Must Catch Up

I was looking at the number of blogs I've written in August, and realized I haven't written as much as usually do. That must mean one thing. I am either busier than usual or nothing exciting is going on. I think it's a little bit of both. Since Jill left we have been working in a new drummer at church and quite honestly, Alissa is improving by leaps and bounds every week. The transition is going much more smoothly than I anticipated. I am still playing drums for the hymns, but Alissa is able to the pay the rest almost without a single mistake. I am so proud of her and actually relieved things are going so smoothly. On another note, the challenge is going well. This weekend I used my cheat on Calamari and it was so tasty. I bought some more healthy snacks to have during the week so I'm hoping this week I am able to lose some weight. I actually gained a pound last week. My weight fluctuates quite a bit with my monthly cycle, so I'm sure that is the reason. That and we only had 4 days really in the challenge. Tomorrow starts my getting up way too early in the morning to go power walking with Kim. I already know I'll be tired, but it'll be worth it. I am only trying to lose 10 pounds in 17 weeks, so this is gonna be a slow and steady thing for me. I really don't have much weight to lose, so it's going to take more time for me to lose it. I am dedicated if for nothing else, for my friend. I think she needs this support of a group or at least one other person to do it with her. Maybe tomorrow I'll have something that is post-worthy and will be able to bring my blogs for the month closer to what is normal for me. We'll see.

The Challenge

So Kim and I are doing this weight loss challenge thing for the next 17 weeks. In order to get in our 4-6 times per week of exercise, I've been getting up and we've been walking at 5 in the morning. If you know me, you know I am not a morning person and I love my sleep. I am definitely tired, but it's kinda nice to be up for longer than 30 minutes before I start working. The other part of the challenge that is hard for me is the no fried foods portion. I really like food that isn't fried for the most part, but Monday my boss suggested we go to Hibachi. Do you know how fabulous their fried rice is? It is wonderful. But I was good and only had steamed rice. The good news about this challenge is that I get 25 cheats, so on occasion I can get fried food or other things not allowed for the challenge. We are on day 3 and I haven't used any cheats yet. I figured if I planned for 1 per week, I should be fine and have a little wiggle room in case we go somewhere extra fabulous for lunch during the week. We are also in the middle of planning for our next unit for children's church, which starts on Sept 20th. I need to figure out all my decorations. We, me and Kim, are planning on decorating on Labor Day since we are both off. We use the High Point literature and we really like it so far. We just finished 5 lessons on Devotion and this time we are doing Attitude Check. Each unit "travels" to a certain place weekly to learn about the theme. Last time we went to Hollywood. I can't tell you where we are going, because I am keeping it from the kids and the suspense is just killing them. Maybe this weekend, while BJ is at Bops I can get some more of the decorations made and planned so we will be ready to go next weekend.

Cozumel Trip

We are back from vacation and had a very relaxing time. Day 1 - Monday: We arrived in Cozumel at about 4 and then took a shuttle to the Wyndham, the resort we stayed at for the week. Our room was beachfront and we were very glad we spent the extra money to be right on the water. We could basically go out our patio to the water and it was so beautiful.

Isn't it gorgeous?

Day 2 - Tuesday: We didn't have anything planned for Tuesday, so we hung out at the resort all day. BJ went snorkling for 2-3 hours while I read in a beach chair and got some sun. BJ also managed to get some sun and was basically in a lot of pain for the rest of the trip. Who would have thought that having your back on top of the water could turn you into the color of a lobster? Because I love BJ and don't exactly want to cause any unnecessary riffs, I am not posting a picture of his pasty white self before or the red lobster-like version. We also had reservations for Roberto's, an Italian restaurant on the resort for dinner and it was definitely yummy. BJ had grilled fish and I had lasagna. We decided we should make reservations for another night at Roberto's during the week. Day 3 - Wednesday: We had booked an ATV tour of the jungle part of the island before we went for Wednesday, so we taxied to El Cedral for our afternoon tour. BJ drove the ATV while I just rode. On the tour we got to see the jungle and swim in a cenote. Basically a cenote is an underground fresh water reservoir that is found in caves and is the island's source of water. There were a lot of bats in the caves, but the water was very clear and quite cold. We really enjoyed this part of the tour and would definitely try to tour more cenote's if we go back in the future. Day 4 - Thursday: We tried to book BJ a deep sea fishing tour for Thursday, but since we couldn't find some other guys to split it with, we decided to do the all day tour of the island by jeep. The tour included 5 stops: snorkling, Mayan ruins, Tequilla museum, chicken fajitas on the beach, a crocodile preserve and one of the islands 3 lighthouses. We skipped the snorkling since BJ had already had his fill and was still pretty sun burned and I wasn't interested. We walked along the beach a little a took some pics instead.

The Mayan Ruins were located in the center of the island. Apparently every Mayan was supposed to make a trip at some point in their lives to the island of Cozumel, usually for their wedding and honeymoon. The next stop was the Tequilla Museum and tasting. We did not take any pictures to avoid future incriminating evidence, but lets just say you don't have to be worried about us becoming alcoholics any time soon, because that stuff was horrible. :) The fajitas right on the water were good and the scenery was amazing. This was on the west side of the island, so the water was much more rough than anything we saw on the resort.

Next stop was crocodiles and the lighthouse. Max, the largest and oldest crocodile in the area, came right up to us for a little snack while we were there.

The last stop was the lighthouse, which we climbed and got some great pics from. The view was once again, amazing.

The Jeep tour was a great idea and we would suggest it to anyone interested in seeing a variety of things on one tour. Day 5 - Friday: On the last day on the resort I got the opportunity to go parasailing and it was the best experience of the trip. BJ sat on the boat and took pics. It was so smooth and very much like being on a swing but way up in the sky. I wish I could have figured out a way to capture my view from up there, but I didn't want to risk dropping the camera.

Overall, the trip was a success. We got some relaxing in, I got some sun, and even got the opportunity to read a few books. It was really nice to get a break from work and everything else for a few days and take a relaxing vacation. So, there you have it. And Jill, since you specifically asked, I'm dedicating this post to you.

Up, up and away....

Tomorrow we are on our way to Cozymel. I really don't enjoy going to new places and doing new things, especially when that new place is somewhere that I won't understand what is going on. I've been told that Cozymel is so touristy (if that's a word) that almost everyone speaks English. I guess I'll find out tomorrow. BJ is trying to convince me I'll have fun, but at this point I'm still unsure. I'll have to update you about all this weeks happenings when we return on Friday evening. Until then, pray for our safe travels and that I'll chill out and get some relaxing in and have fun!

I Apologize For My Tardiness

I'm not sure if anyone out there actually reads this, but I am very sorry for the delay between my postings. I am not living up to my own expectations and I apologize. Ok, on to the real post. Life has been CRAZY!!!!! Since the last time I posted, I got a new car, had a birthday, and said goodbye to my sister until Christmas. I got a Honda CRV. I would take a picture for you, but it looks just like the one on the Honda website, so go check it out. It is glacier blue metallic in the EX trim. Birthday - I am older and feel just the same. For my birthday we ate at my parents and played a card game called Hand and Foot, which has become a favorite past time around here. I got books, gift certificates, and tickets to see Mary Poppins in Fair Park in September. BJ always gets me such good gifts. Jill and Sam and my parents are currently in the Chicago area moving Jill and Sam in. Sam is attending Wheaton and is in the PHD program for psychology there. It is a 4 year program, but they plan to come home to visit for Christmas and then again in the summer. Jill is working at a school for all the kids with autism from a certain public school district. Since she is working for a school, she gets a couple of weeks off at Christmas and then again in the beginning of August, so that makes coming to see us possible. I have talked to them a couple of times already and everything seems to be going smoothly. My parents are going to see my Uncle Bob and Aunt Lana while they are up there, and that is the part of the trip I am really regretting not being there for. To give you an idea as to when they last came down here, BJ has never met them and we have been together coming up on 10 years. I saw them last when we moved my Grandma Hutsell down here to live with my parents in early 2004. Uncle Bob is still my favorite and maybe we'll get up there to see them in the next couple of years when we go to see Jill and Sam in Chicago. Next week me and BJ are going on our vacation to Cozymel. We are staying at the Wyndham Resort and Spa and I'm looking forward to laying on the beach and doing some reading. The main things BJ wants to accomplish is eating at a real Mexican restaurant and a good fresh seafood place. We have booked a dune buggy tour of the jungle in the center of the island for Wednesday afternoon. I plan to do some walking on the beach and just generally exploring our new surroundings and shopping some. Our resort is pretty close to down town San Miguel, so everything should be within walking distance which I like a lot. I've had friends say stay on the resort, but I like to explore. I'm sure we will eat mostly at the resort since it is paid for, but I am looking forward to going shopping and figuring out where everything is that we want to do later in the week. I really like the independence of basically doing whatever we want without anyone else's input mattering for a whole week. Oh, yes and I'm getting a pedicure. Hopefully when we get back I'll have lots of fabulous pics and stories to tell.