WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BLOG?

Okay so, what happened to my blog?  All my pictures went MIA!  This really sucks.  Don't know if it's something I did or google did but WTH?  I have tried to fix it but no luck so far.  Re-adding pics as I can but it's like what?  Two years worth?  Thought about starting over with a new blog since this was my first one and I've learned alot since I started blogging but I hate to loose the history.  Oh well, I'm really the only one who sees it anyways so I'm going to stick with it for now.  I like that others doing see the blog, except for maybe some random people once in a while that run across it and I don't know them so I'm beginning to feel more comfortable with just being me.  I could give it to friends and family but then I would probably sensor it more so for now I'm keeping it to myself and the other "unknowns" out there in the world.  I like it that way.

MY WORKOUT JOURNAL

I have recently been trying to get back into shape and have started doing yoga again.

I found this really good workout on YouTube and have been doing it.  It's called Ashtanga Yoga - The Practice - First Series by David Swenson.

This is another good video I found and will be alternating it with the others.  It's called Ashtanga Yoga Beginners Practice Full - Nicki Doane

I am also using one of my oldies but goodies: Denise Austin Fat Blasting Yoga

Denise says on her video that if you do her workout at least 3 times a week that in 21 days you will see a difference.  And I've read that it takes 21 days to form a new habit so....here I go!

Beginning Measurements:

Weight: 140 lbs.

Neck: 13"

Bust: 40"

Waist: 36"

Hips: 39"

(L) arm: 10.5"  (R) arm: 10.75"

(L) thigh 21"   (R) thigh 21.5"

(L) calf 13.5"  (R) calf 14"

After 30 days:

hips down 1" to 38
(L) arm up .5 " to 11
(R) arm up .25" to 11
(R) thigh down .5" to 21
(L) calf down .5" to 13
(R) calf down .5" to 13 (Odd, I thought the calf's would have gotten bigger)
It seems I'm evening up right and left sides haha.

Day 1:

Thursday 11/28/2013

Workout # 1

30 minutes Astanga Yoga with Nicki Doane

Day 2:

Friday 11/29/2013

Workout #2

30 minutes Ashtanga Yoga with Nicki Doane

Day 3:

Saturday 11/30/2013

Workout #3

1 hour Ashtanga Yoga with David Swenson

Day 4:

Sunday 12/01/2013

Nothing

Day 5:

Monday 12/02/2013

Workout #4

1 hour Ashtanga Yoga with David Swenson

Day 6:

Tuesday 12/03/2013

Workout #5

40 min. Ashtanga Yoga with David Swenson

Day 7:

Wednesday 12/04/2013

Nothing

Day 8:

Thursday 12/05/2013

Nothing

Day 9:

Friday 12/06/2013

Workout #6

30 minutes Ashtanga Yoga with David Swenson

Day 10:

Saturday 12/07/2013

Workout #7

30 minutes Ashtanga Yoga with David Swenson

Day 11:

Sunday 12/08/2013

Nothing

Day 12:

Monday 12/09/2013

Workout #8

1 hour Ashtanga Yoga with Nicki Doane

Day 13:

Tuesday 12/10/2013

Workout #9 

1 hour Ashtanga Yoga with Nicki Doane

Day 14
Wednesday 12/11/2013
Workout #10
45 minutes Fatblasting Yoga with Denise Austin

At the end of the second week I certainly don't feel that I've formed a new habit yet as I still have to make myself do this everyday and have come perilously close to becoming lazy and letting two days turn into three, etc. so I must still stay disciplined.  What I do when I start getting lazy is something I heard in one of David Swenson's talks.  He says if you don't want to do it that day start with baby steps ie:  i can stand on the mat, and that is what I've been doing and it seems to be working to keep me doing it.
     I do feel much better.  I'm proud of myself for coming this far and not quiting.  I feel more flexible.  I'm less tired during the day and am starting to have more energy.
     As far as physical changes I don't really see any although sometimes I just feel longer and leaner and like my waist is curvier.  I'm a little bit sore especially in my arms but not too bad and that only encourages me as I feel like my workouts are actually doing something.
     I am also ending the workouts with a few minutes meditation time which I have come to love and crave.
     So, it's early but I'm encouraged and will continue.  Onward........

Day 15
Thursday 12/12/2013
Workout #11
30 min. mixed
Not a good workout today as my power suddenly went out in the middle of the video and then it wouldn't reload properly so I had to move to another one in the middle of the workout.

Day 16
Friday 12/13/2013
Workout #12
1 hr Ashtanga Yoga with David Swenson

Day 17
Saturday 12/14/2013
Nothing

Day 18
Sunday 12/15/2013
Workout #13
1 hr Ashtanga Yoga with Nicki Doane

Day 19
Monday 12/16/2013
Nothing

Day 20
Tuesday 12/17/2013
Nothing

Day 21
Wednesday 12/18/2013
Workout #14
1 hr Yoga with Denise Austin

Day 22
Thursday 12/19/2013
Nothing

Day 23
Friday 12/20/2013
Workout #15
1 hr Yoga with Denise Austin

Day 24
Saturday 12/21/2013
Workout #16
1 hr Yoga with Dense Austin

Day 25
Sunday 12/22/2013
Nothing

Day 26
Monday 12/23/2013
Nothing

Day 27
Tuesday 12/24/2013
Nothing

Day 28
Wednesday 12/25/2013
Nothing

Day 29
Thursday 12/26/2013
Nothing

Day 30
Friday 12/27/2013
Nothing

At the end of 30 days:  Sort of fell off the last week (It was Christmas Week after all).  But I'm not quitting.  I definitely feel better, stronger, leaner, prettier.  But it's mostly a change only I see and feel at this time.  I am favoring doing Denise Austin's workout above the others as it is just a more intense workout and I feel like I'm getting "more bang for my buck" so-to-speak.  Lets see: measurements:  hmmmmm

hips down 1" to 38
(L) arm up .5 " to 11
(R) arm up .25" to 11
(R) thigh down .5" to 21
(L) calf down .5" to 13
(R) calf down .5" to 13 (Odd, I thought the calf's would have gotten bigger)
It seems I'm evening up right and left sides haha.

Well, small changes but I kind of think the next 30 days will see a bigger change.  The first 30 days seems to be more getting conditioned enough just to 'do' the exercises and becoming disciplined.  Now I feel stronger and my workouts feel more focused.  OK, next 30 days,her I come!  I am going to start my workout count over and my plan is to get in at least 12 workouts in in the next 30 days!

Day 31
Saturday 12/28/2013
Nothing

Day 32
Sunday 12/29/2013
Workout #1
1 hr Yoga with Denise Austin

MY 'GOD SPOT' BLOG

Well, I decided that I needed a separate blog for my "God stuff".  I was intermingling it with this blog but found it needed it's own life so I gave it one.  It's my "God Spot"  So I moved all that kind of stuff ie; my bible readings and studies, maps, etc. over to my new blog.  It's called BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.  You can click on this highlight and move over to it if you like.

AMERICAN HISTORY X

American History X has got to be one of the biggest sleeper movies of all times.  I first watched this movie several years ago because my brother told me it was a great movie.  How I missed it before that I'll never know and how so many other people have never heard of it or seen it is a mystery to me.  This would definitely be one of my top 10 movies to see.  No, top 5!  This movie, starring Edward Norton is intense, hard core and very deep.  It does an incredible job of depicting hate in it's various forms and how it destroys people.  It also does an incredible job of showing how a family is torn apart and changed after the death of the father.  A family that goes from being a mom, dad and kids living in a nice house living a nice, normal life to being a family that is poor, the kids spiraling out of control and barely limping along.  Edward Norton is an amazing actor here showing many faces in this movie and doing each one great.  He is a young teen, listening to his father at the dinner table, a whit supremacist filled with hate and violence, an inmate, a young man trying to get his family back together and on their feet and save his little brother and a grief stricken man.  He goes from bad guy to good guy and does both so well.

THE DEATH OF MY MOTHER

 My mother died when I was 17 yrs old.  She was 35.  She was killed in a car accident.  She fell asleep driving one night and ran into the back of an 18 wheeler and was killed instantly.   That night she had a special job she was doing.  She had been picked as the hostess from her Steak and Ale to go to a job in Houston to represent her Steak and Ale from the Clear Lake area. So, she got off late and was tired and that's how she ended up dying in a car accident.  At home there were 5 kids asleep.  I was the oldest and that night I left a note for her on the kitchen table asking her to wake me up when she got home and let me know she got home safely.  She never did.


The death of my mother has been the most profound event in my life.  It is a story that is inside me and that I need to tell.  It is the story of five kid's struggle to cope with loss, heartache and tragedy.  It is the story of how, in an instant, unexpected events can change everything you know to be true and good and right and how your whole world can be turned upside down, changing everything about who you are or ever were going to be.  It is my story as seen through my eyes.  Whether it is interesting to anyone else or not I do not know but I have begun putting my story in words on another blog entitled "There Were Five of Us".  You can click on that link and see it if you like.  I am writing it in memory of my mother and father, both now deceased, and in honoring my brothers and sisters who have traveled this journey too in their own ways.  I love you all.

All the Holms' June 1973

Back Row: Reisa, Sue, Dean, Richard

.  Front Row: Jill, Debbie, Richy,

UPDATE ON MOVE

So, lots has changed since I last blogged.  I moved to a new house, same city, kids stayed in same school.  Moved the horses to a new place which I really like. I got a new job.  Got promoted!  Became the Director of Nurses at the County Jail.  It has been a lot of work and lot to learn but I am really enjoying it.  My truck broke down and I put it in the shop.  I get it out tomorrow for a small (ha ha) fee of $1,318.00 (ugh).  Oh well, the good thing is it will be running better and safer and it won't make that embarrassing squeaking noise with every bump.  Hope to post more often.

A POEM BY MY DAUGHTER, MEAGAN JOHNSON

I Am....

I am an artist.

Some see their life in number.

Some see their life in diction.

But I?  I see the world in colors.

I see smooth, open plains,

ready to be molded with light.

I am a leopard moving fluidly,

through tall, shining grass

to shape a world of meaning.

I'm one hundred shades of light

that change with my scene.

I am a creator of silent wind,

of motionless water,

of frozen time.

But to me it all moves,

because I...am an artist.

I am an actor.

To mold my deepest emotions is my field.

My field of colorful flowers I mold to my my liking.

I am a conformist to the person I am told to be

on a bright, open stage.

I become a different being in the spotlight.

I amplify the smallest emotions

to create a new person.

To others, that's all it is...an act.

But to me,

it's an art.

I am a musician.

I am a musician who finds herself when she's lost.

Who finds herself by getting lost.

I know how to lose myself

in the rushing waters of my sound.

I am a builder of walls around my soul

just to tear them down

with fluid, unforgiving music.

I am a musician who breaths in the water

when I find myself drowning.

I find myself when I am lost.

I find myself by getting lost.

I am a musician.

I am a searcher.

I search through the movement of

one hundred sounds in one.

I search through the changes in my soul

to be another.

I search through ten-thousand colors together

to make a moment.

I'll search for solace in a world

where peace is underrated,

options are limited,

and too many are dejected.

Where the road to understanding

is broken, long and lonely.

But still I search because I

am a searcher,

of serenity,

of peace,

of understanding,

of balance.

But I am most of all...me.

I am still searching for myself

in the ice of the stars,

in the rush of the wind,

in the crash of the waves.

Through art, music, acting, and life,

I am searching for me.

Meagan Johnson
13 years old

December 2012