Vacation & Weigh-In

Hello!  Last week, I had a glorious week of vacation on a lake.  There was sunshine, beer, fishing, wine tastings, kayaking, campfires, Bloody Marys, afternoon naps, lots of reading, and tons of relaxation.  It was absolute perfection, and just what I needed!

Here are a few pictures from vacation.

The start of vacation, sampling ALL of the beer at the Grumpy Troll.
I've already had all of these before...I just really like GT beer!

One of the MANY fish my stepdad caught right off the dock.

Bitchin picture of the lake that I took.
No filter.  For serious.

Yummy kabobs that Nick and I made for my parents while on vacation.

Our vacation pets :) Buffy & Lola

Momma & I enjoying a nice cold one while at the lake.
We took this picture, and sent it to Nick while he was at work :)

Kayaking for the first time.
I need to work on upper body strength!

Campfires at the lake.

Many Bloody Marys and lots of other alcohol were consumed during vacation...

This is what I've been up to since being home.

Beer tasting at the New Glarus Brewery.
We only live about 7 miles from NG, and it's my hometown
 so we've been here many, many times.

Botham Winery for wine tasting with Elly.

New Glarus Brewery

Now that I am back to reality, I am trying to get back into a routine.  As you can see from my pictures, a lot of alcohol has been consumed lately.  Guess what that means?  This girl hasn't been working out and is super puffy, bloated, and tubby.  

Sunday, I finally faced the music and stepped on the scale, it was scary.

179.9

Luckily, a tiny bit of that weight was shed by drinking lots of water to flush my system, and cleaning up my diet.  For my official Wednesday Weigh-In I am at

177.2

Better, but still not good.

Time to start over, again.

Those are some pretty simple words, and a basic concept, but damn, I suck at it!

No more quitting!

A miracle occurred, and I actually got up early enough to go for a run this morning!  I only went 1.5 miles, but it was still tough because I'm SO out of shape!  The only way I am going to get back in shape is if I keep pushing myself and doing things that are tough.

I will not quit.

I will not start over.

Je suis prest: I am ready.

(Clan Fraser motto...Outlander, anybody?

Accountability & Goals

I am sneaking a quick break at work to get in a blog post.  Our office and my textbook room are stuffed to the gills with boxes of books, clothing, and supplies that need to be unpacked, priced, and put on shelves. 

 Only having three people to do all of this work makes taking breaks a rare luxury at the moment.  I am working solo on the textbooks, which I prefer.  I have a specific order to my textbook room, and I get a little crazy when others come in an don't follow my rules....

Anywho....I've been sucking at this whole being healthy thing.  Surprise, surprise.

I tend to follow a pattern where I totally kick ass for a month or two, and then I fall of the face of the Earth and turn into a big fatty for a month or two.  I keep saying "this" time is going to be different, but alas, it never is.

That being said, I want THIS time to be different!  What I need is an accountability buddy.  I have reached out to friends and family members, but they never follow through because they are not on the same journey, nor even a similar one (damn skinny friends!), that I am.  

Many of you though, that read this blog, are on a similar journey.  Would any of you like to be accountability buddies?  

I don't have all of my thoughts gathered on what I would like out of an accountability buddy, but emailing one another and working out a plan would be a great start.  Some of my thoughts are if we have similar work schedules, we could plan to workout around the same time and email, or text, one another when we have finished our respective workouts.  If we don't hear from each other, we would coax one another to get our bums movin'!  We could share meal plans.  We could have friendly competitions.  Etc.  The possibilities are endless!

So, if anyone is looking for an accountability buddy, send me an email! 

loeffelholz34@gmail.com

If I hear from more than one of you, that's great!  We could pair off, or just have a group of buddies.

Besides seeking help with accountability, I also have a few goals for this week.  Some are fitness related, and some are just things I need to get done.  I've been a real slug lately in every area of my life.  Oops.

Log 25 miles.

Bathe the dogs. 

Restart & complete Week 1 of 21 Day Fix.

Get a packing list for vacation ready.

I leave for a week long Northwoods vacation this Saturday, woohoo!

Clean the refrigerator.

27

I apologize for the lack of posting lately, but it's crazy busy time at work so I haven't had my usual time to write for my blog.

Today is my 27th birthday!

To celebrate, I have decided to share 27 random facts about myself.

Enjoy.

1.  I have lived in Wisconsin all my life thus far, and probably will continue living here for the remainder of my life.

2.  I LOVE cheese.

3.  I am afraid of mice.  Like, jump on a chair and scream afraid.

4.  I am also not a fan of frogs or toad. I cannot touch them.  Just thinking about touching them makes my heart race.

5.  My all-time favorite beer is At Water Vanilla Java Porter.  It is divine!

6.  I randomly count things in Spanish.  For example, when I am filling up my water bottle at the bubbler, I count how long it takes in Spanish.  Or, I count the brick in the hallway from the bathroom to my office, in Spanish.

7.  Ich kann ein bisschen Deutsch sprechen.  (I can speak a little bit of German)

8.  I have been dating Nick for 2 years and 8 months.

9.  We had only been dating for 7 months when we bought a house together...sometimes you just know when it's right :)

10.  I have two biological older brothers, two older step-brothers, a younger step-brother, and a younger step-sister.

11.  My due date was actually June 20th...my poor mother!

12.  I have two dogs.  An 11 year old fox terrier named, Molly, and an almost 2 year old Boston Terrier named, Skittles.

13.  Blue is my favorite color.

14.  I really, really, really like ketchup with my eggs.

15.  I have a bachelor's degree in Broad Field Social Studies...yeah...

16.  I work at the college I graduated from with said degree.

17.  Through my work now, I am pursing a Spanish degree, for free!

18.  I can read, write, and listen to Spanish fairly well, but I suck at speaking it because I get really nervous about making mistakes.    

19.  My favorite dessert is cheesecake.

20.  I studied aboard in Italy for a semester in college.  It. Was. Ah-may-zing.

21.  I have also traveled to Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands.

22.  I am a book nerd.  I always carry a book in my purse and read a little bit every single day.

23.  My favorite book genre is Fantasy.  I love wizards and shit like that.

24.  My mother named me after her favorite character on the Guiding Light, but she spelled it the "normal" way instead of Ashlee.

25.  When I was younger, I tried to convince my mom to change my name to Amanda. 

26.  I have had the same BFF since 7th grade.  She lives out in NJ, and we are only able to see each other 2 or 3 times a year.  When we do see each other though, it's as if absolutely nothing has changed between us :)

27.  I highly dislike cats. 

That was a lot of fun!  It was tough to only pick 27 things!