Halfway Through 2014

I set all these great goals for myself at the beginning of the year...lets see if I'm actually keeping up with them.

1. "NO MORE SODA POP" This goal is going fabulously, I have not had a coke, or Dr. pepper or any pop at all since Last year! I do have a weakness for carbonation so I have been occasionally drinking these fabulous dry sodas. Its basically just flavored carbonated water with a little sugar.

2. "START A BLOG" well obviously this whole blog thing is going pretty good. I have done about 30 posts this year. I recently haven't been posting very much but that is more or less the fact that I have two jobs, no life, therefore very little to post about. I'm pretty proud of myself for starting this and I get even more excited when people know whats going on in my life because they read it on my blog! 

3. "EXERCISE MORE" This goal is not going so great...actually its not going at all. I have yet to join a gym or get on any kind of at home work out schedule. I have done an occasional Jillian Michaels DVD but not enough to count for anything. Red Robin helps keep me more active then I was before but I still really need to be working out consistently. 

4. "EAT OUT LESS" I think I have gotten better at this, I still think I eat out to much but I'm getting better. The Spring/summer time really help because me and Michael are big fans of using our BBQ every night. Chicken and turkey burgers taste SO much better off the BBQ!

5. "BUY A HOUSE" obviously this hasn't happened yet but I am making good progress. I started serving again at Red Robin and this second job of mine has really made my savings account happy. I'm very proud of how much I'm saving as well as paying my credit card and furniture bill down.  

I think I'm doing a pretty good job so far!

Date Night

Since I work so much these days...its a rare occasion to actually go on a date with Michael....or actually just seeing him at all is pretty rare. I had Tuesday night off this week so we took fun advantage of the beautiful weather and went to a Mariners game!

It was so nice to spend some time with Michael other then late night dinners when I get off from RR. 

Mini DIY Herb Garden

I was so excited to start/help my friend Brandi start a garden in her back yard...then I started working at Red Robin and every ounce of free time has been taken. I still wanted to do some gardening so I figured I could just plant a couple things in pots.

I bought a couple cheap terracotta pots from Walmart and painted them with chalkboard paint.

This took a little longer then expected. Each coat needed to dry 24 hours in between and I did about 4-5 coats just to make sure it didn't chip from being outside.

My original plan was to do Cilantro, Basil, and Mint but I couldn't find regular mint starters anywhere. On our way back from Costco me and Michael stopped at Tacoma Boys and found nice starters and I settled on Spinach instead of Mint.

 Actually Planting was the easiest part.

I LOVE how great they turned out! Surprisingly I only wrote the chalk words on there once and was happy with them. I can't wait to see them grow and be able to start using the herbs!

Movies

My favorite movie was on TV last night...Parent Trap! Is that embarrassing that that is my favorite movie?! Its just so good, I have prolly seen it over 500 times no joke. I love it!

Than I saw the date at the end of the movie and is came out in 1998!! I was only eight years old and its still my fav...I can't believe its been 16 years, so crazy! 

After Parent Trap was over Footloose came on...I started to think about it and realized I hadn't ever seen it before!! I can't believe that because up there with Parent Trap on my top 10 favorite movies are Dirty Dancing and Grease, so how had I never seen Footloose! Anyway it was super good, and it has a fabulous soundtrack!

Things getting me through this week

I have a crazy work schedule this week...during training all the managers and trainers at RR keep saying "we are gong to be so busy!". So I have had this thought in my head the whole time coming into opening week...but we really are SO BUSY! Its great because I am making really good money on weeknights...however I'm so fabulous I keep getting scheduled as the closer. Between Johansen & Red Robin I' working about 85+ hours this week! 

So these are a few things getting me through the week...

1. Obviously coffee and Spark...Energy is key! My body isn't quite used to this whole serving thing again. I need to train my self to have more energy with less sleep! I'm kidding but I am super tired.

2. Wendy's... I know that sounds terrible and I usually eat pretty healthy but when I get off work after 11 at night and the kitchen at RR is closed I either cook for myself or eat Wendy's. Obviously Wendy's is easier! I'm in love with their ceaser salads...so not good for you but SO good.

3. Meal Prepping lunches on Sunday. This saves me money and time, not just this week but every week!

4.Smoothies! They are my favorite breakfast right now. I'm loving mangos, bananas, soy protein and Spark.

5. and last but not least the small window of time between the two jobs. Its usually about an hour but I can get alot done in that small time. So far I have gone home and done my dishes, and yesterday I took a shower and dried and straightened my hair. That sounds silly but all I wanna do is jump in bed when I get home!

Good news is is that I'm making really good money so far. The city of Bonney Lake is so excited to have a new restaurant so I don't think it will slow down for awhile. Hopefully my hours won't be so crazy but I'm loving all the money I am putting in savings!

Weekend Fun

It was seriously so nice this weekend! It felt like summer in April. I worked on Saturday but was outside most of the morning, which lead to my super white Washington body to get all kinds of burnt! That was a little embarrassing to server people with a super red chest and face. Sunday I didn't work and I'm so glad I got a day to myself, and it was gorgeous outside! People complain how crappy the weather is 80% of the time in the PNW but if it weren't for all the rain we wouldn't appreciate the sunny days so much!

I sat outside on my mom's deck drinking Starbucks in the morning then me and my sister went shopping for a little bit. We prolly should have stayed outside all day but it was my only day off from Red Robin so I needed to get stuff done before my crazy week started.

We had been wanting to get matching rings for a long time and that's what I was going to get her for her birthday(it was last week). The pond shop in Auburn across from the Casino is basically a jewelry store, my guess is people run across the street and sell their jewelry so they can have more money to gamble with. We both found white gold rings that we loved that were very similar and such a good price!

After shopping at a few more stores we went back to my mom's for a little sunday BBQ. My FAVORITE summer time drink are strawberry basil lemonades! just make some strawberry lemonade( used crystal light) and muddles in strawberries, lemons and Basil, you can't forget the SkinneyGirl Vodka!

I'm looking forward to more beautiful sunny days!

Red Robin Yummmmm...

Back to Red Robin, tonight was my first night after training and actually working as a server. It was really fun and went way smoother then I thought. A new restaurant opening means almost everyone is new...Servers, bussers, hosts, cooks etc. Corporate Red Robin put up a reservation list for Sneak Previews this week and it was full in less then a week. All the food is free for the people with reservations this week because they are helping us train. It was a lot of fun but it's definitely going to take some getting used to again.

My feet are killing me and I will either be buying Danskos this weekend or at least some Dr. Scholls insoles. The restaurant is really tiny compared to others, there are 80 less seats in our restaurants then in your average Red Robin. They did a really good job setting it up and fitting the max. amount of tables in a small space...at least I thought that when it was an empty space. Last night as the restaurant started to fill up and tables were moving, and chairs and Highchairs were being placed everywhere, space became very limited. There was barely any room for a server to walk...let alone carrying a tray with heavy plates on it. It will definitely take awhile to get my flow down!

I loved walking out of work with cash in hand and feeling like I got a workout in. All of the people were super nice and really excited to have a new restaurant option in Bonney Lake. Day two is tomorrow, hopefully I still think its fun then :)