10 pounds!

I forgot to weigh myself before coffee this morning, so the 10 pounds off even reflects the weight of two giant cups of coffee. And two days after Thanksgiving! Feeling really great. Even ate 2 cookies last night without craving more. Made a total of 4 batches of cookie dough. Baked off some samples for Jack, but made them small and I didn't even finish either cookie, I just wanted to taste.

Felt my throat chakra open this morning, which has been a goal for about a year now. Very excited about that as well.

Feeling festive today - decorating and building fence. Put up the tree yesterday and decorating it today. LOVE long weekends!!

Here's what I look like now:

8 pounds in 5 weeks!

Really feeling great. Renewing relationship with collarbone, hip bones, ribs. Occasionally feel vulnerable, exposed, having bones so close to the surface, as if someone could break them, but my core has heated up to melt off the excess. Watched Biggest Loser last night. One woman lost 10 pounds in ONE week. I have no idea how that is possible.

Home all day. Nibbled WAY too much, BUT finished the day off with the longest treadmill session ever. And I wasn't even connecting the two. I just wanted to go for two miles on an incline. 62 minutes and I am psyched. My knees are a little sore, but I was not ridiculously out of breath at all. I kept it slow to make sure I'd get there. Someone commented we might go back to Washakie Falls in the Spring and I want to be ready. A mile here and there won't cut it.

I plan to look much different the next time we do this:

Me, Carlie and Jackie, mid-hike. October 3, 2008

Invented new dessert today with my new best friends stevia and cool whip.
Add cinnamon, nutmeg and stevia to raw pumpkin. Stir. Fold in cool whip to desired consistency. Yum.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I'm not worried at all. We are headed to the mountain with a Dutch oven dinner and a romantic meal that cooks while we hike and cut down our Christmas tree. Life is good.

Galvanizing, 555

I can't believe how excited I am. I love getting on my treadmill, finding creative ways to eat well and feeling liberated from the prison of compulsive eating. My compulsion now is reading weight loss tips and success stories online. I feel vibrant, happy to meet the scale and energized to meet life's challenges. I am so glad I asked Annalaiya for a blend to help me over the hump. It is making all the difference. I look forward to meeting my bones and true frame. It is like encountering family I've never seen before!

Cory to come

101 things to do in 1001 days

9/1/08-5/30/2011
Bold=done

TO DO:

For me:
Take an art class
Take a writing class (12/10/08)
Unblock creativity
Walk 10 miles per month (19/330)
Try insulin resistance diet for two weeks (5 months as of Jan 2010)
Swim at least once per month (9/33)
Have a massage once a year (0/3)
Have acupuncture once a year (20/3)
Submit something for publication
Hike the desert side of Sinks Canyon (8/29/10)
Go snowmobiling in Wyoming
Go horseback riding 8 times (8/8)
Clean out clothes twice a year (5/5)
Organize my earrings
Learn a magic trick
Buy some art (12/7/08 - Christmas present from Jack)
Go to ACRL (attending virtually)
Watch Casablanca
Get a tribal lands pass
Journal every week's events (0/142)
Participate in a local walk/run event
Spend less than 5 hours a day on the computer including work
Take a picture of myself once a month
Blog once a week (32/142)
Get a pedicure every Spring (2/2)
Go to church once a month (9/33)
Hike to Popo Agie falls (June 2010)

For us:
Take Sluggo to obedience class
Help Jack record at least five poems (3/5)
Ride into the wilderness
Fly over the Wind Rivers
Create a calendar with all relevant birthdays on it
Draft a 'what if one of us dies' plan with Jack

For the house:
Insulate the wall
Hang curtains in bedroom
Get an alternative heat source
Plant lupines
Plant delphinium
Plant columbine
Move irises
Make/get a headboard
Grow herbs in the kitchen
Replace carpet
Replace linoleum
Vaccuum once a week (3/142)

For the planet:
Replace light bulbs with better ones
Attend farmer's market
Post something on freecycle
Give blood

TO GET:
Get a laptop
Get an mp3 player
Get wireless headphones
Get new sneakers

TO GIVE:
Choose 10 Christmas presents from Etsy (3/10)
Tithe to charities once per month (2/33)ie, food bank, Grady Grossman school, One Stop Center
Have Jenna overnight every 6 weeks (4/25)
Write four letters to Kimmy
Write to Hailey and Cole four times each(6/8)
Write Christmas letters (2/3)
Send birthday cards
Make a blurb cookbook for Jack (he doesn't want one)
Buy Christmas presents for children in need
Update Jack's website (he doesn't want to)
Make a family tree for Adam's family
Support Kimmy monthly (10/15)

TO VISIT:
Attend a play (Church Basement Ladies with Anne)
Visit the Nicolaysen Museum
Visit the Wildlife Art Museum
See a friend outside of work once per month (9/33)
Visit Maine twice (2/2)
Go to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center (2/14/09)
Have Jack and Robin over
Go to Kansas City 3 times (3/3)
Celebrate a wedding anniversary at the Old Faithful Inn
See Maggie
Go to Moccasin lake

TO MAKE:
Make an afghan (in process)
Make Ciara a quilt (12/25/09)
Make a photo calendar
Frame 4 of my photos
Put family photos up (2010)
Write a short story
Finish the mystery novel
Fill one notebook per month (0/33)
Make braided rug kit

TO PAY:
Pay off the dentist
Save a quarter a day (3/1001)
Pay off F&M
Build $1,000 emergency fund
Sell something on ebay for everything I buy there (0/3)
Stay current on bills
Bring lunch to work 3x week (9/426)

My daybook

I am wearing My favorite jeans, a black top and ratty sneakers.

I am reading all sorts of things, as usual. Death du Jour by Kathy Reichs and Finding Your Writer's Voice by Thaisa Frank and Dorothy Wall. Listening to a Laura Lippman.

I am hearing my husband's soft snore and my dog munching.

Learning all the time about embracing my true self.

I am thankful Jack was able to come home for a visit.

I am hoping for a perfect transition into the next phase of our lives.

From the kitchen Jack made the most amazing hamburger buns last night. However (not unfortunately) my kitchen will no longer be housing any grains. I am trying an insulin resistance diet plan. Because my doctor said to and my intuition chorused a big "Hallelujah."

I am creating, period.

Bringing beauty to my home with fresh herbs in the kitchen.

Around the house, we are planning a fall overhaul: Rip out walls, install insulation; rip up flooring and see if we have hardwood floors.

Outside my window the day is clouding. Just like my mood, since I am now counting the hours until I won't see Jack again for a month.

I am thinking about my mother.

A few plans for the rest of the week...None. Write. Plan a new way to eat. Live each day a little more mindfully than the last. Maybe do some laundry. :)

Meme

1. What did you do 10 years ago?
I had just graduated from college and was falling in love for the first time. I know I wore my favorite white blouse for our first date, but I can't remember where we went. I was also working 3 jobs that summer before starting grad school.

2. Five items on your to-do list:
- Put pictures up on Jack's website
- Write
- Paint the kitchen
- Dust
- Get off the internet and GO TO BED

3. Snacks I enjoy:
Nuts (I accidentally wrote buts. whoops), apples, ice cream, chips and salsa.

4. What would you do if you were a billionaire?
I have thought this through so many times, with so many levels of money (what would I do with $100,000? $500,000? $10,000,000, etc.), but unlimited dough is the hardest. Once the debts were paid, I'd create charities and HIRE A MAID. Then my husband would reinstate his pilot's license and we'd get a plane. And a house here and one in Maine. Now I will go to bed and dream about this. Wait, one more.

5. Places I would live:
Right now the only place on the list is right where I am. Lucky me.
I probably could adjust to life near either of our families, but life here suits me.
Of course, there is always the stone cottage in Dingle, Ireland.