So sorry...

I know in my last post I said I'd be back at it, posting away on my blog.  But unfortunately two months ago my life was turned upside down.  My husband informed me that he was moving out and we were separating, with us ultimately getting divorced.

I felt like I was run over by a truck.  I had NO idea this was going to happen.  I can't event start to explain the pain, confusion and heartbreak I've been going through these last few months.

It's taken me two months to finally pick my self up and get going with my life.  I can make it through this.  I will start writing my blog again.  It's time to take care of me.

Thank you in advance for sticking with me while I make this major life change.

So much has happened....

Hello friends and family!

I can't believe it's been 5 months since I've posted to my blog.   Life has been so hectic... so much going on... some good... some bad.   This blog entry would be SO long if I went into everything in detail, so I'll just hit the bullet points.

1. Gold Canyon - I'm rocking it!    I've hit every sales goal put in front of me and won every prize!!  I have to say, I am quite proud of myself :-)

Shop online! http://www.mygc.com/tyakucenski

2. Medication Problems - Due to some family and medical problems in my past, my doctor put me on Cymbalta to deal with depression and pain.  While I was on the drug, it worked wonders.  However, if I would have know then how bad the withdrawal from this drug would be, I would have *NEVER* started taking it.   The pain that it caused my brain was unbearable.   It's so hard to explain, but take your worst migraine ever and add in your worst hangover, and that starts to explain it.  I've had quite a few ER visits due to this over the last 3 months.   Thank God I'm finally off this drug!

Cymbalta = BAD

3. I broke my ankle and didn't know it for almost 2 months  - I was running on my treadmill and my right ankle went out from under me. I thought I had sprained it but ends up I broke my talus and ruined the cartilage around it.  Ouch!  I had surgery on it 6 weeks ago and today is the first full day boot free!  Had my first workout on elliptical today and it was heavenly.  Can't wait to start running again, but I think I'll wait until my physical therapy is over first.

Oh boot, I do not miss you at ALL

4.  I turned 40 - Yippee!! I'm looking forward to my 40's, I keep hearing they're awesome! My husband threw me a fantastic party at a great place, Cibo. If you live in the Phoenix area, be sure to check them out.  http://www.cibophoenix.com/

5.  My brother got married! - The ceremony was great and now I have another awesome sister-in-law Mary!  (Shout out to my other awesome SIL Heather who I know reads my blog! Hi!!)

They are the cutest couple!

  

So now on to the future....

I'm going to start keeping track of my weight loss journey here on my blog again.  Unfortunately I've gained a little weight back, but not too much.  I'll start posts again on Friday letting you know what I've done for the week and how much I've lost.  

I also promise there will be some crafty posts and doggie posts too.

Have a great weekend everyone!! I've missed you all!


EDIT:  I'll be doing my weight loss posts on Sunday, be on the lookout for "Sunday Stats" to return.

I finally have a job!

Since my husband and I moved back to Arizona 2 1/2 years ago, I've been unemployed.   Not because I couldn't find a job or get a job - we chose for me to stay at home not to work.  

For the first year and a half I kept myself busy by going back to school full time at Arizona State (Go Sun Devils!)  I was so close to getting my degree, only 6 classes left, when I had to withdrawal due to medical problems. 


Now, a year later, I'm finally on the mend. :-)  However,  I'm going crazy sitting here at home all day with nothing to do, but going to Curves, cleaning the house, and running errands.
   

Love snakes!

I finally think I'm healthy enough now to hold a part time job, maybe work 2 or 3 days a week.  Unfortunately, there's not a lot of places hiring in my profession for a part time person (I'm a Veternarian Technician.) I'm also feeling guilty about taking a job for only 8 months.  Oh, yes, did I forgot to tell you? We're moving from Arizona in October.  It's part of my husbands job that we have to move sometimes, but I'm not bothered by it.  I'm always up for an adventure!  It's easy on us because we don't have children.  We just get health certificates for the dogs and we're ready to go!  Ok, off track...

Isn't this beautiful!

So back to trying to find a part time job with flexible hours... I decided I'd try to find an opportunities to become my own boss in a business that could move with me. That's when I thought of Gold Canyon and my friend Sally.  

New Intrigue candles for Spring

Gold Canyon offers a complete line of candles, body and home products including home fragrance in the form of scented candles, Room Sprays and Sachets, eco-friendly, natural, green cleaning products, home décor with various candle holders; personal care with hand scrub, hand silk, body lather, body lotion, body polish, body crème, bath soak, body mist and candle care products such as wick dippers and trimmers.

Bella Collection

Sally is a very successful consultant with Gold Canyon, in fact she just returned from a cruise to Cozumel for a leadership conference which cost her nothing.  As soon as she returned from her cruise I signed up as a consultant!  I'm so excited to be my own boss!

I'm addicted to Gold Canyon candles.  My favorite product are the wickless candles, or Scent Pod Warmers.  I use mine every day.  It's so easy to swap out the pods because there is no need to scrape out the wax. You just wait for the wax to cool, put the lid on the pod, and swap it out.  Plus, the Pod Warmers have a timer that you can set for 4, 8 or 12 hours.  It's so convenient.  No more wondering if you forgot to blow out your candles when you leave the house.  It's great peace of mind. 

I'd love it if you, my loyal blog readers, would take a look at my website and let me know what you think.  Have you used Gold Canyon candles before?  What's your favorite scent?  What products would you buy if money wasn't an option?  (Oh, and you can also place an order if you'd like.  But no pressure.)  


My website is: http://www.mygc.com/tyakucenski




Here's to a wonderful week ahead! :-)

Sunday Stats - Week Ending Sunday Feb 19th

UPDATE:  I was "officially" weighed today at Curves for the Curves Complete program I'm participating in.  According to them I've lost 4 pounds in the last 7 days!  I'm kind of confused.  I wonder if my scale at home is broken?  So anyways, I'm now going by my weigh in at Curves on Monday and will be changing these posts to Monday Stats instead of Sunday Stats.   Below are the numbers I will be using from here on out, going back to November instead of January.  

Revised Stats

Workouts:  

Curves - 3    Treadmill - 4  5K - 1/2 

(My mother in law and I walked a 5K, 

but only did 1/2 the race.  

We didn't know it was two laps around the zoo. Oops!)

Calories Burned This Week: 

3640

Weight Loss This Week: 

4 pounds!!!!

Weight lost from 11/11/2001 until today, 2/20/2012

14.80 pounds!!  

Next Goal: 

Lose 15 Pounds

(I'm SO close!!)

Reward: 

Mani/Pedi

I'm feeling much better about myself now!  

I rock!!!

---------------------------------------------------------


One bleeping pound.  Not lost, but gained.  Dang it! 

I know this sounds like an excuse, but the only thing I can attribute it to is the medication that I was on for about two weeks.  One of the side affects is weight gain due to water retention.  That *has* to be it.  I'm working out, eating right.... UGH!  Breathe.... move on.... next week will be better.  It has to be...right? :-( 

Week Ending February 19th

Workouts:  

Curves - 3    Treadmill - 4  Canyon Fit Club - 0

5K - 1/2 

(My mother in law and I walked a 5K, but only did 1/2 the race.  

We didn't know it was two laps around the zoo. Oops!)

Calories Burned This Week: 

3640

Weight Loss This Week: 

+1 pound

Total Weight Lost Since January 12th : 

6.8 lbs

Let me know how you're doing on your weight loss and/or health goals.  Leave me a comment and show me your "Sunday Stats." :-)

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Days to all of my readers!  Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read my blog and leave your comments.  Thank you!

If you have pets, please don't forget to keep you chocolate goodies away from them.  If your pets do happen to get into some chocolate, call your veterinarian or the ASPCA poison control hotline right away.  Also try to have the packaging from the chocolate with you when you're calling, as the vet will want to know the type and amount of chocolate ingested.

                                                                        

The ASPCA poison control hotline is (888) 426-4435.  Please be aware that there may be a consultation fee billed to 

your credit card, but isn't the life of your pet worth $65?

  

Information Per the ASPCA 
Chocolate, Coffee, Caffeine
These products all contain substances called methylxanthines, which are found in cacao seeds, the fruit of the plant used to make coffee and in the nuts of an extract used in some sodas. When ingested by pets, methylxanthines can cause vomiting and diarrhea, panting, excessive thirst and urination, hyperactivity, abnormal heart rhythm, tremors, seizures and even death. Note that darker chocolate is more dangerous than milk chocolate. White chocolate has the lowest level of methylxanthines, while baking chocolate contains the highest

Giveaway #2 Winner

Congratulations to Sally S. for being the winner of the reusable snack bag from It's A Ten!  I'll be contacting you soon.  Thank you to everyone else for entering this giveaway!

Sunday Stats - Week Ending Feb. 12

The scale was not kind to me this week.  It didn't move. :-|

I'm going to assume that this is due to my gaining muscle, as muscle weighs more than fat.  I'm hoping that during my "official" weight in at Curves on Tuesday I can have my body fat percentage done,  and that those numbers will show that I've gained muscle and lost body fat.  I'll be sure to update this post when I get those numbers. 


Despite the fact of not seeing any weight loss on the scale, I am proud of myself for continuing to stick to my Curves Complete weight loss plan by eating healthy and working out 3+ days a week.  Way to go me! :-)

Week Ending February 12th

Workouts:  

Curves - 3    Treadmill - 4  Canyon Fit Club - 1

(Fit Club is a group of people that get together for a weekly 

workout using the Beachbody videos - more to come on this in a later post) 

Calories Burned This Week: 

3700

Weight Loss This Week: 

0 zero zip nada

Total Weight Lost Since January 4th : 

7.8 lbs

Let me know how you're doing on your weight loss and/or health goals.  Leave me a comment and show me your "Sunday Stats." :-)

Crocheted Grocery Tote Bag

Hello everyone!  Here's a short little post about a cute crocheted tote bag I whipped up this week.  I used this great pattern by Nancy Livengood (pattern found HERE), some neapolitan ice-cream colored yarn (pink, brown and white) from my stash and got to crocheting.  

Yum!  I should have been eating this while crocheting my neapolitan colored bag

I wish I would have taken pictures while I was crocheting this bag.   I was having so much fun making it that I  didn't think until it was almost done that, "Wow, this would be great for my blog!"  Next time I promise more pictures from my crochet projects.  So for now, just picture me crocheting my little heart out :-)

Only four pieces.  Two straps, the bag and a flower to make it cute. 

The pattern was very easy to follow and worked up quickly.  I was able to finish it in one night.  The little flower I added myself.  I used the "popcorn in the middle" flower from one of my favorite books, "Crochet Bouquet."   I'm thinking about making up a few more of these for my friends who have birthdays coming up (you know who you are!) :-)

If you'd like to purchase the "Crochet Bouquet" book, click on the product below from Amazon.  I've also added a few other products that I love and I know you will too!  


Have a great rest of the week everyone ~ Tya

Sunday Stats - Week Ending February 5

How did you do this week?  I did great!  I got my workouts in and ate right - and the scale showed it!


Let me know how you're doing on your weight loss and/or health goals.  Leave me a comment and show me your "Sunday Stats." :-)

Week Ending February 5th

Workouts:  

Curves - 4    Treadmill - 2 

Calories Burned This Week: 

3282

Weight Loss This Week: 

3.2 lbs

Total Weight Lost Since January 4th : 

7.8 lbs

Giveaway #2! Reusable Snack Bag from "It's a Ten"

I love eating cucumber and carrots.  I always seem to have a snack bag full of them with me, especially in the car.  Having healthy munchies near by always saves me from hitting a fast food joint for junk food when I'm out and about.   


I was starting to feel guilty about all the plastic baggies I was going through due to my veggie habit and thought there must be a more economical, earth friendly way of going about this.  That's when I found these awesome reusable snack bags from "It's a Ten" Specialty Creations!  I ordered a sandwich size and snack size in the Michael Miller Carnival Bloom pattern. 

Aren't they cute! Picture from It's a Ten Etsy store

Since Tami (the owner of It's a Ten) lives close to me, I was able to pick these up in a few days.  They're gorgeous!

Sandwich size and snack size. 
(Sorry about the flash on my camera)

They're made of high quality cotton fabric that is lined with a ripstop, water resistant nylon.  They also have a great velcro closure that extends from end to end to keep your goodies nice and secure.  And the best thing about these, you can throw them in the washing machine! Nice :-)

Very well made

I think these would be great for those of you with children.  You could buy each child their own set in their own colors. They would be great for lunches (just make sure they don't throw them away) or snacks in the car.  


Or, for those of us that are trying to lose a little weight, use them to pack up healthy snacks before jumping in your car or going to work.  It's easier to stay on track when you're not tempted by all the junk food out there. 


Either way, we should all be trying to use less one time use/disposal items.  Quit using plastic baggies, save some money and help save the planet!

Testing them out with my cucumbers, they passed with flying colors!

Besides these reusable bags,  "It's a Ten" also has other beautiful creations available like coasters, key chains, lanyards, coffee sleeves and crayon holders.  Please take a minute to check out her Etsy shop.

Guess what!  You have a few chances to win one of these gorgeous reusable snack bags for yourself!  Be sure to enter through the rafflecopter widget below to be eligible for the giveaway.  (Click on "read more" if you don't see it.) Entries will be accepted until Thursday, February 9th.  Winner will be announced on the blog on February 9th. Tell your friends about this post so they can enter too!

Sunday Stats

Hello everyone!  How was your week?  Mine was great!  Got some workouts in, did some things around the house, and started an order for 60 Tea Totes.  Yes, 60!  I am having a blast putting all of them together.


Now, for the fun stuff....

Week Ending January 29

Workouts:  

Curves - 3    Treadmill - 2 

Calories Burned This Week: 

2402

Weight Loss This Week: 

1lb

Total Weight Lost Since January 4th : 

4.6 lbs

I worked hard for that one pound!  And as long as the scale keeps going down and not the other way, I'm happy :-)  I was hoping for more time in the gym and on the treadmill this week, but a case of shin splints put a kibosh on that idea.  


I'm going to get my body fat measured tomorrow, so I'm hoping that I actually lost more in fat and gained in muscle (remember, muscle weighs more that fat.)  In order to reach my goal by July, I need to lose on average 2 lbs a week.  So I'm a little behind, but I'll catch up :-)  I'm officially starting Curves Complete tomorrow and I'm hoping that will give me the weight loss boost I'm looking for. 

Are you on a weight loss journey?  How was your week? Post your results below and be my "Sunday Stats" buddy! :-)

We have a winner!

Thanks to everyone for entering my first giveaway!  Our winner is:

Running from Zombies!

I have an inner geek, and she's getting bigger as the years go on, especially when it comes to sci-fi and zombies.  By the way,  I liked zombies WAY before it was the trendy thing to do.  Just sayin'.  In fact, here's a picture of me with Judith O'Dea (Barbra) from "Night of the Living Dead." 

What a thrill to meet her!

Imagine my excitement when I was made aware of a  product that took my love of running and love of zombies and mashed them together!   Behold - the  Zombies, Run! app.

Zombies, Run! is an app for the iPhone that is described as a "running game and audio adventure."   This app plays a story line through your headphones as you're running.  It's the zombie apocalypse and you're "Runner 5."  Your job is to run around and gather supplies for your hideout.  Oh, and why you're doing this, and you're being chased by zombies.  How fun!

They already have t-shirts out!  Where's my wallet....

The story continues each time you run. The app is also supposed to keep track of distance, pace, time, and calories through integration with RunKeeper.   The one unfortunate thing about this app is... it's not out yet.  UGH! But, I've preordered it and stay tuned for a full review when it comes out next month.  In the meantime, check out the video on their webpage. 

Are any of you out there zombie fans like me? Are any of my readers interested in getting this app when it comes out?  Leave a comment below and let me know :-)

5K a month in 2012

One of my new year's resolution fitness goals is to participate in at least one 5K a month.  This started a month early in December of 2011 when my brother and I participated in the "4th Annual Life Without Pain 5K" benefiting Quest to Cure, a sickle cell anemia foundation.  It was one of the smaller runs I've participated in, but fun nonetheless.  It was a nice course through Paseo Park in Glendale, AZ.  It was the first 5K that I did since I've been sick, over a year!.  It was great to be outdoor and active again!

My brother and me getting ready for the race

Later on in the month (yep, I did two in December!) I participated in the "Iron Girl 5K" in Scottsdale, AZ.   The course kicked my butt!  It was so hilly!  I definitely earned my medal that day.  My legs were killing me the next day, but it was worth it.  

Really good post race food - breakfast burritos!  Yum!

This month (January)  I've also ran two 5K's.  The first one was the "8th Annual Run To Remember" benefiting the Arizona Concerns of Police Survivors Organization.  It was held in Buckeye in the gorgeous community of Verrado.  There was quite a turnout for this one! It was nice to see so many people getting together for such a worthy cause.

My second 5K was the "4th Annual Family Fitness 5K" benefiting a middle and elementary school in Chandler.  There was a woman handing out flyers for this 5K at the Iron Girl race.  She was so nice that I signed up!  Great course, flat around a neighborhood and a park in Chandler.  And all finishers received a medal!  

I love getting medals :-)

Look at me go! I'm the girl in the blue top.

I'm trying to schedule races for the rest of the year, but haven't gotten very far.  In February I will be participating in the "Arizona Half Marathon and 5K" in Scottsdale.  In March there is the "Kiss Me I'm Irish 4K, 8K, and 17K" in Glendale.  And April brings my favorite run, "Pat's Run" in Tempe.


Starting in May  I will be looking for 5K's further north in Sedona, Flagstaff, Prescott to get throughout the Arizona summer.  Then it will be back to the valley in the Fall!


Do any of you participate in 5K runs/walks?  Which ones are your favorites?  Anyone want to join me in any this year?