Boot camp baby!

OK, I did it. Even though it scares the holy bagpipes out of me (see, no swears) I signed up for my first ever boot camp. I'm going to be honest, when I woke up this morning I had no intentions of joining a boot camp. However, after a brief chat with another supervisor in my department, I suddenly had an overwhelming desire to sign up and see what I could get this old body of mine to do.

My original intention was to sign up for the same class that four other women in my department are doing. It meets on Thursday nights for one hour starting at 5:15. It would have been perfect because I could just walk over with the gals, get my sweat on and then catch the bus home for a shower. However, when I went to sign up, the class was already full...boo. I was just going to give up on the idea but then I decided that I was really looking forward to the prospect of getting my butt handed to me on a platter for 15 weeks. So, I did a bit of investigating (read Google-mapping) and found that on Wednesday nights I could easily take the class at the NIB building. It's no more than a half-mile walk to the building on an outdoor route and if it's cold, I can cover most of the distance (a little less efficiently mind you) by cutting through the other hospitals. Again, it meets at 5:15 and will get me out just in time to catch a bus back to my car!

I figure that two nights a week of spinning and one night of boot camp will offer some nice variety to my workout routine. I got a chance to check out Planet Fitness tonight and I was really impressed. They have a good number of what appear to be really nice cardio machines but they also have this 30 minute cardio/resistance circuit set up. I still haven't had a chance to get to Anytime Fitness but I think I'm strongly leaning towards Planet. The price is right and I really liked the facility.

Anyway, I think that's it. I'll let you know how my first boot camp goes next week. I just hope my instructor doesn't resemble this guy...

Year end and looking forward

Happy 2013! I have to admit, I'm really glad that the Mayans were wrong and that the world didn't end last month. I have so many things left to accomplish in life and I'm hoping to get a good start on that to-do list in 2013.

The end of 2012 ended without much flourish or bang. I had a fairly nice Christmas and new year. I spent Christmas with a friend and her family. It was very nice to have a place to go as opposed to staying home alone. I did that one year and it was awful. However, I think this year it wouldn't have been so bad. After being away from home for so long I think I've gotten used to spending major days on my own. I think that's part of growing up. I've come to realize that any days spent with the people I love most in the world are special, regardless of where they fall on the calendar. Anyway, Santa was good to me this year. I got a new Blu-Ray player, a few movies, an insulated water bottle that I've been looking at FOREVER and refused to pay for, a lovely care package and socks, socks and more socks!  I also got a really nice bottle of sparkling wine from one of our doctors. Oh yeah, did I mention the chocolate? I LOVE chocolate!

My new years eve was very quiet. I had plans with friends and they had to bail at the last minute. I was bummed because I didn't really have time to make new plans (3:00 on NYE is too late for plan making) but I had a decent night. I ended up cooking a nice dinner and drinking the aforementioned bottle of wine. I didn't set out to drink the whole bottle but before I noticed it was gone, it was gone.  The only downside to drinking the whole bottle is that it made me overly sleepy a lot sooner than I was hoping. I tried to make it to midnight but at some point I must have passed out because I was awake and watching a movie and the next thing I know my phone is vibrating on the sofa arm next to my head. I'd have to ask Jessica to be sure but I don't think the 'I wasn't just drooling on my couch pillows' tone that I was attempting to pull off was very convincing. At least she had the good grace to not call me out on it. I really hope I wasn't on speaker phone...

Now it's back to business as usual. Work has been really slow through the holiday week. It's nice to have a day to catch up on things but by the end of the fourth slow day in a row it starts to get old. I did find a website online where I could read the Hunger Games books for free so that was at least a nice way to spend some of  my time, even if I should have been working. Although, in my defense, there was literally nothing to do. We got all of the stocking, cleaning and paperwork done on slow day one. Basically we had no busy-work left and no patients to fill our time. It was bad. I could have used PTO but I hate wasting PTO when I could save it for fun times with my friends from home. Oh well, if a few slow days is my worst complaint at work I'm pretty lucky.

As 2013 was approaching, I was thinking a lot about my resolutions for the year. Last year I set two real goals, one fitness and one life resolution.  I didn't do well on either. I'm not saying last year was completely wasted, I did run my first 5K, however, I followed it up with my second 5K which was a disaster (excepting the fabulous company I had). It's really frustrating to me that I'm in worse shape right now than I was at this time last year. I have nothing and nobody to blame but myself and my lack of dedication. So, my fitness resolution is very simple: do better in 2013 than I did in 2012. I figure this can't be that hard to accomplish but it's open enough to grow into what I want.

I think that my other resolution, my life goal, is going to be the harder of the two. I've recently decided that there is simply too much profanity in my life. I feel like the well placed swears that are meant to really show impact no longer do because I curse too freely otherwise. Because of this, I have decided that I am going to omit profanity from my life. I don't know that I will be entirely successful, this could be a very arduous task but I want to really cut down on my sailor talk. I'm 36 hours into the new year; so far, so good!

Lastly, I'm currently searching for a new gym. They still haven't fixed the equipment in the exercise room at my apartment (I would really like to use a few vulgar words at them) and I'm tired of waiting for them to get around to it. I've put my feelers out and I'm going to be touring the Anytime Fitness and Planet Fitness gyms closest to me. As far as I can tell the only really difference is the price but I'll hold off on judging until I see the actual facilities and talk about the options I'd have available at each.

Back and ready to kick ass!!

I can't believe it's December, mostly because it means that my vacation has come and gone and now I'm trapped in Michigan until July. However, I have so many fond memories to keep me company that I'm sure the next eight months will just fly by...

My plans didn't work out exactly the way I was expecting but there isn't much that I would change about my most recent trip home with one major exception, I needed to spend more time with my friends to detox from my family. Don't get me wrong, I love everybody in my family to bits and pieces but by the end of the second week I could have used some friend time a day sooner and probably a few of Kevin's magic margaritas! Can I just say how much fun I had my last night home? Honestly, we didn't do anything too spectacular, well with the exception of a bit of hip waggling, but it was a perfect night nonetheless. It was the same the night I spent hanging out with Jenny in Ankeny. I sometimes forget out here, where I truly prefer to be a bit of  a hermit, how much fun it can be to just hang out with the people you love. God I miss that.  I don't think it's ever been more difficult for me to get in my car and drive away from home than it was this time. That includes leaving after my mom's funeral...I think that means something. I really need to move home. I even told my boss today. I don't think he believed me. I hope to shock him one of these days ;-)

Just a brief recap:

Opened in Iowa with Cody and his family. He's finally cleared to drive with his knee and Tasha got a job...PARTY!

Turkey Trot with Rishy (AND BEN!!, color me surprised) which just increased my love for my friends and proved to me that being a lazy lump does not pay off. Fixing the situation pronto!

Thanksgiving with Rishy and her family. Not planned but awesome just the same.

Back to Iowa to see the Stefanovic clan and spend some quality time with my family.

Two thanksgiving dinners, one trip to the salon to chop my locks, one girls day out with Karla and Kim, lunch with my favorite per-kindergartener EVER (school lunches have not changed much), my first solo dinner with my little brother Brad (need to do this more often), a fabulous day with my Jenny who I NEVER get to see, a day spent with Cody, date night with two of my favorite little men (Wreck-It Ralph is really cute btw) and one fabulous evening playing with some of my favorite people in the world (even though Kevin kept cutting off the circulation in my fingers, we watched too many bad SyFy movies, Ben downloaded the bouncing boobs ap and Kevin, Ben and I invested way too much time trying to find tasteful sideboob which I'm still not convinced really exists despite what the boys claim).

Whew... and that's just the Reader's Digest version. I could gush on and on but I won't. I'd also post pictures but it's so hard with my new phone so if you want to cyber spy, just check out Facebook.

I got back to Michigan late, late Sunday night and took Monday off of work. It's been really hard to get back into a sleep schedule, my brain is still on vacation, and I'm so tired in the morning. I think my families plague finally hit me so I don't think it's helping me in the feeling rested category. If I'm asleep before midnight tonight (the last two nights have been very late) I plan to get up and run tomorrow morning. I'm also happy to say that I decided to purchase a package at the studio where I've been doing my spin class. Twenty classes for $130 seems really reasonable to me. I think I'm going to be spinning on Monday and Friday nights this winter. I'm really hoping to work on my cardio over this winter, it needs all of the help it can get. Assuming the Mayans are wrong, I have some very specific fitness goals in the next year that I will be meeting, including running the 10K (without feeling like I'm dying) at the Dexter-Ann Arbor run and my half marathon with Rishy in the fall. I won't accomplish any of that sitting on my ass. Also, if I don't look amazing at Andy's wedding when I'm back in July, I just might cry!

Back in the saddle...

No pun intended.

I'm sure you've noticed I have not been faithful to the blog lately. If it makes you feel any better, I haven't exactly been faithful to any part of my weight-loss/health-gain plan in the last few months. Yes, I said it, months. In fact, I just weighed myself in what seems like FOREVER and I gained 25 pounds back from my lightest. It was worse than I thought it would be, but I won't let that stupid number on the scale discourage me and keep me from moving forward again. In fact, it's a bit liberating to finally log the number. I kept thinking this summer, 'once I get back to my light weight then I'll log.' Let me tell you, it doesn't work that way.

I had a really nice talk with Jessica last night and I was telling her that I finally realized what's going on. My backsliding isn't a physical thing. My body wants to move and be good. It's all in my head. I've been trying to figure out where my head is and why it's in such a bad place right now and I honestly think I have a few things to resolve from this summer. I am ashamed to admit it, but I have so much anger towards Dean for what he did this summer. The anger got worse as Alecia's pregnancy was progressing and now that Gracilyn is here, I'm really pissed. I know he was going through something awful and I can't begin to understand the feelings he was trying to work through but I still can't validate the decision that he made. I look at pictures of that little girl, who looks just like Dean, and I get fuming mad thinking that she might not get to know her daddy. Yes, we'll tell her all about him, but it's not the same thing. I get heart sick every time I  hear one of Cody and Tasha's kids tell me how much they miss uncle Dean. When Brooklyn was here with Karla and Justin last month, she kept tell me that Dean got sick and had to leave. How do you help a 2 year old process the loss of someone she loves so much? Especially when he mad the decision to go. I know this all probably makes me sound really cold and selfish but these are the thoughts that are rolling around in my head and I have to deal with them before they consume me. I love Dean with all of my heart, please don't doubt that, and I'm working through this anger that I have. I've been talking with family about it and writing down here seems to be pretty cathartic. I think that working through these feelings and moving forward will be a really good thing, not just for me but for others in my family as well.

Anyway, moving on, I have decided to start NO NONSENSE NOVEMBER! There has been a lot of nonsense these past months and I need to end it now. I have a 5K that I'm running with Rishy on Thanksgiving morning. It's going to be bad and she's going to kick my butt because I haven't been training like I should, or at all. I honestly don't know if I can even run a 5K on the treadmill right now (guess I'll find out tomorrow monring). However, humiliating myself in front of my best friend on turkey day should be really good motivation to get my butt in gear. I've also decided that when my spin class through AA Rec/Ed is up (I only have two classes left), I'm going to purchase a package through the studio and keep going. It's less expensive per class and I'm not locked into going on Friday nights only. It will cost $130 for 20 classes that have to be used within 90 days. I figure I'll purchase the package when I get back from Iowa in early December. If I go twice per week, it should get me through the first part of the winter nicely. When the time comes, I'll decide if I want to purchase another package or maybe try something else.

Finally, I have to stop eating like a hog. I would explain but I think the words I just used describe the situation pretty clearly. It's bad and I need to stop. NOW.

Anywho, I'm going to try to be more active on the blog. I don't make any promises for this month though. I only have two weeks and then I'm gone and things could get really crazy at work (for reasons I can't currently mention in a public forum) but I will try my hardest to check in more regularly.

Now, I have lots of reading to catch up on so I can figure out what has been going on in your lives since last month. Have a great day all!

Autumn update

Happy October ladies!  I am so happy to be enjoying this beautiful fall. The weather has been a bit brisk but I'm really OK with that. I love the cool temps and all of the amazing fall foliage that we've been having. When we moved into the new hospital we had high expectations in regard to the view from our eleventh story windows. I don't think even our greatest expectations could have come close to the beautiful autumn scenery that we have available to us. It's gorgeous from the ground but it's simply breathtaking from this height. It doesn't hurt that the trees go on for what seems like miles and miles!  The best part is that it changes so much from day to day. Can you tell I'm just a bit enthralled by our view??

Besides enjoying the autumnal flora, I have been keeping busy with many random things. I am working on a blanket for my soon-to-be-born neice. It is very close to being finished and I couldn't be happier. I'm so bad at these things. I'm always really motivated when I start and then my desire to crochet diminishes and I'm left with half projects. Fortunately with baby blankets there is a fairly solid deadline so I can keep on task. I pieced all of my granny squares together last night. Now I just have to do is finish the border and I'll be done. This is the first time I've done a granny square blanket. I don't know if I used the correct method for assembly but it's stuck together and I think it will stand up to multiple washings. I'll take a picture and post it when everything is finished.

I'm currently working on two books. I've been hoping to read the first book in the Game of Thrones series for some time but there are always a billion requests on the 20 copies that my library has. However, my friend Julie's lovely husband Mike heard about my predicament and managed to get his hands on a copy from his library. I'm about one third of the way through and I'm really enjoying it. It's a somewhat slow read and I feel like I already know what's going on because I Netflixed the first season last spring. I'm actually surprised how closely the first season of the show mirrors the book. There are usually many changes that take place but so far I feel like the first book was very truly adapted. Granted, there is still two thirds of the book left so there is plenty of time for them to trow in some really oddball stuff that I'm not expecting.

I am also listening to a book on my commute each morning and evening. Please feel free to judge me when I tell you the title. I've never claimed to have the greatest taste in the world. I have 5 words for you: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Yes, you read that correctly, your eyes are not deceiving you. I would describe the book to you, however, the name pretty much sums it up nicely. Take the classic love story of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy and throw in a bunch of brain munching zombies. It's just about as ridiculous as you would imagine and I LOVE IT!! I only have 1 disc left and I'm surprised how good it is. Yes, the thought of zombies running around Austen's England is incredibly silly but I think she would have appreciated it. She wa a bit of a rebel herself, you know.

Last but not least, I've started my spinning class and although it's hard work it is great fun. I've had two classes so far and I'm really enjoying it. Don't get me wrong, it's not easy at all and my legs are like jello-o when I'm done but I enjoy the workout so much I don't realize how much it sucks until after. Oh, and the sweat, have I mentioned the sweat?  I sweat like a hog while spinning which wouldn't be so bad but then I have to take a bus back to my car. I'm choosing to believe that people don't want to sit next to me because I'm a stranger, not because I smell like a gym sock. Anyway, I have six weeks left and my only real goal is to be able to get out of and back into the saddle without hurting myself or the bike by the end of class. I have confidence that this can happen!

Recipe: turkey white bean pumpkin chili

It's soup season again and this is the first new soup I've tried. I already have others but I've been a blogging slacker so you'll have to have patience.

I know this might sound like a strange soup but it's really quite tasty. Don't let the pumpkin scare you off. There is so much other flavor going on that there isn't an overly pumpkiny taste.  You'll just have to trust me on this one!

You will need:

• 2 lb lean ground turkey
• 1/2 tsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp chili powder, to taste
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 2 (15 oz cans) of white northern or navy beans, rinsed and drained
• 15 oz can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 4.5 oz canned chopped green chile
• 2 cups low sodium, fat free chicken broth
• fat free sour cream for topping (optional)
• chopped cilantro and chives for topping (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

 Cook the ground turkey, onion and garlic in a heavy sautee pan until turkey is brown and broken up. Add to the crock pot. Add the remainder of the ingredients (save the toppings) into the crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. Top with sour cream and chives/cilantro if desired.

Tis the season...

to get crafty! As the weather turns cool, I get an itch to start working with my hands.  Yarn work isn't very much fun when the weather is hot because yarn is very warm and who wants a blanket or throw on their lap when it's 90+ degrees outside and the air is on. However, the crisp weather we've been experiencing lately is getting me in the mood to start some new projects.  I'm currently working on a baby blanket for my new niece who will be joining us in the very near future and while I need to get my butt in gear on that or it will never be finished, I decided to pick up a side project I saw on Pinterest.  My dear friend Lindsey posted a hat a while ago that she was contemplating buying for $45. It was just a crochet hat with a felt flower on it.  I thought I might be able to whip something up that was similar for a lot less money.  Boy was I right.

After about 2-3 hours of work and a whopping $7.00 (maximum) I think I came up with a hat with a very similar feel. The crochet of the hat is a bit different and the colors are not the same but I think it worked well in the end...

The original by MojoSpaStyle:

The replicate by me: