Weight Loss Monday

Hi Everyone!

I have thought a lot about this and I have decided to add a new series to the blog.

If you have been reading for awhile you might have seen some sentences that hint at not only chronic conditions that I have but also my weight.

For some background, a little less than a year ago I was running three miles everyday and I was on my way, training for a half marathon.

Suddenly I had pain shooting down my arm, then shooting down my leg, then numbness that followed the worst pain I have ever experienced.  I had ruptured a disk in my neck and surgery was the only option.

In November 2011 I had a spinal fusion on my C5 and C6 and my recovery is still taking place.  I cannot run but I have been hopeful.

However, my body has not been done with me.  Low iron counts, rashes of unknown origin, fevers, and more pain in my muscles and joints have further hindered my work outs.

I have now gained about twenty pounds since my surgery and I am heavier than I have ever been.

I feel ashamed. 

In my head I have always paired my feeling of being strong with my physicality.  I feel weak now.  I feel heavy....I feel fat.

I am starting to realize that even though my body is a mess right now I have to get to a place in my head where I feel strong so that maybe my body will eventually follow.

So, I have started slow.  I walked for thirty minutes on Saturday.  I walked thirty minutes this morning.  Maybe if I feel o.k. I will walk thirty minutes on Wednesday.

I am not good at slow, I am yearning to start a slow jog which I cannot do.  My body will not do it either.

I hope that every Monday you will be here with me to go through this journey.  There will definitely be some ups and downs.  I will talk about everything in this series.  Recipes, exercise, success, and failure.

Now some fitness quotes that will hopefully keep me motivated!

 Lots of Love,

Jess
 

Two new cards, Insomnia, and Mer's wedding inspiration board...

Hello out there!

Sorry for the radio silence yesterday! 

I have been having such a hard time sleeping (not sure if it is insomnia or the neck pain) that around 8 last night when I thought about blogging I couldn't get up! 

I was FINALLY comfortable in bed, with the icepack just right, my curly hair not bothering me, and my smushy pillows lumps in just the right place!  There was no way I was going to move to even go to the bathroom! 

I did get up in the middle of the night for an ice pack replacement but I finally slept pretty well!

How has everyone else's week been?

The really exciting thing about today was that I worked on two new cards yesterday that I put up this morning on LoveUPaperly. 

One is a set of three Thank You note-cards and the other card say's Hugs & Kisses.  Particularly good for Valentine's Day which is right around the corner!

The other images I wanted to show you was from an inspiration board I made for Meridyth for our wedding.

Remember I made one for myself from this blog post?  Well, I made one for her as well which I consider to be "classy".  Let me know what you think!

If one of these images is yours or you know the person who owns it please tell me and I would be happy to cite it!

I Love, Love, Love the ruffled cake on the bottom.  Gorgeous!

So, I think we are getting pizza and salad tonight which I could not be more excited for!

Until tomorrow,

Love,

Jess

Found street art and a dumb thing

Hello, Hello!!!

Hope Tuesday has been good to everyone today.

I on the other hand did something very dumb yesterday.

I have been feeling so good and have really felt no pain in my back/neck at all!  Well, I turned my head to look at something yesterday and today I am sooo swollen and my back is really painful.  This was a not so nice reminder that I am still healing and have to be very careful.

Lucky for you dear readers since I was in pain and didn't sleep well last night I found some awesome images to share with you!

I want to introduce you to Street Art.

For those of you that don't know, this term means visual art, developed in public spaces, that is usually/never sanctioned by a group or a government.

This artwork totally blew my mind.

The original images are from Odd Stuff Magazine featuring the best found street art of 2011.


FYI:  There are no artists listed by the images, I do not no the original creator of the art or the person who took the image.  If anyone does feel free to e-mail me and I will cite it.

Aren't these amazing?!  I am particularly drawn to the image of the men walking in the puddle.  I can see them just trudging to work doing the same thing day in and day out.  I find that image to be really powerful.

Or the knitted tree?!  So cool.

Until tomorrow,

Love,

Jess

New Card on LoveUPaperly and a tired, cold, Monday

Hello all you gorgeous readers!

To tell you the truth I am pooped tonight!  I had to see the doctor this morning, worked most of the day, and then came home to crash with an icepack!

I have been working on some new cards.  I think this one is cute, look for more on LoveUPaperly.

I am OBSESSED with this cow stamp!

I don't have much else in the land of this blog right now.  Meridyth and I are planning the wedding and I have soo much work to do!  I need to start figuring out what we want the invite to say and then I need to start working on the ceremony, and hire a photographer.

Plus, school starts next week.  For those of you that don't know, I have a master's in graphic design but found my true calling accidentally when I started working for a cardiology practice.  So, now I am taking classes to hopefully apply to PA school in a year or two!  The two classes this semester are microbiology and medical terminology.

I love working all day and using the analytical part of my brain and then coming home to blog and work on my shop which is so much more artsy.

Do any of you have arty jobs and then go home and do math or work as a doctor and love to blow glass on the weekends?  I love the dichotomy of that and my life feels fuller than it has ever been.

Until tomorrow lovelies.  Yes it is 6:30 p.m. but I am going to lie down and watch t.v. with my eyes close while my body heals!

Love,

Jess

The Bigger Picture and some cool stuff....

Hi all!

How did everyone's Thursday go?  I feel like this week absolutely flew by for some reason.

Again today I am soooo tired.  Some thoughts on that:
First, neck surgery sucks. 
Second, hurting from trying to hold up my head also sucks. 
Third, I didn't realize how large and heavy my head was until I had neck surgery. 
Fourth, when I see patients at work they might be the ones with the problems, but the look on their faces when they see a tech with a BIG FAT NECK BRACE, is priceless! 
Fifth, is does not take much to make me smile and have a good day.

Seriously, I work for a cardiology practice and patients looked at me all day and asked if I was o.k.  Or maybe their look of horror was they thought work was why I was wearing the neck brace.  Regardless, I wish I had a camera to capture the looks!

On the same thought my third mom told me something the other week when I was having a breakdown.  Yes I have three moms and one day if you are lucky I will tell you about them!

This very smart woman in my life told me that currently I have no control.  I can't control my body, I can't control the number of hours I am able to work, I can't control that I can't go to the gym, and I can't control that Meridyth and I are not making lots of money.  That is when she said the word Faith.  Have faith.

Funny enough just hearing her say it calmed me.  So ladies and gentlemen that is what I have been trying to do this past week....HAVE FAITH.

Please e-mail me if you know original artist/owner of image

I am not sure if this photo "means" faith, but isn't it awesome?

O.k., now some great products or items I am drooling over.  Like any person when I am feeling sad, what do I do?  Look at items online that I want/love/think are cool, etc...

Dinosaur planter from etsy shop CoastalMoss.  So cool! Rawwwwwerrrr!

Hedge Hog cheese grater!  Found on DesignBoom.  Who wouldn't want to grate cheese with this?!

Japan, Nagano Hotel, Tunnel of Lights.  This looks magical!

Now I will leave you with this last thought from an awesome shop on etsy called Gayana

I'm off to be happy AND eat icecream!

Until tomorrow,

Love,

Jess

Valentine's Day Card and Good News

I just posted my first Valentine's Day card in my shop!  Is it alright that I am kind of in love with this new card?  I might give one to my own honey for Valentine's Day!

It is a gay friendly card, this one specifically for two women, but I am going to make one for men and men/women couples as well.

The imprint of the letterpress is deep and I am digging the sillouettes!

On different news, Meridyth and I went to the surgeon today.  It was a looong drive to the hospital where he works in D.C., a looong wait, and a looong drive home.  However, there is good news!  I am healing well and he said I was actually right where I was supposed to be in terms of swelling and pain.

The doctor also said, that he never told me that I should be back to working full time by eight weeks.  My mom and I both told him, but he said it's normal to be out of work for awhile, which made me feel less mopey and better!

I hope everyone is having a good Tuesday!

until tomorrow,

love,

Jess

Feeling better and cute lamps

Happy Monday Everyone!

Honestly, I don't have much to post today.  I do have a post in the works, but the good news of today is that I worked for four hours!

This may not seem like a huge deal to most, who doesn't work at least four hours, right?  But after surgery and fighting to feel better, not getting tired after about two hours and being able to be at work and feel productive feels absolutely wonderful!

I am hoping that I have hit a sort of turning point and I will only start to feel better after this.  Everyone from my physical therapist to my fiance has been telling me that it takes six to eight weeks to even feel like a normal person after spinal fusion.

So hooray!  Wednesday is six weeks after surgery so maybe they were right!  I have a hard time listening to good advice.  I have always been stubborn.

On a different note, I have been dreaming of crisp letterpress pages and cute lamps lately.  Here is an adorable recycled lamp I have my eye on.  Maybe one day when i'm ridiculously wealthy I can buy it without a thought.

Until tomorrow...

Jess

I am a Tortoise

I spend a lot of time looking at things online.  Being a wedding photographer and lover of pretty things I love, love, love, sites like dwellinggawker or pinterest which lets me look at those pretty things in an easy space.  I also love looking at other wedding photographers blogs and this morning I found a Nashville wedding photographer that not only has amazing images, but also wrote something personal on her blog that really rang true.

The photographers name is Alex Bee, please check out her site if you haven't it's awesome, and she wrote something about being a tortoise instead of a firecracker.

When I read this I immediately thought to myself, this is me!

To me, being a tortoise means that accomplishing things is never easy.  Not only do I second guess myself, but there also seems to be so many roadblocks in the way.  I know a lot of people go through ups and downs, but have you ever looked at someone and just thought that even though they had to work to get what they wanted you bet you would have to work twice as hard for the same thing?

I honestly am not trying to be negative, but I have always been one of those people that things just never seem to fall into my lap.

To make a point to this post:  There are a lot of things in my life that feel hard right now.  I'm in pain from my surgery, I can only work a few hours a week, I'm questioning if my art is good enough to sell or if people will even like it, Meridyth is still looking for a job (she was let go from her company in August).  Things are hard and kind of suck.

Then I remember...I'm A Tortoise!  I go slow but will eventually find my way.  Remembering that not only gives me hope, but makes me smile.

So here's to all the tortoises out there!  May each of you find your way as slowly as you must!

love,

Jess

(Source: Demetri Martin)

LoveUPaperly

Hello all!

I am very excited to announce the beginning of my etsy shop and the start of this blog. I have always loved crafting and like many artists have tried multiple venues for selling my wares. Some successful and unfortunately some not!

Well, I have been busy this past year with many ups and downs in my life. Perhaps the major down and up is that a few weeks ago I had to have neurosurgery and because of that had to slow my life way down. Basically, by slowing down I had to stop everything I was doing which included working full time, taking classes, and photographing events.

While I have been healing I picked up a craft that I have done on and off for a few years, but had fallen to the wayside because of everything else that has to be done.

That craft is quilling. For those that don't know, quilling is the art of taking strips of paper and rolling them into different shapes to eventually form objects, letters, animals, and anything else imaginable!

Not only has quilling kept me sane these past few weeks and helped me through pain and a few crying fits, but I forgot not only how much I enjoyed doing it but how much other people enjoyed it too!

So this blog will be an adventure. Of trying to open my own etsy shop, healing, sharing inspiration and beautiful things I find and hopefully a little home away from home for everyone that reads it. This is a crazy life and I plan on making the most of it!

Love,

Jessica