A big win!

Sure do love my beautiful and rugged West Coast!

Today was day 2 of CrossFit.  Holy Moly.  I am so sore I can barely function!  I worked DANG hard, managed to do 3 sets of 200m front carry weights.  I carried 50 lbs in a shoulder hold?  I don't know any of the technical CrossFit language yet.  It's like a secret code I haven't learned yet.  I will, though!

My real win came tonight.  The hubs suggested dinner at Golden Corral.  I don't know if you've ever eaten at the Golden Corral.  It's so much greasy, fried "junk" food, but it tends to be quite yummy to my middle-class palette.  A "normal" meal for me there would be a huge salad piled with bacon bits, ham, cheese, croutons, raisins, sunflower seeds, and a big 'ol ladle full of ranch dressing.  That would be followed by fried chicken, fried fish, mashed potatoes, a baked potato slathered in butter/sourcream/cheese sauce, mac and cheese, buttered corn, and 1 to 2 big and hot buttered rolls.  That would be "chased" by an ice cream sundae/brownie/slice of cake/cookie. And washed down with 2+ glasses of sweet tea.   I 100% never cleaned my plate of all that food, but I sure always feel STUFFED when I leave.

Tonight, my meal consisted of a slice of their baked fish (yummy!), 1 tiny chunk of the "southern fried" fish (like literally about a 2" square piece), a baked potato with a dollop of sour cream and cheese sauce (no butter), baked zucchini, baked squash, a spoon full of green beans, and a small salad with barely a pinch of bacon bits/cheese/eggs/pine nuts drizzled with the "light" ranch (25 cals).   Dessert was a tiny slice of apple pie, sans any sort of ice cream.  Drank water.  Now I'm home and chilling, NOT to eat another single food item.  Left the restaurant full but not in any way stuffed.  That's a HUGE win for me!

I also went to Trader Joe's tonight and stocked up on pears, bananas, organic cheese and grapefruit.  I'm getting back into this whole healthy eating thing; it's just about having the RIGHT mindset, and hopefully being able to maintain it.

NOT reflecting back on 2013 ...

Yep.  It's Yosemite!

Beautiful blue bird

Reflecting pool

Beautiful little church inside the park

No deer in the road this time, thank goodness!

I love my beautiful family!

Me taking a pic of the SIL taking a pic of me!

I could live in this small town :)

Low water levels :(

I absolutely, 148% LOVE California :)

Loved this view so much, made hubby pull over so I could take a pic!

On the way to Yosemite

My little man's growing up so fast!

I'm about to be brutally honest ... I hate New Year's.  Yep, I never stay awake until midnight, I hate to look back on the previous year, and I despise "New Year Resolutions".  I do not/will never eat collard greens, and black eyed peas are my least favorite peas on the planet.  To me, it's just a new day.  When I started this blog, my plan was to live EVERY day like it's the first day of the rest of my life.  When I wake up each morning, the days behind me are just that, BEHIND me.

The last few years have been tough for me.  I would venture to say that 100% of my problems in life are money related.  I contemplate ALL the time picking up a 2nd job to boost the income, but then that will suck every single ounce of enjoyment out of life.  We're still struggling pretty hard right now because it took us SO long to find jobs, and what we make right now barely covers our outgoing, there's just nothing left over to bolster us back up.  It's depressing, to be honest.  But, I work hard to not let that bother me.  I trust that God will help us; even when I really can't afford to do so, I drop a $20 in the offering plate every Sunday.  I've paid for other people's meals in the drive-thru line, and if I have a few dollars in my wallet, I will drop them in a sign holder's bucket on the side of the road.  I haven't bought myself NEW clothes in about 6 years.  All my "smaller" clothes, I purchased from Goodwill.  Heck, my SIL had to buy my son new clothes, he's been sorely lacking in that department because Goodwill hasn't had a good selection in his size.  My only "new" indulgence has been my running shoes I purchased from the running store.  Not looking for sympathy, just stating facts.  I'm constantly optimistic about what may come about, but I pretty much always have a small feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach every single day thinking about upcoming bills, bills I'm late on, groceries I have to buy, gas I have to put in the tank ... THAT is my wish for 2014, that I can be current and UTD on everything in my life, I can look at my bank account without feeling that sinking feeling of dread in my gut, and I can provide for my family without relying on outside help.

ANYWAY, WAY too much information, I'll probably delete this later, but it feels good to get it off my chest and release it to the atmosphere.

Had the BEST time with the SIL at Yosemite and Lake Tahoe.  It makes me a little sad that both venues are so low on snow this year, but it was great to be able to negotiate without having to worry about needing tire chains.  My teaching outside all those years helped teach me how to layer, so I was WARM and snuggly :)  We had no plans to ski this year; after seeing the prices of everything, I see it will cost us right at $500 for all 3 of us to ski one day.  YIKES!  Good thing I planned for that for next year anyway :)  At least I know now!  Going to leave y'all with some pics of our trip to Yosemite.  I have no "resolutions" to set, I'm simply resolving to let each day be on par, or better than the last.  When I feel discouraged, I pray.  When I feel particularly broke, I give.  I shop smart and don't apologize for it.  I have complete and utter faith that the $$ situation will improve, because that is something I CAN control.  I'll do what I have to do, even if that means waiting tables from 7-11 every night.  Hard work never killed anyone, and if there's one thing I know how to do, it's work hard.

Oh, my aching ... chin?

For those of you that never really exercise, you should search around for Insanity/crossfit/T25/P90X/etc.  And just try ONE workout.  Oh.  Emm.  Gee.  I've committed to getting back on the T25 bandwagon after making sure my side is 100%, this time wearing shoes AND taking the modifier option every now and then, as I would certainly consider myself to be "out of shape" at the moment.  This is day 3, hump day, and I started on Monday.  Every muscle in my body hurts, including places where I didn't think you HAVE muscles, eg. under my chin.  Talk about PAIN!  But it's that GOOD pain, that pain that says I'm kicking butt and working out.

I can't remember if I've really talked about the T25 program; it's developed by the originator of Insanity, Shaun T, and it's basically a 25 minute version of an Insanity workout.  Now, if you're new to my blog, you may be wondering what Insanity is.  The Insanity program is what helped me shed 45 lbs last year.  Changing up my eating habits helped to kick start my weight loss, but Insanity shaped and sculpted my body until my size 14 clothes quite literally fell down to my ankles.  A cute dress I had that had always fit pretty well hung so comically on my freshly toned arms, it looked ridiculous, so I chunked all of those clothes into a bag and took them to the donation bin.

The problem with Insanity?  Well, for someone with a pretty strong lazy streak, it is near impossible to keep up forever.  It's a 60 day program, 6 days a week for 40-50 minutes the first month, then 6 days a week for 50-60 minutes a day the 2nd month.  It has you sprinting, doing moving pushups, walking planks, "V" push ups, burpees, suicide climbers, jumping jacks, jump rope with an imaginary rope, "power jumps" where you leap as high in the air as you can and slap your thighs, lunges, "shoulder burners", basketball jumps ... any sort of torturous gym exercise you can remember, that's what Shaun T has you doing.  It's a GREAT program ... and I found myself spending more time dreading what was coming then actually dreading the workout once I was in it ... but it was HARD to make myself push play on the computer.

T25 is modified Insanity exercises, 5 days a week, only 25 minutes.  Unfortunately, the time sacrifice is in the warm up and the stretch and the cool down, arguably the most important parts of a workout routine ... hence me straining an oblique muscle after doing only 2 days.  So today will be day 3, which I have not yet done, and I will get back to whipping my body back into shape.  Running is great exercise, but your body gets used to it ... at least mine does.  I think for ME T25 is a more sustainable workout because it's ONLY 25 minutes, and it's 5 days a week; something I can commit to by getting up half an hour earlier each morning and knocking it out.  There is a 25 minute stretch workout in there that I will fit in when I feel as though I need it (like right now!).

I LOVED my toned up body.  Problem is, it requires WORK to keep it that way.  I relaxed and let that slide; I am going to WORK to get it back again, and then I will WORK to keep it forever.  It's SO easy to allow yourself to get bitten by the lazy bug and start to slide back into old habits of making excuses like, "I've been married 14 years; why should I kill myself to look good?"  or "I'm married with a kid, who am I trying to impress anyway?"  You know what?  I'm not trying to impress anyone, I'm trying to be the BEST me I can be, and the BEST me is not fat and flabby.  The BEST me doesn't snack on m&m's all day and stuff my face with Ritz crackers at every opportunity.  The BEST me doesn't drink regular soda, or even diet soda.  The BEST me loves myself and tries to take care of ME by eating well and taxing every muscle I can to firm it back into submission.  Don't wait until Monday to change your habits.  START TODAY!  Drink water, chill on the refined sugar, and move your body!  It's simple.  I'm following my own advice!  Hope the rest of your week is great:)  OH!  And ps, David and I have found a new church to attend, I'm very excited.  Pastor Jimenez is the pastor, and he LOOKS about 25, but I think he's actually around my ageish.  Very passionate, great sermon, great Bible study.  Excited about what Sunday brings!

The Empty Corner

This is a link to my other blog that I wrote about Timbre.  The day was today that I laid him to rest.
Timbre; 1999-2013