House Wifey

I am incredibly blessed in that I do not need to work/my husband wants me to be a home-keeper. Today was especially exciting -- the lawn needed to be mowed. It is absolutely my FAVORITE chore. I LOVE moving & being outside! It has been SO nice this week, too! Steve has been getting faster at work and because they haven't increased his patients yet, he has been getting done at work a little earlier and also getting a longer lunch. It's been pretty nice. Twice this week we got to have a little picnic outside during his lunch break. So fun!

Today was extremely windy so I decided to do my run with HIIT inside at the gym. Lately my cardio indoors has been less than I would like. (I usually don't like treadmills or elipticals - like I said before, I like to GO places OUTDOORS). So I spent a couple minutes before leaving the house thinking about that and realized that I need to have more of a plan than just "doing cardio at the gym". I decided what would be a good workout before hand and then stuck to it. I have to say, it is fun seeing how many calories you scorch doing HIIT! I subsribe to many fitness blogs and pin many on pinterest so I have an abundance on ideas, but this week I wasn't really committing to any certain one before hand. (Unless it was outdoors. I don't have a problem with running intervals or long distance outside.)
 So today I did one mile warm up, stretch, two minutes at 80% and two minutes easy jog TEN TIMES, one mile cool down. (All at incline 1)
It was great!! I was drenched with sweat and torched 900 calories. After mowing, before I washed up, I did a short workout from Tone It Up. Good day :)

I am the kind of person that sees babies or baby clothes and wants one. Lately, though, I have really enjoyed all the time I get to spend alone with Steve. I keep thinking, "We couldn't do this if we had a baby!" It helps me hold out longer. Haha. I know it's the smart thing to do to wait a couple years and I really do want to. I am so excited for when we do decide to grow our little family! :)

Lend Me Your Hand, and We Will Conquer Them All

Checking in!
I fit into my wedding dress for some more pictures with a photographer I've known for years. I haven't seen them yet - I will be sure to post, though! :)
Today: ran six miles in a little over an hour. I'm just glad I got it in! I am having a hard time lately getting in longer runs. I have time, and no legitimate excuses - just a mind game, really.
I have cut my carbs, increased protien, and got back into lifting. I already notice a huge difference. Steve weighed me out of curiousity the other day and said that I've lost weight. I have no clue, still, what I weigh. I didn't know what I weighed before. And I like not knowing. I really have a tendency to obsess about what I think the "perfect" number is, blah blah blah.
I haven't thought - until just now - to measure myself. I don't really care much, though. For once in my life! I am more toned, and will continue to get more toned (consistency is key!) so I'm not worried about it. What a relief!
I am doing a show in July, so I would like to get my hip measurement to 35-36. That isn't much, and once again, what I am doing will get me there. :)

I had a little pride-ful moment (Lord forgive me) last week at body pump. I just LOVE being STRONG and getting STRONGER! It feels so good. No, this picture is not me! Haha. I would love to get this tank, though!!

I realized something this week. I really really hate feeling awkward. And that is a hinderance to me as I try to make new friends here. Steve is so good at it! He is just so friendly & outgoing like most people here. I could learn from him. :) I am so thankful that churches here are full of welcoming & loving people! I keep praying for a group of Christ following friends. I need to be praying more for confidence & the guts to be more outgoing!

James

I am sad, my friends, to share with you that my journey with James is over. Maybe I hadn't mentioned it? I was doing a Beth Moore Bible study on the book of James. WOW! I really love Beth Moore - I love how in depth she goes. A few things stood out to me - First was James was intense. He called out any and every fault in the church you can imagine. He challenged believers to DO what they preach. How relevant, even today. One thing I have learned in recent years is that if you have to ask someone if they are a Christian - they are probably not living the lifestyle that Christ followers are called to live. That's right. I said it. You can see faith. This became super evident before I got married and when I was dating. I didn't want to date and ultimately marry someone who just said they were a Christian - I wanted a husband who LIVED it. I didn't have to ask my husband if he was a Christian. I could look at his life and the choices he made based off the Bible. His life radiated Christ and his love for God.
Rewind! Back to James.
I am not sure how studious you all are, but friends, James' story is an interesting one in the least.
Did you Know: James is Jesus' step-brother. By that I mean, James was born of the virgin Mary (Jesus' mother) and Joseph. Because Jesus was born of the holy spirit, and James born of Joseph, but same mother, we have step-brother. They grew up in the same house, under the same roof. Can you imagine living with Jesus??!!? Here is the kicker. (If you want references from the Bible, please let me know). James did not believe Jesus was the Christ. He was not James the disciple - he did know follow Jesus. In fact, he did the opposite - he mocked Jesus! Crazy, huh??
After Jesus was crucified, burried for three days, and resurected from the dead, He visited a list of people.

Race Recap/Venting

Wow! I am so disapointed with how I did! I couldn't figure it out. I was more than prepared - why did I get so sick? Not pregnant, didn't try anything new on race day (like gels)... Then Steve asked what I had to eat the night before. Some whole wheat pasta & 3 bean salad. ..."The three bean salad you made last week?? Chickpeas go bad within a few days!"
Bingo.
Horrible timing!
But, I still finished. And considering how sick I was all afternoon, I would say 2:27 isn't too bad! Pretty frustrating, but I'm glad I did it and now it is OVER.
Which means - I can go back to body pump classes & lifting lower body!!!! :D I went to body pump Tuesday this week. OH it HURT SO GOOD. I was very surprised how strong my lower body has gotten from only running! For the Squats & Lunge tracks I did more weight than I think I have ever done! I wasn't expecting that at all. I still want to keep milage up, but I am cutting my carbs the next two weeks so I probably won't be at the same amount I was while in training.


Today I did five sets of the following:

I was drenched in sweat at the end. What a workout! I'm also going to go to the gym in a bit and do some cardio!

-1 mile warm up

-2 minutes hard / 1 minute easy x8

-1 mile cool down

I will be bikini ready in no time! ;)

Speaking of bikini season - I miss the lake! I miss going to the lake for a week in the summers I was in California. Oh, I miss it so much! I'm not sure what this summer in Woodward will entail, but I sure hope it's fun. I still haven't made many friends here so it's not looking good - LOL. I didn't miss Tulsa before for many many reasons - but I am beginning to miss the few friends I have there and tanning with them last summer! :(

I keep praying that God send me a good friend ~ it's hard not to get lonely here sometimes.