Friday, December 02, 2005

OMG!

A Harry Potter iPod with all the audiobooks!

Rachel

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

I couldn't resist it! I've been checking the Digi Chick boutique almost daily to see when Mindy Terasawa's "sweeties" would be back in stock....and yesterday, they were!

I've sent off my form, and should hopefully see my custom sweetie back to me within a week or so, but since we've got a holiday tomorrow, it could go longer.

In the meantime, I also picked up this adorable calendar kit by Christy Lyle:



You can get it here: Digi Chick Boutique, Christy Lyle 2006 Calendar Kit

Tomorrow, it's off to do the "two dinner" drive around town. Sigh. Get up, pack up everything, drive from home to my parents' house, stay until 2 p.m., drive to his parents' house, arrive at 3 p.m., stay until 6 p.m., drive 90 minutes back home. Ugh. We made sure to fill up the tank on our way home today, didn't want to be caught without enough gas to go everywhere on a day when few gas stations are likely to be open.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

I took part of a class from Karen Russell yesterday. I say part because I had assumed (wrongly) that the class would end by 12:30 p.m. (it started at 10:30 a.m.), but when she arrived, she said it would take 3.5 hours and end at 2 p.m.! Wow! Unfortunately, my husband and I were meeting a friend from Seattle at the Saturday Market at 1:30 p.m.......

I didn't even get the first project done in class - but I will finish it so I can post it here. It uses foam core, which is why the first project takes so long.

Continuing with my theme of getting "famous" scrapbookers posing with their book, I now have a picture of Karen with her book Totally Transparencies.

Friday, November 11, 2005

WOOHOO!

I'm officially "in print" and published. I just got my copy of the fall issue of Digital Scrapbooking magazine, and there I am, on page 15 (the Digital Debut section). I'm so excited, I took the magazine to work and bragged on it to everyone, even those who have no idea I scrapbook (much less digitally). Poor folks!

I'm looking forward to the day I can actually post the layout, so folks other than subscribers can see it. :)

Rachel

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Gotta pass on this quiz link! I'll update for real later this evening!

hyphen
You scored 46% Sociability and 41% Sophistication!
You are comfortable around others. While you don't have to go out every night, yet you take pride in being easy to get along with. This should not, however, be misconstrued as believing (as many do) that you are without subtlety. In fact, you have the power to inform the anal retentive that, indeed, they are discussing an anal-retentive issue. Who else can do that? Quotation marks intimidate you a little bit.



The Which Punctuation Mark Are You Test

http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=9611125433033087547

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Thanks to TaniaJPS for this cute little quiz!

Your 80s Heartthrob Is

Bill Gates
Warning! Soapbox rant ahead - non scrapbooking related!

*You have been warned!*

My husband has been searching for a permanent job that has good benefits, the pay level he wants (or at least somewhere close), and a good location. He's been interviewing lately, and yesterday just takes the cake. He scheduled an interview with a local company for 4 p.m., so that he didn't have to miss a lot of work. He arrived at the interview with time to spare (15 minutes).

- The 2 interviewers were 5 minutes late.
- The interviewers had not even read or glanced at his resume before the interview.
- The interviewers did not ask him technical questions (he's a geeky programmer type guy).
- The interviewers sat stone faced through the entire interview, did not crack a smile or show any emotion.

Guess what? He got a call this morning from the employment agency which got him the interview, and they decided not to "continue" looking at him. Argh! In my opinion, this company had already decided on their candidate before my husband even interviewed, and were going through the motions to make sure they fulfilled some requirement HR or the company has to have a minimum amount of candidates to choose from. ARGH! *mutter*mutter*grumble*grumble*

Enough to make him want to go out on his own again and form his own company, but that's not happening unless I get a permanent job with benefits - and his career field has more opportunities for permanent positions than mine does right now.

Sigh.

Soapbox off.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Yummy!

Digi Chick just posted some new kits on Thursday, and I picked up three! I love the colors, they will work so well with the pictures I tend to take.


Punkin Pie by Manda Bean






Deserted Island by Christy Lyle


In Honor of Women by the Digi Chick Team

Can't wait to do some layouts with these. I still haven't really scrapped my Race for the Cure photos, so the In Honor of Women will work nicely with those.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

I weighed in yesterday.

I lost .5 lb! While that may seem incredibly small, at least it is a loss and not a gain. 1 more lb and I'll be in "Onederland" --- under the 200 mark!

So my stats:

Starting weight: 204 lbs
Current weight: 200.5 lbs
Goal weight: 150 lbs

I met with a personal trainer on Tuesday at the gym. Yes, I *am* still sore, just a little bit. She showed me several machines, got a baseline read on the level, speed, and time. Today I do the routine again, without the trainer. Pretty much, my schedule will be: Mon/Wed/Fri = Cardio only and Tues/Thurs = Cardio and Weights. The cardio is more important to me at this point, but I need the weights to start some toning. Eventually, I'll get up the nerve to do a spinning or step aerobics class. I need to actually buy some decent gym shorts for that though - all I have are heavy sweatpants.

I did a layout last night, but I promptly submitted it to Scrapbook Trends for their Pampered Pets call (due 10/14/05), so you'll just have to wait to see it. I can tell you this much though...I used Mindy's "Autumn Glory" kit again - it works so well with pictures of the cats. :)

Monday, October 10, 2005

SMILE!

Tag, you're it!


Sunday, October 09, 2005

I've been inspired by some scraplifting challenges this weekend.

Here's a couple more layouts:


I used one of the kits I purchased from Digi Chick, Mindy Terasawa's "Autumn Glory." Based on KimMauch's "Garden Art" layout.


For this one, I used Holly McCaig's "Sand and Surf" kit from the Digi Chick. Based on "Relax" from monicaintexas on 2peas.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

OOH, I couldn't resist!

We finally both got paid, so it was time to pick up some new digital kits. Splurge! 3 kits later! :D


Manda Bean's kit: Galilee



Mindy Terasawa's "Autumn Glory" kit




Sara Carling's "Pure Vanilla" kit


I was promptly inspired by Sara's kit and a 2Peas Pubster Inspiration Challenge to do this:




You can leave praise here: Four Loves
And see the original here: Four Faces

Thursday, October 06, 2005

I've been checking out Halloween kits lately, just waiting until we had a little extra cash.

I think I've found the two (or is that three) kits I want to get:


Ghoulish Delight is available here, at HeatherAnn Designs.


Available here, at The Digi Chick!


Available here (FOR FREE UNTIL NOV 1), Design By Dani!

Sunday, October 02, 2005

It's been a long day!

Slept in until 8 a.m....that was nice. Puttered around, and eventually left to head towards Portland. Went to the Hanna Andersson and Columbia Sportswear outlets in Lake Oswego, then headed for a meeting in Milwaukie. Ugh! Mapquest led us astray, and although we ended up arriving to our meeting on time, we were really frazzled and had managed to thoroughly tick each other off by the time we got there. I make a better navigator, my husband thinks he's a better driver, but yet I was behind the wheel....you can see where this is headed, right?

After the meeting, we headed straight for dinner (at 4 p.m.) because we had missed lunch along the way.

But, tomorrow's another day, we've forgiven each other, and now we're at home plinking around on the computers.

Speaking of computers, I did another very quickie layout last night. I think I might redo it in a 8.5x11 size though....

Saturday, October 01, 2005


I was inspired by an "Ad Inspiration" challenge on 2Peas, so I took some of today's photos and created a layout.

It's called "After the Rain" and is from pictures taken today after the big storm moved through.
OUCH!

After some serious discussion about finances and health issues, my husband and I have decided to join an athletic club. No, we didn't pick a Bally's or a 24 Hour Fitness club. To us, those are intimidating....too many hardbodies, not enough regular people. As someone who is "plus-size," I want to see that there are "regular" folk working out, not just the people who are already in shape and trying to stay that way. We found a nice place, it even has an indoor track to walk around - 12 laps equal 1 mile. :)

So, back to the ouch part.

Yesterday, we decided that once we signed the papers, we'd do a brief workout. We didn't want to do too much, as part of the incentive for signing includes 2 sessions (for both of us) with a personal trainer. We both did some laps around the indoor track, but then split apart to check out the machines. I did about 10 minutes on the bicycle, which also had "ski pole" like arms you could move back and forth while cycling. I did another 6 minutes on the elliptical trainer. Here's where the ouch comes in! About 20 minutes after I was done with the elliptical, my butt muscles started to hurt. And by the time we got home, yep, those arm muscles were starting to make their presence known.

I am so out of shape.

I am determined though. I know that exercise is the key to my weight loss. We plan on going every day after work, on the way home. It will take us out of the rush hour traffic, but it will also mean getting home later than usual. But that's a small price to pay to get us in shape.

Monday, September 26, 2005

It's been a few days since I last posted, and a lot of things have happened in the meantime.

First, I walked the Race for the Cure (3.1 miles) with my husband. We met up with a friend of the woman I was walking in celebration of, and had a good chat while walking with the hordes. Hordes, you say? What else do you call 45,000 people? :)

Second, I did not place in the top 50 for Memory Makers Masters. While this is disappointing, I have moved on and am thinking about finishing my entry for the Basic Grey Be Bold contest and starting on an entry for the Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame contest. Just a year ago, I wouldn't have even thought about entering, but I have decided that contests encourage me to do my best work.

And last, but not least, my paternal grandmother passed away in Virginia. Unfortunately, since I live 3000 miles away, I could not attend the memorial service (yesterday) or the funeral/graveside service (today). I sent email cards to my relatives on that side and a lovely floral basket.

This past weekend, I pretty much took it easy. I slept a lot, got a bit of scrapping done, and just in general relaxed.

Now for today's news!

I lost a .5 lb! Since I didn't post last Monday (my weigh-in day), you don't know that I had gained back a .5 lb from the week before. So, I'm back to where I was 2 weeks ago, but a loss is better than a gain any day.

Here's my current stats:

Starting Weight: 204 lbs
Current Weight: 202 lbs
Goal Weight: 150 lbs


Saturday, September 17, 2005

Bad blogger! No biscuit....

So, here I am, 5 days later.....

The stress of waiting for the results from Memory Makers Masters (MMM) is getting to me. I told DH he's got to get those pop tarts he bought out of the house (he picked up the "big" box at Costco), or I'm going to eat them all. 4 points per Pop Tart! Yikes! Thankfully, there's no Haagen Dazs bars in the freezer..... :)

Tomorrow we are doing the 5K walk in the Race for the Cure. You can support me here, if you are so inclined:

Support me in the Race for the Cure

However, I do understand if don't support me...it's kind of hard to fork out money for breast cancer when folks need assistance so much from Hurricane Katrina.

Monday, September 12, 2005

Good news!

I stepped on the scale this morning for my weekly WI. I lost 2 lbs! WOOHOO!

Stats:

Starting weight: 204 lbs
Current weight: 202 lbs
Goal weight: 150 lbs

Work is going well. It is helping me keep my mind off the fact that MMM contest results should be coming in anytime now after the 15th and by the 23rd. I sure hope it's earlier rather than later, but at least I have something to distract me.

I started walking on my breaks today. 10 minutes each 15 minute break, eventually I'll work up to the entire 15 minutes.

Sunday is the 2005 Portland Race for the Cure. Both of us will be walking with the local radio station team. You can help me support me here: Race for the Cure fundraising page

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Wow!

It has been a busy weekend!

Friday night, I went scrapbooking with some friends at the local scrapbooking store for a crop. I did almost nothing, except stamp some pages. Pages I still need to scan so I can upload them to the Scrapbook Jungle for the design team pages created with SEI papers. Sigh. Tomorrow I'll scan and upload.

Saturday, we went to the airshow with a friend of ours from out of town. We had a good time, but due to the cloudy weather (and imminent rain threatening all the time), the Thunderbirds had to tone down their show a bit. Still got some really good pictures though, using my 70-300 zoom lens.


Sunday, we went to a barbecue and microbrew festival. Kinda smaller than we expected, but it was fun to just sit and chat and have a good time people watching.

I'm hoping my WI tomorrow is good. I've been really good with points, and even managed to do fairly well out of the house on both weekend days.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

I survived the potluck today. Definitely back in the groove.

Work is going well, they are keeping me busy.

Hopefully, less than two weeks to MMM results. I don't feel like I have much hope to be in the top 50, but you never know.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

I think I'm getting into the "groove" of WW again! :D

By the end of my work day today, I only had 10 points left for dinner, and we were headed to Subway at the truck stop on the way to the State Fair to pick up my entries. Lo and behold, the Subway/Taco Bell was under construction. Our choice? A restaurant across the parking lot.

Confronted with the menu, I actually chose a Boca burger with fries. I didn't eat all the fries, and could not finish the Boca burger either. I'm pretty sure I used up those 10 points though, but at least I didn't go over, or make a bad choice from the menu.

I had a great day at work! It was so good to be back among people who are happy to see you every day.

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Still on plan for the day! I haven't had dinner yet, but definitely have enough points for it.

Now if I could just get the exercise.....maybe I'll make my husband go for a walk with me tonight. :D

Tomorrow I start my new job contract, so it will be full of food temptations. I must resist.

Monday, September 05, 2005

I stayed "on plan" today. Only one point over my daily points, and that is covered by flex points.

Unfortunately, weighing in prompted it.

My stats:

Start Weight: 204 lbs
Current Weight: 204 lbs (no change this week)
Goal Weight: 150 lbs

In better news, I start my new job contract on Wednesday. 2 months off was nice, especially after 18 months of no time off (except for conferences). But I'm ready to be around people on a daily basis other than my husband (love you honey) and cats. :) Especially since we only have one vehicle and work is 45 minutes away, so it leaves me stranded at home with a bicycle for transportation.

I've been checking out digital scrapbooking websites, and have ended up "staying" at the following places:

Digi Chick

ScrapArtist

RAKScraps

You'll find me there as "rh_scrapbooker".....

Sunday, September 04, 2005



Well, we went to Mount St Helens yesterday, so I tried to keep on track as much as possible.

Here's a pic or two....the top one is a close up of the crater, and the bottom one is the view from the Johnston Ridge Observatory.

Friday, September 02, 2005

Doing well today. Had pizza even, but stuck with cheese pizza, which is less points.

I still haven't exercised yet. I need a push, or better yet, a partner.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Okay. We did a bad thing today.

We didn't get breakfast. I went into town with my husband this morning, and dropped him off at work with no breakfast. I picked him up at 10 a.m. for "lunch," and we ended up at a Carrow's restaurant (like Denny's) because most restaurants don't open up until 11 a.m.

I ended up with a "great start" breakfast: oatmeal, fresh fruit, and toast. I requested the toast dry and put some jelly on it to keep the points down. I didn't eat all of the oatmeal and I ate enough to qualify as one slice of cantaloupe. After that, I dropped him back off at work and had a coffee drink worth 3 points at Coffee People.

Then I let the American Red Cross have some of my blood.

By the time I picked him back up from work, we were starving.

Don't get off the feeding schedule, it leads to bad food choices because it's quick. I think I managed to stay within points or just barely go over, but I could have done a lot better if we had planned ahead and eaten something before leaving the house.

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

*PROD*PUSH*

My good friend sent me a polite reminder that it was time to update!

I wasn't too good at counting points yesterday, but I'm doing really well today! I've already had dinner, and I still have 2 points left for dessert a little later, which will probably be the Snack Oreos (the 100 calorie pack). I love those things!

Good news! My new contract job starts Wednesday, September 7. That will make it A LOT easier to keep track of points. I'll have to make and bring my lunches - lunch is my danger zone - so I can keep track and plan in advance.

My biggest problem coming up is my husband's family get together for Labor Day on Sunday. I'm hoping to keep it pretty low-key, but they always have lots of food at these gatherings. My husband has noticed that I'm a "social" eater too, so I have to watch that. I'll also bring along my own Diet Dr Pepper, so I can save points for other things.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Well, here I am. All 204 lbs of me. *OUCH* It hurts to say that: 204 lbs.

2 years after I successfully lost weight on Weight Watchers, I'm almost back at the weight I started WW at in February 2002. Sigh. I can't believe it. I know what happened though.

- I didn't exercise after I left my job in May 2003. My walking routine of twice daily for 2o minutes each time went away.

- I stopped counting points on a regular basis.

- I allowed maintaining my weight to slip to the bottom of my list of priorities.

I can come up with a bunch of excuses (selling the house, eating out of vending machines, etc) but that is all they are: EXCUSES. There is no excuse for not doing the right thing.

So here are my stats today:

Starting weight: 204 lbs
Current weight: 204 lbs
Goal weight: 150 lbs
Shirt size: XXL
Pants size: 18 Women's Petite

Here goes!

I'm going to pull out the Walk Away the Pounds DVDs and start with the 1 mile.

I'll report on my points and my exercise later this evening.