Photo Adventure Thursday

Welcome to Photo Adventure Thursday!  In the last week, I haven't taken many photos, but I did take a few. I'll share them with you now!

Last Saturday, I went gallivanting downtown with my good friend, Erin.  We were supposed to be on a photo adventure, but we got somewhat distracted by shopping.

On Pierpont Avenue, I saw this wall, with this lovely little vine on it:

 And Further down Pierpont, we went into a second hand store called "Elemente"  It's a consignment shop that has a lot of mid-century-modern furniture, which Erin happens to love, so we went in.  It's a dark little shop, with not a whole lot of room to squeeze between furniture.  In the back corner, I ran into a creepy clown among some awesome looking pillows: 

 Creepy, huh?

And this dandy of a shot.  There was a vase of fake flowers positioned in front of an old Matisse print, and I loved the color contrast:

 Outside, I found a patriotic doorway, that really looked like it belonged in Stepford:

 Basically, the way things happen is, once you get sucked into consignment shopping, you don't stop....well until you run out of time.  On the way to the next store, these characters were behind us at a light, dancing.  I particularly liked the white sunglasses.  They looked WAY more yetti-ish in person:

 And finally, the bamboo in our kitchen window that makes me particularly happy

It's not much, but I wanted to post something for Photo Adventure Thursday.  In the coming weeks, I plan on having many more, and am going to need opinions.  {Although, Opinions are always welcome}  I have to put together a final portfolio for a class, involving extreme philosophies On Photography.  It should be interesting.

Wednesday Weigh In

I know I know.  After my preachy last post about discipline, I skipped wednesday's post.  Well, Nick was sick, so that kinda took my focus, but here I am to catch up!

A week ago, I posted that I'm having trouble with exercise and laid out a plan to fix it.  Well, let's just say that it didn't work out quite as planned....unfortunately.  I did run (twice) and I still hate it.  Looking forward to the day when I defeat the running demon, but for now, he's in the lead.  I also did some pilates on friday night, and I just about died.  As easy as pilates looks, it IS NOT THAT EASY.  wow.  seriously, I wanted to throw up afterwards!  Which, was only more depressing.

Moving on.

Of course, life has gotten in my way when it comes to being consistent with exercise.  I've been having a really tough time waking up in the morning.  No matter how early I go to bed, it just feels like I can't wake up.  Is anyone else having this problem lately?  It's not typical.  I blame the weather.  {and NO, I'm not pregnant, so don't even ask}

I've also had some real issues with my tense muscles.  Tense doesn't even begin to start.  I'm tense no matter what I do.  I think it's muscle memory at this point.  It's even affecting my sleep.  Does anyone have some tips as how to fight this?  I can't afford a weekly massage.  I think it's a matter of breaking through it slowly on my own, which, at first only makes me more tense, because it hurts to stretch.  Sigh.

I should stop whining.

So, this week, life has disrupted me again.  I've decided I need some real motivation.  not sure quite what that is, but last night, something came to me.  I got out my spring/summer clothes and hung them in the closet.  Then I realized that a lot of my {cutest} clothes don't fit.  Enter sadness.  So, I took a photo of my closet with everything hanging up in it, seen below:

Meet my closet when 99% of the laundry is done {and note this, too, because it doesn't happen often}  WOW! I have lots of cute clothes!

And then I took all the clothes out that don't fit like they should........  

What a sad state of affairs!  I must get skinny so I can wear all my cute clothes, right?  Well, that's my stab at motivating myself this week.

So here goes, 

I took my weight, and measurements, and hopefully next week, they'll change a bit! Yes? Yes.  This is a weigh in, right?

Weight: 135.4 pounds
Biceps: Right: 10.5 inches  Left: 11 inches
Bust: 34 inches
Waist: 28 Inches
Hips/booty: 38 inches
Thighs: Right: 21.5 inches  Left: 21 inches
Calf: Right: 14 inches  Left 14 inches.

And there you have it. Let's see if i can change something in the next week!

Goals

Goals are good, right?  Well, I have some.  I guess they all wrap up into one ugly little word: DISCIPLINE.  {shudder}  Did I just say that?  No, really, discipline is something I crave.  Like I mentioned in my last post, I am a big procrastinator, kinda lazy, and I don't like it.  Enter, Discipline.

I definitely have goals, some of which are very unrealistic.

I am one of the -typical- and -unfortunate- women who feels like I need to do it all:  Have a beautiful home, cook gourmet meals, know how to do EVERYTHING, be organized, efficient, grow my own veggies, always look pretty, get straight A's, fit in exercise to keep a hot bod, not be a whiner, save money, do laundry, always be in a good mood, have a successful career....and the list goes on.  

Well, I'm pretty sure that I'm not alone in this.

I read a great post by one of my favorite bloggers the other day about this very thing.  (I'll share the link at the end of the post)  She felt the same way, and realized it wasn't realistic.  At some point, you have to realize you cannot do it all.  (She has a great art print, quoting this very thing)

And while I do agree, I also feel like....Who Says I Can't Have It All?  {well, at least within reason}

So there you go, here is me, on my way to becoming a domestic goddess....as well as everything else.

I figure, since we don't have kids yet, now is the time to figure out how to be disciplined, so that in a few years, when we do have them, life MAYBE will have some kind of order....haha.

But that's not the only reason.  I have decided that I only live once, and so I better cram all this stuff into NOW.  I want a full and rich life full of knowledge, experience and love.  I don't want to just sit online all the time and read about everyone else who's doing it, I want to join the cool kids club too!

So here goes.  One of my big goals is to have a cool blog.  Like, a real, legit blog, where I post EVERYDAY {hence, the discipline} and have lots of readers and friends to share my life with.  Yes? Yes.  I like the sound of that.

What I have decided, since my life is no page turner ALL of the time  ;) , is that every day will have its own theme, and therefore a different cool post, so my ramblings gain readers instead of bore them.   This is also a way that I can wear lots of different hats in life, and HAVE IT ALL.  

I've come up with 6 different topics {since we all need at least one day of peace}  

Monday:  Weekend Update.  This will include the story of our weekend, along with pictures.  The weekend is where the most gets accomplished, and the most fun is had at our house, so this should be a good one!

Tuesday:  The Stuff I Make: Tutorial Tuesday.  I can't help it. I'm crafty. so shoot me.  I LOVE to make stuff-especially stuff for my house, so on tuesdays i'll share what i've come up with, along with a tutorial, just in case you want to be crafty too!

Wednesday: Weigh in Wednesday:  Like I said in my last post, I will keep track of my fitness right here for y'all to see.  Should be interesting......

Thursday: Photo Adventure Thursday.  I am an aspiring photographer, and will launch a totally different photography blog at a later date.  Until now, you'll see what we {Nick and I} have shot during the week, and comments are ALWAYS needed!

Friday: How To Live: We're young, and mostly stupid when it comes to things like money management and such things that require lots of thought, so, being one of "those" girls, like I mentioned above, I want to make sure I'm on track.  I want to share with others how we do things like save money, cook food, plan vacations etc., and I definitely want to hear what other people do as well- I'm always open to new ways of thinking.

Saturday: Things That Inspire Me:  This will be things I've seen others do/post/say that inspire me.  Whether it's an activity, a tutorial, a book, a room design, they'll have their soapbox here on Saturdays.

Sunday: On My Mind:  Things I've been thinking about during the week.  Comments definitely wanted here!

Discipline is definitely something I struggle with. 

Here is the first step to becoming some sort of organized and punctual. 

I'm sure I'll fall short sometimes, and that's ok

but I do want to have it all, {or at least mostly}

and I'm gonna give it an honest shot!

To read the great time management post I mentioned above click here

The Winds of Change. Ok, maybe more like a hurricane.

I've had it. I've got to fix something. I have been feeling yucky for too long, and now, I'm going to fix it! In the last year, I've gained probably 20 pounds, and I just don't feel healthy. I'm constantly uncomfortable, I an always tired, and I look fat. Time to exercise!

So, not only have I gained weight, but I seem to have gotten lazier. hmmm.... Once you get all happy and settled, all you want to do is, well, eat. and snuggle. And watch movies. and eat. At least after a day at work. Maybe not so much the weekends, but still. I know most people go through this, but I'm sick of feeling this way. It's been a long time coming too- I've been feeling like this for quite a few months, and I'm barely getting the motivation (go figure). It was one of my new year's resolutions to get into better shape (isn't it everyone's?) But now that I'm getting married, I want to look super hot. haha.

I have 3 major problems or hurdles to overcome, if you will.

1: I love food. now, when I say I love food- I mean it. It's a very social thing for me. Eating gives me pleasure, and since I have a fast metabolism, I am always hungry. This isn't that big of a deal, except when you can't afford to eat super healthy all the time (me! me! me!) Who would have thought that fruits and veggies would be so expensive? And that's just the snack part. I try to cook on the healthier side of things, but I can't help it- my favorite foods are Pasta, Potatoes, and bread. Dang. So, since I still can't afford to eat like a champ the whole time, my vow is to exercise enough that my diet shouldn't really matter.....In my head that sounds completely practical....HA! well, we'll just see about that.

2. I have scoliosis. I've been dealing with it since I was about 9. It sucks. Having a spine that's crooked is a lot worse than it sounds. It affects my energy, my tension throughout my whole body, my digestion, my moods. EVERYTHING. boo. Now, since I have this condition, you'd think that I would have kept up on my fitness. Big. FAT. No. Which, admittedly, is really stupid. My problem is, that since my body is out of alignment, sometimes exercising just doesn't go well. More often than not, I'll be in the middle of squats or lunges or something and they'll just stop working- literally, it stops burning, it stops working and just feels stupid. so I quit. Exercising the wrong way is bad too. It takes a lot of focus an muscle strength to hold myself in the "right" position. My ribs rub on each other sometimes (owie!) and I gain weight unevenly. JOY. No, really, I can do it, but when it's this frustrating, it's well....frustrating to be consistent with exercise.

3. Motivation. as most of us all know, it's easier to sleep in than to get up 2 hours early to exercise- or even worse, do it at night.

BUT! I have decided that there is no more whining, there is no more lazy. I really want to be disciplined, fit, and healthy. We won't talk about my weight at the moment, but honestly, I don't care what I weigh, as long as I like the way I look. Now, I'm quite the perfectionist, but still. I don't want to jiggle, and most of all, I want to wear my cute clothes again. (you know, the most expensive, most cute, clothes that I can't fit into :( ) I literally have 2 pairs of jeans that fit, and I own like.....15 pairs. Its seriously depressing.

People always tell me how tiny I am, how good I look blah blah blah. Well thanks, and all but you guys only see me with clothes on. There is a difference. Plus, when you're used to being a certain size and that changes, it SUCKS. No matter how small or big you started out, when your clothes don't fit, it gets depressing.

So here's the plan: I am going to do some form of exercise EVERY DAY. I want it to become such a part of my routine that if i stop, My body will tell me I need it. Like food, or sleep, I want to NEED to exercise. And it will definitely take some work to get to that point, but summer is coming, as is my wedding, and I want to look cute, damn it!

I also just signed up for my first half marathon....eeeeek! I better get ready for that!

So far, the weekly workout schedule looks like this:

Sunday: Yoga, back exercises, leg exercises, run
Monday: Yoga, Pilates
Tuesday: Yoga, Aerobics
Wednesday: Yoga, arm exercises, ab exercises, Run
Thursday: Yoga, Pilates
Friday: Yoga, back exercises, leg exercises, Run
Saturday: Rest

Now that that is written down, it looks really scary. I'm going to commit to doing it for at least a week to try it out, and adjust from there, I'll post again in a week as to how many inches/pounds lost (or gained)

Pretty soon, I'll be looking like this:
And this:

Jennifer Aniston's arms are so killer!

I just want to be fit. Most of all, I want to FEEL healthy. And I am going to make it happen! And, just in case the zombie apocalypse happens, I will be fit enough to survive! It's going to take a lot of hard work, sweat, and pains, which sucks, but the reason I blogged about it is, I want as many people to hold me accountable as possible! So, kick me in the butt! :)