“Me Time” at Hotel Valley Ho – VH Spa

Every person needs some “me” time, whether it be a mom, dad, a significant other or even teenager!  You work all day, deal with people and just need a little time to yourself.  Rob’s “me time” is cycling or Mountain Biking, mine is painting (which I haven’t done in forever), Reading (which is impossible sometimes) and going to the Spa Happy Hours that the Spa at Hotel Valley Ho puts on. Let me explain:

So, about every month or two the Spa will showcase one of the product lines they carry – some have included Moroccan Oil, Priori, PinoNatural Spa Therapy and the one that happened yesterday was FarmHouse Fresh.

FarmHouse Fresh is a company that carries a line of beauty products that are 90-99% all natural and smell amazing. Most of their stuff is Vegan/Gluten Free and Paraben & Sulfate Free.  You really need to try them out! I own Fluffy Bunny, and it smells like marshmallows! 

The Spa Parties are 3 mini sessions that you can choose from (out of 5 or 6 options)  on the HotelsSpa reservation site, or by calling. The choices can be things like: facial, foot scrubs, arm scrubs, arm massage, scalp massage, paraffin treatments, Polish changes or makeup applications.  I usually go with facials and arm treatments- they are my favorite =)

The best part of the whole thing is that it is super affordable! It’s 25$ for the mini sessions, plus you get a 20$ gift certificate to the spa shop where you can purchase one of the showcased products, plus you get a goody bag filled with awesome samples and treat AAANNNDDDD you get cocktails! Who doesn’t love cocktails?

Everyone should sign up next time, it is awesome to hang out, chat and mingle! When you get the email blast you better hurry because there are only 40 spots each time and they fill-up in like a day!  Let me know if you are interested and I will let you know when the next one is. 

Here are some of FarmHouse Freshs' products! They were voted Oprah's Favorite things 2007!

more products! 

Drink of the night: Tea forte infused Vodka with Watermelon Juice and a splash of Basil! It was so good

This was my splurge with the 20$ certificate! I already had some of the FHF products! I love Butter London Nail Polish! 

More like Muscle Failure!

OMG! What was I thinking? So, I have been wanting to go to the classes that MountainSide Fitness offers, and what do I do? I pick THE hardest class! I made Rob go with me, so it was much easier to keep motivated even though i wanted to walk out so many times. Ha!

I thought it was going to be a “toning” class, as in lifting light weights for many reps. NOPE! It was like doing a Jillian Michaels get ripped in 30 DVD only for an HOUR! The first 30 min were just squats and lunges, which seemed like it was never going to end. EVER! The rest of the 30 min was arm work and core, which I am much better at, because it seems that I have ZERO leg strength.  I know this because I am sitting here three days later still in pain, and it kills when I sit down or stand up.

Guess what? I am going back on Sunday! Especially since I had Monday and Tuesday off from the Gym, mainly due to Monday having last minute Mouth Surgery (ok, I had four fillings replaced and one of them had a cavity, but still I feel like I was punched in the face)  and Tuesday was a “me” evening coming in my next post =) Oh and another reason I want to continue to do squats? Well I am pretty sure you saw the MTV VMA’s…. enough said. 

Cheat Meals.... More like HELL Meals....

Why are they called cheat meals??? They are not a “treat” or a “delight” for that matter! They are effing torture! This is the first time I have really and I mean REALLY stuck to a healthy diet of no crap and or processed foods (ones that I can control).

Last night I decided that I was going to “treat” myself to what Lena and rob were having- French fries! My absolute FAVORITE… not so much anymore.  Everyone has seen those “food baby” pictures, and if you haven’t Google them, its gross. I didn’t think I would get one from only after a week of eating healthy, but boy was I wrong. I have never had so much pain in my stomach! My stomach was so hard and I felt like I could not move. When I laid down it was worse and it was so uncomfortable. I decided to maybe help it out that I would try and drink a glass of water to maybe help, IDK I was in a panic.

This morning I felt better, but I am for SURE not going to do that again until I am ready for the consequences! 

Positivity all the Way around!

493 Days Left!

Sorry that I have been silent the last couple of days. Literally since I posted the “I give myself 500 days” comment, that same day Rob got some awesome news and I got some two days later. We (well I can’t) can’t really talk about it, because of certain reasons but, hopefully if I keep my fingers crossed there will be some major changes next month!

Another positive that happened today was that my old manager told me she could tell I was losing weight. I was super happy because I am super bloated and de not feel well. Trying to see the positives can be a hard thing to do, especially when you don’t always feel good about yourself. I did do a little self tanning for the first time in YEARS with tanning lotion (melanoma approved lol). So that makes me feel good. I like looking a little tan!

I am super tired, because Lena has decided that she is going to continue this phase of waking up in the middle of the night (waaayyyy less now since we got her the twin bed) and want us to cuddle with her. She is going to really hate me this weekend since I have 4 days off and we are doing the following: 1.Potty Training and 2. Sleeping in our own bed no matter what!

Hopefully it will go well! 

My Little Lena! 

500 Days - and an Update!

500 Days- that how many days I give myself to reach my Goal! It seemed like a good round number and about a year and a half. Which is kind of when we wanted to get pregnant again, or try. I might not blog everyday, but I will try and work on it everyday that’s for sure!

I know I have not blogged lately, and I do feel bad that I have not been writing lately. A lot has been going on in my life that I didn’t know if I wanted to share ore not. I walked a 5K with my friend Liz this weekend, and was telling her everything that was going on, and she suggested I share as a therapeutic situation as well as something to read and maybe learn from. So here it goes… again.

The last 4 months or so I have not been feeling well and in a real funk, have been working out regularly and eating very well. I was retaining 6-7 pounds of water weight on any given day, which was so uncomfortable and I could tell it was happening. My lips were swollen and I started having anxiety attacks with heart pain. It felt like a 5 year old was sitting on my chest and all I wanted to do was rip my clothes off. I would cry, yell (imagine your husband and daughter having to watch), I would have to leave places or rooms or anywhere I was and go somewhere I felt ok. I went to the doctor and he said I should take the anxiety meds, which ended up making me tired and not making the pain or swelling go away.  I went back, he then ordered a kidney check, or was it my neurologist that did….eh I cant remember, my Kidneys are great. (that’s a plus right?) Well mister Kidney Doctor said that he thinks it is my heart. Excuse me? yes. My heart, doesn't know what, but could be heart.  He thinks that because my heart rate is super low and normal blood pressure is 80/45 (they triple checked since I am over weight and joked they thought my heart and arm fell asleep), that I am retaining water , which is probably also around my heart and thus causing part of the attacks. Sweet! So then my doctor made a call to the cardiologist, who pretty much said the same things and scheduled another appointment for  a stress test and Echo-cardiogram and some other crap.  Ironically they said it is not my weight or eating habits, because I showed her my log and she saw my weight fluctuations, and was not happy. She said otherwise I am super healthy and hopefully it will just be a metabolic issue, and maybe upping my diuretic dosage I am already taking.  Fingers crossed x (those are two fingers)

People who really know me know I tend to over exaggerate or under exaggerate to deflect issues or what is really going on, but I can assure you I have been in pain. Just not saying anything, Rob has known, some people have been supportive some people have rolled their eyes, whatever. All I know is that I am 29 years old and I am scared and have a little girl to be around for. So I will try and use this as an outlet.

I am glad Liz talked me into it, especially after what happened. The 5k I mentioned…. Well we started running and .25 into it I started getting pain and burning in my heart and lungs and started having blood come up ¾ of the whole 5k. She is awesome because she walked it with me. It was amazing having her there as support and not feeling awkward and someone to talk to. I just kept spitting up or swallowing that crap, it was an amazing taste as you can imagine. It still hurts and I still don’t feel well, so I am glad I am going next week.

Neon Anyone??

So I am pretty excited. I committed to run with an old sorority sister in the Neon Run on May 11^th at the Salt River Talking Stick Fields. This is exciting two fold because 1. This would be the first time running/slothing without Rob and 2. I haven’t seen her in like 10 years! So that’s super fun! I follow her two blogs (1. and 2.) and she is pretty awesome and has really changed her whole body and attitude, all while keeping it real!  She like me is married and also has a almost two year old, named Emma. (Lena and Emma are only a month apart) So I am pretty nervous! I hope she will have fun, and I plan on making a it a goal to run the whole thing.

I have a couple of health things going on, that I am putting at the back of my mind until I actually get results, but I hope it gets better. Soon! They have kind of really demotivated me from how I was doing, and even my co-works have noticed me “stress” eating, which I am apparently a huge fan of. Lisa said she will take sneaky pics everyday and show me weekly PowerPoint presentations to disgust me and tell me I suck.  The health issues suck as well as some work stuff that I really cannot take anymore, but have to power through.

I have decided to do two a day workouts. Yeah, that’s right TWO-A-DAY’s. I am going to do Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 in the AM with Robbie Rob (yeah babe get ready) and then while he gives Lena a bath at night do a quick 25 min session with the Treadmill, or they can both watch, that way we can watch Whitney (that is why I said 25 min, because that’s Hulu time).

This day has really been dragging, and I am not the only one who thinks so. I need to go shopping tonight due to family coming over for dinner tomorrow.

OH and PS. My brother is now DIV 2National NCAA champion of the 1000m freestyle! Pretty kick to the ASS! So proud of that little shit! 

Mulligan ….. for the last 30 days

I feel like these last t30 days have been a total disaster, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I was sick the whole month of February, Lena was getting all of her 2 year molars in at once, and to really top it off, we thought we had to put Lexi (one of our amazing dogs) down yesterday. It has been a roller-caster of emotions and so many times I just wanted this nightmare to just stop. A lot of other things just kept pilling up and adding to the stress, but those were the sprinkles on the Sunday.  So many times I just wanted to throw in the Towel and say “eff it” and wanted to just run away. I know everyone gets those moments, especially when you are sleep deprived and are not happy the way your life is going.

It started a few days before my birthday, when Lexi just started looking down and stopped eating. At first it was just the dry food and cookies, but then it became the wet food and eventually chicken breast. It has been like this the last 3 weeks. My dog lost 11 pounds in 5 days one week. We had been taking her to the vet twice a week to figure out what was wrong, and she got diagnosed with a Thyroid issue, low grade Valley Fever and some bacterial thing. Well the eating did not come back. Yesterday I took her to the vet because she didn’t even want to walk and was so weak, I was fully thinking we would have to put her down. The doctor toyed with the Idea as well, but first wanted to do an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed what could either be a bleeding ulcer or stomach cancer. Right now we are hoping for the Ulcer and are treating her for it. The thing that gets me is that if she has stomach cancer it would be the EXACT same my dad had, and died from. I just want my little big Lexi to get better and be happy again, she is after all our “muffin”.

With all the sickness, stress, sleepless nights (thanks Lena ;)) I have found ZERO motivation to workout or lose weight. Actually I gained like 2 pounds, and I know it is all stress and water related. This week I will get back on the bandwagon and work out, especially since I just signed Rob and myself up for Pat’s Run!

The next 30 days, I promise to make them better and not get so down and really work on the life we deserve and not create. 

Last part of the crazy 2 weeks!

1. 5k
2. Trip

3. Sickness

4. Weight loss!

So as I sit here eating some form of cookie dough blast 2.0 ice cream, I have some exciting news. No I am not one of the 1000 people that seem to be pregnant, so get rid of that idea right now! My news is way better, for me at least! Over the past month or during all of January I have lost 10 pounds! 10 pounds! Super exciting!

No crash dieting or diet pills, just good old fashion eating better, working out and trying to be healthier. I really want to loose like 80 more, yeah I know 80lbs sounds huge, but I would also me happy with 50 or 60! I think I might keep a little ticker on the side to keep myself accountable. 

Something I am going to change a little, is my commitment to MyFitness Pal. I really need to get better about tracking my food, because so many times I wake up thinking “why has the scale not moved? I didn’t eat anything today that was bad or crazy?!” I have to remember that even “healthy” eating has calories. I have to remind myself it is al relative. To be honest I have been eating a lot of ice cream lately with rob at night and that totally has to stop. Yikes! Also, when I get enough courage I will post my starting weight, current and goal weight. I mean no one reads this thing anyway, but I am still a little hesitant.

That treadmill is also calling my name, but I really have been to weak and sick to use it. =(  I am going to try this weekend! I have a lot of things going on this weekend, so I hope I can get that done.

Alright guys have a good night!

Crazy last two weeks! Part Deux!

So I am breaking my last two weeks up into multiple posts, because so much happened! The first one was about my first 5K and is here. Numbers  two and 3 and be really written together,since they happened at the same time lol.

1. 5k
2. Trip
3. Sickness
4. Weight loss!

So! My amazing little brother, Mark, is graduating from college in May, but because it is super expensive to travel to San Antonio during that time, and with Lena being 2 at that time means extra cost for flying =(. So, that being said we decided to take Southwest up on their offer on the 3-day sale and got a smoking deal for January! I am so happy Mark understands and gets that we had to do it this way, but he knows how proud I am of the future DENTIST!

So 48 hours before we left for San Antonio, Lena thought it would be the perfect time to get sick with an upper respiratory situation!SWEET! The first couple days of the trip were loaded with Mucinex and the Nebulizer with Albuterol! Thank the Airline Gods, because we got lucky, and there was always an open seat! BOTH WAYS!

While there we shopped and saw some cool things, hung out at my bothers house, saw the Alamo, went on a night time “Princess” horse carriage ride and chilled in the room. By Brothers House! Ha! OMG so funny, especially since 5 boys live together and it looks like that too! It actually makes me miss college, and not having responsibilities. However I taught them a few things while we were there! 1. How to cook in a crock-pot 2. How to open a Beer Bottle with a lighter (amateurs)  3. That they should always have protected sex, otherwise they will end up with a Lena! All the most important things in life. =) It was totally nice to get away and have some fun. I was stressful, because Lena was super sick and I started getting super sick. I think rob was getting a little frustrated with the mucus fest,but who can blame him right?

We did have one awkward situation happen to us. You know how you would do anything for your child when they are sick to make them happy?!Even if it means turning the extra walk in closet into “Lena’s room” by putting her car seat in there, covering it with a blanket, setting up a box as a “table”and hanging the potable DVD player from the Ironing board? I mean she though tit was cool and the whole week she kept going in there and saying “my room” or “ok bye mama and papa, my room” and even making me serve her food in “her room”. Weeeellllllll………so room service came one day to drop off some food we ordered, and Lena had closed the door and was trying to open it to get out and see who came by, and it sounded like she was locked in there on purpose. The room service guy gave me this really weird look and we both looked at the door, back at each other,and I yelled” well if you didn’t close the door on yourself this would not have happened” then I looked back at the guy and said “yeah, we Harry Pottered’ her!”he kind of gave this nervous laugh and took the check and left. I seriously though CPS was going to come LMAO! OMG!  Haha it was so funny! Well here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

Oh and to top it off I have Laryngitis!

Lena in her "Room"

Mark, Lena and Lana!

Lena watching her "Princess" ride

Little Model

Seymore the Horse

The Alamo by Rob

The Alamo by Rob

On the way home

Crazy last two weeks! Part 1

Hey everyone, sorry I have been MIA. However, I have much to go over! I am going to have to split these post up, because it is just too much to go over! So here comes number one!
1. 5k
2. Trip
3. Sickness
4. Weight loss!

So! I am so super proud of myself because I finished a 5K! A FREAKING 5K! Almost everyone that i talked to about the 5K said things like "you can walk it right?” or “Really, you think you can do it?”  Which is totally understandable since the last time I had to run a long distance was in HS and had to run the mile, or when one of my best friends Gigi (follow her blog! she is an AMAZING Stylist)made me freaking do run/walk sets to lose weight. What I am mostly proud of is that I set myself a goal and said I would do it no matter what. It was my thing and no one was going to tell me otherwise. I asked Gigi if she wanted to do it with me and her reply was “fuck no!” which is hilarious, because if you saw her you would wonder why not, especially since she is in AMAZING shape! Frick! Then I TOLD my husband that he HAD to do it with me. Like he really had a choice?!
I started training by running a little here and there and mostly walking on my treadmill to get my stamina up, since my number one priority was to first walk more than for 5 min. Then I got an awesome gift from my in-laws: The Forerunner 210 with heart-rate monitor! LOVE THIS THING! I track everything on Daily Mile, which you can see all the way at the bottom of this Blog and follow me!

The most amazing part about the 5K is that on the day of the COLOR RUN, it was pouring, and I mean like dumping on us, without avail. It was the worst. Rob looked and me and said are you sure you want to do this? I said “Shit Yes! I signed up for it, paid for it your parents donated towards it and I made it MY GOAL!” It was not easy, but I did it and it was the best experience of my life! I was so proud for not giving up and quitting, when so many people did. The extra 20 pounds of wet clothes totally did not help, and that I was freezing didn’t really bother me.

I am so happy for all the people in my life that texted me and FB’d me, telling me how proud they were of me that I finished. Thank you so much to my Husband who totally did not want to run on that rainy day and still did it, whilst voluntarily wearing bright neon socks so that “he could match me”.

Our Gear!

My next 5K is the Retro Run! Its March 2^nd in downtown Scottsdale, Lena will be joining me in the stroller this time!

After!