Category Archives: Motivation

Random Thoughts for the Day!

Good evening!

To say that I am tired is quite the understatement. I am zonked, pooped, spent, drowsy, lethargic, sleepy, drained, bushed, wasted, stale, exhausted, weary, beat, haggard!! In other words I am ready for a breather!!! 😉

My sweetie has totally made my day this evening! He new that I was having a long day, and when I got home today, I was pleasantly surprised to see that not only did he make dinner tonight, he even set the table nicely and we had a nice dinner together!!! I know you guys must be so sick of hearing this, but I am really SO IN LOVE with my husband!! He is SUCH a KEEPER!!! 😉

Ok, so what has been going on with me?? Well, I am still doing my morning pages from The Artist’s Way. I am into week 4 now, and I REALLY DO SWEAR BY THEM!! I can’t ever imagine me not doing them again!! By clearing the “clutter” and negative self-talk out of my head, they have helped me tap into a part of myself that I thought was long since dead, and in reality it was just a part of me that I had let go dormant.

In the last four weeks, I know I have really changed a lot. I find that my perception about the world around me has really changed for the better, and I think that those closest to me have been able to see that. I feel like I don’t have to be a doormat any longer, always trying to please my friends and family, although I still like pleasing them, I don’t have to do it at the sake of myself and my own happiness. Now, I am part of the equation.

In the movie Eat, Pray, Love, Julia Robert’s character says something like I have worked so hard to create this life, why can’t I see myself in it. I feel like that really summed up what I had felt about me in my life. Every single thing I have in this life is because I created it. I did the work, I made the sacrifices, and I made it all happen, but why wasn’t I happy. Because I realized that I wasn’t there – I wasn’t represented in my own life, I wasn’t present!! What a wake up call!

Doing my morning pages, writing my thoughts, feelings, emotions, desires, and dreams out on paper for an hour every morning, has helped me get out of my own way, and find out what truly makes me happy! A lot of those things that make me happy now are the same things that made me happy when I was a little kid, and rediscovering that has really opened a world of true joy in my life!!

Some of those things are:

  • Walking barefoot through the grass
  • Playing with my best friend out in the rain
  • Reading a good book while laying upside down in bed
  • Coloring
  • Making something from nothing
  • Racing to the other end of the pool while holding my breath the whole way
  • Making a fort with my sweetie just for the sake of having a fort to play in
  • Trying a new recipe just for myself
  • Laughing so hard with friends that you all end up crying from happiness!!
  • Dancing as if no one is watching
  • Not caring when I realize someone is! 😉

I am learning that it is all these things that bring you back into your own life, it is what is bringing me back into mine. These minor changes have made me excited to get up in the morning, which is a huge change from getting up every morning because I feel obligated to, or it is the responsible thing to do. I also realize the truth in the quote 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.

This has been something that I have been whining to my husband for YEARS!! Why can’t I do what I want to do? When is i t my turn??? By using my Morning Pages, I get it! I FINALLY am understanding that I DO choose! I get to do it right now, and every moment, of every day! That knowledge is what true freedom is all about!! I am so thankful for this book, and my sissy who sent it to me, thank you Alex!! Opportunities are presenting themselves all around me, and all I have to do is be open to trying out new things, and not being afraid to walk down new paths!! So, tonight I am going to take care of myself by having a nice, peaceful and quiet evening, and letting myself fall asleep nice and early!! NOW THAT is what happiness is all about!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

Finally Getting Back to Swimming!!

Good evening!

My family stopped by today for lunch and swimming!! Instead of completely taking the day off, I thought I would share some of the pics that I took today!!

This is our nephew Morgan AKA Little Man!!

This is our Niece Megan, and her new toothless grin! Isn’t she cute??

She is so silly! 😉

This is our nephew, Chris!! I am so glad he held still for this picture – thank you, Chris – you are such a hottie!! 😉

This our nephew, John!!

I know he is hard to see, but this is our nephew, David!

Here are the newlyweds, Michael and Lynette!! 😉

Here is the beloved Uncle Jay-Jay!! 😉

Here is the entire brood!! Apparently I forgot to come out from behind the camera!! 😉

This is what we all really look like!! Having fun!! I just love this group of zany, crazy, people!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

Where Did My Saturday Go???

Good Evening!

I am sitting here wondering where my Saturday has gone??? It just seems to have flown by! Not that it wasn’t a good day, mind you, just a racing one!

This morning I got up first thing and did my morning pages, and then I did some of my weekly reading in My Artist’s Way book. I had breakfast with my sweetie, and he headed off to help someone move, and I headed over to the art studio to work on my glass piece, which I finished and it should be in the kiln even as we speak, and I have been told that it should be done and ready for pick up by tomorrow. I can’t wait to see it!!! 😉

On my way back home, I decided to swing by the Goodwill near my house, and picked up 5 books, 2 dresses and a sweater poncho thingie – I am not sure what else to call that! Go figure! I really need to sop swinging by there!! I found the two cutest dresses there, that I am just ABSOLUTELY excited that I had found!! I got both of them for less than $20, which makes the finds even more SA-WHEET!!

Oh, it is getting so late, so I am going to cut this short, and head up to bed.

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

An Afternoon of Living Life!

Good afternoon!!

Before I head out the door to go back to the art studio, Create a Memory, to work some more on my glass fuse project, I thought I would stop and organize my thoughts a little bit, not only for this weekend,but for the week.

As you may have noticed, I have started tracking my food, and sharing my daily eats out here with you for the past two days! In looking at what I have been eating, I realize I need to do a more diligent job of making sure that I have plenty of healthy foods on hand, so that I can do better at avoiding the candy jar at work, and make sure that I am not purchasing food from the work cafeteria. Now, please don’t get me wrong, the food is delicious, BUT I don’t know what is in it, AND when nothing sounds good I get fried chicken strips and fries! DEFINITELY NOT health food!!! I am asking my body to be so much more physical than it has in a while, and I just need to make sure that I am getting it the nutrients it needs so that it can stay powered up for me to keep going!! AND for every pound I move, all movement is just going to get easier and easier, and I will be able to lesson my knee, ankle and foot pain!!! So, I don’t know if you just heard the Rocky sound track going on in my head, but it just did and it is BLARING!! 🙂 It is reminding me to get out there and MAKE it happen!! Anyone have any chickens I can chase??? 😉

So, today, I need to create our week’s menu for breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and all snacks, then I am heading over to Create a Memory and I will be over there for a few hours, working on my glass project. Next I will head over to the grocery store and pick up needed groceries to meet our menu’s needs, and then I am going to come back put it all way, and make my way over to our pool!! I haven’t dipped in a couple of weeks, and that is my second FAVORITE workout, second to belly dancing, of course!!! (Walking is my third favorite, just in case you were wondering, and biking is fourth!!)

Also, I want to make sure that I share this quote that I found this morning, as I was doing some early morning reading,

“Chance is always powerful.
Let your hook be always cast;
in the pool where you least expect it,
there will be a fish.”
~Ovid

This quote really seemed to be fitting as I am out there trying to feel my way to my art medium, and it reminded me to keep looking. Even if you think that something is not what you want, try it anyway, you just might find that it is EXACTLY what you have been looking for!! POIGNANT!!

Anyway, I will try and post again this evening!!! My day is not complete unless I am able to get a post out at least once a day, but I prefer twice!! not only to stay in touch with you, but to stay in touch with myself too!! I am learning that that is VERY IMPORTANT!!!

Have a FABULOUS afternoon!!

A Night Playing With Glass!

Good evening!

Tonight Jason and I had a special date night, a date where we went and learned all about glass fusing/slumping! We went down to Create a Memory here in Salem, Oregon, and for a mere $25 you got a intimate 2 hour class where you learn everything and anything you could ever need to know about this fun art! I would highly recommend this class. They let you design your very own 4X4 art piece which is included in the cost of the class, but they let you design larger pieces for a nominal fee more. So, I chose to do a 6″ x 6″ piece and it only cost me $10 more! They don’t care how long you take to actually put your art piece together, so since Jason and my design was so intricate, I am going to head over there tomorrow to work on it a little more!!

Plus Create a Memory is actually a pottery painting place where you can purchase pottery pieces, and paint them, and the studio will fire them for you, so they have TONS of choices for that kind of stuff! That project might be next!!!

As much fun as this class is, I am still not sure if it is my medium, yet. I know that I will feel it in my bones when I discover my artist medium, and so far, this is fun, but it is a little tedious, and I am not sure if that is too destressing for me!! 😉 HOWEVER, with that said, I cannot WAIT to see my finished piece, I think glass is just DAZZLING, and I really LOVE the colors that I have chosen for myself!! 😉

Here is Jason’s unfinished piece:

His is so zen, REALLY!! I know that might be hard for some of you to believe, but zen is a word that really can describe my Jason to a T! He is Mr. Laid back, easy going, outdoorsy guy! He sometimes AMAZES me though with his art, I forget that he has a whole creative side of himself that I don’t get to see him tap in to too often, but when I do, his work is quite indicative of who he is as a person!! I STILL LOVE that man!!! 😉

Here is my unfinished piece:

My inspiration was quilting squares, so I divided mine up into quarters and I am doing 2 quarters in this similar pattern, and I am going to try to create a plaid type pattern with the other 2 quarters. We will see, I am not exactly sure how I can do that, but I am optimistic!!! 😉

I will definitely make sure to take after pictures once they are finished. We are told that these small pieces only take an hour in the kiln to fire and cool, so HOPEFULLY I can get mine done tomorrow, so that I can share my handiwork!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! 😉

NOTE TO CHUNKY DUNKERS: I have belly danced for a half an hour today, I had a mini ham sandwich on a whole wheat english muffin for breakfast, a yogurt for a snack later, a mini dum-dum sucker, and a bite size crunch bar for snack. Had chicken strips and some fries for lunch, and dinner was a large salad, with a side of baked chicken breast, and a diet A&W. I see that around lunchtime is when I start to have problems! Still not my best day, but a little better than yesterday, so I am ok with that! 😉

Belly Dancing Night!

Good evening!

I’m here! I’m here! I am sorry, I had forgotten that my e-mail account was hacked into a couple of days ago and it broke my connection to my Blackberry, so I wasn’t able to blog today like I had wanted to. To make it up to you, I will make this one a little long to tell you about all the things going on with my day!!

I did not get a post up this morning, I was running around like a buzy bee trying to get out the door in time this morning! I am not sure why but time seemed to pass really quickly, and before I new it, I had my flat iron in my hand and it was 7:30! AAAACK!!! 10 minutes AFTER I normally leave for the office!!!

Then by lunch time, my day had completely flipped, and was now going SOOOOOOOOOOOO VEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERY SLOOOOOOOOOOOWLY!! I almost couldn’t stand it!!! 😉 I was soooo jazzed about my belly dancing class tonight – I just wanted to get out there and get to it!! It was supposed to be veil night!

 VEIL NIGHT!!!

WHOO! HOO!!

I mean, come on! What little girl didn’t dream about playing dress up and being a little Indian Girl layered in veils, dancing beautifully, while being adored by her audience??? No? Not you?? Oh, so it was just me then?? Oh. Ok. Man I am so wanting to learn how to do an actual dance, and I realize we are learning all of the kinds of moves you can do so that way when you do put dances together you know what you are doing – BUT, PUT ME IN COACH!! I AM SOOOO READY TO PLAY!!! 😉

My co-workers were SUPER UNDERSTANDING this afternoon, seeing that even the boss wasn’t too into the idea of getting any work done, so they spent a little time talking about all of their plants that are coming up in their vegetable gardens, and I was soooo jealous!! I want a garden too, but that is kind of difficult when you live in a condo. However, they gave me all sorts of ideas on how to grow plants in my own container gardens, or even in small greenhouses that I can use year round! Isn’t that just DIVINE??? Really! I am so inspired! and you HAVE TO KNOW, my hubbie would just LOVE that!!! I can’t wait to tell him all about it!!

After work tonight, I started my artist date with myself and did a lot of walking around downtown, going from craft place to craft place looking for art or craft classes that I could take, and I have to tell you I found quite a bit of them that I am going to look further into. One is an encaustic painting class. I had seen an artist doing that on a craft program some years back and it has always intrigued me, so I put it on my life list! It is the one about painting with wax – that is was encaustic painting it. I also found a quilting class I want to take and a collage class that I am going to take!! They all sounds REALLY FUN and EXCITING! and I am sure they will be, but what I am most excited about is a class that I have signed Jason and I up for tomorrow!! We are going to be taking a glass fusing class at one of our local art studios here in Salem. This is going to be a first for both of us, and I JUST KNOW we are going to have A BLAST!! My co-worker was just SHOCKED that Jason agreed to do this for our date night, but he WAS TOTALLY GAME!!! Jason has a bit of an artistic streak running through him too!! I told you we were MFEO!!! (Made For Each Other!!)

We will do all of our glass cutting/designing/assembling tomorrow evening, and then the studio will kiln fire it for us, and we will pick it up in 7 days! I hope they turn out looking FABULOUS!!! I can’t wait to share pictures!!!

Oh, talking about pictures! I spoke to my belly dancing class mates tonight, and besides myself, the vote for me taking pictures of the class was a RESOUNDING HELL NO!!!

BUMMER!!

I was shocked (doesn’t EVERYONE put there life out on the internet for public perusal??? LOL!), and a little bummed (boo! hiss!), but I will respect the wishes of the class, and refrain from taking , for now! HOWEVER, if we should ever perform, you had better believe that I am going to task Jason to take as many pictures as he is able to, and HONEY I AM SHARING THEM ALL WITH YOU!!! 😉

So, I will be taking pictures of our glass class tomorrow! (I hope that is alright???) and I will share them with you tomorrow! They should be GREAT!!! Until then…

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

NOTE TO CHUNKY DUNKERS: I did 1/2 an hour of walking downtown, and an hour belly dancing class today! I at a strawberry smoothie for breakfast, a small whole wheat english muffin ham sandwich for snack, mini-bite Crunch candy bar, baked carrots, a baked potato with sour cream, and some baked turkey for lunch, a large chocolate chip cookie in the afternoon, and then I had a super healthy chicken, veggies, and rice for dinner! Looking at this, I can see that there is a lot of room for improvement, so I will be conscious and try to do better tomorrow! GO CHUNKY DUNKERS!!!

The Chunky Dunker’s Club, Week 9

Good evening!

Welcome to week 9, of the Chunky Dunker’s Club!! Welcome back to those who join us every week, including those of your who silently follow us, and welcome to those who may be new to my blog this evening.

Every week I post a new Chunky Dunker’s article ever Wednesday evening, and you 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!!

Last week we talked about visualizing your fit, healthy, and vivaciously energetic, most perfect self. This is still one of my favorite exercises because all it takes is closing your eyes, holding still and visualizing yourself as that person. Did you notice anything in yourself that would need to stop or start doing to get to that person in your mind??? I know I did, and still do.

Tonight’s topic: Hitting a Plateau

I am not sure about any of you, but have any of you hit a plateau in your fitness/weight loss goals? I really have!!! I am not sure if it is my lack of motivation, lack of face-to-face support, or if I have just have myself too busy learning to tap back into my creative self, or it could be that I am just sore! Besides my belly dancing class once a week, I really haven’t done much in the way of exercising! BOO! HISS!! I know!! I can’t believe it either!!!

AREN’T I SUPPOSED TO BE OUR SUPPORT GROUP LEADER???
AAAACK!!

Ok, that might be a little melodramatic, I know that I am human just like all of you are too! So, instead of kicking my booty about it, I am hopping back on the bandwagon! I am making my fitness a priority, and I have got to start making healthy eating more of a priority – although I have to say that most of my fruits and vegetables are now organic, so that has got to count for something, I think!?!?! 😉

So, I recommit!

Here is my contract with

you,

but even more importantly, my contract with

myself!

I, Christina, hereby solemnly swear to move my body with some kind of an aerobic activity for at least 1/2 an hour every day.

I, Christina, also vow to make sure that I carry a small journal with me at all times so that I can write down whatever I eat or drink, no matter how horrific or terrifying my food choice is at the time. I will not berate myself for what I write, but will use the log as a learning tool to do better next week.

I, Christina, will treat myself nicely, gently, and lovingly, as if I were my own best friend. I will keep an eye on my self-talk to make sure that I remind myself that I am happy, I am blessed, and I am healthy, because I deserve it.

I, Christina, will remember that this process is a journey, and not a destination; that once I hit my ideal weight/size, that life doesn’t stop there. This is about living and loving life to it’s fullest, and looking for ways that I can be a blessing to those around me every day!

Signed & Dated this Wednesday, April 27, 2011, at 6:00 pm.

Do you need to make a contract with yourself?? If so, that is your homework!!

GO CHUNKY DUNKER’S!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!

A Happy Week Night Date Night!

Good evening!

This post is getting done much later than I normally like to get my posts done! Matter of fact my bedtime is actually in 8 minutes!! I feel so OLD all of the sudden!!! LOL! Ok, not really, but I was excited to tell you about our evening!!

Sometime late this afternoon, my sweetie texted me to find out if I wanted to go across town tonight, and go hang out at our FAVORITE bookstore, and he would will treat me to dinner afterward! Well, NORMALLY, I would say

“No way! Not on a work night!”

but I found myself saying,

“Sure!”

That, my friends, is GROWTH!!! LOL! 😉

I realized that this could be an opportunity to dip my toes into being creative tonight by reading any and all of the new Somerset Publications that Somerset produces, and the do have A LOT! and MAN AM I EVER glad I did that!! I am filled with so much inspiration for art projects to try, and adventures to take, and I am even now on the hunt for some Oregon-based art/craft classes so that I can immerse myself more into the creative community. Like I have been saying for the past couple of posts, my chosen medium is still in the works to be decided upon, but right now I am pretty open to whatever possibilities might present itself!!

Does anyone know of any classes, retreats, workshops, artsy/crafty get-togethers in the area? Please let me know in the comments above!

If I can’t find any, or enough to keep me busy, I am going to have no choice but to put some together myself and make a call to all of the Artsy Gutsy Chicks I know!!! There have GOT TO be more women out there taking the same creative journey that I am!!! If you might be interested, let me know in the comments, and I will put together a list of ladies, and if demand is high enough, I will get a class going!! 😉

What a GREAt NIGHT!! My sweetie really outdid himself in the brownie-making points department tonight! He really went out of his way to treat me like a lady and make me feel special!! Thank you, my love!! After 16 1/2 years of marriage, I am ALWAYS just so THRILLED that we not only love each other, but that we are still IN LOVE!! What a blessing that man of mine is to me!! Love, I hope I can make you just as happy as you make me!!! Thank you for tonight!! 😉

My cup runneth over!!! 😉

I have a meeting at 7:30 in the morning, which means I have to leave the house about 1/2 an hour early, so I am going to go get ready for bed for the evening!! I just KNOW I will have to keep a journal by my bed this morning, so that I can jot down any project ideas that pop into my head!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! 😉