Category Archives: Self Improvement

What Happened To Chunky Dunkers???

Good evening!

I have to make a confession, I am a grumpy-fuss-bucket tonight! If I were my own daughter I would tell myself to go to my room and take a nap! Which I will do, eventually but right now I wanted to make sure that I at least touched base with tonight!!

I am sorry to say, that because of an emergency at work today, I have missed tonight’s Chunky Dunker’s Club meeting!! I have just gotten home from the office, for the second time today, and man am I ever beat!! Sheesh!! Long story short, it is all fixed, crisis averted! and both Chris and I, who was with me all this time trying to help me fix the issue, will be back in the office in less than 8 hours. UGH!!!

Man, I really owe that girl for all of her help!!

THANK YOU, CHRIS!!!

I need a vacation!! I am dreaming of taking a road trip with my sweetie! I just need to find out where we should go?? He wants something with Indians and old west history, I want something with lots of antique stores and FABULOUS shopping venues! He wants mountains and I want oceans! I want a 5 start hotel with room service, and he wants to be able to pitch a tent wherever his heart desires!! Let’s just say, we don’t exactly agree!!! LOL!! However, we do agree that we ALWAYS have fun when we go on vacation together!! So, in the end, it should be a blast – no matter where we end up.

Anyone have any ideas???

Any reasonable offers will be taken into consideration!!!

Hee! Hee!

Oh, I did do something ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS tonight!! When I left work today, the first time, I went over to Russell Salon and Day Spa, and had an appointment with my FANTASTIC hairdresser, Lauren Forgione. She very graciously squeezed me in for a deep hair conditioner treatment, and I got my bangs trimmed! and because it is Lauren, THE BEST HAIR STYLIST EVER!! She even straightened my hair for me, which YOU KNOW I JUST LOVE!!! She consistently goes above and beyond in making me feel like THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN THE WORLD, and today, I just really needed that!!  She was even gracious enough to take a picture of me under the hair dryer, however, I realize to be REALLY fancy, I should have been reading a Allure magazine or something, but I felt pretty damn AWESOME getting pampered one way or another!!

So that is what all of these pics are of! Me under the dryer, and two of my after shots! I really LOVE having curly hair, but SOMETIMES I really LOVE seeing a new me with straight hair!!!

WHAT DO YOU THINK???

Do you see Edward and Bella in the background here, yes, I really am a nerd – I don’t just play one in real life!! 😉

Alrighty, well, it is waaaay past my bedtime (hence the aforementioned grumpiness), and I have to be awake and alert at 5:30 tomorrow morning to do my morning pages, so I am off to beddy-bye!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

Wednesday Good Morning!

Good morning!!

Well, it is Wednesday, which just happens to be Chunky Dunker Club night!!! YEAH!!! WHOO! HOO!!! So, I had better get to thinking about what tonight’s post is going to be about!!

I am praying for a good day today!! Work is a little…well, let’s just say harry! 😉 I am going for a level 10 day anyway!!

  1. Get to work early
  2. Make sure I get my water so I have plenty to drink at my desk
  3. Make sure I have my i-pod with peppy music on and playing
  4. Breathe! Breathe! Breathe!
  5. Think happy thoughts
  6. Take a nature walk if things get really stressful
  7. Today is the day that breaks are going to be mandatory – but don’t abuse the privilege
  8. Text my sissy if I need help getting back on track
  9. Keep saying my blessings mantra, “I am blessed, God is with me, He will never give me anything without making sure that I have the resources, wisdom, or the talent to make it through.”
  10. If all else fails, keep SMILING, baby!!

Plus, I get to leave a little early today! I have a hair appointment!! NOW, COME ON!!! What is in that day that wouldn’t make it a level 10!! HAHAHA!! It is going to be a GREAT DAY!!!

I hope to see you all tonight!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! 😉

A Lovely Tuesday Evening!

Good evening!

I wanted to start by sharing with you my art project from this past weekend!! It turned out rather nicely, if I may say so myself!! I completely changed what I was going to do from my original design, but I am soooo in LOVE with these happy colors!!! It is official that glass fusing is NOT my medium! I really don’t have the patience for this art, and although it did turn out beautifully, I am going to keep looking!!

I am so thankful to be home tonight!! Work is a little on the stressful side, so to get back to my haven at home is pretty nice!! My official plan for this evening is to go for a nice swim, take some random pics, and to do a little magazine reading!! Doesn’t that sounds DIVINE???

I hear that the new publication of Where Women Create is out!! I went to one of the local craft stores to find it, and no luck! So, you know what that means, I am going to have to have a Border’s date this weekend!! I am sure that Jason won’t mind!!!

Speak of the devil!! My lover just got home!!! and he is carrying McD’s!! Ok, so much for healthy meals, but at least it is only a happy meal!! That is something right!??!? 😉

Talking about having to keep searching for my artist’s medium, I have a couple of new adventures coming up in the next few weeks! The first thing is that in two Saturdays I have a mixed media collage class that I am going to take with the Kaiser Art Association. This pic is an example of what kind of art we will be doing in this class:

Then the next weekend is the a vintage home show, The Farmhouse Show up in Turner, Oregon that I will be able to take a Ton of pics of, and hopefully come home inspired and maybe with a couple of new treasures.

Then, I am taking another art class, but this time it will be a Jewelry Metalsmithing, soldering, and Cuff Bracelet Class given by Terri Brush Designs. Here are pics of two of the designs that we will be learning how to make:

See what I mean??? AND if I can figure out how to finagle it, I want to go to ANOTHER home show in Spokane, Washington the first week in June!!!

If all that weren’t enough, I am doing some research now into a women’s artist retreat over in Idaho! I KNOW that I need to go to that, I just have to work on the logistics!! Mamma can’t be in two places at once! So, we will see!!

Well, with all that said, I am tired, and I really need to go hit the hay!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

A Quickie Post!

Good morning!

I am running a little behind this morning, but I am pretty jazzed about today, and for no apparent reason, just because! What a GREAT feeling!! I am learning to LOVE getting up early every morning! It gives me the opportunity to really clear my head and wake up before I head out to face any challenges that might come up in my daily life!!!

I think tonight will be a swimming night with my sweetie, which is always fun!! We have fun with friendly competition in the pool!! It makes me feel like a kid again, spending all my days in the water trying, unsuccessfully to not get sunburned!!! Thankfully our pool nowadays is indoors, so no sunburn any longer!! LOL! 😉

I have a couple of new art classes that I am going to be taking within the next couple of weeks that I am excited to tell you about this evening, but my song that I LOVE belly dancing to, just came on, so I am going to have to go!! When a girl has got to dance, well, what can I say??? She’s GOT TO DANCE!! I will talk to you all of you this evening!!

Have a FABULOUS day!! 😉

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!! 😉

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! 😉