New home...finally!

Finally! I'm no longer homeless! I rented an apartment in Raleigh and moved in last Thursday. Still waiting for all my belongings, but at least I'm finally out of that hotel!!

I have a kitchen!! I have a stove and a refrigerator, and a sink big enough to wash dishes!

Note coffee maker that I got for Christmas!
Back door is to the right of the stove.

Door to the left of refrigerator is to the utility room.
Wall next to utility room is excellent for my freezer.

Since I don't have any of my furniture yet, I've only been able to decorate the bathrooms and the kitchen, For the kitchen I'd already decided (based on the house I never got) to go with red and black, so I decided to continue that idea here.

The half bath, located between the living room and kitchen will be blue to match the living room colors. The upstairs bath also has red as it's primary color as I bought the carpet, accessories, etc for half bath, but carpet wouldn't fit. It's not that I'm a big red fan, although I do like red. it's just that I wanted bright colors as the whole place is beige and white.

Half bath
Half bath
Main bath
Main bath

I'm currently sleeping on an air bed. It's one of those that is higher than just a mattress and it's a twin size. I'd already decided to buy one of these for when I visit Laura & Chris, so it's not a big deal having to buy it a bit earlier. Friday night I guess I got too close to the edge, as I ended up face first on the floor in the middle of the night! I'd prefer to have a full size mattress, but they cost double the price!

My bed...looks normal, right?
Can't wait to get my own bed (latex foam mattress) back!

So, right now, it's just me and the pups. I'm an "empty nester", at long last! This is the first apartment I've ever had by myself. Actually only the second apartment ever, the last one was when I got out of school and got an apartment with my friend Jeanne. She moved out and my husband to be moved in, then we bought our first single-family home. (I've lived in 3 single family homes, Avon and Brockton in Massachusetts and one in Durham, NC)

This apartment is a town home style, which I want to try to see if I can live in that style long term. Since the deal with the house in Mebane fell through, I've decided to rethink buying a condo or town home. At this point, since I have a 6 month lease, I'm not going to look much, unless of course something catches my eye. I have a few friends on the lookout for deals in their areas, but won't start seriously looking until at least the beginning of May.

I've been thinking about changing to a condo or town home as that would relieve me of the responsibility of the outside maintenance. I'm not thrilled with having people living above me, and I have 2 dogs that must go out several times a day, so the town home set up sounds better. I've never lived on 2 floors, however, and I'm concerned about my legs and feet with the arthritis. So far I like having the 2 floors, even when I've had to run up and down the stairs because I forgot something. Not sure how long it will be, however, that I get tired of the stairs!

Once I get the rest of my furniture I'll post more pictures.

In the meantime, here are a couple new pics of my pups.....my pups who are very confused about what's going on.....and what the heck is the noise when no one is doing anything? (Floors are VERY creaky, it's about all we hear of the neighbors)

Daisy
Duke

Oh yea!! Forgot to mention. I'm still smoke free and I've been sticking to my plan. I've been getting around 20-25 grams of carb (total) a day, the one exception being Thursday (moving day) when I grabbed an Atkins bar....that alone had over 20 grams!

I've been to the food store and have lots of meat in the freezer, and veggies in the refrigerator. Once I get all my pots and pans, microwave, etc I'll be better off. Tonight I'm just having yogurt with fruit and walnuts as I'm too lazy to cook!

Happy New year!!!

Wow....what a year!! Lots of changes this year....most of them good.

I've fallen completely off plan, gained a ton of weight back, but as of today I'm back. Setting new goals and revising plan for the new year. I'll be posting that within the next few days.

I fasted today, just having coffee and water. Just a few more days and I should have a kitchen. Probably no table, chairs, etc....but a kitchen where I can cook!! And!! It's close enough to work that I can go home for lunch and not eat out!! Woo Hoo!!

Roast pork tenderloin with cucumber spears and Caesar dressing, Brussels sprouts with butter, and home made applesauce.

Maybe this will be on the menu again soon!! I set Brian up with food and recipes for 3 meals today. Meatloaf and 2 chicken dishes that are too carby for me. But it got me to thinking about some of the meals I can make!! I want to try mashed cauliflower and a couple of new veggie recipes I found. I want to have a steak with Worcestershire sauce and sauteed mushroom, cooked exactly how I like it. And I am definitely making meatloaf soon! I also have a ham to cook....the spiral cut one I forgot to bring with me to Laura's house on Christmas!

In the news:
Dr Vernon and others are reporting the recent about-face by the ADA in regards to low carb diets. It's a pretty poor endorsement, and it's only for those that need to loose weight, but I think it will prove valuable! Low carb is only recommended for those that need to loose weight, and there are all kinds of cautions to check blood work and watch medication doses. BUT! I think this is going to be a good thing.

I'm thinking maybe we're going to be seeing docs using low carb to get patients to loose weight and they are going to see dramatic improvements, not only with the patient's weight, but blood sugar levels, lipid levels, etc. They are also going to see drops in blood pressure. Eventually it is going to have to dawn on someone that there really is something to this way of eating! I mean really....eventually they are going to realize it.....right?? How about when patients start reporting less GERD? better sleep patterns? Lessening of arthritis symptoms? Come on.....it's gonna happen, right?

On the non-smoking front....I'm still not smoking and have not had even a puff! For the most part it's still been easy, but I'm having a bit more frequent cravings. Actually over the past few days it's eased off again, so maybe this is the way it goes. It certainly isn't because my stress is any less, although having Brian on his own is a bit of a relief!





Just for fun, here are some pictures of my dogs:

Daisy (left) and Duke enjoying their 5th birthday dinner.

Brian playing with Daisy.

We're good puppies!

Trying to get attention while mom is wrapping presents.

And Laura's dogs:

Cheyenne

Kita

Kita (left) and Cheyenne playing.

And finally, Laura's Christmas Tree!!