Kellie's Journey Through Time

2011-05-02T19:11:00.008-04:00

Our kid is way too cute, isn't he?

2011-04-14T12:56:00.003-04:00

Could not help myself...had to post another pic of the little one (LO). He is so freaking adorable that it's not even funny and wow, already, his personality is showing through. It's nice being a mom. I had to laugh some because we found out that 3 friends are expecting right now. Before LO, I would have gone and thought "yikes" but now I'm like "wow, how exciting" and I actually mean it.

We are taking him into visit his daycare next week so I'm excited for that. They have 2 other babies starting so it's an exciting time for the place. He'll be in the infant room with 9 other kids. It's a great place and we like their approach with kids. What really shocked us when we went there to visit that the kids were using sign language at nine months. If the kid needs to be in daycare, it feels good that he will be learning something. Plus, if we really like the program, he can be slotted to go to school there when it is time.

I started walking this week at the gym and it feels terrific. I take LO and his pimped out stroller to the gym after I feed him. Isn't it cute? You know you have to maximize those feeding times! I have my six week check up next week so I'm hoping then to get the green light to resume activities. It's been since August that I have not been able to work out due to the pregnancy and that was hard. He's worth it though. I did gain a lot during the pregnacy for an overweight person. They wanted me to gain about 25-30 due to being overweight but despite my good intentions and eating well, I put on about 40. The notion of eating 300 extra calories a day for a pregnancy is not exactly true for overweight women. When I saw the dietician in the fall, she noted that I was overeating on healthy food (greek yogurt, fruit, lean protein, etc.) because I was eating about 1800 calories a day. I should have been eating 1500 calories. I guess I will know next time.

Chris and I joined Weight Watchers again. They changed the program with the points so everything that I used to know is well...not the same. This time around it's free. My hx insurance is paying for it. We just need to attend 11 out of 13 meetings. That is saving us a ton of money :) I'm not too sure how I did this week. Our first weigh in is tonight so wish us luck! I know the program works because it worked for me before it's just the committment needs to be there and I'm 85% committed right now...too much socializing lately. Which is always our downfall. There's got to be a balance. We'll find it.

2011-04-05T11:49:00.005-04:00

Had an amazing delivery! It was a total piece of cake and I did it without any drugs. Chris was an amazing coach :) So here is our little boy. We are a lucky set of parents because this boy is amazing. I would totally do it over again. We are settling into parenthood and getting to know our little guy. We are so in love with him.

29 weeks :)

2010-12-20T09:28:00.002-05:00

Howdy...the pregnancy is just cruising right a long. I still feel great, energy is there, and we are looking forward to meeting Baby H. Chris finished up the house a few weeks back and it looks terrific! It's wonderful to have such a creative husband. I really appreciate it. He's been a huge help.

Things are great here. We are cruising right a long now. I'm taking a week off of work to relax. Initially, I was going to just work until Thursday but last week I was like "why should I?" so I took the week off. This is the week I always take off to get prepared for the holidays so I decided to take the much needed break. After January, time will probably fly by and March will be before I know it. I plan on taking the full 12 weeks off of work so if baby comes on time, I will be out of work until June. We still have to line up daycare. I figure in January we will start looking. There's 3 places that I really want to look into. Two centers and 1 home (recommended by friends).

Eating wise, well doing good here. I'm taking my gluclose test tomorrow to see if I have the GD so we'll see how that goes. Hopefully, I will pass. I gained a lot of weight initially because I was told to eat an extra 350 a day but when my weight shot up quickly, I went to see a nutrionist and I was to back down the calories to 1500 because I was overweight to begin with. When the baby comes, Chris and I will be on weight watchers again. Looking forward to that. I hear the new program is doing well. The gym is going to look a little different but it will happen. I miss my workouts but that's okay, they will come soon :)

Huge week this week :)

2010-10-11T22:14:00.003-04:00

The pregnancy has been terrific so far minus the early spotting. Chris is totally in nesting mode fixing up the home for our new addition. I love being married to a handy man. Plus he actually completes the work, unlike some guys out there. Next room to prep is the nursery. We picked out an outdoor themed room. Our scan is later on in the week. We are opting out of finding out what we are having. We'll find out when the baby is born. In life, there's only a few surprises :)one of them is the gender of the child. Since it doesn't matter to us, we'll have the ultimate surprise when the baby is born.

We are busy again but it's a good busy. Lots of people to see and events happening in our life. This week also marks our 6th anniversary. It's been an awesome six years. We have a lot of fun together. One thing I appreciate is that we really did everything we wanted to do before having kids. We don't plan on stopping living either once baby comes. Pacing may be different but will we stop having fun? Nope!

Slowing down...

2010-08-23T18:25:00.002-04:00

Our pacing for the last year has been run run run run run. Now we are being extremely mindful of slowing down so that when the baby comes, we will not be in total shock. Chris and I have a no travel August where we cannot be away from the home the whole weekend. It's been good but so different. We really cleared out our calendar this month to make it happen. It's been terrific so far. We have had some family time, house transition time, and some couple time. We can't believe how long the weekend feels when our pace is a tad slower.

I hit 12 weeks today! Yes, another sigh of relief. I'll feel really good in two more weeks. So far, it's been a good pregnancy minus the spotting that I had a few weeks ago. Doctor took me off my workouts so I'm hoping in two weeks, I can get back to something. Haven't gained too much weight so far but I'm monitoring what I eat so that my mini meals are balanced and healthy. Luckily, I have been blessed with limited morning sickness...thank goodness!

Ultrasound Picture

2010-08-18T22:08:00.010-04:00

This is the little bean growing inside of me. Nice huh? We are really enjoying this time. Life continues to be great. The pregnancy is going well so far. I had some spotting but that cleared up about two weeks ago. I'm not getting hit with morning sickness really. I will occasionally get hit with nausea but that comes in waves. Two and half more weeks until the second trimester. Can't wait.

I'm going to blog again. I need too, I miss ya Anji and all my old peeps out there (well minus you lurker, no love for you...you're just sad....oh and if you are doing anything illegal towards us, I swear I will sue your ass. I hope your wifey is still not obsessed with having a girl. It's kind of sickening thinking that someone wants to play God over what they are having. Be glad with what you have and what God grants you).

Update :)

2010-07-20T20:20:00.004-04:00

We'll I'm off the weightloss journey for now. I'm pregnant :) So Ella or Ian will be joining us in late Feb. or early March. So the journey is a different one. The cool thing is that I'm entering this pregnancy without being on any type of medication. My bloodpressure has been under control for the last year from working out (medication free) so it's been well worth the time and effort to be as healthy as I can be. We ran the Chicago Shuffle in March and that was amazing. Then we ran a local race in May, which was another amazing feat. I love running. Life is good. Working out is good.

Chris and I just got back from Quebec City from a music festival. We got to see some major bands and had a blast. We saw Black Eye Peas on Friday and Rammstein on Sunday. Quebec City is just an amazing place. Sorry I missed you Anji...did I tell you how much I love Canadians? It was great to see concerts without the fist fighting that we usually see hear in the states.

Next challenge is a biking trip in September. We are going with a group of friends at Boyne Mountain to complete a 46 mile trip. Chris and I have been training for it and he's getting a new road bike in August. I love hanging with a group of friends that challenge you to be better people. We have a great circle going right now, spread across the state. In fact, we haven't had an available weekend, in, well, forever. Life is a lot of fun...and it's only bound to get better, isn't it?

It's always good to check things out...

2010-02-13T10:14:00.004-05:00

Lately, I've been focusing on two things. Making it through the 8K in March and then our trip out west in May. It struck Chris the other day that he should check on his vacation time because he assumed he was getting 3 weeks this year. Well, thank goodness he did because he found out that he will not be getting 3 until next year. Bummer! So needless to say, going to California, Washington, and Oregon are out this year. That threw us both for a loop. After some brainstorming, we decided that we are going to go to Germany for Oktoberfest. We have been wanting to go abroad but haven't so we figured this is the time in our life to do this before we settle down and actually try to have kids. It is a little bit of a bummer because the training has been good but hey, I like the back up plan. Meine Duetsch ist nicht so gut but maybe it can get better...lol...Germany here we come :)

Feeling good...

2010-02-10T12:29:00.004-05:00

I'm up to 4 miles running, nonstop! My pace averages between 9.33-11 for a mile, which is awesome for me. I'm seeing a ton of changes in my body since adding in the running and just feel good. I look forward to my running days. We're at the gym six days a week, which is amazing for us. Though, we don't have hard bodies yet changes are occurring. I just took some measurements and they are looking good. I'm still attending WW meetings for my "therapy" though I'm carb cycling and the results are great. Energy level is good and I'm never hungry.

Life continues to be awesome but busy. Finding a balance is hard when you are having as much fun as we are. We kind of need to slow down but it's winter so it's nice to hang out with people when we would normally hibernate. I can't imagine what summer is going to look like with our schedule. I'm sure we will find a balance because one could never have too much fun, right?

Congrats to Chris, he is a Godfather! Isn't that awesome? We're excited to see our friends new baby next month but what an honor for him. He'll make an awesome godfather. Chris is also enjoying his new job and 12 minute commute. It's amazing because I get to come home to a home cooked meal every night. Like I said, life is good :)

I think I have it right now...

2010-01-16T04:45:00.004-05:00

It is funny that losing weight is more mental game for me than anything. It's like all of a sudden things that I learned during the last year has finally clicked for me. I am having my "ah ah" moment which is amazing. It's all coming together. I can put together a full body workout, I can run, I can set my day up for success by packing a breakfast and a lunch, and I can say "no" and not be tempted to go off course because I know my goal now. It's clear and simple. I am going to lose the weight, I am going to run 5 miles but starting out slow and increasing my mileage. This week I did something that I have never done before, I ran two miles straight without stopping. By no means was I fast but my goodness, the feeling of utter success after running 14 laps is AMAZING! The funny thing that I do at the end of my lap is I put my hands in the air and do a little shout of "woo hooo" at the end, like I am running through a finish line and that is funny probably to watch but it so completes how I feel at the moment. It's working and I'm loving every minute of it. I'm also a lot happier in life right now. It's just a great spot in my life and I'm not taking anything for granted. Life is good!

Resolutions!!!

2010-01-04T19:57:00.004-05:00

Okay, we are loving this new year. Really, we are. People should not be having this much enjoyment in their life like we are. We are having fun, major fun so with the new year, here are my resolutions...

1. Finish the 8K that we signed up for with our friends. We're going to do the 8K Shamrock Shuffle in Chicago so we would like to train and complete it.
2. Continue to have as much fun as we are having now! Enjoy life!
3. Save at least $8K for home repairs.
4. Hit Yosemite this Spring and not get eaten by a bear.
5. Hit goal weight, which is 155.

The new lifestyle is working out. I'm down 9lbs. It's rocking and I'm looking great as you can see :) Yup, it feels good to have a structured plan again. This is what I have been missing for a long time. Chris just found out that he is getting transfer to the office that is 10 minutes from our house and it's a promotion so life is AMAZING right now!

Resolutions Review

2009-12-30T17:40:00.001-05:00

Year end goal review:

Okay so I made some resolutions on January 1st so now it's December 30th so lets review how well I did. Resolution 1: Take another Move it to Lose It course in the spring. Keep on getting in shape so that when I get pregnant I will be a healthy mom. Review: I didn't take another move it to lose it class but we personally trained with Ryan at least 3 times a month plus I took the woman's workout class that was amazing! With working out so much I was able to get off my blood pressure medication. As for losing weight for a potential pregnancy, I'm not too focused on that right now. Having too much fun...way too much fun....to buckle down just yet.

2. Make it to Colorado or Utah for a back packing trip Review: We did it! Hiked some challenging trails and had a blast.

3. Balance healthy work hours so that we have family time Review: Doing better, at least 75% better. It just depends on the time of year but my priority is Chris.

4. Have a spending freeze so we can have major $$$ in our savings Review: Yeah, we need to work on this.

5. Replace the remaining windows in our home, thin some of the trees in the back yard so we can have a pergola on our hill (that is a picture of a possible one at Costco. Review: Nope, didn't happen but we are schedule to get 5 new windows in February.

6. Maybe getting established in a church. Review: Nope. I don't know if we will do this either.

7. Reconnecting with old friends/Making new friends. Narrative: Reconnected with some old friends which was awesome. Got rid of some unhealthy friends too! Bye Bye emotionally exhausting people, there is no room in our lives for you. We are totally making some new friends, which is awesome. It's nice to have people in your life who are just good people. We're having a blast and our social life has increased by 100%. Infact, we're spending the new years when some new friends so it's going great in this area.

So overall, pretty darn good! Stay turned for next years resolutions!!!!

Getting back the motivation!

2009-12-23T14:15:00.002-05:00

Okay, I was in denial for a while there...maybe even a couple of years but things are working again and the motivation is there to eat right again. The motivation has been there for the last year for the working out but eating healthy is the other key to success. No matter how much excercising you may do, eating like crap is not going to balance it out. My new motivation is like saying hello to an old friend and I'm welcoming it back with open arms. I'm feeling terrific on the new plan and it's fitting well into our lifestyle. We're both seeing some super results. That rocks!

So one thing that I always found motivating is posting a picture of an outfit that I want to fit into. Last year, I picked out a pair of shorts. Okay, so I didn't have a good plan last year but this year, it is crystal clear. I have the tools to do what I want and need right now. I'm doing well at creating my workouts in the morning. I'm doing a run/walk right now for the HIIT part of the workouts and I'm going to step it up a bit after the new years. So here's the new outfit, a size 10 patagonia capris and a tank. Watch out...I'm getting things in gear again. The eating well and working out will help a ton because we have a major trip planned next year for back packing and we want to be in the best shape ever. If I keep this motivation, we will be there!

It's working for me...

2009-12-21T19:41:00.000-05:00

Down 5lbs from three weeks ago! Nice! I'm still holding strong with the new eating plan. There has only been a few times when I have been hungry but so far so good. I'm still attending WW meetings for the support though because I need to keep focused with my goals.

On a positive note, my dad is cancer free! That is the best wish that anyone in my family could ask for. His PSA test came back normal. Yeah for dad!

Took a snow day...

2009-12-10T15:37:00.004-05:00

Snow days are terrific. Especially in December when the first snow hits. I'm just lounging today which is a terrific thing because I don't usually do that. I've been decorating the tree here and there today but mostly fooling around and doing nothing (yeah, that's terrific!). The carb cyclingis doing awesome! My body is really responding well to it. I'll keep you posted on the weight.

I'm back...

2009-12-03T21:35:00.002-05:00

Fourth day in and I'm loving it. Eating every 3-4 hours is really working and the scale is heading down. The only bummer is that I don't get to weigh in on Saturday but I will have to wait a week because I can't attend the meeting :( things are back in a routine and it feels great. It also feels good to be losing again. Nothing is worse than being in denial about your weight. I've been in denial since May. Hopefully this is a step in the right direction.

Not tearing anyones head off...

2009-12-01T20:59:00.002-05:00

Usually when I switch things up my body hollers @ me "like what are you doing to me?". It hasn't happened yet. I had a killer workout today too. I'm doing full body 3x per week w/ 15 minutes of cardio and the other days just cardio using the HIIT method where you are doing more of an interval training. The food is going good, I'm eating 5 small mini meals throughout the day. Tonight I made a killer turkey burger with spinach, feta, and red onion. It was delicious! Chris did great on the plan today because he had a big luncheon with some senators today and ge opted to ear healthy! Way to go Chris :) here's to another strong day.

Does this fall into the category of fad dieting?

2009-11-30T19:39:00.002-05:00

We've been having so much fun lately that the weightloss side of me got pushed aside so it took a while to get back on plan. After a lot of thinking about switching things up, Chris and I decided to try out carb cycling. Our friends have been doing it for four weeks with a ton of success and it seems like it is up our alley. We are doing the workouts but the nutrition has been so sloppy lately that we are begginng for some structure nutrition wise in our life. So would this count as a fad diet? Looking back, I lost a lot of my weight when I was making the egg white omelets in the morning. I haven't done that in years so maybe this system will help. I'm open to new ideas at this point. We eat every 3 hours, this is the 1sy day, no hunger pains, and I'm not tearing anyone a new one yet...I'll let you know how it goes!

Schedule...

2009-11-10T20:58:00.003-05:00

Okay, lately it seems like our structure is somewhat out the window lately and we are looking to firm it up. Getting to the gym earlier for my power/strength class is really wearing on me. Who would have thought adjusting my schedule by 45 minutes would make such a difference but it does. I'm still learning to adjust but man it's been a rough week. We're also having our schedules vary of when we get home. There are days that we are getting home on time and then there are days we are getting home late. So it's all about firming things up this week :) we can do it, we just need a plan. As for eating healthier we our new sets of friends, we did! We hit the symphony on Friday and went out for one drink afterward :) which is better than getting more to drink or ordering appetizers. Yup, we can make healthier choices around new friends.

How to be healthier when socializing???

2009-11-03T19:32:00.002-05:00

So all of a sudden we are totally busy. We have been extremely social lately so the nutrition needs to really get firmed up. We are eating out a bit much and our old rule of eating out once per week has fallen by the wayside. So how do you create a balance? Any ideas especially when you are meeting new people? We need to work on this :)
With meeting new people I got hooked up with a new weightloss buddy too. It's kind of nice to have someone at the meeting you know that will be there so there's no excuse to skip. On another weightloss front, I joined a strength training class at the YMCA. I'll let you all know how it goes. The only downfall is that it starts at 5:00 am. Eek!

My old website is going...

2009-10-24T06:01:00.003-04:00

I almost forgot that my old weightloss page is going offline in two days. When I started to write it was 1999. I was in my second year of grad school, poor, overweight, dating sluggy, miserable with some parts of myself, and determined to meet my goal. Look at me now, 10 years later, I got an awesome life. Great husband, my parents are stll alive, I have a job, and I'm healthier now more than ever plus I'm comfortable in my own skin. The web was exploding with journals and I thought what the heck why not put one out there myself. I lovEd that page. My enteries were inspiring, I really put my all into it. I got to meet cool people like my girl Anji who I hope to meet in real life one day, made amends with someone I did wrong in high school, and basic got awesome support from others. Though there were a few downfalls like a former client finding my page and eventually stalker but I learned some important lessons like "don't assume you are anonymous on the web" because people can find you and "don't put anything out there you wouldn't want your enemy to know out there". But it's been worth it. I hope oneday this page could but half as good as the old site. Geocities my hosting site is shutting down on the 26th of October. I hope I get time to back it up but if not at least it leaves me with some great memories and a sense of accomplishment on who I have become. So here's to the next 10 blogspot and I hope we are both around!

Now I understand why I didn't wear that sweater...

2009-10-20T20:37:00.003-04:00

Have you ever had a top that you haven't worn in forever just to wear it to then get the aha moment of "so that's why I stopped wearing that"? That was me today. It's been about two years since wearing that top and it totally made me semigrumpy because I know that it wasn't the most flattering top. I've been encountering that a lot lately since bringing out the fall clothes. I started a small box of clothes that I need to drop off at goodwill or Salvation Army. The stuff needs to go! The old me would just hold onto the item but lately I have been somewhat mindful of getting the clutter out if my life. It feels good so goodbye icky sweater that makes look like a total pear :)

Did I mention how fab the IPhone is?

2009-10-19T19:33:00.004-04:00

Okay, I cannot stress how much I love the weight watchers application. It is simply AMAZING! I logged my points all week so I had a super week last week. It's quick and easy. I should have had this phone a long time ago! Oh well, I have it now.

Chris and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary. Chris is an amazing husband and our relationship keeps on growing. He's a terrific guy and I love him dearly. I'm very fortunate to have such a man in my life. So here's to many more years of happiness :) We went to Frankenmuth for the anniversary and it was terrific. We had a great room, hit a brewery, and then hit Zehnders for their "famous chicken dinner". They had free drinks at the hotel and I had two beers so it knocked me off my butt! I'm not a drinker, I usually eat my calories so I was surprised to see how smashed I got on 2 beers. Yeah, that was something. I'm a lightweight now. Then on Saturday we got together with our wild friends and hung out with them. We ended up going to a charity basketball with them which was awesome because some college kids were playing against all the local coaches. All I can say is that the college kids were amazing. We were supposed to go to a party with them but we got to the party and the house was all dark so we found out the get together was cancelled. The company is always good so that didn't matter.

My dad finished his radiation treatment last week so everyone send him some positive thoughts. He did well during the treatment so hopefully the cancer is gone. We'll find out more in January so we'll take it day by day. My dad is amazing man so hopefully everything will be good. I believe it will.

Felt spot on today...

2009-10-13T19:11:00.002-04:00

So maybe I am getting back into the swing of things. Day 2 of logging all the food. One thing I've noticed about tracking is that it keeps me so accountable with what I put in my mouth. Like today I was so tempted to stop at Jimmy Johns to pick up a Turkey Tom sub but I weighed my pros/cons and opted for an apple, protein bar, and some butternut squash soup. That was a much better choice not only financially but health wise too.

I finally broke down and got my own iPhone. I love it! The weight watchers application is amazing. It's helped me a great deal this week so far. When I eat, I log...no excuses so far. What put ne over the edge about getting my own phone is that my favorite radio stations got switched over to sport talk radio and there's only so much NPR I can put up with because it tends to repeat itself in the morning and evening. Pandora is amazing. Goodbye regular radio!

Nice...

2009-10-12T21:29:00.002-04:00

Awesome day today. Not only did I count all my points but my attitude is back in the weightloss mode. The icing on the cake today is that professionally I got asked to be the regional coach of the therapy technique that I specialize in. Which is totally awesome because it's a huge state thing! So I'm not a big fish in a little pond but a good sized fish in the big pond. I've been working really hard at being the best I can be in this therapy and it's really shown in my work. So here's to a good day! Let's keep them coming :)

Having trouble coming up with a snazzy title...

2009-10-10T10:28:00.002-04:00

Very unoriginal, I know but I'm having trouble with coming up with a title. I think the running theme in my life for the past year is getting back on track. How do you do that when you go off slightly? It's like, how do you veer back over to get into the right path? My old friend noted that she thinks that I've been lost for a few years. Maybe I am...I don't know. But are you lost when you are happy with the majority of things in your life? I know it sounds strange but when one is lost, I tend to think that they are confused, unhappy, but I tend to think that I just don't have a path right now. Maybe I just don't know what I want with things. It's not like I am in limbo but my goals are unclear. I used to be a type of person that would have this type of goals like "I want to save money to pay off..." (did that), "I want to go back to the gym" (did that/doing that), and "I want to lose weight" (got partial of it off). But what are my goals now? I don't know. It seems lately my goals is "make it to the weekend" mentality. Trying to keep in the moment but looking forward to that down time so I can enjoy my husband, family, cats, home, and new friends. Having 3.5 hours a night before bed time just stinks. The other night, I got home at 5:15 and I thought it was the most wonderful thing. I got to cook from scratch, organize my pantry, and relax. I haven't done that in months. I want to do that more. Maybe that's a goal to have. Maybe I just need to target things more realistically, get specific but it's like I can't right now because I don't exactly know where to go. Things are good but they can be better but then there are always those forces that we can't control.

Things are going excellent for us. We did our yearly pilgrimage to Amana. It was awesome as usual where Chris and I rested and relaxed. We sprung for the condo and it was well worth the money. It was so nice to just chill out, sit on the couch, and hit the festival whenever we wanted. Our social life is continuing to pick up. It's nice to be hanging out with decent people again. We're hitting a museum today and lunch, then tonight we're going out to a barbecue with the other friends. We call our one friends our "Frasier friends" because they are highly intelligent, love to travel, and cultured. Then we have our "wild friends" and oh, are they wild. Which is awesome because I don't think I've ever hung out with people like them but they are a hoot. We're constantly laughing around them. So we're doing better in the social department. Now, we just have to tackle the personal goals...yeah, it will happen but I just need to get back on the right path. I'm patient.

Getting back on track...

2009-09-19T06:55:00.005-04:00

I've always been a future orientated thinker but since my dad's dx of cancer, it's made me more focused on my present. I used to think/worry about tomorrow but now I'm just focusing on today. It also made me focus more on what I can control, which is nothing but by reactions to situations and being the most effective person that I can be. Lately, I've been pretty effective :) I've been getting back on track and I've needed to.

Weight wise, I'm staying put but not losing. I need to get back to tracking because it's just not budging. I know what I need to do. I let my emotions get me off track because of stressful situations so here I am again. The workouts continue to be strong though. We met up with Ryan our trainer last week for a tuneup and he made some helpful suggestions so that adds to the support. I'm planning on going back to weight watchers this morning after a 3 month hiatus...yeah, that is not good.

One goal I've had this is year was to meet more people. Chris and I have been extremely active socially lately which is good. Though, it doesn't always balance in with the healthy eating. We've met a few new friends and so far, it looks promising. We have a few couples that share similar interests and tastes and they appear to okay. It's hard to meet people when you are in your 30s with zero children and that don't have "issues" or an "agenda". One thing is that a couple of them are challenging our comfort zones, which is always good. We went out to a club with one couple and it was like at first "oh God, I'm too old for this" but at the end of the night it was like "wow, that's awesome". We'll see how it goes but it's nice to get out of the house and socialize with others.

My dad is doing well. The scary thing about parents is watching them go through health stuff. That just sucks but I believe that my dad will be healed. He's in awesome spirits. Now, I'm just worried about my mom and how she is handling the stress.

So my life is keeping me grounded...it's good to be back.

2009-09-12T08:22:00.001-04:00

Getting back to our normal...

2009-09-12T08:03:00.003-04:00

Things are finally settling down. I've been meaning to post our vacation pictures for a while but it just took forever to organize them. Overall, it was the best trip yet. I loved outwest and I can see why people are attracted to live out there. Eastern Colorado and the Mt. Zion National areas were two of my favorites. So enjoy the pictures.

Life is interesting...

2009-08-30T20:13:00.002-04:00

I have to say that I have been blessed with an amazing life. Really, it is amazing. I am so thankful for everything that has been given to me especially for my parents. I just found out that my dad, who is 74 has prostate cancer. They've known for about a month and half and dad is undergoing radiation tx right now. So if you can, even you don't necessarily care for me, send out positive thoughts to my dad. He's a terrific man, hard working, honest, caring, and considerate. He is so positive right now. I'm truly amazed by his strength and character. He's the best.

Loving this..

2009-08-05T15:46:00.002-04:00

We are having an AMAZING trip. We just got out of the backcountry in Rocky Mountain National Park. I burned 7000 calories in the past two days and I am not sore! Thank God for our trainers or we would have been dying. We made it up to Boulder Field below the Keyhole, which is a huge success.

We are loving the trip so far. Today we are hitting the breweries in Colorado. Chris is in heaven. We were able to hit Brekenridge and Tommyknocker. We were going to hit Flying Dog but they moved and another was closed. We have to get those calories back that we burned :)

Lots of fun!

2009-08-02T08:57:00.006-04:00

Okay... No offense if I have any Nebraska readers but omg Nebraska is the worst state. Driving through it takes forever. We were trucking through there and I got pulled over fo doing 5 mph over. Luckily I got off with a warning. I was rush to get to my favorite store Sierra Trading Post before it closed. So I learned my lesson no speeding. We made it to Fort Collins, Colorado and what a town. It's an amazing town. Lots of fun...2 breweries and great night life. So far, this trip is wonderful. We're going to hit Rocky National State Park today and I can't wait until we get out on the trail!

Traveling and eating healthy...

2009-08-01T12:16:00.004-04:00

One thing about travelling is the challenge of eating healthy. It's almost like you just want to go with the notion of " hey I'm on vacation who cares about eating?". Yeah, it's good to indulge some but you have to pay the price when you get home. Plus eating out gets really boring after a while. What we have been doing the last few years is that we pack breakfast, lunch is usually a sandwich and fruit, and dinner can be a stop at a grocery store or out but at least it's planned. Having a plan is good :)

Backpacking pizza and Pad Thai on the trail?

2009-07-28T22:01:00.006-04:00

Who says that trail foods need to be boring? We practiced making backpacking pizza and Pad Thai tonight and it turned out terrific. Who says that trail food has to be nasty? Chris successfully dehydrated pizza sauce last night and he was able to whip up some pizza on the backpacking stove. Amazing! I never knew we could cook like this. He's just giving me trouble for making him eating oatmeal in the morning but I keep on telling him I'm going to jazz it up with some berries, cinnamon, milk, and some nuts.

I can't wait. I'm getting more and more excited. Today I looked at a coworkers map of the US and we are hitting a ton of states. I'm so ready for a vacation! Only a little while more. Thank goodness I have a hubby that likes to travel :)

My workouts have been strong and I've been working on the treadmill a ton to get ready. I'm at a 15 incline walking 3.0 right now (which is terrific for me). That will prepare us for the Narrows at Zion. Watch out...here I come :) Here are some sights on where we are doing some major hiking. Thank God we have been working out for a year now! Yup, it feels great to be active!

It's not a good idea to...

2009-07-27T20:51:00.003-04:00

We're gearing up for our trip within the next month so we've been trying to dry our own food. Yeah, there's a bunch of commercially foods out there but they are loaded down with sodium so Chris had the idea of drying the food after doing some reading about it. Well, it's a great concept but man, it's difficult. In my attempt to make organic peach roll ups, they turned out horrible. Chris has been attempting to dry up some eggs so we can have scrambled eggs out in the back country but so far, no luck.

I'm getting so excited for our trip. It's going to be awesome. We got our bear canister in the mail on Friday so we will be safer. We are going into bear country so it didn't help matters that we watch Timothy Treadwells Grizzly Man last night. Yeah, that was great timing :(

We are this close to....

2009-07-22T18:56:00.003-04:00

Vacation!!! Yup, just a while more but we are almost there! The count down is on :) It's going to be an awesome time. Chris booked a room at the Bellagio for one night while we are out west. He figured that we are going to be close to Vegas so why not go? It's an awesome feeling to know that a terrific vacation is going to happen soon :) The one thing I love about Chris is that he likes to get off his butt and explore. This vacation is going to be packed with exploring. We're tenting, backpacking, hiking, geocaching, and doing the things we love to do. Within the month, we will be out of here!

Cherry picking...

2009-07-01T21:11:00.004-04:00

The one benefit of living in Michigan is the availability of fresh fruit. I'm loving the fresh cherries and blueberries that we are able to access. Chris and I went cherry picking last night and had a blast. I love this time of year!!!

Life is good. I've made it to the top of one climbing wall and almost to the top of the other. Weight is stagnant at this time but hopefully that is going to change. We still need to get back on track but we're almost there (that is, Chris and I). We just need to track our food. The workouts continue to be strong.

It's a hot one today...

2009-06-24T19:50:00.002-04:00

Working out this morning, Chris and I wonder how in the heck do people run in this type of weather? There would be no way that I could or would do that. It's a hot 93 degrees today with some humidity going on. This type of weather reminds me when I lived in KY. I found that weather to be awful down there. It was like I couldn't even go outside in the summer when I lived there. Thank goodness for air conditioning!

I'm still doing some slopping eating. This accountability thing has got to get back on track because I've been sloppy. Last weekend was probably the worst eating I've done in a long time...I was throwing back a few drinks at a wedding we went to so it was like, "Geez, Kellie!". That's not like me either but I got hooked on Vernors and Captain Morgans. Vernors is a Michigan ginger ale that is an acquired taste but it is so good so I had about 3. Yeah, not a good choice there. I totally didn't care what I was doing in that moment. I had that "it's free booze so let's celebrate!" mode going on. I'm shaking my head at myself right now (I'm feeling like I'm confessing all my sins). I did manage to have some self control but I've got to get back into the groove. On a positive note, my clothes are fitting terrific on me. All my hard work at the gym is paying off and I'm still wearing clothes that I would not wear normally at this weight. I've got the gym under control, now I just need to stop the snacking. It's stalling me...

Trying to figure things out..

2009-06-17T19:16:00.002-04:00

Ever go through a phase in life trying to figure things out? That's me right now. I'm seriously looking at what needs to change for the better. I got out of Weight Watchers last week after hearing about two members that started in January lost 30 pounds...I want that. I need to figure out why it's not there for me yet. What's my hang up? It seems like I'm always stuck between the committed and relapse phase. It's not that I relapse when it comes to exercise but not writing down what I eat is a major issue. I need to do that better. It's like I have a strong couple of days then bam, I get busy and fail to log things. I know what I am doing and I need to keep my goal in perspective, even when it feels so far away.

The other phase is people in my life. I just don't get people anymore. Maybe I never got them. Why are people so strange, not up front, or just simply not truthful? I have no place in my life for gossipers, liars, etc. Are there any good friends out there anymore? I'm so not blessed in this area. I'm okay with that but it truly sucks when a friend screws you over. Humm, that sucks. Do I have a bad friend magnet or what?

I've been coming this close to...

2009-06-09T20:52:00.003-04:00

I've been coming this close to buying an iphone for myself. I love Chris's iphone and all the applications. Apple is offering the 8G Iphone for $79 refurbished. The only thing that has been keeping me from buying it is the data plan cost. Chris gets a discount from work for the phones but paying the additional money out a month is still keeping me from purchasing it. I love the WW mobile site and it's super convient. I've gone back to tracking my food carefully this week so hopefully I will see that scale move. Paper tracking hasn't been too good for me lately so I've gone back to tracking online again. I guess what ever works but I just need to track!

Nice weekend...

2009-06-07T18:56:00.002-04:00

It's the summer time and we are getting busy! Between weekends at the boat on Lake Michigan and visiting with friends and family, we are running. It's a nice running though. I love the summer! Life is good. We're busy every weekend this month. We have a wedding, fathers day celebration, and a mini camping trip. You can't beat that.

Excercise is going good but I have to firm up on the nurtrion. I'll keep plugging away. I'm wearing clothes that I couldn't fit into 3 years ago, which is amazing. Everything is paying off!

Sleep is important...

2009-05-17T09:46:00.002-04:00

I occasionally participate in the oncall rotation at work and this week has been a whopper. Not fun, I was up for 40 hours without sleep which is definitely, not good. Every time I would get snuggled in for a rest, the pager would go off. I never recognized how important sleep is until an experience like this.

I had a strong weigh in this week. 2.8 pounds down! Nice! I'm getting back into the swing of things. I'm packing my lunch for work and that has been helping. I love those Arnold thins and I put some natural peanut butter on there from Koeze (which is local from Grand Rapids) and some low sugar jam that I found at Big Lots from somewhere in Europe. Then I pack a greek yogurt or Kefir from Costco, and have some fruit. I can eat on the go with no problems or worries about what I am going to eat. As usual the Weight Watcher meetings have been absolutely phenomenal this year. I look forward to going and get a lot out of the meetings. It's a nice reminder why I am doing this and sticking to my weight loss. It's slow but worth it. I love the feeling of putting on jeans that I haven't been able to wear in ages.

I've been struggling to get our garden put in this year. Last year, I was able to put it in around late April but this year it looks like it will go in some time this weekend. Hopefully, we'll be able to put it in today. We bought a ton of plants last weekend and I'm eager to get it going. I'm going to plant less lettuce this year and have more squash. We'll see how it turns out.

Life continues to be nice and smooth. I'm taking off a whole week in a few weeks to just relax and start my summer off nicely. I'm really looking forward to that.

Nice to see...

2009-05-13T09:01:00.002-04:00

I only made it until 10 pm last night but it was great to see that Jerry won the at home Biggest Loser contest. He definetly showed America that he could lose the weight at age 64. Good for him! It was an interesting season and I'm looking forward to the next round of contestants. This show never gets old for me...yet.

Doing great here. We're taking a climbing class and it's amazing. I burn about 450 calories a class. Who knew that climbing a wall would burn so many calories!

Thanks!

2009-05-02T13:04:00.005-04:00

Thanks for your support. I guess I need to look at my options about this with a clearer head. What it boils down to is that maybe I just need to stick to my boundaries and share some stuff but maybe omit the details of we are joining this group or we are going here....etc. A few of you have been with me ten years, that's a while. Why should I just give up? I guess I need to look at it as if stalker is going to be there, he is there but I can be smarter about it. So I think I am going to be back but just be a little bit more intelligent about it and not share some details. I guess everyone needs to have experience like this to learn an imporant lesson as in share some information but not everything.

It's a good day. I'm wearing a pair of capris that I haven't been able to fit in since 2005. Life is good. Thanks for being there and I have a clearer head. I'm on my way to my goals and nothing is going to stop me now because I am centered.

Goodbye, Farewell!

2009-04-27T20:01:00.003-04:00

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

Everything always works out in the long run...

2009-04-25T10:48:00.008-04:00

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.

So my computer decided to take a dump...

2009-04-21T07:41:00.002-04:00

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

That was a super fast weekend..

2009-04-13T21:12:00.002-04:00

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

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

2009-04-11T06:55:00.002-04:00

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

New doors!

2009-04-08T20:40:00.005-04:00

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 :)

I love a four day week :)

2009-04-07T20:12:00.004-04:00

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

Oh it's Saturday...

2009-04-04T07:01:00.002-04:00

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

Lazy Sunday...

2009-03-29T15:21:00.002-04:00

We are so relaxing today, which is terrific because we are usually on the go during the weekend. It's nice to kick back and relax once in a while. Chris is in heaven today. We picked up Guitar Hero Metallica for the Wii. I don't think I'm going to see him for the rest of the day :) I'm glad he is having fun. We even took a nap earlier today :) which is rare. I usually don't do this unless if I'm at the inlaws. I used to take naps all the time in college. I would get done with an afternoon class and fall asleep until 4:00ish. Now that was living...wait, no, that was laziness (in my case). Yup, pure laziness.

Yesterday we attacked the front and back yard to get the lawn racked and the leaves over to the dump. We had placed a compost mix on my garden area so we racked that area up and got things looking good. I can't wait until I get my garden going. I'm going to start planting in about 4-5 weeks. Can't wait! I'm going to grow some lettuce, onions, snap peas, pickles, and squash this year. I had a ton of lettuce last year so I'm going to cut back on how much I grow this year because I had too much. Gardens are pretty popular right and it's cheaper than buying it at the farmers market. I'll keep you posted about how it's going.

We were able to get with some friends last night to go out and it was fun. We checked out a restaurant that we were looking forward to going to and the food was crap. I hate that when it happens, it's a total let down. We all didn't comment about it because you just don't do that kind of thing when your with others but it was like, darn it. Funny thing is that they high the price doesn't mean it's a good place, it's just expensive. Some of the best restaurants are this tiny little mom and pop places. One of favorite restaurants of all time is a truckstop outside of Morris, IL called R's place. Yes, it's a truck stop but the food is AWESOME. They had a salmon with a raspberry reduction sauce, along with a rice, and some fresh asparagus for $9. Besides IKEA, where can you get salmon for under $10?

Last week, I did okay food wise. I still need to strengthen my accountability when it comes to logging and planning ahead. I tracked everything for 60% of my week. I just need to get it to 100% of the time. It irks me when I don't track. I know what I am doing but the excuses of "Oh, I will remember" is total bull crap. I need to work on this, especially on the weekends. Planning ahead has been a little challenge lately. I just need to have some ideas in my head and make it. Needless to say, this week, Drum Roll [please] I went up .6. That's okay because this is the time that I usually put that water weight on but that also means that the whole month I haven't lost anything. I really don't think I'm at a plateau, I'm just at middle point of contemplation/relapse. I wouldn't go so far to say it's a relapse but I am not doing exactly what I need to so that I can lose this weight. I've got the working out under control, just not the eating accountability. So my mini-goal of the week is to track, track, track.

When ever you get a gain, it's semi-natural to go into a "urgh mode" but instead of being there yesterday, I headed straight to the gym after the meeting. I stopped over at a YMCA near my weight watchers meeting and had a killer workout there. It was amazing how different the YMCA's are in the area. I usually go to the Downtown YMCA that is newer and more modern. This one was smaller, very family friendly, and actually gave it's members free coffee. That would never fly downtown. Though, no matter where you go, there's always a parent that "allows" their child to play with the equipment. Ah, come on folks, can you say accident waiting to happen. Please keep the kiddos off the gym equipment. They could get seriously hurt!

We've been in the buying mode lately and we got to get ourselves out of it. We're doing fine financially but it's amazing how much money flies out of the windows this time of year for us. Between paying city taxes, pet issues (teeth and UTI but they are worth it), car repairs, new doors for the house, paying off the windows, iphone, trips, etc. We've got to slow down. We were this close to buying a car last weekend because we could have saved cose to $10K but after looking at the month car payment stuff we were like, "Oh, we don't really want a car payment" plus it doesn't make since to have 3 cars because well, it doesn't. Maybe when Chris's Saturn dies will get a new one but hopefully, that is way off because his hitting 200K next month and we have a free oil change package on the car, as long as Saturn is around. At least we have his new car picked out...isn't it sweet? It was hard to say goodbye to it. It was a beauty.

I know this week is going to be stronger than the past month. I just got to get myself back on track, solid track that is. The good thing is that April

It's better to be in the drivers seat..

2009-03-22T17:20:00.003-04:00

When you are busy, how do you not feel like things are not going out of control? Chris and I have been super busy the past two weeks and I don't know how we were making heads or tails out of things. I feel better when I'm organized not only emotionally but my home and refrigerator needs to be organized too. The last week was challenging because I feel like I didn't have my healthy foods surrounding me like I usually do. My sleep was off, as well as my workouts. So yesterday we spent part of the day organizing and getting things back into order. We picked up the necessities at Costco and when we got home from running our errands, we picked up the house. I have to say, that I feel so much better today than I have in two weeks. I feel like I'm getting back my priorities. It's funny how when you are totally busy, it feels like you lose sight of your goals.

I broke several rules last week. #1 We ate out twice last week. Last Wednesday night I stopped at Qdoba. Seven months ago, it used to be a weekly thing. In fact, the two workers at Qdoba asked where I have been lately and I told them about working out and not eating out. It's pretty bad when people recognize you at a fast food place (it's nice that they know me but it's bad to think how much we used to go there). #2 Not tracking...yes, my week sucked because I was not writing down what I was putting in my mouth. I thought "Oh, I'll just write that in later..." No, I need to write it in now! #3 I didn't meal plan this week. I just winged it, no planning so I often found myself starving at the end of the night. #4 We didn't get to the gym early enough. We need to get in there earlier.

I wonder if part of the week was off because we went out of town last weekend because I didn't have time to mentally prepare for the week or physically. For work, it was up in the air if I was going to go to a training because I didn't know if I was certified yet for my therapy technique that I learned. I found out Wednesday that I was (which is so awesome because I'm going to training to be a certified coach in the therapy at a state level which is absolutely huge) and then Thursday I had to get up super early to attend the conference in Bay City which is totally on the other side of the state. It doesn't help that I just got inundated with new cases at work so I feel so frazzled. Bolton my cat came down with a UTI so it just felt like the whole darn week was off! So how do I turn things around? I can control some things like my environment, how I react to stress, how I plan, etc. Doing this will set me up for a more successful week next week. I can do it!

Drum roll [please]...I stayed the same. After having such an off week, I'm so happy to report this. I feel like it's my get out of free jail card because I don't feel like I earned it this week. I'm happy but I really need to get my butt in gear this week. Here's to a more successful week all! Take care-Kellie

I need to get back to...

2009-03-21T06:47:00.003-04:00

Ahahah! I need to get to a WW meeting today. Thank goodness there is one at 8:30 I can get to because I need a reality check today. I'm being accountable here so my week was horrible. Now, I didn't gorge myself or eat in a wild uncontrollable manner but my nutrition is off, way off. I haven't been eating many fruits or veggies all week. I went out to eat 3 times which is a big yikes because I didn't plan ahead for my lunches at work. After getting back from Chicago, I didn't set my environment up for success because there is no spinach in my fridge or other staples I like to have. So overall, it was not a good week nutrition wise. Concerning working out, we have been getting to the gym about 10 minutes later and I was not available to go one day this week so I feel like I'm behind. I've got to get back into the drivers seat!

St. Patty's Day Weekend Chicago

2009-03-15T21:16:00.001-04:00

St. Patty's Day in Chicago was...

2009-03-15T18:55:00.004-04:00

Awesome! Chris and I have been dying to go to Chicago for the St. Patty's day celebration for years so in January, we planned the trip. It was my whole "lucking forward to the spring trip". It was just my whole focus on how to get through the winter months here in Michigan. We decided to leave Friday morning and we started towards Benton Harbor. We wanted to stop at a microbrewery called The Livery. We stopped for an hour then we headed towards Chicago. We stopped at China town and got some Dim Sum. That was a pure treat. I got the best Wonton Soup that I ever had. My gosh, it was terrific. I wanted Chris to see Binny's Liquor Depot and he thought it was amazing. We saw a $40K scotch there...amazing, someone would spend that much money on a liquor but when you have that much money, who cares, right? Then we headed out to Schaumburg and met up with Chris's friend Noah who he used to work with until he moved to IL. We hung out with him and his fiancee for the night at an Irish Pub in Arlington Heights. It was neat, the place had character and Irish dancers. We spent the night chatting it up with them we went back to the hotel room and crashed. We grabbed breakfast early that morning and drove back into the city. We attempted to get a metered sport over by the aquarium but they were not available so we headed to The Drake where we were staying to see if they would hold our bags until check in. They would so when I was talking with the doorman, he encouraged me to go back in and see if we could get an early check in and we could so we dropped our bags in the room and headed towards the river dying. I've always heard that they dye the river green for St. Patty's day and they sure do. They dump an orange dye in the river and it turns a bright neon green. We then headed towards the parade and we got there in time to hear the bag pipers and we watched a little of it and decided to walk back towards town. We stopped for lunch at a sushi joint across from the art museum. We then journeyed around the town, stopping into some shops, and enjoyed the sights for the rest of the day. It was perfect people watching. We got back to the hotel around 5pm and crashed in the executive room. We went out around 8pm to see the night time sights and it was crazy! Chicago people must avoid the Rush Street area because it was crawling with drunk people. Overall, we walked about 15 miles according to my pedometer so we got some great exercise in. Overall, it was a fabulous trip. So it's got me aching for our summer vacation. We just need to figure out where we are going. Is it going to be California or Utah/Colorado? We don't know yet but it's got to involve backpacking :)

I ate pretty well for the most part. I forgot my journal so I estimated high on the points. Better off safe than sorry. The only major spurlge I had was a chocolate malt from Ed Debavicks and some of the mochachinos that were free at the lounge (I'm sure the cream killed me on those but they were so good. 10 times better than starbucks). Lets just say, I will be very cautious about what I eat this week :)

Ah, Biggest Loser night....

2009-03-10T19:50:00.003-04:00

My predictions for tonight, Sione will get the boot because the kido was not able to lose the 10lbs. I could be wrong but that's the only reason why Filipe got mad at Jillian. I'm still ready for Ron to go home tonight. Let him go home and do well on the plan :) Because losing weight on the ranch isn't realy life. Get him back to the home to see if the changes were made :) I'm also ready for the show to bring back the contestants that got kicked off. I would love to see Carla back on too plus Dane. We'll see! It's good entertainment (at times) even if it's not realistic. This week is flying by and my Friday (which is Thursday) is almost here. I'm so ready for the weekend :) Take care all-Kellie

So I got out early today...

2009-03-09T19:47:00.010-04:00

I had training today so I got out of work early today so on my way home, I stopped to run some errands. I had to pick up food for the cats so since I was near the mall, I decided to stop in. Wow, now the prices are completely right with clothing right now but I have to say that I must be in a complete time warp because I hate the clothes right now. Really, I do. I'm a very casual person so I don't really like dressing up. My style is more of the North Face, Patagonia, and Dockers circa 1998 without the Lycra stretch. So when I was in Sears, Eddie Bauer, Macy's, and the Gap I saw NOTHING that caught my eye.

I take that back, I did find some khaki's in Sears from Lands End but their pants always look funny on me but I tried them on for fun and yes, they still looked funny in my torso area so I passed. The clothing now is so bright, like out of this world bright, and the tops look like pregnancy tops. For example, the picture that I took in Boston is cute but it definitely makes me look pregnant so I'm avoiding tops like that. Yes, it's a cute top but it makes me look like I am expecting. That will be cool when I am but I'm not there yet :) I'll stick to my old clothes. Plus, it's like I am finding new clothes because this past weekend I got into my solid size 14 Eddie Bauer jeans and it felt terrific! I have old clothes so why need new ones? It's not like they look bad and they are classic styles so that can be worn anytime. Funny thing is that some of my old favorites are still decent now. I'll keep on telling myself that, maybe one day I will have a stylish wardrobe but until then, I will keep my clothing that had a life before me. I've bought the majority of my clothing at Goodwill/Salvation Army where I am a brand name hound. If it came from a low end store, I don't buy it because when I'm shopping at Goodwill, I'm looking for name brands. That's just me :) I think in the future, I will need to go back into regular stores for clothing because with the recession, I see that the thrift stores are getting shopped out and in years to come, the clothing now will be on the racks and I won't have anything to do with that so I will be stuck. Oh well...at least then we might be out of the recession...there's hope right? Take care all-Kellie

Good meeting...

2009-03-08T20:18:00.002-04:00

I have to say the the meetings at Weight Watchers have been absolutely terrific lately. I've been going to meetings off and on since 1994 (when I was a sophomore in college) and the meetings that they are having now are AMAZING. It very well could be my leader but I'm so impressed by the content lately that if you haven't been to a meeting in a while, I would encourage you to go. This week it was on the stages of commitment to losing weight and it is so true. There are 5 stages and it discussed every stage and what they look like. It was pretty helpful because it's so true about commitment. They discussed relapse and how common it is. Losing weight is difficult but it helps identifying the patterns that you are in. In that commitment stage, no one can stop you but in the relapse stage, the self-doubt is strong and recognizing the patterns that get you into that phase is important. I remembered last year how gun ho I was on the program. I was so committed up until my visit to my in-laws where we ate out 3 times that weekend. I won't know if my current journey will be successful but I'm hoping that I am setting myself up for success now. I'm definitely doing it different this time around. I'm very focused on not eating out except one time per week, working out 5-6 times per week, and attending the meetings even if a gain is present. I am also eating like a regular person. If I want a beer (in my case a hard cider), I have one. If I want to eat a piece of desert, I eat it but I'm accountable and I don't do it everyday. To restrict myself now is not going to help me any when I reach my goal weight. I need to eat that food within moderation now. I don't think I will ever eat out as much as I had so the once per week is nice. It gives me something I have to look forward to without worrying about the calories/fat (but I am tracking it). Like today, Chris and I went to one of our favorite spots, this place called The Westsider Cafe. The place is amazing where they specialize in local fare. I got a tortilla with black beans, eggs, with a little chirzo plus fresh salsa. Chris got the Polish Combination plate and we shared a pear custard bar. It was terrific and well worth the points.

Drum roll [please]I gained .4 this week. I had a good strong week. I was within my points and the workouts were terrific so I'm going to stick with what I am doing. A gain is a gain and I look at it as a time for evaluation...like, did I do something wrong? Nope. I counted my points, exercised, at drank all my water. Gains happen :)

They cancelled the class. Unfortunately, not enough people signed up for the class. It looks like we are going to be able to transfer the money from the class to personal training so its all good.

It was a good weekend. We went to the Grand Rapids Home Show and it was great. It was finally good to go to an event that was worth the money. We got a ton of great ideas for the house and it just makes me excited about remodeling the home in the future. We're also going to get a quote on getting stone stairs for the backyard and we're going to get my tub refinished. Eventually, I would like to get some new siding like the Hardy siding or a vinyl product called Cedar Boards but that is a few years down the road. Then we went to a Geocaching event. Those are always entertaining because I love to people watch and there were a ton of things to see. Chris and I are pretty introverted when we go to those things so we just hang out and check things out. If people come up to chat, we talk but we are not the type to seek people out. Then Chris went down to Kalamazoo to help his dad with the garage because it was stuck. His dad a "fight" with the garage door spring and it won. A hospital visit with stitches on the inside of the nose and out plus a cat scan later, he learned that when he needs help he should call Chris. I went to a board meeting and it went good. An awkward event happened though. I had read on the facebook account that my friend had gotten married so I went "Mary, you're married...Congrats!" Well she started shaking her head and kind of shushed me so I'm like what's going on here? I tried to recover by saying "Oh, I just assumed. Sorry about that". I don't know why she didn't want me to say anything in front of the other people but that was totally strange. Humm, I want to know but it's one of those things that I can't ask. Then we totally relaxed today. I'm afraid that I'm not going to get a good nights sleep because of the time change. Take care all-Kellie

Noticing the little things...

2009-03-01T08:34:00.009-05:00

I'm about six months into working out at the Y and it appears that just recently, I've been noticing little things. For instance, I'm performing my lunges so much better. When I first started, I didn't even want to attempt them because I was afraid that I would mess up my knee. But Carly noted that a lunge done the right way will never bother the knees so I started doing them slowly. I've been working on my balance with them and the other morning, I did a set perfectly. It felt so terrific! So if you haven't added working out to your program yet, I would recommend it. Before I used to say that we didn't have time to work out but you can always make time :)

I'm ready for the weekend! It's been a tiring week so I can't wait until tomorrow night so I can relax and do nothing :) Chris is going out with lurker (a friend of his that checks my page out which is creepy). So I get to stay home and chill. I love having the house to myself just to relax. It's nice to have that me time :)

Here's my take on the Biggest Loser this week. Too many tears. Man, there are a bunch of criers on there. I think Sione is going to get the boot because that why Filipe is blowing a gasket with Jillian because she spent way to much time toying with Laura this past week. I like Tara but Laura needs to get scooting. I read on a message board that when they were casting for the BL last year, Laura and Tara didn't even need to audition because their agent got them there. Nice, er? Now if everyone had an agent. The one thing I like about the show is the transformation to see what a difference losing the weight makes. It's nor realistic how much weight they are losing but to see how much it changes one's look is amazing. Take care all-Kellie

I know it's Biggest Loser night but...

2009-03-01T08:34:00.005-05:00

I was kind of ticked off at Biggest Loser lately with the notion of "I can't make it without the ranch" mentality...is this bothering anyone else? I've been hearing that theme on the show forever but it's been irking me when I've been watching the show. It's like sorry folks, what do you think is going to happen when you leave the ranch? Real life is going to happen and the ranch is a fantasy land. I was especially disappointed when the brown team dad was kept on the show when Dane was given the boot. What was this team thinking? I guess I will find out more tonight.

This week is going by fast and I'm looking forward to the weekend. Not that we have any major plans, just a geocaching event, I have a board meeting, and we're getting together with some friends. We toying with going to a home show but we're not too sure about that. It seems like everytime we go to one of those shows, it's a waste of time and money. The last home show we went to in Kalamazoo was a joke. I've should have known this because the main presenter was the Michigan Paranormal Society...it's like, come on, it's a home show. We just put in our order for our two new doors and I'm exicted to get those. We're getting a new front door and a new kitchen door so we should get them in 5 weeks. Our current doors were put in wrong so it will be good to see them go. We're holding off on the french doors because we're waiting for our escrow money to come back from our crappy mortgage company. I'm just waiting for that bank to fail because they stink. They have about $4K too much in our account and this month, were supposed to be getting it back but you never know. After the doors, then come the rest of the windows in the fall and hopefully within 2 years, we can get new siding :) it all takes time and money! Yeah, I'm old now because I'm excited about house stuff.

The workouts are going great. It'm burning between 500-600 calories a day. We're working out 5 days a week now, waking up nice and early. I love working out in the morning because it's nice to get home at night at a decent time. It looks like we won't have a class because there were not enough people that signed up, which is a total bummer. I guess we'll find out on Friday if it's a go or not. If the class isn't a go, it looks like the Y will transfer the money to the personal training so that's a plus. Well, that's it for me tonight, take care all-Kellie

PS. Anji, did I tell you that you ROCK lately? Thanks for the kitty tips. Bolton was A LOT calmer with the meds your way. No longer is he a traumatized kitty!

It was a beautiful day...

2009-03-01T08:34:00.002-05:00

It was a gorgeous day out yesterday. The sun was shining, hardly any clouds, and the temperature was about 24. It was nice to see this so I told Chris when I got home from Weight Watchers, we should do some geocaching. We set out and did some local caches then we headed out towards the Lakeshore and ended up at the PJ Hoffmaster State Park outside of Muskegon. There was some icy spots but the hike was awesome. I wore my HRM and burned about 500 calories in the time we were out there. I was surprised to see how many calories I burned from the hiking. The trail was getting too icy and we needed to go down the hill so I found a clear spot and just went down the side of the hill on my bottom, I've always wanted to do that! It was just a cool day and it was a nice change from the gym.

The past week was totally draining. I think I need a vacation from work because I'm just feeling a little burnt out. I'm closing a lot of cases, starting with new families and that can be draining. Establishing relationships in a therapeutic process takes a lot because you have to establish that trust quickly because usually the family is in crisis. I'm also getting anxious about hearing if I got certification for my therapy skill that I learned. We had to submit tapes and the state is viewing them. I was the second therapist in my cohort to put tapes in but I haven't heard anything yet. It's like, okay, you all can tell me at any time that I've passed or failed because I want to move on and I feel kind of stuck right now. I'm going to be out of the office two days next week so that could be what I'm needing. I'm looking forward to better weather because the commute this week was also a pain. The other morning we had freezing rain and a guy was on my butt for about 15 miles. I hit some black ice and slowed up a bit and I watched him spin out of control and hit a barrier. That was my "Thank you Jesus" moment that I had. It will be nice when the commute goes back to driving 55 without worrying about the slick roads. Oh, it will be nice soon, won't it?

I'm happy today is March 1st. That means spring is around the corner soon. Spring in Michigan is wonderful. Michigan has three great seasons around here and that's why I love living here (despite the poor economy, it's a wonderful state). When I lived in Louisville, I thought the spring and fall were terrific but the summer...oh my, that humidity was horrible. I'll take cold over humidity any day. Though, I do miss Louisville in the spring when all the magnolia trees come out. When I was going to U of L, the campus was laced with a ton of Magnolia trees and I couldn't believe how beautiful they were. Last spring I spotted a magnolia tree at a garden store and was interested in planting one but at $50, I doubted if it would take off. I'm getting excited to prep for my garden this year. I would like to plant some lettuce (not as much as last year though), some onions, radishes, beans, tomatoes, and other various veggies. I didn't have any luck with the corn so I think I will pass on planting that. I would like to plant some proper grass in the front because it looks horrible in the front. The neighbor said when the house was in foreclosure, no one took care of the leaves so it killed our grass. All we have is dirt/weeds up there. I need to do some researching on how to get it going properly. Last year, I just threw down some seed and that didn't work so we'll see.

Thanks for the advice Anji about the cat's teeth. I got Bolton crated the other day (it took me five minutes) and I took him to the vet to get his teeth cleaned and he had two extractions so it was worth it. We've had to give him antibiotics twice a day via oral syringe and that has been an utter pain and he totally hates me now because I'm the one giving it to him. He's one ticked off kitty but at least he has healthy teeth!

Drum roll {please} I am down 2.2 pounds!!! So I'm 179.8 now!! I'm done with the 180s, so good riddance to them! I had to stare at my book several times to believe the loss. In the two months of being at WW, I'm down 8 :) that's terrific! I'm not a fast loser and my losses are in consistent. I gain some weeks, lose the next but I'm going down and that's all that matters. So everyone, don't get down on yourself if you don't lose/gain, it will all work out in the long run, really! Don't give up! I really journalled hard this week. I wrote everything down so it did pay off. The meeting was about journaling/tracking. A new interesting fact about journalling is that people tend to slack off with doing it around week 6. Wow, they hit the nail on the head with knowing that. The workouts are going terrific and training with Ryan is making a huge difference. Chris and I are looking forward to the class again in a few weeks. That accountability is nice. I'm also challenging myself on the exercises. There's a couple that he's taught me that I can't do yet but I'm almost there...thank Goodness to modifications. I must be a hoot to look at when I'm at the gym but I'm getting it done and improving! My core exercising is doing better and I can actually balance myself on a balance ball for a minute...when I started doing this two months ago, I couldn't even hold myself up for four seconds, now I'm up to a minute :) That's success in my book. Take care all! Kellie

Did I say how much I love the weekend?

2009-02-22T18:01:00.003-05:00

I really love the weekend. Its my time to relax and re-energizer and this is what Chris and I did this weekend. There were no major plans, just some errands this weekend. We took his car for the oil change at Saturn. Believe it our not, the place was busy and it was nice to see that. I saw the salespeople working their tails off too. They were calling customers to see how they were liking their new cars or wishing them happy birthday. Now that is service! I hope that Saturn will make it. It's a great car company and Chris's car has been kind to him. He's 3K away from having 200K. Who says American car companies are crap? They get a bad rap, really. I love my Jeep too. I have about 125K and it's been kind to me also. No major repairs at all. I'm just not attracted to foreign autos (well, okay, there is a soft spot for the mini cooper but that's it). There's no upmh with them for me but that's me :) After Saturn we hit Costco and did the usual $100 buying spree. That store is amazing but we really cannot walk out of there spending less than $100. We only got two impulse buys too. Some of my staples from there are the Odwalla Mango Tango, Spinach, nuts (I usually buy pecans but I bought some almonds this week), feta cheese, and stuffed grape leaves. We then travelled all over town looking for cat food then because we got out to our usual place to only find that they went out of business. After calling around to a few places, we found it at Pet Supplies Plus and they were so eager to help, excellent customer service! We then did our usual eating out Saturday and since we were not craving anything we used a gift card that my friend Teresa gave me for my birthday at Olive Garden. We haven't been there in about two years (at least) so we had so expectations (because I usually have low expectations for this place) and was pleasantly surprised that it was good. Every time I go to Olive Garden, I have those bad flashbacks to when I was 21 and dating Sluggy. We went to Olive Garden once and I wanted to buy a glass of wine and the girl looked at my drivers license and looked at my 230 lbs body noting that there was no way that girl in the photo was me. It was and I was so shocked and embarrassed by it, I walked out. That was sad because now looking back, I should have got up and said something to her but at least we didn't sit there and eat. Argh, I don't miss those days or that former life with Sluggy. Not once have I regretted dumping his lazy @ss. Anyways, back to the weekend. Then we came home and relaxed. We've only been out one other time this weekend and it was to work out with Ryan. He did some major work today and Chris burned 998 calories...amazing! I burned 678 calories so I bet I will be sore tomorrow.

The sleep issues are looking like they are in the past! Yippy! We have been sleeping nicely for the past few nights without waking up. It's amazing how sluggish one feels when they haven't gotten the proper amount of sleep. Plus, I was pretty grouchy last week so I'm feeling good again.

Drum roll {please} I stayed the same this week. I'm going to look at this as my TOM is soon approaching but I was also quite sloppy this week with tracking food. I could have done better with the accountablility peice this past week so the meeting was perfect on Saturday for me about what do I need to be successful. I got the working out piece fixed, now I just need to track the food better. For instance, I will grab some nuts here and there, not have my journal near and "forget". I really need to firm this up. There was a couple of days that I even left my journal home so I need to get back on track. Not having it around is making a huge difference. Here's to a good week all-Kellie

Zzzz...

2009-02-18T17:39:00.004-05:00

Chris's sleeping patterns are completly off and they are beginning to impact me. It started two weeks ago. We think it's the matteress but we're not sure because that's when we flipped it last. It's a newer matteress because we bought it when we moved into the house. So tonight we're going to try to flip it back and see if it makes a difference but it's a rough go on 5 hours a sleep a night. He's waking up around 3:15ish and he's rolling around. I've asked him if he is stressing out and he claims he is not but this pattern has to stop, hopefully soon! It's making my head foggy and my concentration during the day is getting bad...which is not good because the majority of my visits with people occur in the afternoon :( I was so tired last night, I feel asleep during the biggest loser and have no idea who got the boot. Man, I need to look that up. Just did, Shannon, wow...I didn't see that coming. I heard she got into some trouble over Christmas because she threw a bag of flour at a roommate. Yeah, that's a little odd.

What's the crock cooking tonight? Nothing but yesterday, I whipped up a spicy black bean soup in the crockpot and it was delicious! The recipe is available @ allrecipes.com. I love it when I can get 3 days out of one dish. Plus it was super cheap to make. Try it out, you won't be disappointed. I paired it with some trader joes corn bread. We hit trader joes on the way back and it was a tad overwhelming because everyone was bumping into me, reaching over, etc. I was actually happy to get out of there because there was no space to browse. That's okay because we're going to Chicago within the month so I'll be able to browse there. I did pick up some new items for me. I got some potstickers, wontons, and an Indian spinach simmer sauce. I also got my favorites such as garlic naan bread, masala sauce, Greek yogurt, and orange chicken (my favorite). Well that's it for me, take care all-Kellie

I love Detroit!!

2009-02-15T10:07:00.002-05:00

Okay, I love Detroit. It's an absolutely wonderful city. Really, it is. As a child, growing up in "Fashionable Ferndale" I learned to fear the city. The city was somewhere you didn't go because it wasn't safe. I can only recall a few times as a child, making a trip into the city. We went to Joe Louis arena for a Sesame Street show, Cobo Arena for the auto show and a winter festival, and went to Belle Isle a few times but that was it. I remember on our trips to my grandmothers house in West Virginia stopping by a gas station in Detroit to fill up and I was petrified that my dad was going to be killed. Yup, I had a wild imagination. So I never thought too much of the city. About four years ago, I went to a conference in Detroit with a few coworkers and one of them took us downtown and I was impressed. Maybe the city wasn't so bad? It was gorgeous but there were still a lot of building vacant. I've been battling with cabin fever the past few weeks so I thought we needed to get out of town but to where? Detroit! I thought we could go get some good Thai food and then come home. I did some researching and found that Detroit had a ton of microbreweries so that was the plan. After thinking about it, I decided maybe we should do an overnighter so when Chris got home on Friday, I got him to find us a place to stay in Detroit. He was hestiant at first but I'm like if you pick a fourstar in Detroit, it will be safe, really! He put a bid in for a fourstar hotel in Detroit and it gave us a reservation at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel. I was excited because I heard awesome things about this hotel from my sister. She talked about it having this huge ballroom so I knew we were in for a treat. We get there and the place is absolutely gorgeorus. The inside was completely redone and modern. They remodeled the ballrooms and all I can say is wow! I was impressed. We spent the rest of the night peeping around and chilling out in the Motown Bar at the hotel.

We got up the next morning and I was dying to go to the Eastern Market. It's a farmers market and they sell everything. In the winter they don't have so much but the summer, the place is packed. Chris bought two of the largest pommengrates that I have ever seen. We got breakfast at a deli across from the market and it was super. Local, organic food with homemade breads and meats. Detroit can really cook. I got an omelet with homemade italian sausage, basil, red bell peppers, and asiago cheese. Chris got a ruben. It was terrific and the total bill was $15. Unbelieveable! because we would be paying more for organic, local, homemade food if it was in Grand Rapids. We then went to Belle Isle because I haven't been there since I was eight. On our drive into the park there were so many beautiful homes that were abandoned and boarded up. It was a sad sight to see. These once majestic homes now sitting vacant was heartbreaking. We get over to the island and it was pretty desolate. I had heard that they closed the acqurium and zoo so the only thing that was left open was the conservatory. It's over 105 years old. I had such vivid memories of the place as a child with all the plants so I was excited to see it. We pull up to the building and no one is in the parking lot. I sent Chris out to see if it was open and it was so we went into the building. We were told to sign in by a grumpy woman. I got in there and was overwhelmed. It just hit me that one of my favorite memories as a child was reduced to this. Belle Isle was awesome, what had happened to this place? Why was everything closed? It was sad. I don't know why I got so emotional about it but I did. I walked through the conservatory enjoying the trees but when I got out, I just started bawling. Chris just looked at me wondering what the heck? It's just one of those things that when you see something that was so grand in your mind and see the realties of it now is semi-shocking. I know, it's strange. We drove around the island and it was beautiful but what a waste to see all the vacant buildings at the zoo. Really, this island was amazing at one time. It was just sad to see. It was getting close to 11:00 so we headed off to Traffic Jam and Snug. They were closed so we went across the street to Motor City Brewing Works. I was the DD today no drinking for me today. He got a sampler. It was a cool building and the interior was awesome. Very rugged by artsy. We stayed there for an hour then we headed back over to the Traffic Jam and Snug. This place was cool. Chris got some more samplers and we bought some homemade bread there. Apparently, they use the wheat products from the beer to make the bread and it's amazing. We bought some spinach parmesan bread and some cheese bread. From there we headed out to the Detroit Beer Company. I was getting hungry so we got some soup and it was amazing! Chris sampled some more beers and then we hit Atwater Block Brewery. It was a cool brewery that was huge. We ran into some fellow microbrewery lovers and chatted for an hour. I loved this because I forgot how friendly Detroiters were. They really are. Every place (except the chick at Belle Isle) was so friendly. It was nice to see because you don't get this type of reaction in most places. Our last brewery stop was the Dragonmead Microbrewery. This was a pretty neat place and they had fresh made soda's so you could bring the kids there. I opted for a Lemondade Soday and it was terrific. So that was our brewery hop. I had a ton of fun and Chris enjoyed himself.

We then opted for some Thai food and we got take out. I got a Pad Pak with medium spice and it was terrific. Chris got a seafood combo hot and all I can say is that we didn't have enough milk in the house to calm down the taste buds. We stopped at Trader Joes on the way home and I think I got sensory overload there. With it being Valentines day, you would not have known it. The place was packed beyond belief. People bumping into you, reaching over you, etc. We got what we needed and left. It's usually a great buying experience but it was too much for me!

Needless to say, I didn't go to WW this week. According to my scale, I might be the same. Yeah! I'm debeating if I'm going to hit a Sunday meeting for ww. I might just wait until next week. We'll see. The workouts were good this week. Waking up early is good but I find myself turning in around 9:15 pm. They sent out an email for the graduate class so it looks like they are going to try to have a 5am class. Now that is going to be hard but we'll see! Take care all-Kellie

Humm?

2009-02-10T19:46:00.003-05:00

Humm, the female body is a puzzling one. I admit to weighing myself everyday but the last two days it's like, huh? Now, I wish I could totally admit to over eating but I haven't but the weight is up plus I feel totally bloated for no reason. I got three more days until weigh in so I'll see how it goes.

Today Chris and I were blessed with two different work compliments. Chris got acknowledgement from his work on having superior customer service. I know the transition from being a pilot to the insurance has been bumpy at times but it was nice to see how happy he was tonight. An acknowledgment can go a long ways. It was quite the honor because this customer personally called Chris's boss to tell him what a good person he was. Isn't that super? How many times do people acknowledge the hard work of someone else? I was also given a kudos from a family. They wrote in to let how much they appreciate me as their worker. I've almost worked there for 9 years and never had that happen so it was like "wow...that is nice". It's nice to see that someone appreciates the work that I do because it is a tough profession.

Biggest Loser is on tonight. I'm gearing up for it. Lets see who will go tonight. I hope the teams will break up soon because they need that variable. I've never watched when they did it as individuals so I wonder how different that was to see with the dynamics on the show.

Chris got an Iphone this past weekend and it is totally awesome. His Ipod took a dump and his cell phone was six years old so he thought it was time to upgrade. And upgrade he did. I'm totally digging on the live strong application on there. I don't need an Iphone but man, I love all the gadgets on it. They even have an application for dining out where it pulls all the nutrition info from the major restaurants. If you go out, you won't be wondering about the calories. Well, Biggest Loser is on, I've got to go!...take care all-Kellie

Great Date Night!

2009-02-08T09:40:00.005-05:00

We couldn't figure out where we wanted to go last night for dinner so we asked our trainer Ryan what we should do. It's always good to get someone elses opinion of where to go becase taste's vary. Ryan asked if whe have ever been to Ichiban Grill and we had not so it was a go. We didn't eat lunch so we were ravernous. We thought that we could hit lunch stil when we got there at 3:30 but they didn't open until 4:30. We ran some errands and then came back around 4:45. They asked us if we wanted Chinese Food/Sushi or the Japanese Hibachi, we wanted the Hibachi and they indicated that we had to have reservations. Okay, so we were like do we stay or should we go because we didn't have reservations. After looking at the Chinese menu, I was like, "We're not here for the Chinese" to Chris. He then clarified that we could make a reservation there and we were suited for a 5pm spot. Awesome! So it was very entertaining and good. It was a five course meal for under $50. I took a video on my flip with him cooking so enjoy!

Ryan did kick our bottoms yeterday. Chris and are both sore today. It was a great workout. He's been focusing on our core, legs, and arms. He did quite a few new excercises with us using free weights. We did lunges with weights, used the balance ball with some arm movement, and some other free weight excercises that I will add into my routine in the morning. I've noticed that my arm are looking better too. I'm getting more definition with them so I will be ready for summer.

Here I thought my body fat % was 29, well, it's not. It's worse than that. I'm sitting on a 37.5% body fat rate. I miss read my bmi instead of % of fat so I'm looking at improving this. It's going down slowly though. When I first started the class I was around 40% which is not good. I'm going to keep track of this information because it's really important to have. It's nice to see that percentage go down some but seeing how high it is not good. I'm just happy that I am doing something about it. Today is going to be cleaning day. I'm going to do my general cleaning then attack the upstairs for some organization. It's a pit hole up here so something needs to be done! Have a terrific Sunday all-Kellie

On a scale of 1 - 10, I'm a 2...

2009-02-07T10:54:00.002-05:00

On a scale of 1-10 of how much energy I have, I'm at a 2 right now. Usually I'm a 8 or a 9. Chris says that when we meet up with our trainer today, it will get higher so I'm looking forward to that.

We were going to get out of town today because I have bad cabin fever but after talking about it, we're going to delay that. I was he-hawing about going out of town all week. I want to but I don't think it's good because we have a mini-trip next month planned and we should be watching the pocketbook. Thank goodness we are not going anywhere because I think I would have been too drained to enjoy it. We're just going to stay home and do things around the house. Chris really needs to pick up the Christmas decorations today because the high is going to be 48 degrees. So we'll see if that will happen.

We got our taxes back already. It's too bad that we can't use it for fun so we are being responsible adults and paying off our windows early, paying for our property taxes, property association fees, and our Grand Rapids city tax because we live here. My company will not take out taxes for the city like Chris's will so it's a little aggravating to pay it at the end of the year so we're just going to pay it ahead of the time so we will have less hassle next year. Our next big project is to replace all the outside doors and windows in the house because there are some major heatloss issues right now. Our side door lets a whole bunch of air in, the former owner lined/wrapped the door with indoor trim so it looks horrible plus there's a high potential of it rotting so the door has got to go. In the morning the kitchen has been running around a 60 degree temperature so hopefully a properly installed new door will help. I'm hoping to have this done by April. We'll see!

Drum roll [please]...I lost .2 pounds this week! Yeah! I'm at 182 right now. I'm happy with my loss. I really could have made better choices this past week. I did the stupid thing of bringing reduced fat Cape Cod chips and dip in my house. I know better. My weakness is salty/crunchy foods so needless to say, I made some poor choices with that. I just cannot stop myself when it comes to potato chips, I totally lack control in this area. The best thing for me to do is to not keep them around the home. Last Saturday, I had a 48 point day so that didn't help either. I had an awesome time but I found a hard apple cider name Scrumpy's from here in Michigan (that was organic!) and I was hooked. It's Chris's turn to pick out the eating out. I'm secretly hoping that he will choose some sushi so I can get some sashmi :) I love it, especially the clam. My favorite place to get it at is at a small sushi restaurant downtown. They give you free miso soup and a nice salad. Plus it's low in points and healthy...I'm sending Chris sushi thoughts right now.

Getting up at 5:15 is working. It's nice to come home at night and just crash. I didn't hit a brick wall this week so that was nice. I think the major challenge is to get enough sleep. I've been trying to get Chris into bed by 9:45 and that's a little tricky. I feel like I've been nagging him a ton. I know there is a better way to do this but I haven't found it yet. I'm sure my "Chris, it's 9:40, we better get settled in" is growing old. I'll work on that! Have a terrific Saturday all-kellie

I should have known it was not a good idea...

2009-02-04T20:31:00.001-05:00

So today was the day to get Bolton's teeth cleaned at the vet and what a fiasco it was. IT started out at 7:30 when I got home from the gym, the cat treats that are usually in a basket were opened in the middle of the floor. I have no idea how it got there but I'm suspecting that it was baby girl. I then started to think, "oh this isn't going to happen" because Bolton could not have any food after 9pm. I tried to call the vet but there was no answer. I decided to take him anyways so i put a collar and leash on him just in case if he was going to jump out of my arms, I would still have control or so I thought. I carry him out and I'm getting into my jeep and he freaks out because he hears a bus that was passing by. He starts scratching me and I lost my grip. I grab the leash and it busts. He bolted out of there and I start freaking out yelling his name. He's gone so I start running. Luckily, he went to the back of the house and I was able to pick him up. So I put him in the back seat and start to drive towards the vet. If you are wondering why I don't crate him, well he doesn't do well in a crate and he usually has diarhea. Halfway to the vet, I smell poop. He @hit in the back seat of my jeep...urgh! I get to the vet and find that they can't do the procedure anyways because of him eating so they let me use one of their crates and I was able to get him in there. They even cleaned up the poop and sprayed my car with some good smelling stuff. I'm second guessing this teeth cleaning thing. I don't know if I can go through this again in 3 weeks. Maybe Bolton is going to have to have tarter build up. Has anyone out there ever heard of a cat getting its teeth cleaned anyways? Heck, I love my cat but stressing him out isn't going to extend his life either. If anyone out there has an opinion, please let me know.

I no longer regret my Keirug purchase. That coffee rocks. We bought some k-cups online and they got here today. That was super fast! I had my first taste of creme brulee and it was marvelous. I'm not a fan of brewing a pot so I'm digging this single cup portions. I just wished they would make it more recycling friendly. Having a cup of joe really makes it better in the morning when you are waking up at 5:15 am.

The workouts are going good. I feel good but of course, I would like more sleep. Last Thursday I felt like I hit a brick wall so hopefully this will not be the case tomorrow. My form is improving on the workouts and the results are good. My arms are really showing some shape. I caught the Biggest Loser last night and I was so disappointed in Joelle. Man, that girl has issues. Carla's heart was so into doing better with her weight. It was too bad that Joelle was not there. Joelle was an interesting gal...for some reason, she reminded me of a preacher. I wonder what she does for a living. The sad thing is that she really talked the talk but she didn't walk the walk. It will be interesting to see them at the grand finale. I hope Carla can comeback somehow. We'll see how that goes. Well, that's it for me tonight, take care all-Kellie

Nice Saturday...

2009-01-31T19:22:00.002-05:00

It's been nice to relax today. We haven't been able to do that in about two weeks. I ended up going to my weight watchers meeting this morning and then came home and just chilled for a bit. I then got some motivation to clean the kitchen up, mop the floors, and wipe off the woodwork with some murphy's oil soap. It looks terrific. We then went out and ran our errands. We managed to walk out of Costco only spending $30, went to Big Lots armed with a 20% coupon and bought a few things, headed out to dinner at the Thai restaurant, and then hit Meijer Outlet again because I had to return a crockpot that I bought (Amazon rated it a 1 star so I didn't want to fool with it and we got the cats a remote controlled mouse that didn't work). While I was there, I spotted a body fat analayzer for $5! I looked it up on Amazon and it usually goes for $32. Awesome!

My current body fat is 28%. My weight drum roll {please} is 182.2 this week so I lost two pounds! I knew that last week was a temporary gain :) those things happen but I definetly didn't let it discourage me. I'm not going to let a gain mess me up. The WW meeting was interesting today. Several members discussed their frustration with adding in excercise and gaining. It happens, really! Just expect that when you work out, it's not like the biggest loser where you will lose a ton the first week. My reality was that it stalled the scale going down but the inches were coming off. So if you're in that boat, be sure to measure.

We went to our weekly dinner out and hit a Thai restaurant. It's fairly good and their Tom Yum soup is super. Their chicken pad thai is good but it needed some more spice so I asked for some more chili sauce to spice it up. I was really craving some Indian food but to tell you the truth, I'm afraid to go there because everything is so unhealthy (but it's so yummy). Making healthy choices there would be difficult. The Tikka Masala usually runs in the 20+ grams of fat per serving and I just don't want to do that. I've just got to make some at home because I have some Trader Joes Masala sauce.

We're going out tonight to celebrate a co-workers birthday. We're going to hit a bar that I haven't been to. It's Billy's Lounge. It looks awesome and I'm looking forward to hanging out with her and her clan. It's always a good time. Chris will be happen since the place offers some microbrews from some of his favorite Michigan breweries. I will probably drink off of his or have a drink. I prefer craft brews to mixed drinks but I usually don't drink. I just like to eat the calories :) nor am I light beer lover so those brews usually have a lot of points. Enjoy your Saturday all and have fun! Kellie

Darn that Meijer Outlet!

2009-01-30T20:45:00.003-05:00

I am a weak human being when I walk into Meijer Outlet. Meijer is a chain of grocery stores in the Midwest and they happen to be headquartered in Grand Rapids. They have one outlet store where they side their overstocks and clearanced merchandise. It's an amazing store. Items usually range from 40-90% off. I got out of work today at 4:00 so I decided to stop by. There in front of my eyes was a Keurig Coffee maker. That shopping impulsivity kicked in and I wanted it. My in-laws have one of these things and I love it. So I grabbed the box and headed straight to a manager and attempted to ask for a discount. I tried but nope, they declined and showed me how much the item retailed for well, I was okay then I called Chris and after discussing the pros/cons of getting it. Well, I bought it. Darn me...I've got to stop this impulsive shopping. Yes, I will use it but did I need it? Well, not exactly but it will be nice to have when we go to the gym and have a nice cup of joe in our mugs! I'm just shaking my head right now. It was a great deal but urgh...take care all-Kellie

Is this week over with?

2009-01-29T20:14:00.006-05:00

OMG, is this week over with? I swear this is the longest week ever! It's been a strange week and I'm ready for Friday! Thank God it's Friday eve :)

I've had a utterly busy day starting from 5:15 am until 8:00 pm. I was in the go go go mode. I knew it was going to be a rough day...or maybe, I just set myself up for a rough day by my attitude. I forgot to set the alarm this morning so luckily, I woke up at 5:15. We scramble to the gym and I was not feeling it today. My Ipod was dead, my legs were not wanting to move, and I was tired. I make it to work, race into a 8:30 meeting and then it's non-stop sessions for the morning. A co-worker drove me to one meeting and my mind was a blur from the non-stop meetings I had earlier. Then after the meeting, we had to grab lunch because I forgot mine at home. We ended up going through the Arby's drive through and I asked for a grilled chicken sandwich without mayo. They gave me a crispy...argh. Luckily, I said no mayo but it was still 9 points. Then none stop sessions until 5:15 pm. Then the commute home was awful. I almost got into an accident because some jerk decided to pass and missed me by inches. I was quite shaken. Sucks. So I'm using visualization tonight. This is what makes me happy: It made me smile. That's my baby. I got my flip video from Big Lots and it is awesome. I can't wait until I have some more stuff to post.

I think listening to NPR has also made me depressed a little bit. It's hard times out there right now and it seems like there is nothing too positive in the news right now. People are losing jobs left and right. It's so unsettling. I was less than thrilled to know that my 401K lost about $32K this year...and I'm sure it's continuing to shrink in size. It took me almost 8 years to get where I was, now I have the same amount of money as I had in 2005. I only have a 401 type of savings at my current job. We don't pay into the social security system. I know it will rebound but home much more can I lose? Ah, retirement is another 30 years out if I make it but I highly doubt if I will have the money in the account like they predicted. Oh, well...it's just money. I got my health, my husband, and a good job which is totally priceless! I will be in a better mood tomorrow, I promise! Take care all-Kellie

Wow I'm browsing from the wii

2009-01-26T21:18:00.000-05:00

I'm actually making this post from the wii. Since getting it, I haven't used it so much but now I will. We went to Chris'x folks this past weekend and he set up the wireless system for them and they wanted to try the net on the wii and we got hooked so we downloaded it when we got home. Chris played with it all night so I didn't get a chance to until now. All I need is that wireless keyboard...here I go shopping again!
Things are going good here...drum roll please...gained 1.6 pounds. Now I wish I had a better answer to why this happened but I don't except it was that time so I'm sure next week will be awesome. The only tweaking that I'm going to do is go back to my homemade soup/spinach salad lunch. This week I'm having butternut squash soup with roasted pecans. My salad is baby spinach with feta and balsamic dresxing by Wishbone plus a Gnu bar. That's my kind of lunch!
The early workouts are going great but I'm actually falling asleep @ 9:30 pm. That's not so good but it is nice getting home so early! Well that's it for me today, take care all-Kellie

Yeah, out at 11:00!!!

2009-01-20T15:40:00.010-05:00

I was done with jury duty at 11 am! Chris was nice and offered to drop me off at the courthouse so I left my car down at the YMCA where I work out. We get there and the court woman talked for 20 minutes straight about procedures. Then we listened to the judge telling us how important it was to be on a jury, etc. After that, they picked 50 randow jurors and took them upstairs for the selection. We waited another hour then they pulled another 50 people for selection. At 11 am, the woman came back down and told us that we are relieved from our duties all week so that was jury duty for me. I planned on taking the bus back to my car but after thinking about the 10 minute wait for it, I walked back from the court house to the Y. It was good to get in some exercise. The old me would have waited in the cold for the bus. Instead of going back to work, I decided to take the rest of the day off. I had not appointments anyways so it worked out nicely. I've done absolutely nothing today except watch the inauguration. Which was awesome to see.

We're on day two for the morning work outs and so far so good. It's an awesome feeling at night to get into my car for my hour long to commute to just come home. We were getting home so late especially in the last month, that I appreciate the extra time that we have. The mornings are definitely more interesting that the night. There are some hard core athletes there so that's inspiring to see. There's also your typical strange folks. I still question if people look at what they are wearing prior to working out. I've seen several women poured into tight sports bras and spandex (bare bellies showing). Yikes, how about a T-shirt to cover up a bit? Skin is not in...really, even if you have a rock hard body, honey, cover up. The wife beater t-shirts that the men wear also irk me. Humm, same thing, how about a shirt. I don't need to see your pits sweating all over. Cover up please.

The body bugg is interesting. I'm not too sure about it yet. I've found their website to be lacking but I like to see the calories that I have burned and the steps. Today, I'm at 10000 steps already and I've burned 1900 calories so far. During a typical day I burn about 2600. I'm not inputting my food because their website is lacking a lot of the foods and then you have to manually put it in and that's a total pain. I also don't like the fact that it will not allow you to input calories from working out when you are not wearing the bugg. For instance, I went swimming on Sunday and I couldn't even put my calories in. I knew that I burned about 400 because I wore my heart rate monitor but I just can't log it into the site.

I picked out a new weightloss outfit. Sorry for the crappy pics. I love our digital SLR camera but sometimes it's too advanced! The jeans were a good idea but I actually can wear them now. So I decided to pour my butt into the below outfit. They are a sized 12 pair of shorts made by Royal Robins (usually this company runs a little big so it might be closer to a 14). Right now, it's not a pretty sight but come summer, it's going to look better. So for your amusement, here they are!

P.S. I've added my Blog Followers so feel free to add if you want to stop being a lurker.

Jury Duty...

2009-01-19T19:40:00.002-05:00

Chris is so excited that I have jury duty tomorrow. They actually pulled me in for the pool! I'm less than thrilled because the way that the county has it set up. I have to park just outside of the downtown area to ride a bus to the court house. The last time I road a city bus was in the 1980s when my parents took me down to Detroit for an event on the plaza when the people mover made it's debut (there was a whole event celebrating that). I think I would be okay if I could park right across the street but nope, that's not an option.

We switched from working out at nights to the mornings now. Wow, it actually takes a lot of prepwork but we did it. We packed all of stuff last night and rolled out of the house about 5:40 am. The kitties looked at us as if they said "WTF mom and dad, why are you up so early?" I'm so proud of Chris getting up so early. He's not a morning person (typically he doesn't even turn on a light in the morning until he has to). We got in a whole workout and settled in to having breakfast with each other at the Y. Now hopefully, it will flow that smoothly in the future. It feels great to come home after work because typically we were pulling into the drive at 7:30/8:00. Now lets see if this becomes a habit.

PS...Anji- I'll shoot you an email about Canada...would love to see you! We're about 3-4 hours from Sue Sault Marie (I think) so we definitely could do that or more. It sucks that they are making us get passports into Canada. We were thinking about getting a passport anyways because Chris is talking about wanting to go to Europe this summer instead of Colorado.

The weekend is flying by...

2009-01-18T09:58:00.002-05:00

This weekend has really flown by quickly! Thank goodness we get to relax today. Originally, Chris's parents were going to come up for his mom's birthday (their idea because we would go down usually) but the weather is challenging so we're going to hook up with them next weekend. Nice because I don't have to scurry to clean the house until later!

Yesterday we hooked up with Ryan and in typical trainer fashion, he challenged us greatly. The exercises were pretty challenging because I have minimal core strength and he's targeting those areas. Another challenge with myself is balance and switching over like when doing backward lunges...switching from the left leg to the right leg is a semi-challenge for me. That right/left switch is something with me. Another thing that I have noticed about my learning style is that when explains the exercise that we are going to do, I have to have the weights in my hand and actually feel it. I just can't pick up on most of the movements when he is just explaining it/demonstrating it. I don't know if I can chalk this up to my lack of experience in the gym or simply my learning style. We're going to hook up with him again in about two to three weeks so that will be good. Chris and I now have a wide variety of things to add into our workouts.

Drum roll {please}...I am down 1.8 pounds! Wow, what a week. I was pleasantly surprised to see this number because I haven't lost this much weight during a weeks time in so long. I had to ask the receptionist twice if that was correct. She laughed and noted that it was. I explained how generally, I lose about .5 pounds a week and she noted that today is my week! I opted out of not celebrating my success in the group with getting that 5lb book marker or what ever you get when you reach a 5 pound loss. In the past, I've contributed to the class by sharing my thoughts on what they were talking about but this time around, I'm not doing that. I'm keeping the mouth shut. Partly because the majority of the class is at a different stage that I am at. For example, a woman shared that she just lost 20lbs but she is not eating any of her flex points nor activity points. One thing that I have learned is that you have to eat to lose and move to lose. I can't imagine going back to eating only 1200 calories a day. I would be starving and extremely irritable and probably killing my metabolism. It's like I wanted to shout out, "Girl, eat those points" because when she starts to add those points in, what's going to happen? Nothing but frustration because you get the "I'm not losing spiel". I also heard 5 people grumbling about adding activity to their plan and all of them thought that they were going to get these huge losses but guess what? They didn't. It's almost like Weight Watchers needs to print somewhere in that exercise book that "Don't expect a huge loss when you add intense activities to your life because it's not going to happen for a few weeks". Stick with the activity and you will be pleasantly surprised in a few weeks. We also discussed how to eat pizza, chocolate, etc. As I sat back and just thought...eat it. Really, have that pizza but make your own and load it with your favorite toppings. Eat that chocolate if you are craving it but watch your portion size. If you want a beer, drink a beer but keep it realistic, don't binge. If you don't eat that now when you are on plan, it's not going to be a smooth transition when you are going to maintenance. This time around, there is no food off limits to me because I'm cooking it at home. I can whip up some healthier options than some of it's restaurant versions.

I also talked to Ryan about the loss because I was a little freaked out but he noted that when people tend to change their workout, you will see a better result because your body gets used to things. I switched up two things last week. I added in personal training and swimming on the sixth day of working out. So we'll see how next week goes.

It's been a good weekend so far. Chris and I ran our errands yesterday and we managed to walk out of Costco with a $20 bill and Meijer Outlet for $5! Though, he spurlged at Gamestop so I think the Anji idea is working out. She suggested an allotted amount for fun spending. Good idea because when it's gone it's gone. At first he was afraid to do that because Chris is like "I don't want to spend it unnecessarily" but it's hugely benefited when we walk into a Gamestop store and goes "Humm, this game is 50% used" so it totally helps out. We also splurged and went to a "Brew Ha Ha" event put on by a local radio station where they had micro-breweries. Chris and I love to scope out new breweries especially when we are traveling we have a few favorites. There was a couple of MI breweries we haven't been too so we decided to check it out. When we got there, we were kind of ticked to see that we had to pay $5 for parking because it was going to cost $30 to get into the door. So we paid for our tickets and we were supposed to get a glass but we were too late for that. We get in there and there's tons of people and some of the breweries are already gone or out of beer. It started to turn around when I found some sample tickets on the floor so all is good (it makes up for not having the glasses). I found that it's true "Grand Rapids" fashion that they are under prepared for how popular the event was going to be. That's the one thing that I've noticed about living in this town is that they are under prepared for some of the events or the popularity of it. It's like we are somewhat cultured over here. Growing up in Detroit, they had expos up the wazoo but Grand Rapids feels like they are just getting started sometimes. My only other complaint about this town it takes so long to get unique things. We finally have an excellent Mediterranean joint, a decent Thai joint, a great Ethiopian and Indian place. We're finally getting a Chipolte (I'm spelling this wrong, I know) this week. I hear that they are giving out free burritos on Thursday. Now only if we get a darn Trader Joes sometime soon! It stinks that the closest one is in Novi, MI or Tinley Park, IL. Well that's it for me today, take care all-Kellie

Got the bodybugg...

2009-01-15T22:32:00.002-05:00

I just got my bodybugg the other day and I'm not too sure if I like it. It was a real pain in the bottom to get set up because of the java function. I finally figured it out yesterday and I began to wear it last night. They want you to basically wear it for 23 hours a day to get a proper read. Today, I burned about 2291 calories and consumed about 1552 calories. Which is interesting because I remember seeing that in an average day, I need about 1452 calories to sustain my weight. At this point, I think that I wasted money on this product because I already have a heart rate monitor. I'll give it a chance to see if it works though.

It's super cold here. It's that type of cold where it freezes your nostrils when you step out in the air. Days like this remind me of my freshman year of college when I went to Central Michigan. It was in late January/early February where they shut the university down for 2 days because of the cold. I remember being on a fitness kick at that time and I walked from the freshman dorm to the SAC (Stundent Activities Center) which was about .75 mile only to find out that the center was closed. If only I would have stayed on that fitness kick!

The gym has been packed lately. Chris is getting so irritated about it so it looks like we may be moving to mornings for a while. Logistically, we'll have to figure this one out because there is a lot of prep work that goes into working out in the morning (showering, eating, organizing for the day, etc.). So we need to talk out how we are going to do this on the weekend. I purchased us 6 buddy training sessions with Ryan (our trainer) until the next Move It To Lose It class starts in mid-March. He kicked our butt last weekend so I'm expecting the same on Saturday when we have a training session with him.

I went out with my Curves friends on Wednesday night. It was great to see them. We wanted to get together before two of them left for Florida (lucky them!). I'm way too proud of myself because it was the first time I controlled myself at my favorite burrito joint. I thought ahead this time and looked at the menu. Instead of getting a burrito, loaded with meat, cheese, and sauce and a margarita. I opted for some fajitas minus the shells and water (I'd rather eat my calories than drink it). Nice! While we were at the restaurant, one of my friends told us how her work just recently let go of 450 co-workers. She noted that it was super stressful last week and she is happy to be working. She said that no one had a clue because the company has been doing extremely well so the cutbacks were puzzling. She said she spent the whole afternoon in shock, just waiting for her box. Luckily, it didn't arrive. That totally stinks. Hopefully this economy will turn around soon. Well that's it for me tonight, take care all-Kellie

I never have any luck with lentils or peas!

2009-01-12T21:17:00.002-05:00

Last night I got the great idea that I wanted to make golden split pea soup so I threw the stuff together and had it cooking in the crock pot thinking that it would be ready but guess what? The peas were still hard! Even after initially cooking them and letting them set for an hour. I have the same luck with lentils, they just never come out! I just don't get it.

I got back in the pool yesterday and it felt terrific. I wore my heart monitor to see how much of a workout I got and I was surprised by the results. For 45 minutes, I burned 343 calories, my maxium heart rate was 142. Which was semi-surprising because I swam for 15 minutes straight twice so I thought my heart rate would be higher than it. On my regular cardio workouts, for 45 minutes of working out, I would have been around 520 calories. I'm going to treat swimming like a reward. I figure if I can get my bottom to the gym 5 times a week, I will treat myself on the 6th day with swimming.

I usually am not around to watch Oprah but I caught some of her show today about the weightloss issue and it looked good. It was sad to see how the Biggest Loser man weighs over 300 pounds and the woman who was on the show who wore bikini in 2003gained it back. It just goes back to how really easy it is to lose the weight but to maintain the loss is so much harder. Which is true. How many times has one's weight been a true yo-you situation. Mine sure has. It all started in 1985 after we moved after having the house fire. From then on, I've bounced somewhat. Like 5-10th grade I had weight issues, I was a normal weight from 11th grade until I was a college freshman, then total obesity from college junior until I was 26 then the weight slowly came back until I decided to do something about it. I've spent the majority of my life with having some extra pounds on my. Where I think I am stronger now more than before is that I no longer loathe myself or feel uncomfortable in my own skin. I remember when I was 20ish, I would spend nights, crying to sleep over my weight. This hasn't happened for since I was about 22. I like who I am. I think what I am doing now is only helping me for the long run. I pretty much new how to eat (well minus the dining out stuff and eating over 1500 calories) but the exercise stuff I never really got until the class. I feel like that is the missing link to my success. I love going to the gym and working out. It's like my "me time" and I make it a priority. Well, that's it for me tonight, take care all-Kellie

Doing a shout out!

2009-01-11T20:00:00.006-05:00

Hey there...you know who you are. Chris gave me some crap for not being polite but heck, lets be for real here, to be fake isn't me and it's definitely not you. I'm happy you all are friends (really I am) and I'm glad that the wifey is nice to Chris but that's not me, never has. My beef her is the talking crap behind the back when you are supposed to be "friends" and with you is that you've been pulling a Mary Prickett for six months or more and that's semi-creepy but of course we did it to her but at least she didn't know. Unfortunately, I do.

He kicked our butts!

2009-01-11T07:53:00.004-05:00

OMG, so the class has been over for 2 months now and being a part of the class we had one freebie personal training session. I decided last week that maybe it would be a good idea to hook up with Ryan again for some training. We scheduled it for yesterday and we got a killer work out especially core work. He's a kind person with a brutal workout. First up, he had us use the kettle ball and balance ball. We used our legs to swing up the kettle ball between our legs while the other exercises was just to sit on the balance ball with your knees to stabilize. We did 3 of those rounds. Those kettle balls are amazing. Then we used the bosu, freeweights, and a few free motion machines. All I can say is "Wow, this was an amazing workout". We have some new ideas to add into our routine. The most challenging for myself is that he had us on that ab standing up machine and we were to hold our legs up as long as we could. I lasted maybe 15 seconds so I'm going to challenge myself to work on that station in the future. After the session, I was like "aren't you glad we did this?" to Chris and he noted "At first I thought you were crazy to schedule so early with Ryan because I thought it was too soon but now I am glad you did because I really need to work on my core". We get an extra pay check at the end of the month so after thinking about Anji's suggestion, I think we are going to purchase 6 sessions from him until the graduate class starts in March. It's worth every penny and it's cheaper for two people instead of one.

After the gym, we had our one time a week eating out experience. We haven't been to this place since the summer and we missed it a ton. Usually we go there for breakfast but we opted for a lunch. It's a quaint little mom and pop place. The chefs/owner was originally at a five star restaurant in Grand Rapids but left and opened this place. It's located in the NW part of Grand Rapids and it is called The West Sider Cafe. Their menu changes up and the specials always change but they offer some killer Polish Food. We opted for a Polish Combination plate that had some rye bread, perogies, stuffed cabbage, sauerkraut, and a few pieces of Kielbasa. What a meal! When we go out we enjoy ourselves. I'm accountant able because I track the calories/points but I'm getting what I like instead of what is a more healthier choice. Funny thing is that yesterday at Weight Watchers we got the materials on dinning out. We didn't talk about it in the class but I read over the book and it noted "Don't cut eating out totally out of your plan. Just make sure you make wiser choices. The average person eats out 5.8 a week". I was one of those 5.8 times a week people. For the most part, I ate healthier options but I wasn't satisfied from the experiences because it was the norm. Now we are super picky on where we eat because that's all we have. Gone are the Qdoba Tuesdays and the Saturday meal at Noodles & Company, it's really not worth it for us and I know we can stick to this ideology.

We were wiped out yesterday when we got home. Totally lazy all day long. We were supposed to run errands but with the crappy weather we vegged out, which is good because we never do this, I'm always doing something in the house. We decided it was a pizza night so we made our own pizza. My favorite crust is the Jiffy Brand crust. You can find this at Meijer for 55 cents. It makes the best crust ever. We put our favorite toppings on it and it's better than any take out meal. Funny thing is that we had everything but the cheese. Luckily, we had some cheese sticks so Chris grated up the sticks and we sprinkled it on the pizza and it worked beautifully as you can see. I love pizza night!

Drum roll {please} I lost another .4 pounds so I'm down to 184.4...nice! I'm taking it nice and slow like usual but the pounds are coming off. I'm still eating between 1500-1700 calories per day. The workouts usually burn between 600 during cardio days (45 minutes) and 800 for strength/45 minute cardio days. I love it that the weight watchers scales measure in .2 increments so I see more progress that "just a pound".

I need to get my butt in gear today though. We have some errands to run, Christmas stuff should come down, and we got the gym later. Weekends go by so quick! Take care all-Kellie

Oh, the guilt when you break a resolution...

2009-01-10T07:06:00.002-05:00

I have broke two resolutions so far and it's only January 9th! Yikes! The spending freeze got unfrozen. Chris splurged on some items for the WII (awesome deal) and then I bought the bodybugg. Argh! I feel totally guilty for this so I need to refocus on my financial goals. Maybe setting a goal will help with this process. Yes, we have a goal of what it is but we don't have a goal of the target fund. Maybe I need a financial goal of saving $1000 a month for house stuff and by June we should have $6000. Maybe that will get my attention and focus. The other resolution, well, I can't say what that is but my boss noted to me "Tell me how that works for ya" and it worked for a couple of days but BOOM! back into my same old behaviors. That goal wasn't realistic at all but I had good intentions! Really, I did!

So I'm a total sucker. I got enamored but the bodybugg that was shown on the Biggest Loser this week. Did some research on it and thought "Wow, this is awesome. I need this". Now what I should have done is go "Wow, that is awesome. I want that" so I then could think it over a little before purchasing it. On the chat boards, people are liking it but I still feel a tremendous amount of guilt for buying it, even though I found it for $100 off the going price because we were on a spending freeze. Okay, I officially need NOTHING now. Darn that show and their product placements! Take care all-Kellie

A little rest is good...

2009-01-05T21:33:00.004-05:00

Planned rests are good for you from the gym. I was going to have a semi-late night so we opted to forgo the gym tonight. That's always healthy because when you get into a mode you want to go every day, you don't need to go every single day.

We're meeting up with Ryan on Saturday. He was one of our trainers from the class. We have two free personal training lessons so he's going to ramp things up for us. Chris is noticing that his heart rate is not getting up there as much and I'm worried that my routine is getting standard so we need to mix it up. I checked out the Shape Magazine workout book at the library and I liked it so much that Chris bought it for me. I'm looking forward to getting it in the mail so I can make notes in the book. I love the look of some of the core excercises.

The kitties have to go to the vet on Saturday. I'm not looking forward to that because Bolton has issues with transporting. I'm not ready for a *hitty kitty :) According to the vet, if we don't feed them the morning of, they shouldn't have any problems so hopefully it will go well. The last time we transported Bolton he went all over. All I can say is that cat poop is the worst. If I can take kitty poo, baby poo is nothing, right?

We're doing good about the shopping. We made it through Costco and only spent $29 but then when we were at the resgister we learned that our membership expired so we had to renew so there went another $50. We also avoided the Meijer Outlet this weekend so we can do it. As Chris said today "I don't want anything, I don't need anything" so this is good.

Well, I need some help. I have two new frames that I need lenses put in. I bought them at Costco a few weeks ago and I am now second guessing my picks so could you help me out here. Are these glasses lense worthy? I was thinking the darker pair could be my future sunglasses and the brown could be my everyday glasses. Any thoughts? Oh and yes, my tree is still up. I'm going to take it down on Saturday! Take care all-Kellie

The F-Bomb, really?

2009-01-04T20:16:00.008-05:00

I was a witness to some bad gym behavior today that wasn't too cool. I was just telling Chris that I've never seen any bad behavior at the gym because Chris mentioned a friend had a ruin in with someone. I'm there using the freemotion machines and someone actually dropped the F-bomb and started to scream at a regular at the gym. Apparently, the regular went back to wipe off the machine and then a woman thought that she was going to jump on it and started to cuss at her. Wow, unbelievable, really. The women were both in their 40-50s too. Really, what a shame because this is not how the gym is. The thing is that you can actually feel the tension around the place though. The atmosphere has changed because it's busier, people are doing odd things that tick off the regulars like removing the spray bottle to spray off the machines (instead of taking the bottle, wetting the towel to wipe off the machine this is my pet peeve), not wiping off the machine when you have completely sweat over it, running in the walking lanes/walking in the running lanes, bumping into people, machine hogging where people are not finishing up sets in a respectful manner, etc. We were all newbies once so we can't forget about that but I can't wait until things slow down because it happens all the time. Heck, Chris and I were doing this two years in a row until we finally committed back in September. It's nice to know that we established the good patterns then so we got a good grove figured out.

The cool things about going regularly to the gym is that you get to notice the little things that motivate change in yourself. There is this one woman who started the other weightloss class the same time we did and she is looking great. About a month ago I went over to her and told her how great she was looking and found out that she lost 35 pounds. Every time I see her I smile and say "hi". Another neat thing is that you learn new tricks. I saw a woman doing a cool move with the weights so I went up to her yesterday and asked how I could modify it to my fitness level and she was more than happy to help me out. Another place that I saw change was Weight Watchers. I hadn't been back to my regular Weight Watchers meeting since last March when I fell off the wagon. Two of the ladies that started last year were at their goal weight so it was terrific to see how much weight they lost. That's motivating because I can get there if I want. I feel that losing the weight is the easy process because you know what to do to lose it. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is much more challenging because you are there at your goal but how do you keep it healthy. I'm hoping that the changes that I'm making now will help me later.

Oh, that dinner on Saturday was awesome! Restaurant.com had the gift certificate super cheap so we checked the place out. If you are from the Detroit area (or visited) the Mediterranean food was excellent in Dearborn. The owners of the restaurant came from Dearborn and the food was the best I've had in years. The only thing that would make this place better if they baked their own pita bread. The chicken was tender and moist and as much I planned on avoiding the garlic sauce, I did end up having some and they had it perfect. I think we will be regulars. The cool thing about Mediterranean food is that it is super healthy for you. This week it's my turn to pick so we may have to go back again!

Chris got after me a little about blogging. We never openly discuss the blog nor has he ever read it. He was like "why on earth do people blog and put things out there?". Humm, that's a good question. I started my journaling process almost 10 years ago and it's just been part of me. It captures who I am at that point in my life. When I started this process, I was 23, not married, not comfortable in my own skin, broke, in graduate school, in a miserable relationship, etc. Now, I'm 33, happily married, I'm pretty positive, have a cool home, great job, two of the most loving cats whom I adore, and I like who I am. The thing about blogging is that I never put out stuff that I'm not comfortable in sharing with my own worst "enemies". People stumble onto your blogs that know you or knew you so I don't put anything out there that I wouldn't be comfortable in sharing with others. I notice that when I blog more, I'm more accountable. Sometimes I like to look back at the pictures of myself and find it motivating. Any little help is good when you are trying to be healthy and you have a goal in mind. Take care all-Kellie

Saturday weigh in results!

2009-01-03T09:35:00.003-05:00

Drum roll {please} I lost .4 pounds this week. So I am down to 184.8 pounds according to the weight watchers scale! For it being a holiday week, I handled myself pretty darn good. At the New Years party, I stayed away from the food and alcohol for the most part. I had a few shrimp and cheez it's but it's no where near what I would have eaten if I wasn't watching my weight.

I'm in the 24 point range of eating and I ate all my flex points plus 25 of my activity points. After looking at my journal, I actually earned 36 activity points last week (not the 34 I posted below). I chatted with the secretaries (leader was busy) and as long as I am "under the direction of a trainer and my doctor knows about it" (typical WW CYA) I can earn above the 28 points but I was told not to over do it though.

In the meeting, they discussed habits of success. It got me thinking, "Why haven't I been a lifer yet?" I know the program in and out but never made it to goal weight. Thinking about that, made me ask "Why haven't I?". Here's my thoughts. I never incorporated the exercise before. Yes, I was going to Curves but I didn't switch it up ever. I loved my Curves experience and it helped me lose the weight initially but the focus was on Cardio and not really incorporating strength. Another issue is the lack of planning so I'm on it. I'm too busy not be be organized so I always need to be in a planing mode like "What days are you going to the gym?" "What days are strength?" "What's a good crockpot meal?". Finally, not being as patient as I should be. I'm patient now, really. I ran into Carly my trainer and she noted that I'm so realistic when it comes to my goals. I really set my self up for success and not focus on the number of what I weigh. What I do is that I set my mind on how many workouts I'm going to get that week and the healthy habits fall into place naturally.

I love Saturdays. It's our errand day today so we're going to hit Costco and I have a list! We always love to have the pomengrate juice in the house, spinach, apples (or oranges depending on Chris's mood), Odwalla Mango Tango, pecans, and some feta cheese. The only potential impluse buy today is that I'm having a taste for some stuffed grape leaves so I might spring for some of those. Our dinner out tonight is going to be at a Mediterrean place. I got a coupon at restaurant.com that is $25 off for $2. Hopefully, they will have some good food because I'm craving some good chicken shawarma and hummus. I'm going to lay off the garlic sauce because I have no clue on what's in there. Last week, we were disappointed about our eating out place so hopefully this one will offer some good food.

I also need to get organized tomorrow. My house is a disaster. Since I am on oncall, I think I'm going to attack my closets and get out the clothes that I don't need anymore. I have so many items that I just don't wear that need to go. The Christmas stuff needs to come down, too. Humm, busy weekend!

First full week back on Weight Watchers

2009-01-02T23:29:00.002-05:00

This week I integrated what I learned from the Move It To Lose It class into Weight Watchers and it went okay. I'm averaging about 32-34 points per day because I've earned 34 points for working out this week. There's some discrepancy on how many activity points one can earn during the week so I'm going to firm it up with my leader tomorrow. Needless to say, I'm not going to change anything because the program is working for me. I still track my calories on spark people but I've been using that "tiny" point journal to help me write things down at work or after meals so I can input it into the computer. I have weigh in tomorrow so I'll see how it goes. I'll see if I can get back into this weekly weighing thing.

Am I the only one who likes making resolutions?

2009-01-01T21:31:00.005-05:00

As crazy as it sounds, I like making resolutions. There is something about the new year that makes you feel like you are getting a fresh start in life again. Don't we all need that at certain points in our life?
So here are mine: 1. Take another Move it to Lose It course in the spring. Keep on getting in shape so that when I get pregnant I will be a healthy mom. 2. Make it to Colorado or Utah for a back packing trip 3. Balance healthy work hours so that we have family time 4. Have a spending freeze so we can have major $$$ in our savings 5. Replace the remaining windows in our home, thin some of the trees in the back yard so we can have a pergola on our hill (that is a picture of a possible one at Costco. 6. Maybe getting established in a church. 7. Reconnecting with old friends/Making new friends.

When you set goals, it's always good to look at the barriers. So here's the barriers to the above goals 1. None, I am going to be healthy. We've really changed our lifestyle for the better. We both look forward to going to the YMCA. 2. No foreseen barrier except that we might find another state to do the trip in. Regardless, we are going to take a major backpacking trip. 3. Anything can happen with work. I just have to keep a good balance there. I hate major late nights and need to keep them to a minimum. 4. One barrier, Meijer Outlet and Costco. Those stores tend to be my weakness. I should avoid those places for a while until I can curb my impulsive good deal shopping. 5. One barrier, money! Saving can help. 6. Chris and I are both on the fence about this one. We want to do it but it's somewhat anxiety provoking. We have faith but tend to shy away from the organized religion. I had great memories of the church as a young child/teenager but once adulthood hit, I recognized the back biting/petty behavior of others. Maybe a more open mind. There's two churches that we're going to check out in the coming months but we're still kind of wounded from the past. The idea of going back is that I think it's important to raise a child in a church atmosphere but we're more on the liberal side so we're not too sure what to do. I was raised Methodist. We like the Methodist Church downtown and there's a more radical liberal church in town too, so we just got to commit to getting our butts out of bed on a Sunday. 7. Time/fear is a major barrier. There's a few woman I've met this year that I would like to get to know better but it's difficult for me. Time is one barrier because it seems like I'm only available on the weekend. My shyness/being guarded is another. In my work, establishing relationships with clients, I can do rather quickly but in my own life, well, I'm closed almost completely. People burn me out because I tend to pick unhealthy relationships. I hate dealing with back biting, insecure people who have the need to tear down others. I'm a good friend but when someone violates trust, I'm done, I have no place in my life for them. Connecting with old friends is another. I need to make it down to KY to see Teresa some time. It's been over a year and a half. That sucks! I would love to see a few other friends from graduate school that I reconnected with on Facebook. Plus seeing our friends Ron and Jodi. We ended up going to their New Years Eve party and it was so good to see them again. The last time we saw them was a year ago. They are such good people who are sincere, honest, and giving. They would give you the shirt off their back and to neglect that relationship like we have, has been sad. We've got to do better.

So those are my resolutions...so what are yours? Where do you want to be in a year?

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T17:38:00.003-05:00

I'm ready for the year to be done with. Here's to 2009! Maybe things will be better this year for Michigan, the economy, and my John Hancock -24% 401K (yeah, that stinks) but at least Chris and I have our jobs. 2009 is going to look promising. We've got a lot to look forward to. Hopefully next year I can get pregnant if I'm at a decent weight so I can have a kido in 2010. I'm not ready for one next year....way to soon. 2010 is a great year to have a child. I can feel it.

Weight Watcher/Holiday Ramblings...

2008-12-27T21:31:00.004-05:00

Chris and I woke up at 5:00 this morning. We were all set and ready to start our day but after discovering that we really couldn't do anything until later, we went back to bed only to wake up around 9am. I decided to hit the Weight Watchers 10 am meeting for the first time since March so I needed to get dressed quickly. On our way out the door, we hurt a big CRASH. Only to find outside that the ice that was on the roof slammed down on Chris's car and took off the passengers side mirror. Darn! because we'll have to turn that into the insurance company. He hates putting in claims but I don't want to think even how expensive it would be to pay out of pocket. Darn weather screws us again (in some fashion that is). So I get into the WW meeting and weigh in. I found out that I'm 2 pounds lighter than my last weigh in. I'm currently 185.2 on the WW scale. Not bad, er? I'll take that. When I first went to the move it to lose it class I was 193 so that's pretty darn good. I got the Weight Watchers new books for the Momentum Program and figured out that there is no way that I'm going to stick with the 26 points that is recommended for my daily target. I figured out that if I stick to 30-34 points a day that will keep in line with what I have been doing. I'm going to still use spark people to input my daily intake but I'll use the journal for writing it down when I eat so I can use it when I log in my food at night. The new program sounds like it is going back to the 2001/2002 program prior to the core program because there is no core plan now. They want you to stick with a target total point but then you are allowed to eat 35 extra points within the week. Nothing new there, really. I did notice that they are emphasizing working out more, which is good. They really never pushed it but the guides are noting that you should be moving at least for 30 minutes 6 days a week, which is true.

I handled the holiday okay eating wise. Sure, I could have made better choices on Christmas eve (Chris and I had some Asti) but we didn't do our usual fondue which is better for us health wise. I avoided the 190 calorie, 9g of fat crescent rolls at his mom's but had a few pieces of candy but I kept track of everything and it will even out in the long run. I definitely didn't gorge myself as usual, which is good. I have no idea what we are doing for New Years. We're invited to a party but I'm secretly hoping to do nothing but relax at home with the kitties because we would have to stay overnight and I just feel almost too old to be crashing at someone's house at my age...if that makes any sense. I just want to be in my bed, my PJ's, chilling out, oh, I'm so old but then we still have to work on Friday so that stinks. Another issues is that I know if we go to the party, I will be cramming food that I don't necessarily need into my mouth. My self control with appetizers is amazingly weak. Appetizers are my Achilles heal.

Chris and I got a $35 for Macy's so armed with our gift card today we went looking for some amazing deals. Needless to say, we came home empty handed. There is nothing that we want at Macy's. In fact, I really don't care for that store and if it wasn't for having a gift card, we wouldn't have gone in there. Here in Michigan, Hudsons was originally around but then it turned to Marshall Fields and then Macy's bought Marshall Fields about two or three years ago and since then I haven't shopped there. I could always find nice bargains at Hudsons but Macy's seems to be lower quality and the deals are not there. We looked and looked for something to pick up but after noticing the gift cards don't expire, why bother? It just firms up the fact that our major spending freeze is happening for a reason. We also hit Target and found nothing, Kmart well, I did spend $10 on gum drop garland but that's my weakness and it Martha Stewart 50%. We even managed to get out of Costco for $10, which is amazing. I think just in case if I get tempted to spend. I need to copy my dream backyard and put it in my purse and just in case if I get tempted to spend, I look at my goal to keep myself focused.

Christmas was a blur. I think it was because we both had to work on Friday, it just felt so rushed compared to usual. Chris and I had our usual Christmas Eve day where he sends me on my annual scavenger hunt. This began 3 years ago when he started doing this because he was afraid I would look for my gifts so he hid them and I had to find them by doing a puzzle, word find, caching clue, etc. It's an awesome tradition and I always love participating in it. He keeps me on my toes! That's why I love him. Great husband....well that's it for me today, take care all-Kellie

Very thankful that I have until Friday off!

2008-12-23T09:31:00.003-05:00

The weather is utter crap here in Michigan. My parents spent the night last night and they are heading down to KY today. So my thoughts are with them during this time because that is going to be some trip. They were getting cabin fever up north and didn't want to wait until Christmas to leave. We are basically getting snow every day. Chris has to work this week so he's had a rough go these past few days. It kind of sucks that I have to work Friday but at least I have a job!

I'm enjoying my vacation. Nothing new going on. All the gifts are bought, just need to wrap them. We so went over budget this year so we're having a spending freeze for four months because we do not need anything at all! My plan is to avoid Big Lots, say no to Costco impulse buys because I cannot walk out of there without spending $100, and no to Meijer Outlet (Grand Rapids has an outlet and almost everything there is 50% - 90% off compared to the store). We have property taxes for our land in February, have to beef up the emergency fund, we have to pay city taxes, and save for our home improvement stuff (replace the rest of the windows, get a new kitchen door, and new french doors for the back). Plus we need to start putting money for a baby fund if we start to TTC next year (if the economy perks up).

I've been running my points on the Weight Watchers and I'm averaging about 26-30 points a day. There's no way in heck that I can eat 24 points a day. My typical work out earns me about 6-8 points a day, 5-6 times per week so that would be about 30-48 points that I'm earning in a weeks time. My calorie range is between 1500-1700 usually. Ever since the YMCA class I've changed my mindset about food and healthy living. I feel okay in the gym. I can use the free weights, the ball, the bands, and actually do lunges! I'm challenging myself on the cardio machines and not hesitating to work in my proper HRA range. I love my heart monitor. On the home front, we ONLY eat out 1 time per week. This mouth has not touched a Wendy's burger, french fries, Mc Donalds since September and I don't miss it. When we eat out, it's usually a local nice restaurant. Like this past Sunday, we decided that our eat out meal was going to be at this place called the Cherri Inn. They offer local fresh foods and they are known for their breakfast. It was a terrific meal and well worth it. About a month ago, our one eat out meal was Qdoba and we both felt, wow, was that worth it? Nope. So we're really putting thought into this. The one thing that I loved about the class is that they stressed that eating out is not worth it. People have been to dependent on going out for so long. The healthier way is to just use it as a treat. At first I thought it would be a "binge" meal but that's not the case. After doing this, I've found that I still stick within the proper calorie range.

My pants are fitting a heck of a lot better. Down below is a pair of pants that I would like to fit in better before April. Right now they are tight in certain areas so it would be great to see me fit into them by the spring time. Plus it will remind me of old times when I used to do this on a weekly basis. It's not the best picture of me, nor is the outfit a favorite...it's just for demonstration purposes only :) That's it for me today, take care all-Kellie

Oh, the weather out there...

2008-12-20T06:33:00.003-05:00

The weather is definitely not good out there. Yesterday, we got slammed by another storm. It was so bad that Chris's work in Kalamazoo was delayed opening for 5 hours so he opted out of going to work yesterday because the roads were so bad and it would probably have taken him two hours to get there instead of one. I had yesterday off anyways because it was the beginning of my vacation. It took Chris about two hours to snow blow (but he helped some of our neighbor's out too). Thank God we bought a snow blower in September. I love that thing. So far this year our snow totals for the season already has reached 30.7", which is scary because this is only January.

Despite the snow, we were able to have some company last night, which was awesome. We had our neighbor David over. He just lost his partner of 15 years so that's said. His partner had a stroke a year ago (he was just 59) and it was not good. So we thought that with everything going on in his life, we should have him over a few times. It was nice to have the company. We had lamb on the grill, potatoes, veggies, and baby spinach. We learned some cool things about him. He's a comedian with puppets and he puts on shows. His puppets are awesome looking so we'll have to catch his show some time. We were talking about our houses and we might be an owner of a Sears Roebuck Catalog home! That's exciting so I'm trying to scour the net looking for our old house.

Christmas is coming and it just doesn't feel like it's that time of year yet. Almost all the gifts are bought for everyone. We just have a few loose ends for Chris's family. My family, we just drew one persons name which is nice. We are supposed to celebrate with them tomorrow but I doubt that because we're supposed to get another storm. Chris has got to work Christmas eve day so we're going out to church when he gets home then have a dinner and open gifts. On Christmas, we're at Chris's parents bright and early. Funny thing is that they stress to us the up most importance of getting there early. 95% of the time, everyone is still in their PJs. Now that Chris's sister who spends the whole week there kids are getting bigger, it makes me wonder when are they going to have Christmas at their own home because they never had one in their own home. Chris went over budget for Christmas then that prompted me to go over. I like what I bought him and hopefully we'll get the chance to use it. I couldn't beat the deals because I shopped at Moosejaw (a Michigan company) and EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports). I got 30% off of all the items so I couldn't pass that option up, especially with some of the items I bought him because some of the items never go on sale. The bad thing that I did though while shopping is picking me up something. I saw this Patagonia Jacket and I got $50 off of it so I got it. I have this thing about jackets, I have a ton of them.

The gym is going well. I need to work out Sat/Sun since I opted out of working out on Thurs/Friday. This was the first time in a long time that I didn't log my food every day. I missed 3 times last week so this needs to stop. This is a sign of my slacking behavior because I haven't missed a day of logging since September. Especially this time of year so I need to get back on it. No slacking.

Anji and Jan, can you pass me your email addresses please? Feel free to email me at misskellie@hotmail.com so I can send you the recipe book online :)

Snow day!

2008-12-09T13:40:00.006-05:00

I got a snow day today! I live in the green area on the map but the work place is in the pink area so they closed the office today. My boss called me at 6:30 to let me know that I didn't need to go in today. This is my first official snow day of the year and you know what? It's terrific. After Chris left for work, I crawled back into bed until 9:00. That felt particularly good because I was a tad tired this morning. I could have been very productive today but I chose to be lazy. My only outing of the day so far was to see my hairdresser Erin. I go to her home and she hooks me up with perfect cut so another super hair cut! I have to met Chris at the gym tonight so that's my day today :) I guess if I get super motivated I can wrap up Chris's presents but I don't know if I am that motivated (shame on me).

One thing that I have found lately with the going to the gym is preparing for it. I noticed that when I was not preparing dinner ahead of time last week in the crock pot or part of cooking Sunday, I felt rushed. I feel a ton better when I'm working out knowing that when we get home, dinner is ready. I just felt so unprepared last week when I neglected to plan. A couple of years ago, I got a WW friendly crock pot recipe book on the computer and it has a ton of healthy recipes. I haven't been disappointed yet. My latest tasty dish was a spaghetti sauce marinara sauce. I love that cookbook. I passed it to our trainers at the Y and they even thought it was good. If you are interested in a copy, drop me a line in the guestbook and I will ship it your way.

Living in Michigan is kind of sad right now. According to NPR, Muskegon, had a 22% unemployment rate and Detroit has a 21% unemployment rate. It's like wow, when is this going to end? I remember in college when I was changing my majors left and right, I thank God that I ended up being a social worker. At one point, I was going to go into business. That's funny, I cannot picture that. After looking at all my poor grades with my only one A in sociology I thought about being a therapist. At first I wanted to be a marriage therapist (that is also very funny) but after talking to a professor named Lori Ryan (who unfortunately died from breast cancer in her early 30s), I decided to become a social worker. Thanks Lori for inspiring me and giving me a sound solid career advice. I feel somewhat secure in my job but can anyone feel that secure in this day in time? I just hope that things turn around because it's so sad to see all these businesses closing, which impacts everyone. If I was in my 20s, graduating from college, as much as I like Michigan, I would be out of here. Now that is sad. I thank God for my job everyday. Take care all-Kellie

2008-12-06T09:52:00.001-05:00

This is why I am glad I bought a home with character...

2008-12-06T08:46:00.002-05:00

I love my house, especially at Christmas time. New homes just don't do it for me. I especially love the fact that the first owner stayed in the home for 65 years. We're the 3rd owner of the home and I just feel the love that my home has. It gives off a very good vibe. So when I get to decorate for Christmas, my house kind of feels like it is singing. Last night it was so cozy because we had the fireplace going, the stockings were hung, and the kitties were chilling :) I love my life sometimes, it was pure happiness. Now only if I could bottle that feeling!

Life is good, working out is good. I have no idea how much weight I am down to. I wore my smaller jeans to work yesterday and they looked terrific. My stomach is getting flatter and the muffin tops are GONE! Yeah! I hear weight watchers is switching up their program this weekend. I might try to hit a meeting soon since I'm still a paying member. I haven't been to WW in eons. Partially due to the fact that I feel what I am doing now is better for me. I've never really emphasized eating better, just tracking my points. Now I am really eating better which includes vegetables, fruits, and other healthy foods. I actually eat a handful of nuts as a snack and I'm not afraid to (I was always afraid on ww to do this because of the point value). I've been doing the sparkpeople.com site with calories. I eat about 1500-1700 calories per day. I burn between 500-720 calories per work out. One meal a week, we splurge and go out. I no longer eat out more than once per week which really helps the budget. I no longer get that extreme hunger feeling or get that crashing feeling like my sugar is dropping. I feel terrific. I have a ton of energy! We've been at this for almost 3 months now and I'm proud of us. It's nice to have a spouse on board. Chris is looking terrific. His belly is going doing. The challenge for him has to get his calorie intake because that can get difficult. He was initially eating not enough so now his intake is better but it's hard to find extra healthy foods to add into his day. We no longer buy lunch meat for him because we take some chicken or turkey and cook it up for him where he throws it on some bread. Plus it's a heck of a lot cheaper. I get chicken for $1.89 a pound at my meat market and we usually get turkey for 59 cents a pound. Eating better has definitely helped our budget. Take care all-Kellie

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T07:42:00.004-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving all! I have a lot to be thankful this Thanksgiving. I have a terrific husband, 2 great cats, a roof over my head, we have our jobs, both of our parents are still healthy (mine more than his), and we have our health.

Chris is going to make the turkey today and were going to take it down to his folks. He makes the turkey on the Webber Grill (charcoal) and it super yummy. Maybe I will try to get some pictures of him doing this. The turkey comes out pretty than a Martha Stewart Magazine. Really and the taste is amazing. It's our year at his folks so hopefully things will go well. I'm okay with his folks and feel comfortable around them but I have my usual uneasiness about his sister. Then we never know if his crazy aunt from Delaware is going to fly in so that's even worse. She's like SIL but 10x worse. Anxiety is high. I'm hoping that Chris is going to have a chat with his sister today about gift giving at Christmas where he notes "how about you don't buy for us and we will not buy for you" since brother in law is unemployed thanks to GM. Plus, I'm tired of getting all of the regifts. For our last birthday she gave us a spoiled bottle of wine that the cork was rotted out and it tasted like vinegar and for Christmas she gave us a salsa mix that expired in 2002. I know it's the thought but I'm struggling to find thought in those!

I wrote the folks a letter and they claimed that they never got my second message. Okay, I will take that but it appears that things are hammered out now. They noted that I "over reacted" but in this family, you never know. I think this all stems back to the issues over the holidays. My family has the tendency to do this, myself included. I don't know where it came from but the holidays were a stressful time when I was kid. It was not very happy around the home at Christmas especially when I was a teenager. I heard that Christmas is for little kids, etc. I remember going to church just being generally withdrawn and sad at Christmas while being a teenager. Maybe it stems back to my parents financial situation when I was a kid or maybe even their own upbringing because my dad was a foster child in the 30s-50s and my mom grew up in poverty in the hills of West Virginia. I don't necessarily remember them noting positive stories about Christmas time, just sad memories when they do come out because it's not spoken usually at all. For instance, at one foster home my dad was in, he thought he was getting a bike because he saw it. So he noted this to the foster mom and she noted "no you are not getting a bike" my dad noted that "I saw the bike" and when Christmas arrived no bike or anything else. He had no presents at that Christmas or hardly any at other Christmas's. That is sad. So maybe this is where my family gets all wacky about Christmas from the past. Those old feelings get churned up. My thing is that I am aware of this. I do tend to get unbalanced around the holidays with stress. Chris and I have been starting our holiday time so hopefully the stress will end. We have a nice Christmas Eve, have dinner, go to church, and come home to open gifts. I also notice that I get overstimulated at Chris's parents home when we go down there for Christmas. The materialism is over the top and it's hard for me. I noticed that I get grumpy and sullen. I don't mean to but I do. Another thing that is drilled into me is being practical. I was talking to Chris about this. I'm so practical that it's not even funny. For example, my boss's husband died last month and for a gift back, I suggested gift cards while my other team members thought of a cute bear for her son with the dads picture on it and another keepsake for my boss. Why is it in my mind, that I couldn't come up with something like that...like automatically? Humm...self awareness is good but I need to work on this stuff.

Body wise...I'm looking better. The class ended last week and I'm officially down 5 pounds, lost 7 inches, my flexibility has tripled, and my cardiovascular has increased greatly. The class was so worth it. My goal is to rejoin the class in the spring. Eating wise and exercise wise, we are still doing the same stuff. I get a combined 40-50 minues on the elliptical, bike, and arc trainer. The arc trainer is AMAZING! It's a true calorie burner. I burn about 11 calories a minute on this thing. At first, it was uncomfortable to go on this thing and now I am up to 20 minutes. About 5 weeks ago, I got my Polar Heart Monitor and I love it. I have to say that the machine readouts on calorie burn is not correct at all. My watch will tell me the exact number of calories and what my heart rate is. I'm usually exercising in about my 75% heart range which is good. I also pay close attention to my heart rate so that I'm not going over the max heart rate. I especially love the weekly summaries because it lets me know if I am on target.

Well, I hope you all have or had a terrific Thanksgiving! Take care all-Kellie

I put on a pair of pants that...

2008-11-14T22:43:00.002-05:00

Well, I know the YMCA program is working because I put a pair of LL Bean Jeans that have not touched my thighs in 2 years on and they fit! Yippy! Our last class is on Wednesday so I'm sad to see it end. Chris and I have been working out 4-5 days a week doing 45 minutes of intense cardio (75% max heart rate) and doing 3 days of full body strength. Tuesday I get to do my health assessment post test so I'm looking forward to seeing the results. I feel absolutely terrific, lots of energy, and I can sprint up the 3 flights of stairs at the YMCA (something I was never able to do!).

One thing I find helpful when I work out is not paying attention to all of the TVs around in the gym. I take my little shuffle and listen to some tunes. My range of music is quite odd. Here's some examples: Biggie Smalls-Hypnotize, Butthole Surfers-Pepper, Cake-Going the distance, Chris Cornell-Scream, Coldplay-Speed of Sound, Commordores-Brick House, Death Cab for Cutie-Soul Meets Body, Rick James-Super Freak, House of Pain-Jump Around, MC Hammer-Can't Touch This, Tone Loc, Pink-So What, Poe-Angry Johnny & Hey Pretty, Porno for Pyros-Pets, Ramstein-Angel, Radiohead-All I need, Rupert Holmes-Escape, Shiney Toy Guns-Ricochet & Le Disko, Nine Inch Nails-Hurt. I find this to be a pretty good mix of music. Do any of you have any favorites? I swear when I hear Escape from Rupert Holmes, I want to burst out and sing it, no matter what.

Speaking of music, I've always loved music. I had my first radio at 5. When I was little, I always thought that I should be a music video director...oh, that is so funny. I've cut down on going to concerts in my old age (I'm joking). I have the "Prince Rule". You see, I have this rule that if I really, really, really like a band, I don't see them in fear of being utterly disappointed. You see, I went to see Price about 7 years ago after being a huge fan, only to be so disappointed that I no longer can listen to his songs in the same manner as before. For instance, Nine Inch Nails is playing tomorrow night. I loved that music a ton, but in fear of the Prince rule, I'm opting out of going. It's better to just still love the music instead of not.

Thanks for all the support about the family issues. Nothing has changed, haven't heard from them. That's their choice. The sad thing is that you really don't realize how messed up your extended family is until events like these happen. Please tell me that this is not the norm for people because this totally sucks. I'm refusing to dwell on it like I did my sister but it's frustrating because I'm just feeling like a sitting duck here. The holidays are right around the corner...that is a major bummer. One of my co-workers discussed her relationship with her mom. she noted that she doesn't have the typical mother:daughter relationship and she described the normal relationship as having lunch together, going shopping, etc. I guess I never had this either. I can't recall the last time I went shopping with my mom alone, just to browse, or even get a bite to eat alone. I question if it ever has happened during my adult life. I can recall the last lunch I had with my dad alone was 4 years ago. We just don't do that kind of stuff. Funny thing is that I have found with people that I know, the ones who really really really want to have daughters of their own, are usually messed up in some fashion...so does this repeat the cycle of dysfunction? God, let me have boys then because I wouldn't want to put my future kidos through this crap.

Chris and I are going to Chicago tomorrow so I'm looking forward to that. It's supposed to be rather chilly so we better bundle up! It will be nice to get out of town. We plan on hitting the art institute and window shopping at some shops. We had the opportunity to take a bus down there for $12 so we couldn't pass that up. Food wise, I'm encouraging him to make some healthy choices because initially he was dying for some deep dish pizza. I suggested some sashimi and thai food so it looks like we will be doing that because I want to finish strong on Wednesday. Have a great weekend all! Kellie

I think there's a storm brewing...

2008-11-08T05:37:00.003-05:00

I think there's a storm brewing and I'm not ready for it. This storm is an emotional storm and I just don't want to deal with it. Things are going funky with my parents and my sister. Which totally ticks me off because I'm tired of the family drama. It happened last with my sister which lasted over two years and now it's happening again with me. It all started a little over a month ago when Chris and I went to Mackinac Island. My mom was pressing me to come visit her when we were coming home. For some reason, she thought we were driving near her home, which we were not. I explained how we were not even going to be close but I still felt pressured to attempt to see them and explained how it was 45 minutes out of our way but she wouldn't listen and noted that she would be very upset if we didn't stop. So that Sunday, I was hurt physically front the day before. My foot was strained from all the walking and I was tired. We left the island at 12:30 pm and then I called my dad and noted that we would still try to visit them (even though I was hurt/tired and it would be a fast hi/bye). My leg was hurting and I was upset in general so I talked it over with Chris so we decided not to make the trip over to see them. I called, told them why, etc. So that next weekend was the weekend when we capped the fireplace. Chris's parents volunteered to come up to help us get on the roof and cap it. When I talked to my mom that week, she was like "Oh, YOU'RE always seeing Chris's folks. They are a priority". I explained that they were purely coming up to help us out. I knew stuff was brewing then and we discussed it and thought, why not have them come down with Chris's parents here. We were having turkey on the girl and we could all visit. They declined. So we went up the next weekend. I got an earful about how we should have visited them the Mackinac weekend and how if we really wanted to see them, we could have left the Island earlier, how they never see us, and Chris's parents is the priority. I noted to them, it was not good to see them that weekend because we were not going by their house but was 45 miles out of the way, I was injured, etc. Chris's parents will come to help out with the house and visit us but that is their choice. I noted to them that they could have come down to visit but they noted that they felt like they were imposing. So after a few of my tears (because of hearing what I don't do is painful) and continuing to press on with my point I thought we came to a consensus. Chris felt that I held my ground with her but her felt that she did not feel the satisfaction of winning so I would probably get more crap in the future, he was right. Then comes my sister issue, my nephew's birthday is on Sunday. We will not be home on Sunday because Chris's dad is having a get together and it is custom to stay the whole weekend when it's a parents birthday because they are the priority. Well, it's my sisters son's birthday (nephew) and we wouldn't be around so I called her to see if we could get together so I could drop off some gifts and see them since we were not going to be around on his birthday. Left a message, no calls, nothing (it's two weeks later so I sent the gifts in the mail). I told my mom this. She noted "Well, Carrie isn't going to move the birthday" "I wasn't asking her to, I just wanted to drop the gifts off" I replied "Well, I guess Chris's parents are the priority?" she asked "Yes, it is his dads birthday and he is the priority because it's his dad. You wouldn't want me to chose Chris's nephew/niece over your birthday, would you?" I asked. So there was a dig from her. Then of course the next time we chatted, mom was nice finally, no digs. Then the next call, I called them on election night and noted that I was going to call them back but I fell asleep then called Wednesday to apologize then nothing. No calls, nothing. I know I am in for it now. Not only with my parents but again Carrie. I'm tired of this family crap. The last time this happened I basically cried for a year about Carrie. It was never resolved but I moved on. Now it's happening all over again, hell no I'm not going to put myself through that again. It was awful and I will never have that relationship with my sister. I've accepted it and now with my parents because they are feeling slighted over Chris's parents? It makes me feel emotionally tired and sad. Nothing is ever good enough on my parent.

I feel like we make about 85% of the effort when it comes to my family. I do 95% of the phone calls because I hear, "We never know when you are home" from my mom. I noted that "it's nice to see the attempt". They have only been to my home a few times since moving here because it's too far. My parents will come into town or near where I live and not stop. When we go up, it is expected to stay the full weekend but they don't stay here, etc. It feels like how much am I expected to give, give, give. Sometimes I feel that's all I do in my life is give but when it comes to myself, am I receiving...no because I'm the giver and that is my role. I remember in the past, it was always me to run to them. Going back to college, they never came up because it was "too far and we're working" so I used the Greyhound a few times, in grad school I always went to them, when I was dating Sluggy, I ran to them, now I still run to them but it's healthier now. The common thing I hear "it's too far". Yup...this is going to suck because I know what is coming and heck, I don't deserve this one. Argh...need hug...and not ruminate on it. I keep on telling myself I'm doing the best that I can. I guess that's all I can do.

I may not be dropping the pounds but...

2008-10-27T21:35:00.004-04:00

I may not be dropping the pounds but I sure am losing the inches. Oh my goodness, I have to say this working out is awesome. My pants are fitting better and my legs are really firming up. I can even run up 3 flights of stairs now without getting winded! I'm really impressed by the class because it made Chris and I recommit to our life style changes. It will be sad when the class ends because I love the support and the attention. They are offering another class but with our commutes in the winter, it would be impossible not to be late so we'll hook up with them again in the spring. I'm just uber impressed with all of our changes that we have made behaviorally wise. We eat better, feel better, and heck, we are looking better. If only I had taken a before and after picture...darn me for not doing that.

Ah, the election is only 1 week away. So here is what I believe: the social security especially the disability part needs a whole overhaul and welfare needs to be re-evaluated. I believe in government health care and I am willing to contribute my share for my fellow American because people should not go bankrupt due to medical bills or get denied for care that they need. Okay, don't hate me for it. I'm a social worker which usually = Democrat because Republican social workers are few and far between and the ones I've encountered are super scary. Michigan is hurting bad. For example, the local paper only had 2 pages of employment listings and half were in the medical field. Homes are being foreclosed left and right, every week a business goes out in my area, there are no jobs, and it's scary. I had a conversation with my mom and she's worried that if Chrysler gets bought out by GM, they would lose their hx. My mom is 57 years old and it will be 8 years before she gets medicare. What happens if my mom does not have any insurance in the future? On their fixed income, it would be a huge stretch to buy insurance. That scares the crap out of me. Listening to NPR today and hearing about how devastating it would be to lose one of the big 3 makes me sick to my stomach. I remember when my dad was laid off in the 70s/early 80s, I spent my childhood in the unemployment lines. My dad would work 2 jobs, one being a painter, the other doing factory work that drove scraps of metal into his skin, mom worked jobs that she hated but they did what they could to make ends meet. I never knew about it because they did the right thing and not transfer that stress onto my sister and I. My parents were smart though and they taught me some hard core values such as live below your means, do a budget, and pretend you are poor. I really do these things. Chris and I are doing things right (hopefully), we bought a 1 income home, we budget, save money where we can, and I rarely buy new clothes for myself (Goodwill and Salvation Army have always been a my best friend). We do spend on the house for home improvements (windows will be installed soon and Chris layed some insulation for the house) and travel but beyond that, we live simple. We have no debt besides the house and for me, that is an amazing thing. I like simple non-materialistic living and I could care less what other people think about me. I don't need the best, new greatest thing, nor do I need a brand new top to make myself feel good because I get that same feeling when I find a treasure at a thrift shop because after you wash a top, it's used anyways.

This time of year, I always think about the guys who I dated who were Republican...which were many because I'm a Democrat but somehow always date Republicans...thank Goodness Chris is a fellow Democrat. Anyways, the election time always makes me think about my first boyfriend David. I swore to others that I would kiss him in front of others (my first time) if Bush Sr. would win over Dukais. Funny thing is that he did but I freaked out and didn't kiss him at that time...that came later at a school dance :) Then Sluggy was a staunch Republican and he made me pissed off the whole election time. I still wonder if those two are still Republicans after Bush being in office. I remember telling him when GB got into office, his job would be gone, and it totally was. But if that wouldn't have happened. I might have ended up with him because we moved in with each other due to financial reasons and after that hell, I dumped his @ss! Yeah! Go me, Go me...then I met Chris :) So everything happens for a reason. Whom ever gets in, we'll survive...we've done it the last 8. Just go out and vote and hope for the best because it will eventually get better. It always does.

I worked a what!?

2008-10-19T21:04:00.003-04:00

I, Kellie Louise [last name], used a chain saw to chop down 9 Black Walnut trees in our back yard today. I never thought in a million years that I would have done this but you know what? Using a chain saw is awesome! BZZZ BZZZ! I'm thinking of that hair band chain saw song now :) Chris and I have been wanting to drop those trees since buying the home and today was a perfect day to do it. It was a crisp 50 degree day and we spent from 11 am until 5pm chopping the trees and putting the brush in a pile that will go to the yard waste facility next weekend. It really opened up the back yard. I also clipped about 20 choke cherry trees at the top of our hill. Our plan is to develop the hill and have some type of pagoda at the top of the hill next year with some outdoor furniture and our fire pit. And yes, we live in the city! (Above is the back yard this past spring, I'll try to post picks of what we did this weekend sometime this week). Our lot is pretty funky because it goes about 160 back and part of that is up a hill. With all the work, I'm completely sore now so I will sleep good tonight.

The workouts with the move it to lose it are going extremely well. I'm feeling better and not getting so winded when I walk up the 3 flights of stairs at the YMCA. Chris and I are doing 4 days of cardio for 45 minutes plus stretch and then 3 days of stretch. The Y just got this cool machines called "Freemotion" where the machine uses your body and they are so cool. Much better than the typical machine. I'm down a pound but I'm actually fitting my clothes better, which is good. Chris and I went to a health fair yesterday when we visited my folks yesterday and our cholesterol looks a whole lot better. I had always hovered around 200 and it was 174 (non-fasting). I was pretty happy about this. I think the program has done a good job at changing my eating behaviors because I'm more mindful about eating fruits and vegetables. We just need to stay on this track! Well, that's it for me tonight, take care all-Kellie