Category Archives: Motivation

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

Chunky Dunkers is a weekly weight loss/get fit support group that meet here online every Wednesday evening to get the opportunity to comment, and cheer each other as you each go through your journey to get fit and healthy!!! We will discuss hints, tips, and ideas on losing weight, staying motivated, and achieving your fitness goals, whether that is to lose 5 pounds, to do 10 sit-ups, or just incorporate some healthy habits into your daily life!!

As always, everyone and anyone is welcome to join us, or you may feel free to just quietly follow along. I look forward to hearing about all of your successes!

Let me give you a quick progress of my week! I have lost the pound and a half that I had put on last week – YEAH!! It is amazing how that small number seems to make such a big difference in how I feel about what I am doing. Besides walking, and one night of swimming, I really haven’t done much of my regualr exercise routines! I skipped belly dancing and Zumba so far this week. I have been nursing some knee pain, and then twisted my ankle so am working through that! Jason has been doing a great job at cooking some really delicious and healthy food! It has made our week of healthy eating much easier!!

Anyway, the topic for conversation this evening:

What 5 things would you do if you knew that you could not fail???

Give that some thought, I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments section above!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

Swim Night with the Kiddies!

Good evening!

Tonight Jason and I had some very special visitors this evening. Nette, Megan, and Morgan came over to join Jason and I swimming this evening. We used to have swimming nights once a week, and we got out of that habit quite a few months ago, and it was nice to swim with them again!

We started out by having grilled hot-dogs together with baked beans, and Jason even got the kids puffed Cheetos – how fun!! We impatiently waited the recommended half hour before we went to the pool, and I was sure that Morgan was just going to bust a gut having to be patient to get there!! 😉

When we did finally get there, the pool was insanely-cold, so that part wasn’t too much fun, but it was fun playing with the kiddos, and hanging out in the not-too-hot-for-once hot-tub was pretty lovely. Jason and Morgan had fun making each other fall into the freezing cold water, that while I was enjoying the hot tub, all I could hear was Jason and Morgan both squealing with laughter!! 😉 Which is quite a happy noise to listen too!!

The kids were very excited that when we got done swimming they were going to get an ice cream sandwich. Morgan was impressed that his ice cream sandwich had THREE flavors in it – it was a Neapolitan!!! 😉 He just kept saying, “Look! It has more than one kind in it!” Too cute!!! 😉

As you can see, Morgan was almost completely done in by the time they were getting ready to go home, but then again, I think we all were!! All-in-all, we really did have a great visit! I am not sure when we will get the opportunity again, but I sure do hope it is soon!! I really love these kiddos (Nette included!)!!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

NOTE TO CHUNKY DUNKERS: Don’t forget, we are on for tomorrow evening around 7 – I will see you here!!! 😉

Monday Night Date Night!

Good evening!

Jason and I have been having some trouble getting some quality time together, so to make up for it, we decided that we would do a Monday night date, and man did we ever have fun!!

First thing we did was head over to the Wild Pear downtown to have some dinner. Jason introduced me to their French Dipped sandwich, and OOH-WEE!!! That was soooo good!! The au jus was SIMPLY LIP-SMACKINGLY GOOD!!!

Jason was patient enough to let me stop and take a bunch of pictures of this bank, which just also happens to be my favorite building downtown. I will make sure to share those pictures tomorrow. What I do want to make sure I point out today is just how LOVELY this purse is that Jason is carrying – it just brings out his eyes!! HAHAHAHA!! What a good hubbie!! 😉

There are so many beautiful little hidey-holes downtown that are absolutely PERFECT for taking a nice picture in!! Jason is standing next to a gigantic vine arbor that grows inside one of the alleyways downtown! I just LOVE how beautiful it is, and isn’t my sweetie so adorable?? Man, I really love that man!! 😉

After walking a little ways, we ran across Jason’s FAVORITE coffee shop. Unfortunately it has closed, and Jason is still really blue about it!! It really was a cool little place, it is a shame that it closed!! 🙁

Oh, but onto brighter news!!! Jason and I happened to be walking by the Pentacle Theatre’s ticket office, and we decided to go inside and see what was playing this Friday.

We saw that it was “The Underpants” written by Steve Martin, one of our favorite funny men, so Jason and I picked up tickets for this Friday night! We both are SOOOO EXCITED, and just CAN’T WAIT!! 😉

Next Jason and I stopped to get something cool to drink together and while we were just chatting it up, I realized that I had lost his attention. “UHMM… helllooooo! I am up here!”

Oh, yes! That is right Mr. Man – you have SOOOO TOTALLY been caught!! LOL!!

We had such a nice time this evening – we really needed that! We both have been spending so much time taking care of others that we somehow forgot that we both need to be tending to each other too!! So, we are making a concerted effort to make sure that we are doing just that – and man, what a GREAT TIME we are having too!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

Gratitude!

Good evening!

Jason and I had a long garage sale today, on a day that was much too hot to be standing in the sun all day, and with not much foot traffic. We are both very tired and ready to close the house down for the evening! So, I am going to try and keep this post nice and short.

First, I thought I would start with an update from yesterday’s post. I am happy to say that Jason and I are doing much better today. One of our friends said to me, “17 years is a lot of one-day-at-a-times”.

It was what I needed to hear.

Somehow Jason and I had forgotten that every relationship is about dealing with the one-day-at-a-times, and not clumping all of the would-a, should-a, could-a’s and lobbing them at each other.

With that reminder, the decision has been made. We are going to do our best and work it out. At the end of the day, the scale tips much heavier towards good days than bad, and we are going to chalk yesterday up to one of the not so pleasant days. I know that we will both be missing out on A LOT of happy tomorrows together, if either one of us give up now. So, for us, we decided that we weren’t going to let walking away from each other be an option – we have been through too much to let all of this go because, in a moment of exhaustion, we argued about something petty! (and in all honesty, I don’t even remember what started it!)

Before I leave you this evening, I wanted to say “thank you”. Truly. The outpouring of love, prayer, and support that Jason and I have received has been overwhelming. I am so thankful that we have the kind of support group that seems to just come from everywhere to stand by us, laugh with us, cry with us, pray with us, and simply love us. For all of the words of encouragement we have received from friends, and family within the last 24 hours, I am truly grateful! I truly hope that we can return the favor some day when you are needing a pick me up!!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Tonight, I can HONESTLY say…

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

Motivated!

Good evening!

This morning I stumbled across this quote that I haven’t been able to get out of my mind all day.

“What you can do or dream you can do, begin it, boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
~Johann von Goethe

There are so many odd projects laying around the house that seriously need my attention, and I know that I need to spend time crossing each one off of my list! But, right now, the big project is Jason and I are participating in a large garage sale this Saturday. This is the perfect opportunity to clear out a lot of the miscellaneous stuff that in all honesty Jason and I haven’t seen in years!! We spent a few hours this evening going through boxes, and it was so energizing to let go of all of that old stuff. It is true what they say about stuff literally weighing you down, mentally! I am learning to believe that is true.

Ok, confession time!! I might be just a bit of a shop-a-holic (ok, Jay, stop laughing!!). Ok, I’ve said it!! I don’t think I go too crazy money-wise because I pay myself first, pay all of my bills, I have a nice retirement fund and a savings account, but where I think it is really starting to hurt me is in my living space. We live in such a small condo, and it seems that no matter how much stuff I have leaving this place, I just seem to fill the new space with almost twice as much stuff! (That might be a slight exaggeration, but I am sure not by much!)

My biggest areas I have problems with this is books, and fashion!! I can’t pass up a good book, ESPECIALLY if I can find it for a FABULOUS price! and ANYTIME I find a cute dress, or other clothing item that makes me feel good, I just snatch it up – and sometimes in multiple colors!!! This is really starting to become a problem! I would like to tell you that I could stop anytime I want too, but I find that I use shopping to sometimes fill a void that I can sometimes feel in myself. Like something I am needing and I am hoping a certain book, or a certain top will somehow fill it. Crazy, I know! I hear myself saying it, and just think,

“SNAP OUT OF IT GIRL!!!”

Sad, I know!! I am hoping that our garage sale this weekend will really help me make a serious dent in all of the “STUFF”!! I am a little nervous that I am going to be making my hubbies head spin by how fast and how much stuff is leaving this house! I am being seriously RUTHLESS in what goes and what stays!! If we haven’t even seen in since we moved in here 5 years ago, why the heck do we have it still!! Now, there are some memorabilia that I have a different set of rules for, but for the most part, that only pertains to things like cards, and photos, which don’t take up a lot of room in this house!! Thankfully!!

And, if my sweetie and I are going to stay in this condo a few more years, then I owe it to the both of us to make every effort to turn it into our home, and not just a stopping point – like a sad hotel!! Now, a GLAMOROUS HOTEL??? I am SOOO there for that, but not what we have been living in up to this point!!

Also, I have realized today, that I have so much extra home decor and what nots that I could actually start an online home boutique. Don’t think I am not seriously contemplating that either!! That has always been one of my dreams, and this quote above is making me thinking that I just need to get brave, and open my own boutique!! How cool would that be??!!

Oh to dream out loud!!

That would be BLISS!!!

Anyway, I am going to head up to bed for the night, and dream of my new clutter free home!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! 😉

Chunky Dunker Night!

Good evening!

I am the type of person that has always been on the lookout for signs. I am a firm believer that there are signs all over the place telling you what direction to go next, you just have to know how to spot them. Well, today, I have been noticing signs all over the place about not giving up on your goals. I really needed to hear that today! Today I recommit myself to focusing on my top 4 goals, one of which is getting fit and healthy, which is why I bring this up tonight – on Chunky Dunker night!

Chunky Dunker, for those of you who may not know is a weekly weight loss/get fit support group that meet here online every Wednesday evening to get the opportunity to comment, and cheer each other as you each go through your journey to get fit and healthy!!! We will discuss hints, tips, and ideas on losing weight, staying motivated, and achieving your fitness goals, whether that is to lose 5 pounds, to do 10 sit-ups, or just incorporate some healthy habits into your daily life!!

As always, everyone and anyone is welcome to join us, or you may feel free to just quietly follow along. I look forward to hearing about all of your successes!

As for my week, I have done alright – not as good as I did last week, but I have been nursing a slight knee injury that seems to have knocked me for a little bit of a loop. Not to worry, I am going to get back into the swing of things by hitting the pool a couple of more times this week, especially since the thermostat is rising, and ANY way to keep cool, is good enough reason for me!! I haven’t actually lost any more weight, but I am dropping inches; and besides occasionally burning my candle at both ends, so to speak, I am feeling pretty peppy!! 😉

Well, that is enough about me this evening! I can’t wait to hear how all of you are doing! I will meet you in the comments section!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

A Random Sunday!

Good evening!

I have come to the point in my book-loving life that I have too many books, and not enough time to read them all! Not to mention, some of them were given to me and I have NO idea what they are even about. I need to get two comfortable reading chairs and place them in my living room so that I can get some more reading time squeezed into my days! All of my friends and family think that I read all of the time, but really, I only read about 1/2 an hour before bed every evening. I wonder if that fact would surprise any of them??

Well, Jason and I are getting ready for our association’s annual garage sale, which is coming up this weekend, so I am doing my part to help get rid of any miscellaneous things in the house. Apparently Jason is going to be placing a whole TON of his things from his storage unit out for sale, which will be good, I think! When Jason and I lived in the old house, we used to hold 2 or 3 garage sales every Summer, so keep the plethora of belongings at bay was much easier than it is now!!

I have been dreaming about our farm that we hope to have some day. I have made an appointment with my mortgage broker for this Tuesday to find out what kind of options I have for either getting out of our condo, or refinancing so that we can pay a lower mortgage payments every month. I haven’t refinanced for the last three years, and I know my credit score has gone up, and interested rates have gone down. SO, hopefully I will hear SOMETHING good!! just as long as she doesn’t tell me that we will be stuck in this condo for the next 10 years – UGH!!! 😉

As for today? Well, Jason and I started early this morning, with the stereo playing some happy music to make our chores a little more fun!! I just LOVE having a clean house!! Then I had pulled out my mother’s no-bake cookie recipe that I had misplaced, but found this week, and decided to surprise Jason by making him a batch of those. They are so much easier than I remember, and still DELICIOUS!! Needless to say he was PLEASANTLY surprised!!! 😉

So, tonight, I am going to finish going through some of my books, set out an outfit for tomorrow. Oh, on a side note, I have to text Chris (one of my co-workers) every morning to make sure that she and I are not wearing the same thing – it happens a lot!!! 😉 So, I have started to setting out my clothes every evening, so that I am ready at a moments notice if I have to change anything!! LOL!! What we do for our friends!! 😉 and then I am going to climb into my freshly made bed this evening and catch up on a little reading before I fall to sleep!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! 😉

PS: By the way, all of these pictures were taken by me while my sweetie and I were having our morning breakfast of steel cut oats – YUM!! 😉

Drive in the Country!

Good afternoon!

My sweetie and I had the very fun excursion out today!

Well, where to begin? I woke up early this morning, and I spent some quiet time reading my favorite blogger magazine. It got me inspired to go out and take some pictures, and so I talked to my sweetie and we rounded up the girls, and we all went out for a ride out through the countryside.

I thought it would be fun to share some pictures of our outing with you!

The first thing we did was that we decided to head out towards farmland so that we could day dream about our little farm that we hope to have someday!! I think Jason is thinking actual farm, and I am thinking a large cottage with a small plot of land to go with it, but this drive helped use verbalize some of each of our dreams and wishes for our dream home!

This farm was my absolute FAVORITE of the day! I could completely see us refurbishing this one and moving right in. Well, minus the two bulls that were in the front yard – EEK!! 😉 If we ever have any animals, besides dogs, we agree that we could handle chickens – WE THINK! 😉

One of my favorite things about the country is all of the different textures that nature has to offer! It is like an amazingly intricate quilt! I am just in awe of God’s amazing-ness!!

I love that these homes are all tucked far from the road, and a distance from each other! I bet you could run around naked outside here in the evening, and no one would even know it. Ok, maybe not me, I am neon white after all. I am sure that I would look like a crazy, fat beacon running like a crazy-person in the night!!! Wouldn’t that be a sight??? LOL! 😉

Isn’t this vineyard just lovely? The Pacific Northwest is becoming known for their wineries!! and even though this isn’t the berry orchard that Jason and I dream of, there is a small part of us that think a little vineyard would be very romantic too!! 😉

Aren’t the cherries just picture perfect??? I picked these up at a little farmer’s market while we were out on our drive!

Here is one of those bulls I was telling you about earlier. My sweetie was brave enough to take a picture of for me. (I ran back and locked myself into the car!!) I was sure that if I got too close to the fence that it would somehow break through the fence and bite me or something!! LOL!! Jason and I both got a good laugh over that one!!! (but secretly I’m still a little sacred!) 😉 I didn’t want the bulls to get angry, thinking we were stalker-paparazzi or something!! 😉

This wheat wasn’t swaying in the breeze AT ALL!! I have never seen wheat hold SO STILL before!! I had a moment of, “Wouldn’t it be fun to run through this wheat field?” Until Jason reminded me of snakes. “Hmmmmm….no thank you!!” (How exactly am I going to make it out in the country??? 😉

The day was hot, clear, and absolutely BEAUTIFUL! 😉 These small purple flowers practically sparkled under the noon-day sky! I just HAD to stop and snap a picture!! 🙂

Here was my second favorite farm house of the day!! It looks like it needs some love, and I am sure it is haunted!! My friend, Chris, swears that all old buildings are haunted, and I am SURE she MUST be right about this one!!! 😉 Even though, it is still a very pretty haunted house!!! 😉

These colors are just so vivid, this rich, lush green against this deep blue sky. It was quite spectacular!!

Oh, and to top of our lovely drive, Jason took me to this little farmer’s market, that I had never been to before, and they had the most delectable strawberry shortcakes! They were sinfully delicious, made with ice cream. I had never had a strawberry shortcake made with ice cream before! and the fresh strawberries just finished this perfect desert off! They were pure goodness!! YUM!!

Man, what a GREAT day!! I had so much fun visiting with my sweetie, seeing the great outdoors, all while hanging with my girls!! I can’t wait to see what we do tomorrow to beat the heat!! I will keep you posted!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

Tonight is Chunky Dunker night, and I have been looking forward to this night all week!! I post a new Chunky Dunker’s post every Wednesday evening, and you will have the opportunity to comment, and cheer each other as you each go through your journey to get fit and healthy!!! We will discuss hints, tips, and ideas on losing weight, staying motivated, and achieving your fitness goals, whether that is to lose 5 pounds, to do 10 sit-ups, or just incorporate some healthy habits into your daily life!!

I am happy to report that I have been working out, eating MOSTLY healthy, drinking my water, and am working on getting my sleeping back in check again! I did hit a small patch of roughness today, when I had a pretty stressful day at work, so I had asked my sweetie to make me some comfort food this evening, but IT WAS SO WORTH IT!!! Yum! 😉

I am just plugging along on my posts, and I even have an idea on putting up some random tutorials on how to do all different kinds of things like beauty, fashion, gardening, decorating, and other miscellaneous hints to help you, and me, turn your house into a home! I would love to hear your thoughts on that, in the comments section above!!

Anyway, let’s get this show on the road, and I will see you in the comments section for Chunky Dunker’s night!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉