Thursday, January 26, 2012

Ten Things Thankful Thursday

Ten Things I am thankful for this Thursday....

1)  I am thankful for the country I live in...I get choices....and have rights...I don't have to hide...

2) I am thankful for who I have become....it wasn't easy.

3)  I am thankful I survived....there was a time I wasn't sure I would or if I even wanted to.

4) I am thankful for turning 40....not giving a shit about someone ELSE's perception of how me and my life should be is getting a LOT easier!

5)  I am thankful for my husband. Amazing guy. Poor schmuck.

6)  I am thankful for comedies...laughing is more fun than crying and helps keep you looking young.

7)  I am thankful for my puppies...endless kisses.

8)  I am thankful for this mild winter...two of our floor board heaters went out two weeks  ago...the new ones won't be here until Feb 1st.

9) I am thankful for losing 50lbs...I feel so alive.

10)  I am thankful for the fact that I got my mother for 25 years of my life. Some folks don't get that luxury.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Learning to count my blessings....

I realized this morning that I worry too much about what I THINK I don't have.

Time to focus on what I do KNOW I have...and that is a loving husband, good health, friends and family who love and care for me and endless possibilities for the future!

Thursday, January 12, 2012

January 3in30 Challenge

Question of the Week:

With two weeks of the January 3in30 Challenge under our belts, it's time to stop and evaluate our goals for this month.
Have you bitten off too big a bite? Are you off track and need a kick-in-the-pants to get with it? Has LIFE gotten in the way of what you wanted to get accomplished?
Share the challenges you've faced so far this month, and tell us how you're overcoming them or adjusting your goals to fit your life.
Goals:
  1. Drink 60oz of water or more.
  2. Run/walk/jog 20 miles in January.
  3. Clean my car weekly.
I’m actually finishing up my first week of 3in30 and I’d say I’m doing “alright” with the goals. Not overwhelmed but there is room for improvement. And I certainly didn’t bite off more than I can chew…I mean really-look how easy those “goals” are!

The drinking 60oz of water is actually proving to be the easiest of the goals with the cleaning my car the hardest. I did manage to clear out the empty wrappers and bottles and wash the outside; just haven’t dusted it out or wipe it with cleany thingies.

I can’t really say that I’ve faced any “challenges” this month/week with my goals; I’m just simply learning to adjust so that I can better succeed. For example, I’m a bit lazy when it comes to moving (Run/walk/jog goal). So to get myself moving I con my neighbors into accompanying me on my “jaunts”. Sunday I got the neighbor down the streets to go walk on the trails with me by calling and waking her up (it was 10am) so that her mouth would say one thing (yes) while the brain said something else (WTF). I’ve also been encouraging myself to shut up and just walk the dogs. The weather has been FABULOUS for January and the pups love to be outside. Why not take them around the “big block” which is a mile and kill 3 birds with one stone (they get to walk outside, I get exercise, and they fall asleep shortly after getting home allowing me to “chill” on the couch)? For January I have already completed 11 of the 20 miles I have designated. AWESOME!

By the way…I will NO LONGER allow life to get in my way of what I want to accomplish. Just like the theme for Biggest Loser this season-NO MORE EXCUSES!


What have you done to work towards your 2012 goals?

Monday, January 9, 2012

I want this....

A Motorola PHOTON™ 4G

or I could probably handle this one...
HTC EVO Design 4G™

or...maybe this...
Samsung Conquer™ 4G
But I don't know...I really only use my phone to text, email, internet, and sometimes talk. And if I "upgrade" to one of these phones I have to "upgrade" my plan (which would be at least 25 more bucks) and I don't know if it's worth it. Of course if I upgrade to one of these phones I could also get the mobile hotspot turned on in teh phone so that I can get rid of Chater internet?

Saturday, January 7, 2012

3in30 January 2012

3in30 I'm In!!
I saw this challenge on Life with Karen's blog and I thought it was a great idea. I don't make New Year's Resolutions (I just write up a list of goals I'd like to put more focus on for the year) because I get overwhelmed with the word "resolutions".  I do like "challenges" though and am always game for something to help keep me on the "Journey to a New Me"!

3 in 30 involves three smaller goals and 30 days to work on them into your life.  This challenge also gives the chance to start again fresh if need be (I do tend to get sidetracked easily) in a relatively short time.

I've already started on one of the items but the other two I will be starting a week behind. I'm not worried about it though because it's all good! :O)

1)  ran/jog/walk 20 miles during the month of January. I committed myself to a challenge Tara Costa from Biggest Loser proposed on Facebook (see previous post) for January and February and may need all the help I can so I'm posting it to this challenge as well. I'm not the quickest to be motivated. I need to prepare for a 1/2 marathon upcoming up. 20 miles is not too much to ask and  a great start!

2) Drink 60 oz's of water daily. I've been terrible about my water intake and I'm sure I've been walking around dehydrated. Being hydrated not only helps to keep my head aches away but also help with my weight loss.

3) Clean my car weekly. It's embarrassing how dirty that thing is.  You'd think I LIVED in there! :O)

Friday, January 6, 2012

Do you use a cell phone to post, read, and reply?

Just a quick question...Do any of you use your cell phone to read/respond to posts? How about posting in general?  Do you like it? Pros/Cons?

Thanks!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Amazing way to start the year!

Happy New Year Everyone! I've missed you all dearly this last week and some change but I've not had anything fun to say. But today, TODAY that is all different. I got a shit-ton to say so pull up a chair (BTW-I've had 6 cups o coffee today; 4 in the last 5 hrs. this for a 2 cup o day gal!).

First things first. I started this new year running. Yes running. I participated in a local running "club" "Snowball Series" 5k. For a gal who hasn't "ran" since April-I did real good. a) I finished without collapsing on the pavement b) I did it in 41 minutes.


2ndly-I signed up for a "challenge" on facebook introduced to me by Tara Costa; a former biggest loser contestant and probably one of my fave contestants. The challenge was/is for however many "likes" my honor post got I had to run that many miles in Jan and Feb in honor of that like. Kind of funny; kind of sad. Out of 135 on my facebook page only 20 liked my post. (so far) :O( so instead of divvying them out between the two months I will do 20 miles each month. Hee hee that means for Jan I only have 17 more miles to do!!

Ok, now down to business. Reflecting on 2011. I didn't write out any goals for 2011 last January (or Dec 2010 for that matter) and only had one "mental goal"  for the year and that was to improve on myself. And I succeeded.  It was a really good year for me regarding self improvement. Besides, by not writing out any new year goals I didn't have much to live up to ha ha ha ha. Ha. Anyhow I managed to lose 30 lbs, improve finish times on all the races I participated in, stop smoking, and put me first more often then caving to anothers wishes. I also feel that I am stronger emotionally and have gained more self confidence.

For the future. Back in September I started reflecting on the year to come. I took into consideration what I had wanted from the last year (Improvement on myself) and on whether or not I wanted to keep the the focus for the year to come. But the reality of it is; you (me) can't STOP working on last year because it's a new year. But you (me) also can't keep just THAT as the main focus. So, for 2012 the focus is not only on me (and improving on myself) but focus will also be put on my financial situation. I sound stupid don't I. I think I need to be more specific. So here goes, the goals I chose between Sept and Nov 2011 for all of 2012 (I'm trying to get back on the Jan to Dec year rather than Oct to Sept).

Goals/things to do between Jan 2012 and Dec 2012:
  • Save $1000 for an emergency fund
  • Join Planet Fitness to run during lunch (mark this one done-they had deal that if you paid for yr up front b4 12/31 it was only $99 for the entire yr)
  • Read 2 books a month
  • pay off 50% of my debt (which includes student loans but not mortgage)
  • participate in 12 5k's (virtual counts) and 2 1/2 marathons (completed 1st 5k today-11 more to go)
  • attend an estate sale
  • obtain part-time employment
  • lose the last 30lbs
Ha ha...Nothing too strenuous.... It's going to be another great year...

p.s. does anyone know how to put "tabs" on your blog so that I can put more things up on my blog?