Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Year 4

Today marks the 4th year that we've owned our home. 
4 years ago we were in a 500 square foot apartment off the plaza. The location was great, the living space was not. Two adults and a dog in that tiny space was cramped, and I noticed it most of all once we moved.

The first week we moved in here, we felt like we were in some sort of mansion, calling out to each other if the other wasn't in our direct line of sight. 

And just as people said we would, we filled up the space. Filled it with things that make this house our home. Now that we have this spacious home, we can live comfortably with each other, and share our space with friends and family.
 
We're kind of like adults now,
hosting dinners
having movie nights
or inviting people over to play video games all night long, just like adults.

On this anniversary, I thought I would share some peeks at our space.






Thursday, November 24, 2011

Holiday 100

I'm a personal trainer. It's my job. I chose this career because I like to workout. I am also a pretty regular person, so sometimes I don't like to workout.
I like to watch reality TV, just like the rest of you.
I like to eat crap sometimes, just like the rest of you.
Sometimes it feels good to not workout.
Sometimes it feels pretty great actually.

For the last few weeks, my workouts have been pretty sparse. With the cold weather and the darkness, my body just wants to hang out in pajamas any chance it gets. Now, I have worked out a little bit, probably averaging 2 hours a week-definitely not what I'm used to.

Recently I saw the Holiday 100 on Daily Mile and became re-motivated. (I do very well with goals).
The goal is to run 100 miles between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It averages to around 3.2 miles a day.

Today was day one. I ran 3 miles in 32 minutes and 11 seconds which is definitely not my all time best pace, but it's day one, right? My lungs were tight (I've been battling a cold/allergies for months), but my legs felt great and I felt happy knowing I was working toward a goal - and just working out again period.

I know I won't run everyday (tomorrow), but I know I'm going to get to 100 miles by Christmas. I feel excited and revived by my new goal.

I also feel a little red in the face and sweaty.


Are you participating in the Holiday 100 or do you have other holiday fitness goals?

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Tattoos

I have been watching a lot of LA Ink lately on Netflix. (I love this show!)
It's a show about people getting tattoos and the reasons and stories behind the tattoos.

It always makes me feel like I want to get another tattoo, but when I turn off the TV and I'm back in the real world, I don't want one anymore.
I hate needles.
Also, I can't think of anything I want tattooed on my body bad enough to get another one.

I got my first and only tattoo as a Freshman in college at Mizzou.
It was the year 2000.
I had just met some of my best friends.
We were 18.
We were sitting around in the dorm, bored, and decided to go to the tattoo shop downtown for tattoos. We arrived and we each picked something from the displayed tattoos on the wall, paid our $50 and the man got to work.
I remember it hurt like crazy and I wanted to be done before the tattoo was done. At that point, I was fine with walking away with a half finished sun. Alas, I stayed until the end.

That night, we each walked away with a different tattoo.
1. a sun
2. the sign of Leo
3. a Chinese character
4. roses

I have since learned that people put thought into their tattoos. Perhaps they design it themselves, or it's a portrait of a loved one. Me? I picked mine from a display of pre-made designs.

Do I regret my tattoo? Absolutely not. Though the sun on my back may just look like a sun to some people to me it represents:
freedom
turning 18
starting college
meeting my best friends

I don't think about my tattoo much because I can't see it, but when I think about it, I love it.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

books and food and travel...

I attended a continuing education class for my personal training certification this weekend. At one point, the speaker wanted us to write a list of things we would do during the day if we didn't have to work and we had enough money to live....we could do anything we wanted!

Among the things on my list were:
read
scrapbook
take pictures
walk Peanut
make good food
eat good food
travel

I didn't write 'train clients' on the list. I thought I should though, like a dedicated, motivated trainer would. I tried to peek at other people's lists. "Are they writing 'train clients'?"

I thought at the end of this exercise he was going to say those that didn't write 'train' were bad trainers or something. However, if I didn't get paid to do it, I wouldn't train clients. It's true.

It made me think about my career choice (I've been doing that a lot lately, actually). Should I have a job I would do whether I got paid or not? I guess that would be ideal. However, I do love what I do. I love my job. I may not be as motivated as this speaker (I'm definitely not), but I do love my clients and I love helping people get healthier and make better choices every day.

I also like to do a lot of other things too and I'm thankful I have the job that gives me enough free time to do the things I love to do, even though I don't get paid to do them.


What's on your list?

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Simple Sunday, seven

This week, my Simple Sunday page is about the great date Zeb and I had on Thursday afternoon.

I started with the Elle's Studio sketch this week and then modified it a lot.

I've been really into bright colors lately which I think has served me well. In the beginning of my scrapbooking journey, I was very matchy matchy. I couldn't add colors to the pages without them being represented in the pictures I was using. Now, I like to play around with a lot of colors and I think my pages are better because of it.

Friday, November 18, 2011

A Day Date

Zeb and I....we're not like most couples. We don't have the kind of jobs that give us a "regular" life. We're not 9-5ers, we're nights and weekenders.

My schedule usually looks like a split shift with clients in the morning and clients in the evening.
Zeb works at a liquor store and a pizza place so his schedule has him working five nights a week, especially on the weekends.

So our date time isn't in the evenings or on the weekends.

This week we had a date Thursday afternoon.

We started with lunch at our favorite place, Chelly's.
When we walked in, one of the servers said "Welcome home." (That should give you some indication of how much we go there.) a lot a lot.

Then on to the 1:55 showing of The Rum Diary. It was set in Puerto Rico so the colors were beautiful to watch on the screen. The story was entertaining too.

A good day date, I'll say.



Wednesday, November 16, 2011

A Stop in Spiddal

I feel overwhelmed after a big event, like a vacation, or Christmas, when all I've been doing is taking pictures. After I come home there's the pressure of how to include it all in your scrapbook. Do you scrapbook all of it? Do you make one page for each day of vacation? So many questions!

So here I am, five months after arriving home from my trip to Ireland and I am still working on pages, trying to figure out what is important, what to include, what doesn't have to be in the scrapbook, etc.

Today I used the Elle's Studio sketch from this week, again (I'm obsessed) to document a stop during our Connemara bus tour. I thought this spot was perfectly Irish: a little cottage, ponies, a rock wall and green fields. Beautiful.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

I Love to Scrapbook! There I said it.

The prompt over at The Creative Type for the month of November is "The best advice I have ever received...". When I saw this, one important conversation came to mind. I was talking about my upcoming weekend with a client of mine and I was bashfully telling her how I was going to be scrapbooking. I was embarrassed talking about scrapbooking, like always.

She said, "Life's too short."

She's right. Life is too short to constantly be embarrassed or afraid about who you are. Some of my hang ups with scrapbooking come from me thinking that people don't know what it is exactly, that they don't know it's this creative and inventive art. However, it doesn't matter what others think it is or isn't, what matters is that I love it.


Monday, November 14, 2011

A Simple Re-do

Let me start by saying that I wanted to do Simple Sunday because I have a hard time putting glue to paper. I can sit with a layout laid out for months and months before committing to the page completely. So Simple Sunday helps me to commit, to not think too long and get pages done. However, that doesn't mean that I don't want them to look great, because I do.

With yesterday's Simple Sunday I was feeling a bit underwhelmed. I thought the color palette was drab. I couldn't figure out how to spice it up. I didn't like the picture. I loved the story, but wasn't allowing that to be visible.

So, I tweaked it a bit. I printed a new photo in black and white this time, added some color, and I like it a lot better: a page I can be proud of.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Simple Sunday, six

This week I was thinking about making Simple Sunday be a page about the Paul Simon concert and then I reminded myself that the point of Simple Sunday was to document the little things in life. So Paul Simon will definitely get a page, just not on a Sunday.

For today's Simple Sunday I used the sketch from Elle's Studio again. 


I tucked a journaling card behind the picture that reads:

On Friday I woke up too early. Zeb was still awake, of course, so I cuddled up with him on the couch and finished watching Insidious with him. After the movie, I got my morning started on the computer and he started watching This is Spinal Tap. In the course of about two minutes he went from laughing loudly to snoring loudly.

Do you have a memory from this week that you want to remember? 

Saturday, November 12, 2011

The Pages of Christmas Past

Zeb's mom gave me a small 8x8 scrapbook that documents Christmas year after year and I finally finished the pages from 2009 and 2010 just this weekend. It took too long to do them, I know this, but since I work mostly with 12x12 pages, the 8x8 are a bit of a challenge.

I thought I would share all of the pages up to this point, 2006 to 2010.
It's fun to see the change in my scrapbooking style and the way Zeb and I have changed as well.

We'll start with 2006. This is the very first Christmas Zeb and I spent together, and also one of my first (if not the first) scrapbook page I ever made. So, you don't get to see the whole page.

In 2007 we had just moved into our new home and bought a Christmas tree to decorate before we even unpacked. Check out the newest addition to our family that year.

Next, 2008.

In 2009, we visited the Magic Tree in Columbia, Missouri. This is a sight to see: a tree decorated with a ton of lights. It's so beautiful and one of my favorite things to do on Christmas.
For this page I got some help from Elle's Studio sketch of the week.

We get to Columbia, Missouri on Christmas Eve Day and that's when we help his mom decorate her tree for Christmas. Decorating the tree means wearing the Santa hats. Every year.
My goal this year is to have my page for Christmas 2011 finished before Christmas 2012. Do you think it can happen?

Thursday, November 10, 2011

10 Things I'm Thankful For.

Shimelle compiles a list of 10 Things on the Tenth every month and this month I thought I would participate with 10 Things I'm Thankful For.

Thing 1:
Zeb
He has the kindest heart of anyone I know. He loves music a lot a lot and he loves Peanut even more than that. He is levelheaded and calms my crazy. Thank you, Zeb.

Thing 2:
Peanut
I always thought I would wait to get a pup until I turned 30 (I'm 29). For some reason 30 seemed like a very grown up time in my 25 year old mind. However, when I met Peanut and she asked me to be her mom I couldn't say no. Thankfully. She is the funniest little dog I know (see below).

Thing 3:
My Job
I feel lucky that I get to have the job I have. Being a personal trainer is very rewarding and fun. First, I get to keep flexible hours which makes doing things I want/need to do, like making appointments and going on vacation, easier. I also get to hang out with my clients/friends all day long. What's better than that?


Thing 4:
Creativity
I'm thankful that I like to create things with paper and yarn. These crafts are things that challenge me and relax me. I like the journey and I like the finished product.

Thing 5:
Books
There are people who just claim to be 'non-readers' and I am glad I am not one of those people. I love to read, and although I have hit a dry spell the last month, I love to get lost in a story, and stay up later than I had planned, to finish a book. Next on my list is Room.


Thing 6:
My Health
I am a person that likes to work out. Sure, I like days off from working out, but too many days off and I'm back in the gym. Sometimes it feels like something my body needs to do. I like to eat well. These things make me feel good mentally and physically.

Thing 7:
My Friends
I have a small group of friends. I'm not super social, but the people I choose to be my friends are the ones I can trust the most.


Thing 8:
My Alone Time
Alone time is so important to me. I feel like it's a way for me to recharge. I see Zeb sometimes running from work, to a friend's house, to an out of town get together, back to work, back to his friend's house, (this seriously happens) and I wonder how he does it. How does he not go insane with all the social interaction? Quiet time it something I need and when I don't get it, I feel stressed out, tired and cranky.

Thing 9:
Money
I'm thankful I usually have the money I need to do the things I want to do. I'm a saver and a thrifter so I never spend ridiculous amounts of money on ridiculous things. Most of our home is furnished from garage sales, thrift stores, hand me downs and the side of the road (true story). Thankfully, other people are wasteful so I can be thrifty and use my money to take vacations, or go to a nice dinner, and not buy a brand new couch (although we really need a new couch).


Thing 10:
My Family
Of course, Zeb and Peanut are pretty top notch.
Also, I am very happy that I have become closer to my extended family in the last few years. I have two great cousins that are ridiculously generous with their time and love.
Zeb's mom, Barb, is also a very kind heart, just like her son. She does the best job of making me feel like part of the family.



What are you thankful for?

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

My Night With Paul Simon.


Oh wow. We went to see Paul Simon last night at the Midland Theater and it was more than amazing.

The back story: Zeb came home one day to tell me that tickets for this show were going on sale the following Friday at 10am. So at 9:50am I was parked in front of the computer ready to get the best seats I could. Unfortunately, the seats were selling quick and I wasn't quick enough so we kept ending up with worse and worse seats. At that point I decided I didn't want to go if I had to sit in the back. I may have cried.

(I have a thing with concerts, if I'm not close enough to see some facial expression, I don't want to be there. I have a hard time seeing shows at the Sprint Center for this reason. If I'm going to watch the projection screen of you at the concert where you're performing, I would rather go home and put on the album and listen to your music. It's all the same to me.)

So....the dream of seeing Paul Simon wasn't panning out as I had hoped. Zeb (the calm one) thought we might have better luck calling Ticketmaster, and sure enough, we secured seats 15 rows back. Awesome seats. Amazing seats.

The show was so good.. Paul Simon was the cutest dancing man you've ever seen. His voice was beautiful and he and his band performed for two and a half hours. (He's 70!)

He played a lot of classic Paul Simon-"Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes"

some songs off his new album- "The Afterlife"

a couple of Simon and Garfunkel songs- "The Sound of Silence"

and some covers- "Here Comes the Sun"

It was the best night ever.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Simple Sunday, five


This week I made a page about our Halloween.

I used this week's sketch from Elle's Studio. With that guide, this page came together quickly.

I love the story of this night.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Sometimes I wish...

Sometimes I wish I worked in lawn care.

This past spring (every spring actually) I think about making fliers to pass out around my neighborhood offering my services as a lawn mower, similar to the ways of a 15 year old boy.  I like to mow the lawn that much. I like to edge too. 

Today, I spent the morning raking leaves in the front yard and that yard looks spotless.

Perhaps these things bring me so much joy because my hard work is apparent. Tall grass mowed to short grass, leaves raked away...evidence of my hard work. 




Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Halloween 2011

At about 5:00pm yesterday, I walked over to my neighbor's house because they had some scary music playing and it looked like they were setting up for trick or treaters. After a little bit of talking and a very slight guarantee that I would get trick or treaters, I decided to get involved in the holiday. I went to the store and picked up two bags of candy and then came home to get the porch ready.
We didn't get any pumpkins this year so I got out a lot of tea lights for the front porch. I turned Pandora to a scary Halloween station and got some costumes gathered together.

I decided on a Luchador mask and Zeb went as a crazy person: crazy black wig, dark circles under the eyes, and a long robe.
We thought trick or treaters were supposed to be coming by at 6:00pm, but I don't think we got our first one until 7:00pm. So in that hour we had a lot of fun practicing how we were going to scare kids: lot's of moaning and running around. Kids or not, we were entertaining ourselves for sure.

When the kids started showing up, we had a lot of fun seeing the costumes and giving out candy. I only scared some of them because I didn't want their parents to get mad at me....also, some of them weren't scared of this little person in a Luchador mask running at them....?


We had so much fun all night and are convinced to participate year after year.


Zeb summed it up best on Facebook:



"I am truly amazed at how much Cheryl has gotten into Halloween in the last half hour."




It's funny 'cause it's true.