100 Days

Image found at freedigitalphotos.net

You may have seen the article over at yahoo about the woman who committed to working out for 100 days and what happened for her over that 100 day time period.  She was certainly better off in more ways than one, by the time that 100 days had passed.

Inspirational type videos and such don't always do much for me.  I feel that in the internet world a lot of that stuff is overblown and just annoying.  What can I say?  I''m not always the touchy/feely sort.  Especially when I feel a story, pictures, etc. is being done for reasons that are other than noble (reasons that scream 'look at me', 'I need attention', 'no, seriously, look at me!').  Sometimes though, I do find myself a bit inspired by something I've seen.  Sometimes things feel genuine enough to make me wonder how this person's experience could affect me and my life.

This time around I'm thinking I'll take this woman's 100 day experience and convert it into something I can use for myself.  Something a little different than the usual New Years resolution type fare. 

Since I feel 100 days is doable for just about anything, and I'm curious as to how this type of approach could work for something I've been thinking about doing anyway, I'm going to attempt 100 days straight of a good skin care regimen.

This may sound silly.  For me, skin care has always been an issue.  My skin is not the typical commercial worthy terrible and yet it has been not a lot of fun for a very long time.  Yes, at very nearly 40 I am still dealing with occasional acne breakouts and have had this problem since way before I was a teenager.  I have tried so many things and most have been way too harsh and didn't really help.  However, by chance and by listening to a good friend who works in the skin care field, I have realized that if I can just stick with a good cleansing and light moisturizing routine I can improve my facial outlook dramatically.  And since I am turning 40 I would like to finally get this issue under control.  I'm just not so good at sticking with the routine.  As soon as I get things looking better, I kind of 'forget' to keep it up.

Isn't it funny how we forget to do things for ourselves? 

It is hard for me to do the little things that mean taking care of me.  This is one small thing that I feel could make a big difference for me and that I deserve to take the time to do for myself.

What about you?  What would you like to attempt to do for 100 days?  Would you be willing to take the time to do it?  Does 100 days seem like a long time to you?

Running The Gauntlet?

So we've lived for the last 3 years planning to move to Texas, as soon as we possibly could.
The original plan was hatched by way of several visits to Texas and many in depth discussions that left my husband and I feeling as if we had finally found a place that felt like home.  That place also being a good fit for our desires to see the sun more often and spend a lot less money to merely experience life was clearly also a bonus.

 Sunflower With Sunglasses by jiggoja

found at freedigitalphotos.net

 
For various and sundry reasons that plan has not worked out- yet.

That's not to say that my husband and I have not had many interesting adventures in these past few years while pursuing our goal of moving to Texas.  We have been to places that we once thought of as 'other possibilities' to help us reach our goal of finding a home that is mostly sunny and not so expensive.  Some of this has been rather comical and some of it has been a bit sad.  However, it has all been a learning experience.  And that is often what life is all about.

We have learned that my husband's chosen actuarial profession is prolific in jobs along the two coasts.  We have learned that it is not impossible to find a job in the middle if you are patient and if you are pretty much done getting to the highest level of said chosen career, as there are very few people who are capable of doing this (about 5,400 in the country).  In other words in 2-3 more years we will have a pretty good chance of securing a job for whatever my husband would like to do within his chosen career path, in just about whatever place we really want to be.

In the meantime, my husband and I have purchased a condo in Palm Springs, CA and we seek sun there whenever possible- which means we get to have something that resembles the life we are really looking for about 6 weeks a year.

And that's certainly a big improvement.  However, it still seems like there should be another way to improve the overall picture of what we are seeking without having to wait around for another 2-3 years.

Although we can't actually live at our place in Palm Springs, CA because there are not any actuarial jobs out there in the desert, it seems that we may have found a way to avoid that 2-3 year wait to attain at least part of our goal.

In our many and varied trips down the coast with my nephew and the dogs in tow, we have discovered that although we don't see any financial benefit to being in California we sure do feel a lot better overall when we are there.  We get out from under our sweatshirts and flannel hoods and meet people who seem much more varied from the brooding types who reside here in the Seattle area.  We are just happier overall.

So now the question is:  Would living in California full time be a nice Disney, sandy beach, sunshine-filled diversion for a couple of years or would I end up feeling as if I had to run the gauntlet of more liberal politics than I can even imagine handling to simply get to what I really want which of course is living in Texas?

image found at Wikimedia Commons