July 2009

2009 is half way over. It seemed to have just flown by. If I had to give this year a grade, I would probably go with a B+ or and A-. Its been pretty good so far.

I noticed that the last blog was pretty old and the ones before that seemed to be about the same damn thing over and over; so how about a real update?

Alexis is off for the summer and she has started several painting projects. Including painting our upstairs guest bedroom furniture and the room up there as well. I don’t know when she will have the room finished, but the furniture looks pretty good. She is, for the most part, having a nice, relaxing summer and spending lots of time out by our pool with her friends.

I am absolutely swamped at work. The higher oil prices have people excited around the office and money for projects has loosened up. I’m sure you don’t care for the higher oil prices, but it’s job security for me. I have been up to North Dakota for business once last month and it looks like I will head back up there probably twice more this month. ND in the summer is much better than ND in the winter!

August 23rd Alexis and I are running in a half marathon. It’s like a marathon, but half as long; only 13.1 miles. Training is going…ok I guess, we both could be doing more. But its just running, in the heat, far…what do we need to train for?

As some of you may be aware, we have had a house guest, aka a roommate since about March. Waffles (that’s the guy’s name) is a good friend of ours and was a quasi victim of the poor economy…
Well he has been with us for a while now and all parties involved have decided that it is time for him to make other living arrangements. We are all on great terms, but it is time for him to move on, literally. Alexis and I are thrilled that we had the space and were able to help him when he needed it. Maybe one day he will thank us in the form of a Corvette or something really awesome along those lines.

Ace and Steve still dogs. Steve has grown into regular bulldog, and he weighs about 60 pounds. He is solid. Ace has his moments too.

Speaking of pounds. Check out the fat guy in this picture:
That’s me a year and a half ago. I didn’t miss many meals. I weighed about 230ish.

Now check out this guy:

That’s me at about 185. Much smaller. I weigh less now than I did as a sophomore in high school! I have defined muscles again in my chest, arms, abs, and legs!

When I tell people I have lost about 45 pounds since January of ’08 they always ask me how I did it. Are you thinking the same thing? I’ll tell you.

I eat less, and I exercise all the time. Sure I have my moments when I can eat a whole pizza or a small cow. But mostly I eat sandwiches for lunch, and Alexis and I have really changed how we prepare meals in the evening. We cook smaller, healthier portions. Also, instead of going out to eat at lunch with my co-workers, I hit the gym. Everyday. For example, yesterday I ran 4 miles at lunch and had a turkey sandwich at my desk afterwards. And that is pretty typical. Training for all those triathlons didn’t hurt either. It’s also not unusual for me to cycle, run or swim in the evenings too. I probably do ‘two-a-days’ about 2-3 days per week.

We don’t have any major trips or vacations planned for the summer. Usually a weekend getaway is enough to recharge our batteries. Hopefully one of those getaways will take us to your neck of the woods. Hope you enjoyed the update!