The Chase

Now that Coleman has perfected his stellar scooting ability, he continues his fixation with large wooden beads in the following edition of “ColeTV:”

And I have to tell you that I’m grateful today, in a big way, for Jason’s willingness and expertise in making home movies…it’s nice to finally have someone else helping with our family’s history projects.  I told him I had to post this video on my blog even though he was already doing it on his simply because this mom thinks it’s hilarious.

Jas…you, Cole and your Mac are iMovie rock stars!

Home Stretch

I thought I would never reach the 20-day mark of my boot camp experience and here I am only a few sessions away.  I have been so happy with the program that I’ve decided to go a couple more weeks and get to Thanksgiving.  We’ll see what happens after that.  I feel the need to get myself fit over the next few months because Jason and I would like to try invitro again and I want to be healthy and strong as we head into that process at the first of the year.

Yep, I said it.  We’re looking into invitro again.  Jason has met with our fabulous doctor regarding his issues and I have to do some tests to see what a difference 2 years has made in my egg production.  Last time I only had a 40% chance that we would get viable eggs and because of my age, that percentage most likely has gone down since then.

But nothing will happen in terms of blood tests for a month or two and those of you who have gone through IVF know that the process tends to linger longer over months instead of days so don’t hold your breath waiting for news.  I know that many of you who read this blog have gone through fertility issues or have someone close to you who has so I will keep you posted as we go along on our journey.  Right now we pretty much just have question marks that will be answered one way or another as time passes.

So that is one reason, besides good health in general, why I have signed on for a few more weeks with Jim.  And now that Jim has found my blog (Hi, Jim!) I have a new quote of the day.  I’m on the home stretch of my 20-day commitment and Jim still has a plethora of military-style phrases that he peppers us with throughout our workout.  But now, however, after he comes up with a particularly creative or powerful one in his mind he then turns to me and says,

Write that one in your blog.  – Jim

Jim, you still do not fail to amuse (and sometimes abuse) me.  Come on, even though I’m still a little slow in getting the reps done, you have to admit that I’ve made progress.  You have to start somewhere, right?

I can do hard things, Jim.  Even a mile on the stinkin’ bike and 20 of those those cursed pull-up things.  And I’m writing it here in my blog.

Holiday Frame Download Day + Winner

Halloween is approaching so of course we need a spooky download or two.  Here’s one that would look great on a card, a party invite or scrapbook page but I’ll show you what I did with it:

please click on image to download pdf

For a large, dramatic “gallery style” effect, choose a frame that is larger than 8 x 10 (mine is 16 x 20 and I got it 40% off with a Michaels coupon but I think 11 x 14 would be ideal) and have a mat cut for it that has a 6″x6″ window.  This is a great way to get a custom-framing look without the cost of a custom frame.  Notice how I have the window offset towards the top.  I had them cut the mat so that the top and two sides have the same amount of mat space and the excess is all at the bottom.

I inked the edges for a Halloween effect.  Then just insert the download behind the window and tape it in place for instant holiday decoration that can easily be changed out for Thanksgiving and Christmas and Valentines and….well, you get the idea.

You can also do this project easily using a smaller frame and cardstock instead of a mat.  I used an 8 x 10 frame and simply cut my printed cardstock to fill the frame.  Instead of just trimming the image, I then placed a metal-edged ruler down on my artwork and tore along the the ruler to create distressed edges.  Then I used pop dot adhesive to mount the artwork to the cardstock – again, having an even amount of space on the top and sides and more space on the bottom.

This is such a simple but unique way to decorate for each season that I have decided that I am going to do holiday downloads that fit the 6 x 6 and 4 x 4 sizes all year so that we can all easily celebrate whatever holiday is coming up.   How does that sound?

A fabulous gift idea would be to get the frame and mat all ready for someone and then teach them how to download and print out the new artwork all year from my blog so they can swap out the phrases themselves.  Easy, meaningful and a gift that gives all year long!

Enjoy the download and now it’s time for our winner.  Email me your address Karen (kolette@kolettehall.com) and I’ll send out some of my holiday stamps!

Karen

Hey Jim….Not a boot camp kind of gal…runner turned biker after knee replacement….with colder weather here in the east, time to go back to the gym and spinning!!!
my tip…set goals and stick to them …it pays off I am down 32lbs!!!!

Boot Camp Giveaway

Jim has figured out that I am blogging about boot camp and said that he was going to check it out this weekend so I thought that in honor of him and all boot camps out there that we should do a giveaway.  Yea!

All you have to do is give Jim a shout out here in the comments – maybe share an exercise tip with him…yeah, that’s a good idea.  Show a little love to Jim from Jim’s Gym and I’ll pick a random winner of one of my holiday wood stamp sets.  How does that sound?

Leave your comment by this Sunday, October 11 by 6 pm and we’ll have a winner Monday morning.

Project 365 of Gratitude – Jim

Yes, it’s true.  I’m grateful for Jim.  When I first started my boot camp workouts I was driving to Jim’s Gym and realized that in the rush to get Cole to the babysitter’s, I had forgotten a towel and my knee braces.  I ran into the Walgreens pharmacy that was on the way to Jim’s thinking that I would find both there.

I grabbed the braces I needed to keep my knees from getting loosey-goosey on me and went searching for a towel I could buy.  All I could find was an endcap full of Thanksgiving dishtowels (which I thought was pretty early for them, if you want to know the truth).  I chose one as quickly as I could and rushed to start my workout.

At first I assumed I would just use that towel one time and then move it to my kitchen but as I saw the words embroidered on my towel hanging there on the equipment, it made me pause.  It said “Give Thanks” and as I used the elliptical machine I began to do just that.

I was grateful that I have the means to go to Jim’s Gym.

I was grateful that I have a fabulous babysitter for Cole that made it possible for me to do it.

I was grateful that Jim has the skill to help me work harder than I would have on my own.

I was grateful that I have little Coleman – the “baby-belly” reason why I was even at the gym in the first place.

I became more grateful – and as I did so, the workout started to go from misery to something a little better than that.  Yes, that was the day that I threw up so obviously the workout wasn’t easy.  But being grateful helped me get through it easier than if I had chosen to just complain.

I take that towel a lot to Jim’s.  It’s not cool or even remotely sporty enough for the gym.  But it reminds me of the gratitude I feel for the opportunity to get fit.  Opportunities for giving thanks are all around us and it’s remarkable how our perspective changes when we see the world through grateful eyes.

What are you grateful for today?

Download Day – In It Together

I’ve told you before that the whole “military style” motivation at boot camp is more funny to me than motivating but I have to admit that Jim has found the strategy that pushes my buttons and gets me going.

Four words: “Kolette, you’re the timer.”

There are between 3-6 people in our class – depending on the day.  Up until now, each of us has been required to do each exercise a certain number of reps before moving on.  This is where my slowness hasn’t really bothered me but I admit that sometimes I bog down the flow of the other members of the class.

That all changed when Jim said that the person in front of me couldn’t move on to the next exercise until I had finished the assigned reps on my exercise.  That certainly lit a fire under me!  I didn’t want the person in front of me to have to do more reps than they would have if they were doing them on their own.  My own exercise routine is one thing but my motivation to move more quickly certainly increased dramatically when I knew that my actions affected someone other than myself.

Jim must have realized that this is an effective motivation for many of us because we have been doing various versions of being “the timer” the last few sessions.  It’s interesting how when we all stick together, we help each other, encourage each other, support each other even more than when we are only focused on our own tasks.  We become a team, working as a group to reach our goals.

There are many situations where working together gets us further than working alone.  The encouragement and care and motivation to improve increases when we approach our tasks with the High School Musical philosophy that “we’re all in this together.”

Enjoy today’s download, celebrating “the timer” in all of us.

A Month of Firsts

Last year on October 1, Stacy Julian spearheaded a Blog Blitz that focused on celebrating “the present” where we each created a mini, mini scrapbook of our present life.  I think it’s fitting that today, as she revisits this concept one year later, that our newest month of the Big Picture Scrapbooking workshop, “A Life Well Crafted” starts.  It is called “Pay Attention!” and it is all about embracing the window of time that we are living in, right now (click here to register).

I have spent the last 12 months trying to savor and soak up the moments that make up our current life.  Everything has been new to us.  Everything has been a discovery process.  And I am grateful that we have been able to experience the joy that comes from “celebrating the present” that is each new day for our little family of three.

I love my life.  It’s not perfect.  We have struggles and health issues and days where things don’t go our way.  But I still love my life and all that makes up this amazing adventure.  So, here’s to savoring the present!  A gift we give ourselves.

And instead of creating a scrapbook page about my experience, I decided to finally learn a new skill and share my current thoughts about this moment, this time, this little man, using Rhonna Farrer’s collage storyboards.  They truly were easy to create using the instructions that came with the downloads.  All I needed was Photoshop and some digital photos and I was at it in no time.

Cole, you are our present, our future and even our past.  You are the culmination of everything we love about life and so I celebrate you as you turn 8 months old this week.

Coleman, I feel like we have had a whole year packed into the last month when it comes to you.  You have grown and developed so much during September that it seems like you learn something new every other day.

Here are your top 12 firsts that have happened this month:

#12.  rolling over both ways (thank goodness!)

#11.  sitting up on your own (mom’s personal favorite because it means new-found independence)

#10.  stage 3 foods + mashed up table food + cheerios = one happy baby

#9.   finding your toes

#8.   discovering your favorite toy: an infant toothbrush

#7.   swimming like a little fish with your face in the water

#6.   holding your own bottle

#5.   that coughing/laugh/yell thing that you do these days – you definitely like the sound of your own voice

#4.   drinking from a cup with mom’s help

#3.   your first tooth (that grandma had to come from the dominican republic to find!)

#2.   meeting uncle clint, uncle brandon and baby jack

#1.   the infamous one-armed soldier crawl that, after much hard work,  you mastered on your 8-month birthday

Cole, you are fun and interesting and determined to get moving.  We just can’t get enough of you, little one.

Love, Mom

Download Day – Becoming

I have had a few opportunities this weekend to think about this idea of “becoming.”  There are so many events and moments in our lives that mold and shape us into who we are – for good or not so good.  How we choose to react to our circumstances, moment by moment, shapes our character into something that is hopefully better than when we started.

The same is true with the people we choose to interact with.  We all have those people in our lives who change us because of what we have learned from them through their example or their love, their teaching or anything else that impacts us.

This week’s download is in celebration of those people in our lives.  If you print it out (making sure the “shrink to fit” box remains unchecked) then you can whip up a few cards with this sentiment – or simply skip the card and just trim the thought itself.  Whatever works for you.

But let’s pay it forward.  Take a moment this week to share this message of gratitude with at least 5 people.  Thank them for the impact they have had in your life – whether large or small – and let them know that they have contributed to all the good things that you are becoming.

Have fun and let me know how it goes.  I love hearing the “after” part of the story.

Book Review: Three Cups of Tea

OK, I am very interested to hear your thoughts about the book Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and journalist David Oliver Relin  – anyone who has read it, please chime in.  As a teacher, I was utterly fascinated and moved with the concept of building schools for girls in Pakistan as a means of breaking the cycle of poverty bringing the country together both in a literal as well as figurative sense.   Empowering girls, who then become stronger and more capable women is a principle that I feel very passionate about.

So, I enjoyed it…for the first fifteen or sixteen chapters. At that point I found myself interested but bored at the same time.  Maybe it was the countless trips over rocky terrain and volatile political circumstance that exhausted me.  Or maybe it was the onslaught of names and random places that started to bog down the reading.  Whatever it was, I found myself wanting to skip over chunks of the book, knowing that it wouldn’t really affect my understanding of the story anyway.

And I admit – I had to roll my eyes at the end when the government bashing started.  Of course war is not ideal but it seems completely unrealistic to imagine that when the towers fell on 9/11 that the leaders of our country - now or then – would have said, “We just got attacked on American soil.  Let’s go build some schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.”  Come on, let’s get real.  So that part was just a little bit of an idealistic soapbox for me.  All in all though, I learned a great deal about the fractious nature of the country, set up in poverty-stricken villages which are often completely cut off from one another.  That understanding shed so much light on their cultures and the day to day challenges faced by those in that area of the world.

Greg Mortenson is a hero in the cause of humanity – of that I am sure. I am better for reading this book which helped me to catch a glimpse of the living conditions and culture of Pakistan and Afghanistan.  I am grateful that this book was written and for the support that I’m sure has come because of it but I would have preferred more about the actual schools and the ins-and-outs of the education itself.  I yearned for less of the travels in his beaten down Land Cruiser and more, much more about those beautiful students, the co-heroes of the story.

What was your take on Three Cups of Tea?

The Greatest Show On Earth

It's only a matter of time before hard work, serious grunting & sheer determination will get this little man where he really wants to go.