October…Hunting Widow Time

Mid October…hunting widow time…the time I let my husband free and he roam’s the Idaho mountains for two and half weeks.   He has the most wonderful time in “God’s Country” he calls it…almost 10,000 feet up in the Sawtooth Mountains.   So for me….I get to play Cruise Director for his two dogs, that get really depressed…poor things…things to pep them up….well I won’t stoop to drive through at McDonalds…that’s what Dan does when I leave for my girlfriend time trips to TN.   I might just cook them a home cooked meal instead LOL.

The good news is, October is gorgeous…we have had rain…but many days of gorgeous, sunny warm weather.  Oregon is green…with the tree’s almost done loosing their golden leaves.  Normally the valley is dry and the grass not so green, our fields are the same way.  Not this year…they are plush green like spring….yet it’s fall and the tree’s are loosing all their golden goodness.  It’s gorgeous!  I might get to get plenty of golf in before ‘winter’ really comes…the time changes and all that.

So….back to beads…I have been torching a lot more lately…auctions up on eBay…it took two years of golf and pulling away to get the want to make and create back and the want to try eBay again.  Oh we have dabbled and kept a presence on Artfire and Etsy, and our koregonbeads.com  site….but now…I am going forth with eBay once again.  I adored eBay for years…back in 2002 when I started making beads, it was ever so good to me…really good for six plus years.  Then the economy tanked and things quit selling well and I was tired…I needed a break from torching seven days a week and posting auctions every day.  Now I think I can do some of both…relax, golf and enjoy life…and have the bead biz flowing but not quite so full steam…after all, I am almost 50 (next month) I need to enjoy…life is just to short. 

So if your interested to see what we have on eBay….here is a sample of some gorgeous floral beads I made.

a great item we have up on Etsy …

and on Artfire…

and let’s not forget our website…

Summer is over…Fall is here….time to make beads again

Well summer flew by…I golfed a lot…well probably more than a lot…like a lot LOL. My handicap index went from 25.4 to a 18.9 over the summer…not to darn shabby huh? It is still actually dropping as it hasn’t caught up to my golf game yet. But…it’s time to start making beads again. I went to TN visiting my good friends Angie and Verna and came home “wanting” to make beads again…I have been creating and posting new items on Etsy, Artfire and even have a couple of auctions up on eBay, which I haven’t done in a very long two years. I used to do eBay all the time and loved loved it…believed in it, and it was good to me. The economy changed that though…and I am not sure if I can get a following back on eBay or not. It might fall to my website and Etsy. Artfire is even slow, yet in a way I really hope it can eventually take off and work for artist who create, it’s a wonderful site.

Well anyway…I hadn’t blogged in like…forever! So today I blog…and what about?? Golf I hate to give up…but won’t all the way, I will be a weekend warrior…since the time will change and it will start to rain…weekends is about all I will get. Yet the change in weather, brings be back to the flame and creating again.   A bit of what I have made since I have been back from TN…

 

Summer?? where are you?

Living on the Oregon Coast…summer is taking it’s sweet lovin time getting here. We get teased with a pretty good day…and then cloud cover…or drizzle…it’s our wettest June on record…how bout that. It’s not to bad really…except I really love the big yellow ball in the sky. The last week hasn’t been to bad, the golf course is actually dried out and I don’t have to wear my golf mudders to golf. I guess that is something right?

I know many parts of the country are having to hot, floods and just icky stuff happening so I really shouldn’t complain. I just hate to blink and have summer over…I live for summer’s arrival. Being a transplant in my teen years from Arizona and also Maine where I lived. I really don’t like the Oregon winter’s like my husband does. I guess if your born in Oregon, they don’t bother you much…me? Oh heck yeah…I wish I could transport myself to a tropical beach in winter.

So summer…won’t you please come out and play…and stay? Just for a few months?

Beading my way into 2010

What have I been working on?? Well it’s been an adventure lately…actually torching and making lampwrk beads second in line to metal work and beading.  Honestly…a LOT of beading this month.  I have been working a right angle type weave, not really sure what it is called as I was shown in person how to work it up and create it.  all I know is that I am totally addicted to making them as I can do it while watching tv.

I have a couple pieces to show off…a pair of bracelets and then a necklace to match with a dichroic lampwork pendant I created to hang from it…I am really pleased with both and hope to create some similar to sell in the future. 

 below are the slip on style beaded jasper bracelets, created with 4mm jasper beads and size 15 and 11 seed beads.

The matching necklace with lampwork pendant, sporting a very cool decorated sterling silver bail along with a toggle that lets you wear the necklace at different lengths…a very bold and earthy piece with the fiery flare of dichroic glass and earthy quality of raku frit.

What’s Up?

Well hey, it has been a long while since I have updated.  Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years have come and gone…Valentines is tomorrow.   Life move’s so darn fast anymore.   What have I been up to?? Metal…cutting, pounding…creating…beadcaps for large hole Pandora style beads…it’s just a work in progress though.  I hope to have new things posted on our website and Etsy soon.  Something to show for all the money I have spent on supplies and tools. 

On the other hand, Dan is working on a catalog or “made to order” items of his.  This is something I have tried to get him to do for a long time.  Write down his twisty cane recipe so that they can be remade easy.  Well…he is doing just that….so soon I hope to start putting up some of those items.

Happy Valentines to all! I hope life is treating you well…I will try to get on here and update more often…next one I promise more photo’s…but for now…here are a few beads I have made and cored.  What do you think?

Finely some new items for sale from koregon

Well its fall and summer is at it’s end….going to rain and get dark earlier. Time to get back to business…I have made some great lampwork charms for hoop earrings and have them up on our Etsy. I also have some new items up on our ArtFire…some great new focals.

 

I am going to try and have new items up in a regular fashion…and also blog more often.

Weight Loss Journey Update

It’s been over a year since I started my journey…getting my life back, feeling better. I have done pretty well until this last month where I found myself at a stand still. I think I have just gotten to lax with what I eat, to lenient, enjoying life a bit more (to many calories and to much of the good stuff!). I haven’t gained…but haven’t lost either. I have kept up my exercise faithfully. I elliptical for a half hour every morning. I have golfed up a storm this summer (I am a new golfer this year) and I am very happy with my progress in that department, my HCP index went from 34.6 to 24.5…but now…it’s fall and the rain is starting…it’s going to get dark to early to golf with hubby after work….so I won’t be golfing nearly as much…I know I will have withdrawals!

I have been thinking about the 20 pounds I would still like to lose and know it will be the toughest part of my weight loss journey.  I am still considered overweight and loosing 20 more pounds would put me in the normal range.   I will have my work cut out for me because I know I have to fine tune what I choose to eat and maybe drop my calorie count or up my exercise.   I do know I DO NOT want to gain back any of the weight I have lost…I want to at least stay here and maintain this weight…and hopefully slowly drop the rest over time.  I am actually wearing the size I wanted to be, it wasn’t a size that seemed unreachable. But a size I thought I would be happy at if I got here….Well here I am and of course I don’t find myself content with a roomy size 14…sometimes 12 depending on the cut of pants (I was a size 20 at the start).  I thought I would be happy and content to reach that goal…but nope, I am not LOL….joke’s on me. I do believe I need to lose that last 20 to make myself happy, I think the stigma of still being considered overweight bothers me. I find myself seeing the old “fat” me when I look in the mirror this last month. For the longest time during the summer, I was seeing a trimmer me…then somehow that changed into seeing the me of the past. Yet I am not that 45 pound heavier person, but that seems to be who I am seeing…strange huh?  How one see’s themselves is really an interesting thing.   The biggest and most important thing I know is that I have more energy, I can buy clothes so much easier…I am  more active and my knee’s and back no longer hurt as much as they did.   Those things and the memory of being so tired and feeling like a slug will keep me from going back to how I was.

Well anyway…I am here to update…post before and after photo’s (down below). I still have a year to reach my goal (which was not to be overweight/obese any longer)…I gave myself til I was 50…and I won’t be 49 until next month I just have to fine tune the food that goes in. Figure out a way to be happy with my choices and keep the calorie count down…finding products that fit in is always wonderful and I have found a few…one of them are these veggie chips, they are the most awesome snack for those who miss chips…taste wonderful and a nice size bag of them 130 calories!  The hunt for products and foods that work for you…that work in keeping the calorie count low and the tummy and mind happy is on going.   Rice cakes in flavors are my friend LOL and oatmeal is a wonderful food!  Skinny Vanilla Latte’s are the best treat a girl can ask for …and the list goes on.

 I have found the show Ruby an inspiration…and believe it or not the show Clean House opened my eyes to the “why” my house/home had gotten so cluttered and out of control…so besides my weight loss journey, I am de-cluttering my life, they both seemed kinda connected….it’s all about getting control back.   Loosing my parents, having a sick child (from age 14 to present, Jenn is almost 27, she has battled anorexia/bulimia, drugs and alcohol…it’s taken its toll on my husband and I) and just life and age creeping up…I found why I turned to food thanks to Ruby and Clean House.  I am a stress eater and that isn’t good, I feel I am in control when I comfort myself with food…but in reality I am not in control…but totally OUT of control.  So much to think about when you choose to journey to lose weight and why you are overweight in the first place.  Letting stuff pile up around you in your home is like a protective shield in a way…stuff replacing people who you miss. 

Ok, well enough of all that stuff huh? here is my ticker showing my weight loss to this point…and below photo’s of the new me and old me…hoping in a few months to update this again with even better photo’s….of even a smaller more fit me.

 ok…the top photo was taken the end of last month on the date of the start date a year before….photo below, taken last year on my start date.

start and one year update photo

 

one year update photo

I Actually Made Some Beads…How About That!

I haven’t been to motivated to make beads lately. Life has kinda gotten complicated with some family issues with our daughter (life and death type issues). I took up golf to distract myself and concentrate on something, along with getting out in the fresh air…it’s been really good for me…I also decided to start taking care of me and loosing weight and getting fit.

It is almost like pulling teeth to get me out into the garage where our set up is to make beads…I mean its cold and damp out there!  Not a great studio by any means, I mean we have all the torches and kilns, tools and stuff…but ambiance sucks wind…Along with business is slow and making beads for eight years and selling them non stop, I think I got worn out…so making beads isn’t as motivating as it was for years, I mean supply and demand sure helps the beadmaker want to make beads…if things aren’t selling, your heart is kinda deflated….well in my case it is anyway.  The last couple afternoons though, when Dan gets home from his regular day job (he works full time)…we have gone out to torch.  I put on my iPod and pump music into my brain and hope the glass talks to me.  It really didn’t talk to me yet, but I did push myself to revisit making florals.  I hadn’t made them in a long while.  I wish I could find the muse in me that used to love to explore and play constantly….maybe personally I just need the time away? I am not sure…concentrating on the weight loss, fitness and golf has been good for the personal me…So I do figure maybe the economy is just giving me a break, a break after 8 years of working very hard.   The playful muse in me got lost somewhere in the past years when business and what was selling ran what I created.  Now I just feel…lost period when I am looking at all my tools and glass.  Well anyway…here is a sample of some of the florals I made.   I am rather proud of myself that I actually did make beads LOL.

and a group shot of some of them …. 

I think need to just make beads for the joy again…and if they turn out, take photo’s and sell them. I keep telling myself this…hopefully it will sink in soon.   I want to want to make beads…that is what I want more than anything…the excitement of going out to work.  Maybe a new nice studio?  Seems like so many I visit have such nice set ups….and well…mine is working in a very full crowded with junk garage.    Hmmm maybe I am on strike until Dan builds me a studio?   Who knows…if you know the answer let me know.  It could be that I am just dried up and on my way out to.   I guess I am just going through a period of change for me.  I can’t believe my mojo is gone forever…the person who loves to explore.  I sure hope not…if you see her…my muse…will you send her back to me?

6 Month Update On My Weight Loss Journey

Well its been a full six months now. I am doing really well, kinda at a stand still at the moment…loosing less, not gaining etc. I am exercising still everyday and golfing very often

So far since the end of September 2008 when I started I have lost 32 pounds. I actually lost some before that, before I bought my scale, so I am figuring near 40 total. I feel great! I am not out of breath and worn out just walking up stairs, or golfing…my knee is doing better and my back aches are pretty much nil.

Below a photo of me end of Sept and the one on the right a week shy of six month’s taken this month.  

Before & After...6 mo...difference

Big difference huh? I hope to loose at least 25 more pounds, end of the year is my projected/hopefully success time. We’ll see….it takes a lot more to loose a pound now than at the first. I won’t starve myself to be thinner…I eat healthy…I am counting calories…pretty much keeping track of not over doing it on a given day…and if I do, getting back on track.  Exercise is the real key though.  I am realistic in knowing I am in my late 40′s and its going to be harder for me to get to where I am going…size wise.   One thing I will not do is starve myself and make it so I can’t eat “anything”  Life is to short for that.  So if I reach a point that I just stay and maintain….I guess that might be where I will have to be happy.  For now, I am giving myself til I am 50.  That’sa good year and half….by then, we will see what my final destination is.  Until then, I will do my elliptical or Walking Slim dvd “Leslie Samsone” …one or the other at least five to six times a week…most of the time it’s six…I usually have a day we go out and about early and I don’t get it in.  I also golf, and will be walking the course more when the weather dries up.  I have to be careful of my knee, the hills and wetness can be my enemy…so I have to wait until the right courses and ours is dry (ours is very hilly and I can strain or hurt my knee to easy).

Snow? Told Ya Spring Was Faux…

Last week I was golfing and it was nearly 70 on my back deck at some point each afternoon…this morning I am drinking my coffee and look out and the fattest snowflakes are floating down…so yes, spring was faux…not real, an illusion so I could enjoy golf for a couple weeks LOL.   So today on the Oregon Coast (well six miles in, here in Toledo) we have snow…