Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Got to thinking of my memento for losing all this baggage

Someone on the weight loss forum recently said that she was getting a charm for each 5 pounds she lost to add to her charm bracelet. I thought that was pretty cool and wished I had thought of something like that for this journey and that got me to thinking of what I wanted to do to celebrate when I got to my initial goal of 175.

Then, the other day while I was at that boutique in the mall, I saw these beads. They were fun and artsy and I saw you could mix and match to make your own bracelet. I was shocked when I realized the price tag of $80 was per bead, not per bracelet! Wow! Really?

But then I started thinking that wasn't the route I wanted to go and then I got an idea. My sapphire and diamond rings would be perfect. Here's the story behind these rings:


It goes way, way back. When I was in college, my mom gave me a star sapphire ring. I loved that ring. Like really loved it. But, one homecoming weekend I was in a parade where I had to wear gloves. I noticed the ring was catchign on the ring, so I took it off while waiting for someone. Not being careful, I got up when my friend came and the ring stayed behind. Of course, when I checked for it later, it was gone. I was devastated. My only other nice jewelry was my high school class ring.

Skip forward a couple years and my husband and I were going to get married. My dear husband doesn't believe in engagement and engagement rings. I get where he is coming from and really, when I think about it, I agree. A ring to be bought off? A ring of monetary value to promise that I will follow through on marriage? Eh... it doesn't sit well with my feminist side, but on the other hand. I wanted a beautiful ring! Instead, we got plain gold bands when we got married. Which of course meant the world to me too because it was exchanged with love. Now, yes, it's still a monetary thing and still a "I'm bonded to you" kind of thing. But it's mutual in this case. And, as my husband said, by wearing it, it signals to other people too, "I'm taken and not interested". That might be what it means to him, but when I look at that simple band, it takes me back to the day we decided to live together forever as family and I take that very seriously and with much devotion.

Skip a few years again and my wedding ring is too tight. And, being at a real bad spot in our marriage, I was feeling bad about not having a ring to wear and in not having a nice ring. So, I did some searching online and ordered these rings from an etailer. I think I paid $500 for the pair. I wore those for years and years as my engagement ring/wedding band combo. Later, when my mom gave me my grandmother's engagement ring, I wore that diamond and the sapphire and diamond band under it as my wedding ring combo and wore the solitaire sapphire on the other hand ring finger. When I get my wedding band resized, I will wear that on my wedding finger and I want to resize my grandmother's ring to wear on my other hand as well as others I've received from my mother in law over the years. One ring on each hand is plenty.

Finally, in October last year when my mother in law was looking for something to get for me for my anniversary I thought of my wedding band. I no longer needed the sapphire ring set. I was over it and treasured my wedding band far more and I wanted to be able to wear it again. Plus, at the time I was feeling horrid. Like death warmed over actually. I had been having daily headaches for several weeks at this point (all day, every day headaches) and I had no energy and I just knew I would never lose the weight to be able to wear those rings again. What a couple months and getting treatment can do, huh?

So, what better way, really to celebrate my new lifestyle than to recycle these rings into something to wear every day to remember where I have been. Not only that I once weighed 100 more pounds than I would by the time I got to my initial goal (just 17 pounds more to go), but also mentally where I was back then. I had less confidence. I wasn't very happy with myself or with where my marriage was when I got those rings. I've grown so much as a person. It would be a visual reminder of where I have been and don't want to be again.

I've thought of a lot of different things, but I think what I would like to do is to keep the same layout because I think if I change the look too much, like this (which I like, btw):

I would just see a cool brooch that could only be worn with some outfits. I thought about a pendant necklace, but I rarely wear necklaces and again, it would disallow wearing other necklaces. But then I thought about a bracelet. I've never been able to wear bracelets. I have large wrists. Bangles? Can't fit over my hand. Wristbands can't fit around. I've had to order men's watches over the years. Wouldn't it be appropriate to get a bracelet? Sure, it still might need to be made slightly larger as I do have large wrists for a woman, but it would be a reminder of that now I can wear a bracelet.

I can't find anything specific to what I'm thinking, but if I keep the same design with the top row being the sapphires - small rectangle, the oval sapphire, and then another small rectangle and have below it the row of channel set square diamonds and sapphires, it would have the same look as the ring, but repurposed and would fit with most outfits as a modest bracelet worn on the left hand. To keep it in place, I would do a cuff style. Closest I could find was something like this:

But, I have to get there first! Not putting the cart before the horse!!! Down another .2 today which isn't bad considering I had very salty pizza last night. Wow was it salty!

Stats for 8/16/11:

Beginning weight: 255.6  Now: 193.6



1 comment:

  1. Now the rings won’t only represent the love you share with your husband, it will also be a reminiscent of the accomplishments you achieved in your fitness journey. The rings look gorgeous, by the way. I hope your then new lifestyle let you recycled more rings and accessories afterwards. Good luck with your endeavors!

    Ricky Rowe @ Find A Jewelry Expert

    ReplyDelete