Wow it's been a while....

Well, my my, how things change in... what, almost 18 months?

I was successful in losing 55 pounds in 2007...

And then I got pregnant! We're due August 13th, 2008, and I currently feel like I'll deliver any day now. My daughter and my husband are both over the moon excited. When I have some energy, I'll post some pregnant photos. I'm very short, so the baby sticks out front so much that a) I can't see my feet and b) random strangers are asking if I'm having twins. (Thanks, HUGE ego boost).

Anyway, once the baby is home, I promise to post more, and I promise to post baby pics, too.

Hope you're all doing well, and welcome back!

Masive update

Yes, it's true! I've had Bronchitis for 5 straight weeks. It's been unbelievably miserable, culminating in an ER visit while on vacation last week. I've tried my best to keep up with my crazy schedule, but I've had to cut back on the amount of time and the intensity of my workouts.

With that said, I still had an amazing first month. I work out at the gym 4-6 times per week, for an hour to an hour and a half each visit. I train with my personal trainer three times per week, and that is the only strength training I am currently doing. All the rest of it is pure cardio.

I lost:

13 pounds

7 inches in my chest

3 inches in my waist

4 inches in my hips

Wow! I was very happy with those results. It's a lot of work, and so far it is paying off. It is why I am so irritated to be sick, I'm not able to push out those high intensity workouts. My doctor asked me to keep my heart rate at a moderate level, for purposes of avoiding my asthma attacks. I am using an albuterol inhaler immediately before my cardio sessions.

So, next month's results will be directly proportional to how hard I work at the gym. I am, however, still doing Weight Watchers at home, and sticking to it should help progress continue.

In other news, we celebrated Valentine's Day with a nice dinner at one of our favorite local Mom n Pop Italian restaurants. I allotted my WW points for the day, and was even able to have a slice of Cheesecake for dessert!

Anyway, here is a photo from Valentine's Day:

We did manage to go to Los Angeles last weekend, here are some photos:

Graumann's Chinese Theatre (with the handprints out front)

The El Cap, where we saw the newly restored Peter Pan

Your trusty writer accepting her first Academy Award. Yes, they really do feel heavy!

I got a free hug! I love Hollywood Blvd, it is full of the absolute craziest of the crazy. This is also where the celebrity impersonators hang out.

And last but not least, my favorite, Winnie the Pooh has his own Star on the Walk of Fame!

Sick House

Somehow, within mere hours of uttering the phrase, "I haven't caught a cold yet this year!" I came down with, you guessed it, my first cold of the season.

I've now passed it on to my little one, who got to try a cough drop as her first ever piece of hard candy (have I now scarred her for life, thinking all hard candy tastes like mentholyptus?)

Despite being sick, I'm still working out every day, just not as hard as I was last week. I'm still doing my hour to hour and a half, but I'm not pushing msyelf so hard that I pass out. I don't have a fever, so as long as that is true, I'll keep exercising. I imagine while I'm cycling that I'm pushing all the toxins out of my body, that every drop of sweat is a bead of cold virus.

I know, don't you totally want to go to my gym and use the machines after me? :-) I noticed the gym is out of hand sanitizer, everyone is so afraid of catching germs.

Last week I burned over 3,100 calories during my workouts at the gym (my handy dandy heart rate monitor tracks it for me!) I know I am taking it easier this week because today I burned only 470 calories instead of my usual 570 calories in the same amount of time.

Thank you all for your good wishes!!! So far, so good.

It's time for an update

OK folks, here goes with an update...

Most of you appear to be scared of my "Before" photo, and trust me, since I've seen it, I am, too.

However, here's how things stand. 6 Pounds lost in 1 week, jeans that would not fit two weeks ago now fit, I'm up to working out an hour and a half in one session. I also notice some changes in my body. My husband says my face looks thinner, and I notice it in my tush (from the elliptical machine) I will give updated weight results after my weigh-in day, which is on Thursdays.

My husband bought me this really awesome Polar heart rate monitor (in Pink, no less!) and according to my trusty HRM, I've burned over 2,500 calories at the gym this week alone. I worked out with my trainer Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I did at least an hour of cardio on my own at the gym Tuesday and Thursday, and I will be doing an hour on my treadmill at home today.

Also helping me along my journey is Weight Watchers online. I attended meetings two years ago and lost 30 pounds in 3 months, so I know WW works for me when I put effort into it.

In case you're wondering, I'm doing the Flex plan, because I'm a math geek and anything with numbers is really fun for me. Don't forget, all of that activity I'm doing earns me activity points, so I get to eat more calories than I would if I weren't exercising.

If all of this sounds like a lot of work, it is! All of a sudden my life is very, very busy. I'm focused right now and on track, so it feels great. I feel good, my energy level is higher, my mood is better, and I'm even sleeping better at night.

Another added bonus I'm enjoying- I'm at the gym SO MUCH right now, I'm actually making friends at the gym!!!

So, get out there, and move!!! See you at the gym!!!

Ow ow ow ow

I'm not usually one of those people who make New Year's Resolutions. I gave up on them many years ago. I hated making the same resolution year after year. I thought if I needed to make the same one next year, I haven't succeeded, and it made me feel like my past year was a failure.

With that aside, something propelled my lazy butt into a gym on Monday.

Yes, a gym.

I won't name names, but I absolutely LOVE this gym. I last belonged to a gym that is, oh, fairly popular in Southern California due to their low prices and shuffle-the-crowds-through mentality. I hated having to wait for equipment, and my out-of-shape self never felt I belonged in that particular establishment.

This gym? This gym is fantastic for several reasons. It's CLEAN. Spotless. They're always cleaning it, and for a germophobe like me, well, that's worth every extra penny. It's not so crowded, and the crowd that is there is really nice! People have said hello and struck up conversations with me, not something that happened all that often in my last gym. As out of shape as I am, I don't feel like I'm completely out of place in this gym. I had one woman come up to me and say, "Good for you! Getting out here so early in the morning isn't easy, good for you for getting started!" And folks, THAT was awesome.

But it gets better.

I hired a personal trainer.

I'm under a contract, too, so I can't fanagle my way out of it. (Ditto on the gym- I paid up front for 2 years- no more excuses!) Three times a week I will meet with my trainer, and two to three days per week I will do cardio.

It's Friday afternoon and I've so far survived working out 5 days IN A ROW.

I'm sore as can be and when I walk I'm saying, "Ow, ow, ow" and I'm sure I'm making funny faces.

But I'm there, I'm doing the work, and it's hard, I won't lie to you.

I promise I'll let you know how this turns out. Aw heck, in the spirit of National De-Lurking Week, if I get 100 comments I will post my "BEFORE" photo here. If I get 200 comments, I will post my "BEFORE" measurements. So post away! I'm sure you wanna know.

A new year, a new blog

I've had a lot of fun posting here, but as you can plainly see, I just haven't been giving it the love and attention it deserves. I will do my best to pump some love into this site this year, but most of my blogging love is going to go to my new blogging venture. Please visit me over at

http://sandiegopadresmom.mlblogs.com/

If you even remotely love baseball, love the Padres, or have a family, I hope you'll visit me on my new site. If you see me at Petco Park, please stop and say hello.

I hope to be adding some cool features (read: columns!) to the new blog, especially focusing on the family viewpoint of Padres baseball.

To celebrate the new year, my family went on a tour of Petco Park.

That's me, looking very happy to be inside the Padres dugout, with my Dad, who I think thought it was pretty cool, too.

Happy New Year 2007 to everyone! I hope this year is fantastic for all of you. Thank you again for your continued readership.

Merry merry

Hope you are enjoying your holiday season! I love this look of joy on my daughter's face... Remember that feeling? I hope so. Beauty.

That present she's opening? It's a hamster cage. We'll be adding a hamster or two to our lovely little zoo.

Christmas Eve

We've had a fairly busy but wonderful Christmas Eve.

My daughter performed what has to be one of the most mature acts she's ever showed- she voluntarily gave up some beloved toys on Christmas Eve to donate to Goodwill.

We all filled the van with things we hoped others could use joyfully, but one particular toy was tough for her to give up. Her Barbie Cruise Ship, still in as good a condition as the day she received it. I was very, very proud of her today. I think this will become an annual Christmas Eve tradition.

After that, we went as a family to play miniature golf, and then played games at the arcade. There, also, my little one tried new things, and had a great time.

I baked the rest of the afternoon for the family Christmas meal tomorrow- and lost all track of time until I realized we needed to get ready to go to services! We went to church to hear a friend of ours sing in the choir, and it was a candlelight Christmas service, my absolute favorite.

I came home to more baking, and now my daughter said she better go to sleep, so Santa will come by our house. She really enjoyed the internet Santa tracker, a pretty cool addition to our culture, yes?

For a Christmas tear-jerker, and a wonderful family tradition, see this story here.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

*Photo of the Hotel Del Coronado Christmas Tree 2005

Signs of the Holidays

Christmas from 3,000 miles away... BFF Kendall

Christmas Tree 2006

Gingerbread House

Hanukkah Menorah, 8th night of Hanukkah 2006

Xbox Widow

In case you've been wondering where I've been, well, let's just say it started with a bout of Strep Throat for my little one over the Thanksgiving holiday. Now that I finally feel I have Chrismakkah under way in my household, I can breathe a sigh of relief, sit back, and enjoy the festivities!

We begin our festivities with a Christmas celebration with the folks. They flew back east for the holidays (to see family), and we celebrated early with them before their flight.

They got my husband an XBox 360.

*sigh*

It's true. It's a bribe, I guess, so he'll stay married to me.

I got him "Gears of War", so he'll have something to play until Santa shows up with the rest of his gifts.

It's made me an XBox Widow.

I always said I never wanted to be a widow to sports. I never thought I'd become a widow to a gamer.

Last night I went out for 3 hours. When I got home, he hadn't even realized how much time had passed. It's like being married to a teenager (not *really*, come on people, he's 41). I can't even play the old version of XBox (too many buttons and thingys on the controller), and this new version has even MORE thingys on the controller. I haven't tried to play yet, I need a game for it that even a 6-year-old could play, and I somehow don't attribute that to "Gears of War".

On my wishlist is the Lego Star Wars game. I think that I might be able to play, and have fun with it.

In the meantime, he can sleep easier now knowing that he'll be able to play Halo 3 in the fall.

And I'll need a new hobby when that gets released.