Woot Woot! June is great so far!

June is great for everything! The weather that just rolled through was great - thunderstorms, high winds, possible tornadoes, woohoo! Seriously, I love drastic gloomy weather like that. So relaxing and washes everything away emotionally and mentally. Ahhhhh......

On another note, we are in the process of closing on our current house, have a meeting tomorrow with our builder for our new house, and I have a meeting with a graduate advisor at UTA because I am considering continuing school to obtain my Masters degree. I also had a phone call advising session this morning with an advisor from another school in Colorado that I can complete my Masters through online courses. I'll let you know how all of those things go.

As for Sadie, well, she's crazy. She is almost walking. Right now we describe her stage of walking as zombie walking, no longer the monkey walk. Monkey walk is where she required her hands in yours up above her head. Now she's at zombie walking - where she feels comfortable enough to walk around with her hands in yours with slight pressure for balancing all forward and in front of her. Awesome. And she's fast too! Her little feet would kick up dust like Pig Pen from Charlie Brown if we had enough dirt on the floors.She can transfer around her crib while standing and even get most of the way around our coffee table in the living room. Crazy. Luckily I have started jogging/walking/working out/jogging/walking after work at the little gym in the building. At first it was for me to get back to being active. Now I think I subconsciously started because I know I'll have to keep up with Sadie tearing through our house soon. Oh wait.... not our house much longer. More like the in-laws for two to three months (Hi Le!), and then our new house in the fall with TONS of space. Our new house will be about 2.5 times the size of our current house.... and we could house a separate family upstairs and only have to share the kitchen as communal living space. Anybody want to visit/stay? We probably wouldn't even notice you there. Sad, but true.

As for my Vegan journey, I attended a cooking class hosted by The Cancer Project with my sister-in-law Kristie this past Saturday. It was awesome. Great food. Great inspiration. Good to know that there are other people out there doing this "vegan thing" for purposes of better nutrition, better health, better environmental responsibility, and being a better person overall. The biggest thing that I have noticed among vegans (not like they are aliens or weird people or anything), but in general their personalities are a lot more pleasant, caring, open-minded, and hospitable/generous with their time. Awesome. (Have I said that word enough lately?)

TPS Reports (aka quick status update - yes I'm still alive)

Sadie is getting so big and learning so fast. It's crazy. She's talking/babbling like you wouldn't believe, growing, eating, pooping, playing, sleeping, and overall being the best baby ever. I'm allowed to say that right? She's my baby, I'm here momma, I'm supposed to say stuff like that. And I mean every word of it.

Work has been crazy busy - numerous deadlines, lots to do. Good stuff. Not to mention tax season on top of that for job numero dos. Phew. And Thomas has some crazy deadlines at his work requiring weekend work and second shifts here shortly. But it'll all soon be over. Then we can go back to "normal", whatever that may be.

Workout/Exercise has been fairly good. I've been participating in these bootcamp sessions after work. It's fun, it's different, and I have no excuse not to go because I'm already at work. I haven't seen much change yet, but at least I'm getting out there and doing it. And having other people there to encourage/push/shove me along is always helpful.

Moms groups - awesome awesome awesome. Lots of meetups everywhere - from coffee conversations to bunko groups to martini nights. Awesome. So much fun. And great to know that there are other busy moms out there that need an outlet for life like I do.

Sorry so short, internet, but this is all the time I have for now. Maybe more posts of substantial news and thoughts will come after tax season and after all of these deadlines at work. Just maybe. (But don't hold your breath on that one.)

Some time used wisely and a new program

Do I dare attempt a post? Yeah.... I'll give it a shot. Work has been crazy busy - and that's both jobs. At least Thomas and I have enjoyed as much of the weekend as we got together. We've done a bit of shopping at Grapevine Mills the other day. We bought Sadie some shorts and new shoes, which she has lready figured out how to undo the velcro and chew on her shoes when she gets her feet to her face. Yesterday, we met up with some friends for dinner and a movie at their house. It was a good just to get out, get away from the house and work, and relax and do something different than just coming home and eating dinner, watching tv, play with Sadie for two minutes, then off to bed for all of us. Today, we doodled around in Southlake for a few shops in there. It was a really nice day to be walking around outside. Sadie greatly enjoyed it.

On another note, I've started a new (yes, yet another) workout program. The husband of one of the ladies at my work is a personal trainer and holds group bootcamp sessions twice a week right after 5:00 pm, so there's no excuse for me not to go. I'm already there. I just have to change my clothes and actually leave my desk on time. (Which lately has been a little hard to do - STOP SNAGGING ME LAST MINUTE, PEOPLE!). I've gone to two sessions so far and I love it. I'm actually jogging. Yes, jogging. My big lump butt is jogging. I know I don't have a lump butt, but it emphasizes my point that I'm jogging. The last time I remember jogging or running was my freshman year of high school for my competitive soccer team. Yeah.... ten years ago. Ten stinking years. Holy crap. Now, don't assume that I've been a lazy turd since then - I have eight years of marching under my belt, and then a full summer of DCI marching... but never any jogging/running. The sessions are fun - lots of different exercises to make up a full body workout each time with weight training, resistance training, and cardio all rolled into one session. Awesome. I'll keep it up for at least the month that I paid for. Now the question is will I eat properly to help the weight loss effort along, or will I totally botch it and eat out and enjoy my Wing Stop once a week? Hehe. We'll see.

More I can't believe it things

Here's a quick list of some recent I can't believe it items:

- My nephew is now two years old!
- My friends had their baby 10 days ago.
- Another friend had her baby today, at 8:07 pm to be exact.
- Another friend is due any minute... she was having contractions when I talked with her husband on Saturday.
- Yet another acquaintance is due in the next few days.
- My sweet little potato SadieMo is over 5 and a half months old!
- I get to see my mom in 10 days - woohoo!
- I get to see my brother in 11 days - woohoo!
- My mom and my brother get to see Sadie in 10/11 days. My mom last saw Sadie in August (August.... dang, that was forever ago). My brother got a 15 minute sneak peek while a flight had an overlay in December (December.... dang, that was forever ago too).
- My cats are crazy and snuggly and love to jump on my chest and back as I try to lay down on the couch or bed.
- I think I have allergies. I have never had allergies before, but these are definitely the symptoms, and Alavert/Claritin D helps battle them fairly well.
- The roads iced over... just last week.
- Two days after the ice, it was 79 outside.
- It's so easy to spend a good bit of money unexpectedly on Sadie, especially when she needs some long sleeve shirts and some new pajamas and pants.... she looks good in everything.
- It's getter harder to keep going to the gym - everything seems like the same routine.
- I haven't lost any weight even though I've been going to the gym three to four times a week and have completely changed my diet to portion controlled healthy meals. Argh.
- It's already February.

Yeah... that's all I got for now. Maybe more later. Maybe a better post next time. But, as you can see from the above list, I'm a bit scatter brained and can't stay focused on one concept for too long. All the more fun for my (rare, few, and far between) readers.

Long time, no post - well, really just too stinking busy

Hello, blog. I'm Jenni. Remember me? I'm not surprised if you don't. With holidays, parties, drinks with friends you would never have dreamed drinking with (more on this later), lack of sleep, watching Sadie grow like you couldn't believe, sort of changing jobs, gearing up to start job number two at the same time, lack of sleep, new PS3, Guitar Hero games, making dinner, lack of sleep, planning for my brother's boot camp graduation, cleaning the house, Six Flags, finally taking down the Christmas lights and decorations, working out at least 3 one-hour classes a week, ... oh, did I mention lack of sleep?
Let's delve into each of these topics, at least for a quick blurb about most of them.

Holidays - enough said. Family and presents and planning events. Always fun and more often than not leaves you winded after everything settles down.

Parties - Christmas parties and birthday parties out to whazoo. And all over Timbuktu. We've been everywhere from Aledo to McKinney. Some were good, some were really loud - but that's just that particular circle of friends. Oh, and baby showers! Lots of babies! I know two to three women about to burst in the next three weeks, and another friend is due in May. Crazy.

Drinks with friends you would have never dreamed drinking with - let's just say this. Church youth group chaperone/mentor figure. The same guy that married Thomas and I. His wife, him, and a friend we've known since high school and our youth group days. All playing Texas Hold'em in our dining room, taking back beers and Crown & Cokes, then playing a bit of Guitar Hero till four in the morning. Fun stuff. Odd, but awesome all at the same time.

Sadie - that should be all that I have to say. But I will elaborate because she's a monster (in a good way). She's definitely teething now that she has two little tooth buds sticking out of her gums - one up and one down. Weird. Most people say teeth come in in pairs, but we'll see. She's focusing, reaching, and grabbing everything. She's talking like a bad auctioneer. She holds her own bottle, for the most part, and makes feeding her extremely convenient. She's trying different flavors of "real" food - well, baby purees, but close enough. She's had bananas, applesauce, and squash. Yummy. She knows to start making noise when you pat her mouth to make her go "whaa whaa whaa whaa" everytime you pat. She has the coolest pacifier leashes that I bought from a store on Etsy.com - OhMyMommyClementine. Sadie has three leashes wth skulls and crossbones in black/white/pink, pink/white/black, and brown/pink/white. Awesome. Last note - holy crap she'll be five months old next week!

Sort of changing jobs - I "started" work this past week. See, I got hired on to one company to be subcontracted out to another. Well, the project was a little behind at the second company, so I did a little work at my parent company. This Monday I started at the second company as a contract employee representing my parent company. No more 13th floor office with door and window and beautiful view of downtown.... now into the land of cubicles. But it's not too bad. Haven't done much there in the past week because the project is still a little slow, but it should pick up in the next week or so. (There's only so much time you can spend doing "research" on the internet without getting insanely bored.)

Job number two - This time last year, it was job number one. But now it's number two. Yay tax season! No more crazy 60 hour work weeks while growing a bun in the oven like last year. This year I am working only Saturdays at the tax office. That's what happens when you work somewhere else 40 hours a week like a normal person. We'll see how it goes. Oh, quick mention, I think it's awesome that the tax office is going green - we've set up scanners and now only print one copy of the return for the client while everything else is digital copies. Unless you've been there, you won't understand the massive amounts of paper and folders and time to pay someone to file all that will be saved.

New PS3 and Guitar Hero - I'm lumping these two together because it's something that Thomas and I have been talking about for a while and finally got as sort of a Christmas present to ourselves, and a birthday present to Thomas. Tons of fun playing an hour or so the past few nights.

My brother's boot camp graduation - My brother joined the Air Force and is in boot camp for eight weeks. He graduates in the middle of February and we'd like to go to the graduation ceremony. My mom is going too. Trying to get details of when the ceremony is, getting my mom's flight figured out (fly to DFW or just to San Antonio?), hotel, travel time for Thomas, Sadie, and I by car, getting that weekend off from work, etc etc etc. Lots of planning, but we're definitely going. I wouldn't miss it for anything.

Six Flags - We went with a few friends to Six Flags last week for one of their birthdays. It was fun. The weather was really nice. Thomas and I decided to get season passes in hopes of entertaining ourselves for the rest of the year with no excuse of why we couldn't get out and do something. Here's an interesting about Six Flags - it was Thomas and I's first date, before we were even dating. Quick background story - we met in high school at band camp before school started for the year. Thomas came up to me and introduced himself (that took guts back then). A few days later after more camp but not getting to know him too well (because he played drums and I played saxophone then), he asked if I wanted to go to Six Flags with him. I asked my parents and they said ok. That was the beginning of Thomas and me. Now, we've been married for three years and have a crazy nearly five month old daughter. Nuts, huh?

Working out - I guess you can call it a New Years resolution, or at least close enough. I've been going to workout consistently for the past few months, minus a few oddball weeks in there. Heck, I was even working out twice a week consistently when I was pregnant up to 38 weeks along. I have found that the easiest (for now) way to make myself go without fail, and to get Thomas to go with me, is to go to some of the classes the gym offers. We've both put the classes into our phone calendars so we know for sure we need to leave work and get going. We've done yoga, mat pilates, and a cycling class together. Other classes that I like going to are Body Works (a dumbbell workout set to music) and Step. Fun stuff. I like the changes that going is making for me - having a "regular" schedule/routine of something, getting away from everything else for at least an hour, getting more in shape. Too bad it hasn't shown squat on the scale yet, but I think I'm in that weird change out body fat for muscle phase where the scale doesn't reflect because muscle weighs more than fat. We'll see.

Last, but not least, but definitely the least of - sleep. I've been sleeping like crap lately. I can't figure out why. Probably just stress. And Sadie is teething, so about four days out of seven, she wakes up in the middle of the night and wants to chew on something or is hungry again. I can't sleep in past 8:00 am, if that, because my body won't let me. (Word of warning to those who want kids - kiss sleeping in goodbye - once they are up, you are up too. At least until they are old enough to occupy themselves with some toys in the morning on their own.)

Ugh. Enough yip yapping. (And scrolling back up, that was a lot of yip yapping.) On to my weekend tasks of laundry, dishes, cleaning the house, working out, and maybe, just maybe, taking down the Christmas lights and decorations if the weather permits. Oh, sleep? I gave up on that.

Merry Christmas ... bla bla bla...

Yeah, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays... soon to be Happy New Year. Holy crap it's already 2009! Holy crap a whole year has gone by. I can't remember if I scratched my butt in the past year it's been that crazy. Being pregnant, having Sadie, playing with Sadie. Finishing my certificate as a half-masters type of deal. Thomas finishing his masters. Buying a new motorcycle. Wait... I digress. That list of stuff is for a post in a few days.

As for Christmas, it was great. It was our first Christmas together as a family and Sadie was a little over 4 months old. Can you believe it! Four months! And she's growing like a weed, and learning so fast. She can hold her bottle, reach for toys, she'll tell you a whole story (or quietly scream it, really). It's nuts. We got pictures with real Santa and then some with Santa Cow at Chick-Fil-A. Of course, we couldn't resist the cow costume from Halloween. She got so many cool toys and outfits. Spoiled already, I tell ya. And I wouldn't change it for the world.

It sucks we didn't get to go to Florida as previously planned, but maybe it was for the best. I'm not particularly fond of not seeing my family but once a year, if that. If it's more frequently, it's only one member at a time. Luckily, we did get to see my brother a week ago, even if it was for only 20 minutes. We should be seeing both him and my mom in February when he is done with boot camp, before he starts tech school. That will be a nice visit, granted Thomas and I aren't swamped at work. We'll see.

Overall, great Christmas. A few parties with friends, plenty of family gatherings for meals, board games, and movies. Now it's time to get back into the swing of things with work and daycare and what not. Especially with working out. I've sort of slacked off a bit in the past week or so. My excuse that is acceptable for some of that - I was sick. So was Thomas. So was Sadie. We all had crud stopped up in our heads. But now we are all clear, minus the occasional cough or so. Not too much to worry about though. As for exercise, I'm really trying to stick with it... but I don't know if I'll make my goal of 150 by January 1. I'll be really fricking close... but not quite. I'm planning to set small obtainable goals for the upcoming months to make it something not too unreasonable. For example, trying to go the gym everyday is great, but I get a bit burnt out, then stop going for a week. Now my approach is try to go 4 days a week. Whether it's a class (which I have found these easiest to commit to because they are scheduled at particular times) or just good old regular cardio somehow, or trying to get Thomas to join me to lift weights, something's gotta give in getting this going. Maybe once a routine gets going I can better stick with it. I'll be sure to comment more on this as the weeks go by.

For now, that's all I got. But more later in terms of a New Year's post/2008 recap. There's plenty to add to that post, so I'll be sure to add tons of info there. As if the internet really cares, but it's good to get it out there. For me at least, if not for anyone else.

Perseverance and unexpected support

First point: perseverance. Setting out to do something and really sticking to it. That's what I've been doing. Minus 3 days around Thanksgiving and three other miscellaneous days in there, I have worked out everyday since the beginning of November. I've done step classes, dance (salsa, zumba, etc) classes, body works classes (dumbbells and body resistance moves set to music), yoga, and mat pilates. I've walked really fast on steep hills on treadmills, even jogged a few times for 5 -10 minutes. I know that that's not much, but it's a start. I honestly can't remember the last time I truly ran. Seriously, it's been at least five years... I didn't even run for warmup when I was on tour for Summer 2004 with DCI corps Kiwanis Kavaliers. It's all been because of my feet. They crack, they stretch, they ache, they pinch in unnatural ways. They still do to a good extent, but no where near what they used to. I think being pregnant and having all that extra weight on them for a few months helped. Or maybe I'm smoking something. Either way I can jog now. (Assuming I really want to, rather than just doing it.)

I have set forth a goal for myself by the end of the year. When pregnant with Sadie, at my peak I was 192. I'm not ashamed of that. I admit that that's the most I had ever weighed in my life. But all for a good reason. My goal is forty two pounds less than that by the end of 2008, and I'm almost there (within two to three pounds, to be precise). The hardest thing is really trying to stick with it, especially because I just started a new job this past Monday. So working, then picking up Sadie, going to the gym, making dinner, etc etc etc., is a lot for a day's work. But I've gone every day this week except Wednesday. A little break every now and again is good. I go every Saturday and Sunday because I really don't have an excuse not to. So far I have found that classes are the easiest motivators for me... you can look like a fool and no one cares, plus seeing each class starts at a set time, there's no putting it off to go later. You either show up or you don't. Oh, did I also mention that I take my lunch everyday to work with snacks throughout the day... fruits, crackers, a healthy lunch, juice, water.... much better than scrambling about for fast food just so you can eat. I've noticed that when I think about the food I'm putting in me, the more I appreciate it, and the more I conciously decide to eat healthier items. Ok, enough on that... for now.

Second point: unexpected support. I guess I am just fearful of the day when I'll run into that one person that thinks pumping breastmilk is disgusting, unnatural, and awfully offensive. I've decided that those people can kiss my ass. My getting skinnier ass, I might add. Thursday this week I went up to Oklahoma City for a meeting for work. We (my boss and I) left at 7 am to drive up there. We got home at 5:30 pm, so it wasn't too long of a day. The hardest part was I had to bring my pump with me. No comfort of my office with a door and blinds that I can close to have some privacy while I pumped. I had to find public restrooms that had wall plugs so I could plug in the pump to use it. My pump does come with a battery pack, but it requires 10 or 12 AA batteries, and I just didn't even think to fill it before I left.

But what suprised me the most was the verbal support I received from the few women that enterred the restrooms while I was pumping, standing awkwardly at the sinks. I'm trying to cover myself up in order to not flash the world, but none of them commented on that aspect at all. One lady asked how old my little one was and was proud of me for pumping while away from my baby. Another lady told me a quick story about how her daughter did the same thing for her baby. The most awkward spot to pump though was at a gas station bathroom. It was at least big enough to have a few stalls, but the only plug was next to the sinks. Two older ladies walked in to use the restroom and I was only setting up. I starting pumping while they were in the stalls and one lady started laughing. I was like "what the hell? I hope she's not laughing at me." She came out of the stall to wash her hands and said she was laughing because the pump noise startled her, but after she listened to it for a minute she knew exactly what that noise was. Both of the ladies said it was great that there was the option to pump electrically now. They said they both had trouble manually pumping back in the day. (They were both in their 60's at least). It was nice to have the support in such an awkward situation. But I did miss my office. It's good to know that people are too weirded out by pumping, especially when the "trend" of this generation is breastmilk and not formula. Hooray for boobies!

Thanksgiving and Family

Yes... a typical post that I'm sure a bazillion people have made in some respect in regards to the holidays. Oh well. Here's my version.

We hosted Thanksgiving this year at our house. It was nice having family over - although a little cramped with 11 adults and two babies. But it all worked out. Despite ruining our turkey - before it was cooked. We left it out over night instead of putting it in the fridge to thaw. Now, don't get me wrong, we had it in one side of the sink in ice water that we were adding ice to every hour. But when we woke up Thursday morning ... poo. Luckily we had someone available to run to the store to get one that was not frozen and on our way we went. I found a recipe online that called for chicken broth and champagne. It was good and tender and juicy. Yummy. Now we have leftovers for a few days (which I'm sure most people do). My parents are sending me a packet of curry mix to make turkey curry because that is something we have always done with leftover turkey... and something that Thomas loves. I have never cooked it before myself, but we'll see how it goes.

We had our immediate family over and some grandparents. Unfortunately, some of our other grandparents were not able to make it because they were sick and didn't particularly want to drive four to five hours to meet people to make them sick. Thomas and I have decided that we will drive down to see them sometime soon. We took a few pictures last minute, but here's one of my favorites. It's a generation picture - four generations total. Awesome. Happy Turkey Day.


P.S. As for working out, I've gone just about everyday for either strength training, cardio, or a class (yoga, pilates, step, etc), minus a three day span in there when I was totally pooped and ended up cleaning the house. Does cleaning the house count? I think it should - vacuuming and sweeping on crack (aka super speed mode because I didn't allot enough time to do it all) is definitely a workout. My sister-in-law and I even worked out yesterday (Black Friday) for two hours straight in a mix of dance classes, pilates, yoga, resistance training, and cardio in general. It was awesome. But I'm not sure if I burned enough of that sweet potato casserole off yet. :-)

Growing - inside and out

So sleep has been my enemy the past few nights. Not so much that I hate sleep, but more along the lines of the sleep that I am getting is crap. I don't mind waking up at 2 or 3 in the morning to feed Sadie and change her diaper. Especially because we've been putting her to bed by 9:30 or 10:00 and she sleeps till about 8 or 9 the next morning. So about 10 hours with waking up only once - I'll take it. The downside is I'm losing sleep. But I can't complain too much because the sleep before waking up and the sleep I get once she falls back aslepp hasn't been the greatest anyhow. All sorts of weird dreams and can't get comfortable in the bed, etc etc. Maybe I'll get Thomas to take over for a full night tonight since he has tomorrow off. Maybe then I can get some solid sleep. Maybe then he'll see what I go through every night. It's just one of those things that you don't get until you do it yourself. He hasn't been forced to experience it yet. That's gotta change.

On a lighter note, Sadie had some more rice cereal two nights ago. She's nuts. She knows the spoon is coming to her face and opens her mouth. Then immediately closes her mouth and turns her head real fast right as you are about to give her a spoonful and SPLAT on her cheeks it goes. Then she laughs because you are laughing and smiling. Oh - did I mention she laughs and giggles on a regular basis now? She is such a happy baby. Other times, she can be a super cranky baby when she has a huge gas bubble stuck - like the other morning when it sounded like Hell opened up in her bedroom and demons were screaming. I should have recorded it and sold it to cities to use as their warning sirens for tornadoes (or hurricanes.... haha, long story, another time). She loves eating her hands and trying to suck on her palms as if there's a nipple somewhere in there.

Did I mention how big she is getting? Her pajamas are a size 3-6 months and fit perfectly. No way that those are going to last on her until 6 months. I bought her some new socks because she kicks off all of the short ones. I have some that I really love and can't find them at any store. Poo. So I've been hunting for ones that she won't kick off. I ended buying a pack from Target, but they are size 6-12 months. And they fit. Slight elf toe, but not like she's sticking her feet into shoes and walking yet. Can you believe it?! Crazy! And she'll be 3 months tomorrow. Woohoo! Mini-birthday congrats to her!

Last but not least, I've been working out every day for the past two weeks - minus one day for a break (and the weather didn't allow me to walk). I've been walking on trails and at parks, hiking, at the gym on the elliptical cross-trainers, lifting weights, doing a lot of body resistance training. Awesome. I'm on the hunt for a pair of jeans that actually fit because the pair I bought two months ago are falling off my butt, even with a belt. The other pair of jeans that I have are sagging too - and those are the ones that I was wearing when I found out that I was pregnant with Sadie nearly a year ago. I'm so fricking proud of myself. Now I just need to keep it up and not eat crap and be lazy because I don't feel like it. I have so much more energy now that I have been constantly active. I love it. Now if only I can convince Thomas to join me in my activities.... yeah right. But a small hope never hurts.

A great adventure

Yesterday we decided to do something new. Go somewhere new. It was awesome. And we only did about half of it. We went hiking with some family members at Eagle Mountain Park. It was definitely hiking - no paved pathways, trees and brush overhanging paths everywhere. Some of the paths were really steep, others fairly flat. Some where through wooded areas, others through open meadows. Some up the sides of hills/mini mountains, while others along the lake shoreline. It was great fun. Especially watching Thomas carry Sadie in her Snugli carrier.

On another note, Sadie had her first taste of rice cereal the other night. As well as sitting in her high chair for the first time. It was a complete mess but so much fun trying to shovel little spoonfuls of cereal into her mouth. She got the idea of the spoon without any problem, but kept spitting out her food to taste it a few more times before swallowing it. Silly girl. Here's a few pictures.

Wake up, go to sleep

So I've been awake for over 4 hours now, and it's only 9:00 am. Sad. I know. No, Sadie didn't wake me up. I just woke up and was awake. Normally I would say that that sucks, but I decided to make the best of it. So I checked on Sadie, and she decided to eat from 5:15 to about 5:40, then I got dressed and went to the gym. Yes, the gym. I got there a couples minutes after 6:00 am. I walked up the stairs to all the cardio equipment, got on an elliptical cross trainer, and went to town. I was actually awake, energized, and pumped up during the whole thing. Awesome. Plus, listening to an oldie but goodie Static X's Wiscons Death Trip cd, I was truly pumped. I didn't realize how fast my legs were going until I looked down at them. I was going about 160 strides per minute. Which is pretty darn fast without holding on. Some people go insane and go about 200 strides per minute. But they look like they are holding for dear life. Not my preferred style if you ask me. Then I did some core strength training. Go me.

I also plan on going walking this aftermoon. I've been pretty good about walking at least once every other day. A few days ago I was going to Chipotle for lunch. I walked there. No point in loading up Sadie in the car and driving the not even half of mile there. I don't even think it's a quarter of a mile. So I walked. It only took about 12 minutes or so. A few weeks ago I had to run to our city's permit building/water tower to get a permit for our shed. Yeah, I walked there too. That was maybe three quarters of a mile one way. I know walking isn't much compared to running eight miles a day or what not, but it's something. It's been time outside, away from the tv and internet (don't worry internet, I still love you), and it's been great taking Sadie with me. She really enjoys being outside. All the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations - she loves them. By the way, we are now 15+ days of 6.5 hours or more of solid sleeping at night. The past two nights I haven't even gotten up to check on her. And for the count, we are 3 days of 7.5 hours or more. Two nights ago was 9 hours straight! Woohoo!

What we love paying for

Yes, that's right, paying. No, not playing or praying. Paying. I have a gym membership to LA Fitness. I have for about three years now. Hardly used it at first. Then got a bit better at going when I was unhappy with myself in respect to my level of fitness and overall outlook on life. Things got a little better. Then got worse and I stopped going, but kept paying. I signed a contract for one year for a personal trainer. It was good the first few months when I was able to really make a weekly schedule and stick with it. Then school, jobs, and life in general changed. And my trainer left. So I had to switch to a new dude - no problem, the new trainer was good too. But I wasn't feeling like I was getting anywhere. Yes, the pounds were coming off and I started looking a bit better, but I wasn't too happy inside. And that's what really matters.

Then I got pregnant. Awesome! But that changes how you need to workout and do particular movements and stretches. So I switched trainers again. This time to a lady who had previously trained other pregnant women and who worked out a lot herself when she was pregnant with both of her two kids. So I was thinking this may work out a bit better. And boy did it! My trainer is awesome. I've been with her since last November. I even continued a contract for sessions with her, knowing I would have to take some time off when Sadie was born and start back up again. I've even met with her outside of the gym - she used to do a boot camp type of series in a local park. I did that until I was 38 weeks pregnant. I felt great. I had tons of energy. My pregnancy was near effortless and I contribute a lot of that to having stayed fit and active throughout. I've met with her at my house and her house for personal sessions as well. And I met with her today at the gym for one of the official sessions that I've been paying for and accumulating while I've been pregnant and away from the gym. Let me just say I love paying for someone to kick my butt for me. I love someone encouraging me to better myself. I love someone who makes me feel good about myself whether I'm near my goal weight and muscle toned body or not. I love paying for my trainer. But that's not all she is to me. It's sad to say, but I would not change it for the world - I love paying for my friend. Thanks Julie!