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2012: The Changes Keep Coming
Sunday, December 30, 2012
It's that time of year again -- when we look back at where we went, and look ahead to where we think we will go. Despite calling 2012 "The Year of Nothing," in which I set no goals other than "maintain the status quo" because of all the changes that came during 2011, this year managed to sneak in some new achievements.
Labels: family, my life | 0 comments | |
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When Inexplicable Tragedy Strikes
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Last week horribly and inexplicably, a tragedy befell innocents in a community in Connecticut. I, as well as others in my community in Iowa, felt shocked, saddened, angered, and mystified. Almost as soon as the news broke, statements concerning gun control and the societal breakdown of values, ethics, and morals in the age of technology and instant gratification emerged from every corner of the U.S.
Labels: my life, quotes | 0 comments | |
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I'm Getting On My Soap Box
Thursday, October 18, 2012
While listening to NPR this morning, I finally snapped over this year's Presidential candidate Mitt Romney and the political party he represents. Every election season, I try to stay out it. I avoid the talking heads, the opinion pieces, and the political ads. I do what I can to find each candidate's position on the issues that matter to me, particularly women's health and the environment, using all available resources.
Labels: my life, rants | 3 comments | |
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Quote of the Day
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Labels: quotes | 0 comments | |
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My First Year in Iowa
Friday, September 7, 2012
I wonder when I'll consider myself an Iowan? It's been a year of residence here in the great corn state, and what a year it's been. The first 4 months were the hardest for me, and I struggled with maintaining my sanity. Adjusting to so many changes all at once was challenging, inspiring, and exhausting. What saved me most days was taking in the beautiful fall season filled with crisp, cool nights, beautifully colored leaves falling from the trees, bright blue skies and perfect temperatures during the day, pumpkin patches, apple cider, and baking pies.
Labels: my life | 0 comments | |
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I Heart Chicago
Monday, September 3, 2012
The Chicago Skyline at sunset.
I really have to thank my friend Amanda for moving to Chicago, and then I have to thank God we live in a place so close to this wonderful city. As you may recall, Amanda moved to Chi-town in August 2008. Since then, I have been to this city 6 times. I fell deeper in love each time. I imagine more visits in the future. Here are my top reasons why:
Labels: Chicago, travels | 0 comments | |
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Hike, Food, Climb, Food, Repeat!
Sunday, September 2, 2012
I wanted to write this post for the last month! Life way got in the way of those plans, however, and I'm hoping this Labor Day Weekend I can play catch up.
At the end of July, The Mister and I joined the Mister’s clan for a family reunion on the Oregon Coast, and it was a week filled with family, fun, and adventure. Our trip started on a Saturday with a drive up to St. Paul, MN. The Mister flew stand-by, so in our planning it made more sense to fly out of St. Paul – that way he would have more options for getting out to Portland during these busy summer vacation months. I had a paid ticket with Southwest. More on that situation, later.
Labels: beach, family, my life, Oregon | 0 comments | |
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Bathroom Mini Makeover
Friday, June 1, 2012
Is it possible that a paint color provides so. much. happiness? It only took 3 days. I'm almost tempted to take a bath in the gross tub, just to enjoy the fresh paint job. "Almost" is the key word. As we rent this humble abode, no reglazing of the tub will be done, and I didn't peel off the showerboard that lines the bottom half of the walls. Regardless, the paint job makes it all feel like new...Labels: my life | 0 comments | |
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Spring Upheaval
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Usually I dislike springtime. As Meg Ryan's character says in the movie IQ, "everything goes through upheaval in the spring." And that is certainly how things usually felt - unsettled, off kilter, and little unnerving. In my childhood and adolescence, I could maybe blame this sentiment on the potholes, or the gloomy days of not-quite-spring and not-quite-winter temperatures. It wasn't warm enough for cute shoes, but it wasn't cold enough for winter clothing (except for that time we had an ice storm in March). My life always seemed to be going through some drama or transition in the Spring (e.g., end of school year, graduation from college, moving cities). Plus, the Lenten season often feels like a downer when you deny yourself something like chocolate.
Magnolias in bloom.
If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. ~ Anne Bradstreet
Labels: my life | 0 comments | |
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Februarch Musings
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
So, remember last year when The Mister and I did our crazy Paleo Challenge? Yeah, that whole no grains, no legumes, no dairy, and NO SUGAR thing was TOUGH. Well, y'all, we did it all again. Tomorrow is the last day of our 30-Day Paleo Challenge, and this time we got some of the athletes at our gym to join in all the FUN! This year, I found it much easier. Probably because my world consists of the gym, the grocery store, and my kitchen. I did not have to navigate many non-Paleo social events.As the official 30-day challenge comes to a close, I will continue on strict Paleo through the end of Lent. Easter is on April 8. I am allowing myself some latitude in that I have chosen 5 VERY specific occasions on which I can go non-Paleo, one of which is my one-year wedding anniversary celebration weekend on March 17. I'm for sure making these amazing cupcakes to help celebrate St. Patty's Day and one year of marriage. And this Friday my sister-in-law is trucking in an authentic Chicago deep dish pizza. I'm salivating just thinking about the butter crust on that baby, which for sure will sit like a rock in my stomach and put me into a carb coma after I devour the living sh*t out of it.The point of my continuing Paleo-ness, with a few delights here and there, is to train myself that treats should be a rare occasion and something to be savored and anticipated. I have a major sweet tooth and I often convince myself that I need a sweet treat just for being human. A wonderful, if not very healthy or nutritious philosophy. The result of this philosophy is, however, me ending up rather dissatisfied with the sugary crap I put in my mouth. Reality often disappoints the taste sensation I created in my imagination. So I'm trying to focus more on quality, rather than quantity. I'm training myself to make the more nutritious, and ultimately, more satisfying choice while saving those less healthy choices for special occasions.And, even though I LOVE to bake, I found over the past 30 days that cooking often satisfies this creative desire. Plus, I'm sifting through so many great recipes to find the ones that will truly wow me when the occasion arises for a sweet treat. So, in addition to the cupcakes above, come April I will likely make either these, these, or these to share with some lucky, lucky people. You better hope you have a birthday coming up.I firmly believe, especially after this second go-round with The Whole30, that eating real, whole foods that do not require nutritional labels (e.g., meats, fruits, veggies) and minimally-processed foods (e.g., roasted red peppers, tomato sauce, almond butter) are the KEY to maintaining one's health. The food industry has manipulated the hell out so many things by adding fillers (maltodextrin, soy) and sugars (dextrose, Splenda, cane juice) that the average American is consuming more than 150 pounds of sugar per person per year. That is ludicrous and it is painfully, morbidly obvious what the effect of this huge science experiment is on the population: obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Both conditions are preventable and curable. Yet sacrificing convenience for healthy, wholesome food choices is just too hard for a majority of Americans, especially in the face of diet pills, diet soda, fast food, frozen meals, SlimFast, and our nation's need for instant gratification. Yes, it is more time consuming to plan and cook my meals, and God knows what would happen if I had kids thrown in the mix, but as the saying goes "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." It's easier to prepare and eat real food than deal with reversing the consequences of always eating crap. Plus, I do not assume some huge corporate food producer is actually looking out for my personal health instead of a larger profit.Labels: my life, nutrition | 1 comments | |
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Gladiators READY?
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Honestly? I am totally procrastinating right now. I should be working on my presentation for the University of Iowa Running Symposium. Instead, I'll let you all know what I learned from my very first CrossFit competition experience.
Starting round 2.
This past Saturday, the Mister and I gathered together two teams of athletes from our gym for a friendly CrossFit throwdown in Iowa City. As it worked out, the Mister and I would be competing as individuals. I didn't plan to participate in the individual women's event, it just kind of worked out that way, and I was anxious to see just how I would fare. Looking at the workouts for the individual events, I was not even sure I would be able to complete either one. Here's what was on tap:
Workout #1:
3 Rounds of:
300 m row
8 ground-to-overhead (100#)
35 doubleunders
Time cap: 10 minutes
Workout #2:
50 pullups
50 burpees
Time cap: 8 minutes
Finals:
2 minutes to complete: 10-20-30-40 m suicides and as many reps as possible of 100# deadlift
1 minute rest
2 minutes to complete: 10-20-30-40 m suicides and AMRAP of 100# front squat
1 minute rest
2 minutes to complete: 10-20-30-40 m suicides and AMRAP of 100# shoulder-to-overhead
[A lot of that gibberish above may mean nothing to may of you. Just know that all of it was heavy, lung-sucking hard work.]
The scores from Workouts 1 and 2 were combined to determine which females advanced to the finals. Well, that is if there had been enough women to warrant whittling the field down to 12. As it was, there were only 8 females, including myself, competing in the women's event. NONE of us completed the first workout. I made it through only 2 rounds in 12 minutes. The doubleunders (i.e., whipping the rope under your feet twice per jump) are what did me in, plus sucking wind on the 100# ground-to-overhead lift with the barbell. Going into the first workout, I wasn't even sure if I could lift 100# over my head 8 times in a row, so I viewed it all as a success.
For the second workout, half of the women's field completed the workout in the time allotted. I missed finishing by 10 burpees. Boo. SO CLOSE. At least with that workout I knew I could do everything, it was just a matter of how quickly. Guess I need to work on my cardio some more! (Don't we all...)
So, I made it to the women's finals by default. By the end of a very long day, filled with a lot of waiting (and cheering for my Mister and our teams in their events), only 5 women were still around to compete in the finals. I did not officially "place" in the top 3, but I participated, worked harder than I have in any daily workout, and landed in the top 5. Not bad for a first effort at competing.
I absolutely loved the experience. Our teams performed awesomely and many of our athletes posted personal records lifting more, and jumping higher and faster than ever before. The atmosphere at CrossFit events is unparalleled. Where else can you commiserate with your fellow competitors as well as cheer each other through that last rep? Last, I felt such a sense of accomplishment because I exceeded my own expectations of what I thought I could do.
I keep thinking back to where I was and what I was doing in 2011 and I see how quickly I have gone so far. This competition was a moment in which I could focus on what I achieved rather than grumble about how far I have to go. Even when I think I am treading water, and going no where, I need to remember that the effort of keeping my head above water is success in and of itself. And with that, I look toward another Whole30 experience. We start tomorrow and hopefully, I learned some tricks since last year's Whole30 to get me through this one!Labels: CrossFit | 1 comments | |
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FAQ: Daily Life
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
If you paid attention to the posts I made on here since about July, then you know my world changed radically in 2011. I got married, I quit my job (and so did Jacob), we moved to Iowa, we both changed careers, and we started our own business.
Sleepy kitties.
The question asked the most of me about life here in Iowa is "So what are your days and hours like?" Below is my attempt to capture the ebb and flow of our lives as gym owners...
When we arrived in Iowa, we set a goal of opening within 10 days. We had so much to accomplish in the gym space. The walls were bright red and deep black because the place used to be a bar. We managed to coat the place in 20 gallons of paint within 5 days. The floors were a mess -- old carpet glue stuck your feet to the floor. We had fleas. My legs itched for weeks. I still have scars where the fleas devoured whole portions of my ankles. Despite the pounds of weights and equipment we needed to install and put into place, we accomplished our ambitious goal. During that initial 10 days, we awoke early, went balls-to-the-wall working on the gym space, unpacking boxes at the house, registering vehicles, setting up bank accounts, and all the other bureaucratic B.S. that comes with moving.
During the first 3 weeks or so of the gym being open, both Jacob and I would wake up early and be at the gym for the morning block of classes. We alternated who coached each hour-long session. Some days we filled all the morning classes, other days, we bided our time until the next athlete walked through the door. We would also stay at the gym between classes as a lot of curious foot traffic stopped in to see what replaced the old bar. That foot traffic petered off after a while as word-of-mouth spread from our active member athletes. We again alternated who coached at the noon and evening block of classes. These were long days.
These days, Jacob and I alternated who takes the entire block of morning classes. For example, Jacob has the morning block on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this week. I have Tuesday and Thursday. So today, Jacob will take on the noon and evening classes. We are both at the gym, generally, in the evenings as the 4:30 PM class is usually pretty large and we sometimes get beginners/first-timers. And we are both in the gym on Saturdays. This schedule works out nicely for us, as we each get a chance to sleep in, and have afternoons off. It definitely helps recharge our batteries.
In between shifts, I nap, read, run errands, do housework, write emails, make phone calls, update the bookkeeping, watch movies, or pet the kitties. Sometimes, Jacob and I will drive up to Iowa City for an item or two that we can't get here in Muscatine. In the evenings, we're pretty beat and we just want to wind down with food, a shower, and some reading or part of a movie. I'm pretty much lights out by 10 PM.
On weekends, we enjoy the fact that after noon on Saturday, our time is our own. We'll watch football at my in-laws, or go for a hike, or nap, or read. We go to church. We sleep in. Sometimes, one of us takes a weekend trip (me to see Amanda, or NYC; Jacob to see his Grandma or a friend). It's a quiet life and a good life. I'm sure as time goes by it will be an even busier life. For now, it is more than busy enough -- externally and internally (in my head) -- as our gym grows and as we settle further into our new lives.
What a love about my days now is that every day is productive. I don't feel like I wasted time at my desk mindlessly cruising the internet, procrastinating, or avoiding the work on my desk. I don't have pointless, meaningless meetings. I don't feel like I am going to "work". Some will say I am crazy for throwing away a stable job, or the years I put into my undergraduate and graduate degrees. I say I wouldn't be the coach or business woman I am today without those experiences. And I certainly wouldn't know what I do and don't want without those experiences. There is no road map or manual for life, so all I can do is follow my heart. And I am pretty effing happy where my heart led me.Labels: my life | 1 comments | |
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