Progress and Poutine

To start off, things have been going really well in my weight loss venture. I can't say that it's much fun to record everything you eat or calculate calories before you choose a restaurant, but it certainly pays to do so. I've been on my little "program" for 6 weeks now and I'm already down 8 lbs! I'd like to get down just a few more and then I need to maintain the exercise and only be slightly cautious about my eating habits, instead of neurotic!

The trip Brian and I took to Toronto and Niagara Falls was a great time. Niagara Falls is absolutely beautiful and breathtaking. It was probably my favorite part of the trip. We took the Maid of the Mist tour which takes you on the river below the falls and wow, do you get soaked! Brian said I looked like I had just got out of the shower. It's so powerful though, being there looking up at this massive wall of rushing water and feeling the rumble under your feet from the force. The water was this incredible aquamarine color, which was almost surreal. Niagara Falls, Ontario is sort of strange place however. The area near the falls is stunningly beautiful with flower gardens, mature trees and lush green grass. Once you get a couple blocks away though, it turns into this strange "Coney Island on acid" type of place. There are bright colored ice cream shops on every corner and not the nice quant kind. Three Ripley's Believe It or Not Museums and an odd tribute to the WWF also. Honestly, it's hard to describe, but it wasn't a place where Brian and I wanted to spend our evening. So we stopped into a little shop and purchased two Cuban cigars (legal in Canada) and made our way to a cool looking bar across the street from our hotel. We sat on the rooftop porch, enjoying our cigars and some tasty Alexander Keith's, a popular brew.

On our way back to Toronto, we took a detour to see Niagara on the Lake. We were told by a few people that it was worth the stop. Neither of us were quite sure why, but decided what the heck. We pulled into a little main street area of town that was all a bustle with people everywhere, lots of restaurant and shops, all in old Victorian style buildings and houses. It seemed best viewed by foot, so we pulled into a parking lot to ditch the rental car for a couple hours. Wouldn't you know while waiting to park, the person in front of us decided to back up to get an open spot and at the exact same time a giant city water truck pulls directly behind me, preventing me from moving at all and the guy smacks right into us! We get out the car and an older couple gets out of their minivan to assess the damage. By some miracle, there was not a scratch on the rental car! Honestly, I'm still stunned about it. To be safe, we took down the other drivers information in case we had any trouble when we turned in the car and bid farewell. I was a little shaky after all that, so we parked and walked around a little bit. I think it affected how well we enjoyed the town, so we left shortly thereafter to head back to Toronto.

We hung out in Toronto the next couple days. Ate some awesome food such as these salmon and blue cheese scones and of course, an amazing full breakfast, bloody mary and all. One day we took the ferry out to Centre Island, just off the coast of downtown. The island is to Toronto what Central Park is to NYC. It's an escape from the cars and the concrete. We rented a funny little quadricycle to ride around. It's a four-wheeled bike with a steering wheel. A car where you are the engine. Oh and wouldn't you know while riding around in our quadricycle, we stumbled up on a disc golf course! Upon arriving to the island, Brian even said, "this would be a good place for a disc golf course." We were without any discs and there was no place to rent so all Brian could do was sort of look around and imagine playing a hole or two. At any rate, the entire Ontario trip was wonderful.

I started back to school, two classes this time. It is definitely more challenging to juggle my time with two classes. One of my classes is quite easy, but I have to go to campus 2 nights a week and the other is online, but it's much tougher for me. Eh, I think about school so much I don't really want to discuss much on here.

B and I went camping at Millerton Lake again this Labor Day Weekend. This is the same place we went last Labor Day. We decided to make it an annual trip. Again it was a fabulous time. I finally got the heat I've been so desperately craving. So much so that I think I got heat stroke. Fortunately lots of water, food and ibuprofen took care of it. Basically, we hung out by the water since the temps were so high. We had an inflatable row boat that we could go around to different islands and we used to cushions to just float on in the water too.

I'm looking forward to this weekend as Brian has been in Colorado since last week, spending time with his family. He's coming back Saturday, so I should be going to get my homework done before he gets back! Miss you all back home!

Until next time.

Humbling Moment

Today I was chatting with girl friend on IM. This past weekend was her beach birthday party and she asked if I had seen the photos that her friend posted on Facebook. I had not yet seen them and went on to take a look. As I scrolled the pictures of various people, I came upon one of myself and was mortified by how much weight I've put on in recent months. Now I've never been a skinny girl and it's okay that I won't ever be. I am happy with myself, but health-wise I want to keep my weight down. I do not want the to come a day where I'm one of those glutenous people we see on television who need to have the wall of their house cut out in order to get them out! I guess I didn't quite realize how much I'd let go of my workout routine and healthy eating habits, so this is the wake-up call I needed.

In the past, I have had some luck with keeping a food and exercise diary. Since I now have an iPhone, I figured there has to be some sort of app I could download to help me with this and not have to carry around a book everywhere I go. Sure enough, there's lots of apps! I chose one called Lose It. This seems a lot like a Weight Watchers type program where you set a goal and then record what you eat and your exercise and it calculates your progress. To start, I had to enter my personal information like age, height and of course, weight. For this I stepped into the clinic at work since I hadn't weighed myself in quite some time. This was the humbling moment. I have gone 6lbs over the weight I promised myself would always be my peak weight. I'm disappointed in myself for allowing this. I know it doesn't sound like that much, but I broke a promise to myself and that's the part that stings.

One of my biggest challenges is eating healthy. Sure grabbing some fresh fruit or veggies is easy, but I truly hate to cook. I don't enjoy it in the least. I've done a little cooking since Brian and I started dating, but its out of necessity, not pleasure. The other thing is the grocery store. It already seems that I'm there so frequently, but to eat healthy means at least a weekly trip, if not more. Fresh greens and veggies just do not keep. These sound like excuses, I know, but it's my reality and my struggle. If anyone has suggestions that have worked for them, I'm open!

I have been decent about exercise lately. I bike a few times a week, between 5-10 miles at a time. Also, I've been attending yoga classes at least once a week, which I'm enjoying very much. My knees cause me a little trouble so running is out for me. I can do walks, but to be totally honest, I don't feel that safe walking alone out here. A few people have told me situations where they've been approached or followed in broad daylight. I'd love to avoid the cost and annoyance of joining a gym, but perhaps it's my only option. If I had room in my apartment, I'd spring for an elliptical machine. Has anyone tried those compact ones? I wonder about their stability and just how good of a work-out one can get.

Mostly I am writing this to hold myself accountable for this lifestyle change. Just like when I quit smoking, I need people to check in and see how I'm doing. So feel free to email me, text me, or call me to ask if I'm sticking with it!

Until next time.

By Request of Two Special Birds

Two little birdies have hinted that I've been a bad, bad blogger since my last post was nearly 4 months ago. So away we go!

To go all the way back to my birthday in March, Brian and I enjoyed a little camping trip near Ventura, CA. The weather was a little cool at night, but warmed up so nicely during the day. There was a disc golf course right within the park, so we spent one day playing a long round. It was definitely a peaceful, enjoyable 31st.

April brought a visit from my lovely friend Shawna to LA. She and I had a great time just enjoying one another's company, biking around and seeing some sights. It felt so amazing to have one of my girls out here with me. Rejuvenating, in fact. The weather didn't quite cooperate as we had some of the windiest conditions at the beach that I've seen since I lived here. Whole sections of the bike trail were covered with mounds of sand and the waves were huge. Kind of cool because the beach was so empty. One day we went down to Playa Del Rey and there was literally not a soul on the sand.

In early June, I finished my first class at West Los Angeles College. It feels good to have that ball rolling. Going forward I'm going to take three classes this fall, but it will only be two at a time. There is a program for working adults where the courses are given in half the time for the same credit. It's just a more intense class schedule to achieve the same knowledge in less time. I think I'll be able to handle this since I wasn't really challenged in my last course at all. People always ask what I'm going to school for and I still don't know for sure. Nursing school is one of my primary contenders right now. I've long considered this career path, but never quite had the gumption to go forward with it. Now that I'm back in the medical field, my interest in nursing has piqued once again so I'm looking into it. For the 2010-2011 school year, the classes I plan to take will work whether I choose nursing, an associate degree or bachelor degree. Therefore, I just need to focus on the year at hand and not get too ahead of myself.

Also in June, I visited Minnesota for a really quick trip. I really did not get to see everyone I wanted to, nor spend enough time with those I did see. To be honest, it was almost more frustrating that way than just staying in LA and missing everyone from afar. The whole 4 days are an absolute blur. I'm hopeful that future trips will be a little more lengthy so I can really get quality time with my loved ones back there.

The Fourth of July was sure interesting this year! Brian and I went down to Rancho Palos Verdes to our friends' new house there. For those who are unfamiliar, this is an area south of LA up on a huge hill overlooking the Pacific. Giant cliffs run along the entire area and the views are absolutely amazing. The day started with all of us preparing what we needed for a day down at resort beach near their house. We carried down coolers, a little grill, food, chairs and lots of other stuff. Remember the big cliffs I just mentioned? Well, we had to walk down a switchback type path to get down there. We all no more than sat down in our beach chairs and cracked open our first beer, than to see a paramedic rushing down the hill. More paramedics followed, along with resort staff and police officers. Our friends went to ask a woman nearby if she knew what was going on. She, in fact, was the one who called 911. When she was walking around the rocks next to the beach where we were, she discovered a woman's body down in the water! The emergency team quickly discovered the woman was no longer alive and they told us we had to evacuate the area so they could remove the body! Of course, it is horrible to hear of such a thing, but we were all concerned with our pounds of heavy supplies we JUST brought down the hill. Fortunately, the resort staff came to help us out and even got us a golf cart to take our coolers and heavy items up for us. We really know nothing about the woman, but heard it is a common spot for bodies to be found. Ew. We took our celebration up to the house and camped out there for the day and night.

July itself has been racing by with a million different events from bbq's to birthday parties. The first weekend in August, Brian and I are going to Toronto for a mini-vacation. He has a conference there, so I'm flying in when he's done and we're going to hang out for the weekend. We plan to visit the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, which I'm really looking forward to. This will be our first vacation together that doesn't include visiting family or attending some one's wedding. I'll do my best to update my blog when we get back from vacation with some photos!

Until next time!

The Snowbirds Visit

As I mentioned in my last post, my parents came for a visit. Not only was it incredible having them here, I believe it was quite an adventure for them. This year, they decided to just drive their car and stay with me at my place in lieu of bringing the RV. We all figured this would allow them to scope out some RV parks and make a really good selection for next year. They were here from the 13th through yesterday, the 21st. I worked the whole time and had class so they were forced to busy themselves for much of the trip. I must say, they did a great job. One day they drove down to Anaheim to scope out Disneyland and then came back up the Pacific Coast Highway. A couple days they went down to Venice/Santa Monica and rode their bikes around. They had breakfast at this awesome diner near my house called Ronnie's and made so many friends. It was really cool!! Of course my dad was super helpful with things around my house that needed a man's touch and my mom made us all plenty of great food.

When we did all have time together, we also stayed busy. Brian was with us most of the weekends too. We showed them around the beach areas one day, went to the Art Walk at the Santa Monica airport, showed them a great burger joint and a really fun steak house/lounge with great live music. Both my mom and dad really seemed to enjoy themselves and I hope this was the case!

They did decide on an RV park for next year, which is right on the beach overlooking the ocean. It's pretty amazing and really close to my house. We're all hoping their good friends will come out as well. How amazing to wake up and look out your window to see the beautiful Pacific waves crashing just feet in front of you.

Some said they hoped having my parents here would quell my homesickness a little. It most certainly did. I loved having them here and was so sad to see them go. It was wonderful for them to see now how great moving to L.A. has been for me and how much I have grown.

Now I am just looking forward to coming home for a few days this summer to see the rest of my family and friends.


Until next time!

Tsk, Tsk. Shame on Me!

Wow, nearly 4 months since my last post! I should be ashamed of myself. Time really got away from me though and lots has happened since then. A deep breath and let's get started!

The new apartment is still fantastic. It's wonderful being on the Westside and closer to Brian. I feel like I've really found my niche out here. I need to do some more decorating, but overall I am just so happy with it.

I mentioned in my last post that I was going to be starting classes and I have! Right now I am just taking one math class and it's really quite easy. Perhaps I should count my blessings that it isn't stressing me out too much, but I do wish it was slightly more challenging. I'm not quite sure if it is just this class or this is how community college will be. My hope is that there will be some classes that I'll actually enjoy and feel push me a little. I don't have an exact plan of what I want to go for and since I need to redo all my generals, I'll starting there. After taking a few classes, hopefully it will become clear where I want to focus my energy.

Finally the other big news is that I have a new job!! I am working for the USC Westside Prostate Cancer Center as a medical secretary. USC is the University of Southern California for those of you who may not be familiar. USC is a large private university here in LA. In fact, they are the largest private employer in Los Angeles County! Working for a university offers me fabulous benefits including the potential for tuition reimbursement down the road! My physical office is not on campus, but in Beverly Hills. I work for two physicians who are renowned for their research and treatment of prostate cancer. This office is wonderful and the doctors are quite incredible. I feel like this employer is just the right fit for me and I paid my dues working somewhere where I wasn't happy long enough! This office is and will be a place where I am challenged and am able to grow. I love the nature of our clinic. We are a very comprehensive clinic that offers impeccable patient care.

Brian and I are doing great. We are going camping the weekend of my birthday near Ventura, CA. There is a disc golf course right in the park, so we couldn't be more excited. We haven't been traveling much because he's been so busy with work. The guy can barely catch a break! I mean, busy is good, but we all need a break from time to time.

My mom and dad are coming to visit this weekend for a little over a week. Cannot wait to see them! I have been pretty homesick lately and really missing everyone back home. Since I have the new job, I don't have the vacation time or budget to travel so I won't be home much before June. :( I'm really hoping that seeing my parents will tide me over a little until I can make it back to see all of you! Miss you all and much love!!!

Until next time.

And I was doing so good!!!

I truly am trying to post more frequent posts here. I had two in September and my plan was to do at least two in October as well. Now here we are, the middle of November, and its my first post since then!!

Much has happened since I last wrote and its all been pretty stinkin wonderful! First and foremost, I'm all moved into my new place. It is absolutely wonderful and felt like home immediately. I no longer have anxiety about going home, wondering what I'll find. I don't think I could have even realized how much I missed living alone. The apartment is beautiful and I feel, such an upgrade. It has great character and good flow. Everyone that has seen it and has seen my old place says the same thing. In addition to loving my new house, I am so relieved to be done with the drama that persisted in the old one. I've never been one for drama and I should have known that moving to LA was going to fill my life with the unwanted junk. Well, no more. People who cause drama in my life, will not last long in it.

The next exciting thing is that I have enrolled in school. I'm going to start slowly, with just one night class at a community college near my house. I want to try it out and see how it feels. I still haven't found a focus on what I would want to go to school for, but I'm hoping by taking some classes, that may become clear. I'm actually really excited about this new venture and I hope that it brings some clarity.

Now that I'm all moved in and have that stress behind me, I've been focusing on work as well. Where I am now is full of that thing I mentioned earlier and cannot stand...drama. It is literally something new everyday. I've never worked a job where I was treated as such a child and so unwanted before, even when I was a teenager and deserved that!! I had more respect given to me at my job when I was 16 than I do at 30. There is something seriously wrong with that. Also, they treat some others that I work with even worse than me. I cannot sit idle watching this behavior from management and corporate. The world is unjust, but bearing witness to it on a daily basis is just more than I can handle personally. So, I have been starting my search once again for something new. I really hope that turning down the position last spring that I was offered will stop haunting me and someone else will take interest in my abilities. There is so much I have to offer, I just need to find the proper avenue.

Next week is already Thanksgiving. Brian and I are going to Iowa to spend it with his family. I am really looking forward to meeting his parents and his mom's side of the family. Plus, I think it will be relaxing to be back in the Midwest where things do seem like they were a lot more simple. Time spent with Brian is generally very relaxing so just being with him for the weekend will be great. We actually went to see one of his favorite musicians, Keller Williams, last weekend. It was such an amazing time. I had surprised him with the tickets at our 6 month anniversary this past summer, so we couldn't wait for the actual day to arrive. It was certainly worth the wait.

I think of all of you back home so often, I only wish it was easier to communicate just how much.

Until next time.

Hallelujah!!

Many of the apartments in my price range are called "bachelor" apartments. Typically a bachelor comes without a kitchen. Yes, you read that correct; no kitchen! Also, they are not forgiving in their size. Since I have quite a lot of furniture and like to make mac 'n cheese from time to time, I wanted something more than that. The best way I saw to make that happen, was to start my search now. I signed up for a local apartment search service and updated my rental checklist. One of the first places I found seemed almost too good to be true. It was actually a 1 bedroom and in my price range! They were showing the apartment on 9/25, so I had to go check it out after work. After looking on a map, I see that this place is only 3.5 miles to the beach and just 4 miles from Brian's house. So far, so good. Upon arriving in the neighborhood, I realize that I had wondered about this area before, thinking I might like to live there. Getting better. I park and walk to figure out exactly which building it is. As I walk up to it, I see a clean, lovely building with a nice courtyard area filled with plants and flowers. Very cute! I head up to view the open unit. Immediately when I walked in it reminded me of my old apartment in Mpls. Gold!

The woman showing the place and I got to talking. She is actually the daughter of the caretaker who happens to be 90 years old! So her daughter helps her with showings and cleaning vacancies. I glance around the whole apartment and know that this is what I want. I start doing the math in my head, wondering if I can afford double rent for October and November. Our conversation continues and she mentions to me that she'll "be going through all this again next month." I perked up with interest. "You mean November 1st?" She replied, "Yes." I jumped on the opportunity to explain my situation and how that is when I would like to find a place and how I really the love the apartment. I tell her that I will pay the deposit now to secure it and ask what steps I need to take to have the property owners approve me.

A short online application, and a weekend later and I start getting nervous. This really seems too good to be true. A one bedroom, assigned carport parking, laundry on site, in my price range, close to Brian and the beach?!?! There's no way. I try to stifle my excitement with looking at other apartments and doing anything to keep my mind off of it.

Monday evening I received a phone call from another landlord that I had contacted telling me about his vacancy. After hanging up, I sit down to eat my dinner and my phone rings again. I'm a little annoyed as I would like to eat a hot dinner, but I figure it best to go into my room and check my phone. It's an unknown number, so I pick up. Sure enough, it's Casey from the apartment I loved. She doesn't waste any time letting me know that the owners have selected me as the person for their November 1st vacancy!! I nearly dropped the phone and almost started crying in the same moment. She let me know the details of paying the deposit, rent and signing the basic tenant rules, which I plan to do tomorrow after work.

I honestly couldn't be more thrilled. Sometimes the heartache and headaches we are put through test us and then it makes the treats in life that much sweeter. I believe every choice we make will guide us to our next step and even though the past year and a half, I feel I've made mistakes and haven't gone with my gut all the time, that is all behind me and I'm looking forward. This home will truly be my home and I cannot wait to see what the future will bring.

Oh and come visit me! I live by the ocean now! :)

Until next time...