London 2012

I don't know about you but I LOVE watching the olympics summer or winter. Each have their sports that I love to watch. I am the least coordinated person you will ever meet so to see people who are the best in their sport compete and represent their contry is so fun to watch. I have always admired those talents in others because I know it's not something everyone is blessed with. One of the things I really enjoy is hearing the human stories whether its about the hosting nation or the atheleates themselves. I liked the focus that they made this year on the sacrifices parents and the atheleates make to get there. It made me think of the sacrifices I now see that my parents made for me and my siblings. It makes me very greatful for them and I know that I wouldn't be who I am if it weren't for them. Another thing that I love about the olympics is the love for ones counrty. As you know I was born in Mexico and grew up in the US, so I have two homes Mexico and the US. Although I have to admit I feel out of place when I visit Mexico because I have not lived there for so many years I always feel such a pride when Mexico is represented. So with that said I was so proud to see Mexico take the gold in soccer and I sang along as the national anthem was played. So proud to be able to call 2 wonderful countries my home. I think we all celebrated with the countries when they won and our heart broke a little when they didn't or they fell. No matter what country is our home for 17 days everyone in the world was united by the spirit of the olympics and love of their homeland, we became one which you have to admit it's a great thing.

Love hate relationship

Summer is here and in full swing in Seattle and with that the beautiful weather. I have been here in WA for 3 summers and I have enjoyed each one so much. I think anyone that has ever lived in the PNW or lives here they have a love/ hate relationship with WA. For 9 months we have non-stop rain which keeps our area so green and lush. I mean we are not called the "Emerald City" for no reason. And then we are blessed with the most AMAZING summers. So this past winter was the hardest one for me because I was so ready for this weather to be over and for some sun any sun really to come out. Well summer has not dissapointed this year I think it has been a great one. Today I went on a ferry to Bainbridge Island and headed to brunch and it was the perfect way to end the week. There are certain views that always make me smile and remind me why I love Seattle so much and the picture above is one of them. So although I am sure once the long winter comes I will be questioning why I moved to WA in the meantime I am enjoying the beauty of the area and all it has to offer. Hope everyone is enjoying their little piece of heaven where ever they are.

Has it been that long?

Well this year one of my goals was that I wanted to keep up on my blog and I just looked and my last post was back in January! I think what's more frightning is where has time gone? It doesn't feel like it's been that long since my last post. It's also made me think of what have i done in those months? I think the main positive one is that I decided to loose weight. When I was in Monterey I had lost quite a lot of weight which was nice. I was 20lb from my goal but then I moved to WA. Well let's just say that the weight I lost in a year I swear I gained that and then some within a year here in WA. It would be easy for me to sit here and blame the stress of the move, stress of life in general, or any other excuse. But I know that at the end that's all that would be an excuse. I know why I gained the weight and it came down to me getting lazy regarding my activity level. I mean come on if it comes down to going running in the Seattle rain (9 months of the year) or stay bundled up in the comfort of my house, I chose the 2nd option. Let's just say that it didn't take long for me to start seeing the gain. So what gave me the push? I watched a documentary with my sister-in-law Melissa called "Forks Over Knives" and it was a great motivator to encourage me to go back to my vegeterian diet. Although the movie encourages more of a Vegan diet I could never be full on Vegan, I love cheese too much even though Dairy doesn't like me as much (I'm lactose intolorent) What I liked about this concept was that it's actually based on years of medical research and the concept is the foundation of Whole Foods Store which happens to be one of our customers for the company I work for. So armed with that new vision a group of us joined Weight Watchers and to be honest I dind't take it seriously. I really only joined to support my group but the more I saw them loose weight and me staying the same the cometiveness in me kicked in and made me take the program more serious. I am actually enjoying the program and learning new things. As part of the program we decided to do a 5K a month (I love running) to keep us motivated to add activity to our plan. Let me just tell you going back to the gym was so hard and at time so discouraging. I couldn't even walk for the 1st few months. I couldn't wait for the day where I could walk up the stairs and not feel like death because I was so sore. I still get sore when I try new workouts or do it for longer times but again it feels GREAT to not feel like I'm going to die everytime I run. Now my running time is nowhere close to what it was before but I'm getting there little by little. There are days where even after you eat right and exercise you gain instead of loosing and you just want to say "F-this I'm done" but I have to keep reminding myself that I want to be healthy and that's what keeps me going. And fitting in smaller size clothes is a great perk too I won't lie. So if any of you are trying to loose weight and get discourage hang on because it does get better and easier. I always have to remind myself that I didn't learn these habbits overnight it's been years of making unhealthy choices so it's going to take more than a few weeks to retrain myself. So far I have lost 16lb which may not seem like a lot but it's 16lb less so I'm a happy camper :0)