Monday, July 30, 2012

My latest obsession: anklets

The title said it all, my latest obsession for this summer 2012 was definitely anklets. 

I used to wear bracelets in my teen years, but you know with young kids and my hands always doing some chores, it's really not practical to wear them anymore, but that doesn't mean that I cannot dress my ankles, right? 

 So, this summer months I went on to the quest for the best anklet. 

I wasn't very sure of what style I wanted, so I initially bought a couple of very thin and cheap anklets, very cute with little shells and stars charms, but they broke immediately the first time I went swimming :( 

Then I found this precious, sparkly gem in Cindy's shop, Sea Breeze Jewels and what can I say, I love blue and fell in love head over heels for this baby......wouldn't you???  
Although I love it dearly, I must confess that I was afraid to sleep with it, I didn't wanna crash the precious beads or risk to loose it....it will brake my heart!! 

So, on I went on my quest for something equally cute, practical and not to difficult to match with my clothing and I found this beauty from Kathy Jo Kreations 
  

 I really love the softness of the hemp rather than having a chain, plus it still has blue beads, accentuated my the bright red ones that match my toe nails....what else could I ask???

Well, now that I think about it, maybe I should have gotten the black one too.......






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Friday, July 27, 2012

Please stop saying that!

Note: The following post regards a controversial issue. If you're easily offended by fool language, skip this post and come back tomorrow. 
Remember the 1st Amendment and love and peace to every one.

Dear 50 cents and Joe Scarborough, 
please stop saying that! 
Stop talking about things you don't know about. 

Some of you might have read in the news about these 2 celebrities that recently got under fire for their infamous comments about Autism. 

That's what happened with the rapper 50 cents. One day, someone sent him this tweet:{Quoting} "Release the album or get shot again." The rapper allegedly tweeted back, "yeah just saw your picture fool you look autistic." And, he didn't stop there. "I dont want no special ed kids on my time line follow some body else," he posted later. 
You can read the whole article HERE 

Alright then, let's see. How do I and my son look like? We have 2 eyes, 2 ears, 1 nose, 1 mouth, hair on our heads and teeth on our gums. Oh wait, wait! We miss the scars from a bullet due to someone shooting us. That's you sir, not us, my bad!! Go search "Autism" on Google and inform yourself, maybe you have a symptom or two. Don't give me wrong, I'm not saying that the person that tweeted him to get shot is any better, but I don't think it's because he/she is autistic.

Here it is, what Joe Scarborough said in his show: {Quoting}  
"As soon as I hear about this shooting (referring to the mass kill in Aurora, CO), I knew who it was. I knew it was a young, white male, probably from an affluent neighborhood, disconnected from society -- it happens time and time again," said Scarborough. "Most of it has to do with mental health; you have these people that are somewhere, I believe, on the autism scale. I don't know if that's the case here, but it happens more often than not." 

 Nice uh? Basically since I'm autistic, I'm so messed up and crazy that one day I will wake up and go off and shoot everybody in sight. NOT!! As an autistic person, I never have, and never will think of hurting anyone. I know it's wrong, you know? I'm not crazy, I'm only autistic

 Of course, this statement moved the read of other people with autism like me and their relatives, to the pint that Mr. Joe Scarborough had to take 5 minutes out of his busy day for an half-assed apology: {quoting}  
"During a debate regarding the recent Colorado shootings, I suggested that the Aurora tragedy should make Americans focus more on mental health in this country. I also stated that my own experiences raising a son with Aspergers made me keenly aware of how important strong support systems are to those who might otherwise be isolated. The growing Autism epidemic is a tremendous burden for children, parents and loved ones to endure. My call for increased funding and awareness for Autism and other mental health conditions was meant to support the efforts of those who work every day to improve the lives of Americans impacted. Those suggesting that I was linking all violent behavior to Autism missed my larger point and overlooked the fact that I have a wonderful, loving son with Aspergers. Perhaps I could have made my point more eloquently. I look forward to continuing my work with wonderful organizations like Autism Speaks to provide badly needed support to millions of Americans who struggle with Autism every day." 
You can read the whole article HERE 

  Hmmmm. No sir. You get brownie points for trying to cover your ass because, seriously, in your position it's all you can do, but don't piss on me without even bothering to call it rain, ok? 
1. Next time you want to bring awareness on the autism cause, please, please, please, do not put the word autism and mass kill in the same sentence, because they are NOT related to each other. 
2. As for you kid......I feel for him. He looks up to you to know that he can and to learn how he ca function in this society, and you just called his conditions "a tremendous burden for children, parents and loved ones to endure". Nicely done. 
3. And Autism Speaks???? Really??? Sir, you have to go and search on Google for Autism Speaks and inform yourself of the facts, about how much money the organization makes and how much of that money really reach people who can give these kids a chance. 
Please, inform yourself before farting stuff like that from your mouth, learn a thing of two about the "issue" that you're so strongly trying to bring awareness too. So strongly, that you used the attention that this horrible tragedy is getting to speak your shit in public. 
No sir, please stop trying to help the autism community because if this is the "help" you can give me that I don't want anything from you, please. 

Let's stop being disrespectful and remember the victim of this crazy act appropriately, without having to put a dump on it by the crap that comes from your mouth, please. 
The animal that did kill of these people, might be autistic or might be not, but this is not why he killed: obviously he's so deeply troubled that anyone can begin to understand. Enough said. 

These happenings struck a nerve to me. You won't believe how many times I hear people saying: "That kid....he has problems, issues, you know it's retarded or crazy....how do they call them??? Oh yeah, autistic, that's it!! His/her mom did drugs and was parting when she was pregnant, so what do you expect???" 

 It hurts and I tell you why. 
My mom didn't do any drugs while she was expecting me, or my brother or my sister. And yet, here I'm. I'm on the "autism scale" somewhere, so what? I'm quirky and weird, totally antisocial if I get my way and sorely socially awards when I don't. I can't be that bad, because I have a husband (almost 10 years!) and I have friends and coworkers. They seem able to tolerate me! So how bad can I be? 

When I had my son I was 21. I was healthy, exercised every day, watched my diet, hold down 2 jobs to pay tuition for college (In Biology and Nutrition, mind you!) and of course I had a little fun with the guy that became my husband. Healthy young sex with one partner, what a party girl!!! 
Hubby was 22, enrolled in the Navy for 4 years. 
We had little money, a broken car, bills to pay and a kid on the way. No way to pay for drugs or even cigarettes or buz. Let alone parting! 
As a matter of fact, I never saw my hubby drink, even at our wedding, he couldn't stand 1 inch of champagne, just the smell....go figure. 

But even so?? 
 People that do drugs, of sleep around or drink don't get babies with autism. 

Mothers who drink get babies with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, not Autism. 

 Mothers who do drugs during pregnancies, make babies with drug addictions or drug withdrawal, no autism. 
Mothers who sleep around get STDs that can be dangerous for babies, not autism. 

What I don't need is the judgements of people, more so of famous people, that without be informed make ignorant statements potentially dangerous for people like me and my son. 

Please, inform you self about what AUTISM really is and stop saying THAT!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

I have urticaria

Urticaria or Hives, however you want to call it. 
The point is that I'm itchy everywhere. 
 The most common causes are: excessive exposure to sun or heat, food allergy, dirty water and stress.

 Meaning: I could have got it anywhere and any time and I'm stuck with it until it decided to go away GRRRRRRR 

The more I get mad, the more I itch; the more I itch, the more I get mad GRRRRRR 

 On a positive note: when the nurse weighted me, my weight was 144.5 lb: 0.5 lb down. YAY
On a negative note: the doctor put me on steroids that can increase appetite. Oh dear

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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Weight update #2

Just for the sake of it, I weighted myself this morning and I was greeted by this: 


Oh yes, baby! This is what I'm talking about! I'm definitely heading to the right direction!!

 I was a little bit worried as we have been busy with family activities and the weather wasn't collaborating, I wasn't able to get it all the cardio and exercising that I planned to do, but still! 

We went to the water park in Panama City Beach, Ship Wreck Island, and had the day of our lives! Plus we went to the pool any day the weather allowed, so I think all that swimming helped. 

 I also pigged out on lasagna, this crock pot recipe really make it easy! Still I was able to eat clean the rest of the day to be able to enjoy a portion of this bad boy! 

I finally decided to try something for my shin problems and went ahead and ordered these medical heels cups 
  
I took those baby out for a ride last Monday and I was able to run a whole mile, completely pain free!!! I was so overjoyed! 
Unfortunately after that mile, I had to stop and take them out of my shoes because they started rubbing against my skin giving me blisters :( I do think it was my shoes fault that were too narrow on the heel part and my foot felt very crammed in it, but as soon as the blisters go away I plan to try them again with another pair of shoes I own that are a bit larger on the heels. 

Today I'm gonna try and do my weight lifting (try is the key work as I developed a skin rush all over my arms that it's itching so badly and driving me crazy!) and I thought about this routine instead of the others one I posted a while ago, because I like to spice things up every once in a while so I don't get bored. Hope you enjoy it too!

  

Right know I'm using 4 lb dumbbells for these kind of exercises. I have another set of 10 lb that I hope to be able to switch to soon.
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Thursday, July 19, 2012

Ginger-Garden giveaway

Can you tell that I love bath and body products? 
I was very thrilled when Irena accepted to trade with me few weeks ago! 
I got to personally test her amazing soap bar and milk bath and see her craftsmanship up close.

If you are anything like me, you don't wanna miss this giveaway then!
It's with a lot of pride that I present my reader with gift and a little heartbroken too, as I was hoping to keep it LOL

 
                                       
  
{The giveaway}

Winner will receive 1

White Daisy Glycerin Soap Flower Handcrafted in a gift box

Valued at $6.05 from

Gingers-Garden


{The rules}

Use the rafflecopter form below. The first 2 entries are mandatory: You must leave me an email to reach you in case you win AND visit

Gingers-Garden

to tell me which item from her shop is your favorite .

Open to US residents ONLY (sorry!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
The giveaway will last 2 weeks and will end August, 2nd. Winner will be picked through Rafflecopter and contacted on August 3rd. 
Winner will have 72 hours to answer the email and claim the prize.


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Sunday, July 15, 2012

Weight update #1


I know some of you were waiting for, so here you go. 
I lost 1.5 lb BUT I think most of it has to do with the fact that I was sick with a stomach bug and unable to eat for 2 days straight. That's not the way I intend to loose weight! Still, any loss is good, now I have to be strong and don't fall into the trap or rewarding myself with food so to regain it and some. 

Speaking of food, I thought I'd share some recipes that I found on Pinterest that I tried and love. I hope you will too.
   

   

 
 

I love several things about these recipes: 
  • They are simple and quick to make
  • The ingredient don't usually cost and arm and a leg 
  • They required baking which it means that I can throw them in the oven and do what I need to get done in the mean while 
  • I can cook them in big batches which means that when I have that craving and urge for a greasy snack, I will have them handy 
  • They are tasty 
  • They don't contain too many caloriespost signature

Friday, July 13, 2012

Last day {Tidbits trinkets giveaway}


Click To Go Shopping 

Don't forget that we're running a very crafty giveaway HERE
If you have filled the rafflecopter form, remember that you 
can tweet every day and increase your chance to win :)
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Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Excercises for the thighs

I know it's time for a weight update, but truth to be told, I don't wanna stress myself checking my weight every week and such like a chore, but I promise to keep an eye on it and to share. 

Another area of my body that it's really bothering me is my thighs.....the fat and cellulite on it it's a massive quantity and I think it's also of my pear-shaped body type. I say this, because even when I was thinner, my legs are always been HUGE and I'm always been very self-conscious about them. After kids, even more so. 

 So, from all this, off I went in my quest for the best exercises for this part of my body when I stumbled upon this

  

I'm embarrassed to say that I've never hear of a inner thigh gap before and after a little bit of digging for info I realized with great mortification that it's because I NEVER had one. I should have known! My legs weren't only huge and fat, but they were different from all the other women's out there! Seriously, I wasn't never able to enjoy a skirt or a nice pair of shorts because the skin between my thighs would create friction and HURT.LIKE.HELL
 I know, I know. TMI. But if you're out there and have been plagued with my same problem, trust me my dear, you're not alone! 
Let's conquer that inner thighs gap together, shall we?? 
I know I have a looooooooooooong way to go, so only one set of exercises won't do it. So yesterday I entertained my thighs with the circuit above plus these: 
  
And these 
 
 and these
  
And when I was all done I tried this  
 Of course I couldn't finish it all and now I cry every time I have to go to the bathroom. 
But you get my point....I will conquer my inner thighs gap!!!! I WILL!!!!!!!!!
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Monday, July 9, 2012

First times

Sorry folks, ain't gonna share "those" first times, but wanted to share an awesome week end we had. 


Saturday after work we decided to hit the community pool like we do every night (when it's not raining that is) and I was very excited to see my son Gabriel swimming in deep waters and jumping too!! 
When we started going to the pool neither of my kids knew how to swim and while Michelle took about a week to master it, Gabriel took few months, but still I'm AMAZED by the progress he made!!! The dude didn't even want to get into water when he could touch with his tippy toes, just played safe in the kiddies part of the pool and now....he's a FISH and my daughter is a MERMAID


After the pool, we decided to go out for dinner. The kids wanted some fast food crappola while me and hubby wanted something nice. We ended up at Ruby Tuesday. 
 If you read my blog before, you probably read me saying that I would pay anything to see my son Gabriel eating a beef hamburger. $60 later, he decided to try the chop steak and found it delicious!!! That was a completely new food for him and with his sensory disorders is a huge step and the first time in 5 years!!!! WOOOHOOO. 

Sunday was another story. We woke up late but manage to catch the matinee at the theater to watch BRAVE. Can't wait for the DVD to come out as that is definitely a keeper! 


After that, we moved the fun to the bowling alley. We hadn't been bowling since Gabriel was 3 years old and my daughter just few months old, so it was definitely the first time for her.


Plus, I got to kick hubby's butt as I scored the most points.....and that's DEFINITELY a first! 

Also tried my very first Chobani yogurt...what can I say! I'm hooked! 

What amazing things you've done this past weekend?
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Friday, July 6, 2012

Neat giveaways


Click To Go Shopping 

Don't forget that we're running a very crafty giveaway HERE
If you have filled the rafflecopter form, remember that you 
can tweet every day and increase your chance to win :)

Click To Go Shopping  
if you'd like to win a 9 oz. Libre Original Tea Glass!

Click To Go Shopping Do you like comfy footwear? 
Then  
if you want to win a pair of Nature's Sleep Memory Foam Slippers
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Thursday, July 5, 2012

The nitty gritty

A couple of days ago I posted about my weight and my resolution in shredding some extra pounds and I was very pleased with the response I got from my post. 

Among the encouragements and the pats on my shoulders, I also got some very good ideas and few questions. 

My friend Krystal intelligently pointed out to take measurements of my body rather than focus only on my weight and I think that is a very smart idea. 
Last time I took measurements was a year and a half ago, so I guess it was about time!
So here you go, brace yourself! 
Bust: 38" 
Waist: 33" 
Hips: 43" 
Thigh: 24" 
Arm: 12" 

I basically gained 2 full inches in my middle section from last time and it was enough to bump me a size up! 
Grrrrrr. 

Also, I got requests about what kind of exercise I do or plan to do, so I thought I'd share some here. 
What I do every day is walking 10,000 step. I usually takes me about 45-60 minutes to do about 3 miles but I'm hoping to work my way up to 5 miles. For now I had to put a pin on running as I need very good running shoes that I can't afford and my shin splints are very painful. So, walking, power walking, is the best next thing. Now, the weather her it's been crazy raining and I do have 2 children to take care of, so I really have to cut my time out for it when hubby is home and it's not raining buckets. For the last week, I wasn't able to do it every day. Those are the times I wish I had a tread mill or an elliptical machine, so I can still get my cardio in, but it is what it is. 

 I also realized that even when I was fit and thin, I always had very weak arms, so weak that I was never good at doing push ups. I think in my best form, I was able to do 5 push ups. Pretty pathetic. Since I've been so lazy for so long, now it's even more pathetic. But I started working my arms with weights (that's why I took my arm measurement too) and little bit at the time I introduced my self to this routine
My idea here is not to get bulky, so I use 4 lb dumb bells. I'm able know to follow all the exercises except for the final push ups and I must confess that the leaning triceps extension make me cry all the time. But I bet if I do this routine once a week I will get there! 

 Also, there is this move that I do EVERY.SINGLE.DAY as soon as I wake up! It only take 30 seconds, it stretch my entire body and takes care of the "belly pouch". I've been seeing a big difference in my posture!

 

I also tried to join an abs challenge that consisted in 300 abs in 30 days.....I wasn't able to do even half of it that I felt too much pain, not to my abs as I was expecting, but to my back. Definitely not for me!! 

I'm not trying to say that the exercises where some how faulty, I'm just trying to make a point that there are a lot of routine and work outs out there but there is no-size-fits-all. The right exercises for you depend a lot on your shape and what you body can stand and I realize that for my abs I need to start from the very basic before getting in some fancy routine. Baby steps..... 

Next time, I will have more exercises to other body parts, those above are so far the things that I do and I've tried successfully! 

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Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Happy 4th of July!

Stay safe and dry! 

It's raining pretty bad over here, so we spent the day inside baking cookies!
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Sunday, July 1, 2012

My weight

Some of my followers might remember that I while ago I started a journey about losing some of my weight as a New year resolution. 

For those that don't remember, here is that very first post, where I was complaining about being 140 lb. 

After seven week, I was able to report a slow process that helped me loose 2 lb, read it HERE

Then it happened that I had to move to another house, I started working and lots of other changes and suddenly my weight wasn't a priority anymore. I figured that I was being active and that I would get healthier and I stopped keeping track of my intake. 

So, 1 year and half later, I'm 148 lb. 
Nope, I'm no kidding. 
See for yourself. 


I feel very ashamed and also angry about it. I walked my kids to school every day and added another hour of walking, taken tap dance classes, introduced my self to running, swimming and weight lifting and drank all the water I could during the day.
But nonetheless, something went wrong somewhere.
I think the emotional roller coaster of Gabriel school situation played a role in my emotional eating, but I'm no kidding my self, this is not excuse.
Yes, I did put on some muscles on arms and legs, but the middle part of my body it's another story and it comes only and purely from eating.

Here you go, I present you my belly rolls and my fat ass


I took and posted these pictures just as a motivation for an "after" better looking ones

(But I also wanted to show off my totally cool purple sport bra lol)
It's time for some crunches and I'd love to post daily a list of exercise that I'm taking in the hope that someone out there is willing to share the burdens and joy of this journey with me while I reach my goal of 130 lb (BMI=24.6) post signature
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