A little late... but I'm still alive. Only 290 days left to go!!!

Finally a week where it's in the 80's all week! I am a total sun girl, and this is fabulous. There are many things that I love about Oregon, and our mild summers are definitely one of them. I just wish the mildly warm temperatures would last longer. Ahhh... to dream. The winters send me straight to my cocoon and the the summers spread my wings. Only problem with that, is when my wings spread, there's no telling where they will take me. I usually have some massive plan for the fall when I'm super motivated, and it usually involves traveling and/or an adventure of some sort. This Fall, I am traveling to Europe, no telling whether I will return...

It has been a crazy past couple of weeks for sure. Moved out of my friend's apartment, have been taking voice lessons every single week day, and have been surfing around couches, and hotel rooms and what not. I have yet to sleep in my car, except for a couple of naps. Not too shabby. Kind of in limbo right now until I go to Europe in the fall. Just another adventure of mine.


As far as activities go I've tried a few cool things this week...

Day 26; Monday August 1st:

*Supermans. Where you lay down on your belly and lift your arms and legs simultaneously straight in front and behind. It's a great core and back workout.

Day 27; Tuesday August 2nd :

* Arm flys. Didn't get too crazy today... just an extended arm exercise.

Day 28; Wednesday August 3rd:

*Trunk Twists. Another great core workout.

Day 29; Thursday August 4th:

*Helped my dear fried Joyce, re-arrange her storage shed. It was funny how it happened. She had knee surgery this past year and was wanting some help on how to operate an elpitical and treadmill in her apartment complex. I got over there, and she was going to let me have some luggage for my Europe trip, and the luggage was in the way back. Hot day it was, and we just decided to get after it and try to make it more organized. It was a pretty decent work out.

Day 30; Friday August 5th:

*Pushups (half pushups). Today was my follow up Dr's appointment and he cleared me to do half pushups, to play catch and to run. All huge things. Told me in a few weeks I could attempt to swing a bat to see how it felt, and maybe try kayaking, and full pushups, maybe a little power lifting, but to ease into everything. I don't think you know how happy this made me. I was like a kid on a hot day salivating over the ice cream truck jingle.

Day 31; Saturday August 6th:

*Played Catch and shagged balls. Today was a tournament day for my men's softball team. I still say it, like I'm on the team, because even though I can't play, I want so badly to be a part of it. It had been a while since I'd gone out to the games, and way too long since I was able to play catch. I showed up with my glove in hand, and got as many throwing partners as I could, to get the most unlimited amount of catch in possible. I went to other teams as they were practicing, and jumped up in down over them letting me shag their balls. (no pun intended). I took grounders, caught pop flies... ran as many balls down as I could the whole rest of the day. One of the most exhilirating feelings after being cooped up for so long. It's amazing how much you take for granted, until you loose it.

As much as I got to run around and play a little bit of ball that day, the icing on the cake was when for the first game, the team did a cheer to start the game, and instead of saying an inspirational phrase, they cheered "Dallas" in unison and all smacked me on the butt. I can't even describe how good that made me feel. Not only had they not forgotten about me, but they warmly welcomed me back and were genuinely happy to have me there. I am most at home when I am on the ball field I've come to find, whether I'm playing or not. Of course, I was a base coach the whole tournament anyway. I decided to ease in to first base coach today, since it was my first day out . The umpires were in amazement that I was still out there hussling down the first base line in between every inning by the time the last game occured. Good times. :)

Day 32; Sunday August 7th:

*Danced the evening away at Ellie's Wedding! :) Congrats Ellie and JP!

Day 33 Monday August 8th:

*Rolled down the hill at the Sleep Country Ampitheatre. Just like I used to when I was a kid. Yes, it was my birthday. Yes, I was at the Dierks Bentley concert. Yes, I had a few glasses of wine. And yes, I was bruised up pretty badly following the day. ;)

Day 34; Tuesday August 9th:

*Bike ride in the morning to my moms back to my car.... It was the bike ride of shame. Had voice lessons at 11am that day, so I had to get back to my car I had parked at my moms the previous evening. Set my alarm for 9am and biked on out there. At least I was able to work off some of my "good time" from the night before with the ride.

Day 35; Wendesday August 10th:

*Practiced Roofball (throwing a football at a roof). Today wasn't too intense. Just threw quite a few balls. Got a little glisten of sweat on my nose and high cheek bones, but not too bad.

Day 36; Thursday August 11th: *Moved all of my stuff out of Sasha's apartment! Moving is tough work! Especially when it's just you doing it!

Day 37; Friday August 12th :

*Planks. Good for my shoulders and for my core.

Day 38; Saturday August 13th:

*Went to Albany for softball tourney played catch with football, and played catch with softball. I got to be with my boys once again this weekend. Love those guys to death. Apparantly too much. Guess my wandering hands smacked the wrong guys butt, and his wife had some foul words with me. Woops! Sometimes I forget that I'm not really one of the guys... or am I?

Day 39; Sunday August 14th:

*Roofball! Running around! What a fun filled day! If you've never heard of the sport roofball... look it up! My great friend Adam is one of the founders of this popular NW event. Here is a youtube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lubu4cGUL6A

I got to sing the national anthem for this event. This was my first time singing it live. Had maybe 5 days of practice for it... thought I did alright, but not great. Would have been better if I could hear myself through the mic they gave me. Just a little odd trying to project your voice while you're singing into a microphone. Good experience though.

I was unfortunately knocked out in the first round of the tournament. So myself being so competitive, during halftime I threw the football at the roof non-stop running back and forth, catching my balls and then rap and fire throwing them. I was working up more than just a glisten... and was profusuely sweating, and didn't care. Didn't want to stop either. That day was a ton of fun!

Day 40; Monday August 15th:

*2 mile run. I was really tired today after all of that roofball action. And my legs were like jello. Wanted to keep it light, but still get some cardio in.

Day 41; Tuesday August 16th:

*Airobics. (Trampoline). Believe the name of the facility is Sky High Sports Center. It's out in Tigard. Super fun. Great work out! It was a room full of individual trampolines and you had your own to jump on with a boot camp-like instructor, and then you got to run around on all of them. I was super winded. Not in shape for it, but it felt great on my shoulder.

********OK... so some time has passed and the previous blogging was old, and since I was lazy and didn't write I am just giving a recap of the following month so I can be all caught up...

I will note that I did not decide to go to Europe for personal reasons, but in deciding not too some other opportunities have been presenting themselves. And just today I met with an olympic weight lifting team (meaning a team that specializes in clean and jerks as well as snatches) that competes regularly and I joined the team, so in a few months I should be ready to compete! And yes, competing means I will be wearing a singlet. (similar to what wrestlers wear) It has also been known to be compared to a onesie... ahhh I love onesies. ;)



Day 42; Wednesday Aug 17th: 1.5 mile run
Day 43; Thursday Aug 18th: Recording of Stay By Sugarland (a lot of work singing and giving everything)
Day 44; Friday August 19th: Toby Keith Concert/dancing the night away
Day 45; Saturday August 20th: arm wall crawls
Day 46; Sunday August 21st: Staci's Bridal Shower/ 2 mile run
Day 47; Monday August 22nd: American Idol rejection drinking binge/dancing at AppleBees to follow
Day 48; Tuesday August 23rd: tricept dips
Day 49; Wednesday August 24th: Making of Music Video (long hard day)
Day 50; Thursday August 25th: Decorating Vans (not much effort there, but I had a long week and drew a mean pig ;)).
Day 51; Friday August 26th; Portland to Coast (5 miles)
Day 52; Saturday August 27th: Portland to Coast/Dancing to Hit Property at after party (We finished 69th overall out of close to 400!!!)
Day 53; Sunday August 28th: A lot of rest and a light walk to release the tension in my legs
Day 54; Monday August 29th: White Water Rafting
Day 55; Tuesday August 30th: Hospital run w/ sister and sprinted across parking lots/streets for subway
Day 56; Wednesday August 31st: Tim's B-day dinner/ 2.5 mile run
Day 57; Thursday Sept 1st: Bicept Curls
Day 58; Friday Sept 2nd: Camping/beach volleyball/hiking
Day 59; Saturday Sept 3rd: Camping/beach volleyball/hiking
Day 60; Sunday Sept 4th: Camping/beach volleyball/hiking
(A combination of all of those were done throughout the weekend and the hikes to and from the beach were brutal... a good workout for the weekend. Also ran into the ocean a few times cause it was beautiful weather)
Day 61; Monday Sept 5th: bbq at my dads/ Burpees
Day 62; Tuesday Sept 6th: Release from Dr. to try everything. Thai food for lunch with a buddy and a long walk/ swing set to follow.
Day 63; Wednesday Sept 7th: Side planks
Day 64; Thursday Sept 8th: Staci's 2nd bridal shower/ leg extensions
Day 65; Friday Sept 9th: Woods and Goods Softball Tourney/pre game warm ups.
Day 66; Saturday Sept 10th: Batting Practice
Day 67; Sunday Sept 11th: Hiking Fall Creek Falls
Day 68; Monday Sept 12th: Crator lake hike/Boat ride (Wizard Island)
Day 69; Tuesday Sept 13th: Hiking across sundial bridge and around Turtle Bay in Redding, Ca
Day 70; Wednesday Sept 14th: Ran around with softball girls at College of the Siskiyous (got pointers from my old coach too)
Day 71; Thursday Sept 15th: Special Olympics Volleyball Practice (shagging volleyballs during drills)
Day 72; Friday Sept 16th: Disc Golf in Hillsdale (first time! Actually really enjoyed it)
Day 73; Saturday Sept 17th: jumping jacks
Day 74; Sunday Sept 18th: Porn Star Pirates Softball practice ( I didn't choose the name)
Day 75; Monday Sept 19th: Olympic Lifting meeting/squats with weights

Wow... Day 75 already! Less than 300 to go! I would put pictures with my blog, but I have so many to sort through... so I will maybe come back to it. :) Only 290 days left to be exact! Woot! Woot!

Where's Dad When You Need Him???

I'll bet you're wondering how I did with the Vegan Diet, yeah? Well I made it through breakfast and lunch and by dinner time I had a Turkey Sandwhich. I had all the best intentions but my body just felt so hungry. With that said, I have been trying to eat a little better, but the 3 Hershey's Chocolate Bars I had leftover from camping that I ate last night probably didn't help. Aunt Flow's about to be in town and sometimes she's pretty needy when it comes to her sweets

I went camping this weekend with a good friend and some of his friends that I've never met before (go figure.) There's just someting about being in the wild that takes me back to my childhood. There's nothing like the first time you try to set up a tent for the season. I guess I never set up much as a child, so maybe it's more of a reminder that I'm and adult. Having to cook your own meals, clean up after yourself, making sure you didn't forget anything. Camping is much more work than it seems! (Poor me, right?) Where's Dad when you need him?

The first night away from home and the comfort of your own bed is always the hardest. I found the air mattress I was sleeping on to be more of a Grand Canyon the way I started to plunge toward the middle as the air slowly crept out through the night. I also think it's a golden rule that when you're camping you hold in most of your bladder all day, and then the second you finally get warm and cozy in your sleeping bag, nature calls, and once the seal is broken you either go a bunch of times in the middle of the night, or you lay there in bed with a miserable bladder but warm toes at least.

And as far as the sleeping bag goes, when you first get all zipped up in it, things couldn't be better. You're in the wild, and toasty as a S'more, but as soon as you make one adjustment, you're as tangled up as your unwashed hair, and suddenly you have clastraphobia... At this point, after tossing and turning all night, you've probably been so loud that if there were any chance for your tent-mate to get some shut eye, that ship has long sailed. Which then brings me to the question, "Why are sleeping bags so loud?" Whoever invented them was maybe hard of hearing. I imagine my 90 year old Grandma to be sitting in her one bedroom apartment reading up on her how to get rich schemes and deciding to invent the sleeping bag. I must say, valid effort Grandma but it's obvious you were deaf.

Then there was the camping with the strangers. Everybody wants to know all about the newbie, which is in a way flattering. It's all rainbows and butterflies until you realize that every female at camp has individually asked you your age, and definitely not in the most polite way. Who does that? At least pretend you're not judging me until I leave and then judge away. Sheesh! I could feel the burn of her eyes scorching my body as she looked me up and down trying to go unnoticed, but very unsuccessfully. And as Britney Spears once Quoted, "I know I may be young but... I got feelings too!" She also finished that quote with how she would slave for me, but that's besides the point! ;p

I know it's been a minute since I last blogged so let's get caught up!

Day 16; Friday 7/22/11:

* Repetitive frog legs holding on to an air mattress in my moms pool. Decent exercise. Kind of silly, but I got to work on my tan.

Day 17; Saturday 7/23/11:

*Variety day. Started with P90X ab ripper video. Then I was on a mission to make a movie. I briefly jumped on a trampoline; Hiked part of Multnomah Falls; Hula hooped for a minute; Roller bladed for a minute; climbed some rocks for a minute; Humped a log for a minute (don't judge!)

It was actually a really fun day! The video I made was for a contest with Comcast Sportsnet NW to win a Go Pro Camera, and they aired it the following week and I won! Still have yet to recieve the camera. Here is the link to the finished product! : http://www.vimeo.com/26850736

Day 18; Sunday 7/24/11:

* Some ab/leg bicycles (I was exhausted from the day before)

Day 19; Monday 7/25/11:

* Wall sits off and on during the Bachelorette!

The Final Rose Ceremony is tonight by the way and my official pick is JP. I will be shocked if she picks Ben, although both seem like great men. I just felt like she was crazy about JP. She deserves happiness!

Day 20; Tuesday 7/26/11:

* Sun Salutations

Today was my release of sling day. 8 weeks were finally over. Felt like a lifetime. I just wanted to get my arms flowing and body in sync with the sun salutations. It was relaxing and felt refreshing.

Day 21; Wednesday 7/27/11:

*Full hike of Multnomah Falls

It was a beautiful day. As I was hiking back down a man in his mid-twenties was taking a picture of the falls and I stopped to wait until he was done before I walked by. Well he obviously didn't realize I was there and was taking his sweet time as I curiously crept over his shoulder to see what was so mesmorizing in his lens. His mother was down below further and could see what I was doing, and she shot me a huge grin from afar. Finally, as I startled the guy by getting creepishly close (again, I am the creeper) he turned beet red and apoligized and I moved on. When I got close to his mother, she was ready to chat my ear off. Asking me 21 questions, shook my hand and introduced me to her son, who got shades brighter the more she spoke. It was almost as if she were the host of "Singled Out" back in the Jenny Mccarthy days. As a defense, her son said, "She probably has to get back to her work out mom!" It was hilarious. I could have stayed to chat. I actually found it rather amusing this was happening. I almost felt bad for the guy...almost, because it's something my mother would try to pull. Oh Mothers...

Day 22; Thursday 7/28/11:

*40 minute bike ride

It was my first time on a bike since my surgery. I knew I was going camping the next morning so I wanted to get all packed up first. I ended up taking her for a late night spin. About 10:30pm-ish. Most of the ride was up hill and actually felt pretty good, but on my way back going down hill with a racer bike and a bad shoulder is not a good combination. Too much pressure. When my PT released me to ride my bike, I don't think they realized I would be riding around in a cruiser so I decided to not allow myself to do that anymore just yet!

Day 23; Friday 7/29/11:

*Detroit Lake "Frog Swim"

Yup! We took a trip to the "Party Cove" and I jumped ship and swam to shore and back to the boat. Not super far, but not super close. First time swimming since surgery too, so I kept it easy with the frog swim. Cold water was theraputic too!

Day 24; Saturday 7/30/11

*Hike to the top of Piety Island on Detroit Lake

It was actually sort of unintentional. I didn't sleep at all the night before and so I was awake before anyone else and decided to adventure. I was walking along the shore when the shore line started to wade, and I had nowhere left to go but up. I crawled through bushes, spider webs, possibly poison Ivy, Deer Dung (not sure what their poo is called but I thought it had a good rhime)... anyway, turns out after 20 minutes of hiking straight up the side, there was actuall a trail I could have taken. So I followed the trail to the top, and then marked my territory. No... I didn't drop the kids off at the pool! What do I look like here? I guess what I did was more like dropping the kids off at the park! ;)

Day 25; Sunday 7/31/11:

*Hoola Hoop on Detroit Lake Beach

Woke up and grabbed my hoola hoop that I brought with me camping and swung my hips baby. When I tried walking and hooping it was more of a work out, than stationary. Gotta get creative sometimes. :)

Haven't quite done my exercise today, but I did switch bank accounts. My bank decided to start charging me for checking after being with them since I was 18, so I dropped em like they were hot. Weather's beautiful this week. My best friend Wendals is in town, and we're gonna have a good time. Gotta get my oil changed and wash my car... again, where's Dad when you need him??? :)

Hope He Liked It!

I am so back and forth with my motivation right now, it's ridiculous. I'm just not used to being so disabled. There is so much that you do with your shoulder that you don't even realize. Only 5 days to go until I'm out of ths sling, but still won't be cleared for normal activities. If you think an 8 second ride is long, try an 8 week sling! To help me with my motivation I decided to read the book "Skinny Bitch." It's basically a book that tells you how awful eating meat products are. It goes into gruesome detail about what they do to slaughter these animals, and it's pretty gross. So I have decided to try a 4 day Vegan diet... starting tomorrow of course. Tonight is family dinner, and we are having ribs... yum! :) These things take time people...

Let's get down to business...

Day 8; Thursday 7/13/11:

* P90X Ab Ripper (Good stuff)

Day 9; Friday 7/14/11:

*Squats for 20 minutes non-stop. After not doing much running for a while, my legs were absolute jello afterwards.

Day 10; Saturday 7/15/11: The plan was to power walk, but I could barely walk at all due to my leg soreness.

*Calf raises (to work a different part of the legs)

Day 11; Sunday 7/16/11:

*Leg lifts (might as well work my legs this week since I can't do much with my arms)

Day 12; Monday 7/18/11:

*Did all of my band exercise for my shoulder, but I did extra to make up for all of my leg work.

Monday I was feeling like a susie home maker and decided to try out a recipe. I made a 5 fruit wild rice salad and a "healthy" apple crisp recipe. Well I went by all of the ingredients and didn't realize how much I was making. I made enough to feed about 30 people with the rice dish and only ate a couple of scoops total. Oops! This is why I don't cook! Wish me luck with the Vegan food... I'm gonna starve!

Side note: I auditioned for a local country band Monday night. They thought I was crazy for finding them on craigslist and then agreeing to meet them in someone's basement to sing with them. Ha ha. Maybe they're on to something!

Day 13; Tuesday 7/19/11:

* Lunges while watching TV with my roomie!

Day 14; Wednesday 7/20/11:

*Went for a lovely power walk stroll for about 40 minutes.

I actually kind of liked it. I started to get warmed up pretty quickly. I could do that more often, and it's not jarring on my shoulder or my joints. I would highly reccomend it!

Day 15; Thursday 7/21/11:

*Carmen Electra's volume 3 Strip Tease Video

Ha, yes. I did it. I did it standing in my living room with the huge bay window's blind's open looking out to the rest of the world, while the rest of the world looked in on me shaking my toosh, and caressing my own thighs. lol.

It's always kind of fun to get your inner flirt on with yourself. Nobody to impress but the man collecting the pop-cans outside my bay window. Hope he liked it!

I'm Officially A Creeper!

Imagine a delicious supper every Thursday, followed by an even more delicious over the top desert. Add in some disney theme songs, nursery rhymes, innappropriate banter, and you've got my family dinner! At about this time every thursday, my belly is aching, and any idea of a physical activity is not a good idea...

What have I gotten myself into with this 365 day thing? The funny thing is, even though I'm going at it alone, I feel like I'm not. To every person that reads this blog (even if it's just one)... I feel like I have to answer to them... so YOU are my workout partner! How does it feel? Wanna join me sometime?

Let's see where we left off... Monday... Guess what Monday is??? Bachelorette day! And to all of you Ashley Haters out there, give the girl a break. She is probably one of the only people on that show that actually is giving her full heart, and that's why you're actually seeing it break. I think she is very likeable, but just has had some bad luck. American Idol, and the Bachelor/Bachelorette are pretty much the only TV I will consistantly watch... OK and maybe the Kardashians suck me in a little bit too. Keep that between you and I! And Kloe and Lamar are just so darn cute! I'm going to stop there... ;)

Day 5; Monday 7/11/11:

*Crunches during commercial breaks on the Bachelorette. (Hey, at least I did something!)

Day 6; Tuesday 7/12/11:

*A stationary bicycle machine for 45 minutes at 24 hr gym. Not sure what it's called, but it's not the regular bike. It's the one where you lean back and just use your legs (My Dr. would be proud!).

I will say though, after getting the week pass to 24hr gym, I'm super annoyed with Bridget (names have been changed) the sales lady. I had to go through a whole tour of the gym, and after repeatedly telling her I wanted to try out other gyms before I made a decision, she tried to push on me to buy a membership right then! 2 days later, I got a call from her asking me how it was going and if I was ready to sign up yet, and when I heard she was going to repeatedly call me to see how things were going, I threw up in my mouth a little. Bridget can (in the nicest way possible) suck it!

Day 7; Wednesday 7/13/11:

* 1hr of Kickboarding at 24 hr gym... No it's not wakeboarding or skateboarding or anything like that.

Think back to your childhood, when you were learning how to swim. Remember the kickboard? Hold it out in front and kick your legs behind you! Yes... I did that for an hr, sharing a lane with a hard-core swimmer. Imagine me, coming in to the pool area in my summer bikini trying to be a hard-core kickboarder. Kind of a silly sight. I actually brought my digital camera to the pool thinking it wouldn't be weird to ask someone to take a pic of me kickboarding so I could post it. Only problem is, when I got there, I met a creeper at the hot tub while I was waiting for a lane, and realized maybe I was the creeper since I came to the pool area with a camera. I quickly hid it, but of course as I was going to leave I could feel all eyes on me when I picked up my sling as a camera went flinging out of it for the whole pool to know I was a creeper. Epic fail.

The good news isn't that I'm saving 15% on my car insurance, but rather that the Kickboarding kicked my butt. First half hour I had the board out in front and it was a great leg exercise and the last half hour I was on my back kicking, teddy bear squeezing the board and it was one of the best core workouts I'd ever had. Highly reccommend it! The bad news is, I have to find a way to muster up some cardio this evening, oh and I'm officially a creeper!

Honey Bunches of "O" My Gosh!

As the sweat on my face turns to a salty foam and my hair turns to the kitchen mop, I've never been so thankful for a bowl of Honey Bunches of "O" my gosh this is good! The sweet milk at the end of the bowl goes down smoother than a baby's bottom. OK, bad analogy, but you get the jist.

Five days ago I had my Dr.'s appointment for my "release of sling" but instead I got the stink eye for asking when I can kayak and was sentenced to 3 more weeks of very limited activity in my sling. The least he could have done was offered me lunch after getting my hopes up like that... what? ;)

So, was I going to postpone my 365 days in a row of a different physical activity? I think not! That night I decided to try Portland's free concert in the park, which is a very cool series that Portland offers. Met up with my girl Vanessa and some other friends and we made our way down to the Apex. The Apex is a bar in Portland that has awesome outdoor seating, tons of beer selection, and biciycle racks up the wazoo. Very "Portlandesqe" ... but I'm not complaining. I decided to try the organic wheat beer, Edeleweiss, which of course came in the .5L glass. Broast!

Day 1; Thursday 7/7/11:

* 2 hour walk back to my car in the morning after an awesome evening. Let the Journey begin!

Day 2; Friday 7/8/11:

Picked up a 1 week free trial membership to the Hollywood 24hr Gym.

* 1/2 hour on the stationary bicyce, and 1/2 hour on the eliptical.

Day 3; Saturday 7/9/11:

* Took a short walk to Barnes and Nobles and Back (where I studied "The 4 hr Work Week") and did some resistance bands for my shoulders. A light workout, but with 362 days to go, some can and will be lighter than others.

**** Just a side note, today is free Slurpee day at 7/11!!! :)****

Day 4: Sunday 7/10/11:
* 1 hour cycling class @ 24hr Gym. I definitely took my sling off and got my sweat on yesterday morning.

And yes, the Dr, did clear me for the stationary bicycle, I don't know if you've ever taken a spin class before, but if you have, then you know after taking 5 weeks off exercise, having your high school bff move to town, and the sun coming out in Oregon, is a recipe for a good time and then a heck of a lot more than a butt kicking on the bike. Thank goodness for my Honey Bunches of "O" my gosh!