Cali and Spring Cleaning

Cali is almost 5 months old, and she has the best personality. Here are some recent pictures of her:

She's a happy baby doggie!

We just love her!

Last Saturday Neil and I did some cleaning. He was in charge of outside duties, and I took care of the inside cleaning. It was quite fun. And very fulfilling. I mean, we've been living here since January, and haven't been able to take advantage of what it's really like to be homeowners. Neil made purchases of both a lawnmower and a grill - 2 very important things, don't you think? The hold up has of course been weather. We have been waiting, and waiting....and waiting for Spring to finally get here - and it has. However, after Neil purchased the lawnmower, he did say, and I quote: "Screw being a homeowner." Captain Negative in full effect. Deep down I know he loves it. I did take some pictures of this occasion...and check out that tree we have in our backyard....
Also notice how Neil is matching the lawnmower. OH! And the above picture, in the background you see that truck parked? ....somewhat behind him....that is his Grandfather's old house.
We were able to put the grill to use right away! We invited the Hamps to join us. The weather was absolutely perfect, and we had such a great time!!!
Afterwards we took a walk down the street to Connie's for some ice cream. Literally...its just a block away. Trouble. Trouble indeed.

54.5/60

As of today, the 29th day of April I have done 54.5 miles out of 60. I have 2 days left, including today - I'm pretty sure I'm going to surpass my goal. I'm pretty stoked about it. I did however switch from running on the treadmill, to the elliptical on April 13th. I was in too much pain. Not only were my shins being ripped to shreads, my knees hurt, my lower back hurt...and no matter how many sports bras I put on, there was no help in that upper department of my body. What is awesome about the elliptical is: 1-No pain, but sore muscles, and 2-I can work out my arms. I'm lovin' it!!!!! It's absolute heaven versus the treadmill. My husband seems to think that machine is pointless. I challenged him to get on one, and attempt 4 miles in 35 minutes....which is what I've been accomplishing...and he declined. He's scared.
I am trying to come up with a new goal for the month of May. I need to add lunges and sit-ups to my workout. Maybe 10-15,000 sit ups? 1,000 lunges? We'll see.

April Fools Not

I actually dislike that my birthday is the day before April Fools Day. I was supposed to be an April Fools baby - but like my typical self, I was early. No surprise there.

I need to blog about my crazy dog Cali. She is just nuts. She communicates with Neil and I in such a way, we just start laughing. She has a different grunt for when she's upset, when she is needing to go outside, a different more loud grunt when it's an absolute emergency (HURRY! I GOTTA GO!!), and more a whine-like-grunt when she's tired and she'd like to shnuggle with us. She even has a grunt for when she is cuddlin', and she's not comfortable...she'll give us this look like "Fix it". Precious.

I will post pictures up soon. As of 2-1/2 weeks ago, she weighed in at 17 lbs...I'm sure she's surpassed 20. We'll see at her next vet appt which will be this Saturday.

We love her.

I need to start shedding this weight. Yeah, yeah, yeah...I seem to be blogging only about this nonsense. But I feel the more I talk about it, the more motivated I am. I got in a text-arguement last night w/my friend Sean. According to him, there was no excuse for me NOT to work out yesterday...just because it's my birthday. I did however take Cali for a walk last night - which I thought would suffice, but no. I quote "doesn't count. do better tomorrow..." and "that's the neil in you talking; wake dawna up. dog walking is old lady stuff...." which I disagree completely. I love being outside, with a leash at hand. But I can see his point. If I want results, this working out business needs to get serious.
In the month of February, consisting of 28 days - Sean attempted to run 90 miles. (Note: I just edited that last sentence because I remembered it wasn't March he made the attempt, it was Feb..with only 28 days to accomplish the 90) He didn't succeed only due to a cold that lasted forever. Not that I'm a runner, it's the last thing in the world I like doing...but I figured I could do 60 miles in one month.


60 mile count down starts today...

29 today

I recently posted a blog about how I dreamt of a rotten tooth completely falling out of my head... well my friend Shannon sent me this link:

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art10573.asp

If you choose to read the above article ...you'll know all that I've been going through mentally. I woke up in such a panic after that dream and have been obsessing over what it could all mean.

Like a punch in the face - it makes sense why I dreamt what I did. Emotionally, I have been going through a lot. It's not fun for me, my friends or the husband who constantly asks: What is the matter with you today?

Thank the Lord I have been grabbing a hold of my emotions, and have been leaning on Him for strength. Hopefully I will start dreaming happy dreams - like I usually do.

Two days left...

...until I become 29. The last year of my twenties.
I have the craziest thoughts going on in my head like, should I start purchasing anti-wrinkle cream? And analyzing my life - what have I accomplished in these 29 years?

29.

Crazy.

rotten tooth

I had a horrible dream last night...more like nightmare.
It was in the future, and it's a week before I get my braces off. Neil says to me "Why don't you just take them off yourself?" Hmm. Why not? How difficult can it be? I start popping off the brackets one by one. Now since my fangs decided to stay up in my head for so long (they're being manually pulled down right now) they were super white! Which made the rest of my teeth yellow. Gross. I'm happy with the results though & think I need to get some whitening strips.
The following morning (dream-time: 5 seconds after a quick switch in the world of dreaming) I wake up to run to the bathroom to look at my teeth. HORRIFIED! The gaps came back in between my teeth, and my front tooth became rotten. So rotten, it fell out!!!!!

I woke up in a complete panic, using my tongue to feel around my teeth. Never been so happy to feel the metal.

Dear Dr. Cardot - I promise I will not take my braces off on my own...

Accountability

Not only have I been hitting the gym, I'm feeling quite addicted to it - "Is there a class available at 5:30? What about 10am on Mondays & Fridays?" I mean...how many more weight classes can one take? So far, I'm in love with 4 during the week. But to get me to do any sort of cardio is like pulling teeth - or more like stomping my feet, arms being thrown every which direction, with pure crankiness "I don't wanna!!!" I attempted a Kickboxing class on Tuesday, and am still feeling the post-pain from it as I sit. I almost walked out. But even though there was a class of about 30, I felt all eyes were on me. "They'll see me slip out"...is what kept running through my head as I guzzeled water down my throat.
What my friend Sean and I have decided to do is keep each other accountable - when one goes to the gym, we text each other stating things like "Ran this morning" or "Weight class". Just a simple text to make the other feel AWFUL if they didn't make it in that day...or if one decides to sit around and watch American Idol instead of hitting the Elliptical (which is what I did last night)...you can feel guilty. Which is what I feel. Guilty. So, tonight - even though I won't be released from the Arena until well after 8pm - I will make my way to the gym in hopes I can squeeze in at least 30 minutes of cardio before the lights go out. We'll see.

Gym rage!

I'm getting into the habit of hitting the gym, and it's quite satisfying. Regardless, I missed quite a few days last week - but I have an excuse. Surgery, once again on my mouth to help my bicuspid #11 tooth come down. Lame I know. I'm sick, sick, sick of all of it and CANNOT wait for all of this to be over. Okay, enough of that....
Gym. From my previous blog, and wanting to get in shape - I've been doing quite well. Just not eating as much junk, controlling my portions...and more importantly - eating breakfast. This is a hard habit for me to get into. I just can't get into it. But I'm working on it.

I have really enjoyed these weight classes that are available at the YMCA. Love it! The pain is a feel good kind of pain, like I accomplished something... If I were to go to the free weights that are in the "weight room" I'd be lost.

Mondays are by far my favorite day at the Y: Weights & Abs for 45 minutes, and then an hour long Yoga class follows afterwards.

Let's see what I can accomplish by June 22nd...
...June 22nd? Neil and I fly out to CA for a week long vacation. So excited!!!

Post Wedding Weight

When my husband came into my life, I barely ate anything...weighing a mere 120 lbs.. For those of you who know Neil, you know he can eat. He can eat, and eat, and eat...and then eat some more. Usually my leftovers. For some off the wall reason, I felt I needed to keep up with this habit. I had been in such good shape my entire life, the most athletic, die hard work out fanatic - I couldn't gain weight. Yeah right! I did, and FAST! Months before the wedding I got a hold of myself and hit the gym religiously and was in great shape for the big day.
Within a month of married life, I quit my gym and just worked out with Tae-Bo videos and going for walks. That didn't last long...
40 pounds later - I reached my highest, gawd-awful weight ever!!! 160 lbs. This is embarrassing. I've never admitted to this weight, now even to Neil. Why? He weighs 165 lbs.. Typing this, this very moment is scaring the crud out of me. I can't believe I let myself go this much. The weight just crept up on me. From my last doctor's appt, I weighed 148 lbs...but that was last summer. I actually threw out my scale, and base my weight loss on the jeans that exist in all sorts of sizes that hang in my closest.

So - the point is. I'm over weight. Since I'm 5' 3", I should weigh between 110-125 to be "healthy"...I'm aiming to weigh 125-130. I like some meat on my bones, and the cut in my arms of muscle. This past winter, with the new house, and settling in....Not to mention, the depression (S.A.D.) that smacked me upside the head - I had zero motivation to hit the YMCA.

My goal: To lose my Post Wedding Weight by my 5th year anniversary. That gives me 4 months to get myself back in my size 7 jeans that I just won't give up.

I can't believe I just blogged about this...
I'm hoping this will motivate me.
What does help is my friends Dave and Sean who have the same mind set - to just get healthy. We have to at least try and work out daily, and inform one another of it...if not, you're LAME. Spring is just around the corner, and we can't wait to hit the tennis courts - and I personally can't wait to start training/walking Cali outside.

I can do this.
I know I can.
I'm sick of myself and my size 13 jeans.

Weekend of events!

My weekends start on Friday. Since I have 4 day weekends, I am able to do just about anything.

This weekend was booked solid.
Friday, started off great:

7:30am - Yep, I was awake this early. Why you ask? My dog knew I was just laying there & did her darnest to make the funniest sounds/howls to get me out of bed. We ventured into the living room & started to clean. Cali hates this mainly because I don't pay any attention to her - and I'm picking up all of her toys and placing them to an unreachable location. IPOD goes on and my finger scrolls in the circular motion to the "M's" - M for Madball. I can run the fastest, drive the craziest, and clean the cleanliest with that band rocking through the speakers. Plus they were here in Erie, and I was attending their show later that night.
By 10am I was done cleaning & mid-way through my laundry. I then start working on a baby quilt for my girlfriend Autumn - I'd like to note that the baby shower was just a day & a 1/2 later, talk about procrastinating. But quickly that had to be put away due to the fact she was on her way for a visit. What I love about having Autumn & Owen come visit is they're a great help in getting my 13 week old puppy familiar with people, and little ones. And I am one proud momma because Cali was amazing!!! She shared her toys, and played with Owen so well - it was so fun watching them RUN! It just brought peace and happiness to my heart because I want Cali to be the best doggie she can be - and I feel that she is on her way.
By the time my friends left, I had to get myself ready to pick up Neil and I had planned on surprising him with a Starbucks drinky...so I had to get moving!

MADBALL came to Erie! It was a great night, with good friends, and one of my favorite hardcore bands. And of course, they were just amazing. What is silly is I don't know very many of their songs. I really don't. That was brought to my attention, at the show. They're still sooo good! Afterwards, we headed to Fox for a bite to eat. Good, good night.

Saturday was pretty strange. I ran around, took care of some errands. Headed over to my friend Rebecca's in hopes to be ahead of the game for the surprise baby shower/tea party we were co-hosting for Autumn. Bad news...Rebecca was sicker then sick. That made for a quick drop off of items, and an even quicker pick up of the cupcake mix for me to make at home. I then had to make my way to work...Motley Crue concert, and I was one of three working the box office. But let me tell you how entertaining it was!!!! Time just flew. I people watched like no other. Had to pick my chin up from the counter a couple times...these middle aged women man. Whoa!
A benefit of working that night: I was able to check out the chaos. MotleyCrue. What can I say? For one, they're old. But Vince Neil sure did move. Three songs later, I made my way home. I had cupcakes to make & a quilt to finish. Neil had some of his boys over, so I had to guard the cupcakes - and unfortunately move all of my sewing equipment into the bedroom. By 2:30am (3:30am because of the time change), the quilt was complete :) What I didn't realize was that the boys were still here, and were making their exit. Perfect timing.

Sunday morning was a rough one - I had a hard time getting up. But up I got. I had to make my way to Rebecca's to drop off everything before work. And yes...I worked on Sunday. There was a Sporting Expo held at the Bayfront Convention Center & I signed on to work a few hours in their box office. But I couldn't wait. I was working with Sue, who is one of my newest, most favorite people here in Erie. She is one of my Box Office co-workers, and is just sooo funny. I can't stop smiling & laughing when I'm with her. That time just flew. Quickly I rushed over to the Tea Party to finish the last tid-bit stuff before the guests arrive... And since this was a surprise, Rebecca & I were just crossing our fingers that through the grapevine she didn't find out. As her family started to arrive, and we got the finishing touches all laid out...we hear Autumn yell "I'm going to let myself in, if that's okay." Now, we told Autumn that we were spending the day - just girls...a time for us to just spend before she had the baby. We mentioned it was going to be a tea party with sweets to eat, we even told her to bring something to share (she brought cupcakes)... She walked in and was completely shocked!!!! It was soooo great to do this for her. From what we kept hearing was that "it is rude to throw a baby shower for a 2nd child" "people won't come"...and such other nonsense. We wanted to throw her this party because she has a son, and she really needed girlie stuff...and she really deserved time out with the girls. It was a great, great time!!!!

I ended the night spending quality time with my baba. I picked up Chinee and we watched movies the rest of the night.

What a crazy weekend!