Low Key To Prep For Thursday

I have my Army APFT Test Thursday so I'm taking it easy for the few days leading up to it.

But that's after my lazy Memorial Day Weekend.

I didn't do much, enjoying family, traveling, and playing with my son was my focus this weekend.

I did a low key workout today:

5 Minute Quick Pace Stationary Bike

20- P/U, S/U, Squats, Lunges

5 Minute Quick Pace Stationary Bike 20 Triceps, Biceps, Shoulder Raises

15- P/U, S/U, Squats, Lunges

5 Minute Quick Pace Stationary Bike 15 Triceps, Biceps, Shoulder Raises

10- P/U, S/U, Squats, Lunges

5 Minute Quick Pace Stationary Bike 10 Triceps, Biceps, Shoulder Raises

Trying to not get super nervous Thursday, but it's hard.  My nervousness sneaks up on me at random times. Eeek!!

I know that I won't make time, close, but with double workouts for my 2 week Annual Training I hope to make tape by 19June but if not definitely my goal is by 9July. By the end of the summer I hope to make under 200.

Keep on Keeping on!!

Almost 3 lbs down AND a Pant Size

That's right!! I am now officially down a pant size!! Wooohoo!!

Weigh in this morning 222.0!!

As I sit here eating a few Red Vines and Popcorn. It's Sunday night movie night at our house. Harumph, I do what I want.

Picture update....

Yep, new/old jeans. Pre-baby Jeans!!

Memorial Day/Heroes

 

While we are all enjoying the 3-4 day weekend with our family and friends I want to share a few facts about the federal holiday we are about to celebrate.

1. It was formerly known as Decoration Day
2. It commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service.
3. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War (it is celebrated near the day of reunification after the civil war).
4. It was expanded after WWI to include American casualties of any war or military action
5. A national moment of rememberance takes place at 3 p.m. Eastern time
6. Another tradition is to fly the flag at half-staff from dawn until noon local time
7. Members of the Veterans of Forein Wars takes donations for poppies in the days leading up to Memorial Day, the poppies significance is the result of John McCrae poem "In Flanders Fields"
8. Memorial Day formerly was observed on May 30. The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) advocate returning to this fixed date, although the significance of the date is tenuous. The VFW stated in a 2002 Memorial Day Address:
“ Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed a lot to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day."

I honestly didn't know that much about Memorial day until a few years ago and I feel better knowing that it's more than just a 3 day weekend. Take some time this weekend to visit a cemetery, maybe you know someone that gave their life for this country: friend, relative, comrade, stranger, and give a moment of silence for those individuals.

 

But also remember the other's in your life that you have lost, because it's about them too. It's time to spend with family and remember those we have lost.

 

While I'm on the honoring the fallen kick, here is a note I wrote a couple of years ago:

 

What is a hero to you? That is the question on one of the discussion board's here on facebook. I'm sitting in the BSU computer lab wasting time before my last final, and I came across the discussion board and was appalled at some of the things people were saying. Things like soldiers are child killers, drones, and they can't think for themselves. REALLY? Thousands of men and women have sacrificed their lives for the freedom's we enjoy! SERIOUSLY, people are going to diss the American Soldier for the few that choose to do the wrong thing and make us look bad.

Dictionary.com defines a Hero as:
–noun, plural -roes; for 5 also -ros.
1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.
2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child.
3. the principal male character in a story, play, film, etc.
4. Classical Mythology. a. a being of godlike prowess and beneficence who often came to be honored as a divinity.
b. (in the Homeric period) a warrior-chieftain of special strength, courage, or ability.
c. (in later antiquity) an immortal being; demigod.

To me a Hero is someone who puts other's needs in front of their own, not expecting anything in return. There is a word for that and I can't remember what the heck it is....someone help me out.

I remember now it's Altruism

 

My parent's are my heroes because they both went to school and worked full time jobs while raising the five of us. They sacrificed some of the good things in life to make sure that we were taken care of.

 

My Grandpa Brazier is my hero for serving in the Navy during WWII.

 

My Grandpa Parish is my hero for making the journey from Greece to American in search of something better.

 

The men and women who have lost their lives and been seriously injured are my heroes. Those men and women who have given up their lives to help other people out, to lay across a buddy's body to shield them from an explosive. Those are my hero's.

 

My fellow soldiers of the 116th who are away from their families.  Special attention to my friends from C Co 145th. You guys are doing an awesome job over there and I wish I was there with you.

 

I'm tired of people thinking that because they watch the news, read the newspapers, and are college educated, that they know what's going on. I hate to say it but unless you have experienced being away from your family in a place where the people are trying to kill you, you cannot understand what it's like. I've overheard people saying that soldiers can't think for themselves and that they are just in the military for the money, and I'm sick of it. Yeah I will admit that the college tuition and GI Bill are a great incentive but I like having done something with my life that will make a difference in other peoples. Like a police chief I met said; "you can't change the the whole world but you can make a world of difference in someones life." I can't say that everything thing we do over there is right and just but I believe that a lot of things we do make a difference.

 

I will always remember the 7 year old boy that I held during a MAV (medical assistance visit) who was seriously deformed, malnourished, and small for his age, I will remember that thanks that I got from his Mother for holding him and wiping the dirt off his face and giving him medicine for the cold that he had.

I've just rambled but I was just outraged by some of the things people say.

 

Today I want you to think to yourself, What is a hero? And whomever that is, thank them for whatever it is that makes them a hero to you.

 

I'll step off my soapbox for now.

 

Enjoy your weekend!!!!

Lil Man's Birth Story

WARNING:  SOME INFO IN THIS POST MAY BE TMI

ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK

I was recently prompted to share my story about my son's birth.

Ironically enough my water broke on my due date Wednesday, October 20th. This was after my appointment the day prior arranging my inducement date to be that Friday.

I had gone to work that day, working only about 6 or 7 hours as it was just uncomfy being in military uniform. I had gotten home, and was about to dig into a snack (I don't remember what it was) as I go to sit on the couch I felt a small gush. This was about 330. I waddled my way to the bathroom where I checked myself, and saw some clearish fluid.  Not sure what was going on (I had heard water breakage was much worse), I called my Mom into the room and asked her to look and tell me if she thought my water broke.  Indeed it had!

I proceeded to change into less wet clothes and call my husband, which he says he is still amazed to this day how calm I was, and tell him to come home we were having our baby.  I then finished my snack, because I heard that I wouldn't be allowed to eat, and I didn't know how long it would be before I could eat.  Lets face it I LOVE food.

We made it to the hospital about 430 and got checked in I kept leaking and the nurse checked and noticed a green tinge indicating meconium staining possibly. Still no contractions when I got to my room, so I walked around the hospital for about 2 hours to induce it.

I would say about 730-8 was when the contractions started, very fine at first and increase over the next couple of hours.

The problem between this time and the time I got my epidural about 1230-1 is that they couldn't monitor both the baby's heartbeat and my contractions, so I was manhandled so frequently it got REALLY annoying.

I was crazy you see, I told myself that I would wait until I was on the verge of tears or actually crying from the pain to get the epidural. Boy did I cry my little heart out. My Dad cried also, and it wasn't until after he came back in the room and I was in heaven that I found out he was upset because his little girl was in pain.  My Dad the big teddy bear with the heart of gold.

The funny part is at one point I'm in tears and the anesthesiologist is like ok be still. EXCUSE ME...YOU WANT ME TO HOLD STILL WHILE MY INSIDES FEEL LIKE THEY ARE PUSHING THEMSELVES OUT EVERY MINUTE AND A HALF FOR ABOUT 45 SECONDS?? With the help of my Mom I was able to hold still and get the epidural. About 5 minutes later Mom tells me I'm having a contraction and I'm like what contraction??

They were still having problems finding a good heartbeat, and I was getting worried. My nurse had finally found a spot that they could monitor both and told me not to move. I didn't until some random nurse came in and moved me. It went all downhill after that... I got moved around so much and it was making me nervous.  At one point they told me to get up on my hands and knees, just a reminder I had already had my epidural at this point, my doctor came in and he was amazed that I was able to do that. I'm not sure how I did it either.

Then they mentioned the C word, C-section was apparently inevitable, because at this point they still couldn't monitor both my contractions and his heartbeat.

I started hyperventilating at this point because I was seriously scared, this was the first hospital visit I had personally since I was born, so I was freaked about being opened up. They had let me eat a turkey sandwich at like 930, because I wasn't dilating quick enough so my Doctor gave the go-ahead. Well during my hyperventilating episode I almost vomited it back up again. My Mom and the Doctor got me calmed down and we got ready for the procedure.

I don't remember the whole thing because I kept dozing off.  What I do remember is the initial worry when they said Cole was out and I didn't hear him cry, followed by the sense of relief when I did. I remember being overwhelmed that I could not hold him. The other thing I remember is the doctor mentioning removal of my ovary (I had a cyst on the right side during my whole pregnancy, and it had pretty much decimated that ovary so they had to remove it, thankfully the cyst was benign).

I was in recovery and all I could think about was wanting to hold my son, and unfortunately I only got to seem him for about 10 minutes in the NICU then I was wheeled off to my room.

He had some respiratory problems at first but the main reason he was in the NICU was his blood sugar levels were way to low. He was there for about 4 days, and my doctor being the amazing person he was said I could stay an extra couple of days to be with him. It wasn't until I was able to start nursing him that his levels stayed at acceptable levels.

Thinking about the whole experience makes me emotional, but I also am very thankful to have him in my life and in such good health.  Spending time in the NICU does that, because all the other babies in there were so much sicker than my son was, and I felt lucky that he was just hypoglycemic.

The funniest thing about him being in the NICU was he was the biggest baby and the loudest.

He was 9lbs 1oz and 21 inches of pure joy!!

The hubby looking like a hottie in his scrubs

First Family picture

Cuddle time with baby and Momma 

Too many wires

Thanks for bearing with me for this incredibly long post.

Weekend Laziness

Did not workout this morning.  Have a lot to do at work and that hour I steal for a workout just couldn't be fit in. 

Heading to Poky this weekend for my sister's wedding, so nothing will get done later OR tomorrow. Will be doing housework and going for a walk on Sunday.  Trying to save up my energy for my PT test on Thursday.

Good news....I'm down another 2 lbs!!  222.6 this morning!! I will probably post a pic this weekend, most likely Sunday. Thinking about doing measurements, just so I know what to expect Thursday.

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend.

Three For Thursday

I do believe I love doing this. Makes me think and be creative, guess it gets those brain cells going. 
Thanks to Evelyn for the prompt.  I really didn't do it to win a prize but to get readers, but apparently I won last week, so I'm excited to see what I got.

Three Favorite Words:
1.  Family:  if anyone knows me they know that they are the most important thing in my life. And I do believe I have like 4 sets of family:  My normal/abnormal family, my in-laws, my Army Family, and my best friend/claimed brother's family because I see them almost as much as my own.
2.  Friends:  second most important thing in my life.
3.  Fabulous:  I hang out with drag queens sometimes.

Three Things that Won't be Allowed in Heaven:
1.  Tomatoes (they are so yucky)
2.  Reality TV. I hate it but sometimes can't tear myself away from the train wreck that is "Reality" TV.
3.  Ryan Seacrest (he is soooooooo freaking annoying)

Three Crafty Things I do:
1.  Cross stitch. I love it and I am pretty good at it.
2.  Photo Collages
3.  Baking (it's not entirely 'crafty' but that's all I'm good at.)

Three Things I swore I would NEVER do when I became a parent, but now find myself doing:

I have only been a parent for 7 months, so give me some time....

so I will replace it with:

Three People I Miss Terribly:

1.  My 5 brothers

2.  My Grandpa (who has been gone 2 years in June)

3.  My military buddies who are on deployment:  Josh (who is included in my brother post), Kristina, Kyle, Cameron and a few others

Three Favorite Quotes:

1.  "Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude."
-Thomas Jefferson

2.  "A person can't change the world but that person can make a world of difference in someone else's life"  ADA County Sheriff (can't remember his name)

3.  "The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. The trite subjects of human efforts, possessions, outward success, luxury have always seem to be contemptible" Albert Einstein

Three names I would never dream of giving my children:

1. Beatrice (Evelyn were you there when we talked about this at the Plasma center and I said I hated that name forgetting that was Betty's name???)

2. 

Three Things I plan to do for Memorial Day weekend:
1.  Be there next to my sister as she gets married

2.  Hang out with my family

3.  Visit Eagle Field of Honor to pay respects to fallen comrades.

Three Blogs I love to Visit:

1.  I'm tooting my own horn here but Don't Wanna be a Fat Momma.

2.  My friend Jennifer Gloworm Wife, because I love her sense of humor.

3.  My friend Micheala is dabbing into the blog world with Help! I woke up as a parent.

Three things that make my husband/partner the luckiest man alive:

1.  I am a wonderful cook/baker, and since he eats EVERYTHING it comes in handy.

2.  I try to ask him to do things that need to be done instead of tell him, and I try to not nag him about it.

3.  I let him out for a guys night without calling him a million times or giving him guff about it like other wives do. Because there are times I don't want him around so kicking him out of the house to hang with the guys is the best thing to do.

Three Pictures:

My Grandpa, I miss him so much. I regret not being able to visit his grave this weekend, but my husband and son will for me. He was an amazing man. I look up to him, fought in WWII as a frogger and was also a SeaBee in the Navy.

Took this of my son this morning, he is such a cutie pie!

My wonderful hubby and I. I guess this is crafty I Adobe Photoshopped this.

Enjoy your holiday weekend where-ever you are and whomever you spend it with. And don't forget the ones

You CAN Have Cake AND Eat it Too!!

Just surfing the daily web pages today and I came across this little gem of an article:  In Defense of A Daily Doughnut.

I knew that I wasn't cheating when I allow myself that daily small dose of chocolate or sweet treat a day. It makes it so much easier to eat right when I know that I can have something delicious. I'm really craving chocolate today, so mini Kit Kat bar is calling my name.

Workout today:

25 Situps/Squats/Pushups

1 Mile Stationary bike while doing 25 Tricep Curls/Bicep/Shoulder Raises

20 Situps/Squats/Pushups

1 Mile Stationary bike while doing 20 Tricep Curls/Bicep/Shoulder Raises

continuing by 5's all the way down to 5

Finished with 25 Situps/Squats/Pushups

Can't decide between doing my weigh-in tomorrow or Sunday. I'll be out of town for a couple of days. Hmmm...scale this morning said 223.0, so we will see what I feel like tomorrow. 

Yep, Knocked Some More Time of My 5K

Wooohoo!! 35:23 was my time today!  I knocked off 1:20 from 3 weeks ago.

Wahoo!! Happy Dance!!

It wasn't as glorious as it sounds though.  I almost gave up a few times.  But I kept internally yelling at myself to Go Missy Go! 

I even thought a few times I'll just stop and say that I finished, but that would be lying, and that's not fair to you guys.

I find myself mentally giving up, I have plenty of words of encouragement for everyone else, but at the same time I feel the same way. 

Why am I doing this?

I look at myself in uniform and I remember that I love the military and if I don't get back in shape I'll lose something I love.

I look at my son and my husband, and realize that I want to be around to take care of them for a long time.

I CAN DO THIS!!

Application being sent to Dancing with the Stars

I'm a bit of a celeb follower, I read  Perez Hilton, Yahoo, and E! Online randomly throughout my workday. This particular article caught my eye:
http://tv.yahoo.com/news/article/tv-news.en.ap.org/tv-news.en.ap.org-20110524-us_dancing_with_the_stars_kirstie_alley

38 inches off her waist in 2.5 months!! SIGN ME UP RIGHT NOW!

I'm serious, do you really have to be a star to participate in that show? I've watched it for a few seasons now and I hardly recognize a few of the "Stars" on there, so how well known do you have to be?  I'm thinking of applying, because that would put me where I needed to be at just like that.

Hmmmmmmmm.....

Meanwhile, in a real persons world where workouts are squeezed in whenever I can.

I was enjoying my day off and hanging out with my little man that the only thing I did yesterday was the nightly walk with the hubby and the dog.

Workout for the day:

 Weight Training Arms, Abs, Legs for 15 minutes

20 minute Elliptical Interval Workout

I'm trying to not get nervous about my APFT next week. Wooosaaawww



Yesterday's Weigh in, Today's Workout!

Weight: 224  Waist: 34  Hips: 46

Lbs lost: 15  Inches lost: 8

Only 1 lb loss in a week, and only an inch in two weeks.  It's something, but it's not quite enough. Have my weigh-in and PT test in 11 days. Getting to the nail biting stage. Oh lord!

I sure did get a workout today, not an actual gym one, but a digging in the yard with shovels, rakes, and carrying 5 lb buckets of dirt back and forth. Had to even out the mound next to the patio and it was hard work!! I would say I got cardio, arms, abs, and back workout!! Wow!!

What Made You Smile This Week

I have become quite the blog follower, because I guess I need something to fill up my time while I'm not in school, or it gives me an excuse to not work.  I've noticed everybody has like a theme day, or a theme thing that they do, so I wanted one for myself. 

Guess I can label myself a sheep in that respect.  Baaaaaaa baaaaaaaa.

So I would like to do a weekly one (probably on Fridays) called, What Made You Smile This Week.

I need to work on the name, but I'll come up with something catchy.

Here are some things that made me smile this week:

-My best friend who is like a brother to me, Josh, finally meeting his nephew for the first time, and seeing how they interact with each other.
-Listening to Josh and my husband talk about the adventures they will have their kids, while us wives get spa treatments.
-Eating a browning for my weekly desert.
-I told my husband that I was psycho, and he said no honey just crazy, but I love you anyways.
-We are always making those raspberry/farting sounds on various parts of the baby, and he learned how to do it back the other day.
-This picture:

-My dog who for some reason is a complete doof, fell up the stairs last night running to get to bed.

-Our dog again who laid next to me in bed with her legs up in the air looking like a dead dog, until Dan gave her attention.

-The mess Cole made eating mashed potatoes last night, because he kept playing with them. My mom had to remind us that we think its cute now but we are going to spend the rest of our time raising him to tell him to NOT play with his food.

I'm going to do this weekly list in order for me to pay attention to the little things in life, especially when the "crap flinging dial" is turned up to high.

To My Girl Michaela

I keep thinking people read this blog and my other one The Roller Coaster of Life but I'm not sure how well that is going.

But this particular blog is to my friend Michaela who is trying to lose the baby weight herself. 

It took me 7 weeks to lose 4 lbs, 3 of which I had already lost previously and gained back. You know I've been trying to do this since January 3rd because we started this together.  I have lost (as of this morning) a whole whopping 15 lbs.  It's been 4 months!!!  I have a weigh-in coming up on June 2nd and there is no way in hell I'm going to make weight and/or pass tape.

But do you know what??  I feel freaking awesome! I have been kicking my ass for 4 months now and I feel much like you that I haven't gotten anywhere. But I have!  I can walk up and down my stairs at home 4 or 5 times and not feel winded, I can run 2-3 miles without feeling like I'm going to die, I can walk around my neighborhood and not feel like I can't go on after 1 mile, I can get up and down of the floor with Cole without having to brace myself against anything, I don't feel like I have to suck it in all the time, and I just generally feel healthier.

I'm not where I want to be, but I feel like I can keep up with whatever life throws at me.
You are an amazing woman, and you are an amazing mother. I know this weight loss thing sucks hard core!!  It feels like you are putting all this effort into something and not getting anywhere. But look at your facebook posts and all that you have accomplished with running.  You couldn't have done that a few months ago.  You told me that it took 40 weeks to put on that weight and it will take approximately that long to take it off, right? While I understand it's been awhile since your son was born, you started working on it more recently not right after he was born. So it may seem longer, but the motivation wasn't there until recently. No fault in that.  Don't keep thinking "I want to get back in the Army" it will only make it harder. Do it for yourself right now, and your son. I feel that's more motivating than trying to get back in the Army. 

It is true that doctor's scales lie though. There have been many times I have weighed myself when I get up, and I eat like a small bowl of cereal, go to the doctor and I weigh at least 5 lbs more. It is seriously true!!

Please don't give up!  You started a blog, why don't you continue it?  I wanted to give up myself, but I didn't because I started blogging my daily workouts.  I'm delusional enough to think someone is reading it, so I feel like if I don't workout, that I'm being a bit of a failure. It totally helps me.  You can do this, and if I can do anything to help let me know. Don't give up, you have already lost weight, you can finish this.

Trying Something New

I have become a bit of a blogger of late. I'm still trying to figure things out, so if anyone has any tips please help me out!! 

I recently reacquainted with Evelyn whom I worked with over 10 years ago, and she has her own blog that's absolutely entertaining to read.  She has a thing called Three for Thursday that she has invited fellow bloggers to join in on and I've decided to participate.

So here is my Three for Thursday:

Three home improvement projects

1. Leveling out the dirt in the backyard and building a wraparound deck.
2. Tearing out the absolutely ugly tiling on the island in the kitchen.
3. Putting in another sink into our master bath.

Three favorite songs

1.  1,2,3,4  by the Plain White T's (our song)

2.  Fancy by Reba Mcentire

3.  Candyman by Christina Aguilera (it's the best song to run to)

Three dreadful things I’m really not looking forward to in the near future

1.  Spending two weeks away from my son for military training, being only a 15 minute drive away

2.  Getting Weighed and taped for the military and not passing

3.  My PT test on June 2nd.

Three most surprising things about giving birth for the first time
1.  My Dad cried more than anyone, because he didn't like to see his little girl in pain

2.  That you no longer care about your dignity when you are in pain
3.  No one tells you how hard it is to not move after a C-section, especially when your son is in the NICU

Three easy recipes

1.  Hamburger Helper

2.  Spaghetti

3.  Mommy Soup

Three really totally awesome things I did today that make me a Super Mom/Super Woman
1.  Knew why Cole was crying when no one else did

2.  and 3.  What can I say, he is only 7 months old and my parents live with me so he has many hands to take care of him.

Three things I never leave home without

1.  What my husband call my locker, it's my purse that I have some of the most random things in.

2.  My cell phone

3.  My military ID

Three favorite movies pre-1970

1.  Singing in the Rain

2.  White Christmas

3.  The Birds

Three best skills

1.  Organization

2.  Multi-tasker

3.  My ability for putting up with bullshit (this ones from my husband)

4.  I know, I know I said three, but my husband insisted on my documenting my mad Baking skills!

Three awkward happenings on the honeymoon
1.  Being pregnant already (whoops)

2.  Being only 3 months pregnant and still experiencing day long morning sickness and certain motions were not very welcome

3.  Sitting in the jetted tub and realizing not all the bubble were from the jets

Three Pictures

I love making collages of pictures for my desktop backgrounds and this is the one I created for Dan and I.

Our first Home Sweet Home

My favorite pre-birth picture of my son. I still to this day love his little toes so much, and I have a huge aversion to feet.



There you go, my first Three for Thursday. Wonder if this will be a weekly occurrence? Maybe.

Stay tuned!

Thankful Thoughts

With all the stuff going on in my life right now I find myself trying to remember all the good things I have in my life.  I have to stop myself occasionally and just breathe.

I'm having a lot of those moments today, as I try to figure out what direction financially we are heading into. Unfortunately we all make mistakes when we are younger and wind up having to pay for them as we get older. I'm not pointing any blame at anyone in particular, it's just a mess that happens and things need to get fixed.

I'm taking this opportunity to write down the things I should be thankful for, lest I forget it at any point.



For my health and the health of my family.

For the love of my family (including exteneded family and inlaws).

For the love of my friends.

For the fact I have a job that works well with my schedule and pays decent.

For a roof over my head.

For the food on my table.

For the transportation to places I need to be.

For my husband to have a job.

For the fact I don't live in a place that gets: hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes(atleast not right now), tsunamis, and much more.

For the fact my husband isn't a public figure fathering illegitimate kids.

For so much more that makes my life comforatable the way it is.

I had to throw in some funny ones in to keep my sanity. 

Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't. It's the difference between pissing everyone off at home or going home and just relaxing and playing with my son trying to forget about the stresses of life/work/finances.

Missing Crossfit....sort of

I miss Crossfit, I seemed to get a better workout that way.  Not that my own workouts aren't making me sore, I think it's all a mental thing. Plus I miss working out with people, at Crossfit you kind of cheer each other on. I would find myself mentally competing with whoever was close by so I would workout harder.  I don't have that by myself, so maybe that's why I don't feel like I'm working as hard. I do mentally yell at myself though.

Today's workout was 15 minutes of strength:  arms, abs, legs.
Followed by an Elliptical workout:

Minutes	What to do	RPE
0–3	Warm up, using resistance that feels challenging but still allows you to move at a quick clip: level 4-5 on the elliptical and level 3-4 on the bike	3-4
3–5	Keep up the quick pace, but add resistance: 7-9 on the elliptical and 5-7 on the bike. You should be struggling slightly to maintain the speed	7-8
5–6	Decrease the resistance a level or two to catch your breath	6
6–18	Repeat minutes 3 to 6 four times	6-8
18-20	Cool down, then stretch

I feel pretty good about this one, I was definitely out of breath!!
On a different note, I have an arch nemesis when it comes to food.  CARBS! 

Where would we be without carbs in our life?  Definitely not as smart, or happy.  Carbs do contribute to brain functioning and it's involved in the serotonin process giving you that feel good feeling. 

I love carbs!! Mmmmmmm!!! Pasta, bread, pastries, and so much more.  I try to be good, I have all the good intentions until I start eating and all I want is more.  Last night I think I did pretty good with my Mom's spaghetti and meatballs.  I took a little portion and took more meatballs than pasta because protein is good. Well I just had to go back for seconds, just a tiny little bit, but I couldn't help myself.  This fat kid loves carbs, and cake too!

So here is to not overloading on the mashed potatoes tonight!!

Love Being a Mom (most of the time)

I think that I'm just being a slacker at work and reading other peoples blogs inspire my writer within.


My writer with in is not a very good one, I would hate to see an English teacher/Major read my blogs they might be appalled.


On to what I really wanted to talk about!


I love being Cole's Mom, he is seriously the cutest little almost 7 month old boy in the world. (I have to make that distinction because my nieces and nephews are adorable so I can't say cutest baby and/or boy).


My favorite thing? When I get the chance to get him up in the morning. I go in and he looks up to check who it is and realizes it's Mommy and he ALWAYS gives me such a big grin. I then pick him up and he immediately gives me what I think is a hug: head on my shoulder both arms around my neck. I love it! Unfortunately I have to be at work earlyish and so I don't always get that pleasure. Who could resist this?

I love hearing him laugh, and I try to make him laugh a lot because I love it so much. Unfortunately he gets the hiccups if he laughs to much so then I feel like a bad Momma. Dan loves it to because then he gets to see his wife make some really ridiculous faces. He has tried to secretly film me, but it doesn't work. One of these days he is going to succeed then it will be all over youtube/facebook and I will be embarrassed for a little bit.


He is so amazing, and I love every little thing about him. It's hard to be at work and those bad days make me want to go home even more just so I can cuddle with him or play with his toys with him. I feel truly blessed that I have such a healthy, adorable little boy. I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world, even when he is screaming his head off for reasons I have yet to determine.


I almost can't wait for another one.

Love to Hate the Army

I have been in the Idaho Army National Guard for 11 years now.

Yep you hear right 11 years!

Its crazy to think that around my 17th birthday I listened to my father talk up the benefits of joining the military.  I signed on that dotted line and decided I wanted to do something with my life, gain discipline, and college money!!

It has been quite the ride, let me tell you.  Basic Training taught me that I wasn't the cool, cocky, pain in the ass I thought I was.  AIT taught me how to be a medic, and how to party harder than I had learned in high school.  The FA unit I first belonged to taught me awesome ways to be a slacker, but also taught me how to work as a team.  Deployment taught me MANY MANY thing, some good, some bad, but mostly good.  C Med has taught me that it pays to have good friends in high places, how to be more of slacker, and how to not gain rank very quickly.

I have developed quite a few lifelong friendships. I have gained a 2nd family. I have gained lots of knowledge, and had many life experiences that not a lot of people can get with just college.

I would definitely recommend the military to people who feel they need to do something with their lives, who may be a 'troublemaker', who would like help with college money, and people who feel they can make a difference.

I would most definitely tell them to explore their options, because the Army is pretty cool but so are the other branches...well maybe just the Air Force and Navy, not to sure about those jarheads. *wink wink*

I have enjoyed my many years in the National Guard. We do some pretty awesome training:  like using paintball guns; rappelling; water survival training; certain medical training; and many more things.

Deployment wasn't exactly awesome, but it was an experience I will never forget.  It definitely made me a different person and helped direct me to which direction I want to go.  It introduced me to some of the best friends I have in my life.  It gives me a sense of pride to have done something significant in my life.

The military has made me a very Type A/OCD/anal retentive type of person, which bugs the crap out of some people but brings me a sense of control in life.

Here are some of my pet peeves about the military though:

-Hurry up and wait
-Good Ole Boys club
-Officer's who haven't spent any time as an enlisted person
-New soldiers nowadays have to have their hand held through everything
-The promotion system
-The HT/WT program
-APFT
-Cleaning Weapons
-PMCS
-The fact that it is taking me 3 times as long to complete college than it should
-Common Sense doesn't exist
-Being labeled as a deployment ditcher because one gets pregnant (yes I avoided deployment so i could have a baby and being financially effed rather than make 5-6000 a month tax free)  ***see below***
...there are more to list but I could be here awhile.

I sit here thinking about the military and I think about the duties I could be doing.  It's hard to see all your friends on deployment, I sit here enjoying time with my family and it makes me feel guilty about that.  My friends wives are hear and sometimes I feel like I can't visit because I keep thinking they wonder why I'm here and not their significant other. I keep getting told it's a boring deployment and that it's not worth it, but it's still hard. I miss them like crazy and it makes things not quite the same a drill or at work. I can't wait for them all to come back.

I love the Army, but there are just some days I want to punch it in the face.  Biggest example I can provide is the fact that soldiers nowadays when they go to Basic and AIT are handed cards so when they are stressed they can tell the Drill Sergeant that they need to back off.   Because in real life while in Afghanistan the Taliban or whomever is shooting at them they can call a time out, AS IF!  So I deal with a lot of soldiers that feel that everything gets handed to them on a silver platter, and that at the snap of a finger they get what they want. Plus they don't know how to act like adults. Discipline is not as prominent anymore.

I'll say it again, love the Army, but some days I just want to shake my head.  That's life I guess huh?

***I do love my son more than anything, and I am glad that we are blessed with his presence in our lives. I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world.***

Running and more

I worked out yesterday!! Wooohooo!!!

I did some push-ups and situps and a 2 mile run.  My 2 mile run was 20:03, which is worse than I did a few weeks ago, but I think it's because I missed a week of training.  Still passable by Army standards. I also went on a mile walk with the family last night too!!

This morning it was so much nicer getting up at 6 instead of 440, so I was more motivated to workout.  I did some weight training: squats (65 lbs), bar pushups, bicep curls, weighted  lunges, and some tricep curls. Did intervals on the treadmil for a mile and stationary biked it for 2 miles. 

I feel accomplished!!

What did you do today??  ;p

Some Changes

I will no longer be attending Crossfit. :(  Main reason is finances, spending $75 a month is just not feasible in our current situation.  I decided that I have enough knowledge, and they post the workouts on a daily basis, that it wouldn't be hard for me to just incorporate stuff into my own workouts!

The plus is that I no longer have to get up at 440 in the morning, and I can just get up at 6 and head into Gowen and just use the gym/track out there and not be as tired.  Works for me!!!

I know I need to work out today, just working up to it, not sure what I want to do. I'll let you know tomorrow!!

Letter to My Biological Mother

Dear Kathy,

It's plain and simple, STAY OUT OF MY LIFE!  I do not want anything to do with you, I'm the one who made the decision when I was a kid that I didn't want to talk to you anymore.  I remember more than you think I do or think I could, I don't need to hear your side of the story because I have my Dad's and I know mine, and that's all I need.  I don't appreciate you bascially saying my Dad is full of shit, because he is the most caring, honest, most wonderful man I know.  I don't need another friend, and my son doesn't need another Grandma.

My life is and has been perfectly fine without you, and I don't want anything to do with you. 

Please respect my wishes and stop contacting me, I haven't changed my mind in 20+ years, and I don't see me changing it anytime soon.

Melissa

PS  I disabled my comments for a reason, because I don't want a response.

PPS  My son will never know you, you are not his grandmother.

Lost: Motivation If Found Please Return to Missy ASAP

I haven't blogged, because I have been a big fat slacker!! Yep, last workout (not including walks) was WEDNESDAY.  I have just been feeling rundown, so rolling my ass out of bed the last few days, even today with my day off, I haven't wanted to get out of bed.  Grrrrrr...not sure what it is. I think a lot of it was stress and it just took a toll on my body.  Fortunately I haven't had much of an appetite so I still lost a lb last week.  I did dance my tushy off at my sister's Bachelorette Party so my two mixed drinks were burned off! ;p  Atleast I keep telling myself that.  The good thing about not kicking my own ass, my body isn't sore all the time....but I need to keep working on it.

I'm going to make myself get out of bed and go to Crossfit!! I have 2 weeks left and I need to kick this workout stuff in the butt.

Why Am I the Bad Guy

Disclaimer to my Hubby: I'm just venting, don't take offense.

Watching the television last night a preview of Hangover 2 came on, and my husband was super excited (ok so I was too). He is super excited about all the movies coming out and I had to remind him that we don't have the money to go to movies anymore, at least not in the "BIG" theater, maybe the dollar one, or even Netflix. He gets all pouty, and I feel like an ass. Thing we both want and the times I have to say no; no you can't get that CD, no you cannot buy new clothes even though things don't fit you anymore, no we cannot buy those diapers this week because we need formula more, no we can't eat out because then we won't have money to put gas in the car. I'm the bad guy, all the time and it sucks.

I'm the one who pays the bills in my house, the one who bites her nails when I'm not sure I can pay that bill in full, or that bill might be a few days late.

I'm not going to lie, we live paycheck to paycheck with very little savings. After spending what we had on the wedding, having a baby, and foolishly buying a house there isn't much there. To my credit, I actually have decent credit, because I don't have anything haunting me in that respect.

My wonderful husband has no idea the financial finagling that I do to make sure that we are current on our bills, and it's very stressful. Especially when things come up and bite us in the ass costing us more money. Like the fact we got hardly anything back on taxes, and now have another bill to pay monthly that we had planned to pay off with our taxes.

Don't get me wrong, I like managing the bills, it's a control thing. I'm actually obsessive about it so much so I check our bank account at least 2 times a day and sometimes 3 or 4, it's weird. Like some random money is going to disappear out of our account, and a check is going to bounce. I check and double check the amount of money coming in vs the amount of money going out because I have learned from my past mistakes. It's ridiculous. I also count the money thinking that magically somewhere money will appear, still hasn't happened yet by the way.
We have been lucky to not have to many issues with the house YET so it's okay on that front. Other than the possible leak in our sprinkler system.

What did I want to do with your house this year, build a deck, or at least extend the concrete pad to have more room for that company that keeps not coming over or never calls. Not going to happen this year.

I also want a new couch, new bed, replace the counter tops and cupboards in the kitchen, paint the rooms in my house, buy play set for Cole, go on a honeymoon, add sink into the master bath, have built-in bookshelves in the front room for my zillions of books, go on that cruise that all my friends have talked about after they get back from deployment, visit my ALL my brothers, his sister, his father. I could go on really, and I know I'm just bitching but I don't care.

I believe money is the root of all evil.

I also find it really funny that like 75% of my job is making sure that other people's medical bills are paid.

End note: we did talk last night and he knows that I'm not mad at him in anyway and he is not upset with me either. We talk all the time, so there are no hard feelings before we go to sleep.

Have To Break-up With My Bed

My bed is my worst enemy in the morning.

I'm serious when I say I need to break up with it, because it is so tempting and convinces me to stay in bed when I need to roll my 226 lb ass out of bed, so that it can be an under 200 lb ass. It calls my name when I'm upstairs doing laundry or some other task, it is so warm and inviting, it holds the love of my life whom I just love to cuddle with, and it's so damn comfy.

My alarm went off this morning at 0430, after I had just dozed off at 4 trying to figure out if Cole needed me (which he did not by the way), and I looked at it and thought I hit snooze when I actually hit dismiss.  Lo and behold, I wake up to my husbands alarm at 0630 and think to myself, "Ah feck."

Needless to say when I get done with work I will just want to cuddle with Cole, because I deal with stupid people all day and all I want is unconditional love for my son, so all I'll get in to today is a 1-2 mile walk. Oh phooey.

Maybe it's a good thing that we don't have the money to upgrade to a King size bed because it would probably be that much worse.

Good Workout Today!

I missed Crossfit because my bed was to damn comfy this morning. :)
So I created my own Crossfit/Cardio workout. Those of you who are reading this (if there are any) that belong to C Med, lookout because I get to do some PT Sessions during AT and I think this will be a good one!

Started and ended with a 1/2 mile Jog, with:
        50,40,30,20,10
              Squats
            Crunches
       25,20,15,10,5
            Pushups
With a 200m lap in between each round.

Quite the workout!

Nothing Exciting

Yesterday's workout at Crossfit Meridian:
         Skill: Snatch Balance

           WOD: 5 Rds of
      7 x Burpee-box jumps
   12 x Overhead squat 75/55#
I only did 45lbs with the Overhead squat, and it nearly killed me with a stiff neck and effed up shoulder! But I did it, followed by 3 rounds of:
   10 KTE
   10 Hollow Rocks
   20 Bicycle Crunches each side
And don't forget we always do a warm up which usually involves and indeterminate amount of squats, pushups, situps, inchworms, and double unders and a 200-400m run.



Today's workout, just a walk with the hubby and the pup, because I have way to much going on today.

Tomorrow is a Crossfit day!

Weight/Pic Update

                     Current Weight: 227  Waist: 34.5  Hips: 46
                                Lbs lost: 12    Inches lost: 8

So I gained a lb, but weighed myself this morning and I was the same weight. So fluctuating weight is normal, but I lost inches!! I feel better about things, but still trying to work through it.
Here is my new pic!

And now...An Ode to My Mom

Still feeling especially mushy, and thankful for the people in my life. Seeing how it's almost Mother's Day I figured it would be appropriate to say a few things about my Mom.

Where to begin?? As most people know my Mom is not my biological Mom, but she has been my mother since about age 2. My egg donor as we will call her really didn't want much to do with me so my Dad told her to hit the road and he started to raise me by himself. My Mom and Dad met through an online line dating site in December of 83, had their first date on the 30th and wound up getting married in April of 84. So she has been there for me just about my entire life.

Not many people get second chances in life, like the fact that I got a second chance in a mother, and what an awesome second chance. Not many people have truly good 'step-moms' but I had the best there is, so much so that I usually never refer to her as my step-mom. Sharon is my Mother: she has raised me, she has put up with my crap for 28+ years; she has kissed my bumps and bruises; she has punished me for things I've done wrong; she has stood behind me with my decisions, good or bad; she has held me while I cry; she has sacrificed many things in life to provide for me and my brothers; she is compassionate; she is a wonderful teacher; a wonderful wife; and many more things that could take forever to list. She has always been there for me, even when I was a kid in trouble and decided that telling her I didn't have to listen because she really wasn't my Mom. I know that is a horrible thing to say and I know that I never meant it. She may not have given birth to me but she has done everything else in her power to be a wonderful Mom.

Mom I love you so much, and I thank you for everything that you have ever done for me. I thank you for putting up with probably one of the most horrible little girls ever!! You are the best and have always been there for me.  I wouldn't be the person I am today without you! I appreciate you soooooooooo much!! Because you are such and awesome Mom you make an even more awesome Grandma!! We are ALL lucky to have you in our lives!

Just Call Me a Liar

Yep, I said no workout today because I had a lot going on today, but I checked the crossfitmeridian website and liked part of the workout for the day and realized I can do it at home.

WOD: 50, 40, 30, 20, 10

            Air Squats
            Sit Ups

If you want the whole workout just look it up on their website. But I will be doing the above while Cole is either napping or just cruising around the floor. Maybe he will get a kick out of watching Mom do this! :)  I'll also go on a 1-2 mile walk today because it's BEAUTIFUL outside!!

Also check this out:   http://www.appforhealth.com/2011/05/psych-yourself-up-workout/
I found it an interesting read!!

An Ode to my Hubby!!

In light of the fact that today is my husbands birthday, I wanted to post a blog all about him. I've wanted to do it for a couple of weeks ago, particularly pertaining to the fact I've been a crazy psycho bitch to him at times and how awesome he is!

For those of you who know my hubby, don't forget to wish him a Happy Birthday.  For those of you who don't know him, well you are totally missing out!! LOL!!

If he hadn't been born on this day 29 years ago, I wouldn't have my soul mate with me! :)  Thanks Mama Stowe and Papa Stowe!!  Thanks Mom Stowe for raising him so well!!

I met Dan 3 years ago at a friends party, that night I had already showered and gotten in my pajamas and decided I was just going to chill, and Toni said hell no come over! So I did, and Dan who happened to be a friend of Toni's since Jr High came over with one of his friends. I had a good buzz going and Dan and his buddy were pretty trashed.  I thought they were both cute, but I was drawn to Dan more because he was funny and as corny as it sounds had an awesome personality. I spend like an hour or two acting like a total girl with Toni and Justine, should I go talk to him?? He is soo cute!! What do I do? In the end I just acted like myself and we hit it off. I wound up taking his friend home, and Dan to my house. Yeah I know hussy right?? LOL!! Not even we talked for a lil bit and then fell asleep. Next day we went swimming, which is a shocker for me cuz I normally don't like being half naked for a man I just met but apparently I didn't care! We had an official first date of Idaho Pizza Company and a movie (Hancock). 2 weeks later he drunkenly professed his love for me, which I told him to sober up then tell me. Which he did, and it took me another week or so for me to realize I felt the same way.
And that's our story!!

I do have to say that Dan is the most amazing man I have ever known.  He makes me laugh on a daily basis, I can't think of a day in our last 3 years that we haven't laughed.  He works hard, VERY HARD and always wants to make things better.  He is smart, not book smart like me, but very mechanically inclined and he has so much other knowledge.  He puts up with all my idiosyncrasies, and I don't know how he does it sometimes.  We have the best relationship, that even when we fight, later on probably not even and hour or 2 most of the time we are laughing about something.  Even with my crazy mood swings lately he is still there for me by my side.  He tells me I'm beautiful at the most random times, he buys me flowers for no reason at all, he tells me constantly that he is proud to have a soldier as a wife, he is always telling me what a big heart I have because even if we are on our last dollar, I'll donate that dollar to some cause, he works his butt off for me and our son, he didn't even cringe when I asked him if he minded my parents moving in with us.  The man I am married to is the most kind, loving, goofy, funny, smart, caring, and truly wonderful man. I can't imagine my life without him.

To my Husband with all my heart!! I love you, and will love you for the rest of my life!

Crossfit!

Yep, a Crossfit day! Here is what I did:

Strength: Press

WOD: AMRAP in 15 minutes

6 x Sandbag Get Ups 3R/3L 60/40#
6 x Wall Ball
6 x Pull Ups
6 x Jingle Jangles

No workout tomorrow, have to work early so my Dad can go to the doctor!! I'm excited for weight and measurments this weekend.

Nope Not a Slacker

Not a slacker in the workout department just a slacker in the blog department. Sat and Sunday was drill so I was a slacker but I jumped back into the swing of things yesterday.

Yesterday was a Crossfit day!! We did:

                                        21, 15, 9
                            Hang Squat Cleans 95/65#

                                       40, 30, 18
                                  Kb Swings 53/35#

                              200M run after each round

          i.e-21 hsc, 40 kbs, 200m run, 15 hsc, 30 kbs, 200m run
    Also:  3 rounds of:  10 KTE, 10 Bicycle, and 10 Hollow Rocks

Today was 20 min intervals on the Elliptical and 10 min interval sprints on the Treadmill. My back is killing me from yesterday. :(