About Me

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I'm Beth. I'm married to my best friend, and he's pretty awesome. We have two equally awesome kids, Gavin and Sophie.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Better Late Than Never...

So my intention with this blog was to write about my family, but I've completely forgotten to write about our little trip we took last month. D'oh. Better late than never, though.
Its no secret that we have a lot of hassle/stress/heartache to deal with frequently regarding "sharing" our sweet boy Gavin. We don't need to get into all that mess... He's in cub scouts, and last month there was going to be a camping trip that he could attend with Ernie. It wasn't our scheduled time with him, so we had to go through the attorneys and all that to get things switched and on paper so Ernie could take him on the father & son camping trip. *Finally*, after lots of time, it got okayed. Unfortunately, there was so much hoopla and took so long, that the campout filled up. :( We were really sad for Gavin, because all he had been talking about was that he had always wanted to go stay in a cabin. We didn't want to just get him for the weekend and do the same old stuff, because that would be a huge let down.
So, we took a trip to the ocean!
We went to Westport, which is right on the beach and one of our favorite places. All four of us stayed in a cute little hotel about a block from the ocean. We've never stayed in a hotel all together, so that was really fun for the kids. We even took Juno, our dog! We got there Friday and got to spend the entire weekend. There was a razor clam tide that weekend, so we all got to dig clams. Our kids are trained well because they actually enjoy that. :) Good thing, because its my (and Ernie's) favorite thing to do! The kids were really excited to play in the sand dunes. Of course, this is Washington, so going to the beach in February doesn't really mean swimsuit weather, so they suited up in their winter coats and boots and had a blast. Juno loved it, too, and loved jumping around in the sand and digging for creatures she assumed were there. We also crabbed a little. We didn't catch much, but Ernie did get a big dungeness crab that a really nice man who was staying in a cottage right by the dock cooked for us, since we were staying in a hotel and didn't really have the equipment to cook it. One thing I really love about going to Westport is that everyone seems a lot more friendly. Everyone that is on the dock crabbing talks to each other. They share bait, and fishing tips, and its nothing like our normal lives here. You wouldn't assume that a stranger would cook your food for you and actually bring it back to you! :) I, maybe being slightly cynical, figured we'd give him our crab and never see it again. Not so there! Its just a nice, relaxed, refreshing place to be.
We also got to see the maritime museum and eat at some cute little local restaurants. One of my favorite parts of the trip was that a couple waitresses and people working in the shops on the boardwalk told us that our children are very well behaved. That made this mama proud! Especially in the shops filled with knick knacks and breakables, the ladies actually didn't seem stressed about seeing my kids walking around looking at stuff.
It was a great weekend. We came home with everything full of sand, and wet, with two tired kids and a stinky dog...I had lots of laundry to do to get the beach smell out and we had to vacuum out our truck. But it was worth it! The ocean is one of the best places to be and I'm so glad its such a huge part of who our family is. :)

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Change for the better

I started this year on a mission to change. Most people who decide to work out and eat differently seem to make that choice at the beginning of the year...become New Years Resolution Warriors and then fizzle out. So it has been no surprise to people, I'm sure, for me to be more into "health" since January. I knew I wasn't going to be one of those resolution failures, though. You can tell when you make a half hearted decision or a permanent one. I've been trying, since having Sophie, to make changes and figure out how my body will lose weight. It has been a huge uphill battle. My metabolism doesn't want to cooperate with me...it seems to be as stubborn as I am. But 2011 has been vastly different. It helps so much having a husband who is so into fitness and health. I know I couldn't do it without him. It also helps to have constantly in my mind that my daughter will certainly learn by my example. It is already evident in the fact that she loves to exercise. She wouldn't have that excitement about it if she didn't see her mommy and daddy exercising on a daily basis. I want her, with all my heart, to grow up loving to be active and healthy. I appreciate so much that she loves healthy food because that is what we've taught her to eat. She gets treats but she never turns her nose up and fruits and veggies and I am thankful for that. When we started this year I decided to join my runner husband in his favorite form of exercise. Running has never come easy to me. In fact, I have often said that I would only run if someone was chasing me. :) But I decided to give it a try. Its beautiful outdoors here in Washington, and that is definitely a motivator...if I can enjoy the scenery while I feel like I'm dying, I'm more apt to stay with it. The first time I ran, it was awful. I felt like Ernie was the worst person in the world and that I would surely die. My legs killed me, my head killed me, I felt like I couldn't breath. It took me FOREVER to complete the run. I had to stop and walk often. The next day, I was so sore I couldn't work out that way again for several days. I alternated between that and doing Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. Same with that -- after a day doing the shred, my entire body would be so sore I'd have to take a few days off before I could do it again! It felt like an uphill battle, but I had Ernie encouraging me and Sophie was so excited to "exercise" right along with me, so that kept me going. Slowly (very slowly) the running got easier. Until one day, I made it all the way to the end of the trail without pausing to walk. That has been the biggest achievement this year for me. I pushed Sophie in the jogging stroller and I RAN. I still felt like I was dying...I doubt that will ever change. Running is work to me, it isn't fun. But the sense of accomplishment I felt was worth it all. I have cut about 6 minutes off my time. In the short distance I run, that is huge. I don't have to wait several days anymore between work outs. I can run for 1/2 an hour without stopping on my treadmill, and then do it again the very next day. My weight loss has slowed down for the moment...its easy to feel discouraged about that until I focus on how my body has changed. My fitness level from January 1st until now is completely 100% different. I can do the shred and then run, in the same day. I didn't think that would be possible. I have made such huge strides in just 2 months! I cannot wait to see how the rest of the year goes. It is slow going, for sure. I may not see huge physical changes until many, many months from now. But the way I feel is so completely different, that I can wait for the outside to catch up. I am excited to teach my daughter to grow up to be a strong, healthy woman. And that is worth it all.

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