State Parks in Illinois are anticlimactic (compared to Idaho)

Reasons to agree:

1. Illinois doesn't have any mountains. Without mountains you don't have good rapids, sking, waterfalls, canyons, views, climbing, etc.
2. Illinois doesn't have very many clean rivers or lakes.
3. Millions of people go to visit Starved Rock State Park each year.

Reasons to agree: 

Having come from Idaho, I can say that Idaho might be lacking in metropolitan attractions as much as Illinois lacks in scenic natural attractions.

We have been to the Zoos, and Major Museums. Fine dinning isn't a big attraction with little kids, we don't go to plays, musicals, or any of that stuff. We often are looking for places to take the kids, let them look at some natural thing that's cool. In Illinois a 100 foot cliff over a river qualifies as a natural tourist attraction. According to their website, millions of people go to visit Starved Rock every year. 

However there is nothing much better from the natural work to look at here, and so I guess this is all we have... So we have driven there twice: One week before Phil tried coming early, and once Memorial Day, 2012.

Images that agree:

Here are some photos from 2010. J was 5, and A was 2:

The look out from the top of a 100' cliff that looks over a river

Look hard James. This qualifies as a mountain view in this state

Here are some photos from 2012:

French "Canyon"

The Lodge

Back of the Lodge

Coming down from the Lodge to the visiting center

You can see "Starved Rock" in the back.
We climbed to the top of it last week. The view is to scenic overlooks
what Mt. Trashmore is to the Tetons. 

Related Links:

• Near Chicago Tourism

Chicago Suburban Schools are pretty good

Images that agree:

1.  
• Punting Challenge 
2.  
• Climbing the Pole Vault judging thingy 
3. 
4. 
1. Not much of a hill, but enough for James to get some speed

Weight Watchers is the best weight loss program +3

Rumors that this is the chair I was using, are completely false

Reasons to agree: +2

1. After years of trying, I lost 40 lbs. About 2 lbs per week. I'm now at a healthy weight, and feel great. My blood pressure was prehypertension. Now it is 100/80. I enjoy cooking, and have not spent more money on food.
2. I didn't have to go listen to fat old ladies talk about their weight. I went to 1 meeting, got the app for my iPod touch, learned the points program, and didn't go to another meeting. Now that I am 186, I have about 10 more pounds I'm not loosing. and I sort of actually want to go to a meeting or two. I'm a life time member, and so now I can, if I ever want. 

Images that agree: +1

This image proves that weight watchers works

Websites that agree: +1

1. http://www.weightwatchers.com

Websites that disagree: -1

1. http://www.jennycraig.com/

Total Score: +3

Background, and context
5/26/2012

I've lost 26 pounds in weight watchers in the last 11 weeks

Before I signed up I didn't really see how listening to strangers sit around and talk about their weight would help me. But my company paid 1/2 the price, and I figured it couldn't hurt.

But using their "points plus" system of tracking food points, I was able to loose an average of 2.36 pounds per week. They don't force you to go to the meetings, and so I didn't go (that 1st meeting wasn't that bad. They had trained professionals running it). They mentioned the iPod app, and I'm an aspiring technologist, and so I tried it out, and it was pretty cool.

Before I didn't think I was that much over weight (I'm 6'-3". Weight watchers says I should be between 160 and 200 lbs). Now I'm so glad that I have lost 26 lbs, and wish I would have done this much sooner, or never added the weight in the 1st place...

May 10th I weighed 126 lbs. This morning I weighed in at 199.4. In 11 weeks, I lost 26 lbs.

I'm shooting for 180, and so I still have 20 lbs to go. At the end of this I will have lost 46 lbs. That is more than my 2 year old son, who is very big for his age.

Things that worked for me:

1. The weight watcher system uses grams of fat, carbohydrates, fiber, and protein to calculate points for each food. Based on your height and weight you get a certain amount of points. You have to learn the system, but it is really cool to figure out what foods are "good" (according to weight watchers) and what foods are bad. I really could have never done this on my own. I never went to a meeting. I never had to listen to share my feelings about eating or anything like that... 

1. Thinking about what I ate is sort of fun. I don't know that much about cooking, but planning things out and thinking about it is a little bit of work, but it is sort of fun and I'm glad I've done it...

If you want, I have a pretty cool excel document that I set up to help me out. Just send me an e-mail and I'll send you a copy.

I'm really glad Megan figured this all out years ago, let me take my time, and helped make healthy meals!

August 25, 1994 (my Sr. Year) I was 74 inches (6'-3") and 164 lbs. That was 6.4% body fat. By March 2012 I weighed in at 226 lbs. That is 62 lbs in 18 years or 3.4 lbs per year. I WISH I would have tracked it.

That's about it for now...

Sep 28th 2012

I've lost 40 lbs so far... I would still like to loose 10, but don't seem to want to loose the last little bit...

Moving on to other things.

I can now do 100 pushups in the space of 15 minutes, in sets of 10. Think this would be a good goal to maintain  I'm in mid 30s now, and would like to do it in my 40s, 50, and maybe even 60s?

There was a nice guy who came to straighten our carpet, that was probably in his late 50s... That would be cool.

You should keep old school work

Images that agree:

1.  
• James, 2012. Their little mistakes are cute, because they remind us how much there is to learn, and reminds us when we were little, and trying to figure stuff out. If you look carefully you will notice the following: no "x" in the alphabet, includes "and" as a letter on the keyboard, as = us, momy = money, nise = nice. That's my son. And just so adults don't get too high and mighty, you might notice that the question omitted the word "give". 
2.  
• James, 2012: James: "She will make a thump!" I love breakfast! Today I had jeltin and cereal. The jeltin was shalbe flaber. The cerial had brownshager. on it. Do you like breakfast? Items in the above image: James sitting at our table. Megan climbing under the table. She will make a thump. A fly in our Kitchen. The ceiling fan, faucet, and cupboards.
3.  
• James, 2012: "When I grow up I want to be a zoo keeper. I want to be a dophim chaner. I want to swim with dolphim. I want to look at Dolphim emery day. I will never choe my jod. I like dolphim. I want to make sher that the dolphim are helfy. And thay git lots of exersise. I want thme to be good. the end. James" 
4. 
5.  
• James, 2012, Dolphin are sort 
6.  
• James, 2012: "My fabrite animal is a humpback whales! It lives in the sea. It eats crill"

Some women want to have kids

Photos that agree:

The bubble is a photo I took of my wife when we were trying to have kids, but couldn't. We bought an outfit for a cousin, for their baby, and I came in on her when she was holding it like a baby, and a little bit of a tear in her eye.

My kids enjoy visits from their grandparents

Images that agree:

1. 
• Friday Morning Walk around the block. 
2.  
• Grandma didn't get as many hugs last time. She is very happy this time 
3.  
• Ali also likes her Grandpa. 
4.  
• Phis is doing better staying in his stroller. Stupid camera strap. Phil's shoes were wet from yesterday at the duck pond so he went for his walk in in PJs and shoe-less.