When magic happens...

Something truly mazing happened last night that I can only describe as magic.  I mean, I am definitely not technically saavy enough to have done with without a good stroke of luck.  Nonetheless...

I finally, successfully, moved my blog to wordpress!

You can now find me at: 

lifeisbetterthanfiction.wordpress.com

Make sure you update your readers!  :)

See you there!

It's my birthday!

Some exciting news, I passed my skills and written test for my CNA!  I should be getting my official card in the mail this week.  Horray!   I've been looking for and applying to jobs at the hospitals.  I hope I find something that is both challenging and a great fit for me.


So today is my 26th birthday.  No big plans really.  Possibly a movie (any good ones out right now?) and maybe a slice of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory.  I'll be spending it with my honey and that's the best present a girl could ask for.



Oh, and I'm headed to the gym early in the morning for an extra special treat:

After being inspired and totally blown away by Janetha's post, I've decided to take on the Jaime Eason 12 week challenge!!

I won't be posting before and after pictures because I, personally, don't feel comfortable posting those kind of pictures on the internet for all to see. (Not that I think there is anything wrong with people who do!)

I want to stay away from numbers, I might weigh myself once a week.  But I haven't decided on that.

I will likely do measurements of arms, waist, legs, etc to chart my progress but I don't know that I will share them here.  People's bodies are all different and I don't want to cause competition.

I will most likely post my before and after BMI.

I've never tried a program like this before but I've decided to give it a try for the following reasons:

-I've got an awesome friend who's game to do it together
-I'm not afraid of working hard at the gym
-My eating habits could be a little cleaner
-I want to have a stronger mind and more endurance
-I'm committed to sticking with it

Do I think I'll come out looking like a fitness model when I'm finished?  Of course not.

Do I hope to lose some lingering weight?  Yes.



Wish me luck and hold me accountable!


Since it's my birthday, and I love lists I've decided to make the following:

26 Things I've Learned in 26 years

1. Socks first, then shoes.
2. If it's breakable, I will break it.  It it's unbreakable, I will find a way.
3. Be nice.  It goes a long way.  That being said...
4. Stand up for yourself because no one else will.
5. When all else fails, hug the dog.

6. No news is good news.

7. Stop worrying about other people and start competing with yourself.
8. Sometimes people are mean, but that doesn't mean it's your fault.
9. Food poisoning is a terrible thing.  Terrible thing, indeed.
10. You can feel sore tomorrow, or you can feel sorry tomorrow.

11. Give compliments.  Everyone likes them.

12. Life never goes as expected.  But it usually turns out so much better.

13. Say "I'm sorry" when you should. 

14. Forgive, even when it's hard. 

15. When something bad happens, you have three choices: you can either let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you. 

16. You are the biggest obstacle in your way.

17. Cooking isn't hard.  Following recipes can be.

18. The best things in life are worth practice and patience. 

19. Try not to worry about things you can't control or change.

20. Do something that relaxes/ recharges you at least weekly.
21. Happiness is being married to your best friend.

22. People will let you down.  Do your best not to let down other people.

23. Take time for the things you love.

24. You get out of something what you put into it.

25. You're either early, or you're late. (The most recent thing I've learned.)

26. Today you are you, that is truer than true.  There is no one alive who is youer than you! -Dr. Seuss

You've probably seen some of these on pinterest.  Because that's where I got them.  Hey, I didn't say these were all original!

11 Random Things

Hey, hey!

My awesome friend Linzi tagged me in this fun little quiz so I can talk more about myself.  Whee!

Here are the rules (shhmules)

-post the rules. check.
-post 11 random things about yourself.
-answer the questions set for you in their post.
-tag 11 new people (or you will have bad luck for 7 years)
-create 11 new questions for the people you tag.

Random:

1.  While I like to cook plenty of healthy main dishes, I don't particularly care to make "healthy" baked goods.  Gimme the flour, sugar and butter!

2.  I like awkward animals.  Like pigs and frogs and monkeys and giraffes and elephants.  Thankfully, my friends and husband will not allow me to decorate the house with these animals.

Except this one I guess.

3.  There isn't really anything I dislike so much that I refuse to eat it.  Unless I'm allergic to it (mangoes).  I think that makes me an excellent dinner guest.

4.  If you ever saw me at the grocery store with my reusable bags, you might think I'm environmentally conscious.  Not really.  I actually just hate plastic grocery bags (though I do recycle them!). 

5. When someone asks me a question, I have this compulsion to come up with an answer.  Even if I don't really know what I'm talking about!  I feel like if they think I know the answer, I can't let them down!

6.  I have two hang bars in my closet.  One for my short sleeve shirts and one for my long sleeve shirts/sweaters.  The short sleeve shirts must be in color order but for some reason I don't organize the long sleeve ones at all!

7. I didn't get my ears pierced until I was 19.  I was never against it, I just never got around to it. 

8. It's almost my birthday.  This birthday kind of feels like a kick in the stomach.  26?  Already?

9. I was named after my grandma Margaret.  My husband also has a grandma Margaret. What?!

10. Whenever I am speeding up on the ramp getting onto the highway, I like to pretend I am a plane getting ready to take off. #nerdalert

11. This time, last year, I was getting ready to head to Hawaii.  Sigh.

Questions:

1. What is your favorite dish to make?  I make a mean parmesan chicken.  It's my go-to recipe. 

2. Would you rather sing in a karaoke contest or be in a dance competition?  Dance competition hands down.  I think I can (still) dance.  As long as it's choreographed. 

3. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?  Tough.  If I decided on a place I'd never been, I would choose Germany.  Otherwise, I am DYING to go and visit Victoria, BC where I lived briefly.

4. Pepsi or Coke?  Coke. 

5. What is your favorite movie? Beauty and the Beast.  Hands down, no questions.

6.  Heels or flats?  Heels!!  Love them.

7. Where were you born?  Warren Air Force Base, Cheyenne, Wyoming.  I was the only baby, so there isn't much of a chance I was switched at birth.

8. Do you watch reality tv?  We got rid of our cable.  But when we did, I loved the Real Housewives.

9. Have you ever met anyone famous?  It's kind of a stretch, but once when I was working at the Gap in Victoria, David Suzuki (a well known Canadian environmentalist) came in.  That's all I've got. 

10.  What's one thing you'd like to accomplish in 2012?  Get into nursing school.  Seriously.  It's stiff competition.

11. Dark, milk, or white chocolate?  Hmm... dark, but not too dark.  Or milk.  How's that for definitive?

Whew!  

I think this post has been long enough, so I'll just pass on the tagging and ask you just two questions:

What is your favorite Disney movie?

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

Immersed

I'm alive, I swear!

I'm not much of a green thumb, but my Christmas cactus is still in full bloom.

I have been busy with my CNA clinicals, which I absolutely LOVED.  Always a good sign, right?  I did three 8 hour shifts at a nursing home and one 8 hour shift at one of the local hospitals.  Definitely two different environments, but kind of the same.

I loved it all.

I loved the grumpy old people who say whatever they please because they don't care what people think.
I loved the sweet grateful old people who would light up when you came into their room.
I loved that they would smirk at my silly jokes.
I loved the few who might not have been there 100%.
I even loved the feeling of exhaustion at the end of the day because there hadn't been a single dull moment.
I loved all the things some people might think are gross.
One lady said I had wings, that I was an angel.  (Hah!  Fooled her! :) )
I even loved taking people's blood glucose (apparently I have no problem causing one to bleed...)
I thanked an elderly patient for holding my hand while I tested his blood glucose
And laughed when he said he didn't get to hold many pretty girls' hands these days.
I love that people are just, people and it's the little things to make the world just a little brighter.

So that's been my life.  And sleeping.  Oh and back to regularly scheduled classes.

I take my skills exam followed by my written exam on Monday and I'm feeling pretty good.  Cross your fingers and wish me luck!


In other news, we had our first snow a week ago.  I had gone to 6 am hot yoga and came out to a blanket of snow on the ground.

Our backyard had its very own snowdrift.

Speaking of hot yoga,  I've been going once a week all of January and it turns out it actually gets easier.  Especially when you remember to breathe.  I'll be sad when my groupon expires, but hopefully there will be another. 

I recently cooked up some real winners, and some not so great losers.

Sweet potato shepherd's pie via Janetha?  Serious Win.  Find the recipe here.

A few baked shrimp recipes?  Meh.  Both of these I tried from Pinterest. I guess I prefer mine with butter and garlic.  Or cocktail sauce.

Shrimp with lemon, butter and Italian spices

Feta spaghetti shrimp bake.  It had salsa in it.  It was weird.

Avocado fries?  Definitely a win.  I mean avocado baked in Panko?  YES.

Oops.  I think I added too much water to my oats.

Yeah, oats.  Time and time again, I have professed my dislike for oats and here I am eating them several times a week.  With cinnamon and flax and a pinch of Splenda.  Well if you must know, they stick to my ribs.  So, I force myself to eat them because eating a healthy breakfast helps me eat healthy the rest of the day.  They aren't so bad, I guess. 

Does anyone know when grapefruit season is?  Because it seems to me the best grapefruits are always found end of Jan, beginning of Feb.  Yum.

How did that get in there?  If you love caramel, chocolate and vanilla ice cream, you will love this.  It was all I could do not to just dig the caramel "core" out of the middle. 

  

A Big Thank You + Fitness

Hello there!

First a big thank you to Chobani for contacting me in December.  They are bringing a plant to Idaho and offered me a case of free yogurt.  Yes please!

All this x2!  I'm telling you, pineapple is by far my favorite!

And they sent me these cute little magnets as well as a conversion table.

**Hokay, I'm not a nutritionist, trainer, health expert here.  This is simply a documentation of my habits of late.**

Last post, I mentioned briefly that I was proud of how consistent I'd been at the gym during December.  It seems I've got a good thing going!

Since I love to make lists (you know you're a blogger when...) here's what I've been doing:

-hot yoga.  aka torture.  I have a serious love/hate relationship with it.  I love that it's been stretching out my muscles and making cardio/weights feel better.  But I count down the sweaty minutes until I can book it out of there.

-body pump.  This is my go to class when I'm feeling lazy.  I don't have to think and I love the positive enthusiasm and motivation of everyone around me.

-cardio mix-up.  I have some serious ADD so I like to do several cardio machines.  Lately it's been: warmup power walking on the treadmill for 20 minutes, followed by a 30 minute hill climb or something similar, followed by 10-15 minute intervals on the stair climber.  Last time I did this I was pouring sweat by the end.

-circiuts.  I do these with one of my friend who always thinks up wicked circuits and I'm happy to follow along (and sometimes complain a little). 




Now here's the honest truth.


I've been slacking in the nutrition department a little.  Not making a lot of bad choices, but not making enough good ones either.  I've been a little better at planning ahead which always makes a huge difference.

I might even be getting used to oats.

But upward and onward. 

Life is too short to look back.  Besides, my guts don't respond too kindly to a lot of processed/rich foods.

I've also been making a plethora of soups this winter.  I'll make a big batch Saturday or Sunday and then eat it for at least one meal a day throughout the week.  So far I've made:

-cheddar vegetable
-tortilla soup
-split pea (am I the only one who prefers the yellow peas to the green?)
-chicken noodle

If there's one thing I've re-learned, it's plan ahead.  That way, it's so much easier to grab something quick that's still healthy.

Wanna know a secret?  


Since Christmas, my clothes are already fitting just a little bit better!

What? It's 2012?

Oh hi there.

Merry Christmas/Happy Haunakkah/Happy New Year.

This past month has zoomed by.

I think the only thing I've been consistent with is the gym.  Yay me.

Oh and this darn sinus infection.

Anyway, here is a super fast recap:

Finals: stress, exhaustion, long nights, wondering how I ever stayed up past midnight studying, muchless pulling an allnighter, and finally a sigh of relief.

The last of my vaccination updates.  *Warning, this next picture is graphic*

This is the back of my arm from an MMR shot.  It's better to give than receive I tell ya.

I made Hunter wear his sweater vest.  Glad to report is doesn't seem quite as tight on him this year.

I made these as Christmas gifts for my friends.  I got the idea from Pinterest but I had no idea how long they would take!  Approximately 3-4 hours a piece!  But they came out great and everyone loved them.  I call that a win.

I put 3 strings of lights on my very tiny tree.  It's still sitting in my living room.

Drove to Oregon to visit my family for Christmas.  Hunter was my co-pilot.

Christmas dinner.

Cake balls.  Yum.

I decorated a gingerbread house.  

We came home a few days later, exhausted.

I am finished with CNA school and halfway through my clinicals.  It is a lot of hard work and not a quiet moment, but I am really loving it!

Oh, and apparently my Christmas cactus finally decided to bloom yesterday after over a year of coaxing.  Another win!

I am still writing 2011 when I have to date something.

Hopefully I'll have 2012 memorized by February.  

My birthday is in less than a month.  I always start the countdown on January 6.  Say what you will.