Saturday, January 30, 2010

Pictures, pictures, pictures!

I have decided that I have too many digital pictures from the last 3 years and I need to sort through them all and decide which ones to keep and edit and which ones to send to the recycle bin. I mean I have 112 GB worth of pictures! I think I am going to try to go through one month's worth of pictures a week. I try to do this as I take pictures but some days it's just easier to just transfer everything on the memory card and sort through later. So, what I plan on doing is to start with March 2009 (that's when I got my DSLR and started going totally nutso with the picture taking!) and go through the March 2009 folder and sort this week. The next week I'll sort through April 2009 and so on and so forth. In a perfect world I will be caught up to date in 11 weeks. I'm hoping to come across some pics that didn't stand out to me the first time I saw them but now looking at them in a new light will become a new favorite. I also have realized that I am much better at photo editing now than I was 11 months ago. Gasp! Luckily for me, I always save the original version of the photo so that if in the future I become better at photo editing I can go back and "fix" it! Sometimes I do think ahead, believe it or not! So I will "re-edit" some pictures that need it. Take for example this little gem. It's one of the first pictures I took with my shiny new camera and look what I did to it. Poor little Zoe has freaky Alien eyes!!

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Don't look into her eyes!!!! RUN!!!!

This is a re-edit I did real quick tonight, I think it looks a lot better.

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So, anyway, stay tuned for some more pics that I come across in the next few months. I hope to share some of my favorites.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Save someone's life!

Number 73 on my list is one that I have wanted to do for years and just have never done. "Get put on the bone marrow registry. My friend Stacy posted the following on Facebook and I jumped right on it!

You can join for free right now to become a potential bone marrow donor to save someone's life. This normally costs $50 to $100 to join the registry but with this code you can join for
free. add this promo code to register for free PIF070109 PLEASE copy and paste this into your facebook profile and help save someones life http://www.marrow.org/index.html

Now, I just need to wait 7 to 10 days to get my kit in the mail. It appears that all I do is swab the inside of my cheek with five q-tips and send them back. I think it would be so wonderful if I was a match to someone in need. Please, if you are not on the registry take the 10 minutes to go to the website, answer a few questions (similar to the ones asked when giving blood) and possibly save someone's child!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Flashback time!

I transfered all my Myspace blogs that I wanted to keep over! I had a great time reading through them all as I was transfering them. Here are some of my favorites:Want to read about my icecream disaster? Paranoia at it's finest? Would you like to read my version of a rant about baby name choices? Want to live vicariously through a hungry pregnant lady? Want to read my reaction to a childbirth dvd? If you want some whining read here. And to read where I'm ok again read here. And of course my birth story for Henry. I hope that people will actually read some of them. They are short, I promise!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Old MySpace blogs

I want to copy and paste all of my Myspace blogs here. I blogged my whole pregnancy with Henry and I want them to be here instead of there!! It's gonna be a lot of work but I think it will be worth it. I'll let everyone know when I've finished transfering them if anyone is interested in reading my thoughts from 3+ years ago.

Upcycle a Sweater!

So I tried my hand at upcycling a sweater today and I really like how it came out. I bought this sweater at Goodwill today for $1. Nice sweater but not really my style.

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I cut the sweater front into two panels and then cut the back of the sweater into identical width panels. Like so.

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After that I stitched the ends together to make a long, soft warm scarf! Some sweaters may unravel and you will need to put a hem in the edges. I don't think that my is going to unravel though.

Here I am "modeling" my scarf!


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Friday, January 22, 2010

My Fireplace Makeover.

So this is a part of the living room that seems to get cluttered.

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The kids' books and toys get pushed over in front of the hearth and Matt's video games get stacked there. I feel like this is a part of the living room that is not utilized and is wasted space. We have never lit a fire in the fire place and I don't plan to, the kids sometimes will think it's fun to play in the fire place and then end up looking like an extra on Mary Poppins during the chimney sweep dance. Soot is not easy to clean off, let me tell you!


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So, here is my plan, let's see if I can pull it off. I want to clean out the inside of the fireplace. Then paint it black. I will then sew a curtain to put across it. I will use this space as a place to store the kid's books and toys at the end of the day that find their way up into the living room. The hearth in front of the fireplace will be covered with a cushion that I am going to sew so that it can be used to sit on.

I started cleaning the inside last night and let me tell you, it is a messy, difficult job. I hope to finish that part of it this weekend. So, what do you think? Good idea? bad idea? Suggestions? oh, and while we're at it, does anyone know how to take the metal chainmail type curtain off of the front? I can't seem to figure it out.



Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Couch Potato no more!

Before having kids, looking good in a bathing suit (or my birthday suit) was my motivation for losing weight. It never kept me going. I'd always burn out after a couple months or once I lost weight I'd take a break and gain it back.

Since having children I really don't like the way my body looks and I would like to feel confident again. Matt thinks I look great and always makes me feel beautiful but I want to think it too. After Henry was born I knew that I would have another baby eventually so I really didn't even think about losing weight or exercising. (what's the point if I'm just gonna blow up like a balloon again and have to do it all over again, right?) Recently Matt and I have decided that we are done having kids. We feel as if our family is complete. I always thought I would have three kids but two just feels right. I can't imagine adding another child into the mix. This decision has motivated me to get into shape so that I can stay that way for the rest of my life. I want to be healthy and strong. Sure I want to look good too but that isn't my main motivation.

Today is the fourth day in a row that I have gotten off my butt to do some exercising. I have been trying to avoid eating junk too. Not a diet but, really, with the way I was eating, it's a true miracle that I don't weigh 300 pounds. I basically would eat whatever I felt like eating.

I'm going to do something that is sort of a faux pas and tell everyone my weight. So few people do it, I'm not sure it is even legal for a full grown woman to tell anyone who is not a medical professional her weight. I am putting myself out there. If it wasn't for my readers I never would have finished cleaning my house back in August. I knew that you all were counting on me to finish it and so I pressed on, even when I didn't feel like it. Now I'm hoping that you, my readers will encourage me to reach my fitness / weight loss goals.

So here it goes:
Starting Weight: 178 pounds
Short term goal (60 days): 165 pounds
Long term goal: 150 pounds

I plan on giving little updates every couple weeks on how it's going. I'll probably do a "weigh in" in a month from now and then at the end of 60 days.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Haiti Relief Winner

Well, my giveaway to Haiti relief didn't go as well as I had hoped! I got 27 comments total. Times that by $.25 and you get $6.75! Well, I can't just donate $6.75 so I've decided to donate $20 to Samaritan's Purse and $20 to the winner's choice. I asked on Facebook for someone to give me a number between 1 and 27 and the number picked was 14. Comment number 14 was Mindi of The Ritchies! She wanted to donate to Savethechildren.org I will be making a donation in your name Mindi. Thanks to everyone that left comments. Let's just pretend I had 80 comments! LOL

I urge everyone to make a donation, no matter how small. These people are in urgent need!

Haiti Relief - repost

Please check out my blog from yesterday. I am donating $.25 for each comment to Haiti relief. I have 5 comments between my blog and where it transfers on Facebook. I have almost 350 friends on Facebook and 31 followers on this blog. I had visions of 100 comments or more! Come on people it only takes a second to leave a comment. I know $.25 doesn't seem like much but it adds up! Sorry, don't mean to be so bossy :)

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Haiti Relief

So, I was thinking about the people of Haiti and how I wish that there were something I could do to help out. I was going to make a donation to Samaritan's Purse and I thought I may be able to use my blog to inspire others to give. I am taking a chance and letting you all decide how much I give. Leave a comment of what charity you would give to. For each comment between now and Friday(tomorrow) at 7:00 pm eastern time I will donate $.25 to Samaritan's Purse Haiti Relief. I will also do a drawing of all the comments and donate the same amount to the winner's charity.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

List Update

I accomplished 2 more tasks on my list, number 8 "enter a photo contest". I have entered a few on iheartfaces.com I actually got an honorable mention (Angie and Amy's Pick, they are the founders of i heart faces.)

I am still doing well in the reading books department. I have read, Kiss by Ted Dekker, The Gift by Cecelia Ahern so I'm up to 3 / 5. Right now I'm reading Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind. It is part of The Sword of Truth Series. There is a show on TV called Legend of the Seeker that I started watching online, I really like it so I thought I would check out the books it is based on. So far the book is a lot different from the show but I really like the book too. I've never read fantasy books so this is a first for me. I can't believe how much I love reading now. I used to fall asleep after reading for 10 minutes. Now I can read for longer stretches of time without waking up drooling all over my reading material. It seems as though my brain had to get used to it or something.

I tried something new at a restaurant last weekend. We went to Fatz (yes, that is the name of the restaurant!) and I got grilled shrimp skewers with rice pilaf and grilled veggies, It was yum-o, and as far as I could tell, healthy.

I crossed number 72 "donate blood" off my list. It was very eventful, I threw up and everything! Yay me! luckily, I told the guy taking my blood, "I'm gonna throw up" and he threw a huge hazardous waste bag up on my chest and said "Dude, if you're gonna spew, spew in this" or something to that effect. I'm glad that it happened after he had clamped off the blood so that my blood was still usable. Hmmmm, let's see, anything else?

Oh yeah, number 71, I sent a shoe box with Operation Christmas Child.

Number 77. Get 30 minutes of exercise 3x a week (at least) and 78. Drink 6 glasses of water a day are not going well. Should I say I failed or try again? I think I shall try again!

So, my fellow listers there's my update,

thanks for noticing me
-Eeyore

Monday, January 4, 2010

Yes, I'm alive!!

Since I haven't blogged in a long time I thought I should update my readers on what's going on. It sometimes seems like I had more free time when I worked 40 hours a week!

We had a great Christmas this year despite the fact that I am not working. I have put in Resumes at several places, had 1 interview that went well but, still no job. It seems as though something must be wrong with me because I am not worried at all. I'm just thinking of this time between jobs as a gift from God to spend with my children and husband.
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Henry is still not potty trained......ugh! Why?!! Why?!! oh, the horror! That is something I hope I can't say this time next year, no, scratch that, I hope I can't say it by Summer! He is such a smart kid, this is just something he is being stubborn about. He still loves sharks and has added dinosaurs to his list of obsessions.
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Zoe just gets cuter and smarter every day. Her latest "thing" is trying to jump. It is so funny to see her try her hardest to lift both feet off the ground. She just smiles and says "jump, jump.." She'll get it one of these days.

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I've kind of put the photography business thing on hold. I don't know the first thing about running a business. At the prices I was charging I would have to do about 10 sessions a week to make enough to pay the bills plus buy health insurance. Also, I don't feel like I have the right equipment and know how to be a photographer. I think I still need to improve a lot. I still love taking and editing pictures and I'll probably still take pics for family and friends. Maybe I'll eventually start a business. I'll have one heck of a portfolio by the time I do!

My list progress is another thing entirely. I'll probably do a list update here soon!


Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year!

I made a video montage of our year in review. It is less than 4 minutes long. Please watch if you have the time! Happy New Year!