Do you have a favorite part on the day? Something you look forward to
while sitting at work? I have a couple
1. Watching Jeopardy at 7:30. Jeopardy at 7:30 has been part of my day
for a long time- it is part of my dad’s daily ritual and I have
adopted it also. This is something I take very seriously. Michael
knows –NOT TO TALK DUING JEOPARDY! I like to think that he is
impressed by my knowledge and skills.
2. I also look forward to coming home and walking the dog every
afternoon. This ritual is much less serious  One of the perks of our
neighborhood is the nice little walking path we have. It wanders
through couple of different neighborhoods and takes a lap around a
cute little pond. It is a nice, quiet, 15 minute walk and a good way
for me to relax. Stella is so cute when we go and bounds around,
chasing geese and sniffing everything she can.
I was so excited this spring when a goose laid eggs in a nest in plain
view right next to the pond. It was fun to see how many eggs were in
the nest each day at the beginning. Then we got to watch 2 geese (I
assume momma and daddy) take turns sitting on the nest and keeping
watch. They were a little a lot feisty if you got too close. And now
we have 2 flocks (not sure if that is the right word) of baby geese
that hang out at our pond. One flock is still in the cute, fuzzy
yellow phase.

The other is in a much less cute, awkward teenage phase

When we walk on a hot day Stella will swim out into the pond and chase
the geese. I don’t even try to stop here, those geese will be sure to
let her know when she is too close. So much honking and hissing, jeez.
What’s your favorite part of the day? Are you pro geese in your
neighborhood pond? Or anti because of the hissing and the poop?

Memorial Day Weekend

Ahhhhh. What a lovely long weekend. Friday night and Saturday we spent time at Michael’s parent’s house in Kennesaw. On Saturday we hit up the 20% off sale at REI and I ended up spending $150! Yikes. But, I got 4 tech tees and a wicking skirt. I really needed the shirts, I am so sick of working out in cotton shirts and just being wet the whole time.
Saturday night I went over to my dads for beer, pizza and baseball. It was nice to see him. We ordered one of the new Artisan Pizzas from Dominos, one of the ones that you can’t change or add to, and it was eh. It wasn’t really a pizza, but more of a flatbread with toppings.

Sunday I went out to Last Resort for a brunch date with our house guest, Hisanthi. I had the special frittata with tomatoes, basil, Italian seasonings and ricotta and a salad. It was awesome! (Apparently this is a food blog now)

Sunday night I went out to Watkinsville for dinner and puppy play date at Carrie and Patrick’s. They celebrated Memorial Day by buying a huge, awesome, new grill that we tried out while the pups played.

At first Munson wasn’t so sure about Stella’s size, but I think they are going to be good buds.

Yesterday I grilled out again, made potato salad and on a whim dipped strawberries in chocolate.

Needless to say, this was a food filled weekend. I ate and drank more than my fair share. It is time to get back on track so, I decided to join the Run Streak Runners World challenge. You commit to running no less than one mile a day, every day beginning Memorial Day and ending July 4th. I started yesterday with a little over a mile with the dog. I stupidly went at 12:30 in the afternoon and it was blazing hot.

Today I am back to the grind, gearing up for my first week of summer camp on Monday.

What did you do this holiday weekend? Did you eat too much like me?

You Wont Like Me When Im ITCHY

So, an update on my lady parts is in order (there’s a sentence I never thought I’d write.) Here is the breakdown
Sunday Night- EXTREME ITCHING, POISON IVY (PI) EDITION
Monday- MORE ITCHING I stupidly went to my lunchtime spin class. Let’s put that on the list of stubborn and dumb things I’ve done. I was highly anticipating some relief from my 2:00pm doctor’s appointment. At the doctor’s office they gave me a steroid shot of depomedrol. I thanked the nurse and she said she’d never been thanked for a shot before. But, I was in bad shape and anticipating that the shot would bring relief.

They also wrote me a prescription for 6 days of prednisone (another steroid) on a step down program- 60mg the first day, 50mg the second day and so on. Finally, the doctor told to take a Benadryl to sleep so I wouldn't itch in the night. I went back to work after my appointment and was so itchy and miserable I went home early. That night I took the Benadryl, went to bed and woke myself up THREE TIMES itching! Thanks for nothing depomedrol.
Tuesday- I woke up and took 60 mg of prednisone and Oh. Sweet. Relief. I felt better within an hour!

Wednesday- I’m on the mend! Itching down to almost nothing and I haven’t turned into the Hulk from all of the steroids…yet.
I think the worst of it is behind us, Michael found a spot of PI on his ankle, so we are still playing it safe. So that’s that. Three cheers for Prednisone- Hip Hip Hooray!

Have you ever had a rash or injury in a delicate place? Were you too embarrassed to tell people, or did you let them in on the secret?

More than you wanted to know

We went camping and it was a wonderful weekend! I always moan and complain about going but once we get there I always love the trip. We stayed at Victoria Campground at Lake Allatoona, which is right across the street from where the Butzens store their boat. Score! Our campsite ended up being RIGHT next to a campsite with about 25 nine year old boy scouts. They were up talking about farts and Star Wars until after midnight and at it again at 6:00am Saturday morning. Way to mind your manners boy scouts- not!
Saturday we were on the boat allllll day and it was lovely, the weather was perfect. We parked at a little beach and hung out for a while and Stella loved running up and down, chomping at the waves and swimming in the lake to fetch a ball. It was a wonderful camping weekend, complete with a smore for breakfast on Sunday!
It WAS wonderful until on Sunday when I start to feel itchy… down there…. I thought maybe it was from hanging around in a wet bathing suit. Until I saw the rash on my thighs. And realized I. had. Poison. Ivy. It is on my inner thighs, on/in/around my lady parts and on/in/around my bottom. So itchy. SO uncomfortable. So awful. I went to the doctor this afternoon and got a shot of steroids and hopefully I will feel better in the morning. And next time, I will be sure to more careful, MUCH more careful.

Wanna know what?

It's Friday. I usually love Fridays, it is my favorite day of the week. A sweet combination of work and play. And, I always feel like there is a buzz in the air around the office, filled with the anticipation of the weekend. However, today, I am not feeling it. I hate to admit it but I am not feeling well and I’m actually not looking forward to the weekend.
I started felling yucky after work yesterday. Sore throat, headache, small appetite, tickly cough. But, I knew I was really in trouble when I went upstairs to bed at 9:30- a full hour earlier than normal. Thankfully I slept like a rock, much harder than normal, but still woke up feeling the yuck. I just popped a cough drop, uh-oh.
We are going camping this weekend, which is something I enjoy but always drag my feet when it comes to planning a trip. You should also know that I am a fair weather camper, so the fact that it is predicted to be 87 degrees tomorrow doesn’t thrill me. I feel like this weekend trip is just going to end up being a lot of work and not a lot of relaxation. We get off of work at 3:00 this afternoon and Michael wants to be on the road to Atlanta at 4:00. Keep in mind that we have not pulled any of the gear out of the attic, packed our stuff, the dog’s stuff or anything to eat. Yeah.

So, as much as I know I will enjoy making memories on a weekend trip with Michael and Stella, and as much as I will enjoy taking the boat out once we get there I am dreading getting to that point. Am I being selfish and lazy? Or is this really just not the best weekend for the trip? Either way, sounds like I am going to have to put on my big girl panties and enjoy the adventure.

How do you compromise with your significant other when he is excited about something and you really aren’t?

Excuse me, I have to Burpee

I am constantly admiring traits in other people's lives. Their cute house, sweet kiddos, large income, great attitude, organizational skills and on and on. But the thing that I find myself admiring most of all is other's bodies. How flat their stomach is, or how thin or strong, toned, or tubby they look. That intense admiration of what other bodys have that I lack is my primary reason for starting this blog and naming it what I did. The name is to remind me of what I have in my life that I should be enjoying, but also to remind myself that with some effort, those admirable things are attainable for me too!
One a related note, I would consider myself fit. However, I struggle with a lot of self-loathing and doubt when it comes to my body. My primary challenge is managing my eating, cravings and alcohol intake. So, here is my plan to begin tackling those problem areas.

* For the next thirty days I will be participating in the Burpee Challenge hosted by Scott at Your Inner Skinny http://www.yourinnerskinny.ca/
I started this challenge this morning. I chose to begin my challenge at the highest level that Scott recommends for 2 reasons. 1. I like a challenge. 2. I feel like I am a seasoned veteran at burpees between my boot camp, lunch time work out with Russ (he calls it cross fit. It’s not.) and personal training sessions.
So, the way the challenge works is that you do burpees every day for one month, adding one burpee more than you did the day before. This morning I did 15, so tomorrow I will do 16. Honestly, I did not feel great after my 15 this morning. I was fine until number 10, then they got hard, I was SUPER winded and ready to stop. Hard to believe that on June 16th I will be doing 45 of those babies-YIKES!

I also have put a lot of thinking into this next goal.
* For the next 30 days No Booze. Not a drop.
The problem? I’m not ready to commit to it yet. I know I should. I feel 1,000,000,000,000,000 times better when I dont drink. But I know it will not be fun to turn down drinks with friends. Those 30 days will require a little bit more will power than I am willing to put towards it right now. Great- now I sound like an alcoholic. Maybe I will start this challenge today. If not, tomorrow, there is always tomorrow.

What's your vote? Start the no booze challenge today...or tomorrow? Any tips on getting/staying motivated or exercising my will power muscle?

Nice to meet you

Welcome to Admire Your Own! My name is Lauren, I am 26 years old and live in wonderful town of Athens, Georgia. I like to think that I am living the dream. I have everything I dreamed of having when I was in school- and more! However, I often find myself wanting something more, or something differnt. I want to take the time to really examine the great and not so great things in my life right now and change what I can. I want to stop looking to others and longing for or *admiring* what they have. This is my journey to Admire My Own.
A little more about me:
* I am engaged to my loving, fun, and fantastically fit fiancee, Michael Butzen. He is a personal trainer and a great source of inspiration for me.
* We have a dog- Stella and a cat- Bode, I am forever begging Michael to let me expand out pet family!
* I work for county as a youth sports coordinator and I LOVE it. Teaching kids the value of sports and outdoor activites is my dream job (and, all the more reason to stay fit myself!)
* I worked at the YMCA for 5 years and taught preschool for 9 months before starting my current job.
* I have a Bachelor's in Child Development from the University of Georgia- GO Dawgs! and a Master's in Family Studies from the Univerity of Kentucky.
*Some might say I have baby fever, I say I love kids.
* I was born and raised in Atltanta and living in Kentucky, away from home for 2 years, almost killed me. I had no idea how much I loved Georgia until I tried to leave it.
* I have a sister who is 24, we are very close, and a brother who is 20.
* Thanks to Michael, I have recently fallen in love with camping and hiking- bonus if Stella can come with us.
* I like my coffe with 2 Splendas and lots of skim milk
*I think that fireworks are the most romantic thing ever
* I cannot function in the morning until I brush my teeth
* I cannot sleep with the closet door open
* Bode is my happy place
* I love the beach
* Spin class is my current favorite form of cardio
*Overnight Oats are my current favorite breakfast (more on that later)
Wanna know more? Ask!