Happenings.

A lovely 3-day weekend, but things here seem to be moving quite fast lately. End of the school year, lots of exciting plans coming up, busy busy. Trying to find balance and be in the moment as much as possible. Just thought I'd share a few of my right nows....

Currently....

{hanging out with}



{writing the pattern for the wee sweater}



{reading}


You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life

{destashing}

Just go look :) You know you want to. I can't take pictures fast enough....probably 40-50 more  skeins to be added (eeep!).

{watching}

{drinking}

6 weeks in, and 4 weeks of a lot less pain, I can't go a day without (new recipe I tried the other day...vanilla ShakeO and coffee!). My healthiest meal of the day. I've signed up to be a coach and we have a challenge group (think KAL, but more like Fitness-along) starting in June. Let me know if you'd like to join or are interested in more info about shakeology! 

{knitting} 

I'd love to hear what's been happening with you.

Love you guys!

Happy Knitting!

xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Good things. The quick version.

There have been so many good things I've wanted to share the past few weeks that the list keeps getting bigger and bigger and then this post becomes daunting and doesn't happen. So I'm going to just jump in and write as many as I can remember, and yes, it will include pictures of the Easter bunny (I know! I'm sorry it has been forever!), but it will also include pictures of yarn! Prepping for Nashville took a lot out of me, but was so worth it, so thanks for bearing with the quiet around here for a bit. It's nice to be back!

Good things.

1. Let's start with that Easter Bunny!

2. And someone turned 8! 8?!?!? You guys remember when he was this little, right?! Just crazy. 

3. I finished my Gradient version of the Nashville shawl just in time for Stitches South! I was so glad I was able to show it to Sarah in person.

4. I loved seeing Nashville in the Plucky Knitter booth at Stitches South. The Plucky Knitter is having a Stitches South After Party Instant Gratification Update this Friday if you want to grab some yarn to cast on!

5. Speaking of Plucky, check out the new Plucky Knitter Collection, Spring Forward. Love, love, love!

6. Fresh flowers my honey sent to me at work this week. I haven't mentioned him on here, but guys, he sure is a keeper :)

7. The baby sweater I started on the way home from Nashville is almost done.

8. Sunny days and spending time with Magpie!

9. Neuroknitter and Cotty socks are like a match made in heaven. Warms my heart. Love them Gail!

10. If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you've seen that I've been drinking Shakeology and participating in a Challenge Group for fitness and healthy eating following the 21 Day Fix plan! I even took it with me on my trip to Nashville (love my mini travel blender my coach sent me! I just sent it to my friend who signed up for Shakeology too because I love it that much!)

I love it...the Challenge Group is a private group on Facebook and it is like a Knit-along but for health and fitness! It is exactly the accountability and cheerleading that has been missing for me the past few years and with all of my health problems, especially with the chronic headache pain issues resulting from radiation the past year, I wanted to try something different. It has been a month and all I can say is I'm so glad I made this choice!! I've lost 9 pounds (that includes all the biscuits and fried chicken in Nashville....Tricia will post those pictures later this week!) and I've had more energy, I'm feeling better, and I've had less sugar cravings. 

But more important than the 9 pounds, I have had multiple days in a row of not needing my "breakthrough pain" medications for chronic migraine/head pain related to my radiation treatments last year. I messaged my coach 4 days into my second week when I hadn't needed to use the meds for 4 days straight saying I didn't want to jinx it but WOW! I felt amazing. I knew it was the shakeology and probably my change in eating habits because nothing else had changed. For the past three weeks, I've only had 6 days of needing to use my pain meds during the day and that is UNHEARD of for me since October of 2013. Seriously, my sister and I couldn't recall a 2 days in a row of not needing the breakthrough pain meds (my cancer team and pain specialists at Stanford are amazing and I am still on a lot of other meds that are more preventative for the head pain, but the breakthrough pain was that bad). So for that reason alone, the last three weeks were wins for me!

You guys have been on this health journey with me the past few years, and I wanted to share how well I've been feeling! And thank you for those of you cheering me on and sharing your tips on IG and twitter. Here's my before picture on the left and my picture 19-days into my challenge in Nashville!

We started another challenge group this week, so if you'd like to join this one (or the next!) or, feel free to email me irishgirlieknits AT gmail DOT com if you're interested.

11. Our challenge group posts pictures of their healthy food (see, totally like a KAL....posting WIPs, etc.!), motivational posts, and "sweaty" pics after their workouts! These women are rockstars. Well, with all my pain issues the past year, just building up my endurance to going to work has been a goal. After the first challenge group and starting to feel better, I decided this week was to tackle fitness. 15 minutes last night...baby steps.... just for you guys...because I'm a dork and knew you'd love it! Here's me after my first workout in months!! 

Quick. What good things are going on in your lives? I want to hear!! And to keep the good juju going, leave a comment with your good thing and we'll pick a few free pattern winners from the comments.

Happy Knitting!

xoxo Irishgirlieknits