Blog Thing

Hello again!

Sorry for the year long break, we have been busy. In September we went to Yellowstone with Jeremy's parents.
 In October we went to Disneyland.
 In March we welcomed Izzy our new nephew on Jeremy's side of the family.
And then in April we went to Disneyland again with Sam, Katie, Robbie, and Audrey, Katie's Dad and Step-mom, Ian Tykena, Olivia and Luke, as well as my parents.
 Jeremy turned 35.
 Jeremy's dad was diagnosed with cancer, had surgery to remove the tumor and two of the muscles in his thigh all before the end of April.
 We also found out that I was pregnant, only to suffer a miscarriage a month later, followed by a D&C. I turned 26, and lost my insurance.
We also welcomed CJ, Sam and Katie's third child in June, My mom and dads 8th grandchild!
 Jeremy's dad finished his radiation therapy.
My car has not had air conditioning for years (about 3) and this summer will be its last in the Anderson household. We will finally buy me a new car!!
Jeremy also was offered a full time position at Richter7, which includes but is not limited to insurance! Wow, what a year!

The weekend!

On July 2nd I ran in the "Dirty Girl Run" an obstacle coarse through mud, barefoot, because every once and a while I make bad decisions. This was one of them. The day started out like the rest, I got dressed (in the outfit I picked out at the DI) and drove to Wheeler Farm where I proceded to jump/climb over bails of hay, do the thing where they put tires on the ground, run through freezing cold water (fresh from the melting snow up in the mountains) climb over fences, and crawl through the mud.

As the 'race' started I was jogging and kept up a good pace, as my feet became more and more raw. When I approached the half-way point, I thought about quitting, however, I paid money for the experience, why should I stop? I was limping from that point on, my team-mates asked if I wanted them to wait for me, I told them I would be walking the rest of the way.

The cold water felt good on my feet, they were tender from the rocks. After my team had finished Jeremy came to find me. There I was limping my way down the very rocky road. Jeremy wanted to help in anyway he could, so he offered me his shoes, sadly he could only stand the gravel for so long, so I gave his shoes back. After the race was over, all I wanted to do was go home and sleep.

On the treck to the car I noticed my left foot was more sore than the right, I figured I had over done it, I was limping really bad at the end. I made it home, got some ice for my foot and layed down on my bed. Later that evening my brother invited us to go play board games with some friends. Jeremy and I went, I was in pain, lots of pain.

At the end of the night Jeremy practically carried me inside. I put my foot on ice and went to bed. The next morning my foot felt better, so we took the dogs to the dog park. That was to much for my foot, so I spent the rest of the day sitting on the couch. Jeremy told me to take it easy and rest my foot. On Monday the 4th I thought all my problems were solved, so again we took the dogs to the park, and again, it was to much, we went to a breakfast with Jeremy's parents, they encouraged me to go to the doctor to have my foot checked out. I ended up at the Insta-care where they took x-rays of my foot. The Dr. said that he couldnt see anything broken but would have the radiologist look at it tomorrow (today the 5th).

I told my manager that I would not be able to work today, and then spent more time sitting on the couch, and hobble from place to place.

This morning I receved a call from the clinic, as they said they would. It was the woman who took my x-rays. The radiologist had looked at my x-rays, turns out, I had a hairline fracture in my fifth metatarsal (the bone that connects the pinky toe to the ankle) the Dr. at the clinic gave me my very fashonable boot and told me that I would need to see an Orthopedist to make sure the fracture healed properly. I will be out of work until at least Thursday, when I go to see the Dr.

Fishing

Pesqué - (Pes kay) - Spanish Past personal conjugation of the verb pesquar, which means "to go fishing". Usage: Ayer pesqué en el rio. Yesterday I fished in the river. No direct diphthong in French or Italian, with or without the accent.

Hello World

Well, its April. It has been a while since I posted something, so, here I go again.

As mentioned in previous posts I have had issues with my weight, I did Weight Watchers for a while, and that worked untill I didnt count my points for the day. All of the weight I lost came back. I have counted calories and even have some awesome DVD's. In January I made some resolutions, they are as follows:

1) eat more fruits and veggies (at least one a day)

2) take care of myself (in honor of my Aunt Kathy)

3) have fun!

I started eating steel cut oats with some frozen fruits (I couldnt eat fresh fruit fast enough) eventually it became economical for us to start buying fresh fruit, and even some veggies. My breakfast was getting so big it didnt fit into a bowl anymore.

As I was trying to decide how to handle the issue at hand, I realized I could eat fruit for a snack durring the day. My snack right now is strawberries and greek yogurt, I wanted to try something new...I also read that it had a ton of protien (but alas...that may have to go due to calories).

I have also started to take note of my caloric intake and output. I did some research and found out I can burn anywhere between 1-2 possibly even 3 calories a minute durring a massage, so that is anywhere between 60-180 an hour. If I end up doing 5 massages a day, that could add up to 900 just for work. I think I burn about 250-300 a day on average. So I started to focus on protein and things to keep my energy up. Fruit is wonderful I have also (not as often) started to eat veggies in balsamic vinegar...yum...

All the way back last year I heard that one of my old school mates was teaching a fitness class. I hesitate telling people what kind of class because its not what it sounds like...she teaches pole fitness. Yeah its a GREAT work out, but her class is even more different that most, she calls it the JW Method. She made it on the front cover of this months issue of Pole-to-Pole. What she has us do is more like circut training, sit ups and push ups and pull ups...lots of ups...

if the girls in the class are lucky Jen has us do ONE spin, there is no dancing no booty shaking, pure strength training.

I guess I started about the same time I got married, I was for sure hooked. I was going once a week for a while, then Christmas happened and I fell out of the habit, she also has been trying to find a permenant location (I think she decided on a place in Fiesta Village...you know, by the Reams and what used to be Increadible Pets) I started up again one month ago, she charges $15 a class or, you can do a monthy pass for $100. I consulted with my husband and he said if I wanted to do the monthy pass that I could. I almost cried.

My first day was the last week of March...possibly the 29th. Two short weeks later, I noticed a difference. Not just the screaming of my muscles but the lack of jiggle from my mid section. The almost tone in my legs. I also felt stronger, I noticed my massage changing, in positions that normally made my arms shake I pushed into strong...and I just felt more solid. I even noticed bending over to pick up the dirty sheets I throw on the floor was easier. I work out at the gym four hours a week. I guess I caught the eye of one of the trainers. He told me over and over again that he loved my dedication. Today in class he asked if I had taken my before pictures, I said no, I also didnt have any measurements, all I have are clothes and weight. I have noticed a difference in the way I look, my tummy is tighter and things I had accepted would be there for ever, are melting away.

Last week I did a spin, it is called a Herkie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herkie-The Herkie (aka Hurkie) is a cheerleading jump named after Lawrence Herkimer, the founder of the National Cheerleaders Association and former cheerleader at Southern Methodist University. This jump is similar to a side-hurdler and to the abstract (double hook), except instead of the bent leg's knee being pointed downward, it should be flat while the other leg is straight out to the side of the jumper.

I did my herkie and didnt have to hook my front ankle around the bar! I was actually holding myself in the spin!!! All the times before I would be whipping myself around, its ok if none of you have any idea what I am talking about. Anyway, Jen (the instructor) was very impressed, she said that she was 'discusted because it was so good' I was so new to pole and yet, I nailed it without any coaching from Jen.

Now my post has gotten very long, and it is late...thanks for reading also forgive spelling errors, I am sleepy

Creative Post Title

Today I would like to talk about life.

In massage school all of my teachers talked about being present. Paying attention to the muscles that you are working on. They called it 'listening'. I struggled with it. I was worried about doing the stroke right, looking at the clock, worried about the draping, my mind was everywhere.

One of the classes I took was Thai Chi. The instructors name was Clint. Clint is a hippie with long curly hair and a big bushy beard. His laugh is infectious, nobody doesnt love Clint. He was explaining Thai Chi to us and explained that it is meditation in motion. Thai Chi is what all the old people do in the park, slow moving weirdness. I love Thai Chi. Thai Chi also was the one way that got me out of my mind and into the present. Since the moves are done so slow it is close to impossible to think of anything else. Clint told me that if you are thinking about the next move before you have done it, you are moving to fast. He gave me a packet on meditation. I started to practice meditation, at first it was seconds that I could sit still and focus on my breathing. As I continued to practice it became longer and longer. I am still not very good at it, but, I am always improving.

I tried to put the practice of Thai Chi into my life. Standing in line with all of the angry people, I would take a few deep breaths and think about what kind of state my mind was in. Sure enough it was raging about everything. "Why isnt this line moving?!" "If they just got another person I would have been out of here 5 minutes ago!" I would stop and calm myself down, remind myself that I have been behind a counter working as hard as I could to keep the line moving faster. So I would breathe, focus on my posture, let my shoulders relax (they were next to my ears the first few times) un-clench my jaw, relax my forehead and accept the fact that I would be in line until I left. It made my life so wonderful. By the time I would get to the register I would be smiling and relaxed, the person would be fumbling for something and frantically apologizing, I would smile and tell them to relax. They would smile back and continue to help me very pleasantly and quickly.

While I was working at Starbucks one of my co-workers, Jaek, decided he would study buddhism, he then decided to put it into practice. Jaek is a wonderful person, he inspires me all the time to be a better person. I would watch him interact with people that I know he didnt like and smile the whole time. We would often talk about his practice and meditation. He started to go to the Zen Center for meditation. A few weeks ago I picked up some friends and took them to run some errands with me. A sound came from Jaeks phone and it got my attention. I asked him what it was, he told me it was his mindfulness tone. I was driving at the time and I noticed my shoulders were up around my ears (again) and I was in a hurry even though I had nowhere to be. I took some deep breaths and noticed it was a beautiful day, and I had just gotten paid. I smiled and asked him where he got it so I could get one too. I downloaded it for free from the android market. My mindfulness tone goes off about every half hour, it saves me all the time. Mostly when I am at home with my dogs trying to be the calm-assertive 'pack leader' without loosing my temper.

I would like to invite all of you to do the same, Jer makes fun of me for having the tone because it 'distracts' him. But that is the idea. To remind you to be present in whatever you are doing.

Also, Nate how are my paragraphs?

Bath time with dad...

So this evening I drew a hot bath to curl up in and do some studying for class later in the week. (On a side note, I think I've resolved on a dissertation topic, but that's beside the point.) The dogs came in to see what I was doing, since I had left one of the doors to the bathroom open. They would peek at me suspiciously from the other side of the bathroom, looking at me with a quizzical look in their eyes.

Part way through my bath Captain Blackbeard came by the tub and propped himself up on the edge to look at the water. A few short seconds later, he was in the tub with me, curled up in my lap. I couldn't contain my laughter and had to have Annie come in to see the soaking wet cairn. He wouldn't leave the tub, so I pulled the stopper and let the water drain out. Captain stood at attention and watched the drain, trying to figure out what this previously inconspicuous beast was that was noisily gobbling up his warm water. Only after the water was gone, and a few dull rumbles were coming from the pipe did Captain allow his mom to pick him up and bundle him into the towels.

A few minutes later I sit on the couch typing this. Captain just hopped in the tub one more time to investigate, but found that the drain beast had fallen silent.

Mercifully, there are no photos.

Dogs and Family

Breakfast time wasn't terribly long ago for the kids dogs (which is terrifying since I know that by the time I post this, we'll be well into lunchtime). We have to feed them separately on account of their wildly different eating behavior which means that if left to their own devices, one would be dying of starvation while the other would roughly have the figure of a basketball.

First came feeding our oldest (or at least the one that has been in our family the longest) dog, Captain Blackbeard. Getting him to eat is always a bit of a challenge. I have to physically position him in front of his bowl and make him stand over it like a child in time out until he gets the message that its time to eat. Its almost as if he feels like he needs to think about what he's done long before he can swallow a mouthful. I could be wrong, maybe he's saying grace and I just don't have any respect, but we'll leave that for someone else to decide. Invariably, Captain leaves about half of his food behind when he's been eating. Then you lead him back to his bowl, and once again he leaves half and walks away. On a good day we repeat this pattern until he is only leaving about 12.5% of his breakfast behind.

Our second dog, Ein is the exact opposite. I have to physically bar her from the kitchen until the food is on the floor. This morning she sat at the door of the kitchen with her head on the linoleum floor and a great puddle of drool expanding underneath her chin. The dog was visibly shivering with excitement by the time I finally invited her into the kitchen to have some breakfast. Doggie seizures of joy! At that point, she began wolfing down her food as quickly as she could, not even stopping long enough to chew the bite that was in her mouth. About half way through her breakfast, she choked herself on un-chewed food and began hacking and wheezing over the dish. Rather than stopping, she resolved the gagging by piling more food on over the top of it, evidently clearing the clog in her throat by force of additional un-chewed food being thrust into her gullet at critical velocity.

It occurred to me that living with dogs like this with such vastly different personalities is like living with my extended family. My mother-in-law, for example, has to think about eating something for a while. It sits on the counter and waits for her, while she wanders around the kitchen; either trying to decipher the rumbling in her tummy, or more likely taking care of the rest of us. Then, when she finally does decide to eat, she invariably cuts the item in half, consumes half, and leaves the other on the counter for later.

Meanwhile, poor Ein eats like my mother does many things in her life. Right after we were married Annie and I went on a vacation with my folks, and dad had over-exerted himself with a little too much hiking on one day of the trip. Mom's response was, "You know what would help you feel better? More hiking!"

Choking on your breakfast that you tried to swallow whole? You know what would fix that? More breakfast! Or, we could go with the other side of the family's solution, and just cut it in half and leave it be.