Here we go...

Please don't ask me to join you for nachos at Qdoba... because today I've finally decided to start doing something about being the big girl that I am :)  Yes, this is an embarrassing topic - but in reality, I know that just about everyone has struggled with their weight.  I'm certainly not the first and won't be the last.  Sadly though, this doesn't make actually losing weight any easier.  And for those of you that have ever tried it, it's hard.  Like, I mean, really hard. 

There's no way around admitting that I've pretty much always been a bigger girl... I mean, I've seen a few pictures from when I was 4 or 5, and I guess I was pretty average back then, but anything after that and you'll find I've got some pretty great Charlie Brown cheeks (amongst other things).  Genetics against me, I certainly never really helped my cause being somewhat of an emotional eater.  So when I would get sad or depressed about things in life, I'd gain more weight... yet when I was happy, I'd gain weight too!  Having been married to an amazing guy certainly hasn't helped - it's been the happiest year of my life, but my waistline would beg to differ. 

Wanting to be healthy and generally happier about my appearance (and don't worry, I'm not one to really put much weight on that - no pun intended), I decided it's finally time to take action.  And by action, I don't mean anything drastic. I totally give props to those of you that can hit the gym for hours at a time, and yes, the Biggest Loser is a very inspirational show, but that's just not for me.  The reality is that I have terrible knees, a bad back, and other problems that make my time at the gym not only not fun, but pretty unbearable.  And if this is going to be something that sticks, I need to not feel miserable or like a failure (which is generally how I feel at the gym).  I have done the whole Weight Watchers thing before, amongst MANY other attempts through various fads, and even though it's not as easy as Jenny McCarthy or Jennifer Hudson make it sound, it's something I can generally get behind: watch what goes into your mouth.  I'm not ready to count points, but I am ready to start making changes that relfect the WW ideas.  I can't promise big things, but I can promise small things that will hopefully lead to big things :) 

Thankfully, Matt is 100% behind me on this and has already offered to help sort out our snack foods and get our eating habits in a more healthy direction.  (That guy can eat anything, and I mean anything, and stay skinny.  It's maddening!)  I know this will be a LONG road, and one on which I'll likely fall down many times, but I feel like writing it here for people to see is giving me that extra motivation to actually take charge and not wuss out.  Wish me luck.  This will not be fun, but I know it's possible.  I welcome any tips, recipes, pointers, etc.  :)

Don't be upset with me if you see me out to eat or drinking a margarita, I mean, let's be realistic.  I want to enjoy life, and I think you can do both - be healthy and have fun - without feeling guilty.  So, that's where I'm at.  Sorry for getting all personal on you.  It's already 2pm and I've stuck to today's plan thus far, so I'm feeling good!

Bahamas!

Welcome to Nassau:

After what feels like a whirlwind trip, we're back! I say that with a huge sigh of relief, since as you may know, I'm deathly afraid of flying (on the plane from/to Miami we had propellers, yikes!). Touch down at the end of a trip is like a whole new lease on life for me! :)

Our time in the Bahamas was brief but fun - as usual, we tried to pack in enough "stuff" to balance the beach time, and I think this time we were able to get a good combination of the two. Sadly, I was starting to get sick on the way out there, and sure enough, I was facing a head/chest cold from the moment we landed in Nassau. Not a fun way to spend your vacation, but I guess any vacation is better than no vacation, right?

We unfortunately didn't have great weather while we were there - thankfully at least about 2 full days (total) of sun, so we can't complain. We stayed at Breezes, a "super-inclusive" resort that you may have heard of - and I'd have to say our reviews are mixed. The cost was nice (it was a pretty inexpensive trip to the Caribbean), but we definitely got it at the expense of a few other luxuries. Of course it's nice to have unending food and beverage at your disposal, but when the food is only mediocre, and there's only one bar at the pool, you start to feel like maybe it's not quite worth all the trouble... It was of course great to not worry about paying for anything (even the activities like kayaking and trapeeze lessons were free). So there's always that!

Some of the stuff we did:

* Matt sang Karoake to a somewhat "older" crowd on the first night thus changing his original song selection to that of Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll"

* Kayaked in the gorgeous blue ocean

* Played a LOT of ping pong

* Took the city bus downtown and walked around the markets - we also walked up to the Queen's staircase
(built by slaves in the 1800s - by hand!) and visited a fort there that never had to be used in action

* Matt participated in a limbo contest on the main stage - he did pretty well!

* Applied sunscreen haphazardly and got sunburned - badly

* When a group of 120 18 year olds arrived, we started to lay back with the "adults" at the resort, which meant we hid out in the piano bar one of the nights. This turned out to be a fabulous way to spend the evening, as Matt sat at the piano and gathered a huge crowd as he played folks' requests. He was definitely a huge hit! We even met two new friends from Wisconsin - so overall, it was a great night (video proof at the end of this blog)

* Matt took the trapeze lessons they offered on one of the afternoons and even accomplished an entire trick: hanging upside down and flipping off the bar. (video proof at the end of this blog)


* Danced the night away at Club Hurricane (we felt like we were in a Rihanna-themed club - those Carribean folks love them some Rihanna! I did not complain!!)

* Competed in a lip-synching contest at the Club - Matt's team won, but only because their third and final song was Billie Jean - who can beat Michael Jackson, come on!! I did a rousing rendition of Single Ladies, I must say.

We finally took a trip to the Atlantis on Paradise Island the last night we were in town. What a gorgeous hotel! Had we known how awesome it was, we probably would have headed over more often. Matt even went up $120 in blackjack only to lose it all and walk away winning all of $5. What can I say, our greed caught up to us in the end!

In short, it was a great trip despite some of the negatives. I came back to work on Wednesday to only get sicker and then realize on Thursday that I have pink eye! The good thing there is that I at least did not have it on our trip. :) We'd definitely go back to the Bahamas - but if we do, we're definitely staying at the Atlantis. I guess sometimes you have to spring for the nicer place after all. We'd also love to go back with some friends - there's a lot to do, and a gorgeous beach to hang out at... can't beat it! I am, however, losing my tan (or sunburn as some may call it), as it's been cloudy/rainy/snowy in Denver for the past few days. Yes, read: snow. I think it's supposed to clear up today, so that's good news!

Our hotel grounds:

Junkanoo!

My piano man:

My flying trapeze man:

Springtime Visitors

I feel like we blinked and the weekend was over.  What's that all about? 

The weather has been warming up and that means finally getting to enjoy the outdoors a bit more.  Friday night Matt and I grilled on our "indoor grill" (i.e. the left side of the stove) and ate a nice healthy meal on our patio.  We also met our interesting neighbor while he was hammering clorox-soaked nails into a tree - a tree that is growing between our two houses in the dead space that apparently the city owns (and does not care about).  The tree has apparently been on his nerves for several years, so he's made 2010 the year that it will official die.  He's gone to great lengths (including pouring drano into holes at the base of it) and the tree still continues to grow into his yard and drop its nasty brown blossoms all over the place.  It's quite funny hearing the anger in his voice when discussing how much of a pain this tree has become.  I think he's taking out more than just the tree anger on it ;) 

Saturday morning we drove up to Greeley to see Emma (our sister-in-law, David's wife) who was playing tennis at UNC.  It was great getting to see her and spending a small amount of time with her as she was in town.  We got to take her by our house, so she officially became the first Larson to see it!  We ended the evening with dinner down in Lone Tree at Pasquini's with her team from UND and her cousin (who just so happens to play for the Broncos!).  It was a great day.

Sunday morning Matt and I took a short bike ride around our neighborhood - we're trying to teach Lincoln to run with us while we bike, but he's still quite enticed by any object that moves ("shiny object?") - so, every now and then Matt gets tangled up in the leash and I think it may not be the smartest of ideas. :) 

In a time when we're definitely missing the beautiful springtime weather in DC (and the gorgeous cherry blossoms), it was great to get a visitor from the east (have I mentioned lately how much I miss our friends out there?  It's getting pathetic).  Our great friend Karen was in town on work but got to come by and see our place and have a few beers with us before we all headed to the Rockies game.  It was the PERFECT day for baseball - and the PERFECT way to catch a game: in the Fox suite!  Thanks to one of Karen's friends, we were able to get in for free and eat plenty of food (and drink some Coors of course).  I'm pretty sure I'll never appreciate watching a game from the Rockpile ever again :) 

Against Matt's wishes, we went to Bed Bath & Beyond and Target on Sunday evening to get a few "necessities" (this is Matt's least favorite activity in the world) but got a surprise call from our friends that are moving to Uganda.  They had been in Nebraska for awhile spending time with family, so we haven't seen them in a few weeks.  Sadly we'll be gone for their big going away shindig (and bowling fundraiser), so I was glad they wanted to grab a quick bite to eat!  We met them at Pho-Fusion over in West Highlands.  Always great to see them... I think I've said it a lot, but we're really gonna miss them.  It's hard to find friends that you can connect with on so many levels, but we're glad to have at least had SOME time with them.  We'll see them one more time before they head out to Africa, so I'll write more on that later.

I got to spend some time with an old friend at lunch today - she got me some new Rainbows from the factory in California (awesome) and brought her adorable almost-6 month old daughter.  I don't get to see her often as life keeps us both busy, but it's always nice to sit down and chat with someone that has been such a big part of your life, you know?  Sometimes I really miss the "old" days of friendships... like certain periods of times with certain people where you felt like nothing could be better.  Does that make sense?  It's funny how friendships have their ebbs and flows, and some come and go... I'm definitely one of those people that would prefer they not ever go!  But such is life.  All that to say that I'm so glad Kristen is still in my life after all these years - we have shared some of the greatest laughter sessions of all time together.

We're now in preparations for the Bahamas and just hoping the work week goes by quickly!  There's a few other important things going on this week that I can't share about here but will definitely be in a lot of prayer for.  Hopefully I'll have a good update for you in the future... just not sure if or when.  For now, we'll be seeing you after we're nice and bronzed (hopefully)!  I'm also hoping Matt can win a few bucks at the Casinos in Nassau.  Fingers crossed.  :)

Easter and such

Having not grown up in a religious home, I didn't really have any Easter traditions before college.  Once I got to DC, my good friend Carly would host an Easter brunch at her house and I always had that to look forward to as a way to spend such an important day.  This year, we are forutnate to belong to a great church and have new friends that also enjoy spending Easter together!  I woke up in a great mood on Easter Sunday after having watched the Passion on Saturday night with Matt.  If you have not seen that movie, I highly recommend it - it truly puts tremendous visuals in your head when you read or talk about everything that Jesus went through for us.  I think it'll be a great tradition for us to watch it every Easter weekend from now on... lest we forget the amazing thing God did!  The sun was shining on Easter morning and I was excited for the day ahead - Matt was playing on the worship team at all of the services, so we planned to meet up mid-day at our friends' brunch (hosted by Keri and Joe).  I spent the rest of the morning making an awesome sausage and chedder strata to bring to the brunch and a few cupcakes to enjoy there and later when my sister came over.  I even made easter baskets for Matt, Amber, her boyfriend DJ, and I to enjoy! 

My strata is the first casserole dish on the right :)  It turned out deliciously. 

 (This pic was pre-ham, the meal was amazing!)

We had a great time at the Westras enjoying all the food and just hanging out with good people.  Couldn't have asked for better weather!  (My chest is baring a nice sunburn from all the time I spent outside that day :) )  When we got home, we met up with Amber and DJ to head to the 6pm service together.  It was a terrific sermon from our awesome pastor (his blog is pretty great if you have the time) asking what we believe about the resurrection.  In the end, he admitted that he denies the resurrection... but wait for it... he denies the resurrection by the way he often lives his life.  Do we deny the resurrection?  Do I gloss over or diminish something so miraculous and amazing by the way I conduct my life?  Certainly!  His challenge to us was to remember what Jesus went through and accomplished for us, and to live in light of those realities.  I hope that we don't deny the resurrection, because that would be to belittle the greatest thing ever done for us. 

I posted this as my facebook status on Good Friday, but I think it's a great reminder of just how loving our God is: "He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less." - CS Lewis

My mom was kind enough to drive up Sunday night and visit us for a few days - we had an awesome time just catching up and chatting about our lives.  As we get older, my sister and I have really learned a lot more about my family than we ever knew, and though it's hard to hear at times, it has been really great for both of us to know what our parents went through and how we got to where we are today.  For those of you that know me well, my mom and I always had a very rocky relationship growing up, and once she left, I was very angry at her for a long time.  It's only been in the last few years that our relationship has really been mended and we can recognize and appreciate the VAST differences between us.  Because even in those great differences, I see far more similarities in us than I'd care to admit :)  It's great having her around, and she's made such an effort to be a big part of our lives.  I love that she'll drop everything to make the drive up to Denver from New Mexico to see us (or occasionally bring us a box of Charles Shaw from Trader Joes...) :)

Amber was able to take the day off work and the three of us spent all of Monday together having a great time.  We got brunch at Snooze (YUMMM), walked the 16th Street Mall, visited Target, attempted to dye my mom's hair... it was a fun girly day. :)  We all had dinner together that night, and it felt great to be together in our house and enjoying each other's company.  Though my mom and I may see things in completely different ways most of the time, we do know how much the other cares and that's really all that matters.

Finally using our indoor "grill" :)

Wednesday night had us back at the Empire in Louisville for my dad's "Jam Knights" performance.  It's always fun to watch them play.  I feel so lucky to have so much music in the family!