Long weekend of Hockey

So this weekend we went up to Traverse City to play some hockey. We lost the first game with 6 seconds left in the game. What a bummer. The next night we played in Ludington/Manistee area and won 5-2. It was such a beautiful weekend up there. Oh how I love the Traverse City area in winter. I swear one day we will live there when we retire. Hey...a girl can dream. Ironic that Ryan's girlfriend Shelby is from that area. Me and Jen are still working on the hockey booklet. Jordanne just whipped up the front cover and emailed it to me tonight. Number #18 is Jacob. Such a big little brother...all 6'4" of him.

My 21 days to a healthy habit hasn't really been going all that well. I mean...I've already established a healthy habit of walking 3 miles every day. I've done it 5 days a week for 15 years...I was hoping to add another workout with it...to boost my fat burning...but Monday was the only day I did anything extra. I cannot tell a lie. I ate and drank like we were on vacation. Oh, it was a refreshing and energizing vacation away from the city that we live in. Pat wants to go back this weekend since we don't have any hockey due to high school exams. I'm almost thinking of doing it...

I considered a restart on my 21 day journey. Today wasn't the day to do it. I was in recovery mode. The lack of sleep since our Thursday night all nighter working on the program...then Friday night we stayed up until 3 am, Saturday until 2:30...This girl had some beauty rest to get caught up on today. What a slug.

Working on Hockey Advertising Booklet

Into Day three of my Fitness Journey. Oh heck, I don't even know what day it is!

Here's the lowdown:

I have walked 3 miles every day...not a lot of extra workouts going on right now. I'm hoping the intensity of our walks will boost my fat burning capacity until things settle down a bit. I am stressed out beyond measure right now.

I've been swamped with the Hockey Advertising Booklet for the High School team. I don't exactly know how the coach's wife ended up doing the entire thing...but I'm glad that the coach's daughters are graphic designers and art majors or I'd be up the proverbial creek without a paddle. Jennifer and I have been up all night laying out ads, designing player pages, and basically doing the whole thing. Jordanne is working on the cover. I still have to get the coach to write his Mission Statement, which usually means me writing it anyways. Ugh. I will be so glad when this is over. As if I don't have enough to do with another wedding coming up on May 1st.

Speaking of wedding- We met with the Mother of the Groom and discussed the Bridal shower plans, dresses, food, etc.

All I can say is that we left the meeting and ran to David's bridal to find my dress. (Realization of how little time we have left hit me. ) It looks like this girl is going to be wearing another navy dress (long gown this time.) It seems the only dress that looked decent on me (in my fluffy state) only comes in NAVY! I really didn't want to get navy again since I just wore it 6 months ago at Jordanne's wedding...But it was the only dress we really liked and it made Jennifer cry. (thinking of us walking down the aisle.) I took it as a sign this was the one. I didn't order it yet. I will probably go back on Monday to try it on again with my navy bolero jacket and make a decision.

Well, time to run some errands. I'm running on caffeine right now and one hour of sleep.

Day One of my journey

(photo courtesy of carrotsncake.com. Great blog by the way!)

Day one included my usual morning routine of walking 3 miles on a local indoor track. I love walking outside but the snowy Michigan sidewalks make for a treacherous trek...and I do happen to enjoy my mobility. Anyways...it seems as though we walk faster indoors and I'm always pretty warm when our 3 miles are done. I came home and had a light breakfast. I really haven't started a Diet per se, but I've cultivated an awareness of what is going in my mouth.

So by mid afternoon, I decided that I needed to "Busta Move" and get downstairs into our gym and get started. I plugged my ipod into my head, and hit the treadmill. I whipped off a quick 2 miles (alternating some walking/jogging while listening to some questionable rap music that Jordanne programmed into my ipod.) I must say the song did make me want to shake my butt...although it was more like a Jello jigglers visual than something "sexy"...

I'm just sayin'.

Okay...so this isn't MY shirt...but mine was equally as drenched when I got off the treadmill. I hit the weights and then finished up with a little "cool down" on the elliptical. I was careful not to over-do it. I didn't want to be too sore to workout today...and on that note, I'm going to make some coffee and get back into the gym.

I am trying to cultivate a good habit, don'tcha know? Even though I'm blogging about day one(yesterday), today is actually day two. 19 more days to go! Go ME!

Honoring the Sabbath

We Went to church this morning and have spent the day lounging around, drinking coffee, talking, laughing, and basically enjoying Pat's last day of vacation. HONORING THE SABBATH. Tomorrow things return to business as usual: Pat back to work, Jake back to school, and me starting my first day of Fat Camp. Okay...not Fat Camp, let's call it FITNESS CAMP.

The first Monday of the New Year seems like a good day to start my Fitness Journey. They say it takes 20 days to break a habit although it takes 21 days to form a habit. I wonder why that is? Well, I just so happen to have 20 -21 days to spare- to test this "theory" out firsthand. Count me in. I'm up for the challenge. Perhaps I might even become "addicted" to exercising along the way.

Of course, with Jennifer's wedding coming up on May 1st, I must shamelessly admit, I do have ulterior motives to testing out this theory. Actually, I have exactly 40 reasons. I would be elated to tackle even 20 of these pesky reasons. So the Journey begins. Come along for the journey.

So today I started reading a new book: The Christmas sweater. Every year I try to read a good Christmas book...and of course, I'm a little behind. (The story of my life.) Anyways...I started this book and without a doubt, I think it's a fast read. I'm already hooked.

Of course, I did have to use my little pair of old lady "cheaters". Oh yes, I did say say old lady. I bought them at Michael's one day out of desperation. I realized I could barely read something on the back of a skein of yarn. So not only am I noticing that my arms aren't long enough due to the onset of presbyiopia, I am facing the hard cold facts of the natural progression of aging on one's body. It's not bad enough that grey hair, wrinkles, and the pull of gravity changes the way we look, now I have to get glasses to boot! In all of my 46 years, my eyesight has been something I've been able to boast about! I have never had my eyes tested because I had perfect vision...and now, here we are (both Pat and I) needing reading glasses. What's worse is that they detected a bit of a distance prescription needed too. So on Friday, I pick up my glasses. Ugh. I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with this. We'll see if I get motion sickness while wearing them.

Will dance for food

I've decided I want my dog's life. I want to lay around in the sunny spot or curl up on a pillow on the couch all day... I could chase a squirrel and dance for food a couple times a day for exercise, sit around looking adorable while people pick me up and cuddle me on their lap. Oh what a life...no worries about paying bills, going on a diet, or fighting with the cable company. I'm pretty sure dogs have no stress other than worrying if someone will come home in time so they can go outside to lift their leg...and on that note-

I got to sleep in late this morning...I woke up to the smell of coffee brewing, called my mom, did some dishes, and took care of some business for the hockey team. Before I knew it, we had to leave to go to the hockey game. (We lost 5-1) When we got home, I threw some steaks on the grill and got in my jammies. Hmmm. My life sounds a lot like my dog's life already.

Happy New Year!

" 2010 is the Year of Jen!"

I can't believe our dear sweet daughter Jennifer will be 25 years old on February 7th and married on May 1st. This is her year...an end to the long distance relationship which has been an exercise in patience. Her and Patrick have been dating since May 1, 2002 of their junior year of high school. After graduation, Patrick went to Notre Dame for 4 years, then got a job in Chicago...the whole time Jennifer was living here in Michigan, going to the local university, starting her photography business, visiting him in South Bend, then Chicago. She will be the first person to say it wasn't EASY...but I would venture to guess she has learned a valuable lesson in perserverence.

"Missing someone gets easier every day because even though you are one day further from the last time you saw them, you are one day closer to the next time you will." ~author unknown

So today, being day ONE of 2010, I figured I would start the new year off with a bit of organization. I cleaned out my silverware drawer, knife drawer, utensil drawer, and the lazy susan. (which was a total mess) There's just something about organizing that gives you a sense of accomplishment. I realize I'm starting with baby steps, but it's at least a START. Tomorrow I plan to tackle my pantry.

We Interrupt this blogging break for a brief announcement

...Man, when did we get old? Note to self: I need a haircut.On the eve of this NEW YEAR...
After many months of escaping the blogging world to allow myself to get caught up with my life...I decided to come back to my sad little neglected blog...where I dump my thoughts for nobody (or everybody) to read...where I feel like something I do doesn't get undone, dirty, or need washing...Where something in my day gets documented somewhere and I know my existence mattered if only for a brief blip in time to a handful of people.

The eve of a New Year is filled with promise: of hopes and dreams and aspirations. I feel excitement for what lies ahead; the unknown. I have faith that God will not give us more than we can handle, yet believe that He will give us exactly what we need.

With that being said... This is the pile of presents under our tree on Christmas morning. Talk about an obscene amount of gifts. Everybody was home...including Jordanne and Dustin (who live a mile away) Ryan and Josh (five miles away), Ryan's girlfriend Shelby even stayed overnight, and Jen and Jake (who still live at home). It was a wonderful Christmas morning spent with family, laughter, and tons of paper shredding being done by the dogs. We made a huge breakfast and lounged around most of the day watching movies and playing video games. Ah...how we love our laid back Christmas holiday.

I hate to use the word RESOLUTION...because it seems so short lived. Instead I will say that the promise of a New Year gives me hope that I can be a better person by the grace of God. I want to be more postitive, more uplifting, encouraging. I want to be kinder to others and kinder to myself. I want to exercise more, complain less. I want to see the good in others and hope others can see the good in me. I want to care more about people than things, to live simply instead of simply living. And on that note...it's time to clean up this mess.

There's no time like the present!

It'll be nice to start off the New Year with a clean house.

Happy New Year!

We'll be seeing a lot more of me around here this year. Ta- ta for now.