Category Archives: Self Improvement

Friday of Action!!!

Good evening!

Do you ever have one of those days??? Of course you do, we all do! Well, I have had one of those days!! I am still in the mix of doing my 10 hour work days (give or take an hour or so), and I am sooo thankful to be home!! WHEW!! I am actually sitting for soooo long each day (I work as a computer programmer), that I can almost feel my spine compressing on itself. It is such am unpleasant feeling, and painful. I don’t know how people with serious back problems make it through ever day. It has made me realize that if I don’t take my physical health more of a priority, I am going to be very sorry!

You know what they say,

“If you don’t take care of your health, you will take care of sickness.”

So, I have to get with the program – SERIOUSLY!! I must lose at least 100 pounds, but I would be happy with losing 20 pounds to start, just to get the ball rolling! I must lose weight, get strong, fit, flexible, and healthy, and I want to do it in a fun, healthy, and permanent way!!

I want to:

Swim
Hike
Twirl
Tap dance
Kayak
Travel
Canoe
Kiss
Snorkel
Belly dance
Strip aerobics
Zumba
Yoga
Pilates
Tai chi
Chase
Climb trees
Rock wall climbing
SingTake a trapeze class
Make love – frequently
Trampoline
Jump rope
Tag
Hopscotch
Run
Jog
Play
Laugh
Jump
Swing on a swing set

Well, I am sure you get the idea!!!

There is this young, fit, healthy, vivacious, young woman hidden inside of this body, and she is just screaming to get out!!!

Come on, Baby!! It is YOUR TIME!!!! 🙂

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

Carpe Diem!!

Good morning!!

The first thing I heard on the radio this morning was “Carpe Diem!” What a FABULOUS sentiment!! Seize the day!!!! It got me to thinking, what can I do today to seize the day???

I have a long day at work ahead of me, so at work I can seize the day by deciding to have a good day, or deciding to look for the fun in my job, or maybe I can hum a happy tune all day, just so I feel happy, in the moment!!

CARPE DIEM!!!! SEIZE THE DAY!!!

In my physical life, I can remember how fresh, and delicious dinner was last night, and look to eat like that all day. I can make my physical self more of a priority, and get those things done that I have been procrastinating on, such as exercising – swimming could be a lot of fun!?!?! Or maybe a nice walk through our neighborhood! or even just getting out of the house – what a novel concept!!!

CARPE DIEM!!!! SEIZE THE DAY!!!

I am going to seize the day for sure, by making sure that my finances get paid, including money going directly to my savings account!!! It is going to take me a little while to get out of debt, but I have done it once before and it is GOING TO FEEL GREAT when I have done it again!!!

CARPE DIEM!!!! SEIZE THE DAY!!!

I also am going to try and make a point to reach out to my friends and family today to make sure they know that I love them, and how much they mean to me. I don’t think I express that often enough, especially since I don’t live close to most any of my family.

CARPE DIEM!!!! SEIZE THE DAY!!!

But, I think MOST OF ALL, I am going to live my day in grattitude! Be thankful for all that the good Lord has provided for me and my loved ones. Thankful for all of the blessings, and the lessons and opportunities in the struggles!

YES! TODAY IS GOING TO BE A GREAT DAY!!!

Oh, and maybe my camera will get her today! 😉 Once it does I am going to flood this place with pics!! OH, I CAN NOT WAIT!!! ;- )

I would love to hear some of your ideas how you can go about seizing your day today!! Please let me know in the comments above!

CARPE DIEM!!!! SEIZE THE DAY!!!

Have a FABULOUS day!!! 😉

A Night of Vision Boarding!!

Good evening!!

I just got finished spending an EXTREMELY FUN evening vision boarding with my sis and niece!!! I am a firm believer in the power of vision boards. I think that is because a vision board forces you to think about what you want, make decisions about what is important enough to actually make the cut (hee! hee! hee!), and it causes you to spend time cutting, designing, and gluing a board that is completely and totally focused on your dreams! I don’t think that vision boards are magical in any way, but I do think that it helps your subconscious remember what you want, and in turn help you see signs that point you in the right direction to get those goals! Ok, maybe that does sound a little magical, but I know for me – they work!!

Here are some sample vision boards (note: these are not mine, I have found these from various sources on the web.) As soon as my new camera gets in, I will take pics of mine and give you a play-by-play!! 😉

Aren’t they just interesting?!?

I just LOVE looking at other peoples’ vision boards. They can tell you so much about people. What they value, want to experience, learn, do, be, have! I think vision boards are highly intriguing!! That might just be because I am highly curious and people really interest me. It is amazing how much time and effort people are willing to put into these things (including me)!!! BUT it is EVEN MORE AMAZING how helpful these AWESOME TOOLS are!!! They are so unique, and ABSOLUTELY PERFECT to the creator of the board. I would highly encourage you to get out some magazines, scissors, glue, a sheet of paper, and see what you can come up with for yourself!!

I can’t wait to be able to share mine with you! Soon, soon, soon!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

A Tired Thursday!

Good morning!

YAWN!!! I am soooo tired this morning!!! To say that I have not slept well, is quite the understatement! I am not sure what is wrong with me, but I have just been tossing and turning for a few nights in a row now! I am going to have to take something before bed tonight to help me sleep the whole night through!!!

As for today, however, I just KNOW that this is going to be a GREAT DAY!!! Today is the day my sis, Alex and her kiddos come over. Us girls are going to make VISION BOARDS, which you have to know – I JUST LOVE!!! WHOO!! HOO!! Being a visual person, vision boards help me bring my goals to my current reality, and they have been proven to be a great resource in helping  you achieve your goals. My sis and I have gotten magazines out the wazoo, and I have been collecting pics seemingly FOREVER!!! I think we will have SOOOOO MUCH FUN TONIGHT!! Kind of like KIDERGARTEN FOR GROWNUPS!!! WHOO! HOO!! 😉

I am so excited! I have a camera ordered, and it should be here any day now. I MISS TAKING PICTURES!!! My old camera had some gotten itself stuck on macro, so that I can only take really, REALLY close up pics – NOT HELPFUL in my day to day life. Photography has become a hobby that I am absolutely PASSIONATE about!!! I just LOVE PICTURES!! Pics of all sorts of random things, moments, people, buildings, landscapes, creative vignettes, fashion, jewelry, shoes, books – it doesn’t matter – I just LOVE taking pictures!!! I sometimes even fantasize about getting an old Brownie camera and learning how to take pictures with that, or building my own pin-hole camera and seeing what kind of pics I can dream up! and the ULTIMATE would be to have my own DARK ROOM!!! Do people even have those any more?? Do people really even do actual film much??? I don’t know, and I don’t really care!! It just seems so mysterious and romantic!! I really need to get myself into a photography class of some kind. Anyone know of any good resources here in Salem??? If you do, please let me know in the comments, above. Thanks!

Well, I am getting ready to head out for work! I am praying that today is not too stressful! We are short handed and being asked to do a lot of work that really is not in our job description, which means there is  A LOT OF LEARNING GOING ON!! 😉 Which, I always appreciate!! I just hope they don’t find out that I am making this crap up as I go along!! LOL!!!

With that said…

Have a FABULOUS day!!! 😉

Day 19 of 60 Day Life Makeover!

Good morning!!

I hope what they say is true, that ‘slow and steady win the race’. Today is day 19 of my 60 Day Life Makeover – I bet you thought I forgot about that! 😉 Today is day 19 of my Life Makeover plan, with means the first third of that time has passed!! It has been a while since I posted anything on my progress for this, so I thought today would be a good day to do that!!!

Just a reminder, here are my 60 Day Life Makeover goals:

  1. Lose 20 pounds
  2. Sock away an extra $1000 into savings
  3. Find a church home
  4. Clean, organize, and purge our entire home of unloved and/or unused belongings from top to bottom
  5. Purchase and refinish one piece of furniture to sell to get the ball rolling on getting paid to do what I love

Progress Update:

  1. Lose 20 pounds. Well, so far I have lost 2.2 pounds. The problem in this area is that I have let myself have too many, ‘Oh, who cares?’ moments. So I have to keep picking myself up off of the floor and jump back on to my own bandwagon, so to speak!! I JUST CAN’T GIVE UP ON MYSELF!!! With Jason doing all of the food prep in the house, that is working out really well for me, as long as I am the one continuing to decide what is on the menu! 😉 Now I have just got to get myself re-committed to my swimming – being as heavy as I am, and with all of the over abundance of walking I did last year to train for the 60 -Mile Walk, my knees, ankles, and feet hurt almost constantly – so swimming it has to be for the time being, which is kind of nice because I like swimming!!!
  2. Sock away an extra $1000 into savings. The idea behind this goal was to find a way to make money, outside of my job, to create this extra money. So far, I have been able to create $166.73, so far, mainly by selling my belongings through eBay. Although I am not LOVING doing this – it is actually costing me A LOT of money, and time to manage this – I have to find another way. So, I am back to researching at this point.
  3. Find a church home. Having grown up in the church, it is important for me to feel like I belong to a church family. Church hopping has been not too productive yet, but we have been out there again, which feels pretty good!! I just have to stop letting being in a bad/sad/grumpy mood (or the mood du jour) keep me from getting my butt out there, and GET GOING!!!
  4. Clean, organize, and purge our entire home of unloved and/or unused belongings from top to bottom. Believe it or not, I am still working on my FIRST ROOM!!! Now, that may not be too surprising to those of you who have seen my craft room/office – it is a HEAP-A-MESS!!! AND I DID start with my ABSOLUTE SCARIEST ROOM, but I think for the most part, I have gotten all of the piles under control. Right now, I am just getting these piles either donated, recycled, trashed, or put away! I think the biggest success I can say about this room is that it is FINALLY being USED!!! It is no longer the MYSTERIOUS CLOSED DOOR!!! I have a long way to go, but I am optimistic that it will be a clean, organized, clutter free space – I just have to be diligent!!!
  5. and FINALLY, Purchase and refinish one piece of furniture to sell to get the ball rolling on getting paid to do what I love. This goal will not only make me happy, but it will REALLY help with goal #2. I haven’t done ANYTHING on this goal yet, but I was watching the Nate Berkus show last evening, and he had a guest that he called the Dumpster Diva, and I GOT TOTALLY INSPIRED!!! She basically goes out once a week, in a van, and picks up all sorts of free furniture and stuff that people have tossed, and she completely refinishes it, WHICH IS SOOOOO WHAT I WANT TO DO!!! Her home was BEAUTIFUL, and apparently she has a whole group of girlfriends who she does this with. She calls this junk night, they meet for dinner someplace and then they head out TREASURE HUNTING!!! Now, I don’t have any girlfriends that I can think of that will do this with me, at least not yet, but the idea of recycling other peoples’ trash into treasures, sounds DIVINE!!! After the show, all I could think was “I CAN DO THAT!!!!” I can, and I will!!!

So there you go!! I have a LOOOONG WAY TO GO, but I am proud of myself that I haven’t quit!!! With that, I am going to go finish getting ready for work, and I will post more later!

Have a FABULOUS day!!! 😉

Happy Tuesday!

Good evening!

I am in the middle of my nightly to-do list!

  • Prep eBay packages for mailing – Done!
  • Mail eBay packages – Done!
  • Blog – Almost done!
  • Floss – Done!
  • Drink 2 liters of water – Almost done!
  • Track food – Almost done!
  • Spend at least 1/2 an hour sitting in quiet (meditate) – Not started yet!
  • Plan tomorrow – Done!
  • Spend some time going through magazines for donation – Not started yet!
  • Plan weekly dinner menus – Almost done!
  • Set out tomorrow’s clothes – Not done yet!
  • Put laundry away – Not started yet!
  • Schedule Friday’s bills – Done!!
  • Re-post unsold eBay packages – Not started yet!
  • Read for at least 1/2 an hour – Done!
  • Change your PC’s password – Done!

Whew!! I have gotten quite a few of those done this evening already, so that is good!

Jason is downstairs cooking dinner, we are having chicken parmesan tonight! I LOVE when he makes that – HEALTHY + YUMMY = PERFECTION!!!

In work news: This week is the first week of about 4 weeks that I will be working late every night. I can see how that it is helpful, already, since Monday, I have been able to get some of the tedious tasks done without interruption which has been good!! Although, my job is mentally draining, so I find that I am really tired! I have actually had some difficulty getting out of bed on time, so I will have to adapt so that I don’t have to do my entire to-do list at night time.

My mind is racing tonight! I just have so much yet to get done this evening!! I am in GO-GO-GO-MODE!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! 😉

Sunday Evening News!

I got a call from my dad tonight! He was worried about me and wanted to make sure that I was doing well!! Well, I am so glad he called, because I feel soooo much better after talking to him!!! He has a way of putting everything into perspective!! My dad has become a very VERY important part of my life, and I am not sure what I would ever do without him!!! Thank you, Daddy!! I thank God for you!!! 😉

I have a busy week ahead, but I am optimistic that it will be a productive week!! I have my i-pod ready to rock out to during my work days, I have our dinner menus planned, my life simplifying tasks written out, and I am going into tomorrow with the idea that it will be a fresh new day, and all of life’s BEST are possible!!!

With that said, I am going to go upstairs and read a little bit before bed!!

I love you, Daddy!!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉