Summer Goals

Every summer I make a list of ridiculous goals which never quite get accomplished. This summer is a different story though. With Brent's help I have accomplished several big goals! I thought I'd share some of our summer victories.

Goal 1 - Secure reliable transportation which allows for trips to Utah County

With a lot of hard work and help from our families we were able to locate the perfect car for us to buy. It's a 2008 Nissan Versa black (Brent's requirement) hatchback (my requirement) It gets great gas mileage and most importantly it's freeway safe!

Goal 2 - Make our new apartment feel like home

Our new apartment has been such a blessing. See previous posts for details on the hectic move. We are so glad to be in an apartment that is drug-free, relatively inexpensive and more spacious. With great landlords on top of everything else Brent and I feel like we are going to stay in this apartment for our remaining 3 years in Logan.

Since we are staying I really wanted to make this place feel like home. Brent has been great about us spending a little money to paint and decorate and has helped with all of my projects. The projects are almost done and the place is looking good. I'll post pictures of our home makeover soon!

Goal 3 - Healthy Living

One of our goals for this summer was to get fit, which meant more working out and eating much better. Our summer camp job was a good start to getting back into shape. I wore a pedometer to work a few times and found I was walking between 6 and 9 miles a day just at work!

Since summer camp has ended we are back to our regular fitness routines. Brent prefers basketball, pushups and skipping rope while I tend to go for low-impact workouts like yoga and ballet. (I have hip problems and so running and biking are no-go's for me).

Our biggest change for getting fit was how we ate. The rush of school and work left us eating a lot of junk food and fast food. This summer we are back on track with lots of whole grains, leaner meats and TONS of veggies and fruits. While Brent was hesitant at first with some of the food, he's grown to like it a lot more. He even told me that last's nights meal was the best I'd ever made. We had turkey burgers, corn on the cob, potato wedges and cantaloupe. And low-cal sorbet for dessert!

We are both feeling great and Brent has lost almost 20 pounds this month!

Goal 4 - Get grad school finances and health insurance figured out

This last goal was tough, but Brent and I feel incredibly blessed with our jobs, raises and government money that is helping us. Brent has been receiving pell grants for school and this semester was awarded an additional $2000 for a SMART grant. I've taken out some loans for grad school and if I work in Title 1 schools the government will repay those loans!

Health insurance was quite the beast. After several calls, e-mails, faxes and internet forms Brent and I were told that Brent is uninsurable because of his health problems. Brent only has one kidney, he has sleep apnea and last fall he had a couple of bulging discs in his back. The insurance companies told me that his health problems were unfitting for a 23 year old and so he would not be insured. We were both really worried, but Brent's mom called me last week with the best news in the world. Brent can go back on his parent's insurance until he is 26! It is such a miracle for us. I know a lot of people are anti-"Obama-care" but we are so grateful that it passed and allows us to get insurance.

All in all I declare this summer to be a success! We're enjoying our last few weeks of summer by fishing every minute we can and staying up late watching movies together. I love life :)