That was nice....

My little man was happy for a semi-vacation.  The conference went well so it was nice to see my two co-workers who I miss dearly.  Funny how it doesn't seem like two years has passed.  You know you have good friends when things just flow like you haven't missed a beat.  I didn't cry too much with my friends.  Only when I saw my one friend on the first day, I burst out into happy tears because it had been two years since I have seen her.  I went from seeing her daily to not seeing her so it's been hard.  She's a great friend because she was real and kept me in check.

It was a much needed relaxing couple of days.  We camped the night before going up north. Originally we were supposed to stay at the camp ground until Sunday but we decided that it was going to be too much.  Plus, it was our first non state park campground and it left much to be desired because when we camp, we want to be away from the masses.  The straw that broke the camels back was when the camp ground had a "petting zoo" where they placed small animals into way too cramped quarters then 200 kids swarming the poor little things.  We looked at each other and asked, "do you want to leave" and we both nodded "hell yes"  so we got the hell out of there.  We will never go to a camp ground like that ever again...never ever...

I have some interesting things happening at work.  Was was verbally given a promotion but who knows if that is going to actually come into fruition.  The other director who is not in charge of me asked if I was interested in a team leader position so that I could help her out by supervising some staff.  We had breakfast with each other a few days earlier and she asked "what do you need here" and I noted "more money" because when I moved down here, I took a little over a 20% pay cut.  I know social workers down here have horrible wages but come on...I've seen the pay scales.  Since I was a grant position and I wanted out of my "transitional job" I jumped at my current position.  I was "supposed" to get a raise in January but I was told after they promised me a raise that "oh, we forgot, grant positions don't get a raise"   I've just had to be patient.  Funny thing is that she heard that I wasn't "interested" in taking a leadership position she heard so needless to say, I'm glad she asked.   Chris and I are on the two year plan down here.  We are giving it until the summer of 2016 to re-evaluate if we should move back to GR.  That will give me some time to see how it flows at work and then see where things stand for him.  He's loving his job.  He's moved over to the right division so he's in heaven.  He's starting school tomorrow at Penn State so things are really lining up to him.  With his recent acquisition of skills, he is really soaring in his current department which is awesome to see.  He loves his job, which is the reason why we came down here in the first place.  I just need to remind myself, two years....if it's not better, we are packing up.  It still was a smart move as we are much better off financially but in the areas of feeling accumulated we are not there.  I swear it feels one day that I will wake up and we will be back home.  There's nothing about here that feels like home.  It's just a place to store our stuff.

I'm wearing my Karen Kane dress from Gwynnie Bee.  It was a really comfy dress.  I have never worn a dress like this before so I paired it with a cardigan for work.  Plus, I wore these earrings from Rocksbox.  They were adorable so I just had to put them on.  Not too shabby :)

Is it better to know or not to know...?

So, is it better to know or not to know behind the scene things?  I had a chance to debrief with a friend and found out that I didn't bomb so horribly, in fact, things were looking super good until the last person came in.  In this instance, there was no competition...she was bound to shine, and that's okay because I've multiple times to shine in my life....and multiple times to bomb :)  Lately, I've been bombing more than shinning but that's kind of where life is at right now.  To find out that I actually did decent was surprising.  Then the other part to this, is knowing that I was this close...this close to something huge. Which in itself does suck to know I was this close...So is life...so is life, right now.

It's been a long week and I'm looking forward to the weekend and next week.  We are spending part of the weekend camping with some friends where we are taking over a Jellystone Park, no lie...there's going to be a massive party (but in a good way).  We were joking with friends that we need the T-shirts that note "2014 Jellystone Take Over".  Then the other part of the weekend is that we are headed off to Traverse City on the company dime.  I have a four day conference next week where I get to be surrounded by greatness.  I get to spend some quality time with some of my closest former co-workers so I'm super excited.  I just have to tell myself "Don't cry Kellie".  It's bad because every time I see someone from Grand Rapids, I just start to cry.  I can't help it but I miss their daily presence in life.  Heck, I'm even crying right now writing this post.  I just have this swirling emotion of missing my friends.  To spend 12 years with people in the trenches, only to move on is kind of hard for me.  I just miss them...and I can't wait to see them.  I just keep on telling myself, I can do this...I can do this...which I can but it's just not fun.

I'm wearing the 3 Dots Dress from Gwynnie Bee.  I am so expanding my tastes right now.  I have to say that this has been one of my favorite dresses ever.  I usually avoid anything with stripes but all I can say is "oh yes!!!"  It's made in the USA and it's super comfy :)

Maybe...?

Chris was at a trial for two weeks so I was a single mom for a bit.  All I have to say is kudos to the single mom's out there because that was hard.  He was home on the weekend but he was doing some major prepping so he was around but technically not available.  Luckily, the trial ended Friday so he is back but whosh!  In the middle of that, I was socked with oncall where I was out from 6pm -  3am in the morning.  All I can say is "I'm getting too old for this"...bouncing back after 3 hours of sleep and putting in a whole day's worth of work is not good.  I'm finally feeling semi-normal again but it throws me for a loop.

Here's me in this cutie.  It's something that I would normally not wear but sometimes it's nice to go outside of my comfort zone.  The day I wore it, I paired it with this killer statement necklace.  Back in the day, I would have stayed away from this dress but the new me is like "bring it on".  I almost bought the dress but it was $45 dollars off of Gwynnie Bee but I'm trying to be good this money and I'm not allowing myself to buy anything...which can be really hard.

Chris is applying time work from the home on Monday.  I'm hoping that he will get it because if he does, we can move back home eventually.  We're done with Kalamazoo.  We've given it two years and it's still doesn't feel like home to us.  Our house is gorgeous but there is no attachment to it.  Luckily, we chose well when we came down because it's looking at this point we would nearly enough money to put down about 60- 75% of what a one income home in Grand Rapids.  Then I could decide what I want to do.  A Costco cashier job is looking pretty good at this point.  I have a couple of options so it would be nice to spend time with the kid before he goes off to school.  Maybe it's a pipe dream but I'm ready to go :)  A house down the road in the older subdivision went in one day so there is no question about our home.  It's pretty unique for the subdivision and we have all the little fancies that someone would want.  I know I'm semi-dreaming but in our case, it's nice to dream :)

Oh what fun!

This is how excited the kid gets when we go camping!  It is so amazing to sit back and watch him grow with every adventure.  He can list off all the parks we have been too and what we have done there.  Like in Ludington, we visited the lighthouse or in Holland we visit The Captains (an ice cream spot where he gets a baby cone with sprinkles with a cherry on top).  This past weekend, we split the Saturday/Sunday between Holland State Park (beach side) and Grand Haven.  It was amazing.  It was our first time staying at Grand Haven but it will not be the last.  The people were so friendly there.  It's nice to be surrounded by like minded people.  Our campsite was just off the beach.  The weather wasn't the greatest on Sunday but we experienced how well the camper would take a thunderstorm.  Needless to say, the T@DA did terrific.  We were supposed to spend the whole week in Grand Haven for the Coast Guard Festival but Chris has court for work so we had to cancel our vacation.  We were kind of sad that we had to cancel but I keep on reminding myself that we can do a trip to Maine next year.  We bought the camper in New Hampshire so we will stop and visit with the former owners.  They were amazing.  I just feel so lucky to have such an amazing trailer.  It's wonderful.  It's usually the smallest in the park and we get a ton of verbal kudos from people who remark it's adorable.

I have to say with having Chris busy with court for possibly the next two weeks, I never knew how much I depended on him for support.  I have to say that I am fully appreciating him a ton.  All I can say is, can the weekend get here fast enough?

Congrats to my sister.  Today, she received her first job offer with benefits and retirement.  She was a stay at home mom until the boys went into school.  She went to the local community college and earned a certificate and did contract work for a bit.  She was able to find a job in her town so she and her husband do not have to move and she could even walk to work.  It's such an exciting time for her!  She and her husband have created an amazing life for their family because they have been available to the kids, have two rentals, and paid cash for their current home.  My brother in law is extremely handy and lucky the market is good where they live.  My folks live in the same town so it's great that they will all be together.  It's such a nice town to visit and the awesome thing is that my nephews will not have to move either.  Woot Woot for good news!

I'm still experimenting with my style.  Thanks to Gwynnie Bee, I keep on moving outside of my comfort box.  The one thing I have learned that it is so funny how sizes in women's clothing works.  In the picture, I'm wearing a 1XL Cherry Velvet.  I really liked the look of it on me but I am swimming in it.  I threw on a belt to cinch my waist a tad.  So a 1XL can be big on me, while in another brand it can be too tight on me.  I just don't get it but I will keep on learning.  I bought some accessories from the Coldwater Creek that was going out of business.  It's sad to see that company go under.  Their items held up so well.
 

I knew it!

The one amazing gift I truly have is the ability to get an accurate assessment about people very quickly after meeting them.  I've always had the ability to do this but I didn't necessarily understand it when I was younger.   Now, I'm in a spot that I use it daily and I continue to get better and better at it.   It does come in handy when you are a social worker too.  Last week I was in a room with some people, I wanted something really bad at that point in time but right when I assessed the situation only being in for less than a few minutes, I knew, it wasn't going to happen.  The universe was like "hell no, this one's not for you".  Funny that has happened in my life a few times where I have tried to convince my gut otherwise, like "you silly girl, you are just reading things wrong" but deep down inside, I knew it wasn't going to happen. I can remember my last job when I got there.  I knew right away, that it was not going to be a fit.  I remember crying on my way home from the interview and thinking "it will be okay" but deep down inside, I knew it was not going to be okay.  When I arrived on my first day at the job, I thought "oh shit, what the fuck did I do?".  I convinced myself that it was going to be okay that I took the job because we needed to transition down to Kalamazoo.  Needless to say, my reaction to my new boss/coworkers was true that it was not going to be good, despite me noting that it would "be okay", it wasn't.   Hell I do have to remind myself that I don't need a crystal ball...when I know things are not going to happen, they are not going to happen.  And that's okay.  The universe tends to lay things out how they are supposed to be.  Sometimes, I just need to sit back and just let things unfold without being too anxious about it, because what will be will be.  Just trusting that it will be okay, well, that's an interesting process.  So I'm pigeoned holed for a while and it will be okay.   The bright spot now is at least I am in a better place now mind frame wise compared to what I was. And I will take that!

Exploring...

One of the coolest things that I get to do lately is to explore the new area that I work in.  I'm really digging the South Bend, Indiana area. I'm always hunting to do awesome activities with kids so finding some in the area that I work is always fun.  I was out last week and I look over and there's a pottery shop.  Having some time on my hands, I decided to go in and just browse.  After seeing the awesome prices, I decided to do some painting.  For the first time in my life, I got to paint some pottery and it was an absolute blast.   Growing up, I never had anything with my name on it.   When I saw the coffee cup, I was like "Oh yeah!".   I'm not artistic what so ever but I have to say, it was one of the most relaxing experiences ever.  To spend a Friday afternoon, relaxing, and just having a new experience is amazing.  It's what every Friday should be like, right?  My creation will be done in 7-10 days after they fire it up so I cannot wait until I see the finished product.

Today was an interesting day.  The morning was filled with a meeting to discuss wither or not my work opts back into social security.  To watch the emotions going on around me was amazing because I saw true fear from others that they will not be retiring like they thought they would.  I have to say, thank goodness for all of the wise saving we have done.  I can't even begin to imagine being 62 and "having to work until I die" (which one co-worker reported).  One of the reasons that we went with Chris's job is that not only does his company have a defined pension, which is truly rare in this day in age but he also has a generous 401 that his company contributes to.  I can only hope that we will make it to retirement to enjoy it :)

I sported the lip print maxi dress from Gwynnie Bee today.  I must say for 90 degrees, this was the perfect dress for me.  I spent half the day outside/in warmer areas so it was perfect.  I also sported my Taos Shoes that had a slight heal and I was rocking it out. Though, by the end of the day, my feet were saying "WTF Kellie?"  Yes, I'm 38 years old and probably on one hand could count how many times I have worn something with a heel.  They were amazing and comfy but by the end of the day, I feel like I am losing my toe. Not a good feeling at all!

The kid was in an amazing mood today.  I have to say that this age is absolutely fun.   Three is good! To hear what he feels and what his joys are in life just warms the heart.  We have been taking him to swim lessons since the spring and to see his confidence grow in the pool is amazing.  Watching him glide from one side to another just keeps me in awe.  Like this proud moment of "that's my boy".   Awe what a feeling!

Needle in a haystack...

I swear I was dodging people at work today because of my dress.  I know it was kind of risky to wear this today because it doesn't essentially fit the culture but I had no intakes and I was stuck to my office all day.  My office has two crowds, the under 27 crowd and the over 55 crowd so everything is kind of funky when it comes to dynamics, expectations, and dress.  Then you have me, right smack in the middle of that age demographic.  I just had to wear this Hell Bunny dress today because it was going to be 90 degrees and I've been staring at the dress for 3 weeks in my closet.  I'm making more of a conservative effort to dress better.  Since having the kid, gaining the weight, I have to admit my self confidence hit an all time low.  I wasn't feeling comfortable in my skin.  Which is a horrible feeling to have. Everything was sort of just, erh...not fun.  A few months back, I saw that a friend on facebook joined Gwynnie Bee and I was curious.  I did some poking and thought, hey this would be awesome.  I used to love dressing up when I was smaller but since being larger, it's more of a challenge.  Finding clothing when I am my current size is like finding a freaking needle in a hay stack.  I figured WTH, I decided to use some of my oncall money to off set the subscription price.  And voila, I hit clothing utopia.  I'm feeling better about myself and I'm getting out of my comfort zone of trying items that I normally would not touch.  Plus actually finding clothes that fit me properly and beautifully is an amazing feeling.

We haven't been able to be weekend warriors for the past few weekends and that has been somewhat bummy.  We love getting out of Kalamazoo and exploring along the lakeshore in our adorable camper.  Here it is mid-July and it feels like the summer is going to slip by quickly...which makes me sad.  Chris's schedule for work has been up in the air because he has one definite court appearance and two pending court cases that he could potentially needed for in the upcoming weeks.  I'm totally bummed out about one trip we already had to cancel because we had Lake Michigan camping reservations during the Coast Guard Festival.  I had visions of sitting on our lawn chairs looking up and watching the fireworks but alas...it wasn't meant to be.  We are trying to plan some get aways in the coming weeks but we'll see.  I'm also being picky about using my annual time.  I only earn 4 vacation hours every two weeks and have 3 floating days.  For me to take a day off of work must equate for something truly worth it.  I miss the days when I had annual/sick time all rolled into one.  Before I never had to worry about taking time off but now, I'm like "is this really worth a months of vacation?".  Though, I do have to think about my mental health and camping sounds good about now...

The house that got away...

Two years ago when we were transitioning down here, there was this GORGEOUS home.  The house was stunning...it was out of our budget at the time so we didn't even pursue it but looking back, I kicked myself to see that it did eventually sell for a price within our budget.  It was like "why didn't we look" "why didn't we try"?  Then today, I was glancing through the paper and saw that they had an open house from 12:30-2:30.  We had to go and see the house that got away!  We headed over and the area is absolutely lovely compared to our area which is transitioning.  There were mature trees and just this feel of a neighborhood.  With our neighborhood being built up, we lack that character that an established neighborhood has to offer...we have farm land that has been ripped up and ticky tackies being built all over.  Our saving grace is that we are one of the few houses in the 'hood that has color to it...the rest are tan's, grey's, etc.  Anyways, we start rolling towards the house.  I notice with different eyes that it's not everything I had built it up in my mind.  The streets are very narrow and it gives off this cool presence.  Not that warm inviting feel of "come live in me".  Funny how, in my mind, I built this house up to be the "one that got away".  Looking at it now, I can say "no thanks".  That's kind of how life is like right now.  I'm in this phase of looking at things as "this is the one that got away".  I have to keep on working on "it did get away but there was a reason it wasn't mine".   I'll remind myself of this when I hear some news that I may or may not like this week!

We had to stick around the house this weekend because I was oncall yesterday.  I haven't been so fortunate with oncall shifts for the past six months so straying away from the area would not be good. Luckily, it was quite so free money, yea!  We were able to deep clean the house because we have been bad lately with keeping things up...I had the flu last week and with all of the stuff going on in life, it was last on the list to get done.   I finally had Chris hang some stuff up in the house.  Prior to yesterday, I had only two things hanging in the house.  I know, bad, but this didn't really feel like home.  I had him put up a few pieces that I had in our old home that were favorites.   It's nice to have them out again, gracing the walls.  And possibly this is going to start feeling like home instead of a transition place...we'll see.

Crystal ball...

The one thing about life lately is that sometimes I wish I had a crystal ball.  Life continues to send us some curves, not bad curves, but just curves that we want to know...what's next? Last week, once again, Chris's job announced more re-shuffling.  Which is always an adventure...which one the of shuffles that got us living where we are now, so needless to say, I'm tired of the shuffles.  We thought the worst but it's looking like it's actually going to work in his favor this time.  He getting inline for the next position that he wants and he couldn't be happier about grabbing this new slot but the waiting to hear what is going to happen is the worst.  For myself, I too, am playing the waiting game.  I'm trying to not feel pessimistic about things but I'm convinced I'm pigeoned holed for a while.  I know I have to be patient but argh....though, if the universe is wanting something different for me, it will be.  In the end, I just have to see where everything lands.

I had some me time tonight and it felt wonderful.  I haven't had any major amounts of me time in a while so I decided to grab a meal and do some shopping.  I've been neglecting myself too long so it felt good to pamper myself.  I hooked myself up with some new shoes and other items.  It felt terrific to just get out and do some shopping therapy :)  Sometimes a gal has to do something for herself and for this gal, it's been a while...

Great 4th of July!

 I have to say that this little man is an amazing hiker.  We spent the 4th of July up north at Ludington State Park and we hiked everywhere.  This little trooper was right there just hiking along with us.  He even climbed the stairs to the top of the light house.  All I can say is that he amazes me everyday.  It's nice to see how he is really getting into the outdoors.  We were impressed with the park because it had so many options.  3 days was not enough so hopefully we will be able to go back soon.

I'm getting pretty creative with the camping food too.  I marinated some flank steak and it turned out amazing.  We had some asian slaw, grilled zucchini/squash, and some kimchee so it hit the spot.   Who says camp food is all about hot dogs and hamburgers?

It was a terrific weekend :)

Hey...

Hey, what's up? It's been a while.  Life is very different...very different.  I don't know if I will be ever settled into this "new life" but I've been in a funk for a bit.  You know that kind of funk that you know that life is passing you by but you don't really care because everything is status quo.  It is what it is...has been my motto.

I'm overweight again (as you can see)...the lack of movement has not been good for me.  Ever since being pregnant with the kid, my gym days have been over.  Eating, well, that needs to improve too.  The good thing is that I haven't gained any weight in a year.  Though, on the other hand, I haven't lost any weight.

I haven't been digging the move to Kalamazoo.  I had a great life in Grand Rapids, great job, awesome friends, and my dream home.  Kalamazoo, well it's not Grand Rapids.  The positives is that Chris is loving his new job.  He's moved into a different sector of his company and he is digging it.  He's digging it so much that he is going back to school at Penn State for computers....and his company is paying for it.  Now how awesome is that?  His company also took very good care of us with the relocation down here.  I just have to grow to enjoy this area, which doesn't feel like it will happen any time soon but things are looking better maybe?  We will see.

The awesome stuff that is happening right now is that we are enjoying our kid.  He is absolutely the most amazing little man ever.  He makes me giggle every day and he's as spunky as all get out.  Love being his mom.

After this long Michigan winter, we have been able to enjoy the summer.  We broke down and bought a 2008 Dutchman T@DA after realizing that tent camping with a young child = no fun.  We've been able to hit quite a few  parks around the region.  I never knew camping could be this much fun.

So this is where we are right now.  Could it be better, yup.  Could it be worse, yup.  

Switching up the breakfast...

I am switching up my breakfast today. Usually I blend up a smoothie in my vitamix but I am going to start switching it up a bit. Today I made an egg white omelet with mushrooms, spinach, garlic, and feta cheese. I love egg white omelets and what you can put in them is endless.  

I spent last week doing workouts at home. It was a nice break but I was happy to return to the gym this morning and it felt terrific. I was also surprised that the gym traffic was not too much more. There were some new faces but not too many. When I worked out at the Y, there were so many new faces in January but here not so much. It's a much cheaper gym so I guess I was expecting more turn out. New faces are always good! 

We signed the kid up for gymnastics. The kid is something. He will jump off the couch with no issues. He will yell "TWO" and boom, he is landing on us.  We thought maybe we need to channel this and have him learn some fun ways to bounce around and have a good time.  Plus it exposes him to sports :) which is awesome. We wanted to do a swim class with him but we are going to wait until spring to do that so that we are not overloading the little guy.  The one good thing about the classes is that they go in 8 week lengths so this will put us into March.  Now that is nice to hear...March = spring.  

Hi....my name is Kellie...

Hi, my name is Kellie and it about time to blog again. I've lurked on a few sites lately and finding out that more and more people have lost their inspiration to blog. I know what that feels like. Life gets busy, you have a ton of stuff to do, lots of stuff going on, and blogging, well, it's not fun when you can't feel like you can be anonymous. So why bother....? Well, it's a great tool. It's kind of nice looking back to where I was, who I was at a specific time, and where I wanted to go as a person. In this case, I want to find who I am today.

I was not prepared for what life had in store for my during the past year. We moved from our dream home which was rough. In the long run, I knew it was the best for our family. The truth was, we lived in a charming home in Grand Rapids, which unfortunately had one of the worst school districts in Michigan. We had a house loan which we were upside down in because when the market crashed, our house was not valued at what it once was. We couldn't refinance because we were upside down in it. Chris's company gave us the most amazing relocation package ever and we simply could not say no. It was truly that good. His company was relocating all the individuals from Grand Rapids to one main office in Michigan and after finding out that he would have an unreasonable commute, we decided to go forth with a move. I had to find a new job. That was a trip that I don't want to re-live. It was a weird process and I was lucky to be offered a few jobs that I had to say no to but I found one that was a decent fit. We were able to find a new home that suited our style. We didn't want to go with a charming older home because I would compare it to my GR home. Our home sold to the first couple who saw it and they offered above listing price. Which is unheard of in our economy. We moved and said goodbye to our old life...now we have this new life.

New house, new job, and really a new life. Our new life is different. Q...u..i...e....t... More family time. I have a 30 minute commute vs an hour. We have time at night and in the morning with our kid. We are not running as much and it feels different. My whole life I had this super fast pace, now it's slow. We are adjusting to the new community. Luckily, we have some close friends who live nearby but we will need to meet some more people so our support system would be a tad larger.

We are still trying to get orientated to the surroundings. During the past two years, I honestly can say is that I totally sucked with my fitness. After having the kid, I was able to go back to the gym but then I injured my foot because I felt that I could run again. Bad choice because it took me six months to get over that. Then the sleep deprivation of an infant. Not fun...in fact 8 months of seemingly bad sleep was no fun at all. Then I became shut down about all the changes in my life. I didn't want to move and lose what we had so I ate...ate...ate. Luckily, I am not larger than I am now but I am at the same weight as when I first entered Weight Watchers back in 2002.  Though, I have to say, I look better :)

I recommitted myself to Weight Watchers back at the end of October.  I also have been going to the gym since then which is the cheapest gym ever but also the nicest.  My weight loss is incredibly slow.  So slow that I was getting to the point of frustration that I was eating well, working out five days a week, and nothing.  But then I noticed that the pants are fitting better and finally I am losing.

Here I am...recommitting like I always do and hoping that things will change.  The thing I like about the new WW program is that it reminds me of classic cognitive behavioral therapy.  They are really attacking the emotional aspects of eating.  Trying to target where you are putting that bad foods in your mouth and focus on moving both emotionally and physically.

My goals for 2013...
1. Focus on the moment, not past or future, just look at the day.
2.  Gym 5x per week.
3.  Becoming more acclimated in our community.
4.  Being at peace with where I am currently.  Which is where I am supposed to be.

Happy 2013. It's great to be back.  Take care all-Kellie

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

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.

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 :)

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 :)

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...

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

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 :)

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...

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...

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...

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!!!

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

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!

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...

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...

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...

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...

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?

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...

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???

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...

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...

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?

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...

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...

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...

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...

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.

Getting back to our normal...

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...

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..

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!

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...

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?

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...

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....

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...

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...

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..

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...

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...

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...

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...

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!

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.