Owl Obsession

I've developed a bit of an Owl Obsession over the last few years
I think it came from being in Wisconsin with Dawn Miceli and Drew Domkus (From The Dawn and Drew show) staying on their farm and Dawn had a collection of figurines which i fell in love with.

I'm a strange collector... I don't just collect one particular thing.


I have a lot of different collections:
- Coca cola collection
- Camera collection (Digital, film, toy + lens etc)
- Figurines collection (Inaction figurines, Kid Robot blind boxes etc)
- Spongebob collection
- Tickets collection (movies, theatre, concerts, flights etc)
- Around the world trinkets collection (bottle caps, stones, menus, brochures etc)
- Keyring collection
- Japanese Vending Machine collection
- Sticker collection
- Sunglasses collection

Just to name a few.


On top of that i have a MASSIVE DVD collection and a HUGE craft supplies collection. Which i don't REALLY count as 'collections'. BJ and I discussed this recently and i feel a collection is something that you look out for no matter where you are. Something that takes prime spot on your shelf, that you protect from being damaged in any way.  Something that when people visit and see they go 'wow.... I can't believe you have that!'


Anyway, Back to the owls.

Made by my friend Manda in Wisconsin

I own several pairs of owl pajama pants and this weekend i bought a pair of owl undies too hehehe.

Hooooooooooooot!!

I also have this awesome Owl pull over hoodie

I recently found this little shop near my home that i'm in love with. It is called Seventh Owl and it's a variety of things that are owl related. From Clothing, artwork, jewelry to Fabric, bags, figurines etc.

Sadly, it's closing down... On the plus side, everything is 50% off and boy did i take advantage of THAT!!!

In my recent visit i bought a bag full of goodies.

And I fell in love with this dress...

They have little mono-brows hehehee

I didn't think it was ment to be, as there were only 4 there and 3 of them were small... Just one medium and i didn't think it would fit me well enough. But when i put it on i just smiled. It looked great. I loved it. AND it was half price!!! Destiny!!

Bought a cute wallet and some adorable material too.

After finding this store i told several people and planned to visit at least once more before it closed. I kept wondering if the small dress would fit me as the medium was soo comfortable, and i was throwing around weather or not i should go back and try one on.

Before i had a chance to get their one of my worker's went and purchased herself one of the small dresses. She bought it into the office for me to see... and to try on. And guess what....

IT FIT!!!!

(Really bad picture... Sorry)

The next day I took an adventure to the store on my lunch break but alas, the small owl dress wasn't ment to be as the last one had JUST sold not moments before i arrived.

But hey... At least i know it would have fit :)

So my owl collection is getting bigger. I'll need more space soon now that i've added yet another thing to my collection of collections.

Collecting is a hoooooooot! I'd love to know what you collect, post a comment or write on my facebook and let me know.

xx
Smorgy Pin It

Pretty Damn Proud

This isn't something that I would normally share with the world but I am pretty happy with myself right now and just wanted you all to know about it.

Over the last few years my weight has been going crazy. When BJ and I went traveling for 6 months I was able to lose a little bit of weight (Mainly due to the fact that I didn't eat so that he could) but not an amount I was proud of.

After coming back from that trip I quickly gain what I had lost back on... And then more!

I became quiet embarrassed by my body. I didn't think anything looked good on me, I didn't want anyone to see me naked... I didn't want to see me naked. I was ashamed about the way I looked. Which didn't help me, It just made things worse.

At the start of 2010 I got to the point that I thought 'I need to do something'... I was eating better then I ever had, which didn't make any difference... So I decided to stop drinking Coca Cola.
Now anyone who knows me knows that this wasn't an easy thing for me. When I was in high school I was drinking around 2Lt a day, I'd have it for breakfast. I was an addict. I'm nuts for Coke AND Coke products. Hell I traveled to the other side of the world so I could go to the World of Coca Cola in Atlanta, Georgia.

BJ and I with the Coca Cola Bear

Me and my World of Coca Cola Tickets

I had previously cut back to a can a day (mostly). I had to before we traveled overseas because I couldn't afford to keep up that addiction and travel the world.
So then this time I was a lot harder on myself. I wasn't allowed ANY coke.
I was soooo sick for the first couple of weeks. It was a really hard thing to do.

In November 2010 I joined a small training group and was doing a class once a week. This was a hard step for me. I feared people would be looking at me, judging me. I did a 6 week session before Christmas. It was the hardest things to do at the beginning... I felt like I was dying afterwards. But I toughed it out and stuck with it.
I continued with the training at the start of 2011 and was slowly losing small amounts of weight over time. I started feeling fitter but I still couldn't physically see any change in me.

In about March people started making comments. Asking if I'd lost weight, telling me I was looking good. I didn't believe them and just brushed it off. Always commented with an 'I hope so' instead of just a confident 'Thank you'.

At the beginning of June I went shopping with BJ. I hate clothes shopping because I could never find anything that I thought looked good, but I was desperate for some pants and so I would going to suck it up and try my best to find some.
This day, I bought a pair of jeans... I haven't worn jeans for at least 7 years. They fit, they looked good, I was shocked. I actually bought quiet a few items of clothing, which is rare for me.

I was nervous about wearing these jeans out in public. I mean BJ told me they looked good, but he'd say that if I was covered in rotting fish. He practically made me wear them that whole weekend and it took me awhile to actually feel comfortable in them but now I'm quiet happy to put them on.

So that was a HUGE step for me. To actually look in the mirror, at myself wearing jeans and think 'You know they actually don't look that bad'. I'm still shocked by this.

At the end of May I started a different type of class (Through the same group). It was a Hula Hooping class. I've already been pretty decent at hooping and thought it was something fun and different to try.
It was an 8 week session and it was a lot of fun. I learnt some fancy tricks and really enjoyed each week. It was a really full-on class which I'm sure most people wouldn't expect, But check out these mad bruises.

My left hand the morning
after hooping

Today I returned to do another 8 weeks of Hula Hooping.
When I got to the venue my instructor asked me if i wanted to do a weigh in and get measured. This is something we did every now and then and I hadn't done since mid May and I have to admit I was curious. I mean the comments have continued, even BJ's started commenting on the differences he was noticing.

I jumped on the scales and closed my eyes... I heard my instructor say 'Oh My God!' so I opened my eyes and looked down. I was gobsmacked. Since my last way in about 10 weeks prior, I'd lost over 9kg.

NINE-FUCKEN-KILOGRAMS!!!

I didn't know what to say. I don't quiet know how it happened. But reality kind of kicked and and finally I could see that I have actually changed. My waist is smaller. My legs and arms are thinner. I've lost a couple of chins. (Unfortunately lost some off the boobs too.)

Then my instructor measured me. Added it all up and 'Wow!'.... 27 cm's in total.
I am amazed.

She told me how great that was but then it just didn't sink in. I went and sat down and of course messaged BJ and tweeted but didn't give anyone any details. I did the class (which was exhausting after 2 weeks off) and the whole time I just kept thinking about it. When I was driving home i decided I wanted to blog about it and share it as I'm pretty FUCKEN proud of myself right now.

It's been a LONG road with lot's of downhills but finally I'm seeing the light at the end and I can go to bed with a smile on my face tonight knowing that I couldn't probably get out that bag of clothes that no longer fitted me and I wouldn't have to squeeze myself into them, they'd probably fit now.

This blog is very long winded but I wanted to share my story. I know there are a lot of people out there who struggle with losing weight and I just wanted to give them some hope that it CAN and WILL happen if you just stick to it.

xx
Smorgy

My excited face because I haven't fitted
into this jumper for years

Me in my jeans - Doesn't really show you much
but it's the only one I have

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