Come Back?

I’ve been seriously slacking with my posts on here and I am so sorry for that.  Part of the reason was because I just took a huge vacation to go see my family and do some sightseeing I’ve been wanting to see…Crater Lake and the Grand Canyon.  The trip was ahhhhh-mazing!  It was long overdue for starters.  I haven’t been home to see my family in 5.5 years!!!  I had a niece and a nephew that I had NEVER met!  I had some awesome time with my family and some really great times with the friends I was able to catch up with while I was there.  One of my favorite times on this trip was the day I spent with my brother, David.  We went hiking and rafting.  First we went up a hill that I swear was at a 45° angle that was covered in bushes and ferns that were almost as tall as us.  Mix in some blackberry vines and stinging nettles and it was an adventure!  Anyway, it probably took us about half an hour to get up a hill that was only about a half mile up to the top.  He, of course, laughed at me the entire way through the bushes because I was saying “ow” like every 5 seconds.  Haha!  Then, we had a nice leisurely walk through the woods once we made it to the of the hill.  But, before we got to the wooded area, there was an open kind of meadow area at the top of the hill and there were this big round depressions in the grass where elk had laid down!!!  And there was a hold bunch of them.  It was sooooo cool.  After we made it back to the truck, we drove to this little area and he aired up the raft and we set out to paddle across a river to a little beachy island.  We stashed the raft so it would blow away and then set about walking around the island.  It was gorgeous.  We got to this one area of the beach and there were two family groups of seals!!!  They were ADORABLE!  One group was less skiddish than the other and we were able to get close enough so I could get decent pictures of them.  I found an intact mussel shell, which I snapped the hinge on when we were deflating the raft.  However, once I got home, I was able to gorilla glue it back together…good as new!  David collected at least 10 intact sand dollars. 

On the drive home, I stopped at Crater Lake.  As I was driving up to the top where the gift shop and café is at, I came around this corner and looked to my left and there it was, in all its glory.  It literally took my breath away.  I have to say, it was a spiritual experience for me.  I teared up a little.  It was beyond amazing.  I found a really nice shirt and some awesome postcards in the gift shop, then headed back onto the road.  Next stop, Grand Canyon.  I get there and go to the gift shop first.  I was NOT impressed with their official Grand Canyon shirts.  For starters, they had no women’s style shirts.  I got a BUNCH of awesome post cards.  The expensive national parks ones, the WPA (I have no clue what that stands for) poster post cards.  I deposited my souvenirs in the car and then made my way to Mather Point to actually see the Grand Canyon.  It was pretty awesome.  But, I have to say, it did not wow me like Crater Lake wowed me.  The Grand Canyon was an emotional experience for me…mainly because of the animals.  The squirrels were SUPER friendly and then, on my way out of the park a female elk crossed the road a couple cars in front of me and then stopped on the side of the road to munch on some vegetation, so I got some great pictures of her.  This was the first time I’ve ever seen an elk in person.  Of course, I would have preferred the awesome majesty of a male elk with a full rack, but the female was still pretty awesome.  On my way back to the interstate, I stopped at some gift shops in the town just south of the canyon and they had some pretty nice shirts, so I ended up with 2 from there.

The rest of the drive was pretty much just driving, no more sightseeing.  But I did stop at the Continental Divide to take a picture of the sign and to visit their gift shops.  I was hoping for a new Continental Divide shirt, which I found a really nice one.  My mom would have (and does) really like it and I should have gotten her one, but for whatever reason, didn’t do it.  Next time I will.  Anyway, I got myself a sun-face kachina statue.  I love it.  It wasn’t cheap either, but I think it was worth it.  I know if I hadn’t gotten it, I would have regretted it.

Also, while I was in Oregon, I visited my best friend and we went shopping in downtown Seaside, OR and in one of the gift shops I found a mermaid statue that I just had to have.  So, when I got home, I added the mermaid and the kachina to my statue shelf above my tv.

While I was on vacation, I kept up with my running and only opted out of one scheduled run.  The run I would have done in Flagstaff, AZ, but when I woke up that morning the high desert had kicked my allergies into overdrive and I did not feel up to running.  I ran the Helvetia Half Marathon while I was there and it was pretty awesome.  The weather while I was in Oregon was amazing and pretty much perfect.  When I was running, it was in the 50’s maaaaaybe the 60’s, so nice and cool.  When I got back to Texas and I tried to run, omg.  Weather shock to say the least.  It was so hot and humid that my heart rate kept going up and I had to stop and rest for a minute.  My total time running was an hour and 7 minutes, however, my total time out and about was around an hour and a half.  Wow.  That’s just horrible.  So, when I go to run, I need to try my best to get up at like 6 so I can be out the door by 6:30-ish.  That means that most mornings when I run, I will be going back to bed to sleep for another hour or two, but that’s okay.  I’ll be running when it’s not ridiculous outside.

I really need to get back on the weight loss bandwagon.  My work uniform pretty much does not fit me.  I manage to get it all buttoned and zipped, but it is barely holding me in right now.  And it’s so tight my acid reflux is horrible.  So, right now, I’m trying to downsize my portions and just start adding more healthy foods and trying to steer clear of junk food.  I’m still reading the Fast Metabolism Diet book, so I’m not ready to start it just yet as I need to make sure I read the whole book and understand exactly what I’ll be doing on it before I jump into it.  Also, not only do I need to keep up my 3 runs a week, but I need to make sure I hit the gym at least once a week and also do a second form of cardio (cycling or swimming) once a week as well.  That can happen when I do the gym day.  For instance, my gym is about 8 miles away, so I can ride the 16 mile round trip to the gym to do my workout and get in a gym session and some cross training cardio.  Or, I can drive to the gym, do my gym session and then hit the lap pool and do as many laps as I can manage, then do one more for good measure.  Haha.  This plan is totally doable.  Also, on other days that I’m not working overtime and have time to do a workout DVD or a 45 minute Zumba Core workout with my Xbox Kinect I need to totally do that too. 

While I was visiting my paternal grandma, she said to me “I can’t believe you’re carrying as much weight as you are with all that running that you’re doing.”  Kinda stung a little, but I know she meant it completely innocently, so I didn’t get all bent out of shape over it.  But, she doesn’t know that I could run every day all day but if I’m still eating all the crap I’ve been eating over the past few months, I’m not going to lose an ounce…let alone the 25 or whatever pounds it is I need to lose to be back to where I am happy at.  I’m hoping to be done reading the FMD book by the end of the month and starting the actual diet first of July.

I’m sure you’re tired of hearing me talk about recommitting and restarting.  I’m sorry for that.  I really am.  But, I’m human and I make mistakes…lots of them.  And I don’t want you thinking I think I’m perfect, because I’m far from it, so I want you to see my struggles and my slipups and my stumbles.  I want you to know that I know what you’re going through too and that you’re not alone and that if you have any questions, comments or concerns you can reach out to me and I will be your friend in your journey.