Ed

I stumbled upon this picture and it made me think of Ed. I thank God for bringing him into my life. He has become my best friend whom I admire and trust completely. The more I learn about him the greater my love for him becomes. I never knew how great a relationship could be until I moved to Nebraska. I couldn't be more blessed.
I pray that we live to take a similar photo some day.

My first REAL workout!

This is awesome! I signed up for a "smart card" to track my workouts. That includes access to a room without a bunch of meatheads working out. Here's what it is:
Express Workout
"Short on time but want a quick workout? Combine your cardiovascular and strength workout into a 30 minute workout with the new YMCA Express Circuit. This newly remodeled room is equipped with 10 stations of technogym strength machines and Schwinn Air Dynes for cardio. Thirty seconds per station will give 'Y' members a great workout. 'Y' members must be circuit room members and at least 12 years old to use express circuit."
I still need to adjust weights and the seat heights, etc so it takes me more than 30 minutes, but I did it today! I also did a 20 minute cardio warmup, 10 minutes more of cardio post the express circuit and some stretching.
I feel great! :) Now if I could just get this diet part down...

Orientation

Today is my orientation at the Y. I can't wait to get started!
Just found out Ed will be out of town on my birthday weekend (unavoidable trip), but I'm looking at the positive side. Not having him home will help motivate me to go to the gym and workout a bit to occupy my time. I wonder if I could get a few personal training sessions. Lord knows I could use some assistance with the machines...
Tomorrow is cleaning day! I'm hoping to get some yardwork done too this weekend. I'd really like to get some seeds started for the garden, but I have so many that I should probably organize what I have first. PLUS, I need to find a place to grow them where the cats won't be able to "play/attack" them.

YMCA

I did my first "workout" last night at the Y. I only was there for 30 minutes, but I figure it's better than nothing. I plan to go again tonight. I feel better already just knowing that I'm doing something! I'll be 35 in 8 days...time to get my life on track.
No more excuses...

Official Member

I am officially a member of the Scotts Bluff YMCA. I'm hoping to start my first workout tomorrow morning at 5am. We'll see though since that means I'd need to leave the house by 3:45am! Maybe I'll shoot for 6am. Enough with the excuses though...I'm getting in shape before summer creeps up.

Sigh...It's Gym Time

I don't like to work out
I love to cook and the eat what I make.

Unfortunately, that doesn't help me when I try to fit into new clothes.  So, today is the day. I'm joining a gym. I'm debating between the YMCA and a Bootcamp.  Anyone have a personal preference on which is better?

These are my options:
Scottsbluff YMCA
or
Ultimate Body Transformers Fitness (This would be the bootcamp)

Oh and one more thing...this is the look I'm going for:

The Girls Go Under

This morning I packed up Turtle and Maize (actually Ed packed them up) into my car and headed towards my work.  We drove together for an hour and fifteen minutes while they sang along with the radio.  We arrived at the Animal Health Center at 8am.  They are both getting spayed and their vaccinations today.  Perfect timing since we found a male cat hiding in the garage last night. 

I'll post an update soon about how the girls did...

Mmmm, French Dips

Ed and I love watching Man v. Food and recently watched him devour a French dip.  So, based on that inspiration, I did some searching on my favorite recipe site and found the perfect "recipe".  I considered it a recipe, but Ed reminded me that really it wasn't as much of a recipe as it was a set of instructions for putting together the sandwich.  Regardless, this sandwich was awesome.  I used hoaggie rolls that I toasted, some bottled au jus (which I didn't even know they made), packaged roast beef from the deli, and provolone cheese.  They were delish! We had them twice this week.  Last night we enjoyed them with homemade potato chips that I seasoned with salt and parmesan cheese.  Try the recipe and let me know what you think: French Dip Recipe on All Recipes.com

Valentine's Bliss

This Valentines day weekend could not have turned out more perfect.  Ed came home Friday evening with the most beautiful arrangement of flowers. 

3 birds of paradise, 5 roses and an assortment of other flowers.  We were on the road by 10:30am on Saturday and headed up to Lead/Deadwood, South Dakota.  The drive was beautiful, but there were some icy spots and several cars spun out of control. 

We saw several deer on the side of a hill on the way there. 

It took a while to find our cabin (it was a bit further than the directions stated), but once we arrived I was happy with our choice.  For $75 we stayed at a small cabin about 6-7 miles out of downtown Deadwood.  The cabin overlooked some large hills and a bubbling stream.

It was perfect. Once settled in, we headed downtown to find a place to eat.  We got "stuck" at the Lucky Nugget and spent a little money playing slots.  I got a little lucky on the Wheel of Fortune machine.  The Lucky Nugget is the actual location where Wild Bill Hickock was shot holding his famous "Dead Man's Hand." :

We headed down the road a bit and finally found a casino with black jack tables.  Ed and I sat down at a $5 table for about a half an hour.  I actually ended up ahead here too!  Then we went over to the Silverado for prime rib and crab legs.  The food was wonderful, but the redneck family near by got a bit annoying.  Really, anyone who considers the Haiti disaster as "population control" is simply an idiot.  We spent some more time in the casinos and then headed back to the cabin for the night.   In the morning, we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at the Cafe across the bridge from our cabin.  We then headed back home and saw many antelope on our way.

I forgot to mention that Callie joined us for the trip.  She was an angel.

 

Deadwood, South Dakota...Sounds romantic, doesn't it?

We're heading out to Deadwood, South Dakota Saturday for Valentines day weekend.  I'm really looking forward to my first real vacation alone with Ed. 


Historic Deadwood, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, is an old mining town formerly visited by Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane and Seth Bullock.  Today there are over 80 gambling halls, shopping, restaurants, museums, lodging and more.
 
We're staying in a small cabin. The Cabin  I'm looking forward to the drive-the scenery out this way is incredible.  I'll post an update on the trip once we return.

 

Happy Valentines Day!

 

 
 

A Wisconsin style restaurant in Scottsbluff, NE

I've enjoyed two incredible meals so far at the Emporium in Scottsbluff, NE.  Scottsbluff has been featured in Gourmet magazine for it's Mexican cuisine which doesn't come close to places like Conejitos and La Fuentes in Milwaukee.  Restaurant options in this town and especially the little town I live in are VERY limited (there are only two bars in Dalton that serve food).  So, when I entered into The Emporium near where I work, I was extremely pleased.  The food was delicious, service was wonderful and the atmosphere was similar to something I would enjoy back home.  The waiters/waitresses dress in black dress pants and dress shirts with white aprons and are very attentive.

The cuban sandwich that I tried for lunch doesn't compare to the one at Cubanitas, but it certainly is a nice change from the fast food options around here.  The dinner dish I tried was a Cajun seafood pasta that was just as good as any Italian dish I'd find back home.

I'm looking forward to dining outdoors in summer and think I've found my favorite little place for date night. :)

The accident

Yesterday evening, on my way home from work, I saw one of the worst accidents I've ever seen.  The accidents out here aren't like back home.  First off, it doesn't back up traffic for miles (since there never is any real traffic).  Second, since the speed limit on most of my drives is 65, the accidents always seem to be very serious.  Finally, when an accident occurs at night, it's very hard to see the accident until you are right on top of it.  Yesterday happened just like that.  I came over a hill and there it was less than a half a city block in front of me.  At 65 miles an hour, i slammed on my breaks and swerved off the road. As I slowly crept by one of the vehicles a man came from up to my car and asked me to pull ahead and put on my flashers.  The worst part about this accident....the vehical with the most damage was stuck in the middle of the road and since the front 1/4 of it was gone...you couldn't see the vehicle at all.  I'm confident that I prevented at least one other car from adding to the accident.
I left as soon as the sherriff showed up.  Which shockingly always appears to be in a very short period of time from when an accident occurs out here.  I spent my drive home thinking about how precious life is and how quickly it all can change.

The big city to a little town...

On December 7th, 2009, I relocated from the big city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin to the quaint town of Dalton, Nebraska.  I'd made several visits to my new home town prior to moving, but nothing can prepare a city girl to the changes ahead of me.

My Milwaukee Duplex:

My New Home in Dalton: