One Foot in Front of the Other

The title of this entry is pretty obvious and typical, but it's also very fitting.

Last summer, I had a complete physical. Let's just say my lazy lifestyle wasn't doing the best it could for my body.

I decided this needed to change. I cut out fast food, started eating more fruit, but the biggest thing was I started working out. The elliptical and I became close friends.

The big issue I had to get over was my asthma. I have exercise-induced asthma (humidity, cold, and me being congested can trigger it, too). It was pretty bad in high school, but in college it got a little better thanks to me hoofing it all over Mizzou's campus.

I'm not going to deny that I wasn't scared when I stepped on that elliptical. The thought of the screaming lungs, the inability to catch my breath, and shaky hands didn't exactly make me want to jump into this guns a blazin'.

I've been good though. I even made the jump to full out running on the treadmill.

Best part: the asthma has rarely been an issue.

Yes, I still have bad days. But the good part is that I can tell when I'm starting to push myself too hard. I know my symptoms, and I know when to slow down and when to just say "It's time to stop."

The important thing is that when those days happen, it doesn't make me not go back. I show up the next day, and push myself just as hard.

I'm not super fast yet, and I'm not doing any long distances. But, considering a year ago running a quarter mile would have made me keel over and now I can do three half-miles in a 30-minute period, I'd say I'm slowly slaying the beast.

Summertime

One of the fantastic things about moving back to Iowa has been getting to spend time with the kiddos. Even though they're my cousin's kids, they've always called Jeremy and I uncle and aunt, and we may be guilty of spoiling them a bit. We try to go to at least one of their games and some of their events. I also have made sure that they get a "fun day with Aunt Beth" during their vacations(I may use these as an excuse to get to do kid things that I want to do but not look like a weirdo. For example, it's how I went to the Floppy* documentary; I conned Em into going with me and relived a great childhood show. This is also how I'm going to go see Romana and Beezus later this summer.

But, since the end of May, the kids have kept us busy with all of their events (OK, it slowed down after June - but there were a few busy weeks). We got to see Em and Taylor at their dance recital. I enjoyed it more because a lot of the kids I had at Waukee were in it. Jeremy admits he snoozed a bit during it.

We had Parker's little league game. He's improved a lot since last year when he hopped up and down on third base yelling "Aunt Beth, Aunt Beth! Look! Look!" He even did this while a ball rolled right past him (the unobservant part is apparently a family trait). He's become very serious about it, and he's informed me his favorite position is catcher.

 Look at that concentration. 

He really is a peaceful kiddo (as well as absolutely adorable).

 Clark, on the other hand, is a hellion. He managed to run onto the field
as well as yell "diarrhea" across it. Spitfire doesn't even begin to describe him.

Em's our little soccer player. Uncle Jeremy has informed me I'm not allowed to tell her how to play dirty. I do think she needs to learn how to celebrate goals though.

Em, center, looks pretty serious (and looks a lot like a young Aunt Beth).

 "No, no, Jeremy!" is Sam's favorite phrase. And that's always good for laughs.

 Okay, so they ALL might be a little hellionish.
I have NO idea where they'd get that from:)

So far, I've only done one Aunt Beth day with Parker. I scored us some great seats at an ICubs game, right to the right of first base. Parker even got a foul ball that some older gentleman was nice enough to make sure the player gave it to the kid. He was thrilled.

 He was so excited to be that close to the field. I may be biased,
but he's the cutest kid in the world!

I did take all 3 kids to see Toy Story 3 the other day. I even braved 3D for them, and we were "cheaters" as Em said and snuck in our goodies. That seemed to be very exciting for them. After the movie, we met Uncle Jeremy at the park for dinner. They played tag while I documented the entire thing. Parker was so excited that Jeremy was chasing him, he ran by me laughing hysterically. You can't help but be happy with moments like those.

*For you non-Central Iowans, the Floppy showed aired after the noon news from the 50s to the late 80s, when it changed to a Saturday afternoon show. Floppy was a beagle in a box, and there were corny cartoons and jokes on the show. One of my childhood favorites, and yes, that is how my beagle Floppy got his name.

Chicago

A little more than a month ago, we took a weekend trip to Chicago. Neither of us had been, so we decided it was a good, quick getaway (which is sad considering I grew up 7 hours away and a decent number of people I went to college with were from Chicago. Instead in college, I took the day road trip to Texas - I'm not kidding).

True to our typical form, we hit the ground running (we have yet to plan a relaxing vacation; we're not good at just sitting all day). So, after the giddiness of realizing that we were staying at the hotel the NHL was using as its HQ for the Stanley Cup in Chicago, we decided it was time to eat. Right next door to us was Miller's Pub, which is apparently a famous spot (these are things we did not research).

After running back to the room to get a sweatshirt, we went on a walking tour to see the sites from Ferris Bueller.

I check out the map and realize how much walking we're going to be doing.


I managed to not have a panic attack on the Skydeck. I think this was because I was so excited to see the Adventures in Babysitting building.


The Chicago Board of Trade is a pretty cool building.


It's a flamingo.


The hotel.

I managed to get blisters after this walking expedition, but that didn't slow us down for the rest of the weekend.

We started off the day walking on Saturday. We tried to get to the Shedd Aquarium, but the wait for tickets to just get in was 2 hours. We were going to the Cubs game that afternoon, so that wasn't going to work. Instead, we tootled around on the lakeshore, and we went to the Field Museum instead. Neither of us were that impressed by it.


It's Soldier Field. And me with way too bright hair.


The Bean.


the closest I got to any Chicago Bulls.


The town had gone Blackhawks nutty. These are the lions out in front of the art institute (where I was happier than a pig in poo because they had many Monets).


I may have jumped up and down when I saw this. it was a gift from Paris, and I may have declared that it was time to move there.


Wrigley - unfortunately the White Socks weren't playing in town that weekend, otherwise we would have gone to both parks.


Sue!

On Sunday, we took it a bit easier. We managed to get into Shedd, puttered around the art institute, and then meandered around Navy Pier while waiting to go see Taming of The Shrew.

We had a good time, but my feet were ready for a break when we got back.


I represent and show my Iowa pride wherever I go.