Happy Easter & an update

  I hope everyones Easter has gone well.  Mine was mellow until now; David just walked in the door.  It will soon be video game time.   

  March seemed to go by so fast.  Though I was super stressed with school and the load of work I had & still have, I am doing pretty good.  March was self awareness month for the 30 day challenges.  During this time I learned a lot about myself and had one to many talks with myself about stupid things I was doing.  I realized I was sabotaging myself way too much.  I was causing my own pain & heart ache over things I could not control.  I was also allowing myself to procrastinate again and getting angry when I didn't have what I wanted done.  I am my own worst enemy.  So, I decided it was time to become my own best friend and work on keeping on task, double checking myself, and working towards my personal goals.  I even made some new goals that will be added to my bucket list and 30 day challenges.  

  Lent is over, YAY! I only gave up beef & pork this year. Yes, I know I said I was giving up all that other stuff. It was so much more difficult with school and my will power was gone.  I have reduced my soda intake by a lot and I have started baking my own snacks & desserts.  So I did more of a reduce everything rather than give it up completely.  I was super jealous when my kids were eating beef jerky. 

  April is upon us with new challenges and lots of exciting plans.  I have started some new fitness fun and added some health apps to my phone to help me out.  Though April is my 30 day art challenge, I will be starting some health challenges as well.  These health challenges are to get me started for Mays Fitness Challenge.  Let me share with you what I am doing. 

The Daily Hiit (Body Rock) - Fitness & diet tips. Great workout videos and Lisa Marie (she has my name) is an awesome host. This site also has 30 day challenges YAY! I have been following this site for a long time.  The workouts kick my ass but, they are well worth it.

Lose It! - Food & Fitness tracker. You can use the website or the app. I have both.  I love the app because it has a barcode scanner.  I started scanning my food, which made me more aware of how much I was eating.  I started eating only the serving size instead of as much as I wanted.  I have lost 6 pounds in March and plan on losing a bit more.  There are challenges you can participate in (I'm doing a water challenge), tips and weight tracker. 

Blogilates - I just started using this site last week.  I have been doing their Sexy Broom Burn video.  Love It!  There are some nice exercises to do and they sell some cute workout clothes. 

My Tracks - You can get this in the Google Play store.  I just downloaded it yesterday so I haven't used it quite yet.  I have been walking everyday and I wanted a way to track my steps and where I was going.  I'll let you know how it goes. 

Hiit Interval Training Timer - This can also be found in the Google Play store.  This works well with the Daily Hiit and for walking, jogging or running. 

  So, yeah, there you have it.  I'll post my progress starting tomorrow. 

Keep on keepin' on, right?

It seems my Project 365 went down the tubes.. I may not have been taking daily pictures, but I'm still going strong on improving myself.  Sometimes life gets in the way and you have to adjust.  It's all good in the hood, or something like that.  Now off to do some shopping with my mini me.

Update 02.11.13

      This is just an update on what's going on.  I don't really have anything super exciting today.   First, the sewing is going horribly.  I didn't get much done this weekend.  I have realized there are a few things I need and will have to work around all that for now.  It's not a big deal, so I'll be fine.  I did however forget that I am supposed to be taking pictures for the Project 365: Year of Self and I haven't taken very many lately. OOPS! I'll get back on that this week.  Speaking of this week, Valentines Day/Singles Awareness Day (S.A.D.)/ Bleeding Hearts Day is Thursday.  How are you celebrating?  Me, I'm watching romantic comedies 50 First Dates & The wedding Singer while I stuff my face with home made cake.  If I didn't have school on Friday I would drink myself stupid and drunk dial people.  Other big events are this week as well Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, and LENT begins.  I was just thinking I better look up when Lent is coming, then I saw a post on Facebook about Fat Tuesday. POOP!  It's already here.  So the plan is this

1. Give up beef & pork
2. Give up non-home cooked meals
3. Give up junk food (excludes home made cake & cookies) 
4. Give up soda (yes I know it's a junk food, but it's my addiction)

So pretty much the same stuff I always remove.  I want to remove something non-food related, but I have no idea what.  Maybe I'll figure it out by Wednesday. 

This weekend I went on a hike with my favorite twin Virginia. It was great, the scenery was beautiful, the hike was killer, and there was some really good conversation going on.   I felt great when I got home and didn't feel sore until Saturday night.  Sunday morning I was a little more sore but was still able to run errands.  This morning I get out of bed and attempt to go downstairs only to almost fall to my death.  Okay I'm being dramatic but I swear I thought I was gonna die.  You know that feeling when your heart jumps in your throat as you mistaken how far the step is on the way down?  Yeah, THAT.  Except there was pain included.  Boy was I super sore this morning; every step was awful the first hour.  I can't wait to go again next weekend.  

Isn't it pretty

I want to live out here with the cows

I have a super special blog coming up. Thanks to my lovely fellow blogger Tam.  Stay tuned for that.


I guess that's good enough for now.  Thanks for reading.

Hello February, Make my daughter better please.

Found on www.lumin0sityy.tumblr.com

HELLO FEBRUARY!

      It is getting warm. I didn't have to layer up yesterday.  I did have to take my daughter Samantha to get some lab work done & make a sonogram appointment for her as well.  She is having some serious digestive issues.  I am hoping it is a food allergy & nothing terribly serious.  I'm not saying food allergies are not serious, but it's a lesser illness than ulcerative colitis or cancer.  The Dr we saw (not her regular Dr) said it could be stress, allergies, bacteria, or over production of stomach acid. I have a feeling this will become a life altering ordeal for us.  We have already been told that she can no longer have anything with caffeine (soda,coffee,chocolate), and no foods heavy in tomatoes/sauce (pasta & pizza).  At least until we find out what is going on.  She has lost 4 pounds & is becoming underweight.  She even looks ill all the time.  So cross your fingers that the test results show something that can be quickly remedied.  I told Samantha that if she can't have these foods then I would not buy them for anyone.  So I will have to change some of our meals to different sauces & make lots more smoothies.  I'll remove all coffee like drinks from the house & take them to school for my classmates to use.

      I was hoping to have a nice fun bubbly post today, but it's a bit melancholy.  I start a new 30 Day Challenge today.  I was getting some stuff together to see what needed to be cut, mended, or washed before I get started.  I'll post photos as I go along, not every day but often.  Samantha will be helping me when she feels well enough.  She loves to create & sew.  So, this will be a mother-daughter challenge.

Two for One: Dental & Challenge 1 DONE!

January's 30 Day Challenge is officially over. YES!  I was so tired of taking a picture a day of myself.  I don't know how people can do that all the time.  I guess I could have gotten more creative but, oh well.  Starting Friday February 1 I will start my next challenge, Sewing.  We'll see how that goes.  I am excited to get started on some sewing projects though.  Now I have no excuses, I have to get them done.  Plus it will clear up some clutter in my house. So, are you ready for the last of the ME photos?

Day 27 of 30/365: Working on a project, I am stuck & getting frustrated at this point.

Day 28 of 30/365: Uhm... Good morning hair, what the hell are you doing?  I swear my hair has a mind of it's own.

Day 29 of 30/365: My favorite weekly me time.  I have made it a must on Fridays but, I really needed some time to relax mid week.  I bought Bath & Body works bubble baths when they were on sale.  I love that store.

Day 30 of 30/365: The last ME picture you will see until August (Dress up Challenge).  I hope I will have lost some weight or at least made a visible change by then with this exercise plan I started doing.  Geez, I look fat, then again it's THAT time of the month.










Okay That is now done. Lets move on to the topic of Dental care.  I like to read Post Secret, actually I love to read Post Secret.  This week there was this post card about Dental work.

Photo from www.postsecret.com

      To read this is disturbing but I totally understand this persons pain.  I don't really have anything to sell to pay for my dental.  I haven't had dental insurance in years.  I need to go to the dentist! What I have noticed lately is more and more people do not have dental. So I also notice more and more people with rotting, broken or missing teeth.  I, myself  am becoming one of these people.  It's disgusting, and I want my teeth fixed before I become one with nasty rotting teeth in the front.  I have 2 cavities, a chipped tooth and a broken molar.  I don't know why it's so darn expensive and not important enough for everyone to have it.  People can get medical for free, why not dental?  When I looked up dental plans; the cheapest was $113 a month.  I guess only the rich get to have teeth.  If I could afford it, I would get dental implants.  Until then I am trying to be as careful as I can.  

      I found information on some free dental clinics, but they are in cities I can't get to or they are months away, my teeth will be gone by then.  I saw that there is one on the Bay Area.  I'm not sure of all the info yet to see if I can go.  I'm crossing my fingers I can.  For as expensive as dental is, these free clinics need to happen more often, NOT just once a year.

Practicing Non Consumerism... again

   

I am going to start practicing non consumerism again.  Mostly because somehow I ended up with more stuff.  I won't need to buy shampoo, conditioner or soap for a little while (grandma brought me a nice bag full of hotel goodies). Plus we got a few new kitchen gadgets for Christmas and I have no where to put them.  I will be selling and/or giving away some of my things on Craigslist starting this weekend.  Doing so will relieve stress of a cluttered home and hopefully get me some money to help with my much needed eye exam and glasses, not to mention the dental work I need (an upcoming blog). 

      

      I will also be using some of the items to recycle or upcycle.  I follow a few blogs that show how to do some cool stuff with what you may already have at home.  This is where my February & April 30 Day Challenges will come in handy.  I will be using old clothes and bedding to make stuff for my sewing challenge. I will use some of my old books to make paper crafts that I have been wanting to try for my upcoming art challenge in April.  I want to try a few things but not overwhelm myself. We'll see what happens. 

Upcoming Projects:

1. Scrap Quilt - An unfinished project
2. Canvas style bags
3. Pillows
4. Stuffed Animals or something small. *Possible give away item?*

I have some patterns already, I just need to finish my craft room.   I think my sewing machine needs to be serviced, but I don't know how much it will cost.  I'll have to call Delta Vacuum and Sewing Center Inc and see.  My grandmother gave it to me and had it serviced a while back, but ended up not using it. So I guess that's it for now. I still have a lot of planning to do.   

I'm Getting Bored but....

      This week went by fast, at least it feels that way for me. I feel as if nothing was accomplished. I haven't had a chance to work on a project all week. I haven't been able to clean my house the way I like it, and I need to do laundry. GAH! Tomorrow is going to be busy. I did sleep in today, which is why nothing got done. I think I needed that extra sleep because I feel more energetic. It could be that I masturbated twice today too. I haven't done that in a while. I guess I needed that too, ha ha.
      There is less than a week left in this month. I will be changing to a new 30 Day Challenge. February is my sewing challenge. I will work on a variety of sewing projects every day. I am thinking thirty minutes to an hour a day should be good. I will go into more detail later in the week.
      So lets get on with my boring photos...

Day 20/365: Making lists & plans for future blogs. Also planning out my sewing projects so I can complete them in time.

Day 21 of 30/365: I wore my favorite shirt to school today.

Day 22 of 30/365: Chomping on some yummy french bread I bought at Safeway. I ate the whole thing and even wrote a blog about it.

Day 23 of 30/365: Just a little bored.

Day 24 of 30/365: Ignoring all the crazies on the bus again. Today some guy smelled like urine & kept trying to talk to everyone.

Day 25 of 30/365: Super bored & tired. I couldn't sleep but I couldn't mentally function. Ugh, I hate those nights.

Day 26 of 30/365: My hair is having issues. I think it's time to get a trim & maybe some bangs.

Project 365 week 3

This week was busy & then my friends daughter ran off for 36 hours but made it home safely. Samantha finished her cell project already, so we're good with that.  I'm making cabbage soup this weekend for the first time. Besides that my week was boring. 

Day 13 of  30/365- Samantha & I went to Somersville Towne Center to do a little shopping. 

 Day 14 of 30/365- Brrr it's cold in my house. I kept my scarf on until I went to bed.

Day 15 of 30/365- Trying to avoid the odd people on the bus. i just kept my head down acting like I didn't see them.

Day 16 of 30/365- I couldn't sleep. wasted 2 hours trying to calm my mind. bleh 

Day 18 of 30/365- It was warm enough for me to take off the gloves and scarf.  Plus it's Friday! Yay

Day 19 o 30/365- Slow day. Heading to Walmart (only because I have a gift card) to pick up a few things, then work on my room. Tomorrow the dinning room become my craft room :)

*Update 5:48: I bought all the Harry Potter movies at Walmart. YES! Movie Marathon night & the cabbage soup is simmering. It's gonna be a good night. 

Project 365: Week 2

Random photo taken of the clouds. :)

  This week was very busy. School started & I have a lot of work this time. I am taking math, Advanced Excel, & Medisoft.  If you don't know what Medisoft is, well it's the program they use to put your info into the system at the Doctors office or Hospital. Not all use the exact program I am using but I'm learning the basics right now. YAY! It's not really hard, but tedious work. Every tiny detail has to be correct or everything is wrong. It's a pain in the butt I tell ya, but I like doing the work. It's a bit of a challenge for me & I like that.

  We 3 became ill midweek & stayed home from school one day. A stomach bug is going around & of course we caught it. Samantha was sent home early & she was so kind to share her cooties.

  As I was looking at my blog when I was revamping it again. I noticed that I had 2 pictures for each day. How silly, I am using my 30 day challenges as part of my Project 365, so there only needs to be one photo. DUH! So now when I share the photos you will see Day _ of 30/ _ of 365- ... Psshhh How did I not think of this before starting?

Day 7 of 30/365- First day of my second session at school. It was freezing that morning. I caught the 7:30 bus instead of the 6:30. I didn't want to get out of bed.

 Day 8 of 30/365- Sitting at my desk trying to read, highlight, & take notes for my classes. I was getting a little bored.

Day 9 of 30/365- I stayed home from school because I wasn't feeling well. I decided to attempt to clean & reorganize my room. I got rid of some stuff & have a bag of things to bring to school to share with classmates.  I'm not done with all the cleaning yet, hopefully tomorrow.

Day 10 of 30/365-  Went home early because I started feeling ill as the day went on. I made the mistake of having a soda & the carbonation didn't sit well with me. The bus was filled with weirdos at 2:30. I'll have to remember not to get on the bus at that time again.

Day 11 of 365- No Self Portrait. The day was so busy that I forgot to take one. So here is a crappy photo of the random hail from that night.

Day 12 of 30/365- Fresh out of the shower & about to blog. I'm still working on my room. I'm not rushing because then i'll just shove things back in boxes. I want to get rid of the boxes so I really need to look through everything.

Sick

Everyone stayed home today from school. We all had stomach issues which included nausea & vomiting.  It's not something we ate, so I don't know how we got sick. I'm feeling better just in time for bed.
I started cleaning my room and prepping for next months 30 day challenge. I put clothes I no longer wear in a box & will use them for sewing projects.
I guess that's all for now. Good night!

Project 365: Week one.

The first week of Project 365 is pretty random. I will do better at keeping up with my Year of Self and taking photos that go with it. Some days I may just want to share something I like.  So here is week one. Enjoy!

Day 1 of 30 & 365. Started the year off with a mug shot

Day 2 of 30 & 365. I was to lazy to find another reason to take a picture.

Day 3 of 365. I figured out I could write on my Polaroids. HELL YA! Oh and that's the coffee mug I bought at the 99 cents store. I needed one for school. I removed the zebra print but haven't found something to replace it yet.  

Day 4 of 365. Samantha and her friend Hailey planted some veggies. I got some radishes and boy were they spicy, I didn't know they were supposed to be like that.  I am hoping to grow my own veggies starting this Spring.

Day 5 of 365. Made myself a Blog journal for notes & ideas.

Day 6 of 365. I have too many boxes of stuff. I need to find a place to put my new Panini Press & Cake Pop maker. Then I should sell some of my books.  A good way to de-clutter my home and relieve some stress.

Project 365: Year of Self

The first week of the year is done.  How did you do with your New Years Resolutions? As I said in an earlier blog, I will share with you my revised goals/ resolutions. I will also share my 30 Day Challenges for the year.  I got many of the great ideas from daringtolivefully.com's Launch a 365 Day Project .

~~My Revised 2013 Goals & Resolutions~~

In Daring to Live Fully it states you need to do what is most important to you. For me 2013 is about myself; Self improvement, self awareness, self discovery, self acceptance, etc. It is a challenge to do the same thing for 365 days besides sleep, eat, shower, and poop. Some of us don't even do those everyday of the year. I get bored easy so I thought I would mesh my resolutions, goals, and 30 Day Challenges. Together they make up my Project 365: Year of Self. Sounds good right?  So let's get to it.

• Education
• Learn something new everyday. It shouldn't be too hard since I am in school.  
• To graduate from school.
• Family
• Spend more time with my kids.
• Have Family Night once a week. 
• Send notes & home made post cards to my nieces & nephew.
• Give Back
• Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity
• Donate unused items to local shelters
• Find new ways to volunteer & donate.
• Career
• Try to volunteer somewhere I would want to work after I graduate.
• Find a company with options to live somewhere other than Antioch.
• Self Awareness
• Become less attached to electronics. Having a No Electronics Day once a week.
• Go to Church more
• Meditate 15 minutes a day.
• Self Discovery
• Try new things (30 Day Challenges)
• Read more

With my resolutions in front of me I was able to decide on what 30 Day Challenges would help me accomplish my Project 365: Year of Self.  

~~30 Day Challenges for 2013~~

• January - Self Portrait
• February - Sewing 
• March - Self Awareness (anyway to focus on my inner being)
• April - Art 
• May - Fitness
• June - Write a Story
• July - Read (a genre I wouldn't normally choose)
• August - Dress up
• September - Knit & Crochet
• October - Gratitude
• November - Thank you letters
• December - Giving back & Volunteering

It may seem like a lot, but if you think about it, I'm just focussing on a topic more during a 30 day period rather than sporadically during the year. Plus it will keep me off the electronics more. I will post weekly Project 365: Year of Self photos. You will get a daily dose of January's Self Portraits though. Haha

and now Day 5 of 30... Enjoy

I went to the store like that >_<

Taking Notes & Making Plans

The list making has begun again. I'm finding some great blogging, project 365, and 30 day challenge ideas.  Self improvement plans in the making I tell ya. My revised resolution/goal blog is coming along nicely. Lots of good things coming my way. I think, haha.

Today I noticed that I need to redo my passwords for many websites I used to frequent. I also need to reorganize my notebooks and put all blogging stuff into one book. Yes, I still use a notebook instead of the computer. There's something wonderful about writing it down on paper. Though I do feel that I will have a digital form of all my websites and passwords so I won't forget this time. I also use a notebook for my Facebook games. I know you are judging me, it's okay.

School starts again on Monday. I am so ready to go back. I just need to get my house cleaned up and my desk organized before Sunday night. Pfft who am I kidding, I'll come home Monday night and be irritated cause I didn't get it done.  I think it's time to go get warm and cuddle with my favorite guy.  Isn't he cute?

My cuddle buddy Ralph

10 pm already? Ugh.

Where did the day go?  Oh that's right to cleaning, working, and time with my daughter. I'm trying to remove any unused items from my home again. It's been bothering me that i keep having to move stuff around in my closet to find other stuff.  I had to dig for a pair of pants today. Samantha and i went to see The Hobbit again. We invited her friend Hailey who had not seen it. The movie was played in one of the smaller theaters and had maybe 50 seats. This lady decided to sit one seat away from me, and she talked through the whole movie. I think she said WOW about 30 times and OH, did you see _____? Uhm NO we didn't cause we're all blind. Why do people like this even go to movies? I would have been embarrassed to be there with her. She was so loud and awful that I got up and moved.

Once I got home I got to work on a project I have been working on for some time. I am taking a break while writing this blog. My eyes hurt from looking at the screen, so after this i will shower to relax before getting back to work.  I think I want to revise my goals/ resolutions blog. I read a great blog that gave me some ideas for my 365 project and 30 days challenges. I have shared the blog before, she is one of my favorite writers, please check out Marelisa Fabrega at her blog daringtolivefully.com . So I will update that this weekend.  I will also update my Project 365 as well. I will not post photos everyday but once a week. I think it will be too much to do it everyday since I will have my 30 day challenges to do. I am thinking that the 30 day challenges should be separate blogs, but I'll start that next week.  Okay kids, I'm done for now. Sweet dreams.

~Lisa

Day 2 of 30 Self Portrait Challenge

Day 1: Project 365, 30 Day Challenges & so on.

I have decided to retry the Project 365. One picture everyday of the year. So my submission for Jan 1, 2013 is a photo of me.  I will be posting the Project 365 on Instagram (@justanotherlisaperez) and Tumblr. The Tumblr link is on the right side of your screen under My Other Hangouts.

 I am also doing a 30 day challenge again. For the month of january I will take a photo of myself everyday. Mostly head shots, but all will be of me in some way. I am hoping to find enough challenges to do one each month.  I'm pretty excited about it. If I have to I will make up challenges. Hey, you never know, someone else may use it.

I didn't do anything today. I woke up around noon, took a nice long shower, ate, and thats about it. I was online for a bit, but nothing came of the day. It's 11:00 pm and I was unproductive today.  The rest of the week will be busy, so it's cool that I took today off. Well at least I think so.  Well that is all for tonight. I just wanted to post my day 1 photo.  Good night.

~Lisa