So summer has calmed down and we are coming to the end of gardening and farming season. This summer was a lot of fun, one of the best I have had in many years, except for one thing. I didn’t lose the weight I had hoped to lose. I have been on a journey to eat better for 2 years and I have made many many changes so this is just another one. So Arial and I have committed to each other to help each other lose weight. The doctor says we must do it and so we are. We have been following “The Biggest Loser” plan and so far so good.
We eat 6 very small meals a day that are high in protein, low in fat and calories. Most of them consist of things like tempeh or other dairy products. Since Arial can’t eat milk we have been experimenting with goats milk that she tolerates well. This plan is interesting in that your eating every 2 to 3 hours. I like it but its certainly something to get used to. It is supposed to raise your metabolism.
We exercise 6 days a week, 3 days of Power Yoga and 3 days of Circuit training. We are using the Biggest Loser videos and are mostly enjoying it. We both really love the Yoga days and the circuit days are growing on me.
We are logging our food intake and our exercise minutes on Sparkpeople where others can see what we are eating and how much we are exercising. This also balances current weight with goal weight, calories burned, and calories eaten so that you don’t have to do the math. So far I have lost 12lbs and Arial has lost 6lbs. We hope that by next summer we will reach out goal weights. Here are links to our weightloss pages if your interested.
Sorry I been too busy to blog. Today I had a little time and I decided to blog on some of the very interesting items that we have been amused with. These little things are hilarious, amusing or something we think is cool.
The Global Warming Mug – I can’t tell you how many times I am looking for this map online. I always am trying to imagine where places are as I watch the news about flooding and so forth. I am making my own scientific predictions… This would make that so much easier because I could just get a cup of tea. The extra benefit? I would also be able to educate anyone who came across the mug… very interesting and fun for a green geek like me…
This expression – is all over the place and frankly Arial and I both love the expression! We are always laughing at it and talking about how much it just fits our personality. Although it looks like the only top Arial would wear (since she doesn’t like clothes that are tight around her neck) is the tank tops, this is still a great expression. We both love this! They even have it in women’s and men’s shirts! When did they start separating the genders on t-shirts? I see the difference but why?
Now this organized list at TreeHugger is packed full of small and large things we were very interested in learn about. I know Arial would love one of those Alpaca Hats for winter. We both loved the recycled backpack but the one that you can charge your cell phone from the solar panels on the back is fantastic. OR the stuff in the Green geek section like the iRex reader are amazing, not that we could afford any of the expensive stuff anytime soon. But we can dream!
I am always amused at the solar powered and green items they come up with. The recycled backpack is great but the one that charges 4 watts of to your cell phone or ipod while you walk is amazing and totally unusual, although its price tag certainly shows it. I love gizmos and with all the solar power items I am so excited! With all the new and interesting items out there I just can’t wait till the recession lifts. Also, maybe next year will be better after we have moved from this cursed city.
Anyway, all else is good with us. Recently we have been working on exercising every day, we been doing this video and just bought ourselves some weights to make our workouts an even higher priority.
Check out this newest “team” that Harrison Ford started. Team Earth seems to be a way to learn which companies are teaming up to save the earth AND educate those who need to. Its nice to see some very influential individuals pushing for the cleanse of the earth. I hope it works!! I joined the team, maybe you should?
Mostly we are working real hard with the hopes of moving this winter. So if you don’t hear from us often… its simply that we are busy. I will try to write more. Here are some random photos from recent small events.
So we been taking these little vacations all summer to various State Parks, some with Girl Scouts, two without. This weekend we went camping… just me and Arial. This is our second trip like this and frankly it was spectacular as we had imagined. We ventured into THIS AREA of Maryland for some exploration.
First we geocached all the way up to the area. We did a lot of Mt. Airy, MD and then headed up to Cunninham Falls State Park and camped in the Manor area.
When we arrived we unpacked, went for a hike up a hill, found a couple Geocaches, and hung out at the Aviary. We enjoyed an Indian Dinner back at the campsite. We are always so happy to eat so well while camping. That evening we enjoyed a quiet evening in the tent.
Then on Saturday we were up bright and early in order to go visit the Aviary again. They had all sorts of great birds including a HUGE Bald Eagle, a vulture, several owls of all sorts. We really enjoyed the birds and then moved up to the Cliff Trail. The Cliff Trail was steep and long but full of deep forest, wildlife and pure beauty in the mountains. It was also quieter then the lower trail, which was easier and used by many tourons. We followed the Cliff trail deep into the woods and finally after about 1.5 hours we found ourselves at the falls. We hiked to the top of the falls, took pictures, and then took our time down the rocks at the falls. We grabbed another Geocache and then headed out the touron trail to parking. There we jumped in the car and headed over to the Lake.
At the lake we enjoyed lunch on the beach, a refreshing swim, and some relaxation after a very full 24 hours. After an hour or so we headed out to the forest for another geocache and then an animal show at the State park. The show was fantastic and included a turtle, yellow rat snake, a barred owl, and a red tail hawk. I learned a lot including that I might want to be park ranger in the very near future. After the show it was dark and time to head back to camp for a fullfilling bowl of seventeen bean soup and fresh baked bread. Delicious dinner!
Then Sunday morning we packed up and took a little drive out to Hagerstown in order to explore possibly living in the area. We also caught a movie, G-Force, and then also explored and Geocached in Thurmont, MD. We are sure we want to move there and plan to as soon as possible.
Overall we had a fantastic time and we can’t wait to return to the area for more camping… since it seems we didn’t do everything that was available. We will return soon. We love State and National Forests, they are just gorgeous!!!
It really is massive
This trail was very adventurous!
People were everywhere
after we swam and just before the show.
Massive Rock
Just a little break while heading up the trail
Hollis
Deep into Cliff trail towards the top
Huge!
Red means male…
This was on the Cliff Trail on the way up
Had to grab a cache here on our way into the area
Just a very small piece of the forest we were surrounded by
This forest and park captures your senses
Nice picture of Arial
LOL, hills, hills, and more hills
Geocache at my feet
in the middle of the forest
This might be my next desktop background!
We found these bees eating something on the trail
Hard to see just how big he was in this picture
There were a lot of people there.
We learned a lot about vultures this weekend
Just an idea how big this tree was, wow!
I had to sit down after that one!
The cemetary used to a school house… weird or what?
Ohhh the people!
He wanted to get close to Arial
He really was spectacular!
We found a Geocache here
Seems there was some sort of tornado came through and knocked these trees down a week or so earlier.
Yes we climbed to the top, even after Cliff trail!
Many were full of water like this
TRYING to take a picture of us with the falls behind us.
So we planned a fantastic weekend of camping and geocaching. Frankly neither of us wanted anything else. Even if we had all the money in the world we would still go camping and geocaching!! Its just our thing and we love it!!!
So we chose to camp at a place I have camped a couple of times and I used to spend a lot of time at with my son’s boy scout troop and Equestrian club. Tuckahoe State Park is one of the most wild, natural, well protected, and well placed parks in Maryland. I love government parks because they are usually well tended with the environment in mind rather than human attendance! Anyway, we had reservations for a small tent site in the non electric camping area, simply because neither of us are interested in being around a bunch of pop up trailers.
We left the house Friday just after noon and made MANY MANY stops for Geocaches on the way. We arrived at Tuckahoe that night after managing 10 caches on our route. We explored Kent Island and Wye Mills, MD. Kent Island is known for its waterman and its mostly surrounded by the bay, its one of the first places you drive through when you head over the Bay Bridge from Baltimore. Wye Mills, MD is a small town that is known for the massive tree that was struck down in 2002.
It was a quick camp set up of about 15 minutes and we had dinner served within 30 mins. We took a shower at the facilities… which were fantastic, and then spent a cozy night in our little tent. We loved the quiet campsite and the peaceful forest. There are no alcoholic beverages aloud in State Park campsites so this prevents us from having to tolerate loud drunks around the campfire. Plus the rangers patrol from 11pm (quiet time) till 6am.
Saturday Morning we got up very early and hit the trails for Geocaching. We had a slow start with two “Did Not Finds” but then hit the jackpot when we explored the Arboretum in Tuckahoe. We learned a lot about trees since we took the audio tour while geocaching the huge area. We spent 4 hours hiking that morning!!
Since our legs and feet were tired we headed out to the small town of Chestertown, MD. We hit a special geocahe on our way, ate lunch in a park in the small town, and then searched for some more caches. We explored the small town and then decided to catch an afternoon movie. We watched Transformers, which the time together was more valued than the movie. Then we headed out to do the multi cache and listen to the music in the center of town. We finished just before sundown with my hand up a girls skirt. I swear there was a cache up there!!
Then we made it back to camp, cooked our dinner in the dark… which was fantastic and just made us both smile the whole time. We were exhuasted by the time we hit the air mattress.
Sunday morning we packed up the car and headed to the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center where we got around 11 caches. We spent the day hiking around and exploring the beautiful landscape and protected area. The rabbits were everywhere and we were able to get really close. We had a fantastic time here.
The biggest complaint?? Mosquitoes and ticks… but this is no surprise with all the rain. We both had a fantastic time regardless and enjoyed our vacation. I hope to do another in August. Ohhh where will we go this time?
As spring has come to an end and summer sets in we are finally taking a deep breath after being very busy. We have finished up with Girl Scouts until the fall, other than a couple campouts. The CSA has began to get very busy but we are happy to have a change of pace. We recently helped them build their website, which will help us build our portfolio. We are working on a website that will advertise our web building skills that we hope to have up soon.
To some more personal notes we are going away for a romantic/fun weekend this Friday. We are going to Tuckahoe State Park on the Eastern Shore of MD where we will camp and go geocaching. We may also find ourselves on a canoe or swimming. We will also be visiting a reserve area for the Chesapeake Bay that is very heavy in Geocaches. It is just us for the weekend going back to our old favorite activity, camping and including our newest hobby, Geocaching. We are both looking forward to it.
Our garden has really taken off. We are both in love with growing our own food. Every day we poke our heads out the window to see how our vegetables are doing. So far we have harvested some lettuce, spinach, Arugula, and some small radishes. I haven’t perfected the growth of those yet. We are very excited about our wax and asparagus beans, basil, oregano, mint, tomatoes, squash, eggplant, nasturtium , sunflowers, Okra, and various peppers. We have included some pictures of our wonderful garden. Enjoy!
Crookneck Squash Plants
This is our wax bean plants that have started flowering
For the past 2 months I have been a vegetarian, completely. I still eat cheese and milk but I have been working on cutting it back. Changes happen slowly as did the choice to be vegetarian. This past weekend I found that vegetarians are not rare and in fact they seem to be popping up everywhere. We spent Saturday morning at the Waverly market and I found many vegetarian choices at each and every food vendor. Plus, I met a local Boy Scout leader that wants to get our troops together that is also vegetarian. Interesting how this is happening.
My main reason for the choice is environmental, which seems to be many people’s choices these days. There are other choices such as health and the cruelty to animals thing but really its about the earth. As it always is for me. I wanted to include this video that has facts about why we choose to go vegetarian/vegan. Watch… just so your educated.
Since I made this choice I have lost 7lbs with less effort than I did as a meat eater. I feel FANTASTIC. My body is full of energy and I crave vegetables, daily. Before I used to crave junk food… lately junk is mildly appealing. I feel better all around, mentally & physically. I think this is the best food choice I have made.
On other notes we went Geocaching this weekend, check out the pictures:
For me… every day is earth day. I still love the holiday because it seems to make most humans go out of their way for the earth. This makes me very happy. I seem to go out of my way for the earth every day and I know many others that do as well. But by having an official holiday seems to motivate people. I love motivating people to help the earth which is one reason I lead Girl Scouts. I find that making volunteering for the earth in any way to be fun helps people be open to learning more and they feel good about it. The more they feel good the more they will do what might not be as pleasant.
On earth day I make a huge effort to be sure that I have done my part and I usually use it as a day to “check in” on my self. What have I done for the earth this year? I am vegetarian, I purchase food in bulk with no or little packaging, I joined a CSA, I drive very little, I have a small car, I use freecycle a lot, I shop local, I rescue animals that I can, I plant a garden in my yard, I teach youth about what they can do, and I spread the word about being green. This year I needed to add a few things, as I do most years. This year I re-added recycling and jumped through the hoops that this city requires for recycling. So this year we restarted recycling. I also had to purchase new worms for my compost bin because I messed my first batch up… so now we are back to composting. I also renewed my commitment to using the re-usable shopping bags. I often forget to take them out in the car which just means I need to form a habit.
I was thrilled that our “Girl Scout Green Promise” channel was featured on the EPA website and some other various places.
So on earth day I also helped plant an acre of trees here in Baltimore just near a park we have geocached at. It was a lot of fun and the girl scouts joined us in service hours for their Eco-action badge. Then later that afternoon we headed over to the Eco-fest where Arial and I enjoyed learning about things we can do for the earth and some drumming. I hope to soon have my own home where I can start adding solar panels!
I encourage everyone to get out there and learn about what you can do for the earth. It’s the least you can do for her… she gave YOU and your children LIFE!
Often I am just speechless at the conservative exaggeration of how gay marriage would effect them and their families. Like by me marrying my girl this would somehow make their lives less meaningful… I guess that just proves how meaningless their lives must really be. Anyway… what’s really funny is the response to their most recent commercial. Now in case your like us and don’t have TV… you haven’t seen their most recent video check this out:
We have been so busy. James has Lacrosse games about 2 or 3 times a week and we often attend these games. Usually they are 20 min + ride one way to the game. We like watching them although we wish it was a little warmer and dryer. So far Digital Harbor is doing pretty good with 3 wins and 2 losses. The teams they lost against are some of the best in the city. This past Monday was ridiculous when the opposing team, Patterson, started a fight with Digital harbor. James tried to break it up before it ended in a team on team fight that the ref’s had to break up. I almost called the police. I just can’t believe that this crap even happens… I have never been a fan of sore losing. That is one value my son certainly has because it was never tolerated and still isn’t.
Then when we are out and about going to and from his games or when we have some time to kill between things we been hunting down the geocaches around the city. Of course these are often in some interesting places I also find the amount of trash around the harbor to be disgusting. I just can’t believe that humans litter that much! People really need to change their ways… sigh.
Then I had to leave my wonderful girl for one night and head out to “leader camping training” so I can take my Girl Scout Troop camping. Silly for me to take this very basic training and I was bored most of the time. But I have some pictures from my hike around the camp… that was the best part of the day. I had to prove my abilities to build a fire, cook, and set up a tent. I passed them all without even breaking a sweat. Plus it rained most of the I was there. It was okay but I would have been happier hanging out with Arial.
Usually I post pictures and updates about games on facebook but for those that don’t use facebook here are some random photos. You just need to click and follow the links.
So we hiked around one of our favorite parks just last weekend with some locals. We offered to show a local group how to Geocache and we picked this wonderful park that hosts our CSA. Great place, wonderful wildlife and great Geocaching!
So we really enjoyed our hike and we made a new friend. So here’s a little video and some pictures.
