We MAY just be closer to summer now

Yeah, I’m pretty good at puns. I can’t help but feel a little shocked that it’s already May. Time has just flown by, and in under a month it’s summer. Crazy, but very cool.

My goals for April didn’t do that well. I was able to work out twice a week, but I didn’t reach 85kg (got to 86,2) nor did I walk to work each day. No problem though; a new month is new opportunities. My goals for May are #1: Trying a new dish each week. #2: Get under 82kg and #3: Doing at least 2 cardio exercises a week. Woop woop go May!

Sarah.

Inspiration, goals and dresses

Since the new year started, I’ve been trying to lose some weight and feel better about myself. It’s had it’s ups and downs, but it’s slowly going the right direction. Thankfully there is loads of inspiration to get when those tougher days come, for example a sweet blogger named Selina over at Wolf and the Fox! I’m really impressed by her, she is doing so well and in such a smart way! So I got inspiration from her and decided to steal some of her ideas. Firstly by writing down some small goals for April.

• Reach 85kg (I’m 3kg away!)
• Walk to work every day I’m working (It’s only 2km, not far at all)
• Exercise a minimum of 2 times a week.

All of those are completely manageable, especially since the last one is something I have to do to complete the “Keep it up” campaign at my gym (I need to get 2 stamps for exercising a week until April 21st).

The second idea I decided to steal from Selina is a goal dress. She got herself a goal dress that is beautiful, and what a fun way to keep motivated. I recently bought myself some goal shorts for summer, but since I only paid a itty bitty amount of money for it I probably won’t feel bad if I don’t get into it. So I’ve been looking at some nice dresses for summer and came down to two I like.

 

I’m not sure which one I like best. I have to take into consideration that I have very light skin, don’t really tan (though I’m seriously considering investing in a nice spray tan for summer) and I currently have kind of reddish blonde hair!

Would you help me decide? Which dress should I order? I’ll make sure to post how my goals for April go, in the meantime I definitely recommend taking a trip by Selina’s blogg to get some great inspiration!

Big weekend hugs!

Sarah.

Zzzzzleep; the good and the bad

I love to sleep. Who doesn’t? It feels so good, it gives thoughtful minds a rest and it lets hard-worked bodies regenerate. Anyone who reads my blog knows I love interior decorating, and my bedroom is no exception. I love going to sleep in a nice bedroom, and waking up in the same place; my own little oasis of rest and sleep.

I used to be able to wake up easily even on the earliest mornings. I was a morning person, and had no problem bragging about it. One summer I got up at 9 am every morning despite not having any school, because I just liked to get up and have most of the day left. Sadly when I moved to Oslo, with a boyfriend who is not and has never been a morning person, and no more of the old every-day-at-8am school structure; my habit has turned. I hit the snooze button more than ever, I’ve missed classes because I don’t hear my alarm (selective hearing?) and I generally hate to have to get up early. I’m a zombie I’ve never been before. So some changes are in need, and here is the best google-tips I’ve decided to try…

# Stop using your computer 2 hours before bedtime.

# Get at least 6-8 hours of sleep –> find how many hours your body needs.

# Find 3 exercises you do every single morning.

# Get a morning ritual that will make you look forward to getting up and doing it.

# Get up at the same time every day.

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This shouldn’t be too hard things to try. I’ve had a horrible habit of sitting on my computer until the second I look at the clock and think “damn, I have to get up in 5 hours”, so I have no doubt I could benefit from a computer lockdown in the evening. Given that I’ve been trying to exercise lately, the 3 exercises in the morning are nothing if not beneficial. To start I’ll make it a one month challenge! Anybody else who feels the need to improve their sleeping habits, feel free to join in. April 21st I’ll update on how this went and if I can continue back in better habits.

What do you do in the morning?

Sarah.

Nå har jeg registrert meg på <a href="http://bloggurat.net/minblogg/registrere/aa4149da5bbb60394d7dfc6733e0194d80ee3df3">Bloggurat</a>.

From Paris to Vienna

February was a busy month. Not only did I enter it in beautiful Paris with my family but I then proceeded to move into a new, wonderful apartment and then head off to Vienna with my friends and classmates. I’ve almost had an experience overload this month, but it was so exciting and I find myself with a smirk on my face when I see that it’s only March and my facebook profile is filled with so many pictures of travel. Won’t it be fun to see what all is in my albums by December?

To celebrate my turning 20 and my dad having turned 40 this past November, my family (including Paul) went to Paris in the end of January. My five years of French didn’t pay off very well, but the food, the sights, the people – it was all so fantastic.

 

 

 

 

 

For more pictures, like my page on facebook here and check out the albums.

The weekend after we got home from Paris, we moved into our new apartment. To shortly explain how great this was, I can point out that our new apartment is almost twice the size of the old one and includes a seperate bedroom. Had you only seen the smiles on our faces.

The following weekend after our move I had to repack my suitcase and headed towards Vienna. This was a class trip, and about 45 of the students at my study signed up to tag along. Vienna was AMAZING, and we had a lot of fun.

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve never given much thought to Vienna, but I was extremely pleansantly surprised at how wonderful the city was. Definitely going back with Paul next time. Again, for more pictures, like my page here.

So far, so fun. March looks to be filled with a lot of schoolwork but I’ve also been working off those schnitzels from Vienna. Mid-February I had actually lost about 7kg (15lbs) since I started exercising. Thanks to lots of beer, pretzels and schnitzels I gained most of that back but now, back in Oslo, it’s going down again.

Have you travelled yet this year?

Sarah.

Where is the creativity?

Since I was young, I always had a sense that I would do great things…

And to begin with, I did. I was called creative and talented, and I loved it. That was my thing, that was what I was good at. I used to make the most random things, from a hut made out of my matress to rock pets ironically named Rocky…





The cat on the cup is made out of cheese. My mind flourished with crazy, random and fun ideas.. I loved to create strange costumes for halloween, such as the invisible man or the frozen girl from Ghost Whisperer…


And I drew. I loved to draw, all kinds of things…




 

I used to take a million photos, where only a few would look artistic but I kept trying. I tried tons of different things, from jazz ballett, soccer, line dance, art class, hip hop and baton twirling. I remember playing the most creative games with my cousin when I was young, from making “dinners” of seaweed, rocks, crabs and other things we found by the shore, to going out the rare times there were blizzards on the coast and “trying to save our life by finding shelter in the rocks”. We’d climb between trees and pretend the ground was lava, and we’d play house in the boat house attic… Our imagination was endless.
I still try to be creative. I enjoy being creative when I throw halloween parties…


I love being creative at work when I make sales areas…


But I feel as if I’ve lost a lot of my creativity. I don’t see the world as I used to. When I take a million picture, none of them turn out artistic. When I sit down to draw, I can’t figure out what to draw. I barely take the time anymore to read books (and I LOVE to read books). I can’t find my creativity anymore. If you ask me what my hobbies are, I can’t tell you because I don’t know. In some ways I feel like I’ve lost a big part of who I am, and something that made me happy. I don’t know how to find it again though, but I’m trying.
Sarah.

Travelling at twenty

I may have forgotten to mention that I turned 20 one week ago. I had a wonderful birthday and celebrated it with my sweet boyfriend, who spoiled me rotten. We had my favorite food for dinner: sushi. I got some of my favorite treats and some classics as a gift:

And we went to the movies to see Silver Linings Playbook. The movie was great, definitely recommended!
I may or may not have mentioned before that my mom had told me she was planing my birthday gift since SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER last year. Needless to say, I’ve been dying of curiosity. Two weeks before my birthday I got my first hint:

Feel free to tell me if you got it at this point, because I definitely did not. A week later I got my second hint, a word: pastry. Nope, still didn’t get it. So I started to move on with my day, getting ready for work when the thought popped in my head. Oh no, did I know? Had I ruined the surprise? Did I say something? Or just try to act surprised? I kind of freaked out and decided I had to tell my mom what I thought it was. She logged on to skype and turned on the camera. I asked if croissant could have been an alternative hint to pastry. She looked around and said: “uuuh, oui”.

So to celebrate me having turned 20, and my dad having turned 40 this past November, the entire family + Paul will be going to Paris in the end of January! This was such an awesome, wonderful birthday present! I’ve always wanted to go to Paris, hence why I took 5 years of french classes in middle school/high school. Finally that dream will come true and I can’t even begin to explain how excited I am! Get ready, I see a Paris-pictured post coming up in the near future!!
Sarah

FOOD FOOD AND SKORTS

Suprise! I’m still here, haven’t left this time! January is halfway through, and I’ve been trying little by little to change some things and work on other things. As I mentioned before I’m trying going to lose some weight. At the same time I have to save some money because my new apartment cost a little more than the one we’re renting now. Given that we have had three months notice to cancel this apartment and the one we wanted was available NOW; we’re going to be paying double rent for 3 months. So in a combination of trying to be healthy and trying to save money I have some DELICIOUS dinners to share!

I’ve had a spinach fetish lately (that sounded weird but given my poor vocabulary I’ll stick with it). This salad is made up of spinach, some regular salad (hjertesalat in Norwegian), pasta, pork meat, red pepper, spring onion and feta cheese. YUM! Seriously one of the better salads I’ve ever had. I know I suck for sharing a dinner here without knowing the entire recipe, but Paul did the meat and made a kind of dressing to put on it. All I know is there was balsamico and white vinegar in it. *Drool*.

Last night’s dinner was surprisingly yummy despite it’s simplicity. I took some water, added some vegetable broth and cooked up pasta in that. Then in a frying pan I put some sliced smoked sausage (kjøttpølse), added chopped broccoli and cauliflower, some salt and pepper and finally added the cooked pasta. Cheap and yummy, not to mention filling!
At work we still have the big new years sale going on. There I found a pair of shorts I drooled over this past summer, but didn’t buy because to sum it up: I didn’t wear shorts that summer. I don’t care much how I’ll look in a bikini this summer, more so I want to wear shorts and not feel like a heffa in them. So I bought these shorts in the biggest size we had left: 40. Let’s put it this way; I used to be a 42, am currently 44. So they’re my skorts; SKinny shORTS, and my goal for summer is to get into them without looking like a muffin top.

And the good news is; I’m on my way! Since January 1st I’ve gone down 1,6kg (3,5lbs). I’m very happy. It’s a slow process but it’s also a lifestyle change. I feel super awesome every time I leave the gym, so hopefully I’m going to keep it up and reach my goals!

Thumbs up for looking piggypink in January! That’s a good sign in my opinion.
How are your new year resolutions going?
Sarah