Prison.

So I think I'm getting into the habit of this fitness thing, I don't even really notice writing down everything I eat anymore and I'm definitely exercising more. I still however slip on the weekends... in the case of this last week it was in the form of a large pepperoni pizza...

In less happy news, Army TRADOC (basically the brass in charge of anybody still in the training system/ without a real duty station) has decided to crack down on the liberties they allow us here at DLI and in an instant this afternoon a healthy portion of my freedoms were stripped away from me... we now have nightly bed checks (after whihc there is no leaving the barracks) and no overnight privileges and I can't stay out past nine on weekend nights. Plus battle buddies basically anytime you leave the barracks. Plus as of now the only permissible leave is Christmas. So, life just got a lot more difficult here. Our command thinks it's ridiculous and are doing everything they can to appeal for more freedom for us. The most fervent of these they are fighting for is our ability to return home during class break, so it's possible I wont make it home in July......******!!! (<-- if you are swearing family member place a fervent one here, otherwise a general frustrated noise will do just fine)

on the up, so long as I have a friend with me I can keep going surfing on the weekends and this will probably lead to more studying.

Grilling!!!

We are back and the kitchen is almost done. Today a light bulb went off in my head (doesn't happen much) about using the BBQ. Jenna also downloaded an ebook on healthy grilling. Since we don't have a stove and Mom is in Montana, I figured I will be grilling more veggies. Today I grilled green peppers and it tasted good. I figured I will look in the ebook and see what veggie recipes they have.

Side note: there is a gray kitten that we are pretty sure is a boy that has adopted the place. Now, he follows Frankie wherever he goes. When he can't find Frankie, than he will meow until he sees him again. That is why, we want him to go to someone else, because the meowing is more of an annoying loud meow. He is shy to people and is still learning to trust us. He is slowly doing it. Anyway, today, I saw Frankie with the gray following him and the orange cat following him (the orange cat won't let us get near it, but stays around the barn, so probably catching a lot of mice). At least they don't mind each other. The fat calico cat doesn't like the gray cat being around. The good thing is that she is staying off the porch more often because of the gray cat.

Back to BBQ. While Mom is gone, I will be grilling it all up. I have a recipe that I keep forgetting to do, so I will be doing it this week. Anyway, so far, Brian has been a fan of whatever I have grilled, so I consider that a good start.

Turkey Trot sound like Fun

So Julie's idea of running the Turkey Trot sounds like fun.  Will everyone be around for that?   I was all geared up to run a 5k in April, but it didn't happen due to a scheduling conflict.  I've never ever ran in a real race before.  I'm up to running 1.5 miles without stopping.  So I'm halfway there.

Anyone else want to run the Turkey Trot? 

what to say and what to do

Today I have been cleaning the beach house and doing homework. I have been watching Survivorman because I am now used to having noise around me. When Eli and Jenna are not here, I need noise to feel at home. Seems weird, but anyway. I am glad we don't have to do what he has to do. I am sure he gets his exercise points, but probably wouldn't do too well with eating fruits and vegetables. I think Ben would do a good job as Survivorman as well.

Also, you haven't heard, I have been accepted into the OSU MBA Accounting program. Sorry Brett, we will be Beaver fans now, since I will be going to school there. We will cheer for the Ducks, except against OSU. I still will be going to my Portland State interview.

Here are some links for top ten reasons for eating fruits and veggies, and leafy greens.

http://www.extension.org/pages/19884/top-10-reasons-to-eat-more-fruits-and-vegetables

http://www.leafy-greens.org/top10.html

Elijah would do good in this challenge. He loves fruits and veggies and would always get his sleep, and 4 points of exercise everyday. Though his posts may not make much sense.

Does Nobody Post on Sundays Now

Memorial Day gave me a four-day weekend and military discounts left and right. We got to go to the Great America's theme park for free, which was pretty fun until lines for the roller coasters became hours long. The down side to a long weekend is eating out/ not eating healthy. However bonus exercise points are equaling that out a little. For example: I got the full 8 on Saturday when I spent two and half hours surfing for the first time in forever! I had a great weekend and a much needed break from the language. Hope you all and great Memorial days! (and that they were a little healthier mine -- I think there was three days straight of pizza for dinner...)

The thing about any kind of rigid diet is that by about the 5th day I can't stand to eat anymore of whatever it is.  The cinnamon/honey thing was fine for until Friday and then I couldn't drink it anymore.  So this is all a lesson in the fact that nothing really works long term except healthy eating and exercise. Still it's fun to try. Even though I have only lost 41/2 pounds total-at least I stopped gaining.  Abandoning any thought to what one is eating never goes well.  The fitness challenge has helped with that.  I also got some exercise points this week and bought some new running shoes, so maybe I can do some of the Turkey Trot with Julie if I get on it!  I really like Julie's example of what 50 pounds looks like and am very happy she has been able to lose that much this year.  Good going Julie! We should all put pictures up once in  a while.  I want to see if Brett is getting bigger!

Mom

MBA and a toddler

I found out I have an interview this week scheduled for Thursday for Portland State's MBA program. That will be fun. Also, as the sun is coming up earlier, Elijah has decided that getting up earlier is a good idea. This past week he as been waking up between 6 and 6:30. He wakes up happy and ready for the world. He has been enjoying the beach house. Yesterday on our way back to the beach house, he said he like sleeping at the beach house. Also, good news, Elijah is off of using a bottle. He has been wanting to have a bottle particularly with Jenna when he wants to snuggle. Now he will just snuggle. He got a special toy to as an award for this be moment in his life. He got a batmobile and batman (Imaginex type) for giving up the bottle. Overall he is getting use it. It has made his bedtime routine a lot shorter! Elijah+beach=exercise.

Late Pop Challenge

I forgot to post for Chris.  His pop challenge this week was eating your fruit on Thursday, May 16.

One word for this week, migraine

Well, I had a fun filled week fighting off migraines, but there is good news! They finally seem to be going away! Yay!!! I also finished watching the Avatar the Last Airbender series, pretty much awesome! I did find out some good news healthwise today! I've been afraid to even look at this clinic that our famous friend acupuncturist, Mark, recommended to me to help me figure out my migraines, since they seem to be hormonal mostly in nature, called "A Woman's Time" (I know right? quite the clinic name) anyway, I decided today to look it up and it turns out my insurance covers licensed Naturpaths just like any other primary care visit, and if I play my cards right I can get massage therapy and acupuncture covered as well to a yearly limit J.

Anyway, that’s my news as that was about all I could do healthwise this week. But like I said, I’m doing a lot better! 

Three Things

1) Beware of Dad! He is an ENABLER. Dad came to see me on Tuesday, and we went to Ben & Jerry's. I was considering the lemon sorbet when Dad was like, "Oh, just get the chocolate waffle cone, you know you want to." And then I DID. We also went for a nice walk afterward, but still. I blame him for the ice cream.

2) As of my last weigh-in (Saturday), I have lost 50 pounds since last April. You know what else is 50 pounds?

Fitness Challenge, what fitness challenge?

Kind of forgot I was doing this half way through last week. Got a new load of groceries today and working on staying on the horse. Buying a car this week (half of one anyways, going to be sharing it for now) and excited to get mobile. Otherwise, need to get running, I've been avoiding it and I don't want to get slower. My solution is working on an up beat running mix (song suggestions very welcome: so far I'm building off a few "girl talk -esk" mash-up songs and being disappointed by the generally melancholy state of my music library)

POP CHALLENGE!

ahh. Sorry I forgot to do this earlier. If you got exercise points on Saturday you get an extra two!

(is that how it works? or if the pop challenge is exercise do they need to get all four points? ruling?)