Wishin' and Hopin' and Thinkin' and Prayin'

Do you ever what would your life would be like if you would have made one decision differently.

Taken the left fork instead of the right?

I don't know why, but I was thinking about that today.

About how everything happens for a reason. About how each decision, no matter how small, leads us to the next.

At the end of 2004, I was offered a job in DC. I clearly didn't take it. I was 23 years old and had spent a majority of that year living in DC at basically a poverty level. The experience had been amazing and I met some friends that I will never forget, but I wasn't ready to move back there. I thought I was a west coast type girl and I had a good job in Arizona and was making pretty good money. 

It was a difficult choice to make, but I made it and here I am today.

I don't regret the decisions that I have made - that would be a waste of time. Though I can say for certain that along the way there were times when I was sitting in the middle of a decision that I made wondering why in the hell I had done it.

But it is all a part of me.

The bad bosses. The long hours. The missed lunches.

As I look back on 2012 - and the years that came before it - I can be happy about the things I've accomplished and overcome.

One of my CrossFit coaches posted on Facebook the other day (in relation to goals/resolutions), "I'm not where I want to be, but I'm not where I used to be."

How true that is.

All too often I think we focus on what we aren't, rather than how far we've come.

New Year. New You.

Wow - even I cringed when typing that title..

How cheesy can I be?

The answer is: pretty cheesy, but that's another story for another day.

Today we are going to talk about the upcoming year.

I have decided that I don't like the word "resolution" in relation to the goals I set for the new year - so I have decided that this year, I will consider these my:

2013 Commitments

write every day: as I previously mentioned, I will commit to writing every day. The goal will be to write here on the blog every day, but some days it may be that I write somewhere else.

one hour of yoga every week: in relation to my fitness goals, I really need to work on my flexibility. As much as I hate yoga, and I really hate yoga, it is the best way to work on flexibility and stretching, so I will commit to at least one hour a week on my off days.

running 7 miles every week: CrossFit has lots of cardio, but I would like to lean out a little more, so I need to burn some more calories, so I will be running at least seven miles every week. I will count any runs that are included in CrossFit WODs, but not warm-ups. And any additional races that I run outside of CrossFit. Whatever is left after those two things will have to be made up on my own time.

For the previous two commitments, weeks will start on Sunday (beginning with today).

As far as CrossFit goes, I have two goals that I am committing to for 2013:

kipping pull-ups: pull-ups were actually on my goal list for 2012 and I didn't reach the goal. But I HAVE to get a pull-up this year and I need to get kipping pull-ups in order to do a lot of WODs as prescribed.

rope climb: I believe I have the strength to do a rope climb, but I have a fear of them. It is totally mental and I need to overcome it and get to the top of that rope.

Finally, I would like to pay off Gus, my car. This is probably a lofty goal, but if I stick to my budget and work really hard, it is totally attainable!

2013 is going to be great!

Boom Shaka Laka! (That one's for you Diddy!)

So I read something the other day from a blogger that said (basically), if you are a writer - you need to write every day. Whether it is a sentence, a paragraph, or a novel - you need to sit down and write every, single day.

So, that is what I am going to try to do in 2013.

Write everyday.

It may not always be in the form of a blog post, but that is clearly my preference.

So, stay tuned, friends. And try to keep me honest.

In other news, I ran a 5K this morning.

A very COLD 5K. I know that I live in Arizona and I am probably a wimp, but it was damn cold out this morning.

Right around mile 2 I came up on a girl - probably in her late teens - and I knew it was her first race because I heard her talking to her mom before the race started. Well, she was crying when I passed her and I could tell she was struggling, so I slowed down and encouraged her to keep going. She was having cramps in her side and I could tell she wanted to give up. I let her catch up to me and kept her going until we found her friend.

I was that girl once. I don't think I actually cried, but I remember my first race and I wanted to die a thousand deaths as I ran up and down the hills of the Phoenix Zoo.

But I finished and I never looked back. And I didn't want her to give up on her first race.

So, once we encountered her friend, I took off again and finished the race in an official time of 27:54!!!! 

Did you hear that?? 27 minutes and 54 seconds! A new PR!

That's an 8:58 average!

I would really like to get my 5K down to an 8:30, but as long as I'm moving in the right direction, I'm happy.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

I believe that I told you all last year that I was proposed to in Vegas last year.

I don't think it was a real proposal, I think it had more to do with the fact that I was carrying cherry vodka around in my purse, but that is neither here nor there.

This year, we happened to run into my fiance from last year and his friends.

So, he sits down next to me and I ask him how things have been going for the last year.

He responds, "Unfortunately, exactly the same."

I ask, "why unfortunately?"

And then he launches into a diatribe about how his live-in girlfriend (I told you it wasn't a real proposal) won't make him chicken wings.

That he works hard, and all he wants are chicken wings.

I ask a series of questions, trying to get to the root of the problem.

Things like, "do you want her to make chicken wings every day?" His answer: "Not every day."

"Can she just bake the ones you buy in the freezer section at the grocery store?" His answer: "I don't care where they come from, I just want chicken wings."

So I tell him, in my brutally honest kind of way, "I hate to tell you this, but if she won't make you chicken wings now, she sure isn't going to do it when you put a ring on it."

I probably didn't help the situation...

YOLO in Vegas

I should really be in bed right now in order to get up for 5am CrossFit, but I drank too much coffee this afternoon and I have some requests for blogs (because obviously I have been neglecting all of you), so here I sit.

I will blame you all if I don't get out of bed for back squats and rope climbs in the morning.

In really quick CrossFit news, either my new shoes are magic or I am amazing, because I ran 400m in 1:30 on Tuesday. (See what I did there?)

I'll give you a minute to let that sink in...

...Yes, you read that right - I ran, 1/4 mile in one minute and thirty seconds!!!

Our first run, we went too far so we ran 420m, and I did that in 1:40. Then we found the right line and I did the next five in: 1:30, 1:32, 1:38, 1:40, and 1:38.

Pretty much, I'm a badass. But moving on...

Last weekend was our annual Vegas trip for NFR. And as always, it was a blast!

I'll save most of the details for those who were there, after all, what happens in Vegas...but I'll give you a few highlights.

On Friday night, DVL, Dirty, Diddy, Idaho*, and I went out to dinner for DVL's birthday. He wanted Mexican food, so I took them to the ghetto - that's where the best Mexican food is after all. (Remember that trip in San Antonio? Papa thought we were going to have to fight our way out of that one.)

So after the longest cab ride ever, with the strangest cabby who wanted to take Dirty home with him, we arrived at the restaurant and got a table. DVL was ordering a drink - Crown and water - and the waiter was not picking up what he wanted. 

DVL: Crown and water and a glass of water, please.

Waiter: *blank stare*

DVL: I would like Crown Royal Whiskey and water.

Waiter: I don't know if we have that.

(After going to check)

Waiter: Ok, we have that - what do you want?

DVL: I want the whiskey with ice and water. And a glass of water.

Waiter: So, you want alcohol...in your water?

On Saturday morning, we trekked over to the Venetian/Sands to do some shopping. Before we made it into the shopping portion of the convention center, we stopped at the bar. We were in line when a very interesting lady lined up behind us. 

Diddy: I think I'm dehydrated. My legs are starting to hurt.

Dirty: Maybe you should get some water.

Diddy: I am - orange juice and vodka - there's water in that.

Classy Lady: (leans over to shake Diddy's hand) You're my kind of person.

Then she proceeds to tell us about how she's not as young as she once was and something about drinking too much Pendleton the night before. And I say something to the effect of, "It's a good thing this only happens once a year." Then I kind of zoned out. (Plus my brain wasn't working as quickly as it normally does.) So the next thing I hear her say is, "Try doing it on a first date."

I was like, Whoa, that escalated quickly!

And then I caught on - she was at NFR for the weekend on the first date. I mean really, who ever would have thought that was a good idea.

Totally Random

I nearly cried in the store yesterday when I found these Reebok Real Flex shoes on the clearance rack. In my size.

Seriously, these shoes were basically made for CrossFit and I've been wanting a pair for a long time.

Then I started thinking to myself, Self, why will you spend $50 on a pair of boots that you might wear once a week, but cringe at spending money on a pair of shoes you will wear every day?

Myself didn't answer, but either way, I bought the shoes and I am super excited to wear them!

I have a bruise across my stomach right now from jumping bar muscle-ups the other day. But I'll take it, because a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't even begin to do one.

It's baby steps, people.

Reindeer, Tiny Trees, and Holly Berries....Oh My!

On Sunday, Match, XouXou, SuperFan, JP, JP's mom, and I headed over to Granny B's house for the annual Christmas decorating extravaganza.

Of course you know there are stories to be told...

We have been partaking in this tradition for more years than I care to remember, so we have a pretty good handle on what goes where and how she likes it. The problem is, she doesn't always remember, so things that should take an hour, end up taking three as we remove and replace the same piece of tinsel fifteen times.

Part of me thinks it is just her way of keeping us there longer to spend more time with us...

Either way, this year, there was a little tiny blessing bestowed upon us. Right after we all arrived, Granny B had to run to Michael's to get batteries and ribbon. 

You see, Match and XouXou took her shopping prior to this event and they had purchased a roll of ribbon for bow-making, but when they got home she couldn't find her ribbon. She accused Match of taking it home with her, but that was not the case. So off to the craft store she went and into hyper-drive we went.

The goal: get as much decorated as possible before she returned.

So the adults started on the tree and us kids started on the front porch (aka the Enchanted Forest). 

Having done this for years and years, we had a good handle on what she would want it to look like, and if we got it finished and she just got to see the finished product she would be happy. Otherwise, she watches as you put it together and critiques every placement of ornament or tree.

Last year, Granny B decided to add holly berries to the big tree on the front porch, so JP and I got to work adding the berries. More on top. Even if you think there are enough, she'll want more.

By the time she arrived both tasks had been completed and we were working on nutcracker, Santa, and Nativity displays. 

She walks out front to see what we lovingly refer to as the Enchanted Forest and talks about how great it looks. Then she sees the holly berries in the tree and says something to the effect of, What are these doing here? I don't want those. I remind her that we put them in last year, but she doesn't want them so JP and I remove them and put them in a box to be returned to storage.

Then we begin placing tiny fake Christmas trees everywhere. Seriously, friends, every.where!

Picture courtesy of JP

Then, Match gets the bows put onto the new garlands and they hang one on the front door next to the Enchanted Forest. Once she closes the door and realizes that there is red in the garland, but no color in the large tree, she begins to ask for red bulbs. Much to her dismay, we do not have any red bulbs. So JP informs her that the only color accent we have is the holly berries she removed earlier. She reiterates that she does not want those.

Then not five minutes later, turns to SuperFan and says, Beeshk, go get those berries from the garage. And as you see in the bottom right picture, the holly berries were reintroduced to the Enchanted Forest as an invasive species.

But it is so nice for the reindeer.

One of my other favorite Christmas tasks is replacing all of the white candles in her house with red ones. So we are doing just that when I open a box of red candles and find a roll of ribbon. I hold it up to XouXou and ask, "is the ribbon she keeps accusing Match of stealing?" Xou confirms it is, so I walk up to Granny B and ask, "Is this the ribbon you've been looking for?"

She didn't even look at it, she just responded, "No!"

Then she looked at it and asked, "Where did you find it?" I told her that I found it in the box with the red candles so she begins to look at it a little closer; and then she looks at me and says, "I think you may be right."

I just made the Sign of the Cross and carried on replacing white candles with red.

Until next year, when we have all the same discussions again...

Miscellany...

truth

I have no use for Tom Cruise and his shenanigans, but if Top Gun or A Few Good Men is on TV, I have a VERY hard time changing the channel.

Like cancelling recordings of my favorite shows, hard time. That's serious.

***

I'm turning into a hippie, friends. 

About a month ago I started getting a pretty serious case of adult acne - no damn good I tell you. So I did a little research and I stopped taking my fish oil capsules, because apparently those can cause acne. 

Then I read about some natural ways to get rid of acne. I started with honey because Match had found something on Pinterest that talked about washing your face with honey and lemon juice.

For a couple of days, at night I would wash my face with honey and baking soda. Then I would use apple cider vinegar as a toner to balance my skin's pH level after the baking soda. Then I would use olive oil to remove my eye makeup.

So basically, I went to bed smelling like a salad bowl.

Then I came across the oil cleanse method, and that sounded like something I wanted to try. So I went to Sprouts to purchase castor oil and jojoba oil - holy expensive skin care regimen. 

So I've started the oil cleanse method at night and honey in the morning. So far, I think it is working. I'll keep you updated.

Giving Thanks

It's Thanksgiving week so I'll enlighten you all with a few things for which I am thankful...

5 am Crossfit workouts. Because they have changed my life, but also because after them I head to Diddy's house to shower and get ready. Then we eat breakfast together, which is always a hilarious occasion. 

This picture:

Because on Monday I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I don't know why, but I was just in a bad mood. And this picture made me laugh hysterically. Can someone please tell me why IT and Ikea appear to be slow dancing and to the right of them, DVL and I both have one hand in the air, and appear to be rapping? 

Seriously, I am still laughing!

These four:

Because Biggie made me an aunt for the first time and I've never felt so much love. Because Tiny is a mini-me and I love every bit of it. Because SisterSmalls is a tiny baby diva, but when she falls asleep in your man arms, it melts your heart. Because Match knows just when to support me and just when to call me on my bullshit.

This guy: 

Because he is the most kissable baby on the planet and when he smiles at you, you just know that everything will be right in the world.

I'm Having Reservations

So, Diddy wants me to join plentyoffish.com.

I've been resisting his futile efforts for about a month now.

I woke up early this morning and have been killing some time on the internet and I thought I would check it out.

So I went to the website and ran a quick search of men in my age- and distance-range.

The third guy down had this as his intro:

It sucks that I have to begin with this, but to respect your time and mine, I feel compelled to get this out of the way first. If you qualify for one or more of the following, you should probably click on the "next" button...just sayin'

You are on (or in desperate need of) mood medications.
You have been to a meth lab, know the whereabouts of a meth lab, or considering your own meth lab.
You have enough emotional baggage to rival Samsonite.
Your insecurities have front row seats to your life.

Obviously this is not an all-inclusive list..but you get the point.

This is either going to be supremely awesome because I'm clearly up against (I shouldn't view this as a competition) doing much better than the women that are currently on this site.

Or this is going to be supremely hilarious.

I haven't decided for sure to join, but stay tuned if I do.

Making Choices

"People inspire you,

or they drain you -

choose them wisely."

-Hans F. Hansen

I am sure that we have all had those friends who just wear us out. We know who they are and our interactions with them leave us wanting more. 

We also have friends who inspire us. We are drawn to them and our time with them is always positive and fulfilling.

There are times in our lives when we are reminded that our time here is temporary - some of us more so than others - and it usually causes us to reevaluate the choices we are making and the people we are surrounding ourselves with.

I had that experience this week.

So I am going to try to spend my time with the people who inspire me from now on.

Wishful Thinking

One thing I may have told you before is that I love trimming the trees at my house.

I absolutely have no real idea how to properly go about it, but I enjoy it.

And when it comes time to clean up the mess, I would rather do just about anything.

The first time that I trimmed the trees in my front yard, Match and Papa were there to help. And Match trimmed the shit out of my Palo Verde tree. I'm telling you, it was naked when she got done with it. I nearly cried.

But she told me that you have to think of what you want it to look like. And that if it spends too much time growing out, it won't grow up.

I took that to heart.

About two months ago I told Diddy that he needed to trim the Palo Verde tree in his front yard. The limbs were practically touching the ground. It was out of control! It was definitely spending too much energy growing out and not up. 

He was stunting it's growth!

This past Friday, Janiac was coming to town and I needed to get my guest bed back from Diddy's house. I thought that it would soften the blow if I trimmed his tree first.

So I arrived just after 6 am with my coffee, tree trimmer, and gloves and got to work. I figured that he would be getting out of bed soon, but I didn't need him to start so I got right to work.

About an hour in, I had filled the trash can with cut limbs and I was running out of patience.

And I only had about 1/3 of the tree trimmed. 

So I unlocked the door and went inside. SuperFan was going to arrive at any minute to help me load the bed and I figured that Diddy was up and showered by this point.

I turned on the news and he came out of his room. When I informed him that I underestimated the job and it was bigger than me, he said, "I told you so."

Then he decided that he couldn't live with a partially trimmed tree so he got dressed and we headed back outside to finish the job.

As we were working - me trimming the tree, Diddy cutting the limbs into manageable pieces and stacking them - Diddy commented, "maybe we should start a landscaping business."

About ten minutes later, SuperFan arrived and Diddy remarked, "I wish a Mexican would drive by right now."

(For those of you who don't live in Arizona, he wasn't trying to be offensive. He was referring to one of the many landscaping companies that are owned by Mexicans that do great work.)

We sent SuperFan to Fry's to get some twine for him to tie his bundles of trimming and some sausage to make us breakfast.

She came back, but the twine she brought wasn't really working. I had just finished trimming the tree and I was making a pile of branches for Diddy to cut up and tie when a truck and trailer and two Mexicans pulled up.

They stopped, rolled down their window, and asked, "You want me to do something?"

Diddy, normally one of the tightest people I know, said, "You'll clean this up and haul all of it away?"

The driver said something minorly intelligible.

Diddy replied, "Fifty bucks?"

The driver agreed and they got to work.

I walked inside to SuperFan making breakfast and told her the story. Then I remarked that I had been out there for two hours and they would probably be done in 35 minutes.

Twenty minutes later, we heard the blower start.

It looks like we wouldn't be able to work fast enough to make our landscaping business profitable.

Speaking of Halloween

I got an email the other day from a friend who was talking about what she was going to do with her girlos for Halloween.

And it got me to thinking about Halloween when we were kids.

We lived in a small town. And we didn't even live in the "town" portion of that town. We lived out in the sticks. So each year when Halloween rolled around, my mom and aunts would load all of us kids up into the station wagon and drive from house to house of people we knew.

I'm telling you, we were like a clown car of trick-or-treaters. We would pull up to a house and doors would open and kids would be falling out everywhere.

One of the station wagons had those seats in the back that folded up (do they still make those?). The bummer about that was that if you were in the back, you had to wait for someone to come and open the door, so the kids who were sitting in the back seat always got to the door of whichever house you were at first.

And if you were us girls, you were hyper competitive.

Granny B and Popie lived down a mile long dirt road so we were pretty much the only trick-or-treaters they got. So every year, Granny B would buy us each our own bag of Hershey's Miniatures. (Now all of the sudden I'm craving a Mr. Goodbar.)

One year, the girls in the back of the station wagon decided that we had enough of the other kids getting to the door before us so we devised a plan. At the house before Granny B's, we "closed" the back door ourselves. We didn't let it latch, and we held the door closed the entire way to her house. In hindsight, that was a super bad idea and someone could have been seriously injured; but at the time, it was worth whatever the potential consequence was to get to the door at Granny B's house first.

May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor!

On Saturday night, I went over to Glinda and Fiero's for their annual Halloween party - costumes required!

I'm typically not big on costumes. Not that I don't like them, I just don't typically think of them enough ahead of time to get all of the pieces at a reasonable price. And I'm not very crafty, so I end up with something boring.

Though, two years ago, at the last minute, I made a white sash with black writing that said, "Understood." I wore an old bridesmaid dress and a tiara with the sash, and I got second place in the costume contest.

This year, Glinda and I were shopping at Charming Charlie's sometime in the summer and we found a headband with a little hat thing. And right then and there, I decided that I would be Effie Trinket for Halloween.

I did procrastinate a little more than I should have, but it all came together nicely.

This was my inspiration:

This was my costume:

McKayla Maroney (Glinda) is not impressed with Effie Trinket...

I won the contest this year!

As Soon as You Tell Me I Can't Have Something, It's All I Can Think About...

I went to the grocery store this morning to pick up a few things to make dinner for Match and Papa. The grocery store is a Fry's Marketplace so in addition to groceries, it has household stuff like furniture as well as a garden section. Out by the garden section there are a number of patio tables and chairs set up.

At one of the tables were three couples. If I had to guess, I would say they lived in the nearby age-restricted community. So they came to the grocery store, bought some coffee at the kiosk and walked over to the garden section to enjoy it.

That's the life.

My grandpa, H, has diabetes. But he's not your typical diabetic, he is active. Always working outside and building something. He checks his blood sugar and regulates it pretty well, but he still enjoys the occasional baked good (who doesn't, right?).

Sometimes when I go to this same grocery store, I will find him sitting on the couches next to the coffee shop, eating a donut and watching Fox News. Then he will get up and walk around the store, finding good deals and buying enough to share with his children that live nearby.

From there he will head home and prepare the food before driving around from house to house, delivering the food.

And let me tell you, he can cook!

A couple of years ago, Diddy was on Fox News to talk about border security and H saw it. He was so proud of Diddy that wanted to get him a gift. So he bought him meat, cheese, red wine, and french bread. But he had to drive all the way to Bashas', which is in the next city over, because that's where they make the good bread.

For some crazy reason, I signed up for a 30-day Sugar Detox with some girls at the gym. I don't really eat much sugar on a regular basis, but on this particular detox you can't have any fruit, dairy, or alcohol either. 

Again, not really things I consume on a regular basis, but the minute I'm not allowed to have them, they are everywhere! Tomorrow marks one full week we've been doing it. The penalty for cheating is 75 burpees and since I've told you all how I feel about burpees you can imagine that I will not be cheating! 

Taking Care of Business

I forgot to tell you all one thing from the trip that still makes me laugh.

The morning that we were leaving the headline of the USA Today was that the Tigers swept the Yankees. And Granny B was enthralled with it. She kept saying how she couldn't believe it.

I commented that I wasn't surprised because Derek Jeter broke his ankle and he was carrying the team.

Granny B's response, "What was he? Their quarterback?"

***

It was back to interval training at CrossFit this morning. Only we bumped up from 6x400m to 4x800m. 

I was not thrilled to read the workout last night. Women were taking off every 5 minutes. And it would be a total of 2 miles when we were finished.

Before we got started, our coach told us to take it easy, one of the competitors at the gym did this workout last week and tanked in the final two runs because he went too hard on the first two.

My goal was to not be the slowest.

I finished with a 3:57, 3:56, 3:58, and 3:58.

You guys, that means, I am basically holding an eight-minute mile for two miles!

I can hardly contain my excitement!

Vacation Pictures

Here are the pictures from vacation!

Enjoy!

Paul Revere statue - in the background you can kind of see the Old North Church. This was where they hung the lanterns during his midnight ride - "One if by Land. Two if by Sea." It is commonly believed that what he yelled during his ride was, "The British are coming!" However, during this time, everyone considered themselves British, and what he actually said was, "The Regulars are coming!"

Captain John Parker at the Lexington Battlefield. He is credited with telling his troops, "Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here." This was the "shot heard 'round the world."

Here I am posing with a Minute Man at the Old North Bridge in Concord. This bridge was where the Rebel forces stopped the Regulars and sent them back to Boston.

This church on Martha's Vineyard is made of all wood with no nails or screws - all tongue and groove and pegs. Those columns in the front are all pine boards!

It was cold and windy on Martha's Vineyard! But I got Granny B to take a picture with me!

Gingerbread House at the Methodist Camp. These houses were crazy and they were built on the sites where the original tents stood, so they are very narrow.

Ahh - the Breakers! This was the home of the Vanderbilt's. It was amazing inside, but I would trade it all for the kitchen!

I had to find this picture online because we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but you get the idea. I'm in love!

Mystic Seaport. This is the Mystic River we are looking at - of movie fame. And in town was Mystic Pizza - of Julia Roberts fame.

Norman Rockwell's studio.

Me. In what IT says is my Ralph Lauren ad.

Talked her into another picture, but she got distracted...

The colors at the Bennington Battle Monument.

Yellow tree at Plymouth Notch.

Red tree at Plymouth Notch.

Mount Washington Resort. 

Me on the coast of Portland, Maine. What a beautiful place!

The lighthouse on Cape Elizabeth.

The Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse from the water.

Walker Point in Kennebunkport, Maine. This is also known as "the Bush Compound."

Maine lobster dinner!