Catch ya'll on the flip side

We leave in the morning for Cancun! I can't wait! It's a much needed vacation!

I'll be back in a week!!!

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3 more days

I must admit, I totally and completely underestimated how difficult this last week of work was going to be. Luckily, most people assume my laissez faire attitude is because of our upcoming vacation to Cancun. But, fellow blog readers, you know the truth- that once I return from vaca, I'll be saying good bye for good. I never thought I was the type of person to mentally checkout of a place while I'm still there. But it's been soooo hard keeping this secret. I realize how much people at my current job make that place their LIFE. The littlest thing happens and it's the end of the world and everyone is going around panicking! No wonder I was stressed out all the time working there! So while people are freaking out all around me and making a big deal out of little things, I just want to SCREAM! I don't care! I don't care!

Today I had a meeting with an employee where we schedule his training for 3 months out. You can imagine how difficult it was to set up appointments 1, 2, and 3 months out when I knew full well I wasn't going to be there for them! The days are DRAGGING on big time!

Thank God there are only 3 more days!

I worked out tonight- did a guys vs girls WOD and it was a lot of fun. The guys won, but I knew they would.

The past few weeks I've really been struggling in the afternoons with cravings. I am usually really good but for some reason, they've been really bad. I couldn't figure out why but then I realized this morning that a few weeks ago, I switched to half-caff coffee! I don't think it's actually "sugar" that I'm craving in the afternoon, I think it's my body still adjusting to the lower amounts of caffeine I'm consuming.

This afternoon, when I hit the afternoon blah, I gave myself a little pep talk and reminded myself that it's just the caffeine. Ignore it. Don't succumb to it. It will go away soon. Instead, I went and had a healthy snack of deli turkey and nuts and guzzled a bunch of water. I'm hoping that simply being aware of it will help me curb the cravings until my body is accustomed to the half-caff coffee.

This coming week for our vacation, we plan to stick to our paleo diet as much as possible. We're planning to hit up the local market for our food and cook in our hotel room (we have a full kitchen). We did some digging online and I think it's totally do-able. Of course, I do plan to consume a number of fruity alcoholic beverages while relaxing in my lounge chair at the pool and/or beach. I WILL make an exception for that! It's vacation after all!

Here's a picture of our hotel:
[insert your jealousy here] :)



We are planning to completely unplug while gone for the week. So no computer, no phones, no nothing! We're each taking a few books and magazines, we have some excursions planned, hiking, snorkeling, etc. Just an FYI that I won't be blogging or reading blogs at all starting Saturday.

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Looking good, not feeling good

Tonight's WOD-
5-5-5-5-5 Front squats
65-75-85-95-105

Considering I didn't even want to workout tonight, I'm proud of the weight I ended at.

I also did 75 swings w/ a 35# kettlebell.

But who cares about my workout, I got my hair done today! YAY!

I've always loved red streaks in hair when I see it. Unfortunately, working where I work, we're not allowed to have red streaks unless it's a natural color of red. And when I say that I like red streaks, I'm not referring to "natural color red streaks"- I want RED!

Since this is my last week in hell, I decided to just go for it! The end result? I love it! I kept making bold decisions today while at the salon- choosing the redder of the two reds and even opting for bangs for the first time in years!

The title about me not feeling good is just nerves. I'm anxious about not having a job in a couple of weeks. I'm nervous about what others will think of me (why I care, I'm not sure). I'm nervous that I won't be able to find another job. And all of this is worse because I'm at work and while everyone around me is freaking out over this and that, I just want to say, "I don't care." It's making for a really long week but thankfully, I only have 4 more days left! YAY! 

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Weekend Projects

Hey there! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I sure did!

I didn't get quite as much done as I would have liked, but I sure did enjoy myself more than expected. We went out for sushi with two other couples on Friday night, then had a game night on Saturday with some other friends.

One big chore I accomplished this weekend was finishing our taxes. Jam!

I also worked out yesterday and today. Yesterday's WOD was some hang power cleans.
5-5-5-3-3-3
65
75
80
85
90
95

According to the one rep max calculators, my one rep max is still 105, which is what it was the last time I did hang power cleans. In two weeks, I'll be attempting my one rep max so my goal will be to beat 105.

Today I did a WOD not for time or reps, just to get in a good workout.
3 rounds-
7 Sumo deadlift high pulls 65#
400m sprint

Another project I accomplished this weekend that I've been wanting to do for quite some time is re-purposing our office. We had the desk in the corner and the bookshelf on the main wall, but I always felt like I was stuck in the corner and I didn't enjoy sitting there at all. It was dark and overall not very functional.

I switched the two pieces of furniture, bought 2 tabletop organizers, and some very simple decor.

Before

After

My favorite part are the new knobs I bought for the desk. They're hand painted and super cute! They were only $3! It's such a small touch but I know they're there and I see them so that's all that matters right?

The purple organizer you see in the middle of the desk was another big deal for only $4. My husband has a bunch of old comic books that he really cherishes. They're not worth a whole lot of money, but they're from his childhood so you could say they're worth a lot! We didn't have a way to store them so they were just sitting on our shelf. I found a trendy document box that they fit perfectly inside!

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Future Possibilities

Only 1 more week of work then I'm on vacation! And then I'll be giving my two weeks notice and I'm FREEEEEEEEEEEEE! Yay! I can't wait!

I heard a quote from The Office today and I absolutely love it.

""It is better to be at the bottom of a ladder you want to climb, then half way up one you don't."

How perfect is that quote for me right now? It's all about perspective. I spent almost 7 years at a company moving up the career chain and for a long time, it was exactly what I wanted. Unfortunately, I changed and now I will be starting over but I'm totally okay with that. Okay, okay, maybe not "totally okay" with it but pretty darn close. I think the nervousness I feel is more in anticipation for such a big change looming than anything.

One idea I've been considering is to start my own personal training and financial coaching business here in Gilbert, AZ. Working out and budgeting really are two of my favorite things to do, so how great would it be to do this for other people?

I created a business name, website, and even made some business cards. The company name is Fiscal Fitness and the website is http://www.fiscalfitnessphx.com/.  Please check it out and let me know what you think! Any feedback you have is much appreciated!

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Lots of random stuff

1

We had an awesome weekend! We left Friday right from work and drove 2 hours to Michael's Aunts' house for the weekend. The town where they live has an annual festival and it's a lot of fun. There's a parade, a gun show (we ARE in the west you know) and a bunch of other hoakey things to do. But his Aunts are both really laid back and I just love them. They're so comfortable to be around and it was a perfectly relaxing and busy weekend.

2

We got back yesterday in the afternoon and I updated my resume. I think it looks so much better. I'm much more confident in it so hopefully I'll start hearing from some of the jobs I've applied to.

We've got 9 business days left til we leave for vacation but since I'm giving my notice the day I return, that means I've only got 9 days left in the office! YOWSA'S! That's awesome right?

3

Today at work we had a dessertluck it was called- similar to a potluck but only desserts. Normally, I attend these little events and socialize but I don't partake in the goodies. Umm... today I was not so good. I have a serious weakness for banana-flavored anything when it's in a dessert. For example, a chocolate-banana shake from Sonic is seriously heavenly. Well, I walked in and there was a banana-cream-pie! Oh man, was it good. There were even chunks of bananas! It was totally worth the sugar coma I was in shortly after.

4 

Because of #3, I probably should have done two workouts tonight but I only did one.
Row for 5 minutes (20 reps per minute max) - total meters
As many push-ups as possible in 5 minutes
Row for 5 minutes (20 reps per minute max)

The idea is that you can't row super fast (20 reps per minute is not a lot) so you crank up the resistence and really pull HARD each row. It was a lot harder than it sounds, that's for sure. The first round of rowing wasn't bad but after the push-ups, my arms did not want to PULL anything. Here's how I did-

1,025 meters
67 push-ups (modified)
1,028 meters
 Total distance = 2,053

My hubby did 2,325 meters and 57 pushups so I'm pretty proud of my distance considering there's a height difference.

5 

Speaking of husbands, mine has a new blog that he's started where he posts a paleo recipe of the day. Check it out!

6 

Finally, I already showed you my file cabinet overhaul that I did and I'm still on an organizing kick (thanks to this gal). I still needed a way to combat the mail as it came in though. My solution was a command center right by the door we come and go from. It's perfect because it has folders for the mail I need to do something with, just not right away, which normally sat on the table. But it also holds our sunglasses (we live in the desert), cell phones, keys, and wallets when we get home. I even coordinated the file folders to match our place mats and dining room decor since it's right there and I bought a little place mat that matches to go underneath the basket. I seriously love it! Thanks for inspiring me again Alexis!

7

Happy Valentine's Day!

8

8 is my favorite number so I felt I should end with it.

Until tomorrow,

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Doozy

I just finished one of the best workouts I've had in a while. And when I say "best", I mean "toughest" of course.

I started by warming up and guess what? I did a pistol! A pistol is a one-legged squat. I have a New Year's resolution to do 10 with each leg although I had never done one before tonight. Honestly, I didn't even know if I could. I started by holding onto a bar- it's almost like a "trust fall" in a way. Once I knew I could get down and back up, I was fine, but that initial downward motion when I wasn't sure if I'd "catch" myself was tough.

So, I did a bunch (not sure how many, didn't count) with each leg just to get comfortable. I'm sure I could accomplish my New Year's resolution tonight if I tried. Yippy!

So, onto the workout. It's called "Wittman"- a 26 year old Army Sargeant who died in combat on 2/13/10.

7 rounds:
15 kettlebell swings 26#
15 power cleans 45#
15 box jumps 18"

My time was 20:26. I almost met Mr. Pukey :) I definitely had to walk around for a bit afterwards. Those box jumps kill me man. The kettlebell swings were fine and even the power cleans weren't terrible, but the box jumps- argh.

We received a new pocket-sized digital camera as a gift so Michael used it to take some pictures tonight.



We leave tomorrow right from work so I'll be gone until Sunday. I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

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Perfectly productive

So far, tonight has been darn near perfect. I left work at 5:30, came home and worked out right away. I'm really sore from the past two days of workouts, probably since they were my first workouts in a month... so I opted for an easy row workout. I did 2,000 meters at a nice pace, not anything too extreme. I called it good with that.

From there I came inside and did some fairly simple cleaning. I only spent 1 hour picking up but I feel like my house is so much more liveable right now. I put a bunch of stuff simply away where it belonged, put away clean clothes, washed some dirty clothes, and wiped off the bathroom counters. I feel so much better and it didn't take a lot of time or effort!

And now I'm looking forward to the rest of the evening... I'm going to address the Valentine's Day cards I bought for the kiddos in my life, enjoy a nice dinner with my husband, and read my new magazine that came in!

Oooh, I'm also going to play around on polyvore.com and see if I can't find an outfit for vacation. I've got some gift cards left from Christmas that I'm itching to use! Today over lunch I went shopping for new bikini bottoms and totally found a pair for $15 that match perfectly! The top I bought last year still fits but the bottoms are huge on me. Did I tell you guys none of my clothes are fitting me anymore-specifically my pants, jeans, sweats, etc??? 

What are you doing tonight?

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Workout, how I love thee...

Another craptastic day you ask?  You have no idea how terrible my work is. Let's just say there were a lot of tears today on my part and also a lot of anger and frustration. After leaving over lunch to cry, I came home and cried some more at the end of the day.

But then I worked out.

And now I feel like I could conquer the world! It's amazing to me how a good workout can make you forget your troubles or make your frustrations seem that much further away. I pushed myself, grunted a few times, and even left it all in the gym. And since we had people working out with us, I had a lot of fun too!

10! DB Rows (25#)
10! Box jumps
10! Squats
10! Push-ups
9:38

*10! means I did 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 of each exercise.

I also have to say that I have the best husband in the world. He's an excellent listener and not once has he told me that he's sick of hearing about work. I'm sure he is as I'm sure are my friends and probably even all of you. Just think- there are only 27 days left!

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YipPy!

I can count on ONE hand the number of times I've worked out in 2011. That's so sad! But, tonight's workout was a lot of fun and I'm so glad to FINALLY be feeling well enough!

We had 3 people in addition to Michael and I working out tonight- two of the three I've never worked out with before so that's always exciting.

AMRAP15:
Sprint to the gate & back pushing a stroller w/ a 3-year old
Kettlebell swings
Ab rollouts
Ring rows

You do each exercise until the person running gets back to the group and then you switch.

I did a total of 135 reps in all.

I also worked on my pull-ups tonight and boy do I have a lot of work to do. It's one of my resolutions for the year so I'm going back to square one. Tonight I did 3 sets of 10 of lat pull-ups or scapular depressions- essentially a pull-up but only using your lats. I didn't have any problem doing those and the video I was watching said some people can't do that movement so at least I'm not totally sucky.

From there I worked on my pendulum swing and focused on using my upper body only. I also worked on my grip with my thumb around the bar which by the way is not comfortable!

Thanks for sticking around. I promise to be better about blogging starting now!

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