Mom's Christmas Present 2012

Every year, I always contemplate if I am going to make Christmas presents and every year, I decide at the last minute I want to do so which means scramble knitting for most of November-December.  I've been fortunate in I normally get most of it done. This is the first year I actually didn't finish EVERYTHING in time but part of that is because I fell and messed up my hand pretty bad at beginning of December.  So, I learned if I am going to do Christmas knitting, I should probably start in October. (grin)

A couple of years ago at Maryland Sheep & Wool, I bought some beautiful tonal brown yarn for my mother.    I really loved this yarn and plan to buy more.  It felt like glass going through my hands and the colors are not justified in pictures.  It's Miss Babs Northumbria Fingering BFL (Blue-Faced Leicester, a breed of sheep) in this gorgeous color called Winter Forest. You can find her yarn here:  http://www.missbabs.com/

I had originally thought to make a pair of socks, but after decided this yarn is way way too beautiful and luxurious to be put into a pair of shoes.  I lucked out in finding a gorgeous and easy pattern which would show off the variations in the browns but didn't lack a lovely pattern.  Also, I was a fan of this pattern because it involves a button so it can be worn multiple ways without really trying too hard.  And, honestly, the name attracted me more than anything because it screamed "Yes! I'm great for evening knitting!" 

The pattern I chose is called Lazy Day Shawl by Mary Keenan (ravelry link: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lazy-day-lace-shawl).  This pattern is very very simple, easy to remember so you don't need to look at the pattern for every row and honestly, would be a great beginner shawl.  It's smaller so you don't need a ton of yarn (I didn't even use a full skein).  I could go on and on but then, I might bore you...

So, that is one project completed in 2012!  

Part Deaux-catch up blog for 2012!

Good Day my lovelies!

Part 2 of the catch up blog! yay!

So, where were we? Oh, yes, we were discussing the weight loss thing.

I've had quite a few questions over the last couple of years of how I did it.  So, here is a list of my tricks that I used to help  myself.  These will not work for everyone, but might help you think of your own tricks!

1. Pick which meals are the most important to you.

This might sound really, well, damn strange, but in reality it is the truth.  For some people EVERY meal is   important.  For others, they don't care about breakfast but love a big lunch.  Some want to just have a large breakfast and snack throughout the day.  I don't really care which way you do it, but pick out your favorite eating schedule.

2. Pick out which foods you absolutely love and cannot live without.

Again, what?? You want me to admit to my favorites? Hell, I'll help you get started! Pizza, steak, hamburgers, mashed potatoes and chocolate are on my list. 

3. How can you keep your favorite foods around?

"Okay, this girl is crazy. She is tellling me I can eat pizza and chocolate?"Yes, yes I am. How? Moderation.  So, to start off I LOVE pizza. I could eat it every day, obviously, this is a bad idea, so I switched in what form I ate pizza.  Hot pockets, the small cheap frozen pizzas, ordering a personal pizza instead of a large, or a calzone. It limits the amount of pizza I have available and therefore, cannot eat too much.  Also, I eat dessert every day. Yes, every day because it is THAT important to me to make sure I keep calories around for my sweets.

4. Omg, I'M STILL HUNGRY?? Now what?

Pick something else to eat. You don't really need anymore pizza, you really need a salad or some fruit or even yes, the piece of chocolate. Food is something you need to sustain yourself, not to gorge upon.  Once you have gone more than 3-5 bites into a certain type of food, you're just eating it, not savoring it.  Enjoy another food.

5. Use a calorie counting program.

Yes, count your calories. You will have 0 idea how  many calories are in the whole pizza until you see it in black and white.  It's eye opening. It will also help you appreciate how much 1000 calories v 500 calories is in the long run.  Also, once you start cutting things in half, it will all add up to pounds lost without exercise.

6. Tricks for eating out:

    1. Order appetizers-they're usually smaller portions and way better priced. Help your wallet too!
    2. Cut all your food in half, separate into 2 meals on plate.  Eat half of one meal, stop, wait 10 min.
    3. After 10 min, start to work on the other half of your meal making sure to listen to your stomach.
    4. Once your stomach tells you to stop, look at your food. Remind yourself of how much you have    eaten.
    5. Ask for a box, box up the other half of the meal, and immediately place your napkin & any table trash on plate.

Obviously, eating out will vary especially with sharing appetizers. Just make sure to count them towards your meal and remind yourself you don't need to eat a whole lot because you ordered a meal!  I am horribly bad at mexican restaurants by eating a lot of chips & salsa and ordering a big meal. I don't need that meal. So now, I ONLY order ala carte items.  2 tacos or enchiladas..something substantial but I do not need sides.

Okay, so now that I have sufficiently bored some of you, here is what you've really been waiting for which is my pictures. The left one was taken over Memorial Day weekend in 2010.  The right one was taken on NYE this year. (Please excuse the photo-bombing dogs. They're clueless! LOL!)

Whoops! 2012 went by quickly!

So, here it is a year and some change since I last wrote. My humblest apologies. I sort of wish I had kept up to date on this as 2012 proved to be rather trying in my personal and work life, so it would've been good to see all the good happening updated here instead of remembering the bad. But, to live is to learn. 

With that, will now be doing something fun for updating posts. I will also be adding some events that happened throughout the year so I can keep last year straight. I think as life goes on and things blend together we forget all the lovely, so my goal this year is to make it as AWESOME as possible so I remember the lovely. Sounds like a good plan eh? If you follow me on Twitter (@ladycoles) then you will know that any events I go to which I find are awesome or memorable, I am hashtag-ing as #partyon2013. This way, once 2014 happens, I can go back and remember the awesome. 

My first plan for this blog is to update profile including picture. The last 2 years I have embarked on a miraculous journey to re-invent myself via body. This means being more cognizant of what I'm eating, taking up jogging (YES! JOGGING!!!) and planning to walk/run my first 5k in 2013. I'm sad that it has taken me 29+ years to appreciate what I have and blessed with and that I should learn to take care of it, but I am thankful that I figured it out earlier, instead of later. 

I will admit, I've been lucky in the amount of support via family and friends I have had to work on this journey. They've not only encouraged me verbally, but have been supportive in encouraging me to go through with my plan to complete a 5k by providing me with ones to join, etc. I love them. 

Also, I know I might receive a question on how I've done this. I will tell you the truth, good ole fashioned exercise and watching my calories. I know, shocking right? I've received the question in the past of what made me do this? Well, 'tis very simple... 

(enter dreamy flashback music) 

I made an appointment with the bariatric (weight loss) surgeon to discuss options for surgery and how to get started, next steps and how to get it approved under my medical insurance. During the meeting, he asked me what my goal weight was and I explained to him about 180-170 as this is where I've always felt most comfortable. He made a ~slight~ grimace and said "Well, we would expect you to lose more than that amount as you really should be about 140."

Excuse me? 

Now, for those of you that don't know me day to day-no.one.tells.Nicole.what.to.do.with.her.own.self. 

I canceled all my further appointments, went home and made the decision THAT DAY that I was going to change myself for myself and fuck the rest of that lot. 

(exit dreamy flashback music) 

And that is part one of the catch up blog....you'll have to tune in for the next one, to find out more. I'll also be posting before and now pictures. :) 

 Peace, love and purl, Coles

20 things to learn from your pets

I saw this really cute slideshow and thought "I must share this with my blog readers." Reason? because in reality, it is so so true.

All of us have retrained ourselves to be 'adults' and we tend to forget that as 'adults' we need to be 'ourselves'. Ourselves being defined as humans with our natural instincts intact.

One great thing about all animals is that they always remember to follow their instincts, so here's a list of tips for you. I've included the original slideshow too because who doesn't want to look at 20 slides with animals included?! Plus, it has some expansion on the basic ideas.

20 Things to learn from your Pet
1. Forget Multi-tasking.
2. Take Naps
3. Walk every day
4. Cultivate Friendships
5. Live in the Moment
6. Don’t Hold a Grudge
7. Wag (Be Grateful)
8. Maintain Curiosity
9. Be Silly
10. Get a Back Rub
11. Drink Water when you’re thirsty
12. Eat Fish
13. If you love someone, show it
14. Play
15. Enjoy the Great Outdoors
16. Make time to groom
17. Be aware of body language
18. Stretch often
19. Seek Out Shade
20. Stick to a schedule

http://pets.webmd.com/ss/slideshow-things-you-learn-from-your-pet

Happy Reading! (also, glad to see they used TWO great dane pictures)

Catch Up!!

Hello my lovely readers!!

I did so well, reading my blogs which I love which triggered lovely thoughts into mine and caused me to rush to my computer to type. However...August proved to be much busier then I originally intended including starting back to school.

School is proving to be easier this time...at least so far. I'm not sure why. I'd like to say it's because I'm older and wiser so things are kicking in quicker....maybe? who knows. It also could be that I know I'm only 5 classes away from actually holding a degree in my capable hands that is kicking me in the butt to finish.

Anyway, so the point is to do a brief catch up!

So the vortex shawl hit the finishing deck at the end of August. It's a beautiful shawl and I surely will be doing another circular one...I already have one marked as favorites in Ravelry. One thing I will say for SURE that I learned is to read the bind off and estimate how much yarn to save back to complete it. I had to redo the bind off 3 times and thankfully, 3rd time was a charm. Yes, I know you want pictures, but I must block it because it really is quite good at rolling itself up.

2nd is that my sister's shawl has gone exceedingly well!! The pattern I picked looked much harder then I found out as I knitted. I will say that part of it was the pattern writer. She did an amazing job. This one will be posted as well!!

Anyway, I can't write too much as I'm procrastinating what I should be working on here anyway, so I must say cheers for now, but pics will follow. :)

Piece, Love and Purl,

Nicole

Vortex Shawl...update

So, my first shawl is coming along swimmingly! I use swimmingly bc it sort of reminds me of deep dark colors of the sea...the colors you don't see until you're further down into the ocean, into the habitats, into the life and depth of something that is still unknown to most of us. Scary ahd hypnotic, yet familiar and serene, because of the amount of beauty which is immersed into you. You're forced to shut everything out, the day to day, the noises, the sounds, which make land so complicated. You look around you and realize these are living creatures which have their own status, lives, deaths, triumphs and failures...they're just as alive as we are and just as blessed but we cannot wrap our heads around this blessing because it is so different from our own...and yet so the same.

I'm sorry where was I? Oh yes, shawl.

Okay, so the shawl is about 50% done. I am totally totally in love with it and cannot be happier with my choice on the first project. I like this project because one, it is very simple pattern, easy to memorize and 2, it is forcing me to learn to make sure to pay attention to repeats, use markers and also really actually READ a pattern.

(I'm definitely a 'skimmer', you know the one's that half read everything and then go back and go 'oh what did i do wrong?' only to realize they skimmed past half the instructions.)

So, I give this shawl 2 thumbs up on beginning circular shawl options. My next task is one I'm hoping to start this week as my sister has decided on her birthday gift. woohoo! another shawl, in the works.



pattern on ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/vortex-shawl

Happiness Hump Day

It's Wednesday!! :) you know what that means? That's right, happiness at your fingertips.

Happiness is....

a warm dog at your side.

Happiness is....

your favorite cup of tea.

Happiness is....

a text message from your best friend.

Happiness is....

a call from your nephew.

Happiness is....

making a friend laugh.

Happiness is....

a hug from your parent.

Happiness is....

finding happiness in the day to day.