When you have 7 minutes

Watch this video.  The 7 minute montage of films from the 2000s is really something special.  Lots of memories.

Video produced by Paul Proulx. Found on the Slog.

two of my favorite things

Buddy and cupcakes.

(I think he’s contemplating going in for the steal.)

Back in the saddle again

I know I haven’t posted much lately. Sorry ’bout that. I just haven’t had much to say! But I know I’m long past due for an update, so here’s what’s been going on with me:

After the holidays, I recommitted to my health and fitness. I know I’ve done that many times before, but this time I really did it! I joined a wonderful Web site called SparkPeople, which allows me to track my food and exercise and connect with other like-minded individuals. Seeing my calories add up over the course of a day has been a real eye-opener, and just logging on and earning SparkPoints and reading informative articles about fitness and weight loss has provided tons of motivation! I’ve been working out consistently too, alternating days of jogging/walking on the treadmill with days of strength training using workout videos. I’ve lost 7.8 pounds since I joined SparkPeople on December 29th! So I feel like I’m making great progress in that department.

This week I started my spring classes. This semester I’m taking Information Organizations and Management (a required course) and Information Technology Tools & Applications, in which I’ll learn HTML, CSS and JavaScript and create my own Web page! I’m totally excited about that class and about acquiring Web design skills.

During my winter break, I did do a lot of pleasure reading as I vowed I would. I only finished one of the books on my list (The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, which was wonderful!) but I also read some books on fitness and weight loss which have been really helpful in the pursuit of those goals.

Overall, I’m feeling pretty good these days. And I’m really happy to see that the days are getting longer again! Now I can still see a glimmer of light in the sky when I get off work at 5 PM.

Bitten by the lazy bug

Every morning I receive my daily email from Etsy (if you don’t know about Etsy, click on that link right now).  I usually take a minute or two to look through the email and end up super inspired.  Thoughts run through my head like “Oh, I could make that!” Or, “That’s adorable, I am going to the craft store directly after work tonight!” I usually save a picture of the inspiration with plans to analyze it after work and go about my day.  It all seems dandy, right?  Problem is, I am tired after work.  I’m tired when I leave and by the time I fight traffic, walk Buddy, and wrangle up somthing for dinner, I am exhausted and all I want to do is read or watch TV.  Do you experience this?  How do you fight the laziness and find motivation? I imagine it only gets that much harder when wee ones enter the picture.

I vow to do better in 2010.  Last week I actually did go to Michael’s for some crafts supplies and hope to complete something–anything–this week.  Wish me luck.  I promise to post pictures if I get anything done.

Thanks for listening to my lazy rant.

xoxo
Mina

Happy Weekend!

Have a great weekend!  Mike and I are taking a mini holiday to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary.  Tonight we’re headed to the Embassy Suites where we spent our very first night as a married couple.  Then first thing tomorrow we’ll be heading to Quinault Resort & Casino in Ocean Shores for some fun at the beach.  I can’t believe it’s been two years already!  It has been truly amazing and full of fun, love, and lots of laughs, in addition to all the challenges life has thrown our way.  In honor of our anniversary, I’ll leave you with a few of my favorite wedding photos.

xoxo
Mina

Another reason the iPhone is amazing

“U.S. filmmaker Dan Woolley was shooting a documentary about the impact of poverty in Haiti when the earthquake struck. He could have died, but he ultimately survived with the help of an iPhone first-aid app that taught him to treat his wounds.

After being crushed by a pile of rubble, Woolley used his digital SLR to illuminate his surroundings and snap photos of the wreckage in search of a safe place to dwell. He took refuge in an elevator shaft, where he followed instructions from an iPhone first-aid app to fashion a bandage and tourniquet for his leg and to stop the bleeding from his head wound, according to an MSNBC story.

The app even warned Woolley not to fall asleep if he felt he was going into shock, so he set his cellphone’s alarm clock to go off every 20 minutes. Sixty-five hours later, a French rescue team saved him.”

Taken from this article at Wired.

Happy Birthday, Dr. King

(image found on google)

Today our nation celebrates the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. and all of the work and sacrifices he made for this country.  Two years ago Mike and I were married on this day (the date was January 21st, 2008).   While we didn’t plan to marry on this holiday, the significance of the day was not lost on us.  Without Dr. King, could Mike and I–an interracial couple–have been allowed to marry?  What about my parents, who were married in 1974?  Could they, a white woman and an Iranian immigrant, have gotten married?  I don’t know the answers to these questions, but I do know that Martin Luther King, Jr. was there fighting for our rights long before I was born to appreciate them.  I will forever be grateful for that.  I only hope that in my lifetime we see true equality in the United States, that allows everyone to marry, regardless of their sexual orientation.

I’ve always really appreciated the following two quotes from Dr. King:

“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.”

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. “

Martin Luther King Jr would be 81 years old today. May you rest in peace, Dr. King.

Helping the Haitians

By now we’ve all heard about the devastating earthquake in Haiti. I am extremely saddened by what’s going and can barely fathom what the people there are going through, as the death toll rises and the weak infrastructure they knew completely dissolves. Mike and I plan to make as big of donation as we can afford tomorrow (my payday) to the relief efforts. We’re so thankful for what we have and for what we have been given in our lives and want to give back in the small way we can. I hope you’ll join us in praying for the Haitian people and making a donation if you feel like you can afford it.

I did a little research this morning on places to donate and found the following site, which lists 9 + organizations you can contribute to. I think I’m going to donate to Yele Haiti (Wyclef’s organziation) because it looks like 100% of our donations go to relief effort, and no overhead/admin costs. I wanted to make sure to pass it on, just in case.

http://mashable.com/2010/01/13/haiti-earthquake-donate-help/

Photography Trick

I came across this blog post today that teaches you how to sharpen your photos using Photoshop.   The program can be a bit intimidating if you’ve never taken a class and little tips like this are very helpful for me.  Let me know if you want more Photoshop tips and I’ll do my best to help you out.

(Thanks to Karen Russell for posting this link way back in 2006!)

A Day in the Life of My Browser

If you are an Internet enthusiast like me, at any given time, you probably have multiple Web browser tabs and/or windows open at any given time.  Although I rarely shut down my computer completely, anytime I have to reboot, I feel compelled to open several tabs so that I have fast and easy access to my email, social networking sites, blog feeds, etc.  A while back, I was jotting down ideas for blog posts, and I had the idea for a post in which I would list all the tabs and browser windows I had open at a given time. So here’s a peek into my browsing world of today.

• Windows Live Hotmail: my main personal email account
• Yahoo! Mail: my school-related email account
• Facebook: how I stay connected with most of my friends and some of my family
• Google Reader: how I stay caught up on all of my blogs
• San José State University Bursar’s Office eRefunds page: where I keep meaning to sign up for eRefunds
• Amazon.com: where I spend way too much money but am always delighted to find pretty much anything I need available for purchase online
• Sissy Roos: the awesome blog my sister and I write together
• NetZero Message Center: my commerce-related/spam email account
• L’Oréal Paris: where I’ve been researching lower cost versions of my hair care products
• San José State University School of Library and Information Science: the Web site for my Master’s program
• The FIRM YaYas: a message board community for workout video fanatics such as myself
• Tool Science Ceramic Ultra-Light Hair Dryer: the hair dryer I am probably going to buy
• SparkPeople: the awesome Web site I have been using to track my eating and exercise for the past couple of weeks and which has helped me lose 4.6 pounds so far
• Alexa Fishback Nutrition: the Web site of the author of a helpful book I recently read entitled The Daily Fix: Your Guide to Healthy Habits for Good Nutrition
• Bing Shopping: where I am learning about how I can get cash back for doing what I love to do anyway: shopping online
• L.L. Bean: where my fantasy Wicked Good® Shearling-Lined Boots reside

What Web sites are you looking at today?