Baths and Mountains

Happy Monday! We are having some unusually cold weather here today and the ice and snow are making travel terrible. Since I'm about 30 miles from work and I work with family I am still home today. I doubt I will have to go in which is kind of nice. A surprise 3 day weekend!

We have had a great couple of weeks. We got to babysit O so my sister and BIL could have a date night. It was bath day so we got to play in the tub with him. He is such a happy little man and LOVES his baths. We had such a good time with him and feel so blessed to have him in our lives. I cannot believe he is just over a month away from turning one!

I love bath time!



Hi Auntie!



Playing in the tub

That's me off to the left heading down the hill

Last Thursday MrHoppy and I were able to play hooky and go up the hill to ride on Copper Mountain. It was our first trip of the year and it was perfect. No lift lines, sunny and warm. I love going with him - I'm a decent snowboarder but I get scared going too fast. He challenges me and forces me to take risks. It's good for me even if I'm terrified half the time!  

Get Your Sweat On!

I'm finally going to document some of what I do workout-wise. There are a lot of machines I use and different things I do that I don't know the names of so I'll keep it kind of general on the lifting part. I feel like I have a good routine though and thought I would share. :)

My goal is to work out 5 days a week. It happens some weeks and not others. 3 is my minimum though. And I find this super important. I don't "skip" workouts. If I have plans or something comes up I find another time to "make it up". Obviously this doesn't work 100% of the time but it holds me accountable so I never fall below my 3 workout/week minimum.

Along with eating right I've found I can maintain pretty easily this way. However, it is getting harder to do the older I get and that is NO lie!

Cardio: the secret for me has been interval training in my running. It keeps your body guessing while decreasing your mile times. I try to do other forms of cardio (and it's something I'm really working on) since cross-training is important. But running is really what I enjoy.

Lifting: I lift after I run, it's just what works for me. I always start with legs. Testosterone is stored here and it's released when we work those muscles giving us the maximum benefit throughout the workout. I do 3 leg (quad/hamstring) exercises first followed by 4 arm/chest exercises. I end with 3 ab exercises and 1 lower back machine. Here we go!

Monday evenings: 3 miles of sprint intervals and lifting
Tuesday evenings: either 60 minutes of yoga or an all cardio night
Wednesday mornings: 20 minutes on the elliptical and 20 minutes on the bike
Thursday evenings: 3 miles of incline intervals and lifting
Friday: usually off, I'll make up a workout on this day if I miss one
Saturday mornings: 3 mile 15 second sprint interval run and lifting
Sunday: OFF! I almost never work out on Sundays

I'm not a distance runner and don't enjoy running longer than about 4 miles. I can do it, I just don't like to! Here are the interval runs:
   1. sprint interval: run/jog 1 minute, sprint 1 minute, run/jog 1 minute, sprint 1 minute, walk for recovery 1 minute. Repeat for at least 30 minutes
   2.  incline interval run: run/jog 1 minute at 0 incline, increase to incline 1 for 1 minute, back to 0 for 1 minute, increase to incline 2 for 1 minutes, back down to 0 for 1 minute. Repeat this going up to an incline of 5 and then come back down. Make sense?
   3. 15 second sprint intervals: run/jog for 15 seconds, sprint for 15 seconds, run/jog for 30 seconds, sprint for 30 seconds. Increase each ruh/jog and spring up to 1:30 and then come back down. This one is KILLER!

I don't love lifting, I'll be the first to admit it. But I know I need it more than anything to work on toning. Here are a few examples of what I'll do for each muscle group on any given day. You will want to do something slightly different each time you lift. Our bodies get used to things very quickly so it's best to mix it up!
   1. sumo squats with a free weight
   2. lunges with an upper body twist
   3. hamstring extension with an exercise ball
  
   4. push ups on Bosu ball (flipped over)
   5. chest press
   6. lat pull downs
   7. free motion tri's

   8. bicycle "crunches"
   9. v sit bouncing a ball on each twist
   10. ab machine

So that's a typical week for me. Granted, I don't have children and have time to spend at the gym. I'm usually there about an hour or so and I always go right after work. Our gym is between work and home so it's convenient to go before or after work. I keep everything I need in my gym bag and  pack fresh clothes before bed each night. That way I don't run out of time in the morning. I'm organized, remember? ;) I do the same with my lunches and breakfasts - make sure they are ready to go the night before.

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! I'm so sore today from riding yesterday - we were able to go thankfully. I took 1 pretty big digger so I'll relax at home tonight since it's off to the gym to work out these kinks bright and early!


  

Not to Complain but...

The workout post will have to wait until Friday. Today has been "one of those days" you know? Where you don't feel right and nothing seems to be going your way? And I just need to vent here for a sec...

Number 1. For the last few weeks I have had a lump in my throat. You know the feeling where you need to swallow but it never goes away? It's been like that for a couple weeks and is really bugging me! I read up online (I know) and a lot of sources said it could be caused by anxiety. I feel fine otherwise so I guess I'll just chalk it up to that unless it doesn't go away soon or gets worse.

Number 2. MrHoppy STILL isn't feeling better. His left side is swollen and he's having pain in the dry socket again. I am just SO over this. To top it all off he went back to the dentist yesterday and found out he was going to be out of town for the next week. He referred MrHoppy to an oral surgeon to look at it but that guy won't. Annoying, but it makes sense. Why would he take over something that he didn't do? So MrHoppy left a message today with our dentist (on vacation) to find out what the hell he is supposed to do. It's bleeding again and the packing fell out last night. What an ordeal...

Number 3. We are supposed to go snowboarding tomorrow and I'm afraid we won't be able to because of the 2 week wisdom teeth ordeal. On one hand I understand that being in pain all the time can't be fun. But on the other hand I really want to go, I have the day off work and it's been planned for a month! I know I sound so selfish right now but I seriously can't help it.

Number 4. My boss is driving me crazy today. We'll just leave it at that.

The biggest thing bugging me today is that I feel guilty. If I'm being honest I should get that out there. For what? Lemme tell ya.

There was a post on the boards yesterday while I was lurking about living child-free. And then a follow up post about whether you and your significant other had discussed options if you weren't able to conceive biological children. Most people hadn't talked about it which I didn't find surprising. But there were a few responses that totally hit the nail on the head as to how I feel. Guilty. I feel guilty because sometimes I think about what my life would be like if I hadn't married MrHoppy. Would I be a mother? Would my life be easier? Would I feel more taken care of?

Go ahead, say it. I'm a terrible person. I feel like one.

Please don't take this to mean that I don't love him or that I wish we weren't together. I love him so much and am so happy I'm his wife. I just don't know what my 25 year old self would have done if she knew what my 30 year old self now knows. And honest to God it's not just the infertility stuff that makes me wonder. He has a whole host of health problems that sometimes make me feel helpless. And exhausted. And like it's always me supporting him. I feel like the strong one and sometimes the strong one needs to be taken care of too. Sometimes a lot of little things add up to me feeling this way and I think this is the case today. I won't get into them, it's not important right now. 

I was talking to my sister (who could also be my therapist!) about this today and she suggested I write him a letter. He gets very angry and defensive when he feels like he's letting me down. Which he feels a lot and that is a whole other issue. Maybe a letter will work better to express my feelings? I'll let you all know how it goes!

And I promise to do the work out post Friday. Then next week I'll update with stats and hopefully pictures to start my progress!

Here's the Food Plan, Stan

So I thought it would be helpful for me (and anyone looking for a routine) to post all about what I eat and what I do at the gym. I'm going to break it into 2 posts so it's not a super long one.

I'm thinking I might start posting stats here too. I want to easily see my progress and this seems like as good a place as any, right? I'm not sure WHAT stats I'll post though. Measurements (I haven't taken these in years)? Mile times (that would be easy if I do a "test" run every 2 weeks/month)? Weights lifted (might get monotonous with all the numbers and reps)? My only concern about posting weight is that I'm pretty sure I'm not going to actually lose pounds right now. I think I'm going to tone up and either gain a few (of muscle) or stay the same. I'd like to lose while toning but we'll just have to see...

And I think I'll do a post dedicated to my progress every 2 weeks? That seems like enough time between  to assess my progress and think about any tweaks to routine that need to be made? And I would like to include pictures with each update. I think pictures make it so much easier to see progress...

OK, on with it already MrsHoppy!

Eating and Nutrition: I try to eat whole and natural foods as much as possible. Does that mean I never eat out or take the easy route and heat up a frozen meal for lunch? No, I'm far from perfect - this is just a guideline that I try my best to follow.

Reading Labels: Read the labels of everything you eat/buy. I look for products with minimal ingredients as these tend to be the most natural. Bread is hard but you can find bread that doesn't have a bunch of preservatives and hydrogenated oils. If it has a bunch of ingredients you can't pronounce or haven't heard of don't buy it!
- Breakfast (NEVER SKIP THIS MEAL, NO MATTER WHAT!):
   -egg white scramble:2 whites, diced onion, peppers & ham, diced small corn tortilla with fresh tomato and
     sriracha hot sauce on top. All scrambled up together!
   -egg white sandwich: ww english muffin with 2 scrambled egg whites on it and a slice of reduced fat cheese
   -oatmeal
   -hardboiled egg
   -and I always have a cup of coffee with fat free milk

- Lunch: on Sundays I bake a bunch of chicken for meals for the week, so it's much easier to grab and go.
   -1/2 a chicken breast (I make it different each week, sometimes breaded with Panko or garlic herb
     breadcrumbs) and a green vegetable. Broccoli, sweet baby broccoli or green beans are my favorite
   -1/2 a sandwich with reduced sodium lunch meat and lots of veggies. Spinach, tomato, onion, peppers
     add 1/2 a cup of cottage cheese for a meal
   -1/2 a sandwich with organic peanut butter. Always whole wheat bread.
   -I usually add a fruit to lunch too. Berries or an apple usually
   -Lean Cuisine - I always choose one with at least 1 serving of vegetables

- Snacks: (usually one in the morning and one mid-afternoon)
   -a handfull of pretzels
   -100 calorie popcorn
   -1/2 a mojo bar these are delicious!
   -raw carrots or broccoli with low fat dressing

-Dinner: Similar to lunches but we get more creative so here are a few examples
   -baked chicken parmesean with whole wheat pasta and a vegetable
   -slow cooked shredded pork tenderloin on corn tortillas with lots of vegetables
   -salmon marinated in low sodium soy sauce and a little bit of brown sugar served with a vegetable
   -lean ground beef tacos: easy on the meat, loads of lettuce, tomato, onion and reduced fat sour cream
   -Morning Star spicy black bean burger with vegetables on top and homemade sweet potato fries

-Water!: Make sure you are drinking a minimum of 64oz of water everyday. Did you know that thirst mimicks hunger? So when you are feeling hungry during the day your body may just be thirsty! It will help you feel full and also gives you something to do throughout the day.

And you know what else? It's actually cheaper to eat this way. Honest. You aren't buying a bunch of expensive packaged foods. Chips, crackers, cereal - this stuff is expensive! And frozen produce is usually even cheaper than fresh produce. I always buy fresh (just because I prefer it) but frozen is just fine.

The key is to eat balanced meals. Make sure at every meal you have a protien, a healthy whole carbohydrate and a vegetable. Eat sensible. Only eat when you are hungry. And drink WATER.

This is just what I do. Everyone is different and different things work for different people. But it's a pretty easy plan that never leaves you feeling hungry. And I'm always satisfied. Food is fuel for our bodies so that's how I try to think of everything I eat. And I do much better during the week - husbands and weekends seem to mess with my eating! Practice moderation, I wouldn't be happy if I couldn't enjoy pizza or nachos in small portions!

My next post will be all about exercise so that I can track my weekly plans!

Mind Games

I feel like I'm always playing mind games. With myself! When it comes to weight, health, food and exercise.

I really do have a pretty good relationship with my body and about food. Compared to some I suppose. Could it be better? Of course. I am a woman though and I think we tend to be hard on ourselves when it comes to image and our bodies. I'm not immune to social stigmas. And I'm as vain as the next person.

I tend to get down on myself around my period. MrHoppy always calls me out on it which I appreciate. :) I feel bloated and run down and always think I'm gaining weight. It was especially hard this last cycle after the holidays when I ate and drank more than usual. Let the mind games begin right?!

But the evil witch has come and gone and I am in a better frame of mind. I talked to the husband about it last night. I was trying to explain what I rut I was in exercise-wise by the end of last year. And the rut was really in my mind - I was still working out but I wasn't "feeling" it like I have the last few years. I wasn't super motivated and I certainly wasn't eating based on nutrition like I usually do.

But I'm happy to report that I'm "back"! I am "feeling it" again! And I don't think it's going to go away. It doesn't feel short lived. This month has been great. I'm working out the same number of days but it feels better. I'm pushing myself at the gym and I'm loving it.

MrHoppy and I had a good laugh last night as I hobbled around the house like and old lady because my legs were so sore. I love being sore, it means I'm working hard. It means I'm building muscle and becoming stronger. It means that come Summer I am going to rock my bikinis. :)

I think maybe the cloud I have felt in the last year is slowly lifting. :::knocks on wood::: I know that my issues are stemming from a lingering depression about our infertility. But I'm really making an effort to embrace the life I have. To live it to it's fullest. I know I'll stumble, and I'll probably fall. But if I can stop the mind games and focus on a healthy life it makes everything that much easier.

I think next week I'll write a post on the specifics about what I eat, details on my workouts and even the nitty gritty of my weight. I think it will help me and anyone else who is looking for a plan. I always need to have a plan of action (mrs. organization, remember??). And I'd like to track my progress here too.

TGIF everyone! Have a safe (and healthy) weekend! :) My girls weekend begins tonight and I'm excited!

Thankful on Thursday

I have done way too many "thankful for our health" posts recently. And although I am very thankful MrHoppy is on the road to recovery I am not writing another post about that sickly man! ;)

Today I am thankful for girlfriends. MrHoppy and I are amazing friends but sometimes a girl just needs other girls, you know? In college I always lived with my best friends and I loved it. Sharing clothes, helping each other out with fashion and shopping. We were wild, we loved each other and it was so fun. It was kind of an adjustment when MrHoppy and I moved in together after college when we were dating. I missed my girls!

But this weekend is going to be all about girls. These 2 girls specifically (My sister and me).

Oh and I guess there will be ONE boy around but we don't mind having this guy! He's too little to do big boy stuff yet! Although he is ALL boy! Wild man.

The husbands are going to the mountains for a boy's weekend. Think snowmobiles, beer, snow, more beer, whiskey and food. They need it too. Which leaves us all alone for the weekend! I'm excited, can you tell?

We are in need of girl time. Desperately. At least I am anyway! Our weekend will go a little like this:

We'll stay at her house which will be fun! Friday night my sister works so I'll babysit the little man. Saturday  morning our Mom is going to come watch O so we can spend the morning at my new gym. E hasn't been yet and I'm so excited to work out together! We are planning to hit the pool after our normal workout. My sister is a fish and helps me so much in the pool. I suck at swimming. Then there will be some hot tub, sauna, maybe the steam room? A healthy lunch is the LifeCafe perhaps? The best part is that we don't have a time limit. We can do whatever we want! We don't have any plans on Saturday (other than the gym) which is OK by  me. After tightening the reins on our spending to be out of debt this year I don't have a lot of money to spend. I think we'll end up taking it easy. Drink some wine, maybe watch girly movies? Sounds perfect to me!

The men-folk will be home Sunday. And we'll be happy to see them of course. But sometimes you just need a girls weekend! It will actually spill over into Monday. All the old college gals are getting together for dinner which I'm looking forward to also. With our busy "adult" schedules it gets harder and harder to make it happen. 

Nesting

Hey, did you know you can be in "nesting" mode and not even be pregnant? I am living proof! ;)

Seriously though, the nesting is only in my head so far. I haven't acted upon my impulses - yet. I guess the need to purge some of our junk could be a good explanation for it as well. Oh and it's going to happen very, very soon...

I am so excited! I'm one of those crazy people that loves to organize and clean. I walked through the house on Thursday (while MrHoppy was sleeping off some pain) and made a plan in my head. The written list is soon to follow. I love lists. I have them everywhere with all my little plans. Let the de-cluttering begin! Soon I hope anyway... Some deep cleaning will also be going along with this plan. Think light fixtures, ceiling fans, drawers, etc.

The first plan of attack with be the top floor. In the 2 bathrooms (guest and master) I am going to clean out under the sinks and in all the drawers.

Next will come the office. I'm still trying (without luck) to sell the desk in that room which will free up a lot of space. I have a craft type table in there also that holds my sewing machine, patterns, crafty tools, etc. The closet is constantly being cleaned out so right now it's OK. Games are stored on top, wrapping paper and text books MrHoppy insists on keeping are on the bottom. One area that is a disaster is my bookcase. It is overflowing and I don't know what to do with my books? It looks like crap but I don't want to get rid of them. Perhaps I need another? But then they won't match... Any suggestions? This room has board and batten halfway up the walls all the way around. It has so much potential. In my mind I see it as a girly retreat for myself... We shall see.

Next up? Master bedroom. The area here that needs the most work is the closet. Here is a confession: I am a clothes-horse. Want to know another confession? MrHoppy is too!!! We have a large walk-in closet and it is FULL people. Of clothes, shoes, hats, bags, etc. I go through my clothes every 6 months (I swear!) so I think what the closet needs is organization. I have some ideas on how to do this so I'll keep you updated. My dresser could use some work too... I have a slight obsession with t-shirts. Everywhere we go I get one so there is a large drawer in my dresser dedicated to t-shirts. Most of which I don't actually wear. I have an idea on what to do with them so I'll update that someday too. When I get around to actually DOING it!

Our 2 guest bedrooms aren't too bad really. MrHoppy has taken over 1 closet that definitely needs organizing. His dirt bike gear and hunting gear are strewn about in the closet and I can't even open it without cringing! Organize, organize, organize...

The main floor isn't bad at all. The only spot that needs work is the pantry. We have a huge walk in pantry which is amazing but it has become cluttered. The shelves are wire and not solid on the bottom so MrHoppy has a plan to build bottoms to each shelf to make orgainzing easier. We keep a fully stocked pantry. This is no joke, I'll take a picture of it for you. MrHoppy loves to cook and bake so is adament that he have everything he might need when he has the urge. The other problem is that we have very few cabinets in the kitchen so small appliances, mixing bowls, and paper goods are all stored in the pantry. My dream is to organize and label everything.

I think a trip to the Container Store would be a dream come true. Especially for the pantry. Since we are still up in the air about moving or staying in our house I won't be doing much else in the way of updating and decorating until we decide. I do have some maintenance type projects that I'll be working on this Spring that won't be fun but that need to be done all the same. Spring cleaning has come early this year!

Short Weekend Update

You guys - everything went wrong for poor MrHoppy. I feel so bad for him!

Saturday night the dry sockets were confirmed. He was in an insane amount of pain and had to have his mouth worked on again. Not fun.

Then he had a fever all night. Infection on top of it all? Yep! That's how we roll, if it could happen, it probably will... We didn't get any sleep.

We finally found some pain meds he can take without getting sick and he was put on a strong antibiotic. By last night he was starting to feel halfway human. He even slept off and on throughout the night.

I am back at work today. His Mom is taking care of him this afternoon which is great. I worry and didn't want him to be completely alone all day. This also frees me up to hit the gym after work. And let me tell you, I NEED to work out. Missing it all weekend sucked so it's back to the grind!

I hope he's really on the mend and able to get back to work tomorrow night. This is day 6, who knew teeth could cause so many problems? Not to mention - when he doesn't work he doesn't get paid so he needs to get back to work!

It Just Keeps Gettin' Better Ya'll

I don't know how to spell Ya'll. I don't even use that word when I talk but I have had a couple beers tonight so blame it on that!

MrHoppy is doing worse. Last night he swelled even more than before and was in more pain than he has been since Wednesday night. I blamed it on the fact that I was at work all day and I wasn't around to make sure he was icing it every 30 minutes. At least I hoped that was all it was...

But when he woke up this morning everything looked worse. He's swollen on the outside AND inside his mouth, his breath has gotten worse and he can't open his mouth at all. So we called the dentist at his emergency contact number. And we called, and called, and called... And didn't hear back. Until 4:30. He was skiing today so I'm just thankful we got a call back at all. He is going to meet us at his office in an hour. Based on MrHoppy's description of how things are going the dentist is thinking it could be dry sockets. Yikes. Not good.

This surgery has had me thinking about when I had my wisdom teeth removed. My case was different and worse than most I have heard of. Actually it ended up being one of the worst experiences of my life! All 4 were impacted so it took general anethesia and an oral surgeon to complete my extraction. I swelled so badly you could see my cheeks from behind. Seriously. And I was black and blue. Anyone remember Garbage Pail Kids? That's what I looked like. But I was on some heavy duty painkillers so the first days were a blur. Poor MrHoppy doesn't have that luxury. He is feeling everything. After the surgery my wounds got infected which made me pretty sick. I had to have them cleaned out (GROSS!) and was put on antibiotics. It was such a terrible experience for me and I was drugged for a lot of it. I've heard dry sockets are the worst thing that can happen and I'm afraid that's what we're dealing with.

We were invited to a birthday party this afternoon which I attended with my sister and BIL. Hence the beers. MrHoppy was OK with me going, he relaxed all morning and played COD while I cleaned the whole house and did laundry. I was getting pretty stir crazy so I welcomed the break. :)

I feel so helpless. There isn't anything I can do to help him, nothing I can give him to ease the pain. I just hope the dentist is able to give us some answers and a plan. MrHoppy is supposed to go back to work tomorrow night and that isn't looking good. At all. So of course he is uber stressed about money already.

He'll be fine. We'll be fine financially even with all the missed shifts this week. I know this. I just feel like if the universe could just give this poor man a break it would be greatly appreciated. It's about time right? He doesn't deserve for everthing to be so damn hard for him!

Teeth, Fainting and the ER

Never a dull moment in the Hoppy household, let me tell ya. There is a reason I had time to do a picture post yesterday!

I posted on Wednesday that MrHoppy was doing OK since he had his wisdom teeth removed that morning. And he was. I worked for the afternoon and called him on my way home. He was in pain, he was swollen and he was HUNGRY! He told me to hurry home so I could make him something soft for dinner. :)

I got home and he was doing fine. He got up to try to eat a little something while I made soup for our dinner. He was standing over the sink in the bathroom because he felt like there was something stuck in his "hole". I was standing at the stove with boiling water whisking in some dried soup. (Don't judge, it was a long day and this soup is delish)! Next thing I know he stumbled out of the bathroom and into the living room and sat down on the floor. Ghost white. He couldn't talk very well (swelling, his jaw was sore, etc.) so I kept asking him if he was going to pass out. He said to get him a bucket, he was going to throw up...

:::rewind to his last procedure::: His double hernia surgery - pain killers given by Dr in error(I cursed their name for a good 8 hours) - throwing up all night in a bucket held by yours truly - which had to hurt pretty bad with 2 incisions. Not a pretty sight. Not something I wanted to repeat. Ever.

So with that last surgery now fresh in my mind I ran to the bathroom to grab the trash can and on my way back to him turned down the stove, thank God. I was about to have a boiling-over-soup-catastrophe at the same time I had a vomit-in-the-living-room-catastrophe. Turned out I didn't have either...

As soon as I got to him he passed out cold. Turned ghost white, started sweating profusely and passed the EFF out. Luckily I was able to catch him mid-fall (and he was sitting down) so I was (barely) able to lower him to his back on the ground. And he stayed there for what seemed like an hour, completely out. In reality it was probably about 15 seconds. But long enough to scare me! Picture me and my small self trying to catch all 205 pounds of him, completely dead weight. I did pretty well all things considered!

When he came to I asked if he needed an ambulance. He wasn't talking much but was still sweating profusely. So I did what I always do. Called my sister and BIL.

"Come over, MrHoppy passed out and I need help getting him to the car so I can take him to the ER!"

Little did I know they were grocery shopping. God bless them, they dropped everything and rushed to our house (it's super close). I ran around the house like a crazy person: turned off the stove thank God, put on jeans instead of PJ pants and found MrHoppy's coat and hat. I did forget his wallet though, dang. My BIL helped me get MrHoppy into the car and off to the ER we went. By the time we got there he was feeling a bit better but was shivering and shaking violently.

Long story short (or long really, if you made it this far!) he had SUPER low blood pressure. He was probably also pretty dehydrated. If they couldn't get his pressure back up with fluids they were going to keep him overnight. Which was stressing me out with a $1,000 copay possibly looming in our future.

Without making an already long story longer - he has health issues so they were concerned about those contributing to his condition that night. Which is why they were going to err on the side of caution.

Thankfully his pressure came back up, he was able to drink a 7UP and convince the Dr he was well enough to come home with me. So my already long day ended up SOO long. I was exhausted. And starving! We ate the soup that sat out all night at 10:30 and fell into bed. They wanted me to keep an eye on him the next day so I stayed home from work. Hence the picture post. He slept until noon yesterday so I had time to get things done at home. Yay me!

And now I'm thankful it's Friday and he has 2.5 more days to rest up for work on Monday. He had been planning to work today and that obviously didn't happen so fingers crossed for Monday! TGIF everyone!

Winter Fun! (Picture Overload)

In our college town for a friend's birthday. Always a good time



Their new puppy - isn't he the cutest?



MrHoppy and his little sis in the kitchen as usual

Best prime rib I've ever had - seriously

Merry Christmas!

Our little Ewok

MrHoppy's little bro relaxing before the big dinner

O - he liked boxes as much as all his new toys!

We got to take MrHoppy's Mom and StepDad to a Bronco game the day after Christmas. It was COLD!

The day MrHoppy surprised me with our night downtown for our anniversary. It was a beautiful snowy day

We tried to get a good picture in our room but it just wasn't happening

Playing LRC with all our besties on New Years Eve

Yep, that's my brother-in-law!

Happy New Year (and anniversary!)

Fireworks at midnight

My friend K who was able to make it into town for the celebration. The best news is their little family is moving back and will live in our town! yay!

Snow Day! Bisa was so antsy so we braved a walk

Yowza

Thanks for your comments on my last post - I love MrHoppy no matter how ridiculously unorganized he is, my frustration just got the best of me last night! :) I should have put a husband-bashing disclaimer on it!

He is doing OK since the procedure - he can't take pain killers (they make him throw up EVERY time) so he's taking Advil. I had to come to work for the afternoon so he's at home by himself, being kind of pitiful. I'm looking forward to taking care of him tonight. :)

Anyway, on to the "yowza" of this post. I've been hitting the gym HARD since we joined our new one. More intense intervals during my runs, taking advantage of the many machines and taking yoga at least once a week. Last night's yoga class was pretty hard. The regular teacher was out so the fill in had us doing some poses I wasn't familiar with. My glutes and shoulders are sore today!

Then this morning I got up at the crack of dawn and went back for more. :) I had an awesome run and then lifted. YOWZA my arms are sore now! Especially my shoulders. They are pretty weak so this is a good thing. But with all the driving around I've been doing today I can feel it when my hands are on the steering wheel!

Tomorrow is my first session with a personal trainer. I have 2 brother-in-laws that are personal trainers so I kind of always have people to go to with questions. But I haven't actually worked out with either of them so I'm excited for this! We got some free sessions when we signed up so I'm taking advantage of them. I hope he kicks my butt and gives me some good circuits to do on my own. I am not the type of person that will pay for one so I'm going to make the most of the 3 I get! I'll let you know how it goes! All I know is I'm going to be one HAWT 30 year old this Summer! :)

I usually try to be nice...

But not right now. Sometimes my husband is the biggest idiot I've ever met. He procrastinates on EVERYTHING. It's stupid and annoying and a constant cause of stress in our marriage. I'm the opposite: very orgainzed, have all the information ahead of time and am prepared for things I have scheduled.

I'll just use today as an example so perhaps you can sympathize with me, ok?

He has an appointment to have his wisdom teeth out tomorrow. No big deal except he had NO idea how much it would cost after insurance paid or what medications/sedatives he would be given. After calling Friday they told him he could drive home. Uh wha...? He didn't even think twice about this until he told me and I said that they must not be giving him much of anything then. So he freaked out and was going to call them Monday (yesterday) to get everything ironed out. Nothing like waiting until the last minute right?

Well it was a Monday. It's a dental office. They are busy. He didn't get a response right away and was annoyed with them. In the back of my mind I was thinking "it's not really their fault you waited until the last minute". This is always in the back of my mind with him, just so you know.

So... he called again this morning and the Dentist was with someone. MrHoppy had the bright idea that "eh, I'll just cancel the appointment". Which wouldn't be that big a deal except that he's been cancelling this appointment for almost 2 years. No, I'm not kidding. This is what I'm talking about!

So finally at 11 this morning I called. Talked to the dentist and he gave me all of the options for sedation and was going to put together the numbers for MrHoppy. We left it as MrHoppy would call them right away and decide.

I called my darling husband and he said they would call them. At 2 I texted him from work and asked what he had decided. It kind of matters to me because I'm the one who has to take off the morning from work for this delightful man. This was his response:

"they haven't called me yet"

To which I replied:

"you were supposed to call them dummy". Yes, this is verbatim.

To which he replied:

"oh, OK".

He called me at 4 on his way to work. I asked what he decided and he said:

"they never called me".

At which point I lost it. Not outwardly, I stayed calm on the outside believe it or not. But he knows how mad I am. But he keeps doing this type of thing. I am not his mother, nor will I ever stand in as one. He is a grown man and fully capeable of handling his own affairs. I'm through helping him, you can't help someone who is unwilling to help himself.

Sorry, vent over. Anyone else's husbands make them literally want to rip their hair out, one strand at a time?

Well, hello girls...

I'm telling you, turning 30 has been a traumatic experience. ;) Yes, I'm being dramatic but it really has changed a lot of things about my body.

 Is it really possible that your hormones and body can change overnight? I went to sleep on September 18th (pretty late and tipsy if I remember correctly!) the same old MrsHoppy and I woke up on the 19th and was a different person... More hormones, more wrinkles and just generally more loose skin... (more dramatics)

The hormone change is really killing me. Since when did the ENTIRE 2WW become a PMS-fest? "The girls" are what have changed the most. I think I ovulate and BAM! they swell up and become so tender that I should wrap them in ice and an ace bandage. I am going to have to buy giant bras for these 2 weeks every month if I continue at this rate. I'm spilling out of my 34C bras. Do you know how ridiculous these big boobs look on my small frame? They make my upper body look gigantic. Which is a real boost to my self esteem, let me tell ya. If they were full of milk I think I could feed a small country!

Oh and how about the bloating? Now that is fun. And the 2 pound weight gain that won't budge no matter how far I run or how little I eat? Fantastic! MrHoppy especially likes how much it bothers me during this time of the month (insert sarcasm). My Type A, controlling mind keeps saying: "this isn't hormones, you are getting chubby!" and when I say this out loud MrHoppy patiently (insert a lot of sarcasm) reminds me that this has happened the last couple months before my period. Not that he's complaining about my cup size right now - I think he secretly likes how big they get! It's sad he can forget about touching them - if he even gets close, looks like he might accidently brush up against them - I scream! It's agony I tell you!

The only thing I can attribute the changes to is my age. :::sight::: That's the only difference I can think of. My Dr even checked my hormone levels last month since I was having so much spotting between cycles. Everything was normal. That has stopped by the way. Just an update on my crazy, wonky body! Anyone else experience these changes when they turned 30?

And I'm utterly failing so far at staying on top of pictures. I have about a month to download so I'll try to get to that tonight after yoga. This blog is in desperate need of some new pictures!

Thankful on Thursday

I had a hard time thinking of something to write about today for some reason. And it's not that I'm feeling down or anything either, just not sure what I'm thankful for!

So I'll do a lame-o thankful post about our new gym! I'm uber thankful we decided to switch gyms. Our old one was tiny and offered no classes or benefits. There wasn't even a locker room for the love!

Our new gym has over 150 classes per week at no extra charge. Not to mention 3 swimming pools, 3 saunas, a steam room, thousands of machines for cardio and lifting, nice showers and lockers, tons of ammenities. I could go on and on. And the best part? I look forward to being there. I love it. I've been there everyday this week and I'm going back tonight. And Saturday. And Sunday. :) They have a spa there so I'm also getting a discounted massage Sunday. Do you know how long it's been since I've had a massage? Can't wait!

Tonight I'm having a free fitness evaluation with a trainer. They offer it to all new members along with $150 dollars to use toward fitness services. Hell yeah!

And I got to thinking this morning in the shower about what excellent shape I was in from 2007-2009. And I realized 2010 took more of a toll on me physically than I thought. Don't get me wrong, I still work out, weigh about the same (give or take a pound or 2) and eat right for the most part. But I'm not as toned as I once was. I was in a total rut with working out. I didn't care as much about taking care of my body last year. Not to mention I turned 30 so things aren't as easy as they once were!

So I guess I'm also thankful for the renewed motivation I'm feeling this year. There are many things I can't control in life but this isn't one of them. I'm going to get back into kick-ass shape this year. I'm going to be toned and hot! I'm also going to purchase a few new workout clothes. That always helps. :) And I am in desperate need! :)

Resolution Time!

I'm not huge on New Year's Resolutions but I did end up making a few this year. MrHoppy and I talked about the upcoming year during our drive home from the mountains Sunday so I came up with a few things I'm going to work on for the next 12 months:

1. I gave up soda. This one isn't too hard for me. I only drank diet soda and usually just 1 per day with my lunch. But with all the chemicals in soda (diet especially) I just decided it's better to not have any at all. The exception to this will be if I'm having the occasional cocktail that includes soda. :)

2. Focus on healthy eating. Now don't get me wrong, I eat pretty healthy and am already in the habit of staying at my healthy goal weight. But I want to eat more balanced meals and focus on putting healthy things into my body - veggies, low fat protiens, etc. I'll be limiting how much we eat out and cook more at home.

3. Fitness. I'm in pretty good shape and work out 5 days a week (on a good week) and 3 days a week (on a bad week). But I want to get into kick-ass shape. I'm going to meet with a personal trainer this month at our new gym and talk to him about setting and meeting some goals. I've also started taking yoga classes there and I was SORE last week. Basically I want to tone up and decrease my minute mile for some races this Summer. Bikini season will be here before we know it and instead of being thin in a suit I want to be toned and HOT! Yes, I'm vain about my body.

4. Finances! Who doesn't have this one on their list? :) I am lucky that this year I got a substantial raise (can't wait for that January 15th paycheck!) so our plan is to be out of debt by the middle of the year. We don't have a lot of debt by any means, but we prefer not to have any credit card debt. The extra money in my check will go straight to our cards until they are paid off in full. We do have 2 car payments now (Yuck!) but both are due for pay off this Summer. Once the card debt is gone that extra money will go toward the cars. Once the cars are paid off the extra money will go straight toward the 0% interest payments we're making on our new furniture. We should be out of debt by August! This excites me because we'll be able to put a big chunk of money into savings every month once our goals are met. How fabulous will that feel??

5. Make an appointment with my therapist. I've kind of been putting this off (no idea why) and I know I'll feel better emotionally if I see her regularly. I'm hoping to deal with things med-free and know that everything on my list prior to this one will help. When I'm taking care of myself physically it's easier to take care of myself emotionally.

6. Download our pictures onto our laptop more frequently and get caught up on ordering prints. I enjoy doing it and going through them so just need to take the time to do it. This sounds silly but really, sometimes I let it go for months and it drives me crazy! Then I don't have them handy to download here and I don't like that either. Plus I am a year behind in ordering prints so I need to catch up and then stay on top of it. Ooops.

So I'm feeling motivated and renewed with the start to this year. Things are on an upward swing at work which is huge for me. It's only been 1.5 days since I've been back on my normal work schedule but it's so much better already. I hope it continues! And I'm going to keep my progress in check for everything this year. I don't want anything to be forgotten.

5 Day Recap

First off, thank you to everyone who commented on my previous religion/God post. It is so comforting for me to have my online friends and support system! You don't know how much your comments mean to me.

And I'm soooo behind in reading blogs and commenting so I'm playing catch up this week! I WILL catch up!

Anyway... On to a recap of the week that became a whirlwind!

I had a 1/2 day Wednesday so at noon I met MrHoppy at the gym and we worked out together. It was the first time together at the new gym and he helped me find new machines that I liked so I could get into a routine. I love working out with him so this all made me very happy. That evening we met one of my highschool friends for happy hour. The happy hour that lasted 5 hours... Ooops. :) He lives in GA now and we only see him once a year. This is my excuse!

Thursday MrHoppy surprised me with an early anniversary gift! He planned a special day and night in downtown Denver for just the two of us! It was so sweet that he put the effort in and I was so excited! It was the icing on the cake that it was a beautiful snowy day. You all know how long I have been waiting for the white stuff! We went down early and checked into the Sheraton on the 16th Street Mall. Great location! We showered and got ready and braved the cold and snow to hit up Express and do some shopping. I had $100 gift card to spend and spend it I did! And then some... :) A friend of his got us a great rate at the hotel and she was bartending so we stopped to see her for a drink on our way back up to our room. We had reservations for a late dinner at The Chop House which is one of my favorite restaurants. MrHoppy's friend had a bottle of champagne and strawberries sent to our room as a gift. So sweet. We headed down to catch a cab to the restaurant and because of a concert the wait was ridiculously long. So we figured we would start walking down the mall and grab one of the mall busses on the way... Only to find that they weren't running in the direction we were going due to the snow... So we walked 1.5 miles to dinner at 8PM in the blowing snow! Ha! Honestly I didn't mind, it was an adventure and we had fun. Dinner was delicious, as usual.

Friday was our anniversary. Yep, we got married 4 years ago on New Year's Eve. It was a blast and since we kind of like to have a good time the night suited us perfectly. :) We slept in Friday morning (glorious hotel bed!) and went to lunch when we were ready for the day. Then we met 4 couples in Black Hawk where our friends have a condo. We rang in the New Year with fireworks, friends and cocktails. It was such a fun evening. MrHoppy and the couple who have the condo stayed until Sunday morning. I was ready to get home after all the activity.

Once we were home we FINALLY took down all the Christmas decorations and cleaned the house. We have been so busy and the house definitely needed it! I feel settled and refreshed having everything back to normal. Ready to take on the new year, 2011 is going to be a great one!

Oh and I have lots of Christmas and New Years pictures to post once I get them downloaded. It won't happen tonight (my sister and I are seeing the Black Swan! Finally!) but my goal is to make it happen this week. One of my resolutions which I'll post about tomorrow.

Happy Monday everyone!