It's getting closer!

1 month, 2 weeks and 2 days!
6 weeks 2 days
47 days
1128 hours
67,680 hours
4,060,800 seconds

Until what??  Until vacation!!  I'm so excited I could scream.  And as the days go on I find myself getting more and more excited.

The plans have been finalized, reservations have been made, now all we have to do is shop for the few things we need.

I read an article that said that families spend about $1100 per person on vacations.  REALLY???  I don't think I have ever spent that much on a vacation.  My budget for this whole vacation is a few hundred dollars LESS than what they claim is spent on 1 person.  

We are camping for 3 nite in Tallulah Gorge State Park.  Hiking, swimming, fishing, pure family fun.

On the fourth morning we are going to pack up and head an hour south to Atlanta and spend the nite in a hotel overlooking the runway of the airport.  {classy, right?}  We plan on sightseeing a bit, going to Build-A-Bear {an old vacation tradition of ours}, and trying out a local restaurant.  
We honestly have only 2 reasons for staying in Atlanta; 1)To get one actual vacation relaxing day {camping is fun but NOT relaxing....it's WORK} 2)To stock up at the local big name Korean store.

The next morning that's where we are headed before going home.  I plan on taking a ton of pictures for y'all and reviewing the restaurants we goto.

I know that some of y'all probably don't like camping but, who doesn't like roasted marshmallows?? Even though I can't do the complete s'more I still love roasted marshmallows.  But, I don't want to have to wait until Ken grills in order to get myself one.    Well, you don't have to wait any longer.  As long as you have marshmallows and an oven you can make one whenever you want!  

Courtesy of: Tumblr

Ingredients
Marshmallows

Directions

1. Turn broiler on high
2. Line a sheet pan with tin foil
3. Place marshmallows on pan and place on top rack of oven.  
4. Broil for 2-3 minutes watching them carefully (they burn quickly)
5. Flip over and broil another minute or so.

Eat and enjoy!  I have made myself a roasted marshmallow every nite since Kaylee's party.  I'm addicted to marshmallows!  How much do you love marshmallows?  Do you like them roasted?  Are you a burnt marshmallow person or a golden brown person {I personally am a golden brown person}  Lemmie know!

Warm vs Cold

What do y'all think?  This is Mr. Amazing's rough draft of my new logo!  I'm so excited to finally get a logo.

When I was in Virginia, in subartic conditions [going from a state that's 75 to one that's 25 should be considered cruel and unusual torture!] I started to think about how exercising in the winter (or cold weather) differs from exercising in the summer (or warm weather).  I already know that your body works harder when it's cold because your body is trying to stay warm.  They even say that it's better to swim in a cold pool rather than a warm one.

According to Montana State University-Bozeman, since we need to maintain a body temperature of 98.6 our bodies work harder.  But, "sever and moderate cold can adversely affect the performance of activities that depend on high levels of anaerobic power."

On the opposite end of the season spectrum, in a trial published by the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 9 cyclists cycled for 90 minutes in temperatures of 14, 32, 50, and 68 degrees.  They found that the subjects burned MORE fat calories the warmer it was.  0.15 grams per minute at 14 degrees and 0.4 grams per minute at 68 degrees.

Thefactsaboutfitness.com also talks about how LPL (an enzyme that promotes fat storage), cortisol, serotonin, and testosterone levels change with the seasons.  All of these chemicals affect how your body loses and gains weight.  

Oddly, I've been reading people say that they GAIN weight in the summer.  I know I personally have no issue atleast maintaining, if not losing weight in the summer.  But, at the same time I spend atleast 3 hours a day at the pool, beach, or park during the summer.  

What about you?  Do you lose or gain weight in the summer?  What about in the winter?


University of Montana - Bozeman
The Facts About Fitness

Me + 5 Kids = An Amazing Time

Today turned out to be a good great day.  

It started out shaky but turned out really well.  I woke up with a horribly upset stomach.  I pushed past it and took Baye to the pool but, that was rained out 20 minutes after we got there.  

After we got home things started to start getting better.  The sun came out about 10 minutes after we got home.  Don't you hate when that happens??  

I opened up a letter from Daytona State College and it was letting me know that my financial aid had been accepted!  So now, I'm going to be able to go back to school.  This is something that I've been wanting to do for a while.  I figured out about a year ago that I want to become a Registered Dietitian (even though I like the term nutritionist better.)

I've been making meal plans for my friends since the beginning of the year and I want to (legally) be able to help more people just like my friends.  Now I just need to find the money to take the certification course to become a personal trainer.  I want to be a double threat and it just isn't in the budget right now.  I also like the idea of being able to work from home.

ANYWAY, back to why today was so great...

Underwater shot of Kay and Mo

The girls had a half day because tomorrow is the last day of school.  When they got home I took them and 2 of their closest friends to the pool for about 3 hours.  I actually had a blast with them.  Normally I get horribly bored when I take them to the pool.  They go off and play and I'm stuck all by myself.  Today was totally different though.  After I got about 30 minutes of laps in they actually interacted with me.  We played monkey in the middle, we joked, we laughed, we chased each other we just goofed off and had a blast.  

I couldn't figure out how to log my workout since online systems don't have "goofing off in the pool" as an option, so I just logged it as "water aerobics."  It told me I burned 320 calories in 1 hour and 45 minutes.  Plus I burned another 250  doing my laps!

I LOVE SUMMER!!!

How do you burn calories during the summer?