Guest Photographer!

Good morning, readers!

Today we have a guest photographer, one we all know and love....Theodore J. Knust!

Last night we went out for an after-dinner walk. My one-and-only took the reins on the picture-taking effort and got some great shots!

Out for one of my favorite activities- an evening stroll with the hubby! He's the sweetest- He'll walk with me several times a week! I know, I'm so lucky! :)

This friendly ol' girl belongs to "Ranch Daddy." Somewhere along one long and dusty roadtrip- Virginia, I think it was..... I started calling big houses with big outbuildings and big fancy trucks "Ranch Daddies." The richie riches. I don't know...don't try to follow my logic. Anyway, at the end of the particular route we walked last night is a big ol' German house with a huge, nice, almost brand-new dairy barn. He's a Ranch Daddy for sure. And this is the Ranch Daddy's farm dog. She likes to say hi.

My favorite shot of the night! Isn't this gorgeous? So serene and peaceful. That Ted, he's alright with a camera!


I took this shot, obviously. It got a little drafty in the house last night. Maybe this is a result of having his hair cut earlier in the day. Makes me giggle!

Obviously we had a lovely Monday. Tuesday is off to a promising start as well! Not a cloud in the sky, and I'm hoping for a warm-up like yesterday's!

Maybe some of you are wondering how I'm doing on the whole eat-right and exercise thing. Well, I've lost ONE POUND. That's all--buuut I'm not discouraged! I fit into my jeans, and that feels good! My body is obviously rearranging. I have decided to use a calorie tracker, as of yesterday. I feel ready. It's online, and not only does it track calories, but it tracks the amount of carbs, fats, proteins, sugars, sodium, and fiber you've consumed for each day! So far every food I have eaten has been in the database. Easy peasy! It also tracks how many glasses of water you drink. I don't know how ANYONE can drink eight 8-oz glasses of water a day. I had six, and it felt like I drank GALLONS, and my bladder was obviously not used to it... Oh, this site also tracks your activities. For instance, I logged in a twenty minute jog yesterday, and it ADDED to the calories I could eat for that day! Hooray! Best of all, it's all free! You CAN upgrade, but I'm a cheap-o. I'm not actually too concerned with keeping myself strictly in this calorie range at this point, but it is interesting to see where I'm at! Yesterday I was about 200 cals over the suggested limit, my sodium intake was at like 150 %, and even my protein was at about 140%. Very interesting stuff. If you wanna check it out, click here and get started with MyPlate!

Now that I've bored at least half of my readers, lets move on to today's Random Photo:

This is a FRIED SNICKERS! I got it at Volksfest last July. It tasted like a warm, gushy snickers wrapped up in...a pancake maybe? I probably wouldn't get one again, but I like that I've tried it! Yum. Though I have to say, it won't win any awards in the looks department!

This reminds me- (because it makes me think of the State Fair, which makes me think of OTHER Iowa events....) I saw the ad for this year's Dam to Dam on KCCI this morning! If I were home I would definitely be signing up for the 5k... To be honest I've never had a very specific running goal, but if I were to choose one, I'd really like to do the Dam to Dam 20K someday! Running through the Iowa countryside....aaaaahhhhh. Are any of YOU doing it?? Time to sign up!