"My moment..."

Have you ever seen that weight loss commercial about a woman and her "moment?" Her "A-HA" moment of when she realized that she needed to lose weight? I want to say, it was a Weight Watchers commercial... I can't be sure, but that's besides the point...
 
My point is... I've been bad... very, very bad. The last few months, not only had I neglected this blog, I had also neglected my weight...

When it's a struggle to put on, or take off, your rings, or when your "boyfriend" jeans look and fit more like "skinny" jeans, then there's no denying it... the "extra" pounds need to go. Those were my moments... It's time to get my weight under control again, and I'm more serious than ever. (And yes, apparently, I needed two "A-HA" moments! LOL.)

My two main problems are overeating and not working out enough. I am an emotional eater, more so when I am happy than sad though... But being sad, or in my case, happy, is not an excuse to overeat. I realize that it will be a struggle, but I am ready to watch and limit what I consume. I need to lose 15 lbs! (More like 16.6 to be exact... LOL.)

This will be much easier had I just been blessed with "skinny" genes, but I have not... Or if I were one of those hardcore gym buffs, but I, unfortunately, am not either... I did go to the gym regularly at one point, but that feels like another lifetime. LOL. I currently do not have a gym membership, nor do I have plans on getting one. I figured there are ways around getting the workout I need, especially since I am just starting back up. Once the flow gets going, then I'll reconsider it, but for now, I can make do with other activities, like rollerblading, cycling, or just dancing around the house. :)

So, here's to not overeating and working out... Wish me luck!

xx,
Pamela

"Hole" Hearted

I almost feel like whenever I neglect this blog, I am making excuses. I wish it was just that, but unfortunately, that's not the case. The last few of months were hard. My beloved dog, who was more like a sibling than just a pet, and more recently, my grandfather passed away. I've lost so many dear people in the past, you would think it would be something I would be used to. I don't think death is something someone can get used to. You may cope better, but it doesn't get easier with "experience." It gets harder. The hole gets bigger... the pain, and the regrets just pile up.

For some reason, regret and loss seem to go hand in hand. "I wish... I should have... If only..." We should never take things for granted. This is something that we hear over and over again, but for most of the time, it doesn't really hit us until we've experienced loss, whether it's through death, or a break up of any type of relationship. So I'm here to remind you once more, to live your life to the fullest, not to take things for granted, and never put off telling people how much they mean to you, and how much you love them, even if you know the feelings may not be returned back.

It's easy to shut the world out once you've experienced some type of loss, but I honestly believe, that when you experience loss, is when you should open up your heart even more. Be open, be loving, give all you can give. Most of the time, you will not regret giving too much. It's when you don't, and know that you didn't, that will haunt you.

Loss is inevitable... That's life. We don't need the added pain of regret to add to the pain of loss. And with that, I will end this post.

xx,
Pamela

Blast From the Past: The One With the Big Orange Couch

If you are a Friends fanatic, just like I am, you will get the title...

This past October, for two weeks, Central Perk, came to New York City for the show's 20th Anniversary. And being such big fans of the show, we just had to go.

So, on Sunday, October 12, 2014- the last day of the weekend that Central Perk was to be opened, we decided to head out there. The line was BLOCKS long, and we waited for HOURS, but it was all worth it the moment our butts hit the very spot hit by the cast members' butts. It was all worth it. 

 

 

And the reasons are...

I can't tell you how much lighter I feel since "coming clean" about why I haven't been blogging. But to be honest, that wasn't just the reason, there were other reason as well. I have been busy, and like I had said in my last post, I will update you about what I had been up to this last year. Some reasons deserve a post of their own, which hopefully, I will get to. In the meantime, I will just give you a brief summary on what had kept me from blogging in the later part of 2014 and the first few weeks of 2015.

1. Procrastination- Plain and simple. In addition to being embarrassed about how I couldn't complete a challenge (Project 365), I, of course, put off addressing this. No explanation is needed for this. LOL.

2. Etsy- Since I knew I wasn't going to keep doing the challenge, I decided to start working on my Etsy store inventory. I didn't want it to be like the last couple of years when I was overwhelmed with orders, and didn't sleep. LOL. With that in mind, I knitted, and I crocheted... And I knitted and crocheted some more! It was all worth it though. When peak time came (late September to the holidays), I wasn't as stressed with trying to get orders out in time. In fact, I got all my orders done early, that for the first time in many, many years, I was able to finish my Christmas shopping early too!

3. Work- I have a full time job. (No, not my knitting... Although I probably do spend just as many hours, if not more, knitting as I do working my "real" job.) Sometimes when I get home after a long day of being on my feet and seeing patients, all I want to do is relax. This involves eating, watching my shows and working with yarn. Can you blame me if I want to rest my brain? There are times when the last thing I want to do is think about what I'm going to write about.

4. Cleaning and decluttering- This deserves a post all its own, but to sum up, I have been on a decluttering streak. I've been going through anything I have pretty much ignored for the last year or two, and I have been chucking things I do not need. I still have a way to go, but I have made some major improvements. *Pats self on the back.*

5. Baking- Baking! Oh, how I have been baking... Thanks to one of the hubster's Christmas gifts (a bread maker!), I have been baking like a fool! It just makes everything so much easier and cleaner. I have been baking not just bread, but pastries, as well. I don't think we have bought bread since around Christmas time. Thanks to my trusty bread maker, we have fresh bread all the time. :)

6. Playing my violin and my ukulele- For my birthday, my parents gave me an ukulele, and the hubs got me an electric violin. Of course, that used up some of my time... I have never played an ukulele before so I had my dad, mom, and YouTube teach me. LOL. I am much better now, I can read chords, and sing while I play, which was a struggle in the beginning. I would say more, but I think this also deserves a post all its own.

7. Family and Social Events/Gatherings- THIS. Some are blog worthy (in my opinion...), others are probably not. In some, I took photos, in others, I didn't... I do hope to be able to blog about some of them, but regardless of whether I get to blog about them, or not, I will forever cherish the memories.

So there, a brief (and very likely incomplete) summary of why I have on a blogging hiatus. It's just funny that the moment I got my own url (Did you even notice- www.misspamelajoyce.com???), is the moment I disappeared. Hahaha!

xx,
Pamela

Nice to Meet You Once Again.

Hello friend, it's been awhile, to say the least. I think I have avoided the issue (and this blog) long enough; it is time to address it... I stopped blogging because I couldn't keep up and finish the Project 365, and it discouraged me. I believe my last post about it was from May 2014- I just couldn't keep up with posting every day! But even though I was way behind in my posts, I still kept taking pictures daily for about a month after my last Project 365 entry. I kept taking pictures until it started to feel more like a chore than a fun project. Yes, a chore. Who likes to do chores anyway? Unless you're my sister, Peejay, who loves to do the laundry, I don't think you'd like it one bit. I know I don't, so I just gave up.

It wasn't a complete failure though. I did accomplish one of my main goals for doing this in the first place, which is to familiarize myself with my Panasonic Lumix GF2. I can now say, with some degree of confidence, that I can take pretty decent pictures using the manual controls of my camera... Not great, but good enough. Let's face it, I am never going to be a professional photographer anyway so what I probably do know is enough for what I need my camera for. That doesn't mean I am not going to try to better myself in photography, it just means that I am not going to stress myself out trying to take pictures daily. Plus, it was really difficult looking for different things to take pictures of since I am surrounded by pretty much the same things every day, as evident of the pictures I've posted.

But enough of that, it is all in the past. It is now 2015, I am back, and I am just going to move forward... For the next few posts, I will be talking about what kept me busy for the parts of 2014 that I have been M.I.A., and of course, I will be talking about my 2015 goals. For now, I will leave you with this picture of my adorable goddaughter, Lizzie.

(Very, very, very belated) Happy New Year!

I hope you had a great 2014, and I hope you have an even better 2015.

xx,
Pamela