walk on the columbia

Today was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day!  I got off work early (I have to work tomorrow, but that's okay) and decided to call my friends and borrow their dog for a long walk!

Rocky is so cute and lovable!

My favorite dog and I walked 5 miles today along the river.  We started right at the 205 bridge and Marina Drive.  We walked west for 2.5 miles with Mt. Hood at my back and airplanes taking off right over my head.  I had no idea how far I was walking because there aren't any mile markers, so I just walked to enjoy myself.  When I got to a good turn around spot the sun was just coming down over the west hills.  As I walked backed to the jeep, I got to enjoy the majestic Mt. Hood the whole way.  So gorgeous!  The river turned pink as the sun set and the mountains turned blue.  At the end, I let Rocky drink from the river.  He was so funny lapping up the water quicker than I've ever seen.

It's been a long time since I've spent time reflecting on God's blessings.  It was so nice to be able to walk and appreciate all that God has created.  It was such a spectacular hour and a half.  I am so refreshed and rejuvenated.  Such a great evening!!

I'm stuck

I've not posted anything because well I'm not exercising and I feel bad.


There I said it!! *sigh*

I have to get back into a routine.  Maybe I'll sign up for another run/walk.  I think that's what my brain needs to jump start the motivation.  There is a run happening the week I'm in Florida that some of my coworkers are doing.  I joking told them that I would do it in Florida, but maybe I should seriously do that!  I have a coworker going with me that would hold me to that goal.  I'll tell her today and we'll aim for that!  Okay, done!

Also, I have cookie dough in my freezer.  It's killing me!  I'm baking it tonight and bringing the rest in to work tomorrow to get it the HECK out of my freezer.  It is such a bad thing for me. 

Okay, all of the ghosts are out of the closet...now I can deal with them!

running with dogs

I had the joy of running yesterday with my wonderful friend's dog!  Rocky is a 2-yr old Laberdoodle and is such a gem! He's trained like a police dog (also knows commands in 4 languages), although he is currently going through his teenage years of being a little rebellious when it comes to following commands.  But all in all he is a keeper and I LOVE running with him.  I think I've said before that I'd rather run with a dog than with a person.  Rocky is the most non-judgemental dog around!  I ran two miles with him yesterday and the WHOLE time he was pulling ahead wanting to go a little faster.

I experienced 2 funny moments yesterday:

1. I've lost enough weight that my favorite running pants are now too big.  They fell down...luckily I caught them just in time and proceeded to hold them the rest of the time.  It totally put me off balance and I had to switch hands from time to time in order to use both sides equally.
2. There were two women that were slightly ahead of me as I started on the track.  As I tried to pass them (obviously they were deep in conversation), one of the ladies pushed the other lady lightly on the shoulder (I can imagine it was a kind of "get outta here!" push that friends do to each other every so often).  Well, they didn't know I was there and the poor lady that just received the friendly shove, went kartwheeling over Rocky (he's quite tall) and landed softly in the grass.  In my defense, I did call out "LEFT" as I was supposed to (Spanglish just flashed into my mind).  They started laughing so hard, I'm trying to figure out if I've just broken this lady's hip or something and poor Rocky is beside himself not knowing what just happened! 

Such a great time and it made the rest of the running experience so very enjoyable.

Blessings

Today is an emotional health day!  I'm remembering all the wonderful blessings I have in my life. 

1. I have an all-powerful, all-knowing God who loves me
2. I have a wonderful (HOTTIE) husband (sorry ladies, mine's the hottest!)
3. I have a job
4. I have a loving/forgiving/supportive family to rely on
5. I have a roof over my head and food on my plate (most of the time too much food)
6. I have an amazing group of friends/mentors/confidantes
7. I have a church family that always knows when to pull me back in :o)
8. I have a savings account that has concurred babystep #1 of Dave Ramsey's plan
9. I have vacations planned in the near future that are going to ROCK
10. I have friends visiting that I am counting down the days until I get to see them
11. I have been gifted with my singing abilities and for that I am eternally grateful (see #3)

I want to come up so many more but my brain has quit on me....

I am blessed beyond measures!

Dinner Menu

I'm thinking more and more about getting out the crock pot every morning, throwing a bunch of stuff in there and seeing how it tastes that night!  Coming home after work and having to prepare something to eat is way too time/energy consuming!  :)  Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy making dinners from scratch already, but it would be nice if it was done when I got home!

What are some of your favorite recipes that you make in a crockpot with very random ingredients? 

I'm reminded of a line from my favorite TV series, Friends:  You're a chef, what can you make with Baking Soda and Beer?  :)

everything in sight

The last few days have not (I repeat NOT) been good eating days for me!  I won't traumatize myself or you for that matter with listing all the things I've chosen to eat over the last 48 hours, but I will give you guys some hints.

Co-worker brought amazing trail mix into work (includes resee's, cashews, animal crackers)
Mom gave me guacomole (and you know you can't eat just a little, then the chips with which you enjoy them)
Hubby made me lunch (SUPER sweet) consisting of breaded chicken, fried potatoes, and fried polenta.  SOOOO good...not so healthy
Other co-workers stock their desk with temptations (dark chocolate dove, kit kat bars, mints)

All in all, not so good of a diet and my stomach is paying the price for it!!  Ouch!

Tomorrow will be better, it has to be! :)

Progress Report

Beginning record: March 1
Current stats: Sept 12

Beginning weight – 223

Current - 199

Beginning waist – 35.5

Current - 35

Beginning hips – 45

Current – 42

Beginning chest – 42.5

Current – 41

Beginning thigh – 22

Current – 24

Beginning calf – 15.5

Current – 15.5

Beginning bicep – 15

Current – 14.75

Total weight loss: 24 pounds

Total inches lost: 5.25 (but 2 inches gained in thighs, really!?!?!)

So there you have it.  A progress report.  All in all, I feel like I'm going fairly well.  I still could stand to lose many more inches, but I'm very happy with results so far!! 

Thanks for all the encouragement!

Is financial health even possible?

I have no idea what that would even look like.  As my hubby and I sit down to estimate the cost of moving into a home (finally getting out of an apartment), I'm scared to death about the possibility of not actually being able to do it.  Most of my friends live in a house, how do they do it?  I'm paralyzed with the idea of not being able to pay all the bills.

Hubby and I have been on a journey of being debt free and we are so close to paying off the last of our credit card debt.  Just the other day I told him we are 10 months from being freed of that burden.  HOWEVER, that is based on what we have been paying the last 3 months.  We couldn't possibly keep up that kind of payment if we moved into a house.  We would have to resort to paying the minimum balance plus $20 - $30 extra.  That puts us back in the bracket of paying off the credit card debt in 5-10 YEARS!!! What the heck? 

I don't want to be a person that dwells on finances, but seriously it's so hard not to when you live in today's world.  I've been sitting on my couch for 30 minutes mapping out our 'house-dwelling' budget and it looks like we would just barely survive month to month if we moved into this house that is so cute and so perfect.  That means minimum balance payments on the two debts we have left and putting barely anything into savings month to month.  Lets not forget that hubby and I are tithing on a regular basis and loving being able to do this freely.  {I feel the tap on my shoulder to remember that God will always provide and that we are called to tithe especially in the "money's tight" times.}

On top of that, hubby and I want to have a family at some point and how the HECK are we supposed to find money to fit that in.  I hate that I just naturally typed 'fit that in'.  It's not supposed to be that way, it's supposed to be a joy and a blessing and....ugh, let's not go down that road (tears are sure to follow).

I don't know if you can tell, but I'm a little overwhelmed by this and am having a VERY hard time figuring out how to begin to handle all the information that my brain tells me I need to work through.

Here's what we are looking at:

+Income
-Rent
-Water/Sewer
-Trash/Recycling (p.s. - how the heck can they charge for recycling? I don't get that)
-Electricity
-School Loan payment
-Credit Card payment
-Groceries (to include our gleaning community payment)
-Gas
-Tithe
-Savings
-Things we want (internet,  monthly allowance, entertainment)
---------------------------
=not a whole lot left over (i.e. why Charissa is stressing!)

Obviously the things we want would be cut back.  The gas would be less because the house would be closer to work and hubby and I would be able to walk/bike to work.  But that still leaves us with little to no money left over.

I pray about this and daily give it God...then promptly take it back from him.  Why is this such a hard item to hand over? 

What are your thoughts on this?  How do you handle the 'stress,' the unknown, the urge to just crawl in a hole and ignore it all?

Week One finished

After week one

Well, one of my readers has requested pictures.  If there's one thing I know, you give the readers what they want! :)

Here's the week one results.  You can see (squint your eyes and put your face about 6 inches from the computer screen) a little bulge of a bicep on top.  While I like those results, what I'm really going for is to tighten up the triceps!  We'll see if this really works.

I'm telling you, if you ever decide to purchase this thing, it really is challenging at first.  My shoulders and back muscles are still screaming at me!

Please don't judge before trying.  It really can work for you too!!

day 5 of shake weight

I CAN totally feel the difference.  Can't see it yet, but I can totally feel it.  I love my 'getting-sculpted' arms and the fact that Rolando says I'm getting too skinny (yeah, right). 

I can honestly tell you that I look at my reflection in the mirror and am happy with what I see.  It's been a long time since I've been able to say that.  In fact, I think this might be one of the first times I'm truly happy with who I am.  God has been so gracious to me over the years as I struggle to find myself in the world.  I've pushed him away (more like I've walked away), but he's there right when I need him.  I'm learning to rely on him more and more and it is amazing what we can do together! 

Thanks, God, for the many blessings and all the patience you show me!

the opposite of what you want...

Today, I was going to spend most of the day just sitting at home relaxing, reading all my books that i'm reading (i'm currently reading 3).

Instead, I got the opportunity to help one of my friends continue the process of moving out of the house she's lived in with her husband for the past 18 years (they're know legally separated) and spend the evening chatting with her.  Seriously, knowing that what she needs right now is love and support and just to be 'normal' around other people, I feel blessed to be able to give that to her.  I love this women so much, as a friend, as a mother (i'm sorta like a daughter to her), as a sister in Christ!  She just wants to be past this stage in her life.  I totally get that.  I get the true joy of knowing that just spending time with her blesses her.  YAY! 

Being a friend can be so easy, even when it's the exact opposite of what you wanted to do all day!

Shake weight!!

I gave in.  I succummed to the temptation of buying the new fad!  I had a coupon so it was just a bit cheaper!!

The Shake Weight is all it's cracked up to be!  6 minutes today and my arms and shoulders are burning.  I decided to bring it in to work and have it be an office fad for a while.  A co-worker of mine tried it and she agrees that you can totally feel the burn!  BUT, there's a 4 day weekend coming up and I think I'm going to bring it home with me.  Should I take a picture of my arms now and then keep an updated picture going every month?  I'm really excited about this working.  Let's hope it does.

I'm not a hugely vain person.  I do let my mind wander every once in a while and think about what I would do if I had the money (and vanity) for plastic surgery.  I kid you not, I would get my arm/upper back fat removed.  That is the top on my list of self-concious areas.  Hence the shake weight. 

Has anyone else tried it?