girl while he’s dating you, after promising you he’s willing to save sex for marriage.

4. He is only available to see you after 10 pm, and never out in public.

3. He has two different phone numbers, and you’re only allowed to call his “work number”.

2. He has an ex-wife he never told you about, who may not officially even be an ex yet.

1. He constantly pressures you to do things you are not comfortable with or are morally opposed to, even after your explain the reasons why you will not do them.

I had quite a dramatic dating life prior to marrying my dear husband (although he admittedly gave me a bit of drama as well, before deciding it was time to grow up and settle down, I would like to make it very clear that NONE OF THESE ARE BASED ON HIM).

Some of these are about guys I was in long-term relationships with, some I dated casually, some are guys I was just interested in, and some are based on more than one guy!

The point is, now years later, I can laugh about all the crazy heartbreak I went through. I know some of these are really no laughing matter, but I’m able to look back and see my own naivety and the terrible choices I made when it came to the guys I dated. At the time, I thought that there was something wrong with me (other than my bad taste in men) but now I’m smart enough to know that nothing on my part (or anyones part) warrants being cheated on, being unknowingly made the cheater, being lied to, being taken advantage of, or taken for granted, or just plain being treated like crap!

If you’re dating someone who doesn’t treat you like you’re the best thing since sliced bread, who doesn’t speak honorably of you to others when you’re not around, who doesn’t respect your morals and the boundaries you set in the relationship, then they don’t love you! They love themselves and want only what they can get from you and your relationship!

RESPECT YOURSELF, and LOVE YOURSELF enough to wait for the person who is going to honor you, and value you like you deserve!

(MOM, if you’re reading this… THIS is why I never wanted to talk about it after a breakup!!! Ha ha!)

Filed under: Attitude, Humor, Life, Love, Marriage, Rants, Raves, Relationships, Stories Tagged: Dating, Humor, relationship, Wrong Guy

Prayer of Sir Francis Drake

juleen76 — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:50:23 +0000

Disturb us, Lord,when we are to well pleased with ourselves, When our dreams have come true because we dreamed to little, When we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess we have lost our thirst for the waters of life: Having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity. And in our vision to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim. Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery: Where losing sight of land we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes: And to push into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.—- Sir Francis Drake (1540-1596)

Filed under: Attitude, Faith, Prayer

Please Subscribe to MY HAPPILY EVER AFTER

juleen76 — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:42:44 +0000

Beginning November 22, Facebook will no longer allow me to import my blog onto my profile and page. I will do my best to remember to post the link on Facebook each time I write a new blog post, but if you want to keep up with my blog in the future there are a number of ways you can do it!

1. Click FOLLOW at the top of the screen.

2. Find SUBSCRIBE TO JULEEN’S BLOG in the right hand column and click the button that says SIGN ME UP!

3. If you use Bloglovin’ (my favorite blog reader) then go to And They Lived Happily Ever After and click the green FOLLOW button.

4. If you use Google Reader (another blog reader, you already have it if you have a gmail account), click the red SUBSCRIBE button on the top left and then type or copy and paste juleen76.wordpress.com into the drop down box and then click ADD.

5. If you are on Twitter you can follow me at juleenkenney and my blog links are posted there.

Let me know if you have any problems or questions with any of the 5 options. I hope you will keep reading!

Filed under: Blogging Tagged: Bloglovin, Facebook, Gmail, Google, Google Reader, Twitter

Design Inspiration

juleen76 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 01:47:20 +0000

About the same time we started looking for a house last spring, I was introduced to Pinterest. For those of you who aren’t yet familiar with Pinterest, it’s is an online bulletin board where you “pin” photos you find online to boards you create. I began using it to pin design inspirations for our “Someday House”, and have since pinned a little bit (ok, maybe A LOT a bit) of anything and everything. As we are getting closer to closing on our house, I am trying to design my home with intention so I want a plan as I begin decorating. I don’t want to just begin purchasing things at random. Therefore I am currently trying to figure out the reoccurring themes in what I pin to help determine what direction I want to go in decorating our home. Here are some of those themes:

STENCILED WALLS, FLOORS, CEILINGS AND FURNITURE:

BRIGHT COLOR COMBINATIONS:

PAINTED FURNITURE:

What do you think of these ideas? Do you love ‘em, or hate ‘em? I’d love to hear your ideas and suggestions! If you’re a pinner on Pinterets, and I’m not already following your, please let me know! I’d love to follow you!

Filed under: Crafty, Decorating, Home

Intentional Living

juleen76 — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 15:54:34 +0000

Some time ago, I began reading a blog called Makeunder My Life (MML). It’s about designing and living a life with intention. Learning to minimize the “clutter” in your life, whether that be material possessions, unfocused dreams and goals, negative attitudes, and sometimes even people. Anything that keeps you from being the best possible version of yourself.

The following is a quote from Jess Constable of MML that explains what led her to seek a life of intentional living:

My purpose (currently in the form of this site) became clear when I was a college junior in 2006. At that time I was extremely dissatisfied with myself. I sought out happiness and perfection through each bag, shirt, candy bar, and guy in my life. As you can imagine, none of these ill-conceived and largely unconscious methods worked.

Then one day I heard a quote about Michelangelo regarding the David statue. He was asked how he designed such a phenomenal statue out of a piece of stone. Michelangelo said it was easy to carve the statue because he saw the potential within the stone and he simply needed to remove the layers hiding the beauty. Hearing that, my life clicked instantly.

The best Jess I was searching for wasn’t found pretending to be someone else or by buying something new, it was underneath all the layers of “stuff” in my life. I now define “stuff” to be clutter, unloved/unused/unneeded possessions, bad relationships, negative thoughts, you name it – whatever isn’t serving a positive purpose in our lives is hiding our best selves.

Last week Jess wrote about having a life intention statement, or a mission statement. She included a link to the Franklin Covey Mission Statement Builder, which is a tool that in twelve short questions can help you to hone in on what your ultimate goals (mission/intentions) are.

The following statements were created from my responses to the twelve questions. I will eventually take these concepts and turn them into a more concise and focused mission statement.

1. I am at my best when I have made a plan, and everything has it’s time and place.

2. I will try to prevent times when I am disorganized.

3. I enjoy my work when I can use my creativity and skills to help my clients feel beautiful, and encourage them to see their inner beauty.

4. I will find enjoyment in my personal life through being creative.

5. I will find opportunities to use my natural talents and gifts such as arts & crafts, music, organization.

6. I can do anything I set my mind to. I would like to begin sewing and crafting again and eventually begin selling my crafty wares on Etsy.

7. My life’s journey is to bring glory to God in everything I do, and to show His love to those around me.

8. I want to be a person who my husband, my (future) children, my extended family, and my friends will remember as a loyal friend, a loving wife and mother, and a contagiously joyful person.

9. My most important future contribution to others will be sharing my faith in Jesus Christ with those around me.

10. I will stop procrastinating and start working on:

Minimizing my personal possessions, so I will have less distractions, and more time to enjoy the things that are truly meaningful to me.
More clearly differentiating between personal time, family time, and work time so that I can more effectively focus on what I need to and be present in the moment.
Begin cooking at home more often in order to save money and become more healthy.

11. I will strive to incorporate the following attributes into my life:

Growing as a Godly wife
Increasing my Biblical knowledge
Becoming more creatively inspired and putting it into action

12. I will constantly renew myself by focusing on the four dimensions of my life:

Physical: Continue working out regularly, and gradually increase my workout. Get back on track with weight loss!
Spiritual: Start going through a daily devotional book with my husband again, spend more time in my personal bible study.
Mental: Begin making lists, setting reminders, doing whatever it takes to clear my head and have less things to just remember.
Social: Be more aggressive in my friendships, do not always wait for invitations. Do not settle for being alone, even when it is preferred. Remember that the true friendship is worth the effort.

Filed under: Attitude, Faith, Life, Love, Resolution Tagged: FranklinCovey, intentional living, Mission statement