A Happy Bummer

Well, I didn't make it through to finals. I'm kinda bummed...and kind of relieved at the same time. It was a lot of pressure and so many things got neglected while I was trying to get my projects finished. I'm excited to have made it as far as I did and all the new blog friends I made! And I got lots of great things made! Like, Whitney's desk...cute lawn chairs...and an AWESOME suitcase! Well, now I'm of to go catch up on all of the things I neglected! :) Laundry and housework, here I come!

I Heart Actions and Presets!

This weekend my ADORABLE niece, Jenna had a ballet recital! I got to do her hair and makeup and even got to take some pictures of her after the recital. Isn't she adorable!?! I have been having a lot of fun playing around with my new Photoshop. There are so many fun actions and stuff out there! Two of my favorite places to find actions and presets so far are the Coffeeshop Blog, and the Pioneer Woman blog. They are UH-MA-ZING!!! What kind of resources have you guys used to learn photography??? Do share! :)

American Crafter Round 3

Well, it's round 3! I can't believe I'm still in the competition. (Thank you, guys!!! I couldn't have made it this far without you!!!) The talent is SOOOO amazing in this group! Especially in THIS round! **I'm shaking in my custom baby seal leather boots** (5 imaginary bonus points if you can guess the movie that line is from.)

Well, you wanna see what my project was? Do ya? Do ya?


Tah-daaaaah! My own Pottery Barn knock-off lounge chairs.

I was looking through some Pottery Barn Kids magazines, and they have the cutest stuff! I love the new beach designs they've come out with this summer! I've really wanted some cute lawn chairs for the family, and decided to make my own. I bought 2 lawn chairs, some fabric paint (don't use the acrylic paint, it'll just rub/wash off!) and some stencils. I let my kids chose the designs they wanted and here's what I came up with!

I totally had visions of having pictures with my kids chillin' in them. Sunglasses, swimsuits, a glass of lemonade in hand with the sprinklers going in the background....it was going to be PERFECT. Then, the morning I was supposed to get the pictures taken it was 40 degrees, SUPER windy, and starting to blow snow flurries. CRAAAAAAAAP! So, the kids sat in the car with the heat on full blast while I got out in my winter coat and took pictures as quickly as I could. Sigh.

But...I think the chairs turned out AWESOME! And, since they're personalized, I don't have to worry about them fighting over who gets what chair! ;) Plus, they are so easy, ANYONE can make them. (Come on...you know you wanna!)


Now...time to vote! You get to vote for your favorite top 3! I would be sooooo thrilled if you voted for mine! :)

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

How I Lost 5 lbs This Week! You Can Do It Too!

Does that title sound like a crazy midnight infomercial or what!?! Did it grab your attention, though? Read on for a free pair of oven mitts for the first 100 callers! Okay, not really. What I have to offer is WAAAAY better than oven mitts. (Unless they were in a REALLY cute fabric.)

I want to tell you about this FABULOUS (and FREEEEE!) website I've been using to help with my weight loss goals. Exercising every day didn't seem to be cutting it for me...and I know exactly why.

I.LOVE.FOOD.

I hate being hungry...it makes me cranky and sad. And...well...hungry.

BUT, the good news is that since I started using this website I have lost 5 pounds in one week. How??? I have become aware at how fast calories add up throughout the day! Homegirl here was eating like, 3,000 calories a day!!! No freaking wonder I was bustin' out of my britches!

I'm going to give you a quick overview of this website now...so you can see just how awesome it really is! I'm not even getting paid or anything...I just love it so much!

Here's what it looks like. (well, the top half anyway...I couldn't fit the bottom half onto the screen!)



So, as you can see here (hopefully) there are 3 tabs. FOOD, FITNESS, and EQUIPMENT.
And, most importantly, a box for you to enter what you've eaten. The cool thing is that it has EVERYTHING you could ever possibly eat and it's nutritional info. When you click "I ATE THIS", it automatically enters the information into your daily log. You can edit your serving sizes, too.



Since it's early in the morning, I hadn't entered any calories consumed or burned anything yet. According to my caloric needs, I should be eating 1, 167 calories a day. So, after I eat breakfast, I enter that in and it will put it in the calories in like this:



Cool, huh? So, when I have my 3 o'clock crash, I can look at my calories I have left for the day and decide whether I really want to waste my calories on that delicious chocolate Snack Pack.

Here is what the other tabs do:

MY PLATE: This is where you enter the food you eat/calories consumed.

CALORIE GOALS: This is where you enter your lifestyle. Are you pretty sedentary? Or are you always up and about? Or, are you right in the middle? Your daily caloric needs will depend on this. So, I entered my information and how much weight I want to lose per week, and my magic calorie number was 1,210 per day.

WEIGHT: This shows a line graph of your weight loss. It's been SOOOO awesome to see the progress! Even if it's just a pound a day...it's still awesome to see that line drop! It will also track your body mass index...ROCK ON.

And...the rest of the tabs are things you have to become a "GOLD" member for....psssh. Frills, I say. Frills. Who needs frills.

Another thing I LOOOOVE about this site is that I can keep track of how much water I drink during the day. I used to be TERRIBLE at drinking water...I could go all day without drinking anything. But, not anymore! And I have noticed a big difference in how I feel, and even a difference in my complexion.



FYI...I hate water. So, I use calorie free flavored drink packs in my Nalgene because I can guzzle them without gagging. I love these Hawaiian Punch Singles!


I really couldn't say enough good things about this website. There are so many more bonuses to it...but it would be like, a 5 page long post. It has been a HUGE help! So, if you're looking to be able to fit into that swimsuit again by summer (like me...) then definitely check this website out! Here's the link...

CLICK HERE!

SUMMER FUN sneak peek!

Here's a sneak peak of my project for round 3 of American Crafters! Summer Fun, baby! Aren't you just dying to find out what my project is? Don't get to "crabby"....YET! Check back on Friday for my full reveal! (Of my project...not of me...pssh.)

MWAHAHAHAH!

Running Shoe Tips

Remember my post about the Sgt. Glen Martinez Memorial 5K? It's next weekend! Well, I've got to say, my training has been going really well! I have osteoarthritis in my knees, so I have to be careful. I've already had surgery on my right knee once because my cartilage is in such bad shape that my bone chipped, and it's something I'd rather not have again. So, I thought maybe I'd share some little tips about how I've been training. My AWESOME sister-in-law, Kathy, (who is just about to run a half marathon this weekend) has been training me. I'm TOTALLY not claiming to be a pro, these are just a few things I've learned so far!

A HUUUUUGE thing for me has been my shoes.

{Shoe Love}

There is actually a lot you have to look at when finding the perfect pair of running shoes. People run differently. Basically, it's all about how your foot hits and rolls when you run. It's called Pronation.



The way you pronate will be crucial to picking the kind of shoes you need. Shoes have different ratings for stability and cushioning. A great place to figure out how you pronate is to read THIS article at RunnersWorld.com.

Also, it's VERY important to find what kind of arch your foot has.

To do this, you will need to take a wet test. Click HERE to find out how easy it is to do!

My feet and pronation are classified as "normal" so, I needed a pair of shoes with stability ratings and cushioning ratings at about the same level. I found my pair of Asics GEL Cumulus at Sports Authority, and I am absolutely IN LOVE with them. I feel like I'm running on clouds. The shoes I had before made my knees hurt and my feet cramp...it was miserable! I had NO idea how important shoes are! They were even on sale, from $100 down to $70. Woo-hooo! OH! And at Sports Authority, they have these spiffy little stations where they use heat sensitivity (like mood rings) to see what kind of arches you have. You just take off your shoes, stand on the little board for about 10 seconds, and when you get off you leave footprints. AWESOME, HUH!?!

So anyway...there is my little tidbit for the day on running shoes.

And, for an update, I can now run over 3 miles without dying. (FYI, I only made it a quarter mile on my first run!) So, if I can do it, ANYONE can do it. :)

Little Shopping Trip of Horrors.

Do you remember our Christmas Picture outtakes of Kate? If not...take a look. A goood, loooong look. It's a nice glimpse into my real life.

Well, this was the scene at Walmart yesterday while I was trying to go grocery shopping and pick up a prescription. I don't know what it is with this kid...but as soon as we get out into public she turns into an absolute TERROR. She refuses to sit in the cart (front OR back) and wants me to carry her through the store WHILE pushing a cart full of groceries (and usually with Aaron in the back of the cart). Which, as any parent knows, is impossible. She screeches this bloody murder cry which I'm pretty sure can be heard all the way to the Mexico border. And oh, the looks. THE LOOKS I get from people! Some looks of "Oh, that poor woman." And some of "That lady needs to give her kid a good smack across the face." And some "Wow...worst mother EVER" and the famous "I will NEVER have horrible kids like that" look. (I remember making that look....PSSSSHHH.) Yesterday, I literally left Walmart in tears. A woman gave me "the look" and do you know what I said? I said, "Please, lady, shoot me now." I was absolutely humiliated. It's like that EVERY time we go to ANY store. So, as of today, I vow to NEVER go to the store with Kate in hand. EVER. Until she's like...ten. The end.