A View From My Window

Another Openin', Another Show!

2012-02-10T10:47:00.000-08:00

It is opening night! "Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily" opens in about 7 hours!

This has been an interesting experience. I've done A LOT of shows, but this one is kind of unique. It's the first dinner theater I've ever done. It's held at the Enid Symphony Hall so it's a stage I'm not used to. The stage at ESO is a lot smaller than any stage I've ever been on. We've also only had four rehearsals on the stage. So it comes with it's own set of challenges. It's a beautiful space though and we're all really excited to get the show going. It runs for two weekends and my favorite Enid restaurant is catering it. There have been some other challenges but I'm sure we, as a cast, can over come those obstacles and put on an entertaining show for our patrons.

"The games afoot, Watson."

Failure...

2012-02-06T06:34:00.000-08:00

So, no one should start a diet four days before their birthday. It's just a bad idea. I fell off the dieting wagon. But I'm ready to start today and kick some major butt. I'm ready to lose some major weight. So, here we go.

The post-birthday post

2012-02-06T06:31:00.000-08:00

I got a really cool idea from a www.stelabird.com. She's such a neat person so her whole site is awesome! Plus, she and her husband own a great store in Enid called The Felt Bird. Check them out! Anyway, she did a list called "28 before 28" about all the things she wanted to accomplish. So Stella, if you're reading sorry I stole your idea. Consider it flattery!

1. Lose at least 50lbs.
2. Finish learning how to knit.
3. Volunteer somewhere on a consistant basis.
4. Play with my kids more.
5. Go on more dates with the hubster.
6. Go to Costa Rica!!!!
7. Actually finish decorating my house.
8. Learn how to use my sewing machine.
9. Make Shilo a dress with said sewing machine.
10. Learn how to quilt.
11. Go to the ballet.
12. Watch all the Disney Animated features (there are 51 one them now) EEK! I'm counting the one's I've already watched with the kids so far this year.
13. Get better at the piano.
14. Start doing yoga again.
15. Meditate everyday...by myself.
16. Put at least 5 news songs in my rep.
17. Sew curtains for the house.
18. Plant a vegetable and flower garden.
19. Learn to cook something exotic.
20. Be less judgmental.
21. Minimize my belongings. I have far too much stuff.
22. Read at least 25 books off this list - pigfish.hubpages.com/hub/List-of-Classic-Books-to-Read-Before-You-Die
23. Run a half-marathon.
24. Tell my kids I love them every single day.
25. Read through the Bible and actually take the time to understand it.
26. Have a plant based diet.
27. Take more pictures.
28. Just breathe.

So, there you have it that is my list of "28 before 28." Thanks again, Stela.

Just in case you're wondering, the birthday was great. I am beyond blessed!

Cycle 1 - Day 1

2012-02-01T07:34:00.000-08:00

Beginning weight: 199.8 lb (oh geez...)
Goal Weight: 140 lb.

Wake Up Drink : Hot water with half a lemon (juice) - You're supposed to have this every morning. It jump starts your metabolism.

Breakfast: Two scrambled egg whites (pinch of seasoned salt and pepper)
5 blueberries, 3 blackberries, and 3 raspberries
Green Tea

Snack #1 - 4oz. Greek yogurt with blueberry

Lunch - Large green salad with tuna. A drizzle of 1T olive oil and 2T balsamic vinegar.
Green Tea

Snack #2 - 1 apple

Dinner - Grilled Chicken
Steamed asparagus
Green Tea

See, all healthy options. Not anything really restrictive. I can do this.

The 17 Day Diet

2012-02-01T07:26:00.000-08:00

Well folks, Cody and I are starting a new diet today. It's called the 17 Day Diet. It's written by Dr. Mike Moreno and to date seems to be the most viable option for dieting. The thing is it's not really a diet. It's just doing all the things you should be doing anyway. It has four different 17 day cycles (so it's much longer than just 17 days). The first cycle is the most restrictive but unlike HCG or some other diets you can have pretty much unlimited protein. Yippie!!! That might help me not want to kill everyone in sight. After that each cycle adds more and more foods that you can eat. Stay away from processed foods. Shop on the perimeter of the store for the most part. Meats and veggies. I'm still trying to cut down on my meat intake so I'm going to be eating nuts and meat substitutes a lot. Lets take a look at the cycles.

Cycle 1 - ACCELERATE - Helps flush sugar and fat storage from your body. This is the cycle that shows the most results, however, a lot of it is water weight. This is the most restrictive cycle. You can eat most non-starchy veggies. No squash, potatoes, stuff like that. Lean cuts of poultry and tuna, salmon, sole, halibut and some other seafood items. No shrimp or crab. Low-Sugar Fruits (no bananas) are a must. Yogurt is a must too. Ideally, you should have:
Unlimited protein - Skinless turkey and chicken breast, ground turkey, egg whites, eggs, nuts. Seafood (Salmon, Sole, Flounder, tuna, catfish, tilapia)
Unlimited cleansing vegetables - broccoli, cabbage, spinach, kale, carrots, asparagus, artichoke, cauliflower, bell peppers, brussel sprouts, lettuce (all kinds), okra, mushrooms, onions, tomato, green beans, garlic, eggplant, leeks, cucumbers, celery, watercress
2 daily Servings of low-sugar fruit - Apples, pears, oranges, grapefruit, berries, peaches, plums, prunes, grapes
2 daily servings probiotic foods - yogurt, Kefir, low-fat acidophius milk, 1/2 cup probiotic cottage cheese
1-2 tablespoons of olive or flax seed oil.
You can only drink 3 glasses of green tea a day or coffee. Of course water intake is extremely important so you have to make sure you get your 8 glasses, but I'd shoot for more if I were you.

Cycle 2 - ACTIVATE - Designed to restart your metabolism by alternating high and low calorie days. I'll talk more about what you can add when I get there.

Cycle 3 - ACHIEVE - Teaches you to control portions and different fitness routines. Repeat 1-3 until you have reached your desired weight.

Cycle 4 - ARRIVE - A combo of the first three cycles. This is the one you follow for the rest of your life. This is the one that maintains everything you've done. Except on weekends. Apparently, you can go crazy on the weekends!

So I hope this works. I was very disappointed when I got on the scale and saw what I saw last night. My friend, Mary (thanks for loaning me the book), looks great and she's been doing it for a while now. You do have to work out. The book says only 2 sessions of 17 minutes a day but you can do more if you want to. That's just the minimum requirement. It can be going for a walk, working in your garden, playing with your kids. I think I'm going to do something cardio in the mornings and then close out my day with yoga. I'll probably do more than 17 minutes though. I'm really excited about this. I want to look awesome for our Costa Rica vacation in July, but I also want to be healthy. So, I think so I have some accountability, I'm going to post everything on here. And I do mean EVERYTHING! I'll even post my weight (grrr...) So, if you read this and you see that I haven't been blogging or following the diet, kick me (or send me a Facebook kick.)

Wish me luck!!!

One stitch at a time.

2012-01-21T22:32:00.000-08:00

I've started a new hobby as of late. Cross-stitching. I find it strangely therapeutic. I may look like a 70 year-old woman sitting in my chair with the hoop held up as close I can get it to my eyes so I can see my stitches to count. Also, I can't really find any cross-stitch things that I would actually hang in my home. I found something for the bathroom but I still need to get the bathroom painted and decorated the way I want but I think this will go well when it actually happens. I'll post some pics when I get a chance of the progress made on my first one.

I got a sewing machine (Singer Advance) for Christmas this year. I was so excited until I took it out of the box and realized that I had no idea where to begin as far as using it. I watched some online tutorials including a class that I'm taking called homeeconline.blogspot.com. It's pretty amazing. Got really excited and then realized that my foot pedal does not work. So, I have been waiting since Dec. 28th for a new foot pedal. I'm getting a little impatient.

Cody and I are trying to plan a trip. We were going to go on a cruise but when we got to thinking about it I think we both wanted to spend more than six hours or so in a place so we decided against it (unless we pick the Alaskan cruise.) I found a place I want to stay in Puerto Vallerta that is all-inclusive so I'm thinking that might be the place. I don't know. Comments? Please? This is kind of our make-up honeymoon since we never really had one. I mean, I loved our weekend elopement to Eureka Springs, but I'm ready for white beaches and warm water (the free umbrella drinks won't hurt either.)Not sure what we'll do with the Monsters yet, but I'm sure there are grandparents lurking around somewhere that would like them. There never really seems to be a shortage of them.

So the silly quote of the week: "I don't think that's a good idea...silly goose." - Monster #1 to Monster #2

So far, so good...

2011-12-02T07:44:00.000-08:00

It's been a while. Epic fail on the blogging everyday goal I had. Oh well.

So, I am now a stay-at-home mom...again. Being a SAHM hasn't been so bad this week. On Monday we stayed around the house and I got a lot done actually. Tuesday and Thursday they go to Mother's Day Out and I was actually lucky enough to find a part time gig at my old job so I don't have to leave a company that I really enjoy working for. Wednesday...oh Wednesday...we went to Wal-Mart but on the way there I took them to the big McDonald's to play. We don't really eat McDonald's very much but Monster #1 does when he's with other family members and so he refers to it as "Old McDonald's." Well, this McDonald's has a HUGE indoor playground. This is the first time, to my knowledge, that he has actually been in one. He loved it but after an hour, I decided that we needed to get going to Wal-Mart. Well, Monster #1 wouldn't come down. He wasn't scared. He was being so incredibly defiant. I literally had to crawl to the top of the playground to get him. Needless to say, he was in a little bit of trouble. Got some Christmas shopping done. We have a little boy that we're sponsoring (more later). Today, I got bills caught up, dishes cleaned and the kids fed. I'm hoping to get a shower at some point today. That might be nice.

I have a young family. I've got two very young children that I want to raise to be kind and giving. I want them to really understand what Christmas is about. So this year I chose a Salvation Army Angel to buy Christmas presents for. I know that Monster #2 is too young to understand but I really think that Monster #1 got it. I chose a little boy around his age with similar interest. Little Sebastian (I love that name.) He's 3 years old. Loves Cars, Transformers and RC stuff. He wears the same size clothes as Monster #1. I tried to explain that while the Monsters will receive so much for Christmas not every little Monster would. Monster #1 looked at me and said "You're sad." I told him I was and that it was so much more important to give than to get during Christmas. He picked out some wonderful toys and when he saw me put them on the belt to check out, he told the cashier, "Those are not mine. They're for Sebastian." I'm very proud of him. Next year Monster #2 might be old enough to get it so we may have two angels to buy for. Now we don't make a lot of money. We have to watch our budget pretty closely but I think this is an important tradition to start and I'm sure we will have many more angels over the years to provide Christmas presents to.

I've made some great recipes lately and I'll have to share some soon, but for now, I must go. The children are calling.

AHH!!! Real Monsters!

2011-11-10T16:16:00.000-08:00

I have real monsters that live in my house.

Here they are:

Do not let them fool you. They are MONSTERS!!!! Fun ones, but terrifyingly real ones. They even growl when you get them riled up.

I don't get to spend enough time with them right now. I see them for maybe two hours a night and for 30 minutes in the mornings. I can't stand not being able to see them more than that.

But....

I am TERRIFIED to become a stay-at-home mom again. The first time we tried it, well, it didn't go so great. Monster 2 was a newborn and Monster 1 was just over a year and a half old. I did not deal with it very well. Both of them needed me every minute of everyday and I just couldn't deal with it. I think it will be better this time around. They're in Mother's Day Out every Tuesday and Thursday and I'm going to try to get involved in a MOPS group and maybe look into some volunteer opportunities around town. But even more than all of those things is the fact that they're older now and can kind of tell me what they need and keep themselves a little more entertained than before. I think we'll be fine. ...just fine.

There are a lot of other really great things going on with my family that I'm very excited about. I'll blog more about those later. I might even include some awesome recipes!!!! If you're lucky.

I'm horrible, I know!

2011-11-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

I have been horrible at blogging for the last week. I'm sorry. It has been so incredibly crazy around here!

1 - My little sister got married last weekend! Robyn and Roxanne are actually my step-sisters but they've been a part of my life for so long I just usually drop the "step". Robyn was absolutely stunning! And Will seems like such a great guy. It had been over a year since I had seen my dad, Brenda (step-mom), Ty and Robyn. It had been almost 6 years since I'd seen Roxanne. It was awesome to get to see everyone. And it was great to just take Monster 2. Got some quality time with her while Daddy had to stay here for work and Monster 1 had tickets to the OSU Homecoming game. I really wish I got to see everyone more though. I really miss them.

2 - A lot of really crappy stuff happened this week. Some of it I can't mention on here but I'm sure it will end up okay.

3 - I had to put in my two weeks at my job so my last day will be Nov. 23rd. I'm not really happy about it but I'm not heartbroken either. Our childcare situation was not working out so well anymore and to put them both in daycare would take EVERYTHING I make. It just wasn't worth it. I'm somewhat looking forward to it though. I like hanging out with my kiddos. They're kind of fun sometimes.

4 - I sang at Enid's first Cigar and Scotch night at Crappy's Warehouse last night. It was a blast. I got to bust out some Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Peggy Lee, etc... It was so much fun and I think that everyone involved was very pleased with the turn out.

5 - I just made AWESOME Vegan Spicy Potato Curry. It is amazing!!!! Recipe to come soon, but for now my incredibly hot husband is waiting for me to watch some shows with him!

I'm still here

2011-10-31T11:03:00.001-07:00

Work has been crazy and then Shi and I went to my sister's wedding in Texas this past weekend. As soon as I have a minute I promise I will post!

My path

2011-10-23T20:59:00.000-07:00

You know when you're a little kid and you dream of all the things you want for your life? Most little girls dream of being a princess, ballerina or a singer. Most little boys want to be a firefighter, astronaut or a train engineer. Now no good parent, grandparent, etc. ever tells that child that it's not possible. They may not necessarily push their child in that direction but you get my point.

There have been several paths in the course of my life that I have wanted to travel. None of them are the one that I'm on right now. Would I change that? Absolutely not! I love my life! So I'm not in London performing every night. So I'm living in my hometown of Enid. So I'm not at a party every weekend. So I've got two kids when I never wanted kids to begin with. So I'm not the size 2 I was when I started college. Not even close. I'm happy. Happier than I ever thought I could be. I have the most amazing God. The most handsome husband. The most beautiful children.

Is my life perfect? Not even close! We have money issues (who doesn't?). I don't have the best behaved children in the world. Cody and I don't always see eye-to-eye. I'm not able to stay home with my kids like I want to (yet, anyway.) We're not perfect and things don't always work out in our favor but somehow we always manage. God provides for us, provided we have faith.

I guess the main thing I have learned is this:
This may not be the life I'd imagined for myself. But this is the life I have made. It's a good one. I can choose to dream of one that doesn't exist or I can wake up and live the new one. The one that has proven to be better than any of my dreams. The path where God shines his light. Where Cody is there to hold my hand. And where my childrens' foot steps will grow. There are many rocks and cracks that I have already overcome on this path and there will be more to come but I have people to steady me over the rough parts. They're my family and friends. People who I'd never had met if I hadn't taken the path and I can't imagine my life without them.

Crayola Melt Down!!!!

2011-10-22T21:41:00.000-07:00

I've been seeing these all of the place lately so I just had to make one. I mean, come on. It's fairly cheap, fast, easy and super fun. Who doesn't like melting crayons right? I'd planned to do it with Asher but he had other plans so I'll make one with his some other time I guess.

So, here's what ya need:

64 pack of Crayola (they're the best!!!) Crayons. I picked out all the brown and black ones. The gold really didn't work out well but the silver looked cool up against the blue.
Hot glue gun. Watch your fingers!
Blank canvas. Just pick one that all your colors will fit on.
Blow dryer

1. I grouped all of mine in the same color families. I don't think it really matters what order you put them in on the canvas but it looks cool when the same colors are next to each other.

My canvas was a little bit bigger than needed but I'll get a smaller one next time.

You just put a line of hot glue on the crayon and place it on the canvas.

Take it somewhere where you don't mind getting melted crayon (like outside.) Make sure it's protected by the wind. I made the mistake of not doing that and I kind of got a cool splatter effect but I didn't get the cool separated drippings that most people are getting. Just set your blow dryer on high with a temp of hot. Place it close to the crayons. Within about 2 minutes you'll notice that the crayons starts to melt down the canvas. It also dries really fast.

Here's my finished product. Like I said, I think I'll make another one soon. Maybe some pastels for Shilo's room.

Fist Official Blog

2011-10-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

I call this my first "official" blog due to the fact that I have my own domain name now. I'm fancy. That's how I roll. Maybe since I'm paying for it now I'll actually be consistent.

So there are few things you should know about me if you're going to want to know about me. It might help the comprehension thing out...
#1 - I am a Child of God. God is my number one priority and I am starting to understand that I haven't been making him a priority in my life. I still don't but I'm getting better.

#2 - My husband is crazy, so awesome and loves me so much. He's my rock. I love him so much.

#3 - My kids are crazy as well but I love spending time with them and teaching them new things. I want to home school my kids just so I have an excuse to go on field trips and do all sorts of cool experiments. My company is relocating in a few months and I'm going back to being a stay-at-home-mom. I'm actually pretty stoked about that.

#4 - I have a new found love for all things artsy-craftyish. I love going to thrift stores and reclaiming old furniture and stuff. I'm learning how to knit, but not doing very well.

#5 - I love to sing and act. My theater family will probably make an appearance every once in a while.

You should probably know the list of recurring characters as well...
Kyla - That'd be me. I'm also known as mom or Kyky
Cody - My crazy, insane, totally hot husband. AKA "Dad" or "Coco"
Asher - Very curious and brilliant, busy little boy. AKA Monster #1 (He's almost 3)
Shilo - Very smart and beautiful, crazy little girl. AKA Monster #2 (She's a year and a half)
Mozart and Tally - The cutest dogs in the world!

Anyway, I'm sure you'll learn more as we go along. So I have some awesome ideas for this blog. It will kind of be a hodge-podge of stuff. Movie, book and music reviews. Craft ideas and projects. Quotes and just random musings. Should be a fun time!