Thursday, June 28, 2012

My Weight Loss Journey Begins!

So, after a long time of feeling pretty upset about my body and how I looked, I have finally decided to do something about it for real.  I signed up for Weight Watchers Points Plus Online.  Yesterday was my first day on it. Tuesday was our anniversary so we went out to dinner at the Melting Pot. For those of you who don't know what the Melting Pot is - its a Fondu restaurant.  It was delicious but there was SO MUCH food and we had drinks too. I knew starting on Tuesday was a bad idea. Ha! So, this is day 2.  I'm doing well so far.  I've been making sure to get work outs in and I've been better today than I was yesterday as far as my points used.  I was just down right hungry yesterday!  Today, I did much better so far.  I still have 14 points left for the day which means I SHOULD be able to have a dessert of some kind tonight and stay within my points!  Whoo hoo!

I think this time around will be different for me.  I REALLY want this and I'm really feeling motivated.  I mostly want to get in shape and be healthy.  I don't want my boys to have an overweight and unhealthy mom.  I want to be able to run around with them outside and keep up and not feel winded right away.  I'm done making excuses because of injuries and my thyroid disease.  Yes, thyroid disease will probably make it harder for me to lose weight... hopefully not too much harder!  I'm at a point where this is a great time to do this.  It's summer vacation so I don't have to get up with the alarm and rush around to get the kids off to school.  I have time to work out, get sweaty and THEN shower.  So today, I did 10 minutes on my elliptical (I'm going to work toward more time), 10 minutes of squats and 10 minutes of crunches.  Then I took the kids to Target and was speed walking through the store while pushing the cart as it got fuller and fuller.  So, I got a decent amount of activity points for the day.  I'm feeling the burn in my legs and abs which is awesome.  I could possibly get addicted to that feeling!

I've set a small goal.  I'm working toward losing 10 pounds first and I'm probably going to go for 10 pounds, each time until I'm done.  The total weight loss goal is 65 pounds.  That number is really daunting so I'm keeping it to smaller goals to feel more attainable and I'll feel like I'm accomplishing more.  This works well for me with doing chores too.  I make a very LONG list of chores but that's because I break each chore down into steps so I can keep checking things off.  It keeps me motivated.

So, prayers would be LOVED and ADORED and APPRECIATED greatly that I can do this.  I've prayed about it hard and I believe that God is going to get me through this.  I'm puttig my will power in His hands and I believe He will pull me through!  With God, all things are possible!!!!!  I'll post with an update soon - I loved that this morning, I already felt a bit lighter. :0)

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Hand Stamped Tile Coasters


So, I recently discovered that you can use rubber stamps on tiles to make really beautiful and unique coasters! I decided I would try this out to make a cool and unique gift for Daniel's preschool teachers as a thank you gift. I made 2 sets. I posted pictures of them on Facebook and got a great response. I can't take the credit for this idea at all. It's not mine at all. I saw several videos and tutorials on how to do it on YouTube. Here is one that I watched:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SCgjr4o_4U It seems to be the easiest way to go. There's no heat setting or spray fixatives needed. Here is the set I made for Daniel's main teacher, Mrs. Sweet:


All of the stamps I used are from Stampin' Up!  Some of them are still available but some are discontinued.  I used the following stamp(s) sets:  Inspired by Nature, Medallion, Wonderful Favorites, Family Reunion, French Flair, Damask, Baroque Motifs, and Elements of Style.  I had a really good time playing around with this and I'll be honest - I had a few that came out looking TERRIBLE! 





The best thing about this is how easy this is really to do.  I bought the tiles at Lowe's but you can get them at any big home improvement store.  They are tumbled MARBLE.  If you want to make these yourself, don't get the tumbled TRAVERTINE as they are far too smooth and won't accept the ink well at all.  I made this mistake myself and it looked awful.  They are quite affordable to buy at  about $4 for a box of 9. 

The inks I used were mostly StazOn inks.  I would have used all StazOn because that was what was recommended in that video I shared above but the variety of colors available at my local Michael's store was limited and seemed like someone had been there and bought a lot of the colors out.  I supplemented with a few by Color Box that were PERMANENT inks.  I also tested the color fastness on the back of a tile before using it.  The purple color and the khaki green color are both by Color Box.  The black, red, blue, and brown are by StazOn. 


When they were all stamped and I liked my collection of coasters, I added some felt tab feet to the bottoms of them to keep them from scratching the tables they sat on.  You get several to a package and they are also available at Lowe's and Home Depot.  



I then, used some of my Stampin' Up! striped grosgrain ribbon (discontinued) to tie them up and make a gift package.  They were a hit with the teachers and the other moms at preschool. :)  They are a fun gift to make or for your own home.  I did make some for myself too.  I'll keep experimenting and I'll share more photos when I have more.  Thanks for looking!