Boxes Are Good Fun

The boys have been playing with our empty boxes.  They have become tunnels and cars and even when they are broken down and laying flat in a pile they are fun.  I wish I could say that I was having as much fun with the boxes.  I just really want them unpacked and out of the house.  But I did take the time to snap a few pics of Simon and his enjoyment.

Member One Boot Camp Week #1

So this is the name of my new bootcamp.  I started it and I lead the exercises.  Guess what?  It's just me.  I'm the only member.  I am Member One.  I decided to hold off on joining a boot camp for awhile.  Give me a chance to save some money for other things, and really, I know how to do everything.  Nikki, the Early Bird Boot Camp Instructor, taught me well.  I am going to continue to blog about what I am doing each week and I am definitely continuing on with Weight Watchers.  I am almost at a 10 lb weight loss!  Just a pound and a half to go!  Too bad it's taken me 5 months to do it.  Oh well, they say the slower it comes off the more likely it is to stay off.  Who says that?  Not really sure.  My Mom said it to me once.  Maybe she was trying to make me feel better about it.  That's why I love my Mom.  Anyways here is what I did this week.

I'm continuing with workouts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  I think it worked for me before so I see no need to change that up.  I will probably try to do it around 6:30am so that I can get it done and get back and shower before Troy goes to work and Josh goes to school.  This week I did it in the mornings but I didn't have to do it so early because my Mom is here!  Yay Mom! 

Monday I did pushup planks on our back deck.  I used my workout mat of course.  The pushup planks where you start at 10 pushups then do a plank for 20 seconds.  Then do 9 pushups and do a side plank for 20 seconds.  Then 8 pushups and the other side plank for 20 seconds.  Then 7 pushups and a plank.  And so on and so on.  Those are so tough but it really is a good workout.  Then I did some ab stuff.  I did 2 sets of 10 of each of these exercises: side slimmer, crunches and the ones where you put your feet straight up in the air and just lift your hips off the ground (can't remember the name).  The side slimmer is where you are sitting up and balancing on your hiney (technical term, that) and then twist from side to side.  You can hold a weight if you want.  I just held one of my 5lb weights.  That was it.  I was really sore Tuesday and Wednesday from all those pushups!

I wrote out a complete workout for myself on Tuesday and then Wednesday morning went down to the playground to do it at the basketball court there.  The walk to the playground takes maybe 5 minutes.  So I started with bicep curls and squats, hammer curls with lunges and tricep extensions (above head) and did each of them 10 times and then repeated.  Then I did the grapevine around the edge of the court for 1 minute.  I used the stopwatch on my phone to do all my timing.  Then I did upright rows with lunges, frontraise with palms up while doing squats and back extensions.  I did these exercises 10 times each and then repeated.  Then I ran up the long sides of the court and ran backward on the short sides for 1 minute.  For my last set of exercises I did donkey kicks, dog kicks and a bird dog hold.  I did the 1st two 10 times each and then did the hold 5 seconds on each side for 2 reps.  I then repeated those exercises.  Then I "jumproped" for 1 minute.  Then I did a front plank, and both side planks for 30 seconds each.  I was super proud of myself for getting up and going.  It was a little weird being alone  for it all.  I'm so used to having others there to sweat with me. 

Today, Friday, I went for a mile wog.  Wogging in my new neighborhood is challenging with all the hills.  I was huffing and puffing my way up those hills.  Then I got back to the house and used the steps on my deck to do stepups with an overhead press, stepups with T-Rays, and stepups with a front raise palms down.  I did 10 of each and then repeated.  I alternated legs stepping up also.  Then I did stepups with knee raises and no weights.  25 on each leg.  Then 10 lunges and 10 squats.  I feel pretty good about doing this on my own.  I have the tools and I think I have really started to enjoy exercising and the way it makes me feel.  I really want to lose weight and I think that I am finally at a place where my motivation is high enough to succeed. 

I haven't unpacked my tape measure yet.  Hopefully I will find it over the next week so that I can measure myself.  I'll let ya'll know next week. 

Hello from Virginia!

We are in Virginia!

We left Texas on Tuesday morning and we made it to Blacksburg on Wednesday evening. The kids did surprisingly well and honestly I think it helped that we were able to split Josh and Caleb up between the two cars. It also helped that we had a dvd player and made frequent stops for stretching, running and of course potty breaks. Oh, and for those who might come see us and take the same route we did, here is a little info you might want to know. Don’t stay at the Econo Lodge in Jackson, Tennessee. It was the nastiest place I have ever stayed in. It was right next to a Casey Jones Hotel, whose sign was a red caboose hoisted high in the air on a pole. Anyway the Econo Lodge was a 2 thumbs down from me. It stank. The carpet was damp and it looked like there was mold on the ceiling that had been painted over. The bathtub wasn’t cleaned out and it took forever to drain. It was just gross. Thankfully it was just for the one night.  We did stay at some nicer hotels on our trip.  Here are a couple of pics of the kids enjoying the pool at the Holiday Inn right here in Blacksburg.

We went and picked up our house key from the leasing agent that Thursday morning and headed to the house so my Mom, Nana and Doc could see it. We went and bought some things like a mop and broom, just a few things that I didn’t bring with me from Texas. The water came on that day but we had no electricity until Friday which was when the movers came with all our stuff. They got here around 3pm and finished unloading everything around 7pm, I think. I felt so sorry for them because they had to push everything up that steep driveway.

They had a hard time getting the piano in the front door but it’s now sitting in it’s place in the living room, where it will stay until we leave this house. We still have boxes to unpack but so far there has only been one item found broken, a wine glass. I have most of the kitchen done but not really anything on the walls yet. I put some pictures on the fridge and have more somewhere that I haven’t found yet.  Thanks to Mom, Doc and Nana for helping.  You guys are awesome!

Josh had a bit of a melt down yesterday. He mostly just kept saying that he missed his old house. We all talked about it and reminded him that home “is where we are” and that we are making a home here in Virginia. I told him once all our stuff was out that it would feel more like home. We talked about all the things that this house has that the old house doesn’t. Such as, a gigantic basement that holds all their toys and more, a basketball goal, a big deck and his own room. He seemed to cheer up after that plus we distracted him with the offer of a water gun war on the back deck.

This is Caleb's "bad guy" face.

Simon stayed out of the fight.  He decided trying to pour sand out of the sandbox would be more fun.

We are here, we are adjusting and God is good.  All the time! 

We don't have internet at our house yet so I am writing this from the Starbucks that is down the street.  Free WiFi here!  Woohoo!  I will try to set up a couple of posts before I leave so that they will automatically post over the next few days.  I have missed writing in my blog and reading all the blogs that I enjoy.

Summer Boot Camp Week #5

We are supposed to move on Tuesday of next week.  It has been stressful and of course most of my time has been taken up with it all.  I have not been able to write (blog) like I have been wanting to.  Anyway, I will be back once we get up to our new location.

This was the last week of boot camp for me.  It was a tough two days too.  We won't meet on Friday because of the instructor is going on vacation. 
Monday we broke into groups of 3 and went to 4 different stations.  Station 1 was at the Gazebo where we used the benches to do a tricep exercise and then used the wall to sit against and did T-raises and then bicep curls.  We did 15 reps of all of these and then started over again.  We did this for 7 minutes.  The 2nd station was on the track.  We went half way around did upright rows and then jogged the next half.  Then another arm exercise for a half lap and then jogged the other half lap.  This took up the 7 minutes.  The 3rd station was at our matts with a weighted ball.  There were 3 different ab exercises and we repeated them for the 7 minutes.  The last station was lunges while doing some arm exercises for 7 minutes.  It was exhausting and I was sore that evening and on Tuesday.

Wednesday was really tough though.  I couldn't even begin to tell you everything that we did but we did lot's of different exercises for all the different muscle groups and we did them multiple times.  I was absolutely dripping when I left but I still got a couple of hugs good bye. 

I hope that I will be able to find a good boot camp to attend in VA.  I have been told that there is a "Rambo" boot camp so I will have to find out more about it.  I know that this whole boot camp experience has been really good for me and that from it I have learned what exercising should feel like and how to do it properly. 

I am down 8 lbs from when I first started this journey in March.  I have not lost as much as I had hoped but I know I gained some muscle and lost some inches.  I will keep doing Weight Watchers and I plan on measuring myself after I get up to VA and figure out which box I packed my tape measure in.  I am sure that won't be the first thing that I will be looking for though.

Wordless Wednesday

Summer Fun

I've been busy packing and getting us all ready for our move.  I can not believe that we are now less than 2 weeks away from our moving date!  The time sure has gone by fast.  We have had some fun while we have been saying "good-bye".  Here are a few pics of fun things we have been doing.

Had a fun morning at Tanglewood Splashpad.

All the boys are taking swim lessons.

Hung out with family on the Fourth.

Hung out with friends at a swim party.

We've been having fun during our last hot days of Texas summer!  Bring on the cooler temperatures and fall leaves.  I'm ready!

Wordless Wednesday

Moving Pangs

I looked up the word pang and this is the definition: a sudden sharp feeling of emotional distress.  This definitely describes what I have been going through.  There have been times throughout this last month where I have had at least one pang a day if not more.  Singing a song in church and looking at my friends while they praise our Saviour--pang.  Having a last day of boot camp with a beloved friend--pang.  Packing--pang.  Garage sale--pang.  Seeing a friend's new baby girl--pang.  Hearing of a sweet friend moving back, who I won't be able to be here to welcome home--pang.  Preparing for a family get together and having to say good-bye--pang.  Hearing of everyone's future plans that won't involve me--pang.  There are many more and you can probably relate and be able to add a few.

So I have been sad at the thought of moving away from TX again.  Ecspecially this town that Troy and I have lived in for the majority of our married lives.  This is where we have found our church home and where we have had (and lost) our children.  I am comfortable here and with who I am here.  I love my friends.  I love being close but yet just far enough away from our family. I guess that is the big inconvenience of it all.  I am going to have to step out of my comfort zone, again.  I guess that is part of the angst too.  Just the knowledge that I have of a previous moving experience and how uncomfortable it was for awhile.  I did come to love it and I really miss people from Glasgow and I miss the life we had there also.  So I guess it will be uncomfortable at first and then I will just have to pray and have faith that I will love it.  I already know that the scenery is gorgeous and I know where I am going to live there for at least the next 10 months.  So far, everyone I have met there has been nice.  I know that there is a Sonic Drive-In so that is always good news to me! I just hate "good-byes".  I wish we didn't have to say good-bye.

Summer Boot Camp Week #4

This week we had boot camp on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.  Thursday replaced Friday because the instructor is leaving on vacation Friday and we have NO boot camp next week.  I am going to attempt to boot camp on my own though.  I was only able to make it Wednesday and Thursday of this week. 

Wednesday was intervals with 2 minutes of walking and then 1 minute of jogging/running.  We did that for 21 minutes and then we did Push-up planks.  This time we started with 12 push-ups and then 20 seconds of regular plank.  Then 11 push-ups and then 20 seconds of side plank.  Then 10 push-ups and then 20 seconds of the other side plank.  And on and on until you get to 1 push-up!  Then we did some crunches and some side crunches.  My abs are sore and so are my shoulders.

Today we did ALOT of stuff and I am not sure if I can remember it all.  We repeated it a lot so you would think I would remember from repitition.  Anyways, I know we started off with 10 of everything the first time, then did a 1/2 lap and then came back to do it all again but decreased in reps with 8 and then 6.  Then we ran out of time so we just did a few of the exercises for 5 reps.  This is as much as I remember.  Burpees, bicep curls with squats, side planks raises with arm extensions, squats with overhead press, a tricep exercise and a butterfly one, a couple of ab ones, and I am not sure what it's called but the one where you are on all-fours and you raise up opposite arm and leg and then pull in leg and rotate arm in.  So I am pretty much exhausted after all that. 

The great thing about this week has been the breeze that has been blowing in to cool us off!  It's so much easier to work out when you don't feel like passing out from the heat!

Weight Watchers is still going good.  I am down 4 lbs since I started.  Yay!  I really want to lose 4 more before our move, which is in 18 days.  I think it's possible.  I'm gonna try!