And on to a new week!

This morning I got to sleep in for the first time in a while! Yay!! I woke up at about 6:30 to my cat messing around on my dresser, meowing and knocking things over. After grunting at her and probably using a few choice words, I fell back asleep!

When I did finally come to, I gradually got myself up and running. Literally. I did my 100 calories (actually more around 105 today) on the eliptical and then jumped onto the treadmill. Can I just pause here and say that one thing that I do not like about going to the gym on Sundays when there is no staff working is that we always run out of the wet wipes to sanitize the equipment. Anyways, I digress.

I set the treadmill for an hour, having told myself that I was going to do the 6.2 miles today that are what a 10K consists of. I'll go ahead and break the news to you now though that I did not get all 6.2 miles done. I did do 4.21 miles though. I ran for 4 sets of 4x1's, and then started walking. About 40 total minutes in, I was bored from the walking though, so I did 10 sets of 1x1 runs/walks. All in all that adds up to me running 26 minutes (definitely over 2 miles) of the 60 minutes I was on the treadmill! Woot woot! (Total today, I burned around 625 calories - after yesterday, I definitely needed to!)

I went a while ago to Academy and looked at quad rolling skates to further enhance my dream of being a roller derby girl. They had very few of them available though, so forget that for now. I also looked for some new gym clothes, but after seeing the lines, I put my stuff down and walked out. It is my goal though to buy a roller derby t-shirt before the bout between Abilene and Midland next month. It may be the last thing I do, but I will be doing it, guaranteed!

That's about all I've got for now.......may be buying some bubbles for our car ride to Austin so that I can get another goal off of my list!

One down, 26 to go!

Today I conquered one of my 27 things. I went to two different wineries in different locations. My good friend Jacqueline and I did a Mardi Gras wine tour in our area - went to a winery in Comanche, Texas, and another in Rising Star. The setting of the Comanche one was absolutely beautiful, and if I ever get married again, that is where I would like for it to be held, haha.

Here are a few pictures from the day....

YAY YAY YAY

Disclaimer: I am sure that the reason that what I am about to tell you is due to the fact that I had just worked off 400 calories. Nonetheless, it was a great moment.

I went to the gym this morning and did 8 sets of 2x1's. My body was not feeling all that limber, but I got it done. Luckily I was smart today and started taking a water bottle with me instead of waiting until I was done with my run to drink. Points for Kelsey. And yes, I did burn right at 400 calories with 36 minutes on the treadmill and 10 minutes on the eliptical. I would have stayed longer....but....well.....I had to go to the bathroom. That's all I will say there because it is making me squirm that I even mentioned it.

Anyways, as I was driving home (also, I need to start just walking my happy little toosh to the gym....I'm being ridiculous and not being earth friendly) I thought to myself "I can't wait until I'm in the 1_0's." (I'm not yet at a place of comfort of being able to expose my current weight.....so don't take it offensively that I will not disclose that to you people!)

Well after I had thought that, I went home, and weighed. And the number in the 10's place was the number I had just been thinking about!! haha, no I did not mysteriously lose 30 pounds or anything like that. The number I was thinking about was just 1 digit down from what it had been previously. But still, it sure as heck felt good! So tomorrow at weigh in I am sure it will not show that.....but I saw it today and that is all that matters!!

The other piece of big news that I forgot to mention yesterday is that on Sunday my brother texted me and asked if I wanted to do another 10K with him in May. We decided that we would look for one that had something to do with benefitiing heart health, and do it in honor of my grandpa. Yesterday he let me know that two of my cousins want to do it with us. Two 10K's in the first 6 months of a year? Is this really the Kelsey I know?!?! Hell no, it's a better version!!

Another week to bust my butt

Here we are at another week of running my little booty off. This weekend was phenomenal.....which is odd, considering that it was my grandpa's memorial service. Friday when I got home, I joined my family for lots of eating from all of the food that had been brought over. Late that night, my brother and 2 cousins went for a long walk to burn a few calories. Saturday was the service......and someone that may or may not be very special came to be there for me. I will go ahead and say that I have never had anyone attend something just to be a support for me. Although my tears have pretty much been dried in the last week, it was nice to have someone's hand on my back throughout the service, letting me know that they were there.

And the family liked this person. Shocker of all shockers. And he told me twice later that they were great too, and the next day I saw him again (okay, so I have now inadvertently admitted it was a male) and he was telling all of his friends about them too.

Anyways, I refuse to gush over this individual, so let's move on.

Went to the gym for about an hour today. Did 5 sets of 3 minute runs followed by 1 minute walks. Was not as pretty as I would have liked for it to be, but I still accomplished it. I have no pictures of calories burned, nor do I have the exact number, because as I was starting running set #3, I pressed the wrong button and competely halted the machine. I believe it to have been around 400 calories though.

This weekend we are going to two wineries for their Mardi Gras celebration - woot woot! At least I can get a portion of one of my 27 things off of the list.

Not a very interesting post, please forgive me.

FAIL!

Today I intended to not take one of my 27 things off of the list, but at least to put it to use. Since the weather has been so great this week, I was going to go to the local zoo and take some snapshots. However, after my 8 o'clock class this morning, I walked out to discover that it was pretty windy. Ohhh well, another day. Plus, I may have talked a particular someone into going with me to the Ft. Worth Zoo sometime soon, so then I can literally kill 2 birds with one stone. The whole taking pictures goal is going to have to be a year long goal, so perhaps more like killing a bird and spraining another's leg.

So instead of going to the zoo, I went and ran. Today was 6 sets of 2x1's. Since I only have a 2 hour gap between classes, and didn't decide to go to the gym until about 11:15, I only worked out for 30 minutes. But 30 minutes is better than ZERO minutes!

And I would have taken a picture at the end, except I realized that there was a really pretty guy behind me on the elliptical and recognized that while I had already probably made a fool out of myself with my running technique, I was not going to add more fuel by taking a photo in front of him. Sooooooo, all in all, I met both of my goals today: burning at least 250 calories, and going at least 2 miles. I officially burned 253 calories....and don't remember how far I went, but it was just over 2 miles.

Tomorrow is a rest day, but I think I am going to walk (and maybe run a tad) around the ACU campus. Running outside is so much different!!!

...And she's back in the game!

Due to a 4-5 day hiatus due to mourning, I have not written, other than the over-emotional blog from the other day. However, I did work out on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. So truly it was just a 2 day hiatus from exercise. Yesterday I should have worked out....but let's be honest. It was Valentine's and I was being one giant whiner-bug. So much so that my plans for the night were to get wine-drunk, eat a whole pizza, and.....sadly, clean my house. Haha....I got 2 pieces of pizza eaten and took me about 4 hours to drink ONE GLASS of wine. However, I did get the house a great deal cleaner. But I was not going to be the one lonely soul in the world at the gym on Valentine's night. Nosirree.

Last week's weight watcher meeting was about emotional eating. Ha....the food god decided to throw me for a curve and make me deal with that for the whole weight watchers week. I refuse to even step on the scale right now. REFUSE!!!

I am a few days behind on my running plan. Today I did 4 sets of 3 minutes running followed by 1 minute walking, then 4 1x1's. I stopped trying to be such a hard ass (yes, this is my blog, I can use words like hard ass - especially when it comes to things like working out) and set my incline today at 0 in hopes of my knee not hurting. And it worked actually! AND my new shoes didn't hurt at all nearly this time! Woot!

When I first started running today, it was almost as if my mind (and maybe the treadmill) could not keep up with how fast my body wanted to move. It felt awesome!

Altogether, I worked out for a little over an hour today. I worked out on the eliptical, machines, treadmill, and the stationary bike at the very end. Total, I burned just over 500 calories. Yay --- after this last week I need those gone!!!

Here's a picture after I was done on the treadmill....


And for your viewing pleasure, my nastiness once I got done working out today.....really liking my new Underarmor top though and my new shoes!




And yes, that is a sweat stain under by boobs......how I'd love to work those things off to the point of near non-existence!!! And no, you may not comment on the status of how that room looks.

Anyways....I am off to one of my other favorite places, the shower, then to Target and Academy and maybe Kohl's to look at workout clothes.....yes, I am becoming one of those people Jacqueline!!!

In a few days time...

In a few days time, my grandpa, dad, brother, and uncle journeyed to Germany so my grandpa could have a stem cell procedure done on his heart.

In a few days time, I have turned from 26 to 27.


In a few days time, I was contacted by my ex-husband after not having spoken for the last year and a half, other than my questioning him on when I was going to have my divorce finalized.

In a few days time, my grandpa had the operation done, and almost instantaneously began seeing improvements.

In a few days time, I realized that I was happier at this point in life than I had been in my whole adult life.

In a few days time, he got released from the hospital and had a heart attack as they were trying to leave the facility.

In a few days time, his heart completely stopped for 15 minutes.

In a few days time, my trip to see my mom for lunch and shopping turned to hysterics.

In a few days time, I made a stop at a gas station for the sole purpose of being hugged and really hugged by the person that is somehow my rock despite any protesting from either party.

In a few days time, I was greeted outside of my grandparents house by my uncle, who told me he didn't make it.

In a few days time, upon hearing the news, my first thought was "run". Physically, run. I took off down the street, but my legs would not move with the speed they had earlier that morning.

In a few days time, I entered a world of mourning full of mourning people, just as I am also.

In a few days time, I was reminded of the best part about my small west Texas hometown: the people.

In a few days time....I will once again get to hug the necks of the men that tried to bring him back whole and better than ever. There is this mental vision of them now, as astronauts coming back from a "failed" mission, walking towards us - heads down, hearts defeated.

My therapist brain is working in overdrive trying to correct the cognitions that are taking place in these men.....in my grandma. My hands keep me busy: readying the kitchen, jotting down what people brought what food, vacuuming my grandma's house late at night. My heart see-saws back and forth between being full due to the plethora of expressions of sympathy that are coming our way and the emptiness that comes from prayers not being answered in the way I thought they would or should be.


Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal. ~From a headstone in Ireland

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. ~Kahlil Gibran

Last Day of being 26!

With today being my last day at age 26, I feel like I need to do something special. Hopefully that does not just consist of me going to Starbucks for the next 2.5 hours and reading about Sex Therapy. I think I am going to take myself out for lunch though.....I really feel as if year 26 has been my segway into my real life. For quite a while now, I have felt like year 27 is really going to mean something for me. Tomrorow is the starting point of confirming whether or not I was correct.

I will note that it is just shy of 10am, and I have already been to the gym, and showered and blow dryed my hair. So I was up and at 'em pretty early today. I began the part of the running routine where I run for 2 minutes, walk for 1, for 5 times, then do 5 1x1's. It was not nearly as difficult as I thought. Haha, except for I lost track of how many 1x1's I had actually done at the end, and nearly lost my balance trying to transition from walking to running while thinking so hard. I started out today on the elipitical to warm up, burning 100 calories. Then I started my 40 minute stint on the treadmill. At the end of that, I had burned 326 calories and had gone for a distance of 2.55 miles.

And some bad news. Though it does not really affect anything seriously, and only affects the blog as to not being able to put up quality pictures for a while longer. The order for my computer for my birthday got lost somewhere in cyberspace. So now, the computer that was supposed to arrive by Jan. 28th is not supposed to arrive until March 2. Can you see my smiling face from your screen? Didn't think so.

Caramel Macchiato time!! Ciao!

What a Ride!

It's true what they say. You can never forget how to ride a bike once you've learned how. Today I took 'ole Sheryl out for a spin in my neighborbood and we had a good time. It was a little wobbly at first, and my seat is a little loose, so once when I turned to look for traffic, the whole seat turned with me! About 10 minutes in though and I really started feeling the burn! Here are a few pics of the ride!



Who needs eyes anyways???


On a serious note, prior to going on my bike ride today, I was thinking, trying to remember the last time I remember riding my bike. I know it was sometime in high school....and I remember being very self conscious about my weight at the time (haha....that sounds as if it has ever ended...). I can even remember the street in my hometown that it happened on, but a boy that I went to school with and disliked very much made a sarcastic comment about the back tire looking like it was going flat. Now, it could have been completely true, and it could have been flat. But instead, I attributed it to my weight that the tire looked low. And that was the last time I had gotten on a bike. Even yesterday when I purchased the bike, I sat down on it in my garage and looked at the back tire to see if it looked low. There was some power that I gained back in being able to go on that ride today though.

"Sooooo she does have insecurities" you may be thinking.......anyways, moving along.

I didn't take any pictures at the Super Bowl shindig last night, but I did take a picture of me prior to it. My face is really starting to slim down!! Ha, and excuse all the junk in the pic with me....tried to crop it out, but once again this computer hates me!!



Tomorrow starts an extra minute running. I will be doing 5 sets of 2 minutes running/1 minute walking, followed by another 5 sets of 1 minute running, 1 minute walking.

Ahhhh....what a sigh of relief

Just got back from the gym. Day 2 of my 3 week running regiment. Today was so much better!!! Once again it was the 1 minute run/1 minute walk, done 10 times. Now picture this - until about 14 months ago, I had never set foot in a "real" gym....yeah sure, I had to take a class in undergrad, but it wasn't legit. So knowing the ins and outs was not really happening. And if you know me, you know I won't ask for help.

Anyhow, I ran those 10 times at an incline of 3 - which when I am doing a typical walking routine on the treadmill, I am typically at least at 3 or 3.5 incline. Well today I took a look as I was on the eliptical, prior to my running regiment, at the people that were currently running on the treadmill. Their inclines were all at 1.5 or lower. Hmmmm, maybe they are on to something I considered.

So I tried it. So, so, so, so, so much better!!!!

I burned just under 100 calories doing the eliptical for 10 minutes for a warm-up. Then did weights for about 10-15 minutes. Then I did the run/walk routine for a total of 35 minutes. I ended up going 2.18 miles, burning a total of 281 calories.

Now I am off to a Super Bowl party at my friend Jacqueline's. The camera is coming with me, as to coincide with one of my goals for my 27th year (even though I am still 3 days early!!).

Ohhhhh yeah!! I finally bought my cruiser bike today!!!! I do believe I am going to name her Sheryl, for my weight loss inspiration.

What did I get myself into??

That is the question that I was asking myself this morning as I was about a third of the way done with my Day 1 of 10K prep. Okay, so maybe I shouldn't even call it that at this point. What's happening is you are getting one complete non-runner to start running. Not a pretty picture.


Anyhow, today was day one of my 3 week trek to being able to run 30 minutes at a time. I am getting daily e-mails of what my next days run will look like. Today was a 1 minute run followed by a one minute walk, repeated 10 times. This equals 20 minutes, and I did a 5 minute warm up and a 5 minute cool down. I have a nice little picture that I took that shows my calories burned during these 30 minutes (260 calories, 1.85 miles) but my lovely computer is being a punk today.

It nearly killed me today already, I won't lie. But I just kept motivating myself, saying "you only have to run 4 more times....3 more times....this is your last time of running Kelsey!!!!" Mentally I was imagining being able to come into the gym someday and hop on the treadmill, excited about running. That would be a completely different world for me!! On to day two tomorrow!!


After that I did some work on the stationary bike, and then did some weight machines. I am stinky and need a shower, but I opted to be loyal to my so-far non-readers instead!

OH, and I can't forget. I've been doing some researching on some of my 27 things. I ordered books for my Oregon trip in August, found a website with ghost towns in Texas (I could be a phony and go to one 10 miles away from my hometown that I've been to and through a million times, but who wants to do that???) and looked up stuff on Big Bend to go camping. I had a great idea to go there for Spring Break. Apparently a lot of other people did too, because all of the tent spaces are already booked for that week!!

Two Posts, One Day, I know, I know....

Well, it's nothing that is on my list, but I guarantee you what I just accomplished will enhance my sanity in the long run.




So....this is one of my most used cabinets in my house, and I cannot believe that I am openly putting it's insides for everyone to see....however, as I do quite a bit of cooking and baking, it was gradually becoming worse and worse, and driving me crazier and crazier.

And here is the after, my dears.....




I still want to go and buy some caddies for it to make it more presentable.....but it makes me feel a lot better already!!

Ohhh....and I am simultaneously looking up information about 5K's in the area. AHHH!

How could I forget this one?!?!

Okay, well maybe I will be adding a 28th goal for the year. I am sure there was some deeply psychological reason why I did not add it before, but we won't even dive into any of that.

Goal #28:

Get to my goal weight (which would probably encompass another goal of exercising - going to the gym, walking Bailey, bike rides - at least 4 times a week). I'm not going to lie, I would really like to put here that another goal is to participate in a 5K, but I'm a little apprehensive.

Goal Weight: 137

I'm quite a ways away from it, but I have already lost 20 pounds, so that means I am 20 pounds closer to my goal than what I was before!!

There is a chance that I will be adding to the 27 things list...saw a goal list of 101 things in 1001 days, which equates to just over 2 and a half years. Could definitely put a 5K on that!

This is my year twenty7

Hello my dear readers, not that I even have any as of this point. Today was day two of Texas snow storm 2011 - which means I was stuck at home with very little to do. Sure, I could do homework. Sure, I could get a head start on Spring cleaning. But no, I would rather not thankyouverymuch. So instead, I allowed my bookmarked blogs to lead me to other blogs I had never been to. I found myself at one where a lady created a list of things she would like to do in her 48th year of living. Well heck, I didn't want to have to wait another twenty years, and with my birthday a week away......I decided what the heck, why not.

So without further ado......here is my list of things to accomplish in my 27th year of life!


I don't know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

- Mary Oliver





Twenty7 Things

1. Take a culinary class of some sort.

2. Plant an herb garden, and maybe some veggies too. Growing jalapenos, tomatoes, basil, cilantro, lavender, and rosemary.

3. Go to a ghost town

4. Take part in a flash mob.

5. Go camping, preferably in Big Bend.

6. Use my passport. Get a passport first.

7. Go to Oregon.

8. Add at least 3 more states to my list of where I have been.

9. Meet Courtney L. and Heather W. somewhere.

10. Take part or start a book club.

11. Opt for a craft room in lieu of (or at the very least, alongside) an office.

12. Become a pie (baking) person.

13. Graduate from grad school, hopefully with a job in tow.

14. Take a bus somewhere.

15. Blow bubbles out the car window.

16. Go to a really great zoo.

17. Have at least three game nights with friends or family

18. Learn how to sew using a sewing machine.

19. Purchase a vintage typewriter.

20. Tour at least 2 wineries, in different places. Accomplished 2/26/11
21. Pass Marriage and Family Therapist exam.

22. Take chain restaurants out of my repertoire (as much as possible).

23. Go to at least 4 live music events.

24. Take more photos of everyday life and nature

25. Learn more about and from Trenton.

26. Float a river.

27. Find a CSA wherever I live in which to get involved in. Am working at a CSA in Abilene, and plan to join in the next town I live in as well!