BAM!

This morning's work out was killer!

6:30am bright and early. Outside in the morning heat.

4 laps around green top at the park (1/2 mile run)
10 rounds of
    10 TRX pull ups
    20 push ups
    30 body weight squats
4 laps around green top (another 1/2 mile run)

So that's 1/2 mile run, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats, and finishing up with another 1/2 mile run.

OUCH!

These are TRX bands - they hang from something - in our case, an outdoor gazebo. Hold onto the handles, feet out in front, lean back, and pull up. 

I still can't do a regular pull up - probably won't ever be able to do. But oh well! I can do the TRX pull up.

God Bless.

Weekend Recap

Happy Memorial Day!
Tomorrow we honor all the men and women who have fought for country. But we will especially remember those who lost their lives so that we can live in freedom. I am so grateful for the all of the men and women who have served and sacrificed - including my paternal grandfather and both of Paul's grandfathers. I am so fortunate that God protected them as they served, whether here in the US or overseas. Thank you. I love you!

This weekend has been a good one for Paul and me. Yesterday morning we just hung out at home, which was actually a nice change of pace for us - it seems like most weekends as of recent we have been gone or will be gone.

Then we went to see The Avengers - which was really good!

I'll be honest - I knew who Thor, the Hulk, Iron Man, and Captain America were. But I had no idea who the other guys were, or what the story plot was. I was a little more interested in Barbies than super heroes growing up. However, it was still a great movie, and HYSTERICAL! I didn't know there would be so much comedy in it. Go see it!

We then went to Mudtown for dinner. We're trying to explore and experience as much of Birmingham as we can before we leave and this hole-in-the-wall place got good reviews. Well deserved too! It was very good. Paul got a burger (big surprise!), and I got vegetarian jerk lettuce wraps. Excellent all around.

Today, after church, grocery shopping, and resting a little (a.k.a. vegging out in front of the TV watching episodes of Supernanny so I can learn a few tricks), Paul needed to go in to the hospital to get some work done. So I thought I would take advantage of the time to do a little more packing. As mentioned before, we are moving soon - as in 5 WEEKS!! Oh my goodness....just breathe....so much to do and figure out....

Anyway - here's what I've done so far.

I had been working in the back room for a few days. These are the boxes that we didn't unpack all the way initially. We kinda sifted through them when we got here and took out what we needed and then left the rest packed up. I unloaded all of them, went through all of the stuff, and then repacked and sealed them.

These are all of the new boxes of stuff. It may not look like a lot, but it took a lot of time, a lot of packing paper, a lot of tape, and a lot of organizing. It's more than it looks like - trust me.

This time around, packing has not been that bad. Since I started a few weeks ago, and I've been doing a little along the way as I can, when I can, what I can, it really hasn't been daunting or overwhelming. I think I'm getting really close to that point where I can't do much more until a few days before we actually move. The bookshelves are empty. The closets and dressers are thinned out. The kitchen cabinets are much more bare. But for some reason it just feels like a lot less this time.....

So now the only thing left to do is find a place to unpack it all!

Have a great week.

God Bless

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to the World's greatest Mother! Words will never express my love and appreciation for you. If one day God blesses me with children, I hope I can be a mother just like you. To say "I'm turning into my mother" would be the greatest statement I could ever say. You have shown me what it means to be a woman of God, a loving mother, and supportive wife. I love you moster. 

Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful sister, Meredith! It has been so much fun watching you with Henry! You are an amazing mother to this sweet little boy.

Happy Mother's Day to my grandmother! I love you Mom!

And, finally, Happy Mother's Day to my mother-in-law. You are more than just "in-law" to me. I love you very much. Thank you for adopting me into your family and loving me like a daughter.

I have been blessed with so many women in my life who have loved me, raised me, and guided me. I thank God every day from all of you.

God Bless.

A long overdue update...

I have had plans and ideas for posts going through my mind since my last post - almost a month ago!! However, do to technical difficulties (aka I exceeded my limit for pictures, not really sure how), I have been unable to put anything up. But here's the good news - I think I figured out how to remedy that slight problem and will now give a quick update of what has been going on over the past month!

1. We spent a wonderful weekend touring North East Alabama with some friends from UAB! 

We stopped by Trade Day in Collinsville and saw everything and anything for sale. It was awesome!

We also visited two different water falls. The Desoto falls were my favorite! 

We are so blessed by the friends we have made here in Birmingham. Before we moved here I was rather anxious about meeting new people and not making any friends. However, God certainly knew my heart and brought some amazing people into our lives. I know we have made some wonderful life-long friends this year. 

 2. I started going to a bootcamp at 6:30 three mornings a week! It's been great. I initially bought a two week pass on Living Social (kinda like Groupon) and will hopefully be able to continue going. Summer is quickly approaching... enough said. 

3. I spent an entire week in Charleston with my parents, which was simply wonderful. We were able to play, shop, bake, rest, and build the whole week. I found a picture on Pinterest of a coffee table made with an old window frame and sent it to my Dad. Amazing as he is - he was able to come up with a design and helped me build it! He has quite the wood work shop in the garage and I got to use some of his tools to build it. It was SO MUCH FUN!! I got the window frame from my apartment, we bought the wood from Lowes, and then had at it. I cut, templated, sanded, stained, and painted! It was pretty much just awesome and it was a great time working with my Dad. He has a true gift for his craft and I was blessed to get to work with him.

4. And finally - we celebrated my adorable nephew's first birthday this past weekend! I cannot believe Henry is already one years old! He is the cutest and sweetest baby I have ever met! I had a blast baking, decorating, and cooking with my sisters and my mom. Henry had a "Curious George" themed party - very appropriate because now that he is close to walking, he is curious about everything and will get into just about anything!

The birthday boy!!

We baked, cut out, and iced (all from scratch mind you) close to 80 sugar cookies - all H's and 1's. It took all morning, but was so worth it! They were delicious! These were then bagged and tagged and used for the party favors. 

A picture time-line of Henry's 1st year going around the fire place that stands in the middle of the house.

Banana Cupcakes with honey cinnamon icing, and chocolate cupcakes with fondant monkies on them. 

Henry with all his proud grandparents. 

Meredith and David with their son! This was Henry's smash cake! 

Waiting to open presents. He got some really cute outfits and toys. And my dad made him a whole chest full of blocks! 

It's been a busy month - but it's going to be a busy 7 weeks until we leave. It's hard to believe that we have less than 2 months left here in Birmingham! This year has flown by. 

God Bless!