Tuesday, March 8, 2011

An 8 Week Story about Katrina

In January, as you know, I committed to an 8-week Body By You Boot Camp. With that came working out 3 days a week, eating more healthier, and additional exercise outside of boot camp. Well it's done. I did it. I finished. I even completed one of my goals - to complete a 5K (more on that later).
Well you know I wasn't the most active person before this boot camp. I am more active now, and that was my goal. I just wanted to do something. And feel like I knew what I was doing. I now know the names of exercises I never even knew existed: Burpies, Mountain Climbers, Kettle Bell Swings, 12-1 Push-ups, Waist Shapers, Wall Balls, etc. I could quite possibly work out at home, get a full body work out, and never go to the "gym." We didn't use the "gym" the whole boot camp, with the exception of a rowing machine. Before the boot camp I could barely do a push-up on my knees, now I can do them military style. Would you believe I won for most-improved Push-ups? I did. And was 3rd in most weight lost. I took 2 minutes and 10 seconds off my mile run time. And 4 minutes 14 seconds off this crazy workout called Centurion. I'm very excited about becoming more active and fit. I will be doing another boot camp later, but for now, here's a story of my first boot camp.

This is me on the 3rd day of boot camp. We were supposed to be doing squats. Jeannette (the trainer) came up to me and told me I wasn't doing squats, I was doing plies (as in the ballet move). Oops. Then she tried to teach me how to do a squat. "Pretend you are about to go to the bathroom in a port-a-potty." Got it. But I still couldn't do it right. Then she made me squat down to the bench, and stand back up. Then she said "Don't worry, we're gonna make you stronger, you are just weak right now." I wanted to cry. Instead she took this picture of the perfect squat (bench-assisted).


Then I learned how to box. And it was my favorite. I love boxing day. Jab, jab, cross. Mike even gave me pink boxing gloves for Valentine's Day. I've been told the first time I hit him with them they will be taken away. As soon as I tried them on Olivia got excited and said "hit me mommy, hit me." I didn't of course. But here is us boxing in class, I'm not boxing here, I'm holding the mitts, so I'm the one getting hit. That part I don't like so much. The first time I put on the mitt, I put it on backwards...Jeannette said I would laugh about that later.


Mike was even able to join me on a family day work out that was on President's Day. We are doing abs here. "3 minutes in Heaven" - or so it is called.


And we have so fun too. Are you wondering why we are tied together?


This is why: It's like we're dogs pulling a sled or something. Jessica has to lean back and resist as I try to run full speed ahead. You just have to trust that you won't go flying away. I'm sporting my new workout outfit I got for my birthday:

So back to my goal. My I didn't have a weight goal, just wanted to finish the class and do a 5k. Luck for me there was a Functional Fitness 5K, right at the end of the boot camp. Our Trainer wanted us to all do it as a class. So I did. Here's all the boot campers at the 5k this past Saturday:

So, when I say Function Fitness - I mean it's not just a straight run for 5K. We had to stop a 6 different stations along the way and do exercises. Station 1 was before the race started and was 20 Jumping Jacks, 10 burpies, 25 High Knees. Then we ran, then station 2 was 60 waist shapers and 30 push-ups with weighted rows. Then run. Then station 3 was mountain climbers & squats with medicine ball. Then run. Station 4 was kettle bell swings and bicycle abs, then run. Then run upstairs. Station 5 was pull-ups and lunges. Then run to the finish line.
I did this all in 41 minutes. And I ran most of it. When I walked, it was only for a short distance. My running partner was very motivating and didn't let me walk much. And at the end, Jeannette practically pushed me to the finish line.
This is me before the race (Jessica is to the right of me):

And this is me after. I didn't stop for pictures when finishing, just went straight for the water:

And this is my boot camp class on the last day, results day:


And these are my results. Click on it and it should get bigger. I'm showing this because I am amazed at the difference in the pictures. I didn't even realize the change.

So, in 8 weeks, I lost 8 pounds. lost 2 inches from my waist and 2 inches from my hips.
And that's an 8-week story about me.
...And now I have a hernia and have to have surgery to fix it. Haha, no really I do. I've actually had it for a long time, it isn't from working out. Doctor's think I could have got it from having my gal bladder out or having Olivia. So, yeah, I've had it for a long time. But with the weight loss, I started noticing it more, so got it checked out and turns out it's a hernia. Surgery is scheduled for March 22. So, that will put a damper on my working out for about 4-6 weeks, but I am already making plans to join a boot camp after I am healed and better. So my fitness story doesn't really end here. Oh and I got up a 5 AM this morning to go work out at one of Jeannette's maintenance camps. 5 AM! Way too early. See? I'm dedicated. :)

Sunday, March 6, 2011

A Sunday Story about Olivia

When I pick Olivia up from school, I always ask her how her day was and what she did during the day. Well one day, she told me a whole story and finished off with "...And that's a story about me. What's your story Mommy?" I figured this must be something they do in class, so I asked her teacher about it the next day and she said, yes, that is something they do during circle time, and sometimes - Olivia even helps lead circle time! So every now and then Olivia will bust out with a story that sounds something like this:
First I wake up, then I ride my bike, then I read a story, then I go to bed, then I wake up and ride my bike again, and that's a story about me.

Her story always has her bike in it. She loves her bike and loves that she can ride it super-fast (daddy fixed it up with some WD-40). So, since I haven't posted in awhile, I thought I'd share a story about Olivia's (and her mommy & daddy's) day today. There are some pictures to go along with it (of course), but not of everything (I'm not that good). Here it goes:

First Olivia wakes up at 7:00 AM, almost on the dot. She calls for "Mommy! Mommy!" So that means Mike gets to pretend he is sleeping and I have to get up, because, after all, she called my name. That's OK, maybe next weekend she'll call Daddy's. It's a little game we play. Then Olivia asks for Cheerios and her new Dora movie. I'm too tired to put up a fight about Dora and pop her right in. Then Olivia wants her second bowl of Cheerios, along with milk, in a cup. I tell her to go wake Daddy up and ask him if he wants to go to Breakfast. She loves this part, runs in, jumps on Daddy and screams "Daddy, wake up! You wanna go to Brekfix!? Come on, get up, let's go to Brekfix at the rocker!" So, we all go out and have breakfast at the Rocker.

Then we went to the USO Bazaar. Mommy looked at nice things to buy, Olivia bounced.

...She bounced and bounced some more...

And then got to ride a train:

Then we went home and she took a nap. We promised her if she took a nap, she could ride her bike later. And she remembered, first thing when she woke up from her nap. "I'm ready to ride my bike now!"
So we drove out to the seawall for a walk/bike ride. Here she is sporting her new bow from the bazaar earlier today:

And then she rides her bike. And she loves it.
Anatomy of a bike ride: -Click to view bigger-

Told you she loves it:

Jill doesn't really like being in the back, but if she gets too close, Olivia will run her over. She has been warned of this.

And then we freak Mommy out by sitting (standing) on the wall:

The tide was out, and Jill wanted to jump in:
Then we stopped for ice cream, before heading home for dinner. Nothing wrong with desert first. Everyone got ice cream. Even Jill and Olivia split a cup. And Jill was thrilled:


Olivia also enjoyed a pink donut since she had to share her ice cream.

Yum!
And then we have dinner:

And drink milk:

And take a bath (no naked baby picture).
Get in our jammies, and Daddy reads the story tonight:

And then she goes to sleep:
Can you tell she's faking it for the picture? I told her to pretend she's sleeping and she wouldn't stop smiling. :) Silly girl.
...And that's a story about Olivia...
So, what's your story?

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Valentine's Dance @ the Schilling

So you've seen the video of them dancing, here are the pictures from the night. We are going to go out to Mardi Gras tomorrow, so I figured I'd better get these ones up and out of the way! Olivia looks too grown up in her Hello Kitty outfit, courtesy of Aunt Dandy, but she loved the skirt and loved twisting and turning all night in it.
Check her out posing before the dance:

Outside, going into the Schilling. Can you tell they are excited?

Strike a pose!

Taylor can strike a pose too!

They were full of smiles, so I kept catching them:

Dancing the night away:

Requesting "Baby:"


Uh Oh, they dragged Daddy/Mr. Mike out on the dance floor!


Cheesing because they just got goodie bags!


It did not escape us that people probably thought Taylor was ours and that Olivia was the friend visiting :)

Funny thing about this picture - I have no idea who the girl in red at the end is. She just saw we were taking pictures and thought she would join us. So she hopped up there, smiled, and didn't move :)



After the dance we headed home to get our PJs on. No, we didn't have a sleep over, but we changed into jammies in case Taylor fell asleep on the way home.
Big Hugs:


Great Friends - Loved having their jammies on together, complete with slippers.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Family Valentine Dance

Saturday night we went to a family Valentine Dance at the community center on base. It was pretty good, not a lot of people were there so it wasn't crowded and we could just let Olivia and Taylor have all the fun they wanted. Dancing and pizza - a perfect night for two two-year-olds!
More pictures to come soon, but for now you can enjoy this video of Taylor and Olivia dancing the night away!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Some Sapporo Footage

Well you've seen the pictures of her sliding down, now see it in action and actually hear the giggles! Here are some short videos of her sledding while we were in Sapporo. Brace yourself, she does fall off in the first video, but she doesn't get hurt. She jumps up and wants to go again! And in one of the videos, she runs right into me! Oops, I forgot to jump out of the way. Enjoy!












Wednesday, February 9, 2011

More on Sapporo!

Here are some more pictures of our trip to Sapporo! I'll show you a few and then tell you how you can see all of the pictures on Snapfish.

These are from the night of the festival, walking around at all the snow and ice sculptures. Some of them were pretty amazing and must have taken a lot of time and patience. Take a look!

A little play area for the kiddies to sit on some:

Analog TV. Click to read what the sign says:

Buddah with Ramen:


She pouted to get this fox. Then left it on the airplane. I called the Japanese airlines and tried to explain that we left it and asked if they had it. They did! So I drove back to the airport to rescue him. She named him puppy and loves him.





"Car of the year":

Mommy and fish:

Daddy and Beer:

Olivia and a girl:

-5 degrees C

This was the biggest snow sculpture. I love the moon in the back.

The whole thing was amazing.

And it lit up!

She loved the show!

Owl going after fish:

The lion king was the theme or sponsor or something:




This is a little Ramen shop we went in. The one small alley had ramen shops lined up and down.

I got the Crab Ramen! Crab legs and Ramen = YUM!

She knows how to eat ramen!


Catching a snowflake!

Ok, since I took a ton of pictures and I can't possibly pick which ones to share, I am putting the rest of the pictures up in a Group Room on Snapfish. The Group Room will be something you can go in to see all the pictures from Sapporo. You can even buy prints if you want! Prints can be mailed, or I think even picked up from a store maybe RiteAide? I will be able to add more albums later to the Group Room, so I can use it to share a lot of pictures at once with you all.
Here's what to do:
Got to: http://ellisfamilytravels.snapfish.com/
If it asks you to make an account or log in, you might have to. Otherwise I made a room code so just put that in.
room code is: okinawa