Getting Fit and Loving It

Are you still here?

2009-04-06T13:10:00.001-04:00

New Challenge Post. Go here to read it.

Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes!

2009-04-05T13:36:00.002-04:00

Turn and face the strange
Cha-Cha-Changes

Sorry, I had to get that out.

Ok, first I want to thank all of you that follow my blog regularly. I really do appreciate you all.

Second, I have to ask you all to click this link ** and update your readers and blogrolls and so on because I am moving there ** at the end of the week. I will be (un)permanently* deleting this blog next weekend so hop to it ** everyone. Don't worry about my archives because I will be moving them to their new home ** on my new blog. **

Sorry if this is bothersome all but I just felt like I needed this change.** I explain everything in my first post over there. **

Happy Moving,
Love Jenn

*This link is to Glaven, who discovered the undelete button in blogger and brought it to everyones attention. We thank you.

**Have I linked to it enough yet?

How I'm feeling today!

2009-04-03T17:39:00.005-04:00

Check out this video. It is exactly how I am feeling right now.

Great friends!

Great family!

Great life!

So I'm going with it.

You never know what tomorrow will bring so enjoy every moment of today.

I love you all.
Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Thank God...

2009-04-01T11:33:00.004-04:00

I finally got a job offer! I was beginning to think it would never come. Now the only hurdle I have is the background check. If everything looks ok then I will be starting on April 13th. I really hope this is not an April fools day prank!

I think I might cry!

On another note. My challenge starts next week on monday. I will not necessarily be eating as clean as I would like (mostly because we are broker than the bum that you just threw your coffee on) but at least the exercise can be done.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Taking advantage of someone else's good idea!

2009-03-28T18:51:00.005-04:00

I have been lurking over at Slim Spirited since the new year and love her 13 week challenges. It's such a great idea that I am going to join her. I am modifying the Challenges slightly but otherwise it's her plan. If you are not reading her, you should be.

So anyways I am 12 weeks behind her so I will start my first 13 week challenge on 04/06/09. More details to come.

3 13-Week Challenges

11,100 Total Exercise Minutes

1st 13-Week Challenge (04/06/09 - 07/05/09)

3300 Exercise Minutes (cardio)=254 minutes per week=36 minutes per day
On plan every day
If it's one flight, take the stairs

2nd 13-Week Challenge (07/06/09 - 10/04/09)

3900 Exercise Minutes (cardio and strength)=300 minutes per week=43 minutes per day
On plan every day
If it's one flight, take the stairs
Strength training 2 times a week

3rd 13-Week Challenge (10/05/09 - 01/03/09)

3900 Exercise Minutes (cardio and strength)=300 minutes per week=43 minutes per day
On plan every day
If it's one flight, take the stairs
Strength training 3 times a week

On plan means I:

Eat within my calories (1,690)
Eat at least 3 servings of fruit and/or vegetables
Drink 3 liters of water
Take multivitamin
Consume no sugar, no white rice, no potato (except sweet), and no white flour (consuming the white stuff means 10 minutes walking my ButterBall per serving)

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

My First Sewing Project! (Yes it's fitness related!)

2009-02-27T22:57:00.008-05:00

I just finished my first sewing project. The only thing that I have used that sewing machine for before this was fixing seems on my pants. I was so excited that I took pics of most of the process. Which I am now going to share with all of you. I promise that this is fitness related.

I made heat/ice packs!

Simple beginnings. Plain cotton cut into the shape that I wanted for my packs. By the way, how coolio is my sewing machine?

I made two, one filled with rice for M-I-L Marj, and one filled with navy beans for M-I-L Mary. I just love those two.

Sewn and filled and ready for some pretty covers. (with a cameo appearance from my stool)

This cover is for Mary! It's so soft and pretty!

This one will be for Marj!

She loves wine! Or should I say, "She LOVES wine!!!!!!!!!" I thought this was perfect!

Blurry process shot.

Pretty pins. Pastel! I am such a girl!

Two great gifts for two wonderful people. These are so easy to make and they are great for athletes like my fav runner Mary. You can heat them up in the microwave or put them in the freezer for a cold pack! Plus you can make them in about any shape you want. I even made these removable covers so they could be easily washed. Want to try this yourself? Check out this site for some instructions.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

The Wonderful George Carlin

2009-02-25T12:37:00.003-05:00

I'm aware some stare at my hair.
In fact, to be fair,
Some really despair of my hair.
But I don't care,
Cause they're not aware,
Nor are they debonair.
In fact, they're just square.

They see hair down to there,
Say, "Beware" and go off on a tear!
I say, "No fair!"
A head that's bare is really nowhere.
So be like a bear, be fair with your hair!
Show it you care.
Wear it to there.
Or to there.
Or to there, if you dare!

My wife bought some hair at a fair, to use as a spare.
Did I care?
Au contraire!
Spare hair is fair!
In fact, hair can be rare.
Fred Astair got no hair,
Nor does a chair,
Nor a chocolate eclair,
And where is the hair on a pear?
Nowhere, mon frere!

So now that I've shared this affair of the hair,
I'm going to repair to my lair and use Nair, do you care?

(Beard Poem)

Here's my beard.
Ain't it wierd?
Don't be sceered,
Just a beard.

Finally getting to my tag from Glaven!

2009-02-23T14:49:00.000-05:00

Here's how it's supposed to break down.

your 4 favorite memories from 2008
your 4 favorite movies watched in 2008
4 of your favorite foods in 2008
4 places you loved in 2008
4 events you loved in 2008
4 things you liked in 2008
4 things you are looking forward to in 2009
4 people you tag

Fav Memories:
1. My mom visiting from Oklahoma
2. The introduction of Butter into our lives
3. A very hectic but fun filled Christmas
4. 4th of July on the River Walk

Fav Movies:
1. Walle
2. Mr. Magorium's Wonder Imporium
3. The 10th Kingdom
4. Pan's Labyrinth

Fav Foods
1. Potatoes anyway
2. Steak
3. Lasagna
4. Ice Cream

Places I Loved
1. The Bay City Rail Trail
2. The River Walk
3. The Bay City Recreation Park
4. The Bay City Dog Park

Events I Loved
1. Starting the Billing Program at Ross
2. Graduating the Billing Program at Ross
3. 4th of July on the River Walk
4. My mom's birthday celebration when she came to visit

Things I Liked
1. My Brooks Addiction Running Shoes
2. My laptop
3. Butter
4. All of my books

Looking forward to
1. Checking off some of my goals
2. Getting a job in Billing
3. Getting our business up and running
4. Running

People I tagged
Everyone who reads my blog and has not already done this tag!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Heading for the first goal marker!

2009-02-23T10:41:00.001-05:00

Some of you may have noticed that I added the pounds that I have gained to my number goals tracker. Some of you may also have noticed that I am just .8 away from that first goal. I am so excited to finally be reaching one of my goals. It has taken me a about a month to get there but I can see the marker now. I am so excited to be this close to it. I have not decided how I am going to reward myself yet but I will think of something.

Anyone have some ideas for me?

I should make a rewards list to complement my goals list. Things that I can choose from for each milestone along the way.

I do so love reaching my goals!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Celebrating 106 posts!

2009-02-20T13:32:00.003-05:00

I meant to celebrate 100 but I have not been paying attention to my random posting and missed it completely.

Oh well. That's what you live with when you subject yourselves to my kind of crazy. So in celebration I will finally let you all in on the why's of my absence and what I am up to now.

Bullet point fashion:

Been terribly sick.
Still not totally better but at least I am not coughing up little green blobs all the darn time.
Worked out a little too hard and irritated an old knee injury.
Have not been to the gym since.
Need to get back to the gym as my weight is getting out of control.
One week post injury I weighed 313.8
This morning weighed 305.0
Thank Jebus for diet progress.
Reading the Complete Beck Diet for Life.
Makes a lot of sense.
Took on a lot of extra hours at work.
Started an at home business to bring in a little extra money.
Still looking for a billing job.
Not sleeping well, therefore staying in bed for way too many hours every night.
I have no life.
Please don't pity me
Or envy me for that matter.

So there you have it. The short explanation of my long absence.

Thanks for hanging in there and waiting for me to return.

Gotta go to work now.

Does this ever end?

Love Jenn

Best Comment 4EVAH!!!!11!! (Thanks Glaven!!11!!)

2009-02-18T22:19:00.001-05:00

Jenn needs ... to blog more often.

Where you been, sister?

Jenn needs wine that soothes the soul
Jenn needs a pagan festival
A brand new hot rod - hear it squeal!
O, just grow up, Jenn! Time to deal!
Jenn's true self might just be balking
But "Jenn" and "True Self" now ain't talking
Jenn needs, yes, more Godly buddies
To catch up on Theological Studies
Jenn: remember and recall
That Jenn needs Google most of all

Otherwise, how would Jenn know what Jenn Needs?

Jenn Needs

2009-02-17T11:00:00.003-05:00

I know I have not posted in a while. Life is getting away from me these days. Marcy and Xenia both did this non-tag-tag and it looked like fun so I did it too. Cause I'm a follower like that!

Google “[your name] needs” and type the first ten results.

My results for Jenn needs:
1. Theological Studies (always a big concern for me!)

2. to find a self righteous, conspicuous "I'm better than you" charitable position so she can keep charming the sheep into thinking she matters (It's like they are reading my mind!)

3. a good job and a vacation (Who doesn't these days?)

4. a new boyfriend (I most certainly do not!!!! The old one suits me just fine, thank you very much.)

5. To Grow up and Deal (Well maybe... but not yet!!!)

6. a hot rod...and a good insurance policy (Now your speaking my language)

7. My True Self (Scuse me but why would I want to talk to her? )

8. Healing thoughts and pagan festivals (Ummm...... OK moving on)

9. A VACATION!!!!!!!! (Wow... I guess I really do need one but there is no need to yell!)

10. a glass of wine (Now that sounds like the perfect place to end this post.)

Happy Birthday to Me!!

2009-01-23T15:25:00.002-05:00

Yes, today is my 29th Birthday. One more year till 30! Yikes!

I know that I have been absent from the bloggosphere lately, but I have no excuse so all I can say is sorry. I have tones of stuff to tell you guys but it will have to wait till another day cause I am super busy and have to get ready for my hot date tonight. lol. I also have to finish my tag post from Glaven.

Just call me the procrastinator!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

P.S. Thanks Marcy for the Face Book shout out! That totally made my day!

Dang it! I got tagged!... I'll get you for this Glaven!

2009-01-12T12:33:00.003-05:00

I was tagged by Glaven today but since he isn't doing his post today, I don't think I will do mine either. So expect it for tomorrow, or possibly wednesday, or thursday. Whatever!

Here's how it's supposed to break down.

your 4 favorite memories from 2008
your 4 favorite movies watched in 2008
4 of your favorite foods in 2008
4 places you loved in 2008 (if the "love" gets past second base, include pictures)
4 events you loved in 2008 (ditto)
4 things you liked in 2008
4 things you are looking forward to in 2009
4 people you tag

On to other news, Butter is so much better! She has her energy back and is ready to play again. There has been no more bloody vomit or diarrhea, Thank God! She is eating well and has started on her normal food a bit. She is done with one of her meds so she only has three to take now. She was taking them really well but I think she is getting annoyed with the syringe. She tried to bite it yesterday and today she only licks it once then she walks away and I have to pick her up and force her to take it. Poor girl. I will be glad when wednesday gets here so we can stop with the meds and bland diet and just get her back to a regular schedule.

As for exercise, I am a little off course. I will get back on schedule. Butter is more important to me than the gym. Which is probably why I struggle so much. Everything and everyone are more important to me. There is a lesson there, I am sure of it.

Will Ferrell Cowbell - Funny bloopers R us

On another completely random note, What is up with the " More Cowbell" thing? I have seen it a few times and still don't see anything funny about it. I am normally amused fairly easily and can almost always find the humor in just about anything but I have never understood " More Cowbell"! I just don't get it.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

UPDATE COMMENTARY ON COWBELL

Glaven's comment ended in "Are you kidding me!?! Are you freakin' KIDDING me!?!1!? Cowbell is the greatest SNL skit 4evah!!1!

Will Ferrel's gut should have won a best supporting actor Oscar, even thought Cowbell isn't a movie!

It's that good."

This does not explain the humor to me at all. However, to be fair, I should explain that I have not found SNL funny in a very long time. To me it just seems like they have lost the core of the show. I do believe that my last review of SNL went something like "What a huge steaming load of crap!" so maybe I will never understand the funny. Lets face it people, in my eye's the cast of SNL could never stand up to the humor of Mr. George Carlin. May he rest in peace!

And does that last comment ever speak volumes about me! I think that comment disqualifies me from having an opinion on just about everything that most people find funny.

Ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-01-08T11:58:00.002-05:00

So yesterday started out well. I went to the gym and met up with someone I knew from class. We worked out together and had a blast so we made plans to meet today for another workout! It is so fun to have someone to work out with you.

I came home and prepared for this mornings interview.

I spent some time familiarizing myself with my sewing machine.

Then Whit came home and we made dinner together.

After dinner we where sitting watching CSI when we heard a noise from behind my chair. Butter had vomited up a huge puddle of blood. We took her to the emergency vet immediately because she didn't stop at one pile of bloody, mucusy vomit. She kept going!

We were both pretty scared, we didn't know what was wrong with her! She has had some diarrhea lately as well and we wondered if that had been the beginning of something much worse.

When we got to the vet we discovered that she had blood coming out of both ends and was quite dehydrated. They ran some tests and decided that she has hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. (I am positive that I did not spell that right.) They wanted to keep her there for a couple of days but we just didn't have the money for that so we brought her home. I have to watch her at all times to make sure that she does not vomit blood anymore. If she does we have to take her back to the vet. She had a bloody stool this morning but otherwise seems to be stable. She is on a bunch of medications and a bland diet for the next 7 days. She is sleeping peacefully in the other chair right now. I pray that is a good sign.

We got home around 2 am and went straight to bed. I had to go to that interview this morning. I could not get around it. So I was forced to cage Butter and leave her for an hour or so.

The interview went really well. I will not be hearing from them for a couple of weeks but I am slightly hopeful. I think I did pretty well considering the lack of sleep and stress.

I am skipping the gym today. I may nap in the chair a little. I might even have ice cream. Today, the only important thing in the world is my Butterball. Everything else will just have to wait.

Love Jenn

It's been a good day!

2009-01-06T19:33:00.004-05:00

I started out with a healthy breakfast of PB&J Oatmeal. So yummy! After that I hit the gym for some cardio and lowerbody work. I did 15 minutes on the bike and 15 on the treadmill. I was planning to do more treadmill but I wore myself out on the bike. My lower body workout went really well except that I think I need to add in something to work my ginormous booty. Nothing I am doing currently is working that oh so important spot.

This afternoon Whit and I ran some errands that where way behind schedule. I also purchased a learn to sew book and some necessary supplies at JoAnn's Fabrics. I can't wait to get started on my first project!

Well, that's it for me today. I am going to sign off now so that I can enjoy the Premiere of The Biggest Loser! I love this show! I will probably spend some of the show on the bike. Ugh!!

Have a great day!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

UPDATE: I have a favorite already. I am so rooting for Tara! She is amazing. I can't wait to see how she does.

I am also going to sign up for the Pounds for Pounds challenge so that every pound that I lose will help to feed someone in need. Kind of ironic, isn't it!

The Good News and The Bad News

2009-01-05T12:48:00.002-05:00

The bad news is that I skipped my training session at the gym today because I still don't feel good.

The good news is that I lost 3 lbs since the start of the challenge with Laura and Chia.

The bad news is that is only 1% of my body weight.

The good news is that I have an interview on Thursday.

The bad news is that I don't think my interview cloths fit me right now.

The good news is that I get paid tomorrow and can pick something up if I need to.

Short and bittersweet post today cause I don't feel like typing a better one. Please forgive me!?!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Sick, tired, and bored... And you know what that means!

2009-01-03T23:24:00.002-05:00

I didn't get to the gym today because I'm sick! Yuck! I hate being sick. I am so achy!

So since I was bored I watched a bunch of lame movies and revamped my blog template. You know me, I like to change things when I am bored.

I am concerned that this has put me even farther behind on Laura and Chia's challenge. I only have 2 more days to get some weight off. Yikes!

I really hope that I am feeling better tomorrow so that I can get back to the gym.

On the job front I am putting in apps online. I still have plenty more to do but I feel that I have gotten a good start on it.

Other than that, I don't have much to say. Hope ya'll are having a great weekend.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Thumbing my nose at Authority... or Glaven... Whatever!

2009-01-02T12:20:00.002-05:00

So yesterday as I was skimming the posts in my google reader I came across an interesting command from our good friend Glaven. Now I must admit to the extreme joy I get from reading his posts. They are often vulgar and derogatory but I just can't help loving every word.

Well in yesterdays post he issued this command:

¹ No, I will not link to that first post. It is a stupid post, and pretty much says what every blog's first post tends to say — i.e., it is a stupid variation on the stupidly obvious point that "this is my first blog post". Do NOT seek this post out.

So obviously, being the nose thumber that I am, I had to read this first post. He was right about it's typical first post drivel. He even titled it "First Post"! I just had to leave a comment though to let him know that I had read it.

Sorry Glaven but telling me not to do something is a really good way of making sure that I will do exactly that! I like to thumb my nose at authority whenever possible. That's just the way I role.

Jenn

P.S. My first post was funnier! lol

This of course caused him to check my first post. And of course he had to comment.

Just how committed are you to thumbing your ursine nose at authority? Because I hereby COMMAND you not to leave comments on ALL my posts and NOT to tell ALL of your friends to read my blog and leave comments! I FORBID IT!!1!

That's a direct authoritarian order, Sister.

Ball's in your court now.

So my beloved blog friends. I think that this is a sure sign of someone in need of attention. It's a sad case really, but I must follow my instincts and ask each and every one of you to check him out if you are not already. Show him some of the love and attention that he is so obviously lacking.

Ball's in your court now.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Welcoming the New Year!

2009-01-01T12:40:00.002-05:00

Well 2008 is over and done. It has been a year of success and failure, but also a year of perseverance and patience.

In 2008 I not only started but also finished a Medical Insurance Billing and Office Administration program. I struggle sometimes with sticking things out to the end so this was a great accomplishment for me.

In 2008 my mom came to visit and we welcomed our Butterball into our lives. We love her so much!

In 2008 I started this blog! I have met so many wonderful people through this blog and worked out many issues on the keypad of my computer.

In 2008 I started working on a healthier life. This one thing has not only been a success and a failure but is also where the perseverance and patience comes in. I have not met my goals for the year in this area, but I have continued to try. I did not give up! I just reevaluated and tried again and again and again.

In 2008 I firmed up my goals for 2009. I have tried a lot of different things and I know what I want to work on this year.

My goals for 2009!

1. Use the gym membership that I got for Christmas.
--I want to go at least 4 days a week, if not more. I am enjoying the feeling of a worked out body and I like having my plan of attack drawn out for me by a trainer.
2. Track my eating in a journal.
--I am convinced that this is the way to go for me since every time I did it this year it resulted in weight loss. I just have to keep it up.
3. Take a fitness class and make some friends.
--My gym is going to have a mixed martial arts class starting soon. I don't know if I am going to take that class or not but it would be fun to try. I also might want to look into a yoga or pilates class, or maybe even boot camp. I'll have to look around and let you know. I have realized that I need socialization in my life. I need friends! So much for my dream of becoming a hermit.
4. Learn to sew on my new sewing machine that I got for Christmas.
--I have been wanting to do this so bad. I was bitten by the crafting bug last year and can't wait to start working on this beautiful machine. Now I just have to find a book to teach me how!
5. Get my organized vibe back.
--I started getting organized last fall and loved how streamlined it made my life. Then the holiday chaos hit and my organization went the way of the hot pink pleather mini skirts of my youth. I want my organization back. And the mini skirts too. I could use them in a patchwork quilt!
6. Find a billing job.
--It's been slim pickin's in this area so far but I am redoubling my efforts and hope to have a job by the end of January. I am looking forward to working in an office and using the skills that I learned in school. I am also looking forward to having weekends and evenings off. That would be nice.
7. Have a crafty Christmas.
--I tried to have a crafty Christmas this time around but fell short by several people do to lack of planning. So this year I am starting planning this month. I want to be prepared by the time the holidays come around again. I am going to make a list of everyone and what I want to make them. Then I will divide it into 12 months and plug away at them over the year. This way I can really make something nice for everyone and I won't feel rushed to get something in December.
8. Spend more time with my old friends.
--I just got back from a week of spending time with my friends and family down state. I realized how much I missed them and how important they will always be in my life. My friends are as good as family to me. There was a time in my life when they where all that I had. I realized that the deep sea of depression that I have been wallowing in this year is partly because I was missing them so much. Spending just a few hours with each of them has renewed my spirit. I will definitly have to check in with them more often this year.
9. Get a ring from Whit and finally set a date.
--I want to be a wife. More specifically I want to be Whit's wife! I don't have a lot of control over this one but I really hope that this is the year that I become a fiancee at least.
10. Reevaluate every month and revamp my goals regularly.
--I discovered that I don't always pick the best goals and sometimes I simply cannot accomplish them or don't want to. So I want to have a built in message of flexibility and change this year. I will accomplish more goals if I have a clearer and more realistic aproach to them.

Well folks, there you have it. My goals for the year, all listed and outlined for your viewing pleasure.

As for the challenge with Chia and Laura, I totally forgot to weigh myself at the gym yesterday but that's probably a good thing since I am sure that I am way behind. Traveling and eating healthy don't always mix well. I have a couple of days left to fix it, however I totally expect to be the one posting my most embarassing moment for all to see next week. Oh well. At least I will feel purged of that particular demon.

Happy New Year! and...

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Yay Me!

2008-12-26T16:45:00.002-05:00

I just got back from the gym!

Wait, let me enjoy that moment for a second.
.
.
.
.

Yeah, that feels good. I am so proud of myself for going even though I was a bit self conscious. Today I just followed along with other peoples workout so that I could get the feel for the place and the machines. I will have a private training session on wednesday. My upper body is shakin' quite a bit now. I also got on an elliptical for 10 minutes. I couldn't do more than that yet. I feel like I am starting all over again, but at least I am headed in the right direction. One of the trainers gave me some crap about how 10 minutes would not do anything for me and that I should get back on for another 20. I don't agree with him on that. I will work on building up to 30 minutes but for now I am proud of that 10. I am going to celebrate the little victories in my life. I think that for the first time back in a gym in 10 years that I did quite well.

On a similar note, I was reading Laura and Chia's posts for today and they are having a challenge to see who can lose the greatest percentage of weight before January 5th. I am going to join the challenge to motivate me to workout when I am out of town this weekend. I won't have access to my gym but I can still move. I am making myself a promise however to not stress out about it. I don't want to fall off of the wagon again. Especially since I just paid up so much money to join a gym. I want to get my moneys worth, Yo!

I am not sure how the weigh in process is going to go but I weighed myself at the gym today and I am up to 300 lbs! Time to get my but in gear.

I will be out of town again until about tuesday and I don't know if I will have access to the internet or not so if I don't I will update you all on how my time went when I get back.

Until then, I hope you all have a wonderful day, weekend, and so forth.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Leap of Faith

2008-12-19T22:13:00.003-05:00

Well, maybe more like a leap of determination.

I need help. I have not been able to get going on my own so tonight I got a gym membership and a personal trainer.

I have been avoiding this decision because of the cost, that is until I had to go buy more pants because all my old ones are too tight. I realized that for the price of those pants I could pay for 3 months of gym time! I still got the pants because I really don't want to have to go to Christmas parties in my birthday suit, but I also made the decision to go to a gym.

I really liked this gym too. It's small and there are not a lot of people bumping into each other. It's 24 hours. The personal training comes with the membership. All in all a pretty good deal.

I got to take the tour with the owner/trainer and we talked about my goals and what I wanted to accomplish with my training. I didn't agree with everything he said but overall I was impressed.

My first training session is next friday and I am excited to get started.

I am ready to get healthy!

On another note. I am working all weekend and then next week we are heading down state for Christmas so I won't be posting or commenting until next friday after my training session.

I hope you all have a Wonderful Holiday!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

P.S. What the heck is with all of this snow!?! Do we really need 10 inches of snow in one day? Seriously?

The best sprained ankle story ever!

2008-12-11T12:35:00.002-05:00

I was sitting in my favorite chair this past saturday evening, with my feet up on the foot stool (that is actually a workout step) and decided to get up for a refill of my water (honestly!). When I pulled my right foot off of the stool and set it on the floor nothing happened. No pain, no numbness, not even an itch! This made me feel confident so I did the same with the other foot. Mid movement I heard a loud POP and there was PAIN. Oh boy was there pain! I had sprained my ankle, which was confirmed by a real doctor ( not the imaginary one that I usually visit).

How is that for a crazy story? I don't even know how it is possible to sprain an ankle while sitting down. WTF!!!!!

So anyways. This week I am a gimp. I am limping around and complaining of my pains. Pathetic.

But what is worse than being an invalid is being treated like one.

You see I have this amazing man in my life who seems to think that I should not be up doing things like cooking and dishes and vacuuming. He won't let me carry laundry up and down the stairs (although I did finally convince him that I could handle carrying the detergent). He even gets me refills on my water when its needed.

Now you all may not know this but I am a very stubborn person. I am most likely to do things that I have been told not to do. So I listen to him tell me that he will cook dinner and I should just rest, then I go ahead and cook anyways. I go get my own refills when he isn't quick enough to stop me. I even did some dishes today while he was at work. That will show him!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

P.S. No you cannot have him. I am quite attached and rather enjoy doing things that I am told not to do. We work!

Setting smaller goals.

2008-11-30T23:11:00.003-05:00

Ok, I have a lot of weight to lose. I know this. I have a goal weight of 150. This means I have 140 pounds to lose to reach my goal. It's a really big number but it's doable. I know how to get there. I know what I need to do to succeed. I know what I should and should not be eating. I know what exercise my body responds best to. I have successfully lost weight before. So why is this time so hard? Why does this feel like an ongoing struggle?

I always start out strong. I eat right, exercise, and the weight starts to drop right off. I feel amazing during this period. I start fitting into my cloths better. I have more energy. I feel good about myself. So why does that always come crashing down? I feel like I am a crash test dummy! Speeding forward only to hit a brick wall.

Well, I was reading something today that may give me a clue. I think the problem lie's not in my execution but in my goals!

You see until tonight my goal has been that big number. 140 pounds! That is huge. In my recent pursuit of weight loss glory I have been focusing on that number. In the past year there have been times when I was down 30 pounds or more. This seems like a big number until you put it up next to my goal.

140-30=110

I still have so far to go. I start to get depressed. I lose focus. I cry about the 110 instead of celebrating the 30. This causes me to lose motivation. "Why work so hard for so little results!?!" starts playing in my head. Then I start missing workouts. I start sleeping later. I start eating to drown out the noise in my head. The voices telling me that I have failed again, that I am worthless, that I will never beat this. It does not take long for me to end up back where I started, or worse. I find myself faced with that number again. 140. Always there, always tormenting me. I feel defeated, disgusted, and disgraced.

I am back at that number again. 140. It haunts my dreams and lurks around corners and in the shadows waiting for a chance to jump out and knock me down again. 140. Like the bully at school, whose greatest pleasure was the suffering of others. 140. My demon. 140. My constant companion.

Well not any more. I am not falling for that trap again. My goal is 10 pounds. I am going to celebrate that 10 pounds. I am going to treat it like the holiday that it is. 10 pounds is not only doable and realistic, but it's also a challenge. 10 pounds is a step in the process. 10 pounds puts me closer to the endzone. 10 pounds is my friend. My best friend.

And when I have reached that 10 pounds, when I have celebrated that 10 pounds, I will start to look forward, toward the next 10.

And the next.

And the next.

Till one day I will be standing at the other side of my nemesis. Till I have the upper hand in the fight with my bully. Till I am standing at the gates of 140 and laughing.

10 pounds. I can do that!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T13:09:00.003-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Love Jenn, Whit and Butter

Irrational Fears and Neurotic Tendencies: Part 2

2008-11-24T15:28:00.002-05:00

As a continuation of my last rant (which you can find here if you really need to read it) I am about to leave for work and it's snowing fairly heavily. This brings to mind my fear of loosing control. This fear is especially bothersome when driving on snowy highways, which is what I am about to do! I am mostly sane on the straight aways but if I have to use one of those 360 off ramps I start to panic. There are two of them on the highways between home and work.

I think I am taking the back roads today.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Fourth Pic, Fourth Folder... Blah!Blah!

2008-11-23T15:40:00.006-05:00

Ok so everyone and their uncle is doing this 4th pic in the 4th folder thing so I thought I would too! Why not? What could it possibly hurt, right?

A little over a year ago in September my friend Missi finally married a keeper! Doug is a good man and he not only loves her but he treats her with respect which is more than I can say for anyone else she has been with. She had an interesting wedding by most peoples standards. They had the wedding out at her farm. It was outside in a pasture area by the horse pens. The ladies rode down the "aisle" on horse back, which required me to be a horse wrangler in her wedding! (I always get weird looks when I say that.) In this picture Missi is showing off her new boots. She had just recieved them as a bridal gift the night before along with that hat. I had more fun at that wedding than any I have ever attended before or since.

I love Ya Miss Thang! Keep it real Girl!

If you would like to see more of the wedding pics you can check out my picasa album.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

P.S. Whew! That was painless. I though I was going to end up with this photo.

I'm sure glad that didn't happen because then you all would just think that I was showing off!

Irrational Fears and Neurotic Tendencies: Part 1

2008-11-23T10:24:00.004-05:00

Winter brings so much to my existence! I love it and hate it and love it again.

I love the snow. It brings back memories from my childhood like sledding and snowball fights. My brothers and I used to build snow forts and horde up as many snowballs as we could get our hands on. Then we would chuck them at each other with wild abandon! After all of the amo was spent we would try to build the biggest snowman in history (but the neighbors always had a bigger one, damn them). Which reminds me, is it possible to build a snowman without the little bits of grass getting stuck all over him? We never figured it out if it is. Our snowman always looked dirty!

I hate the snow. Roads are treacherous, sidewalk is treacherous, heck, even the front porch is treacherous. Especially when you have a fear of falling. It's funny really because I have fallen so many times and been ok, however my mind is a traitor and plays these little mini movies of people falling and breaking arms, legs, necks, and everything else! So of course every time I walk outside in the winter I have these mixed emotions, joy and fear! Love and Hate! The memories of happier times come flooding in along with the violent movies and leave me feeling overstimulated and exhausted. And this is before I have left my house!

I am such a total basket case sometimes! Hence the title of this post. Sitting here I know that my fears are funny really! I can laugh at them and tell myself that I am a fool, but that bravado changes when I step out of my door. I pretend to have it all together, I have been told how strong and brave I am, but in reality I am a festering lake of irrational fears and neurotic tendencies.

This is my confessional! Welcome aboard!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Hello Everybody!

2008-11-21T14:13:00.003-05:00

I bet you all are wondering where I have been for the past week and a half.

No!?

You didn't even notice that I was gone? Really?

(sob) Way to hurt a girls feelings!

Well just in case there is someone that was wondering where I have been, here's the run down.

I have been doing a whole lot of nothing. I wake up, sit on my keester, read this blog, occasionally have some food, shower only if I have to leave the house, then head for bed and rest up for another long day of doing nothing. I don't know what has gotten into me this week but I am really feeling the bite of the lazy bug! I did not lose any weight on wednesdays weigh in. Which comes as no real surprise since I have not done anything. To give myself a little bit of credit, I do work my hiney off taking care of Mr. C and Lil Z. I even put in an extra day this week with them! So when I am home I just want peace and quiet and escape from the constant cleaning and laundry and fighting and laundry and cleaning that goes on at work. Plus I am fighting a loosing battle with yet another bug, the cold and flu bug. I have had a sore throat all week and if I end up with bronchitis again I am going to have real trouble as I am insurance free at the moment.

Ok enough of my whining! On to more important things. If anyone has a lot of time to waste they should check out the Pioneer Woman! I just love reading her blog these days! In fact I spent the past week and a half reading everything she has written because she is that funny. I am also loving her recipes. Most of them are not really healthy but they look delicious. I made her pot roast this week and it was to die for! I am going to try some of her other recipes for our thanksgiving dinner! Yummo!

Other than that I have been eating healthier. I have salad at least once a day and veggies all day long. Breakfast is usually cheerios or multi grain chex lately. This is probably why I didn't gain weight and if I had not been so lazy this past week I would have lost with this eating plan. Oh well. I will just have to re-dedicate myself again. I will keep trying until I get it right I suppose!

Well, take care my homies! I am going to get off of my hiney and get to work!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

P.S. Winner's I have not forgotten about you I am just waiting for my next paycheck to send your loot on it's merry way! I would have done it with this weeks check except that I forgot to send in my time slip until it was too late and they don't cut last minute checks no matter how much you wine and cry! Even if you promise to be a good girl and do all your home work!

And The Winner Is!

2008-11-12T17:02:00.002-05:00

Or shall I say winners... I couldn't choose between Brooke and Lauren so I will just give you both the prize.

Please email me at dragonscapes 24 at yahoo dot com with your snail mail and I will get you your prize!

Thank you to everyone who participated in my 21 day challenge. In a couple of weeks I will be doing it again so keep checking back.

On another note I lost 6 lbs this week! Yay me!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

P.S. Sorry for the delayed reaction folks. My internet has been down for a couple of days. I was totally lost without it. I cried!

The Challenge is Over!

2008-11-10T10:53:00.003-05:00

So how did everyone do? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Brooke already left her comment and you can read about her results over at her blog! Way to go Brooke!

As for me, I didn't quite make it through. Sometimes stuff happens, however in the end I was making the choice not to walk those days and I am accepting the responsibility for those choices. I will definitely do this again though so all of you will have another shot at the Michigan Mystery Grab Bag! (or whatever it was that I called it)

So everyone has until tomorrow to leave their comments at which time I will choose the winner!

Prizes are fun!

Also, for any of you feeling discouraged because you didn't make it through. Please watch this video. You will be inspired to get up and try it again.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

I call her ButterBall!

2008-11-08T09:34:00.003-05:00

... Not because she resembles one in any way! In fact she is quite cute and cuddly.

I call her ButterBall because she is a little Turkey!

Like yesterday when she stole the other half of my cookie! (I really wish that I had gotten a picture of her with the cookie in her paws, but I was too frustrated with the little turkey.)

So without further ado, I give you the conversation that Whit and I had last night.

Scene:Dark Bedroom

Jenn: Hey Honey, I think I have a ButterBall pressed against my leg.

Whit: Well go put it back in the freezer. It will go bad in this bed with us.

Jenn: Yeah, maybe I should go put it back.

Whit: Please do, I don't want to wake up to the smell of Funky Turkey!

Jenn: (laughing) You said that and my mind went straight to that really bad dance called the Funky Chicken!

Whit: Well I don't want to smell any of that either.

Jenn: What exactly does bad dancing smell like?

Whit: Hair spray and spandex!

Jenn: (laughing uncontrollably) I have to remember this conversation!

Whit: Are you going to blog it?

Jenn: Yepper!

Yeah, we are total freaks! This conversation is not even close to our normal goofyness!

We ended the night with.

Jenn: Goodnight goofball, I love you more than most!

Whit: Goodnight Foosball, I still love you more!

Yeah, he called me Foosball.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Long Over Due

2008-11-05T14:07:00.003-05:00

I really am struggling with keeping up with my fitness and diet goals. It is so frustrating when I can be knocked off the wagon so easily and then have to struggle back on and try again. I do keep trying but until I can make it a consistent habit to exercise and eat right I am not going to get anywhere! I blame my disordered life but really I am getting everything pretty organized these days. I blame my hectic schedule but it's not that hectic anymore. I blame depression but the depression is mild and is mostly caused by my unfit lifestyle.

I can't keep laying the blame on everything in my life when in the end I am making the choice to exercise or not, I am making the choice of eating a salad or cake! My disordered life, hectic schedule and mild depression are not making these choices for me! I have to learn to own my choices and understand that in the end I am the only one who can take the blame for the way my day is going.

I have gained back every bit of weight that I have lost. Yeah, I said it! I am back to only working out occasionally (usually with Whit pushing me every step) and to eating whatever I happen to feel like (which is generally something that is processed and easy). All of my aches and pains have returned and I can't tell you when the last time was that I got in a full 8 glasses of water in a day.

I have got to change this pattern!

I have been reading Annette's Awakening for a while now and her story is a lot like mine, with one exception! She changed! She made the decision to be healthy and then she did it. She got on that wagon and rode it to a 70 lb weight lose! She learned to own her choices and it is paying off immensely for her!

I want that too!

So for the first time I am posting pictures of myself, right now, the way I am today. I am posting my numbers. I am posting my fitness level. I am basically opening myself up for everyone to see! I want a clean slate to draw my life on! So consider this post the cleaning of the slate. Tomorrow is a new day and I am going to embrace it anew!

Front view:

Side view:

Back view:

Goal Pants (These fit me at the beginning of the year. Now I couldn't hope to get them on):

(I had no idea that I looked like that. Seeing these pictures for the first time nearly made me cry. I have an image in my head of what I look like and that is not it at all. I have got to get this figured out, I don't want to be that person in the picture anymore. )

My numbers (in inches):
Bust=55
Chest=45.5
Waist=51
Hips=61
Thighs=33
Knee=22.25
Calves=18.5
Ankles=10.25
Upper Arms=19.25
Lower Arms=12.5
Wrist=7.25

Weight=295lbs

Fitness Level:
Push Ups= 0
Sit Ups= 0
Running= 15 seconds

I look forward to seeing those numbers change as the weeks and months pass by! I am going to weigh in every week but I will only do the photos and measurements once a month! For now I am going to work on walking every day and eating every 3 to 4 hours. I will make more changes later as I get used to this first part of my journey. I will think of it as if it was the Oregon Trail Game and do my best to make decisions that will enable me to continue on this bumpy wagon trail!

Thank you to all of my blogger friends who have stuck with me through it all. I sure hope you can hang on a little longer because I really appreciate you all and look forward to your comments and encouragement!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

I'm a Convert!

2008-11-05T12:41:00.003-05:00

As a cashier I always got so annoyed with THOSE women! You know the ones with two carts full of merchandise and a coupon for everything. These were the women that haggled with me over prices and left stuff with me if I would not take the coupon. It drove me crazy!

Well, things have changed since then. I am now one of THOSE women! I have been looking at ways to organize and streamline life these days and one thing that I have always been horrible at is grocery shopping. I go in with a list (if I remembered to bring it) and when I get to the checkouts I realize that not only did I not get all of the things on my list but I am now spending at least 50 dollars more than I planned to on things that I picked up along the way. I always ended up starring dumbfounded at the monitor as the cashier was scanning my order and wondering exactly where I had lost control of this trip.

My Mom in Law, Mary is an amazing shopper! She is one of THOSE women. She gets everything on sale and not only does she clip coupons, she actually uses them. I can't tell you how many times she has said "Oh hold on, I have a coupon for that!" or " I got this for you because it was on sale and I had a coupon so it only cost me (insert some ridiculously low price here)!"

I am in awe of her ability to stretch a dollar!

Which brings me to this week. We only had a little money to spend on groceries and a long list of items we needed to get, so I was busily trying to decide what items on our list could be skipped so that we could spend as little as possible. As I am sitting there glaring at the grocery list, I happened to glance at the newest Kraft Food & Family Magazine that was sitting in front of me. It was open to a page with a recipe for Taco Soup! It looked so good and I really wanted to make it for Whit but I knew that there was no way I was going to be able to get the ingredients on our tight budget. So I flipped the pages for a minute while I tried to collect my thoughts. I finished the magazine and moved on to the ads portion of the mail. I usually throw this stuff out without even looking at it but for some reason I didn't today.

And boy am I thankful that I kept them because the first thing I saw was the Kroger circular. Now normally I don't shop at Kroger because their prices are astronomical, however they have some pretty amazing sales to make up for it. Looking through that ad I noticed a lot of the things on my list were on sale this week. Making a Kroger shopping list reminded me of Mary, who shops Kroger sales religiously! Thinking of Mary brought me to coupons. I knew I was too late for the Sunday circular but I also knew that you could often get coupons online that you can print for free! So I started searching for Free Printable Coupons. I had to weed through some unuseful web sites but eventually I came across the Coupon Mom! I can't even describe how amazing this website is! It teaches you how to combine coupons with sales to get the most products at the least cost. She even shows how to get some things for free!

Last night was our first attempt at using the Coupon Mom system and at first I wasn't so sure it would work, Whit was on the skeptical side too, but we printed and clipped coupons, made a shopping list for both Kroger and Meijer (based on sales ads) then headed to the stores to test out the system ourselves.

Here are the results:
Kroger
Total bill= $144.80
Total coupon and sales savings= $80.14
Total money spent= $64.66
(We actually saved more than we spent)

Meijer
Total bill= $50.33
Total coupon and sales savings= $21.85
Total money spent= $28.48
(That's almost a 50% reduction in our bill)

I was so proud of myself for doing the work and saving so much money! I actually called Mary to tell her how great I did! I am looking forward to using the Coupon Mom site more extensively and saving even more money! By the end of the night it was actually feeling a bit like a game. I am calling the game "Groceries For Free" and the object is to spend as little money as possible on everything I purchase. Anyone else want to play?

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

P.S. Thanks for being my inspiration Mary! We love you!

21 day challenge... Week Two Update!

2008-11-02T19:46:00.002-05:00

Well due to issues beyond my control, my walking has been halted nearly all week. I am going to do my best to put in a good showing for this last week of the challenge however. How are the rest of you doing?

Also, thank you all so much for the kind words. Whit's grandpa was laid to rest on Saturday afternoon and then Saturday night grandpa's only son had a son! (Well to be fair, Molly had the little wolff pup) So I guess that the most appropriate thing I can say is "Life Goes On"!

Hope you all are doing well!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

A Little Time For Bereavement

2008-10-29T16:26:00.009-04:00

I just wanted to give everyone a heads up. We have had a death in the family and I am going to be out of town a lot over the next week or two. I will try to check in when I can and will keep everyone posted as much as possible.

As for the 21 days habit challenge, I have not gotten in a walk everyday like I hoped to. I am still plugging away at it though and will most likely have walking as a goal for the next challenge also! I am not going to give up on this and I am not moving on to another goal until I get this one down so please bear with me. Whit and I did take Butter for a walk today. She loved it and it was a good way for us to get out of the house and to focus on something else for a little bit to relieve some stress! We definitely felt more calm afterward.

Well I am going to get off of here and continue with the other things on my To- Do List for today. I hope you all are doing well!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

P.S. Took a pic or 3 of my man tonight as he was on his way out the door! Isn't he Sexy! I know your jealous, it's ok!

And just to add a little extra cuteness to my blog, I give you the ButterBall!

And just for fun I edited this picture of me. Keeping in mind that I weighed a lot less when this picture was taken than I do now, I think it turned out really awesome!

Clearing the Clutter in Our Lives.

2008-10-26T14:36:00.001-04:00

Editors Note: I wrote this post for Road To Domesticity but it never got finished or published. Actually I forgot about it until today. I was reading through the posts on RTD and came across this one, then I remembered something that MizFit said in one of my comments. She said "wonder if you now wholeheartedly believe all the declutter before you can ever shed weight hypothesises?" in reference to this post. Well the answer is yes I do believe that you have to declutter your life in order to declutter your body. I wonder more and more if in fact that is part of my troubles with loosing weight. So I am going to post this one and I am going to work on following my own advice. Now that my apartment is decluttered and organized I am going to work on some of the other clutter in my life. I hope you all enjoy this post as it was a labor of love and necessity for me.

Well since this months goal is Clutter Cleanup and Fall Decorating I decided to make my Wednesday Challenge all about Clutter Cleanup. However, it's not just the clutter in my apartment that I want to discuss (although if you really want to help with that, I won't complain!), but also the physical, mental, and emotional clutter that can accumulate during the week.

Sometimes the clutter is so intense that it makes it hard to function. So lets see what we can come up with to help us relieve the clutter.

Domestic Clutter:
We all have it. Junk drawers, deadly closets, overflowing shelves. It's hard not to have some clutter here and there. The question is when does it stop being ok to have clutter? Some is fine, but too much clutter in the home can hinder progress in a lot of areas of one's life. There are a lot of study's about clutter being a problem for childrens study habits. It's hard to think with lots of stuff everywhere, isn't it? so what can we do about it? Well I did a search and came up with this great website with links to articles all about organization and clutter control! ( I know, I was excited too.) No matter what kind of clutter you are dealing with, they seem to have an answer.

Physical Clutter:
This one is all about your health. Are you taking care of yourself? Are you smoking or drinking excessively? Are you eating a balanced diet? Getting plenty of exercise?

Taking care of your body is so vital to living an over all healthy life. The steps to healthy are not easy ones to take, but they can make such a big difference in your life. I have recently decided to get healthy. Not Skinny! Healthy! I knew that the path that I was heading down would not lead me to a long and healthy life. I knew that if I didn't change I might never get to have children or be alive to see my grandchildren. In June I quite smoking! In July I started my fitness blog and started working towards a healthy body. This body is a temple and should be treated as such. I am working on changing my life one vice at a time. You can too! So go for a walk with your family, add some fresh veggies to your meals, and take control of your vices. Trust me! You will thank me.

Mental Clutter:
It can be so hard to think straight when you have millions of thoughts zooming around behind your eyeballs. Clearing out the mental clutter can really help you to focus on the task at hand. Plus it only takes a few minutes to make a big impact. No physical labor required (although it sometimes helps). Taking a few moments in your day to stop and breath and deal with the stuff in your head can make the rest of the day more productive and can also help you sleep when done right before bed. Here is an article with some tips on dealing with the mental clutter.

Emotional Clutter:
The best thing that one can do for emotional clutter is write it down! Had a bad day? Write it down. Boss driving you crazy? Write it down. Lose someone you loved? Write it down.

Writing things on paper helps you to not only get it out of your system but also to focus on a solution. Once it is out of your head and on paper you can look at it more objectively so that you can deal with it accordingly.

I would also suggest that once you have it down on paper, pray about it. Talk to God about your worries, troubles, hardships, and fears. Knowing that he is there listening to you and that he can help makes a world of difference.

So, after reading such a long post you are probably wondering what is the challenge exactly?

Clear out some clutter in your life! Not everything of course, because all of this will take time. So just choose one thing from this post and make an effort to clear that clutter.

Happy Organized, Decluttered and Stress free Life,
Love Jenn

A Thank You and A Welcome

2008-10-26T13:52:00.003-04:00

A Road To Domesticity Post Dated September 22, 2008.

As you can see I have already accomplished a lot of these things but I really like this post and think I was pretty witty (If I do say so myself) so I wanted to keep it and publish it here. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do! LOL

I am loving all of my readers and enjoying their feed back immensely!

I specifically want to say hello to my friend Nancy from class. She is not a blogger but she is a sweetheart so we can forgive her this one flaw! I wanted to mention her because she and another classmate Tara got me a gift today. It's a little scarecrow and I absolutely love it. It is perfect timing too since I am working on decorating for fall.

So thank you so much Nancy and Tara. I really appreciate the sentiment. That little scarecrow will have a place of honor in my home for a long time to come because I am the sentimental type and love to display gifts from sweet people.

As for decluttering I have started working on that today. We are putting away a lot of "things" from around the house that are contributing to the clutter. Some of it will be saved for future use and some of it will end up in a garage sale next spring. I want to hold on to this stuff until then so that I will have a chance to relook at the things I want to sell and decide if I really want to let go of them or not. I want to declutter but I don't want to have regrets afterwards. Some things will be immediately put away for our future children, such as some of the fairies, angels and balarina's that are left over from my own childhood (I really hope we have at least one girl or we are going to have a very confused son), and some of Whit's toy cars and other random boy stuff (I don't even know what the point of some of it is).

This weekend I don't have to work so I will be really getting into my task full spead ahead and the main thing that I want to tackle is the book case.

I love books and have always had a very hard time parting with them. However, I also own a lot of books that I will probably never read again. I don't see the need to keep all of these books that I won't be reading but another part of me says "You never know, some day you might start to like poems about toenails and won't be able to read them if you toss the book!" Yeah, my thinking is really that warped!

Unfortunately that is how I think about most "things", which explains the clutter. I always think that one day I may need that tea cozy or M&M shaped cookie jar! Never mind that cookies in our house don't usually last long enough to make it into a jar (Whit eats them all pretty quickly) and the only time of year that they might is around the holidays. For them I have two (yes 2) santa shaped cookie jars for that purpose (one of which I don't use because it's hideous! but it was a gift from a friend).

Once I declutter the living room the next room I will tackle is the kitchen (I am so packing away those cookie jars! Bye Santa). Then I will decorate the bathroom and finally our bedroom. I am not going to be decorating one room in the house though. The spare room is basically Whit's room. It's where he has his computer and his guitars and his keyboard. It's where he goes when he wants to relax and get away for a while. I don't want to intrude on his space. If he wants it decorated he will have to either ask me to do it or do it himself. I know and understand that everyman needs his own room and we don't have a garage!

I don't have much for decorations so a trip to the dollar store will be justified toward the end of the month and I will also possibly take on some fall crafts to help with the lack of decor! I promise that I will get some pictures up as soon as I can.

Happy First Day Of Fall,
Love Jenn

21 Day Challenge... The First Checkin!

2008-10-26T11:54:00.005-04:00

Well I hope everyone is doing well on their challenge. I have been checking in on you all when I can, sorry I don't have a lot of time these days to comment as much as I used to.

As for my challenge I am happy to say that I did in fact walk everyday. I am sad that due to illness I only did the bare minimum though so tomorrow I am upping the ante and changing my challenge goal to walking 3 miles every day. That is exactly one time through the Walk video and takes 45 min. to complete so I know that I can do this in the morning by just getting up an hour earlier. Should be no problem.

Now an update on my organizing and decorating. I have done some decorating but not a lot. I am happy with the simple nature of my decore for now and will work on adding more little touches until Dec. then it will be time for Christmas. Here are pictures of my little touches around the house. I am so glad to be able to finally post my own pictures!

I just added the swag above this picture. I have had this for years now and it's been up year round just because it depicts my favorite season and my favorite lifestyle so beautifully.

This was made by a friends father back in the 70's and I happened to come across it at a flea market. Again it is usually displayed all year.

This was a garage sale find my first year back in michigan. I love it!

I got these pillows at a craft sale. They used to sit on my vintage sofa but unfortunately we could not get it into our apartment so the sofa is in Mary's basement and the pillows are on the egg chair.

A friend gave me this little witch years ago and I just love her! Isn't she darling?

This little Indian Princess was given to me by my mom because she said that when I was little I was always making that face. In my own defense, that pouting face always got me goodies from grandma Sherry!

This is the scarecrow that my classmates gave me. I think he is so cute. He looks great over there with my sad little excuse for a house plant. I told you all that I do not have a green thumb and this is the proof.

That spider can play chess better than I can! However since I am only playing against Whit my lack of skillz can be overlooked and if I play anyone else I will just have to bring along my pet chess spider!

These two are one of my favorite Halloween decorations! I love that you can put red candles in their heads and when the candles drip it looks like they are dripping blood!

Here's a rather blurry close up. See what I mean about the red wax?

This little piece of cheap artwork cost me about 6 dollars to make! I got all of the pieces at the dollar store and just threw it together in about ten minutes! I think it looks great with my plaid placemats.

My best friend Missi gave me these canisters several years ago! She said they matched my color scheme better than hers anyway! I think they are great. ( I am working on removing the annoying reminders of diets past from my kitchen but I have to finish going through them and getting the recipes out of them first.)

Finally I leave you with my guardian. This guy is in the hall by the stairs. Everyone who enters must pass him. The best part is that the sword in the dragons hand is actually a letter opener!

Well I think that is quite enough for me today. For those of you who have entered the 21 day contest, don't forget to leave a comment and update us on your progress. Have a great day everyone.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

A quick note, then it's off to work I go.

2008-10-24T15:26:00.004-04:00

1. I have been doing a little walking every day. It's not much and I am not going fast but I am walking and for that I am proud.

2. I am finally starting to feel better! Good thing too because I am volunteering at a girl scout thing tomorrow morning. Sickness was not an option.

3. I got to talk to my good friend Missi the other day. I don't get to talk to her much anymore because we are both busy as heck these days. Her first wedding anniversary was last month.

4. My externship is over next tuesday! I am sad to be leaving because I have really enjoyed it but I am looking forward to the future.

Nuff said!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

I'm So Excited...

2008-10-20T20:13:00.002-04:00

...And I Just Can't Hide It!

I am thrilled about how many people have joined me in this. So many new faces amongst my old friends. There are still a few hours left for people to join in.

I was only able to get in a very short walk today as I have become ill. Mr. C has been sick all weekend and last night I realized that I had not done enough to keep healthy. I feel terrible, my head is pounding, my sinuses are full and drippy, and my throat is sore. This is probably the one thing that I dislike about fall is cold and flu season.

I should be thankful that unlike the last three years, this is the first big illness of 2008! It would seem that I am finally getting healthy again.

In other news, I promised you an update from my bloggerville absence. As most of you know I have been working on getting life organized in my home. This is not an easy task when you only have one day off every two weeks but for the most part I have managed it. I unfortunately had to decide what I would spend my time on so my workouts have been few and far between lately. I also have not been eating well due to lack of funds. We have just been finishing off what is in the cupboard the best we can. Well all of that changes now. I put myself on the back burner for a few weeks to accomplish something that I felt really needed to be done but now it's all about me again. (does that sound a little self centered?)

I am getting up every morning before the day job to do a walk video. EVERY DAY!

I am not going to change anything else just yet because I really want to concentrate on getting active again and making it stick! I will work on some of the other healthy habits one at a time but not until I have this one down. I have learned my lesson about making to many changes all at once. I get too overwhelmed when I do it that way and I am looking for life long habit changes, not temporary fixs.

Other than that, my externship is going well. It is not looking like they are going to hire me but that is ok because it was never a guarantee anyways. As for my nanny job, lets just say it can be very tough and stressful but I just adore the kids. Mr. C and Lil Z are for the most part easy to care for. This weekend was rough however because on top of Mr. C being sick, he also ran out of one of his meds. He was pretty tough to deal with but tonight he has been a complete angel and even went to bed at a quarter to eight. He must have been tired because he didn't even turn a movie on to fall asleep to.

So that has been my life recently. Not overly interesting, but productive non the less.

To all of you who are joining me on my endeavor I say welcome and goodluck. I hope day 1 went well for everyone. Bring on day 2!

Happy Training,

Love Jenn

The Long and Short of the Contest...

2008-10-19T13:17:00.003-04:00

Ok all, I have decided on the deets of the 21 Day Challenge. If you would like to participate please leave me a comment and tell me what habit you will be working on for the next three weeks. Then either download and print my calendar or mark the dates on your own. Every Sunday I will have an update post when you can leave a comment updating us on your progress. At the end of the three weeks all of the people who made it to the end and commented on the very last Sunday checkin will be entered to win a Mystery Michigan Menagerie Box. In other words, a box of fun stuff with my home state logo on it. If the winner happens to be from Michigan and does not want the box then they can designate a new winner from the comments.

The deadline for entering is Monday night October 20th at 11:59 pm EST.

The contest ends on Sunday November 9th at 11:59 pm EST.

I will pick a winner which will be announced on Wednesday November 12th.

I am looking forward to seeing how everyone does and I am really excited about my very first contest. Good luck to everyone. The party starts tomorrow.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

P.S. If you don't get signed up in time for this one, don't worry, if this is a success then I may be bringing it back on a regular basis!

Habit Forming! I Challenge you

2008-10-18T13:35:00.004-04:00

Feel free to download and print this. I am putting it on my fridge with my Fridge List, which I will explain later.

I am starting a challenge for myself and anyone else who wants to join me. I am challenging myself to change one habit in the next three weeks. 21 days starting on Monday. My challenge is to walk every single one of those days. I want to make moving everyday a habit. You don't have to use the same habit, however I would love it if you picked something and joined me. There may even be a prize in it for you. I will have to work out the details but I am really loving the idea of a contest.

So, who is with me?

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Access Denied!

2008-10-12T17:42:00.003-04:00

Came up a little short this past week so the internet is off till later this week. Just wanted to let everyone know so that they didn't worry about me. I am posting from work so I only have a second. I promise a nice long accounting of what I have been up to as soon as I get my net back!

Happy Training,

Love Jenn

Let's Take a Walk...

2008-10-05T11:22:00.001-04:00

(Road To Domesticity post)

...around the internet for some great tips, trends, idea's, and RANDOMNESS!

I will start with a personal story about a girl, her dog, and her dogs really bad breath! I love my dog, but I am not overly fond of her breath. It is rank! We have tried a few things to deal with this little annoyance with mixed success. I read somewhere that parsley will help with bad doggy breath so I bought one of these. It worked great as long as she was chewing on it! However shortly after she had consumed the whole thing her breath would go right back to badville. I have had her teeth checked by the vet who says that she is fine and that some dogs just have chronic halitosis. I am not satisfied with that answer at all. So I have been searching for some help on the internet and came up with this. Cross your fingers and pray that this works! I don't want to have to resort to tying a ribbon around her muzzle! J/K!

Moving on to my fitness life, I came across this blog article this morning and wanted to share it with everyone. I sometimes feel like I am struggling with two Jenns, the one that is working towards her goals and the one that is sabotaging the other ones efforts. After reading this bloggers review I am going to dig into the original article this weekend. Anyone else want to take a look. I would love to hear your insights and feedback.

Keeping with the fitness theme for just a moment longer, have any of you seen this. I am a total geek, nerd, etc, and love the idea of following the path of the Hobbits. On my other blog I am taking the journey from Hobbiton to Rivendell. Would anyone care to join me?

How many of you love to read the classics of literature? I know I do. I love this site because I can read the book right from my lap top which means that I don't have to go to the library or book store (both of which are dangerous for my pocket book).

Do you have a brown thumb? I love gardening and houseplants but I always manage to kill them. I either over water or underwater! So what is my solution to this? Check this out! I am going to be giving a lot of these out come christmas time!

Finally I would like to leave you all with something fun. Just don't click this link at work unless you want the bosses attention!

Have a great weekend everyone! I hope you enjoy the links!

Love Jenn

No! I didn't get abducted by the aliens!

2008-10-01T20:30:00.002-04:00

I have been really busy and not had a lot of time for everything I am trying to do. Exercise is down to 3 days a week which is really low for me. With these two jobs plus all of the projects that I tend to take on, my time is just very limited. Hopefully it will get better soon. I am trying to get the house organized and decluttered. I have been getting annoyed with all the clutter for a while and when I started my other blog I decided that decluttering was going to be one of my first goals. I have worked my magic in all but two rooms in the house so far and I must say that it is looking much better. I am looking forward to the start of my next project which is decorating for fall.

I have been working on organizing as part of the declutter project. I have made us a financial organizer and a housework organizer. This has already started to streamline the day to day stuff so that I have a little more wiggle room time wise. My next organizing projects are expanding my recipe organizer so that I can say goodbye to all of those unused recipe books and a household organizer with stuff like addresses, phone numbers, birthdays, anniversaries, gift ideas, coupons, meal plans, and so on. Whit and I always have the best intentions to send out cards and gifts for stuff like birthdays and anniversaries but neither of us has a great memory and neither of us has a current list of all the pertinent info. I am going to be working on getting all of that info together this month. I am really loving the feeling of being organized.

On another note, I am going to be deleting my other blog. I just don't have enough time for two jobs, two blogs, exercise, housework, etc. and something had to give. So I decided that 1) I love blogging and the friends I have made and 2) this blog was here first and is my first priority, so I am letting the other one go. However I am going to keep some of the posts. They will be transfered to this blog over the next couple of days. I am telling you all this right now because the last time I made a big change I confused a lot of people and I still have not gotten some of my readers back. So consider this fair warning!

As for the weight loss challenge, I didn't lose anything again this week due to lack of exercise and not the best eating. I am feeling more adjusted now and hopefully I will be back on an upswing real soon. I know I can do this!

I have a special post in the works that I am not going to tell you much about. However I will tell you to tune in monday when I will be posting said post. I hope you will all enjoy!

Until then,
Jenn

A long day and A well recieved Award!

2008-09-27T11:43:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was supposed to be a pretty much normal day. Go into the office till 5 then be a nanny for an hour, then come home. However things don't often work out the way you think they will and my Friday was no exception. When I go to my nanny job I found out that the kids dad was not picking them up that night so my one hour became a full shift. Mr. C was being a little difficult but nothing that I couldn't easily handle. The dog was driving my crazy but I can look past that too. I was tired but I just kept telling myself that we need the money and doing this is not a bad way to make ends meet. I did my best to be upbeat and cheerful throughout the night. Then I came home and crashed. I had been awake at that point for 21 hours so I was exhausted!

Now I would like to take a moment to mention a special blogger friend and the award that she so lovingly passed on to me. I look forward to reading An nette's words every day because I always learn something from her. She is an amazing mother and a dear person in general. I would like to quote something that she wrote yesterday in her blog:

"Staying on the "passing it on" subject, if you could pass on one quality about yourself to one of your children...........if you don't have children, pretend that you do ;)... what would it be?

I would pass on my heart---- The ability I have to look past race, circumstances, or attitude to just see a person for the beautiful soul that they are. Even the grumpiest of people have good qualities. I try to strip it all away and remember that once they were just an innocent child. What factors in their life set the grumpiness in motion? Why are they hiding their real self? What can I do or say to make a difference for them today? I pray that my children will learn to see past all the layers of those that they meet, and reach out with unconditional love for everyone."

What an amazingly powerful message. I would pass on my strength. Physically, mentally, and emotionally strong. That is something that my own mother passed on to me. I am so grateful that she did too because I have needed to tap into that strength from time to time in my life and it has gotten me through many things that could have taken me down. I want my kids to someday show that same strength of character that seems to run in my family.

Now I think I am supposed to give this award to 5 or 6 people who I think deserve it. So although I would have loved to give it to everyone I have whittled down my choices to the following people. In no particular order:

Laura-- Who encourages me to keep going by being crazy and running every single marathon she can get to. I love that about her!

Xenia -- Who encourages me to follow my dreams by following hers. She is living her dream in Rome right now.

Linda -- Who encourages me by just being. She tries hard to do the best she can for her boy and herself. She has committed to her goals and is working hard to achieve them.

Chantelle -- Who encourages me by stopping by and telling me that I can get through whatever issue I am working on. She always has a kind word which is so wonderfully refreshing!

Charlotte --Who encourages me to try something new through her fitness experiments. I love to read her blog.

POD --Who encourages me by keeping a positive attitude through adversity. She has obstacles to overcome and she is doing it with a smile and a laugh.

Alice --Who encourages me by staying active and fit even during pregnancy. She is proof that you can be fit, healthy, and pregnant. She is funny and caring and has a great family.

So that is my list but I am also going to give it to anyone else who wants it. You all deserve this award too!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Random Acts Of Busy!

2008-09-25T20:34:00.003-04:00

Well some of you asked if I was able to get everything on my list done. So I will go through each item and let you know how it went!

1. Fill out the paperwork for the nanny job.
--Got that one done fairly quickly.
2. Go to the office store to fax it in.
--Didn't get this one done because I had to get the bosses signatures on a few of them.
3. Go to michigan works to ask about uniform assistance.
--Apparently they don't do that unless you are on welfare. (I have so many things I could say about this but I won't)
4. Purchase uniforms for biller/office worker job.
--I bought exactly one full uniform that I will have to wash every day until I get some extra money for another.
5. Pick up crickets for the leopard gecko at the pet store.
--Got her a dozen of the nasty little things...
6. Feed the Gecko
--... which she promptly gobbled up.
7. Laundry at the Laundry Mat.
--Done
8. Put away Laundry upon returning home.
--Not quite done. I ran out of time.
9. Change cloths and go use the trial gym membership I have been holding onto for weeks.
--Ran out of time for this one too.
10. Cook a fantabulous dinner for myself and my man.
--Ended up with pizza, but hey at least I did have to cook it.
11. Clean up the house and do the dishes.
--Picked up a bit but the dishes are still not done.
12. Get to bed early so that I will be well rested for my first day of my externship.
--Went to bed at 9:30 which is very early for me.

So that was my day yesterday.

This morning I woke up way too early, exercised, had a healthy breakfast, packed a healthy lunch, then sat around for an hour waiting till it was time to go to work and wishing that I could just go back to bed. Like I said, Way Too Early!

My day went pretty well. Everyone at my office is really nice and they where all very helpful. I spent most of my day alphabetizing faxes and files, then filing, then a little more alphabetizing, then lunch, followed by more alphabetizing and filing. So basically it was a good day because I didn't make any huge mistakes. How could I? A monkey could have done what I did today. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little more challenging. I am working front desk! Hopefully that won't require me to alphabetize or file. (I am not going to hold my breath though)

Well that is all for me tonight. I have an early morning wake up call and when I get done at the office I have to go be a nanny for a couple of hours. WooHoo! Thank God I have this weekend off.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Today's Plan

2008-09-24T13:34:00.002-04:00

It's going to be a busy day in which I will be transitioning from being a student to being a full time nanny and a full time biller/office worker! I have a lot to get done today and since I was celebrating way into the night last night I am a little behind on my to do list! So here it is in all of it's glory!

1. Fill out the paperwork for the nanny job.
2. Go to the office store to fax it in.
3. Go to michigan works to ask about uniform assistance.
4. Purchase uniforms for biller/office worker job.
5. Pick up crickets for the leopard gecko at the pet store.
6. Feed the gecko.
7. Laundry at the Laundry Mat.
8. Put away Laundry upon returning home.
9. Change cloths and go use the trial gym membership I have been holding onto for weeks.
10. Cook a fantabulous dinner for myself and my man.
11. Clean up the house and do the dishes.
12. Get to bed early so that I will be well rested for my first day of my externship.

Boy is that list ever long. Sheesh! I think I had better get started already! I will try to post my workout before I crash into bed tonight, but if not then I will add it to tomorrows summary of my first day on the job.

Wish me luck!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

A New Routine For Core Performance.

2008-09-23T12:59:00.003-04:00

Well I warned you all that I was going to change my routine. I bought Core Performance Essentials several months ago because I wanted to work on core strength, flexibility, and movement. I love pilates and these exercises are based on pilates but reworked for athletes. I watched the dvd and figured I was not going to have a problem with this at all. The moves are simple and looked easy enough.

I thought that I was pretty good already so I tried to start on 1B instead of 1A! Boy was I ever wrong. I was struggling to make it through the first set and B requires two sets. Yikes! I was feeling these exercises! I can see how this would condition your body, as long as you do the exercises correctly and with good form. Now I understand why stage one gives you 30 minutes for the 8 moves. They want you to concentrate on your form first. Then you can start to build more sets and reps into your routine.

One really neat thing about this workout is that it comes with a laminated card with all of the moves on it so that once you have the idea and have done it a couple of times you can just take the card and go anywhere. No dvd player required! I love this because it means that if I am traveling I can take my core performance with me. I can do it at my nanny job once the kids are in bed. I can do it on my lunch hour at the office. It works with my current need for versatility and flexibility.

I am really excited to see how this progresses so I am going to stage my own little Great Fitness Experiment. (Shout out to Charlotte! I love you girl) I will see how I am progressing each week and let you know how my body is responding to this routine. I have high hopes that it will improve my athletic ability at least a little and may help me hit the bikepath running in the spring.

Wish me luck!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Almost there!

2008-09-22T13:59:00.002-04:00

Tonight is my final exam for A&P. I can't believe that I have finally made it to the end. I am so excited to start my externship on Thursday so that I can prove to them that I can do it! I will be sad to leave the friends that I have made in class, although I know that some of them will keep in touch. Tonight I won't have to stay the whole 4 hours. I can just go in and take the test then leave. Tomorrow night I just have to show up. After class tomorrow night we will go out and have a drink to celebrate the end of this part of our lives and the beginning of the next.

I am so glad that I took this nanny job as not only does it bring in extra money, which is always good, but it also makes me feel like I am doing something important with my time. Taking care of Mr. C is tough but at the end of the day I can still smile about it knowing that I helped.

Today was the weigh in for the Christmas Challenge but I didn't lose anything this week. I didn't gain either so I am still happy. This last week was rough for getting in workouts and eating healthy on the run. I will have to work out some solutions however because life is going to just get busier over the next couple of months as not only will I have the part time externship that will hopefully lead into a full time job in 5 weeks but I will also be slowly adding more hours to my nanny job. I will have to find ways to sneak in exercise during my days and since most of my meals will be away from home I will start packing small meals that I can eat throughout the day. This should also help keep my metabolism up and my energy high so that I can keep up with Mr. C!

As for today, I challenged myself again and did the Leslie Sansone 3 mile walk twice. That's 6 miles in an hour and a half. I am beat, yet I feel relaxed, content, and even a little energized. Now I just have to hop into the shower so that I don't have to fumigate the house to get rid of my stink. Yuck! Then it will be time to get in some last minute studying before exam time.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Explanation of my Absence.

2008-09-21T11:37:00.002-04:00

Well I bet some of you have been wondering where I have been!

Anyone? No!

Well I will tell you anyway because this is my blog!

I started my Nanny position on Friday evening! I am so excited to finally be bringing in an income again. As I explained before, the nanny job is for a friend from class. She has two sons, a 16 year old with down's syndrome and a 9 year old. We shall call them Mr. C and Lil Z respectively. Now Lil Z is the easy one, he is only 9 but he has grown far more than his years and he is my little helper. Mr. C is the real reason that I am there. Most of the time he is really easy though. I pick up after him and make him some dinner but otherwise he doesn't require much. Friday night was an easy night.

Last night however was a tough night. Mr. C decided to test his boundaries last night and I felt the strain. Things started off ok until he put in a sponge bob dvd to watch. The sponge bob episode that we were watching had sponge bob splitting his pants and showing everyone his butt. Now Mr. C likes to play a game where he copy's what he sees. So he kept getting up and showing me his butt. When that didn't get a reaction from me, he pulled his pants down and mooned me. Then he turned around and sat down on the sofa with his pants and underwear around his ankles. 45 minutes later Lil Z and I finally got him to put his cloths back on. That was the first test and I am not really sure who won that one.

Later on Mr. C fell asleep on the couch and I thought he was out so I went to clean up his room. I had only been in there a few moments when I heard him get up from the couch and walk through the kitchen. I poked my head out of his room to see where he was headed and saw him go into his mom's room. The boys like to go in there and sleep when their mom isn't home so I didn't think anything of it and went back to what I was doing. After a few more minutes I heard a weird noise in the kitchen and looked out to see what it was. Mr. C had a suit case and was heading into the living room. Now I have to admit that my curiosity was piqued a little so I followed him. He went through the living room and out the front door onto the porch where he stopped for a minute. I turned to Lil Z who was watching a movie and joked that "it looks like your brother is running away". It didn't occur to me that he actually would run, but when I turned back to the porch after making the joke to Lil Z, Mr. C was in fact running and he was dragging that suit case behind him.

At the end of the road that they live on is a big field, which of course is where Mr. C was headed. I started walking after him at first because I didn't want him to spook and started calling his name. He ran faster. Now I was running too but he had a significant head start. When he went into the field I knew that it was going to be a long chase. Mr. C was struggling and falling and still keeping ahead of me.

Did I mention that this field was a wheat field and that it was muddy and had furrows of water that was up to my knees. The wheat was waist deep and I kept getting tangled in it. I was struggling!

Apparently Mr. C was struggling too because the suit case dropped into a particularly deep furrow of water and Mr. C decided to go on without it. This was not good news for me because that was the main thing slowing him to a managable pace. Without the suit case to hinder him he took off across this field at an amazing speed. I was doing good to keep moving forward as I was constantly off balance and kept falling into unseen furrows. The chase went on for about 20 minutes. We eventually left the wheat field and ended up in someones back yard. Mr. C took off running even fast and I tried to run after him but I was starting to feel exhausted from the difficulty and speed that we had already been maintaining. He came to a road and turned to run down it. I was struggling to keep going at this point! Then he stopped and looked at me. He stood there for a few minutes until I had almost caught up to him. He was smiling the biggest smile and I knew then that this was not over. He thought we where playing a game.

When I was about 20 feet away from him he took off down the road, made a left turn and headed back into that dang wheat field! I wanted to cry! I was already exhausted and I was going to have to make it through that field again. I sighed deeply and then headed back into the field. I knew that if I stayed as close to him as I could and as long as I could still see him that I would eventually catch him. This plan backfired when Mr. C made a right turn around a wooded area and vanished. I tried to pick up the pace but by the time I got there Mr. C was nowhere to be seen.

Now I was panicking. The wheat was so high that if he fell I would not see him and there where woods surrounding me on two sides. I had no idea where he was at. This is when I decided to call 911. As I was describing Mr. C to the operator I heard a splash and a laugh behind me. He had hidden in the woods and I had walked right by him without seeing him. I took off running after him and calling his name. " I have the police on the phone and if you don't stop they will have to come looking for you." I called after him. This statement stopped him in his tracks and I caught up to him and took his arm and told him that he had made a very unwise choice and that he was in big trouble.

As I was lecturing him I heard a voice in my ear and realized that the 911 operator was still on the line. I thanked her and said that I had him. Then I put my phone away and took Mr. C's hand for the journey home. He kept falling to his knees and saying that he was tired and couldn't walk anymore. "You made me chase you all the way out here, you are going to walk all the way back. I don't want to hear what you can't do. Just get up and do it!" I spent the whole walk explaining to him that he was in trouble and he was not going to be able to go outside tomorrow and that privilages might be taken away next weekend also. We met up with Lil Z and a neighbor on the way back and we all started searching for the suit case. When we found it and got out of the field I asked Lil Z to open it and see what Mr. C was taking with him on his little adventure.

Notebooks! Brand spanking new notebooks was all that was in the suit case. 26 of them to be exact. Maybe he figured that he could write about his trip?

Mr. C took a shower and went straight to his room and I spent some time trying to salvage my pants and my running shoes. I think the pants will be ok but the shoes are not salvageable. 100 dollars that I will never see again. Lil Z cracked me up when he told his brother "Your grounded Mr.!"

I learned a few lessons from my time with Mr. C yesterday.
First, know what he is watching in case he decides to mimick it.
Second, never let him get more than ten feet away when he is outside.
Third, don't wear 100 dollar shoes to my nanny job.
Finally, have extra cloths and shoes in my trunk in case of emergencies.

Yesterdays experience also gave me a new inspiration to get fit. I want to be able to catch that little bugger if I have to!

One other test I went through last night didn't even involve Mr. C. There dog Tank took off twice last night forcing Lil Z and I to chase after him. Yeah, it was an aerobic kind of night. No gym required!

Well I had better get into the shower and head over for another day of chasing Mr. C. Wish me luck!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Walking! Biking! Ellipticalling?

2008-09-19T14:29:00.003-04:00

Remember when I told everyone about the Eowyn Challenge back in July. Well I have put a new ticker up for the Challenge and am well on my way to out of town! I will be logging miles for walking, biking, running, and the elliptical. If any of you are as big of a nerd/geek as I am, please join me on the journey, I would love someone to talk to along the way.

I was given some free gym passes from a lady in my class. I am going to use them to challenge my body a little more. I have been a bit lazy this week thanks to my hectic schedule and I don't want that to transfer into pounds on the scale.

Short post today, I am studying for my final test in A&P plus I start my nanny position this weekend. Yay for income!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes

2008-09-17T15:39:00.002-04:00

As you can see, I did some housecleaning. Yet again I was wanting a change. Will I ever be content with things as they are? Probably not. But it's good to change things sometimes. It keeps you on your toes.

This is true not only in blogger land but also in our lives and especially in fitness. When we get used to things being as they are it leads to complacency in life. We stop moving forward toward our goals and dreams. In the same way if our body gets too used to what we are doing it will stop responding, it will learn to adjust. This is when we hit the dreaded plateau.

So in short, don't be afraid to change it up a little. It's does a body, mind and spirit good!

In other news, I officially landed an externship today. My interview went great, they loved me, and she was all about talking "the future" with me. I am confident at this point that it will lead to a job offer.

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the exercise front, I have been busy and using that as an excuse to not get my workouts done. I have been walking Butter, but that is not done strenuously! So tomorrow I am going to jump right back in the game. I think I will be switching up my routine next week. I'll let you know when I decide something.

I have also started another blog that will be focused on the rest of my life so that this one can be dedicated more towards my fitness goals. I am wanting to go a little more serious blogger on you but didn't want to use this blog for that. You can find my new blog here.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Being punished by the Dog!

2008-09-12T19:45:00.002-04:00

So lately I have not taken Butter for as many walks as we usually get. In fact there are some days that she does not get walked at all. I feel badly about this but we have been so busy and now that my workouts are indoors I don't have that excuse either.

Well she has been retaliating! Big time.

The past couple of days we have been finding little Butter presents all over the house. Not because she doesn't get enough time out side mind you, because we take her outside three or four times a day for a half hour or so.

I figured out that it was punishment yesterday morning when she pooed on Whit's school books! He was not happy! So last night we took her for a walk after class and guess what? No poo when we woke up this morning. I think we found the answer.

Does anyone else have a dog that disciplines them or is it just us?

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

I am Challenged!

2008-09-12T15:35:00.004-04:00

The Gym Rat did a post this morning about challenging yourself and doing a little more. Well I thought this was a great idea so today I did the Firm Lower Body Sculpt and then I did the 3 miler video twice. That's right folks I did 87 minutes of Sansone.

All I have got to say is that I muscled through it and I feel really good about what I accomplished.

I also feel very hungry and a wee bit tired.

Having said that I am off to eat and shower and job hunt. Don't forget to challenge yourself today!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Wishing I had a hammock right now.

2008-09-11T15:42:00.003-04:00

It's a beautiful fall day and I am taking a bit of a rest. I am thinking that thursdays and sundays may end up being my rest days. At least that is how it's turning out.

I have been on a carb mission today. I am craving carbs so badly right now. I am eating dry whole wheat toast and loving it. lol.

Off to find something else to distract me from homework. Later taters!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Do you ever get the feeling that your being watched?

2008-09-10T13:18:00.002-04:00

I just set up the follower feature on my blogger dashboard. Now when I sign in to blogger it tells me all of the updated blog entries on the people that I read every day. Pretty cool huh!?! No I can officially stalk you all.

As for my workout, I did a 30 minute walk today instead of the 45 minutes that I usually do. I haven't done my abs yet though so I have that to look forward to later today.

I have tones of homework to do so this is a quick update. Hope you all are having a wonderful day!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Gettin' My Workout On and Randomness!

2008-09-09T15:39:00.004-04:00

Time Flying

Sorry folks, but I never got a chance to post a workout summary yesterday. Sometimes there just aren't enough hours in a day.

Not my house but you get the idea.

Yesterday's workout went well. I am back to doing Leslie Sansone because although I would like to do the dance workouts, I am a big girl living in an upstairs apartment in a hundred year old house. I can't do to much thumping around. So I will stick to Leslie for now. I am getting to the point where I don't have to listen to her verbal cues anymore so I turn the volume down and turn on my own music, which is totally fun!

Not me workin' it. I sweat more.

I am still doing The Firm Sculpting video's. Yesterday was lower body and today was upper body. I am doing a bit better at being able to keep up with them and have even added some weights to a few of the exercises. Mostly upper body exercises though as my lower body is still working on just making it through the whole workout. I think this is probably because I am doing it after the Walk video and my legs are already getting tired. I may try flipping that around and doing the strength training first to see if I can get through the video a little easier.

Forgive me Father...

On a side note, I have a confession to make.

I'm melting, melting! Oh what a world!

I got on the scale again this morning to check and see if the 5 lbs where still gone and found that I was down 3 more lbs! And this was a post breakfast weight. I don't really understand why my body has decided to suddenly drop a bunch of weight. I am not really doing any more exercise than I have been, and I am eating a healthy 2000 cals a day. They only thing that I can think of is that my stress levels have gone down a bit now that all the events of the last two months have passed. Although I am not sure that makes sense either because I am starting to freak about the end of school and my externship and a weekend job.

See told ya!

Don't worry, I have not lost my mind and started complaining about loosing weight but I don't want it to come off too quickly as that can be a sign of bigger health problems, which I really do not need. So what do you all think?

Bigger butt, smaller hair.

On another note, I think I may have found a weekend job. A lady that goes to class with me has a 16 year old Down's Syndrome son and a 6 year old son and she needs a baby sitter. I would be paid by the state as a child care worker and there is a possibility that the weekend could lead to more hours when I am done with school in a couple of weeks. I am so excited about this because it means I will finally be bringing in some money again. Things have gotten pretty rough around here financially. We have been forced to borrow from family to help with expenses and I hate doing that. I is bad enough that Whit is covering for me but to have to except money from others as well really gets to me. I was not raised to let someone else pay my way. My family is full of independent women who take care of themselves and everyone around them. I always followed suite until now and I will be glad to be back in the ranks of the proud women I was raised by.

This is me stressing!

My externship placement is not going as well. I have had a site set up for about 3 weeks and the office manager was supposed to call me to set up my schedule for my externship and an appointment to meet everyone in the office. Well I have been calling about once a week as have the placement people at school but none of our phone calls are being returned and frankly the receptionist is getting rude about having to leave messages for the office manager all the time. I called the school today and told them that if we did not hear anything soon I wanted a different externship.

9 buisness days left.

I am not usually one to cause problems but honestly isn't three weeks long enough to return a phone call. I am supposed to start my externship on the 24th! Is it wrong of me to expect some professionalism from the office that I will be working at? I just don't understand what the hold up is. I know that they are a busy office but seriously, all I need is five minutes for a schedule to be set. She has probably spent more time reading my messages than it would take her to call me and settle the issue. Am I being irrational?

Good question!

Anyhow, that's my randomness for the day. Take care everyone and please pray for me, I really need it.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Weight Loss and The Wedding! Arrrgghh!!!

2008-09-08T12:51:00.004-04:00

So this morning I got up and hit the bathroom then the scale! I looked at the number then got off and went to make some coffee. As I was standing there waiting for the water to heat something was tickling the back of my thoughts. I could not quite grasp exactly what it was that was trying to get my attention so I let my mind wander back to Saturdays Wedding while I made myself some breakfast.

The wedding was at the Ren Fair in Holly and since this was my first time going to a Ren Fair I was supper excited. Unfortunately I miss read the web site and showed up late. I got there just after the wedding part ended and was so upset that I missed my best friend saying I do. Luckily his sis is going to send me pics of the ceremony so that I can at least see it second hand even though....

Holy Crap, I lost weight!

My brain finally got my attention and I raced back to the scale and hopped on to make sure I had seen it correctly. It was down 5 lbs!!!!! I was so excited that I nearly started dancing right there! I immediatly ran into the living room to document the occasion for the world to see! Yes I was finally making progress, the world was falling into place once again.

As for the wedding, I was so happy to see Dave and Emmy finally tie the knot! Plus the Ren Fair was loads of fun. I took some video and pics of the celebration and the fair which I will post as soon as I get a cable to hook the camera to my computer.

Whit was dashing in his costume and I looked pretty fab myself! Thanks for the costumes Mary!

Well I am off to get in my workout for the day. I will post on that later!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

An I'm tired kind of day!

2008-09-04T12:41:00.002-04:00

I am taking a rest day. I am tired and legs could use a break. Tomorrow I'll do what I was going to do today, and so on through the rest of the week.

For now I am going to take a nap.

Love Ya'll,
Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Stolen from Marcy!

2008-09-04T10:24:00.003-04:00

Sorry girl but this was too funny!

Everyone head over to her site for the rest of them.

Jenn

I hope this is not the outward appearance that I give. Honestly I'm not lying! Really!

Whit

Well that answers a lot of questions for me. I just hope venereal diseases aren't contagious.

Oh, they are then?

Damn!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Another Day, Another 3 miler!

2008-09-03T15:44:00.003-04:00

Did the Sansone 3 again today. I think I need a change for a couple of days though, I can only take so much of that giggle. I will have to dig through my workout video's tomorrow for some cardio. It may be time to bust out some Crunch Dance Party or Minna Lessig Emergency Workout. I have not done either of those in a while.

Finished up with The Firm Abs Sculpt. I had forgotten just how hard those Firm workouts are. Once upon a time I could do them with ease but these days I struggle through it.

The important part though is that I do it. I put that tape in and grab some light weights and my fanny lifter and commit to the time. I have done my workout 3 days in a row and I am still going strong.

Yeah Me!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

"Spaghetti Arms"

2008-09-02T16:07:00.002-04:00

"... This is my dance space. That's your dance space. Let's Cha-Cha!"

Sorry I just love that movie. Also my arms do feel like spaghetti right now. I just got done working out and oh boy am I feeling it. I did the Walk at Home 3 miler again and The Firm Upper Body. Actually it will end up being mild bad planning on my part because tonight is the push up challenge. That should be really fun!

I stayed well within my calories yesterday even though we went to Whit's dads for bbq.

I am so proud of myself!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Compliments Day 2

2008-09-02T10:30:00.002-04:00

Last night we drove to Lansing to visit with Whit's Dad. Whit's sister was in town from NYC and we don't get to see her much due to distance so we were rushing to get there at a decent hour.

Once we where settled in the car, I put on my sunglasses and Whit reached over and pulled them back off. "You have the most beautiful eyes!" He said as his hand caressed my cheek.

God how I love that man!

I think I am going to have to take Leslie out for a drink for suggesting this little experiment.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

The Compliments Keep Rolling In!

2008-09-01T14:03:00.002-04:00

So I was over reading The Weighting Game this weekend and came across an interesting suggestion. Way back in June she challenged her readers to ask their significant other what they loved about the readers body. (That sentence is really hard to put together!) I was intrigued! Now Whit and I have talked about this before but not because I had flat out asked him. It has always been just a passing compliment that was usually proceeded by an I love you.

So last night I asked him, and the conversation went something like this:

Me: Honey I was reading a blog today that had an interesting suggestion.
Whit: What are you starting this time?
Me: NO not like that! It's a body confidence thing. I want to know what it is about my body that you love?
Whit: Do I have to choose one thing?
Me: (blushing) No you can say as many as you like as long as it's the truth.
Whit: Well how about I tell you one thing I love about you every day till I run out and then start over. By the time I run out we will have forgotten where we started anyways.
(aside from Jenn: Do I have the greatest man or what?)
Me: Ok so what is today?
Whit: Today is the first day so I will give you two. First I love your smile. It was the first thing I noticed when I met you.
Me: (blushing and kisses)
Whit: Second I love your legs.
Me: (confused) My legs? What could there be to love about my legs?
Whit: They are strong and powerful, yet soft and beautiful and feminine and smooth.
Me: (blushing, kisses, crying) Have I told you that you are the greatest man in the world?

So now I have compliments to look forward to everyday. Thanks for the suggestion Leslie!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

A Fresh Restart

2008-09-01T11:50:00.002-04:00

I jumped back on the wagon today after working over the weekend to catch it again.

I feel great today! I got up at 8 a.m. and had my grape nuts and soy milk breakfast, vitamins, and lots of water. Then I did the Leslie Sanson 3 miler,

followed immediately by The Firm Lower Body Sculpt. I am beat!

I joined the Chubby Chick's Christmas Weight Loss Challenge last week and at the time my stat's looked like this:

Name: Jenn
Blog Title: FatGirlRunning
Starting Weight: 285 lbs
Pounds I Want to Lose By Christmas: 35
Christmas Goal Weight: 250 lbs.

Well after two weeks of not getting in a workout my stat's turned into this:

Jenn
Gained 5lbs this week (PMS)
40 lbs till my Christmas goal

I really have my work cut out for me. Actually stepping on the scale this morning was a real wake up call. Over six years ago I went through a severe depression. I eventually got up to 335 lbs and was miserable. I hated my life and felt like I was not worth the air I was breathing to live. I realized that I had to make some changes if I really wanted to continue to live, so I packed my belongings into my car and quit my job and moved to the farm.

I took up refuge with my grandmother and helped her take care of my great grandpa until he died. While I was there I started to work at re-evaluating my life and my goals. In that first year that I lived there I turned my life around. I got a job, made some good friends and started to really live again. To my surprise the weight started coming off without effort. I was making better choices without really thinking about it. Slowly I started to incorporate exercise and the weight was just melting. At the end of the year I had lost 100 lbs, was in a size 16 and was loving my life.

I have done a lot of struggling since then and the pounds have crept back on. When I saw 290 on the scale this morning I realized that I was only 45lbs from my heaviest weight. 45lbs from the lowest point in my life. I made a promise to myself that I would never go there again. Now I intend to follow through on my promise.

I have decided to hold off on my running goals for the time being and just stick to work out videos for the winter. For one thing I can sustain activity longer with the workout video's than I can with running. For another I was suffering from shin splints so much that I was spending most of my time in recovery anyways. I think that right now I am just to heavy for such a high impact workout. So next spring I will try running again. Next spring I will be ready!

Then there is my diet. I hate going on a diet! I don't like the word or the act. So I am going to call it going on a livet. I am going to be following the 90/10 rule for one thing. I am also going to try to include a raw food day once a week. I will be working to include more of these over time but for now one will do. On my 10% meal I can have meat and something decadent like ice cream. The rest of the time I am going to try to stick to veg fair. I don't want to be overly concerned about the calories but at the same time I am going to be making sure to stay within my limits. MyFitnessPal will help with that.

Ok folks enough chatter from me today!
Happy Labor Day!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

A Hundred Things

2008-08-28T16:08:00.008-04:00

Tried the strike out thing but it didn't work and I have no idea why. Therefore the stuff that I will not try are in red and italics. Stuff I have tried is bold. Thanks again for the help Laura. I appreciate it.

This is in response to Mark's Omnivores Hundred List. Keeping in mind two things.

One: I have no idea how to do the cross out thing.

Two: I am now mostly veg so many of these things if I have not tried them I never will.

Care to join in the fun, you can follow the directions below.

Copy this list into your blog, including these instructions.
Bold all items you’ve eaten.
Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

Have a look…..

1. Venison - I love deer meat, and will sorely miss it.

2. Nettle tea - Looked up the recipe and it sounds good.

3. Huevos rancheros -sounds good but I don't eat eggs anymore so I won't be trying this one.

4. Steak tartar -um not only is it meat but it's uncooked meat.

5. Crocodile -Sorry but even though I heard that it tastes just like chicken, it will not be on my menu in this lifetime.

6. Black Pudding - congealed blood folks, Yikes!

7. Cheese fondue - It's cheese, melted, with stuff dipped into it. Yummy!

8. Carp -I used to live by Jordan Lake in Lake Odessa, Michigan. These things where always washing up in our yard.

9. Borscht - A no-no because of the beef but I may try a tofu variety because it sounds delicious.

10. Baba ghanoush - sounds delicious and I can't wait to try this one.

11. Calamari - Sorry but I have an aversion to sea food.

12. Pho - beef soup. Doesn't make the cut.

13. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich - A staple in our house.

14. Aloo gobi - another one that I am excited to try. I really like indian and mediteranean foods.

15. Hot dog from a street cart - I have never had the urge to do this.

16. Epoisses - I like cheese, but I am trying to give the stuff up so I won't be trying ths one.

17. Black truffle -I would try this one. I like mushrooms so why not?

18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes - I just started drinking wine recently and am looking forward to trying some non-grape wines.

19. Steamed pork buns -need I even say it?

20. Pistachio ice cream - ice cream is another weakness of mine, I live across the street from a store that has fresh hand scooped ice cream!

21. Heirloom tomatoes -I have some of these in my kitchen right now. Delicious

22. Fresh wild berries -We used to go pick them when we where kids. My mom would use them for pies if we actually managed to bring any home.

23. Fois gras -sorry but that would fall under meat.

24. Rice and beans -vegetarian staple food.

25. Brawn or head cheese -Was forced to try head cheese in junior high. Never again.

26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper -I just don't like hot!

27. Dulce de leche -Yum!

28. Oysters -Again with the seafood?

29. Baklava -Amazingly deliciously decadent treat!

30. Bagna cauda -anchovies!!!!!!!

31. Wasabi peas -again, don't care for hot

32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl - the sourdough bowl sounds good though

33. Salted lassi -dairy drink, no thanks.

34. Sauerkraut -Love it.

35. Root beer float -My favorite childhood memory is root beer floats at the A&W drive in.

36. Cognac with a big fat cigar -Just once, the cigar almost made me puke.

37. Clotted cream tea -that really does not sound healthy at all!

38. Vodka jelly -Hello Jello Shots. An old party favorite.

39. Gumbo -Hated it.

40. Oxtail -no way

41. Curried goat -I think not!

42. Whole insects -I don't even like to get near them, much less eat them.

43. Phaal -Hot Hot Hot

44. Goat's Milk -I don't even like cows milk

45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more -I wish. Can I borrow $120 for some whisky?

46. Fugu -Pufferfish?

47. Chicken tikka masala -You did what to whom?

48. Eel -As in water snake, no thanks.

49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut -Hated it!

50. Sea urchin -Keyword Sea

51. Prickly pear curious to try this one

52. Umeboshi -pickled sour plum, I would try that.

53. Abalone -nope

54. Paneer -another cheese that I might have tried before making the veg decision.

55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal -Heart attack in a bag. Yeah!

56. Spaetzle -Whit made me this one once. He said his is not as good as the real thing, but I enjoyed it.

57. Dirty gin martini -curious to try, but wondering what the dirty part is.

58. Beer above 8% ABV -Wild Blue Beer. Yum

59. Poutine -french fries, cheese and gravy. That does not sound good.

60. Carob chips -Yummy in cookies

61. S’mores -Yummy at a camp fire!

62. Sweetbreads -How did they come up with sweet breads from thymus glands of lamb, beef, or pork. I know what that it, and it is nothing like bread!

63. Kaolin -Sorry but I searched for this one and all I got was articles about rocks and clay and mining. Is that really what was meant?

64. Currywurst nope

65. Durian -I will try it as long as it does not smell like Whit's stinky socks. Oh it does? Well maybe if I just plug my nose.

66. Frogs' legs -As George Carlin once pointed out "What do they do with the rest of the Frog?"

67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake -I just had one of these last month at a festival in town.

68. Haggis -No thanks.

69. Fried plantain -delicious if done right. gross if done wrong. dangerous food.

70. Chitterlings or andouilette -seriously, stuffed intestines!

71. Gazpacho -Sounds delicious. I will be trying this one soon.

72. Caviar and blini -tiny fish eggs are creepy.

73. Louche absinthe -worth trying although the hallucinogenic quality may be interesting

74. Gjetost or brunost -Cheese

75. Roadkill -seriously?

76. Baijiu -ummm. liquor.

77. Hostess Fruit Pie -gross

78. Snail -not the ones from the garden I hope.

79. Lapsang souchong -I love tea.

80. Bellini -I'll try that.

81. Tom yum -had me till fish sauce and raw shrimp.

82. Eggs Benedict - never liked the looks of this

83. Pocky -Yummy

84. Tasting menu at a three Michelin star restaurant -goose and duck liver is not my style.

85. Kobe beef -beef

86. Hare -I used to have a pet rabbit!

87. Goulash -another staple and I have even found a veg version!

88. Flowers - I might try that, depending on how it was presented

89. Horse -Horses are for loving, not for eating.

90. Criollo chocolate -Duh, It's chocolate. Of course I would try it.

91. Spam -gross

92. Soft shell crab -pass

93. Rose harissa -sure why not

94. Catfish -my mother loved it. I am not a fan

95. Mole poblano -who knows

96. Bagel and lox -cream cheese and smoke salmon. Yuko.

97. Lobster Thermidor -not

98. Polenta -very good stuff

99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee -I like coffe

100. Snake -sorry but always had a fondness for the live version

I think that we should come up with a vegetarian version of this list as most of this was a no-no for me. However it was a lot of fun to look all of this up and I did find a lot of new things to try. Thanks Mark!

Final Count:

Already tried--29

Won't try--50

Willing to try--21

Happy Training,

Love Jenn

Wagons and Falling, A short course in Reality

2008-08-28T11:33:00.002-04:00

Subtitled: My issues and a conversation ( but not in that order)

Whit: Are you going for a run today?
Me: I don't think so. I have way too much to do.
Whit: Like what?
Me: Well I have housework and homework and I wanted to watch this movie.
Whit: Ok then, I'll see you later.

Several hours later.

Whit: Did you get your homework done?
Me: Nope, I got distracted, but check out this thing that I found online. Isn't it cool?
Whit: That's great but I thought you had stuff to do?
Me: I did and I do and I will! I just needed a break.
Whit: Jenn, I love you but you are doing it again!
Me: DAMN!

I have issues. I know that I have them and when I am concentrating on them I can usually keep them from cropping up. Lately I am not doing so well. So shall we check the bullet points of my life for the indiscretions. Yes! Lets!

I have a tendency to not stick with things that I plan to do. Actually, I am discovering that the more structured I make my plans, the less likely I am to stick with them. I was doing great as long as it was a matter of choosing to go for my run each day, but as soon as I put it down on paper exactly what I wanted to do, it no longer worked. Not because I could not do it or because the plan was unreasonable, but because for some reason I don't do well with structure. This is a frustrating problem because I am so totally anal retentive about order and structure. I love making plans and lists, just don't expect me to follow them. I know that I need them because otherwise I don't push myself the way I need to in order to see the results that I want, but doing what is good for me has never been my forte.
I get stressed out a lot. Lately I have had tons of homework to tackle, family and friend obligations, money issues, car issues that revolve around money issues, can't find a job issues, and don't have time or finances for a little ego centric time issues. This has caused two things in my life, one is that the more I have to get done or deal with, the less I actually accomplish at the end of the day. The other thing is that I have reverted back to an old habit that I was hoping I had finally defeated. Escapism! I don't want to think about my life or the things that are going wrong so I escape into a book or a game or something, only to emerge hours later having successfully avoided the things I had planned for the day. I always think to myself " I will just sit for a minute and read then I will get stuff done" but I am only fooling myself, and I know it.
All of this lovely stress has brought on another of my arch nemesis', the cigarette! I quit several months ago and was doing really well until recently. Stress is my biggest trigger for smoking and I know it. I have defeated the habit of smoking but I have not managed my trigger well enough to stop me from lighting up when things get rough.
I am frustrated with myself, I am falling back into the arms of my old companion, depression and I go way back. In some ways it's comforting because I know what to expect when I am with depression, it holds me tight and doesn't let anything get in. However I don't want to be here anymore, I don't want to be held down. My eyes are open and I can see the surface of the ocean that I am drowning in, and I want that air so badly, but my old friend depression just holds me tighter as I struggle. I kick and scream and twist and fight, but for a while it feels like I am not accomplishing anything. I watch as the surface gets farther and farther away. I reach up my hand toward the blue sky above and start to pray for help.
I always get rescued somehow. God is there watching out for me. Even when I am wrapped up in depression I know he is there. So why do I keep falling if I know that he is there for me? Why don't I go to him before my face goes below the water?

These are my issues. They can be very overwhelming, and I often succumb to them. This month has been a very busy one and I have had little time for anything but homework. I want to get a weekend job but I don't want to tell my friends and family that I can't attend their events. My best friend is getting married next weekend. My grandma has planned a family reunion for the first time in 20 years for two weeks after the wedding. We have to travel a long distance for everything these days and it's expected that we will just magically come up with the time and money to make these trips, however no one else wants to take the time or spend the money to come to us for a change. I am always inviting both of our family's and our friends to come up to see us, and I always get a "sure we will do that some time" but then they never do. They all make a hell of a lot more money than Whit does but yet it's too much for them to make the trip. These same people would get very offended if at least one of us didn't show up to their events. I actually have a friend who calls and complains to me that she never sees me anymore and when am I going to come visit HER! I have lived here for over a year now and she has never been to my apartment. I went to her wedding last year and whenever I am in town I try to stop in to her work to say hi.

Sorry folks, I got off track. As you can see I am feeling pretty upset and trapped right now. I totally forgot where I was going with this post so I am going to stop now.

I think I mostly wanted to say that I was going to get back into training starting this weekend after a two week hyatis. I will post more about that another time.

Jenn

Short Update

2008-08-14T00:42:00.002-04:00

Skipped the walk today but did the push ups and the upper body workout. Sorry this is short but I have a lot of stuff coming up that is requiring more and more of my attention. Remind me to ask this guy where he got his clones! I need me some of them.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Slacker

2008-08-12T14:17:00.004-04:00

We where so busy yesterday that I didn't get a workout in at all. Oops!

I was pretty lax about my workout this weekend too, what with the start of Olympics and all. I really have to be careful about spending so much time watching the athletes and not enough time becoming one myself.

Today I was back on track. We went for a 2.47 mile interval run today. Then it was home for last nights push ups and then my lower body workout. We got off course with the push ups too so we started over with Wk 1 D1. I will have to modify the spreadsheet to show this little set back.

Our run today was pretty good. We drove out to a parking lot about a mile or so from the Bay Recreation area visitors center. We took the mile long trail to the visitors center, went around a monarch preserve, then headed back to the car. I ran for a good portion of the way and our time was 48 minutes. Yet again at a 3 mph pace. I am looking forward to hitting a 4 mph pace someday.

On the way home from the run we stopped to get our CSA box and a couple of home made blueberry muffins from the farmers wife. Total cost for 2 muffins and a loaded box, 16.75. Not bad considering all that comes in the box. Here is what we got:
4 big Yukon Gold Potatoes
5 small yellow squash
3 zucchini
2 garlic bulbs
1 purple pepper
1 green pepper
4 sweet banana peppers
1 bunch small beets
1 large red onion
1 small bag basil
1 bunch of chives
1 bag broccolli
1 bag baby romaines

We are really loving this CSA thing. It is forcing me to be creative in my cooking in order to be able to use it all and I know that it's organically grown from heritage seeds. That knowledge gives me a sense of comfort in what I am putting into my body.

Back to the workout, when we got back we did the push ups and the plank (20 seconds for me and 30 for Whit). Then I convinced Whit that he should do my lower body workout with me. He said he worked muscles today that he has never worked before. I just had to laugh. He is so cute.

The only problem I had today was that my shins started bothering me on the way back from the park. This issue with my shins is driving me crazy!

On a good note though, I double bagged the boobies and that seemed to help my back a lot. Also my friend over at L.A. Daze found some sports bra's at her womens running store that might work for me. This one is called the Moving Comfort Maia Bra. It is moisture wicking and breathable which are both good things when the sisters are big enough to have their own zip code. lol.

Well, back to the Olympics!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

I love the Olympics!

2008-08-10T23:12:00.002-04:00

No time to blog.

I am watching the Olympics.

I love it.

All of these amazing athletes competing to be the best in the world.

Amazing!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Our Anniversary and a Gloomy Day

2008-08-09T15:24:00.002-04:00

Last night we celebrated the second anniversary of our first date. We went to dinner at the local chinese restaurant, then came home to a couple of bottles of Piesporter Michelsberg and some rented movies. We had a lot of fun and got pretty tipsy as we finished both bottles in 4 hours. This was a special night for us because we don't get to live it up like that these days. Money is short and getting shorter. However we enjoy each others company and even if we couldn't have gone out or had wine we would have had a good evening.

I know that one day we will look back on these times and remember them with an edge of nastalgia. Time does that you know. As the years pass by, time is busy coloring everything in our past with a hint of peace and joy that we don't always notice at first. It is so hard to remember to stop and appreciate the things that are happening right now, but time makes it a pretty picture anyways. Something we will always have to look back on and remember.

As for training, as you can see on my schedule I was supposed to get in a run today. However, it has been raining all day, and our power even went out for a couple of hours.

I was going to wait it out and run when the sun comes out again but that darn sun is not showing any signs of making an appearance today so I am going to do the Leslie Sansone video again. Today is also upper body day and we have to get our push ups in as last night we where a little to tipsy to workout.

Other than that today is all about cleaning house and cooking my man a nice meal. We shall call it anniversary day 2. Although I think the picture would be more accurate like this.

Roseanne, My favorite domestic goddess!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Arrrr... A Pirate's Wife She Be!

2008-08-08T18:02:00.004-04:00

That's right folks, I am going to a pirate wedding. Color Me Excited! I have always wanted to be a pirate. Well this is the next best thing!

Just one problem, now I have to come up with a costume?!? Luckily my lovely friends have links on their wedding website for some pirate themed clothes online. I decided to go with a full costume because it will be cheaper and I can always use it for their baby showers. lol. Just kidding.

Seriously, I want to look the part when my friends get hitched but I can't decide between these three costumes. Help! What do ya'll think? Emmy? Dave? It's your wedding so you had better at least chime in!

Royal Lady Pirate

36.99 not including the boots or the sword.

Ruby the Pirate Beauty

36.99 not including boots and sword.

Just another Female Pirate

48.99 not including sword.

I think I can get a plastic sword from the good will or salvation army so no worries there. If nothing else I am sure that walmart will have something. As for the boots, I don't know if I am going to buy some or just wear my cool heals that would almost match. We shall see, but I am definitely thinking along the lines of an eye patch. Just because I may never get another chance to wear one.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Edited to say: I just noticed that at the bottom of the costume page it says that not dressing up will get me flogged?!?! I don't know exactly what that is but it sounds like fun! So if we can't decide on a costume I'll wear something to be flogged in!

Thanks Laura!

2008-08-07T17:19:00.002-04:00

Laura has a spreadsheet of all the races she is wanting to run on her blog. I thought this was a great idea and decided to apply it to my training. This will be a visible way of showing my planned training and my actual accomplished training. So I made one which you can find here. I will also have it linked to my calendar at the top of the page so that you can see how I am doing anytime by clicking the calendar. This will give me motivation to keep going because you all will be able to see what I am doing. Some people have worried that I am doing to much but if you look at the chart I really am not working out for more than 45 minutes most days and EVERYTHING is alternating to avoid burnout and injury.

From time to time I will also change things up a bit or put in a rest day if I really feel that my body needs one. I will try however to plan these out at least a day in advance so that I am not just being lazy. For instance I am going to rest from my scheduled walk tomorrow because of my sore back. I will still be doing my strength workout and push ups however and those results will be listed.

Hanging In There

2008-08-07T12:21:00.003-04:00

My run today was not as good as tuesdays. I didn't go as far due to my lower back hurting. I did make it through 1.24 miles in 25 minutes which is still about 3 miles per hour. At least I am consistent right.

I had a walk scheduled for tomorrow but I think I am going to take a rest day instead. If I don't I am going to hurt myself, and I don't want that to happen because I have a running date in November with Mary that I intend to keep.

I was thinking today that maybe doubling up on the bra's might help my back some. Big boob's are no fun. They move around a lot when I am walking and running and I am sure that cannot be good for them or my poor back. I will make an attempt at double bagging on Saturday when I run to see if that helps.

Our push ups last night got pushed to this morning because we forgot. We both did really well actually. We didn't get the plank in because we were pretty sore from push ups but we did get all of the push ups in, so no worries right.

My leg workout today is going to be strictly inner and outer thighs because everything else is worked in my running and walking program. This should only take me about 5 minutes or so then it's time to run errands. Yeah!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

She works hard for the runnin'... So hard for it honey!

2008-08-06T14:40:00.002-04:00

Today was a walk and upper body day. My walk was not as far as I was planning, just 1.4 instead of 2 miles. I would have gone farther but my lower back was bothering me a bit and I didn't want to push it cause I want to run tomorrow. I think the problem is that my core is not very strong. I carry a lot of my weight on my belly and my abs just can't hold it up as well as I need them too. I am working on this but it's gonna take a while. I am aware of this and content with it. I did however get in a strong, fast 1.4 miles (fast for me). I did it in 28 minutes which puts my pace at 3 mile per hour. Yep that's the same pace as my running was yesterday. I am very happy with that. My heart rate stayed up around 131 which is a nice fat burning hr for me. I am not upset about the lack of distance either because I know that I worked hard and the distance and time is secondary to how I feel when my workout is over. I FEEL GREAT!

Tonight is Day 2 of Week 1 of the pushup challenge. Xenia's post today inspired me to add the plank to the end of the push ups for core strength. I will let you all know how that goes, I have never been able to pull off a successful plank for more than a few seconds and post pushups will probably affect that time. Oh well! I am really looking forward to seeing if Whit can do it.

hehehe

Is it terrible that I am enjoying this competition with him so much? He is still kicking my butt however, and I think I like it!

(Sorry Mary! Love Ya)

Yeah, I know, I need help.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Visiting a Neighbor Friend.

2008-08-06T11:42:00.005-04:00

I was over reading MizFits blog today and although I won't go into all of it here, since you can read it yourselves here, I will say that I am always amazed by how few people seem to know the definition of health. This is the third time I have come across this in the last two days. I too was shocked when I first read it. I thought at first that I had read it wrong, then I thought the text book was wrong. This lead me to researching the word Health. Sure enough the text book was correct and I had a new outlook on life. The definition is:

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

I am not making this up, google it for yourself. I read all the definitions for health on the first five pages and most of them were some form of the same. The above definition is from Wiki but it was originally from the World Health Organization (WHO).

This definition really got me thinking about what I was putting myself through in the name of "health". I always say that I just want to be "healthy" but I was working out so much and counting calories so strictly that not only was I not seeing results anymore, I was driving myself crazy and avoiding my friends.

Was I eating right? Yes
Exercising? Yes
Sleeping? Yes
Healthy? Absolutely not!

This seemed a little redundant to me. I was doing all of this work for my health yet I was less healthy than before I started. Plus I was not seeing the results I wanted and this was causing me to be more and more strict with myself. In turn my Health was getting worse! So why was I doing this? What was the point when the act was detrimental to the results I was after?

I was unable to answer those questions to my own satisfaction so I went to the other extreme. I quit eating right, quit exercising, quit sleeping (very nearly anyways) and started hanging out with my friends and partying and drinking and having fun. Pizza? sure. Ice Cream? I scream. Pass me another cold one will ya? Thanks a million!

Recently I came across the definition of health again (think the universe was speaking to me?) and realized that yet again I was goofing it up. Sure, my social well-being was great. I had lots of friends whom I saw all the time and I was having fun. Mental well-being was alright mostly. Physical well-being however was bad. Very bad!

Balance is another important word. Homeostasis is the balance of life. This definition at Wiki is:

Homeostasis (from Greek: ὅμος, hómos, "equal"; and ιστημι, istēmi, "to stand" lit. "to stand equally"; coined by Walter Bradford Cannon) is the property of either an open system or a closed system, especially a living organism, that regulates its internal environment so as to maintain a stable, constant condition.

Balance!

So I guess you could say that I was unbalanced! (Insert joke and laughter here)

Now days I am working on Balance and Health so that I can have Homeostasis. I work out, but not to the point that I do nothing else. I hang out with friends, but not to the exclusion of everything else in my life. I spend time alone, for mental health and clarity. I am happy, healthy, and balanced (some might still argue). Finally!

MizFit said she was working on being "the person my dog thinks I am".

My dog loves me! She thinks I am the person who is kind and gentle, who takes her for walks and runs, who plays with her at the park and in the living room, who pets her while I read quietly, who takes her to my friends and family to show her off and let her play with others too.

My dog loves me because I am healthy!

I can deal with that.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

427 calories in 33 minutes!!!!

2008-08-05T14:26:00.002-04:00

That's right folks. I am so proud of myself. I went out there and ran most of a 1.66 mile loop in my neighborhood. That may not sound like much for some of you but that is the fastest I have ever done that distance. I probably ran for almost a mile of that distance (with walking intervals), which puts me just a little closer to my goal of running for a mile straight. Whit is almost as proud as I am. He had to work it a little to keep up with ME! And you know what else? I feel so good right now. My legs are limber and warm and my breathing is deep and slow. I feel like I could go out there and do it again. I really like this runners high thing.

SWEET!!

or should I say SWEAT!!

My cloths are soaked in sweat and my hair is so wet that you would think that I had just gotten out of the shower. But that's ok because I just burned 427 calories in 33 minutes!!!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

The Calendar and Blog Changes!

2008-08-05T01:10:00.004-04:00

Changed to a new blog template out of boredom.

The calendar shows how my workouts will break down. However you can't actually see it, too small. hehehe. Sorry.

So here is the deal. Days that I don't get in my workout will have a red circle, Days that I only get in part of the workout will get just one slash, Days that I get it all in will get the cross, and days that I get in the pushups with get a heart or something. I will have to think about it. Wish I could have figured out how to make it more visible. Ugh.

Work, Work, Work!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Good grades, lotsa water, and pushups!

2008-08-05T00:08:00.002-04:00

Ok, first of all, my grades came in today for last mod and I am averaging 95.5. Would have done better actually but had a bad test in there. Oh well, I am totally happy with this because it's still an A and I was a little worried about that last week.

Second, I did the bracelet thing today and it totally worked. I had on eleven bracelets and am working on my 13th glass of water. Yikes! Thanks MizFit.

Also Whit and I did day one of the pushups tonight. I thought I was going to struggle more than I did but seeing as I only had to do 2 pushups for most of the sets I should not have been too worried. I decided to do knee pushups because I cannot yet do the regular ones. Whit on the other hand was really struggling with his. He whipped out that 31 the other night and I thought I was done for but tonight he was getting tired by the second set of 10. We both made it to the end however and I am looking forward to seeing what the next few weeks have in store for us. It should be fun.

Finally, I thought a lot about it today and have decided that I am not going to use the build a video after today. It was cool learning some new moves but I think I will do better if I go back to picking the exercises myself. I like to work all of the muscles in the group to near fatigue and I don't feel like I accomplished this today. Yes my quads where screaming by the end but the rest of my lower body was still more than ready to keep going. I may still use some of these new moves I have learned but I will definitly be incorporating them into my own routine. I will try to work something out that I can post or at least link to. We shall see.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

"I like to Move It, Move It!"

2008-08-04T13:44:00.002-04:00

My workouts went pretty good today. I was supposed to do two 30 minute walks outside today, however it was threatening rain. So instead of doing my outdoors walking I did a Leslie Sansone "Walk at Home" video. She is annoying, but she works my butt off for 45 minute intervals. I did a "3" mile walk today and my heart rate was almost as high as when I am jogging outside. I don't really understand why because jogging takes more out of me, but I can sustain the higher levels of heart rate longer with the "walk" videos. This is still a last minute resort but it is working out to be a good alternative as well.

As for my strength training, today was lower body day. I decided to cut that down to just 15 minutes instead of 30 like I had planned because I really don't want to burn out. I want to be able to keep this up for the long haul. As the MizFit's are saying "Consistency is the key".

Also I have decide to do the bracelet thing to remind me to drink all of my 10 glasses of water (because I sweat like a pig and need the extra hydration). I have a bunch of really cute rubber bracelets in pink and black that don't match anything I own anymore because I have not worn them in ten years. They will work perfectly, and when people ask about them, (which I am sure they will) I can explain the theory and pass it on. Just one more thing on my list. *sigh*

Whit and I are not doing the push ups till after I get home from class tonight. The reason for this is that is often the only time we spend together these days and this is a "we" thing. Therefore I will post how we did tomorrow.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

P.S. I was struggling to figure out why my mouse was not working, I was moving it but to no avail. Then I realized that my cell phone and mouse where sitting side by side and it was not the mouse that I was holding.

Sometimes I am so blonde!

One more thing...

2008-08-04T00:31:00.003-04:00

On top of everything else I am taking on these day, I decided that it would be fun for Whit and I to do the 100 push ups challenge. Currently I can't even do one with correct form, while Whit was able to do 31. Some days I just don't know what to do with him. Not only is he in better shape than me and taller and thinner than me but he can also eat everything in sight and not even gain an ounce while just looking at a bowl of fat-free, sugar-free, taste-free frozen yogurt causes a 5 pound weight gain to my hips and thighs. However, I am working on that. Tomorrow I start my plan in full force and my goals for the month are:

1: Walk/Jog/Run at least 60 miles.
2: Work out daily.
3: Get a job.
4: Eat the fruits and veggies from the CSA box before they go bad.

One and two I at least have total control over, number three is up to the gods of Monster.com. I do have some leads and I am passing out my resume like tootsie rolls to trick or treaters (want it or not, that's what you get). Number four will take some skilled planning but I think it's achievable.

more cat pictures

I am a little behind on goal number one actually because Mother Nature decided it was a good time to throw me a curve ball. I have been cranky and sore for the last week, with no signs of stopping soon, but I am determined to work through it. I can and will reach most of my goals this month.

Now if only those gods would take a liking to me, then life would be all rose gardens.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

I have discovered "icanhascheezburger"...

2008-08-02T15:44:00.004-04:00

...and have waisted the better part of the day laughing at the pics. Sad, but true. This one is for Whit!

more cat pictures

Celebrations and Looking Forward.

2008-07-31T22:44:00.003-04:00

A couple of the girls from my classes had their last class tonight. They start their externships next week and then they are done with the program. We all went out to celebrate tonight. We went to a bar and had a few drinks and toasted their success. It really got me thinking about the fact that I tend to make friends very unexpectedly. I am going to miss them, and in two months it will be my turn and I am going to be saying goodbye to my classmates and moving on. Weird that until tonight I didn't really think that it would bother me as much as it is. As humans we tend to get into a pattern and get comfortable with things being as they are, and often we don't notice how comfortable we have made our surroundings until something changes. It will be strange in two months when I no longer have to be in class every evening. I am going to miss my instructors and my classmates. I am going to miss the homework even. (Yes I know that is really pathetic but that is what you get when you know me) In some ways I am so excited for my chance to be toasted. I can't wait until we go to a bar and have a few drinks and say goodbye to friends. However there is a part of me that is not ready to say goodbye. So I will probably keep in touch with most of them. I know I will keep in touch with some of them. Somehow I am becoming a reluctant part of this place, even though I really tried not to. It will be hard when it comes time for us to move again. I really hope that this next move is one of the last. It seems tha tall of my life has been spent loading and unloading a moving van and all I really want is to settle.

Ok enough rambling. Due to the fact that I went out drinking tonight and will be doing the same tomorrow, I have decided not to start my training program for the "OH S**T, I'm turning thirty" list until sunday. I am however starting to feel the anxiousness of getting prepaired for something big. I am going to be looking for a 5K, 10K and half to sign up for and also get the deets for the Grand Island Marathon. I figure if I can schedule them roughly every three months then I will have plenty of time for training in between. Hopefully. Last night I got the question of, " What happens if you can't do it by then?" And the answer is then I won't. I am not looking to have the best time in the world right now I am just looking to finish. I want to be able to look back and say " I planned it, I worked for it and I did it!" I don't think this is too much to ask of myself. Even if I am the last person to cross that finish line I will be proud of myself for finishing it. I will be happy that I was able to do something that I never thought I would be able to do. Am I really being unreasonable guys? Am I setting my goals to high? Feedback needed! You were all beginners once yourselves, how long did you run before your first marathon, and when do you think you could have safely finished it even if you couldn't run the whole thing? If it is really unsafe then I can change my goals, but if there is a possibility of my being able to do this then I want to try.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Exciting News....

2008-07-30T23:33:00.002-04:00

Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince is on it's way in November. I am about jumping out of my seat with joy and anticipation. Is it sad that I love these movies so much? You can watch the trailer here.

I am just hoping that my mother in law will agree to be my date again. Well Mary? What do you think?

If Mary can't come with me then I may try to find a Potter Marathon and be a total Potter Loser. In the mean time I wanted to do something in honor of the Harry Potter Movies so I will tell you my favorite part from each movie.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Wizards Chess.
I love to play chess with Whit but I think that if the pieces could actually kill me it might make me think twice about playing.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The Flying Ford.
Because who wouldn't love a flying car when they are stuck in traffic (or just for the Heck of it).

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

When Hermione takes on Draco
All I can say is Girl Power!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Ron's dress robes.
Nothing more really needs to be said.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Loony Luna Lovegood.
I didn't like the movie but I love loony people.

Only two more movies to go. I am so excited about the Half Blood Prince. The buzz is that it will be way better than the last one (which I thought was not well done--but that is a whole other post). I am looking forward to adding another favorite to this list in November.

Until then you will just have to listen to all my other rambling on about fitness and food and stuff.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Goals? Goals. Goals!

2008-07-30T21:35:00.002-04:00

I have been reading a lot lately about setting goals to help you stay motivated. One of them suggested that you pick a milestone in your life and work all your short term goals so they lead up to that. Well I didn't do that totally because that would not be me but I did take something from the article (and some things from other articles as well as my fellow bloggers). So here are my goals, starting with the milestone.

Big Milestone Goal
My 30th birthday, January 23, 2010.

I really wanted to make my goal the Nike Womens Marathon for the following reasons that I found via Runners World.

1. Way cool to run with all women in such a beautiful atmosphere.
2. Would really be a good challenge.
3. Hello... Tiffany and Co. Necklace!

However, I don't think I could make it to a marathon that is all the way on the other side of the country, much as I would like to. So my goal is to run the:

Grand Island Trail Marathon
Where: Grand Island, Michigan
When: July 26
Age of Race: Running since 2005
Highlights: Hills, Trail, Rural, Great Foods, Cool Schwag

Reasons being:
1. Beautiful.
2. I am a Michiganian and have never been to Grand Island. ( I know... I am so ashamed)
3. The mix of hills and trails will make it technically challenging.
4. It's pretty close to home.
5. I have almost exactly one year to build up to this.

Small Goals Checklist.

1. Run for one whole mile without stopping.
2. Run a 5K in under 45 minutes. (this will be major for me)
3. Run a 10K.
4. Run a half Marathon.
5. Run the Mackinac Bridge.
6. Kayak at the Pictured Rocks.
7. Run the entire rail trail loop here in Bay City.
8. Weigh less than 200 lbs.
9. Sky Dive.
10. Take Tai Kwon Do Lessons.
11. Learn to drive a stick shift vehicle. (never have learned because I am afraid of breaking someone's car)
12. Log 1000 miles of running before the big 3-0.
13. Learn to Ski.

These are not necessarily in order of how I want to complete them except maybe the running ones. Also I reserve the right to add to or change this list if the need arises, but for the moment these are my goals that I want to accomplish on my way to 30. Feel free to leave goal suggestions in my comments (I may or may not take them but I appreciate the thought). I will keep you all update on my progress of course.

Here's to turning 30!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

My Build a Workout Videos and My Virtual Model

2008-07-30T13:12:00.012-04:00

This is my plan for the week to incorporate strength training and yoga into my walking and jogging routine.

Monday and Thursday

30 minute lower body workout

Tuesday and Friday

Abs and lower back workout, time unknown

Wednesday and Saturday

30 minute upper body workout

Sunday +

Morning Coffee workout (once through) and sunday yogathon (4x's through)

All Day, Every Day

Yoga at my Desk (pick me up all day)

My walking and jogging routine is going to be:
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday-- 30 minute walk and 30 minute walk after work.
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday--30 minute walk and 30 minute walk/jog intervals after work.
Sunday-- Long walk

This plan should allow me to incorporate fitness into my future office job by doing the sun salutation and 30 minutes of strength training in the morning and doing the 30 minute walks during my lunch hour then finishing up the day with either a 30 minute walk or walk/jog interval. I will do the 5 minute yoga at my desk throughout the day to stay limber, energized and focused. Sunday will be the long workout day with almost an hour of sun salutations followed by a long walk.

I know this sounds like a lot but if I can incorporate this into my day it will keep it manageable and I will still have plenty of time in the evening to prepare meals and relax with Whit. At least I will have time in the evenings after I am done with school. Just two months to go on that. Then I can really start to go from this:

To This:

If that isn't motivating then I don't know what will be. It is kinda cool to use this program to track weight loss actually because then you can see a somewhat accurate image of yourself. Everyone should go check it out.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Check this out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-07-29T10:59:00.001-04:00

Food and Exercise... Yea!

2008-07-26T18:22:00.003-04:00

Last night I spent some time looking up yummy recipes for my new Black & Decker rice cooker with steamer basket. Unfortunately I really didn't find much so I can see that I will have to come up with my own recipes. What I did end up making last night was brown rice and steamed green beans, purple beans, and baby carrots with olive oil, garlic and oregano. I also made us each a salad of fresh green leaf and red leaf lettuce and sliced tomatoes with Italian dressing for me and good old ranch for Whit. I also baked fish for the first time in my life (and it came out perfectly according to Whit) with garlic butter sauce. I didn't eat any of that obviously but I hardly noticed as I was stuffed with veggies and rice. Besides the wine was putting me in too good of a mood to be upset about not having meat. Riesling, how I love the. ( I will have to post the story of how I came to love wine another time.)

After dinner we went for a long walk with Butter and I have to say that evening after dinner walks are amazingly revitalizing. I didn't break any speed or distance records or anything but we had a good time (Thanks for the suggestion Crabby).

When we got home an hour and 2.2 miles later we had some strawberry shortcake. Yummy! The only way it would have been better is if I made the shortcakes myself but alas I totally flaked and got the desert shells at the store. Otherwise the evening could not have been better.

I am not cooking much tonight. Maybe just a salad and some of that sweet corn I got at the farmers market. Whit has left over goulash to finish up so I am not making anything for him and I am not all that hungry so a lite salad sounds good to me. Maybe some of that cantaloupe as well. We shall see.

On a training note I have not been posting my training sessions because I would not really consider them as such (mostly just short walks with Butter), however I have been asked repeatedly how my training is going so I figured I had better post something. I am going to change the format of my training post because most of you really only want to know if I exercised or not, what I did, and how far I went. All the other info I have been giving is mostly just important to me. So here is the new training report.

Training:
Last night I walked for 2.2 miles. Slower paced and took about 55 minutes.
Today I did a 45 minute strength training workout (more on that in a minute) and walked 1.3 miles. Moderate paced and took about 24 minutes.

I wanted to tell everyone about something that I found this morning in my email. I discovered this. Fitness magazine has an online build your own workout video thing. That is what I did this morning and it was so fun. There are moves on this program that I have never heard of before and you can do a slightly different workout every day if you want, or do the same one over and over by saving it and capturing the link. I actually did a pre programed workout because I liked the moves on it. So everyone please check it out if for no other reason than to add some new moves to your old routine.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

THIEF!!!!!

2008-07-24T15:10:00.002-04:00

I just made out like a bandit at the farmers market! I spent 35 bucks and got a weeks worth or more of groceries! Plus I talked to a farmer there who is starting a CSA here and his shares come out to about 14 dollars a week for a huge box of veggies. I am so excited! Today I got a dozen ears of corn, two big acorn squash's, a bushel of tomatoes, a head each of green and red leaf lettuce, a bushel of purple potatoes, a quart of purple beans, a cantaloupe, blueberries, a jar of real fresh honey, a fresh loaf of chocolate bread, and some ginger snap cookies. The last two items where not really veggies but they looked so good and I wanted to buy a little something from all of the farmers there. I really believe in supporting local growers and organic growing practices. However I could only take home so many veggies without fear of rot so I got goodies too. Probably not vegan of me but hey it's a start and if I don't think about the ingredients I will be able to have a nibble I think. Yummy! Mostly the goodies are for Whit. He loves goodies! I got the purple beans and potatoes purely out of fascination! I had a purple pepper on tuesday and it was really good so I figured what the heck!

There are a lot of exclamation points in the post. Can you tell that I am excited?

Well I am off to wash some lettuce for a salad. Have a great one.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

For Alice!

2008-07-24T12:25:00.002-04:00

This is a recipe we found for our chicken pot pie crust that turned out delicious. Should only take about 30 minutes to cook or until golden brown. I like to cut slits in the top crust for venting which gives it a nice old country farm look!

Ingredients

1 cup organic whole wheat flour
1 cup organic all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons organic butter, chilled
3 tablespoons shortening
6 tablespoons ice water
2 teaspoons organic lemon juice

Directions

Combine flours and salt in a bowl.
Cut butter into small pieces and add to bowl with shortening. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut butter and shortening into flour mixture until you achieve a grainy coarse appearance.
Combine water and lemon juice, then slowly add to flour mixture as you toss gently with a fork until moist. Do not over mix.
Press mixture into a ball, cover completely with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350º. Cooking time will vary depending on what you're using it for.
Roll dough on lightly floured surface.
Makes top and bottom crust for a 9" pie or bottom only for a 13x9 sized dish for chicken pot pie or something of that sort.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

I never thought I would say this but...

2008-07-24T10:53:00.005-04:00

I think I am going Vegan! Yeah I said it.

I have been reading Skinny Bitch a little at a time and last night I got to the chapters on meat and dairy. I almost threw up. It's not that any of the information was new to me. I knew about all that stuff already but the way it was presented is what did it.

I had just finished eating this lovely ghoulash that I had made with turkey burger and whole wheat pasta and a sauce made from fresh veggies and cheese, with a side of baked acorn squash. It was delicious... until I read this book. Just thinking about what is in my fridge right now is making me want to puke. I really do have a weak stomach. When I got up this morning I had no idea what I was going to eat because I usually have cereal and milk. No way was that happening today. I settled for oatmeal.

Today I am going to the farmers market to pick up some more fresh veggies and ask about a co-op or CSA in the area. I had intended to do this anyways but now I am more motivated to get as much plant based food in my house as possible. I also need to find a steamer on the cheap cause I love steamed veggies but usually am forced to boil due to lack of equipment. Ugh!

The hard part of this is not going to be giving up meat so much because I don't eat a lot of meat anyways, but I will have trouble with the dairy part because I love milk and cheese and although you can get a decent soy milk I have yet to find a good vegan cheese that I could not only cook with but is also good enough to just eat! Any one know of any? I am taking suggestions!

Also I just got the news last night that Estelle Getty has died. I just loved that woman. I don't think I ever saw her in a roll that she didn't do well! Of course my favorite was the Golden Girls, but she really was an all around amazing actress. I am wishing I had cable because I am sure there are lots of Golden Girls marathons this week that I am missing.

Rest In Peace! You will be remembered.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Easily Amused...

2008-07-23T00:15:00.009-04:00

Really I am. For instance I was reading this blog and she mentioned this website. So I went to check it out because I link love. I was so fascinated by the cursor on the home page that I didn't actually look at the products for like 20 minutes or so ( try it J-Money, you'll love it) and that is when I discovered that the top of every page has this amazing cursor! Whit started picking on me after I had been playing with it for quite some time and so of course I decided to blog it. I am such a looser. lol.

Also I have been reading a lot of blogs about kettlebells recently and have looked up a gym in my area that actually has classes. I was looking for a gym anyways because I really can't take the heat, and this one sounds great.

I have been trying to get out and continue my walk/jog/run program but I am not able to be out long before the humidity causes breathing problems. No income means no doctors visits though so I am just doing the best that I can. When I start work next month at the audiology office I am going to look into getting a membership here. Then I will be able to work out indoors and the humidity won't be an issue. So stay tuned everybody. Maybe some day I might be as hard core as these people.

Or Not!!!! ;-}

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

P.S. To MizFit... Now can I win the kettlebells? Please?!?

P.P.S. I created a PicasaWeb Album that can be located here or by clicking on the Two Women Running picture on my side bar. If you click on Wayne you can see pictures of Whit's Alaska trip also. Enjoy

Sorry Ya'll... Bad Poetry Cometh!

2008-07-20T23:52:00.002-04:00

My Love

I never thought I would find it,
It was out of my reach.
I wasn't sure what it was,
How could I be sure with no one to teach.

I searched under rocks, around corners,
in big cities and small towns.
With the whole world at my feet
Nothings what I found.

So I gave up hope,
quit looking high and low.
Thats when I discovered it,
right under my nose.

A few words and a glance,
told me you were something special.
I found myself looking
for the chance to know more.

I asked for advice,
this was new territory for me.
I had to find out
if you felt it too,
but how to go about it,
only God knew.

I thought and I prayed
then I jumped right in.
I fell hard and fast
clear up to my chin.

It was great and simple
amazing and real.
But as the tide came in
I lost my footing and found fear.

I could not breath
I could not think
what to do now
I am lost and about to sink.

I look up and down
but nothing is there.
Did I imagine it
or does he really care.

Then I start to think
I can take it no more.
I think maybe this
is why I stayed on the shore.

I close my eyes tight
and tears join the water.
I open them again
and I see the father.

He calms me down
and soothes my fears.
He tells me that life
is not so bad to cause tears.

Then he smiles and turns
and behind him I see
My love standing, waiting
and watching over me.

He reaches a hand
past the father toward me.
Then my hand and the fathers
reach for him through the sea.

God says this is the one
true and important thing in this life.
Trust in each other
It will be all right.

Suddenly I can breath
and sunlight floods my face.
Me and my love
standing together in his grace.

July 19th, 2007
Love Jenn

Nerds and Guitars???

2008-07-15T16:02:00.003-04:00

What is it with nerds and rock guitars. Whit loves his axe's (not sure if that is correct grammar... Mary?) He has a Bass guitar and a rhythum or lead guitar and he plays them almost constantly when he is home alone. Last night when I got home from class he had taken a break from playing and found this video on YouTube... It's a guy playing keyboard that sounds like guitar. The kid is awesome actually and I totally intend to get his cd. Please check him out! Pay attention to his fingers as he plays, it's amazing!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Training, Day 16 and Accomplishments

2008-07-15T15:04:00.003-04:00

Chinese symbol for Accomplishment.

Just finished up my second turn on the Independence/Liberty Bridge Loop. I felt great! I was able to cut 7 minutes off of my previous time and I added a teeny bit of mileage to bring it closer to 4 miles. My legs didn't bother me hardly at all and I was able to get in two 30 second jog's at the end. I am so happy with my accomplishments for today!!!!!

YEA!!!!!!!

Now all I have to do is shave off ten more minutes from my time to reach my first goal of an hour and 15 minutes. Another 15 minutes shaved off would bring me to the next goal of 4 miles in 1 hour.

I'm the cute one in the rockin' head band.

In my heart I am jumping up and down with joy! I really don't know what else to say. I am too excited. So without further ado here are the numbers!!!!

Award for me!

Today's Stat's:

Walk/Jog with Whit and Butter
Jogged twice at 30 seconds each!
Medium/High effort.
3.98miles.
85Minutes.
400 Calories Burned.
116 minimum bpm.
125 average bpm.
154 maximum bpm.
280 run weight.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Training, Day 15 and Bridges

2008-07-14T15:27:00.006-04:00

Lord of the Loop's: The Two Bridges (Just another Pearl of Whitizm)

A pic of today's loop

I had a good workout today even though it was technically my off day. I was just not satisfied with the lack of mileage from yesterdays non-bike ride. We set out to just take Butter on a short walk and ended up on a 4 mile bridge loop. It was nice to get out and really give my legs a stretch and the shin splints aren't bothering me as much as they where last week so that is a good thing. I still had to stop and stretch a few times though which is probably what killed our time. Well that and trying to train Butter. She almost gets it by the end of each walk but the next one always starts off as a struggle again. I know she is smart and I really hope that she picks up this walking thing soon. I want to be able to take her on my runs but I can't do that efficiently the way she is now. Oh well.

Independence Bridge

I got some hills in today also via the bridges. I am going to keep doing this loop until I can do it in an hour and 15 mins. That is my new mini goal. Plus it brings me 4 miles closer to the elves every time I do this walk. Yea!!!!

Liberty Bridge

Today's Stat's:

Walk with Whit and Butter
Medium/High effort.
3.93miles.
92 Minutes.
393 Calories Burned.
104 minimum bpm.
117 average bpm.
130 maximum bpm.
280 run weight.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

AniMusic

2008-07-13T20:58:00.002-04:00

Ok this is the coolest thing I have seen in a while... It's called AniMusic!!!!

Happy Training,
Love Jenn

Training, Day 14-- Off road!

2008-07-13T17:18:00.003-04:00

No I didn't go trail running.

I didn't do any running today at all. Instead I spent 30 mins. on my stationary bike and worked up a mean sweat, but since the little display isn't working I can't tell you how far I "went" and since I forgot the heart rate monitor I can't tell you my min/avg/max, which means no calorie count. Today I will just have to be satisfied with the knowledge that I did it. LOL. Like that will satisfy me. I will have to go for a walk or something tonight so that I can log some sort of mileage. Otherwise I just don't feel right.

On another note, What do ya'll think of the page? And by Ya'll I mean the 2 people who actually read my babble.

Whit and I worked on it last night and he actually taught me some tech stuff with html. The real question is will I remember what I was taught when it comes time for me to use it again? The world may never know!

Today's Stat's:

Stationary Bike
Medium/High effort.
uhm...miles.
30 Minutes.
uhn...Calories Burned.
280 run weight.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn