T-25 Progress

Here are my progress pictures as promised in my previous post.  The first one is from this summer because I did not take a before picture.  At then end of Alpha I am down 8 pounds and feeling a lot better.   The scale has wobbled back and forth a little which I attribute to muscle gain; I feel much stronger. Beta is fun so far and I feel a lot more sore on the day we use weights.  I have some more revealing pictures, but I'm not comfortable sharing that with the world wide web at this time. 

In addition to exercise , eating cleaner has been another priority.  I've been trying to focus on getting a protein and veggies at lunch and dinner (breakfast is on the go in my car, usually toast, a banana, and coffee), reducing my carb intake, and eating more small meals through out the day.  I definitely have and enjoy a cheat sometimes, but it has really helped to cut out the overindulging I would do.  

I am proud of myself for sticking to this and thankful for friends who encourage me and keep me accountable.  

Go, Dogs. GO!

This post in in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday, one of my son's current favorite books (though it's actually P.D. Eastman and not Dr. Seuss), some recently received client pictures, and the fact there was not another catchy snood blog post title in me.

See Dog.
     Dog has big ears.  
          See Hat.
               Hat has big ears
                    See Dog in Hat with big ears.

Dog sitting and wearing a tan reindeer snood.

A grey reindeer snood on a small Dog.

Dogs like snoods from Erma's Inspiration.

Not the Usual Post

Recently I've resumed trying to read a devotional everyday--much easier to do now with an app on my i-phone.  Today's really touched me. It was a reminder to slow down and observe life and its beauty, even in the everyday things like sunrise.  So I thought I'd share this. Here's the link http://odb.org/2014/03/01/sunrise/

Fate, Friends, and T-25

Well, I've been rather absent lately.  Don't worry I have been crocheting!  However, I've also been busy with something else.  Something I've been meaning to do, but lacked commitment and support.

That all changed because of inspiration and encouragement from my friend, Stephanie.  Since my son's birth, I've yo-yo'd with my weight and exercise.  I lost a lot when he was born, even got into my pre-pregnancy jeans before he was 4 months old (please note, I did not say they were comfortable).  Then I began to pump to save up milk for him and did what ever I could to increase milk production (this meant lots of oatmeal cookies), then the added stress of getting back to work.  In the struggle to do it all,  I found myself eating--and craving-- all kinds of processed junk.  If Chips-A-Hoy were around and my husband wasn't, well guess what was for dinner.  I just did not make myself a priority, and when I tried to I caught the mom guilt.

Maybe I should call it the mom-daughter-wife guilt, because to go to the gym I had to leave my precious baby and either get my husband to watch him (which was unlikely because we have opposing hours most days) or get my mom to watch him, which I felt guilty for because she also watches him during the day.  Then I had to drive to the gym, try to get a work out in, and get back home as quickly as possible so I could have more time with my son before bed.  Just to be clear, my husband and mom never complained about watching him, it was totally my feelings.  In order to avoid leaving I tried working out at home, but I wasn't consistent for a variety of reasons.

I've been trying to do better for about a year now.  I've limited sweets, when it was warm I'd take Josh on a walk or to the park everyday.  And then we had a messed up summer and I was thrown off track.  Then I got busy working on my crochet business in addition to all the new NJ SGO and evaluation requirements.  Excuses, excuses...

Then, I noticed my friend Stephanie, who'd just had her second baby in the spring, posting some awesome pics of healthy meals and then some pictures she posted about how her body changed.  I was amazed.  In my mind I never believed my body could be great again, but then I looked at her.  The next thing I knew, she was announcing her new career as a beach body coach!

I was interested, but not sold, mostly because I did not believe in myself.  I messaged her a couple times about it, and then she made me an offer I couldn't refuse.  Part of her job is running challenge groups.  She started a group called "Moms on the Move" just for moms who were friends with her.  There was no cost, except for whatever workouts we chose to follow (I started with Jillian's Yoga Meltdown which I already had), and any supplements (like shakeology) you wanted. So for me it was free.   There was a points system and we were supposed to check in daily.  It started on January 6th.  My first two weeks were rough because of going on a conference at Hershey Lodge that first weekend, but I kept with it.

I committed to eating cleaner (mainly giving up carbs at lunch, soda, and dessert--I have a huge sweet tooth) and working out at least 3 times a week.  Baby steps.

Then one fateful Wednesday morning, during a content team meeting, that just happened to be two of us that week,  I mentioned this challenge group I was in. It had to be predestined, because my co-worker, Neshea, had the T-25 videos but really needed an accountability partner.  So we began to work out everyday afterschool.  January 27th was the day we started and I am happy to say, over three weeks in, we have not missed a day (yep, even with all the snow days--we both did them at home), and I've done doubles every Friday!

The changes in my body amaze me.  Every time I look in the mirror I think "Change can't happen this fast," but it has!  My stomach is  WAY tighter, my legs feel and look stronger, and I have so much more energy.  My attitude has done a 180.  I finally feel like this IS something I can do!  I've lost 8lbs so far.  There's a week and a half until I finish T-25 Alpha, and I'm so excited to share the results.

Sorry to sound like an infomercial, but this has made such a big difference in my life, I just had to share.  Thank you to my friends, Steph and Neshea, who have helped me get here, and my family for supporting me and watching J-man for a bit so I could sneak in my workouts!

You can check out Stephanie's Blog Here
Stay tuned for a follow up post around March 1st with my 30 day results.  Pictures included ;)

Who Wore it Best? Reindeer Snood Edition

So many of my customers have been kind enough to send me pictures of their dogs in my creations, I feel compelled to share them with the world (or at least the blogosphere).   I don't think anyone can really answer the title question, so just enjoy the cuteness coming at you!
Here's the original pair, Enzo and Lola

Here's the lovely Sun.

Danielle's Peanut

 And I can't leave out Ellen's niecedog and nephdog in their custom Green Hornet Snoods

What do Violet, Princeton, the Green Hornet, and Dog Ears have in Common?

They were all part of the custom orders I completed this month.

Here is a collection I made for a little girl name Violet expected to arrive in April.  There is a set for her arrival and a set for her when it gets cold in the winter.  The hat is a variation of my Penny hat, one of my first creations!  The cowboy boots I've made before but never listed in my shop--that will have to go on my to do list.  I customized them by doing her initial in a lasso style font.

  Here's another custom baby shower gift.  This time for a little guy who's mom works at Princeton.  Too bad I didn't have a tiger to model it on. This is the first time I made a letter of the alphabet that wasn't embroidered or just a chain.

A friend's brother is OBSESSED with the Green Hornet; he even has the car to prove it.  His sister ordered these snoods for him and his wife.  (the flower is much prettier and less blurry in person.  It came out that way every time :/) The boy is based on Green Hornet colors and the girl's snood was made to coordinate.  

And finally, one more custom snood.  A customer contacted me through Etsy to see if I could make a snood with ears like her chihuahua, Bijou.  How did I do?

Recent Custom Creations

I've done a few custom order in the last few month that I wanted to add here to the collection on my blog.

First here is a custom hat based on The Penny.  The patron wanted it to be gray and light pink (the same colors used in The Madison) as well as taking off the leaves.

Then, my friend Marcy asked me to make this hat, two of them in fact.  She sent me a screen shot of her pin.  So I just wrote my own pattern.  Here is Josh, my reluctant model.  

I will be adding this to the shop after I get good shots of it.   

Then I had an order for a blue version of my Rutgers Little Fan hat, which looks to me like a Giants hat, or maybe Captain America (since I live in Eagles country and so does the recipient).

  

 After that I had an order for two Gingerbread Man hats, with the addition of a pair of baby legs.  This is the first set of baby leg warmers I've made.  I read a tutorial pattern and I adapted it to what I needed,  of course now I can't find the tutorial I used, so my apologies for not being able to link that.

Finally, my husband co-worker had a special request.  His son was outgrowing his favorite hat.  He asked if I could make a replica and sent me this picture.        


How did I do?

The funny thing is I wasn't sure what animal this was while I was working on it,  I though raccoon, but then I thought the colors were wrong so maybe it was a fox, heck maybe it was some weird animal I don't even know.  My husband confirmed upon deliver that it was indeed a raccoon,  I think I will make a gray, black, and white one for the next shop photoshoot.