Follow-up Post

Hey guys and gals!

This is a follow up post to my last one.  Below are a few negative thoughts and the two positive thoughts that I said I would come up with for every negative one.

1. "My thighs are getting chubby."
             -  They are strong, not chubby.
             -  My calves look really nice.

2.  "My face looks bigger."
             - I have a really nice, clear complexion.
             - I love my blue eyes.

Has anyone else tried counter acting your negative thoughts with positive ones?  How is it going?

Comparison

I am going to be completely honest and might also be blunt in this post.  The first thing I thought of this morning when I woke up was "What the heck am I going to wear today? I don't fit into any of my clothes since I've been gaining all this weight!"

I thought about this all morning.  How pathetic I was for "letting myself go" over the past 6 months.  I was having a pity party all the way up until I got to work this morning, sat down and started reading my emails.

It was my very own "coming to Jesus" moment, right here in my own office.

I read this.

I guess this kinda goes back to my previous post but it's also true in the real world. Women COMPARE themselves to other women. 

I find myself comparing me against women at work. "They ALWAYS look cute and like they had a million years to get ready." Women exercising. "I really should be doing that. If THEY have time, so should I." And "Oh man, if I only had a body like that..." Women driving fancy cars. "Must be nice to not have to worry about money."

So, I sat here and tried to think of the last time I said something positive to myself.  It took some time, but I figured it out....

November 7, 2009. 178 days ago.  My wedding day. Almost half a year ago!  I put on my wedding dress and it fit but I'll be damned if my comment to myself was "Well, I look pretty good. But I wish I had worked a little harder on my arms... they would look better in this dress if they were a bit more toned."

Wow. Yup, that was it.  That is what I said to myself on my wedding day. I was decently happy with the way I looked but to myself, it wasn't enough.

THIS should have been all that mattered!:

You guys, it was my wedding day.  The happiest day of my life and I was still putting myself down. 

Yah, I've been having a lot of fun over the past six months and eating out a lot and barely exercising.... I've gained weight. So what? It's not that I think I shouldn't be healthy and try to eat healthier... I should. It's just that I think it's sad that we, as women are constantly judging ourselves and judging ourselves against other women.  

Why can't we just live our own lives and be happy with who we are regardless of how we look every. single. day?

So, anyways, make sure you read the link above.  It struck a chord with my this morning and I am going to honestly make an effort to try and not constantly compare myself to others and try to think more positively about myself.

I am going to do my best to write down all my thoughts, both positive and negative, over the next month.  For every negative thought I say or tell myself I will have to come up with two positive thoughts about myself. I will try and update you guys a couple of times a week on my negative and positive thoughts. Wonder if forcing myself to say something positive will eventually flip my thought process. Hmm... Should be an interesting little project!

Question: Does anyone else constantly compare themselves to other people? Care to share some thoughts you may have on a daily basis? Speak up people!

Pressure

I am a complete blog-a-holic.  First thing I do in the mornings is check up on all my bloggie friends lives.  It is amazing how much you can come to "know" a person this way.  I would say that I have been a blog-a-holic for about two years now. Give or take a few months.  This has created some ups and downs in my life.

Ups:
So much information out there!
Tons of great recipes
Friendships
Motivation
The list really could go on and on...

Downs:
Probably too much time spent on the computer
Pressure to be like the others

I know the second "down" may seem a little stupid, but bare with me! I read mostly "foodie" and "fitness" blogs.  While I totally admire them for what they are doing, it also makes me put a TON of pressure on myself to be like them.  The really bad part comes when I fail at being just like them.  (Half-Marathon anyone?)! I want to be healthy and fit just like them and when I try, I usually wind up injuring myself or just taking on too much at one time. Taking on too much puts so much pressure on me.  It also makes me give up reeeeally quick. When this happens, I feel like a total failure.

I was sitting there at work today thinking about the pressures that can come from blogging and reading blogs.  You know what? I am done with making so many plans! I also have to realize that no matter what, I will never be that super, incredibly fit soccer player anymore.  (Man, I miss those abs!) Things change... our bodies change as we get older and I need to just learn to love what I have.

Now, this doesn't mean that I can just stop working out and start eating junk food.  No way.  What I really want to accomplish here is learning to do active stuff that I love.  If it's just a walk one day, so be it.  If I feel like running, I will.  If I decide to swim, I will put on a bathing suit and do it.  I am tired of putting so much pressure on myself and failing all the time.  That is such a blow to my self esteem.

Here's to spontaneity and learning to enjoy being healthy again!

Just curious...does this happen to anyone else? What does everyone else like to do for exercise? Please comment!  

Backyard Crashers!

(**Note: for some reason, my pictures were getting cut off so I had to shrink them. Make sure to click on the pictures to enlarge and get the full effect!**)

This weekend was pretty awesome! A lot got accomplished outside Saturday and Sunday! Andrew's parents headed down early Saturday morning to begin helping us with our "Backyard Make-over".  I am going to write this in two separate sections...one, because I can and two, because it will just be easier that way.

Backyard Before:

Front Bed Before:

I am just assuming that this is all typical stuff that you would find in new houses.  I think this stuff is just cheap and hardy.  Well, I know for sure those spiky things low down front are hardy.  Those are the things I hated the most and they NEVER WENT AWAY. Woe is me.

Earlier last week I ordered 3 yards of Garden Mix to be delivered to the house Saturday morning. 

Holy Batman! That's a whole lot of dirt!

Once the dirt was spread along the fence in the backyard, the next step was picking out rock.  We couldn't be more lucky to have both a Houston Garden Center and Wayne's Landscaping just around the corner.  Off to Wayne's we went. We picked out this rock....

It is Moss Rock.  Moss grows on it....I figured that out all by myself. Seriously.

Anyway.

This rock was on some kinda major special.  I believe it was 25 cents a pound originally but we got it for 10 cents a pound. **Fist Pump**  We got right around 1000 lbs of this beautiful rock.  :)

Okay, enough suspense.  Or boredom.  Are you still awake? Oh, you're just humoring me? I'll take it.  Onward!

Flowers/Veggies/Trees/Bushes Planted:

Plumbago in bloom

(via Google Images)

                                                                                  (What blooming Crinum Lillies look like, via Google)  

Sun is going down on Day Number One!!

__________________________________________________________________________

BUTTERFLY! 

There are never any around in our neighborhood since all that is here is baby trees.  Guess who stopped by to check out our Mexican LIME tree! 

          

Now Mr. Monarch is just hanging out....

Oh yah... remember the "Before Front"?  

Here's the after:

Little yellow and orange Marigolds instead of the hideous spiky hair grass looking thingy's! :)

____________________________________________________________________________

Deck timeeeeeee!

Piecing it together! 

One more board needs to be layed on top and then the side cap on the left! 

We had a ton of help and definitely couldn't have accomplished NEAR what we did without Mom and Dad O'D! Thank you!!! 

Had to... it was irresistible! 

:)