Thanksgiving/Black Friday

Zak & I were fortunate enough to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with his grandparents & family in Washington this year. We both had Wednesday off, so after sleeping in a little and cleaning up, we headed on the trek. It's only a few hours away, but the ice and snow on the road made the journey a little bit longer than we would have liked. But we got there in the afternoon and were able to spend some time with Zak's 'mountain-man' cousin, Kyle & his fiancee, Amanda. This was the first time I've met Kyle since I've known Zak, and he did not disappoint! He & Amanda live in a mud hut they built in the remote wilderness in Washington. Not exactly my style, but they seem to be very happy so good for them. They took off after dinner towards Spokane, and we turned our focus on the pie we were making for Thanksgiving.

some shots on the way there...

I had been craving lemon meringue pie for the past month or so, and I (foolishly) volunteered to make it for my first time for Thanksgiving. Growing up, I remember my uncle Jeff making pies for the holidays and boy, they were great. And his lemon meringue was one of my absolute favorites. So I had a lot to live up to, in my mind. Zak got to work on the crust/shell, while I got the lemon custard and meringue going. I smartly had packed the ingredients, so it was fairly easy to make. I was a little nervous about the meringue topping, and would have beaten it longer, but it wasn't bad for my first try. Our taste test of the lemon custard stuff was positive, so we were sure it'd be delicious the next day. We spent the night in a huge, comfy bed with all of that memory foam topper, etc. It was like sleeping on a dream, ah!

he was pretty happy

The next morning we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and I watched in dread as the commercials for Black Friday kept coming on and on. I don't know, I think I secretly hoped that they would just cancel Black Friday and I wouldn't have to be at work at 3:45 AM. But the parade was entertaining enough, and I was content to sit and watch. Zak's grandma had made his mom's recipe for rolls (yum), and he helped roll them up; I got flour on my new outfit and decided to go back to the couch, haha. Around noon, Zak's aunt, her boyfriend (now fiance), and some of his cousins showed up. We hung out for a little bit, but then, it was turkey time.

fancy new outfits
with Aunt Ronda & Brad

Everything was delicious, and I don't know about Zak, but I was comfortably full when it was all over. We had a few different salads, sweet potatoes, rolls, stuffing; everything was so yummy. We rolled off to our room to call our families and rest for a bit before it was pie time. We did spend time socializing with everyone as well. It was nice to be able to spend some time with his family. Even though we're only a few hours away, it's hard for us to get the time off to go visit, so it was nice to be pampered a bit by the grandparents. 'Pie O'Clock', as Zak called it, was yummy as well. Zak's grandma had made a few cherry pies and apple ones, as well as a chocolate one. Zak's aunt Ronda made a pecan pie and pumpkin rolls and then there was our lemon meringue pie. I had bites off Zak's plate--I think he had a slice of almost everything! I was so pleased with our pie, it was near perfection! Once pie was done, Zak's cousin Kayla & her fiance (next year is the Year of the Weddings for his family) came over, so we chatted with them before we had to take off.

I think I should've beaten the meringue longer

yum

We got home around 8 and hit the hay soon after, since we had to get up by 3. Zak had to open at 5, and I had to work from 3:45 - 11:45. My experience with Black Friday wasn't as awful as I expected. My department, the women's clothing section, wasn't really busy until after my 'lunch' break (8-9 AM), so that was nice. And once it got really busy, it was time for me to be done with work! So I guess I would open on Black Friday again, as long as I had the same shift and was in the same department. After I was done, I went over to Zak's work, where they were the busiest I've ever seen them, which was great for them. I got us lunch and some jeans from Old Navy ($15, not too bad), and hung around until Zak was tired, by 2. We came home and I slept for 3 hours, which was glorious.

All in all, we had a pretty nice Thanksgiving holiday, despite having to be up at zero-dark-thirty, as my dad would say. We won't be able to make it to WA for Christmas, which is a bummer, but it'll be nice to have a nice, little Christmas with just us. Oh, and the hamsters.

the mountains by their house

The First Snow!

We've had our first real snow! Zak is pretty excited, and I will admit that I am, too. It is so beautiful! And I enjoy having windows with which to admire it from. It's a lot easier planning clothes when you can see out the window, rather than walking down the stairs (like we had to do in our windowless, Rexburg apartment). Last night it started snowing, and has continued through this morning. We estimate about 2 - 3 inches of snow have fallen, which is the perfect amount. I think Zak will have to teach me how to drive again. But here are some pictures so you can see how pretty it is here!

right side of garden

left side of garden

holiday pumpkin is snowy

from our doorway, car is on the right

from our bedroom right, to the left

outside our bedroom window

taken from upstairs, that is our car, completely covered, on the right

The storm.

Last night there was this awful storm. The winds got up to 85 MPH, which is Category 1 hurricane winds. It hit the hardest around 1:30 AM and knocked the power out. I instantly woke up, Zak slept through it a little bit. But then the thunder and lightning and hail started to come...hard. It was so loud that the only way I could try falling back asleep was to put on my headphones and listening to some relaxation meditation stuff. But just as I was close to drifting off to sleep, Zak's phone started vibrating and he got out of bed. It turns out the security company for Harry Ritchie's wanted to alert Zak that the store had lost power. And needed to tell him that at 2 AM, ugh. By then the storm had mostly passed over, but we were both wide awake. We talked for awhile and eventually Zak drifted off to sleep. It took me longer to fall asleep, and when I did, I slept in small pieces throughout the night.

But the best part was that I had to get up at 6:30 to get to work two hours early for our big One Day sale. We still didn't have power when I got up, so I got to put on minimal make-up and pull my hair back with our flashlight pointed into the mirror. I tried to call work a few times to see if there was power, and if not, would I have to come in. But it seems that right after we left to get to work, the power started coming back on, because lights were on throughout the city. So I got to work on about 3 1/2 hours of sleep and no food. Luckily, someone had brought in bagels and bananas, so I had something to eat.

Oh and today was really busy, all morning. And there was a lady who was on her second day of work so I had to work extra hard. And there were a ton of loud annoying people who seemed to enjoy making me miserable. But I managed to survive (and kick butt, despite it all) and got off work two hours earlier than normal. I tried to take a nap, but it's not going to happen. But at least I'll sleep well tonight, provided there isn't a hurricane outside my window...

The Spark

So this past month I have made some changes. I woke up really early one Sunday morning last month and came downstairs and ended up on the internet. I read some articles and one caught my attention; it was about real people who had lost 50+ pounds and had kept it off for 6 months+, and their tips and resources, etc. One of the people said they got their start on a website called SparkPeople, which helped them lose weight. At first I was pretty skeptical, because how could a website help you lose weight, right? But then I decided I might as well check it out. I had been pretty frustrated with my weight loss then gain week after week. I wasn't really doing anything focused on eating better, or exercising. I'd be 'good' for a week or so and then go out of control, so at this point I was ready for anything.

I spent about 2 hours on the website, reading and entering information and by the time Zak woke up and joined me downstairs, I was sold on it. I first put in my basic information, current weight, height, age, and how much I would like to lose, and when I'd want to do it by. I settled for 30 pounds by next February. I've slowly gained about 20-30 pounds in the past couple of years and it needs to go away. Once I had all my goals and information in, it calculated what I needed to consume daily in order to lose weight. For instance, my calorie range is between 1200 - 1550 each day, the grams of fat is 32 - 56. It also gave me goals for carbs, protein, certain vitamins and minerals, and I can decide what I want to track.

What has been the most helpful for me has been the nutrition tracker. I input what I've eaten, or what I plan to eat for the day, and it tells me how many grams of fat or carbohydrates are in the serving, so I can plan accordingly. There is also a fitness tracker, where I can put in the physical exercises I've done, whether it's been cardio or strength training. I've been trying to go walking more, but for a while it was really cold and rainy outside, so I decided to get an exercise video. Lame, I know, but I figured I had to get some sort of exercise in each week. I settled on NBC's The Biggest Loser Cardio Max dvd, with a 6 week program. So far I've only done the first level's cardio stuff, but I am starting level two tomorrow. It's actually been really good for me, and I feel my muscles getting stronger and aching the day after, so at least I'm doing something!

On SparkPeople I also track my weight and various measurements, like my waist, arms, thighs, hips, chest, or whatever else I want to follow. It has me weighing in weekly, and monthly measuring everything else. I decided to track some emotional wellness things like: energy, stress level, sleep quality and self-esteem. I can customize other goals as well, like drinking at least 8 cups of water a day, or writing in my journal, etc.

There are tons of health articles as well as ones with good tips and facts. So there is a lot of information for almost anything I can think of. I've read tips for eating out, articles about how to stay positive, etc. Oh, and there is a recipe section, of course! And there is a 'recipe calculator', where you can type in your recipe and see the nutritional information for it. That has been a huge resource for me, because I can type in what I want to have for dinner and depending on the numbers, I can plan my other meals around it so I won't go over my goals. I can also play around with some recipes to see how I can make them healthier. I've slowly been adding whole wheat flour in with white flour, and no one has noticed. I've found plain yogurt and unsweetened applesauce good substitutes for butter and oil. I know that's probably a life-altering revelation for some of you readers, but it's made a big difference to me! And so far, everything I've tried has tasted just as delicious as the original recipe, but is less fattening or whatever.

With having this website to report on daily, I've found that my eating habits have changed a fair amount. The biggest problem has been staying within my calorie range, and sometimes I'm discouraged. But then I realize that my goal max is 1550, not 2000, like what the nutrition labels have printed on them. So I'm still eating less than 2000 a day, which is good. I've found that I don't need to snack a lot, and when I want a snack, I can plan out something a bit healthier than a chocolate bar, haha. It's been a lot to keep track of, but I've been doing a pretty good job of it. Zak has been helpful; he's always helping me remember to stay within my limits, and offering to eat my food, hehe. And he says that I look and feel skinnier, so that is encouraging. What's even more encouraging is that the jeans I had to buy in a size larger a few months ago are pretty big on me, and I've been able to wear at least one of the pairs I had grown out of.

It's been hard with the weekly weigh-ins, because the number hasn't gone down as much as I would like it to, but Zak reminds me that I'm building muscle, which is denser/heavier/whatever than fat, so the number on the scale isn't really relevant. I know that, of course, but it's hard to not let it bother me. SparkPeople isn't just a weight loss site, it's a website that is focused on changing and making healthy habits for life. Of course I would like to drop those 30 pounds quickly, on some fad diet (a bunch of people at work have been on this scary diet lately), but I know I need to make some changes that will help me continually, throughout my life. So far it's looking good. I'm a little worried for the holidays, but I will just not let myself go crazy.

Last but not least, I have my own 'spark page' that I write on every now and then, and I'm deciding to share it with you guys. The link can be found by clicking on this link. Or by copying/pasting this into your browser: my.sparkpeople.com/ROZEHARTEN. Tomorrow is the completion of my first month, so I will be measuring everything and recording the changes. I hope it's a good amount! Also if you have or want to join, let's be buddies! It helps to have someone to do this with.

Our 2nd Halloween

Yesterday, Zak reminded me that this was our 2nd Halloween together (as a married couple).  So, whoo, made it to a second holiday!  We had a pretty fun weekend, despite the water issue we encountered yesterday morning.

Friday was the mall trick-or-treating, so we got to dress up for work.  I decided to go as Zak/lumberjack.  I wore his flannel, jeans, green knit beanie, and even slid my shoes into his.  I clumsily walked around all day at work in them, until the last hour, and then proceeded to be really off-balanced.  My manager at work went as the Macy's star.  One of the employees made him a star costume out of red felt.  It was very funny/embarrassing.  I had a great idea for Zak a few days before...a guido (one of those guys from Jersey Shore).  So we got him some awful sunglasses & a shirt from Ross, and some cheap dollar tree bronzer.  I taped fake rhinestone things on his ears and put lip gloss on him.  He kind of fought me the whole way, but I told him over and over how awesome it was going to be.  By the end of the day, he agreed that it had been a great costume.

 pretty perfect, it was hard to get him very orange without taking a marker to his face

 here is a reference picture, for those of you who don't know about guidos..they are terrifying

My shift at work was over right as trick-or-treating started in the mall.  So I headed over to Zak's work and somehow ended up handing out candy for almost 2 straight hours.  But it was ok, the kids were really cute.  My favorite was a little girl in a shark costume with a shark basket for candy!  After that, I ran home to change out of Zak's clothes, and to put on my new cute outfit I got from work.  My friend let me borrow a set of pink cat ears.  So I just wore that with my new dress and tights.  Lame, I know, but it was a cute last-minute costume.  Once Zak was done with work, we went to a party with our friends.  There was a room with some black lights, and we discovered that some of my diamonds fluoresced, which is apparently pretty rare, like only 1% of diamonds do that.  So that was neat, I had about 6 or 7 of them glow in the dark!  Then we came back to our friends' place and watched a Star Trek movie.

 I needed to include a pretty picture of me

Nothing happened on Saturday, except I got sick at work and came home, where Zak nursed me back to health.  Yesterday afternoon was nice, once the water was all cleared out.  I decided to make us caramel apple cider, because I had gotten some at our new favorite place, the European Breakfast House, and had to duplicate it (recipe is here).  It was delicious!  We had done pumpkins on Thursday, when we both had the day off, so they were all lit up for the evening.  I had gotten a bunch of bulk candy from Winco, and we so ready for trick-or-treaters.  We only got a few.  I was kind of sad about it, plus now we had a ton of candy in the house.  So we ended up just watching cool shows on Netflix all night, and made caramel apples.  We have yet to taste them, because we had so much sugar with the cider, but we will eat some today!  All in all, it wasn't a bad Halloween, I just wish more kids had come to get candy.  Well, next year I won't get so much candy...or candy at all!  

 Zak carved our pumpkins, his (left) is a jack-o-lantern, mine (right, duh) is a shark. LOVE it.

 Zak drew most of these, I cut them out!

it doesn't matter that the astronaut isn't 'Halloween-y', it was just cool

our door

this is on our hamster cage