The Post Where I Whine About Being Sore

[caption id="attachment_85" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="This is my most favorite picture from the day. Mr. J and Little O"][/caption]

I learned a lesson today. Jillian Michael's + Hiking = pain

I had been wanting to climb this mountain for a few weeks now but something always came up and we didn't have the time to. Mr. J is working the evening shift this week so if we want to do anything we have to before he leaves for work. So this morning I got myself out of bed and announced we were going hiking. We packed our two dogs, my brother's dog, and my brother into our small car and off we went. Our adventure started even before we reached the parking spot half way up the mountain, as our car decided to overheat. So we pulled over and walked the extra way. My legs were screaming at me! It felt like I'd been whacked across the calf muscles with a bat or something. But I kept going. Telling myself of how fabulous I need to look in that dress! Plus I knew the view at the top would be worth it.

It was pretty hot out so we took many breaks on the way up. The dogs didn't seem to notice or run out of energy. (p.s. oh Mr. J and his socks pulled up)

[caption id="attachment_87" align="aligncenter" width="199" caption="Mr. J and Butch"][/caption]

Butch had to get in on the picture action

[caption id="attachment_90" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="My house is out there somewhere..."][/caption]

After living in the prairies for so long, sometimes BC with all it's mountains and trees can me feel claustrophobic from the lack of 360 degree views.

This totally remedied it.

I'm all sometimes about keeping it real. So in light of my effort to love my body at every stage it's at; I'm posting these two pictures of myself.

Sans make-up.

And I forgot to suck in my tummy and look thin.

And I really have been trying to tan this summer.

You can't tell from my pasty skin.

Oh and did I mention I didn't capture my best angles.

Or that my shorts aren't flattering?

But I digress.

What was my point? Oh yeah... you know that saying "No pain. No gain"? Well I'm in a lot of pain. So I'm expecting a lot of gain!

***(BTW I really did have a good time on the hike. And felt really good after. I just move slower now. But hopefully I'm not still sore on Sunday. I have another mountain in mind to climb.)

Getting Dress Ready

Disagree with me if you want, but I'm not much of a girlie girl. At least I don't see myself as one. The only time I buy dresses is for something that requires one. Case in point... the last dress I bought was for a graduation. The dress I bought before that was for a friend's wedding, the dress before that was for my wedding. So if you do the math, that equals one dress a year. But even with that I usually only wear them once. So when my sister asked me to be in her wedding this August, I thought well here's my yearly dress. Then it was oh no. here's my yearly dress.  I kind of wanted to put off buying new clothes until I reached my goal weight. And even though I am still losing weight every week it will be a little longer still till I get there. But we are now two and half weeks away from the wedding and I just ordered my dress yesterday. I can't help it if I'm not good at picking a dress. Or that all dresses are made for people who are so thin they disappear when they turn sideways! This is the dress I ordered...

[caption id="attachment_76" align="aligncenter" width="490" caption="From Victoria's Secret"][/caption]

So now the count down is on. I have two and a half weeks to be dress ready. I seem to have misplaced my 30 day shred video! I was like Jillian! I need you! When we were in walmart last weekend we went over to the dvd section and there staring at me from the shelf was the answer to all my dress body worries.
It was a dvd pack that contained this gem:

[caption id="attachment_78" align="aligncenter" width="201" caption="Following photos are from Jillian Michael's Website"][/caption]

I LOVE this dvd! I haven't made it the 30 days yet. But I definitely notice a difference in my muscle tone after doing this one for a bit.



I never tried yoga before. But this one has really good reviews. I have to get a good yoga mat first but perhaps I'll give it a shot one of these days.



And this one.... I tried this one last night at midnight while I was waiting for Jon to come home from work. Her 30 day shred video is 20 mins long... by the time it's almost finished I'm glad... sometimes I do some more cardio after but usually I call it good. But this baby is 45 mins long! We're not talkin breaks and slow parts. We're talking high intensity intervals, one after another. But I loved it! Some of the moves I was like not likely when I watched her do it first, but it was actually easier then I thought. A few moves I was like not a chance, but perhaps in a week or so I'll give it a shot. And other moves I seriously couldn't get enough of. She incorporates more kick boxing moves into this video. So that is really awesome. So I guess time will tell. But I better sign off... it's almost time for dinner and the way my muscles are complaining today, I think the stairs are going to take a while to get up...

Boys Smell Funny

This past weekend Mr. J, my brother, and my soon-to-be brother-in law went with my dad and his friend to the ocean to go fishing. Mr. J doesn't like to take trips without me but this one was strictly a guys trip. The boys were so excited, they talked of nothing else for the week leading up to it. I was excited too. I couldn't wait for the house to be quiet! I ate what I wanted to eat (read: meals not containing 98.9% meat), I watched what I wanted to on the tv. I even went to the city and went shopping. All in all a pretty good weekend. Usually my sister and her fiancé do almost everything together, so while he was gone her and I got to spend some time doing things. We went to the city together, hung out, and rode the bikes around on two evenings. But each day that got closer to their return one thought kept playing over in my head...

I HAVE TO PICK THEM UP! Just imagine six guys crammed into a truck for a 7 hour drive one way... that would smell a bit funky. Then they spent three days getting covered in fish guts, drinkin, and a few of them smoke. Did I mention they didn't shower? And then cram back into the truck for a 7 hour drive back. They were going to smell something special. I went through the options. I could "fall asleep" and have my dad have to drive them home. I could drop our car off and have my sister drive me back, then they can drive themselves. OR... the best option, I borrowed my mom's van and went out to pick them up. I figured it's a larger vehicle so their smell might not stink the vehicle up right away; there is more windows we can open if it gets too bad for me. And it's not my vehicle so it shouldn't smell the next day after the hot sun beats down on it. muahahaha!

But much to my surprise and delight I couldn't smell them! I tried not to take deep breaths but I was expecting an overwhelming smell and there was little to none! But then again maybe I got used to it. Because on the way home there was a police roadblock and normally they ask a million questions and this time I thought for sure they would.

They said "What's in the cooler?"

I said "Fish. They just got back from a fishing trip."

The guy backs up a bit and says "Are they tagged?"

I said "Yep all of them. "

He said "Ok carry on."

If you want my opinion... I think perhaps the smell was so bad from the vehicle they didn't want to stop us longer. Otherwise they would have for sure searched the cooler and looked at the fishing licenses! That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

At least they had a good time and enjoyed themselves.

Mr. J and one of his catches

I'm Not A Fan Of Wrong Numbers

Several years ago, I had a friend, we'll call him Bob**. I sort of knew Bob's parents, but I called them Mr and Mrs Smith out of respect. One day Mr. Smith fell off a horse and was in the hospital so I figured the thoughtful thing to do would be to send flowers. A few weeks go by and I completely forget about it. At the time I was working at a grocery store as an acting supervisor. The customers were inconsistent so it was difficult to take breaks so we took a minute here and there when we could. I would sporadically check my cell for missed calls and texts. On this particular day I kept missing a call. I did not recognize the number even though it was local. And I HATE getting wrong numbers. So I finally got annoyed with this number calling and missing it so I decided to call them back. If someone had typed a transcript of the conversation this is how it might have looked:

Ringing.... Ringing....
Male's Voice: Hello?
Me: Um hi someone from your number keeps calling me. I'm sorry but you have the wrong number. So please stop calling.
Male's Voice: No, I don't have the wrong number
Me: Sorry but yes you do
Male's Voice: *moment of silence* This is Bill
Me: Who?
Male's Voice: Bill
Me: ***quiet for a bit*** I don't know a Bill
Male's Voice: Mr. Smith... Bob's dad
Me: OOOOO I am SO sorry
***awkward silence***
Male's Voice: ***holding back chuckles*** I was uh just calling to say thanks for the flowers.
Me: Umm you're welcome.

I don't remember how it ended but I just know I felt like a huge tool. And that definitely wasn't the end of it. Needless to say that was the last "wrong number" I have ever called back. Speaking of which... the phone just rang. It was a wrong number. I'm not making this up. I better go call back and prank them.

**All names have been changed to protect the innocent. Or those embarrassed to have known me.

Learning To Love How I Look

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Photo Credit: We Heart It @ http://weheartit.com/entry/612725"][/caption]

What motivates you? I am my own worst enemy. I feel like my parents put a lot of expectations on me growing up. And in time I have done the same. That's why this whole weight-loss thing has been such an ordeal. I used to be super thin because I didn't believe I deserved the right to eat. Plus my whole life felt like it was in constant turmoil and not eating was the only thing I felt I had any control over. I know now that this is a very ridiculous mind-set and not at all healthy emotionally or physically. I saw a counselor and worked through everything and learned to enjoy eating and food. Then about a year later I look in the mirror and I've gained 60 pounds. I don't remember gaining weight. But there I was.

So from that moment on it felt like I've been in a struggle between losing weight, being hard on myself, and learning to accept and love what I have. I thought I was doing pretty good. Got into a work out schedule, changed my eating habits. Then we moved.Closer to my family.  And one thing you gotta love (and hate sometimes) about family is their honesty. I think my family has been pretty honest. For example, on days when it's hot if I mention ice cream or an iced capp would be really nice about now; they mention how I don't really need it, it'd just be extra weight to burn off. Or they might poke my stomach and say "hey chubby". Not always the most helpful comments. The harder I am on myself the more down I am about my progress thus far, and the less I feel like working out. But when I am running my heart out on the treadmill I play over and over in my head everything they've said about my weight that's hurt. And then it's Bye Bye Pounds!!

So I guess I do have them to thank for my weight loss of 30 pounds so far. I've still got 30 more to go. Slowly with each shed pound I'm learning to love how I look not because it makes other people happy. But because I am happy about it!

What Makes A Good Friend?

After highschool and in college, I had quite a few friends. Not those ones where you know their first names and have mutual friends in common. But the ones you could hangout with whenever and do nothing and still have a great time. The ones who knew your secrets and told you theirs. Those kinds of friends. Then at a time  when I felt loneliest and like I could use a friend the most, they were gone. Just like that. Actually it didn't happen quite as sudden as that... they "cut me out" of the group. I fought to stay in for a little bit but not long. I decided I didn't need friends like that anyways. Slowly but steadily I've come to the conclusion that I must be really difficult to be friends with, because I don't have many at all. Not like I used to. I know you lose friends when you get married but I thought they were supposed to be replaced with other people who are at the same place in their life that you are. So I've decided that it's not them, it's me. I mean that's the only logical explanation right?

Am I too independent? Perhaps I should be more needy and agressive when trying to build friendships. Should I introduce myself and share a deep dark secret... you know throw the whole trust thing in right away. Maybe that's my problem... I don't trust easily enough. Or do you think I should pretend to be someone I'm not? Someone that everyone wants to be or be friends with. I think we're a little past kindergarten where we'd walk up to people on the playground and ask if they want to be our friend. Or am I the only one who did that at that age?

I was really shy; ok still am. And my mom said every morning when she dropped me off to make friends and just ask people to be my friend. So one day I worked up the courage and walked up to this girl who was on a tire swing. I said "Hi! Do you want to be my friend???" And she said "No thanks. I already have a friend." Kindergartners can be so cruel. Is there something about a person that makes them more "friend-attractive"? If so, I don't think I have it. Maybe one day I will. Or perhaps I'll be in the old folks home when I'm 88 asking people to be my friends.

This post is kind of depressing. But I really didn't mean it to be. I know I'm a great friend to people. I'm caring, loyal, and thoughtful. I've just got to keep being me, and one day those will be attributes that someone wants in a friend. :)