Bittersweet

My grandfather was an amazing man: strong, hardworking, stoic, giving... wicked sense of humor... He is and will be greatly missed. His funeral was this past Friday, so I flew to Mississippi to be with the family to celebrate his life. I was touched by the outpouring of sympathy and shows of concern for my grandmother, dad, and aunt, and so impressed by the number of folks who came to say goodbye. I have always admired and respected PawPaw, and just being there to remember him inspired me - to give freely and often, to never compromise my own beliefs and integrity...

While it was a sad reason to be there, it was a really great trip. It was fantastic to catch up with family that I hadn't seen in years, and to spend time with the family and friends I'm close to. Julie and Kate drove over, and as usual, it was a blast being with them. Julie and I did some shopping Friday night. We hit the outlet mall, and something happened that hasn't happened to us in, well, ever, really. We picked out clothes, tried them on, and checked out - all in the same store!! I haven't been able to shop at stores like Banana Republic for myself in ages! And I hit that dressing room with an armload. It was an amazing feeling - to see all the work paying off is an enormous motivator! And an enormous drain on my bank account.

Saturday, Julie and I went with one of my oldest and favoritest friends and his son to the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center (or as Kate insists it's called, the "Kids' Museum" - makes it sound like they have kids on display). We had a blast! The kids played so enthusiastically, and I have to admit that we "adults" joined in as well. Kate loved the big tall climby thingy in the middle (a three story climbing extravaganza), Landon loved anything that he could cook with, Julie loved the scientific discovery lab, Trent loved the musical experiments, and I loved the treehouses!

I missed my workout on Monday since Mom, Dad, and I were traveling back to TX, but yesterday, we re-measured me and re-calculated my body fat percentage. In early February, we decided that I needed to lose 11% of my body fat. As of yesterday, that number is 7%. Yay! While my weight has hovered around the same number for the last couple of weeks, I have lost almost 3 more inches (from my waist and hips), and am seeing more muscle tone in my legs and arms. I've decided to cut waaay back on the amount of carbs I'm eating, saving the whole grains for breakfast and sometimes lunch, and trying for veggies and protein at dinnertime. I did well yesterday until I sat down to watch a movie and really needed some popcorn. (It was smartpop - reduced fat, and as natural as microwave popcorn gets!)

Anyway, life's about to get really busy around here. Show season has begun, and next month is going to be crazy! I have one weekend off. Ew. But my energy level is through the roof, I'm stronger than I've ever been, and that just makes life so much better - and my job so much easier to do! But before all of the spring show season madness, I'm going dancing. :) Have a great weekend, everyone!

"The fact is, that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can." -Robert Cushing

Tangible Motivation

Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Garner, Jessica Biel... Some of the "bodies" that inspire me - or that I aspire to be like... I wish I could ask each of them a few questions, though. I know that in the business they're in, physical appearance is a huge part of being successful, and that in itself is an enormous motivator. But what I'd really like to know is what specifically motivates them personally to keep as fit and healthy as they appear to be. Do they really enjoy the daily workouts? Is it fun? Is it a means to an end? Or just a part of daily life?

For me, I think it's a combination - it's fun, sometimes, and it's a means to an end... and I've made it a part of my daily life. But sometimes I struggle to find motivation to keep it up. It gets easy to "cheat" and I think I allow myself a little too much wiggle room when I don't have a definite goal in mind. I need a deadline! Something tangible... Early on, it was the cruise to Cozumel. I had less than 6 months to get to the point where I was comfortable in a bathing suit in public. Then, I needed to find a great dress to wear to a wedding. Now, I know that summer is coming quickly, and I'd like to have to go buy another new swimsuit, preferably one without the cute little skirt thingy. I think, though, that what's lacking is the "by when". So, my friends, I believe some vacation planning is in order!

Maybe someday, I'll get a chance to ask Jennifer Garner or Jessica Biel my questions (If I can remember the English language at that moment), but until then, I'll just assume that they're like me - they might not really want to put down the book, or turn off the tv, or wake up early, but they do. Maybe like me, they just want to be the best possible version of themselves.

Nearly Naked...

Nobody warns you that you have to throw your entire closet away. Seriously, I just boxed up everything that has been in my closet for the past couple of years. Some of my favorite shirts, my comfy cargo pants... Good thing I really like this one pair of jeans! :)

I think every gym should have a community closet - where as we all downsize, we can donate our favorite items of apparel for our successors to borrow. And it would serve as incentive for the shrinkers - we wouldn't want to have to take back those jeans we donated last month!

I also think there should be a recipe exchange, complete with samples! We could all freeze little bits and pieces of our favorite recipes and keep them handy for taste-testers. I hate it when you find a recipe that sounds delicious, you go buy all the ingredients, slave away over a hot stove, and find out that your masterpiece tastes like, well, just doesn't taste the way you were hoping. I've even turned my nose up at recipes because they didn't sound like they would be very yummy when they'd probably be something I'd really enjoy.

I made an awesome Turkey Chipotle Chili tonight that I was so excited about! It started as a recipe from a Clean Eating magazine, but I couldn't find a key ingredient (what the heck are tomatillos anyway??), so I improvised. It got the "roomate seal of approval", and made the entire house smell muy delicioso.

It snowed in College Station last week! I stopped by Best Buy on my way home from work so I could purchase a new camera to take snow doggie pictures with. Sabrah hadn't seen snow before, and I knew Madeleine was going to go nuts in it. I got some really cute shots!

Synchronized Snow Leaping

Uh, mom, my nose is cold... ???