Random Musings on a Rainy Monday

Happy Monday!  It's rainy & cold here & my tolerance of cold weather is running thin.  Very thin!  But that's ok because I PR'd my deadlift in the 14.3 Open workout today, so I can't complain!

I pulled 185# for 10 reps in the WOD today!!  I've never done that before!  :)

And I totaled 100 reps!  I'll take it!

I discovered a few things in my travels to Atlanta over the weekend…

1 - Cruise Control is the bomb dot com!  My corolla never had cruise, so I've never really had the pleasure of crusin' it on road trips.  Consider me changed!  It's a must have for any interstate driving.

2 - I really dislike windshield wipers!!  I already knew this, but it was just reconfirmed on my drive home last night.  Windshield wipers & rain the whole way!  Just something about the repetitiveness gets on my nerves!  I don't like repetitive noises either.  Sends me over the edge.  You can imagine how well that worked in a classroom right!? ;)

3 - Justin Timberlake's new song completely reverts me back to my former middle/high school self! This song comes on the radio, I find myself swooning and suddenly I'm 15 again!

It just has such a 90's/N'Sync vibe to me {ps #teamNSYNC #NSYNC4life} & I can't get enough!

4 - CrossFit Kids is going to be SO much fun!!  I was initially a little nervous about the amount of work it might be, but after this weekend's course, I'm so, so excited!  As a former teacher, there were all these demands - grades, tests, standards to meet, etc.  But with CrossFit kids, it's so relaxed!  The most important thing is for the kids to have FUN {what a concept!} and have fun while moving!  There's no barbells or weights until advanced kids or teens, so you know they're safe, it's all about having fun and teaching proper form.  And really, they have years to get the form down, so there's no pressure! I'm very excited!

Here's to a quick work week…I saw my husband for all of 7.5 waking hours over the weekend, so hurry up Thursday!!

Five on Friday

Happy Friday, y'all!  I'm linking up with April & Christia for Five on Friday today, so let's get right down to it :)

1 - I'm headed to CrossFit Atlanta this weekend to get my CrossFit Kids cert…

It should be a fun weekend, although I'll really miss my boys!  I've really enjoyed reading all my material for the weekend, all the research about the benefits of kids being active & I'm excited to learn some new stuff {and fun games}!  We're hoping to launch CrossFit Kids at CFP starting this summer!

2 - Monday & Tuesday of this week I spent my afternoons on our patio.  It was so beautiful out!  I ate my lunch out there, soaked up some Vitamin D, watched Berk dog run around...

And even let Benny out to do a little exploring!  He was getting waaayyy too comfortable…

It was chilly yesterday & not the warmest today, but I have high hopes those temps will be returning sooner rather than later!

3 - I got to spend my Wednesday morning hanging out with this sweet friend…

Ashley (+ baby boy) & me :)

We'd been planning it for about 2 weeks & I was so excited, it was even on my to do list for that day…

We got mani/pedis & lunch at Brixx & just caught up on life!  She's my longest friend & I'm so thankful to have known her all these years & know that our friendship will continue!  We don't talk every day, but we just pick up right where we left off.  I'm sure I'll be calling her with lots of questions whenever we have babes of our own, Ash is a pro now ;)

4 - I saw this in my Instagram feed the other day & pretty much died...

Congrats!  We're all skinny!  Hahaha, I personally work more towards being healthy & strong {so much more freeing than trying to be skinny all the time!}, but still, that's funny!

5 - 27 days until we're back to this magical place…

With a few of these in hand...

Five on Friday

Happy Friday friends!!  Time for my favorite link up :)

Let's go….

1 - I came out of the shower the other night to this scene!  Haha, cracked me up!  He must have had some important emails to send with a quick little bone break in between!

2 - We've been using our old comforter for a few weeks now, as you can see above, since our sweet little cat decided to barf all over our white comforter!!  Lovely, right!?  Thankfully, we have an awesome member at out gym who happens to own a dry cleaner in Pineville.  He had me bring it by to work his magic & we've yet to put it back on yet since the white dog pictured above needs a serious bath!  B just doesn't understand my need for a white comforter, but I love the way it looks!

Clean, open, airy.  It just has to be white!

3 - Have you heard of Fabletics??  A friend just recently turned me onto them…they're an athletic wear company developed in part by Kate Hudson & you can get 2 & 3 piece outfits starting at $49.99!  That alone sounds like a steal, but the real kicker is your 1st purchase is 50% off!!  So a 3 piece outfit - bottoms, sports bra & a top is - just $25!  That's pretty much a steal!  Oh so much cheaper than my beloved lulu lemon! 

 

I think this might be my birthday present to myself!  Cute right?  If you want to sign up, go here.  {FYI I'm not getting paid or sponsored for this, that would be sweet, though!  I just live in athletic wear & am always looking for a deal!}

4 - The weather here this weekend is looking glorious!!!  I'm so excited for these warmer temps, I can't wait to be outside some - throwing the ball with Berkley, cleaning the cars with B, enjoying a drink on the patio - yes, please!

5 - I saved the very best for last….Brandon & I are terrible at gift giving!  I mean, we give pretty great gifts, we just have a hard time waiting for the occasion to give the gift!  My birthday is next Sunday & B decided he needed to show me my gift last night!  This is what he showed me…

We're going to Puerto Rico!!!!  Talk about best birthday present ever!!  He needed to make sure we didn't have anything going on the weekend he picked out for us to go, so he needed to go ahead & tell me so we could book our flights!  We fly out April 10th & come back the 13th and I'm already counting down the days - 48 days!!

We have been longing for a tropical vacation so this couldn't come at a more perfect time!  We'll only be gone 3 nights, but I think it's just what we need.  And Puerto Rico has a special place in our hearts, it's where we got engaged almost 4 years ago!  I'm so, so excited!!!!  Happy Birthday to me, right!?

Happy weekend, y'all!

Happy December!!

Happy December friends!!

December!  Can you believe it!?  I definitely can't, but I do love this month, so I welcome it with open arms!  

I loved Rachael's post on December today!  It's easy to get caught up in reflecting this month & then looking forward to the next year…but we've got 31 whole days this month to make count!

I just love the hustle & bustle of this time of year….the shopping, the parties, the family time!  I love walking in to our tree & wrapping gifts & ornament exchanges.  I hope to make this month count more than ever, though.  I don't want to over indulge on food, just to look back & feel bloated.  I don't want to over indulge on plans just to look back & feel tired.

So there's 2 main things I'm going to do this month - 1) keep my workout routine.  No extra slack days this month!  2) build in some rest time with Brandon & our families.  I want to not have tons of plans when our families are here, I just want to be with them & enjoy!

I started a 10 day cleanse yesterday to keep me on track!  I don't really care if I don't lose a single pound from it, but when doing something like a cleanse, it helps keep me focused.  "Should I eat that?  No I'm on my cleanse right now!"  Keeps me motivated, working, you know?!

This could be a good look for Santa, right!?

Anyways…we had a wonderful little Thanksgiving!!  We ate yummy food & played with nieces, nephews, & dogs, went shopping, napped, and just enjoyed one another!  I did a terrible job taking pictures, per usual.  But here are a few…

Wells wearing my slippers :)

Ya know, just doodling!

Thanksgiving kisses!

The granddogs getting some love!

A little football action with Uncle B & daddy!

Gluten free pizza for the win!!

Abel loves him some Huckleberry!  Sweetness.

Yesterday was pretty busy gearing up for another busy week, but it ended just like this & I'm so thankful for that!  :)  Love my boys...

I'm baaaack!

Why hello there little blogosphere!  It's been a while a little over 3 months!  Whoops.  I sort of fell off the face of the {blog} earth!  Obviously, you all noticed!  I mean how did you survive without me!?

I didn't exactly mean to drop off the {blog} planet, but it just kind of happened.  I was kind of stuck in this rut back in July, if you recall.  I tried to keep on blogging, but the rut won.  Rut - 1, Michelle - 0.

I still don't really know why I backed away so suddenly.  I sort of felt fake this summer in my blogging life.  I don't know why....I've never been fake on this blog or tried to convey a picture that doesn't really exist of my life.

It kind of just felt like I was blogging to put on this pretty show, to keep up with this chore.  Looming over my head...but I had a lot going on and I just didn't want to, to be really honest!  I couldn't keep up with my blog...it felt like work.  So I needed a break.

I wanted to be in my life, be intentional.  And that meant letting go of the blog, and of twitter, and Pinterest for a while.  So I let go!

I kept reading all of your blogs!  I still love keeping up with everyone's lives, but I think I just needed time away to miss my blog.  And, finally, after 3 months....I miss it!  I miss recapping our weekends, funny stories, sharing pictures, & recipes.  All the good ol' boring stuff!  So I'm going to give this another chance & hopefully keep this journal going.

I'm baaaaack!!  And just know that's a very loose term ;)  I may only still post once or twice a week or not a all a week here and there, but, I want to be back!  So here goes....

3 months in a nutshell!

End of July/August

I ran the Electric Run with some friends, we continued to enjoy drinks in our driveway (because we're classy!), worked out (a lot. duh!) at the box, & traveled to the Mitten for B's work summer party - we got to see our cutie nephew Weston oh so briefly, step our feet into chilly Lake Michigan & enjoy a rodeo!

September

We enjoyed double dates with great friends, celebrated Labor Day, threw an awesome Mustache Bash for Brandon & Warren's 30th Birthdays, and celebrated our friends' Greg & Ashley's wedding in the beautiful city of Charleston with good friends :)  It was such a great weekend away!

September/October

We celebrated multiple Oktoberfests, got new tattoos, celebrated lots of October birthdays with sweet family in town, killed some more workouts & got some sweet new Reebok CrossFit gear - it was like Christmas in October!

More October & early November

We bought a gorgeous new chair for our living room (which I feel is finally complete!), drank lots of Cottonwood Pumpkin Ale (our new fav!!!), snuggled our cute Halloween pup, & enjoyed a wonderful weekend away in the Mountains with awesome friends!

It's been a great & busy couple of months!  I'm already feeling so mushy & thankful approaching this Holiday season....busy or not, there's always so much to be thankful for & I love documenting it all here!  I'll try to fill in the gaps here & there on these last months when I can & I'm going to be more intentional about blogging.

So if you're all still out there, still reading, thanks!  It's good to be back!

Easy Weekend

Oh how I love my weekends, however, short as they always are!!!  Wahhh....seriously, can't we all band together to do something about this serious not problem & extend weekends!?  I really need a 3rd day!  Oh to dream.... :)

We were off to Raleigh this past Friday, doggy in tow, for a little business and pleasure.

Berkley had his first stay in a hotel (oh yes...we were those people with their dog at the hotel!) and did so well!!  He loved meeting lots of people, having the run of the room, and a lower bed so he could actually jump up onto it!  Haha, still slept in his crate, though like a champ!  Our little crate sleeper :)

Since we were away, it was one of those times where you're forced to relax, and I can't say I minded!  The weather was gorgeous, I got a good workout in each day, strolled with Berkley in a park nearby, did a little work, played a little candy crush, laid around!  Not too shabby y'all!

We grabbed a delish dinner out Saturday night at Cantina 18!  If you're in the Raleigh area, go there asap & have a skinny margarita!!!  So good!

I spent a good portion of my afternoon yesterday grocery shopping & then food prepping in the kitchen!  Eating clean, while not hard, does take some serious prep!  Well worth it, though!  After all...

;)

Manic Monday today wasn't so terrible, so I guess I can't really complain!  And I'm glad to have my hubby home for an extra night in the wake of everything that happened in Boston today!!

via

In the midst of all that's awful, this quote gives me hope that maybe people are inherently good.

via

There are always helpers!  Today, seeing the first responders run towards the blasts, we know some people are inherently good and it restores you just a little in the middle of all this evil.

I hope your Monday was easy and your loved ones are accounted for and hugged extra tight tonight friends!  Talk soon :)

Charleston For the Win

Welp, sadly, all good things must come to an end and I guess Spring Break 2013 is no different. SB '13 has now come and gone, although I'm still romanticizing our brief love affair in my heart.  I'm going to keep the love affair going a little longer and recap the end of the week and our trip to Charleston!

Friday morning we were off to Charleston, SC for the Cooper River Bridge Run!!

We dropped Berkley dog off to be boarded for the first time...

We sure missed this cuteness, I mean how could you not!?!

But a mimosa at Southend Brewery upon arrival really made up for it :)

We picked up our race packets at the super crowded expo, checked into our hotel & then waited on our friends to arrive!

Lisa & I - my twin!

The weather was awesome so we headed to the rooftop bar Vendue for drink numero uno :)

We sort of made a progressive evening out of it and headed to Mad River for drink numero dos & then headed to happy hour and an amazing dinner at Fleet Landing.  Yum!!!

Found a new koozie ;)

Since we had a mere 6.2 miles to run and an early wake up call the next morning, we figured we should turn it in early(ish)!

Race day, we had to wake up super early, stand in the cold for our shuttle, find our corral amongst forty some odd thousand people, then run up and across a ginormous bridge and into downtown Charleston!!  

Cold & on the shuttle!

That hill can suck it!!!  Oh my word, I wanted to walk so bad!  Haha

Finish!!!  Hallelujah!

Sweaty & done!! :)

I've obviously let go of any vanity I had and went ahead and posted these gross pics of myself.  Just keepin' it real y'all!

It was definitely fun race (ya know, once it was over!) & I'm glad I got the experience, but will I do it again!?  I dunno...  My hilarious (and half Kenyan) friend Mindy at Keep Calm and Have a Cupcake recapped her run here!  She basically summed up my exact feelings on this race!!

I'm no Kenyan, that's for dang sure, I'm just impressed I made it in under and hour!!  I'll take it :)

We celebrated post run at probably my most favorite spot in the whole world...Folly Beach!!

Clearly our first stop was Lost Dog Cafe for celebratory peach mango mimosas!!!

"Into each day, put in about one teaspoonful of good spirits, a dash of fun, a pinch of Folly, and a cupful of good humor!"

We had a drink at the beach bar, napped while the boys played....it was a perfect post race afternoon!!

My handsome man!!

We kept the party going with 89 cent rum runners at the hotel bar & an amazing, for real, so, so ahhmaaazing dinner at Anson's!

I was sad to wake up Sunday because it meant reality was right around the corner.  Boohoo!!  (I'm so spoiled right!?)  But it did mean back to my sweet boys at home :)

Today, was, well a work day.  Haha, just 43 and counting (yes, I'm counting!!) til my next love affair with summer!  Thanks for the good times spring break!

I'm so glad the weather has started to look more like spring, I fully plan on enjoying it this week!

Hope your Monday treated you more like a Thursday!  At least it's over right? ;)