New Beginning (again)

These are starting photos so you can see why I've begun my "Get Healthy, Lose Weight, Feel Confident" journey again. These were taken the Sunday before the Monday I started the Primal Blueprint eating way of life. I am pretty overweight. I hope that no one would dispute or say, "oh no, you look fine" because I could never take your word again. I am way over a healthy weight and I have horrible stomach issues, my hands stay swollen, my knees ache and hurt all the time, I'm pretty sluggish most of the day and my focus is almost non-existent. That being said, it's been one week since I started eating PB. I feel great! I have energy! I am focused (or at least more so than I was)! My stomach is doing so, so much better! And I feel positive about what I'm doing. Oh, and I've lost 4.2 pounds in 7 days. I'm excited about reading recipes, trying new food and reading success stories of people who are on the same journey I am. I actually swam laps today on my lunch hour and I really like to daydream a bit while I'm swimming. Each lap I finished, I said to myself, "I'm proud of you". I realized that, while I am doing this for myself, so I can feel better and be healthier, I do love having the support that my husband and my family give me. When my niece was potty training, I would go in with her, sit on the floor and we would tell stories or talk about something silly. One day, she just sat looking at me after she'd gone but before she got off the potty and said, "Aren't you so proud of me?". I replied, "Yes, I am soooo proud of you". I realized that I had forgotten to say it (like I did every other time) and she wanted to hear it. She smiled her amazing smile, hopped down and off we went on our day. I think about that a lot. I love to hear "I'm so proud of you". My husband and dad are the best about saying it and meaning it. Enough chatter for today. Let me get this crazy post posted!

IF - Whisper

On the whisper of the wind. . .

IF - Wool

On a cold, windy day, warm wool mittens, socks, hats and jackets were just what was needed. This was great fun to draw.

IF - Snow

Since we live in Mississippi, where we rarely see snow, especially any of consequence, U'pi was not sure what to think of our white ground cover.

Explore - IF

I have missed posting my sketches in Illustration Friday so much. I'm going to get back to it!! So here we go, my first sketch back for the topic Explore. I was definitely exploring my imagination during a meeting that ran a little long.

This is the side view of the Frozen IF post and some sketches I did for a play my mom is writing. It'd be fun for me if they get used in the playbill but they were fun to draw either way.

IF: Frozen

A moment frozen in time. . . .

IF Idle:

From a card set I did for a friend that I thought fit the topic for IF.

Sister Card

I'm still working on my watercolor skills and did this little card for my sister. Getting better but not quite there yet.

IF: Worn

Been working and getting ideas from some different "How-To Draw" books and these are my efforts at worn.

Greeting Cards

This is a set of greeting cards I did for a friend. Still working on the watercolor technique but I'm happy with the way these turned out.

Craving IF - This is a really quick doodle I did between working and answering the phone. No fun being a grown-up sometimes. Anyway, this is me without diet moutain dew. It's sad but true . . . I do crave the sweet nectar from above.

IF-Impossibility

I didn't have access to a scanner so I "clicked" this one with my webcam. Although I know there apparently are scuba diving dogs, it still popped into my head when I saw the topic. Still working on my water color skills.

IF: Legendary: I am doing two things I've not done before. One - trying to color something with watercolors and Two - posting a page from my sketchbook. The IF picture is the Legendary Codboy. Don't know what my new thing is with drawing cod but I'm having fun with it. You'll see some other cod on my sketchpage. I'm also working on some exercises from the Animator's Workbook.

Pretend: A "pub night" drawing drawn on a napkin. My parents tell stories about me sitting on my training potty with my hands over my eyes, thinking that this made me invisible, when they'd come down the hallway looking for me. There are actually photographs, but I do have my pride :)

TOO MANY WHY'S. For anyone who has children, younger nieces, nephews, cousins or has ever been in the presence of a young child, this will be self-explanatory. For anyone who has not been in the presence of a young child, you may be asking "why???".

IF - HOARD
This is a super super quick sketch just to get me back on track with posting something at least once a week. This is based on something my little brother used to do. If my mom asked him to share a candybar or something he was eating, he would agree and then, while our parents weren't looking, he'd stick his tongue out and do a big, slobbery lick on whatever it was he was supposed to share and then hand it over to me. I'm sure no one else has ever encountered this kind of shinanigans (yeah, right!!)

Illustration Friday - Excess. I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted and I sure have missed it, so here it is . . . EXCESS!

IF: Visitors: This sure looked better in my sketch book but I still like the way it's turning out. I plan to make my first attempt at watercolors with this one this weekend so I'll post it "finished" later.

Well, it's been quite awhile since I've posted but here it is! This is my IF submission for "Neighbors".

Gravity for Illustration Friday

Just a quick something to get back into the habit of posting!

Buzz - I'm trying out something a little new with these old men looking thingies.

Invention, Illustration Friday

Here are two different drawings I did for invention. . . the wheel is a wonderful, wonderful thing!

Smokie the Bear!! A late entry but an entry nonetheless. I still want to try to figure out how to "finish" my drawings.

Doodling on a new notepad is always fun and that's how i came up with this week's illustration.

I've also included the entire page of doodles I did for that day.

This is me, the goob in the band, being completely and utterly smitten by one of our football players, who had no idea I existed. Then, one day, that same football player came and fixed my computer at work and the rest is history. We've been married almost 12 years and I'm still completely and utterly smitten. awwwwwww, isn't that sugary sweet?

IF-Farm The Uppity Cow

This is a post of an illustration that my 8 year old nephew and I drew last night for the IF topic Safe. We worked on it together and he also came up with the awesome symbol KR that incorporates both of our names. I love having such a wonderful drawing partner!!

A very quick doodle to get me back in the habit of posting every week. I would very much like to move this to "real" paper and add some detail because I really like the idea.