Rita Moreno

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I walked by this in Half Price books.  I read the back, looked at the price and walked away.  I tend to only buy from the clearance rack.  I got to the clearance section and thought, "I wonder if anyone has picked it up yet."  I picked out three books and wandered over to the religion section.  " There was only one copy, maybe I should look at it again."  I wandered back over to the book.  That's when I heard they were having their 20% off sale.  I picked it up.  

I read it in one day.

Her life was intense and she wrote about it beautifully.  I couldn't wait to see what her next struggle and conquest would be.  I couldn't wait to see the rest of her story.  I loved the inside look into Hollywood and familiar names.  

I do have a warning.  If you pick up this book, you will fall in love with her, and her story.

5/5

Thinking, Feeling and Such 5.27.13

Thinking about:  Starting the calorie counting thing again today.  It was suppose to happen last Monday, but I just couldn't do it. 

Feeling: Lots. On Friday the numbness that I had been happily living in for two weeks wore off.  Now I have to actually deal with my feelings.  Blah. 

Watching:   Greys Anatomy from the beginning.  I've watched Grey's since the beginning and I thought it would be fun to start over.  I've never watched reruns so this is the first time I've seem some of these episodes in 9 years.  I am really enjoying it.  Again.  :)

Reading: I read " Rita Moreno A Memoir" in one day.  Yesterday to be precise.  She is impressive, intriguing, and inspiring.  ( yes I realized I used all I words there).  I'll try to get a review up later this week.  Loved it.  Highly suggest it.

Looking forward to: My Nieces first birthday party.  I haven't seen her in person for months.  And buying baby clothes!  

Making me happy: Pandora.  I realize I am really, really late on this.  I am listening at home and work, and having a great time.  My two favorite channels are The Goo Goo Dolls and Les Miserables.

Thanks again to Lindsay @ Running with Tongs  for the inspiration.

Sunday Snapshot 5.26.13

Saturday night Snapshot today.

My husband is working at a different building a few days a week now.  That means a new parking garage and getting to see another part of the city.  The fun thing about the new parking garage is it over looks a little park, and has a great city view all around it.  My parking garage view isn't half as interesting.  I did not take photos of the other two sides, but it's definitely on my to do list.  The other fun thing ( for me at least) about this view of the city is I can't see my building from it.  I work in a very tall building, and being downtown usually means work is looming over me.  I also want to go back when the carousel is open.  Because whats not fun about a carousel?

Thanks to Nihaoyall for hosting Sunday snapshot! I am having a lot of fun exploring other blogs.

Bike Rides, Uncut Grass, and Flip Flops

Sunday summer time fun!  My little dog lost in the precut grass.  Can you spot the Bella?

Three of my new favorite summer time things.  Aeropostale flip flops( that match every summery dress I own), sundresses, and my new super awesome chair.  The super awesome chair is sure to make an appearance of its own in  a favorite things post.

There is a part of my bike trail where the paved trail just randomly stops.  If you look closely, there is a  beaten down man made trail that continues it on.  Eventually it opens up to this spot.  Under a train bridge, beside a creek, and the start of the paved trail again.  I don't go this way often, so I took the opportunity today to stop some pictures of the scenery.  It really is quite striking. 

19 miles on my bike today!  Super slow, 1.  You can't really be speedy on this part of the trail. 2.  I was with my friend who was on a hybrid, not a road bike, 3.  I haven't been out much.  Still. 19 miles and next week ( as long as the weather cooperates) I am going to get my butt out there and burn some calories.

Thanks to Nihao Yall for hosting Sunday Snapshot!  This was my first time but it was a lot of fun to stop and appreciate my surroundings with a few pictures.

Little Things 5.12.13

1. Mountain Dew Kick Start

Orange Citrus!!!!

Love it, love it, love it.   Part of it might be because I am avoiding pop 98% of the time so a drink of this is like heaven.  It's only 80 calories, 95 mg of caffeine and just enough flavor make enjoyable.  I don't drink coffee and I hot tea is not really my thing after March.  Most energy drinks taste like cough syrup and have a bajillion calories.  This is a great alternative for me.

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2.  Kindle

You wouldn't notice it by the lack of reviews.  If you lived with me you wouldn't notice either as I have been having a hard time sitting down and reading lately.  HOWEVER.  I've been buying lots of books and am really excited about reading the things that I am not reading.  If that makes any sense.  I may have even done the Kindle before on this list.... Oh well.

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3.  Candy Crush

Really late on this, but I've been playing for the last week.  It's a lot of fun.  A lot of frustration and a lot of time killing ( maybe why I am not reading?) but it's fun.

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4.  New Hair Color and Cut

I have two psychological tells that I feel out of control with my life.  My eating and my hair.  I cut it all off and dyed it uber blonde.  I asked for them to cut it just above my shoulders and they cut it to my chin, but I still like it.  I need to figure out what to do with the color next round though.  This color will not grow out well.

5. Tootsie Pop Drops

Have you tried these?  They are everything awesome about tootsie pops with less pop and more variety.  I fine them rarely but I am always happy when I do.

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What's making you happy?

New Years Resolution - May Follow Up

The year is almost half way done.  Can you believe it?  Are you proud of what you've accomplished so far?  I am not on track for all of my goals.  I am a little behind from last year too.  But I am ok with what I've done so far.  I have not fallen entirely off the wagon.  I originally listed my New years goals here but it looked like this.

Have not started hill training.  Really don't want to, I hate hills lol.  The weather didn't start being half way decent here until last week.  Hopefully now I can get out of the gym and onto my bike.  And the to some hills....maybe.

Foot Dr!  I have not been.  I have been to a Chiro, a dermatologist, a gynocologist and probably some other gyst I can't remember.  It is definitely getting to that point though.  I am starting to get knee pain and I think it's from how badly I walk.  Maybe June is my month!

Oh stretching every morning.  Stretching every morning has come up on every health goal list I have ever made for myself ever.  Since the beginning of time.  I have never, ever stuck to it.  My husband and I have started a new work schedule though, so maybe I can actually start doing this.  I WANT to.  I just have to remember.  Google calender time!

Training for the century ride hasn't started yet because I can't make myself go out on my bike in 45 degree weather.  This will also be starting up again soon.

I don't know if I hit 4 days a week consistently but besides a few off weeks I worked out 2-3 time s a week very consistently this year.  I could have done better, but I am happy with what I have done.  Not to be repetitive but the nicer the weather is the easier it is for me to work out.  I am really looking forward to getting out and exploring more.

Tracking my calories!   Spotty to begin with but I've had a solid 4 or so weeks so far.  Hopefully the habit keeps my scale moving downward and encourages me to eat more mindfully.

That's my progress!  How is yours?

Emotional Eating and Me. Part I

I don't actually have a follow up planned for this post.  Every blog I have ends up with an emotional eating post so this blog ( that I've had for almost a WHOLE year now, yay me!) May end up with multiple.  I mentioned in this post that I was feeling sad, anxious and lost.  That equated to a whole week of crappy, crappy eating.  I had spent the three weeks before last week counting calories and was down 3 lbs.  Now I am afraid to get on the scale.

I have been talking to myself about this all week.  Telling myself I was a 31 year old woman with a bachelors degree in Psychology and that I knew exactly what was going on.  Telling myself to get a new coping mechanism.  Telling myself I was going to hate myself at the end of this ice cream filled tunnel and that I should just go to the gym instead.

I thought I was having this battle on my own.  Then Sunday night my husband said to me " We've been emotionally eating all week."  All I could was make jokes and cry.  Not bawling and thrashing around on the ground or anything, just the same crying I've been doing the entire last week.  Silent tears and nose blowing.

The point is, every time I think I've made steps to get my relationship with food under control I prove myself wrong.  The binge eating I've had a fairly good handle on for at least 5 years now.  The scary 3 dinners and dessert kind.  However, the eating of my feelings always sneaks back up to get me.  My husband pointed out that we don't drink, we aren't on drugs and that this is temporary.  We know that eventually we can get over it.   That this isn't the worst thing that we could be doing to ourselves.

I've mentioned it out loud a few times and I think that it's true.  Before I can truly be successful at weight loss and maintenance I am going to have to really work on my relationship with food.  Not ignore it and hope that it will go away, not tell myself that I am cured because I haven't had an episode in three months, but really work on it. 

I am not sure where that path starts.  Maybe I should go to talk to a counselor?  I feel like a nutritionist should be somewhere on that list too.  There are two questions really.  Where do I start and when will I get sick enough of it that I am willing to do something about it.  Amanda Palmer wrote a blog with this story in it, that I try to use for motivation and perspective.

"A farmer is sitting on his porch in a chair, hanging out with his dog.

A friend walks up to the porch to say hello, and hears an awful yelping, squealing sound coming from the dog.

“What’s the matter with Ol’ Blue?” asks the friend.

“He’s layin’ on a nail that’s pokin’ up from the floorboards,” says the farmer.

“Why doesn’t he just sit up and get off it?” asks the friend.

The farmer deliberates on this and replies: “Don’t hurt enough yet.”

The problem is, sometimes it hurts to much to move.  I am hoping after some of the ache and screaming inside of me calms down a little bit, that I can get my ass off the nail and start dealing with one of the biggest struggles of my life.

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The Reason For God - Study

I am going to be participating in Stefanie from Ni Hao Y'all's study of the "The Reason For God".  I didn't plan on sharing my side of the study here until I received an email from Stefanie.  She mentioned that posting on our personals blog about it and it sounded like a great idea.

 I talk about goals here a lot.   Mostly my exercise goals.  A goal that I have not shared with you is more of a spiritual nature.  During 2011 I had three surgeries and spent a lot of time being ill.  I spent a lot of time watching TV (we still had cable then).  Specifically History Channel International and The Naked Archaeologist.  While you can find more criticism of the show than positives, I loved it.  Between that and the nature of being home and in pain all the time, I found myself turning to my faith more.

That was 2 years ago and I have not made the progress I wanted too.  One of the things I wanted to start doing was spending time every day either doing a devotional or reading the Bible.  I picked this up 100 times and forget after a day two 101 times.  One of the things that Stefanie asked us to do was "Set aside at least 15 minutes every morning to pray or read the Bible or just sit quietly with the Lord." .  Which gives me my 102 opportunity to start working on this again.

The reason I signed up for her study was so I was forced to work on my spirituality.   Her encouragement of prayer and quiet time with God is helping me to keep focused and stay active in my relationship with God.

I am excited for this study, I am excited to have the excuse/outside reason to study the Bible and to spend time in prayer.  I plan on keeping a journal for my self ( another suggestion) as well as trying to post about the study and how I am feeling and growing here once a week.  Chapter 1 of the study goes up on Ni Hao Y'all on May 14.  Wish me luck!

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