kid proof

I'm a little late posting last night's workout but we were just so busy afterwards that I didn't have time. In fact, I've been super busy already this morning!

Last night's WOD was a ton of fun! We had 5 people come over in addition to Michael and I and those people brought with them 4 kids in tow! So the guys and girls took turns working out. First the ladies stayed inside and watched the kids while the dudes worked out. Then we switched once they were done. It worked out really well but I learned that our house is definitely not kid-proof. At all. The kids reached for everything they possibly could (who knew the little rascals did this?) and I was afraid for some of our belongings at times but luckily, nothing was broken.

Something seems off to me about kid proofing our home when we don't have kids. Anyone else with me on that? And no, the solution, Lexi, is not for Michael and I to have kids :-P

I've also realized that I am not kid proof either. I have a potty mouth and let it slip a time or two. Luckily the parents thought it was hilarious because I would gasp and cover my mouth realizing just a moment too late what I had just said. Dang it.

If the weather wasn't crazy here in Arizona right now, it wouldn't be bad because we can all be outside and the kids can just run around. It actually snowed in Phoenix yesterday people! It was all over the news. It wasn't like a blizzard or anything, just a very light dusting but it was crazy nonetheless. This is unheard of! Working out in a garage has definitely been challenging this week! Right now it is 33 degrees- I'm wearing 3 shirts, super tall socks, and gloves. What a wuss I've become.

Oh, back to the workout...

I made up the girls workout and here's what we did-
AMRAP 12
2 burpees
4 box jumps
6 kettlebell swings
8 squats
Sprint (probably about 100 meters)

I did 6 rounds + 1 burpee. It was a challenging workout for sure but a lot of fun! All of our noses were running because it was so cold but we made the most of it.

We're supposed to workout again at noon but I'm not sure if I will. I'd like to do "Fran" since one of my 2011 goals is to do it in under 9 minutes and I want to see what kind of a hurdle that will be. But our pull-up bar is iron and with this weather, it's FREEZING to try and hold onto. It needs to hurry up and warm up so I can do it!

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Some goals for 2011

As promised, I've spent some time thinking about my goals for 2011. My "theme" (if you can call it that) has been to live a savvy and fit life. I've decided to break my goals up into similar categories... I did this last year too and I think it helped.

Fitness Goals

1. Perform a handstand push-up
2. Perform 10 pistols with each leg (essentially a one-legged squat)
3. Complete Fran in 9 minutes or less (I'm currently at 11:00 so I have a lot of work to do here!)
4. Eat gluten free during January (check it out!)
5. Take part in The 30-day Primal Challenge from Mark's Daily Apple (he did it in September 2010.)
6. Read Robb Wolf's The Paleo Solution (check it out!)

Overall, I want to get faster at some of my CrossFit times. I feel myself getting stronger and all the PR's I'm setting prove it, but I want to see that I'm getting faster (more efficient) too. In 2011, I plan to repeat some of the WOD's on my sidebar and see if I can't beat the times. Most of them are old so I'd like to think that I've improved since then but I'm not sure.

Savvy Goals

1. Contribute $10,000 to our Roth IRA's (the maximum we're allowed to contribute)
2. End the year with $29,200 in our Dream Fund.
3. Donate a minimum of $100 each month to a charity.
4. Carpool at least two times each week.

Financially, we're on the right track. Besides our savings goals for the year, I want to make sure we're enjoying our money too. Balancing these two things (saving vs spending) is hard for me because I'm a saver. In our budget, we've added a date night each month and of course we're taking our big vacation at the end of February. I'd like to tackle our savings goals head on and achieve them earlier... then maybe I won't be as hesitant to spend some of our money at that point!

Life Goals

1. Work 45 hours per week or less (such a tough one for me!)
2. Become more aware of ways to live a greener lifestyle. I carpool and air dry clothes, don't leave lights on for no reason, etc. but I'm sure I can do more. I must do more in 2011.
3. Organize our file cabinet and come up with a system for not letting it get out of control again.
4. Visit my chicas! I would like to make this an annual thing- hopefully it's on their goal list for 2011 too or I might be screwed :)
5. Stop calling Michigan "home". This might seem far too simple to be a resolution or it might not make sense to anyone but me, but this goal actually has more to do with my mindset and changing the way I perceive where we live now, where we may live in the future, where my family lives, etc.

And I'd like to continue learning to play the piano. There are a number of things I want to find more time for (piano is #1) but that first goal up there under "Life" is the biggest hinderance right now. As soon as I can get that under control, the more time I will have to dedicate to other things. I made some enormous (for me) strides in 2010 in regard to my work-life balance and I'm optimistic that it will get even easier by the end of 2011.

What are your resolutions for 2011?

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new PR!

YIPPY!  I set a PR for my overhead squats today and I'm super excited!

When I started, I was the only one home. Here were my weights for 5 reps-
65
75
85
95 (New PR!)
100

I failed that rep of 100 but I knew I could get it. I sort of freaked out because I realized I was lifting 100 pounds over my head and no one was home. I went down and dropped the weight in front of me exactly as you're supposed to so I'm not sure why after that rep I was hesitant to keep going but I was. I had that one thought in my head that I was going to die from lifting weights and then I couldn't get it out of my head.

So, anyway, I decided to wait til the guys got home from work to do my last 2 reps.

And I did-
100
100

I decided just to do 100# twice because my first one wasn't pretty. I just didn't feel strong and I wanted to repeat it so I did. My PR before tonight was only 85 so this is a 15# PR! Wahoo!

My sidebar has been updated!

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2010 recap

Last year, I put a lot of time into my 2010 resolutions. By this time last year, I already knew what my goals were going to be, had given them a lot of thought, and had blogged about them. This year? Not so much. I have no idea what goals I'll set for 2011 but I can at least recap 2010.

Here they are-

Savvy Goals

1. Improve net worth... goal = have positive net worth (we're currently negative $35K!)
2. Save for anniversary cruise/vacation... goal = $3,000 depending on where we decide to go
3. Save for 2nd car... goal = $8,000
I'm happy to report that financially-speaking, we did amazing in 2010 and met each of these goals. We contributed the max amount to newly created IRA's in 2010, bought a new car worth $15,000 (almost twice as much as our goal), and saved for a vacation! All of these result in a much higher net worth then we started the year with!

Fitness Goals

1. Maintain current weight/size... I weigh 135 lbs and wear a size 6. I'm very happy with this weight. I have no desire to lose or tone anymore but don't want to gain weight either
Let's see... I'm around 138-140 but still a size 6 so I'm very happy with that. There was that one day when I got weighed at the doctor's office and weighed 145 but I think I was just having a bloated day or something. My size 6 pants are actually big on me these days and I've been saying how I need to maybe try on some size 4's with my Christmas money.

2. Complete 100 burpee challenge... 1 burpee on Day 1, 2 on Day 2, etc until 100 days complete!
I tried to do the burpee challenge and made it to 55 before getting calf cramps. Damn calves. I can't do anything repetitive without having issues.

3. Perform 10 consecutive double unders... my current total is 9, but not consecutively so I have some work to do.
I hit my goal of doing 10 double unders and actually surpassed it by doing 15! I just hit it in October so I just barely made it!

4. Perform handstand push-up... no modifications!
I cannot do a handstand push-up yet but I feel like I just started working on this recently. It's going to be a repeat goal for me in 2011 because I really want to be able to do this exercise!

Life Goals

1. Watch less TV... I need to make this more specific
Wow, do I ever watch less TV these days. When we moved in February, we got rid of cable and DVR and all that jazz. I could care less what happens on most TV shows now and most week nights, the TV doesn't even get turned on in our house. I remember reading how people were happier after turning the TV off and I can definitely understand that now. At first, it sucked, but now, I love it and won't ever go back!

2. Learn to knit ... my goal is to knit Michael a Dr. Who scarf. This, however, requires some basic knitting knowledge which I don't have yet. I started this hobby a few weeks ago and so far I love it!
I tried to learn to knit and gave it a good shot but you know what? I didn't enjoy it. I "quit" because I learned that it was something I didn't actually want to do and I wasn't going to keep doing it for the sake of a resolution.

3. Learn to play the piano...this has been a dream of mine since I can remember. I have my first piano lesson scheduled for January 2nd!
YAY! My piano playing will always be a work-in-progress. What I've realized is that I love playing and I am soooo glad I decided to challenge myself with this new skill. It's tough, and I still royally suck, but it's not going to stop me from continuing my lessons into 2011!

4. Implement 5 lifestyle changes for greener living... i.e. change out lightbulbs, etc.. I know I can come up with 2-3 without hesitation, but 5 is going to be tough. I'm excited to challenge my current way of thinking though!
Boo, I'm disappointed to report that we didn't do this. Must focus on this in 2011.

5. Learn to speak a 2nd language... still very much in the planning phases, more on this later...
Nope, didn't learn to speak a 2nd language either. Bummer. I still really want to do this but between work, working out, piano, house-keeping, there's just no time left in the day.


Overall, my goal in 2010 was to have a better work-life balance. And while I worked more hours this year then ever before, my perspective on work has changed drastically. Work is not my passion anymore and the fact that I'm still working so many hours is probably what's contributing to my bitterness with it. Despite this, I'm happy with how I've grown in 2010 and stretched myself to do other things. I want to keep this going in 2011 and hopefully it will only get easier.

Maybe I'll post some goals for 2011, but no promises. I have to think about them first! I love goal-setting though and think it's a great exercise to do. I think we have to be flexible at the same time and not keep doing something for the sake of doing it.

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Row PR

I just rocked a 5K row... my best time before tonight was 26:13 in August but I'm happy to report that I will be updating my sidebar because I killed that time!

I killed it by over 2 minutes!

My time tonight was 24:00 flat. I was really trying to beat 24:00 and I was in an all out sprint at the end there but I ended up hitting 24 on the nose. That's alright, I'm incredibly proud of my improvement because I really pushed myself.

After the row, I took my furbaby for a long bike ride. I picked up my mother-in-law and father-in-law from the airport today and she gets really excited when we have guests. Well, excited... more like restless and anxious so I figured it would help to tire her ou a bit. And it worked because right now she's curled up in a ball on her bed. So cute!

No work for me tomorrow so I have a 3 day weekend! Wahoo!

Merry Christmas everyone!

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WOD + Pictures

Another great workout tonight-

First, just one round of however many strict pull-ups you can do. I could only do 2 which isn't great but it's better than zero.

Then we did a quick WOD-
21-15-9
45# Sumo Deadlift High Pull
Sit-ups

Time = 3:35

Today at the office was dress in crazy Christmas attire and I sported some knee high socks. I figured why change just for the workout right? Yea, I know you're fricken jealous of my Christmas socks...

Until tomorrow,

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Really quick

After working out last night we headed to a friend's house to watch football and play poker. We didn't get home until 11 which is late for us, especially since I had to get up for work this morning. Normally I'm in bed by 10 and I was just getting home at 11. I am taking all my employees their gifts today so I had a few to wrap yet and I had to iron my suit. Needless to say, this morning came way too early but I wanted to blog to document this really fast.

My workout was 3-3-3-3-3 overhead squats. For some reason, I felt the need to do 5 reps the first two rounds b/c I was thinking that's what I was supposed to do. Oops. Here's how I ended up-
45
55
60
70
75

The 75# wasn't super easy or anything, but I knew I'd get it. I didn't go so heavy that I was afraid I'd drop it. That's probably something I should stretch myself to do- attempt a squat I'm pretty sure I will fail. It's totally mental that I've never been down and not been able to get up, so I'm afraid to dump the bar. I think if I just do it once, I'll move past that in my head. Anyway....another day, another post...

Then we did a quick WOD-
10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 reps of hang power snatches with clapping push-ups.

I used the bar for the HPS and went on my knees for the clapping push-ups. I probably could have done a few without being on my knees but I wanted to be consistent throughout the workout.

My time = 10:03 I only finished about a minute less than the guys.

Alright, off to work I go! Have a good day everyone!

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Weekend of improvement

This is going to be one random post.

First, my workout tonight kept right in line with this post- it was "work on what you suck" night. So, I did 3 handstand holds for 1 minute each. Then I practiced walking on my hands before moving onto snatches. Let me say, I know my snatches aren't great and that I have to work on them. I'm going to post some videos...you should not mimic me! This is for my purposes only- so I can see what I look like now versus let's say 6 months from now. I did it with a PVC pipe and then a 45# bar, just so I could see how my form changes when adding weight to the mix.

My first reaction is "My stance is off." I'm glad I took these videos because I probably wouldn't have noticed it otherwise. I need to have my chest up more, the bar closer to my shins and my arms outside my legs instead of in front. I also need to pop my hips more and shrug the shoulders but those last two are pretty common "issues" of this movement so I'm not surprised to see that at all.

If there are any other critiques, by all means, let's hear 'em!

Here's the first one w/ the PVC pipe-

And here's my snatch with a 45# bar-

And then I worked on pull-ups and L-sits (holds). A buddy of ours pointed out to me that I hold my pull-up at the top before pushing off the bar. Obviously, this uses a lot of energy and isn't necessary. So really all I did tonight was try to push quicker and not pause. Here's a video and sure enough, you can see the pause at the top (the 2nd pull-up in the video is the worst).

After working out, I gave my closet an overhaul after being inspired by a blog that's all about beautifying and simplifying things. I have the blog listed on my linkbar, so check it out.

Here's the before-

My closet had 3 main problems-
1. My shoes, purses, and belts were in a box. Yup, pretty much never unpacked them when we moved.
2. The closet is used as our bathroom closet as well so there's a 3-organizer but it's clear plastic so it shows everything- including tampons!
3. I have one shelf where I put all my workout clothes. It's never organized and after an hour of putting away laundry, it's a hot mess already.

And here's the after-

Solutions-
1. I bought a shoe organizer which created tons of floor space. I could easily fit a small dresser in my closet now.
2. I used paper as the blog suggested to decorate the front of the clear plastic drawers. You can't really tell in the picture, but it all matches and it's super cute. Teal was the main color but there's brown, cream, and green as well.
3. I bought 2 little baskets to put all my workout clothes in- one for tops, one for bottoms- and I love it already!

So, what did you do this weekend? I feel like it was a weekend of improvement for me- whether that was my fitness or my organization. It feels great!

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Finally

Okay, my sour puss attitude is gone. We all have days where we feel sorry for ourselves and want to whine right? Please say I'm not the only one. It doesn't happen that often so I guess that's a good sign.

I was seriously sore for a week but I'm finally feeling better. I even worked out tonight which of course, felt terrific. And I had piano this morning and didn't do all that bad considering I didn't practice for a week. I was really scared that the Christmas songs I had learned would be forgotten but they weren't! Sure, I was a little rusty but I stumbled through them.

And Sanar has the cutest kitten. Her name is "Bella" but Michael and I call her "Brick" because she has a squished face- as if she ran into a brick wall.

Today's WOD was 3-3-3-1-1-1 push jerk. My goal was 115#. Here's how I did:
75-85-100-115-125

Once I hit the 115, the next rep was sort of a freebie so I decided to shoot for 125. I didn't quite lock out my elbows while down so I'm not counting it but I was really close.

Then we did 3 rounds of 4 different exercises each for 1 minute.

Row for calories

Kettlebell swings

Ab rollouts

Ring dips (w/ my feet on a chair)

I ended up doing 157 total reps (count calories during the row). It was a quick 12 minute workout but really great.

Now we're off to go babysit!

 Until tomorrow,

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Crabby

It's ironic that my last post was about all the Christmas spirit I have this holiday season and this post is going to be me bitching.

I'm just plain cranky today. I'm still incredibly sore from Sunday's workout and it's starting to piss me off. I can't even straighten my arm because the muscles in my forearms are so incredibly tight! I can't lift my arms above my head because my pecs are so sore. And it hurts to sit down and stand back up because my quads are so sore. I have not been this sore in ages!

Work is sucky, which really isn't a surprise. I found out tonight at 5PM that my time off request I submitted 2 weeks ago to have tomorrow off is denied. I've never had a day denied before so I didn't think much of it. My in-laws fly in tomorrow (probably another reason for my crankiness) and I was supposed to pick them up from the airport. So I was scrambling to figure out new arrangements which now involve me carpooling to work, then Michael and a co-worker taking my car to the airport short-term parking lot over lunch, and his parents driving the car home from the airport themselves.

I'm just so pissed off about it. And I'm annoyed that I have to clean after having a stressful day at work.

And we still have a few Christmas presents to buy, order, or ship.

And the gifts for his parents need to be wrapped tonight because they're coming tomorrow.

I haven't practiced the piano in a week and a half which is really what I would rather be doing tonight.

*sigh*

Thanks for listening to me complain. It won't happen again tomorrow I promise!

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Spirit

I'm not exactly sure what's going on, but I've been hit with the spirit stick and I kind of like it! I'm normally not a scrooge or anything, I just don't normally care a whole lot about this time of year.

But this year we actually did Christmas cards (pretty sure we didn't do them last year), put up a tree, and I even got out some decorations we had in a storage bin under the bed.

You can see my ghetto little tree and my possessed dog in this picture. I even have the majority of my wrapping done (more gifts obviously since this picture).

I even took the time to pick out different gifts for each of my employees. Normally I do the movie passes or something similar for all of them but not this year! I picked out unique gifts for each person.

I have so much spirit in fact that not even my toes are safe. I mean, really, it's quite pathetic. But they look cool right? Lime green with red dots (Lexi, I know this is right up your alley!)

I got my passport photo taken today and was walking around Walgreens while they developed. Again, no idea where this idea came from because I assure you, it's very unlike me, but I walked out of there with green nail polish and a red nail art pen.

I did not workout tonight because I am EXTREMELY sore from yesterday's WOD that kicked my ass. But it's okay because I painted my toe nails instead which was obviously way more fun. I hope ya'll had fun tonight too!

Until tomorrow,

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So close

Tonight's workout was one of the hardest I've done in quite some time. At the end I was dizzy and about to pass out. Once I finished, I laid on the ground for a solid 10 minutes before even moving. Mike (not my husband, our friend Mike, my husband is Michael) said, "Is she still breathing?" 

I was but the workout almost killed me. Here's what we did:

3 rounds-
400m run
15 pull-ups
50 squats
15 pull-ups
 
I'm proud to say that I got through 62 pull-ups before needing to switch to Sumo Deadlift High Pulls. I tore open a glorious blister on my palm which prevented me from continuing the pull-ups (yes, I tried). I'm not really upset about it though because 62 is the most I've ever done. The most I had done before tonight was 50 so I did 12 more pull-ups which is an improvement so I'm happy. I suppose going out there and expecting to be able to do 90 pull-ups when the most I'd ever done was 50 wasn't exactly reasonable.

My time was 27:59 but holy hell it was a long and painful 28 minutes! I will be excited when I can do the full workout as prescribed!

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Quick workout

WOD-
5-5-5-3-3-3 Push Jerk

65-75-85-95-100-105

This is a NEW PR for me! Yippy! My 3-rep max of a push jerk before was 95# and that was a long time ago- September 2009!

I got annoyed ... no, annoyed is not even the right word. I got p-i-s-s-e-d at my husband just before I lifted which probably helped a lot during my lift.

A week ago I asked him not to buy himself anything from now until Christmas. There are a number of things he's wanted for a while and I wanted to buy him something particular. He assured me he would not buy himself anything. I'm about to workout and he shows me what he bought today and of course I already ordered it for him. Ugh!

It just sucks. It almost took the sales out of all the holiday spirit I seem to have this year (no idea where it came from actually) so I came inside and decorated our tree instead! That's right! Today I bought a 4-ft tall tree and a few decorations. It looks perfect! Just the right size for our place!  I promise to post pictures as soon as I take some!

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Back in business!

Wow! What a hiatus! With family visiting two weeks ago and then last week being a "rest week", I feel like it's been forever since I've done any sort of exercise. I guess I worked out a little bit when my sister was here but not a lot, not like I normally do in a week.

Tonight was my first workout in quite a while and it felt great! I was really starting to feel like a bum- my back was stiff, my neck was tight, I was moody- all signs of being too darn lazy. Well, actually, that moodiness is all me all the time, but let's move on...

Tonight I did 5-5-5-5-5 of overhead squats.

The last time I did overhead squats wasn't that long ago actually- September 6th. On that day, I did 3-3-3-3-3 and ended on 65#. Even then I said I could probably do more but didn't want to push it. I have no idea why some days I say, "Let's just go for it and see what happens" and then other days I say, "Nah, I don't want to push it." 

Today I ended up doing 70# for 5 reps so I'm pretty stoked considering 3 short months ago I did 65# for only 3 reps. Not too shabby!

Then we did an AMRAP12 team WOD where the runner sets the time for that round=
Run
Knees to elbows
Kettlebell swings
Reverse rows
Tire flips and jumps
Jump rope

It was a lot of fun! The 12:00 flew by actually and my legs didn't feel too bad considering I had just done overhead squats.

Below is a picture of our dining room table. It may not seem like a big deal, but I bought new placemats this weekend and I just love them. The wall in our kitchen is green and I mean G-R-E-E-N. It was that way when we moved in and at first, I hated it. It's grown on me that's for sure. We have dark orange towels and also some green ones. Finding placements with bright green (not lime green) with dark orange and burgandy (also in the towels) was tough.

I've decided to buy a Christmas tree (artificial) this year and I can't wait! More pictures to come! I also think everyone should post pictures of their holiday decorations on their blog! I don't know why exactly... just because I love how houses look this time of year so I want to see!

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I'm here!

My blogging has been quite random lately, but I've noticed that just about everyone's has been. I think it's the time of year, what do you think?

This week was a scheduled week off for working out. With our new workout schedule, we've added more strength training and it calls for 6 weeks on and then 1 week off for recovery. No, we don't work out every day for 6 weeks... I don't actually know why there's a week off, but my husband says there is so that's what I'm doing! Don't ask me tough questions! :-P

I feel a little ridiculous since I didn't workout a whole lot last week since my sister and niece were visiting from Michigan. I plan to hit it hard next week though so I guess it doesn't really matter...

Financially, things are going great. I wanted to try and fund our IRA's this year. Our max contribution for 2010 is $5,000 each so that was my goal and I shouldn't have any problem hitting that goal! I'm incredibly proud of that since we just opened the IRAs last month and were able to fully fund them in just the last few months of the year. I also researched which mutual funds I wanted to use and after setting up the IRA's, I made those purchases.

Nothing exciting...but necessary nonetheless.

We've also been saving diligently toward a vacation. Where are we going you ask? Remember, I told you not to ask me tough questions!!    ...the truth is, we don't know. We have a lot of options and we're just waiting to see if a timeshare option pulls through or not. At the end of this month, we will have $3,600 so we will be able to go where we want regardless of the timeshare situation. More details to come but it's been a while since we've taken a major vacation so I'm excited!

I mentioned in a previous post how I started using Google Reader and love it. You can actually follow other people who use it which I'm just now figuring out. If you use it, let me know so I can follow you on there. Anytime you read a good post from one that you follow, you can click "Share it" and then I will be able to see it too. I think it's a cool way to see what other blogs people follow!

I hope everyone is doing well!

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