... a new me

#project333

...the why

living in a world of excess paying for storage and wearing less than 50% of my clothes that i own- when i realized that i have not had to do laundry in over a month reality struck and that change was needed....

i have signed up for the #project333 challenge, this means 33 article of clothing over a period of three months starting in july-sept-  inspired by several people that i follow on instagram from #project333 i discovered there is a "how to" course you can take here 

the plan is to use the blog as my location to track my progress and answer all the questions that are a part of the journal component of the webcourse....

goal for today is to track down some bins and box up my clothes into the garage- 

lets see if I can do this- wish me luck!  #project333 

Journal

What are your 3 favorite outfits?

Black Tank- Long Skirt- Flip Flops

Tagline tee- Jeans- slip on "toms"

Long sleeve dressy- skinny jeans- calf boots

What pieces in your closet would you never wear?

several of my dresses

Why are they still in there?

too lazy to purge, afraid to have remorse once they are gone

Is any of your clothing uncomfortable? (too small, too big,

scratchy material)

still have most of my "fat" clothes, plus a few "when I loose more weight" tops

Why are they still in there?

fear of purge remorse

Describe your lifestyle. Do you work outside of the home? Are

you active? Do you entertain frequently?

work full time, casual (jeans/tee), want to upgrade to cute fashionable, need a few "date" looks but pretty

much casual most of the time....

If you could start over and buy all new clothing, what items

would you include in your list?

love the idea of a modern retro look, simple clean lines, fun handmade pieces, circle skirts, sweatergirl,

Estimate how much money you have spent on clothing, jewelry, accessories and yes... shoes over the past 10 years. If you had that sum of money in your hands right now, would you spend it on

clothes?

more than I want to acknowledge, and no- we would use the money towards debt-

our #1 goal is to be DEBT FREE!!!!!!

What would it feel like to put all of your jewelry and accessories away for 3 months except for your favorite scarf and necklace?

I would be ok, normally wear wedding set, angel ring, stud earings, cross or pearl-

...10K !!!!

...so now that I have texted all my girlfriends- 

its time to put it on my blog- I am back into Size 12 jeans!!!!!!

ooh and I ran a 10K!!!! Part one of the DeathStar Challenge

Woo Hoo I did not die!!!


This is HUGE!!!
Now that I have experienced the distance- next weeks 5K is not nearly so daunting!

 I am super proud of me- wanna know the secret?  I invited a friends teenager to join me and she did not let me quit, nor was I going to quit with her there to push me.... not to mention when she did not hear the time to walk prompt and kept running.... I would have to catch back up to her- 
to the point where I think she was "not hearing" it on purpose!!

We decided early on to just go for a far as we could- and then call my hubby to pick us up-

this made it easier because I did not have to calculate a turn back distance!   

with Station II now complete- I think I could do Station III for the LOST in running challenge!!!

...when there's a smile in your heart

          ...there's no better time to start

 We are now going into month five of "operation- get off your butt and get into shape".   I know that I have to be loosing weight as my pants are getting too big- the size 14's are able to fall off without being unsnapped and in September they were tight and uncomfortable... so at least I know there has been progress!  

My ultimate goal is to run a half marathon sub 2hours and to get into a size 8 jeans!

I can not tell you the why exactly, but for some reason I have this intense desire to be a runner.  I am sure part of it has to do with the recent trend of runDisney enthusiasts popping up among the people I follow on Facebook   I am sure part of it is that its one of the less expensive ways to get healthy. What I do know that I am really loving the freedom of lacing out a pair of tennis shoes popping in my ear buds and hitting the pavement.

In 2010 as a milestone of my 30th Birthday I chose to participate in the Avenue Of the Giants Half Marathon in Humboldt California, my finishing time for this race was 3:49:39 which broke down to a 17:31min/mile.

This was by far one of the most challenging and also rewarding experiences of that year!  Of course let us not discount that my son was born six months before my race.   At the time I was quite happy with both the race as well as my time as my only goal was to finish without being swept*. 

Fast forward and now here we are in 2013 and I want to fly!  More specifically I want to participate and complete the runDisney Tinkerbell Half Marathon at Disneyland in January.   Now to take it one step further I want to complete the Tinkerbell Half is sub 3hours and to finish strong enough that if I had to I could keep running.  

I have decided to start blogging again as a way of sharing the journey over the next nine months, here I will share with you what works and what does not... 

ready to fly with me?

xxo,
QQ

*race speak for being picked up by the pacers and transported to the finish line for being too slow

....7am long run

I am RAD!

The registration is paid- and I am committed, on May 18th I am going to run my first 5K the Color Me Rad in Santa Rosa, CA, and I am crazy nervous but also super excited!  

This is the longest that I have ever stuck with any sort of fitness plan- I have been doing the Couch to 5K training app for two weeks.... ok more like one week and two days of week two... but it still more then the last couple times I started.  Why is it sticking this time- what is different from the fifteen plus years of "I want to loose weight and get fit" mantras from before- that is easy, its the support that I am receiving from those around me.  From my co-workers clapping when I showed up for the group "jillian shred" session, and  my running partner being at my house on Saturday morning with bribes of coffee after our long run to the pep talks from my personal trainer aka (my high school BFF) no really I have a personal trainer on speed dial- so what is  my excuse right???

The goals are different this time, of course I still want to be a "hot sexy mama", but this time I want to be fit so that I can keep up with my little man with a soccer ball, I want to join my husband on his annual twenty mile hikes and I want to live my life in a different way!

There is something so special with my little person wanting to run my intervals with me... when it says to walk and he keeps on running- oh to have the energy to keep up with him.

...today my husband told me he was proud- my flippant response was "yeah I did two weeks... lets see if it sticks"... his response "it's the best you have done yet and you are doing great"...this was after he and friends lugged a treadmill upstairs for me so I can run in the rain.

... Disney has a song When you wish upon a star all your dreams come true- so along with wanting to run the Tinkerbell in 2014, I am making a wish that this becomes more then just one race- I am wishing this becomes a healthier lifestyle!

...cross training day

...it seems so simple

I am Desperate- with a capital D- and its getting worse-
I don’t want much, just these couple of things-

1.    Family Prayer time

2.    I don’t want to be such a screamer

3.    I want time to shower EVERYNIGHT!!!

4.    I need time to KNIT!!!!!!!

5.    Balance Budget-organized grocery shopping!

6.    Home-made meals (family dinner)

7.    Tidy Bathrooms

8.    Less than two loads of laundry pending

9.    Time to exercise

10.  A bedroom conducive to “loving”

Ok so I have all these aspirations of a clean/neat/tidy/organized house.
Did I mention I want to be calm, serene, and loving at all times?
Then there is this thing called reality-
There are 45613247654 loads of laundry in front of the washer.
Another sixtybillion piles in our bedroom, and even more on the floor/bathroom and hallway.
So- I get a brilliant idea- I am going to clean our house top to bottom.
I buy the bottle of bleach, and container of Comet, I get all my stuff ready-
… and then my son decides he wants to help- by organizing the DVD’s
and by Organizing I mean
Pull them off the shelf and lay them on the floor.
The garage looks like a monster built of cardboard- that is going to take over-
I guarantee no committee in their right mind would want me on their planning staff-
-but wait it gets worse- dinner- but to do make dinner we have to wash dishes-
oh and that means we need cupboard space.
No wonder we eat out three millions days per week!!!
Toys everywhere- and I really do mean everywhere…
ever tried to find “the mood” and land on a duplo?

Ready to FLY!!!!

Disneyland 2012

We were excited to start the day in Goofy's Kitchen with Shawn, Gina and Redeem.

There were lots of characters to meet and tons of phenomenal food to eat!

Then it was time to head to Downtown Disney to see all the fun stuff on sale.  And we got to see the Space Shuttle Endeavor fly over Disneyland.  It was a very cool and historical moment.

Then it was time to head back to the hotel for some R&R before heading back to the park.  At the park we wandered for a while doing some light pin-trading and picked up some soft pretzel mickey heads to snack on.  We found a good spot to enjoy our pretzels and to watch the Mickey's Soundsational Parade.

We met up with our friends Jeff and Colleen and headed to Rancho del Zocalo for some yummy Sonora Burritos.  After dinner we headed over to Disneyland California Adventure for World of Color...again.  We stopped by the sweet shop on our way and grabbed some desert.  When we arrived at World of Color we ran into a problem with our premium seats.  Apparently the attendant forgot to put our names down for the premium seats, so we got shunted to one of their 'reserved' areas.  It was a pretty good view, but no actual seats.  We did get to see the whole show this time though.  We headed back to the bus to the Toy Story Parking Lot.  At the Buzz lot we said goodby to Jeff and Colleen and headed back to the hotel.  We packed up all of our stuff and stuffed it back into the car, filled up the gas and got ready to go.  By then it was 2:30AM, so we decided to sleep until later in the morning.  We left the hotel for the last time and drove and drove and drove (about 7 hours).  The funny thing is we didn't really hit any traffic until we made it up to the bay area.  And then we were finally home.  We unpacked for a while and then went to sleep, and our trip was officially over. 

Disneyland 2012

Today we headed out early to Disneyland.  We started out with some light pin trading trying to expand EJ's collection of mamarail pins.  We were feeling a disturbance in the force, so we headed to the Jedi Training Academy to check it out.

EJ didn't get in on the class, but he did think that Darth Vader was awesome, so I was satisfied.  Once Vader was vanquished we wandered over to DCA where we ran into some of our other friends who are down here.  We headed over to pick up our pick-nick lunch and our  entry tickets for World of Color

Then back over to Cars Land for some more Radiator Springs Racers!  I went through twice and it was awesome (I recommend the single rider line, it is WAY faster)!

We needed to cool off after that awesome racing around the Cars world! So we headed back to the puddle park where EJ once again had a great time.  Wile the kids were cooling off at the puddle park, the adults headed off to the Tower of Terror.

After EJ had cooled off enough, he and I went on Heimlich's Chew Chew Train.

By this time we were quite warm so we headed off to Grizzly River Run, but it was broken down, so we headed for Ghirardelli.  After sucking down the last of our yummy treat, we headed back over to check on Grizzly River Run, but it was still not working so we headed to Redwood Creek Challenge Trail to let EJ get some of his wiggles out.  Once he was finished running around we headed over and finally got onto Grizzly River Run and got plenty wet.  We headed over to Cars Land again to see if EJ needed any fun stuff with his allowence, he picked up a sweatshirt, a Lego Mater, and a plush Lightning McQueen.  Time for dinner and we decided on an old favorite, clam chowder!  By the time dinner was over, it was about time to head over for World of Color.  We met our friends the Hobbs there and started to enjoy the show.

Unfortunately, World of Color broke after about 20 minutes and so they gave us premium seating for tomorrow nights preference.  On our way out, we decided to check out Cars Land all lit up at night.

And then we went back to the hotel and ended another beautiful day in Disneyland!

Disneyland 2012

Today was a rest day for EJ and I, while Helga went on an adventure with Yarnvista, Headmistress at Hogwarts(HPKCHC).  EJ and I stayed at the hotel room cleaning and relaxing.  EJ got in a nice 2&1/2 hour nap.  EJ and I headed to Downtown Disney at about 2:30 to meet up with Helga and Yarnvista and wandered with them for about 40 minutes and enjoyed some ice-cream at Haagendazs.  Then it was time to say bye-bye to Yarnvista and onto the monorail (pronounced mamarail by EJ) into Disneyland.  We wandered around a bit trying to find some mamarail pins to trade for EJ's collection.  We decided it was time for some yo-ho yo-ho a pirates life for me (Pirates of the Caribbean ride).  A chicken Sonora Burrito from Rancho del Zocalo hit the hunger spot.  Then we walked towards the main gate looking for more mamarail pins.  We ended with 2 more pins from all the trading today.  Then it was time to head back to the hotel to finish out the night.

Disneyland2012

Another awesome day at Disneyland!  This time we were over to DCA.  Our intrepid guide had to check his map to find the way to our first destination-Radiator Springs.

We had a good look around Radiator Springs and then decided on Luigi's Flying Tires again.  And it was just as awesome as last time!  By now it was getting warm, so we went on the Grizzly River Run to cool off a bit. The Hollywood Back Lot was our next stop.  We headed over to Monsters Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue, times two.  We also got to see Mickey and the Newsies singing and dancing in the street.  We also caught the Disney Jr live show.

In Bug's Life we ran into an actual bug!

We said good-bye to Flick and headed to the Puddle Park.

By now the adults in the crowd just had to checkout Radiator Springs Racers!  It was pretty darn awesome!  By now the kids wanted to see the Little Mermaid ride.  Now it was time for some food, and oh yea, a little more Dole Whip in the form of a float.  As for the food, we headed over to Rancho del Zocalo.  Then it was over to Tomorrow Land for some Astroblasters, Astroblasters, and in case you missed it the first two times, a little more Astroblasters!  By now we were pretty worn out and so it was back to the hotel for a lovely dinner provided by Shawn & Gina Hobbs.  After dinner for some light entertainment, EJ amazed us all by putting together a brand new puzzle in under 5 minutes by himself.  After that Shawn, Helga, EJ and I worked on another new Disney puzzle.

And then it was time to call it a night!

Disneyland2012

Today Helga and the Hobbs headed out early for Disneyland while I caught up on sleep.  We met up at Its a Small World and headed over to Star Tours.  Shawn and Helga went on Star Tours while Gina and I along with Redeem and EJ tried to get on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. 

Unfortunately the ride broke down while we were in line, so it was off to the store to check out merchandise.  Then we met back up with Shawn and Helga and Helga and Gina went off to Space Mountain.  Then we were off to Innovations to see the world of tomorrow.  We watched Honda's ASIMO walk and talk and interact with the crowd http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAL1G5ya214.  Then we headed in to see the new technology upstairs and EJ got to have some fun playing Fruit Ninja with his body.

Then onto the innovations Dream Home.  Then Shawn challenged me at Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters and so we headed over to see who was the best marksman in the Galactic Alliance.  We both made it to level 4, but I was ahead in the end.  Then someone walked by with an R2D2 full of popcorn, so we had to get in on that action.  Then we headed back to Innovations to see more of the Innovations Dream House.  The Mickey's Soundsational Parade was up next and so we headed over to enjoy that.  And a yummy corndog.  EJ was having fun waving at all of his favorite Disney characters like Mickey Mouse, Simba, and Goofey.  When the parade was over we wandered down through the Fairytale Castle and went on the Snow White ride.  By then it was time to head home and finish up another fun day in Disneyland!

Disneyland 2012

Over to Disney California Adventure today.  We got into the park about 8 am and headed over to the brand new Radiator Springs.  We walked around checking out the the sights for a while before jumping on the Luigi's Flying Tires ride

After getting out of the Flying Tires it was snack time.

Then we headed over to Radiator Springs Racers, but EJ was about 1&1/2 inches too short to ride, so we watched the cars zoom by instead.

EJ did not mind not being able to go on the ride since he got to watch the cars zoom by for about an hour.  After resting and watching the racing cars, we headed over to our first meet up with the OUAT fan podcast crowd http://ouat.roneyzone.com/ouat-ouat-fan-pc-meeup-info/.  After saying hello to our podcast friends, we walked around California Adventure and looked at the pier and looked for SF Giants pins.  Then we headed over for our first and second rides on The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel's Undersea Adventure. 

After our second go around in The Little Mermaid~Ariel's Undersea Adventure EJ was done in.

Then we ran into some of our friends from Petaluma who had just gotten off Grizzly River Run and were headed right back on.  Helga tagged along with them since it was about 85 in the shade.  By now it was about lunch so we looked up our friends the Hobbs who are down here with us and went for Mexican right off of Louisiana Square.  On our way to meet up with the Hobbs, we picked up what could be called the most delicious food in all of Disneyland which is doubly true on a hot day-Dole pineapple ice-cream.

After a delicious lunch, we were headed back to DCA when we ran into someone special!

 Then over to Grizzly River Run but the wait was about an hour so we picked up some fast passes for later. That done, we headed over to The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel's Undersea Adventure for another run.  Then we walked over to the Boardwalk and enjoyed the sights and a little ice-cream too.  Then the Bees headed over to the Back lot for a photo opp with the OUAT fan podcast folks.  We got there early though so we went for a ride on the  Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! ride.  Then over for that photo opp.  And over at the back lot there was an opportunity for a photo for EJ and one of his favorite Disney characters-Jake!

 
Then we walked DCA some more and watched the Pixar Play Parade.  Then it was dinner at the Paradise Garden Grill.  By  this time the whole family was wiped out and so it way time to say bye to the park.  We needed some supplies so the next stop was Target.  Then at last we headed back to the hotel for some much needed R&R.

Disneyland 2012

We left Petaluma late Friday night and drove through the night arriving early Saturday morning.

 

 We checked into the hotel and slept until late morning.  Then it was off to Disneyland! We drove to the Toy Story parking lot and then onto EJ's favorite ride-the bus to Disneyland.

Then we wandered around Disneyland for a while.

Then we went onto the Pirates of the Caribbean ride

After Pirates we went back to the hotel for a bit of rest, relaxation, and refreshment.

After a little R&R&R, we headed back to the park. We went to Le Brea Cafe for dinner and to hang out with some of our Once Upon a Time friends.

 http://ouat.roneyzone.com/ouat-ouat-fan-pc-meeup-info/

After the podcast meetup, we headed back home for the evening.