Thinking Out Loud #5

For today’s blog post I’m linking up with Running With Spoons for Thinking Out Loud!

Here we goooo!

1. I miss my friends, but it’s so nice when I get to see them. One of my best friends came to town, so I met her for lunch on Wednesday. Sadly, lunch went by too quickly and she had to get back home. Seeing her and catching up completely made my day. It also made me realize how much I miss my friends. I miss seeing them every day and spending my weekends with them.

 

2. Sometimes I forget what it feels like to wear makeup, especially during the summer. Summer is time for mascara free eyes and wearing my hair in weird ways with a headband. I look kinda creepy in this photo.

3. Not all smoothies I attempt to make work out. I had this grand idea to make a smoothie with instant coffee, peanut butter, a banana, some spinach, and almond milk. I don’t know where I went wrong in my proportions, but I did. So yesterday was a smoothie fail. And evidently I drank it anyways. I was hungry.

4. This article. Read it: 28 things no 20 something year old wants to hear

As an unmarried 21 year old who isn’t married and has no children, I get asked a lot of these questions. Let me put a few of my favorites from that list:

Are you the last of your friends who is still single? From home I’m literally 1 of 2 people left who isn’t married.

When are you going to get married? Ummm don’t I need to get engaged first? Once that happens then you can ask me.

Oh, you’re single?  I know someone of the opposite gender who is also single.  I can set you up. No matter if I’m single or not people like to make suggestions. No I’m not interested.

 5. Be present now. I’ll be honest. My mind is consumed with what I’m going to be doing in the future after December. And the funny thing is, I haven’t even started student teaching yet. So I have to remind myself that I have a ways to go before I can really thing about post-graduation things. A lot can happen in half a year. So I need to focus more on not thinking about the past or future, for it does no good. It’s a waste of brain power. And this blonde needs to preserve all the brain power possible. I need to enjoy where I am now. I need to focus on the people I’m surrounded by now. I know God has a plan for me and that will lead me in the right direction when the time comes.

6. I love breakfast. It’s as simple as that. On the left is oatmeal with peanut butter, cinnamon, strawberries, and blueberries. On the right is protein pancakes from this morning. One of them may or may not have a few chocolate chips inside. I’m a wild one. I know.

7. You know the saying “Dance like no one is watching.” You have to watch this video of this little girl at her dance recital. She is gettin’ it. She doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. It’s hilarious.

8. You can’t beat a New Mexico sunset. I caught this on my bike ride down the road last night.

On the agenda for the rest of the day is see what kind of work my Dad has for me to do. Later this afternoon I’ll go visit the chiropractor and then off to Crossfit!

Do you wear makeup everyday? What is one question you get consistently asked?

And It Begins: Crossfit

My love for Crossfit has officially begun and I’ve only been twice.

I mentioned in my Monday blog post that my mom and I went to a Crossfit fundamentals class on Saturday. Yesterday, we returned and were able to join in with a regular Crossfit class at the box. Saturday I knew I would really love Crossfit and yesterday’s class reaffirmed that. Here 5 things I learned from our first two Crossfit functions that I think are important. And I probably learned a lot more than that already, but this is what came to mind.

1. Form is key.

On Saturday we spent the majority of time in fundamentals working on proper squat, push-up, pull-up, and sit-up form for Crossfit. The squats and push-ups are a little different than what I have been doing in weight-lifting or whenever I workout. But the coach closely worked with my mom and I to make sure we had the form down right before he gave us permission to jump into a regular class.

Yesterday when we went to our first regular class, another one of the coaches worked closely with my mom and I during the warm-up, strength, and WOD (Workout Of the Day) to show us modifications that were appropriate to our skill level. He made sure we had the form down correctly before allowing us to go up a step in modifications. Grant it, the box only had 4 people taking the class including my mom and I, so he really was able to make sure we were doing okay without ignoring the other 2 classmates.

2. Friendly, supportive atmosphere.

Immediately upon walking into the box on Saturday my mom and I felt welcome there. We were introduced to the people working out in there and to the coaches. Throughout our fundamental WOD and the WOD yesterday everyone was supporting and encouraging each other. It’s hard to describe, but the atmosphere the box has is one that is supportive, motivating, and challenging.

3. Modifications for everything.

There truly are modifications for everything. For push-ups it’s okay to do them on your knees which is what my mom does and I do after I try about 5 normal ones haha. Our WOD included kettle bell swings yesterday so our coach had my Mom and I do Russian kettlebell swings which is bringing the kettlebell to shoulder height rather than overhead. For toes to bar during the warmup, it was okay to just do knees to chest. The coach on Saturday told us that’s it’s okay to do modified versions. While he may be killing himself doing all the advanced versions, we’ll be killing ourselves doing the modified versions.

4. It’s more than just a WOD.

I didn’t realize how much more there was to a Crossfit class than a WOD. There is always a warm-up which is targeted to preparing your body for the following exercises. There is a skill and/or strength. For example, we worked on deadlifts yesterday. Then there is the WOD. Followed by cool down where you stretch  and target those areas that you worked. The coach also mentioned they’ll talk about proper nutrition as well.

5. It’s going to be a challenge.

It’s going to be a challenge and that’s what I was looking for. It’s easy for me to come home and slack off on my workouts and especially making healthy eating choices, but this will add a new challenge to my workouts this summer. And I think it’ll take me to a new level of my fitness where I’ll be able to push my body harder and see more of what my body is capable of. .

And this was what we did in class yesterday:

Warm-Up: 400 m run, 2 rounds of 10 squat jumps, 10 toes to bar, 10 banded chest stretch

Strength: 10 min to find your snatch-grip deadlift 5 max rep

WOD:  3 rounds of 2 min max effort double unders, 1 min rest. 21-15-9 kettlebell swings and ring push-ups.

Cool-down: Mobility

The coaches worked with the four in our class for almost 10 minutes working on proper form for deadlifts before we went on to find our deadlift 5 max rep. For modifications during the WOD they just had my mom and I do regular jump roping and regular push-ups rather than using the rings.

This is based on only two experiences I’ve had with Crossfit and I know once I keep going to the classes I’ll continue to learn a lot more. I know there is a lot of good and bad stuff about Crossfit going around in the world of the internet, but so far my experience has been very positive and I have not had one thought that Crossfit is not good for me to be doing. I’m excited to go back to class tomorrow and to do MURPH on Friday!

Have you tried Crossfit? What is a new workout you’ve been loving or wanting to try?

Memorial Weekend ’14

As I’m sitting at home writing a blog post today I was a bit intimidated about what to write about since it is Memorial Day Weekend. While everyone is out having BBQs and playing yard games, many people today are without their loved ones. As I’ve gotten to know and spend time with some people this past year who are part of the military, my understanding and appreciation for what they do has been greatly deepened. They sacrifice and risk their lives for the freedom of our country, so that we are able to go on with our every day life here in America. It’s easy to get caught up in the fun and relaxation that comes with this holiday weekend and all the great shopping deals, but it’s something we should give more thought to than we typically do. That being said, I am grateful for those who have served our country and made the ultimate sacrifice. I also want to thank those who have served and currently do serve along with their families to fight for our freedom.

On a more lighter note, Memorial Day weekend is known for a time for everyone to break out their grills and spend time outside. But for my family I don’t remember us doing anything special for this holiday weekend and this weekend has been no different. Scrolling through my Instagram feed and Twitter, I see pictures and tweets about people who are going to a cook-out or pool party while I’m just here at home trying to entertain myself. I’m not complaining, though it may seem like it. I definitely enjoy having a weekend with nothing to do.

So here’s just a few pictures of what my weekend looked like:

It’s been raining here since Thursday night which has been a huge blessing. Our land has been incredibly dry.

Friday lunch in town at my favorite Mexican restaurant. Chicken enchiladas with green sauce.

We’ve been on pregnant cat watch and are expecting to have some new little kittens running around soon!

Saturday my Mom made French Toast for breakfast. French toast isn’t a normal breakfast food for our family, but it sure was tasty!

And this finally happened. My Mom and I went to a Crossfit fundamentals class on Saturday morning and we both fell in love with it. So this week we can start going to their normal classes. I’m super pumped to finally start doing Crossfit!

https://twitter.com/skylarstarbuck/status/470290207451799552

My family ate all the chocolate chip cookies I made last week in about two days, so I made some more on Saturday and enjoyed a few while watching Downton Abbey.

Sunday morning my grandpa got a load of calves in so we spent our morning branding and doctoring the calves. The best part of branding is when you’re finished and your grandma greets you with a yummy breakfast burrito!

Marley gets pretty lazy on Sunday afternoons. Actually Marley is lazy every day of the week.

And that’s about all for today! I’m hoping to go for a run in a bit, but it’s really thundering and sounding like it may rain again. I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day!