Anniversary Awesomeness!

Hubby and I got the opportunity to go on a little overnight trip for our tenth anniversary!  It was amazing and I'm so so grateful to my mom and my sister for offering to watch the kids so that we could go!  It was our first overnight together since way before AJ was born and the first time we've really gone out of town together since our honeymoon!

Be warned!  Picture overload!

Adam was scheduled off work on Friday, so I took a vacation day.  We left the house around 8 am and drove to Columbus, IN. 

On our way!  So excited!

We stopped at a Goodwill store--Adam is an avid Ebay seller and he's always looking for deals on things he can resell. He found a few things and I found a cute Vera Bradley purse.  After we were done there, we continued on to Nashville, IN.  In Indiana, we don't really call it "Nashville" very often, probably because it's easy to confuse it with Nashville, TN.  We mostly just call in "Brown County" (Nashville, IN is in Brown County lol).  I'd been there a time or two with my parents when I was a kid.  It's basically just a tiny little town with lots of quaint little shops and B&Bs and a big state park.  It's quiet and everyone is super friendly.

Our first stop was a winery outside of town.  As I've mentioned before, I have tried some wines in the past but never really cared for them.  The Brown County Winery offered a good selection of sweet and semi-sweet wines, so Adam and I hoped we'd find something we liked.  We weren't disappointed!  The very first one we tried was great!  It was their Vista Red, a semi-sweet wine and their bestseller.  We tried a couple of others but we liked it the best, so we bought a bottle and a few glasses before heading back out.

A view of the road

Rocky!  No mountains in Indiana, but we've got some hills!

The best I could get of the amazing views

We decided to go on past Nashville to Bloomington for lunch.  A few of my friends and Twin have raved about a little pizza place there called Mother Bears, so we decided to try it.  It took forever to figure out where to park because all of these little businesses each have about 5-10 parking spaces and that's it. Each business has signs that says their spaces are for their customer's only.   Of course, all of the spaces at Mother Bears were full.  We drove around for awhile, trying to find something, but everything was either reserved or was student parking for Indiana University, which is right across the street.  Finally we gave up and parked at a photography studio that offered parking for $5 for non-customers.  The food was good.  The pizza didn't blow me away, but the cheese garlic bread was phenomenal and worth the trip on its own.

After lunch we went back into Nashville and found a place to park (paid parking, again) and we just walked from store to store.  They have a little bit of everything there, handmade items, jewelry, artwork, leather shops, and of course lots of food.  A former coworker of Adam's owns a shop there, so we stopped by and talked to him for awhile.  He gave us his recommendations for where to have dinner and breakfast on Saturday and I bought a really pretty butterfly necklace from him.  We eventually bought Tyler a fancy bug catching cup with a magnifier (my little explorer), an egg that hatches into a duck, and a pez dispenser, AJ a new Peek a Boo book, my mom several colored crystals, my sister a pair of striped toe socks (she loves them) and twin a cute little hedgehog made of seeds and twigs.  We also got some saltwater taffy, caramel corn, chocolate fudge (heaven) and a bag of the best German roasted almonds I've ever had.

The shop owner called these her "Happy Herd"! I wanted one!

This was so Adam's shirt, but they didn't have his size!

Yum, chocolate truffle!

Beautiful blown glass. I took this and then saw a sign saying no pictures. Oops.

Beautiful sculpture outside the visitor's center

So quaint

Every kind of taffy you could imagine

At around 3:00, we headed to our hotel to check in.  The lodge is run by an older couple who were really nice and welcoming.  We chatted with them for a few minutes and then went to check out our room.  It was a simple room, but the bed was covered in a cute quilt and had a nice frame and was comfy.

The Green Valley Motor Lodge

Pretty comfy bed

But the best part of the room was this:

Can I get a HOT TUB?!

As tempting as the hot tub was, we just changed our clothes for dinner and headed back out because we had appointment for MASSAGES!  Adam had never had one before, and he definitely enjoyed it.  I didn't know ahead of time, but they used hot stones during the massages!  I was surprised at first, but it was really nice, so relaxing.  After the massages, we walked a bit more and then went to a place called "Out of the Ordinary" for dinner.

Do not adjust your screen, there is really that much bacon on that BLT.  YUM!

After dinner, the shops were all getting ready to close, so we stopped in a few more and then ended up getting ice cream.

Cookies N Cream for Adam, Mint Chocolate Chip for me!

We shared our cones with a birdie!

Once everything had closed up, there wasn't much to do other than head back to the hotel.  We enjoyed the hot tub and drank the ENTIRE bottle of wine and even slept some ;-)

The next morning we woke up pretty early so we killed time playing Texas Hold 'Em with saltwater taffy as our chips!

Tasty betting

After that, we headed for the Artist Colony Inn.  Adam's friend Joe had said they had a great breakfast buffet, and he was right!  They had eggs, bacon, sausage, home fries, oatmeal, fruit, pancakes and best of all, fried biscuits rolled in cinnamon sugar with apple butter.  SWOON!  Adam tried his first and then said "Did you get one of those biscuits?" I nodded and he said, super seriously, "Eat it!"  It was heavenly!

After breakfast we started wondering when the shops would open.  We hoped it would be by 9 am, so we wondered around a bit and ended up finding a yard sale!  I found a book for AJ and a coach wallet and Adam found a rare Super Nintendo game!  I also got a pretty glass bowl for my mom.  After 9, we realized the shops probably weren't going to open until 10, so we decided  to head to the State Park to go horseback riding.

The bridge leading into the park

So pretty

Horses!  Well, horse butts

My house, Cash

Adam, riding Bonnie

Not exactly a cowgirl, but I can handle a horse!

The one picture I chanced taking while riding. A little blurry!

We got to be on one of the first trail rides of the day.  I mounted a horse named Cash and was immediately told that he need a firm hand, that he like to be lazy and let horses pass him. He then proceeded to rub on the fence until he got his bridle off of his ear!  I got nervous then! I wasn't sure he wanted me to ride him!  But once we got on the trail, he was pretty well mannered and I only had to urge him on a few times!  Adam's horse and the horse in front of me kept grabbing snacks from the nearby trees!  I thought it would be an easy, flat trail, but no!  We went uphill and downhill and it was fun!  And a workout, my legs muscles were a little sore!

After the horses we stopped at the winery and bought another bottle of wine to take home (we really liked it!) and then we spent a few hours stopping at flea markets along the road.  Adam found some things to resell and he found a new wallet he liked.  I also found my mom some of the knives she loves and Tyler a Turtles Bounce-on ball (what do you call those things?  With the handle, that you sit on and bounce around) and some little geodes.

On the way home, we stopped out our favorite restaurant for dinner and made one last detour.

The park (garden) where we got married

10 years ago, we said "I do" in that very spot

Love that man

It's been a great 10 year!

When we started getting close to home I was antsy to see my boys!  We had a great time but I missed them too!  Someday (when I don't have to worry about strollers or toddlers breaking things) we'll take them to Nashville too!  It wasn't the Hawaii trip we had dreamed of, but I couldn't have imagined a nicer trip to celebrate 10 years together!

Updates: Kiddos and more

You guys, my baby starts school in four days.  I seriously can't believe that.  I'm working on a post about our FANTABULOUS overnight anniversary trip, but first, I thought I'd throw together a little update post on the boys, since the big event is coming up!

I took Tyler to the doctor the other day for his last two shots.  Thankfully, they went much better than last time, that MMR was awful for him.  His leg swelled and was red and hot.  This time you can't even tell where the shots are on his little legs.  I think these were for polio and chicken pox.  We checked his height and weight too. We had suspected that he'd hit a little growth spurt and we were right!  He'd grown 1/2 inch and 2 whole pounds!  He's in the 20% for height (he's a shorty) and I think the 30% or 40% in weight, I can't remember, but for him, it's a good steady growth.  So yay!  He's did great with the shots, only cried a little bit and perked up when I brought out the secret weapon--sour patch kids!  Now we just need to get his hair cut this weekend and he'll be totally ready for school!  He's excited and has even been counting down the days on his calendar.  I'm sad that he's growing up, in a way, but I hope he likes school and I think he will.  Adam and I are both taking Tuesday off so we can take him to school and pick him up on his first day.  We might even go for lunch, but we haven't decided yet.  And of course we'll take obligatory first day photos! 

My goofy big boy

As we were getting ready to go, Amber brought his shot record in and pointed out that for some reason his first Hepatitis B shot was missing from the records sent over by his pediatrician when I started bringing him to our family practice.  She said it was the very first one missing, which he should have received while still in the hospital.  She told me to fill out a request form at the desk and they'd try to request the record from the hospital.

I filled out the form and called them back today to see if they'd heard back from the hospital.  Initially they said no, but she called me back before I could even call the hospital and said they'd just received word that the hospital had no record of it either!  They suggested I call the pediatrician and double check with them. I tried their number and was reminded that they'd closed permanently.  I called the office again and she suggested I contact the health department, since these records are usually sent to them.  Thankfully, they were able to find it!  Apparently, he has two records at the hospital and one is just the one vaccination by itself.  I have no idea why, but at least they found it!  Luckily, the DOH wasn't far from work, so I ran there on my lunch break, then took the record to the doctors office to get the entire record so I can send it to school WHEW!  Dodged a bullet!  I don't know if they would have refused to let him start school (I don't think so) but I'm glad it's taken care of!

As for AJ, he's being such a character lately!  He's starting to show a little a defiant side!  He loves to push buttons and he's constantly turning on the DVD player or grabbing the remote or the telephone, no matter how many times we have told him no!  He can drink from a straw finally, but only seems willing to do it when it's OUR drink (usually soda), he's refusing straw-sippies or the take and toss with straws.  He's still not talking as much as maybe should be. We were trying to count last night and he only says maybe 10 or so works CONSISTENTLY.  He'll repeat other words or has said them randomly, but no so much on demand.  He calls me Mama, but really don't address Adam or my mom as anything consistently.  He says things like ball, up, bye bye, night night,  PACI, COLOR, (in caps because it's usually said LOUDLY), juice, Mama, no, and a few other things.  He loves to stick his finger in things!  He is very attached to his paci and it's the soothie ones, the big round rubber ones and they have these two holes in them that he loves to stick his pinkie in.  He also sticks his fingers in the windows of his dye cast Thomas trains and any of the recessed screw holes on his toys.  His new thing is the "Happy Dance" where he gets super excited about something and sort of runs in place and waves his arm and sometimes shrieks.  The other day at the doctor my mom was giving him some yogurt bites and he would do the happy dance every time she offered him one!  AJ is a pretty good eater, though he still has a habit of shoving too many of something in his mouth and starting to choke, scaring the beejeezus out of us.  He doesn't eat a HUGE variety of foods and he isn't always willing to try things, but sometimes he'll surprise us and want what we're having for dinner, like taco salad and last night, meat loaf!  His favorite food is "sketti" (spaghetti) and peaches.  He's crazy and silly and I think he'll be taller than his big brother before too long!

Practicing for when he's older and unavoidably bespectacled...also notice his B/F/F, Paci

As for me, I have worked out the last two days (yay!) so I'm trying to get back on track there.  I need to focus on my eating habits too. I wasn't nearly as sore as I was beginning the routines this time. My joints hurt some, but it's manageable and my muscles aren't too bad.  Hopefully the numbers will start to drop again!

So there's my update for now!  I'll get back to working on our trip post, I want to do it justice!  And I really should finish my post on considering baby number 3, since that's been on my mind lately.  Stay Tuned!

School Supplies and SkyZone

Another weekend over!  They always go so quickly.  This one was fun and productive, though!  Saturday, Adam had to work, so my sister Michelle and I took the kids out to run errands.  We went to a uniform sale and I scored 7 shirts and 6 pairs of pants for Tyler's school wardrobe for less than $60, which I thought was pretty good.  Then we went to Walmart and picked up some essentials and everything on his school supply list.  Check out our loot!

School clothes and supplies, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Bookbag, lunch box, and pencil case

 I still can't believe I'm buy school supplies for my BABY, but we'll leave that meltdown for two weeks from now!  After our shopping spree we went to lunch with Angie (twin) and her b/f Jon.  We ordered way too much food!  I ended up with like 4 takeout boxes (one was twins)!  After that we went home and hung out and the kids napped.  Adam brought home pizza for dinner and that was Saturday.

Sunday I did my usual grocery shopping and then met my friends Pam and Gabby for a little girl time.  We went to SkyZone, which is an indoor trampoline park.  It was crazy and man, was it a workout!  It was really fun, though!  We were missing Mandy from our foursome.  Her grandfather had passed away on Friday so she had to cancel :(

We had major fun jumping, playing basketball and dodgeball!  Here are some pictures:

Ready to get our jump on!

Me--Striking a pose!

Gabby's tuck jump

Hard to tell, but Pam was literally bouncing off the walls!

Gabby and I doing what my cousins and I used to call "butt busters"

Gabby and Pam, hamming it up!

Yep, that's me in the foam pit, which is REALLY hard to climb out of!

So much fun!  After jumping for an hour (whew!) we went to get a bite to eat a Panera and I was already feeling sore!  Then we picked up a card for Mandy and went our separate ways.  A quick stop at the grocery store for sour cream and ibuprofen (lol) and then I headed home for the usual Sunday night dinner, laundry, showers, etc.  My joints feel better than I expected them to today, but my muscles are majorly sore!  It was a good time though! 

One more random weekend picture--AJ, who suddenly likes to pull up his shirt and pat his belly!  Not really sure why!

Up next--our 10 year anniversary and our weekend (well, night) away!  Can't wait!!!

A year later...

It's been awhile since I've updated about my fitness journey.  Mostly because progress has slowed and focus has shifted.  But it's been about a year since I began, so I figured I would do an official update.  I consider my starting date July 11, 2013.  It's been a long year!  My six month update is here and contains the basics of my approach.  Since then, I haven't been as strict on my diet as I would have liked to be. I continued to work out pretty consistently (aside from the last three weeks of insanity), but not always the 5-6 times per week I had been managing. For me, to begin this journey it had to be a main focus in my life.  I spent quite a bit of free time thinking about it, preplanning, tracking, etc.  But an average jane like me can only maintain that kind of focus for so long before other things get in the way.  That's what the last six months has been.

I had hoped to be at my goal weight (preliminary goal) by the one year mark.  That did not happen, but I'm a peace with it.  Between THIS, THIS, THIS, THIS, THIS, and THIS, I think I've done well to not only maintain my hard-fought weight loss, but to continue to move the scale downward, even if the progress has been slow the second half of the year.  At my six month update, I had lost 36 lbs.  As of my last weight in, I've lost 45.2 lbs.  I am pleased with that.  45 lbs in a year is not amazing, but it's good and it's far better than any weight loss I've ever managed in the past.  I definitely have new habits that I'm able to stick to.  I would like to lose an additional 22-28 lbs to reach my initial goal.  I think I will do it, but it is just going to take longer than I had hoped. And you know what?  If it's weight loss I can maintain, I'm okay with it taking however long it takes.  They just announced another weight loss challenge here at work, so maybe that will be motivation to kick it into high gear again.

The past three weeks have been the most physically taxing and challenging of the year.  Between the entire family being sick on and off (my throat is still annoyingly scratchy, despite finishing my 10 day course of antibiotics), twin's hospital stay and surgery, and my 10+ day headache that I still can't quite convince myself is gone, I haven't worked out.  At all.  I haven't laid off the workouts like that in a whole year (a few days, maybe a week when my back was messed up or I was sick).  But I'm not letting that make me think I won't start up again.  Especially with what I know now about my body and it's apparent auto-immune problems, I realize I need to be careful about pushing myself too fast.  Normal stressful life really wore me down in June and I had to recognize that and really take a break.  I'm still not 100% sure and I'm not decided on WHEN the strenuous workouts will recommence.  I'm going to listen to my body and wait and see.  The ironic thing is, I lost 5 lbs of that up and down weight I've been struggling with to hit and all time low since this break began and my eating certainly hasn't been on point (in a hurry/feeling sick means eating whatever sounds good or is handy).

I didn't reach my goal weight in a year, but I am thrilled with my progress.  I had no way of knowing if I would really do it this time, really make progress.  And I did.  I look better and I feel better about myself.  Physically, I feel better than I did, even with the complications I've had health-wise. I know this was the right decision and I'm so glad I did it.

I've had great support here, and thank you all so much for that!  It means so much!

Pic of the week: My Little Explorer

Couldn't help but share!  He's so cute!  Thanks to Mammo and Pappo for the explorer gear! 

Out searching for bugs last weekend!

The headache, continued

My headache is still persisting.  Little bugger.  It's not terrible, I can function, but I would still like it to, you know, STOP eventually.  So today I went to see my "doctor" (PA) Amber.  She seemed kind of concerned with it, particularly the fact that it (or one of the meds) seems to be fiddling with my hearing a little.  I noticed it when my phone's text alert goes off.  It seems...out of tune.  It's weird. I can also hear the difference in music and sometimes even when I'm talking.  She did a bunch of little neurological tests and I did fine, so she said that it may be a combination of the migraine and the stupid cold-that-won't-die.  So  hopefully the antibiotics I've been taking will start working soon. 

She gave me a prescription for a migraine medicine I've taken in the past as well, so I dropped it off at a nearby pharmacy.  I should mention this was my "lunch break".  They said it would be 15 minutes, so I drove across the street for a quick lunch and then went back.  When I got back they told me that my prescription plan only approves this medication in a quantity of 12. Mine was written for 9.  Seriously?!  Yes this is the same RX plan that I fought with on Tyler's medications (see HERE).  They said they'd have to see if the doctor would re-write it for 12, which I knew they would, and then they'd call me.  I was annoyed, because I was hoping to take the new medicine rather than what I already had because it makes me so tired, but I needed to get back to work for a meeting, and really, what could I do?  So I left, got two miles down the road, and got stopped for a really long funeral procession.  While I was stopped, I took my original medicine.  I had barely swallowed when the pharmacy called to say that they'd gotten the original RX for 9 approved after all, and could I please come back to get it.  *FACEPALM*

I waited for the procession to pass, did a U-Turn, and fought the now-congested traffic back to the pharmacy.  I finally got my medicine (after playing the I CAN'T HEAR YOU game with the woman at the drive thru--seriously, SPEAK UP sister!) and got back to work just in time for my meeting.  Sigh.

My doctor said that if my headache isn't gone by Monday she wants me to have a CAT scan.  So please go away, Headache!!!