Jumping for Joy!!!

Yes folks, that is right. The time has finally come! I am literally JUMPING FOR JOY!

I survived my 6 weeks recovery from my Hysterectomy/rebuild surgery. It has been a long road but I made it and I feel like a million bucks!!!

I was counting down the days to jump on the trampoline. I have not been able to jump without serious consequences for years and years!...(you mom's know exactly what I mean.) :)

I am now fixed. Repaired. Unbroken. Happy. Thrilled...The Sky is the Limit for me!!!

I felt like a kid again!! My kids are thrilled to have their mom jump with them too. Jumping is FUN & great exercise too. Speaking of jumping, I also tried jump rope...sweet!!! I can do that too. YIPPEEEE!!!!! I can't believe it! I am so thankful.

During my 6 weeks of healing I walked everyday. At first I hobbled around my house, then to the mailbox and before I knew it 1 mile, 2 miles and topped off at 4 miles at a time and by week 4-5 too. :) My Dr. gave me the A-OK to swim laps at the gym at 2 week post opp and I did, like 4 times a week. It is easy on a healing body and you burn lots of calories at the same time. I was loving swimming so much I couldn't get enough of it. I kept thinking I want to learn more. I only know one stroke...freestyle and I'm not sure I am even doing it correctly.

So how did I learn to swim might you ask????

My sweet hubby wanted to learn how to be a better swimmer and so he read this book. Total Immersion... and guess what...he taught himself to swim. I thought he was pretty good too. That got me thinking.... so 2.5 years ago I was contemplating about competing in my first sprint triathlon...the only problem was, I don't know how to swim. I can get around the pool but real swimming, I had no idea. Leonard was sweet as can be and taught me all the tips he read about in this book and he says " I was a natural swimmer"....why thanks mister ;)
I checked out this book and looked up some swimming tutorials online and I was hooked. I was excited to learn how to swim LONG and STRONG!!! I've done 2 sprint triathlons and the swimming part makes me happy. For the past 2.5 years I have enjoyed doing my laps at the pool and especially LOVE beating the swimmers in the lane next to me...including Leonard ;) hee hee hee!

During this last month of really focusing on swimming, I have decided I am ready for more. I had heard of the Masters Swim Team for adults before and thought about joining and getting real help from a swim coach. But truthfully, I was SCARED!!!! "I don't really know how to swim, I just THINK I do", I would think. I was scared they would say I stink and I should just quit now, cuz you'll never get it. Well the idea of joining the masters has been eating at me since this past summer and last week I finally mustered up enough courage to go for it and try it out.

So last Monday morning March 15th, at 5 AM, I wake to my alarm clock and make the 23 minute drive to this beautiful pool...Kino Jr. High. I take a deep breath as I enter the gates to the pool. I see smiling, friendly faces all saying hello! phew...that part went better than expected. I met my coach Laura...She is AWESOME!! So spunky, bubbly, super welcoming and nice.

We chat for a minute and it's swim time. Luckily for us the pool is heated, but it is still COLD!!! Once you are swimming, no big whoop :) She said I was a natural too. That makes a girl feel good ;)

I woke up at 5 am everyday last week and drove to the pool and swam with the team. It was exciting, challenging & I am getting an excellent workout too. I felt like I was conquering another one of my fears. I feel ALIVE!!!! LOVE IT!

The first week was AWESOME! I have already learned so much and I look forward to learning every stroke and master techniques & speed. :)

I am a Member of the Mesa Masters Swim Club!!!! Team Narwhal!!!!

Bring it BaBY!

I can't wait until my first swim meet...whenever that will be?? :)

All this excitement has got me thinking about my next big adventure. I am a goal minded lady and having a goal, keeps me motivated. What better way to put this "new me" to work then to test it and challenge it....so I registered for my next sprint Triathlon...

I am really excited about this tri. It is an ALL WOMEN Triathlon in Tempe on Saturday May 8th.

1/2 Mile swim in Tempe Town Lake

13.5 Mile Bike

3.1 Mile Run

Let the training begin. So far, I have been on 2 bike rides and they were glorious!!!! I missed my bike!!! I have only run once... but I will get back on my toes asap. i just got cleared for running. It is what I am most worried about, but I know I can do it ;)

So anyone want to join me??? 6 1/2 weeks til go time!!!

Life is GOOD!!!!!

My Beloved KINDLE & Book Reviews

My Dear Hubby & his fabulous folks spoiled me rotten by giving me my very own KINDLE 2!!

Since I have weeks to lay low and recover from my surgery they wanted me to help pass the time with the most AWESOME Electronic Book Reader. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!

This fancy gadget is really amazing! It can hold up to 1500 books on it. It is wireless and I can download any book from amazon.com ( there are about 400,000 books to choose from) and within 60 seconds or less, I have the next book to read at my fingertips. I especially love the fact I will never lose my place again while reading because WHEN I do fall asleep reading, the Kindle goes into "sleep mode" too. When I awake, I "wake" my kindle and I can continue reading right where I left off. SWEETNESS!!!

Another cool thing about the Kindle is this screen is like reading real paper pages. The screen doesn't glare, it's easy to read with the sun shining on it. You can read in bed with a book light too. Pretty Fancy! So far I have read one book and I have started my second. yippee!

Did I mention that I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!! Thanks Lenny, Mom & Dad! You are the BEST!!!

The Kindle arrived shortly after I got home from the Hospital and it has been my new best friend. I decided to wait to get a pic with my new best friend when I wasn't looking like death. :) Trust me, you are glad you waited to see me and my friend :)

PS...Today marks 3 weeks since surgery and I really do feel good. Everyday is better than the last. I had a Dr. Visit last week for my 2 week post -opp appt. He said I am healing perfectly and it was a huge relief to me and very mentally refreshing. Healing is hard. I am a worrier and hope all my aches and pains are normal...they are :) The Dr. has encouraged me to continue walking everyday. I feel so good to get outside and take deep breaths. I wish I could run, but that will have to wait a little more. He has even given me the 2 thumbs up to get back to the pool and swim laps. I have been doing that and I feel alive and happy. I love to exercise and my body needs it. When I get my blood pumping I feel so much better. I feel motivated and strong.

3 more weeks til I am in the clear to return to 100% Loree! Hurry and get here!!!!!

Oh and I'm happy to report I am officially allowed to vacuum the floors again! YES!!!!

Now onto Book Reviews...

Back in January I sped through this thrilling, nail biter of a book. Adventure and craziness all the way! It is a MUST READ!!!

I couldn't wait to get my hands on the second book in this series. It was equally good and it was read in less than a week. I couldn't get enough. I am dying for the third book to come out this summer. Hurry! you still have time to read both before summer. I'm not gonna describe it at all, just trust me! READ IT!!! :)

Changing gears completely from crazy adventure fiction to a very real and amazing book! I gave my self a few days break before jumping into this non-fiction book about an AMAZING Christian Lady, Corrie Ten Boom, who helped to hide Jews during WW2. Corrie and her family are true followers of Christ and their Love and compassion for all mankind is amazing. This book is one all should read. Your testimony of our Savior's Love for each person wicked or good shines bright on the pages of this book. You will learn about forgiveness and how the Lord blesses us even in our darkest days. It is truly inspiring and a life changing book! I want to love more like Corrie Ten Boom and her family! Please read it! You will be strengthened and will gain a greater understanding about Love.

The Lightning Thief was my first Kindle book! LOVED it! I may be a little behind on this reading boat...now that the movie has been released & all. But I have heard good things about this series and I had to jump aboard. It was an easy, fun read and I can't wait to read more about the Adventures of Percy Jackson. Book # 2 here I come!

Wow! Who knew that reading would be so fun?

I have been obeying my "recovery rules" with no problem.

Read, ReAd, REad, reAd, ReaD!!!

I NEED to Blog about Something :)

Well, I have been having the itch to Blog...but what about??? I had NOTHING! Since Christmas, everything has been pretty low key. I recovered from my icky sickness, Leonard did get sick but passed quickly. Thank Heavens ~ But as I thought and thought...Randomness is the best cure for NOTHING... so here I go... Here is my NOTHING into SOMETHINGS and I have to include pictures cuz blogging without pictures is way to boring if you ask me. :)
The Plasma Cars have been a HUGE HIT at our house! The kiddos love riding them around. Blake has claimed the blue one for himself and has a major tantrum melt-down if anyone...CARLY... dares to ride his BLUE CAR! The screaming is oh so enjoyable. Other than the daily battles over who rides which car... they are fantastic ;)

I have been riding my bike on the trainer almost everyday for an hour. I am loving all this ride time and I love not having to worry about the snowbirds or drunks or teenagers killing me while I ride. It has been great! Although, my heart rate beats slower on this bad boy and I think it has to do with LACK of the fear of getting run over. I kinda like adrenalin! Helps me burn some extra calories... I will get back on the road one day but in the meantime, I will enjoy the trainer.

I have set up my bike on the back patio and hop on for an hour and I use my handy dandy book holder. I have been doing a LOT of reading lately and I rediscovered how much I love to read~ :) I have been so busy, that reading was at the bottom of my list. It has officially moved up the ranks in my life and I am happy :)

After a year....SERIOUSLY!!! a YEAR of reading one page at a time practically... I finally finished reading the HOST! Hallelujah!...now let me explain.... I always liked reading this book when I chose to read it, but I would choose to read it at the wrong time of day for me. Reading puts me to sleep. It is true! Instead of taking a sleeping pill if i am feeling restless or can't turn my mind off, I open up a book and it lulls my little brain to la la land. It is a blessing and a curse i tell you. A Blessing cuz I will always fall asleep while reading and a Curse because I ALWAYS fall asleep while reading. Even if it is good, down I go to sleepy land. Soooooo, I would start to read this book at the end of my day when I was tired and ready for sleep and out I go. Therefore, one year later and finally some daytime dedication and with the help of my bike trainer... I FINALLY FINISHED THE HOST! It was good, I liked it. It had a good ending and I was excited to move on to the next book on my list that has been staring at me for the last SEVERAL months.....

I have only heard good things about this book and I was so excited read this and let me say that I LOVED The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It is quite the mouthful of a title :) The Story takes place in 1945, WW2 time period about an author who becomes pen pals with a man from Guernsey, an Island off the English Channel. She learns about the hardships and trials this little island and the people who lived there faced while the Nazi's occupied their land during the war. It is written so well, In letter form. Easy to read. Easy to love the characters and you can feel what they felt. Their happiness, sadness and everything in between! I highly recommend this book! FANTASTIC! I was sad when it ended.


Next on the shelf to read was this... POPE JOAN. Completely different than the light read I just finished. This book was good and I couldn't put it down. It really got me thinking and I praise the heavens I wasn't born during the Dark Ages because MAN OH MAN the time after Christ was Crucified and the gospel was not on the earth anymore was a very dark time. Women especially were treated horribly and they had no rights. They were basically a waste of space. They were meant to be slaves to men and bear children, but only boys were celebrated and girls were thought of as junk. it was pretty sad. but this gal JOAN is one tough cookie and the only way she could learn to read, be educated and have some peace in her life was to disguise herself as a man and the world opened up to her. I have no doubts that catholics are NOT HAPPY with this book and history of corruption and wickedness that rattles their church. They would not be happy to know that a woman fooled them all and became the pope and stirred things up during 845 AD. It was a good book! I thought it was very empowering for women and basically says you can do anything you want to do with hard work, dedication and determination. Being Educated is POWER~!
Now supposedly, Pope Joan is considered a myth at least to the catholic church. But I believed she was real, I believe she suffered like crazy and she really did become the pope and did great things for her people during her time that she served. hmmm it is a mystery. read it and see what you think :)


I am currently reading Hunger Games and I am liking it! It will be a quick read and i feel suspense coming on too! Should be good!
So what have you read that you loved so I can add it to my "TO READ" List? Please do share :)





Here is some more Randomness......


On New Years Morning at 7 am we are all tucked in our beds sleeping soundly, when suddenly we were all woken with screaming siren blaring our ears and we all jumped out of bed with a fright. "NOT AGAIN!!!!!", we all say together.
Our DUMB Smoke detectors are a bit glitchy. They alarm anytime they want, setting all the house detectors off at the same time and 2 of them can only be reached with a ladder. So our ears are ringing and aching by the time the ladder is retrieved and we dismantle the dang thing to get it to shut up. Now... IF... there was a real fire or smokey danger I would be glad to be " SCREAMED" at to get up and get out! BUT, our smoke detectors must think it is a game to wake us up in a fright at all times of the days and nights as we scramble around sniffing the air and running around with our heads chopped off sensing real danger or not! Well let me tell you this game of "Playing wolf with Zito's" has got to stop. We have replaced them all with new batteries several times and we can't figure out what the heck is wrong with out alarms. SOOO, we decided to just replace them all with new ones. It was a bit pricey to replace 5 at one time, but it HAD to be done!
On Saturday Leonard and Blake went to work and put up the "New BEEPS"...says Blake. He tells everyone he know and doesn't know... that he got a new beep in his room. They look at him like WHAT???? Then I help by translating for my son!
Blake was really freaked out this last time the detectors went off. Last month in preschool they learned about fires, & Smoke detectors and... remember we toured the firehouse???!!! So he knew exactly what that alarm screaming in his ear was all about and he was panicked! Well all is good and peace has been restored within our home! With some "NEW BEEPS!" phew! ;)




Random stuff is fun! I like this post! On to another one :)

Here is our grill. We LOVE this grill. We BELIEVE this grill cooks the best steaks and salmon out there! It cooks evenly and what more could you want with a grill??? HIGH HEAT = GOOD MEAT!!! Man, I am getting hungry now....anyhow, Leonard gave our grill a very needed deep clean. it had gotten grimy, greasy and just plain NASTY. The time had come for a little lovin for our favorite grill of them all. After a couple hours of scrubbing, she is as good as new. I enjoyed my time on the porch swing reading while Leonard worked! I smiled a lot this afternoon! :) Thanks for your hard work Leonard! We Need to have a BBQ now!




~Onto some MOVIE REVIEWS!!!!~

In DEC & JAN Leonard & I have been movie watching fools!

This fact delights Leonard very much since I am not really a HUGE fan of theater movie watching. I like being in my pjs, snuggled up on the couch with my blankets and now snuggie ;) on my own TV and comforts of home to watch movies and Leonard LOVEs the Big Screen, Surround sound stereo blasting base and rumbling the floor and the whole theater experience. I like it but don't LOVE it and he does. Well, anyhow, we have heard good things about several movies out and have been seeing LOTS!

We really LOVED Blindside! It is inspiring, heartwarming and just plain good! EVERYONE needs to see it for sure. Yes it is a football movie and yes there are MANY of them but THIS one I think is extra special. We will for sure buy this when it is released on DVD!

Next we saw AVATAR at the IMAX SUPER BIG SCREEN in 3D! Yes, we paid big bucks to see it...$28 for a movie!!!! But I will tell you it was AWESOME! no wonder it has made a BILLION + dollars now and is still #1 in the box office! the IMAX 3D experience made this movie watching thing totally amazing! NO JOKE! We felt like we were really there IN the movie. I can get into sci-fi stuff if needed while being entertained by a movie, but this was really enjoyable. The story was good and we totally want to see this again! Save up and see this movie in 3D. You won't be disappointed and if you are....well you are just a stick in mud! HA ;)

We also saw this...INVICTUS!!! Excellent movie! I highly recommend this inspiring movie too! I learned a lot in this flick and it makes me want to study up more about the history if Nelson Mandela and South Africa! Hey, I even want to learn more about rugby and all the rules and jazz. I had a smile on my face as I left this movie. It had a great message and one that I think every person in the world hear, believe and adopt. " I am the master of my fate, I am the Captain of my soul."....love it! No EXCUSES!!! you have the choice to make your life the way you want it. you are your own master. Choose wisely!

Loved this movie...see it and change the world!

Our last movie watching parade ends with Sherlock Holmes, which we watched this weekend. I liked it. I was entertained. But I did not love it and think it stinks that every movie that come out...just about thinks they need a 2nd & 3rd or more in the same title. it BUGS! come on Hollywood, be original. you cheapskates, money grubbing people you! just be happy with the first and move on. like chipmunks 2...give me a break! Ice age 3??? pink panther 2??? you get what i mean. they just think...ohhh easy money???!!!! & most of the time the 2nds & 3rds are mostly CRAPPY! ok enough ranting!

What did you think about Sherlock Holmes?

Ok.... Last Random SOMETHING :)

It's been a couple weeks since I made splash at my gym pool! I really enjoy swimming laps and I was so excited to get back to the pool yesterday morning. I get up...out of my nice warm bed... and jump into my suit and head to the pool. Boy, I am cold! It is a brisk 55 degrees out and I really don't want to jump into a cold pool ...even thought it is heated...but I vow...today is the day I get back on my horse. I am looking forward to soaking in the hot tub after my swim. It is gonna be nice!!!!

Well, as I check in with front desk, I notice a sign that the heater is out on the pool! DANG IT!!!! I have come to swim and swim I will.... Freezing cold or not?!!! There was 1 brave soul in there swimming laps so it can't be that cold right??? WRONG!!!

I put my feet in and HOLY TOLEDO!!! FREEZING!!! but i was determined! I couldn't give up because it was cold... that's what i kept telling myself.... 2 minutes later i am up to my knees. they were going numb so a little bit further i dipped in. My teeth were started to chatter...This is gonna take forever to be fully immersed. I just take a couple deep breaths and dunk down. HOLY SMOKES... I have not been in this cold of a pool before. I figure once i get swimming I will warm up right??? well about 8 laps in my hands are numb and i kinda feel warm. I am thinking ...this is what it will feel like in the lake for the triathlon I am training for. I CAN DO IT!!! I am almost 1/2 way done, so I keep going. It is cold all 20 laps and I was definitely feeling AWAKE!!! Unfortunately, the heater in the hot tub was out to, so no warming my bones there. BOO HISSS! I am happy to get out and get home. As I am leaving the pool a lady is ready to swim, she takes one look at me and changes her mind. Come on lady...don't be a wimp! ;) It was a chilly start to the day and I feel like one brave soul...or maybe crazy????!!!

I plan on returning when the heater is fixed. I still feel cold! :)

aaahhh, I feel like I pulled it off... a Blog Post with NOTHING to SOMETHING! Thanks for reading and share some goodness with me :)