Here are my thoughts from Monday morning after dropping my girls off at school. I didn't do so with fear but with great sadness, sadness for those who were not able to do the same thing.
Since I have not been able to articulate my own thoughts/feelings very well (they are ALL OVER the PLACE), I wanted to share this clip (http://video.foxnews.com/v/2038135300001/) as I found myself nodding in agreement as he spoke. I am a Believer, my husband is a Believer, my girls are Believers; I know they go to school every day with Him, knowing that He lives in their hearts and I have bound them in His Word and Promises to the best of my ability (speaking confessions over them; praying with them). We pray for our day, our teachers and our friends. We lift up troubles we know about and thank Him for handling those that which we don't; we thank Him for favor and prosperity in all areas of our lives. We thank Him for going before us and staying with us; we praise Him for allowing us the opportunity to speak to Him and thank Him for hearing us. We expect to have a Jesus day.
However, I know that bad things can happen to good people, believing people. I know that His will doesn't always match up with ours. I also know that He can use 'bad' things to wake us up, call us back. God does not create these 'bad' situations; however, He can use them for good, His purpose. We are far from beyond needing Him; He is there for us to invite back in.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Saturday Silence & Just Enough Room
These were my thoughts Saturday, after tossing, turning, thinking most of Friday night. I shared them on my personal Facebook page on Saturday morning and thought I'd share them with guys now.
Wake to kids in my bed. Shoo, shoo. There's not enough room. They bound off to the living room to watch cartoons. Shh! Keep it down! Stop jacking around. There's not enough room. I wander into the kitchen, start breakfast. They are under my feet. Get! I know you want to help but let me just finish. There's not enough room. And, so on and so on.
Not today. Hopefully, not again. I know my house is little and 'there's not enough room'; however, in the last 12+ hours, I've heard every noise by kids have made, could hear them breath as they slept and giggle as they woke. Just enough room!
I am grieving for people that I do not know who are dealing with a tragedy I cannot fathom. I don't dare try. All I can do us pray. All I can do is take in every moment of my own kiddos. There's more than enough room.
“Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us.” (Eccles. 7:3)
Wake to kids in my bed. Shoo, shoo. There's not enough room. They bound off to the living room to watch cartoons. Shh! Keep it down! Stop jacking around. There's not enough room. I wander into the kitchen, start breakfast. They are under my feet. Get! I know you want to help but let me just finish. There's not enough room. And, so on and so on.
Not today. Hopefully, not again. I know my house is little and 'there's not enough room'; however, in the last 12+ hours, I've heard every noise by kids have made, could hear them breath as they slept and giggle as they woke. Just enough room!
I am grieving for people that I do not know who are dealing with a tragedy I cannot fathom. I don't dare try. All I can do us pray. All I can do is take in every moment of my own kiddos. There's more than enough room.
“Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us.” (Eccles. 7:3)
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
bones
Once upon a time, not too long ago, my youngest, Rebekah, was fascinated by what her bones might look like. During this time, she had a friend fall from the monkey bars at school and break her arm. Rebekah became slightly envious of this friend because the friend was able to see her bones because of the x-ray that was done following the fall and break. This fascinated R and she began asking about getting an x-ray done so that she, too, could see her bones. We explained to her that x-rays without reason (ie, a bone break) weren't really an option and we moved on with life and other crazy conversations.
Or, so we thought. Apparently, R then began climbing the monkey bars and purposefully falling in hopes to break her arm, get an x-ray and see her bones. (I love that big sister brought this to our attention WEEKS into it! Agh!)
After learning of this, Rebekah was made aware of three very important things. One, the fall would hurt more than it would be fun. Two, being in a cast would cause her to miss out on tons of other fun. Three, she would not be allowed to see the x-ray much less her bones as punishment for doing it on purpose.
One and two didn't really bother her. She was most annoyed by three and has since moved on to other adventures and crazy conversations.
Here is my R. She created a breakfast snack of bananas and Cool Whip. Without help or my knowledge until after the fact. Early on Saturday morning. For our good friend Ashley. Who was not actually at our house. She wanted to deliver it. Randomness is never far with R around!
Or, so we thought. Apparently, R then began climbing the monkey bars and purposefully falling in hopes to break her arm, get an x-ray and see her bones. (I love that big sister brought this to our attention WEEKS into it! Agh!)
After learning of this, Rebekah was made aware of three very important things. One, the fall would hurt more than it would be fun. Two, being in a cast would cause her to miss out on tons of other fun. Three, she would not be allowed to see the x-ray much less her bones as punishment for doing it on purpose.
One and two didn't really bother her. She was most annoyed by three and has since moved on to other adventures and crazy conversations.
Here is my R. She created a breakfast snack of bananas and Cool Whip. Without help or my knowledge until after the fact. Early on Saturday morning. For our good friend Ashley. Who was not actually at our house. She wanted to deliver it. Randomness is never far with R around!
PS - she loves a good, cheesy grin. :)
Monday, December 10, 2012
A Week of Detox!
It is done. One full week of detox. And, I seriously don't think I would have stuck it out had Ali not text just at the right times checking in on me. (Her personal recap can be found here.)
My recap (is without pictures because I am still getting used to photographing everything that happens just in case I want to blog about it):
I've had whole food green smoothies for breakfast every morning; even Makayla got in on the action and made a smoothie a few times for her breakfast as well as a few for early evening snacks.
I did lots of activity. I only had one day that a WOD and/or run did not take place. For six out of seven days, I either had a WOD, a run or both scheduled. If not, I purposefully played with my kids as in
I skipped soda. Completely skipped it. I haven't had a soda of any kind since last Sunday; I've only had water. And, I hope to keep this no soda thing in place. And, the more water thing ...
I drank water. And, lots of it. I didn't realize just how little water I was drinking until I began keeping track this week. I went from 2 bottles of water (roughly 32 ounces) a day to about 5 bottles of water; I also switched from drinking bottles of water to refilling my Tervis tumbler towards the end of the week. The water bottles were piling up!
I consumed no alcohol. This really wasn't a problem for me as I rarely consume it anyway.
We made dinner more and ate in every night of the work week; we only ate out twice over the weekend. We prepared healthy whole foods, took leftovers to work for lunch and added more salads to our meals. There was no outside sugar or white foods (ie, rice, potatoes, etc.) in our diet this week. EXCEPTION: last night was tree decorating night. We bought my girls $5 pizzas (their request) to eat while we decorated the tree and listened to Christmas music, etc. I didn't prepare anything for myself before my 4 mile run thinking I'd figure it out when I came back in. Bad idea. I ended up eating two slices of the pizza. It was actually pretty yuck. And, I paid for it later as I didn't feel well about 30 minutes after scarfing it.
My results? Well, I weighed last Monday morning and measured around my belly; this morning I did the same, in the same PJs. What did I find? I am down 2.8lbs and 0.5 inches. Was I expecting to lose weight/inches? I'd be lying if I said no; however, this is not why I took on Ali's challenge. I took on the challenge for a few different reasons. One, I had to get off the sodas; I had done it before but let them slip back into my day. Two, I wasn't feeling good. To put it very simply, I felt gross. None of my eats tasted good anymore, my clothes weren't fitting right and I just felt bad. And, three, I wanted to. Just as simple as that. She issued a challenge and I wanted to take her up on it. For no reason except to do it and see that I could. I floundered around the Whole Life Challenge and felt like I had no ability to stick to something. So, for me, I needed the mental challenge of taking less than good for me things out of my diet on purpose and doing so on purpose for the week. It's sort of hard to explain why I needed this but I did. So, maybe you can help me out ...
Have you needed the mental challenge of completing a 'healthy changes' type challenge? If so, what words would you use to describe your reasons?
Did you participate in The Healthy Hostess's December Detox Week Challenge? If so, what were your results (not just in numbers, how do you feel)? If not, have you recently participated in some other healthy changes challenge?
No WOD yesterday; just a 4 mile run with Ashley. And, I am pretty dang proud of that run. It was the longest run I have had - without stopping, walking or sitting on the curb to cry - EVER in the history of me doing this run thing. Woot! And, it brought the end of week 5 of my Cowtown Half Marathon training to an end. Fake race day has turned in real race day and I am pretty excited about that, too. I have stuck to the training plan and scheduled WODs and I feel pretty darn good about that, too.
My recap (is without pictures because I am still getting used to photographing everything that happens just in case I want to blog about it):
I've had whole food green smoothies for breakfast every morning; even Makayla got in on the action and made a smoothie a few times for her breakfast as well as a few for early evening snacks.
I did lots of activity. I only had one day that a WOD and/or run did not take place. For six out of seven days, I either had a WOD, a run or both scheduled. If not, I purposefully played with my kids as in
I skipped soda. Completely skipped it. I haven't had a soda of any kind since last Sunday; I've only had water. And, I hope to keep this no soda thing in place. And, the more water thing ...
I drank water. And, lots of it. I didn't realize just how little water I was drinking until I began keeping track this week. I went from 2 bottles of water (roughly 32 ounces) a day to about 5 bottles of water; I also switched from drinking bottles of water to refilling my Tervis tumbler towards the end of the week. The water bottles were piling up!
I consumed no alcohol. This really wasn't a problem for me as I rarely consume it anyway.
We made dinner more and ate in every night of the work week; we only ate out twice over the weekend. We prepared healthy whole foods, took leftovers to work for lunch and added more salads to our meals. There was no outside sugar or white foods (ie, rice, potatoes, etc.) in our diet this week. EXCEPTION: last night was tree decorating night. We bought my girls $5 pizzas (their request) to eat while we decorated the tree and listened to Christmas music, etc. I didn't prepare anything for myself before my 4 mile run thinking I'd figure it out when I came back in. Bad idea. I ended up eating two slices of the pizza. It was actually pretty yuck. And, I paid for it later as I didn't feel well about 30 minutes after scarfing it.
My results? Well, I weighed last Monday morning and measured around my belly; this morning I did the same, in the same PJs. What did I find? I am down 2.8lbs and 0.5 inches. Was I expecting to lose weight/inches? I'd be lying if I said no; however, this is not why I took on Ali's challenge. I took on the challenge for a few different reasons. One, I had to get off the sodas; I had done it before but let them slip back into my day. Two, I wasn't feeling good. To put it very simply, I felt gross. None of my eats tasted good anymore, my clothes weren't fitting right and I just felt bad. And, three, I wanted to. Just as simple as that. She issued a challenge and I wanted to take her up on it. For no reason except to do it and see that I could. I floundered around the Whole Life Challenge and felt like I had no ability to stick to something. So, for me, I needed the mental challenge of taking less than good for me things out of my diet on purpose and doing so on purpose for the week. It's sort of hard to explain why I needed this but I did. So, maybe you can help me out ...
Have you needed the mental challenge of completing a 'healthy changes' type challenge? If so, what words would you use to describe your reasons?
Did you participate in The Healthy Hostess's December Detox Week Challenge? If so, what were your results (not just in numbers, how do you feel)? If not, have you recently participated in some other healthy changes challenge?
No WOD yesterday; just a 4 mile run with Ashley. And, I am pretty dang proud of that run. It was the longest run I have had - without stopping, walking or sitting on the curb to cry - EVER in the history of me doing this run thing. Woot! And, it brought the end of week 5 of my Cowtown Half Marathon training to an end. Fake race day has turned in real race day and I am pretty excited about that, too. I have stuck to the training plan and scheduled WODs and I feel pretty darn good about that, too.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Wild & Crazy
We're wild. And crazy. Ok, probably just crazy. Or, at least, just a little bit 'off'.
For us, date nights are few and far between. Mostly because we really just like having the girls with us whenever we are not at work and they are not in school. But sometimes just because we're busy and don't think about it.
However, date nights are important and, thankfully, my good, good hubby made arrangements for us to have one yesterday. On his own. No prompting from me.
He called text'd upon Ashley and her husband, Jamin, for help with the girls and they were kind enough to oblige. Ashley also was kind enough to point out that we had a run scheduled for Friday night and that I wasn't going to want to skip it. She was right. So, MD and Ashley coordinated a run and a dinner date for me. I've got good people! :)
After work, while my husband watched the combined four kids, Ashley and I set off to get our run done. Then, we sent the combined four kids home with her for the evening.
The husband and I ended up roaming downtown with no real plan for date night. (His planning stopped with 'get sitter' and I was okay with that). The fact that we even left the house for date night already made it an adventure! You see, on most date nights, you can find us sitting on the living room floor, eating pizza and cinnamon sticks, watching DVR'd episodes of who knows what and just chatting. In the peace and quiet of our own home. We'll send the kids away with a sitter with all intentions of going out; however, we seldom make it to the front door before the pizza guy is called and the hubby goes to grab a couple of Shiners for us. Now, can you see how just leaving the house was an adventure? (big grin)
We ended up in line at the Executive Surf Club where live music, pint night and surf burgers are all the local rage. But, just as we were about to order, we decided to check out and head over to Water Street where fresh fish and quiet conversation is all the rage. Why? Because (1) it's loud enough at home on a daily basis and I was over the 'thumping' coming from the patio and (2) I've spent this week conversing with Ali about the detox and have kept on track. I seriously wasn't in the mood for another grilled chicken salad (their only option in line with cleaning up my eats this week) and, to be honest, a surf burger (cheeseburger with refried beans, Frito's brand corn chips and salsa) wasn't what I wanted to 'splurge' on - if I was going to splurge. So, we left. And ended up at Water Street. Eating mesquite grilled Mahi Mahi. It was awesome. Glad we decided to move dinner locations!
After that, we found ourselves back at home and watching a Duck Dynasty marathon. We've never watched the show before. (I know. We must live in a whole.) A few minutes into the first (for us) episode, MD was laughing. In short bursts and hard. I can honestly say I have never heard MD laugh so hard watching TV! That alone was funny to me. The show? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't entertained. However, I'm not sure if we're going to become the obsessive type and 'quack' every Wednesday but I can see us watching a few episodes off of the DVR.
Or, do you prefer vegging out at home?
Do you 'quack, quack' in your status updates on Wednesdays?
Friday, December 7, 2012
best trainers ever
And, the award for 'Best Trainers Ever' goes to ... (drum roll sound here) ...
Tony & Vivian Reyes!
Tony & Vivian own & operate AOG Fitness out of the gym they built in their backyard. It's awesome.
Spring of 2011 had me looking for a local gym, a trainer, a running buddy, something, anything(one) that could help me. Earlier in 2011, I decided I needed to (and, wanted to) take getting active more serious and set out to do just that. However, I wasn't getting anywhere on my own. I really, really wanted to 'work out' but I was clueless as to what, when, where, how or why. The Internet had me confused and overwhelmed and I had no knowledge or background of my own (not even high school athletics) to fall back on. I needed real, live resources. I needed real, live guidance. And, a real, live
So, I began to search someone out. I googled for gyms, I asked people what they did, where they went, who they used to get and stay fit. I was reading people's shirts to see what gyms they were advertising for. (For real, I began paying attention to what people were wearing simply hoping a gym or trainer would be advertised!) This turned out to be genius on my part. Why? Because, I saw a shirt.
One night in April-ish, my husband and I were eating at the local Pizza Hut with our family. And, an old high school acquaintance came in with hers. There were a hundred of them. Okay, not really a hundred but alot. They have a big family. And, one of her brothers was wearing a shirt. It said "AOG Fitness". So, I pulled out my handy-dandy iPhone and googled it. A link to a Facebook page was given. I clicked it and began looking through their pics. And, thought 'I think I could like these people.' Why? Well, they were working out in their driveway (I could see construction in the background, it was the start of their gym). And, there weren't very many people in the pics which made me feel like there would be a small group of people at any given time. I liked the idea of it being low-key. It made me feel more comfortable with the idea of going.
So, I emailed them to ask a few questions. And, I began to drive by their location to spy. After two drive-bys, I finally got the nerve to dress the part of 'work out person' and drove over again with the intent of getting out of the car, walking up and starting this new adventure. But, I didn't. I was a chicken. So, I just kept driving. The next day, I made my husband go with me. I was going to have him drop me off (I thought this might actually make me get out of the car). As he began to slow down to turn into the driveway, I got all goofy and said "Never mind! Not today. Keep going.' So, he did. He accelerated to drive away. And, then we noticed some young guy chasing after us. Apparently, they had noticed my drive-bys. And, on this last one, Tony's younger brother decided to chase us. Kind of funny now but not at the time. I was so embarrassed.
I let a few weeks go by before I got up the nerve to go again. MD decided he would go with me; we both dressed to work out and headed that way. We arrived, actually got out of the car and walked up to the gym (the driveway, at the time). I introduced myself as the crazy lady who kept emailing "I should be there today" but never showed. We also confessed to being the drive-by that was chased. The introduction was a slightly entertaining period of time. The rest of that particular day at the gym as well as the next 30 days are a blur for me. I learned new terms, had to ask someone to show me the motions again and again and began to start putting names and faces together. I was more sore that I cared to be but my excitement for what I was beginning to do kept me going back. Before I knew it, we were at the end of June 2011 and I was hooked on this working out thing. Clueless to what I was actually doing (turns out it was CrossFit) but hooked all the same.
Since that first day (that I actually got out of the car), Tony and Vivian have become more like family to me than trainers, although they don't let up on being trainers and have nearly killed me on more than one occasion with overhead lifts, burpees and squats. They work with me and my oldest daughter, Makayla, and, on occasion when she asks to go, they let my youngest daughter, Rebekah, in on the squats and jump rope action. If I am honest, sometimes I go to the gym to just see them even though it's a day when I really, really don't want to work out.
This is Viv in a competition. That is Tony counting her reps.
I've always liked this pic. I stole it from one of their Facebook pages to share it with you.
This is one of their favorite pics.
Again, I stole it from one of their Facebook pages to share it with you.
I like Tony and Viv. Makayla does, too. In fact, she spent birthday money on another pair of 'Ms. Viv pants' because she thinks Ms. Viv is the bomb-diggity and wants to be like her at the gym. I don't mind. I think Ms. Viv is pretty cool, too.
Makayla and her first pair of Ms. Viv pants.
And, you know what? I think they like me, too. Why do I think that? Well, when I arrived home yesterday, there was a package at my door. I grabbed it, noticed it was Lululemon and thought I would need to walk it over to the neighbors' house because I hadn't ordered anything lately much less was I expecting anything from Lululemon. Upon closer investigation (to see which neighbor it belonged to), I realized it was actually, in fact, addressed to me. Confused but excited, I ripped into it. And, began to jump up and down like a little kid. Seriously and for real. I jumped. Up and down. I think I even squealed a little. I then, after I read the package insert, I realized it was from Tony and Viv and then I began to get all emotional. Over a pair of shorts. And, I inundated them with texts like "Seriously?!", "You shouldn't have!" and "I am SO excited!". Wait. You know what?! I don't think I ever sent an actual 'thank you' text! Oops. Following this post, I will! Tony and Viv bought me my first Lulu! I seriously was excited (if you hadn't gathered). Oh! And, it was for my birthday. For real. They are the best trainers ever. :)
My first Lulu!
Oh! I just realized this, too! My first Lulu is actually my first pair of 'Ms. Viv pants'. I have to remember to tell Makayla that I, too, have 'Ms. Viv pants'! LOL
No WOD yesterday. We had dinner plans and I planned to let it be a WOD rest day in hopes that I would still get my scheduled 2.5 mile run in. That didn't happen, either. So, I have 2.5 miles to get in after work today. And, I have 4 miles planned with Ashley tomorrow. Seriously, hoping my week without sodas is evident in tomorrow's run!
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Eeeek!
Excited. Nervous. Excited. Eeek!
... AND ...
What have you recently registered for?
Yesterday's WOD:
[5 Rounds]
15 lunges w/bar front racked (45 lbs)
15 box jumps (16")
I completed this WOD in 11:01. I felt good; I thought about increasing the weight to 65 lbs (the prescribed weight for women was 75 lbs); however, I knew that I was going to run 3 miles with Ashley about an hour after my workout, so I kept it at 45 lbs. :)
Following my WOD, I did 3 miles with Ashley. It was our first run together in over a week! Glad we went out!
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