Good Intentions don't make you skinny.....

My sleep has been all off the last few days, so my time at the gym has been slim to none.  I went on Tuesday and it was great, and had every intention on going yesterday and today.  But I just can't seem to make myself get out of bed.  Tuesday night, we went to bed kinda early (11:30) because it was so hot in our house.  We have an AC unit in our bedroom, but it's not big enough to cool the whole house, so the days when it's super hot out, we spend a lot of time just hanging out in the bedroom. Well, I'm still trying to finish reading the last book of the Fifty Shades series, so I was up until almost 1:30 reading.  And then Cody had a hard time getting comfortable, so he ended up putting his pillow at the foot end of the bed, which is right in front of the AC, and slept that way.  I ended up getting kicked in the face a few times during the night.  :)  So when my alarm went off at 7am, I turned it off and slept until 10. 

Last night, we decided to let our puppy sleep in our bed, and that never makes for a great nights sleep.  She generally sleeps in her crate, but we're slowly trying to get her used to being out of her crate at night, and when we're gone.  When I start working at my new job, Cody and I will basically be working 10+ hour shifts, at the same time, so I don't want her to be crated the whole time we're gone.  We're going to be having someone come over and walk her and play with her, but I'd rather not have her crated.  So she slept in our bed. She did great until about 5, which is when she woke up and started licking everything.  She has this weird habit of licking.  She'll lick the couch, she licks pillows, she licks people....she just licks.  So I woke up to this big wet spot on the sheets where she'd been licking.  So I tried to kick her back down to the end of the bed, and she started biting and wanting to play.  She ended up getting up herself and going in her crate, so I just shut the door.  5 hours was longer than she'd slept in our bed before. We're just gonna keep trying and hopefully eventually she'll be able to sleep through the whole night.

I am so excited for tomorrow.  Since my birthday is in just about two weeks, and Cody is going to have to work the whole day, we are celebrating it tomorrow.  He bought me tickets to go see the Michael Jackson Cirque Du Soleil show! I'm super excited. I'm a big Michael Jackson fan, and I  always hoped to see him in concert one day.  Obviously, I won't be able to do that now, but I'm hoping that this show is just as good!  It's in chicago, so we're going to leave here early tomorrow morning, and spend the day probably just hanging out downtown Chciago, eating somewhere cool, and going to the show at night.  I can't wait!!

Sooner or Later....

.....I'm going to write a post about how great my workout was, and how awesome I did with logging my food. 

But today isn't going to be that day.

I'm just going to cut to the chase here....I ate crappy.  Monday and Tuesday, I basically ate nothing but crap.  I am struggling with wrapping my mind around the fact that a day off of work doesn't mean a day off of being healthy. 

Monday morning, I had planned on running.  I don't have any other excuses as to why I didn't run, other than the fact that I have missed my husband and didn't want to leave him.  Lame, I know, but he's been working weird hours so we haven't seen each other much. 

So after sleeping in, we spent the day just hanging out.  We went out to dinner with Cody's brother for his birthday, and then went to Target.  After we shopped, we went to the Drive-In to see Brave.  While there, I ate wayyy too much food.  Popcorn, pretzels, chocolate, chips....I don't know what was wrong with me. 

The next day, I had a stomach ache from all the crappy food, so that was my excuse as to why I didn't go run.  I don't know why I didn't take that as a hint, because Tuesday was spent with more junk.  We took Remy to a local dog park/daycare.  In order for them to take her for a day for daycare, or boarding, they need to go through a test, to check and see if the dog is well behaved enough to go.  She, of course, passed with flying colors.  This place is awesome, because not only do they have nature trails, fenced in areas for small and big dogs, 2 ponds for dogs to swim in, but they also have agility courses, daycare, boarding, grooming, and training.  It's kind of expensive ($10 to take your dog through the parks/trails/ponds, and $25 a day for daycare), but totally worth it.  We took Remy through the trails, and she went swimming for the first time.  French Bulldogs aren't always the best swimmers, because they are top heavy, but she loved it! She was pretty scared of the water at first, but she did great, and didn't want to leave!

After we got home, we cleaned up the house a bit, and Cody mowed the lawn, and then we headed out to go see a baseball game.  I love going to the ball park, and mostly because I love beer and food.  And to add to the mix, they had $0.10 hot dogs.  I could get full on 10 hot dogs for $1! Yes, please! I didn't eat 10, but I had a few.  As well as some nachos, and ice cream, and beer.  WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!  It's like I was asking to gain the 13lbs I have lost back in two days. 

I was determined to get up and go this morning....but that determination wasn't awake at 7am when I had planned on going.  Because of all the junk, I had a stomach ache again.  So, instead of going to the gym, I got back in bed.  I just need to find where my motivation went, and get it back.  I wish I could bottle the feeling I have when I'm done running, and just take it every morning when I can't seem to pull myself out of bed. 

I am going to the gym tomorrow morning though.  I promise.

Sorry :(

I've been such a slacker lately when it comes to this blog! I feel like I just don't have anything important to say.  I've been going through such a weird funk when it comes to running.  I wouldn't necessarily say I'm bored with it, but I feel like I'm not progressing.  And I have been feeling like I want to try other things, instead of just running.  I think that what I really need to do, is find a week to completely, 100% recommit myself to fitness.  I need to still do my run 3 times a week, and maybe add a day or two of something else. There's a 30 minute beginner spin class at the YMCA that I want to try, but I'm sooo nervous because I have always been so intimidated by spin class.

There's also a 10am Saturday morning Zumba class that I may be interested in trying sometime.  I'm a terrible, terrible dancer so I'm not sure how Zumba would work for me.  I also feel like I need to work on my upper body, so maybe a weight training class?  I'll figure it out one of these weeks, and really get my fitness figured out! 

Sorry this is going to be another short post, but the husband and I are getting ready to go to a drive-in movie, and then we're going to the zoo tomorrow!

Slacking.

Our weekend was a pretty fun one.  We always try to do fun things on our days off, just because we are not sit at home type people.  So monday, we went to lunch with Cody's brother.  He had to put his cat to sleep over the weekend, so we got him a nice frame to put a picture of her in it, and her collar.  And his birthday is coming up, and they're hurting for money right now, so we gave him an early birthday present and paid for the urn that they are going to put their cats ashes in.

After lunch, we went home and decided to take Remy to the beach.  There's a beach by us that will allow you to take Dogs, so we took her.  She was a bit afraid of the water, but I think she had a good time playing in the sand. We then took her to get her first ice cream cone, and she loved it!  Then we went to dinner, and came home and relaxed.

Tuesday we went down south about an hour to a small town and Remy spent her first day at a Doggie Daycare.  We spent the day shopping in all the little shops.  We mostly bought food items (Cody bought some mustard, and some spices, and we bought a cookie and a cupcake).












Then we went to a local winery and got to try some yummy wines.  We bought a bottle of my favorite Riesling, and they were having a deal on their new boxes of wine (it's not as un-classy as it used to be! haha) so we got a box of white wine.

After that, we went to a local mansion, the Felt Mansion.  It is said to be haunted, and it's super creepy so it wouldn't surprise me.  The man who built it was the man who invented the cash register. He built it as a summer home for his wife, who died before she had the chance to live in it.  It because a catholic school, and then a correctional facility, before it was abandoned for many years.  They recently (2000, I think) renovated it and it became open to the public for tours, and weddings.





Cody had to work for a little bit on Tuesday night, so I went home and took a short nap while he was working, and then we went and saw Prometheus.  It was a very good movie, so go see it!

Because we had such an early morning and late night on Tuesday, I decided to skip my run on Wednesday, and move it to Thursday morning.  I was scheduled to have Thursday and Friday as rest days, so I figured taking Wednesday and Thursday off instead wouldn't be an issue.  Well, I must have needed sleep because Wednesday night, I could not keep my eyes open.  I went to bed a little early, and ended up sleeping through my alarm Thursday morning. I guess I turned it of without even knowing it.

So I decided to do my run today, and then hopefully do it again tomorrow.  Today's run went alright....nothing to brag about.  It was 2 miles of 90 second run/90 second walk. I must have been really slacking, because 90 seconds is a LONG time it seems.  I'm running faster (5.6, where I used to run at 4.8 or 5) and I'm also running on a 1.0 include, so maybe that's why, but man it just seems like it's harder than it was.  We are doing the Color Run in August, and my goal is to be able to run the entire thing.  It's going to be HOT out, and I have a bunch of friends/family who are doing it with us, so I want to be able to run the entire thing to show that I haven't been slacking! Also, if I can't run a whole 5k by August, I'm going to either have to a)REALLY step up my game or b) rethink doing the Princess Half Marathon.  

I also have been having a hard time getting my eating back to normal.  I have issues with going way over in calories on my days off.  I am the type of person that needs a "cheat" day. Maybe not so much an entire day, but at least one meal.  On our days off, Cody and I generally do a lot of eating out. I know it's possible to stay under your calories when eating out,  but sometimes we go to restaurants where it's basically impossible to both log, and stay under.  And I'm okay with that, as long as I'm able to stay under my calorie goal throughout the week.  But for some reason this week I've had a hard time getting myself to want to count again, and eat like I should.  I tend to do this...after a few weeks of being good and losing some weight, for some reason I just decide I don't want to do it anymore, so I stop.  I am working hard to get over this hump but for some reason I'm just losing the motivation.  I need something to get me excited again. 

I had a bit of a binge last night.  I wasn't going to write about it, but I think that writing about it to you guys will help keep me accountable for it.  I had a TERRIBLE night at work.  Cody and I went to lunch at a local pizza place for their pizza and salad buffet. I made sure to eat a big, yummy salad, so I wouldn't eat so much pizza.  I made sure to log it all, and made sure to have a salad at work for Dinner (I love Salad, so it's okay).  We were suuuuuper busy at work, and I had a new girl closing with me so I basically had to do everything, people were rude, it was just an all around bad night.  And generally what I do is I eat part of my dinner at work about 4 or 5, and then the other part of my dinner when I get home from work.  Well, because we were so busy I wasn't able to make the other part of my dinner, so I was starving on my way home.  Because I was stressed, and hungry, all I wanted was McDonalds.  So, against my better judgement, I stopped and got a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, fries, and chicken nuggets.  The whole time I did it, I felt guilty about it, but at the same time, I didn't care.  I need to figure out how to make my better judgement kick the crap out of my old eating habits so that I don't do that again!

One good thing that happened so far this week though...remember that job interview I had a while back, and I was trying to decide if the 45 minute commute would be worth it?  Well, I had another interview with the same restaurant, and it turns out that the GM of the restaurant I want to work at quit, and the GM of the restaurant I would be working at is going to the one that is closer to me, and if I'm hired, would want me at that restaurant...so I'd be working at the one that is closer to me!  I hope so badly that I get the job! Unfortunately, it would mean I would have less time off with Cody, but it would mean more money, better insurance, and a great opportunity!  YAY!

Week 2

Today is Monday, which means it's weigh in day! I got up and got right on the scale, and I am down 4.2lbs, which means I've lost a total of 10lbs!! YAY ME!!  I'm super excited, I don't think I've ever been able to make it this long, so I'm super proud. 

Todays run was only okay. I accidentally slept in on Saturday when I was supposed to do the last day of week 1 (which is technically week 2 of my training, since I skipped the first week), so today I started on week 2.  It's just 90 seconds of running and 90 seconds of walking, but or some reason it was super hard!  I was able to do the full 90 seconds for the first mile, but the second mile, I had to cut it short and only did 60 second runs.  I don't know why it's always so hot in the cardio room at the YMCA but geeeeeez...it makes me sweat SO MUCH.  I think that may be part of the reason I got tired.....who knows.  I'm for sure not skipping any runs this time.  I'm supposed to take Thursday and Friday off, but I may end up running one of those days.  Depends on how I'm feeling, I guess.

Today was a pretty fun day.  It was our day off, so we went and had lunch with his brother, and then came home so we could pick up Remy, and brought her to the dog beach.  It was her first time at the beach, and even though she was by the water at the campground last week, I think the size of the lake scared her (we live right on Lake Michigan, so the beach is HUGE) and the waves were loud.  She was more interested in playing with the other dogs than playing in the water.

Which is a good thing, because tomorrow we are going down south to a cute little town that has a bunch of cool shops and restaurants, and we're going to drop Remy off at a Doggie Daycare down there.  We have a daycare around here that we want to bring her to, but it's really expensive, and we aren't sure how she's gonna do.  The one we're taking her to tomorrow will give us her first day for free, so we figured this would be a good opportunity to see how she does, before paying to take her somewhere.

Okay, time for bed! :)

Camping Adventures

I'm tired, smell like a campfire, and have eating nothing but crap, but we are home from camping and had a great time!

I never camped a lot as a kid (I think we went once or twice, but nothing that I really remember) and Cody grew up camping, so I am always really excited when we get to go.  For Christmas, we got a tent, sleeping bags, air mattresses, hobo pie makers, etc., so we could go camping, but we ended up staying in a camper.  Cody's mom reserves a campsite at a really pretty campground up north, about an hour away from our house, and they keep their camper up there.  We decided just to stay in their camper instead of trying to set up the tent and all that stuff.  Plus, since I'm a new camper, I really like electricity, so it's taking some time for me to get used to the outdoor living.  They've had the same campsite for the last 10 years, so they're able to leave all their stuff up there, and they've made it like a home away from home.  They have a little garden, flowers, hanging baskets, a flag, a swinging chair, kayaks, a fishing boat....basically anything you'd need to feel nice and at home at a campground! 

 

Our view of the water!

We got there kinda early on Monday, just because we wanted to have a full day.  We decided to bring Remy, and we were a little nervous, just because we weren't sure how she'd do completely out of her element, but she did great the whole day.  We got all of our stuff unpacked, and just kind of sat around for a while and enjoy the outside. 

Cody and Remy hanging out in the Hammock

We decided we were hungry, and headed up to this amazing little restaurant that is right next to the campground.  The food is soooo good. Everything is made from scratch, the portions are huge, they have just about everything you'd want, and they're reasonably priced.  Since we were leaving Remy in her crate inside the camper, and I didn't want to leave her for too long, we got our food to go.  I ordered a chicken burrito, Cody ordered a steak burrito, and we got chips and salsa to split.  Everything was soooo good!  

After we ate, we decided to go fishing.  The fishing boat, as you can see in the first picture, is fairly small, and if we hadn't been out fishing in it last summer, I would think that Cody and I would be too heavy to fish in it without it sinking.  We had a great time fishing, we caught about 5 or 6 fish each (we threw them all back!) and headed back as it was starting to get windy. 

 We were pretty tired, so we decided to just start a fire and relax for a bit.  Thank goodness Cody can build a fire, because I tried this morning and wasn't having any luck!

While we were hanging out by the fire, the redneck neighbors who were one campsite over, decided to start smoking weed! Now, I'm not against people who smoke.  I don't do it, but I have friends that do, and, well, whatever I guess.  To each his own.  HOWEVER....these people had two kids, one who was probably about 14, and one who was about 2 or 3.  We're thinking they probably live full time in the camper (which was tiny, tiny, by the way).  The dad (who was much older than the mother), had something wrong with his leg, and although he could walk, was in a wheelchair most of the time.  I think he must have medicinal marijuana because of it, I guess I think it was just a bit rude to smoke it when you're surrounded by other campers, and your young children!  

We sat by the fire for the rest of the night, just enjoying the ourdoors, each other, and the sunset....

And at some point, Remy decided she liked beer.....

Don't worry, she didn't drink any, she just got hold of the bottle!

We woke up this morning around 8am, and after about 3 or 4 tries, I was able to make an actual pot of coffee (I'm not good with outside living, I'm telling you!) and we made another fire and sat by the fire and enjoyed the quiet, before getting ready to go.  We were home by 11am, and just spent the rest of the day doing random errands - getting both animals their flea meds, buying Remy a bigger crate, grocery shopping, laundry, etc.  And now, we're sitting here, watching a movie, but all I can think of is how great my bed is going to feel, and how I can't wait to go to the gym and get my second workout in!  

Goodnight everyone!

PS....there's still time to enter my giveaway! DO IT!

Giveaway Reminder and a Weekend update!

Hey all!

Just wanted to remind you guys about my giveaway! I'm giving away an amazing bondi band armband!  It's a pretty green color, it's made of a wicking material, and it's super comfy!  It can hold just about any size phone, ipod, etc.!  Such an awesome product, and you can have one for FREE! You just have to enter my giveaway!  Go to my giveaway post and enter! You have until June 10, because I will be choosing a winner on the 10th!  SO GO DO IT!!!

I had a great weekend this weekend.  I worked Friday, and I have to work today, so that pretty much isn't great, but I had the day off yesterday and it was great! My father in law came into town with his wife (my husband never had a great relationship with his dad until he was older, and even now, he only visits once or twice a year) and we went to Grand Rapids and went out to dinner at one of my favorite places. It's called Bistro Bella Vita and they have some absolutely amazing food.  We shared a bottle of wine, and had some hummus with veggies for an appetizer.  I ordered a seafood spaghetti, which was amazing, but I wish I had ordered the steak that my husband ordered. It was served with a parsnip mash, green beans, corn, and asparagus. SO YUMMY!

After dinner, we went to a local comedy club and saw Tom Green! I was nervous, because I hadn't heard anything about him in years, and I really didn't think he was funny when he was on his show (the bum bum song? really?) but his stand up was really funny.  I was impressed.  After that, we headed to the casino for a bit, and ended up leaving $50 ahead, so it was a good night!

I think we're going camping tomorrow.  Cody's mom rents a campsite for the whole summer, and leaves their camper up there.  It's right on the water, and they have a small fishing boat, and a pontoon boat, so it's a great little spot.  I think we're gonna go up just for tomorrow night, but probably spend the day on Tuesday on the boat.  Maybe we'll have to go monday, because I think there's a small chance of rain on Tuesday, but we'll see. I'm excited just to go up there and relax! I'm sure that means I won't be eating great, but oh well. Maybe I can get a run in through the campground!  

Break

I just realized when I woke up this morning that I haven't blogged in a few days. Sorry guys! It's been a super busy few days, and I'm ashamed to admit, I haven't worked out OR really watched what I ate.  I figured out yesterday that my biggest downfall isn't snacking, or figuring out what healthy things to eat. Because I generally can do pretty well, and stay within my calorie goal. My downfall is my days off.  Cody and I generally try to do some fun things during our days off, because we aren't really sit around the house people.  And I always, always, always tend to eat bad on my days off! I need to start working on that.

So anyway, as I said, Cody and I try to do fun things on our days off. Monday, the weather was kinda cool, So we got up and ran some errands, and then went to the store because his brother and sister in law were coming over for dinner.  We decided to have Baby Back Ribs, Veggie Pasta Salad, and Roasted Red Skin Potatoes.  So we spent most of the day either cooking, or cleaning the house.  Dinner was great, and we had a really great time. After that, we all went out for ice cream, since the weather warmed up.  It was still pretty early (brother and sister in law like to eat dinner around 4:30) so we decided to head up to the casino.  We like to go to the casino once in a while, but we rarely ever come out ahead.  We ended up winning back half our money, so it wasn't a total loss!


Tuesday we went to the mall to get Cody some new clothes.  He's outgrown a lot of his summer clothes (he's gained a pound or two since we started dating) so we went to Old Navy and found him some stuff.  I also bought the second book in the Fifty Shades series....While those books are EXTREMELY dirty, I am addicted, and will more than likely finish the second one today.  When we got home from the mall, we decided to head out grocery shopping, again, because Monday we didn't buy any food for ourselves.  So, we decided to take a drive around our house first, and kind of explore.  We found some AMAZING places, and even some little parks where I might be able to find some places to run!  We went to this super cute little diner along the beach, before heading to the grocery store.  I am super excited about all the stuff we bought though, because 75% of what we bought was fresh produce!  We are going to try juicing once in a while again.  We did it for a bit a few months ago, and we both loved it, but it got expensive so we stopped.   I'm excited about some of the stuff we bought to juice!  I also am excited because I bought some kale, and we're going to make kale chips! I haven't tried them yet, so we'll see how they turn out.  Tuesday night was spent just hanging out watching tv, because we were both super tired from our busy two days.

Wednesday, our local amusement park opened up, and we decided that since we bought our house and it's super close to the park, that we'd buy season tickets.  That way, when we have a few hours to kill, we can go to the park, walk around, get some sun, and ride a few rides whenever we want.  So, we went to the park for a few hours yesterday before work, and it was super fun.  We rode a few rides, but mostly just walked around.  It was good exercise, and we both got a bit of sun! 

So in other news (that you guys will care a bit more about!) I am going to have a product review soon, which also means I'm going to have a GIVEAWAY! I'm super excited about doing a giveaway, because I love the product that I'll be giving out.  I want to wait until I get the product in the mail before doing the giveaway, just to make sure they weren't pulling my leg when they said they'd send me one!  :)

Speaking of giveaways, Tess at Because I want to... is having another giveaway! She's giving away an awesome Run Free shirt, that supports the USO! Go Check it out!!!!

I love my days off.

I was so bummed yesterday about not getting the day off to hang out with the hubby.  It's not like he did anything exciting.  He visited his brother, his mom, and his grandma, then came home and watched tv until I came home.  We were busy at work, but not busy enough to really make time go by faster.  So it was kinda a blah day all around.  I was excited for today though, because we had plans to go golfing!

Unfortunately, we lost our coupon, and the golf course we had made a tee time for, was $25 a person, plus $12 for a cart, so it would have cost us $62 to golf, plus if we wanted drinks or anything, it was just gonna be too expensive.  We thought about going to the driving range, but we decided against it.  So, we went to this cute little local candy shop, where they serve the BEST ice cream, and we both got some ice cream.  Mine was called Jacked Up Tennessee Toffee.  It was made with a Jack Daniels caramel - so good! I know I went over my calories today, but I had planned on it. I'm going running tomorrow.  I'm going to try I'm going to do the 3.1 miles, just to see what my time might possibly be for Saturdays race. I'm also going to do it on Thursday, and then take Friday off to rest up for Saturday.  But more about that in a minute.  :)

So after we got ice cream, we decided to run to target.  I LOVE Target, and I can never seem to get in and out without spending too much money.  So, we ended up buying a hose, and a sprayer, an umbrella for our patio table, a cordless drill, and a dog toy for Remy.  All good stuff, but like I said, we didn't intend on buying all that! 

After Target, we went to see The Avengers. It was a good movie! I think Cody liked it more than me, but it's all good.  We saw it in 3D, which is always fun.  Then, after the movie, we went and bought a push lawn mower!  We have the rider, which is great, but it's hard to get along side of the house, or around the garden, etc.  So Cody mowed the lawn, and I pulled some weeds out of the garden.  We have so much garden space, I love it! I'm not the best gardener, so I'm still learning what is good and what isn't.  I want things to look clean though, so there was some ground cover that I THINK is weeds, but I'm not sure - I pulled it anyway haha.  All of this stuff was planted before we moved in, so it's gonna take a few summers to get to know my garden. We also have a super cute vegetable garden that I gotta get out into one day and weed out. 

So, all in all it was a good day.  I'm super not looking forward to working tomorrow, but the good news is, I work three days, and then I have Saturday off for the race!  I'm really, really nervous about the race.  I think it's finally hitting me that I'm gonna be doing this for real.  My cousin and her two daughters are running it, plus my Pastors wife, and their daughter are both running, but they're either on a GOTR team, or are a team leader, so I'm nervous that I'm not going to be able to find them. I'm worried about being late, or missing the packet pick up, or something.  AND I just found out that we can't have any sort of headphones in, and I've only run with headphones! I just bought a new armband for my phone, so I guess I'll just use it to use my apps to figure out my pace and time, since it's not a timed race.  I think during my run tomorrow, I'm just gonna put my phone in my pocket, and run, without headphones. 

I better get going, I think we're getting ready to head out to dinner.  Have a good day!!! :)

Home!

We just got home from Chicago, and let me say, while I love being on vacation, I LOVE coming to my own house!  It feels so good to be home.  I am not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow.  I think that's the hardest thing about vacations.  They have to end, and you have to go back to the real world.  :(  I'm starting my day off right though, by going for another 3.1 mile run/walk!

My first 5k is in 10 days, and I haven't actually ran in over a week.  I did go on the treadmill for a little bit, but no running. I dont know why I've been slacking lately.  It's kinda bumming me out.  So I'm determined to make the next 10 days count, and try to cut my 5k time down to less than 47 minutes.  My first 5k that I did on my own was 49 minutes, and I'd like to try to make it in under 45 for the race.  The problem is, the race isn't timed, so I'm going to have to go by whatever my mapmyrun app says.

Speaking of, I am having the hardest time trying to find an armband for the race.  I would like an armband for my phone. Since I don't have an iphone, and my droid phone is pretty big, it's not easy.  They all are just a tad too small.  I found one on amazon I'm going to try, I'm just hoping that I can get it in time for the race, so that I can run with it a couples times before next Saturday!

I should get going, my husband is mowing the lawn (first time using his new riding lawn mower, and he was so excited to use it, that it was the first thing he did when we got home, was go outside, start it up, and start mowing the lawn) and I think we may try to fit in a movie when he's done.  We want to go see the Avengers movie, because his brother has talked it up so much that Cody thinks it's going to be his new favorite movie.  :)  I can't wait to post and let you all know how my run goes tomorrow!

EDIT: I forgot! I got a call on Monday afternoon from one of my old employers, where I got my start in restaurants. It's a chain restaurant (if I get the job, I'll tell ya'll who it is :) ), and it's the restaurant where my husband and I met.  Well, apparently my husband was talking with the District Manager and he mentioned that the restaurant I used to work at needed another manager.  Well, I got a call on Monday and they want to interview me!  A management position there would mean SO much to us, just because I'd get paid salary, so we'd have a much more steady income, and I'd get two weeks paid vacation, as well as free insurance for both Cody and I!  So everyone say a little prayer around 9am on Saturday that I do well! 

Also, another edit, Cody thinks he already broke the lawnmower.  We have a lot of hills, and he was going sideways on a hill, and the mower won't switch gears.  He's gonna have the guy across the street look at it tomorrow. Hopefully it's not broken!  But, when he was mowing the lawn, he said he heard something.  He called me in the back yard, and when he looked in the ground, this is what he saw:

 It's a turtle shell!  We weren't sure if the turtle was alive, or even in the shell, so Cody took a shovel to try to move it.

Sure enough, there was a turtle in there!

We have a lot of water behind our house, but it's pretty far down a hill, so this little guy would have had to travel a long ways to bury himself in our yard.  We put it back by the hill, and we're hoping he finds his way home!

Does anyone know anything about turtles?  And why it would bury itself in our grass?

Food.

Does anyone else feel this way? cuz I know I do!

I mentioned in the last post that I would write a post about why I have issues with logging my food, and since I don't have a workout to write about today, I will complain tell you about why I hate logging my food.

If you've looked around my blog at all, you know that my husband is a chef.  Since we met and started dating 3 years ago, I have gained about 60lbs.  I was hovering just over 200lbs when we met, and now I'm at 260.  They say that when you are comfortable in a relationship, you are more likely to gain weight, and I honestly believe that, especially when you are in a relationship with my husband.  A lot of our dates were/are going to restaurants, or are based around different places we can eat, just because we are both foodies.  

My issue with logging food doesn't have anything to do with the fact that I hate logging.  I don't mind logging, I think it's kind of like a game.  The problem that I have, is that I constantly feel restricted.  

Last night, for instance,  was my first day of logging again.  I did great all day, and after logging my dinner I had about 250 calories left.  I was STARVING. And I was at work.  Typically, I'd grab a bag of baked chips, or pretzels or something, but I really wanted ice cream.  So, I could eat my chips and be satisfied, and not get the ice cream (or end up eating it, which is likely what I'd end up doing and go over my calories), or I could stay hungry, get grumpy, and eat my ice cream.  I know that I sound like a whiny baby.  And that these are the type of choices you need to make in order to live a healthy lifestyle.

But I'm bitter about the fact that I have to.  That I have to count each calorie that goes in my mouth in order to be healthy.  Besides being overweight, I'm healthy.  My blood pressure is fine, my blood sugar is fine, I don't have high cholesterol.  I know that could change one day and if I keep eating how I'm eating, I could find myself very unhealthy one day.  But I hate that I feel guilty every time I go over.  My husband and I are going to be in Chicago on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for this HUGE food show.  There is a ton of samples, and great food.  Plus, it's chicago, so there are also all kinds of great restaurants.  Because I'm watching my calories, I'm going to feel guilty every time I eat any sample.  I know calories can add up quickly when doing samples, but this is a once a year event and I don't want to miss out.  I am struggling with trying to balance having a good, fun life and enjoying the industry that my husband and I chose to be in, with being healthy and losing weight.  

Am I alone in feeling this way? 

New House! (Picture Heavy!)

Okay, so I told you guys that I'd post some pictures of my new house, so today is the day.  :)

So a little info about us, and our house.  My husband bought a condo when he was 21 years old.  It was a small, one bedroom/loft type of condo.  He was also married at the time, and his ex hated the condo.  It was also difficult for them, because the condo association fees went up $350 from when he first bought it.  It became too expensive, and he wasn't able to sell, and he ended up divorcing his then wife, and eventually it went into foreclosure. He had intentions on living in an apartment for the 7 years that it would take for his credit to become better, so that he could afford a new house.  Well, then we met, and lived in an apartment for 3 years, and when I started my new job, my boss told me about how she was selling her house.  That kind of turned us on to looking for a house.  My bosses house ended up not working out the way we had hoped, but this house was introduced to us through her realtor. 

Because my husbands credit was bad, and I had only been at my job for a few weeks, the bank wasn't willing to give us a loan.  They said we'd be able to get an FHA loan, but not for another year.  So our options were limited.  The house that we were looking at (and eventually bought) said it was a possible land contract, so that's what we did.  If you don't know what a land contract is, it basically means that the lady we bought the house from owned the house completely, and instead of getting a loan from the bank, we paid the down payment to her, and we will pay our monthly payments to her.  All the money we pay her will come off the total price of the house, and our contract says that in 3 years, we will have to get a loan from the bank, and pay her off, and then we will have a regular mortgage payment.  She lives across the street, so that's super nice because we can just walk our house payment over to her.  :)

The house is super small. It's about 900 sqft.  Which is okay, because that's all the space we need.  It was built in 2003, so it's pretty new, and everything in the house is in great condition.  The only things we had to change were paint colors, and some cleaning.  Eventually, we plan on getting a hot tub, and Cody is going to turn the garage into his "man cave", complete with a keg-orator haha. There is two bedrooms, one bathroom, and it came with all appliances.  We have half an acre, so eventually, if we decide, we can expand if we want, but with the land contract, when the 3 years is up, we can either take out a mortgage, OR we can choose not to, and we'll just lose our down payment, and the money that we have been paying each month. 

Okay, now picture time!!!  This is our house...no stalking! :)

The landscaping was all done by the previous owner, and there are already flowers and stuff blooming.  I'm gonna go through and take out all the dead stuff, and hopefully it'll look a little bit cleaner. 

This is the living room....

This is our little dining room area...

And the kitchen....

Our new patio furniture!

And the backyard...

(ignore the two bags of leaves and stuff, I forgot to move them!)

Like I said, it's kinda small, but we love it so far....it for sure beats living in an apartment!

And, one of my favorite pics of Remy...

In other news, I just was told today that the Color Run is coming to Grand Rapids, which means I get to do it!! it's in August, so I had better be able to easily run a 5k by then!  Even though, from what I've heard, you don't really have to be able to run in order to do the Color Run. I'm so excited!!!

*sigh*

Finally, a minute to sit down and relax!

As I said before, it's been a crazy week.  Between moving/painting/cleaning, and work, and Easter, plus Monday and Tuesday we were up north at a food show for Codys work, it's just been an insane few days.  I am ashamed to say that I haven't run since last Wednesday, but I am going in the morning.  I have a few hours tomorrow that are free before I have to be to work, and we got a ton of painting done today, that I think I'm gonna spend the morning at the gym, and then spend the rest of the day at the apartment trying to clean/pack.

Our Easter was pretty good.  Cody had to work, so that was a bummer, but my parents, sister, and I went to his restaurant for dinner, and it was slow enough by that time that he got to sit and eat with us.  I spent the morning at church, and then my mom and I spend the afternoon at the house, trying to paint and clean.  We are getting so far at getting the house ready.  The kitchen/dining room is SOOO close to being done, just have to figure out how to paint above the cabinets that are above the stove, which is an area that nobody can really reach without painting the ceiling.  We even got the bathroom almost done today, so we are ahead of plan.  Hopefully by next Tuesday, we will have 99% of our stuff moved in, and we will be living there full time!  yay!!

I have a question for all you runners about shoes.  I went and got fitted for some shoes, and the guy basically said that my steps were right on, and that all I needed was shoes that had good support.  My arches are fine, and he didn't see anything else wrong.  I tried on some Brooks, and the size in the wide that I needed they didn't have, so they ordered me some.  The pair that they ordered is $115.  I have also heard good things about Asics. I found a pair of Asics at Meijer (for those of you that don't know what Meijer is, it's like a Walmart, but muuuuch better!) and they were on clearance for $45.  The only problem is, they aren't wides, and while they don't feel WAY too tight, they are a bit tight.  I can't afford to spend $115 on shoes right now, but I know that my cheap Payless gym shoes aren't gonna cut it much longer.  Should I buy the Asics for now, that are a bit tight width wise (and hope that they stretch from wearing them), or should I just keep wearing the shoes I have now until I can afford to buy the Brooks?  I dont wanna screw my feet/legs up by running in shoes that are too tight, but I also know that wearing cheap shoes with no support can be bad, too.  What do you think? What kind of running shoes do you wear?


EDIT:  I just signed up for my first 5K race!!!!   I'm SOOOO excited and nervous! It's the Girls on the Run 5K, and if you haven't heard of Girls on the Run, it's a program that helps young girls become active. They sign up for the program, they are given some good running shoes, and they train to run/walk the 5k race! The race itself is an untimed race, and it's all about celebrating the girls who completed the program.  I feel like it's the best first race I can run, because I'm worried that I won't quite be ready.  I will, of course, be timing myself, just for my reference, but I won't feel like I am being judged based on my time.  Plus, two of my cousins are doing the program, and they're running the race too! I'm excited! :)
Okay, I'm gonna head to bed, but I will post tomorrow after my run....I'm starting week 5 of c25k tomorrow!  Wish me luck!