They Will Always Be In My Heart and Around My Neck

There isn't a day that goes by that I do not think about the two most wonderful bullies who ever graced this world.

At times I feel completely lost without them.

Right now, as I write this, my heart physically aches for them.

They were my two very best friends and I miss them more than I can ever say.

But it helps me to know there are people out there who understand what I feel even though I cannot tell them.

And they go and do things like this.

And now, thanks to one of my favorite people Erin, I can carry them with me always.

Erin worked with her friend and neighbor, Kari to design this necklace for me. Kari is the owner of Beadfruit. Please visit her on Facebook and check out her Etsy store!

Thank you ladies. You never cease to amaze me!

To learn more about my Daisy Mae, you can read about her battle with bone cancer here.

Not Just The Running...

Having recently lost a noticeable amount of weight, people like to ask me how I did it.

My standard answer is that I began running with the help of my extra supportive husband, Shawn.

First we set a goal because running just to run isn't much fun. We talked about doing one of those adventure 5k's one year from that conversation and then decided that a shorter term goal would be a good idea. It was July so we figured we could run and complete a respectable 5k by Halloween.

Near Halloween there is a run called the Monster Dash. Everyone dresses up and it is a grand time!  I figured if nothing else I could walk a 5k no problem and just check out all the costumes.

We started our training on July 19th with our version of a Couch to 5k program. It was painfully hot. Leave it to me to decide to start running in the middle of July! We had heat index well over 100 most days and I had never run a day in my life.

My motto had been - I only run when being chased. And I avoided being chased at all costs!

We started off with a 3 minute brisk walk for a warm up. Then we alternated jogging for 60 seconds and walking for 90 seconds until we had completed that cycle 6 times. It was killing me and I complained like you have never heard but we did it and I was very proud. Then I went home and passed out on the floor in the living room.

We did this for the next three times we went out.

Then I realized that I am a huge excuse maker. If there is an excuse to be made I would come up with it.  I needed to remove all obstacles such as making sure I had good shoes so my feet, knees, and back would not hurt.

When the Adidas shoes I bought ate up my ankles I realized that running is very different from walking and the best thing to do was try new shoes. My new Puma's made a world of difference.

Another excuse would be that we are just too busy. So I pulled out the calendar and mapped out three runs a week, at least one day apart. This held us accountable and made sure we thought about our running when making other plans. This was a life saver and really worked!

Here I am after our second day of running. It was July 20th, 98 degrees outside but we did it!

Every fourth run we would make it harder. I don't remember exactly what we did but it was something like this:

Week 1 -

• 3 minute warm up walk
• 60 second jog, 90 second walk, repeat for 20 minutes
• 5 minute cool down walk

Week 2 -

• 3 minute warm up walk
• 90 second jog, 60 second walk, repeat 3 times
• 60 second jog, 60 second walk, repeat 3 times
• 5 minute cool down walk

Week 3 -

• 3 minute warm up walk
• 90 second jog, 60 second walk, repeat 6 times
• 5 minute cool down walk

Week 4 -

• 3 minute warm up walk
• 2 minute jog, 60 second walk, repeat 3 times
• 90 second jog, 60 second walk, repeat 3 times
• 5 minutes cool down

We completed that 5k in 38 minutes! I was so impressed with myself even though it was still very hard.

Our second race was a 7k that we ran on St. Patrick's Day. We finished in 54 minutes and 17 seconds. I was ecstatic with this time. My original goal was to finish in under 50 minutes but we had only run 4 miles one other time and we hadn't been running much during the winter since it gets so cold here.

 

That's half of the story of how I lost 45 pounds.

The other half is something I don't talk about much because when I first started I had a huge complex about it. I thought people would think I was the fat girl who couldn’t figure it out.

But one day, about 20 pounds later, I realized I was actually the fat girl who had figured it out!

I am still a bit self-conscious about this but most of it is because I don't know how to explain it in a way that really makes sense.

But here it goes.

I wear a band on my arm.  It's called a BodyBugg. I first heard about this on The Biggest Loser. Have you ever noticed the arm bands they wear? Now you know what it is! 

It looks like a pedometer and if you ask me about it in the elevator, that is exactly what I will tell you it is.

But it's so much more than that. It tracks my actual calorie burn throughout the day in addition to tracking my steps. 

I wear it about 23.5 hours a day. Then I plug it into my computer where it loads the data into this little website. I also log everything I have eaten that day in to the same site.

On this day you can see that I burned 2841 calories and I took in 1552. If you look at the graph below you will see huge spikes around 6 pm. That was me running! And you will see how low the lines are throughout the day. That's me sitting at my desk all day.

It tells me how much KARA burned during the day which is so helpful because it is true to me, not some estimate based on my age, job description, activity levels, and weight.  It's actually what I burned.

Then it does the math between what I burned and what I ate to tell me my actual burn.

To lose 1 pound a week I need to burn 500 more calories than I take in each day during that week. So, if I want to eat a lot, I need to move a lot. If I don't move much, I should probably not eat too much, or make smarter choices.

This is a picture of the same day but showing steps. Something I learned early on is how little I walk in a day. On a typical week day, when I don't try to do anything extra, I was taking 3500 steps. When I would try hard to walk the long way or get away from my desk more often, I would log 4500 steps. That's a far cry from the recommended 10,000 steps in a day. My run this day was 3 miles. Notice how I ran 3 miles and still didn't hit a 10,000 step count? That sure was eye opening!

 This is exactly what I was missing all these years. I had no idea how inactive I was prior to wearing this armband. It has shown me not only what I AM doing but most importantly what I am NOT doing every day.

So, that's how I did it. And that's how I am doing it again now that I am on chapter 2 of my journey. I will tell you about chapter 2 soon, stay tuned!

Fiesta Fun Fair or The Fundraiser Which Causes Parent Stimulation Overload or How I Get To Spend 6 of My Birthdays

My daughter goes to a Spanish Immersion School. To make this school successful they hire a number of college students or recent college grads from Spanish speaking countries to assist in the class rooms each year. We call them TA's. The TA's stay with host families during the school year and the PTO does a great job taking care of them.

However they are expensive and our PTO has to fundraiser a lot in order to fund them each year.

One of their big fundraisers is the Hot and Spicy night which is an adult only live and silent auction held at a local VFW. It is a total blast where the parents, teachers, and TA's all get to let their hair down. And trust me. Some of the parents do a very, very good job letting their hair down at this event.

Their other big fundraiser is the school carnival called the Fiesta Fun Fair. It is held each year on the weekend of Cinco De Mayo which is lucky for me since my birthday is the day before Cinco De Mayo!

I will let you decide if you think I am happy about this or being sarcastic...

All 500 students, their siblings, their parents, cousins, friends, alumni (both kids and adults) all flock to the school to partake in this annual celebration to play games, bounce in houses made of air, eat junk food, get their faces painted, and don crazy hair.

And now, for the pictures!

Heidi and Emily play on the playground equipment that is off limits to the lower grades during the school day.

First stop - Face Painting! Heidi quickly transforms into a panda while Alysssa sports a smily face and Kate has a dragon.

Emily is a beautiful falcon ready to fly around this place!

Emma is sporting a tasteful butterfly!

 
Willy's zombie face was awesome but faded as soon as he got his snow cone.

 Heidi, Kate, and Alyssa found their teacher, Sra. Reynolds at the popcorn stand. Alyssa loved buying popcorn from her teacher!!

Heidi, Kate, Sophia (with the very fitting butterfly mask), and Piper (a beautiful falcon) have their snacks and are ready to find some games!

Our little friend Lily, Robbinsdale Ambassador, made an appearance! It was so great to see her and her mom, Jessie! We miss you guys!! (Lily is the little one looking directly at the camera)

 Heidi rocked the hockey shot game.

 So did Piper!

This is about the time where Jess asks me if I think this is as bad as Chuck E. Cheeses. As a general rule, I do not go to CEC. I call it Parent Stimulation Overload. It is just to much for me to willingly spend any more time in that place.

While this was much more buck wild than The Chuck, I am willing to spend a few hours of my birthday weekend supporting such a good cause. Without the TA's my daughters school would not be as amazing as it is.

The ring toss.

 Bean bag Tic Tac Toe.

 Who doesn't love a giant Spiderman obstacle course?! Spiderman is my favorite so I am sure this was just for me...

 Next stop? Crazy hair room! Piper sporting her colorful pigtails.

This room was bliss for us moms. We gathered in the back of the relatively quiet room and took a breather while we waited for all the girls to turn into punk rockers.

 Doesn't Carly look like a Powder Puff Girl?

Kate, Heidi, and Sophia look awesome!

Last stop was the snack walk where Sophia won twice!

And on her third attempt, Heidi won some cookies.

I think everyone had a blast. I had a great time running into other moms and having quick chats with them before we all ran off in different directions.

And to think. Only 364 days until the next Fundraiser Which Causes Parent Stimulation Overload. 

Until next year!

What's for Dinner? Smashed Red Potatoes

My family likes potatoes so I am always looking for different ways to make them to keep them interesting.

I came up with this really simple base recipe easily customizable either on a whole or by each person at the table.

What you will need:
2 pounds red potatoes cut into small wedges
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup minced parsley
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp pepper

Place potatoes and garlic in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, cook uncovered until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and place back on pot or in a large bowl. Coarsely mash with a potato masher or a fork. Add parsley, oil, salt, and pepper. Toss and serve warm.

Provide shredded cheese, sour cream, even crumbled bacon for everyone to customize.

I really liked them as is but some may say they are a bit dry so a dollop of sour cream or butter would fix that right up.

Enjoy!!

My 33rd Year

Today I begin my 33rd year.

I think that's right. Hold please...

Yes, that's right. I was born in 1979. If I am wrong, please correct me.

Really, please correct me because I am never sure how old I am and 33 seems like one to many years.

No, I checked it on a calculator and that seems right.

Funny. I don't feel 33.

Okay, I confirmed it with Emilie. It is 33. Sigh.

It's not that I think 33 is old. It is more that I must have forgotten to be 32.

My 32st year was so full of ups and downs I don't even know where to start. But the major highlights are:

I lost my lovely Grandma. My dad's mom. She was a very special woman and I sorely miss her.

I lost my Pig. The single most important bulldog in the history of bulldogs. This guy was a champ and he taught me how to love with my entire heart. Our lose of our Pig was quick and very painful which is why I have not posted an update on his last days. I will do that at some point, not now. Here are posts One and Two of how things went down with the boy.

I lost my Daisy. Losing Daisy Mae was and still is painful. I deal daily with her loss and our new status as a dog free household. I have written extensively about Daisy and invite you to read about her. She was an amazing dog.

I gained a new niece! My brother and his fiance Dawn welcomed Eliette Mae into the world after a long, anxious wait. She is beautiful and I love her so much!

I lost 45 pounds. I plan to write more in the very near future about how I lost this weight. And we will also have to discuss my daughters hair at some point...

I made a wonderful new friend. This crazy woman came into my life full force about one year ago. She has made an impact and I know she is here for a reason. We are having a blast finding the reasons we were brought together.

The goons came home!! A major highlight was having Ryan, Jess, Willy, and Emily move back to Minnesota.

But I made it through this rollercoster with these two by my side.

And these two (my favorite brother Justin and his Dawn). Man, that was a great vacation. We need to do that again very soon!

And my parents, Gary and Terri. These two know how to have a good time!

And my BFF, Shanny Shan Shan, Shannon. She is my chosen sister and I think I chose well! Please excuse my daughter with the crazy eyes. And Shannon's step-son with the devil eyes in the back! HAHA!!

I am ready to put all the bad stuff behind me, continue to celebrate the good, and move into my 33rd year by acknowledging who I am and what I like to do with my time.

I will take the time to revisit the goals I made for myself at the start of 2012 and adjust as needed to fit who I want this 33 year old Kara to be. And I have recommitted to this blog so you can follow me in my continued quest to Read more, Write more, Find my ideal body weight, strengthen my personal relationships, and continue to move aggressively through my career.

And I will end my 33rd year with a trip to Hawaii with the two people I love the most.

Please raise your glass to wonderful year!

It's Not A Hair Cut...

I recently have lost about 45 pounds. I still have 30 or so pounds to go but I really like what I am seeing right now.

This is what I looked like last July a few weeks before I started my new lifestyle.

This is what I look like now.

What is the number one comment made to me by people who see me occasionally?

I am taking about my daughter's friends parents or co-workers from other offices or neighbors I run into at Target.

They say "I like your hair cut!"

At first I would hear this and say, "Thanks! But I didn't get my hair cut."

Then one day it clicked. 

They notice something is different about me but they can't pin point it so they conclude I have changed my hair style.

I love it!

Now I just smile and say "Thanks!" then run home and tell Shawn I got another compliment on my hair.  We both smile and know it's been a lot of hard work but we both like the new Kara.

My Birthday Present!

We are sort of looking for a loft bed for Heidi. I am not sure if we are going to get her one or not but we are looking. We are also looking for a bed for the guest room. I am not sure what we will end up with but I am having fun looking.

This weekend we ran out to Ikea to look at the loft bed I saw on their website. Then, on recommendation from my brother, we went to Dock 86. I had never been there before and was in love the minute I walked in the door.

I saw this adorable owl I am totally in love with but it was way out of my price range.

 Oh, but how I do love it. It just screams Kara! I could not justify that much money... Could I?

Heidi loved these chairs. She was like The Princess and The Pea up there. I think I could have talked her into taking a nap.

But then I found this. If the Owl Picture screamed Kara, this chair was shouting it from the roof tops. I fell quick and I fell hard.

Waiting for me at home was this over sized chair. I used to be in love with this chair but that was at our old house when it was angled in the living room with it's friend the ottoman parked at it's feet. It was like a full sized bed in my living room. I lived on this couch when I was pregnant and then the months following.

But it never really worked in this house. While it fit in the nook off the living room the ottoman had to go in the basement and it just wasn't the same.

Then last weekend our neighbors gave us their couch and the over sized chairs massive brother, the giant couch, went out to the garage leaving the chair alone in the corner.

These guys make me happy like the over sized chair did 8 years ago. Do they not look amazing in that same corner? I need a small table to sit between them but the chairs themselves are perfect.

 And most importantly, they are Peter approved.