Week 3 DONE!

Another week over and done. I need to ice my knee today. It was hurting a bit while running today. A few years ago I fell while walking the dog and got cellulitis and bursitis in my right knee. All was well until about 2 months ago...the darn thing starting popping with almost every step it took. Michael said I probably shouldn't run on it, but I was determined to do this program. I iced it last night and took some ibuprofen because after walking last night it was a bit achy. Oh well, I have 2 days of rest before week 4 starts.

My parents are starting their drive out to Utah today. They will be stopping in Idaho somewhere to stay the night. They should be here mid-afternoon tomorrow. That gives me time to study today and a little tomorrow for a unit test I have to take on Monday night. I don't want to spend all my time studying while they are here, but I will have to do some work as things are due when they leave.

I got my lab mid-term back and got a 92%! I did way better than I thought I did. That seems the norm for me these days. Perhaps I shouldn't worry about tests as much as I do. Easier said than done.

Tomorrow is Cameron's last day of school until July 25th. I am going in for a little while tomorrow to take some pictures of he and his friends. They are having a pizza party to end the day. Fun! I have probably said this before, but he is so excited to start 2nd grade. Only a few weeks away!

Off to clean the guest room and tackle the bathrooms so I can take most of today to study. I must stay away from the computer today...yeah, right!

Week 3, Day 2

Another day down. I am so happy that I have stuck with the running program. I don't see a difference in my body, but at least I am able to run for 3 minutes without feeling like I am going to die. On Sunday I have to run 5 minutes...YIKES!

Today's agenda:
Volunteer at Cameron's school
Go to bank
Do more research for paper
Fix some things on my biology paper
Read a chapter and take test in Nutrition
Read a chapter in biology
Take Cameron to orthodontist
Fix dinner

I barely completed anything from my last list, but I think this one may be doable.

Week 3, Day 1

Well, I thought today was going to be harder than last week since I had to run for 3 straight minutes. That first 3 was sort of tough as I went a different way and it was at a slight incline, but I made it. There were only 2 intervals today so it wasn't really that bad.

I finally finished the microbiology paper I needed to do to turn in on Wednesday. Michael says it looks great, but we will wait and see what my instructor says. Luckily, this is only a rough draft so I have time to improve it. I only took about an hour and a half to work on it.

Not much happening this weekend. Michael and I went out to look at the houses in Daybreak yesterday. I had been up there before to look at a house that my co-worker Erin is buying. Michael hadn't been up there at all except to go try out a church last year up that way. After looking in a few model homes we drove around. There is no way we would live up there. The houses were SO close together.

Michael wants to purchase some land so we can build a custom home sometime in the far future. Well, he wants to purchase the land in the near future, but as to where we don't know. Land is SOOOO expensive, but it is only going to keep going up up up.

The plans for today:
Read 2 chapters in nutrition
Take 2 chapter tests
Read 2 chapters in biology
Type 2 chapters of notes
Start research on diabetes for a paper
Vacuum
Mop
Wash outside windows
Pull weeds

Sure looks like alot, but I hope to get most of it done.

Boys and their toys...and a cute dog

Today while Cameron was at school Michael and I ran a few little errands. One was to buy a zoom lens for my camera. I really like this camera. I just found out yesterday that I really needed a zoom lens. I was at Cameron's first grade program and this was all the zoom I had. It would have been nice to have a zoomed in picture of him at the microphone. Not as great as it would have been on my old camera ,but the digital slr doesn't have the digital zoom. I also forgot to change the white balance for fluorescent lighting. Oh well!

We stopped by a hobby shop to get some things for Michael's helicopter that we ended up not needing to buy. While we were there I was looking at models for Cameron to build. We bought him one and when we got home from school he and Michael worked on it. It was a level 2 that didn't need any glue or paint so it was pretty easy. It said for ages 8+, I figured he could do and besides, he will be 8 soon.After a little photo shoot with Cameron and his new car I heard Michael out front flying his heli so I thought I would head out and see what my new lens could do. The helicopter pictures are at 200mm. There is vibration reduction in this lens so you don't need a tripod. LOVE that! Wouldn't this be the greatest picture without that stupid collar on? I just love how cute Lucy is. She has gotten so much bigger since we got her in February. I think she is probably as big as she is going to get. She weighs just over 12 pounds.

Oh, speaking of pounds. I had my WI today and was down another 1.8 pounds! I finally hit my 10% weight loss! I needed to lose 18 pounds and I have lost 19.4 pounds. Not quite 20, but I am hoping it will be below 20 next Friday. I have just 25 more pounds to lose until I am where I want to be! UGH! That seems so far away. It's taken me 20 weeks just to lose the 19 pounds I have lost. I want to be down 25 pound on my 35th birthday. I have 2 weeks to go. Perhaps the next two weeks of the running program will help. My birthday is on a Thursday and I have to weigh in on Friday morning. I am going to want to eat some Red Robin mud pie on my birthday. That might have to be all I eat that day.

Sorry to be rambling, but if I was writing in my journal this is how I would be writing. On that note, I need to go start writing my biology paper. Michael's mom and step-dad were supposed to fly out today but the new GPS in the plane stopped working. It was working yesterday when he was flying around. I told Michael maybe they should check the batteries. I'm sure they already did that. So, we don't know when they will be coming out for a visit. My guess is it will be next month since we have other things going on and other parents coming for a visit.

Week 2 DONE!

I made it through another week on the Couch to 5K! I'm so glad I decided to do this even though this was a tough week. I am SO not looking forward to next week. It is jog 90 seconds, walk 90 seconds, jog 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes. YIKES! Those 3 minutes are going to be the death of me! I was afraid to see what week 4 brought me and I was right, it's a killer.

I am off work from today until July 9th! My boss is on the Mormon Tabernacle Choir tour in Toronto and some other states. Michael's mom and step-dad are supposed to be flying out tomorrow weather permitting. I say weather permitting because they bought a plane after Christmas and his step-dad doesn't have his license to be able to fly in the rain or bad weather yet. Hopefully they will be able to make it. Michael's mom has only been here once when Michael was in his accident and his step-dad hasn't been here at all.

My parents are coming out on June 29th and staying for a week or so. I will get to visit with them on my birthday. They came out last year for my birthday too!

I have a few things to do today:
Take Cameron to school
Go to bank
Clean my office (left it a mess last night)
Go to the 1st grade program
Start a paper
Read a chapter
Take a chapter test
Clean the house

Week 2, Day 2, Babies & a Conehead

I wish I could say that todays running was easier, but it seemed like it was the same as Sunday. Friday should be better, but we shall see. It seemed a little chilly this morning when I was out and was a little harsher on my lungs and throat ,but I managed.

We have these adorable baby birds in one of our apple trees. However, the parents aren't so adorable! They try to dive bomb you! Not so fun when you are just out in your own backyard minding your own business. They don't seem to bother you when you are near their nest though. Strange. I really wish I had my digital camera when I first discovered the nest. I had to use my 35mm so the pics are still on the film. Remember the movie Coneheads I loved that movie...I really enjoyed the skits on Saturday Night Live too.
Well, we now have a conehead of our very own! This one is MUCH cuter!Lucy was spayed last Thursday and I noticed the other day that the incision area was looking a little red and she had developed a bump under it. I went to my neighbor, who is a vet tech, and had him come over to take a look. He said she was licking her incision and I needed to get an E-collar for her. So, first thing in the morning on Monday I went to the vet and picked one up. She didn't like it much and didn't really want to walk with it on. She also had trouble with the stairs as she is short and the bottom of the collar kept hitting the steps so she would think she was stuck. After about 12 hours of wearing it she seemed to have adjusted pretty well. She was even out in the backyard racing with Cameron. It was pretty funny to watch her try to catch her ball. I kept waiting for it to land in her collar. I love this picture of the two of them. I like how they are looking at each other while running. Cameron sure does love her!I need to study for my microbiology lab mid-term that I have tomorrow. I think I will do okay at it. I finally got back the test in my lecture that I took last Monday. I got a 92% on it. Much better than I thought I did so that made me pretty happy. I also just took my Nutrition mid-term this morning and missed .5! Yay me!

Well, off to study and try to write the beginnings of a paper. I've had since May 8th to work on it and I haven't started it yet. The rough draft is due on June 27th. I have procrastinated on it because I really don't know what I am doing. That's not a good thing.

Pictures

We went to Red Butte Gardens today and then to the park to eat lunch and let the kids run around. Here are two pics I took with my new camera. I think they turned out great! I have lots of other pics, but most of them have other people's children in them and I am not comfortable posting them.
I think I am going to have to go to the gardens with my mom when she is here. My mom would LOVE a job at the gardens! She has this strange fascination with pulling weeds. She has asked that I save her some so she can pull mine. Not a problem as I HATE to do yard work. I called her one day and she was at the neighbors pulling weeds because she had run out of weeds in her own yard. STRANGE!!!

I hadn't ever been to the gardens before and walking around with a guide and kids isn't my idea of enjoying the beautiful grounds.

Father's Day and a New Toy!

Cameron was so excited to wake up Michael and give him his Father's Day present. We went and bought him some much needed new tennis shoes. I wouldn't let Cameron wake dad up because it looked like he didn't really sleep well during the night. So, when Cameron was doing some chores he saw that Michael's eyes were open and ran and asked if he wanted to open his present. Michael opened it and Cameron was beaming! All day long while we were out and about Cameron kept saying things like "It's your day, you can do what you want" or "Mom, we need to hold his hands because it is his day and you need to love him forever because he is your husband" Lucky for him, I do and will love Michael forever. He is the best dad! He is so great that even Cameron and I got presents too!

I noticed yesterday when searching online that the camera I wanted was out a month early. So, after Michael woke up I mentioned it to him and told him I needed it by today so I could take it on the field trip.

Well, we went to look at it and it just didn't feel right and had a cheesy lens cap that would come off when lightly touched. We went back and forth and back and forth, from store to store, only to get this...a Nikon D40x.
We looked at the Canon XTi and the Nikon D80 and Michael chose this one after looking at the specs of them all. The Nikon D80 was quite a bit bigger than the one we got. So, I am going to take it with me to Red Butte Garden today and see how it performs. I played with it a little bit last night and it seemed to take some pretty good pictures. Happy early birthday to me!

Cameron's present was a Nintendo Pokemon game. He was so excited to have it...however, I just don't get the excitement. You see, on Saturday, Cameron counted his money from allowance and found that he had enough money to buy the Pokemon DS game that he had been saving for. So, now he has two new Pokemon games and is already talking about saving for another one. WHY would you need more than 3 Pokemon games? He got one for Christmas too.

Week 2, Day 1

Holy Hannah! Todays interval training kicked my butt! I didn't think adding 30 more seconds on to my running would make that much of a difference, but man was I tired! I need to ice up the tendon on my groin today. It had been hurting a little bit Friday and Saturday and I could feel it a little bit when I was walking today. I need to learn how to breathe correctly too.

I'm going on a Field Trip tomorrow to Red Butte Gardens. I've never been there before so it should be fun. I wonder if I am allowed to take a camera when I am supposed to be chaperoning.

Well, I am off to read a chapter in Nutrition and take a test. These chapters are LONG too.

Week One DONE!

I did it! I completed week one of the Couch to 5K program! Today was great! I was out the door at 5:45. It was such a nice morning to run. I didn't even really feel too tired during my last interval this time. I was like...BRING IT ON! Sunday starts week 2. Then my intervals are 90 seconds running/2 minutes walking. I can do it! Today I wanted to keep going when the guy told me to start walking again after my 60 seconds were up. I know I will not be feeling this way on Sunday.

Today I have my WW weigh in. Hopefully I don't have too much water in my system still by the time I step on the scale. I want it to be a DOWN day today. I was pretty good all week. I didn't track my points at all, but I "think" I was okay.

Tonight I am having a Lia Sophia jewelry party. I love their stuff and can't wait to get some more great pieces.

Week 1, Day 2

Well, another run/walk down! This one was easier! I got up at 6:00, got everything on, hair up and I was out the door. This time I didn't run around the park. I ran down to the high school and back. It worked out great. However, I thought there were only 6 intervals and I think it ended up being 8. So, I ran for 8 minutes and walked for 720 minutes. My next run/walk is set for Friday morning. I weigh in Friday too so we shall see if adding the exercise really helped.

Today on my agenda:
Take Cameron to school 8:30
Mow & weed whack the lawn 9:30
Shower & get ready 10:45
Go to the bank 11:45
Write a journal article 4:15
Start a journal summary
Read a chapter in nutrition
Take chapter test
Read a chapter in microbiology
Get Cameron's hair cut 4:45
RELAX

If I can get all of that completed I will be happy person!

Couch to 5K anyone?

I'm sure some of you have heard of this "Couch to 5K" running program before. Well, I downloaded the podcasts for it during the winter and told myself that I wanted to start it.

Today was the day! I woke up and had the urge to start. I grabbed some shorts, a tank top, put my shoes and socks on, put my hair up and grabbed my iPod and I was ready to go. I really didn't want to go alone so I asked Cameron to come along with me. He rode his bike while I walked my first 5 minutes and by that time we were at the park where he played and I did the program around the park. I went around 3 times and then I was done.

The first week you start with a brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. The plan is to do this 3 times the first week and then it changes a little the next weeks until week 9 when you are joggin 3 miles continuously.

I will be amazed if I can do it, but there are so many people that have started this way so I think I can too. One minute of running right now is tough! I looked forward to the 90 second walks! I didn't stop at all though, I told myself that I could do it and I did.

I decided that I needed to throw a little exercise into my weight loss plan and today was the day. I have been doing Weight Watchers now for 18 weeks and have lost 17 pounds. I should have lost more by now, but I have had my ups and downs. Mostly downs though so all is good! Hopefully I will be down even more this week after starting the running program. I might even have to buy myself some good running shoes as a reward! The shoes I wore today are actually good running shoes, but they are my work shoes so I should get some just for running!

Well, I think I am cooled down enough now to take a shower and start my day. I have lots of studying to do. I have a Unit test tomorrow in Microbiology and there are a few things I need to memorize.

I've been tagged

A friend from back home tagged me.... Colleen!

james brown or marvin gaye? James Brown

chinese or indian takeout! EEEWWW, yuck to both.

fleece or knitted blanket? either one. I have three throws in my family room. One is fleece, one is microfiber and one is flannel.

girls with makeup or without? well, for me, I can't go anywhere without makeup. I try on the weekends to not wear any, but usually end up with a full face

costco or whole foods? We're getting a whole foods here so I might be able to experience it. I don't have a costco membership any longer, but have been thinking of getting it again.

wildflowers or arrangements? Wildflowers in the yard, arrangements in the house

tradition or shakeups? Little of both

cello or trumpet? I like the sound of the cello

watch-wearing or no? Can't forget a day!

salt water or fresh (for swimming)? Don't know how to swim

pants or shorts? Jeans. Who wants to see my legs in shorts? I wear capris

chatspeak or absolutely NOT? Only online

digital camera or old-school? Missing my digital. The cat knocked it off the counter. Waiting for this one to come out in July.

Plugged in or wireless? We have a wireless network throughout our house, but I think I am plugged into the wall. I do have a wireless keyboard and mouse.

waltz or tango? Tango is so much sexier to watch.

brian williams or anderson cooper? Cooper

time or newsweek? Time

waterbed or mattress? Mattress

cream and sugar or not? I don't drink coffee and rarely ever drink tea. The tea would have to have both

CNN or BBC News? CNN

iTunes or something else? iTunes. I spend way to much money on music

scented candles or unscented? sented Gold Canyon!

prairie or mountain? Mountains

socks or barefoot? Barefoot at home, socks at work

matt damon or ben affleck? Ben

brass or pewter? Brushed nickel

wool or cotton? Cotton

willow tree or pine? I miss the pines back home. Willow trees are pretty though

gerald ford or jimmy carter? Ford

france or italy? Would love to go to either

electric or gas stove? Electric but would love gas

thrift store or outlet? Thrift stores for books, outlets for anything

japanese garden or english garden? English

sophia loren or liz taylor? Sophia Loren

I tag.... Lilian