NYC

So, yesterday I ran a half marathon in Brooklyn. On my other blog, you will be able to read all about the half marathon and the expo. But, since I feel like I have neglected this blog, and it is supposed to be about life outside of running, I thought it would be appropriate to post the pictures from Friday as I walked around Manhattan killing time waiting for my friend to meet me on the train platform. So, the Port Authority is on 42nd street and 9th Avenue. I think I have been to Manhattan only a handful of times, the latest time was about a year ago (possibly longer now) and my husband's cousin gave us a walking tour. This time, it was just me, and some text messages from a friend telling me what to see. So, I left Port Authority and headed down 42nd Street. I found this little restaurant called Al Fresco, and I think I had the best fresh salad ever! After I ate there, I posted something along the lines of sheer panic. A friend of mine, Mary, practically held my hand via texts offering great places to see . But, first, I stopped at Sephora! I <3 a="" although="" an="" and="" as="" became="" burn="" eventually="" got="" help.="" helped="" here="" hour="" i="" me="" nbsp="" of="" one="" outgoing="" p="" place="" t="" that="" the="" then="" they="" time.="" tourist.="" weren="">

I didn't know there was an M & M world, but I had to check it out...

 In M&M world, I saw this....

 Inside, it smelled DELICIOUS!! I couldn't inhale enough of the chocolate smell...

 Then I went back out and took one last photo of 1 Times Square...

It was a beautiful Friday, it was the beginning of a great night. Don't forget to check out my other blog to learn about the awesomeness that followed.

Speechless...

There are no words to describe the events of yesterday. It leads me to hug my daughter a little tighter, and endlessly thank those supports and strangers who are at every running event. We run for us, and they cheer for us. Sounds a little selfish. So, today, I pray for them...

I pray for Boston, I pray for the families of the deceased and those of the injured. I pray for the medical staff and for the police officers to be able to do what is best for the rest of us. These tragic events bring even more emotion into my half marathon in 11 days. I will now also be running for Boston!

Back in the swing...

This week I changed things up around here. Mon, since I had off, I went for a swim. It was nice on my joints, and man, while I thought I was in shape, I realized how not in swimming shape I am. I am looking forward to next Monday when I can swim again. But, I also went to the gym. I did Kacie's arm workout. Man, it kicked my butt. I didn't realize how weak my arms were.  I did know, I just was hoping that it wasn't that bad.  It will be nice to add things to my cross training. So, that is how my week started. I think I will have to look into buying some dumbbells for home, so that on the days I cannot go to the gym I can still get the arm workout in.  I am looking forward to doing it again.  Yesterday, with the downpours of rain, heat and humidity, I didn't get to run.

 It's ok, though, I am currently doing a Sept Ab Challenge on Facebook. It's not too late to join! Today, was a different story. I went to work again early, and as usual, I woke up to do my abs. Took M to my parents, and then went to work. I got off of work at 6, came home, had dinner, and at like 730 I took M with me for a run. We looked for "her moon" her "blue bye bye" and many other things. It was a good distraction on the run. I was determined to run 3 miles, and I did it! It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't easy, but I got it done. I am so surprised with how hard, yet rewarding it is to push her in a stroller, but I wouldn't trade these moments with her for anything.
I have realized many things since I started running, some of these won't be a surprise to you, some might. Some might even give you a better understanding of who I am.
1- Childhood obesity is out of control! Why are there so many children out there who would rather play video games than go outside?!?
2- Have you ever noticed our portion sizes?!? Who needs to eat a meal that is bigger than the plate it is served on?!?
3- Eating healthy is expensive! No wonder people eat unhealthy, it's cheaper!
4- I have realized that I am an emotional/boredom eater. When I am at work, I eat only what I pack, but as soon as I get home, and I get sad, or bored, I eat. I am working on this, but now that I wrote it down, at least I am acknowledging it.
5- I don't know how to cook. So, if you have any recipes for healthy eats, send them my way!

Well, I better go, it's almost 1030. 6 am will get here quickly, and I need to get to sleep. Before that, I want to take some pictures for the app Poshmark, hopefully to sell some of the clothes that don't fit me anymore.

Finally, Welcome to the new SPA sisters! Welcome to the family, we are sure you will love it here!
Have a great night!

Do Something Different

Today, is Labor Day. It gives me a day off of work. (Yess!) That makes this week a short work week (double yes!) Anyway, I don't usually have a routine, on days off M and I just hang out, but today, with the hubs having off, I decided to spice up my workout. I joined my cousin Chris and his Master's team at Lehigh and swam. I didn't realize how out of swimming shape I was. I thought that with running, I would be able to just get in the pool and be able to "fly." Boy, was I wrong. I did do the best I could, and Chris helped adapt the practice for me, so hopefully, I didn't disgrace him too much. I know his time is precious, and I really did try, but man, my arms, were they/are they sore. I actually relied on my legs a lot for swimming, which I didn't use to do, and I think they were able to keep up. Hopefully I will be able to swim more often.  It was a good change of pace for my joints. I did 1400 yards (250 yards short of a mile) but hey, not too bad for my first day back in who knows when.   I also realized that I don't think I have been in a pool since Nov of last year, maybe once since then, but I also realized the changes in my body. I had one race suit, that I think I had since Sep of last year. One I got it,  I was in denial about how big I really was. Anyway, I remember when I first put on my suit back then, it was barely fitting me. Today, I put it on with some room. Actually, it was big and I need to get a smaller one. Maybe that is what it took to put things into perspective. I guess because I look at myself everyday I don't notice the changes as much. Maybe I should, no I will, focus on the positive things that I have noticed. Maybe I am not a size 8, I don't know if I ever will be, but, last summer I was in an XXL, yesterday, I bought a dress that was a medium! Being a size 8 doesn't necessarily make me healthier, being fit makes me healthier. I am excited and stoked to see the additional changes my body will undergo with my continued clean eating, and fitness challenges.

So, to celebrate Labor Day, I am going to hang out with my daughter (I did labor for 21 hours!!) and enjoy the gifts that God gives me everyday.  Have a great day, and celebrate a shortened work week!!

Sunday Funday!

So, yesterday was a crazy busy day! It started off with a 8 mile run and then breakfast with my running friends. After breakfast, I had to shower quickly and then get ready for a bridal shower. The bride was definitely surprised, and the shower kinda awkward. Anyway, I was only there briefly I had the opportunity to help my mom with getting my dad to the airport so he could go visit my sister J. After getting him on his way, we went to my Uncle "Quack's" house for a Labor Day party. It was nice to hang out with family. One of the bad things that I have noticed with eating healthier, is that while at said picnic, other than corn on the cob and chicken, nothing else there even peaked my interest, including the deserts.  It was a little disappointing, but a huge success in the willpower department. We came home and just hung out. Well, I did housework and ran to get some groceries, once M was in bed. My husband was in bed by 700 last night.

This morning, I woke up and ran 6 miles with some of my running friends again. This time at Jacobsburg State Park. It is beautiful there, but my legs were sore, and I was hoping that after a mile they would loosen up. But they did not :( Then I had a brief period of mental fatigue and all I wanted to do was walk away from it all. But, no worries, my good friend Bob (I hope I can call him a good friend) talked me through what I was feeling and found the good things and the things I should be proud of in this run. So, I finished the run, and finally, I am feeling proud of running 2 tough runs back to back. Maybe one day I will be a marathoner or and ultra runner, in the meantime, I am going to enjoy the journey to my next half marathon.

Since it's a holiday weekend, I don't have to worry about the weekend ending too quickly. I get to skip Monday by staying home ;)

Have a great Sunday!

It's the end of the month!!

Wow, can you believe that August is over already?!?! Where has the summer gone? This weekend is a long weekend for most of us, me included. Tomorrow is going to be a super busy day, but before I get into that, I want to recap about a little challenge that I participated in.  Somehow I found this challenge on facebook where the challenge was to do at least 50 crunches or twists everyday for a month. I signed up to do it, and I followed through. I actually enjoy the fact that I work up a sweat while doing the ab circuit that I was doing.  In 31 short days, here are the results...

 

 

While I know that the changes aren't drastic, they are there. I am going to keep doing the ab circuit this month, I am just going to step it up a notch. If the changes are appearing after 1 short month, I am excited to see what the changes will continue to look like down the road :) OK, enough about the ego boost...

 

Tomorrow, I am running 8 miles. 8 miles. OK, there I said it. I am not dreading it anymore. No, I was never dreading it, more scared about it. Since I went to physical therapy for my IT Band, I haven't had any "pain" running. Now that I am stepping up the mileage, I am nervous to find out what will happen. But, I will take it slow and steady, and finish the 8 miles, with a smile. After running tomorrow I have a wedding shower to attend. I am looking forward to it, there is something about celebrating some one's love that makes everyone smile. After the shower, is a Picnic at my uncle's house. Hopefully, the weather will allow for some swimming because besides M loving the water, I am sure my joints will appreciate the water.

 

I am not sure if anything is in the works for Sunday, but I am sure it will involve me hanging out with my mom. She's kinda awesome! Monday of course is labor day and a day off of work, again will probably consist of hanging out with my mom.

 

Anyway, I hope August was special for you, and that you are hanging on to the summer like we are.  While I am ready for the fall, I am wanting time to slow down, I don't want my sweet little girl to grow up too fast.

Happy Friday!

Workout Wednesday

I never ever thought I would ever admit it, but I have to admit it. Today, my friend Bob met me with at Lafayette's stadium. I haven't done these beasts for over a month, and I missed it! Me, missed running stadium steps. What is wrong with me?!? Bob is more than a friend, he is kinda like my coach, although we push each other through the steps. Our goals for the steps is to do 10 reps, 5 full and 5 half, and between the reps either push ups or crunches. Today, we did 11!! Bob, I know I said that it felt like the halfway steps got easier, I found this and thought it was more appropriate...

So, while you are dreaming about making a goat out of limberger cheese, I am constructing ways to keep you motivated for your marathon training.
Thank you pinterest for this...

Just know that when you finish...

In the meantime, I will see you next week for more of our

 

 

Hope you had a great workout today, I know I did!

 

Trusty Tuesdays

I have no idea while my post is titled that, I  am not very good at naming the blog posts. I just let things flow from my brain, sometimes filtered, sometimes not. Sometimes things just came up. Like today. Err um this morning.  I woke up, did my awesome ab workout (did I just say that?!?) and then wanted to run. But, Joe wasn't home from work yet and M was still sleeping so I didn't. I went to work and then came home. The sunset was beautiful so I hoped that the night was going to be a good one to run. I packed up M and we headed out.  I love these twilight runs with her, she chatters on about finding her moon, looking for woof-woofs, and blue bye-byes, and all the fun little things that come out of her mouth. She likes it when I go fast, and whenever I stop to catch my breath she always says "uh-oh." She cracks me up. She doesn't like it when I ask her if she wants to go for a walk with me, but as soon as I ask her if she wants to run with me, her face lights up.  I even busted out the headlight, which by the way is uncomfortable and hard to do. Maybe I need a new headlight?!? Anyone out in the blogiverse, have any suggestions? I have to admit I wish running with the jogging stroller was getting easier, although I have only been doing it for not even 3 weeks.  It does count as a good cross-training right?!?

Anyway, I wanted to put into this writing so that I can remind myself of what I want to achieve....
MY FITNESS BUCKET LIST
1- I want to run a marathon. A FULL Marathon. But, I don't want it to be just any marathon, I want it to be flat, particularly by the beach, with some of my BCR friends, no family, there cheering me on.
2- I want to run an ultra. Nothing like Decker, but something fun and new and exciting. I guess anything over 13.1 miles will be new and exciting.
3- I want to do a chocolate run in Canada. This particular race. Not necessarily May of next year, it depends on finances and vacation time at work, but it looks tempting. I would love to take my running internationally :)
4- I want to do a triathlon
5- I want to conquer 10 full reps of the stairs at Lafayette
Those are the first 5 things that popped off the top of me head. I reserve the right to add to the list. I hope one day I can look back and be like wow, what kind of kid wrote those?!? LOL!

Anyway, speaking of steps, tomorrow is my day off and I have a date with Bob and those killer steps at Lafayette.  That is after hopefully spending all day with M, well I will be spending all day with her, to visit a daycare, lunch with some friends, hopefully seeing my cousin's baby, then finishing the day off with the steps and some where in there a trip to the gym. I think I am going to need a day off to recover from my day off. But anyway I get to spend time with M is time well spent. I love all of these adventures that we go on, I am excited to see what tomorrow brings. Until then!

Hope you had a sweat-tastic Tuesday!

Get Down and Dirty

I just got down and dirty. How, I did my 26th day of my AB challenge and since I stepped up the bar with the type I am doing I get really sweaty. I AM NOT complaining! I love that I am sweaty, makes me think I am actually working, which makes me feel great! Maybe just maybe in a year I will actually like my body. I know my plan for next month's ab challenge and I am excited to see the results. More so after next month, but I guess if I look at how far I have come, I cannot complain. (although I do, just to myself). I need to start finding the good in how far I have come.

 

 

Looking at this picture should put things into perspective, but it doesn't. Well, it does, but it also makes me want more. I need to step it up. No more backing down, no more excuses.

I put so much pressure on myself in the gym, and in what I eat, and then the weekend comes and I let it go. I need to put my finger on it. I think I have, and now I need to overcome, I will overcome

I will overcome. I just need to forgive myself when I make a poor choice, instead of throwing it all away.

 

Saturday I ran 7 miles. 7 pain free absolutely beautiful miles. I am so thankful everyday for what Breakfast Club Runners have given me. Friends that I never knew would understand my need to run, and my silliness. Next week I will be celebrating my runniversary. I think that on Labor Day, I will head to Plainfield Township's running trail to where it all started and run there again. It will be an emotional run, but a run that I deserve.  At breakfast on Saturday I was talking with Roger, Chris and Kim about what changes I have seen in my body since running. I think the biggest thing that I can say that the BCR gets is not that I am running because I am getting chased, but I am running from what I once was, and chancing down who knows what. Who that girl was almost a year ago. She sometimes rears her ugly head, on a day like today when I wasn't really active, but most days, she is in check. Those long runs remind me of where I came from, how much of a struggle running once was. How even just pushing M around is only 1/2 of the weight I lost in that year.  While the number on the scale may not be changing, it doesn't mean that I am not losing weight, it just means that I am getting more muscle. (I hope anyway).

 

I blog, not for the accolades. I blog to show the real me. The down and dirty me. The reasons I do what I do. The everyday struggles that I have. This is the real me.  Don't get me wrong, I love running, I love getting fit. I love that people come to me to help them get healthier, but I also have my moments where I ask myself why. Well...it has to stop. I need to believe in myself. I KNOW I can do it and that I will do it. My mom even "yelled" at me today when I made a comment about my pudge today. She reminded me to look at where I came from.

Feb 2010, before I got pregnant

April 2012

And to see where I have grown.

 

I will continue to get down and dirty. I will continue to embrace the struggles that will make me a better, healthier me. I will do it! I might whine and complain, but I know I will definitely need your support.



Catch up!

I really feel like I need to play catch up sometimes. Today, was an unplanned trip to the beach. By unplanned I am saying that last night at 9 pm we left for the beach. We got there at a little before midnight, til we unwound and was able to get M to go back to sleep it was probably close to 1 am. We were back up at 6 and she was ready to go! She was awake all day until we put her in her car seat at 4pm to leave. She passed out before we even left the driveway and slept until we stopped to eat. She really is a good passenger, and all this traveling is making me excited about her upcoming first plane ride! Anyway,  I wanted to reflect on something that I have been thinking about since yesterday...
So, Joe now works 11p-730am. My routine here has to be adapted in order to still continue with the gym and well life in general. Anyway, yesterday was a run day. So, without hesitation I figured out how to adapt my schedule to still achieve my run. Well, I busted out this handy dandy thing. I have to say that I naively thought that it couldn't be that hard if I see people racing all the time pushing their strollers.Well, after 3 miles, I looked like this...

This was only 3 miles! I am glad that I was able to run while pushing M, and at the same time I have gained a lot of respect for those moms/dads who run pushing their children in the jogging strollers. They make it look VERY easy! I am currently training for a half marathon, so I know I really can't afford to not run. So, now I am trying to figure out how to be creative to get my workouts in. This week I have figured out how to still get my runs in, get my daughter out there with me, since I thank her every day for everything.  Well, this is where I put things into perspective. My daughter is approximately 28 pounds. I started getting teary eyed when I reflected on how hard running was for me not just 28# ago, but also 57# ago. I still get teary eyed thinking about that.

Anyway, I had no plans to run today (I lie!) I packed to run, but didn't know if I was going to feel like running. I slept on the floor last night and felt a little sore from yesterday so I set out to run a mile. I ran 3 instead. There is something said to go set out to run 1 mile and run 3.

So, here is to all of the little things that we do that everyday that amazes us. Here are to all the little milestones we meet. Hopefully together we will all achieve our own greatness and all feel more comfortable in our skin. I hope we give 100% in all we do, if we don't care for ourselves, who will. I have a destination wedding and a trip to Florida next year, the Game is on suckers! I am stepping it up so that I know I will feel comfortable at the destination wedding. I know it's not about me, but I also want to feel comfortable in whatever I wear and be proud of how far I have gone. There is no turning back, I am not the same person I was when I began the journey a year ago, and I am excited to see who I will become in the next year.

 

 

I chose to be the best Michele I can be. If that means I look like a fool doing crunches on the beach, then be it. At least I know I am doing everything I can to widdle away the middle! A stronger core will help my self-esteem as well as my running. See, it is a win win situation.

 

Happy Wednesday!

It definitely happened at the zoo

Today I ran a 10K at the LV Zoo. This weekend was my planned 6 mile run, I just changed up the day of the week. Anyway, with knowing that today was coming, Sat was an earned day off. So, before I went to bed, I went through my ritual of laying out what I was going to wear the next day.

This morning, I woke up at 530, and felt not well rested. I knew it was going to be a long day, but I also knew I was ready for it. I have already completed a half marathon, what's 6.2 miles. Well, let me tell you something about this race. I really felt like it was really well organized and there was an awesome crowd. The course marshalls were awesome with directing the 5Ks and the 10Ks onto the right path. Now...I know I do steps, but apparently I need to do some hill work. Especially with the half marathon coming up, I really need to step the hills up a notch. We entered our first major hill at mile 2, and we hit the peak at mile 3. Down the hill we went and then we hit another hill at mile 3.5 and that went on until mile 4. I would also like to point out, that I am not really sure if anyone ran up that first hill. It was NEVER ENDING!! Anyway, I went into the race hoping to do it in 1 hr and 6 minutes, and even with the hills, I managed to do 1 hr 10 minutes (unofficially). My favorite part of the race, getting to Ford the Creek by foot. That was at like mile 5. At that point, I met up with a boyfriend and girlfriend pair who had a great pace. I was trying to make up time but I was way too spent from the hills. (I really respect my friends who did Quadzilla and if anyone wants to drag me along to run hills, please take me) Anyway, I stayed with their pace and even encouraged the girlfriend on to keep going strong. We hit mile 5.5 and the boyfriend and I started to pull a little bit away. I kept trying to encourage the girlfriend on, but at this point my legs felt great although tired. At mile 6 we entered the zoo and were teased by all of the finish line stuff. We still had to run around the zoo in order to cross the finish line. The boyfriend was a little bit ahead of me and he signaled that the finish line was in view. I cranked it on and finished hard and even ended up passing him when it really matter most. I wish I would have turned it on a little sooner, but now I know how great my legs can feel! At the end of the race, I ran into a girl named Rachel (I really hope that is her name) I had met her the week before at one of the Breakfast Club Runners trails and it was nice seeing her again. She asked me if I heard her husband as I was finishing to which I said no. She said he was shouting that he knew me. Me? Really? Wow? Thanks.

After the race, we were able to enjoy the zoo before it opened. We had taken M earlier in the year and she just wasn't really into it. Well, that all changed this time...

To us, this is a Zebra to M it was a neigh neigh (horse)

 She loved this owl. She was able to say owl, and she kept talking to it and talking to it and talking to it.

 Here, she is pretending to be an otter...I promise, she is enjoying this, she is saying "cheese"

 Here, she is being a Penguin, although she was really trying to find them...

We think this Ostrich was trying to peck his way out of the cage, but no worries, he didn't get very far.

While I wasn't happy with my time, I was happy that I was able to run pain-free and to help me know that the steps are paying off, but that I need to incorporate hills into my training. I am hoping that my bike is up and running soon, so that I can also add that to my training schedule. Will I run this race again, quite possibly, but I will make sure that I am more prepared for all of those hills!

Hope you had a great Sunday!

It's the weekend eve!

So, this whole 10 hour shift thing is kicking my butt. I am not really complaining, but I am still trying to adjust to working 10 hours. It is not like I sleep in either. I am up before 5 every day, even weekends. I feel like I have wasted some of the day if I sleep in past 7.  The last 2 nights have been restless, M woke up early Wednesday morning (2am) screaming, and wouldn't go back to sleep unless I was holding her. This morning it was 4am. By the time I was deep asleep, it was time for me to get up and get active. Today, was a run day. I try to keep my run days to Tues, Thurs, and my long runs on Sat. With a 10K on Sunday, my plan is going to hopefully ride my bike on Sat with the Breakfast Club Runners while they run. However, that is up to my uncle who is servicing it. Otherwise, it will be a short slow run. Back to today. I haven't run with music in almost a month. I did take my music today, but I changed my playlist.  I had set my mind to do the 4 miles in 44 minutes and pain-free. Last Saturday when I ran, I had a strange twinge down my leg.  It wasn't pain, it was like an electric shock for like a split second.  Anyway, I am also trying to slowly increase my mileage since I am currently training for a half marathon. Well, so I got to Fairview Park, which lately is my go to place to run.  It was an absolutely beautiful morning. It was in the 60s, with low humidity.  They were setting up for the local carnival that is going on there, otherwise there was the occasional walker on the path.  I started running, focusing on my breathing since I still feel like that is the hardest part of my struggle. I am not sure if that is due to the fact that I couldn't run for 6 weeks due to PT or if it is because I haven't taken my allergy medicine going on 2 months now. Anyway, I made sure to focus on the breathing and the surroundings. Like I said, I was ok with running 11 min/miles so when I was at 1/2 a mile I noticed that my time was at 11. I was like, this feels good, let's push it a little bit more.  At the mile marker I was at 10:30. It still felt great, so I kept pushing it. I noticed that each mile was closer and closer to 10 minutes, I even think mile 2 was under 10 minutes. I continued to focus on my breathing, and how great it felt to be running. There was no pain, no weird shocks.  When I was finished my 4 miles, I looked down at my trusted Garmin

And saw that!!! 4 miles in 40 minutes!! Even the last mile at 8:41, although I am not sure how accurate that time was,  I wasn't even giddy about that. I was stoked over the 4 miles in 40 minutes!  I feel like all of my hard work is starting to pay off.

This run is just what I needed. If you recall from this post, things have been really hard for me. I have been losing motivation because I feel like I am not seeing results. Then I had that conversation with my cousin that made me totally stoked! This morning, I reread that post and noticed that I had comments on it.  A sweet lady named Jenna commented on the post and it made my day how I have touched someone else. I sometimes forget where I came from.  That here in the next 2 weeks in my 1 year Runniversary! I cannot believe how far I have come in such a short period of time. Yes, all my runs won't be this spectacular, but maybe they will. I will continue to work hard both in the gym, running, and in life in general. Good things come to those who wait, and those who work hard. I believe I do both of them.  I have the personality where I don't give up on anything I do, and that I give 100% in all I do.

I have also realized that I might want to try a triathlon one day, and even crazier, I want to do an Ultra. I will probably do the Ultra sooner than later, but before I am 40, I will do at least one Ultra. There, I have it in writing. What a lofty goal I have.

Here is to the weekend eve! I hope you have a great Friday! Enjoy the weekend! I cannot wait to hear all about it! I also cannot wait to see what it has in store for us!

How an awesome day got even awesomer

So, after the baseball game on Saturday and M enjoying it, I was excited and nervous all at the same time. We haven't been to the beach in almost a year, and I wasn't quite sure how M would do. So, at 530 this morning I took this picture...

Sorry about the photo quality, I don't know how to use the flash on my iPhone. Anyway, she kept saying "go Mama go." I guess she couldn't wait to get there either.  She slept most of the way down there, and when she was awake she wanted to watch Rocket (Little Einsteins). While I love having the ability of watching Disney Junior shows on my iPhone, it has reaffirmed the need for a portable dvd player and Little Einsteins videos when we fly to Chicago. But, that is an adventure for another day. Anyway, in less than 2 hours we were at the beach. Tell me this isn't an awesome view...

We were like the 3rd car of people there. With a view like this, and weather like we had today, it reaffirmed my love for the beach and my need to go there more often. Hmm, random road trips coming anyway.

Here is the first picture I took of the day, when M was going for a walk with my mom.

Guess it was safe to say that she loved it. She always needed her "dig" to go with her wherever she went. Of course, being there since 8 am led to needing to eat. So, when she wasn't digging somewhere, or rolling around in the sand and getting covered head to toe, I was able to get her to sit down to eat, of course, in "Mama seat."

I couldn't get her to nap, and she wasn't really fussy.  She just wanted me for everything. When it was time to leave, I was able to rinse her off and get her changed. She said she wanted her seat, I put her in her car seat, and before we even left our parking spot this is what I saw.

I guess you could say she had an awesome day.  But, that was only half of it for me. Before all of this cuteness was captured, I took this picture...

I just thought it was a nice picture, and now, it has more meaning.  My cousin went with us to the beach. Him and I used to spend time together when we were both younger, we just hung out. Went to lunch, made fun of people, you know silly stuff. Anyway, I don't see him that often because he is busy being a college junior and swimmer and working and you know living life.  Anyway, there was a person at the beach that I perceived myself as looking like. It's a long story, and writing this is helping me admit that I have low self-esteem issues.

Anyway, I asked him if he saw me that same way. Now, he is not one to lie. If you ask him a question he is uncomfortable with, he either laughs when you ask it or he quickly changes the subject. Well, when I first asked the question, he without hesitation said, "No, you don't look like that. Not at all. You look really good. Much better than you used too." He then continued, "Whatever it is that you are doing it, keep it up!" While he has no idea how much hearing that meant to me, or how hearing that helped push me through this little funk, his words re-energized me. 

Later, on the way home, he was looking at Runner's World Magazine and saw this add for people hiking through the desert. He started laughing, and when I asked him what he was laughing at he said, "I don't know. For some reason, I can picture you running this." I laughed, he has no idea that doing an ultra (maybe not running through a desert) is on my bucket list.

Thank you cuz! You really helped make an awesome day awesomer and you really made me feel like all of this running, these early morning trips to the gym, all this stuff is actually working and maybe, while I cannot see it because I am so critical of myself other people can see it. People who I never would have known noticing actually are noticing. Maybe just maybe, one day I will be comfortable in my skin again?!?! Wow!

Speaking of that, I am almost half way through my August Ab Challenge. I took a picture when I started and I will take one half way through and then at the end. Here's hoping that I will even see changes. In the meantime, I have to remember this...

From Pinterest



So, here is to the start of a new week, and a new outlook on life! Have a great week! Happy Monday!