A New Year

So as we head into 2009, scary, there are a few changes and exciting things on the horizon.

1) Our wedding - February 21, 2009!

2) Pam's new job - It is official I signed the offer letter today. :)

3) Travis starts school for his Masters.

4) More house projects!

Seems that every year passes faster than the last but I guess that means we are having fun.

We wish everyone a fantastic New Years and look forward to more impressive blogging, more friends visiting and the first year of being Mr. & Mrs. :)

We Wish You...

A Very Merry Christmas

Bust a Bucket!

So as most people know Travis is definitely the sports fan, well Blazer fan, of the household. However I seem to be the one who always runs into or meets someone and has no idea who the heck I am talking to. I think last June Trav and I were in the Nike employee store and I started talking to a nice guy, knew he had to be famous but had no idea. He introduced himself as Jerome, still nothing. LOL Trav then comes rushing over to "show me something" and introduced himself and pretty much was ecstatic. It was Jerome Kersey! Duh!!!!

The today I went over to a gym across the street from where I work, which happens to be connected to the Rotz Carlton, and as I walk into the weight room, a very tall man and a short man are walking out. I look up and immediately recognize LaMarcus Aldridge! I was so flabbergasted all I could say was hi and then he was gone. I wanted to wish him luck, say I love the team now that the thugs are gone and blah blah blah. But no! Didn't even have time to grab a pic on the camera phone!!! Sad...


But I can now tell everyone I met LaMarcus, though I wish Trav could have been there to meet him. Hmmmm, maybe some day he can meet him. And like I told Caris, if I could only meet Brandon Roy now :) He is my favorite.....

Here is LaMarcus for those that don't know. Trav and I both agree he is definitely the best looking Blazer of the bunch :)

Tiesto!

So I am super pumped because this weekend was an awesome weekend. With Christmas coming up, somethings waiting to settle and be revealed (sorry I don't want to jinx it) LOL and work calming down, Trav and I got to spend some quality time together. Friday we watched an awful movie, it had Christian Bale so I had high hopes but was thoroughly disappointed. I do not recommend the movie Harsh Times.

SATURDAY was a fantastic day. I finished almost all of my Christmas shopping, hit the gym and Trav and I went and saw Tiesto at a club downtown called Beta!!!! So for those that don't remember, Trav and I have a major love of clubbing and Techno/Trance music. Tiesto is my favorite DJ and when we saw he was coming to Denver, we bought tickets immediately! This video is from his In Search of Sunrise Tour, which we saw, though not from Beta but from our favorite club in San Fran, Ruby Sky. Which we both decided we miss that club very much. Might have to do a first anniversary trip back there :)



I am hoping to find some pictures from Saturday night, but they are not posted yet so stayed tuned. The club was ok, good for a Denver club, but still not the same as SF. The last time we saw Tiesto, we were in San Fran, with about 10,000 people, and packed! This time there were 200 people, it was 18 & over, not a fan! The sound system was great, the show was ok, though too short IMO. Trav and I did get in a good solid four hours of dancing, love it! I love that we have sort of settled down but I still love going out and getting all dressed up, going out and dancing till 2am. :)

So hopefully I can find pictures soon!

Updates

So I apologize for the lack of posting, lets just put it this way, it has been a bit crazy lately. So since the last posting Trav and I have bought a chainsaw, have gone and gotten firewood with the chainsaw and have now used our fireplace. We took the dog up with us to the mountains, while it was dumping, while we were gathering and cutting wood, and he loved it!!! He may be a weinie when it comes to going out in the rain in our backyard but put him up in the mountains and he will run around like a kid in a candy store. He sniffed every tree, ate tons of snow and even left a little yellow snow :)

Also Trav and I have been working quite a bit, went to my company holiday party and well are babysitting another dog, though she leaves on Sunday. Yeah!!! We are currently getting ready for our trip back to oregon for Christmas, but yes we still have a tree up and decorations, a MUST! We also just finalized our honeymoon reservations, doing pre-marital counseling, trying not to kill each other and just spend some time together.

There is something else breing that I am keeping secret until it is finalized but it is pretty exciting!

We are two months out from our wedding and we are excited, well at least I am. :)

And the Winner is...

So for all our friends and family who may be offended or hurt by the following post I apologize, kind of, sort of, well not really.

However......................................................


















Ducks win the Civil War game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go Ducks!!!!!!!!!!

A New Toy...

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, Trav and I sure did. We went over to our friend Karmel & Seth's house to hang out the four of us, eat and watch some football. We ended up spending about 9 hours over at their house, had dinner and watch some football. It was a great day and so wonderful to spend the day with friends. (I did get a few good naps in on the couch)

Today we slept in, till 8am! We then got up and had some left over food and some eggs for breakfast then headed out to the HUGE off-leash dog park down the road from us. This one is amazing and is part of the State Park and has 2 ponds, tons of trails and so much room for Kaiser to run around, smell things and chase those crazy squirrels. (FYI good Christmas present :) a state park pass)

The best part of the day, for Trav and I, we went and bought him a CHAINSAW! Trav picked out a Stihl MS 310 that will be providing us firewood for the next 30 years hopefully. I am super excited about it because we had gotten some permits to get fuel wood in the national forest a few weeks ago, so now we get to go get wood and use our wood burning fireplaces. This will be great for the whole mood with winter coming and to help with the cost of heating the house. So we are super excited.

Here is a picture of Trav's new toy:

Kaiser continue to learn stuff.

Now that I'm back from Tampa I've been spending some time training Kaiser on more useful stuff. Here are some videos I took. Sorry they are all sideways.

Training spot was kinda hard for him to grasp but once he realized that all he had to do was go to his bed and he would get food he started responding very quickly. Its funny because he would do a little jump onto it, spin around and lay down without me even asking him to. After a while the force of him jumping on would slide the bed and it was pretty funny watch his excitement.


Another thing I've been trying to teach him is the leave it command. He does it pretty well. I change the pitch of my voice to sort of forceful command so that he more easily recognizes it as a bad thing. Don't you dare take that! I want to get him to the level where I can tell him to leave it and whatever he is focusing on he will stop and go away. Right now we're just at the stage where I put food on the ground and tell him to leave it and he will turn his head and look away.

This is a great time to teach take it but he doesn't get that yet, lol.



This last vid shows him sitting, waiting, and coming to me while leaving a pile of food untouched. I hope that in the future he will understand that leave it isn't so bad because here you can tell by his body language when he comes that he thinks he's in trouble or something, lol.

First Snow...

So a quick update, Reiner has been adopted! Woo Hoo! As much as I loved the dog he was definitely a puppy, with the energy and a bark that could pierce your ears. He is in a great family who loves puppies and understands he needs work.

However here are some great pictures of the dogs enjoying the first snow of the season.

A Good Visit

So just an update as to what the Proctor/Power clan has been up to. Trav was lucky enough to have one of his best buddies, Jason, come and visit. They seemed to have a great time. They went into the mountains and hiked, with the dogs, they toured Golden/Coors, built a dog house and got in some quality Wii time. :)

I am really glad was able to come out and visit and Trav was able to have some fun guy bonding time. :) Me I was able to find some great wedding ideas, sleep, workout and just get over this cough I have had for about three weeks now. Yeah for visits! Chris now it is your turn!

Must Be That Time of Year...Again...

So for those that haven't known me long enough it now has become tradition that once a year I get bronchitis. Well normally it comes around mid-winter but due to long hours and stress at work, combined with poor diet and lack of exercise, it came early this year. I just came back from the doctor and I have my antibiotics, my Robitussin with codeine and of course we have company coming this weekend.

The last time I had bronchitis, my parents were in town and the time before that I was training to run a marathon. I have the worst luck. So Jason I promise to be better and non-contagious when you are here...

Oh and PS we are supposed to get our first snow tonight. Happy Winter!!!

We Are Crazy

So instead of posting about Caris' visit we have some news. No we are not having children right away, but we are fostering another dog. I know we said we weren't going to do it again for a while but this was a special situation that we could not say no to. Our new foster has the Lok, but we have decided to name him Reiner.

So his story is so sad and it makes me very angry. Lok, aka Reiner, is an eight month old Weim that has been removed from his owners house TWICE by the courts for animal abuse. The first time he was removed and placed in the Boulder Humane Society where he was adopted by a supposed loving family. It turns out the loving family was a front and they were friends of the abusive family who just gave the dog back to them.

The dog has been thrown out of second story window, dragged down the street until his paws bled, starved, kicked and punched in the head and who knows what else. So now in our home, he is wonderful a ball of puppy energy and definitely tests Kaiser's last nerve. I am hoping to get some pictures of him so I will keep everyone posted. We have started feeding him the good dog food we feed Kaiser to help his stomach and coat, we make sure to give him limits and tell him good job.

So keep your fingers crossed and think good thoughts for a quick adoption.



Pam

Whats new? (CAUTION: Word Wall)

Well Louie got adopted over the weekend! He went to a nice family of 4, (two adults, two kids). The Mom runs and is looking forward to taking Louie along. They also have another dog but she is a bit bigger, not as athletic and I think around 8 years old. Anyways, the Dad is a nice guy, very soft spoken but also had a good presence about him and so I think Louie is going to be a great fit with their family!

Kaiser went through a down day, which also was caused by the crappy dog food the vet gave us. We took Kaiser to the vet because he's got digestive problems. Its been two weeks and he still has been struggleing to put out solid #2 on a consistent basis. She did a test and said he's got a lot of bacteria in his system, probably from being kenneled so long. She gave us this special food to feed him, some stuff to clean his ears out, and some pills to give him to help clear everything up.

Well the food is expensive low grade crap. The main ingredient is corn and the protein comes from chicken by products, 4th on the list. Basically Weims are prone to bloat and especially with food high in corn! So Kaiser had been on the food 3 days and no change in his stool, plus he was bloated!

Yesterday I noticed that she had actually given us pills to give him, that are supposed to help attack the bacteria in his system. I had forgotten all about them so we started him on that yesterday. I also switched him back to his previous dog food (which is approved for people consumption so its pretty high grade stuff). Immediately we noticed a difference in his behavior. I took him out back on lunch and he was sprinting around in circles like usual!

School

Most of you probably know that I got accepted into the Engineering Management graduate program at Colorado University Boulder. I had met the department chair during the application process and she seemed very smart but also very down to earth and genuinely nice. I really appreciated her.

This weekend I met one of the professors which congratulated me on my admission and mentioned that it is a very tough program to get into. That made me feel good! She also was very excited to learn about me, what I was interested in, and what career paths I would be interested in taking so that I could sign up for the classes. It just so happens that this woman works with Pam and knows a lot of people in the industry. She thought I would benefit from some informational interviews and so I have to think about this and down the road hopefully set some up with people like, VP's of Engineering, R&D, Operation Managers, Product Managers, etc. Basically a bunch of career paths, ask them questions and figure out which would be the most interesting to me.

So now I'm really pumped for school to start again and to be getting my learn on! I just have to get registered, and figure out how I'm going to be paying for this all lol!

Summit 08

Friday night was Pam's summit. The event was held at the Ritz Carlton downtown. The night before the event John Elway was present at the bar at the Ritz and so we were all on Elway watch while we were there. At least I was! When I left I saw a rolls royce head off...wonder who's that was!

The event was a great success for Pam and her boss Shannon. While I was there it seemed to go off smoothly. Reviews from everyone there were great and I was excited to see Pam's long hours turn out so well.

The meal we had was incredible. The servings were small enough to enjoy each course and the service was impecable. After each course the servers would come around and move your remaining silverware into position. I got a kick about that. I mean does it really matter than during the course of eating my steak I moved one spoon to my right side and before I get my dessert that spoon must be moved back above my place setting and placed parallel to my body lol?

Oh, and for some reason I got lucky and was served dessert twice. :)

Pam spent the night at the Ritz but I sped home to take care of the dogs. The weekend was like this post, packed full of stuff! I only mentioned some of it, and in no particular order.

Oh yeah, Pam also ran in the Denver Marathon. She was part of 4 person team and did 7 miles. She got to run the final leg which was cool to be the one to finish the race. She also managed to get the individual type medal for the marathon instead of the tiny ones given to the team members. Funny how that worked out. :)

More Doggie Pictures

So these are some adorable pictures from over the weekend. We definitely did not take them with a great camera but it just shows how well our two buddies have bonded though it has been a week. We love our boys. Oh and this past weekend we suddenly realized it is almost winter here. Saturday we had a meet and greet for potential adoptees with the available dogs and it was about 40 degrees and raining, it was awful!

However we think we may have found Louie a fantastic home with an amazing fmaily. Keep your fingers crossed!

Pam and Her Dogs

So a quick update on how I am getting along with the two dogs and the one Ginormous dog. They are great! it is definitely crazy when I have the two on the leash when we go to the dog park of go from house to car, but I manage. I just can't do it in heels LOL

Trav took this picture and I think it pretty much sums up these bundles of love.



So we are now going to enjoy a relaxing evening and put up some sheers and just relax.

Dogs, dogs, dogs.

Last week the weimaraner rescue took in like 6 new dogs. They had almost 11 needing foster homes by the end of the week. We took Kaiser over to the meet and greet, and made ourselves available for fostering a dog if there was a need not met. I think the main lady has like, 6 or 7 dogs at her place right now! At the meet and greet, everyone kept telling us how lucky we were to have such a great dog in Kaiser. Of course we agree. :)

Kaiser is doing very well. By the end of the week he was able to hang out in the basement without any accidents during the day. So now, we're comfortable knowing that we can leave him for 4 hours at a time without him tearing the walls up, or going potty all over the place. He responds the best to "sit". With treats he also knows "lay down", and "wait". When we feed him he will sit and wait for you to put the food down and won't start eating until you tell him ok. Oops did I say eating? I mean, won't start hoovering the food down until you tell him ok. We also use wait at doorways so he doesn't sprint out or in. I've been teaching him "stand" in conjunction with the other position commands and he will do it but he doesn't really understand it yet. He's starting to come better too.

All in all, considering he's been around for only a week, he's doing tremendously well. We're very pleased with his progress!

Back to the rescue situation...we picked up another dog as a "foster". The lady that was fostering him was literally strapped for cash, barely making ends meet, and also needed to get him into a new foster home because one of her other dogs was nearing the end of its life. The lady was working two jobs to try and make ends meet and this led to not being available on weekends to get the dog to the meet and greets, which is typically where people can see the dog and choose to take him home for a trial period.

So the new member of our pack is named Louie! He's a beastly weim and makes Kaiser look like a normal sized dog. Louie is very tall, thick and weighs about 90 lbs. He was wound up when we got him and so I decided it would be best to take him for a walk to try and burn off some of his energy and allow us some time to get him under control. When we got him home Denver was in the middle of a rain storm. We got both dogs ready to go and put our coats on and off we went. The rain was rivaling some Portland storms, puddles everywhere and water flowing into drains like small versions of niagara falls. To make matters a bit more aggrivating Louie's previous owners had not taken the time to teach him how to walk on a leash without pulling.

From Dogs

Kaiser on left, doing sit-stay really well and still, lol. Louie is on the left. Both of them are around 1.5 years old.

Needless to say, going around the block turned into a very arduous task. We were tired, worn out from the weekend and also starving for some food of our own, wet and patience very thin for this dog.

After the walk the dogs met for the first time off leash in our garage. They played quite a bit, a little too hard in some cases and required me stepping and keeping them in check. After the garage we moved into the basement. More playing ensued as well as one case of Louie marking his territory. I scolded him pretty hard for that and gave him a stiff poke. Kaiser had managed to not go #1 for 5 hours, including for some reason the walk, and so he decided to relieve himself during a break in playing...on the basement floor. Good thing the floor is tile and we (I) can just mop it up!

At about 8:30 the dogs hit the backyard, where louie marked the same tree about 5 times. Pretty soon he was just lifting his leg, going through the motions and nothing coming out. Meanwhile, Kaiser was pumped up to have another dog around and was spending his outdoor potty time running around the yard in circles at full speed! He managed about 25 laps before Louie decided it would be fun to chase him. Louie isn't quite as agile though as Kaiser and he couldn't keep up on the high speed corners. Plus how can you really keep up when you've got to stop at random trees to mark them. :)

9:00 rolled around and we had popcorn ready to go and hopefully we would get some relaxing time in before bed. We sat in front of the TV and discovered that Louie also was allowed up on the couch and would resist forcefully to being pulled off! It provided a great way to show our dominance and set guidelines for where he can and can't be in the home. Pam and I were concerned he was going to walk off and mark stuff so we kept calling him back to the living room. I got quite annoyed of Pam constantly calling his name as he did laps around through the living room, dining, kitchen and back through.

I moved to the floor where I was able get Kaiser to lie down on my right side and Louie on my left. They calmed down and we were able to watch an episode of the dog whisperer. Pam hand fed me popcorn and we had a great time winding down for bed.

We moved both crates into the bedroom. We had been teaching kaiser another usefull command, "crate", where he will go to into his crate and lay down. We're still in the beginning stages of that command. At first Kaiser didn't really enjoy his crate but now he sleeps in it without any problems. We've even closed the door once and he didn't mind too much. We had been told Louie sleeps in his crate too so we were hoping it would just all work out once we got the lights turned out. Of course Louie felt that the bed would be a better place for him to sleep...After shoving him off a couple time we settled into place.

Well for being the less dominated dog, Kaiser had no problem going into Louies crate and making himself feel like home. The only problem with this is that Kaiser's crate is smaller and Louie can't fit comfortably into it! To solve this I pulled the bed in, which would provide Louie with a place to sleep if Kaiser decided to move into his crate. In the end though the dogs figured it all out by themselves without any altercations. Louie settled into his crate after about half an hour and Kaiser was long on his way to sawing logs by this time.

...and that concluded our first night as a pack of four, and as foster parents.

Needless to say, after having Louie for 12 hours, Pam has decided that one dog is enough for us! I've assured her, that after working with Louie and having him feel more settled as the time passes, we will be able to turn him into a much better behaved dog. This will help us find an adoption family for him in no time! Unfortunately right now it feels like we've got 2 hyperactive 5 year olds running around the house and with me leaving for the week, it ain't going to be pretty! Go Pam, you can do it!

PS Here are some YouTube Videos of our dog.

First week in home!

So its been about a week and a half now since moving in. We dropped by the apartment one last time this weekend and I felt very relieved to have that chapter in my life over with, at least for now. Apartment living is cheap, manageable, and easy. If something breaks, you just call the front desk and people come fix it. Trash day? Just throw it out front and someone will come by and pick it up.

Apartment living does have many downfalls though. First, knowing that each month your rent money is just flying out the window. The first 10 years of a mortgage is much the same, pissing away the money in interest payments, but at least you know that slowly and surely you're catching up and one day (10,950 days later) you'll own the home outright.

You also have more space, more privacy, more pride, more responsibility, less noise, more of a burden, more joy as opposed to apartment living. Nick the apartment wall and you say, "Oh well might not get my full deposit back". Nick the wall in your house and you're thinking, "Dangit! Minus to the home value"!

So anyways, we've got the main areas up to snuff, and habitable right now. Slowly we're completing the other areas, waiting for more funds, etc and taking our time. Right now we're in the middle of the outdoor dog kennel build, which got halted by a massive rain storm last night! Unfortunately, I have to leave town and we won't likely finish that project until two weeks from now.

The house is great though now, and we're thoroughly enjoying it.

So some input from Pam (finally) LOL So as Trav said we have been in our house for over a week, as of tomorrow, two weeks, and honestly we could not be happier. This is finally our space, our home and some place where we can grow our little clan, to now be four. Trav is currently out of town, he left 10/7/08 Wednesday, and so it is a little unnerving for me to be alone. Thank goodness for the two dogs I have as my protectors, otherwise i am pretty sure I would not be sleeping very well at all right now.

I have a few goals while Trav is gone for work. One is to finish putting the drapes up in the dining room and guest bedroom. Two is to mop the floor and three is to get a filing cabinet to organize our mail and items we have received. I love having a dedicated office, a true guest bedroom, a basement for the dogs to play in and a HUGE kitchen. I can't wait to get more furniture, organize everything and just slowly make it feel like home.

A Special Saturday

So as some people know Travis and I spent a great day yesterday with our new addition, officially named Kaiser Maximilian Power. We picked him up from the kennel and treated him to an outing at PetSmart. He was a very well behaved dog, and he got some special treats and a new bone to chew on. As you can see from the pictures he is about maxed out size wise for the car but loves to stick his head out the windows, going back and forth and then coming up and sticking his head between Trav and I. It was adorable.

After PetSmart we headed over to another meet and greet to meet some other Weim owners and group members and see some of the other dogs up for adoption. Kaiser (Joey) is such a well behaved guy. His only real downfall is that when he gets too excited he is a major jumper, and he can jump high and then at the same time try and give you a hug. It is cute but hilarious and not good. So that is number one on our list of things to change.

There was a nice little park by the meet and greet that we explored with Kaiser to see how he does on leash and with people around and other dogs. To our joy, he did great. He already heels really well, doesn't bark and is all about being with us. After the meet and greet we went to the dog park we were at last weekend and ran into another gal who fosters Weims. We let him play and it is interesting, he went and ran around once, but he didn't ever really leave us, he pretty much stayed close to us the entire time.

Sadly around 2:15pm we took him back to the kennel and he DID NOT want to go back there. He stayed with us until finally we had to walk back behind the gate so the people could grab him and take him back. He is such a great dog we can not wait till Friday to pick him up!

The rest of the day we went to downtown Denver, to explore Oktoberfest, it was bad and then went to the Rockies game. We had amazing seats, 13 rows behind home plate and this game was really fun! Lots of hits, foul balls and some fans unfortunately got hit when a stray bat flew out of a Diamondback's hands and landed in the crowd. Luckily no one got injured. We got rained on a bit but all in the game was fun.

Now we are off to pack and get ready to close on our house Thursday! Woo Hoo hope this week flies by!

Travis' 27th Birthday

Hey everyone, I had a birthday! This first set of pics is from over the weekend when we went to the Janz's house for a BBQ. Seth, Sean and myself all had birthdays within a week of each other and so we decided to get together and celebrate them all. Karmel hand pressed and formed burgers for us and Seth grilled them up. Pam made a cake and we brought that over a long with presents for Seth and Sean. Pics courtesy of Karmel.

Once Sean arrived we got to open the presents. We had gotten them nerf guns, with deflector shields and protective eyeware. They were pretty fun to play with. You know how it is...give some men a chance to compete against each other and we're good to go for a few hours. Suprisingly enough, nobody ever took a shot at the dog. :)

Yesterday was my actual birthday, day. If you dont' know me, I like to keep a low profile and not do anything big for my birthday. Because of this, nobody at work knew it was my birthday and I simply just went about my business like it was any other day. I got a few funny e-cards from friends and that was good enough for me. :)

After work we had our first pre-marital counseling session and it turns out we're a better couple than we thought. Pam and I had a good time joking around about our differences a bit, and Jon gave us a few things to work on these next two weeks as homework.

With the session over we then headed out to Shanghai Gardens for dinner! Nothing fancy about this place, just good inexpensive Chinese food. I can't remember the last time I had Chinese food. It doesn't really fit into our diets recently and so thats why I picked it for my birthday dinner! I got mongolian beef, and it was really good. Unfortunately, Pam and I just can't eat that much anymore, and we brought half of what we ordered home!



Back at home it was present time. Thank you everyone for sending me presents! As much as I don't really show my excitement, I always look forward to getting cards and presents. I think I'm sort of a hard person to buy for, and I like seeing what people can come up with. :) I got some good ole cash from the Proctors, a gift card to home depot from Dad that looks like I need to hang on to and return to him at Christmas, a picture of the Family minus me (great clear pic by the way what kind of camera did you use? :p) and 9 Seasons of "King of Queens" show from Caris, a few doggie things and a gift card to PetSmart from Pam, and the dog of course which we'll get next week, and another gift card and a nice leather journal from Mom. All in all a pretty good mix!

We finished the night watching a few episodes from the first season of King of Queens that I'd actually never seen. I also had a big BIG piece of cake and some ice cream. :) Thank you all very much for everything! Now I'm in the tweener stage where I'm definitely not a young mid-twenties person but the oldness of 30 is still a few years away.

Dog Names

So...the picture doesn't do Joey justice. The dog is very well built, and seems to be very happy. He was a little ADD at the dog park but I think it was because he's been in boarding and is still young. So he had some steam to burn off. I think he only ran around a few times while we were there, but most of his time was spent being the group socialite.

He has learned that typically if he touches his nose to a persons hand they will respond by petting him. Basically he passed the time going from person to person and asking for pets! He also wanted to make sure to sniff and greet every new dog and person that came into the dog park through the gate.

Anyways, his name is Joey right now but we're interested in changing it. Say his name and when he turns to look at you, give a treat. I don't think it will be that hard to get him used to a new name. I like picking somewhat unique and meaningful names. The dog is German, and was bred for a king name Weimar, or Weimer...something like that. He was bred for the nobles who were in need of a hunting dog and nobody outside of that class distinction was allowed to own one of the dogs. Thats how superb they used to be held. So Pam and I have narrowed our search down to three names. Let us know by completing the poll what you think and help us pick!

Kaiser - German for King/Emporer ie: Kaiser Wilhelm, King William

Johann - Interesting is that traditionally the first name of a German refers to a Saint and the second name (which we call the middle name) is actually what the person typically goes by. So Johann Sebastian Bach was known by his friends and family as Sebastian, not Johann. If a family had 3 boys the first name was likely to all be Johann because of naming after the saint, but the boys would all go by their second "secular" name. Additionally, you've got the famous intellectual, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, but naming the dog Johann wouldn't really be naming it after this guy either, since Johann is not necessarily what Wolfgang Goethe goes by.

In any case, Johann has Hebrew meaning of "God is Gracious" or "God's gracious gift". Thats good enough for me. :)

Maximus/Maximilian - Max for short
We all know Maximus from the great move "Gladiator". It is a powerful name which means "Greatest". Its German counterpart is Maximilian, which certainly doesn't roll off the tounge as easy as Maximus. Either way though, we'd probably call the dog by the name Max, short and sweet. The name was popular among the royal house of Bavaria. Plus there is the added coolness factor that our name tag could read Max Power. :)

So vote, and let us know!

 What should we name our dog?

• 
  
  Maximus/Maximilian (Max for short)


• 
  
  Johann


• 
  
  Kaiser

view results
Free vote poll

Our new addition

So this last weekend, besides watching pretty much every sport that is in season right now, Trav and I have decided to adopt, adopt a dog! On Saturday morning we headed to a dog park out west of downtown Denver to go check out some Weimaraners that were in need of adopting. We met about six dogs who were all wonderful and each one individually pulled out our heart strings. We fell in love with two great dogs, Max and Joey. Max is about three years old and is currently living in a great foster home and putting weight on, he is a very thin guy due to stress issues from being in a kennel too long. Joey, is a year and a half old and just getting beyond the puppy energy. He is a beautiful dog, needs a family and will be a great running buddy. When we left we told the people we would be in touch, however we forgot to get a phone number!

Once home, we searched for emails or number and finally contact someone who then put us in touch with the correct gal. We spoke on the phone and we decided it would be best for us and the dog if we brought the dog home next week, after we move into our new home. :) So as of September 26, we will have a new addition, Joey. :)

So meet Joey:

Campin

We went campin this weekend and these were the few pics we managed to take. They are mostly taken at about 12,500 ft. The air was thin, and after a while up there I started to feel like I was getting a slight headache. Driving up the small two lane road was a bit tight in spots, and although the views were absolutely amazing, I'm not sure you would have made it Sandi! We also discovered that Pam is getting to be more and more scared of the dark!



We drove up Ute Creek road outside of Idaho springs. There were tons of mining claims up in that area and Idaho Springs is supposedly where it all started. The area was also around Mt Evans, where a few of the pics are from. We didn't get any pics from 14,000 ft because the battery went dead too quick!!

We camped just up a dirt road. We found out that it was actually a private mining claim and the arapahoe national forest was mixed in with all this private land. Lucky for us though (because we had the camp all setup already) the land had been reposessed. So from then on we decided to just pretend like we just purchased the land.

The people we went with were pretty cool. Seth and karmel were one couple and we've spent a lot of time with them already. The other couple we just met. They are Randy and Linsey. They were older than us, but nice and fun also. Linsey is from Eugene, OR so that was cool to meet someone from our old stomping grounds...or at least close enough to know what we are saying when we're talking about Oregon rain!

Up on Mt Evans, we saw a herd of either elk or antelope. Some mountain sheep, and a Doe and its Bambi. When we were hiking a day earlier we also saw a deer and it let us get pretty close up before darting off! The mountain sheep were cool though because we've never seen one before. They are very furry!

And The Update Is...

So since I just realized last week that our last blog post was now a month ago, I figured since I have a few spare minutes I thought I would update everyone on what Trav and I have been up to. So since our engagement, my mom and Ahna have come out to visit, Trav's parents have come out to visit, I have been back to Oregon and we have put an offer in on a house! Oh yes I did say that, we put an offer in and we are now under contract for a house!!!!


So on the wedding front, we have picked a date, booked the church, the reception location, the photographer, the DJ and the baker. I bought my dress and have decided the style I want for the invites and save the dates. I need to finished the save the dates this weekend and hopefully in the next two weeks the florist will be chosen. Otherwise I feel really good about everything. :)

We started searching for houses about a week ago and this was actually the fourth house we saw. The first three houses we toured were well not what we were looking for. I think one would have worked by none of them just struck as this is the one. However when we went to this house on Thursday, we knew this was it. The lady selling the home is the original owner, lived there for almost 50 years and the house is in exquisite condition. It needs the obvious updating, like new linoleum or tile, getting rid of the 1950's pink bathroom and wood paneling, otherwise everything is perfect and works and is very well taken care. The lot is 13,000 SF or .3 acres, the house main level is 1780 SF and another 1200 SF in the basement, which is 85% finished. It is 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and have a HUGE 2 car garage.

I hate to cut this short but I need to get ready to head over to our friends house for an evening of dinner, drinks and games. :)

Here are some pictures for you all to see.

Engaged!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So obviously everyone knows that Trav and I are engaged. I am super excited, still squealing a bit with joy and well plain ready to start planning and want to buy a house). So I wanted to let everyone know how Trav did it and post some pictures.

So our little story: Trav emailed me during the day Friday at work to ask if I wanted to go for a hike Friday after work because we had his company picnic the next day and he wanted to just relax after oh and he wanted to do a picnic dinner as well. So I left the office, picked up our hiking shoes and a blanket, and the camera and headed over to Trav's office. We headed over to this open space that we had never been to and noticed some nasty looking clouds that were essentially right where we were heading.

The cool thing about this area is that clouds and rain will blow over in about 20-30 minutes and then the sun is back out. Because we didn't want to get electrocuted by the lightening we waited till the majority of the rain and clouds had passed before we finally headed out into the sprinkles. About 10 minutes into waking, the sprinkles were gone, the sun was shining and we were off for our picnic. The hike took us thorugh this open space called South Valley Park, which bordered Lockheed Martin and these amazing homes tucked back in this canyon/gulch area.

We found this great little area where we set up our picnic. Trav pulled out Sushi, my favorite!!, a salad and some crackers. It was delicious and with some yummy water. After we finished dinner, Trav said he had a treat for me. So I had to close my eyes, made me take my sunglasses off so I wouldn't cheat, and put a big box on my lap, wrapped in his gym towel. I opened the towel and the box and inside was a bible with Pamela J Power inscribed on it. At this point all I could do was look at him and just didn't know what to say...

He then had me turn to s spot he had marked, and there was the ring tied to the ribbon. He then read a passage he had marked, Corinthians and just looked at me and explained that he wants out relationship to be built on trust, God and that he got some advice from all his friends and family. So I hugged him and said yes. Which he never even really asked. HAHA So now we are engaged and so excited!!!!!

Good news we will get married back in Portland, we already know who will be in the wedding and just need to find a date. :)

Little Engagement Vid

The Colorado Trail Adventure

So for those that don't know, Trav and I spent last weekend up in the Rocky Mountains, specifically the Pike National Forest, camping, hiking and biking. We had a great weekend, kicked our butts biking and then hiked till we were jello. Here are pictures from the weekend for thsoe that have yet to see them. We can't wait for people to come out and visit us so we can take you out into the mountains as well...

Oh and we have a busy next few weekends. This weekend is Trav's company picnic, then I am going to an all day concert with a girlfriend Sunday. Next weekend my mom and Ahna are in town, then the next weekend is my Relay for Life event for the American Cancer Society as well as Trav's fmaily visiting. Then we are hoping to get out of town again the second weekend in August for some more camping and biking, we are going for all 12miles of the Colorado Trail!

No They Have Not Disappeared

So I have been a bit quiet on the personal blog front since I have been spending the majority of my time working on my business blog. However, later today I will have two logos for you guys to help me decide which one to use, for at least the time being. I have gotten my first quote out, well besides for Impact Sign Co. and I am just waiting to hear something. :)

So otherwise, not much has been going on this week, since most people know that Travis I were just in oregon visiting family and friends. It was good to see everyone!!!

My Fav new logo:

Pam

PJP Marketing Solutions Blog Up and Running

So it is official, PJP Marketing Solutions Blog is up and running. http://www.pjpmarketing.wordpress.com/ It is still in it's infancy but I am finally getting moving on creating my own destiny. Please pass it on and if you know anyone who may need marketing assistance let them know about me. My Web site is currently in the works thorugh a great friend of mine, Casey Feves and his company Sigma Solutions Group, http://www.sigmasolutionsgroup.com/ and should hopefully be up in the next few weeks.

I am very excited and am working on finishing up the site map for Impact Sign Co's new website. I have some great ideas and had a meeting with a great guy last week to become part of a small business services group. The goal of the group is to be a strategic alliance of professionals that would assist every part of the business life cycle. I am also working on creating collateral and a website for the CFP who has spearheaded this group. Woo HOO!

Oh and I have a new email for the business, pam@pjpmarketing.com

Happy Monday!

Travis AFK, whatever happened to this guy?

So, its been a while since I've posted. Here's an update.


Work: I had been in Cali, near Sacramento working on the irrigation district there. We (the commissioning team) upgraded their existing systems to Wonderware 10.0 and ArchestrA. Basically this upgrade will enable them to do cool things, save time in implementing changes, and create a need for more training for their SCADA techs. :) We commissioned 8 sites in 3 weeks. I worked, worked out and went to bed...for 3 weeks. It had been a while since I had worked 60+ hour weeks and it was good to get home and relax a bit. Now I have so much time on my hands I'm getting antsy again, lol.

Upon returning I got an offer on paper. It was very generous and now I can wipe that from the back of my mind and relax a bit. I'm buckleing down now and continueing to push forward and learn as much as I can. I purchased a PLC off Ebay and am going to create a small test setup at home so that I can continue to learn PLC, Wonderware, Archestra, as well as setting everything all up!

Workin out: For those of you that keep up with my workout journal, or at least whats posted here, when I was in Cali I decided to go on a shake diet. I was literally drinking my calories most of the time, with occasional meals on weekends. I used "Nature's Best Isopure, Low Carb, Meal Replacement" packs for my shakes. At first it was very hard to get by. As I progressed through the days however, it became easier. When I got back Pam thought I looked more lean than I've ever been! I still want to lose 4 more lbs, but am satisfied with my progress so far. I think for a final weight and physique, that I want to bulk up a bit more, then just work on maintaining a low body fat. I've had a lot of fun learning about bodybuilding, nutrition, exercise, and most of all, developing a strong work ethic to continue down this road.

A link showing my cut results in a forum on bodybuilding.com (If you don't want to see my in undies, don't click! Speedo pics are much worse though :))

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=107832531




Other stuff I've been doin. Well I don't think I've posted on Grad school yet. I'm applying to UC Boulder. My reccomendations have almost all come in and then I just have to complete a written assessment as well as a letter of intent in order to finish up my application. I'm looking forward to this endeavor, and hope to be accepted so that I can start. In addition, to help boost my worth, I'm signing up for the FE exam in October. This is something that I should have done a long time ago when everything was fresh! I didn't realize how important this would be if I ever left Oregon, or wanted to pursue a PE license and am kicking myself a bit for passing it up.

I guess thats about it for now, looking forward to a three day weekend!

Congratulations Travis!!!

So a big congrats to Travis as he just got his official offer for Full Time Employment, no more contract work. I am sure he will tell everyone about it, but I wanted to say congrats because I am so proud of him.

Name!

So based on some feedback from a few of you, I have decided on a name, PJP Marketing Solutions. The great thing about this name is that just incase I ever happen have a change in last name :) The initial is the same. Happy Friday!

Marketing Solutions

So I have been going back and forth about this for a while and I have started to take the initiative. I am currently working as the marketing person for my parents sign company, though back in Oregon, and hoping to begin doing work here in Colorado and perhaps for other small businesses in Oregon through referral. Through all my years of listening to and working with my parents I came to a conclusion. Small businesses and small business owners know how to run their company but are unaware of really how to run and promote their business. My hope is that I can take my experience working with them, helping them and truly understanding the mind of small business owners and what their hot buttons are.

The plan I have for my parents is going to be implemented in phases. Phase 1 will consist of a completely new website which will include information about the company, their services, their employees, their clients and the obvious of how to contact them. What I am doing as part of the content is instead of just listing clients, include case studies or solution studies for various clients and incorporating a blog to their site. The blog will be written by each of the employees on various aspects of the sign business. The designer will discuss design problems, solutions, new programs, tips, ideas, etc. They can review new products, new techniques, articles in trade publications, events, best practices. This will allow them to continue to have a presence, have a reason for people to visit their site and to build their reputation as a leader in Oregon and the Northwest as a sign solution provider. We will also post events on the website, switch out the studies and pictures on a consistent basis to keep the site active. I am also working with a friend of mine whose company will be providing an FTP site for graphics transfers and SEO (search engine optimization). The point of SEO is to optimize the site for search ability from the engines such as google, yahoo, msn, etc. SEO ensures that the website has key words included in the pages that are searched for such as signs, Portland, banners, etc. There are many others ways to be optimized that is just an example.

Phase 2 I am planning on having them choose their PMS colors for branding purposes, to ensure consistency across their collateral, such as business cards, letterset, email signatures, portfolios, etc. They are also working on creating a portfolio to be finished during this phase that anyone can take on sales calls, use as a visual for customers. Each sign will have a description of what the sign was made for, the purpose, the products used, the client, etc. A story. I will also send out an email blast to all of my parents customers announcing the new site and the features, giving them a reason to visit the site. In Phase 2 I would also begin designing a newsletter for them, they can discuss new projects, new products, client success story, charities, organizations they work with and other interesting facts and tips. The newsletter would be a quarterly feature and would be added to the website as well.

Phase 3 would be creating a plan of attack for leveraging their current clients. This would involve reports from their client database to see what industries they are in and what associations they belong to. From this information we could determine who else the clients know, who they can introduce us to and grow the business based on associations and networking.

I have other ideas that keep coming to me, but this is what I can think of right now for them. I would also at some point create email blasts to clients on new products, new ideas, news and announcements to continue to keep the company in the front of their clients mind.

So here is what I need from you guys, I need some opinions on names for the company I am going to make. I have come up with one idea but Travis has said it is a bit too girly of a name, Chic Marketing. The other idea was PJP Solutions, something simple.

Let me know what you all think, I would love the input.

Pam

Hiking Today

So I went for a hike today after church by myself, was a little weird to hike by myself in a place I didn't know but about 10 minutes in I was good to go. Enjoy some pictures from my killer hike,. Started at about 8000' and ended at about 9200' and was about 2 hours and got in about 5 miles.

Pam

So May = Winter

So I woke up this morning after finally sleeping through a full night, haven't been able to since Travis left. Another shocker.......it is freaking dumping snow!!! I easily have one inch behind our house, and it is starting to come down harded. I know it beautiful and we live in the mountains essentially, but I am so ready for summer!!!!

Here are some pictures I took out our back door.

Great Band

Not sure if any of you have heard of this band before but I ran acorss them based on some Itunes preferences I had and I am in love with them. They are Christian Rock and I am loving listening to them as well as a band called the David Corwder Band. Check out their music.

California

I am not sure many people know but right now Travis is out of town for three weeks for work. They have finished designing a system for a waste water plant and are now commissioning it, which is a big word for implementing, testing and fixing the program on-site. I was lucky enough to be able to go out last weekend, his company flew me out, and spend the weekend in California. Friday night we spent at his hotel in historic Placervill, California, an old gold mining town that is as my friend says, the last bathroom break before South Lake Tahoe.

The weather was great in California, however, I think I have been in a dry climate long enough that it actually felt muggy to me out there. Crazy! Starting on Saturday we did the social eating rounds. We met up with our friends Lisa & Ryan in downtown Sacramento for a late breakfast as they were headed to Tahoe and we were heading towards San Francisco. Then it was on to Martinez, about an hour from Sac on the way to San Fran, to visit with our friends Kristy & Ben. By 4pm we decided we had to head into the city (San Francisco) to check into our hotel and try and relax before going to dinner and out for the night.

We ended up staying at the Hilton in Union Square which is great and central to everything we wanted to do. My friend Kat and her hunband line down by AT & T Park and since I had not seen her in about 2 years, we all met up for dinner at this new place called Absinthe. It was amazing!! We sat and talked for over 3 hours just catching up and it was great for Travis to meet another one of my good friends. We ended our night by dancing at Ruby Skye, a favorite club of ours. Sunday was brunch again with some other friends of ours and walking along the Embarcadero to the Ferry Building and stopping for some Gelato since it was about 85 degrees, in the city!!!

Being away from SF has made me realize how much I truely love that city and how amazing and diverse it is in everything you can do in it and around it. Too bad we don't make more money. Now I am back in Denver, working away, getting ready for a short 4 mile run on lunch and then a relaxing evening of movies and sitting.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

Todays Run

So with running so many hills my right calf has been bothering me quite a bit. So I probably should have takent oday off but because of traveling to California to visit Travis this weekend I am trying to run everyday or do the elliptical this week. So I took it easy today and found a run a gal I work with has been telling me about. This was awesome, full of people, ran by the largest REI in the US, found some phenomenal restaurants to try and I really would loe to explore this area more. Might have to talk Travis into coming to the city more often.

Happy Thursday everyone!!!

Beautiful

So Trav is out of town right now for approximately three weeks for work. They have finished the project he has been working on and now are implementing, testing and fixing problems. He is in Placerville, which is about 45 minutes to as hour outside of Sacramento on the way to South Lake Tahoe. He left on Sunday and I have to say it has not been easy having him gone because our apartment is on the ground so I just don't sleep very sound.

Spring has finally arrived in Denver and I LOVE it!! I have finally started running outside on a consistent basis of at least three days a week, about 1-2 days on the treadmill and then the elliptical at least one day a week so I am doing cardio about 5-6 days a week. Sometimes we hike and go for walks so I am happy. I am hoping to strip off about 3-5 pounds of muscle because running right now just feels a bit clumsy and heavy so I will be lifting like one day a week and do full body with high reps to keep some muscle but slimming down a bit.

I have attached the run I did tonight and you can see it is just rolling hills and normally this run feels very good but today was a bit brutal. So I am ready for a good night sleep and hit to ground running tomorrow. :)

Pam

Florida

As many of you know Travis and I just got back from a three day weekend trip to visit his Aunt and Uncle, Leticia and Mark, in Pembroke Pines, Florida. Pembroke Pines is located right in the middle of Fort Lauderdale and Miami. His Uncle Mark is his mother's brother and his wife Leticia is a Major in the US Army. They are some of the nicest people you will ever meet and they have five of the greatest kids, Alex, 18 and on a full ride scholarship in North Carolina for swimming and academics, Cynthia, 13, Johnny, 9, Rose, 7 and Sarah, 6.

For rpice reasons we had the red eye flight, left at 1am on Thursday/Friday morning and got in at 6:45am Eastern time. LONGGGGGGGGGGG flight let me tell you. Luckily for $5 Trav and I shared a TV and tried to get some sleep on the completely full flight. When we got in his aunt arrived to pick us up and immediately we were greeted with hugs, happy conversation and it never ended the entire weekend. Leticia for those that don't know is actually from Mexico. To me she is a shining example of what hard work, dedication and perseverance can do for someone. She came to the US through a work Visa without knowing any English and with no education. She now has two Bachelors degrees, a Masters and is working towards her Doctorate, and I believe most are in the field of engineering. She has been to Kuwait, Iraq, speaks three languages and still finds time to be an amazing mom and connected very closely to her family.

Back to our trip. Friday was pretty fun. After we dropped off our gear, Leticia cooked us a great breakfast we headed out with her to Miami as she had to participate in the closing ceremonies of a conference she had been in charge of. From there we decided to take a tour down to an area called Homestead to an Air Force reserve base so we could see it, but also because she needed to get some short sleeve uniforms. The commisary (grocery store) on base is supposedly 30% cheaper than going to safeway or albertson's and we got three shopping carts full of food, supposedly a week, maybe two worht of food for her family, wow!!!

The rest of the day was sent playing in the pool, both at their home and in the amaznig community recreation center. By the time 9pm rolled around we were exhausted. we spent the evening relaxing, eating dinner, and then sleeping very very hard. Saturday we took a boat tour of Biscayne Bay, which there are some huge homes down in Miami. We saw South Beach, downtown Miami, the ghetto of Miami, we got lost, and the HUGE crusie ships. Now I am itching to go on a cruise. :) For dinner we went to their favorite restaurant which Leticia says is the best Mexican food she has found since moving to Florida, and it was great! We then spent some family time watching Enchanted and again early to bed.

Sunday was great, we spent the entire day at the Fort Lauderdale Beach. I got a great tan, Travis was the kids jungle gym and poor guy got a bit fried and salt water burn from being rubbed raw from lots ofpiggy back rides and shoulder rides. :) All in all, the trip was great. We have some great stories that I don't want to put up here, but honestly I can not wait to spend more time with them.

No on Sunday I have to take Trav to the airport again as he is headed off to California for three weeks for work :(

Here are pictures from our trip.

Crackberry, I mean Blackberry

So a quick update to the job situation and now my addiction to email and communication. My new boss, who is my age and rocks and pretty much said do whatever you want, and I put together a list of all outstanding marketing related projects that were in the old marketing group's cue, including just verbal assignments we had been given by various other people. The list when we finished yesterday afternoon is now 71 items long and at least half of them are needing to be complete. YIKES!!! So on a day I should be working, am I? NOPE! Well maybe later, but not right now. :)

However, at 2am last night my newly updated blackberry went off. I had forgotten to put it on silent and still was on loud from driving. Did I just turn it off? Nope of course I check ed them email, and it was an email from our newly appointed, one of the original founders, CSO emailing to cancel a meeting and say we would verbally touch base later. It is official, I am hooked. I feel a bit of remorse saying that, but it is nice to see what is coming and if I realy do need to repond immediately..........but most people are looking for an immediate response. My hopes this week is to slowly wittle our list down, step away from the Blackberry (probably won't happen) and enjoy the fruits of my labor when finally appear.

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Wow been a while

So, sorry it has been a while since our last post, but between Trav and I we are not really around a whole lot. So to sum things up, we have been working a lot. I now have survived a 30 person layoff /corporate reorganization at my new company. It stinks because my friend who got me in here was laid off, but it is great because I get to decide how far and how fast I want to grow. I am now part of a two person marketing team, versus a 5 person team and because slowly I have learned that people who were let go were a very negative cog in a very quickly moving wheel. Yeah it is good thing to be positive in ones life. :) So wish me luck and lets hope I can go as fast as we need to be going. I am very very excited for what is to come.

Pam

Our new diet!

Hello everyone...

So as you probably know, Pam and I really try to stay healthy by eating well and exercising regularly. We've been able to maintain a pretty good lifestyle and body type/size for the past year or so and even though we've been able to eat mostly all the good stuff we enjoy. I've learned quite a bit about how the body processes different types of foods, when to eat, how often, and how much. We even got a scale to measure out serving sizes from time to time, to get a feel for how much we're actually shoving down that hole!

Bodybuilding.com has been a great source for all types of information. Whether it be workout routines, nutrition information, exercise techniques or just plain being inspired by what others are doing and have done, BB.com has been instrumental in helping us live this lifestyle.

Unfortunately, we're also the types of people that like to push the envelope. There are a lot of people on BB.com that have also pushed the envelope and seen great results. I'm not talking full on bodybuilders, just those that have trained hard, and then achieved a low body fat so that their hard work really shows through. For me, its an achievement that I just can't keep myself from trying to pursue, a low body fat.

In the past 7-8 weeks I've been trying to gain weight in muscle. As a result from lifting hard, and eating tons, I've gained 8 lbs. So I start my cut at 196 lbs. Based on body fat estimates I think that I am probably around 13-15%BF. I want to get to around 9%. If I can get this low, I think that my abs will show 100% of the time without flexing, which I think will be pretty sweet. Therefore, I need to cut 4-6% of my bodyweight, which equals roughly 12 lbs on the high end. This equals a final body weight of 184lbs.

Now, the whole idea is to lose that weight in fat, and NOT muscle! Apparently this is really hard to do. I found a diet through BB.com that talks about maintaining muscle during a cut. See the problem is, when people cut their calories, they are not longer feeding their muscles and body like they used to. If the calorie deficit is too extreme (as often is the case) the body will compensate by doing a few things. First it will slow down its metabolism, thus burning fewer calories in a day. Second, it may begin to convert muscle to usable energy (instead of fat!). This of course, is not good!

The idea behind "The Cut Diet" is supercharging the metabolism, while cycleing carbohydrates so that the body does not think its running out of energy and needs to start slowing down, or worse, breaking down muscle. I think this idea is pretty clever and involves more behind the scenes than the average person would know. Basically what you end up with eating is this:

6-7 small meals a day
2:30 between each meal
First 17-20 meals no starchy carbs
18th or 21st meal is a carb up meal where you eat only carbs/fat

The first thing this does is spread your meals out better. Most of us know that the old formula for losing weight is calories in, compared to calories out. There is more to this. For instance, if you eat a huge breakfast and get all your calories for the day there, you're not going to be happy. The problem is, as the body converts that breakfast to usable energy, there is too much energy to use at that moment. The body is smart, and knows this...suddenly, instead of just flushing this energy out of your system, it will store it as fat for later use. By spreading your meals out over the day, the body is fueled with a steady stream of glycogen and is less likely to be in excess, thus converting to fat.

Secondly, fibrous carbs come in the form of things like string beans, brussel sprouts, peas, broccoli, etc. All of these are essentially known as green vegetables. The great thing about these foods is that they take a lot of energy to break down, and in some cases, maybe more to digest that is used. This is good...these foods will make you feel full but not really supply the body with an instant stream of usable energy. Longer digestion means the body will stay fuller longer, and be supplying energy to the body more steadily than faster digested foods.

The other great thing about these fibrous carbs is that they reduce the bulge or size of entry through the digestive system. The book describes it as "bolus". What I got from it is by eating these first they sort of pave the way for everything behind it and a smaller bolus means, less chance of fat storage because the food moves through quicker and more efficiently...I'll have to read that section again.

Thirdly, the book suggests never mixing complex carbs with protein. For some reason this can create problems for your body and end up storing more fat. I have to revisit this section again to be able to explain why. I tend to speed forward to the main point and forget why. Anyways, so these meals are designed to be either protein/fat or carbs/fat. What is actually turns out to be is protein+fat+fibrous carbs or carbs+ fat.

Lastly, is the carb up meal. As the diet works out, for 3 days you're only feeding the body 50 or so grams of carbs a day. This really isn't that much at all. So at the end of 3 days the body really is going to be hurting for energy. In order to convince it that all is good and that it doesn't need to break down its muscles, you need to carb up, and restore your glycogen levels. This is done through a high carb meal right before bed. The carb up meal gives me 150 grams of carbs...which is a lot for one meal! You might be sitting there thinking...wait a sec, isn't all that going to just be converted to fat since you're sleeping?

The answer is no. After three days your body is hurting for carbs! Remember its energy stores are down and its beginning to think it needs to start eating itself for fuel! The carb up meal is metabolised fast, and quickly works at restoring energy. Its like skipping a meal...you're really hungry so what happens when you finally eat? You engulf everything down fast, and probably end up over eating! Point being, the body will burn through these carbs like its nothing and there is no thought of ever converting it to fat, it already knows it needs to send this energy out to the body for immediate use.

Often people who are carb cycleing experience their body heat rising directly after the carb meal because the body is engulfing these carbs. The carb up meals serves a purpose of replenishing stores so it doesn't get weak, but it also serves to kick start again and again the metabolism and get it burning hotter!

So that is basically what we're doing right now with our meals. If you'd like to follow my progress I have a thread going on BB.com showing what I eat and do and I think I will try and post progress pics there also. In addition, if you're ever looking for advice or insight in regards to anything exercise related, BB.com is a great resource. There is a wealth of knowledge on there and everyone from certified personal trainers, to MD, fitness competitors, etc.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=106321411 my cut progress.

www.thecutdiet.com Free E-book!


Catch you all later,

Travis

Nothing Exciting

Today is Monday, the first Monday after we have sprung forward and lost an hour of sleep. Trust me I think Trav and I really felt it. Our week hasn't been too exciting, just working a lot, both of us, I am getting ready to head to Dallas on Saturday for four nights. I will be missing St. Patrick's Day and all the festivities, which sounds like Travis is heading out with a mutual friend of ours, since her boyfriend will be in Chicago. Other than that, we have just been working out and we have really been working on getting our eating in check, too much fun food for a bit we noticed. :) Oh and we head to Miami to visit Travis' Aunt and Uncle and cousins. That will be a blast.

Back to work, :)

Pam

One Old Couple

Happy March everyone! It has been a crazy past week, with my new job, Travis has been working late nights and well errands and having friends over, we are beat. Some good news though, I was oked to wear contacts, new ones that he refitted me for. However, hence the title of the post, I am officially old, as is Travis. When I was at the eye doctor on Saturday, he noticed that I squint a lot when I read things when I have my contacts in. After a few tests, boom you need reading glasses. YIKES!!! When did I turn old!!!!



To make me feel better though, Travis noticed he has got his first grey hair, well three to be exact. And we have pictures of them!!! So now Travis is wise and I am blind, sweet! Happy March from the old couple in Colorado. :)

Kings

So as a continuation to my previous post about the book I finished reading last night, the final stage a man enters is a King. However there is a transition time between the Late Prince and the King, called the Tunnel.

The Tunnel is a time in a man's life when he achieved the success he has strived through his his building years as a Prince. In a building sense, the castle is complete and his kingdom has been realized. The Tunnel is in essence a time for self questioning, realization and internal reflection on who one really is as a man. Thus is the time most woman have coined the mid-life crisis, with the car and all. The car though is not a product of the the tunnel but usually what has happened is a man as a late prince who as a Page and Knight dreamed about a certain, car, truck, thing, can now afford that automobile. Unfortunately it has been considered a product of the mid-life crisis/tunnel. When a man is in the Tunnel, nothing his wife or girlfriend does or says will help him or answer any of the questions he has, and when trying to get answer or commitments, they rarely are able to give what is asked of them, because they see it as just more of something they can not offer.

On a good side, this only usually last from a few months to max a few years. It may be rough, but as a woman you are able to back off, allow him to talk to you without interruption, give him the love and support you always give, the man will come out the other side a King. He is essentially King of his Kingdom and now his wife is his Queen. The man fully knows who he is, what he believes, what he likes, dislikes and essentially has a I Am what I Am tough luck attitude. This is when men usually spend more time with their wives, their families and love to give opinions, love to help and share their wisdom, knowledge and skills. They also very rarely compromise as this is giving in on who they are and what they believe. They say what they mean and if they offer help or an opinion, are very hurt if they are rejected as it is seen as rejecting a gift they are giving their, wife, child, etc. As my dad always says when proud of an accomplishment, "Who's the King????" LOL Don't forget the belly slap and hands up making a crown on his head. HAHAHA

There is so much more I really can not put it solely here on the blog, but the book is a must read in my opinion. I have read Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands and other relationship books, but in term of understanding men and why they act as they do and trying to understand that when Travis says he will come to a decision in his own time, he truly means it, not in a negative way, but in a let me be who I am, make my own decisions because I am the man and let me act that way, kind of way. There are many things I would love to spout off about and voice my opinion over and push him to make decisions on, but I have learned doing that will only make him take longer to decide, which is counter productive.

So enough of my babbling, but I am sure I will have more to talk about as I have already started a new book. I need to head to bed as my new job definitely does not keep me bored, and I already am heading off on a business trip next month. I need to get up at 5am to go for a run. :) Keep your fingers crossed I am able to get up.

Pam

Good Reads

So I am finally back into my habit of inhaling books as my mom will vouch for me, I used to do when I was younger. It seems that ever since college it has taken me until now to really find the desire I used to have for reading. I am sure all of you college graduates can commiserate with me on this point, no matter what your major was. I know that the forced reading of books in weeks, sometimes days, will really kill a passion when it is turned into work. However on a good note, I have found my passion again, though I may fall asleep in the middle of it. :)

I have almost finished a book that I has turned on a light bulb for me, created that "ah ha moment". It is called Keys to the Kingdom. A friend of mine, Jim, recommended that I buy this book almost five years ago now, maybe even six years ago. He said it was life changing and from a guys perspective totally true. Well it has taken me these past 5-6 years to even open the book, and I can not believe I waited this long, it is amazing and really every woman should read it. I will try to explain the book and men you can totally pipe and explain yes or no, or say wow woman you should have known this!

The book is written in story form about this older woman, Claudia, who is essentially an anthropologist of men through trade and formal training, and her entire family was as well, and a younger woman, Karen. Karen and Claudia meet through a yoga class and when Karen chooses Claudia to spill her soul to about her frustration with her marriage, her lack of ability to communicate to her husband and feelings of inadequacy as a woman. The story helps in regards to explanation, readability and fluid description of the stages of a man and how to relate, communicate and respect them in each of these stages. The story follows Karen as she takes these lessons and guidelines and applies them and explains to her husband and the following reactions and changes their relationship goes through, only for the better.

The first stage, that I found really interesting and makes total sense, is a man is in what the woman calls Pages. Pages are from birth till just before Puberty. Pages are what the woman call wannabee knights. Their whole goal in life is adventure and fun and pretending to be like their older counterparts, Knights. These adventures and fun come in small stages, like burping and farting, climbing to the highest point on the monkey bars, running, being outside, pine cone fights, everything that drives mothers crazy. However, Claudia explains that because these little pages are trying to be little men, what they want is to be treated like men. So ask them for help, don't scold but say I know and respect what you are doing but please this is not the place, save it till we leave or till a later time. Respect them, listen to them, ask them for help and do not hold them back from discovering the little men they are trying to be.

Around Puberty men enter the next stage, Knights. Knights are what women consider to be full of themselves, irresponsible, and lack commitment. However as Claudia explains to Karen, Knights are full of themselves because they who they are and want to be as men. Their entire goal during this stage is having fun, living life, having adventure after adventure after adventure. During this time men will date but most are not looking for their life partner, however if they do find their partner who will share in their adventures, not hold them back, they are fulfilled.

Around the mid 20's, sometimes earlier, sometimes later, men develop into Princes, who have three phases. The first, an Early Prince, is trying to set up where he will build his kingdom and what it will consist of. Some Princes if they have found their partner will marry at this point and build their kingdom around and with this woman and some men want to build their kingdom prior to marriage so they are able to provide in the ability they deem as necessary in marriage. Once a Prince has decided his career and where he wants to build his kingdom. This is called the Middle Prince Phase. During this phase and all of the Prince phases, Princes have one single focus, build build build, which for women seems that all they want to do is work, think about work, how they can get farther and more successful in work. When they are free from thinking about these things, that is when women normally spend time criticizing them saying, they don't get enough attention and they have screwed up in these ways. Which Claudia says, women should be respecting them for their hard work and taking advantage of the time men are giving them and spend it being appreciative, happy to see them and communicating any needs they may have and what they may need help on, in a positive way so I a man can respond and help in the way he knows how, which is not wrong, it is the man's way. The very last Prince Phase, Claudia tells Karen is very quick, while the others take years, this is the stage where the man has reached his goals in his career, he has attained the level he has been striving for. All together the Prince Stage Lasts from approximately 10-15 years.

The last Stage Kings, is where I am at in the book. It is almost done and I am very excited. These explanations and almost real life examples gives me a great reference for how I can incorporate this in to how I understand Travis and other men in my life. It also makes me realize that many things I have previously thought and did, were quite wrong and that I need to work on some things, which I am OK with saying. :) As I finish the book tonight I will let everyone know how the last stage goes, which for most of us my age, this is where our father's are in their lives.

Oh and on a side note, at church yesterday we found out our pastor just had his first book published. Here is a picture of the cover and a link to find more about it. I am going to be purchasing it next weekend, as the line was quite long.

Happy Monday everyone!