Missing: Kristen's Blog

So I have been struggling with finding balance in my time off from work- imagine that- I overinvest myself even in early retirement, so I have been taking a break to focus on my other blog on creativity and innovation and just spend time with Alex, which was always my intention for the summer. 

BUT- in the last week I have had three people say that they really miss my blog and feel like they can't keep up with what I am doing now.  So, the people have spoken, I am updating.  Shout out to Jennifer Landers, you were number three and the one who REALLY made me feel guilty about no updates.

Because I love a list- here is what has been going on this summer:

1. Alex had his surgery.  He is running around like a beast.  Swimming like a fish.  Being spoiled like a four-year-old who has his mommy home to spoil him all summer.

2.  We went to Florida for a week and a half.  Alex is still prone to being worn out, so we went to the beach a few days, but mostly just hung out at my parents house which was SO incredibly relaxing.

3. I have been cooking up a storm.  One of my goals has been to make two new recipes per week.  I made a Lemon Crumb Cake, Cajun Shrimp Alfredo, Mushroom Asiago Chicken, various cobblers, etc etc.  Apparently I actually like to cook, but never had the time.  Thanks to Mom and Dad for letting me experiment on you!

4. Working out and eating right.  Aside from all the shit mentioned above that I have been cooking, I also have been focused on being healthier.  Alex and I have walked three times per week the 4 mile round trip to Starbucks, I have been doing the Team Beachbody 21 Day Fix Workouts, and have joined Weight Watchers.  I have lost 12 pounds so far.  Rockstar.

5. I have signed up to be a Domestic Violence Healthcare Project volunteer.  I'm still in training, but when done, I will be assisting victims at CMC Main with documentation and support.  It's a fantastic program.  Let me know if you want more info Charlotteans.

6. Alex and I have spent a ton of time outside.  We have planted an herb garden, put down a ton of mulch, played, swam, walked, etc.  I have the best tan I have ever had.  I.e. My skin is still super white, but my freckles are darker.  Curse you Irish heritage.

7. I have been taking classes online.  I have done Thrive, an Oprah O-Course, Cracking the Creativity Code on Coursera, and Leadership and Emotional Intelligence, also on Coursera. 

8.  I have been keeping up with reading my 1,001 Books to Read Before you Die.  Two per month.  This month is Fanny Hill.  Totally 18th century porn.  Didn't even see that coming.

9. Alex has fallen totally in love with superheroes. I have spent most of my time moving superheroes from upstairs to downstairs, out to the car, back from the car, back up the stairs.  His favorites right now are Hulk and Captain America, HULK SMASH.

10. I launched a website and blog called Find Creative Space, which is all about finding time and inclination to be creative in a busy, corporate environment.  More to come on that!

Right now, I am getting the carpets cleaned.  Getting done all the things that it will be hard to get done once I am back to work.

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Summer Off Goals!

Since I am transitioning to a new job, I have the summer off.  Because I have never wanted to sit still my entire life, and because this may be the only summer that I have off to spend with Alex and work on Kristen things without having the stress of work in the back of my mind, I want to make sure that I don't let it just slip away.  So I have set some goals.  Of course.  Because I am just that way.

Here we go:

1.  Complete the P90 Program.  Get read to be on the trail to P90X3 by the time that I start my new job. 

2.  Healthy eating for 3 consecutive months.  No falling off the wagon for a week or to.  Establish healthy habits for the long term.

3. Take two classes on Coursera.

4. Wake up daily at 6 a.m.  Don't waste summer off by sleeping it away.  Except naps.  Naps are critical.

5. Finally finish the Couch to 5K program.  Run in a 5K every month.

6. Define my personal style. Purge and update closet to match definition.  Stop buying crap that doesn't look good on me because it is "in style."

7. Complete backyard projects- establish flower beds, creating seating area in the yard. 

8.  Clean out the attic and garage.  Purge house.  Start new job without a bunch of baggage.

9. Blog four time per week on either blog.  Make sure habits are established to maintain Creativity and Innovation blog.

10. Cook 2 new recipes per week.

I will keep you posted on progress!

April Catch Up

I have been total blog slacker during the month of April.  In fact, just in general a slacker, but no harm no foul.  I took the month off from most productive activities, like working out, setting goals, blogging, etc.  I have a few excuses- vacation, little man had surgery, last week at Daimler, etc etc.  But none of the excuses are all that great.  

I'm going to be kicking it off strong in May though- so my slacker April is soon to just be a memory :)

Here are some April highlights:

1. Went on vacation to Florida with little man.  Got ridiculously sunburned.  Had a great time.

2. Finished up my final week at Daimler.  Almost seven years of hard work gone in a day.  I still feel good about my decision to leave.  I can either define my life or let a job define my life.  I choose Option One.  

3. Accepted a new job.  Start in August.  My new employer has generously allowed me the summer off to help little man recuperate.  Excited for a fresh start.

4. April's intention word was "Creativity."  Launched a website that's purpose to to share information about finding space to be creative and innovative in our jobs when we are inundated with meetings, e-mails, etc.  More on that later.

5. Little man had his big back surgery.  We spent four days in the hospital.  He is getting through it like a CHAMP.

6. Read my two 1,001 books to read before you die.  The only goal I stayed on track for.  But still- got it done!

7.  Finished up Emotional Intelligence class on Coursera.  It was only OK.  I would just read the book.  

8. Celebrated my 32nd birthday.  Felt a little underwhelming.  I need to find out something to help me jazz up 32.  Maybe meeting my weight loss goals.

9.  Booked tickets to see Dave Matthews Band with my college girls.  Can't wait!

10. Actually put my hand-written address book into my computer and created a birthday list.  Trying to do better about remembering birthdays.  I suck at it. Dates are not my thing!

Anyway- more on my summer off goals later.  For now, I am sitting in my office with the windows open watching the birds while Alex takes a nap.  Oh, the joys of temporary unemployment.

March Update: Possibility

I had the goal this month to do 10 things I have never done before- all to capitalize on the idea of "Possibility", the intention for March.  Here is a rundown of my list.

1. Went to see Fleetwood Mac in concert.  Amazing concert. Great company.  

2. Went to a Barre3 class in Portland.  I am glad I tried it, but I am super unlikely to try it again!

3. Had my very first panel interview for a job.  Totally haven't done that before- went well, maybe more exciting news to follow!

4. Consistently have worked out and eaten clean.  I worked out 3 times per week minimum every week in March and have eaten BALANCED meals.  When I lost weight doing Weight Watchers in the past, I was eating low-cal, but I wasn't eating well.  Here's to actually eating the fruits and the veggies!

5. Went to Great Wolf Lodge.  I will never go again.  But I tried it!

6. Bought a car.  Yes, I am thirty-two and have never purchased a car. Long story.  I now have a shiny new Hyundai Tuscon.  YAY!

7. Participated in the Rear in Gear challenge with Keri Baker and Tamika Knox.  Great time with some great ladies!

8. Started a new business venture with Team Beachbody.  Hoping that being a coach will not only help me motivate others to meet their fitness goals, but will also help me stay motivated to meet my own!

9. Planted the seeds to fill a greenhouse with Alex.  Our garden beans are already sprouting.  Go us!  Plus- we got new plants from a nursery in Rock Hill we found.  Love that we were able to buy our plants locally.

10. Alex was finally old enough to attempt dying Easter eggs.  He was a professional!

I'm glad that I took the month off from the structured goal setting in order to focus on trying new things- but I almost didn't finish my two books I was supposed to read this month.  Ooops.  I focused at the end though and got it done.  

K

21 Day Fix Results

WARNING:  Includes before and after pictures in sports bra- if you don't want to see it, keep on movin'

So at the encouragement of my good friend Melissa, I started the 21 day fix exactly 20 days ago.  (I'm short a day because I am leaving on a trip this afternoon and wanted to weigh in prior to departure.)

Everyone says that successful weight loss is all about lifestyle change and this one really was a lifestyle change.  The entire premise of the "diet" is that you have color coded containers and you have to eat a certain amount of them each day.  So, for instance, I get four green containers of veggies, three purple containers of of fruits, four red containers of protein, two yellow containers of carbs, one blue container of cheese, one super tiny container of nuts, plus four teaspoons of oil or peanut butter.

And you have a 30 minute workout each day.

In a nutshell, the diet is a TON of food, but you have to plan it.  I wasn't hungry after the first day as I was adjusting to not walking around the house carrying a bag of tostitos.  But if you don't do some careful grocery shopping and planning, you run out of fruits and veggies pretty fast eating 7 cups a day.  And then who wants to go to the grocery store to buy more carrots when there are perfectly good poptarts sitting around.  Just saying.  For example.

The workout is only 30 minutes.  In fact, that is what you are telling yourself 30 seconds into the warmup when you already want to curl up and die.  They are intense.  Autumn Calabrese makes your 30 minutes count.  Good news- I wanted to die the first week, by the second, they were still challenging, I am still modifying on some moves, but they are doable.  I only made it through about 5 minutes of the first P90X, so it isn't quite as intense as that.  Good first step.

The Results.

The 21 day fix pissed me off every single day after day 4.  I lost like three pounds right away.  I am sure water weight.  And then my piece of shit scale didn't budge again for like two weeks.  So here I am eating more veggies than ever before in my life, and not losing any weight.  But I kept going.  

I knew it was doing something because I was sleeping great, my clothes started to fit right again, jeans I couldn't pull up two weeks before were now loose, I started to see a baby tricep start to peek out.  Something was happening, but the scale didn't tell the right story.

Final results:

Weight loss - 5 pounds
Inches lost - 16.75 inches

Yes, almost 17 inches from my neck, shoulders, chest, biceps, waist, hips, thighs and calves.  If I had looked at the scale alone, I would have said screw you 21 day fix.  With the measurements, however, I am sold on round two.

Photo Evidence - Particularly compelling from the side :)

So- super pleased with my results, but also super glad that I didn't give up after the scale started being stubborn.

Now to Portland to try to not gain it all back in microbrew consumption.

March Goals: Possibility

I sat down on March 1 to write my March goals, only to discover that I am getting kind of bored with the goal setting process.  It is just starting to seem routine.  2 books from my 1000 list, some random weight loss goal, some fun stuff to do with Alex.  I created my list of monthly intentions, which I notice every month, but don't really internalize.  So what to do.

So I started doing some research on possibility, and in my first few clicks came across a poem regarding possibility by Emily Dickinson, I Dwell in Possibility.
     

I dwell in Possibility –

A fairer House than Prose –

More numerous of Windows –

Superior – for Doors –

Of Chambers as the Cedars –

Impregnable of eye –

And for an everlasting Roof

The Gambrels of the Sky –

Of Visitors – the fairest –

For Occupation – This –

The spreading wide my narrow Hands

To gather Paradise –

 

I am not a natural reader of poetry, so it took me a couple of reads to figure out

what the hell she was talking about... but the entire point, to me, is that she is

focused on the "what could be's" instead of the "what ares" because the

opportunities for the amazing and the magic are far more than her current

reality could include.

 

On the website that I got my intention words from, it says that the actions

behind the possibility intention include being open to receiving, practicing non

judgment and being open to new experiences.

 

So, my goal for March, the only goal is to have a list to present at the end of the

month for 10 completely new experiences.  Explore the possibilities.

 

Happy March.

February Goals

Fitness
1. Lose 5 pounds.
2. Start 21 day fix.
3. Don't weight myself during the month of February.

Extracurricular
1. Read 2 planned "1000 books to read..." books.
2. Read The Organized Mind.

Alex
1. Take Alex to Great Wolf Lodge
2. Plan Valentine's Day party.

Home
1. Purge Kristen room.

Professional
1. Write two creativity blogs per week.
2. Launch website.

Miscellany
1. Take Leadership and Emotional Intelligence Class.