Trial and Error: Art, Dreams and Life

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:11:52 PST

Sweeeeeeeeet! So I took exam two last night and was worried about a couple of the questions. They seemed almost like trick questions to I worded them as carefully as I could. I checked my progress report to see if by chance it was already graded and I made a 100!

I am so psyched! I really like the grader for this class as well. Normally you have to wait about a week before you get your grade but she does them in one or two days. I have to remember to send her a thank you note at the end of the class.

It stormed like crazy today. It's suppose to be pretty bad tonight I hear. Something about the weather they are having up in Colorado is stemming off down here. I got the prettiest pictures today. I'm not sure how well they will turn out though since they were taken with my phone.

Off to change for my Zumba class!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:11:29 PST

Finally got my butt into the Zumba class! I am so uncoordinated but it was a lot of fun. The instructor is really sweet.

I also liked that the class wasn't full of a bunch of super fit know all the moves women. There was a nice rounded (no pun intended) assortment. I also like that my instructor wasn't this super tiny spandexed little thing either. She was a normal size like the rest of us.

Can't wait for the next class!

***

I'm currently avoiding taking my exam. Not because I'm worried I won't do good but rather because I'm being lazy. I have to go into work tomorrow so I have no interest in doing something that feels even remotely like a chore.

I didn't end up doing much today. I lounged around on the couch, took some photos for my beauty blog and then ran around with Cory. I feels so much later than a little after eight right now.

Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 08:11:28 PST

Good God today was a long day. Not only were we short staffed at the office but a couple of coworkers did nothing but gripe and complain the majority of the day. I was able to ignore it for most of the morning but just like poison once you're around it enough it manages to seep in until everyone in the office is miserable.

I had plans to go to the gym today. After work I felt so drained I chose to come home and veg instead. I'm currently battling the idea of going on a walk/jog.

I have seen a ton of people posting about this Couch to 5k thing on Facebook. I was reading up on it last week and it's kind of an interesting concept. It's suppose to train your body to be ready to run a 5k in three months.

It seems pretty easy. You warm up and then run/walk for different intervals and then cool down. They even have an app for your phone that tells you when you need to start each thing.

I have my first Zumba class in the morning. I'm so excited!

***

OMG I think I'm going to die! I did the first session of couch to 5k. I only made it into the second 90 second interval before I had to stop. In the fourth interval I jogged a bit and then I walked the rest of the way. Well, I walked until the halfway point and then I went inside admitting defeat.

I have also finally made a huge decision though I haven't decided if I am going to post about it on my blog. It's something that stirs up controversy that I don't really want to deal with the flack that comes from it. It's something I've wanted to do forever and now I have the means to do so, so I am.

Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:09:32 PST

Long day. Since I hadn't been sleeping I got the brilliant idea to take a sleeping pill last night. As a result, I overslept by an hour and a half. Thankfully traffic was extremely light this morning and I was still able to make it into work only a couple of minutes late.

Unfortunately, we came into the office slammed with 42 loans from the night before. We were able to pump them out pretty quickly though which made for a fairly pleasant afternoon despite a few minor glitches.

***

In my hurry to get to work this morning I forgot to take my gym clothes with me. I figure it's just as well though since I didn't listen to my class last night and need to do it tonight instead.

I have no idea where the time went yesterday evening! After I got home from picking up my prescription it seems like we ate dinner and then it was time to go to bed.

***

Finally listened to my lecture. Now I just need to take my exam. I've found the best way for me to concentrate on the lectures (and not have to listen to them twice) is to edit pictures in photoshop while it's going on.

I tried scanning things on the internet but I always end up reading and stop concentrating on what he's saying. While I was doing this I came across a couple of pictures I had taken and planned on posting but never did.

I'll get a quick post written up about it tomorrow. It's about salvaging my dining room table. I thought I had ruined that thing. I'm still amazed at how good it looks now.

Monday

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:26:45 PST

Today was just as long as I expected it to be being my first day back after vacation. I expected it to be slammed but instead we got lunches and free time to boot.

The bad part about that is I always find things I like online and spend money. Today I spent $50 but I scored that from my paypal balance from my blog sale.

***

I decided to forego going to the gym today. I was going to go to my first Zumba class but had to stop and get a prescription. Plus, with this class it will be 8:30p before I get out and then I still have to cook dinner. I decided to bring clothes with me and go after work on days when they have the class earlier.

I probably won't start until next week. This way I will have time to listen to my one class I need to catch up on and then I can take my second exam tomorrow.

***

I decided to have my doctor switch my meds. In addition to not being able to sleep (woke up AGAIN at 3am) I'm constantly on edge and tensed up. My jaw is so sore from constantly clenching.

I'm hoping this new stuff won't make me into a zombie. I've taken it before but it was at a much higher dosage. The first few days it was total zombiefest. We'll see. I've already popped my first pill.

Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 20:22:57 PST

Another day of running errands and listening to lectures.

I have two and a half left to listen to so I can take my second exam. I can't believe I was so stupid to get so behind in the first place. At least it's not so late in the course I can't catch up. Then again, I'm usually in cram mode by the end of the course anyway.

I only got five hours of sleep before I woke up. Same as the last week and a half. I think I might get some sleeping pills today at Wal-Mart and see if those help. I can't function on five hours.

***

I'm having trouble focusing this afternoon. I haven't started listening to any of the lectures I need to. I instead sat down to watch "The Lovely Bones" on tv.

I remember being disappointed in that movie the first time I saw it but the second time around I didn't think it was all that bad. Maybe I had just built up expectations the first time.

***

Already got my grade back on my first exam and I made a 95! Yea! I'm almost caught up on listening to my lectures now. Just one more to listen to and I'm current. That's a big load off my back.

I'm really enjoying this class. It's the first class on the last four I have taken that actually apply to what I do on a daily basis at work. It's kind of fun!

***

So I discovered once I charged my phone this evening that I was suppose to go into work today. I'm sure my coworkers were nice and pissed at me. Since I was at work since Tuesday working on the weekend was the farthest thing from my mind today. Bad part is that I missed out on double time. That would have been nice on the paycheck.

Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 07:05:28 PST

So I'm officially a member of Fitness 2000. I really like it there. It's much smaller and the staff are really friendly. The membership dues are so low too that if I go ten times a month I will actually be making $10 a month profit from my office's wellness reimbursement. Can't beat that!

***

All day long I've felt like it was Sunday. I guess that's what happens when you take a bunch of days off of work. Monday morning will be hard. For now, I'll just have to keep happily reminding myself it's only Saturday and I have another whole day before the work week starts.

Today seemed like a total waste although I did a lot of things that needed to be done. I think it's mainly because I stayed home most of the day. I can't tell you the last Saturday we haven't spent the entire day running around.

***

You want to know what's really sad? Thinking back on how I've gotten behind in listening to my lectures I realized that the only thing keeping me from listening to them is watching TV. How sad is that? You don't realize how much life that thing sucks out of you until you take a step back and pay attention.

I'm taking a break right now from listening to lecture three of five. I don't think I will get through all five tonight although I would like to. I want to take my exam tomorrow but I think it might be getting done Monday instead.

Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 03:55:26 PST

I just finished taking my first exam for this class. It seemed extremely easy. I always get worried when it's like that. I never know if I just blew it or if I really knew my stuff.

I also discovered that I missed more than two of my classes. More like five. Crap. Looks like I know what I'll be doing the majority of the weekend. Not a big deal though. I'll listen to those, take my second exam and then start working on my assignments.

***

I'm trying to decide if I want to leave the house today. It's cold outside. I really need to pick up stuff for dinner but I'm having trouble finding motivation.

I also need to swing by the gym to sign up for my membership. I worry that I won't stick with it. I do like that this gym is a lot smaller than 24 Hour Fitness. That place is so intimidating to me. I'm also really excited that they offer classes later at night so I can take Zumba and Flirty Girl classes. They look like a lot of fun.

***

I completely spaced on a happy hour I was suppose to go to tonight. I had a couple of people text me but by the time I saw the texts it was too late to mess with it since I hadn't even taken a shower. I decided instead to stay at home and relax with Cory.

Thursday

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 03:56:32 PST

I hope everyone is having a great December!

Things were getting a little dramafest at work so I decided to take a few days off to just relax and chill. I started out the first day doing absolutely nothing. How great is that?!?!

Today I went to the outlet mall in Allen and was proud of myself for venturing out on my own. It's an hour away and I had no clue how to get there. It was surprisingly easy to find too. I may take another trip out there again sometime.

The doctor put me on my new meds that I'm trying to adjust to. He says he's almost positive my chest pains are stress related. I'm suppose to take them for a couple of months to see if they work before we do any major tests.

I'm trying to adust the timing of taking them. They make me sleepy so I've been taking them at night but I find I keep waking up around 2am and not being able to fall back to sleep. I've had trouble with similar meds doing this to me previously.

I think tomorrow I'll just stay at home and work on schoolwork. I haven't listened to my last couple of classes yet and I don't want to get majorly behind. Fun times.

Not sure what we'll be doing this weekend. Maybe we'll go out and do something different or go watch a movie.

Heart Update

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 18:37:15 PDT

Okay so I'm thoroughly frustrated and a little ticked. I have now accumulated a couple grand in doctor bills from my chest pains only to be told the chest pains I'm aren't from my heart.

I went to see the cardiologist last Wednesday and got a sonogram, stress test and another EKG. The cardiologist said my heart is good. My valve issue is nothing to be concerned about and neither are the PVC's.

He said my PVC's are what probably causes the flutters and the occasional stabbing pains and because of that I need to limit my stress, anxiety and caffeine. He also said my heart gets stronger with exercise and because of that I need to exercise more to strengthen it.

He said he has no clue what caused the numbness and tingling in my right side or what's causing my current chest pains or shortness of breath. He just knew it wasn't related to my heart. His recommendation was to go back to my primary doctor and have more tests run.

Like that's going to happen. Got my ER bill today and it's over $1500! This is in addition to the $200 I already paid at the hospital. I'm also waiting on my bill from the ER doctor, my primary doctor and my cardiologist. I say if it's not life threatening I'm going to be dealing with the pain because I can't afford more tests.

I do know some of it is stress related, whatever it is. I notice the pain gets worse when I get keyed up. My new bills are not helping! Hope no one wanted anything for Christmas because this Santa Claus is officially broke.

(Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy there isn't anything wrong with my heart! I just wish it didn't cost so much to find out.)

San Antonio Mini Vacation (2 of 3)

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 20:11:14 PDT

So now that my little drama is out of the way I can get on with my San Antonio posts!

SeaWorld is the first place we went but the last place I decided to edit pictures for. So I'm posting pictures from our outings on Saturday. Since there were hardly any people there I got quite a few pictures and had a hard time choosing which ones to use for this post!

The first place we were the water gardens next to the Tower of the Americas. We spent quite a bit of time there too. It was very peaceful listing to the wind and the water and walking around the different pathways.

After that we spent the rest of the day going up and down the Riverwalk and visiting all the little shops. We decided against going to the Alamo this time because we went there last time. Once you've seen it once or twice there really isn't a need to go again.

We tried going to the Spanish Governors Mansion but it started pouring rain on our way there. We decided since the last time we tried to go it was closed and this time it was raining that maybe we just aren't meant to go.

My calves and feet hurt so bad by the end of the day Saturday! Cory was making fun of me all day Sunday when my legs would be all stiff after sitting down in the car for a while. I really need to start exercising more.

Freaked (An Update)

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 11:55:24 PDT

Thank you to everyone for the emails and comments! I really appreciate your support and concern. I'm sorry if I caused any worry by not posting an update yesterday. I was just beat when I got home so please forgive me.

When my doctor's office finally opened yesterday they refused to see me and told me the nurse from the hotline should have told me to go directly to the ER. She said regardless of what side my tingling was on anything like that combined with chest pains is a huge flag.

So of course I freaked out even more and Cory had to calm me down a bit before we went to the ER. I'm so thankful he stayed home with me on Friday. Not only was I freaking about my health but I'd never been to an ER before either.

Once I was there they didn't even let me finish my paperwork before they took me back. They ran tests on me, took blood, hooked me up to everything and then we played the waiting game.

Turns out I have two problems with my heart (Premature ventricular contraction and Mitral valve prolapse). They are both very common and normally don't cause any problems.

The doctor said the first one is probably what is causing my chest pains but it could be a combination of the two. Basically the two bottom chambers of my heart are beating before the two top chambers and the pressure is what's causing my pain. He said something triggered it to become worse though he doesn't know what it was.

He put me on a beta blocker and I have to go see my primary next week and a cardiologist the week after (and more than likely my primary again the following week). The cardiologist will be the one to determine if I will need to stay on meds permanently or not.

I also have to reduce stimulants - caffeine, decongestants and alcohol. Stress and anxiety are also triggers but good luck in reducing that considering I'm pretty high strung.

Reading up on it I explains so many things! I've never been able to drink a huge amount of caffeine as it makes me have a pounding feeling in my throat. I've always had fluttering in my chest from time to time or get sharp stabbing pains when I get worked up. I've never worried about them since they go away once I calm down or stop drinking caffeine but it's interesting to read the hows and whys of things.

I'm really hoping this was a fairly isolated incident and that I don't have to stay on meds. I'll post an update when I hear back from my cardiologist.

Freaked

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 06:00:10 PDT

A little freaked out this morning. I've been having stabbing chest pains for almost two weeks now. Since I've always gotten them when I'm stressed and I've previously had panics attacks I wasn't too worried about them at first.

I've been getting them mostly at the office toward the end of the day when I get more stressed anyway. Makes sense, right?

Unfortunately as time went on they started lasting longer than the handful of minutes they normally do. I'm talking around a couple of hours at a time. I also started having a hard time with them at home and while driving home.

I got a little more worried when I started getting short of breath too and finally made an appointment to go to the doctor. I kept putting it off because I have HSA and have to pay for any tests full price. Seems silly but they can run thousands depending on the test and a lot of places want the money up front. Plus, I assume (and really, really hope) it's just anxiety related or bad heartburn.

Yesterday while driving home my right arm went tingly and a lost a little bit of response in it. I freaked out a bit but once I got home and relaxed it went down to a mild tingle. I told myself I was going to the doctor on Monday morning and I just needed to stay calm.

This morning I woke up with my entire arm, hand, shoulder, neck and face numb and tingling and my jaw is all achy. Still, I went back and forth about going to the ER or Care Now. After all, I wasn't having chest pains this morning and it was my right side not my left.

I called the nurse hotline and she said while it doesn't sound like I need an ER at the moment, (mainly since I'm only 31) I do need to get to the doctor this morning, no exceptions.

Now I'm sitting here waiting impatiently for the office to open. I've been up since 4:30 and they don't open until 9. It's a long wait.

San Antonio Mini Vacation (1 of 3)

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 20:23:15 PDT

Cory and I have been wanting to take a vacation with just the two of us for a long time now. We've been married for six and a half years and our trips have always involved family.

Vacations are completely different when it's just the two of you! We should have made a point to do it sooner. I am dead set on making sure it happens more often.

We originally wanted to go to Las Vegas but it wasn't really in the budget. We settled on San Antonio instead. From where we live it's only a five hour drive so come Friday, 7am we were out the door!

We went to Seaworld on Friday and the Riverwalk/Alamo on Saturday. It was crazy dead. I'm not sure if it's because we went on a Friday or if it was just off season. It was really nice though!

Especially since I got to meet Johnny Depp...

...and Cory was interviewed by David Letterman.

Fooled you, didn't I? No? I love going to the wax museum there. This time they actually had some of the exhibits open so you could get next to the figures. Some of the them were dead on but others were way off or just downright creepy.

I got a ton of pictures while on vacation which I'm still editing. I'll be posting them in the next few days.

Royally Bombed

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 03:46:17 PDT

Two nights in a row I haven't been able to sleep. I'm not sure why.

Well, tonight maybe I do. I think I royally bombed my test that I took yesterday. I think I may have bombed the test before that too though not as bad.

Man, I'm having a tough time with this class. It's the same class I took an incomplete on when I was under all the stress from Etsy Fort Worth. Now that I don't have all that additional stress I'm still struggling.

It's no wonder I was having panic attacks back then. Maybe I will at least get a B. It's no A but at least it's still a respectable grade. I feel an additional pressure to get a better grade on this class since it was the class I took an Incomplete on but I don't think that will happen. In fact, I'll be shocked if that happens.

My only possibility would be to make 4's on all my assignments but I don't usually. At least I'm not quite as freaked about the assignments as I was the first time around. They come a lot easier to me than they did when first started the course ware.

Tonight marks the first of every weeknight for the entire month I'll be working late to get them done. I wish it was easier to concentrate at home but there are just too many distractions. I wonder if I will be able to stay late like I do now once we move to the new office in a couple of weeks.

Healthy Living: Monday Check In (Week 2)

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 05:01:45 PDT

Weight 145.6

You know how it is when you feel fat and bloated and sick so you figure "What the hell" and just stuff your face with comfort foods?

That about sums up this week. I didn't do my measurements. I didn't even keep track of anything and had a continuous stuff your face pity party. We'll see how that translates on the scale today.

*sigh*

Happy Labor Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 06:05:22 PDT

I hope everyone has a happy labor day! Man I love three day weekends, who doesn't right?

It's been a busy several months. Work and school as usual. Let's see what else...oh - I pretty much decided to quite my side business, Blueskysunburn Creations, I resigned from Etsy Fort Worth, went to Colorado, got rear ended (we were both fine), dealing with the HOA about our dead front lawn, having trouble staying well and trying to work on eating and living healthier.

I'm still trying to decide what to do with all my art stuff. It's been sitting in my room for about nine months. I'm thinking about having a garage sale but only inviting people that art people to come. I literally have thousands of dollars worth of product in my spare bedroom and some of it has a shelf life.

I still can't quite bring myself to bite the bullet though. I think it's because it officially ends a chapter of my life. I don't want to admit I won't be painting anymore though I know deep down I won't.

Healthy Living: Monday Check In (Week 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 20:46:33 PDT

Monday
Today marks the first day of starting on Weight Watchers again. Thankfully I didn't gain back ALL that I had lost so I've got a positive outlook from the get-go. Since I'm already familiar with the program today wasn't as hard as it was when I first started either. Looking good so far.

Tuesday
I didn't sleep well last night. It's days like this I wish I didn't give up sodas so I could down some caffeine. I'm wondering if the food I ate yesterday messed with my sleep pattern? Surely not. Not so soon anyway. Fell short on my points today and yesterday. I'll have to work on that.

I am proud though that I didn't give in and eat candy today. He just forgot I started back on WW. Cory walks in right after dinner and asks me if I want two of the four Reese's Peanut Butter Cups he had in his hand.

Wednesday
Measured myself today because I forgot to do it on Monday. Geez, is that depressing. I'm not the heaviest but I'm the biggest I have ever been in my adult life. I didn't like the lunch I brought today so I thought about picking something up. The thought of my measurements is what kept me from going to get my favorite super fattening "salad".

I still didn't get my points in. 7 short on Monday, 4 yesterday and 4 today. I even purposely made myself eat more today. I think a lot of it is because we are eating at home. The fast food is what makes the points add up really bad. I haven't been hungry so I guess that's okay?

Friday
Felt like crap yesterday and ended up staying home from work. Guess that explains why I haven't been feeling very hungry. Got some new antibiotics from the doctor so hopefully I'll be feeling a lot better soon.

Last night I didn't feel up to cooking so we ended up ordering pizza. I probably blew a good two weeks worth of my extra points.

Sunday
So this weekend didn't stop my dietary slacking. I continued on right up until this evening. We'll see what the scale reflects tomorrow morning. *sigh*

Healthy Living

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:41:59 PDT

If you haven't guessed by the picture, I'm back to getting a healthier lifestyle again.

I wanted to give a little background because I don't think I mentioned any of it previously. My focus is not necessarily to lose weight but to lose inches. I'm 5'8" and while I'm currently at a healthy weight I'm also currently outgrowing a size 10.

In the last few years I've noticed a shift in my body and the effect of poor eating habits and lack of exercise more so than I had in my early twenties. I'm also starting to gain weight in areas I hadn't before such as my midsection.

The risk of diabetes runs high on my mothers side and I've recently discovered the risk of heart attacks runs pretty high on my dad's. I figure the best way ward off both these things is to make sure I don't have a lifestyle that encourages them.

I'm back on Weight Watchers strictly again starting today. I'm choosing not to go to the meetings even though I find them extremely helpful for two reasons. One, I really don't have the time and two, I find that I focus too much on the number on the scale when I do.

If you're familiar with my posts you know I post throughout the week in one post before it gets posted. I find this very instrumental in keeping track of my progress.

I hope you'll join me in my progress. Not to sound cliche but it's definitely a lifestyle change. If you're going along the same road I encourage you to leave a comment and a link to your blog and we can go down the road together.

Announcing Adventures in Beauty - My second blog

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:39:41 PDT

So have you wondered where I've been? Not only have I been making some major decisions the last few months but I've also been super busy!

I'll get into detail of everything in my few posts but first and foremost, I'm proud to announce my new blog - Adventures in Beauty! I've been working hard to get it just right before I made my announcement on this blog. It's main focus is all things beauty related - everyday product reviews, makeup looks, videos of shopping hauls and tutorials.

I've been a lover of makeup for as long as I can remember but never incorporated it on this blog. Now that I've been focusing on it I decided to keep the two blogs separate. No worries though, this blog isn't going anywhere. It's designed to be an extension, not a replacement.

I hope that you will subscribe to that blog as well and encourage me in my new endeavors. I'm super excited about it!

Bountiful Baskets

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 20:00:15 PDT

About a month ago a coworker told me about a food co-op run in the DFW metroplex called Bountiful Baskets. It's run by a group of volunteers that come together to provide fresh produce at a discounted rate.

You meet up at various locations and times depending on where your pick up place is. In order to participate you have to be willing to volunteer once for every six times you get a basket.

The only downside of the deal is that you don't know what you are going to get. The past two times I encountered "mystery" produce and had to ask my Facebook friends if they knew what it was.

I'm back on Weight Watchers (now that I have gained all my weight back) and this program is a life saver. My grocery bill literally doubles when I eat fresh food and Cory gets a little cranky about it.

This program allows me to have a smaller bill and a happy husband. Plus there are two other women at my office doing it so it's an easy deal to bring food up if we need to swap out.

This week I paid about $20 and ended up walking away with what had to be more than $60 in fresh produce. I am pleased as punch with what I walked away with too!

I won't have to buy any produce when I go to the store tomorrow. Plus, I use everything except for the one mystery item in my basket this week. I can't wait to plan some meals with everything!

Chillin'

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 21:53:32 PDT

Just sitting outside spending time with the pets.

What did you do this weekend?

I'm back!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 20:40:24 PDT

It's about time right?

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. We didn't do all too much. I was working on homework up until the day of my deadline like usual. This time though I had a really hard time with my last two assignments. After your first couple of classes they start grading you harder and so you have to up your ante a bit.

Next week I start (again) the class I took an incomplete on the beginning of this year. I am hell bent on getting an A in that class as I want to get back to my 4.0 gpa. Of course, that's assuming I make an A in this past class first. *fingers crossed*

I'm not sure how much I'll be blogging in the next little while. It will be very hit and miss. I'm going to try stepping up on the speed at which I take my classes to make up for time I lost when I took my incomplete.

Be Back Soon

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Mon, 30 May 2011 21:10:29 PDT

I'll be taking a blogging break for the next few weeks to focus on my schoolwork. I'll be back in July (sooner if I get all my work done) with lots of new posts!

30 Things Before I Turn 31 (A Recap)

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sat, 28 May 2011 07:12:02 PDT

Found this on Photography XO! It's a good thing she doesn't have continuous scroll or I'd be there for hours.
About six months ago I started a list of things I wanted to get done before my next birthday. Since I only gave myself six months I didn't get near as much as I wanted to get done completed but I made a little progress.

My 31st birthday was this past Tuesday and before I posted my goals for this year I wanted to review the past year (or six months) and see how I've progressed. Some things will continue with me to the next year and some things I will forever cross off the list.

Without further ado...

Below is my list of 30 things to do before I turn 31 on May 24th.

Focus on POSITIVITY - trying. it's really hard!
Visit the local galleries I never make time to see Done!
Learn to use my sewing machine Nope. Didn't even try.
Lose 15 pounds I gave it a good go but fell on some setbacks. I'm still working on this one.
Make curtains for my studio Done! One of these days I'll post and show you guys pictures.
Develop habit of walking Dixie three times a week Didn't get too far with this one. I think I did it maybe a week or so before I stopped.
Take a watercolor class Done! In fact, I plan to take another one in June.
Continue making A's in my paralegal course Setbacks with this one. I had to take an incomplete on my last course due to allowing too many things on my plate.
Install hardwood floors This one got put on the back burner. We were going to use out tax return for this but decided to pay off debt instead.
Make curtains for the kitchen If I can find a pattern I like I will! I can't find one that fits just yet.
Submit artwork for publishing Lost interest in this. Still have no interest.
Start and finish one art related online workshop Over achiever on this one! Started and finished two!
Submit work to a gallery Thought about it. Decided against it. Lost interest.
Repaint hallway FINALLY in progress! I started it this last weekend and plan to finish this weekend.
Take a group painting class I scheduled this class three times. All three times something happened and the class was cancelled or rescheduled. I decided it wasn't in the cards for me.
Fix leaky faucet in master bathroom Done!
Finish reading "Creation in Death" by J. D. Robb I went to start reading it again only to discover my bookmark got lost and I had to start it over. I don't think I'm any farther than when I first made this list.
Make a habit to routinely visit and comment on more peoples blogs I do my best!
Host a creativity night I got too much on my plate for this. Now that I'm at a normal flow I have no interest in adding anything additional to my load.
Have friends over for dinner Never got around to it.
~~Figure out decor for Kitchen~~ Done! Now I just have to finish decorating.
Finish reading "Such a Pretty Fat" by Jen Lancaster Never opened it up.
Have three (home) internet free days per week I'm not sure what I was thinking with this one. It's kind of a joke.
Have dinner out with friends once a month We did this for a few months and then things fizzled. Maybe I should have the goal of once a quarter?
Declutter my studio This is always a work in progress. I haven't worked in my studio in forever.
Host a monthly giveaway to help with #27 Started doing this and decided to phase it out. Shipping costs, trips to the post office, time packaging products, the inability to track packages overseas, and the extra time it takes to run a giveaway all adds up. I like giving gifts away but this is not the most efficient way for me personally.
Enlarge my blog readership I'm not sure why this is on the list to begin with. While I value my readers, I huge blog readership is not something I necessarily want.
Discover a wine I like Never tried to work on it.
Make curtains for the living room In progress! I gave up making them. There are just too many panels that have to be made for the living room and not enough time. I purchased some at Ikea. Once I get them hemmed I'll post pics.
Finish at least one unfinished painting Made a feeble attempt at this but got burned out with painting. I'll pick it back up sometime when my painting mojo returns.

I'm working on my list for this year. I need to decide what is staying on and what I need to move away from. I'll post it once it's completed.