STARTING THE NEW YEAR OFF WITH A BANG!

A student of mine was saying to me the other day that she thinks it's ridiculous that at 18 you're supposed to know what to do what your life. I agree. She's feeling overwhelmed and scared about the future, and I remember being her (gasp!) 15 years ago.

The only thing I knew was that I loved music. It was true to me and it was the only thing that was constant in a sea of part-time and desk jobs that made me unhappy. I'm so glad that I am now following my heart in music.....but let's face it, it's hard to make a living this way!

So, in the spirit of keeping my music career afloat while simultaneously paying my bills, I moved my Ebay business to a complete online store: BIG DIVA FASHIONS. I'm worked pretty hard on this and I'm proud that I got it done on time for my own personal deadline (8 minutes to spare!). It's an online consignment shop for plus size clothing. Feel free to pass the link along to anyone you think may be interested in it (i.e. people who like to shop and will make big purchases to support my music career)!

I've also been lucky enough to have people ask me to build their new sites for them. I'm self-taught and very clear about this, but it's nice and flattering that I've been asked, so I'll give it a go! I've done a few websites now, but mostly family stuff:

Taunia Soderquist.com - My Website
Soderquist Construction - My Dad's Website
Soderfest Online - My sister's website for her kids at school who celebrate "Soderfest" (her birthday celebration)

Last night, Wes and I were exchanging emails about promoting our stuff on Craigslist, so I quickly made an ad for him. No joke, I had this done in less than 20 minutes (barring some corrections I had to make later)! Anyhow, here it is:



Wes is very pretty, so his mug on the left only makes the ad more appealing!

I know I have a LOT to learn, but I think I'm pretty good for someone who's self-taught. (I also clearly have NO problems tooting my own horn!)

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We interrupt this journal entry for a special news flash! (Ok, *I* interrupt you, not we...)

WEIGHT WATCHERS UPDATE: Today was my first weigh in and I was hoping for a big loss...and I got it! I lost 10.8 lbs this week. YES, ALMOST 11 LBS IN ONE WEEK! Good lord! I was REALLY strong this week and had to fight a lot of demons, but I did it and feel really good about myself.

The key now is sticking with it - which I feel very motivated to do. At the meeting tonight, there was a woman who said she was talking to her mom about an article she read about smokers. Statistically, most smokers who (finally) quit try SEVERAL TIMES before actually quitting. She said she feels like it's the same thing for a lot of people trying to lose weight and she wasn't going to feel bad that she had been to WW a few times before. I decided I was with her, and that I wasn't going to feel bad either. I did it before, and I can do it again - obviously! Almost 11 lbs. Go me!

So, I hope you're all enjoying the start of 2005 as much as I am. I'll be counting points and being good: I promise!

- posted by Taunia @ 10:16 PM