Winter Motivation

It's hard to motivate yourself to keep jogging through the winter, well, at least it is for me.  Today it was -2C (28F) and 2 weeks ago it was -3C (26F).  Do you know how hard it is for a Florida native to grasp jogging in these temps?!

Some days I have to watch out for ice, today there was frost everywhere, and even a small snow flurry.  It's hard on your breathing, especially for someone with mild asthma like myself.  It takes you twice as long to warm up before you even get going.  You have to buy special clothes, and wear a hat & gloves, there is so much more to think about.  What happen to my fun, motivated, short (30-35 min) jog twice a week to keep fit?

Besides the weather we have been sick off and on for about a month now.  All of this is causing my pace times to go down, down, down.  This is really frustrating, because every time I get out there I want to see improvement.  There has been no improvement since winter hit back in December.

Usually after a month I switch up my playlist and jog/walk times.  Mostly because they have become too easy and I need to step it up.  I haven't adjusted my playlist in a while because I am struggling from beginning to end of the jog.  Finally I realized I just needed to do it, good or bad weather I needed to make it more challenging in order to get over this slump.  So in the weekend I adjusted my playlist, rearranged some songs, added a few, and of course lessened the walking time & increased the amount of time I would jog.  I was a little nervous this morning before starting out.

See, I am taking jogging slowly, especially after injuring myself in the beginning (besides the asthma it is why I still rotate between walking & jogging).  So for me jogging just 30 seconds longer is an accomplishment.  In total I added 1 1/2 minutes to my jogging time with this new playlist.  Today was the first day I was going to jog 5 minutes straight without walking to catch my breath. 

And I did it!  Fog, frost, cold, & nerves, I still did it!!!  And oddly enough, I felt motivated and it wasn't as bad as I expected.  I am really glad I decided to push myself.  Maybe my body will not say that tomorrow, but who cares, I did it!

Any of you had any minor accomplishments lately?

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste! Salut!

:) Danica

Replacing Basics

My wardrobe has a few key items that I wear often.  My American Eagle "jeggings" and my Graceland boots.  I don't like spending a lot of money on clothes or shoes because they can so easily get damaged, but if I find something I like I'll just keep buying it again and again.

But what happens when the store let's me down?

Take American Eagle for example, I have been a dedicated customer for over 15yrs!  But this past year I realized their jeans just aren't the same anymore, what am I going to do!!!  A few years back I jumped on the "jegging" bandwagon and haven't looked back.  (Actually I have a stack of "boyfriend" jeans I don't know what to do with.)  When I visit The States I pick up a pair of AE "jeggings" or have my Mom send me a pair for the holidays, it's the easiest way to keep stocked up overseas.  But the pair I bought back in March 2014 just didn't fit right, I tried to shrink them, I tried everything, and yet after 30 minutes they are baggy and falling off.  I thought I bought a dud pair and had my Mom send me another pair for Christmas.  They're not as bad but still I can't keep them on all day because they just can't keep their fit.  I compared the labels of my old jeans with these, old jeans 99% cotton + 1% spandex, new jeans 99% cotton + 1% elastane.  Supposedly spandex and elastane are comparable, but I'm telling you the jeans just don't have the same fit anymore and they are impossible to shrink to become more fitted.  I am highly disappointed.  I actually think I might have to try out a different brand, it's not like I can wear the same 3 pair of jeans that do fit for the rest of my life.  Anyone else notice the difference in the American Eagle jeans?

Another dilemma on the horizon, is my favorite autumn-winter boots are wearing out and I can't find anything comparable in the stores right now!  To some they are extremely ugly boots, I must admit when I first moved to The Netherlands I never would have worn them.  But time wears you down, and you end up adjusting your style.  And actually you'd be surprised how many outfits these boots go with.  I can wear them with "jeggings" & "skinny" jeans, none of my other boots can handle the extra material of the "skinny" jeans.  I can wear them with light or dark colored jeans.  And because of the sneaker like sole I don't mind walking distances in them.  I could go on and on.  Anyway, I've been occasionally checking the 2 stores that carried them and they don't have anything like them anymore.  I have the feeling I am going to have to either pay more money elsewhere or find a different style.  I know the stores have to change styles every season, but that doesn't mean all of the people do.  I should have bought 2 pairs when I waited a month for the sale, arg!  Any store let you down recently by discontinuing a shoe model?

My sister-in-law did tip me off to a store worth trying here in Eindhoven for jeans, but that doesn't solve my shoe problem.  I'll let you know if I can find replacements to my basics!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste! Salut!

:) Danica

New Job!

I've been promising big news for a while, so here is 1/2 of it... my husband starts his new job today!!!  After 12 years of hard work and dedication to the same company he decided to branch out, and landed himself a job at Microsoft NL.  It was a natural step considering he has been working with MS CRM since it was first released in Europe.  Needless to say we are all very proud of him and wish him the best.  I've been a Microsoft fan for ages, and have been pushing him in this direction for a while.  But being the good businessman he is, he waited for the right timing and job opportunity. 

My husband knows Dynamics CRM inside and out, and it will be great for him to work with other people as enthusiastic as he is to get the product further into the market.  He's already made a name for himself within the European CRM world, who knows what will happen with Microsoft now backing him!

I wish him the best, and am happy to say we're now part of the Microsoft family.

Here he is leaving for his 1st day of work.  Yay!!!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica