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September 24, 1985.  This girl was born.  September 24, 2012.  I celebrated my 27th Birthday.  *Gulp*

I had a fantastic day.  Fan. Tast. Ick.  Photojournalism seemed like a fun idea'r.  So here she goes.

I started out my day with my Body Blast Group.  Day 4.  We met at Richardson Nature Center (perfect for my birthday!), and we did a hill run workout.  We ran to the bottom of the Bush Lake Rd. hill, to the stop lights, turned around and ran the 1/2 mile back up the hill.  Repeat x2.  And jog back to the nature center.  It was a cool brisk morning; PERFECT for watching the sun come up as we broke a mad sweat truckin' up that hill.  Bush Lake Rd isn't far from our place, so I hope to include this workout once a week.  I'm thinking Mondays.  Stay tuned.

Caribou Coffee also helped me celebrate my day of birth, buy giving me a free drink.  Sadly, didn't get anything fancy...I felt too good after my morning workout to ruin it with sugary syrups and junk.  I opted for an Americano that I poured into my protein shake. NOM NOM.

One of Peter's gifts to me, a couple packages of crazy colored socks. :)  He knows the way to my heart.  On top of the socks, Peter got me 8...yes 8 colorful spatulas.  (Kitchen accessories....also the way to my heart.)  A jumbo pill container (I requested this, because all my supplements don't fit into a regular sized container - so I always had to delicately and strategically place them in their compartment.  Not anymore!  He also gave me a Matthews Jersey Tshirt.  GB logo on front Matthews 52 on the back.  And a Matthews "poster".  ;)  

I had a short and sweet day at work yesterday, and right before I was getting ready to leave...Peter strolled in with some Stargazer Lilies, Dark Chocolate (salted), and a very thoughtful card.  These flowers smelled OUTTA THIS WORLD AWESOME.  Can't wait to go in my office today.

My very best good friends, Sarah and Jen got me a bag full of goodies as well.  A Paleo Cookbook (again, kitchen accessories....LOVE), Coconut Butter packets (NOM), some various dark chocolate, and some 'raw peanut butter (which needs an entire blog post on its own to describe).

Peter and I ran home, ran a few errands, and went back to LifeTime to pick up a very special package.  A dog.  Diesel, a 2 year old pure bred boxer.  

Saturday I received a call from our good friend Sarah, telling me about a coworker who needed to find someone to foster his dog for awhile because his living situation had changed and needed to find a home for him while he figured out a different residency.  Sarah thought of Peter and Me, complete dog lovers, that just haven't been ready to pull the trigger on complete canine ownership yet.  Lately I have been jones'ing for a dog, and Peter has actually been the practical one, saying that we really shouldn't and can swing it right now. We talked it over, got some more information, talked with the owner, and upon meeting Diesel yesterday, took him home with us.  Happy Birthday ME! :)  

As well as helping out a coworker, and a great dog, this gives us a chance to trial run the dog parent lifestyle.  This is not a permanent situation, but right now we don't have a timeline as to when the owner will be able to take him back.  So for the foreseeable future, we are proud foster parents to Diesel.  He is a VERY well behaved, well trained, SOLID 60 pound boxer.  He does great with kids as well as other dogs.  He takes commands well, from anyone.  Sit, Stay, Shake, Laydown, No Beg, etc. etc.  He and Peter have bonded pretty fast, and Diesel follows Peter everywhere around the house.  

Although Diesel seems to be enjoying a lazy morning, I just got back from Body Blast (core day), so we are going to enjoy a nice walk and introduction to the neighborhood. :)  Looking forward to having a walking companion, in Diesel.  Can't wait for everyone to meet and fall in love with him, as we both have.

As for the rest of my birthDAY.  Peter and I spend the afternoon doing meal prep, laundry, hanging with Diesel.  Fired up the grill and had Peter's parents over for Dinner and MNF.  Which I won't even go there, because there is enough talk about the GB game; its a BEAUTIFUL day, and I'm moving on.  Come with me.  ;)

3....2...1...Body Blast - Off!

 August 4th kicked off the Fall 90 Day Challenge.  I was pretty excited to have a rejuvinated commitment, and had some health and fitness goals I wanted to tackle.  By 24th of August, my enthusiasm had waivered.  Mentally I tried to recommit with the new month of September, but the Labor Day weekend wasn't exactly conducive to my efforts. 

My 90 day goal was to cut about 18 pounds, and I was down 7 at one point, but then back up a few.  So technically, I still lost 4 spare pounds in the 90 Day Challenge effort; but I was not attacking my goals as previously planned. 

While in a session with a favorite client and coworker (a personal trainer), the topic of her 10 Day Body Blast Training Group came up.  10 days straight.  6:30am High Intensity Circut style workouts.  Could this be the accountability and assistance I needed?

One of my struggles in staying compliant to my goals, is trouble getting my rear out of bed and in gear.  I can flex and mold my work schedule, so I found myself being lazy in the morning, getting distracted, and not getting to the gym until the last minute.  Which was fine; but was not helping the intensity or quality of my workouts.

I can tell you, after 2 mornings of Body Blast....this is exactly what I needed.  Accountability to get out of bed, and get to the gym.  To push myself, or be pushed by a trainer, in oh, so fun speed/agility/plyometric workouts.  Along with setting a physical (weight loss) goal, we set a nutritional behavior change goal.  Respectively, my goals are to cut 5lbs of FBM, and to return to portion and time controlled meals.  Oh, and to stop seeking out the deliciously evil cruncy peanut butter when I have a hankering for a snack.

Getting up early, getting to the gym, to workout with a small group, an awesome trainer has caused my energy to sky rocket.  It is a tad(pole) like eating the frog. 

Eat That Frog

30 second intervals bear crawling, speed ladder'ing, and push up claps will be, without a doubt, the toughest tasks of my day.  And at 7:00am, they are behind me.  Thats a great feeling. Not to mention, the jump start I have on my list of administrative tasks to do here at work, AND pumping out a blog.  That always makes this girl happy!  Oh, and did I mention that I get to see my favorite little people today?!?

Ella Jane turned 2 last Saturday, and Nolan will be ONE tomorrow.  So we will be venturing to WI and celebrating a little with them this evening.  Excited to see, snuggle, and love on them.

I'll update ya'll throughout the next 9 days, and remaining 8 days of Body Blast.  'Til then...forget kissing frogs...get to eating YOUR frog.  

Wisconsin Weekend Wins

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but one of my favorite conversation starters is the "Hi/Low" question.  Last night, after we crawled into bed early (9:00), I asked Pete what his Hi/Low of the weekend was.  His "low" was the ugly football game.  (Even though the Badgers pulled off a Win, it was NOT pretty).  He reported his High was walking around Camp Randall, taking in the atmosphere and people watching.

For me, this weekend was plump full of highs, so I think I just might make a list.
*Friday night trip down to Verona with Peter,  never turned on the radio, just chatted about this and that the entire way.
*Getting to see two of my favorite aunts, who flew from Cali to take in some Packer/Badger Football.
*Getting to spend time with my aunt and uncle - Andrew & Stacey, and Roxy, their adorable Cocker Spaniel.
*Spending time, tailgating with a bunch of cousins: Leah, Kris, Gavin, Bri, Russ, Danny, Kelly, Ryan
*Getting Peter to his first Badger Football Game :)
*Purchasing Peter's Sweet Zubaz Badger Hat
*Bo Ryan coming over to chat with us all (we were the last to leave the parking ramp).
*Morning after the game, family scattered all over Drew's house, slowly waking up.  Peter and I on the double wide couch, Uncle Dave on the other couch, Bri & Russ on a (deflating) air mattress in the living room, Gavin on the recliner/futon in the basement, etc. etc.  Took me back to Sunday mornings in college.

With all those Highs said, I am able to pin point one very specific and specific moment that I will treasure forever.  After the game we all met back at our Tailgating spot (4th level of the ramp right next to the Stadium).  After the 5th quarter, the Marching band files out of the stadium and plays an encore.  We were all leaning over the edge taking in the show...some of us polka-ing to "Roll out the Barrel", and singing along with the excellent tunes.  I was standing next to my Grandpa Johnson (a former band teacher himself), and he was bopping along, drumming on the wall to the music.  He leaned over to me and said, with a BIG smile on his face, "If this doesn't give goosebumps, nothing will."  My heart warms just thinking of this moment.

My view, standing next to my Grandpa.  :)

It was an ugly game, but the night atmosphere was electric.  My first night game, and Pete's FIRST game, ever.

Thanks to Uncle Andrew for the GREAT seats!

Two Rows behind us, Janet and Grandpa Johnson. 

On Wisconsin!

Peter and West Coast Aunt Mary.

I'm so glad I got to spend the weekend with my family, enjoying some time treasured traditions of Wisconsin Football.  If you are wondering what my Low was, it was that the day went by too fast and we finally had to succumb to our fatigue at 1 AM.  Wished I could have stayed awake for the driveway fire pit and additional laughs with my family.