The Goodenough Blog

So last night I was invited to see a movie at the Santa Barbara Independent Film Festival.  We ended up seeing Sweet Thing which was filmed in and around my hometown Seattle, Wa. The plot, well if there was a plot it was about two 19 year old girls trying to find themselves and that wrestle that we all go through to gain our independence and then figuring out what to do with it once we get it.  Jody lives at home, works for her dad’s company and is so alone and confused that she turns to drugs.  Liz is all alone, has no one supporting her and works in a coffee shop.   

I really enjoyed every minute of this movie.  I recognized myself all throughout the movie, the coffee shop, the drugs, the first real boyfriend, smoking, working at a job your dad got you.    I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to be 19 again so badly.  Just that freedom that you are allowed when you are 19, you’re allowed to be reckless and stupid and smoke pot all day. 

This small indie film is fantastic and really reminds you of what life at 19 really was like and if you get a chance to see it, I would highly recommend it.  Although if your idea of a good movie is Bridget Jones’ Diary, you might want to  skip it.

So on Saturday I participated in MAC cosmetic’s “Back to MAC” recycling program where you bring in empty eyeshadows and you get a free one in return.  So I got two free shadows and I am such a happy camper.  I went to a networking event tonight and got all gussied up in my new shadows and I felt beautiful and skinny for the first time in years.  I took a picture of myself and held it up against one from August and you can tell that I have finally lost my 3rd chin.  Thank heaven.   

August 2008

January 27, 2009

So today I ate:

• Bob’s Red mill Mighty Tasty Gluten Free Hot Cereal with Banana and rasin
• Avocado with tomato, pinenuts and balsamic
• Spinach soup with onion and turnip
• Teriyaki Salmon Salad 
• 2 pieces of 75% Chocolate. . . hehe

So on top of trying to make myself into a better me, I am also trying to start up a business and move to Europe.  I think I should have my head examined, oh wait. . . .I already am.  

Well we have finally picked a date to leave, so as of March 23, 2009 I will be writing this blog from the UK.  We are going to stay there for around 6 months, or until our money runs out.  I am excited and scared since this is waaaaaay outside my box.  But I have Eric and I have a need to do something original in this life, so here is my attempt.  So now we just have to narrow down where we want to live which is proving more difficult than you might imagine.  When faced with this many options, it becomes increasingly difficult to make a decision. 

“Wow, that’s a great question. Tough one, though. What does one gage his response on ? Physical prowess? Keen detection skills ? The ability to banter well with super villains ? ”

Ah Mallrats what a great film.

The gauntlet has been thrown down.  30 lbs by March 31st.  Which is in effect 10 lbs per month including January.  So far I’ve lost 7 lbs this month so I only have this week and next to lost 3 more pounds.  Which is possibly do-able. But then I have to continue this trend for another 2 months.  If I lost 30 lbs, I am halfway to my goal.  So really it sounds pretty sweet to me. But it does sound like a lot of hard work. No more trips to SF and eating whatever, I can tell you that.

I am doing this post a day late. . . . so yesterday I ate:

• Gluten free hot cereal with rice milk
• an apple
• leftover cabbage soup
• cashew nut dip with veggie crudites
• Cinnamon chicken breasts
• spinach salad with tomatoes, peas, cucumber and mint
• 3 coconut covered dates

  Spinach salad 

A friend of mine sent the following challenge to my Facebook today.  I decided to accept the challenge and see if I could come up with 16 random things that I thought my friends would like to know.  It was really hard work, it’s so tedious to come up with reasons why I am cool.  I swear I almost started making things up.

Rules: Copy the rules and place on your Notes application, and then write 16 random things (facts, habits, or goals, etc) about YOU. At the end, choose at least 16 people to be tagged, including the person that tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about YOU

1. I wake up every day and stick a small teapot full of saltwater up my nose so that I can pour it out the other nostril so that I can breathe. (that’s a netty pot in case you were wondering)
2. Over my school career I have been to 2 preschools, 2 kindergartens, 2 elementary schools, 2 Jr. Highs, 3 high schools and 2 colleges. 
3. I secretly love Barry Manilow. I’m a Manalooney, or a Fanalow depending on how you swing. 
4. When I was young I only wanted to be as tall as Paula Abdoul because she was a great dancer and I figured that I needed to be short to be a great dancer too.
5. I enjoy throwing or smearing things on my brother’s faces. Dustin got jello, Christian got pudding. If you’ve never tried it, I highly recommend it, so much fun!
6. I am waaaay freaked out by the cotton balls that come in bottles of pills. Or just cotton balls in general. I am getting tense just thinking about it. 
7. I don’t know the phone numbers of anyone in my contacts, not one person besides Eric. Not even my parents. 
8. I am an uber nerd and can recite and perform almost any movie musical you throw at me. Oh ya I know Sister Act II very well.
9. In high school I hated pop music so I listened to Oldies radio instead and now have a lot of Herman’s Hermits songs bouncing around in my head. 
10. My uncle’s nickname for me growing up was “Amber Nickel” or “Amber 5-Penny”.
11. I’ve lived in 6 states including: Washington, Minnesota, New Jersey, Texas, California and Nebraska.
12. My voice can be heard on one of my brother’s demo tracks for his album. 
13. I’m an aspiring amateur photographer and salsa dancer.
14. I have an impeccable sense of direction, I can always find my way back to where I need to go even if I haven’t been there in years. 
15. My first and last boyfriend were both named Eric. 
16. I have never successfully peed in the wilderness.

17. I gained weight over the weekend  Not cool.

So today I ate:

• smoothie, banana, mango, pear, pineapple
• oriental salad; carrot, celery, cucumber, pepper tossed in sesame dressing
• miso soup
• avocado with sunflower seeds and hummus
• cabbage soup with navy beans
• 6 coconut covered dates
• sliced strawberries with honey

Today I drove up to San Francisco to visit some friends.  It was a long drive and I have to say that I could have done a better job of being prepared.  I did however stop to use a restroom at Carl’s Jr. and made it out of there with only a diet soda since I had a salad from home to eat in the car.  I was very proud of myself for resisting temptation and making a good choice.  So proud of myself in fact that I didn’t even drink the soda since I wanted to only put healthy things in my body.  Only problem was that when I finally got to SF I was starving and in need of much food.  Leigh and I went to the Berkeley Bowl a local co-op and bought lots of veggies to take home to snack on.  They had like 87 different kinds of carrots and they had my very favorite and hard to find apples, honey-crisp!  Yum!  Who knew I could get so excited about apples.  

I think the key is to travel ultra prepared.  I should have included some kind of protein in my snacks, but I made it in one piece and didn’t stop to eat junk food.  Tomorrow hiking and possibly a fire ballet?  How cool is that!?

So today I ate:

• half grapefruit, banana
• pear
• trader joe’s garden salad with sesame seeds
• sunflower seeds and walnuts (handful)
• honey crisp apple!!
• sushi, 2 sushi rolls, 3 nigiri, 2 veggie rolls
• and hot sake. . . . mmmmm

That’s right!  I lost another pound.  That’s 7 since Jan. 1st!!

Today was long and busy.  I feel like I haven’t sat down all day.  I went to therapy, worked out for an hour, and cooked and cooked and did laundry and packed and I am wiped.  I am going to San Francisco tomorrow for the weekend with my friends.  I am going to actually see if they will let me cook so that I can make all my healthy meals up there and not stray from my progress.  And my friend Leigh has offered to take me hiking, which is perfect because I wasn’t sure how I was going to get any exercise. 

So today I ate:

• smoothie of: cherimoya, banana, strawberry, rice milk
• grapes
• quinoa and beet salad with green beans, peppers and cucumbers
• radishes and brazil nuts
• Black bean soup with guacamole
• bananas drizzled with agave syrup

So short post today since it is now 1:33am.  Long day.  Long day.  I am still processing all that happened.  But i want to get in the habit of writing every day, so here I am at 1:33 am trying to write something before my eyes shut.

So today I ate:

• veggie juice- carrot, cucumber, celery
• mango
• turkey burger salad with tomatoes and red pepper
• handful of pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds
• small filet of halibut and leeks
• veggie crudites and hummus

Today I went and helped my dad give a lecture on teamwork and leadership in Camarillo for the church he belongs to.  It was a great lecture and I really came away with a lot of knowledge, great teams are about having people with the right talent and the right attitude and having a clear vision.  I got sad thinking about all the teams of people I used to manage, since now its just me and my husband.  I have no one to manage, no one to develop and no one to boss around.  I have no team.  

But then it occurred to me, I do have a team.  I have a team of people and they are helping me reach my vision.  In our mission statement it states, “for Amber to achieve, health, happiness and find her passion”.  My team includes my wonderful husband Eric who helps me stay motivated and has even changed his diet to help me be tempted less.  Eric is in charge of helping me find my passion and taking me outside of my box that I love to live in.  It also includes my therapist, who works on the happiness part.  She keeps me accountable for my health issues as well which really is part of me being happy.  And the final person is my trainer Melody, she is a wonderful motivator, a great friend and someone that truly gets excited about every single pound and small achievement.  

I have the perfect team to reach my goals and vision.  I don’t have to manage them, but they are on my side they have “bought in” to the vision and they are helping me become the better version of myself that I truly want to be.  

So today I ate:

• banana and pineapple
• avocado
• leftover adzuki bean bake
• salad with sprouts and cabbage
• turkey burgers with leeks and garlic
• hummus and veggie crudites 
• carrot juice
• small piece of dark chocolate. . . a moment of weakness

I realized today that I always look forward to going to therapy, and then end up leaving upset and confused (in a good way).  I am often confronted by my fears and by my own logic that tells me what I am doing and feeling is wrong.  It’s like if I was listening to one of my friends describe my life as if it were theirs, I would know exactly what to say to them and could see clearly what is wrong and right.  But when it’s right there in front of my face, I can’t see it.  I can’t apply my great sense of logic when it comes to my relationships and my needs.  But I think I am starting to turn a corner.  Today we talked about my successes, my weight loss success and I recently started learning how to code xhtml, which is something I thought was incredibly complicated and above my head.  I am finding that if I put my mind to something, there is little to keep me from doing it.  So now I have to rediscover Amber, so that I can find out what I am passionate about.  I can’t remember anymore because of all the years of pain and change and weight that kept my head underwater.  

I have been existing for the last 8 years, not living, just existing.  But this is the year it changes.  I am going to move with Eric to England for 6 months in March and we don’t know when or where we’ll end up.  I am going to find my passion, I am going to lose the weight that has been holding me back and making me feel bad about myself.  These are all things you would never have heard me say 3 months ago.  I was too scared and to petrified to try because I thought that I didn’t deserve good things and that they required too much energy, energy that I just didn’t have.  But the small successes are making me see what might be possible, it’s still a little fuzzy but in time it will come into focus and life will be passionate again.  

So today I ate:

• Stewed apples over pear and blackberries
• a grapefruit
• miso soup
• Fresh tuna with kale and caper dressing YUM!!!!!
• juice of cucumber, celery, alfalfa sprouts, ginger
• Adzuki Bean Hotpot with parsnip, sweet potato, leek, tomato and carrot
• salad with blanched broccoli, green beans, asparagus, peas, pine nuts and pumpkin seeds