Thursday Thoughts

It's Thursday almost Friday and almost the weekend!!!!!!


Saturday we are taking the kids to St. Louis to see Monster Jam both kids are excited. It's Nathans first time and Blake's second. I am nervous as all get out taking two kids in to such a huge place with a huge crowd. A bit of a worry wort I always worry the kids will get separated from us or one will see something "cool" and run towards it and then lose them.

I may or may not have ate a smores pop tart for breakfast and it may or may not have been the best thing I have ate in a while! Yes all 400 calories of craptastic processed food was good. I have been on a smores kick and had been making some at home with crescent rolls then roll mini marshmallows and choc chips up and bake. About 150 calories per roll. Then I tried using the pizza oven and making a smores quesidilla with tortilias and yes its almost as good with a few less calories. But I must stop its not healthy and well its addictive!

Went to walmart yesterday and bought the box of purple hair dye.

And apparently it has to come in a very vibrant box!! Walking around walmart carrying that was interesting. Then the girl checking me out scanned it and then stared at it and was like so you going all purple... UM NO but I am doing a purple streak with a friend and then had to explain the reason. So now its sitting in my car awaiting Krissi to decide on when and where to do this purple thing.

I had posted the picture of my purple painted nails on here but also had it on Facebook and got several comments. I guess I never realized my nails were "pretty" this week I have had several random strangers ask if they were real nails or fake.

Just signed up for another virtual race the Sweet Cupcake Race its a 5k. So I have that one and then the princess in training I had signed up for along with my Freezin for a Reason 5k all for February. The princess in training was a January race but I decided I wanted Freezin for a Reason to kick off my 13 in 2013 goal. So I will run 3 5ks in Feb after the 23rd.... Guess it wouldn't matter if I did the other ones earlier, but I had told Chris I had committed to doing 13 in 2013 and that I was making his race my first of the year since it held a lot of meaning and he thought that was cool.

Weekend of unplaned things, purple and turkey farming.

This weekend started off a bit chaotic and ended pretty nicely.

Friday night the kids were wound up like the night before Christmas. They were so excited about getting to see their Mike and April and hopes of getting to see turkeys. Blake finally gave in and went to sleep around 9 but Nathan was still going strong. Around 9:30 my grandma called and asked if I would drive them to the ER that my grandpa was retaining fluid. Well Kenny was gone gigging with no cell service so I told her as soon as I could find him or get someone to come stay with the boys we could leave. Finally about 20 minutes later I got a hold of Kenny and he was on his way home. Now this whole retaining fluid thing had apparently been going on all week but he wanted to wait  until late Friday night to have me take him (when grandma could have took him to the regular doctor earlier in the week)
We arrive at the local ER around 10pm and the waiting rooms are packed full of people most whom have the nasty flu that's going around. I wasn't really fond of sitting out there and thankfully we didn't have to for long. I got lucky and two of my good friends were working well one was getting off work and the other was on until 7am. Stephanie came in and sat and talked to me for quite awhile after her shift before heading on home. We set a possible date of having a girls day together which I think we could both really really use.
Krissi was still working so she would stop by and chat a bit on her way to see other patients which was super sweet of her with as busy as the ER was. They ran several tests and I knew that they would just send him home with some meds to get rid of the excess water. It was built up from all the fluid they gave him while in hospital week before and the remaining kidney hadn't got the memo that it was the only one to do the work.
About 1am Krissi came by and grabbed me to watch a temporary cast be applied which was a nice way to pass some time and some good learning all in one.

In the time there we decided we wanted to do a purple streak in our hair from now until after our Freezin for a Reason 5k. The guys all shaved their heads as support and well we wanted to do something. Purple is the color for testicular cancer awareness so we will hopefully get our purple this week. I will get some pictures and do a post about that when it happens.

Saturday morning we took the kids to the cow place (sale barn that has an awesome restaurant) to eat breakfast. During breakfast I got a text from April asking if two little boys were ready to go unload turkeys. Blake and Nathan lit up and couldn't wait to get back to the car! I think they had a great time. Blake said he got to help with the big guys and do what they did and earned 3 dollars! Nathan had fun but as Blake told me he couldn't do the big guy stuff he was to small. Sunday they spent the day with Dwayne and their Nonna and of course Zach, Ashlyne, Lizzie (Little Bits) and Nathan were all there to entertain the boys. They didn't want to come home when I got there to pick them up and Nathan fell asleep in the car before we got out of the driveway. Blake stayed awake to tell me all about turkey farming  and wants to go back and help anytime they need it.

Before I picked the kids up yesterday I spent the day doing laundry and enjoying the quiet house. I even took time to paint my finger nails something I rarely ever do. My toes are almost always painted and usually varying shades of pink. But I found I had bought a pretty purple color last summer and decided to give it a try.

Lets see how long I can keep it pretty before it gets all chipped up....

Spent Sunday evening all 4 of us watching a movie and I actually got to bed before 9 which hasn't happened in months!

Weekly Chase #5

Monday and the start of a new week seems like I just left work for the weekend and I am back again.....

Time once again for the weekly chase

Weekly Chase

My goals for last week were:

#1-Drink more water slacking on this I am still drinking about 60 oz but need to get back up to my 100+ now that I am not constantly in the car driving. I did pretty well with this one not sure I hit 100 each day but it was 80 or more every day even this weekend!

#2-Spend time with the kids this week! I have missed them being gone pretty much every evening for a week now. That was a success Tuesday night I took them to McDonalds for a fundraiser one of the local fire departments were doing. They had lots of fun well mainly cause the fire men gave them cookies. Several nights we just sat and watched some tv or I watched them play their games.

#3-Get in at least 3 workouts weather looks to be to cold first part of the week to get out on my lunch hour. So I will have to do videos and stuff at home. Epic fail got my 1.5 mile in on Friday for Colton's Run and well that was it..... :(

#4-Back to healthier eating proud that I didn't have any fast food last week but still eating out was hard on me. If I need a quick lunch this week I will go for subway not a fast food drivethru. Success had Subway Tuesday and Wednesday for lunch had a honey mustard snack wrap from McD's on Thursday night but that was it. I brought my lunch daily or we ate at home. Thursday I had a board meeting and the kids were going to my inlaws so I took happy meals with them so they could eat on time and not at 10pm when I brought them home.

This weeks goals:

1-Make some time for me even if its just locking myself in the bathroom and taking a hot bath. I've been getting way to stressed and I don't like it.

2-Make it a priority to eat enough and eat the right foods daily and not skip meals.

3-Aim for 80+ ounces of water daily

4-Get two workouts done on my lunch hour this week

5-Keep up with the laundry being gone for 5 days with my grandpa got me way way behind. I am almost caught up and need to stay that way.

Colton's 1.5 mile run

A blog that I have been following for a while now Living The Fit Life was having a 1.5 mile virtual run in honor of a young boy who is battling Leukemia and went back in the hospital today to start the 3rd fight against the cancer.

Last year she hosted a virtual race raising money and I signed up and participated and received a orange (color for Leukemia) shirt that said Colton's Army on it. Today I put on that shirt and went out on my lunch break and got in my 1.5 miles. It was a bit chilly and very windy but I knew that if this little boy could fight for his life in the hospital that I could bare the cold for 25 minutes to get the miles in.

Yes a bad bathroom self portrait one day I will eventually figure out how to take a decent picture of myself.....

I was glad I was able to go out even tho alone and get my 1.5 miles in to show support for this little boy whom I've never met.

Honestly can't imagine how this little boy feels or what his parents friends and family are going thru. I also wore a shirt today that is a burnt orange color in honor of him today. Its not the bright orange of the shirt I wore for my workout but its the closest I had in my closet that I would wear to work.

Five Question Friday!

1. Do you embrace or dread snow/cold weather days? DREAD!!!!!! I can get used to the cold but with our weather going from 60 one day to 20 the next is not fun.
2. Which game show or reality show could you totally win? hmm I think a show like Amazing Race would be fun to try.
3. What is your preferred climate? Spring time and early summer here
4. What do you buy every time you walk into the grocery store, no matter what? Milk.....
5. If you see a spider/bug in the house, are you brave enough to kill it, or do you call for your hubby? Oh it depends on where it is what it is and well if hubby is home. Now if it was a snake it would depend on the size and if I could find a way to contain it until hubby could kill it otherwise there would be squished snake every wher or holes where I shot at it :)

Cookies and kids.....

Yesterday I heard that the St. James Fire Department was going to be working at McDonald's as a fundraiser. Part of the proceeds goes to their Firefighter/Paramedic who has cancer. I normally don't eat there and rarely let the kids eat there. However it was for a good cause so I braved taking both boys alone to McDonalds. Of course the boys wanted to go in and eat and well I said yes..... I rarely take both boys in a restaurant alone usually it ends up in me getting super stressed, while I know they are very well behaved I still worry they will be to loud etc.

Anyway we went in ordered our food and they were eating (I didn't eat I just drank an unsweet tea) the boys were watching all the firefighters most of whom I knew. So several came over and talked to us Blake wanted to know why they were all bald. Its not easy to explain to a child that all those guys shaved their head because one of their friends has cancer and was losing his hair. It was interesting to see all of them with no hair of course some of them didn't have much to begin with.

After they got done eating I walked over to talk to one of my EMT friends Krissi and the boys started talking to the other guys and next thing I knew one of them had gave the kids chocolate chip cookies! Ok one each was fine with me.. However after one guy gave them cookies the rest followed and gave them theirs. We spent almost 2 hours in McDonalds and the kids didn't want to leave they were having to much fun with all the guys giving them attention and playing with them. I drew the line when one said they needed some mountain dew!

It was a good night and for a good cause and I am glad I went, was able to see some people I don't see very often and the kids were very well behaved. They finally had their sugar crash around 10pm only 2 hours past bedtime.

Of course the guys asked the three of us girls there if we were going to shave our heads um NOT. However we decided we would do something just haven't decided yet, probably will do pink and purple streaks in our hair the week leading up to the 5k.

Weekly Chase #4

Weekly Chase

Here were my goals from last week.

#1-Continue to limit my soda this will be a challenge come the end of the week when I am driving back and forth either early in the morning or late at night from the hospital. Well this one went so so... I never drank more than two in one day so I guess that was a success. Since last time I was making daily trips there I would have two or three mountain dews a day and not small ones big fountain ones.

#2-Two workouts this week would love to have more but I need to be realistic. Got in a treadmill workout and a video Friday morning. I did tons of walking at the hospital and took my grandma to a couple malls where we walked a lot.

#3-Eat as healthy as possible while at the hospital and on the trips to and from. They actually have an awesome salad bar that I am once again looking forward to.  Well only averaged one meal a day and my grandma always wanted Cracker Barrel and after several days of that being the only thing I eat I could care less to eat there again.

#4-Spend time with kids and my husband first part of the week and not let all the to do lists make me crabby with them. Huge huge fail ended up working late each night :(


Goals for this week. I really need to get myself back on a healthy track. I kept up with entering in to myfitness pal the last two weeks and last week it showed I had a deficit of 4400 unused calories. Which should have resulted in a weight loss but no I gained.

#1-Drink more water slacking on this I am still drinking about 60 oz but need to get back up to my 100+ now that I am not constantly in the car driving.

#2-Spend time with the kids this week! I have missed them being gone pretty much every evening for a week now.

#3-Get in at least 3 workouts weather looks to be to cold first part of the week to get out on my lunch hour. So I will have to do videos and stuff at home.

#4-Back to healthier eating proud that I didn't have any fast food last week but still eating out was hard on me. If I need a quick lunch this week I will go for subway not a fast food drivethru.

Freezin for a Reason

I have registered for my first race in the 13 in 2013 challenge. Well I have registered for some virtual races but this is the first one I will be running and for an awesome cause.

The race is at night and it ask participants to dress up. Now I need to think of a costume any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

This race benefits a person I know a super nice guy who is battling testicular cancer. He is a paramedic and a fire fighter in my area. I have worked with him a few times while I was doing clinicals for EMT school. So glad to live in a small community that pulls together to host something like this for one of their own.

When he told me he had cancer and was going to have to have chemo I wanted to do a virtual race but had no clue how to set it up or where to begin. I was happy to see that the ambulance district he works for set up this freezin for a reason 5k all proceeds to benefit him. If anyone has any suggestions on how to do a virtual race or would be interested in doing one I would still love to do more to help. As I know even with good insurance chemo treatments and all the doctors visits still really add up.

Here is the flyer about the race and I honestly can't wait to do it!

Weekly Chase

How is it that Saturday and Sunday always go way faster than two days during the week?????


Anyway on to weekly chase here is what I had planned last week as goals:

#1-To limit my soda I like my fountain dr pepper of a morning and then I usually have a can of diet mtn dew with my lunch or unsweet tea. Did so so with this most days I only had one soda a couple I had one regular and one diet.

#2-Get 3 workouts in during my lunch hour this week and make them at least one mile in length. The weather will be nicer this week and the snow and ice is gone from the sidewalks. 100% success on that one went out all 5 days for 1.5 to 2 miles and Friday we did 3! For a total of 9.5 for the week.

#2-No unhealthy fast food for lunch or dinner this week! 98% success had subway one day chicken tacos once and a half a mc donalds burger Friday night (which I really regretted later)

#3-Spend more time in the evening with my kids doing something fun playing a game, puzzles or reading. Yep got this one in! Most of the time it was just playing with them or cuddled with them on the couch watching Duck Dynasty (my kids love that show)

#4-Keep laundry caught up seems silly but it gets out of control quickly. Well I got caught up on laundry Friday evening so I guess that's a semi success

#5-Add strength training in at least twice this week this is new for me so I am not sure what I will try. I did wall pushups and squats during the day at work. I have been doing the wall pushups at work for several months off and on and I think I may actually see some difference :)



This week's goals... This week is going to be a super hard week all the way around. I am only working Monday Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday I am leaving at 3 am to take my Grandparents to St. Louis for my Grandpa to have surgery. 

#1-Continue to limit my soda this will be a challenge come the end of the week when I am driving back and forth either early in the morning or late at night from the hospital.

#2-Two workouts this week would love to have more but I need to be realistic.

#3-Eat as healthy as possible while at the hospital and on the trips to and from. They actually have an awesome salad bar that I am once again looking forward to.

#4-Spend time with kids and my husband first part of the week and not let all the to do lists make me crabby with them.

Not a lot of goals but this is going to be a challenging and very emotional week one that I am not sure I am ready for.

A look back at the past 5 days!

Whew its Friday and I am glad of that and glad the work day is over half way over. I have done pretty good this week with food and exercise. I have been tracking my calories with myfitness pal and each day I have at least 300-900 calories left. I have also got a walk in each day on my lunch break.

My boss decided she wanted to start walking too. I was hesitant at first I knew she wouldn't go my pace and well I didn't know how much of a "workout" I would really get. But my mood was pretty blah on Monday and I figured the company would be nice. It was nice and she has walked with me each day this week and she is even getting pretty close to my regular speed.

Monday-We left from our office and walked 1.5 miles thru streets in town. I normally drive to a local park that has a sidewalk trail and walk it so there isn't tons of traffic or streets to cross. But it was a nice change of scenery.

Tuesday- We went from our work again in a different direction for another 1.5 miles and shaved some time off our walk. She brought money along and we stopped at the gas station on the way back and got a soda. Yes I felt silly walking carrying a soda!

Wednesday-Once again she wanted to walk so we headed to a local park that had a couple decent hills and was 2 miles round trip. It was a bit more challenging for her but I was glad for hills to give myself a bit more workout.

Thursday-Was nasty and drizzly so we drove to one of my regular parks and walked 1.5 miles. It was cold and wet out and we decided 1.5 was enough. Now she thought that 3 days of walking was good enough but went along on the 4th.

Friday- I really figured today she would decide not to go however this morning she told me to map out a route from work. So I plotted one out that would be right at 2 miles. When we took out walking we decided to change it up a bit and do a different route one that had some HUGE hills. Being the planner I am I was a bit nervous not knowing the mileage but I just went with it. Came back to work 50 minutes later and mapped out the course and we had went 3 miles! I think she was shocked she could go that far. Now I doubt we do many 3 milers since it takes up whole lunch hour until I can get her up to my regular speed. I even had her jog twice when we were crossing busy streets!

I am pretty proud of the week and getting in 5 workouts on my lunch break I think today's I will be feeling some in my thighs later today which is pretty awesome!

Not sure what the weekend holds hope to get some exercise in but house work HAS to be done it got put off a lot this week.

Tuesday Thoughts

Today is Tuesday and for some reason Monday seemed to last days and days not just 24 hours!

I joined in with a couple facebook groups one for the weekly chase which I am loving by the way thanks Road Runner Girl and Mindy for setting up such a wonderful group!
And I joined Biggest Loser Challenge and met a couple new awesome ladies who I think will be some great support for the challenge. Oh what did we ever do before blogs and facebook!

Soon I will be doing my first race in my 13 in 2013 series its a virtual run called princess in training. I signed up for the race long before I set the 13 in 13 goal simply because I loved the medal! I have obtained the nickname princess and well the medal was cute and pink :)

The weekend was a hard and emotional one. Started off Friday evening with a call from my Grandma telling me that the Dr called to schedule my Grandpa's kidney removal surgery for the 17th. Way sooner than we were expecting which worries me slightly. Its been less than two months since his heart attack and open heart surgery. So while corralling two tired kids in a super busy walmart I am trying to talk to her and process all she is telling me. There are some more things I need to talk with her about and need to talk to him about and its not easy things. Some days I wish I wasn't the only grandchild but I am glad that I am able to be right across the road and there for them. My Grandpa has told me how proud he is of me and how much he appreciates me more times in the last two months than I have ever heard in my life.

Then Sunday was the day my best friend boarded a plane to head to CA for ten days then off to Hawaii for at least 3 years. I wasn't able to go see her right before she left I saw her for a bit the weekend before Christmas. It was hard knowing she was leaving and trying to be happy for her starting a new life in a new fun warm place. I don't like that she is 10 hours away by plane ride when for the last 2 years she has only been 1.5 hours away by car. Very thankful that we were able to do our first ever race together and have some good pictures of us crossing the finish line hand in hand. And I know that she should get to come home to visit family and I will be able to see her but its still not the same.

Food wise this week I have done good. I have been craving chocolate like crazy but haven't ate any I did break down and have a half a glass of chocolate milk last night after dinner. I got my 5 by the 5th 5k done over the weekend nothing exciting with it. Yesterday I talked my boss in to walking with me on our lunch break. We got 1.5 miles in at a slow pace but it was fast for her and she told me she was sore today :) I plan on going back out today at noon at my pace and shooting for at least another 1.5 miles at a faster pace.

Weekly Chase Week #2

I decided to participate in the Weekly Chase this year so I can have weekly goals to achieve and link up with others who are doing it as well! That is if I can figure out the link up part.....

Anyway its the second week in the new year. Last week I didn't make any goals it was a short work week and there were to many things going on to try and add goals in with only a few days to accomplish them.

This weekend I had time to think of some goals.

#1-To limit my soda I like my fountain dr pepper of a morning and then I usually have a can of diet mtn dew with my lunch or unsweet tea.

#2-Get 3 workouts in during my lunch hour this week and make them at least one mile in length. The weather will be nicer this week and the snow and ice is gone from the sidewalks.

#2-No unhealthy fast food for lunch or dinner this week!

#3-Spend more time in the evening with my kids doing something fun playing a game, puzzles or reading.

#4-Keep laundry caught up seems silly but it gets out of control quickly.

#5-Add strength training in at least twice this week this is new for me so I am not sure what I will try.

Looking back at 2012

I wasn't going to do a year in review post mainly because I didn't think there would be enough to make a decent post. But after reading several I decided to go ahead and compile one.

2012 was a year of fun challenges and full of firsts.

January- I signed up for my EMT class I had been debating on it since November. Did a ride along with a friend in Rolla in mid December and knew it was where I needed to be. The first night of class I was full of excitement nerves and loved every minute of it. I decided then that I wanted to graduate at the top and have the highest scores over all (no I didn't share that goal with anyone but myself).

February- Don't recall anything exciting in February.... Guess that's a good thing or maybe a bad thing.

March- March 23 was my first ever official clinical day. I was in Rolla and was able to work with one of my best friends. The day was pretty busy had a call before they got trucks checked and no one knew who their partner was for the day. I remember having a huge smile on my face on the way to the call and loving every minute of it. It was an awesome day full of new experiences and I couldn't wait to schedule another day on the ambulance.

April- On one weekend in April I got to go to St. James and take the Auto Extrication Class their Fire Department was offering. I was beyond excited for the class yet a bit nervous as I didn't think I would know to many. To my surprise I was included in and was able to be with the guys from St. James while the girl I went with was in the group of the others from different departments. I proved that just because I am small and short I can still use the tools just like they do, I think a few may have been a bit surprised that I was able to use all the tools on my own! April was also filled with several auctions and more ambulance time. I also turned 29 in April.

May-Between auctions and ambulance time it was a super busy month. I switched from doing clincials in Rolla to doing them in St. James and loved it there and loved everyone I worked with. I also got my ER time out of the way and met a new amazing friend Stephanie! I didn't care a whole lot for being in the ER love the ambulance way more. And of course Memorial Weekend was the annual pig roast for some reason this year it wasn't as fun as years past. But both boys had a blast and played until they would fall asleep.

June- It was the last month of class and I was very sad that the class was already coming to an end. I knew that I would be reaching my goal of being the top in class and had talked to the teacher about it. She kept me informed on how well I needed to score on tests in order to reach my goal. I think she may have thought I was a bit nuts but I wanted to beat a 98.3%. June 8th I went and did my practical testing for my EMT license and passed it with flying colors. I was plenty nervous that whole day and then after while waiting for results. I spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday on an Ambulance it was the last days for clinicals before we turned in our books. I had 175 hours of ambulance time, and well I had the most ambulance hours of anyone in class.

We had a really nice pizza party the last night of class and we all chipped in and bought our teacher a big bottle of her favorite Rum. I made some great friends in the class who I still talk to and I made several new friends from St. James Ambulance.

Oh and I graduated top of the class with a 99.9%!!!!! I was beyond happy!!!!!!

Also in June I did my first ever 5k the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Walk with my best friend Lesley and her sister. We decided after the race to sign up for the St. Louis Rock N Roll Half Marathon that was happening that October.

July- More auctions and on July 8th I took my written test the last step in becoming an EMT. I went to the test alone and was nervous but I knew that I had to calm down that I knew the information. It took me about a half hour and less than 100 questions for the computer to kick off. Two days later got the best email ever saying congrats on becoming a EMT!!!!!! We had Blake's birthday party at our new house we weren't moved in yet but still had the party there.

July 22nd was my good friend April's wedding shower I helped to set up and decorate for it and got her a super special gift. It was a great day with friends and family and she got lots of cool gifts!

August- Attended a wedding of a close friend on the 4th and well that was quite the experience. Blake started 2nd grade the second week of August hard to believe he is a second grader!.

August 18 is a day I will never ever forget I won't retype it all but it was my first ever first responder call where I did CPR and lost a person not to mention a young person. Then right after went to a brush/structure fire and spent hours helping with that.

August 19 however was a super happy day (well as happy as I could be with the events the day before) We moved in to our new house and spent our fist night there!

Sometime in August or September I went to a Wedding shower and Bachelorette party for my friend Stephanie. I was shocked to get an invite but had an awesome time we had a lot of fun that day!

September- On the 8th my two boys were in their first ever wedding and looked so darn cute in their tuxes. Mike and April got married and it was a beautiful day! We had a lot of fun at the wedding and then after for the dinner and reception. We were surprised by April by the 4 of us having a place sitting up with the family table totally unexpected and made me cry. 

September 29 was Dan and Stephanie's Wedding I had never been to an outdoor wedding and theirs was beautiful. Couldn't have asked for a better day or evening. I had tons of fun celebrating with the bride and groom and their friends. Dan works as a medic for St James so I knew most every one there which was nice. It was a small reception but plenty of fun with new friends.

October- Training for my first ever half, well trying to train I didn't know how to train or what to expect. So I winged it.. not the smartest idea but hey it worked this time. October 21st was the half marathon. Going in to it not many thought I could do it or could finish. I decided to prove them all wrong and Lesley and I did just that! It took us 4 hours but we finished and got that darn medal we wanted so bad! I was in tears at the finish line and was so glad to be able to text and call friends to tell them I did it!!!!! After that race really set me to wanting to train smarter and do more races.

November-Found out my best friend Lesley was moving to Hawaii her husband was being transferred. I don't deal with change well and honestly still not dealing with it and she leaves in 3 days.

We hosted Thanksgiving at our new house and I managed to make it with out stressing completely out!
The day after Thanksgiving my Grandpa had a heart attack and for the next week and a half I was going back and forth from St. Louis checking on him.

December-Christmas parties, planning for Christmas dinner at our house and keeping Grandpa healthy consumed the first part of the month. Christmas day went well we had 16 people at our house for dinner kids had a good time and well I survived the day.

Planning race goals and dream races that I would love to compete in.

New Year's Resolutions

Its a new year and time for some new years resolutions. I usually make some in my head never write them down or tell anyone and then guess what... they never happen.....

This year I want it to be different and need it to be different. There is a lot I need to work on and change.

1-I have committed to running/walking 13 races in 2013 I know if I have an on going goal I will continue to stick with walking and running.  Otherwise it will be train for a race then do nothing until I decide to sign up for another one. This way I know I will have at least one race a month either virtual or in real life.

2-Want to try new foods and continue to get rid of processed junk from my diet. Last June I 98% switched over to diet soda. I want to cut that back to not daily and to add in more healthy foods to my diet. I know I can't eat salads daily my stomach hates me after about 3-5 days of salads so I need to research some good healthy easy lunch options.

3-Start strength training if I want to compete in a Tough Mudder or Warrior Dash this year I need to work on strength. I already know I am pretty strong but I need to work on it more and who doesn't want more defined shoulders and arms :)

4-Weed out people in my life who are bringing me down. I have a few people close to me that really just use me and while I see it I continue to let it happen, which also continually ends up in my getting upset and hurt. Some will be easy to distance from a couple will be a lot harder. However I know its necessary to surround myself with positive people who care about me and who support my goals and are there when I need them.

5-To get to a healthy weight that I am happy with. I decided not to put a number on it I know from past experience if I put a goal scale number or number of pounds I want to lose that it sets me up for failure. I get to focused on the number and then go down roads I need to stay off of. So I will workout eat right and focus more on how my clothes fit and feel and how I feel when I look in the mirror. Maybe this new approach will help me get to a healthy weight without the stress and obsession of the number on the scale.

So I have some research to do to find ways to strength train and find recipes that my family and I will actually eat that is healthy (oldest child is a very picky eater). Hope to find different fun challenges thru out the year that I can join that will keep me going since I know that a few months in things always get tough.

Happy New Year!!!

How is it that today is January 2, 2013.... Seems like it was just Thanksgiving then Christmas flew around. Then not sure where the week between Christmas and yesterday went. Well I know it was super busy and crazy more on that later.

I thought I would share some of the challenges I have entered for this amazing new year. Now once I figure out the blog button things I will have the 13 in 2013 badge posted on my blog. I have signed up to run 13 races in 2013 I am excited for that.

Pretty sure I signed up for the virtual princess 5k that is to be done this month which will be my January race. I only signed up because I loved the medal its pink sparkly and has a tiara on it.

Also decided to do the 5 by the 5th virtual Run Series it goes from January to June. Here's a link to it. 5 by 5th Virtual Run Series. You have to get either a 5k, or 5 miles in by the 5th of each month and then enter your information in to be registered for some pretty cool prizes.

Then I saw this on another blog and couldn't resist on Run with Jess Blog. Its called Run Your A$$ Off. You pay 10.00 to diet bet weight in and then work to lost 4% of your body weight in 28 days. Those who make the goal get to split the pot.... Last I looked it was up over $6000.00. Here is a link to her post talking about it. Run Your A$$ Off.

There is a good possibility that I am forgetting other things I am signed up for but at the moment my mind can't think of it. I will do a post about the weekend and my new years resolutions and goals later.

Happy New Year to everyone!!!!