Fitness Goddess

Most women get to the point where they have finally had enough of how they look and they want to lose weight. I got there a few weeks ago.  I have been watching my calories and eating clean.  Been tracking my calories on My Fitness Pal and I am in love with that app! Its super easy to use and it tracks everything. Keeping myself accountable for what I have eaten for the day.  Its nice to see it fully tracked and know many calories I have left at the end of the day for snacks or whatnot. I really think about what I am eating now and double think if its a good or a bad choice for me.  

There is a place to add in your food for the day as well as any workouts you do.  I count anything extra I do for the day.  Such as mowing the lawn, swimming or extra walking (ie a theme park or zoo). I set goals and try to beat them daily. This app also connects to other fitness apps and adds in the information automatically.  I use every Runtastic app that is out right now. I was able to upgrade some of them to the pro versions using App of The Day. I use the running app (even when we are just walking), the Bike app, Sit Ups, Squats, Push Ups, Butt Trainer, Six Pack Abs and the Leg trainer. All of these apps transfer the info right away to My Fitness Pal and add them to your daily summary. 

If you are wanting to start losing weight and need an added boost to get you healthy, I highly recommend these apps!  This month I have lost 4 pounds so far.  My goal is to drop at least 7 pounds a month which is totally doable if I can just focus and keep going!  i look forward to sharing more about my weight loss journey in the future. 

Goddess Vesta: My Bittersweet Valentine

Taking down all the Christmas decoration is always tough for me to do. I love my trees (we have 3) and all the lights. The house always looks empty and naked after I pull everything down but it doesn't stay that way for long. Our home has been a construction site for the last three days while this transition has taken place.  

 

My new front door wreath that I made this morning and I am totally in love with!  I bought everything from Michaels and the whole thing cost me about $13 to make. The wreath itself is a grape vine wreath and they run about $4.  The roses were in the discounted Christmas section normally $16.99 and I got them 70% off. I also picked up the red filler in the Christmas section as well, normally $2.99 but was 70% off. Sadly there wasn't a lot of nice thick red ribbon left in the Christmas section at my Michaels so I did end up shopping for that at regular price.  Thankfully my birthday is in Dec and I received 25% off my purchase which helped bring the cost down. 

This is all stuff I have had for a few years now. These three sit on my kitchen counter and are one of my favorite things to change with the holidays/seasons. The left jar I filled with the heads of roses I picked up from the Dollar Tree. I just plucked them off and stuck them in the jar. The jar on the right has mini heart sharped boxes I also picked up at Dollar Tree. The small jar is filled with Origami 3D Hearts. Lots of them!! I used colored paper in the same shades of the conversation hearts.  I love the idea of the conversation hearts in jars but I have always worried about ants and than not being able to use them year after year.

This is my china cabinet and I absolutely love decorating it!! Its the largest piece in my kitchen/dinning room and the first thing people look at when they enter the room.

The love potion bottles are super easy to make! I got the labels here and the How To for the fancy tops. Most of the beads I already had but the rest I for in the $1/$2 bead section at Walmart.  They are normally along the  bottom of the normal bead aisle in the crafts and craft section. They come in mini baggies with mixed beads in different colors. The bottles I picked up from Michaels for I believe $1 each and they normally always have some color of these through out the year.  The tray I got from the $1 section at Target.  I ALWAYS check all the dollar sections in every store because you never know what you'll find and can't live without!!

These two frames I picked up at Goodwill. Goodwill is another great place to check out at least once a month or weekly since they are always getting new items in.  Word of advice, if you like it... BUY IT!  It won't be there when you come back to it.  If I am shopping at Goodwill and I kinda like something, I will stick it in my cart right away cause you never know who will look at it next and even 10 mins later it might be gone.  I bought the little angel at Goodwill for $2.  They always have frames there!  These both were pictures of sailboats and the frames were brown.  I spray painted them black and removed the glass, so that I could use 3D objects to put into the frames. I change them out with the holidays when I need something a little taller to take up space. The picture frame on the left has three roses I got at Big Lots after Christmas two years ago for $1 (maybe less). The picture on the right has scrapbooking 3D stickers that I picked up cheap at Big Lots as well.  The backgrounds are just scrapbook pages I bought from Michaels and had on hand in my craft room.

Super easy and super cute love letters! Cardboard from cereal boxed wrapped in brown paper bags from Publix. I stamped all of them with a heart shape stamp I bought at Jo-Ann Fabric in the $1 section. Tied them up with some twine. They go great next to the vintage box of chocolates my parents found at Goodwill. 

I find a lot of  Valentines day garlands are not my style. I made this one pretty easily. Picked up the wooden hearts at Jo-Ann Fabric, they have them all year round in their wood aisle.  I drilled small holes in each side of the heart and painted them. I than attached a thin wire and twisted it around to connect the hearts together. I added beads and Valentines Day ribbon I picked up in the Target $1 section. 

 These set on the edge of my high counter because no surface is untouched in this house! I used a old glass jar that used to be a jewelry candle.  I hate to part with such nice glass jars when the candles are finished. I use them as small vases and jars for the different holidays. Added some flowers and I put those paper heart doilies (got them at the Dollar Tree) in the bottom of the jar so that you can see the ugly flower stems. The plate I made at You Do The Dishes and the strawberries I picked up at Michaels in their fake fruit section. I painted them with brown paint and than used a spoon to splash on white lines to make them look like chocolate covered strawberries.

Some other pictures of random decorations from around my house. 

 I made this fabric wreath years ago and its super easy to make! I learned how to make it from some nice older ladies in a nursing home that used to make wreaths in their spare time and sell them. Sorry I can't show you step by step how I personally made it since it was so long ago but thankfully Pinterest came to the rescue!  I found a How-To for you guys if you are interested here!

Hopefully I inspired you to make new decorations!  ALWAYS check those discounted holiday sections and keep an opened mind while doing so.  You never know what they have or what you can use for another upcoming holiday. :)

-Michele Stevic
www.MicheleStevic.com
https://www.facebook.com/JourneyofaGoddess
Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/baEcqn

Overcoming My Identity; The Return of My Femininity

Change yourself and fortune will change with you.
Portugese Proverb

Happy 2015 to all of you!! Once New Years Eve starts approaching, people start asking about New Year Resolutions. My resolution is a bunch of things and the main reason I started this blog.  When I have been asked, I tell them I want to be more feminine. I totally understand feminine is subjective, so I'm going by my personal thoughts on what I believe it means to be "girly". My intent here is not to offend anyone by not having one thing doesn't make a woman feminine so please keep that in mind while reading. 

Since I am looking to the Goddesses for inspiration, I will break down my personal resolution by five different Goddess (I might add more later on) and how I hope they will help me achieve my goals for 2015. 

Hygeia is a Greek Goddess of good health. Many people wish this for themselves or their family in the new year and I am no exception. I need to lose weight! A lot of weight! I have been over weight since I hit puberty. I was always the bigger girl of all my friends and complained about being a size 8 when my friends were a size 0. When I got older I gained a lot more weight and was 240lbs at my heaviest. I was in my early 20's and had a boyfriend of seven years and although I was sad and depressed about being overweight I never did anything about it until my boyfriend broke up with me. After that I dieted and worked out 6 days a week 2 hours a day and lost 60lbs in 5 months. I still wasn't "skinny" and no where near where I should have been on the ideal weight charts (118lbs-132lbs). Since than I have been on countless diet plans, weight loss pills, shakes etc etc etc... and yo-yoed back and forth with weight gain and lost. My husband and I lost 80lbs last year by tracking our calories, walking 2 miles four times a week and taking an appetite suppressant/energy pill. Oct of last year I was at the lowest I had been since high school. Sadly the holidays came and I gained 10lbs and than we started to try to have a baby so I stopped taking the diet pills and I gained more. At the end of March I got pregnant and gained more. I had a miscarriage in May and the depression added in the rest of my weight gain. I am back where I started two years ago and I am tired of living like this! I want the body I have always dreamed of and the amazing wardrobe that I have envied for as long as I can remember.

Hygeia I look to you to help me through this new diet and exercise plan. I need to lose weight so that I can be happy with my appearance and for my health in general. My body aches because of the extra weight. My feet, legs and back are in constant pain. I get winded while walking up stairs and playing with my son. My extra weight holds me back in more things I would care to admit and I am ashamed of how I look sometimes. Which brings me to my next Goddess....

Aphrodite is the Greek Goddess of beauty, love, sexuality and desire. Most days I honestly don't care what I look like. More than 75% of my closet is made up of t-shirts and I have more pairs of flip flops than any other shoe. I don't wear fancy jewelry. I wear my wedding ring and the same few pair of earrings I have worn for I don't know how many years. I pull my hair back in a bun so I don't need to bother with it. I very rarely put on full makeup. I'm rough! :/ I have been a stay at home mom for years so I never had any place to go everyday. I just started back to work in September and I have been trying best best to look nice and professional. Looks haven't been a main priority to me or at least not since my son was born 8 years ago. My husband and son call me beautiful daily but I don't feel beautiful. I struggle with my self love and I have for years. I believe a large part of it is because I am not happy with my weight. I have decided to start wearing makeup more often and to dress up a little nicer this year. If I wear a t-shirt I will try and dress up the outfit the best I can. Its not as easy as buying new clothes since I can't stand shopping (again because of my weight) and I want to lose weight so buying a bunch of new clothes in the size I am now, doesn't make sense to me. I need to love myself. I understand that loving the person I am inside is more important than the outer but I DO love who I am on the inside... I just want both to match. I need to learn how to put me first sometimes and pamper myself at least once a month.

The way I feel about myself on the outside makes it hard to feel sexy. I have a wonderful husband and I should feel sexy when I am with him. Its difficult to explain. I want to bring romance back into my marriage. I know that passion gets lost in many relationships over time but I want to get that kind of relationship back. Not that I am unhappy, because I am very happy but the honeymoon stage has been gone a few years.  
I am asking Aphrodite to help me bring love and beauty and of course... bring that sexy back! ;)

Hera is the Greek Goddess of marriage. Hera has always blessed my marriage. I love my husband deeply and he is my best friend. He makes me laugh and smile and totally understands me. We get along extremely well and when we communicate and work together we can do anything! I am sure ever marriage could be better and mine is no exception. I plan on this year to go on more date nights, romance and have an ever better relationship with my amazing husband! I look to Hera for guidance and ask her for her continuous blessing of my marriage!

Hestia is the Greek Goddess of the home, family and the hearth. Now that I have started working a lot more cooking and cleaning have become huge ordeals. I am exhausted when I get home so I need to learn a better way to clean the house and I really need to learn new fast and easy recipes!
My family is at the top of my priority list and always has been. I would love to spend more time with my son this year and have more quality family together time. I need to make that more of a priority than ever before! We do spend time at cub scout meetings and outings. We go on monthly trips to Disney and now passes to Busch Gardens that we can use and to have fun. All those things are wonderful but I think smaller things like family game night or more bond fires with s'mores are definitely in order. Hestia please bless my family this year and bring great food, wonderful memories and a very happy home!

Athena is the Greek Goddess of arts, wisdom and strength. My artwork is super important to me and it definitely is a huge part of my identity and I would never want to change that. I want to do more! I love painting but I find a lot of time I have a block. I also am running out of space to put them on my walls and storage in my craft room is extremely limited. I have been selling on Etsy but I haven't added any new painting in over a year. I need new inspiration to start painting again and I am hoping I can find that through Athena.
I have lost a lot of the strong independent and extremely confident woman I once was. Before my son was born I was a fighter and it was hard to let people close to me since I was hurt so many times in my past. Once I became a mother I had to change into a loving, nurturing woman that I had never seen myself as. So along the way my old identity got lost. I question almost everything I do and wonder if its the best choice or if its good enough. I find that I act weak and timid and I hate that part of me. Athena please make a stronger woman! Someone who truly believes in herself and has the confidence to concur anything!

-Michele Stevic
www.MicheleStevic.com
https://www.facebook.com/JourneyofaGoddess
Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/baEcqn

Another Year Older and None the Wiser

OK Ok... maybe not NONE the wiser.  I guess I have grown up a bit more since last year and learned a few new things.  2014 has been a bumpy road with many changes happening to me and my family. We have lost and gained, changed career paths and we have grown so much mentally and emotionally.  I have lost a few people this year and I think that has changed me the most. Losing a loved one is never easy and it makes people start thinking about their future and how they live their life.  Spending time with family and friends become much more important and you realize how vital it really is to live in the moment.  Thoughts of things you want to do before you pass flood your mind and a new hope is reborn from the ashes.  Sadly that feeling doesn't always last long and is pushed down again to go back to our everyday routine.

Wake up, get ready, go to work, come home, go to bed... REPEAT! Do we take time for ourselves everyday? Do we take time to spend REAL (meaning without texting or checking our facebook feeds) time with our kids?  I would love to say, "I try to!" but who am I kidding? I'm tried after work, homework and cooking dinner or cleaning all day.  I want to sit back and veg out on the couch and watch a movie or my favorite show.  I feel as if I have wasted so much time in my life and the important lesson, live each day as if it was your last, gets lost.

But how do we change something that we have been doing for so long?  And the excuse of too many distractions (ie the TV, phones and computers) is getting old. If you knew had a week to live, what would you be doing?  And if you were on your death bed tomorrow, would you regret what you have or hadn't done today?  I'm sad to say, I most likely would be mad at myself.

So on the first day of my 34th year I am making a promise to myself to honest to goodness try! I can't promise I won't veg out on the couch and binge watch my favorite shows.  That time together with my husband is important to me and I do really enjoy his company. But I can say that I will start putting a little more thought into my plan for each day and try my best to really be present in the moment.  Heres to adding some meaning and purpose to my amazing life.

-Michele Stevic
www.MicheleStevic.com
https://www.facebook.com/JourneyofaGoddess
Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/baEcqn

New Year = New ME!

I've been debating starting a blog for years now. I always thought it would be a lot of work or that it would just add one more thing to my long list of things to do weekly. I'm not a writer, nor have I ever wanted to be one. I have some interesting life stories and I have thought about writing them down before but never seemed to have the time or the real will to want to do it. So why am I writing now?  A new year is just days away and during the course of this month I have been thinking what would my New Years resolution would be this year. My normal answer would be to lose weight just like thousands of other women, but I know in my heart that I won't keep it. Holding myself accountable is something I struggle with as I am sure most people do. I have the greatest intentions all the time to want to change myself but life gets in the way and I give up.
I decided to make my journey to self improvement public.  Not because I want everyone to know my business or that I am looking for fame and glory because I am sure I won't receive that... but because if I keep writing and people keep reading than it will hold me accountable for my actions.
I have been self reflecting about things I want for myself and its more than just to lose weight, its my personal image as a whole. Its also my relationship with my husband and my 8 year old son. Its the not putting myself first ever or never making time for the things I love to do. I want to be able to look through magazines and stop wishing I had *her* body or those legs. I want to go into a store and love to shop since I fit in all the cute clothes.  The fancy hair and make up that I adore on pinterest but never seem to be able to do to myself or even have a place to go to wear that amazing up do or dark smokey eye.  I want to love shoe shopping without wondering when would I even ever wear those heels?
I have always loved mythology and how the different Goddesses all portray an attributes that I would love to see in myself. Aphrodite the Goddess of beauty, Hera the Goddess of marriage and Athena the Goddess of strength. The list goes on and on and I so wish that I could embody these Goddesses so that I can grow stronger as a wife, mother and woman in general. So I have themed this blog with the help of the Goddesses, in the hopes that I can overcome the identity I have now and grow into the woman I have always wanted to be.


-Michele Stevic
www.MicheleStevic.com
https://www.facebook.com/JourneyofaGoddess
Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/baEcqn