Aruba trip, May 7 - 9 (part 1)

Jeremy and I went to Aruba! We had a great time, and left Dain at home with my mom. A few things we learned about Aruba:

1. Aruba is "one happy island" until you're on the road with the locals. They have no patience for tourist drivers.

2. Aruba is windy, all the time. It's nice, because it helps to relieve the heat of the sun.

3. Iguanas are everywhere.

4. Aruba has a total of about 5 stoplights - in the entire country.

5. Locals grow up learning how to speak 4 languages: Papiamento, Dutch, Spanish and English.

6. The mullet-style faux-hawk is the height of fashion among the locals.

7. "$6 isn't great, it's awesome!" (explanation to come)

Here's a short diary of our vacation.

Thursday, May 7: Jeremy and I flew to Aruba. We left our house at 2:30 am to drive to Denver. We flew from Denver to Chicago, then Chicago to Miami, then from Miami to Oranjestad, Aruba, where we landed at approximately 9:30 pm (eastern standard time). This was how we celebrated Jeremy's birthday. Happy Birthday, sweetie!

(When we checked in, they made us wear plastic wristbands with the hotel logo on them. They don't want anyone other than their guests using hotel amenities. The wristband left a tanline on my wrist. )

This is where we stayed, La Cabana Beach and Racquet Club. It is the 2nd biggest resort on the island, behind the Marriot.Friday, May 8: slept in until approximately 10:00 am. Had late lunch at the hotel restuarant. Explored the resort and wasted some time listening to a time-share spiel (where they gave us $150 to gamble.) Discovered that iguanas are everywhere in Aruba. Did a little shopping and had dinner in downtown Oranjestad. This picture was taken right outside our room at the resort.

Saturday, May 9: Slept in again. Had a late breakfast at McDonald's. Tasted like home. After that, went grocery shopping for breakfast and lunch food, since we had a kitchenette in our room. Plastered ourselves with sunscreen. Spent some time at the beach and in the water. Jeremy got a sunburn anyway. Checked out the pool and watched kids go down the waterslide. Had dinner at the Buccaneer. I had pasta, and Jeremy had swordfish. Neither were that great. But the ambiance was excellent!

To be continued...

Dain's 2nd birthday

On March 11, the day before Dain's birthday, I decided that he needed a haircut. He was bordering on the mullet - and I love my child too much to let him have a mullet. Here are the before and after pictures.

Before:

After:

Here is Dain on the morning of his birthday, playing with his new table and train set we bought for him. He was so excited that he kept saying "wow!"

Here are a couple of pictures from Dain's birthday party.

Remember me?

Hi! Remember me? Becky? I used to blog here, I think. Once again life has gotten in the way of blogging. My apologies!
A lot has happened in the past month or so. Let's see:
- March 12 - Dain turned 2! (pictures to come)
- March 16 - I turned 30! (Augh!) (might have a picture to come)
- Jeremy and I have still been working with a personal trainer. Last time we checked (it's been almost a month) I had lost 5 1/2 inches and 4 pounds. I know it's more than that now.
- Painted 2 rooms (Living room and dining room - pictures to come)
- Dain got croup
- Jeremy installed hardware on our kitchen cabinets - they look great! (picture to come)
- I caught Dain's cold and am currently dealing with it
- I am currently working on window treatments for the aforementioned painted rooms (pictures to come if they turn out well)
- celebrated the 2 Wood "on their way" babies with a special Hillsdale Babies Shower for Louise (and got to see Hillsdale friends! Yay!)
- had lots of snow - in April - which didn't show up all winter but decided to come once we hit "spring"
- joined membership at our local mountain zoo (which is awesome, by the way)
- got an aquarium set up with 3 healthy fish (we started w/ 5 and 2 died)
- Dain's vocabulary is greatly improved and we understand him more and more
- My Bible study for the semester ended and I'm already missing it
- we are planning our upcoming trip to Aruba (without Dain!)
- started physical therapy on my right shoulder after injuring it doing too many pushups

Guess that covers it for now. Hold me accountable for posting pictures soon. I would do it tonight but it's bedtime!

I blogged about a month ago about how I was about to really get going on getting healthy. So, here's a bit of an update!
I've had 6 sessions so far with the personal trainer, with one coming up tonight. He's been tough! He specializes in cross-training, which combines cardio and weight training. It's very tough, very non-conventional and I really enjoy it! I have also been taking some classes at the gym and doing some Wii Fit at home.
The results: I have lost 1 whole pound. However, I'm looking at weight loss as a side effect of getting healthy. I am finding that I am feeling better most of the time. I recover more quickly from muscle soreness than I did at first. I also can tell in how I look and how my clothes fit that I am starting to tone up a bit. And the best part - my lungs are starting to get back into shape! I have exercise-induced asthma, so having healthy lungs is very important to me. Each workout, breathing gets easier and easier, although I will always require the help of an inhaler.
In conclusion, I am feeling better and looking better. It can only go up from here.
And I am prepared to be sore tonight after another very tough workout!

a little "pick-me-up"

A couple days ago, Dain was playing with this play-doh, along with all the toys and a mat. To my surprise, when he was finished, he put the play-doh back into its cup. Then he handed me the mat to fold up, picked up all the play-doh toys and put them in the play-doh toy caddy, grabbed the mat from me, and put it all away.
I couldn't believe it!
What a pick-me-up that was!

my handy-man

Jeremy decided that we needed some organization in our media niche. So, he designed, built and installed a custom built-in unit. Check out the pictures:

This is before. Unorganized.

Jeremy had loads of fun sanding after assembling the cut pieces.

In our basement after priming.

Dain wanted to help Daddy install the electronics.

Finished product. Doesn't it look great? I married a genius.

I haven't blogged in a while, but our lives have been, thankfully, pretty much uneventful. If there's anything new to report, it's that Jeremy and I are finally getting serious about our fitness and semi-serious about what we are eating. :) I had a small victory in January... I gave up Diet Coke for good! I had been up to 3 a day... and when I quit cold-turkey, I had a headache for 2 weeks straight! However, it's so good to be on this side of it!
I have been unhappy with how I look and feel for quite a while. I had managed to lose all my my baby weight from having Dain last spring (about 30 pounds), but now I still have more to lose to really be healthy. So, starting Monday, I will be working with a personal trainer at the gym. I am also modifying my diet according to my doctor's recommendations. Hopefully soon I will be able to post some good results and "before and after" photos!
Also, I have a goal in mind. We will be going to Aruba later this year, and I hope to be bikini-ready by then! :)
I will keep you posted on our progress!