Join Me in a 5K Run/Walk

To Register for BUN UP 5K Run/Walk go to Active.com Buns UP 5K

Buns Up 5K Run/Walk To Benefit Colon Cancer Screening

Saturday March 26, 2011 at 9:00 A.M.

Location: Olympus Hills Shopping Center 3900 South on Wasatch Boulevard, on 3800 South we make a right and go one mile up Millcreek and return to Olympus Hills where we will have awards, food and music.

Entry Fee $25, after March 19th, $30
All Proceeds to Benefit Colon Cancer Screening

We Want to See Your BUNS at Age 50!

As many of you know, I am an GI Endoscopy Nurse at the University of Utah Hospital.  This March our department along with the Mountain West Society of Gastroenterology Nurses, is hosting a 5K Walk/Run on Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 9:00 am to raise awareness of colon cancer screening.  The money raised will go into a fund to provide colon cancer screenings to those who otherwise could not afford them. Colon cancer screenings saves lives! 

Did you know????    According to the CDC.....

*Of cancers that affect both men and women, colorectal cancer—cancer of the colon or rectum—is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. In 2007, 53,219 people in the United States died of colorectal cancer (27,004 men and 26,215 women).

*Colorectal cancer also is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in the United States. In 2007, 142,672 people in the United States were diagnosed with colorectal cancer (72,755 men and 69,917 women), making it the third most common cancer in men and in women.

*Colorectal cancer is also one of the most curable types of cancer if it is diagnosed early. When detected at its earliest stages, chances for a cure are as high as 90 percent.



Week 12

Good news first.  I have officially lost 20 lbs! I never thought I could really loose the weight. I had accepted the fact that I was a short fat girl who was addicted to chocolate.  Fat and happy right?  Loosing weight was just another  impossible goal  such as climbing Mount Everest, running a marathon or flying to the moon on my bicycle.  I never thought I could do it.  And here I am 12 weeks into a health challenge... and I did it! 

How, you ask?  It sounds too simple.  I cut my calorie intake, increased my exercise, drank lots of water, no snacking, no treats.  I think the key to all of this is mini goals along the journey to my end goal.  Every day I make a goal to avoid treats and eat my fruit and vegetable servings and exercise.  Each week I set a goal to loose about a pound.  Each month I set a goal to lose inches off my chest, waist, and hips.  Little by little, pound by pound, inch by inch it is working!  Now that it has been 12 weeks, the mini goals and accomplishments are stacking up and the weight is coming off.  I look in the mirror and see the same body, but my clothes are getting looser on me.  What a nice change.  Over the past 10 years my clothes have only shrunk and gotten smaller. It is almost time to go buy new jeans!  I hope by my birthday in a few weeks to be down a few more pounds and celebrate with new clothes. 

Now for my personal challenge this week.  I have been sick with a nasty cold and flu the past ten days.  I have not exercised once!  I  am starting to feel better but have no motivation to get up and go work out.  I am worried that I might slip back into old bad habits and loose all my progress so far.  It is a daily battle for me.  I do not enjoy exercising.  I envy all of you that get the runner's high and love the burn!  I want to find that enthusiasm.  Any tips? 

My trainer Doug gave us all the weekly challenge to attend a group fitness class.  I hope to go tomorrow to an aerobics class at our local gym.  Wish me luck!

Health Challenge: Week #11

I mentioned that we are doing a Health Challenge at my work.  Those who wanted to participate were assigned to a team.  There are three teams with ten people on each team.  I am on team RED!  

Our Health Challenge is being managed by a fantastic Personal Trainer, Doug Hill. He has come to our staff meetings to show us exercises, do measurements, and to keep us motivated.  The way the program works is each week we compete to earn points for eating healthy, exercising, keeping a food diary, not eating treats, and weight/inches lost.  In addition to the weekly goals we have a bonus challenge that Doug e-mails us.  The teams with the lowest total points have to put $2.00/person into a pot. 

This week Doug e-mailed us our challenge.  I will share his email below:

Dear Friends:

Sorry this has taken so long to get the information back to you. The reason will be explained as part of the coming week's challenge.

 Team winner: Yellow


Individual winners: Sara 1000, Becky 960, Alisha 940; Honorable Mentions; Wendy 935, Rebecca 930, and Dan 910



The new week's challenge is to spend a minimum of 15 minutes every day in mediation alone or spent holding someone you love close to you and simply sharing and enjoying being close to them. The reason for this peaceful challenge is last Tuesday my great-niece Madey  aged 15 lost her year long battle with Ewing sarcoma. She was an individual always seeking to lift another person, to strengthen those around her and to cause another person to smile more abundantly. In honor of Madey, please spend quality, quiet time close to your spiritual self or close to someone you love.


It is my honest prayer that everyone of you will find added peace this week. If it seems odd, even counterproductive to spend that kind of time every day in reflection, trust me the invest is well worth ANY sacrifice you may perceive. The reward will be especially powerful if you are able to spend this time close to the person you love most in this world.


God bless you, may the Universe align in your behalf, or Namaste...which ever is most appropriate to you.


Doug


Douglas Hill, MS, CSCS


Personal Trainer/Strength Coach



     

To Blog or NOT to Blog....

Hello friends.  It has been a very long time since my last post.  I have mixed feelings about blogging personal details about my life for the entire World Wide Web to see.  Thus I have not posted anything for almost a year.  So my question to you my friend is should I delete my blog or start blogging again? 

Why ask this question now you ask?  I have recently started a Health Challenge at my work and think it might be fun to share my experiences about our health challenges, weight loss, exercise, healthy eating, training to run a 5-K ( and I am sooo not a runner), chocolate cravings, and diet coke withdraws.

I started this Health Challenge 10 weeks ago.  I have lost 17 pounds so far and feel happier and healthier.  It is the half way point of the Challenge, 10 more weeks to go.  I hope to loose 15 more pounds by the completion of the challenge to reach my goal of a 30 pound weight loss. 

What do you think?  Should I blog about it?   

Yours Truly,
Haley

Quilt

"A" is for Ashley

"Q" is for Quilt

For Christmas I asked for a sewing machine. I have never sewed in my life but always have wanted to learn.

I got a great Bernina sewing machine that came with lessons. At the first lesson, I didn’t even know how to plug the sewing machine in let alone sew anything. Late at night I would stay up practicing sewing straight lines after my family had gone to bed. At my last sewing class our teacher recommended that I go to Material Girls Quilts to get inspiration and see great “fun and hip” fabrics.

I went the next day to Material Girls Quilts and loved everything I saw, the cute quilts on the walls, adorable aprons, fun pillows, bright colorful fabrics, and friendly staff. However, I was totally and completely overwhelmed. A lady named Nadine asked if I needed help and guided me to the “Swanky” Moda charm packs for my first sewing project. She and her staff were so sweet and helpful.

I went home and started making a quilt for my 4 year old daughter, Ashley. She helped me lay out a pattern for her quilt and sat on my lap as we learned together how to sew a straight line. It was such a wonderful time to bond with her! She would help feed the fabric as we sewed her quilt …together. After I had the squares done, I took it to be machine quilted. The last finishing touch that needed to be done was the binding. My mother taught me how to do a blind hand stitch binding on the bias. My mother and I sewed the binding while watching General Conference together. Ashley came and curled up on my lap as I was finishing the binding, and fell asleep.

Ashley helping me sew
Ashley sleeping as I finished her special quilt

Three generations working together on a quilt of love for Ashley. I am so proud that I finished the quilt; moreover, it was a work of love from a mother to her daughter. I hope Ashley can wrap herself in that blanket and feel my love surround her always and forever.

This sums up my life lately....

Saturday night I got off my 13 hour Urgent Care nursing shift at 9:45pm. I had my lunch break at 12 noon and was starving by the time my shift ended. I had a great secret plan to drive to Leatherby's and get ice cream for me and Steve to share and some cafe rio for dinner for me. The entire 20 min. drive there I was dreaming of a yummy Cafe Rio Pork Salad and creamy Swiss Milk Chocolate ice cream driping with hot fudge...yummmm. The perfect ending to a long day. Well, when I arrived there, I couldn't find my wallet. I looked in all of my pockets over and over again and realized that I had left it back at work in my locker that was now closed until the morning.

I sat in my car looking at the glowing Cafe Rio sign crying and then over at Leatherby's and sobbed! I was hungry, tired, and desperate. There was no way I could leave empty handed. I dug through Steve's ash tray and scraped up $3.60 in change and prayed it would be enough to get a scope of ice cream to go. I looked at the to go menu board, a double scoope was $3.39. I asked the girl how much it was with tax and she said $3.54! I cried tears of joy and told them my pathetic situation and they smiled and scooped me a generous "double" to go :0)

p.s. My best friend, spell checker is not working....I know! I can't spell. Sorry.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2009!

I have to admit that I have lost the blogging obsession over the past few months. It is mostly to blame on my new phone and easy access to Facebook. Also, our home computer has a nasty virus that has enabled it from working for about a month now. It has been frustrating to say the least and as of today, we are still without a computer at home. Nonetheless, I wanted to post something new.

First off, we had a great Christmas this year and feel very blessed to have shared it with all of our loved ones. We went up to the Cabin for sledding and snowmobiling with the Deyhle's and Christmas dinner at the Beach's. This week we are visiting the Powell's in sunny and warm Palmdale, California! We have gone to the beach, Magic Mountain, and played all day and night. The little cousins are having a great time together. I want to thank Dave and Andrea for letting us stay with them. It has been complete chaos with 4 children under 4 years old living together. We were laughing last night that all we (Andrea and I) do is referee fights, put out fires, and change diapers. Right now all of them are taking naps (a miracle in its self) so I have a moment to blog. I wish I had a way to upload pictures from our camera to the laptop so I could post some pictures. Oh well, maybe later.

Tomorrow we will travel down to Temeclula to visit the California Beach Bums!

I hope you all had a great Christmas and I wish you all the best for the New Year!