Resolutionary Challenge 2011

[cdubs]

Why would you do this? other then it's cool and you want to be one of the cool kids? The person with the most points will get a prize.

You'll earn points (10 points per day, total of 70 points per week) and it's an honor system, up to you to enter your point totals in the google spreadsheet by Sunday night. If you want to be included, PM me your email address and I will send you an invitation to the spreadsheet we'll be using. The challenge runs 12 weeks, from January 3 to March 27

Points are earned for the following activities:
1) Sleep 7 hrs/per night (Naps can take up the slack)
2) Drink 64 oz. water
3) Exercise 20 minutes
4) Be ready to present myself to the world by 11am
5) Eat 3 servings of fruit or 2 servings of vegetables
6) Enjoy no more then two (2) small treats/per day
7) Take 20 minutes for yourself. Whether you watch TV, read ff, sit in a dark closet and rock. Just something for you, to you and about you. You decide.
8) Drink a glass of low fat or fat free milk (or whatever milk substitute you use) or a cup of decaffeinated tea (if you need to sweeten it have it be a natural sweetner)
9) Finish eating by 10 pm
10) Wild Card - this will change every week

Notes:1. Because we need a day of rest, one day a week, you get the exercise point if you substitute the exercise for something in-kind, like a nap, reading a book.
2. You will receive 3 sick days. On the sick days, you get your exercise and your be ready point for free
3. You will receive 3 vacation days. Use them for real vacations, staycations, your birthday or just because you feel like it. On these days you receive the full 10 points

Wild Cards
Week 1:(Jan 3 - Jan 9) Hello, I'm Edward Cullen, I didn't get a chance to introduce myself last week. You're Bella? NO? You're not Bella? Well then, introduce yourself. You're not a vampire you say? Well, if you were, what would your talent be? You get all 7 points when you share this with us
Week 2: (Jan 10 - Jan 16) Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. We've all heard it and yet few of us do it. Let's start this right and commit ourselves to eating breakfast every morning this week. And then share with us what yummy breakfast you had. You get a wild card point for each day that you do this. No breakfast no point
Week 3: (Jan 17 - Jan 23) Bella moved to forks on Jan 17. She didn't want to but did it anyway and in the end (the very end) it turned out ok. What do you say we do something we don't want to do. Whatever that means for you. Clean the oven, call your mother, blow your SO. If we're lucky, in the end (the very end) it will turn out ok. You get all 7 points when you do 1 thing you don't want to do, make it count though!
Week 4: (Jan 24 - Jan 30) I see you overthere starting to slack off. The excitement and determination are beginning to wear off. "Oh, I won't check today I'll do it tomorrow". Well, I'm on to you! This week, please check in with the thread every day. Even if it's just a quick drive by post "hey, im alive. can't talk" but please check in. It's good for everybody and we miss you when you're not around. You get a wild card point for each day that you do this. No post no point
Week 5:(Jan 31 - Feb 6) Reach out to someone. Old friend you've been meanint to look up, coworker who's been down, homeless person at the corner. Whatever, whomever. You get all 7 points when you do this one little thing
Week 6: (Feb 7 - Feb 13) Make your meals everyday this week. This is a great way to save calories (since we always eat more when we go out) but also money and it's a great opportunity to finally get to that can of whatever that's been in the back of the pantry for a couple of years. You get a wild card point for each day that you do this. If you eat out, order in, or hit the grocery store deli (that's right, no loopholes) no point for you
Week 7: (Feb 14 - Feb 20) This one is going to be tough. Strenght & self control. There will be an overabundance of candy surrounding you this week. If you can stick to 2 small treats each day of this week you automatically earn your wild card points. If Edward can resist Bella's blood, how hard can it be to resist overindulging in candy? If you have more than 2 small treats any day this week, you loose all 7 points, it's all or nothing
Week 8: (Feb 21 - Feb 27) There’s no better way to start your day than with a clean kitchen. This week, let’s start our days right by cleaning the kitchen before going to bed. You must do this every day. No clean kitchen no point.
Week 9: (Feb 28 - March 6) This week we're going to find the silver lining if it kills us! Every day, please share with us something you're thankful for. It can be as big or small as you want it to be. You can be thankful for the fact that you're alive or because you have enough milk for your morning coffee. Just focus on the positive. You get a wild card point for each day that you do this.
Week 10: (March 7 - March 13) Edward took Bella to the meadow on March 12. It was something new for him, he took a risk and their love blossomed. Lets follow Edward's footsteps and take a risk this week. A new fruit or veggie, a new recipe, exercise, whatever, and who knows, maybe love will blossom for us too. You get all 7 points when you try 1 new thing
Week 11: (March 14 - March 20) This week is St Patrick's day, which means GREEN reins supreme, and since according to Mr. Molina, green is good, lets do sosmething green this week. When you go grocery shopping use reusable bags, plant something, sort your recycling or responsibly recycle electronics or computers. You get all 7 points when you do at least 3 green things this week
Week 12: (March 21 - March 27) We’ve made it! This is it! Let’s celebrate by picking something YOU need to focus on. You get to pick your Wild Card but you must post in here and tell us what it is and why it deserves a wild card point.

[absolutelyvlc]

♪♫AWEsome♪♫
Thanks for setting it up cdubs.
I'm so jazzed!!!
I'm going to PM you a new email addy if you wouldn't mind allowing me for the google doc spreadsheet pweeeeze

[SeattleLisa]

Hello Lovelies! Big hugs to all those who are returning from the 2010 Challenge and WELCOME hugs to the Newcomers.

There are five things I wanted to share with the Class. First, CYCLING of course. I finished out the year with a total of 2,025 miles on my bike and even rode in below freezing temperatures on 12/31. yay! And even though I awoke the morning of January 1st feeling like a truck had run me over and I did NOT want to go cycling(wait for it- here comes my FAVORITE EXPRESSION!), I DID IT ANYWAY! This new year though, I want to be a little less concerned with miles and a little more concerned with heart rate. More hills, higher heart rates, more sweating--that's the goal now. I also need to work much harder to get the weight off because last year may have been my Year of the Cyclist; this is My Year to Become the Runner. I think about 1/2 of you here run and I'm chasing after you now to join your Elite Rank. My first running goal is to start training using the Couch to 5K running program during the Week 12 Wild Card.

The second thing I wanted to share with you is further popping of the Twilight cherries with my brother-in-law (BIL) and sister-in-law (SIL). You may or may not recall my taking my "Twilight" DVD and copious amounts of rum (I was FINALLY drinking again! woohoo!) down to Portland with Hubby and showing Twilight virgins BIL & SIL the movie, expecting them both to hate it with a passion. (BIL is a bit of a hipster, very calm-cool-collected but rather sweet like his brother, my Hubby. SIL is nice but very unemotional and tough as nails.) So SIL enjoyed Twilight (shocking!) and BIL *really* liked it (*very* shocking!). So now Hubby & I go back to Portland for Christmas and we all watch NM together. I kinda knew they wouldn't like it since it doesn't have the same sweet vibe as Twilight. Sure enough, I watched SIL throughout the movie and I'm surprised she didn't fall asleep. She said it was too teen-angsty for her. Shocked AGAIN, BIL liked it and he wants to see Eclipse now! When I was explaining to SIL *why* NM affected me so, especially crying while reading the break up scene, SIL was at a total loss but BIL related a story of a lost love and how he rode away on his motorcycle, crying his eyes out. Who knew both Hubby and I would get to know these 2 family members *even better* all due to the magic of Twilight?

Third, I'm sadly off the sauce again. I had 3 shots of rum that night, didn't get a buzz, just a stomach ache that made me stop drinking. Tried the chocolate martini and hated it. I did drive about 4-5 hours after I had the 3 shots and was super paranoid but probably not "drunk". What do you think? Would you drive 4-5 hours after 3 shots plus a big dinner? I was probably ok but kept thinking, 'what will I tell a cop if he pulls me over and asks if I've had anything to drink?' I felt very stupid for getting behind the wheel and won't do that again. BUT, I will try once again to get drunk the next time I'm with Dietrich's fun loving cousin who always wants me to drink with him!

Fourth, my birthday was great! Started the day by cycling (of course!), had saved my pennies all year and got a facial that day, but mostly as a reward for all my bike miles (ah...heavenly), Hubby took me out for an awesome dinner and he gave me "Eclipse". I haven't even taken the discs out yet. I guess I'm no longer a Superfan. I think I'd rather watch Twilight again, even though Eclipse was my favorite book.

And fifth. Hubby really surprised me this year for Christmas and bought me a little Canon PowerShot camera. It's about the same size as my cell phone. I'd asked for it months ago, like just once then changed my mind and said let's get it later. I was SO surprised when I opened it. Last summer I inadvertently become the unofficial official photographer at the annual hippie fair we attend, had SO much fun taking so many pics and getting appreciation from our friends, so I've started taking lots of pics. Although Hubby's camera is really nice, it's very big and bulky (TWSS) and I don't like lugging it around. Hence, the little camera. ALSO, I think her name was Deb and she was in this Challenge for a while in 2010, she shared with us her 365 Project where she takes at least one picture a day. Remember? I decided to do that too and I started on Christmas Day. Some of you have already seen some of the pics I've shared here in the Forum and on Twitter. More to come this year. Whit- please share your pics too since I know you started doing this too, right?

Ok, enough blah blah blah. SO excited for this New Challenge!!!

And lastly, MS. CLAUDIA- Thank you again, oh Fearless Leader, for taking on the project of Mod, putting together the spreadsheets and Wild Cards, and taking on the role of Cornerstone of our Group. We couldn't do this without you and we love and appreciate you so much. (I'm speaking for the new girls too, because like Alice, I see the future and KNOW they will come to love you, too.)

[mandaliz]

Good morning my Loooooser lovelies!!!!!

Ummmmmmmmmm, let's see... For those of you who don't know, I'm Mandaliz/Amanda. My favorite food group is booze. I got a kindle for Christmas so I have returned to the world of real books (though there is fanfic on there too). If I were a vampire my talent would be.... no clue. Mad BJ skills? I already have those though. We'll go with that anyway.

I hven't been listening to much pop music lately but I'm currently in love with this song

"Sticks & stones may break my bones, but chains & whips excite me!" - Holla Fifty!


Alright off to decide if it's a walk through the park (but damn it's cold), go to the gym (I hate New Years crowds there), or a workout video kind of morning. I'm thinking video.

Mwah! Love ya!

[amynkansas]

Ugh, I have been on vacay and found getting up this morning VERY HARD(TWSS). For you newbies here, you should know that several of us have the sense of humor of 15 year old boys.

Now on to official business. I'm Amy (i'm one of the oldies) and I would like my vampire power to be "incredibly fast, and strong", so I will kick up my running this year. I have be "trying" to learn how to jog/run and finished 3 5Ks in 2010 but I need to work on endurance because I just didn't push myself. I still can't run a freakin 1/3 mile without stopping to walk. So that will be a Challenge this go around.

I got a Nook for Christmas and will be heading over the the Kindle area of the Flat to see if anyone else got some Nookie so we can lend books to each other.

Oh, I have a question....the milk thing can be with cereal, right? Like IN my cereal. I saw a great show on BBC ("the truth about food", i think) and it showed that if you add more dairy to your diet, it sticks to fat and you poop out more fat out. Of course they had the British accent and fancier words but they did some scientific stuff which proved it. So....Got Milk? Do vegans do Dairy? Are the cows harmed during the milking process? Please educate me. Or maybe I don't really want to know....

Oh and thanks to Cdubs for hooking us all up with this challenge (this always makes me want to say it like Ben Bailey on Cash Cab "RED LIGHT CHALLENGE"). ANd a special thanks to Amanda for the MotU gif. Gawd, I love me some Fifty.

[mandaliz]

Oh, I have a question....the milk thing can be with cereal, right? Like IN my cereal. I saw a great show on BBC ("the truth about food", i think) and it showed that if you add more dairy to your diet, it sticks to fat and you poop out more fat out. Of course they had the British accent and fancier words but they did some scientific stuff which proved it.

On a similar note (sorry I'm not trying to be annoying or picky, just wanna do this right), is the point of the milk to get our dairy in for our strong bones? (*inappropriate giggles regarding bones*) I have a cup of yogurt before I work out. Can I count that or does it need to be MILK? If my yogurt is a cheater, no worries I'll drink my milk and/or invest in some agave nector for my tea. That's gonna be hard (again with the giggles) since I'm addicted to splenda. That's the challenge though! I love it when you test my limits, RAWR!

[SpunkyBookworm]

Hellloooooooooooooooooooooooo Lovely Losers!!!!
I'm back! Hopefully to actually GET THROUGH the challenge this time! I have no excuses but lame ones. I have missed you, but I've enjoyed wonderful family time, so it was a payoff!!

So, I'm Gretchen! I read a lot, hence no good stories to share like my fellow losers above me because I like my books more than people, I think! JK! I have been reading "The Girl w/ the Dragon Tattoo", but then a fanfic gets u/d, so I quit reading the book. *sigh* Will I ever lose my fanfic addiction??? Oh! and I found a Hunger Games virgin to bug!! FUN!!
I'm REALLY looking forward to this challenge. I've missed everyone, and I'm feeling better emotionally in my life right now. My biggest challenge this next couple months is going to be paying off debt, so if you see a lot of "whyme?" or "I'llNEVERgetthisdone!" on this blog....it's just me. I'll keep you posted when it gets paid off.

I have yet to put an avatar up because I don't seem to get one that's small enough. HELP!! Tonight I'll put my new fav Rob pic on here, but I'm at work right now, so I can't download. TTYL!!

[cdubs]

Damn you Amy & Amanda! Now I'm gonna have to read MotU!

Ok, lets see, first for the point. I'm claudia, i live in tx, i have a 3 yo kid and I stay home with him. And if i were to be turned into into a vampire, i think my gift would be cheapness/recycling.
I don't think I have a specific goal in mind for this year, but I do think I'm going to start counting calories, at least where I can. I wish I could say I'm going to drink less, but I'm not even going to go there. Also, I think I'm going to by my fitness coach for wii. I've heard its really good, I'm also curious about EA sports active (i think it's called) Does anybody have either one?

Lisa, what can I say girl? You are absolutely amazing! You've truly come a long way in this past year and I am so excited we've been able to share this journey with you. I'm not sure if you should or shouldn't have driven, but what's done is done. I can tell you that I drink rum when I want to drunk good and fast.
And YAY for the camera, I have a power shot too!

Amanda, if you already have mad bj skills, then you'd most certainly be THE BEST bjer vampire in the world. I bet the Volturi would want to recruit you. I wouldn't mind blowing michael sheen or jcb but I don't know about the other one, Marcus, whatever his name is. I wonder if they would force you to do it?

About the milk, yes, milk with cereal counts and yes, so does yogurt. Here's where I got that from.
http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/1 ... ife?page=5
Healthy habit 10 & 11 are about the milk & tea
And this one is on why dairy is good
http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20040416 ... eight-loss

Gretchen, glad to have you back. You can use photobucket, (or im asuming flikster or picnic) to resize whichever picture you want

And lets welcome our new flatmates

TwilightCat
found-my-edward
Firefly
midnightSomewhere
P.S

[absolutelyvlc]

Hello Losers. I too am a Loser. Abs is the name. I'm here off and on - tend to go in spurts; I'll be around, like, every day for a week or two, and then disappear for a while. I'm never far off though. I'm always checking in, just not always posting. I could never quit you all.

I think I've been a Loser for two or three rounds.
Last year I lost 38lbs (but then put on a possible 5 over the holidays - ugh. Srsly, I stuffed my cake hole like a pig!).
This year the goal is to get up my endurance and cardio health. The plan; Xbox Kinect for the rest of the winter (I hate the cold). I figure since the Wii Fit Plus was responsible for the majority of my weight loss I'd stick with the "this is so much fun I dont' even feel like I'm working out" idea and see how it goes. Plus, I really hate the cold. Oh, did I say that already? Then when summer finally comes around I think I might start jolking (walk-jogging) and making use of the saltwater pool at my condo. I"m contemplating biking too - but there's some serious bikers on here that would just put me to shame! Plus I live at the highest point topographically in the entire city of Toronto (yeah, I'm a Canuck, eh) so no matter where I bike to I'd always have to bike up hill to get back home. I'm trying to slim the claves that have always been big (all the hockey playing when I was younger eh) so I'm still undecided if I want to do the bike thing. Of course you'll all be the first to know (cuz you just know if I do it that I'll have to post my own BIKE BRAGGING DAY stories, yo!)
Anyway, I actually started with the Kinect at the beginning of December. But I didn't like the program. And I'm the kind of person that has to enjoy it, or I won't do it (read: lazy mofo hahaha). So starting today I am trying a new program and I'm so looking forward to getting back into the challenge and seeing you all on here and hearing your stories. You lot are all so inspiring, and you're some truly amazing women. YAY US!

So, if I had a vampire power I'm not sure what it would be. Perhaps I'd make a mean ass Italiano!( I love to cook).
I know if I had a regular superpower I've always wanted to have the power of teleportation - so although there's no Twi vamps that teleport that's going to be my answer. Remember, I'm a lazy mofo. Teleportation would be awesome for me!

Just one more thing before I sign off, ok, two.
1 - WELCOME NEWBIES! Can't wait to get to know you! and
2 - LET'S DO THIS!!!!!

[absolutelyvlc]

Also, I think I'm going to by my fitness coach for wii. I've heard its really good, I'm also curious about EA sports active (i think it's called) Does anybody have either one?

Cdubs - see my post above - I started with the Wii and it was AH-MAY-ZING! Like I said, it was responsible for the majority of the 38lbs I dropped (that plus eating right). It's so much fun that you don't even realize you're working out - and there's enough activities to do that you don't get bored.
The other program I mentioned that I started with the Kinect was the EA sports. I switched because after almost a year (eleven months) of the Wii I was finding I wasn't being challenged anymore and I knew if I didn't continue to challenge myself I would just plateau again. So I started with the EA sports. And at first it was great. VERY challenging. But then after less than a month I got really bored (same exercises over and over I found) and I also felt like it wasn't challenging me in a good way. It was too high impact and my joints were really sore after three weeks (I have "iffy" knees from years of hockey). And I found that I was aching. And not the "ahhhh, that was a good workout" kind of ache, but the "Oh my God when did I get hit by a truck" kind of ache. So I am going to start with the Your Shape: Fitness Evolved. I tried it a little before the holidays and found it pretty challenging - in a good way. I'm also thinking about trying the Biggest Loser:Ultimate Workout - but I"m a little intimidated to try that right off the bat after being a total sloth over the holidays. Anyway, I'll let you know what I think of the games I try. Good luck.

[cedvanhalen]

I'm just going to start this out by saying that I hate doing wall sits with the passion of a 1000 fiery suns. It makes sense that the song I did them to today was Pain by Jimmy Eat World.

Ok, moving on. Hi! I'm Whitney. Umm, I just moved to KC in the summer and now I'm trying to find something to do with my art degree I got in May. I'm looking into taking more classes so I can go and get my Master's in art therapy. I have a bf (Taylor) and a doggy (Luna) who is crazy and licking my fingers as I type right now because she wants me to pet her. I act more like a 5 year old than a 23 year old. The amount of cartoons I watch and the fact that I ate Toy Story mac and cheese and colored in my HP coloring book last night is evidence of that. I did my Stewie leg workout this morning for the first time in a long time, so I'm sure I'll be hurting later (If you want the workout, hit me up. I'm looking to add more to it). I think I'm going to use part of the money I got for Christmas to buy some workout videos. Suggestions would be awesome.

Like Lisa said, I too am doing the 365 picture project for the new year. I decided to put my pictures up here: http://becoolphotography.blogspot.com/.
Also on my resolution list:

-Start taking classes.
-Teach Luna how to sit.
-Open an Etsy shop.
-Make a quilt. Something I haven't done in a couple of years.

Errrrrr, I think that's all I've got.


OH! If I was a vampire my superpower would be the ability to still eat human food. Could you imagine the awesomeness of being able to eat all the crap food you want and still look freaking awesome?? Sounds like a deal to me.

[Samalia]

FUCK!
I had a really good post wrote up that the forum just deleted when it told me i had to log on again. Fucking fuck.
Here goes (again): My name is Sam! I'm a challenge vet who always swears she'll win then slacks off and doesn't. This time though, it's mine bitches. Watch. Out.
About me... I curse like a sailor (surprise!), halfassedly work as a nanny, drunkenly tweet and blog, and drunkenly kick it with my dysfunctional family then share stories. Amanda and I (obviously) share a favorite food group- booze! I'm from a little town (population 600, says the sign) in Ohio called Russia (rue-she) via another little town in Ohio called Houston (house-ton). I'm dating/banging/probably gonna drunkenly marry in Vegas a man who's affectionately referred to as Mr. Doodle here. He's pretty killer and we've been cohabiting since Christmas but it's almost time for me to return to reality in the homeland.

Oh! Did anyone else have an unseasonably warm NYE? It was effin' 63 degrees here! Mr. D and I took a two hour drive along the "scenic" Ohio river in his convertible and then I wore a short dress with no coat nor tights for the festivities! Praise be to the flying spaghetti monster/gods/evil communist scientists/mother nature/global warming for the temperatures!

My big goal for this challenge is to procure a bicycle and pretend I'm Lisa. Peddling up hills, doin' it anyway, and whatnot.
Can I use sex for my 20 minutes of exercise? It was a pretty good workout this morning...

My first post was way better than this one but oh well.

(@Lisa- love you )

[absolutelyvlc]

Can I use sex for my 20 minutes of exercise?

HALE YEAH!!!!**


** unless you starfish. Then HALE NO!

[SeattleLisa]

heehee Sam- I can't imagine a better intro post than that one!

Have we ever had a ruling here about 20 minutes of vigorous sex counting towards the exercise point? hmmm, not sure.

I guess I didn't do a proper introduction late last night. I'm Lisa. I live in Seattle. You could have probably figured that out. I'm a big, old Bike Bragging h00r and yes unfortunately I'm still big (STILL over 200 lbs, dammit!) and old (44) or at least approaching old. I'm married to Mr. Wonderful and talk about him a lot. Case in point--

So last night we're cuddling in bed and talking, he likes looking at Suicide Girls porn online and he mentions (as he's sweetly running his hand across my lower back) that he wishes it wasn't called a "tramp stamp" and it would be nice if I had one. He then very sweetly says the tattoo should say, "They're Not Bears". It makes it harder to fall asleep when we both rolling around cracking up. I'm so in love...sigh.

But I also come here a lot to bitch about him, too.

I was joking last night about having Alice's gift of sight, obviously. I can't think of a clever vampire gift for myself. I want to steal LolaShoes idea from ff, that I would meet the needs of those around me and therefore have about 10 hours of sex a day with Edward, since he's been quite bottled up for 100 years. I like that! Or it would be the gift of Perseverance and Achievement utilizing my can do, motto "I DID IT ANYWAY!". If I was Bella I could say, "I really didn't want to kill Jake but I couldn't imagine him trying to molest my infant daughter SO I DID IT ANYWAY!" I like this Follow Through Vampire Bella! (lame, I know but I can't think of anything really funny right now)

Whit- First off, I LOVE your vampire power!
~~I'm not sure if I want to post all my 365+ (some days I'm choosing 2 pics) photos online for public consumption, since I'm sure many of my pics will either be personal or boring. Not sure what to do at this point. For now I'm just storing the pics on my computer with an Excel spreadsheet for captions. I know that sounds like a lot of work but I don't want to really narrow my pictures down until the end of the year. I think I'll make a 2011 Photo Book a year from now, with the majority of pics as thumbnails. I don't know. What are your plans with this project? In the meantime I'm just having fun with it and I'm SO looking forward to my week with Rob. Which brings up----

Where is Travelin' Rob? Will this project continue (hopefully) into this season since he hasn't made a visit to me or Gretchen here in WA state? Claudia & Gina, I think you two started this project and I can't even remember how Rob & TomStu originally came to be laminated but would one of you mind sharing with the class how this started? Thanks!

Abs- Congrats on your big weight loss last year! I'm too chicken to weigh myself right now.

The sun is shining, I'm trying to drag Hubby out of bed (more like berate Hubby out of bed) and we're going cycling. Of course! Happy First Day of this New Challenge, Bitches! Let's all get 10 points today!

[cdubs]

Ok, I think some peeps misunderstood the vampire question. It wasn't what power you would like to have, but what quality do you already have that would intensify. Like Carslile's compassion, Esme's ability to love, Rosalie's pigheadedness and so on. It's meant to help us look at ourselves and find one quality. We often forgetto look at our "goods" and focus only on the "bads"

I love intro week! Everytime I learn something new and also remember some stuff I had forgotten.

Abs, thanks for the game pointers, I LOVE how absolutely thorough you are with your reviews. I have the wii fit plus, but honestly, I find it boring and not "interactive" enough. Plus, have you noticed that sometimes the male trainer grows a douchy pony tail? And I hate th girl because she's too skinny and has a great ass. I never claimed to be a reasonable person.

The last person who reported having Rob was bekah. And yes, we are continuing with his travels for as long we are here. It was wonderful Amy who provided us with the laminated Precious and his sidekick senor tomstu

[SeattleLisa]

Claudia- Well dang, this makes it a lot harder. I thought our natural gifts were pretty good & Amanda's Vampire BJ Superpowers must make life at home sweet for Mr. Mandaliz. I could go for the easy one and say Esme's ability to love, but I'm not as unconditional as she is and I'm way more bitchy. hmmmm....Carlisle's leadership skills 'cuz I like to tell people what to do? I'm racking my brains here trying to remember what all the Volturi, their guard and the Denali/Irish/etc. vampires had going. Sorry but I refuse to crack open my very dusty copy of BD for this. Is it Marcus who can sense connections between people? I'll go with that since I believe I'm pretty intuitive that way. I don't think I would make a very good Superpower Vampire. I would just be looking forward to the hours upon hours of non-exhaustive sex every day with Edward. ::sigh::

[absolutelyvlc]

I have the wii fit plus, but honestly, I find it boring and not "interactive" enough.

Yeah, once I got bored with it, I was TOTALLY bored with it. It wasn't like a gradual "meh, ok, I guess I'll do it today". It was just blam-o I'm bored.
I just tried the Your Shape Evolved for Kinect, and it kicked my butt. I think I'll stick with it a while (if my legs ever stop shaking that is. I feel like I ran about seven blocks. THIS is the 'good' ache I spoke of earlier.

Plus, have you noticed that sometimes the male trainer grows a douchy pony tail? And I hate th girl because she's too skinny and has a great ass. I never claimed to be a reasonable person.

Reasonable? Pfff, I gave the girl trainer a name (and it rhymes with itchy). And often spoke back to her telling her stuff like "shut up in your face!"* and "stop telling me what to do you stoopido!" and "who are you to mock me, you have a manjina!".

*50 imaginary points to anyone who recognized that reference

[CarrieCee]

Hi all!
I'm a virgin to this. Not to the forums, obviously. But for the first time I'm gonna actually give this a try...
So first introductions: My name is Carrie, I'm 27, I live in beautiful Melbourne, Australia. G'day from Down Under! (Note to all, Australians NEVER actually say G'day in real life. This is the first and last time you will ever here me say it. And if you're curious, we don't all keep koalas as pets, and kangaroos are not a means of public transport. We also spell according to the UK English dictionary, so you'll find that I put a lot of extra u's in my words. Anyways....)
I'm not sure what my vampire power would be. I'm probably one of the most considerate and non-confrontational people you will EVER know, so I guess my power would be difuse tension and avoid fights or something boring like that. But I have seriously AWESOME boobs, so maybe my talent would also be to hypnotise people with my boobs or something like that.
Anyways, so I'm heading off to the UK for a month long visit in March, and I want to lost between 5 - 10 kilograms (which I think is something like 10- 15 pounds maybe... I'm not sure) before then. Also it's the middle of summer over here at the moment and I'm depressed about my little pot belly and not being able to wear my bikini to the shops like I used to (true story).
I don't expect I will come even close to winning this challenge, because I know already that I won't be able to follow all the rules ont he list. There is no way I can eat that many fruits and vegetables in a day. Ew. And only 2 treats?? Yeah, try 200. Anyways, I'm gonna give it my best shot... And I guess that's all that matters! I'm super excited to do this with other forum girls as well, it'd going to be interesting to see how everyone does.

[cedvanhalen]

Ahhh man! I fail already with the vampire superpower thinger. I don't know.....I'm a pretty calm, no stress kind of person. So maybe something like Jasper where I calm people. Sure.

And Lisa, I'm not really sure what I'm going to do at the end of my 365 photo project. I've thought about printing them and doing a little photo book of 2011 like you said. And I know that some of mine will be boring. My sister already told me that probably 350 of my pictures will be of my dog, but oooooh well. I definitely take more than 1 photo a day, and I know later I'll probably post more than 1 picture a day.

Ummmm, I thought there was something else I was going to put here but I don't remember what that was. I don't have to work tomorrow, so I'm going thrifting and then my cousin is going to cut my hair for me. And I got my Andy Warhol calendar today and it came with a free poster. Annnnnd the poster was one that I've had on my Amazon wishlist for a while so win!

Alright I'm going to go now cause I'm rambling. Bye!

[amynkansas]

I need to remember to take notes next time so I can say all of the stuff I want to, while reading your posts.
I am disappointed that kangaroos are not running freely around your neck of the woods CC. (PS please post lots so i can view your siggy).

If we are clearing up misnomers, I will let you know that even though I live in the midwest, we have indoor plumbing, (some) educated people (which are NEVER the people they interview on the news after a tornado hits) and (unfortunately) gangs. Speaking of tornados.....Kansas DOES get a LOT of them and I've some personal experience with 2 of them.

If the vampire power is suppose to be something that would be enhanced if Edward were to dump that stuttering blinking bitch and bite me instead....Hmmmm? I am great at laughing at my own jokes, saying things OUT LOUD without a filter, I can sleep like a teenager (and bang like one too!) But I am truly a Libra so I guess I try to be fair and am mostly optimistic. I'm a" my glass is half full (of vodka)" kind of girl.

My hubby got me Just Dance and Just Dance 2 for the Wii. SO far I like it. It has a fitness mode on it and I can get "sweat points" and it tracks it. I am a lousy dancer but it gets my heart rate up and I sweat and my kid can do it with me. My friend has Wii fit but said she liked it in the beginning but got bored of it after a month but said if I get bored of the Just Dance games that I can borrow the Wii Fit until I get bored of that. But then maybe it will be warmer out by then and I can start running outside. I do have a treadmill too so I really have no excuses. Whitney, don't forget about the library for workout videos. I would like the K-stew leg work out if you can pass it along to me.

This is my 4th challenge within the Flat. I lost 20 lbs during the first one, 5 during the second. None during the 3rd. i obviously slacked off so I am getting serious again. I have 5-6 months before the dreaded swimsuit season but more than that, I would just like to be healthier and feel better about myself and be able to run a fucking mile without needing CPR. I need some run-braggin days

Please give the link of travelin Rob so the newbies understand the reference and the directions and give mailing info. he hasn't paid me a visit yet either . In addition to Travelin Rob and his trusty sidekick, there is a "special hugs rob" that will be making an appearance this challenge. Photos are optional. You may want to keep your private time private

Like Lisa, I am totally madly in love with my husband (unless i want to stab him that day) so get ready for my emo mooning and sexy stories one day and then asking you where I should hide his body the next.

Oh and if you're on the Twitter, there are several of us that give lots of late breaking news daily about stuff you NEED to know so don't be shy. Plus, we love to get and give drunk tweets. here's my twitter handle - amyphotog

[found-my-edward]

Hi, my name is Cara and I'm a Twilight addict.
I'm 27, married for 6 years, no kids and live in New Mexico (yes, it's part of the U.S.). My husband took one look at the spreadsheet and laughed (way to be encouraging!), so now I have a little extra motivation to show him I can do this. I'm off to a slow start, but promise to improve.
I'm having a hard time coming up with a vampire power. I asked my husband and his first answer was bj's, which was sweet but that's already taken. I'm very dependable, so maybe my power would be that I'd appear whenever I'm needed. I look forward to getting to know everyone!

[TwilightCat]

Hello, all you fine LTTers,

Just when I thought all my New Years resolutions of eating well and getting back in shape were going to get buried in my sock drawer (where they usually end up), along comes Resolutionary Challenge 2011! Doing something challenging is always more fun when you get to do it with people who are there to support you and cheer you along, so I think this year I actually stand a chance of getting on my exercise bicycle every day.

My name is Cat, and I live in Pittsburgh, PA. I’m a newbie to the Resolutionary Challenge, and a relative newbie to LTT (I discovered LTT last June when UC and Moon did the press junket with Stephenie, and I've been a lurker up until November). I’ve been a Twi-nerd for about a year and a half now, and a general nerd for as long as I can remember.

Ever since I was a child, I’ve struggled with my weight, usually weighing twenty pounds more than I should. That all changed about five years ago when I met my boyfriend. He is an avid bicyclist, and once I started riding with him regularly, the pounds began to come off. Then we moved from Massachusetts to Pittsburgh in the summer of 2009, and, well, to put it mildly, Pittsburgh is not a safe place to bike. Pittsburgh is hillier than San Francisco, the roads are in rough shape, and the traffic is dense. All of this is to say, I stopped bicycling shortly after we moved. And the pounds gradually crept back on. And now it’s January of 2011, and I weigh fifteen pounds more than I want to. Early last year, I bought myself a trainer stand for my bicycle, but I haven’t used it consistently, so I figured, now is the perfect time! So here I am, ready to get in shape again!

As for my special vampire power, hmmm. That’s a good one. What I do for a living is a techie web site development thing called Search Engine Optimization (SEO for short). What that means is that I go through long lists of keywords (usually 10,000 to 40,000 words and phrases) that people have typed into Google over the last month, choose the most relevant and highly searched for keywords, and incorporate those words into the text of the web sites that I write. (Kudos if you’re still reading and your eyes haven’t glazed over!)

I memorize most of the keywords in the lists I generate (not so that I can repeat them, but so that I can tell someone if a word or phrase is on the list, and roughly how many times it’s been searched for), and I look for patterns within the list to see if there are common themes among the keywords. All of this helps the sites get to the top of Google. Recently, my boyfriend has gotten me into stock analysis using the same methods (memorize the stats on lots of different companies and compare and contrast them in my head), and my tiny little portfolio has gained about 25% over the last six months!

I would guess that my vampire power would be the ability to see patterns in information and events -- like being able to predict the stock market, the weather, or the outcome of wars. Sort of like what Alice does, just not with individual people.

As I read this over, I realize that I sound like a complete nerd, so I should probably mention that I have a diagnosis of uber-geeky-ness (i.e. Asperger Syndrome -- although, think Seven of Nine from Star Trek Voyager, not Rain Man). Twilight has actually been one of the things that has helped me understand “human” emotions, and has definitely improved my relationship with my boyfriend.

Anyhoo, I look forward to getting to know all of you lovely peeps and to getting in shape with you over the coming months!

Best,

Cat

P.S. I’m all for sexercise counting towards our exercise point. I think my boyfriend would appreciate it, too.

[cedvanhalen]

If we are clearing up misnomers, I will let you know that even though I live in the midwest, we have indoor plumbing, (some) educated people (which are NEVER the people they interview on the news after a tornado hits) and (unfortunately) gangs. Speaking of tornados.....Kansas DOES get a LOT of them and I've some personal experience with 2 of them.

We do get gems like this though:




And I hate tornadoes.

[mandaliz]

Hi, my name is Cara and I'm a Twilight addict.
I'm 27, married for 6 years, no kids and live in New Mexico (yes, it's part of the U.S.). My husband took one look at the spreadsheet and laughed (way to be encouraging!), so now I have a little extra motivation to show him I can do this. I'm off to a slow start, but promise to improve.
I'm having a hard time coming up with a vampire power. I asked my husband and his first answer was bj's, which was sweet but that's already taken. I'm very dependable, so maybe my power would be that I'd appear whenever I'm needed. I look forward to getting to know everyone!

It's ok, we can share super BJ powers! (that sounded less dirty in my head... who'm I kidding, everything I say sounds dirty.)

[mandaliz]

Sometimes I do an image search of cupcakes and just stare at them like it's porn. Sigh.