Only The Good Friday - GO RED

Today is Friday, time for Good Cheer! Everyone loves a Friday right? Shelly has made them even better by starting this movement of blogging about only good things on Fridays, and I’ve joined her for quite a few weeks now.

This week, I have many good things to share (especially since I wasn’t able to post last week).

So, let’s start with the personal stuff. My brand new car!

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was going to begin looking for a new car, and I’m happy to report that last Friday I picked up my new toy.

Ain’t she pretty? It’s a brand new 2009 Subaru Legacy, and my very first brand new car ever. It is my 5th car since I started driving, and the first one that doesn’t come to me with a litany of problems created by its former owner. I’m very much enjoying the “new car smell” each time I get into it too.

I also realized upon picking this car up that I am definitely a “car” girl, not an SUV girl. I never really “fit” the Rav4, and don’t even miss it a little bit. I did, however, love driving my Grand Am which I had before that…so, yes, folks, I’m a car girl. And this car? OH, how I love this car!

I also just had a remote starter installed in my new baby, and oh, how spoiled I am now…

Moving onto more good stuff, last week I also booked a cruise. My friend Traveler and I will be sailing the Caribbean at the end of March, and I can hardly stand it, I’m so excited. I went on my first cruise almost 7 years ago, and thought it was the best way to vacation ever, so I am beyond excited for this trip.

I am also on a mission. With my recent weight loss, I’ve set goals along the way, and am happy to say that so far, I’ve managed to reach each one successfully. Well folks, I’m setting a new goal. I plan on doing something for this cruise that I have not done since I was probably 12 or 13 years old. What is it, you ask? Wear a bikini. I will not wear a one piece bathing suit on this cruise. I’ve worked hard to lose the weight, and now need to step it up in the gym to get in the shape required to get into a bikini, but damn it, I’m going to do it. This is a good thing, because it motivates me to really get to the gym and get in shape.

Speaking of which, last night I was able to do a 45 minute, 5 mile run on the elliptical machine. Considering that at the start of my exercise program I was doing maybe a 30 minute mile (and nearly passing out from the exertion) I’m pretty damn proud of myself.

Not just because of the fact that I’m getting into shape, but because I’m taking control of my health. Which segues quite nicely into my final good thought for the day.

Are you wearing RED today? Because today is “National Go Red Day”, a day dedicated to raise awareness for good heart health, specifically for women. I’m wearing my red, and I’m doing my part, telling you to go here learn more about heart disease (the number one killer of women in this country), and educate yourself, so you can better yourself.

Stay healthy, and have a good…FABULOUS Friday! (and go visit Shelley for more Goodness).

Only The Good Friday - The New Things Edition

It's Friday, and that, in and of itself, is usually good news for most people. We all look forward to being able to say TGIF, don't we?

As if that wasn't good enough reason to be in a good mood, Fridays are now also "Only The Good Friday", thanks to blogess extraordinaire Shelly. She's spreading optimism and good feelings with her mission to only post good, positive things on Fridays. And I'm all about spreading the good, so I'm joining her. Won't you join us?

So, that being said, what's good on Karina's menu today?

Let's see, I'll start with my mood, because for the first time all week, I woke up in a fabulously good mood. I've been a little sick all week and just feeling cranky, run down, and even a little depressed. My body was achy, and my mood was sucky. But this morning I woke up without a pain in my body, and feeling recharged and ready to face the world. That, in turn, put me in an even better mood, and I tell you, optimism is not only contagious, it's addictive.

So, here I sit at work (shh), feeling good and ready to be productive and cheerful.

It is Friday, which also means that there is a weekend approaching, and I'm full of good plans. Something happened last weekend that could have been viewed as a bad thing, and therefore would be off limits for me to discuss on an Only The Good Friday post, and that is that my car failed inspection. This is bad, right? It is bad. But the thing is, I kind of hate my car. It's a bit of a lemon, and I've had nothing but problems with it since I bought it 5 1/2 years ago. I've been saying for at least 2 years that I need a new car, but since mine was paid for, I just kept plugging along. Each month, something else will happen on it that tells me "it's time for a new car". If I started naming off all the things that are wrong with it, you'd probably ask me "why exactly haven't you bought a new car?" So, when it failed inspection last Saturday, I decided that was it. I'm not getting it fixed. I'm getting a new car.

I've never bought a new car, every car I've owned has been used, and every car I've owned has had problems I inherited from previous owners. OH, the stories I could tell you about all my cars.

But this is Only The Good Friday, so I'm not going to to tell you those stories. I'm going to tell you instead that tomorrow? I'm going car shopping. Well, window shopping. Because I don't know exactly what I want yet, so I'm going to go look at cars and see what strikes my fancy. I can't wait.

By the way, any suggestions at what cars I should look at? My only must have is that the car be AWD or 4WD or basically really good at handling the snow and ice we get in these parts...suggestions?? I'm open.

Here's another little fun story I can share about good things...I'm going on a cruise. Well, yes, that is good news, but that's actually not my story. My friend Traveller and I are planning a cruise sometime in March. the details are sketchy still, but we're working on it. It'll likely be a Caribean cruise of some sort, but we haven't finalized anything yet.

So, two nights ago, I woke up from a DEAD SLEEP with a thought in my head. When I tell you woke up with a thought, I should probably say that this thought WOKE ME UP. Strangest thing. The thought? My passport is expired.

I will need my passport for the cruise. I know it takes several weeks to obtain a renewed passport. Mine expired last May, when I was unemployed, and I always intended to get it renewed once I had a job, but completely forgot about it. Until Wednesday night/Thursday Morning at about 3AM. I have no idea how or why that thought crept into the forefront of my brain and woke me up. But boy am I glad it did. Now I have plenty of time to send in my application and renew my passport before my trip.

Imagine if I hadn't had that thought. Imagine it is now March, the week before my cruise, and I'm packing and "oh no, my passport is expired!" Imagine? No, let's not. So glad I woke up at 3AM with that thought.

See? Simple things, little things (and even big things), all things that could certainly go either way, but folks, it's Friday. Only The Good Friday. Spread the cheer, won't you?

Go visit Shelley and let her know if you're participating. Or if you'd rather just participate via comment, go ahead, leave me a comment, tell me something good.