The Outskirts (part 1)(+Historical Marker 5527 & 4871)

hello everyone, i hope this post comes not too far away from the previous. this one isn’t food related (although the next one probably will be). but this post is still somewhat interesting for those who enjoy bits of history.

now, my job requires me to move around the Texas panhandle quite a bit, and in doing so, i try to knock more items off of my 30 Before 30. i found a few more little gems over the past couple of days which i find to be quite interesting.

first off, for those of you who don’t know, i live in Amarillo, TX, which is pretty much the center of the panhandle, the other day i had to drive out to Bovina, TX, which doesn’t really have a lot of things going on, and it’s really not much of a ghost town either. however, i passed a few US Historical Markers on the way there (some near Friona, TX (known as the “cheeseburger capital of texas, and “the biggest small town in texas”), and some near Hereford, TX (known as the “beef capital of the world” and the city is actually named after the Hereford breed of cattle!)).

anyway! one of the historical markers i passed, was (to be honest) a little lame. Historical Marker 4871 (Parmerton):

Parmerton

like i was explaining to my coworker i was driving along with: “historical markers are like easter eggs. some have crappy candy in them, and some have two-dollar bills”

during our drive through Friona, we stopped at this mom-n-pop joint called Tasty Cream, and i ordered a delicious pistachio shake

pistachio shake, green goodness

very delicious. the rest of our trip out there was pretty boring, but on the way back, we stopped at another marker (only because i bought my coworker a dr. pepper float at Tasty Cream). This was an unnumbered marker, from what i can tell it’s just Texas Marker 1982? either way, it was pretty interesting, and certainly one of those “two-dollar bill easter eggs”:

seriously? a POW camp in the Texas Panhandle???

so this one completely blew my mind. i never knew there was a POW camp in the Panhandle. and from the information i gathered from this site, there is a monument there now dedicated to the 3 italians who died while they were held there. so that was pretty interesting for all you WWII buffs…

the next day i had to once again drive out to Hereford, so on the way back i swung through and caught US Historical Marker 5527 (which marks the site of Dawn, TX):

Dawn…. not much happens here

so that’s it for now, just a super quick update. i promise i will be posting something else this weekend, hope you all enjoyed my travels! nothing more excited than the open road, you never know what you’ll come across!

Travels, Updates, and US Historical Marker 951 + Gould, OK

so, i will start off with an apology. i know its been far too long since i’ve done an update, but primarily that’s been because although i’ve been on vacation for the past week (and honestly meant, to blog more), i was on vacation the past week and was about ten times busier than i expected. had a big party at my house for Cinco de Mayo (FIESTAFEST!!!), and i’ll probably do a blog about that later. oh jeez….

also, did some traveling, and today’s blog will be more centered around that. as far as weightloss goes, i’m afraid to even weigh myself at this point, i’m probably close to 160 again, just because of parties, drinking, stuffing my face hole, and not working out as much (i know, shame on me).

but enough about that, let’s talk about my travels. as some of you know, on my 30 Before 30, i listed that i wanted to visit more historical markers and get a better grasp of local and national history. well, last weekend i drove to Lawton, OK. this is connected to Fort Sill, where i was previously stationed for 5 years. needless to say there’s a lot of friends and family we needed to visit. however, it’s about 3 1/2-4hr drive through a lot of open land, ghost towns, and various historical markers. due to time constraints on my trip, i only visited a couple, but i took good pictures, and found some interesting information.

now the route i take to get from Amarillo to Lawton takes me through I-40, US 83, and US62

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Amarillo,+TX&daddr=35.14996,-100.25512+to:Lawton,+OK&hl=en&sll=34.913,-100.117245&sspn=3.035863,5.756836&geocode=Fe1xGQIdfy3u-SkDz0Wy1EgBhzGv0jZoHNHz0A%3BFYhYGAIdcDoG-ikD7x2m4D-qhzE378VyRxvawA%3BFS8CEAId55gi-ilFDSFZ4h6thzFSTnLyxvosYQ&oq=lawton&mra=dpe&mrsp=1&sz=8&via=1&t=m&z=8

some people take US 287, that’s cool, but this is the route i normally take.

ANYWAY, one of the historical markers i went through was US HM 951

me, in my roadtrip clothes.

now, i’m still learning about historical markers, but this one is pretty interesting, and if you can’t tell what’s in the left-hand side of the picture, i actually pulled a two-for-one on this marker, because apparently there’s some interesting information about the US highway i happened to also be on!

so anyway, US HM 951 states:

Collingsworth County

formed from Young and Bexar territories

created August 21, 1876
Organizaed November 4, 1890

Named in honor of James Collinsworth (1804-1838)

The first Chief Justice of the Republic of Texas. Signer of the Declaration of Independence at the Battle of San Jacinto. Secretary of State in Burnet’s Cabinet.

Wellington, the County Seat

so i thought that was pretty cool, but ALSO, the plaque next to me is a dedication from the state of Texas! turns out that US Highway 83 is the Texas Vietnam Memorial Highway!

Texas Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway
US Highway 83

In gratitude to the thousand of men and women who served our country during the Vietnam War. The people of Texas dedicate this highway which runs across our state from the southernmost tip to the northernmost point. It is our hope that all those who travel US 83 will pause to remember those who gave up their lives or their youth or their hopes in that long and bitter conflict. We vow not to forget those who did not return to us and we pledge to remember the sacrifices of those who have come home.

US Highway 83

so that was pretty dang interesting, i thought. to add to this so-far-so-cool post, i’m going to tell you about this creepy little ghost town we always pass through called Gould, OK. for simple town stats, you can check out this link from wikipedia about it, but i’ll show you some pics we took and explain along the way. now wiki doesn’t go into too much detail, but from what i can tell you from visiting, there’s not a whole lot to see anymore. the local population is roughly 141, and nearly 500 at it’s peak in the mid 1930s. Gould was originally called Gibson, OK; but the postmaster general renamed the town because he thought it too closely resembled “Fort Gibson” (understandable). Gould was founded in the early 1900s (roughly between 1907-1909. The town’s school was founded in 1909 and was first conducted in the local Baptist church. an official building was erected in 1911, and the school was officially closed in 1990. at one point, the town’s school had an attendance of almost 500 students due to consolidation of other area towns and counties. but in 1990, the school was closed, and the area formerly covered by Gould’s school was taken over by the nearby Hollis, OK.

attached is a photo gallery of a small monument created in honor of the school and the local community.

US Highway 83

so those are my updates, and my travels that i’ve been doing thus far. i hope you all enjoyed this!

My Journey (aka Day 40)

so this is now Day 40 of my Weight Loss Journey, and i’ve decided to once again rename this series of posts. why? because it’s not just about weight loss, this blog has transformed into a personal journal in general. it’s about life. my life. and the crazy stuff i’m doing.

it’s been probably years since i’ve done a meaningful blog, and that was back during the days of myspace (omg… myspace reference??? that tells you how long ago it was).

and now there’s just so much more you can do with a blog. you can link all of your networks together so incredibly that eventually everything you want people to hear *will* get heard. every one needs to know that they aren’t alone in the world. everyone needs to know that they’ve got someone out there who they can share a story with, someone they can help, or someone who just doesn’t know how to get out what they want to say.

i’ve been one of those people. before the days of blogging, i (like most people) had a diary. except my diaries were notebooks filled with poems and lyrics. being a musician turned into a form of therapy for me. and that therapy continues today.

one of my buddies in the office (john) is stretching his legs so to speak in this same way. he’s really good friends with another musician in town who’s making a really good name for himself and is certainly on the right path to stardom. anyway, he’s started writing songs with this guy, and finally got one of the songs he wrote played at this guy’s gig. he told me how awesome it made him feel, and i was proud of him, because i know how it feels. it feels damn good.

sometimes you just need to let things out in order to let go. you have to let go to move on. sometimes it’s much harder than you think, but once you make that initial step, the rest of the journey is easier.

and i’m not just talking about emotions (because that is a long post in itself), but everything. whether it be losing someone close to you (like a good friend of mine had happen last year when she lost her father to cancer), or an addiction, or even weight loss. there are so many simple things that eventually pile up to make that obstacle seem so enormous, that a person is just afraid to even start trying.

so i’m using this as my own personal stepping stone. not just for weight loss anymore, but for my personal and emotional journey. the ups, downs, ins, outs, and all the craziness in between.

hold on tight, it’s gonna be a crazy ride!

My Weight Loss Journey (Day 34)

first off, i would like to apologize for the sudden inconsistency in my blogs lately. work has been a biatch, and i’ve been under some stress lately.

ANYWAY, some quick updates on everything here and there:

1. i have stayed at a semi-constant 156.8lbs for the past few days, so i’m gaining muscle, and burning fat at a constant rate, apparently.

2. i was taped (for a BMI) yesterday morning and have lost an inch in my neck, and an inch and a half around my waist. so that tells me that although i have hit a weight plateau, i’m still losing overall mass.

i had a massage yesterday, and although i certainly needed it, it felt as though the therapist was trying to massage the table, and i was merely in the way. i had to have my girlfriend massage me AFTERWARDS because i hurt. but, i felt much better when i woke up this morning (although i was DEAD tired) to do Insanity.

Insanity is going well, i can certainly feel progression in my body. i wouldn’t say the exercise is getting easier, but i’m certainly able to get further through it before my body starts getting pissed off at me.

apparently, my company is supposed to have a PT test next month, so that will be excited to see physically just how much i’ve progressed. the last time i took a PT test with my company (which was about 6 months ago), i scored around a 270 (out of a possible 300), so it will be very interesting to see what results i’ll get.

i’m feeling very good about myself overall. i feel like other than when i was deployed, i’m actually pushing myself daily. i’m eating better, i’ve cut out sodas, i’ve cut back on alcohol (haven’t had a drink in 3 days. i usually only drink on the weekends now), i’m eating more fruits and vegetables (which will increase even more, once the garden takes off), and i’m seeing visible result.

all in all, i feel great doing this journey, and i’m certainly glad i started it now, before it got too much worse.

My Weight Loss Journey (Day 30 + weekend update!)

so i’ve been sitting at 154lbs now for the past couple of days, which is a good thing! i still see that i’m toning up more, so i’m still progressing, just gaining muscle at the same rate i’m losing fat.

this is Day 30 with the drops, so that means i have to stop now, which honestly i don’t mind, because once i began working out with the Insanity program, i don’t think i needed the drops anymore.

to summarize my use of the HCG drops regarding whether or not they work, i would say no, they don’t. the only possible thing these drops may accomplish is slightly curbing your appetite. i believe (and so does most of the research i’ve done) that the majority of the weight loss people go through while using *only* the drops is because of malnourishment and starvation. i mean, come on. it’s a 500cal a day diet they expect you on, a body NEEDS calories, carbs, etc… TO SURVIVE. and muscle has more nutrients than fat. the drops work by causing your body to eat itself, with the good stuff going first!

alas, i digress. bottom line, i don’t think the HCG drops work. they may for you, but they really didn’t for me. a DIET and EXERCISE worked for me. either it’s a massive placebo effect, or it just didn’t work for me.

CONTINUING! so my workout schedule for the weekdays are Insanity every morning, and then something (usually p90x or running around with my dogs) after work. am i tired? yeah. am i noticing results? hell yeah.

i have much more endurance, my body is greatly toning up, i’m getting my six-pack back, and my tan is looking pretty sweet!

so for my big project this weekend, i’ve begun working on the outside portion of my garden. there’s a nice little strip outlined by sidewalk in my backyard that is perfect for a garden. the only problem is that that section was HORRIBLY over-run with weeds. and not just any weeds, we’re talking urban jungle.

so i attacked that chunk of land like it slapped my momma.

pictured: an earthly ass-whooping

started that portion on friday afternoon (probably only worked an hour on it), and spent all day saturday clearing all the dirt (by shovel, by myself, because i’m a beast) until i reached my desired result:

i could easily hide a body here

so needless to say, i was pretty tired. but i put a scoop of creatine in my water bottle and followed that with a protein shake and i was good to go!

for dinner, i splurged a little because hey, it was movie night! made chili-cheese dogs with onions and jalapenos, and my gf and i grabbed a couple of beers and watched U-571 and Green Lantern…

until we passed out around midnight 😛

so that’s the journey thus far, i will probably keep posting until i reach about 60 days. also, i need to take mid-journey pics today to add to the before-after-during segment at the end.

i hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend!

My Weight Loss Journey (Day 27)

so i’m writing this in the morning, and although this is more of a supplemental posting, i felt the need to do so because i kinda short-changed everyone with yesterday’s post.

i’m feeling good. bottom line. i’m nearing the 30 day mark, and although i’ll be extending this journey to 60 days (due to the Insanity workout being a 60-day workout plan), i feel that this weekend i will more than likely post a few photos (and maybe a few photos of my in-progress garden).

speaking of Insanity, i’m feeling like even in the course of a couple of weeks, i’ve made some massive progression. for those of you who don’t know, during Day 1 of the Insanity program, you have to do a Fit Test just to see where you are. yesterday, i took the Fit Test and did *much* better than Day 1.

my body is looking much more fit, and even though i’m staying between 155-156lbs, i’m looking more trim.

now THAT being said, i’m going to start adding more light workouts during the evenings and possibly some strength training including a little P90x on days i’m feeling extra pumped up.

my diet is much more balanced now. fruits, vegetables, grilled meats as much as possible, some milk, and eggs. also, a protein shake *every* morning, with at least 3 bottles of water during the day, and trying to lay off the alcohol even more (except during the weekends, of course… after all, i am human).

so i hope this all helps make up for missing posts the last few days. hope you all had a great Easter weekend, and hope the weekend coming up is safe, healthy, and full of fun!

My Weight-Loss Journey (Day 26)

so, i will start off by apologizing that i’ve been slacking off on the updates (seriously, i’m sorry), but things have been rather hectic and upsetting at work, and time hasn’t allowed me to sit down and update.

i will not bore you all with daily routines, but i will summarize by saying that through Easter, i ate a lot of eggs, didn’t work out for about 3 of the days between now and the last update, and drank a lot on the weekend. that having been said, i’m still taking the drops and ATTEMPTING to get back on good eating habits (BUT EGGS TASTE SOOOOOO GOOD).

also, i seem to have hit another plateau. i’ve (luckily) been able to retain being at (or very closely around) 155lbs. which is pretty amazing, but i’m hoping to get to 150lbs (PLEASE?????)

i’ve been working on my garden (which i will post pics soon), and hope to have at least enough to sustain some healthy snacks (although, most of what is growing is spinach, bell peppers, and hot peppers).

so long story short (or tl;dr), i’ve been able to stay constant with my weight, and this week have been getting back to daily exercising 🙂

i hope that was enough to tide you all over, i promise the next few blogs will be better!!

My Weight-Loss Journey (Day 21)

i will again continue with “i’m still taking the drops”, but at this point i’m not giving much credit to it, since i’m keeping pretty much the same diet i’ve been doing all along (except now drinking prune juice daily (which IS DELICIOUS)), and now doing Insanity every morning.

today was no exception. i woke up early, did my stuff, and when i came home and weighed myself, i was 157.4lbs!! so i can pretty much say i’ve lost 10lbs in 20 days! 😀 i’m proud of myself, but it’s not enough! i want to get ripped! i’m hoping to lose at least another 5lbs by the end of the month, as well as get more ripped and defined (yowza!).

today after work i mowed the lawn, then let my dogs run around the backyard, chased them around for a good half-hour, then did some ab work (i’ll call that my second workout of the day).

i’m really digging being active again. i haven’t *wanted* to work out this much since i was deployed, and now i’m just wanting to do something all the time! it’s AWESOME. i think after i work out tomorrow morning, i’ll walk for a mile or so to get a good low-impact cool down, and still work it.

as far as the weekend goes, i’ll be upping my protein considerably (hellooooo, easter eggs!!). so i’ll be sure to do some weight training on that morning. get a good burn. gah! i just want to do so much now!

also, i practiced earlier (i play guitar, keyboards, and lead vocals in the band Prototype Theory), and boy was my arm getting tired from shredding! i gotta practice more, and hopefully get some gigs in town (but more about that later).

 

anyway, in closing, i hope everyone has a safe and happy easter weekend!

My Weight-Loss Journey (Day 19)

so i’ve decided to rename these blog entries since i’m no longer basing my weight-loss solely on he HCG drops.

i’ve begun to realize that these drops are probably intended more for people who are more than just 10+ pounds overweight, and geared towards those that are close to being obese. Am i trying to badmouth those people, or this system? no, i’m merely going to point out some basic things i’ve learned thus far on this journey.

HCG diet: if you eat only 500cal a day, you’re going to lose weight. you could sit in bed playing video games all day and would lose weight at 500cal a day. it’s not a “system”, it’s a fact. do the drops help? maybe. research proves that hormones ingested are broken down in the stomach, and not fully absorbed. does holding it under the tongue help? maybe, but i don’t think it’s the best way to go about it, since the shots were pretty much outlawed by the FDA.

hormone control aside, i do feel like i have a little more willpower and less hunger pangs to go and grab that tasty bag of doritos from the cabinet.

in it’s defense, i do think it helped with the beginning push, i feel however, that since i wasn’t obese, i plateaued very quickly, which is why i’m no longer calling this the HCG Journey. i’ve started working out (starting full-time on Day 18) doing the Insanity workout routines in the morning with my coworkers. so yeah, with these extra variables, i will in no way attribute my weight loss solely to the HCG drops. do they help? maybe, but my fear of muscle atrophy and overall mass deterioration has forced me to start working out, and changing my diet (mainly an increase in protein), to combat that.

having said that, i weighed myself yesterday morning (Day 18), and found that i was back down to 160.4lbs. AWESOME. my goal is to lose at least 10lbs in 30 days (although the Insanity program runs for 60 days, during which i will continue blogging, charting my weight loss, continue with before and after pics, and also the primary reason i changed the name of the blog entries). yesterday, my diet was pretty sparse, which surprised me, considering how hard i worked on day 1 of Insanity. breakfast was the usual tea, water, protein shake. lunch was pretty much water, a handful of peanuts, and a handful of various vitamins. pre-dinner snack was a boiled egg. dinner was a salad with extra veggies and eggs. delicious, and a high-protein day.

as for this morning (Day 19), after Day 2 of Insanity, i got home and weighed myself (before a heavy poop later in the morning (sorry)), and i had finally broken the 160 plane!! i weighed 159.8lbs! which is pretty amazing in itself, because i haven’t been at that level in at least 8 months (probably closer to a year).

so at this point, i’m really proud of myself, i’ve lost almost 8lbs in 19 Days, still have 11 Days, and hoping to lose at least another 5lbs if i keep up with my workouts. and i’m planning on doing Insanity in the mornings and P90x (minus Plyometrics and CardioX) in the evenings.

holy crap, i’m gonna wear myself out really quickly. def time to up the vitamins and protein!

GET RIPPED!

My Journey with the HCG Diet (Day 17 + weekend update!)

so i will go ahead and start this off by saying i took a couple of steps back this weekend, and this has by far been my worst stretch of days ever.

my station had an Annual Training Conference (fri-sun), and this was held at a very fancy hotel (with almost no “healthy” food alternatives in sight), and to top things off, in my haste, i forgot to pack my drops.

UGH!!!

so basically, torture all weekend. especially since there was a sports bar downstairs, and at one point during the weekend, i actually got a free order of bacon cheese fries (please don’t hate me).

although i tried my BEST to follow normal eating habits (tea for breakfast, water throughout the day), i couldn’t help but drink beer and gorge myself on the delicacies of the bar grub…  😦

so honestly, i can say i was surprised when i got home and weighed myself this morning, and had only gained 2lbs!!! not too shabby, considering i did nothing but sit and watch powerpoints all day and drink beer and cheese fries at night.  *sigh*

i promise to you all that i will get back into full swing of the exercise and dieting habits i once held. i have approx 13 Days left on this, and i’m determined to lose at least 5 more lbs.

so i’m kicking it back into gear with working out, and i must say that i feel like i’m losing overall body mass (in a good way, now). clothes are fitting better (button-up shirts don’t choke me anymore!), and my gf says my figure is getting better (speaking of which, i need to take mid-journey pictures!).

that’s all for now, i’ve got yard work to catch up on, and maybe a little bit of working out before dinner.

 

peace!