Day 1

So a significant number of my blogging buddies have done the 31 Day Photo Challenge. I have really enjoyed looking at their photos and reading about them! I think it's such a fun and interesting "challenge", so I am going to try to do this. Hopefully I can keep up with it! Anyway, here it goes...

A picture of yourself with 10 facts.



1. I am a vegan and a member of PETA.
2. I am only five feet tall.
3. I believe I was born in the wrong era. I feel like I should've been in my late teens/twenties during the 1970s.
4. I am a family-oriented person and I love my family dearly, but I would love it if I did not share DNA with one family member.
5. I love so many people very deeply, but for some reason I have a hard time telling them. If I had to put the blame on someone/something, it would be the years that I was highly betrayed by people I thought cared very much about me. I feel that if people know how much I care about them, they will see it as how much they can get away with and hurt me.
6. I am a planner. I hate not knowing details about events! Whenever I plan something, I typically spend a few months planning it. I am not a big fan of "last minute plans."
7. I'd rather be a "do gooder" than someone that does nothing.
8. I want to meet Steve Perry [the lead singer of the ORIGINAL Journey] BADLY!! It's one of the top four things on my Bucket List.
9. I have not had pop [or soda or whatever you call it] since April 2008.
10. If I were to ever have a daughter, I would name her Rhiannon after the song by Fleetwood Mac.

I want to ride my bicycle! I want to ride my biiike!

[I love Queen, in case you didn't know.]

Yesterday, we went to a sports store here. I have been wanting to go to a sports store for a while. I feel like it's been so long since I've been to a sports store! So I was quite excited to go to one finally! We didn't look around the store much because we went right over to the bike section. I have been wanting a bike for a little while now because it'll give me another way to exercise and the boys and I can get around while Mark's at work instead of using a car. [You know me, I care very much about the environment and I want to lessen my carbon footprint as much as possible.]

While we were at the sports store, I got a new bike!

Once we were done with our shopping there and getting ready to leave, I decided to just ride my bike home from there. Mark kept asking me if I was sure and if I really wanted to do that. I told him that what would be the point in getting a bike and not riding it? So I rode the bike home - about 2 miles, give or take. It was so nice outside, which made the ride all the more enjoyable!

Not only did I get a bike, but I also got a little trailer-like thing for the boys to sit in whenever we go out.

I took the boys out for a little bit yesterday, and they loved it! [And don't worry, I make them wear helmets! I think it would be insanely irresponsible and careless of me if I didn't make them wear helmets. Luckily they're awesome and don't fight and argue about having to wear them.] Riding my bike with the trailer on the back is much easier than I thought it would be! I can even use it to take to the store with me whenever I need groceries.

Toner

My skin has always been a problem for me. Ever since I hit puberty, I have always had horrible breakouts. The only thing that ever got rid of my acne was an antibiotic that I took for two or three years as a teenager. When I was 17, I took myself off of the antibiotic and I haven't taken it since. Yeah, my skin has been back to breaking out since then [I'm 23 now], but I don't want to rely on Western medicine to get rid of everything for me. [I was just put on an antibiotic Sunday for a very severe UTI. I quit taking it Tuesday night because while it allowed me to pee for more than two seconds every 5 minutes, it messed me up really bad. I'm now trying to get over this sickness I got from taking the antibiotic. I knew better than to take that stupid garbage.... I guess I just needed a little "refresher" as to why Western medicine is so stupid and why I hate it so much.]

Anyway, it is really difficult for me to find anything for my skin to help clear it up. I have used multiple face washes [both "normal" kinds that you find at a regular store and natural, organic kinds from health stores], multiple toners [again, both "normal" and natural, organic], and all kinds of lotions. It is not entirely too difficult for me to find a face wash that works for my skin, it's normally finding the right toner and lotion. I have to use spray lotions because if I put on a lotion that you have to pump or squeeze out of a bottle, it causes my skin to become insanely oily. As for a toner, that can be really difficult for me. I have a hard time with toners because while the bottle may say it's for a specific skin type, it doesn't necessarily work for me. I have skin that can be quite oily at times, but it is never dry, so I get toners for normal to oily skin. But there are some toners that never work for me, even if they are for my skin type. They make my skin super oily, and it is quite a drag having skin so oily that you could keep a Chinese/Japanese restaurant set on oil for two weeks! I have spent more money on toners than I have face washes and lotions combined because finding the right toner is that difficult for me.

While I was at the store the other day, I went back to the aisle with all of the skin care and hair care stuff. I was looking at the toners, and I decided to get this one:

Ever since I started using this toner, my skin has been clearing up and isn't nearly as oily as it normally is when I use other toners. Actually, I can go 8-10 hours without having to wash my face, whereas I used to have to wash my face or splash water on my face every few hours due to my extremely oily skin. The main reason why I got this toner is because I use this brand's body wash, and their body washes are AMAZING!! I really like Tea Tree and Rosewater. They smell good, they're natural/organic, and they're good for my skin.

The Kitchen

Here are photographs of our kitchen. I just took these last week, even though it's been painted since about the time we moved in. I still need to put some more decor up, but I haven't had much time to do any real artwork and I haven't found anything at stores that I'm too fond of. [I did the oil drawing above the one door. It's simple, but I like it.]

















We painted the kitchen using a no VOC paint. [I cannot tell you how AWESOME no VOC paints are! You can paint your whole house - pretty much what we did - and not have to open windows and have fans turned on because of fumes. I loved not having to have every window open and every fan turned on while I painted; and I loved not getting headaches and end up getting sick from paint fumes.] I'm still waiting on Mark to pull the refrigerator out a bit so that I can paint behind it. Hopefully he decided to get on that real soon because I'm annoyed with having 98% of the kitchen painted. I'd like to have the entire kitchen painted!

life is good.

The title of this post pretty much says it all. One week into the new year, I feel beyond amazing! I have been working out, eating mostly organic foods, drinking tons of water, and getting some pretty good sleep. Also, I've been doing some good things for other people. I don't know about you, but doing good puts me in a great mood!

Before we went home for the holidays, I was running a little bit. I tried to run three times a week, but that didn't always happen. Mark had told me a route around here that was about a mile. Every time I would go for a run, I would use my stopwatch to time myself. I figured I was running a 12:00+/mile pace. That kind of sounds a bit pathetic. I tried to not discourage myself because at least I was able to run some distance. When I started running in the summer of 2009, I couldn't even run a quarter-mile. I was still discouraged because I felt like I was running so slow. I want to run a marathon this fall with one of my uncles, and I don't want to be running so slow! Since I want to run said marathon, I got a Nike+ sensor for my Nike+ running shoes and the little insert for my iPod to use every time I run. I have used it twice this week, and I am hoping to go for a run tomorrow so I can use it again. On Tuesday, I ran 1.63 miles in 16:27, with a pace of 10:04/mile. On Thursday, I ran 2.13 miles in 21:50, with a pace of 10:15/mile. So either one of two things happened: (1) Mark told me the wrong route distance or (2) I really picked up the pace in less than three weeks. Somehow, I'm going to assume that Mark told me the wrong route distance. I just don't see myself being able to drop about two minutes/mile without having gone for a run in over two weeks. But I am quite happy with the times I have right now! Running with a pace under 10:30/mile makes me confident that I will be able to achieve my goals more easily than if I was running as slow as I thought I was last month. I can't wait to get my pace under 10:00/mile! That is going to be so awesome - at least to me!

I have been doing Pilates 2-3 times a week lately, too. I love Pilates! It really shows me how strong or how weak I am, and I like knowing what I need to work on more. One thing Pilates is great for is your core! I feel that my core is as strong as it is due in part to Pilates.

Before we went home for the holidays, I was going to the gym on Saturday mornings for a Yoga class. Now that we're back and classes are now running, I am going to take Yoga tomorrow morning. I missed taking the Yoga class when I was in Ohio and last weekend [no class last Saturday, New Year's Day]. Yoga is such an amazing workout! I love it because it does so much good for my body! My posture is better, I am more centered [both physically and mentally], I am stronger, I am more flexible, and my stamina/endurance is much better. I am so happy that I tried Yoga more than just once back in 2008! I always thought Yoga was something weird people did because they were too lazy to do a real workout, but I found out I was wrong! Yoga is some serious business!

When we were home in Ohio, we got an XBOX 360 and Kinect. Best decision ever! I use the game Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 3 days a week. It's a lot of fun and really nice to have a "personal trainer" right in the house. Another game I play often is Dance Central. Now that game is so much fun!!!!

I must end this blog entry though and get ready for bed. I have to wake up bright and early for Yoga class at the gym. I can't wait!

CHECK IT!!

http://365daysofdeeds.blogspot.com/

I have a new blog going for this year. You should check it out! I'm working toward one good deed every day this year. It's going to be quite a ride, that's for sure! =)