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N'Rage Fitness Blog

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The life of an Oilfield Wife.

It is absolutely a Monday, the worst kind at that. After that I come home and scroll through facebook and see the same debate I have seen now for about the last month. Cheap gas:the pro's and the con's (thats the nice way to put it) I obviously will argue with the it is bad side. Most people don't agree or maybe don't understand beyond the price you are paying at the pump. PS I like when it doesn't cost me $95.00 to fill up my tank. $4.00+ a gallon it too much and it will top load out. So I see alot of things that piss me off to no end. This is my blog so I can cuss and put every one of my opinion into it. But I want to share in site because some of the comments made to me recently are falsely backed.

1. Very few Oilfield Jobs actually get a raise when gas goes up. 

2. Your state and local governments tax the crap out of crude and natural gas. So they also have alot to do with the pricing not just BIG OIL RAPING THE SMALL MAN.

3.Energy cost that are too high are as bad as too low, it's about the cost to get it out of the ground. Too low we can't afford to bring it up. Too High pretty much the same. 

In the middle everyone makes money. 

4.Not all oilfield workers are on an offshore rig somewhere :) or a Frac Crew! They actually employee jobs from dirt work, to port-a-potties, to cranes, delivery drivers and I could go on for ages here. It's mostly not an episode of Black Gold.

5. My husband works in completion, he has for a decade now. Does he made good money when times are good? Yup, way more than when he did what he went to school for and we starved and barley got by. 

Now that being said. My husband at one time in the last 10 years has missed at least one of every major moment in our lives. Birthdays, holidays, first steps, school activities and so on. He is promised to his job anywhere from 10 to 30 days at a time over the years. When I say that I don't mean 8 to 5 either. I mean work, sleep when you can in a pick-up and if you get a baby wipe shower you are lucky. I have met him on the side of dirt roads to take him food because he hasn't had any and finding a motel is a luxury. He works with explosives, when things go wrong it can look like this... 

 

or this (Follow Link)

Surface Detonation Simulation

So there is a reason they pay a little but more than your average desk job. I could debate with you about this job or that job all day long but guess what I am not going to. I just want to give you a small insight to why I get stark raving mad when I read people comments about us being spoiled or entitled. Let me tell you buddy; both my husband and I grew up low income;trailer park kids. So don't think we don't know what it is like to be happy about some Top Ramen with hot dogs. I moved out when I was 17 with a 3 month old baby and we lived 4 of us in a small house and could barely afford the formula to put into Bailey's bottle. We also survived 2009 economy crash which put us back into that situation. Yes it's a boom or bust:rise and fall industry. That is not what is going on right now. The middle east wants to see us suffer for trying to be independent. We should bring workers home and create more jobs in our own borders over buying high price middle east crude. So right now instead of being able to create jobs, we are losing them. Those state taxes I mentioned earlier fund all sorts of things like Education for an example. Being as I work in Education I can tell you we don't need less money in our schools. 

Now from my perspective. While my other half is out in the field ran,snow,sun, or twisters;
I am at home holding down the fort, paying bills, taking care of sick kids, going to ball games where half the school population thinks I am a single mom because they have never seen my husband. Single parents get that but I can't count how many times we have to Facetime or Tango for homework or because your little kid is 2 and doesn't understand why he hasn't seen daddy in 15 days and when he comes home he looks like a grizzly bear! I plan and go to all those things he misses. This year I have been pulling off homework of my kids and myself. I am not griping about it. There are days I do, days I "didn't sign up for this shit" comes out of my mouth more often than not. BUT I am also able to be there for every moment of ours kids lives. One of us is a full time parent instead of 2 part time. So I won't change that. Neither of us had that and we want them to have that. 

So before you bash those guys or condemn their jobs on gas. Here is a list of some crude/gas made products. Is there any you can't do without?

Solvents	Diesel fuel	Motor Oil	Bearing Grease
Ink	Floor Wax	Ballpoint Pens	Football Cleats
Upholstery	Sweaters	Boats	Insecticides
Bicycle Tires	Sports Car Bodies	Nail Polish	Fishing lures
Dresses	Tires	Golf Bags	Perfumes
Cassettes	Dishwasher parts	Tool Boxes	Shoe Polish
Motorcycle Helmet	Caulking	Petroleum Jelly	Transparent Tape
CD Player	Faucet Washers	Antiseptics	Clothesline
Curtains	Food Preservatives	Basketballs	Soap
Vitamin Capsules	Antihistamines	Purses	Shoes
Dashboards	Cortisone	Deodorant	Footballs
Putty	Dyes	Panty Hose	Refrigerant
Percolators	Life Jackets	Rubbing Alcohol	Linings
Skis	TV Cabinets	Shag Rugs	Electrician's Tape
Tool Racks	Car Battery Cases	Epoxy	Paint
Mops	Slacks	Insect Repellent	Oil Filters
Umbrellas	Yarn	Fertilizers	Hair Coloring
Roofing	Toilet Seats	Fishing Rods	Lipstick
Denture Adhesive	Linoleum	Ice Cube Trays	Synthetic Rubber
Speakers	Plastic Wood	Electric Blankets	Glycerin
Tennis Rackets	Rubber Cement	Fishing Boots	Dice
Nylon Rope	Candles	Trash Bags	House Paint
Water Pipes	Hand Lotion	Roller Skates	Surf Boards
Shampoo	Wheels	Paint Rollers	Shower Curtains
Guitar Strings	Luggage	Aspirin	Safety Glasses
Antifreeze	Football Helmets	Awnings	Eyeglasses
Clothes	Toothbrushes	Ice Chests	Footballs
Combs	CD's & DVD's	Paint Brushes	Detergents
Vaporizers	Balloons	Sun Glasses	Tents
Heart Valves	Crayons	Parachutes	Telephones
Enamel	Pillows	Dishes	Cameras
Anesthetics	Artificial Turf	Artificial limbs	Bandages
Dentures	Model Cars	Folding Doors	Hair Curlers
Cold cream	Movie film	Soft Contact lenses	Drinking Cups
Fan Belts	Car Enamel	Shaving Cream	Ammonia
Refrigerators	Golf Balls	Toothpaste	Gasoline

Turkey Meatballs

I love Italian food. However very few of those recipes can fit into my every day eating plans. So I ventured into meatball land tonight. I combined several Pinterest  recipes to come up with this one and my family actually ate them and went back for seconds so I am guessing they are edible!

Meatball Ingredients:

1 lbs ground turkey

1 onion

1 package frozen spinach

4 mozzarella sticks cut into 4the

1 egg

1 hand full of bread crumbs  

1tsp of all pictured below Seasonings

Preheat Oven to 400 and spray a baking pan with your choice of spray.  After defrosting your spinach, drain any excess liquid off.

Mix together all ingredients but string cheese sticks and save enough bread crumbs to sprinkle tops. This is best done with your hands. Ick I know!! Once you make your meatballs stick a piece of cheese in the middle! Tada.. bake for about 30 minutes or until 165 degrees. This made about 25 meatballs!

The Sauce:

One jar sauce heated up and I chopped up mushrooms to add in it!

I added a hand full of grated Parmesan cheese on top. My kids also had whole wheat pasta noodles but I was perfectly ok with just meatballs. Next time I would season heavier, I feel like turkey need lots of seasoning to take on the flavor!

The Pre

My all time favorite supplement is by far a great pre-workout! Post hysterectomy energy is something I struggle with greatly. I can't rock through a workout on a cup of coffee anymore. I have tried a lot of them, so I tried to touch on a little bit of everything in reviewing them.  Pre-workouts are similar to the fat burners in, it's about knowing your body and what it can handle. Don't ever skip to the max dosage without trying out a smaller dose first. Like in my last post- smelling sounds is not a good experience and vomiting in the middle of leg day can be unproductive!

So here we go:

1. I bought this awhile back on a recommendation from a salesman at GNC that insisted this was top notch! Their top of the line women's supplement with ton's of excellent feedback on pump results...WRONG..NEGATIVE GHOST RIDER!!!! I got about 10 minutes of sweat out of it, could have sat in the sauna and achieved the same results!

2. Another product marketed and priced for "women". It was okay, yes that is all I have. I have had far worse and the taste was manageable if you are new to this whole pre-workout game this is a okay starter. You could also try the ASSULT it is a few bucks cheaper on the fact that it isn't marketed towards chicks!

3. I did a round of this because I see so many people rave about it. It's probably also a good starter drink. I double scoop to get the results I need. Occasionally I get a headache at the crash but nothing that hangs around for long.

4. The store I get my favorite from was out and recommended I try this.  I don't get a tingle (which I love) off of this product and I have learned the hard way it is not a friend of anything cardio related. Twice I have almost up-chucked during HIIT or LEGS. BUT as far as a regular lifting day, it makes me want to do the HULK SMASH! My better have had to drag me out of the gym. It is usually the other way around I could have threw weights all day long.

5. Of course I saved the best for last. I have not tried the BULK in their product but I have the other two. Blackmarket Labs IMO makes the best most well rounded product on the block. They make sure you get a surge to every area you need it. No crazy crash either! Once a month they launch a new limited addition flavor and none that I have tried have disappointed me. I recommend it to a lot of people and haven't once got an "I hate this" response.

Quick note on Supplement Cost. If you are digging this deep into using supplements you are probably noticing it's not a cheap ordeal. At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. Do your homework before you buy a random cheapy product! 

Burn it up!

Fat Burners

Something I get asked about alot! Normally I don't take them. I am super sensitive to niacin in vitamin form. Which most fat burners and thermogenics have in them. Too much of it and I get flu like symptoms and a big fat anxiety attack! Every now and then I get brave enough to try one when I need a pick me up or a jump start. Usually I just try and control my diet but that isn't always a great success in my world! Here are a couple I have recently tried. We end up with alot of samples at my house because my lovely husband spends so much time in the supp shop they are always throwing stuff at us to try!

1. White China- HORRIBLE experience! Ended up trashing the rest of the bottle. I could smell sounds people! That and it resulted in several mad dashes to the bathroom!

2. CLA Core- not extreme energy here. No reaction what so ever, could probably be safe taking it with a pre-workout or coffee!

3. 360Cut-  Pretty decent product. Not over the top, I can take one with coffee and be ok or two if I am just drinking water. No jitters, no crash, no extreme adrenaline rush.

Refresh (Detox) Review!

Detoxing is one of those things that people always wonder about but no one wants to really talk about! I feel there is nothing wrong with a good detox every now and then to get you back on track or jumpstart you onto a new journey. I have tried lots of other products for detoxing.

The good, the harsh, and the... don't leave the bathroom types! I also hate to refer someone to a product I haven't myself tried. I want to be able to give actual feedback not just google search reviews.

As far as this product goes: I got the refresh without ShakeO. I have my own protein powder that I am partial to. I am not dogging people who love it. I have lots of friends who adore it!
I am a picky protein girl, taste and texture wise!

It comes with a really good guide to follow and answer a lot of the questions I had. I started on a Friday which was probably now the greatest time for me. I should have done Sunday-Tuesday.

The hardest part was the no junk loaded coffee. Day one was my clean out the system day. After that there was no excessive potty stops :) The fiber is something you need to chug it's not created to be a yummy treat. It also makes you appreciate the Vanilla Shake you are going to have for lunch! Drink lots of water. I also lifted every one of these days with a significant drop in strength due to lower calorie intake. I did still take my Pre-workout because there would be no walking out the door at 5 am without it. All and all it was a really good product and I dropped close to 3 inchs off the waist which was exactly where I needed to recover from the first few crazy weeks of school junk/stress!
 Happy Chasing H