Trial and Error

My Favorite Books of 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:30:44 PST

This year I started reading again after a several year hiatus. I mean, really reading...two or three books (if not more) per week. Granted, a lot of it had to do with the new amount of free time I have since I'm not working but a lot of it was that I simply forgot how much I love to read.

My reading increased more in May of this year when I got my Kindle Fire. The books are so much cheaper digitally PLUS you can borrow books from the library from the convenience of your computer. How awesome is that?

These are the books that topped my list for this year. Most, you'll find, are supernatural themed and/or are part of a series.

Currently, Jennifer Armentrout is my far my favorite author. I love her writing style. The only downside to her stuff is that it's all YA and coming of age.

I really wish it were easier to find supernatural themed books that weren't a coming of age story. The Black Dagger Brotherhood Series was really nice because of that.

If you read a book based on my recommendation, please let me know. I'd love to know what you thought of it.

Have read any of these books? What did you think of them?

Accountability Group FAQ

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:32:11 PST

I've had a lot of questions about the Accountability Groups I’m running. Here is a general FAQ on what they are and how you can get the most out of them.

What is an Accountability Group?
An Accountability Group is a small group (usually 5-7 people max) set up inside a private online forum to encourage and motivate one another in their fitness and/or weight loss goals. Participants check in daily with the group for questions, coaching, support, progress updates, etc.

With families, busy schedules and too little time, it's easy to make excuses when it comes to your health and fitness. Support and accountability is key to losing weight and keeping fit, especially if you are just starting out.

Sounds easy… What’s the catch?
There is no catch. The goal is to help you change your life through fitness and/or weight loss.

What does it cost?
It depends solely on the structure of the accountability group. It can cost anywhere from FREE to $205 (plus tax). Each group has different requirements so contact me for specifics.

Shakeology is expensive. Can I join just for the Beachbody Coach Discount?
YES! By signing up as a coach, you can start earning the 25% coach discount immediately without ever “coaching” someone.

Why join for the Beachbody coach discount?
You may be in the middle of TurboJam and really want to try TurboFire, Insanity, or something else. If that’s the case, it makes sense to sign up to get the Beachbody coach discount on your next program. The 25% is even more beneficial to Shakeology customers. You can save approximately $15 on regular Shakeology or $25 on vegan Shakeology each month after your coach fees! That’s $180 to $300 a year for doing nothing but signing up to coach.

Don’t let the title of “coach” scare you. If you want to rock this business, we are here to help you every step of the way. If you just want the discount and to be a regular client, we are happy to do that too. Just because you signed up for the Beachbody coach discount does not mean you have any responsibility as a coach (except to pay your coach fee $15.95 which is auto-withdrawal). Just sit back and enjoy your savings!

If you have any questions, please reach out to your Beachbody coach or to me by email blueskysunburn@hotmail.com or Facebook. I am happy to help.

Video: Garden of Your Mind

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 08:00:06 PST

Thought I would share this today as I saw it and thought it very cool. It looks like it's been out for a while.

My husband didn't share my views on it. In fact, he said "That's retarded". Maybe he just doesn't share my fondness for Mister Rogers?

I grew up watching him and get sad now every time I see old videos or hear him speak. I get the same sadness for a lot of the old Sesame Street characters....

Thanks goes out to Kelly Drill for posting it and further fueling my love for nostalgia.

What did you think of the video? What are things you see or hear that take you back to your childhood?

Weekly Workout and Life Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 20:10:57 PST

So last week was pretty much a bust do to a case of shingles. I worked out some from home but it wasn't at the intensity I would have preferred. Plus, I have just gotten accustomed to going to the gym and getting out of the house.

Food wise I'm back on track for the most part. Then again, gaining weight will do that to you. On my weigh in last Monday I was up a pound and a half. Not a huge amount in the least but it was enough to wake me up.

My shingles have healed up enough that I can finally get my butt back to the gym! Yeah, for the early warning signs! I plan to kill it. I can already see the difference in my body from one week of bad eating and another of poor exercising.

How messed up is it that it takes you so long to get to where you want but it can go away so quickly?

Onto this week's PUSH goals...

1. Pay off mortgage
2. Go on at least two vacations a year (not family related)
3. Go on at least one girl vacation a year
4. Get back down to a size six(ish)
5. Have at least $10k minimum in savings account
6. Become a Diamond coach
7. Earn at least $25k annually working from home
8. Become certified in two areas (Thinking maybe Flirty Girl and Turbokick?)
9. Become fluent in Spanish
10.

I always get stuck on the 10th one. Is it a bad sign that I can't think of 10 goals? Sometimes I wonder if it means I'm not as driven as I should be. Then again, maybe it just means that I'm so focused on the ones that I can think of that I can't open my mind to include more.

I don't know. I'm just going to be one goal short this week. I'm okay with that.

What are your goals for this week?

Tuesday Morning Mashup

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 22:01:35 PST

Just because this video got me groovin' in my seat this morning I thought I would pass it along.

I love mashups, don't you?

Weekly Workout Schedule and Life Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 22:00:16 PST

Remember I promised to get back on track with eating last week? Yeah, it didn't happen. I am frustrated with myself because I know I only have myself to blame.

It wasn't that I have just food in my house, I pretty much have none. Instead, I didn't plan things out well enough, our schedules got busy and fast food (pardon me for the swearing) snuck back into our routine.

I not only feel it but am starting to see the effects on my body. I'm starting better today and will continue to move forward for improvement. No more beating myself up, just need to move forward.

Workout wise, I stuck with it. No issues there and that's half the battle, right?

Here is this week's schedule. I'm upping it to seven days a week since I'm playing catch up do to my poor eating habits.

My ten PUSH goals are as follows.

Payoff mortgage
Have at least 10k in savings account
Have at least two vacations a year (non family related)
Make at least $25k annually working part time
Find a part time job I enjoy or begin to make at least $___ so I can work from home
Have at least one girls vacation a year
Become fluent in Spanish
Get back down to a size six jeans
Become a Diamond Star coach
Have legitimate weekly date nights with Cory

What are your goals for this week?

Halloween Keno

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 04:30:04 PDT

With dreams of having a grand Halloween party dashed for this year due to budget reasons, this year's event was a low key night of Halloween Keno with wine, spiked punch, burgers and girl talk.

The group was small, four of us from the Girls Get Together group. Cory was sweet enough to stick around in the background and man the grill for us. Thank you, hun!

Keno went pretty fast with the small number of people so we finished out the night playing Scattergories and drinking wine.

Even with a couple of costume mishaps (which shall remain unnamed) we ended up with Penny from Toy Story, a cowgirl, a witch and a bumblebee.

This year's costume winner was Debbie as Penny from Toy Story. Can you believe she made this costume herself just the day before? It turned out adorable!

Next year I want to have a big Halloween bash with lots of people, fancy costumes, and Halloweeny food and you're invited!

What did you do for Halloween this year?

October Weight Loss Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 04:00:12 PDT

I can't believe another month has flown by! This month as been frustrating for me as I've been working my tail off and haven't seen the scale make much movement.

For the last month and a half it goes up half a pound, down half a pound and vice versa. I'm still stuck at 14lbs lost but I don't see that as bad.

Progress pics have been my saving grace since I hit my plateau. (Since I lost the majority of pounds prior to the end of August I'm still kicking myself for not getting that initial photo.) It's very obvious my body is changing regardless of what the scale says.

I started having a particularly hard time emotionally toward the end of this month too. I've been in a horrible funk and my okay eating has gone the way of binge eating this last week - NOT GOOD.

This month I plan to continue on with TurboFire and throw in some RevAbs since it just arrived in the mail. I also plan to try to force myself out of the house and hit the gym more often as stressed as that makes me initially. I think the emotional aspect is just being stuck here and not socializing.

My other goal is to clean up my eating. Cory has been surprisingly receptive to my using brown and wild rice lately. He's even started trying some of my Shakeology recipes. I may convert him yet!

I need to cut out the processed food and eat more salads during the day. As much as I love my grilled cheese, that processed cheese is not good for me.

I'm starting a new challenge group in early November. If you're interested in getting fit email me at blueskysunburn@hotmail.com.

The holidays are when we tend to pack on the pounds. Be proactive and don't wait until January!

This Week's Goals and Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 23:07:16 PDT

So I'm going to try something new starting this week. I've been doing well at posting my workout schedule each week onto instagram for quite a while now. I thought I would post here as well for added accountability.

If you follow me on Instagram you probably already know I'm working through the book PUSH by Chalene Johnson. One of the tasks she has you do in the workbook is to write down ten goals you would like to accomplish within a year's time frame.

She encourages you to choose goals that can be measured (even if they are wildly unobtainable in your mind) and progress toward them throughout the year. Each week you are suppose to fluidly rewrite or post the ten goals somewhere.

These are my current 10 goals. I can tell you right now they have already varied a bit from last week's list.

Pay off mortgage
Obtain part time job or progress to earn at least $$$ to work from home
Take at least two vacations a year (aside from visiting family)
Become fluent in Spanish
Become a Diamond Star coach
Have an annual income of at least $25k working part time
Return to a size six
Have legitimate weekly date nights with Cory
Have at least $10k in savings account
Take at least one girls vacation annually

So those are my goals and schedule for the week. I usually modify the workout schedule a bit but we'll see how it goes.

What does your week look like?

Dream

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 17:17:21 PDT

I walked into my office and started to make up a twin bed. It was on the floor in the corner of the office with no bed frame, white sheets and a rough maroon blanket.

A blonde coworker came in to talk to me. I stopped making the bed and she and I began talking about mundane morning office chit chat while standing over a stand alone porcelain bathroom sink on the other side of the room.

While she and I were talking, Vicki came in and grabbed me by the pony tail. She yanked my torso over the sink and snarled in my face, "Don't you EVER do that again!". Her teeth were exposed and drops of spit were coming from her mouth.

I wasn't afraid, just unnerved by her actions. I knew she was talking about some random thing that happened at the office. She released my pony tail with force and then stalked out of the room. The blonde coworker then hurried to her desk in the other room, scared.

I rubbed the back of my throbbing head while walking back to my desk. I checked my office email and discovered an email from Vicki to the entire office stating, "Don't EVER do that while working here!!!".

I couldn't understand why such an ordinary action caused such a violent reaction. Confused, I continued rubbing the back of my head where it throbbed...

and I woke up. The back of my head still hurting for a few moments as if it actually happened.

Recipe: Blackened Chicken and Key Lime Salsa

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 10:16:52 PST

Serves 4; Per serving – Cal 184; Carbs 18 Fat 1 Pro 28

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp lime juice
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast

3 medium oranges, sectioned with pith removed
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp chopped green onion
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tsp chopped green chilis

Combine the first three ingredients in a ziplock and refrigerate up to 4 hours.

Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate at least an hour. (I rarely measure this section aside from the oranges. If you add too much and it becomes bitter, you can cut it with honey 1 tsp at a time.)

Remove the chicken from the marinade and cook in a large skillet until it’s no longer pink in the center. Fair warning, it’s going to smoke like crazy and look like it’s burning but it tastes just fine. You could probably get away with grilling it or using the broiler too but we prefer the taste when cooked in the skillet.

Recipe credit: Altered Recipe from WeightWatchers.com

What are your thoughts? Have you tried this product? Did you like it?

Influenster Naturals VoxBox First Impressions

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 12:34:49 PDT

I was fortunate enough to be selected to receive complementary products from Influenster once again for review. This box had some definite hit and misses for me.

On a side note: I had a slight editing glitch on my first photo. I didn't realize I was missing a product in my group photo when I took it with my camera. Now that most of the products are opened and used I had to use the photo I originally posted on Instagram. Please ignore the poor quality.

Most of the items I haven't really had a chance to use but if I have the chance I will post a full review on those later. In the meantime, here is a breakdown of what I received and a quick review of the things I have already tried.

I was so psyched when I opened up my box and saw that I got The Original Dish Drying Mat! Sad, I know but I already own one of these and was planning on getting another.

LypSyl Intense Protection LypMoisturizer is an organic shea butter beeswax lip balm. I'm kind of leery on this one. I've had a lot of hits and misses with lip balms. I have yet to find anything that beats my Carmex but we'll see how this one measures up.

I will admit I was not happy to see the EBOOST Daily Health Booster in my the box. I don't trust energy boosters - at all. They usually taste like crap and leave me wired and edgy. Plus I'm always kind of afraid of what's actually in them. In the back of my mind I always feel like I'm some sort of science experiment when I use them.

The CleanWell Individual Hand Sanitizer Wipes are made with all natural ingredients. I think it's kind of cool there isn't any alcohol in it.

The GeoDeo is one of the two products I have already tried. I have a thing for trying deodorants. Maybe it's the scent of them? I don't know. I do know that I'm not loyal to any brands other than I stick to ones that I find work.

Unfortunately, this deodorant is not one of them. I thought it was kind of cool that it was 97% natural, safe for the environment and I loved the scent. However, that's where my love ends.

For starters it feels like a slimy roll-on instead of your traditional invisible solid. It does dry clear, I'll give it that.

The ultimate downfall of this product is that it doesn't last. I came home from the gym in the evening, showered, applied the deodorant and went to bed. Got up in the morning, changed clothes and noticed the deodorant had stopped working.

How does a deodorant stop working while you're sleeping? I must have had some massive nightmares that I was unaware of. I figured if it can't handle sleeping, it definitely can't handle a workout. I will not be using this product again.

I was disappointed to see Nectresse in my box. I don't use artificial sweeteners and I try to steer clear of products that contain them. I went ahead and tried it since I agreed to try everything in my box. The sweetener is zero calories and it's made from 100% natural ingredients: Erythritol, Sugar, Monk Fruit Extract and Molasses (though not necessarily non-GMO).

Instead of adding sugar to a glass of fresh limeade I added Nectresse. The one packet I added tasted like I had added about twice as much sugar as I normally would. If I were to continue using this it's something I would need to take into consideration.

Straight out of the package it tastes almost just like regular sugar which is something to consider if you're eating it raw say like on strawberries. While it's not bad tasting (almost as if there is a hint of honey) I prefer the taste of regular sugar.

and last but not least I received Parissa Wax Strips for Face and Body. I'm interested in trying these. I currently use the Sally Hansen Wax Strip Kit for my brows and I'm running low. I think I will try these first on my legs before I try them on my face. The last thing I want is rip off a chunk of my eyelid.

I'll post my individual reviews of the products over the next week.

What are your thoughts? Have you tried any of these products? Did you like them?

September Fitness Challenge Results

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 14:10:51 PDT

In the past few months I began participating in Beachbody Challenge Groups on Facebook. It's a small group of people where everyone agrees to certain guidelines regarding working out and their health.

I figured this would be another one of those things that I started and fizzled out on. I continued with the September challenge not expecting much in the way of results. I was blown away when I saw my before and after pictures.

As you can below the process works and it's something I plan to keep going with. At first I was embarrassed of my before photos and had no intention of posting them. Now, I'm proud to show how far I have come.

This month's Turbofire Challenge group is going fantastic! I feel stronger, have more energy and sleep better. I encourage everyone to try it at least once.

I will be starting a challenge group on Monday, October 29th. Email me at blueskysunburn@hotmail.com for more details.

The holidays are when we tend to pack on the pounds. Be proactive and don't wait until January!

Recipe: Chicken in Lemon-Caper Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 10:17:00 PST

I love looking up recipes online and save them thinking they will be be great. More often than not, I'm disappointed. As a result, I thought I would share recipes I've found, altered or completely made up that my family really enjoys.

Serves 4; Per serving – Cal 170; Carbs 4 Fat 6 Pro 24

2 tbsp flour
½ tsp salt
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
2 tsp olive oil
½ cup chicken broth
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp capers
1 tsp butter
2 tbsp parsley

Mix together flour and salt in pie plate. Dip chicken in mixture, shaking off excess.

Heat oil in large skillet on medium high heat. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink in center; transfer to plate.

Add broth, lemon juice and capers to skillet. Bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer until slightly reduced (about 2 minutes).

Return chicken to skillet until heated through (turning to coat).

Transfer chicken to plate. Remove skillet from heat; add butter and parsley. Pour over chicken.

Recipe credit: Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook

Have you tried this recipe or are you going to? I would love to know what you think about it!

An Index Card A Day

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 09:07:04 PDT

Since I was finally feeling artsy last July I jumped on a challenge to do an index card a day. The goal was to create something on an index card, doesn't matter what, everyday for one month. Simple enough right?

I started my index cards in the same way I do my journal pages. I work on about 15 at a time. As a result, producing once final product each day wasn't really happening for me.

So, these are the only cards I ended up completing. The rest are being incorporated into my art journal. I wish I had completed more but it is what it is.

Have you participated in any 30 day art challenges? How did you fair?

Is My Art "Blog-Worthy"?

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 04:57:50 PDT

I was listing a back issue of Artful Blogging(Spring 2009) into my destash etsy shop and while determining its condition, a photo caught my eye.

In hindsight, the photo itself wasn't important but the bold words "Is what I am writing or the art I am making "blog-worthy"?" is what truly caught my attention. They were from an interview with Maj Carita Hoenborg and it was talking about people worrying about not living up to others expectations.

It then went on to state that if this fear caused you not to post your art on your blog to "write nonsense posts or draw three ugly drawings, and throw them out." Afterwards I sat there a little dumbfounded and taken aback.

I continued listing items and going about my business but those two sentences stuck with me the rest of the afternoon. Why on earth would someone only write posts or create art only do it to live up to others approval? In addition, why would someone condone this behavior?

Personally I feel that unless you're a professional blogger or an artist commissioning work that if you're only creating solely for others approval you're doing it for the wrong reasons.

Sometimes your writing will suck and the art will come out looking like crap.

It's the nature of the beast. It's also how you learn to get better but it doesn't mean they aren't "blog-worthy". A blog is your little piece of the internet world. A journal of sorts.

I also feel that if you can't post a piece of work or writing without being able to take criticism (in general or constructive) then you aren't ready to post your work publicly to begin with.

Not everyone is going to like what you create. Hell, sometimes I don't even like what I create but mind you this...everything I create is worthy of posting on my blog. Good looking or not I have poured my heart and soul into it. If that doesn't make it "blog-worthy", then I don't know what does.

What do you think about something being blog-worthy?

New Journal Page and 29 Faces Challenge: Day 3

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 21:05:45 PDT

I've gotten on a journal kick these past few days and have been playing with color non stop. My process isn't one to complete a page at a time but rather one of work on 15 pages at once.

I can't stand waiting on paint or mediums to dry and I hate wasting paint. As a result I move on to other pages when I've gone as far as possible on one.

Eventually though, they do become complete. This one is my latest and I am in love with the color and texture on it.

I'm not sure what prompted the placement of pink and turquoise as I never use those colors but I'm glad I did.

Being that I played in my art journal and did household chores all day I didn't get a chance to work on a graphite sketch for the 29 Faces Challenge today.

Instead, I chose to pump out one in my signature style. As usual, there wasn't a plan when it started out but I'm pleased with my little skater dude.

I used Faber-Castell PITT pens on ledger paper. I'm thinking about incorporating him into one of my art journal pages.

Are you participating in the 29 Faces Challenge? Do you art journal? How do you work in your journal?

29 Faces Challenge: Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 05:30:03 PDT

Here is my 29 Faces Challenge sketch for yesterday. I tried to use a light hand with shading like I had seen a lot of people doing on Instagram. Turns out I don't really care for it. I personally like shading.

I am very pleased the proportions look a lot better in this one than the last. It's simply because I used a reference photo this time. How do they make such a difference? It's the same effort coming out of your hands as without one.

Can you guess who the sketch is of? My husband couldn't. Oops.

Here is a hint...

I have to keep practicing if I want to get better right? This one I think I'll keep as just graphite since it's the full page. Well, at least for now. I may end up putting some color on it later.

Have you tried sketching portraits of celebrities? How did it turn out?

29 Faces Challenge: Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 15:19:01 PDT

The other day while browsing the internet I came upon the 29 Faces Challenge hosted by Ayala Art.

The concept is simple - Draw one face each day for the month of September. Any medium, size, technique and form is welcome in this challenge. It's also okay to post unfinished work too! So don't stress if you can't finish the whole thing the same day.

My goal of this challenge it to get better at drawing realistic faces. As it stands I have trouble with proportion and shading. I tend to stick with graphite when drawing realistically so I can blend and erase my mistakes.

This was my first face. I think next time I will use a photo reference but I'm happy with this one at the moment. I started with graphite only but decided once I was done that I wanted to include it into my current art journal.

I ended up adding clear gesso onto the top of it so I could paint and use colored pencil. I'm still deciding if I want to add more to the background or leave the page as is and move on.

Have you participated in an art challenge before? What did you think?

August Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 08:18:11 PDT

Things have been trucking along slowly here. I was having a heck of a time with headaches and general blahness and it turns out I had a sinus and two ear infections.

Once my antibiotics started kicking in I started working on my diet to lose the extra 20lbs I have gained this year and plan to get back to a healthy BMI instead of obese. I have a two week down time from my tattoo but once that heals up I will get back to exercising. I joined a 30 day accountability group.

I had planned on updating my blog more than I had since I quit my job but it's taken me some time to adjust to my daily routine. Instagram has been my savior lately. I do so many pictures through that program that I'm able to show snippets without even thinking about it.

My house was literally filthy. I had gone so long just picking things up and cleaning only what I needed to when guests came over that I lost track of how dirty things really were. Gross, huh?

Anyway, everything is clean now. I've gotten most everything organized too with the exception of my laundry room. That is next on my list.

I've also been playing around with my art journal a lot more lately. I just started a new challenge for the month of September (more on that in another post) and plan to post daily pics. Not sure I will be able to keep up with it but I'll be doing my best.

What have you been up to lately?

The Power of Google

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 05:11:44 PDT

I joke a lot that I have a boyfriend named Mr. Google. I am forever going to him for advise and he rarely lets me down.

The same applied when I went to make some curtains from Ikea. The curtains come in lengths of like 20 feet (I'm exaggerating of course) but they provide you with fusable webbing to hem the bottoms.

Before I started using the iron for the curtains I put two layers of towels down to protect my wooded dining room table from the heat. My guess is they weren't thick enough as my table got whit emarks all underneath.

Considering this was a table from I'm guessing the 80's that's a total hand me down, I thought it was beyond saving. I didn't try to fix it for months.

Knowing me though, all it took was company coming over for dinner to make me freak about it. So...I consulted Mr. Google.

He gave me all sorts of answers at first....

~~Mix 50/50 paste toothpaste and baking soda, rub into mark.~~ Nope
~~Rub in a paste of salt and olive oil. Sit for an hour. Wipe off.~~ Nope
~~Mix 50/50 vinegar and olive oil and rub into mark.~~ Nope
~~Rub paste toothpaste onto mark. Wipe off.~~ *sigh* Nope

Maybe I wasn't asking my boyfriend the right thing because he hasn't let me down like this before. So...I asked again.

He came up with another answer that scared me a little bit as I don't know what type of finish I have but I figured my table was already ruined so what's the harm.

I took my iron set on high (with steam) on top of a white cotton towel and slowly iron over the marks. I found I had to let the iron steam through the towel for about a minute or so before it worked it's magic.

It took me maybe ten minutes to get these results from the iron. Who would have thought? I just took some furniture oil to soak replace the moisture lost from the heat and it looks as good as new (well, as new as it was when we got it).

What are your thoughts? Was there something on Google you were skeptical about but tried? What were your results?

What the hell did I do?

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 21:13:01 PDT

The last two weeks have been a little more hectic and stressful than I originally thought they would be. As I mentioned in my last post, I had given two week notice to my job of almost ten years.

Since I had never given notice before I wasn't expecting the sudden change in the way some people treated you. Don't get me wrong, most were very happy for me and wished me well. Others took some time to... adjust.

I didn't expect that part of it and because of the tension I was having chest pains galore and lots of other lovely issues that come along with stress.

My last week at the office was a lot more pleasant though not so much personally. I started going through what I like to call my "What the hell did I do?" phase. While I knew I had made the right decision, I was a total basket case emotionally.

I feel kind of bad for Cory because of it as I took a lot of it out on him. Still, he was a trooper and knew what I was going through and supported me as much as he could.

My last day was a good one. I got a lovely party thrown for me after work and received well wishes throughout the day from those that couldn't attend.

The following evening and next day were an escalated continuation of the "What the hell did I do?" phase. Let's just say Cory went to bed and he woke up the living room was cleaned, I had started cleaning the kitchen and had completed the first application of spray paint to a frame I've had for months.

I'm starting to get a handle on things and have calmed down quite a bit. Sometimes your head just needs to catch up. I've rediscovered my love of cooking and I have started taking the time to actually reorganize things in the household.

I'm starting to research how to make things like detergent and cleaners to save money. I'm also learning to be incredibly strict in our spending, something we haven't had to do in a while.

While it's an adjustment, I know we'll be just fine.

Psst: Don't forget to check out my blog sale! I updated it this weekend for better viewing!

The Sleeper

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 20:12:18 PDT

I've been doing a lot of artwork lately about change without even realizing it. All of my quotes and fortunes have a familiar ring to them.

I didn't dawn on me that I was doing it until I started editing photos for my blog. It's funny how your subconscious works, isn't it?

For those of you that aren't on my Facebook, I recently gave notice of resignation to my job of almost ten years. The last couple of years there have been extremely hard for me. Not because of the job itself but because I think I may have outgrown it. As you get older your priorities simply change.

As I was the primary earner, for years I have felt trapped at my job by the money. I can't begin to tell you how much stress feeling trapped puts on you mentally and physically. Back in October when I had to go to the ER, things got put into perspective for me.

We started focusing hard core on paying off our bills so I could take a job more tailored to my interests. As a result, I'm able to take a couple of months off to (finally!) finish off my paralegal classes and then look for a part time job.

I'm scared that I will fall on my face and take Cory down with me but I think if I don't move forward with this now I never will. I feel we've prepared as much as we can and it's time to jump.

I'll be waiting a couple of months and then I will be looking for a part time job. In the mean time I plan on taking care of my home and figuring out our new finances.

Wish me luck!

What are your thoughts? Have you taken a jump like this one?

My Week Via Instagram

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 19:33:42 PDT

Are you on Instagram? What's your username?

Psst: Don't forget to check out my blog sale! Get name brand cosmetics for half the price!

My week via Instagram

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Williams) — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 19:34:15 PDT

Are you in Instagram? What's your username?

Psst: Don't forget to check out my blog sale! Get name brand cosmetics for half the price!