IMPROVEMENTS

I am very pleased to announce that May is going FANTASTIC, except for exams of course.. But I’m not here to write about exams! I’m here to tell you about my “trying new things” and announce wonderful news in my weight-loss journey.

First of all I mentioned that one of my goals for May was trying new things. Now some weeks I have been better than others at remembering this goal, but I still feel I’ve tried new things or familiar things in new ways. In the first week of May, my boyfriend wanted to celebrate Cinco de Mayo by trying to make Ceviche. He succeeded; it was so fresh and so good!

Then in the second week of May, I got to try Curry chicken (which I’ve tried before) with squash (which I have tried once and hated). To my surprise, I loved it! My wonderful partner in crime, ehem sorry, meant boyfriend… made this with veggies I rarely eat and yet it tasted so yummy I just had to go back for seconds…

My memory fails me a bit, and I can’t remember if I tried anything specifically new last week. However Paul has been really good about making sure I have lots of veggies, some of which I’m not always so fond of. So that counts a little. Otherwise I could list up drinking my TWO first cups of coffee with no sugar – EVER. I always have sugar and milk in my coffee, though I’ve been better about using less and less sugar. But no sugar was unthinkable. Even so, this past Saturday I had not one, but two cups of coffee with a little milk and NO sugar. Proud to say the least!

Then on to some great news. Last week I was able to announce that I had lost my first 5 kg (11lbs) since I started trying to get healthier. I celebrated by treating myself to a new piece of jewelry that I fell madly in love with.

Then, as if that great news didn’t make me happy enough, I finally got into the 85’s today!

So to sum it up, May is going great! I’m losing weight, reaching goals, and best of all; once this month is over, I’m going to Texas!

Sarah.

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.