Thinking Out Loud: First Things First

Herrrooo! Today is Thursday so that means it’s time for Thinking Out Loud with Running With Spoons!

• First things first I’m the realest
• Drop this and let the whole world feel it
• Okay I’ll stop trying to rap like Iggy Azalea. Moving on…
• I love that there’s a coffee shop in my small hometown that uses almond milk! So I had an almond milk latte yesterday and it was delicious!
• My Mom and I didn’t end up eating lunch yesterday for some wacko reason. So at this place I got my latte I grabbed a bag of Hail Merry macaroons. I’ve seen pictures of these in the blog world before so when I saw them I knew I wanted to try them. I love coconut so these were the perfect sized snack for me.
• Annddd like I mentioned in yesterday’s WIAW  post, we don’t have many groceries at home. I was crazing some fruit so I got a little container of fruit too and it was very refreshing.
• My strength has been increasing at CrossFit and that’s really exciting to me. Pull-ups are a prime example. I can almost do a kipping up without any assistance, but for actual workouts I’m still using bands. I moved down to a smaller band on Tuesday. It’s neat seeing how in such a small amount of time your body can get stronger and better at movements. And I think clean and jerks are my favorite movement with the bar. 
• I can hear my Mom talking to the kitties outside. It’s funny how we’ve come to love those adorable balls of fluff. All along I thought I was a dog person. This is a picture of my black kitty. We call him Bear. Take note of the kitty flashing by in the background.
• I bought decorations with my birthday money yesterday at Hobby Lobby and got each thing for 50% off. After I had bought my stuff I was thinking “What’s happening to me?!” I’ve never been the type of person to be out on the prowl for decorations, but now I know what type of style I like and want so I’m taking steps to make that happen. I guess that’s what happens when you’re becoming a real adult. Much thanks is due to Pinterest that has helped inspire me, like this picture right here.
• Today I’m leaving for 4th of July shenanigans and I should probably be in the shower right now. I’m going with some of my best friends from high school to a ranch rodeo. I’ll definitely have pictures and a post to explain what that is since most people probably don’t know. It’s a fun time I’ll tell you that much.
• Let’s get some encouraging words up in here before I depart…

I hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th of July!!

Tell me your thoughts and plans for the 4th!

 

WIAW #5 The Struggle Bus

I was a bit hesitant to link up today for What I Ate Wednesday because I’m riding on the first seat of the What I Ate Struggle Bus.

What the heck does that mean?

Let me explain…

I read this verse in my devotional this morning: “Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.” Galations 6:4

The devotional was about how we tend to fake it. We try to appear to others as everyone but our true authentic selves. We compare ourselves to others and want how we appear to be comparable to this other person. When in reality we just need to be ourselves.

Sometimes when it comes to WIAW I want to fake it. I want it to appear that I eat all this great and healthy and colorful food all the time, but I don’t. And I know nobody claims to do so with WIAW, but there is almost this added pressure and competition to do so. And like I listed in my July goals that I liked to cut back on bread, eat more fruits and vegetables, and try to eat more Paleo-ish, it can be freakin hard and life happens. Life happens a lot.

Like when you try to make perfectly round protein pancakes, but once again they end up falling apart or coming out in weird shapes.

Or when you have hot cheetos with your peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch because hot cheetos are the bomb dot com.

Every now and then I’ll make a delicious and healthy coffee protein shake. I’ll take picture of it on a pretty table outside. Because this is really where I drink my coffee shake. I lean over and take a sip while I fight the flies off. Sometimes I get a few leaves in it from that plant in the picture to get some added greens. Totally kidding. But hopefully you get my sarcastic point…

And when I celebrate my 22nd birthday with my best girlfriend, I like to drink things that have a sugary or salty rim. We won’t even go into how much sugar is in that thing…

Then your parents take you to a church service that lasts for almost 2 hours and you don’t get to leave until 9:30 at night (I promise I’m not complaining about church). Leaving McDonald’s or Taco Box as your only options for dinner. And when I go to Taco Box, there’s no going “healthy.”

Even though you get the Paleo Kitchen cookbook for your birthday, you then realize you don’t have any groceries and need to buy a few lot of things to truly get started.

And that my dear friends is why I’m riding on the WIAW struggle bus. Because faking it is overrated. And people don’t eat perfectly. Next week my WIAW may be great. Maybe we’ll make it to the grocery store and I’ll eat a few things with some vegetables thrown in and take beautiful pictures of my plate.

I’ll end with the words of good ol’ Teddy Roosevelt:

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!!

Do you find yourself comparing yourself to others?

Birthday Weekend Recap & July Goals

So last weekend was my 22nd birthday if you didn’t realize that despite all my “birthday” posts. The CrossFit box I go to designs a special WOD whenever someone has a birthday, so Friday they made one for me.

WOD: 6 Squat Cleans, 27 Box Jump Overs, 19 Pull-Ups, 92 Double Unders, 19 Pull-Ups, 27 Box Jump overs, 6 Squat Cleans.

The numbers 19 & 92 make the year I was born. The number 6 and 27, form June 27th! Nifty right?! They made me feel special, until we actually had to do the workout. Then I realized it wasn’t so special that I was dripping with sweat, and everyone was cursing my birthday workout. Haha just kidding. It was a great workout.

On Saturday I went to Lubbock, Texas to meet up with a sorority sister to celebrate our birthdays since we’re both June babies. We had lunch and tried to go shopping, but decided getting fro-yo was a better idea.

Then we spent our afternoon at a outdoor bar restaurant place and we talked for hours. When you go from seeing someone almost every day during the week to almost once a month, you have a lot of catching up to do.

Later we went out to a few bars and had a great time. Then Sunday morning we split ways and headed back home. My time with her was too short, but I’m so happy I got to see her.

Anyways time for some July goals. You would think that since my birthday is at the end of June I would be ready and welcoming for July to arrive, but I’m not. I’m still surprised it’s here.

Fitness:

-Progress on pull-up form and kipping

-Consistently get toes to bar

-Improve squat form

-Run 5 miles (3 is too comfy)

-Do more yoga

Food:

– Cut back on grains.

-Eat more fruits and vegetable.

-Cook/bake more healthy variations of recipes

-Basically really try to eat Paleo.

Family/Friends:

-Enjoy spending time with my family

-Get together with my girlfriends here at home

Faith

-Be more consistent in reading a devotional/journaling

Blog

-Become self-hosted

-New Blog design

-Post 3 times a week

-Figure out which direction I want to take with my blog

Fun:

-Break out my camera more often & edit my photos

-Love on our sweet baby kitties (It’s crazy how much growth happens in a month!)

If I add any more goals on there I’ll have a hard time checking them off, so I’ll be realistic and stop right there. Have a joyous first day of July!

Do you have any goals set for July?