...Pictures

Here are pictures to document some of what we've done so far this year:

JANUARY

Clean office

Bored pup taking advantage of clean office

FEBRUARY

Hit & Run

MARCH

2 miles uphill

The last ascent to the top

What a view!!!

Our car is parked on that road before the tunnel

:)

APRIL

We must not have done anything picture worthy...

MAY

Pittsburgh - wedding road trip

:)

My garden!

Bored pup because I was making the garden

...I'll be okay

This morning was my last workout at Cincinnati Strength & Conditioning (CrossFit Nasti). I knew it was coming and Mike & I made the official decision on Saturday. We have some financial goals to take care of and the money will assist tremendously in us reaching those goals much sooner than projected. My first day at CSC was 5/10/11, the week after I ran my first race & half marathon. Everyone I've met there is amazing. It's crazy. It's not just a gym. It's like I became part of a family... one that I spend more time with than my real family. ;) I've learned a lot about fitness, health, and myself. I'll miss everyone tremendously but hopefully see them now and then until I return. And when I go back, Mike will be joining me. :) I've already cried 3 times this morning over this... and I'm sure the count will go up as the day progresses. You know you've found something wonderful if you cry (at the gym, in the car, at work) over leaving a gym. Because like I said, it's not just a gym.

...Update!

Well... it's been a looooong time. Whoops! I got a little busy I guess...

Let's see... at the end of February I passed my ACE Personal Trainer Exam. :)

During March I continued to participate in the CrossFit Open. It was definitely challenging and had a great experience. I went to Louisville to celebrate my best friend's birthday and had a blast. Louisville can't handle us girls. Coco got attacked by two mean German Shepherds that their owner couldn't control. She ended up tearing out a lot of her hair due to irritation from the bites so she had to get shaved on her leg and underneath, wear a cone (not happy at all about that), take meds like crazy, and get anti-itch spray. :(

Poor pup!

We got to go on a mini vacation with a big group of friends to Gatlinburg. The place we stayed in was huge! It was categorized as a Luxury +. The mountains were amazing! Mike & I broke away from the group and went for a hike - Chimney Tops. It was pretty much 2 miles uphill but absolutely worth it! The view was spectacular!!! Of course the pictures are still on my camera otherwise I would post one.

In April I bought a pair of rollerblades! My first time ever on rollerblades. I thought I was going to die. I've gone skating a couple times at the park and am getting the hang of it. Once the rest of the girls get their blades we're going to make it a more frequent activity. :) Super fun! And scary! I started training at LA Fitness in Crescent Springs, KY and so far I like it. I'm training Tuesdays & Thursdays after working all day. It ends up being a long day, but the time at the gym goes by quickly. I also put my friends through some workouts to help get them in shape for summer. I ran (in the cold and rain) with my two friends as they were training for the Flying Pig Half Marathon. I was pleasantly surprised I could walk the next day considering how far we ran and that I hadn't been running as much as they were. My ex-aunt, Patricia Gligor, released her first novel, "Mixed Messages." I'm so proud of her for accomplishing this great goal she set for herself!!! At the end of April I decided to participate in the Under Armour What's Beautiful competition. My goal: I WILL... Increase muscle definition (including killer abs) & reduce my body fat to ~15% by eating clean & working hard. I've got my work cut out for me... but will give it my all. :) I still have to post a video so I can move on and see what little challenges they want me to complete.

May started out great with Mike's 33rd birthday! He took off work and spent all day doing whatever he wanted which included smoking a pork butt. The pulled pork sandwiches and mac & cheese were delicious!  Last weekend we went on a little road trip to Pittsburgh for a family wedding. It was a good but very quick trip & I'm so happy for Matt & Heather. To help reach my goal for the UA competition mentioned above, this Tuesday & Wednesday I did two workouts - one CrossFit workout in the morning before work & another workout in the evening at home. I won't lie... I'm kinda sore. But the best goals aren't normally easy to achieve. :) There's still a lot of May left and I'm already thinking of the busy weekend ahead of me...

Oh... and I'm still on the hunt for a new blog name. Nothing is popping out though.

...Oh, Snatch!

Workout 12.2 of the CrossFit Open was posted this evening:
      Women - includes Masters Women up to 54 years old
      Proceed through the sequence below completing as many reps as possible in 
            10 minutes of:
      45 pound Snatch, 30 reps

      75 pound Snatch, 30 reps
      100 pound Snatch, 30 reps
      120 pound Snatch, as many reps as possible

Tomorrow's workout at the gym will be going through the movements and putting a game plan together. It's definitely going to be a hard workout... but I'm looking forward to it!

...A Crazy/Busy Life

I think my life is about to become a lot busier in the next few weeks.

If you didn't know, I passed the ACE Certified Personal Trainer Exam last Tuesday!!! It was the hardest test I've even taken and thought I was going to have a heart attack while waiting for my test score. The girl taking a test next to me probably thought I was dying. ;)

I've got a lead on a part-time evening trainer position from my CrossFit trainer, Rob. I really hope it goes through! I know it's going to be hard and awkward at first; I'm going to cry at some point due to being overwhelmed, it's inevitable. The work/life balance might be thrown off a bit and take a while to get use to, but I know it will be worth it. I can't wait!

In other exciting news, last Saturday was the first workout of the CrossFit Open. It was AMRAP in 7 minutes of burpees to 6 in above your reach. I got 76! Here's a video of the workout if you don't know what I'm talking about: http://games.crossfit.com/workouts/the-open. This week's workout is suppose to be posted this evening. I'm excited to see what it is!

This Saturday I'm headed down to Louisville with the girls to celebrate Jessica's 25th birthday & Amy's 24th birthday! Jimmy Buffett is down there on Saturday so I'm sure there will be crazy people all over the place. Maybe they'll buy us drinks? ;) I love my girl friends and being able to hang out with them all the time!!!

And... I'm still trying to decide on a new blog name. Maybe something in the next few weeks will inspire a great blog name or give me an idea of what I want this blog of focus on. I'm open to any suggestions!

XOXOXO!

...Reality

"Are you prepared for your exam in 4 days?"

The reality is kicking in big time. I'm taking the ACE Personal Trainer Certification exam in 4 days. I'll have 3 hours to complete 150 multiple choice questions. I've already taken a practice exam (which I did not get a passing grade on) and believe me, these aren't easy-breezy multiple choice questions; they are tricky. I wouldn't expect anything less though. People are going to be looking to me for guidance and they expect me to know my shit, and rightfully so.

A big part of me wishes I hadn't told anyone when I was taking my exam. There is a possibility that I will fail. I'm not okay with failing (I'm a perfectionist, I want 100%), but I've accepted the fact that it could happen. What I don't like is the fact that I'd have to pay again to take it a 2nd time. That's the little budgeting freak inside coming out. ;) So, I'm going to get to studying, for the budget's sake.

P.S. Coco is going to have to accept the reality that she's getting her nails clipped and a bath today.

Trying to fit on my bean bag chair when she has a perfectly good bed behind her. :)

...Exhausted

I don't know why, but I've been waking up every morning this week completely exhausted. I'm not going to bed late; I'm getting the usual amount of sleep that I have been (6-7 hours... I want to get more though). I've cut back the amount of days I'm working out... maybe that has something to do with it. My schedule change is really reeking havoc on my body. Whatever it is, I hope I figure it out or it starts to cooperate.

Last night I was out celebrating a friend getting a new job and she mentioned that she really wanted to get in shape. She's got some things coming and wants to look good. Who doesn't?! Anyway, it got me thinking (not always the best thing since once I start thinking about something it doesn't usually go away)... Do I also want to train a few close friends/family out of my house? What would all of this entail? I've read a bit but would need to formulate a plan more. Gotta get this plan together... she wants to start ASAP! :)

UPDATE: My sister, Sarah, thought of a great idea for a new name for my blog... but of course the web address is already taken. I posted on the dude's site (he has one post and it's from 2006) to see if he would release it... if not, I think I have another one in mind... maybe. I'm still taking suggestions.

XO!

...New Blog Title & Other Things

I've come to the decision that I don't really care for my blog title or the boring layout. The problem is that I can't think of a really good title. Maybe if I stop thinking about it, it will just come to me. Ha! Me stop thinking about something once it's already in my head, highly unlikely. This is going to be on my mind ALL DAY LONG... Any suggestions let me know!

I set a goal to take more pictures, which I have. In addition to the quantity of pictures, I want to increase the quality but haven't gotten there yet. Here's one of my pup, Coco. 

She was hanging out with me in the office while I cleaned it thoroughly at the beginning of the year.

I also set a goal to read one book a month... FAIL. I started 1st to Die by James Patterson and I'm only halfway through. Mike told me to give myself some credit since I've been spending most of my waking hours studying when not at work or the gym.

Speaking of the gym. I'm having withdrawal. Big time. I've been going to the gym 5 days/week for a while now. Maybe 7 months? Starting this week, I cut that back to 3 days/week. I realized that I wasn't getting enough studying done so something had to change. I'm definitely able to study more and feel like my life is a tiny bit less crazy for the moment. I did go to the gym on Tuesday and the workout was a 3,000m run. I was pretty fast. Like a 7:39 min/mi pace! (Hopefully the course was a legit 3,000m...)

Oh, one more thing. If you've never made a massive extra payment toward your debt (in the horrid event that you have debt), you should try it sometime; it feels AWESOME!!!

Love you!

...Ramblings

Whoa! I have been slacking on these posts. I hope you haven't been anxiously waiting to read my... well... ramblings. ;)

So, I've set the date for my Personal Trainer exam. 2/21/12! I'm so nervous. And excited. And terrified. There is so much information to know. So much anatomy. I'm a business major, this stuff is foreign to me. I can teach myself anything though, I was home schooled. ;) I'm slowly learning, and stumbling through the terminology. Why do all the words have to be so complicated? I sound like a little kid doing phonics trying to sound out the words. I still have a lot to learn but I will be ready by exam day.

Exam day isn't really what scares me the most though. It's what my future looks like after I pass the exam. People keep asking if I know what I'm going to do. Hmmmm... good question. I don't have that figured out 100% yet; that is what scares the crap out of me. I'm a planner. I like things to be planned out ahead of time and have no surprises. But I also knew what I was getting myself into, sorta.

I'm taking a break from studying (I've been at the library for 2.5 hours now and still have a while to go) to write this as my thoughts kept distracting me. I left the house because of distractions such as Coco, chores and TV. And of course, I brought a distraction with me, my racing brain. ;)

Well, more ramblings later this week. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about my additional goals that I need to get written down. I'm still compiling them. There's a lot.

Love you all!

...Patience

It's only the 13th day of 2012 and I already want all my goals to be accomplished! I have no patience when I'm excited about something. I want it and I want it NOW. ;) I guess I should just chill and focus on my goals. There are still more goals to come - I haven't even formulated my health/fitness goals yet.

But here's a fitness goal for tomorrow: Finish the Big Dawg Challenge alive.

I'll be at Cincinnati Strength & Conditioning tomorrow participating in their 3rd OPT Big Dawg Challenge. I'll have to scale a few of the exercises, but here's tomorrow's workout.

1st hour: 5,4,3,2,1
C&J - 205/115#
MU's

(1 score = time)

2nd hour:
2K Row + Max DU's in 10 min

(2 scores = time for row and reps of DU's)

3rd hour:
15,12,9
R KB Snatch - 2/1.5 pd
L KB Snatch - 2/1.5 pd
Burpees - vertical body at top

(1 score = time)

4th hour:
12 min amrap
10 wall balls - 20/14# to 10ft
5 toes to bar

(1 score = reps)

Wish me luck!

...Setting & Achieving Goals

Oh no! I'm a day late already! I have a very good reason though. I was achieving one of my 2012 goals! Cleaning the office. It was such a mess and has been an eye sore for the past 12 months. The desk pad calendar was still on February, 2011. Yeah, it was a mess. It is now an office to be proud of!

Okay... back to what this post is suppose to be about: Setting & Achieving Goals. I LOVE setting goals. But what I love more is achieving them! It is an amazing feeling when you achieve a goal. You're missing out if you don't know what I'm talking about.

One of the most important things about goals is getting them written down. There's something much more official about a written goal versus one kept in your mind. Also, telling someone your goals will make you accountable - that's why I'm telling you. That said, here are my 2012 goals so far:

1. Schedule my Personal Trainer Certification Exam by 1/31/12 for no later than 2/29/12
2. Pay off debt (excluding mortgage) - this includes credit card, car loan & student loan by 10/31/13
3. Keep office (and the rest of the house, especially my side of the bedroom) clean by setting up a weekly schedule and sticking to it
4. Take more pictures and learn how to take better/more creative pictures
5. Find & sign up for a running/obstacle event
6. Read (not listen to) one "just for fun" book a month
7. Set specific health/fitness & nutrition goals (Yes, I just set a goal to set goals.)

I'm sure I'll have more goals to add to the list but this is as far as I've gotten.

If you're going to set some goals, here are some principles to keep in mind (taken from my Jan/Feb 2012 Women's Health Magazine but can be found on almost every website that talks about goal setting):

1. Specific: Vague goals leave too much room for cheating.
2. Measureable: You want to be able to gauge and quantify your progress for short-term and long-term goals. Set a daily, weekly or monthly goal.
3. Attainable: Before setting a goal, ask yourself if it's something you have the ability/skills to reach.
4. Realistic: Make sure your goal is one that you can actually reach based on your situation.
5. Time Sensitive: Set a deadline for your goals.

I hope you take a few moments to think about some goals and write them down. And, you can always share them with me. :)