From the Mind of AlphaBetsy

March Hafla

2012-03-03T10:23:00.000-05:00

Last night I met up with several of my friends to go to the March hafla for Bellydance Columbus where we all take or have taken classes. The event was moved kind of last minute to a conference room in a hotel, so my friends and I met in the bar to have a drink before partaking in the belly dance greatness. The hafla consisted of several performances mixed with times of open dancing. Here are some okay photos I took with my phone of the beautiful dancers.

The beautiful Chandara. She is my instructor.

A beautiful tribal fusion dancer. I didn't catch her name.

More of the unknown tribal dancer

This troop did a bellydance hip-hop fusion.

Lovely and graceful cabaret dancer Athena

Sophia Sahar...beyond amazing and so beautiful.

This made me miss belly dancing so much. I can't wait to get back into regular classes.

I got a package!!

2012-03-01T22:11:00.000-05:00

I ran to UPS today to pick up the package from Queenie of Always, Queenie Believe that I had won in a giveaway. I didn't get photos of the package as it was opened, because I opened most of it in the car on the way home. Don't worry, Seth was driving. Once open though it was such a beautiful package. Thank you so much, Queenie.

How adorable is this tin? Love!!

Love the green and brown. It's one of my favorite color combos.

I love the Brigid's cross.

Beautiful enameled bell.

Cherry Blooms. So beautiful.

I'm counting this as my first birthday gift!! LOL.

Thanks again, Queenie!!

March Maddness

2012-03-01T10:17:00.001-05:00

This has absolutely nothing to do with basketball. Sorry if that is disappointing to anyone.

http://www.123rf.com/photo_4065947_the-month-of-march-done-in-vintage-letterpress-type.html

It is March. My birthday month. Seth's birthday month. One of my favorite months. And as usual a super busy month. I will be posting a lot and sharing a lot, so just for fun I thought I would give you a quick overview of March. In order by occurrence my month is going to look a bit like this.

Oral exam for spanish, Biometric screening, Hafla, Burlesque show, Hockey game, Pi day 5k, Ohio Roller Girls, Boot camp starts, Psych exam, My birthday, Spanish exam, St. Patrick's Day, Birthday shopping day with mom and sister, Ostara, Egg decorating party, dinner for Seth and I's birthday with friends, Seth's birthday.
And that is March. So far.

Written Word Wednesday...

2012-02-29T18:00:00.001-05:00

Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett - I love all things Pratchett and Discworld, so I didn't doubt for a moment that I would love this book. That being said it is such an amazing and hysterical book. It is lightly poking fun at the football hooligans from Great Britain, well okay kind of roughly shoving fun at the hooligans. The characters are lovably flawed as always, and the twists and turns are ridiculous and wonderful. We get to visit some of our old favorite characters and lots of new ones too. And if you listen to the audiobook it is read for you by the amazing Stephen Briggs, who wrote the discworld companion, so he knows the world inside out and upside down. Just read the book. You will love it. :)

1984 by George Orwell - I started this today on audio book, because Greg Proops keeps talking about it on his podcast, Smartest Man in the World, and I can't remember if I ever read it. I still don't know if I have read it It seems familiar, but I think I may be confusing it with Fahrenheit 451. There is definitely something scary about the idea of the government controlling even your thoughts. I am pretty sure that this society is my nightmare. And how close are we coming. Yikes. It's dystopian and disturbing and intriguing in a horrible kind of way. It's also a classic, so read it. Big Brother says to. Speaking of Big Brother, check out Humanwine's song of the same name. Enjoy!!

Two years later...

2012-02-25T19:00:00.000-05:00

Today is the two year anniversary of this blog. :) Yep it was two years ago today that I decided to jump into the world of blogging not really even knowing what that meant. And it has been a great two years. I have gotten to know so many amazing people from all across the globe and it is a beautiful thing.
In case you were curious, this is my very first post. Funny how much things can change, rearrange, be reevaluated and rejected in two years, isn't it?

And where am I today?

Well I am working on changing my major to English, so I can transfer to a four year college to continue my bachelor's, master's and possibly phd. We shall see. I am going to start applying for scholarships like mad so that after the wedding I can hopefully start attending class full time and work part time (if at all) to finish my degree.

Seth is still looking for work after being laid off at the beginning of the year. The biggest issue is that he is not going to find a job that pays as well as his previous job, and that is frustrating for him. I think he will find something soon though. I am going to make him help me with a job finding spell soon. It is time. I let him do things his way for a while, but now I am helping out. Getting some good energy flowing that way can not hurt a thing.

I decided about 2 weeks ago to switch from the momentum program for weight watchers to the new points plus program. I liked the more balanced feel of points plus, and, really, they were kind of forcing your hand as everything in moving to points plus now. So I switched and in the last two weeks I have lost over 5 pounds. In fact I have only 5 pounds to lose in order to hit my next goal and 75 pounds lost. When I started on my weight loss journey I was 275 pounds and wore a size 22. Today I weigh 205 and wear a size 16. It's not as fast as it could have been, but I am pretty damn proud of how far I have come.

I am doing fairly well with my goals. My bouquet just needs some extras and I can start assembling. I need to make an appointment with the councilors at school to get my major changed, but that should be able to happen soon.

1) fly a kite (yep it's still here)

2) get a massage

3) reach one-derland

4) scrapbook 2011

5) ~~get piercings~~

6) assemble bouquet

6b) bouquet for Shmoo, and boutonnieres/corsages

7) take fitness class (bought one through Groupon, just need to get it scheduled.)

8) go to gallery hop

9) ~~Hold craft night for wedding.~~

10) ~~Find fabric for men's weddings vests~~

11) ~~make/order wedding invitations~~

12) ~~Eat at 5 restaurants I have never tried 1 2 3 4 5~~

13) ~~Get addresses for invitations~~

14) Make out invitations

15) Plan birthday shopping trip weekend with Mom and Shmoo

16) ~~Find fabric for wedding jacket~~

17) Meet with school to discuss change to semesters, major change, etc.

18) Start applying for scholarships

19) ~~do something super fun for New Years~~

20) have awesome birthday dinner party

21) ~~send out save the dates~~

22) figure out vows

When I grow up...

2012-02-23T10:59:00.001-05:00

I want to be an English professor. I want to teach people how to love books. I want to write. I want to help other people with their writing. I want to be happy. I want to be loved. I want to love. I want to be encouraged to be crazy. I want to be creative. I want to be a roller girl. I want to travel more. I want to be comfortable, but not rich. I want to be an awesome aunt. I want to be more "green". I want to be a great wife. I want to take more time to read. I want more tattoos. I want to add colored stripes to my hair. I want to get my phd. I want to volunteer more. I want to make more art. I want to stop compromising.

So I am going to. :)

Written Word Wednesday...

2012-02-22T10:32:00.001-05:00

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson - There was so much hype surrounding this book that I was afraid that it could never live up to it. The book is an amazing and interesting mystery/thriller though and really delivers a top notch story. The first part of the book moves a bit slowly, but keep pushing forward, because once the action starts it doesn't stop. The heroine, Lisbeth, is so strangely likable and I kept thinking that if she were real we could be friends. :) All in all a great book, though a bit raw at times both in violence and sexual themes, so be warned.

I am going to try to get my hands on the other two books soon, and will let you know what I think.

Tying-the-knot Tuesdays

2012-02-21T22:31:00.000-05:00

With Joann's having an amazing President's day sale this weekend we went on Sunday to look for the fabrics we needed for Seth and Chris' vests and for my jacket. We went back and forth, but we found fabric for both. The fabric for the vests is an olive green ultra suede. The fabric for my jacket is a beautiful rust with a pattern in golds, greens, and other fall like colors.

I also got some pretty floral pieces to add to my bouquet.

And just because I can here are some new button pieces for my bouquet, and how a watch spring is going to make awesome spiralies for the bouquet.

Things are coming along!! Less than 8 months to go.

New Glasses and Roller Derby

2012-02-12T22:30:00.000-05:00

On Saturday I picked up my new glasses. I really like them and think they will be very apparent for a while.I will get a better picture soon. This was taken at halftime during the bout. :)

Later in the night we went to see the Ohio Roller Girls in their first bout of the season against the River City Roller Girls out of Virginia. While there I bought a book about Derby and a tank top from the River City Girls. We won both bouts as you will see in the next couple photos. I forgot my camera (sad) so these are from my phone. Better pictures next time I promise.

The first bout was our Gang Green (the B team) vs. their Warriors (also the B team).

Yep...we were leading 160 to 13 at the half in the first bout.

And the final for the first bout 294 to 41.

The second bout was their main team vs. our all stars. This bout was a little more balanced. And maybe one of the most action packed bouts I have seen in a while. It was great fun. I yelled a lot.

This is the score at halftime from the second bout. 92 to 40 OHRG

Final score for bout #2 Ohio Roller Girls 196 - River Valley 70

The book I picked up is called Jam and it's like a graphic novel of stories. Fabulous.

My tank top is purple and has the River City logo on it. So...

I LOVE ROLLER DERBY!!!

To all my beautiful friends...

2012-02-02T06:09:00.001-05:00

May the light and fire of Brigid fill you with the blessings of Spring.

Blessed Imbolc!!

Tying-the-knot Tuesdays

2012-01-31T22:53:00.000-05:00

This was a crazy productive wedding week. We had our first official wedding craft night. My crazy craft team (Cliff, Seth's mom Sarah, Niki, mom, Shmoo, my friend Julie and Seth) and I got an amazing start. Sarah and Niki got every single favor bag stamped. That's 200 favor bags!! They totally rocked it out. Cliff assembled some of the chain maille flowers for the bouquet. Mom, Shmoo, Julie and I made a bunch of the pieces for the bouquets. And mom got a start on the paper strips that will one day be paper chains.

I am so flippin' happy that we got so much done. It really relieves my mind a bit that we can get this much done in one night. I feel like we can get things done, and beautifully. This wedding is going to happen and it is going to be gorgeous.

We also got calls out this weekend for catering and for the photobooth for the wedding. I know there are ways to set up your own photobooth and such, but it is worth it to me to have them come set it up and run it and for me to be able to just enjoy it. The booth company we wanted has our weekend open, so I am hoping to get a deposit to them pretty quickly so that is done. Seth is handling the catering, so I am letting that go. He can handle it.

We are also talking about the actual ceremony and music, and all that fun stuff. It's coming together.

My weekend, redeeming 2012 a bit.

2012-01-29T22:56:00.004-05:00

Things are feeling a little better around here now. I got my car back from the shop this week and she is good as new, though they had to remove some of my in car decorations in order to fix things, so I will have to do some fixing. I had a very successful night of wedding crafting on Friday, which I will post more about on Tuesday. On Saturday Seth and I went to lunch at Dirty Frank's again, and had some amazing hot dogs. This time I got their tofurkey dogs, instead of the all beef, and they were really good. This is what my yummy lunch looked like.

Their food is seriously yummy. The dogs are called (starting with the left) Puff the Magic Popper, Chicago and Beano, lol. After lunch we ran to the big downtown branch of the Columbus Metro Library. They had an amazing selection of audio books, so I grabbed a bunch to listen to at work. I also grabbed a couple of new print books. Makes me happy. And at the Library gift shop I bought myself a pair of adorable earrings that will benefit the library, which is awesome. They are bits of pencil. I love them.

And today we went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and set up our very first Wedding Registry. We had so much fun. We found a set of dishes that we absolutely love, so I hope we get them. I also love the flatware we picked. I am so excited!! We are probably going to register for some things at Kohl's as well and then we will be set.

I thought I would also give an update on how my goals are going so far. A lot of these are works in progress, and won't be complete for a little while still. I think I can make all of them though, so I am keeping on.

1) fly a kite (yep it's still here)
2) get a massage
3) reach one-derland
4) scrapbook 2011
5) ~~get piercings~~
6) assemble bouquet
6b) bouquet for Shmoo, and boutonnieres/corsages
7) take fitness class - I have bought a class pass through groupon, I just have to get it set up.
8) go to gallery hop
9) Hold at least 3 craft nights for wedding. 1 2 3
10) Find fabric for men's weddings vests
11) ~~make/order wedding invitations~~
12) ~~Eat at 5 restaurants I have never tried~~ ~~1 2~~ ~~3 4 5~~
13) ~~Get addresses for invitations~~
14) Make out invitations
15) Plan birthday shopping trip weekend to Indianapolis with Mom and Shmoo
16) Find fabric for wedding jacket
17) Meet with school to discuss change to semesters, major change, etc.
18) Start applying for scholarships
19) ~~do something super fun for New Years~~
20) have awesome birthday dinner party
21) ~~send out save the dates~~
22) figure out vows

I have to share that because of my goal lists my little sister is doing a 21 before 21 and has some amazing goals set for herself.

Tying-the-knot Tuesdays

2012-01-24T22:43:00.000-05:00

This was a banner week for wedding planning. Seth and I talked things out, plotted and planned both Saturday and Sunday. We made some fun decisions, interesting realizations and necessary purchases.

I ordered my wedding boots from Clockwork Couture. They are pretty normal and not all that wedding-y, but I have a plan. These are the boots.

I will be adding buttons, yo-yo's, beads, etc to the side, changing the laces to something more feminine and possibly adding some glitter. I think they will be awesome though.

I also found the tights/thigh highs that I want my sister (maid of honor) and I to wear too. I haven't ordered them yet, but I am hoping to soon. They are from Sock Dreams and I think it will be awesome to have these hiding under my wedding dress.

We also decided on some of the favors, decorations, etc, but you will have to wait until next week for that, because this Friday is officially the first WEDDING CRAFT NIGHT!! Yay!! I am excited to get started and have a great night with my friends and family making wedding stuff. So I will have pictures from that next week.

Playing Tag... And I'm it.

2012-01-22T14:27:00.000-05:00

The lovely Toriz from Torizworld has tagged me and because it seems like fun I am going to play too. According to the rules I need to post 11 random things about myself, answer the questions Tori put together for us, tag 11 new people and make up 11 questions for them.

11 random things about me:

1. I have a deep speaking voice, but sing high soprano, so when I used to do musicals I would purposefully talk in a higher voice, so it didn't sound silly.

2. I have had several poems published.

3. I absolutely suck at playing video games and get frustrated really easy when I can not get the characters to do what I want. I blame this on having no gaming systems between the Atari 2600 and Playstation.

4. I love mannequins, styling heads, foam heads, glass hands etc. I don't know why but I could fill my house with them.

5. I love having people over and entertaining, but it stresses me out. I'm fine once people are here and things are underway, but before then I am a wreck.

6. I have just recently learned to drink and appreciate wine and beer and for some reason it makes me feel more adult than turning thirty did.

7. I met Seth through his brother, Chris, who I worked with. One of the first things Chris ever said to me was, "You are so happy. My brother would hate you." It makes me laugh now that we are getting married.

8. I once had a teacher, who upon realizing that Albert Einstein and I share a common birthday, March 14, said "oh, so that's what's wrong with you." lol.

9. My worst subject in school is math, and my best is english. Everything else falls somewhere in between.

10. I know it is a classic, and whatever, but I never actually made it clear through the book Pride and Prejudice, until I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

11. At sixteen I was in the PTA, was a room mother and a volunteer for field trips for my little sister. I also got her through chicken pox while my mom was on a business trip and various other ailments. I consider her the child I never had and we are super close.

Now for Toriz's questions.

1. What was your first pet? And what was its name?
My first family pet was a little black cat named Stormy. I was 2 or 3 so I really couldn't appreciate her. My first personal pet was a fan tail gold fish named Cleo.

2. What is your earliest memory?

3. If you could live anywhere in the world, in any type of home, where would you live? And what kind of home would you live in?
I absolutely love my house...it is my dream home from when I was a little girl. If I could do anything I would just work on my own home. I would build in a lot of bookshelves, floor to ceiling in most of the rooms of my house. I would also redo my kitchen, it needs more cabinet space, and because my house is over 100 years old it has some unusual lay out issues, like the sink being in a weird little room off of the kitchen. And I would have the upstairs bathroom redone. This will all happen in time. :)

4. If you had to pick just one meal to have everyday for the rest of your life, what would it be? And Why?
I can eat pizza everyday of the week. Super crispy thin crust, lots of veggies, and sauciness. Mmmm... And do I really need to explain that.

5. What would your ideal job be?
I have wanted to be an English teacher since I was in middle school and I think that is my ideal job. I want to teach college English. In fact I want to be one of those super eccentric english teachers. I have a goal.

6. Do you love to read? If so, what are your favorite types of books?
I an an avid reader and honestly I will read pretty much anything you put before me. Some of my favorites though are fantasy, sci-fi, supernatural romance, horror, mystery, classics...lol. I told you I like everything.

7. Are you a fan of watching movies? If so, what are your favorite types of movies?
I love movies. And like with books I am all over the place. I like art films, foreign films, fantasy, sci-fi, romantic comedy, drama, mystery, kids movies, aminated features, horror and everything in between.

8. It's a cold, dark night in the middle of winter, the snow is falling thick and fast outside the window... What are you doing?
Probably snuggling up with a good book in my corner of the couch with some hot chocolate and a warm chihuahua, and maybe a cat.

9. It's a beautiful, hot day in the middle of summer; there's not a cloud in the sky, and barely a breeze... What are you doing?
Avoiding the heat in any way possible. I am not a fan of hot days. Now give me a nice mild day and I would go out to a park to play, but say the word "hot" and I am out. Though a nice hot day is a good time to go hiking in Old Man's Cave and Hocking Hills because the caves are always colder than the surface, so a hot day makes a pleasant warmth in the caves.

10. If you could meet any fictional character, who would it be? And why?
Wow... this is a hard one. If I could meet any fictional character it would be Jenks from the Hollows books by Kim Harrison right this moment. He is the ultimate comic relief, while still being a serious help and a great friend. And he's a pixy. I don't know why he came to mind exactly, but since he was the first thing I thought of there you go.

11. If you could have a conversation with any person- alive or dead; just as long as they really exist (or have really existed in the past) - right now, who would it be? Why them? And what would you discuss?
I would have a conversation with my great, great grandmother. She died very young and before anyone found out who the father of my great grand father was. Quite the scandal. So I would find that out as well as what led up to her tragic end, etc. It would solve a great family mystery.

Okay, now I need to tag 11 people. I am doing this very randomly and I want no one to feel pressured to play along. :)

1. Queenie
2. Karla
3. Celia
4. Birgit
5. Bird
6. LuLu Kellogg
7. the blue faerie
8. Faye
9. Sandi
10. Marfi
11. Dinadra

And my 11 questions are.

1. What is your favorite children's/cartoon character, and why?

2. Are you a tv watcher? What are your favorite shows?

3. Do you have a guilty pleasure? What is it?

4. Do you wear jewelry? Do you have a favorite piece? Why?

5. How did you come to blogging?

6. What is your favorite way to unwind after a hard day?

7. If you could take a vacation anywhere in the world where would you go?

8. If you could be a character in any book, which book would you be written into? What part would you play?

9. What is your favorite fairy tale, and why?

10. Do you speak more than one language? What languages do you speak? What languages would you like to learn?

11. Have you read or watched Eat, Pray, Love? Where would you go to Eat? Pray? Love?

That's it I think. Now have fun!!

Blessings.

Written Word Wednesday...

2012-01-18T23:28:00.000-05:00

So, I read a lot, and listen to books on tape. Because of this I have decided to start a new feature which I shall call Written Word Wednesday. I am going to share some of the best of the books, graphic novels and audio books I have read recently, or am currently reading. Let me know what you think.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern Audiobook read by Jim Dale (narrator of the Harry Potter audio books.) This is an amazing book that I can not recommend highly enough. Well written, beautiful imagery and characters that you fall in love with. One of my new favorite books of all time. And if you do the audiobook, Jim Dale is one of the best narrators and really brings the story to life with his voice.

The Fables series of graphic novels - This series is one of my favorite things in the world. The idea is that to escape persecution in their own world the fairy tale creatures move into ours. Snow White, The big bad wolf, Rose Red, and all your favorite heroes and villains are on hand with adventure, comedy and action. There are also a couple of spin off graphic novels. I have all but the newest of them and would definitely say that fairy tale lovers need to read them.

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs - I am about halfway through this book and so far love it. The characters and plot are amazing, so far, and I can not wait to get further into the world that has been created. Also amazing in this book is the old found photos that the author has integrated into the story. Beautiful and Eerie and amazing.

And finally a non-fiction - Once Again to Zelda by Marlene Wagman-Geller - This book tells the stories of the book dedications for some of your favorite books by prolific authors. I just started reading it tonight and found out about the dedications for Frankenstein, Moby Dick and Jane Eyre. It's an interesting look at literary history.

I am reading several books right now, and have some in the wings, so there will be more to come.

The LBD, a bathroom makeover and thoughts on meditation.

2012-01-17T23:26:00.000-05:00

So as previously stated I have recently realized that I can wear my favorite little black dress, which I have been keeping in the back of the closet refusing to give away for 8 or so years. It is one of those one of a kind amazing fitting dresses and it has pockets. I had my Seth snap a couple of pictures of me in the dress before date night. It's a little hard to see, but you can get the idea.

Yesterday my mom and sister came over to help me paint my downstairs half bath. I did not think to take any before pictures, but let's just say the while room was a dingy white. We found an amazing green paint (apparently we like green paint) on the mistint shelf at my sister's home depot, so we used that and a black paint that we had already bought. We painted the vanity, medicine cabinet and trim black.

I have a confession to make, I am a pagan and I can not meditate. I either blank my mind so much that there is literally nothing and doze off, or I will allow too much thought in and can't keep my mind on my meditation. It makes me feel like a bit of a failure because in my years as a practicing pagan I just can not catch on to meditation. Because of that I honestly just don't use meditation in my practice, but I have been trying to work my way through the book sexy witch and she uses a lot of guided meditation, which is holding me back, because I get no results from it. Does anyone have any thoughts on meditation or advice? I feel like I am missing out on something.

Getting a strange start...

2012-01-13T22:03:00.000-05:00

2012 is starting out not so good for me. It could be worse, and I know that, but still.

On Tuesday I got up, worked out, got ready for work, walked out to my car and found that someone had smashed out my driver's side window, pulled out my center console and stolen the heating panel out of my car. WTH!! The heating panel?! I don't get it, but it happened, so I am currently driving a red Dodge Grand Caravan while my Beastie (my cars name is Beastie) is being repaired. I had this horrible fear that they might have to/ want to total my car, which with Seth not having a job would have been really bad, but luckily this is not the case. Yay!!

In a good note I bought an awesome offer through Groupon today. It is for a month long bootcamp work out program, where you do a boot camp class 3 days a week for 4 weeks. Plus with the package I bought you can also take 10 fitness classes like kettlebell and yoga. Why I like this one is that they offer classes at 5:15 am, which will actually work with my school/class schedule. So I took the plunge. I will let you know when I start and what I think. I just need to jump-start myself back into workouts etc. I am having a hard time getting the loss started again and I think this will help.

On that front though I am able to wear a dress that I refused to let go of when I gained weight. It is the best little black dress I ever owned and I can finally wear it again. I am beyond excited. I am wearing it tomorrow night when Seth and I are going out to dinner at Tip Top Kitchen and Cocktails and then going to see Shrek the Musical at the Ohio Theatre. I am so excited. The music from the musical is great and I know I will love it. Yay date night.

More soon.

A new year... welcome to 2012.

2012-01-01T22:24:00.000-05:00

to you and yours.

I spent New Years Eve with my two favorite wenches and my favorite rogue. Much wine was drunk, creme brulee was eaten, karaoke was sung, conversations were had, laughter was shared, champagne bottles were opened with swords and catching up was done. It was a great night, but I have no photographic evidence. *sigh* Having too much fun to use a camera.

It's officially 2012. The year is beginning a bit questionably, but I have hope that it will all work itself out fairly quickly.

Seth is now officially unemployed. It could not have come at a worse time. We have so much wedding that we really need to get done/started, and we can't because we don't know when Seth will be employed again. The very scary possibility of possibly having to cancel the wedding altogether has been spoken of, but nothing that extreme will happen until absolutely necessary. For now I am going to do some workings to find him a job, and help him figure out where he wants to be. That and helping him with his resume is about all I can do.

Because of the holidays and the stress of future monetary hardships lurking I have put back on 7 or 8 pounds in the last month or so. The holidays are always a stressful and hard time for me but with all the additional stresses things just went all to hell really quickly. I am jumping back into my healthy lifestyle starting tomorrow. Including getting up early to work out, even though I have the day off. I just can't let all the crap cost me all my hard work, so I am making it stop right now. I am going to continue with weight watchers, but I am considering switching to the points plus system with the new year. I need to do some reading, so we shall see.

School starts again on Tuesday. These couple of weeks off have not been nearly enough time to rest, but back to work it is. This quarter I am taking Psychology and Spanish 1. I haven't taken Spanish since junior high, but I feel like it is a good language to learn no matter what line of study I am in. Speaking of which I am more than likely going to end up changing my major, probably to English. I feel like I did not really understand what being a paralegal is, and getting into the nitty gritty I do not think it is for me. When I started school I did so because I have a job that I am not happy doing, so the idea of going to school to end up doing a different job that I am still unhappy in is just not logical to me. So, I am going to make an appointment to talk to an advisor to see what I need to do to change majors and what it will mean.

I have made myself another list of goals, actually I made two lists. One is the large year long goals I am setting and the other is more of the short term goals which I am giving myself until my birthday again to complete. I actually started my short goals at the beginning of December, so I have gotten some of them completed, but the long term start as of today.

Long Term: to be completed by January 1, 2013

1) Get down to a size 12 and reach my final weight loss goal.
2) Do a ritual for all holidays
3) Reach final decision about major and work on funding and possibility of switching to full time
4) Learn to knit or crochet

Short Term: to be completed by March 14, 2012

1) fly a kite (yep it's still here)
2) get a massage
3) reach one-derland
4) scrapbook 2011
5) ~~get piercings~~
6) assemble bouquet
6b) bouquet for Shmoo, and boutonnieres/corsages
7) take boxing class
8) go to gallery hop
9) Hold at least 3 craft nights for wedding.
10) Find fabric for men's weddings vests
11) ~~make/order wedding invitations~~
12) Eat at 5 restaurants I have never tried ~~1 2~~ 3 4 5
13) Get addresses for invitations
14) Make out invitations
15) Plan birthday shopping trip weekend to Indianapolis with Mom and Shmoo
16) Find fabric for wedding jacket
17) Meet with school to discuss change to semesters, major change, etc.
18) Start applying for scholarships
19) ~~do something super fun for New Years~~
20) have awesome birthday dinner party
21) ~~send out save the dates~~
22) figure out vows

This is so wedding heavy, but that is pretty much the theme of 2012 in my world. I will let you know how I am doing with my goals again. I have high hopes for this year, so let's get going.

Lost time and the holidays

2011-12-28T21:53:00.000-05:00

So at some point during the last couple of weeks the power cord to my netbook died. Completely. And so slowly but surely the power to my beloved netbook also died. NOOOOO!!! And because at heart I am a lazy bitch who refuses to go upstairs and use her desktop computer, I have not blogged in a really, really long time.

Let's see what has happened since we spoke last.

We took the parents (Seth's and mine) to see the wedding venue. They all loved it. Yay. They said we made a good choice. These are some photos we snapped while touring.

We had a holiday party, and the night before a cookie baking party. The next photos are from that. :)

I have much more to say and share, but this is good for now. I have missed you all. I promise not to go away for so long ever again.

Staying positive, Falling off the wagon and a Get off your Broom update.

2011-12-12T23:27:00.000-05:00

So... there has been a bit of a shake up in our little world recently. Seth found out a week or so ago that as of January 1 he no longer has a job in the school district he has been working in for the last 5 years. They had a massive budget shortfall this year and after a ridiculous double levy (property and income tax hikes) didn't pass they cut almost all extracurricular activities and the 26 custodians with the least seniority, of which Seth was number 13. I know we will make it through this, and hopefully he can find a job relatively fast, but the timing is awful. With the holidays and being in the middle of solidifying plans for and beginning to pay for the wedding. I'm keeping as positive as possible, but it's hard not to be a little stressy with the economy and such.

That being said last week was not my best week diet wise. I hate to say that I let the stress take me off track, but I totally did. The fact that it was finals week just compounded the crazy. I was trying to sleep more, so I wasn't getting up early to work out, so with the week off I took for my new piercings that means that I took two weeks off from daily exercise. *head desk* As of this morning though I am back to my morning routine, and already feeling better. Which am good.

The results of my week + of super stressing
Weight: 209 (not too bad considering)
Waist: 38.25
Bust: 45.5
Hips: 43
Right Thigh: 22.75
Right Bicep: 14

Really for all of the feeling like I was spiraling down I didn't actually come out too badly. It could have been so much worse. And I am feeling back on track now.

And for the week 11 challenge: What is health?

To me health is being able to take the steps to 5 at work without dying. It is being able to do Warrior Dash in under an hour next year. It is hearing from my Dr that I am no longer borderline thyroid disorder, and that my blood tests are perfectly healthy. It is reaching the weight that my Dr and I discussed and decided was best for me (which is not the weight that is recommended for my height, but actually about 30 pounds heavier than that. Talk to your Dr about it, you may be surprised with what they say.)

Tying-the-knot Tuesdays

2011-12-06T22:40:00.000-05:00

My life is a bit hectic right now, but some significant wedding action has happened in the next couple of weeks.

On Saturday Seth and I ordered our Save the Dates and our invitations/RSVPs for the wedding. We ordered them from 123print.com and for all it was less than $150. They are really cute too.

Save the Dates

The invitation

I also bought the beads and wire, so I can get started on my bouquet and it is going to be gorgeous. I am going to get started on it in the next couple of weeks. :)

Then today I got the call from David's Bridal that my dress was in. So I picked it up today, so we can start embellishing the belt and get the fabric to make my jacket. I just need undergarments and shoes now. We are getting there.

Get off your Broom - catch up and apologies

2011-11-29T08:46:00.001-05:00

I couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting these posts and then I realized that I had changed everything, but my subscription to the blog, oops, so now I will play catch up a bit.

First I should say that with all the exercise I have been doing it can not make up for the holidays, it just can't and I have decided that is okay. I refuse to become so stressed about what I am eating, drinking etc. during the holidays that I don't enjoy myself at all. I am not overeating, but I am also not punishing myself for eating the trifle my little sister made. Once the holidays are over I will buckle down and be super careful again, but for now I am enjoying my family and the food that is involved in that. I am still exercising and counting my points, but I am NOT panicking if I realize that I have put on a pound. It will come back off, I know that, so I am letting it go. Not becoming complacent, but just refusing to kill myself over small gains and small things.

My Week 4 Stats
Weight 208 a slight increase
Chest 44
Waist 38.5
Hips 42.25
Right Thigh 23
Right Arm 13.5

In the grand scheme of things this could be so much worse.

Why I am trying to lose weight:
To look/feel better
To look amazing in my wedding dress
To actually like looking at myself in the mirror
To hold off major health problems
To make tying my shoes easier ( it's the little things)

To make me feel sexy again

To make me enjoy being naked

To allow for a more active lifestyle

To be able to do a zip line tour (I was over 250 lbs when I started which is usually the max)

To regain my sense of pride in my appearance

To make me want to go out more

All these and more...

How healthy are the foods I eat, well in all honestly probably not that healthy, but whatever anyone says organic foods are much more expensive and I just can not afford it. We eat the best we can while maintaining a budget, which is healthy enough for us. It's not all organics, but it's definitely all processed either.

I am going to have to think about my witches diet and get back to you.

Blessings.

Pride, Prejudice and Piercings

2011-11-28T20:40:00.000-05:00

I am not going to reset my blog to adult however, this particular post is dealing with adult themes and may possibly be offensive to some people. It is not my intention. The female body, body modification/piercings, and frank conversations lie ahead. You have been warned. :)

I want to tell you what I did on Friday, what led to that, why it is momentous and what it means for/to me.

Friday after work Seth picked me up and we took a ride to the university area to here in Columbus to go to Evolved Body Art. We were going there for me to get my nipples pierced. This may elicit one of a couple reactions: "So what.", "Why in hell would you do that?", "That's really gross." or, you know, "Cool." I decided to get this body modification because I have a major issue with my breasts.

My breasts and I are not the best of friends. At best I resent them and at worst outright despise this part of my anatomy. Why, you may ask. Well... there are a couple of reasons. They are very wide set. VERY wide set. They have a space between them of a couple of inches. Also, one is larger than the other. I know, everyone has a larger one, but mine is also fuller, rounder, plumper and larger by about a size than it's shrinky counterpart. A full cup size. That is a substantial difference. As I have been losing weight, they are beginning to even out a bit, but there is still a visible difference between the two.

When I first started my weight loss journey in June of 2010 I had decided on certain rewards for certain goals and one of those was that when I hit 50 pounds lost I would get my nipples pierced, because I loved how it looked and it was body related, but not food related. Then in January/February when I hit that goal I seriously second guessed the idea. I intended to forget it completely. But Seth, who knew all about my goals and such, asked me if I was going to do my reward for 50 pounds lost. I told him I didn't know. And then I waffled for 10 months. He would politely advise that I needed to reward myself for my hard work and that I should honor my promises to myself, etc. And I would get pissed and say "I know". You can get the picture.

Fast forward to a couple of weekends ago when I noticed an ad by evolved for one of their female piercers, and I thought to myself just do it, so I emailed her to see if she could get me in the next day, but the next day rolled around and not hearing from her I made other plans, so it was put off again. After much discussion with Seth we decided the next viable day to go was the day after Thanksgiving, because Seth was off and could come with me to lend moral support.

So Friday after work I went to Evolved. There were no female piercers in house, but I got a very nice gentleman named Jared who would get me taken care of. The hardest part for me was taking off my shirts (I was wearing 3, I almost always wear layers it's another issue I am working on) and bra to stand topless before him; presenting myself to be pierced. It was so completely clinical, though, that after a minute of weird I was just chatting away like I wasn't half naked. A couple of movements and it was done, quick and pretty much painless. And now I have matching horizontal bars in my nipples.

I am truly proud of myself for doing this. I kept a promise to myself, that was important enough to be made in the first place. I took myself way out of my comfort zone by taking my clothes (at least part of them) off in front of someone I do not know. I took a piece of myself that I am not overly fond of and made it pretty, showing it some love, albeit in an alternative way. And I allowed myself to truly acknowledge how far I have come in my journey, not only in weight loss, but in self acceptance and self love.

I have lost 66 pounds (accounting for holiday pounds accumulated already and not yet removed) and 3 dress sizes. I regularly take the stairs at work now from 1 to 5 and while I am winded I make it all the way. I can wear the ring Seth gave me for our 6 month anniversary again, and he has adjusted my engagement ring multiple times (it's so handy that he made it and can modify in seconds). I generally feel better, which is worth it's weight. I can fit in the pea coat I wore in high school again. :) So many little victories. I am so proud of how much I have accomplished, so before the Thanksgiving spirit is completely gone I am thankful for myself, and the fact that I have taken control of my life, so much for the better.

Blessings

15 days of thankfulness - Day 15

2011-11-24T22:40:00.000-05:00

November 24 - Day 15 - 3 things about your life right now that you are thankful for.

I am thankful that I have been given the ability to go to College. And that I am doing really well. I am really proud, especially since my high school career was not great.

I am thankful that both Seth and I have amazing and supportive families. I know that they are going to be there to help us with our wedding, our home and beyond.

I am thankful for constant friends, friends rediscovered, friends I have never actually met, and, well, all my friends. I may not always call, stop by, comment or text, but I still love and appreciate you all in all ways.

Thank you for following me through my 15 days of Thanksgiving. So to you and yours.

15 days of thankfulness - Day 14

2011-11-23T21:46:00.000-05:00

November 23 - Day 14 - 3 things that make you laugh that you are thankful for.

I can not help but laugh when I watch this video. It makes me thankful for my cat...lol.

I am thankful for Matt Stone and Trey Parker. From South Park to Book of Mormon they always make me laugh.

I adore and am thankful for Monty Python... always and in all ways.

15 days of thankfulness - Day 13

2011-11-22T09:27:00.000-05:00

November 22 - Day 13 - 3 things about your belief system/ faith/ spiritual path that you are thankful for.

I am thankful for my fiance who, though not a follower of my path, will get involved and endeavors to understand what I do and believe. Our holiday dinners are just amazing.

I am thankful for the tools of my religion. The cup, the cauldron, the broom, the pentacle, tarot, runes and my altar space. And thankful that I can proudly display them in my home.

I am thankful for the Craftster WWP (witches, wiccans and pagans) Swaps and the amazing people who do them. I have made some great friends on those swaps and I appreciate every single one. :)

15 days of thankfulness - Day 12

2011-11-21T21:27:00.000-05:00

November 21 - Day 12 - 3 things found in nature that you are thankful for.

I am thankful for beautiful rivers and natural waterfalls.

I am thankful for hiking trails, national parks and beautiful places to go for walks. My personal favorites here are Black Hand Gorge, Old Man's Cave/ Hocking Hills and the Columbus Metro Parks.

I am thankful for gardens, vegetable patches, farms and flower beds. I love all of them. I also love all trees, plants, weeds, grasses and everything else. I am thankful that nature is there.

15 days of thankfulness - Day 11

2011-11-21T21:08:00.000-05:00

November 20 - Day 11 - 3 friends who have inspired you that you are thankful for.

My best friend from high school, Haley, who encouraged me to be my own woman, because she always was. Who taught me about music and movies and who was my constant companion in those crazy teenage years.

My friend, Tina, who showed me that if you love something do it, by going against the odds to play roller derby. She retired this year but she was amazing.

My beautiful drama club friends, who are still my friends and favorite people, and the crew from Tee-Jayes. Great friends, Great Conversations, Great people. I'm lucky to know you all. And I'm thankful we are still friends even now.

15 days of thankfulness - Day 10

2011-11-19T11:08:00.000-05:00

November 19 - Day 10 - 3 teachers who touched your life that you are thankful for.

Mrs. Isenhart (Mrs. I) my elementary school music teacher. She gave me my first duet in second grade and my first solo in third. She helped me get accepted into a select youth choir. She taught me to LOVE music, all kinds of music. My life would not have been the same without her.

Mr Kohler my elementary school art teacher. He taught me to love art. He taught me that men love to get flowers too. He is a magical performer, and acting with him was one of the best experiences of my life.

Mrs. Booher my high school theatre and acting teacher. She pushed me to heights I did not know I was capable of. She encouraged me and helped me and made me a stronger and better performer.

15 days of thankfulness - Day 9

2011-11-18T18:55:00.000-05:00

November 18 - Day 9 - 3 upcoming events that you are looking forward to and are thankful for.

I am looking forward to going to see Shrek: The Musical when it comes to town in January. I love, love, love musicals and at one point was planning to be a musical theatre/opera major, so any chance to go see a show makes me happy. And if you haven't heard the music from this musical check it out. It is going to be soooo cute.

I am looking forward to having a huge party for my little sister because she will be 21 this year. We are going to take her out on the town and treat her to an amazing birthday. I am going to have so much fun putting it together with my mom.

And finally, last but obviously not least, I am getting MARRIED in October. I am marrying the greatest man I know. He is amazing, and I feel so completely blessed to be his wife. For more info on this see my Tying-the-knot Tuesday posts.

15 days of thankfulness - Day 8

2011-11-18T18:27:00.000-05:00

November 17 - Day 8 - 3 things in your home that you are thankful for.

My craft room... it's still a work in progress, but I love it.

My end of the couch... so comfy and wonderful.

My books, movies and music... makes my life complete.

15 days of thankfulness - Day 7

2011-11-16T22:39:00.000-05:00

November 16 - Day 7 - 3 inspirational songs you are thankful for.

My number one inspirational song is The Rainbow Connection from The Muppet Movie. I have always counted myself among the lovers and dreamers. Plus it is sung by one of my favorite "people" in the world Kermit the Frog.

My second song is The Rose by Better Midler. A little sad but very inspirational.

And song number 3 is What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong. I just love this song. I also love the Ramones version.

A very hairy situation...

2011-11-16T16:38:00.000-05:00

Seth and I found ourselves at COSI, a local children's museum on Saturday night for a very interesting event,
Ohio's Second Beard and Moustache Competition and Festival. We attended because my lovely man is thinking of trying to compete and he wanted to see what it was all about. As a lady who loves the men with facial hair it was an interesting and very exciting event. I have never seen so much face hair in one place, it was insane. You would also buy t-shirts, pillows, art, etc with facial hair motifs. Competitors came from all over the US and Canada to compete, and the crew of Whisker Wars was there covering the event. it was a great event and I think in the end Seth has decided he might try it next year. Here is some of the awesome...

15 days of thankfulness - Day Six

2011-11-15T20:35:00.000-05:00

November 15 - Day Six - Three things that you can see right now that you are thankful for.

I am thankful for my computer, monstro, without whom none of this would be possible.

I am thankful for my little shelf of toys, art and fun stuff that helps me stay sane when writing a particularly grueling paper.

I am thankful for my amazing desk chairs that I got for $15 dollars off craigslist. So comfy.

Tying-the-knot Tuesdays

2011-11-15T20:16:00.000-05:00

This has been a kind of crazy weekend for wedding planning.

My mom and I were running around on Friday night, having dinner and just enjoying each others company, and we were heading to Joann's, but there is a David's bridal right next door. Mom suggested we run in for a minute just to see what they have. The actual bridal side didn't really have anything like what I was looking for, but on the bridesmaid/prom side I found a rack of dresses that I really liked. The color I liked best was not on the rack in my size, but they had it in red in my size. Here's the dress in red.

I liked the dress in Latte/ Champagne which looks like this.

Well I loved how the dress fit, and the fabric, and then we realized it was on sale for $149.00. We could not possibly make a dress for that price. So my mom ordered and paid for the dress. We are going to embellish it a lot, but the dress is gorgeous as is. That skirt is to die for. I am so excited. It is going to look amazing, and my poor mother can stop worrying about sewing the dress, which was giving her major anxiety. Now she will probably just sewing me a shrug, or jacket. I am thinking maybe something crazy like this...

She and my sister also found a dress for Traci to wear as my maid of honor for $15 at Plato's Closet, which is a resale shop for "teens". Then at another store they found a victorian styled jacket to go over it. The pictures are a little fuzzy but you can get the idea. The dress is orange, though it doesn't look it in the pictures, and the jacket is brown.

The wedding is starting to come together. Yay!!

15 days of thankfulness - Day 5

2011-11-14T22:36:00.000-05:00

November 14 - Day 5 - 3 animals, past or present, that you are thankful for.

I am thankful for my furry kids, my long haired chihuahua, Zoe and my fluffy cat, Samhain (Sam). They are the lights of my life, and spoiled rotten.

And though I know it will make it more than three I am also thankful for my mom and sister's babies. Traci's pomeranian, Gogo. Mom's long haired chihuahua, Ophelia (who is the sister of Zoe) and her cat, Tango.

In our family we love our animals.

15 days of thankfulness - Day Four

2011-11-13T10:07:00.002-05:00

November 13 - Day 4 - 3 things about your childhood that you are thankful for.

I am thankful that I was always encouraged to use my imagination, to be creative and to play with abandon. It has followed me into adulthood and is one of my favorite traits about me.

I am thankful that I was encouraged to read, and to use reading to ask questions and wonder about the world around me. Knowledge was a prized thing in my family.

I am thankful that my family never treated me like I was a child. That sounds like a bad thing, but I was never placated or simpered to. My family spoke to me as though I were an adult much of my life and treated me with that level of respect. I think that has greatly affected how I treat others.

Images from Halloween

2011-11-13T09:53:00.000-05:00

This post is going to be exactly what the title suggests. I am going to put up some random Halloween and Autumn fun photos here for your enjoyment. I have been so active this Halloween season and have had so much fun crafting, sewing, decorating, panicking, partying, smashing, slicing, cooking, baking, carving, and blogging. I don't know if next year can possibly be a repeat performance because next October I'm getting married!! We will have to see. But for now enjoy a taste of my Halloween... a little bit late.

Mosterbash

German Village, Columbus, OH

High Ball

Short North, Columbus, Ohio

The tag reads To: Women From: God ... he was God's gift to women lol

Boo At The Zoo

Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

Hope your Halloween was amazing!!

15 days of thankfulness - Day Three

2011-11-12T23:50:00.002-05:00

November 12 - Day 3 - 3 relatives or people from your past that you are thankful for.

First, I am thankful for my mother, Karla. She is my mom, my best friend, my support system, my cheering section, my sounding board and so much more. She is also going to officiate at our wedding. Oh, and she paid for my dress. Yep, she is that awesome.

Second is my little sister, Traci. She is one of my favorite people in the world. That pretty much sums that up.

The third is a joint love to my Grandma and Grandpa Bailey. I lived with them, with my mom, most of my life and they helped form me into the woman I am today. Grandma passed in 1996 and Grandpa in 2001 but I still miss them both.

Veteran's Day -15 days of thankfulness

2011-11-10T23:02:00.000-05:00

I just want to take a moment to say thank you to all those who once served, currently serve or will serve in the Military. I appreciate you and all that you do. Blessings to you all.

November 11 - Day 2 - 3 veterans you know that you are thankful for.

First and Foremost my Grandfather, Alvin Leon Bailey, who proudly served in the Navy through the Korean Conflict. I love him and miss him every day.

My father, Charles Robert Wolfe, who is also a Navy veteran.

Seth's Step-Grandpa, Flloyd, who was a proud veteran of the Army. He passed away this year and is sorely missed.

Happy Veteran's Day.

15 days of thankfulness - Day One

2011-11-10T06:56:00.000-05:00

November 10 - Day 1 - An author, artist and musician you are thankful for.

The author I am thankful for today is Christopher Moore. His books are intelligently written, but always make me laugh. And his way with words is Epic. And because this was hard for me I am also thankful for Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

Mr Moore and some squirrel people

The artist I am thankful for is Vincent Van Gogh. I know he is not current, but I have always loved his unique style and amazing use of color. A starry night, enough said. Thank you Dr. Who for reminding me how much I loved him.

The musician I am thankful for is Amanda Palmer. I originally found her as the second piece of the band the Dresden Dolls, and have continued to follow he into her solo career. I love her because she always signs autographs, she listens to and truly appreciates her fans, she holds online parties that are hysterical and beautiful, she married one of my favorite authors (Neil), and she is seriously talented in many ways.

15 days of thankfulness

2011-11-09T22:00:00.002-05:00

I know I owe some amazing posts from the past week or so, including a Get off your Broom update and I will get there, but for now...

Cordelia from Cordelia's Cauldron asked her followers to join her in 15 days of Thankfulness. I love this idea so I am going to jump in. I am going to use her prompts and will post one a day. If you want to join in here are her prompts.

15 Days of Thankfulness

November 10 - Day 1 - An author, artist and musician you are thankful for.

November 11 - Day 2 - 3 veterans you know that you are thankful for.

November 12 - Day 3 - 3 relatives or people from your past that you are thankful for.

November 13 - Day 4 - 3 things about your childhood that you are thankful for.

November 14 - Day 5 - 3 animals, past or present, that you are thankful for.

November 15 - Day 6 - 3 things you can see right now that you are thankful for.

November 16 - Day 7 - 3 inspirational songs you are thankful for.

November 17 - Day 8 - 3 things in your home that you are thankful for.

November 18 - Day 9 - 3 upcoming events that you looking forward to and are thankful for.

November 19 - Day 10 - 3 teachers who touched your life that you are thankful for.

November 20 - Day 11 - 3 friends who have inspired you that you are thankful for.

November 21 - Day 12 - 3 things found in Nature that you are thankful for.

November 22 - Day 13 - 3 things about your belief system/faith/spiritual path that you are thankful for.

November 23 - Day 14 - 3 things that make you laugh that you are thankful for.

November 24 - Day 15 - 3 things about your life right now that you are thankful for.

I will post more soon.

Blessings.

Get off your Broom update

2011-11-02T22:59:00.002-04:00

I know this is late in coming, but it has been one of those wild weeks. Obviously Halloween made things hard, plus there were more parties, going to see a movie, homework, mid terms and more...Whoo. I am exhausted.

Last week went pretty well for me. I kept up my exercise every weekday morning. My diet was suffering a bit thanks to Halloween, but all in all it was a pretty good week. I also stepped up my use of weights this week. I really felt like that helped a lot. Just need to keep it up.

My Week 4 Stats
Weight 207 an increase, but
Chest 44
Waist 38.5 down half an inch
Hips 42.25 down 3/4 inch
Right Thigh 22.75 down 1/4 inch
Right Arm 14

The Week 5 Mini-Challenges
There will be three mini-challenges this week, which will appear simple. The reality is that they may be simple but they are not easy. They will take a lot of willpower and some planning ahead to stick with. Now that we have observed our habits and started to change them, it's time to work on making them consistent. Remember, these mini-challenges are always optional.

Part 1 is to exercise at least five days this week. (At first I wrote "five times this week", but if you are like me you would take this literally and cheat. Oh I did Zumba for and walked the dog today. That's two times so I only have to do three more times this week.Nope, we should to be exercising almost every day. )

Part 2 is to eat more fruits and vegetables, or in other words a more plant based diet. Maybe you aren't going for the goal of a vegetarian diet like I am, but studies show that even if you are a meat eater more fruits and vegetables helps weight loss. (But don't cheat and eat a bunch of potato chips and french fries and count that as vegetables.)

Part 3 is to drink plenty of water every day. I'm not going to suggest that you drink 8 glasses every day because I honestly don't know how any does that. I've also researched it and no one actually has a clear answer on why 8 was the definitive number. A good rule that I have heard is to drink one glass of water with every meal and snack that you have.

I will check in again next week to let you know how it goes.

A Witches Tea Party (or how to start a yearly tradition) Day 1

2011-10-28T21:00:00.002-04:00

A Witches Tea

Once upon a Saturday, so near to Halloween

Some witches came over to play, and to have a witches tea.

The table was set for a holiday with yummy treats and cups to spare

Spiders, skulls and spooky things were present everywhere

A bouquet of autumn flowers were a lovely sight to see

And my eyes delighted at the sight of the treats in store for me.

The mantle was all decked out in it's spookiest best

And the sideboard was so scary it would impress the witch of the west

The guests began arriving and who would we first see

Witch Sarah, my future mother-in-law in her witchiest toggery

Glenda (Jamie) and Witch Martha made a very Oz-y pair

Witch Niki's beautiful green hat was the envy of everyone there

Endora (Mom) was in attendance, with no Samantha in tow.

And Shmoo came dressed as a Marvel character I didn't even know.

Double, Double this looks like trouble made of sisters three

Mom, Cathy and Anniebob enjoy the revelry

Witches in Training became friends fast Miss Moira and Miss Kynnadey

And who is this? Why I of course Witch AlphaBetsy

Crescent moons for chicken salad and little sandwiches

Cupcakes taunt beside fruits and vegetables for dieting witches

With all introduced and the table laid to begin our jubilee

Please grab a plate and sit a Spell and have a cup tea!!

Thank you for stopping by day one of my Witches Tea Party. Please stop by tomorrow for more Halloween party goodness. And don't forget to click the link below to go visit some of the other beautiful blogs.

Happy Halloween

and

Blessed Samhain!!

Get off your Broom update

2011-10-24T23:05:00.001-04:00

My check in: This week I worked really hard to try to make up for last weekend and all the craziness that involved, so when I weighed myself on Friday morning I had taken off almost all the weight that I put on. But then I went to another big Halloween party on Saturday and it all went to hell again. The adult trick or treating was a blast though. And I did dance for 2 hours straight, so I feel like I made up for some of the naughty. I guess we will see on Saturday, which is my weekly weigh in day, how bad I really was.

Me stomping some Barbies at Monsterbash
on Satuday... take that ridiculous standards.

This morning I tried a new workout video I bought ( Biggest Loser - Cardio Max) and it kicked my butt. Wow. I am stiff tonight. Bob sucks. Lol.

My Week 3 Stats
Weight 204.7 (at official weekly weigh in)
Chest 44
Waist 39
Hips 43
And I am adding in...
Right Thigh 23
Right Arm 14.5

Part 1: How balanced is your diet? Are you eating healthy, wholesome natural foods or are you simply eating less crap than before?
Well, I am definitely eating less crap, but with the weight watchers I am also eating more balanced. Although of late I have been seriously slacking on the fruits and veggies front. I need to get back on the ball with that. I'm still eating a lot of them, just not as many as I am supposed to.

Part 2: In the previous post, I wrote about how I've been struggling to make this fitness challenge more "witchy." If we do do things witchy all the time like Magaly says, then making a fitness challenge more witchy shouldn't be hard, right? What can you do to combine your spirituality and practice with your diet and fitness regimen?
I have been taking on Yoga to calm my mind a little and hopefully improve my meditation. Also just having more energy is making my practice better. I have done weight loss/ health spells and rituals in the past. Personally I am thinking about pulling back out Sexy Witch by LaSara FireFox, which is a book to help you love your body, all aspects of it, and challenges your views on sexuality. I have started it before but was so uncomfortable with my body that I put it down very quickly. I think it is time to pick it up again. I will keep you all updated on how that goes for me.

Halloween Party with A Fanciful Twist - 2011

2011-10-21T21:24:00.000-04:00

I decided once again this year to join Vanessa from A Fanciful Twist in a Halloween Party in blogland. This year though I decided to have an actual Halloween party and post the photos from that. So welcome to my party. Grab a butterbeer ( Killian's Irish red with a shot of butterscotch shnapps) and enjoy.

Welcome to our home.

A barrage of bats on our stairway wall.

Your illustrious host. I'm a saloon girl. Could you tell?

The back of me.

Charlene (Goddess), Chelsea and Rachel (Bee) watch me give Bobbi and tarot reading.

Amanda, Mike and Chris...just hanging out.

Charlene and Rachel still watching me do readings... I did a lot of them.

Andrew and Amanda haunting the food tables.

Look at me giving readings.

Our pumpkin chunking platform. Essentially we attack pumpkins with weapons.

Seth lining up a pumpkin for destruction.

Wow... those are some dead pumpkins.

Axes and weaponry that succumbed to the chunkin'

My little sister was a ninja turtle... how cute is that?

Haley... who was Nancy, but Sid never showed. :(

Want me to cut you a piece?

I hope you enjoyed a look inside our party. Be on the lookout for more Halloween photos next week . For more fun click the link below to visit A Fanciful Twist and find more party fun.

Get off your Broom update and Tying-the-knot Tuesday...again.

2011-10-18T23:03:00.000-04:00

I did not intend to keep combining these two topics, but apparently that is how it is working again this week. Next week I will try to separate these out because they really aren't very related, but for now it will work.

Get off your Broom.

This was a particularly hard week for me. I did well with work-outs Monday thru Thursday, but then I had Friday off, so I did not take the time to work out. I did a lot of cleaning though, and more cleaning, and more cleaning. And then on Saturday I had two separate Halloween parties at my house. The first was a witches tea for the ladies of our families. I had a really good turn out, and lots of amazing foods, which is where things got dangerous. After a couple of hours of tea and snacking the ladies left and we began to reconfigure the house for our adult party. Also a great turn out, but even more food, and worse snack foods. Couple this with alcohol and coming down from the stress of getting the house together and I went down hill badly, sigh. I also got a stress caused canker sore. *shakes head* So this week I am trying to get back on track. I have another huge Halloween party this weekend, but I am going to try to keep myself moderated a little better.

On a good note I looked incredible in my costume. I did something a little short and very fitted for the first time in many years and I totally rocked it. Stay tuned for photos from the parties over the next couple of weeks.

Weight: 208 - 3 pound gain...ouch
Bust: 44 - yep that's an inch loss.
Waist: 39
Hips: 43

Week three challenge questions: Why do we have a sudden craving for something sweet or salty that just seems to come out of the middle of nowhere? Should we give in to these cravings or suffer through them?
I have no idea where cravings come from really, though generally if I am having a severe craving for something it is because my body is lacking something and is telling me I need it. Whether I give in to the cravings depends on what it is I am craving and where I am and what time it is. If it is 11 pm I will not give in no matter what. But if I am craving chocolate I have a little chocolate.

Tying-the-knot Tuesday
With Halloween we are not working much on the wedding right now. Starting in November I am going to start on my bouquet and such. :) We are also trying to finalize the catering decision and get the deposit down for that.

Countdown to Halloween

2011-10-14T23:32:00.000-04:00

I have a crazy whirlwind of a weekend ahead. I have two, that's right two, Halloween parties at my house tomorrow. I did this to myself, so I won't complain too much, but I may have overextended myself a bit this time. Eek. The first party is a Witches Tea for the ladies of Seth's and My family. So far we have confirmed 8 ladies, but I have the feeling more will show up having not RSVPed, sigh. Later in the night will be the large friends gathering, adults only. This one has 15 confirmed and again probably more than that will actually show up. I will post pictures of the ensuing craziness, but for now will leave you for now with some of the gorgeous Halloween things I have found and added to my pinterest.

Blessings.

Source: etsy.com via Betsy on Pinterest

Get off your Broom update and Tying-the-knot Tuesday

2011-10-11T22:12:00.000-04:00

I realized that I never did my Get off your Broom weekly update this week. I'm a slacker that way. I thought I would do it now then to update everyone who is following.

I got up every weekday morning to work out for an hour before getting ready in the morning. I am taking the stairs instead of the elevator to the 5th floor where I work. I am still doing my WW stuff. I even downloaded a new app for my phone to replace my written food journal which was almost full. The weekend saw a bit of change though. We went to the Renaissance festival on Saturday and if you have never been let me just say that like any fair most of the food is fried or junk food. I didn't do too bad and offset a lot of the eating with all the walking. Sunday was my family reunion and that is just a full day of eating. Again I didn't do too bad, but it was still more than I would normally eat. In the end I came out with a little gain, but feeling really good. Starting the new week I am going to focus on really watching what I eat, especially knowing that I have not one but two Halloween parties this weekend. Wish me luck.

Weight: 205
Bust: 45
Waist: 39
Hips: 43

But I have to show you all something awesome. The picture on the left is of me at the Renaissance Festival in 2009. The picture on the right is from this weekend. Look at the difference. How fabulous is that.

In Tying-the-knot Tuesday news, well, there really isn't any news. We are now officially at less than a year out, but I have so much going on right now that I can't even panic properly. I am going to get together a couple of save the dates to send out. We have some friends from out of time that we would like to give advance notice. I have some gorgeous stamps to use for the save the dates and the invitations and we are going to put them to use soon. More soon.

Blessings

Countdown to Halloween - Altered Tin Swap and Spooky Sewing

2011-10-10T20:14:00.000-04:00

I received my beautiful Altered Altoid Tin from the wonderful Michelle and Ashley from http://thetatteredquiltcottage.blogspot.com. I absolutely love it. Here is the awesome.

I was hired by my friend, Jeff, to make him a velvet cape for Halloween. I finished it on Friday and took it to Jeff on Saturday after we got home from Faire. Here is the finished product. As I said the cape is velvet and the lining for the hood is a wine colored velvet. The clasp is so much cooler than you can see in the photos, it is gorgeous and blingy. Jeff loved it. Yay.

This is a crazy week for me. I have two different Halloween parties at my house on Saturday that I am getting ready for. A tea for the ladies of my family and future family and then our friends and craziness Halloween party later in the night. I have so much to do, so I am going to get to work. I will post more later in the week.

Blessings.

A Faire Affair...

2011-10-09T22:02:00.000-04:00

Saturday Seth and I headed down to the Ohio Renaissance Festival once again. This is what that looked like.

Seth starting the day.

Me at the start of the day.

Seth shows off a heavy toy... Solid steel Thor's Hammer.

Getting a tribal bat Henna tattoo.

Her yarn dreads were amazing.

The mayor (my friend Chuck) leads the parade.

The village peasants.

These ladies are getting a wild ride.

Pirates!!

The Naughty Navels on parade.

The merchant class and nobility

More nobility

God Save the Queen!!

A gorgeous faery costume in the pub.

Seth biting off more than he can chew

The Wenches a Wailing calling for a toast

The Wenches a Wailing

More of the Wenches

Amazing Satyr costume

Those legs were amazing

Me after several hours at faire. Add my henna, a rose in my bodice and a brand new skirt.

We had a great time again. This is unfortunately going to be our final weekend down, as we are having our Halloween party next weekend which is the closing weekend. It was a great season though.

Countdown to Halloween - My Favorite Fictional Witches

2011-10-06T21:35:00.002-04:00

I have been slacking in my Countdown to Halloween duties. I am so busy getting ready for Halloween, getting my school work done and, well, working. No excuses though. I promise to get better. Starting Now.

Halloween always makes me think of my favorite ladies, Witches. I have so many favorites from Books, Movies and Television, so today I thought I would share my witches dozen of favorite witches or groups of witches. These are in absolutely no particular order.

1) Willow and Tara - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

2) The Sanderson Sisters - Hocus Pocus

3) Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Og and Magrat Garlick - Terry Pratchett's Discworld Series

4) Mildred Hubble - The Worst Witch (film and books)

5) Rowan Mayfair - The Mayfair Witch books by Anne Rice

6) Nell, Mia and Ripley - The Three Sister's Island Trilogy by Nora Roberts

7) Rachel Morgan - Hollows Series by Kim Harrison

8) The Halliwell Sisters - Charmed

9) Elphaba Thropp - Wicked

10) Eglantine Price - Bedknobs and Broomsticks

11) The Owens Women - Practical Magic (film and book)

12) Tiffany Aching - Terry Pratchett's Discworld Series

13) Hermione Granger and Minerva Mcgonagall - Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

Best Witches!!!

Betsy

Tying-the-knot Tuesdays

2011-10-04T22:58:00.000-04:00

My mom, who I may have mentioned before as being totally awesome, made some thrift store purchases for me this week for the wedding and for wedding preparations. She picked up several glass pieces to make platforms and stacks for cupcakes and such. Something like these:

I think it will be so super cute. And she got a BUNCH of glass bits. Such a great start. I mean, after all, as of Thursday we are officially one year away from our wedding. Oh my God, that is terrifying. I have so much work to do, and now only a year to do it in. Guess who is going to be a busy girl very, very soon.

The countdown is officially on.

It's October Finally, Witchy Fitness and A Winner!!!

2011-10-01T19:46:00.000-04:00

It's officially October!!! Huzzah and Hurray!! The Halloween madness has already begun for me. So far I have one swap mailing out tomorrow, and two more that I am working on. I have been hired by a friend of mine to make him a cape. I am holding two separate Halloween parties. And attending a couple more. I need to get my costume together and accessorized. All while going to school and working full time. My plate is full and I could not be happier. This is my favorite time of year. Divine craziness at it's best.

I have also decided to join The Domestic Witch in her Get Off Your Broom: A Witchy Fitness Challenge

I am still working toward my weight goal and thought this would be a great and fun way to keep myself encouraged and hold myself accountable.

Our fearless leader gave us some mini goals for the week and so without further ado.
Goal 1: A picture of you ( before picture).

Goal 2: Weight: 204.5 Bust: 45 Waist: 39 Hips: 43
My Goals: My first goal and one I have been working on is to reach one-derland, under 200 pounds, by Samhain. I think this is definitely achievable if I keep working like I worked this week. My second goal will be to have lost at least 5 more pounds by Thanksgiving. My third goal to lose 5 more by Yule. And ultimately to be wearing a size 14 by the new year. I am currently sitting in a full 16, so I think these are all very reachable goals.

Goal 3: My Plan: This past week I started getting up an hour early to exercise before work due to my school schedule. Since this is working well I will continue. I will press forward with weight watchers while adding more vegetables to my diet.

I will be updating regularly on my progress and how things are going, as well as on observations and maybe even what my favorite workout DVD's are. Stay tuned.

Now for the part that everyone has been waiting for. The announcement of the winner of my Practical Magic giveaway.

And the Winner as decided by random number generator is...

True Random Integer GeneratorMin: Max: Result:19Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Dragonfly said...

Wonderful post, I love your giveaway the box and it's contents are fabulous.

I so agree with you about the aunts, I too come from a long line of strong minded and independent women (some may say awkward women LOL) I think the aunts are good role models to have, after all who wants to be normal.

frith
J x

Congrats Dragonfly!! Please send me an email with you mailing address to spazgirl1981 at gmail dot com, so I can get everything out in the mail to you.

Thank you again to everyone who stopped by and who entered to win. Keep your eyes posted for another giveaway soon!!

Blessings.

I was featured on a blog.

2011-09-28T21:58:00.000-04:00

Happy Wednesday. We're halfway there!!

I just wanted to pop in to brag a bit that I was featured today on my friend Berol's blog Blossom Tree Valley for her Wednesday Wonderfulness post. She wrote such a nice piece about my little space in the blogosphere. She's a total sweetie and even though for some reason blogger will not allow her to comment on my blog she just sends me little email comments. How amazing is that. So if you get a chance stop by to say hello and check out her Animal Mondays which always make me happy. Especially the one about her mantids. Awesome.

Tying-the-knot Tuesdays

2011-09-27T22:00:00.001-04:00

First let me go a bit off topic and say thank you for all the positive comments on my Practical Magic blog. I had so much fun putting it together and your words are well appreciated. Also a big welcome to all new followers. I'm so glad you are here and I can't wait to get to know you.

If you are new I will just briefly let you know that my fiance, Seth and I will be getting married on October 6, 2012, and rather than let my blog become all wedding all the time I have set aside Tuesdays for all things wedding.

We are really getting into the swing of wedding planning and plotting. I think we have found the caterer we are going to use. They run $7.50 a person, which is a ridiculously good price, and since we know someone else who used them for their wedding and loved the food. The only down side to them is that they only provide styrofoam plates and plastic utensils, which I think is a little too family reunion for a wedding. I have some plans though to get around that. One thought is to buy mismatched plates and such at thrift stores or my mother suggested today buying dishes at the dollar store. Since we are inviting 125 people, even if we pay $1 per plate that is still only $125. And with some of the prices for other caterers it would still be more cost effective in the end. I really like the idea of mismatched plates and silverware, because it appeals to my sense of quirk and whimsy.

I was talking to my mom today and she is getting nervous about sewing my dress. She is afraid she will mess it up somehow. I told her that to make it easier and provide her some relief we will make a muslin mock up of the dress first to see how it fits and make sure we like it, and then make the actual dress. She seemed relieved. I would like her to make my dress but only as long as she enjoys doing it. If it is going to make her nervous, then we will find something else. The really good news though is that I have lost enough weight to be in the size zone of my dress pattern. Yay. The high end of the zone, but still in the zone. I'm still working, but man is that a relief.

More soon. :)

Practical Magic and my very first Giveaway

2011-09-23T21:20:00.001-04:00

"For more than two hundred years, the Owens women have been blamed for everything that has gone wrong in town." ~ Alice Hoffman, Practical Magic

In preparation for this blog party I decided to reread the book Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. I remembered loving the book because the magic that they described was so much more natural than "supernatural". It always seemed so much more real to me. Everything was more subtle and I could relate to these beautiful, strong women.

Reading the book anew I fell in love all over again. The aunts eclectic nature, taking in their nieces even though they never married or had children. The black cats haunting their home. The late night visitors. The orphans who grow into two different, but very similar women. Sally's beautiful daughters who have their own problems with the Owens name. The men who fall into the women's lives. Jimmy the corpse.

The book is so beautiful that, even though I love the film, I almost wish they could have kept more of the book in tact. That being said though, I had to watch the film 10 times since I signed up for the Blog Party.

My dream in life is to grow up to be like the aunts. I'm at least partway there. I wear interesting, maybe even witchy, clothes. I love hats. I love my tiny gardens. I come from a family of strong women (I like to think of my family as matriarchal). I live in a big old house, with one black cat (for now).

Someday I hope to be as amazing and interesting an aunt as Frances and Jet. High aspirations, but I think I can reach them.

For now though I am all ready to fly off the roof on Halloween.

And I want to help you to be too. So here it is, my first ever blog giveaway.

The whole package.

If you win you will get your own pair of red and white striped socks to wear on Halloween when you jump off the roof and fly, the decorated box with the word magic on it...

super sparkly

a tiger's eye necklace (don't go back to the car for it)...

And two little bottles that hold rosemary from beside the garden gate and lavender for love.

I may throw in some fun extras as well.

This being my first giveaway I am keeping it simple and saying that you just need to leave a comment to enter. I will leave this open for entries until September 30. I will draw a name and announce a winner on October 1.

Good Luck.

There are some things, after all, that Sally Owens knows for certain: Always throw salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Add pepper to your mashed potatoes. Plant roses and lavender, for luck. Fall in love whenever you can.

Blessings!!

Find all the other amazing Practical Magic Blogs by clicking the flyer in my sidebar.

Autumn is here.

2011-09-23T07:02:00.000-04:00

Blessings of the equinox to you. I have so many things to be thankful for this year. I am thankful for my amazing family, that my mother remains cancer free, that my nephew has come to live in Ohio, that my wedding to the most amazing man I know is coming together, and so much more. What are you thankful for today?

Don't forget to come back later for the practical magic blog party. :)

Tying-the-knot Tuesdays

2011-09-20T21:40:00.000-04:00

It's Tuesday again...

Over the weekend we bought this amazing train case

Which we are going to decorate and use in the wedding as a place for people to put cards. The case is in the most amazing condition and the color is perfect for our fall wedding.

I went to Joann Fabrics this week to price some fabric for a possible sewing project for a friend and decided while I was there that I would just glance at the special occasion fabrics to see if anything caught my eye for the wedding. And there among the other fabrics was the most beautiful creamy colored fabric, it is a silk dupioni and I might be in love. I am going to take my mom back to get her opinion since she will be sewing the dress, but I may have found my dress fabric. I will let you know what I decide.

Country Living Fair 2011

2011-09-19T22:38:00.000-04:00

On Saturday my mom and I headed to the Ohio Village, here in Columbus, for the annual Country Living Fair. This is the second year we have been in attendance, and it was just as great this year. I came out with many, many ideas and a couple of awesome finds. Because of the wedding I didn't do as much shopping as I wanted to, but I got some amazing pieces.

The view from the line.

The Country Living Booth.

Right inside the gate was the cutest lemon shake up stand EVER!!

More of the adorable lemon shake up stand.

The canopy from the shake up stand.

A gorgeous fall arrangement.

Fantastic Felted Pillow

How cute is this camper?

Beautiful flower arrangements were everywhere.

A beautiful fall display from a booth specializing in vintage.

The famous pumpkin/gourd stack.

Such cute hanging vases.

A great display of globes and cameras.

I loved this booths sign...

and their adorable signs.

I fell in love with this dress form.

Look at this bunting... Mad Tea Party??

curios and lucite bags

cute little wedding piece...so whimsical.

Bird feeders made from silver trays... so cool.

Great vintage bits and glitter filled salt & pepper shakers.

This ribbon had a lot of the colors for the wedding.

So many pretty notions.

Fantastic Tassel Fringe Lampshade... may have to make some of these.

That hanging light is made of ties!!

Cuddle Monsters made from recycled sweaters

So much pretty...

Sweet glittery trophies. I want to have a contest to give one to someone.

Absolutely amazing wooden camper...

Look at the little owl.

Beautiful display...

These adorable gents were singing some fantastic bluegrass.

My Purchases:

Vintage Traincase

It's in gorgeous condition...more on it later.

This is a cake tester... you pull one off each time you need to test a cake.

Beautiful fall colored hand warmers...they are made from re-purposed sweaters
and will look amazing under my peacoat.

It was a great day and a great event.

How was your weekend?

The small country fair...

2011-09-15T12:00:00.001-04:00

On Sunday Seth and I went down to South Vienna where his Grandma lives to visit her and to celebrate our niece, Moira's birthday (her party was on Saturday and I managed not to get any pictures), and ended up visiting the South Vienna Corn Festival. This is just a little local town fair, which made it fun. The food was amazing... fresh sweet corn, inch thick grilled pork chops, homemade chicken and noodles and apple dumplings that we almost as good as the ones Seth's grandma makes. I had a giant ear of corn, a steakburger with mushrooms and onions and an apple dumpling of course. So good... seriously. Then we walked around a bit to get some pictures of the rides and such. Some of the rides were older looking and therefore charming. After that we went to browse some of the craft tents. We ended up buying an amazing hand crafted wooden chest of drawers for $30. It's pretty good sized and a high quality piece so I feel like we got a good deal. We also bought some local honey from a farm stand. It was just a nice unexpected day. :)

Angry Birds Game

How cute are the firetrucks?

Merry -go- round

Moira, the birthday girl, is a Tiger... or a kitty.

Awesome chest of drawers

Look how sturdy this thing is.

Tying-the-knot Tuesdays

2011-09-13T21:03:00.000-04:00

So... we went to visit The Gahanna Sanctuary last Thursday. The first thing I noticed was just how amazing the building is. It is a retired Lutheran church that was built in 1895. It was bought by a foundation rather than razed, and turned into a community building.

How gorgeous is that?

We came in through the back and were met by Christy who is one of the coordinators, who escorted us into the main room/ sanctuary. We were greeted by amazing stained glass windows, an amazing dance floor, soaring ceilings and just beauty.

The view from the stage in the sanctuary

More of the sanctuary. Look at that dance floor.

The stained glass... so pretty.

We wandered around a bit, and after a while realized that we were no longer looking at the space, but we had begun to plan the wedding in the space. Both of us being people who kind of go with our guts, we decided that this was where we wanted our wedding to be, so we put down the deposit and signed the contract. So officially...

Seth and Betsy will be married on Saturday, October 6, 2012 at the Olde Gahanna Sanctuary in Gahanna, Ohio.

This thing is getting real people. Yikes. Now to step up my crafting and work outs to prepare. :)

So much more to come.