Feedback & Feedforward

2009 was pretty darn good to me.  I changed a lot for the better!  I lost 43 lbs, ran my first marathon, and finished my CLU journey.    According to Dr. Cooper, a neuroscientist turned Fortune-500 business coach, successful people are supposed to only do 10% of feedback (what went right or wrong?) and 90% of feedforward (what are we going to do from here on out?).  Focus forward.  Bring it on, 2010!  Show me whatcha workin' with!

Most of my goals for 2010 are pretty personal {much more so than usual :) }, and I created a lot fewer goals for this coming year than I did for 2009.  I've already posted my running and cycling race goals, as well as my P90X goal.  But one of the goals from my personal list, though, that I will share with you all, is pretty exciting.  I want to, on the side, start the training for becomming a certified Personal Trainer and then Life & Weight Management Consultant.  I figure I can get it accomplished by fall 2010.  There are some physiology, sports injury, & personal training courses I'm going to take, some certificiation training to take (CPR/AED), and then two big ACE exams to sit for.  It will be good motivation for me to keep active and sculpt more!  Then in the fall/winter, maybe I could have one or two clients who I work out with a couple nights a week & Saturdays...we'll have to see how it goes!   Shay from Biggest Loser was my inspiration on that one.  She has a personal trainer that she works out with for 4 hours every evening when she gets done working and 7 hours on Saturdays.  She likes the 6 different trainers (one for each day) because they all have a different style of working out that really pushes her.  And Abrey, Jen, & the Ten in Six girls planted the seed, too :)  I get such a high and personal fulfillment from helping others hit their goals and catch fire!

Finished!!!

I passed my LAST of 8 self-study courses and proctored exams on
Tuesday night! My official designation certificate to hang
beautifully on my office wall will come in February. My grauduation
application is all processing right now. I can start using the CLU
designation behind my name starting when I receive that!

The last one, "Income Taxation," was a DOOZY!

Our Christmas

This year was pretty low key for us, but it felt so great to relax and have fun w/ friends & family!  Christmas Eve started off with a heavenly sleep in, excellent run, then dinner w/ friends.  Jen & Martel came over for ham, mac (classy, right?), sweet potato & apple casserole, multi-grain rolls, and some yummy desserts Jen brought.  We made a gingerbread house & gingerbread men.  The first ones ever in my or Doug's lifetimes!  There was a Pamela Anderson gingerbread, a Dennis Rodman gingerbread, a cracked out Ronald McDonald gingerbread, etc.  Well...we tried :)  Had fun w/ the Wii, killed some zombies, knocked out some Dr. Mario viruses, etc.  Frank & Brandi had fun running around playing.  On Christmas morning Doug, Frank, & I had a quiet little Christmas of opening our stockings & presents.  Now we're trying to get that last little bit of Santa candy taken care of :)  Doug & I went for a great run together (BTW- I am SOOOO FLIPPIN' PROUD OF HIM & HIS RUNNING!!!! He's up to 7 miles!!!!), even getting serenaded by and then cheered on by a drunk man at noon.  Nothing pushes you to move faster like a great Christmas day anthem sung from the soul, with a little help from Coors :)  I think he was impressed...

I hope you & yours had a great Christmas!

And yes, I was a slacker & never got around to getting a Christmas picture taken of us b/c the snowfall never got around to being perfect and we never got around to getting dolled up while it was still daylight outside and things got so hectic and crazy and and and and.....  You MIGHT get a New Year's email & card from us :) Ha!

Really?????

Speechless.....

The Noticer

The Noticer: Sometimes, all a person needs is a little perspective. by Andy Andrews



My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a cute book. It reads a lot like a Mitch Albom book, quite a bit Hallmarky/Lifetime made-for-TV-movie. But there's some good advice. I would have given it more stars if I felt it was more original (I feel like he copied his "4 love dialects" from Dr. Gary Chapman's 5 love languages and his "the difference between you and the future you is the books you read" from Mark Twain). Good little pick-me-up and inspire-me-to-do-better book. Also made me wish I lived by the ocean in Gulf Shores, Alabama! My favorite story within the book was the one where Jones helped the elderly woman realize she could still do things, that her mission wasn't finished on earth or else she'd be gone, that by making small influences in people's lives now she could affect billions of people in the future. I LOVE his chain of events about George Washington Carver. Really makes you understand how interconnected we all are.



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Challenges for You to Join Me In!

The next Ten in Six women's weight loss support group blog that I moderate is starting on Monday, January 11th.  All ladies are welcome to join!  The goal is to lose 10 lbs in 6 weeks (or really any fitness goal that you have).  It's free- just consists of blogging, posting, commenting, supporting each other, getting tips & tricks, etc.

Doug's brother Matt is running a spin off support group blog for those starting P90X on Monday, January 4th.  Doug & I will be doing that January through March!  Doug's other brother Jeff is doing it, too, and so is Jason one of Doug's friends and two of Erianne's sisters (who did it last year, along w/ Matt & Erianne).  I may not be able to raise my arms or walk straight, but hopefully it will get me some ripped shoulders & abs!  It will be fun to be led by somebody who's been through it successfully, and to have lots of people who won't let me quit it when I can't move after the first day.  Again, it's free- just consists of blogging, posting, commenting, supporting each other, getting tips & tricks, etc

Race Line Up

I am so excited about these running & cycling races!  It's my dream list here for 2010- I'll train like I'm doing them all and hope I can do them all.  I don't know if I'll get up to the mileage I need to get up to, or if my body can handle it all, or if unforseen circumstances will render me unable to do them, but I'm going to try!  Anyone want to join me for any of them???????  My amazing hubby will be doing all the rides with me.  I plan on doing the full century in the Trek, but probably just the shortest distance options for the two challenge hilly bike rides.

1. InStep Indoor Team Marathon Relay- Sat Jan 23 (Doug's first half marathon! Girls from Running Group doing this, too)
2. John Dick Memorial 50K Run- Sat Feb 6 (I'm gonna get smoked by Valerie!)
3. Crazy Legs Classic 8K Run- Sat Apr 24 (Doug, Amy, Michele, & other girls from Running Group will be doing this, too)
4. Ice Age Trail 50k Run- Sat May 8
5. Trek 100 Ride- Sat June 5 (Amy & Doug's fam, too)
6. Insane Terrain Challenge Ride OR Dances With Dirt 50K or Marathon Run- Sat Jul 10
7. Dairyland Dare Ride- Sat Aug 14 (Doug's fam, too)
8. Lake Geneva Half Ironman Triathlon- Sat Sept 11
9. North Face Endurance Challenge 50k Run- Sat Oct 23

I dream about these runs & rides every day :)  Hard to keep my mind off them :) Me & Doug Ironman 2011???

ADORABLE!

Aww, what a cutie- I want a Jack Russell now :)  Check out this online card video.  I hope all of YOUR Christmas wishes come true :)

Coyote Running Buddy

Check out my new running buddy in IL this weekend! He was big and I
wish the picture from my phone turned out better. It was like a
frustrating cat & mouse cartoon- he thought I was chasing him- he
would run ahead, then stop & wait for me to get close, then run ahead
more. But the genius would never turn off the trail! After a while,
he laid down in the middle of the trail looking at me. I got freaked
out and turned around to run the other way :)

Laugh your butts off....

So you know those WONDERFUL emails that go around with pictures of people in Wal-mart dressed too hot to trot?  There's actually an official website dedicated to the pictures!  Thanks, Marianne :)  http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/

And last night at book club, I found out about this HILARIOUS site that is all about bloopers in the professional cake decorating business.  Thanks, Heather & Carla :)  http://www.cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

For those gluttons for heavy reading...

East of Eden by John Steinbeck



My rating: 4 of 5 stars

John Steinbeck has a intricate, beautiful, and honest way of describing nature and people's hearts. This book draws in the reader like a non-shallow soap opera would, spans generations of a few families, but it does it in a beautiful and honest way, not a cheesy, overly-dramatic way. It's supposed to follow the biblical Cain & Able story, but I found it more of talking about the good and evil within each man. Some people are 100% either way as are some of the characters, but for most of us, we all have a good amount of good within us (divine nature & potential) and a good amount of evil within us (natural man that we're trying to overcome). And it takes certain experiences, people, or decisions in our lives to cause us to tip to one side or the other, or to recognize the good inside of us instead of focusing on the bad. In all honestly, yes, it's a high from finishing such a momentously massive book, but also, I enjoyed the read. I would caution that there are some seriously bad people in here that do bad things, a few cuss words in dialogue, but I would recommend it to anyone up for the undertaking :)



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You wish you got this white elephant gift I made...

Someone just got his elf application denied by the North Pole...

He Says He Misses Me...

Christmas Traditions Calendar Gifts

Here's the Christmas crafty gifts I've been working on all week!  Finished all 7 last night (one for each sibling's family on both sides + us).  The idea was originally from a friend's blog last year, but then I took it and ran with it in my own way, thought about it all year.  It's an 8x10 black picture frame w/ calendar pages behind it (7 versions/pages behind the glass, one for each possible arrangement of dates within the month of December so it should last forever, just bring the current year's date arrangement to the front each year).  I added rub-on embelishments to the outside of the glass (each one's a little different). I put on a 5/8" velcro dot into each grid square.  I cut 1" circles out of coordinating cardstock scrapbooking paper (with a punch).  Wrote on each circle a Christmas Tradition (this is why I asked for traditions on FaceBook about a month ago :) ).  Velcro'd them on in random order.  Made a white cardstock envelope and adhered it to the back of the frame and put in 5 extra blank circles w/ Velcro on them so they can write in their own family traditions to add to the mix.  The idea is that they pull this calendar out at the beginning of each December with their Christmas decorations, the kids all pick what little Christmasy thing they want to do when and rearrange all the pieces on the calendar, and then the family does one simple little Christmasy thing each day in Dec, most not requiring any $$.  Kinda fun!  I can't wait to do it :)  Calendars are going out in the mail today to the family....24 people's Christmas gifts...DONE!  I have the calendar template as a Word document if anyone wants to make one- I can email it to you.  I hope you & yours have a great Christmas season filled with fun traditions!

Here's the LDS version (I changed out some of them for non-LDS traditions for my family members):

1. Decorate the tree then have a family slumber party in front of the tree with the lights on all night

2. Snuggle up, sip eggnog, & watch a Christmas movie
3. Pick up peppermint hot cocoas & drive around looking at Christmas lights
4. Deliver a plate of cookies to your next door neighbors & sing a Christmas carol
5. Build a snowman
6. Go sledding
7. Bake and decorate Christmas cookies
8. Eat a seafood dinner
9. Put candy canes on the Christmas tree
10. Call your grandparents to chat & tell them you love them
11. Deliver a meal to a family in need or donate a meal’s worth of food to a food pantry
12. Slow dance with your loved ones to Christmas music w/ sparkling cider
13. Make/buy Christmas pajamas to wrap up
14. Blare Christmas music & take family picture at the top of the stairs
15. Go plead your case to Santa at the mall
16. Write your letters to Santa & drop in a mailbox
17. Buy a toy to donate to Toys for Tots
18. Ice skate
19. Go for a walk in the crunchy snow to look at stars
20. Tell the nativity story & act it out
21. String strands of popcorn, cheerios, or fruit loops & hang on the tree
22. Make a red and green construction paper chain to count down the days until Christmas
23. Sing Christmas carols together as a family
24. Make shepherd’s dinner of warm soup & bread, sit on blanket, and tell the story of the shepherds
25. Share holiday traditions stories from cultures around the world
26. Watch Luke II (The Nativity) film w/ the song Breath of Heaven playing in the background
27. Go to the temple
28. Buy/Make an Christmas ornament to represent your family’s past year
29. Read a Christmas story
30. Make reindeer food with hay, glitter, & carrots- leave in a paper sack on the mantle for Santa to take
31. Share something you’re grateful for and your goals for the coming year

Yes, I could have made a calendar filled with just food traditions, but I'm trying to get away from the food-focused nature of holidays!

December Cards

Blah- but I was busy this month...

Thanksgiving Weekend

After traffic fun on Wednesday evening, we got to my family's pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner at my brother's house in IL for a good time of yummy food, movies, & games.  Thanks for sharing the statement-picture-statement game with us, Bethany!  It was so fun :)  Of course Boggle ensued.... 48 points for me in the first round! I had the word "PANTHER."  How awesome is that?! Needless to say, nobody wanted to play further after 3 rounds, but I was still wicked proud.  Gets lonely at the top of world, jk.  No pictures, unfortunately, but if anyone in my fam has any, please do share!

Later that night we drove on to Doug's parents' in IL, getting in around midnight & crawling upstairs to sleep.  But the next 3 days were awesome!  Doug's brother Matt & his wife Erianne & their daughter Aleah were there visiting from Ohio.  We played games and had a great time hanging out.  Thanksgiving morning the boys all went and played the annual Turkey Bowl w/ the Geneva Ward.  Some older guy from their ward asked Doug which son was he, and he replied "I'm the one with the hot wife."  Doug's dad had to tell that one over the Thanksgiving dinner table :) A few little boys may have also been accidentially bulldozed during the game.  It's quite serious, I guess!  Er & I went for a run together while the boys were playing & Gran was watching Aleah-Bear. 

Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful as always, put on scrumptiously well by Doug's mom and with the traditional Baker's Square pies.  The day after Thanksgiving we did NOT go shopping.  We instead all went out to brunch at Lume's and drove up to Huntley to Lee's Trees to pick up this year's Christmas Tree.  As we were pulling out of the driveway that morning, Doug got a call for a case to go into work, so he drove back to Madison & missed out on that day completely, getting back to his parents' in IL at 4 am the next morning (case was in Wausau).  That afternoon I went rock climbing w/ Doug's dad, Matt, & Er at Vertical Endeavors inside Lifetime Fitness in Naperville.  Fake nails were a hinderance, but it was so much fun!  I am definitely going to do it again :) I'll have to see if there are rock climbing gyms here in Madison.  My arms were wasted for days.  Then the 4 of us went out to Noodles & Co in downtown Naperville, then headed home for relaxing. 

Saturday morning I went for a 20 mile run that was much needed, cleansing, relaxing, and rejuvenating.  It just feels so good during & after a run.  It's a beautiful thing.  Then me & Er went shopping at Kohl's and devoured their clearance racks for a good 2 1/2 hours while the boys all lifted weights downstairs at Doug's parents'.  Then we picked up the guys in the late afternoon and we all went to the Outlets which are about 2 minutes from where they live.  I had such a great time!  Lots of wonderful deals :) Didn't buy any pants yet- waiting for the last couple pounds to come off first then I'm rewarding myself w/ a new hot pair of jeans!  We got home & had yummy leftovers & yet more pie, then watched the end of the BYU-Utah game.  Go, Cougs! Sorry, Er :(

Sunday morning Matt, Er, & Aleah headed to the airport to fly home.  Doug and I headed to see his friend Joe, deliver a car to him (our neighbors' who sold it to Joe), and had a pug party.  Joe and his girlfriend Ashley have a pug named Dyson who's the same age as Frank but purebred.  I'll never complain about Frank's loud breathing and snorting again!  Dyson was louder than a real Dyson for sure!  So hilarious.  We made it back home finally Sunday afternoon, and then all the fun that ensues of course....LAUNDRY!  :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, too!!!!