Saved by the Bell

First day of school tomorrow and apparently I have much competition for the prestigious Slacker Mom of the year award, since the website with the bus information for my older two kiddos has 'connection' problems. I keep trying with no success. *sigh* Oh, well we are going to assume that they should do the same as last year. I know the youngest one's exactly the same, so that is how we are going to pretend the older two's work too!

Tonight I managed about 3.5 miles at the gym. I did pushups and squats between each mile and the last half mile was done once I got home. It was just to nice out to NOT do it! Beautiful night!! My goal was 5, but that flew out the window for some reason my breathing is not quiet right. Could be the 10 extra pounds that I have to haul around since we moved here... but I digress..

I. am. amazed. I can not tell you the last time I read a book from cover to cover so fast in my LIFE. And I am NOT joking! Over 230 pages in 3 days. For me? a BIG deal!! It was the true story of Denver Moore and Ron Hall. I started it Sunday night, cried for about 10 chapters last night and then more crying over my lunch hour at work today! Awesome book! Great story. Maybe that is what drives me to help the homeless. They have not yet many of them are so grateful for the little we can give them! Truly! One guy on Saturday only wanted a $1.29. Yes. 129 pennies. Ok. granted it was to buy him a 40 oz. beer called Earthquake that has 12% alcohol, but still. Only wanted some change. He had much promise that guy. Young too. Smart, but had anxiety problems.

Last Thursday night to Friday my 13 year old stayed up all night to 'get used to school' so he could sleep well the next night and start getting up early. I kindly suggested his plan may have a slight flaw and maybe he should try something next to his head in bed called an ALARM CLOCK. I explained how it was SUPPOSED TO WORK, since his body rejected that theory last year and NEVER woke up to it. We shall see how this will work tomorrow!

My oldest needs reminders to CHECK his email. Especially since applying online for jobs they may contact him that way. He says his account has too much spam. I better save that one for another post! (breathe)

Ok kids! Time to hit the shower!

Help Bring Back Dark Cherry Mocha!!!

I contacted Starbucks to find out what ever happened to my precious Mocha.

During our move last year, that was my sunshine in the morning. Ahhh.
That.
sweet.
creamy.
delightful.
Dark Cherry Mocha.
Yum.

Ahhhh....






*slap,slap*

Ok.

So, I know I am not alone here. A lot of people out there really miss it too. Don't believe me just google the name and see all the comments of people missing the Mocha. I want to know what happened to it! So I contacted Starbucks via their website and this is what the note said:

Dear Starbucks,
Please return my favorite drink. *snif,sniff*
Dark Cherry Mocha.
I miss it. A lot.
Please?
Why did it go away~
Thanks!

Now anyone reading this is REQUIRED by me to contact them HERE AND TELL THEM TO BRING IT BACK NOW!!

Ok, feeling better now... carry on!
: )

Back to endurance!

Clearly, I have strayed from my 'endurance' posts. It is so nice to just hang out in the garden...and sit. Just hang out...but it doesn't help the calorie burn. Thus, I will try to describe my current status.

By the numbers....
Two. The number of workouts I have managed per week for the past month. Sad.
Three. The maximum number of miles I have run in the past month. Again, Sad.
40. The maximum number of pushups I have done in one day.
628. The number of calories I was OVER on my calories yesterday. I recently began counting my calories...oh, how I missed knowing how bad I am on my calories. What a great guilt it is to KNOW that hand full of walnuts and dark chocolate is more than I need.
90. The average temp around here, which makes outdoor fitness fun, non-existent.
186. The number of calories I was over today. Thanks to the elipitical, treadmill, squats and pushups.
2.2. The number of pounds down since my last weigh in 5 days ago.
2. The average number of refills on my WW 32 oz mug full of water.
5. The number of bucks to have my crazy Boot Camp instructor beat me up each week. Since he left the UA, I haven't see him, I do miss him but I may be starting to lead my own boot camp at our church. GLUP!
938. The number of times I told my self I am not 'fit enough' to teach boot camp.

Needless to say, thanks to some stress in my life I am not feeling extra motivated...I am determined to change things up!!
Now this is my ideal numbers....
3. Number of times I want to workout each week.
5. Number of miles I want to start running at least one time a week.
40. Number of push ups I would like to do each time I work up.
1380. Max number of calories to eat each day.
8. Number of hours I would love to sleep each night.

Curved corn?

So, now our fallen corn has curved up toward the sky! Who knew?

Birds and the Breeze!

With our garden we have many critters, from Deer, bunnies, wood chucks, humingbirds and butterflies!
Brock came out to join me as I was sitting out by our garden. One of my favorite places to just hang out and AMAZINGLY while he was talking my ear off about his college future, we saw a hummingbird try to come up to our corn stalks! Of course this was just before the storm came thru Wednesday morning and pushed over many of them.Funny thing is, now those stalks of corn are now growing upward. They are resembling a letter C. Kinda funny!

The rest of these pictures were taken from a collection of common KY butterflies.


The Monarch, very common... but check this out...

Viceroy, The 'poisonious' Kentucky State butterfly! I will have to pay more attention to these.

Orange Sulfur, one of these landed on our flowers of the cucumer plants we have, so neat to watch it suck out pollen.
Black swallowtail, This was one of my favorite ones. So pretty!

Things That Make Me Happy!

1. Texas Chili in the cafe at work!! Yum! Apples, blue cheese and dried cranberries... ok, sheesh, I should just say ALL FOOD!

2. Our Garden. We are hoping to grow herbs next year in our garden. Right now, our watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes, cucumbers and corn are doing well. Our Squash is ok too, but we planted that a bit late in the season. Our Zucchini and pumpkins probably won't be makin' it this year due to the animals we have been feeding. We sprayed some chemical that keeps the deer and bunnies away (it really worked!) but it doesn't keep woodchucks away. My hubby believes that a .22 would do the trick.

3. Baby Deer. Just saw two last night in a nearby neighborhood. No Mom in sight, hope she was close by. I don't know how they survive with all the heat we have had recently. almost 2 weeks straight of temps over 90!

4. Music. Nothin' like letting your mind wander in a tune. My personal favorites are Adele and Francessca Battistelli, currently.

5. Coffee and Books. I love to cuddle in a chair and sip some Java while I enlighten my mind with some knowledge. Currently I am reading Radical by David Platt and still working my way thru the Bible (been on the Bible for two years now, still working through it!)

6. A good whine. As in, I don't wanna workout today! But in the end... oh, it feels sooooo good! On a side note.. I may have just become a boot camp instructor at our church on Saturdays. YIKES!!~ More as this develops.

7. Fluffy cat. Specifically ours. She is an independent gal, but when she is hungry, she is the NICEST girl you ever met! I like her to go hungry about once a day. : )

8. Hikes. This past weekend we didn't get our 'state park' hike in that we wanted but we 'hiked' in downtown Cincy and helped give water and lunches to the folks at the drop in shelter. Met some interesting people. We are hoping to do that more often! (didn't bring the kiddo's on that a wee bit too scary)

9. My family. <3 I have some pretty terrific family and am so very grateful they are in my life. I know I can be an idiot and a goof ball and no matter what they will always be there for me.
: ) Love you guys!!! (and gals)

10. My Salvation. As messed up as I am and still do, knowing I am a child of God and will always have his forgiveness makes me especially happy.

Beware: KY/ OH Road Hazzards

The roads in my neck of the woods are never boring for sure... This is a list of items that I witnessed or seen on the side or in the roadway in one 24 hr time...I don't drive that much really!

• A Kitchen Chair


• Many Tire parts


• A huge garbage can (in the passing lane)


• A Box-o-styro foam cups.


• Too many cars with 'blown out' tires to count


• Biker with a bummed elbow from a car that took him out. (I stopped to help, but he sure was ticked off!) Needless to say, I was unable to do anything. I think I will not pedal bike on KY roads in the future.


• A box spring.

1. My oldest wants to be a pharmacist and our middle child is thinking about being a doctor! Woo Hoo!

2. We now have a resident wood chuck that is going in for the Zucchini! I tell ya, it may be cute, but if he takes aim for our Pumpkins he is HISTORY! Our poor pumpkin plants are in recovery from the deer-fest!

3. My future 'physician' said to my future 'pharmacist' today... "Hey, it would basically be like it is now. I tell you what to do!"... ahhh brotherly love!

4. We spent the evening at a local soup kitchen called Hosea House. I am trying to spend more time helping out with people in the community, after all we are made to help each other. We live near some pretty hurting people. We (the hubby and I) also brought along the kiddos to help out. This place was adorable. I was the passer of BBQ and carrots. Brock passed out bread, jello or fruit, Duner and Reece gave out beverages. The people in charge keep a tight ship. They were not afraid to tell the people like it is! I was so afraid of saying the wrong thing.

5. I am told that there is 'camps' of homeless people in the area. This weekend we are going (the hubby and I ) are going to one of the local homeless camps to give out lunches.

6. Child number one's feet are now smaller than child number two. I believe that spells... T.R.O.U.B.L.E.

7. The hubby picked up a second job at DHL. He rotates his full time job between first and second shift, then works some overnight time at DHL. He only works part time but he gets benefits like insurance and vacation time! Crazy! I am not getting to excited about it, if he can't handle all the hours and wants to quit, I am ok with it.

8. Our future 'physician' had part of his toe nail removed last week. That was intense. They sprayed his toe with something that upon hitting the air became something like 40 below, giving him frostbite, then they inject the pain med in his toe. In more than one location. Then the podiatrist, JAMS a wedge down under the nail, to create a path for the scissors to cut both sided of the nail out. Ewww! It looked painful (!) but he did GREAT!

9. We are on pace to break a record here in the area. The most consecutive days of temps over 90 was 15 and we are on pace for 19. (depending on if the rain comes on Saturday as they predict) Thankfully about a week later they are predicting a nice cold front! Yahooo!

10. I have spent the past few days school shopping. Online only. I love not driving to a store and being able to compare sales with just a few clicks! There are so many websites that have 'free shipping' or 'discount' codes. My least favorite thing to shop for was the mens/ boys underwear. Really? Why on earth are some 3 pairs for 7 bucks but others are 3 pairs for $18??

Clifty Falls State Park: Without kids!

For all times I left my memory card in the computer at home and my cell phone was dying so I wasn't able to capture my own pictures, so all the pics here are borrowed, but some are FAR better than I could have done myself. (so I have linked them from the direct sources)

On Saturday, we ventured from Kentucky to the big state of Indiana.

If ever, I am feeling the slightest bit homesick we found we can travel a short distance to Madison, Indiana. On the way the roads are flater, wider and have farms spotted along the way, just like Wisconsin. Plus they have similar hometown names such as Madison, Seymour and Schofield! Didn't see many cows, but did see lots of fields of corn!

Our goal was to head to Clifty Falls state park. We have been somewhat disappointed in the Kentucky state parks. They don't charge much, if anything, unless you are camping... but they don't have the nice signs or roads either.

We easily found the park, paid our 'out of state' fee of $7 and wandered to the camping area. We miss camping with the kids so we are hoping next year to get some camp time in. This state park had FOUR waterfalls. It was a balmy 97 degrees that day so my goal was to get wet. The park has 8 trails. We decided to start with big Clifty falls first. Trail #8. This pic was taken from trail #2 (I believe) which is a 3 mile one way trail, ending at the water fall then you have to travel another 3 miles back. It was too hot for us to attempt that, so we settled for #7 and 8, which stay on the top parts of the falls.

This was the picture (below) I wanted to take myself when I realized I had not brought the memory card. D'oh! The falls are to our right from this view.
This state park also has a tunnel that was dug to make way for trains but they lost funding so it was abandoned and now is home to bats. We were greeted with this sign at the enterance:

Please Note: Clifty Falls Tunnel is closed until further notice

All caves, sinkholes, tunnels and mines on DNR properties are closed to provide protection from white-nose syndrome, a fungus that is killing bats in large numbers in the Eastern U.S. and is now spreading west. This includes the old railroad tunnel at Clifty Falls. To learn more about WNS visit www.dnr.IN.gov/batdisease. Thank you for cooperating with DNR in this effort.

This was one of the coolest parts of the day. Litterally! It was about 10-15 degrees cooler standing infront of it. I wanted to go inside just to cool off, but didn't want to find any critters...

We never did find a place to use our swimsuits but I did manage to make a splash in a small stream (about 18 inches) that flowed accross our path to Tunnel falls. We did get wet, but it was from sweat!

We then hit the local town and found a place called The Pines (which is also a name of a resturant back in WI) that reminded us a lot of Romy's Nightingale Supper club back home. We managed to cool off there before heading back home.

On our way home we drove to downtown Madison, "Prettiest small town in the Midwest"
according to their brochure. It is cute. Old world charm. We liked it.

As we headed back along the Kentucky side of the Ohio River, we stopped at General Butler State Park. We did like the cabins there, but we are still in search of a campground WITH a beach. They are so far elusive around here... but next week, we may have found one! We will see!

The Saga Continues...

*sigh*

March. Nancy left me.
May. Michelle left me.
July. J.D left boot camp. cry.cry.

I now have been completely abandoned by my personal 'training'.
The ONLY reason I stayed and didn't 'buy out' of the contract was because at least I still had JD every Saturday to kick my butt! Now he is leaving to go to something called Crossfit Hustle. It is a hard core training facility. You know it is 'hard core' when you have to pay $200 a MONTH to be part of it. Why so much? Cause it is technically not a GYM. See video here (or below)...


ok. You can pick up your jaw now. All kinds of crazy fun!!

So. I am not made of that kind of cash. Now, I am buying myself out of personal training. I am asking them to kindly drop the 'buy out' and just cancel my contract due to the fact that I was dropped by them multiple times.
I am not asking for my money back. Even a reduction in fees would be nice. Then again, just to not have to deal with all that mess will be nice too.
I LOVE the gym. Love the spin classes. Love the running track. Love the tanning, smoothies, and theater! But the personal trainers? Not so much.

But on the upside, Cross fit Hustle has a WORKOUT OF THE DAY, open to the public for $10 on Saturdays at noon.

I think I found my new boot camp. Even cheaper! Oh, yeah!! Score!

: )

Garden Update or Barking Doesn't Scare Deer...at least from a human.

Even thought the top of this Tomato plant was eaten by the deer it is still growing two little tomatoes! Yay!
NOW deer have taken a liking to our Zucchini!
Hopefully this little one will survive the DEER invasion!!
We have a little water melon starting! Yay!
The pumpkins may have been taken over from the deer... bummer. Cat litter didn't work...
So far the deer don't care for the cucumber plants... we have a few growing well!

Interesting, yet kinda useless factoids...

Ugh. What a week. Put a fork in me I am done!

1. Genetic testing is 3,000 bucks, so you better hope your insurance covers it! (and you don't have a $$$$ deductible, like yours truly)

2. If you have a close relative with a specific type of cancer it is only $475 bucks. What a bargain!!

3. Did you know that a manger is not necessarily a barn? Yep. Learned that one too!

4. ER staff are pretty amazing. Why not bring 'em a treat along with you next time you want to calling the ambulance cause 'need something checked out'.

5. My kids are mellow compared to some. I heart my kids. Currently de-stressing as we type....

6. I followed the county Coroners pick up truck into work this week... It got lots of stare downs from pedestrians as it passed by... kinda eerie like.

7. Deer like tomato AND pumpkin leaves. Now, we will see how much they like cat litter... REALLY strong stuff too!

8. 110 degree heat index is intense. Even walking was rough. I have no idea how critters with fur handled it.

9. I am so. very. very. glad. to. have. boys.

10. Hollah! is a greeting, like a good happy one. (for us white folk) I love learning African American speak... so fun and colorful.

Have a great weekend all!

Random-ness: Tighty Whitey Edition...

1. Life is good. Life is not perfect, and not meant to be but WOW! The hubby never picked up a book before but now has been reading daily. Lately it's been Radical by David Platt and the Bible. And Reece professed God as his savior and was baptized with the hubby and about 16 other people this past week at church! Blessings abound here in our family... we have a growing relationship with God and its getting better. Although saying grace seems to fall on my shoulders... but thats ok.

2. We are now running again. Together...ur, kind of. (during the week we are on our own, since he is on another shift every other week) I like to get my run in before work, if I am going to run outside. The hubby likes to get it done just before he goes to sleep. After the temps cool down. At least now the hubby is also a member of the gym too, so he can join me for Boot Camp! : )

3. Saturday mornings we have decided to get together with Les, the assistant Pastor at our church. He has been in track in school but hasn't really run much in years. Walks a lot but not running. He has an awesome stride and makes it look easy! (Plus, we are STILL going to hit boot camp every week!)

4. Endomondo is awesome. But I don't think it likes me. It is an FREE app that you can use with your mobile phone to track your pace, distance, speed and calories. PLUS it does all this while you are running without having to post it. For instance, it will say 'Rachel is out running at a 5.8175 pace and so far has gone 1.2 miles". I love it, but I have asked it to send a like to my mobile phone. It still hasn't sent it and it is not in my 'app market' either. Bummer.

5. We are in the middle of a crazy week! VBS 'Gold Rush' week. Complete with cowboy themed everything. I am helping with 24- Karat crafts. Reece and Brock are 'shepherding' the kids around and Brock will find a place to help out. Zeb gets to have fun. Duner gets to work... at his job...

6. Duner took the kids fishing (the two youngest) and Reece was pretty happy that he caught a catfish AND was able to get if off without getting 'stung'.

7. Saturday I spent the day helping out at Fairhaven Thrift Store. They give poor people vouchers to get clothes and housewares at the store. We are only open from 10 am to 2 pm, we had 33 people come in with vouchers. Plus some came in with money.

One of the men was telling me how he has not had utilities in over 2 months. He can't afford to go to the laundromat so he has to keep buying new clothes to wear. (with vouchers) He said he is running out of room to store them all. He has five roomates. Crazy huh?

Well, what really hurt, was hearing how he had to use swim trunks as underwear.

Underwear? Yep, 'cause they are very hard to come by. A guy passing him when he said 'Oh yeah, you bet they are!'

One of the most basic things we use everyday. Wow.

So, dear people in blog dome. Got any undies you haven't worn 'cause they don't fit right? Or not the color you wanted? Please donate 'em.

Thank you!

A good laugh..

As I am mashing together the potato salad last night, the hubby asked if he could help.

"Sure!" I said. He mashed it up and added some mustard.
I got busy doing other things and didn't think much of it until I went to put some potato salad on my own plate and asked him if he put any Miracle Whip in it.

"No" he said. Then when on to tell me why he didn't... Brock perked up and said 'Reece didn't seem to mind'. Reece, who had his recently found his long lost ipod. Was watching Netflix with his ear buds in and was unable to hear us. We all look over at him and see his plate with just a few potato and egg crumbs on it.

Funny how you know when someone is talking about you. He looked up, as if on cue, and said "What?".

What a good kid. Apparently, not a complainer.

It felt so good to laugh so hard.

Natural Bridge a.k.a Red River Gorge

This picture was a rare. Most of the trek to the bridge was uphill. Steep hills.

Along the way they had huts to stop and rest. Lots of people took advantage. I was determined to keep going and not rest until we reached the top!
We saw lots of these in the trees. Not sure what they are but they sure are pretty!

Kinda expect some creatures to crawl outta there, Eh?

Almost there!
Oh, wait, stairs... and more stairs.

You can see the arch in this picture.

Really? I thought we were almost there! *sigh*

What a great reminder of just how big your butt is...

And Breathe! (yes we had to get through there to get to the top!)

And MORE stairs!

*not us. Just some people I do not know. We did walk over to the ledge in the distance after.

Not recommended for the handicapped.

What descriptive names! Not sure what Lovers Leap and Needles Eye Stairway was, but Devil's gulch sure was scary!

Someone's artwork. Carving is against the rules, but was pretty neat.

Chillaxin'

Again. Don't know who the dude is, but he kinda puts the pic in perspective.
Devil's gluch. glup. Yep. That would be down.
One of my very favorite parts! Even had Raspberries along the path! (No, Mom we did not try them)

Love this pic!

And This!

More pics of Nada Tunnel (Click here for a video from you tube.. not my video) We did drive thru it. Traffic goes both ways, but drivers seemed to be nice and back up and wait if you were already in the tunnel.

This was a foot bridge that you had to cross before getting to the hill. Guys loved freaking out girls on the bridge. It was hard to walk straight on the thing!