Family Rules

Hello, hello! Hope you all had a nice weekend. We did! Lots of family time, walks with both puppies and the jogging stroller down on the Riverwalk and dinner downtown on Saturday. I got my 7 miles in on Sunday in 60:05. Not too shabby! We finished taxes...and are getting nothing back. Womp, womp. We wrapped up the weekend with our usual grocery round up and dinner at home last night. Now, it's back to business for the week.

Speaking of family time, one of my girlfriends pinned something that caught my eye last week- a gorgeous Family Rules signs that you can customize with your own "rules". I think they are beautiful and homey and since, let's be real, I clearly am not about to try a DIY...I'm thinking about getting one made for us.

Source

Before I take the plunge, we need to come up with our rules and what would make the sign apply to us. This part has been difficult! I love Be Kind, because I do try to keep that in mind and try to teach Grace to follow that example. I also like always be grateful, as well. I feel so lucky to have a warm home, a sweet little family, and all that goes along with it. Now I just need to come up with some others that apply to us. I really do love most of what is shown on the picture, but I want us to sit down as a family and agree on the rest. :) If we end up getting one made, I'll let you know!

What would you add as a Family Rule for your family? Share!

xo,
H



Friday Randoms

I am seriously on a bad blogger roll this week. I am just having writers block or something. Here are some randoms until I get back in the game:

• My mom has her flights booked for a visit next month. So excited!
• I re-joined Facebook last week. I feel like such an old person and have had to ask various etiquette questions to friends...like, "Do you reply under a comment someone writes to you or do you go to their wall?" Ugh! I miss the simple days, where FB was all about trying to look cute enough for a Profile Pic and you could freely stalk without wondering if the other person can see what you are doing.
• I ran a 10K last Sunday on the treadmill. It felt awesome. Trying to up my mileage to 7 for this weekend's long run.
• I'm still obsessed with CrossFit:

Dead lifts. I swear my arms don't look this huge in real life.

 

• No-spend February is going well. I might carry it over through March...but there are so many cute Spring things tempting me right now!
• I gave up chocolate for Lent. So stereotypical...but my after dinner dark chocolate snack had slowly gone from one or two pieces to...well, out of control. See ya on Easter Sunday sweet friend.
• Grace has had a really good week. I'm probably jinxing myself, but she has seriously been so much fun 24/7 and I don't think we've had any tantrums or whining since I can remember. So maybe it's time to start slowly wean from the bottle? Maybe?



So presh. Those mini crocs...I die!

• Some one's social security card came in the mail this week. We'll be the first people in H&R Block tomorrow morning. I LOVE getting taxes done.
• I hope you all have a great weekend. If you wanna throw any topics for blog posts my way, that'd be cool too. ;)

xo,
H

Pin-tested

I got nothing today. The one less day this week is throwing me off and after not having done CrossFit since Saturday, I am raring to get to 4pm. Here's a quickie as to not totally leave the blog hanging.

Obviously Pinterest is a big time suck and most of us love it for inspiration, whether it be for home decor, fashion, fitness, or my favorite...food. I really do use it as a source when looking into our meal plan for the week and lately I've been trying to incorporate at least one new recipe or ingredient into my grocery runs.



Here are a few that I can say are totally worth the time to pin and make:

No-Bake Energy Bites

Source

Chicken and Mushrooms in a Garlic White Wine Sauce

Source

Kale and Avocado Salad

Source

We have made all three of these multiple times and the energy bites are great to keep refridgerated and pop one on the go, like D does before he leaves for PT in the morning, or like I do before my afternoon workout. The Chicken and Mushrooms are from skinnytaste.com, which is another resource I like to use for healthier versions of different recipes. Finally, the Kale Salad has been dubbed "restaurant quality" by D and he requests it often, which is the highest of cooking compliments in this house.

Let me know if you try any of these and of course, link from the actual source if you are going to Pin any of these!

Enjoy. :)

xo,

H

I will call her, "Mini Me"

17 months old today! :)

Sometimes I seriously stare at Grace and the mini me line from Austin Powers runs through my mind.  She is my little shadow and it is becoming more and more obvious how closely she watches D and I and tries to imitate our actions.

Grace is a complete girly girl. Her favorite things in no particular order:
1. Puppies
2. Babydolls
3. "Make-up"
4. Real cell phones (don't try to get all baby phone on my girl, she will reject it.)

On the puppy front. We go to the park/dog park almost every weekend. D will take the dogs to their play area while I coax Grace onto the playground and we do swings and the slide and whatever else I can get her to play with while clinging to my leg. No joke. The girl is SUPER shy around new kids and clutches me like a koala when one runs by. After about 10 minutes (if we are lucky), you know where she wants to play? In the dog park area. So we go and she giggles and runs and meets new friends. When it is time to go she waves goodbye to all of her furpals and doesn't even look in the direction of the playground. This is cute...but girlfriend needs a sibling, right?! Even at daycare she prefers the new dog over the other kids. (Sigh.)

She loves babies. At daycare I noticed that she goes for the more life-like looking dolls, so I picked up one for her a week ago. I was shocked at how gentle and loving she has been with her baby. She feeds it a bottle and THEN...this is the part where I am convinced my child is a genius...she gently turns over the baby and pats her back! I die watching this. Her baby has become a new staple around here and she spends more time taking care of it and being attentive then any of her other toys. Ever.

In the mornings Grace and I do our "make-up" together. Her favorite parts of the routine as of late include putting on deodorant (I leave the top on) and rubbing on lotion. She will ask for a hair bow and to brush her teeth. She follows me everywhere to the point where she will rip off pieces of toilet paper for me in the bathroom and flush the potty too. (TMI?)

When it comes to talking, on my iPhone she constantly is trying to swipe, or in person, Miss G is stubborn. She knows words, but prefers to use her non-verbal communication to get across what she wants. I mean, the girl can literally sign to me that her teeth hurt and she wants Tylenol. It's ridiculous. Then randomly she will flash us a mischievous smile, shout "ME-OW!" or "Major! (the dog's name)" , or whatever random word I've been trying to get her to say, and then refuse to say it again. I'm sure in a couple of months things will start coming together, but for now she has her set of words and sounds that mean things and that is pretty much all she is interested in saying. I even attempt to bribe with chocolate chips. It works about 50% of the time...

Last thing, and then I'll stop bragging on my kid (for now...muahaha). The newest development with Grace is that she will tell me when she goes to the bathroom and needs a diaper change. Like right away. She has even gone as far as handing me a diaper and laying down. She has this signal where she looks at me, says "Ma?" and pats her booty. I'll ask her if she went poo-poo and she will say "Mmm hmm" or "Yeah" and nod yes.

Genius, I tell you. Potty training will be starting in the very near future. For now, we are STILL trying to get rid of the bottle. Any suggestions would be fantastic because right now we experience meltdowns of epic proportions when there is no bottle on hand during key periods of the day- BUT, she will drink water out of her sippy. Baby steps...

xo,
H

Playing Hooky and Craftiness

I know you all were wondering what happened to me yesterday...haha. ;) I have gotten pretty consistent on these weekday posts.

Well guess what?

I was sick. And by sick I mean, playing hooky and getting a schmillion errands taken care of. I literally was home for about 45 minutes yesterday and that was just to shower after the gym so that I didn't gross out my hairdresser. Some of my errands were fun. :)

Back to being a blondie

Some, like dry cleaning, returns, and visiting the Social Security Administration to apply for another card for Grace (because someone who took care of transporting all of our important papers during the move can't find it...) were not. All in all, the day was productive, not something I do often or ever really, and was definitely needed.

On to the kitchen!

The chairs have been officially completed and we are getting used to them. I'm still not 100% sure about how I feel, but I like the spa blue and greens WAY better than the old, gross fabric that came with the set.

One down, three to go.

The old

The new



Close up



Split pea vase filler...love it! Gotta get some new candles.

Funny story. The table and chairs were one of the first things D and I bought together after getting married. I remember we went back and forth about table height...should we go traditional or go with the taller, bar stool height? We concluded that we probably had several years before kids would be brought into the picture, so we went for the taller set. I got pregnant approximately one month later. It's almost as if God was laughing at us. Oh well...the taller table is here to stay for awhile and actually, the height works well with a highchair, so there ya go.

It's sort of bright...but you know, with 2 dogs and an almost 17 month old, I think we can go with bright and fresh. Other plans? I need a new rug for in front of the sink, dishtowels to carry the color into the kitchen and some wall art would be fun too. Baby steps here. By the time I have everything together, we'll probably be getting ready to move. ;)

This was a super easy, fun project that has left me ready to staple some more! I'm thinking headboard for the guestroom once I find some bedding? We will see!

Hope you all have a great holiday weekend.

xo,
H

Pretzel Treats and Kitchen Projects

We had a sweet little Valentine's Day yesterday. Dinner was delish, thanks to Pioneer Woman's Penne a la Betsy. We subbed whole wheat fettuccine for the penne and it was still fantastic, as usual. Throw in a "birthday bottle", some dark chocolate for dessert, a few little gifts from my boo, and it was a very good day. :)

The ladybug had a good day too. She brought in pretzel treats to daycare as a bribe little present for her friends and was excited to share. Pretzel treats are a staple in my family. They are made for baby showers, the 4th of July, Christmas...you get the idea. Just mix up your M&M color according to the occasion.

Obvi we went with pink and red for V-Day!

Throw some pretzel snaps on a baking sheet, top 'em with white chocolate disks that you can find at various grocery and craft stores and then throw them in the oven for about 3 minutes at 220*. The white chocolate gets nice and shiny to let you know that it's go time.

Take them out and top them with your M&M's. "M" side down, please. I like to utilize the "plop and push" method. Then....and this is the most difficult part...wait for them to harden. Just leave them on the baking sheet and eat the mess-up's to take up some of that wait time. Or walk away. I had a helper, so there were lots of mess-ups that needed tending to. Don't worry, I had it covered.

And...that's it. Easiest/most addictive treat ever and the perfect mix of salty and sweet. They travel well too. I made a gallon ziploc bag full of them for D when he was in Ranger School and word is, they went over well. :)

In other Super Mom news, my fabric came in! Sneek peek-

Project hint? I am stapling the crap out of some chairs with the fabric on the left. It is awesome and I'm not sure why I haven't owned a staple gun before now. The green on the right...I'm not sure what's going to happen to it yet. Good thing I bought 2 yards. I've mentioned before that I get stuck between loving fresh, modern style and classic looks, so I'm not really sure how this is going to go. Good new is, staples come out pretty easily. :)

I'll be done by tomorrow and have some other kitchen things to share as well. I'm also way overdue for a Grace update. Homegirl will be 17 months old next Tuesday, but you'd think she was going on 13 if that gives you any indication of how sassy she has been this month. It is ridiculous (and hilarious), but let's just say D is not ready to even begin talking about Baby #2 right now. Good thing that isn't a discussion that will be seriously taking place until after we find out where we are moving next and the logistics of life for the next couple of years. More news to come on that in March/April.

See ya tomorrow with *hopefully* completed kitchen chairs and some pics of my girl! :)

xo,

H



Our Love Story

I've been meaning to do a little write up since I saw this cute link-up a couple of weeks ago and although I've been procrastinating, I think today is as appropriate a day as any. :)

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

D and I have been together since January of 2008, so just a little over 4 years now.

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}
Our "love story" is certainly not the most romantic. I actually met D randomly at a bar one night in November 2007, not knowing who he was. He was out with two girls who were acting super trashy and I didn't know what to think about him beyond that fact that there was definitely an attraction...and he had sweet dance moves. ;) 

My friends and I were definitely going through a "we can't believe we graduated and are out of college" phase where we were going out every weekend and acting like we didn't have jobs to go into on Monday. It was a blast. My best friend Amanda has known D since high school when she dated his best friend. After meeting him that random night, it clicked that we both knew her. Amanda finally invited him to come out with us in January after seeing him back home over Christmas break.

Enter scandal. I was actually dating someone at the time...but the relationship was clearly on the decline. After going out that night in January, things ended with my relationship about a week later and I kept looking for excuses to have D come out with my group of friends every weekend. It was sort of obvious we were interested in each other and we started dating a couple of weeks later when he asked when I was going to let him take me out on a date, instead of just meeting up to go drinking and dancing every weekend. I took him up on the offer and we've been together ever since.

Who would have thought we'd go from having our first kiss under a giant mounted moose head at Rumors on M Street in D.C. to creating a wonderful life together? We've grown up and settled down a lot in the past several years. :)

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell}

We got married on November 28th, 2009, so it's been just a little over 2 years. Coming up on 3 this year...that sounds so much more solid than 2 for some reason! Ha. :)

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding? If not, where would you like to get married? And will it be big or small?

We got married at The Golf Club at Lansdowne Resort near Ashburn, VA, where I grew up. It was a fairly big wedding, with about 150 people. We were engaged in June and I basically planned our entire wedding while he was in Ranger School. It kept me nice and busy! :)

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

Hmm...Mommy and Daddy are most common now. "D-bag" when I'm mad...haha. Don't worry, he has some equally rude names for me. ;)

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

He is very driven, funny, and has become the best husband/father/partner that I could have ever hoped for.

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?

D proposed when I was visiting him at Fort Benning (where we are now!) for his IBOLC or IOBC graduation...can't remember which acronym, haha, oops. (Basically an officer's training course that is taken right after commissioning for those of you non-mil folks.) We had plans to go to Destin, FL for the weekend after his graduation and he had the whole proposal on the beach thing planned. When I got to Georgia he realized he was too excited to wait and rushed home from work, still in uniform, where I was waiting for him to be done for the day and proposed on the spot. I knew it was coming soon, but wasn't expecting like that, so it was actually a perfect surprise! Our weekend in Florida ended up being a graduation and engagment celebration. :)

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?
Neither. He's a flowers and something thoughtful that I'd never expect kind of guy. He doesn't go over the top, but he always lets me know I'm loved...v-day or not. (Awww.)

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

I think I am a little of both. We both adore the beach, so pre-baby, a sunset dinner was totally realistic. Still, I'm definitely a homebody, so a movie at home all cozy on the couch is much more our style right now.

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

We need a mommy/daddy vacation again sometime soon. On a beach. With no alarm clocks. I would love to go all out for our 10 year when we are definitely done having kids and go somewhere tropical and renew our vows with just us and a local officient on a beach somewhere. I think that would be sort of romantic and amazing.

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

We are going to make a nice dinner at home...the menu seriously makes my mouth water. I'm sure we'll pop something bubbly and have a treat for dessert. Nothing over the top...sleep trumps an elaborate date night at this point in our lives.

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

I didn't ask for anything, but I know we both have a few little things planned for each other.

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

Be a team. Doing anything together is twice as easy as alone.

 

14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.

D is not a fan of being on the blog, which is a shame because he is nice eye candy. :) Fortunately what love means to me doesn't even have to include either of us in the picture. This little lady is the product of our love. We still marvel at the fact that we made something so ridiculously perfect.

Happy Valentine's Day!!! Sending you all virtual candy! ;)

xo,

H

CrossFit - Month 1 Results

Happy Love Week! :)

Well, I said I'd share the dirty details so I'll lay it all out for ya. Obviously by now we know that no gyms were burnt down, haha...in fact, I was VERY pumped about my results from my first month of CrossFit. I'd mentioned a few times that my weight hadn't really changed. In fact, it had fluctuated up and down a pound or two all month. I decided to not take any of my own measurements throughout the month and wait for my trainer to do it last Friday. I knew that I felt stronger and like I had more muscle tone, but with the weight thing, I didn't want to discourage myself if I didn't see change.

Guess what? It was totally worth the weight wait.

A closer look:

 

	Start	Month  1
Neck	12	11.5
Upper Chest	34	32.5
Chest	35	34.7
Arms  (R/L)	12/11	11.5/11
Waist	28	26
Lower Waist	32	29.5
Hips	38.5	37
Thighs (R/L)	23.5/23	22.5/22.5

Another fun fact - in 4 weeks, my body fat percentage went from 23.5 to 20.4%.

My weight continues to hover around 141. The numbers in the notebook are higher because they are taken around 4pm with workout gear on. I prefer to get a true weigh-in first thing in the morning (who doesn't?!).

It is so interesting for me, as a self proclaimed "runner", to see changes to my body with very little cardio/running involved. I probably ran a total of 6 times in the last 4 weeks (other than sprints or short runs for CrossFit), which is basically nothing compared to my usual routine. I know everyone always says that weight is just a number and not reflective of how you look, but it is hard to get that to sink in. Seeing a difference of about 10 inches this month has helped me start to change that mindset.

This months goals? Incorporate more cardio into my workouts. My plan is to run 3 times a week in addition to the 4 CrossFit sessions. 2 short distance or interval training runs and one long one each week. My trainer has said that when we come back for our second 4 week session, we will start to add a lot more cardio to our workouts. She mentioned 1 mile warm-up and cool downs, which actually sounds nice.

I am so addicted to this type of workout and will continue to check-in with you all! A couple of you have asked about trying out CrossFit- seriously just do it. You should be able to attend a session or two before you make a commitment to pay or join a CrossFit gym. Test it out. I could tell after my first session that it was a good fit for me.

Here's to a sweaty week! :)

xo,
H

Friday Randoms

• Grace woke up at 5:15 this morning. I managed to make her stay in bed with me for another hour, but no one went back to sleep.
• D and I need a date night like you have no idea. It sucks 'cause after having your kid in daycare all week, you always feel parent guilt at the idea of leaving them with someone for a couple more hours. It needs to be done though, maybe even twice a month. Now I just need to find a babysitter.
• Not spending any money on material things for myself this month has made me realize how much I want rather than need. It is sort of gross.
• We lost ONE thing during our move. Guess what is was?

One of our Pillow Shams, which has since sold out.
How do you lose that?!

• How annoying are those emails from Pinterest telling you that someone re-pinned something from you? I just figured out that you can go into Settings and turn them off. Just an FYI!
• Buy this. Thank me later.

Grace and I straight up take a spoon to the jar.

• We have no plans whatsoever this weekend. I am looking forward to it more than you know.
• D's parents may come visit us for Easter. Is it wrong to already be stressing about food, the house, and plans?
• I haven't had Mexican food in weeks. This will be remedied in the next 48 hours.
• My CrossFit session 1 weigh-in and measurements are today. If you see news about a gym being burnt down in GA, you will know how it went. ;) Jk. I'll be back later with the dirty details.

Have a wonderful Friday and weekend!

xo,
H

Recent Finds

Good morning. :)

This month I decided to impose a spending freeze on myself. No random clothing or shoe purchases through February. Of course that same day I got an email with all of the cute new LOFT dresses for Spring, but I've held strong. What's one month of self control, right? I decided that my spending freeze applied specifically to me and didn't include things for the house and Grace.

Lucky for her, because I found some of the cutest little things in the last week...at Target!

$12.99 and comes in Pink, Yellow, and Navy/Red

$20...and I wish they made it in my size!

 

 

Says $5 online, but was marked down in stores

These were too cute not to share! I'm tempted to go back and get those little shoes in the other colors as well. Grace is finally getting back into headbands after a long phase of pulling them off. She actually will find mine and bring them to me to put on her. Warms this momma's heart. :)

Tonight is an off day for CrossFit, so I'm planning on getting in a nice lunchtime workout and then picking up my girl from daycare after work. D's course is broken down into 18 person classes and they compete against each other in Ultimate Football every Thursday. Their first game is this afternoon and we are looking forward to watching daddy on the field! Apparently the rivalry between classes is pretty serious and of course D is taking things way too far and even has a game day outfit planned. I wish he'd let me share him on the blog...it is hilarious. To make up for D's blog absence, here is a picture of our little lady from this weekend. She's cuter anyways. :)

Hope you all are having a fab week (isn't it flying?)! See ya tomorrow. :)

xo,

H

Almond Flour Cookies

I LOVED reading everyone's 11 things! So much fun to learn a little bit more about people. :)

My last day of CrossFit is this Friday, where we will weigh-in, take measurements, and track our body fat %. Then I have next week off before another session begins. I am already looking forward to having some really good runs next week and taking the basics that I've picked up from CrossFit to make-up my own workouts for a few days. I think just knowing that I'll be weighing back in the following week will keep me on track...plus, let's be honest, it's sort of an addicting lifestyle.

In the past almost 4 weeks, we've really done well with our eating and getting workouts in. There have been hiccups here and there, but D and I are at a point where we aren't letting our "variety day" derail us for the week and are also making smart choices everyday...smart and satisfying choices...which makes us enjoy mealtime and not jones for a bowl of queso everyday. (Only some days. Haha.)

I need treats in my life. So I don't deny myself, but I do try to make good choices...like a piece or 2 of Dove Dark Chocolate Almond Promises. They are SO good. Another hit? Almond Flour Cookies.

Almond Flour Cookies
Adapted from Evan at The Wannabe Chef and Tina at Carrots 'n' Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar or 2 Tbsp Splenda (I use Splenda)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries*
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts *

*You can substitute things here...wouldn't dark chocolate chips and dried cherries be amazing?!

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375*F.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well until batter is blended evenly.
3. Roll batter into 1-inch balls and place on a greased baking sheet.
4. Bake cookies for approximately 12-15 minutes.
5. Remove cookies from baking sheet and allow to cool on wire rack.
6. Eat and enjoy!

Makes 12 cookies

These turn out perfect every time and the fact that the recipe only makes 12 is my favorite part. They go pretty quickly around here. Also, if you haven't tried Almond Flour, you are missing out! It is pricey, but worth it in my opinion. Apparently you can make it at home with almonds and a food processor, but I haven't gotten that far yet. I found mine in the baking section of The Fresh Market and have heard you can find it at the commissary as well.

Notice the background in both the pictures? That is a sample of some fabric I ordered last weekend for a little kitchen project, which is up next on my house to-do list. I have another week or so until it arrives, but I'll elaborate soon. Several little changes to come in the kitchen/breakfast area if all goes well this month. :)

xo,

H

Superbowl 5K

Doesn't the name imply that the race would be on Superbowl Sunday?

Guess what...

It was on Saturday. Good thing I figured that out at 6pm on Friday night. As usual, D was impressed with my lack of attention to detail. ;) We picked up my packet Friday and did a drive-by of the starting point and parking location so we would be ready to go in the morning.

Saturday morning rolled around and we were up and at 'em early as usual. I generally don't do well running after eating in the morning, but the race wasn't until 10am and we got up at 6:30, so forgoing breakfast and coffee wasn't an option. Oatmeal and Breakfast Blend, it was!

It ended up being a beautiful morning and about 65 degrees as the race began. The run was out and back on the Riverwalk in downtown Columbus. My goal was to come in around 26 minutes. D psyched me out and told me I should be able to easily come in under 25 minutes...haha...didn't happen. I ended up finishing at 27:02, which I will take after literally having to stop for a second from a killer cramp. I was third in my age group, though! Note to self- you still can't eat before a race. I'm happy with my time and think it is a great starting point.

Place    Name                       City              Bib No   Age   Overall      Time         Pace
    3      Heather Morgan      Columbus      3636      26       48           27:02.82   8:43/m

This was the first race I've run in a LONG time and I'm so glad I went with the 5K rather than the 10...it would have been a rough morning. Best part of the day? Seeing my little girl looking for me and cheesing as I ran around the last corner before the finish line. My biggest reason for focusing on my own health and fitness is to set a good example for her one day and I can't wait until she's big enough for us to start running together. Those little kids doing the 1 mile fun runs kill me!

Schweaty self portraits with my bed headed love.

I've already signed up for another 5k in March and D and I are checking out a 10K trail run for April. I'm going to continue running one or two short races a month while the weather is nice here. Summertime gets brutal, but I'll figure it out as it comes. Here's to some awesome runs and fun family time!

xo,

H

11 Things

I was tagged by Madeline from Food, Fitness, and Family . I love these type of things...it was actually hard to come up with some of my randoms!


Rules:
1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post.
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. Go to their blog and tell them that you’ve tagged them.
6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people.

11 Random Things About Me...

1. Growing up I wanted to be 5'9'' because I read somewhere that Mariah Carey (my childhood idol, haha) is that tall. I ended up an inch short at 5'8''.
2. I would rather jump out of a window than listen to someone grind their teeth. Grace went through a teeth grinding phase for a couple of months and I thought I was going to lose it.
3. Soft serve vanilla fro-yo with rainbow sprinkles, please.
4. I have two small tattoos. I'd like to have one of them removed.
5. I don't believe in love at first sight, but I knew within the first two months of dating D that I would marry him. :)
6. Towards the end of college I seriously considered moving to Orlando, FL to try and play a character at Disney theme park. I thought I would have made a rockin' Belle from Beauty and the Beast.
7. I swear my pregnancy hormones never left. I am brought to tears SO easily these days. The National Anthem got me tonight while watching the Superbowl!
8. I was born, raised, and went to college all within a 45 mile radius. Being married into the Army gave me a reason to leave and after getting out, I don't see myself ever moving back.
9. I cannot fall asleep without washing my face.
10. Guilty pleasure? Celebrity gossip.
11. D and I only plan on having 2 children, but I think I might feel called to surrogate one day.

*******************************************************

Madeline's Questions for me:

1. What's your current fitness goal? To get to a "happy place" with myself and my body. To not continuously feel like I'm working towards something. It would be nice to get there and then maintain.
2. iPhone or Android? iPhone and I lurve it.
3. Favorite healthy snack? Honeycrisp apple slices with almond butter.
4. How much sleep do you get? Probably 7 hours, give or take 30 minutes each night. I'm the kind of person that doesn't do well if I sleep too much...but don't get me wrong, I don't function well without it either.
5. Favorite HS/college memory? So hard to narrow down! For both I'd have to say moments with my best girlfriends. Boys came and went, but we always stuck together and still do...even if the boys are here to stay these days. :)
6. Did you play sports? Always! In high school I did track, swim team, and lacrosse.
7. What's worse: wearing socks with sandals or wearing black with navy? Socks with sandals is the WORST! I actually think you can get away with black and navy these days, depending on the outfit.
8. Have you ever broken anything? Nope. (Knocks on wood.)
9. Have you traveled outside the US? London for Winter Semester in '06. One of my besties, Jen, came too and I'm pretty sure we aren't invited back. ;)
10. If you have pets, do you talk to them like they're humans? Yes! Molly was literally my only friend when we first moved to Louisiana...thankfully that has changed, but I still talk to her like she is my BFF.
11. Patriots or Giants? Patriots. I used to have a major T. Brady crush back in the day.

*******************************************************

My 11 Questions for the people I am tagging:

1. You're singing karaoke. What's your song of choice?
2. What is your most prized possession?
3. What was the worst job you've ever had?
4. Do you have any phobias?
5. You are wearing your favorite outfit. Do you put on heels or flats?
6. Have you ever met anyone famous? 
7. Do you have any pet peeves?
8. Name the best concert you've ever been to and why.
9. Do you collect anything?
10. Favorite breakfast food to eat?
11. Let's play "Do, date, dismiss" (hahaha): Ryan Reynolds, Bradley Cooper, Tom Brady :)

*******************************************************

I'm tagging:

Dara, Jen, Bethany, Samantha, Kara, Kendayl, Christina, Sarah, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Heather

xo,
H

Friday Love

Happy Friday! Oohhh, 2 posts today...that's what you get for me dragging my feet on posting the CrossFit thing yesterday.

As usual, I'm so ready for the weekend. The week has flown, but it's been a busy one, and we've had a couple hiccups. Like this one:

Not pumped about her boo-boo :(

Total head wound that was brought home from daycare. Fantastic. Not to mention, it's in the same spot that she got her first visible injury over Christmas break. I don't think I posted about that. It was caused by a total wipeout and D is permanently scarred. (As is our child, who will probably have a permanent head scar.)

Last night we had a social event for D's course. Per the usual, I found out about it with less than 24 hours notice. I should be fine by now, but these sort of events always get me stressed.

What do I wear? If I'm too dressy, people will think I'm a snob, if I'm too casual I'll look like I'm a slob...

I think like this every time we have somewhere to go. It's exhausting.

I went with a denim pencil skirt (J.Crew Factory) and sweater (J.Crew- ebay find!) with some casual heels. I took off the red belt, it was too much...that's what phone pics are for. It's easier to tell if you look silly or not in a photo for some reason. I ended up feeling appropriate. A lot of people had jeans, others had things like wrap dresses or dress pants. One had thigh-high boots...(*crickets*)...but that's besides the point.

You know who always looks good, head wound and all? This girl...

Blogger hates my Picnik photos...

She's pretty excited about Friday, also. I couldn't even get her to stand still for a morning picture. Must be the ruffles, they'd probably make me want to twirl around, too!

X-mas present from Godmother Amanda :)

Hope you all have a great Superbowl Weekend! I'll be back with my weekend re-cap and 5k results on Monday.

xo,

H

CrossFit - A Beginners Perspective

Alright, this is going to be about CrossFit-finally, I  know...but I feel like I need to make it crazy clear that I am a super beginner and therefore am NOT the person to get information from in regards to training programs, etc. There is a good chance some of the things below are being written incorrectly, since I'm sucking wind during most CrossFit classes, and therefore not 100% mentally there. ;)

Now that I have that disclaimer out of the way, let's get down to it!

I started CrossFit on Monday, January 16th and was immediately drawn to the style of training and type of workouts involved. The group I am in meets Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. There are several sessions offered during the day, each an hour long. I go from 4 - 5 pm. The workouts themselves, don't take very long, but since many of the women in my group are getting started for the first time, we spend time going over CrossFit skills and form. What I really love is that I am NEVER bored. There is something different every single day- and I'll be honest, for the first two weeks I was sore every single day.

Here's a peek at one of our Week 2 sessions:

Every workout is always written up on the whiteboard
and every one's times are posted as well.

Warm-Up:
Run or Row 400-500 meters
After this we generally have 10-15 minutes of a workout that involves some of the skills we practiced the day before.

Skills:
On the board above, you can see that we were working on dumbbell cleans for the day. Some days we focus on one thing, others several.

WOD (Workout of the Day):
This involves several exercises, usually for time, done in several rounds. Above you can see that we did 5 rounds for time, of 6 of the following exercises:

-Bent over row
-Hang power cleans
-Front squat
-Push Press
-Back squat

Each of these was done holding the 45lb bar and it could only be put down between rounds, so you go through 6 of each exercise without a break, pause for a second, and continue from the top again. Basically you feel like you are going to die, but it is for small periods of time, so it is manageable. Each round took me around 1:15, give or take a couple seconds.

Now that we are in Week 3, the WOD's continue to get more difficult with more rounds and repetition, as well as slowly increasing the weight depending on what the exercise is. Not all WODs involve lifting a bar over your head, many include things like box jumps, push-ups, kettle bell swings or sumo dead lifts, and my personal favorite to date included an interval of 400 meters lunges. I've learned to appreciate squats. CrossFit squats go low- we practice with a medicine ball behind us and squat until we touch it. Fun stuff. Also, pull-ups...I super suck at those, but kipping and working with resistance bands has really helped my form and strength. All of those crazy things I was worried about not being able to do have modified versions, too.

I have absolutely seen an improvement in myself the past almost 3 weeks. I've gone from practicing with one of those weighted bars (27 lbs) to using 55lbs for some of the exercises that we've done. I know it's early, but I already am feeling more muscle tone, which is definitely one of my goals. Unfortunately, running has really taken a back seat to CrossFit the past few weeks and I'm working to find balance between the two. I guess my spur of the moment 5k this weekend should help jump start that effort!

To wrap things up (I have gotten super long winded lately), if you are considering a program like this, give it a shot! You'll be amazed by the things your body can do and you'll feel like a badass when you come home to tell your man/boyfriend/husband/or secret lover about it each night. ;)

xo,
H

The morning rush

Happy Hump Day/February! I am so looking forward to the new month. There's something about being just a little bit closer to Spring that makes me smile. Also, if the weather would like to stay as mild as it has been the past month, that would be fine too.

Let's talk life: I love my weekday mornings.

They start early, at about 6:10 am. I get up, and throw on my daily work uniform (workout clothes) and do a quick 5 minute make-up routine, just so I don't look like a complete deadbeat mom when I drop Grace off at daycare.

Well, hello.

I still sort of manage to look like a deadbeat. I head downstairs to get a bottle prepped, make my first cup of coffee and get my work computer set up for the day. I log in and check emails, prioritize what I have to do and get my day started.

Grace wakes up around 7:15 these days. We get her dressed and get downstairs for a bottle and some Mickey while I make a big bowl of oatmeal to share. She ignores my request for a picture. Mickey is farrrr more interesting than Mommy. Duh.

Chug! Chug! Jk.

We eat and head to daycare, which is literally 5 minutes away. I rush home and get back on the computer, but not before taking another trip to visit my lover, the Keurig, on my way into the office.

Then the magic happens and it all slows down.

We live at the top of a big hill and from my office window I get to see the sun rise over the tree line each day while sipping my morning coffee. The house is quiet (if the dogs aren't on a wrestling rampage) and it is so serene. Probably the only moment of calm I'll get during the day, so I enjoy it for as long as possible. :)

See those trees back there? Even though we live off post, we are close enough that we can hear "bombs" going off or the sound of a weapon being used at one of the ranges. We are close to where basic training is housed and on most mornings, while it is still dark and Grace and I load into the car, you can hear soldiers chanting in cadence while on a run or march...it is seriously awesome. I know it probably sounds funny to hear that bombs and men yelling are sounds that I have come to love, but it is a constant reminder of where we live, why we are here, and it makes me feel so proud to be a part of it all.

...and on cue I just heard a giant rumble off in the distance...SO cool.

xo,
H

P.S. I couldn't wait to share this: I did a m*ther effing handstand last night at crossfit. Yes, it was against a wall and, yes, I totally wiped out a couple of times...but it was amazeballs and my obsession level has intensified. Full write-up tomorrow. :) Apologies for the cursing...I get excited.