Leavin' on a jet plane...

Today I will board an aircraft that will propel me to the faraway land of Arizona, to reside in the small village of Green Valley for three days.  Green Valley is a small community filled with 90% gray-haired, plaid shorts wearing, golf cart driving, retired senior individuals;  thus why my extended family calls this village ‘home’ for 6 months out of the year.

Really, I’m so excited I could almost pee my pants. Green Valley is a quaint little town that my Grandparents started calling home during the winter months about, ohh, 15 or so years ago.  Then about 5 years ago, my Aunt Jeannie and Uncle Charlie bought an amazing home there also; complete with a pool!!! And if that wasn’t enough of the Sheik family down there, my Aunt Linda and Uncle Larry bought a home, on a golf course no less, a few years ago.  There’s rumor that another set of aunts and uncles is moving down there too, but who knows.  Slowly but surely the Sheik’s are taking over Arizona. Or at least Green Valley.

‘Sheik’ is my mom’s side of the family. And it is one LARGE son of a gun. Grandma Margie is a proud Catholic and to honor that religion she produced 6 bundles of joy for my Grandpa Jim. There are 5 girls and 1 boy….poor Uncle Bill.  Nearly every one of those bundles made their parents proud by producing an ass-load of grandkids.  Which means, I have somewhere around 14 cousins; all but a handful of them are married, and even some of them have produced some offspring.  All in all, our family get-togethers are a trip. 

Booze is a never ending flow down our parched throats, delicious nourishment is provided for our glutinous devouring, and the laughter…oh the laughter. Man do we have a good time.  And this is the same for ANY get-together, whether it’s a wedding (oh, there was a food fight at my wedding, just to give you an idea of the craziness), a funeral, a football tailgate, etc.

That side of the family is extremely close. I still talk to most of my cousins on a monthly basis, and during KSU football season, I get to see most of the family at the tailgates on every home game. My grandpa has been going to KSU football games for something like 50 years or more. He got ‘honored’ a few years ago as KSU’s #1 fan. It was so cute.

Some of my cousin’s and I are so close in fact, that one of them named Ryan and I godparents for his son that was born last Oct.  That cousin is Corey, and he has been a staple in my life forever. He’s more like a brother than a cousin. And his son, Akahi, is the cutest little wonderment that I’ve ever seen. (Maybe I’m a little biased.)  Akahi was named for extremely meaningful reasons, his full name is Akahi Na-Se-Ka Rosengarten.  Akahi mean’s ‘at first sight, or first love’ in Hawaian (that’s where Corey and his wife Jessica met) and Na-Se-Ka was my stepdad Mike’s Indian name, which means ‘rolling thunder’.  Corey found out that Jessica was having a boy right around the time that Mike found out his cancer came back.  It was a no-brainer to Corey to honor Mike by giving his name to Akahi.

Anyway, it worked out that Corey, Jessica, and Akahi will all be there this weekend, along with my Mom and her boyfriend Hardy. I thought, ‘Well, I don’t want to be left out of the fun!’, so I’m heading down there to get my ‘family fix’.  I can’t wait. I haven’t seen my grandparents since I married in Sept. 2010 and I haven’t seen Corey and family for 6 months. It should be some rockin’ good times!

As far as weigh-in, I’m up to 150.2. I think because I had a few beers last weekend and this week. Plus, I haven’t been that strict on the Atkin’s this week either.  Oh, and because of the sickness from Hell that I acquired last weekend, I haven’t done a lick of physical activity this week. Well, besides going from couch to bed, that’s about it.

Well, I’m leavin’ on a jet plane, don’t know when I’ll be back again…..

Just kidding, pictures and a tell-all to come when I get back this Tuesday.

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Weekend Wrap-up

First I just want to inform you all that I feel like a big pile of steamy cow dung.  I have a cold. I am cranky. I want to curl up under my desk and sleep.

So there's my mindset. Don't be expecting any cheery, funny, BS from the likes of me today.

Second, I apologize for being bitchy. That's just the way I get when I have snot running down my face like Niagara Falls.  It's pretty, let me tell ya.

Ok, enough whining.  Lets talk about my weekend. Because despite coming down the ultimate plaque of common colds, it was pretty freaking fantastic.

I went turkey hunting, with my hotty husband. I rode and drove a badass go cart all over kingdom come. I got to see acres of The Rez (my mother lives on an Indian Reservation in KS) from the back of a quad (4-wheeler), that most people don't get to see.  And I ate some of the best fried chicken on the planet; made by my own lovely mom.

Life was great.

I'll tell you a little about the turkey hunting.

I've gone with Ryan before, twice.  Each time there was nothing to shout about. We got up at the butt-crack of dawn, walked to the middle of nowhere, and plopped down in the middle of God knows what in the woods and waited for the big birds to fly down so Ryan can shoot one.  The only problem with the first two hunts that we did in previous years was no big birds flew down.  So...no turkeys.

But this year's hunt was COMPLETELY different! 

We got up, put on our camo gear, and headed out.  It was still pitch black, with pretty twinkly stars and a bright moon. And thank God for the moon, because I would have face-planted in a cow patty at least twenty times.  Finally we got to the area where we're going to sit and put up the decoys.  Ryan positions me a little bit back from the tree-line, looking out over a nice big field.  Then he sits down a few feet from me.  It's still pretty dark by this point, and he's calling the turkeys and not getting a response, which means they are still blissfully sleeping in the trees. All we can do is wait until they start gobbling back to Ryan before any action happens.  About 10 minutes later, that is exactly what happened.



Me in the woods. Waiting for the turkeys.
Like the camo?

Ryan calls out (with an owl call, don't ask me why an owl hoot makes the turkey's gobble, but it does), and right after we hear all these gobbles across the field from us. Then we hear more to our left. And finally we hear some behind us.  Ryan looks at me like a kid at Christmas, all excited and what-not, and says, "They're EVERYWHERE!" I nod at him, grinning under my face mask, because I know how ecstatic he is about this moment.

He continues to call, and another round of gobbles errupts, indicating that there are turkeys surrounding us.  He looks at me again, and I am not kidding you, whispers in this super excited voice, "We're in the inner circle!!!"  I can not describe to you how elated he was that we were in the 'inner circle'. It was just so cute.  And hilarious at the same time.  I mean, he was like some 13 year old boy taking the coolest girl in school to their spring dance for the first time.  He was almost vibrating with enthusiasm.

About 2 minutes later, a humongous turkey flew down not twenty feet from us.  He did his little happy dance around the hen decoys (the turkey, not Ryan) and fluffed up his feather's like he was some top-shit turkey model, that all the hen's go ga-ga over.  I just sat there, wide eyed, because I had never seen anything like that. I didn't move a muscle. And the only thing could could see where my eyeballs, the size of dinner plates, watching this wild animal strut his stuff. Then, BAM, the sound of the shot gun explodes through the silent air and the turkey went down.  Ryan jumps up and runs over to him. I thought he was going to start doing a happy dance.

It was by far one of coolest things I've ever witnessed.  Ryan informed me later that a hunt like that is priceless; it doesn't just happen willy-nilly, but rarely happens, that perfect.  And I'm so glad I got to experience it! Now I want to get my hunter's safety so I can shoot one next year.


Ryan and turkey on the field where he shot it.
Look how happy he is!



This is our Easter family portrait.
Aren't we the cutest little family.

 That all happened before 7am on Saturday morning, so really I had the rest of the weekend to relax.  Which is exactly what I did, because I started to feel like crap right after this photo was taken. 

I took TWO naps on Saturday. TWO!  Did me no good, because I still got sick. Maybe the go cart and quad rides on Sat. were not the best idea.  Oh, well, it was totally worth it! The reservation is in the middle of the flint hills in Kansas, and I think, some of the most beautiful land Kansas has to offer.  It's hilly and lush, filled with creeks and trees.  Houses are pretty scarce in this area, so we rode for-e-ver without seeing a soul. It was amazing, to say the least.

Easter Sunday I woke up barely able to swallow and feeling really weak, but I 'suffered' through my mom's homemade fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and cream corn like a champ.  Atkin's diet thrown to the wind.  I don't give a poop if I gain 12 pounds from eating that delicious meal, it was totally worth it. 

Oh, and I totally forgot the funniest thing that I saw this weekend! You guys will just die.

When we got to mom's, we came in to the kitchen/dining room and were talking to mom and Hardy (mom's boyfriend, who owns the go cart and quad), then I look over and notice that the dining room had changed a smidgen since I was last there.  The table was still in the same place; the center piece was different, instead of the usual Indian flute, there was a massive rifle, but that's normal for mom's house (Hardy was cleaning it before we got there).  But right next to the table, positioned strategically close to the door to the back deck (so it's within easy reach, I was told) was a 3 foot tall lazy susan gun holder, chuck full of guns.  Yep, that's right people. Someone actually makes a gun holder that twirls around like a lazy susan rack you'd find in your kitchen cabinets, but instead of holding pots and pans or food, this one holds rifles and shotguns.  And Hardy has bought one and placed it next to where we will eat Easter lunch.  Classic.  Only on 'The Rez' people....only on 'The Rez'.

So that's it. My weekend. 
Hope all of yours was great too!
I've got to go now and blow my Rudolph nose.

Weigh In Day & No Sleep

Current Weight: 148.9
Last Week: 151.9
Goal: 138

Well, I lost 3 pounds this week! That's right....below 150. LOVE! IT!

I worked really hard this week, both with my nutrition (doing Atkins) and my exercise. I ran 4 times this week, each time I went for 3-3.5 miles, running anywhere from 1 mile to 2 miles during that time. 

Atkins is going really well. I haven't really had any horrible cravings with it, except for the beer. And maybe tortilla chips. But I've pretty much kept on track the whole time.  I'm 11 days into the diet, so I technically have 3 days left. But I've decided to extend it till this upcoming Thursday.  It just feels weird to stop on a Tuesday.  Plus next Friday I'm heading to the lovely Green Valley, AZ (near Tucson) to visit family and I know I'll probably not eat the best while I'm there. So an extra few days of eating low-carb will probably help.

Here's a rundown on what I typically eat every day, in case you were wondering:
Breakfast: 2-3 Eggs, 2 Slices of bacon
Lunch: 4-6 oz of Chicken, 3 cups of Salad with Ranch dressing (salad has everything in it, included cucs, bacon bits, hard boiled egg, cheese, etc.)
Afternoon Snack: Babybel Cheese, 2 oz sliced turkey, raw veggies with Ranch, Atkins Chocolate Shake, and/or Atkins Chocolate Brownie Crunch Bar
Dinner: Pretty much same as Lunch, but varied. Like Chicken in Marinara, or a Caesar salad, etc.

Can I just say that I have a sweet obsession with the Atkins bars. I got a variety pack at Sam's Club and they are delicious!  The shakes are phenomenal too. I'm pretty sure I'll be keeping those around the house for awhile.  It gives me my chocolate fix, which in turn keeps me from going looney tunes without chocolate.

All in all, I'm eating really healthy. And that's made me feel really healthy. I blogged about this yesterday; how great I've been feeling lately.

The only issue I've been having is my damn brain won't shut the F*** down at night! I haven't gotten a good nights rest since last Sat.  This is nothing new to my life; my sleep patterns have always been ridiculously complicated.  But you would think with running my ass off and no sugar or crap food, I'd sleep better. But NOOOOO. Stupid thoughts are keeping me awake. Damn you Stupid Thoughts!

For instance, you know what I was thinking about last night while trying to fall into a blissful slumber??? Freaking paint swatches.  For my best friend's rental property they are rehabing right now.  Really Brain? I'm not even thinking of the crazy drama in MY own life, but simple color themes in OTHER peoples lives.  Jesus, Mary, and freaking Joseph.

Normally when my brain decides to have a mind of it's own (haha, get it?), I use simple techniques that I learned in college, to try and relax and 'wind down'.  It's called Biofeedback. I don't know if any of you have heard of it, but it's A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! Basically helped me actually get through college.  You use your thoughts to control physical activities in your body, i.e. sweat, temp, muscle tension, and pulse. I know, sounds a little coo-coo. But it's not.

Starting off, I would go to the counseling services on campus, and a very wonderful dude (and I say dude because he was a total hippie, complete with 2 foot long pony tail and I'm pretty sure went out back at lunch to smoke a doobie) hooked me up to a computer by placing a temperature gauges on my index fingers. That gauge transmitted my 'readings' or temperature, sweat, and heartbeat back to the computer so both he and I could see them.  Then he shut off the lights (did I mention I sat in the badass leather recliner while doing this?), and I concentrated on 'warming' up my hands.  I coordinated my breaths with 'pushing' heat to my fingers on every exhale.  And then the gauges would read what the temp was, and I would have to push harder to get the temps higher or within a certain range. Or I would push to regulate my heartbeat (same process as hand 'warming').

I did this every week for two years. It took lots and lots of practice, but eventually my anger issues, anxiety issues, and depression started to get better.  I was also sleeping better and in a better mood, overall.  It was awesome, to say the least.

In high school and college, I was a person that had a small anger management problem, coupled with anxiety over my self-worth, school, and finances, and to top it off majorly depressed. After working with the Biofeedback dude, I did a complete 180. I wasn't angry, I graduated school, and was managing my depression farely well with meds and counseling.  It really changed my life.

Still to this day I 'practice' Biofeedback all the time. During the day, at work, at home, and if I'm having trouble sleeping at night.  Which brings me back to my sleep-deprived state of mind.  I need to get back into Biofeedback and I should start to get some much deserved shut eye.

Wow, I read back though all that mumbo-jumbo, and just want to apologize for the information overload.  See this is what happens when I'm tired. I write endlessly about whatever craziness is going through my head.

Back to the point.

I'm going to get more sleep, continue with Atkins, run my bubble butt off, go to my Mom's to hunt Gobblers with my hubby, then go to Arizona next week.

I'll just let you all know right now: Starting this weekend, my life is officially batshit crazy (got that one from Draz.)  I will only be home ONE weekend from now till the middle of June.

Shoot me know.

Mile 1....Obliterated

I did it ya'll! I freaking DID IT!

I ran a whole mile....without stopping!

Do you know when the last time that happened??? I'm pretty sure it was high school.  When I weighed next to nothing, had the metabolism of a 13 year old boy, and boundless energy.

Yeah, I hit a mile on the treadmill last winter, but that's different. Running outside is so much harder because you actually have to propel your self forward. Versus letting the treadmill do some of the work. I'm not saying that running on the treadmill isn't difficult, because I freaking almost did cartwheels in the gym when I first hit that one mile mark on the treadmill; I'm just saying I haven't run a mile outside in TEN FREAKING YEARS!

And get this: Not only did I run a full mile, but I ended up running 2 out of the 3.5 miles that I went on last night! Not bad, eh?

I'm a rock star. Who wants my autograph? UUMmm, anyone? Ok, no one.  But that's ok, I'll still get some self portraits with my John Hancock on them, just in case.

Now, after said milestone (get it?? I know, I'm hilarious) was over and I made my way home, and nearly passed out in the driveway.  I seriously contemplated calling for Ryan to go get me an oxygen tank and a hot tub. (Because a hot tub makes everything better.) I'm pretty sure I popped a lung; possibly deflating and dropping out on Mile 2.

Wanna know something else that is totally radial, badass cool, and just plain
FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC???? As of this morning, my current weight is.....148.9!!!

I made it below 150! I've been trying for this since after I got married, which was over a year and a half ago. I'm so excited!

The energy I have is amazing, the stamina when exercising is unreal, and the way I feel is...well...healthy!  I feel like I'm actually getting healthier.  Crazy, I know, especially when you're eating nothing but chicken and veggies and running your ass off.  Who wouldn't feel healthy?!  And I really see changes in my body, which just makes me feel all tingly-good inside. There are abs in there! I can kinda see them now!

Less jello, more HELLO!

Boo Ya People!

LauraBelle...OUT.

Life Expectancy

I got this from a post a blogger friend did on her site. I thought it was really interesting, so I copied it. Basically, this Dr. Perls dude was on the Dr. Oz show and talked about your life expectancy. He has this calculator/questionaire that you can take on his website: http://www.livingto100.com/ and it will calculate how old you will live.  Mine said 97, but if I improve on the below suggestions, I can add more years to my life.  I don't know how accurate it is, but it was kinda neat none the less.  Thought some of you might enjoy.

Personal

+ 0.25: You noted that you don't manage your stress as well as you could. Do a better job and you could add a quarter of a year to your life expectancy.

+ 0.5:  Cutting back on your hours at work, approaching, if you can, 40 or fewer hours, could add half a year to your longevity.

Lifestyle

+ 0.5: Minimizing or cutting out your caffeinated coffee consumption completely could provide you with about half a year more in life expectancy.

+ 2.0: If it is ok with your doctor, taking an 81 mg aspirin every day improves your hear and brain health and could help you delay or escape a heart attack or stroke. Taking an aspirin each day, preferably in the evening, could add 2 years to your life expectancy.

+ 1.0: There is a clear link between the inflammation of gum disease and heart disease. Do a good job of flossing daily and you could add a year to your life expectancy.

Nutrition

+ 5.0: Increasing your exercise regimen to 4 days a week could add a year and a half, to 5 days a week could add 3 years, to 6 or 7 days a week could add 5 years to your life expectancy.

Medical

+ 1.5: Getting your blood pressure checked annually could add a year and a half to your life expectancy.

+ 0.5: Getting your blood sugar checked could add half a year to your life expectancy.

Marmaduke and Donkey Kong

The first weekend of no booze, no smokes, and no carbs went better than expected. I was super proud of myself resisting the urges. I woke up Sat. morning feeling refreshed and energized and ready to conquer the day.  It's turkey hunting season, so I am a hunting widow right now (meaning, on the weekends, the hubby is up and out of the house before the good sun even shows a crack of light, to go shoot some feathered bird which will in turn prove his manhood and he can therefore still be the king of the mountain. Just kidding honey! I like to hunt too, and I love it that he likes to hunt.) Since he was hoofing it in the wilderness all weekend, I decided that I need to step up my physical activity.  So, Puppy (that's Wyatt, we call him Wyatt and Puppy, don't know why) and I decided to go on another run. 

Remember, our 'first' run together (click on the link, and the story is at the bottom of the post) did not go all that well, so I decided to try again to see if we could do a better job this time.  Well....it kinda was a success. But have any of you read the comic Marmaduke? This is what we looked like:

Copyright: http://comics.com/marmaduke/

There we are, trotting along, getting warmed up, and after a half block or so, I say, "Ok, ready? Let's run." And BAM, Wyatt takes off on a dead sprint like he sees a squirrel in the next county and needs to get it in 0.2 seconds or all life on this planet will be obliterated.  I'm trailing behind him, trying to catch up, tripping over myself, visualizing doing a face-plant on the concrete and him dragging me 200 yards before he stops.  See, I wasn't just holding on to his leash handle, I had it wrapped around my wrist. Bad, bad, bad idea.  Luckily about 2 blocks into the sprint, he starts to slow down where I can actually catch up and run along beside him.  And we ran for .6 miles, walked a mile, ran .5 miles, and walked the rest of the way home, total: a 3 mile outing. Pretty good, I say.

I'm thinking after his stellar 'start' to the run, I should try to get him into some sort of racing thing. You know, where the dogs go round and round after a rabbit.  I mean, the start off the 'block' or out of the gate really has an impact on the whole race.  If it was just judged on the start and not the stamina, we'd make bank. I mean, serious cash would be flowing in. Ummm, something to think about, maybe I should have a sit down with Ryan about this.

Anyway, we got up and did the same thing on Sunday morning.  Same dead sprint take off, but this time I was more prepared, so I didn't look like the complete dumbass I did the day before.

Can I just tell you that my ENTIRE lower half is one sore SOB! My calves, hammies, ass, thighs, EVERYTHING! I even stretched before and after.  But it's the good sore; the 'I feel my muscles turning from flabby jello to ripped steel' kind of sore.  Which I kinda like. But hate when I have to haul my ass out of my desk chair.

Two workouts done this week, two more to meet my goal, and it's only Monday! I'm taking a break tonight because I've got photos to work on, but tomorrow evening its ON like donkey kong!  Hope the pup's ready.

Friday Weigh In

Current Weight: 151.9
Last Week: 150.2
Goal: 138

I've decided to modify my Friday weigh in day posts a little. I'm still going to weigh in on Fridays and post about it, but I'm going to drop the weekly title.  Its just that I've finished with my first set of goals and on to my next, so I don't want to start over at Week 1, but I don't want to go on to Week 13 either. So, we're now just calling it 'Friday Weigh In'.

About today: I've gained about two pounds since last week. That's ok, because I totally expected to, what with my beerfest birthday party and the gorging that went along with that.  So 2 pounds is okey-dokey.

I started Atkins on Tuesday. I also quit smoking and drinking on that day also. (But the drinking goes along with the Atkins, so it's just for a few weeks, don't you worry.)  Can I just tell you I've had the worst day at work today. All I want right now is freaking nicotine, a jumbo donut, and a 12-pack.  And there's a jumbo sprinkle covered deliciously glazed goodness sitting on the table in the break room, right next to my desk. It's been sitting there for two hours now, just calling my name. Singing my name more like it, in this wonderful little harmony that just makes me want to pretend I'm in my 'special' place full of donuts on silver platters being fed to me (hubby: you might want to skip over this part) by Bradly Cooper with only a leaf covering his 'special place', and pitchers of beer being poured by Matthew McConaughey in a beach towel, and Jason Aldean playing his guitar at my feet to any song I request. Ahhhhh.

OH, sorry, got a little carried away there.

I haven't touched the donut yet.  Now it's little competition between myself and Willpower to see who wins out.  I'm thinking that Miss Willpower is going to crush me like a bug.  And that's ok.

Other than the poopy day I'm having today, the whole quitting everything thing is going pretty good.  I was so nervous that doing all this at once, I was going to end up sabotaging myself, but ironically, it's actually the best thing I've done so far.  So get this: I'm so consumed with keeping whatever craving I have at the time under control, that I forget about the other two things I yearn for.  Like last night, I wanted a cig so bad that I completely forgot about bread.  And even at my worst today, I want that donut so, so, so bad, but I'm not thinking about a smoke.

All in all, I think this is going to be the best challenge for my health mentality that I've done yet. I also think it's going to help me keep on the straight and narrow for this next week plus some.  Who'd have thought!

Goals-Revised

So, I was looking over my blog, because most of the goals I set centered on turning 30 last week, and since that date has passed, I need to do some revising. I cleaned up a few things and set new goals, so here's my new list (which can also be seen on my Goals page.)

New Goals to achieve by 7/4/2011
As you can see below, in my Original Goal area, I accomplished nearly all my goals before my BIG 30th B-Day. But I didn't get them all. So, here's my new goals to accomplish before the 4th of July:


1. Lose 12 pounds!!
2. Run 5 miles (without stopping).
3. Exercise at least 4 times a week.
4. Continue to be Smoke-Free.
I'll add to these as I come up with new goals, but for now this should keep me occupied for awhile.


ORIGINAL GOALS


Goals to achieve by 4/7/11 (day I turn 30)
1. Exercise at least 3 times a week.
2. Eliminate junk food from my diet (with the exception of a cheat-snack every once in a while, I mean I'll probably go to the loony bin if I don't have chocolate once a week).  Junk food = candy bars, Sour Patch Kids, donuts, and any other super fatty-high calorie-not good for you food that I can't think about now but will come to me later.
3. Eat more fruits and veggies. At least one serving of each every day.
4. Lose 20 pounds!!! (Lost 8 of the 20.)
5. Run 5 miles (without stopping).

Can you freaking believe that I almost, almost, made all my goals??!?!??!?!!!!  I was reading through them and thought, yep, I pretty much met that one. Yep, that one too. Oh and yep, that one is toast.  I just couldn't believe myself.  I don't even know when the last time I looked at my goals!

Now, on a few I had some struggles, like the exercising 3 times a week; I didn't do that the week Ryan's grandma passed and I didn't do it last week.  But only 2 times since JANUARY?! I'd call that goal met.

The junk food goal I struggled with too. I haven't touch a Sour Patch kid, or candy bars, in forever. I have still eaten my weekly donuts, BUT, wanna know what happened today??? Huh, do you, do you???  Today was a 'donut day' and I didn't want to hurt the feelings of the owner of my company (he buys the donuts every week, yep, better not piss him off) when he called to tell me that he bought donuts again, so I politely went over there, grabbed some donut holes, and walked back to my building, then set them on a table out of sight, with the intentions of giving them to another co-worker.  Can I just tell you how freaking HARD it was to not pop one of those deliciously glazed creations from God into my salivating mouth??  Well, it was.  But I did it!  I made it all the way back with out so much as a lick of the frosting!  Apparently I found Willpower and her and I are getting along just dandy.

The eat more fruits and veggies goal was easy. That's basically all I eat now. I've found a new obsession with Cauliflower. It is yummy yum yums.

Now, I just need to continue on my weight loss path and amp up the running and I'm as good as gold.

Basically I just wanted to state that there are a new set of goals for this health machine and I'm going to continue to need all your words of encouragement and inspiration!  Thank you all so much for following me, by the way. I know I rarely post on people's blogs, but I do read them! And think about all you cool peeps all the time. You have all really been the backbone of this whole getting healthier fiasco, and I really appreciate it!

Birthday Fun & A New Mission

So I finally found time to get some of the pictures I took at my birthday party together.  Now that I'm not smoking, not drinking, and not stuffing my face I find that I have a LOT of extra time to just sit and twiddle my thumbs.  I've also found that when I sit and twiddle my thumbs I want to smoke, drink, and eat an entire loaf of french bread.  So, I've been trying to keep myself busy.  Hence getting the pictures together:

Hardy, Me, and my Mom. Just hanging out.

Me, my friend Kelly and her baby Reagyn, and my other friend Jess.
(Pre-Craziness, you can tell because there's still a baby around.)

And....this is where the craziness starts. This was shot #1, 2, & 3 for me
(I did them all back to back). These are all my friends plus my mom and my
aunt Linda (in the back holding up the shot).



This is right after I took #1, 2, and 3 shots. Not so pretty.

 Overall the party was awesome.  My friends are fantastic. And my family just plain rocks.  I don't know why, but I didn't get the camera out till way late (there I go again showing off my professional photographer skills).  So there are no pics of my dad, Martin, and his wife Joleen. That kinda blows, but oh well, I'll be out in Colorado to see them in May.

Back to the whole 'ants in my pants and I want nicotine, beer, and bread' thing: I don't think I'm really craving all that stuff, it's just that for some reason the minute I stop moving I want one or all of those things.  In order to curb that, last night when I got home from work I made my lunch for the next day, watered some of my garden, wrote my thank you notes for my birthday presents, fiddled around on the computer, read my book a little, oh and also made supper somewhere in there. 

Since that obviously kept my mind off things last night, I decided to take the same approach tonight.  I HELPED fix supper (Ryan decided that he wanted to cook some very yummy, very mouth-watering, very delicious venison steaks for us tonight. Can you say, "Hellz to the Yeah!"), watered the rest of my garden (oh shit, I just remembered I didn't do the front. Damn.), and took the canine on a walk/run. 

So off we go, me and little mister 'I am going to pull this leash so hard that your arm is going to dislocate' Wyatt, trotting (me struggling to keep up) down the street.  And he is just back and forth, back and forth from the curb on my right to the middle of the street on my left, so finally I decide to be the more intelligent human and pick up the pace so that he'll run right beside me.  We start running full blast like someone just lit a fire cracker up our butts.  It's exhilarating, it's stress-relieving, it's exactly what I needed.  I'm in my stride, I think I can run for miles, I'm totally the running queen.  I look around and realize that we've only run about 3 blocks.  Fizzle sticks.  But that's ok, I think I can still go another 2 blocks, no sweat.  Then I look down.  And the once hyper-active, bouncing all over the pavement, pup is d.r.a.g.g.i.n.g.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME DOG??!!  We slow it down and walk the rest of the 35 minute outing.  He's panting, and drooling, and looking at me like, "Could you please just carry me the rest of the way? I promise I weigh next to nothing!"  The poor guy came right inside the house and plopped his furry self right on top of the air conditioner vent.  You could actually hear his HUGE sigh of relief.

This makes me want to start a new mission:  Me and my little out-of-shape pup are going to go on a walk/run at least 4 nights a week.  Maybe even more.  I'm just not feeling the workout videos when its so nice outside, so why not kill two birds with one stone: both Wyatt and I will work on getting healthier...together. 

I was not lying when I named this blog, people.  I mean, who talks about beer (or lack there of right now), their dog, and getting their fat ass outside to work off said fat ass more than me??? Yep, I'm the shit; I can talk or write endlessly about three things that would normally have no relevant correlation, but I put them together in such a way that it actually makes some slight, but kinda scary, sense.

I'm going to go think about that for a minute. And water my front garden. Have a good night!

Birthday Bash, Willpower, and Padded Vans

Yes, I did survive my birthday weekend.

Barely. 

It's taken me 2 whole days to recover, but I am finally back to tip-top shape today.  That's the only thing that I'm hating about being older; I just can't bounce back from an all weekend bender the way I used to.  Not that I have all weekend benders every freaking weekend or anything. Just special occasions like my 30th birthday, maybe New Year's, or a weekend at The Lake.  But jeez-la-weez, it's been a rough couple of days.  There were a few of my friends that were doing worse than me on Sunday morning, and they had to drive back to Texas. (So glad I'm not them!) But there were some shots involved in the weekend drunkenness; boys were taking Crown shots, I was taking sissy girly shots (and I only had 2, maybe 4, I'm not really sure.)

I'll upload some pictures later, I haven't gone through them, so they could be REALLY interesting.  Anyway, enough with the 'party' side of my life. 

In honor of my 30th hoo-rah, I've decided to make some major changes to my life.  First, I'm changing up my diet from Herbalife shakes to Atkins.  My bloggy friend did a Biggest Loser Challenge and incorporated the Atkins diet into the last two weeks of it.  I read about her successes and hardships and thought that maybe I ought to try it.  In my book, the pros out-weigh the cons, so I did some research and made it 'official' starting today. 

Don't get me wrong, I loved the Herbalife shake thing.  It really curbed my eating and helped adjust my portion sizes which in turn helped me lose about 8 lbs.  However, I've been drinking my breakfast and lunch for about 3 months now, and it's just getting old people.  GIVE ME SOME SOLIDS DAMN IT!  Whew, I feel better.

The one thing with Atkins is that there is no alcohol in the first two weeks. WHAT?!?! And I'm still going to try it, you say? Yes. Believe or not (despite the above 'birthday party' paragraph about getting wasted) everything in my life does not revolve around brewskies.  It may sound like it does, but it doesn't.  Plus, I really think I need a good ol' break from it too.  I know that beers, even if drank only on the weekends (which is what I do), are not doing my healthy-mojo-way-of-life any good.  And I probably could have lost double what I have up to this point, if I had cut out alcohol all together.  (Let's get real peeps, 'all together' ain't ever going to happen.)  BUT, I'm more than willing to forgo my beloved Bud Light for a few measly weeks, in the name of health, of course.

And while I'm on this 'new' health-nut-kick thing of changing my whole life, I've decided to also quit my nicotine habit.  I did quit for about 2 weeks some months ago, but obviously that didn't stick.  I just knew I was going to smoke on my birthday, so why quit when I knew that I was going to sabotage it. But today is the day. I'm going to do it this time.  I will conquer tobacco.

I just want to point out that quiting alcohol and cigs all at one time goes against everything I believe in. My philosophy has always been: One thing at a time.  I believe that you should never under any circumstances get rid of more than one stress-relieving, addicting habit in your life at a time, because bad things happen. Very bad things. I WILL become a raging psychotic bitch that will hurl insults like a monkey hurls poo and not think twice about the repercussions. 

That being said, I'm still going to do it.  It's going to be sooo unbelievably hard, but I KNOW I have the willpower to do it.

Willpower.... come here Willpower.....where are you hiding Willpower......come out, come out wherever you are! I'll give you a nice big treat of.....well.....I'll give you a great big salad. Hold the croutons.

It's official, the no carbs, no alcohol, no cigs lifestyle is already getting to me. Where's the padded van?

Weigh In Day-Week 11

Current Weight: 150.2
Last Week: 150.6
Goal: 138

Sorry this isn't going to be very long. I'm not feeling the best.

I'm down .4 pounds. Don't know how in the Hell I pulled that one out, considering I only exercised once this week and ate like some crazed maniac that's been stranded on a deserted island for 3 years.  But I'll take it!

I'm thinking about starting Atkins on Monday. I feel like I need a change of pace in the nutrition department. The Herbalife shakes are great, but I've been on them for 3 months and I'm getting tired of drinking my lunch.  I mean if I'm going to drink my lunch, I'd prefer it to be a margarita or 12.

Big par-tay this weekend. I'm so excited. Just need some rest and relaxation before all the madness.  That's where I'm heading: a little birthday mid-afternoon massage and a good 2 hour nap.  Can you spell BLISS?!

Have a great weekend everyone and I'm sure to be back in the writing mood by Monday!
Cheers!

Happy Happy Joy Joy.

Well, the day has come.

I have left my beautiful twenties behind and ventured in to my adventurous thirties.

I am 30. Holy Shit.

Seriously, it's not that bad. I love, love, love birthdays. Especially mine. My birthday typically lasts a week. That's just the way it is, people.  My hubby doesn't like birthdays, so it equals out.

Thirty. Wow.

You know, when I was just turning 21 (from what I can remember in between shots at 3 o'clock in the afternoon and keg stands at midnight-just kidding Mom, that never happened....right.) I thought 30 was sooo far away. I'd probably be married to some hot babe, have a couple crazy kids running around the yard with the white picket fence bit, working at some fulfilling and successful job, and be filthy rich. Blah, Blah, Blah. Well, 2 out of the 4 is ok. No kids, and definitely not filthy rich.

Now that I am 30, I think back to when I was 21 and besides the keg stands and shots every other day, my attitude really hasn't changed all that much.  I mean, I feel like I’ve matured...I think. Anyway...I still feel the about the same. I absolutely have more stability and I am absolutely in a better frame of mind now then I was back then. But I'm still a fun-loving, kinda psycho, beer drinking, compassionate, and down to earth kind of person.  I don't think that's ever going to change with age.

I mean, what really changes with age? We get older. We get more wrinkle-y. Some of us become smarter and more mature, but I think that's from learning from your mistakes.  And I made A LOT of mistakes when I was in my early twenties. Lots, people. You have no idea, and if I started to mention some of the doozies, you'd probably run screaming in the other direction.  No, really, I probably made some of the same mistakes that everyone makes, but just imagine those mistakes on steroids, then you get the idea.  And I learned from those mistakes. And I’ve bettered my life from learning from those mistakes.  I'll still make mistakes; I completely expect to make some (just not on the scale of my 20s) in the future. That goes back to the cycle of getting smarter with age, though.

Ok, kinda rambling here. Sorry.

So what am I doing for the big day you ask??? Well, today I'm going to run errands after work and go home and sit in front of the boob-tube and watch my shows.  I know, I know, not very exciting.

BUT! I'm saving the exciting part for this weekend.  I'm having a big bash with family and friends, complete with brats, burgers, beer, and laughter. Every time we all get together we just roll with laughter. I can't wait.

And my best friends are coming down from Manhattan (they're Ryan and I's best buddies that we go to KSU games together and to Table Rock together; just all around great people) tomorrow night and we are going to the Parade of Homes here in Wichita.  After that we will proceed back to the humble abode and commence the intoxication process.

I'm getting ants in my pants just thinking about it! I'm sure I’ll post a few good pics when it's all said and done for your all's viewing pleasure.

BTW, on a little side note, I did not make my 20 lb loss goal, but that's ok.  I'll write more about it tomorrow.

Cheers ya'll!

The Bath Renovation is COMPLETE!

Bet ya'll thought I forgot to post some pics of our new, lovely, most outstanding, completely amazing bathroom huh?!

Nope, I've just been busy whinning about stupid weight gain crap and feeling sorry for myself.  Well, i busted out of that funk, finally found a few spare minutes at home, and took some pictures!

Here they are. Enjoy.


All finished.



Comlete with red, tan and a light gray motif.



Dark brown cabinets and antique bronze fixtures.

 

And what you've all been waiting for....The Pooper.

So there you have it. 

It's totally zen. It's totally fresh. It's totally US.  I absolutely love it and can't wait to get our upstairs bath done.  It looks like dog poo compared to this palace!  (Just kidding, it looks ok, but this looks so much better.)

Back in the game.

The dreaded scale from Hell has delivered more bad news this morning. I don't know if the damn machine is in a poopy mood or if it's just out to piss me off, either way, it's accomplished the 'pissed off'. I'm up 3 pounds. UGGGHHHHH!

I'm so disappointed in myself. I really didn't do anything too terrible, but I wasn't absolutely perfect either. I definitely could have improved on my eating and not have had to deal with this BS weight gain.

I didn't end up working out last Friday. It was 75 degrees here and the deck and a beer just couldn't be helped. But I did get up on Sat. and worked out!  Yes, apparently I'm a glutton for punishment because I did the Plyo DVD (P90X).  You know, that was the one video where Tony Horton starts out talking about this being the most insane video out of the whole series, that you need to be prepared, you might die, etc. (Just kidding about the dying part.) Well, since I've slept since the last time I did that ridiculously crazy DVD, I kind of had a memory lapse of it's evilness.  I quickly remembered when the exercises started, but I pushed through for 30 minutes. At that point (probably because of the beer the night before) I proceeded to curl up in a little ball on the floor of our basement and prayed to the Almighty Exercise Gods to please spare my life and to pump some much needed oxygen into my deflated lungs.

After I could breathe again, I decided that some good ol' outside work was just what the 'Gods' had ordered. It was a bit breezey, but still all sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns. I went to town on all my flower beds and even planted my garden!  Burned the shit out of my back because I am again 'sunscreen dense' this time of year.  It never fails, every year around March or April, the sun shines, the temps are above 60, the birdies are calling me to get out side, and there I go, bounding out of the house to spend 8 hours under the burning rays of sunlight, all without sunscreen.  I then go in the much needed shade of the house about 6pm and think, "hummm, my back feels kinda weird. I wonder why." And when I go look in the mirror, I'm again reminded that I'm an idiot because my back practically glows red and my skin feels like some crispy, burned up piece of bacon.  Let me tell you first that I am a HUGE advocate of sunscreen. I was a lifeguard when I was younger for 6 years, so I always wear sunscreen. On my face, on my shoulders, EVERYWHERE.  And I wear it religiously.  But I can never remember to put it on before my first spring outdoor gardening session. 
Oh well, maybe next year.

After all physical activity, I weighed myself and got down to 149.9!!! Yeah, goody goody gum drops. So, what do I do to celebrate??? Eat a huge plate of nachos and drowned it with many malt beverages.  And why was I surprised when I woke up on Sunday and the scale said 152? I didn't work out on Sunday and was exhausted yesterday. I also gorged on pizza on Sunday and another plate of chicken nachos last night. no surprised when the evil scale flashed **153.7** on it's screen this morning.  I'm such a dope.

Why do I do this to myself?! WHY?! I fully knew what I was doing. And I didn't care.  Now I've got spend ANOTHER week working off the same dumb ass pounds that I worked off last week.  Its a vicious cycle and I am not a fan. But I have no one to blame but myself.

Here we go, pep-talk time: I WILL work out tonight. I WILL NOT eat anything but a delicious and nutritious salad.  Then i will work out on Wed. morning AND Thurs. AND Fri.! I will get down to 150 by the time my party this weekend! I'm BACK IN THE GAME, baby!

Ok, I'm off to go kick some jiggle's ass.

Weigh In Day-Week 10

Current Weight: 150.6
Last Week: 150.8
Goal: 138

Something happened last Sunday night, and I haven’t told you all because I didn’t know how you would react.  But something changed in me. I don’t really remember all the details, but I’ll do my best to relay the incident as best I can.

Ok, here goes:

Last Sunday night, I was peacefully asleep in bed (and by peacefully I mean I was tossing and turning like usual) and all the sudden the bed started shaking.  At first I thought that Ryan had gone out and purchased a vibrating bed and not told me, but when I look over at him, I see he’s still asleep.  Then, the bed started shaking more. There I am lying in the shaking bed with the covers over my head, now scared shitless because I have no idea what’s going on.  Well, I peak out of my covers and notice that it’s not just the bed, the whole freaking house is shaking. And I’m like, “earthquake….in Kansas?! I’m losing it.”  The husband isn’t moving, and the dog is snoring up a storm on the floor, so apparently I’m the only one that is noticing this crazy fiasco.

Then, this blue light shines through the blinds. So I go out to the kitchen to look out the sliding glass door and (you will not believe this) there is an alien spacecraft parked on my freaking garden.  Yes, you read right. I was abducted by aliens last weekend.

They took me to their planet, Excersizealot, and proceeded to switch out my brain with that of a workout-aholic.  Then, they beamed me back to live a normal life amongst humans. 

I swear to holy Christ that is the only explanation for what when down this week.  I mean, I exercised a total of 4 times this week, an hour per time. And I plan on going home to exercise tonight too.  On a Friday night! Craziness is happening here in Laura Land! What the frick is going on with me?!?!

Ha, had you guys going there with the alien story, huh? I bet you totally thought something terrible happened. I’m such a little stinker.

Part of the reason I’ve been so gung-ho to move my little tush, is because I sort of went overboard last weekend with the food. (Huge cheeseburger and fries on Friday night and nachos on Sunday for lunch.) And because of all that greasy goodiness, I gained two pounds. So, I’ve been feverishly working hard to get those pounds plus some off by today.  Well, I didn’t have a stellar loss, only .2 pounds, but I’m ok with that.

The next goal is to see if I can get below 150 (hopefully 148, cross your fingers) by next Friday.  That’s why this psycho broad is planning on working out when she gets home from work today. Plus I’m going to work out tomorrow, and on Sunday!  Ok, maybe not on Sunday, but I’m going to try and work out on Sunday. As Tony Horton (P90X creator) says, “Try to do the best and forget the rest.”  I don’t think he really meant it to apply in this context, but what the hay.

And by the way, I totally channeled Mary Poppins yesterday after I posted. By the end of the day I was feeling Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, (as I told my blogger buddy Draz in an email) complete with pretty umbrella and snazzy dress!  Good news, the mood has stuck around today too. I was actually chipper when I came into work this morning. Chipper! That’s a first, for me in the morning, anyway.

Alright folks, I’m off to have a fabulous day and weekend!

Hope you all have a great weekend too!