Finishing Last is Still Finishing

This weekend we went to Gruene, Texas to walk the Gruene 10K.  I love Gruene, it is a beautiful town in the hill country and we had a great weekend.  It was a very thoughtful weekend and one that encouraged me to make great commitments to myself.

We rolled into Gruene Friday afternoon.  My friends Kasey and Roberta were also signed up for the race.  They were running since they are in better shape.  It turns out that Daniel and I were two of only four people walking the race.  So it should not shock you that we finished at the end of the heap, which is okay...my goal was to finish.  Next year my goal will be to finish in a shorter time than I finished this year.  I think those are good goals.  To give you an idea of how many people finished ahead of me...

The race was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be which really made me think about how much I need to commit to getting back in shape.  I can do this.  The hill country is hilly!!!  Hmmm...I wonder...

Another thing that made me think...a lot...was the mirror in my hotel room.  It was positioned so that from my side of the bed I could see myself.  So when I was sitting watching TV or lying down to go to sleep I could see myself.  I could not hide from my reflection.  It is easy to picture yourself how others see you when the true image isn't staring you in the face.  My picture was a lot cuter than that reflection.  I was objective...I did look at myself and thought I was pretty, but I definitely saw room for improvement, and I could feel it too! 

This morning I signed back up for Weight Watchers online.  I have used it and been very successful with it before.  I like the ability to track my food intake and workouts and have a progress chart of my weight and goals.

I did some great soul searching this weekend.  And it was a beautiful place to do it.

I loved the barrel planters.  They were everywhere!

The weather the morning of the 10K was nice and cool.  I loved it.  The woman who sang the national anthem had a beautiful voice.

This old dude with attitude was awesome.  He was part of a running group and a lot of them placed in their categories. 

They do have attitude!

We were teasing Daniel for trying to get a great shot of us in front of the Gruene water tower.  He's such a cutie.



We had dinner Saturday night at a wonderful restaurant called Gruene River Grill.  It was delicious.  I had a grilled chicken sandwich and we could tell they make all their own bread...nice. On the way out I stopped in the rest room.  I was so happy to see this on the door, since I didn't have my graffiti pen with me.

I hope you had a wonderful enlightening weekend as well! 

Thoughtful Wednesday

Too bad I was not being thoughtful tomorrow morning...Thoughtful Thursday would have been a much more catchy title.  Oh, well...I suppose I cannot help when I am thoughtful.

Last night my husband and I were out so we stopped for dinner.  I was faced with the menu and it had many healthy choices.  I did not make a healthy choice and then I was bummed out.  It is interesting that I know what I should do, what I need to do and then I make an opposite choice.  Why is it so hard?  I can say I didn't over eat, I didn't stuff myself until I felt terrible, but I did choose a much higher calorie option that other options I was given.  Later that evening I saw a quote on Twitter.

"Motivation is what gets you started.  Habit is what keeps you going."

Wow.  So true.  I worked out yesterday, which was awesome and I made good food choices at all my other meals except for dinner.  I am eating like a person who is maintaining a healthy weight and not one trying to loose weight.  It is a hard balance to keep.  I am trying to change the way I live and how I make my food choices and in a lot of ways I am succeeding, but during this time where I am trying to loose weight I need to make those good choices at every meal, not just some meals.

"A year from now you may wish you had started today."

Thank you Twitter and @GreatestQuotes for motivating me and making me think.  I needed some good inspiration to get my mind moving.  I am making good habits, for the past 4 years or so working out has become a regular part of my life.  For that I am super grateful.  It is something I do whether I want to or not because I know it makes me feel good.  Now to just get all the other habits to fall into place too.

And now for the moment you have been waiting for!  The pen color of the day is red!  Yesterday was lime green.

Joining my fabulous pen vase are two wildly fantastic pencils (get it?).  I am so funny.

I cleaned out a drawer at home and they were just waiting to be discovered.  They are fun.

I hope everyone's short week is going well!

Set Backs Make Us Stronger

(source)

At least I hope they do.  I got the scale to move, but it moved in the wrong direction.  Oops.  On the plus side, I got lots of rest this weekend.  It was a fabulous long weekend, I just should have moved more.  I will be correcting that this week and hopefully I can get the scale going in the correct direction.  Nothing is fitting tighter, so that is the upside of the scale news this morning.

In other news the Gruene 10K is this coming Saturday and I am excited.  My hubby Daniel will be walking it with me.  My awesome friends Kasey and Roberta will be running it.  We will be spending Saturday afternoon at Gruene Hall enjoying music and a few ice cold beers (of course).  One of the best parts of all this is that instead of a 4 day work week this week, I have a 3 day work week!  YAY!  We will be leaving for Gruene on Friday so I took that day off.  Daniel only works until 11:30 AM on Fridays anyway, so he didn't take the morning off we will be headed to Gruene as soon as he gets home.  I am looking forward to a weekend away and a nice long walk. 

I hope the weather we enjoyed this weekend continues, but some rain this week would be excellent.  The wild fires burning in Texas are devastating and we could definitely use some moisture.  I've been thinking about everyone effected.  My thoughts and prayers are with those in harms way and with those fighting the fires.  God Bless Texas!

Duh Moment

I had what I wish I could call an ah ha moment this morning, but it was really more of a duh moment.  I hope I am not alone in my duh moment, but if I am I guess I am okay with that.  Anyone else burn their fingers on the little metal thing that holds your curling iron up off the counter?  And when you go to use the iron you have to fold the metal thing down and owie?

Future Burned Fingers

Well...if you don't let the metal stand touch the iron it doesn't get hot.  DUH!  I consider myself to be a fairly smart gal...but sometimes I am not so bright.

No Pain...WOW!

Speaking of not being so bright...I had pizza for dinner last night.  Certainly not my wisest choice, but I mentioned yesterday I was having a very average food week.  It wasn't bad that I chose to have pizza, I could have easily had one or two small pieces and a big salad, instead of eating 800 pieces of pizza like someone was going to take it away from me and not having any veggies at all.  I am not going to waste time beating myself up over it.  I will just move on...the gym bag is packed and ready for a lunch time workout.  Chin(s) up.

The pen color today is pink!  This is in honor of my friend Carol who FBed me after one of my first pen posts about how fun bright colored pens are.  Well, she FBed me again last night to tell me that she found some pink pens at home and she was taking then to work with her.  Yay for bright colored pens!  Enjoy your meetings today, Carol!

Happy Friday everyone!!  Have a fabulous long weekend!!

Crazy Week and Packages!

This week has been so crazy and it is still only Thursday.  I suppose I should be thankful that tomorrow is Friday (and I am), but this has been a long week!  This morning Rebecca had to be at work early, so I slept in.  I am considering sleeping in tomorrow for good measure...wouldn't want to upset the balance of no morning workout this week.  :)  I will be in the gym at lunch to get my calorie burn on.  Yay!  I need it! 

My food choices have been better, life change is working, but I am still (avert your eyes from TMI) premenstrual this week and I have had the munchies.  I told a friend that any carb that was standing still I wanted to eat!  LOL!  So last night I had a rice bowl and some red wine.  Very balanced and healthy.  Hey...it wasn't a Big Mac, right?

Last night we had storm clouds roll in...something we haven't seen here in Houston in a long time.  It was complete with beautiful lightning and some thunder, but no rain.  Darn.  Daniel and I enjoyed the show and the breeze.

I also got two packages in the mail last night!  It was like Christmas! 

My order of candles arrived!  I ordered from Texas Triple Scented and these candles are awesome.  So fragrant.  This was my second time ordering from them.  I got a big vanilla jar candle for my kitchen bar.

And lots of votives for around the house in creamy vanilla and rose petal.

And a free jar candle in rose petal.

I love candles and these are awesome.  I usually burn the rose ones in my master bathroom and I can smell them all the way through my bedroom.  They are great.

My makeup order also arrived.  I got to play with new colors this morning...always a good time.

The office will be crazy busy today.  In preparation, I have chosen the pen color.

And in other office supply news, I am almost through with the pink level of my teeny tiny post it notes.

What's a girl to do?

Happy Thursday everyone!

Changes Are Good

I was so not myself yesterday!  I wasn't feeling very well, I went home in the afternoon and out slept whatever evil thing was trying to get me.  I feel better today.

Poor Rebecca, I missed our walk yesterday and this morning.  This morning just the thought of the humidity made me sick, so I decided to skip it and do yoga.  My yoga turned out to be shavasana in my bed.  What?  That's exercise, some people say that is the hardest yoga pose there is.  I will be on the elliptical at lunch today, so at least there will be a calorie burn...yesterday there was none.

Despite my bumpy start to the week I do feel like I am implementing good changes in my habbits.  Last night Daniel and I were too lazy to cook, so we ordered sandwiches to be delivered.  Ever tried Jimmy John's?  Delicious and they deliver.  What could be better?  Anyway, in the past I would have ordered the Italian with extras and chips.  Last night I went for the turkey.  It was very good and much lighter.  Yay.

Since I did not blog yesterday and Monday I didn't share the pen color, I will not hold out on you any longer...I know you lost sleep wondering about it.  Monday was purple.  Yesterday and today it's lime green!  I was only in the office a half day yesterday, so I figured lime green needed a little more time.


Always a happy color.

In addition to the changes I am making for my health, I am also making fun changes in my house!  I have been re-styling (I learned that word from HGTV :) ) some of my favorite spaces in my home.  Check it out.  I got a new canister on sale at Willow House and thought I'd use it to brighten the top of my armoire.  I had the yellow vase hidden behind a large picture frame that has moved to the shelves in the dining area and I added a candle holder that I moved from the bedroom.

Happy armoire with favorite wedding picture and the nieces.  :)

The candle holders that moved from the bedroom and got separated around the house were replaced with this cool bird house...also from Willow House.

:)

The shelves in my dining room were so boring...I love them now!!

I had a few bowls and a basket that I had picked up on sale.  They were in the side board in the dining room waiting for a home and they have found one.  I love our new coffee table!

Changes all around!  Health, decorating...fun!  I hope the rest of the week is smoother than the beginning.

Happy Wednesday!