What I'm loving Wednesday!

Here's what I'm loving right now:

I'm loving that my first tank of diesel in the Marshmallow averaged 40mpg! How awesome is that?

I'm loving that I've already started my Christmas shopping. I'd say I'm about 1/3 of the way done! :D

I'm loving this photo of Torkie that one of my friends made. It's one of the funniest things I've seen in a while.

I'm loving that I was able to do 35 pull-ups with NO assistance last night. That's a new personal record for me. So exciting.

Seabrook, WA October 2010

Some of our friends and ourselves have decided to make a traditional yearly trip to the ocean in fall.
We started in 2009 and continued the tradition this year at Seabrook, Wa.
I've talked about what Seabrook is before, so I wont go into a lot of detail. It's a really neat place though.

We arrived on Friday October 8th and of course it was raining. Unfortunately, the weather report called for rain all weekend.
Bummer yes, but not the end of the world. Of course it turned sunny and beautiful on the day we left.
The house we had picked to stay in was wonderful and we were all really happy with our choice.
I didn't get a lot of photos inside because it was so dark the whole time we were there.

We hung out, played games, soaked in the hot tub, painted pottery, attempted to walk on the beach and just enjoyed each others company.

All in all, the trip was a great success and I can't wait till next year!

The master downstairs that we were lucky enough to get.

Living area from the kitchen.

Ryan, Ryan, Kelsey, Maura and Chris checking stuff out in the kitchen.

Front door and stairs to the second level.

Living room.

Front door.

Stair to second level

Kelsey getting ready to paint pottery.

Me painting a bowl.

Ryan and Kelsey

Ryan and me.

Sunny weather the day we leave. This is one of the main streets in town looking towards the ocean.

Across the street from our house.

The street our house was on.

Our adorable little house!

The back yard.

Hot tub.

From the back yard looking out towards the street.

Torkie enjoyed exploring the yard.

He sat right by the car and wouldn't move while we were packing.

Final good bye to the ocean.

Subie on the beach.

Chris and Maura.

Us.

Our little happy family.

Our group minus Ryan and Kelsey because they had to leave early. :(

Torkie had a great time!

And so we start another week.

Sort of a catch all random post today.


I had a nice and relaxing weekend.
We didn't do a whole lot.
I did a tiny bit of shopping-Christmas decor, presents and lights and also got some things to organize stuff.
I cleaned and organized our bathroom which now looks amazing. It was getting cluttered and cramped on our counters and was really bugging me. No longer. :)
We filled up the Marshmallow for the first time on Friday night and I averaged 39.67mpg! Super happy about that!



When I was at CrossFit on Friday they got some photos of me working out which actually turned out pretty good.
I'm really excited about this because without dragging everyone I know to the gym, this is the best way for me to share/show what it is I do 4 days a week.

Our workout on Friday was:

7 Rounds of:

Row 150m
7 ChestToBar Pull-ups
7 Front Squats
7 HandStandPushUp

Because(believe it or not) I don't sit in front of the mirror and flex for hours on end, I had NO idea my back had gained so much muscle. Kinda cool. :)
In this photo I was mid way through the pull-ups. I was using a thin yellow band to assist me in doing these because I'm still not strong enough to do 49, especially when I have to bring my chest to the bar and not just my chin like normal.

This is a front squat. I used 65lbs for this workout. So I did a total of 49 of these.

And from the front. :) Squats are one thing I tend to do well with. I have a lot stronger legs than I do arms.

This is my version of a Hand Stand Push Up. I'm still not strong enough for a real one. This was REALLY hard for me as it was. Again, did 49 of these.


Now this was "extra credit". I'm learning the different Olympic lifts. It's actually quite fun and nothing like anything I've done before.
In this photo, I'm in an overhead squat. To finish this move, I have to stand up with the bar still overhead. The most weight I did for this "lift" was 53lbs.

This is mid-way through the lift. I basically start on the ground and "snatch" it overhead while in a squat and then stand up.
As uncoordinated as I can be sometimes, this one is going to take me a while to learn.


As you can see, I need practice. I'm only holding 45 lbs in this photo. As I use more weight, if I can't complete a lift, I will drop the bar instead of hold it like I did in the photo.
At least I'm having fun!

Last thing I did Friday night was back squats. I hold the bar like in the photo and squat. Not a lot to it.
On Friday, the most weight I did was 94lbs and I did that 20 times. Which means, I can probably do quite a bit more weight less times.


Just one thing I want to add.
I hear a lot from female friends that lifting weights and training will make you bulky/gross and they aren't interested in it because of that.

That's totally wrong. Weight training is NOTHING like body building.
There have been countless studies done that prove the benefits of weight training for women that show everything from helping bones and boosting metabolism.

I not worried whatsoever that I'll look like a body builder(puke) ever. It's just not possible with my fitness goals and diet.
I would love to go into more detail, but I don't have the time right now.
:)




Last but not least, I was given this award by Jeska over at Living Our Love Song.
Her blog is great and she has a really cute little dog. :)
Thanks for the award!


Now I get to tell you seven things about myself you may not know:

1. When I was young I was very sure I wanted to be a Marine Mammal Biologist.

2. I could eat sushi(cooked and veg) every day. Even for breakfast.

3. I really really like the buttered popcorn jelly bellies. And since no one else does, more for me.

4. I'm stupidly afraid of bees. Way more than any normal person should be.

5. I still have stuffed animals on my bed(Ryan must love me to put up with that).

6. I never in my life thought I would be someone who's into exercising and actually enjoys it.

7. I really like my job and believe in my company. I know I'm very lucky to feel that way.


I'm going to give this award to:
Kelsey @ This Is The Story Of A Girl
Jenny @ So Say I
Ashley @ My Carnival Ride

Whidbey Island Adventure

In the middle of September we went to our friend Ryan's cabin on Whidbey Island for the night with him and his girl friend/my friend Kelsey.

We had a great time relaxing, playing board games and checking out the beach. It was just a quick little trip, but I know everyone enjoyed themselves.

Waiting for the ferry in Mukilteo. It SHOULD have been a 30 min wait, but it turned into a 2 hour wait because one of the boats was broken. We were not happy and were all hungry because we were planning to BBQ when we got up there. We didn't get to the cabin until 9:00pm.

Wandering around the Mukilteo waterfront while we were waiting for the boat.

Kelsey

My Ryan.

Poking around the beach near the cabin the next day.

Every time we turned over a rock, tons of little crabs would come out and crawl around. It was neat.

Torkie wasn't too sure about the mini crabs everywhere.

This was one of the bigger ones we found.

Super creepy giant jellyfish. It's one of the largest I've ever seen and brightest colored too.

It was dead so we poked it and took some photos.

:)