7!

As of this morning I have lost 7 pounds. I was pretty excited. I hope they keep coming off.

Living Room

My sweet friend Emily helped me paint my living room. It went from a deep wine color to a refreshing shade called "cappuccino." The color is from Restoration Hardware and it is my new fave.I love this color! It looks great with our white trim and different shades of brown that we use in our living room. I had 6 different samples that I looked at and I am so happy with my choice. Here are a few pictures of our work:

As we went- the new color next to the old color!

My sample colors:

Time to write it down...

So, the last few weeks I have made some huge personal changes. I am determined to get in shape and get healthy. I think that by writing it down it will help me keep focused and accountable. Not only do I want to lose weight but I want to get healthy.

I have started a running program that I downloaded onto my iPhone called "Couch to 5K." I LOVE it! For someone who hasn't been a runner it is a great way to get someone started and continue on it. I actually look forward to my runs. I am at the end of week 3 and can't believe I am sticking to it! CJ and are playing golf one day a week or going snowboarding (since the mountain was just dumped on). We have also joined a fun kickball team in SE Portland. Although it isn't super strenuous it is one more way to be active. I have been trying to go to the gym 3-4 times a week which some weeks I do better than others. I am so glad we have a membership at Hawthorne Farm Athletic Club. It is sooo nice there and is not a meat market like 24 hour or Ballys.

I have been eating a lot better to boot! I really would like to lose 15-20lbs. this spring. I have to manage what I am eating and drinking. I really eat pretty healthy, it is the drinking that is killing me. I love a good beer (IPA!) or a glass of wine. I am really limiting this. My doctor also told me he wants me to go wheat-free for 6 weeks. I am on day two of it and it hasn't been so bad. I am hoping that it will help me shed a few pounds.

CJ has been a great influence and inspiration to me. He has lost 40lbs! He is a workout machine. He gets up three times a week at 4:45 to go to a Master's Swimming class at the Downtown Athletic Club. He is a part of a triathlon training group that runs/swims/bikes 3x a week for 2 hours, and he plays soccer two times a week. WOW! He is looking A-MAZING! So sexy! He is so much happier too. Yesterday he and our friend Jeff went on a 64 mile bike ride from Beaverton to Vernonia and back. They are training for the Reach the Beach- starting in Beaverton and riding a bike to Pacific City! It is is a whopping 104 miles. Yowzas! Not for me :) Needless to say he is a huge inspiration and has been nothing but supportive of me.

So, I will make a valiant effort to update this with my progress. Keep me in your prayers. I am not the best with losing weight, but I am hoping that if I write it down it makes it become real.

A Change Will Do You Good!

So I have been blonde my entire life. I began highlighting my hair in high school and then getting a weave every two months starting in college. I loved my hair, I really did. But, I always wondered how I would look as a brunette. Would it make me look more mature or would it wash me out. I decided to color my hair at the beginning of this month. My hairdresser was shocked and gave me a thorough talking to. But, once I make up my mind there is no going back. The result: I LOVE IT! It is so fun to have dark hair. I don't think it washes me out at all and it actually goes well with my skin tone. CJ says it felt as though he was cheating on his wife at first {hehe!} My kids at school asked if I "painted my hair!" Not quite, but I get why they would think that.

So here the after shot~



What do you think?

Card Making

I have been making a ton of fun cards and stationary for my closest friends and family. I have been spending a lot of time searching for the best paper, stamps, and ink. Looking online for inspiration and finding creative ways to show people I care. I have always LOVED paper and this is a great way for me to release my creative juices. I used to enjoy scrapbooking but have out grown that. I find card making a lot more rewarding. I love shocking people when they half-heartedly ask "did you make this?" and I say "YES!" So fun! I made 87 Christmas cards this year. It was a lot of work but sooo worth it. Here are a few pictures of my latest work.

Oh and it makes it a lot easier to make my cards when my office/craft room is clean {see below} :)

Goodbye 2009...

You were real and you were fun, but you weren't "real fun!"

2009 was a rough year for most of my family and friends. The economy has remained in the tank, the job market is awful, money is tight, and people around the world are scared. Most of us are ready to say goodbye to 2009 and hello to 2010... I know I am.

Although 2009 was rough, there were some great highlights~ President Obama's Inauguration, visiting Cancun, Mexico with CJ and our Aerotek friends, finishing grad school and receiving my Master's degree, celebrating our 4 year wedding anniversary, buying a great car {an Acura MDX}, making cards and stationary for others, breaking in my sewing machine, the Ducks winning the PAC 10 Championship and making an appearance at the Rose Bowl, getting a job teaching reading at Rosedale Elementary, and of course all of the great memories made with our family and friends.

CJ and I brought in 2010 in Hollywood, CA with some of our closest friends. We were in LA for the Rose Bowl game and had an amazing time down south. After an amazing Christmas with our families we travelled {by Duck Mobile} to Pasadena. We drove down with CJ's parents Charlie and Joyce. We drove for about 20 hours and arrived at 6 am on the 31st. We roamed around Hollywood for most of the morning with Joyce and had a great lunch at a cute restaurant. That night we met up with Claire, Donald, Ryan, Aron, and Jay for a fun New Year's Eve in West Hollywood. We started the night out at the place the boys were staying and then headed to this awesome bar. We rang in 2010 together but made it an early night and left at 1 am so we had enough beauty sleep for the Rose Bowl.

It was so FUN to be at the Rose Bowl. The anticipation was like no other football game I have attended. It was a good game, but not a great game. We could have done better. I am so proud of our Ducks and how they played. But I would have loved to have seen a win.

We got back into town Sunday the 3rd and I began getting mentally prepared to start my new job. I was hired in December for a full time position at Rosedale Elementary School in Hillsboro. I spend most of my day teaching reading to second graders and the other part as an instructional assistant to a few students with autism. I LOVE Rosedale!! The students and staff are phenomenal. I am having a great time and so glad that I was hired for the position.

2010, I have big hopes for you!

I Got A JOB!

Hallelujah! I got a job. I interviewed on Friday for a position at Rosedale Elementary! I will be working full time. Half of my job will be teaching reading to a group of low/intensive 2nd graders. The other half of my day will be spent as an instructional assistant. I am so excited to be in the classroom full time! I am also super stoked to be working at Hillsboro's newest school! Wish me luck~