Monday, April 27, 2009

Biker Blunder

Last Thursday Greg and I had plans to go out to dinner with two other couples who also own Harleys. The restaurant we were going to was in the town of Wiley, which is only about fifteen miles away from Lamar. I was looking forward to the trip, but I was also a little nervous. Why? Because I had yet to be on our bike on the highway. Which means the fastest speed I had endured on our bike was probably about 45 mph. Back when we had our Shadow, I was absolutely terrified to go 65 mph. Which meant that I preferred Greg to stay in the city if we were on a bike ride. Believe me, he was never really thrilled about that.

When Thursday finally rolled around, Greg got off work around 10:30 A.M. and the weather was perfect for riding. We cruised around town and ended up going on a highway for a short scenic drive. I kept looking over Greg's shoulder and I saw that we weren't going over 30 mph. That was fine with me, but I asked Greg why he was going so slow and he said it was so my hair wouldn't get too messed up. (No, I wasn't wearing a helmet or a bandana.)

We ended up cutting our ride short because it just got a little too hot outside and neither of us had sunscreen on. Once five o'clock rolled around, I was as physically and mentally prepared as I could be for my first "real" bike ride. I had my helmet on and was finally able to wear my awesome Harley shirt I won on ebay. I was honestly just ready to "get it over with". Sad, I know.

As we hit the road, Greg and I were in the middle of the pack of Harleys. We hit the highway and I thought it was awesome!!!! I literallly thought to myself, "Wow, I could ride at this pace all day long". Then, I looked over Greg's shoulder and saw that we were going a mere 35 mph. Why we were going so slow on the highway was beyond me. Once we finally got into Wiley and I could hear Greg, I asked why we were going so slow. He replied with, "I'm just following Jim". Well why was he going so slow I wondered. We pulled up to the restaurant and as I got off I kept saying that I was amazed by how fast we got there. (We had taken a route that I'd never been on before). Then, my eyes focused on the speedometer. Apparently everytime I had peeked over Greg's shoulder to see how fast we were going I had been looking at the RPM's! Wow! I felt like a huge idiot. So apparently we were going 65 mph and earlier that afternoon we had even got up to 75 mph.

Sometimes I can be such a blonde! But at least I know that I'm much more comfortable on this bike than I ever was on our Honda Shadow!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

A Short One

This just in: I have officially lost 10 pounds!!! Woot! Woot!

I think this is a result of the fact that I started a new work out regime this week, which I think is really working, as well as my awesome breakfast smoothies.

However, as I type, I'm forcing myself to drink the worst smoothie yet. Remember how I mentioned that my mom sent me a blueberry smoothie recipe? Well, the ingredients said to use any type of fruit juice. The only fruit juice we keep on hand is Tang (back off, my husband is hypoglycemic) so I figured why not? Ummm...yeah. Don't ever try mixing blueberries and tang. And I don't necessarily think that Tang is what is making it so bad. The recipe called for 2 cups of blueberries, but I just used 1, and there is so much blueberry skin that I literally have to chew...it's just kind of weird. Thanks anyway, Mom!

OK, I vow that my next post will not be about smoothies!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Smoothies are my friends!

I did it! I bought a blender last Friday, along with all kinds of fruit, as well as light soy milk, coconut milk, and OJ concentrate so I could be fully equipped to make some yummy healthy breakfast smoothies! I'm so proud of myself because I've become a semi-professional. Meaning I cut up all my fruit and placed them in portion appropriate zip lock bags and then stored them in the freezer. I also bought a few jars of baby food, because the little jars with the lids were perfect for my left over coconut milk! (No, I didn't eat the baby food. I did consider it for a minute or two but then just decided to heck with it and scooped the food into the trash).

I was all geared up and so excited to make my first smoothie on Saturday morning. I asked Greg if he wanted one, but he opted for eggs, toast, and sausage instead. Typical male! So by the time I got finished preparing his meal I was literally about to bounce off the walls with all my excited anticipation about my blackberry-apple smoothie I was going to make. I followed the recipe to a "T" and then got a little thrill when I selected the "smoothie" option on the blender. After about thirty seconds, I was able to place my glass under the dispenser (yes, it has a little fountain style dispenser. I know you're jealous!), filled it up with the purple smoothie, took my first glorious sip, and thought, "Ewww".

Yup, my first smoothie was not the best. I drank it anyway and reminded myself that at least I got two servings of fruit plus a dairy into my diet. Luckily, I wasn't discouraged because I was armed with several smoothie recipe's. Sunday we had breakfast at a friends house so my next Smoothie was yesterday. And it was FABULOUS!! It was a yummy strawberry-banana smoothie that my friend Krissy emailed me. And today was just as good with a pineapple-coconut smoothie.

The great thing about these past three breakfasts are that they work so great with my WW diet. WW online has a section where I plug in everything I eat so I can keep track of my points throughout the day. They also have a box in the bottom corner with all the elements of the food pyramid that one is supposed to intake daily. Whereas pre-smoothie life I was lucky if I got 1 serving of fruit in a day, now I'm getting anywhere from 1-2 in the morning as well as a dairy, and a glass of liquid for the day! As an added bonus, I never drink the full smoothie in the morning so I have a small afternoon "smoothie snack"! I'm so glad I listened to what the universe was telling me and began making these amazing breakfasts!

PINEAPPLE COCONUT SMOOTHIE 3 WW Points

16 oz. canned pineapple, undrained (I used fresh pineapple along with some of the juice)
6 oz. frozen OJ concentrate (I used the Unsweetened kind)
1/2 cup light coconut milk (couldn't find "light" so oh well!)
1 cup ice (I used 4 large ice cubes)

STRAWBERRY BANANA SMOOTHIE 4 WW Points

1 banana
1 cup strawberries
1 cup light soy milk
1/2 cup light non-fat yogurt (called for 6 oz. but I figured 4 was good enough!)

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Want some free Scentsy?

If you haven't experienced Scentsy, now is your time to try it for FREE!!! Just click here for a chance to enter into a great Scentsy giveaway. Seriously though, Greg's step-sister sells Scentsy, and she gave us a plug in small warmer for Christmas. Not a day goes by that I don't use it. In fact, as I type, the yummy smell of "suger cookie" is filling our home! And the car candles rock! I love them!!!!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Wanted: Smoothie Recipe's

Apparently the universe thinks I need to A: have a blender and B: be drinking smoothies. Why do I think this?

A. My mom mailed me a blueberry smoothie recipe. I looked at it and thought it sounded good, but since I didn't bring a blender on the road with me, I just put it in my three-ring binder cookbook and called it good.

B. My friend Christina called me the other day and said, "Dude, you have to write this recipe down right now." It was a banana/peanut butter/ prune smoothie recipe.

C. An interesting recipe showed up at Curves a month ago. I'm not even going to say what it was because my husband looked like he may have vomited when I told him. But I'm brave and willing to try it. But, the recipe required a blender...

D. I'm starting to get tired of my egg white breakfasts paired with a glass of water.

E. I discovered another friend of mine blogs, and she had a whole post about her fruit juicer and the awesome breakfasts she and her husband have been having.

So you see, the universe really does want me to have a blender! So, even though I'm pretty sure I have not one, but two blenders already in storage in Oklahoma, I'm going to break down and buy yet another one to have in our house on wheels. Any delicious *healthy* smoothie recipes would be greatly appreciated!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Progress Report

Now that it's April I figured it would be a good time to let everyone know about the progress about the goals I set for myself this year. (Plus, this is a good way to keep me accountable!)

1. To put money into our online savings account at least once a week. I've actually been doing really well with this. But, I have to admit I got really frustrated with myself at first. You see, I always thought that in order to save I had to be saving a large lump sum at one time. There have been weeks that literally all I could put into savings was $25. If only I had this mind set two years ago, that adds up to $600 plus interest! Besides, doesn't the saying go, "A penny saved is a penny earned". Another thing that has helped me is that I've started a schedule for ourselves. My husband gets paid every week, so I've made a list of his pay days, and then I write what bills I have to pay that week, then I leave about $400 for our spending money/grocery shopping/gas for the week, then I put the rest into savings. It's really been helping!

2. To apply for our passports. I still haven't done this, but I did find the applications! That's a start, right?

3. To read all of Sophie Kinsella's books. I actually read the last one last week! But I also discovered that she also pens novels using a different name. So...maybe those will be on my list for next year!

4. To write at least the first section of my book. Nope...I haven't done this yet. To be frank, I haven't even wrote another word since I posted my goal list. Those puzzles I've been doing had me distracted!

5. To loose 25 pounds. I'm excited to say that today was my weigh in for Weight Watchers and I've lost 8.2 pounds since starting my weight loss journey! Yay! Only 16.8 to go. Ugh!

6. To finish the Harry Potter series. I plan on starting book five next week!

7. To pay off our Gordon's account. I did this! Well, actually, I kind of cheated and just took money out of savings to pay it. But, I'm pretty sure that's what Suze Orman would have told me to do!

8. To grow my hair out longer. Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but just the past two weeks I really have been thinking that my hair seems longer! Since I started WW, I also began taking a multi-vitamin (Vitamin Code for Women). I'm kind of thinking that those may be helping! And now that we have our bike I really would like my hair to be long enough to braid again so it won't be so wind-blown while we're riding!

9. To deep clean the camper at least once a week. I have been so awesome about doing this! Thursday has been my designated "clean" day. And several people laughed at me when I tell them this and say, "Oh I bet that takes twenty minutes". I wish! Try two hours! This is what I do: Everyday I wash the dishes, make the bed and vacuum. But on Thursdays I also, clean the microwave, clean the oven, clean the kitchen and bathroom sinks, clean the toilet, dust, scrub the shower, mop, Windex the mirrors, and sometimes give Shady a bath!

10. To actually get the pictures that are taking up space on my laptop printed, labeled, and in a photo album. Okay, I actually just started this one on Monday. Oh. My. Gosh. This is an even bigger task than I imagined. I literally have pictures from way back in 2002. So far I have the pictures divided into years. Now I'm going through and trying to put them in chronological order. I've also ordered about 100 pictures that were on my camera yesterday. And I have also started going through my files on the laptop to see which pictures still need to be printed off. (I even came across a picture that was taken of me back in October. It's one that I'm not too proud of because it really shows how much weight I had gained. So if I'm brave enough, I may use it as a "before and after" pic when I reach my goal weight!) Then, once I get every single stinkin' picture printed and in order, I start the mundane task of putting them in an album and labeling them. The upside is that I found pics of Greg and I when we had just started dating! I was so skinny, my hair was super long and a lot curlier (don't know where my curls have disappeared to over the years), and it was when I died my hair darker and wore green contacts! Hmmmm....and Greg was so adorable! With his tan face and highlighted hair! It was so much fun walking down memory lane. We even found a pic of us with our old Honda Shadow!

So there you have it! I'll be sure and post more updates in a few months! Stay tuned!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Puzzles!

Just in case anyone was wondering, this is my newest obsession and time suck: