MAY!!!

Ok so to those who have done the HCG diet and have succeeded I say kudos, congrats because this diet is difficult to maintain. I made it to my fifth day and decided that it was not worth the lack of energy that I was dealing with. I was taking vitamins and following the diet exactly but I think there are many factors that I did not think about going into this diet. First I walk around a lot at work which means I do burn some calories and on this 500 calorie diet I think I was burning too many and that is why I was so tired to the point that after the work day all I wanted to do was sleep. Second, in my opinion this program is for people with a lot of fat to loose and because this diet requires that you do not have breakfast it practically kills your metabolism. I do have to say that I love getting anything from GNC because I was able to return the HCG and get a full refund. I am still taking the women’s multivitamin that I bought from GNC because I like it and I have more energy and I feel more awake during the day when I take it.

I am still aiming for a healthier lifestyle so on Monday I took the dog on a walk and used an app on my phone called JogTracker. JogTracker uses my phones GPS and maps to get my location and accurately map out my route and give me the distance that I am going. It also gives me time and if I have my headphones in with music playing this app keeps me updated every few minutes of my distance and my time. Better than trying to check my phone while running! So when I took this walk I used the app to plan my route I will be taking. Also since I have not been active since I tried p90x at the beginning of the year I think that a brisk walk may warm up my muscles. I found the right route which was 1.2 miles and walked it again with the dog Tuesday and Wednesday. Yesterday I decided to take the leap of faith and do a light jog to see how I would do. For not remembering the last time I ran a mile I think I did well, and I did better than I thought I would do. 13 minutes for that mile is not great but I am happy with myself in that I pushed to finish and did not let myself walk at all during the run.

On the diet aspect of healthy living I have decided not to follow some crazy diet and just try to make healthier choices and to try and avoid fast food and sugary drinks. I have also picked out low fat or fat free choices when grocery shopping. I also follow @TaralynnsTweets who gives great healthy living advice. I found her blog on Pinterest and I find it amazing. Take a look: http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com/. I am super busy in the morning and I am also not a morning gal so making time to get ready AND eat breakfast does not always work out and this leads to not eating breakfast which is a big no no! So I came up with a genius idea to premix oatmeal in a sandwich bag to take to work and since we have a coffee machine that I can get hot water from it works out! I took ½ cup 1 minute oatmeal, 1 tsp brown sugar, dash of salt, desired amount of raisins and craisins. I put all this in a sandwich bag and all I had to take to work was a disposable paper bowl and a plastic spoon.

On the weekend I like to make up pancakes on my little flat grill and I throw some mixed frozen fruit on the grill with the pancakes and this makes for a wholesome breakfast and I did put some syrup on the cakes but I wish I hadn’t since the juices from the fruit were enough I didn’t even need the syrup. Another quick breakfast idea for on the go is a nice smoothie. I used the frozen fruit and mix it in my Ninja with milk, orange juice, and protein mix. I use the protein mix for energy and to fill me up a little more than the smoothie alone would.

A sort of update on the military side of things: My uncle Rob (he is the greatest) got in touch with an air guard recruiter who funny enough happens to work part time as a salesman at the dealership I work. He was telling me of an amazing opportunity to get into the air guard as a commissioned officer which I did not think I was possible without a degree. Turns out that this is possible for only certain fields which are religion, medical, and legal. The only catch that I had found through research so far is that I must get my degree before gaining the rank of O-3 or Captain.  The job is also located in Fairbanks which I thought would be difficult because I would have to travel, good news about that is that the air guard will put me on a plane to and from Fairbanks on drill weekends and the air guard will pay for my hotel and food on the weekend that I have to go. Sounds compelling. My recruiter does not yet know if this job is still available but I really hope so. He is on leave now so I have to be patient but I am positive.

The spring semester is finally coming to a close and I have all my finals this weekend and some end of the semester project due. Which means I will be locked away this weekend. L Good news is that I will be free for the summer after this weekend! So excited!

Holy Crap! I need a Time-Turner!

So a couple of weeks ago I joined Pinterest.com and had a goal to make some new, fun recipes and share them in a blog post. Then I spent all my time working, studying, and watching True Blood and now I am hooked on Greys Anatomy (thanks Cari). Next time she bothers me about blogging I am going to blame it on her for telling me about this show.

Not much ha happened and at the same time so much has! I do not know where to begin. Some top secret stuff, family stuff, future stuff, and just about crazy stuff.

Anchorage is about to beat the record for most snowfall ever! Who would have though the year I move here I would witness a record? Also Zeke is kinda mad at me, he doesn't like the snow. Everyone here is baffled by all the snow this year and oddly enough in this part of Alaska people are surprised and do not know what to do with the snow. How do you live in Alaska and not know what to do with snow?

So a girl named Smantha Koenig who works at a coffee hut in Anchorage was abducted a month ago by an armed man and APD still does not have any leads. In New York this kind of stuff would happen all the time and it is sad that it does not become big news. There are people with reward fliers taped to their car windows. Although the whole thing is super scary it comforts me that her family has so much support, including donations to help raise the reward money for her safe return. This has scared everyone and with the talks of putting strict federal laws on gun ownership or gun purchasing I have purchased a handgun. I am so happy Alaska is a open carry state, because nothing says don't mess with this girl with a gun strapped to her hip.

School is expensive, especially when it is coming out of my pocket! These school bills are making me seriously think about alternatives to paying for school such as the military. I work with a national guard recruiter and there are some interesting benefits school wise that I could take advantage of. Another possible option however would be the air guard only because I could use credits toward my major from the technical school, which is not available in the national guard. All of this is still a thought and I haven't put much action into it yet.

If Obama continues to try to crush the military it may not work out at all. Hopefully his propositions of eliminating the commissaries and hiking up Tricare will not pass but those are some benefits that are the military's strong points in recruitments. Our military may be dwindling when we need it the most. Possibly soon in Syria?

Anyway I hope to post some Nikki approved recipes this weekend. I am sure Cari will remind me :).

I dedicate this post to Cari.

PS on this princess challenge, my favorite was the little mermaid then I changed my mind in early childhood to princess Aurora from the sleeping beauty. Ha!

Transformation into a true Alaskan

So since my last post the days got shorter to a point on some days we wouldn't see the sun until 10:30-11ish am and it would disappear again around 3-4ish pm. Now we are slowly getting our sun back, just a few more minutes of sunlight each day. Although it is below zero and we are only half way through winter having more sun everyday gives Alaskans hope that spring and summer are just around the corner.

I hate the heat and I was partial to freezing cold weather until I moved here. I believe I am transforming into a true Alaskan and I know this because just a few weeks ago it was 25 degrees outside and I was sweating. It felt hot compared to our usual ten below lately. I don't mind the cold if it is zero or 15 below zero as long as there is no wind.  I refuse to go outside if it is windy. I can handle the still cold but when it is blowing in my face and I get that cold stinging I'm done. We have gotten a lot of snow lately but for the past week and a half it has been nothing but clear skies. I have also learned that up here if the sun is shining and there are no clouds in the winter time then it is not a good thing, it means that it will be a lot colder then when the clouds are around to keep some heat in. But even if it is colder it is nice this time of year to see the bright sun.

This Christmas was awesome. My family flew up from Idaho to spend the holiday with us. I also met my first niece Ina Romea and I was in baby heaven. I was nervous at first because it was the moment of truth for Zeke to see how he was with a five month old but he passed with flying colors. He was so cute with her and took every chance to hold her and play with her. My sister produced the most beautiful baby girl in the world I swear.

Now I am a full time student and a hold a full time job. I really don't know how people do it when they are doing this and raising children. I am already having a hard time as it is. I am just lucky that this semester all my classes are online, my mistake was thinking it would be easy. It is far from easy. I have four classes but since they are all online each week there is a certain amount of homework, reading, and quizzes due by the end of the week. Sounds simple because I have a whole week, but when a full time job and an hour commute one way is factored in it makes it a balancing challenge. I think after a few weeks I will get into a groove and be ok. My main concern now is remembering which class  is which when I am looking at due dates, lolz. On that note I have some homework to do that is due by tonight. Wish me luck!