Hope everybody has a wonderful 4th of July!
I painted my nails as flags.
We grilled some burgers. And watched movies.
I got a little sunburn!
I went to the gym to run my virtual 5k! I did it on the treadmill so much fun!
It was nice to have another 5k to do. I tried to find one in the area with no luck. I finished it in 38minutes 12seconds!
We went to Boston. While it was a ton of fun, I'm glad to be home. The best part was seeing my sister, since the last time I saw her was dad's funeral, almost 3 years ago. Now driving around here, drivers seem to be good drivers compared to how bad they are there.
I will post more about my vacation later.
Hey y'all! I'm Hayley from Blue Eyed Blonde. I haven't blogged over there in a while, but I'm trying to get back into it. I was excited when I was asked to write this guest post.
I graduated from college last year with a Bachelors of Fine Arts Photography, and I'm in the process of setting up my own photography business in Northeast Florida. I have shot a few engagement sessions, and a few sessions of my nieces. If you gave me a choice of anything to photograph, I'd pick landscapes. They are so beautiful to me and I could spend the rest of my life photographing nature and landscapes. I also have an obsession with taking pictures of buildings, especially old ones (I get this from my dad).
Here's some of my work, and keep an eye out at www.hayleyzipperer.com. I'm working on getting it up and running! I hope you like them!
Engagement Shoot, Jacksonville, FL, 2011
Engagement Shoot, Orlando, FL, 2011
Burgess Falls, Tennessee, 2010
Big Talbot Island, Jacksonville, FL 2009
Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right.
Henry Ford
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
Oscar Wilde
I shall pass through this life but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness I can show, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it. For I shall never pass this way again.
Etienne de Grellet
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
J.K. Rowling
The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.
Ayn Rand
When life gives you lemons, cut them in half and squirt life in the eye!
Author Unknown
Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.
Groucho Marx
When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, a hundred.
Thomas Jefferson
So the last time I participated in Mental Health Monday, I talked about my anxiety.
This past week I haven’t taken my medicine, mainly because I forgot. I had renewed my prescription, but it never made it to the bathroom, so I didn’t remember to take it while getting ready for work.
I haven’t had any anxiety problems in a long time so I didn’t think not taking it would matter. Then I started feeling weird about Thursday. I was waking up feeling exhausted. Saturday, all I wanted to do was sleep. I went to the gym on Thursday, but didn’t really do much. I started on a machine and after a couple of minutes didn’t want to do it. So I went to another machine, after a couple of minutes, was sick of it. So I decided to do weights, did a couple exercises in that and didn’t feel like continuing. So I decided to get on a stationary bike and read while waiting for Yoga. After a couple of minutes was sick of that and decided to go home instead.
My fiancé made a comment that I deemed depressed. I didn’t feel depressed just tired. Though, it did prevent me from doing things I like to do, like working out and yoga. So I took my medicine and looked up withdrawal symptoms online, and sure enough they matched. After resting for a little bit, I started to feel better and like myself again.
I’m terrified of becoming addicted to anything. In college I was on Lexapro for a while then my friend psyched me out about becoming addicted to it I stopped taking it. These withdrawal symptoms scare me, I don’t want to have to be on medication forever. I will talk to my doctor about it at my next appointment.
It’s like my professor once said, “I wouldn’t want to be addicted to something I have to have first thing in the morning and last thing before going to bed.” Now, he was talking about cigarettes, but that’s how I feel about anything. I never want to be dependent on a substance. Anytime I think I might be, I cut myself off from it.
Please go enter my giveaway!
How can a society that exists on instant mashed potatoes, packaged cake mixes,
frozen dinners, and instant cameras teach patience to its young?
~Paul Sweeney
Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you and scorn in the one ahead.
~Mac McCleary
Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them -- every day begin the task anew.
- Saint Francis de Sales
If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation.
- Jiddu Krishnamurti
Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. it's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.
- Barack Obama
The secret of patience is to do something else in the meantime.
CROFT M. PENTZ, The Complete Book of Zingers
Still plenty of time to enter to win a gift certificate to Bead Eclectic!
According to my calendar, today is Mother’s Day in pretty much South America. I found a recipe for Ferrero Rocher cupcakes, so thought this would be a perfect opportunity to make them.
I first attempted these Sunday night, and they were a disaster. I used this recipe to being with and it wasn’t pretty.
So I tried again last night. This time I used just a chocolate cupcake recipe with a dash of hazelnut syrup. The original recipe called for hazelnut extract, which could only be found online and I didn’t want to wait for it to get here. I was at World Market and saw Hazelnut Syrup and decided to give it a try. I used the sugar free syrup, no Calories! Winning.
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
Dash of hazelnut syrup
Once the cupcakes were cool, I cut a cone out of the top and filled with Nutella.
The Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache Recipe
1/2 c heavy cream
8 oz good semi-sweet chocolate chunks
2 T light corn syrup
2 t hazelnut syrup
Heat the cream on the stove until it boils. Pour over the chocolate and stir to melt, adding the corn syrup and hazelnut syrup.
I drizzled the ganache over the cupcakes and sprinkled hazelnut pieces on top. Delicious!
Please go enter my giveaway!!
Losers make promises they often break. Winners make commitments they always keep.
If you make the unconditional commitment to reach your most important goals, if the strength of your decision is sufficient, you will find the way and the power to achieve your goals.
if you don't make a total commitment to whatever you're doing, then you start looking to bail out the first time the boat starts leaking. it's tough enough getting that boat to shore with everybody rowing, let alone when a guy stands up and starts putting his jacket on.
There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstance permit. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.
There are only two options regarding commitment. You're either in or out. There's no such thing as a life in-between. ~ Pat Riley
I thought commitment would be a good theme this week as it is something I am struggling with right now. I haven’t been to the gym this week. And I really need to make a commitment to working out and eating better if I ever want to lose weight. I had told myself I was going to make May a great month and go to the gym all the time, so far hasn’t happened at all. So I really need to re-commit myself to the gym.
There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want. -Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes
Be like a duck. Calm on the surface, but always paddling like the dickens underneath.
Michael Caine
End each day with thoughts of peace. Begin each day with thoughts of peace. Continue thinking thoughts of peace throughout your precious day and happiness will be yours.
After a stressful drive to the gym for yoga, I decided I needed to calm down and be peaceful on the way to yoga. so I slowed down and not let the other driver’s bother me. I tried listening to slow music to help calm me. Then a song came on that made me smile. I realized then that calmness doesn’t just come from slow and quiet, it just being happy and enjoying the moment.
Time is running out to enter my giveaway. You have until 7PM Central, tomorrow evening. Pandora will be picking the winners. I’m pretty sure she can be bribed with cat treats. I will announce the winners on Tuesday! Go Enter!
Monday
Mental Health Monday, Introduction to my Anxiety
Tuesday
Sometimes the best thing you can do is calm down and breathe.
Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
Thursday
Inspirational Thursday
Friday
We celebrate Earth Day, but not just once a year!
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Go enter my Giveaway! You could have a gorgeous necklace made by moi!
Happiness
Who is blind? He who can see no other world.
Who is dumb? He who can say nothing pleasant about his lot.
Who is poor? He who is troubled with too many desires.
Who is rich? He who is happy with his lot.
- Indian Proverb
The purpose of life is not to be happy – but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all.
- Leo Rosten, American teacher and humoristHappiness is not a destination. It is a method of life.
- Burton Hills
So, I have decided there will be two winners for my giveaway! So go enter! You’re odds just improved! This could be yours:
So as I lay in bed last night, I got thinking about what a friend told me. She said I need to calm down. She told me this after telling her all the crafty ideas I have and want to complete.
Last night I realized she was right. I get an idea and get really excited about it. I love making jewelry, and spend at least $60 each time I order supplies. I got the idea to make a dress for my friend’s wedding, since it’s at Ren Fest. Since I’ve never sewed that much I decided I needed to start smaller with shirts and skirts. This weekend I bought about 15 patterns and some fabric. Though the patterns were only $.99, no way I would have spent $20 for a pattern.
At the end of last week I was exhausted. And I realized I was pushing myself too hard at the gym. I ran three days in a row, had yoga on Thursday, so when I wanted to run again Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I was just too worn out. Every training schedule I’ve seen says to run every other day. So I’m changing to that, they will be the days I do strength training. And walk longer after running, before going to strength training. I did this last night, and already noticed a difference.
So really I just need to realize, I’m not superwoman.
I found this great blog hop hosted by WordsinSync, Mental Health Monday.
For as long as I can remember, I have had some degree of anxiety. When I was real young, about elementary school age, I would have a hard time sleeping because of it. When I would lay in bed at night, if I thought of an item and wonder where it was, I could not fall asleep until I had gotten out of bed and physically touched that item.
Middle school and high school the anxiety never really bothered me. Then in college, I was in the marching band. Everyday we had practice I would pack everything I needed and head out the door. Several times during the day while walking between classes I would have to stop to check I had everything.
In the work force, I have this slight anxiety that I have to do everything correctly the first time. But last year I had the worst anxiety ever. My neighbor is a selfish jerk, and would be super loud everyday having sex. After listening to this for a couple of months, my anxiety got really bad. Everywhere I went, if I heard the slightest creak, I would tense up, expecting it to be them. I also couldn’t fall asleep at night, expecting to hear them any second. One night I texted my friend, how badly I wanted to fall asleep but was scared to.
I had several anxiety attacks during work. It was so hard to breathe and just felt like I was going to cry. Focusing on something at work, and getting my mind off of it helped a little. The first medication the doctor put me on made this attacks more frequent. I suffered on that medication for about a month, then she had the brilliant idea to put me on medication with more anxiety fighter. Researching the first med, one of the side effects was anxiety.
I’ve gone to the doctor and gotten medication now that seems to be helping. It helps that the neighbors are being fairly quiet which probably helps the most. I’ve been trying to go to the gym regularly and doing yoga.
Go enter my giveaway.
Monday
Spotted a mistake in Hot Tub Time Machine (Besides the fact that it was made to begin with)
Tuesday
I can’t stand people that go to the gym just to be seen.
Wednesday
I’m trying to turn into a runner, who’d have thought it! I used to despise running more than anything
Thursday
Inspirational Thursday. Relaxation and calming in Yoga.
Friday
I had nothing, so just random thoughts that popped in my head.
Don’t forget to enter my giveaway! One week left.
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Please enter my giveaway.
You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.
~Author Unknown
Through the practices of yoga, we discover that concern for the happiness and well being of others, including animals, must be an essential part of our own quest for happiness and well being. The fork can be a powerful weapon of mass destruction or a tool to create peace on Earth.Sharon Gannon
Earlier this week I read an article on yahoo about what yoga teacher would tell you. And one of the things was that you should get in a yoga state of mind before getting to class. Now, I go to yoga straight from work, and there’s horrible drivers on the road. Last week I got road rage horrible on the way to yoga. I mused to myself I was like yelling stuff like “Hurry up, some of us are late to yoga”. At least I saw the irony in it. I need to work on my yoga state of mind as I drive.
Go enter my my giveaway for a gorgeous necklace made by moi!
Do I have never been a runner. I used to loathe running like no other. In elementary school, I used to wish I had asthma just so I wouldn’t have to run. Also, we had to run every a distance depending on your grade, 6th grade was a mile, that the teacher called the long run. We called it the long walk. In high school, I picked a PE class where there wouldn’t be a lot of running, Net Sports (which was volleyball, badminton, and tennis).
Before recently, I had only ever run a mile straight once. That was in college and only cause I had my friend next to me the entire time encouraging me. I’m not exactly sure when it happened, but at one point since graduating college, I have decided that I want to be able to run a 5k.
In 2009, I decided to do the couch to 5k program. I lasted a week and half. But I had a good reason. There was a creepy guy I talked to one day and so then after that I didn’t want to run into him again so I didn’t go to the gym.
A couple months ago while waiting for yoga class, I was on the treadmill and set it to –3 incline and was able to run a mile. I was so excited since I hadn’t been running or anything. So now I am working my way up to 0 incline and beyond. I was able to do a modified version of Iowa Girl Eats run. I used my negative incline, slowed it down, and did it half the time. But I was able to run 30 minutes straight, 2.5 miles. It was amazing
Monday.
Posted the details of my giveaway. Go enter it!
Tuesday
Spring is here! First Spring storm of the year
Wednesday
Pennies from Heaven
Thursday
Inspirational Thursdays
Friday
My exploration of nail polishes.
Since Thursday I do Yoga, I have decided I will post inspirational quotes.
The yoga mat is a good place to turn when talk therapy and antidepressants aren't enough.
~Amy Weintraub
Yoga has a sly, clever way of short-circuiting the mental patterns that cause anxiety.
~Baxter Bell, quoted in "Worry Thwarts," Yoga Journal, March 2006
I especially love this second quote because it’s so true. I have really bad anxiety, pretty much my whole life, but has gotten worse in the last year or so.Yoga helps relieve this anxiety and always makes me feel great.
Enter my Giveaway!!
