DIY Jewelry Organizer

I've had a bowl of mixed jewelry pieces for far too long. After endless searching for the perfect way to organize/display my jewelry, I took matters into my own hands. Inspired by the stencil and a piece of wood.Voila!

Materials: 

1. Piece of wood
2. Stain
3. Rag/paint brush
4. Stencil
5. Acrylic Craft paint
6. Foam dobber
7. Drill
8. Hooks
9. Embroidery thread or hemp 

12"x4" piece of pine

Stain of your liking 

Sand in circular motion & round corners

Add stain with paint brush or rag- wipe off and let to dry to your preferred darkness

Add stencil with craft paint. I used Antique Gold. 

                                           

 Drill holes across the top (every 1/2")

Reinforce back if wood isn't thick enough for your hooks. 

Marking from center, 3" apart from one another. Second row 1" below and 1 1/2" over (3" apart).  Screw in hooks. You can pre-drill holes which makes this easier. 

                               

                                    Thread/hemp woven in and out loosely for earrings. Reinforced back with wall hangers

Vibration Yoga

I am sure we've all experienced the magic of Groupon or Livingsocial.

I'm a sucker for new, interesting activities and sometimes late on the research side of it. The Woodlands is not known for their Yoga culture. Having lived in Denver or Salt Lake until now, this was a serious let down. You can imagine my excitement; however, upon receiving a Groupon deal for for 5/10 or 20 classes with a Dahn Yoga studio 15 minutes away.


There are three classes: Intestine, Dahn Yoga, and Vibration. I kind of expected that I'd be in for a weird first time by going to the "vibration" class but I was trying to live by the "don't put off 'til tomorrow philosophy".

I brought my mat and yoga clothes. Already, this was a mistake. No one in this class appeared to be a yogi of any sort but all seemed to enjoy the class well enough. The room was approximately as large as a small bedroom, walls covered with Sedona & Brain Vibration information, Korean sayings for yoga, and conveniently equipped with a "yoga floor".

We started in a circle with 300 seconds of tapping our "Dahn Jon"- just below the belly button. Followed by hitting all over the body. Then a dance all around the room. Those who know me may know that I have a hard time taking things seriously on occasion. While I am sure there must be some physiological benefits to this ancient form of yoga, I have never fought so hard to suppress my laughter.

The "beef" of the class consists of shaking up and down slighting through bending your knees to create vibration and focusing on different organs with your eyes closed. We top off the class with sharing our feelings a little cup of tea.

My final word on Body & Brain?

Well, I don't know if I am a believer but I have 9 more session left in my Groupon and woke up with strep or a virus of some sort the next day. I'm not saying they're connected, but it doesn't certainly make me like it more.

Maybe I'll give an update a few more sessions in.

Why I Love Goldenseal

I suppose today should be Day 28 of my health fiesta.

Please forgive my brief failure. I had my Mom in town for her first visit to our new place here in Texas. Then, my mountain man lover came home for a week only to return to Alaska- this may have interfered with my success slightly. Not to mention I've been down for the count since Saturday morning so I will be starting over beginning Monday. 

Throughout my life, I've likely had strep throat.. ten times? I don't know how odd this is but it seems that I have had it more than anyone I know. Call me a weirdo, but I don't like the idea of taking antibiotics unless absolutely necessary either. 

As they say, there is more than one way to skin to cat. I began having real, indicative symptoms as of Saturday morning. By the end of the day both tonsils were in pretty scary shape with pus and blood (sorry). Of course, no doctors are open on Sunday and the Emergency Room is ridiculous so Saturday evening I began a serious regimen for ridding my body of this illness. 

To boost my Vitamin C and antioxidant intake, I switched out the almond milk in my morning smoothie with orange juice. 

1 & 1/2 cup Simply orange

1 cup frozen organic blueberries

1 scoop vanilla whey protein

1 Tbsp Peanut Butter

1 Tbsp Fage 0% Greek Yogurt

3 cups Spinach

1/3 of a banana 

Essentially, I've been packing my heaviest meal of the day (considering the loss of appetite) with Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Niacin, Zinc, Fiber, Protein, Vitamin K, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Copper, Manganese, and probiotics to boost my immune system and take my throat back. 

Most of these vitamins (of course) are thanks to spinach and it is hard to believe that I've gone years without even a bite of it in the past. 

In addition, I began taking Garlicin & Goldenseal twice daily, with food and gargling a glass of warm salt water at least 3-5 times daily. As you may know, Goldenseal serves as a kind of natural "antibiotic" increasing the production of good mucous to push the bad out of your system. Garlicin, although usually marketed for cardiovascular health, also provides immune boosting and can fight off germs that cause cold an flu.

Although I began feeling much better, I went to the doctor yesterday morning (Monday) just for peace of mind. While my symptoms point to Strep due to the lack of viral symptoms such as runny nose, coughing, congestion- my strep test came back negative and they didn't seem to know what else it could be except for a "viral" sore throat. They sent out a culture and the results will be in within 3-6 days. 

My hope is that soon the test will be irrelevant since it's Tuesday and I've kicked a lot many of the symptoms and am starting to feel like a functional human being again. 

In the meantime, I will continue eating soup, drinking my immune boosting smoothie, drinking LOTS of water & tea, gargling, and taking my vitamins (including goldenseal/garlicin) until I can confidently continue down the path of health and fitness from earlier this month- without keeling over. 




My favorite sickness aids/cures:

• Traditional Medicinal Throat Coat Tea
• Traditional Medicinal Breathe Easy
• Nature's Way Goldenseal
• Nature's Way Astragalus
• Nature's Way Garlicin
• GT's Kombucha
• Epsom Salt (Bath)
• Emergen-C Acai Berry

Day 7- No more leftovers! Lettuce Tacos

It's so much easier to make a full recipe but being left with three or more meals of leftovers isn't always my favorite.

I started the day with my regular breakfast smoothie with the addition of Fage 2% greek yogurt for probiotics. Today for lunch I am looking forward to trying to some fresh lettuce tacos. I can't remember where I saw the recipe that inspired this but I love anything mexican and spicy.

LETTUCE TACOS
1 lb Extra lean beef

Taco seasoning

1 cup diced tomatoes (with juice)
1 cup green bell peppers

1 cup red bell peppers
1 can black beans (washed and drained)
Iceberg lettuce

Directions:
1. Brown beef over medium heat. Drain fat.
2. Add seasoning and diced tomatoes. Simmer for 5 minutes.
3. In a separate pan, sauté peppers.
4. Add black beans and heat over medium until soft.
5. Cut off end of iceberg lettuce.
4. Run under water and remove lettuce cups. Tear in half.
5. Fill half lettuce cup with combined beef mixture and pepper mix. 

Ordinarily I would add onion to this recipe but I'm fresh out and too lazy to go to the store before lunch. Corn would make a nice addition, as well. 

Deeelicious! I'll have no problem eating this for dinner tonight, too!

Today's weight: 147.8

Day 5- Change of Diet

Sometimes you need a little something to hold yourself accountable to your goals. Hopefully this blog do just the trick!


This week, I've set off in a new nutritional direction in hopes of improving my health, increasing my energy levels, and downsizing. In the past few years, my body has lost the athlete it once demonstrated and I hope to get it back with a little less baggage.


I'll primarily focus my diet on vegetables, legumes, fruit, and lean protein- while eliminating processed and refined foods completely. I hate a big breakfast right out of bed so I'll stick to this delicious smoothie that I look forward to each day. Otherwise, I tend to get bored eating the same things so I try to change up what I eat for lunch and dinner. 

Breakfast Smoothie 
1. Frozen Blueberries (about 1 cup)
2. Spinach (at least a good handful)
3. Scoop of whey protein
4. Natural peanut butter (1 Tbsp)
5. Silk Almond Milk, unsweetened original (1 cup)
6. Fage 2% greek yogurt (1Tbsp)


This works out to about 340 calories and nearly 27 grams of protein. 


I plan on adding oats and perhaps some hemp oil more Omega-3. 

Snacks: pistachios, almonds, cashews, humus, and veggies


Lunch Today: Baked Chicken with broccoli, back beans, cherry tomatoes, and onion. (Leftover from dinner)


Dinner: crustless spinach quiche

I wanted to use my eggs and decided on a the crustless quiche above. It seemed a little light on the eggs in proportion to the vegetables so I added an extra egg. I also chose to use only a 1/2 cup of cheese. It came out of the oven smelling delicious but a bit too dense for my taste. A dab of Sriracha and only 5 calories per Tbsp, it was perfect. 


I'll definitely make this again but slightly lighter on the spinach and add a couple more eggs. 

Beginning Weight (1/3/12): 156.6

Today (1/8/12): 151.4

Stability

They say stability is a major predictor in to the longevity and success of a relationship. This assumes that people with a less-than-stable temperament are then destined to a life of unsatisfying relationships (by nature). I'm not sure whether that particular assumption is accurate, but I hope for the fate of humanity, it isn't.

I've thought a lot recently about the role that stability plays in our everyday lives. Certainly this concept has been demonstrated time and time again in our society by way of tumultuous relationships. For whatever reason, I was convinced that perhaps one partner could be stable enough for both. My contradiction to this idea was proven false soon afterward. There can only be one crazy in a the relationship and the stable one must choose whether the unavoidable drama is worth it.

Presently, I am in a long-distance relationship with an amazing, stable man and we've maintained this state relatively unscathed since the beginning of the year. In fact, it seems like we've been maintaining a long-distance relationship of some kind for the past six years- nothing really ever seems to change between us, except for our level of maturity. Thousands of miles and an ocean between us, there have absolutely been moments of insecurity and "am I really doing this". With two months to go before we "rest" (and three before we are not only in the same country, but the same state, city, house, and bed), I feel fairly confident that our patience will be rewarded and the stability theory will be tested and proven (fingers crossed).

I've never had so little to overanalyze in a relationship... Weird.

"If you have a talent, use it in every which way possible. Don't hoard it. Don't dole it out like a miser. Spend it lavishly like a millionaire intent on going broke."

I am an all of nothing girl as it turns out. I've realized that I haven't been using my talents or really put my heart into anything for a long time. The one thing my heart was invested in, I tried to take a break from.

I miss the days where my heart and talents were a smorgasbord; spread out almost evenly between a number of activities and responsibilities. Passion, energy, and time abounded. Where has she gone?

One thing is for sure, I am determined to find her again. I just have to find a way to keep her around and dedicated to lavishing exploring my talents once again.