On the road to 2008

Greetings on this first day of 2008! I'm glad to see that we all survived 2007, and hopefully 2008 will be filled with bigger and better things for everyone! 2007 was a pretty uneventful year for me, aside from getting pregnant (that was pretty eventful!), but I know 2008 has big things in store!

I suppose this is about the time that I should be dragging out "The Big List" again (and I will be, hold on!) and looking at what on it needs to be done still. Then I would call those my "resolutions." However, I'm going to simplify my "resolutions." They're just goals I would like to attain at some point, and now, with a baby on the way (any day now!!!) I have more incentive than ever to achieve them - especially the exercise ones. So, here is the big list:

My Big List
1. Take up yoga again
2. Meet my 10% goal, plus 6 pounds.
3. Join a gym or yoga studio and go!
4. Take ballroom/latin/swing dance lessons
5. Start writing in my prayer journal more
6. Finish Final Fantasy VIII, IX and X
7. Start nursing school
8. Walk more
9. Watch less TV
10. Read: The Cloister Trials, Quarter Life Crisis, The Color Purple, Random Passage, Knitting Under the Influence, Friday Night Knitting Club, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
11. Talk to Stephanie and Josh once a month.
12. Get some nice professional pictures of John, the baby and I.
13. Get to 2 more Mike Previti concerts!!!
14. Paint my living room, bedroom, stairway and computer room.
15. Purchase a 5 or 6 foot tall book case for the computer room.
16. Learn to read knitting patterns
17. Knit a blanket
18. Find a new job/return to school for a career I want to pursue
19. Do yoga 4 times a week, at least.
20. Finish the scrapbook for my dad.
21. Train for, and successfully complete a 5K road race

Now, lets look at what needs to be revamped:
1. Meet my 10% plus 6 pounds. I had started Weight Watchers around this time last year. After getting some medical stuff straightened out, I had finally lost my first 10 pounds... just before I got pregnant. So I am going to revamp this goal, a lot with a few others that are similar to it. So now, we group together this, the dance lessons, and the walking more and we get: Return to the same dress size I was in when I graduated high school. This may involve some combination of the things above, it may not. I'm not sure yet.
2. Watch less TV. I'm pretty sure we can team this one up with the books I want to read. So why don't we call it "Less screen time, more reading."
3. Train for and successfully complete a 5K road race. Some of you may wonder why I'm separating this one from the losing weight one. Well, quite honestly, it's a different matter, in my mind. I would like to have the accomplishment of doing something no one else in my family has done, nor would try to do. Also, I look at it as a way to get myself into shape. I don't consider being in shape and losing weight to be the same thing. I have seen plenty of people that are skinny that are not in great physical shape. I would like to be able to model a healthy lifestyle for our child(ren?) and this is the first step to being able to do that.
The rest of these can pretty much stand on their own, but I'm not necessarily in a rush to do some of them. So, lets look at my newly revamped list:

1. Return to the same dress size I was in when I graduated high school.
2. Less screen time, more reading.
3. Train for, and successfully complete a 5k road race.
4. Do yoga 3 times a week. This goes with the being fit thing.
   
5. Nice professional pictures of John, the baby and I (like THAT will be hard) :-)
6. 2 more Mike Previti concerts.
7. Home improvements: Paint the stairway, our bedroom, and stain the deck. When we have time, of course.
8. Knit a blanket. By myself this time.

That looks much more manageable for the new year. I guess I can start with the yoga thing tomorrow. I do have a prenatal DVD. I spent the money on it. I should be using it. The blanket thing won't be hard either. Now that I'll have a baby to knit for, plus a friend that is pregnant, I'll be a baby items knittin' fool!

I guess that's about it for now. I wish everyone a happy and healthy 2008!

The Big List

Okay, so after going through my other blog, and deciding to pull it down, I needed to see what posts needed to be transferred into this one, before deleting my other one. In the process of doing that, I came across my "Big List." Some of you might know about my big list from when I started it, and wanted to accomplish the things on it before my 26th birthday. Well, as is often the case, life had other plans, so my list needed to be revamped. This is the newly revised one. The updates are this:
Italicized items are ones that I had to put on hold due to being pregnant.
Bold items that are ones that are complete.
Anything in a normal font means that it still has to be completed.

My Big List
1. Take up yoga again
2. Meet my 10% goal, plus 6 pounds.
3. Join a gym or yoga studio and go!
4. Take ballroom/latin/swing dance lessons
5. Start writing in my prayer journal more
6. Finish Final Fantasy VIII, IX and X
7. Walk more
8. Watch less TV
9. Read: The Cloister Trials, Quarter Life Crisis, The Color Purple, Random Passage, Knitting Under the Influence, Friday Night Knitting Club, Wicked, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
10. Talk to Stephanie and Josh once a month.
11. Get some nice professional pictures of John and I
12. Get to 2 more Mike Previti concerts!!!
13. Paint my living room, bedroom, stairway and BABY’S room.
14. Purchase a 5 or 6 foot tall book case for the computer room.
15. Learn to read knitting patterns
16. Knit a blanket
17. Find a new job/return to school for a career I want to pursue
18. Do yoga 4 times a week, at least.
19. Finish the scrapbook for my dad.
20. Train for, and successfully complete a 5K road race
21. Complete knitting 3 more christmas presents and a baby hat/sweater set
22. Get through labor and delivery safely, and with lots of pictures of the new baby!

I think that about covers it for now. You'd think I'd have more things up there about family stuff or the baby, but really, I don't want to set myself up for failure. I don't want to put up anything that says "Learn to be a perfect mom" or whatever, because I have already come to terms with the fact that I won't be, and that just has to be okay. As long as I am "good enough," that will have to suffice.

First Run!

Hi all! I'm almost done with my first ever sock! It's very exciting. I will be excited to post a photo of it here when I finish it. I should be learning to do the toe tonight. We're also learning intarsia tonight, though, so hopefully I'll get the time to work on it! I've got to make sure I am to the point where I can just get there and get right to work on them.

Also, I went for my first run today! Here are the stats from my trip:

Wednesday, 18 Apr, 2007 Temp: 40.0	Running Training run 09:15 am	Beginning Training Route 0.14 miles 20:00 (2:22:51/mile)	Weight: 233 Rest HR: 21 Avg. HR: 25 Max HR: 39 Saucony Grid Aura TR5 (0.1 miles)
	First training run: Home to Wilson Ave., turn left onto Hampshire, turn left onto Paradise, Turn left onto Rochester, turn left onto Roulx, turn right into home.

My journey

My journey

Okay, so as some of you know, I have decided that I am going to train to run a 5K road race this coming August. Many of you know that I am doing Weight Watchers as well. So, what I am going to do is post my current journey here in my blog, so that I can be held accountable, as well as be encouraged along my trip.

I am hoping to run this 5K in order to do two things: 1) boost my weight loss, and 2) bring myself into a healthier lifestyle. When John and I get to a point that we want to have children, I don't want to be encouraging them to live a healthy lifestyle, but be unable to demonstrate what that means. I want to be able to have the energy to live and do things as I wish.

So, without further ado, here is my journey thus far:
Date Weight +/- Total Lost

..>..>

04/17/07	233.4 lb	-1 lb	-9 lb
04/10/07	234.4 lb	-0.8 lb	-8 lb
04/03/07	235.2 lb	0 lb	-7.2 lb
03/27/07	235.2 lb	-2 lb	-7.2 lb
03/20/07	237.2 lb	0.2 lb	-5.2 lb
03/06/07	237 lb	1 lb	-5.4 lb
02/27/07	236 lb	-0.2 lb	-6.4 lb
02/20/07	236.2 lb	2 lb	-6.2 lb
02/06/07	234.2 lb	-1.6 lb	-8.2 lb
01/30/07	235.8 lb	1 lb	-6.6 lb
01/23/07	234.8 lb	-0.4 lb	-7.6 lb
01/16/07	235.2 lb	-1.4 lb	-7.2 lb
01/09/07	236.6 lb	-2.8 lb	-5.8 lb
01/02/07	239.4 lb	0.8 lb	-3 lb
12/26/06	238.6 lb	2 lb	-3.8 lb
12/19/06	236.6 lb	-2.8 lb	-5.8 lb
12/12/06	239.4 lb	-3 lb	-3 lb
12/05/06	242.4 lb	--	0 lb

The "Big List" again

Okay, for those of you keeping track, here is my big list as it stands now. Anything crossed off and in bold are things I have accomplished. Anything crossed off and not in bold are things that I am no longer pursuing for one reason or another.

These are all things I wish to complete by my 26th birthday, which is August 19th.

My Big List
1. Take up yoga again
2. Meet my 10% goal, plus 6 pounds.
3. Join a gym or yoga studio and go!
4. Take ballroom/latin/swing dance lessons
5. Start writing in my prayer journal more
6. Finish Final Fantasy VIII, IX and X
7. Start nursing school
8. Walk more
9. Watch less TV
10. Read: The Cloister Trials, Quarter Life Crisis, The Color Purple, Random Passage, Knitting Under the Influence, Friday Night Knitting Club, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
11. Talk to Stephanie and Josh once a month.
12. Get some nice professional pictures of John and I
13. Get to 2 more Mike Previti concerts!!!
14. Paint my living room, bedroom, stairway and computer room.
15. Purchase a 5 or 6 foot tall book case for the computer room.
16. Learn to read knitting patterns
17. Knit a blanket
18. Find a new job/return to school for a career I want to pursue
19. Do yoga 4 times a week, at least.
20. Finish the scrapbook for my dad.
21. Train for, and successfully complete a 5K road race

Catching up some more

I feel like there isn't much new to report, but at the same time, I'm sure there is. I had a job interview on Monday for the Child Advocacy Center position. I think it went pretty well, but I'm pretty sure I didn't get the job, as I didn't hear anything from them all week. I'm okay with that though, because I am still loving teaching way too much to leave it.

I've subbed in Laconia every day since Tuesday this week. On Thursday one of the special ed. teachers came to me and said that if I needed a letter of recommendation, she would be happy to write one for me. Another special ed teacher said that I should really "try looking for a job at a school that you and John can commute together." Meaning the middle school. So hearing things like that really makes me happy, because it means that I'm doing the right thing, and making the right choice to move into the teaching realm. Its amazing what being at a job you love can do. I've never felt it before, and it's the best feeling in the world to actually love getting up and going to work! I look forward to it, and I'm EXCITED about it!

John is doing well. He had a long week this week, between the concert on Thursday and then the Lakes Region thing yesterday. Two nights in a row he was out late. Next Thursday he has the Educational Fair at the high school that some of his kids are playing at, so it will be another late night for him then. Though, not as late as if he went to his Carter Mountain rehearsal.

I have two more job interviews coming up this week - one of them is in Portsmouth at a place as a volunteer coordinator. The place is an association for blind people. It's only 15 hours a week, but it will allow me to still substitute teach. The other one is for a job here in Rochester at the Job Training place. It would be as a case manager helping other people find and apply for jobs. It's full time, so I wouldn't be able to sub in the mean time, but we do need the money until I can get a regular teaching job.

I guess that really is about all the news from here though... Can't think of anything else!

Job interview part 2

I had the second interview for the job at the homeless shelter today. I felt like it went very well and I should have some kind of indication tomorrow as to whether or not I will get the job. I was really nervous about the schedule, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that I can make this work, so it will be okay. I'm kind of excited about it, and I left with a really good feeling about the whole thing today. I freaked out on the way home because my cell phone battery was dying and I only have a car charger. My car won't charge anything if it's not running, so I won't be able to charge it until I'm on my way to substitute tomorrow.

I also got a call back on a job I applied for on Tuesday, so I've got to be sure to call this woman back tomorrow too. Sounds like things may be starting to pan out!

New Yarn, current projects, and a big question

Yesterday I hit up that sale at the yarn store, which was awesome! I got some really nice yarn! Here's what I got:Above: This is everything I purchased at The Yarn Basket yesterday. Not one of these cost me more than $6.

Above: This is Reynolds Rapture brand, color #815 (sorry, no color name). It is 50% silk, 50% wool and SOOOO soft! This is going to become a scarf for my mother in law.

Above: This is Reynolds Rapture, Color #310. It is the same as the above yarn. This will become a scarf for my mother.Above: this is Reynolds Rapture, color # 714. This picture makes it look far more blue and black than it is - it's really much more of a blue green. I wish I had been able to capture that. This is going to become a scarf for me!!!


This is Tahki Select Trendy yarn, which is a 31% Wool, 57% Polyamid and 12% Acrylic. The color is #0002. You can see it's a lovely shade of blue with some ribbon wound in. This will become a scarf for my sister.

Above: This is a scarf I am currently working on. I have one week to get it done, and I started it on Saturday. Only 4 days left! Eek! It is Pattons Divine yarn. The color is called Richest Rose, but these pictures make it look much too purple. This is a 75.6% Acrylic, 10.5% Wool, 10.5% Mohair and 2.5% Polyester. This was an awesome find, as it knits up quite quickly, and is really, really soft! It has a feel of being an old, comfy scarf but is still brand new!

Now, I have a question for everyone: I am considering starting a... business if you will. I'd like to start making scarves and selling them, both online and at craft fairs. Would people be willing to buy them? I'd love to have some input. Please leave me some comments with your thoughts.

The big list again

My Big List
1. Take up yoga again
2. Meet my 10% goal, plus 6 pounds.
3. Join a gym or yoga studio and go!
4. Take ballroom/latin/swing dance lessons
5. Start writing in my prayer journal more

6. Finish Final Fantasy VIII, IX and X
7. Start nursing school
8. Walk more
9. Watch less TV
10. Read: The Cloister Trials, Quarter Life Crisis, The Color Purple, Random Passage and Knitting Under the Influence.
11. Talk to Stephanie and Josh once a month.
12. Get some nice professional pictures of John and I
13. Get to 2 more Mike Previti concerts!!!
14. Paint my computer room
15. Purchase a 5 or 6 foot tall book case for the computer room.
16. Learn to read knitting patterns
17. Knit a blanket
18. Find a new job/return to school for a career I want to pursue
19. Do yoga 4 times a week, at least.
20. Finish the scrapbook for my dad.

As you can see, the joining a gym thing is crossed off. This is because I have bought an elliptical machine to use at home. Yay!

01/01/07

Happy New Year, one and all!

I haven't really been one for making New Years resolutions, except to say that this year, I will meet my 10% goal for WW, plus an extra 6 pounds. That will almost put me back down to a number wich would make me CONSIDER being comfortable telling people what I weigh.

Last night, John and I went over to the RK apartment and hung out with Kim, Isaac, Aaron, Autumn, Sarah, Isaac and Kim's mom and Ferris, and we had so much fun! I'm not much of a games person, but I'll tell ya, watching a rousing game of Clue is the best! Today has been a pretty mellow day - Just getting errands done, and laundry that didn't get done yesterday. I went to Target today and bought 2 new yoga DVD's, because, sadly, my Rodney Yee VHS got warped at some point and now won't work. I got a Suzanne Deason one, and another one that's probably a little too intense for me today, but it looks cool, because it has 6 different work outs on it, one of them using hand weights! So that should be interesting. I'm really excited to get back into yoga, and as soon as I can afford it, I'm going to sign up to take yoga at a yoga studio again. There's one in downtown Dover that looks promising.

Anyway, I guess that's about it for now. But before I go, I need to revamp my Top list of things to do before my birthday. So here it is in it's (almost) completion.

My Big List
1. Take up yoga again
2. Meet my 10% goal, plus 6 pounds.
3. Join a gym or yoga studio and go!
4. Take ballroom/latin/swing dance lessons
5. Start writing in my prayer journal more
6. Finish Final Fantasy VIII, IX and X
7. Start nursing school
8. Walk more
9. Watch less TV
10. Read: The Cloister Trials, Quarter Life Crisis, The Color Purple, Random Passage and Knitting Under the Influence.
11. Talk to Stephanie and Josh once a month.
12. Get some nice professional pictures of John and I
13. Get to 2 more Mike Previti concerts!!!
14. Paint my computer room
15. Purchase a 5 or 6 foot tall book case for the computer room.
16. Learn to read knitting patterns
17. Knit a blanket
18. Find a new job/return to school for a career I want to pursue
19. Do yoga 4 times a week, at least.
20. Finish the scrapbook for my dad.

I figure 20 things is doable by the time I hit my birthday... 35 was kind of pushing it. These, however, are NOT New Years resolutions, as most of them were made several months ago.

Hope you all have a great 2007!

Insert creative, witty subject line here

Well, John and I have been doing well getting all of the Christmas decorating done. We're hosting the RK gathering on the 23rd, which should be an adventure. Not in a bad way - though it will be interesting to see what happens with our dog and all the people over here trying to play spoons or DDR or whatever.
For the record, just because the gathering is happening at my house doesn't mean I'm playing spoons. I haven't played spoons since high school. There is a reason for that. Don't ask me to play, because I won't.

There, now that we've cleared that up...

I got some really sad news today - my Aunt Debbie, my dad's oldest sister, had a massive stroke this morning. Last weekend she was at my Aunt Joan's house, and she wasn't feeling so well. She was having double vision, and lines through her vision. She called her doctor, who said it was most likely an ocular migraine. So she called my mom, who talked to the doctor she works with. That doctor said "No, I think she should call a neurologist." So she did. They did an MRI of her head and a CT scan too. They couldn't find anything wrong. She got the results back on Thursday, and she called my parents so relieved that everything was fine. She had a few of her grandkids over at her house with her that night, and she was so happy that everything was okay. Then today, she went to the doctors, and the next thing, she was admitted into the hospital, and she had had a massive stroke. She was paralyzed on her left side, but she was able to call my uncle (my dad has 3 siblings). I don't really know what happened after that, but the next thing, she was in a vegitative state on life support. As soon as they shut off the life support, she will die. They've been waiting to do that until her daughter, one of my cousins, makes it to Vermont. My cousin was on vacation in Las Vegas, and was trying to get the next flight out. Which means that by this time tomorrow, my aunt will have likely passed away.

I don't really know what to think about this. This is the second death in my family this year. My poor Granddad (my dads dad) has now outlived his wife and one of his children. I keep wondering if I talked to my Aunt when we had our Thanksgiving get together. Not that it would bring her back to life if I had, but I don't even remember saying hi, or hugging her, or saying good bye, or even Happy Thanksgiving. It's amazing what loosing a relative makes you realize. And her death has affected me even more than I would have expected. I always felt like she was the most supportive person on my dads side of the family (my father aside). I guess I felt the closest to her than any of my other relatives on that side. I felt like she was always interested in me and what I was doing. I'm so grateful that I was able to get married before she, and my grandfather, passed away this year. I wish my Grampa M. had been alive to see it though.

It just makes me realize that I need to start really doing the things I love more. I'm taking the first step by having joined Weight Watchers. So far, that's making me really happy, knowing I've made a healthy, positive change in my life. Second, I'm leaving my job that makes me miserable. That's really important to me too.

I'm going to finish this later...

11 through 15

So, okay, in getting back to my "Big 35 List," I've got a few more things to add:

11. Talk to Stephanie and Josh more
12. Get some nice professional pictures of John and I
13. Get to 2 more Mike Previti concerts!!!
14. Paint my computer room
15. Purchase a 5 or 6 foot tall book case for the computer room.

My Big 35 List

So, I've decided to write a list of things I want to do before I turn 26. I'm probably going to need a lot of love and support to get some of them done, so your encouragement is much appreciated. Just remember, it is a work in progress.

Without further ado:

MY BIG 35 LIST
1. Take up yoga again
2. Loose 30 pounds
3. Join a gym and work out regularly
4. Take ballroom/latin/swing dance lessons
5. Start writing in my prayer journal more
6. Finish Final Fantasy VIII, IX and X
7. Start nursing school
8. Walk more
9. Watch less TV
10. Read the stack of books on my bookshelf (there's like 7 up there!)