Stretching under the stars

I ran tonight and had an awesome run. I've been working on my mental thoughts while running because since I've moved here I've had a hard time running. Before we moved I did 9 miles and never once walked. I don't know if I've done a run without walking since we've moved which is pathetic. but I decided it has to be mental there's no other reason for it. ANYWAY....

My run was good, the best part didn't last long enough. When I do my long runs I have to drive down to the town and run the path, so my longer runs (Wednesday and Saturday) are ran down there. Today I ran after supper so it was starting to get dark by the time I finished my run, while stretching I got to lay down on the grass a bit and look at the sky. It was amazing, there were a few stars scattered across the sky, and the moon, although only half full was bright and lit up the night. I wanted to lay there for hours like I did when I was little, but I felt a little weird since I was alone and there were a bunch of men and teenage boys around. So I got up.

When I was young I used to take a sleeping bag out into the front yard and look at the stars for hours, there's something about nature that i just love, and nature at night is wonderfully amazing. For a minute laying there tonight I slipped back in time to when there were no cares in the world, no worry of being attacked by people walking by, no worry of getting home to see the kids before they went to bed, no worry of needing to look up skin id reviews because I stayed in my sweaty clothes too long . Just soft grass and a starry sky. I think we all need to take more time to do that. (don't go thinking I don't love my family and my life now, because I DO with all my heart i love them).

Words from my Lunch break

Almost every day my wonderful husband gives me a 30 minute lunch break (one of the BIG bonuses of having him work from home). Now that I watch my niece and nephew I don't get any time during the day to just sit and not think about dirty diapers or feeding kids, so this little lunch break is great! Some days I run, some days I blog (not very often obviously), some days I read my Bible, and once I've napped. I figured it was time to blog since it's been a while!

My weight loss is going good, I'm right around 30lbs gone since January 14th. I hit that 30lb mark, then hit this horrible plateau where I've gained a few pounds, then lost them then gained them then lost some. It's been going on for over a week and I am getting frustrated. My wonderful husband decided to help me yesterday by hiding the scale so I can't think about it. This means I have no clue how I'm doing, which has had a positive effect on me today. I woke up feeling thin, which made me feel great about myself and my ongoing lifestyle change (not diet!!) A few things I've noticed and tried to change are the fact that at night I'll check my calories and realize I still need more food, so I load in a bunch of calories right before going to bed instead of snacking during the day. So yesterday and today I've entered in breakfast and dinner in the morning, then I know the rest of the calories have to be eaten BEFORE dinner. it's helped a ton to me. I had also been subconsciously avoiding breads, which meant I wasn't getting in much fiber which well, you know what happens when you don't get enough fiber. :) So yesterday and Today I've made sure to get some fiber! I'm hoping all this will help me break through the plateau and lose these last 10lbs. I've been considering taking a daily multivitamin to help me get everything I need because I'm sure I'm lacking some good stuff in my diet, I just have no clue how to find a good one!

My running is going good, I ran 11 miles on Friday with my sister, I got my first blister from running! I consider myself a real runner now (because of the blister not the 11 miles). I did learn though that I don't like running with people. I had a HARD time running, partially because she is used to running a little faster than I have been which meant I got tired faster, also because I am used to running to music to help me keep a steady pace. My race is just three and a half weeks away now! amazing how fast it's coming I'm starting to get nervous. I reserved a cabin at a hotel in Virginia Beach (cheaper than a hotel, plus I like camping, I get to bring my own sheets and stuff and don't have to worry about how nasty the hotel room might be). The campground is pretty big, has 4 playgrounds, 4 pools, mini golf, basketball courts, an arcade... and the usual campground stuff.

Life with the kids is going good, I'm starting to get the hang of homeschooling, although I'd love to get more creative with my niece. She's in 4th grade and right now school seems a little boring! I will say I am learning a bunch of grammar though, maybe one day my writing will be pleasing to an English major. probably not though.

Lexi hasn't been doing school because she is just frustrating me when we tried, hopefully that will change by next fall when we actually start kindergarten. Caylee and my nephew are about 7 months apart in age and they make for an interesting combination. They are both the youngest and take turns being the spoiled one. Hitting is a daily event around here and I've pretty much stopped yelling at them when they do. Only because one will hit the other, then visa versa, I figure one day they will realize it hurts and just stop hitting!

I've been going to the local gym to Zumba classes every once and a while with my sister in law. They are fun! It's not a hard work out so it's great for beginners but it's also REALLY fun! It's nice to switch up my cardio and so something other than running!

Right now we are dog sitting for my sister while her and her husband are on a cruise. I'm kinda jealous, floating around the Caribbean on a big boat kinda sounds like fun right now!

YAWN

Monday's don't normally bother me, they tend to be like every other day, but Today.... today was a day. That's about all I can say about it.

It was CRAZY here. I'm not sure if it had to do with the time change or not, but 3 of the 4 kids were cranky off and on, meaning at least one was fussing at all times. Top it off I was still trying to recover from whatever was wrong with me yesterday (body aches, fever, FREEZING, a bit of a sore throat) so I didn't have all my energy.

I managed to get up enough energy by this afternoon to get in a short run. There's not too many places to run around here that aren't completely mountainous, There is my road (a whopping .35 miles long) and the road next to mine (a whole .7 miles long) that together with the road that connects them makes for a decent 2.25 mile run. It has a few small hills but nothing I can't handle (now that I'm used to the thinner air). The .7 mile long road ends at a junk yard type thing, I doubt you'll find Ferrari parts there, but there are a lot of old police cars and some beat up vans. It's a quiet little road, when I run in the morning I normally see a few kids waiting for their bus, but other than that there's nothing and no one! My road is the same way, aside from the German Sheppard who acts like it's going to attack me every time I run by it (lucky for me it never even comes to the edge of the yard, it has scared me a few times though).

Now that I'm watching two extra kids I don't get much computer time in, so blogging is getting even harder to do. I just spent a few hours here getting some important things done that should have been done weeks ago. In front of me is a list a dozen items long of stuff that needs done. Time is so hard to come by, especially when I have days like today!

So how was your Monday?!

to cut or not to cut

that is the question.

I am so torn between whether or not I should cut my hair again. I got it cut in November and it looked really cute, I got a ton of compliments. I had never had a hair cut like that, so the different style was nice. The thing I loved about having short hair is that I had to style it every day. It made me feel like I was taking care of myself better and I always felt more put together when i went out into public. However, that had it's cons too... It meant always having to take the time to style it. No more just pulling it up and running out of the house. If I was running late it was obvious because my hair was a mess!

Well now it's at the point where I can just barely pull it up again and I'm debating between cutting it or not cutting it. Sometimes it's nice to pull up, especially when I'm running and it's flopping in my face. But once my hair is long enough to pull up I RARELY style it.

But do I want to HAVE to style it every day or do I want the option to pull it up knowing that I'll probably pull it up 99% of the time? UGH it's such a hard decision. My short hair made it easy for special occasions, there was no guessing what I'd do with my hair, it was just one thing and one thing only. It was fun wondering what the wedding favors would look like instead of what my hair would look like.

I had scheduled an appointment for yesterday then decided to cancel it until I fully make up my mind. I asked for opinions on facebook and the consensus was it's a hard decision. Thanks for the help. he he he.

So for now it's here... but will I change my mind tomorrow?!

Zumba!

Last night I tried out my first Zumba class. I had a ton of fun, it wasn't as much of a work out as I expected, but it still definitely made me burn calories! There is a small gym here that allows non members to participate in the classes they offer for $5 each class, or you can buy a day pass for $7 i think. Not too bad if you just want to do something every now and then.

The Zumba class was so packed we could barely move which I think prohibited me being able to fully work out, it's a very popular class! We were squished in there so tight we couldn't see the instructor so I was watching some of the people who you could tell knew what they were doing. It was fun dancing around to different music. I am not very talented when it comes to dancing so I'm sure I looked like a fool. One girl in there was rocking out her skechers shape ups, she was awesome and hyper! She knew what she was doing so I watched her whenever I couldn't see the instructor.

I'd love to take the class again, we might even pursue a membership we'll see. There is talk of them moving the class to the big gym which would be nice AND helpful! I think my sister in law and I are going back on Saturday for more! Bring it on!!

Our New place

Well, we're settled. I guess you could call it that anyway. We moved 9 days ago, I spent the entire day after we moved unpacking. My wonderful sisters in law watched the girls, my husband and my brothers in law went and painted our old place, leaving me to myself to get everything here done.

I was going good and strong until about 4 hours into it when I started to get a little lonely and realized I really haven't been alone in YEARS and YEARS. so I started texting in between emptying boxes.

I love our new place, except we are trying to get the smell of the last tenants out (they smoked). We have an entire room just for toys, which is great, except that there's no heat in that room so it's pretty chilly in the mornings and afternoons. We're consider an Amish fireplace, nice little electric fake fireplace I have no clue if they are safe around kids or not though. We got a little "room heater" it stinks, it does nothing to heat that room even though it was suppose to be able to handle a room that sized.

Anyone have any ideas for heating a room?