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Finally after a couple of weeks of minuscule losses I can finally say I lost another pound for a total fo 24. I can’t help but wonder if it was due to my crazy decision to run 8 miles on Saturday when I’ve only been running 4 :)

My friend Rachael (on the left) is member of Team LaBelle on Clash of the Choirs on NBC. They rocked tonight! Don’t miss it on NBC tomorrow night and vote for Philadelphia!

The folks at The Urban Dog gave Pablo good marks after his 3 night stay earlier this month. We did very little that was any different from what we normally do. What probably made the difference is a nice set of written tips about how to behave around Pablo to show who’s boss that the staff used.

Let’s hope the next stint there will be just as good.

Pablo has been doing quite well since our meeting with the trainer. She gave us a lot of really great advice and reminded us that sometimes young dog’s can just be a pain in the butt (like teenagers :)

Pablo’s been really super and extra tired from all the great exercise. He really needs a lot. He loves to run and wrestle and this past week he’s had a lot of opportunities to do just that.

This weekend we will be boarding him and hopefully we will return with a much better report on his behavior.

So Pablo’s been bad. It seems like the only way we can really get him to behave these days is if we bribe him with food or if he’s really, really tired from extra extra exercise. Some things he’s really good at without us doing anything (doesn’t destroy house while we are away, sits at doors before entering or leaving, doesn’t enter our bedroom). Tomorrow we have our first meeting with Jane Brydon to start his one-on-one training. I hope it helps!

Today we learned that Pablo got in a fight with a Boxer at doggy day care. It’s his first fight there and we got a warning about his behavior as a result. Next time it happens there will be stricter measures. It’s upsetting because every time we take him there we ask about his behavior and we always get that he was “fine”. Only this one time do they tell us he has problems — getting in a fight with another dominant dog, never listening to the female handlers.

Now we are looking into 1-on-1 training with a trainer that we’ve worked with before to help curb his behavior so we can keep going to the doggy day care.

If you know of anyone in center city Philadelphia who walks dogs and trains them as well, we’d love to hear about them.

A little while back I reached a tipping point. I was fed up with not being able to improve my personal finances (despite saving) or lose weight (despite exercising). I decided that I’m going to stop analyzing why I’m having trouble with those things and just start logging as much as I can about them.

My husband and I started logging our expenses. We’re using simple spreadsheets, logging each individual transaction — cash, debit or credit — and quickly categorizing them for analysis later. We agreed to do this for at least 1 month. It’s nearing the end of the month and I am amazed at how much money I am spending on non-bill things. We decided that 1 month is not enough data to capture irregular expenses so we will log for another 2 months and then sift through the data.

In addition to logging expenses, I have also been logging my food. I’m not good at doing this on my own, so I joined WeightWatchers online 2 weeks ago. Unlike my expense logging, I really needed structure in logging my food and setting targets. I’m not worrying to much at first on whether I’m staying within the limits that WeightWatchers sets for their FlexPlan. I’m simply logging what I normally eat to see where I’m missing the mark. With just 2 weeks it’s been incredibly eye-opening what I should be eating that I’m not eating enough of — namely water, dairy, and a multivitamin so far. I’ve committed to using this site for 3 months, 1 month of simple logging what I normally eat and 2 months of logging and staying within limits.

The hope with all this logging is that the information I gather will really give me a good picture of what I’m doing so I can make educated decisions on how I need to change things in order to meet  the goals I’m setting for myself. I’m really positive about this exercise and I’ll update on progress.

On June 23rd I ran my first half marathon and I owe it all to Team in Training. The entire experience from training to post-race festivities was life changing. It’s an amazing feeling to be a part of something bigger than myself and give back to the community so that others may benefit from my actions.

I raised over $5,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This money will go to directly benefit people in my area suffering from blood cancers, through financial assistance, treatments and research.

I ran 13.1 miles in honor of 8 extraordinary people who have all been directly affected by leukemia or lymphoma. In the process I met some really fantastic, inspiring people and made new lifelong friends.

And, I learned a lot about myself, my limitations and capabilities.

Thank you to everyone who helped me and supported me and my involvement with Team in Training. I couldn’t have done it without you.

I leave today for Anchorage, Alaska to participate in the Maryor’s Midnight Sun Half Marathon. I’m a member of Team in Training and have been training and fundraising for this half marathon for the past 5 months to honor my friend who survived Lymphoma in 2006. All the hard work has paid off. They say the easy part is the race :)

I nervous and excited at the same time. I know it will be fun and filled with emotion. I will post a full race report when I return.

Well, I am now a married woman. Here’s the evidence: pictures and raw video. Everything went great. We really had a great time and it’s one we will certainly remember and celebrate.

Now it’s training for the half marathon and triathlon for both of us. Honeymoon to take place in Ireland in May. Stay tuned for those pictures :)