Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Insanity Update

I think it's about time for one of these, right?

Well, I'm still going strong, although I fully admit I miss a day here and there. I really do enjoy it (well, once the workout is DONE, I feel better for having done it), and I've seen some changes.

The first 4 weeks are the same 4 workouts over and over, switched up each week in order. They give you a great "bang-for-your-buck" workout for only being about 40 min each and honestly I was DRENCHED in sweat by the time I was done. I was finally getting a good rhythm going with them. And then it changed-
Last week was "recovery week" so I did the same workout (cardio core and balance) everyday all week (I hate to say that I only did it 3 times though, instead of the 6 days it wants you to do- chalk it up to busy schedules). It wasn't as intense as the first months, so it was kind of a nice break/ breather.
So I started week 6 yesterday.  This week, everything changes even more. Workouts are longer (60 min). They are more intense. I'm drenched in the first 5 minutes. It looks like I will be doing this different set of 4 workouts over the next  weeks, but like the first month they change up the order each week.

And the stats- I've only lost about 3 pounds, but I've gone down a full size in pants- which is nothing to balk at. I'm excited to see where I'll be at by the end. The first month was kind of a bust following the eating plan, but I'm doing much better last week and this week and I know it will pay off as the next weeks go by!

Any questions? Comments? I'm an open book ;-)

Monday, August 29, 2011

MIA

In my defense, last week was CRAZY BUSY! So here's what's been going on in bullets ;-)

  • Cheer started last week so Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were spent with 8 college students. All day. I'm really excited for what this year is going to bring. Hopefully, no drama. This seems like a good group of kids and I think it's going to be a good year
  • Monday was our last playdate with Katie and Collin. The school year begins around here today, so K is back to teaching. We are going to miss seeing them, but come November we will get to see them more often while she's on maternity leave!
  • B turned 22 months!
  • We went to the fair last Sunday. Pics to come in B's 22 month post. We had a great time and B LOVED all the animals! Her farm themed birthday party is sure to be a hit :)
  • Speaking of her party- Batman is trying to convince our good friend E to talk his parents into letting us have the party at their farm. They have horses, cows, chickens, dogs, cats and I think he said a sheep? It would be AWESOME if we could! 
  • Batman tried to surprise me with a trip to Disneyland for my birthday (yes, it's coming... the big 3-0- YIKES!), but I shot him down. I am kind of bummed that he was getting buyers remorse (before spending the $$) and part of me wishes he would have just gone ahead without asking me. But the other side of me is glad we didn't drop a couple grand. I keep telling myself it's more important to pay off our school loans. Right? RIGHT?
  • We (meaning me) watched this movie over the weekend. It's been on our net.flix instant queue for weeks and I finally sat down for it. And now I think when we get home from the wedding we are going to Reboot!
  • So does anyone have any suggestions on a good juicer? We have a vitamix already and that *would* work, but I'd rather just get a separate juicer. We are looking at a Breville or maybe a Champion. They are 2 very different machines and I'm not sure at this point which we'd be happier with.
  • We may or may not have talked about TTC again. Our original timeline was going to be Januray, but it looks as though we may start sooner than that. =D
  • B has been in her big girl bed for 2 weeks and it's been going AWESOME! She likes sleeping in it  and nap and bedtime are so easy (although bedtime last night was a bit of a struggle). She just climbs right in!
  • Batman unofficially will continue his orders through June! This news came down last week. Yay! :) After that we are looking at taking over the family painting business (we've had our own before, but after joining the military Batman only did it as a side job here and there). I'm kind of nervous about being self employed again, but we'll see how it goes. God is in control, so I don't need to be.
It doesn't sound like that makes for a busy week, but I assure you it does! And now I'm off to go grocery shopping and get this week started! Happy Monday!

Saturday, August 20, 2011

A Heavy Heart

Our neighbors were found today. Unfortunately, the news was tragic. You can read the news story here.

My heart hurts.

From what we've gotten through our other neighbors, D and T, Barb and Charlie turned onto an old road (probably at Charlie's insistance as he was adventurous and Barb did what he wanted) that narrowed beyond what they could navigate. Speculation is that they tried to back out, lost control of their truck and rolled down the embankment. From the evidence, it appeared that Barb was killed before Charlie as her body had been covered by sleeping bags. He was found yards away from the sight, probably looking for help. Their dear pup, Sassy, survived the entire ordeal and has been given to family that has been staying at their house.

I can't even begin to imagine what they went through. Was Barb killed in the accident? Did she live with injuries for days before passing? Oh, what Charlie must have felt, seeing the love of his life, pass before his eyes. What really happened? We may never know for sure. I pray that the end came quickly and as peacefully as possible for them both. They were so dear to our hearts!

Please pray for their surviving family! Our hearts are exceedingly heavy tonight.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Down on the Farm

So I think I've decided to go ahead with the Barnyard/Farm theme for Brynna's birthday (Am I thinking about this a tad too early since it's over 2 months away? I think not!) She's just so into everything Pick! (pig) Cow! (cow) Baa Baa! (sheep) Neigh Neigh! (horse) Baa bock! (chicken) these days, it just seems to fit her.
And in typical T fashion I've been scouring the internet for ideas. Here's stuff I've come up with so far:

1.For invitations- homemade (obviously since I have SO much scrapbooking stuff that never gets used. And Batman would prefer it gets put to use! And not have to spend $$) similar to this barn shaped one with something like "Baa! Neigh! Cluck! Moo! Farmgirl Brynna is turning 2!" and then all the pertinent invite info.
2. Cake- Either just a round cake covered in fondant with cow spots or a pig (and a big #2 on top similar to this) -OR- a barn with a couple animals -OR- cupcakes with animal toppers. (Although I would really love to get THIS cake!)
3. Food table- pretzel sticks (hay/ horse feed), "farm fresh veggies," apples, chex mix or chips of some kind (chicken feed), whoppers or raisinettes (sheep poop), hot dogs or pigs in a blanket (self explanatory- real hotdogs and fake), burgers (bean burgers and cow burgers), potato salad (pig slop), corn on the cob (self explanatory) and maybe no bake cookies (cow pies). Milk (real and soy or rice), lemonade and water bottles to drink (unless people want coffee too).
4. A "hay ride"- borrowing my IL red wagon, filling it with some hay and taking the littler kids for rides
5. Barn playhouse- made out of big boxes- I may need to scour Best.Buy or Lo.wes to get my hands on a few that would be big enough (or maybe this should be what we get B for her birthday? A real playhouse not one made of boxes).
6. Games- pin the tail on the pig, cow or horse, ring around the saddle (I'm going to see if our friend would let us borrow one of his saddles for the day), haystack hunt (instead of a pinata- not that I would do a pinata for a 2 yr old, but I liked the idea).
7. Dress up/ photo booth- different animal hats (that people can take home), bandanas, straw hats, etc- OR- big animal cut outs with face holes.
8. Favors- $store animals, cowtails candy, animal crackers, farm themed stickers, maybe $store tractors?
9. Decorations- hay bails (these may get pricey so I may have to rethink this), cow print table runners, red plates and flatware, maybe a few animal shaped balloons and some streamers (but maybe not on the streamers), and possible a banner (like the buntings I've been seeing all over the internet- farm themed).

Am I missing anything? Got any other ideas? Obviously we won't be doing ALL of this stuff... that would be a little overwhelming I think. I also looked into pony rides, but the only place in our area charges $150 for an hour and I just don't think Batman would go for that (I will have to do some heavy convincing as it is!) ;-) If we weren't going to be in a club house at my IL subdivision, I would try and coerce our friend to allow us his horse (with him in charge, obviously!). Maybe I will just put Kino in a cow costume... he's big enough, right? Right? ;-)

So many things to think about...

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Lost in Translation

It's come to my attention that someone didn't like Batman's most recent post so much. Unfortunately, they hid behind the "anonymous" mask. Which in my mind says they are a coward. Or that blogger wasn't working. One or the other.

Let me say a couple of things in response. While Batman doesn't need anyone to defend him or his blog, I feel it's my obligation as his wife (and love of his life)to do so.
First, it's his blog. Not yours, not mine, not Tom's, not Dick's, not Harry's, but HIS. So honestly? He has the right to post whatever he wants. And not feel bad about it.
Second, one of the reasons I love and married Batman is his sarcasm and very dry sense of humor. Obviously, this somehow was lost on anonymous as they were reading said post. While at times he can seem a bastard, it's almost always in jest and not malicious.
Third and finally, his intent, while not completely known to me(I didn't ask), was probably not "bashing", but merely venting his frustration about getting numerous pictures a day from our SIL. He likes seeing pics of our niece and nephew, but 20 a day seems a little over the top. I completely understand his point of view, as I get the same picture. Personally, I don't mind getting the pics since I show them to B and she now "knows" who M and D are. Batman? Not so much.
The other thing you have to understand is that said SIL does kinda come across as a "keeping up with the Joneses" type person. If we try something new, she has to also, but do it better. It's been like this since as long as I've known her (which is coming up on a decade and for Batman much longer). And this has always rubbed Batman the wrong way.
So there's my little rant. Take it or leave it.
And to anonymous- if it really bothered you that much? Stop reading. It's as simple as that.

Monday, August 15, 2011


Apparently Batman is a good manipulator (not always a bad thing)!

Over the weekend 2 things happened.

1. We turned B around in her car seat so she's now FF. I would have preferred she stay RF until she outgrew the weight limit, but I had compromised and settled on her 2nd birthday. Well, Batman wore me down and I finally said "just DO it!" on Saturday. Brynna seems happy as a clam. And now I won't get any more comment from my IL about how they wish she were turned so they could see her face (I was REALLY getting tired of those comments).
This looks SO uncomfortable! RF was a much better angle to sleep!


2. We made B's crib into a day bed. She's officially a big girl now! I wasn't really certain it would work, but the last 2 naps and nights she's done great. Again, I thought we'd wait until she was closer to 3 before moving her from the crib, but I guess we will keep it this way. Funny thing is, she hasn't really figured out she can get OUT of her bed... LOL I guess this is a good thing ;-)
Cheese!
Oh and I forgot to mention that I went to the Michael Buble concert last week **swoon** It was A- mazing! Best concert I've ever been to... probably helps that I kinda have a crush on him (but what woman doesn't?).

Saturday, August 13, 2011

nothing much to say these days

Haven't had much that's blog worthy lately... But Batman is trying his hand at blogging again, so maybe he'll have something for you to read... Catch him over here

My neighbors are still missing. Batman thinks they may have gone off the road coming down the mountain and fallen in the river. I don't know if we will ever know. Their kids and grandkids have organized their own searches and keep coming up empty. I'm still praying that they will be found safe.

Oh we did try a new restaurant last night. Donnie Mac's Trailer Park Cuisine. I guess they were on that food network show- Diners, Drive-Inns and Dives? It was pretty good and I'm sure we will go back again! :)

And that's about it.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Some Updates

My neighbors:

They are still missing, but there are reports that they were seen last Saturday afternoon at a flea market in the mountains. No one has seen them since, but it's a start and the police are now searching Valley County. Unfortunately, this is a huge county, all of it mountainous and mostly uninhabited. We are still praying they are found safe.

My Dad:

He had his meeting with the Public Works Director yesterday finally (they changed from the mayor's office to him). Not really a lot happened and no decision has been made yet. My dad went in with the union attorney and a coworker (who was filling in for someone from the union). He read a letter he and my brother had written, apologizing and rebutting (is that the word?) some of the allegations against him. Then the attorney made his point- basically that there has been no accomodation from the beginning for my dad, even though there should have been, and that he does have a disability that makes some issues and basically that if the city chooses termination, they will have a legal issue to deal with. The director thanked them for the "new information" and stated he would make a decision over the weekend. My dad is still on paid administrative leave until then.

Me:

Insanity has been... okay. When I got sick a few weeks ago I was in the middle of week 2 and to be honest working out made me feel worse not better. So I bagged it until I got to feeling better. Last week I restarted week 1. So here I am almost finished with week 2. I haven't lost any weight yet, but I do feel a little stronger (meaning I can get through more of the workout with less breaks!) and some clothes seem to fit better.
We pulled down my "skinny box" from the attic last weekend and I actually fit into about half the clothes in it! Yippee! I was so excited! The other half, I think I need to lose about 10 more pounds before they'll work. So... 10 or so more pounds is my goal. I'm hoping I can do it over the next month, but I have a feeling it may take me longer. Since Batman's been home, my eating habits haven't exactly been great... neither have his ;-) I guess we need to revamp things and go back to 1 bad meal a week instead of 3 or 4.
I still have a sore throat every few days... For some reason I can't seem to completely kick this virus. Grrr! Batman's been after me to get into the doc, but since I have never established myself with our PCM, I'm kind of on the fence. It will take them at least a week to get me in and I may be fully better by then, right? What would you do? Hmm...

Batman:

It's been so great having him home and we've been getting back into a great routine. This week has been really crappy thanks to the ORE out at the base (operation readiness exercise). They have the ORI (inspection) in October, so all these practice runs make for long weeks :( He's been working 14-16 hour days and we've hardly seen him. Thankfully, Sunday is the last day and then Monday is a down day. I wish they would give him more than just one day though. He could use the rest!

Brynna:

Ever my sweet girl! We have been getting out more this week. Tuesday we went to the park and splash pad with a GF of mine and her son:
She had a great time and lasted almost 2 hours before we had to go home for lunch and naptime!
Wednesday we went to the library and she picked out 5 new books to "read." She's been enjoying some new stories before bedtime and she definitely knows which one she likes LOL.
Yesterday we went to the zoo again. This time we paid the extra $1 to go through the butterfly in blooms exhibit and she had SO much fun! We even had a few land on us and she did SO great!


Today we are laying low and staying home I think. Tomorrow we may head to the farmer's market... we'll see.
And this girl will be 2 in just over 2 months! Yikes! And I have no ideas for a theme for her birthday. I've considered Elmo, but she hasn't been super into him these days (other than having to have her 2 Elmos to sleep with). Then I thought a barnyard theme since she loves animals these days (we've added a cow and horse to her menagerie of "nighttime must haves"). Any one have any ideas?

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Missing

My neighbors across the street went missing over the weekend. The last they were seen was Satruday morning (I saw them that morning too) and they were supposed to have shown up for a family get together Saturday afternoon and they never showed. A police officer was at their house Sunday morning and asked around the neighborhood. It was thought that they may have taken a day trip to the mountains, as they often do, but there's no evidence of them making it to their common destinations.

My heart is heavy today, as they have called off the search. I'm unsure of the reasoning. I'm just hoping they find them soon!