I'm Still Alive!

I've been such a busy person lately that I've not had time to catch everyone up on here.  I know, it's a well worn excuse, but it's true.  I've been so busy with 2 jobs that I've not taken the time for much lately, but I wanted to let everyone know that I will be giving a total update soon on how my life is going.  So, within the next few days I promise to post something of greater substance than what I am posting right now.  Take care and I hope your fall is going great!


Mark

4,536 Hours Later,

In the beginning of April 2010, I would had never thought I would be embarking on a journey that would eventually lead me to start changing so much about my life.  It was on the eve of my 27th birthday that my car died. I blogged about the experience with my car earlier and you can find that blog here.  Facing a gloomy future without a car, the only option available to me at the time was to find an alternative means of transportation to travel back and forth to work.  My choice was utilizing my bike.

After a few weeks of riding 6 miles round trip almost every day, I started noticing that my clothes started fitting better. My situation with the car was still looking bleak, so I decided to start using the situation to my own benefit and began to run and lift weights.  At first, I couldn't do a lot. It took me over 30 minutes to run 2 miles! I stuck with the program and set small goals that I could reach.  I can now run 2 miles in around 21 minutes.

It's been 6 months and I have waited to post a full picture of myself online. I wanted to wait until I felt like I had something to show. I still have a little ways to go, but I'm so glad with what I've accomplished already. Before I started exercising, my weight would fluctuate from 280 to 290lbs. Below, is my before picture. I look at this every morning when I wake up and get ready for my day to remind myself where I started and where I don't want to go back to.

And now, here is a picture of myself today. I've lost over 60lbs and weigh 227lbs!

I know I have a little longer to go, but I'm so happy for what I've achieved so far! I've reached all my initial goals. I'm fitting into sizes of clothing I didn't think was possible for me, I've hit the 220's when I thought a healthy weight may be 230, and my fitness level is far greater than I would have ever thought imaginable. . In the next 6 months, my main goals are to just increase my fitness level and maintain a stable healthy weight. We'll see where I stand in April! 

Along My Deck

Fall is upon us here in the Northwest.  I can tell because it has rained everyday for the past 2 weeks it seems.  Thankfully, the sun did come out a little bit this afternoon so I took the time to look out at my garden on the deck and take a few shots. 

The ever thriving Hens and Chicks.

One of several succulents I rescued from Lowes' clearance section this summer.  I got some great deals! 

A group of local succulents I bought at a yard sale a while back.

Rockspray Cotoneaster. This is one of my favorite plants I own. I've thought about making into a bonsai plant sometime.

My thyme is starting to grow like crazy all over again! The rain has been good for something I guess. Ha!

Dianthus. It always makes me think of mom and how amazed we were that hers flowered through most of a really harsh winter we had. These plants are hardy!  

Another hardy plant,the pansy. It has just finished its round of flowering.

I love this stuff. It's purple sage.

Alyssum smells so good! A true mark of summer for me, but it likes the cool fall weather as well.

My ever-thriving mint.

My tomatoes didn't do so well this year. This lil guy is one of only a handful.

Snapdragon! 

Collage Inspiration

I've been toying with the idea of making a collage of places I love to visit and displaying it somewhere in my apartment.  I got the idea from a collection of photos I saw at Target.  There was a different assortment of international landmarks and signs.  Some were in full color, some black and white, and others were black and white with a little color highlighting the silhouette or sign. Although I love to see Big Ben or the Chrysler Building in photos, I have no real connection to these places. I'm slowly working on my own collection, but here is a small sample of the pictures I have so far.  Some are recent and others are old photos I've taken that I want to include.

Bloomington's courthouse from afar.

Limestone sculpture on the courthouse in Bloomington, IN.

Lest we forget.

Interstate Bridge connecting Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR.

Circle Center in Indianapolis, IN

Sign in Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland, OR

Limestone sculpture around the John Fernandez Waterpark.

Jake's has been a Portland landmark for me since I first visited. I don't know why.  

Indiana University clock tower.

It's the Merk, what else can I say.

Looking through one of the doorways of Sample Gates towards Kirkwood Ave in Bloomington, IN

"Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God."
Limestone sculpture on the downtown square in Bloomington, IN.

Sample Gate in Bloomington, IN

   

Opie Taylors of Bloomington, IN

Salmon sculpture at Ester Short Park.

Woman riding with miniature horse prepping for the Highlander Parade

Clock tower in Ester Short Park.

I'm thinking of making this one a B/W (Bloomington courthouse square sculture)

Assortment of ties at the Highlander Festival last weekend. This is a maybe, and I know it doesn't really fit the theme perhaps.

I want to take a few more B/W photos to balance it out, and then I'll color in a few of them too just like the inspirational pictures. That's all I have for now until next time. Have a great day.

Summer 2010

With the incoming splash of autumn color making its way noticeably around town, it is safe to say that summer is soon coming to a close. Yet it's been quite an eventful sunny season for me over all. From taking my first vacation to the Eastern side of Washington, to attending the largest yard sale in Longview, I've had a lot of fun. My biggest accomplishment has been how healthy I've become in the past 5 months. I've lost a lot of weight, but I don't want to give away too many details on this important subject yet. I want to talk about it in a later post. Perhaps in late October when I hope to reach my goal I will finally talk about everything.

These first photos are just a very small sample of all the pictures I took on my only trip ever to Eastern Washington.

The Columbia River while going through the Gorge.

    

Mt Hood was a common image throughout the trip East.





We quickly went from green, lush, landscape to this arid, dry, desert.

While taking some time to geocache, I stumbled upon this small critter. As I searched along the rocks I noticed these little guys were scrambling all over. I've never seen anything like it before in nature!

Remember what I said about Mt. Hood being the predominant mountain along the trip? We were way out in Maryhill and it still seemed to be so close.

Through one section of our travels, we saw many blackened trees in patches while lush green grasses thrived beneath them.



While in Yakima, one will notice these humongous stacks of fruit crates everywhere... Actually, they're are a constant presence East of the mountains.

We went to George, Washington to take a rest and find a geocache. I went for a swing after exploring this awesome park.

Towards the end of the 1st. day, we stopped in Wenatchee for the night. As I strolled through a local park, I noticed this forest fire that was about 6 miles away.





One of many interesting buildings I visited while in Leavenworth.

 

We were at Cafe Christa when I took this shot.  One of my greatest achievements was capturing this rare glimpse. I got an authentic smile from Kyle on camera! Although it is very out of focus, I think one can tell it wasn't photo shopped like all those UFO or Bigfoot pictures. It's real, I promise!



Have I ever said I love cheese? They've got cheese from everywhere!

Icicle Ridge adds alot to the Alps/Bavarian feel.

These paintings of what I thought of as "Fairytale Bavaria" were everywhere throughout the town.



Walking along all of the Bavarian inspired buildings, this quaint little church captured my attention. I couldn't get too close because there was construction nearby, but I made sure to take a picture were I could.


Moving on, I did more than just take a trip East I voted!

 

I got to vote for Kyle on a ballot. He joked about me running against him for Precinct Committee Officer a while back. I chuckled, but honestly, I'd be afraid of what would have happened if I won somehow.  Just so you know, he won by a landslide. Perhaps it's because no one was on the ballot except for him... hmmmm.



  

One of my biggest obsessions has been buying books at thrift stores and garage sales.
This small set of books were purchased at the Terry Taylor Garage Sale that is held
every year. It's the largest yard sale collective I've ever seen. This year was my 3rd time attending the event. 

 

Along with some great books, I found these jewels from my childhood. The 6 comics in the back are from the period when the X-Men battled the Phalanx. As a child, I enjoyed reading the whole story so much!



I also took time for this. I consider it a place of remembrance for Mom. The painting of purple irises is something I brought back with me when I returned to Washington back in December. Mom's creativeness blossomed once she retired and this painting is just one of many she has done.

Mom and I in '08

My summer has been a busy one. Along with everything I've shared, I've been working like crazy and have been without a car which has made life more complicated. It's being fixed, but that story could be another blog all itself.  For the short story; the rod barrings went bad, someone stole the catalytic converter, and now I'm waiting on parts. Thank God for nice weather, a bike, and the weightloss that occured out of all of it though!

 One of my only regrets for this past season is that I seriously didn't take much time as I would have liked to reading. I do have a few on my roster of finished books for summer which include: The Time Machine and Other Stories by H.G. Wells, The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan, The Snows of Kilimanjaro And Other Stories by Ernest Hemmingway, and I got halfway through Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, but it's really not my style of book so I put it down. It wasn't as funny as I had expected it to be.  

Now that the drizzly mists  have come upon us here in the Northwest, perhaps life will slow down a little bit for me and I'll have more time to catch up on my reading. On my Good reads list, I've listed over 77 books I want to read so far!To keep up with what I'm reading, what I 've read, or for the complete list of books I want to read, visit Check out my books on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/profile/Mow83?utm_source=email_widget