Monday, April 27, 2009

Goodbye, Farewell!

Dear Stalker

Thanks for making the right decision with my husband. That was very nice of you. I'm tired of your games. First you joined urbanplanet, then meetup, then the YMCA now the sushi group. If you were truly Chris's "friend" you would have respected him more by stopping the stalking of me. If you wanted to know what he was doing, you should have asked him instead of just coming on my site and peering into our life. So it's nice to know that you will be out of his life. A huge thank you to you! The appropriate people know about this and if anything slanderous was to occur, there would be appropriate action taken.


Dear readers

As you have seen, I do have a stalker. It used be a couple who Chris and I were close with but two years ago, I distanced myself from them due to certain behaviors. During the past year or more, the husband has been on my site frequently, in order to ensure that he is no longer taking tabs on my life, I'm done with the site. Thanks for your support. If you are an oldie, you know where to reach me.

Kellie

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Everything always works out in the long run...

We were not able to go on the hike this weekend. Bolton got another UTI and we had to cancel because he is on antibotics. Poor kitty! We're going to switch his diet so hopefully that will help. We spent Tuesday night in the vet hospital and that was very interesting. There was one guy who had a beautiful lab that had blockage and he was losing weight because he ate something bad like a tennis ball and the dog was skin and bones because he was not eating. The guy was complaining because he didn't have the money for the procedure. I don't want to know what was going to happen to the dog. There was another couple in their with their cat and they spent about $2K on their cat saving his life because of blockage. Hopefully, we will not have to go that route with Bolton. It's funny that when you know something is going on with your animal. He said to cry again and we're like "oh no" so instead of waiting another day, we just took him in. So no trip. We'll get with them again in the future. There's always another trip.


Drum roll [please]...I'm down to 180 this week! So I'm on a good roll again. I talked with Ryan last week about my ups and downs and he encouraged me to look at my work out again and get that heart rate up. I've been getting on the treadmill the last week at 15 incline walking 2.9. That really gets my heart rate up. Then I did the kettle ball and that is a super workout. Chris noted that he was getting bored with the workouts so he's been following me. Hopefully, he will get out of the funk. I was able to fit into my size 14 shorts which is terrific. I need to get rid of my 16's because they are too big!

We were going to go out to Chris's cousins boat in Holland, off of Lake Michigan but the weather is not looking good today. Chris was going to help Mike put up the sail but with the 40mph wind gusts, they are like no way. I need to find some good support because when I saw our sushi picture on facebook, I thought "oh no I need some new bra's" because I have the tendency to lose weight in my chest first first. I have some gift certificate at Macy's so maybe I will be able to find some there. I really hate Macy's though. I loved Hudson's which turned into Marshall Fields. Macy's tends to be overpriced and carry expensive clothes that don't have the quality that I loved with Hudson's/Marshall Fields. Chris's parents are going to come up and check out the new doors so it will be nice to see them. Then we're off to the Polish Halls because it's halfway to Pulaski Day's...it's a Grand Rapids thing were all the polish halls are open. I love Polish food! We'll take care all-Kellie

PS. You are so funny stalker! Must you join everything that we do? Come on, now, this is really taking the cake on this one. Sushi? Since when did you like sushi? You're a meat and tators guy. Give it up...stop the stalking. Are you planning on hunting down which group we go backpacking with? Maybe you need to chat with someone about that because it's not nice to stalk people. So why are you still talking to Chris, huh? Show my husband a little more respect than just doing this.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

So my computer decided to take a dump...

On Sunday, my computer took a dump. Argh! I had it for about six years and I loved it. It was a HP Media Center computer with a huge hard drive and it had a tv tuner which acted as a DVR. Luckily, we did not lose anything because everything was backed up on the new external HD that we bought around Christmas or I would have really freaked out. Once you lose pictures of family events, it's semi traumatic. When the drive took a dump about 3 years ago, we lost wedding shots so it was awful but we didn't back things up because I never had to until then. It was a good lesson to learn. We browsed the ads and decided to hit Costco, Sams, Best Buy, Office Depot, and Office Max. After some investigation, we found the perfect computer at Sams. It has everything on it and it was $200 cheaper at Sams than Best Buy. So we got it. This morning is the first morning that I get to play with it because I have the day off today :) So far, so good. I got a lot of use out of that old computer so hopefully, this one will last as long. The one thing I hate about buying new electronics from stores is the question, "Do you want a warranty with that?". Even at Sams it was this high pressure pitch about needing a warranty. All I have to say is that if it fails, it fails. Having a cashier pressuring me into a warranty and reminding the money we're spending on the product doesn't help either. Maybe if they had a softer sales pitch I would be more apt to buy it but once the pitch is given, I'm shuttering away. Even if it is a good option. I just don't trust people like that.

Things are going good here. We had a terrific weekend filled with a bunch of activities. Saturday we worked out with Ryan so that is all good. It's amazing how many calories you can burn with a trainer just doing strength work. Then we were off to a 5K at a local brewery benefiting the Special Olympics. We had a great time with a coworker and her crew. Then we were off to Home Depot to buy some paint. We need to paint the foyer so we picked out a new color. We're looking forward to painting that. Then Chris joined a Grand Rapids group on facebook so we met up with them and had a great time. It was great to meet some new people and they were different from our usual type of people we are used to hanging yet we fully enjoyed ourselves. We are looking forward to next months meet up. Then on Sunday we raced around town trying to find a computer. So overall, it was a great weekend. We are differently working on out goal of getting out and meeting other people. We both tend to be a tad shy on warming up to new people but it's always good to put yourself out of your comfort zone.

We have our trip to the North Country Trail coming up so we're looking forward for that. 21 miles of backpacking! Yikes, it's been a while since my pack has been on my back so hopefully I will not be killing myself :) We looking forward to the trip a great deal. I'll be sure to take some pictures of the experience. I hear it's an awesome trail. Chris has been fooling with our new camping stove to see what the water boiling times are to ensure that we have enough gas. We're going to attempt to cook on the trail with some fresh ingredients instead of boring old freeze dried food which is usually higher in price and not as tasty plus it's full of sodium. We checked out some books from the library on cooking for backpacking so hopefully I will find some good recipes.

One feeling I hate no matter what is the feeling of going into a weight watchers meeting knowing that a gain has occurred. I can spin it all want but I gained this week. It is my fault. My accountability continues to be on the poor side with tracking my foods. I've been totally sloppy. It continues to be my laziness that I have not been tracking. I know what I need to do and I need to get back there nutritional wise. My workouts are amazing. It's just been my lack of time with preparing meals ahead of time and not writing things down. I have to stop freaking out about it and do something about it because focusing on what I am not doing well is not going to help the problem, it's jut going to make things much worse. So with that, I am up a pound. Second week in a row. We've all been in this situation and once we come out of it, its amazing but it totally stinks. At least I know what I need to do. Now I just need to get to it. Take care all-Kellie

Monday, April 13, 2009

That was a super fast weekend..

I think we overdid ourselves this past weekend. It was amazing but it was so tiring. Chris wanted to buy some hiking boots for our big trip coming up in a few weeks so we went into East Lansing home of Michigan State University to pick up some boots at one of our favorite stores called Moosejaw. They fit him properly and he was able to pick up some sweet Scarpa boots for 30% off. He definitely needed a pair of boots because the last hike we went on, his big toe was getting smashed. This wouldn't be good if it happened on our trip. Since we were in Lansing, we decided that we were so close to Detroit, we should just hit it again. One of our favorite breweries called the Motor City Brewing Works had a blueberry mead on tap so we wanted to try it out and it was terrific. We also hit Ikea and Trader Joes. As much as I love Trader Joes, I'm sickened by the vast amounts of people that lack the manners in the store. This is the reoccurring theme in the stores. People stumbling over each other, bumping into others, cutting, etc. Argh, it gets me going. Then on Sunday, Chris made the lamb on the grill and we took it down to his folks in Kalamazoo. We spent the day there and came home late last night. We did too much because our sleep last night was rough!

Speaking of our trip, Chris has it planned. We're going to hit Utah, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona. We're going to attempt to climb Longs Peak so that is going to be a huge challenge. In order to get prepared for the trip, we're going to start taking local trips that push the intensity. It's kind of hard when you live amongst the flat land but it's doable. We're also going to take a rockclimbing course at the YMCA to burst my confidence level with climbing so that I will be able to make strategic decisions when I need to. It's something that I've always wanted to do but it's way out of my comfort zone.

Drum roll [please] I gained .6 this time. I was relaxed with journalling so I have to recommit to it. When we were at Chris's folks, I used the iphone so this helped with tracking foods. I just need to get over this slump. My clothes are fitting so much better. I was able to wear a pair of pants yesterday that couldn't get over my thighs six months ago. I'll take that! I just need to strengthen my accountability because I went over some. Yesterday I really did well at controlling myself with the snacks so I'm impressed. I focused on eating a few shrimp cocktails and leaving the yummy bread alone. I will be one with my journal this week :) Take care all-Kellie

Saturday, April 11, 2009

The only thing about working out in the morning...

The only thing about working out in the morning is that every morning I am up at 5am! Body, could you at least sleep in once in a while? Today I was up at 5am all ready to start my day. Yikes!

Things are going great here. I spent the whole day organizing my kitchen and bathroom. I thought I would actually get more accomplished yesterday than I did but that's okay. I have 2 completely clean rooms now :) I started to organize the dormer but it got a little overwhelming so I'm going to need Chris's help. I need to get rid of some stuff and I need help taking it down. I've got a ton of old textbooks that need to go and I'm not too sure what I need to do with them. I'm keeping my favorites but what do I do with the rest? I don't want to toss them. I was thinking I could recycle them but I'm not sure if they will take old text books. Clothing is another area that I need to let go. I have that sentimental trait of, "Oh, I wore that when"...I know I need to let it go but man, why do I do this? I think this whole organizational task is definitely going to last more than 1 day. I think it's going to take a whole week to sort through the stuff properly :( it has to get done. Well, I got to hit WW. Take care all-Kellie

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

New doors!



They are simply amazing!! My 1930s Sears and Roebuck home is singing tonight because it's looking terrific. Now we just have to get the rest of the windows replaced and new siding. It just takes time and money but it's nice to see what a difference the new doors make :)

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

I love a four day week :)

I'm working four days this week. Two down, two more to go!!! Thank goodness we still get Good Friday off because it always comes at the perfect time of year. I'm going to spend my Friday cleaning out my dormer and getting stuff ready for a garage sale. Now, I'm not sure when I'm going to have the sale and where but it's going to happen. I'll donate the old clothing to the Salvation Army because the clothing never sells and it's not worth the effort. So hopefully, things will be looking nice come Friday :)

No chicken pox yet! Yippy, I have two more days and then I am safe. The only thing good about getting the chicken pox is not having to go hang out with Chris's sister on Sunday. I don't connect with her at all and I can say on my end, I have no desire to "get to know her any better". She doesn't strike me as someone I would like to hang with, we just have different ways of looking at things. She is so different from his mom and dad it makes me wonder how they spawned her. Okay, that was pretty petty but I just find her way to challenging for my taste. Blah!

Drum roll [please]...I am down a pound! Even though I wasn't expecting a loss, I got one. I'll take it! Over the last several days, it seems like I need to slow down with the food intake. I've had to take out two different clients for lunch so it's been screwing me up. I've eaten healthy but it's still the principal of eating out, which should be only one time a week, not 3. Chris and I decided that since Easter is this week, we'll forgo our dinner out so hopefully that will balance everything out. I hope!

I'm excited for tomorrow because we get our brand new doors installed. It's been almost two years that we have been in the house and the doors were needing to be replaced because there was a ton of heat loss from them. Chris is staying home tomorrow while they install them. I really excited for the old kitchen door to be replaced because the outside of the door actually has indoor kitchen trim boards on the outside. It will be so nice to have it gone and look right. I love home remodeling!

April seems like it's going to be a busy month. Chris and I have a lot of activities going on, which is awesome. In a few weeks, we're doing a 5K with one of my friends. I don't think we're going to be doing any running but it benefits the Special Olympics and it offers free beer, so why not? At the end of the month, we are going to do a 21 mile overnight hike up north on the North Country Trail with a backpacking group that we hooked up with. I don't know if I am in that kind of shape yet but we're going to try. Plus it will get us ready for our trip out west when we hit Utah and Colorado this summer. It's intimmidating but we can do it! Well, I'm off to see the biggest loser (at this time, I will actually see who will get the boot tonight). Take care all-Kellie

Saturday, April 04, 2009

Oh it's Saturday...

Thank Goodness. We're going to have another lazy weekend this weekend. I'm very exhausted this weekend. I was oncall last weekend and it totally whipped me out. It was a very quiet weekend for oncall but I just don't sleep as well when I am on it. Though it was nice to see that extra money in my check last week! I was so tired yesterday that my eye started twitching. Now that is tired. Chris went out last night so I had the whole home to my self to relaxed and I loved every minute of it. It's a wonderful thing to be able to chill out in your own home and not have the desire to do anything but relax. Usually, I would be toying with something but yesterday I just crashed on the couch and didn't move for five hours and then I went to bed. Hopefully my battery will be replenished today :) I've got a Weight Watchers meeting at 8:30, then we're working out with Ryan, our trainer at 9:30 am. Then we might be doing dinner at a place we've been dying to hit for the past few months.

Another reason why I'm taking it easy is that was exposed to the chicken pox virus last week. I pray that I will not be getting it but it's freaking me out a little bit. I will know if I'm going to get it between next Tuesday - Friday. I guess this is one of the downfalls of working with children because you never know what you could get. When I was a kid, I never got the chicken pox. Heck, I never got sick even. When I was 24 I got the shot but after reading things on line, I'm not sure if the shot will protect me. Argh! That's what I get for being an encouraging therapist...send me positive thoughts here about not getting them because for the last week, I've been itching all over. It's amazing how your mind plays tricks on you!

I'm not too sure how weigh in is going to look today. I made good choices but my scale is not showing a loss. That happens! I'll keep heading towards my goal :) Take care all-Kellie