Posted on August 16, 2010
My “To Do Before School Starts” list is absolutely overwhelming. I’m trying not to stress out because that only makes matters worse. Neal sent this comic to me today and it made me laugh. I think he is trying to tell me something. I did start a new cleanse today and am carving out time for exercise to help manage my stress level.
To celebrate his 2nd week of vacation, Neal and I took a day trip to Multnomah Falls on Monday. Our other option was going to the ocean, but we decided it would be more fun if we could spend the night, so we did something a little closer to home. I don’t think either of us planned on hiking as much as we did, because we did not come prepared with good hiking shoes and were wearing jeans. It was incredibly hot, and I was longing for some khakis! Luckily, we ate lunch at the Lodge before heading up so the lack of trail food wasn’t that bad, but the lack of water about killed us! We probably should have turned around once we got to the top of the waterfall, but we pressed on. It was so beautiful and the next mile was so peaceful since very few people went off the beaten path. As rugged as some of the non-paved trail was, it was absolutely worth it to truly enjoy nature alone with my husband! A little over two miles up the mountain, we ran into a work party repairing part of the path that had been washed away. They would have let us by, but Neal and I are both glad that we turned around. We were both feeling dehydrated and needed to get some water. Unfortunately, Neal was far worse off than I was and developed an incredible headache on the way home. I slept most of the way home, so I felt fine! What surprised me about the trip down the mountain was that it hurt more than going up; my feet were killing me! Neal had me tighten my shoelaces and that made a big difference. Honestly, my feet were the only things that hurt on the trip. My legs weren’t sore at all during the hike or the next day. Yet, my hips were so sore the next day; I couldn’t believe it! I’m only 42 and they made me feel like I was 80…this is not a good sign for my old age.
This LO is a direct scraplift from page 19 of the Summer 2009 Idea Book. I absolutely love this Back Country paper packet and need to find my other outdoor/camping photos to finish off the packet. It’s hard to see, but I added grunge masks on the 5×7 photos and an overlay on one with text that reads, Multnomah Falls. I’m practicing my Photoshop skills!
My LOAD Challenge is officially over and I did it! I managed to create a layout a day for the entire month of May! It was difficult at times due to my workload at school, but I’m glad that I stuck with it. Now, for the bad news…I got on the scale this morning…not pretty! I will be taking a break from the Internet until I lose the 5 pounds I gained this month. It is amazing how quickly it comes back on when I only exercise once or twice a week. I’ve got to get back up to my five or six times a week and really increase the intensity of my workouts.
Again, I used a Scenic Route class kit to finish my layouts for today. This was the final day of our Disney Cruise vacation last summer. I wrote that I was disappointed that we didn’t go to Disneyland that day, but it really did end up being the perfect way to end our vacation. We walked around the pier and surrounding areas. I got to take a lot of photos, and we simply relaxed and enjoyed each other’s company while soaking in the beautiful weather.
Okay, now I’m off to exercise! Wish me luck in shedding these pounds!!!
This would look a lot better had I printed the picture on photo paper, but I didn’t have time to bother with that tonight. I’m going to upload this LO and go exercise for an hour and a half while I watch the Biggest Loser finale! I hope Tara wins!
I used a photo from my day on Enterprise because September 2006 began and ended with amazing Star Trek experiences. I’ll write more about that on my final reflection LO. It feels good to finally be finishing this album!
Since our challenge today was to go with the flow, I put away my cruise photos and pulled out the Learn Something New Every Day project I’ve been working on for THREE years! I am in a Star Trek mood this week as I anticipate the new movie opening on Friday, and my Sci-Fi class finished watching Star Trek: Of Gods & Men today. I decided to go with the flow and finish the last Star Trek LO for that project since it was on my mind! At some point, I still need to journal about my conversation with Grace Lee Whitney and my interview with the lead singer of Electric Crush, but at least one moment of that day is documented. I only have 9 pages left to finish this mini-album. I finished many of them during the 2/08 LOAD challenge on BPS, so I think I need to make it my goal to finish the rest of them this month.
Exercise Update–it was raining this afternoon, so Kristina and I didn’t do our walk. I did come home and exercise for an hour (eliptical, back align and abs).
Here is my 4th LOAD challenge. The goal was to incorporate squares in the LO…thank goodness for CTMH preprinted pages! I only had 1/2 to get this done and I finished with time to spare, which was really good because my card reader flaked out on me and I had to restart my computer.
I gave a card workshop to a great group of ladies tonight. It was a prize in a charity auction to support the drama club!
Exercise Update–due to the workshop, I didn’t have time to work out tonight, but Kristina and I did take a long walk around the school this morning during planning.
Woo hoo! Happy day! My eliptical was finally fixed today, so I get to work out as soon as I’m done posting this message. My CTMH order also arrived with the new Tickled Pink scrapbooking kit which went on sale today! The kit comes with instructions for two double-page spreads, so I’ll post them as soon as I finish the layouts.
The Tickled Pink scrapbooking kit, created exclusively to celebrate National Scrapbooking Month, is available TODAY through the end of May. As always, you may purchase it at retail or earn it FREE! There are three ways to get it for FREE–make a qualifying purchase, have qualifying Home Gathering sales, or enroll as a new Consultant in May!
One more very cool bit of CTMH news before I go exercise and then play with my new product (so much for doing school work tonight!)…to celebrate National Scrapbooking Month, Close To My Heart is sponsoring a contest that anyone can enter at the Scrapbook and Share blog! You have a chance of winning $150 in CTMH products, so click on the link and check out this contest!
In December of 2006, Neal and I made a pact to write for 1/2 an hour each day. We both started blogs with the goal of posting daily. I failed miserably! My last post dated May 28, 2007, described how excited I was to be a Close To My Heart Consultant. I would like to say that a booming business left no time for blogging, but that isn’t the case. I simply overextend myself and something has to give. For the past two years, it has been my websites. I stopped blogging, podcasting, and updating Shakespeare High. My word for 2006-2007 was “Create,” and I definitely added more creativity to my life in the form of scrapbooking. My word for 2008 was “Cleanse.” I broke my sugar addiction, added exercise to my routine, and lost 45 pounds! I feel better than I have my entire life, and now I know what is important to me. Therefore, my word for 2009 is “Balance.” Exercise and creativity are non-negotiable for me now, therefore, I must find balance in other areas of my life. I’m working on giving up some responsibility at school so that I can come back to the passions that give me joy. The goal of this blog is to document my journey and to provide me with an outlet to share my creativity. I’m glad you found me, and I hope you will share in this journey by playing along with my weekly creativity challenges!