Dream Big

When you have have the chance to sit around and do a lot of thinking, your mind tends to wander into a whole lot of things.

Sometimes, they are good things, sometimes they're great, things, and sometimes your mind goes places that you really wish that it wouldn't.

Lately, I've been lucky enough to only be thinking the good types of things and I've come to a conclusion.

not that I ever draw any conclusions from all the trivial things that make up this life...

I ran my final Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) on Saturday. I did really well on it. In fact, I did better than I ever expected to. I did 43 push-ups, 72 sit-ups, and I ran two miles in 14 minutes 31 seconds.

I don't think I ever would have been able to do that well if I hadn't been shooting for a 300. 

I had the goal in basic training of getting promoted by the time it was all said and done, my mom was pinning my new rank on my chest. 

Getting into the military at all was reaching for the damn stars...and it happened. I made it. I made it all the way through basic and now almost all the way through AIT without a single true issue. 

I dreamed big. I set the bar high for myself. I pushed myself to get what I wanted. I made it happen.  And these are just some small concrete examples...but there are so many other I could come up with.

And I intend to keep at it. I'm going to make sure that my dreams stay big and my worries stay small (yup, I just quoted Rascal Flatts) And I think that you should do the same.  Aiming high and dreaming big has really paid off for me, and I think that it will for anyone who gives it a shot... :)

Goal Oriented

Remember that giveaway I hosted last week? Well, I picked more than one winner! The First place winner received a discount to Nay's Custom Leather as well as a free custom leather bracelet. I decided to also pick two other winner to receive free custom leather bracelets as well. So! Congratulations to:

David 

Jane 

and

Wendy

You will be contacted soon with details on how to collect your prize!

Also, a similar giveaway is currently going on over at Life & Everything Else In Between.  Head over and check it out!

And now, onto the super awesome Monday link-up 

 I'm linking up with Jenn and Jessica for the 5 for Five. You make 5 goals then you report back on how they went and make 5 more goals the next week! 

1. Drink water instead of soda. 

I did soo well with this one! I drank tons of water.  Even better, I made a deal with my bestie that if he quit chewing tobacco I would quit drinking soda. Now, I'm not sure if he has kept up his end, but I sure have! I haven't had a soda in almost a week and it feels good!

2. Christmas shop. 

I didn't really shop per se, but I did purchase several gifts for quite a few people in my family. So I'm calling that one good!

3. Pre-write some posts for when I'm gone.

I didn't get to this...I haven't been feeling good or in the mood to type away at my computer, so I'm going to work on this one for the rest of the month. 

4. Cook dinner for my family every night. 

I didn't really rock this, but I did cook for a couple of nights. It was nice too. Everything tasted great. I made taco soup, and I braved a lasagna for the first time. It turned out tasting really good.

5. Go to the gym every day.

I didn't go every day, but I went enough. I worked really hard and I didn't feel well so it didn't seem like a good idea to over do it.

This weeks goals!

1. Adress all the baby shower invites. 

I have to collect a zillion of the addresses from online and put them on envelopes. I also have to create the invites, and possibly buy more of them..

2. Get my hair done and fix the ugly that are my nails. 

I literally just barely made an appointment to get my hair done. So that is basically a sure thing!

3. Do yoga...I really need to try and get some positive energy into my soul, I think that yoga might help to...center me a little bit.

4. Send out Christmas cards with personal notes in each. 

5. Wash face morning at night. You would think that this would be easy, but the simplest things get left in the dust if you don't pay attention to them. 

Alright. And there you have it! Hopefully I will do a little better with my goals this week!

I Feel Good (Da na na na na na na)

Today is that last day to enter my giveaway! only 9 or so hours left until I choose a winner!

Enter the giveaway for a discount to Nay's Custom Leather and a free custom leather bracelet!

Lately, I've been a little bit down. I've my most on Tuesday is the case and point.  I have been letting so many things take hold of my mood and drag it down. But that stopped yesterday. How did it stop? I'll tell ya.

First of all, I took a step back from the situation and I thought about what was making me hurt and upset.  Of course, it wasn't anything new. It was all the same things that always bring me down.  And seems how I know that all of those things are not going anywhere anytime soon. So I concluded something...revolutionary. At least for me it was. 

I have a choice. I can allow all of this crap inside my head and in my heart to keep hurting me, or I can not. I decided yesterday that I wouldn't let it do that to me anymore. 

So yesterday, I did some serious...soul searching in a laundry basket. I power cleaned a bunch of stuff. I matched about 50 pairs of socks, I ran the dishwasher, took out the trash, started more laundry...and I looked at myself in the mirror and I thought, You know what, I have the chance to make myself happy. And I'm going to. 

 I went to the gym. My happy place. I ripped myself apart. I lifted heavy, did too many crunches, did too much everything...But I left the gym with this rush of endorphin that made me feel so happy. Then I went to the grocery store, and instead of buying crap that is bad for me, I bought yogurt, and fruit, and cucumbers...I just pleased myself with how healthy I was being. 

I think that happy starts with healthy. If you feel good physically, it's easier to feel good emotionally. I've been working on my goals from Monday and drinking tons of water, doing yoga in the evenings, and constantly filling my stomach with delicious food that are good for me. 

It's...awesome. I already feel a million times better. It's making me want to start a fitness blog. But I'm leaving in January...sooo...I won't be doing that, but the point is, I'm suddenly motivated to do things again. And it feels so good. :)

5 for Five [2]

Don't forget to enter my giveaway! Click here to win a free custom made braceles and a lovely discount to Nay's Custom Leather!

Today, I'm linking up with Jenn from Party of One and Jessica from Fantastically Average and I'm sharing my goals for this week!

The idea behind this link is that you make 5 goals, you work on them during the week and you report back the next Monday and make 5 more goals to work on. Last week was my first time linking up! So I was excited to report back today!

Here is how last week went:

1. Write a complete shopping list for Christmas. Include each family member and 2-3 ideas for what to get them.  This is blue because I have compelted this goal. I nailed down several things that I'm getting for my family members and I'm acutally buying a large portion of them today! So This one was pretty close to getting all finished!

2. Write a list of things I want for Christmas. I definitely failed at this. I didn't even get to it. And it's something that I really have to do...like bad, so hopefully I will just tack this onto my list of five goals for next week...

3. Plan my sister's baby shower! (This is not just an excuse to sit on Pinterest for hours after work, I swear it...) So the shower isn't entirely planned, but I have send out thigns to get addresses on FB and I've got some really great ideas for food and games, and all I have to do is put it together when the time comes, so I'm calling this goal accomplished!

4. Clean my room. I had a feeling this wouldn't get done...but I really need to do it tonight. Like I have to...I cannot put it off any longer!

5. Orgaize all things bloggy I definitely accomplished this. I am on top of this post, I know where all my sponsorship ads are, and I no longer feel overwhelmed by my blog!

Overall, last week was okay, but I definitely could have done better. I think I need to focus a little harder on accomplishing all of my short term goals. My life will be a lot easier if I think in the realm of a week instead of a year!

This week, I thought long and hard about what my goals would be. I'm not including "Clean my room." That better just happen!

1. Drink water instead of soda. My skin is really taking a turn for the worst and I am running out of ideas (If you have some awesome product or tricks, I'd love to hear them! I'm desperate!) so I decided to try and change my diet a little and see if that helps. I'm starting with my biggest weakness...

Look at that! I'm even starting right now!

2. Christmas shop. This will be an easy one. I just need to be sure I get around to it!

3. Pre-write some posts for when I'm gone. I am going to do my best to keep up my bloggy while I'm gone. I won' tbe able to post on my own, so I'm going to write a few scheduled posts and also get some guest posts (If you're interested please let me know!)

4. Cook dinner for my family every night. I'm not going to be around much longer and I want to contribute as much as I can before I go. I really like to cook and I think this is a good way to be sure that my family sits down and eats together. Tonight, I'm making my new favorite: taco soup!

5. Go to the gym every day. I used to do this without it having to be a goal...I'd really like to get back to that.

Progress Report!

It feels like I haven't blogged in forever! Don't forget about my "50 Followers" DefineBliss giveaway! Today is the last day to enter!

She was at a show this week! Here is what her booth looked like!

Adorable!

Today's post is a bit of a mish-mash of everything. Usually, I throw down the Sunday Social, but I was tied up this weekend so I didn't get around to it.  And also, I wasn't really in the mood to blog. I've promised myself that I will never blog when I don't feel like it.  Blogging shouldn't be a chore, right?

I had drill with my reserve unit this weekend.

This month, we did an APFT. If you follow me on Twitter (@camocolored) you know that I passed!

Push-Ups: 26 ( I did 32, but only 26 of them counted...)

Sit ups: 60. (I could have done more. Next time, I will!)

2 mile run: 17:06 (my goal was 17:00!!)

I was sooo proud of that. I was more worried about the run than anything and I completely surprised myself. I think that I also surprised the soldiers around me. The SPC. That was counting for me sounded completely shocked every time I did a push-up. It sort of pissed me off a little. You should never judge a book by it's cover...But at the same time, I got satisfaction out of being a surprise.

I also looked much better in my hand-me-down uniform.

See that fuzzy patch in the center where my rank insignia is supposed to be? Well, because I passed my APFT, it won't be fuzzy anymore!! Woo!

I also "adjusted" my patrol cap so that it fit me a little bit better.

Yay for safety pins!

 I also got to see one of my old friends from the Marine DEP that is stationed in North Carolina. We had a good time talking politics and hanging out. We agree on like...everything so it was pretty easy to talk about. No warfare with words.

Plus, the other day, I got to Skype with one of my other Marine buddies who's on deployment right now. That was awesome. I don't realize how much I miss him until I get to see his face and it makes my week. It's great, but it is also hard to have all of my best friends so spread out...

So that's about it. I'm still living life, kicking ass and taking names, having a little bit of fun, and working like a dog to be the best that I can possibly be.

Happy Monday, Bloggy World

(if there is such a thing as a happy monday...)

It's Time To Grow

First of all, have you liked my Facebook page? No? Well there's a cute lil' icon to the left that you can click to like it!

Are you following me on Twitter? Well there's an icon for that too! Follow me. :)

Instagram? That one is my favorite! Follow me! And I want to follow you too. It's the bomb.

And that's all the shameless promotion for today!

Usually, this number on the scale would be one that people would see and be like "Wooooo! I'm awewsome!" Not me. My minimum is 107 for my height and it's definitely a problem that I'm weighing about this much on average.

When I originally enlisted this was my biggest problem. I was running like a maniac and not eating enough food.  Well, it looks like we meet again!  I think that it's probably even worse this time...Before, it was just kind of natural, but this time, it's different.

When J and I broke up almost two whole months ago now, I stopped eating. Not by choice. It wasn't anorexia...It was just hard to eat. I didn't ever want anything. Nothing looked good and when I started to eat, I couldn't finish anything.  It's getting a little better and my appetite is returning, but I'm still working out more than I'm eating.

It also doesn't help that I've become insanely competative. I don't know where it came from, but all of a sudden, it's not enough for me to just be good or okay. I have to be the best. I must be the fastest, strongest, most motivated person in the world in order to come out on top. So I spend all of my free time in the gym burning calories...

This is how I'm going to fix it!

I bought myself a little present a few days ago.

Yes, I bought a fridge. I got the toaster over for Christmas. So I basically just installed a kitchen in my bedroom.

The idea is that I'll be able to have all my own food that won't get eaten by my family. It will be more accessible, and uh, I can toast things without leaving my bedroom. I toasted myself some lil' bagel bites last night just to be awesome.

I know, I'm awesome ;)

I also downloaded the app MyFitnessPal. I am in love with it.  It tracks my calories and it shows me how long it will take me to reach my goals if I eat as much as it tells me to.

I freaked out when I saw this after I finished my food and excercise entries for that day.

I was like....AHHHH! Bad bad bad...So. I now know what I have to do to get heavier. Basically triple my calorie intake and never stop eating.

It's a good thing that it's payday!