Winter Blues

First off, I really need to be more consistent about writing on here. Silly me thought the blogs would write themselves, but apparently I have to do it...weird, huh? :)

I hate complaining, so I'm going to start off with 5 things I'm thankful for today. I usually play this game with my fiance, and yeah he thinks it's dumb so bear with me....

1. That at this exact moment Sphynx is curled up between my typing arms trying to cuddle
2. That I get to see family this weekend (under not so good circumstances, but seeing them is always nice)
3. That the girl who made my coffee this morning made sure I ordered a medium, then gave me a large, just cuz she's nice like that
4. That I had an awesome lunch at The Gage. Their salmon is amazing
5. That my brother and sister-in-law are excited to come help us move

Still here? Ok, good.

I will be heading home this weekend for my grandma's funeral. Like I said, not so great circumstances, but it's always nice to be around family. My grandma has been sick for a while, which I guess makes things a little more manageble (if that's even the right word) So we will be saying our final goodbyes and spending some quality time with family.

Not sure what it's been, but I'm just feeling the winter blues. I never in a million years thought I would miss summer (fat reasons, go figure), but I actually do! What I miss the most is the running. So because I'm in a list mood, I'm going to list what I miss about running:

1. I didn't have to have this huge battle about getting my butt to the gym, in other words, no guilt.
2. I miss the path I ran on:

3. I miss the sense of purpose it gave me. Like when I saw tourists or families strolling along, I felt like an athelete out there training
4. I miss getting revved up for my runs, which 9x's out of 10 involved an Eminem song
5. I miss how incredibly awesome I felt!

So... I'm definitely looking into what races I can set up for this year. Will definitely keep you posted :)

Why Even Try?

I feel like I've done a lot of posting NOT about being healthy :) So today I'll try to get back on track.

I've been struggeling a lot lately, and I think I've figured out why. Last summer I did what I thought I could never do, I ran a half marathon. Yeah my time was nothing to write home about (2:47), but I ran the entire way. I freaking ran 13.1 miles!!! Me???

During that time I was really REALLY trying to lose weight. Not only for the lifelong reasons of losing weight, but also because I knew it would help my running. Who was dying to run in a tank top but didn't want to scare the world away...this girl! I digress, sorry. During that time, I really tried to keep my calories between 1200-1400/day and obviously was killing it in my workouts, usually running 5x's a week. Now, I didn't have a watch (which I'm dying to get the Forerunner *drool*), but I KNOW I was in a negative with calories in/out, which should result in a weight loss. But alas, nothing. To add insult to injury I gained weight in the beginning. I had the usual "It's just muscle" bit thrown at me, but what girl on earth wants to gain weight while doing cardio??

I really wanted 2010 to be a year of accomplishment, to finally be at a healthy weight and to finish a half marathon. I even scheduled "official" runs along with my training, like a 10k and a 10mile run, so I could say I did those too. There's something about getting the bib that makes it a little more official :)

So here I am. The holidays are over and sure I've gained something. Last I checked it was 3lbs, yes 5, 10, freaking 3 lbs! I know it sounds bad, but I would rather have gained something to show that what I did mattered (ok I totally take that back, I don't want to gain a bunch of weight, lol) But seriously, I'm just at such an impass. Why go to the gym, which let's be honest is torture. Why eat 1200-1500 calories/day, which let's be honest is starvation, when it only matters 3lbs worth?

Why even try?

Because it's good for me.
Because what I did last summer was a result of hard work
Because I will not turn out lazy
Because what I do matters, if not now then in the long run

So what now? I'll go to the gym tonight and I will get my workout in. I will start counting calories again (just in case I have to show it to a doctor, lol)

I WILL TRY!

Baby Hanah's Dedication

Like I said before, I live in the great city of Chicago. It's cool in every way EXCEPT...I don't have any family around :( Yeah, it sucks. I used to always think people were weird for wanting to live close to family. You see, I'm one of 6 kids. And yes, we grew up with one bathroom...not cool. But now that we're all grown and moved very far away...and as spacious as my 600sqft apartment is...I still miss seeing my family.

That being said, Sarah, one of my sisters, lives only a train-ride away in Wisconsin. I try to get up and see her every once in a while. This past weekend I was up there for two reasons: Sarah's birthday and her baby Hanah's church dedication.

Hanah is the baby with 2 older brothers, so yes she's definitely a calming presence :)

After church, we went to Olive Garden where Bryan had set up a surprise party for Sarah's birthday. It was really good. I didn't get a picture of the table, but here is their 2nd oldest Gideon who LOVES to eat. CUTE :)

Until next time...

My Kitts

Now does kitts (short for kitties) have one 'k' or two? Oh well, you get the point :)

Before I got any further, I had to introduce the other two members of the family.

Meet Sphynxy and Tiggerbell

Yes, this was one of those rare quick-grab-the-camera-but-no-sudden-movements picture, but I got it :)Sphynx is the "big spoon" and Tiggs is the "little spoon" And yes, I'm still referring to the picture above.

I got Sphynx from a sheltor when I lived in Wisconsin. He was SOO cute as a kitten

He was just a little fluff ball running around. After he had his boy-no-more surgery, they said not to have him jump, so of course the mother of the year that I am, picked him up and put him wherever he wanted to go (the couch, window sill, top of the fridge) so now...he's not a jumper, like at.all. Seriously it will take him a good 5 minutes to muster up the courage/energy/power to jump up on the ottoman. But I love him so much.

Then this past July we adopted Tiggerbell from a family here in Chicago. There was a whole litter to choose from, but we knew she was the one

I can't believe how big she's gotten even from this pic. I said that Sphynx wasn't a jumper...Tiggs is the complete opposite. I kept thinking that after she had her woman-no-more surgery that she'd turn out like Sphynx, nope :) While he's looking longingly up at the island, she's already up there getting into whatever she's not supposed to.

I love my kids kitts so much :)

Where is the Motivation??

So I'm not sure what my problem has been. Every year I (along with the rest of the world) resolve to lose a billion lbs and to be at the gym for the rest of my life. This year...not so much. Not that I don't need it, heavens knows I do, (and Hello, what is this blog for??) but I'm just so 'blah' this year.

It might have something to do with this:

But that's still in the works...and taking up a lot of my time.

I don't know, I really need to get out of this slump I'm in and get my butt to the gym. Once I'm there it's good and I feel great afterwards, it's the getting there that's the hard part.

Here Goes...

Wow, so I'm finally doing it... starting a blog! This was one of my New Years Resolutions, and yep I'm already a day late :)

Let me introduce myself.

Hi, I'm Lydia

Yes, I'm a huge Josh Groban fan, but more on that later...

I live here and LOVE every single minute of it.


So a little about myself. I recently got

to this guy

He's a Blackhawk's fan and I'm a Red Wings fan...we make it work :)

I wanted to start this blog for a number of reasons. I want to document everything that goes on in my life. I follow a number of blogs and love how you can go back and see what was going on at a certain time. Secondly, I want to use it as a place to share my healthiness journey. I think this is going to keep me accountable. And lastly I wanted a place to share my random/crazy happenings of life.

So thanks for stopping by and here goes....