The World Cup: Perfect for Machine Cardio

Ahhh, the World Cup is finally here! If you unfortunately don’t know what I’m talking about, let me explain… biggest sporting event of the world! Teams from all parts of the world coming together to battle in tournament (soccer or football). It’s a glorious glorious thing for soccer-lovers like Hungry and I. And I’m telling you that these games can tie directly into your fitness! Do you ever feel the drudgery of doing cardio on machines (aka treadmill, elliptical, bike, etc.)? Then this is the ticket for you!

Since Thursday (the start of the World Cup), I’ve found myself on the cardio machines more than usual. Why is that? Because as I’m pumping away at the elliptical, I’m completely engrossed in the World Cup games! Yes, I may be embarrassing myself by throwing up my hands or yelling at the gym TVs, but I am WORKIN‘ it.

“Machine cardio” becomes a chore for most of us on a routine basis. This means we aren’t putting our all in, say if we did sprints or some other high-intensity, high-focus exercise. When you’re into something, whether it be a song you’re jamming to or a game you are loving, you are working hard. Your mood is up and you are pumping those machines! This means you are working harder, burning more calories, increasing the capacity at which your muscles are fighting, and generally getting a better workout. Set the program to “interval” and just rock it.

Take advantage of amazing soccer being played every day (at least once a day!). Jump on that elliptical or treadmill, even if there’s only 15 minutes left in the half. Something is better than nothing! I know I’ve stepped on the treadmill in these past few days JUST for an excuse to watch the game at the gym. The World Cup is such a perfect way to sneak some machine cardio in especially if you normally despise it! Watch the World Cup to stay hungry and fit!

*Question of the Day: Who are you rooting for in the World Cup?

BONUS KITTY PIC

Sajah being so darn handsome

Jun102014

#23 Greatest Video Game of All Time

Down from #25, we are up to #23 in our Top #25 Video Games of All Time! I’m excited to reveal the variety in our video game brain trust for this week’s picks. Check out #24 if you haven’t already and brace yourself for #23! Comment below if you have something to say!

Kai – System Shock 2 – A deeply unsettling, atmospheric FPS sci-fi horror game with RPG elements. The story of the corrupted starship Von Braun is fantastically told through diary entries and FPS encounters. Great voice acting makes the world of System Shock 2 really come alive, including one of the best villians in-game history: SHODAN. The game brings all these elements together to deliver a powerful, scary experience, and paved the way for impactful storytelling in games like Half-life and Bioshock.

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Scott (Po) – Donkey Kong Country 2 – Endlessly lovable and replayable. The perfect platformer.

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Andrew – Mario Kart(SNES/N64 + forward) – (Diddy Kong Racing was excluded for this one) I am normally one of those people who harps on playing campaign and avoiding multiplayer(don’t get me wrong I play multiplayer I just love campaign first and often) but this is a pure party game. Nothing better than the thrill of firing that spikey shell and watching it pound into the first place lead (or firing three perfectly aimed green shells to dispatch 3 opponents[or getting lightning and running all over your opponents{I could probably do this for forever}]). Racing was fun but Battle Mode was the ultimate test, everyone enters with 3 balloons and only one person gets to leave. Plenty of fun times were had but most people complained because sometimes if you got hit with 2 shells you would lose 2 balloons and sometimes you would lose 1 but that’s what happens when you race in the high stakes world of the Mushroom Kingdom.

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Alana – SimTower – Where do you start with SimTower? A “Sim” game where you are in charge of building up a tower with commercial and residential blocks to get as many stars as you can. You get to start with floor 1 and build your way upwards and downwards. It’s a game that I’ve played and watched my brother play thousands of times. The replay value of this is off the charts. You can completely customize your “Tower” in whichever way you’d like. However, this will affect your rating, how much money you get, and how popular you become. You have to manage the economy, wait times, cockroaches, and more. Santa Clause will even stop by in the fourth quarter of the year! You could follow certain families in the building as well as restaurants or offices. The excitement of seeing your product grow is palpable as the months continue and the economy kicks off. There’s the need of juggling stress of the people in the tower. I always remember the elevator problems and needing to build more and more to keep the tenants happy. The only sad part is that I can’t get the sound to play anymore because it’s that old. I still don’t think I ever got that 5-star rating.

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Chris – Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey Jr. (N64) – The third of four Ken Griffey Jr baseball installments for the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64, this game is my favorite sports game of all time. Although Madden 2004, NBA Live 2001, and RedCard 20-03 round out my final 4 for team sports games (Mario Tennis for individual sports games) I will spoil a part of my list and let you know that no more sports games will appear. I am so story-based that the insane number of hours logged on these and untouchable replay value are simply not enough to get a spot on the list.

Griffey, however, has a special place in my heart. He was and is my favorite baseball player of all time. This game allows you to hit a home run with him at any time after entering a short sequence of buttons. He even calls out the shot. Honestly, I didn’t play much against human opponents, but my brother and I tallied thousands of hours in the franchise mode. What made it so fun was the fantasy draft and the user’s ability to create an all-star team with ease.

I would reset the draft until I got the first pick, draft Griffey, take some more favorites the next few rounds and create the best team possible. Then, I would draft closers that have high ratings in later rounds and trade them for other players that have high ratings, like Barry Bonds. (He would always go top 5.) After accumulating a dream team, it was time to PLAY BALL! Oh, and no team of time was complete without Heathcliff Slocumb.

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That sums up #23 for our video game trust. Do you agree or disagree with our various views? Let us know in the comments below! And as always…stay hungry and fit!

May272014

Memorial Day Weekend in Pictures

Lots of food pics incoming…!

Workouts

Boulder Creek Festival…me having churro all over my face

Noke and I went on a nice hike

Avoided a storm

Ice cream, obviously

Beautiful morning walk

Chris turned French and made me a bunch of deliciousness

Bolder Boulder!

Baked muffins for two Memorial Day BBQs

Noms

and more noms

Noke didn’t throw up in the car! yay!

May212014

#24 Greatest Video Game of All Time

It is time to bring you #24 of our “Top 25 Video Games of All Time“! I’ve been looking forward to this since last week! Make sure you check out our video game brain trust before reading further. If you missed last week’s #25 games, read here to update yourself. Ready, get set, go #24!

#24 Favorite/Best Video Game

Kai – Worms Armageddon – One of the few multiplayer PC games that could be played on a single computer. An amazing party game, full of humor and customization as well as tactical depth and variety. I spent countless hours at home and at friends’ houses trying to master the art of the ninja rope or the exploding sheep. A great game that perfectly captures the idea that games are about fun and shouldn’t take themselves too seriously.

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Scott (Po) – Skies of Arcadia – I’m a sucker for sky pirates and RPGs. I fell in love at first sight.

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Andrew – Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey, Jr. (N64) – Call, call, call me Junior. Pretty sure that reticle size never, ever made any difference at all here. Pretty sure that Scott Rolen + anyone else was an absolute trading machine and other teams would drop him pretty much right away for rinse and repeat. This is my most played sports game after Madden and I just felt like I could replay the season mode over and over again. The music, the pageantry, the dynamics were just so fun (only thing holding this game back was that overthrows didn’t happen – if they did, absolute surprise to me). Naturally Mark McGwire shouldn’t be used in game. …with all this said, I tried to play whatever 2K Baseball or whatever people play now a days and I had like 0 outs with 3 runs against me in the top of the 1st so…yeah…

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Alana (Fit) – FIFA World Cup Series – What a perfect way to continue the list as the actual World Cup 2014 approaches. FIFA games are all great, but I specified World Cup so that I could play as those famous countries. For me, it’s a timeless game that I can return to over and over. Soundtracks from that game will forever populate my mind. I started playing around 2000, I believe, and Kai and I would play tons of it. I would love to go through the whole World Cup process–it didn’t matter how bad the graphics were. There’s something about that game that gives you that addiction. Even when I start to play real life soccer, I say, “Let’s play FIFA!” It’s a great game for multiplayer and solo, especially for those who love the game. FIFA will always have a special place in my heart and I will continue to play it time and time again. Definitely my most favorite sports video game series.

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Chris (Hungry) – House of the Dead III (ARCADE) – There will be a few arcade games that will make my list. The reason I am choosing the arcade version rather than the console release one is the pump-action shotgun that you get to whip around like Arnold in that mall scene in Terminator II. House of the Dead III is by far my favorite arcade shooting game, although there are tons of top choices including: Revolution X, Time Crisis II, Virtua Cop, The Ocean Hunter, etc., mainly because of the memories it produced. It also was one of the few that I beat in the arcade over and over again, along with all the ones listed earlier. It was a money issue, typically, but I couldn’t hold my quarters back for this one. The continuing story throughout the series, the decent graphics, the presence of voice acting, and the ability to choose your stages made this game better than most of its competition. Plus, the fact that it was released for multiple consoles made it even more accessible for in-home gamers. It might have been released in 2002 but it is a game I will still throw quarters into over 16 years later. If I have an arcade in my home one day, this will be one of the first three machines in it.

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And with that ends our #24 greatest video game of all time. Keep your eyes ready for next week’s #23! Looking forward to what everyone lists! Let us know what you think with comments below! And as always…stay hungry and fit!

May122014

Our Weekend in Pictures

Good eats

Passed out after softball and drinks

Workouts

Noke tore up her bed

Diva Dash race!

Can you find Nymeria?

More workouts

Hi Dovah!

Thai Food

Noodle face

Looks like a caterpillar

Snow came…

Breakfast!

Our cute pup

Happy Mother’s Day!

Apr072014

Tips for New Elder Scrolls Online Players

Hurray! Elder Scrolls Online has finally released (at least for PC). It is a MMORPG (a massively multiplayer online role-playing game) set in the Elder Scrolls universe (which released games like Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim). At first I had mixed feelings…I was upset that Elder Scrolls was turning into a MMORPG instead of another solo game (because they are so fantastic). However, I got put into the Long-Term Beta Testing, so I got to play for a good few months. They happened to change my mind. I absolutely love it. Sure, it’s not the exact same as the other Elder Scrolls with the whole MMO element, but it still allows me to get lost in the world as the others do. I haven’t felt this excited about a game in a while and it feels good!

Character I’m playing right now…pretty badass

From being in beta for a few months and playing live now, I believe I have a firm grasp on how to play the game or at least how to help beginners at this game. Those who have just bought it and started to play can certainly benefit from the advice below:

1. Loot Coldharbour. This is the place where you start. There are baskets, trunks, chests everywhere! These contain lots of crafting materials and more. Don’t rush through this beginning zone, take the time to explore and you will have a head start on crafting and making money. It is worthwhile to loot everywhere!

2. Be flexible at first. This is like no other MMO in the way of classes and abilities. It is Elder Scrolls; where you can decide what character you want to be. Sure, there are the foundation classes of Dragonknight, Templar, Nightblade, and Sorcerer, but it’s up to you who your character will be. You can use any weapon no matter what class. Play with each weapon for a level or so, see what comes natural to you and what fits your playing style best. Your knowledge of this will help you further in the game as you know you chose the best type of weapon for your playing style. It also helps to know when you can switch out weapons at level 15. But that’s a little far away, right now.

Character creation

3. Decide what role you want to play. This means deciding which class you want to play as to which race to which skill lines you are going to focus on. For me, I’m all about the story, so I don’t always make the most efficient character (I pick the race I personally want, despite if it has the bonuses that is going to go best with my class or role). However, since it is an MMO, I still want to be useful in a group whether that means tanking, healing, or being the damage dealer.

4. Immerse yourself. This is a big one, but it is an easy one, at least for me. Tamriel (the Elder Scrolls continent) has always been a favorite place of mine, rich with history with a plethora of adventures at your disposal. It’s very easy to lose myself in this world, in the quests, the people, the fighting. Allow yourself to do so (despite it being an MMO). Don’t just spam click the quests, read them, listen to them, know why you’re doing them. It will actually benefit you in the long run with some quests when you’re required to recall information. Lose yourself in the game!

5. Pick up everything. Yes, everything! Unlike other MMOs, you aren’t limited to one or two crafting abilities. You can do all of them. Yes, that may be a little overwhelming, but it is so exciting! Unlike the other Elder Scrolls games, ingredients are a little bit tougher to pick out in the scenery. Look out for flowers, runes, ore, and so forth. Always check all the baskets, trunks, crates, etc, you never know what you could find. It’s always exciting to find new recipes and new materials to work with. And even if you don’t use them, you could always sell them in bulk.

6. Learn how to craft right away. From the very first moment you get to your starter area, start crafting! If you’ve already followed the advice of this post, then you will have a good amount of ingredients in your inventory. Go to each crafting station, read the tutorial, and understand it. Try each one out, even if you don’t have all required ingredients. Don’t forge to “deconstruct” things. That means armor, weapons, glyphs, and so forth. This is how you can get more materials to craft more things. The ESO crafting system is probably the most amazing and complex one I’ve ever seen from an MMO. I love it!

Tons of different crafting options!

7. Use that bank! Going along with crafting, you’re going to need to take advantage of your bank. Ingredients take up a large part of your inventory, but they invented something beautiful to help you with that. I’m sure you’re familiar with depositing items in your bank from other MMOs, but Elder Scrolls does it differently. This trick can save you time, money, and the heart-wrenching choice of destroying inventory. You can deposit any and all crafting items in your bank (up until it hits its capacity) and you can still use those items while you go to a crafting station. So even if they aren’t in your pocket, your ingredients and crafting items are readily available any time you go to actually craft. Pretty nifty, huh?

8. Hold off on weapon skills. This is going to be a controversial one. First off, I certainly don’t mean don’t choose any weapon skills, that would be absurd. But in light of #2 and #3, don’t throw all your eggs in one basket. Once you hit near 10, you should know which weapon you want to focus on. I think that’s a good time to start piling points there. Before that, if you’re still playing around with a few, you should just hold off until you know for sure. That way, you won’t be wasting any skill points!

My skill tree

9. Pick up a book. No, really! If you know Elder Scrolls, you know that some books can give you bonus skill points. Trust me, it’s worth it to look at every bookshelf. Plus, that’s how you level up in the Mage’s Guild AND there’s some pretty cool lore out there.

10. You can join up to 5 guilds. I’m not talking about the Fighter’s Guild or anything similar to that, I’m talking about player guilds. Guilds that fight for certain alliances that players create and recruit for. You can name it what you want (within reason) and make it what you want. Some guilds are for trading, PVP, PVE, RP, and so forth. In most MMOs, you can only join one guild. I thought it was pretty cool to be able to be a part of 5. Plus, they go cross-characters, so all your characters will be in said player guilds if you join them.

11. Get lost. Again, this is an Elder Scrolls game. You will always be rewarded for exploring off the beaten path of quests. Explore every nook and cranny. You could find new quests, crafting materials, treasure maps, locked chests, cool new areas, and awesome items. Although it is “zoned” like other MMOs, it is unlike others because you are encouraged to run off the trail and towards the beach, fight some mudcrabs, and come upon a barnacle-encrusted chest filled with treasure. This is your world–explore it!

Walking around

With that, I leave you to it. I don’t want to spoil anything for you, but I am always here as a source if need be. I will be continually playing with my brother (and eventually Chris when it comes out for PS4) under “Ewoky.” Please let me know if you have any other questions, I would love love to help! And as always…stay hungry and fit!

Feb032014

Workout Challenge and Weekly Round-Up

Happy Monday all! Well…not if you’re a Broncos fan. That game was painful to watch. Anyways, onto the good stuff. Another week has gone by (happy February!), and we are hungry for more workouts! First, let’s see how we did last week. You can see in this post, what our plan was for this past week. May not actually match up completely, but maybe we didn’t do so badly.

Hungry

Chris and Piper (a dog we babysit)

Monday: Rest day (stress and rescue scuba class)
Tuesday: Rest day (stress and rescue scuba class)
Wednesday: hour long lower body strength workout, hour long lower body circuits focusing on box jumps and jump rope
Thursday: filmed two hours of swimming instructional videos, arm strength workout using circle grips to increase forearm strength
Friday: 75-90 minute shoulder strength workout focusing on pre-exhaustion and the shoulder support system (hurt right shoulder, somehow, and couldn’t lift arm rest of day!)
Saturday: Was Hangry & Fat (lots of video games, pizza, soda, and cookies)
Sunday: 60 minute chest and triceps strength workout

Fit

Getting ready to chow down at our favorite gourmet pizza place

Monday: Legs and Elliptical
Tuesday: Arms/Shoulders (at home) and long walk
Wednesday: Core (at home) and elliptical
Thursday: 1 mile run
Friday: Chest/Back and 20 min elliptical
Saturday: Rest day (being Hangry and Fat, lots of pizza and video games)
Sunday: 2.75mi walk

So maybe we didn’t hit our mark exactly on the dot, but we didn’t fare too poorly either. I’ll let Chris write his workout plan for the week, but I’m going to be doing something a little different this week. This is the Workout Challenge. My friend, Jamie (you can see pics of her in this post), sent me this link of various workouts in “Superhero” formats. At my job, I’ve been creating a Superhero workout program, so it definitely interested me. Before I can critique or properly review it, I must try it. It’s 8 workouts so I’ll be doing it Monday to Monday. It slightly screws up my own workout split, but I’m okay with it because I’m still going to add separate cardio and do certain exercises (like squats, bench press, and pull-ups) when I would have anyways. I’m excited to tell you guys all about it at the end! Do it with me!

Hungry here…Last week didn’t work out so well because of a nagging cold, with lots of congestion, some shoulder issues, and being attacked by a dog, so I won’t set the bar so high this week. Maybe I’ll just try to get better, get rid of my cold, rest my shoulder and knee, etc.

Hungry

Monday – Back and biceps workout, using circle grips to activate forearms more in every exercise
Tuesday – Isolated core workout focusing on all the abdominals, lower back, and hips.
Wednesday – Recovery day, easy swim, hot tub, sauna, eat a lot
Thursday – Shoulders and arms, working on strengthening those shoulder as always
Friday – Lower body, lots of hamstring work and pickup basketball, if the knee is feeling better
Saturday – Chest and core, lots of planks and pushups
Sunday – Back attack!!!

Fit

During a morning at-home core workout!

Monday: the “Flash” workout, heavy squats, and elliptical
Tuesday: the “Jedi” workout and run
Wednesday: the “Batman” workout, pull-ups and swim
Thursday: the “Thor” workout, bench press, and run/elliptical
Friday: the “Spiderman” workout and swim
Saturday: the “Stormtrooper” workout
Sunday: the “Arrow” workout and elliptical

So that’s the plan for us, I’m betting we will stick to it pretty well. Mine is perfectly prescribed which makes it easy to stick to and Chris’ week isn’t as crazy as last week. Remember that making a workout schedule for the week really helps keep you on track. Is anyone with me to try the week of these “themed” workouts? It’ll be fun! Make a workout schedule to stay hungry and fit!

Question of the Week: Do you ever do themed workouts?

BONUS…SNAKE PIC!

Dovah wants to be brass knuckles

Jan142014

What I Learned from New Zealand

Sadly, we are back from our 2-week trip to New Zealand. This is my fourth time there (my mum is from there and her huge family), and Chris’ first time. Every time I think about how we aren’t there anymore, I feel like I’m going to cry…and I don’t really cry. There are going to be loads of posts about New Zealand coming up, about food, fitness, guides to cities and so forth. Lots of good stuff. I wanted to keep this returning post to the point. Here are a few things I learned on this trip to New Zealand:

1. Don’t take yourself too seriously. The people of New Zealand (the Kiwis) are incredibly down-to-earth. They don’t take themselves too seriously, for the most part, and are there simply to live and do what makes them happy. I think loads of people in the States and elsewhere could take a page from their book in this lesson.

my aunt Raewyn and uncle Michael at Huka Falls (they’re twins believe it or not)

2. Family first. I already knew this one, but this trip hit it home once again. My mum is one of eight siblings which means I have a huge family over there. As I visit more and more as I am an adult, my relationships and bonds with them grow deeper. Chris, my brother and his girlfriend, and I toured the South Island together for the first time and it was wonderful. But sometimes I found myself wishing that we were back at Nana’s, sitting around, roaring with laughter. I miss them so much now. Seeing them once every few years is just not enough!

From left to right, top to bottom: Aunt Raewyn and I, Kai and Sophie, Aunt Carolyn and I

3. Live simple. This goes for many people of New Zealand, not all, but many. They may own huge pieces of land, but a lot of it is just that–land. The beauty of New Zealand speaks for itself and you would be a fool to miss it. It was always my end goal to end up in New Zealand (as I am a citizen there), but I find myself wanting to move there sooner and sooner to live that kind of life! I remember this place on Akaroa (beautiful spot on the South Island) of this fish stand on the wharf where the guy would go out fishing (click site here), bring in the catch of the day several times of the day, and either sell the fish raw or cook some fish and chips up. That life sounds awesome to me.

Off the wharf in Akaroa

4. Don’t be afraid to spend money. This one is tough because we obviously aren’t all made of money. This certainly goes for Chris and I. We spent quite a bit of money down there and wanted to do even more! If you want to do something that you know you’ll regret later if you don’t, just cough it up and do it. You can always work more when you get home (as we are doing now).

Food is expensive there!

5. Don’t judge others and just let go. So that side of the family…when everyone gets together we are incredibly loud and almost always make a scene wherever we go because of how ridiculous everyone is. That being said, we got looks from people everywhere we went! But not angry looks, more of amusement. Just realizing that should make people second-guess judging people just because they are a little loud and…different.

Chris found a big stick…

Just because I don’t have the entirety of my mum’s thousands of pictures yet, I have to show you a daily thing between my family (this is last trip in 2011)

A constant reaction from me and imagine that multiplied by about 10

6.Just sit down and look outside. This is huge!! If you don’t sit down and look outside in New Zealand, I have to call you an idiot. But this goes for wherever you are. Find beauty in everything. Find a moment just to sit down outside, look at the sky, mountains, plains, whatever you have. I did this lots of times by myself and with company to just enjoy mother nature.

Just before a sunset at Lake Taupo, North Island

7. There’s always a reason to smile. Even if someone is going through a rough patch in my family, they always find a way to smile or laugh. And I mean always. Whether it’s through pranks, family love, or just having a conversation, you will never ever ever see a lack of smiles on my kiwi family’s faces. And I honestly believe that it’s good for you. People don’t laugh as much here!

Us on the ferry to the South Island

8. Do what makes you happy. This connects with a few other points. There are so many ways that we complicate life nowadays and strive for things that we think can somehow create happiness. Or sometimes happiness isn’t the goal anymore. That makes me crazy! I need to bring it to my own life as well. No matter where you are or what you’re doing, don’t make an excuse to go do something that will bring joy to you. That real happiness that is deep within. Get it!

Picking cherries with Sophie for instance…

9. Fresh fish is the only way to go. I didn’t have to worry about whether fish was farmed or not to the places we went to eat at, it was all caught that day pretty much with a few exceptions! I can’t even describe how good the fish is there. Probably the best fish and chips I had was some that my Aunt Pam and Uncle/Godfather John cooked. Absolutely amazing. Don’t know how much fish and chips I ate there. Go fresh or go home.

Drooling constantly.

10. Switch off. I didn’t use my phone much over there (except for pictures) because I hadn’t unlocked it so I would get a billion roaming and international charges. On the South Island, there was rarely any internet. For Americans, it’s sadly tough to go without these things. But I found it to be liberating and really nice for most of the time. Sure we all swarmed the internet when we got it, but otherwise we forgot about it. We just drove through the windy hills, steep cliffs, and by the ocean and just looked out and enjoyed each other. I am personally going to try to avoid being on my phone all the time, and just enjoy what’s around me.

Not even accurate description of our sleep last night…brutal, jet-lag made us not fall asleep for a while!

I can’t wait to get all the other pictures from mum, Chris, Sophie, and so forth. I hope you’ve enjoyed a little sample of pictures and what I learned while I was there. I could go on and on, but it’s time for me to go to bed. To all my family reading this, I miss you!! Can’t wait to head on back to my future home. And as always…stay hungry and fit!

BONUS KITTY PIC

Although I am super bummed not to be in NZ anymore, there are two cats that make it a little better

Jan052013

Kitty Spotlight: Sajah

We’ve mentioned Sajah, our new kitten, a few times here. Sajah means “lion” in Korean and he is quite the lion cub. He is 3.5 months old, and a little stocky fluff ball. We originally got him to give a companion to Nymeria when Misty passed away just over a month ago, since Nymeria is still a kitten too and needs companionship while we are at work. So, please meet Sajah:

The second day after we got him, Sajah ran away. We had the door open for a split second and he took off with his short stocky legs. We were up all night searching, and it was cold. We were worried about him. This was stress atop grief from losing Misty…wasn’t a good few weeks. Every night we searched, and every night we gave up a little hope. We put flyers up everywhere, calling his name, shaking his toys he loved so much. But we just didn’t find him. And then about five days later, we got a call. Turns out he was across the street, literally across the street from us. A woman heard a crying in the night and then in the morning and found him hiding in an undercarriage of a car. He was okay, just hungry, tired, and dirty. He knew he was close to home but couldn’t quite find it. Phew. What a little punk.

First day we got him

Sajah is very mischievous, almost without meaning to. He doesn’t quite get how to cover the evidence and sneak away from the scene of the crime. He has recently gotten into the habit of jumping on the counter (undoubtedly from Nymeria) and sneaking around for food. He loves food. In fact, he also tried to get Nymeria’s food every time after he finished (faster), but he’s stopped for fear of us and punishment. One time we were eating popcorn on the couch and he basically dive-bombed into the bowl. It was pretty funny, but not when he tipped it all over the floor.

Found them like this

Scrounging for honey

Sajah is also skiddish when we aren’t lying down or sitting or have food in our hands. It probably comes from the fact that, like Misty, Sajah was born feral (simply meaning in the “wild,” outdoors, not with humans). The few days outside probably didn’t help either. Even if we had been feeding him just minutes before, if we walk towards him he will run under the couch as fast as possible.

Enjoying the sun

However…if we are lying down or sitting on the couch, you can be sure Sajah will find his way there. He may be skiddish when we’re standing, but he will snuggle into you and Nymeria when you’re sitting. He particularly loves lying on our necks and faces while we sleep (thanks, Sajah). And he has the loudest purr, and you can feel it vibrating too! We are very happy that he has fit into our family of big cuddlers.

Nymeria and Sajah have been getting along more so now than when we first got him. At first, he was constantly annoying Nymeria, pouncing on her and biting her–playfully of course. Now, Nymeria is used to being the younger, annoying sibling. It’s good she’s getting a dose of her own medicine, but she was getting very tired of constantly getting bowled over and would seek us for refuge. He’s calmed down and now they play when they both want to. And we have caught them cuddling lots.

Lion and Panther

Sajah has the most scratchy meow when he’s hungry (which is all the time) and will not cease if we are preparing food. Gets pretty annoying but would rather him be vocal than quiet. He does have cute meows when he’s cuddling or wanting to go on our laps. Although I wasn’t really ready for another kitty, Sajah has found a place in our home and our hearts and has certainly become part of our family. We look forward to future with him and Nymeria.

Ultimate lion cub pic…my favorite

Cheers and Meow

Nov052012

Swim to Workout, Swim to Live

Pressured by Alana to write a post because our consistency has been awful lately (we are very busy, but no real excuses exist, I have enough time a day to write ONE post), I am going through the most difficult process.. deciding what to write about. I can write about anything, or try to… I mean it might not be good but I can go on and on if I want to. So I’ll save the favorite video games of the past year post for when I’ve played a few more I want to finish, my dinner tonight was disgusting so forget that (over 1600 frozen calories), I took the past two days completely off workouts and three from climbing because of forearms splints and just being sick.

I need rest to recover quickly (I hope), so let’s talk about something obvious for me… swimming. This isn’t going to be in detail, I’m just going to talk a bit about swimming. Of the over fifty hours a week that I work, or will be working, almost all of it is related to swimming or aquatics. So let’s break it into a few categories… continue if interested:

Swim training

Water Safety: This is the most important of all aspects of aquatics. Whether you’re at a birthday party playing pool games, swimming laps to stay in shape, working on your strokes to qualify for an event, surfing in Southern California, snorkeling in the keys, or scuba diving in Southeast Asia, you always need to consider safety and it starts at a very basic level.

Learning to be comfortable and not scared of the water is the first step before you can become proficient at any aquatic skill. If you’re scared of drowning at a very forward level (everyone should be aware of it) then you need to get over that fear quickly. Having children get comfortable with the water at a young age will allow them to break into learning how to actually swim easier, so it’s never too early to start. But it’s also never too late to start! Better early than late but better late than never. If you aren’t comfortable or children that are dear to you aren’t either, then you need to find someone to work on that.

English: A breaststroke swimmer, in a hotel sw...

Just keep swimming!

Swimming: Swimming is a great way of moving efficiently, doesn’t always have to be quickly, once you’ve got your water safety and comfort taken care of. The key here is to conserve energy and have a means of moving that utilizes your arms, legs, and ability to breathe. That’s right, obviously, breathing is the most important aspect of swimming. I don’t care how fast you can swim with your face in the water if you can’t breathe. Swimming is about survival when it comes down to the nitty gritty. Whether it’s rolling onto your back to float or using a rollover breathe to replenish air before going back into a faster means of moving, breathing it key. Once you have those motor skills involving your arms, legs, and breathing operational, it’s time to think of the next step.

Swimming to workout: Now at the highest level this would include competitive swimming, but the basic level means that you can kick, stroke, and breathe properly so that you can workout without hurting yourself. If your stroke is off, you might hurt your shoulders or something else. If you breathe to one side you might develop a huge knot over there, or you might just develop an uneven stroke. If you don’t kick, you won’t swim as well or you could pull a groin or a muscle in your leg. If you don’t breathe, your workout won’t last long. Even if you’re not competitive think about taking stroke classes so that you can get a better workout by doing breast stroke, back stroke, flip turns, butterfly and other advanced techniques that will activate muscles you’ve never used. You can expand your lung capacity, burn fat, and even more. (Note: Please get proper instruction in how to do butterfly, it’s far too easy to hurt yourself if done improperly.)

Competitive: If you have all your strokes and techniques down, and you’re in good shape or want to be, join a team or a program to keep swimming. United States Masters Swimming will take anyone not affiliated with some other organizations if you are over 18. It’s a great chance to keep or start competing. United States Swimming is another huge program to look into especially for youth, and there are local clubs for people of all ages if you are in the right spot and look hard enough. Otherwise, join a class and compete against yourself in a strict environment. YMCAs usually offer lots of programs.

Competition

Recovery: If you are injured or your body has become more fragile there are tons of water therapy and recovery, and fitness, classes that are much easier on your joints. AEA and Waterart offer some certifications in teaching these courses if you are interested. You are never really too old to stop getting in the water.

Extreme: If you want to surf, go for it, I recently did and feel comfortable although we just moved after Alana got a new board. Snorkeling is a great tourist activity and scuba diving is the ultimate underwater adventure. Scuba stands for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus and it, and the aqualung, were in great part the result of the efforts of the late Jacques Cousteau. I recently had the pleasure of meeting and having lunch with his son, Jean-Michel. You can either go to SSI or PADI to get certified and they last for life and offer endless specialization continuing education opportunities. I am currently enrolled in SSI’s Open Water Diver course, and I plan on completing that and my Advanced OWD by the end of the year. Then it’s onto Rescue Diver and Dive Master but we’ll see how long that takes.

Scuba-ing

If you have any questions about anything aquatics, even ocean conservation, please feel free to leave a comment. I’ll get into more detail about each of these over the next few weeks, possibly expanding by giving each its own post, including ocean conservation and preservation, and everything else.