Category Archives: Goals

The Good With the Bad!

Good evening!

Well, I realize that it is late, and I should really be going to bed, but my sweetie and I have just returned from first playing with the girls outside, and then walking the girls back to the house, and then my sweetie and I heading out for a nice evening walk ourselves!

Before I tell you our walk, I want to tell you about our good news, and our bad news. Bad news first. Jason and I have gotten our final surgery dates today, which is good news, however, Jason’s date is 2 weeks later than he had originally thought so he is a little bummed about it. My date however, has been pushed out by a month!!! ACK!!! When I first found out, it ALMOST caused me to want to quit, but of course, my super-supportive husband came to my rescue, and I am NOT backing out now!!! 😉

So, for the good news. Well, Jason has made his surgery goal weight!! YEAH!! WHOO! HOO!!! I am soooo EXTREMELY PROUD OF HIM!!!! and for those of you keeping track means that he has lost 4 pounds this past week! AMAZING!!! Whatta man!! 😉 I did not make my goal weight this week, but I am only one pound away from my goal weight, so I will HAPPILY TAKE THAT!!! YEAH ME!!! LOL!! 😉

Getting back to our walk! While we were walking, my sweetie and I took turns saying out loud one goal that we hope to be able to achieve post surgery. With my sweetie’s permission, here are a couple of examples of things we came up with…

ME: I want to be able to touch my toes with my knees unbent

HIM: I want to be able to breathe while tying my shoes

ME: I want to ride the rides at a carnival and not have to worry that the lock won’t latch

HIM: I want to see that

ME: I want to be able to run a mile

HIM: I want to see someone from my past who made fun of me, and make them eat their words

ME: I want to see that

HIM: I want to be able to take a bike trip. A long one!

ME: Me too!

HIM: I want to go to a water park and not get stuck down a water slide

ME: I want to be able to keep up with my niece while swimming

HIM: I want to be able to buy tall clothes without having to buy big and tall clothes

ME:  I want to be able to sit Indian-style in a movie theater seat

So, there you have it! I really am so thankful to be going through this journey with my sweetie!! I would never have made it this far without his love and support!!

I have said it before, but I will say it again, life is really good!!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

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

Some Home Updates!

Good afternoon!

We are having a lovely four-day weekend here at the manse!! LOL! 😉

I thought I would share some new pics of some things going on around our place this weekend! 😉

Here are some pics of our garden! It is so fun to watch the plants grow and getting out there and weeding, pruning, and making everything look lovely!!

We are so jazzed to see how much lettuce we are going to have! They are growing so much faster then us newbie-farmers could even imagine!

Here are our snap-peas, and 3 strawberry plants! We already have one red strawberry!! We will have to flip a coin to see who gets to eat it!! 😉

Here are the two blueberry bushes! I can’t wait to see how much they produce! 😉

Here are a few of our herbs!

Here are a few more! We have 3 pots of herbs growing! 😉

Next, on to our living room!! As many of you know, my sweetie and I are getting ready for Bariatric surgery. One of my goals before surgery is to make sure that the house is clean, organized, purged, and no muss, no fuss ready for us to just concentrate on getting better!

One of the things we have been hearing from past patients is that a recliner is almost imperative to post-surgery resting! Well, I have been a long time naysayer of recliners. They are large, ugly, and I have just really never liked them! So, when I picked up two leather ones this weekend, I was sure that I was losing my mind, but my rationale behind doing that was twofold! 1. I know that we will both be having surgery, and I don’t want either one of us to have to sleep on the couch! 2. It has been really hard to have company over when there is just not enough seats in our place!

So after a ton of time spent cleaning, purging, and redecorating, and along with the help of my FABULOUS sweetie, we were able to take our living room from this:

To this:

Aaaaaaah…SO MUCH BETTER!!

The feeling in here is now so much more calming. We moved the large television out from in front of the window, so the room is now awash in sunlight! What a much more positive feeling, and way less drab and gloomy!!

 

Also, now that I have a bunch more of our favorite art work on the wall, the space feels sooo much more like us!!! I can’t wait to see what the rest of the house looks like once we are finished, but we are really so close!! I will make sure to share pictures with you as more progress is made!!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

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

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Good evening!

My sweetie spent today planting all of the vegetables into our new vegetable garden, and I am very happy to report that I have some new pictures to share with you!

I am soooo very impressed with what he was able to do in such a small space!

We now have growing:

  • Spinach
  • Green leaf lettuce
  • Red leaf lettuce
  • Green romaine lettuce
  • Red romaine lettuce (I didn’t even know that existed!!)
  • Butter crunch lettuce
  • Red bell peppers
  • Green bell peppers
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Yellow grape tomatoes
  • Broccoli
  • Snap peas

All of these veggies will be a great and tasty foundations for some very healthy salads this Summer!! 😉

We also planted an herb garden in some large pots we had on hand! They now hold:

  • 4 kinds of basil
  • Thyme
  • 2 kinds of oregano
  • and 2 other herbs, that I am going blank on at the moment (sorry!!)

My sweetie also got us some strawberries for our hanging pots, and two blueberry bushes, which he is going to let grow in 2 different large pots. I am SOOOOO EXCITED to see what grows and how well we can incorporate these fresh goodies into our our new healthy life style!

This whole adventure has been so much fun! I haven’t actually gotten my hands dirty (thank you, Love, for doing all of the dirty-work, literally!). I will eventually get my hands in the dirt, weeding  and tending to the veggies’ care, it is a garden after all, but Jason and I have had so much fun planning it out, and seeing it come to fruition. I realize it is just a small garden, right now, but it means something so much larger to my husband and myself. This little garden is a small glimpse of what we envision for our future; owning our own little farm. It still makes me smile ear-to-ear when I think of it even now!!

We are so blessed, and life is so good!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

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

Happy Tuesday!

Good evening!

This is going to be a quick post this evening, as I am on a cleaning roll!! As you may remember, if you read my post the other day, I am working on getting my art studio completely reorganized, purged, cleaned up, and ready for my next round of some serious arting time!!! If you saw the pictures from the other day, you would agree that THIS is QUITE the undertaking!! I am motivated to get it done though, my sweetie has gotten me a gift certificate to my favorite day spa to get a spa pedicure!!

WHAT A GREAT MOTIVATER!!!

That and the fact that I will have an awesomely clean workspace to get some new art pieces created!! I CAN’T WAIT!!!

Anyway, I am going to head upstairs and get a crackin’!! I am so close to being done that I am thinking that tomorrow will be the day that I can call the spa and make my appointment!! YEAH!!

I will make sure to keep you posted, and I will share pics as soon as my art studio is done!!

Here is to a FABULOUSLY PRODUCTIVE evening!! ;-)

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

Getting Some Big Jobs Done!

Good evening!

Has it really been more than a week since I have last posted! EEK! Sorry about that! I find that I am a little behind in my Brave Girls’ Soul Restoration II class, and am seriously trying to get caught up before the next lesson and assignment comes out this next Tuesday, but that is not what I want to talk about tonight!

What I want to share with you, this evening, is a couple of REALLY BIG jobs my sweetie and I are doing around our place this weekend.

First off, my sweetie is busy building us a garden in the little backyard of our condo! I am SOOOOO EXCITED to be able to harvest our very own fresh salad fixings from a garden where we grew everything ourselves. I am not exactly sure what all we are going to grow, but so far I know we are going to both red and green leaf, and Romain lettuces, spinach, both cherry and grape tomatoes, and some herbs – cilantro, oregano, rosemary, and basil. Doesn’t that just sound delicious!! I can’t wait for our first harvest!! I will totally make sure to keep you posted on that, but in the meantime here are some pics of my sweetie finishing up the building of and filling of our new raised garden bed:

The measurements of our new garden bed is 4′ x 8′, and alth0ugh it is not as large as the garden we will have when we have our little farm, I figured it would be great practice!! We are planting our veggies sometime this week, and I will make sure to share pictures then too!!

Here is my handsome sweetie, and garden-builder!! Isn’t he adorable?? He just kept saying what a great feeling it is to be working out in the “yard”!! I just LOVE seeing him so happy!!

So, while my sweetie was busy building our new garden bed, I was busy on a big house project myself; purging, cleaning, and organizing the art studio!! That is such a GINORMOUS JOB, that it is going to have to take more than just one day to do!!

I had stuff squirreled away in every single nook and cranny in this room. My goal today was to get EVERYTHING pulled out, put as many like items together as possible, and then go through as much as I could while sorting everything into multiple bags: confidential recycle, donating, garbage, and put away all of the rest!

The long table on the right of this picture is not normally in this room, but my sweetie brought this in for me so that I would have a place to do all of my sorting! Thank you, Love! 😉

As you can see, I still have a LOOOOOONG way to go!!

I am excited to get this room completed, but I am going to need a little bit of help!! My sweetie has agreed to give me some moral support tomorrow, as I do the hard work of really paring down!! I want to get rid of the old to make way for creating the new!! This space is going to be a HUGE part of that future!! When I think about that, it makes getting rid of stuff kind of exciting!! 😉

So, before I start again in the morning, I am going to spend the evening hanging out with my sweetie!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

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

What a Difference a Day Makes!

Good evening!

I was on such a high yesterday afternoon! Nothing could stop me! I was the QUEEN OF THE WORLD!!!

Well, it has been about 24 hours later, and I have gotten a blow off of my invincibility pedestal! As you may already know, my sweetie and I are going through the process to have bariatric surgery done; we are both wanting to get the gastric bypass, him in July, and me in August.

Anyway, I got my lab results back this afternoon, and I have to tell you, I am still in a little bit of shock, and not sure what to make of it all.

So, what I found out was:

It looks like I am now going to have a sleep study to see if I have sleep apnea since my overnight oxygen levels dropped to 81%. 90% – 100% is normal. DARN – I was hoping to somehow avoid having to sleep at the hospital while having people watch you!! (Did I mention that I work at the hospital???)

I am pre-diabetic. Hrmph! I honestly didn’t see that coming, but with the diet and exercise I am doing, I am sure that will be manageable, and hopefully after the surgery, a complete non-issue.

And finally, and most shockingly I found out that have hyperthyroidism.

WHAT???? How can that be???

One of the common side effects of hyperthyroidism is unexplained weight loss!

Uhmmm…I WISH!!!

No, I have not experienced that symptom AT ALL!!! The most common symptom that has hit me really hard is anxiety, which I guess is caused by your system running faster than it is supposed to! That would also explain the racing heartbeat, flushed face, and overall distaste for any heat of any kind (because my body is already running a little hot).

Yes, I said it – “I’m HOT!”

Not to mention moodiness, inability to sleep, and my hair falling out! LOVELY! (Sarcasm!)

So, as I deal with the fact that I am getting older, whether I like it or not, and the fact that I knew that if I didn’t take care of my health at some point, I would be taking care of my sickness, like it or not, my sweetie is taking me out to watch a play this evening; A Streetcar Named Desire. I am pretty excited about that, since I have never even seen the movie before, and I hear that this story is a classic!! and having a moment of fun, is just what the doctor ordered!! Thanks love!! 😉

I will keep you posted!!

Here is to a FUN  & PEACEFUL evening!! ;-)

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

Cleaning House!

Good evening!

Things are going pretty-freakin-fabulously here at our place!! Jason and I are both doing really well with our new pre-bariatric surgery clean living diet. All veggies, all the time, lean protein, and 2 servings of fruit, and dairy daily!! I am not sure exactly when it happened, but I have acquired an AMAZING amount of energy, and it has really gotten me motivated to not only continue on with my arting, but get our house back in tip-top shape!!

As I have been busy re-creating myself and having a blast with my newly re-found creative side, for the past 6 months, our house and all of the chores necessary to keep a nice, clean, clutter-free home has really been suffering; and I realized as I had surprise company this past weekend, that the state of my home has really started to bother me. SO, instead of whining and complaining about it, I decided that it was time to take come serious action, and take back control of the chaos that has become our home!!

The action I decided to take was a combination of making a plan, and taking the whole process in baby steps, so I don’t overwhelm myself and just give up for the next 6 months. So what I did was first create a list of all of the household chores that I could think of:

  • Dishes
  • Counter tops
  • Laundry
  • Making the bed
  • Bathrooms
  • Floors
  • Dusting
  • Taking out the garbage
  • Windows
  • Entry way
  • Back patio
  • Bathe the dogs
  • Wash the dog bowls
  • Picking up after ourselves

I then took everything on this list and then assigned a day of the week for each chore, leaving Sunday open to just relax.

Next I decided to take it a step further, and made a wish list of chores I wish would get done around here like:

  • Vacuuming the vent covers
  • Vacuuming the refrigerator coils
  • Cleaning under the fridge
  • Cleaning under the stove
  • Wash the Car
  • Detailing the car
  • Pressure washing the window blinds
  • Cleaning the oven
  • Cleaning the barbecue
  • Shampooing the carpets
  • Cleaning out the dryer vents
  • Organizing the coat closet
  • Organizing the game closet
  • Organizing the Linen closet
  • Organizing the laundry room
  • Organizing the art studio
  • Organizing the walk-in closet
  • Organizing Jason’s closet

I then decided how often I wanted these tasks done; monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. Next I wrote on a paper the months of the year, and took each task and assigned it a month in which it would get done in.

Then I thought about all the tasks around the house that have to get done, but are one-time things that may not actually need to be scheduled on an ongoing basis. I decided to make a list of these things too:

  • Replace the broken linen closet door
  • Paint and install the baseboards
  • Install hardwood floors throughout 1st floor
  • Paint the front door
  • Paint the garage door
  • Paint the laundry room
  • Rebuild shelving in the laundry room
  • Reupholstering the 2 chairs and ottoman in the garage
  • Refinish the coffee table in the garage
  • Refinish the antique dresser in the garage
  • Get rid of the miscellaneous cabinets from the garage
  • Replace window in art studio with a noise barrier window

I then made this my “Honey-Do” list and my sweetie and I have agreed to work on tackling each one of these items, one-at-a-time during our Saturdays, so that went on the chore chart calendar as well. I am not sure if we are going to spend time every Saturday doing these things, or every other Saturday. The good thing about this entire chore chart is that it is not set in stone, and we can change whatever we want!!

I have to admit that now the chore chart is ready to go, it is pretty large and a little daunting at first glance, but Jason and I did our list of chores for this evening, and it took us about 1/2 an hour, and the house already looks great!! WHEW! What a great feeling!!

Anyway, I am off to go do some arting homework, while my sweetie gets some game time in this evening, and then we are off for our evening walk!! Life really is good!!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

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

Mid-Week Update!

Good evening!

This is going to be a short post, someone has got a lot of homework that she is wanting to get done this evening! Yes, I am talking about myself in the third person, you will have to forgive me – I have a lot going on at the moment! 😉

Anyway, yesterday was the first day of Brave Girls’ Soul Restoration II class. If you remember, I had just finished doing the Soul Restoration I class last week, and I have been impatiently waiting for this second class to start. Well, it has, and the homework for this week has me delving deep into who I am and what I want! Even though I have done this kind of work in the past, I can tell that this time is gonna be different! I am not sure if it is because Melody Ross, our fearless leader,  is so amazing, or if it is because I am pairing this soul-work with creating art, or if it is because I am really truly ready for this!! Who cares? I am ready, and I am so excited to see what the next few months brings!! and of course,my lovelies, I will keep you all posted!!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

 

 

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

Here I Am!

Good morning!

I know it has been a while since I have last posted, but here I am!

Things have been moving vey quickly around here, and we have been very busy!! Right now my husband and I are over on the Oregon coast. We have been here for the past 2 days. We have been visiting with our adopted grandparents before they go out of town for a couple of weeks. I the meantime, my hubby and I Are going to take their 3 dogs and babysit, while they are out of town! All 5 of us, my sweetie, the three dogs and myself are all heading back home today, as I have to be back at work tomorrow.

I said things have been moving rather quickly around here, and they really have! My hubby and I had made the decision to have Bariatric gastric bypass surgery, but we needed to wait to get everything rolling until we were able to pre-pay for the surgeries. Well, we did that earlier this month and my sweetie has had a bug-a-jillion appointments to get anything and everything scanned, measured, checked, swabbed, scoped, etc, etc, etc. The way that we have this worked out is that my sweetie will have his surgery first, July 3rd, and then I will have my surgery about a month later. So, my crazy schedule won’t start until after the 23rd of this month, which is when my initial appointment is.

Right now, we are both early excited, and I can’t speak for him, but I am also really scared. The funny thing is, is that I am not scared for the surgery, I am scared to meet the skinny me! I have no idea what she looks like, how she will feel, what she does, or if I am even going to get along with her. In all honesty, I am sooooooo excited to meet her!! I know she has been in here forever!!! I also realize that the is going to be a kind of mourning period for my old self. Crazy right? This fat suit that I have been wearing (figuratively) has really been a protective barrier that has given me all sorts of excuses why I didn’t have to do something’s, and it really has been a way for me to hide behind a lot of things in my life. Even talking about it right now, I really can’t wait to meet the new me!!!

Anyway, I have also been keeping very busy with my Brave Girls’ Club Soul Restoration I class. Matter of fact, I am just in the final week of class I, and will be starting class II next week. I am so thankful that I have stumbled across this life-changing class, and I am so excited to see what more I learn during class II.

Just to keep things interesting, we have also had a bunch of company! My sister, and her husband spent the week with us last week, which was a lot of fun, and then another one of sisters and her family are coming up for part of the weekend, tomorrow!! I can’ wait to see them!!!! Yeah!

Well, I am going to grab my camera and head out to go get some pics of the coast on this lovely spring day, here in Oregon!

Here’s too a FABULOUS day!!!
~Christina 😉

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

Back in the Art Studio!

Good evening!

I have been busily and happily arting away in my little art studio, and am very happy to finally be able to share something that I have finished with you! 😉

This piece is made on a square of plywood, my sweetie cut for me, and the materials I used were: acrylic paints, tissue paper, stamps, ink, gel medium, and fine tip marker.

This saying is something that I have been really focusing on while taking my Brave Girls Club class, “The real you is still in there you just need to give yourself permission to come out and play”. It is something that I really needed to hear, and something that I have always known, but had somehow forgotten along the way. It was a message that I am so thankful that I have stumbled upon again, and am actively working on putting it to good use in my life!

This piece came about because I wanted to paint something happy! I also wanted to play with some new techniques I have been learning, and one of those that I am really, very glad with the way that it turned out, and that is the little doodles that are all over the piece. I think the doodling really adds a little more of me into my art.

I actually started this piece over many times, remembering that I could always change something that I didn’t like about it at any given time. This was something really hard for me to do, because I am such a perfectionist and always want to have everything done perfectly the first time. I think, in doing that, this piece has really helped me give myself permission to love the imperfections that may come out, they may add so much interest that they become your favorite parts!

After this piece was finished, I was so excited about it, I put my bravery muscles on and took it to display at work, and I am so glad I did! It is really exciting to look up from a very technical job, and see something that you were able to come up with in a 100% creative way!

Life is good!!

I would love to hear your thoughts about this in the comments section! I am hoping to have more to share in the next few days!

Here’s to a FABULOUS evening!

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