Thankful Thursdays!

I'm so thankful that I've remembered to be thankful two Thursdays in a row! Let's jump on this thankfulness train before it departs the station!

Today, I am mega thankful for the love we've been getting for our new video. Remember when we did the Call Me Maybe video back in July?  We've been wanting to do a follow-up since then, but had a hard time deciding on the perfect jam. Solution? We did a mix featuring all of the best and most popular jams of 2012. We just released it yesterday and would love to break 1000 views, so watch, re-watch and forward to all of your friends and family members!




So if I'm thankful for the video, I'm also thankful for my co-stars Luis and Cara!  We laughed so hard during the filming of this video.  And their dance moves and ability to emote to a camera are unparalleled!

Cara turned 19 on January 1, so of course
I made her a cardboard cutout of herself. Cardboard version
is on the right.

Luis in lights. I am thankful that we came up with
the idea to tie ourselves up with Christmas
lights for the "Lights" portion of our video.
I've watched that section over and over and over.

I'm thankful for the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013.  I really, really love reflecting on goals, pop culture, books, television, movies and everything else from the previous year and dreaming about the future! (PS I realize there is some kind of law that if you blog you will post your goals/resolutions for the new year during the first week of January, and I'm working on mine. I hope to share soon)

I'm thankful that my BFF, Amie, has started her own fascinating blog! Now I get leave her lots of comments to start paying her back for the millions of great comments she's left on my blog over the years!

Her inaugural post.

I'm really thankful for my blog. I like being able to remember things better because I've blogged about them. I like being able to go back and look at my goals in a tangible place.  I really, really like getting comments about what I've written, both on the blog and in person.

I'm also really thankful for the internet in general.

I'm really, really thankful for my library.  Of the 85 books I read this year, I think only 15 were not from the library. (of those 15, only five were purchased by me, the others were loaned to me)  I just don't understand people who don't go to the library (unless you have a fear of germs or something, which I both get and don't get at the same time). It's free!  And so easy! If you can work your library's website, you can request books online, walk in and they have them all waiting for you at the checkout counter! It doesn't get any easier!

I'm thankful that Downton Abbey is coming back on PBS this Sunday.  I spent New Year's Day in a Downton Abbey coma, rewatching the whole series.  It's so dramatic and refined and English. I love it. And the costumes. And the Maggie Smith quips.  And Matthew Crawley.  Want to watch the season 1 and 2 recap so you're ready for season 3 on Sunday? You can find it on the PBS website here.

They are so intense.

I'm also thankful for blankets and bed.  It just occurred to me that I am really tired.

What are you thankful for on this wonderful Thursday?  Please share!

Goodnight all!

Books of 2012

It's the last day of the year, which means I can post my annual book list. I read 85 books this year. Many were young adult, which can be a bit slimmer, but I'm proud to say there were a few hefty books on the list, including Les Miserables, Stephen King's 11/22/63, Gone with the Wind, etc.

I've got a list of recommendations at the end, so make sure you scroll all the way through (I know it's a long list!).

I'm always on the hunt for new books. Do you have any favorite books from this year that you can recommend to me? 

1. Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan
2. Caldera by Matt Cousineau
3. Triathlons for Women by Sally Edwards
4. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
5. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
6. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
7. Vienna Prelude by Bodie Thoene
8. Prague Counterpoint by Bodie Thoene
9. Munich Signature by Bodie Thoene
10. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
11. Jerusalem Interlude by Bodie Thoene
12. Danzig Passage by Bodie Thoene
13. Washington Square by Henry James
14. The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
15. Warsaw Requiem by Bodie Thoene
16. I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella
17. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
18. The Always War by Margaret Peterson Haddix
19. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
20. Turnabout by Margaret Peterson Haddix
21. Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
22. Among the Impostors by Margaret Peterson Haddix
23. Among the Betrayed by Margaret Peterson Haddix
24. Among the Barons by Margaret Peterson Haddix
25. Among the Brave by Margaret Peterson Haddix
26. Among the Enemy by Margaret Peterson Haddix
27. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins*
28. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins*
29. MockingJay by Suzanne Collins*
30. Among the Free by Margaret Peterson Haddix
31. Crossed by Ally Conde
32. Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
33. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
34. 11/22/63 by Stephen King
35. Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
36. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
37. A Girl Named ZIppy by Haven Kimmel
38. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
39. Homecoming by Cynthia Voight
40. I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron
41. Children of God by Mary Doria Russell
42. I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
43. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
44. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald*
45. Bossypants by Tina Fey*
46. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
47. I’m Not Myself These Days by Josh Kilmer-Purcel
48. Where Am I Wearing?: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories and People that Make Our Clothes by Kelsey Timmerman
49. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
50. Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
51. The Next Best Thing by Jennifer Weiner
52. Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner
53. Size 12 and Ready to Rock by Meg Cabot
54. Gone GIrl by Gillian Flynn
55. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
56. Dark Places by GIllian Flynn
57. Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley
58. An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison
59. Uglies by Scott Westerfield
60. Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
61. Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
62. Pretties by Rick Riordan
63. Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen
64. Ender’s Game by Scott Orson Card
65. Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
66. Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
67. The List by Siobhan Vivian
68. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
69. The Red House by Mark Haddon
70. The Giver by Lois Lowry
71. Flirting with Monasticism: Finding God on Ancient Paths by Karen Sloan
72. The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo
73. Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster
74. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
75. The Four Agreements
76. The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
77. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
78. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
79. The Messenger by Lois Lowry
80. Son by Lois Lowry
81. Dicey’s Song by Lois Lowry
82. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
83. The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James
84. Different Seasons by Stephen King
85. Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore

*Denotes a re-read

Top Recommendations on the Year: (in this order)
Tell the Wolves I’m Home
The Fault in Our Stars
Silver Linings Playbook
11/22/63
The Giver Series by Lois Lowry
Dicey’s Song
The Great Divorce
The Magician’s Elephant (great for kids)
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

If you don’t mind slightly disturbing crime dramas, all three of Gillian Flynn’s books (Gone Girl, Dark Places, Sharp Objects) are page turners. Just not recommended for everyone because of the content.

2012 Goals in Review

Last year I spelled out my 2012 goals for you in this blog post. I was a little scared to go check it out today to see how I did, because I knew I had a lot of racing goals and that area of my life kind of went kerplunk this year.  Also, there's the whole "gaining back all of the weight i had lost" deal.  

Turns out it's not too bad. Here is the excerpt from that post:

Racing Goals

• Complete two sprint triathlons this year and perhaps an Olympic distance Tri. (NOPE)
• Run a person record in the 5k (NOPE)
• Run at least one 10k and decide about doing a half at some time in my lifetime (NOPE and NOPE)

Personal Goals

• Try Airobics (CHECK!)
• Paint at least one wall in my house (CHECK!)
• Continue blogging (MOSTLY CHECKED!)
• Get my savings account back to where it should be (CHECKED, but then unchecked when I bought my new computer, working on this again)
• Read at least 60 books (CHECK!)

So this tells us that I completely and utterly failed at racing in 2012, but that I'm pretty well succeeding as a person. And you know what? I'm okay with that.

I'm still thinking about what my goals for 2013 will be, hopefully I'll post them next week as we ring in the New Year.*

*Why is New Year a universally acknowledge proper noun?  Looks to me like two un-proper nouns just jammed together.  Maybe we should all revolt against capitalizing it.

Thankful Thursdays: It's been awhile!

I'm so sorry I have neglected Thankful Thursdays for so long.  I hope to be better about it in the future. But enough of that, let's get down to the business of being thankful.

Today I'm thankful:

That I got spend Christmas with these wonderful people.

I love 'em and I don't get to see them enough.

That we got crafty this Christmas.

My sister and Dad stepped up to help me create these wonderful things: top left: tree paintings with button embellishments; top right: a giant flower for an empty wall in Mandy's house; bottom right: an iphone charger from a copy of Bossypants*; bottom left, a book safe (all credit goes to my dad on this one, he spent hours carving it for me)*


 That I got some wonderful new pictures to hang on my walls.

 Both have positive messages to start the new year with and look great in my house!

That Les Miserables was as spectacular as I hoped it would be.

I read the book this summer. All (or most) of the 1400+pages and I'm so glad I did. I'd never seen the musical on stage before, and the movie lived up to all of my expectations.

I feel like there are lots of other things I should be listing here in my first Thankfulness list in AWHILE, but I'm a little car-lagged (I just made that phrase up...like jet-lagged, but tired from driving. Kapesh?)

Merry Christmas!

*Please note that my nightstand holds four books now: Kings and Queens of England and Scotland (not pictured), The Making of Pride and Prejudice, my Bossypants book charger and Richard Foster's Prayer.  I'm nothing if not eclectic.

**I will never tell you which of my many books is now the home for my treasured possessions. Don't try to make me. It won't work.  Unless you're one of the handful of people who I told before I realized the security threat that posed to my treasures. If you're one of those people, please don't reveal the book safe's identity.

2012 in Review

I may have overdone it last year with the Year-in-Review posts.*  I do love a good year-in-review, but perhaps it's not necessary to have five separate posts on the subject.**

I've decided to start bestowing titles to my years.  

2010 would be the "Year of the Weight Loss."

2011 would be the "Year of Adventure"

2012 would be the "Year of the Book."***

While this year hasn't been quite as thrill seeking or quite as skinny as 2011, it still had some some truly wonderful memories.  Here are the top bits of 2012 (in no particular order):

I started actually tackling projects that I pin on Pinterest.  This was the first of many!

One of my most favorite cousins, Sarah, got married.  Sarah is the same age as me and we've been great friends, despite a large geographical distance, since we became pen pals around the 3rd or fourth grade. I'm so happy for her and happy I got to see my extended family this year (it doesn't happen every year).

In 2012 I discovered my love for race cheering, cheering at my friend Kristy and my brother Todd's first half marathons (pictured, respectively, below.  When done correctly, this can be the most fun way to spend a Saturday morning. 

In 2012, the remaining members of my girls high school small group graduated from high school.  I love them, and I'm so glad we've remained close.

My whole family was together for Thanksgiving. This doesn't happen often, so I feel extra blessed on years like this one.  I love my family.

I was a quarter for Halloween!  Prob not one of my favorite costumes, but memorable, nonetheless!

My friend Amie instituted a weekly group dinner at her house with my favorite people.  Easily the best night of the week.

I joined the choir! I feel like I've found my calling in life! (PS, I'm dead center in the slightly blurry picture below)

I achieved my dream of racing in a tutu at the color run!

My friends and I made a tribute to this greatest Harry Potter video. Skip to the 1:05 mark if you want to bypass us taking forever to get ready.

Last but not least, my friends and I made the BEST CALL ME MAYBE video EVER!
If you haven't seen it, watch it a few hundred times. I'd still like to get our views up to 1,000.

What was great for you in 2012?? I'd love to know!

*You can find them here, here, here, and here, if you're into reviewing Year-in-Reviews from previous years.

**Although, 2011 was a spectacularly good year.

***I've read 81 books thus far in 2012. More on that later.

Anatomy of a slide

It was a great week and half of WW.

I was doing well, eating healthier, but not totally going cold turkey on higher fat foods I love. I was extremely happy and felt good about working towards a goal again.

Then something happened last Thursday, and I lost all ability to stick to the plan. I was extremely hungry that day. You know, one of those "hollow days" where no matter what you eat you feel like a bottomless pit.

I rode it out okay on Thursday.  I had eggs and turkey sausage for dinner and that helped fill me up and stay within my points for the day.

But Friday was another "hollow day," combined with stress city, and suddenly I was done trying.  I got donuts for breakfast, which is never, ever a good solution because you can never fit them in with whatever calorie- or points-counting diet you're doing.  (Plus, I can hear my mom now, "Stop eating donuts, you don't want diabetes!" which is true, I don't want diabetes.)  I made it through the day okay, but when I got home I had Kraft Macaroni and Cheese for dinner, to feed my bad mood.  I told myself that it was better than going out for fast food, which is true, but it just doesn't work well with your points values when you had donuts for breakfast. Then later I had wine and chocolate cake at a friend's house.*

Saturday, I made it most of the day okay, until I got really hungry in the afternoon and had nothing good to snack on (I hadn't been to the grocery store this week yet) so I ate peanut butter straight out of the jar**. After that I was disappointed in myself and went to Zaxby's for dinner, which does not fix things, it just added lots of points onto lots of points.

By Sunday, I was disappointed in myself and irritated with food. I ate all three meals at restaurants, including donuts for breakfast again (aack!).  It should be noted that I did haul myself to the grocery store to replenish healthy things in my fridge and make a meal and a snack for the week.

At no point over this 3-4 day slide did I exercise, which would be a healthy move and give me extra points for eating. I've also been neglecting my water intake.

Today I weighed in, and I had gained a pound.***

Of course I did with a weekend that looked like that.

Today, I stopped at BoJangles for breakfast because I had kind of overslept.****  I stuck with the lunch I brought, but swerved for a Little Caesar's pizza on the way home. That was not in the plan.

The bad thing is WW has a plan for you to be able to splurge.  You're given your regular daily points, but you're also give 49 weekly points to use as you see fit. During this slide, I flew through that allotment.

I'm sad by how quickly I was able to fall off track, which makes me not want to work hard. I don't want to try really hard for a time just to give up and gain it all back. I mean, isn't that what happened after TWO YEARS of trying hard? I just gained it all stinking back.

This is probably too many words and you've stopped reading, but this is my thoughts. I want to be better at documenting the highs and the lows, as I think in the past I've shied away from blogging about the hard times.  You know, it just makes one feel too vulnerable.  Bleh. Who wants to be vulnerable? Anyway, I probably should've written this post earlier and maybe it would've helped me subjugate the slide a little faster. Also, then it would've been shorter.

Thoughts?


*It should be noted that I helped my own self to the wine and chocolate cake, knowing full-well that I had no points left for the day. It was in no way forced upon me by said friends.  
**I had responsibly added peanut butter back into my diet sometime earlier this year, with the strict rule to never eat it straight from the jar, ESPECIALLY WHILE SITTING ON THE COUCH WATCHING TV. Until Saturday, I had adhered to both of those rules.
***Last Monday, my first official weigh-in with WW showed that I had lost 6.5 pounds in one week. That large amount of weight can be typical with your first week back on track, I've observed.
****I don't ever oversleep. I wake up between 6:30 and 7 every day. But sometimes (pretty rarely) I refuse to get out of bed, where it is warm and comfortable and start my day. Today was one of those days.

Guest Blog From My Dad

My dad does not write a regular blog, but he does write a weekly inspirational email for all the managers in his company called the Monday Morning Memo.

Recently, his inspiration for the post was none other than me. His favorite middle daughter.  :) The post was so good, he sent it to an outside company he works with for employee recognition and rewards. They liked it enough to put it on their blog.

So that's where I'm sending you now with this link. To read the post my dad wrote about me (and encouraging your employees) on OC Tanner's website.  It's about how we celebrated Thanksgiving, and it was great.

You should check it out. I think you'll like it. But you can let me know in the comments section below.
www.octanner.com/blog/2012/12/the-power-of-cheer-inspiring-greatness/#.UL0ZeLRz_RU.facebook

Wondering who this guy is I'm posing with? Read the blog. He's Richard. The random stranger who hugged me for my inspirational support.