T.V. Update

My husband reminded me the other day that my blog is actually about our lives without television. He seems to think that my posts really haven't been about that. Hmmm...I gently, okay bluntly, reminded him that it's my blog and I can blog about whatever I want. But it did get me thinking that I should probably update on what our lives have been like since giving up the T.V. three months ago. I find myself making dinner more often. We also sit down to dinner and look at each other and open our mouths and converse. I know it's weird. We used to just eat our dinner in front of the T.V. and never really talked to each other. We read more. We went out and got library cards and actually check books out. Although sometimes I have a hard time returning books in a timely manner. We also find that we hang out more with friends or do more things at church. After the first couple of weeks it just kind of seemed like we had always lived this way.

There are times when I feel a little bit out of the loop on things, but that's not neccesarily a bad thing. I totally missed out on the 24/7 coverage of Tiger Woods. It was a few days into the whole ordeal before I knew what was going on. Then becuase I wasn't reminded of it every minute of the day I forgot about it. I figure if something happens that I need to know about someone will be talking about it and I can make the choice as to whether or not I want to look it up on the internet. I do scan the headlines every couple of days to make sure that I don't miss anything important. I've also felt sheltered from all things political. For those of you who know me real well know that I am kind of a political junkie. But it's kind of been nice not having propoganda being spewed at me left and right. Sometimes I get: "Hey have you seen...? Oh wait no you haven't, you don't have a T.V., nevermind." It's kind of funny. My co-workers still don't understand how we could possibly live without television. Well we are still breathing, we have survived this far.

There are three positive things that I've noticed since giving up the television, there are actually many more but I think these are the most important. One thing is that I have time to concentrate on living more healthy. I can spend time researching exercise equipment, food and just living a more healthy lifestyle. Another positive is my husband and I communicate significanlty more. We did communicate before when we had a T.V. but no where near the level that we are now. We talk to each other during dinner and afterwards. Sometimes we just sit down and talk. We never seem to run out of things to say. Our improved communication has also lead us to a more fufilling spiritual life, which is the third positive. We find that our topics of disscussion revolve around God. We talk about the bible, or we talk about what we are studying in our bible study groups. I feel that since we have given up the T.V. we have drawn closer to God, and I think because of that it was more than worth it to give up the television.

A Bit of Randomness

I realized this morning that it has been awhile since I have posted. I have actually been working on a post in my head, but it is not quite finished. Of course by the time I actually go to write it I won't remember anything that I was going to say. In the meantime here is a bunch on random things that have been going on.

Weight loss

This has been on my mind lately and I have been diligently keeping track of what I eat and making more of effort to exercise. This morning I had a very strange thought as I was getting ready for work. Usually in the mornings I am not thinking about a lot of things so this really surprised me when I thought it: "I can't wait to get home tonight so I can work out." What? Where did that thought come from? I was so surprised by it. I have been going through a boot camp dvd and I am ready to go onto the next level, obviously it is kind of fun otherwise I wouldn't be looking forward to it. I have never looked forward to exercise. I'm not sure what is wrong with me. It could be that I have been praying diligently that the Lord would give me motivation and the will power to exercise more and eat the right foods. Hmmm... seems to be working.

Speaking of weight loss, last night I lamented to my husband that I have a muffin top, to which he replied: "I like muffins, I also like muffin tops too, they are just as good as the rest of the muffins." My husband really makes me laugh. I'm sure that it's not as funny when you are reading as it was at that moment, but just take away from this little story that I really appreciate my husband and that I like the fact that he makes me laugh.

Savvy Blogging

I received an e-mail last week letting me know that I was invited to the Savvy Blogging Summit in July in my beautiful native state of Colorado. This particular summit is limited to 60 people and you had to submit an application. They did not, however, check out your blog, which is a good thing because I don't think I would've been accepted. They accepted me based on my answers to the questions. They were your typical application questions. Still not sure why I was accepted, but I am happy to be going. I'm excited to learn more about the blogging world. I told my husband that they probably only had 40 people apply so by default they had to accept me. He told me it didn't matter they still invited me, they didn't have to. I think my husband is a keeper. I guess I'll let him stick around for another 5 years.
By the way, does anyone out there know of anyone attending this event? The hotel rooms are a bit on the expensive side and it would be nice to find someone to share a hotel room with. If you know of someone please let me know.

Later this week I will be posting what I have been composing in my head, that's if I can remember it.

That's it for the randomness, at least for the time being.

New Goal

I woke up January 9, 2007, looked at myself in the mirror, looked at the clothes in my closet and thought to myself: "I need to lose weight." I seriously had no idea on how to go about doing that. Of course I knew that I needed to exercise more, who doesn't know that? But I had never counted a calorie a day in my life. So I did what I normally do when I become more interested in something...I research. And boy did I research. There is a ton of information out there. I first started off on ediets.com. I paid for a three month membership and was able to start a foundation for my weight loss. After my three month membership was up I thought that I could research some more and come up with my own meal and exercise plans on my own for free. By August of 2008 I had lost more than 50 pounds. Before you congratulate me and say: "Way to go!" I must admit to you with some embarrassment that I've gained 15pounds back. Now you may not think that is a whole lot, but if you've just spent almost 3 years of your life working hard to lose and maintain that lose it's kind of a bummer. I know that I am not anywhere near where I used to be. I am still active and I still eat fairly healthy, but I know I could be more active and eat even better (read: Now that Easter is over I have to stop eating Cadbury Creme Eggs mmm....). There are two weddings coming up in my family in which I am apart of. One is in September and the other is in November. I already know what we attendants will be wearing for the November wedding, let me tell you my arms need a workout in order to look fabulous in that dress. When I originally started losing my weight I decided that I should lose between 70 - 80 pounds. So minus the 50 pounds lost add the 15 pounds gained that puts me at 35 - 45 pounds I need to lose (GULP) before September. Okay I know it's probably not realistic to lose that much weight before then, so I guess 20is pounds before September...maybe...? The reason why I am sharing this with all of you is because it will help me be more accountable. Maybe if I have everyone asking me about it I'll not want to let you down and actually do it. And maybe I'll use that gym membership that I pay for every month but haven't stepped foot in in over a year. I know, not very frugal of me. Also helping me stay accountable I've enlisted my cousin Ashley, who is also on a weight loss journey of her own, to be my accountability partner. I have also turned to sparkpeople.com to help me with keeping track of what I eat. It's a lot easier just to prepare and eat what's on a list then have to keep a running tally of calories in my head; I tend to "forget" some calories that I've eaten. So that is my new goal. By the way I want to say congratulations to my brother-in-law Sean on his upcoming wedding (September) and congratulations to my sister-in-lay Heather on her upcoming wedding (November). I'm so excited for you both!

Only 6 More Months

This is the time of year when everyone is getting outside and enjoying warmer weather, green grass and sunshine. I, however, have to watch everyone from the window of my home because this is the time of year when I cannot go outside. Usually I have to avoid going outside the entire month of April and the beginning of May, and even in the summer I have to limit my time outdoors especially if it's windy out. Why? You may ask. Well I suffer from severe allergies and I mean severe. I seriously have to run from my front door of my house to my car while holding my breath so as not to breath in any tree pollen. If I don't do this I have a sneezing fit about 5 minutes later and almost hit ever unsuspecting motorist who happens to be in the near vicinity of my car. My very first spring in Iowa 12 years ago while I was in college was the most miserable spring in all my 19 years. I had never experienced such miserableness. I would have an allergy attack followed up by a sinus infection. I had about 5 sinus infections that spring alone. I was told that they would have to scrape my sinuses if I had another miserable spring like that one. Thankfully by the time the next spring rolled around I had some immunity built up and I only had 2 sinus infections. After I moved back to Colorado I vowed never to move back to the mid-west because I knew that I would have to endure springtime allergies. (Maybe I was being a little dramatic about vowing never to move back...) Wouldn't you know it, I moved back. This year is bad, I'm pretty sure that I already have a sinus infection and tree pollen just started flying last week. So while all of you are enjoying the sunshiny outdoors, frolicking around having picnics and playing in the park, I'm inside counting down the days until the October frost, which is approximately 190 days away. This is why I love winter.

Weekly Granola

Last year I started to think of ways I could save some money. One of the ways that I came up with was not purchasing shampoo and conditioner. I started out looking for coupons and signing up for free samples. I wanted to make it the whole year without spending any money on shampoo and conditioner. For Christmas I had gotten some really nice smelling shampoo and conditioner and I still had some left in the bottles I was currently using. With a little creativity I knew I could go the whole year without buying shampoo or conditioner. Last April I came across a coupon for $1 off shampoo at a local grocery store. I wanted to find some that smelled good and didn't leave my hair feeling all wierd and limp. I lucked out and found some V05 shampoo on sale for $0.97. I was paid $0.03 to take this shampoo home. From April to September I rotated between the shampoo I had gotten for Christmas and the V05 as well as samples I got in the mail. In September I came across an article about going poo-free. I must admit this piqued my interest. I was very curious on how one could not use shampoo and still have pretty, shiny, clean hair. I decided to give it a try, since this fit in with my challenge of not buying shampoo or conditioner. Now I have been poo-free for over 6 months and I really like it. My hair feels more clean and stays cleaner longer.

Here is how...

Did you know that you really shouldn't wash your hair everyday? Washing your hair everyday strips your hair of oils that help nourish and protect your hair and scalp. Up until September I had washed my hair everyday. If I went a day without washing my hair it would be really greasy. When I read up on being poo-free I realized that my hair was really greasy because it was overcompensating for the fact that I washed the oil out of my hair everyday; it was producing too much oil. I started out with the poo-free method and started going every other day without washing my hair. This is what I used to get my hair clean: baking soda and water for shampoo, apple cider vinegar and water for conditioner. That's it. I fill a squirt bottle with water and about 2 tablespoons of baking soda and shake it up. I filled a spray bottle halfway full of cider vinegar and filled the rest of it with water. Every other day to every three days I wash my hair with this. I wet my hair and then squirt on the baking soda, massage it in, wash it out. I then spray the cider vinegar on my hair, not a lot, just enough to be able to work it through my hair; then rinse. I know what you are thinking..."Doesn't her hair smell like vinegar?" No it does not, matter of fact it really doesn't smell like anything at all. It smells like hair.

You can find more info here

Busyness

Last Friday my boss gave me wonderful news! He told me I needed to be on a 3 hour conference call about new ways he would like to start marketing. Ugh! I did sit through all three hours listening to the presenter talk about different ways to grow the business and what practices he has implemented in his own office. After the call was over my boss asked me what I thought about the presenter and his ideas. My first impression? Busy. I told my boss that this guy must not have a home life whatsoever because he was always on the go. The rest of the day I thought about how busy our lives are. For some reason us Americans have to be doing something all the time. It seems that if you want to get ahead in your career you have to work amazingly long hours and always be available to whomever needs you at that exact moment. We cart our children to the numerous activities they must be enrolled in. Well not us because we don't have any of those miniature human things (a.k.a children). Why are we always busy? I cannot seem to answer this question or understand why we would want to fill every waking moment of our day with an activity that requires some form of work. I think we should work to live not live to work. Yes, we are put on this earth to work, we have to do some level of work, but our whole existence should not resolve around being busy and acquiring more things. When I get to the end of my life I really don't want to look back and think: "I was too busy." I want to look back on my life and remember the relationships I was able to build. The time I spent with family and friends. If I have to be busy in my life I want it to be in building relationships and in things that last an eternity, not in things that are fleeting and meaningless.