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Saturday, November 7, 2009

Happy November!

The first day of this month, I started thinking about Thanksgiving Day. Being a devout follower of the Weight Watchers method of living and eating, the points values of all sorts of different foods came to mind, of course. And I began to think of Thanksgivings past, with family crowded around a large table, going one by one around it, and saying something we are thankful for before we begin the face stuffing! It dawned on me that I have a great app for my iPhone, called a gratitude journal, which I have been neglecting to use. It looks like a piece of notebook paper and at the top of each page it starts "Today I am grateful for..." Once you type in a few things you are grateful for it spouts a quote out for you. On November 1st, my quote was:
"Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties." ~Erich Fromm
Which in itself is not an earth shattering, show stopping quote...there have been better. But what caught my attention most about it was that the background had dandelions in it. I just got a dandelion tattooed on my foot! I took this as a sign that I must get back on track for appreciating every little thing in my life...things I usually take for granted. So I made it a point to start in the month of November, using my Gratitude Journal daily, and being openly thankful for things everyday this month, and not JUST on Thanksgiving Day. I started using my status updates on Facebook as a way to share my appreciation with others, and encourage them to do the same. It's catching on I think! Not only is it helping me to feel better each day by recognizing all of the amazing blessing in my life...but I am pumped to have encouraged many of my friends and family to do the same! It feels good knowing that those I love most are counting their blessings right along side of me! I encourage YOU to take on this challenge as well! And trust me, as the month moves on...it will seem like a challenge, but one well worth the effort, I assure you!

Today is my family reunion! I'm going to have to cut this one short to finish getting ready and head out, but it makes me be thankful for my 35 weekly allowance points for Weight Watchers! My family has always been mostly overweight, and Weight Watchers has helped many of us to overcome what history has shown happens in my family, on both Mom & Dad's side. Which is you usually gain and gain and gain weight over a lifetime...never to lose it...always complimented by health problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer etc. It's days like today that bring to light the realization of how this happens! EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY IS SUCH A GOOD COOK! The food is always so amazing! Not just on Thanksgiving Day, but EVERY DAY! If you are lucky enough to have tasted a meal made by the hands of a Nation or a Halloran then you know what I'm talking about! Weight Watchers has also taught me that if you make foods using the lighter versions of each of the ingredients...the meals taste just as amazing, but are way better for you! The problem is getting people to eat the 'light' version once you have told them it is 'light.' The trick? Don't tell them. The will never be able to tell the difference! LOL They underestimate my sneakiness!!

Well, I'm off to finish getting ready! My best friend from college lives close by and hopefully her & her beautiful baby girl are going to come join my family for a few fun hours this afternoon! I'm taking the camera...I know you will all be waiting with bated breath for pictures!! (bated breath...first time I've ever been able to use that in context! high five self! LOL)

Song of the Day: The All-Americal Rejects GIVES YOU HELL
Nike Inspiration: Why do I run? ... Why do I breathe?
Today I love: Weight Watchers weekly allowance points (and the fact that this is the 2nd day in a row for me to blog!)

Friday, November 6, 2009

Suprise!

Truly, I am the worlds WORST blogger! So this may come as a suprise to some that I'm whipping out a little something mid-day on a Friday. Look back at old blogs and I probably start out each one with how awful I am at keeping up with blogging. I guess I will stop that. It jinxes me. LOL Next time I will start with something different.

My rehab with the knee is coming along famously! I'm back at the gym for little bitesize workouts twice each day. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon, each with 30 minutes of cardio, then I do abs, the 100 pushup ap on my iPhone & split up my at home PT exercises between the two workouts. It feels great to sweat again, and I know it's only a matter of time before I'm back to my old running self!

I tried to remind myself today that I didn't become a runner overnight...but really, I kind of did! LOL One day I just decided to run a mile...I could do it and I was hooked from there! But I know in actuality, it was the months of cardio every morning that build up my endurance to allow me to run that first mile, and each mile after. So I don't mind taking my time & building back up to where I was before I got hurt...if life would just stop getting in the way and allow me to build back up!

I'm moving this month. My lease ends on Nov. 15th, and then I'm back to Mom & Dad's house until it sells. They are packing up to head to their dream home in FL...purchased last month...and I'm getting in as much Mom & Pop time as possible before that. Don't know if I will be able to make it without them, but I've got to give it a shot. I can't go with them...my steady job is here & I've got a new Jeep to pay off! :)

Point of all that...I have seriously injured my back. It was my genius plan to be all OCD with my move. I kind of can't help that. Genetics and chromosomes and all. So I'm on box 15 of the most organized packing fiasco in the worlds history, and decide to pack all of my breakable dishes and kitchenware, wrapped up in newspaper, in the medium U-Haul box. It says right on the box that it's good for kitchen stuff!! I pack it on the dining room table and tape it up! I'm pretty proud of myself at this point and the kitchen has really thinned out. Until I realize in mid-lift that this great accomplishment weighs about 100 lbs! Mother of God!

Been laid up for 2 days taking a few things here and there for pain and muscle spasms and such. I'm alternating heat & ice & going to see the chiropractor more often than he sees his own children I'd suspect. Today it feels like more damage was done than good. There's no one here for me to complain to though, so good thing I had this blog...just sitting here all alone, not being used. It was nice to get that off my chest.

Anyone know any exercises or stretches or anything I can do to help this pain go away? I'm having to walk all stiff and retarded like a new hire @ Hooter's showing off the girls. It is uncomfortable to say the least. Back to sleep I go. Bad dreams bad dreams, go away. Good dreams good dreams, here to stay. Bad dreams bad dreams, go away. Good dreams good dreams, here to stay. Bad dreams bad dreams, go away. Good dreams good dreams, here to stay. You have to do it three times for it to work.

Song of the day: Garth Brooks UNANSWERED PRAYERS
Nike Inspiration of the day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emkaZrvx0jI

Sunday, August 2, 2009

I forgot my ending...

Oops...how could I forget the best part of these blogs!?!?!?

Things I Love: emails with pictures, kisses on my tummy & sweet brushes of my hair from my face
Things I Miss: walking, running, riding, swimming, dancing & doing pretty much any other activity...PAIN FREE
Things I Look Forward To: tomorrow, kisses, long phone calls & no more crying in running.
Song of the day: I'd Rather Be With You by Joshua Radin
Inspiration of the day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDLK6Ds88Ok

People I love: My Parents...& Dr. James L. Bond

I KNEEd a Friend...

Okay...I am way past stir crazy! Sitting in my apartment since Thursday has done nothing good for me, but make me so antsy to get back to work, at a job I hate. And now I realize that because I am the worlds worst blogger...half of you may just have no clue what I'm talking about! I had knee surgery on Thursday morning...first one out of the gate...good morning 7 am, lets shove the scopes in the joint & get to work, shall we? It sucked. I am, quite possibly, the worlds WORST patient! I hate pain, but I hate pain meds worse. They make me OVERLY honest & nautious!
Doc calls me today & I find out that I'm slightly behind on my Legasus CPM. I was @ 55 degrees when I spoke with him...he said I should be @ 70 degrees before I go to sleep. Did I mention in the original instructions that I was supposed to increase no more than 10 degrees per day? This will make a 20 degree increase on the day...but I can do it.
Also, I ask the doc, "When can I take off the dressing?" "You haven't done that yet?" Seriously?! Would I be asking this question if I had already taken it off?! I mean the guaze & stuff went with the first shower, that goes without saying...but the hose & ace wrap are killing me. And the damn ice cooler is acting as a brace which I don't feel is a good thing. Apparently, I should have shed all that a couple days ago...and been walking crutch free. Nice to know.
So what do I do??? I get up, toss the crutches aside...and walk. Nowhere in particular, and I happen to have the smallest apartment ever...and I did have a Charlie horse the other day...so that spot where the cramp was is still a bit tender...but I walk anyway...aimlessly...and with the most unnatural gait you've ever heard about! It doesn't seem like it's doing anything good...but the Doc says walk...by golly...I walk!
It's a few hours since I've had this conversation with him now. And I HURT! I'm going to push past it, but it HURTS...excessively! And I realize...no pain meds today. I was trying to be a soldier and I'm going to end up gimping myself. I wanted to send a quick update to my faithful followers...(i think there are a solid 3 of you. LOL) before I go take the pain meds. Believe me, this is for the best. Had I not done this PREMEDS, this update would have been even less of an update & more mindless drivel that should be kept secret. Yes...I have secrets...and they are good ones! LOL
Not really, actually...which is probably a pretty big part of the reason that I have had 2 visitors aside from the parents...in the last 4 days...none of which have come in the last day & a half. If I had good secrets, perhaps more people would come see me. Or perhaps if people knew I didn't have good secrets, they would come make some with me.
Okay...I think that statement...and the fact that I have typed three periods in a row about a thousand times...is a pretty good indication of the fact that I took my pain meds about mid blog. I wonder if I come back later and read this and feel that it is inappropriate, if I will be able to delete it? One of the downfalls of being a horrible blogger...I don't know the answer to things like this.
Anyway...if you want to come visit me...please do...but call first. I may be sleeping...or someone more interesting than you may have already stopped by. LOL Fat chance, right? Okay...just complete dribble right now. More to come from the bum leg in KNEEd of a friend...

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

If only more men were like the road...

I'm obviously new to writing blogs, but oh how I love to read them! I'm stealing from the blogs of a few of my friends from now on by ending with 'Today I love:" & "Song of the day:" If ever there is something else I can add to improve my own blogging, please don't hesitate to let me know. I need all the help I can get! And a little warning before you dive into this one...I am completely & totally exhausted from this last weeks events. If my punctuation, grammar, spelling or otherwise is just absolutetly horrendous...I ask that it be overlooked. I will give it a re-read before posting, but I can't promise I will be awake while doing so! LOL

Setting out to blog today I am completely overwhelmed! I don't know how many days it has been since my last (& first) blog, but it's too long! So much has happened since then! So many great (and by great I mean big...not necessarily wonderful, though some HAVE been wonderful) things have happened that I fear blog 2 might be longer than blog 1! You're probably thinking, "How is that even possible?!" I know right?!?! But seriously...as I continue, perhaps you will see...It's just been exhausting and I now see why people blog everyday! You wait too long & there is just too much to get off your chest! I'm sure I will forget something in the course of the blog, hell I've forgotten more in my life than most people know! I'm 26 & I've got my Mom's memory, God bless her!

Friday night I went to work at my part-time job, as usual, and was so glad to see Kevin there! He is the guy I normally work with but the previous weekend he took off so I had to work with someone else. His replacement was wonderful: A hard worker, and you just couldn't ask for a sweeter girl! But no one is Kev! You get comfortable with certain people and when they step out of the picture it is a big kick in the ass! I have always been the kind of person who attempts to tell people when I appreciate them. I think it has almost become second nature, but someones I still have to remind myself to send a nice card or note. I appreciate Kevin so much! He helps to keep me accountable with my eating & workouts by text throught the week, and on the weekend he is an open ear for me to unleash everything wrong with my week! He has done this, day in & day out, never complaining once over the course of our last year & a half working together. He is damn near saintly...

Saturday morning was pretty much a nightmare! As soon as I got off work I had to go home & get Boomer ready...to give him away. Pretty hard to have a pet, pretty much a child, for 7 years and then make the decision to give him away. Boomer is beautiful, loving, docile, so well behaved! You will never find a better dog! And what a little personality he is! But apartment life is not for him! And my Daddy posted a flier at his job that a man responded to. The guy is an engineer with a fenced in backyard like you read about! H-U-G-E! He seemed to be okay when we dropped him off...I cried all the way home...and dude was drinking a beer already...did I mention it was 09:30?! I know I did the right thing! The guy also has a golden retreiver for Boomer to play with & a pond behind his land for them to swim in. I like to think they are becoming the best of companions! How could anyone NOT love this little guy?!?!?!





On Sunday afternoon I had my very first Scentsy party! It was great! I was a hostess...still not sure how I did with my sales as I have left it open until Saturday evening. If you see anything you have to have, please let me know! :) But no matter how much my guests & friends & family purchase, the best part of the party was seeing my friends! Not many people showed up actually! The morning of, I had planned to see 20 smiling faces, minimum! Then one friend was in a meeting, one had to tell her & her boyfriends parents that they were pregnant, one was stuck in HOTLANTA @ the airport...all valid reasons of course, but I couldn't freaking win for losing! Until then the guests started arriving! A great thing about the internet is that it can allow you, if used safely & properly, to meet people that you would not otherwise meet, through networking. You can build bonds & relationships with people far before you ever meet them. I know I mentioned Melly in my first blog...in the last couple years she has become one of my very closest & best friends in the world. I was introduced to her over the internet, through Nike Twin Jones, who went to college with her! Melly then introduced me to another girl through the internet that she had befriended through their blogging about running. This friend came to my party, and met both Melly (who of course was there!) & I for the first time!! Not only that, but she brought along her best friend! It was great! It was like seeing an old friend when in actuality, I had never met her before! Her friend was so awesome too! Through various things like Twitter & Facebook, I had already had so much communication with her that I was completely pumped about them coming, and so comfortable with them there! I can't deny it, there was a hiccup in the road. Because she had never met me before, she obviously had never been to my parents house. I was hosting the party there because I dare you to fit 20 people in my apartment comfortably! NOT happening! I gave her their address to punch into the trusty iPhone GPS...which turned out to be not at all trusty...landing my new friends on the other side of the tracks in a not so respectable neighborhood. Let that be a lesson for all of us! Technology be damned! Get directions! My Momma's best friend also came & brought one of her friends. She babysat me pretty much from the moment of my birth, at a moments notice, when my mom & dad needed a sitter, continuing all the way on through college when she babysat Boomer when I would go on vacation. That's the extent of guests, but I wouldn't have changed it! My Mom is out of town so my Dad made all the delicious dinner & dessert and let me sleep since I had been at work all night! He is so amazing & I am so blessed to be able to have him as my father! I'm not sure they make men like him anymore...if they do, I am looking in the wrong places! I appreciate him so so much & couldn't have pulled off the party without him.

And now...I'm falling asleep...so this blog is going to have to be continued... (who knows when. Too far from now & I won't remember all the awesome stuff I want to talk about. But I don't have time to do it too soon. :( Just be on the look out for it...)

Today I love: innuendos, hints & insinuations

Song of the day: Lips of an Angel

Nike Inspiration: "You don't stand in front of a mirror before a run and wonder what the road will think of your outfit. You don't have to listen to its jokes and pretend they're funny in order to run on it. It will not be easier to run if you dress sexier. The road doesn't notice when you're not wearing make up. It does not care how old you are. And you don't feel uncomfortable if you make more money than it. The only thing the road cares about is that you pay it a visit once in a while."

~These are the confessions of a Nike addict~

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Why Blog? Why Nike?

So often it happens...

I read a friends blog & am inspired.

I read a strangers blog & laugh out loud.

I read a celebrity blog & feel befriended by the glamourous.

So many blogs, so little time!


What about mine?



With each blog it hits me! I could do this! I could inspire something...laughter or friendship...those are two things people love most! Two of the most important things in life, I'd argue, and I am sitting by the wayside, schlogging around...bloggless!



It's not that I haven't tried...I have! I give it my best shot only to slip & fall on my gluteal cleft! (Usually within the first couple of weeks! Okay...days!) I'm not sure what it is about blogging that makes it so easy for me to read them and so difficult for me to write them. I am an interesting, fun & literate young lady! I tweet & people love it! So here I go, embarking on blogging attempt #3 as Nike Twin Tab...



The word 'twin' implies there are two of us...and there are. I am coaxing Nike Twin Jones into erecting her blog...expect it any day! She is a major player in my life and the direction it has taken. She has influenced so much...but nothing more so than my wallet...as this damned Nike addiction of mine (which stemmed from hers), has spiraled out of control! We run together, shop together, train together, LiveSTRONG together...all while living 3 hours apart! We hardly look alike, but our heart...identical!



I have to admit that this did not come about from thin air, nor an idea formed in my mind alone, but from my lobster, Melly (whom, as fate should have it, I was introduced to by none other than...You guessed it! Nike Twin Jones)! We are so much alike!!! I just know that if she can pull off a blog as groovy as hers is, that she can keep me motivated to post to mine often! I'm not promising daily updates like she busts out so regularly! That's too much pressure for a previously failed blogger such as myself! But perhaps, given a little time & support, I can evolve into the blogger I know I have the potential to be! Maybe it's true what they say about the third time being a charm?! Stick around & see what happens...I might suprise you! :D



So, why Nike? People ask me this all the time! Most often after a week or two of seeing me in civilian attire, which usually consists of a Nike FitDry T, the essential Nike Tempo track shorts, some Nike no-show socks & one of the 100 pairs of Nike kicks lining my closet. Every now & then I will show up in Nike Slacker running pants or capris, depending on the weather (or, let's not beat around the bush, if I had time to shave my legs recently).



In the last year, I have done many things that I have never done before...many things I am so proud of that if you asked me to tell you about them, I may never stop talking!! One of those things is my weight loss. Now, I am by no means tiny, skinny, little or any similar adjective you may use to describe a petite woman...I have a very long way to go before I get to where I want to be for the rest of my life! However, I will not downplay the success Weight Watchers has brought me in losing 52 lbs in one years time. Actually it was about 8 months time...but with the amount of exercise & weight training that I do, weight loss has recently been slow going. The body is changing...the numbers are not. I don't care, as long as I am kissing that fat goodbye! I raise the point because I was left with a lot of space in my clothes! Too much to comfortably exercise, which is what I do most often to continue my streak of success!



It was not until I was at the LiveSTRONG Summit with Nike Twin Jones that I realized this...when she brought me a present...a LiveSTRONG t-shirt!!!!! Size...Medium?!?!?!?! Uh...Houston, we have a problem! I went from excitement to horror in a matter of seconds! I didn't want my fit & tiny friend to see that I was no Medium...to see that this shirt wouldn't fit around my boobs, let alone my stomach! When I divulged the little secret, that I wear eXtra Large t-shirts, she wasn't buying it! And after trying on her gift to me I was completely dumbfounded! It fit!? At that time in my life I was right around 30 lbs down, but fitting into that Medium shirt was more amazing to me than the numbers on the scale! I don't know if it was because Nike Twin Jones had NEVER seen me as an eXtra Large...or because I had NEVER seen myself as a Medium!



The 'fitting' in Ohio @ the Summit opened my eyes to the sizes I had been wearing! At work, my uniform pants were 5 sizes too big & my shirt 3 sizes, when I finally bought new ones! Citizens in the city where I work had actually commented about my 'hand-me-down' uniforms, which fit like a glove when I first got them! Outside of work though, no one said much. Almost like people were used to me working out in moo-moo's & wearing sweatpants everywhere I went. I owned one shirt that fit (thanks to Jonesy), no pants that fit, no bras that fit, no panties that fit! I felt like the most uncomfortable person to ever lose weight! Then it began...



I love the functionality of Nike clothes. The moisture wicking, anti-bunching, place keeping clothing has led me to finish line after finish line this year! I do not own a regular bra that fits me. I have no idea what size cup I wear, only that I used to wear XXL sports bras and my closet is now full of Nike sports bra after Nike sports bra...size L. I do not own a pair of shorts without a swoosh on them...and my color coordinated closet is full of Nike...in all the colors of the rainbow!



That is for several reasons really...



Partly because these were the first things I put on my new body...I didn't just like how it felt, I loved it! Didn't just love the look, I wanted it! Didn't just want the fit, I needed it!



Partly because of Nike's history...in Greek mythology, Nike was the winged goddess of victory! Bill Bowerman happens to be the greatest running coach of all time, who founded the company and coached Steve Prefontaine, the greatest runner in the world, IMO! There I was...losing weight, wanting so badly to form myself into a runner. It was fate that I should dawn Nike!



Partly because of the advertising...Have you ever seen a Nike ad in a magazine, on TV or on a billboard? Those ads speak to my soul! They say everything my heart beats, everything my muscles ache, everything my tears cry, everything my sweat falls...I get goosebumps when I read them. My eyes water when I see them. I swell with pride when I hear them. Every single time! Heard it before? Who cares! Seen it elsewhere? Still gets to me! If someone could pay me to watch Nike ads day in & day out, everyday for the rest of my life, I would be the happiest girl in the world! If I could write them...OMG! Dream job!



If by now I have not convinced you that this is a valid addiction...

If you do not understand the justification made for this...necessity...

Perhaps you have led a sheltered, cursed life in which the word Nike has no meaning...

Nike bears no consequence because it is something you have never heard of...

Maybe you are not an athlete...


To those of you who aren't athletes: your lack of love of sport is beyond me. I will never understand a person who would not train in pain, bleed for speed, sweat to get across the finish line, make the goal, score the point etc... There is no hope for you to ever understand my addiction. Truthfully though, I don't care that people like you don't get it. It doesn't matter to me that you are judging me while you read this...thinking that I am superficial, absurd or otherwise full of nonsense. It doesn't matter to me that you are judging me, because I have already judged you. I have written you off for your weakness, your inability to believe in something bigger than yourself, your neglect of team. Yup, that's right! I judged. You failed. Move along...


To those of you who have never heard of Nike and are confused when I say the word swoosh: you poor, poor dears! Surely it is through no fault of your own that this is something new to you! I will do my best to introduce you to Nike slowly through my blog. Follow me, hopefully you will like it! Nike is not just a clothing company with bad ass shoes, gear & accessories, it is a way of life. The Nike lifestyle is one of dreams, goals, hope...believing in yourself...believing in others...just believing! So while I may not spend blog after blog posting pictures of sweet hoodies or fly headbands, know that you are still learning the Nike mantra...that the glass is always half full...until you pour it over your head at the finish line in an attempt to cool down! :D

And so, I will leave you with a few of my most favorite Nike ads...Yes, this is a few. Once you start to watch them, you will see why it is just too hard to narrow them down. I will have to start leaving some at the end of every blog and some people still may never grasp the whole awesomeness...be prepared to believe...
~These are the confessions of a Nike addict~