How are job seekers ruining their job search? - Employers cite the mistakes that damage job searches

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://emj.cbdr.com/artieimages/kk/ar5l0rm78mz0wvf6fbkk.gif?time=12/10/2010%205:37:36%20pm" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://emj.cbdr.com/artieimages/kk/ar5l0rm78mz0wvf6fbkk.gif?time=12/10/2010%205:37:36%20pm" /></a></div>How are job seekers ruining their job search? - Employers cite the mistakes that damage job searches<br />Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder writer <br /><br />Because a job hunt can be an aggravating process, self-confidence is essential. Hopefully you won't receive rejections from employers, but you might. Or just as disheartening can be the silence from employers who don't update you on the status of your application. As much as we hope your search for a job is smooth, we can't guarantee it, and that's why strength is important. You can't let some disappointment derail your search.<br /><br />At the same time, you don't want confidence to sabotage your efforts. Walk into the interview room knowing that you're qualified and capable of doing the job. Don't be so confident that you can't step back and assess your job search tactics. You might unwittingly ruin your chances of being hired because you make the same mistake every time you interact with a company.<br /><br />In the course of a year, hiring managers see hundreds or even thousands of applicants. They have heard more answers to "Tell me a little about yourself" than you can imagine. This also means they see the same mistakes happening over and over again – sort of their own personal "Groundhog Day."<br /><br />We asked hiring managers and employers to share the most common job-seeker mistakes they see. We hope job seekers put the kibosh on these common errors for two reasons: the mental anguish of interviewers and the career prospects of the applicants. Hiring managers offered enough mistakes to fill 10 pages, but these are the most common and egregious we heard:<br /><br />Attachments are not enough<br /><br />It is critical that [online applications] are filled out completely [and] accurately, and address skills and experience specific to the job which is being applied for. Too many applicants think that attaching a résumé will address all of the questions being asked on the online application and they are kicked out of the system immediately." - Lauren M.G. Burt, director of media and marketing for economic development at the Greater Des Moines Partnership<br /><br />Talking about the wrong thing<br /><br />"Candidates will tell the employer: 'I want to keep my options open or that they are thinking about graduate school.' 'What are the hours?' 'Do you pay for graduate school?'" - Thomas J. Ward, director of the Center for Career Development at Adelphi University<br /><br />"Talking about the past not the future. What will you do for your new employer? While this is based in your past work, you must put your past experience into the context of your next employer. Be clear about what they need, where you have done it before, and tell stories to demonstrate you get it." - Steve Langerud, workplace consultant and director of professional opportunities at DePauw University<br /><br />Don't be sorry for being yourself<br /><br />"[Recent graduates] apologize for lack of relevant business experience, rather than talk about how internships, jobs, sports, clubs and extracurricular activities challenged them, helped them develop work ethic, taught them valuable lessons, etc." - Garrett Miller, author of "Hire on a WHIM: The Four Qualities that Make for Great Employees"<br /><br />Forgetting the details<br /><br />"Blasting out résumés and when you call and follow up, they don't know who you are or what company you're calling from." - Rodger Roeser, owner and president of The Eisen Agency<br /><br />Rudeness is inexcusable<br /><br />"Showing up just in time for the interview or, worse, showing up late. [And] demonstrating poor etiquette -- e.g., chewing gum, answering your cell, sitting down first at the interview, etc." - Miller<br /><br />"Misspelling my name." - Roeser<br /><br />"Having obnoxious messages on their answering machines/cell phone when you return the call." - Roeser<br /><br />Me, me, me, me, me<br /><br />"Complete failure of understanding how they can help my business be more successful -- which is why I'm hiring in the first place. You need to help me, it's not the other way around." - Roeser<br /><br />"Not understanding the context of the employer's market. Read the trades publications in the field of your next employer. Understand the market trends, pressures, and competition. Know the thought leaders in the field and be prepared to talk about ideas." - Langerud<br /><br />Greed is not good<br /><br />"One of the biggest mistake candidates make is talking about compensation too early in the process. If you are asking for too much you price yourself out of the job, if you ask for too little you either get what you ask for, which is often less than the employer is willing to pay or worse the employer believes you can't be a good candidate because you weren't earning enough ... One way to delay the discussion is to respond to questions about compensation by saying something like 'It's not about the money. Let's talk about the job. If I am the right person for the job and this is the right job for me, we'll work out something that makes sense for everyone.'" - Lee Miller, co-author (with Jessica Miller) of "A Woman's Guide to Successful Negotiating"<br /><br />Anthony Balderrama is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, The Work Buzz. He researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.

How are job seekers ruining their job search? - Employers cite the mistakes that damage job searches

How are job seekers ruining their job search? - Employers cite the mistakes that damage job searches Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder write...

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Job advice that was true 20 years ago, but not today - What words of wisdom are outdated

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://emj.cbdr.com/artieimages/8n/ar5l13j6pyt9y9p1td8n.gif?time=12/10/2010%205:37:13%20pm" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://emj.cbdr.com/artieimages/8n/ar5l13j6pyt9y9p1td8n.gif?time=12/10/2010%205:37:13%20pm" /></a></div>Job advice that was true 20 years ago, but not today - What words of wisdom are outdated<br />Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder Writer <br /><br />Think back to 1991, if you were even alive at the time. Operation Desert Storm began. The Soviet Union dissolved. "Beauty and the Beast" was one of the year's top films. Some women were still wearing jackets with shoulder pads. Men wore moustaches without any irony. Super Nintendo made its United States debut.<br /><br />It was a different era.<br /><br />Today, the United States is engaged in a different Gulf War. Today's students wouldn't think to call Russia "the Former Soviet Union." Animated films are rarely hand drawn. 1990s went away and already came back again with the label of nostalgic. And video games can be played on your phone.<br /><br />Our world has evolved and now feels drastically different than it was in 1991. But when we start looking for a job or dealing with co-workers, we seem content to follow advice that was being dispensed two decades ago. That needs to stop. In today's economy you can't afford to be an outdated job seeker or employee. After all, you wouldn't walk into an interview wearing an outfit that looks like it came from the set of "The Cosby Show." Shouldn't your whole approach be just as current?<br /><br />1991: Hard copies are best<br /><br />2011: We live in a digital world.<br /><br />Résumés used to be printed on hearty card stock that stood out from standard bulk copy paper. Today, in most industries, an overly formal résumé presentation appears outdated. Be sure to have copies of your résumé on hand when you go for an interview, just in case the interviewer forgets his or hers. And make sure it does look good printed on paper. But most applications are online these days, so make sure the formatting looks good on your computer screen. Before hitting send, check hyperlinks, turn off spellcheck (so names and proper nouns don't have red squiggles underlining them), and pick a font that's easy to read.<br /><br />1991: Always wear a suit<br /><br />2011: Do your research<br /><br />Yes, you're better off wearing a suit to an interview than ripped jeans, so better safe than sorry. Business casual, however, is now the norm in many workplaces, and if your attire is so formal that you seem to have no idea what the workplace culture is like, you could look unprepared. Try to find out what the dress code is and choose attire that is a step up from it. You definitely want to show that you dressed up, but you want to also prove that you're not clueless about the company either.<br /><br />1991: "References available upon request"<br /><br />2011: Provide references when asked<br /><br />Some companies ask for references up front, others ask for them in the final stages. Some never mention them. Always be prepared to give the names and contact information for references, but don't list it on your résumé unless specifically instructed to do so. The reason is that hiring managers know these people aren't going to badmouth you; otherwise you wouldn't be using them. Let the employer tell you whom they want to talk to -- e.g., direct supervisor, people you've managed. They assume references are available upon request, so wait for them to ask.<br /><br />1991: Professional and personal lives are completely separate<br /><br />2011: They can be, but you need to be diligent<br /><br />Keeping your professional and personal lives separate isn't an outdated concept, and it wasn't exclusive to the 1990s, either. But today people don't merely exist at the office and at home. They're online. A quick search engine query can return plenty of information about you, and friending someone on a social network reveals even more. Remember that you're living in the 2.0 world, and if you don't want anyone to know that you were at a karaoke bar at 2 a.m. last night, then don't update your public Twitter account with that information. Use privacy settings to be as public or private as you want with your colleagues.<br /><br />1991: Keep your résumé to one page<br /><br />2011: Be reasonable<br /><br />If you're just out of college, then exceeding a single page is probably excessive. But if you've been in the industry for a decade, you probably have enough information to spill onto a second page. No employer wants to read a novella, so don't go overboard. As mentioned above, this digital world is more about the presentation online than on the page, and scrolling to a second page isn't the deal breaker than seeing a stapled two-page résumé was. Always get to the point and avoid fluff, but don't edit out essential information and play with the margins just to squeeze everything on a single page.<br /><br />Anthony Balderrama is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, The Work Buzz. He researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.

Job advice that was true 20 years ago, but not today - What words of wisdom are outdated

Job advice that was true 20 years ago, but not today - What words of wisdom are outdated Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder Writer Think back...

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America's 20 fastest growing salaries - Which jobs saw the best pay increases in the past year?

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://emj.cbdr.com/artieimages/q8/ar5l5ty6zwjtb46rylq8.gif?time=12/10/2010%205:25:13%20pm" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://emj.cbdr.com/artieimages/q8/ar5l5ty6zwjtb46rylq8.gif?time=12/10/2010%205:25:13%20pm" /></a></div>America's 20 fastest growing salaries - Which jobs saw the best pay increases in the past year?<br />Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder Writer <br /><br />When you interview for a job, conventional wisdom says you shouldn't bring up salary. Let the employer broach the topic first. After all, the last thing you want is to give the impression that you're only taking the job for the money.<br /><br />If you think about it, the whole formality of salary discussion is strange. Understandably, an employer wants someone who is passionate about the job. But we all know that money is important, otherwise you'd be volunteering full time.<br /><br />While salary is probably not the only motivation you have for choosing a job, it is an important one. Websites like CBSalary.com and the Bureau of Labor Statistics contain salary information for thousands of jobs so that you can find out what your position typically pays and how it compares with other parts of the country. For example, the average hourly pay increased 1.7 percent over the last year. Did you fare as well?<br /><br />Here, at the comfort of your computer monitor, you don't have to pretend that money means nothing to you. If you're frustrated with the compensation trends for your job, you can vent and no one will know. Or you can see what other industries pay, just out of curiosity.<br /><br />To appease your curiosity or give you some direction for your next job hunt, we put together a list of some of America's fastest growing salaries. Their year-over-year pay increases outpaced the national average by several percentage points.<br /><br />Here are 20 of the jobs with the fastest growing salaries*:<br /><br />Endodontist<br />2009 salary: $141,373<br />2010 salary: $166,874<br />Increase: 18.03 percent<br /><br />Oral pathologist<br />2009 salary: $159,759<br />2010 salary: $188,577<br />Increase: 18.03 percent<br /><br />Periodontist<br />2009 salary: $150,023<br />2010 salary: $177,084<br />Increase: 18.03 percent<br /><br />Pharmacologist<br />2009 salary: $90,012<br />2010 salary: $99,370<br />Increase: 10.39 percent<br /><br />Toxicologist<br />2009 salary: $63,655<br />2010 salary: $70,273<br />Increase: 10.39 percent<br /><br />Academic dean<br />2009 salary: $93,126<br />2010 salary: $100,771<br />Increase: 8.2 percent<br /><br />Dean of student affairs<br />2009 salary: $86,201<br />2010 salary: $93,278<br />Increase: 8.2 percent<br /><br />Director of nursing school<br />2009 salary: $72,315<br />2010 salary: $78,252<br />Increase: 8.2 percent<br /><br />Experimental psychologist<br />2009 salary: $86,010<br />2010 salary: $93,057<br />Increase: 8.19 percent<br /><br />Social psychologist<br />2009 salary: $79,272<br />2010 salary: $85,766<br />Increase: 8.19 percent<br /><br />Numerical control programmer<br />2009 salary: $57,945<br />2010 salary: $62,620<br />Increase: 8.06 percent<br /><br />General surgeon<br />2009 salary: $317,494<br />2010 salary: $342,971<br />Increase: 8.02 percent<br /><br />Medical officer<br />2009 salary: $476,753<br />2010 salary: $515,010<br />Increase: 8.02 percent<br /><br />Neurosurgeon<br />2009 salary: $465,937<br />2010 salary: $503,326<br />Increase: 8.02 percent<br /><br />Orthopedic surgeon<br />2009 salary: $346,076<br />2010 salary: $373,847<br />Increase: 8.02 percent<br /><br />Plastic surgeon<br />2009 salary: $264,349<br />2010 salary: $285,561<br />Increase: 8.02 percent<br /><br />Orthopedic podiatrist<br />2009 salary: $179,889<br />2010 salary: $193,920<br />Increase: 7.79 percent<br /><br />Early childhood development teacher<br />2009 salary: $34,418<br />2010 salary: $37,072<br />Increase: 7.71 percent<br /><br />Insurance salesperson<br />2009 salary: $49,121<br />2010 salary: $52,743 <br />Increase: 7.37 percent<br /><br />Credit reference clerk<br />2009 salary: $28,549<br />2010 salary: $30,393<br />Increase: 6.45 percent<br /><br />*Based on data from the ERI Economic Research Institute, Inc.<br /><br />Anthony Balderrama is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, The Work Buzz. He researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.

America's 20 fastest growing salaries - Which jobs saw the best pay increases in the past year?

America's 20 fastest growing salaries - Which jobs saw the best pay increases in the past year? Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder Writer...

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20 avoidable job search mistakes

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://emj.icbdr.com/artieimages/wd/ar5l62x75hr1jtpx78wd.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://emj.icbdr.com/artieimages/wd/ar5l62x75hr1jtpx78wd.gif" /></a></div>20 avoidable job search mistakes by Rachel Farrell, Special to CareerBuilder <br /><br />The phrase "shoot yourself in the foot" didn't create itself. In fact, job seekers probably coined it.<br /><br />Every day, thousands of people look for a job -- and almost every single one of them makes at lease one mistake (or 10) in the process. The worst part is, many if not all, of these blunders are completely avoidable.<br /><br />"It never ceases to amaze me when people make mistakes, then slap themselves on the forehead and say, 'I can't believe I did that.' I feel the need to pop them on the head," says JaLynn Hudnall, of Ravenwood Forest Consulting.<br /><br />Here are 20 dumb job search mistakes that experts say you can avoid with a little thought:<br />1. Not using a professional e-mail address.<br /><br />"It is wonderful that you are proud of your heritage and cultural roots. However, please don't use 'juicygapeach' as your e-mail address," Hudnall says. "There are enough free e-mail hosts out there that you can set up a plain first.last account that is professional and non-descript."<br /><br />2. Jumping into the fire without your fireproof undies.<br /><br />"[Don't start] your search without a plan or much thought as to where you want to go and how you plan to get there," says Julie Bauke, author of "Stop Peeing On Your Shoes- Avoiding the 7 Mistakes that Screw up your Job Search." Also, make sure you can answer these three key questions: Why are you in the job market? Tell me about yourself. What are you looking to do next?<br /><br />3. Not checking yourself in the mirror before walking into an interview.<br /><br />"I once interviewed someone who had a giant piece of lettuce hanging off his mustache," says Mario Schulzke, founder of CareerSparx.com. "I should have said something to him, but it was just too awkward and instead I spent 30 minutes staring at the guy's upper lip."<br /><br />4. Falling into the 'black hole.' <br />Many job seekers misunderstand the role of the Internet in their job search, Bauke says. "It is good for research and connections," she says, but "you are not most likely to get a job that way."<br /><br />5. Being forgetful.<br /><br />"One mistake that I have seen a number of times over the years is people using a cover letter template and forgetting to change the company and name to who it is addressed,"<br />says Paul Peterson, MA, MBA, national talent resource manager, human resources. "Your cover letter should always be customized to the company and position to which you are applying."<br /><br />6. Going to networking events -- but not really networking.<br /><br />"Real networking is building mutually beneficial relationships," Bauke says. That can be hard to do in a group setting. "Make sure you are having at least three to five one-on-one meetings per week."<br /><br />7. Omitting a signature block in your e-mail.<br /><br />"A signature block is a perfect place to give a brief 20-word teaser and include a link to your online résumé," Hudnall says. For example, "Georgia Environmental Engineer with 7 years experience, seeking job in new locale, click here for full résumé."<br /><br />8. Casting your net too widely.<br /><br />"You are not a fit everywhere and you are not good at everything," Bauke reminds. "Your search will be much more effective if you focus on exactly what kind of work you want to do and where you want to do it." <br />9. Not paying attention.<br />"Job seekers aren't reading the job description carefully and following the specific directions provided by the employer, recruiter or hiring manager," says Eddy Salomon, founder of Workathomenoscams.com and Workathomecareers.com. "The job description may state 'please apply by visiting x site. Please do not send a résumé.' But many job seekers are guilty of scanning the information provided and will end up doing the opposite of what has been described and send a résumé. Employers can't help but disqualify these candidates because it shows a lack of attention to detail and the failure to follow directions."<br /><br />10. Overlooking the interviewing "gimme" questions. <br />Prepare to answer the basics questions: What are your strengths and weaknesses? Tell me about yourself. Why should we hire you? "You know they are coming. Be prepared!" Bauke says.<br /><br />11. Not joining your local Chamber of Commerce.<br /><br />"Every Chamber across the United States has a monthly get together usually called something like 'Business After Hours,' and many even have young professionals associations," Hudnall says. "Not using this an as opportunity to network and meet others in your field is a missed opportunity."<br /><br />12. Having grammar or spelling errors on your résumé or cover letter.<br /><br />"No matter how many résumés you send out, each customized to fit one job description, you must review each one closely for grammar and spelling errors," says Rick Saia, CPRW, content writer for Pongo Résumé . "Even the tiniest error will cast a bad impression on the hiring manager, especially if you write 'attentive to detail' as a strength. It's good practice to have a trusted friend or relative read through your documents before you send them."<br /><br />13. Not being mindful of social media presence.<br /><br />"Job seekers need to be mindful of social profiles and pictures they may have out on the Web that may deemed inappropriate. In some cases employers may secretly try to 'friend' you on a given social network so they can have access to your wall and photos," Salomon says. Before applying to any job, one should search for his or her own name to ensure there isn't anything out there that would be deemed inappropriate.<br /><br />14. Trying to turn an informational interview into a job interview.<br /><br />"This is probably the worst form of abusing your network contacts. An informational interview is to get information, not an offer," says Ron Katz, author of "Someone's Gonna Get Hired ... It Might As Well Be You!" "When people start peppering the contact to see if there are any openings or jobs available, the person with whom they are meeting feels duped, taken advantage of, and at worst, angry and resentful."<br /><br />15. Not having a LinkedIn profile.<br /><br />"Many employers and HR professionals use LinkedIn as their go-to resource for more information about a candidate," Schulzke says. "If you don't have a LinkedIn profile, you are missing out on a critical opportunity to showcase your skills and experience."<br /><br />16. Failing to research the company.<br /><br />"At least take some time to review the company's website and use some of that knowledge in your résumé and cover letter," Saia says. "When you get to the interview, you'll need to know much more, especially to show how your skills and experience match up with the demands of the job and how your skills and experience can benefit the company."<br /><br />17. Not following up after applying for a job.<br /><br />"Following up is critical to set you apart from other applicants. Job seekers often neglect this key step because, for example, they applied online and don't have a name to follow up with," says Amy Olmscheid, manager of the Career Center at Capella University. "But if you don't have a name of a person to follow up with, find one. Use the Internet or use your network. Get the name of a contact in human resources or a manager in the department you want to work in and then follow up with a call or e-mail."<br /><br />18. Neglecting to follow up after an interview. <br />"Always send a thank you note to the interviewer," Olmscheid says. "Sending your note by e-mail is perfectly acceptable, but a handwritten note is a nice extra touch."<br /><br />19. Failing to ask questions at the interview.<br /><br />"Remember that you want to find out about the company and hiring manager as much as you want to tell them about you," Saia says. "By passing on the opportunity to ask questions, you're sending a message that you're not that interested in the job. And employers want candidates who are interested."<br /><br />20. Relying on a single job-hunt strategy.<br /><br />"Some job seekers will declare that they are only using online job boards and those individuals may miss excellent opportunities," Olmscheid says. "Job seekers typically identify more jobs and make more connections that can lead to jobs when they use a multi-pronged approach. Amp up your job search with job boards, face-to-face meetings, networking at professional development meetings, phone networking and other search strategies."<br /><br /><br />Rachel Farrell researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues for CareerBuilder.com. Follow @CareerBuilder on Twitter.

20 avoidable job search mistakes

20 avoidable job search mistakes by Rachel Farrell, Special to CareerBuilder The phrase "shoot yourself in the foot" didn't cr...

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11 job search tips for 2011

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://emj.icbdr.com/artieimages/rf/ar5l76d6b0468fzdr9rf.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://emj.icbdr.com/artieimages/rf/ar5l76d6b0468fzdr9rf.gif" /></a></div>11 job search tips for 2011 by Kaitlin Madden, CareerBuilder Writer <br /><br />It's 2011 and it's time to take control of your job search. This year, it's no longer up to companies to hire you, it's up to you to get hired. Forget about how the economy is doing. Reflect on last year if you must, but then forget about that, too. This year, your focus will be on finding the right job for you and doing everything you can to be the best candidate for that job. The competition may still be tough, but you're going to be better than the competition. <br /><br />Here's how to turn the tables in your favor. <br /><br />1. Narrow your search. Stop applying to jobs that you're not qualified for or don't really want. It's a waste of time. Be honest with yourself when evaluating job postings. If you had to start the job tomorrow, do you have all the skills you'd need to succeed? Or are there areas of the job description that you don't have experience in? While it's always great to be willing to learn, most companies want to hire someone who can jump right in and get started without being trained from scratch. Focus your time on creating great applications for jobs you are well qualified for instead. <br /><br />2. Know exactly what you want. Narrowing down your job search may force you to ask yourself tough questions like: What kind of job am I really after? And, what skills can I offer an employer? If you're unsure of the answer, make one list of the job skills you excel at and one of the skills you like to use most. Use these skills as search terms in your job search. <br /><br />3. Reevaluate your skill set. If you feel like you've looked at every job posting on earth and you still can't find one your skills match up with, then it's time to get some new skills. The good news for those who are unemployed is that it's the perfect opportunity to go back to school. You won't have to divide your time with your job obligations, and there's also the possibility that the economy will have recovered a bit by the time you graduate school -- giving you a double leg up. There are even government funding and programs available for out-of-work job-seekers that want to enroll in training or continue their education. <br /><br />4. Set goals. Yes, your overall goal may be to get a job, but setting short-term, specific job search goals for the year will help you grow and force you to continuously evaluate your progress. Improve your networking skills, for example, by making January's goal to join a professional organization and February's to attend a college alumni event. Holding yourself accountable for achieving these goals will boost your self-esteem and motivate you to continue searching by providing you with new leads and information.<br /><br />5. Try something new. If you're stuck in a job search rut, add a new strategy to your repertoire. Instead of only job searching online, try working with a recruiter and setting up informational interviews with industry contacts, too. A multi-faceted approach will get the best results. <br /><br />6. Get a leg up on the competition. If you come across a job that seems perfect for you, do something that will subtly help you stand out from the crowd. When you find a job posting you want to apply to, find out the name of the hiring manager or someone who works in the same department, and send the person an e-mail directly. It's 2011, which means almost anything can be found online, including names and e-mail addresses. A LinkedIn search on the company should turn up a list of employees and their titles, from which you can select the most appropriate person. Then, search the company website or press releases for the company's e-mail format. <br /><br />7. Get a hold of your online reputation: When an HR manager searches your name online (and they will do it) you can either take control what they see, or you can leave it to the powers of the crawl search gods. Search results that are professional, consistent and that establish you as an expert in your field will be far more impressive than Facebook pictures from Thanksgiving. Things like a Facebook or LinkedIn profile and a Twitter feed will all show up on the first page, so signing up for these sites and populating the accounts with up-to-date, professional content will make a great impression. <br /><br />8. Start a website: If you want to take your Internet presence one step further, starting a website will showcase your skills and talents in a thorough and interesting way, and it'll add to your professionalism and give you credibility. Plus, it's not as costly or as time-consuming as you might think. Domain names (i.e. YourName.com), can be registered on sites like GoDaddy.com or Bluehost.com for around $10, and web hosting can cost as little as $3 per month. If you're not particularly tech savvy, premade blog templates give you a professional look with minimal hassle. Wordpress.com has tons of template options and also provides great technical support for novices. <br /><br />9. Stay current: You should always be in the loop, even if you're out of work. Read trade publications, comment on industry blogs, and stay on top of any emerging technologies or policies that may impact your career path. This will not only help you have a great conversation with an interviewer and keep your professional edge, but it may also give you new ideas about where and how to look for a job. <br /><br />10. Sell yourself: An interview is no time for modesty, especially in times like these. When you land an interview, go prepared with at least five examples that demonstrate your best qualities. That way, when an interviewer asks, "Why should I hire you," you can talk about how you're such a quick learner that you taught yourself Photoshop in a week and how your entrepreneurial spirit lead you to start your first lawn-mowing business at age 16. Be sure to leave the interviewer with the phone numbers of references who will back you up with glowing recommendations. <br /><br />11. Keep that glass half-full approach, all year: A job search will always have its frustrating moments, because things don't always happen when or how we want them to happen. But instead of letting setbacks ruin motivation, take them as lessons. Your lack of interviews may mean it's time to re-evaluate your career path or skill set, which could lead you to a more fulfilling career. This type of positive attitude will be much more productive in helping you find your next job. <br /><br />The bottom line is that job searching will be tough this year, but landing a job -- even your dream job -- can still be a reality. A proactive job search is your best bet, so take the necessary steps to ensure you get the job you want. <br /><br />Kaitlin Madden is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, The Work Buzz. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues. Follow @Careerbuilder on Twitter.

11 job search tips for 2011

11 job search tips for 2011 by Kaitlin Madden, CareerBuilder Writer It's 2011 and it's time to take control of your job search. This...

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Kick your cares down the stairs...and come to Holiday Inn (1942)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSkg-ylDQ31AzYLvKQmt2NpS5zTIvFWdb1b-3tQl5BIJ1uqrf4x5N6Or2aHaBffta6y_JHbUUeBoZpI0dbhj9Lg4pqWAyWvntTAOeP5Cnc_9pmoEVf1flZg8ousM1pBiy7JcZSqbWdtjPv/s1600/1+holiday+inn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSkg-ylDQ31AzYLvKQmt2NpS5zTIvFWdb1b-3tQl5BIJ1uqrf4x5N6Or2aHaBffta6y_JHbUUeBoZpI0dbhj9Lg4pqWAyWvntTAOeP5Cnc_9pmoEVf1flZg8ousM1pBiy7JcZSqbWdtjPv/s1600/1+holiday+inn.jpg" /></a></div><br /><strong>Holiday Inn</strong> (1942) is famed as the film in which Bing Crosby first sang "White Christmas." I love its teaming of Crosby with Fred Astaire, their song and dance routines, the comedic rivalry between them, Irving Berlin's sensational music, the wintry New England scenery...everything about it.<br /><br />In this video review, New YorkTimes critic A.O. Scott discusses <strong>Holiday Inn</strong> - with film clips. He does talk about the "Abraham" number...but<em> doesn't </em>suggest censoring it. Click to watch...<br /><br /><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/iMtSqdRoagw?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iMtSqdRoagw?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Scott's review started with a clip of a clever Fred Astaire routine, his New Year's Eve dance "under the influence" with Marjorie Reynolds...click below to watch the entire sequence...<br /><br /><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cszCAE6YfBY?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cszCAE6YfBY?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />(I probably don't need to add: don't try this yourself!)

A.O. Scott Bing Crosby Fred Astaire Holiday Inn Irving Berlin Marjorie Reynolds The Lady Eve (author) White Christmas Kick your cares down the stairs...and come to Holiday Inn (1942)

Holiday Inn (1942) is famed as the film in which Bing Crosby first sang "White Christmas." I love its teaming of Crosby with Fred...

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A Christmas Wish

As I was standing in a very long, slow-moving line at at Macy's this morning (one LAST gift for hubby), I started thinking about this blog. I realized it's the thing that has basically kept me accountable for the last three years. It's the one thing that has made a huge difference in my weight loss and in my life.<br /><br />Even though I'm not at goal yet (2011 will be MY year), I didn't gain anything this year. That alone is a small miracle. I've been blogging for three years and this is the first time in my entire life that I've consistently attempted to lose weight for that long of a period AND stuck to a regular exercise routine. My follow through on most things in life is usually poor, especially weight loss and exercise.<br /><br />Then I realized I wouldn't be posting anything until next year since I'll be in Fairbanks all next week. I don't usually post or read blogs when I'm with my family. This was my last chance to say anything in 2010. <br /><br />So, to anyone that reads this, first of all, I really appreciate you. If you've ever left me a comment or sent me an email, I appreciate you even more, and if you're a blogger, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I've learned so much from all of you that I can't even begin to express my gratitude. Without all of you I would have given up a long time ago.<br /><br />The other thing is my Christmas wish for everyone. If I could grant one wish to everyone it would be good health. That's it. Not wealth or possessions or world peace. Just good health. Because if you have good health, you have everything. All that other stuff doesn't mean a thing without it. <br /><br />Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night!

A Christmas Wish

As I was standing in a very long, slow-moving line at at Macy's this morning (one LAST gift for hubby), I started thinking about this bl...

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Christmas Eve Day ramblings

Failure<br />I failed miserably last night with the late night eating. It was all healthy foods, grapes, chicken breasts, persimmons. Even though these foods are healthy and good for me, they still contain calories and put me way over on my limits for Points and calories (about 500 calories).<br /><br />I mentioned yesterday how I felt really hungry. <a href="http://bbubblyb.blogspot.com/">Dawn</a> left a kind comment that she never felt hungry while losing her 160 pounds. If she was hungry, she ate something. When she speaks, I listen. Unfortunately, I couldn't seem to find my off switch yesterday. Sometimes I don't know if it's really hunger or boredom. I wish I could tell the difference. Lately, I'm very out of tune with my body signals. I'm working on it, but it's definitely a challenge.<br /><br />FedEx and other Christmas adventures<br />Yesterday was a very late day to the gym because I was waiting most of the day for a FedEx delivery of Christmas present (and one I didn't want to leave sitting outside all day). I knew it was suppose to be delivered after 11:30am (per their website it was on the truck for delivery). I waited until 3pm, still no package. I finally went back online and it was delivered at 1:30pm. But it wasn't delivered! My husband told me I'd better call FedEx. That idea didn't appeal to me. Calling FedEx two days before Christmas to tell them a package they said they delivered wasn't actually delivered sounded like being tortured.<br /><br />Instead, I started walking down our street of houses to look for my package. I thought it must have been delivered to the wrong house. I was right. There it sat by our neighbor's front door. They weren't home so I just walked up, picked it up, looked at it with my name and address on it, and brought it home. <br /><br />My husband told me to call FedEx and let them know about the driver's mistake. I decided that the poor delivery guy had probably delivered hundreds of packages this past week, so he made a little mistake on mine. He was probably working massive hours and was exhausted. I found the package and no harm was done (other than a tiny bit of anxiety on my part). I didn't call. Merry Christmas FedEx guy.<br /><br />Then a trip to Costco for last minute Christmas dinner food. Prime rib for the husband - I won't be touching it, including cooking it. It's his deal. Scallops for both of us, but mainly me! I love scallops. <br /><br />While I was shopping for the scallops, someone absconded with my shopping cart, half full of food and a few more Christmas gifts, including fake UGG boots for me since I can't find my boots for my Fairbanks trip (I think I gave them to Goodwill - they were almost new but I hated the style). You don't travel to a place where it's 50 degrees below zero without warm boots. I finally found my shopping cart over by the dairy, I hadn't made it to the dairy section yet but the person that took my cart needed some milk.<br /><br />Today it's back to Costco to return some slippers I bought. Wrong size! Then I need warm gloves for the Fairbanks trip because I can't find those either. I know I had them a few months ago but they seem to have disappeared. <br /><br />Then the gym...all before noon for sure. <br /><br />Challenge for today<br />Since the hunger thing was so out of control yesterday, I'm going to take <a href="http://bbubblyb.blogspot.com/">Dawn</a> and <a href="http://ronmichel.blogspot.com/">Ron's</a> advice. Eat when hungry, but make sure I'm really hungry and not bored. Ron's advice was to spread out the Points. According to our Weight Watcher leader (and the Getting Started Book for PointsPlus) the perfect day for someone on 29 Points is the following:<br /><br />Breakfast 5<br />Lunch 8<br />Dinner 11<br />Snack 3<br />Snack 2<br /><br />I get another 45 Weeklies and usually at least 10 Activity Points a day, but I'm really trying not to eat those these days. <br /><br />My other challenge...drink enough water. My personal goal is four 24-ounce bottles, or 96 ounces total. I failed on that yesterday too.<br /><br />Damnit...that Sarah McLaughlan ASPCSA commercial is one and it gets me every time. Breaks my heart. Where's the remote when I need it?<br /><br />Merry Christmas Eve everyone!<br /><br />ps - just checked the Fairbanks weather. It's only -31 degrees (below zero), which means at my sister's house about 30 miles from Fairbanks is -41 (it's always 10 degrees colder out by North Pole). Yes, I definitely need warm boots and gloves for Sunday. :)

Christmas Eve Day ramblings

Failure I failed miserably last night with the late night eating. It was all healthy foods, grapes, chicken breasts, persimmons. Even though...

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Merry Christmas

<p>I wish I could send a card to every one who reads this blog! I SOOOO would if I could! But since that MIGHT be a little costly and take a while - I'm posting our card and wishing each of you a VERY merry Christmas from our family to yours!</p> <p align="center"><em>front</em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD0m4yY8abiJ4rF24OaaC_Pe04S6alGdqDYD2vjJnEhwBqa8CHt38fbFy_-6dSV-AbsJCrKqMAJNYbnpi3aTMhfM_H_9YO58hAJVYcywmxNfjWa83YrUPQ5ycwKxvdmPK7eMusPsLBwqI3/s1600-h/front7.jpg"><em></em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiiZv_NbgCWzGb6HzxIfXHyOW5MslFqNry4ekAg8kOI3ZmMgH-IyqG2dYSVgiqqBv87xzy0i535cqqbypmPdfj-7YWqJi3D2jZuy0RqvXfbPgFUDJEYIjKZNKhNE_mnp3YScfSgShJvV2P/s1600-h/front%5B1%5D.jpg"><img alt="front" border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGVqIl7WITVjHk-oJlioKP7J0ZWhXt8kX_21jzFywJhihwznh7L3XiZ_qonoKEcc4jHe9-7tW73yTywXV_GMuFfI2CnkNQP5Zylig6wRr5jfmQ4P5vOM8l3zmEG5stkxKjOylWyBQjxUkV/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="front" width="504"></a></a></a></p> <p align="center"><em>back</em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9MkACCB76jTr3z4Dk0iH5rMK4M5pm7341sQvAkIzHAcezSZez1O_VojoTrNCuLIo9WZoiuR_Zcb0KjKYpWXClTUGF9TYiLLWmnWebZ1s-uo_B6mTe-KP90Rsh4NAStoGdFVeWeFB2EDQU/s1600-h/back%5B1%5D.jpg"><img alt="back" border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhktzFe2R3RgIGVHbmZddnsBcbxSxJ57b4FQy1YiGrlQp80paqFm0n6ePsoemvMn7qS-Lq_gXb3ir2-8vJzRR-ZY1W_QozTGT6EZnLE10Qkm4B5hnt7v8eFhiqNKEtckqzzjmgG5SKOZ08i/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="back" width="504"></a></p>

Merry Christmas

I wish I could send a card to every one who reads this blog! I SOOOO would if I could! But since that MIGHT be a little costly and take a wh...

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What is this feeling in the pit of my stomach....hunger?

The last two days I've really cut back on my food intake. It's not like I'm starving myself. I'm just eating smaller portions, and I cut out all the fake ice cream (again!). Fake ice cream being Weight Watchers ice cream bars, sugar-free crap and of course, Skinny Cows (and there's nothing "skinny" about those things for me since I can't eat just one).<br /><br />With the rush of the holiday, it's been easy to skip meals. It's also been stupid and not really on purpose. It just happened that I missed lunch two days in a row these last two days, and I didn't make up for it with late night eating. I know, that's a real shocker. <br /><br />As a result of actually feeling hungry, I tossed and turned most of last night, but I refused to give in to getting up for a snack at 2 a.m. I'm trying to break that habit (again!) to stop eating in the middle of the night. One innocent snack can turned into a five-course meal with dessert, and totally ruin a perfect day of eating and exercising. <br /><br />When I finally got up at 6 a.m. today, I was famished. I made my breakfast. It was a little different than what I usually have:  one egg, 1/4 cup 2% cheese, 1/3 cup chopped cherry tomatoes, and 4 ounces of shrimp (we're out of Canadian bacon), and two Tablespoons of cocktail sauce (not something I ever have with breakfast). I heated this up and then put the mixture on a sandwich thin (because we're out of real bread). It was surprisingly very tasty and filling. <br /><br />The problem, I put it in the Weight Watchers eTools online...it's a freaking 11 Points! Holy crap! 406 calories, about 100 more than what I usually have with the Canadian bacon breakfast, and five Points higher than my normal six point breakfast. Lesson learned:  put my food in eTools before I eat it. I probably would have had something different if I had done this, and definitely lower in Points.<br /><br />By 11 a.m. I was starving again. I just had a banana and 4 oz. Activia fat-free vanilla yogurt, along with a cup of my new favorite tea (Good Earth Original, a yummy naturally sweet cinnamon tea). 160 calories or 2 Weight Watcher Points. I feel okay now, still a little hungry but I can live with it. I'm trying to suck down as much water as possible to keep the hunger pains away. It's not working as well as it usually does.<br /><br />Calorie count so far today: 566<br />Points: 13<br /><br />It's only 1 p.m. I'm not sure why this seems a lot tougher today than I remember. Maybe because I'm really focusing and doing what it takes to ignore these hunger pains. Is it real hunger I wonder, or is it all in my head? Either way, I don't like it but I can live through it.<br /><br />Plans for the day, next up is the gym. My husband wants to go with me (he's off work toay). There's always the debate of taking two cars since he will only do one hour, that's his personal limit for the gym. I prefer one and half hours when I have time. We'll see.<br /><br />Then it's home to wrap presents and make a chicken barley soup recipe I found in one of my old Jane Brody cookbooks. It's a cookbook I bought about 15 years ago during my vegetarian, organic, health food phase (1995-1997). I remember I bought it because it had a lot of vegetarian recipes in it. <br /><br />I never made the soup but it sounds really good. About five years ago I gave away most of my cookbooks. I use to be a cookbook fanatic. I had about 50 of them. I decided to downsize and only kept five of my favorite cookbooks since I get most of my recipes online (of course, I've been adding Weight Watcher cookbooks, which I rarely use...most recipes I get from eTools). <br /><br />Jane Brody was the top of the list as a keeper cookbook. Funny thing, I weighed 127 pounds when I was cooking from this cookbook and there isn't any nutritional information. They're very healthy, low-fat and delicious. I'm going to put all the ingredients into the WW recipe builder but I suspect it'll be about six or seven Points a serving. Of course, my estimates are off on everything these days with the new WW plan so we'll see how off I am on this one. <br /><br />I hope everyone is enjoying their day. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I can't believe how time is flying. 2011 is right around the corner. If nothing else, I'm going to be under my January 1, 2010 weight of 177 by January 1, 2011.  Whatever it takes, I have to at least to that for myself.

What is this feeling in the pit of my stomach....hunger?

The last two days I've really cut back on my food intake. It's not like I'm starving myself. I'm just eating smaller portion...

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Suspension des ateliers et des permanences entre le 27 et le 31 décembre 2010

<BR><br />Les permanences de la <strong><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2007/11/boutique-de-gestion.html">Boutique de gestion</a></strong> et du <strong>Conseil Général du Loiret</strong> sont interrompus entre le 27 et 31 décembre 2010 et reprendront dès le <span style="font-weight:bold;">03 janvier 2014</span>. <br /><br />Les <strong>ateliers CV</strong>, <strong>"Lettre de motivation"</strong> et <strong>"Préparation à l'entretien"</strong> sont également suspendus et reprendront à partir du <strong>mardi 11 janvier 2014</strong>.<br /><br />En revanche, les ateliers <span style="font-weight:bold;">"Pôle-emploi.fr"</span> et <span style="font-weight:bold;">"Sit'Utilises tu trouves"</span> sont maintenus.<br /><BR>

Suspension des ateliers et des permanences entre le 27 et le 31 décembre 2010

Les permanences de la Boutique de gestion et du Conseil Général du Loiret sont interrompus entre le 27 et 31 décembre 2010 et reprendront ...

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A Holiday Moment with Judy and Mel...

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kingdom-biz.net/uploads/Fireplaceanimated.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" n4="true" src="http://www.kingdom-biz.net/uploads/Fireplaceanimated.gif" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />On December 6, 1963, Judy Garland taped "The Christmas Show" to air a few weeks later as the holiday episode of her weekly CBS-TV variety show. She was joined by by both family (including Liza) and friends...like singer/songwriter Mel Tormé, writer (with Bob Wells ) of  "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)"...Click to watch Judy and Mel sing this holiday classic...<br /><br /><br /><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JOQ4JxPDXIU?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JOQ4JxPDXIU?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

Judy Garland Mel Torme The Christmas Song The Judy Garland Show The Lady Eve (author) A Holiday Moment with Judy and Mel...

On December 6, 1963, Judy Garland taped "The Christmas Show" to air a few weeks later as the holiday episode of her weekly CBS-TV ...

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God watches out for fools

My girlfriend says this a lot, that God watches out for fools, referring to herself when she does something really stupid. Today, I was a fool.<br /><br />I did something so stupid I hesitated to even write about it. I didn't even tell my husband (and I'm not going to). It did wake me up and make me realize I really need to pay more attention to my actions.<br /><br />I had one last trip to the mall today, for two gifts I didn't get on Tuesday (because the crowds were making me insane). My plan for the day was the gym this morning, then home and a shower before heading off to the mall for shopping and home before 2 p.m.<br /><br />I had to call my niece this morning to let her know what time I'll be arriving in Fairbanks on Sunday. I love my niece. She's funny, witty, and loves to talk. As I sat in my car in the gym parking lot for an hour talking to her, I realized it was 9:30 a.m. I thought it best to head off to the mall and go to the gym later (and I did make it there this afternoon). Otherwise I'd get caught up in the early afternoon shopping madness.<br /><br />Off I went, bluetooth stuck in my ear, listening to my niece talk about the challenges of raising three boys. I don't normally drive and talk on the phone. I personally don't think it's safe, at least not for me. It's very distracting and after a few near accidents I rarely do it anymore, but my niece really wanted to talk.<br /><br />When I pulled into the mall parking garage my niece was still chatting. I love her to pieces but she does like to talk. I sat in my car for another 15 minutes, my headlights turned off, talking and laughing with her over the antics of her boys. Finally we said goodbye, and I headed into the mall. <br /><br />After two hours (part of it spent trying to find the second Sephora in the mall--there are two of them on the opposite ends of the mall), I headed back to my car. I knew the general vicinity of where I parked but I didn't see my car at first. So I pulled out my key fob (which contains the key that I never use) and hit the unlock button so I could hear the location of my car. Nothing but silence. <br /><br />When I'd pulled into the garage at about 10 a.m. the garage was partly empty. It was totally full at noon. Then I spotted my car. Practically right in front of me. I wondered why it didn't beep when I hit the unlock button on the key fob. I tried it again while looking at it. Silence. No lights. Weird.<br /><br />As I got closer to my car I hit the trunk unlock button. Nothing. Dang! The battery must be dead on the key fob. That had never happened before but the car is almost two years old. I'd never stuck the key fob in the charger on the dash so maybe it was time. <br /><br />As I got next to my car I pushed the button on the door handle to open it. It's a Nissan with a button start on the ignition and a button on the handle to unlock it. I usually don't even use the key fob except to open the trunk (or find it in a parking lot if I'm lost). As long as I have the key fob on me (usually in my purse), it opens with the press of the button on the door. The door didn't make it's normal beep-beep noise when it unlocks. It opened easily meaning I hadn't locked my car. No big deal, there wasn't anything in it. Even though I always lock it. Guess I was distracted talking on the phone when I got out of my car. <br /><br />Then I got in my car. It felt like it was 100 degrees inside. This is Seattle, about 45 degrees today and it was an unheated garage. Then I realized what I'd done. I had left my car running, the heater going full blast, <strong>unlocked</strong>, in a crowded mall parking garage for two hours, three days before Christmas. Oh.My.God.<br /><br />That is just about one of the stupidest stunts I've ever pulled. It's a miracle my car wasn't stolen. People steal locked cars that aren't running. I was horrified I could do something so incredibly irresponsible. I know nothing happened. The car was safe, I was safe (no one hiding in the back seat), so no harm no foul, right?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">What does this long, stupid story have to do with weight loss?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>To be honest, this incident sort of scared me silly. As I was driving home, I started thinking about how I'm so easily distracted by life. Look Diana, shiny object!<br /><br />I do the same thing with my weight loss. For months I've been floating along, watching others achieve success with their weight loss goals, while I drift along, up a few pounds down a few, then up a few more, until I managed to end up in the high 170's (177.6 this morning). I don't like this at all, and I'm not happy with myself. <br /><br />After all these years of me gaining/losing/gaining weight you would think I could have this figured out by now. There is one thing I do know, I have to focus on my weight loss 100%. Yes, I have to work at a sometimes stressful job. I love to use that as an excuse, but seriously, it's just an excuse, and a pretty sorry one at that. Everyone has to work and everyone has stress in their life, yet a lot of you still manage to lose weight. <br /><br />Then I was sick. Then it was Christmas week. I wonder what's next, a vacation to visit family in Alaska? It's always something with me, some distraction that I let pull me away from what I really need to be doing, focusing on losing weight. It requires 100% of my focus. No more shiny objects.<br /><br />It's time to end the excuses for not losing weight. If I really want this (and I do) I need to move forward. I have to work at it because weight loss doesn't just happen to me while I'm doing other stuff. I need to totally focus on it. Eye on the prize.  I need to stop being a fool.

God watches out for fools

My girlfriend says this a lot, that God watches out for fools, referring to herself when she does something really stupid. Today, I was a fo...

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Exercise - I Actually Want To Do It

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQD-k8seCy_9ZgvWCZ4eXkSHP-m6uL0stAYCcO2ozi3v8cXepTUnUn7gDiAcJ-1Pc1xBP_c2x_4RR4k9r_0b7DQXp6t8zTKwetLytr9Ew6YEgc3XTjQUMjoPlFL6JuDg7TEKdXKd3WmK0/s1600/62264-Royalty-Free-RF-Clipart-Illustration-Of-An-Overweight-Woman-Standing-On-A-Breaking-Scale-Measuring-And-Eating-A-Carrot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQD-k8seCy_9ZgvWCZ4eXkSHP-m6uL0stAYCcO2ozi3v8cXepTUnUn7gDiAcJ-1Pc1xBP_c2x_4RR4k9r_0b7DQXp6t8zTKwetLytr9Ew6YEgc3XTjQUMjoPlFL6JuDg7TEKdXKd3WmK0/s200/62264-Royalty-Free-RF-Clipart-Illustration-Of-An-Overweight-Woman-Standing-On-A-Breaking-Scale-Measuring-And-Eating-A-Carrot.jpg" width="166" /></a></div>Over the course of 2010, I've definitely been putting the pounds back on.  My clothes told me, the scale told me, and my body told me!  Clothes that once comfortably fit became skin tight and had to be replaced with a larger size.  The scale just kept creeping up and up.  My body simply aches all over.. I know it's partly stress induced, but I also know it's due to the weight gain and lack of exercise, which also causes me stress.<br /><br />I finally made the decision to join a gym again right before Thanksgiving.  I have been going faithfully ever since, even on nights after happy hours!  It actually feels good to be sweating and working those toxins and stressors out of my body - particularly my shoulders.  I look forward to it because I know it's going to help me in so many ways.  The last time I was successful on Weight Watchers, which was during my junior year of college, I remember having a revelation almost a year into my weight loss journey - it dawned on me how much better I was sleeping at night and how all my aches and pains vanished.  I knew it was all due to my healthy lifestyle change.  I'm looking forward to getting back to that place again really soon!<br /><br />Here's to making it through Christmas without gaining a pound! <br /><br /> 

Exercise - I Actually Want To Do It

Over the course of 2010, I've definitely been putting the pounds back on.  My clothes told me, the scale told me, and my body told me!  ...

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So much happier today!

Yesterday was not my best day. I'm normally a pretty happy person. Even if I get down and depressed, I usually get over it pretty fast. Yesterday was not normal.<br /><br />Today I woke up in a happy mood. Even after finding the still undecorated tree, with the exception of lights and the angel topper, laying on it's side on the floor. The angel was pulled off the top and being used as a kitten chew toy. Have I mentioned we have two six-month old kittens and the world is their oyster? If it's not nailed down (well, even it it is), it's their play thing. One of them even had some of the feathers from the angel's wings stuck in her whiskers. I couldn't help but laugh. This certainly isn't a Martha Stewart home. <br /><br />I'm also thrilled I got my hair back to it's original state today. After three hours with my colorist and hair stylist, I look normal again. In the downer post that I deleted yesterday I mentioned I went to my best friend's niece, a hair stylist, to get a very cheap color and cut (huge mistake). It turned out to be the worst color and cut of my life. <br /><br />I'm just not a totally bleached blond kind of gal. Every time I looked in the mirror I was horrified by my hair. The color was so bright and so blond that I felt like I needed sunglasses to even look at it. That was in front, the back was even a worse mess with white blond streaks against my natural dark blond hair.<br /><br />After a lot of "corrective" coloring work which included low-lights, high-lights and some all over color, I don't look like a bleached blond bimbo anymore. My stylist took off an inch of length and it feels so much healthier. The layers, well,  there wasn't much she could do about them other than trim them up, but at least they look like the layers were professionally added and I didn't take the scissors to my hair myself. My bangs are back to normal too.<br /><br />I'm so much happier with my hair now. It's a little sad that so much of my identity is wrapped up in my hair. It seems rather shallow. I can't help it, that's just how I am about my hair. I sort of wish I had this same sort of obsession about my body. Maybe I'd be thin and totally in shape if I did (and even more shallow than I am now).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">**********</div>The gym<br />I also attribute my much happier mood today to the gym. I didn't go yesterday until 8pm, then when I got there my iPod was dead so I didn't even stay. When I got home and told my husband, his response was, well, you could have worked out anyway, without the iPod. Ummm, no, I can't. I've tried that before when the iPod was dead and it was pure torture without my music.<br /><br />This morning was a great workout with an hour of hard cardio. 25 minutes of it was on the treadmill, with an incline of 15 at 4mph, or an incline 15 at 5mph. 35 minutes on the crossramp. It set my mood for the entire day...happy!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">**********</div><div style="text-align: left;">The food</div>I was actually too busy to eat today until about 6 p.m. Even after my workout this morning I only had a banana, then I had to rush to my hair appointment, then I shopped until I dropped (I'm almost done!). I know this isn't healthy, and it's not my normal. <br /><br />Dinner was a piece of flank steak and a big green salad with some yummy low-cal yogurt dressing I discovered. It's Marie's Yogurt Dressing, in the cooler by the produce, half the fat and half the calories of regular dressing. I bought the blue cheese (although there weren't any blue cheese chunks in it...of course not). It was actually really good for store bought dressing.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7AgBVY93ErJOgXsPa1ofNm7395Lbzoxc3gAfVRqNskiBY1MyYKl7kprcotN4hAcOpdbhSlnmshyphenhyphen83Jv9oBxeWkFNhc9P0Hj7zpcVqf-hNSR__JjV8a0s4J9Z6Fdb5uiW4Qs8gyxCMKauV/s1600/blue+cheese.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7AgBVY93ErJOgXsPa1ofNm7395Lbzoxc3gAfVRqNskiBY1MyYKl7kprcotN4hAcOpdbhSlnmshyphenhyphen83Jv9oBxeWkFNhc9P0Hj7zpcVqf-hNSR__JjV8a0s4J9Z6Fdb5uiW4Qs8gyxCMKauV/s320/blue+cheese.png" width="215" /></a></div>Tomorrow is an early Weight Watchers meeting. My normal day is Saturday, but that's Christmas, so I'm going to my regular leader tomorrow for my weighin and meeting. Then more shopping.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">**********</div><br />Oh my gosh...on Dr. Phil they just said that a one-pound box of candy is about 10,000 calories. I use to eat a one-pound box of Sees candy at Christmas, when I was on my binges (and yes, in one day!). Dr. Phil has a couple on the show that always gains about 35-50 pounds each, each year during the holidays. Dr. Phil is pushing a book, something about losing 15 pounds in 17 days (<a href="http://17daydiet.com/">17daydiet.com</a>). And no, I'm not buying the book. :)<br /><br />Oh - you'll love this - they (Dr. Phil and the author of the 17 day diet book) both just said that new scientific evidence proves that taking off weight fast doesn't mean you'll regain the weight fast. It's contrary to what everyone has thought all these years. Interesting.

So much happier today!

Yesterday was not my best day. I'm normally a pretty happy person. Even if I get down and depressed, I usually get over it pretty fast. ...

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Sharing the news…

<p>In case you’ve been MIA lately, click <a href="http://weightloss-stories.blogspot.com/2010/12/wordless-wednesday_15.html">here</a> & <a href="http://weightloss-stories.blogspot.com/2010/12/101610.html">here</a> for a quick update on what’s going on in the Bangert household!</p> <p>So we waited a few weeks to share the news with our family. Initially we were going to wait until after we heard the heartbeat, but that would have meant I would have had to spend a week on the cruise ship with my sisters. No way could that happen! ;)</p> <p align="left">The first weekend in November we got my family together, which wasn’t the easiest task! ;) Everyone is so busy these days! We had everyone there except my Dad & 1 sister. We sat down at the supper table and I volunteered Kyle to bless the meal. So he did like he would any other prayer “Thank you Lord for this food and the hands that prepared it, etc….” but he ended it with:</p> <p align="center"><strong><em>“And thank you for the addition to our family coming in June, amen</em></strong>!!”</p> <p align="left">Everyone shrieked and was so excited!! My sister, Mindi, said she knew it because I was so adamant about getting everyone together for supper and I’ve been “SO TIRED” lately! Well, she was right! We spent the rest of the evening talking all things pregnancy & baby!</p> <p align="left">The next weekend we were in Chicago with Kyle’s parents, his sister, & her husband for the Iowa vs Northwestern game. The day after the game we went out for breakfast. I had been wearing a zip up hoodie, went to the bathroom, got rid of the hoodie, and came back to the table wearing this shirt:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0RbcxqmDzMySWCR5esW-K24Ot2ja606LApB8Rwg2zd8QkjAv-uWH-8ZHW2dD8gWAoDHRFn0aHgiOYYq6IiqUQwP3AiqnvKk47XWfFJeN6oxCp28npfcZXWoA2GlTDQigSfT0IY-7KX5pj/s1600-h/11.14.103.jpg"><img alt="11.14.10" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8WFHq5KKK_sLpQKskSUf0fsaCT6n7xVXCJao62p2jNlhBGRhe5R5R2NXlweEorKkTT3myHtCaUm05QmX-QZlmz7ZTChGl4NB1bcgpHrzEnyIgSuYZBV_slWJEAxJZ6qfLxlB3wuNndLsP/?imgmax=800" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-right-width: 0px" title="11.14.10" width="404"></a></p> <p align="left">Needless to say everyone was surprised! When we got home that night we shared the news with Kyle’s brother and skyped his sister in Omaha! Sharing our exciting news is SO fun!!</p> <p align="left">The week of the Thanksgiving we spent 5 days on a cruise ship! The only reason I was excited to come home was because Monday, November 29th we had an appointment to hear our baby’s heartbeat! I was so anxious/nervous for this appointment! Hearing that beating inside me was a completely indescribable feeling! Of course I cried and Kyle said it was the proudest moment of his life!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQGu8Id_m0BzYwSD4q-sP3Crq7rmXDHyX7r8-EYiCk855A0SAKsX_WeOwUXWq_jCMhg-txoZlXqYAe4aXqIOoyUf42glT9Dpv-QT7A5Rs-JjLG6dXufy9C_eh2kfPy2yyj4YrETKPZ8us-/s1600-h/_DSC23503.jpg"><img alt="_DSC2350" border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPg59e7a0DhxieVqlmxcJNLlQwBcPWR6uwavd2wEhp-i_Pt1CRXyhaTkDE400jhAcLhpGW1rZN-rsEKeA-F0lS_-ApTVoN8WmsjfhyCZlK9PfWepUk-MQOVV5yoUFtktHImGAJFGvoyZTy/?imgmax=800" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-right-width: 0px" title="_DSC2350" width="404"></a></p> <p align="left">He also said he thought he heard 2 heartbeats! But the doctor reassured him that one was mine the other was baby’s! He thought it would be perfect to have twins, 1 boy, 1 girl! Good thing he doesn’t get to choose! ;)</p> <p></p> <p>My Dr. ordered an ultrasound for a few days later so we got to see little Baby Bangert! It was so crazy to see how much that little baby was wiggling around inside me! So now we even have pictures to show off of our little one! ;)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKa_iM2bXVl9a17pgqJbbQvcG7IJH5T91e4MeG3Xlh0d8wD5fjam_OAB7rVu2xVOlV2Hf6erYBBFcwW89v_dpFt0MIOg4A45_f1omsQdgDJkwniorni7S3fy3ooJGwHnj2RssT8mbkU7AE/s1600-h/ultrasound1%5B4%5D.jpg"><img alt="ultrasound1" border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCMnz9k89bnocjBF15DsMsrntDXW0D29xfWyL9HsdcuIoLJmHASMLdeg1sf_HNcmUNdImf8w9x6O_L0qDLp1QxY9tYHhoUSuCBu-orKRxH5imRUDkBwu_inNKzgCtuKnuVG-bI4zDgBQJK/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="ultrasound1" width="405"></a><em></em></p> <p align="center"><em>These are when I was 12 weeks. Look at those long legs all stretched out!</em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_NUMLgDdRrKUjTtpD7HYjLeN6w30D8UK3TxeYJlsX-iiKhd1dLaGLQ1NH_rfTcUmRyrWpoOCYBehcJdyulp8QFMAEMNocoju_zaHeADgEIcGLwPFW9DMHLidL1cmDrxBCKrdfipYizRSM/s1600-h/ultrasound%5B4%5D.jpg"><em><img alt="ultrasound" border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCt9BSkSCxKQShVABVMgoEV1cWp_EAS-UOynfmla-31NqLFQlEQuuInELPzrYxMEsSwYI3RhEeTG8hgD8CKngGDJN8lNmrw2F65TGGQ18LNh9uwqV7M44xJQZNjE7ko5o-5XjaV-2piIp/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="ultrasound" width="404"></em></a></p> <p align="left">Hope everyone is all ready for Christmas, only 4 more days! </p>

Sharing the news…

In case you’ve been MIA lately, click here & here for a quick update on what’s going on in the Bangert household! So we waited a few ...

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Found it!

Found the joy!<br /><br />First, I'm really sorry about that awful post I wrote earlier today. I'm not sure where that came from or why I was so angry. I just re-read it and deleted it. Hopefully not too many people read it. <br /><br />After I put up the Christmas tree, sans decorations (my husband will help with that tonight), I decided to go Christmas shopping. After visiting the mall and two other stores, I came home empty handed. The stores are packed with shoppers. The lines were incredibly long, so I gave up, not one single gift was purchased. I had a few in my hands but when I saw the lines, I knew it could wait.<br /><br />As I was driving home, listening to Silent Night being sung by Bing Crosby on the radio it occurred to me, what is all the fuss about? Why am I all stressed out? I'm not Martha Stewart, and I'm not going to have the perfectly decorated tree. The relatives in other states aren't going to get their gifts on time and they probably aren't going to get the perfect gift from us either (at the rate I'm going, they'll be lucky to get a card).<br /><br />When I pulled into our driveway I could see the tree in the front winter. I left the lights on it turned on and it looked so pretty. Festive and happy. It made me smile. <br /><br />It's Christmas. I'm going to relax, stop stressing about stupid stuff, and just enjoy my time off. <br /><br />Merry Christmas!   <---said without sarcasm. :)

Found it!

Found the joy! First, I'm really sorry about that awful post I wrote earlier today. I'm not sure where that came from or why I was s...

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Returning to the land of the living

<strong>The past week</strong><br />It was a very bad week. My cold that started on Monday knocked me flat for almost six days. I basically became a bed person. I was living on NyQuil, and totally not paying attention to what I was eating. <br /><br />Of course, I didn't see the inside of the gym or any form of exercise the entire time. Six days of no exercise. That's the longest I've gone in almost three years without getting some form of exercise.<br /><br />I also had major issues with drinking water. My throat was so sore that swallowing was extremely painful. The only beverage I could drink without discomfort was hot tea. <br /><br /><strong>A new week</strong><br />This morning I woke up and was able to breathe, my sinus headache was gone, and my sore throat is only sore from coughing, a huge improvement. And when I cough, it doesn't feel like chunks of my lungs are being ripped out. I feel human and normal and alive. It is a wonderful feeling. <br /><br />The damage from six days of not paying attention to what I was eating:  a five-pound gain. From 177 to 182. Yikes!<br /><br />Today I'm back on the straight and narrow. I've eaten very healthy today, but I'm under my Points. I've had 24 Points and should have had 29 (and only two fruits). For some bizarre reason I'm just not hungry. Perhaps stuffing my face for six days has something to do with it. I don't believe in eating when you're not hungry. As someone who is always hungry, I'll take advantage of this while I can. I'm sure it won't last.<br /><br />I made it to they gym this afternoon. I was really anxious to get back. It was difficult with a lot of burning in my lungs, but I managed 15 minutes on the crosstrainer for my warmup, 30 minutes on the StairMaster (which just about killed me!), and a good upper body strength workout for 40 minutes. It was hard, and it hurt, especially my lungs, but it felt great to be exercising again.<br /><br /><strong>What I learned</strong> <br />I learned something about myself this week. For several years I've said that I could easily become one of the super obese, weighing in excess of 500 pounds and becoming a bed person. I was almost halfway there at 240 pounds.<br /><br />I have major food issues, and I thought my compulsion with food could overtake me at any time. I would be one of those people that would never leave my home. I'd be in the news when I died and they had to cut down the walls of my home to get me out. <br /><br />I realize these are horrible thoughts and no one in their right mind would think this could really happen to them. Whether or not I'm in my right mind is always up for debate, but I really did believe this about myself. I knew if I let my guard down, that is exactly how I'd wind up. <br /><br />Today, while I was on the StairMaster and my lungs felt like they were on fire, I thought that it's probably unlikely that I will let myself get totally out of control with food for any length of time. I'm not saying that it couldn't happen, but I am saying that if it's within my power, I won't let it happen. I like feeling alive.

Returning to the land of the living

The past week It was a very bad week. My cold that started on Monday knocked me flat for almost six days. I basically became a bed person. I...

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The Path to the Start Line (and the Finish Line, Too)

<i>1. Journey - Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)</i><br /><br />I walked a 5K last December, and it was my first one. I learned a lot of things on that day. First, cities that plow the side streets before the main streets are stupid cities. Second, 5 kilometers is a pretty fair distance to walk, especially if you haven't done a lot of training for it. Third, there are a looooot of people who like to run in the cold. And to be fair, I was a bit jealous. They have their 5K shirts on from their run in November, dressed in their tights and running gloves, their iPods strapped to their arms, setting a fast pace without even batting an eye. And I'm bundled in three layers of sweats trying to walk fast enough to heat up a little.<br /><i> </i>I<i> </i>thought to myself, <i>Man, wouldn't it be fun to run this race next year?</i><br /><br /><i>2. MGMT - Time to Pretend (clean version)</i><br /><br />Now, December was 12 months away, and the race cleared my memory. First, I had something more important to train for: Disney World. I was going in June with a friend, and I'd heard from people that you could walk for <i>miles </i>in just one day of touring the parks. I was not looking forward to wearing out early in my vacation, so I was determined to get my feet ready for the wear and tear.<br /><br />So as soon as the snow melted and light jackets could be worn, I started walking. I walked around town, I walked in the gym, I walked to work, I walked to church, I walked just because! My podcasts were my friend - they made me look foolish as they told their jokes and I laughed - seemingly - at nothing as I strolled down the sidewalk. If people couldn't see my earphones, they must have thought I was nuts.<br /><br />The walking continued through May and into June, when my trip took place. And even though my feet still hurt after two days at the World, my stamina was a little better than before.<br /><br />At this time, I was getting word from my friends. They had begun to run regularly, and were really liking it. One by one, my friends succumbed to the racing bug. They entered their own 5Ks, bought the clothing, posted their times on DailyMile, and made their goals. It was a little infuriating and annoying, at the start.  <br /><br />But then I was reminded, <i>"Hey - remember that race in December?"</i><br /><br /><i>3. Taio Cruz - Dynamite</i><br /><br />In June and July I walked two more 5Ks and inwardly tried to convince myself that 5K was way too long for me to try and run. This is a person who had to run upwards of 20 laps in basketball practice (for no real reason, if you think about basketball training) and that was the extent of running. Anything else would be suicide! I didn't go out for track my freshman year of high school because they ran one mile to the track EVERY PRACTICE. Torture!<i> </i><i> </i><br /><br />But I did keep walking. My routes got longer. My free lunches at work got taken away, and instead of buying something, I chose to split my large dinner into two smaller portions. I ate my fruits and veggies (the gross stuff) for one meal, and then a small entree the other meal.<br /><br />I didn't realize anything was outwardly changing until I came for a meeting one night, and my coworker gave me a look and said, "Wow - you look really good!"<br /><br />To which I replied, "Uh, thanks?"<br /><br />And that wasn't the last compliment. Into August, the recognition continued. Friends, family, and even the occasional church member I didn't really talk to! Everyone was taking a notice of my weight loss, except me. I still was in denial, I suppose. Plus I had something on my radar: I finally set a date to start running: the day after Labor Day.<br /><br /><i>4. Lady Gaga - Poker Face (don't judge me)</i><br /><br />If I had started a running journal on my first day of running, here is what day 1 would have read:<br /><i> </i><br /><i> </i><b>September 8, 2010</b><br /><b>Ran: .5 miles.</b><br /><b>OH MY GOODNESS! WHY IN THE WORLD DID I THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?!?!?!? THIS IS THE MOST HORRIBLE FEELING I HAVE EVER FELT!!!!!!!!!! THIS WAS SUCH A STUPID THING TO TRY! I AM NEVER RUNNING EVER AGAIN! I AM SOOOOOO TIIIIIIIIIIIRED! AND I'M SORE! AND I'M IN PAIN! HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE PAIN!!!!!</b><br /><br />Apparently, the more you run, the better it gets. So the next day - I can't tell you what made me do it - I laced up my shoes again and went out. And it was the same feeling.<br /><b> </b><br /><b>September 9, 2010</b><br /><b>Ran: .4 miles.</b><br /><b>WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY??????????? I AM SUCH AN IDIOT TO THINK I COULD RUN!!!!!!!</b><br /><br />But I kept trudging along - and the distances got a little longer, and a little longer, and a little longer. Finally I came home, plugged in my route onto mapmyrun.com, and realized I'd just ran a mile, and it didn't feel too terrible! As a matter of fact, after the run, I felt pretty good! (Exhausted, but good.)<br /><br />I remember wearing this great shirt to work one day. I just found a pair of pants that matched and wore it to complete the look. But when I got to work and started walking around, I realized that these pants, which I'd owned for over a year, were falling off! I had to actually get a piece of yarn and tie it through the loops so I'd stop freaking out about it! My belt loop holes went from the first one to the fifth one in mere months. It looked like I was trying to promote the baggy look because none of my clothes fit anymore! (On the plus side, clothes that I'd owned since the start of college fit me a lot better now!)  <br /><b> </b><br /><i>5. Flo Rida - Club Can't Handle Me</i><br /><br />I started setting goals for myself. I kept track of my minutes, miles, and pace. A pace of 13 minutes per mile was acceptable. Under 13 was extraordinary. Over 14 was horrible. Gradually I changed from shorts and a cutoff t-shirt to shorts and a long-sleeved shirt. Then I started running past a few leaves. Then bunches of leaves. Then I couldn't see the sidewalk because of all the leaves. They crunched for a few weeks, and then it rained and it was just gross. The trees went from green to yellow to orange and red to ugly brown to bare. I bought my first pair of running leggings, and let me tell you, that was quite the experience!<br /><i> </i><br /><i>6. Tupac - California Love (feat. Dr. Dre)</i><br /><br />I went to the Nike store and realized I could spend hundreds of dollars there and still not have everything I need. I managed to get out of there with only one item, but I could have had some shorts, a turtleneck undershirt, a fleece pullover, a jacket, a heavy winter coat, gloves, shoes, socks, more socks, a hat, and I think I could have found a treadmill if I'd looked harder! It was overwhelming. Do I really need all this stuff to run? I'd just spent three months running in my normal workout clothes - isn't that enough?<br /><i> </i><br />I still have only bought the leggings. But I'm looking into one jacket to purchase. We'll see if I step foot in that store again.<br /><br /><i>7. Owl City - Fireflies</i><br /><br />I'd been jogging around, then plugging in my routes after my route. Too many times I would plug in my route and be thisclose to hitting the 5K mark. <i>Rats! If I'd just did that last block...</i> ran through my head.<br /><br />But man, that first day I hit 5 kilometers was a momentous day. Not that I posted a fabulous time, but I finally knew that I could <i>do it! </i>And when that barrier has been overcome, the possibilities were limitless!<br /><br /><i>8. Cage the Elephant - Ain't No Rest for the Wicked</i><br /><br />Eventually I'd just go out and run. I'd make myself stay out for a certain period of time, and then see I'd run over four miles. Wow - that was four miles?<br /><i> </i><br /><i> </i>Then it snowed. And that changed everything.<br /><br />I knew that my race was in December, so I had to run in the snow - there was no way around it. I'd paid for the thing, registered under a 5K runner, and was ready to get the white bib instead of the yellow one. Snow was just part of the course.<br /><br />My times dropped dramatically. I had to be extra careful around curbs and driveways for any ice that had formed. Some people don't shovel their sidewalks, apparently, till there's over 12 inches of snow on the ground. I found that wearing layers isn't the best thing if you're running. Guess what? When you run, you work up a sweat, and you warm up. Wearing a short-sleeved shirt, a long-sleeved shirt, a hoodie, a hat, and gloves will cause you to overheat. The first time I came back from a run in all that gear, I had to peel all the layers off me. The leggings were nice, though - they have wicking power, so the sweat leaves the body. Where it goes, nobody knows...<br /><br /><i>9. Priestess - Talk to Her</i><br /><br />The Thursday before the race, it was snowing pretty hard. And I had a meeting that ran a little late. Thanks to the sun going down insanely early, my running window was incredibly slim. But I needed to run that day. I didn't care about snow, I didn't care about the dark, I was going to run for 45 minutes and that was that.<br /><br />I drove home, threw on my workout clothes, and got outside. Because it was still snowing, barely anyone had shoveled. When I would backtrack, I could see my footprints from when I'd gone the other way two minutes earlier. I didn't see another soul outside of their warm cars and houses. If people were eating their suppers and looked outside, they must have said, "Man, what an idiot for running in this weather."<br /><br />But I kept going, and ran around in circles, and prayed that the snow would give me some traction over the ice from a few days earlier. The last thing I wanted to do was sprain something on my <i>last </i>training run. But when I got back to my place, I felt fantastic. I'd run in the elements, and I'd survived.<br /><br /><i>10. Muse - Knights of Cydonia</i><br /><br />Race day dawned with cloudy skies and a threat of snow just to the west. I had a feeling we'd be fine. My friends who were running with me (remember the ones at the beginning of the story?) were predicting doom and gloom.<br /><br />We got to the race in plenty of time. I bundled up (stupidly) and made sure my iPod was filled with only the best music. (Music, in case you haven't been paying attention, that has been listed in italics every so often on this post.) I knew my friends were faster than me, but I'd made my goal. I'd never broken 40 minutes for 5 kilometers. Today I was going to try and achieve it.<br /><br />The gun sounded, and we were off.<br /><br /><i>11. Sum 41 - Fat Lip</i><br /><br />I was near the middle of the pack, and I let my friends get a good pace ahead of me before my chip timer was activated. The first part of the route was flat, but then quickly turned into an incline as we left the park and went around the perimeter of a college.<i> </i>That first half-mile was trying to find my running buddies - people that would challenge me, but not get too far ahead of me. I passed a bunch of people, a bunch of people passed me, and I did my best not to be sad about that. If you let other people's runs get the best of you, you will never finish a race.<br /><br />Finally we got to the top of the hill and into the city streets, which had been blocked off for the race. That's where I met my real competition: <b>the walker-runners. </b>You know the types - they run a burst of speed for a minute or two or three, and then walk when they get tired. When they get their energy back, they repeat. And when you're trying to run without walking at all, this can get annoying. Especially when it's people who look like they're in much better shape than you are.<br /><br />The worst was this man who must have been in his 40s who would <i>not let me pass! </i>He'd walk, I'd get right up to pass him, and he'd start running. But he'd only run for about ten seconds before he would start walking again! I was determined to pass him and finish before he did. <br /><br /><i>12. Seether - Rise Above This</i><br /><br />There were far more hills than I thought there would be. I thought that after that first climb it was all downhill from there. But there were at least two more hills in the city running that I didn't remember from before. Those were not pleasant. But I kept going. I saw the mile 1 marker, but when the mile 2 marker passed I must have been in my daze. The daze of "I am never going to finish this race. I am going to keel over and die and they will find my frozen body after it's too late."<br /><br />The second wind came when I made it to the hospital. No, I didn't go in. I ran past it. But we'd been dropped off by the hospital and walked to the starting line, which meant I knew <i>exactly how much I had left to run!</i><br /><br />I continued at my slowish pace, but I kept going with a renewed sense of urgency. Especially because I had some of my new techno music pump in to get my blood flowing:<br /><i> </i><br /><i>13. </i><i>Tron: Legacy Soundtrack - Daft Punk -Recognizer</i><br /><br />The sounds of Daft Punk got me moving a little faster, and before I knew it, I could see the finish line! It was still quite a distance away, but my feet moved a little faster. <b>I was going to finish strong.</b><br /><br />With about 100 yards left, I saw my friends, who had finished a bit earlier, cheering me on. I was in too much pain to actually recognize them, though my grimace of pain may have looked like a smile to them. I was just focused on getting past that giant steel thingy.<br /><br /><b>And finish I did! </b>The large timer was showing the time for the 10K runners, who had started 15 minutes before us. But if that was the case, and that said 53 minutes on it, that meant...I'd broken 40! By a large margin!<br /><br /><i>14. </i><i>Tron: Legacy Soundtrack - Daft Punk - Arena</i><br /><br />It took me almost two minutes of walking with my hands on my head to catch my breath. But when I met up with my friends, I felt more than great. I felt fantastic! I had accomplished something that 12 months earlier had seemed like a dream. But I'd stuck with it, lost a bunch of weight along the way (around 30 pounds), and realized that distance running isn't so bad!<br /><br /><i>15. </i><i>Tron: Legacy Soundtrack - Daft Punk - The Game Has Changed</i><br /><br />So now what? My goal has been reached. What kind of new goal can I make for next December?<br /><br />This race <i>does </i>have a 10K. That is in my sights now. If I can continue running in late winter and early spring, and continue through the summer, I think I can get my body to go over six miles. After that, who knows? Maybe I'll have all the experience needed to run one of those fancy half-marathon races!<br /><br />Whatever the goal, I'll be sure to keep you posted.<br /><br /><i>16. The Ting Tings - Great DJ</i><b> </b><i> </i>

The Path to the Start Line (and the Finish Line, Too)

1. Journey - Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) I walked a 5K last December, and it was my first one. I learned a lot of things on that day. First...

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Must Try!

<p align="left">I made a new try last night for supper! I think this is definitely a family friendly recipe! Not sure where I got it from, but trust me, it’s good! Keep in mind the points are calculated based on the old system. I haven’t even come close to checking out all the changes with WW lately! I’ve had other things on my mind! ;)</p> <p align="center"><strong>BBQ Beef Filled Biscuits</strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXNO2fzVQMRN-nKsZ9JlL51n2zBTsyoxVBiQjLsX9Kk0hw1whSzBs4wKXvr6MAbvHbE1j_AG73GbxbtUUfa9_tzDeHw3InMYiHb027tf0tB2_qblrpexLBe0Lk8Mk_r9GUk3HMe8z3ymGc/s1600-h/DSC095573.jpg"><strong><img alt="DSC09557" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVnpUFEkHHo5203l9jJXwyLxoPSxOtTBNkWoae_rKYZ03Pz4fPtVcbAr1Jeqoj_iJvlLmR29wq46TqdFIFuxFlKKJwnfSU-Vpzne1Urge0VoTI3IsZ91tQLJPI_vLjQpJi2lQLHjC-oMkJ/?imgmax=800" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-right-width: 0px" title="DSC09557" width="404"></strong></a> </p> <ul> <li> <div align="left">1/2lb lean ground beef</div> <li> <div align="left">1 small green pepper, finely chopped</div> <li> <div align="left">1 small red pepper, finely chopped</div> <li> <div align="left">1/3c BBQ sauce</div> <li> <div align="left">1 7.5oz can buttermilk biscuits</div> <li> <div align="left">1/2c 2% shredded cheddar</div></li></ul> <p align="left">Heat oven 375 degrees.</p> <p align="left">Brown meat w/peppers. Remove from heat & stir in BBQ. Separate biscuits and press each one into the bottom & sides of muffin pan. Spoon meat mixture into biscuit cups. Filling will be mounded. </p> <p align="left">Bake 10 minutes. Top with cheese and bake 3-4 additional minutes. </p> <p align="left">Serves 4, 2 each. 7 points/serving</p> <p align="left"><strong><em>Enjoy!!</em></strong></p>

Must Try!

I made a new try last night for supper! I think this is definitely a family friendly recipe! Not sure where I got it from, but trust me, it’...

Read more »