The Jessica Blog

Later, Gator!

2011-01-13T13:44:00.003-05:00

*blows dust off this blog*

Not sure if anyone still stops in here but I've relocated to a Wordpress blog. Follow me over, if you wish!

My random-all-sorts-of-stuff-that-goes-on-in-my-life blog:
www.jessicamacho.wordpress.com

Ryan and my "Scenes of Soil and Swell" adventure blog:
www.soilandswell.wordpress.com

My CrossFit/nutrition/fitness blog:
www.crossfitjess.wordpress.com

Moms Are The Sweetest!

2010-03-21T16:02:00.015-04:00

So I might be a little behind with my blogging. Life is a lot busier these days... especially when you throw sunshine into the mix.

But, I wanted to write about a fantastic little package Ryan and I got in the mail last month from my Mom. She's the sweetest. Every Valentine's Day, Mom sends me (and Ryan) a nice little care package and this year it was from Williams Sonoma. YEE!

"WHAT'S IN THE PACKAGE??!" (I don't know why my doggy insists on being all up in everyone's business. If she's not in the middle of everything, she's not happy.)

Cute, little "Happy Valentine's Day!" note from Mom:

And in the package was a calzone mold and some pizza crust mix!

... and this cute, little... cookie cutter thingy?

I was really surprised that the calzone mix consisted of natural ingredients, whole wheat flour (UNbleached), with no HFCS or partially hydrogenated oils, and without sugar being a top 3 ingredient. Other than a higher proportion of carb grams to protein grams, this mix was a WIN! (And this is coming from someone that is usually picky about foods that come out of boxes.)

So, naturally, Ryan and I declared a "Make Your Own Calzone Day." These make-your-own-dinner nights are the ultimate best because Ryan, who can eat almost anything he wants in obnoxious quantities without ever losing his 6-pack (lucky him, me notsomuch) can indulge in Italian sausage smothered with cheese and pizza sauce calzone. And I can have my spinach and mushroom with reduced-fat feta calzone without feeling guilty.

We mixed the dough and hit the gym for an hour while the dough rose. I tried extra hard to work up a sweat so I could justify all the carbs I was about to consume, but I'm pretty sure all I could think about was melted cheeeese and spinach. Then we... kneaded (???) the dough. I think? It was more like I gave the dough a massage:

We prepped lots of vegetables. Cooking is just so much more enjoyable for me when I have a RAINBOW of vegetables:

My favorite part:

And, for the first time EVER, we purchased artisan cheese. Well, we *think* it was artisan cheese because we bought it from the specialty section of the deli and it cost significantly more than shredded Kraft cheese. Truth be told, we got Fontina cheese only because the package said it "melts beautifully." And, yes, it DID melt beautifully all while tasting delicious:

Ryan surprised me with his dough hand-tossing skills.

Then it was stuff, stuff, stuff, fold, and press. Voila!

I think our calzone would've looked better if we would've coated the top with a layer of butter so it would brown nicely in the oven, but it tasted soo good even without the added grease.

Thanks, Mom (and Dad)!!!

Napmaste

2010-02-16T20:15:00.003-05:00

Nice to see her yoga classes are finally starting to pay off.

I Want My Abs Back

2010-02-16T07:23:00.006-05:00

I WANT MY ABS BACK AND I WANT THEM BACK NOW.

NOW.

RIGHT NOW.

I knew I was gaining weight since moving to Philadelphia and ever since winter slapped me across my face. But, i didn't realize just HOW MUCH I've gained. I almost died last night when I stepped on the scale and it read 120.0 lbs. I could not believe it. I kept stepping on the scale thinking something was wrong... I think that's called Denial? And before I get written off as overreacting or having some psycho body dysmorphia, let me show you what I'm USED to.

I may never have had a 6-pack but I am atleast used to putting on some workout shorts and not having it squeeze me. I'm used to being 108-110 lbs and not having lovehandles... Holy %$!# did I just admit to gaining 10-12 pounds?!

I'm used to having some TRICEPS that showed and veins that popped out...

It took me awhile to build some deltoids but last year I finally got some... and it was something I could definitely get used to...

I was never confident in bathing suit but I got used to atleast being CONTENT in one...

I'm used to fitting into my spandex workout pants and I'm used to having some QUADS...

And I wasn't just born with any of that... I busted my arse off to look "fit." I'm used to working hard to get results that I can be content with. I'm used to riding a HEAVY beach cruiser 3 miles to the gym, hopping on the treadmill for 20 minutes, doing the XFit warmup followed by a solid hour of strength training, and then riding my bike 3 miles back home.

The "worst winter in the history of Philadelphia" has definitely hampered my efforts and I.AM.SICK.OF.IT. I won't ride my bike on ice covered roads... that's just unsafe. People here jog with SKI MASKS covering their faces. When it snows, the roads are closed until it can get plowed so good luck driving to the gym. And before I knew it, I'm 120 pounds and wondering if I should see a therapist for mild depression.

I don't have the self esteem to deal with this.

But, I'm at a new gym now. This morning I walked to it at 5am while it was snowing... and I almost slipped on some ice on the sidewalk but I made it! So now I have absolutely NO EXCUSE.

My new goal is to get MY body back and build some self esteem. The good news is that I still have my muscle but my decrease in cardio has added some body fat. So, Phase 1 will be to just drop weight to a more manageable number. More specifically, I will get down to 114lbs... by March 1st. Ambitious, I know. Phase 2, I will assess where I need to build some muscle. Phase 3, I will cut my body fat down to around 17%.

But goals are never reached without a solid gameplan. So here is my game plan for Phase 1:
- Extreme calorie deficit... around 1200 calories/day

- I'll be counting calories using FitDay.com

- No breads, no pasta, no processed sugars. No Free Food Fridays. Just vegetables, fruit, and meat/protein.

- I will be doing 2 cardio sessions a day. 1 session in the morning followed by Crossfit. The second cardio session in the afternoon/evening.

- I will be using a fat loss stack coupled with a diuretic to suppress my appetite, curb my sugar cravings, shed water weight, and also to give me the necessary energy to carry out 2 cardio sessions on a calorie deficit. I have reservations about doing this but I really need my self esteem back and if this helps, then so be it.

- I ordered a digital bodyfat caliper to track my progress in Phase 1 and Phase 3. This is going to suck.

- Today I'm boxing up any clothes I don't fit perfectly. In 2 weeks I'll try them back on to see which ones I've EARNED back.

So, that's my plan. I'll check back in with myself in 2 weeks for measurements and weigh ins. I wish I could feel good about myself no matter what I look like but that's just not the case right now. Eventually, I'll see a therapist for help with my body issues but at this moment, the only therapy I'm willing to entertain is gym therapy.

Feel free to hold me accountable.

Do They Make Gas Masks for Dogs?

2010-02-08T21:28:00.004-05:00

I read in this puppy-rearing book that it is ill-advised to play tug-of-war with your puppy because when the pup wins a match, it will feel dominant. Add up a few wins for the pup and soon you'll be calling up the Dog Whisperer for intervention. But neither Ryan nor I are the types to back down from a challenge, so when Rogue requests a match we humor her. Sometimes we're holding on to the rope for a solid 10 minutes. Her strong underbite gives her an advantage but we counter with some opposable thumbs.

So one day Ryan and Rogue get involved in a tug-of-war match and Rogue just REFUSES to let up. Ryan, tired of the game but not willing to just let go of the rope, pulls Rogue extremely close, turns around, squats way down, and FARTS ON HER FACE. (Let me point out that there is a huge difference between a toot and an all out fart.)

And just like that, I am not even kidding you, Rogue released her hold on the rope and took a few steps back. And, in typical macho Man fashion, Ryan raised both arms victoriously in the air and exclaimed, "I WON! I WON!" He might have even jumped up and down as well.

Punxatawney Phil Is Wrong, Just Wrong

2010-02-04T09:52:00.008-05:00

Not sure what that Punxatawney Phil groundhog was thinking. He was probably thinking the same thing as our meteorologists seeing that, historically, the groundhog has had a 28% chance of correctly predicting winter where as our weather man has experienced a 31% success rate when it comes to winter prediction, according to Ryan. Only a 3% difference between the correct predictions of a groundhog and a trained weatherman with technology on his side. Wow.

They should've skipped out on the groundhog (and weatherman) and gone straight to my dog instead. She would've predicted we're skipping Spring altogether and going straight to an early Summer to make up for all this obnoxious winter weather.

19/101

2010-02-02T20:15:00.007-05:00

GOAL #19 out of 101: Donate blood.
COMPLETED: 23 Jan 2010

I don't really believe in Altruism so I can't say that my sole reason for wanting to donate blood was for noble causes. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that part of me wanted to give blood simply because I was denied the opportunity so many times in the past. First I was under the minimum weight requirement and then I was too anemic. Years later here I am... I'm healthy, I eat right, I exercise. I'm finally at a place in life where I can not only give blood, but I can give GOOD blood. The minimum iron count to donate blood was 12.5 (forget the units) and my iron count was about 13.2... so maybe my blood wasn't GREAT but it was, like, B+ blood.

Ry accompanied me to document my Goal #19:

My pint! Actually, I didn't get to donate a WHOLE pint because my blood flow had slowed down and they have a time limit as to how long you can have that needle in your arm.

And you "can't" leave until you have some cookies and juice!!! After giving blood, I was told to sit down, relax, eat cookies, and drink some juice! I seriously need to donate blood more often.

I was all about the "Reserved for Donors" parking spot! I felt so special for the day (see? I didn't really donate blood to help other people. I just donated blood to help myself feel special.)

And Ryan insisted I wear this "Be Nice To Me! I Gave Blood Today!" sticker so I insisted he follow the "be nice to me" portion. I had my very own personal assistant for the entire day to get me some water, put on a movie, and hang up my coat (hey, I was told no strenuous or heavy lifting for the rest of the day). Just add some botox and I could've been a Real Housewife of New Jersey. I WISH I could give blood every day.

Grateful

2010-02-02T12:19:00.005-05:00

I don't know what I'd do without this pup. There are days when I question whether I would've gotten out of bed if it wasn't for the fact that she needs me to feed her, to let her out to do business, to make sure she doesn't demolish another stuffed animal into shreds. My first East Coast Winter sucks but I'm positive it would've been a lot harder without Rogue.

Burton Meets Ikea

2010-01-30T18:05:00.009-05:00

Ryan and I are fortunate that we can take lots of trips throughout the year... camping in Shenandoah, snowboarding at Stowe. It's not because we're backstroking our way through a room full o' gold coins, giggling and laughing, and saying, "You're a Scrooge!" "No, YOU'RE the Scrooge!" Unfortunately, we have to fund our insatiable appetite for travel and outdoor gear by cutting corners in certain aspects of our lives and depriving ourselves of certain luxuries. One of those luxuries is furniture and home decor. You can see how this puts a kink in my intermittent nesting episodes. Many of our dear friends have had the "luxury" of eating on the floor when we didn't have a dining table, or sleeping on our couch when we didn't have a furnished guest bedroom, and OMG they don't have an ENTERTAINMENT center so we're stuck playing YAHTZEE??!

Thankfully, Ryan the Genius came up with an idea: We'll just use what we have! Genius! So, a couple of weekends ago, we hung our snowboards on the wall and called it "art." So here it is, our QUIVY! From left to right we have: Ryan's Burton Custom 169, his Burton Custom 156, and his Burton Custom X 160, and my Burton Feelgood ES 145, and my Burton Cruzer 139.

(Allow me to derail this blog for a second to say that, YES, I am a *little* embarrassed that we have 5 snowboards between the 2 of us. Clearly, if there is one thing we do not deprive ourselves of, it is snowboard gear. In our defense, 3 out of our 5 boards have been actively used for 8-12 years. And that Burton Cruzer we just HAD to keep because it's reserved for the Burton Smalls we will spawn about 5 years from now. I can hear it now: "But Daaaad! Do I HAVE to practice my backside rodeo today?" "Yes. Now go put on your bibs. No, not the bib you use for eating, son, your SNOWBOARDING bibs. And stop your crying or your tears will freeze on your face and all the other Smalls will make fun of you. What has your mother done to you??!")

Now where was I?? Oh, yes... we searched high and low for methods of hanging boards. Burton sells board hangers for about $20/per board hanger. That would've cost us the equivalent of a lift ticket so we headed to Ikea in search of Ikeahack solutions. And we finally settled on the Grundtal Hangers for $1.99/pair. So, the total cost of hanging up our boards was $10.00!!

We knew the wall space for 5 boards was too tight to eyeball it. So leave it to us to make a SCALE MODEL OF THE SNOWBOARDS AND WALL. Because when Ryan and I get some idea in our heads, we tend to go all.the.way. And just like that, we were over the edge:

Ryan said, "You know they have Auto CAD for stuff like this, right?"

"Yeah, but before Auto CAD everyone used these things called two hands and a brain. Can you tell me the conversion constant for converting centimeters to inches again? I forgot it." Some brain, Jess.

After some careful calculations, we set up the boards. Well, Ryan set up the boards and I documented the process (which is equally important, if you ask me.)

Then Ryan drilled some holes and placed the Grundtal hangers just slightly narrower than the widest portion of our boards. And voila! Instant IkeaHack snowboard hangers! Here are some closeups:

Fake 'n' Bake

2010-01-29T16:07:00.004-05:00

On a recent trip to Ikea, I glanced over at Ryan and saw him doing this:
"Uh... what are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm tanning my FACE!" he replied.

No further questions, Your Honor.

Fridays Are For Lovers

2010-01-29T13:42:00.004-05:00

It's Friday, which means soon Ryan will walk through the door with a handful of candy that he only brings home on Free-Food-Fridays. And Rogue's tail will be spinning around so fast that it will literally be going in circles. (I'm glad she got her tail docked; Lord knows if it were any longer, we'd have lift-off butt first into the air. That's how fast she whips her tail around when Ryan's key opens the door.)

And then Ryan will veg out on the couch, relaxing from a week cubed up in an office. And Rogue will cuddle him. And Ryan will share his Skittles Crazy Cores with her and let her lick up the residual Arizona Green Tea that gets stuck in the gutter of the can.

And my heart will melt and I will be, like, "Awww! My babies!"

Some Giveaways Are Actually Legit

2010-01-29T12:18:00.002-05:00

If there is one thing I REALLY like, it's a company that stands by its word. Last December, we went to the Army-Navy game here in Philadelphia. One of the sponsors (USAA), which also happens to be our bank, was holding a trivia game. Basically, you text in your trivia answers using your cell phone during timeouts and commercial breaks during the actual football game. So, here I am freezing my buns off but insisting on removing my gloves to text in answers to questions regarding football from, like, the early 1800's or something really old like that. This was wrong on so many levels. For starters, I have no brain space dedicated to trivia. Second, I don't have the proper thermal regulation to warrant removing my gloves during temperatures hovering around FREEZING. And third, no one REALLY wins those types of giveaways anyway. But, I insisted and at the end of it all I received a text on my phone saying I was one out of 100 winners to receive a limited edition, regulation size, all-leather Army-Navy game football.

Right. I won't hold my breath.

I soon forgot about my "winnings." And then last night a box arrived. And inside was an envelope that read:

And there was also this:

Awesome!! I love winning things! And I love USAA for pulling through and doing what they said they would.

Take That Pottery Barn!

2010-01-28T19:06:00.008-05:00

We try to make our weekends count around here. Usually we're at the rock climbing gym, or hiking, or driving to Marlton, NJ, to stand in a line of 100+ people for the REI garage sale (that's what we'll be doing come Saturday.) And so the conversation, as it so often does, went something like this:

Ryan: "Did you want to do anything particular today?"

Me: "Oh, I dunno. Nothing in particular. But, I feel like being PRODUCTIVE!" *Insert bushy-tail, wide-eyed grin plastered on my face. Early Saturday morning workouts will do that to you.*

Ryan: "So... like what?"

Me: "I'll tell you what i do NOT want to do! I want to be productive but I do NOT want to dress up, or do anything requiring me to put on makeup, and I do NOT want to spend a lot of money. But I want to do SOMETHING. You know?"

Poor Ryan. I can't imagine how hard it must be trying to decipher female talk. Plus, I might as well have just told him I am a cheap date that is not interested in trying to look hot. I wonder if he's caught on to the fact that I haven't shaved my legs in, like, a month? And if it weren't for the early morning workout, I would have added "and I do NOT want to do anything requiring me to get showered."

Enter the DIY (do-it-yourself) Project Weekend. Cheap (if not free). Productive. Wear whatever you want. And imagine my delight when I came across building plans for Pottery Barn's Hyde Console Table on one of my favorite blogs, Knock Off Wood.

So after a trip to Lowe's for lumber and screws, we were getting our productivity on. And you have noooo idea how difficult it is to build furniture inside a 6th floor apartment. We don't have sawhorses so we had to use the barstools:

Our workspace was confined to whatever floor space was available:

And when the neighbors heard that we were having fun with a skilsaw and they were not invited to the party, they quickly sent security to knock on our door. It was just a little annoying because I'm pretty sure we didn't call security when intoxicated women run down the halls screaming and crying at 2:30am. But, anyway, we finished our console table by hand with a miter box and hand saw. Now THAT is more hardcore than dressing up and putting on makeup.

So here it is, our knock off version of Pottery Barn's Hyde table. It sells for $499. We spent (brace yourself) a WHOPPING $22 on the lumber. If you include the screws and varnish, the total cost of the table was sub $35. We just saved ourselves $465 and had an amazingly productive weekend! Not to mention my entry way feels much more inviting! (Just ignore the picture-less frame collage. I need to have some photos printed.)

Here is a pic of it in daylight:

And a closeup of the top of the table... we used pine wood with a dark walnut varnish. Then I distressed it by sanding the edges for a more "worn" look. I still need to varnish my lumber candle holder.

I'm SO proud of us!! Plus, we really did have a lot of fun building furniture in our apartment! I was vacuuming up sawdust for days. Major thanks to Anna White at Knock Off Wood for the plans!

Ryan's Debut

2010-01-28T10:45:00.004-05:00

Ryan and I are at a place in life where we are considering some possible career changes. After YEARS (not an exaggeration) of not skating, he revisited the sport. I see potential here. We would make an awesome team: Ryan the Figure Skater, Jess the Leotard Designer. I was especially fond of his Shoot the Duck finale. I would consider team skating (after all, Ryan and I have pretty much perfected the Dirty-Dancing-lift- Baby-over-your-head-move) but those teams are usually reserved for brothers and sisters.

Bargain Hunter

2010-01-27T17:35:00.000-05:00

Ryan!!! Did you teach the dog how to online shop on those one-deal-at-a-time sites?!

Because UPS just delivered a rock climbing harness and i KNOW it wasn't for me since it was a size X-Small. And we BOTH know that a XS is one size too small for ME.

Love At Lowe's... Or Something Like That

2010-01-27T12:00:00.001-05:00

It started out as, "Wanna build me a console table?" but the trip to Lowe's ended with some refreshing lessons. Who knew the local hardware store was more than just aisles of screws, things to screw, hammers (not to be confused with getting hammered, totally different), boards to bang, wood, wood, and oh! more wood? I was refreshed about love (what's that??) at Lowe's, of all places. Yeah, I know right?

Lowe's Lesson #1: Take your time picking out good lumber but remember that there is no such thing as a perfect 2x4. The grains and the knobs add character and can actually be beautiful in their own right.
Lowe's Lesson #2: Notes! They NEVER get old. Jotting down a little scribble every now and then can go a long way.
Lowe's Lesson #3: When your significant other tries to show or teach you something as mundane as how to tell if your lumber is straight and not bowed, you should probably listen! Sometimes they ACTUALLY know what they're talking about. And, sometimes they know more about that (mundane) topic than you do. Shocking, I know!
Lowe's Lesson #4: Take your time. Measure twice, cut once. Some mistakes just aren't worth making.
Lowe's Lesson #5: Relationships are a little bit of give, a little bit of take. Thus, questions such as, "Wanna build me a console table?" should be accompanied with statements like, "You can get some new tools while you're at it!" (Oh, and sidenote: The opportunity to practice extreme patience will present itself when he (or she) is in the Tool World section spending forever looking at items he'll never need... items like Torch Kits.)
Lowe's Lesson #6: Take caution when maneuvering around the rough pieces. Some splinters are too deep to remove.

Lowe's Lesson #7: And last but not least, the quickest way to end a relationship is to mess with a man's tools. That is not some metaphor. Really, don't mess with his tools. (Oh, and also do not ask, "Are you SURE you know what you're doing?" while he is under the hood of the car. Take my word on this one.)

Lazy Noms

2010-01-20T20:37:00.003-05:00

I was too lazy to cook tonight. Leftover black bean chili was my saving grace. We paired it with a fistful of arugula and spinach for a salad and a slapped-together Chicken Pesto w/Roasted Peppers sandwich. Bon Appetite. I love lazy day dinners; although, this seems more like lunch fare.

Turbo, Turbo, Turbo

2010-01-15T19:44:00.006-05:00

If you get the opportunity to stay at an Aloft Hotel (it's like the W's teenage sister, very cool), stay away from room #110.

My dog turbo humped ALL the decorative pillows.

I would've stopped her! But... my BABY! My baby GIRL! My baby girl PUPPY! Baby + Girl + Puppy. HUMPING?! Does this make any sense??! It was like puppy pillow porn because it wasn't just a, "Oh, hey, cute little striped pillow. Wanna go back to my place and... you know?" Oh, no. It was TURBO humping. It was the Michael Jackson of hip action. My dog raped the pillows. Not that Michael Jackson raped any cute little -- oh, my bad, is it too soon for MJ jokes? But, like I mentioned, I would've stopped her but I was literally on the floor LAUGHING so hard I couldn't even speak. I'd never seen anything of the sort.

So, yeah, if you're ever in room #110 in Aloft don't rest your weary head on the pillows.

A Spay Alternative

2010-01-15T14:18:00.004-05:00

It's a shame we didn't find these Birth Control Glasses prior to Rogue's spaying procedure. We could've just had her wear these to the dog park and saved ourselves the $500.

It's Been Real, 2009

2009-12-30T12:01:00.038-05:00

Here we are about to embark on 2010 and I'm scrambling for some tentative plans as to how I'm ever going to one-up 2009. This past year was a complete blur! The kind of blur where you're standing on a street corner waiting for the blinking, orange man to signal it's safe to cross and, OH CRAP, a car just drove up on a puddle and splashed cold water all over you and you're now left there stunned 'cause it all happened so quickly. Like THAT kind of a blur. And, ooops, the person driving that car was Ryan and this actually happened yesterday. So, if you're the person we soaked we'd like to say we're VERY sorry.

So, here's a short recap:

JANUARY:
January kicked off my 2009 with a bang, well, not literally since I decided to skip out on champagne and confetti poppers. But, I consider sewing a bangin' fun time and I did a bangup job with my first sewing project so, yeah, January 2009 started off with a bang. I got sewing lessons from Mom and an antique replica Singer sewing machine! My first sewing project was sewing a reversible apron for my sis. I'm extremely thankful for my newfound sewing skills; they've proven helpful when my puppy destroys her stuffed animal toy and I need to amputate and sew up the appendage. Sewing proved most helpful when Ikea was out of stock of the duvet I needed (wanted?) so I sewed one myself with a couple of flat sheets and saved a buck, or two, or 40. Thanks, Mom!

In January I also took a mini roadtrip up to San Francisco, Pleasanton, and Vacaville to spend some quality time with the Indalecios. ChriSteph, Lei, and I met up with Tiff, Dan, and a few others at a Speak Easy; we went to the Japanese Tea Gardens; slept in a hostel where it was questionable whether we'd make it through the night without catching some gunky, faucet water disease...

... and I FINALLY got to visit the California Academy of Sciences Museum:

FEBRUARY:
I spend some time in Santa Barbara with one of most hardest-working women I know, my sis, and her hubby, John:
She introduces me to the pedicure, teaches me how to make my own expresso-latte-cappuccino from scratch, and helps keep my worrying mind off the fact that Ryan failed to call me to say he didn't die in a convoy in Iraq. +1 point sister, -10 points husband (for not calling), +infinite points husband (for being alive). While in SB, I also take a rock climbing class and learn to parallel park... I know it was a TOUGH life out there.

February was the month my not-so-little in age but slightly little in weight brothers and I took a daytrip to Hollywood. And while we were there, Nissan was filming pedestrians for a commercial for the Cube. They might have, or might have not, signed a paper saying they were already 18 years old and were ok with possibly being on this commercial.
We also shopped the Goodwill on Hollywood Blvd and the Buffalo Exchange near La Brea. We experienced Palm Thai and a mountain of mochi on frozen yogurt at Yogurtland. I liken mochi to the Japanese equivalent of a gummy bear except with WAY less sugar grams per serving. That's probably how Japanese women get away with eating deliciousness while still staying thin. Mochi and fish. I wonder if there is fish-flavored mochi that I can put on some frozen yogurt to help me stay thin?

MARCH:
March was the month I had been waiting for for 6 months. Ryan FINALLY arrived back in the states after serving with the Seabees in both Iraq and Afghanistan. And this meant that Mom could FINALLY take down that yellow ribbon that had been tied to the tree in the front yard ever since my Marine brother served in Djibouti and Ryan got back from the Desert. The "boys" cut down the ribbon with their Ka-Bar combat knives:

Ryan and I spent the rest of the month vacationing it up with some snowboarding at Squaw Valley, Tahoe, and hiking in Yosemite:

APRIL:
In April we drove from Cali back to Mississippi but not before getting caught in a snowstorm up in Wyoming as the odometer rolled over 60,000 miles. Looks like we no longer have warranty on that Kia. We have one, final, infamous reunion on Bourbon Street in New Orleans with Tim, Shannon, Mike, Nam, Gary, and Stephanie before we all split up in the following months.

MAY:
May couldn't have come soon enough, you have no idea. FINALLY, finally! The day to kiss Mississippi good riddance arrived. It's no secret, there is very little I like about that state. In true Ryan and Jessica fashion, we get the idea in our heads to move ALL of our belongings by OURSELVES from Biloxi, MS, to Philadelphia, PA. This included carrying the couch up 6 flights of stairs, trying to maneuver a UHAUL with a trailer attached out of a small hotel parking lot, and Ryan having to listen to "pa pa pah poker face, pa pah poker face" all through the drive. I was 24 at the time so I was not authorized to drive the U-HAUL. Ryan, to this day, claims it was the hardest, most annoying drive ever. I think he's exaggerating; the passenger seat was just fine.

JUNE:
Ryan started a new job in Philadelphia! I like his new job hours better but dislike the increase in dry cleaning costs for his "pretty" uniforms! But, it's all about the give and take.

Daniel and Tiffany met up with us in Philadelphia. We ate cheesesteaks (for breakfast), went to the Art Museum, stood in the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed, sampled ales made from Jefferson and Washington's original recipes, and climbed the Rocky Steps!

We also took a trip to NYC with Tiff and Dan, stayed the night IN Times Square (hey-o!!), ate pizza at Lombardi's and cupcakes from Magnolia's (also for breakfast), walked Wall Street, chilled at Union Square, and relaxed in Central Park. We rode the subway (way cool!), and had summer apricot ales at Heartland, and went to the top of the Empire State Building at night!

In June I turned 25 years old. OMG. Really?! I'm pretty sure yesterday I was 21 years old. As my self-imposed "official" grow up age, I opted for a quiet birthday full of books and some hot chocolate from Naked Chocolate Cafe. And can I just say that turning 25 SUCKS but not that badly. The other day I turned around and saw the beginnings of saddlebags and cellulite. It's like all of a sudden I have to work out even harder. Oh, vey. Such is life?

JULY:
Mike and Shannon drove up from Norfolk and DC to celebrate the 4th of July with us! We listened to a Sheryl Crow concert that would never end, watched the city ignite fireworks off the Rocky Steps (, ate cheesesteaks (it's the thing to do when visitors are in town), and happened upon a Michael Jackson tribute dance party. I will gladly gouge my eyes out if I have to watch another tween in spandex gyrate her hips to the sounds of Thriller.

Ohhhh, and another memorable July event was the time I was running on the treadmill and got SO annoyed, so, so, SO annoyed when I had to stop THREE times to tie my hair up because it was just getting too long and heavy. Yeah, that was also the day I convinced Ryan to cut my hair using nothing but a razor.

But my most memorable July event was the day we got to bring our puppy baby Rogue home. I NEVER ever evah imagined loving a *gasp* ANIMAL as much as I love this dog. And, yes, I realize my obsession with dressing her up, and feeding her human grade food, and giving her a social networking page on Dogbook makes me a borderline lunatic. But Rogue has helped me with issues that I would have to pay a shrink $250 an hour to help me solve. She's helped me decrease my pseudo germaphobic tendencies while increasing my patience. By the time a homosapien baby rolls around, Ryan and I will be good to go. I can't wait to feed my human baby raw chicken and beef liver and put it to sleep in a crate. There will be no greater love.

SEPTEMBER:

September is like the forgotten stepchild month. Poor September. Nothing exciting really happened in this month. There weren't any big holidays or events. We did take a trip "down the shore" (as in the Jersey Shore but just called "the shore" around these parts.) I somehow have this feeling that the Shore won't be the same after watching an episode of "Jersey Shore" on MTV... so sad, really.

SEPTEMBER:
September, September... oh, yeah, that was the month we FINALLY dusted off our packs after a two-year, involuntary, backpacking abstinent stint (courtesy of good ol' Mississippi.) We hiked about 9 miles, camped in the middle of nowhere, cooked in the dark, and just about peed my pants when Rogue got scared by something unseen. Hello, BEARS??!

Oh, crap. I just "recapped" September twice. See? The forgotten stepchild month. I couldn't even remember that i JUST wrote about September.

OCTOBER:
In October we backcountry camped in Shenandoah National Park. We're such suckers for those national parks... they lure us in every time. We hiked over 11 miles total and covered over 3,000 ft in elevation changes. All that with packs weighing in over 30lbs. And without my life-changing Super Feet insoles. I'm pretty sure an expletive slipped out once or twice. But, only once or twice. Or not. That hike was a blur.

NOVEMBER:
Let's just say November was the first time I actually really, truly appreciated my mom waking up at 6am to prep the Thanksgiving turkey. Ryan competed in a Turkey Trot 5k and because he placed 2nd, he won turkey. Turkey Trot run, frozen turkey, I still don't see relevance but we embarked on our first Thanksgiving meal experiment. Neither one of us knew what to do with a turkey but we resisted the urge to call in an SOS to Mom. Risky, I know.

Poor Ryan. He was stuck with me for Thanksgiving so we feasted on a Clean Thanksgiving; none of our dishes cooked with butter, excessive salt, or oils. And no pie... just some fat free, sugar free, pumpkin custard trifle. Our menu was: Turkey, Apple and brown rice "stuffing," Green beans with turkey bacon, Mashed sweet potatoes, and Carrot bread. It was pretty good, if you like that healthy food kind of stuff.

We also met up with Tiff and Dan in Baltimore in November!!! It's very fun traveling and meeting up with these two. I feel like we cover so much in such a short amount of time. We ate a Maryland crabcake, walked around the harbor, toured the campus of Johns Hopkins where Dan earned his undergrad, and got to see Fort McHenry where the British bombarded (it's also known as the site where the Star Spangled Banner was written.)

The end of November marked the end of a journey to one of my most memorable accomplishments of 2009. In early May, Ryan and I started running with a professional running coach and WOW did it pay off. I started the season not being able to finish the runs with a mile time around the 10:00 minute miles and slowly cut my mile time to 7:41 min/mile. Amazing! I NEVER thought I'd run a sub 8:00 min/mile. EVER. I mean, yeah, I might've been huffing and puffing and literally lying on the ground like a dehydrated nomad in the middle of Egypt but whatever... it counts. I also ended the season with the Fastest Female Sprinter award. It was nice to see a positive aspect to having gargantuous man quads, not gonna lie about it.

DECEMBER:
So many amazingly memorable events for December. First off, I GOT TO SEE IMOGEN HEAP IN CONCERT. Let's just say I'm hoping to see her again on the second leg of her North American tour.

The following week we went to the Army Navy game. The skydivers were a pretty cool recruiting tactic and also made for a great show. And the game was great, too, well... what I saw of it anyway. I had to leave early to pick my dog up from doggy daycare. Obsessed!

Then my youngest brother Jonny, Ryan, Rogue, and I spent a week up snowboarding in Stowe.

We toured the Ben & Jerry's icecream factory. Did you know employees there get THREE free pints of icecream for every DAY they work???! No, really!

Then we went to Burlington for the fun of it:

And while in Burlington, we couldn't not stop by the Burton factory store where they had EVERY single clothing, accessory, boot, bindings, and boards in their 2010 catalog.

And we finished off the year with a Nancy Kerrigan vs Tonya Harding session...

So here we are now in 2010 and I'm now hoping nothing exciting happens because, wow, this blog took FOR.EVER. to put together.

Santa Tried to Break Rogue's Paw

2009-12-26T22:43:00.003-05:00

We couldn't find an ornament that read, "Puppy's first Christmas" so we settled for an obligatory picture with an imposter Santa instead.

Before you suggest a trip to the Funny Farm for treating my pet like a human baby, let me just say that 100% of the proceeds from puppies' pics with "Santa" went to the ASPCA and homeless pets in shelters.

Pint Sized Troop

2009-12-02T10:28:00.003-05:00

I have mixed feelings about President Obama's plan to deploy 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. I hear the first wave of Marines will be deploying around Christmas time. This is serious stuff... that's awfully soon.

Needless to say, the big conversation around here is about how a service member spent ALL night last night loading his stuff into a U-Haul and moving out of his apartment 'cause he got word he was deploying. Perhaps this wasn't the best morning to sport the NAVY hoodie 'cause I got bombarded with questions about whether Ryan was deploying, too. I don't think so?

So, it was time for me to have a lil' chat with Rogue.

Me: "Rogue, so what do you think about Obama's plan to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan?"

Rogue: "Like OHMIDOG! Iz they sending Dadee?!"

Me: "Hmm... not sure. What are you going to do if has to deploy?"

Rogue: "Scroo dat. I iz going, too. Pack my bonez, wooman."

Only 24 More Days!

2009-12-01T13:29:00.004-05:00

Hang in there, Rogue. Only 24 more days until we resume treating you like the fine dog that you are. Until then, let me animal test my red lipstick on that nose... for a treat, of course.

Our Amazing Lil' Helper

2009-11-30T13:57:00.003-05:00

Rogue is not only great at smudging, I mean cleaning, glass windows! She is also very good at running through screen doors. Wow... how DID we get so lucky?

Yes, that is peanut butter on the glass... she doesn't clean (or pose for pictures) for free, you know. Helpful and entrepreneurial; again, how DID we get so lucky?!

Uncle Sam's Do-Gooders

2009-11-30T13:44:00.002-05:00

Hats off to all those who work for the government. I don't know how you guys deal with the bureaucratic red tape day in and day out. I'm just trying to register my DBA and apply for a business license and I already want to gauge my eyes out.

Hey, Pumpkin

2009-10-29T19:36:00.003-04:00

Rogue's had her Halloween decorations up since mid-September. Oh, no, he did not just decorate our dog's crate with pumpkin lights. Oh, yes. Yes, he did. And she LOVES it so that makes it perfectly acceptable. Plus, it's sort of adorable how he spoils this puppy. She goes by "Pumpkin" these days, though I'm not sure if that's just a seasonal term of endearment.

Rain, Rain, I Hope You Stay

2009-10-28T18:55:00.004-04:00

It's cute how she always picks a rainy day as an opportune time to roll in the dirt. On rainy days our car gets cleaned while our dog gets dirty.

Backcountry Anniversary

2009-10-26T23:35:00.002-04:00

It was on a camping trip 3 years ago in Jacksonville, FL, that Ryan and I joked about getting, you know, hitched. So, we woke up the next morning and eloped. Our first 2 anniversaries were spent worlds apart (literally) since Ryan was deployed first to Okinawa, Japan and then to Iraq and Afghanistan. (Insert hooting Seabee grunt here.)

So, 3 years later and our first anniversary in the same continent, we figured it'd only be fitting to go back to where it all began... on an egg crate pad, in a one person tent, out in the middle of nowhere.

We have entirely too many photos to copy, paste, copy paste, copy paste so I've compiled a slideshow to the soundtrack of our current roadtrip broken record repeat tunes. Don't blink... you might miss a shot.

Oh, and some interesting tidbits not covered in the video:

We survived a coyote howling outside our tent... Rogue SNORED through the heart thumping ordeal.

We dehyrated all our meals. It took a greater portion of 2 days.

We had to hang our trash and food and chapstick in a bear bag so black bears wouldn't be attracted to our tent! So there we were cooking in the dark, our only source of light were our headlamps. And out of NOWHERE, Rogue jumps up and starts growling, the fur all down her spine were standing up. So, I start FREAKING out and shine my headlamp all.over.the.dark.forest looking for a bear. We did encounter LOTS o' bear poo. I don't understand why bears eat sooo many nuts if they're not going to digest it.

Rogue, Ryan, and me in a SINGLE person tent = no sleep, no sleep at all.

Our first trip we hiked a 9 mile loop. Our second trip we hiked 10.9 miles over 2 days with an elevation change of 2600'.

Ryan's pack weighed 38 pounds, my pack weighed 32 pounds. Proportional? I think not.

2009 Backcountry Trip from Jessica Camacho on Vimeo.

Tasty Little Package

2009-10-02T21:56:00.007-04:00

Every morning Rogue wakes up all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, excited, and full of energy. She is so chipper, in fact, that Ryan and I now exclaim, "Happy Birthday, Rogue! It's your birthday," every.single.morning. No, it's not actually her birthday; it's just that every morning she wakes up excited as if there is a stack of presents waiting to be plowed into. Her tongue sticks out and her eyes dart around the room and if she could talk, she'd be screaming, "PWESENTS! Wears all da pwesents??!"

There have been a couple of instances, however, when she ACTUALLY receives a present. Rogue's cousins, Donut and Caboose (pooches of Ry's sister Jen and her husband Josh), mailed Rogue a Tug-A-Jug treat dispenser. It was LOVE at first sight and she's been chasing it around ever since.

She got so good at dispensing the treats that Ryan and I actually put INDISPENSABLE treats in there, treats that are too big to fit through the opening. Please don't tell the ASPCA.

Her Tug-A-Jug proved to be an instrumental tool in teaching Rogue how to fetch! Contrary to previous thought, you actually have to TEACH a dog how to retrieve items. And here I was thinking it was instinct. We read this dog psychology article (don't laugh, we take puppy-rearing seriously) and it said that a dog is disqualified from being a service animal (like a seeing eye dog) if it hasn't learned to fetch by 15 weeks old. And though we do not intend for Rogue to be a service animal (she has a bad case of ADHD, which I'm sure is an automatic disqualification), we do try to promote an overachieving approach to being a puppy. Cute puppy dog eyes can only get her so far, you know? She should probably work on developing other skills. So once she turned 13 weeks old, we were learning to fetch all day long. Here is a vid of her at 14 weeks fetching her Tug-A-Jug. You can hear Ryan in the background saying, "Bring it! Bring it!" (I thought the word "fetch" sounded weird so our command is "Bring It" instead.)

And then yesterday we stopped by the mail box and pulled out a small box addressed to "Rogue." Huh. "Ro-Oh-g! Come! You got mail!" It didn't take her more than 3 minutes to get the box opened. And, oh it was SO cute... she got a box of the most adorable dog cookies I've ever seen from The Gerriors! The treats looked so good that I will admit to taking a tiny bite out of the white with pink striped frosted cookie. They taste like cookies for humans but with a little more crunch. This puppy is SOOO spoiled!

This box of goodies couldn't have arrived at a better time since she was suffering from Kennel Cough a week and a half ago AND she just got a Lepto vaccine at the vet the day before. So she went treatless for a while (I'm not sure how she survived without treats) and this box more than makes up for it.

We are trying to teach her this trick where she balances a treat on her nose. It was especially difficult to do so with these particular treats and I don't blame her. I may or may not have strategically cropped out Ryan's hands.

Good puppy!!!

"No more twicks, I wan my tweat."

Nom, nom, nomnom....

Thank you SO much, Donahues and Gerriors!! You made my puppy's day and in turn made our day.

Truthursday: I Wish I Was A Surfer

2009-09-24T10:35:00.004-04:00

There's a meme (how is that pronounced? Meem? Mem? MeeMee? Goo-gle?) going around on Twitter. It's been dubbed "Truthursday" and it involves revealing a truth or secret about yourself on Thursdays. So my truth on this Thursday: I wish I knew how to surf.

There, I said it. You know, it kind of SUCKS being the (I almost just now typed "girlfriend") wife of a guy that surfs. I liken it to being the benchwarming runt on the football team. "Aw, c'mon Coach! Put me in. I can do it! I can surf!"

And the thing is... I've accomplished all the other sports Ryan has brought into this relationship. You want to talk about "excess baggage." We've got separate storage unit dedicated almost entirely to his boards and sports gear. I've tried it all: longboard skating, biking, snowboarding, backpacking, boxing. But try as I might, and yes I have tried (twice to be exact), I still cannot surf. I can do everything else just short of actually standing up on a board. Squeeze these mutant man quads into a tight wetsuit? Check. Duck dive under a wave (only to realize the bottom was a mere 8 inches below and have my board smack me in the face, but hey whatever, it counts)? Check. At one point Ryan was having me give him surf reports to learn to read waves. "*sigh* The conditions are glassy. Waves are about 3' high with clean breaks and occasional chest-high sets. Looks like you can score some good drops near that jetty." Or, "Eh. The waves are mushy and break close to shore. Maybe we should check out Huntington?" :o\ I mean, am I destined to be nothing more than his board-carrying surf reporter??

I envy surfers. I know of no other sport where man, uncomplicated gear, and nature can so closely intertwine without the aid of intricate man-made devices. You need nothing more than a body, a board, and a wave. The Trinity! And have you ever noticed that to surfers every wave is a perfect wave? I just think there is something about surfing that allows surfers to see the world in different way. Matt Warshaw once said, "Surfing expresses ... a pure yearning for visceral, physical contact with the natural world." Hmmm, I bet it's like Nirvana. I want to sit on a board and stare out at the horizon as the sun rises on Anini Beach. I want to feel that surge of power pulling me back into a wave only to immediately thrust me forward towards shore. I want to experience being one with nature.

I have no legitimate excuse as to why I still haven't learned to surf. I was born on an island, I was raised in California, I went to college in Orange County minutes away from Laguna, Newport, and Surf City Huntington Beach. I still can't surf. They say "third time's a charm" so I informed Ryan that I'd like to give surfing one last go. I think there is a chance I can ride a wave. Here on the East Coast the beaches clear out after Labor Day (as opposed to California beaches that stay crowded year round), the ocean is sand bottom (as opposed to rock bottom in Oahu during my second surf attempt), and the waves are manageable. I'm desperate. If I could experience just ONE wave, even just one, I'd be thrilled.

Truth.

Cabbage Patch Pup

2009-09-23T14:56:00.008-04:00

There are certain items in life which, though simple in nature, provide such immense joy for Rogue. These would include empty plastic containers that can slide across the floor at 76 mph, twigs 'n' sticks of all shapes and sizes, and leaves. Pineapple leaves, deciduous leaves, feathers resembling leaves that float in the air above roads thus tempting her to jump off the sidewalk and into oncoming traffic (all hail the mighty leash!), the puppy loves all sorts of leaves.

So last night as I was prepping for dinner by separating wilted spinach leaves from the bunch of fresh leaves, Rogue couldn't contain her excitement. She prodded her stub of a nose into the trash as if to simply investigate and then wham! she was off with a mouth full of greens. I did think to chase her down and take away the leaves (I do worry about her getting diarrhea, I mean I do worry about me having to clean up diarrhea) but, oh the joy! For a second I thought we had a potbelly pig for a pet with the gleeful snorts coming out of her snout. And every time she pounced that cute baby puppy pounce, I swear the apartment shook just a little. I mean, it would've been just eeeevil of me to deny her such pleasure.

I grabbed my camera instead of the broom and caught this image of Rogue and her leaves. She looks like my little Cabbage Patch Puppeh.

The 3:11.1 Shower

2009-09-23T14:27:00.004-04:00

It wasn't minutes after posting the previous "Navy Showers" blog that my dear friend Shannon (aka "Vonne") challenged me via Facebook to get a sub 5:00 minute shower.

Well, Shannon, I do believe 3:11.1 minutes makes the cut. I was so proud of myself, I took a picture to prove it. Oh, and that does include shampooing and conditioning of the locks (separately, I might add), thorough soaping (quick but thorough), AND a facial exfoliation.

:D

Navy Showers

2009-09-21T13:13:00.004-04:00

I took my first Navy Shower (not to be confused with grown men peeing on each other in a group shower, though I hear stuff like that occur) as an adult this morning.

I made the mistake (perhaps "mistake" isn't the right term) of watching a documentary where citizens of third world countries walked TWO MILES to fill up a jug of water. And they did it with a smile on their face, which totally confused me. Maybe they were smiling because they didn't realize that I take 20 minute showers with warm water running the ENTIRE time. And (dare I admit this???) I even run the water before I ever step foot in the shower to let the water warm up. I'm actually embarrassed to admit that.

So this morning after my gym session, I figured why not give this Navy Shower a try? And, WOW, not only did i conserve literally 117 GALLONS of water (an average 10 minute shower uses 60 gallons) but I also cut my shower time down to about 7 minutes.

Now if only I can get my navy showers to be THIS fun:

Sooper Pooper

2009-09-11T21:30:00.008-04:00

Puppies should come with disclaimers: "Caution! The pet whose company you are about to enjoy may lead to catastrophic headaches." It would've been cool to know this puppy would turn out to be a Sooper Pooper, even if knowing such would serve solely for disaster preparedness purposes. I mean today I even started questioning whether God himself had a vendetta against me and was carrying it out in the form of a puppy gone wild.

My morning alarm was a thunderstorm with howling winds and buckets of rain. Not good, not good at all. See, Rogue's toilet is the great outdoors. And when the weather is foul, so too is my living room floor.

And so it started with a pee puddle in the crate. It could've been my fault for not taking her out early enough so I decide not to get all upset about it. I thank the sweet Lord Baby Jesus that we have a washer and dryer in our apartment (the last one we lived in, we used the laundromat) as I toss the puppy's soiled blankets in. Easy enough!

And then.... oh, and then it was the aPOOcalypse. Rogue decides she's going to go poop outside, on the balcony ALL BY HERSELF. (She's been walking around the apartment proclaiming she's a "big girl puppeh", you know. Yes, my puppy talks!) So, anyway, I see her through the sliding door glass and proudly watch in a manner I would assume parents of human babies watch when their toddler/child finally learns to wipe his butt all by himself. Ah, yes... my "big girl puppeh" is finally learning to poop outside all by herself.

(Insert screeching brake sounds here.) And then... then it was all in s-l-o-w m o t i o n. She's in the middle of a glorious dumping when I see her back paw move backwards, then backwards some more, then backwards yet again. And, oh, eww, gross, stop... there it is - paw in poop. I run to the entry to stop her from entering the apartment but the sneaky little devil dog inches past my road-block-legs and pounces her way inside the living room. Did I mention she has POOP on her back paw?!

I finally catch her (by her hips and hind legs) and somehow manage to pick her up ever so carefully. You ever tried carrying a 30lb doggy in such a way as to not get poop all over the place?! It's about as awkward as Hulk Hogan trying to nurse. Yes, that awkward. Have I mentioned that the poop has gone from the balcony to the living room floor and now onto my sweater?! So I'm frantic which now gets Rogue frantic and if you're wet, you might as well go swimming so... I figure if I have to wash her paws, I might as well just give her a whole bath. So up the stairs we go and, oh, eeew, gross! There goes a paw on the stairway wall. And by "paw" I mean poop. Really?! Poop on the WALLS???

We finally make it to the bath tub, but not without smearing poop all in it. I will save you the drama of bath time (which includes slipping and sliding her way out of a back tuck) and jump to the part where I dry her off, disinfect my entire living room floor and walls, pick up the poop on the balcony, pour steaming HOT water all over the balcony to disinfect it, and turn around to find her PEEING ON THE CARPET. Somebody shoot me, just shoot me now.

Then, suddenly, there's a knock at the door and, yes, I am still wearing my poopy sweater at this point. It's the Fed Ex delivery man! No, he's not delivery a dozen roses to me from Ryan! Rogue bolts outside and chases him down to play with her. She looks up to see the custodian vacuuming the other end of the hall and SPRINTS down to investigate. She then turns around to see the Fed Ex man leaving at the opposite end of the hall... so now I have a delusional puppy sprinting back and forth, back and forth, back and forth between Fed Ex delivery and a vacuum cleaner.

Exasperated, I pick her up and take her back inside. "Thank goodness it's almost evening and Ryan will be home to help out," I think. I glance at the digital clock on the microwave. It reads

9:00 am.

Puppy Buddy

2009-09-01T17:39:00.004-04:00

I've been wondering what could POSSIBLY be contributing to Rogue's recent mild form of separation anxiety, specifically separation from Ryan. It only took a quick look through all of our pics and videos to discover that the two of them have been attached at the hip. They watch cheesy 80's action flicks together, wax Ryan's surfboard together, run, play, nap, lounge, and cuddle together. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I've ever seen them apart.

Smart Phone, Dumb User

2009-08-26T15:35:00.003-04:00

If you are going to be selling your iPhone on Ebay, may I advise ERASING your messages and pictures prior to sending that geeky little gadget in the mail?!

Ryan bought an iPhone this week (no, he hasn't completely converted to the Apple side just yet.) He asked that I give it an inspection so I did. Oh, I did. I now know the seller's new Paypal password, that he corresponds frequently with a person whose last name is "Patel," and that he has a toy poodle and a pet rodent of some sort. And he likes to take pictures of his toy poodle after an operation to get neutered. He also likes to cook pasta and pair it with a wine (and tacky wall art for an impromptu after-dinner food photoshoot.) And he likes cheesecakes, strawberries with a side of whipped cream, slugs moseying down the sidewalk, cookie bouquets, alcoholic dessert beverages, and cleavage. Or, perhaps "bosom" would be a more appropriate term to go along with the pasta, wine, and strawberries? Interesting combination, if you ask me.

I guess this is proof that having a Smart Phone doesn't necessarily make you, well, smart.

A Tattoo WHERE?

2009-08-19T13:24:00.002-04:00

And just when I thought I had seen it all, I came across this today: Armpit tattoos.

Rogue Goes Raw

2009-08-08T13:33:00.007-04:00

We've switched Rogue from kibble to the raw diet. Ryan and I try our best to limit our processed food intake and stick to natural, wholesome foods so we felt obligated to provide Rogue the same health benefits. There are a LOT of bad stuff about kibble but that's another blog.

I guess it would be best to start off with what NOT to do when switching to raw.

1. Do NOT use your actual hand to hand feed chicken to a voraciously hungry puppy with sharp puppy teeth. She will mistake your finger for chicken. You will scream like a little girl while writhing on the ground with your finger caught in the jaws of a pup bred with a strong underbite for hunting purposes. Your screaming will scare her. Once your finger makes its way back out of her mouth, it will be covered in a bloody mess. Just ask Ryan.

2. Do NOT assume your puppy knows how to eat raw foods after spending weeks inhaling kibble. Don't just plop a chicken wing down; she will inhale the chicken wing then run off gagging and choking. Fear and panic and tears will ensue.

3. Do NOT introduce beef liver in the first week. Bad idea.

Other than that, Ryan and I are still learning what works for us and Rogue. Our feeding regiment and procedures are as follows:

1. Rogue eats 2-3% of her ideal adult weight per day. So, we feed her 2lb of raw foods per day.
- 80% of her allotted 2lbs is MEAT. So, she eats 1.6lb of meat each day.
- 10% of her allotted 2lbs is OFFAL. So, she gets 0.2lb of organs each day.
- 10% of her allotted 2lbs is BONE. So, she gets 0.2lb of edible bones (chicken backs) per day.
- I find that buying all her meat at the beginning of the week and then dividing them into daily portions works well. We use a kitchen scale to make sure she gets enough food at the right proportions. So, in our fridge there are 7 bags containing meat, some bones, and some organs. At the end of the day, she'll eat the entire contents of the bag but I don't micromanage how much she eats at each meal.

2. Rogue eats a raw egg (whites, yolk, and shell) about every other day.

3. She just started eating a whole, raw fish once a week.

4. We feed her in the kitchen, on plastic a cutting board specifically for meat, and do not allow her to take her meat around the house. We don't feed her in her bowl because we found the sides of the bowl to be inhibiting. When the meat is on the cutting board, she can more easily move her meal around and work different chewing angles.

5. Periodically, Ryan and I will take away her food while she eats. This serves a couple of purposes; we are training her not to be greedy with her food, and we use her meal time to practice commands such as "sit," "stay," "leave it," and "drop." If she's hungry and she wants to eat, she knows she has to obey the commands to get the food. Here's a pic of Rogue demonstrating "Leave It!" with a slab of beef short ribs. We plop the juicy meat in front of her and say, "Leave It!" She patiently waits for us to say, "Ok," indicating she may proceed to devour the meat. Such a smart puppy.

6. We use a pair of BBQ tongs to grab the meat since it holds onto the meat better than our fingers and she'll be less likely of biting off our hand.

7. Before each meal, I give her a natural probiotic (plain, natural yogurt) to help with digestion while she's still getting used to digesting the new diet. I also give her pureed pumpkin (not the pie filling) cause it helps solidify her poop. (It's common for pups to get "pudding poo" when they're introduced to new foods.)

8. This week I'm starting to supplement. We're adding Vitamin E for her skin and coat, Omega-3 fish oils (to balance out the Omega-6 in animal fat).

9. Because we can't find green tripe, I will most likely be blending up some veggies for her to simulate eating the stomach contents of her "prey."

And so far, that's it! It's getting easier as we develop and finetune our routine. It does take more effort to feed raw than it does to feed kibble. But, we don't mind. She loves it!

Nom, Nom, Nom!

Video of Ryan's Muscle Ups!

2009-08-07T09:33:00.004-04:00

Ryan nails his muscles ups! In fact, he's been consistently doing consecutive muscle ups daily! I'm SO proud of him; muscle ups are INSANELY difficult.

From the Crossfit Journal:

"The muscle-up is astonishingly difficult to perform, unrivaled in building upper body strength...Though containing a pull-up and a dip, its potency is due to neither. The heart of the muscle-up is the transition from pull-up to dip - the agonizing moment when you don’t know if you’re above or below... At low, deliberate speeds, the muscle-up takes a toll physically and psychologically that can only be justified by the benefit. No other movement can deliver the same upper body strength. Period.

This Frankenstein’s monster combination of pull-up and dip gives the exercise advantages that render it supreme among exercises as fundamental as the pull-up, rope climb, dips, push-ups, and even the almighty bench press."

He's been helping me work on my technique. I can do the false grip pullups and I can do the ring dips. But I haven't been able to master the transition from pullup to dip yet. I can't wait to be able to do muscle ups alongside Ry. He motivates me!

Congrats, Ry! Nice work! Woooo!

Yosemite

2009-08-03T16:25:00.011-04:00

Earlier this year, Ryan and I took a short vacay to Yosemite while en route back to Mississippi from California.

We decided to spend our first night in a HOSTEL right outside the park. I personally love hostels! They are always filled with young, "crunchy," green, hippy-esque travelers. This particular hostel was called "Yosemite Bug" and, despite the questionable name, it turned out to be the BEST hostel I've ever stayed at.

I liked it's campground feel but instead of sleeping on the ground in tents, we had beds. They ran out of beds in the co-ed tent and the females-only tent. Fortunately for me (!) there was room in the males-only tent! ;o) Unfortunately for me, instead of the long haired, nature loving guys I had imagined, our company was actually loud-snoring, unsexy foreigners.

After waking up cranky, we headed down to the cafe for a hot breakfast and one last email check on their wifi before heading out to Yosemite:

After seeing this sign my first thought was, "Wilderness? The bears are still hibernating, right??"
Bear encounters? Fabulous. Can't wait.

Despite my nervousness of a bear encounter, we managed to have a good time enjoying the late-winter/early-spring scenery:

We did a LOT of hiking, the most memorable one being our hike to the top of Upper Yosemite Falls.
You'd think that with a one-way trek of only 3.4 miles, it'd be a piece-of-cake, there-and-back hike. No, not so much. In fact, it was downright the HARDEST hike I have EVER hiked. And, trust me, I've done a lot of hiking.

As it turns out, at a whopping 2,240' from base to top, Yosemite Falls is the HIGHEST measured waterfall in NORTH AMERICA. As in, the highest waterfall on our continent and the 6th highest waterfall in the world. Who knew?! Think about it: We hiked a 2,420' change in elevation in 3.4 miles passing over 100 switchbacks. (Insert Ryan and I gasping for breath.)

It was SO hot on that hike. I was pulling off my layers: fleece, soft shell, shirt. I was about to pull off my tank top and go nude when we out-of-nowhere ran into (not literally) some snow.

Ry was in heaven! He loves the snow!

The view from the top was awesome and definitely worth the hike. Pictures don't do it justice. We took a while to relax... in fact, we actually took a nap on the warm rocks.

We were so hungry, Camelbacks and Cliff Bars save the day:
We finally talked ourselves into making the descent...

While in the park we stayed at Camp Curry. I really wanted to camp in our own tent but we didn't have our gear and we had anticipated cold weather. The Deckers got us a heated tent in Camp Curry and we were thankful for it. In addition to the heater, we also needed the 4 wool blankets provided.

You know it's been a long day when you get back to camp with a nasty sunburn.

Then we woke up the next morning and repeated the whole routine (with a different trail, of course.)

The Perks of Being Pint-Sized

2009-07-23T21:24:00.002-04:00

After the trouble we went through to score my bike, I told Ryan I never wanted to hear, "Well, you're just petite," ever again.

That was up until last weekend when I scored these Keen hiking sandals. Adult sizes range in the $85-$100 prices range. But, when you're petite and kid sized you can get a pair, on clearance, for $30!

SCORE. I love being kid-sized.

Adventures in Raising a Pup

2009-07-23T12:49:00.003-04:00

I didn't think getting a baby puppy would be THIS life altering. It's amazing how overnight Ryan and my schedules started revolving around a tiny tyke weighing only 10 pounds.

- The most commonly used phrased nowadays is, "NO!" though "Leave it!" comes in a close second.

- My mom would be proud. I now vacuum and mop my entire kitchen and living room floors at least every other day unless I want Rogue to eat something she shouldn't.

- I have to pick up her POOP?! Can't we train her to use the toilet?

- How did she know to get paw prints all over my freshly mopped floor?

- Within 48 hours, our entire sliding door from 12" and below was covered in paw prints and lick marks.

- We are careful not to trip on Rogue's rope toy, bouncy ball, Nylabone, toy squirrel, Mr. Squeaky, or camo Kong Wubba, that are strewn all over the floor.

- Our beach towel that has been in mint condition for over 5 years got all mangled and ruined overnight.

- 7pm every night is Devil Dog hour. We sit back and watch a HYPER pup run laps around the kitchen and livingroom until she slams into a wall, rolls over, and does it again.

- Rule #37: If you don't want it get chewed up, don't leave it lying on the floor. It's amazing how we never throw our clothes on the floor anymore.

- We can only go out in 2 hour increments since that's about how long she can hold her bladder and we definitely don't want her peeing in her crate and doggy bed.

- If I had a penny for every time she peed inside...

- Bitter apple spray is our friend, and our furnitures' friend.

- She snores.

- I haven't slept through the night since we got her. Sleep-deprived doesn't even begin to describe my state of being right now.

- I now have to send in my point and shoot camera for repair. I dropped it and ran over when I saw Rogue chewing a big rock and was afraid she'd try to swallow it and choke.

- When we go out, we have to pack a puppy "diaper bag" with toys, plastic bags, her water bottle, a leash, and training treats.

- She is getting too big to run off all her energy inside so we now have her running up and down the hallways in our complex. My poor neighbors.

- We've spent A LOT of money on toys and yet her favorite ones are empty mail boxes, water bottles, and tupperware containers. Go figure.

But, despite all the sacrifices and headaches and scares, Rogue really is a LOT of fun. I never envisioned myself loving and caring for animal THIS much but when I wake up 3 times in the middle of the night because she's whimpering, when I hand feed her to teach her how to chew bones, when she gets excited to see us when we come home, when she follows us around to every room of this apartment simply because she just wants to be around us... well, we have become a bit attached to her. She's our little baby Rogue.

Spontaneous Hair Hack

2009-07-14T13:42:00.003-04:00

Ryan cut my hair!! I get a haircut, on average, once a year. Imagine that. I knew I was due for a chop when I was running on the treadmill a couple of weeks ago and had to break form to retie my ponytail. My hair had gotten SO long (waist length) and heavy - it was completely unmanageable. Here is a before shot:

So, last Saturday I BEGGED and pleaded with Ryan to cut my hair. He wanted nothing to do with the matter. But, I wanted nothing to do with going to a hair salon. (No offense to hair stylists... it's just that I never seem to get what I pay for. I always leave thinking, "Really? This is it? I could've done that myself.")

I wanted an asymmetrical, CHOPPY cut with heavy fringe. So, the directive was rather simple: Using nothing but a razor comb, I asked Ry to pretend he was holding a machete and he had to cut his way through a massive jungle of long, wavy, unmanageable hair. "Just go to town with it. There's no rhyme or reason. I don't want it to look perfect." You should've seen us in the bathroom. He'd hold up a strand, SLICE it, and toss the free end on the floor. It took him about 20 minutes total.

And here is the cut he gave me... I love it! The shortest layer is up to my ear, the longest is just past my collar bone. But all the layers are completely random.

Front view:

Another front view... you can see all the fringe at the bottom:

View from the side... I like how the short layers in the back give added volume.

Lately, I've been wearing it with a cap and with thinned out, straightened layers like this:

Thanks for my FREE haircut, Ryan!!!

Introducing "Rogue"

2009-06-30T13:06:00.006-04:00

Well, Ryan and I have sort of been keeping secrets. We've been serious about getting a puppy. After 2 years of thinking and looking, the situation has finally presented itself and the timing feels right.

Seven weeks ago we contacted boxer breeders of the Boxer Club in New Jersey. They JUST had a litter whelped 3 days prior. After an extensive interview regarding Ryan and my living situation, how we plan on training the pup, how long the pup will be alone each day, etc etc, and after interviewing the breeders regarding hip dysplasia and cariomyopathy, their breeding standards, and the puppies lineage we decide to go ahead and put a deposit for one of the pups.

We talked to the breeders regarding our very active lifestyle, our desire to have children within the next 5 years, and told them what personality we were looking for in a pup. After 6 weeks of observation, they wrote back with their recommendation of which pup had the best temperament for our situation. Last Saturday was our first time visiting with Rogue and breeders were spot on (no pun intended.) Though, she'll need training and discipline (all puppies do) we can already see her personality is going to work well for us.

Rogue was cautiously outgoing. That is to say, she didn't just pounce up on us. She walked up slowly, sniffed, then climbed up on our lap. She was comfortable being held and I'm sure it's because her breeders have made it a point to see that they got lots of human handling and socialization:

Ryan holding Rogue... she is soooo wrinkly! The breeders say she should grow into some of the wrinkles as she develops more muscular tone and her bones grow. She'll inevitably keep some which they say is a good thing for expression.

We should've met Dixie, the mom, before dealing with the pups. 'Cause once Dixie found out we were with her puppies, she watched and occasionally barked. They let her in and she came right up to Ryan and me to investigate then she was, like, "Oh, okay. See ya." Here is a pic of Dixie getting attacked by the pups wanting milk. Dixie was NOT having it (the pups have grown teeth now) so she ended up trying to get away from them:

Go, Rogue! Get ya some...

The pups were so playful and inquisitive and then out of nowhere they tired out and fell into naps. They nap a lot!

Here is Rogue (bottom) and her sister Junior (top). The sisters like to sleep next to each other. It's cute but it makes me sad that we have to take Rogue away. The first night we're going to put some warm water bottles in her crate, under her blanket, so it simulates being with her littermates.

Rogue (left) and Junior (right):

This is her older brother, "Big Boy." He is a BEAUTIFUL brindle with a big boy attitude. Stinker bit Rogue's paw and made her yelp. He was the first one to greet us and then promptly chewed our shoe and untied our laces! He's so cute but I think he'll need lots of training! :o)

The puppies' grandpa, Byron, dropped by with his owners for a visit. Our breeders eat, breath, sleep the boxer breed. Ryan and I stayed there for THREE hours chatting about boxers and visiting with the pups. Byron is a retired show dog. He's 6 years old and PACKED with muscle. I couldn't believe how STRONG "B" was. He's super outgoing! I'm so glad his owners trained him not to jump because I'm pretty sure he would've knocked me over.

The breeders kept stressing that we HAVE to train Rogue and enroll her in obedience classes. So, she's going to Puppy Preschool (so cute!) when she's 4 months old and then Manners and Obedience classes after that. (Puppies get expensive!!!) It's important that Ryan and I assert who is alpha with a breed this large. Lord knows I am NOT getting dragged all over Philadelphia when we go for a walk.

So, Rogue is still with the breeders and her littermates. We get her on the 4th of July!! We're so excited! She already has an entire drawer called "Rogue's Stash" filled with all kinds of Kong toys, rope toys, bouncy ball toys, and dehydrated chicken breast treats. We've got her collar and crate... her dog bed is more comfortable than ours. Spoiled? Uh, yeah. I think so.

My Grown Up Birthday

2009-06-29T14:46:00.003-04:00

I celebrated my 25th birthday earlier this month. It was my designated "Officially A Grown Up" birthday so I opted to keep it quiet. Ryan did a great job, as usual, in helping me celebrate. He called me up from work to tell me he'd like to take me out to dinner and dessert. And it wasn't just ANY dinner and dessert, he made sure to take me to all my favorites...

We got on the subway (a favorite mode of transportation for me) and headed to Rittenhouse Square in Center City. We had dinner at this hole-in-the-wall Thai place called "Sangai Thai House" or something like that. I had this yummy seafood soup with Tofu and wide noodles. (Thai soups are my favorite!)

Ry ordered the spicy Thai Drunken Noodles dish - also very delicious!!

Afterwards, we went for a walk down a few blocks to this self serve frozen yogurt place called Sweet Endings (how appropriate!) I jumped up and down when I saw they had mochi at the toppings bar. I don't know if you've ever been to a self serve frozen yogurt place but it's so much fun. You pay by the ounce so you can get any flavor of their organic, low fat, sugar free frozen yogurts and any combination of toppings you desire. That night Ryan and I shared (awww!) some strawberry yogurt topped with chocolate chips, pineapple yogurt topped with mango, and chocolate yogurt topped with strawberries... all topped with a healthy dose of mochi, of course. What impressed me so much was that Ryan did some internet research on the place before taking me so he knew all the best flavors to recommend. The fact that he researched where to go and what to get meant more to me than the actual dessert.

After whetting our appetites for sweets at Sweet Ending, we headed a couple of blocks east to Naked Chocolate Dessert Cafe!

And of course Ryan researched this place, too, so we knew to get their famous sipping chocolate. This is where I learned that REAL hot chocolate can be served European style (thick and sipped with a spoon) or American style (diluted with milk for a thinner consistency.) My favorite part was the fact that they served the whipped cream on the side as opposed to in the cup! The chocolate was to die for... imagine a dark chocolate bar melted into a tiny cup as opposed to a dry mix of chocolate powder mixed with hot water. And the cup is TINY! Surprisingly, though, you'd be lucky to be able to sip all that chocolate. It was SO sweet. I about fell into a diabetic coma.

We also shared this cookies 'n' cream tart. SO good. Too bad we didn't have what it takes to eat it all. We shared all of our desserts that night and it still was TOO much sugar for us to handle.

The next time we go to Naked Chocolate, I want to try this chocolate nudo. What's a nudo??

It was still wet and dreary (a common occurrence here in Phila) when we had our fill our desserts so we decided to head over to Borders Bookstore a couple of streets over to relax. We LOVE books! It was here that I found out that white-pages of books make great catch lights in eyes:

We hung out for awhile and I snapped some pics of the city at night:

I started getting sleepy so we got our books (Ryan bought Total Immersion which is a book describing swimming techniques) and I got The Alchemist which is now one of my favorite reads ever! It was such a great book. I finished it the day after.

I finished off my night with a nice chat with my bro and sis which I always appreciate since I know they are extremely busy with their lives these days. My grandmother and grandfather sent me a cute, comfortable top for birthday and I loooove it! It's already one of my top ten most worn tanktops and it's only been 11 days since receiving it. Mom and Dad made a nice deposit of $$, which is always nice. I think I will save it for some sweet camera gear. So, now that I'm 25 years old and an adult I think I should start researching retirement and mutual funds, start keeping up with the economy and real estate trends, and sianara long partying nights! So far it's been great. I quite like being 25 years old, actually.

I Love Subways

2009-06-23T11:05:00.005-04:00

I am saddened to hear about the Metro crash in Washington D.C. involving two cars on an above-ground rail. If you know me and my love of metros (the mode transportation, not the heterosexual male that cares about looks and hygiene as if he were female), then my concern regarding the DC Metro crash would come as no surprise. The DC Metro was where Ryan and I first learned how to navigate the underground subway system.

Forget that the subway systems have the occasional (ok, frequent) waft of urine, or that puddle of muddy water along the rails that rats undoubtedly call "home," or that fact that you'll most likely be standing butt-to-nut in a sea of strangers should you happen to catch a train during rush hour. There's something about walking down steps, sliding through a turnstile, and ending up in a dark underground system of whooshing trains and "Please stand back. Door is closing," warnings. (And when they say, "Door is closing," they mean door is closing. I almost lost poor Ryan one night when he almost got caught between closing doors of a New York City subway train.)

Call me crazy but I just LOVE subways:

Riding through a tunnel of darkness is only half the adventure for me. The other half comes after walking up the stairs to return to the streets filled with lights or sunshine...

... only to find yourself completely disoriented! It gets me every.single.time. "Am I facing North?! East?!" I have recently downloaded the Compass app on my Google G1 to help with this problem. I have also learned to look for the big, tall Clothespin, though that only applies when riding the subway in Philadelphia.

Snowboarding at Squaw Valley, Tahoe

2009-06-22T19:28:00.002-04:00

A short clip of Ryan and me snowboarding up at Squaw Valley in Tahoe, California! We stopped there en route to Mississippi in March 2009.

Oh, The Irony

2009-06-22T12:02:00.002-04:00

I saw this on a bulletin board as I walked out of the hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant Ryan and I went to for dinner one night. It made me laugh out loud.

So Many Books, So Little Time

2009-06-18T14:00:00.006-04:00

I was having a difficult day yesterday. Even one of the trainers at the gym called me out telling me I was had been there TOO long and I needed to get out or I'd end up killing myself lifting too many weights. Really? I was that bad?

So, I finished my set and walked to Barnes and Noble... I can spend all day in bookstores. But, I always get the feeling that there are so many good books out there and so little time.

I decided to finally dive into the highly acclaimed "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" - it's goal #60 out of my 101 Goals (to be completed in 1001 days.) I read the first 50 pages before having to pry myself away from it to get some sleep. So far, it's a really great read!

I also bought "Successful Self-Promotion for Photographers" by Elyse Weissberg. My major goal is to "Go Pro in 2010" and the year is half over so I should start buckling down and get serious about marketing my photography. There is SO much I never anticipated about starting up a sole proprietorship. I have to catch up on marketing techniques, invoicing, estimating, billing, etc, etc.

The third book I got was "My So-Called Freelance Life" by Michelle Goodman. I flipped through it and it seems to be chalk full of tips on freelancing. I can't wait to dive into this book but I'm so caught up with "7 Habits."

And if that's not enough literature to keep me busy, I'm still dipping in and out of:

The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine

The Art of Living by Epictetus (philosopher). This book is phenomenal! Read, apply, repeat!

Women & Money by Suze Orman. Wow... this book is just, wow. I would recommend this book to every woman I know. If you're a woman and you haven't read this book... run out and get it. It's that good. Right now I'm in the process of applying her principles.

And I recently finished The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. Very inspirational. A little weirded out at the end 'cause I'm reading a book by a guy that is writing it knowing he will die soon afterward. He had a lot of great life lessons. I still need to go back through it and jot down what I learned . I like to do that with good books. I have a journal of "lessons" from authors.

Three of those last four books were lent to me by my dear friend, Jenn Gerrior. I'm so thankful! Books are... good stuff!

Art*Star

2009-06-18T11:57:00.006-04:00

The art scene here in Philadelphia is really bustling! A couple of weeks ago I went to the ArtStar Craft Bazaar at Penn's Landing. There were a couple hundreds of vendors selling their home made, handmade craft like beanies, stationary, paintings, and jewelry. It was like Etsy in real life. I snagged a hand crafted brown leather cuff bracelet from Fisticuff Leather! I wear it with everything and I love the fact that it was made out of a recycled leather belt.

Mean Drivers Suck

2009-06-12T09:50:00.005-04:00

Mean drivers better CALM DOWN. I have had it up to HERE (picture hand raised as high as it will go) with drivers yelling at me out of their cars when I'm biking. I'm exasperated! I've read the entire Phila book of bike safety and traffic laws and I don't think I'm in the wrong.

Today I got a honk from one car, followed by a "F*ckin biker!" from the second car, followed by a "You're on the wrong side of the road!" from car #3.

Bike Commuters: advice needed! When I'm in a 3 lane, ONE way road and I need to make a LEFT turn, where should I be? According to my biking manual, if the left lane is a "Left Turn Only" lane (which was the case this morning), I should be in the right side of this left lane with a hand signal indicating I'm making a left turn. Seems logical to me! WHAT is with these drivers, or is it ME??! This is what I read, and this is what I followed:

Left turns
Move out of the bike lane well in advance of the intersection; signal every move
Position yourself in the rightmost left-turning lane
Reposition yourself after executing the turn; remain clear of parked cars

The following diagram shows the safest place to make a left hand turn. Statistically, accidents between cyclists and cars occur less when bicyclist INTEGRATE (as indicated by green in the diagram) themselves with traffic such that their actions are more predictable to drivers.

Scenario #2: There is a 3 lane, one way street but this time the right lane turns into a "Right Turn Only" lane and I want to go STRAIGHT. Where should I be? This is what I read, this is what I followed, this is what got a motorist angry at me:

Right turns
- Avoid riding in lanes that position you on the right side of a right turning motorist
- Move out of the right turn lane if you are not turning right
- Ride in the rightmost lane that goes in the direction that you are traveling

I don't understand what I'm doing wrong?? It's getting to the point where I'm either a). discouraged, or b). angry when I'm done riding my bike.

World's Best Eyeball

2009-06-11T20:46:00.006-04:00

My eyeball, my left eyeball to be exact, has been a total pain in the you-know-what lately. It was INSANELY itchy, it hurt, and my contact kept getting pulled up every time I blinked. Eventually, I couldn't wear my contacts at all. I knew I had to do something when it got to the point where I was pulling out globs, and I do mean globs, of vision-blurring mucus out of my eye. It happened so often that I started affectionately naming the mucus globs "goozy goo." ???

I went to my optometrist and was informed that this so-called eye of mine (I'm about to disown it) was exhibiting allergic symptoms. She did the whole gross inverted eyelid check and said, "Oh, wow. You've got a lot of bumps under your eyelid." Well that's just grrreat.

(Side note: I just did a google image search for "inverted eyelid" to show you what she did to my lid and oh, the horror! I almost just puked in my mouth right now seeing images of eye diseases. Maybe my eye issue isn't that bad afterall?)

So, I bought Zaditor:

...and all was well up until my eye stopped responding to the drops earlier this week.

So, went back to the optometrist and now I'm on prescription eye drops called Patanol. But not after standing in Rite Aid for 45 minutes watching my poor, poor pharmacist on the phone with my health insurance company doing what looked to be something like the image on the left. Talk about AWKWARD. I felt horrible.

But, this Patanol better be made of gold or something. And, it was totally worth being caught in the middle of health insurance representative and pharmacist!

Cost of Patanol eye drops with health insurance:
$9.00

Cost of Patanol eye drops without health insurace:
$127.00

One hundred twenty seven dollars for EYEDROPS?!?!

(Insert jaw dropping to floor.)

Noodles!

2009-06-09T11:39:00.005-04:00

It's only the second day on my revamped weekly Meal Plan (kind of a big deal after a 4 month hiatus) and all I can think about is Vermicelli noodles! It's going to be a looong week.

But, until I can have my noodles on "Free Food" Saturday, here's what Ryan and I are sticking to:

*serving sizes are not listed since Ryan and I obviously have different caloric needs
** lunches and dinners include tons of veggies, but I consider those a "free" food

MONDAY:
B = Whole wheat english muffin, almond butter, and banana
S1 = Protein shake
L = Grilled chicken salad with mushrooms, cucumbers, grape tomatoes and olive oil & balsamic vinegar dressing
S2 = Yogurt, Almonds
D = Ham & Swiss omelette with onions, mushrooms, and salsa
S3 = Protein shake

TUESDAY:
B = Berry protein smoothie (protein, soy milk, strawberries)
S1 = Apple, string cheese
L = Tuna pita, salad
S2 = Protein shake
D = Grilled chicken, baked potato, veggies
S3 = Protein shake

WEDNESDAY:
B = Protein smoothie (protein, soy milk, almond butter, banana)
S1 = Plain lowfat yogurt w/strawberries and stevia
L = Grilled chicken salad w/olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing
S2 = Protein shake
D = Open face turkey burger, salad
S3 = Protein shake

THURSDAY:
B = Oatmeal, grapes, walnuts
S1 = Protein shake
L = Hummus sandwich
S2 = Plain low fat yogurt w/stevia, almonds
D = Baked Tilapia, mixed veggies
S3 = Protein shake

FRIDAY:
B = Yogurt parfait (layered yogurt w/stevia, dry oatmeal, berries)
S1 = Protein shake
L = Grilled chicken salad with artichokes and pine nuts
S2 = Protein shake
D = Dijon garlic salmon, veggies
S3 = Protein shake

SATURDAY:
FREE! (Just watch proportions.)

SUNDAY:
Meal plan left overs

We're supplementing with whey protein concentrate by Optimum, BCAA stack, Omega-3 fish oil, Glutamine, and a thermogenic (me). We'll soon be adding casein and hydrolized whey protein (AST VP2) into the mix once I get back into my strength training routine.

So far, so good. Can't wait for Saturday... NOODLES!

Motivation

2009-06-09T09:21:00.003-04:00

And just when I thought I was working out hard in the gym this morning, I looked over and saw a 5 month pregnant (my estimate) woman doing barbell shoulder presses as she stepped up onto a 16" wooden box!! (She was working with a personal trainer and had a heart rate monitor - it was totally safe.)

She motivated me!

(Photo from spartafitness.com)

When I'm pregnant, I want to be like Brooke Burkes! I can't decide if this is motivating me to work out, or get pregnant.

(Photo from fitsugar.com)

My Fixed Gear Bike and Me

2009-06-08T16:34:00.001-04:00

So, I live in Philadelphia now.

The "City of Brotherly Love" just so happens to be one of those cities where everything is too close to warrant driving but too far to warrant walking. But, everything is the perfect distance for biking.

I will save you the drama I went through trying to find a simple, single speed commuting bike made to fit a 5'0" girl and leave it at: I had to have a kids bike (the Fuji Track 650) shipped all the way from California. But, it wasn't just any kids bike. It was a kid's 43cm VELODROME bike with 650cc wheels. Velodrome is this crazy sport that entails riding track bikes around a circular, banked path on bikes... bikes with FIXED GEARS and WITHOUT BRAKES.

You know on your bike you can back pedal? Yeah, my bike won't do that. And you know how you can coast on your bike? Well, on with this fixed gear I HAVE to keep pedaling. And you know how your bike has front and rear brakes? Yeah, my bike doesn't have that. Though, I promptly paid a guy to put a front brake on there for emergencies. Safety, you know? (I know what you're thinking... couldn't I just get a women's specific bike with one of those drop top tubes? Yeah, I guess. But I'm sort of this pseudo feminist that promotes equality of sexes and those bikes scream, "Look at me! I'm a girl!" The drop tubes were made for back in the day when girls rode bikes with skirts (the guy at the bike shop told me this?) And I don't plan on wearing skirts when I ride a bike so... that's the end of that.

Well, haha, this morning was my second morning riding this devil bike and oh, what a coincidence! The route home took me right through China Town and Center City (downtown Philly) during 8am rush hour traffic... on a fixed gear bike!

I'm not even going to pretend I was a hero... I'll be honest, I was scared crapless. I called up Ryan in near tears exclaiming how I just "wasn't ready for this."

Special thanks to the business man riding alone in a huge SUV that wouldn't lay off his horn as he passed me on my left. Extra special thanks for the nice bird he flipped me. That's the other thing: I'm riding a fixie in a town that hates bikers.

But Mom would be proud: I wore a helmet. (Except in the following photo where I'm practicing how to ride in my apt hallway!)

The Picasso Closet

2009-06-05T10:42:00.001-04:00

I just moved to Philadelphia, a mid-size bustling city, after living suburban for my entire life. The transition to urban living has been interesting. The most difficult thing for me has been learning to downsize, especially in the clothing and accessories department. My current closet is about 1/8 the size of my previous closets. So, rather than fight it and try to find storage for clothes, I've decided to donate what I don't wear and transition my wardrobe into a more functional closet with classical mix & match pieces. Picasso's "Man and the Violin" painting is my inspiration and color palette. I am staying away from prints and trendy pieces! Easier said than done.

Hello!

2008-12-31T14:16:00.000-05:00

Hi Family!

I've created this blog just for YOU. As you already know, I'm HORRIBLE at keeping in touch via telephone. (It's all about the text messages these days!) And with my life being so go-go-go all the time, I figured this would be a good way to keep in touch. So, wanna play catch up?

Though it was never formally announced, most already know that I am now married (and happily so, I might add) and have been for over 2 years now. Ryan and I have been together since we were 16 years old and pretty much just eloped one day. He's a phenomenal guy - just my type. He's very active and into fitness and sports (and good at it), he's smart and can carry a conversation about the philosophies of Aristotle, he finds washing the dishes "relaxing," and he's been known to give breakfasts in bed on the weekends. Keeper? Well I think so! So, you see I can't be blamed for eloping... good deals don't last forever. I had to strike while the iron was HOT, and hot he is so that doesn't hurt either. Ryan is currently deployed to the middle east with the Navy. After graduating with his degree in Civil Engineering, he joined the Civil Engineer Corps.

And while he's out there I decided to leave Mississippi (our duty station) and head out west to California to pursue photography. I bounce back and forth between Joleen's and Mom's but travel frequently to Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco. I 'shoot mainly portraiture and engagement sessions. In fact, I am photographing my first wedding this weekend in Fullerton, CA. I've also collaborated with models and other photographers for conceptual photography. I've got another photoshoot with a Ballerina in the planning stages right now, in fact. Some shots I've recently taken:

And if I'm not behind my camera, I'm in front of a mirror... at the gym, of course. I've gone slightly PSYCHO with health and fitness. In fact, this February I will be celebrating my 1 Year Health and Fitness Anniversary! I try and do some cardio and weight training atleast 5 days a week and I no longer eat any white rice (oh, calamity!) or any foods with High Fructose Corn Syrup or Partially Hydrogenated Oils. Here are my progress pics Ryan took a few months ago. It was SOOO hilarious! You don't even KNOW how much baby oil I poured on to make my muscles stand out. I was greasy like fried chicken:

Hernea, anyone? RIDICULOUS!! I crack myself up.

Alright... that's all for now. I gotta run some errands. I'm headed down to LA/San Diego/Fullerton for this wedding gig starting tomorrow and there are still some stuff I have to take care of. I'm a perpetual blogger... it's like an online journal. I blog atleast once a week so drop by and drop me a line while you're at it. I like to know who's ~~lurking~~ reading. But, an even BETTER idea would be to create a blog of your own so I can read about what your and your families are up to. It's a fun way to keep in touch. I'm especially interested in knowing what's new with you.There's potential here. I foresee a huge cyber family reunion!