My Sunburned Birthday Adventure

My birthday is July 1, and I am 36 years old this year.   I was planning on just going to school and going about my day like it's any other day.  Except i was far to sunburned to walk and my poor legs swelled up twice their size.  Why you ask?  Oh well, my friend Eric thought it would be nice to take me away for the weekend on a Birthday Adventure.  You know by now I love adventures, so of course I agreed not knowing what we will be doing until I got there.  Silly me, didn't think to bring sunblock and neither did Eric.  We drove to Forestville to go canoeing at Burkes.  I have never been before and at first said NO WAY!  Not that I didn't want to try, but there were a lot of people and I don't do well in big crowds.  This was a big crowd in water so naturally I panicked.  Once a large portion of the crowd was on their way I felt safe enough to go.  We get our canoe and head out for a three hour paddle ride down the Russian River.  Wait.. THREE HOURS?  Oh nice Eric, you could have told me BEFORE we got in the darn canoe.  Like I said before, I had no sunblock, with short shorts on.  It has been about ten years since my legs have seen the sun.  The scenery was fabulous, the canoe ride was great, and people were super friendly.  About half way through the ride I got wet but some local kids who got us with super soakers.  I was already getting hot and feeling a little burnt.  The water cooled me for a minute until I started to feel the burn.  I knew it was going to be too late by the time we were done.  So I did the best I could by taking my shirt off to cover my legs.  Once we got to the end I swam in the river until the bus came to pick us up.  The water was so cool and refreshing.  I want to go back and camp at Burkes.

It doesn't look bad, yet. 

One the Canoe trip was done we went back to the Hotel and cleaned up.  I took a cold bath and somehow with my burned legs was able to get my nylons on.  We went to dinner at the Hotel, walked around, and thought about going to the pool.  We sat and watched the people from our balcony before we fell asleep.  The next morning I stepped out on the balcony to see lots of spider webs, I saw some the night before, I just didn't realize there were so many.  There was one spider in particular wrapping his new meal.  I snapped a picture of him but didn't like it.  I snapped another and thought OH MY GOSH, He has a scary face.

Such an evil grin 

Once we were ready to go, I stepped out to say goodbye to Mr. Spider, but he was busy eating.  We went to Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve.  I had never been there and I was super excited because as you all know I love nature.  My sunburn wasn't too bad though my pants rubbed on my knees as i climbed.  I took some pictures of random trees and animals.  Eric spotted a doe, at first that is all we saw; then she starts walking away from us and we see two babies trotting behind her.  They were so cute.

Oh snap! Mama deer's looking right at us. 

We ended the day with Goat Rock Beach.  I'm not sure why it's called that when nothing looks like a goat.  I read that my favorite movie of all time, GOONIES, was filmed here (the last scene). We saw some seals playing in the water.  The water was ice cold by the way.  It felt good on my burned legs until I was out of the water.  The wind made me shiver like I had a fever.  BBRRRRRRRRRR

Arched Rock at Goat Rock Beach.  Photo by me

On the way home we grabbed some dinner and chatted about the weekend.  I complained about my legs and Eric says the dumbest thing ever "You're Mexican, I thought you could handle it".  Uh thanks man, cause Mexicans never burn.  I guess I'm not mexican enough to handle the sun, ha ha.  We get to my house only to find my son outside freaking out because a praying mantis is on the window.  I tell him how they are good luck.  He doesn't care, to him it's the devil.  We move the poor mantis to a nearby rose bush.  That my friends is my Birthday Adventure.

The Mantis we found on my window sill. 

** You can see the rest of the photos in my Google+ Album BDAY POST

Like, OMG... It's been while... AGAIN.

The super moon behind the clouds.  

Yes, I've been away for too long.  I wanted to blog, but didn't have time or made some lame excuse on why I couldn't.  Mostly, we are down to  one computer and I have to fight with the kids to get on the darn thing.  I tried to add the Blogger app after I reset my phone for the third time, but it won't let me log in.  Stupid phone won't let me use my Just Another Lisa Perez account for some reason.  I need to figure it out, so I can blog on the bus to keep you all updated.  I have been writing journals though. 

School is about 8 weeks away from being done.  I plan on extending my classes another 5 weeks.  There are some classes that are not included in my program and I would like to take them.  I haven't started looking for work yet.  I have a 2 week break in mid July and plan to start the second week to hopefully have a few interviews during break.  Cross your fingers.  I'm not 100 percent sure where to look for work.  I guess I'll just see what's out there and go with the flow.  

My 30 day challenges are going okay, though Junes started and then got lost in the chaos of school.  Oh well, I tried.  May was Fitness month and I started eating better, doing some fitness challenges I saw on Instagram.  I lost some weight and then started gaining it back.  Not because it was muscle but because i got lazy and started eating junk again.  July is all about reading.  So I will read up on as much fitness and health lifestyles as i can.  I want to learn about Macros and how it works.  I also want to know more about creating my own personal mini-gym at home.  I refuse to pay for a membership when i can invest in the equipment I need for home.  I am also doing The Gratitude Experiment. The challenge isn't until October, but this is a good head start.  It's interesting and has made me focus more on me.  So far I like it. Check it out HERE

My birthday is coming up real fast here.  I will go away for the weekend before my birthday and have dinner with friends the following weekend.  My buddy Eric insists on treating me to a weekend get-away to help me relax and focus on what is important -- ME.  I've been seriously stressed with school and it's been showing in my attitude.  I will visit my grandmother in San Jose during my two week break.  It will be a much needed break away from my neighborhood.  Which is another stress inducer at the moment.  This place has gone down hill in the last few months.  

Well I think I better get ready for tomorrow.  I'm a bit tired from the day.  I miss writing here on a regular basis.  

Music Monday: I've become a bitter woman.

      I was going to write about Third Eye Blind tonight.  As I started writing another song came on Itunes.  A song that I like, but it gives me a tinge of pain.  Wait, is tinge a word? I think it is.  Jason Mraz's Who's Thinking About You Now.  I listen to this song often and have a ugly habit of answering his question in a bitter tone, in my head, while the song plays. As the song nears the end I always want to say Yeah Right! ...  I didn't realize how bitter and angry I had become about love and relationships.  Yet, I listen to this song over and over again.  Is this my own way of torturing myself?  I look through my playlist and see what I have in them and see that one in particular has a lot of song that make me look bitter, angry, and maybe a bit psycho.  Haha , okay, not funny Lisa.  I'm really keeping up on my promise to myself about relationships/ men/ love/ friends.  I'm doing so well I have made some "friends" walk away.  Oh well, not my problem. Or is it?  Have I become so bitter and self involved that I have pushed everyone away?  Maybe.  This is supposed to be the Year of Self, right?  It's helped weed out people, sadly a few who I thought were important walked away and the ones I hoped would leave, have been trying harder to get my attention.  DAMN IT! It backfired, or am I just that bad of a person?  I am working on becoming a better person, I guess i'm going about it wrong.  So many questions and no answers.  *sigh*

I keep telling myself in the end it will all be worth it, but at what cost?

Well enjoy the song. Jason Mraz aka: Mr A to Z is one of my favorite artists of all time.

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.

Yesterday, making it count & worth mentioning

"Now that it’s all over, what did you really do yesterday that’s worth mentioning?"

~Coleman Cox

      Yesterday, I walked Samantha to Paradise Skate to celebrate her friend Loran's birthday. We got there an hour early, so we went to the Antioch Flea Market to kill time.  Samantha saw a cool knife and asked if she could get it.  It's her birthday soon, and it is a cool knife, so of course I bought it.  So proud of myself for buying my daughter her first weapon.  I know that sounds silly, but I like knives as well, plus I have been telling Samantha I would get her some once she turned 13. She was pretty excited.  We walked back to paradise Skate to meet up with her friends.  Instead of going home, I decide to walk to the pier to take some photos and meditate.  She was going to be there for about two hours.  I walked down L Street and went to Humphrey's. The so called "New Boat Launch" is where the park used to be.  I remember taking the kids there for picnics.  I walked out to the dock and stood there, just feeling the water rock me.  When a boat decided to dock, I walked back to the Pier by Humphrey's and just sat there quietly for a moment.  I walked around a bit to take some photos and then headed back to Paradise Skate.
      It was nice to have time for myself.  It's been to long, most of my ME time has been shower or sleep.  I haven't been blogging or working on my 30 day challenges due to the heavy workload I have for school.  It's about to get heavier.  I'm starting to get behind and I am studying every chance I get.  The only thing I got done for February's 30 day challenge was organization. THAT'S IT!  Gah, so frustrating. I haven't even started March's challenge.  Though it is frustrating to not be able to keep up right now, school is far more important to me.  So the challenges can easily be put on the back burner and done at another time. I was thinking about swapping some of the challenges to fit my schedule.  I told myself I need to schedule in blogging at least 30 minutes a day, even if I don't finish the post I can complete it the next day and then post it.  As long as I get something done.

     So... I guess what I am saying is what I did yesterday was worth mentioning because it helped me Refresh & Focus.  Moving forward and making each day count.


NOTE - Revising one of my old blogs and started posting there again.  Mostly quick notes and quotes to myself.  Maybe I'll share it soon.

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.