75 Hard

It's not that we don't know better...we really do. a

and yet....

we find ourselves with this

I'm not gonna lie...that looks amazing.

But it doesn't feel amazing. 

So the day after this photo...I walked into the bedroom and Mark said... 

"I just told my brother Mat that I'm going to do 75 hard"

When Mark tells anything to his brothers, it automatically doubles its chance of success. Sisters are supportive. Brothers are brutal...in a supportive way. 

So after mulling it over for the most of the day, I decided to join him. 

My reasons were:

1. I don't like to be left out of things...even sucky things

2. This takes a pretty hefty time commitment. More time together!

3. I'm supposed to meet up with some old friends in March, right about the time this is over...great timing!

4. My jeans are cutting off my circulation

So....for the next 68 days (we're 7 days in!), we will be sticking to a nutrition plan, drinking a gallon of water a day, doing two 45 minute workouts (one has to be outside), reading 10 pages and taking a daily selfie.

The timing was less than ideal..January?? We have been taking a daily frozen walk and visiting this fortuitously placed porta-potty frequently, due to our intense water intake. 

I'll update on our progress later! I have faith in us!

Daily Exercise with the Young Ones

 Did you know that missionaries are required to exercise every morning?

Did you know that one Elder and one Sister exercising together is generally frowned upon?

I volunteered as chaperone and runnning buddy!

I'm in it for the blessings. 

Fluffy to fit....RP diet

The truth: I've become pretty fluffy over the last few years. I've been carrying around an extra 15-20 lbs for a while now, and while that isn't the worst thing in the world, I really was so tired of looking at myself in photos and feeling shocked at what I was seeing. That's not me!

So....Mark and I got serious and started with the RP diet. It is all app based and basically teaches you how truly awful you have been eating.

We started with a before photo and bought a scale. I felt so stupid measuring my food, but I got over it. Knowing exactly what was supposed to be on that plate took the guesswork out of it. I was sure that if I followed the rules, I'd see benefits.

So....I did.

And I tell you what.

Things started to change. The food I was eating was clean and healthy. I stopped having that itchy, angsty need for sugar after every meal. I stopped feeling bloated and tired. I started losing weight!

I started looking at the food that I am putting into my body and I started taking the time to choose and cook and care about myself. I stopped acting like trash compactor for all the food my kids leave on their plates.

I started saying "NO" to all the treats that are given to me or made near me.

It was so hard.

But I did it anyway.

And, as you can tell, I started taking pictures of my food. Because I was proud of my choices and because it was so colorful and beautiful! And...I knew I'd need to remember the things that I liked and make them for myself again.  Brussel sprouts are gorgeous, you know. And steak isn't too expensive. It's delicious and worth it and makes me excited to have a meal. And then one day I dropped below 140 and my jeans fit great and I was eating 5 times and day and working out 5 times a week and I was feeling amazing. I drank a cup of juice and got a insta-headache. THE SUGAR!! Plain greek yogurt used to taste like sour cream to me. Now it's one of my favorites....cut up with a crispy apple and sprinkle with nuts. yum!

 I learned how to eat out and not lose my mind and give up on my goals. Every place has veggies. Every place will grill meat. If they don't...go somewhere else. Making a smart choice is super hard and then makes me super happy. I feel better.

And yesterday...I achieved my goal....15 lbs gone.  

Oh....and Mark did this too! He has his own pictures and his own story...I'll let him post them if he chooses!

An October run

Dropped off Everly to preschool this morning and went for a gorgeous run along the Indian Creek Trail. I wanted to see if I could do a 5k at an adult's pace and found that I could. It was hard, but made easier by great music and breathtaking nature all around me. I laughed out loud when the leaves started falling. It felt like pure happiness to me. A wonderful way to spend an hour.

Run before the sun

I started off the day with an early morning run with my friend, Courtney. We've been running together for a couple months now. Our goal was to be able to do a 5k in the fall. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to increase the difficulty of our runs much because the real reason we are doing it is because we need someone to talk to. We need a sympathetic ear and the undivided attention of someone who fully appreciates how hard it is to parent a teenager. (And FUN! Did you hear that, kids? It's really fun too....but seriously hard. Don't worry. You'll find out.)

So I'm not too worried about the whole 5k thing. It'll happen. Or it won't. Doesn't matter that much. 

So we had a good run/talk and then it was straight back home to get the kids ready to go to Old Settler's Parade. 

This year, Ethan is in the Falcon Regiment. Olathe South High School marching band!

I know this is weird, but I got tears in my eyes when I saw him march by. I can't tell you how great it is to see him working hard and having fun at something. I love it. (He's the one just to the right of the center of the picture)

Next came Megan! She snagged the honor of helping to hold the banner for the CST marching band.

It pays to have a big brother in the band!

And this is Mat's last year marching with CST.

Tears! I don't know what is wrong with me! Who cries at a parade?

I'd say the parade was a success and there was a little bit of something for everyone...

After the parade, we grilled up some burgers for lunch and then the boys headed over to a ward member's home to mow their lawn. Mark was busy fighting with the shower....it needed a new cartridge and wasn't cooperating. But! As always, he persevered and came out successful. I never doubted it for a second. Also, if he hadn't figured it out, we would have had to begin a life of taking showers simultaneously, as ours wouldn't actually stop spraying water. 

5 hours without running water reminded me that I absolutely take it for granted that water WILL come out of the faucet when I turn it on. And every time I stared at the little drippy drops and exclaimed, "Oh! duh! Why do I keep coming over here?"

Mark finished with the shower and we finished the mowing just in time to make it over to the Flynn's for Kylie's birthday fajitas!

Isn't she cute? She's seventeen and she got to celebrate with the Huffords, the missionaries and some pretty fantastic apple crisp. 

And off to bed! Except.....I forgot to prepare my singing time.

oy.

Running buddy

Today was our second Sunrunners practice. I still haven't figured out where in the heck we are supposed to meet and what time and huh?

So far, we are mainly wandering through the halls with a lost look on our faces and then randomly joining in on a sea of running kids. Ah well, we can't do everything perfectly, can we?

The thing about it, though, is that Anna is new and she wants to run with her sister. Laney is not new and she does not want to run with her sister. She prefers to run hand in hand with her bestie, Cassidy. 

This leaves Anna to figure it out on her own, which she will most certainly do, because she is plucky and brave and....Anna. 

But today, a sweet boy named Grant, offered to be her running partner and even though he was only up for one lap (it's still super hot and humid), that was all she needed to get her running legs going.

It was perfect. 

And I officially love Grant. (in the orange)

Back on schedule

Well, Anna is off to Kindergarten and the rest of the kids are back to school.

That leaves me and Everly to our morning routine. 

I attended the 6:30 am class all summer long. I escaped some of the heat and I didn't come home to a battle zone. In fact, they were usually still sleeping when I limped in at 7:45.

But now they need me home in the morning to 

a. drive to Seminary

b. wake them up at their customized times...Ethan at 5:20, Mat and Meg at 6:30, Laney and Anna at 7:00

c. ask them to get their clothes on/eat breakfast/brush teeth/find shoes/pack a lunch

d. ask them again

e. one more time

f. hand out punishments

g. do hair-do's

h. drive them to their schools...Mat and Meg at 7:30, Ethan at 7:37 (6:45 on band days), Laney and Anna at 8:00.

And then Everly and I head straight over to On Track to warm up and hit the 8:30 class. 

She's a good partner.

I think we've got a good thing going.

8:30

I love/hate crossfit.

I talk about it too much with other people and I know I'm being annoying and I can't help myself.

But I really love these people and I look forward to seeing them every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (Tuesday and Thursday if it's something that doesn't involve wall balls or thrusters).

And now Mike Cardinal is moving to Iowa. (He's in the white t-shirt), which totally stinks. Because he is kind and crazy strong and an example of what you can do over time if you just stick with it.  

And he tells me "good job" even when we both know I'm a bit of a wimp.

This is the best use for a box I've seen so far. Why jump up on it, when you can sit?

We did geriatric wall balls in honor of Mike's age on his last day.

I'm so sad to see Mike go, but I'll see the rest of you at 8:30.

Pumpkin Run 2015

Pumpkin Run Time!

Meg, Mat, Dad, and Ethan's time: 37 minutes

Mom, Laney, Anna and Everly's time: Sooo much longer than that.

Big tires and smooth moves

I admit it.

I love it here. When else in my live have I been outside flipping tires and getting stronger just because I want to?

It feels different for me. And I like this version of myself. I love that I don't worry anymore about whether or not I am wearing make-up in public. I love my muscles that are starting to show. I love that I can lift things and pull things and jump on things.

And Everly gets free dance lessons, to boot!

Candyland

So, we decided to join in the New Year's fun at On Track and participate in "Candyland".

It's basically a game of torture.

You earn the privilege of playing this nightmare of a game by doing 100 burpees. And if you decided that's too much for you and you put it off, you can't leave the game unless you do 100 burpees at the end. We chose to do ours at the end. Maybe we'll get lucky and die first.

So, every time you roll the dice, you just get more and more hard things to do. Its....so fun!

And if you stick it out, stay alive and trudge through those terrible burpees, you get to write your name on the gameboard.

So there! We did it!

Stickin with it

It's been a year! 

I've been injured, chickened out, cheated, toughed it out, nearly vomited, made new friends and learned alot about myself. 

Can't wait to see what the next year will bring!

The Great Pumpkin Negotiation

The Pumpkin Run celebrated it's 15th year, so we decided to try to run/walk as a family. Mark and the 3 oldest ran and I took the 3 youngest and the double stroller with the goal of running as much as possible and walking the rest.

I put Anna and Everly in the stroller and me and Laney started out with gusto!

After 20 minutes, Laney decided this was the worst thing we have ever done and she started the Great Complaining Campaign of 2013. 

Luckily, Anna has energy to spare and ran/walked the rest of the way. She also refused to wear her jacket (it was freezing) and so everytime we passed by any other responsible adults I made sure to say, "Are you sure you won't wear your jacket?" just to ward off any parent to parent judginess. 

Everly clocked out.

She's a very smart baby.