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!