Friday, June 22, 2012

Mad Tea Party


How could I resist a Mad Tea Party with aFancifulTwist.com! That's right, I couldn't, and you shouldn't too.  What a fabulous way to spend the day. Unbirthday cake anyone?

Head over to aFancifulTwist to join in on the fun and don't forget to stop by on July 28th to visit my party!

Fitness Update

"Sweat  is Fat Crying"

Today is a good day. Don't you love it when you can say that? I sure do. Due to some plans that I have for the weekend I had to go to my Weight Watchers meeting a day early and I actually lost weight! Down 1.4 - woo hoo, yippee, yay! I also have really begun to notice a difference in the way my jeans fit. When I was only working out with weights, and progressively lifting heavier and heavier weights, my thighs were getting strong and toned but also big :( Definitely not the result I was looking for, so I changed my routine. I joined the gym, added some cardio a couple times a week and I am finally starting to see progress, instead of my jeans getting tighter they are loose- finally! I still work with weights, I like the way my body is changing, I've just adjusted the type of workout I do.

Now, before you get all - women can't bulk up without adding blah, blah, blah to their diet,  I get that, I've heard it and for the most part I wasn't bulking up, however my legs were getting bigger, toned and muscular but bigger, so I changed it up! It works for me :)

The lifestyle change I started in January has been a constantly evolving thing. I've learned that I really like going to the gym, at 4:00 am - really, I've learned that if I am not getting the results that I want, I need to change things up a bit, just because something works for my friend, it may not work for me, I've also learned that missing a workout isn't the end of the world, there are 6 other days in the week that I can workout, I won't be any worse off if I miss one and mostly I have learned that I really need to listen to my body. This week I was depressed and icky and just didn't feel good, so on Tuesday I slept in instead of getting up to work out. Normally I would feel guilty because had I planned on getting up, this time, I figured that I just needed the rest and so I did, I felt better that day and when I worked out the next day I felt great!

Today I also discovered that the gym is a whole different animal at 8:00am than it is at 4:00am. At 4:00am there are a couple of college boys and their football coach working the free weights like their life depends on it, several dedicated people getting their exercise knocked out before work (that is the group I fall into) and a couple of early birds who just prefer the dawn. At 8:00 however, the gym is full of a much older crowd who are there for a light workout and to socialize. It was such a contrast to my morning crowd and it made me think what a great healthy thing for people, going to a gym to socialize, regardless of how hard they are working out they are moving. Kudos to them!

Here is one of my other favorite workout quotes:

"No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everyone on the couch" - yeah baby!

Autumwind

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

I have a WHAT on my shoulder?



Today I was sitting at work and I noticed this, for lack of a better word, gross, disgusting, lump on my shoulder. As you can imagine the girls I work with all had different ideas as to what it could be, none of which boded well for me. So this evening I spent an hour in the Urgent Care and discovered that all  of my hard work in the gym is paying off... I am now able to see a lump on my arm, not just any lump, but one composed of fatty tissue LOL Fortunately it is not painful and unless I pull my shoulder back a certain way you don't even see it so no harm no foul.

This week I have been battling depression, I've been up and down, full of despair one minute and determination the next. I finally got through it by writing things down like this - negative/positive: I am totally broke (until next week - then all is right in my world again), I have this lump (of course it is nothing serious- yippee), I haven't lost any weight even though I have been eating very well and actually following Weight Watchers (but, as I mentioned earlier I am starting to see the changes from working out and eating right) and the biggie - seriously, if this is all I have to complain about I am one lucky girl (no negative there)!

As I was sitting in the waiting room, my biggest concern was that I would not be able to work out for a while... WOW what a difference 6 months makes in a mindset. I moan and complain on occasion because I get up before dawn to workout but if I couldn't do it I would be so sad. I am finally starting to see the changes that make it all worth while and fortunately I haven't injured myself so I can keep on keeping on!

So thanks for letting me whine a bit! I am going to kick this ICK week goodbye and have a better tomorrow.

Autumnwind

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Kayaking


Kayaking on the Marina

Since I have been AFK for most of June I thought I would share one of the other things that is taking up some of my time.

This is a picture I took while Kayaking on our local Marina, I know a Marina in the middle of Northern Nevada- what?? The marina used to be a rock quarry which flooded in January of 2000. Now it is a fabulous park which they stock with rainbow trout, with a dog park, walking paths and of course a couple of beaches. It is the perfect place to Kayak in my town and since I live about 10 minutes from here I get to visit it often.

It is amazing how many places there are near me to take the Kayak, we live 45 minutes from Lake Tahoe plus there are a least a half a dozen lakes within driving distance. I love being on the water. There really isn't anything else like it. My man and I are going to kayak Tahoe a couple of times this summer. I can't wait! There are some really cool water trails we can take the go past osprey nests and all sorts of other cool things. I will definitely share those pictures once we get back!


Sunday, June 17, 2012

Alice Sculpture Update

Alice

Summer is just breezing by and wowza have I been busy! Since I had a couple of spare moments I wanted to share where I am on at least one of my previously mentioned projects. This is Alice, she is borrowing the crown while she waits for me to finish her costume. She may end up with it in the end, I was planning on making her a top hat and titling this sculpt - " A Gift from the Hatter", we'll see what she thinks once I make the top hat. If she insists on the tiara the piece may be called 'A Gift from the Hatter to Anger the Queen" LOL.

 She has been fun and a definite learning experience. I burnt her fingers as I was baking her so she'll probably be wearing some sort of gloves. I can see 1000 things wrong with her but I love her anyway and each sculpture I complete is better than the last.

The fabric she is wearing is a scrap that I was testing some embroidery on. It is a hand dyed raw silk. I love the color, it is exactly what I was thinking of when I started designing her clothing but couldn't find it in anything so I just got some dye and did it myself.  I always have white dupioni silk hanging around my studio - it is just the perfect start for so many of the projects that I work on. My boys kept harassing me about her standing on the table naked so I draped the scrap around her until her clothes are finished.

Clothing these little creations is always time consuming. I want everything to be perfect and I also need to work with any obvious flaws, burnt fingers, and see what creative thing I can do to camouflage them.

I'll be checking in as often as possible over the summer and will post more pictures once Alice is complete. Once things calm down I'll be back to my usual postings and be looking for some blog parties to attend.

Have a great week!

Autumnwind