That Weird Moment When You Realize You're All Grown Up

It's becoming more and more clear to me that my footloose and fancy-free days are over. It's been a weird transition. Every time I think of my responsibilities, I realize that I'm all grown up.

For example...
I have a mortgage payment. Weird.
I have power, water, and garbage bills.
I was VERY excited to buy a washer and dryer.
I cook almost every night. I don't really mind this one. I like cooking.
I'm always looking for fun ideas to make my house look cute. Thank you Pinterest!

In other news. I've finally finished our backsplash! Well, almost. There are a couple of spots that need touching up, but other than that, it's finished. Here are some before and after pictures for your viewing pleasure (please forgive me for the fauxtographerish quality).

Before: Huge ugly tile for the backsplash, ugly sink, ugly countertops, ugly appliances. Just plain ugly!

After I took out the backsplash and stovetop.

After: New tile (obviously), new sink/faucet, upgraded to gas cooktop, and granite countertops. This is a weird angle, so it's hard to tell, but we did small subway tile 2/3 of the way up the wall, and then did mosaic tile for the last 1/3 and over the cooktop.

I still have ugly appliances, but someday we'll upgrade those. I'm also planning on buying some hardware for the cabinets. They're pretty plain at the moment, so I'm excited to give them a little character. My favorite upgrade has to be the faucet. We decided to splurge and buy a touch faucet. Super nice to have when you have junk all over your hands. I love the way the backsplash turned out. The kitchen doesn't feel nearly as depressing, and the stupid outlets don't stick out like a sore thumb. I'm officially a DIYer. While Dave was at work, I worked on the kitchen. I even installed and sealed the gas lines to the cooktop on my own without blowing up the house! One thing we learned: Next time we have to unhook all of the plumbing under the sink, we will take a picture beforehand, so we know how to hook it all back up. Yep... Good times.

Also, I've been doing a workout program called Bodyrock. It's online, and completely FREE. I'm doing their 30 day challenge (I'm currently on day 13), and it's been pretty intense. The first day they have you do a fitness test. You do as many reps as you can in 50 seconds. Here's how I scored.

Squat Jumps: 23
Push Ups: 16
Burpees: 10
High Knees: 119
Switch Lunges: 22
Tuck Jumps: 14
Straight Abs: 16

Two weeks later you do another fitness test with the same exercises. I saw a lot of improvement.

Squat Jumps: 31
Push Ups: 28
Burpees: 16
High Knees: 131
Switch Lunges: 32
Tuck Jumps: 30
Straight Abs: 30

So basically, my first fitness test was pretty weak, but it's cool to see such a big improvement within two weeks. At least it's a big improvement in my eyes. I haven't worked out in a long time, so it was quite a shock on my body. I had a hard time walking the first week, but I feel good now. I'm starting to see muscle definition in my abs and arms, which is really motivating. If you're looking for a basic workout program, I'd recommend this one. You can find it at http://www.bodyrock.tv/ They use pretty basic equipment in some of the exercises, but they show modifications for those who don't have the equipment.

If you've made it to the end of this post, congratulations! It was a long one, but we both survived. Buh bye now!