Finished Painting

I finally finished the Painting I did for my sister's birthday. I actually refinished it. haha. The first time I did the painting it has a blue background that had a textured effect to it. The more I looked at it, the more I decided that it wasnt what I was going for. I wanted a richer background with more detail. Something that would make the mask stand out on it. I think I got what I wanted this time around. I am going to see her tomorrow and I can't wait to give it to her.

On the Up and Up

Things are going very well here. I am working like crazy. I have been going out after work and walking/jogging. It has been really hot but I still go. That is very draining. I am trying to get into a gym, I just wish that they didnt want you to sign a contract. That kills me. Oh well. we will see what happens.

I have finished my application for the Peace Corps. I am just waiting to hear about an interview to go over my application and then get the rest of everything rolling, such as my medical and dental clearance. It is going to be a tedious process... it already has been... but I think it will be totally worth it in the end. I have to requested any specific placements, I am happy to go wherever. So we will see what happens.

Weight Watchers is still going well. I had weigh-in a day early yesterday because I am working today. I lost another 2.2 pounds... so I think that puts me at 11.4 pounds lost. :) That is excellent.

My very good friend has a book signing today. I am sad that I have to work and will be unable to attend. He did sign my book for me yesterday though. I started reading it and was surprised at how interesting it is. It is the Weiser's Field Guide to Vampires by J.M. Dixon. It takes you back and goes through everything, myths, legends, supposed encounters. The idea of vampires from different Regions and Cultures. I found that I started reading and couldn't put it down. It is very well written and I found myself wishing that my books from college were that informative and entertaining. If you have any interest in the idea of vampires and how it came about then I really do suggest you take a glance.

Weight Watchers is Working

So I have lost a total of 9 pounds. That is with 4 weeks of sticking to the program with very good days and days that didn't go quite so well. I am very excited with the results. :)

I have been slacking in my walking, but I am going to get back to it. I have decided that I am not going to let outside forces affect my ability to take care of myself, I will just be a lot more cautious than I was before.

My whole family is really supporting me on this whole Weight Watchers thing. They think it is great and the best thing for me to do at this point in my life. I have to agree with them. My grandmother just told me that she has taken it upon herself to put a dollar in an envelope for me for every pound that I drop. haha. She is awesome. Though I have to wonder if that means she will take money away if I gain.... Best to not think about that. :)

So on another note... I have completed my application to the peace corps and have submitted it. I am totally excited about it. I am really hoping that I get selected to go. It would be an amazing adventure. So it is now a waiting game, to see first if I get an interview, and second if I get selected. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I did not specify a region I would like to be in, so I have no idea if I get places whereabout it will be... It kind of makes it that much more exciting.

And... I got my hair done! I went for color. I got blond and red/copper put in my hair yesterday. I love it! So new hair, 9 pounds down. I am ready to start a new week that will be fantastic!

Moving More

If you are like me.... the idea of simply going out and walking doesn't sounds very appealing. I bring my iPod loaded up with my favorite songs to listen to while I drive to work and I start my walk. Halfway through I am ready to stop. I am bored, hot, and just plain done. Getting me go out walking has always been a chore. I stop wanting to go. I figure... who will know if I really don't go out today????

I found a way to change all of that for me... and I found a way to keep my walks entertaining.

First.... I got new Nike+ shoes and a Nike+kit. If you have not seen this thing you should check it out. It is a flat chip that goes into your sneakers and it counts how far you walk,calories burned, average pace, etc. It sync with your iPod so you can listen to your music while you run or walk and get spoken updates on your progress while you go. The best thing about the whole thing is that you can sync your runs/walks to Nike+ online. When you do that you get to create a Mini. This is an avatar that represents your running persona. When you do not exercise your mini is bored. When you do exercise your mini is full of energy and fun to watch. This has really motivated me to keep my mini happy.... you can also link your mini and progress onto your twitter account or facebook page. This has helped me also because I don't want people to think I am lazy. lol. (The Pic is of my Nike+ Mini... Isn't she CUTE!!!!)

Next...

Since I have to be to work at 5:30am and it takes me 30 minutes to get to work... I get up pretty early and by the time I get home at 5:00pm I am worn out. I don't feel like going out and walking or anything else for that matter... So I have been getting up earlier. It works out great because I gets me pumped up for the day and by the time my high wears off I am driving home anyways. PERFECT. But to help get my adrenaline rushing I decided to change the types of songs on my workout playlist on my iPod. I have a couple of everyday songs that I love, but then the rest of silly and fun songs that make me laugh and just want to up and dance around the room like a crazy person. And that I what I do when I walk.... I dance too. (It is 3:00am... there is no one awake to see my foolishness). I got this idea while at a Weight Watchers Meeting... the topic of discussion was how we needed to Move More... I thought of my nieces and how they dance to everything. They love music and don't care who the dance in front of. I thought... wouldn't it be great to have that much energy again. So I decided to give it s shot. I chose a 'Power Song' that I play towards the end of my workout when I am getting tired and bored.... It is 'I think we're alone now' by Tiffany. That song comes on and I can't help it... I am skipping down the street, jumping, shuffling my feet, pumping my arms in the air, turning in circles, etc. It may sound dumb or corny, but it really gives me that push to go a little bit longer on my walk, get the sweat flowing, and give me an adrenaline rush that lasts throughout the entire day. I don't care how stupid I look dancing in the middle of my walk outside... It is worth it to me. After that is done, I pick a favorite slow song and walk for another 5 minutes to cool down before I go inside.

(to put it into perspective...when I started walking it was all I could do to make myself stay out for 15 minutes before growing tired and bored.... since I started adding the dancing to my routine I have increased to about an hour routine). Something must be working.

I have weigh-in tomorrow so we will see how this holds up on the weight loss front.

Trying Something New

So I have come to find out the Raw Vegan life jus isnt for me at this point in time... I might come back to it later on down the road after I get myself under control. BUT that does not mean that I am not going to strive to get healthier. I went off completely of my raw vegan diet. I weighed in almost two weeks ago at 236.4 pounds. EEEEKKKK!!!!
So yeah... No good. But I have joined weight watchers.... I was very reluctant to join at first. I always saw it as something that old people did. lol. I remember my grandmother doing it with her church friends. hahaha. But my friends and family all thought that it was a great idea so I bit the bullet and went to a meeting to see if I could stand it. I had a great time, and I was very happy to see such a huge range of ages and sizes there. It made me feel a little more at ease. So meeting one 236.4 pounds. I got my point book and heard some great ideas and then went off to try one week on my own. I strayed a bit but for the most part I was right on point with my allowed points and everything. They want you to hit your point goal exactly each day. I felt like I was eating soooo much, and therefore even contemplated skipping meeting the next week. I was sure that I had gained weight. lol. But I went and SURPRISE! I lost 3.4 pounds. I am now at 233 pounds and am very anxious to see what weigh-in on Saturday is going to yield. (I took the batteries out of my home scale due to my obsession with stepping on the scale).
This week my goal is to make weight watchers recipes and see how that goes (food photos to come!) and move more. Overall I am feeling fantastic.

I will post about those things in the next couple of days.

(oh still operating with a camera phone for the time being. I swear I will get a real digital camera soon. Any suggestions???)

EARTH DAY!!!

So for some reason I was all about Earth Day this year. I have to be honest and say that I have never celebrated it before in my life.

So to celebrate I planted myself a little indoor garden for my bay window. I am hoping that I can keep everything alive! I found some very pretty Impatients, Pansies, Ivy (which was on sale because for some reason the nursery didn't see fit to water it after Easter was over. But I think I can get it thriving again).

Did anyone else do anything for Earth Day? I know that there were little festivals around town over the past couple of weeks. I went to Coolidge part for one and had a picnic there. It was a very nice outting.

Found a Job

So I found another job. I was offered a position with Up Communications... They do the satellite installations for Dish Network. I got a job being a warehouse inventory assistant. I am actually pretty excited about the position. It is a lot of work and it require a lot of physical activity. I think it will be good for me. I really dislike sitting in an office all day. It allows for too many distractions and too much free time to snack and eat things that I shouldn't. Anyways...The pay is better than I was making, I get 100% of my benefits paid for, and I will be working a 4 days on and 3 days off schedule. I think in the long run it will be really good. I had to go for my drug test yesterday, so after they get the results of that in they will schedule a date for me to start working. I think my schedule might be from Sunday-Wednesday. 40 hours a week. So that is pretty fantastic.
In the meantime I am trying to keep busy. I have been knitting and am currently working on the sleeves to my sweater. :) Maybe I will get this thing done by the time next winter rolls around. haha.
I have also been working on my mother's christmas present. It is gorgeous and I think that she will really like it. I am going to have to get a new digital camera so that I can take pictures of all of these projects and post them. My phone camera is just crap. lol. So once I get a steady paycheck going again, and I get some money saved up, I will get a camera and start posting pictures that are worth looking at. :)
I have tried a few more raw recipes as well that I want to post pictures of, so I will be doing that soon too.
Keep checking back! Things are about to get better all around!

Laid Off / Therapy

So last Friday I received word that the office I am currently working in would be going to a part time office and my position will no longer be available. I was then informed that I had a week before the changes were in effect. Needless to say I am pissed and shocked. Nevermind that yesterday they called me and asked me to stay on another week. I am still going to be without a job come the second week in March. This is so not good. I have been applying for jobs like my life depended on it, and thus far have had two job interviews in less than a week. I guess that is good. I am trying to stay positive about it, but I can't sleep at night and I rotate from wanting to eat everything in sight to not wanting to eat anything. It is terrible.

To keep my sanity I have been sucked into various romantic "smut" novels so that I can read of a life the doesnt remotely remsemble mine. lol. And the other day I actually put together my terrarium. I got a pink mushroom farm to put ontop of the "mood" moss that I bought for it. The pink mushrooms came with a little pink worm/snake. So I put him in there too. I accidently popped off three of the mushroom caps so I will have ro reattach them in the next couple of days. Lets hope that I am able to keep the moss alive and growing.

Has anyone made a terrarium? I could use any tips that you might have! :)

Raw Food Lunch

So I have been making raw foods..... I am not 100% raw but I am working on it.

Todays Lunch... Green Soup and Bananas and oranges.

I wish I could say that the green soup was as good as it looks. I was not the biggest fan to be honest. I feel like it wasnt thick enough and that it was missing something. I am not sure what. Has anyone had any success with green soups? This one is basically a cucumber soup. I am open to try something else if someone has an idea that would work.

And the fruit was sooo good. I used honey tangerines instead of oranges. They were yummy!

Mr. Baggins

So..... I got a new friend!

I had told myself that after my pet cat (which I didnt get along with at all) that I was totally off pets. Then I came across a lady who had surprise half Giant Flemish bunnies and wanted to get rid of them as soon as possible. Apparently she had a female Giant Flemish and a male lionhead and because of the difference she didn't think that they could mate. So that is how Mr. Baggins came to be and how he came to be in my life.

He is growing faster than expected and I had to build him a huge rabbit cage. I made it out of those stackable wire storage cubes... I think they are Neat Idea Cubes (NIC). It was a pain in the butt doing it all by myself (Jesse and I are no longer dating). But I finally got all of the walls built, I laid black vinyl flooring on particle board for the shelves and floor of the cabe. I used the bottom of his old cage as his litter pan (he is totally litter trained) and he has a little tent at the top to sleep in. He is super cute! Since he is litter trained I let him out in the morning when I get ready for work and in the evening when I get home from work. He just hops around and when he needs to use the potty get goes back into his cage! It is awesome! He has discovered that he is big enough now to jump up onto the couch and my bed, so lately he thinks that he owns the house. We have had to have a few talking tos..... well as much as you can scold a super cute bunny names Mr. Baggins!. He seems to love his bigger cage too. Though it did take some getting used to. The first night he fell of the top floor all the way to the bottom. I am sad to say that I laughed first and then made sure he was ok... He is fine. He is a tough bunny... he slipps all the way down the stairs too, but it doesnt seem to slow him down.

In reading the breed specs for the flemish giant.... it appears that if he doesnt get enough of that lionshead breed in him I may be looking at a 20-30 pound rabbit. Lord help me if he gets that big! I will post updated pictures as he gets bigger!

I am looking at getting a little angora bunny too! That would be sooooo cute! We shall see what happens there.

Failed......

I dont know what is wrong with me. I am so mad at myself.

I can't seem to get into the swing of things with going Raw again. I don't know why I am having such a hard time. The first time I went raw I just did it. I had no issues right off the bat. What is going on?

I am really angry about this. I am just not feeling the motivation and I dont understand why. I need to figure out something that will get me back into the swing of things.

Even my coworker has gone raw because of our talking and she is loving it. You would think that would be enough to get my butt in gear!

Anyone have any suggestions? I am hanging on by a thread!

Have the New Website going with a couple Recipes

So things are going well. I am back into the raw swing of things. It is funny. This time around I do not feel the urge to weigh myself as much. That is a good thing I guess. I am just wanting to feel better, and I know that that will happen and the weight will gradually fall off when it needs to. I am just going to stick with this and not get discouraged.
With that said, Jesse, the boyfriend, has decided to go at this with me and he is doing famously. He is not super thrilled but he is working with it. It is a huge change and I know it is going to take some time for him to get used to the different foods we are eating.
I have logged some of the recipes we have tried on my raw in 2010 webiste so be sure to check it out. Last night we had Spicy Cilantro Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms that were amazing! :) You should give them a shot. There is also a recipe for a citrus green smoothie... It was amazing! and a creamy cashew citrus salad dressing. :)
http://rawagain2010.weebly.com/blog.html