Sickly

Yeah, so much for that whole "better, faster, stronger" comment from Tuesday night. I was feeling really great after that workout...that was until about 3:30Am Thursday. I woke up to a sour stomach that felt like it was in knots. I foolishly thought I could shut my eyes and sleep it off. I was oh so wrong.

I was up at least twice an hour for the next 5 or so hours. It was miserable. I am pretty sure my body was getting rid of absolutely everything in my system at that point. I was finally able to rest for about an hour around 10am. The frequent trips to the bathroom finally stopped completely around noon on Thursday. Then came the body aches.

I attempted a shower around 3pm. That proved to be a bit of a mistake...a bath might have been a better idea. When I got in the shower - I couldn't get the water hot enough. I was so cold. I got through shampoo just fine. I put conditioner in my hair and then went to soap my body. I was completely worn out at this point. I got incredibly hot and light headed. I turned the water to cool, opened the shower curtain a little...nothing seemed to help. I quickly tried to rinse my hair and the soap off, but not quickly enough. I thought for sure I was going to pass out before I could get the water turned off and myself out of the shower. Luckily, that did not happen. I grabbed a towel and sat on the bathroom rug for a few minutes. I sat there freezing until I got some strength back to me. That was enough excitement for me for the day. I spent the rest of the night on the couch or in bed.

Needless to say, I did not get my cross training in yesterday. Today I went to work. I probably should have taken an extra day off to get a little more rest. This would have left my shift incredibly short so I felt guilty. Luckily, we were not too busy so I had time to rest in between patients. Water was my number one priority today as I felt so dehydrated.

No running for me today either. Tomorrow is a scheduled rest day so I will definitely follow that. :) Saturday is another cross training day, but we are moving so I figure that is cross training enough. I am supposed to run in a 5k on Sunday, but my training calls for 5 miles...plus, the weather here is frigid. We will see how moving goes, how I am feeling, and how the weather is. That race may not happen for me.

I hope the stomach bug, flu, whatever it was stays away from everyone else. It sucks!

Holy catch up!!

Five months without blogging. How did that happen?? Where does the time go?? I will do a fairly brief catch up post and then probably go into more detail on the individual things. Otherwise, this post might take hours to write and read.

Here we go....

-To start, I will say that we are still living with the inlaws.

-Justin and I are both still very happy to be back in Columbia. And we are both really liking our
new jobs.

-The month of May was fairly uneventful. We went to a lot of my little brother's baseball games. It's great being back and barely missing a game.

-June was a bit more eventful, I guess.
--We went to St. Louis for a weekend anniversary get-a-way. It was very nice (pics to come in a later post.
--I had an impromptu reuniting with some very close friends. Unfortunately, it was not
under good circumstances. One of my very bestfriend's mom lost her battle with cancer.
--We made a trip to Kansas City to watch the Cardinals and Royals play baseball. That was a
good time because it was a reuniting with friends under much better circumstances.
--We watched a ton of little league baseball in the month of June as well.

-July....
--We housesat for my mom for a week (EXCITING STUFF, PEOPLE! :)). As little of a detail
as that seems - it was great to stay a week away from the in-law's house. I am sure they
appreciated having their house to themselves for a week as well.
--I visited my pal Abbey and her family at the Lake of the Ozarks for the 4th of July. It's
always a lot of fun with Abbey and her fam. Good people.
--I began the south beach diet towards the end of July. I am still on it...and this will definitely
have its own dedicated post.

-The only big thing that happened in August was that I started on the evening shift and started
taking call at work. I miss being on days, but I have to work my way up the ladder.

-September was, of course, the beginning of football season. We also house and child sat for my
dad and stepmom a week in September. My little brother is 12 so it was kind of training for the
day we decide to have children...kind of.

That has brought us to now. That's where my time has gone in a nutshell.

I wonder if anyone has noticed my absence from blogging. I also wonder if anyone will notice that I am back to blogging. Leave a comment if you are reading this to let me know that/if someone is actually still interested.

Edit: UGH, I see blogger still sucks at formatting. Sorry for the wacky format here.

Update..

Once again, I have done a horrible job at blogging over the last month or so. I don't feel like I have anything excited to talk about. Plus, my camera only works 1/2 the time so I don't take many pictures to upload here. I know that I enjoy posts from other people with pics so I am sure the few times I do update - they are probably pretty boring to everyone because the content is generally boring plus there are no pics.

So the last month...

-We have watched my little brother play baseball a lot this spring. I am so happy to be back in Columbia so that we can catch most of his games. They are all 10 or 11 years old and they are really fun to watch. They are starting to understand the game much better and they are getting pretty skilled at their specific positions. It's much more fun than a couple of years ago when there were kids who didn't have a clue. Rian pitches quite a bit, which I love to watch. He is doing so well. I hope that he keeps it up because I think he is going to continue to grow into a great player.

-We are still living with the in-laws. It's not ideal for anyone involved, but it's going pretty well. We definitely can't complain.

-My job is going very well. I am learning a ton each day. I have been told multiple times that I am learning very quickly and that they are impressed with how well I have done so far. I feel great about that, obviously. After my first week, I never thought I would get to a point where I feel so comfortable so quickly. I am very happy with this switch. And after a budget meeting earlier this week, it seems that MRI is one of the few sub-departments in radiology that are doing well. So, at the moment, my job is not in jeopardy. That's some great peace of mind to have.

-Justin's job is going well also. He does a lot of gopher work still. He is slowly working his way into doing more cases. He goes to a week long training in May. After that training, I think he will be better equipped to start selling some of the orthopaedic implants. He is doing a great job so far and I am really proud of him.

-Our 2 year wedding anniversary is in just over a month. Some days it seems like there is no way we could be married for that long...and other days it feels like we have been married for 10 years. We are also just a couple of weeks away from our 8 year dating anniversary. We don't have plans for our anniversary yet. I think we will probably just do something fairly low-key again this year. Last year we spent the night in a hotel in KC...we went to dinner, went to a comedy club, and out for a couple of drinks afterwards. Nothing too exciting. We do, however, plan to go to St. Lucia next year for our anniversary. I really hope that we are actually able to swing that. We definitely need a trip away just the two of us...and to a beach, my request. :)

So that's our exciting life in a nut shell.

And speaking of my less than par functioning camera...does you have any recommendations for a good point and shoot camera??

Motivation? Where did you go??

I have had next to no motivation over the last 3 weeks or so. When I had a couple of weeks off in between jobs - I was tracking every bit (almost every bit) of food that went in my mouth, going to the gym 4-5 times each week, and getting things done. That makes sense because I had a ton of time.

However, in my previous job I had a routine. I made time to track my food and I made time to hit the gym. I am still trying to find that groove and that routine in my new job. Granted, I this is only the beginning of my fourth week. I just think it's about time I get back into the gym routine.

On top of going to the gym, I need to get back on top of my eating habits. Yesterday Justin and I had Chinese buffet...and I had Chinese Tuesday and Friday last week (because work people were ordering that). And tonight he is bringing us home Chipotle. Oye, not good!!

Needless to say, my new year's resolution of running 500 miles this year has gone to the back burner until I can find my routine.

At this time I am asking everyone to keep an eye out for my motivation..it's seriously missing. Thanks! :)

I'm alive!

Eeek. Sorry for the lack of blogging. I am still trying to find a routine now that I am working the day shift (for a bit..and then I will be back on evenings).

We are still transitioning from our house in KC to our in-laws in Columbia. It's a gradual process. And we are very lucky to have family here in Columbia to offer us places to stay. It's tough to be 25 and moving back in with our parents, but we are very fortunate to have the option.

I am about to start the 3rd week of my new job. It's going well. It is a lot of new information since I was doing x-ray and now I am doing MRI. The very first day in the MRI department I was definitely on information overload. I was very overwhelmed, but each day gets a little bit better. I actually meant to blog about my first day of work that evening because I figured I could look back on it and laugh about how overwhelmed I was. Needless to say, that didn't happen. But, believe me, I was incredibly overwhelmed and a little freaked out about taking on such a new modality.

Other than learning our new jobs and being back in our hometown...not much has been going on. My little brother's baseball season starts in 2 weeks and we are very excited for that. I am so happy to be back in town so that we can go to his sporting events. All in all, things here in Columbia are going well. We are very happy to be closer to our families.

I will do my best to keep up with this blog a bit better as things calm down and I get into a routine. I say the same thing about my gym routine also. Ha. :)

And the best news of all - it's almost spring!!

See ya later!

I had this whole post thought out in my head to write yesterday. Today was my last day of work...

At this time last night, I thought I was a-ok with that. I thought I might shed a few tears, but I never expected to be completely heart broken and for it to be so tough.

Even driving into work - I was cool with it being my last day. I was thinking, "yeah, I can do this. Bring it!"

I walked in and went straight to human resources so that I could get my immunization records and discuss rolling over my retirement to the new job. When I walked into my department, a bunch of my coworkers were there to "surprise" me with goodies and food. It was so nice of them. I managed to hold it together through everyone talking about my last day.

I quickly learned that I did not prepare myself for the types of feelings that I felt today. I was not prepared to hear how much I would be missed. I was not prepared for tight hugs that I knew were coming from the heart. I was not prepared to be missed by my favorite cafeteria lady that I saw everyday...and who I might not ever see again. I was not prepared to think about possibly never seeing some of my coworkers ever again. I was not prepared to clock out for the last time at that hospital.

Even more than all of that - I was not prepared to say goodbye to the coworkers who I consider good friends...and a couple my best friends, even. Some of these people I went to college with. Some of them were there when I was a student and when I became a full time tech. And some of them came in between.

This was the first place I worked where I was putting my major to use. I started as a student and was hired post-graduation. I only worked there for 4 years, but those 4 years were very important in my life.

I created bonds with those people. We would hang out after work. I could vent about life to them and they could do the same to me. We could fight one day and make up easily the next like nothing happened. I am going to miss them all so much.

I know that I want to be in Columbia...there is no question about that. It does not, however, make it any easier to leave the life that I have had for the last 4 years (at my job/hospital) and 7 years (since I moved to this city after high school). I am so excited for the next chapter in my life, but it's a bittersweet feeling.

If I could transplant my hospital and friends into Columbia - I would be in heaven. Obviously, that's me living in a fantasy world.

Life is about the changes and challenges. I am ready to face them full steam ahead. That's why I left work today saying "see ya later" and not "goodbye." I know I will see many of them again..and keep in touch with the majority of them. They all know that my journey started there and they understand that this is what is best for me. It's great to have their support as difficult as it is.

**And I want to apologize if this post is jumbled, rambling mess. It's hard to put into words the many different feelings that I have gone through in the last couple of weeks...and specifically the last couple of days.

Resolution follow up...

It's the second month of 2010 so I figured I should do a little follow up to the resolutions I set mid-way through January.

1. I am on my way to finishing the couch to 5k running program. I did week 6, day 1 tonight. So far so good. I should have no problem finishing by my birthday. And I definitely need some new scrubs so that is great motivation.

2. I haven't started the 30 day shred yet. That will come soon enough. I have until June 1st to finish that so I have some time.

3. This is the BIG one. I got offered a job in Columbia today. And it's a WONDERFUL job. It's MRI which will be some new training in a different modality of radiology. I am so excited about this, but I am also sad to be leaving the job that I have had for the last 4-5 years...and the people I have developed relationships with here in KC for the last 7 years that I have lived here. However, I will be moving back to my family which I cannot begin to explain how happy I am about that.

4. I am surviving the distance between Justin and myself right now. Luckily, I only have a couple of more weeks to survive the distance. And then at that point, my focus will be on surviving living with the 'rents for a bit, renting our house, and everything that goes along with those two things.

5. I have been tracking my mileage on on sparkpeople.com so I can see if I make it to 500 miles in 2010. So far, I am at 17.39 miles for the year. That is not 10 miles a week like I was hoping for, but I know as the year goes on I will up my mileage so some weeks I will have more than 10/week.

6. We are slowly, but surely working on our credit card debt. Not much to update there.

7. I did not blog at all last week so I think that means I have failing at the whole blogging 3x/week thing. I will keep working on this also. :) I am sure I will have a lot to blog about as I start the transition of moving back to my hometown and starting a brand new job. I can hope so anyway, right?? :)

So proud of my hubby!

As I mentioned in my last post - Justin just accepted a job in our hometown (Columbia, MO). Like I said, we are super excited, nervous, scared, happy, and many more emotions all rolled into one.

Justin just wasn't completely satisfied with his position as an x-ray tech for the last couple of years. With each passing day, he seemed to become more and more unhappy with his job. It was pretty clear that he needed a change. On top of that - we wanted to be able to move back to our hometown in the near future.

An opportunity presented itself a few months ago (probably 4 or 5 months ago was when it was first mentioned). It has been a slow moving process, but Justin has made the trip back and forth to Columbia countless times for interviews, meetings, gatherings, etc. for this job. All of that traveling has paid off. He accepted the position last week. He will be in orthopedic sales.

Unfortunately, we purchased our house just 16 months ago. So now is not a good time to put it on the market. We don't have enough equity to make money. We would actually probably lose a large amount of money at this point if we attempted to sell. That is our first dilemma in this major change in our lives. Our hope at this point is that Justin's best friend and his wife will rent the house from us while she finished chiropractic school. That would give us some more time to hopefully allow the market to turn back around in our favor.

On top of that - x-ray jobs are pretty hard to come by in the mid-west in general...let alone in Columbia. As of right now, there are zero x-ray jobs for me to apply to. So I will be keeping my job in KC until I can find something in Columbia.

This is where the anxiety comes in. Justin and I have never lived farther than across town from each other (in high school) or across campus (in college). We will now live about 2 hours apart. This is temporary, but it still freaks me out. It all kind of hit me this weekend. I will be living on my own for a few months. Eeeek!! To any local friends reading this - you are welcome to stay the night at any time. :)

Justin will be staying with his parents at least until we sell the house. We haven't thought too far in advance as we are taking this transition one day at a time.

I am so incredibly proud of Justin. He has taken all the necessary steps to getting us back to our hometown. He has worked very hard to get this position.

Please send your well wishes our way as we begin this journey.

Crazy lady!

For those who don't know, I am an x-ray tech. My job requires that I put people in positions that might hurt whatever injury they are getting an x-ray for. There is typically no way around this part of my job. I do my best to get creative so that I can get the shots I need without hurting my patients too much. Again, sometimes I just can't do much and I have to BRIEFLY make these patients mad by putting them in pain.

Along with that side of my job, I also have to add that I see all types of people. My patients come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and ages. It's kind of cool to meet all these different types of people.

Now that I have set the stage I will give you one of my craziest stories since being an x-ray tech. I am sure if I thought long and hard, I could come up with something better. However, this story is just too funny not to blog about.

Tonight, an order came across for bilateral (both sides) hip x-rays on a lady who is 105 years old. Let me just say that this is only the 2nd oldest person that I have had as a patient...the oldest was 112. I kid you not.

The 105 year old woman's family was very nice and let me know that her hearing was just about 100% shot. She had hearing aids, but at the point they were just not working. They told me that she fell (what exactly was she doing to fall?? I wanted to ask, but didn't). They said that they weren't sure which hip was actually hurting her. She was just complaining of hip pain, but she couldn't hear/understand what they were asking when they inquired about which hip hurt. No big deal...the doctor orders both sides.

We get her on the x-ray table no problem. We do the first few pictures without having to move her much. Things are going great. I start positioning her for an x-ray that I have to bend one of her legs and move it a bit. She of course let me know that it hurt. I attempted to apologize and explain that we had to get these pictures so that the doctor could figure out why she was in pain. Of course, she couldn't hear me so she really had no clue what was going on.

After I moved her a bit more and she continued to tell me how it hurt....wait for it...she reached up and smacked me across the face. It wasn't with much force because, well, she was 105 years old. I would still like to give it the title of a bitch slap. I got bitched slapped by a 105 year old woman. Oh how I love my job. It was hilarious at the time and I still chuckle thinking about it.

That's one of my crazy work stories. What kind of crazy work stories do you have?

4x's a week for 3 weeks.

I have really gotten out of any sort of routine at the gym. I was going on a fairly regular basis and my motivation has since fizzled.

Justin's cousin is getting married in 3 weeks so I figure that's a good time frame for my re-entry into the gym rat life. And by gym rat, I mean I will go to the gym 4 times a week for the next three weeks. I am sure that doesn't really constitute a gym a rat, but it's self proclaimed.

I don't really have a weight loss goal or results goal for the next three weeks. I just want to stick to a routine of 4 days a week. If I see results over that time frame, then that's icing on the cake.

Justin and I recently purchased a scale that measures % body fat. I am not sure how accurate it is since it cost us $6 a liquidators store. It's all that I've got to go on at this point. Accurate or not, I DO NOT like the number that it is giving me these days. It says I have 30% body fat. That completely disgusts me.

A couple of years ago (when I had a trainer), I was 17%. To think that I am up 13% from that time is really eye opening. I wasn't even 30% when I started with my trainer.

30% body fat for a female my age is high so my goal is to reduce that number. Ideally, I would like to see my % body fat at about 20-23%. I hope that as I see my % body fat decrease, I will also see my measurements decrease and my weight decrease. And even better, I hope to see my jeans fit a little better.

My % body fat is about the only measurement having to do with my weight that I feel comfortable sharing on the web. I will, however, track my weight and measurements on my own for the next 3 weeks to see how things go. I will keep my blog updated with my % body fat in case you are interested.

In other news...tomorrow starts a trial run at work for 4 10 hour shifts. I am very excited about this. My shift will now be 1230pm-11pm. It should not be too bad. I normally work 2pm-10:30pm so I am used to the morning being my time to get things done. Although my morning time to get things done is being reduced a bit, I will have a whole extra day off each week to get things done. I have one 3 day weekend a month, which I am really excited about.

Just like my 4x's a week gym schedule, this working 4 days a week at work is just a 3 week trial. We are testing it out to see if it works for everyone and to see if we can work out the kinks. I am very hopeful that it will work, but I am trying not to get my hopes up.