This is such a cute picture! 

According to the photographer who’s interview appears in this online newspaper article, the penguin’s posed for this pic.

Cuddle alert!

I have spring on my mind.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been able to wear flip-flops… or wait… go outside without a jacket!  This weather is great!

When spring finally does arrive, there are many things I look forward to, and they quickly become my favorite things.

First, I love spring cleaning.  I know, it’s sick.  I love cleaning in general, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise.  Especially, since I asked for a Dyson Vacuum as a Christmas present one year.  I love every aspect of cleaning except dusting. 

Second, I love open windows.  The smell of fresh air… the cool breeze.  Ahhhh…

Third, eating outside!  I love eating in the open air on patios at restaurants… especially those that are dog friendly.

Fourth, spending more time outside with my four-legged child.  It’s great to walk, run, whatever together when the weather is nice!

Fifth… swimming weather is right around the corner! 

What is your favorite thing(s) about spring?

If you’re been following my fitness progress, you know I’ve really been putting the pedal to the metal to get back into shape.

I’ve always liked cardio, but I’ve found something that I’m quickly becoming addicted to… running.

I’ve never been a runner.  When I was in school, I was always the kid walking the mile for my physical fitness test.  I’ve never been good at running, and in fact I’ll go as far as to say that I hate it.  But, my attitude has changed.

I’ve got my dog Maya, an Australian Shepherd.  She needs daily exercise.  A walk, is not enough.  She wants to run and play ball.  So, she’s been part of my motivation to start running.

I’ve just started, and I love it.  I’ll walk for two minutes, run for two minutes, and repeat for a total cardio time of 40 minutes.  I can’t wait until I can finally make a complete 40 minute run without walking.  It’s going to take a while to build up my stamina, but I’m looking forward to a complete run.

I’ll let you know how it all pans out… for now… I’m just happy to spend time outside of the gym burning some calories!

Does anyone have suggestions to help me on my way?  Please feel free to leave your comments in the section below.

California was the first in the nation to create a registry for sex offenders, now that state is trying to do the same for those who abuse animals.

Here’s the article from Time Magazine.

What do you think about this proposal?

I’m a huge animal lover, and if this saves useless suffering, I’m all for it.

It’s been three weeks since I’ve started eating healthier and exercising regularly, and I’ve never felt better.  Seems like a simple correlation.   (Except the first few workout sessions, I was so sore!) 

I love fast food, and that has been completely cut out of my diet.  I’ve also stopped drinking soda and I’ve limited myself to one non-fat latte a week.  I think the reason I feel so good is that I’m actually drinking the amount of water I should throughout the day, and I’m eating much better.  I’m limiting proportions, and making sure I get the proper nutrition.

So, have I been completely good?  Almost!  I have a little sister through Big Brothers Big Sisters, and she wanted McDonald’s the other day, so I splurged and had a cheeseburger and fries.  But, other than that, I’m on track.  My favorite new snacks are peanut butter covered rice cakes and non-fat vanilla yogurt with strawberries, blueberries and bananas.  That’s a drastic change from my runs to the vending machine to get Oreos, candy bars, and anything sweet!  The weird thing is, I’m not craving that stuff anymore.  Sure there are time that an Oreo sounds amazing, but it passes!

A big piece of the puzzle is nutrition, but the other piece is exercising.  I’ve been lifting weights with a trainer twice a week.  Even though I want to get healthier, I won’t go to the gym unless I have an appointment with someone.  The days I lift, I also do 30-60 minutes of cardio.  Three other times a week I’m either going to a spinning class, hitting cardio equipment, or walking my dog.

So, the path to a healthier me is starting out well… I’ve got a natural high that will carry me through the next few weeks.  We’ll see how I do after that!

Woke up… got out of bed… dragged a comb across my head… (oh Paul McCartney, if only my mornings started off that easy!)

I often get asked what time I start my “mornings” when I get up for meteorologist duties for Weekend Sunrise.

Well, I get up in the middle of the night!  Usually somewhere around 3am.  Yep, that’s early.  And, as a person who cannot stand the snooze button, I am up and ready to start my day… or is it still night?  This is the first of a lot of weird things I begin to ask myself when I’m up this early!

I have to get up early because hair and makeup don’t do themselves, but if someone invents a machine that lets me sleep and will style me… please let me know!  I know a lot of morning anchors and meteorologists who will be interested in investing in that!  Hair and makeup get done… by me… and I’m off!

I arrive at the station well before showtime, that’s because I have to “forecast” my show.  I look up many weather models to see about rain, snow, temperatures, what’s for lunch… I mean… what’s in the 5 day forecast.  Usually at this time I’m eating my dinner, nope, not a typo.  Something about working the morning shift makes me want to eat dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner.  Don’t ask me why, but it’s what I’ve always done when I’ve worked mornings!

So my forecast is done, and now I start building my weather graphics for Weekend Sunrise.  That takes a chunk of time.  I also chat with our producer to let her know the forecast and see if there’s anything out of the ordinary I need to be aware of.

Then off to chat with Kris in the ladies room as we touch up our makeup a few minutes before  the show. 

Five minutes to show, I slip off the comfy Uggs, and put on the heels, mic up, and put my IFB in.  What’s an IFB?  It’s a tiny little hearing aid like device that fits in my ear, it’s attached to a radio that I clip on the back of my pants next to my mic.  It allows producers to talk to anchors and meteorologists during the show. 

Then, show time!  Well, sometimes if my tongue isn’t tied at 6am weekend mornings. 

I know it sounds crazy… but I love waking up that early.  Maybe it’s because I’ve always done it, but I am a morning person.  However, that leads me back to my original question… would I be a morning or night person? 

Whatever!  It’s fun to help you plan your weekends and keep you informed about the weather.  We appreciate you waking up with us!

One of the fun aspects of my job is heading out to local schools to talk to kids about weather.  I usually go to a classroom studying weather, and take them through how to forecast using some of the websites we look at as meteorologists. 

I love getting kids interested in science and math, because they don’t think they need it.  I can’t tell you how many times I asked in class “will I ever really need this?”, and it’s something I now use everyday.

The kids are always a hoot, but nothing gets me more than the question and answer period.  Here are a few of the most common questions I get… and the response I give.

Question:  How much money do you make?

Answer:  Because I went to college, I make more money than I would with just a high school diploma.

Question:  Are the anchors married?

Answer:  Nope (I thought this when I was younger too!)

Question:  Are you ever wrong?

Answer:  Have you ever had to go to school when you thought you’d be able to sleep in?  Then I explain why the weather forecast is sometimes wrong, and how we strive to be right every time.

Question:  What time do you get up?

Answer:  Way before the sun comes up!  Around 3am.

Question:  Do you like getting up that early?

Answer:  I’m used to it.  It may sound crazy, but I love my job and that’s what gets me out of bed that early!  Trust me, if you have to get up that early, and you don’t like where you are going… you’d have a much harder time waking up in the middle of the night!

Question:  Who does your hair and makeup?

Answer:  Me, I could probably get an extra 40 minutes of sleep if I wasn’t responsible for that!

While the previous questions are just a sample of what I get asked, students also think of very intelligent things to ask.  I am always surprised with how much they know about weather.  Hopefully our 30 minute talk will inspire them to be the best they can be!

I hate to admit that I can’t do something.  I’ve always been like that.  But when it comes to cars, I am completely clueless.  There’s no getting around that!  I can’t even begin to fake like I know what I’m doing.

My first car when I was 16 years old was a 1990 White Mazda Protege.  Yep, I loved this car.  It was fun.  My parents made me sign an agreement when they gave it to me.  A few of the points, I’d continue working at my job to pay for gas, car insurance and the car’s maintenance.

Oh car maintenance.  Don’t we all love that?  We take our way of transportation for granted until, you’re late, and rushing to get somewhere, and all of a sudden, the engine doesn’t turn over.

I was lucky when I lived at home, my dad could and still does fix everything!  So he helped me keep up almost everything on my car.  He’ d do a lot of the maintenance.  And, he put me through a car boot camp.  How to change the oil and how to change a tire.  But, do you think I gave him my full attention?  No, I was a teenage girl who wanted to do anything but work on a car.  Now, I’m regretting that! 

Since that Mazda Protege, I’ve gotten a new car… but there’s something you never forget about your first car!

Now, I think of all the money I could save by being able to do simple things myself.  But, I didn’t pay attention!

There are some car things I do on my own… I detail the inside and out myself.  Yes, I wax my car… (and I’m not talking about running it through the hot wax at the car wash!).

So, instead of fixing something myself, I still rely on my Dad even though he’s thousands of miles away.  I call and go over what my car’s doing before I take it to my mechanic so I kind of know what the issue is.  I’m sure he loves to get those calls… “um… my car is making ___ sound.”  Nonetheless, he’s helpful and gives me advice.  I can only wonder what he’s thinking… “if you just would have paid attention to me years ago!”