The Unadventures of Tracie

Yay, we didn't die! Woot! I, for one, am personally THRILLED that I survived 2012. It was a hard year in many ways. I have a lot of plans and goals this year. And for the first time in a very long time, I am excited about the future. Okay, pushing forward. I already went back to the previous paragraph to read and edit in an attempt to make it all sound wonderful and all that. (Edited to add: I did go back later and edit it. But doing it later makes it revision. :) )But I've decided I've got to stop doing that if I'm going to make this year's goal. I'm going to start writing again. Blogging is just one of the ways that I'm going to count this goal. I'm going to start blogging at least once a week. Recording my thoughts, feelings, ideas, trials, misfortunes, adventures, unadventures, and all that jazz. Should be great fun for everyone. I also am going to participate in NaNoWriMo this year for the first time ever. To prepare for this, I am going to write ...

Those of you who are my Facebook friends may have seen that I'm beginning the doula certification process. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. Becoming a doula is something I knew I wanted to do when I found out what they were, and I experienced what having one during labor was like. Basically doulas are awesome. So extremely awesome. I believe almost every woman would benefit from a doula, no matter the circumstances. Research supports me in this declaration as well. Many studies have shown doulas to be beneficial. There was actually one published just a few months ago that found After examining 21 trials involving over 15,000 women, the review authors found that women who received continuous support (i.e. a doula) during labor: were more likely to have a spontaneous vaginal birth were less likely to have intrapartum analgesia (i.e. an epidural) were less likely to report dissatisfaction with their labors had shorter labors were more likely to give birth without ...

I've written before about how I have a problem getting enough sleep. This was partially due to baby, PPD, and OCD/addictive habits. I'm happy to report that the last week I got about 7-8 hours of sleep every day. I'm still staying up later than I should, but I'm making a lot of progress. I'm hoping that I can continue to break the self-destructive habit/addiction cycle that I've been living in the last 2 years.  For those that didn't know, I couldn't make myself go to bed at a reasonably hour, even when I wanted. I would read, watch TV, or stay on the computer for hours and hours and hours. Sometimes even until dawn. Even when I wanted to go to bed, I couldn't make myself do it. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I don't feel in control of my life. I'm very busy taking care of a toddler and working all day every day. My husband is at school or work all day and part of the night. So by the time I get time to myself I have to w...

Pretend I posted this yesterday because it was supposed to be. So my family is doing a 9-week "Healthy Habits" challenge. We're participating as teams and there's hopefully going to be some kind of prize at the end for the person and/or team who gets the most points. I'm pretty excited about it. The healthy habits are Exercising for 30 minutes Having "self-control" (sweets, junk food, fried foods, etc.) Drinking 64 oz. of water daily Eating 5 daily servings of fruits and veggies Eating 3 servings of grains (preferably whole grains) Avoiding eating after 8 p.m.  You get points for each "habit" you complete every day. You get one freebie in each category a week. At the end of the 9 weeks, you get bonus points for each 1% of body weight you've lost. What I like about this is it focuses on a positive goal instead of a negative goal. That is, instead of focusing on losing weight, it focuses on being healthy. Which means you could ...

Austin and my friend Lechelle wrote bucket lists and made me think about doing the same. Without any adieu, here's my list: (italics indicate things I've already done) Get married Have a baby/Become a mother Graduate from college Become an editor Write a book Win a writing contest Edit a book Edit a fictional novel Learn how to use Photoshop Own a profitable website Be interviewed by a prominent person Win a notable award Try out for American Idol (I don’t even care if I make it. I just want to try out.) Audition for a stage play, preferable a musical Get a part, preferably a starring role, in a play Be in a commercial Run for a small political office (like city council) Be a contestant on a game show, preferably a winning contestant Get challenged by Bobby Flay on “Throwdown” Learn how to sew on a button Visit Australia Visit the Louvre Go to the symphony See an opera See a Broadway play Visit Italy See the Sistine Chapel, David , the Mona Lisa , a...

(3 posts in a day!) I’ve recently made the decision that I was going to work out every day. No matter what. No excuses. Every.single.day. It doesn’t matter how long I exercise or what exercise I do. The main thing I wanted to focus on was to create a habit of exercise in my life. Though I do want to lose weight, that is no longer my objective. My objective is to become healthier just by incorporating daily exercise into my life. So far, I’m doing pretty good. Fourteen days in a row now. Some days have been longer or more vigorous sessions. Some have been just a walk around the block. But I have done it, every day, for the past 14 days. Though I haven’t lost any weight yet (I’ve actually gained a pound), I can definitely feel changes. My body is getting stronger and firmer. My endurance is increasing. I feel better. I’m sleeping a little better as well. And the only thing I’ve changed is incorporating at least 10 minutes of daily exercise. Though I’m trying to eat better, I’m not really...

Happy New Year everyone! I know you've missed me. . . You haven't heard from me since last year! (cue groans.) Yes, well. I think I'm humorous. I am currently at home sick. Lovely. Actually I'm pretty stoked about it. (Not being sick, but being at home.) My boss told me to go home. So I'm currently "working" from home. (I don't have anything to do.) I like being at home and leaving early meant I didn't have to deal with rush hour traffic on the way home. Yay! And now I can get paid to write blog entries in my underwear while dealing with my massive sneeze attacks. Anyway, I wanted to write down my resolutions for the New Year. (I won't talk about New Year's Eve since Austin already covered that.) So here they are, my resolutions for 2008: 1. I resolve to get in shape this year. (Austin: "what shape? like pear-shape? diamond? perhaps parallelogram?") My shape of choice is to get back to the weight I was happy at and also...