What's the point of having great hair if you don't sing in public?

A) I stole that from the film "Promised Land"
2) You should rent it when it comes out, it's a good movie with a decent message and an interesting story line. It also has Matt Damon and John Krasinsky(Jim from The Office) so that's a plus!

Thursday nights are usually my skate nights, but, well.....

I accidentally did my leg workouts this morning. The gym was busy, and I panic in large crowd situations. I headed for the first open space, which was the squat rack. So tonight became.....adventures at Target night!!!

I bought some new kicks.

...and miniature ice cream.

isn't it cute?

I'm trying to keep my sweet tooth in check, so I thought I'd see what it's like to eat only four bites of ice cream instead of and entire pint of ice cream. The satisfaction level is actually spot on, and the guilt factor almost nonexistent. Thank you, Ben and Jerry, for miniaturizing your tasty treats! 

Meanwhile, back at the M&M, the hubs and Lucy did this....

It's rough around here. 

Diggin It

I wore my running shoes all day at work today. Some day this will no longer be a rare occurrence. :)

What a girl needs

I'm all about simplicity. I do not need a lot of things, but there are a few things that a girl's just gotta have. Materialistically speaking, of course, because I've already told you how much I adore my family and friends :)

A cute dog.

A good pair of running shoes.

A reliable sweatshirt.
This baby is about ten years old.

And a happy place.

I've got a few happy places :)

I've gotten into the routine of spending Saturday mornings on the treadmill for a few miles (I can't WAIT to be doing that outside!) followed by a steam sesh. I highly recommend it after a brutal week.

Today's playlist was spot on:

A whole lot of heavy, a dash of teenie-bopper, and a whole lot of awesome.

P.S. The Eminem and Nate Dog 'Til I Collapse makes me feel like I can bench press cars and such

Crusty Butt

Here is a better summary of our weekend in Crested Butte (I'm classy and mature, so I call it crusty butt)

Habits

I've heard that it takes 21 days to develop (or UNdevelop) a habit.
How are those New Years Resolutions coming? According to the geniuses that write books and stuff, those resolutions should be becoming habits about now.

But, if you're a human like the rest of us, chances are you've had a few off days over the past three weeks. (See my last post.....that would be an example of an off day... Deee-press-ing!)

My advice today is to not overwhelm yourself. Had an off day? Ate two pieces of that cake? Said some f* bombs? Lost your temper with your husband? It happens. Nobody's perfect. Becoming a better person in whatever arena you're working on isn't about doing a total nutrition overhaul overnight and magically following the healthy habits every single day all of the time without error all of the sudden because it's January and you made a resolution. Good habits are developed slowly, over time...after time after time after time. The habit of daily exercise is built just as it sounds....daily. Each morning that you wake up, head out the door, and get in the gym instead of hitting the snooze button, you're building a healthy habit. Each time you pass on the dessert, have water instead of soda, and pack an extra vegetable in your lunch; you're developing a healthy habit. I know I, often times, get discouraged because my entire life doesn't look exactly as I want it to. "Well I ate all that junk food over the weekend and I missed a workout and..." Yep. But guess what? I have to eat again some time, and at that point, I can choose to make a healthy decision. Tomorrow morning I have to get out of bed again, and I can make the choice to go to the gym. Isn't that awesome!? Don't get overwhelmed, just chip away at those goals slowly but surely until they become habits, and eventually- intuition. Each and every good decision is a building block. Brick buildings aren't set on the ground in one solid piece, they are placed one by one, eventually forming a solid structure ;)

You'd bleed just to know you're alive

Something about having your tailbone shoved up into your throat serves as a bit of a wake up call......What the heck am I doing? In all respects of the question...A) What am I doing on the side of this mountain with my feet strapped to this stupid board? 2) What on earth am I doing with myself lately? Why is this challenge such a shock to my brain? Has it really been that long since I pushed myself? One of my all time favorite songs, Iris, by the Goo Goo Dolls has a line that says "You can't fight the tears that ain't coming, Or the moment of truth in your lies, When everything feels like the movies, Yeah, you'd bleed just to know you're alive."

Several years ago, I had given up derby during a time in my life when everything just plain sucked and I shoved things off my plate as fast as I could, hoping for some sort of clarity. As life started to settle back down, I headed to a pick up derby practice on a Sunday night.  That night, I fell backwards and literally felt my spinal column jam together and my tailbone felt like it shattered into a million pieces. These same thoughts went through my head. 

It's so easy to float through life emotionless, half-dead, and completely numb and unchallenged. But God doesn't want us to do that. Why would any God create life to do just that? No no. We were meant for so much more. So He gives us wake up calls. I'm sure for others these wake up calls have come in various forms. For me, apparently, God knows He has to stop me with a physical fall. Until then, I don't even realize that I need to pick myself up. 

Last night, I laid in bed at our hotel room trying to fall back asleep for three and a half hours. Sleep has never been a challenge for me. I exhaust my body and brain enough each day that I sleep restfully and typically uninterrupted, and if so, I fall right back asleep when the quiet returns. If I get contaminated with wheat or gluten, I have a restless night but I have NEVER been awake in bed for three and a half hours. (I know insomniacs loathe me right now.) 1:08 turned into 2:15 and then into 3:00 am. I laid there, uncomfortable, my mind spinning, and only wanting to be home so I could get up and at least get something done with this time. I finally decided I'd use the time to do some chatting with the Lord. (gee what a concept!) And as my brain tumbled and stumbled and raced and spun, I realized I've been living without intention.

If we all look back at times in our lives where we've felt accomplished, full of life, and as if we are on the right path; chances are we were living with a specific, determined intention during those times. We had a goal in mind that our hearts were set on and we were taking our baby steps towards achieving it. Am I right? 

When I purchased my home, I determined that it would be my sanctuary. No matter what was going on in the world, I wanted my home to be my safe place. It used to be. Lately, we've let outside factors screw up the sanctuary. It is no longer a safe haven, but is a stress factor. One more bill to pay, one more chore to be done. Last night, all I wanted was to be home...but for all the wrong reasons. I wanted to be home so I could tend to things. I didn't miss any comforts of being in my sanctuary. I just wanted to be using that time efficiently. I don't long to be here for my sanity,  I just live here. wth?

Well tomorrow is a new day, my friends. A new day when we all get the chance to rededicate ourselves to our intentions. Let's take advantage of it. Create your sanctuary, and then push the limits in all other spaces. Challenge yourselves. Give yourself a chance to fall from time to time. Playing in the shallow water means never leaving the shore. Living in your comfort zone means never growing or learning from discomfort. Let's get uncomfortable, and let's no longer need to bleed before we remember we're alive.

When You're Having One of Those Days

There are days when I think to myself "Is this really my life? Is this really what I'm doing with my talents? This is NOT the image I had in mind when I dreamed about my future!" I think maybe sometimes God holds us up at a spot we don't really want to be at for a few reasons. Either so we'll appreciate the good things more once we get there, or so that we go through the growing pains in a place we already hate anyways, or a place where we're not meant to stay forever.  If I had learned the nastiness and disappointments of the world while working in the sports industry, an industry I think I'll love, I may have ended up hating it just due to the growing pains.

 There has to be a period of preparation. Hang on. 

And when you can't hang on, give yourself a moment to scream in frustration.

(explicit content)

  

2 minutes

I'm not at all plugging technology here (because I can barely utilize half of the features of my Note II) but check out this commercial that came on before the previews when we went to see Promised Land the other day.

A) the music is freaking awesome and has been the only thing playing on my running playlist for the past two days. I have issues. I know. 2) maybe it was just a good day or pms or whatever, but this stupid phone commercial really inspired me...but not to buy a phone.

If someone made a 2 minute feature of your life, what would it look like?

Would you be throwing around heavy objects? Chasing your laughing kiddos around? Running a marathon? Winning a boxing match? Reeling in a prize fish? Working to cure diseases? Or would you be sitting at your desk at the job you hate? Staring aimlessly into space while you cook dinner? Sitting on the couch watching tv? Would anyone even want to watch it? Would you want to watch it? I want to make mine look a little more like Kerri Walsh's.

While you ponder that, I'll ask an easier question. What would the song be in the 2-minute glimpse into your life?

Smaller than most....

...larger than life

I totally stole that from Down With Detroit (who was referring to Barry Sanders when they posted it on fb, which is why I llluuurrrrvvvved it!) and no, I do not think I am actually larger than life. But what can I say? It spoke to my heart :)

I'm the little one with the yellow wheels, there towards the right. Yeah, next to  the 6'3" girl.

So far 2013 is going great. How are you all doing with your goals and resolutions? I won't be like the rest of the world and complain about the lack of available treadmills at the gym this week. After all, time wasted judging others is time that could be well spent bettering ourselves.

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. ~Ephesians 4:29

I'm feeling like my old self again...the old version of me that worked out regularly, didn't let work bleed into my personal life, and ate right and had energy to face the day. It's been wonderful!

On Thursday night, the hubs had to work a 24 hour shift, so I used the evening to create a surprise for him :) It was nothing major, I just made him the chicken egg rolls he'd been asking me to make for about the past two weeks. Retiring to bed I thought "see? I love doing things for other people when I feel good." Incorrect.

I feel good when I do things for other people. 

Give it a shot. Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves or focusing on why we're not happy or "feeling good," shift the focus to others and do something nice for someone else, expecting nothing in return.

  It's refreshing.

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone. ~Galatians 6:10

Goals for this week:

Spin class Thurs or Saturday...needing a long cardio sesh
3 days (properly split up this time) of Wendler's 5/3/1 strength program
Encourage the hub's goal of his miles on the bike

What about you? What are you going to do this week to better yourself?