It's been HOW long?!?

I don't think I have gotten the hang of this whole blog thing.... First it was August then suddenly September then October was gone and November and then it was December and my birthday! I lose track of time like crazy now! It isn't like I am THAT busy! I just have class but on the system I am on it goes by fast! My online classes are 9 weeks a piece and each week is like a separate topic so I wake up and out of no where it is Thursday and then I am rushing to do my assignments on Sunday before the deadline. I also have one traditional class which is Philosophy. I am so ready to be done with this class! Not that it is hard just that I am tired of thinking about questions that have no answers! Plus I am really hoping to be able to take Astronomy next semester for my Science credit! I was super excited that it will count because I had enough of Biology and Chemistry in high school! I feel kinda bad for my teacher this semester though! She has had a ROUGH semester and she was promoting her Political Science and History classes for next semester and she is a good teacher but I don't have ANY extra credits left! It looks like some of her classes might get cut because of it and I feel bad!

My birthday was yesterday. It turned out well! I spent most of the day after class shopping for Christmas gifts and then picked Michael up from work (still working with only one car)  He made my cake (German Chocolate) and it turned out great!!! Then we went to Chili's and got a good steak dinner with a Strawberry Long Island Iced Tea! I didn't even know it existed but it was delicious! The night ended with the Sons of Anarchy season finale and it was AMAZING!!! I really miss that show when its not on... Now I have to wait til September to watch the next season!

Aside from that stuff... not a whole lot going on! My favorite season is here! I love Christmas time! Which apparently surprises my mom cause "my gifts are always late" Well... I am sorry that I was young and in Japan and not only did it take forever to find presents but forever to ship them!! But this is new and improved New Mexico Aimee.... She has most of her shopping done already! Let's see if it works out! Now if only New Mexico Aimee could stop sleeping in so late, do her homework before the due date, stay on top of housework, and start working out again life would be peachy! Let's not go overboard though... Baby Steps people, Baby Steps!

Back In Action!!

So I took a few months off... and legitimately this time the last few months have been crazier than crazy!! The whole working out and eating right thing in Alabama kinda took a nose dive as soon as my husband got there cause in the south... we meet and eat lol! We had dinner with tons of people and were super busy planning the last minute details of the wedding! The wedding went great (though we are still waiting for the pictures cause our photographer had a last minute move but I'll share them when they get here!) Our families got along GREAT!!! It was surprising actually but everyone was great together!! It was such a relief. Everyone commented on how laid back and informal the wedding was which is what we wanted in the first place just to have a small ceremony and have a big party for everyone to hang out together! Unfortunately many of the people from back home that I was really looking forward to having at the wedding couldn't make it or canceled at the last minute. It hurt a little bit but at least for a few of them they had their own MAJOR events going on in life for others there is no excuse but I am not here to complain cause in the end you don't focus on who didn't show up you focus on who was there to share your big day with you and I am excited with who was there! We incorporated a few pictures from our Okinawa wedding in the reception so it was like many of our Okinawa friends and family were there with us! In fact we did have a few actual members of our Okinawa family there! Col S and his wife were there to do the ceremony again for us which was really special and Sgt G and his wife Monee and their kids came too! It was great to be able to mesh both worlds together! We were so blessed to get to have them together with us!

So now that the wedding rundown is over here is a quick recap of the last few months aside from the wedding!

• Michael and I made our first stained glass picture (above) together before leaving Alabama. We sent it to Col S and his wife as a thank you for being such a big part of our lives! 
• We bought our first car together in the states! 
• We went to Talledega Super Speedway which for my husband an avid Nascar fan was a HUGE event! He took TONS of pictures including this one of us on Victory Lane. He even made us get new Tony Stewart shirts and go back on the tour and remake the picture again! He is a little crazy! 

• We drove from Alabama to Alamogordo, New Mexico and got settled in at Holloman AFB! There are GORGEOUS mountain views here!
• We found a place to rent!  I had looked at it before when we were in Alabama but since it was on 5 acres Michael didn't wanna hear about it or talk about houses. So when we got here we went to look and fell in love! 
• Therefore we now live on a farm! Our landlord lives in a mother in law apartment on the property and takes care of all the animals but there is a horse, two goats, two lambs, chickens, an aviary, four dogs, a turtle and two parrots! 
• Our landlord went on vacation back to France (she is from France originally and speaks with a cool accent!) She has been gone for almost three weeks and we have been taking care of the animals on weekends.. she hired another guy through the week! It has been a blast and great experience for the farm I one day want to own!  
• I am now enrolled at Bellevue University (online) and New Mexico State University and have started full time classes! I should graduate by December of next year! (this blog post is not only to catch up with you guys but also to avoid doing my 80 gazillion pages of reading) 
• I have started working out again and have completed two weeks of TurboFire! I have lost two pounds and as of this morning two inches off of my waist (which is the important one I have lost inches in other areas too in just two weeks!) Giving a daily update on my workouts didn't keep me motivated like I thought it would... instead it served to make me increasingly more anxious about working out cause not only did I skip a workout but the whole world would know it cause I would skip a blog too! It got bad cause I over think things like that! Anyway I am back on track (finally) but not posting every day about it!!!

So that is about everything that needed to be re-capped for the last few weeks/months! I have been thinking about things in a different way recently and will probably expand on some of these topics soon!! (like going back to school and why I started working out again) For now I really should get to that reading assignment! Most of my work may be online but I don't need to get that far behind! Catch ya later! 

Caught up in a whirlwind...

Or at least that is what the last 6ish weeks have felt like even though for the most part I have been sitting on my booty doing nothing! Lets start where I think I left off... well kinda.. I was pregnant YAY! Right! But I was in the middle of my workout program and it was slightly unexpected and a million thoughts race through your head! Then I started bleeding around 7 weeks after intercourse ( I know TMI but come on it IS part of the story!). I was sure this was a horrible sign but I called the doctor and they said completely normal unless you are cramping and bleeding heavily. So fast forward a few days we are having my last shopping day on Kokusai street and I start cramping... and bleeding more... I am POSITIVE this is bad but it is still not bad enough so I continue... and later than night I finally decide to go to the ER. They do an ultrasound and discover a small subchorionic hematoma (SCH). Now I had no idea what this meant but they acted like it was no big deal, we got to see the baby and its heartbeat and it was doing fine.They sent me home with no special instructions just see a doctor when I got to Alabama. Little did I know that even though I had enrolled in Alabama early it was going to be a HUGGEE task to be seen there. So I continue on to Alabama.. still bleeding.... still waiting for my coverage to start in Alabama so that I can get my PCM to refer me to an OB/GYN. During this time two weeks after getting diagnosed with the SCH I pass a "blood clot" which was only about an inch and a half but after that the bleeding completely stops which I take as a good sign trying to still be positive about the whole thing thinking maybe it was the rest of the SCH. I finally get my OB/GYN appointment on the 15th of May almost five full weeks after being diagnosed with an SCH and two weeks after the bleeding has stopped. They do a urine test twice and both come up negative. The doctor kindly informs me that I am not pregnant anymore and does a few more tests and sends me for a blood test to confirm what I already know... We miscarried and lost the baby. I am not telling my story to scare people who have been diagnosed with SCH because I read a million of them.. I really hoped I would be one of the shining lights who could say look at us we survived and have this beautiful baby or the SCH completely disappeared.. or what SCH but unfortunately that was not in the cards for us this time.

My husband and I are taking a positive outlook on this. We were both upset and I am sure we both cried (though he is still in Okinawa so I cant tell for sure if he did) but I believe this happened for a reason and that God has a plan for our lives. Many times when a baby is lost during the first trimester it is because the body detects defects or detected that the baby wasn't growing properly or wouldn't survive or whatever the case may be. I know that God has amazing things in store for our lives and this just wasn't our time to have a child. There are many negative things to this situation but we are choosing to take the high road and look for the positives. There will be MANY more chances for babies but I write all this to tell you guys that I am back on the fitness kick this time starting at the wonderfully obese weight of 213.

Throughout my pregnancy I attempted to eat right, more fruits and veggies, less junk food and I kept a food journal to help identify bad eating habits (candy bars!!!) So now I am back and on day two of TurboFire and on Day two of a Juicing/Shakeology "Reboot". I don't know how many days I will continue the Juicing/Shakeology but I would like to do it for at least a week and see how much of a difference I feel. One movie that has DEFINITELY affected my life positively was "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". A friend recommended it to me and I have in turn recommended it to a few friends and had a few members of my family watch it! My husband and I still have the Alabama wedding coming up in 29 days so we will see what kind of difference I can make in that time frame! The wedding is coming together though I AM starting to feel crazy for trying to put it on! I did get confirmation (Jen) that our former commander who did our Okinawa ceremony will be doing this ceremony for us as well and we couldn't be happier about that! It is a great feeling to be able to include members of our Air Force family into our family lives and into our wedding but in the same token it is sad when those friends who have been a HUGE support system and closer than true family for me during my time in the military and even after cannot make it to the wedding (Jen) You guys will be SOO missed for sure but hopefully we will have a chance to catch up soon! I hope this wedding turns out great... I guess if not at least our families will get to meet each other... Here's hoping there won't be any blood shed!!!! 

It's a Velociraptor!

No actually it is a Baby!!! That's right!! We're Expecting!!! This is kinda how we announced it to the world actually! This link will probably explain better (http://imgur.com/gallery/F7fq0) that is if you need an explanation! Anyway so I had to avoid blogging for a few days until we shared with our families and then I just got side tracked for a while but I am back and ready to start again!

One of the things that tipped me off to pregnancy though was me skipping workouts from being so sleepy! Then I found out I was officially pregnant and I decided to stop doing Insanity since it is really taxing on your body. I got Turbo Fire in the mail a few days before I found out and my coach did Turbo Fire during her whole pregnancy until three days before her delivery. She also has a few pregnant women doing TF as well and she says they are doing well with it. They do the modified version of course with no jumping and no floor work but I am gonna try to make this a healthy pregnancy. After two weeks off from working out I am starting fresh on Monday! I have continued to eat healthy and have not gained any weight since I stopped working out. I have been drinking smoothies and still drinking the Shakeology. Most doctors agree that Shakeology can be good for you to replace your pre-natal vitamin. The only iffy thing comes when you start looking at the suma root which is why I have been sticking to the Tropical strawberry which does not have suma root in it. I will verify this information with my doctor when I actually have my first appointment which won't be for a while of course but all the information and research I have done points to it being alright for you. SO with whole food and eventually some juice thrown in there for good measure and shakeology maybe I can make this a healthy pregnancy after all! With my body composition as it is I am already obese and most doctors agree it is not healthy for those who are Obese to gain much weight if any at all with pregnancy. It increases risks for many complications and I would like to avoid those as much as possible! I have a goal to lose weight but not diet.... just changing my diet from all the unhealthy food that I was eating to the whole foods and adding exercise can make a huge difference in itself! Most pregnant women have the view that they can eat whatever they want because they are eating for two but in reality you only need 200-300 more calories per day! Think of it... yes your eating for two but one of you is a tiny little grape sized bundle at this point not a full sized grown man! We will see what happens if I do not lose weight I at least want to minimize my weight gain and doing the modified version of Turbo Fire should tone my arms and legs and prepare me to kick into Turbo Fire full speed when the pregnancy is over and we have our little of bundle of joy! Let's kick this program into full gear and do pregnancy right! 

Frustrations....

I do not know what has gotten into me lately! While in theory I am SO motivated I have ANOTHER workout to make up! Not only did I skip last weekend's workout but I also skipped Tuesday's workout. I had plans to do it but work kinda fell through for yesterday (there were no easy returns for me to do) so I ended up coming home super early and then Michael was still home since he is working night shift and then I just sat on the couch after he left and watched a million episodes of Army Wives until 1 AM!!! (Still Catching up on Season 5!! ) So I have to buckle down and get it back together! This blog is to keep me accountable and I haven't been holding up either end of the bargain!

On the upside I have been sticking to my diet for the most part! Except for last night when i just HAD to have  chimichangas from Obbligatos! I only have so many weeks left here to have some Obbligatos and I am sure Jen is already feeling the cravings over there in Germany! She is after all the one who got me HOOKED in the first place! Anyway I only slightly went over on my calories and even then it was less calories than I had been consuming! I really like the smoothies. With fruit added you can't even taste the spinach! Then I get to have my Shakeology later on in the day and a normal lunch or dinner. Since my schedules have been all messed up as it is those meals can be whenever right now! I am still working on cutting out the sweet tea and drinking more water. I am at least drinking 64 oz a day so that is a good start!

As far as other life goes not a whole lot... as I said I am WAY too wrapped up in Army Wives and when the hubby catches an episode or two he gets way too involved as well! He downright gets mad at some of the things! Anyway it looks like since I have sat here and watched Army Wives for a while and vented to the hubby about being frustrated about working out and being behind... my workout is not happening tonight! I am however going to go to sleep at a decent time and try to start fresh tomorrow. My calories for the day were great and right on target and that is something to be proud of I think. I just looked it up and it is 93 days until the wedding.Whatever I am gonna do I need to get on it and fast! Changing my diet was a big step but having two workout programs to choose from is really messing me up! Here's hoping for a better tomorrow!

Insanity Day 22!

Insanity day 22 is finally complete... I took this weekend off so I am one workout behind but of 22 days I don't think that is too shabby! Especially since last time I attempted this workout I made it to day 14! Of course.. my parents said they watched the Insanity infomercial a few days ago and people have got to be out of their minds to try that stuff! Lol! I pretended to be offended but in reality... I am not! It is pretty crazy! and I am SUPER scared for week after next! This is my last weekend of the beginning workout then one week recovery and then Max Insanity training begins! I have never even watched the Max videos because I have never made it that far therefore I had no reason to! I am assuming they are pretty scary though! Hopefully I will make it through! And lose some weight! I have been drinking some smoothies for like three days now and for the moment I have gone down one more pound... I am trying to convince myself that fat is being replaced with muscle and that is the reason for no weight loss but I am not convinced. I know it was a result of my poor diet in the first two weeks! So now it is Shakeology for one meal and a smoothie for one meal (that usually taste pretty yummy with fruits to hide the green veggies) and then of course whatever normal human food I eat for dinner.. in smaller portions of course! Hopefully I will see some difference. Then in a few weeks it is off to Alabama and off to buy a juicer and start a juice fast! I think i mentioned this before but if you have still not watched the movie Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead it is a real eye opener! Also you should look up Annette Larkin on YouTube! She is 70 years old but seriously looks like she is in her 20-30s! She has been on a raw diet for years now and you can definitely see the effects! Especially when you compare her to her husband who did not change his diet and takes medicine for high blood pressure and other things and look to be at least 85-90!

Today was a super weird day for me. Let me preface by saying I am SO glad I do not have to personally deal with military being disorganized anymore. Of course I still have to deal with it from my husband's side of things which is why today started off to be a grand day! Started out with Hubby getting called in to  check his readiness equipment AT 230AM! He was preparing for going on night shift and was about to go to sleep when he got the call. Thinking he was going to be there for the next 12 hours he turned the light on in the bedroom and got dressed and left.. waking me up... to then lay in bed and try to sleep again... then at 330-4 he comes home....me halfway thinking he is a thief breaking in but knowing realistically it is just him coming home. He says there will be a call  in the next hour and he will have to go back so he goes to sleep while he can... no call comes in so he leaves again around 630 to be at work as usual since having a night shift hasn't started... he then comes back AGAIN at 730-ish saying he is on night shift... UGH leadership just make up your mind so I can sleep already!

So since he was home for the day and only slept til about 12 I stayed home from work (I just didn't feel like going in really and since I make my own schedule I can do things like that). I ended up watching like 7 episodes of Army Wives (with the Hubby weird I know he will watch and get addicted to any show I am convinced of it!)  and laying on the couch all day! So then around 9 PM I decide I feel like I have been SUPER lazy (taking both weekend days off from insanity instead of just one so I am already a day behind) so I get up and do my workout then have my shakeology and call my parents at 11 pm to which my mom of course is like Why are you still up at 2 AM? Lol I explain the time difference since she got turned around with them being on daylight savings time. You would think I hadn't lived on this island for three years lol! So my day has been completely backwards! Which is why I am now writing this at like midnight my time even though I should probably be sleeping or something like that. Its kinda weird having hubby working nights and not being here to force me to bed at 10... YAY for being able to sleep anytime without issue! I hear that goes away with age.. let's hope not!  My boss comes back from Mainland tomorrow where she has been since I started doing actual returns! On the plus side she will be able to finalize with her own clients SO Naoko will be more free and less stressed... on the down side my boss intimidates me like no other and I don't really want her to come back!  Hopefully tomorrow goes well! Only four more weeks till I finally make my way home from Japan for possibly the last time! I am going to miss this island and probably mostly the friendships I made here and the lifestyle we had but on to bigger and better things! Psh... Yeah right! Off to New Mexico!

Time For a Refresh!

I do not know what happened after I wrote my last entry! Maybe I went a little nutty or maybe I was still shaken up from the whole incident with out friends and the happenings at the party or maybe it was the realization during the writing of the post that the next day i had not one but TWO workouts (Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs)... Whatever the case Wednesday's workout went undone and Thursday's almost did too! I get in this thing where I miss a day and the guilt is overwhelming so of course I feel the need to make up that workout the next day to "catch-up". Then of course I am overwhelmed because I have MORE workouts to do... In either case I have to realize that... I am human! I am going to crave a huge burger or something completely unhealthy from time to time! Sometimes in life you just need chocolate or whatever it may be! and sometimes I am going to feel lazy and just simply not feel like doing a workout a day or two... The point is these things shouldn't ruin everything! Its not like all my hard work for the past two and a half weeks are thrown away and useless because I skipped a day! Just like your diet isn't completely blown if you have a less than healthy day of eating... You just have to re-group, refresh and get back on track the next day not let it ruin your whole week or blow your whole diet!

The funny thing about me skipping Wednesday's workout is that Wednesday was actually a ground breaking day for me! I was introduced to a radical idea I had never really given much serious consideration! One of my best friends wrote to me that her and her family have been "Juicing" the past two weeks or so and that her mother in law being on this very strict juicing diet has lost 8 pounds in a week and a half! That is pretty amazing! But what is even more amazing is that in doing my research it actually IS healthy! It is not like a diet where you starve yourself and you eat the bare minimum and you don't get any of the nutrients or calories you need... in reality you are actually getting more of the nutrients and vitamins and minerals from the whole foods because of the way they are being processed and consumed! In juicing you don't lose much from the natural fruit or vegetable itself and because it takes several different fruits and vegetables to fill up a glass for one glass of juice you are eating a lot more vegetables and fruits than you would actually like to sit down and eat one by one in their raw natural state. Yucky vegetables such as beets (I definitely won't eat a beet) can be masked by yummier flavors like tomato and carrots so that you are getting a wider variety of foods in your diet while limiting meat and processed foods. KP recommended that if I hadn't already that I should watch the movie "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". It was a major catalyst behind their change and it explained many of the misconceptions I had about juicing! It is mainly the story about how one man decided to get out of his body's way and let his body heal itself! He had an auto-immune disorder that caused him to break out in chronic hives at random times in any place on his body! At the end of the movie he was off all of his medications and did not struggle with outbreaks of his disease any longer it then moved on to a man who was a truck driver and was morbidly obese who suffered from the same disease as the first guy. The two met in a random truck stop and it was a life changing meeting. The second man asked for help and ended up dropping 202 pounds from the juicing and getting rid of his illness and went on to help countless others do the same!

This movie and my friends story made me want to try it... I know that the reason I am not doing so well with losing weight during this journey is because my diet hasn't been that great! I still eat junk food and eat out  I just replace one meal a day with Shakeology and have began to feel like that is enough but I know it isn't! I don't eat very many vegetables and I eat minimal fruits. I am still cooking dinner for me and the hubby and it is the normal meals we always eat... and for the most part while I have tried to change my portion sizing but the urge to overeat still gets to me! I also have an addiction to sweet tea which I plan on fixing by switching to having a pitcher of tea made with Splenda and then having the hubbies tea full of sugar and sweetness! I went to the BX to look for a juicer but they didn't have one... I figure it is not a huge high demand item! So I started to look up the alternatives. What I found was smoothies can be a good alternative! No... Not the smoothies you buy in the store but homemade smoothies with whole veggies and fruits! Its a little more time consuming in some ways but for the most part you are still getting more fruits and veggies and more nutrients in your diet which in turn will help me lose weight! The plan for now is to use a blender and do smoothies for the next few weeks and then when I get to the states I will buy a juicer and do a few weeks of juicing before the wedding to hopefully see some more of the benefits of eating whole foods! KP was telling me that you can see a difference in your hair and skin tone after just a few days! Your energy levels go through the roof and you tend to shed a few pounds which before the wedding can only be a good thing right! Time to Regroup - Refresh - and get back on track!!! 

Catching up!

On workouts that is! and blogging of course... I have been taking every Saturday off in my workouts rather than taking Sunday like you are supposed to because in theory it is easier to do my workout on Sunday when everyone leaves rather than trying to do it with our friends here and a million things going on! Well this Saturday was Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs in the Insanity world and unfortunately due to some drama on Saturday night and attempting not to offend a friend our guests stayed until almost 8 PM on Sunday evening... Now I don't know about you guys but  I do not feel like doing much at 8 PM on a Sunday evening especially when my house has had extra people and tons of drama in it all weekend! Therefore my Sunday workout was skipped...Monday was my 2 week Fit test and I improved all of my numbers! I was really proud and made up the Cardio Abs part of the workout but didn't have enough energy left to complete Pure Cardio until today... Now of course with doubling up the workout and having to do Plyrometrics and Pure Cardio I am worn out! But again I accomplished my goal and got back on track and am praying to not have to do that again! Either way Insanity up to day 16 is complete! Oh My! I just looked at my schedule to figure out what day it was and tomorrow is Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs again lol! I just can't catch a break!

In other news the hubby and I attended a Towers Party on Saturday night! (Towers referring to the building where all the single airmen for our squadron live.. both of us lived there before getting married) It has been the first one in a while and the first party for us in over a year! Anyway this one was actually a very sad occasion so that we could say goodbye to JG one of our good friends. He has been here longer than I have and was one of my first friends on island! It was great to get together and have a few drinks with everyone but in true Towers Party fashion Drama followed of course! Can't have a party with our group without a little drama! I thought I had put the days of emotional crying and freak out moments behind me when I moved out of the towers and stopped drinking for the most part and when my old roommate learned a few tough lessons and then left for Korea! I was there for her through a lot of tough lessons and learned a couple of my own along the way but either way I thought those days were over! Instead I ended up consoling one of my friends as she had a break through moment! Lots of feelings came to the surface that had obviously remained buried for a long time! I am really glad that I have come to be as strong as I am through my experiences that I can help someone else through tough times! And it was another reminder of why I originally wanted to get involved in youth work and help teenage girls just have someone to relate to what they are going through! Either way I haven't fully decided what I want to do when I get to New Mexico but I am hoping I can find some way to make a difference in my free time!

After that whole situation semi-cleared up we had the drama of one of our non-drinking closed minded friend judging us. He decided to do this by going to the party and sitting and observing everyone's behavior. Not just ours but the rest of the parties as well and then put the consequences of their actions on us! He said that didn't know if he could be our friend anymore after he saw us drunk but he wanted to find out for himself. So he went. He saw. He freaked out trying to control every detail of the event. Got mad at a few people... Screamed at them... acted like we didn't have anything under control! The next day after they had stayed at our house he claims that we are the best friends that he has ever had and that we are the closest to family that he has and then proceeds to follow that up with screaming at Michael and our female friend with how irresponsible they were the night before and how he cannot get the images out of his mind and doesn't think he feels comfortable hanging out with us after he has seen those things. All of this screaming wakes me from my nice peaceful nap I was having and I stay awake and listen from the other room as he talks about the things he can't understand them doing. He then walks outside to get a breath of fresh air. He comes back in and continues to go on and on about how he doesn't understand and how he doesn't know if he can still be friends with us. Michael and our female friend are sitting quietly listening to this whole thing but I honestly couldn't take another minute so I went off! I told him he had NO right to judge us for drinking moderately (because none of us were belligerent or acting irresponsibly) and that we never asked him to drink or stay at the party that he went there for the pure and sole purpose of judging us and that wasn't fair. People act differently around different friends but this guy acts like we shouldn't be allowed to hang out with anyone outside of us five the people he has accepted as his friends and I can't stand for that! I went to a party to say goodbye to one of my close friends and it was the first time we had been to any party in almost a year! Anyway he rebutted with the fact that I was the most normal of everyone and didn't change when I got drunk but he was appalled at other people's behaviors. That doesn't make up for the fact that your yelling and judging and saying you can't be friends with us anymore! Either way my husband ended up talking him down and explaining things and the guy took another walk outside and came back to apologize because the things he brought up really weren't bad when he thought about it but he didn't understand drinking and didn't want to lose us so he freaked. Anyway he came to terms with it but I guess had another regression at work on Monday when Michael tried to talk to him and again Michael had to talk him down from swearing us all off as friends because of the first time we had drank in literally almost a year! Like I said... What would a Towers Party be without a little drama mixed in there?!?

I have realized I have a little over 5 weeks left on this island! We are beginning to plan final trips and things we want to see before I go! We are looking at a trip where we would get to go and make our own cup out of blown glass! I remember my dad taking an hours worth of video at Williamsburg VA just being amazed at how glass was blown! I can't wait to have the chance to do it myself and show my dad! We are also looking to do a few hiking trips to some waterfalls and maybe go ice skating and maybe zip lining again! I am excited to get out and explore the island some more before saying my goodbyes! Either way it should make for some interesting adventures! I am sad a few of my old friends aren't going to be here to experience it with me!

End of a Week... Beginning of a Weekend!

I did it! I finished one whole week of Insanity without complaining, moaning, and without taking any extra days off! I feel super accomplished! I found out my order got approved so hopefully my new Shakeology and TurboFire will be here next week! I am feeling good and when I stepped on the scale yesterday morning I was down 7 pounds since two weeks ago! I am not thinking that that is all actually weight loss and I don't care it is improvement and that is all I need... for the numbers to continue to go down and stay down... Between Turbofire and Insanity I think I can actually do it this time! At least until I end up pregnant somewhere down the line!

I spent yesterday afternoon doing a puzzle and watching Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. I used to watch this show growing up and it was a weekly family event to sit down in front of the TV together and see what the newest episode brought! Shortly before Valentine's Day I looked it up online and was attempting to watch it on YouTube... The first episode was broken into 7 segments lol! Would have taken forever! Anyway the Hubby criticized it and told me he would not watch it because he didn't like it and it was a stupid old show he had no interest in! I have taken on a stubborn streak lately... I really don't know what it is but either way I was gonna sit in front of the computer no matter how long it took to load that episode and watch my TV show! The next day we went to sign up for Whale Watching and the Hubby gave me a good apology and told me that he had ordered me the Complete Boxed set of Dr Quinn since he was such a jerk about it and I was having such a hard time watching it online! The set finally came and I have been watching it non stop! It is such a good wholesome show and it wet on for such a long time! I remember having to watch the season finale of one of the seasons just to see what happened between Dr. Mike and Sully! I can't even lie I always had a crush on Sully when the show was on and a huge one even now  a little bitty one even now! (WHEW! Sully just showed up in a TUX!)  Not that I don't like a couple of the shows from now a days but they do not have very many good wholesome shows like this anymore! That teach values and right from wrong! Sure they mention drinking and sleeping around and things such as that but they express the dangers as well and definitely don't glorify the subjects! They glorify things that should be glorified like education and respect!

Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong time! Granted.. I would have been one stubborn outspoken wife back in those days! Probably would have had a bit of trouble but to live off the land and explore places unspoiled by human hands! Granted I love all the amenities we have these days... TV, Movies, and Video Games (The Internet of course) but my dream has always been to own a HUGE number of acres of land with a house right on the middle... Great view... no neighbors... Horses... Granted I also want to have a town not so far away to go get supplies and entertainment when needed... I am SUPER mixed up I know! I grew up on a mountain with an amazing view.. plenty of hiking and wildlife! Things you don't get to see in towns! My dad had a big barn he had built himself with a pond out back! When I was five we moved down the mountain into the Valley where I lived until I joined the military! I walked to and from school until high school when I got my car. I grew up in a small town without much crime or anything of that sort. Everyone knew everyone else but the big cities were only 15-30 minutes down the road! We didn't live in a housing development with cookie cutter houses... we had a back and a front yard and knew everyone in our neighborhood for a time (before lots of new people started moving in and all the kids grew up). It was a great childhood and a great way to grow up! I had a mix of the two childhoods but I would still like to live somewhere with lots of land and a semi-farm type lifestyle! With the way things have changed in the world I am almost scared to bring children up in it but I would like to do my best to bring them up in a well rounded lifestyle... to be very open minded and accepting and sheltered lol VERY VERY SHELTERED! JK.. for the most part! Whatever the case may be I have 17 years of being an Air Force Wife and travel before we will be able to settle down in one place for very long! For now its Okinawa... hard to believe in about 6 weeks i will be going home to Alabama for a little while then on to New Mexico for hopefully only two years! Then who knows! Maybe overseas... maybe stateside but hopefully to a base we will enjoy and get a lot out of! It is going to be hard to leave here after three years but I have to find the good in the next place I end up! 

Cleaning for the Maid?

So Insanity Days 8, 9 and 10 are done and done!  Days are starting to slip by me and I can't remember which days I have written about completing! Luckily I only have Thursday left to work and then I am off for the weekend. Since HR block this year is just part time and I am just working cause I can I decided to take a really light schedule! Of course I have to go in for a little while on Friday and Saturday if my clients can't come in to sign their returns any other days so that is no fun but at least I have those days mostly off! Anyway in short I am loving the Shakeology and still going strong with the Insanity! Still just waiting for my Turbofire and Strawberry Shakeology to come in! From the reviews and recipes on the Team Supernatural it seems like the best thing to do is gonna be adding some apple juice and getting some frozen strawberries to add to the shake! I am sure it will be delicious! 

Tuesday our maid came. As random as that fact may be (it is one of the only things included in our rent from our landlord so don't get TOO jealous) I only say that to say I wonder if I am the only weird one that cleans before the maid comes! She is **supposed** to come every two weeks but most of the time she won't show up if we are here and she has taken a ton of weeks off but still every other Tuesday I wake up in the morning and proceed to do all the dishes and make the bed and pick up all the clothes and things strown about throughout the weeks and fold the blankets that we keep on the couch! In short when she comes she pretty much vacuums whatever dog hair is still about and cleans our bathroom and wipes down the counters (even though they are already wiped from when I cleaned them earlier). I just cannot stand the thought of someone seeing my house too disorganized... EVEN the maid! Isn't cleaning supposed to be her job?  Am I the only weird one who does this? 

I had the RUDEST client today! I mean it rivals the days of me waiting tables and wanting to slap most of my guests! He is old... like 70+ and he DID NOT want to E-File his return AT ALL! Now this wouldn't be TOO big of a deal if the information packet he has filled out hadn't said that he did want to E-File and wanted the money taken out of his account for the amount he owed if he hadn't been sitting right in front of me ready to finalize his taxes! For some reason old people have this misconception that if they don't E-File the IRS doesn't have access to their accounts! He was totally rude to me and given that the IRS made the ruling that this year E-Filing is mandatory unless there is a valid reason I had to call my boss the owner to ask what to do. She wanted to talk to the guy... she tried to smooth things over and explain that he could E-File and still send them a check but he cut her off mid sentence told her that if that is how this is gonna be this will be the last year he uses HR block then he handed me the phone back... When i got the phone back my boss was still trying to explain something or other! After that the whole time we are printing out his return (since he sprung the mail in on us) he is sitting with his arms crossed shaking his head in the seat in front of me! It was SOO awkward for me! I am not thick skinned at all so I literally wanted to either punch this man or run away crying! I have lost all of my resilience over my years of being in the military! I used to not even bat an eyelash when a guest complained about me or their food or something of that sort! I have been thinking about going back to waiting tables when we go back to the states... I have to look into whether or not my job at Cracker Barrel will still be there when I go back to Alabama for a month or two just to have some extra income... It is not the best job but at least I know it already! I am beginning to wonder what I really wanna do with my life! Maybe I should be an astronaut or a racecar driver this time around! Lol No of course nothing that drastic but this would be my only chance to go to school for something other than computers if I wanted to! 

Watching some Whales... It's an Oki Thing!

Saturday we FINALLY got to go Whale Watching, something I have been wanting to do since I arrived on this little island three years ago!  Every year something has come up that interrupted or kept us from going. The first year I had just arrived on island and the season ended, then the next year I was deployed until May and then last year we had our trip all planed with our best friends and their kid and the devastating earthquake hit mainland Japan, a Tsunami warning hit Okinawa and the subsequent nuclear crisis hit mainland! Even this year we had a cancellation due to harsh conditions so I was super excited to finally get to go! That excitement faded a little after waking up at 7 to be on the boat at 730 and then riding around for three hours waiting to find some whales in a huge ocean! Finally though when all hope seemed lost our captain pulled up to where five other boats were waiting (usually a sure sign of some action) and sure enough they were watching and following a Mama Whale and her calf! (In the picture they had just come up together but it is really hard to catch them when they come up. You can just see the baby whale's fin going back into the water!)

Some of the other boats would get right up on top of the whales! It was SO rude! We would get a perfect shot of a whale or them coming up and another boat would pull right in front of us! In some of the pictures you can see just how close the other boats were getting to the whales, I am surprised some of them have not been hit! 

All in all it turned out to be a good trip! I wish I had gotten a picture or two of the whales coming head first out of the water or a couple of good tail pictures but I am happy with the experience to witness these magnificent HUGE creatures in their natural habitat during their yearly mating season in the waters off of Okinawa! It really was a once in a lifetime opportunity!

I took Saturday off from working out and ended up sleeping most of the day aside from having to go into work briefly but I did Saturday's workout on Sunday therefore Insanity Days 6 and 7 are complete and 8 will be completed before I go into work today!  I am planning on doubling up the workout on one day this week so that I can officially adjust my workout schedule to being off every Saturday and starting the new week on Sunday! With our scheduling and us usually having our friends over on Friday nights until sometime Saturday it will be easier and more private if I switch it up like this! Hope you guys have a good week! I'm off to workout and then work!

One more picture for the road! The best one to show how big the whales are!

Team Supernatural!

Today has been a super productive day for me! Days 3, 4, and 5 of Insanity are complete! Of course.... because of a crazy schedule thing, trying to get in touch with my Beachbody coach, the Hubs not going to the gym and generally being in a blah mood yesterday evening days 4 and 5 were both completed this morning but I at least got off my fat Butt and did some work... a lot of Work! Then I washed a load of clothes, showered, went to have lunch with the hubby, went to the commissary (grocery store for those non military) and cleaned out my car.... For those of you who know me You probably know how big of a feat that last one was lol! Then I came home and put everything away and washed some dishes and then went to meet with my Beachbody Coach! Finally! I have been trying to get with her all week but between missed phone calls and not knowing where she was located there was a major disconnect. Disconnect Solved!

I am now a part of Team Supernatural! A Beachbody team under my coach! I placed an order for Turbofire and for Tropical Strawberry Shakeology! (Thanks to Beachbody for the military family discount!) I have been drinking the chocolate for the past week and while its not bad Strawberry is my favorite anything!!! I am SO excited for this to come in! I think I am going to LOVE the Turbofire workout as well! It looks hard and challenging but in a different way than Insanity! Insanity has a lot of In and Outs and Oblique work that works super well but my right knee pops and hurts every time I do it so while right now I am making it through to prevent an actual injury I am going to switch to Turbofire or a Mix of Turbofire and Insanity! I am not sure what my plan is yet but exercise plans are all in what you put into them! For now it is still Shakeology and Insanity until my new program arrives!

I feel like Shakeology is making all the difference in the world honestly! I mean its a bit pricey but for thirty days worth of even lets just say lunches for 4 dollars a piece (even less for military) but my husband and I spend easily double that a piece for a value meal at whatever restaurant we choose to eat from for lunch! Its got all the  nutrients and daily values of vitamins in one shake! They say its like taking five to ten trips to a salad bar in one glass! Anyway I know Shakeology is not for everyone but it might just be the thing that finally makes a difference in my goal to lose weight!

For the record (mostly my own record) I took my body fat percentages today. Overall I am 35.6% body fat and have a BMI of 37.2 which for my height is very high! This is not good but I am confident I can and will change that over the next few weeks! I met with a real live Beachbody success story who lost over 50 pounds not once but a second time after the birth of her second child! I can only hope to be able to do that not only for my wedding but even through having my first and second and possibly third child! 

Day 2 - Check and Check!

So I actually did the workout last night but spent some time with the hubby last night instead of blogging! I might actually just start being a day behind on my blogs just for ease of writing about it lol! Last night was tough and hurt my knee a bit (we went and picked up an ACE knee brace to combat that problem)  but I got through it... I may not have done everything perfectly and I had to take a lot of breaks but the point is I DID IT! And surprisingly I don't feel as sore as I thought I might this morning! I feel general aches in my muscles from them not being used and what not but I actually like that pain (in some ways) cause it means I actually did something! And it means I am actually making a difference! Motivation = Through the Roof! Granted.... it is only Day 3 of 60... but I still know it will be worth it!

Mornings have become my relaxing time... well ARE becoming my relaxing time lol! And by relaxing time I mean the time I finish the dishes and straighten up the house and fold laundry time! I am thinking about moving my workouts to the morning time since there is no way the hubby would come home during that time (he came home early from his gym time last night and I still had half my workout left so he got banished to the bedroom) but that can be fixed with me coming home from HR block on time and him doing his full workout instead of just chest lol! Anyway we will see how it goes! I am just now starting to get any kind of energy in the mornings! I had a slight period of wanting to sleep until 11 and then get up and go to the office for a few hours... Luckily that seems to be over for right now at least!

My dogs are going crazy and I think it is hilarious! Both are Shiba Inu (a breed originated from Japan) and One is 4 1/2 and relaxed and chill His name is Scooter and didn't like other dogs before we got the little guy Hiroshi. (I can't even lie... getting him to like Hiroshi was tense for a little while) Roshi is 1 1/2. Both of them are adoptions from other military families who couldn't take them so we didn't raise either but we lucked out and got (almost) fully trained dogs in the deal and two little guys that we adore! Hiroshi is very vocal and makes cat sounds a lot lol! He runs around the house at night when he gets tired which he is also strangely doing now even though he just woke up and he has gotten Scooter in the game too! Its a blast to watch! Time now to go and get ready for work.... Day 3 workout tonight! Wish me luck! 

Insanity - Day 1... Check?

The plan - INSANITY and Shakeology
Starting Weight (Goodness Gracious I'm actually posting this) 215

Day 1 Insanity Fit test... Done! Granted I almost died.... OK so I am just being dramatic but it sure FELT like I might die! Bad thing is.... today was the short day to gauge your starting point! Whew! I forgot how tough this was! I know that I will make it through but starting this again with 60 extra lbs after taking the last 4-6 months off from a serious consistent workout plan is gonna be rough! I just have to keep MOTIVATED and remind myself that it will pay off in the end and be totally worth it! Work in Progress!!!

Unfortunately I was unable to meet with my future Beachbody Coach today because I couldn't find the facility! We live in Okinawa and their sign blew away in the last storm but I have her number now and am meeting with her in the morning and place my order for Tropical Strawberry Shakeology! Right now i'm drinking Chocolate which is fine but I love Strawberry anything so I am hoping its good!

In other news - We had a great weekend here even though our Whale Watching tour got canceled because of 9 ft swells! We are on a beautiful tropical island and in a unique position to observe humpback whales in nature! I have missed it the past three years for one reason or another. The first I had just arrived and by the time I found out about whale watching the season had ended.. the next year I was deployed... and last year unfortunately our trip was scheduled on the last weekend of the season and it was the same weekend of the devastating earthquake in Mainland Japan. I am really hoping we find time to reschedule the trip since this is our last year on the island before we head to New Mexico... Not thrilled about that change but it is the life of a military couple! We spent a lot of time with our group of friends and the hubby got to play some video games with them!

Tomorrow is Day 2 of Insanity and work! 

New Beginnings

What you see in the title is for now may be a temporary working title but also a statement I would like to make for I am indeed a Work In Progress.. I have been and continue to be and I am proud of that fact because I am constantly growing and changing and adjusting to changes around me and I believe that makes me who I am. I believe that everything in life happens for a reason. The way we handle situations or things we have been through help to define how we see the world and the way we think about things and ultimately shapes who we are as a person. 

This blog comes on the eve of what I hope to be a major change for the positive in my life. I have decided that it is time to take my life back and finally get back into shape. I got married in April to a handsome loving man who was also in the Air Force. I had struggled with my weight since last year when a medication helped me to gain thirty pounds. I always said in the last year of my being in the military that if I could just do my own plan instead of the Air Force's way I could beat it... I could get back in shape.... there was always an excuse though... I had work and Air Force exercise to go to (which I promptly stopped going to once I found out I was getting out but it was still an excuse)....the getting out process turned out to last from September til January which was a blessing to us cause it meant more money for my college but in the meanwhile I continued to pack on more weight and make more excuses. 

Oddly enough the change came not because I don't have a husband who loves me but because I have a husband who loves me no matter what and who believes in me. On Valentines day I asked him to pick up pantie hose (I know blast from the past right)  while he was at the store and while explaining sizing to him he expressed disbelief that I weighed over 200 pounds... Step on the scale show me he prompted.... I declined (getting on the sale in front of someone is never good)  Then did it to prove my point. The point I proved was far from the point I wanted to prove... I was indeed over 200 lbs. He finally believed me and I started to cry... I broke down and he held me and he told me that it was alright that he loved the way I looked no matter what and that if I wanted to I would take care of it when I was ready to take care of it. So that got me thinking... There it was right on the scale... Over 200 pounds.... what was I waiting for.... when would I be ready to take care of it? When was I going to get out of my own way? The answer came on a day not unlike today or yesterday.... Just a random day when I decided to take the first step because that is what it really takes... is a conscious decision to change. 

Now I am not looking to become a health nut obsessed with calorie intake and driving you all crazy with food facts and workout information lol! I am just looking to get into shape again after an unfortunate period of time where I haven't been all I could be and felt like maybe I could take you all along with me for the ride! I am looking to get pregnant towards the middle of the year so this whole thing might be lost on some of you but it doesn't matter. Its what i feel i need to do and they say that the healthier you are at the start of a pregnancy the easier a time you will have during the pregnancy and even getting back into shape afterwords. 

This blog will likely grow evolve progress and change as time goes on just like we do as people. From exercising and getting into shape and being "newlyweds" and having our official wedding to having a first child and going through the initial trials and joys of motherhood I hope you will stick with me and be patient... Its my first time blogging lol! I am almost positive that this blog won't always be about my workouts but mostly my everyday life as a military wife with some degree of keeping myself in check with my workouts in the process!