Update on 2015

I wanted to do a little update on where we/I are on the “goals” for 2015.

Health

I’m about 10lbs behind on my weight loss. As of today I’m at 227. Something is better than nothing right? I have consistently tracked my foods on myfitnesspal for almost 2 months until I came down with this nasty cold. Also, the scale isn’t everything. I wish I had some before and after pics but I didn’t really plan that out. Many people at my work have told me how great I look and asked how much I’ve lost so something’s working right? I have also been going to the onsite gym during my lunch breaks at work and then trying to also do a workout when I get home.

I went to an ENT and got my sinuses taken care of. Basically, it’s a whole bunch of things. Some of my sinuses grew the wrong way and there is a lot of inflammation from that and from allergies. Treatment: nasal spray anti-inflammatory and allergy meds.

I also went to the podiatrist to have my feet checked out. The top of my right foot has been hurting for the past 6 months or so and the past 2 months it’s been really bad. I would feel like it was on fire after taking duke for a walk. After many tests and x-rays the doc is pretty confident it’s a stress fracture. They are hard to see and thus hard to diagnose. So as of yesterday I’m in a post-op boot for then next 2-3 weeks pretty much 24/7 until the pain is completely gone. So no running/zumba anything of that nature for the next few weeks. Swimming and cycling here I come!

I was actively working on my flexibility for a week or two so I need to get back into that. I’ve only done yoga like once so maybe that’s something else I can do on my time in the boot.

I did some lifting and now we have a gym membership at KOPFC and they have some pump classes that I’m excited to start going to.

Running is kind of not happening until these foot shenanigans get taken care of.

I think I have definitely cut down on caffeine and soda. Some days are better than others. I know for a fact I drink more tea and water and I LOVE IT! I wish I could dedicate my paychecks to Teavana. Ha! Oh the life.

I always look up nutrition facts before we eat out now its just a habit.

We are getting a lot better at cooking more often at home. Some nights we have what we call them Harmon’s Dinners because we go to Harmon’s grocery store and pick out something’s to make and/or eat. We love it! We do that 1-2 times a week.

School

 Is going  flipping fantastic! I’m kicking serious butt and taking names ya know what I mean?! I study practically every day, I’ve got 82% or higher on my tests. I’m way ahead on my Biology assignments. AND…. It looks like I will be starting an 18 month BSN program January 2016!!!! YAHOOO!!!!

Personal/Spiritual

I’m so crazy organized it’s ridiculous.

We are trying to figure out travel plans. We did go stay at the Homestead over Valentines weekend and swam in the Crater so that was adventurous.

I haven’t really learned or improved a new skill or found my spiritual side or finished projects…yet.

I’ve probably only written in my journal once and haven’t done so well at the pictures either. (obviously from the lack of pics in this post hahaha)

Finance

Our credit cards are paid off!!! Thank you tax return!

Now we can focus on saving and paying off other debts to put ourselves in a good position to buy a house.

About 2 months in and I definitely think we/I are making some great progress I’m excited for what the year has to offer!

Reflecting on 2014...Ready for 2015

2014 was a whirlwind but I feel like we are in a good place and are getting ready to start new chapters of our life. 

In 2014:

We moved back to Utah from North Dakota. 

We lived with my cousin and his wife in Ogden for a bit and then moved to Salt Lake and moved back in with my parents. It is very helpful because instead of paying stupid apartment rent (sorry I hate that) we are able to save our money. 

I started working at Intermountain again and I am doing cash posting and I really enjoy it and the people I work with. Ben is working at Kleinfelder and they've actually kept him working through the winter which we have never had happen before he also really enjoys his job and is hoping to get some new certifications this year to help him move up in the company.

We consolidated and bought and new Jeep and traded in our truck, car, and motorcycle. 

We both did our first triathlon.

I figured out school and started working on my pre-reqs for nursing school again. 

On December 26th my last living grandparent my grandma Parry (my dads mom) passed away. She will be greatly missed. I feel at such peace with her passing though because she was in a lot of pain before she passed, she hadn't eaten for 3 weeks, and she wasn't very coherent. My grandpa passed away in 2008 sort of unexpectedly and she has missed him terribly. You will be missed grandma!

She tricked me and told me we were sticking out our tongues!

Grandpa and Grandma in 2002 at Jason and Karlie's wedding.

Love and miss you grandma! 

Here's a few other pics from the year.

Halloween at my work. Josslyn came trick or treating.

Ugly sweater contest at work.

2015

Here's a little thing a wrote up about some of my goals/plans for 2015.

And a little side note we are expecting the arrival of the first nephew on the parry side this month!

Health

By January 31^st: down 10 lbs (around 226)

By July 31^st: meet goal weight of 165

Go to dentist every 6 months. Physical in July. Get feet and sinuses taken care of .

Practice yoga 2x a week.

Work on flexibility.

LIFT!!! 3x a week!

You have to run 100 days until the end of 2015. 
4 SIMPLE RULES FOR THIS CHALLENGE:
#1 NEVER GO 3 DAYS WITHOUT RUNNING
#2 RUN AT LEAST 3 DAYS A WEEK
#3 NEVER MISS A MONDAY
#4 NEVER GIVE UP!

Cut down on caffeine and soda.

Drink more tea and water.
Plan before eating out. Research healthy options.

                                

Cook more often at home. 

School

Don’t procrastinate stay on top of assignments.

Actually study EVERY DAY!

Apply for Nursing School (Get GPA up above 3.0)

Personal/Spiritual

Get and stay organized.

Travel

Learn/improve a new skill.

Find my spiritual side; Find a religion or practice that works for me.

Finish projects.

Write in Journal at least once a week.

Take more pictures.

Finance

Pay of Credit cards

Be in good position to buy a house.

$SAVE$

Think before buying.

Keep track of spending.

Bear Lake Brawl Triathlon

On Saturday I did my first sprint triathlon! It was an awesome experience and I cannot wait to do another one! We rented a cabin at Bear Lake and got a really good deal and I am SO happy we did! It had a full kitchen, a jetted tub, balconies it was perfect.

The view from the balcony in our bedroom.

On Friday night we went to a first timers triathlon meeting. They went over the course and what to expect and triathlon etiquette. I'm really glad we went. The temperature was going to be pretty cool the next morning so they weren't sure if they were going to delay the start time a bit. 

We woke up the next morning about 530 ate a muffin, took a caffeine pill,  got some hydration and headed out. The place where the triathlon was held was Rendezvous Beach. It was only about 15 minutes away from the cabin where we stayed so that was really nice. 

Once we arrived we went over and did the body marking. They do your race bib number on both of your arms and then your age on one calf and whether or not you were doing the sprint (S) or the olympic (O) on the other calf. 

It was freezing that morning!!! I put my wetsuit on early to keep warm.

 Then it was pretty much just waiting for our waves to start. Ben had decided not to swim. He hadn't really trained at all for the swim and didn't feel safe doing it. 

My parents had volunteered and they were in charge of the bike/transition area. We hung out with them for a bit and it was cool to see the really fast people come out from swimming and jump on their bikes. 

Around 8am I headed down to the water and they were getting wave 6 pink caps ready to go so I walked out to the starting point. About 10 minutes later we were off! The water actually wasn't bad and I'm really happy I had the wetsuit however, next time I'm going to get a different wetsuit because the one I rented was kind of bulky and I don't really think it was made for swimming but thats OK. I wasn't in this to win it (this time). My goal was to finish and be safe. The current was really strong and thats the one thing I regret and knew I would regret it was to train in open water because it is so different. We swam in a triangle. The 2nd leg of the swim was the hardest because you were swimming horizontally with the current and so it felt like I swam twice the distance because it kept dragging me out. Then I was done with the swim! Wahoo! I was feeling amazing!!! To get from the beach to the transition area though was about 1/8 mile that we had to walk. 

Me after the swim :)

Because Ben didn't swim he waited for me and helped me get my wetsuit off and change my shirt to get ready for the bike. He hopped on his bike then and was off and I was close behind but soon he was way ahead of me. The bike ride was awesome!! It was a gorgeous morning and a beautiful ride. I had special biking shorts on (I call them butt shorts) but I didn't feel like they were cushioning my behind at all. Other than that it felt great. I am glad I put a running jacket on though because I think it would have been too cold after the swim. 

As soon as I got off the bike to transition to the run my legs felt crazy! Another thing I regret is not  hydrating enough. I brought a little lunch box to put nutrition in and I did really well from the swim to the bike but from the bike to the run I took like a little sip of gatorade. I felt dehydrated the rest of the day and didn't pee for over 12 hours. My legs weren't necessarily tired it was just like they weren't in the mode of running they couldn't transition very well from biking to running. I finished strong though coming across the finish line and made sure to sprint! They gave me my medal and took my picture and Ben was there to greet me as well. We said bye to my parents and grabbed our papers with our unofficial results and headed back to the cabin to enjoy a relaxing rest of the day and a good soak in the jetted tub. 

It was such an amazing experience and so much fun! I'm excited to do more I'm already trying to decide on the next one to do. 

Our life as of today: 6.20.14

Here is just a quick rundown of what we are up to as of today:

I’m back working at Intermountain Healthcare the Lake Park Campus. I’m doing Cash Posting. In a nutshell I take care of payments that come from the insurance companies and post them to the patients accounts. Since I started I have only been working on Regence/Blue Cross Claims. I’ve been there for just over a month now and I am really enjoying it. I don’t do phone calls or anything like that. It is a ton of organization and numbers and I love it! My team is great! It is all women and we all get a long fantastic.

Ben’s job did not work out at Staker and Parson. He is now at Kleinfelder which is based out of Taylorsville. They seem to be really organized and on top of things and he seems to really enjoy his position there.

Up until this past weekend we were living in my cousins basement in Ogden however, with the job situation and just where we have ended up there really weren’t very good reasons to stay in Ogden plus the money and time it was costing us to commute. We are currently renting a room from my parents in Kearns. It seems to be working out really well. We would like to buy a house as soon as we feel we are in a good financial situation to do so.

I passed my Chem class last semester but not physiolocgy. I am taking physiology for summer semester and so far so good I am holding steady at a C and have hopes to get that up.

This Friday the (27^th) is our 5 year Anniversary!!! Crazy! With both of us starting new jobs we didn’t take any time off but luckily we will have the weekend to celebrate. Haven’t made any for sure plans yet but I’m sure we will do something fun.

Duke is doing well. He enjoys playing with the other dogs but is still very afraid of water in general however, sometimes he will run through the sprinkler. He no longer has to sleep on our bed or in the kennel at night and is able to just sleep on the floor on his bed.

And that’s our life as of today: June 23, 2014.