Family

Today was a great day spent with great people. We had 21 guests come to the lake for Sunday Funday. It was great having everyone together. Rachel and Blake were both off work and were able to make the 2 hour trip! It was just like old times again.

Denny and I both talked on the way home about how blessed we feel to have such wonderful families that surround us. Outside of our own families, we have "extended" mom's and dad's that are always looking out for us. It's nice knowing you have so many people who care about you. I makes me sad to think that some of us might not always be around to have these moments. We never know where life may take us and we all have so many different passions in life. S is in seminary, R and B are off saving the world in their helicopters, P is headed to grad school so he can recreate historical beauty, T is headed to Auburn for forestry school, and the rest of us are all over Metro Atlanta doing our own things. It makes me sad to think that one of us might be led somewhere far off and won't just be 15 minutes down the road.

I told some friends of mine the other day that I wish they all would stay in college so we would always have summers off together. It kind of hit me that no one else will have this once they graduate unless they become a teacher! :)

I also had a very touching moment with a sweet friend of mine. We were hanging out the other day and he paid me a great compliment. Mid conversation, he told me that when he gets older and decides to get married, he hopes she's just like me. He kept telling me not to take it the wrong way and all I could think was, "why would I take that the wrong way!?" He probably has no idea how much that meant to me and I hope he knows that I wasn't blowing him off by laughing and continuing with my book - I was just trying to fight off the tears. So to you, my dear friend, thank you!!

Not to leave CrossFit out of the story - last Friday's WOD was called "BULL." We had 40 minutes to complete 800 singles (800 jumps on a jump rope. No Debbie, it's not a typo!), 50 pull-ups, 50 OH Squats, and run 1 mile. I was so proud to say I completed everything but only made it through 400 singles. I could have made about 150 more if I had more time but by the end, my legs felt like they weighed a ton a piece.

I also happened to make the website. WHY I could have a B.A looking picture like everyone else, I don't know. But at least its proof that A) I attend class and B) I freakin bust it! Enjoy! :)

Baby Steps

I just had to post my joyous moment that occurred today. I was running late for CrossFit and knew I would have to hurry to catch up with the Warm-Up and still have a few minutes to breath before the WOD started. As I pulled in, I noticed the group running around the parking lot. Instant thought- "Turn around and go back home!" But I didn't. I dropped my stuff off, checked the Warm-Up and saw that we had to run 1 lap and then were doing a group work out. No pressure - just the whole group waiting on me to finish my lap. Drum roll please...

I finished my entire lap RUNNING! So it's not like I ran a whole mile but a part of my goals is to be able to run 2 miles. The fact that I finished that one lap running without dying was HUGE to me. So a self pat-on-the-back was called for.

I have started to notice some muscle definition showing up. My ballet legs are slowly coming back. It's funny how I hated having those legs when I was younger but now I'd give anything to have them back! I've also noticed my endurance is growing. All of these are baby steps but they will help get me to that 2 mile run in the end!

Insurance

With getting a teaching job this past year, I also had the pleasure of receiving my own insurance. (Insert sarcastic grin here) I chose to go with the wellness plan which was a little bit cheaper but you have to have a yearly physical and some blood work done in order to maintain it. No biggie.

Last week I had my blood work done. I apparently have a nice, juicy vein in my right arm because that sucker was flowin'!! The nurse got all excited when she felt it. I guess you'd have to be a nurse for that kind of excitement. After filling what seemed like 100 vials, I was free to go with another appointment scheduled for this week. This brings me to today. Today was round 2 of the physical. Just your normal routine business - blood pressure, being asked every question in the book about "have you had any...", and so on. I was eager to know my height - strangely all of the times I've been to the doctor they have not measured this. I can officially say I am 5'5. Kind of depressing seeing as I was hopeful for a few more inches but I'll take it. The only downside of this is my height/weight proportion is way off. I had to have my BMI measured (Body Mass Index) and that was the part that I dreaded.

If you've ever had this done, you will recognize the handheld gadget that looks like an Xbox controller. Some might have had the fancy ma thematic version done. My nurse was on point and did it in her head. With a height of 5'5 and a weight of 175, my BMI was 29.1. Your BMI is measured on 4 scales: Underweight (<18.5), Normal, (18.5-24.9), Overweight (25-29.9), and Obese(>30). My "mental goal" was to not be in that last category. I was relieved to see that I wasn't but it was a bit disappointing to be in the overweight category. I kind of knew it was coming but I was also hoping to not be .8 away from the worst category.

I have a great doctor who I feel really comfortable talking to. He asked me if I was physically active in sports or anything. I told him about dance and that how after I quit dancing I just seemed to steadily gain weight. He suggested keeping up with CrossFit and adding in a food regiment now. He said two weeks should be long enough for my body to be used to the new exercise and that starting with portion control and slowly taking out "bad foods" will do wonders. He wants me to try it on my own for a few months and if I don't see results like I should, come see him and start on his meal plan. He said it was tough and I would really have to stick to it but I think I could do it. I'll definitely keep it on the back burner.

So to add to the previous goals, now I have to get my BMI down. It sounds like an easy task, however, at my height, reaching a "Normal BMI" is getting down to 145 lbs. 30 lbs to lose!! The task has just gotten a little bit harder, but I'm ready for the challenge.

If you are asking yourself, "I wonder what my BMI is?," click HERE to find out.

Progress

So my first week back at Crossfit and I'm feeling pretty good. I can definitely feel and see a different in my stamina. I'm pretty sure I gave two of the trainers a heart attack on Wednesday. I over did a little too much and had to sit out for a while. It kind of cracked me up when they asked what was wrong and admitted they didn't read my information. I told them they might want to do that so they are aware what is going on with their clients. I wasn't upset because I don't have a problem explaining it to them.

The only frustrating part is the sympathetic looks/stares from other class members. I hate that look. Sometimes I wish I had a sign on my back that said, "I'm fine!" because I hate the constant, "are you okay?" questions. I guess I should be thankful that they are concerned but I just take it as they take pity on me. I don't need anyone's pity, that's for sure.

I bought a jump rope because apparently not only am I uncoordinated, but I absolutely suck at jumping a rope! I don't remember being one of those kids who thoroughly enjoyed jumping rope for fun but now I'm wishing I had been that kid! Our work out on Thursday was a toughy. Running is not my strong point at all, thus one of my goals in "Handstand Pushups". Not only did we have to run a lap at the beginning of each round, but 2 of them were supposed to be backwards. Insert "Uncoordinated Ashley" here. I can do any dance combination and the most complicated of footwork but ask me to walk, or heaven forbid run, backwards is just asking for comic relief.

I was happy to complete 3 of the 4 rounds. I got three done in 26 minutes. It's definitely an improvement but I strive for better times. We keep up with the times of every class member for the day on a whiteboard. To the dude in the 4pm class with a 19 minute workout - props to you, Superman! I will say that I would take on most in leg workouts. The problem is we don't just do legs. It's a whole core workout each time which I love. I don't miss the days of my legs or my arms being sore. I wake up with a whole body sore but a good sore...if there is such a thing.

I took today off because I worried about going hard two days in a row. Today was the HOPE WOD and I knew my body would be extremely angry with me if I pushed it too far. I'm ready to get back at it on Monday morning. These afternoon shifts after VBS are not for the birds!

I Love You, "Insert Name Here"!!

I recently went back and attended my first dance recital as a spectator. That was a bittersweet event all on its own but I left more frustrated than anything. Let me just jump on my soapbox for a moment...

#1 - You are attending a ballet recital. Its a dance recital, not a rock concert. Please refrain from screaming out "I love you Princess" or "You da bomb, Sarah!" A) It's very distracting to the dancers. B) They have been trained not to respond to your cat-calls. C) You just sound dumb!

#2 - Attending your family member's recital does not give you a free pass to dress like a hooker. Wearing your tiny mini skirt and see through tank top does nothing to help your baby sister frappe and glissade better across the stage. You now sound and look dumb! Take yourself to the club if you want that kind of attention, otherwise, you are just distracting to everyone else and taking the focus away from the sweet girls on the stage. You, my friend, belong on a different kind of stage.

#3 - STOP TALKING DURING THE PERFORMANCE! Just because your performer isn't on stage at the moment doesn't mean someone around you isn't watching their daughter/son. It's just plain rude!

#4 - Cell Phone etiquette - Surely you can read if you've made it this far. Therefore, you see the sign that says "No Cell Phones." That includes texting, not just talking. That little glow from your iPhone causes every girl on that stage to focus their attention to that strange light. Again, super distracting!

#5 - Vibrate: the act of your phone NOT making noise. Use it, that's why the geniuses put it as a feature on your phone!

#6 - Video - when the sign says "No Video" and you are intently staring at your phone in front of your face and there is a tiny red light flashing, please do not take me for a fool and try to argue with me that you were just "getting ready to text." I am not blind nor stupid. (Please see Rant # 4)

::steps off soap box::

Raining on our parade

It's the midweek portion of camp and I can't believe the first 3 days are almost over. I've come to camp for the past 4 years with our church and thoroughly loved every second of it. I never had the pleasure of attending camp with House as our youth minister, so I feel as though I'm making up for lost time. (I'm pretty sure I was at YHC when House took over) House does an absolute wonderful job with these students. He has an amazing personality that completely reaches our students. He has such a well balanced personality - he is absolutely hilarious but has a sense of drive and a high set of standards for our students that allow them to grow and focus on their walk with God. I'm pretty biased when I say we have the best Youth Minister but it's true...we do. :)

So Tuesday morning, I was determined to get up and do some Crossfit exercises. Parker, Austin, and Winn were AWESOME friends and got up with me. We ran and did wall-ball squats. We were quite exhausted after that and Parker did wonders making us look bad with his expert running skills.

So far we've had a rainy week. It rained on the way down, both on us and the vans. (Interesting story all in its own...) Rained while we unloaded the vans, rained during Worship, probably rained all night too. All of the students were saying many prayers that the rain would hold off on Tuesday for our day at the Water Park. Thankfully, it did! We had a really nice day at the part, outside of a few nasty nose bleeds, and right as we were getting ready to pack up, the bottom fell out. Talk about a blessing of a day!

We really wanted to take a trip to Driftwood Beach but the weather thought otherwise. We did luckily get out favorite excursion to Southern Soul BBQ. Guy from Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives visited this place and House heard it was amazing. We went last year and had to make a return trip. You know it's amazing when you're willing to sit in the rain and eat BBQ. :)

We're hoping for a change in weather the rest of the week!! Send up those prayers.

Handstand Push-Ups

Oh yeah, that was in our WOD today. (WOD? Workout of the Day) I'm slowly catching onto the lingo at CrossFit but I have to give credit to Google and YouTube for allowing me to look up "CrossFit terms" and check out all of our workouts before I get to class the next day. Maybe I should back up...

Wednesday afternoon I received a text from my trainer at LA Fitness telling me he had just quit his job there. More power to him because he had every right to walk away from a toxic environment but it really worried me because he was the main reason I went up there. We worked out once a week together but I was so pumped for summer to get here so we could do more workouts and I could FINALLY start my road back to being in-shape. I immediately jumped on the computer and ended my membership both to train and to LAF. Call me compulsory but I knew if I didn't do it right then, it would linger on until I decided what to do and I did not want to be charged with fees when I wasn't using the gym.

I posted a status on facebook asking for advice on gyms that wouldn't break the bank. I was completely overwhelmed with the responses. (I have great FB friends!) "Come here, Go there, DON'T go to that place" and they all sounded great. With the purchase of a new car on the horizon, I wanted something close to home to save gas money and was definitely looking for a teacher discount. I am not ashamed of using a good discount! My friend Ashley asked me to go to a CrossFit class with her on Thursday. A little background knowledge - I am terrified of cardio. In high school, I went through a spell of having heart issues and long story short, my heart has a pretty significant murmur and doesn't seem to pump blood fast enough resulting in dizzy spells and shortness of breath. WHEW! Good side - remedy without medication is a salty snack and lots of water! Mmmm...goldfish!

I went back and forth on joining another gym or trying CrossFit. A good friend of mine from school has been going for a while now and she's in great shape. Granted, she's a good bit taller than me and naturally slender, but she just beams "healthy." I texted her and low-and-behold, she went to the same place. So I dug down deep for some courage and said, "here we go!"

I won't lie and say the first day wasn't intimidating. There were true athletes taking on the WOD like it was a warm-up. I thought the warm-up was the entire workout!! We started with an ab warm-up and let's just say I was rolling out of bed instead of sitting up the next morning. That was to be followed by the WOD - 2 mile run and 45 box jumps. (Box jumps - jumping up onto a box, various heights available, and standing in a full extension.) I made it the 1 mile mark, walking, and decided I should go try the box jumps. More like box "steps" for me but I did all 45 of them! I was very disappointed with the fact that I made it one mile and was dying. Mom and I walk 3 miles when we go through the neighborhood but I think I was mentally shutting down at this point so maybe it's a good thing I didn't go much farther.

I really liked the whole "setting" of the facility. Everyone was nice and helpful and just as stressed as I was about LAF being such a pain to cancel. They explained their month-to-month policy (you want to cancel, just say so!) and explained their teacher discount. I was a little shocked at the amount but had been warned that it was expensive. (Thanks Billy&Debbie/Matt!) I told the trainer I would think on it. As Ash and I were walking to the car, I felt the breakdown coming on. I held it together until I was safely seated in Tina and then let it out. It's really tough being in the greatest shape of your life just by doing what you love and what you're good at for 20 years. I never truly understood what changed when I stopped dancing. I still ate the same things, I joined a gym and stayed fairly active, went through a rough relationship that I"m pretty sure added more stress than happiness, but over-all, I never felt the weight being added. I noticed clothes were a little snug here and there, blah, blah, blah...and then one day it hit me! I jumped on the scale and saw 160lbs and said, "whhaaaaat!?" I had never been a scale owner because I had weighed 140 for the last how many years!? It took me a long time to come to terms with 140 but I knew I had a lot of muscle mass from ballet (I would take on anyone in a leg wrestling contest!) but now I was just floored. 160 turned into 165 which turned into 170 and here we are today! I'll never forget eating dinner with our best friends one night and us talking about weight gain/loss. She commented that her brother was down to 170 (he's had a battle with cancer the past year) and not thinking said, "OMG -that's how much I weigh!" I"m pretty sure that's the first time I've ever admitted that! She kind of stared at me and laughed, did her best friend job of "OMG, shut up! No you don't!" and changed the subject. That's what best friends are for! :)

I think spring this year was a huge turning point for me. Teaching middle school can be quite enlightening. They are brutally honest and I would hear them make jokes about other teachers and friends and their weight issues and I would constantly think, "Dang, what do they say about me?" I think I had a favoritism vote from them being young. I was a step higher on the "cool scale" for still being in my 20's but I still worried what they were really thinking. Especially my cheerleaders. I stressed to them big time that they needed to stay in shape and we did some conditioning here and there, but I always wondered if they were thinking, "Who are you to tell us to stay in shape!?" Painting my toes one day, I realized I was out of breath. No, not out of breath...HOLDING my breath. "Really? You're that much bigger that you can't reach your toes to paint them!? Holy geez..." I knew it was time.

But where was the time? If you have children in school or friends who have children in school or know anyone who is a teacher, you will understand that from Spring Break until Summer, life flies about 100 mph and you barely have time to breath, let alone hold your breath to paint your toes! Between CRCT, Cheerleading tryouts, Model UN, Field Day, Honor's Day, End-of-the-year Parties, Final Exam Projects, and a whole list of other things, where in the world am I supposed to find time to exercise? Sure, I probably should have skipped all of those softball games but that was my only time to see the boyfriend since he's working two jobs now. I kept saying, "Just give me until summer! I will have two months to get myself together!" Then, day one of returning to the gym, I get that fateful text from my trainer. Who knows? Maybe this was God's plan all along. I've said before I want to honor the body he gave me by keeping it in the best shape it can be in. Is this my best shape? I don't think so...I think there is much more for me and I want to set a good example for others. I remember being in middle school and having kids joke with me about being so skinny. Hello!? Beanpole was more like it! I remember wanting a cute booty like the other girls. Oh I got a booty all right...just not quite the "cute" I was looking for. This booty came with matching hips and a not-so-flat-anymore tummy! Thank you female hormones! :)

So here I am! 2 days into CrossFit and I love it. Hoping that the next two months will give me good results. This is my goal:

Official Starting weight : 174.2
Goal Weight : 145
Run 2 miles and not be winded/feel like I'm going to die
Complete 3 rounds at CrossFit under 30 minutes
Attempt/Complete the Beast at CrossFit

If you're interested in joining a CrossFit gym, I highly recommend CrossFit Pulse in McDonough. Click the white link to check out their website.