Living The Dream

I'm such a literalist that I have a problem when someone asks me "Are you living your Dream?" Why? Well, because if I were living it then it wouldn't be a Dream, would it?

Yeah, silly I know. I know what they mean, but it still annoys me.

Anyway, since I started my business in '07 (legally/officially in '08) I've had a 'dream' that I would be able to support my household (me and hubby) on the business income. And I've been able to do that. What I'm realizing now, though, is that my dream was specific enough. We're making it - barely. I should have had a larger dream that included - supporting my household while living a particular lifestyle.

So, I'm taking stock again of where I am in the business world, what's working and what's not. And I'm doing it now instead of in January or any other time of the year because I've been battling the urge to hit the road.

I wasn't born with the need to travel - but the way I grew up certainly put the traveling feet into me.

• I've been in this house too long. 
• There are no unpacked boxes around me and that is still a strange feeling.
• I'm tired of the view outside my office window.
• I'm tired of seeing the same people in the same business meetings saying the same things.
• I'm feeling constrained and restrained - very few people appreciate my views, unless they're in trouble and looking for the truth.

So now what?

When we were first married I told my husband that I wanted to live in an RV and travel around the country. He was all for it - except neither one of us knew how to do it. That was in 1990. I'm tired of thinking about it. It's time to do it.

But I still don't know how to do it, exactly. I know we need an income on the road. I know we need an RV to live in. I know we need to stay at places across the country. That's all I know.
 
I met Nancy Vogel online in a beading forum back in 2003. I had just started beading and the forum was a great place to learn about techniques, get inspired with ideas, and meet women who loved beads and beading as much as I did.

Then Nancy and her family (husband and twin boys) hit the road - literally. They traveled by bicycle from Alaska to Argentina...read about their adventure. I followed the blog. I imagined me and my hubby with them in pretty much every country. I was glad we weren't there when the temperature dropped to 30 below and the winds were howling. I was glad we weren't there when the heat and humidity topped 100% each. But I followed along and yearned for the ability/motivation/know how to do the same.

Then, just this past week, I saw a Facebook post by Nancy. It talked about Dream: Reboot. I went to the website and knew I hit paydirt. It was time. It was time to re-awaken that dream I had 22 years ago - to hit the road and live in an RV with my husband. And here was the place that would show me how, encourage me to follow through, be with me as we made plans and finally do it. I start tomorrow - wanna join me? Check it out for yourself and if you're ready then I'll see you in the forums!

The Weight Loss Game

So, it's been quite a while since I first posted that I was going to work with someone to help me lose weight. And work I did! I met with my personal trainer 3x/week and focused on weight training and flexibility exercises. For 6 months I did this, and was careful about what I ate. I didn't remove foods from my diet though. I didn't remove sugar, grains and oils. And somethings I overindulged in ice cream because the craving for something sweet was too much to handle. But, overall, when I look back, I think I did okay - not great, but okay.

Results: after 6 months I lost 6 lbs. Disappointing, until I see that I gained strength and flexibility. When I started the effort I couldn't lift my own weight or stretch my legs beyond a certain point. When I finished I could not only lift my own weight but do so in reps. And boy was I flexible!

But, I was still too heavy and very uncomfortable. Then I lost a large client and couldn't afford the personal trainer.

I didn't gain the weight back - and I really haven't lost the strength. I found a YouTube video series that I now use - it's using kettlebell workouts. The series shows beginner, intermediate and advanced levels of use and they videos are short enough that I don't feel like I have to take out an hour or two of my day to follow them. Her name is Kitty and her site is My O My TV. Go ahead, check her out.

In the meantime, I've once again decided to tackle the weight issue by following a restricted diet. How restricted? Well, I've cut out dairy, oils, grains and sugar. High protein every meal in quantities of less then 4 ounces, lots of greens - green leaf veggies and green veggies (cooked and cold). It's been a few weeks, I've lost 10 pounds (mostly, I think, to no sugar or grains) and I'm feeling pretty good. We'll see. I treated myself to a bit of sugar yesterday (Snickers), and it didn't taste that great. Maybe I'm on to something, heh?

Doctor says either do it this way or try diet pills again. Diet pills worked to get me started on a weight loss track, but then I had to take Prednisone again and gained 30 pounds - obliterating any evidence of weight loss via the pills. And I don't like taking pills - so I said no thanks Doc, let's do something else.

He told me to try the Paleo diet without the oils and grains. So, that's what I'm doing. Another few weeks and I'll start introducing oils, grains, sugar and milk back into my diet. One at a time. If I feel different/icky/ill, etc. then I know what not to eat moving forward.

Oh, and I haven't had a Crohn's flare up in over 6 months. Let's pray that I don't have one for another 6 months, heh?