Feel Good Friday!!

I intend to start a new regular posting on my blog titled “Feel Good Friday!”  Now, on this particular Friday I’m not feeling too good about much concerning my health and such BUT I know that in the coming months this will absolutely take a turn and I’ll be bursting with feel goods to share. My original intention was to focus the feel good on healthy food and fitness but I’m sure there will be some other stuff mixed in, too.

So, here it goes, my first “Feel Good Friday” post:

I went to the doctor yesterday for my annual and after seeing the number on the scale I was pretty shocked. And then my doctor, who I’ve gone to for years and really grown to love says to me, “So, are you being active?” Obviously this was her kind way of expressing concern for my health, but I must admit this particular interaction did leave me with my feelings a little hurt. I realized then that I needed to quickly turn it into a positive. I’ve already expressed my desire to get healthy and this is just one more affirmation that I’m on the right track. It feels good to know I’m on the verge of some really fantastic changes in my life!

My friend Stephanie has been on the “get healthy” train since the year started. She posts on Facebook regularly, sharing her progress and milestones. It feels good to have someone that inspires me to keep moving forward and try harder to accomplish my health goals.

School started back up this semester and while my load is pretty light this time around my schedule was kind of dreadful. I go Monday from 4-7 which puts me home at around 7:30ish and Tuesday and Thursday I go from 7-8:30 which puts me home around 9ish. My entire college career I’ve had a similar schedule but I got super spoiled to being home before 7:30 last semester, so I was pretty bummed. Last night, however, my professor decided that she didn’t want to meet on Thursdays. It feels good to be able to come home at a decent hour at least three times a week.

Work has been particularly frustrating this week. While I do love this job and everything my company has done for me in the eight years I’ve been here, it feels good to know I’ll be kissing this place good-bye in the fall.

So there you have it, feel good Friday!

 

Craft Diva

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am currently in the process of unveiling my inner craft diva. The Cricut is a toy that I’ve coveted for many moons; so as a belated Christmas/Happy New Year gift to me, I decided I would FINALLY purchase one. I ordered it through Amazon (for all my Amazon addicts out there if you have an edu email address you qualify for a free year of Amazon Prime…sweet!) got my free two day shipping and couldn't wait for it to arrive. It was delivered at the office so I had to wait a whole 4 hours to get home and bust it out of the box. Once I got settled in I pretty much immediately sat down with my little bug and start playing.

I just wanted to get a feel for how it works so mostly I was just goofing around with it. I got my paper all cut and ready to go on the sticky pad, throw it in the machine, type out my cute little Cricut message and press cut. I was so excited to unload the paper and to see my fantastic cutout and then it happened…the frustration. I attempted to lift my design off the sticky pad and realized that the Cricut hadn’t cut some of the paper all the way through. I was a little sad but refusing to be discouraged, I borrowed an Exacto knife from the husband and proceeded to cut the uncut pieces. Once it was all cut up I tried once again to lift my cutout off the sticky pad and it started to rip and tear the paper. Okay, I thought, maybe I need better paper. So I tried a thicker card stock and got the same results. I was so disgruntled and discouraged I had to walk away from the machine after only 30 minutes of playtime.

            Now, I suppose it’s only fair that I should clarify that I am a product of my generation and as such I have issues with gratification i.e. I need for it to be instant. I’m the girl that clicks on the internet button and if the page doesn’t open within 1-2 seconds I click it again and again and end up with 10 or more open internet pages. I know…it’s ridiculous but at least I can see the error of my ways. I’m also a crazy cheap thrifty person and I also like it when things work effectively and efficiently, in fact, I have little patience for malfunctions.

That being said, I’ll continue. I felt so betrayed that my new little bug friend wasn't producing the wonderfully easy, super, fun, creative, little cutouts that I see everywhere. My perfect little personal Cricut wasn't as perfect as I expected. Expressing my immense sadness to my husband, I was kindly reminded that perhaps it would require a little more than 30 minutes spent with the machine to draw any real conclusions about its quality and effectiveness. He also nonchalantly implied that perhaps there might have been some user errors along the way…pssh! Luckily for me and the Cricut, I had a paint project laying in wait so I moved on to that instead (this project has proved much more gratifying to date).

Not one to give up easily (yeah right, right?!), I started watching Cricut tutorials the next day. As it turns out, the majority of the issue was indeed operator error, go figure. While this was a small blow to my craft diva ego, I’ve decided that the Cricut and I can still be friends…I’ll let you know how it works out.

 

Happy New Life!

Boy, did the New Year come fast or what?! I’ve been thinking hard about whether or not I wanted to come up with “New Year’s Resolutions” for myself. I’ll admit, similar to most, I’ve typically been pretty terrible at actually fulfilling any resolutions I’ve set in the past. The more I contemplated setting new resolutions, the more I wondered why it’s always been so hard to accomplish the old ones. After much pondering, I’ve decided that I don’t have a particular problem with the resolve part; I’m always pretty resolute and determined initially. I think my issue is more the “New Year” part.

So I’ve come to the conclusion that diminution is an appropriate solution for my resolution evolution. (HA!) What I mean to say is, instead of making a change for the new year, I’d rather make a change for a new life! That being said, here are my “New Life Resolutions”:

1.       The hubs and I are making a commitment to health. We talk about the future and having children and the more we think about those things, the more we both want to better ourselves. We both feel strongly about teaching our little babies to be that healthy eating and an active lifestyle are the coolest. So what are we supposed to do, throw out the classic “do as I say, not as I do”?? Not a chance…we’re going to lead by example starting now!

2.       I’m also resolving to tap into my creative juices. I need a hobby in the worst way; I’m so tired of lazing around in front of the TV. Sure, it’s a legitimate pastime and one that I don’t intend to give up completely, but I need a new outlet for my boredom. Being that I’m pretty thrifty and at times can be creative, I’ve decided I’m going to combine my powers and become the next Martha Stewart! Well, maybe that’s going a little too far BUT I am going to start crafting =0) I’ve been super inspired by some of my Facebook peeps and also my fellow bloggers so I’m going to take a page from their books. I’ll probably post some stuff here and there to share with you all so be on the look-out.

3.       I want to start utilizing the good ole United State Postal Service. While I do love my technology (ask my husband about his long standing grudge against my iPhone) I can’t deny the joy I get when I receive a pretty envelope, stamped with real postage, containing anything other than a bill in my mailbox. With this in mind, I would like to start mailing cards just because I think it’s a thoughtful thing to do.

4.       Lastly, I want to get this blog going in full force. Being in school and working full time I don’t have all the time in the world but I want to write more. I think I can commit to posting at least twice a month to start and if I’m able to do more than YAY for me =0)

So there you have it, my “New Life Resolutions”. I have to say I’m genuinely excited about these changes and I can’t wait to get started!

                                     Happy New Life, everybody!!