Fitbit Obsession....

 This is the Fitbit that I have, its the Fitbit One. I wanted this one because I can clip it to my bra and pretty much wear it all the time. I did not want the one you wear on your wrist because I knew I would take it off if I was dressed up etc.

My obsession started when I got my new Iphone. The phone came with a app that tracks your steps. It was fun to see how many steps I was actually taking or not taking everyday. I found out I was not taking nearly as many steps everyday then I should be. You should be taking 10,000 steps everyday.

I had become lazy.... I stopped running last spring after I got blisters on the bottom of my feet. I had on the same  brand running shoes that I have worn for years but for some reason the new pair gave me blisters. I have always been able to put the new pair on with no trouble before.  It took forever for them to heal because they were on the bottom of my heals . I had to put bandaids over them every time I tried to do anything. Then when the blisters finally healed and I tried to start running again my knees, hips and feet hurt so much I decided I was done with it.  Then I stopped lifting in December because my wrist and hands hurt so much from my carpal tunnel.

Yes I had become lazy and full of excuses as to why I was not exercising. I was pretty much in the worst shape I have been in since I started my obsessive exercising in 2005.

Now the Fitbit has entered my life. I joined the Fitbit nation on December 27, 2014. I asked Rick to get my one for Christmas. I wanted something I could keep on me all the time unlike my phone. I don't have my phone in my pocket unless I am at work.

 At first it was just fun to see how far I was walking. I was not really pushing myself, I figured if I walked 10,000 steps a few times a week it was all good. I would walk/run on the treadmill a couple times a week and call it good.  Then when we had the first hot spell for the spring and I was trying on all my shorts and they were tight! I was not happy and I knew it was time to start moving and stop eating icecream every night.

So I was off. I started walking around campus more while I was at work and started taking walks after work. I also was finally able to start lifting again since my surgery went great and my hands are pretty much healed.

Then I discovered that you can add friend to your Fitbit and see how you rank against them for the past 7 days. Now I have to be accountable. Nothing like a little competition to get me motivated. I don't want to be embarrassed.....everyone can see if I am being lazy now :)

So it is time to move, move , move! I even ran a little on my days off. I don't think I will be able to go back to running like I use to, it just hurts to much, but I can do a little run walking.

Another bonus to walking all the time is I get to spend more time with Rick. If he does not have anyone coming over for strings he is always game to do some 4 mile walks with me. I don't think the dogs are enjoying our increased walking schedule as much as me.

Happy Walking.....
Sharon

Myre Big Island State Park

We wanted to go someplace close by when we went camping last weekend since it was just going to be a short weekend away. After looking at several State Campgrounds nearby I picked Myre Big Island State Park in Albert Lea. I picked it because they have 7 miles of mountain biking trails and 16 miles of hiking trails. It is on Albert Lea Lake.

We have not had our bikes out at all this year so we were both excited to get out on them. They had had a lot of rain so the trails were pretty wet and muddy. It was lots of fun to be out on them again. And what was even better was the for the first time in 2 years my wrist and hands did not hurt after biking. I am very happy with how they feel after having the carpal tunnel surgery

We lucked out with the weather for the weekend. On Friday we were able to go out for bike ride and have a campfire, it was a beautiful night. On Saturday it was suppose to rain all day but after a misty
start of the day it cleared up and got hot out. We got to ride our bikes and take the dogs out for a couple of walks. 

 

We are loving the new camper! It is exactly what we were looking for in a camper. I am sad that it is going to be over a month before I get to go camping again. But I have lots of trips planned for later in the summer.

When we leave the dogs alone in the camper we shut them in the bedroom to keep naughty Otis out of trouble. In our old camper it was a sliding door but in the new one it is a actual household door. Well you can see by the picture above there is about a 3 inch gap between the door and the floor. The first time we left the dog it went just fine. They both just lay down and the bed and take a nap. Well on Saturday when we went biking we came back to find Otis in the living area and poor Morgan all alone in the bedroom. Otis managed to squeeze his body under the door. I don't know how he did it! Now we have to figure out how we are going to keep him in the bedroom. He is such a naughty dog.

As you can see we wore the dogs out. Nothing like a good long walk to put them to sleep.

We both really like Myre Big Island State Park and will go back. It is a nice place to go for a quick getaway.

I can now check off one more State Park off of my list. My goal is to visit/camp at every state park in MN.

Sharon

Never to old for Elmo......

When Liam was just a baby I got this book at a garage sale. I liked to have a few kids books around so I can read them to the grand kids.

When Liam was little he always wanted me to read him this book. I must have read it with him 500 hundred times! He use to always take a book to look at before nap time and bed time and once again he always picked this book.

Last week I had Liam and Josie overnight. Liam has to read every night and he said he was going to read a book to Josie and me. So he went over to the books and look and look studying them all over deciding which one he would read. There is probable about 30 books for him to chose from. Well after about 15 minutes he came over with the Elmo book. I just laughed! It is still his favorite book  even at 8 years old.

I think I am going to have to save it for him and give it to him when he graduates high school!

Sharon

The Winnebago

We got ourselves a new camper this week. I put our old camper on Craig's list a couple weeks ago and figure we probably would not sell it. Then after it was listed for two weeks I got a call. A women from Virginia MN called at 9:00 in the morning and was at our house at 4:30 in the afternoon and pull out of the driveway with it at 5:30. 

Then the shopping started! We ended up at Kroubetz in Lake Crystal. We got a 2013 30 foot Winnebago travel trailer. We picked it up on Tuesday. I think we are going to love it. It has so much more room in it then our old one. 

Here it is in the driveway. 

The living room. Notice the dogs love it.

The table. 

The bedroom 

One of the slideouts is a closet. Now I can really pack a lot of clothes. 

The bathroom also has a huge storage area. 

Another look at the bathroom.

The kitchen. 

Today we took it out for a test run. 

We are looking forward to a great summer of camping and making memories. 

Happy camping 

Sharon 

Lucky

We sold our camper last week (more to come on that in a later post) and took all the camper keys off the key rings to give to the new owner. While talking to her I sat them on the back of my car. Of course I forgot all about them. The next day I was looking all over for them when I remembered what I had done. Of course I had already driven my car. 

So I'm telling Amy about it and then she tells me that someone had given Adam a key ring with a key on it. She said it had two little pictures on it of Liam and the person knew Liam so she brought it to Liam's house. Liam then brought it to Amy. The person had found the keys on the south side of town. She said she was all confused because she thought it was her old van key and did know how it had been found on the south side of town. She still did not connect the key ring she had to my missing ones! It was pretty funny. Once we figured out they were mine I was pretty relieved. It had the spare key to Ricks truck on it so I was happy to have it back. I would say it was pretty darn lucky that they were found! 

Sharon