February happenings...

It always feels like the winter months are very monotonous. Routine. Groundhogs Day, where you wake up and do the same thing you did yesterday. Over. And over. How I loathe the winter. Soooo, we try to get out of the house every day on the weekends. Sometimes that doesn't happen (read: jammy day!) but we always try. For example, Saturday morning gymnastics is a sweet spot for us:

A few weekends ago I left the house at 6:30am to drive up to Chicago. It only took my 3 hours to get there since I bypassed any and all traffic leaving that early. The drive went by fast and before I knew it I was on the Chicago Skyway. For some reason this bridge always reminds me of driving to and from my dad's house for summers and holidays.

 

 I arrived at Jenny's house bright and early. Finally got to meet her boyfriend, Mike. He's just the sweetest; such a big teddy bear. He joked if we were going to craft all day (b/c that's what Jen and I do when we get together). As a matter of fact, we're not going to craft we answered. I quickly asked Jen, "What ARE we going to do? What would you normally do on a Saturday if I wasn't here?" She answered, "Look for stuff." Mkay. So off we ventured to look for stuff. First stop? IKEA!!!

 After several hours (and many scores!) at IKEA Jen suggested we go to my favorite restaurant, Garibaldi's. Now those of you who knew me growing up knew that I worked at Garibaldi's for several years in high school, taking the summers off to lifeguard. So Jen drives us to good old Barrington Square for lunch. Wait, where's the $1 movie theater? Where's Menard's? The Square just didn't look the same. But I was thrilled to see Garibaldi's did.

 As soon as I walked in the smell brought me back. Hours behind the register taking orders and sneaking french fries. I was floored when I saw a woman working that I had worked with. Twenty years ago! Crazy. Anyway, I ordered my favorite steak & cheddar with cheese fries. Oh yeah. Talk about a cheat day on Paleo!!! We sat in my favorite booth and talked about high school memories. Man, that place takes me back.

 Jenny then proclaimed that we were going to drive by my childhood home. She said we just had to. So off to Cornell Place we went. She and I walked to old front door and reminisced about our favorite times there. I made note of what a far walk my mom had with groceries. Then showed Jen how I would sneak out at night. She said she had two fond memories: my mom always having snacks at the ready for her when she visited and sitting in my room the summer before high school listening to Extreme's 'More Than Words' single over and over and over to memorize the words. Yep, sounds about right. And here is the tree in front of our old place that I started climbing when I was 7. I knew this tree so well. Where to place every foot and hand to get to my favorite spot. Was a special visit.

That night we spent hours at Jenny's boyfriend's bar. We had some of the deepest conversations and also some heated debates. But this is one of the many reasons why I love Jenny so much; no matter what we stand for or what we believe, we are the best of friends. I know she will always have my back even if we don't see eye to eye on all topics. She fights hard for me to see things her way, but I do the same. We have a healthy banter that I cherish...she truly makes me think outside of my cozy little comfort zone I live in.

 The next morning I left early to get back to Mike and the girls. A massive wind turbine farm is on the way home and on this particular day every single one of them was at a stand still. Hundreds of them. Just staring off into space. Freaky deaky!!!

 I was excited to share all my treasures from IKEA...my favorite is my new blanket for the couch. Black and white? Pretty much obsessed right now.

 Valentine's day is one of the girls' favorite holiday. Decorating cards, packages in the mail, candy. The latter never enters their mouths. Instead, I bring all of their goodies to work with me. I know, I'm so mean. But this house needs another cavity like we need a hole in our head.

Sandi was gracious to invite us to her house for some Valentine card painting the night before (while the boys were at the Butler game). I became obsessed with the water colors and made several of my own. Going to frame a few of these beauties!

Izzy also got to decorate her own Valentine box. I let her scavenge through my craft drawers to pick out supplies...here's what we came up with:

The holiday wouldn't be the same without a fun package from Roo!

 Every year since I received this gift from Jaime I wear this on Valentine's day. And every year I'm reminded of 1. How much I love this sweater and 2. How much I love gifts from Jaime.

That evening I spent with some of my favorite girlfriends celebrating Bri's birthday. And of course Jaime rocked the same sweater. Every year baby. (And you KNOW when we buy something for the other person we also buy one of the same for ourselves! Pretty much every gift I find for her I also find for me!)

 What do we do when we're stuck in the house with all the hours in the day to fill? Get silly! Laney's best silly face is also my best silly face...

Mikey taking his first baby for a stroll...

 For my birthday/Valentine's Day Mikey got us tickets to see one of our favorite bands, the Old 97's. Some of our close friends are also super fans so we invited them along. The evening started (early!) with our favorite Sakura sushi. We've been patrons here for over 10 years and the staff is the exact same. So is the delicious sushi!

 Devoured.

 The concert was at the Vogue, which is always nostalgic for me. One, my dad grew up near there and said he used to bring a nickel (a quarter?) to the Vogue and spend the day watching cowboy and Indian movies. Two, part of my bachelorette party was spent here. Complete with my step-mom and her sister up on the boxes dancing. Three, we've seen some pretty incredible shows there...Willie Nelson is just one of them.

Rhett Miller not only rocked the stage for several hours, but he also opened for them. Holy hotness.

 Lots and lots and lots of dancing. And signing. And laughing.

 'Someday somebody's gonna ask you. A question that you should say yes to. Once in your life. I've got a question for you.'

 And the rest of the days we fill being crafty...

 And being lazy.

The. End.

Workin' on my fitness...

In January my CrossFit coach Jared started up another health & wellness challenge within our gym. Some of us changed our diets to Paleo while others took their own route. The new year was the perfect time to start this up, as all of us were carrying around some extra weight from all the holiday treats. Clean eating = healthy and fit body.

We started with a baseline WOD, weighed, measured and body fat % taken. After 30 days of clean eating and 5 days a week in the gym we were then to perform the original baseline WOD again. Along with measurements to see improvements. Since I had been through this once before I knew how much it transformed my body (basically lost water weight/bloat and several percentage points of body fat...while my muscle mass increased). The results are very motivating, but it's definitely hard work and a strong commitment to eating clean.

In conjunction with our Paleo challenge, my company rolled out a wellness program where we have to wear a pedometer daily to track our activity. The more steps = the greater health insurance discounts we receive. It's gotten a lot of employees into both of our gyms and motivated many people.

I have had some issues with my pedometer (washed it once) and to this day it just isn't the same. But I will tell you the full rice submersion brought mine back to life after a tumble in the washer!

Since I loathe my pedometer (it's not convenient for athletes to be wearing a dangling pedometer, and when you put it in your pocket or sports bra the sweat shorts out the little bugger)...one of our Nike reps sent me one of these beauties:

I'm in love with my Nike Fuelband. Not only does it count my steps, but it also keeps track of calories burned. Love comparing a long run to a CF workout (I burn more in 1 hour at CF than I do running for 1.5 hours!).

My birthday fell smack dab in the middle of the challenge and our coach always puts together birthday wods. Mine consisted of 36 reps of all my favorite movements (all the gymnasty things: handstand pushups, pistols, pull ups, etc). Some teammates of mine cursed me under their breath during the wod...but my closest friends found humor in my age = number of reps we had to do. Kristi said while box jumping, "If it were my birthday I'd be done by now!" She's 11 years my junior. Her birthday wod was much shorter than mine :)

My CF FINL buddies post birthday wod.

So true...

With 5 wods a week comes a little sacrifice. You know, like sacrificing my ability to grasp objects. I've had to start pulling out old gymnastics tricks: sleeping with Aquap.hor on my covered hands and making good old fashioned tape grips to work through the bloody mess.

The working out is the easy part for me. It's the clean eating that comes as a more difficult lifestyle change. What helped me this time around is that Mike started clean eating a few weeks before the challenge started, so our fridge was already stocked with fresh fruits, veggies and meats. Sundays we both do food prep...I'll chop veggies while Mike prepares meals for the week (chili, chicken salad, pork ribs, hamburgers, salmon). It definitely is more expensive and time consuming to eat clean, but it's worth it in the end.

I'm typically known for being a junk food junky (not proud of that and am making changes in my life towards healthier choices). So the day before the challenge started of course I had one of these beauties:

Then my desserts from then on out looked more like this:

Baked apple with raisins, cinnamon and walnuts

And my favorite dark chocolate chip Paleo cookies. I'm addicted (made 4 batches in 4 weeks) and both Mike and the girls love them, too. Score!

As for my endurance training, running has been happening only once a week these days. I've only hit the trails twice this year, opting for the indoor track instead. It's warmer. And I can wear 10 pounds less in apparel.

Kristi joined me one week...

The next week I was solo...

And last week Jaime joined me.

Throughout the 30 day challenge, I hit a few PRs on some lifts and felt overall stronger than I did before. The clean eating allows me to perform better as I'm fueling my body better. I'm slowly getting stronger at some of my weaker moves (ie snatches, deficit handstand push ups and bar muscle ups). It's just rewarding to see what hard work and dedication can do for my performance.

I'm still eating Paleo the majority of the day...but I allow more "cheats" without the guilt or the looming weigh-ins. Next up? The CrossFit Open!

Age of Aquarius...

My 36th birthday was a pretty good one. I had the day off. I spent the first half of the day with my girls and the second half of the day with my friends. Perfection, in my opinion.

Started the morning off with a trip to the dentist. Izzy hasn't been since she got her "golden teeth" back in the Fall. You would never have known that the last time she left the dentist's office that she was in an anesthetic stupor, crying and swollen. Nope. She marched in and was ready to show the entire staff how pretty she's kept her teeth.

We've changed a lot of our daily habits since the 12-cavity-nightmare hit us a few months ago. No more juice. No more fruit snacks or suckers or candy. We added daily mouth-washing and flossing into our routine. And boy, did our extra efforts pay off. No cavities and some pretty amazing feedback, "Her teeth have very minimal plaque build-up!" Well we will take that!

 We learned that Laney also has the same great hygiene as her big sister but has the "start" of a cavity. Ugh. The dentist also told us Lane has the exact same cross bite that Izzy has...even to the same side and almost to the same degree. Now we have to start saving for not one, but TWO sets of expanders and braces. So there's that birthday surprise I was hoping to never get.

 Regardless, we had to celebrate the great no-cavity news with some fun indoor play time at a local warehouse that sells recreational equipment (trampolines, basketball hoops, tree houses and enormous playsets).

I was lucky enough to have birthday lunch with my bestie, Jaim...where she gifted me the most beautiful handmade infinity scarf. And you KNOW I had to wear it that night :)

 Our old neighbors threw a birthday party for me (and let's be serious, Matt's birthday is 2 days before mine...so it was more like a combo party but I felt special nonetheless).

 Matt and I are both Aquarius (Aquari?) so the theme of the evening was obvious...

And our Saturday mornings continue to look like this...gymnastics. This little girl is getting so big I can hardly stand it. After class we came home and made a birthday video for one of our favorite Aquarius men, Mr. Dave. His 60th was on Monday and the girls had an extra special message for him: