So....About that Blogging More Thing....

Ha! Whoops. Almost 2020!! Lots has happened. I got married. Holy cow!!!! 36 and married. Finally. I am a step mom to two kiddos. (They are awesome, let me tell you)...Quit my job, got a new job, dad went to the hospital the week inbetween, Grandma had a toe removed, other grandma turned 90. Sold my house. Moved into my husband's house. Redecorating...selling things, buying new things. We had someone else pull the wallpaper down in the main part of the house (no way was I doing that crap, nothankyou!) Painted it, bought new furniture. ALL THE THINGS!

One thing I kinda forgot about was...well, ME. After trying so hard to get healthy, finally achieving that goal, maintaining for a while, then everything just fell apart for me. Very slowly, of course. But, I'm not happy where I'm at. People, I know what to do. So, I'm going to do it. Right here on the blog. First up, food change. I'm going back on the Jason Pearson Diet. It worked before, I love it, and it is an amazing program for sure! Then I will start running again.

Today is Year Three of being medication free with Crohn's Disease! Fitting day to start at square 2. (Not square 1, that was ugly, painful, and just a complete disaster). Backstory:

I was really sick, and really tiny for way too long. In 2011, I finally had a bunch of tests, including an endoscopy, colonoscopy, and a CT scan. I had ulcers in my large colon. Went on Prednisone (OMG never again) and a big pill (times 4) called Lialda. Insurance wouldn't pay for that, so doc switched me to Apriso. Same stuff, different brand. Insurance companies are 'funny' like that. I was on that stuff for 5 years. Still had issues. Doc said I might have to have surgery to fix the problem because he couldn't figure out how to help me. Of course, food is hardly ever mentioned, except to tell me that what I eat doesn't matter.

What? No. Food matters. So much. It is either the base of your health, or the base of your disease. Then I fired him. Not the first doctor to be fired by me, probably won't be the last. I'm not going to listen to your gibberish if you don't actually care or try to help me. Pushing medications and surgery at me when there are other options is unacceptable. I hired a new doctor to do a colonoscopy in 2016 after I felt that I had healed up enough to get one. Turns out that's a huge game changer! It was my 3rd colonoscopy to date. Everything was fine except one tiny little ulcer that I couldn't even feel. New Doc was like, well there's your Crohn's! Uhm....no. There's 2016 year of hell all balled up into one tiny little spot that will be gone in a month. (Whatever).

He didn't even know what to do with me because I was so healthy. I think he thought I would need major work since I fired the other one. Nope. He sent me another thing for a follow up colonoscopy two years later. I'm not doing that. You are not going to make me pay almost $2,000 every 2 years to 'see' what's up there. I'll tell you when I need you because I know my body better than you do.

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When I started JPD, I lost about 20 pounds. Held that at bay for quite a while. Now? I'm back up 30. Dang it. I'm addicted to sugar. Oh man. That habit is hard to kick. But I'm going to do it! Just as I type this, my coworker told me there is apple pie and banana bread in the kitchen for everyone....working in an office of 80+ people is going to be rough...but so much better than the last place I was at! 2019 has been a year full of new things!

Here's to losing 30ish pounds and getting back into running 10ks and half marathons!

Cornfield Cornfield 2018

Hey there! So I ran another 10k and it did not go as well as planned. That means Kelsey needs to get off her butt and actually start training...

Here we are!

He's so awesome for coming out to support me! This race is not spectator friendly. Which makes it long and hot...oh well! Still fun. I walked more than I wanted to, but again....need to start training for reals.

Adding two little kids into the mix doesn't help me at all! I need to get a better schedule down. How do you super moms do it?? I need to learn your ways! Otherwise I am going to get fat and go crazy. Not cool!

Also, I turned 35 in June! Half way to 70! Yay! This race was the day before, and man was I sore! Ugh. The day was fun, my birthday landed on Father's Day, so I was able to hang out with my dad, Rob's dad, and Rob! Plus the kids, of course. We ate lunch at Mellow Mushroom. That is my favorite pizza (not including Lou Malnati's because OMG they are the best). It's so good!

Anyway. I am putting together a better training schedule and day to day schedule for myself. This is getting ridiculous. Here's to the second half of 2018!

My third 10k is coming up in September, then I will get my medal! Yay!

Lincoln National Guard Half Marathon 2018

Hey guys! I know I haven't posted in FOREVER. We've been up to a lot with the kids and work and all that STUFF. I didn't really have a lot of time to train! Thus the reason my results were less than stellar. Welp. Next time, right?

Here I am the morning before the half:

I had an awesome friend that was walking it with her husband come and pick me up. We parked the car at around 6:45 and then walked to the start line. I LOVE running in my town! It's so nice logistically!

My love! He came out with the kids to support me! So sweet!

💕

He's just the best.

He was on the course with his parents, kids, brother, sister-in-law, and his two nephews! So cool! My parents were supposed to be there, too. Unfortunately they couldn't make it to the house because of the marathon route! But! That meant they were able to make it out on the course to see me run! I saw them four times! AH!!!! It was awesome! Then Rob biked to see me a little after mile 10. I was cut off by a girl that was super tired and so I was freaked out a little about falling, so I missed him, even though I looked straight at him! I thought he was just a weirdo trying to help me! Nope. Dang it!

Rob and my parents were able to see me cross the finish line, as well! Which was amazing! I then hopped in Rob's car and went home to shower and eat. I love this race so much! Half marathons really aren't my thing. They hurt a little too much, but I'm hoping with better training the next one won't be so bad! I'm eyeing the Halfsy in October! Plus I have two more 10k's on the list. Plus a 15k that I ran last year to get ready for Vegas.

Look at the medals! How cool is that?

Now it's off to relax a bit and hopefully start training for the next big thing. The next race I'm signed up for is the Cornfield Cornfield 10k. It's part of the BRIN series in Nebraska. Here we go, June 16!

I may have used too many !!!! but I'm just so excited!

Leprechaun Chase 2018

Leprechaun Chase 2018 came and went in flash! I haven't been training as much as I should be, but it went better than I expected. My time ended up at 1:10:29! My pace was 11:22 per mile. I'm actually pretty impressed with that. It's slower than last year, but I was running a lot more then. My next race is the Lincoln Half Marathon, so I need to get off my butt and train for that!

This race is definitely a favorite, I've ran it several times with my first being in 2012. I'm reaching for that BRIN Series medal again this year! Three 10ks. One down, two to go. Next 10k is June 16.

My support system this year has been on point! Here we are!

Before

After

This is Rob. He's awesome. Definitely my rock. We met in November 2017 through a few friends' shenanigans. I don't think there is a way to repay them. It's been so wonderful to have him in my life! We moved him into his new house that weekend and he came to support me anyway! Moving lots of boxes and furniture for 3 days, a 10k, and then more days of moving boxes and such. I was exhausted, but it was so much fun. It's so rewarding watching someone reach a goal that they have been working on for so long. Here's to 2018!

Back to the Grind!

My run yesterday! It was amazing! I was able to run outside because the weather wasn't being a major pest! Yay! It was 54 degrees out and sunny. Lovely. It was the best run I've had in a long time. I only ran for 15 minutes because I don't want to injure myself. I ran 1.70 miles in 15 minutes. That means my pace was 8:53. (!!!!!) Talk about awesome and amazing! I'm a little sore today, but dang that felt good! I have three 10k's coming up, the first one is the Leprechaun Chase. I'm also training for the Lincoln Half Marathon again this year. I need to redeem myself from last year's pathetic race! Although Vegas went really well in November, but I'm hoping to knock a few minutes off my PR. Here we go, 2018!

Kye Dog

Kye Dog. My favorite thing, best friend, little love, personal space invader, happiness maker, eyebrow king, and so much more. You have been a huge part of my life the past 10 years. Thanks for letting me be your mom. I will love you forever. Don’t wait for me please. I’ll find you when I get there. Give me about 60 years okay? Chase butterflies, cats, and other dogs. Play. Love only as you know how to love, because it is more than enough. 

January 3rd was one of the hardest days of my life. I haven't been able to post about him until now. It hurts so much. I cry when I'm at home by myself. I miss the sound that his presence makes. The clicking of his nails on my hardwood floors, the heavy sighs I would get when he thought it was time for bed. I even miss the dog hair everywhere. I vacuumed it all up 2 weeks after that crappy day. Cried a lot.

I feel bad that I sleep better now than I have for the past year because I knew something was wrong. He was hurting and there was nothing I could do for him to make it go away completely. Countless vet visits because I was willing to try anything to take his pain away. He wasn't ready to go Home then, and that was fine by me. I bought soft food and hand fed him to make him eat after he lost 15 pounds in 2 months. Then on Christmas Eve it snowed. He went outside at my parents' house and when he came back in, he slipped and fell on the ice. After that is was all downhill from there.

I miss him, but I know he's not hurting anymore. It may seem silly to some that I'm so upset over losing a dog. But, he was my Kye Dog. He was the only being allowed in my personal space with no boundaries or exceptions. He was definitely my shadow, and I could always count on seeing his little face when I would turn around. Or trip over him, ha!

 

                                      

Goodbye my sweet, sweet boy. Love you always.

Las Vegas Half Marathon

Hey hey!! That half marathon thing went WAY better than last time! Holy cow. I was sore, yes. Walking long distances was an issues for DAYZ, but I survived! And my body didn't revolt like last time! Yay! I might even consider signing up for another one! Maybe. Probably. Dang it.

Here's some photos:

I bought one, but I can't post it because it's not just me. But if we're friends on FB, you will be able see it.

The race itself was amazing. So cool to see the strip like that! I never would have been able to see the whole thing on foot like that otherwise!

I stayed at the Flamingo, which was nice, but I thought the whole resort fee was a complete rip off. You will never convince me otherwise. The pool was closed because it's the off-season. Sigh. I will know better next time, I guess?

I was SUPER EXCITED to have a bathtub for after the race! I bought an Epsom Salt bath bomb from Nectar Bath Treats. Look them up! It was amazing. No weird chemicals and such. Which is good as my body tends to react badly to bubble bath.

There was a TV in the mirror in the bathroom. That was hilarious.

I was glad to see they have their namesake that you can watch when you eat breakfast or whatever.

This was at the Bellagio. Coolest floral arrangement ever!!

Obligatory race outfit picture. 

Look at our medal!! So cool! It spins and glows in the dark.

Here's my medals as of 2017!! 

After the race, and a shower...and maybe some very painful stretching, we went to Fremont Street. That was amazing! I had one drink, and I was feeling pretty dang good here. Good thing I fixed it a tiny bit with pizza. The other two I was with didn't want to eat after the race (WHAT????) So I made do with stuff I had in my room, but that pizza hit the spot!

We also went to a Michael Jackson show. It was so cool!! They had a hologram of him towards the end of the show. It was amazing! We were even 'rained' on with little clusters of bubbles.

That was a very cool experience. I'll be back next week with a project I worked on last month. I'm a little nervous about the whole thing. It will be interesting to see how it goes!