I hadn't listened to my "I want to be in love" playlist in a while, so I decided to run it while I walked to McDonald's to indulge in National Hot Fudge Sundae Day. Josh Groban's "You are Loved (Don't Give Up)" came up early in the walk. I thought about how much I love the song. Then I thought, "Wouldn't it be funny if this song were playing while I met my future husband? What if I meet him at McDonald's tonight?!"
Then I thought, "If I play this song on repeat for the rest of my life, it's pretty likely I will be hearing it when I meet my husband... but at that point I'll probably hate the song and be in a mood to scare said hubby away ;)
In the meantime, it was fun to pretend that my life is like a movie and the appropriate song will magically start playing to clue me in on key points of my life (kind of like that time I was watching Once Upon a Time with my mom and they killed off a character neither of us like, and Mom said, "Judging by the music, I know I am supposed to be sad, but I can't bring myself to care." Fortunately, the other characters were crying, because that's what the music told them to do).
Going to keep listening to that playlist. You never know when it's going to work!
Also, it's nice to have a reminder that I AM loved. Golly, I am grateful for my family and friends.
Happy Thursday!
Thursday, July 31
Friday, July 25
You guys, I've started exercising regularly for the first time in my life
Confession: I have never exercised regularly.
Usually, when I want to lose weight, I'll restrict my diet á la something like South Beach or L.A. Weight Loss. It takes a lot of frustration to get me to that point. I love food, especially fried food. I love chocolate, too, but I would give it up before I gave up bread.
When I get really frustrated, I'll pull out my aerobics and yoga videos and do them for a few days... and then inevitably I'll get busy, or sick, or go on vacation, and I never really develop the habit. Sitting at a desk for a living doesn't help.
I've thought about buying small weights or going big with an elliptical machine since they go on sale on Groupon once in a while... then I don't, because I don't want to invest in something I might not use. Same with investing in a gym membership: I don't want to spend X number of dollars per month on something I might poop out on after two weeks or less.
Meanwhile, my clothes aren't fitting as nicely as I'd like them to, and I do not want to buy a new wardrobe. I have to do something, and I'm not in the mood to diet. (Some say dieting or even counting calories isn't the way to go anyway.) So, I have to exercise.
Since I am cheap, I decided to do something I can do for free, at least at the beginning.
I've started running.
And since aerobics on its own isn't the most effective way to lose weight and I don't have access to weights, I'm doing yoga, too.
I downloaded a Couch to 5k app on my phone that tells me when to start running, when to start walking, when I'm halfway through the workout, and when to cool down. I've been doing it for 9 weeks and I am terrible at it. I haven't actually been able to completely follow the program since the end of week 2. This morning I saw that I was supposed to run for 25 minutes at a stretch and laughed. I walk a little and run a little then walk some more and on and on... I'm trying. I hope I'm improving. This is new. I walk/run three days a week -- usually Monday, Wednesday, and Friday -- and do yoga on Tuesday and Thursday. Yoga is HARD! It's weird that I enjoy it as much as I do.
But wait. Did I say I've been doing this for 9 weeks?! When I've never been consistent before? That's amazing! What changed?
I started getting up early.
You have no idea what a big deal this is for me, guys. I am a night owl. I love sleeping in. I love sleeping period. I hate getting out of bed. I hit snooze a lot (even now). Mornings are my enemy until at least 11 a.m.But the brain is mighty, so I force myself to get up anyway, and no matter how tired I am, I am always glad I did. People talk about having extra energy when they exercise. I haven't noticed this to be true -- I am still exhausted all day on some days -- but it has helped me to wake up and be in a slightly better mood in the mornings. I also sleep better at night.
I mostly feel proud of myself for doing something I know I should. The satisfaction is the biggest benefit so far.
I don't want to set a weight loss goal because I don't want to obsess about it. I mostly want this to become something I just do everyday because it's good for me. I haven't mentioned any of this to the masses previously because 1) I wanted to make sure I could and would do it, and 2) I read (and found to be true) that you shouldn't share your goals because the validation might make you less motivated to actually achieve them.
Funny enough, since I haven't overdone exercise or dance or extreme sports in the past, my joints are in pretty good shape. I'm stiff and weak and out of practice, obviously. That is annoying. I've been taking it slow and giving myself permission not to be too hard on myself mentally while slowly increasing the difficulty level physically. It helps to know that even fitness gurus struggle sometimes. I could probably push myself further. I'm afraid of getting hurt and falling out of the habit yet again!
I'm excited to see what happens in the coming months, and what my body learns to do as I continue. I admit I have been spoiled by not doing a show this summer, because I can go to bed earlier or work out in the evenings on the rare weekdays (only two so far) that I couldn't get out of bed. Somehow, I think it will be easier when the weather cools down a little... then again, morning darkness might be a deterrent. I might need to get a little more creative when it comes to exercise methods. Dare I even consider the idea of a gym membership? That would require getting up even earlier to account for travel... we'll see.
And even though weight loss isn't necessarily the goal -- which is lucky because I haven't noticed much change in my silhouette yet -- I hope my clothes fit properly again soon.
BTW, this is adorable:
Wednesday, July 23
Wednesday, July 16
Fantasy Con 2014
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| Another reason to love this photo! |
The tickets were for Thursday only, so I resolved to make the most of my day, including taking the day off from work. I didn't wear a costume this time, and it did not hinder my ability to enjoy myself. I certainly wasn't the only person in normal clothes. I also took my brother Adam and my friend Jillian with me. They didn't stay with me the entire time, and we had a lot of fun when we were together!
Adam went to a panel that I wasn't interested in and was surprised to find a childhood friend on the panel! They talked for a while afterwards, and Adam's friend said he probably wouldn't attend the other days and asked if Adam wanted his "Special Guest" pass. Adam wasn't interested, but he took it for me, so of COURSE I went back on Saturday. Why not?
Sometimes, I feel really lucky.
Comparisons to Salt Lake's Comic Con -- the only other event like this I have been to -- are inevitable, so here goes:
I loved that Fantasy Con set up opportunities specifically for photos.
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| Isn't Larissa lovely? |
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| "Well, thief, I can hear you and feel your air but I can't see you..." - Smaug the dragon, The Hobbit |
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| That happy moment when I secretly decided that I am prettier than this gorgeous mermaid. (I don't care if it isn't true.) |
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| This growling, animatronic creature was far too creepy and cool to be given a name as silly as "Rocky!" |
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| Luke and I below one of the 30 foot guardians. |
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| I borrowed the chicken from the Endor Stormtrooper (on the right). She's a friend of mine. I think it's tradition I always get a photo with the 501st or Rebel Legion if they are there. |
Fantasy Con had a lot fewer artist and vendor booths than Comic Con, and a lot more stuff to do and see, including several places for live performers.
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| Live-action role players play some sort of game. (I watched a couple of times, but I couldn't figure it out. I think there were different games at different times.) |
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| Jessica and Sean from Utah Children's Theatre performed a few scenes from Shakespeare plays. |
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| Holding one of Creature Encounters's beautiful bearded dragons. |
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| Puppeteer Scott Land |
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| A large-scale Ticket to Ride game board. |
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| Fire dancers. The one on the right had a hula-hoop of fire, and at one point hooped it on her feet while she did a handstand. Crazy cool. |
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| Joe, or "Joker" performed a nerdy slam poem about Euclidean Geometry... and won the competition! |
Adam mentioned that Fantasy Con was more family-friendly than Comic Con, mostly because many of the costumes weren't as scandalous, and probably also because of the aforementioned things to do.
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| Adam humored me for a photo together. Who knew Jabba is green? I thought he was mud-colored! |
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| The Marvel booth green-screened us into this photo for their upcoming movie. I'm now even more excited to see it! |
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| Human AT-AT, with Chewbacca peeking out the top. "Chewy, get down here, she's wounded! No, wait! I've got an idea..." |
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| Perfect Captain Hook from Once Upon a Time. Do I look like Emma? (Oh, now I need to dress up like her next time.) |
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| Friends Madman and Logan were "street" performers. Nice touch! |
Fantasy Con wasn't nearly as crowded as Comic Con (I'm guessing that won't be the case if they do it again). I was able to get in to every panel I wanted to see.
Thursday, July 3
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| Doug Jones, "Billy the Butcher" from Hocus Pocus |
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| Kid History panel Richard, Dave, Brett, Randy (standing), and John |
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| Middle Earth (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) panel |
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| Billy Boyd, "Pippin" from The Lord of the Rings movies, sings "Mist and Shadow" at an audience member's request. Fun fact: the song was written because the LOTR script writers heard Billy sing karaoke and wanted to showcase his voice. |
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| A bunch of dwarves and Sylvester McCoy "Radagast the Brown" from The Hobbit movies, and John Rhys-Davies (bottom right) "Gimli" from The Lord of the Rings. |
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| Another photo of the Dwarves |
Saturday, July 5
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| Billy Boyd's panel. I admit to being sad that he's married. Happily, he was delightful, and even shared a story from Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World! "'De-manned' isn't a word, is it? Oh, I guess 'demand' is. I demand that you not de-man me!" |
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| Someone asked about Billy Boyd's bucket list, and he said he's always wanted to direct. So, he and the moderator pulled some people from the audience and he directed a scene from The Lord of the Rings. The actress playing Pippin stopped the scene a couple of times 'cause she was afraid of getting hit with an apple..." |
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| Kid History premiered the full version of their short film The Wand of Universal Power, made especially for Fantasy Con. (Notice the Fantasy Con logo on the knight's armor and shield. Also notice that the narrator is author Brandon Mull.) |
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| Sean Astin panel. He reminded me a LOT of my friend Todd. Now I need to re-watch The Lord of the Rings movies, and then reread the novels. "If you saw that in me than it exists in you. Never forget it." - Sean quoting something Sidney Poitier said to him once. |
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| The backdrop in the main ballroom was stunning! |
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| Simon Pegg panel. Incidentally, his was his first ever Con. "Vulcans don't emote, but they DO snore." I loved that he was just as nerdy as the rest of us, and couldn't get over how much he hates Star Wars Episodes I - III, or getting to work with Leonard Nimoy as Spock. |
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| Mark Sheppard panel. It would have been more fun for me if I'd ever seen Supernatural, but the actor was very entertaining. He kept jumping off the front of the runway to randomly hug people or talk to an adorable child or tease someone. Haha! "Firefly wasn't cancelled, it was taken, which is why everyone is so upset about it." "'Nerd used to be a derogatory term, and it isn't a derogatory term anymore. We OWN it." |
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| The Power of Women in Entertainment panel, featuring Renee O'Conner and Adrienne Wilkinson from Xena: Warrior Princess, Claudia Christian from Babylon 5, Amrita Acharia from Game of Thrones (I met her with Jillian and she was really nice), and Tinsel Korey from the Twilight movies. |
I heard from a few vendors that Fantasy Con wasn't as well organized, but as an attendee I didn't notice.
Thursday
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| Marinda (dressed as an LOTR wood elf) |
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| Jillian knew the guy in charge of the FilmQuest Awards and he let us hold and take a photo with the Cthulu-themed trophy. Funny enough, one of Jillian's projects ended up winning. I like to think I'm good luck! |
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| My only celebrity photo: The guys from Kid History. I was so surprised when Richard put his arm around me that I immediately got awkward :P Thankfully, they were are very, very nice. They made faces, though, when I said it was weird to hear them speak with adult voices. |
Saturday
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| Stacy joined me for the Kid History panel. |
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| Ballet West booth |
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| MASK Costumes. I saw this gown in a play last year and have coveted it ever since. |
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| Patti and I |
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| Thanks to my dart-throwing skills, I won 2 comps to a show at the Off-Broadway Theatre :) |
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| The magic words were: "Free nail art demonstration." Sadly, due to my chronic sunscreen usage those flowers didn't last the weekend. This tells me I was right not to buy the kit, even if they did offer free lifetime refills. |
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| Author (and friend) Rebecca Ethington and Spencer Hohl of the Of River and Raynn videos. |
Speaking of Salt Lake Comic Con, a miracle occurred and I won a free multipass, so I guess I'm going again in September :)
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| My winning entry: "Captain Jack Harkness: The only man who ever made the Doctor feel silly for having a sonic screwdriver." |
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