Category Archives: Community

Tag, I’m It!

Good evening!

Yes, you have heard correctly, I have been tagged, and by my lovely friend, and fellow up-and-coming artist, Janet Forrest from Tattered’nWorn – Thank you so very much, Janet!!! I am just tickled pink!! 😉 In turn, I am going to “tag” some of you too, and hope that you will play along too! 😉

The Rules
…you must post the rules
…answer 11 questions the tagger posted for you
…create 11 questions to ask the people you tag
…tag 11 people
…let them know you’ve tagged them

Here are the questions I was asked:

The questions I’ve asked them:

  1. If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? Oh man, this is such a tough one…not that this is so great for me, but I am such a sucker for chicken alfredo with broccoli – hands down my favorite food!!
  2. When you are creating, what do you have going in the background? Pandora!!! I just LOVE my Adelle radio station that I have created, it has artists like Adelle, Ingrid Michaelson, Duffy, Sara Bareilles, etc. All music that really makes me want to move!! 😉
  3. Do you have a decorating style, and if so, what is it? E-C-L-E-C-T-I-C!!! I love soooo many different styles: shabby chic, contemporary, mid-century; basically if I love it, I figure it must all belong together!! God bless my husband, he is sooooo laid back about all that – he wouldn’t care if the house was all pink, as long as he had a comfy chair to read in!! 😉
  4. If you could live anywhere in world, where would it be? The French countryside! I have never even been there, but it just seems like there is such a better quality of life there, where people and experiences are the focus, and not so much do more, be more, have more!
  5. What would you do with your lottery winnings? Buy a farm, travel the world, and start my business – in that order!
  6. What is you very favorite saying? “What are you doing?” Seriously, this really drives my husband crazy!! I just don’t want to ever miss out on anything!! 😉
  7. What are you most looking forward to? Seeing where this artistic journey of mine is going to lead me. I feel really GREAT things heading my way!! 😉
  8. What is your favorite outdoor activity? Well, this would have to be either playing on the beach at the ocean, or picnicking in the park – both are soooo much fun! 😉
  9. Do you consider yourself politically aware? No, not so much. I care, but am just too busy to hear everyone’s side of issues
  10. What is your most prized possession? Ooh, this one is another hard one – it is a toss up between two things: my mother’s dresser, or a carved wooden jewelry box my dad bought for me oversees when I was a little girl!
  11. If you knew the world would end tomorrow, how would you spend today? I would want to round up all of my loved ones, and just spend the day talking about how great they all are, and how much I love them!! 😉

Now, “Tag! You’re it!” I hope you’ll play!

These are the lovely ladies I’ve tagged! I hope you’ll visit them, whether they play or not!

  1. Laura Wadsworth http://theembellishednest.wordpress.com/
  2. Amaranthine Violet http://magic-gypsy.blogspot.com/
  3. Elissa Brown http://thefreckledarmy.blogspot.com
  4. Flutter Before You http://flutterbeforeyou.blogspot.com
  5. Julie hamilton http://www.spaark.wordpress.com
  6. Kris Lanae Binsfeld http://www.cherishdesigns.wordpress.com/
  7. Linda Barutha http://www.baruthadesigns.com
  8. Liv Lane http://www.choosingbeauty.com
  9. Mary Cottingham http://www.barnbugstudio.blogspot.com/
  10. Mary Sterk http://justmarydesigns.wordpress.com
  11. Siobhán Jordan http://siobhanjordan.blogspot.com/

Here are my 11 questions for all of you…

  1. What would be your ideal morning?
  2. What is your favorite way to unwind?
  3. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
  4. What was the scariest thing you did today?
  5. If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you need to have with you?
  6. Do you have an electronic gadget that you just cannot live without? What is it?
  7. If you could have a maid come to your house for the rest of your life, but they would only ever do one chore – what chore would you have them do?
  8. If you boarded a jet in 10 minutes to go wherever in the world you wanted to go, where would you go?
  9. If your best friend asked you to go get matching tattoos with her, right now, would you do it? If so, what would the tattoo be?
  10. If you and your best friend were to ever end up in jail for the night, what scenario would have caused the trouble? AKA, how would you have ended up there?
  11. If you had the choice to be reincarnated as a cat or a dog, which would you choose? Why?

I hope you have fun playing!!! 😉

Here’s to a FABULOUS evening!

 

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

http://theembellishednest.wordpress.com/

Coming Up For Air!

Good Evening!

Queen Christina here! Yes, proudly wearing my royal crown this evening!! Having a great evening, finally getting my peppy-self back to living again!!!! I wanted to make sure to check in this evening! After being down sick for the past two weeks, I am still not 100%, but I am back up and running! and REALLY READY to get back to BLISS!! 😉

As many of you may know, I love sharing everything that is going on in my world, which I realize might seem contradictory since I have been posting very sporadically lately, but I do have a reason! You see, besides being sick for the past 2 weeks, I have been doing something REALLY EXCITING!!! For the past 5 weeks I have been taking the Brave Girls’ Club Soul Restoration class online. This amazing class has forced me to delve into the inner workings of my soul and, through arting, discover more about myself  than I ever thought possible. Truly!

If you have never hear of the Brave Girls Club, or the Soul Restoration I Class, I highly recommend popping over to the Brave Girls’ site and checking them out!!! Better yet, pinch your pennies together and sign up for their next available class ASAP!!! I have been ah-ha-ing every step of the way, through every tutorial, every lesson, every homework assignment. I honestly feel AMAZINGLY BLESSED to have found this class when I did! I am so enamored with the whole process, Melody Ross (our lovely and fearless leader), and the entire Brave Girls Club team, that I have already signed up for part two of the class, which starts in April!! YEAH BRAVE GIRLS!!! 😉

The art I have been busily creating for the past few weeks, unfortunately, is not shareable! Because these pieces are so powerful, and yet so personal, I had made the decision that these pieces would be just for my eye eyes only. That way, I can completely take the fear factor out of arting, and just create what is truly going on inside of my soul. The good news, however, is that in the simple act of just creating without fear of judgement, I find that I am growing braver, and am inspired to start arting again to share with the blogging world.

In all of this, I am not sure where I am going to end up, but right now, I just want to be happy, and free, and arting has really opened that door for me, which I am soooo thankful for!! So, although I have nothing I can share this evening, I am happily, and busily spending time watching tutorials, trying new things, and hopefully within the next couple of days, I will have some new to share with you!! 😉

I truly can’t wait!! 😉

So, without further ado, I am going to get back into my art studio, and get to creating!! I can’t wait to talk to you again soon!!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening! 😉

 

 

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

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!”

 

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!”

 

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!”

 

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!”

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

Welcome to Chunky Dunker’s Night here at Christinaville! Chunky Dunker’s night is a casual, but fun group for people from all walks of life to get together online to support one another in their health and fitness goals, whether it be to lose a few pounds, or to do one situp; I am very happy to welcome you here every Wednesday evening, where we “meet” in the comments section to catch up, share hints, tips, and ideas and to just encourage each other as we go through our health &  fitness path together!!

Well, this week…ok, let’s face it, I am not doing so hot on my consistency, so I am sure my weight is not quite heading down in the right direction yet. I do great throughout my workday, where I have pre-packed lunch box ready for my healthy breakfast, snack, lunch, and snack to get me through my day. I have always had an easy time drinking my water, it is generally about the only thing I drink, so that is not a problem. The places where I am really struggling is dinner, and the weekends, and not getting enough exercise, hardly any, matter of fact!

Dinner is hard, by the time I get home, I am hungry, and if I’ve had a bad day I want to comfort myself with food, if I have had a good day, I want to celebrate with food. We are doing better at cooking healthy meals for dinner, but I am sure that our portions are still much too large. As for the weekends, I find that I do not enough structure in my days to make sure that I am eating regularly – I have a very bad habit of skipping snacks and meals, and ending up so hungry that I don’t care what I eat as long as it is yummy, and if it is a comfort food, all the better. At least in the moment – not so much for trying to lose weight!

As for the exercising??? Well, in all honesty I am so sore all the time. I know this can’t be a new story for everyone, there has to be others out there who feel the same way, but my knees, ankles, feet, and now my lower back seem to almost constantly hurt. It really is a problem. You know the ironic thing is that I have an indoor pool at my house. I could swim every evening – if I WANTED to!!! Maybe that is the problem, I haven’t gotten sick enough of being overweight to really take some serious action on getting it taken care of!!

But, I am recommitting myself to get back on my own wagon, and to get moving, even if it is just for single digit minutes at a time!!! I am worth it, and I really can do it – with patience and CONSISTENCY!!!

Go Chunky Dunkers!!!

🙂

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! ;-)

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

Mom, I’m Bored!

Good evening!

I am sitting at home this evening!! I had some plans that fell through this evening, and my sweetie is still out working.

All I can manage to do this evening is sit here and think to myself,  I am soooo bored!! Do you remember what would happen when you told your mom that you were bored when you were a kid? I know that my mom would have told me to go outside and play, then she would have locked the screen door, and I would not have come home until the street lights came on! Man, those were the days!!!

Anyway, I have to-do listed, journaled, arted, visualized, read, cleaned, organized, and planned myself into an exhausted stupor!! 😉 I am ready to have a nice quiet evening, it would be nice though if my sweetie would get home. It sounds like he has been having a bit of a rough day! He could use some babying from his lovely wife – er…uhm…that would be me!! HEE! HEE!! 😉

So without much more hubbub, I thought I would share some more pictures of some of the buildings in the city that I have always enjoyed looking at…

Here is one of the buildings at Willamette University!

Here is the Reed Opera House!

I am not sure what this building is, but I have always loved it!

Another random picture!

and finally one last picture from one of the buildings at Willamette University!

Whew! I feel much better now!! No more boredom!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! ;-)

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