Category Archives: Lifestyle

Today I Choose!

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Quote taken from the movie, The Answer Man:

Kris Lucas: Why can’t I do the things I want to do? There’s so much I know I’m capable of that I never actually do. Why is that?
Arlen Faber: The trick is to realize that you’re always doing what you want to do… always. Nobody’s making you do anything. Once you get that, you see that you’re free and that life is really just a series of choices. Nothing happens to you. You choose.
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Where you are standing in your life right now, is a direct result of all of the choices you have made over the entirety of your life.

You choose.

You may not have chosen events that have happened around you, what family you were born into, what your financial status was, or other events that may have directly happened to you, pain or suffering that others may have caused you, people who may have come, or those who may have left you. You may not have chosen those events, but you chose, either consciously or subconsciously how you responded to those events. You gave those events meaning, and you chose which path you would then travel after those events.

You chose.

You chose then, and you choose now.

The choices that you have made were innocently made. They were meant to keep you safe, to keep you feeling whole, to keep you free from pain, and to keep you alive. But since when is safe, whole, pain-free, and alive enough. What about having life in your life? Where is the joy? The connection? The adventure? The passion? The creativity? The wonder? The abundance? Where is the thing that makes you so excited to wake up every morning and go take on your life?

Every single day you have the ability to choose something new.

A different viewpoint, a different attitude, a different emotion, a different meaning, or a different path.

You choose.

That change happens in an instant, but you still have to choose.

If you do not choose, someone else will choose for you. You will not be happy. Your soul will feel unsettled, as if something is not quite right, and you may not even be able to put your finger on what is the matter, but your soul will know. You will feel like your skin is itchy, or a little too big, or maybe your skin is too small, but your soul knows that you were not meant for this. Your world will feel as if there is something missing, or lacking, or lost, or sad. You may not know what that something is, but your soul will know. You might find yourself repeatedly asking yourself, β€œis there more to life than this?” β€œIs this it?” β€œIs this all there is?”

Your soul will start to send you messages, small, quiet whisper, to try to nudge you to choose differently, to live differently, to be authentic. To live the life that you and your soul were meant to live. To do the thing that only you and your unique, awesome, supah-powah self could do. The longer you stay away from that path, the sadder your soul will become. It will start to get louder, more persistent. It wants so desperately to get you to where it knows you are supposed to be.

The path that only you can walk.

The adventure that only you can take.

We will start to hear it, your soul, even if we do not yet understand it. Our soul’s voice may sound so foreign, that we will ignore it as not possibly being our voice because we are so unfamiliar with it’s sound. But there it will remain, no longer whispering, but now whining, and persistent, clinging to your leg as you try to walk on someone else’s path, holding on, like a child afraid of their mama leaving, desperate for your attention, yearning for your time, crying out for it’s need to be fulfilled.

You might find a moment of clarity, when you look around, in your life, and you do not recognize this life that you have created. How have you gotten here? You don’t recognize yourself in your surroundings. It is as if you let yourself be lead on autopilot to some unknown destination where the language is foreign, the food tastes off, and the room is always a bit too cold.

You realize that are uncomfortable. How long has this been going on?

This is a moment where your soul has finally gotten your attention, and you get to see this world you have created , through your entire history of choices. You finally see your world without the lie filters of β€œnormalcy” and β€œsettling” and β€œstatus quo” and β€œfitting in” that we have a tendency to look at the world through. At this moment, you have a choice to make. Do you decide to do what is safe, and slide those glasses back on, and keep on living the benign life that the world has laid out for you? Or do you choose something different? Do you choose to leave those glasses of lies, sitting on a shelf behind you; knowing full well, that at any time, if you really need to you, can always rush back to your shelf and put your glasses back on?

Choose.

You choose glasses free, and now glasses free, you take one step forward into your world, that world you have created. At first your world may frighten you, and make you sad, it may make you angry, it may make you feel resentful, this place that you have created. You might feel that where you are is not quite fair, that you deserve better than this. You see others who appear to be doing so much better than you, and it fills you with sadness, and maybe a bit of despair.

I am here to remind you that you choose. By making one choice at a time.

Make one choice.

Close your eyes. Breathe deeply, slowly, on purpose. In. Out. In. Out. Do this again and again, and think of nothing but that breath. Feel your heartbeat; consciously climb deep down into who you are. In. Out. In. Out. Move around in your subconscious. What do you see? Are there cobwebs? Clutter? Chaos? Do you need a deep cleaning? Start the process of cleaning your soul up, one choice at a time. Hug yourself tightly, be loving, and gentle, forgive, and be kind. Know that you are going to be okay. This process can be painful, slow, and lonely.

Choose to slough off one thing that doesn’t fit you, serve you, or fill you with joy! Be gentle with yourself, this is a process, but you must make the choice. You must take the action. After you have taken the action, sit with this new, fresh, clear space for a moment.

Close your eyes, and let that feeling fill you up. That feeling of, it was only one thing, but that one thing felt so authentically honoring to your soul, that you have a moment of clarity and peace. Your world is by no means perfect, and you may still not know where you are going, or even where you will end up. You know you still have such a long way to go, but you recognize that feeling of peace. It is a feeling that calls to you. It is a feeling your soul was born for.

As you start taking stock and cleaning up what needs to be cleaned, and you do the process of sloughing off one thing, and then another, and then another, you will start to notice that there will be rays of sunlight breaking through, here and there, and slowly but surely these rays will start filling your soul house with love, joy, recognition, and enthusiasm for what really has been in there all along, but hidden from mismanagement and neglect.

Soon, you will start to recognize your soul, as the powerful goddess that she is. She will no longer be a whining, child, hanging as a dead weight on your leg, dying to get your attention, but she will stand tall, and proud, and strong. The amazing Amazonian warrior that she is, and she will be standing right beside you, hand-in-hand. You will have empowered her to watch out for new and exciting paths for you and her to travel on.

You are a soul. You have a body. You only have this one vessel. You need to take care of her, and love her, and treat her like a sacred space. Feed her good, real, and whole foods. Provide her plenty of delicious, and refreshing water. Let her play in the sunshine, and dance in the rain. Give her opportunities to run, jump, swim, stretch, climb, swing, and twirl, every single day. Let her rest. Let her get quite and reenergize. Let her sleep, a deep, quality, and restful, healing sleep. Let her ask for help, and share her story. Let her connect with other soul sisters on a deep and meaningful level. You and she will be so much happier this way. You and she will be stronger, and have more energy, and you will have such a better ability to live the life that you were put on this earth to live.

What is your soul trying to tell you today? I dare you to stop, close your yes, breathe deeply and just listen for her whispers. She may need a hug, you may need to be extra especially gentle with yourself today, you may need a nap. Do one thing that moves in the direction of peace. That direction that leads you to healing, to wholeness, and to authentic you-ness. Only you can know what that is for you. You choose.

What will you choose today?

Here is to consciously choosing a Beautiful Creative Life!! πŸ™‚

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

Cuppa Chat #4: Starting a Revolution!

Good morning, my Beautiful Creatives!!

I am just so FREAKIN’ JAZZED about this week’s Cuppa Chat video!!

I can BARELY CONTAIN MY EXCITMENT!!Β 

Hoo! Hoo! Hee! Hoo! Hoo! Hee!!

Ok, I am feeling a little bit better now!!

This week’s Cuppa Chat was in response to me going back to last week’sΒ Cuppa Chat video, video #3, and not liking what I saw in myself! I have a tendency to wear a mask when I am scared, or about to be raw and vulnerable! To find out more about what I am talking about, grab a “Cuppa” of something DELISH, and pull up chair…

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How do you feel about starting your own PERSONALΒ REVOLUTION!!

Here is to our Beautiful CreativeΒ REVOLUTIONS!! πŸ™‚

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

Cuppa Chat #2: 10 Things for a Level 10 Day!

Good morning, my beautiful friends!!

I am so happy to announce that my latest video in my Cuppa Chat seriesΒ has been posted out on YouTube!

I know you cannot always control what the world throws at you on a day to day basis, but you can do things to help make your day a PHENOMENAL day, AKA a Level 10 Day!Β In this Cuppa Chat, IΒ share with you my 10 favorite things to incorporate into my days so that, no matter what, I can have a level 10 day whenever I choose to!! πŸ™‚

If you like what you see, please subscribe, so you don’t miss a thing!! πŸ™‚

Here is to a Beautiful Creative life! πŸ™‚

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

What a Difference Some Help Makes!

Crown HeaderGood morning!

Do you know how hard it is for someone like me to ask for help????

I am not sure where I got the crazy notion that if I don’t do something completely, like as in 100% on my own, I somehow can not take any pride or credit for a job well done! Where the heck do crazy ideas like that come from anyway!!???

I went to Brave Girls Symposium this year, and I learned SOOOOOOO MUCH!! but one of the things that I learned that I am really striving to take action on is that you do not have to go through this journey, called life, on your own. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have an INCREDIBLE husband who stands by my side through thick and thin, and I have family members who I would take a bullet for – no questions asked, but to ask for help in any other area in my life??? Forget about it!

  • If I am having trouble with my fitness goals – “figure it out!”
  • If am having trouble staying on task with my nutritional goals – “suck it up, buttercup!”
  • If I am struggling carrying all of ourΒ personal finances by myself – “you had better work harder!”
  • If my house looks like it could be on the next episode of hoarders – “sorry, you made this mess”
  • If I want to take my business to the world but have no idea where to start – Β “Others haveΒ magically done it on their own, why can’t you?”
  • If I feel that my mental health is suffering – “If you say anything they will just confirm you are crazy!”

LIES!!! ALL OF IT!!! LIES!!!

You, my friend, myself included, are not an island!!

We are a tribe!!!

You need me, I need you!

No one was ever meant to walk through this journey, we call life, alone. That is why the Universe created others all around us! So we can support each other, cheer each other on, and lift each other up, whenever, wherever, and however often we need it! This is what makes the human race so INSANELY AWESOME!!!Β 

Audrey Hepburn once said,

“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”

I have always been a big fan of Audrey Hepburn, but it is only now, at 40 years old, that I realize how important, and RIGHT ON this message is!!

In the past month, I have reached out to an AMAZING woman to seek out her help as a life coach, I have started seeing an extremely KIND and GENTLE man to help me with my anxiety, and I have recently reconnected with someone from my past, someone who has always been a second mama to me a real, in-the-flesh, WALKING ANGEL!!! I can honestly tell you, in just one month’s time, because I was willing to reach out for help, as well as put myself out there to help others I have an overwhelming sense of joy, hope for the future, and really just a sense of quiet peace!! Anyone who intimately knows me, knows that that is INCREDIBLE!!! πŸ˜‰

I challenge you to ask for help. What do you need today?Β If you can’t find someone to help you, reach out and help someone else! I guarantee that goodness will come back to you!

Here is to living a BEAUTIFUL CREATIVE life! πŸ™‚

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

Moving at the Speed of Light!

IMG_2468Good evening, my lovely chickadees! πŸ™‚

Life seems to be moving at the speed of light!! SERIOUSLY!!!

This year has been a year of doing numerous self experiments! How can I make a better life for my husband and myself? How can I live a more authentic life? How can I move into he life that we are constantly dreaming about? How can I be as fit, healthy, and happyΒ as much as possible?

Some of the experiments that have resulted in some micro changes in my life have been:

  1. Morning Pages: Waking early every morning to write morning pages a la Julie Cameron, The Artist Way author’s recommended practice (one of them)! – this has been helping me deal with some out of control anxiety and feelings of overwhelm that I have been struggling with. This practice basically dumps all of my ever-running thoughts out of my brain every morning, essentially giving me a reboot every morning!
  2. Meditation: 15 minutes meditation most mornings of the week. I have been doing this after my morning pages, and because my brain is wiped clean after my morning pages, meditation gives me the conscious opportunity to fill my brain with the thoughts that I want to carry around, I mean on purpose! I focus on thoughts of thankfulness to my creator for all of the blessings that have come my way, and the ones that are on their way to me!
  3. Personal Altar: For my meditation time, I have created a small altar in my home. More specifically there is a small, comfortable cushion on the floor of my walk-in closet, and a small white shelf that I have cleared off (it is one of my shoe shelves), that I have placed various items that have special meaning for me. These are all things that I want to remind myself to think about while meditating. Some of the things are a glass heart to remind me that I am loved, a bracelet to remind me that I can be brave and do brave things, a candle to call my truth teller to my meditation space, and a small yellow toy farm truck to remind me of my future dream life! I have a bunch of other things too, something to remind me of my sisters, something to remind me to have fun, something to remind me of my amazing marriage, etc. etc. etc. This has become a sacred place in my life.
  4. Exercise: My sweetie and I have signed up for a fun 5k that happens October 1st of this year, so we have started a Couch to 5k training program! It has been hard work not only the exercise itself, but also not giving up!! Right now, we only walk/jog about 3 days a week, but starting this week, I want us to go for a least a strong walk every morning, so that the non walk/jog mornings, we are getting out and spending quality time getting fit together!
  5. Uncluttering: There has been a major uncluttering projectΒ that is currently happening in my house! Things are leaving though the front door at a whirlwind pace!! IΒ realized that if I wanted the life that I have envisioned in my head to come true, then I would have to make room for it – both literally and figuratively! God bless my husband, he has been the epitome of patience, and support!
  6. Gathering a Team: I have learned, this year, that you don’t have to do everything on myΒ own. So I am actively seeking a team of awesome people, who know more than I do, to help me in various areas of my life. Mental health, physical health, general life goals, etc. I have found a life coach, and have also been seeking out quality time with friends and family, and going out of my way to nurture those relationships. I can achieve every single thing that my heart desires, but if I do not have friends and family to share that with, then I think my joy will be lessened, and that is not ok with me. Joy that is shared is always multiplied for both the share-er and the share-ee. How is that for good grammar??? πŸ™‚

Now with all of this said, and all of this done, and still going on, I am by no means perfect at these things. I still have to say “oops, my bad” and try it again tomorrow, but I feel like my life is heading in the right direction, or at least the humungous ship, that is my life, is starting to pivot in the right direction!! and that is such a very exciting prospect that it makes me think that my future is so bright that I have to wear shades!! I can’t wait to see what comes next, but baby, I think I will be ready!!

Here is to living a BEAUTIFUL CREATIVE life! πŸ™‚

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

 

Goodbye to 38 by 38 Hello to 39 by 39!

CrownGood afternoon!

Yep! You have heard correctly, yesterday was my birthday so I am officially 38!! WHOO! HOO!! πŸ˜‰

As some of you may already know, I every year I put together a X by X list. A # of objects by number of years I will have been alive by the time I finish this goal list! Two years ago was my 37 by 37 list, this past year was my 38 by 38 list, and starting today, I will be actively working on my 39 by 39 list. This is the list where I take 39 things from my master Life List and schedule the 39 things that I want to do before my birthday this next year!

Before I show you my 39 by 39 list, I thought I would start out by showing you how my 38 by 38 turned out!! πŸ™‚

Here is my 38 by 38 list:

  1. Put $1,000 into a mini emergency fund – DONE!
  2. Pay off all of my non-mortgage debt – Almost there, almost about $4000 to go!! WHEW!!!
  3. Regularly tithe 10% of our household income – I did better on this one that I expected, but I wasn’t as consistent as I wanted to be.
  4. Downsize our belongings so that everything we own fit into our 2-bedroom, 1 car garage condo – DONE!
  5. Jog a mile – DONE!
  6. Take the train
  7. Go camping – DONE!
  8. Blow bubbles out of the car window while on a road trip – DONE!
  9. Clean out the garage – DONE!
  10. Hike the longest trail at Silver Creek Falls – DONE!
  11. Go on a walking tour of downtown Salem – I get a great deal on this from Groupon! I just have to schedule this before it expires and it will be done!!
  12. Take a cooking class
  13. Host a slumber party – DONE!
  14. Create a new line of inspiring art pieces of at least 12 designs
  15. Start my own company – DONE!
  16. Redesign my blog to make it a reflection of my personal style – DONE!
  17. Invest in blog/career business cards – DONE!
  18. Launch an interview series on my blog
  19. Send fifty handwritten handwritten notes (1 of 50)
  20. Lose an accumulative 100 pounds (105 of 100) – DONE!
  21. Volunteer in a cause that is near and dear to my heart
  22. Ride my bike for an hour straight
  23. Have a weekend vacation at the coast – DONE!
  24. Sell my entire collection of Pink Paisley Boutique jewelry (LET IT GO!)
  25. Host a movie-themed party
  26. Inspire someone to write a list of their own – DONE!
  27. Be featured in a creative publication
  28. Try at least 12 new recipes (12 of 12) – DONE!
  29. Prepare a meal using fresh ingredients from the Farmer’s Market
  30. Use re-usable shopping bags for all grocery shopping for an entire month
  31. Read every Jane Austen novel (1 of 5) – I read Pride and Prejudice
  32. Get a facial
  33. Revitalize 5 old pieces of furniture
  34. Teach an online class
  35. Read my Flying Lessons class book
  36. Wear bright red lipstick out in public for a day – DONE!
  37. Have at least 48 artist dates (35 of 48) – I did WAAAAAY better on this than I thought I would! So, I am going to consider this a win!!! πŸ˜‰
  38. Have fresh flowers in the house every week for at least 10 weeks (6 of 10) – This was harder and more expensive than I thought, but I may try this one again!! πŸ˜‰

As usual, I got a lot more accomplished than I thought I was going to, but there were actually a few things I was able to mark off of my master Life List that I wasn’t planning on. Here are those things:

  1. Fly first class – I did this on the spur of the moment on my last business trip!! First class was soooo worth the extra moola spent!!! πŸ˜‰
  2. Learn to hula hoop – My friend, Jamie, inspired me to give this a try. I went out and bought a hula hoop, much to the chagrin of my sweetie, and I did, right there in my living room – almost breaking a lamp, but having a BLAST just the same!!! πŸ˜‰
  3. Run a mile – I thought I would NEVER be able to do this!!
  4. Run a 5k – I thought either I was going to die doing this, or I was going to kill my sweetie for making me! But, in the end I was soooo happy I did this!!!
  5. Cross my legs – Who knew???? One day, I looked down, and realized, ‘Hey! I’m crossing my legs!!!’ It might as well have been free tickets to Paris! Yes, I was truly THAT excited!!! πŸ˜‰
  6. Touch my toes with knees unbent – this was another one that I thought I would never be able to, but my sweetie insisted that I tried it. When I realized I could actually touch my toes, I wanted to sit in that position FOREVER!!
  7. Be able to do a complete Sun Salutation – Another shocker!! I am sure I don’t do it as gracefully as the ladies online do, but who cares???? I CAN DO THIS!!! Good morning, Sun!!! πŸ˜‰
  8. Buy Jason a truck – Yep! I was VERY happy to be able to do this for my sweetie!!
  9. Create & post a video on YouTube – I am not sure why I thought this was such a scary thing!?? Easy peasy!!
  10. Do an entire cross stitch pattern – Another easy peasy goal!!
  11. Draw a piece of art that I am happy with – After I finished this particular piece I was surprised that it actually came out of me!!
  12. Go to a counselor – this was a requirement of the bariatric surgery, but it was still on my list so I am counting it!!
  13. Hire a nutritionist – same as 12!
  14. Hike the longest trail at Silver Creek Falls (10.4 miles) – This might have been the hardest 4 hours of my life!! UGH!!!
  15. Learn how to manage money – Thank you, Mr. Dave Ramsey!!!
  16. Learn how to purl – I did this, hated it, crossed it off of my list anyways!!
  17. Learn how to walk in heels – YEAH!! I’m a girl! I’m a girl!!
  18. Live without eating out for one month – bariatric surgery made this one easy!
  19. Live without junk food for one week – Same for this one!!
  20. Love my entire wardrobe – This is easy to do when you are down to two pairs of pants, a blazer, denim jacket, 3 dresses, and a few miscellaneous tops!
  21. Weigh less than 300 pounds – I will NEVER GO BACK!!
  22. Weigh less than 275 pounds – This was a little less than what I weighed when my mom died!
  23. Weigh less than 250 pounds – My goal is getting so close, I can almost feel it!!
  24. Weigh less than 225 pounds – This is so much harder than I expected!!! Keep going!!! πŸ˜‰
  25. Eat at doughnut at Voodoo Donuts in Portland, OR – Such a LOOOOONG wait in a LOOOOOOON line, for an ok donut, but so much fun spending some silly time with my sweetie!!

WHEW!! I have been busy!! πŸ˜‰

NOW, what do I want to see on my 39 by 39 list????

  1. Go to Brave Girls’ Camp
  2. Weigh less than 220 pounds
  3. Weigh less than 215 pounds
  4. Weigh less than 210 pounds
  5. Weigh less than 205 pounds
  6. Weigh less than 200 pounds
  7. Publish my own e-book
  8. Start my creative business’ website
  9. Start my creative business’ blog
  10. Watch a baby being born (my nephew – Liam)
  11. Become a life coach
  12. Be a mentor to someone else
  13. Be a spokesperson for something positive
  14. Beat Jason at a game of chess
  15. Read all of Jane Austen’s novels (1 of 5)
  16. Become a motivational speaker
  17. Become a plus-sized model for a day
  18. Build a loom
  19. Learn how to use a loom
  20. Grow a vegetable garden
  21. Carve a piece of art
  22. Build a piΓ±ata from scratch
  23. Climb a rock wall
  24. Cook an entire meal for Jason’s family
  25. Contact a distant family member & start communicating
  26. Share my art-making-process via a YouTube channel
  27. Purchase a professional camera
  28. Learn how to use it
  29. Create a time capsule
  30. Take a road trip down the Pacific Coast Highway
  31. Do a backbend
  32. Do a cartwheel
  33. Do a flip off a diving board
  34. Do a handstand
  35. Gather a group of people to blow bubbles in a public space
  36. Get a life coach
  37. Get a passport
  38. Get a pen-pal from a different country
  39. Get paid to do what you love
  40. Go kayaking
  41. Grocery shop using only reusable bags for an entire month
  42. Hang laundry in the sun to dry
  43. Pay off all non-mortgage debt
  44. Have 3 – 6 months expenses in an emergency savings account
  45. Have a prayer alter in my home with stair-stepped candles
  46. Knit a scarf
  47. Learn French
  48. Learn HTML
  49. Learn the basic ballet steps
  50. Learn the proper way to open a coconut
  51. Learn to can food
  52. Learn to create a frame to stretch canvas over
  53. Learn to make a book from scratch
  54. Learn to make ambrosia
  55. Learn to make doughnuts
  56. Leave $100 for a haggard waitress
  57. Make & send my own Christmas cards
  58. Make a loan to an entrepreneur in a developing country through http://www.kiva.com
  59. Milk a cow
  60. Organize a large family picture
  61. Own a pair of fabulous fitting walking knee-high boots
  62. Own an income producing blog
  63. Perform 100 sit-ups in one sitting
  64. Sell all of my jewelry from my old jewelry business
  65. Start a book club
  66. Take a cooking class
  67. Take a nature walk & press the wild flowers you collect
  68. Take a painting class
  69. Take a photography class
  70. Take a weekend vacation by myself
  71. Teach an online art class
  72. Type up great-great grandma’s recipe book for the family
  73. Volunteer in a homeless shelter
  74. Wear a size 14 pant

 

Ok, so I can TOTALLY see that there are WAAAAAAY more than 39 things on this list!! I think, at least for right this moment, I am going to keep the list extra long like this, and shoot to complete at least 39 items off of this list!! It is my perogative to change my mind at any moment in time to completely rehash this list or to completely start it over. As it stands right now, this list really makes me happy, and the idea of removing anything from it, honestly, really makes me sad! SO, to heck with it!! THIS WILL BE MY NEW 39 by 39 List!!

Here is to a FABULOUSLY productive, artsy, and memorable year!!! πŸ˜‰

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

1-Year Post Bariatric Surgery Update!

This is me as a happy girl today!! ;-)

This is me as a happy girl today!! πŸ˜‰

Good evening!

Yep! That’s right! As of today, it has been exactly one year since I had my gastric bypass surgery, and I thought it might be the perfect time to give you my weight loss update!

As of today, I have officially lost 99 point something pounds since April 2012, and 59 of those pounds have been since my gastric bypass surgery on September 4th, 2012. I say 99 point something, because I actually can’t remember the exact number that my surgeon said! All I remember hearing was 99 pounds. YEAH! ME!!! πŸ˜‰

I have been reminded by my nutritionist that I am still eating waaaaay to many carbs, and I am almost 40 grams of protein short every day. OUCH!!

I also know that getting in 64 ounces of liquid a day has been the bane of my existence, and I am not sure I have EVER been able to get that much water in since my surgery. When your stomach is the size of 2 or 3 ounces, and you can’t drink within 30 minutes of eating, it really limits how effectively you can get your fluids in!

I also really need to step up my exercise routine!! I just need to push myself harder, and spend less time sitting on my keister!! πŸ˜‰

SOOOOOO…

long story short, I have got A LOT of room for improvement!!

They also showed me a chart that proves that I am losing on the slooooooow track. and for some reason my physician thinks I am having a love affair with pizza – I really am not, but the last two times I had seen her, I had just happened to have pizza the previous evenings!! Which just also happens to be the only two times I have had pizza in the past three months! Sheesh!!

To say I left my appointment today feeling a bit defeated is an understatement, but I was reminded by my girl friends, and my sweetie that I have still come a LOOOOOONG way baby!! and I know it is true, but to put it out to the universe in writing, I decided to share a list that I had created months before surgery.

This is a list of all of the physical goals I had written to myself in May of 2012. Basically, this is the if-I-could-do-anything-after-weight-loss-surgery-this-would-be-my-dream-list:

  1. Jog a mile non-stop – DONE!
  2. Cross my legs – DONE!
  3. Touch my toes with knees unbent – DONE!
  4. Ride my bike for a half an hour straight
  5. Run up two flights of stairs without getting winded – DONE!
  6. Wear high heels without pain – DONE!
  7. Run a 5k – DONE!
  8. Fit into a bathtub – DONE!
  9. Sit Indian-style in a movie theatre seat – DONE!
  10. Be able to sit with my knees up against my chest – DONE!
  11. Be able to use the chair-tables in the auditorium – DONE!
  12. Be able to fit into a restaurant booth – DONE!
  13. Hike the longest trail at Silver Creek Falls – DONE!
  14. Weigh less than when I first met Jason, when I was 18 – DONE!
  15. Slip into a size-14 again – DONE!
  16. Not be the first one tired on an all-day shopping excursion – DONE!
  17. Get rid of the dreaded C-pap machine – DONE!
  18. Be able to ride cowgirl-style in my favorite evening activity! πŸ˜‰ – DONE!

 

I actually hadn’t remember that I had written that list, but I have to tell you once I found it and realized that I have done EVERY SINGLE thing on this list except one (only because I haven’t tried it yet), and that was #4 Ride my bike for a half an hour straight, and I am sure at this point, I could TOTALLY do it!! πŸ™‚

So, I am going to consider this a success thus far!!

Starting tomorrow, I am back on the straight and narrow, and my goal is to lose 30 more pounds within the next 6 months! WOULDN’T THAT BE AWESOME???? But the reality is, that if I never lost another single ounce from today, my life and my future is ALREADY better than it would have been 100 pounds ago!!! πŸ˜‰ I have to keep in mind how good life is right this minute!! πŸ˜‰

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! πŸ˜‰

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

Our First Official 5K!

Good evening!

I would normally wait until tomorrow to post this since it is already so late this evening, but I am just too excited to wait to share our fun news!

Tonight my sweetie and I ran the Willamette Valley Road Runners Salem Summer Solstice 5K at Minto Brown Park here in Salem! πŸ™‚

Instead of sharing all of the juicy details in just words, I thought I would share the pics that my sweetie and I accumulated this evening! πŸ™‚

5k 1This is my sweetie, who was soooooo excited to get to complete his first official 5K that it was hard to get him to not speed the whole way to the park!! I was impressed that I got him to hold still for this picture – he was practically jumping out of his skin with excitement!! πŸ™‚

5k 2I would like to tell you that I was as excited as Jason, but in all honesty, I was here under protest! I was tired, I had already done almost three miles this morning, and it was less than an hour a way from my normal bedtime – not to mention, I was worried that I would either not be able to completed the course, or I would fall and make a complete fool of myself!! But, not to be left in Jason’s dust, I was determined to run the 5K too! πŸ™‚

5k 3THIS is what he came for!! He wanted a NUMBER SOOOOOO BADLY!!! Can you see on his face how happy he is??? It is good to see him this happy!! πŸ˜‰

5k 4Yep! I got one too!! πŸ˜‰

5k 5I was more excited about the electronic tracking devices that they gave us to wear on our shoes! They measure your times as you cross the start and finishing lines! They were pretty nifty!! πŸ˜‰

5k 6There were sooooo many people! That fact just jazzed Jason more, and made me more terrified, but I was excited to see if I could spot some new peeps in this crowd!! πŸ™‚

5k 7They had all of the participants broken out into two crowds. The first was the 10K runners (next year, love, we will definitely be in that group!!), and here you can see those guys just taking off!!! Us 5K-ers took off about 5 minutes later!! πŸ™‚

5k 8Jason caught me coming across the finishing line!! I was so tired. There were times that I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to push through, but there were little kids passing me up, and I knew I just had to keep going!!! I was excited, however, because I had ran my fasted mile this evening, and that was a 10 minute mile – I couldn’t even do that when I was in high school, and my fastest in the last couple of months was a 13 minute mile!! I am calling that PROGRESS BABY!!!Β  πŸ˜‰

???????????????????????????????I practically collapsed into Jason’s sweaty arms as soon as I spotted him!! I have never been so happy to see him again!! πŸ˜‰

5k 10Jason is such a stud!!! He beat my time by about 10 minute – HE RAN THE WHOLE THING!!! I am just sooooo proud of him!! He TRULY is my HERO!!! πŸ˜‰

5k 11After the run, the organizer had a ice cream sundae bar for all of the participants, and although I couldn’t eat very much, Jason was very VERY happy to enjoy almost his whole sundae!!! He knew he had earned EVERY SINGLE SPRINKLE!!! πŸ˜‰

5k 12Tonight was such an AMAZING night!! One that I am sure neither one of us are sure to forget!! I really am proud of us!! I can’t wait to see what hurdle we tackle next!! πŸ˜‰

Here is to a VERY FABULOUS EVENING!! πŸ˜‰

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

 

A Weight Loss Progress Update!

???????????????????????????????Good evening!

I thought I would just stop rather quickly this evening and give you all an update on how my weight loss progress has been going!! Since April of 2012, I have lost a total of 105 pounds. For the past couple of months I have been fluctuating between a loss of 102 pounds and 106 pounds lost in total!! So….with that in mind, I take body measurements every week. I measure my neck, underbust, waist, hips, right thigh, right calf, right bicep, and right forearm, and so far I have lost 50 inches in total! To me, that is more astounding that the 105 pound loss, in all honesty!! πŸ™‚

My actual pounds lost is still going really slowly, but, and this a BIG BUT, my sweetie and I have started running most every morning!! We run a couple of loops in our neighborhood, one is very hilly and extremely difficult, and the other is hilly but a little more rolling hill in nature, AKA easier!! This has been really exciting to me, because what started out taking me 40 minutes to complete, now takes me about 32 minutes to complete. I can feel myself getting stronger and my recovery time is much faster than it has ever been. I am starting to get a taste of what being fit actually feels like – and let me tell you…all of the hard work is sooooo worth it!! πŸ˜‰

???????????????????????????????

Not only have we been running, but this past weekend my sweetie, and one of our nieces and nephews went on a 10 mile hike out at Silver Creek Falls, and let me tell you, that was NO SMALL FEAT!!! In all honesty, I was so surprised that I was able to do it that I almost cried when we got back to the car!! Who knew how much life I was actually missing being 330 pounds??? All I can keep saying is that life is so good. LIFE IS SOOOOO VERY VERY GOOD!!! πŸ˜‰

My sweetie was so inspired by our hike that even thought we were dog tired by the time we got home, my sweetie started looking for a 5k to get us signed up for, that very evening!! So, without my knowledge or consent, he has us signed up for a 5K run tomorrow evening!! LOL!! I say that jokingly because on one hand I was like, “hey, you wanna make sure I’m game before you go throwing my name in the ring???” but then again, I am pretty excited about running a 5K with him. I have run an unofficial 5K already, but I am going to do it again, because my sweetie doesn’t feel like he can cross this off of his life list until he has an official number from his run (you know the kind of number that you wear when in a race??) Well, that is what he wants, and so here we are!!

Life is good!! I know we are both feeling better than we have at any time in either our twenties or thirties (up to now), and I just couldn’t imagine ever going back to where we started from!!!

By the way, these pictures that I have posted this evening are just two of a plethora of pics I took while out on our hike! I will have a BUNCH more pictures from our hike posted hopefully in the next day or so! So stay tuned!! πŸ™‚

With that, here’s to a VERY FABULOUS evening!! πŸ˜‰

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

Random Post Monday!

CrownGood evening!

This post is for my sister Alex!! Thank you for encouraging me to get back out there and hop back on my own bandwagon!!! I love you girrrrrl!!! πŸ˜‰

I know it has been a while since I have last posted anything! I would love to tell you that I have been off accomplishing some great dream that I have been sworn to secrecy about, but really, I have just been keeping busy. Very busy!

Besides trying to get my literal house in order, I have been spending a lot of time getting my mental, physical, and financial house in order.Β  I have been spending a lot of time reading, working, walking, jogging, spending time with close friends, and seriously doing some more reading!

For those of you who may have followed my blog for quite some time, you may remember me saying that I have a lot of books, and when I say a lot, I mean A LOT of books. Over 2000 at last count, which was quite a while ago (soΒ  I am sure there has got to be WAAAAY more than that by now!!!)!! It has come to my attention that we have way too much stuff in our little condo, and even though we have been cleaning out and purging, it just still never seems to be less stuff! Part of the problem, at least in my mind, is that there is really nothing to do in this little po-dunk ofΒ  a town that we live in. You either walk the parks, which can be quite nice when the weather is cooperating, eat at restaurants that my sweetie and I now have a difficult time eating at, or you go shopping, so naturally I have usually chosen shopping! This can and is a problem!! I have decided that for a while I will have to start shopping my house whenever I feel the need for something new, because inevitably I am sure to find something I didn’t know that I had in the first place!! Right now, that has been “shopping for books”. I have read probably 4 or 5 books over the last 3 weeks, and it is quite startling because they were REALLY GOOD books and I didn’t even know that I had them on hand.

I realize I am rambling, but I think this is what happens when you don’t spend enough time with your inner dialog. When you finally do tap into it, it just kind of bursts out of you!! At least that is where all of this randomness seems to be coming from right now. So bear with me, I am sure that once I get it all out, when I blog again in a day or two, my thoughts should be more cohesive!! I hope!! πŸ˜‰

What else? Well, in the last week or so my sweetie and I have started jogging every morning! I have this ginormous life list that I want to tackle, and one of those things is to run a mile (that is without stopping/walking/passing out/or kicking the bucket!!). Well, after walking jogging the hills in my neighborhood for the past week, my sweetie and I decided that we should go to one of our local tracks and try a measured jog to see if I could go at least one mile!! Well, I was ABSOLUTELY SHOCKED when not only could I jog a full mile, I actually jogged an entire THREE MILES STRAIGHT!!!! Who would have ever thought I would actually be able to do this, once seemingly impossible task???? Well, apparently ME!!! πŸ˜‰ To make this whole walking/jogging/running thing work, we have to get up an extra half an hour early, which means we are up and at em at 5 am, every morning!! but, really, it is sooooo worth it!!! For as long as I can remember, I would see women jogging along the street, and I would always mention to my husband, “man, I want to be one of those women!” (you know healthy, vivacious, alive???) Well, I can see that women in me starting to come out into the world! I really am learning to LOVE HER!!! πŸ˜‰ She is much stronger and braver than I could have ever imagined, and she is quite balls-ey!! Who knew????

Getting up so early means that we are also going to bed as if we were an old 90 year old couple nowadays too, but it is worth it! Don’t bother calling the house after 8 PM, we are probably sleeping our little heads off, but don’t worry Jason and I are truly happier than we have ever been!!!

My sweetie is working like a fiend, six days a week now that his busy season is picking back up again, (hence all of my reading time!!) but he is happy being so productive, and I am seriously proud of all of the work he is doing! He is remodeling interiors and exteriors, and I have always known how good he is at what he does, but I am still so pleasantly surprised when I see him doing his thing – it makes me proud to be able to call him “my husband”!! Have I mentioned that life is good???

Well, it is!!

One last piece of news before I log off for the evening, and that is that my second to youngest sister, Jennifer, is going to have her first baby in December!! I am so EXCITED for her, and can not wait to meet my new little niece or nephew and start spoiling the heck out of him or her!!!! Isn’t that what favorite aunties are for???? I am thinking that us sisters may have to go to Women of Faith again this year – the next time we will have the opportunity is when the new baby is a bit older, unless we can talk Uncle Jay-Jay into babysitting for the weekend????? That could be fun for both my “child”, and Jennifer’s – HEE! HEE!!

Anyway, that is enough rambling for one night!!!

Until I see you again!!

Have a FABULOUS evening! πŸ™‚

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