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About Me

I have been wanting to start a new blog for awhile.  I did a blog a few years ago called “Live, Laugh, & Losing Weight”.  I had been in Kansas City for a few years and decided to get back into shape and blog about it while I went along.  My my best friend Laura had been really getting into running and I thought I would give it a try.  Running opened up a whole world of stress relief for me.  I was serving full time and doing my student teaching which is a full time job itself.  Somehow I motivated myself to get up early and run my butt off!  I really enjoyed it and what I enjoyed even MORE was the weight that was shedding off!  I was in the best shape of my life and I felt great.

If you read up on my old blog you can get the full insight on my struggles with weight and depression.  In 2008 I found myself tipping the scale at a whopping 171 lbs and completely miserable with my life.  I lost 35 lbs before leaving Hays, KS (my college town) and came up to Kansas City much more confident in myself and feeling better than I had felt since high school (or so I thought at the time!)  I moved up to the Kansas City area in May of 2008 and was weighing 136 lbs which I never would have thought I was capable of that!  I was not done losing weight but with the stress of moving and that thing called “life” things got kind of crazy but I did seem to maintain my weight pretty easily.

In 2011, I was back up to 141 lbs which really isn’t bad for 3 years of doing some fitness at my apartment complex and walking Chloe and Mia at a park down the street.  Finally I decided to get back into shape as I was going on a cruise in April.  In January I really started watching what I was eating.  I picked up a copy of the new Weight Watcher’s Points Plus books and started a food diary to help out along the way.  Logging what I was actually putting in my body helped me a lot throughout this journey.  I did very well on it and lost 18 lbs by the time I went on my cruise four months later.

Here is a picture of me when I was my Bahamas Cruise.  I was at 123!
Here is a picture of me when I was my Bahamas Cruise. I was at 123!

Here I am two years later and my battle continues as I have gained every lb back and plus a few 🙁 I am turing 30 this year, which really freaks me out!  I can’t believe I am actually going to be hitting the 30 club in four months!  I have been stressed out about a lot of stuff lately and I feel like it is time to get myself back on the wagon and start my 30s off with a BANG!  I feel like it is time to make the conscious decision to start being healthy and living my life the way I should.  I am so blessed with such amazing friends and family and I owe it to myself to be the best that I can be.  I am so excited to start a new year fresh and make some amazing changes this year.

 

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First Pinterest Project

I decided that today I was going to do my first blog about a Pinterest Project.  Amber’s Craft Studio is almost ready to go!  Today I went to MAJ-R Thrift and found a gem of a chair to recover for a whopping $7.99 and I was getting tired of the stool that I had in there.  I wanted something that would support this ol’ lady’s back while I am blogging and crafting away!  I liked the stool because it was a gift from my grandma and it matched the bedding I have in my craft studio.  So I thought….well I have been looking for a computer chair and I don’t want to spend $34.99 for one from Walmart.  I had some pillow cases that came with my bedding that were perfect to recover the chair….Check it out!

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My original chair
MAJ-R Thrift Chair Before
Chair Before

I was stressing out because most of the pins I had found on Pinterest  did not have EXACT instructions because all chairs are different.  That is why I had not ever messed with doing this before.  I actually have some zebra print fabric left over from my milk crate chairs that would look great on my chair at my teacher table! (Note to self:  Do this to that chair!)  The pin that I ended up using was from a blog called Yellow House on 3rd.  She gave good instructions that were easy to follow.  The worst part for me was making sure that I had all of the screwdrivers that I needed and after a quick sweep of the house I found all that I needed!

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Unscrewed the arms and the back of the chair.
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Bottom Cushion
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I could not wait to see the finished project!
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The back of the chair would not come completely off so I just pulled and shoved until I got it in and tightened.  The bottom cushion was easier to take the staple gun to!
Chair After: Amber's Craft Studio Edition
Chair After: Amber’s Craft Studio Edition
Love Love Love!
Love Love Love!

I have just spent a lot of money getting my craft area ready to go and my checkbook is off limits so I was trying to do something literally DIRT cheap.  Alex had also fixed my new Mac up with all the bells and whistles…Apple’s Magic Mouse and all!  He found another monitor so I can have dual monitors…. #lovehavingatechbf  We were still trying to find some speakers and a chair.  Well MAJ-R Thrift was good to me and had $2.99 speakers…CAN’T BEAT THAT!  I don’t need anything fancy.  They have a little bit of a buzz but I don’t notice over my music because I am jammin!

Just missing a 9V charger! ONLY $2.99!
Just missing a 9V charger! ONLY $2.99!
Not too shabby for $2.99!
Not too shabby for $2.99!

Tomorrow I should be finished getting the essential setup complete.  It will not be done until I have my dual monitors set up!  I will definitely post a picture of it tomorrow…Until then…. #savoreachsecond

Click here to follow me on Pinterest!
Click here to follow me on Pinterest!

 

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savoreachsecond.com

Well it is time to get this blog up and running.  I have some things that I am working towards and this blog is to help me keep myself motivated.  I have always wanted to start a  blog but I didn’t want it to be based just on one thing…I could do one for teaching, working out, or eating but why not just do one that incorporates all aspects of my life!

Alex got me a Cricut for Christmas and I have been obsessed with it ever since.  I have a pretty sweet set up in what I call Amber’s Craft Studio!  With Christmas money I bought some furniture so that I can spread out and I must say I couldn’t be happier with the result. Alex even threw me a Mac together so I can design easier!  (I know he is AMAZING!)

Amber's Craft Studio
Amber’s Craft Studio

I forgot how much I LOVE doing this kind of stuff.  I feel like I have been reintroduced to the world of my own creativity.  I am a Pinterest MACHINE and it is time the world knows it!  I cannot wait to share this journey through my new blog!

My first Cricut Project!  I must say I could have picked an easier project for my first time cutting on it but I have always been a firm believer in "Go HARD or Go HOME!"
My first Cricut Project!
I must say I could have picked an easier project for my first time cutting on it but I have always been a firm believer in “Go HARD or Go HOME!”