NYE

Can you believe 2011 is actually OVER?! What in the world?! It's gone by so fast. But honestly, I think life has gone by super fast in general the past few years. It seems like the older I get, the faster life moves ...  but anyway ...

If you're in the FB Weight Loss group - please fill out the documents so we can get started!

Hope you all have a fun & safe New Years Eve!!!

Okay ... the group is made

So here's the dealio:

I made the group. It's ready to go. I've also decided that I'm only going to accept members until December 31st. Just so we all have a starting point for one of the things I want us to do (but who am I kidding. If someone wants to join after that date, you are more than welcome to!).

On FB, my name is Rachel Orr Lesiw. Send me a message so I know your full name, and I'll add you to the group. 

See you there! (and by the way - I'm SUPER excited about this!!!)

Are You Being Serious?

Okay - so if you guys are being serious, I'll start a private FB group for Weight Loss. This is how it'll work. It'll be private. So that means NO ONE will know that you're in the group besides the ones that are already in there. It will NOT show up in your FB feed, so you don't have to worry about that either. 

I'll still be posting on my blog here (since I made this a commitment that I want to follow through on) but we can have more 'interaction' in the group. Do fun stuff each day ... activities ... check ins ... I think it'll be easier to be an 'active' participant. 

I'm not against the group I originally joined, but if any of you guys will join this one, then I'll quit the other one. It's SUPER huge. For reals. I kinda already feel lost and I don't know anyone else in the group. So it would be nice to have some 'friends' while I'm at it. 

So who's in? Let me know in the comments (you don't have to leave your full name, but just say if you're in so I kind of have an idea of who wants to join). Also - you HAVE to have a FB account for this, or it won't work. 

I'll make the group tomorrow, and then post tomorrow night when you can start being added. And just so you know, even if you haven't commented on here before .. or maybe you have once ... or maybe I don't even know you read this blog (which I know there are a ton more people who read than comment) but that doesn't matter. I want you to join. For reals. There's strength in numbers. And honestly, I need all the help I can get. It's nice knowing that I'm not doing this alone. 

OH yeah, and most importantly - we will NOT be posting actual weight. I'm not looking for humiliation, but I'll have other things we can do that will still show we're committed. 

Sound good? Who's in?

New Faces

So I joined a secret Weight Loss FB group. I can't tell you what it's called because I actually had to post my height/weight which as you all know, I.DON'T.DO.THAT. (them ladies in that group are hard core!) Anyway, I think there are a couple of 'spill overs' from the group - so if you see an unfamiliar face, that's how they found us. 

Anyway ... I'm still getting mentally prepared for January. I'm looking to make quite a few changes in my life, so hopefully it'll all come together for me. 

Anyway, I'm headed to bed. See you all tomorrow. 

nothing interesting to add ...

... hope you all are having a good day!

Another Christmas has come and gone

We stayed home and had a VERY relaxing day. So that was really fun. Just one more week to get pumped up for the New Year and all that I need to accomplish. I'm excited. I really am. 

Did you all have a great Christmas?

I ate so bad tonight ...

... and I loved every minute of it. 

Happy Christmas Eve everyone!

it's 1am

... and I just finished editing the session I did today. It was SOOOO incredibly fun and the couple is SOOOO super cute and fun and nice, so they made my job really easy. I don't think it's possible to make them look bad. So while I did see improvements in some of my photos, there are some other things that I'm seeing I really need to work on now. So that's encouraging too. I'm seeing progress, and that has to count for something, right? 

Anyway, here's a sneak peek of what I was able to capture today. 

Oh - and just so you know ... one of the things I need to work on, is what people are doing with their hands AT ALL TIMES. In the second photo - I noticed what I'm calling 'dead hand'. My friend had her hand resting between her and her fiance's leg ... in the shadows ... I didn't notice it when I was taking their picture ... but it's REALLY obvious to me now. So note to self: no more 'dead hand'. 

so excited

Tomorrow I have my first engagement photo session. I am SO excited! The couple is cute beyond words and I've totally mapped out some poses I want to try. Seriously, I'm SUPER excited. 

Oh - and I'm super glad that I'm starting back up again in January ... because mentally, I really need to get prepared! HA! But for reals ... I really do need to get mentally prepared. That's not just half the battle for me ... it's more like 80%.

The Plan

Okay ... so I think I have a general plan ... and I'm just going to tell you the 'work out' parts. 

On M/W/F (when the husband 'opens'), I'll go to the gym before I take the daughter to school in the morning (which isn't until 11am). 

On T/TH (when the husband 'closes'), I'll go to the gym in the evening. 

I'm going to go back to the Primal stuff and I'm just going to take a casual walk for an hour. This is NOT supposed to be high intensity. But because of that, I'm really hoping to get to the gym 5 days a week. In  my  mind, this should work. I usually schedule Dr Appts on T/Th since the daughter doesn't have school on those days .. and I try and do them in the mornings ... so again, that shouldn't 'throw' my schedule off since I'll be at the gym later in the day. Also, by going to the gym in the mornings on the days the Husband 'opens', it leaves the rest of the evening open to spend with him. So again ... no excuses. 

I do have to adjust my bedtime. No more can I have these 1-2am nights. I need to go to bed at midnight. Which this then limits my 'work time'. I need to do one last big SALE in my shop to try and get some funds in. That's slated for January (the actual date not yet determined). And then maybe I can do another big order with my one big account since I have so much left over from my failure craft fairs. The key will be to make it manageable. 

But I did decide that my 'health' will be first priority (when ranked against 'work'). I know I will see results when I start following the plan, so I just gotta get started ... but all the Holiday 'goodies' make it so tough ... 

... thank goodness January is almost here.

scheduling

I decided that I need to make a schedule of how a typical week will look for me. I want to make sure I set aside some time to go to the gym, and I also bought a food menu calendar thingy, which I hope to start using as well. 

So tomorrow that will be one of my goals. MAP OUT THE WEEK. 

I went grocery shopping today and stocked up on some good stuff. I also made the mistake of letting myself think that I would start January 1st ... which is bad, because now I mentally let myself indulge in things I probably shouldn't. Probably? Who am I kidding. I should NOT be eating some of the stuff I do .. but it's the holidays. And I really do love sugar cookies. 

Well ... it's all about baby steps, right? I'll check in tomorrow night with my new schedule. That's the plan, and I'm sticking to it!

New Week

I've been thinking a lot about the New Year's Resolutions I want to make .. I love doing it. I think it's super fun. So you'll probably hear a lot about them in the next few days.


But now I have to get to bed. I got a lot to accomplish this week ... and hopefully it'll all get done!

nothing new or exciting

I cleaned out the Playroom, cleaned out the kids closets and did some laundry. Pretty busy day. It's amazing what you can get done when the kiddos are gone. 

But I pick them up tomorrow and believe it or not, I'm actually really looking forward to it. The husband even said last night that he missed them (I know, so cute, right?)

So with that, I'm headed to bed. 

Christmas Came Early

Tonight we did an 'early' Christmas with my parents since they will be out of town this year. We had a great time, and as an added bonus, they took the kids to their house for the weekend. Whoo-hoo!

And on top of that, the husband and I went to Target and completed all the Christmas shopping for the kiddos. That felt pretty good. So I guess I'm all set. Well ... I still have to wrap everything ... oh - and we picked up the Christmas Cards and they're not THAT bad. They're not super great, but definitely not bad. 

Looks like things are starting to pick up!

just ordered really lame Christmas cards

I had our family pictures done back on November 12th so that I could get a jump on doing my Christmas cards. Well ... the photos arrived later than I expected and the only one I liked was of my parents. Took the kids out a couple of times to try and redo their pictures and I still didn't end up with anything I thought would make that 'perfect card' I was envisioning. 

I just spent a few HOURS trying to get a card made with the photos I had available (which I ended up trying to use 3 different photos then what I previous thought I'd use) because I had a discount code for the website. Once I FINALLY finished, I enter my code, and it doesn't work. It expired. 

Are you kidding me?

So I ended up just going to Walgreens.com and used a photo from one of the previous shoots and called it a day. What a complete waste of time. 

Seriously ... what is going on with this MONTH for me? It's so ridiculous that I almost find it funny. Keyword being 'almost'.

ugh

... I'm having major issues with my work stuff. I'm trying to do a little sale on FB and PayPal is making it really difficult ... as is my website. Kinda makes you wonder if you're just supposed to quit. 

*BIG sigh*

Its just been one of those days. 

yeah ... totally forgot last night.

I realized at some point today that I forgot to write last night. But it was a busy night (I was totally engrossed in a new book I got) and then this morning I had to get the kids to the doctor. So it just completely slipped my mind. 

Anyway, nothing too new. Having some issues with my website and that's frustrating ... and still kinda thinking about what my next 'business move' is going to be.

So I'm sorry this is kinda boring ... but that's just where I am right now. 

New Week

Okay - so it's a new week. I have a few things on the Calendar, but nothing too major. So that means I can get onto my next project ... which is purging the house ... and my office. Time to start getting rid of stuff! I'm really looking forward to this part as it's been a long time coming. 

And after we drop off the eldest child at pre-school, the younger one and I will be headed to the grocery store to get stocked up for the week. I really need to get back to being Primal. I miss it. I need to toughen up and not be so wussy around desserts and just practice some self-control. 

So here's to new week ... and getting back on track!

seriously?

You're never going to guess what happened ... 

There was a 'miscommunication' of sorts, and when I arrived at the Craft Fair ... they thought I wasn't coming, so they had given my space away. 

I know. Good times. 

So .... I'm headed to bed. It's been a long day.

interesting ...

You know, I thought this week was going to be 'easy' for me ... meaning, not busy. But quite the opposite has happened. Seriously ... it's been a bit crazy. 

Tomorrow I have one last Craft Fair. I know. I said I wasn't going to do any more but I had committed to this one a while ago. Plus, I have zero expectations on making money. Really ... it's more of an excuse to go meet up with one of my girlfriends who lives in that area (since she's going to stop by and see me). 

So with that, I'm headed to bed as I have to get up early tomorrow. 

G'night!

another disappointment

So my daughter had her first Christmas program for pre-school today and I while she looked incredibly adorable and sang SUPER well ... they had ZERO lights on during the performance except for one on stage. NO ONE could see their kid and I couldn't get ONE photo. I was SO annoyed. 

Man ... I'm just having zero luck lately!

today went by fast

... seriously. Like I can't believe how quickly it went ... 

So I guess I'm just going to head to bed. See you all tomorrow. 

where has the time gone?

It's crazy to me how quickly time is passing. It's now Wednesday. What in the world. The week is now half over. 

Anyway, nothing too excited to say - I have a bunch of stuff I need to take care of (scheduling things, etc) so I should get going. It's nice to not be busy doing my fabric stuff ... but I'm still busy doing other things. But I welcome the change. 

So with that I'm headed to bed. Got lots to do tomorrow.  G'night!

moving on

So while the Craft Fair was a dud ... the good news is that I don't have a ton on my plate now, so I can focus on other things. I need to do some sales to get some cash flowage coming in, but other than that ... I have some free time (although during this 'free time' I need to gut my house and completely re-organize and purge everything). I also have some more 'volunteer' photo sessions to do, so that's a welcome change to all the work stuff I've been doing. 

Also ... I want/need to get back to the gym. I think I'm going to take a few days to just decompress, and then it's back to it! January is approaching, which means 2012 is just around the corner ... which means a trip to Korea is hopefully in the plan as well! So it's time to get this weight-loss thing in motion. It's time to quit wasting time ... as I seem to have been doing. 

So with that, I'm headed to bed.

finally finished

It's over. THANK GOODNESS. But I'm SOOOO incredibly tired. So I'm headed to bed. My throat is feeling a bit scratchy still ... so I'm hoping I'm not coming down with something ... 

Anyway, goodnight - I'll see you guys tomorrow. 

no better

Yeah ... so today wasn't that much better ... just longer. Nothing like sitting for 10 hours at a dud of a craft show. But what ever. 

Fortunately tomorrow is MUCH shorter. I'll have time to come home, re-shoot some product and put it online. Oh well. Nothing like a 'challenge' to get the ole brain pumpin' with new ideas. 

I'm super tired, so I'm off to bed early. G'night!

wow. that was totally disappointing.

So the Craft Fair tonight was a total bust. For reals. It was so bad, we could do nothing but laugh about it. We have to report our sales total each day and I'm seriously considering writing 'this is not a joke' with an arrow pointing to my total.

Tonight pretty much confirmed that my product is not suited for craft fairs. Online sales and Children's Boutiques - yes ... craft fairs - a bit fat no. 

So with that, I'll be taking my tired self to bed as I have to leave at 8am for another 10 hours of Craft Fair fun. And just for the record ... this was not one of my best birthdays ever ... but we can't win them all, right?! (hahahahaha!)

it's 4am

... and I'm just now going to bed.

Wish me luck as my Craft Fair starts in 13 hours.

just a short break

So ... I get to take a break until 1am, and then I'm headed back to work. Thursday is my last 'full day' before the craft show and I have a LENGTHY list of what I need to accomplish. It will totally be a challenge since my daughter got a fever tonight (will this EVER end?!) and my sitter who was going to watch the kiddos for a couple of hours while I work got SUPER sick ... so I'm running solo ... and the husband is working late ... so ... yeah ... it'll be a crazy circus.

Wish me luck!