Back to School Pageant

I recently had the honor of emceeing the Back to School pageant. It is a fun, one day pageant. Every contestant receives a crown and banner. The judges certainly had a difficult decision! (L-R) E-Dee, Roni, myself and Amanda. They did a terrific job!

I has the honor of being the emcee when Chelsi was crowned Miss Colorado Jr. Teen. She was on hand to help with the contestants. She never complained and even managed to look beautiful while sitting on the floor and working the music! Thank you for all your help!

Another wonderful helper was Kayla. She is the reigning Miss Colorado Cinderella Teen. She really got a work out by running back and forth at the personal messenger between the director and myself. 

I always love messing around with Makayla! She is so much fun. Here we are pretending to fight over the crown. Tee hee!

See, we can share too! Love this wonderful young woman! I look forward to seeing what she will do next!

Amanda has been such a great friend. She helped me learn the ropes the first time I judged a pageant. She also was a terrific queen as Miss Colorado Galaxy 2008. We have a standing lunch date at Jack in the box when we get together for these pageants. I wish her the best of luck on her next title, "mommy".

It is always a pleasure to work with Roni, Mrs. Colorado International 2010! She is so dedicated to her crown and her platform. She took some time out from judging to share with the audience about her year, so far. Keep up the good work!

Susan (R) was crowned the Ultimate Grand Supreme. I was so shocked to here that she was 40 and this was her first pageant ever! She did an amazing job and I am so proud of her. I am encouraging her to continue to compete in pageants. She will make an amazing queen.

I just love these little girls. I have been following their pageant careers for over a year. They are all such good friends. At this pageant, Lili and Ariel were in two different age categories. During the crowning, Ariel did not want to go on stage without her friend, Lili. She had to be reminded that they were not together in this division. It was so precious! They encourage and enjoy each other so much. Isn't that what pageantry is all about?

Of course, no pageant takes place without a dedicated director. Valerie (R) puts on four of these small pageants a year. She works so hard and always puts on a classy show. Thank yo Valerie for allowing me to be a part of your pageants as a judge and emcee.

Pen Pal

I was finally able to meet my royal pen pal, Tina Hayes this past Wednesday. LaQuisha Hall started the royal pen pals after a successful Secret Queen exchange at Christmas time. Tina has been an amazing pen pal. She has been faithful in sending real letters, not just posting on facebook.

It was wonderful to spend time with her over lunch. She shared so much of her story and also about her year as Ms. US Continental. She is such an inspiration. Tina's spirit is so strong and positive. I am blessed to know her and now to call her friend.

Inferno Resutls

Inferno Day 4

True Confessions. Well, I have some confessing to do. I didn't stick to the plan. I ended up making substitutions twice. The afternoon snack called for an apple. When I went to get it, I discovered that my family had eaten them all. OK,that was probably good for them. Instead I went with a wassa cracker and a piece of string cheese.  This is a snack from the Zone Diet, which I live on. Then for dinner, I ended up having to go to my in-laws for dinner. It was supposed to be steak, spinach and a half a baked potato. I ended up with a small hamburger, no bun, a small scoop of cubed potatoes, and a salad. I think I did fine, but probably ended up over my 1200 calorie limit.

I was proud that I did make it through the entire 1 1/2 hour work out. That included 20 minutes of HIIT. You may be wondering what that stands for. It is High Intensity Interval Training. It is a headliner in all the fitness news. What it looks like is a minute of low intensity alternated with a minute of high intensity.  This is spread out over 10-15 minutes of the 20 minute work out that is done AFTER you complete 45 minutes of aerobic exercise. Needless to say, I was so excited for the 10 minute stretch at the end. It was good to do this in the morning so my energy stayed high the rest of the day. I did crash early and slept through the night. Exercise is a good cure for insomnia. Remember to check back tomorrow for my results.

Inferno Day 3

Well today was hump day. Yes, it was Wednesday, but also that hump day in a 5 day program. My parents used to take us skiing for a week each year. After a few years, we learned to not plan anything on Wednesday because we were usually too burned out. That seemed to be true today also.

I learned the hard way, do not do HIIT at night. I was awake most of the night and was still sweating this morning. I continued with the meal plan and did the EZ55 and Stretch10 again this morning. By the end of the workout I was dripping with sweat. I tried to take a picture, but it didn't turn out. I ended up taking a nap this afternoon just to get caught up.

Now it is evening. I enjoyed a yummy dinner of chicken tacos, black beans and Quinos. I was so excited to eat a baked potato with cheese, sour cream and even bacon (turkey) for lunch. I had pretty much eliminated them from my diet, so that was a special treat.  I took a walk with my husband after the thunderstorms moved out. It felt good to just walk out the sore spots in my legs. I feel like my energy has returned and I am looking forward to tomorrow. Oh, I lost another two pounds. I'll be posting my after stats on Saturday morning. Be sure to check back.

Inferno Day 2

Today was day 2 of Inferno. I am writing at 10:30 at night and I am dripping sweat! "Why?" you ask.  Well, today was a typical Tuesday for me. Absolutely crazy. Nothing went at planned. I ended up not getting home from working for my mom till 7:30 pm. The good news is that I had planned ahead so I could take my recommended meals and snacks with me. When I arrived home, I procceded to make dinner-pictured above. It is Grilled Teriyaki Salmon with Ginger Rice and Bok Choy. By the way, that is a full size dinner plate and my husband loved it! The food I get to eat is amazing!  Then I went on to do the Turbo Fire workouts Fire 45/HIIT 20/Stretch 10 because I have committed to do this program. That was just short of an hour and a half of Turbo! The only change I have to report is that I actually dropped 2 pounds since yesterday. If I loose anymore I'll post tomorrow. Check back again for Day 3!

Inferno Day 1

This week I have decided to do a program called Inferno. It is a 5 day plan to cleanse the body and change daily eating habits to prepare for Turbo Fire. It is a fast-track weight loss program to shift metabolism into "turbo" mode. I will be tracking my progress and thoughts on my blog this week. I invite you to follow along on my journey to see if 5 days can really make a difference.

Here are my before pictures. You will find my statistics listed after the pictures.

OK, so I don't look bad. I am 46 and have had four kids, but I know I can do better. I have not been exercising for while. Although my weight hasn't changed, my body sure has. Here are my current stats: Weight 125 lbs, Bust 35 1/2 inches, Waist 27 1/2 inches, Hips 37 inches, Right Thigh 21 1/2 inches, Body Fat Percentage 23.4 %

My thoughts on the first day. I felt hungry all day. That is, until I worked out. I wasn't sure how I was even going to work out if I was so hungry. With in 5 minutes, the endorphins kicked in and I had a ton of energy. I needed to plan more time for my workout. I did the "new to class" version that takes the time to break down the moves. That added an extra half hour to the work out. The food is very yummy! I had an egg sandwich for breakfast and honey dijon chicken for dinner. The food tastes great and is easy to make. My husband is excited to eat "good" food this week.

I invite you to check back every day this week to check on my progress. I won't be posting personal pictures till the end. I want to save the "after" for a surprise. Let's see if I can get "pageant ready" in 5 days. 

Hermit Park Boy Scout Camping

Recently I went camping with our local Boy Scout Troop. We went to Hermit Park and camped the whole weekend. This is Cindy, my tent mate, after the weekend. Yep, no shower since Friday and this was Sunday afternoon. It was a great time shared by my whole family, except my daughter who refuses to camp because she can't plug her straightener into a tree.

On Saturday morning, we climbed to the top of Kurger Rock. That is Long's Peak in the background. This massive rock overlooks the entire Estes Park valley. What an amazing view. This was a good hike with an elevation change of over 1000 feet.

 My handsome hubby lead the hike. Here he is with a good friend, Lawrence. I love that Scouting provides so many opportunities for men to just "hang out" and relax. In these stressful times, that is so important.

I think my son Josh's face (r) says it all. This is why we support Boy Scouts. Instead of spending the weekend watching TV or playing video games, we spent the weekend outdoors.I don't think even a virtual camping game would get this kind of reaction!