Insanity! In more than one way...

Alright, I know it has been forever since I last posted. And I've been slacking a lot on my resolutions, but feel I've made good excuses for them all. LOL.

So, an update on what's been going on. Last time I wrote, I was getting ready to go to Illinois. That trip was fun and somehow in my Kia Sorento I managed to bring home a dresser, a small tv, 5 new pillows, a dog, my bag, bf's bags, box of can goods, two boxes of my Great Grandmother's china, and me and my bf. It was a tight squeeze, but it gave me hope for getting to Colorado! (Should have taken pictures... )

Then, the following week I was asked to judge the local Fair Queen Pageant with the bf which turned into judging the talent show also. It was hard because I knew a few of the kids from substituting but I think I did good on judging them based on what they showed me at the pageant and not what I knew they could do. This meant that I had less time to be backing for the great road trip, and... I missed the entire night of bull riding! That's the one thing I always went to at the fair and I missed it this year because I was judging. :(

Saturday came and we loaded up the car. I mean we LOADED the car FULL! Some of it even ended up going on top of the car and getting tied down. (Again... should have taken pictures...) After driving 12 miles and realizing I forgot to deposit money in the bank we had to turn around (local bank) and head back to town. Took care of that and headed out again. About 3 hours into the trip or so I heard a strange rattling sound coming from the roof of the car. Nervous something was coming untied we pulled over. Everything was still tied tight so we carried on. Awhile later I heard it again, we stopped, everything was fine, we traveled on with the radio up a little more. Then, after awhile it really started to bother us and we figured out that maybe it was the ends of the rope flapping that we were hearing. Tucked those in and we were all good. No more noises!

We stopped in Lincoln, NE for a break and walked around their Capitol Building. It was really cool and really neat to see green grass! It's been so dry even our green grass is still a little crispy on the edges. Lincoln had gorgeous, soft green grass. The puppy sure enjoyed it! We ate dinner at a truck stop and still debated the drive-all-night vs stop-somewhere plans. Decided to play it by ear. We did have a time crunch in that we had to be to town to meet the landlords no later than 2pm but by 11am would be best. They were leaving town for the week and everyone they would leave stuff with was also out of town. We ended up napping once or twice and taking turns (although bf did most of the driving) and when we were just outside of Laramie, WY we stopped for the last few hours of the night. We just slept at a rest area and called it good.

I should also mention that it is COLD outside at night. Coming from a land where it might get down to 85 at night to where it was in the 40's is a HUGE change and blonde me didn't pack any warm clothes where we could get to them! And, I was traveling in shorts...

Morning came, we got up and went potty, walked the dog, and headed into Laramie. Laramie is an important place to stop on the trip because it is the last town before getting to the little town where I'm living and the last place to really stop for groceries/wal-mart. After cramming every nook and crannie with the things we picked up at Wal-Mart we headed on to my new home!

We unloaded the car, set up the air mattress, and slept a long time.

Then, since the bf is here for 2 weeks we decided to hit up every other town I could go shopping in. First up was Fort Collins. Nice town, LONG drive through mountains. Originally I thought mountains would be cool and was a little sad I am in a big flat valley of ranches, but after that drive, I like my valley!

While in Fort Collins we hit up an awesome thrift store! Bought 2, not one but TWO, humidifiers for $3.99 each! The dry air had been killing us! Also got two folding chairs for $2.99 each (brand new and I hadn't packed any thing to sit on), and a bag of crochet thread (more on that another day) for cheap. Then we went to Ross, very happy to see there is one there! A trip to the Dollar Tree! Followed by lunch at a microbrewery (bf's a beer fan) and a tour of New Belgium Brewery! Then, since the dog was now going to be locked up longer than planned, we rushed through wal-mart to get new humidifier filters and a few other things and Safeway to get food. I <3 Safeway!

After trudging back through the mountains following a semi who almost ran three different cars off the road (he wouldn't stay on his side!) we made it home.

Steamboat Springs was the trip planned for yesterday and was interesting. Our list of things was smaller this time and so we really only stopped at Safeway, Walgreens and Wal-mart. We had lunch at what was apparently the town's first Mexican restaurant. Amazing food, but our waitress wasn't the greatest. At one point she made me feel really needy because when she asked if we needed anything I requested more tea to drink (cup was 2/3 empty) and some extra napkins. I feel, and I was once a waitress, that she should have asked if we were ok with drinks and such instead of just always asking us if we needed anything. But still good food. The drive to Steamboat was a lot better and so either there or Laramie will be my shopping places.

We also got to watch the balloon festival thing yesterday morning at 7am here in town. We've seen a lot of antelope, prairie dogs, and birds of all kinds.

This week is my first week of school! Well, for me and the other teachers. Tomorrow starts our teacher work days and all that cool stuff. Then, Friday bf and I are heading to Denver so he can fly out on Saturday. I'll be coming back, scrambling to get everything done and ready for Monday, the first day of school.

I also, began Insanity workouts again today. Started at Day 1 with the Fit test. I'm nervous to compare results to the last time I started it.

Moving

Moving is stressful and I'm too lazy to really force myself to do what needs to be done. I'm just avoiding it all.

Next weekend (this one I'm going to Illinois) I am packing up my SUV and heading out to Colorado with my puppy and the bf. The bf is staying out with me until Aug 18 when he flies back and about a week later? my parents will be heading out with all the other stuff I have.

My sis says that all my stuff won't fit in the trailer/truck mom and dad are bringing, but after going through my stuff in the basement, I really don't have as much stuff as she thinks. Her basement has her stuff, my stuff, and her bf's stuff in it. While digging through the boxes it appears that most of it is not mine. I have found about 5 boxes that she's packed over the years of stuff that needs to find a home, but not right now and so it gets put in the basement, then things get stacked on top, then the stack gets moved, and then things get all combined and nobody opens the boxes.

Brings back memories. This one wasn't mine, but it is now officially "old school"

I have been going through my boxes that I haven't opened in 4 years and most my mom packed so I don't even know what's in them!

Duck and Frog Soap pumps. I can never choose between ducks and frogs so I have both!

Found these in a box. They were from Goodwill and marked at $2 a piece. They're labeled and I think they're authentic. I think I'm going to hang on to them, but if I wanted to sell them I could probably get a lot of money for them.

My old Christmas Tree skirt! I bought it on clearance one year for like $1. It's a green color

These are from when I was a kid and I'm missing a part for it. Anyone know where I could find one for parts?

Week 27: any ideas???

I'm out of ideas that I can actually do now. I'm flying back to the Midwest next Wednesday and then I'm moving so setting up my aquaponics system isn't possible, I'm not ready to take more out of my diet, I just cannot think of more things to do!

Have I mentioned that I'm completely over this summer school class. It would have been better if I could have been more prepared, but it's hard to come up with activities for the three of them to do. Normally in a class you have a bunch and dragging one along isn't hard. But three of them makes it hard when 1/3 of the class doesn't want to participate. Yesterday we started building kites and so today we're perfecting them and going to watch a video about kites. I'm desperate.

Week 26: Read More

Ok, so it has taken me half the week to figure out what week 26 should be and then it hit me last night! As I crawled in bed and began to read some of my book, (thanks to the sis's bf for the book light!!! ) I realized I want to do this more. So that is my resolution for this week, reading more during the week. Reading for fun too, not just the books or lesson plans that I've been reading all day to plan stuff. 

This week I also feel it would be appropriate to mention... THE YEAR IS HALF OVER!!!! I cannot quite say I have 26 resolutions so far, but I do have quite a few and they have become a part of my daily life. So, a recap of how each resolution is going for me... 

1. Give up Processed Sugar (again...) I've been cheating a little more this week. For the hike last weekend I bought some granola bars and tried to get the least sugar ones. But, between eating those up this week as breakfast or snacks, and the chocolate that has entered the house, I've been feeling like crap! No joke. I have felt nauseous for the last few days off and on and SO hungry. My roomie thinks it is from eating mixed veggies for lunch with fruit (was eating meat too, but too lazy to cook it the night before) but I wasn't hungry the first few days I was eating these meals. I'm going to blame the sugar. 

2. No More Plastic Bags! Almost rock star status on this one!!! I did slip up the other day and forgot that a lot of plate lunch places in Hawaii will give you your lunch, your silverware/chopstick, and napkin in a bag unless you warn them in plenty of time. We were running late to meet someone on the beach so I didn't try to give the bag back.

3. No More Take Out Conatiners Not counting plate lunches! This only counts if I go to a restaurant and want to take leftovers. Haven't really been out to eat lately so not a problem.

4. Portion Control Doing good on this one! I try to eat a more variety of things rather than eat a lot of one thing. And depending on how much water I've had, I'll make myself drink a glass of water or something before getting something else to eat. It also helps that I have a quick breakfast and then I pack my lunch so dinner is really the only time I can really over eat. 

5. New Recipe I've been slacking on keeping track of this, but I have been trying some new things. Mainly, mixing whatever I have on hand to make something out of it. 

6. Work Out 3 Times a Week Failed a long time ago. But, since the insanity resolution and being in Hawaii I have been working out or exercising in some way at least 3 times a week. Heck, last weekend we hiked about 5 miles and then went swimming in one day alone!!!!
 

7. Record Measurements Weekly Harder to do since I forgot a measuring tape and my scale is still at home. But I'm losing inches!!

8. Take out Contacts Regularly Doing AMAZING at this one! Speaking of, I need to get more of the hydrogen peroxide stuff that I use. I've just been using regular solution to put them in instead of the cleaner I've been using. And... I went to the eye doctor the other day and my eyes got better again!!!

9. Keeping My Mouth Shut More Umm... I think I've been doing this one. I really get put to the test living with the guy who left for work then texted us that the wine in the freezer opened the door and things were thawing but left the wine in the fridge! 

10.Take Vitamins Regularly Doing good with this one. Every morning when I go to make my shake for breakfast I pull out the shake mix and the vitamins then I have to take them before I put them away. But today I ran out of shake mix and don't plan on buying more yet. 

11. Water!!! Doing ok. The other day I forgot my water bottle and by the time I got home I felt horrible. When I work out I typically drink about 2 bottles then alone. 

12. (none)

13. Enjoy the Little Things I'm in Hawaii, how can I not??

14. (none-chicago)

15. Fish Oil Taking it daily with the vitamins. It seems to be ok. I really think I should have been more sore after doing the first week of insanity, but I wasn't.

16. Chap Stick Used it the other day once, but only for the sunscreen protection. I didn't think 5 miles plus tide pools would really be a smart trip without some sunscreen on my lips.

17. Abs Does insanity count???

18. Budget It is definitely a constant work in progress, but it helps a lot!

19. No More Fries I had my one cheat of garlic fries at Teddy's so I am good now. 

20. (skipped?)

21. (skipped?)

22. (skipped?)

23. No more bread, crackers, or pasta Cheated when eating hamburgers. BUT, found a cool thing on I Miss My Collar Bone and I think a lightly grilled pepper would make a nice bun.  Plus, since I stopped eating bread/pasta I have dropped inches!

24. Insanity workout program Slacked off for a week since I've been horribly low on sleep and not feeling great. But I picked it up the other day. Would have done it again this morning, but we had to be at school an hour earlier. 
 

25. No more potatoes Going great. Made me laugh yesterday though when one of the boys was in charge of dinner and wanted potato salad as a side but I looked at him. So, we went to the store and he was so proud of himself. He picked up some macaroni salad and informed me that there were not potatoes in it. Then I pointed to it and said "pasta"... he thought he had done good on picking out something I could eat.

26. Read More started last night.

Teaching

So, I have discovered that rather than teach a physics course over the summer with this summer program I want to be an assistant. There are some cool classes that are happening and sadly, I am not part of either. Today I skipped out on the drama class in the morning to go with one of the other classes on a walk to collect plants to make plant shirts.

The drama class is to the stage where all the students are needed and the only thing the other assistant and I do is get after kids who are talking or goofing off. Not really exciting and not necessary to have two of us. So the one teacher was going to take her kids and gather plants to paint and then make prints of on t-shirts. That sounded so much more exciting... so did their trip to a watercress farm, the hike to the waterfall, the hike to the top of the ridge, and the trip to the board of water supply. Mind you the one also made terrariums, and they are watching termites, and they caught crayfish. I'm jealous. Today I joined them and I have to say... my shirt is coming along very nicely! I am going to add more stuff to it.

So I sit in my class, the one that I can control and realize how boring it really is. And I feel horrible! These kids were signed up for this class, all of them have done the programs before and know how fun they can be, but mine is just boring kind of learning. So, I decided to look at what could be fun using what we already know, and possibly bring in things that we didn't cover yet. At the end of all the curriculum I am supposed to cover, there is a project to create a Rube Goldberg Machine. Why not do this now instead of maybe later? I say maybe later because there's more stuff to go through than we can fit in the 5 weeks. So, today we wrapped up our final investigation, we set 3 tables end to end, I rolled out a long sheet of paper, and they began designing. :) For an hour these 3 kids worked hard without breaks designing their project. No whining, no complaining, nothing. I think I did the right choice.

They must design a machine to pop a balloon and they cannot use fire or heat. Apparently I should have added explosions, but coke and mentos can't be too bad right? They plan on containing it in a tube to set off another reaction with alcaceltzer to fill a balloon over capacity. The problem I see? They think the coke will stop at the tablets to cause gasses to fill the balloon... it won't be a gas that fills the balloon, it will be the coke that fills it with the gas and causes an explosion. But, they will get to learn this on their own!

Week 25: Potatoes

I so cheated today on my no bread, no fries, and this week's no more taters. But, it was Teddy's Bigger Burger and if in Hawaii you HAVE TO eat it once. Amazing, hand pattied burgers. But otherwise, today I swear off potatoes. I've been avoiding them in general, but no more now.

I won't lie. The no bread/pasta thing kills me. It is just so cheap, filling, and lasts in the cupboard! But, alas, I have prevailed. Have I slipped up? yes, but I try my hardest to stick to it.

Speaking of cheap food. I saw a lady in the store today with a kid and a cart over flowing with food. Then I noticed she also had a binder and handful of coupons. I admire "extreme coupon-ers" and noticed most were printed out from online. Then I took notice of things in her cart. All what I consider "junk food". Tons of processed food, ice cream cones, boxes of fruit snacks packed with fake sugar, flavoring, and preservatives. Then I took notice of the people around me. And I have to say I have become slightly judgmental about people and what they buy. The people who are on their way to/from the gym yet buying chips and "diet" foods packed with fake stuff. What happened to real food? Why do we put so many unnecessary things in food now?

When we got home, one of the boys asked if I had tried the hot pockets with the pretzel bread yet. I told him no, they have sugar in them. He then started looking at everything as he put it away and most of the things contained sugars of some sort and not the natural kinds. It's in EVERYTHING! Rice Crispies are the one that kill me. They, by themselves are so bland, dull in flavor, and I could never eat them without adding a bunch of sugar to them. But yes, they actually do have sugar in them! Why? Plain Cherrios do too. It's sad, and depressing sometimes what we've added sugar to over the years and then we blame obese kids on the lack of PE in schools.

I get looks a lot and comments about how hard giving up sugar would be. Is it easy? No. But it is a choice I make and I won't lie, I cheat off and on in moderation for some things. Other things I've learned aren't worth it because they don't taste the same [oreos :( ] or because they make me horribly sick [ice cream]. But you know, if I get to my weight of extreme measures I would really crack down on what I was eating. And I don't care what diet you want to follow, I don't think foods which are heavily processed and using "fake" ingredients are in any way healthy or good for your body. So, next time you go shopping remember, it doesn't matter how many calories you burned at the gym today, eating some of the crap you want to eat is ingesting more than calories.

And now I step off my soap box and go to bed. I didn't do insanity yesterday because we went out dancing and I wanted to be able to dance without too much soreness. And today was just a really lazy day. Instead of staying up late and doing the workout, I will get up early and do it in the morning.

Reflection

Man, the weeks are flying by. It didn't help that last weekend was a holiday weekend for Hawaii (King Kamehameha Day) and so this was only a 4 day work week. It seems like yesterday I posted what this week's resolution was going to be and now I already have to figure out a new one?!?!

A lot has been going on and my postings have been short and not too detailed. I've been busy and last weekend really wore me out. I spent Saturday watching the first two seasons of Weeds. Not an amazing show, but I have seen it on Netflix a lot and decided to see what it was like. Then, they hook you with what crazy thing may happen next and two seasons later I finally got off the couch. I have been sticking to the workout though and took a break to do that.

Sunday was spent at the roomie's soccer game and then we went to Ewa Beach Park (Pronounced Eva as in for-eva lol). She had never been to Ewa Beach (the actual beach part) and so we went. In the 15 min we decided to sit and eat lunch before changing and putting on more sunscreen we both fried. It didn't show up until we were home though and yesterday I started peeling. No amount of aloe and lotions could stop it this time. I did take a "before" picture though! Even if it is still almost halfway (next week!) through the year. This is kind of an Insanity before photo.

6-10-12 Not fat, but needs some toning...

Ewa Beach looking towards Honolulu. Diamond head near the right side on the horizon.

Ewa Beach looking to Waianae direction

A view near the beginning of the hike. that is a storage shed. Lots of plants...

Monday being a holiday the roomie and I got with our other old roomie and did a hike. It was a short, tourist kind of hike to Manoa Falls. Of all the water falls on the island that I have seen, this one is the least interesting.

Left is a picture of one of 2 or 3 big Ficus trees that are on a little side trail surrounded by a bamboo forest. The picture is maybe a third of what I could see of the tree from the angle I was at. It is crazy to think that these are the cute little office trees that are so popular (and I kill all the time...).

P.S. If anyone knows where I can get panoramic prints for an ok price, let me know!

This week was spent with more teaching of course and I am loving it! Today I was really proud of myself too. I have a student who is epileptic. Because of this he has what I would call a processing delay. He is smart, but it takes time for him to connect things to previous knowledge, to recall information, and to verbalize what he is thinking. Most days I can tell he gives up and kind of shuts his brain off. Yesterday and today though I have been able to get him in on conversations and giving me answers with reasons to back them up based upon what we have done.

I also learned in the morning by watching the other aide that I have somehow gained all the patience my oldest sister has lost with kids. One kid drives everyone up the wall; teachers, aides, the other students, everyone! Apparently he is way better than in years past and that has to be saying a lot because he isn't that behaved this year. The other aide, a recent high school grad, gets so frustrated with him and demands instructions of him as I would have a few years ago. Instead, the one day he was really driving us nuts, I sat back and observed for a little bit. I realized something was bothering him and had been since he arrived that morning. After she got on to him about something he got more upset and within a few minutes kicked a chair so another student couldn't use it as a foot rest.

It's true that we told them not to use the chairs as foot rests, but the manner he went about it was not acceptable for me. One thing to be in a mood, another to take it out like that. So, I pulled him outside and asked what was wrong and what was going on. He said he was fine and was trying to let the other kid know not to put his feet on the chair. We talked about how kicking the chair is not an appropriate way to go about this. Something was still on his mind so I figured I'd either get him to talk about it or distract him from it. After talking to him about whatever came up from a few simple questions he was distracted and back to his usual talkative self. Just before sending him back in the room, I reminded him of some group participation rules and he was good the rest of class. I did have to remind him once or twice to focus and not goof off when working in the group, but he did fine. Apparently not in the afternoon which he spent most of in the office... not sure what happened. Since then, it has been the same. He's pretty good for us in the morning and horrible in the afternoon.

This weekends plans include a brunch with some of the roomies coworkers/classmates, country dancing!!!!, possible stand up paddling, and planning for next week.

In Colorado news, I officially have a teacher e-mail address, my contract was approved by the school board, and I GOT A PLACE TO LIVE!!! It is half of a duplex which the teacher assigned as my mentor is in the other half. It has a huge fenced yard which my dog will love and it is decently cheap! It is a 2 bedroom, one bath apartment. 2 story with the bottom level being at "garden level", or half buried. The kitchen and bathrooms are a little retro with the avocado green in the counters and linoleum, but I'm excited. It also has a wood fireplace (a must for Colorado lol) and deep window sills perfect for plants. I cannot wait! Oh, and the bedrooms are both 15'x10'... that's pretty big for bedrooms. One will be a sewing room/spare bedroom. The living room will probably end up being more an office/tv room. It is hard to judge the size of the living room from the pictures for what will fit and how in there.

Another good thing is that they are currently doing some repairs in it and they will be finishing up around mid to end of July. This means... no having to pay July rent just to hold the place! The drawback? Having to fork out a deposit equal to the rent and another $400. All refundable, but still! $200 utility deposit and $200 pet deposit. The way the utilities work is they are in the landlord's name, but I get a copy of the bill and pay them back for it. It'll be nice to be able to move in the night I get to town and not have to worry about electric, water, heat and all that. I'll post pictures when I get out there probably.

Working out is going good. I can make it most of the way through a workout now. I do have to take breaks during some of the moves. The ones with a lot of up and down movement make me dizzy quickly so those get hard, but otherwise I try to do everything. I may not do it at the pace on the video, but I do it! I'm starting week two of Insanity and I'm actually starting to feel improvements even if they are subtle... like finishing most of a workout, hiking a simple trail with no pain, no knee pain, etc.

Any ideas for this coming week's resolution?

And a cute green gecko to end the post. First green gecko I have ever seen here. Most are brown.

Week 24: Insanity

Alright, I did workout 3x a week as my resolution before and I failed. This week, I vow to finish the Insanity program no matter how long it takes! (It should only take 60)

Can't write a whole lot right now, I am hot, sweaty, and about to shower before bed. Tomorrow is a long day!