Just a quick update on my “get fit” journey.  I hit one heck of a plateau for a few weeks, which made me really frustrated and unmotivated to continue my workouts as rigorously as I had been.  I was down to about three a week (still better than the ZERO I was doing previously!).  I’ve been slowly getting myself back on track, and am slowly–finally–pushing out of the plateau!  YEAH! 

Today, I had a nice confidence boost when I was coming in from lunch I crossed paths with our morning photographer/editor, and he stopped his car, rolled the window down, and said, “Hey–you’ve never looked better!”  That made my day!  To date, from the day before Drake was born to now, I’m down 61 pounds!  It’s hard to fathom that looking back, but I’m glad for the changes in my lifestyle, fitting into my clothes, and just plain outright feeling better!  I’ve also learned my lesson that when Floyd & I decide to have another child someday that I have to do a much better job of watching my diet and trying to do some low-impact exercise to stave off such a huge weight gain–making life a little easier to bounce back post-partum.  I still have a few more pounds to shed to hit my goal weight, but I’m feeling much better about the road ahead & sticking with it!

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I love try to simple salad recipes–healthy & different than a bag of lettuce with dressing on top!  I found this one recently on the New York Times website and really like it, so thought I’d share!  I added crumbled fat free feta cheese–which my husband said made this a salad even he could tolerate!

Black Bean & Quinoa Salad with Cumin Vinagerette

1 cup quinoa (like rice, but higher protein, lower fat–often in the grocer’s health foods section )

—Boil and prepare according to box instructions, set aside when done

1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

3/4 cup fresh or frozen peas

1 red bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon garlic (minced or garlic seasoning)

1/2 teaspoon cumin

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup buttermilk

Mix all the ingredients together, add in the quinoa & voila!  Sprinkle with the feta cheese for extra zing.  Enjoy!

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I recently played role as hostess for a baby shower in honor of our lovely new meteorologist Denice Pelster.  Denice & I have bonded over babies in her short time here!  Since I’m a new mom, I know just what she’s going through with pregnancy pains, and all the questions she has racing through her mind right now in preparation for the life-changing events of child birth and becoming a parent!  It was a nice turn-out, and a big thank you to our outgoing intern Aldijana for helping me get everything set up! 

I have to say though—Denice is a real trooper–even more so than I when I did this job pregnant!  She’s been reporting for us, and filling in a lot for Eileen lately, while Eileen enjoys some time off.  Doing weather requires her to come in REALLY early and stand on her feet for extended periods of time, not to mention getting winded when you talk for three minutes or so straight to deliver a forecast!

And what is INSANE–is she’s seen a lot obviously these days being on air more, and I cannot believe some of the ridiculously rude comments directed toward here.  I may have been miffed by a recent slight on my coif, but the criticisms against a beautiful woman carrying a beautiful child are just asinine and uncalled for.  We all ended up on this planet because a woman hauled us around inside of her for 9+ months–so don’t knock the beauty of this chapter in a gal’s life!  Denice is gorgeous inside & out, and we’re so glad she’s a part of the KWWL team.  So any of our not-so-nice viewers can just keep those awful comments to themselves–remember what your own mommas told you–if you don’t have anything nice to say, just don’t say it at all.  I personally wish our good weather friend all the best in this amazing new chapter in her life!

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I’m not sure why..but Drakey boy has been a little clingy with me the last few days.  Both yesterday and today when I went to drop him off at daycare, I set him down and he started to cry.  So I had to rock him a little and occupy him with toys before I could set him down and he would be okay.  At home, he’s been crawling around to follow me into the kitchen when I cook supper or do dishes.  I don’t mind it–I would hold that little man all the time if I needed to!  It just breaks my heart when I have to go to work, or have my hands full and can’t get to him when he wants me.  I’m sure it’s just a phase, but it does make me feel good to be needed by him.  It makes me look forward to Friday when we’ll have the whole day together!  He’s a good little guy, indeed.

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This recipe was so yummy I just had to share!  Kudos to my awesome sister-in-law Shannon for sharing it with me.

It’s simple & fast–guilt free pizza!

You just take whole grain 90-calorie “Flat Out” pita style wraps, drizzle with olive oil.  Add slices of fresh tomatoes on top, add on some minced garlic or garlic seasoning, then sprinkle on some low-fat mozzarella and reduced fat or fat free feta cheeses, and top with a little Italian seasoning.  Bake at 375 for about 7 minutes or until lightly golden with cheese melted.  It’s a great snack or lunch meal!  ENJOY!

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So I don’t really care for the sport of golf, but I’m a bit of a black sheep in my family as far as that goes.  My grandparents, parents, and husband all love to golf (to name a few).  As a result, I got suckered into playing a lot of the sport when I was a kid.  I didn’t mind summer league in grade school since we only played three holes!  But as a got older, and admittedly more impatient, I started to like the sport less and less.  My distaste for golf was only made worse by a high school boyfriend who was prone to club throwing, and going out for the high school team freshman year—showing up for every practice, but never getting to play in a meet.  The game just moves SO SLOW and I just don’t really find it that enjoyable to chase around and hunt for a little white ball, not even on a gorgeous day being on a pretty course–just not much makes it truly “fun” for me. 

But nevertheless, I have pledged as Floyd’s wife to play at least ONE round of golf with him every year.  So this past weekend while my parents were in town, Floyd, a friend of his, my dad, and I hit the links for 9 holes, while mom stayed behind to watch Drake.  It was a stunningly beautiful day, and as a result the course was super crowded.  Even with a tee time, it took us about double the time to get in a round as it would on any other day.   We had a nice time being together, but I’m still not convinced golf is a “good sport” for me.  I told Floyd that maybe I’ll consider taking it up many moons from now when we’re retired and have all the time in the world to travel and chase after little white balls.  For now, I’ll keep “goof-ing” around the course once a year as a treat for my Floydie boy.

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SCHOOL IS BACK IN SESSION!  Where did summer go?!?  I think Floyd & I say that every year.  But being new parents and seeing how many changes Drake has undergone this summer really makes it seem like time just went by in the blink of an eye. 

Over the past few months, I got used to getting up a bit later to exercise and get ready, and Floyd would get Drake when he woke up, feed him breakfast, and get him dressed.  It was wonderful.  So it was all to easy to forget in order to get my routine accomplished with Floyd back at work, I have to set my alarm much earlier! In order to have ample time to work out and shower before Drake wakes up, I have to get up by at least 5:40 a.m., and it would probably serve me well to make it 5:30!  Oh yeah..I kind of forgot what that is like!

It makes me VERY grateful for just how much Floyd pitched in this summer.  I enjoy my mornings with Drake, albeit early and hectic!  But now that I’m on my third plateau of my fitness journey, I know it’s important to keep my rhythms consistent to achieve my goals.  It’s really hard to roll out of bed some mornings, but I always feel so great after I get everything done.  So I hope my body clock gets readjusted the next couple of weeks so I can get back in the groove, stay on track, and feel good!

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Don’t you love surprises from a loved one, just because?  No special occassion, no real reason to celebrate, an expression “just because” you’re loved & thought of?  I adore these small moments.  Today, Floyd was really hoping we could have lunch together since he starts back up to school tomorrow, and thankfully we were able to make that work with our schedules.  He also showed up for our little lunch date with flowers–just because!   Have I ever mentioned I love this man?!? 

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It’s so hard to beleive–but this weekend, Drake will turn 8 months old!  Time just flies!  He’s quite the master crawler now, so we’ve learned that the dog dish and our shoes have to be put away or he will be after them!  Drake is just pure joy and we love him so very much.

But today, I’m going to go back to bragging on Floyd.  He’s been home with Drake three days a week this summer, and has had so much fun spending time with our little guy.  Floyd has been awesome at staying on top of the laundry, dishes, cleaning, and changing lots of dirty diapers!  He has never complained about it, and does so much without me asking.  There aren’t enough words to express my gratitude.  I know he’s dragging his feet about returning back to work, teaching school soon because of how much he will  miss spending time with Drake!  But at the same time, he and I know we’re blessed beyond measure to both be working in fields we love.  And we look forward to watching football, basketball, and volleyball games this fall with our little man in tow. 

So I know I don’t say it enough–but thank you, Floyd.  You’re my best friend, an amazing husband, and INCREDIBLE father!  Love you, love you, love you!

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In just a couple of months, I will mark 6 years in this business.  In that time, I have seen A LOT of faces come and go.  I’ve covered so many interesting stories, some I dreaded, some that made me emotional, and others I’ll never forget (especially some of the people I’ve come to know!).  But one thing I’ve been a bit lucky on these past several years is a fairly limited amount of public criticism.  I’ve never been good at taking it, admittedly, no matter where it comes from.  But I think I learned at a pretty early age not to care what people think of me, sort of… Of course to some extent, most of us want to be loved, liked and respected and do our best to ensure that happens by how we present ourselves, the way we treat others, etc.

But when it comes to some people just being darn right nasty with you, especially undeservedly, it’s just ridiculous and not worth the time to give the person dishing out the dirt any credence.  This week, a viewer decided to send an email to the station lamenting me because she doesn’t care for my hair.  Her note was unkind and rude to say the least.  The most awful part about such notes–is that our station general email account is copied to every single person in the newsroom, so everyone reads it–good or bad.  I replied with a simple message saying something to the effect of how I understand it’s important to be pleasant-looking in my chosen occupation, but rather than concerning myself with things so incredibly vain, I am far more concerned with my credibility, compassion, and story-telling abilities as a journalist.  I thought that would put her meanness to a stop.  Well, I was wrong.  She replied back to my email with an even nastier comment.  My boss was kind enough to tell her he’s worked in this business 35 years, and if there’s one thing he’s learned–especially when it comes to female on-air talent–no two people will have the same opinion:  you can’t please everyone.  Some people will just love you, and others just won’t–plain and simple. 

Life is like that–you can’t win ‘em all over, no matter what.  This viewer’s unpleasantry doesn’t get under my skin, it honestly  just makes me wonder why anyone would think it okay to tell someone in such a public way that they look awful.  Would I go up to the clerk at the mall or grocery store and tell her she looks bad?  Would you?  No.  You would never dream it.  It just goes back to the good old golden rule:  treat others how you want to be treated.  What a novel idea!  It reminds me to do that in my own life, too.  It’s much better to make friends, than enemies, so be kind to everyone:  Jesus in the flesh.

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