Baby steps - constant concerted effort...

A friend of mine posted this video on Facebook today and it made me cry! What a touching story. Simple... yet so powerful.

Something that my husband keeps telling me and that I keep telling myself is that losing weight is more just a constant, concerted effort to exercise and eat healthy. There aren't really any magic tricks or pills. Just to keep trekking along and making good choices.

I'm still just trying to keep good habits. I know that I do better every day with my eating if I start the day out right with some exercise and a healthy breakfast. Every single time you eat a meal you make a choice... to do something healthy and good for or body, or to not. I'm happy to say that I am making the healthy choice a lot more often than I make the non healthy choice and it's starting to show.

My progress...

I've now lost 10 lbs. I have about 3 lbs to go to be at my "pre chemo" weight. I'm starting to see it too. I have more energy now than I did before. My clothes are starting to fit a little better. Yesterday I ran 3 miles straight without stopping. It was a slow run, but it was a good one.

I'm planning on running a half marathon in March. I haven't signed up for it yet, I'd like to be able to run 6 miles before actually signing up for the race (that's about half the distance of the race). I do think though that by signing up for this race it will keep me motivated to get out and do my runs every week. Constant concerted effort...

September...

I went back to work full time this month for the first time since my little guy was born almost three years ago. My husband is doing a very intense accelerated nursing program for the next year so it was pretty necessary and I'm grateful to have found a good job. I needed to get some "comfortable" black shoes to wear for work. I've always wanted to own a pair of Toms, and I figured these would be great for my job.

Well... they would be if they had more of a sole. They are super comfortable, but when you are standing on a tile floor for 10 hours straight... they just don't make the cut. So they will have to be my comfortable shoes to wear when I'm not at work.

I still love them though! I would love to get another pair sometime, maybe the yellow cord ones. Those are adorable.

desk...

We needed to get a simple desk for our computer in the living room. So we found this old one on Craigslist that looked promising.

I wish I had gotten a better look at it before we bought it because I initially wanted to stain the top wood a dark brown, but the very top of the desk was laminate... bummer. I just ended up painting the top surface a dark brown and the rest white. It was a super easy refinishing job. I just sanded it down very roughly to give the paint something to stick to and we just threw a couple coats of paint on it. I thought about filling in the little nick's and such with wood filler but in the end I really didn't care to... gives it character.

Here is the after...

Please excuse my mess of chords behind the desk. Does anyone have a great chord solution because these are driving me crazy! I really love the little knobs that I got. I totally splurged on the knobs and got the cute yellow ones from Anthropologie (it's considered a splurge when the knobs cost almost as much as the desk itself). It was completely worth it though because I think that the knobs totally make the desk! They look so good! They make me smile whenever I look at them.

She looks good in the living room. I think that I am almost done with putting my living room together. A few pillows to make and it will be there. Pictures to come!

Bald for Becky Auction...

This week I am participating in an online auction for a sweet lady named Becky, who was diagnosed with cancer in May of this year. She is a thirty year old mother of four, with her kids ranging in age from 8 months to 9 years. After having an emergency mastectomy, doctors found that the cancer had spread to one of Becky's lungs and diagnosed her with a very invasive form of Sarcoma. After a tumor in one of her lungs was removed, Becky found that the cancer had spread to both lungs. She started chemo, but after two rounds of chemo, they found it to be ineffective. They are now searching for an alternative treatment, but she was given 6 months to live from her doctor.

Becky's story has really touched me, having battled cancer myself this year. I am auctioning off one of my family trees to help raise funds for her family. There are lots of great participants in this auction! I encourage you to check it out, and maybe get some early Christmas shopping done that will help this family.

To find the auction you can go to baldforbecky.blogspot.com. Also, the family has a facebook page for Becky which you can find here.

Rustic Tree...

This project has been a long time in the making. It probably took me a good five months from beginning to end (I took a lot of breaks in between steps) but it was so worth it! I got the inspiration for this from Three Men and a Lady.

First, we found some old wooden pallets back behind Target one night and brought them home. Then my hubby pulled them apart and nailed them to some boards to make this rugged square. Then I stained the slats a dark wood stain. The search was on to find a tree picture that I liked. This was the winner...

The picture was in color but I made it black and white so that it would be easier to trace onto the boards. I covered the wood with some white contact paper so that I could trace the image onto the wood. I had the picture copied to a transparency at Kinkos and then I borrowed a projector from my church and projected the image onto the wood.

This part was a little nerve wracking. All of those squiggly lines!!! I kept saying, "Honey, do you think people are going to know that this is supposed to be a tree?" I wasn't convinced for a while. The most tedious part of the project was cutting out all of the negative space with an exacto knife. That took forever! Once that was done I put one coat of paint on it and pulled the contact paper off while it was still wet. The paint bled through on some parts and I had to do a little touch up afterwards, but I think that it turned out amazing!!!!

I'm so happy with this project! It's very rustic, so there are lots of imperfections and flaws, but that's what was nice about it. I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my crafting so it was nice to have a project that could be a little rough and rugged. I still might take my sander to it and rough it up some more in a few places, you know... to add to the rustic feel. I really do love it. I hate to pick favorites, but I think that this might be my favorite project I have ever made for my house before...

The wheels are turning...

Life has gotten really busy around here lately... which leaves not much time for crafting. I have a few projects so close to being done... but not quite yet!

In the mean time, here are a few things that I'm hoping to start soon when I find some time to craft again!

We bought an old desk over the weekend that needs a new paint job. I think I'm going to do something like this desk from over at A Delightful Blog.

I love this cute little hexagon bib from over at A Quilt is Nice. So adorable! I might need to try this out before I commit to a full hexagon quilt. Maybe make a few of these to add to the "baby gift" stash...

This is an old ad for Alice Lane. I just love those pillows! They are so adorable! I am almost done putting my living room together, and would like to make a few of these in green, brown, and white to finish it off. So cute!

Quilt Pattern found...

Okay, so remember when I said I was in love with this quilt pattern here? Well... I changed my mind. I don't know what it is, maybe that I want to have white bedding and I felt like there was just too much white and not enough color on this one... or maybe it was just that the white and the colors weren't separated enough... not sure. Anyway, I've had my hope valley fabric sitting here waiting for me to make up my mind. Then I saw this beautiful little quilt on a delightful blog and I knew this was the one.

It's the same basic idea, just a little more color mixed in with the white. I love that it's still asymmetrical... I love Denyse Schmidt. I love all of her stuff. Her fabric, her patterns. You can find this one for free here. So I'm going to do that pattern with white and these beautiful fabrics...

I think I'll start tomorrow because I can't wait!

Sunrise...

July 31, 2009 - I was driving home late at night when I made an awful discovery. I don't know if the seat beat was bothering my neck or what, but I reached my hand up and touched my neck just above my collar bone and felt it. A lump, the size of a large grape. "Crap!" I thought, "Please don't let this be cancer." Sure enough, it was cancer. Hodgkin's lymphoma.

July 31, 2010 - I woke up at 3:30 AM. Pulled on my jeans and hiking boots... and glasses cause that is way to early for contacts. Met some friends who pulled up on a four wheeler and we rode to the top of a mountain. Hiked for about 30 minutes and sat at the top of a peak to watch the sunrise. And it was beautiful.

And so is life. Life is beautiful. And I'm happy to still be in the game.

Baby Steps - Sleep...

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Getting good sleep is so important!!! I have had the hardest time going to sleep ever since I became a mom (almost three years ago). I can't even blame it on my kid who has been a great night sleeper ever since he was 5 months old. Nope, it's just me, I have the hardest time falling asleep.

I really think that sleep is essential to being healthy. Your body repairs damaged cells while you are sleeping. I think that it is also easier to eat healthy, and work out when you are well rested.



I've been trying to pay close attention to things I do at night that might be the cause of my not being able to sleep. If I don't get a good nights sleep (at least 7 hours right now) I have a really hard time functioning the next day. It's ridiculous, but important enough that I'm trying to be better at this. I've come up with a few rules that I need to follow in order to get good sleep.

1- If I nap during the day, I have a really hard time falling asleep before midnight. So no naps (this is a hard one because I LOVE naps!)


2- No hot baths at night. This is another hard one because I love hot baths!!! But if my body temperature is too hot then I can't sleep. So no more hot baths.


3- If I am too hot, take a cold shower or go to the pool. For some reason I do sleep better if my body is nice and cool so sometimes a cool shower is in order to get some sleep.


4- My feet have to be comfortable in order to get to sleep. I keep a pair of socks by my bed if my feet are too cold, and a bottle of lotion if my feet are too hot. I don't know why but if my feet aren't comfortable, I can't fall asleep.





Have you found any tricks to getting better sleep? If you do please share!

Limes...

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I love limes. I think that they are one of the greatest things on the planet. I love their tartness, and how they intensive the flavor of other foods. Limes are in season right now so they taste so yummy! We've been eating a whole lot of lime around here lately. Here are a few of my favorite lime recipes...





... Shrimp Tacos. I made these twice last week, and might be making it again tonight. I'm in love with this one. You season the shrimp with lime and the pico de gallo. It's just so fresh and yummy!


... Brazilian Limeade. Made this the other night after a long hot day and some time at the pool. It was wonderful! So lime-y! This one is a must to try (thanks Sarah!).


... Sprite + Lime. My favorite easy beverage. So good...


... Lime-Cilantro Rice. I haven't tried this one yet, but it's on the menu tonight! It reminds me of the rice they have at Chipotle, which I'm a big fan of. So hopefully it's great (I'm sure it will be). I'm even going be brave and try the pineapple with it.


... Pineapple Mango Salsa. This is another one that I am dying to try. A nice fresh summer salsa, loaded with lime. Lovely...

H is for Handmade giveaway...

I'm giving away two trees this week over at H is for Handmade... so head on over! You have until Thursday night to enter!

pot holders...

As much as I love these Together Forever bears and the Snowmen potholders that I've been using forever... it was time for a change.

I'm not sure why I never bought new potholders. Ones that actually looked good. Ones that I would be so embarrassed when I pulled them out when company was over. I don't mind the snowmen, but those should have been reserved for Christmas time... not July. The together forever bears were a wedding gift... 7 1/2 years ago... and they didn't look good then... and I'm still using them.

So I've been a little busy correcting this problem of mine...

My friend Linda works for an interior design company and they are always getting different swatches of fabric lines. One night she brought me over this book of sample fabric that had the cutest fabric ever. I'm in love with it, but the pieces are too small to make pillows or something like that out of it... pot holders it was! I think that I'll use the rest to piece a quilt, so more on that later.

I wanted to try my hand at stippling, since I have never really done it before other than just on scrap fabric. Two broken needles, and lots of unpicked thread later... they were stippled. Man, that is some intense stuff. One thing that I learned is to use 100% polyester thread. If I used thread that hand any cotton in it my top thread would bunch all up and break (resulting in unpicking and broken needles). I need a lot more practice before I try stippling something other than... potholders.

I used spray adhesive to hold all my layers together. I tried to pin them but they turned out much better if I used this stuff.

Then I was feeling confident and wanted to try my hand at some fancier stippling. I decided to try out my cursive handwriting that I learned in the fourth grade... I'm really happy with how these turned out.

The backs...

The fronts...

I love how they turned out. I'm excited to use them. I'll try to enjoy them while they are all nice and clean, you know, before they are burned and covered in spaghetti sauce.

Cause in the end... they are just potholders.

Baby Steps - Running with Angels...

I haven't worked out in two weeks. I've been on vacation with my wonderful boys and it was so much fun. I ate more hot dogs and hamburgers over the 4th of July week than I care to disclose... but it was nice to just take a breather and spend the week with our families.




When I got back I had a book on hold at the library called Running With Angels by Pamela Hansen. My mom recommended this book to me right after I lost my son. She told me that this lady had lost a baby shortly after birth and then had a still born son later, so she lost two babies! My response to her recommendation was, "Why on earth would I ever want to read that book? So that I can worry that someday I will go through this again? I know what she is going to say, I know how she feels. I'm sure that I feel about the same way too!"



Since then I've had so many people recommend this book to me I finally decided to read it. And I'm glad I did. Why? Well, yes she lost two babies and she has other children with very serious health problems, but the book really isn't about that. The book is about how she overcame her emotional eating and lost 100 lbs and then completed a marathon. How amazing is that?



I read the book in a day and have not been able to stop thinking about it since. I have made new friends who have lost babies, and I have made new friends who have suffered through cancer. I have never met someone who has gone through both in the same year. In some insane way though, reading about this authors trials and struggles finally made me feel like someone out there might understand the way that I feel. She gave some specific examples about losing her babies that we're almost exactly what I experienced. Things that when she said them I had to close the book and say, "Do I really want to read this, and relive this?" Yes, because I want to know how she got through this! The stress of having a loved one going through a major health condition. The many many doctors appointments, the tests, the waiting for answers, the not knowing how things were going to turn out. Even though for her it was experiencing this with a child and for me it is myself going through it, I think that the same feelings of helplessness, worry, concern for your family and how all this is affecting your family are very much the same.



She talked about feeling like a failure for gaining 100 lbs. Not being anything close to the woman that her husband married so long ago. Feeling like she doesn't have time to care for herself anymore because she had to focus on her family. This book just hit me in a way that I don't think anything else could have. I haven't gained 100 lbs, but I am about 35lbs more than when I got married and have been bald for most of the year so I too feel like I am a very different girl than the one my husband married and I feel bad about that.



She always had a dream of running a marathon, and she lost 100 lbs over 18 months and then did it! How amazing is that. What I love about this is that she lost the weight by walking and joining Weight Watchers. There was no magic pill, no fad diet, just lots and lots of hard work. Lots of determination, self acceptance, will power, sticking to her plan even though her will power was gone. She talked about the feelings that are associated with being over weight and hating herself for letting herself get to this point.



This was a really inspirational book for me to read because it focused so much on the emotional side of things instead of just, "eat this, do this, and you will lose weight". I know how to lose weight, I've done it before. What I'm struggling with is knowing how to handle all of these emotions that I'm feeling and figuring out how to not let them control my life. This book has given me a lot to think about and has given me a lot of hope that someday things will be better, and I will feel better about myself and my life!



And maybe even run in a race again someday...

Road Trips...

I haven't been crafting as much as I would like to this summer. One thing that I have been doing is spending a lot of time in the car going on different road trips! It's been a lot of fun, and I've really enjoyed the scenery as we've driven along.

On one trip I was loving how blue the sky was and how amazing it looked with the green green grass. It was so inspirational I thought the whole way about making a quilt out of greens and blues. I was so in love with the color combination that's all I could think about.

But then a few weeks later on another trip there was a huge storm and the whole sky was gray. I loved how the gray looked against the green... and then I started to change my mind.

I'm not sure which I like better now, gray + green or blue + green...

Either way, I'm pretty sure that mother nature puts together the best color combinations that there are...

Baby Steps - The Wagon...

I have temporarily fallen off the wagon.... geez.

I had a rough little while there emotionally and it threw me completely off my diet. As in, my husband knew I was feeling blue and bought me a lemon delight cake from Costco and I spent the whole weekend eating a whole cake... that kind of falling off the wagon.

I still believe in my eat sweets on the weekend stuff, but I don't think that eating a WHOLE ENTIRE CAKE is what I had in mind.

I've had a hard time getting back on track ever since. Emotional eating is a rough rough rough thing. You know, that's what got me into this mess (this gained 25 lbs mess) in the first place. And something that I'm finding super difficult is that the emotions are still all there. The hard times are still there, I'm just trying to not eat my way through them which I'm having a hard time with.

I thought that it was a great time to start trying to lose weight because I was not on chemo anymore so health wise it was a good time to start. But all the emotions of losing a baby and having cancer are still there, and I have a hard time coping with it all when I go through one of my moods. I'm still trying to figure out how to deal with my emotions without including food in the mix. It's rough sometimes...

So I haven't gained any weight from my escapades, but I haven't lost any either. I think that I will keep one foot in the wagon and one out of it over the holiday weekend, and then get back on track... because I'm not giving up yet!