I am always bad about staying on top of writing here.  I figured that I should finally do an update though.  It has been 4 months since really dieting (off and on I will admit), and 1 month of seriously working out at least 3 times a week.  I have been doing the couch to 5k program, and I have to say that it is a great program for someone who is out of shape and perhaps for someone who has never run (like me).  I have kind of stalled in actually loosing pounds – at least according to my scale.  I am still loosing inches though, and after loosing 30 pounds this year alone, I can’t complain really!

So here is my progress this year:

Before the diet:

After loosing 20 lbs earlier this year:

And as of now (30 lbs lost):

I have a waist again! Perhaps not as good as when I got married (yet), but the best I have had in YEARS!  Oh, and obviously a new hair style too

So that’s the big update for today.  I have to dash though since I need to go visit some friends! Anyhow, I hope to blog about my garden and yard progress soon (things are going pretty well!)

This is the second part to our European trip…

We did make a trip out to Nuremberg soon after our friend Meghan arrived (she came the day after Chris did).  It was relatively uneventful… mostly just wandered around, looked at some pretty churches and ate food. Oh, well…I guess one thing did happen…
We went to a restaurant that Lori recommended because they served some traditional food, and she had been there before and liked it.  So we enter and get seated.  There is a basket with a couple selections of baked goods… however, it is unclear if we just take some or if it is leftover from a previous party.  Unfortunately, I don’t know how to communicate the concept “self serve” in German.  So thinking on my feet, I ask if I can have some of the bread for my son.  Lucky the waitress understood and gave me a yes.  After that it was time to order. The woman comes to our table and looks expectantly at me.  I am guessing she figured I was going to order for all of us. Well I tell my friend Lori to order first, so she does….and then the waitress just goes away! We were all very confused.  She finally came back, and we finally got to order everyone else’s meal… but it was a challenge.  Oh yes, and sadly a good portion of the trip, Tristan was fussy…of course!

Another small event I want to mention was Chris and Tucker going out drinking one night at a local bar.  Chris had a German phrase book I loaned him, and with its help…they had a good time. It was apparently some woman’s birthday, and so they joined and wished her happy birthday. They bought drinks for each other and even got invited to the dessert table.  I wasn’t there, so I only heard about it second hand.  While the guys were out having fun, us girls (after the kids went to sleep) stayed in and watched singing shows (don’t remember the name of it off hand) and drank some tasty holiday wine.  Perhaps it wasn’t as eventful as the guy’s night…but it was still nice.  When they got back in it was pretty late.  Boy did they drink a lot too! They just stumbled in with these big silly grins! They very happily recounted all the adventures of the night.  I think the quote of the day went to Tucker though… something like “drunk vocabulary doesn’t go by Webster’s!”  We all had a good chuckle over that too!
During one of the afternoons, we all went to a place called Megaplay. It was similar to the discovery zone many of us may remember from our childhood.  Lots of thing to climb, run, jump, pedal on, and even a special section for real little kids.  Needless to say, Lillie and Tristan had a good time, and so did the grownups.
We also went to dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant which was wonderful. Lori and Tucker’s car wouldn’t fit all of us, so we had to go in shifts. So the first group went, and then Tucker would come and pick up the second group… we ate, and had to go back the same way. Really though….very tasty food!

Let’s see… we (being Chris, Meghan, Lori, Lillie, Tristan, and I) also made another trip into Nuremberg to see the castle there.  It was an hour train ride, and then a pretty decent walk up hill too.  Let me tell you, the castle location would have been great for defense! Anyhow, we got there with only about an hour left to see things. So we go in and see what was available. There were no more tours, and the only other options were the museum and the castle tower.  So Chris asked everyone what they’d like to see more. Everyone basically didn’t care which one, so I said the tower. Besides… if we went into the museum…there might not be english descriptions…so I figured the tower would be more friendly in that regard.  So Chris bought tickets for everyone to go.  He is just sweet like that sometimes.  Well after that, both Meghan and Lori decided they weren’t going to go. Needless to say there were some raw nerves for a little bit. Chris, Tristan, and I did go though. Wow! The view was just amazing. You could see the whole city just about. I am normally afraid of heights, but this was so worth it! I will say the climb up was tough though…especially carrying 20+ of baby.  I would post pictures…but Chris still has them. Blah.
After that Tristan was a real crab, so we headed back to Lori’s home.
Before we knew it….it was time to leave for Vienna, Austria.
We rode the train from Freihung and eventually made our way to Munich. We had quite a wait though since our next train left at almost midnight.  It was cold, we were hungry, and there wasn’t much of a place to sit. So we got some food, ate standing, and then ended up pacing for several hours in an attempt to keep our tired little boy somewhat happy.  It worked somewhat.  I even called my friend Ally, who I’d not seen for 10 years, to make plans for meeting up the following day.
Finally, our train arrived and we got on. It was such a relief to be somewhere warm, and where we could not only sit…. but lay down! Did I mention it was a compartment train? We had a first class cabin to our selves.  Now…don’t get too excited.  The beds we very small (about the width of your normal couch cushion…and not very soft. However…it was private.  That was what made it first class really.  So Chris took the top bunk, and Tristan and I shared the bottom.  In theory…this was going to be a great way to travel. In reality, Tristan was the only one who slept much.  Every time the train would slow or stop, I would have to try and not roll off the edge of the bed.  So I didn’t sleep very much or very well. By 5:45am, it was time to get up, as our train was to arrive at 6am and we’d need to get off. So we drank our coffee, had a snack, and then we were off the train again. We had no idea how to get to our next destination either.  We went and tried to ask the info point since we didn’t see the train we’d need next listed, but no one was there! So we keep pacing between station maps try to figure it out.
Then a wonderful angel of a woman comes and asked. In german if we needed help and if she could help.  I explained that my german wasn’t very good.  She asked which language we did speak, and of course I said english, but she didn’t speak any…and so we tried the best we could to communicate in german.  It didn’t work well though, so instead…she went around asking people if they spoke english. She then dragged this poor man over and had him help us.  They were both very kind. The man even walked us down and showed us the platform we would need.  I felt so much better about the people in Austria.  They seemed much friendlier.
So anyway, we ride the train to the stop we need and exit the station. It was raining! Yuck! Guess what we didn’t have with us too….yup, no umbrella. So here we are walking in the rain. I did my best to keep Tristan dry and warm, but it certainly didn’t help that we got lost on our way to the hotel.  Chris called them and got directions. We eventually made it there, but it was far too early to check in (really…we just needed to leave our bags if nothing else). So we talk to the woman at the desk. She tells us we can’t check in…which we figured.  At least…until she saw we had a baby.  At which point she found a room for us. That made my day! I even asked her where I might buy an umbrella…and she offered us hers until we got one of our own.  Needless to say we didn’t take her up on it though.
So we got to just relax in our room for a little bit.  Around 10 or 10:30am, Ally showed up, and we happily went out to explore and catch up.  We went to a cafe right near by for some drinks. Funny enough, Ally informed us that a traditional cafe there must have grumpy waitresses.  It is just the way it is done! She said that if you have a happy one, then you aren’t at a really good cafe! Tristan did start to act up, and so I walked with him briefly…but then Chris took him. I was so thankful too, because this was my only chance to visit with Ally in person.
After that we went to some little touristy shops, and then to the natural history museum.  It was pretty neat since the building and display cases were all pretty old.  Chris was sweet and continued to watch Tristan. This was the only day during our trip that I truly got to really look at much. Tristan is very good at keeping all my attention on him…or else!
We also had a lovely lunch together earlier that day.
I would venture to say that this day was one of the best outings for me.
Oh! And Ally took us to some other cool places… there was one building (that she used to work in) that was art nouveau…and it housed a popular artist’s work too. I really liked it. There was also a chocolate shop (Zotter chocolate) which had some very interesting combinations… things like peanuts and ketchup chocolate. We bought several of the interesting flavors…
Cranberry and thyme chocolate (which was my favorite), rose and basil chocolate, chilly pepper cream chocolate, and a scotch whiskey chocolate (for Chris’s dad).  All of them tasted pretty good too.
After everything, we turned in to the hotel before 5. We were all tired, and had planned things to do the following day.  That night we had a simple dinner in our room…Chris had gone back out to take pictures without us. Well by bedtime, Tristan started running a fever. I gave him meds which seemed to help.  We all went to sleep…and slept pretty well too (well, at least better than on the train).
The next morning, Tristan wasn’t wanting to eat much. That was a big tip off that he wasn’t feeling well (earlier in the week, Lori’s daughter Lillie had gotten sick too).  We had to check out of the hotel by 11 am though, so we packed everything back up, and Ally came and met up with us again.
We decided what we would do that day, and also that we needed to try and buy a nasal aspirator for Tristan’s very runny nose.  We store our bags at the front desk and head out.  We make it not even a couple blocks before Tristan starts looking very” green around the gills” if you know what I mean. A moment later…he pukes all over my shirt. Gross, yes, but I felt so bad that he was getting so sick! We rushed back to the hotel so I can change my shirt into one from the previous day (I only brought two because I was to go back to Lori’s for a couple days after this).  I changed my shirt, and we head our again…this time to find the aspirator first, then go do something. We would have stayed in, but had no room to go to.  So we walk a little bit, and then Tristan throws up again. Not once, but twice! I have no shirt to change into either. So we go to a couple places…and we found an apotheke who we talk to about the aspirator (none of us knew the german word for it). She tells us where to find one, and wouldn’t you know – the german word translates to nose sucker. Good to know, and very descriptive.
At this point, we go back to the hotel…and try to see if I can fly to the states that same day. Alas, no luck.
So instead, we cut our trip short and took a day trip back to germany.
I was sad to go, but needed to do what was best for my little boy. I was happy to report that he was VERY good on the train ride back (5 hours!)
I made a call to Lori to let her know that I was coming over early and that Tristan was sick.
She was so sweet and welcomed us back into her home.  I spent the next couple days just hanging out with her and the kids. Chris made another trip to Nuremberg to sightsee without us.  He seemed to have a good time, so really…it was a good trip all in all.
The flight back was terrible, but still not as bad as I expected. Tristan slept 4 hours, but was awake for the last 6.5 hours. He only spent maybe an hour to an hour and a half really fussing during that time. He was entertained by his socks a lot (we made puppets), and by the touch screen in front. So really it wasn’t bad at all.
After everything though-  it sure is nice to be home and back to our normal routine!

I have a confession. I have been eating pretty bad up until today for almost a month.  I think the ONLY reason I didn’t gain any weight back during our trip was because we walked a lot and were only eating twice a day (but bad foods….yum!)
Food and I always have a love, love, hate relationship. I love it, it loves to add to my hips, and then I hate it. I know… delayed reaction.
So anyhow, I kept all the weight off, but haven’t made further progress.  However, I am happy to report that I am back on it as of today.  This is something I am proud of because in the recent past, once we have stopped eating well or exercising…. we often don’t restart so quickly.  We usually spiral out of control, and once we pack on more pounds…then we try again.  So this is good progress.  I would be thrilled if I lost another 20 pounds by my birthday. You know…I wont count on it, but it sure would be nice! It would put me very close to the weight I was when I got married in 2006. Still not my goal, but much closer at least. Right now I have around 50 funds to loose to get to my ultimate goal weight. I have 30 or so pounds to loose to get my BMI to the right zone. I think I can do it though.  I just need to stay positive and on track.  Wish me luck!

Part of the reason I have not updated sooner (barring the dead charger) is because we were gone for two weeks to Europe.  So I figure it is about time to talk about all of that!

Chris and I originally were both going to fly standby – but because I have a baby… I cannot upgrade my ticket to business or first class.  Now that may not seem like a big deal, but here is the thing…

If there are no more coach seats, but plenty of business and first class – Chris could go, but I would be left behind.  So with this in mind, we decided to buy my ticket from Lufthansa.  In preparation for this trip, I also (two weeks pryer) moved Tristan’s sleep schedule to German time (which meant he went to bed at 3pm and woke at 3am).  This was VERY helpful too for the flight there.  I left 2 days before Chris did, and since my flight was at 3:30pm, Tristan went to sleep shortly after take off.  He slept just about the whole time too, except for 3o min. when I took him to the bathroom with me.  It was great!  I also loved the flight because they provided a bassinet that fit onto the wall in front of me – which allowed me to eat and try and rest without a whole lot of baby on me.  They also gave him a toy too, which was nice.  Oh, and one last note about why this company is awesome – the food was VERY tasty, and plentiful.  Yay for that.  Other than that, the flight was relatively uneventful.  I sat next to a Greek man who was nice, and very talkative.  Although I may have learned too much about his recent divorce with his American wife – oh and how our justice system sucks for giving her so much.  Yea… I think I heard all about it about 4 times.

Anyhow, we land in Frankfurt the following morning, and both Tristan and I have to catch one more flight to Nuremberg to meet my friend Lori.  In this time though (because he was asleep), Tristan had not had a single diaper change.  Needless to say, I really needed to get him changed before our next flight.  I found a nearby restroom near the next flight gate, and proceeded to look for a changing table – there was NONE to be found.  I was really baffled because in the States… there is always a changing table in the restroom at the airport.  I also hear some angry sounding talking… but see no one in there.  I figure it must be coming from another room and I was just hearing it.  So I use the bathroom and decide to just to a standing diaper change on Tristan.  As I am fastening the clean diaper to him little tush, this angry janitor comes out and starts blabbering at him in German.  I can’t really make out what she is saying, and I reply with as much to her.  She repeats what she was saying…and the only things I could make out was basically that I was not to change my child here, and that I better darn well go to the baby room for that.  Well, who knew there was a baby room?  Not me, that’s for sure!

So either way, Tristan is changed, and I decide that we need to go make sure there isn’t anything we need to do before boarding the next flight.  I go to the counter at the gate, and proceed to open my mouth.  I didn’t even get a question out… and the woman just snaps at me ” WILL YOU JUST GIVE ME 5 MINUTES! I JUST GOT HERE!!! THE COMPUTER SYSTEM ISN’T READY YET!”  Well, my question required no computer system.  Needless to say I just left and waited until another woman showed up, and then I asked the less angry one my question.  After that, we board and get on our way.  Tristan was decent for the flight.  We were seated to a Texas woman (small world) who was very good natured about Tristan spitting and playing and being his usual loud self.  She has no idea how that made my flight a little easier.

We landed, and I had to go get my bag and then meet up with Lori.  I wander out, and I see the best sight of the week – LORI!  I was SO relived to have a happy, and friendly face waiting for me.  My initial introduction to the German people was pretty bad, so I really felt stressed out about arriving and staying for 2 weeks if everyone was going to be like that.  Lori then picked up some food for herself, and we headed out on the trains towards her home (in Freihung).  Did I mention how happy I was to see her (and her daughter Lillie who is right about Tristan’s age)???  We get to her home after an hour train ride and just relaxed for the rest of the day.  Oh, side note… the window shutters that seem to be standard in Germany and Austria are freaking awesome!  So were the windows at Lori’s home (they could open in two different directions).  Just saying.

The next day we go visit the walled city of Amberg.  Getting there was no problem, we just got on a train, switched trains, and bam – we were there.  It was a very nice city with lots of old architecture.  We ate at a fast food place that had a changing table (a lot of places just don’t have them), and then walked around a bit.  We  spent around 2 hours there before Tristan got really fussy.  He just really wanted to be down and explore, and I couldn’t let him because it wasn’t a safe place for a 1 yr old to just go off and do that.  I will say that the wall was very cool and there was even a small putt putt golf hidden away.  Oh, and the old church had some carvings of what I would guess is plague disasters.

Anyhow, I finally decide that I would try and let Tristan down so long as he held my hand.  I was really hoping that he would get in a better mood so we could look around more.  He really wanted none of it though.  He wanted to do his own thing, and I was in the way.  So after a little bit, I decided we needed to go.  We make our way back to the train station and then onto a train towards where we think is home.  Yea, think.  We ended up on the wrong train, going the wrong direction.  So we find out as much when they were checking tickets and we are told that this is NOT the right way.  Oh, did I mention that Tristan has been crying the whole time too?  Yea…he was.  So we get off at the next stop, and wait a while for a train that will head back in our correct direction.  We feed (or try) to feed the kids while we wait.  Tristan isn’t too happy and is still just crying and fussing.  Finally our train comes, and we get on.  We then have to get off and switch trains.  This was a challenge at times too because I had Tristan in his ergo baby carrier and was wearing him on the front… and Lori had Lillie in her stroller.  Yea, a lot of areas we had to carry the stroller up and down stairs because there was no other way.  I was so glad I opted out of the stroller for this trip.  So anyway, we get to the last train we need, and finally make our way back home…. after more than 2 hours of travel and waiting – far more than it took to get there.  Did I mention that Tristan cried just about the entire time back? Yea.

The next day, I opted to stay in.

Chris arrived that evening too, which was nice.  I had missed him…and so had Tristan.  He didn’t get in till late though, so that day Lori and I just hung out with the kids… it was very nice.

I know I was a bit out of touch lately… but I swear it isn’t all my fault!  Ok, well mostly my fault though.

We went to Europe (Germany and Austria) for two weeks and just got back on Tuesday, so I didn’t update while we were gone… and also my poor laptop charger stopped working.  So I was a bit limited in my computer use.  I won’t have the new charger for another few days probably though, so big updates will have to wait until I get it.

Needless to say I had a good time catching up with friends, but am sure happy to be home! Oh, and Tristan is sick. Yay.

Ok, well that is all for today

I know it’s been a bit since my last update.  Shame on me… I know!  Any how I am officially down 20 lbs from when I started dieting.  It feels good, but I still have a long way to go!   I have been hitting a little bit of a road block here and there though.  Chris and I get bored of the same flavors over and over again, and so I have tried to branch out and make some of our favorites in a healthy (and on the diet) way.  However, I think that I have been using too many grains and not enough veggies.  I’d say it was us eating too much too, but we have been doing much better at the idea of portion control.

Let’s see here…

I got a BIG pile of compost delivered yesterday!  Took up a good part of my drive way, and I have been slowly transporting it to the back yard to help with our poor soil conditions.  I will post before and after pictures once I am done!  I hope to also get my garden planted very soon too.  My seedlings are crying out for more space to grow.  Also I want to get them in the ground before we go to Germany and Austria!

Yup, that’s right…. we are going to Europe.  I am so excited!!!   I get to see my best mommy friend (in Germany) and a high school friend (in Austria) that I have not seen in 10 years!  Although our stay in Austria will be fairly short (only 2 days), it will be great to catch up.

In preparation for our planned trip, I have been studying German… and I think I am doing pretty well.  I still have a lot to learn, but at least I can ask for basic things and understand some of what might be said.  I hope to keep learning lots before I go.  I will blog about our trip at some point I am sure.

Also, I have been knitting wool pants (longies) for Tristan to wear while we are gone.  I was thinking “how am I going to bring enough diapers for him???” and it dawned on my that I can just knit some wool longies and use prefolds which take up much less space.  I will still have to do laundry, so I get to bring soap with me lol!  I already tried my wool pants as diaper covers (as I really didn’t believe they would be water proof as touted) but have been amazed by the wonderful properties of wool.  Yay!

Well that is about all I have time for today.  I have to go make breakfast and then get on to my list of things to do!