Chef Hoop-a-loop is my roommate!

I wanted to do a post about my roommate, Sarah, who is competing in Springfield's Got Talent tonight with her wonderful hooping skills!

She is one of 15 acts that will be performing and competing for $2000!!!

If she wins she said she is going to use the money to purchase a fire hoop.

Earlier this week she was on the news.

You can watch the 4 minute video of her interview and a preview of what she can do here.

She is also a very talented culinary student and knows her stuff when it comes to food and being healthy. She is motivated and works hard at life to get what she wants and to get where she wants to go.

I am proud to call her my roommate and even more proud to say she is my friend.

Break a leg tonight, Sarah!

You will rock it!

Life Style Change: Goals/Day1

I think by now we all know I don't follow through with things. It is something I have hated about myself for years. But I'm the only one who can change it...

...so here I go!

...again

I was looking at Pinterest today and became really inspired by all the workout pins I saw. I found a bunch that I am going to print out and pin up on my wall for inspiration. 

Today is only Day 1. I'm not going to stress/freak-out/rush/over-do-it. I'm not going to get down if I eat some ice cream or some pizza. I'm going to watch portions and not over do it. 

Change takes time and I can't be perfect over night. 

I WILL mess up

I WILL NOT get it right the first time, every time

As long as I'm making progress I should be happy

This post called The College Girl Diet was very encouraging and gave me quite a few ideas. I used her ideas and my own to create this:

New Lifestyle Goals

1. The No's: 

no soda

no fast food

no candy

2. More Water

goal: finish 3 of my 24oz CamelBak a day

3. More Moving

stretch every day

I'm going to be trying different workout plans that I found on Pinterest and on other sites. I just plan on posting a link to whatever it is I'm getting my routine from at the time.

4. During The Day

no eating while watching TV/movies

no eating while on the computer

no eating at work

snack healthy

tighten abs throughout the day

Lazy Girl Fitness is something I'm going to try to do more of around the house

5. While Eating

drink 2 glasses of water 15min before eating

chew longer

eat slower

drink in between bites 

watch portions

*Don't Stress About Being Perfect**80/20 Ratio*

So today I did this:

It was easy and didn't take very long. The hardest part was making sure I was tightening my abs while doing everything. I could feel the workout more by doing that. 

I can do this! I can make this happen! 

I can be happy!

Blue strapless dress

Blue strapless dress by chelsea-farnsworth featuring oversized hats

Photos

Of things that make me happy:

 Who doesn't love a pretty dress and a pretty bike?

 I become speechless when I look at this!

The tattoo on my wrist means this. 

I give props to the artist who created this beautiful art. 

The Earth IS Alive! 

DayDreamSketching :)

 Oh me! Oh my!

For my favorite cupcake loving person in the world...

iamhappy. 

knitting

I've been knitting at work this semester.

I started this project last Spring and I'm probably not even half way finished. It will be a scarf for one of my friends when I'm all done with it. The plan is to make it super long. Like Dr. Seuss long! I'm very excited. It has a few holes but I don't mind. It's my first project and I didn't feel like undoing it to fix it.

I have found that knitting can be very meditative for me. It's a great way to keep myself doing something while watching a movie or listening to music or chatting with friends. 

Enjoy!

New Years Resolutions

I usually don't like when people talk about holidays and plan for them/decorate etc. when there is still another holiday to celebrate before that one arrives! (Example: when Christmas music is playing and stores are decorating for Christmas BEFORE Thanksgiving!) But today I'm going to write about New Years resolutions and what I plan to do for next year.

A few years ago I had a friend that told me she was challenging herself to work on a new resolution every month of the year. Instead of working for a few weeks and then giving up...this would be a way to keep things fresh and to keep motivation. Also, I think it is a great way to incorporate multiple things into your life without overwhelming yourself. And then, if you like what you did that month you can keep it up and if you didn't...well, at least you tried something new!

So this is my plan as of now:

January: Go to at least 1 yoga class a week and start meditating

February: Work out every day for at least 30 minutes (to get myself looking good for my birthday in March!)

March: Wear makeup/do my hair/dress nice every day (maybe I'll do the 30 for 30 challenge!)

April: Learn to cook basic meals

May: Hoop for 30 minutes a day

June: Plan accordingly and ride my bike as much as possible.

July: Explore 4 new places in Missouri that I have never been to

August: Finish all projects that I have started. Sewing or art.

September: Eat nothing but whole foods 4 days a week

October: Do random acts of kindness

November: Sew something new each week

December: Bake and bake and bake and give and give and give

All year long:

*Post at the start of each month what my goal for that month is, then check in and write a few sentences each day or few about if I did it or not*

*Keep trying new foods as often as possible. Start to incorporate them into my daily menu*

*Make at least one new craft a month and blog about it*

*Save money for the first half of the year so I can visit my sister in California!*

*Read often*

*Knit often*

*Learn to embroidery*

*Learn to crochet*
*Be more active in supporting and participating in my local the theatre/music/dance/art community*

I'll probably add more later! This is a great start though, I think :)

Enjoy!

Boston

I'm not sure why, all of a sudden, I feel the need to blog again. But here I am so here we go.

The summer break was interesting. Enjoyable, stressful, challenging and short are a few words I can think of to describe it. But one of the best things was going to Boston to visit my sister and nephew. 

Picture time:

Somehow I ended up leaving without getting a picture of all of us together.

I had a wonderful time. I've never been to a city as large as Boston before. I think my favorite thing was all the walking and riding the T. And all the beautiful old buildings too!

Enjoy!