happy things:

After being sleepy all day, I took a 45 minute nap on the couch and woke up alert (that's VERY rare for me)

I watched episodes of The Office while working on my black and white baby quilt

Stephanie saw some flannel that screamed "EMILY" so she bought me several yards. It's awesome!! It has stylized trees, apples, and owls. Now I need to decide what I want.. pajamas, a blanket, or something different altogether?

I worked on my blog makeover today as well. I've made a couple different banners and I'm trying to decide what I like best. Perhaps I'll post them here this weekend and let people vote.

My favorite hair care product came in the mail today. I ordered it like 3 days ago and totally forgot. It was definitely a happy surprise at the mailbox. (Redken Weightlifter - my hair is fine and most volumizing stuff is too heavy. This stuff is wonderful!)

I had some fun interactions with my coworkers today :)

My friends and I scheduled a game night a couple weeks from now. It should be a lot of fun! I'm really excited!

I'm going to bed early tonight - like 9:00 - I've been tired for the past 3 days because I've only been getting 6 hours of sleep.

I've had this great, bubbly, something-awesome-is-about-to-happen feeling. I feel like I'm smiling on the inside.

four things:

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Cleaning a car dealership. My dad was my boss. It was a great way to learn some work ethic and understand the satisfaction of a job well done.
2. Mack's Drive-In... making shakes and stuff. Yum. I don't miss working in the 'food service industry' though.
3. Ricks College- cleaning the Clarke building. I loved this job. I worked 4-7 in the morning and had a lot of time to sort through my thoughts while I swept, mopped, vaccuumed, etc. My arms got buff doing all those repeated actions 3 hours a day for 2 years!
4. Convergys. I have been here almost seven years! I answer questions and take supervisor calls and it's not bad. Anyway, it pays the bills.

Four movies I have watched more than once:
1. Juno - so many funny lines, catchy tunes... a fun movie!
2. The Producers - hilarious! I watched it 3 times last weekend.
3. Hitch - funny, yet spot-on. Dating is hard work!
4. Mamma Mia - yep, I went to the theater TWICE in two weeks! An odd behavior from me for sure!

Four places I have lived:
1. Rexburg, ID (I left my heart in Rexburg, Idaho!)
2. Orem, UT
3. Tremonton, UT
4. Logan, UT

Four TV Shows That I Watch (we don't have TV, but we watch online and use Netflix):
1. The Office - Brilliant. Hysterical. I love it!
2. Bones - Awesome. Humor, mystery, and medical/forensic stuff all rolled together.
3. Alias - Sydney was kind of sloppy for a spy, but I liked this show a lot anyway.
4. House - cynical. Awesome.

Four Places I've been:
1. The republic of Myassoncouch
2. California. North and South. A few times.
3. Washington state
4. Pretty much nowhere interesting!

Four people who email me regularly:
1. Melinda :)
2. Etsy/Ebay/Paypal
3. My aunt spams me all the freaking time. sigh.
4. "People" that seem to think they can enlarge my penis. I'd like to see them try that!

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Veggies! Broccoli, mushrooms, peas, brussel sprouts, peppers, celery, tomatoes, zucchini - there are few veggies that I don't love!
2. Dark chocolate.
3. Steak. Medium Rare. YUM!
4. Ice cream. Now, a distant memory. I wanted a banana split so bad yesterday!

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Home! I LOVE being at home! (I'm at work as I type)
2. Rexburg.
3. Shopping for things to finish decorating my living room and bathroom.
4. Snuggling with a cute boy (particularly the guy I'm crushing, but I'd be happy to snuggle one of my adorable nephews too).

Four things I am looking forward to this year:
1. Finally getting my blog makeover done! I worked on the new banner last night and it just needs some tweaking. The format of the blog itself has 2 things I'd like to change still, but I've tried every piece of the html code and those 2 things will not budge. Sigh.
2. Paying off some bills :)
3. Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday. It would be my favorite even without the yummy food. As it is, I'm not eating bread or sugar right now, so that cuts out 75% of the meal anyway. (I will cheat for Double Cream Lemon pie!!!)
4. Continuing to eat healthy, feel awesome, and perhaps lose some more weight.

Four things I'm working on:
1. Bryce Canyon scrapbook
2. A darling black and white baby quilt
3. Decorating my living room and bathroom
4. The blog makeover!

wednesday weigh-in

Stephanie made cookies for a work party last week and I didn't eat any of them. They smelled really good though. I've continued to eat healthy. I'm feeling well, I have more energy, and my skin seems to have cleared up some. That alone is pretty awesome, but I finally lost some weight too...


Haha. 2.5 pounds! It may just be some normal fluctuation, but that's okay by me. I hope it continues.

Today I'd also like to weigh in on Spirituality. I do a lot of things right. I read scriptures, write in my journal, and pray daily. I seek the guidance of the Spirit a lot. And I have never doubted my religion. But, my church attendance is horrible. I was doing really well until about a year ago when I got a severe migraine while I was at church and went home early. I think I've been back twice since then. Well, THREE times... Steph and I were there this past Sunday. We'd like to make a habit of it as well. Sure, it's sometimes boring and being in a Single's Ward sucks, but I have to make the most of it until my circumstances change.

missing Summer...

Classes started yesterday at USU. Steph skipped a class already, LOL, but this semester is kind of a repeat of her last semester. After our car accident, we both suffered a little post traumatic stress and it took it's toll on her classes. She didn't fail anything, but she wants higher grades than she got last Spring.

Anyway, I'm not a student. This starting school year should have little to no impact on me. But... I'd forgotten how busy Logan gets when 18,000 more people show up overnight! UGH. There's more traffic. More people that think bikes are cars and slow down the busier traffic even more. Shopping yesterday was crazy - Walmart was out of apples last night. Apples.

On the plus side, the people-watcher in me had a delightful time watching six strangers shop together. New roommates. I kinda miss being in school and having roommates. Those were some good times! (well... 80% good times. LOL) I loved Ricks College. I would go back there in a heartbeat. I know things would be so much different now though. :(

I'm looking forward to Autumn. Those glorious two weeks between HOT and SNOW.

no more camo!

I'm not outgoing (I am friendly though) so I've always hated getting my hair cut... I never knew what to talk to a perfect stranger about while they cut away at my glorious tresses [cough]. That's why I was SO excited when my second cousin, Kayla, went to cosmetology school. We always have things to talk about - we know each other's families, we have things in common, etc. The hour that she spends washing, cutting, and styling my hair goes so quickly. She does a great job too.

My hair grows quickly and I should get it cut every 4 weeks, but I'm lazy. It's been um, months since my last cut. The ends of my hair would no longer obey simple commands. I was forced to go with my natural curl most of this week just to try and camouflage the degree to which I needed a cut!

Kayla is newly engaged and it was so much fun to hear about how they met, how he proposed, and what their future plans are. I'm so excited for her.

I think I want to dye my hair, but I won't do that until this weekend. I'd have Kayla do that too, but my hair won't hold permanent dye more than 3 weeks, so I can't justify the expense. It did look awesome when she's dyed it before though. My hair is this weird color (ok, it's not weird - but hard to describe - it's light brown, but golden, with occasional hints of red...) and I prefer it to be darker. Medium brown-ish. I can't wait!

wednesday weigh-in

This past week has gone well. I'm getting into the habit of healthy eating and it seems to be paying off already. Well, I haven't lost any pounds, but I can see changes in my body already. Plus, I've had a better attitude (I noticed this phenomenon when I ate well before) and I've felt a lot more energetic. I still need to eat more. Ideally, I'd like to eat 6 small meals a day as opposed to 2.5 small meals a day. LOL.

This week I want to weigh in on getting projects done:

I LOVE having lots of hobbies and interests. I also love being able to move between scrapbooking, sewing, beading, digital scrapbooking, photography, decorating, etc. I do NOT like having unfinished projects... and I seem to be the Queen of just that!

I'm going to focus on just five projects at a time (so that I can still move between things a little bit). I know this 'restriction' can't last forever. I don't even want it to. I really just want to get myself into the habit of seeing a project through to the very end (I usually get each project 80% done anyway).

So, I'm going to work on my Bryce Canyon scrapbook (75% done), a black and white baby quilt (80% done), decorating my living room (90% done), organizing my scrapbook closet (80% done), and decorating the bathroom (90% done). Once those things are done, I'll be okay to work on anything my heart desires... for a while, anyway!


(no weight loss yet, but I'm feeling good!)

so little time

Edited to add: I didn't get everything done, but I did make some progress.

I took the day off work for no other reason than I wanted to. I've found myself feeling pretty stressed this past week or two (for no reason I've been able to determine)and I'm feeling quite a bit better now, so I'm rewarding myself with a vacation day. Yay!

Of course, there's SO much I'd love to get done today. More than I could possibly fit inside one day:

• work on my Bryce Canyon mini-album

I worked on the album for about 3 hours and it just needs journaling and embellishments now. I can't wait for it to be done.

• cook 2-3 meals today and eat leftovers all week

I cooked one meal which I ate for dinner and I have 5 servings in the fridge to eat throughout the week.

• run to Walmart and Home Depot

I made it to Walmart, but not Home Depot. Steph wanted to buy some new clothes, so we spent some time doing that instead.

• stop by the scrapbook store for that ONE paper I need.. (who am I kidding?)

Of course, they didn't have the ONE paper I needed and I still spent twenty bucks!

• retake photos for my Etsy shop

Sigh. Not enough time in the day. Maybe tomorrow.

• make an appointment to get my hair cut

I'm won't know when I'll be available until tomorrow morning, so I'll make the appointment from work.

• possibly start redecorating my bedroom

I REALLY wanted to start this project. I bought the fabric in January or so and I haven't done a thing yet. I hope I make the time for this project soon!

• fold and put away the laundry

Um, nope. But I did do another 2 loads of laundry.

• place a bead order so I can make more jewelry (I'm completely out of some basic supplies that the stores in town do not carry. Sigh)

I'll do this from work tomorrow as well. I have my shopping cart pretty well stocked, I just need to add a few last minutes things and I'm all set.

• work on my blog makeover

I wanted to get this done today as well, but I didn't get to. I wasn't feeling inspired on the banner yet... it'll be done one of these days!

Yes, I'm in the process of making over my blog. I wanted something cool and fun, but I don't know html, so I've been learning as I go. Once I can get a new banner made, create all the fun lists and links and such that I want, and fine tune the layout, I'll have it up and running. I'm excited!

What are you doing today?

ruined for life :)

My father managed movie theaters when I was a child and I got to see many films for free (popcorn, too!) and that's ruined me for life... LOL.

I NEVER go the the movies now. It's so expensive, the local theaters are FREEZING cold, I really like to DO something while I'm watching (scrapbook, clean, make jewelry, etc.) and I honestly prefer watching dvd's of television shows to movies. I don't watch current tv (except The Office and Bones, which I watch online) so I never see movie previews anyway.

My parents were over today and asked if I'd like to see a movie with them (that was the premise of my last theater-going adventure as well... 9 months ago!). The three of us couldn't decide on one movie though, so my dad saw Tropic Thunder and my mom and I saw Mamma Mia. My mom wasn't expecting a musical, but she likes Abba music and musicals, so we were okay. It was great! Very energetic and fun, great music, and a beautiful location. My mom's going to buy the soundtrack and I'm gonna buy the dvd.

My sister was at work and is going to be so jealous. Haha. If she wants to see it in the theater, I'll happily watch it again... even AT the theater!

wednesday weigh-in

The diet has officially started now - today is day 2 - I've weighed myself to get a starting point and I need to take body measurements after work tonight. The first four days of this lifestyle change have been the hardest for me in the past, but it hasn't been tough at all so far this time. I do need to eat MORE. I tend to skip meals and I need to stop doing that.

I plan to also "weigh-in" on another area of my life needing focus each Wednesday. Today's pick? Keeping my house clean:

I hate clutter. I hate disorganization. I hate for dishes to pile up in the sink or for clean laundry to pile up on the couch. However, if you were to walk into my house right now, you'd find clutter, disorganization, a sink full of dishes, and clean laundry (folded) and piled all around the living room. Sigh. Having my house in its current state impacts me. I'm less likely to be creative, less likely to be productive, and less likely to feel the Spirit. My house isn't gross by any stretch of the imagination, but there's MUCH room for improvement.

Cleaning is therapeutic... if I'm stressed, my house is generally spotless. Having a cluttered home is probably a sure sign that my stress level is low. I AM glad for that, but... I'm really tired of feeling uneasy. Uncreative. Unproductive. Especially when I know the solution is SO simple. This week's goal is to get the kitchen and living room clean and uncluttered, and KEEP it that way! If I can do that, the other rooms in the house are sure to follow. And the productivity, creativity, and increased Spiritual promptings are bound to come my way as well!



(no weight loss yet, but I'm only on my second day of healthy eating)

productive

I was bound and determined to be more productive today than I was yesterday. I got dressed and did my hair, so I was ahead pretty early this morning. I did a load of laundry (and I'm going to do another), folded all the clean laundry, took out the garbage, had a good breakfast (scrambled eggs and herbal tea), got a paper cut under my fingernail, looked at scrapbook ideas online, browsed online stores for new scrapbook products, organized my digital scrapbooking folder on the computer, deleted all the unused and redundant icons on my desktop, and created a new image for my desktop wallpaper, ate dinner, watched Penelope (which I didn't think I'd like, but I really did!), removed the chipping polish from my toenails, got the mail, unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, dug out my last bead order form to double check the items I want to reorder, checked my email, and wished my mom a "happy birthday." (click the images to enlarge. August desktop was created by Rachel Martin... I altered it slightly to fit my screen's resolution, inked the edges, added a background, created the word art to make it totally awesome, and added a photo of Steph and I.)

wasting time

It's 10:31 pm and I'm in my pj's.... still. Yeah, I didn't bother to get dressed or do my hair. I did do my makeup for some reason. That's about all I have to show for today though. I did attempt some stalking, but I've lost my touch and I got bored and gave up after about 5 minutes (I used to be an awesome stalker! I could find anything on anyone...) Good times.

I HATE being unproductive, but I'm the only one to blame for my unproductivity. Sigh. I even made a list before I went to sleep last night so that I could wake up and just work on projects rather than waste away.

I'm not feeling super great either. It's probably the two cans of spaghettios I ate today (one for breakfast, one for lunch) or the fact that I've had about 6 oz. of water the whole day. Yeah, I realize this behavior isn't supporting the diet idea, but the pantry is 95% cleared of junk now. I didn't eat dinner either, but it's too late now. I'm off to drink a tall glass of water and then I'm going to bed. I'm going to make tomorrow a better day and I'll be sure to post the grand tales of my productivity!

have you seen me?

This was me a year and a half ago... At that point, I'd been living a new lifestyle for almost three months. That lifestyle did not include my dear friends sugar, white flour or anything fast/overly processed. I felt amazing! My somewhat chronic headaches were gone, my skin was clear, I had tons of energy and required less sleep, I was more happy than ever, and I felt powerful. The cherry on that big sundae of goodness was that I'd also lost 25 pounds.

All great stories must eventually come to an end. The end of this one had many factors, the biggest being frustration at no additional weight loss and a new boss that I did NOT get along with at all. I started allowing the foods that I'd been so good about keeping away and I started gaining the weight back. I gained back all the weight that I'd lost and they brought about 15 friends along with them. Sigh.

My reality is that now I'm bigger than I've ever been before and I hate it. I want the happy, powerful, energetic, ME back. And at risk of being vain, I want to be cute again. I want the double chin to say it's final goodbyes. I want my skin to clear up. I want the boobs to shrink some more. I want to smile constantly like I found myself doing back then...

So, I'm starting over. I'm going to try cutting out sugar, flour, and processed crap again. I'm going to exercise. I'm going to give it my all. I have to. I remember how amazing I felt. People often commented that they could never restrict their eating as much as I did, but I honestly loved every minute of it. Wish me luck as I embark on this path again.




(I'm going to have a "Weigh-In Wednesday" post each week where I talk about my successes and failures. I'll talk mostly about my diet, but I'll also talk about other things that I'm working to change as well. I'm ready to make my life what I want it to be!)

highlights

my week has been kinda weird...

-In an effort to avoid falling asleep on the couch, I avoided the living room altogether. Instead, I fell asleep on the kitchen counter. Yes, the kitchen counter.

-I ripped a large hole in a pair of slacks as I was getting in the car last night after going to a party.

-I made cookies for the party and melted the butter on accident instead of just softening it and screwed it all up. I threw the whole bowl of dough away and started over.

-I went shopping with a friend and didn't want to buy anything then. I've thought about one particular shirt since then and it was on sale 50% off, so I may go back and get it this weekend.

-My house is in dire need of a cleaning. I'm not disgusting, so it's not disgusting, but I love it when my house is spotless and it's far from that right now.

-I've fallen asleep twice while writing this post and I'm at work. LOL

-Beads are on sale and I need/want some, but I have NO desire to go shopping for them.

-Last night, I had to explain to my coworkers (for the 1000th time) why I'm not dating my flirt buddy. We flirt. We always have. There's not really any interest beyond that, mutually. Besides, I don't flirt with the guy I do like. I'm too busy just gazing at that one :) And thinking about how funny and smart he is. Anyway...

-I need a vacation.