A trip to the "Puppy Park"

Well, spring sprung in Milwaukee today. Of course my pessimistic boyfriend kept reminding me that it's just temporary, it will get cold and snow again. But I prefer to remain optimistic! It only gets warmer from here :)

To celebrate our 50 degreeish day, we decided to take Kermy to the puppy park. There is a park near the airport that we usually take him to for some legal off-leash time. It's set back from the road, is fairly large (enough to take about a half hour to make a loop through), and completely fenced. To sum today's trip up in one word, I would say this: MUDDY!

On the way in to the park, a man looked at our white bodied dog and said, "Whoa, have fun washing him!" We planned to bathe him today anyway so went in with an open mind. Kerm had a ton of fun, but our white dog was brown on his underside when we left!

He is clean and smelling fresh again now, thank goodness! It was a beautiful day, though, I'm glad I was able to share it with those I love :)

What's for dinner? Homemade Pizza!

Let me preface this post by saying that this meal is NOT diet friendly! Unless you are a person who is satisfied by eating one piece of pizza. But, this is a quick and easy meal to make for a family and is way more fun than driving to the local pizza place to pick one up :)

Here's what you will need:
1 loaf of frozen bread dough
Spaghetti sauce (or pizza sauce but spaghetti sauce is great and cheaper!)
Shredded Cheese (2-4 cups)- I like Mozzarella and Cheddar
Toppings of choice
2 tbsp butter, margarine, or cooking spray
Canola or Olive oil

1) The first thing you will need to do is thaw the bread dough and let it rise. To do this, just coat the dough lightly in oil (I like canola) and place it in a pan, covered with plastic wrap (ensure that the piece is large enough so the dough may expand without being exposed to air - if your dough is exposed to air while rising you will get large air bubbles in the dough!)

2) Prepare a round pizza pan by coating with melted butter (for a buttery crust) or spray with cooking spray.

3)The dough will rise in about 4-5 hours to be double the size it began. At this point you can begin to try to stretch the dough to cover the bottom of the pizza pan. This will take time, be patient! You will need to stretch the dough and give it time to relax between - just walk away for a minute and come back to it, stretch it, then walk away again!

4) Once stretched, cover the dough with sauce, then cheese, then any other toppings you wish. I have, in the past, coated the crust with dried herbs which is quite nice. Broccoli is one of my favorite pizza toppings, I would highly recommend it. If you do choose to make a broccoli pizza, put the broccoli under the cheese as if it is on top it will burn. This is a really fun activity for kids - they can dress up their part of the pizza as they want!

5) Once pizza is topped as you wish, place it in a 375 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes. Check back on it frequently once it nears the 20 minute point - you want it to be golden brown with a slight browning of the cheese.

6) Let the pizza set for about 5 minutes before cutting. Then cut and enjoy!

Giveaway: Win a bar of soap of your choice from Kelle's Kitchen!!

It's my first giveaway! The rules are simple:

1) Go to my Etsy shop and choose the bar of soap you would like to win (if chosen).
2) Come back here and leave a comment on this post regarding which bar of soap you would like to win. Don't forget to leave your email address so I can get in touch with you if you win!

Contest ends on 2/11/09 at 5 pm CST. I will choose a winner with a random number generator and contact the winner that evening - you win the bar that YOU chose if selected! Yay!

The Battle of the Bulge Commences

I am going to lose weight and I'm dragging you all along with me! I am a bit embarrassed to be doing this "publicly," normally I'm a bit shy about my personal struggles and only share them with people very close to me, but I want this weight loss to stick this time so I feel that the more people who know what's up the more accountable I will be!

Here's the deal, in a nutshell. In high school I weighed about 155 lbs, and of course since it was high school I could eat whatever I wanted and never gained a pound. I became a vegetarian when I was 15 as well and didn't take the time to figure out cooking so ate a lot of side dishes. When I went to college I was stuck with dorm food for 2 years and all of the vegetarian dishes (aside from the salad bar) were chock full of cheese (I went to the University of Wisconsin, so of course it was!). I gained about 30-40 pounds in those years.

Prior to starting Medical School I decided enough was enough and got my act together. I limited my caloric intake and started exercising more frequently and got my weight down to 150 lbs! I was doing yoga, pilates, cardio, I joined a gym, I was eating more healthy than I ever had before and I felt GREAT! It was one of the first times that I actually felt pretty comfortable in my own skin.

It was easy during the first two years of Med school, all I had to do was attend class and study all the time, I could work most everything around when I wanted to go to the gym and get groceries and cook! But once 3rd year started and I was in the hospital all the time and traveling to be with Coll every other weekend I found it hard to keep up with my healthy lifestyle. Slowly things started to slip. I did ok for a long while, even if I was eating unhealthy choices I would eat smaller amounts. But slowly my weight started creeping up again. By the beginning of 4th year I was probably in the low 170's, before the interview season started I was in the mid to upper 170's and with the combo of the holidays and traveling/being wined and dined for interviews I've finally hit the mid 180's. I have decided it needs to stop. This is me now (Collier took this tonight):

Obviously I am wearing a fairly unflattering form-fitting outfit but that is something I used to wear to the gym and I remember it not being very snug at all. I tried to get into a pair of pants that I bought only a month ago and couldn't even zip them. It's out of control! I'm not comfortable with my body as it is, I want to feel and look healthy. I want to live my life in a way that people will respect, and the fact that I am going to have an M.D. after my name in a few short months only makes a change in lifestyle all the more important. People look to docs to be an example of a healthy lifestyle and right now mine just is not that. Mainly, I need to do this for me. I am happier in my life than I've been in a long time, I like where things are going. I may as well be happy about myself as well!

So, here's what I plan to do. Since it worked last time I will do the very same thing! Prepare healthy low fat low calorie delicious meals (really, I've got some great recipes that I will share!) to keep my total calorie intake between 1200-1400 kcal per day. My goal is to start squeezing yoga back in at least a few times a week and to try to walk Kermit daily (good for both of us!). I will weigh in once a week on Monday and aim to post my results on Tuesday of every week.

My goal: To lose 35 lbs by my Med School Graduation. This would put me in a healthy BMI range and back at the 150 I felt comfortable at (BMI 21.5), and back in a size 8 (I'm at a size 12 or 14 now). This is also a healthy rate of weight loss for my body at 2-3 lbs per week, which is my secondary goal.

My current weight: 185
My current BMI: 26.5 (overweight)
Days of Cardio this week: 3
Days of Yoga this week: 0
Days of Strength training this week: 0

I invite you along with me on this journey, I hope to share with you my struggles and my victories!

Goal weight for next week: 182

How was YOUR Superbowl Party?

This is how mine went:

And now, that wasn't post-festivities. Collier fell asleep during the 1st quarter and slept til after the local news. I finally woke him up at 11 to go to our actual bed to sleep. I managed to see the end of the game (which was super exciting!), and parts of The Office between running around to package orders. All in all a good night :)

Mom's Holiday Kitchen - 40% off Clearance

I just marked this lovely down 40% - I decided it's time to remove the holiday scent from the store and I only have a few bars left! I may re-make this bar without the holly berry layer on the top as an almond/vanilla combo - the scent really is lovely and sticks on your skin for about half a day. As Coll said, "I think people will like this one, people like to smell like almonds." And people HAVE liked it :) But it's time to find homes for the last few bars and move on!

The bowls that just need a little mending

Collier returned this afternoon with two gorgeous bamboo bowls that his Mom had found and gotten a good deal on as whatever they originally had glued to their handles had come off. I would love to figure out some way to cover the glue on the handles and make these bowls gorgeous for serving! Any ideas? It wouldn't have to be dishwasher safe as I think we would always hand wash these beauties.

HELP? :)