I am BACK!

**knock knock**

Is anyone there? 

I know that it has been a while. (Ok, how about almost 10 years. Eeek!) A lot in my life has changed.  Instead of explaining everything at once, I will share the bigger fish of events in my life in the form of a list.

Here we go:

1. I completed my Pilate Training program in May 2014. (Yay!)
2. I worked as a Pilates trainer for 18 months.
3. After I left as a trainer, I had left elbow surgery that left a "pretty" scar. 
4. I moved back to MN after a family emergency involving my daughter.
5. I lived in my own place for about 2 1/2 years. 
6. Josh and I had a commuter marriage during that time.
7. We sold our house in Berwyn and moved back into together.
8. Then we bought a new house 3 months later in South Minneapolis which turned out to be a BIG MISTAKE. (Ooops!)  
9. The COVID pandemic happened and everything shut down.
10. But not before I started a new job 3 days before and then started working remotely.
11. The events involving George Floyd happened and the riots took place in our neighborhood.
12. Our neighborhood did not get much better after the riots.
13. We ended up deciding that we needed to get the hell out of dodge.
14. We adopted a new pug, Lulu.
15. We received our COVID vaccines in April 2021.
16. We took our 1st post-COVID trip to Colorado Springs in June 2021.
17. We ended up deciding to move to Colorado after Josh fell in love with the area.  We set a one-year timeline to move to prevent any burnout and be able to successfully sell our house. 
18. We started packing our house.
19. We put our house on the market in April 2022 and flew to Colorado to look at houses to buy.
20. We put in 2 offers that did not go through.
21. We looked at one more house in Fountain and ended up putting an offer on it.
22. It ended up being the one and our offer was accepted.
23. We returned home and started the final countdown before our exodus from Minnesota for the last time in May 2022. 
24. I left the job that I started at the beginning of the pandemic since I could not legally take it with me.
25. We drove in our separate cars to Colorado along with Lulu with a stop in Lincoln, NE for an overnight siesta on Cinco de Mayo before driving the longer part of the trip through SW Kansas (which is SUPER scary.)
26. We stayed 13 days in an extended-stay hotel before closing on our house (with the pug.)
27. We closed on our house (finally!) and moved in the 1st load of our stuff. 
28. Then we got hit with a snowstorm in the middle of f***ing May which gave us an incentive to stay put and unpack our stuff. 
29. Then the 2nd and last load of our stuff arrived.
30. Once I unpacked and organized our new home, I started to get my groove on by reacquainting myself with 2nd hometown via hiking and exploring everything.
31. I hiked a lot during the last 22 months. I challenged myself with some very steep inclines and higher elevations.
32. While I was exploring, I was desperately trying to find a new job.
33. I still made time to travel when Josh would be able to get off of work.  We visited Josh's mom in Santa Fe several times along with flying to DC, Chicago, San Diego, Las Vegas, and Portland, OR.
34. I unexpectedly ended up looking for a new job for a total of 17 months. It ended up being very frustrating and emotionally taxing in the end.
35. Then I finally got my landing spot after many applications. 
36. We traveled to Portland in October 2023 to celebrate Josh's birthday.
37. We continue to hike and explore whenever we get the chance. 

Here we are at the end of the list. Wow! That was a mouthful. I hope that you enjoyed this list and finally caught up.

Pilates and Food Allergies

I have survived my first weekend of Pilate Teacher training. It was a lot of fun and time really flew by during the class. I am looking forward to getting all of the hours that I need to do be able to complete the program. So exciting!!

On the other hand, my body has been struggling to keep the weight off even with all of the Pilates.  The culprit - food allergies. More specifically, my allergy to dairy products. I thought it was just a lactose issue, but it is turning to more than that. I decided to write it in my professional blog. I have joined My Fitness Pal and starting to log my food and exercise. It is a lot easier than other programs that I have done in the past. I am really excited to start seeing the weight come off especially before swimsuit season.

Later!

Reality Bites: Food Allergies and Weight Issues:

'via Blog this'

Getting my Pilates on

I have not been blogging on here.  Life has been a little busy still.  I am still doing my writing for my book. I am also still recovering from last running injury. I have not even gotten on the treadmill this year so far.

My goals for March is to finally slowly get a run/walk back into running. I know that I want to get back into it. I just have not had the inspiration yet to do so.

In the meantime, I am in the process of starting a Pilates teaching training program in a week. I started taking up Pilates at the beginning of the year and have been officially HOOKED!  It has been the best thing to come into my life and thankful for it.

Now if I can get a flatter stomach, I will be very happy.

Until next time.

Coming soon....

.....to a bookshelf by you.

"A Journey to Nirvana using Knitting Needles and Running Shoes"

I have a little busy to post because I have been busy writing a book.  I am currently working on the first 5 chapters of the book right now. I am hoping to finish the book before the end of 2014 or early 2015.

You can subscribe to my Facebook page for updates here.

I am slowly getting back to running after another injury during my TCM training in September and having surgery in December to remove my ovaries. I have been enjoying the benefits of Pilates right now so I can regain my strength and flexibility as I run.

2014 will be a fun running year with no big race plans in the horizon. There will be a lot of 5K's and 10K's that I will be doing.  No pressure to do anything big so I can take a break from heavy training.

I will keep up while I am in the process of the book, etc.

I am still here! Just passing through...

It's Race Day!

Back in HM training....

And it has been an adventure.

I am in the middle of the Runner's World's "Run Less - Run Faster" program. I am running three days a  week. One day is a speed workout. One day is a tempo workout. The last day is the big long run. My body has really taken to the program very well, but wiped out after my tempo and long run days. Those days require a lot of careful planning afterwards. I learned last Sunday that rest is very important after when I went to the Chicago Auto Show afterwards (BIG mistake!!). I am in the 5th week out of the 16 week program.

I also have registered (*gasp*) for the Twin Cities Marathon in October.  My game plan this year to focus on just two big races and some little races in between. Thank GOD that I have a 4 week break between training programs.  I am going to seriously need it!!

School has an adventure. I have been learning a lot. I am looking forward to my first EVER Spring Break week off from school.  Yes, kids, in the years of undergrad and my first graduate degree, I did NOT have a Spring Break or a summer break or a break between semester period. I am surprised that I did not go coo-coo during the previous programs.

Anyways, I really need to seriously blog more. This will be a big help during the course of my training plan.

Laters!