Travel Often

“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.” — Rosalia de Castro

Love Deeply, but Laugh Along the Way

"Happiness is only real when shared." - Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild

View Marriage as an Adventure

"Love is a flower which turns into fruit at marriage." ~Finnish Proverb

Fuel your body with GOOD (It's the only one you get)

He who has health has hope; and he who has hope has everything. - Arabian Proverb

Open your Soul to Motherhood

A Grand Adventure is About to Begin - Winnie the Pooh

A New Kind of Love is Born

Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Is a Gym Membership Worth It?

OK. I can’t even believe I’m asking this question. But I have to. Do I really need my gym membership?


I’ve now been a mom for a year and in a year’s time a LOT in my life has changed. One of those big changes? I barely EVER get to the gym.

Why?

1.       I’m dying to see Jackson as soon as work is over. By the time I see him, it’s 4:30. We get home around 5. And he starts getting ready for bed at 7 p.m. I can’t imagine even less time with him than the little two hours I do get during the week. Ugh.

2.       The weekends haven’t totally allowed me to go to the gym whenever I want just yet. Karl was working most weekends or family was up or we had stuff going on. And now Karl’s going on call. Boo.

Excuses? Perhaps.

For one, there is a childcare provided. But I never use it because I feel incredibly guilty passing Jackson off AGAIN to another person, which I’ve already done all week long. Also, in the three years I’ve been a member, I have yet to use the gorgeous pool. So why am I paying nearly $60 a month? I don’t know. I can’t even get the 12 workouts in a month so my insurance will pay half.

However, when I DO get a chance to go to the gym, it feels like I’ve stepped away to some resort. Yes, it feels THAT good to me. The steam room. The stair climber. All the weights. All there.  In one place. All shiny. The smell of sweat. Ahh. And feeling that way is worth it to me…

I think.

Here’s the deal. I no longer have a trainer. He moved away on me and I can’t afford one now anyway. I only have a membership that allows me to workout at ONE location, so it’s hard to go after work since it’s slightly out of the way. I haven’t been to a class since almost a year before I got pregnant. I never use the showers, though I tell myself I will every time.

On the flip side, we have some light weights at home and I could purchase a couple kettle balls. We have an elliptical in our basement. I have a bosu ball and an exercise ball. The weather is getting nicer (I can work out outside). I’ve been ripping out pages of workouts in my magazines. It seems like a no brainer. I could save almost $700 a YEAR. Helllloooooooo.  

Our downstairs is SUPER crammed though. It doesn’t feel the same. And will I make time?? I force myself to work out when I get in the car and drive to the gym. For some reason, I feel like I’ll choose the couch over walking downstairs to hop on the elliptical. I told myself months ago I would get up at 5:00 every morning and run outside, but it’s been raining pretty much every morning or else I’m STILL trying to catch up on the sleep I lost this past year. I keep choosing sleep!

It’s just since college, I’ve never NOT had a gym membership… It feels weird. It feels like I’m allowing myself to stop taking care of myself or something. I’m not holding myself accountable anymore. Weird, I know.

What would you do? Gym membership or no?
Just remember, once winter comes it gets DARK and cold here making most outdoor activities tough.

Date Night in Minnesota

Date Night - FINALLY

I can’t tell you how excited I was when my friend Kimbra sent me a text asking if Karl and I would like to join them on the Summit Brewery Tour. I knew Karl would be ALL OVER this. Oh, boy was he ever! YAY! Perhaps we need to get out more??
 
Us at the Summit Brewer Tour (for some reason some pics get stretched...)


Friday was rough at The Koester house. Poor little Jackson must’ve been hit with back to back colds while in the thick of getting those first set of molars—then later developed a fever. Blah. Poor Jackson. This meant extra attention and cuddles from mom (when he’d let me), VERY SHORT NAPS (if any) and little sleep for all…UFDAH. Jackson was up every few hours at night and then up for good VERY early, so mom and dad was TIRED. I was unable to get anything but some work for my job done. I was going crazy. We took THREE long walks on Friday. THREE. It’s the only time he was in pretty good spirits.
 
I will say the whole time I was worried but I also had Saturday on my mind. I swear it helped me make it through the day. I needed a break and I knew a brewery tour was JUST what we needed.
 
Did I mention the tour is FREE?? You can bring in non-perishable items, which was great because I had all this baby formula that was taking up space in our cabinets. Win-win. Basically one of Summit’s employees stood up and presented the history of Summit Brewing and a little history on the types of beers. Then we walked to four different stations, heard more about how the lines were run and then it was TASTING time! We got our bracelets with three tear-away tickets. Sure, the beer cups are small (8 oz) but the beer is FRESH and DELICIOUS. And here I usually turned my nose up on the ‘hoppyness’ of Summit. Hello? It’s so good! I tried the Summit Pilsener, the Horizon Red Ale and Summer Ale.
 
Afterwards, we hit up The Happy Gnome where we had more beer! I really do promise I don’t have a drinking problemJ I love sampling beers and wines. But I know my limits!
 
So far I've been on the Boulevard Brewery Tour in Kansas City, Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee (this is my #1), Miller-Coors in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Summit Brewing in St. Paul, Minnesota and... I swear there's been another but I'm drawing a big fat blank.
 
All-time favorite brewery tour?

Favorite Summer Wine in Minnesota


Cheers from Minnesota
Want to know one of my favorite wines I love right now? I'll give you a hint... it’s a Minnesota wine. I know. What? Frontenac 2011. Score. Minnesota grown and local. How about that support?
Crofut wine = a fave in our house
 
I like it because it’s not overly sweet. There’s body to it. And it goes well with everything. OK, so it kind of tasted funny after I chewed on a few raw green beans. Crofut Winery is right down the street from us and offered a FREE tasting at our favorite liquor store in Savage, Minnesota.
I swear we’re not crazy booze hounds. Karl laughs because I MAYBE finish a glass of wine, otherwise it’s a sip here and there. I like to be in control of my thoughts, emotions and energy level! If I drink too much I get sleepy, and well…after not sleeping for a year, I cherish sleep.
There you have it. Now go out and buy yourself a bottle and let me know what you think.