Baby Time

November 14th was a Monday. We just got home from Michigan the night before and I had been at work all day long. While in Michigan we visited some family and friends, attended both an interview and wedding, and ran around like chickens with our heads cut off. As usual. I slept on the couch in my Parent’s house. The guest bed is just a wee bit too small for my thrashing husband and the selfish dog. Every so often my stomach would hurt. I chalked it up to the insane amounts of dairy I ate. The strange thing is that the stomach pain would only last maybe 1 – 2 minutes and in the time my first reaction was to eat something, which I did. It always helped. Odd.
So on Monday, November 14th I went to work and then went grocery shopping afterwards. I got home, put the groceries away, and proceeded to bother Jocelin and Erik as they studied for the immunology exam this Thursday. I am good at pestering 
I was still thinking about that little stomach thing. It didn’t go away. Every few hours it would come back. I decided it couldn’t hurt to take a pregnancy test. I took the test and proceeded to busy myself with washing my hands and straightening the sink area. I didn’t want to look at it. When you take a pregnancy test I think there are two streams of thought. Watch it like a hawk to see if the little lines appear where you want them to, or ignore it. Previously I had employed the hawk version. I thought this would be a good opportunity to mix it up.
When I took a look at the little stick after about two minutes, there was a line that hadn’t been there before. I had to sit down. Huge implications. HUGE IMPLICATIONS.
Life changing, really.
There was a little plus sign in the space provided. I grabbed the instructions to check. Now I had done this some 10 times before. There had never been a plus sign before. But I didn’t want to jump to any conclusions. That is when I got so nervous I was visibly shaking. Plus sign meant pregnant. I was pregnant.
I am pregnant.
I wanted to tell Erik but Jocelin was there. I wanted to bounce off the walls and cry and scream and fall into a heap. Now, I am very excited, but my first reaction was (sorry for the swearing) Holy shit. I am going to royally mess this kid up.
I pulled myself together, walked out of the bathroom and asked how long Jocelin was going to stay and study. It was already 9:30pm.
I went to the bedroom. I had an overwhelming desire to suddenly become as holy as possible in as short a time as possible. Bible. That is what I needed. I don’t want to screw this up. I started reading the Psalms. I watched some TV, read, shook, got nervous, almost broke into tears. FINALLY it was 11pm. Jocelin left and I called Erik in. The dog followed. I was in bed and he stood at the end of his side. I said, “Erik- you are going to be a Daddy”. He smiled and said, in true Psyche form “WHAAAAAAT!????” he gave me a hug.
So the thing is that now I am pregnant. I stopped taking the pill in August. I was sworn to secrecy. I am not really great with secrets. So we are getting ready to tell the world. I have an appointment with my OB/GYN Nurse on 11/28 and one for an ultrasound on 12/13.
I still really don’t want to screw this up. That is what I keep thinking.
It is all very surreal. Very distant feeling. I think telling people will make it more real, I mean come on- it isn’t like I can keep this a secret for 9 months 
I also really want to talk to people about it. I am 85% overjoyed and 15% scared out of my pants.
But I guess that doesn’t matter now. The first thing I prayed was “Lord- this baby is yours. I have nothing to be afraid of. Just give it to you”

I think it is a boy.

Curse of the 104 Heat Index

I have a few pieces of related news today. It is hard for me to get to a computer on most non-work days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) so I am not making any promises.

Yesterday I weighed in at Weight Watchers and went DOWN!! Holy Moses! Morning glory and Hallelujah!! I went down .8 pounds. Dude, I’ll take it! The problem is that today I ate like there was no tomorrow and now I am regretting it.

The last piece of news is the INSANE HEAT that we are having. Because of it I am going to venture to the gym tonight after work. We will see how it goes. I am not used to running on a treadmill and my fear is that I would lose my footing and face-plant into the machine. Not so smooth.

Watermelon and Pretzles

Yesterday was Tuesday and I had a 4 mile written down on my calendar for today. The last run I did was the 5k and I was just not in the mood to go out into the 90 degree weather and sweat and be gross and run. But mind over body I dug out some clothes from the clean-clothes laundry basket (it’s too hot to fold laundry too!) and put on my shoes. Putting on my shoes is ALWAYS the hardest part for me. The shoes mean I am in. I have to do it.

So I got out the door, walked the tenth of a mile to the end of the road by my house and started. Strange thing is that my legs felt like they weighed 100 pounds each and didn’t want to go anywhere. They also hurt. The muscles in my calves and thighs were really obviously mad at me about something.

I decided on a 3.7 mile route, counting on walking up some of the bigger hills. I ran the whole first mile, and then walked for a while. I was exhausted after that first mile. It felt like I had run 6 miles, not 1. So I mixed a little walking with a little running and in the end, I estimate (because I don’t have either a smart phone OR a fancy watch to keep track of these things for me) I walked maybe 1.75 miles and walked the rest. I think I am being pretty generous with that running estimate, though.  My friend Jessica said I need to stretch. I will try that. I hate stretching but anything to feel like I am not cemented to the road!

Like all Tuesdays, I got home, showered and then ran out the door. I spent an hour at my church meeting and went home to clean the kitchen and go to bed.

While my running felt like a major fail yesterday, my food consumption was decent. I ate well all day, making sure to count my points for Weight Watchers. After my run I had 3 points left for dinner (aka: almost nothing). Lucky for me I am never super hungry directly after running so I ate about 3 million pieces of watermelon (Points value- Free! Water value- Priceless!) and 3 points in pretzels while hanging out with the ladies at church. I also had a 0-point coffee drink (more like coffee-sip).

My hubby and I had talked last week about my eating. He is really good at being encouraging about my weight loss goals for ME. I told him that I earn about 2 points every 10 minutes by exercising, and I usually eat those plus some after a workout just because I am lazy, but that I am always STARVING the next day. He suggested having some restraint and using my running points the next day. So yesterday it took me a whole ridiculously hot and slow hour to go that 3.7 miles and I earned 12 points (!!!). Today so far I have eaten all 29 of my daily points, but that is okay! I realized that while training it is more important to make sure my body is getting all of the nutrition it needs rather than starve myself if I burned off everything I already ate.

So tonight I weigh in. I think this week went generally horrible as far as points go, but I am ready to fess up and make amends with the scale. I will let you know how it goes tomorrow!

Two New Victories!

Almost 1 week later and I am back. I have to get the hang of this blogging thing. So, let’s recap on the last week, shall we?

FOOD

I am horrible at remembering what I ate, but I DO know that I have been a food slacker. While it is hard eating well on a budget, I know it isn’t impossible. What makes it slightly more difficult is that I really don’t have much time. I get out of work at 5:30 pm, and home at around 6:15.. later if I have to go somewhere first. Then 3 days  (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) I run, and lately my runs have been taking about an hour. Let’s put that at about 8pm after a shower.

8pm!?! And I haven’t even made dinner. I usually will grab a granola bar or peanut butter toast before my run, but that leaves me (and my poor hubby) starving and food-less at 8pm. Also, please keep in mind that I wake up at 5:30am… let me make a handy dandy timeline, shall I?

5:30am- Wake up, let dog out, shower and have 5 minutes left to scour the fridge for lunch

6:30am- Leave for work

7:00am- 5:30pm – work

6:15pm- arrive home, get dressed and run!

7:30pm- Cool down and shower

8:00pm- think about food, cook, laundry, dishes, etc

9:30pm- get in bed because I am nothing without 8 hours of sleep

Working 4/10’s is nice because I do get Friday off, but for the first 4 days of the week it is chaos. Also, anytime I run, the next day I am insanely hungry. For example- this morning I have had three (3!!!) pieces of pizza and a packet of oatmeal. It isn’t even 11am! THAT, my friends, is crazy. And it wasn’t because I was bored. I was REALLY hungry.  

That said, WW hasn’t been going so well. But I now have even more incentive. If I lose 5 more pounds I will be at the high end of ‘normal’ for my height. At that point, if I maintain (don’t go up) for 6 weeks weight watchers will be FREE for me! *insert angels singing and showering an extra $40 a month on me* I can do it. Yes I can. More incentive:

Size 8. I can do it. Size 8!

RUNNING

I had two really big victories this week! The first being that on Friday, my day of nothing-to-do-but-sleep-in bliss, I woke up at 7:15… got up and RAN 4 miles! Seriously, I felt like a real runner. I never get up that early, and when I run I always do it in the afternoons. It was awesome. It wasn’t the best run I ever had, and I did have to walk a little, but come on! 4 miles at 7:15am!? I totally rock. (and then I went home and slept for several more well-deserved hours!)

My second big victory was the 5k I ran Sunday morning (again in the morning! I am on a roll!). My training schedule had me schedule a 5k (3.1 miles) for this Sunday instead of doing my long run. I chose the Jungle Jog located at the Sececa Park Zoo in Rochester, NY. The path was supposed to take runners throughout the entire zoo, but it turns out that half of the park was closed. Instead we ran around the driveway/parking lot and then through the beginning of the park where the rhinos and emus were. I was told it would be really hilly, but because I train in Lima with its roller-coaster-like hills, it wasn’t bad at all. In fact, I was rather proud that I didn’t walk once! Even up the huge first hill.

The best part about this story is my time. I ran in the Young and Wyld 5k last August and my time was about 40:15. As I ran up to the finish line during the Jungle Jog, I couldn’t believe it when the clock was in the 35 minute range!!! I sprinted the last 50 meters or so and made it in at 35:56! It is NOT fast, but it is a whole 4 minutes faster than my last 5k. I came in 606^th place.  =]

Here are a few (horrible) pictures from the race. It hurts my pride to put these up, but hey- skinny is my goal and you have to start somewhere!!

Before the Race:

 

Right before the finish line:

Amber, Abby, the Zoo Mascot and I After the Race:

Healthy Holly (aka- Third Time’s a Charm)

It isn’t like I didn’t KNOW that I would be a horrible blogger… I just get excited about the idea of it. I opened this blog in 2009….. 2 YEARS PEOPLE… and I have what? 7 posts?

Good Greif.

So I have a new idea. Maybe this will keep my excited and keep it fresh. You see, I spend 10.5 hours a day at work during the summer, and I really am not kept very busy. I have all this free time and nothing to do with it. I am really excited about running and losing weight an, honestly, no one is QUITE as ready to listen as I am to talk about it. So? Blog!

A few months ago I was talking to my friend Jessica about how I can predict a quarter life crisis coming up. I turn 25 in October and feel like I haven’t accomplished much really. I thought I would have 2 kids by now…funny how that works. So Jessica suggested that we both run a Marathon to keep us excited and have something to show for the year by our next birthdays. I thought about 26.2 miles. There are many things that the number 26.2 is good for, but to me and my un-athletic self 26.2 was not a good number for miles run. 13.1, though, sounded hard, but doable.

13.1. Half a marathon. That is my current goal. I have a cute little chart on my office wall that I printed from the internet. It tells me how far I have to run each day and when I accomplish it I check it off in a colored highlighter. Very gold-star-in-kindergarten of me!

I am on month two right now. The big race is September 18^th, 2011. I am running the Rochester Half Marathon and you can look at the link Here.

I am also participating in Weight Watchers right now. I have to say that I have been on the program for 15 weeks and I thought that I would have lost more than 8 pounds by now. I also thought that I would have stuck to it better. But I have a goal people. Actually, I have two goals.

1)      Run a half marathon

2)      Buy a size 8 bridesmaid dress for my cousin’s wedding in November

And by golly, I WILL accomplish both (I already paid my nonrefundable entry fee for the race so I am in!).

I would like to track what I eat on here at LEAST Monday-Thursday. During the summer I don’t work on Fridays and I have limited access to the internet otherwise.  

New blog.

Healthy Holly.

Ready. Set. Go!

10 reasons why I like upstate New York (in no order)

1. Cows. I think they are awesome
2. Hills. While I love Michigan, it is dang flat in most of it
3. Ithaca. It is so pretty and there is so much to do!
4. On the same note at #4, State Parks. They are the best that I have ever seen
5. Elim. In the end, it is a really good place
6. Amish. Cute!!
7. The Basener’s. They make it awesome up here
8. 4 seasons. Obviously this is in many places in the world, but it is also here and I like it!
9. Rochester’s Festivals. There are festivals every week in the summer in downtown. It may be winter for half the year- but when summer comes these people get OUTSIDE!
10. Wegmans.

10 Reasons I Love Spring

10 reasons why spring is my favorite (in no order)

1. The smell of freshly cut grass. I realize that this
makes some people sneeze. Not me.
2. Crocuses. I love them
3. Cold squishy grass between my bare toes
4. Birds. Especially when they are really loud and cheerful in the morning
5. That I can leave my window open at night, even
though it is too cold for normal people still, this
is my favorite: being under the down blanket and
have cold air in the room. (makes waking up hard
though!)
6. Worms
7. Open toed shoes! My feet can breathe!
8. End of the school season. What!? I will have my
husband back for a whole 3 MONTHS!?
9. Not having to cover up my cute outfit with a
huge coat
10. Grilling outside without freezing

change of plans

A best friend of mine suggested that I start blogging again, because all of the cool kids are doing it. Okay then.

She said I should make a blog about lists of 10. Like my favorite 10 authors. My favorite 10 foods. 10 things to do when it rains. Things like that.

Sounds like a plan! Any suggestions??

This week

I don’t even know what to say about it. All I know is that God kind of took me by the shoulders and shook me a bit. And it was good.

3 big breakthroughs. But must he do this all at once!?

David Crowder Band

I think I could be in a horrible nasty mood and listen to just one song from David Crowder, and my mood would be lifted.

Now, I tend to be fairly ‘flippant’ with my moods. I can be steaming and mad at someone one minute, and talk/pray my way out of it in a matter of minutes. I don’t hold grudges. But David Crowder makes it that much easier. I think maybe his lyrics are just- honest.

That said, I haven’t actually PURCHASED (or obtained in anyway… I think you know what I mean…) any new music in probably 2 years. I just wouldn’t even know where to begin. I am VERY open to suggestions.. I am really into hymns right now. I don’t have a radio in my car and I find myself singing hymns aloud quite a bit. I would prefer Christian music, as I get songs stuck in my head easily and would rather meditate on positive, God centered things, heaven knows there is enough out there influencing my thoughts against him.

So- any ideas anyone? (‘anyone’ meaning one of my 2 readers (Woo Hoo for Jessica and Dave!!))