What I learned today

Today I had to drive to the boonies to get our car back from the shop and to return the rental car. We're talking a 20 minute drive south (or maybe it was west), 10-15 minutes at the shop, and 25 minutes to work. Don't worry. I got there early.

Psych!

So I'm leaving to make this whole trek and its already 8:02am and I realize we don't have anything I can just grab and take for lunch since we were out of town this weekend. We have food, sure, but frozen fish doesn't count at 8am. So I stopped by the grocery store on my trek out south (and/or west). I grabbed a frozen dinner and a second one since they were on sale, and I happened to pass by the far corner of the store where the baked goods are held. I didn't want to do it, but alas, the baked goods and the frozen foods are always so close together... sigh. So I had a donut for breakfast. I thought about grabbing a bottled frappuccino, but they looked too sugary to me. I checked the nutrition label and sure enough it is made of 92% sugar. Slight exaggeration possibly, but not a significant one. These suckers were fully leaded with sugar. So I drank my water with my [delicious tasting] donut. And I felt crummy.

So then I got suspicious. How much sugar is too much? Both my dad and hub's pop are pre-diabetic. And we all know my three food groups are fruits, vegetables, and desserts. So I should pay attention to this whole sugar thing. First stop, what is the recommended daily intake by the wise people? You know- the USDA, FDA, American Heart Association, all those people. Well generally speaking, the magic number is 25 grams. Yikesabee! Here are a few foods and how they measured up (Pardon the formatting. I'll fix it later):

Recommended Daily Allowance (Men/ Women)	36 / 24
Hershey's Bar	24
Sara Lee 100% whole wheat (2 slices)	5
Starbucks Grande Vanilla Latte	35
Blue Bell Homemade Ice Cream (1/2 C)	21
Jose Cuervo Marg (4 oz)	24
McD's Medium Dr Pepper	56
McD's Large Orange Hi-C	94
Watermelon (2 C)	20
Strawberries (8 med)	8
Chocolate Frosted Cake Donut	20
My Smart Ones for lunch	10
PB&J (with aforementioned bread)	20
Yoplait Light Strawberry Yogurt	14
Bottled Starbucks Vanilla Frappuccino	31

That's intense.

I can't be perfect in my food habits, but it is still very good to be aware. Maybe tomorrow I'll tackle sodium research. 


Just kidding. That's enough smart stuff for the week.  


Over and out. 

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Josh

Josh Groban's voice.

It gets me every time.

Listening to song after song tonight.

Pure beauty mixed with astounding power.

I hope that at some point in everyone's life you are able to physically feel music. There are few things better.

Enjoy

 

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I'm melting

I don't DO heat people. And it's hot. We're talking some serious amounts of heat round here. Right now it is 10pm and its 97 degrees outside. I just took Mack on a walk and when I got back my elbows were dripping with sweat. And I don't DO sweat. Check this out...

 

For serial peeps. I'm melting.

 

In all seriousness...

Pray for a cold front.

Pray for rain.

Pray for people working in the heat like my Dad and his crews.

Pray for farmers.

Pray for people living without AC.

Pray for people living without a roof.

 

 

You can pass on prayers for the weathermen. Their jobs are pretty easy right about now...

 

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Montana cont'd

I'm now 98% recovered from the cold I had, and successfully made it from Montana to Minnesota and back home. I have tons to write about, but as soon as I got home I hit the ground running with work stuff again, so I'm just now sitting down to breathe.

Highlights of the trip:

1. The people. Such amazing friends coming together from KC, Wichita, St. Louis, New Jersey, New York, and soon to be Chicago and New York. We are beyond blessed by these people. 
2. Montana weather in July. 75 and sunny? Yes, please.
3. Mountains. I can't get enough. 
4. White-water rafting. Brings back wonderful memories of family trips :-) 
5. Cooking and eating all the food. Katherine almost single-handedly planned three meals a day for six days for 13 people. And we ate well- quality food and plenty of it. Her skill serves people so well.

There was plenty more along the way. Fireworks, bocce ball, eating chocolate, Quelf, drinking coffee, chopping wood, drinking wine, frisbee golf, teepee building, singing, dancing, Harry Potter watching, and ripping out the rear of my jeans. Real cute, let me tell ya.  If I were to do it all again would I still forfeit my favorite pair of Citizens*? You betcha. (Pst- They were already being held together by patches so it wasn't that big of a deal.) 

Enjoy some pictures. I hope you smile at them as much as I do :-) 

(And I apologize in advance for photo quality. Vast majority were taken with phones.)

As a bonus for sticking with me til the end, I'll allow you a sneak-peak into our silent hike. No talking was allowed, so naturally...

The end. 

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Montana- Days 1 and 2

Day 1- Whitewater Rafting

Monday morning we took it easy around the lodge. After all, we had not made it to bed until 2am mountain time the night before. So we enjoyed muffins, couches, and the views of the mountains. Then we geared up and went rafting. I hadn't been in probably 10 years or more so I was very antsy to get back on the river. The rapids weren't very strong at all (level 3) and we were in a group with 5 other [loud] boats so we didn't stand a chance at seeing any wildlife. Still, we all had a lot of fun. The photos sold by the company were over $100 and since none of us had waterproof cameras we have no documentation of the trip. Womp womp. That night we headed to town for a pig roast. The pork was 75% fat so no one ate much, but it was a fun atmosphere with live music and locals.

 

Day 2- The Hike

Tuesday morning we went on a grou hike. The trail was only 2 hours round-trip. So naturally it took us closer to 5 hours. We were hungry and sunburnt, but had a blast. One of the guys had a tripod so he has all the group shots. I'll have to post those later. For now, enjoy these. They are completely untouched (since I'm too tired)

All 13 of us.

 

The wildflowers in the hills were beautiful.

Stopping to enjoy the view

 

In the meadows we looked like the VonTrapp family crossing the alps. So I kept singing all the associated songs of course.

 

In the wooded parts we joked about running into R.O.U.S's. Name that movie.

Ill tell you about day 3 later. Today is day 4 and I have a head cold or something so this has been enough computer time for me. Over and out.

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Day 0.5

Welcome to the lodge. It is gorgeous.

Welcome to Montana. We're at 8,000 feet.

Welcome lots of water and deep breaths. You have 4 hours to prepare for rafting.

Still super excited, just trying to conquer the attitude...

 

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Montana or bust!

We're currently in the Denver airport. Soo close to arriving at Montana for Beforekin 2012. I'm super stoked! 70 degree weather, white water rafting, hot tubs, fireworks, and wood fires... not to mention 11 of our best friends gathering in one place before we're scattered across the US: St Louis, New Jersey, Chicago, NYC, Wichita... bring it on!!!

Most posts to come later. If I don't post them, it's because we're having too much fun. :-)

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