5.18.2013

New Apartment

So I've spent the last couple of days moving (way too much) stuff from my old house in Fort Worth to my new apartment in Grand Prairie. I've learned a few things:


  1. I have way too much stuff
  2. I hate moving
  3. I'm still not done yet
  4. My bicycle doesn't have a place outside
  5. I left my toiletry box at the old house and washed my hair with body soap. But it was still amazeballs
Now to finish unloading my car in the morning and take one last trip to get stuff in Fort Worth. Then I get to unpack! Woo hoo!

Photos / Video to follow soon!

5.15.2013

The Blazing Race

The Amazing Blazing Race - or at least that's how we do it where I work. 


The Slimsons BEFORE photo :)
Today, along with a couple of coworkers, I competed in a scavenger hunt of sorts all over the university where I'm employed.  In an effort to become less fat-tastic, I have tried to become more active - which goes really well with this Slimdown Competition work is hosting. Our team, The Slimsons, is working on getting into our skinny jeans and this race was part of the goal.

We chose the low impact route and DAMN I'm out of shape! (Like it was that big of a surprise!) 


As we went along though, I realized a couple of things:


  1. When you're too fat, your back hurts BAD when you walk.
  2. The more active you are, the better you feel. DUH
  3. My coworkers are really fun people (I kind of already knew that...)
  4. This campus is HUGE (and yes, I realize "That's what she said")
  5. I don't care what that stupid piece of paper said - we walked more than 1.14 miles!
My encouragement to you today is to get out there and walk or run or bike or whatever you do to be active. Looking down at the scale and tipping it to the highest you've ever seen it with your two feet standing on top is not a happy place, friends! 

Remember: Fitness is FUN!

5.14.2013

750 Words

As some of you know, I teach computer classes at an organization that serves women looking to improve their situations by learning a new skill (e.g. computers). I came across this organization following the death of two of my co-workers almost two years ago. I'm on my 3rd class and last night we finished up the keyboarding portion of our course - which means we're a third of the way done with the program! Time seriously flies!!!

Anywho, a common thread among some of these women is that at some point they've been victims of domestic violence. Sometimes they suffer from low self esteem or self worth. They've never had someone tell them that they could do something - they've always been put down. This is where my 750 words comes in.

Think back to a time when you were learning something... say keyboarding. I take for granted that (once we moved to Texas) the schools I attended had computers and we always had a computer in the house (Thanks Dad!) so keyboarding is a skill I never really put much thought into learning. Now, I can type upwards of 75 words per minute. 


One reason I'm a stronger typist than others is that I spend a lot of time writing / blogging / etc. So I've encouraged my students to start doing the same. 750words.com is a website developed on the idea of Morning Writings. The thought is that if you write three pages every morning (roughly 750 words) it frees your mind and allows you to think more clearly for the rest of the day. The added bonus is that if you're learning to type, you can get practice and comfort typing to your little heart's desire. 


The thing I L O V E about 750words.com is that it is completely private - unless you change the settings. They also give you fun statistics (nerd alert) about your writing and who doesn't love getting into their subconscious? The only downfall at this point, is that they're going to a paid only subscription to assist in offsetting the cost of running the site. It is very modestly priced but my point is that even if you don't use this particular platform - getting those pesky thoughts out of your head every morning really helps you become a more productive and creative person. 


Give it a try. You never know what you might find out about yourself. Even if it's just that you improve your typing speed :)