Monthly Archives: February 2012

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

I can’t believe that it has been a week since I last posted! I have been happily busy with a new online class that I have been taking for the past couple of weeks, but more on that with a different post. Tonight it is time for Chunky Dunker’s again! WHOO! HOO!!! ;-)

Chunky Dunkers is a group of friends who get together every week to cheer each other on as we all work towards our own personal health and fitness goals. Some of us want to lose weight, some want to become more flexible, some of us would love to be able to run a mile, and some of us would just be happy if we could just reach our long-lost toes!! ;-)

The name Chunky Dunker’s came from my sweetie and my two youngest sisters joking that we don’t skinny dip, we chunky dunk, and after all of the laughter finally died down, we realized that that would be the perfect name for our newly created support group!! We have been going for about 8 months now (if not longer), and it is still a group that I get excited about meeting with every week.

I try to post the Chunky Dunker’s post every Wednesday evening between 7 and 7:30, Pacific Coast time, and after I post, we “meet” in the comments section of this post where we can all share hints, tips, ideas, recipes, and encourage each other to keep on keepin’ on!

If you would like to join us, please feel free to do so by speaking up in the comments section, or feel free to be an anonymous reader – that is alright with us too!!

So, without further ado…

Tonight’s topic: Consistency!

I am always talking about taking baby steps to get from where we are to where we want to be, and baby steps is something that is very easy to do, however baby steps is not always enough! Consistency is something that, when paired with baby steps, can really move mountains! or so I am told! 😉

Baby steps are easy, but doing them with any kind of consistency is something that I really struggle with. I have a whole list of things I know I should be doing, all sorts of baby steps, but I have every kind of excuse under the sun to get myself out of doing most of them.

Is that just me? What are some healthy things that you know you should be doing, but you can talk yourself out of doing? Here are a few of mine:

  1. Eating healthy
  2. Exercising
  3. Meditating
  4. Taking stress breaks while working
  5. Taking multivitamins
  6. Flossing
  7. Stretching
  8. Getting to my doctor when I need to
  9. Avoiding the candy bowl at work
  10. Taking vacation days – ok, so that one I am pretty good at being consistent with!! 😉

Hmmmm…I wonder what would happen if I were to be more consistent with some of these? What would happen if i were more consistent with all of these?

Here’s to a week of baby steps AND consistency!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

It is that time of week again, Chunky Dunkers!! WHOO! HOO!!! ;-)

Chunky Dunkers is a group of friends who get together every week to cheer each other on as we all work towards our own personal health and fitness goals. Some of us want to lose weight, some want to become more flexible, some of us would love to be able to run a mile, and some of us would just be happy if we could just reach our long-lost toes!! ;-)

The name Chunky Dunker’s came from my sweetie and my two youngest sisters joking that we don’t skinny dip, we chunky dunk, and after all of the laughter finally died down, we realized that that would be the perfect name for our newly created support group!! We have been going for about 8 months now (if not longer), and it is still a group that I get excited about meeting with every week.

I try to post the Chunky Dunker’s post every Wednesday evening between 7 and 7:30, Pacific Coast time, and after I post, we “meet” in the comments section of this post where we can all share hints, tips, ideas, recipes, and encourage each other to keep on keepin’ on!

If you would like to join us, please feel free to do so by speaking up in the comments section, or feel free to be an anonymous reader – that is alright with us too!!

So, without further ado…

Tonight’s topic: You Don’t Have to Like It, You Just Have to Eat It!

This is an ongoing theme in my house, “You don’t have to like it, you just have to eat it.” Sometimes eating healthy can be rough, bland, boring, expensive, inconvenient, time consuming, and just plain not fun. So when I am eating something healthy and I would really rather be having, say… I don’t know, fried chicken? pizza? a massive steak? My sweetie will remind me that, I don’t have to like it, I just have to eat it. What he means is that the nutrients, and good for me vitamins outweigh my grouching and complaining about something that I may not be in the mood for. Kind of like choosing to take that 1/2 hour walk you have been dreading, instead of spending another half hour wasted watching yet another television show! The benefits of the walk far outweighs the temporary discomfort of actually taking the action!

Now, if I can only remember that on a daily basis, I would be doing a lot more of the things I know I should be doing in my life!! So, how about you?? What is something that you should be doing, but really don’t want to?? Could this statement be applied to your situation?

“You don’t have to like it, you just have to eat it!”

I look forward to seeing you all in the comments section!!

Here’s to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

“If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!”

 

Having a Good Night!

Good evening!

After a slight snafu this morning, I have had a pretty good day, and am planning on having a pretty good evening too!!

Ok, so to start with this morning…I had jury duty, which isn’t so bad, but forgetting that I had jury duty and going to work first, well, that not so much! Yep, that is what I did! I got to work early, ready for a good day, when I looked up and realized Oh EM GEE!! I HAVE JURY DUTY IN 5 minutes!!! AAACK!!! 😉

So off I went, over to the courthouse as fast I could, all the while hoping they weren’t going to put out some kind of bench warrant for my arrest or something – ok, so I have literally NO EXPERIENCE with jury duty before, and I might have watched one too many Matlock’s!! 😉

Anyway, I got there, only about 5 minuted late, got checked in and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and then when I thought I couldn’t wait any more, they started dismissing people, with kind of a lottery system. Well, let’s just say, I didn’t win that lottery! I got to wait some more! Finally a judge came out and said that the case the last of us were waiting for was at last dismissed and we were aloud to leave. YEAH!! 😉

Oh, and before I forget, I have to say a great big thank you to my sweetie!! All of the parking around the courthouse is only 2 hour parking, and I was worried I was going to get a ticket while doing my civic duty!! So, I placed a frantic call and he took time out of his busy day to come and get my car for me!! Thank you, Honey!! I know I owe you biiiiiig time!!! 😉

So after getting dismissed from jury duty, going back to work, and finally getting home this evening, I am seriously planning on having a great night!!

When I checked the mail this morning, I found a package inside – what a pleasant surprise!! Inside I found some treasures from my sissy, Alex!!! Thank you, Sis!! 😉

I had some dinner, one of my baked stuffed bell peppers from yesterday, and a slice of fresh baked French bread. Ok, so I realize it looks a lot scarier in this pic than it actually looked, but trust me on this, it is soooooo DELICIOUS!

Then I am going to work on some of my to-do list for this evening, namely my financial tracker!! I am trying really hard to stay on top of that!! How am I ever going to get wealthy if I don’t know where my wealth is going?? I’m just sayin’!!

Anyway, I may do a little more crocheting on my scarf. It is still pretty cold here in Oregon, even for February so, I am sure I could have a couple of weeks use out of it before the sun decided to make an appearance!! 😉

Finally, I might curl up with my girls and have a nice, quiet evening with the new Blick Studio artist catalog that came in the mail today! Yes, I realize that might sound a little sad, but I am telling you, there is a whole group of people out there that will TOTALLY relate to my love of all things art supplies!! 😉

So, there you have it, my night wrapped up in a pretty little package!!!

Here’s to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

“If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!”

 

A Random Monday!

Good evening!

I am home! YEAH!!! You know, I thought my life was pretty regimented before, but it is even more now! Who knew that was even possible!?!??? 😉 Just a warning, I can tell that tonight’s post is just going to be a jumble of random thoughts! Ok, so now that you have been warned…

I left the office this evening, a little later than I had originally planned, and headed straight to the grocery store on the way home. I had to get my grocery shopping done for the week. My list really kind of startled me, and the fact that it only cost me a cool $22 was quite a nice surprise! I picked up:

  • a half gallon of milk
  • sour cream
  • yogurt
  • a loaf of French bread
  • ground sirloin
  • fajita seasoning
  • a bottle of Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce
  • a six pack of Top Ramen (the lazy person’s yakisoba noodles (just add lean grilled protein, and a bunch of sauteed veggies)
  • Oh, and a box of tic-tacs (my sweetie stole my last box!) 😉

Ok, so I realize there is not much in the way of fruits and veggies on this list, but I just stocked up on all sorts of healthy goodies a few days ago, and my freezer is packed with more than enough lean protein to last me quite a while.

As soon as I got home, I ran upstairs, got into my jammies: plaid flannel pajama bottoms, and a black comfy tank made out of a sumptuous t-shirt material!! Next, off to say hello to my girls, put groceries away, and get started on dinner!!

Tonight I made myself a few meals this evening. I had chicken fajitas with sauteed onions and peppers – YUM!! I had enough of that left over that I was able to make myself a bowl of chicken fajita soup, and I also made a couple of meals worth of baked stuffed bell peppers, all of which will make EXCELLENT meals to take to work for lunch.

I did all of that, not because I am some kind of a super-woman, but because I really am not a big fan of cooking. I did so much of it growing up, that I kind of think of it as a really big, yucky chore!! Well, that is until I am on vacation, then put me in a great big old kitchen with someone to cook for, and I LOVE it!! 😉

I am actually having a hankering to make some brownies, or some rice crispy treats, but since I already have so many cookies in the house – THANK YOU GIRL SCOUTS – I’ve decided that I am not even going to bother!! It may take me another month or so to get through the 5 boxes I have in the house. I keep them all in the freezer so that I actually have to think about getting into them. I know that sounds crazy, but it really works for me!

Anyway, what other randomness can I share with you tonight? Well, I am totally on a Angel bender at the moment! You know the tv show? I watched episodes almost all day yesterday, and I am planning on watching a few this evening, while Pinteresting my little heart out!! 😉 I have only one more season to go, so my addiction will be over soon!! Does anyone know if there is a 12 step program for people like me??

“Hi, my name is Christina, and I am an Angel-aholic!!”

“Hi, Christina!”

Yes, sad, I realize!! 😉

Do I have anymore  randomness to share? Well, I started a new book today? Well, it is really an old book, it is Deception Point by Dan Brown. I have only gotten through the first few chapters of the book, but so far it is intriguing!! I will keep you posted!

I just got a text that my sweetie has gotten himself his first counseling appointment next Monday – YEAH!!! Now, I just need to make one for myself!! A marriage takes 2 people, and that includes me too!! We are determined to work this all out! 😉 Living alone isn’t fun, I am sure, for either of us!! 😉 When you have 17 years of loving someone invested, it is not that easy to just walk away!! 😉

Onto another topic, I have gotten my chores done, except for a couple of loads of laundry that are going at the moment! I love having a clean house. It is so relaxing! That might be one of the biggest perks to living alone!! No one to clean up after!! Aaaaaah!!! 😉

Ok, that is enough of my random blathering for one evening!!

Here’s to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

“If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!”

 

My First Visit to Benihanas!

Good evening!

Today my sweetie and I got the opportunity to go up to Beaverton and spend some time with our family from up north! We met up with my aunt Alice, my Aunt Flo, and her sweetie, Ryan!! I was sooooo excited, because I knew we were going to have such a GREAT time!! We ALWAYS do!!

Anyway, a couple of months ago, I had contacted the aunts and asked if we could make a date to get together, it had been much too long. My aunt Alice suggested that we all get together at the Benihana’s up in Beaverton. Neither Flo nor I had ever been there, so of course we jumped at the chance, and today was the day of our get-together!!

After we all met up at Benihana’s , the hostess took us to our table which was dining room table height, and it was was built around a gigantic grill. Still not really knowing what to expect, we all sat down, ordered what we wanted and did a little visiting before our chef appeared.

Our chef’s name was Felix, and right from the get-go, I knew that Felix was going to be a character!! He had a hysterical laugh, some of the corniest jokes, was super charming, and he made our experience SO MUCH FUN!!! – OH, and did I mention he liked to sing??? Well, he did!! and he made sure to serenade us throughout the entire experience, it truly was SO MEMORABLE!!!

Here is a YouTube clip of our Felix in action:

Not only that, but the food that he prepared was SOOOOO DELICIOUS!! SERIOUSLY!! I had the chicken yakisoba, which I have to admit may have been the best yakisoba I had ever eaten. That came with grilled mixed vegetables, that had this AMAZING ginger sauce – YUM!!! Vegetable fried rice, which was PERFECTION! and a side salad with a ginger salad dressing, which was so good that Jason and I bought an order of just the dressing to make sure we had some in our fridge for our salads at home!!!

Jason and I got there knowing we were going to have a good time, and we really did!! I just love hanging out with my family, and add that to trying something new, like Benihana’s , it added up to a day of sweet bliss!! I just ADORE Saturdays like this!!!

It might have also helped that Benihana’s is located right next to a Nordstrom Rack! I had never been to one before so, after we all said our goodbyes, my sweetie and I went over there “Just to look around”. YEAH RIGHT??? I ended up leaving with two pairs of THE CUTEST shoes you have EVER seen, two cardigans both with uber-feminine details, and 3 decorative headbands, which you have to know I am just a SUCKER for!!! (I will share pics of these treasure tomorrow!!)

God bless Jason, he insisted on carrying everything, including my purse throughout the store, and was super patient and even gave me style advice for anything I looked at! Let’s just say, he earned HUGE, HUGE, H-U-G-E brownie points there!! Thank you, Honey, I really appreciate you!!! 😉

Well, that is all for now, I will leave you to go get ready for an early night to bed!

Here’s to a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

“If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!”

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

It is that time of week again, Chunky Dunkers!! WHOO! HOO!!! ;-)

Chunky Dunkers is a group of friends who get together every week to cheer each other on as we all work towards our own personal health and fitness goals. Some of us want to lose weight, some want to become more flexible, some of us would love to be able to run a mile, and some of us would just be happy if we could just reach our long-lost toes!! ;-)

The name Chunky Dunker’s came from my sweetie and my two youngest sisters joking that we don’t skinny dip, we chunky dunk, and after all of the laughter finally died down, we realized that that would be the perfect name for our newly created support group!! We have been going for about 8 months now (if not longer), and it is still a group that I get excited about meeting with every week.

I try to post the Chunky Dunker’s post every Wednesday evening between 7 and 7:30, Pacific Coast time, and after I post, we “meet” in the comments section of this post where we can all share hints, tips, ideas, recipes, and encourage each other to keep on keepin’ on!

If you would like to join us, please feel free to do so by speaking up in the comments section, or feel free to be an anonymous reader – that is alright with us too!!

So, without further ado…

Tonight’s topic: Shaking Things Up in the Kitchen

I have been spending some time this evening on Pinterest, and looking at all of the different food recipes that people have posted. I am very inspired to get into my kitchen and start shaking up the ho-hum, and turn it into OH-YUM!!

(Do you see what I did just there??? LOL!) 😉

There are so many different kinds of meals out there that for some reason seemed to not be on my radar, until now that is!! I am going to take a few of these recipe ideas, and give them a shot. Even if they are a complete and utter failure, I will have flexed my bravery muscles, which will make it easier to keep my kitchen repertoire a little looser, funner, and a lot more varied!

When was the last time that you tried something new in the kitchen?? Tried a new recipe, bought a new and different fruit, vegetable, or other food item, or put things together in a way that you hadn’t before? Shaking things up this way in your food habits could get you out of cooking slump, and turn your everyday mundane cooking chore into a gift of untapped creativity.

My challenge to all of us this week is to do a little pre-planning and get into your kitchen and shake things up a bit!! Come back and tell me what you were able to come up with!! I LOVE hearing your stories!!!

I can’t wait to hear how all o f you have been doing! I will “see” you in the comments section!! GO CHUNKY DUNKERS!!!

Here’s to a FABULOUS evening!!! ;-)

“If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!”

 

The Times They Are A-Changin’!

Good evening!

My life is getting a little bit complicated. Ok, that might be an understatement.  I guess this is what happens when you are trying to live your life a little differently! You can’t turn your life’s ship without making some new waves!!!

I am not going to go into any details, but there are some things in my life right now that are changing that are changing quickly and are completely out of my control.

Someone once told me that you should do the thing that you know you should do, but was scared to death to do, do it anyway and do it in faith. Those are the moments where God can perform great miracles in your favor!

I have seen it many times, and I depending on the fact that this is one of these moments for me. It is these moments that I have to just hang in there and have faith that God is going to guide me through to the other side of all of these changes.

I am blessed.

I am blessed.

I am blessed.

With that mantra running through my mind over and over this evening, I am going to go take care of myself by getting into bed early this evening

I hope you have a FABULOUS evening!!! ;-)

“If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!”

 

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

It is that time of week again, Chunky Dunkers!! WHOO! HOO!!! 😉

Chunky Dunkers is a group of friends who get together every week to cheer each other on as we all work towards our own personal health and fitness goals. Some of us want to lose weight, some want to become more flexible, some of us would love to be able to run a mile, and some of us would just be happy if we could just reach our long-lost toes!! 😉

The name Chunky Dunker’s came from my sweetie and my two youngest sisters joking that we don’t skinny dip, we chunky dunk, and after all of the laughter finally died down, we realized that that would be the perfect name for our newly created support group!! We have been going for about 8 months now (if not longer), and it is still a group that I get excited about meeting with every week.

I try to post the Chunky Dunker’s post every Wednesday evening between 7 and 7:30, Pacific Coast time, and after I post, we “meet” in the comments section of this post where we can all share hints, tips, ideas, recipes, and encourage each other to keep on keepin’ on!

If you would like to join us, please feel free to do so by speaking up in the comments section, or feel free to be an anonymous reader – that is alright with us too!!

So, without further ado…

Tonight’s topic: Heart Health!

I am not sure if all of you knew this, but this past Friday was National Wear Red Day, for Heart Health. I, of course, wore red that day, and unbeknownst to me, I would become a celebrity. Ok, that might be an overstatement, but I did make the cut on our hospital’s Wear Red video that they put out on the web. I honestly didn’t know anything about it, except that one of the multimedia guys stopped me as I was eating a piece of celery (thank you, I was being very good!!), and asked if he could take my picture. So, being the ham that I am, OF COURSE I SAID YES!!! Well, little did I know that he was actually taking a video. So without any further explanation, here is the Salem Hospital’s video on Wearing Red for National Wear Red Day for Heart Health!! BTW, I am near the end of the video, and don’t you dare blink, because you will seriously miss me!!!

Well, there you have it!! My nano-second of fame is officially up *SIGH!*

I can’t wait to hear how all o f you have been doing! I will “see” you in the comments section!! GO CHUNKY DUNKERS!!!

Here’s to a FABULOUS evening!!! ;-)

“If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!”

The Salem Oregon Train Station

Good evening!

Yesterday, after work, I had some time and I decided I would make good use of it by going down to the Salem train station. It is one of my absolute favorite buildings in all of Salem, matter of fact, if it weren’t for the fact that it is right next to the train tracks, I could imagine myself and my sweetie converting this building into our home.

I did a little bit of reading this evening to see what I can find out about this building, and I discovered that not only is it on the National Historic Registry, but it is actually the third train station built in this location, the first two having burnt to the ground in both 1885, and 1917.

This building was actually built in 1918, and is one of only 5 of the original masonry buildings that still exist on the original Southern Pacific West Coast Line.

Although quite small on the inside, at least from where I was standing, there are some really beautiful architectural details on the inside of this building too. I especially loved the light fixtures, which there were two of, hanging from the high ceilings of the depot.

The outside isn’t too shabby either! There was a massive restoration project done by the Oregon Department of Transportation that was completed in 2000. The style of this building is called Beaux-Arts-style.

There are so many architectural details to see, that I walked around this building 3 times catching new elements with my eye and camera each time I circled the building.

It was such an amazingly sunny afternoon, and I was absolutely struck how vividly blue our normally grey sky was. It was quite breathtaking.

Another fun fact about this building is that Amtrak rents this building from the government for only $1 a year, in exchange for building and ground maintenance. Isn’t that amazing??? I think that is PHENOMENAL!! 😉

Here are some more of those great architectural details. I am absolutely in LOVE with these pillars, have been since I was a little girl, but it was only by taking these pictures that I was able to notice the detail at the top of these stately columns.

See what I mean? And I just adore the molding around the top of the building too. They don’t make buildings like this any longer!

These are the original light fixtures. They are ginormous! And although I don’t really show it well here, the arched windows are really quite astonishingly beautiful!

Here is some more detail at the base of the pillars.

Finally, here is one of the front corners of the building! I had so much fun investigating this lovely piece of Salem’s history.

I literally drive by this building every day, and I almost forget that it is even there. This experience has inspired me to make an effort to purposefully go out and find out what other great buildings from history are out there just waiting to be rediscovered!! Who knew history could be so fun!?? I can’t wait to see what I find next!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! ;-)

“If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!”

Getting Back to Gettin’!

Good evening!

I know that I have been a little MIA for the past few days, and I was still close to not posting tonight either. I have had a very long, busy day, and am exhausted. I didn’t sleep very well last night, as I have a lot on my mind right now, so I can hear my bed calling to me, which means this is going to be a short post!

What I can tell you is that I am still here. I have been working really hard, trying to remain proactive, and really trying hard to steer this ship that is my life into a new direction. Trying to implement my new daily affirmation,

“If you want a different life, you have to live differently!”

I am excited to see what is to come, but I have to tell you that change is a lot of hard work! Especially if you are working to get yourself out of a rut you have been in for a long time! Change can be scary, but change is the catalyst for getting from where you are to where you want to be.

Anywho, it has been a really long day, and although I did get some marvelous pics of our very small but beautiful and historic train station today, they will have to just wait until tomorrow, because I have got to go take my tired self to bed!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! ;-)