Fit Friday 9/2/11: Running, Dancing, Painting, Fingers, & Ensure

Still no running for me; it’s now officially over two weeks of these stomach issues and I’m wiped out from the lack of calories.

Keith is such a good husband – he bought me a 6 pack of Ensure so that I have a chance of absorbing some nutrients even though I’m not eating much more than saltines, sticky rice, bananas, and apple sauce.

Since school has now started, I’ve started dancing more. I’m making the kids do cardio warm ups, lots of crunches and push ups, and ending class with yoga. It’s fun to do most of it with the kids and get in shape with them!

Painting is almost done! It’s been a huge project, but not so bad when I’ve done it a little bit at a time!

These green walls make me happy!

My finger is healing very well :) It’s still a bit tender and swollen, but no longer flapping in the breeze, haha!

A peek under the bandage...

Miscellany Monday 8/29/10

It’s another Miscellany Monday! There’s a lot swirling around in my head, so I can’t promise any of this is coherent :)

1.  FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Woot! Today was another first day of school. I worked through my bad attitude over the weekend and was so ready for today. It was really fun to check out my blog post from last year’s first day (my very first day ever as a teacher). If you check out these pictures, you might notice some differences between then and now.

End of First Day 2010-2011 School Year

End of First Day 2011-2012 School Year

2. PAINTING THE DANCE STUDIO

Some of you have followed the saga of painting the dance studio at school. Here’s the progress from today.

The wall I painted today...

The drop cloths two of my dance team boys put up so I can paint more this week!!

The kids have been so pleased with the results – one even exclaimed, “I feel so inspired!”. (Note: this kid’s hair looks just like Rufio in Hook, but he’s too young to get the reference, so it drives me CRAZY! I’ll have to do a side by side comparison one of these days).

3. THE FINGER

Thanks to everyone who has checked up on my finger. I still refuse to go the ER because it seems to be healing well. :)

(I now spare you the anguish of a picture of a chunk of my finger falling off, you’re welcome).

4. B.R.A.T.

Keith likes to call my an Air Force brat. What he really means is that I’m only eating

• B.ananas
• R.ice
• A.pplesauce
• T.oast

Oh yea, and lots of Powerade! Yay electrolytes :)

I won’t get into the details of my diet change (and you definitely don’t want a picture), but let’s just say I’ve been under the weather due to some poor food choices.

I now leave you with a picture of my favorite brat from fictional literature:

Eustace Scrubb from Voyage of The Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

image from narnia.wiki.com

5. BOOK

I’ve been reading this book lately. It’s really good. Can’t wait to share more with you when I’m done!

Captivating story telling always makes for a good read!

image from google.com search

6. GORDON RAMSEY

Remember when I confessed my undying guilty obsession with Kitchen Nightmares (was that really only a week ago?!)? Well, now Keith’s hooked too. I’m so proud!

7. END OF AUGUST, MEANS THE END OF 50% OFF!

Yup, I’m sad to say it, but there are only two days left in the 50% off sale at Dancing Willow Photography! Just use BIRTHDAY50 at checkout for your discount!

Did I mention there's a 50% discount in my shop for two more days?!

…

It’s a party! Linking up to Miscellany Monday:

Miscellany Monday 7/25

This is my first time linking up to the Miscellany Monday posts by lowercase letters, so here goes nothing!

1) My super awesome sister Molly is in town, so we’ve been having fun showing her around and hanging out. She had a marathon of watching episodes of 24 with Keith yesterday, so everyone is happy :)

2) I’ve been working at getting my Etsy shop Dancing Willow Photography off the ground. I’ve had one sale so far (Thanks again Ana!), but am wondering what other creative things I need to start doing to get the store moving along!

3) This week is a big one for Clara the Camera and I! I’m doing at least one photo shoot with Ana from Life Sense and her three sisters some time later in the week. We’re hoping to do it at one of the “ghost towns” just outside Vegas. Then on Saturday I’m assisting a friend at a promotion ceremony at the Aria hotel. Getting excited/nervous!

Ready for battle!

4) So many house projects are getting done! Here’s a clue:

Stain and Spray Paint do magical things...

5) Hoping the government doesn’t shut down in August, because I’m about to start a countdown to our trip to Yosemite! Our backup plan is Lake Tahoe, so there will be an awesome road trip regardless, but I really want Keith to see this:

from huckleberryprairie.com

Blue, Yellow, & White Plates

After reading this post by The Nester ages ago, I’ve been determined to add a plate collage to our home.

I thought it was going to happen in our bedroom, but then I found these and now I’ve got it all planned out :)

How gorgeous will this look (minus the red one) in my living room?!

Can’t wait to see the finished product!

Gallery Wall Completed!

A few weeks ago I sent a few friends this picture:

All set up and ready to go!

I decided to go the professional route of hanging paper the same size as the frames instead of adding more holes to the wall. I appreciate all of those that reminded me that hanging newspaper on your wall for art isn’t cute :)

We bought a big frame for the middle, but realized we didn’t have a non-wedding picture. So last weekend, we headed to Red Rock with a friend and got lots of great pictures:

We ended up choosing the last picture and hung existing frames and pictures around the edges:

Another project finished!

I printed smaller versions of the other pictures from Red Rock to add width to the gallery. One more thing to cross off the list!

New(ish) Lamps

Tonight I gave an old lamp a fresh look.

BEFORE

Some burlap, hot glue, and a massive glue-related blister later, the lamp is much more cozy looking:

AFTER

The base of the lamp definitely needs to be painted, but I’m not sure what color – I’m pretty sure it’ll be white!

A Fresh Start

Phew! One semester down, one to go. I can’t believe it’s gone so quickly – lots to share here!

Keith is busy working with geriatric patients and took his boards at the beginning of January. We have enjoyed being able to spend more time together and were so excited to host family last week! It was a blast to explore new places and revisit old favorites :)

In other news, I (almost) finished curtains in the living room and have almost saved up for a fancy camera to boost my photography skills and Etsy options. The photography teacher at school is letting me borrow one of his cameras for the week since it’s the model I’m looking to buy – hoping to find some serious deal somewhere!

I also found this fantastic website to help track calories and exercise. There’s even an option to join with friends for accountability; best part is it’s totally FREE with an awesome iPhone app! Let me know if you want to sign up and we’ll help each other out!

Otherwise we’re trying not to exhaust ourselves at work and come up with creative ways to spend time together. Any and all suggestions are welcome!!

We’d appreciate if you would pray for us as there are many people in our respective families who are dealing with some pretty serious health issues. I am reminded of the time when we were those people and I know how much prayer can encourage discouraged hearts.

Until next time…

 

Ode to Dance

The last two years of life have been nothing less than exciting: grad school, marriage, moving around, losing cars and apartments, making great new friends, and looking forward to things to come.

One thing that has been not so exciting is that the chaos has meant I have not been able to be involved in dance or musical theatre. I’m hoping that will change when we get to Las Vegas. In preparation for that (as well as a fantastic way to waste time over spring break) I started my performance website.

I realize that I am in dire need of some new pictures (feel free to volunteer your time and/or camera, haha). But this will have to do!

…

[Read more at My Life In Four Bags]

Moved In – my project for the week!

I’m connecting to so many parties today:

• Friend Makin’ Mondays
• DIY Day
• Clover Lane (well, this one’s not a party, but she did a house tour recently that was gorgeous!)

In 24 hours I went from my life in boxes, to my life unpacked! We’re finally residents in family housing on campus. Here’s the finished product:

Entryway/hubby’s office/dining room:

Living Room:

The blue furniture, large bookshelf, and several lamps were part of the furnishing provided by the school. Actually, most everything was furnished by the school, we only brought what would fit in a van and my dad’s truck.

Bedroom:

Kitchen:

The curtains are in need of some serious ironing, but I love them! They were made by my grandma and have found a spot in every place I have lived. Pictured below is the small throw rug her sister made for us.

We’re working on finding a (free) kitchen cart and work surface on Craigslist since there are no countertops.

I found all these heart shaped cookie cutters and the white heart ornament (it says “love” on it) and thought they’d work perfectly to cheer up the kitchen!

Bathroom:

And as I shared a few weeks ago, I’ve been working on something colorful:

All I’ve got to do is finish quilting the top and sew the binding on. I was going to put it on our bed, but now I’m thinking it’s going on the coffee table to cover up stains!

—

[Read more at My Life In Four Bags]

Scrapbooking Projects

I was inspired by this DIY Day on A Soft Place to Land the other day to write about my current scrapbooking projects.

I started with an introductory post about my biggest project: a scrapbook of memories with my husband from when we started dating. We’re up to three volumes now!

VOLUME ONE:

Yes, that’s right, my maiden name starts with “G” and Keith’s first name starts with “G”. A fun little coincidence! I used 8 x 8 books for the first two volumes. I prefer working with this size, but since we’ve been married it’s nice to fit one event onto one page with a 12 x 12 book.

Here’s a sample page from when my husband started medical school – my sister was so excited to be a practice patient.

VOLUME TWO:

Volume two consists of my adventures in London as well as our getting engaged!

Thanksgiving 2007.

The last page of Volume Two taken at 5th Ave in Manhattan.

VOLUME THREE: (the current project)

The little tag near the bottom says “Our Journey”. I thought it was appropriate and not too feminine.

One of the pages from the wedding section.

On our honeymoon!! We spent the week at a house on a small lake in northern Connecticut where we went hiking, played games, and watched movies all week.

Moving into our first apartment, page 1.

Page 2.

A recent trip to Washington D.C. with my mom and sister, just before the inauguration. My mom’s mother grew up in D.C. and we hadn’t been in many years, so it was wonderful to revisit old memories!

After D.C. we continued down to Mobjack, VA, where we had a reunion (of sorts) with family we had not seen in awhile.

It is so much fun to go back through these books and be reminded of all the blessings in our lives!

My current/next project is to finish my scrapbook from the 7 months I lived in London:

It’s hard to notice, but there’s a bright green smudge on the bottom right hand corner. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get it out or what to cover it up with?!