Ok, so I've had a lot of fun with these :)
~Pam
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Help Needed
Ok, so Penny asked me what I think she should write on her cake. Well, since I'm a fan of "Cake Wrecks" (See my sidebar favorite links) I had a few ideas. What do you guys think?
Ok, so I've had a lot of fun with these :)
~Pam
Ok, so I've had a lot of fun with these :)
~Pam
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Updates
So, I haven't written in a while. Sorry about that. First things first. I got all my final grades in for the spring semester and the verdict is..... 4.0 GPA. That's right! All A's. For two of the classes, I wasn't shocked. But the other two, well, let's just say that I think my teachers might have liked me... :) Just kidding. I worked my butt off this semester and I deserve the grades I got! (I'm trying this new thing where I don't minimize my achievements. It is a bad habit that I need to break.)
Speaking of achievements, my scale has this neat feature where it calculates your metabolic age and tells you how many calories you need to consume to maintain your weight. Well, I haven't used that feature in a long time. In fact, the last time I used it, it told me that my metabolic age was 38 years old and that I needed to eat 1400 calories to maintain my weight. Boy was I in denial! I thought the scale didn't have any idea what it was talking about, and besides, I wasn't eating much more than 1400 calories, so I was doing just fine. Ha! I was just kidding myself. In reality, I was eating much closer to 2200-2500 calories every day. Well, do you want to know what the scale told me Monday night? It is kind of exciting! The scale told me that my metabolic age is 19! And that I need to consume 2100 calories a day to maintain my weight! Can you believe it? I almost can't. I lost almost 20 years! Or, actually, I gained 20 years. I can definitely feel a difference in my health level. I feel more healthy, like I'm able to do anything. It is an amazing feeling. Especially since I haven't lost too much more weight during Round 2 of P90X. I'm pretty much at my starting weight. But that is OK. I feel great, I look forward to working out, I derive pleasure from watching what I eat and eating delicious food. I just can't believe how much I've changed this year. What a difference 4 and a half months makes, huh?
Ok, well, what else have I been doing lately? Well, my first class of the summer started up. Once a week, every week of the summer. It is all about research and assessment, and I think if I keep a positive attitude about it, most of the information will come in handy.
Anything else? Well, I've been hanging out with Kate and the boys a lot this summer. It has been really nice. I usually watch Parker and Preston on Mondays while Kate does her Health Challenge. We always have so much fun. Also, last week (maybe 2 weeks ago) Kate and I went to the Botanical Garden. We were going to go to the zoo, but we decided that there were too many people there. So we went to the NGB, and boy was it amazing! The boys had so much fun, as evidenced by the video :)
{Ok, I guess I should give some background for the video. In the beginning, Parker is looking at family of geese, and singing "Follow the Prophet". *shrug* I guess he thought the babies were following their parents, and it reminded him of the song. Also, the Botanical Garden is right by the airport, and Parker and Preston got so excited every time they heard a plane get ready to take off. On a side note, Parker is actually VERY far from the water's edge, so he was never in danger of falling in :)}
The boys had fun smelling all the roses. There were so many different kinds!
We went to the World of Wonders, and surprise, surprise, Parker wanted to rake the "grass". I think he had helped Ben with the yard the night before :)
Preston had to find a rake, too!
Parker was sneaky and captured some pictures of me and Preston while I was watching them one day!
What else? Oh, well, Matt and I decided last Sunday that we were going to go camping. Not your ordinary camping, mind you. Nope, we decided to load up our bicycles with everything we would need for the night and ride off into the sunset...well, ride over to First Landing State Park, anyways. We were able to get a camping spot back in the woods, and we just had a great time! It is awesome, knowing that we COULD do it. Carry everything we need to survive on our bikes. We had a great time camping, it wasn't TOO cold, in fact, Sunday was perfect. It was set to rain Monday, and we left the campsite early enough to make it back home before it rained. Thank goodness! Although, if we're going to ride across country, I suppose we are going to need to get used to riding in the rain. But I think we'll save that for another day!
Here we are, together. Boy, my glasses are reflective! Oops!
Matt, with our bikes, fixing some dinner. What else? Pasta, of course!
Stirring the pot!
We walked down to the beach and watched the sun set. It isn't very often that you can live in a place and watch the sun rise over the ocean and set over the water, too! Sunsets over the Bay are very nice!
So, that's pretty much what I've been up to. Workouts in the morning, watch the boys or run errands, clean up the house, fix dinner, go for a bike ride, you know, the usual. What a fun summer so far! (We haven't actually gone to the beach yet, but maybe this weekend... )
~Pam
Speaking of achievements, my scale has this neat feature where it calculates your metabolic age and tells you how many calories you need to consume to maintain your weight. Well, I haven't used that feature in a long time. In fact, the last time I used it, it told me that my metabolic age was 38 years old and that I needed to eat 1400 calories to maintain my weight. Boy was I in denial! I thought the scale didn't have any idea what it was talking about, and besides, I wasn't eating much more than 1400 calories, so I was doing just fine. Ha! I was just kidding myself. In reality, I was eating much closer to 2200-2500 calories every day. Well, do you want to know what the scale told me Monday night? It is kind of exciting! The scale told me that my metabolic age is 19! And that I need to consume 2100 calories a day to maintain my weight! Can you believe it? I almost can't. I lost almost 20 years! Or, actually, I gained 20 years. I can definitely feel a difference in my health level. I feel more healthy, like I'm able to do anything. It is an amazing feeling. Especially since I haven't lost too much more weight during Round 2 of P90X. I'm pretty much at my starting weight. But that is OK. I feel great, I look forward to working out, I derive pleasure from watching what I eat and eating delicious food. I just can't believe how much I've changed this year. What a difference 4 and a half months makes, huh?
Ok, well, what else have I been doing lately? Well, my first class of the summer started up. Once a week, every week of the summer. It is all about research and assessment, and I think if I keep a positive attitude about it, most of the information will come in handy.
Anything else? Well, I've been hanging out with Kate and the boys a lot this summer. It has been really nice. I usually watch Parker and Preston on Mondays while Kate does her Health Challenge. We always have so much fun. Also, last week (maybe 2 weeks ago) Kate and I went to the Botanical Garden. We were going to go to the zoo, but we decided that there were too many people there. So we went to the NGB, and boy was it amazing! The boys had so much fun, as evidenced by the video :)
{Ok, I guess I should give some background for the video. In the beginning, Parker is looking at family of geese, and singing "Follow the Prophet". *shrug* I guess he thought the babies were following their parents, and it reminded him of the song. Also, the Botanical Garden is right by the airport, and Parker and Preston got so excited every time they heard a plane get ready to take off. On a side note, Parker is actually VERY far from the water's edge, so he was never in danger of falling in :)}
The boys had fun smelling all the roses. There were so many different kinds!
We went to the World of Wonders, and surprise, surprise, Parker wanted to rake the "grass". I think he had helped Ben with the yard the night before :)
Preston had to find a rake, too!
Parker was sneaky and captured some pictures of me and Preston while I was watching them one day!
What else? Oh, well, Matt and I decided last Sunday that we were going to go camping. Not your ordinary camping, mind you. Nope, we decided to load up our bicycles with everything we would need for the night and ride off into the sunset...well, ride over to First Landing State Park, anyways. We were able to get a camping spot back in the woods, and we just had a great time! It is awesome, knowing that we COULD do it. Carry everything we need to survive on our bikes. We had a great time camping, it wasn't TOO cold, in fact, Sunday was perfect. It was set to rain Monday, and we left the campsite early enough to make it back home before it rained. Thank goodness! Although, if we're going to ride across country, I suppose we are going to need to get used to riding in the rain. But I think we'll save that for another day!
Here we are, together. Boy, my glasses are reflective! Oops!
Matt, with our bikes, fixing some dinner. What else? Pasta, of course!
Stirring the pot!
We walked down to the beach and watched the sun set. It isn't very often that you can live in a place and watch the sun rise over the ocean and set over the water, too! Sunsets over the Bay are very nice!
So, that's pretty much what I've been up to. Workouts in the morning, watch the boys or run errands, clean up the house, fix dinner, go for a bike ride, you know, the usual. What a fun summer so far! (We haven't actually gone to the beach yet, but maybe this weekend... )
~Pam
Monday, May 11, 2009
Angry
I don't understand... but in this country you can pretty much kill any one you want... All you have to do is wait for them to get on a bicycle and run them over... It makes me sick to my stomach. Pam and I recently rode in a memorial ride for a cyclist who was killed in Virginia Beach. He was struck from behind and died on the ambulance ride to the hospital. This particular cyclist was riding on the right side of the road, wearing a neon yellow vest with a reflective stripe and had a blinking red light on the rear of his bike.
You should not be able to kill someone and have your only punishment be the "guilt" associated without. If you "did not see" some one wearing a neon yellow/green vest with reflective strips, a bright red light, in your lane of traffic you were being negligent...
So go ahead, find the person you hate most in this world and run them over when they are on a bike, say you didn't see them or that they "swerved" and you will get away no penalties...
Article for reference
Pictures of the memorial ride and the "ghost bike" erected as a memorial.
-Matt
You should not be able to kill someone and have your only punishment be the "guilt" associated without. If you "did not see" some one wearing a neon yellow/green vest with reflective strips, a bright red light, in your lane of traffic you were being negligent...
So go ahead, find the person you hate most in this world and run them over when they are on a bike, say you didn't see them or that they "swerved" and you will get away no penalties...
Article for reference
Pictures of the memorial ride and the "ghost bike" erected as a memorial.
-Matt
Friday, May 8, 2009
So far...
Three A's. One more final grade to get posted! I can't believe I pulled out A's in those classes! Now the one grade I'm waiting on is the one where I NEED, NEED, NEED to have at least gotten a B. Or else I don't get to student teach in the fall. So, that's the only one I'm slightly *worried* about. But I'm almost 99% positive I pulled at least a B in it, so I should be good.
Less than a week to go until I start my next semester's classes.....UGH!
:)
Less than a week to go until I start my next semester's classes.....UGH!
:)
Thursday, May 7, 2009
What a busy Thursday :)
So, I got my 30-day P90X measurements taken this morning! Just like I thought, not a whole lot of improvement, but I didn't expect to see dramatic results this early. That, and I don't have a WHOLE lot left to lose. I guess I can post my changes from day one of Round 2:
Weight: -4.8 pounds
Body Fat: -1.5%
Chest: no change
Waist: +.25 inches
Hips: -.75 inches
Right Thigh: -.25 inches
Left Thigh: no change
Right Arm: +.25 inches
Left Arm: -.25 inches
Total inches: -.75 inches
But, things get much better when you consider my numbers from the beginning of Round 1:
Weight: -19.4 pounds
Body Fat: -7.6%
Chest: -3.75 inches
Waist: -4.25 inches
Hips: -3.5 inches
Right Thigh: -2.5 inches
Left Thigh: -2.25 inches
Right Arm: -1.25 inches
Left Arm: -1.25 inches
Total Inches: -18.75 inches
So, just to clarify, since January 1, 2009, I have lost a whopping 19.4 pounds, 18.75 inches, and 7.6% of my body fat! That's almost 16 pounds of just fat that I've lost! I went from wearing a size 10 jeans to wearing size 4 jeans that are too big! (I'm probably in between size 4 and size 2 right now!) Can you believe it? I can't! It is like a dream. I am also ridiculously stronger than I was before this all began. Which is a good thing, b/c my nephews just keep getting bigger, and harder to pick up!
Speaking of nephews, I went over to Kate's to help her with her preschool class today. We had a WHOLE bunch of fun. We learned about the letter "H", the color black, and sound. We made music, sang songs, ate a snack, did the spoon/bell/string trick that Dad showed us when we were little (I think the kids thought it was cool), made rice/pasta shakers with leftover Easter eggs, and painted with "snow" (a mixture of shaving cream and glue). Very fun! I'm glad I was there able to help Kate out.
Well, that's about it. I took my last final for the semester yesterday, and I think I did OK. My teacher, when I went to hand my exam in, said "Man! You really are skinny!" That made me feel good. :) Now I have exactly.....ONE WEEK.....before my first summer semester class starts up. I think I'm in denial about that because I haven't even thought about getting books or looking at what the class is about. I don't even know for sure what the class is! :) So far, I've received two of the four grades for the semester-both A's. I'm crossing my fingers on the other two; hopefully I get A's in those as well. We shall see.
Ok, well, I have a Dr.'s appointment in about an hour. I guess I should get ready to go.
~Pam
Weight: -4.8 pounds
Body Fat: -1.5%
Chest: no change
Waist: +.25 inches
Hips: -.75 inches
Right Thigh: -.25 inches
Left Thigh: no change
Right Arm: +.25 inches
Left Arm: -.25 inches
Total inches: -.75 inches
But, things get much better when you consider my numbers from the beginning of Round 1:
Weight: -19.4 pounds
Body Fat: -7.6%
Chest: -3.75 inches
Waist: -4.25 inches
Hips: -3.5 inches
Right Thigh: -2.5 inches
Left Thigh: -2.25 inches
Right Arm: -1.25 inches
Left Arm: -1.25 inches
Total Inches: -18.75 inches
So, just to clarify, since January 1, 2009, I have lost a whopping 19.4 pounds, 18.75 inches, and 7.6% of my body fat! That's almost 16 pounds of just fat that I've lost! I went from wearing a size 10 jeans to wearing size 4 jeans that are too big! (I'm probably in between size 4 and size 2 right now!) Can you believe it? I can't! It is like a dream. I am also ridiculously stronger than I was before this all began. Which is a good thing, b/c my nephews just keep getting bigger, and harder to pick up!
Speaking of nephews, I went over to Kate's to help her with her preschool class today. We had a WHOLE bunch of fun. We learned about the letter "H", the color black, and sound. We made music, sang songs, ate a snack, did the spoon/bell/string trick that Dad showed us when we were little (I think the kids thought it was cool), made rice/pasta shakers with leftover Easter eggs, and painted with "snow" (a mixture of shaving cream and glue). Very fun! I'm glad I was there able to help Kate out.
Well, that's about it. I took my last final for the semester yesterday, and I think I did OK. My teacher, when I went to hand my exam in, said "Man! You really are skinny!" That made me feel good. :) Now I have exactly.....ONE WEEK.....before my first summer semester class starts up. I think I'm in denial about that because I haven't even thought about getting books or looking at what the class is about. I don't even know for sure what the class is! :) So far, I've received two of the four grades for the semester-both A's. I'm crossing my fingers on the other two; hopefully I get A's in those as well. We shall see.
Ok, well, I have a Dr.'s appointment in about an hour. I guess I should get ready to go.
~Pam
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Having the boys over for the morning...
I think I'm making a habit of this or something. Let's see, yesterday, the boys came over, today the boys came over, and I'm going to watch them on Saturday too! How cool is that? I'm trying to get as much time in with them before I leave :( We have a lot of fun over here. Parker and Preston love to:
1. play with hammers (my croquet mallets)
2. cut with scissors (my crafting/pinking shears)
3. kick the ball around (my volleyball-not a soccer ball)
4. feed the fish
5. shoot the birds/squirrels (with the mallets that they turn into 'guns')
6. pet the puppy (next-door neighbor's adorable dog)
7. dig in my sand (in between my veggie beds)
8. play games (like mancalla, boggle, yahtzee)
9. watch movies (chicken run, wallace and grommet)
10. eat cereal (although they ate the rest of my cereal today!)
See, they have a lot of fun over here! It is probably a good thing I only keep them for a couple hours, because they would run out of things to do if they were here longer! Today, Kate had a church meeting and she just dropped them off on her way and picked them up on the way back. And boy did we have a good time! Here's some pictures that Parker took (Preston tried to take some pics with my camera, but couldn't quite get it down-pushing the button while pointing takes coordination!)
Look! Parker took a nice one of me!
And here's another good attempt. Just one slight problem with a thumb in the way. No big deal!
Me and Parker-I helped take this one!
I was trying to take a picture of me and Preston, and Preston had decided to put a calculator down my shirt. Why? Hey, I don't ask questions ;)
Ahhh, that's better. He held still for just a minute!
See what Parker thinks is important? The TV of course!
And the back of Preston's head!
Anyways, we had a great time today, once again. I have to keep a few things in my "bag of tricks" so that I can keep them entertained. But I'm glad that I can have them over! And I know it helps Kate out at least a little bit. She doesn't have to worry about them and can focus on her meeting or her exercising! :)
Well, must study. Only one final this semester, and it is tomorrow. I guess I should read the "required reading" huh? :)
~Pam
1. play with hammers (my croquet mallets)
2. cut with scissors (my crafting/pinking shears)
3. kick the ball around (my volleyball-not a soccer ball)
4. feed the fish
5. shoot the birds/squirrels (with the mallets that they turn into 'guns')
6. pet the puppy (next-door neighbor's adorable dog)
7. dig in my sand (in between my veggie beds)
8. play games (like mancalla, boggle, yahtzee)
9. watch movies (chicken run, wallace and grommet)
10. eat cereal (although they ate the rest of my cereal today!)
See, they have a lot of fun over here! It is probably a good thing I only keep them for a couple hours, because they would run out of things to do if they were here longer! Today, Kate had a church meeting and she just dropped them off on her way and picked them up on the way back. And boy did we have a good time! Here's some pictures that Parker took (Preston tried to take some pics with my camera, but couldn't quite get it down-pushing the button while pointing takes coordination!)
Look! Parker took a nice one of me!
And here's another good attempt. Just one slight problem with a thumb in the way. No big deal!
Me and Parker-I helped take this one!
I was trying to take a picture of me and Preston, and Preston had decided to put a calculator down my shirt. Why? Hey, I don't ask questions ;)
Ahhh, that's better. He held still for just a minute!
See what Parker thinks is important? The TV of course!
And the back of Preston's head!
Anyways, we had a great time today, once again. I have to keep a few things in my "bag of tricks" so that I can keep them entertained. But I'm glad that I can have them over! And I know it helps Kate out at least a little bit. She doesn't have to worry about them and can focus on her meeting or her exercising! :)
Well, must study. Only one final this semester, and it is tomorrow. I guess I should read the "required reading" huh? :)
~Pam
Monday, May 4, 2009
Wow, what a weekend!
Ok, so I was sick Thursday and Friday, so when I started to feel better on Saturday morning and was ready to get OUT of the HOUSE, Matt mentioned a trip to the Outer Banks, NC. Shoot, I'm game! I drove most of the way down there, getting us to Pea Island on the Outer Banks, and Matt took us the rest of the way. We decided to go as far as we could, then see about taking a ferry to Ocracoke Island. Guess what! The ferry to Ocracoke is free! We HAD to take it! (I've never been on a ferry before, at least not one where you DRIVE onto it! It was pretty cool.) We explored the island, ate some dinner, explored some more, and drove home. We got home around 11pm, which is WAY too late for me, but it was still totally worth it.
Matt, on the ferry, getting ready to take some pictures.
Me and Matt, on the ferry.
Matt, in front of the Ocracoke pony pens.
On the beach. It was cold, and I didn't have a jacket, so I used my sheet to wrap up in :)
Matt, on the beach, where we found some respite from the wind.
Then, on Sunday, we had big plans. We ate breakfast, lounged around, got ready for lunch, thinking we were going to work out after lunch and maybe go grocery shopping. Well, Matt decided to check out Craig's List to see if he could find a range/microwave. He wasn't expecting to find anything, but he found what we were looking for, right away. And for an amazing price. So...we decided to head over and pick up a (practically) brand-new range and microwave. It is a gas stove-top and electric range. What does that mean? Well, it means we had to run 220v over to the oven, but after a bunch of fenagling, we got it hooked up. Let me tell you about that microwave. Well, our old microwave (which is now residing under our car port outside) had a cord that ran out of the bottom of it. This microwave has a cord that runs from the top. ARGH!!! That was really, really difficult to get straightened out (I'm using very mild language, which is hard to do when I think about it :). Anyways, it is all hooked up now, and I'm really happy with how it looks. We're going to have to get a backsplash for it, but other than that, we're good to go. It is awesome, by the way. I'm excited to have a stove that works, and I can't wait to bake in the oven, even though I probably won't eat anything that I bake! :)
Yep, there's my old stove, off to the left. Replaced by the newer, cleaner, much nicer model to the right. As Parker said this morning-"Mimi, that one's dirty! We can't play with it!" (I have cleaned it today, in case we're going to try to sell it, but boy was it dirty!)
Ahh...our new microwave and oven. Don't they look nice in the kitchen?
Nice, new appliances!
Well, I should go grocery shopping, but it looks like there might be a thunderstorm headed our way :( (Why should that matter? Well, I just have the truck, and groceries in the back of the truck tend to get wet when it rains :) Evidently there's a tornado warning until tonight at 6. Hmmm...that's the first I've heard of it. Well, maybe I can go ONE more day without going shopping. We'll have to see.
~Pam
Matt, on the ferry, getting ready to take some pictures.
Me and Matt, on the ferry.
Matt, in front of the Ocracoke pony pens.
On the beach. It was cold, and I didn't have a jacket, so I used my sheet to wrap up in :)
Matt, on the beach, where we found some respite from the wind.
Then, on Sunday, we had big plans. We ate breakfast, lounged around, got ready for lunch, thinking we were going to work out after lunch and maybe go grocery shopping. Well, Matt decided to check out Craig's List to see if he could find a range/microwave. He wasn't expecting to find anything, but he found what we were looking for, right away. And for an amazing price. So...we decided to head over and pick up a (practically) brand-new range and microwave. It is a gas stove-top and electric range. What does that mean? Well, it means we had to run 220v over to the oven, but after a bunch of fenagling, we got it hooked up. Let me tell you about that microwave. Well, our old microwave (which is now residing under our car port outside) had a cord that ran out of the bottom of it. This microwave has a cord that runs from the top. ARGH!!! That was really, really difficult to get straightened out (I'm using very mild language, which is hard to do when I think about it :). Anyways, it is all hooked up now, and I'm really happy with how it looks. We're going to have to get a backsplash for it, but other than that, we're good to go. It is awesome, by the way. I'm excited to have a stove that works, and I can't wait to bake in the oven, even though I probably won't eat anything that I bake! :)
Yep, there's my old stove, off to the left. Replaced by the newer, cleaner, much nicer model to the right. As Parker said this morning-"Mimi, that one's dirty! We can't play with it!" (I have cleaned it today, in case we're going to try to sell it, but boy was it dirty!)
Ahh...our new microwave and oven. Don't they look nice in the kitchen?
Nice, new appliances!
Well, I should go grocery shopping, but it looks like there might be a thunderstorm headed our way :( (Why should that matter? Well, I just have the truck, and groceries in the back of the truck tend to get wet when it rains :) Evidently there's a tornado warning until tonight at 6. Hmmm...that's the first I've heard of it. Well, maybe I can go ONE more day without going shopping. We'll have to see.
~Pam
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)