I saw a poster of Facebook awhile back that really resonated with me...

 

I have always been a rather passionate individual...whether you believe in zodiac stuff or not, I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm a full blooded Gemini! For awhile though, I think I lost that part of me, I can't pinpoint when, but I know that for some time I lost the fire that had always burned inside of me, something that I have always loved about myself. However over the past year and a string of personal events, my passion for life and everything in it, the good, the bad, and the ugly was reignited again and I'll tell you something, it felt good.  No, scratch that.  It feels amazing!  Never in my life have I felt more alive than I do now, and I love it;  I've missed it immensely.

I'm finding more joy in the things that make me feel alive.  Like listening to music for hours, and singing at the top of my lungs, and just enjoying time with myself.  Again, you've heard my say it before and it probably wont be the last time, but I feel like all of this is apart of this journey that is taking me to places I've never been and driving me to be the best version of myself.  Anyway, my love for writing is what brought me to my blog again, after more than a year of being away.  I wanted to be here again.  I wanted to share some of my thoughts with people that care, or someone who might find my thoughts encouraging.   I've always loved writing, and after years of writing papers that I had to write, I wanted to get back to writing about what I wanted to write about even it if was silly posts about Pinterest fails! I've also found myself going outside my comfort zone in more ways than one.  Exploring my style as an adult, getting back into singing (which is something I've loved since I was little), and just going out on a limb and standing up for myself, rocking my confidence and finding new loves like going to the gym and trying to find a balance between my busy life and being healthy.  I'm enjoying embracing everything about myself.  Even the flaws;  because lets face it, even those things should be embraced. They are yours, and honestly I think they make life interesting.  Own it.

Anyway, I find myself thinking about this simple poster over and over and over again this week. There  has to be a reason we become so invested and passionate in the things that we love, or the ones that we love. It's not just a random emotion or feeling, it truly is a calling.  One that I know inspires me. They inspire me to go after the things I want, to continue living life so passionately that it inspires others.  Be invested in the things you love, have no regrets and enjoy the journey...but most importantly don't ever loose yourself and if you do try like hell to re-ignite that fire.

-Lexi

Writer's Block...

Already?  I'm so glad that my last post had such amazing feedback from my readers.  It really made my day.  Really.  I hope that I can have more posts that do the same thing, especially since it was such a scary one for me to publish.  Ever since then I've been feeling a little blocked; like I don't have anything relevant to say, which in a way is kind of disheartening for a girl who seems to have so much on her mind these days.   I guess that's what living a lone will do to a person; I'm definitely one of those people who can get inside my own head and over think everything! For someone like that it seems like I would have plenty to talk about.  Sigh.  So until I can get my thoughts together and decide what I want to write about I'll just leave you with a little inspirational poster;  you know you love them as much as I do ;) 

Because I know that's what I'm trying to do!  

Love you all. 

-Lexi 

Just The Beginning

It took me forever to push "publish" on this post...normally I'm not one to publicly talk about my body "struggles".  Over the years, I feel like I've been on this "healthy lifestyle" journey and a constant battle with my body image for a LOOOOOONG time, and maybe, just maybe,  if I document some parts of this journey I might actually have to be held accountable for once. After all I'm putting this stuff on the internet and into the universe now...for all to see...kinda scary.

Let me start by saying I AM NOT a "fitness expert" or an "aspiring fitness competitor" or any type of qualified individual when it comes to the subject matter. I'm just a regular woman who needed to take back control and get on track again.  FOR ME!!  To feel better about myself and to reclaim my confidence.  I feel like it's just one small part of this journey to "self discovery" that I feel like I've been on this past year!

Over the last few years I've fell on and off the "healthy lifestyle" wagon a number of times. Can I see a raise of hands?  However in the last year I've somehow lost quite a few L.B's...so I can't complain too much.  How did I do it?  Well I really am not 100% sure, I'm almost positive it's been somewhat stress related, which isn't great...but, I'm going to be real here.  Aside from everyday life stresses, I think that I stopped stressing about numbers, and the scale and started really trying to make more conscious choices along with listening to my body, decisions that made me happy.  I've worked at becoming aware of my body and what I require, or to maybe skip on some things when I really don't need them, and maybe just wait until the weekend ;) I can have a tendency to over-indulge, but I'm definitely not one who can count calories and keep track of all that mess.  I go crazy over details and being perfect to the point where eventually I just give up.  It doesn't work for me.  To be honest I haven't sacrificed too much in terms of what I eat, but I think I've finally found a balance in my life where for me moderation is key,  and hey I'll be the first to admit that I have a serious love affair with eating out and red wine!

Don't I just look SO sad!?

On a side note...these pictures where taken around the same time at the above picture, when I was feeling pretty  yucky about my body image...but I have to say it was just what I needed to kick start my self confidence again!  When I saw these pictures, with very little re-touching, it did something for my self esteem that I really needed... extra L.B.'s and all...I can say I think this May have been a starting point for me although I may have not even realized it yet.  

So anyway, now that you have all seen my lovely pictures....

After I graduated college this past March I found myself bored, with ample amounts of "free time" that I didn't know what to do with.  I needed something to occupy my spare time, especially since Jeremy was getting ready to deploy.  Again.  I'm not one for crafting or any of that, but I remembered  the countless times I would tell myself that after I graduated college I had no more excuses; gone where the days of late night homework sessions after working a 10 hour day, I needed to make it happen.   I needed to be active and I had to do something, so I made good on my word with myself and finally joined a gym after putting it off for about 2 months.  So step 1 of this "healthy lifestyle" venture was complete.  Now I just had to get myself there.   I haven't always loved working out,  but rewind two years, and I found myself gym-ing it on a regular basis with my girlfriend and falling in love with weight training.  But as it often goes, life got in the way and I found myself falling out of a routine, moving across the world and settling into a new life once again, and packing on the pounds. It's life folks.  It happens.  And guess what?  It's OK!!!  I've found myself recently having to really learn that you can fall down, but what really matters is that you pick yourself back up.  No matter how many times you have to; something we should apply in all aspects in life really.  But now that I'm back at it, I'm falling in love with it again, and loving my new found strength, that I only hope will only continue to grow; both internally and externally (cliche I know!).

Still working on my progress, but so proud of how far I've come.

Aside from graduating and having the free time available, I think that I had lost my identity a little bit. Being bogged down with homework for the past 7 years, and going through some things in my personal life really had me in a place that I didn't like, and I finally think I just reached a point where I had to start feeling better about myself. Not for anyone else, not because the media says I need to be a size negative 15, but because I needed to start focusing on me and what makes me happy.  I needed to be a little selfish!  I think that women especially tend to forget that we are important too; we spend so much time focusing on other people, doing a good job at work, and running a house, that we tend to forget that it's ok to be a little selfish sometimes!  I've always been one to put on my makeup and try my best regardless of my size,  but I needed to feel better in my skin, more comfortable, more me. For me it's not really about the numbers on the scale (which is why I haven't mentioned my "number" in any of these pictures!).  It's about how I feel in my clothes, and being comfortable in a form fitting dress, a neon yellow romper or a pair of cut off shorts even if my legs aren't super ripped like Carrie Underwood...a girl can dream though!

So where am I going with this long drawn out post?  I guess what I'm trying to say in this novel of a post, is that maybe if you're in a place where you feel like you have given up, or that doing your best just isn't good enough anymore, or you're at a loss, then you aren't alone. We have ALL been there at some point, and from time to time we might find ourselves there again!  I just hope that maybe through my own journey, wherever it might take me, that I might be able to inspire you a little.  After all, I'm just a regular everyday woman too.  So regardless of what you might think of this post, I will tell you if there is one thing I want you to take away from this post it's this...

Love you guys.  I'm always here if you need me.

-Lexi

Pinterest Fail #1

So my girlfriend and I decided we were going to do a little "Pinterest cooking project"! First, let me give you some background in saying the neither one of us is very domestic when it comes to these kinds of things.  In fact, the easier the better, especially when it comes to cooking...the only reason I have a kitchen is because it came with the house ;) Anyway my girlfriend is starting a new job this month and in an effort to be efficient and healthy, without sacrificing the ever so precious beauty rest that  a girl needs we decided that it would be a brilliant idea to make waffles so that we can have them quick in the morning ready to go, just pop those bad boys in the toaster and you're out the door.  Like you own homemade eggo, right? Sounds simple enough to me.  So we both order waffle makers. Perfect.  Those get here quick, so the hunt for the waffle recipe begins.  She finds a recipe, I find a recipe, they both seem easy enough this is going to be great.  So Wafflepalooza finally rolls around and we get all of our supplies, we've got the waffle makers out, we are ready to go.  My girlfriend and her husband and cranking out beautiful banana waffles and smell and taste pretty darn good.  Then there's mine...



Aren't they gorgeous?  Trust me they taste better than they look, a little ugly, but full of personality.  In all fairness I think the recipe could have been tweaked a little bit, which I now know for next time. The batter was a little on the thick side and not spreading very well, and I got a a whopping 4 waffles out of a double batch, which according to the recipe a single batch should have made 8.  The waffle in the bottom corner was the last one I made, and it was the "prettiest" by a long shot....however flip that beast over and it wasn't looking too hot. So there you have it folks.  My first Pinterest fail.  On the plus side, they can only get better from here!

-Lexi

PS--In case you want to try to make these waffles, and do a way better job than I did, here is the recipe which came from this blog, where she makes them look so much prettier!

PROTEIN WAFFLES
½ cup old fashioned oats
½ cup low fat cottage cheese
2 eggs
½ tsp vanilla
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
Dash of salt {optional}

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend. Pour batter into a hot, non-stick sprayed waffle maker for a few minutes {until lightly browned}

Instagram!

Who doesn't love Instagram?  I have to admit I'm kind of a selfie junkie...embarrassing I know. I take them all the time.  I mean sometimes you just have to document when you are having a good hair day or wearing a killer shade of lipstick!  In all seriousness though, I have to say Instagram has definitely grown to be my favorite form of social media.  I think it's fun to see all the pictures posted by friends and family, whether it's their food, clothes, pets, or a #shamelessselfie it's fun to see what everyone is up to, and it sure as heck beats a status update every time you go to the gym, or eat a cookie!

Now don't get my wrong,  I'm not hating on the F-B I'm definitely one of those that says "I wish I could just delete it" but never will. I know you're guilty too!  I use Facebook just like the rest of you do, every 5 minutes logging in from a mobile device to see what all of our friends are up to, or what kind of drama is going on at "that one yard sale page," or simply because we're bored and have nothing else better to do. I do use Facebook for my business (insert shameless plug here: www.facebook.com/nailsbylexi) and to keep it touch with friends I've made over the years...girls that hated me in school (kidding!) and of course my Grandmother who likes to see my pictures when she can figure out how to use it!  But I think I just enjoy the simplicity of the IG rather than the countless advertisements, negativity, drama that Facebook seems to attract these days. It's just become so complex!  Life doesn't need to be that complicated people!

Whew, feels good to get that off my chest ;)  But seriously if you're an Instagram loving junkie like myself, come follow me, and I'll follow you back.  I want to see pictures of the chocolate cake you just made, and you flexing those new muscle in the mirror at the gym!  You can find me @lexipaige28...now if only I could get on board with tweeting...


-Lexi

Well look who we have here...

Wow.  It has seriously been forever, and SO much has changed;  I almost don't know where to start! Well...I FINALLY graduated college after 7 years of hard work, lots of money, and one or two tears; I can proudly say that I am now the proud new owner of a shiny new bachelor's degree from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, where as some of you might remember I majored in Fashion and Retail Management. So what does one do after their graduate college?  Well, I don't know.  Inspiring.right?That is kind of why I have found myself here again.  All this free time on my hands is driving me crazy and it's always been a major complaint that I haven't been able to dedicate the kind of time to writing that I would like to....so, this seems like a good time to pick it back up, and keep up with it.  I will say that it might be a little different this time around.  When I started this blog I wanted to talk about fashion and beauty and all of those fun things.  But this time I think I want it to be a little different. I feel like I'm at such a different place in my life, I'm 26 years old and really trying to figure things out!  I still want to talk about beauty and fashion because those are things that I love, but I also want to talk about life and what's on my mind, and things of that nature.  I need an outlet here folks!  Maybe let me know what you want to hear about and I can most likely give you an opinion on that too ;)

So just a little update from my last post, which I know, it was from a million years ago...I had briefly mentioned that we had be stationed at a new base and moved to Clovis New Mexico after living in the UK for 4 years.  Well we are still there!   It's been 2 years now, and I feel pretty settled here, although I know it wont be forever it works for now, and I for one have really have grown to love it.  It's definitely not a forever place...but we have made a comfortable life here.  Some of the major happenings, aside from graduating,  have included buying a a gorgeous new home, and surviving two deployments; but I have made some great friends along the way, and found work at an awesome salon that I never, ever, ever want to leave! So that's kind "it" in a nut shell!

Anyway I'm not going to make this first post a long drawn out one.  Mostly because there are so many different directions I could probably go, which would essentially make this a novel, and not a blog.  I'm sure that eventually I'll get everything caught up in my new posts.  So, if you're still here, I'm glad!  I am definitely happy to be back and can't wait to keep going while I try to figure out this new direction and overall this new journey in life.  Hope you stick along for the ride.

-Lexi