Weekend in Review

Firstly, I’m watching The Bachelorette and I’m going to come right out and say that I don’t care if what Ryan did is totally stalkerish.  I think it’s romantic and I still love him.
Anyway…
My weekend was packed with lots of super fun things that I’ve been itching to share with you all!  We were lucky to have such a beautiful weekend.  It wasn’t nearly as hot as the days before and thankfully the rain held off until today (and the rest of the week I guess).
Friday evening I went and saw Harry Potter, again!  This time with my BFF Alicia and just in regular ‘ol $10 a ticket format.  That didn’t make it bad or anything of course (well I could’ve done without the excessive volume of the theater next to us) and it was really enjoyable watching it the second time around.  I didn’t cry nearly as much (Snape’s memories just eat my heart out) and I was able to poke fun of Voldemort .  Did you notice that he got kind of chunky as the movies went on?  Alicia and I are pretty sure he’s a stress eater, taking over the wizarding world is for sure a stressful feat.
Saturday I spent some more time with Alicia.  She was dog sitting for a doctor that she works for and the doctor gave her access to her seasonal camp spot (it was a camper spot at a resort) and we were able to just enjoy the campground and the pups!  First on our agenda was taking the dogs out for a walk in “NATURE!!!” on the trails to try and tucker them out so we could escape for some kayaking.
  
The resort had these random dinosaurs.  It was even labeled on their map like it was some big attraction, as you can see, for us it was.  There’s Alicia with Miley and Lily – being told by me that the sign next to her says, “No Climbing!”
After our walking adventure we went back to the camper and dropped the dogs off for some kayaking!  The main lake that the RV Park sits on is obviously man made, it’s more of a pond to me.  But we were able to kayak over to the road where we could get out and cross over to the bigger lake that had real summer camps along it.  This RV park was kind of a new experience for me, not that I hadn’t been to an RV Park before, but this particular one was very much a “resort” where I’d say most of their income is generated from individuals who park their RVs there all summer.  There were so many golf carts zipping around, and people had some pretty serious gardens and outdoor decorations at their sites.
Anyway, some kayaking pics…
  
  
We also kayaked to the beach which was extremely shallow for some reason.  The water was also super warm, but it was still enjoyable.  I tried to get Alicia to go to the resort’s pool (I like pools better), but she wasn’t having it.  She’s a party pooper.
Also the doctor has a young son and daughter, the daughter had some wonderful rules to live by on her side of their little camper bedroom:

We especially loved the “You can NOT fart” and “Don’t wake Maddy earlier than 9:00”
Needless to say, I was exhausted at the end of the day!  I came home, had a couple of fruity drinks and went right to bed.
Sunday was such a glorious day!  I woke up fairly early, and decided I wanted to bike to Lake George.  It’s about an 18 mile round trip for me from the lot that I start at.  I could start it from my house, or another lot but I choose not to.  I might try for a longer ride next weekend though.  I always take pictures when I go up to Lake George, but I tried to take a few more on this particular trip.

This is the view you get as you cruise into the village.  I say cruise, because literally it’s what you’re doing.  You hit one point on the path going towards Lake George where it’s smooth sailing.  I have to say that I think biking TO is a lot easier than biking FROM.  The skies were blue, there was a nice breeze and the lake was looking especially pretty!

I stopped at The Pink Roof for a dish of ice cream.  You can see that it gets its name from it’s actual pink roof.  The people that own that ice cream shop also own the mini golf course next to it.  This is a quieter end of the village, since I don’t have a bike lock (don’t ask) I try to avoid the crowds because I have to either ride on the roads or pull by bike through people and in all honesty, I prefer to stay away from the tourists.
I sat on a ledge and enjoyed my ice cream and took way too many pictures…

I wore shorts for this trip in hopes of getting some color on my legs.  It’s kind of ridiculous how white they are compared to my arms/shoulders/face.

I didn’t stay very long this time.  I finished my ice cream, went to the restroom and decided to head back.  I mentioned that the way back is rougher, and since it’s been a good few weeks since I’ve made this trip, I was definitely slower than usual.  However, I didn’t walk ANY hill coming or going, which means I defeated that darned bridge (which I didn’t get a picture of).  The first big hill coming back takes you up to this creepy little theme park called Magic Forest.  I’ve been so wanting a picture of the statues in the front to share with you and this time I just decided to take a little break and get those pics…

Santa and Uncle Sam.  Random, right??  This is a teeny, tiny park.  I’ve never been to it, not even when I was younger, I’m not sure I’d ever want to.  They’re famous for their “diving horse” which makes me shutter just thinking about it.

I got back on my bike and headed home.  The trip was about an hour and a half total, my average speed was 12 mph.  I got home early (I usually do this trip mid afternoon) and I ended up just putzing around the house the rest of the day.  Today was a far cry from the weekend, it was rainy, I had to work and I had to get up early.  I’m hoping that next weekend ends up being just as glorious and that the week goes by at a quick pace!  *fingers crossed*

What is YOUR favorite outside activity?

What I’m Loving Wednesday

I was inspired by the fantabulous Miss Angie (link to her health blog) to participate in What I’m Loving Wednesday hosted over at LittleDaisyMay.  So here’s what I’m loving:

 

 

I’m still loving The Band Perry and I’m totally embracing my country love.  I’ve even had other bloggy friends recommend other bands to me and *gasp* I actually like them also!  More particularly though, I just can’t get enough of this CD.

 

My bike!  I haven’t rode my bike in forever and today I got a good ten mile ride in right after work.  It was perfect (although a little slow).  I missed my bike, I need to stop being a lazy bum!

 

Spotify, a free music streaming service.  It’s currently in invite mode (I got my invite from Britney Spears…for real!) but you can request an invite.  I love being able to listen to the music *I* want to when I want to, unlike with Pandora where it’s their own mix of what they THINK you’ll like and then you only have so many skips…psh.

Starbucks Non-Fat Caramel Frappachino.  That particular one has a double shot of espresso…uhm….I’m not a coffee drinker, like AT ALL but boy these have been hitting the spot lately.  Thankfully Starbucks isn’t really “around” me or on my way of many things so I’m not drinking away a million calories each day.

 

 

Two things in this picture!  1) My Dickey’s Big Yellow Cup.  I have two of them (and two little ones…shut it, I don’t go there too much) and they’re the perfect cup for lots of ice and lots of water or unsweetened iced tea and I need that in this hot weather!  2) Cucumbers!!  I’ve been eating cucumbers like it’s my job, these ones are topped with Fat Free Catalina….yum!  Oh and don’t be totally grossed out by my dinner, it’s just rice, chicken and buffalo sauce.

 

 

Lastly, I’m loving that my friend Janette introduced me to Skype to use while I’m at work!  Not only is it faster than our usual e-mails, it makes the day go by so much faster when you’ve got someone you enjoy to talk to!

 

 

 

 

What is a CD YOU can’t stop listening to right now??

Goodbye Weekend....

It's over already??  Man, what I'd give for the work week to go by as fast!  I had a fairly uneventful weekend.  Yesterday my BFF Alicia and I puttered around and went for chips and salsa at a little Mexican joint in downtown Glens Falls.  I'm not big on the food, but I LOVE their salsa!  I wish I took a pic of it, but I forgot.  It also makes for good people watching, because the tables sit right outside of a traffic circle that after, I don't know...five years of being in existence, people still can't handle.  Seriously, in a span of about 30 minutes you'll hear at least 10 beeps from horns!


For the second summer Downtown Glens Falls put out these painted Adirondack chairs that are sponsored by various local businesses and made by local artists, it's a "Have a Seat" campaign.  I didn't get to see all of them last night, but I got a picture of a few that I really liked, and you can see them all on the website.  I LOVE Adirondack chairs, but if you know anything about me you know I love anything Adirondack!

I really liked this one and it might actually be my favorite.  Plus Algonquin is a conquest of mine, it's the second highest of the High Peaks and since I hope to become a 46er before hitting 30 - it's on my list!

Moose are my most favorite woodland creature!  You'll see a lot of moose stuff in Adirondack stores and on souvenirs around here, but the reality is they really don't thrive in the Adirondacks.  I believe there are less than a thousand in the park and they are protected from hunters.  This chair is called "One Elk", because in the party of moose, there's one elk...can you see him??

I mostly like the ones that are tied to the area, some of them are kind of random, although still beautiful or creative.  I thought this one was cute because of the tail and ear coming off the edge...

And I didn't get a picture of it, but there was one that was covered in pennies which I thought was cool, you can see it on the website if you're curious!  At the end of the summer they hold an auction for people to bid on their favorite chair!

Quick funny story about Adirondack chairs and my BFF Alicia.  Last summer we took a day trip to the Lake Placid Region, as a part of the day trip we were on a mission to get our "Forever Adirondack" pin collection, which required us to go to various visiting centers of choice areas.  On the way home we decided to stop in the "Schroon Lake Region" to pick up that pin and while we were there we found some chairs on the lake and decided to take a seat.

As we were sitting Alicia, in a complete serious tone I might add, asked: "What do they call Adirondack chairs in the Catskills?"  The Catskills being a far less superior chain of mountains that are a part of the Appalachian chain in southern NY.

I looked at her with a, "huh?" look on my face and burst out into laughter, explaining that the Adirondack chair is known as the Adirondack Chair nationwide.  And my proof to back it up was that they're a piece of furniture you can buy in the Sims - hah!

I actually found out this past week in fact that they're also known as Muskoka chairs, but uhmm....that's not right.  :)

Moving along...

Today I decided to do a bike ride up to Lake George.  I was a little hesitant because I knew it would be super busy up there, but I haven't done much in the way of bike riding lately and I couldn't let such a beautiful day go to waste!  Again, I didn't get as many pictures as I would've liked to have, but the village was bustling with people and the trail was busy too!

I MUST get a picture of this one bridge, I always say I want to stop and get it but I'm one of those people who stopping just hurts them, I HAVE to keep going.  This one bridge is crazy difficult to go over - going over it heading towards the lake is the worst and I've yet to successfully ride over it, I have to walk it like a bum.  It's the only part I walk though, I swear!  Coming back on the other hand is my favorite stretch of the ride because you don't have to pedal for the whole section, it's all down!  My max speed according to my tracker (Endomondo) was 43.4 MPH!  I'm pretty sure it was on that stretch.  I clipped along pretty well today, my average speed was 11 MPH and I shaved a lot of time off compared to when I went the weekend before Memorial Day.  I biked for a total of 15.5 miles.

There were a lot of people on the beach today swimming.  In my opinion it was a perfect day, it was warm and there was a nice breeze.  I enjoyed laying on the grass for a little bit. Some of you may remember back in February I did a Polar Plunge and it was on this beach...

What a difference 4 months makes, huh?

While at the beach I had a sandwich that I got from some deli.  It was huge!  So I only had half...

And took another picture for good measure (with one of the steamboats):

I didn't bike to Sprinkles for ice cream to add on an extra bit of mileage today because the sun took a lot out of me.  I did however stop at Cooper's Cave on the way home!

And yes, I sat in the air conditioned car because I'm a baby.


I came home to my beautiful ice pack that my mom handed over to me for my legs - I tried finding one as big as this in the stores because I didn't want to take this from her, but I was just telling her what a lifesaver it's been for me (it had a small hole in it so we patched it with duct tape, lol)  It's perfect because it fits over both of my shins at the same time...

And the beast and I have been enjoying our looooong evening (seriously it's 9:00 and it's still light outside!) snuggling, napping and watching some Netflix!

He looks viscous doesn't he??


I'm thinking a bath is in order for the evening and then I'm hitting the pillows!  I hope everyone had a great weekend!

It appears as though...

I got home from tonight's quickie bike ride just in time. About five minutes after I got home it started pouring, with crazy winds and pea sized hail...

Funny how hail makes me run outside like a little kid but the second it thunders I run inside screaming.

It's so hot in my apartment though, it was nice to sit outside in the wind and rain!

First real exercise activity in a week (not counting hiking as exercise,that's more of a leisure thing for me).  I did a quick bike ride as my legs are still not 100%.  Today my upper thigh of my left leg ached all day, again another really intolerable pain.  Not sure what that is.  Apparently I just have general issues with my legs.  Not ok.    Here's my favorite picture from Saturday's hike by the way...

It's not much of a hike time wise, it's a pretty steep 20 minute tuck up a mountain in a little town called Warrensburg, NY.  It's nice though because it overlooks the whole town and to the north you get great views of the lower Adirondacks.  The black flies were vicious!

The bike ride was not without warrant BTW, I did grab Wendy's on the way home today for dinner.  I don't know why I'm sabotaging myself right now but I've got get it under control.  It took me 5 months to lose 30 pounds, I don't want to spend another 5 months RElosing it.  Honesty with myself and you all is key.

So you all know about my job situation, I've been applying to many ads without much luck.  They're either A) fake - thanks Craigslist! or B) filled.

However today I got a call back for a position at a national insurance company (the insurance company I use for my car none the less...discounted insurance anyone?!)!  I'm stoked, I had to send back some paperwork to take a test and we'll see where it goes from there.  Better pay, better benefits, but about 30 minutes further away.  I have worked an HOUR away from home before, in vicious traffic.  The good news is this is WAY before the vicious traffic AND it takes me through Saratoga which is nice as it's a pain to go down there, but they have Old Navy.  I miss Old Navy.

Oh and it pays about $2 more an hour (granted that will probably be what I pay in gas) and has better benefits.

I'm sold.  Wish me luck!

Hope you're all enjoying your evening!  I should really be cleaning my apartment for company tomorrow, but I'm too busy blogging and watching Cars (yea I can't help it it's one of my faves...I'm like 6 at heart).  KA-CHOW!

21 Days....

Thursday I read an entry on Janna's blog about this woman who basically transformed her life through diet and exercise in 21 days.  The idea being that it takes 21 days to get into a good habit.

She told herself, 21 days.  If in 21 days I don't feel better, I can go back to doing what I was doing before.

I'm constantly on the journey of self improvement, and I find I tend to either:

A) Fall flat on my face

or

B) Come up with all these wonderful ideas of new things to do, but just never follow through

Option B being the most popular.  I'm a HUGE culprit of starting something and not finishing it.

There are things I want out of my life...

I want to be healthy

I want to be organized

I want to be positive and be full of energy

I want to be happy


Am I going to get all of that in 21 days?  Well...probably not.

But I definitely can set some goals to help me get there, and I can get started with 21 days.

After reading Janna's post and finding that other bloggy friends were on board I sat down and thought about what I want to accomplish in 21 Days.

I will...

* Create a cleaning/organization plan and follow it.  This will be heavily influenced by www.flylady.com.

I have already started this, again...one of those things that I started, but didn't follow through with.  This is really important to me because I feel like I don't have a set routine for ANYTHING during the week.  I come home, eat and work out by either going to the gym or riding my bike.  I don't pick up after myself, I don't do my dishes, I don't take my garbage out...I save it all for a whole day on the weekend.  And if I'm busy that weekend?  It doesn't get done.  This causes me to be overwhelmed, stressed, embarrassed and frustrated that I let it get that way.  There has to be a better way, and routine is going to help.

* Start the C25K program.

Running is so scary to me, I always said, "I wouldn't even run if someone was coming after me to murder me!"  But you know what?  Running is great exercise, running is NEW exercise...and I'm getting bored.  Particularly with the gym (my bike I can ride for days).  So now that the weather is nice and I can run outside (I'm afraid to run on the treadmill) there's no excuse.  I'm envious of all of you wonderful ladies out there that are doing so well with this program, that I'm officially inspired.

* LOG EVERYTHING I EAT

I used to be SO good with this, and as time has gone on...I've just stopped doing it.  I need to get back into it and I need to be honest with myself about it.  I find that on the days I go off, those are the days I don't log.  It's an honesty thing and I think it's a good chunk of why my weight loss has staggered over the past two months.

*No fast food!

My goal for this week at TOPS was no fast food, and I need to continue it.  I found when I started to eat it again (after going a good four months without having ANY) I started craving it.  And I started allowing myself to have it, and that's a slippery slope to bad habits.  I'm extending this goal over 21 days.

And lastly...

*Have a good sleeping pattern.

This includes, going back to that waking up at least 30 minutes earlier than I already do idea that I started a month or so ago.  I really enjoyed that.  I enjoyed eating breakfast, watching GMA and getting some time to gather my thoughts before I head off to work.  And then, like everything else, I fell out of it.  I'm going to stick to it, and I'm going to keep it up on the weekends too by setting a "time to be up and out of bed on weekends" time.

So this is a lot to accomplish in 21 days.  I'm not expecting to have great success with it all, but I have myself SET UP for success.  I've researched FlyLady, I've set up my cleaning schedule, I've download the C25K app, I've printed out spreadsheets for my menu planning...

I started this over the weekend.  I enjoyed a fast food (including pizza) free weekend, kept track of everything I ate, shined my sink both nights and started C25K today (and it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be!).

Checking in for Brandy's Fat Ass Friday real quick...

Starting weight: 192
Last week's weight: 165.5
Current weight: 165.0
Weight +GAIN / -LOSS this week: -.5
Total weight lost: -27.00

Oh...boo, hiss half a pound.  I banish you from my life!!!  To be fair, I had Chinese, pizza and who knows what else during that week, so I'll take the half a pound.  This week however, I did really well.  REALLY well.  And you know what?

1.5 til half way.

I feel like I've been saying this for months.

But I feel like this week, this is the week.  Tuesday, here I come!!

(sometimes I really wish I had a scale to reassure myself that I did well this week)!

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.  I enjoyed a 18.5 mile bike ride yesterday and had a fairly lazy Sunday (although like I mentioned I did the C25K).

A couple of pictures from my biking destination yesterday...

The first two pictures are of Lake George, and the last is a picture of some wetlands that the bike trail crosses over...about halfway between where I started and Lake George.  I love the mountains, so I'm constantly trying to get pictures of them...I take more pictures of Lake George as a local than most tourists probably do!  The day was beautiful and warm (although a little windy at the lake) and it was a real enjoyable ride!

I like to ride my bicycle, I like to ride my bike!

Greetings friends!

Now that Wednesday has come to a close I'd like to take a minute to rant about work....

Actually, I can't even be bothered to rant about work.  It annoys me, and that's all that needs to be said.  I'm going to follow Angie's lead and stay positive.

I had intentions of leaving work and going to the gym and then going for a bike ride after dinner, but I was starving.  I really wish that worked out for me, but it just doesn't.  If I'm starving I don't put in good workouts and all I think about is how much I don't want to be there.  Workouts at the gym have been boring enough as it is, to have TWO things going against me wanting to be there just doesn't work.

So I came home and had some dinner and decided to just do the bike ride.  It is SO NICE here today!  The sun is bright, everything is blooming.  I wish I had gotten some pictures, but it's crazy how just a few weeks ago everything was brown and there were patches of snow on the trail and now the grass is lush and green.  It was really an enjoyable ride. 

On my way back I decided to nix the last two parts of the trail back to my house and cut over to stop at my apartment to grab some cash...

For what you ask?

To ride to the ice cream shop of course!!!

I do pass one ON the trail, but instead I took advantage and extended my bike ride by going in the opposite direction to a different ice cream shop.  I was pretty low in calories today for some reason, so this kiddie twist really hit the spot:

Isn't it so cute?!  I'm a sucker for rainbow sprinkles, but was super excited to see they put "eyes" on it anyway. :)

In total I biked 9.16 miles in an hour and 4 minutes.  That does NOT include my pause for ice cream!

I'm not the only one enjoying the nice weather, it seems like SOMEONE is letting the fresh air get to his head...

Look at that puddle of fat and fur, no shame.  He sat like that for about 5 minutes...not really sure what he was doing.  He loves being able to run from window to window and watch the birds!  Excuse the random DVDs thrown about...I'm a slob.

Speaking of being a slob, lately I've been reading an organizational blog and it's inspired me to implement new things in my world to help keep me organized and get me out of being such a magnet for clutter.  As much as I know 20 year old me would hate to hear me say this, I really hope to someday be a homemaker.  I can't quite articulate why I feel this way, but I do know that reading mommy blogs and organizational blogs REALLY makes me want to implement these ideas in my life now, so that I can be prepared if the time comes for me to be a homemaker.

Am I jinxing myself?  Is this like buying the wedding dress before meeting the man?

Yikes.

I hope everyone is enjoying their evening!

April Showers...

It's raining pretty hard off an on outside right now and it's soooooo soothing to listen to.  I've missed the sound of rain.  I've missed rain on a warm evening.  This reminds me that spring is here.  Do you hear that snow???  You're not welcome back anymore!

How about that hottie violin player on DWTS tonight??

Mondays are the worst.  Yes, I totally had a case of the Mondays today.  I kind of have a case of the Mondays everyday.

What happened at work exactly?  Well the day dragged for one, and one of my coworkers kept interrupting and butting into every conversation I was having with my supervisor.  I mean seriously, he's in another room - why yell over, you're not even a part of the conversation?

I will be the first to admit that I really shouldn't work so closely with other adults.  I have little patience for them.  I'm currently looking into figuring out how to get some training in medical transcription and how much time and money that is going to cost me.  It's not something that will happen over night and currently I have about $40k in in student loans that are in forbearance and collecting interest so I've come to accept I'm going to be in debt for the rest of my life, what's another $2k?

My heart is beating and I'm on the verge of having an anxiety attack just thinking about all the money I owe.

College was one expensive mistake.

 I got a bike to replace my old one with the flat tire this weekend.  I went to change the tube in the flat yesterday and the whole bike literally fell apart in my hands.  I'm not sure what happened to it, or how it ended up in such crappy condition.  Actually, yes I do, I didn't take care of it as well as I should have and I didn't secure it as well as I should have.


I probably should've used the extra money I had from a third paycheck this month to pay on my student loans and not buy a bike...


Whatever...

It's basically what my old bike was - nothing fancy, my budget was $150 and this met that.  I will say that it shifts gears a lot smoother than my old bike did.

It was SO beautiful out yesterday - after running around trying to find a bike, I took advantage and did some riding on the trail system by my house.  I also did some biking today after work.  I'm not terribly familiar with this end of this particular biking system, although I've traveled the system from Queensbury to Lake George before, I haven't ridden the Hudson Falls end since I was about 10 years old.  I've decided it's kind of creepy, although today it didn't bother me as much as it did yesterday.

There are some really great picture spots on this particular trail as it follows many lock systems, I was going to get some to post but I got caught in the rain.

I did make it home right before hardcore downpour...

I really enjoy riding my bike, I covered about 6 miles both yesterday and today, but that's only about 200 calories.  I don't have time to ride AND go to the gym - but I feel like I get a better workout at the gym.


Speaking of calories, let's not even discuss what I ate this weekend.


I'm expecting my first gain of my TOPS experience tomorrow.  It's going to be really embarrassing for me because everyone expects me to always lose.


Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution starts back up again tomorrow and I'm so thrilled.  If you're not familiar with Jamie Oliver or his Food Revolution, where have you been?!  Jamie (AKA The Naked Chef) has such a big heart and his drive is so inspirational.  His goal?  To teach families, children and schools how to cook good nutritious meals.  Seriously, it's that simple, and such a foreign concept today.  If you haven't watched the first season, I highly suggest you go back and watch it, you can access it on www.hulu.com.  Hopefully the TED video below works - if not just go to www.ted.com and search Jamie Oliver, and while you're there check out the other TED videos, some of them are really great.  I also highly suggest the founder of Twitter's speech.  I don't care about Twitter and haven't ever done it, but the speech had a pretty big impact on me and where we are going technologically speaking.

 

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend, here's to a swift week!!