New Segment - WTF Wednesday

I initially thought I might do this as a daily entry, but then realized that was a bit overzealous, and figured weekly would be a good start. I have started keeping notes on my iphone to document in my weekly WTF Wednesday entries.

The idea came to me the other day, which was a Wednesday, while driving home from boot camp. You know that recorded voice that often plays before a song on the radio that tells you who the artist is? Imagine my surprise when it said "Bare Naked Ladies"...

WTF?

The last song I remember from them was the "chickity-China, Chinese chicken" song. I know there were others, but that's the only one that survives in anyone's memory bank. This song was nothing like that. It was slow and boring and I immediately changed the channel.

Now you know how the name came to be for this new little gem. It was funny because just the day before the BNL incident, I was perusing my friend Perez Hilton's blog and came across this interesting post about Justin Bieber. I love that he is on Chelsea Lately AGAIN, but the thing that caught my eye is that he is Canadian!!! WTF??? This changes everything.

Yesterday, which was Thursday, I was driving to work and I heard a station FINALLY play a new Lady Kaka song. I am so sick of all of the others they have played out, but I liked them once, so I figured I can be optimistic about this one. Then I started noticing some interesting similarities between the sound of this new song, and every Ace of Base song. WTF? Get your own shiz, Kaka!

My final WTF moment for the week is quite a doozy. I am a fan of Sac PD on Facebook, for many reasons, and yesterday I came across this juicy morsel of WTF goodness:

DUI CHECKPOINT REVEALS TRUE FRIENDSHIP: On 3/26/10, we conducted a DUI/driver’s license checkpoint. One subject was being evaluated for DUI and announced that his friend, who was driving in a separate vehicle behind him and anxiously waiting for his turn in line, had 'JUST AS MANY DRINKS AS I DID'. Thus, both individuals were arrested for DUI. With friends like him who needs enemies?

Murder. If I were the guy, aka "friend", in the car behind him that he narked out, a DUI would be the least of my worries, because I would have killed that guy for ratting me out to the cops. What a jerk!

So, that's my first installment of WTF Wednesday, even though it's Friday evening. Now that my friendy has taught me how to blog via cell phone, I will be more accurate with the WTF Wednesday postings. I hope you liked it!

Concert Season

So, back in the day (which was a Wednesday) I attended many concerts each year. And that day was not so long ago. Maybe 3 years ago, if that. Me, Regyna, Heather, and sometimes Dawn (and random others in the mix) would go to several concerts each year. Needless to say, since I started paying down my debt a couple of years ago, the concerts became fewer and farther between. They needed to be prioritized. Now, if I was going around seeing local bands or going to San Fran with $20-$3o tix, it wouldn't be so bad. But I like the people that everyone else knows about and likes too, so I end up paying $50+ for tickets. In the past year and a half I have been to maybe 2 or 3 shows, probably less. This makes me sad.

So when I heard these guys were coming to Tahoe:

There was no way I was missing out. I already missed out on Taylor Swift because her tix sold out during presale. Stupid kids with allowances that they spend on fan club memberships. Grrrrr! I told JB that he didn't have a say in the matter and we were going. He's not really going to protest a night/weekend in Tahoe anyway, so I got lucky with the venue.

Now if only it were July....

Hawaii

So, for those of you (and there were a couple) that were anxiously awaiting this blog, I apologize for the delay. The cluster that was my business trip to Honolulu did not provide the time I thought it would for posting this, and it has been non-stop since I got home. So, without further ado...

We have an acquisition office in Hawaii and I have had to visit exactly 3 times. The first time was to go out and meet everyone, train the HR Administrator there on orientations and system processes, and to attend a seminar. The second and third visits were both to deal with employee relations issues...for the same person. I obviously cannot go into the issues, and that's not exactly the point of this blog. The point is to show all you people who think I am sooooooo lucky to go to Hawaii on business, just how not exactly fun it is, and how it compares to every other business trip.

The first trip out there, I used for some soul searching. It was during a transitional period in my life, just after I had moved back in with my parents, reconnected with a long lost friend, and started talking to JB. I used the time alone there, even stayed an extra day for pleasure, to read and journal and just really think about everything that was going on in my life. The second trip out was interesting. It sucks to go alone, especially since I have issues with eating alone in restaurants, but it wasn't the end of the world. I went, took care of business, and came home. No extra time for me.

This time....so lame.

I really didn't want to go because I love my house, and my man, and didn't want to leave either of them. I was dreading the 5 hour flight, eating alone for a couple of days, and being away from home. Luckily someone I have worked with via phone and email for the past 3 years from our Omaha office was going to be there at the same time, and I was looking forward to meeting her. I decided to not stay at my usual Hilton Prince Kuhio setup, and opted to stay at the same hotel as her, which was the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani. Well, that was my first mistake.

Let me take that back, my first mistake was not getting my parking validated when I got to the office. See, the flight leaves Sacramento at 8:30am and lands in Honolulu at almost noon, which gives me a few hours in the office once I get my luggage and rental car. So I get to the office and get right to work, only when I leave everyone is gone and I have no one to validate my parking. I get to the booth to pay for my parking in the garage, and they don't take cards. WTF? Welcome to 2010 people! Cash only? Who are you? Of course I have absolutely no cash on me, especially not the $30 they were raping me for for 4 hours of parking. The woman tells me that there is an ATM upstairs in the lobby. So, in my 'oh-so-comfy' work shoes, I take my ATM card only and walk to the elevator, through the lobby, to the little convenience store to use the stand-alone ATM in the corner. "Invalid card number" it tells me. I try again. "Invalid card number." Now, since JB and I got a joint account, I don't use this one very often anymore, so I figure there may be some slight possibility that it really doesn't work at this point. So I take my card back through the lobby, to the elevator, down to my rental car and grab my entire wallet. Rinse and repeat. "Invalid card number" WTF?????

I ask the lady at the counter if I can just use my card and get cash back from her. She does not believe me, so I have to show her again. She then tells me that she cannot help me and I have to go out the building and down the street to the ATM next to the McDonald's. Awesome. Here I go, down the street to the ATM. Since it's a real ATM, I figure it should work. "Invalid card number". At this point I am fuming. My feet feel amazing, obviously, and I am walking all over the place in search for cash to no avail. I take my happy ass back to the building, up the stairs to the lobby, to the information desk. I explain to this man my predicament hoping he will tell me that he can validate my parking and I will be on my merry way. No such luck. He informs me that down the steps, out the door, and down the street in the other direction is another ATM. If that doesn't work, I can go across the street to the Long's (if they're still open) and buy something and get cash back. Cool. Off I go to the new ATM. It works. Thank the lord. I take my cash and limp back to my car so I can sit in Honolulu city rush hour traffic to get to my hotel. At this point, it is 5:45pm. I started this little adventure at 5:00.

I find my way to the hotel with ease. It's only one block up from where I usually stay, and it's on the main strip which means I have more dining alone choices. When I get there, I find the parking garage. The hotel I normally stay at only has valet parking for $25/day so I am used to just pulling up to the front and letting them take it from there. The Sheraton has a self park garage for the same price. At least I don't have to worry about tipping them every morning, fine by me. I drive up four floors and find a spot that is right next to what I assume to be the elevator, since the garage is not even attached to the main lobby. I get out, unload my suitcase, computer and purse, and walk over to the 'elevator', to find that it is actually only a stairwell. Obviously excited about walking down 4 flights of stairs with all of my crap, I immediately load everything back into the car and drive down a couple more flights and find the same spot on floor two. Again I unload my things and proceed to check in.

The hotel has a lovely open air lobby with a view of the pool, a computer lounge, and two different elevator banks since there are different towers. I had reserved an ocean view room with an lanai and was surprised to find it to be cheaper than my non-ocean-view room at the Hilton. When I got to my room in the far tower on the 24th floor, I was no longer surprised. The room was in bad need of renovation. The plain white walls with white furniture and a bad, randomly placed hotel pic from 1992 screamed Holiday Inn. The tiny bathroom was very dreary and nothing compared to the recently updated room I was used to occupying at the Hilton. I really sound like such a snob, but given the days events, this was the last thing I needed. I open the drapes and look out the sliding glass door with a view of high-rise hotel buildings. But, if I look to my right, it's all ocean. I guess, technically, that's an ocean-view room. Definitely not what I was expecting.

I decide that after the day's events, I will unpack my things, get comfortable, and order some room service. I guess I was wrong. After looking a few times through the only book the hotel provided, I find no information about room service. Highly irritated, I text my Omaha buddy and see if she wants to accompany me to California Pizza Kitchen down the block for some dinner. This was honestly the highlight of my day. A drink and good food, and I didn't have to dine alone.

As we are heading back to the hotel, I am informed by her that there is nightly entertainment on the stage by the pool located 24 floors below directly under my room. They play until about 10 or 11pm. This excites me greatly (please note sarcasm). When I return to my room, it's about 8:30. I unpack, get comfy and turn on the TV. I am able to turn the volume up so that the amplified noise from the stage below that is reverberating off of the two hotel towers and directly into my ears is somewhat muffled. About 30 minutes later, I hear people in the hallway. They are talking and rustling a plastic bag and are out there for a long time. I get up and go to my peep hole to see what the hell they could possibly be doing in the hall that they cannot do in the privacy and enclosed area of their room. I look out to see nothing. No people. But I can still hear them. I hear running water now and realize that they are not in the hall, but in the adjoining room next door. I can almost clearly make out their conversation. And then.....the alarm clock/radio turns on and I hear Kesha's "Tick-Tock" loud and clear from the other side of my headboard.

Could this day get any better?

Obviously these people are here on vacation along with the majority of the people in Waikiki Beach, so they do not realize that someone here on business needs to get some rest after a long day of travel so they can be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when dealing with the issues they have come to Honolulu to deal with. I figure that they are probably getting ready to go out and hit the club on a Monday night and once they are gone for the evening, I should be able to pop in my ear plugs to drown out the remaining noise and fall fast asleep before they return. But then I start to think about their 2,3,4am return. After a night out on the town, they are surely going to be intoxicated which automatically means loud. And with their bed being directly on the other side of my post-it note thin wall, should they decide to fornicate, I am sure to hear/feel everything that goes on. Along with these thoughts, the entertainment downstairs is not ceasing and the street vendors that are now playing for money are amplified 24 floors up as well. I lie there and test my ear plugs to see if they will even keep the noise out. They do not succeed. I start to panic and realize that if I do not pack up my things and request a new room now, which is 10:15pm, I am going to seriously regret it.

My new room is better. The same, but better. Wood colored furniture contrasts the white walls and just makes it seem a little nicer. The set up is slightly different, but the bathroom is the same. What makes this room awesome however, is the fact that there is silence. No nightly entertainment. No street vendors. And no adjoining door, so if there are neighbors, I cannot hear them. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. Good night.

On my several trips through the lobby of the office building the day before, I noticed a little cafe I never knew was there that served normal food. I say normal because all of the places surrounding the building besides the McDonald's, serve Filipino fast food, Korean BBQ, or sushi. Nothing I want to eat 99% of the time, if ever, especially if I am not familiar with the restaurant. Needless to say, finding this little cafe with an espresso machine and breakfast croissants, along with lots of yummy looking lunch choices, really made my morning. I got a non-fat vanilla latte and a ham and cheese croissant for breakfast which started off my morning right. I knocked out half of the interviews I had to conduct and returned for lunch. The chicken pesto sandwich on soft, warm focaccia bread and pasta salad was waaaaaaaay better than the McDonald's lunch I subjected myself to the day before. I also made sure to get my parking validated the day before, but had plenty of cash on me in case I forgot. I only make mistakes like that once. I finished all but one of my interviews after lunch and had a nice sunset dinner on the lanai of a restaurant above Duke's at the Outrigger on Waikiki Beach (although it was with my boss and three other colleagues). This day was exponentially better than the day before.

My last day in Honolulu was only a half day, since the flight home was at 1:45pm. I saved the best for last as far as interviews went. That one was a doozy. I concluded my investigation and headed back to drop off the rental car. This is never as easy as getting from the rental car place to the office for some reason. I missed my exit due to the odd interchange systems and ended up at Hickam AFB. I explained to the guy at the visitor gate what I had done, which I am sure happens pretty often, and he had to stop traffic so I could turn around and get where I was going. I was cutting it close as it was, and the Honolulu airport is always busy, so I was really feeling the pressure. I got the car back, got on the shuttle, got through the check-in line, and security, got myself some food to take on the plane, and headed to my gate. Usually for the mainland flights, you have to take the Wiki-Wiki (shuttle) to the other terminal, so I immediately headed that way. Only when I got up there, I realized that my gate number was not included in the numbers for the terminal the shuttle would head to. So I went back downstairs to find my gate just as they were beginning to board. I walked down the ramp and up to the gate to find a barrier in between me and the gate. My gate number was 57. So obviously I went toward the sign that said "Gates 54-57" and not the one that said "Gates 58-60". But the person at the barrier was telling me I now I had to go back up the ramp and all the way down to the other end of the terminal to the other sign, and come in that way. Cool. Apparently scanning your carry-on in the metal detector isn't enough. You also need another scanner, and they only have one of those in the entire terminal.

I get on the plane in the first boarding group, since I am in the second to last row of seats. This gives me time to get settled and eat my lunch before the plane takes off. I am sitting next to a couple, specifically the guy. The girl asks him if he wants to trade her seats, as if he is cheating on her by sitting so closely to me. Whatever. I apologize in advance for my smelly Chinese food. At some point they are informed after everyone has boarded that there are two seats on the window side available and they move. I have the whole row to myself. Until the flight attendant asks a man several rows up if he would also like more room and puts him in the other aisle seat. At least we have the middle open. Great situation to ask for on a long flight. They are also showing The Blind Side, which I have seen, and loved, and was excited to be entertained by on the flight home.

But then there was the guy behind me. And his kid. As if it weren't bad enough that the guy was a seat grabber every single time he got up and sat down, which was A LOT, but his child was probably under 3 and in that stage where they like to pound on the tray in front of them. So I have this guy jerking my seat back every 5 seconds and his child banging the tray behind the seat next to me, which is obviously attached to the seat I am sitting it. Not to mention several rows up, but not far enough, there is a child that just keeps screaming/crying intermittently. And that wasn't all that bad until you added the parent that would "ssssshhhhhhhh" every time they did it. Obviously that's not working. You can stop doing that. I know I don't have children and I don't understand, but whatever. It was still not the way I wanted to spend 5 hours.

Needless to say, when the plane touched down in Sacramento, I couldn't have been happier to be here. Even if it was 47 degrees instead of 79. And let me tell you, I am never going to Oahu for vacation again. After being there twice for leisure and 3 times for work, Oahu can kiss my ass. I'll take an island with more nature than people. I vote Maui or Kauai.

OMG, I want this!

It's a blanket. And I need it.

Things Are Looking Up

I know, I know. With the awesome 2009 I had and some of the great things that have happened lately, you are probably wondering what the hell I am talking about. Well, it's been rough since we moved into the house, financially. It's not just the shock of having a mortgage and paying utilities again, it's the series of events that led up to them. Maybe I already lost you. Let's see if I can bring you back.

Back when we were living at grandma's house, and after I finished paying of my credit card, I started stashing cash. I wanted to make sure that we had what we needed for closing costs, moving costs (you know, buying food and cleaning supplies and everything else you realize you don't have), and still have some sort of cushion for the first month's bills. I was doing pretty well. We knew that the closing costs would be around $1000, we had started buying things here and there that we figured we (I) would need or want (decor for the guest bath, air fresheners, Brita water pitcher, baking pans), and we had a month in the house before our first mortgage payment. We had about $3500 in our joint savings account and I had about $1500 in my personal savings account. It looked like we were in good shape from where I stood.

A week before the house was supposed to close we had some issues with the financing. Because obviously you cannot be a homeowner unless something goes terribly wrong during the process and you come very close to losing your house. Otherwise you just won't appreciate it, right? Yeah, about that. So, we had our fun little incident a mere week before. Rushing around, trying all these different alternatives and scenarios and finding out they won't work and with every hour that passes you feel your dreams slipping farther and farther away. We were finally able to work something out with the loan, but it meant we had to put a little bit more money down. A little bit more, as in, cleaning out our savings. Great. Awesome. At least December was one of those awesome months that has 3 payday Fridays in it, so we had that as a cushion. Yeah, about that....

Now don't get me wrong, I work for a great company. I got my masters degree for "free" through their tuition reimbursement program. The fine print didn't catch up to me until the most opportune of times. December. That awesome 3rd paycheck with no bills coming out of it. That nice little cushion. Here's where the quotation marks around the word free come in. Apparently, the government will only allow you to recieve $5,250 tax free in one year for tuition expenses. The rest is added to your taxable income at the end of the year. Well, last year I recieved $10,000 in tuition reimbursement, so the other $4,750 (yes, I had to get the calculator for that one) was to be added to my taxable income. I did not experience this the year before, otherwise I would have planned accordingly. Instead of payroll planning ahead and spreading it out over several paychecks, they added the lump sum to my last check of the year. After it was taxed, I was left with $87.65 to get by for two weeks. So, there went our cushion.

During this time we were also dealing with JB's 3 new jobs not having ramped up yet, so it has been interesting trying to make everything work. A little stressful, and VERY boring. Since we have no money to go out and do anything and the weather has been crappy, we have been stuck at home with nothing to do but stare at each other or the TV. Lucky (or not) for me, all JB needs is a TV and food to get by. Happy as a clam. Me, not so much.

But, as the title of this blog suggests, things are getting better. One of JB's jobs supplies a consistent income, which makes me very happy. The other two will be a bonus. With all three jobs (training at Granite Bay Golf Club and Johnson Ranch Racquet Club, and teaching at Bryan College) he still works less than 40 hours a week, but as long as we have everything paid, I don't care how many hours he works. Thanks to the house, we also have a significant refund coming our way, which should help with the catch up. Hopefully things will be back to normal in no time. Whatever normal is.

Bleh

I keep wanting to blog, but it seems I have no drive to do anything these days. I don't feel like getting up in the morning, doing much of anything at work, working out after work, or really anything at all. I am not sure if all the planning, shopping, cleaning, prepping, entertaining of the housewarming (which was a huge success) took it out of me, or if there is something else going on.

Yesterday I felt like crap after the horrible lunch I ate (no, I don't want to talk about it). After I got back to work I had a stomachache and a headache to the point where I left work at 3pm. I got home around 4 and laid down in my cozy bed. JB was at work, so I actually had the house to myself for once. I read a bit of my current obsession and fell asleep around 5pm. Although I didn't really want to wake up at 6, I knew if I slept any longer I wouldn't be able to sleep that night, so after drifting in and out for another half hour, I started watching some DVR. Shortly after 7, JB called me to say he was on his way home so I got up to start dinner. I wasn't even hungry, but knew he would be and I should probably put something healthy in my body that day. I felt a little better after dinner, but still lazy/tired and retreated back to the cozy bed to clear out more of the DVR. I have a "no-tv after 11" policy in the bedroom, and since I didn't feel like sleeping just yet, I read some more and rubbed JB's back as he dozed off. I tossed and turned until about 1am and finally fell into a fitful sleep, waking up this morning unrested.

And the cycle starts all over again.

Although during my lunch today I finally went shopping to fill my fridge and desk drawers at work with healthy, protein-filled snacks to hopefully help get my eating back on track. Since we have been struggling to get a grasp on all the new bills, I have been hesitating spending any money and just bringing stuff from home and leftovers for lunch. This has led to low energy levels, headaches, and lack of motivation for post-work workouts. At least I am hoping that is what's going on. Maybe my body is just doing it's best to fight off whatever the other 209 people in my office have been sharing.

I'm off to the grocery store to stock up on things at home. I'll try to muster up some energy to blog about the housewarming.

Domestication at it's Finest

One of the best things about moving into a new home is all the friends and family you get to have over for dinner. Now that I have a full kitchen and most of the necessary utensils, making meals is a pleasure instead of a frustration. I have been finding lots of great recipes and the ones I have made so far have been big winners. Last week I made this Caribbean Honey Garlic Chicken recipe from the Safeway website. I put it over brown rice (one of the great finds in JB's boxes was a nice rice cooker) and made some Asparagus Parmesan to go with it. Everything turned out great! JB doesn't hesitate to help in the kitchen, but for the most part, I like to do everything myself.

Saturday after my comprehensive exam, JB and I cleaned the house because we were having his family over for dinner that evening to celebrate his and his mom's birthdays that occurred earlier in the week. I made my sister-in-law's lasagne recipe, but altered it to be a lower fat version using ground turkey, lowfat cottage cheese, and whole wheat pasta. I have made this recipe in the past. Since it was the weekend I had time to do all the prep work and get it in the oven before they got here. I'm one of those people that likes to clean as I go so the mess isn't so overwhelming when you are done with the meal. I threw together my staple salad and his mom brought some 5 cheese garlic bread. Delicious!!

Sunday night we had my brother and SIL over for dinner. It was nice to be able to return the favor since they have had us over quite a few times. She is an awesome cook and I was hoping my meal could compare to any of hers :) I have been wanting to try this meatloaf recipe from my Abs Diet recipe book for a while and I finally had my chance. Here it is if you would like to give it a try:

-----------------------------------

Meat Lover's Meat Loaf

1/2 lb ground sirloin
1/2 lb ground turkey
2 eggs
1 cup whole wheat crackers, crushed
3/4 cup diced onion
1/2 cup BBQ sauce, plus extra
2 cloves of garlic, crushed (or 1 tsp. of the minced garlic in the jar)
1/2 tsp of dried oregano

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix beef and turkey until well blended
Add eggs and remaining ingredients until well blended
Form meat into a loaf shape on a broiler pan (I used a cookie sheet but put foil over it and folded up the edges to keep the juices from flowing over)
Coat the outside with the extra BBQ sauce
Cook for 1 hour (double check internal temp with meat thermometer, should read 160 degrees)
Eat with mashed potatoes
Serves 4

Nutritional info, per serving: 366 calories, 32 g protein, 31 g carbs, 13 g total fat, 4 g sat fat, 581 mg sodium, 3 g fiber

-----------------------------------------

We made the mashed potatoes with it and some broccoli as well. It was soooooooo yummy! My brother couldn't stop raving about it. He told me it was the best meatloaf he had ever tasted. It was really moist and flavorful. JB chopped the onions for me, since we don't have our slap chop yet. He also peeled and cut up the potatoes. Such a good helper!

Today I stayed home from work because I woke up with a migraine which was probably due to the stress of the last week. I slept it off for a while, did a little work from home, and decided to try a new recipe in the crock pot from Spark People's Healthy Recipes app on my iPhone, Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken. My crock pot is newer and runs hot, so instead of cooking it on low for 6-8 hours, it only took 4. JB and I agree this was by far the best recipe I have tried yet. In fact, we ranked them:

1. Slow cooker Salsa Chicken
2. Meat Loaf
3. Caribbean Honey Garlic Chicken
4. Lasagne

I am loving this new found domestication. Cleaning and cooking don't even seem like a chore at this point, although I am sure that will change. If anyone has any recipes they would like to share, send them my way!

Back On Track and Sparky

I swore I wouldn't let it happen this year, but it happened. Not as bad as it has in the past, but still, I managed to let myself go during the holidays. It's like, the consumption of thousands of calories is one thing on it's own. Not working out is not a big deal if you are eating well. And drinking is fine in moderation. But add it all together:

Multiple high calorie intake opportunities
+ Christmas cocktails and Thanksgiving wine
+ No time to hit the gym because of said opportunities
= packing on the lbs

Not to mention the stress of the move. I was barely in the gym once a week, compared to the 3 days I am used to. I was eating with emotion so anything bad sounded like a great idea. Add to that my "trainer" bf who is really a fat kid in disguise, and you can send my motivation and ability for clean eating right out the window.

I am glad to say that I am back on track. Even JB is with me this time! I found another helpful aspect of fitness and weight loss - no money. I am forced to eat at home and bring my lunch. it's super easy not to spend money when you don't have any, which makes saying no to eating out and happy hours a lot easier. And thanks to my pal, K-Put, I have found the most amazing fitness and nutrition tracker/weight loss and health forum/social network, Spark People!

Back when I first started this whole thing in full force a little over a year ago, I was using the body bugg system, thanks to JB. They have since modified the device, but the one I was using was big and bulky and grey and people looked at me like I was a weirdo with an iPod on my arm all the time. It is a great way to track calories burned and steps taken (it gives you goals to hit each day based on your total weight loss goals) but you also have to use their website to enter your calories consumed each day. This is the most tedious task for me and their database and interface made this take way longer than it really needs to. The process is helpful for people who are not used to portion sizes or tracking calorie consumption. You never realize just how much you are taking in until you log your food. But after I got the hang of it, I kind of fell away from entering my food everyday.

With Spark People, tracking your food is so easy. They have a giant database of foods and you can also import foods or meals that other people have already entered, so the chances of you not being able to find something is slim. It tracks the calories, fat, carbs, and protein in each item and for each meal and at the end of the day, gives you a report and tips if you are too high or too low in certain areas. One of the things I like the most is that it doesn't give you a solid take it or leave it number. It gives you a RANGE. This range is based on your current body-mass index (BMI) and your weight loss goals. Mine is currently 1500-1829 calories per day. As long as I am in that range, I am good to go. It also gives you a range for the other categories too and tells you why too much of these things or not enough of them is bad and what you can do to increase or decrease your intake.

The site offers sample daily menus, which are realistic and easy foods that you find in real stores, and there is even an option at the bottom to print a shopping list for this menu plan. If you use the menu plan, you just put a check mark next to whatever you ate off the menu and it calculates your intake. The water tracker has you input the glasses of water you drink per day and informs you that 8 is the standard amount. Another awesome feature is the iPhone app, so you can still track everything when you are away from your computer.

The fitness tracker is a place to obviously track your fitness activities. They offer sample workouts with demonstrations and most of these things are doable at home with a stability ball and small hand weights. There are many different exercises to choose from to build your own 30 minute routines, and since they have already entered the general calorie burn for these items, it can give you a somewhat accurate account of what you are burning by doing them.

There is also a social networking aspect to the site, where you can build your "spark page" and have "spark friends" and join "spark teams". You can post pics and have a ticker for weight loss progress and leave comments for your friends. There is a "status" line for you to let everyone know what you are up to, and even a blog to post about your progress if you'd like.

There is a point tracker that allots points for doing certain things on the site. If you log in, you get a point, log your food, more points. Read a blog or article, post on a message board, make a recipe from their catalog, points points points!!! Speaking of recipes, they also have a Spark recipes app for your iPhone as well and there is some really yummy stuff on there. I plan to use it quite a bit and may post some here.

So yeah, basically Spark People should hire me to do PR or marketing for them. Anyone who knows me knows when I get into something, I am behind it 100%. And if something works for me, it could work for all my friends, so I want the whole world to know about it. It's free to join, so if you end up with a profile, let them know that breannez sent you and add me as your "spark friend". I love having people to motivate me!

Happy Sparking!

2009 Was Oh So Fine!

It would take a whole lot to top 2009 for me personally. This was by far the best year of my life. I didn't want to say anything before it was officially over for fear of having something go terribly wrong before it ended. But we are safely out of the woods and I can scream from the mountain tops. What was so great about 2009? Glad you asked.

January - As midnight struck, JB and I exchanged our first "I love you" in the middle of K Street, in downtown Sacramento....with the rest of the metropolitan area pushing by us. San Diego for JB's birthday and John Legend.

February - I moved back out of my parents' house and in with my two dear college buddies. I no longer lived in BFE and could have JB over more often. We had our first Valentine's Day together, which was spent with me in bed with the stomach flu, forced to watch NBA All-Star Weekend while drifting in and out of consciousness. We celebrated the following weekend with lunch at Melting Pot :)

March - I don't remember anything significant from this month really.

April - Had my first girls only trip to Vegas for Val's bachelorette party, which is always awesome. John and I started talking about moving in together in August. :)))

May - Ry and Val's Wedding

June - Callie's bachelorette party and wedding, Disneyland with April and Baylee, Maren moved back from NYC

July - The boot camp that got me in the best shape I have ever been in, Reno trip with fun friends, signed the purchase agreement for our new home!

August - Moved in together and celebrated our one year milestone (which was a big one for both of us) with a trip back to Vegas where it all started. It still blows my mind that I was 27 before I ever lived with a significant other.

September - One of my best friends foudn love and graduated from respiratory therapy school. I surprised JB with a group outing to the niners game. Oh yeah, and I FINALLY PAID OFF MY CREDIT CARD!

October - Participated in my first trail run, finally finished the coursework for my Masters, and survived, I mean, spent a weekend at a cabin bonding with my family.

November - SYTYCD and Kelly Clarkson shows are about it. Fun girls weekend.

December - My former roomies and dear college friends got engaged! We got the keys to our new home!!! I appreciated the holidays much differently this year and tried to soak in all of the time with my extended family.

Line by line it may not seem that significant to most, but I reached some serious goals and milestones this year. If every year from here on out is half as good as this one, I'll be just fine. And if it's not, I'll survive. I have a feeling 2010 is JB's year, which will make me just as happy.

Moving and Memories

I'm sure everyone is glad we have finally moved into our new home so they can stop hearing about it and seeing the pictures I post every 5 seconds on my facebook. Well, let me tell you, I am more ecstatic than anyone else that we have finally moved, because now I can get back to my life. The past six months have been spent stressing and planning and spending and waiting. It's finally over. We are, for the most part, settled in.

We got our keys on Wednesday morning, December 23rd. While we waited for some of our friends to show up to help us with the move, we had ourselves a little champagne toast, admired the stockings my mom left us and decorated the little tree she got us as well. What she did for us is totally something I would do and it just makes me realize how much like her I really am. Once the helpers arrived, we went over to my brother's house to pick up my couches I had been letting them borrow for the past year and a half. Not having anything to tie them down with, I stressed the whole 15 minutes back to our place that they might fly out of the back of the truck. They made it. And the guys maneuvered them upstairs to the loft without damaging the couches or the walls. I almost couldn't watch.

After that was all taken care of we headed up to my parents' house in Rescue to retrieve my belongings that have been stored there for the last 18 months. Two more of our friends followed us up there with their SUV, which made it possible to get everything but my BBQ without having to use the utility trailer. Thank goodness for my step-dad who is the ultimate puzzle person. He made everything fit in the back of Jeff's truck and secured it all so it wouldn't fly away. We all looked at each other in amazement knowing that we would never have been able to do that without him. Once we got back to the house, we unloaded everything as fast as we could since Jeff had to get home. We were able to get another truck to get to Grandma's house and get the matresses and the TVs. We needed somewhere to sleep and the Surewest guy was coming in the morning. After one more load and a trip to Wal-Mart, we called it a night.

Christmas Eve began with the Surewest guy ringing the doorbell. Shortly after, the guy showed up to install the blinds. Not long after that, our new couch arrived. That was about all we had time for before family Christmas festivities began, so we had to pick up where we left on Saturday.

More great friends and a moving truck made that day possible. We loaded up everything for JB's storage unit and either dropped it off at grandma's house, took it to goodwill, or brought it home. Everything gathered so much dust from being in there for two years, so we had to be sure to clean everything off and out before we took it in the house. When we got there, my dad and step-mom, along with my brother were waiting for us. Everyone got right to work moving and cleaning and hooking things up. It was amazing to know that so many people cared enough to help us out. Nobody likes moving, especially when it's someone else's stuff. I can't say thank you enough!

Having a dishwasher and a nice stove/oven and lots of pots and pans and dishes makes me want to stay home and cook all day! Laundry doesn't seem like such an ordeal now that we have a washer and dryer right in our home. And having a fridge that doesn't freeze the things in the fridge and thaw the things in the freezer is wonderful. Not to mention the ability to thaw frozen things in the microwave. What an upgrade!!!

We are still not able to park in the garage. There are a couple of furniture items and my BBQ in there and I am still trying to sort through my "memories". I had quite a few boxes up at my parents' that read "Breanne's Collectibles" and "Breanne's Memories". I have one box left to finish sorting through and then I need to organize them and pack what's left of them away. Some of the boxes are filled with my favorite books growing up, which I hope to one day pass down to my child or neice/nephew. One of them was filled with all of my Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny ceramic collectible items that might actually be worth some money. I found lots of old notes from 7th and 8th grade, which were hilrious to go through, but definitely not necessary to keep.

The final box I am going through holds all of my memories from my high school days. Pictures, keepsakes, letters, yearbooks, albums, trinkets, journals. So much stuff. I put the yearbooks, 6th grade to senior year) on the book shelf in the office. It's always fun to go through those things every once in a while. I have read through the journals and threw one of them away. It was from 7th/8th grade and it was full of nonsense about boys and cussing at my parents. Pretty funny, but not worth keeping around. The one from high school is pretty significant, so I am thinking about keeping that one around, but definitely locked away.

It has been an emotionally exhausting process going through this box. I have practically re-lived, from start to finish, my 6.5 year relationship. It's interesting how it stirs nostalgia, but I am also numb to the whole thing at the same time. Even though I know it is me writing these journal entries or copies of letters to him and the things he wrote to me in cards or letters or whatever, it doesn't feel like it. It feels like I am reading about other people in another time. It's also weird to have a kind of sadness for those two people that it didn't work out for, knowing that I wouldn't change anything because of where it got me today. So, yeah, rollercoaster.

I have also re-lived the deaths of close friends of mine throughout the years. Gets me every time. Even though I can go day to day knowing they are gone and missing them often, looking at the pictures and reading the articles and funeral programs really takes me right back to that time and that pain. Not even beginning to fathom what it must be like for the parents and siblings of those people who have to face it on a daily basis. Terrible.

Hopefully this trip down memory lane will be over soon and packed neatly away. Except for all the exes who got tossed in the dumpster :). I can't wait to make new memories to go through if I ever have to move again...

The Journey

Somehow, I couldn't figure out before today, how to follow one of my followers. Someone I have known for years, but have not been very close to. Someone I share a bond with, but never really knew that much about. And to be honest, someone I have always kind of admired. I should be working right now, I will admit, but instead, I have been reading about the past year of her life. And the more I read, the more I come to respect this person, and find that we have so much more in common than I could ever know.

The first thing I noticed is that she is an amazing writer. The more I read, the more I felt inspired to write. The more I read, the more I reached back into my past and started thinking of that time 4.5 years ago, when as I was ending a realtionship and giving back a ring and starting my journey to find myself, she was just finding happiness with someone. Someone who was probably supposed to be forever, but alas did not work out. And now reading about her experience with that happiness coming to an end earlier this year, and her journey to find herself again, I cry. But the funny part is, the entire time she is speaking of the sadness, pain, and loneliness that come with the end of a long-term commitment to someone else, I do not cry. I remember the pain, but do not cry. The tears come when I read of her new butterflies for someone else.

I am not sure why this is the release point. Is it because as I am reading over the one, two, three months it takes her to start getting to a place where she can get through the day, the emotions are slowly building inside of me? And when I finally see that she has found happiness again, or thinks she might have, I am overwhelmed with joy for her? I have no idea. Maybe it's the hormones from my contraceptive.

I always feel the need to take her under my wing. Which is funny because we don't talk often, or really even hang out together for that matter. Group social gatherings are what have brought us together in the past, and she is usually one of my favorites, but now that she is no longer part of that group, and to be honest, neither am I, I do not see her or know much beyond what I read on facebook. But I always want to take her under my wing. Tell her that I too experienced the pain of losing someone I thought would be forever, and made it through the rough journey of finding myself without him. Part of that journey consisted of spending a lot of money, drinking a lot of booze and eating terribly delicious food late at night, and surrounding myself with other people that had those similar interests.

It also consisted of throwing myself into someone who should have never been more than a friend and making myself look pathetic and vulnerable in doing so. I became someone I didn't even recognize. The true emo side of me really came out there for a while. And through that rejection I ended up giving someone else a chance who didn't deserve a moment of my time, let alone 6 months...twice. Yikes. Of course there were a number of "victims" along my journey that I tried to let down easily, but never really succeeded in doing so. That really takes a toll on you mentally.

But all in all, I think the person I ended up finding is somewhat well-adjusted, determined, and hopeful. So I have to say that the journey was worth it. The so-called "end" has justified the means. Only being a little over a quarter of the way through my life, I know that it is nowhere near the end, but I am coming to a place that I have been working toward all this time. A place I never thought I would find again. And it's better than I could have ever imagined.

I think about how things are now, and I can't believe I almost settled for so much less. Not that the person was so much less, but the experience, the relationship, the love, was SO much less. There was less respect for each other and the relationship itself. There was less maturity in both of us, and I think we may have never grown from that if we had stayed together. I would be 2.5 years into a marriage, extremely unhappy, and probably nowhere near where I am in my career today. Instead, I have another degree under my belt and a love so different and so much better than anything I have ever known before.

So all I can say is, as hard as it was and as much as it hurt sometimes, the journey was definitely worth it. I can't wait for what's in store...

Random Rambling

I understand it has been over a month since my last post, but soon, this will not be an issue. I am convinced that once I have the space to sit on my couch and blog as I watch tv, or sitting at the bar drinking my coffee on a Saturday morning that you will hear much more from me ( I know those 5 of you who follow me can't wait!). Right now my computer sits on the small table in the kitchen and I spend most of my time while at home in the bedroom. One or both of the boys are in the living room with Larry, so I reside in the bedroom.

House Update:
We are two weeks away from closing on the house. We have the initial walk thru on the 17th and the final on the 23rd. I have the blinds scheduled to be installed on the afternoon of the 23rd and we can hopefully have the couch delivered that day as well. The satellite and phone and internet are being installed on the 28th. I am taking the week of Christmas and the week after off to get settled in. I have already reserved a Uhaul for the 22nd/23rd and am trying to corral some moving help from friends. This is tough because people are working during the middle of the day in the middle of the week.

I cannot stop buying things for the house. I have refrained quite a bit, but for everything I don't buy, I find one or two things more that we actually need. I am trying to wait until we get in there and find out what we really NEED, but there is so much cool stuff out there. The closet in the office right now is quickly filling with things for the new place. It started when I found the guest bath stuff I wanted at Walmart and just bought it all in one fell swoop. Then JB pointed out that he wanted our house to smell like B&BW, so we got a few wall flowers during a sale. Then we got a brita pitcher and some filter replacements at Target for a good price. And then I found a nice analon bakeware set at costco for a good price. And then cyber Monday brought a great deal on bedding (Cal King 10pc comforter set for $89) and a 20pc knife set for $26. Then I couldn't pass up the electric wine opener for $10. It's amazing, btw. Also, I found a set of 4 stemless wine glasses at walmart for $9! Crazy. So, yeah. That's why I keep buying things. I am convinced we need a spice rack, so I am looking for one of those. I have three coupons for Bed Bath and Beyond, each for 20% off one item. These will definitely come in handy. The only other thing we NEED is bar stools. I don't know why they are so expensive, but even the cheap ones at Walmart are more than I want to pay. The dishes I found are on back order until the 15th, and I am still waiting to hear if my dad and step-mom are going to be able to get them for Christmas. Otherwise, I need to get on there and get them ordered. We'll see.

School Update:
I have a little over a month before my comprehensive exam, which is the last thing I need to complete for my masters program. The exam is on January 16th. Maybe I can find some time in my two weeks off to get some preparation done, but I highly doubt it. Yikes! The study guide is 40 pages long. My plan is to take a couple of subjects home with me at a time to prep for so I am not trying to do it all at once. I'll let you know how that goes.

Holiday Madness:
It's almost time for the Christmas Tour! I hate to sound ungrateful for having so many people in my life to share the holidays with, but it sure is a pain! Especially now that I will have the keys to my home and will probably just want to roll around on the new carpet, or sink into my new couch or something.

Every year, the Saturday before Christmas is when we get together with my mom's side of the family. We do a name drawing gift exchange with a max limit of $25. To me, it seems really silly to even do gifts with a limit like this because you can't really get someone something all that great, so are you really just wasting $25? And if you just get them a gift card, it's kind of lame. I say we scrap gifts all together and just make it what the holidays are really about, which is food and family. I think we might discuss that option for next year.

Christmas Eve, I have two options. In Vacaville, my stepmom is responsible for her entire family's well-being on Christmas Eve. She has always been the one to host the party and do the entertaining. There are lots of friends and family of her and my dad, lots of food, and lots of booze. It's usually a pretty good time. A little further away, in Antioch, my dad's side of the family gathers every year. This is the Christmas Eve I grew up looking forward to and celebrating every year as I had many cousins close to my age to play with and many aunts and uncles to spend time with. As I got older, and through my relationship with Nick, I kind of stopped going to this function. Because it is farther away and most of the cousins grew up and got married and moved away. And for some reason, whether it was all in my head or not, I felt like an outcast in that group of people. And the longer I stayed away, the harder it was to go back. Thanks to Facebook, I am able to keep current on what everyone is up to and now it doesn't seem as awkward to go hang out with this side of my family because I can actually talk with them about the things in their life that are happening. JB and I will be going this year, and I am really excited for everyone to meet him.

Christmas Day starts off with a brunch with my step-dad's family. Their name drawing gift exchange is a little too rich for my blood, as the minimum is $75. This year I will not be participating. I am not missing out on the food though. My aunt makes monkey bread. Mmmmmmm. After either a matinee movie or a nap, we will head over to JB's parents' house for dinner.

I am already exhausted just thinking about it. And I feel that way as soon as I realize that Thanksgiving is here each year. It will all be over soon and I will be snuggled up with JB in our new home and looking forward to paying our ridiculous bills every month. Can it get any better?

Update

So, technically I wrote a Vegas blog, but I am waiting on a couple of pics from one of the trips from a friend, so it's not ready for posting. Otherwise it wouldn't have been over a month since I posted last. I guess it's time for an update:

First, I finally paid off my credit card!!!! I managed to pay down $11K in a little under a year. Pisses me off that I got myself into that into the first place, because I could have had that money in savings right now, but you live and you learn. To know the sacrifices I have made to pay that thing off makes me really proud. I also couldn't have done it without the help of my parents, who let me move in with them for a while, along with my friends Tiffany and DC for letting me move there when I was over living with my parents. The payoff wouldn't have been possible without the disgustingly low rent they allowed me to pay them. I didn't really make a huge deal about it because right before I made my final payment on my sole debt, John and I bought the couch. We should have it paid off before we get into the house, but now the debt is ours together and we are paying it off together. :)

I am semi-officially done with school. I took my last final on the 13th of October, so I am done with classes, but I have the comprehensive exam on January 16th. I have already downloaded the study guide, but now I have to actually study. There are 8 core classes in the program, so there are 8 topics that I can possibly be tested on, but I only have to answer 3 questions for the exam. According to one of the professors, since there has been a new Dean in town, there has been a higher success rate on the exam. I'll take it. Apparently they only have one graduation ceremony each year, which is the second Saturday in June, so that's when I will be walking. I might have a mini-celebration after I pass my comps, but we will have an official party in June. We might have a backyard by then :)

The house is definitely coming along. We have been visiting every week and have finished picking out all of our options and everything. We had a walk thru with the contractor last Friday to check out the framing. Our house is so smart! Lots of energy efficiency to lower our utility bills. One of my favorite features is the pest control system that is piped through the walls and connected to two boxes on opposite sides of the house. They come and spray every couple of months and hook up to the system and pump the walls with shoo-fly spray to make the bugs stay away. If you know how I feel about bugs and spiders, you know why this is my favorite feature.

I am trying not to get ahead of myself with all of the things we will still need to do/purchase. We already bought our couch, since it takes two months to come in. They should have it my the end of November and we will just need them to hold it for a few more weeks. The sales rep for Shea Homes told me that we should have our escrow dates in a couple of weeks. When we walked our home, the contractor also took us to the house two doors down which is ready for their final walk thru. They had the same color cabinets and granite, as well as the same appliances, so we got to see what our kitchen will look like. Here are a few pics of the current structure and the options we picked:

(side view)

I have been living with JB for over two months now. We hit a few bumps at first, which is completely normal, but things have seemed to settle down. I realized that it's much easier to be a control freak when you live by yourself and are the only one in your environment. I have learned to get past the fact that he can never seem to close the closet door all the way and he leaves water bottles and cups, along with empty yogurts and spoons on his nightstand. But now I just shake my head and smile and take them into the kitchen. Silly boy. I have also learned how to approach him to obtain the most effective results. He commends me when I do this and I appreciate that. Communication is key. In just a couple of months we will have a new home with a dishwasher and a washer/dryer and will look back on this time and I will be shocked that we made it through with flying colors.

I managed to lay low this summer. I only went out on the boat a few times and didn't really go on any trips besides Vegas for our anniversary. It seems as though all (or most anyway) of my friends are in healthy and stable relationships. Thus, we have all turned into old people that want to save our money and our livers. The few times I have actually ventured out into the nightlife, I have only lasted a couple of hours and ended up annoyed with the drunken public and my sore feet. Makes me happy that I don't have many reasons to do much of that anymore. The occasional birthday party here and there, but not every weekend like I used to. My weekends now consist of trips to Wal-Mart and Costco, doing chores and laundry, going to the gym and spending time with JB. Man, I got old really fast. LOL!

I am loving every minute of it though. Now that I am finished with school, I can get back to reading for pleasure instead of education. I can be caught up on my DVR before the weekend comes. I also have more time for my friends and family. Definitely not bad.

Fake It 'til You Make It

Is there a certain point where you feel like you are actually an adult? Maybe I just started adding responsibility at such a young age that instead of feeling like I grew up too fast, I feel like I am still a kid trying to fake my way through adulthood. I feel like there is just some point that it will all of the sudden click that I am a real, live grown up. But instead I just feel like a kid. I feel so much younger than those around me, even my friends that are 23 and 24. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I started Kindergarten at 4 years old and had a birthday late in the year, so I was always younger than everyone else. Maybe that just stuck with me. It doesn't help that I work with a bunch of middle-aged or older, mostly men. And that my braces make me look 15. But even before round two of the hardware, I felt like a kid.

I am stuck at 16. I don't understand. I have had a job, non-stop, since I was 15 years old. I bought my first car at 19, my first house at 22, finished my bachelor's degree, and still felt like a kid. I balance my checkbook and pay bills, I just recently moved in with my boyfriend (first time ever for me), am finishing up my masters in less than a month, and we are buying a house. It is all very exciting and a very "grown up" thing, but for some reason, I am still trapped inside the mindset of adolescence.

I am clearly rambling and don't even know exactly what I am trying to say.

When does it change? Does it ever change? I am going to be 28 this year and the number has no effect on me because I still feel like a kid. I look at other people and their lives and even though it is not much different than mine, I see it so much differently. I don't know.

I guess I'll just keep faking it.

My, How Vegas Has Changed

(Disclaimer: I started writing this post over a year ago, shortly after returning from our anniversary trip and it never got posted because I was waiting to add some pics from a couple of the trips. I just saw it in my drafts and said "screw it!", so I added to it and here it is.)

I don't really mean the city itself. Although it boggles my mind how the strip hasn't really gotten any bigger, but they still manage to fit more crap on it. I am referring to my Vegas experience. Let's go on a little journey, shall we?
My first post-21 Vegas trip was Spring Break 2005. I was engaged, but my fiancee decided not to join me as I was going on this trip with a bunch of my fun college friends who he always felt insecure around. So, off we go.

Somehow, out of the group of girls I was going with, one of us realized that it was only $99 each way to fly out of Reno instead of Sacramento. Little did we know that the day we had to drive to Reno would also be the day of the worst storm of the year! I think it took us about 3-4 hours to get there. Ridiculous. We flew off to Vegas the next morning and met lots more of our college friends there. For some of the other girls it was their boyfriend, and the rest of us were "flying solo" for the time there.

We started drinking as soon as we got on the plane and didn't stop until the morning we came home. Party, party, party. Drink, drink, drink. Scream, smoke, dance, etc. By the second day I was hoarse and the morning of the third, I had nothing. No voice whatsoever. My laugh was a mere whisper. This made it very difficult to tell the hottie in the club that night who wanted to do more than just dance with me, that I was in fact engaged. All I could do was show him the ring on my finger. And the sad part is, I remember being mad at that ring because I would have loved to take advantage of that situation. Oh well, it is what it is. Well, it was anyway.

Our last day in Vegas we decided to do a Casino Crawl. We were pub crawl pros back home, so this shouldn't be much different, right? Except there are a thousand casinos, all with $2 daiquiris and $1 extra shots. I got full before I could get drunk, but we powered through it. We got all the way from our hotel, The Monte Carlo, down to Fashion Show Mall and into old Vegas before we decided to take a cab back and hit up the buffet. It was definitely an unforgettable trip.

That was only the beginning for me of what seemed like an addiction to Vegas. Spending money I didn't have, binge drinking beyond normal levels, smoking and dancing the night away in expensive Vegas night clubs. Completely ridiculous. Every time I left, I felt like if I never saw that city again, it would be too soon. Until 6 months later when someone would utter the magic word, "VEGAS". It was like we couldn't find a reason to go fast enough.

The next trip was in January of 2006. I went with the usual group of friends, only at the time I happened to be dating one of them. But we did all of the same things. At least 4 people to a room, this time we added an expensive dinner and a show to spice things up, pricey night clubs and hours in front of Fat Tuesday gulping down sugary alcoholic beverages. At the airport to come home feeling like death, no voice and getting that last traditional Burger King aiprort meal down before the return to reality.

Later that very same year, I was not longer dating the same person, which caused some friction in the group for a while, and made this next Vegas trip a little awkward. We had all somehow found our way back to each other, and then I invited myself along. LOL! It's VEGAS! So, in October we headed to Sin City the weekend before Halloween, with no costumes. Stupid.

We had the same core group and most of the same activities. Drinking the days away while wandering the strip and the casino. The traditional ride on the roller coaster at New York, New York, another show, more dancing the night away. You get the point. More fun had, more money lost, more damage done to my liver and kidneys.

This time I returned a mere 2 months later for New Year's. If I had to pay for this trip, I wouldn't have been on it. But Andrew's company was doing their "corporate retreat", so it was on the house for the most part. Each of the business partners brought a guest, and I was the lucky girl that got to accompany Drewie. This was a much different Vegas trip since these were people of a different caliber. Older, less fun people. More expensive dinners, higher star hotels, and even a $100 tip to the doorman at Pure so we didn't have to wait in line on December 30th. It wasn't even New Year's yet.

This was the trip where I had my first real massage and actually didn't pay for dinner or drinks . My lowest expense Vegas trip for sure. We went to some New Year's party at The Luxor for $100 a person. Open bar and buffet. I was so hungover from the night before I was visiting the bathroom every ten minutes (not to throw up) and couldn't really take advantage of the open bar until it was almost closed. It was still a fun time and a great trip overall. We didn't let the others stop the two of us from hitting up our usual night clubs. Great times.

As I am recalling all of my Vegas trips, I just realized that 2007 was a Vegas free year! Unless you count being there on the 1st and 2nd from the New Year's trip. I think I filled that time with cruises and concerts instead.

My next trip was the summer of 2008 and also a freebie. Somewhat. My bestie just happened to be one of the top producers in California for Wells Fargo in the year that they were going to Vegas instead of Hawaii. Who cares, I'll take it! The trip was Sunday to Tuesday, staying at the Wynn. Flight and hotel paid for and $100 in casino chips, which we traded in for cash. Happy hour on Sunday evening and Monday night was a banquet dinner with drinks as well. We went a day early, so we had to pay for one night in the hotel, which wasn't all that bad. And then we had to cover our spending money for other activities.

This was a Vegas trip of firsts for me. I had my first Vegas hangover, I thought I was immune. I wasted a whole day in bed because I was so hungover. It was also my first Vegas summer which means my first time at a Vegas pool. The drinks are still expensive. My first time in a Vegas VIP booth. My first time paying $80 for room service. And the first time I kissed JB. Definitely my craziest Vegas trip and simply because I went with April. When you're with her, crazy shit happens. It was however, my only trip that year.

This brings us to 2009. I had two trips that year. The first was a bachelorette party for the fiance of one of JB's friends. I didn't really know anyone but her, but I figured what the heck. It's VEGAS! And, I make friends pretty quickly. People kind of love me. LMAO!

We stayed at Mandalay Bay and got a cabana at their pool club one of the days. The other day we took a pole dancing, strip tease class called Stripper 101. I was sore and covered in bruises, but it was a hell of a good time. Fill in the blanks with scavenger hunts, dinners, and phallic accessories. Not to mention copious amounts of alcohol and you have your typical bachelorette weekend.

The other trip that year was with JB to celebrate our 1 year anniversary that August! We thought the best way to spend it was to return to the scene of the crime. :) It wasn't the Vegas we were used to though. We were in bed by 1am at the latest every night, went to a nice dinner and a show, played some penny slots, and spent some time at the pool. We even went to Tao together and tired of it pretty quickly.

2010 brought one trip to Vegas which was the UFC Fan Expo. It.Was.AWESOME! There were so many fighters there just walking around and available for pictures and autographs. Most of the guys we met were so nice! We didn't get much time at the pool and did't hit up any clubs, but we still had a great time.

I won't be setting foot in that town this year, due to all of the other fun we have planned, but JB will be going for his bachelor party/his friend's 40th birthday on Memorial Day weekend. I'm kind of jealous, but not really. The place they are staying at is paid for and he pretty much only has to pay for his flight. I always thought I would end up in Vegas for my bachelorette party, but it's a lot of money and a lot of work when you are a girl. I don't know if I have that in me these days.

With all of the players club emails we get from MGM, I know we will be back soon. I have had enought Vegas until then.

To Grandmother's House We Go

I have to clarify that it's not really my grandmother's house, but I believe she was someone's grandmother before she passed away. Okay, let me explain:

A while back JB and his brother were looking for a place to move to right around the time a client of his had a grandmother pass away. She was left this house in Citrus Heights, in a horrible market to try to sell it, and needed someone to watch over it. Pretty good timing for such a travesty. He tried to arrange payment with her and she would have none of it. So basically JB and Rich have been living there, paying only utilities for about a year and a half now. All of the original furniture was left in the house (including this Jetson's-esque dining room table), but the owner cleaned out the rest. Fortunately some upgrades were made to the kitchen and bathroom cupboards and counters in the last couple of decades.

Back when I first started this blog, JB and I had just approached the topic of eventually moving in together. Well, if you had seen this house like I had, and most of his friends can attest, you would know that moving in there was not even an option for me. I figured we would find a cute apartment or house to rent until we were in the position to afford our own home. I never thought I would move into a house that had no dishwasher, no microwave, and no dryer, let alone have it be my idea. But alas, I am smart enough to see the greater good that comes from paying zero rent. We can obviously save more money, and it is only temporary after all.

So, after a lot of organizing and cleaning, I moved in to grandma's house 3 weeks ago. And I should emphasize that the cleaning was everywhere, but the organizing was only in JB's room. See, I had heard these stories that most boys are just gross and will live infinitely in their own filth, but I had never really seen it first hand. Until grandma's house. I don't know that the house had ever been cleaned since they moved in until right before the first time I came over there. And even then I think JB only really cleaned the bathroom. Before a month ago, the last time the house was thoroughly cleaned was in December when I enlisted JB's help to clean the house together. In case you are unaware, a month ago was the beginning of August. That means the house went 8 months without being cleaned and it's occupied by 2 boys. You can imagine my hesitance and anxiey leading up to our date of cohabitation. The week before I moved in, I cleaned just the bathroom and the kitchen and it took me 3 HOURS!!!!

I have to say, things have been going well thus far. Well, I guess I can't really speak for Rich. And I am sure that although he loves having me there, JB doesn't really like having to make the bed every morning and put his clothes away when he takes them off or do the dishes right after dinner. But it isn't nearly as bad as JB or I pictured it being as far as me freaking out every day and really hating living there. I think we both expected the worst given the circumstances, and actually things aren't all that bad. There is a place for most of my stuff and I have settled into my routine and all is well. Also, I have noticed that I have so much more time now that I am not splitting my time between life and love.

Of course, it has only been three weeks...

It's On Like Donkey Kong!

So, after what felt like a very long process, I am finally able to say that we have been approved for a loan on the Walnut! For those that are curious, the home is built by Shea Homes and is in the Fiddyment Farm development in West Roseville. We had to go through a pre-qualification, which led to some work that needed to be done on our part, that finally led to a loan application and another week of waiting. We didn't want to make any announcements, or really get excited about anything, but last Friday we got word that we had been completely approved. The whole thing took about a month from start to finish. All along I had a feeling that it would be okay, but there was that part of me that just didn't want to get my hopes up. So, as my coworker suggested, I remained cautiously optimistic. It paid off!

I am going to try to visit the homesite every week to take pics of the progress. We went a couple of weekends ago and took some after they had framed the foundation and dug the trenches for piping and whatnot, but then JB lost his phone. My intention is to use snapfish to create a coffee table book of the whole thing once it's done. I am not sure how much longer we have to wait to go in and start selecting options and whatnot. We were able to visit the design center in the beginning to get an idea of what the upgrades would cost and work within our budget. Luckily a lot of stuff comes standard, so we don't have to pay as much for certain things that we want.

It's so funny because once you tell people you are buying a new home, they all want to give you their suggestions and tell you to try to get as much out of the builder as possible for free. Just as much as I am not a salesperson, I am also not a very good negotiator. If I ask once and they say no, I don't push the issue. JB is the same way. But when you tell people this, they just try to give you even more ways to try to get stuff for free. I do appreciate some of the good heads up tips I have been getting from people, and every time someone tells me to ask for something for free, I just go, "Oh yeah, I should ask about that next time we are in there." and move on with the conversation. Luckily I know quite a few people who have been in this situation recently so they have given me good advice as far as picking options and what to ask about.

The home is set to be finished and close escrow by late November/early December. I am hoping it's earlier rather than later for tax purposes. It would be nice to get that tax credit and pay off a student loan. :) I will be posting updates as they come, so stay tuned!

The Results Are In...

Okay, so I know boot camp ended a week ago, but the instructor was on vacation and was not able to test my body fat, therefore I could not post my progress. I finally met with her this morning. After 1 month, 3 days a week for an hour at 6am, the results are in:

Weight: 143.5lbs
Body Fat %: 14.95%

Now, if you look back at my initial post, you might notice that I have gained .5 lbs. But I also lost 0.68% body fat. This means one of two things; that I lost some weight, but built up muscle which repleaced it or that some of my fat turned into muscle, which actually weighs more. My goal was to lose 8lbs and 3% body fat, which is quite ambitious in a month's time. It's do-able, according to JB, but probably not for my lifestyle. In order to reach this goal, I would have required much more gym time than my days allow.

That month did quite a few things for me besides shape me up. It added a level of discipline that I really needed. Getting up early requires going to bed early. Also, knowing that your body needs a certain amount of sleep to recover from hard workouts made it more of a priority for me to get more sleep. I stopped staying up late watching tv or reading. I was in bed by 10:30, 11 at the latest. Also, I started drinking more water and remembering to take my vitamins everyday. Of course, if you are working that hard, you don't want to ruin it by eating junk, so my eating was much cleaner than it had been. Lots of lean meats (chicken, tuna, ground turkey), fresh fruits and veggies, and complex carbs (brown rice, wheat pasta, whole wheat breads), and other protein packed snacks like yogurt and cottage cheese, peanut butter, cheese and crackers. Of course I had a few days where I let go a little and enjoyed myself, but I would get right back on track the next day and not let it derail me. I also cut back a lot on the alcohol intake, which always helps.

One thing I have learned, especially with restaurants being required to post the nutritional information for their dishes, is that eating out can really set you back and derail any progress you are trying to make. Restaurant-prepared meals are packed with fat and sodium and can blow your entire day of caloric intake in one meal. It's quite ridiculous and rather discouraging. Some people like to play dumb and ignore the facts because they really want to enjoy their night out. I would say that once in a while, that's fine. But if you eat out for lunch or dinner, or both, on a regular basis, you are not going to get anywhere very fast. And if you look at this information and try to order the best possible health-concious choice, it turns out to be a huge waste of your money. It makes me wonder if it will eventually change the way restaurants prepare their food. I sure hope so.

I am quite pleased with my results. I am very proud of my dedication and determination. I have noticed more definition in my arms and legs (not so much in my abs where I wanted it), and have received a ton of compliments, especially from JB. And the thing I think is the best part about it all, is that I am inspiring others to do the same. I have had several friends and family, including my roommates, that have started working harder to acheive their goals because they have seen a glimmer of hope that the hard work actually pays off at some point.

So, I just went shopping for new work clothes since all of my old stuff, even the stuff I had altered, was not fitting properly. Saggy and baggy to say the least. To give you an idea of how far I've come, aside from the pictures previously posted, two years ago I was a size 10 at NY&Company. This is the store I buy all of my work clothes from because I know I like thier stuff and I know my sizes there. A while back, I got to start buying size 8 pants and eventually had to have those taken in. The ones I had taken in are now baggy on me, hence the shopping spree.

As I am loading up my arms with size 6 pants and medium sized tops, the store clerk keeps coming up and unloading them from me and putting them in the dressing room. Once I get in there to try stuff on, I realize that everything is too big. The size 6 pants are just a smidge to big, so I ask for a 4. Well, let me tell you, we are not quite there yet. Although I could get them on just fine and buttoned with no problem, they created a bit of a muffin top. Much like my size 10 pants were doing 2 years ago. I opted to stay with the 6 for now, but was excited about the fact that I could even fit into the fours! I also bought smalls in some of the tops I purchased. A few were still in the meduim range, but it all depends on the style. I can't even remember the last time I bought a small anything!

So, all in all, the boot camp experience was great! I made a little progress, although not as much as I had hoped for, and I am still on my quest for a 6 pack. I just purchased a 90 day weight loss pack from dotfit.com which, along with my gym activity and healthy eating, should help with the progress. The most important thing to remember is to not get discouraged. It takes a few months to see initial results, but after that it's encouraging to actually see the hard work pay off and know that you are doing all of the right things.

Halfway There!

Holy cow! Two blogs in one week! I must be bored at work. LOL!

So, today marks the halfway point for boot camp. I have successfully made it on time (at 6am) and all the way through 6 classes. I almost missed my alarm this morning though. Woops! It has not been easy. I definitely have to talk crap to myself in my head. The whole, "you're doing great, you can do it!" doesn't work on yourself. It's more like, "Don't be a p#$$4, you can do this. Some of these people are twice your age." No offense to those people. LOL!

Due to situations beyond her control, my partner in crime through this process has missed the entire week. Except for Monday when she was just "too tired". I could have forgiven her for that because when I woke up that morning and saw her text, I almost went back to bed myself. But I would have only been cheating myself. So, I went. And I have been regretting it ever since. Let me tell you, if I can remember, what Monday's workout entailed:

-2 warm up laps
-dynamic warmup (some different drills to get certain muscle groups warmed up)
-plank for two minutes
-A circuit that included doing a squat/bicep curl with 8lb weights simultaneously (10 reps), followed by 30 yards of walking lunges, 10 push-ups, 30 yards walking lunges back. Repeat again at reps 9, and so on, all the way down to 1.
-The rest of the workout is pretty much a blur, but it probably involved some upper body stuff with a resistance band and then some more core work.

If you did the math correctly, you would have realized that 60 yards of walking lunges, ten times, equals 600 yards of lunges. For those of you like me, who are bad with distance, that's 6 FOOTBALL FIELDS!!!!! By the end of that day, I was feeling tight. The next morning was a little worse. By lunch time, I could barely walk. All of those things that we take for granted like getting in and out of a chair or going to the bathroom, even steering with your knee, inflicted great amounts of pain. That night, walking up the stairs was difficult, but didn't hurt nearly as bad as having to walk down them the next morning. I had several questions from coworkers about the way I was hobbling around the office, and my boss told me, "You're too young to walk that old."

I can honestly say that in all of my years of dancing and working out (with or without a trainer) I have never been that sore. Everything from the waist down was sore and tight, but my quads felt it the most. When I would try to walk, I thought my knees were going to hyper-extend because of the fact that my muscles could not support them properly. My roommate used the example of the blow-up guys you see at the state fair or the car dealerships with their unstable limbs flailing about. That was me, flailing about down the hallway at work. Somehow I made it through the workout on Wednesday, and was very grateful when we were working different muscle groups. Today's workout was a little easier in that aspect, but still tough. Especially when she had us doing more lunges and some other squatting exercises. I can still feel the tightness, but it is now down to the level that I am used to experiencing from a tough workout.

I hate getting up early. With a passion. I really dislike levels of exertion beyond my comfort zone, and I hate losing a challenge. So, why the hell am I doing this? Well, to see if I can, for one. And then to say that I did. I am a lot tougher than I give myself credit for and I am proud of myself for making it through every one of these godforsaken boot camp classes. It helps knowing that I am motivating others as well and JB is being really supportive and encouraging.

I made it halfway, so I know I can make it the rest. I will try to start posting the workouts from each day, but sometimes, my mind is just jello by the time I get out of there let alone the end of the day.

Boot Camp

So, in case you haven't heard me talk about it or seen any of my face book status updates, I am currently in a fitness boot camp with Breakout Fitness. It started last Monday and it is brutal to say the least. First of all, it's at 6am. Second, every day (MWF) is a total body workout and it's always different so your body never really adapts to it. For the 12 sessions it was $200, which breaks down to $17/session. Great rate if you have ever had to pay for training. I guess if I have to pay someone to inflict pain on me, it's a good deal. The thing that surprises me is that even with going to the gym 3-5 times a week since the beginning of the year, this kicks my ass every day. I am sore by the end of the day and still sore by the next work out. It's pretty great though because there are men and women of all ages right along side you and seeing what people are capable of is pretty motivating.

The first week she had us weigh ourselves and do our body fat testing. Below are my results/goals to work towards:


Category
Current
Last
Date:
7/12/09

Body Fat %:
15.68%

Desired Body Fat %:
12.00%

Body Fat to lose:
5.97 lbs

Total Weight:
143.00 lbs

Lean Body Weight:
120.58 lbs

Body Fat Weight:
22.42 lbs

Goal Weight:
137.03 lbs

She is going to take our measurements again when this is all over at the end of the month and I will be sure to post them here to see if I have made any progress. I have been trying to do cardio and other workouts outside of this, but the first week was a little crazy. I am almost done with my Thursday class so I will have another day of the week for workouts as well.

Stay tuned...