Week One of Janathon Completed

Do I look like Superwoman??

Ok, week one of Janathon is completed!  I didn't do as well as I hoped but maybe next week will be better.  I managed to walk or run on the treadmill every day at least so I'm off to a good start.

Tonight I added 3.3 pound hand weights to my workout.  I hopped on the treadmill, put it at an incline of 9, set the speed for 3.3 which allows for a brisk walk and then I pumped the arm weights for an entire mile while I walked. 

I would do 3 sets of 10 reps on my right arm doing arm curls, then switch to my left arm and repeat.  Then I go through and just do a bunch of different arm exercises.  I'm sorry but I can't tell you  the technical names of the exercises because I don't know them.  But it's stuff like "raise the weight over my head," or "raise my arms from my side over my head," and "swing the weights back and forth as I walk."  LOL.  Real technical descriptions I know, but you get the idea - just do it continuously for the entire mile.

It adds a nice element to my work out, gets my heart pumping a little, burns a few more calories and works out my arms.  Win, win, win!

Photo Calendar Winner

The only thing I like better than being a Give-away-winner is being the winner when the give-away item was custom-made by the blogger.

My girlfriend Linda over at Linda's Lens recently had a giveaway and I won her calendar that is full of gorgeous photos that Linda took herself.  Linda takes the most amazing photos and she truly inspires me to take better pictures.  She finds lots of interesting things to snap while she's on her frequent hiking jaunts in the mountains or skiing down the slopes, which is her favorite activity.

If you haven't had a chance to go by Linda's blog, please go over and say hi.  I guarantee you will swoon over her photography talents.

Thanks again for the gorgeous calendar Linda - it's a real winner!

Ice Fishing and Geocachers

Last Sunday we decided to get up early and go do a little ice fishing.  It's been unbelievably cold this year and we have quite a thick layer of ice already.  There was a good 8" on the lake.

We headed out to a nearby lake and scored parking very close to where we wanted to fish.  Depending on which lake we go to, the parking can be anywhere from 1 block to 6 blocks away from the ice.  Parking farther away can be a pain when you've got to drag everything you need from the truck to the lake.  We usually take a portable ice shanty, fishing rods, bait, an ice auger to cut holes, an ice dipper, thermos of coffee, 2 buckets to sit on, and if I'm feeling ambitious and we're going to be out there all day, we take a portable grill with hot dogs and condiments. 

The day we went it was about 35 degrees out, so we decided to forgo the ice shanty and just sit outside.  My nephew Kyle got there before us so he already had the holes drilled for us by the time we got there.

Ice fishing is pretty easy.  All you do is stick a wax worm on your hook, lower your line into the water and jig it a little.  We like to fish for blue gill and crappie through the ice....

There were quite a few fishermen out enjoying the day.  Ice fishing is a great activity and on a nice day it's fun to get out there and walk around, visiting with everyone and seeing who is catching what.

Fishing was a little slow for some people, but somebody out fished everyone.  I won't be saying who since I don't like to rub it in.  LOL!

While we were sitting there fishing, there was a group of 3 men sitting not far away from us.  I wasn't paying much attention to them since I was doing such a great job of reeling in one fish after another, but Louie happened to overhear one of them mention geocaching.   My ears perked up when I heard that, so I pushed Louie over there to find out who they were. 

It turns out that I knew one of them - Tony, aka tnt63 and his caching buddy GeoandMarTea.... 

Tony is the cache owner of one of my all-time favorite cache hides - The Lonesome Bridge.  That cache took us 3 separate trips out to find, in the middle of winter I might add,  and currently has 58 well deserved favorite points attached to it.

I walked over to say hi and grab a photo.  That's me in the extremely attractive, but very warm, red hat.  You just never know when you're going to run into a fellow geocacher.  Tony gave me a couple of tips on a few of his caches, we chatted about some upcoming events and then I returned to out-fishing my group.  Hey guys, it was nice running into you!

After about 2 hours we pooled our fish with Kyle and our buddy Pat, and we had 51 total.  We decided to call it quits since it was a Sunday and getting dangerously close to football time.

Once we got home we cleaned a nice bucket full of blue gill.....

And then fried them up for lunch with some potatoes, macaroni and cheese and baked beans.   I'll tell you one thing, there's nothing quite like freshly caught fish for lunch!

We had such a good time and I can't wait until we can go again.  Only next time I hope to make a day of it, complete with hot dogs and brats.  There's nothing in the world like standing out on the ice and frying up a pan of sausages.  The scent wafts across the lake and pretty soon we have a bunch of fisherman drooling in our direction.

Has anyone else out there ever gone ice fishing?

Engagements and Wedding Dresses

 



Many of you know my son, Tony, because of his blog Tony's Nutrition Tips.  And if you've been reading my blog for awhile then you know about Tony's struggle with weight and how he lost 85 pounds, got healthy and fit, and started dating the girl he had wanted to date since he first met her in 5th grade.  If you've never read Tony's story, go check it out.

 

Anyway, I am so pleased and thrilled to announce that Tony and Alex recently got engaged.  We are so happy for them, and excited to welcome Alex into our family.  She's beautiful and sweet and she's good for Tony.  Having Alex in his life is the best thing that ever happened to him. 

 

 

 

They aren't planning on getting married for about 2 years yet.  Alex needs to finish nursing school next year and Tony has a little over a year and a half left before he finishes his degree in Dietetics. 

 

 

In the meantime, we have plenty of time to start planning a wedding, and almost immediately talk turned to wedding dresses.  I still have my wedding dress.  We got married in 1985 and after the wedding I had my dress cleaned and I placed it in a box and stuffed it in the crawlspace in the attic.  I also boxed up my wedding hat - who else got married in the 80's and wore a hat and not a veil?    The crawlspace is probably not the best place for such a treasure, but that's where it's sat for 28 years. 

 

Just for fun I went upstairs and pulled all the crap out of the crawlspace and dug out the boxes with my dress and hat.  Everything is in surprisingly good shape, very clean, just extremely wrinkled.  I brought it downstairs and told Alex to go try it on.  Aren't they cute?

 

 

 

So just for kicks I decided to try my dress on too - just to see if I could.....

 

And it still fits!  I can even button it.   It's a little snug but not bad for 28 years....

 

Ok, so here is what I'm thinking.  The thing I really loved about my dress was the peek-a-boo lace window panel on the train.  You can see it just to the left of my feet.  I thought maybe I'd somehow cut out the panel and frame it with one of our wedding photos.  Then I wanted to take the rest of the dress and make 2 wedding purses out of the satin and lace.  One purse for Alex and put another one away for Chablis for when her time comes.  Chablis also mentioned that she's like to take a small piece of my dress and save it to pin inside her wedding dress someday.  Or maybe I should make wedding pillows?   I was also toying with the idea of making Tony a handkerchief.  There's a lot of material there and a lot of possibilities and I have no problem with cutting up my dress to make keepsakes.  I don't know.  I'm looking for suggestions.  What do you think?    

Gear Review - Lems Primal 2 Shoes

Through the Outdoor Blogger Network I was recently given the opportunity to test out a pair of Lems Primal 2 shoes in their sky blue color.  Check them out.....

 

I admit that I hadn't heard of Lems shoes before this gear opportunity so I immediately went to their website to find out more about them.  First of all, they are a family owned company that is dedicated to creating and providing a quality shoe that fits the natural shape of your foot.  Lems shoes are made with less, but actually give you so much more.  Let me explain.

In designing their unique shoes, the folks at Lems have taken away

• heel elevation which can be harmful in athletic shoes
•  toe spring which incorrectly causes your toes to curve up from the ground
•  tapered toe box which creates a narrow toe area 
•  "curved last" which is basically a cut out area in the middle of the foot that in turn denies proper use of a weight bearing bone
• shoe stiffness, added weight and bulk

Here are the specs from the Lems website:

Last:  LemsLast™ foot-shaped
Upper:  Microsuede + open-weave mesh (100% vegan)
Sole:  8.0mm LemsRubber™ injection rubber
Insole: Optional removable 3.0mm MoistureWick foam
Lining: 100% Moisture-wicking polyester
Stack Height: 8.0mm (without removable insole)

Drop: 0.0mm
Weight: 6.9oz (size 43)
Width: 4.2-4.4" (size 43)

 

So what does all this mean?  Let me tell you.  Right out of the box, I loved the blue color, although they also come in black, brown or frost. The shoes are extremely lightweight and flexible.  If you're packing them in a suitcase you can easily roll them up and stuff them in a corner of the suitcase where they will take up practically no room at all.  But I think you'd really prefer to wear them. 

 

These shoes are ultra comfortable.  I'm a bare-foot girl from way back.  I'm one of those people who never wears slippers and if I'm out in the yard, well, I never have shoes on.  Lems shoes are the next best thing to being barefoot because they are so lightweight.  You honestly forget you have shoes on.  I loved the extra toe room.  I never felt like my toes were squished.  I have trouble wearing shoes for more than a couple of hours due to an injury several years ago that resulted in a broken bone on the outside edge of my left foot.  Usually by the end of a shoe-wearing-day my left foot is aching and sore.  I never noticed any discomfort with the Lems. 



Since I liked the Lems shoes so much for general use, I wondered how they would perform as a running shoe and decided to give them a workout.  I tried using them both on my treadmill and outdoors and for me, personally, they didn't provide enough shock absorption in the sole.   I inquired about the use of the Primal 2's as a "running" shoe and Lems did inform me that  "Although the Primal 2 is not marketed as a running shoe, it is often used in such a way.  We recently had a customer run a marathon in the Primal 2's.  I would not recommend using them as go to running shoe unless you are accustomed to barefoot style shoes.  However; if one has been using minimalist footwear for awhile, there is nothing wrong with using the Primal 2 as a running shoe."  I think it will be more a matter of personal preference on whether you want to use the Primal 2's as an everyday shoe and/or a running shoe.  As far as an everyday shoe - they cannot be beat.  I love them!

 

Pros:  I like the mesh on top, the breath-ability and the flexible soles.  Most of all I loved how light weight they are and the feel of extra toe room.  By far one of the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn.  Also, their customer service is excellent.  They have very good response times for questions and inquiries.

 

Cons:  Lems is in the process of switching from US size grading to European and I found their current size chart difficult to decipher.  I inquired about the reason for the chart change and explained my difficulty with it.  I received a quick response from the folks at Lems who said "European sizing believe it or not is a little more accurate than US sizing.  With that being said, we understand that some people have trouble in deciphering what size they need based on our website and we are currently in the process of redesigning the sizing chart with a print out that allows potential customers to measure their foot."    So you can see that they are aware of a sizing chart difficulty and they are actively working to correct that.  As I said - great customer service!

  

Go visit the Lems website and go like their FB page.

I was provided a pair of the Lems Primal 2 shoes for review purposes and asked to give an honest review.  All opinions are my own.  All photos are property of Lems and cannot be reproduced. 

 

 

Join Janathon 2014

Welcome to Janathon 2014!! 

What's a Janathon you ask?   Well, I just found out about it and it's basically a challenge to run or do some sort of exercise every day for the month of January, and then blog about it.  What a great incentive to get up off my butt and work towards that first 5K in the spring.

Want to challenge yourself too?  Go to the official Janathon 2014 page and sign up.  It's free!!   Add the name of your blog and then join the participants list.  I've set up a separate TAB at the top of my blog for my daily Janathon posts, so all my daily results will be posted there and on the Janathon FB page.   You can join in the challenge even if you don't have a blog, so don't be shy.

Come on - challenge yourself for 2014!

A Year in Review 2013

I thought it would be fun to go back and see what my top posts for the year were.  A lot of the blogs that I read are doing this and it's interesting to see what the popular trends are.  So here's my list, beginning with the most popular:


1)  Product Review - e Salon   



2)  Tye Dye With Acrylic Paints    



3)  Book Review - Impressionists on the Water    

4)  Book Review - Vegetarian Everyday   

5)  Book Review - The Sanibel Captiva Handbook     

6)  Book Review - The Happy Home   



7)  Prayers for Mom's Surgery    

8)  Getting the Old Folks Out                



9)  My Special Smoothies    

10)  Guest Post - Learning to Run      




I'd like to thank Rizzoli Publishing for affording me the opportunity to review so many wonderful books this year.  Thanks to my guest posters and most of all, thank you to everyone who stops by and leaves comments.  I've made so many wonderful friends through blogging and it's been great getting to know each and every one of you.    Happy New Year!