Crafty

So for work every year we have a United Way campaign that lasts all week. The big event for the week are the auctions. A live one and a silent one. My team decided that we were going to donate a basket to be auctioned off. So we decided on a baby themed basket (those are always BIG sellers.) It's called It's Definitely a Girl so we all made/bought things for a baby girl. I am so impressed with my crafting abilities that I just had to blog about them to show them off:)

The first thing I made was a decorative travel wipes case. It was SO easy to make and turned out really cute (so cute that I am making another one for a lady at work:)

I also made some reversible headbands that turned out super cute!

I am thinking about going into business:)

California!

So the two of you who read this mentioned that my last post was awhile ago so I guess I'll update it with my trip to CA. I have a really awesome PTO accrual at my work so when I realized that at the end of the year I would have over the 160 hours that we can carry into the next year I decided to take another week off...even though I had just taken one off in April. So I went to CA. It was a lightly planned trip with ideas of what I wanted to do so it was just a nice chill vacation.

I drove there so I could bring Otto and Hampton (Jill's dog) so they could be reunited with their long lost brother's, Mom and Uncle. So while I was there my Mom's house had 5-6 Miniature Schnauzer's running around. They had a blast.

On the Sunday after I got there we drove my Grandma Jones to Monterrey to stay with my Aunt and stayed the night. So we went out to dinner that night and then lunch the next day. We went down to Cannery Row and the Aquarium...Monterrey has THE BEST aquarium ever!

After Monterrey we hung out at home for the day then headed down to L.A. to go to the Getty and do some other things. The Getty was fun! And way more interesting then I thought. And since I am a speed museum observer we were able to see everything in one day even though the guy at the front said it couldn't be done:)

After the Getty my Dad and Aaron went home and me and my Mom went to Marina Del Rey and got a hotel for the night. I had my first PinkBerry yogurt and it was delicious...all the hype was real. We also went to El Cholos for dinner...they have the yummiest salsa. The next day we drove down the coast to Long Beach. It was a gorgeous drive and then in Long Beach we went on a short little boat tour that was cool. It was just nice to be at the beach.

The trip was a blast and of course too short:) But it also threw me WAY off my food/workout plan and I am still suffereing trying to get back into cardio. So needless to say I am not planning any vacations in the near future...I sometimes even contemplate whether or not I should go home at Christmas...which is crazy! Of course I am going home at Christmas:)

Coming up on my next post...my recent crafty endeavors, you will be impressed!

Accomplishments

So for a couple months I had a seperate blog that charted my progress to becoming healthier and losing weight but decided that since that is such a huge part of my life at this point it should just be recorded on my regular blog. So this is a long post all bout me but in reality that is what my blog is for...for me to write all about me:)

I have had a personal trainer for awhile now and at this point in my life this is the best investment I could have made. I say investment because I am constantly broke between paying for the personal training and because unfortunately eating healthier and eating at home instead of eating out is more expensive for a single person. But it is worth every penny! I would rather live in my car at this point than not have a personal trainer. She has provided more support than any of my friends or family ever could...not that my friend's and family don't support me because they definitely do also just in a different way.

Anyway there has been a lot of progress since I started and I have not onced gained even a pound since I started. I have been consistently losing...through holidays, vacations etc. In the beginning the progress was slower to start it was a HUGE adjustment to change my eating but now it is usually really easy to eat healthy. Aside from being a great personal trainer my trainer, Mackenzie, is also a very creative cook. Every recipe she has given me is awesome tasting and healthy too and most of them she changed herself to be that way.

Doing cardio was also difficult in the beginning but now that my body and heart are stronger I am actually to the point where I enjoy exercise...and anybody who knows me knows that I never thought that would happen! At this point healthy eating (and it's not dieting, it is just eating like I should and I will always eat this way) and exercise take priority in my life.

I have a great support group from friend's, family and especially people at work (which I think is often the HARDEST place to find support.) I know I am progressing but it is awesome when people at work or even at the gym comment on how great I am doing, it really helps with motivation.

I don't write in a journal so this is where I have decided to record my accomplishments. As of last week I have lost a total of 35 pounds (and will lose 15 additional pounds at least by the end of Summer.) My body fat percentage has decreased 10%. My waist has lost 10 inches! And those are just the most amazing measurements to me. I have lost several inches all over, my arms, my hips, my neck even. I am starting to see and feel muscle definition in my abs, my biceps(which I am in love with right now:) etc. I just need to lose more body fat so I can start showing off these new muscles:)

This is how I imagine my bicep under the flab, it feels that awesome:)

Other accomplishments have been my cardio activity at the gym. I have built up a decent endurance to my cardio workouts now I just need to catch my joints up to my heart, my knees usually stop before my heart does. I still jog at least 5 sometimes 6 miles 5-6 days a week. I once dreaded taking a Cycle class but now go to one every week after having already worked out for 1.5 hours that day, and not only survive it but really push myself and I still don't die!

Anyway I guess the whole point of this post is really to share and document how proud of myself I am. It is really HARD work and I love it at this point, so as hard as it is, it is also a lot of fun.

The Past:)

This is going to be a LONG post since it is updating over 2 months:) Okay so since Seattle I HAVE had a life it just hasn't been blogged about. About 2 weeks after we got back from Seattle I went to CA for a week for Jill's fabulous 30th birthday celebration. We went to Disneyland and just hung out in good ol' Agoura Hills. Disneyland with Jill's whole family was a blast and the weather was wonderfule and a welcome change from Utah's weather, which even two and a half months later is still struggling to decide what season it wants to be. Here are some pics:

This was the plane ride to CA. My friend Gina is not a flyer but this pic was definitely fake:) The castle at night so pretty! We watched the fireworks the first night and it was so cool! Tinkerbell even flew across the castle!

We waited in line for Bert and Mary Poppins.

After two days at Disneyland and over 7500 calories burned and close to 50,000 steps(information courtesy of my Bodybugg) in those one and a half days at Disneyland we went back to Agoura for more birthday celebration. Jill's Mom "surprised" her with a barbie cake that was so yummy!

Then we went to the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica and dinner at El Cholo's. El Cholo's was yummy! And I loved their salsa. I can't wait to go back. I did not take pics of my dinner so there is no evidence of the yumminess but trust me:) Other than those things we just hung out at Jill's parents house with her family, which was good...I missed them!

Going back to work and Utah was hard after so much fun but I did it and got back into my workout and eating right routine, which I am sure Mackenzie, my trainer, was so happy about.

After Disneyland were the Supercross races at the University of Utah stadium. My Uncle called and said he wanted to come up and go so Me, Jill and Julie went along with my brother Bryan, Ryanne and one of her friends. Initially I was not totally excited to go but the second I got there I realized how much fun it is, freezing, but fun!:)

A few weeks later I went up to Flaming Gorge with some friends for my friend Tawny's birthday. This was the first year I had gone and it was totally fun! We went on a Dam tour, had a Dam burger, ate some Dam fries and so on:

Feeding the Dam fish, the Green River and me and Jill at the Lake.

Okay so I am updated for now, until I go to CA again the end of July, I can't wait:)

Update coming soon!

It has taken me awhile to get my hands on some pics from Disneyland in April and the tiny bit of OCD in me was not allowing me to post anything out of order so I have just had to wait. Now I have the pics so will be updating this soon so stay tuned...

Seattle Day 4:(

This was a cool pic of the skyline at night

This was our last half day in Seattle and I need to get it posted before I leave for Disneyland! Which is today! Our flight didn't leave until 5:30pm so we did have a lot of time that morning to do whatever. We went to The Crumpet Shop again and I had the most yummy Crumpet with Pesto and Tomato on it! I will miss The Crumpet Shop.

After having crumpets we went to the aquarium (FYI I actually can't remember if we went to the aquarium first or had crumpets first so we are going to pretend it was in this order:) The aquarium was fun...of course there is no comparison to Monterey Bay Aquarium but it was still pretty fun.

I made a slidshow on flickr

I will change it to my program

that I usually use later

After the aquarium we just walked around snapping shots of different places like THE REAL WORLD HOUSE! Really it was the real world house 10 years ago and totally different but fun to see just the same.

The hotel where the Beatle's stayed and fished from their hotel window (which is now illegal.) Our hotel. Our room was one of those baconies.
And other fun little sculptures around the Waterfront.

Slideshows

So how come not one of the 3 of you who read this told me that the slideshows don't work? I fixed them all so they work now:)

Seattle Day 3 Part 2!

The second part of Day 3 was cold! We took a ferry over to Bainbridge Island to shop a little and have an early dinner. The ferry ride was fun and we got to see the Seattle skyline from the water but it was COLD and windy.

When we got to Bainbridge Island we walked down town and went into a couple of shops. We found the cutest pet store, got the puppies each some treats and then continued on to eat. The city was a cute little city with cute buildings and it had a very small town feel to it.




We asked a lady in one of the shops where is a good place to eat and she mentioned a pub so that is where we went. Of course they were closing early to begin some remodeling so we went to a place next to it called Doc's Marina Grill. We had roasted garlic again as an appetizer...its just so yummy! I got Halibut and chips and clam chowder. And of course Diet Coke was our life line the whole trip. It was yummy.



That was pretty much it for day 3. We took the ferry back over to Seattle and just walked around near our hotel to see the sights, buy some gifts and take some pics.

Seattle Day 3!

Okay Day 3 of Seattle! If you haven't read the other days yet please do:) Day 3 was a blast. Partly because we Rode the Ducks! It was so much fun! It was a tour of Seattle on an amphibious old World War 2 vehicle that can drive around the streets but it can also drive right into the water. If you are ever in Seattle (or any of these other places) DO IT! http://www.ridetheducks.com/
The tour showed us all of the must see places in Seattle. It drove around down town and then to the house boats. We saw the Sleepless in Seattle house, some of the Deadliest Catch boats and great views of the city.

Our guide was crazy but a lot of fun too! He wore different hats according to the part of the tour we were on.



Through the city...
Pioneer Square




It was cold so the plastic windows were down on the vehicle but I still took pics




This view was really breathtaking. A camera can't even begin to show it.

I always loved the part in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang when the car drives right into the water, which we did!

Another boat that we passed on the water.

Sleepless in Seattle House


Deadliest Catch Boat


City Views



Other cute boats and houses




More on day 3 later!