A Rambling…

I don’t even know where I am going with this post, quite a few thoughts just rolled into 1 tonight.

1. I’m super protective of using sun screen when I am outside. I am pale and burn pretty easily as it is without it. In high school, it was the "cool” thing to turn to the tanning beds. Not me, even then, I wanted no part of tanning beds. I knew enough them about skin care/skin cancer that I didn’t want to risk it. And yet, I won’t put sunscreen on my feet, forearms, or face just to see what tan lines I can get. Odd, I know.

2. I have realized how much I love to garden. Love, love, love. I picked a plastic grocery bag full of green beans tonight. It’s nice knowing where my food comes from. If I can, I want to grow it myself. If I can’t, I want to buy locally produced who don’t use chemicals.

3. Because of the above, I do plan on having a garden at our new place.

4. New place? Did you read that correctly? You did! We are in the process of buying a house right now. I go from being incredibly excited to getting incredibly scared and nervous. It’s an amazing house in an amazing location. Just the money issues are what scares me. I’m keeping mum on what I know about the house until more of it goes through.

5. In said new house, I get to have my very own craft room. YES! I plan to make it mine by the color choices I will use. I can’t wait to have my own studio space again. It’s been killing me not being able to use my materials.

6. I chopped my hair off a month ago, and I instantly regretted it. Yep. I don’t like change very well. Especially when it took a full year to grow it back out to the length that it was. However, it did need a new cut/style. I literally have to remind myself, it’s only hair. It will grow back.

7. I got sick about 3 weeks ago with a sinus cold/allergies, and I am still dealing with it. Feeling sick all the time is pretty new to me, and knowing there isn’t too much I can do for the allergy portion of it annoys me.

8. I’ve begun to lose my momentum with working out because I have been feeling crummy lately due to the cold aforementioned. I need to persevere and just get back into it.

9. I’m ready for school to start again. And I love school supplies probably just as much as art supplies.

10. I need to travel a lot more. Recently, I visited San Antonio, TX, and Green Bay, WI. Loved both of those, but definitely spent more time in TX that trip. I will expound on that more in another post.

And those are my ramblings for the night.

Toodles!

Movin' On!

C and I have been actively house hunting since last month. We at first said months ago that we would wait another year (meaning summer 2014) in this rental house. Then, we came to a decision to start looking for a house of our own. A big reason being, this place is small for the two of us. We have no room to spread out. I feel like every room has some clutter to it because there is no room. I have been telling people it's like the house threw up on itself. No room to go anywhere.

We found this gorgeous house. 4 bedroom, 2 full bath, a half bath. It has enough room to grow, enough room to spread out, and breathe. We put in an offer, it was rejected. We tried again, and it was countered. We accepted, and now we wait for everything to go through. 

It's a nerve-wracking, but exciting experience at the same time. But at least we not have to move for a long time! 

A Look Back To Where I Have Been

It's no secret that I faced some incredibly hard stuff a few years ago. For me, to face what I faced, it was incredibly hard. Mainly because I kept it to myself for over a year before I finally told my family. I didn't want to burden anyone with it, and part of me was too proud, too stubborn in thinking that I could take care of it myself.  I kept thinking that it would get better. It never did. In fact, it got so bad at one point, I was ready and willing to end my life. It was also was so bad that I feared for my safety. 

Finally, I decided either I was going to change myself or stay in that position. But I had to do it myself, no one could do it for me. No one swayed my decision. And it was a tough decision to make. But I did make a choice, and I never looked back on that choice with regret. If anything, I have looked on that decision with reflection. I have walked many, many miles to get where I am today.

I love the life I lead. It has opened so many awesome doors for me. That I credibly hard stuff a few years ago taught me a lot about myself. It was a huge learning experience. While it was painful, I am ever so thankful for it. It made me appreciate the people in my life so much more. But mostly, it helped me blossom into the person I am today. 

Happy Memorial Day!

Don’t forget to reflect on those who gave their lives for us today. I personally want to thank those who have served in the military-past or present, as well as all police men and women, and fire men and women. The cost of freedom is much more than just freedom, sadly. Thinking of them all today.

It has been a cold, rainy weekend. I honestly have not done too much, and honestly, I am okay with that. I did make about 4 scarves between Saturday and yesterday. I need to work on making more. I make scarfs out of the ruffle yarn (Starbella, Pirouette, Sashay). My goal is to sell them at a festival coming up.

 

Which reminds me that I also need to get to work on more drawings AND also go back to knitting on the loom(s). Because I have more than 1.

I decided to deactivate my Facebook account after all yesterday. And I already knew it would be hard. It’s the first thing I do every morning once I wake up. There have been rare occasions that I do not do it. But it was something that I did since I got my ipod touch back in 2009, so it may be harder to get out of habit, but I can do it. It’s just so much easier not having to rely on Facebook. I figure if people want to know about me, they will call/text/email/visit.

I think it will be a struggle the first few days, because it has been a part of my life. Even the little bit that I was checking it every day. But once I go without it for awhile, it will be a distant memory. It really is overused a lot, anyway. Some people post way too much information about their lives. And some use it as a means of insulting people but not actually saying their names. I don’t do either of those, and I steer clear of someone who does.

Other than that, it’s a pretty lazy weekend. I didn’t sleep well last night, so I am thinking of taking a nap.

Liberating

Recently, there was a convo on a radio program about one of the emcees asking if he should delete his Facebook profile. A lit of people called or texted in that they deleted it from their phones for a short period. One person said they deactivated it 6 months ago, and never looked back.

There are people I have on Facebook that I want to block, but really can't. And I can't go into that on here. I am tired of even sharing links, sharing news, uploading photos of my artwork, for various reasons. But I didn't know how to stop people from knowing my business, even the little I put out there. I struggled with deactivation, deleting it all together, or just deleting it from my mobile devices. In the end, I chose deleting from my mobile devices, because I use those the most than my laptop. I did that a bit ago, and felt the liberation that others have said they got from it. Now, I don't have to worry about certain people because I won't be posting on it. I didn't spend a lot of time on there normally, but I still think the times I did spend on it will be better used towards something more productive. I am going to go all Summer without it, and then hopefully continue in the Fall. A lot of people live and breathe Facebook, but not me. At one time, when it was first introduced to the world, I did. But now, there are more important things in life to think about. 

If this doesn't work, the next step is deactivation. However, I think this will work just fine.

5k Check In!

As I sit here drinking my Gevalia chocolate mocha coffee, I am giving yo all an update in my running world.

The coffee is good, by the way. Comparable to Donut House's chocolate glazed donuts.

I ran my first 5k last Saturday!

In the cold.

And with a cold.

But I done it, nonetheless.

I went with my sister and our friend. We ended up stopping a couple of times and just walking, because we were going up hill. I think we walked a quarter of a mile, total. I kicked it into high gear nearing the finish line so we could finish strong.

I thought our times were 39 minutes and some seconds. But I wouldn't find out until Monday that I actually finished in 36:33. Woot! I am so proud of myself! This gives me a starting point, and a goal to improve on.

A cool side note: after the race, I signed up at this running booth to win a free pair of New Balance shoes. I didn't win the shoes, but I won an awesome t- shirt, a kick ass water bottle, and socks made for running! I rarely win things, so this was cool!

Happy running!

It's never too late...

To be what you might have been.

3 months ago, I set a goal for myself. I wanted to get back in shape. I became very sedentary in the past year and a half. I didn't like how I looked anymore. I knew that I was the only one who could change it.

So I began working out. It was hard at first. It was easy to say, "not tonight, I am tired." But I went. Granted, there have been times when I have had other things going on, and I either can't go or can't spend a lot of time there.

I started out on the Elliptical machine, and I switched to the treadmill about a month ago- maybe a little longer.I set small goals for myself, starting out solid running at 6 minutes. One time, I was planning on running 18 minutes, and had to stop at 14 minutes because my side was hurting.

Tonight, I am proud to say that I not only hit the 3-mile mark in running, but I also ran for 37 minutes! This is a huge accomplishment for me, as I have never been a runner. I hope to run my first 5k in just a few months.

This leading to bigger and better things.

So, that old saying, "it is never too late to be what you might have been" is so true.

Where do I begin?

I have not blogged in quite awhile! Life has been incredibly busy since August. Incredibly busy. Busier than I have ever been in the past 2 years combined.

I picked up some extra curriculars at school, I picked up committees, still taking classes. I feel like my weekends have been so jam-packed. When we had break, it was so nice not to have any where I needed to be. It was nice not to have to look at my planner and plan around everything already set up. But the minute we came back from break, it all started up again.
I'm not complaining, so please don't think I am. Just saying that I have been uber busy. I wished to myself last year that I wanted to be kept busy.
One of the things that has been quickly slipping away is my physical health. It makes me sad when I realize how much I have gained in the past year and a half. I eat Subway every so often, or a salad from a local resturant around here. But it's been motivation and lack of energy for me. When I get home from school, I'm tired. I'm fighting to find the energy to get something done. Maybe there is something else going on? I don't know. I take my vitamins daily. C says when I lie on my back when sleeping at night, he has noticed I stop breathing.

Let me say that I know I need to get that checked out. I KNOW I DO. Sleep Apnea runs in my family. I have only noticed being this tired in the past year. There is a possibility it's a thyroid issue. That also has hit some family members. Even right now, the bags under my eyes are burning, because I am so tired. I should not be this tired. I go to bed on time, get up 8 hours later. I have always been structured like that- I need the sleep. Especially in my profession. I have to take care of myself. So I will try to get in to see the Dr. early next month about that all.
Speaking of taking care of myself...
Because I have been so unhappy with how I look, I made a goal to myself to start this year fresh. When Jan. 1st came rolling in, I was eager and ready to begin. I have lost 5 pounds since January 1st. I've been drinking more water, watching what I eat so much more, working out when I can. Except lsat week- I took the entire week off and I just knew that I would have gained back what I lost. To my surprise, it was kept off. By pushing myself to work out even when I am extremely tired and do not have any energy, through the choices I have made in eating habits, drinking more water, it has all helped.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a foodie. I love to bake. I love to cook. It makes my heart happy, and it will always be something that I enjoy. However, I eat smaller portions, drink more water. When grocery shopping, I always have to look at the goodies and get a craving. I always think, ugh, if I had just one...But I never ever stop, not even before. If I bake anything at home, it's always natural ingredients, and I only have a piece. I think I get more of a rush out of baking than I do in the actual sweets themselves. :D
When I am at the gym, I push myself as hard as I can. I love the fact that I sweat (even though it's gross), because it means I am seeing results. It's going to be slow for awhile, but I know I will keep at this. Someone that I know has been working out for 2 years now. I've always know what they looked like before they became seriously hard-core at the gym. But now, they are almost a different person. They are my inspiration. And any person who refuses to give up.

I can and WILL do this.