28 in 28

I'm going to be linking up today with Erin at Living in Yellow.  

This is a list of 28 things I would like to accomplish in my 28th year:

1. Document so much more of my life.  I've learned how precious pictures are to have down the road and I don't want to forget anything.

2. Make it through at least one month of going to Crossfit 3 times a week.

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I'll touch on this more later.  Ideally 3 months straight, but I'll start with one since I've only just begun.

3. Find a way to consistently motivate myself again.  Usually, I'm great at pushing myself, but with all that has gone on this year, I've found my motivation is sometimes lacking.

4. Visit NYC with some of my favorite ladies!

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5. Plan something awesome for my love's 30th birthday.  I have some big ideas!

6. Fix our house up to sell.  

7. Move.

8. Run at least 3 races this fall/winter racing season.

9. Get a good jump start on planning an event to raise money for lung cancer.  

10. Read the entire bible.  I've already got a start on this.  I'm on Day 38 right now.

11. Read 4 books for fun...possibly in a book club?

12. Host a holiday at our house.

13. Get a group around to volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House at least once.

14. Eat clean for a month Monday-Friday.  Basically the Paleo diet.  Good thing I'm obsessed with eggs!

15. Complete 3 home Pinterest projects I love for the house...that are easy to move!  Some ideas:

16. Spend a few evenings a month with my grandparents.

17. Take a trip with my mom.

18. Spend some time in my favorite place: 

19. Take a cruise.

20. Snowboard trip!

21. Try and rid myself of clutter!  I'm a bit of a pack rat and I need to let certain things go... especially of the clothing type.

22. Make one piece of furniture myself.  I might need some guidance, but I think I can handle it.  For the record, it will be something very simple I'm sure.

23. Complete another triathlon.

24. Tough. Mudder.

25. Donate clothing to charity.

26. Make it to at least one Gator game this year.

I L.O.V.E. football, but life has been so busy lately, it's hard to make it up there sometimes...

27. Win at life!
Don't let the little things get me down.  There are some pretty intense situations that are coming my way and I'd like to handle them with grace!

28. Try to live every day in a way that would make my dad proud.

Lessons Learned

Today is my last day as a 27 year old.  Where has the time gone??  I feel like I can't be that old yet...
I can't say I'm sad about turning another year older since I wasn't very fond of 27.  I've learned a lot this year, so I thought I'd share a few things...

-The things that are annoying in life are usually not that big of a deal.
I know, at times, things seem out of control, but I've found it's best to take a step back and evaluate the situation before overreacting.  Stress is an evil bitch that can sometimes get the best of you, but it's your responsibility take control and not let it.

-Asparagus is yummy. 

-People are going to disappoint you.
That's just life.  We all have our own things going on and sometimes, family or friends are not going to live up to your expectations.  Sometimes it's their fault, but sometimes, it's your own expectations that needs to be adjusted.  Life has a way of making things complicated so as long as they're still making the effort, there are some things you just have to get over.

-Lifting weights is actually fun!

-Spending time with those you love is incredibly important.
You never know what is going to happen down the road so it's important to soak up as much time with loved ones as possible...you never know when they'll be gone.

-Crying still sucks, but it's ok.
For a girl like me that never used to cry and finds it embarrassing, I've learned that sometimes it's the only thing you can do.

-Most people have their good points.
There are obviously those that are just down right evil and are always up to no good, but that's not the case with most people.  Sometimes, personalities clash, but most people still have their good points.  It's your job to find their positive attributes so you can try to view the person in a different light...or you have to learn to deal with it.  I've found if you try and find their good points, being around those that clash with you initially is much more enjoyable.

-'I'm sorry' goes a long way.

-Cooking at home is awesome.
It's less fat and fewer calories on average than most restaurants and it's cheaper, yes please!

-Holding a grudge is pointless.
Holding a grudge effects you more than the person you hold a grudge against.  There are some people that are probably best to keep a distance from, but it's probably best to let things go.  This is something I'm constantly working on because it's hard for me to let certain things go, but why let someone else control me?


-Leftovers are the best!
I was never a leftover person.  I would be the girl that took things home and left them in the fridge to later throw away.  Lately, I've been taking advantage of leftovers from dinner the night before and it's made life so much easier.  I'm not scrambling when I'm starving and prone to making poor choices at lunchtime anymore.

-Life is too short to spend it making other people happy.
No one wants to let their friends or family down, but it's ok to say 'no'.  If there are activities that you just don't want to participate in or you are over committing and not giving your spouse (or yourself) enough time, it's time to politely decline.  You don't want to look back at a bucket list with nothing checked off because you spent too much time trying to live up to other people's expectations.

Anything you've learned this year??

Beary nice...

We had a little get away recently.  Mostly to take care of family stuff, but it was to one of my favorite places...and my dad's favorite place.  God put on a show for us, we saw more wildlife than we've ever seen in one trip.

 Momma and baby bears in the tree!

We even had a momma bear with her cubs walk down the mountain in front of us while hiking.  If that doesn't make you want to pee your pants, I don't know what does.  She was literally 10 feet away...it was scary and awesome.  I love the mountains!

The weekend always goes by so fast!  Hopefully you are having a good Monday!

Let's take a look at last week's schedule and workouts, shall we?

Sunday: Run 3 miles

Ran 3.21 miles 

Monday: Strength + 2 mile run

Strength + 2.13 miles

Tuesday: Crosstrain + Strength

Swim for 30 min + strength

Wednesday: Run 5 miles

Softball, left field.  Lots of sprints.

Thursday: Strength + crosstrain

Strength 

Friday: Rest

Ran 6 miles

Saturday: Run 6 miles

Rest

I didn't follow the plan quite as closely as I would have liked.  I forgot about an appointment which threw off the second half of the week since I couldn't run 24hrs after the appointment, so I missed a run.  I was planning on making up for it Saturday, but it's been a while since I've run over 3-4 miles and my legs were a little like jello after Friday's run.  I hope to do better this week!  Here's the plan:

Sunday: Rest

Monday: 4 mile run + strength

Tuesday: strength + 2 miles/crosstrain

Wednesday: 3 mile run

Thursday: strength + crosstrain

Friday: Run 10+ miles

Saturday: REST

This week will be a little unique near the end of the week.  I'm participating in a Relay for Life team and am going to try to run one mile every hour I am awake.  We will see how that goes...I'll keep you posted. 

If you're interested in donating to our team, it is King's Realm.  All donations go to the fight against cancer.

How were your workouts last week??

Have you ever participated in a Relay for Life event?

White Chicken Chili

I made this chili a while ago, after a friend of mine telling me about it.  It's yummy and pretty good for you too! 

White chicken chili

2 cans cream of chicken soup (I used reduced fat)

2 cans chicken broth

2 cans northern beans

2 cans shoepeg corn

1 mild rotelle tomatoes

1 can diced chilies

2 teaspoon lemon pepper

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon garlic

3 tablespoon lime juice

1 medium onion

4 chicken breast, cooked

Mix everything, boil & let simmer for 30 min

You can also put it all in the slow cooker on low and let it simmer for the day if you want.

Enjoy!

For the love of endorphins!

Let me start out by recognizing Lily's 6th Birthday on Sunday!  I can't believe my little diva is that old already.  I hope cloning gets really good in the next 10 years! Ha!  I couldn't imagine my life without our little fur-baby.

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I've got a plan and I'm working it.  I know I probably say it a lot, but it's amazing how much better I feel when I'm consistently working out.  I feel better physically of course, but mentally, I have a whole 'nuther ballgame going on up there when I'm taking care of myself.

You're so right, Elle.

My mental ballgame has been particularly important lately, as I easily have been getting into little funks lately.  I've been getting a little too much in my head and then pushing myself back into reality which I guess is part of life for me right now.  But, the past couple mornings, even if I've been a little sleepy, I'm still in a much better mood.  I'm ready to bring on the day!  Go Team!

I'm following a little workout plan I found online, adjusted it to my wants and added in my Brazil Butt Lift workout (which is awesome and corny) for strength days...yay legs and butt!

Plans for this week:

Sunday: Run 3 miles

Monday: Strength + 2 mile run

Tuesday: Crosstrain + Strength

Wednesday: Run 5 miles

Thursday: Strength + crosstrain

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Run 6 miles

So far, I've hit Sunday and Monday, and then some!  We'll see how the rest of the week lines up!  My goal is to be back to half marathon shape by this summer and maintain it through the fall.  Speaking of half marathon shape and the fall...how about we talk races I'd like to dominate this fall...ok? Ok.

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Close to home on my favorite beach...yes!  A definite possibility!  Plus, it gives me an October race!

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Another race very close to home...in case I don't get to run Philly...which means this race will probably happen.

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One of my favorite cities!  I will run this race one day if not this year!  I'd like to save up this race until I get my marathon legs ready again, but if we can swing it, I would love to do the half this year!

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Close to home and Thanksgiving weekend.  

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We go to the area of Tennessee that this race is in fairly often.  I really like the name and the date and have a free place to stay near the race! 

I won't be able to do all of them, but these are ones I have my eye on right now.  My top races would be the Beach 1/2 in October, Philadelphia 1/2 in November, and the Santa Hustle 1/2 in December, but I doubt I'll be able to hit all of those, so I have other races that are closer to home and around the same time picked out too listed.  I've also been talking to my uncle who started a Tough Mudder team and is competing in December which I may do...it's just so darn expensive.

What are your race plans for the fall?

Have you done a Tough Mudder race?

It's Thursday...which is very happy!

After cursing my alarm and the softball game that ran over to 10:30, I started my day out with this beautiful sight out my window

then, when I got to work I found $20 in my pocket, so I knew today was meant to be a good day.  Despite all the stressful nonsense that has gone on this week and the fact that I got hit in the face with a softball last night because there was this hole in my glove (embarrassing. stupid lights.) the past few days have been pretty darn good.

I felt like my workouts have suffered a little bit, but looking back, it was more just a running fail.  I have gotten in a two hour tennis date with the hubs, a few 30 min swims and a couple bike rides within the past week, but runs since last Friday=0.  Fail.

I had a bit of a rough weekend.  Holidays and I aren't friends right now.  I made some choices that made the workout-thing take a bit of a backseat, I even missed my 2012 race debut (the nerve! I really was sad about that) but I had some fun with friends instead and now have to redeem myself to...myself.  It's sad race season in Florida is about over due to the rising temps and I missed most of it, but I'm determined to find a few 5k's to conquer if nothing else.

...as well as a few other treats in the works that I may share at a future date...

But for now, that's not important.

Acisc.  Tonight, it's you and me.  And some speed.  Get ready!