Another killer weekend!

We went to Amana, Iowa this past weekend for Oktoberfest and it was awesome! I love Iowa. The people are terrific. I've always heard that the south takes the cake for hospitality but they cannot beat the people in Iowa. Everyone is so nice. I think Iowa gets a bad reputation but it's a gorgeous state and worth a visit. This was our second year in a row to visit the Amana Colonies and it was terrific. Funny thing is that Dateline NBC was taping while we were there. They were doing a story on unclaimed money. So we might be on TV. Another huge surprise that we had is that we were upgraded twice, once on the rental car and another on the room. We usually rent a car when we go 3 hours out to keep the mileage off our own car. So I reserved an intermediate car from Budget. When they got there, they didn't have any on the lot so they gave us a Seabring with XM radio...nice. Then we go to check into our room and they noted that they had an issue with the room so they upgraded us to a 1 bedroom suite condo. It was brand new with a flat screen, full kitchen, couch, chair, table, and deck! It usually went for $180ish a night and we got it for $90...unbelievable. I made some better food choices this year compared to last but I could have done a tad better eating wise. I did have a cherry turnover and one brat but last year I ate bad all weekend long and this wasn't the case this weekend. Being in the condo helped us cook a healthy breakfast too. I whopped up some scrambled eggs with minimal yoke, spinach, chicken sausage, and a dash of cheese. Plus we tracked our food so that was an amazing feat anyways.

The one thing that I am happy about is that we exercised this weekend...something we didn't do the year before. My foot was finally back to 95% so we took a 90 minute walk. It feels great to have back my proper mobility because I was limping for the majority of the week. I have to remember that I'm not that young anymore where if I push myself so hard, it will be forgiven the next day. It's like it will be forgiven the next week. It didn't help when we were at Mackinaw, I heated the foot instead of icing it. Argh, I learned my lesson there. Looking back, I definitely would have taken our bikes or rented them on Saturday because I over did it so much, I didn't get to enjoy the hotel like I should have. Which is a total bummer because there's a ton of things there but because I chose to over do it, I paid the price.

So after my 4lb gain last week, I am down to 192 :) It was a good week. The trainers are bumping the workout up. They are encouraging us to workout 4 times a week for 45 minutes high intensity. This is awesome but Chris and I need to make some time for the two extra days that we need to get. There's just never enough time...which stinks. We're already getting home late plus doing this 4 times a week is challenging but of course worth it. We just need to commit. Unfortunately, nothing ever comes easy.

Oh, hey anon...you are right that Chris has gained some weight. When we first met, he was about 172 and unfortunately our relationship, his microbrew drinking, lack of excercise, and change of career made him gain the weight and hit the scales at 235. Thus, he is the only male in our move it to lose it class. I keep on hearing from the ladies in the group how awesome it is to have my husband in the group because theirs would never come. What a shame!