hawaii. worth giving up cookies for?

 ***my face is superimposed via photoshop.  if you couldn't tell, i laugh at you. and i think we should be best friends.***

i am officially counting down to our maui trip in t minus two & a half months, & part of this countdown includes thinking about how i should be watching what i eat a bit more.  a swimsuit in january doesn't bode well with my usual holiday gluttony.

these thoughts include stuff like, "ya know, maybe i shouldn't make four-dozen cookies for the third time in two weeks"  or, "late night DQ blizzard run?  we should probably go on a late night fruit-stand run instead."  i think about it, & then i laugh at how ridiculous i sound.  because who wants fruit when you can have an oreo cookie jar blizzard?  and who wants to eat healthy around the holidays?

i have been doing pretty good with the work outs.  stroller strides is getting me out of the house & making me sweat three times a week, & i'm liking it.  but when i come home & throw down a couple chocolate-chip pumpkin cookies, i may as well of been sitting on the couch eating bon-bons the whole time.

and when i say a couple, i mean, a-couple-every-time-i-walk-into-the-kitchen.

now here's my problem.  i don't want to stop eating this crap.  i like eating junk.  i love baking seasonal goodies, & i love going to get ice cream with my family.  it's fun.  i know that my work outs cancel out some of it, but seriously?  i don't want to put sam & myself on the fast track to diabetes.  i need to be healthier.  i need to set a precedence that will not lead parker into a life of childhood obesity.

so.  i'm a gonna be better.  i have got to break this sugar addiction, & i've got to do it for the right reasons.  my motto in life has always been, "everything in moderation.  including moderation."  i've gotta return to this.  sure, ice cream on the weekend should be fine.  because? a lifetime without ice cream isn't a life i want to live.  but ice cream on friday, ice cream & birthday cake saturday afternoon, a batch of cookies saturday night, repeat on sunday... isn't good.

i resolve to limit myself to one cookie after a meal, & indulge in a real dessert one day on the weekend.  starting.  right.  now.  

and bonus?  maybe i'll look alright in a swimsuit come january.  and maybe i won't have to superimpose my head onto girls with better bodies than me.  maybe.

this has been no-mom-talk-monday.  hit the badge & link up at "live beautiful" with your post that leaves the kiddie-talk out.  moms are people too!



maybe you could vote for me?  we're only thirty votes from the top ten now.  amazeballs.

meet amy wang + a photo challenge

here is today's piece of "no-mom talk monday" random bit of trivia.

wang is my nickname.  well, "amy wang" is my nickname.  the nickname was actually given to me by some of sam's friends from high school before we were even officially dating & it's stuck ever since.  sam calls me "amy wang", "wang", or "wang sue" at least two or three times a day.  we have friends that definitely call me "wang" more than "amy".  i won't go into too many boring details about the specifics of how this name came about, but it does involve me looking asian.  no, seriously.  i've been asked by at least four different people under different circumstances if i was part asian.  no, seriously.

in fact, the most notable time was when sam was visiting me at my parent's & he was playing basketball with a group of guys i had gone to high school with.  one of them, whom i didn't know very well, came up to me & said, "are you kim nishimoto's sister?"  i said, "kim nishimoto??  no!  she's japanese!!"

thus, the nickname.  but, for the record... i'm not asian.  and now you know.

if you feel like letting the world know a little more about you that doesn't involve your mom-hat, hit the badge above & link up with courtney's no mom-talk monday.

now for the paper mama's photo challenge
this week's challenge is "black & white."

meet dominoe.  best. dog. ever.  when we had to put dominoe down two years ago, i had had him as my dog longer in my life than not.  meaning, i got him as a puppy when i was twelve, & he lived to be thirteen.  thirteen years of my life were spent loving & caring for this guy.

he was my 4H dog for four years.  he went to college with me.  he was adopted by sam & came with me in my new home when i got married.  but then he got old, he got weak, & he got to where life was harder for him than it should have to be.  so we had to say goodbye.

this picture was taken about a month before we put dominoe down.  it's pretty obvious that right up to his last day, despite all his aches & pains, he was a super happy dog.  i still miss this guy.

but i figure, what better subject for a black & white photo than my favorite black & white spotted little guy?

if ya feel like playin' along with your own black & white photo, hit the badge above & link up!



if ya feel like showin' us a little love, hit the badge & vote. we love ya for it!

hair today, gone tomorrow.

 i've talked before about how much i have been wanting {coveting} a nice camera.  like, here & here & here.  but anyone who has ever entertained the idea of buying a dslr knows there's a little more to it than just running out to your local one-stop shopping mart & picking one up.  it's smart to do a little research & figure out what one fits your needs, & how much you should invest in it.  because it's definitely an investment.

ok, what i'm getting at here in a very long drawn out way {let's not beat around the bush any longer, ok?} is that they're expensive.  right?  there, i've said it.  and sam & i just don't have the income that we used to since going from two full time incomes to one + my two-days-a-week income.  so i am pinching pennies.  pinching pennies where i can, & changing the way we're doing things around here.  this includes, planning meals much more efficiently, less weekend traveling, & spending less of my budgeted disposable income.

but oooooh, it will be worth it.

unless of course my plans for today go horribly wrong.  you see, i usually spend a ridiculous amount on getting my hair cut & colored.  i don't consider myself a high-maintenance type girl (what girl does?), but i do love a good hair job.  having a good cut & color can honestly put an extra little spring in your step, can it not?  but my hair costs are definitely an area where i could stand to benefit from some savings.  so, i am saving.  so much so, that my hair has grown way longer than it has been for years, & the horribly dark roots & gangly ends are evidence of that.

this weekend i took care of the length & nasty split ends problem & got a cheap trim at mastercuts.  no complaints there.

but here's where it gets scary.  i'm dying my hair myself tonight from out of a box.  what i usually pay almost $100 for, i am substituting with a $7 bottle of dye from fred meyer.

here's my "before" picture. 

and, i'm going darker.  back to my roots, folks.  at least for now.  it should be fun mixing it up, right? RIGHT?  i'm sure i'll be thanking myself when that beautiful nikon strap is hanging around my neck. 

"after" pictures should be posted tomorrow.  i'm hoping for the best.  wish me luck!

oh look!  this was a no baby talk post.  that's because it's "no mom talk monday" ya'll.  to check out other blogs who are ditchin the baby talk today, hit the badge above.  mom's are people too!



and to vote to keep us on the first page at top baby blogs, hit the brown badge above! i promise to love you forever.  pinky swear. 

will all the other weirdos please stand up

sometimes i wonder if i portray myself correctly on this blog.  it's hard for those reading it to see how much time is spent taking tons of pictures of which i only like one or two, & then even those are edited in photoshop.  a blog can so easily be used to frame this image of someone that isn't real... to make our lives look like the way we wish they were.

i think i'm pretty forthcoming in my blog about who i really am, but it occurred to me that in my everyday life i do some really weird stuff, & i'm wondering if i'm the only one.  so here are some random facts about me.

1.  i hate getting out of the shower.  so much that i have to force myself to get out by counting down from thirty to zero every single time.  when i reach zero, i make myself shut off the water without thinking about it.  if i didn't do this, i would probably spend all day under the hot steamy water.

2.  i hate getting in the shower.

3.  after i hit publish on a blog post, i re-read it.  then i'll edit it, fixing typos, wording, grammar, etc. & then re-publish.  then i do it again.  i probably do this at least four or five times with each post.

4.  i am not at all photogenic.  not. at. all.  however, i have decided that i have a "good side" & will strategically stand showing that side when pictures are taken.  ever notice that all my pictures show the right side of my face?  not a coincidence.  the picture seen above is of my "other side."  now you know why i stick to the right side.

5.  i hate getting ready for bed.  hate it.  i will stay up an extra hour or two past the point of tiredness just because i don't want to go get ready for bed.  taking out contacts, washing my face, brushing my teeth... blech.  all of it.  i've realized i need to force myself to go get ready for bed way before my bedtime, & then i stand a chance of actually going to bed at a decent hour without putting it off.

6.  i have nightmares about slugs.  i went to school & majored in wildlife ecology so you'd think i'd be ok with all sorts of creepy crawly things.  i even worked for the forest service studying newts & salamanders where i had to reach under rotten wood, pick them up, & measure them.

but to this day, i have a reoccuring nightmare about slugs.  i literally had this dream last night.  they were congregating in my house, & then when i started picking them up {with tissue of course} to throw them out they slithered in all different directions.  i am seriously getting creeped out with goosebumps as i type this.

7.  i don't like snails either.  they're just slugs with shells.  creepy.

8.  i am ocd about my handwriting.  when i was in junior high, high school, & college i spent many hours experimenting with writing letters all different ways until i had a style i liked.  my handwriting is a bit different, & now sam calls it my "hieroglyphics." 

9.  i, like most girls, wish i had more clothes.  but i hate shopping.  i am really trying to get better at it, & seeing so many different styles on the blogosphere has helped give me some ideas, but i totally admire people with an innate sense of style & fashion.  color me jealous.

10.  i'm having a really hard time thinking of a number ten, but i really feel like this list should go to at least ten.  no?  ok then, i'm done.

this has been no mom talk monday.  thanks for stopping by!


if you wouldn't mind voting on your way out, i'd be much obliged.  muchos gracias.

if only i could bottle this feeling

the post-workout feeling.

why why WHY do i put off a daily work out?  never ever have i left the gym, or come home from a run saying, "man, i really wish i had just stayed at home in my pajamas a bit longer instead." 

i made it to spinning tonight.  it felt so good.  but it is still so hard to get there.  the logistics of having parker fed at the right time, combined with sam getting home in time, combined with me having the energy to run out the door as soon as sam walks in has made for a lack of making it to my favorite classes lately.  but i did it tonight.  and oh-em-gee it felt good.

this week i am setting more goals.  i'm upping the ante & am shooting for four, count 'em f-o-u-r work outs this week.  can it be done?  uh, yeah.  pretty sure it's possible.  will i do it?  only time will tell.  but i'm feeling pretty good & am feeling pretty motivated.  which brings me to my next question...

what fuels you?

what pushes you out the door when you'd rather surf the 'net?  what leads you to strapping on your runners when you'd rather stay cozied up on your couch?  there are a few things that i absolutely crave about a good work out, & they are:

-the sense of accomplishment after i'm done.  it's sad to look forward to being done with something before it begins, but that post-workout rush is really hard to beat.

-the endorphins that are pumped through your veins during a work out.  music is pumping, sweat is dripping off your face, muscles are quivering... that feeling beats a comfy couch.  

-a good soundtrack.  unless i'm running with a friend, good music is a must.  anything that makes me run faster & push harder.  i have a whole list of 'em.

-the way i feel on a daily basis when i am consistently working out.  i find myself sleeping better, eating better, having more energy, fitting better in clothes, much less stressed, & feeling overall... ummm, better.

so, what fuels you?

 

are you asking where all my mommy talk went tonight?  this was my first no-mom-talk-monday post, hosted by courtney over at live beautiful.  don't worry, i'm sure parker will be making an appearance again tomorrow.  and probably the next day, & maybe even the next day.



know what you could do today?  and the next day?  and maybe even the next day?  vote!  ya know... if ya wanna...