Gems!

Here we are. 2 weeks and counting, guys!

We are [officially] tracking sodium.

Ugh.

Guess what has sodium in it? :(

EVERY THING. EV.ER.Y.THING!

It's bizarre. No wonder humans die.

Anyways...we are just TRACKING it for the time being.

 

I have no idea what's next as far as the sodium thing.

That's all I have for you besides...these gems came today!

 

 

I wish you could see them in person. WOW! <3 Great choices on my part!

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As far as weekend plans go...tonight calls for some much needed time with my good friend Brittney. We're heading to dinner and then to watch one of our high school classmates/friends band perform at my parents' bar!

Cheers! ...With water. :( ha.

Mermaid Status

Ahh! Hello, weekend! ...Almost.

 

Now that the weeks are getting closer to the show date, they sure do move a heck of a lot faster. (Gulp!)

I found a few people messaging me due to my lack of attendance at CrossFit this week which makes me sad, but here's the scoop.

Two things are happening...

1. My sleep schedule has been weird. Simply put. 5AM hasn't been doable because I need to sleeeep!
2. Although I love CrossFit...a lot...I have been doing triggered area workouts at the (open weights) gym. It's not as fun without the accountability and encouragement, but it's what needs to be done right now.

You used to find me at the 5AM class, buuuut recently, when I do go, it's been in the PM.
Lots of love goes out to the 5AMers...I miss you!

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In other news, I'm sure glad the weekend is here.

I could feel the lack of energy I had this week tightening up some loose ends in my meal plan. I'm hoping my body adjusted properly to me backing off even more of the brown carbs and inputting more greens [this last week]. Next week should be a different story. :)

 

I'm lucky enough to be able to meet with my coach in person. He's really great. He even helps me work on posing! Which, as a former dancer, isn't all that bad to me. It's tapping back into that confidence I had when I would perform x years ago. HA!

It's fun though. Every second I spend in front of a mirror, I'm doing the whole shebang or just hitting one of the poses to make sure that, even dressed, I look confident and poised. It works some muscles you forget you have! I'm pretty sure if anyone watches the cameras at the gym, they think I'm a total goon.

In the mean time, have you seen my suit yet?! >Mermaid Statuuuus< <3

 

 

Coming to you October 2015

Whoa! HI!
I feel like I go on these spurts....riiiight?

I have to fill you in on my life. I've had at least a hand full of people ask me to start blogging again so they know what's up!

The big thing on my plate right now is prepping for a "bodybuilding" competition at the end of October. Yes, you read that right. October 24th to be exact. I've kept it on the DL until I knew for sure I would be stepping on stage. I'll be competing in the bikini novice and open categories. (There's other categories for women such as: figure, bodybuilding, ect.)

 If you were around about a year and a half ago, I started to prep for one but just wasn't mentally ready for the challenge. I was constantly upset, hungry, and just didn't have it together. Apparently, this is more common than I thought.

I've worked really hard on my thought process, emotions, reactions, stability, yada yada since. AKA, I've dug a TON into personal development, gone through some weird changes, and didn't know I wanted to give it another shot until one of my friends was all in and encouraged me to do it.

So...fast forward to now.

I started at the end of May. I was very confident I would see results quickly. Wellll...that wasn't exactly the case. I did (do) CrossFit, and for months, I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. It obviously took a toll on me. In other words, it KILLED my metabolism. Or "I" killed my metabolism.

It took from the end of May to about the beginning of August for me to finally see something worthwhile. Granted, there were things that came up that definitely expedited the process. Take a looksy.

Left: May 2015
Middle: July 2015
Right: September 2015

 

I hear a LOT of people say, "you didn't need to lose anything before." Or something related. I know this. BUT ***I*** wasn't satisfied. To be very honest, eating the way I did (really crappy) showed at the gym. My endurance was way down, strength movements hurt every joint (including my back injury--OWIE!), and I wouldn't get anything besides an appetite for junk food out of the workouts.

 

I hope to keep you updated on the next 3 weeks on how I'm feeling, what's going on, and how anxious I am. I'll be very honest, raw, and keep it positive. Don't you worry! :)

Lately, I've been losing body fat pretty quickly. This makes me cold. All the time. Lol. I must wear a scarf EVERYWHERE. So here's to fighting some hardcore cravings for chocolate and chips and salsa! :)

OH and yesterday, I signed my entry form and shipped er off! It's OFFICIAL, folks. :|

I Owe You This Post!

I owe you this post! Hello! So much to catch you up on lately...but most importantly...

 

 

 

 

I'M AN AUNT!

And I am So in love with the two babies! The top photo: baby on the right is Landon and baby on the left is Drake. Same with the bottom photo.

They're a little early, but that's ok! We wanted to meet them as soon as we could anyways! :)

My sister and Jon are doing well, and obviously so are the babies.

We went to visit them again on Sunday and I snoozed with Landon. Drake likes to be cuddled up and warm, and Landon would prefer 0 blankets and sprawled out. It was funny to see them less than a week old already creating habits and showing some personality.

You'll be seeing a lot more of these two on my social media and blog! I am so happy for my sister and my family, along with Jon and his family. These two are the cutest things ever!

The Weekend Recap!

I hope you had a great weekend! It was a 5 day weekend in my world!

Friday, I took off to help my sister and mom prepare the TWINS' nursery! How cute is this?!

My mom and a good family friend prepared and put together the quilts. Seriously...I want one.

The elephant humidifier's name is Elliot. Hello El.e.ot! :)

 

I took a cat nap while my sister and mom put together the cork board frames in the top photo. :)

And I was extremely happy with the turnout of the elephants and the Born Together Friends Forever triptych!

On Friday night, my sister treated us to a movie--Pitch Perfect 2! So great! I give it two thumbs up, especially how hard it made my mom and sister laugh!

...


Onto Memorial Day...every other Memorial Day (before last year), I spent the day cleaning or working at the pool, being lazy, or who knows, really! Not really acknowledging what the day was really for.

Then I started CrossFit.

You don't have to participate in CrossFit to make the choice to recognize what the day is for, but it's what flipped the switch for me.

Last year I participated in "Donny" (21-15-9-9-15-21 deadlifts and burpees...definitely harder than it looks!) This year was Memorial Day "Murph." Besides Cindy and Karen, Murph always gives me a gut wrenching feeling.
This time was different. I was very excited! I set 1 expectation for myself and 1 only...to keep going!

What is Murph?

Run 1 Mile
300 Air Squats
200 Push Ups (eeek!)
100 Pull ups
Run 1 Mile

I had this thought in my head the entire time, my grandpa's brother died serving our country and my grandpa and numerous friends of mine have dedicated their time to serving our country so I was going to work extra hard for them. Because they never gave or give up.

I got out to run the last mile and was OK until the last 500 meters. My brain, legs, and feet were screaming to stop. And sure enough I wanted to so bad. But that thought kept popping back into my head...My grandpa's brother, my grandpa, and my friends surely didn't stop so why would I? This run was killing me, but...it could ALWAYS BE WORSE. Attach the encouragement that filled the gym and this workout was done and I was so happy to have done that much in respect to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

Read the story about Murph HERE.

Catch Up and a Note From Mother's Day!

 

I hope you had a great weekend! Mine was spent catching up on laundry, cleaning, attending an Herbalife training, meeting with customers, visiting my mom, and spending time with Collin's family, and somehow winning a game of cards...which NEVER happens! You could tell by my awful "poker face" when I was about to lay down my last card in 7's Rule! I'll try to work on that! :)

 

This is my friend, Amy. She is so wonderful. She has lost over 30+ lbs with Herbalife products, putting her at -180lbs so far! WOW! Keep up the great work, Amy!

 

A note from yesterday:

Happy Mother's Day to my amazing and strong mom! She has taught me kindness, patience, optimism, and that if I want something bad enough, I'm going to have to work hard for it. I could never thank her enough for all that she does for me. I can't wait to see her as Grammy C!  I would also like to wish a very Happy 1st Mother's Day to my wonderful sister who is extremely successful and has be a great role model for me, and will be an **AMAZING** mom! It's crazy to think in less than 2 months, we will be welcoming two little boys to our family! I'm so excited and I know my parents, extended family, and friends are too!

10 Reasons Why Graduating College is Awesome

I see a lot of posts about college graduations today! Congrats to you all! It's one of the best things that is going to happen to you at this point in your life! Here is why...

1. Ultimately, being in the "real world" is NOT that bad. Getting paid to do what you've spent the last x amount of years preparing for is actually nice! Even if the job is not what you studied, getting paid plus benefits is amazing!

2. No more of that Sunday tension. I always had this feeling on Sunday's...do you know what I'm talking about? The feeling that I had so much to do, to prepare for the week, ect. I was overwhelming myself. None of that. Now you can go to bed without having some major homework or project due in the near future. No more homework, which means that once you’re off work, you’re really off work.

3. You are officially a business professional. Saying you're a "college student" gets you a weird rep with anyone outside of the college bubble. I never figured out why until I wasn't in school. There really is no specific reason.

4. With that. You get more respect from adults in the business world, yet they understand you're still in a learning phase. You should always be in a learning phase, but it'll get you the "I just didn't know" pass for a while.

5. IMO, high school graduation was just plain sad. I was not happy about it one bit. I see now that I could've and should've been excited! But at that point in time, it was hard to adjust not being around the 74 other people I had been around for the last 15 years. College graduation is something to be excited about. Treat yourself to something fun. College is tough.

 

6. No more spending trillions of dollars on tuition every few months. Or on textbooks, for that matter.

 

7. You don’t have to pack up your entire room and move every summer. Unless you choose to do so...

 

8. Instead, you make cool new grown-up friends. But keep those college-made friends. They are some of the best! (Shout out to Alyssa, Amanda, Raine, Sam, Erin, Brandon, Meg, and Ryan!

 

9. Freshman Fifteen? Sophomore Still-Packing-On-The-Pounds? Junior Giant? The real world is considerably healthier than college. Amen!

 

And last, but NOT least...

 

10. Duh, no finals.

 

To be honest, I miss college quite a bit. I called my good friend and old roommate, Alyssa, time and time again right after and even up to a year after I graduated in tears because I missed it so much. My point here, the real world is actually really fun. If you're still in college, have fun. Don't stress. I wish I would've relaxed more and actually enjoyed my 3.5 years in college. I did shortly after turning 21, but the 3 years before that were spent stressed, angry, lost, and completely confused. I am definitely "that person" that wishes she could go back and change a lot of things in college, but they don't cloud my thoughts and they were the reason I am where I am today. And if I would have changed some things, I may not have the wonderful friends that I made in college or the job that lead me to Ames. Congrats to all of the college graduates over the next week+! You definitely are just getting started!