Labor Day Weekend in Vermont

We spent this past weekend in Vermont with Colin's cousin Dustin and his wife Sandra and their boys Leif and Kieran. Colin and Dustin grew up together in Oregon, and somehow they both ended up on the east coast living just 3 hours from each other. We don't get to see them nearly as often as we would like because life gets busy for all of us, but it's always a fun time when we do get together.

Oregon & Idaho

As you probably know by now most of our "vacations" end up being to Oregon and Idaho because that's where our families are. At least once a year there seems to be some sort of event in the family that we go home for. This time it was for my niece Abby's wedding reception.

We flew into Portland as usual because it's cheaper than flying into the small town in Idaho that I am from. Colin's parents live about an hour outside of Portland so we got to spend a couple days with them before driving over to Idaho.

While we were in Oregon we had a bbq with Colin's college roommates and their families. We hadn't seen them since our wedding, so it was fun for me to get to know them and for Colin to relive the "good ol' days". It was a great way to start out our vacation.

We spent a day at Lost Lake with Colin's parents. It's a beautiful lake at the base of Mt. Hood. We rented a row boat and Colin rowed us around the lake. We had a picnic there later that afternoon. It was pretty cold out on the lake that day so I was wearing a sweatshirt most of the time, but for the half hour or so I went without it, I managed to get a sunburn. I think I'm the only person who goes to Oregon and gets a sunburn EVERY time! People think it rains there all the time. Not so!

We made the 6 hour drive to Idaho and had lots going on there. We happened to be in town when there was a 50th anniversary party that was being held for my former bishop and his wife who was my mia maid leader when I was growing up. It was so much fun to get to go and see them and so many others from the old Lewiston 2nd ward. A lot of them didn't know who I was until I told them, but even that was kind of fun! I got to see my friend Kimberly, and her family.

And Kimberly got this great picture of some of our young women leaders. The 2nd on the left is Sister Thornley who was the one celebrating an anniversary. I have such love and fond memories of these women who spent so much time with me when I was a youth. I still want to be just like all of them when I grow up. :) Amazing, beautiful women- all of them!

I got to see my BFF Catrina- although we didn't get to spend as much time together as I would like. It always seems to be that way. We had pizza at our favorite pizza place as is our tradition. We both showed up wearing green. We didn't plan it that way, it just happened. It happens to us quite a lot. It was fun to catch up and see how her kids have grown.

My niece Abby got married. This is her new husband Jake!

This is their baby Gracie

Me and my brother

My nieces and nephews. Of course I couldn't get all 8 of them together for a picture because that would have been too easy!

I also got to see my friend Catherine at the reception. She couldn't make it to the 50th anniversary party the night before, so it was great to catch up with her there.

It was a busy but fun 8 days. 4 of them we spent traveling in the form of driving or flying, but we made the most of the time that we had. We didn't really follow a diet when we were there because there was too much good food that we only get to eat once a year and we needed to take advantage of it! Both of us only gained a couple pounds though. Not too bad considering how much we ate! Now it's back to the gym and back to the diet. I think I need another vacation!

Ziplining

Ever been? Every year Colin's optical engineering work group gets to take the afternoon off and do a group outing. The activities change from year to year, but are usually pretty mellow things like going to a Fishercats or Red Sox game. Well, this year, someone in their group(DEB!), had the bright idea that they should go ziplining because it was on her bucket list. I just want to go on record right now saying that I don't want to do anything else on Deb's bucket list! :)

Anyway, when Colin first told me about this I thought it might be kind of fun. Stupid of me, I know! The night before the big outing, Colin brings home the liability release form that you have to sign before you can go. That's when the nerves started to kick in a little. The fact that I was suppose to sign this paper that would hold the place harmless if they failed to make sure I was buckled properly to the wire that I would be "zipping" down (with nothing underneath to catch me if I fell), somehow just didn't sit well with me. Despite my misgivings, I signed the paper.

We met up for lunch beforehand which was a bad idea looking back on it because my stomach wasn't feeling so great after we were done! A storm was predicted to be coming through, and secretly I hoped that it would show up before we went and that we wouldn't be able to do the ziplining because of the weather. No such luck.

They have you do a little practice run first, only 10 feet or so off the ground, so you get the idea of what you will be doing. Well that didn't seem so bad- but then again, it wouldn't have killed you to fall from that height! Here we are after our practice run, still optimistic about the adventure.

After our practice run, it was on to the real deal. The first line wasn't too bad. Not too high up and not very long in length. "I can do this", I thought. For the second line, we had to go up on a ski lift to get to the top of the mountain. I don't ski and had never been on a ski lift, but I always thought they looked like fun. Guess what? They aren't! I felt like I was going to fall out of that thing the whole way up. I hated it! I was riding with Colin and the 21 yr old summer intern Sam. Sam was a skier so he knew to pull down the overhead bar so I would at least have something to hold onto. Thanks Sam!

I should tell you that Colin and I have always made fun of the "hills" in New Hampshire that the locals call mountains. We are from the west coast where there are actually real mountains. I won't be making fun of the New Hampshire hills anymore though because when you are standing at the top of one and your only way down is to be hooked to a wire with nothing underneath to catch you if you fall while you go "zipping" at speeds of up to 40 mph to the other side, you feel like you are at the top of Everest!

There were 5 lines total I think, and on the worst one you had to climb a spiral staircase to get on a tower (because at 2200 feet we weren't high enough up already)! You couldn't see where this line ended it was that long. There are 2 lines side by side, so 2 people go at a time, one on each line. Colin was always the person on the other line when I went. Did I mention that the people working there all looked to be about 17 or 18 years old and were just there for a summer job? This is who I'm trusting to make sure I am buckled in properly?? Definitely crazy! Anyway, after they get you hooked up to the line, they tell you to "go". Well I was always holding on to the handle for dear life and if you push the handle all the way down, that is what makes you go. So on this super scary line, I accidentally start going before she says "go", and the last thing I hear this 17 yr old say as I start zipping down is "uh oh". What do you mean "uh oh"? NOT what you want to hear when you are a couple thousand feet in the air with nothing underneath you but trees and the hard ground!

Since I'm writing this blog post, I obviously lived to tell about it. There were times I wondered if I was going to though! I'm happy to say that all 12 of us escaped without injury. Here is a picture of us after we finished the course. You can see by my face that I'm a little shocked and just really grateful to have my feet on the ground again!

Remember that storm I was telling you about? Well, just as the last of our group finished the zipline course, they shut it down because the storm was rolling through. If only we had been just a couple hours later...

The Comparison

I think anyone that has ever been on a diet has a hard time seeing the weight loss. You get use to seeing yourself a certain way. Even though the numbers on the scale go down, and your clothes get looser, you still don't see it. So I had Colin put together a couple photos so we could do a side by side comparison. The photo on the left is us at our heaviest a couple years ago. The one on the right was taken this weekend. We still have more we want to lose, but it's nice to be able to see that our hard work is paying off.

A Father's Day Poem

Anyone that knows me (or reads this blog) knows how much my dad meant to me. I miss him on Father's Day, just like I do every day, and I can't help but be thankful for the 29 years I did have with him. I mentioned in a previous post that he use to leave me "Roses are Red, Violets are Blue" poems when I was a kid. His poetic talents went further than that though. Whenever someone retired from the police department that he worked with, he would write them a poem and it would include memories he had of that person and funny things that they had done. He became known for these poems, and would read them at the persons retirement party. He even wrote a few for funerals. I got to thinking one year that he wrote these poems for everyone else, but no one ever wrote one for him. So I set out to do that one Father's Day, and this was the result. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

It's Father's Day 1998 and the Seipert family has come together
To pay tribute to the man who we all treasure.
He is the head of our family, the one upon whom we all depend
The one we go to for love, encouragement, and even some advice every now and then.

He was born the second of four boys to Frances and Vernal
And as far as we know, he stayed out of trouble.
He was vice president of his class,
And he will always tell you the story of his touchdown as you drive through Colfax.
His accomplishments in sports always made it to the school paper,
But if you look real close at the article, you will see he was the writer!

It was May 25, 1963 when he married Lois Lucas and settled down
To start a family and career of which he could be proud.
Jeffrey Dean was born in July of 68,
The first of two children he looked just like his dad
Big brown eyes and dark curly hair
Where you saw one, the other was sure to be there.

Six years later in April of 74, Heidi Marie was born
With a resemblance to her dad that couldn't be ignored.
She was a "daddy's girl" from the very beginning
With "We're buddies and pals" being one of their many sayings.

He has worked two jobs most of his life
To provide the best he could for his kids and wife.
A policeman for so many years
Sworn to serve and protect
Every man, woman and child he comes in contact with.

His kids are grown now, and one has kids of his own,
Grandpa is just another role he didn't have to be shown.
He is always ready with gum and hugs,
A trip to "Sharp's" and all that's fun.
"Can we go with you Grandpa?", are words that bring a smile to his face
To him, wherever they are, is the best place.

Dad, we hope you know this Father's Day, and every day,
You are loved beyond compare.
Thank you for all you have done for us,
And for always being there.

Baggy Pants Battersby

Last time I posted about our HMR diet fail, so I am glad to say that we can now post a success. We did join weight watchers online about 7 weeks ago, and have stuck to our routine of working out 5 mornings a week and we are actually losing weight. Who knew that the whole diet and exercise thing really worked?!? :) This diet is much more doable for us. We did still have birthday cake on my birthday (and the rest of that week until it was gone), and we both still lost weight that week. The beauty of this diet is that we haven't had to give up any of the foods we love, we just have to count the "points", and when you're out of points for the day, you're done eating. It's something that we have been able to stick with. I have lost over 30 lbs since I was at the doctor in mid March (18 of those after beginning weight watchers), and Colin has lost over 20 lbs since we started on weight watchers. The commercial they show on tv about averaging 2 lbs a week weight loss has been true for us so far. It doesn't seem like much, but it adds up. I do want to apologize to all of Colin's co workers for Baggy Pants Battersby. His pants are about 2 sizes too big for him now, and they look kind of ridiculous on him but he refuses to get new ones until he loses more weight-so hopefully that belt is doing its job!

HMR Fail

O.k..so we didn't last a week on this extreme diet. You're all shocked, I know! So are we! Ha! I thought by posting it on the blog and letting people know, it would keep us more motivated to keep going on it. I was wrong. It turns out that while we like all of you we really don't care what you think of us. :)

This last week has been hell. I really don't know how else to describe it. If I never see another "shake" it will be too soon. We started the diet with good intentions (what the road to hell is paved with by the way), but by day 4 we were at each others throats- and we really never fight. It isn't worth it to us to be this miserable. So, we are going to continue our exercise plan that we started, and just watch what we eat. We are considering weight watchers online. Something where we can eat real food. The weight won't come off as quickly, but I know we will be happier in the long run- and I prefer a fat and happy Heidi to a miserable one....and Colin does too!

My husband would really do anything to make me happy and has a hard time telling me no when I want something, but I have told him that the next time I get a stupid idea like this one in my head to please feel free to say "NO!". I'm now looking forward to my birthday again and putting my 38 candles in a CAKE! I'm fairly certain it will be my best birthday yet!