tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52786578634332178012024-03-18T21:15:39.073-07:00An American Newlywed in EuropeAJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-49620365366769003312014-07-10T13:59:00.003-07:002014-07-10T13:59:37.569-07:00The Best Vacation Yet (Part 4- Rome)Finally! It may be months after the fact, but I am now going to write about the last leg of our adventure. This part of our block leave was in the overwhelmingly beautiful city of Rome; and while the city is amazing, our wonderful bed and breakfast pushed the last days of our trip over the edge, rounding off one spectacular vacation!<br />
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We arrived in Citavecchia from the cruise, and after a couple bus rides, a subway line, a wander around knowing that we were SO close to our B&B, we finally found Casa de Silvia! It was in a lovely area with pretty streets and tucked away in a gated courtyard of apartments. We were a bit early, but our lovely hostess with the most-est welcomed in and recommended what we could do while our room was cleaned. We loved her right off the bat, along with her free cakes, tea, and coffee offered all day! We had the next two days to explore the more famous attractions, so we decided to walk around the area we were staying in. While walking, we found delicious gelato, a nice park to sit in, and a slice of pizza to tide Cody over until dinner. That first evening we followed our hostesses recommendation to a small local eatery, Trattoria Simonetta, where I had the absolute most delicious, top of the line, comforting Italian food I have ever eaten! For the most reasonable prices I had ever seen! After that meal, we knew we could trust our B&B owner for the best advice on the rest of our trip :)<br />
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Our second day, and first full day, in Rome was definitely a busy one! We woke up early to a huge breakfast (brought straight to our room) so we could power through our walk into the city center. After stopping to see San Giovani (the closest church to us), the walk to the Colosseum was only about twenty-five minutes, and the confusing streets were all worth it when Cody saw the back of the ancient building for the first time. It wasn't time for our tour yet, so we bypassed the area and continued to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, looked out across the Roman Forum, and then went back to meet up with our tour. While waiting, we were accosted by a man selling jewelry, which is when I re-learned the "don't make eye contact" lesson; and maybe more importantly the "do not smile at people selling things" lesson! After we gave in and bought a bracelet, he left us alone and we were able to get into our groups for the guided tour. This tour was incredible! We were able to skip the lines, and then enter the ground floor of the Colosseum, where the gladiators used to actually fight- it was amazing to be there in a small group and look up at what used to be stands and all the other tourists. We then went to the very top floor of the Colosseum, where again, there was just the small group of us, to see views of all the other landmarks in the area. Finally, we went into the underground where the animals and gladiators used to wait to enter the arena; one of the few areas you can still see the original white-face of the stones. Our tour-guide followed this up with a quick look through the Roman Forums. After a billion thanks to our guide, we ended up strolling along Alessandria Street and making our way to Trevi Fountain! It was just as beautiful, and crowded, as I remember! We ended our touring at the Pantheon and then worked our way out to dinner at another recommended restaurant. This time it was delicious, but not AS great, and not priced as well. We were still happy, full, and sleepy so it was time for bed.<br />
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The last day we spent in Rome began with a tour of the Vatican. This was with the same tour group again, and while it wasn't nearly as spectacular as our tour the day before, it was definitely worth doing. I got super hangry by the end of it all, and we ended up spending way too much money on some food that was barely edible inside the Vatican walls. We vowed to head back to the Trattoria for our last meal to make up for it. Before we could walk back, we checked out the castle, but it was too late to enter. After two full days of tours and walking we were worn out and had seen everything we came to see- now it was time to eat everything we came to eat! We showed back up to the Trattoria and feasted on lasagna, pizza, ravioli, and tiramisu. I felt like I was going to explode, but I wouldn't give back a single bite! We were sad to say goodbye to our new friend at the B&B, who was sweet enough to leave all of our breakfast items in our room for our early departure and order a taxi to pick us up at the gate for a special price.<br />
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When we flew home, it was sad to see such a fun vacation coming to an end, but we were also super content knowing that we wouldn't have changed a thing….<br />
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<br />AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-52355889067205361642014-06-29T03:06:00.002-07:002014-06-29T03:06:48.881-07:00The Best Vacation Yet! (Part 3- Cruise!)<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>After Barcelona, Cody and I embarked on our first cruise together! It had been years since either of us had been on a cruise, and neither of us had been on a Norwegian Cruise Ship--we didn't know what to expect, but we were hoping for the best!</b></div>
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Once we embarked, we were happy to find our room and start to check out the ship. The ship was beautiful, and we were stunned by the size and comfort of our room, with a balcony to boot! The last time I went on a cruise, the room literally had bunk beds that folded out from the walls and a tiny port-hole; not this time! This room was all luxury. That first day we just explored the ship, tried to figure out where all the restaurants were, played some ping-pong on the pool deck, and even took a tour of the biggest (and probably most expensive- whew!) spa on the sea. We chose to eat at one of the included, and more casual, restaurants for dinner, called Taste. We were both happily surprised with the quality of food, too. There are a ton of restaurants to choose from that have a cover charge, so we were shocked that the included restaurants left nothing to be desired! We ended up going to see The Blue Man Group that night, because, how could we skip it?! It was a lot of fun and tons of laughs, but at some point the ship started rockin' and Cody and I both decided it was time to get out of the dark theatre and get to our balcony before we felt sick. The bed, oh that glorious bed, was appreciated after spending three nights choking on cigarette smoke in the apartment we had rented in Barcelona.<br />
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I felt like I was on the cleanest, softest cloud in heaven, so Cody and I slept-in super late, knowing that our first full day on the ship was a day at sea. Once we finally woke up, we had missed breakfast in the restaurants and instead went up to the pool buffet for some lunch. Then it was time to lay out and relax some more- there is always great people watching at a crowded pool, and the adorable plastic-surgery couple dancing all around the deck to every song didn't disappoint! Everybody seemed relaxed and happy, and there were barely any kids around causing a ruckus (I found out later that there was all-day care for kids on the ship, which explained the happy adults!). We didn't spend too long at the pool before we decided that we wanted to entertain ourselves with something else, so we went down to the Irish Pub, Sheehan's, for a pitcher of beer. We ended up watching tennis, playing Deer Hunter (flashback to Morehead BW3s), and other video games, as well as air-hockey! Before we knew it, we were two orders of buffalo wings and fries and two pitchers of beer down. We went to the casino to keep the fun flowing and managed to break even after a couple hours of blackjack. Relaxing in the room sounded just right, so we lounged around until we got hungry again, and then went to get ribs from Sheehan's and watch a Beatle's tribute band. The ribs were shockingly tender and tasty- totally unheard of! It ended up being red carpet night and a dance party on the upper deck club, Spice H20, so after a wardrobe change, we went upstairs and danced with the rest of the party people. Everybody moved inside while we were downstairs changing and fixing a drink, so we wandered into the ship's club and were disappointed to see everybody from upstairs just sitting around looking antsy. We decided to get the dancing going again; within a minute of us getting out there, everybody was up and moving again! We danced as long as our feet could handle, and then headed back to our room.<br />
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Day three of the cruise was our stop at Naples, so we pulled each other out of bed in the morning to disembark and catch a ferry to Capri. I originally went to the Island of Capri during my Sophomore year of high school when I went on a school trip to Europe. Ever since, I had been dying to go back, hopefully one day with a significant-other because it was such a beautiful and romantic place! My wish came true, and my wonderful hubby obligingly made this second trip even better than the last by renting us a private boat tour for two! We spent two hours boating around, dipping into caves and coves, and being told the stories of the island. Our tour-guide Christian was a character; just a lively, Italian boy of nineteen, full of fun stories of his own (I'm sure you can imagine). By the time we got back to shore, we felt we had seen what we came to see, so we picked up some pizza and ferried to Naples. I think our night before caught up with us, and we decided to go back to Taste for dinner and then spend the evening playing Scrabble at the Martini Lounge. Then we settled in for one last sleep in ultimate comfort and I was reaffirmed that I don't need much space to live happily; I just need that space to be a Norwegian Epic Balcony Suite and for Cody to share it with me ;)<br />
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Basically, it comes down to the fact that women are bitches. <b>All of us</b>. Come on, you know it….we all have it in us to be a bit terrible to each other; just some of us are more terrible than others.<br />
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It really is unfortunate and a problem to be overcome.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I bring this up because something has me a bit ruffled:</span></div>
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Just because my body type is naturally thin, I not only get ZERO credit whatsoever for the hard work I put into being fit, healthy, and strong, but I generally get <i>negativity</i> instead.<br />
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Yes. You are right, other women who have pointed this out to me; I have never been what could be considered "overweight." Therefore, I do not necessarily understand the struggle of women who are trying to loose 20, 30, or 100 pounds. Although I may not personally have had the same experience, I do heartily applaud anybody, woman or man, who takes charge of their health and is working towards weight loss goals by changing their diet and exercise habits.<br />
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BUT, just because I am not overweight, doesn't mean that I <u>wouldn't</u> be overweight if I didn't live the way that I do. The reason that I am not overweight is not JUST because I was born thin. Although I was genetically lucky enough to not need to fight off weight as a child or adolescent, I, like any other human, have seen the effects of growing older on my metabolism and body shape.<br />
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And so….<br />
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<b>I work my ass off! </b> Doing workouts that a few years ago I never dreamed would be possible (or enjoyable) for me to accomplish. I put myself through mental and physical strain four to five (sometimes six) days a week, because I love feeling strong and being comfortable in my own body. And heck, I would love to look sexy-as-hell naked, so instead of wishing for it, I work for it! I won't claim to have a perfect diet (I know many people more dedicated than myself at following even stricter diets than my own) but I will say that I pay attention to what I eat in a daily, conscientious effort to stay healthy and happy.<br />
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When I go into a normal gym, there is the occasional woman who is excited for me and wants to know "What are you training for!? You look great!" and I can't explain how wonderful that feels.<br />
<i>Okay. Let me be honest- there has been ONE woman who has said that to me outside of the Crossfit box. But it did actually happen, so I can't leave it out!</i><br />
I don't feel like I deserve a cheerleading squad every time I lift a heavy weight, gain an inch in my booty, or lean out in my midsection (although I often have one at Crossfit Ansbach- thanks guys!), but I <b>would</b> appreciate if all my hard work wasn't often negated by other women.<br />
Generally, when I go into a normal gym and do a workout, I get sideways glances and sometimes outright glares. How dare I, a woman who is already considered somewhat fit and "skinny", go bust my ass in the gym!<br />
<i>Ironically, these same women would hate me even more if I was one of the few who naturally stays around a size two without going to the gym a day in their lives.</i><br />
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When I workout at my box, there is nothing but encouragement all around. We have women of every shape who sweat, struggle, and sometimes cry, together; all of us working towards being the best version of ourselves that we can be. No woman in the box looks disparagingly at any other (or at all like one another). When I see a woman who has that six-pack I would love, I am in awe of them, and cheer them on. This is the magic of community at Crossfit Ansbach. This is a magic that sadly goes "poof" as soon as I walk outside the doors of the box.<br />
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I guess what I'm saying is, don't forget to give fit women credit where credit is due! If I started out 50 pounds heavier than where I am now, I would get praise up and down the block for my hard work (and well-earned praise!). But just because I didn't have to loose weight to get where I am, doesn't mean I have muscles on accident. And it doesn't mean that if I sat at home, worked out once a week, and ate Ho-Hos and Cheetos all day that I wouldn't be overweight. Because, believe me, I would!<br />
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I pushed (and pulled) to get every single one of my muscles. I have figured out how to eat to keep my body at the weight I want and like. I have goals to be fitter, stronger, and more lean, too!<br />
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Just as we are all bitches, we are all guilty of getting pangs of jealousy or anger when we see a woman with a perfectly toned stomach, or long lean legs, or whatever attribute we would love to have for ourselves. But, we shouldn't let this initial reaction get the best of us (or our mouths)!<br />
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Don't hate that girl that looks great in a bikini, or who is tall and lean and jogging circles around your block. That woman most-likely works at looking and feeling a certain way- it doesn't matter her reasons or where she came from. All that matters is that she puts effort into looking how she wants. REAL effort. AND Every women can do the same thing if they truly want. It is <b>hard</b> and it takes <b>time</b>. But maybe, instead of glaring at and disregarding these women for looking fit, you could ask them what work they did to get that way, give them the pat-on-the-back they could be needing, tuck their advice away, and start working towards whatever goals you have for yourself!AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-27085758736791818212014-06-09T13:02:00.002-07:002014-06-09T13:03:25.265-07:00The Best Vacation Yet! (Part 2- Barcelona)<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>The second destination during our two-week-hop was beautiful Barcelona!</b></div>
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Cody and I had already experienced Spain, and were excited to spend some time in one of it's most popular cities.<br />
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We ended up finding an apartment in Barceloneta, which is a small area between the harbor and the far end of the beach. I wouldn't have wanted to stay anywhere else in the city! It felt very local and friendly, like we were just a part of the residents' everyday lives. There aren't any hotels in the area, so any other tourists were renting apartments, like us. As soon as we got in we went to a little cafe attached to the market at the end of our block to get some lunch. We guessed what to try and hit a homerun! The local speciality, bravas, couldn't have been more delicious; imagine fried potato chunks covered in a "spicy" tangy, sauce and a cheesy, cream sauce. We had small sausages on the side with some bread to dip in all the yummy juices. You better bet we ate at that cafe every day- with Cody adding fried eggs on top of his bravas! From there we wandered to the beach, where I was surprised to find cute beach restaurants, playgrounds, volleyball nets, and a long, clean, stretch of lovely sand. <br />
Eventually we had to walk back to meet our friend Jacky at the apartment, and we basically repeated the same exact adventure for a second time! After cleaning up, we found a local tapas bar to hang out in for a bit before wandering around the city in the dark. We eventually found Las Ramblas and followed the lively entertaining street all the way to the pier, where we continued to explore until we finally made our tired way back to the apartment.<br />
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Our second day was set to be our "touristy time" when we could go see the sights I had researched. There were only a few that I HAD to see, so instead of spending a ton of money on a hop-on/hop-off tour, we decided to buy a day pass for the metro and figure it out ourselves. The first stop was Camp Nou, FC Barcelona's home stadium, where Cody and Jacky stocked up on all-things-soccer. From there we went to the famous Sagrada Familia, where we snapped a few pictures, but skipped going inside. The amount of people there was basically unbearable, and none of us wanted to stand in line all day. Instead, we went back to the apartment and decided to laze on the beach for a couple hours; you can't beat having it right there and the 10euro massages in the sand. After the beach, we got all fancy and got ourselves to the Spanish Village to see a Flamenco Show! We ate before-hand because we weren't sure how big the tapas meal would be at the show; that was a mistake. The food was wonderful and bountiful! And the performers were spectacular. Although Jacky slept through the first half, Cody and I totally enjoyed ourselves (and Jacky's portion of the Sangria!). On our walk home we got to watch the Magic Fountain Show and then go to the top of the 360* arena, before collapsing into a cab to take our sore feet home.<br />
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Day three was a total beach bum day, and it was fabulous. We got mojitos, Cody got a massage, and we all just generally lumped on the beach until we got restless. After a walk up and down the beach to find a place for lunch, the boys got into a pick-up volleyball match (very TopGun, minus the jean-shorts) and I got to talk to a lovely girl who lived in Paris. We found the perfect place to have our last dinner, where we spent hours enjoying house-made vermouth, Hendrick's gin and tonics, and seafood paella. The sun, food, and alcohol had finally caught up with us and it was time to call it a night; ending our Barcelona trip on just as great a note as it had started.<br />
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AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-18750406877708027842014-06-04T04:36:00.001-07:002014-06-04T04:41:56.185-07:00The Best Vacation Yet! (Part 1- Porto)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Cody and I had the most wonderful time hoping around Europe!</span><br />
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<b>We started our trip in Porto, Portugal… </b></div>
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<b>What a gem! </b></div>
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We spent our first day wandering around and trying the local cuisine. First on the menu was a Francesinha and local beer from a diner near our B&B. The name Francesinha is way prettier than the sandwich itself, but the layers of toasted bread, assorted meats, cheese, and beer sauce make for a dish unlike any I've ever tried. I'm actually shocked it wasn't invented in America! With advice from our endlessly-helpful host, we managed to see a ton of sights in our first afternoon, including the main square, the beautiful tile-filled train station, a few ornate large cathedrals, and even one church completely gilded in gold. We were constantly shocked by beautiful architecture and views around every turn. We made our way up and down the hills of the city until we made it to the Douro River; luckily, there was a wonderful wine bar and restaurant for us to rest our legs and fill our bellies. On our way home we stopped in a small bar to grab a drink and watch some soccer, only to join in with the four Irish cyclists at the next table for hours of drinks and food. Not only were they a ton of fun, but they wouldn't let us pay for barely a thing! We were so spoiled- and so drunk! I couldn't have planned a better first day if I tried!<br />
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The next day in Porto was a bit more relaxing, as our legs were sore from all the trekking around the city, and we were still hungover from our partying the night before. We managed to catch a bus to the Foz (the area where ocean meets river) and check out the beach before heading to the other side of the river for our tour of Graham's. The history of port wine is truly remarkable, and I felt privileged to see behind-the-scenes where the famous port is aged- not to mention the fact that we each tasted four ports and enjoyed the tour for a total of 15 euro! After checking out the Vila Nova de Gaia side of the river, and eating a surprisingly delicious Italian meal, we headed back into the city, only to crash before 7pm. Thats what we get for going non-stop the day before and staying out all night!<br />
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We had one last day to see anything we had missed, and so we started our third day by searching out the Majestic Cafe- a beautiful place with a long history, including being one of the favorite writing places of J.K. Rowling. We may have walked in 4 circles to get there, but the delicious cappuccino and lovely setting truly was worth it. We decided to carry-on with our mini-Harry Potter-tour and visit a bookstore, Livario Lello, that supposedly inspired sections of the famous novels. Across from the bookstore is the famous Clerigos Tower, where for a small fee, you can take one hundred steps up for a never-ending view of Porto and beyond. Once we had been to the highest point in town (and tackled 200 steps on sore-legs) we went back to the river where we enjoyed a somewhat-boring boat tour; but at least we got off our feet! We struggled to find the perfect place to eat, as the restaurants along the river seemed to all be the same and cost a bit too much (which in this city, is still not very much at all) and so we pushed our hangry selves up the hills once again before landing at a small Cafeteria. The food looked incredible, the outdoor tables were filled with locals eating comfort-food, and the location was perfect for people watching. We ended up spending the rest of our afternoon sipping beer (mine was pink?) and enjoying yummy meals for three euros a pop!<br />
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Porto was a complete mystery for both of us when we decided to visit, and while it falls behind Lisbon on most tourists' lists of places to go in Portugal, we couldn't recommend it more! You wouldn't regret taking the time to check-out this beautiful and friendly European city!AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-53174753276630831662014-04-28T05:00:00.000-07:002014-04-28T05:00:45.404-07:00Oberndorf - Future Home?Last Saturday, I found myself at a bonfire the size of which I haven't encountered since high school Homecoming week (pallets for days!), but in an entirely different setting. <br />
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There were two soccer games in Oberndorf, a small Bavarian village just ten minutes from my house, and Cody was planning on playing in both. I must admit, I am not the biggest soccer fan, but as I've watched more of Cody's games, I've begun to enjoy watching more, too. Nonetheless, I wasn't entirely excited to spend my entire Saturday evening watching soccer, especially since Jill was going to be in Munich for the weekend with a few friends and if it wasn't for the Oberndorf soccer team, Cody and I would be there with her. Cody tried to pique my interest by explaining that if we stayed for both games there would be a bonfire afterwards for the team. I do love me a bonfire! But the idea of standing around a fire where I can't communicate with 95% of the attendees didn't serve to make me overly eager for my night.<br />
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I couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised!<br />
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After Cody's first game he was toasted, and because the 2nd team had enough players, we were able to run home and grab a quick snack and bundle up before the fire. Coming back and watching the end of the second game was more fun with Cody there to explain what has happening (and 2nd team is sometimes just more fun to watch, in general). I was happy to be introduced to a few of the players from the 1st Team who had way better English than I have Deutsch. <br />
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The game ended and we all headed into the locker room/common area to have a beer while the team cleaned up. The fire was already way larger than I expected and burning brightly in a field just a ways down a dirt and gravel road from the field. I started on my beer and had the challenge of trying to understand one of the eight brothers from Kazakhstan who was drunkenly speaking Russian to me, while also not glancing around as there were men walking around naked from room to room. I'm very aware that Europeans are more open with nudity than Americans, but that awareness doesn't make me want to look at middle-aged-men's naked behinds! Plus, I think some of the younger men were a bit embarrassed that I was sitting there... but not so embarrassed that they didn't proceed to get naked. <br />
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A few hours later, I found myself in the midst of a conversation with a group of college-aged guys and gals in English while we all enjoyed German beer and Jaegermister. There was a bit of dancing involved, a lot of fire-watching, some translating and language practice, and tons of laughing. It seemed that most of the town turned out for the fire, and even though we were clearly outsiders, I was never made to feel that way. Cody and I got to bond with the players and their friends and enjoy lovely weather out under the stars, with a makeshift bar and grill selling cheap juice, water, and beer and bratwurst and steak sandwiches. <br />
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I fell in love with Oberndorf and the people there that night- and the fact that I never want to leave here was reinforced.<br />
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Interestingly enough, Uwe (pronounced <em>ooo-v-ay)</em> said his father is selling land on the outskirts of the village, for much cheaper than land would be in Illesheim or Bad Windsheim, the two towns on either side of it. He assured me that I could have chickens and goats and a garden on the land with no problem or permission needed at all, and he also made fun of me for saying that I would use my chickens definitely for eggs and maybe for meat; "you sound so cute at first.... 'I want some chickens, cause I love them' and then you say, ' and I want to kill them and drink their blood!' " I, of course didn't sound exactly like that, but he got a kick out of it. <br />
Even though I am normally hesitant about setting down permanent roots anywhere, I could imagine spending the rest of my life in this little village looking out over the farmers' fields, watching my husband play soccer, and going to small events on the weekend with the whole community. It doesn't get much closer to heaven than that!<br />
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Last week, Cody found out the exact location of the land and last night we drove over to look at it together. Where the village sits, the view is gorgeous, and though we would have to buy two sections of land to satisfy my "small farm" desire, and there is a lot of research to be done, I still can't help but think we will be seriously debating on a big purchase before leaving this country!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmIPqiDqTNwB9tn18X4TjVWNynegu-NKf75zw0-mf4zwxAggRg4OEStcbxHEMk54Dj8RIpu66kMRRdykxcM9KOtJ5B6eK1bQJLU9i4V-KmF2BN6U-rcmRGBpIIlww6Jhwgtc4zKTIO_wA/s1600/oberd.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmIPqiDqTNwB9tn18X4TjVWNynegu-NKf75zw0-mf4zwxAggRg4OEStcbxHEMk54Dj8RIpu66kMRRdykxcM9KOtJ5B6eK1bQJLU9i4V-KmF2BN6U-rcmRGBpIIlww6Jhwgtc4zKTIO_wA/s1600/oberd.png" height="341" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oberndorf</td></tr>
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AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-23491615569522544672014-03-31T04:35:00.004-07:002014-03-31T04:35:57.997-07:00UpdatesI recently returned to Germany after spending 16 days back in The States. I was a little apprehensive about being back in the U S of A for the first time in nearly a year, but I was also excited to spend time with my friends and family.<br />
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When planning my trip home, I tried to keep as much of my time un-scheduled as possible; in the past I have ended up rushing around every minute of every day and find myself exhausted and over-extended. This trip I just wanted to spend time with my family and fit in friend-time when possible.<br />
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One of the big plans of the trip was to help my mom move out of my childhood home, officially. She hasn't lived there for quite a while, but mine, hers, and my sister's belongings have been living there without us. For lack of a better description, there was just a ton of crap that needed going through. It was actually interesting to explore through our past belongings and it felt good to throw, or give, away items that I no longer have any use for. It felt good to take some responsibility for my past home, the place that will always be considered "home", and to help my mom do some cleaning, packing, painting, tossing, etc. Hopefully, she is able to find a renter or buyer in the near future!<br />
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I got a chance to spend some quality time with tons of family members and with a great group of friends. It is easy to forget how fulfilling it is to spend time with old friends when we are all so busy going about our day-to-day lives. I was absolutely astonished with how many of my friends from high school and college I got to share time with while back in Cincinnati, and I couldn't have felt more loved and complete than when we all got to catch up. There is nothing like a good, old friend. Nothing.<br />
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Another large part of my visit home was to continue competing in The Crossfit Games Open and to keep working out as much as possible to stay fresh. I ended up at the YMCA on most days, following whatever workout my Crossfit community in Germany was doing. I must say that it feels odd to workout in a "normal" gym, especially one dominated by older folks... I sure got a lot of looks and comments during my workouts, and many compliments! I don't think most of them had ever seen anything like a kettlebell jerk or even a woman doing pullups. It was flattering, but also kind of hilarious; I am far from impressive in a Crossfit box!<br />
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The Open this year has been such a wonderful experience, and I am so glad that I signed up and took the time to continue the workouts, despite being away from my home gym for 14.3 and 14.4. (Thanks to Crossfit Conjugate in Cincinnati for welcoming me with open arms and coaching/judging me for two Saturdays in a row!)<br />
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Unfortunately, I had to quit the games because the flu hit me last week. This weekend was the fifth and final weekend of the open, and I was faced with a workout which required completion (the other workouts have had time limits, so as long as one rep was acheieved before the time limit, the athlete could submit a score and stay ranked). After spending 4 days struggling with a fever, and several more with congestion, fatigue, coughing, etc. it became apparent to my coach and I that attempting 14.5 would be detrimental to my health. It is a hard pill to swallow. I hate that I worked so hard on the previous four workouts, only to quit at the very end. I know that I am making the smartest decision, but it doesn't make it the easiest. Hopefully, once I feel more myself, I will be able to do the workout as a way to make myself feel better about dropping out.<br />
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AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-80024473372603874252014-03-07T23:52:00.003-08:002014-03-07T23:52:38.687-08:00The Crossfit Games: And Why I'm Excited About Decimal Numbers For The First Time In My Life!For those of you who are entrenched in the Crossfit culture, this blog post won't be too revolutionary; I give you permission to go ahead and skip this one. Or just look at the pretty pictures…<br />
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For the rest of you who aren't Crossfitters, or maybe just recently joined in, I'd like to give a brief explanation of how The Crossfit Games work. I'd also like to explain how I, with only 10 months of Crossfit experience, am able to be a part of a competition that aims to find the "Fittest Man and Woman on Earth"!<br />
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The reason you may not have heard of The Crossfit Games probably has to do with Crossfit's relatively short lifetime as a competitive sport and its rapid growth from the inaugural Games to now. The first Games happened in 2007 with a mere <b>70</b> athletes, who met on a ranch in northern California to compete in a series of workouts; the first of which was a complete surprise.<br />
In 2013, the Games became The Reebok Crossfit Games and took place in L.A., with more than <b>138,000</b> people registered for the Open. Although the scenery and scale of the competition has changed, one major aspect has stayed the same: the element of surprise. According to the founder of Crossfit, Greg Glassman, the fittest athletes should be able to handle any task, so each year the workouts are announced within hours or minutes of the competition, which I believe adds a level of excitement unparalleled in the rest of the sports world.<br />
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This year, I am one of the <b>209,261</b> participants in the 2014 Reebok Crossfit Games Open, so I get to be an active part of all the excitement (although just spectating gets me pretty pumped, too)!<br />
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Now that you had a brief (and probably boring) history lesson, let me break down the stages of the Games to explain how there are so many of us participating, when there are obviously so few of us who could compete against this:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Samantha Briggs and Rich Froning- the 2013 Crossfit Games winners</td></tr>
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Here's the deal. The Crossfit Games happen in three distinct stages, in order to narrow down who should compete face-to-face in L.A. each year.<br />
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The Open is the first step of The Games and it is literally open to anybody who would like to participate. It doesn't matter if it is your first day of Crossfit, or if you have been training since 2007; if you are 17, or if you are 70; literally <i>anybody </i>can register (I am proof positive of this!). All that is required, if you want to be a part of the leader-board and "officially" compete, is to register online and pay twenty bucks. I'm sure there are thousands of people who also do the workouts "unofficially" each week as they are announced; but if you want to be judged and compare yourself to the rest of the Crossfit community, you have to register.<br />
Each week, for five weeks, a workout is announced on Thursday night (or Friday morning for those of us over here in Europe) and each participant has until Monday evening to submit a score. I happen to have a coach who is an official judge, so he is able to judge my workouts, give me a score, and then I can submit that score without a video. If you don't happen to have an official judge on hand, all you have to do is video-tape yourself doing the workout, and submit that video when you submit your score. For those athletes who feel they may make it to Regionals, they must have videos of every workout.<br />
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At the end of the five weeks, the top Individual Men, Individual Women, and Teams from each of the 17 regions meet at the Regionals for a three-day competition which decides who will go on to the Games. There are also Master's Divisions, consisting of Men and Women in age groups from 40 years old to 60+, and these athletes are invited to come straight to the Games following the Open workouts.<br />
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I am currently two weeks into the Open, and I have been loving every second of it! Even the painful seconds! The Open Workouts are titled as 14.1 for the first week, 14.2 for the second, so on and so on.<br />
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No matter how little my scores look compared to those big dogs up at the top of the Overall Leaderboard, I have been surprising myself with accomplishments throughout these two weeks, which is what the Games is all about! Even if my score is a fraction of other people's scores, it is still cool to see my name in the same place as these amazing athletes and strangers around the world- again, another aspect to this sport that no other sport can touch!<br />
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<i>Here is a leaderboard showing just the athletes who are officially registered for the Open from my box, Crossfit Ansbach. If you are wondering about the zeros, those are there because 14.2 was just announced yesterday, so many of our athletes either haven't done the workout yet, or are waiting to give it a second or third try before they submit. </i><br />
<i>You can tell that even in our box we have some top-notch athletes! Just look at those numbers! (and those numbers will make more sense after my next post…)</i><br />
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<iframe height="1400" scrolling="no" src="http://games.crossfit.com/lboards/displayLeaderBoard?id=397733&numberperpage=60&page=1" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="638px"></iframe>AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-85086783648515183102014-03-04T02:33:00.005-08:002014-03-04T04:53:54.259-08:00Me encanta AlicanteOh, Alicante, how I adore you, through and through!<br />
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I must admit, when I got home from Thailand and realized that in one short week I would be on another plane, to another foreign place, without time to readjust to normal day-to-day life, I was a bit apprehensive. There were moments I regretted trying to fit so many trips into such a short amount of time. <br />
BUT, I do enjoy travelling no matter what (although I may have managed to marry somebody who loves travel even more than I do!), and I definitely appreciated that my sweet husband had planned us a special Valentine's Day weekend in Spain. How can somebody truly complain about going to Spain for a weekend? And what world do I live in where a normal work conversation begins with, "hey, have you guys been to Spain yet? I leave tomorrow and I haven't even packed..." We are lucky indeed!<br />
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By the day we left, I was ready for another adventure; I was just hoping there wouldn't actually be much adventuring so we could relax! The trip there was super easy, which was a huge plus. All we did was park our car at our local Bad Windsheim Bahnhof, take an hour train ride to Nurnberg, then hop on the U-bahn over to the airport, and voila! We were soon on a two hour flight to Alicante, with cute baby twinsies in the seat next to me to keep me entertained <em>(I don't mean that sarcastically, which is shocking if you know me well!)</em><br />
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I have to add that Cody and I hadn't booked a place to stay in Alicante until we got back from Thailand. I had searched and searched before we left for somewhere affordable, yet nice, and hadn't had much luck. I was so sick of hotels by the time we got home that I told Cody it was up to him to book us a place, but I definitely wanted to stay somewhere on the nicer side <em>(no hostels allowed this time around)</em>. When he booked a place, he told me I would love it, and that he found somewhere super nice, but that I wasn't allowed to check it out. That was fine with me!<br />
By the time we were nearing our destination, I started to want to know what kind of accommodations I could expect. Cody wouldn't say too much, except he wasn't sure how nice it would be. I started to get concerned that my relaxing weekend would have to be spent mostly out of the room. He said he didn't know what to expect, but that it was only 60 euro a night, so it was a good deal. I put on a happy face, but deep down, I started to lower my expectations to somewhere merely clean and safe...<br />
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Imagine my surprise when we were dropped off at a huge, lovely hotel in between the pier and the beach! He kept up his game all the way until we finished checking-in, saying that we were probably staying in an off-shoot of this hotel or in the basement, maybe<em> (is it sad that I'm so gullible, I actually believed him!)</em>. As I watched him sign-off on the paperwork, I was about to interject and ask him why he was paying so much more than he had agreed to, when the receptionist began explaining our special spa privileges and our ocean-view, top-floor, suite! <br />
Cody had tricked me, once again! But it was a very welcome and appreciated surprise:)<br />
<em>(I wouldn't have thought he could top Valentine's Day in the Dominican Republic from last year, but he managed it!)</em><br />
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The weekend couldn't have been more beautiful. We spent the rest of that first day grabbing lunch next to the beach, walking around town stopping for drinks and coffee, then going up to the room to get ready for dinner. We ate at a charming, authentic restaurant on the second-story, beneath exposed beams and with a guitarist serenading people outside our window. I had my first authentic paella and fell even more in love with this small, beautiful city.<br />
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We woke up to the sound of the ocean the next morning and wandered downstairs for an amazing breakfast full of pastries, cappuccino, fresh-squeezed juices, meats and cheeses, eggs and sausage... basically any kind of breakfast you could want for was available. I could have sat and enjoyed breakfast all day!<br />
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Then down to the beach, where we were the only people present for at least an hour- and we were obviously tourists as the residents of Alicante all had on pants, sweaters, and scarfs as we laid in our bathing suits. After a quick trip to a local store to grab some beach essentials (<em>about 20 euro for two beach mats, a beach bag, mixers for alcohol, a game of beach-ball, snacks, and sunscreen</em>), we spent all day happily on the beach. I normally can only be out on the beach for a few hours before becoming exhausted, but I never felt that way because of the perfect cool air, warm sun, and light breeze. We also got pretty awesome at beach-ball and managed to get some sun without burning. Eventually, we went back upstairs to relax and shower, and then meet back up with our travel companions for another dinner out. This time, I had researched a place with traditional tapas; .90euro per tapa and .60euro for small beers, and waiters who walk around with trays of food so you can grab whatever looks tasty! We got there just before the rush, settled into a table, and managed to pile our table up with drinks and tapas galore! After an hour of drinking and feasting, the five of us only had a 60 euro bill, and we couldn't have been more satisfied with all the food and service!<br />
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The next day went in just about the same fashion, except Cody and I took a trip up to visit the castle and take in some amazing views. We even ate dinner at the same restaurant (can you blame us?!). We attempted to go out for drinks, but considering Alicante doesn't even start partying until 2 am, we were way out of our league. The next morning we got up and sadly left our wonderful suite and friendly, beautiful city. <br />
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Alicante was the most refreshing, fun, and relaxing getaway I have had in such a long time, that I could easily imagine travelling there every weekend, happily. <br />
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I can't wait until we get to go back!<br />
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And although I shared this with you (<em>I debated keeping it all to myself!),</em> I beg you to keep this city a wonderful and quiet secret gem filled with clean streets and amazing people....<br />
<br />AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-78974933974481206682014-02-18T03:40:00.002-08:002014-02-18T03:40:18.222-08:00Thailand - The End!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Okay, so this is what happened… I was polishing off my final Thailand post sometime last week, and the pictures and text got all mixed up. As I was hitting the "undo" button, the post went all the way back to a blank page… and then it did the automatic save thing that it does every few minutes…</div>
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Yep. Everything I had been writing for about an hour was wiped clean, and I just didn't have the emotional or mental energy to start fresh. Which means that now I am really behind on this whole Thailand saga and I already have another vacation to write about!</div>
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This also means that I will be doing a super short summary about the second half of our trip to Thailand- you're welcome :) </div>
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Day 2 in Ao Nang/Krabi consisted of renting a kayak for a little exploring and workout, and then going back to the resort to wait for Chris and Angela to arrive. Once they got in we had a quick lunch and then headed back to the monkey area of the beach to show those two the cute and stinky buggers. We ended up having some drinks on the beach and watching sunset before walking over to Carnivore for dinner- this was our highest quality meal in Thailand and we all appreciated the change for a night. After dinner we were just in time for a cabaret by some really convincing lady-boys!</div>
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The next morning we woke up early and took a tour over to Railay Beach, where we did some rock climbing, had lunch, and checked out one of the most famous beaches in Thailand. We had to rush back so Cody and I could catch our taxi to our ferry to Phuket. Something happened with the whole ferry situation and we ended up loading about 75 people into long-boats with their luggage to be taxied out to the waiting ferry (in open water) so we could all load onto the boat to Phuket and the already full ferry could be unloaded of all the people going to Ao Nang/Krabi. We got a late start, but ended up in Phuket and at our hotel by late evening, and we just had a yummy dinner and passed out for the night. </div>
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On the following morning we headed over to the Phuket airport so we could fly up to Chiang Mai! We got into the airport in the afternoon and then were taken to our next resort, Mai Siam. We were really looking forward to these accommodations as the whole resort is only three chalets owned by a married couple, and they had wonderful reviews. We weren't disappointed! That night, Pranee, the co-owner of the resort, cooked us the best Thai food we had all trip and we relaxed in our beautiful chalet. </div>
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The next morning we woke up to a yummy breakfast and got a ride into town so Cody and I could check out the city and get our yin and yang ring-finger tattoos! After our super ouchie tattoos we just wandered around and explored some beautiful temples, and then found a place to eat and get out of the heat for a bit. Instead of staying in town for dinner and the night-markets, we ended up getting a ride back to the resort for another homemade meal by Pranee. </div>
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Our next day was our last in Chiang Mai and we got to spend the day at the incredible Elephant Nature Park. This park is home to 38 elephants and hundreds of dogs and cats (You can check out tons of pictures on my Facebook of the day!) The owner made the Park as an escape for injured and mistreated elephants, who now spend their days doing whatever they please. We got to feed and bathe the elephants, and just hang out with them throughout the day. </div>
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We grabbed dinner out once we got back to Chiang Mai and then stuck around long enough to walk the streets during the Sunday Market. We were totally exhausted and went back to the resort to rest up for the next day of travel.</div>
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For our very last leg of the trip, we flew back to Bangkok. After an interesting walk through what I like to call the mechanic-ghetto of China Town, we found our hotel and ate at the rooftop restaurant while waiting for Chris and Angela to arrive. We all had a relaxing night in as I was recovering from feeling kind of funky for a few days and Angela had been throwing up all day. </div>
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Thankfully, we were all back to feeling fairly healthy the next day, and we were able to spend our last day in Thailand seeing the largest Golden Buddha in the world, getting more massages while Chris and Angela got some Thai tattoos, and then taking a ride across the river for some shopping and dinner at an unexpectedly fancy area of Bangkok. Then back to the airport at 3am for our looong trips back to home!</div>
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<i>As I said- this is only a super short review of all the wonderful experiences we had, but hopefully you get the gist of it all! We were totally exhausted by this vacation, and as I said, I wouldn't go back and do it again- but I wouldn't go back and choose not to do it at all, either. </i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggMP2B3xIwh_WFeQajKobO8CJXXYo33HZyU7MpF3gngXsKwAdOK1pkInXTXVlT4KHBtzkHa5ZwpkbP45WocJXPzLGYhTEmk9jWA2ZGfJMZBVpb_LtDPJkaIP9NAvxskoqLRcxovlzaGqE/s1600/Southern_Thailand_Map.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggMP2B3xIwh_WFeQajKobO8CJXXYo33HZyU7MpF3gngXsKwAdOK1pkInXTXVlT4KHBtzkHa5ZwpkbP45WocJXPzLGYhTEmk9jWA2ZGfJMZBVpb_LtDPJkaIP9NAvxskoqLRcxovlzaGqE/s1600/Southern_Thailand_Map.png" height="280" width="320" /></a>After Koh Tao we had no set plans. We knew we had to be on the West side of Thailand to catch our flight up to Chiang Mai in a few days, but we left some days unbooked and unscheduled on purpose so we could stay somewhere longer if we really loved it, or cut somewhere short.<br />
Knowing that we would only have a few days on the West coast if we moved that direction immediately after Koh Tao, we decided to book one night in Koh Samui, and then move on from there to the Krabi/Railay Beach area (where I was wanting to go the most).<br />
<i>Here's a map of Southern Thailand- you can see Koh Tao, Samui, and Krabi to get an idea of what we were trying to do.</i><br />
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We booked our hotel in Samui very last-minute, but based on reviews, and the fact it was across the street from the beach and was connected to a popular bar, I was fairly excited that we were able to get two rooms. We left Chintakiri and hopped on the ferry over to Koh Samui, where we then found a taxi driver to take us about thirty minutes away to our hotel. Samui was not what I was expecting; it was packed with people, and cars, and stray dogs, and seemed to be in a state of chaos. After being in sleepy Koh Tao, I think we were all surprised to see this side of Thailand!<br />
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When we got to Rich Resort I was a little worried. It was down a back alleyway, and yes, it was across the street from the Swing Bar and the beach, but the hotel itself wasn't anything special. As we walked down the halls I got a peek into one of the rooms and it looked super nice; unfortunately, that ended up being one of the deluxe rooms and we just had a standard. Both of our rooms were sleepable, and clean enough to not be concerned, but they definitely weren't nice. Think of a worn out motel. BUT, they had working AC and a bed and that was about as much as we really needed. Although I was relieved we were only staying for one night.<br />
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The beach was nice and after a long walk on it in the evening we settled in for a fire show and mediocre dinner at the Swing Bar, before calling it a night so we could get a ride to the airport in the morning over to the other side of the country.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfvCIvEKAilsQSOeN5gTcG_2zrLHzb_5g5b1C2E_wK8z-nCCXf6DMc06c1IeCIlBhwZ_EItOv6VzBjigPMxPHVtFwJavXxG7cWuZ8Z5aRZzw1QbUCui928YaMDpqGhxXOVR8Dh0qEp7L8/s1600/DSC02313.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfvCIvEKAilsQSOeN5gTcG_2zrLHzb_5g5b1C2E_wK8z-nCCXf6DMc06c1IeCIlBhwZ_EItOv6VzBjigPMxPHVtFwJavXxG7cWuZ8Z5aRZzw1QbUCui928YaMDpqGhxXOVR8Dh0qEp7L8/s1600/DSC02313.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a>We took a quick flight over to Krabi Airport and were picked up by a driver sent by our next resort, Phu Petra. I couldn't have been more delighted once we arrived! <b>This</b> was a beautiful resort, although small and simple, it had a friendly staff and a great location away from the bustle of Ao Nang and Krabi town. Not only that, but our rooms were huge and gorgeous with a real bathroom! Including a shower separate from the toilet and a bathtub to boot! I literally jumped up and down as we were getting our tour- this was one last-minute booking to be thankful for, especially after a night in a not-so-nice hotel.<br />
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We kind of wanted to relax in luxury all day and not move, but with such a tight time schedule, we decided to make the most of our day and we took the free shuttle into town to explore.</div>
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We were surprised, yet again! Ao Nang was the busiest place we had been to yet- but in a different way than Samui. At first I was relieved to be somewhere that felt like any other beach town- the familiar is sometimes nice after so much difference. But then the crowded, touristy, more-expensive-than-the-rest-of-Thailand area got old pretty fast. It was one of those places that you couldn't even walk down the sidewalk because of all the people wandering and all the shop owners trying to sell you something. This was what the Thailand area of Disney would be like... Luckily, there was one major redeeming factor of Ao Nang (besides the large beach)- MONKEYS!</div>
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We wandered to the far end of the beach and ended up in monkey-heaven! These little creatures were quite the handful- they were actually kind of intimidating, but the little babies were super curious and friendly. We hung out with them for a bit, and then had to take a dip in the ocean to get the poo smell off of us. Those were some dirty, stinky monkeys. </div>
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We ended the night by meeting up with EJ and Merissa who had gotten to the area a day before us and we had a so-so dinner on the main street. With so many restaurants to choose from, it was hard to distinguish the good from the bad! We bailed on the night kind of early, like the geezers we are, and rushed to catch the last shuttle home so we could just laze about in our comfortable room and sleep the night away….</div>
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<i>( I feel as if I am being a negative-nancy in these posts- but its hard to give an accurate description of these places by only writing positively. Please know that we had a ton of fun and enjoyed every place we went- but there were also things about each place that were not so enjoyable, as well!)</i><br />
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AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-91389748873932313902014-02-08T12:35:00.000-08:002014-02-08T12:35:29.181-08:00Thailand - Part 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv4O65Hbq189rL0oNCHPrUmqRKdrCouUn0RF-GuAkA10bHVQrfeZop-SLxLcpW84IIlMMsfZZ5iB3U9lfWHrsLAKmQ6JCQTHqAEWyj_D10GjG-8OMRqMutvJArLfrjhchcv26Ky3gkjSs/s1600/map-thailand.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv4O65Hbq189rL0oNCHPrUmqRKdrCouUn0RF-GuAkA10bHVQrfeZop-SLxLcpW84IIlMMsfZZ5iB3U9lfWHrsLAKmQ6JCQTHqAEWyj_D10GjG-8OMRqMutvJArLfrjhchcv26Ky3gkjSs/s1600/map-thailand.gif" height="640" width="481" /></a></div>
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Alright, so, lets skip all the flying to get to Thailand, and our few hours in Bangkok sleeping, and move on to the <b>real</b> first part of our vacation.<br />
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We flew from Bangkok to Chumphon, so that we could ferry over to Koh Tao where our first resort was located. Chumphon introduced me to culture shock for the first time in my life. I also got my first Thai massage in Chumphon- it cost about $6 for an hour long foot, back, and shoulder massage. Here are a few pictures:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk-0ViTehnFQLwYWt5rgni-RtbBioKQOKAr_2j_LaDLN4PbQc3fKQ5_v1k5zK_lHqhAx8c0M7WrEKnhWUwrKehm5PqeBFelsquBELY37OcTmR1e5oV6l2hqmU_JfQ3kmq5niT5b3ZnRmE/s1600/IMG_3654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk-0ViTehnFQLwYWt5rgni-RtbBioKQOKAr_2j_LaDLN4PbQc3fKQ5_v1k5zK_lHqhAx8c0M7WrEKnhWUwrKehm5PqeBFelsquBELY37OcTmR1e5oV6l2hqmU_JfQ3kmq5niT5b3ZnRmE/s1600/IMG_3654.JPG" height="140" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huge market-- not a tourist market at all, we were out of place!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxtB8JXFHY3memHLD4IVbuHJ2a-0FA98RO0RBygbWadHTUB8KNZyAu25eAoYaYNoudhY5ZJmoKkZ2p9SC0U2G0TKXXrnhl7ixleBoZWr39456y4owEve6Gx0cH-BSzsAj2czZa090djrE/s1600/IMG_3665.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxtB8JXFHY3memHLD4IVbuHJ2a-0FA98RO0RBygbWadHTUB8KNZyAu25eAoYaYNoudhY5ZJmoKkZ2p9SC0U2G0TKXXrnhl7ixleBoZWr39456y4owEve6Gx0cH-BSzsAj2czZa090djrE/s1600/IMG_3665.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There were shrines like this all over </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH4zecH4jPFDSuSPKpxGkSX1NzxBleSE83SDSSwWn8SNfNCxRfUQt8yEjHDqP3HN9R5f7gAo5sAR-AwQ5YfqUPy7SLeSl1vKUtK-gy_1vaPHXopmX_XhrEBkPOfVYhYFDaBYvVvzdKehM/s1600/IMG_3660.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH4zecH4jPFDSuSPKpxGkSX1NzxBleSE83SDSSwWn8SNfNCxRfUQt8yEjHDqP3HN9R5f7gAo5sAR-AwQ5YfqUPy7SLeSl1vKUtK-gy_1vaPHXopmX_XhrEBkPOfVYhYFDaBYvVvzdKehM/s1600/IMG_3660.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The smell of all the raw meat was overwhelming</td></tr>
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Once we finally arrived in Koh Tao, it was late afternoon so we went for a dip in the resort pool, ate dinner and had drinks at the resort restaurant, and then walked down the huge hill to town where we chilled at a Rasta Bar for the strongest Mojito ever, and then hiked back up the huge hill to our resort where we all crashed out- relieved to finally be at our first destination, if only for a few nights.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPE8EZKyOouKi95wkoLfZAQbbxO3QxA44hma-kL2Y3noG6hx7dNTdIHK6o7W7iOraOHg_EP1Fv8QOUVSRAPpnUPxNBrcdCVCA7Zv67y_XPe0dO_uvpbQq-2zL0Dtfy5v5XjJlaC6WradI/s1600/DSC02034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPE8EZKyOouKi95wkoLfZAQbbxO3QxA44hma-kL2Y3noG6hx7dNTdIHK6o7W7iOraOHg_EP1Fv8QOUVSRAPpnUPxNBrcdCVCA7Zv67y_XPe0dO_uvpbQq-2zL0Dtfy5v5XjJlaC6WradI/s1600/DSC02034.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pulling up to the dock in Koh Tao</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmwdGfBmXZJ1uXwGas2D8n1udTErH04eeCVL31EGjVgEm5im9IOENCBe78jYs8SDstMVerZU_fE5sAHmHflrPhWQhyphenhyphenC6vr8MTY0Lze-zDiKW0FFr6Rh4PsSmUxiV5zJj_yd9YYM-0zKKo/s1600/DSC02037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmwdGfBmXZJ1uXwGas2D8n1udTErH04eeCVL31EGjVgEm5im9IOENCBe78jYs8SDstMVerZU_fE5sAHmHflrPhWQhyphenhyphenC6vr8MTY0Lze-zDiKW0FFr6Rh4PsSmUxiV5zJj_yd9YYM-0zKKo/s1600/DSC02037.JPG" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The main street</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA3EfahWSbV35F65sHUJo_nz-Cdoz-mFiQ1l_0nOnUgkoeRsE2DcRtQ-pJzg4Y8P7FLudWKnXrDGA-NZXwQY-nWUN2xwlf7mrU_8GEcKc97X_fyMmutxNFNGKE5svPJYqDLMpFOv-lht0/s1600/DSC02086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA3EfahWSbV35F65sHUJo_nz-Cdoz-mFiQ1l_0nOnUgkoeRsE2DcRtQ-pJzg4Y8P7FLudWKnXrDGA-NZXwQY-nWUN2xwlf7mrU_8GEcKc97X_fyMmutxNFNGKE5svPJYqDLMpFOv-lht0/s1600/DSC02086.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the reception area of Chintakiri Resort</td></tr>
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Day two in Koh Tao started with breakfast and a trek down the hill to find some scooters to rent. Once all three couples had found a sweet ride, we explored the island, looking for a beach entrance somewhere. After riding around in the wrong direction a few times, we finally headed towards the pier we had been dropped off at the day before. There, we decided to rent a long boat for the remainder of the day for snorkeling, swimming, and sight-seeing. It cost 3,000 baht for our boat and driver to go wherever we wanted- that was about $90, or $30 per couple!<br />
We stopped in Shark Bay to snorkel, then checked out another snorkeling area, then on to Mango Bay for lunch, and we ended at Koh Nangyuan- the most beautiful island/s I've ever seen. I was pretty burnt up, so we headed back to Koh Tao to cool off and clean up. We eventually went out to dinner and ended the night with massages- Cody and I got Aloe Vera massages to help with our awful sunburns!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6aMOTKLKaHuQ53vjOLXB4kLW8vOwnGgzLVjiMFC5cdpDlrdGNjqPTfkUh8dCvZ4gskb0DU3NyhjxY3hsvOz_kuQntXFnePQyQsXWcbcK3dCW4_5enWohtuZwm77nMAieb_ZlrHAJg4Rg/s1600/DSC02111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6aMOTKLKaHuQ53vjOLXB4kLW8vOwnGgzLVjiMFC5cdpDlrdGNjqPTfkUh8dCvZ4gskb0DU3NyhjxY3hsvOz_kuQntXFnePQyQsXWcbcK3dCW4_5enWohtuZwm77nMAieb_ZlrHAJg4Rg/s1600/DSC02111.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just a day out in the Gulf of Thailand</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Longboat lunch stop</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crystal clear waters on Koh Nangyuan<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">
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The next part of our trip included an early ferry over to Koh Samui for a two night stay….<div>
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(To Be Continued…)</div>
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Thailand is the most contradictory place I've ever been. One moment it is beautiful and the next it is ugly. There are surprises around every corner, and every town/city/beach we went to was different from the one before.<br />
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One way I thought to describe this interesting country was by comparing it to other tropical destinations also located in less-developed countries. For example, The Dominican Republic. When visiting the Dominican and staying in an all-inclusive resort you are spoiled from morning to night. Your room is spacious, immaculate, and marble-coated. You are waited on hand and foot, with drinks and food no more than a few steps away at all times. You feel utterly relaxed and taken care of- BUT, there is a feeling of "us" and "them" that doesn't shake. I personally feel guilty for the luxury I am living in and can only guess about how the workers of the resort and their families actually live day-to-day. The real way of life there is something carefully concealed and tucked away from the eyes of the resort guests.<br />
Then there is Thailand. Imagine the same beautiful beaches of the Dominican (more beautiful in most cases) but take down that veil between the resort workers and the resort-goers. In fact, if we are talking about our trip specifically, you can just remove the resort completely and replace it with any level of hotel you'd like; from skeezy motel to beautiful chalet. There is something distinctly "other" about every facet of this destination.<br />
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My brother explained the cities like college campuses where the students are allowed to run everything top to bottom- including plumbing and electricity. Everything functions fine, but nothing is exactly the way you feel it should be. The toilets take some figuring out (there was a "bum gun" or a tub of water with scoop, and no toilet paper could be flushed), as well as the showers (which are usually heated by a little electronic box which may or may not actually create hot water), and I was constantly a bit concerned that electrocution wasn't unlikely (all of their wiring occurs outside and with no casing, it all just kind of hangs from poles). </div>
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If I told you I loved it, I would be lying. But I don't want you to think I hated it, either. Because I didn't hate it, not even close! What I can say with complete certainty is that I am incredibly grateful to be home, and to have a home like the one I have.<br />
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I could try all day, but I would never really be able to say what it is like to be in Thailand. Especially after a hurried two week romp of about six beaches/towns/cities. So what I will do is take some time over the next few days to write down an itinerary of what we did, and let you make up your own mind, instead…<br />
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<br />AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-32686852148036846562014-01-15T03:43:00.004-08:002014-01-15T12:12:06.947-08:00Not So Negative Nancy<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>I don't have too much to update you on today, although I do want to follow up on my previous post...</strong></div>
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Primarily the fact that the "low" from last week's post only lingered for a day. Thanks to my awesome community and my amazing coach, I had the opportunity to stop feeling mopey and start feeling strong again lickity split!<br />
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After tons of encouragement from several people, including serious understanding from several of my Crossfit ladies, I came in to my Wednesday WOD ready to compete against myself- not in time, but in the stength and quality of my performance.<br />
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<span style="color: magenta;">I'm not sure if Rob had read my previous post or not, but either way, he did just what I needed him to do in order to help me feel strong again. </span><span style="color: black;">I could leave it at that, but you all know I just can't, so here comes story-time:</span><br />
One part of our three-part workout was 21 kettlebell swings at 3/4 bodyweight. Thinking about this throughout the day, I put together that I would have to swing about 42kg in order to do the workout as prescribed; and considering we were supposed to use two kettlebells if necessary to total the correct weight, I would have to use two 20kg kettlebells for this workout. I've never used anything heavier than two 12's. <br />
When the time came to pick out our kettlebells, Rob told me to grab a 32 kg kettlebell. For those of you who don't want to calculate in your noggin, that is 70.5 lbs. To swing between my legs and up into the air. Twenty-one times. For three rounds. Also, this was the same kettlebell that my stronger, heavier, and faster husband was grabbing.<br />
I waited a second to see if he was joking, and he didn't seem to be, so I went to pick one up. I could barely lift it. <br />
I turned back around to get his attention; "Hey Rob, really?"<br />
He smirked, "Yes really."<br />
"You aren't messing with me?"<br />
"No. Use a 32."<br />
So I wobbled out onto the floor with my 32, convinced that if I could barely carry it, there was no way I could <em>swing</em> it. But the disappointment of failing to push myself was still in my mind, and I was determined to at least try. Rob told me not to worry about the height of the swing; if I could only get it to my waist it was fine (as long as my form was okay and I wasn't hurting myself, of course). <br />
I bent down, wrapped my palm and fingers around the handle, loaded my hamstrings, pivoted the kettlebell, and pulled back with all my might- <strong> and I swung that beast!</strong><br />
Granted, throughout the workout there was a lot of advice given that wasn't heeded because once that monster was moving through the air there wasn't much adjustment I could make. If it was moving, my butt was tight, my back wasn't hurting, I was breathing, <em>and </em>I wasn't falling over, life was good!<br />
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I ended that night feeling wonderful- just as I usually do when I go to Crossfit Ansbach and work out with my friends. As the icing on the cake, Rob threw a few more compliments my way before I left, (making me think that he probably did read my blog and wanted to give me a pick-me-up); but, although his words were definitely appreciated, he had already done the perfect job of ridding me from my negativity, just by being the kind of coach that he is (one who knows what you are capable of even when you don't, and pushes you to be better).<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Basically, If any of you are <em>still</em> wondering why I care so much about this crazy "cult" of fitness...</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><em></em></span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><em>If you take away the people and the bonds, the muscles and endorphins, the other addicting and wonderful aspects of this "trend" ... you will see that <span style="color: magenta;">empowerment </span>is the answer. </em></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><em>In a world filled to the brim with the promotion of self-doubt, to continuously learn the never-ending capacity of my mind, my body, and <span style="color: magenta;">MYSELF</span><span style="color: black;"> is a priceless treasure.</span></em></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><em> These are gifts which absolutely <span style="color: magenta;">deserve</span> appreciation and love. </em></span></strong></div>
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<strong>Thanks again and again Crossfit Ansbach! See you tonight!</strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;"></span></strong><br />AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-19825685186612819722014-01-08T01:58:00.002-08:002014-01-08T04:02:05.702-08:00The Day that Good Wasn't Good Enough (Just another unexpected Crossfit first....)<div style="text-align: center;">
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Have you ever been simultaneously proud and disappointed at the same time?</div>
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Yea, me neither.....Until last night....</div>
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This is the deal. Last night's workout was a killer before I even got there. Just reading it beforehand on the blog, I knew it was bound to be an absolute soul-crusher. (I do mean this as a compliment, by the way). I spent the whole day dreading the experience; mainly because the workout contained four 200-meter sprints <strong>IF</strong> you weren't able to get to one of the seven rowers (considering the evening classes are packed, it was by no means certain that I could get to one).<br />
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I still don't <em>like</em> running. It <em>has</em> gotten easier, and a warmup or cooldown jog is doable and sometimes enjoyable. Plus, I would <em>rather</em> sprint than do a long-distance run on any day of the week (by long-distance I'm talking anything over 800-meters... even if you told me to jog two-miles I would probably cry. Sad, I know). BUT, if you haven't ever tried to do more than one 200-meter sprint, just believe me when I say that 200-meter sprints are beyond tough. One 200-meter sprint is exhausting, yet invigorating; multiple sprints leave me barely able to move my legs, while trying to give myself a mental pep-talk and wondering if I am about to throw up or poop my pants. I don't know if this is a normal reaction or not, but it has been my personal experience so far. <br />
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The workout started with 10 unbroken cleans using any piece(s) of equipment in the box, or viper presses with a log. I chose the viper press. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smUV5W20mRQ" target="_blank">(click here to see a demo)</a> I don't know why, but I actually find the movement fun, and when faced with an option to not do cleans, I will take it. For some reason, despite being the easiest movement for most people, I still haven't quite perfected cleans. <span style="font-size: x-small;">This is on the goal list...</span><br />
The next step of the workout was a 40 second row sprint IF you could get to the rower; if not, you had to sprint 200 meters. It may have been unfair/petty of me, but you best believe I set my log up right next to that set of rowers and made sure the men around me knew that I would fight dirty to end up on one. Luckily, Matt, who stood behind me, wanted to run (what!?) so that was at least one competitor out of the way.<br />
The third part of the workout was 15 unbroken front squats; again, using any "toy" in the box. I chose to do goblet squats with one kettlebell. Knowing that I can do about 20 reps straight with 45 kilograms during back squats, that back squats are generally done with more weight than front squats, and that I would have to do 60 reps by the end of the workout, I stuck with a 16kg kettlebell. <br />
Oh yea, and if you broke a set, you had to start over at the beginning of the set. Just for an added suck-cherry on top of the ass-kicking sundae! (again, I say this with total love and respect)<br />
You repeated these three steps for four rounds, with sixty much-needed seconds of rest between each round.<br />
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When the timer started, I hit those viper presses like a banshee! I was the first one to hop onto a rower <strong><span style="color: magenta;">HALLELUJAH</span></strong> and hauled ass because if I didn't keep up I thought I wouldn't make it to the rower on the next round. Again, my main motivator for moving as fast as humanly possible was the prospect of having to sprint 200 meters. <br />
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Lo and behold, I finished the whole workout in 12 minutes and 45 seconds; a fairly quick time (from what I could tell). I immediately felt proud that I had finished faster than I expected (and faster than Cody's time from earlier in the day ;) ) and I was so incredibly relieved to be done working out. I couldn't gulp in air fast enough, my legs were numb, and my whole body was exhuasted; I couldn't really make out the clock across the room because my vision was blurring when I tried to look too far in the distance. <br />
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I know that I pushed myself to the limit as far as intensity goes. I couldn't have added weight to my viper press because I almost hit muscle failure on my last two reps. I rowed as hard as I possibly could, and made it to the rower every single time. Part of me wanted to do a little dance and call Cody to brag a little bit!<br />
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But when Rob came over to tell me I did a good job and ask if I felt strong.... the answer was <strong>no</strong>. I didn't want to say it, because I didn't want to sound negative or like I was begging for reinforcement, but <strong>looking around the room, I didn't feel strong at all</strong>. <br />
So I just said, "my vision is blurry," which I guess was my exhausted and brain-dead way of saying, "well, I'm really worn out and pushed myself, if thats what you're asking."<br />
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The only reason I can figure out for being disappointed when I should feel good is that I have such an <span style="color: magenta;">overwhelming desire to do better and be better when it comes to Crossfit.</span> <br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">and I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing....</span><br />
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Usually, when I finish among the first in the class or know I performed well during a workout, I feel super proud of myself. Last night, it wasn't enough to do the best that I could. I want to be <em>better</em> than I currently am. I may have "beaten" some women in the class time-wise, but there is no comparison, because those women were doing front squats with at least 30 kg!<br />
I shouldn't, and usually don't, compare myself to other people, but I am so frustrated that my legs can't keep up with my desire to get stronger! I wonder if I have been cheating myself during workouts even though I don't mean to. Maybe I would feel better about it if I would have sucked it up and done the sprints instead of letting my intimidation rule me; even though I hate sprints, doing them would probably be better for me than sticking in my comfort zone.<br />
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Intellectually, I <em>know</em> that I can't be good at every movement. Lord knows that I am usually closer to last place than first. And the cool part of Crossfit is that it incorporates so many aspects of fitness, that even the top competitors have workouts they don't do well during.<br />
I <em>know</em> that I am leaps and bounds above where I was when I first started, and this in itself should be encouragement and a source of pride. <span style="font-size: x-small;">and it usually is!</span><br />
I <em>know </em>that I should be proud of what I excel at; those things that Rob points out to me all the time, and the movements that I can tell are truly improving each week...<br />
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<strong>But I <em>feel</em> disappointed. </strong><strong></strong><br />
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So here is my first ever somewhat negative Crossfit post.... not because of Crossfit, but because of me being a negative-nancy. Which makes me feel even worse. Am I hormonal or something? Gross. <br />
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I'm just going to spend all day looking at Crossfit motivation stuff on the internet and then come kick some ass at the box tonight. So there. <strong></strong><strong></strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-56195477460883703202014-01-02T00:44:00.004-08:002014-01-02T01:14:03.230-08:00Happy 2014<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Disclaimer: I hope this post doesn't read smugly, as I am not trying to put down the idea of having a Resolution. There are times when a New Years Resolution is the perfect kick-start, and I'm sure I will make plenty of them in the years to come!*</span><br />
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I'm sitting here drinking a mug of Detox Tea and pondering over the saying that I discovered on the little flag that hangs out of the coffee cup during steeping <span style="font-size: x-small;">(is there a name for that little flagy thing?)</span>:<br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: black; font-size: large;">Real happiness lies in that which never comes nor goes, but simply is.</span></em></strong></div>
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I won't lie, my first thought was, "Woah, how many of these quotes have I missed reading?" <br />
I have had several cups of this tea during my time here at the Education Center, and have never once noticed the fortune-cookie-like sayings hanging there...<br />
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My second and slightly more profound thought was that I was meant to notice this saying today. Reason being that I believe this little quote may partially explain why I have been having such a hard time coming up with a Resolution this year.<br />
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There are so many aspects to my life that have lent themselves to my being actually happy; the kind of happy that doesn't come and go, but is just present. In past years, I have been able to pin-point parts of my life which were lacking so I could work on improving my happiness in the year to come. But with an end of year that has been so fulfilling, its hard to make up a goal.<br />
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This is not to say that I don't have my days. I get grumpy, I get upset or mad, experience hurt feelings, get disappointed, act selfishly, etc. (as you all have seen and helped me to overcome) but my overall state of being these past several months, and where I am without (and despite) outside circumstances is simply....happy. </div>
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<strong>Don't get me wrong, this is not to say that I don't have anything to improve upon! It is exactly the opposite!</strong></div>
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But, when I'm not happy, or I don't feel myself, I always make a goal during that moment to "fix" whatever it is that is bringing me down. I have already made so many goals for improvement during 2013 that the idea of making a new one just because of the new year doesn't make much sense this time. Every day is an opportunity to make and acheive our goals, every day is an opportunity to better myself from the day before. I believe I must have embraced those concepts because I don't think I've saved any specific goal for "next year."<br />
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Which brings me to the fact that I did truly try to think of Resolutions; silly ones, fun ones, Crossfit ones, marriage ones, tough ones, specific and vague ones... and none of them hit a nerve. Every idea I have I am already working towards and don't need a Resolution for, or doesn't seem important enough to require a whole year of focus. <br />
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Although I haven't been able to come up with just one set Resolution which is unique to 2014, I do have ongoing goals for myself. I want to continue growing stronger and healthier and quit this back-and-forth healthy/unhealthy eating I've been doing throughout the Holidays in order to get to a solid and unwavering lifestyle of improvement. I want to enjoy the time with my husband as much as I have been for the past few months and put a conscious effort into being the best wife I possibly can be. I want to keep my sanity when he deploys and continue to enjoy my life even though a part of me will be missing. I want to continue traveling as much as possible. I want to keep in touch with my friends and family who live far away, and improve the friendships I have forged here. I want to read and learn and relax and meditate and do all of the things that everybody wants to do in their life. <br />
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If I have to narrow it down, it would just be to <strong>improve, </strong>which is what everybody's goals are meant for, I suppose!<br />
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These past few months have been absolutely amazing and enriching. I feel as if Cody and I have gotten into a groove that works for us, and I couldn't be more thankful for every blessed day that I have on this earth. Even the bad days are the kind of days where I think to myself, "When will the bottom fall out? What disaster is about to strike?" because I don't deserve to be having as wonderful of a life as I am having. <br />
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So I hope, even if destruction awaits around the next corner about to throw this whole post in my face in an effort to make me eat my words, I can just spend 2014 <strong><em>happy.</em></strong> <em>The kind of happy that never comes nor goes...</em><br />
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AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-34267030627080562482013-12-26T04:59:00.000-08:002013-12-26T05:34:20.179-08:00The *Fabulous* King and More...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
First of all: <span style="color: #cc0000;">MERRY CHRISTMAS</span>! <span style="color: #073763;">HAPPY CHANUKAH</span>! <span style="color: #999999;">HAPPY NEW YEAR</span>! ETC!</div>
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For those of you who don't know, Cody's family has been here for a few weeks spending the Holidays with us- and we just enjoyed a delicious holiday feast yesterday that I think I will be working off for a couple months!<br />
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Since they arrived, we have gone on several adventures in the surrounding areas, but the biggest one was our trip down to the Bavarian Alps this past weekend.<br />
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Stacy, Lonnie, Madi, and I took off on Friday morning and headed towards two of the most famous castles associated with King Ludwig II; Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. The crowds were way smaller than they were in the Summer, but there were still tour buses parked all over and plenty of people flowing in and out of each castle. Our tour guide for Hohenschwangau was super and I learned some facts from her that I hadn't heard in my previous visits, but our second tour guide was awkward; and since I had visited both castles before, I had a bit of time to day dream and to listen between the lines...<br />
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This time while visiting the castles, I started to realize it was maybe a bit odd that Wagner (the famous pianist and composer) spent so much time at Hohenschwangau when Ludwig II was a small boy, only to become the one guest of Neuschwanstein and the motivation for every room in the enormous castle built by King Ludwig once he was older. As the day went on, Madi and I pieced together more and more evidence (the love of swans, the pristine decorating skills, the lack of a wife and kids....) that maybe King Ludwig the II was a bit....well.... fabulous! When we got to Unterammergau that evening, and had finished having fun and stuffing our faces at Gasthaus Stern down the street, Madi and I stayed up reading the only two books we could find in English in our Guest House. Although there were no books about Ludwig II (in English) there was a history of Bavaria and a history of Oberammergau. We didn't find too much interesting information on Ludwig, and instead focused our attention on the Passion Play of Oberammergau that takes place every ten years.<br />
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<em> Apparently, back during the plague, Oberammergau locked up the city and had sentries posted in an attempt to keep "the pest" from striking their city in the form of strangers coming and going. Unfortunately, a local man who had been traveling, managed to come into the village from a mountain passageway and then proceeded to die within two days. A huge number of villagers passed away from the plague within two weeks (I want to say the number was between 60 and 80) and so the people got together and made a promise to God that they would make sacrifices of time and money to honor and thank him for his graciousness for the rest of time, if only their city would be spared from more death. Interestingly enough, there were no more victims of the bubonic plague in their city, so every ten years, the town still gets together and puts on the Passion Play in the Passion Theatre (which has been rebuilt over time and now holds about 5,000 spectators).</em> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Unfortunately, the next play takes place in 2020, so we won't be able to watch it, but it was still fun to learn about!</span><br />
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Cody met up with us in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Saturday morning and we spent the day walking through fields and hiking up a mountain in an attempt to go see the Partnach Gorge. We tired out before we got to the top, but not before we had a lovely lunch, took a terrifying cable car ride (damn cable cars!), and rode a horse-drawn carriage back down to the Olympic Stadium. After a quick stroll through the Christmas Market, we went home to rest up for the home-made dinner our Guest House owner had offered. <span style="font-size: x-small;">We highly recommend staying with Marianne in Unterammergau if you are ever in the area- she was extremely friendly, helpful, and hospitable!</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.pandashouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Linderhof-Castle-Bavaria-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.pandashouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Linderhof-Castle-Bavaria-11.jpg" width="400" /></a>The next morning we got up and went to another one of Ludwig's castles; the only one he finished and one I had not heard of until this visit to the Alps! This castle, Linderhoff, was absolutely spectacular, inside and out. Dare I say it was even more fabulous than the ones we had toured before? As you can see, each room was covered in gold and velvet; there were even more swans, several peacocks (another of his favorite animals), and some rooms featured several pieces from his small porcelain vase collection... The tour guide at this castle/mansion (another wonderful and informative guide) even mentioned that Ludwig had called off his engagement mere months after it was arranged. The evidence had piled up; our dear, favorite King Ludwig just had to have been a homosexual!<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">I did manage to google this when I got home, and found some answers ! <p.s. we were right!></span><br />
While at the castle, we bought a book all about the reign of Ludwig and came to love him even more; and feel sympathy for how awful he was treated by the men who threw him out of office with manipulated paperwork and lies. (I encourage you to look up his story while bored at work!)<br />
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After leaving Linderhoff, we meandered to Ettal where we had another delicious German meal and spent some time at the King's Cloister, where we loaded up on liqueur, wine, gluwein, and beer. We played charades and enjoyed our goodies back at the Guest House and eventually went across the street to The Dorfwirt for dinner- even though we were there a bit late, the owners were stupendous and shared an after-dinner shot of schnapps with us, gave us some schnapps to take home, and even handed out postcards! As any trip should, this one ended with fun, food, and drinks- who knew the Alps could be so entertaining!?<br />
<br />AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-76466386207077689962013-12-05T11:55:00.003-08:002013-12-05T12:00:27.253-08:00What's Wrong with "Bulky" I am so ashamed that I haven't updated this blog in a month!<br />
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So much has been happening, and I don't want to make any excuses, but I do want to let you know what I've been up to that has kept me from writing any posts.<br />
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First, I am almost finished with my first two college classes since deciding to go back to school. Originally I went back to school with the goal of eventually becoming a Registered Dietician. So much about this goal beckons to me still, BUT the second time-consumer I have been distracted with has me wondering if I actually should get a second degree…<br />
I have finally put my first degree to use and have been teaching FAST here on post for our wonderful Illesheim soldiers for the past three weeks. There is so much that I love about teaching adults, and through this opportunity I have been fortunate enough to be reminded of all the reasons I wanted to be a teacher in the first place. I hope that I made a positive change in my students' lives, because they certainly have made a positive change in mine!<br />
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Along with the job and school aspect of life, I have been Crossfitting in the evenings now because of my new work schedule; which pretty much makes for full days.<br />
ALSO, I had an awesome visit from my first friend ever and we spent all of last weekend visiting Christmas markets (Nuremberg, Bad Windsheim, and Rothenberg), drinking gluwein, and catching up on about a billion years of lost time! The past month has been absolutely wonderful (minus the time that I was missing the hubs who was in the field training) and has also been a thought-provoking time for me.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Tonight's post is short, though I want to get more into this topic later...</span><br />
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When I started Crossfitting, I jumped on the bandwagon of telling my female friends who were interested in trying it, but scared or intimidated,<br />
"Don't worry about getting huge, all the girls I work out with are super fit, but none of them look manly or anything."<br />
I feel like this "encouragement" is almost built into the Crossfit culture. I see it in pretty much every article that I read about women doing Crossfit. I actually see it in almost every article I read about any kind of working out. And it used to make sense to me. I used to like that distinction.<br />
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But you know what I want to know?</div>
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<i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-size: large;">What's so wrong with "bulky"?????</span></b></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span">I have actually started to get kind of annoyed with all these assertions about how women should not be afraid to lift heavy weights because they won't bulk up. And this is why:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><i>FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION!!!</i></b></span></div>
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In brief summary: Our bodies have evolved to have the skeletal shape, organ systems, muscle fibers, etc. that we have today because this body design is the best structure (or form) for the functions that we do daily. In other words, no matter how you LOOK, you should be using your legs, arms, stomach, butt, heart, etc. for their intended purposes; eventually you will find functional translates into beautiful!</div>
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I want every part of my body to be the best at doing what nature intended it to do. <b>Period</b>. I want to be able to jump high, I want to be able to carry anything and everything, I want to be able to run as long and as fast as may be necessary. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I want to squat, lift, hang, pull, push to my body's highest ability.</span></div>
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<b>If I gain muscle and get "bulky" through this process, then AMEN! I love looking in the mirror and seeing more muscle than I could see six months ago. I revel in the ability to flex and see my biceps, delts, and traps. I feel strong and confident when my clothes fit tightly around my shoulders….</b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(If this is "bulky", please sign me up!)</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">To all you women out there- when you tap into your body's potential and begin to see the limitless possibilities for your strength, fitness, and overall health, you will not care if you are "bulky" vs "toned". All you will care about is that you are healthier and stronger than you were yesterday. And if you are anything like me, you are looking forward to the day that somebody (meant as either an insult or a compliment) says, </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-size: large;">"<b><i>Damn, that girl is <u>jacked</u>!"</i></b></span></div>
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AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-22617757945963668962013-11-06T08:47:00.002-08:002013-11-06T08:47:37.046-08:00Hmmm... A Short Story on Perception...Something funny happened today that made me think about how people see me differently than I see myself; and how people from this time in my life see me in a different light than people from earlier times of my life.<br />
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You see, I have been fighting off a cold for the past week and a half. When it first popped up, inconveniently in the middle of Halloween weekend, I tried to ignore it, and went ahead with my plans for drinking and staying up late. I took care of myself the best I could during the day, but I knew I wasn't helping my body with my bad sleep schedule and booze. I skipped my Monday Crossfit class while spending all day in pajamas and trying not to talk since my throat was killing me. By Tuesday, I decided that enough time had passed and I felt better enough to head back into the gym; I worked out Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. All week I felt pretty good! A little bit of a sniffle here or there, but its November, so a little bit of a runny nose is to be expected, right?<br />
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Wrong. Come Saturday I felt like I had not beaten my cold after all; the little bugger just snuck away for a few days to get some bigger and stronger friends to attack me worse than before! I didn't go to Cody's soccer party on Saturday night, and I spent most of Sunday feeling awful. By the time I went to bed on Sunday, my head felt like it was going to bust open. When I woke up in the middle of the night coughing so hard that I couldn't stop, with a throat that wouldn't stop itching, and a nose that wouldn't stop tingling and clogging, I knew I was in trouble...<br />
Long story short, I have spent this week trying to beat off this cold with fresh squeezed orange juice, tea, sleep, and lots and lots of tissues. Oh, and Nyquil at night so my poor husband can get some rest! I have had to go out for certain responsibilities, but I have skipped the gym, and have let my eating habits slide. Anything my body wants, I give to it, for better or for worse. I haven't had the energy to care.<br />
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Moving on. I was upstairs visiting my neighbor today, talking to her about this lingering cold that I just can't beat, and she was telling me about how she has started running again. First of all, I am so excited for her that she has started to exercise again, because I know she has been wanting to, and I'm so glad that she found time to do something she enjoys! I let her know that I haven't been to Crossfit in five days, and because I am subbing tomorrow, still feel eh, and there is only open gym, that I'm going to be off tomorrow, too. She looked at me with real surprise on her face, and half sarcastically/half seriously said,<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"I don't like this! It's not right. This just doesn't sound like you!"</span><br />
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I laughed and went on to tell her about my disgusting diet these past few days, as well... like on Monday where all I ate was an overly sweet and box-made mini-cheesecake on top of a Reese's cup, two chocolate chip cookies, and two eggs all day. And then I totally made "tuna mac" (a gross concoction of Kraft Mac&Cheese, a can of tuna, a can of peas, and crumbled crackers) for dinner and ate too much; which led to a feeling kind of like my body was trying to kick my stomach out of me for being so full of grossness.<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;">The point of my story is this:</span> </b>At first, I just laughed about my neighbor being so shocked about me not working out. And her similar reaction to how I have been eating (especially since she just asked for and received advice from me about Paleo/Primal a couple weeks ago). Afterwards, once the conversation had passed and started to sink in, I thought, <i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: magenta;">It is pretty cool that Crossfit and Primal have become such a big part of my life, that my friends here can't picture me without them. </span></b></i><br />
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At one point in my life, probably about a year ago, nobody would have been surprised if I would have said, "Yea, I haven't worked out in 6 days," or, "Ugh, I ate a cheesecake for breakfast and tuna mac for lunch." That would have just been a normal conversation.<br />
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It is so crazy how much we can change in such a short amount of time. It is also crazy to realize how certain things we may know nothing about today could become engrained in our lives tomorrow. I am so thankful that Crossfit and overall health have become a part of my life, and apparently have become a part of me. So much so that I can take a week off, and feel confident that I will go right back to where I was before; there is no part of me that wants to continue this break forever.<br />
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The coolest part of this story is that I think it is important to take a step back and see ourselves as others see us, not the "haters" and strangers, but those people who actually <i>know</i> us. I think other people see us way better than we see ourselves, what with all of our self-perception and self-confidence issues running amuck. If you have a chance to see yourself as others see you, take it, so you can learn to appreciate who you have grown into, not just who you used to be.<br />
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<i>For a really great article on self-confidence and awareness, check out my friend's recent blog post <a href="http://toughenupbuttercup.com/2013/11/06/whats-holding-you-back/" target="_blank">at CrossfitterMama!</a></i><br />
<br />AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-62185071785666449182013-10-16T08:06:00.000-07:002013-10-16T08:06:18.331-07:00*Our First (and last?) Oktoberfest*<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">If I had to choose just one word to describe Munich's Oktoberfest, the largest beer fest in the world, I would probably go with "shit-show."</span></div>
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<i>But since a blog post isn't super successful with only one word (or sentence, for that matter) I suppose I should go into a little bit more detail!</i><br />
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My amazing brother and his awesome girlfriend flew all the way to Munich from Chicago (they live in Cincinnati, so there was a long drive involved in their travel, as well) and arrived on October 3rd; just in time for the last weekend of Oktoberfest. The last weekend of Oktoberfest is also the only weekend of Oktoberfest that actually takes place in October (iiiinteresting). It is also known for being the Italian weekend of the fest because apparently all the Italians like to come up to Germany and party together on the same weekend, which we can attest to since we shared a fest table with three Italians on Saturday. But now I'm getting ahead of myself!<br />
Anyways, we had rented an apartment MONTHS ahead, because Oktoberfest is a pretty big deal. People know it. Its very important. (Anchorman anybody?) Said apartment was kind of tiny, but was big enough for all four of us, was super clean and cute, was a 15-20 minute walk from one of the fest entrances, was on a quiet residential street, and was rented out by a friendly and helpful Croatian man named Robert. All in all, I think we kind of hit the jackpot. Or he hit the jackpot since he got paid 355 euros for us to spend three nights in his mom's tiny apartment.... but I like to think that we did pretty well considering the cost of one cot, in a hostel, with a shared bathroom, during any weekend of Oktoberfest, is close to 100 euro a night.<br />
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Cody and I joined Chris and Angela (the above-mentioned brother and gf) on Friday, and we headed out into the streets of Munich to do some exploring. I was excited to see a restaurant that specialized in haxen (pork knuckle) when we got to downtown, and then much less excited to see that a whole haxen cost about 20 euro. Considering we can get haxen for about 5 euro from the cute roach-coach guy who sits outside our grocery store on Fridays, I was a bit disappointed. I began to mentally prepare myself for an expensive weekend. Have I mentioned that I am a total country-bumpkin now, and get overwhelmed by cities and also disgusted by how pricey everything is in said cities? Especially during such a touristy time as Oktoberfest! Anyways, we had a lovely meal (I skipped the haxen... come on, 20 euros??) and walked over to Haufbrauhaus to try and get a beer. It was absolutely packed, but I will say it was cool just to walk around the place. We continued trekking through the city and eventually got ourselves to the fest to scope it out for the next morning, when we were planning to attempt the task of getting into a tent without a reservation.<br />
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<b>Upon entering the fest, I was absolutely amazed! These were no regular carnival rides; there were two full-sized drop towers, tilty whirly puke-makers, even the highest set of swings I've ever seen! Add in the gigantic fest "tents", the drunken people walking (or attempting to walk) the streets, the food and cinnamon nut stands, and random other attractions and sights at every turn, and we all agreed that we probably walked around like deer in headlights for our first hour at the fest. </b>We started our day with a glass of wine on a cute little patio where we could acclimate and people-watch, but eventually found our way to the front deck of one of the large beer tents where we waited out an open bench and ended up spending about 5 hours.<br />
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I had an upset stomach the entire day, and knowing the liter beers that awaited the next day, decided not to drink and to just enjoy the scenery. We made friends with the Austrians at the table behind us (some of us better friends than others, cough Cody cough) and then all the people who flowed in and out from our table. Many glasses of German beer were consumed by all (except me) and lots of random conversations were had. I even saw an Australian chick in a dirndl hit a German guy upside the head for sticking his head in between her breasts while in line for the bathroom! But, eventually, the night had to come to an end, and after a couple of carnival rides, I convinced the boys we had to go home and get some sleep so we could wake up early and score a spot inside a famous tent the next day.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cody and his new bestie ;)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The four of us all together</td></tr>
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Saturday morning we got up bright and early (some of us easier than others) and grabbed some sandwiches and coffee while waiting for the bus. I knew to expect crowds waiting to get inside the tents and we were really pushing our luck, time-wise! I had a specific tent I wanted to try for, but since we were running a little bit late, we just jumped into the first crowd of people we saw outside the Lowenbrau tent. None of us knew what would happen, but I thought we would have to fight our way up to the doors, and I was almost right! When they opened the doors, the whole crowd lurched forward, but they only let in one or two people at the time and would close the doors if everybody started pushing. At one point, we got a few rows away from the door, when the guard outside yelled, "We are closed!" and they shut the doors and went inside.<br />
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<i>What?! Did we really just not make it in??</i> </div>
Nobody in the crowd moved, so there was no way to get in the tent, and no way to get out of the mob of people, or to go try another tent. All we could do was wait, shoved up against everybody around us, and hope that nobody farted. Oh, and that they would re-open the doors soon. Luckily, they did open back up (AND nobody crop-dusted the whole crowd, lucky us!), and all four of us (Chris lagging behind and scaring the crap out of us!) finally shoved our way in and secured a bench. We thought the waitress said that we could have the table until 4:30, and since it was now just about 9:30, we figured seven hours of drinking would be plenty!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entering the fest at 8:30am (yes those are cowboy boots)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the crowd outside the tent</td></tr>
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A fest tent is a remarkable place. There are thousands of people shoved inside, all drinking merrily, and once the band starts going, everybody is singing and dancing together. We sat at a table with three Italian men; one who we affectionately nick-named Jafar and who's laugh sounded exactly like the hyenas in The Lion King. Chris pointed out that nobody in the fest tent got into a fight, which made Cody and I realize that we have never seen a fight at any fest, or in Germany at all, for that matter. If you shoved a thousand people into close quarters and fed them liters of beer at a time in America, I can promise you that a brawl would eventually break out; why this isn't so in Germany, I don't know, but I am thankful for it! The hours went on and we drank and drank. I was only able to finish one fest beer and one Radler, as I was still feeling under the weather, and then around 14:00 I started to feel feverish and terrible and tired and sore and decided to try and take a nap at the table so I wouldn't ruin anybody else's time. Around then, the band started playing American music, and I was drawn like a moth to a flame, so I stood up to dance on the benches and sing along with everybody. What music do they play at Oktoberfest that makes everybody go completely crazy? "Sweet Caroline," "Hey Baby (I wanna know if you would be my girl," and "Take Me Home, Country Roads." For some reason, these three songs ARE really good drinking songs. And I have proof <b>(watch video below)</b>! Luckily for me, we had misunderstood the waitress and were getting kicked out of our section at 14:30, NOT 4:30, so I got to finally go back to the apartment (after a bit of a misunderstanding with a taxi driver) to crash, where I think I spent a few hours fighting through a fever. Thankfully, my sweet hubby came back with me, to make sure I was okay.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me during my attempted nap, and my hubs making fun of me, haha</td></tr>
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I know what you are thinking. I just drank too much and needed to man up. I assure you, I have been drinking enough years to know what drunk-sick feels like, and what sick-sick feels like, and unfortunately, I was actually sick. Did the drinking at 9 in the morning help the situation? Most likely not (although German beer does have some magical qualities). Anyways, I was thankful to get some sleep and take some Tylenol and I woke up feeling much more normal. Everybody else had a blast and came home talking mumbo jumbo about burgers and pummel horses, but after a bit of an afternoon nap, and then convincing Angela it was actually the same evening and not the next morning (haha) we were able to head back out and go to dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant on our street.<br />
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Cody and I headed back home the next morning after grabbing a delicious breakfast and dropping Chris and Angela off at the trainstation to continue their adventure in Garmisch.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">All in all, Oktoberfest is an incredible experience that I would never want to miss while living in Germany. </span><b>BUT, after spending more time (and a lot less money!) at local, smaller, beer fests, Oktoberfest will probably stay a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Cody and I!</b><br />
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<br />AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-68035081148209304302013-09-26T03:08:00.002-07:002013-09-26T03:17:25.249-07:00Why the hate? Why do I feel the need to stand up for Crossfit whenever I hear something negative about it? <br />
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<span style="color: magenta;">Mainly, I hate to see something so positive turned upside down.</span> Especially by people with zero hands-on experience. I would feel very silly posting an article about how raising children a certain way is wrong, because I don't have kids, and I've never tried to raise a child, so how could I possibly know if what I read in some book or article is true? The same goes for body-building or soccer. I've never done it, so I really don't know the pros and cons. Granted, I don't have to try everything to know that its not for me; I don't do drugs or rob banks, although most people would agree those two choices would be bad for my health/life. The jury is apparently out when it comes to Crossfit, but people as a whole do regard exercise as a positive endeavor; it shouldn't matter to anybody, but me, the kind of working out that I choose to partake in. On the other hand, if people feel that Crossfit is bad for their health, or that the negatives outweigh the positives, or that its not an activity for them, then they luckily can choose not to participate. <br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">But why the hate?</span></strong></div>
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The most common reason I hear for disliking Crossfit is that it is annoying to always see posts and articles "glorifying" it. I do understand that pictures, articles, statuses, etc. could get annoying after awhile. Just as it can be annoying to see endless posts and pictures about peoples' children (a friend made this reference and I think its a great comparison). The difference is this: when I get annoyed by over-zealous moms, I don't post anything tearing down those children, or that mom's pride in her children. I just ignore it. Even better, I accept that I may not understand, but I am glad that the person is happy. No skin off my back if they want to post pictures of their kid eating, sleeping, playing, pooping, etc. So I do wonder why Crossfit is so offensive that it can't just be ignored when it is disliked?<br />
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I reference this article at this moment to say some of the things I'd really like to, but won't: <a href="https://medium.com/i-m-h-o/6d606a0b7d31">https://medium.com/i-m-h-o/6d606a0b7d31</a><br />
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Yes, I know it can be annoying to see everybody write about their accomplishments, which is why I personally try to keep those kinds of things between me and my closest friends, my family members, and my Crossfit community. Those are the people who provide the support and encouragement that I care about. Although, I do encourage people not to take it personally if I happen to share one of my positive Crossfit experiences in a forum where you are exposed; I do not mean to offend anybody with my happiness.<span style="font-size: x-small;"> In defense of my pride at times, I have to say its pretty easy to feel proud of where you work out when you get to watch your coach on ESPN competing, and then see him workout in person, and then get advice from him daily. Just sayin' .... :)</span><br />
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Another reason I feel the need to chime in when I see negative opinions on Crossfit is that it does vary from box to box and coach to coach. I can't tell you if the box in my hometown, or your hometown, or the one down the street is worth criticizing. But I <strong>can</strong> tell you that no article that lumps every box, every experience, and every coach together is valid. Most articles focus on tearing down Crossfit by using several falacies to get their point across; namely appealing to emotion, stacking the deck, and generalizing(<a href="http://www.uvu.edu/owl/infor/pdf/content_organization/fallacies.pdf" target="_blank"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Examples of Fallacies</span></em></a>). Luckily, Crossfit Ansbach does not encourage the negatives that are often highlighted in articles against Crossfit. <a href="http://aliinillesheim.blogspot.de/2013/06/mixed-bag.html" target="_blank">I have written about this in the past, and I could only add positives to this if I were to re-write it.</a> When I stand up for Crossfit, I am really standing up for Crossfit Ansbach, the amazing people I work out with, and our owner (our coach), who is an outstanding person and who is not only highly experienced in and knowledgeable about what he does, but who is also skilled in teaching what he knows to others.<br />
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<strong><span style="color: magenta;">When it comes down to it, I think the reason some of us "Crossfitters" come off as annoying is because we have found something that betters our life, and we want to share our experience with everybody so maybe we can better somebody else's life, too!</span></strong> <br />
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So why do I get involved in trying to stand up for Crossfit? Maybe from now on, I won't. The bottom line is, I get positive results socially, intellectually, and physically from going to Crossfit Ansbach. My friends and family support me and my Crossfit community understands me. If somebody outside of that group of people wants to be negative without knowing what they are missing, they are free to feel that way. <br />
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<em>Bottom line: I just want to encourage anybody who is curious about Crossfit to give it a try and not to let the naysayers scare you away!</em>AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-44147883249374567572013-09-23T06:40:00.004-07:002013-09-26T01:21:29.804-07:00Monday, Monday...<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I often give myself permission to completely enjoy a day doing, or not doing, whatever I please (I am spoiled in this way); but I just as often don't fully take myself up on the offer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">However; today, I have spoiled myself by doing exactly what I think of as soon as I think of it; including household chores, errands, and a random afternoon bath. On days where I feel like being lazy or alone (or both), I usually put off all of my obligations, which only adds to my anxiousness and keeps me from having a completely stress-free day. It's as if I spend the entire day thinking of everything I should be doing but then fight these responsibilities by telling myself, "NO! Today you must relax!" And so I sit in one spot and do nothing, but never actually relax because my mind is on everything I should be completing. Today has been so pleasantly different :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As soon as I was half-awake this morning I thought to myself, "I am not going to Crossfit today." Yes, I still love my Crossfit classes, coach, and peers, but this morning the bed felt so cozy and inviting that I didn't want to start thinking about when I had to get up in order to be somewhere other than my nice, warm, bed.</span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I also noticed that my back wasn't aching, and I was so relieved to wake up for the second day in a row without pain, that I gave my body permission to just have the day off.</span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">More importantly, I decided not to feel guilty about taking a Monday off, either. When I did roll out of bed, I took a nice shower and took the time to fully un-pack and put away all my laundry. I tidied the kitchen, started a load of laundry, and then Cammy and I went on an hour walk to enjoy the fact that it is sunny and pleasant outside today. I mozyed to Kauflands where I picked up a bottle of federweiser for Cody and I to enjoy tonight along with our dinner, and after a small lunch, took some time to practice my German with Rosetta Stone. As soon as my back started hurting, I laid down to read, then got up to take a warm bath, and here I am now; sitting up in bed, updating my blog. A relaxing yet slightly productive Monday, indeed!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">You may be wondering why my back is hurting, and I admit that I haven't written about it because I don't want any negative impressions of Crossfit coming from anything that I write on my blog. I blame nothing and nobody but myself for my recent issue with my back, but I did manage to tweak a muscle/nerve/who-knows-what in my lower-back about a month ago during a workout. I have tried giving myself time off, only to become stiffer and more sore. I have had days with very little pain and days where my back nags at me from morning until night. Most of the time, once I finish stretching and warming up in class, I feel limber and experience little to no pain during my workout, leading me to feel strong and mostly pain-free throughout the day. Unfortunately, just as I thought I was maybe healing, I had a very rough day in class on Friday. Thankfully, with help from Rob and some extra time doing exercises, stretches, and experimenting, I think we may have me on the mend. Taking the weekend off for our FRG girl's trip to Poland was most likely the best thing for me to do as a follow up. </span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And so we come around to what I originally wanted to update the blog on: my weekend Polish Pottery Trip! </span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5LBqhAg1NDaHT_1fl_7Os4FdynCh-XUJmMUqvO1ACfM4yqfCtlW3Wzrnr8VfE9SVmJSJNn68QxcwTvgRhklcOeImTPfVhKYyNyttF9vdLJFSZcMyUYXYfw77-r7bHZRy8iNpEVOC_VUw/s1600/polish2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5LBqhAg1NDaHT_1fl_7Os4FdynCh-XUJmMUqvO1ACfM4yqfCtlW3Wzrnr8VfE9SVmJSJNn68QxcwTvgRhklcOeImTPfVhKYyNyttF9vdLJFSZcMyUYXYfw77-r7bHZRy8iNpEVOC_VUw/s1600/polish2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This Saturday morning at 6:00 am, five ladies and myself packed ourselves and some small pieces of luggage into an SUV and drove ourselves the five hours to Poland to buy some pottery. If you have never heard of Polish Pottery... well, neither had I until I came to Germany and was introduced to it by other military wives. I wasn't even particularly impressed with it until this weekend, to be honest. Polish Pottery is hand-painted ceramic pieces for every dining or cooking need under the sun; you can buy coffee mugs, tea pots, saucers, plates, bowls, casserole dishes, wine glasses, serving bowls, muffin "tins," cookie jars, and the list goes on and on and on. You can decorate with it, but it is also fully functional (depending on the quality you buy) and as we found out, you can even find polish pottery dildos. Yep. I really couldn't make that kind of thing up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">When we arrived in Poland, I realized that I know absolutely nothing about the place. I felt bad that I couldn't even pull up one random fact about the area from my brain full of random knowledge. It was definitely different than Germany, and looked kind of sad and run-down in places. But there is no shortage of Polish Pottery! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We hit about 6-8 stores once we got to town, with a delicious and surprisingly cheap meal in between (Poland does not use the euro, and you get a very favorable exchange rate-- think 4:1). We checked into our hotel, The Blue Beetroot, and went to one last store, and came back to have a couple glasses of federweisser (wine before it is wine- yum!) before our scheduled beauty appointments. I was the lucky one to go first and loved my 45 minute massage, which I feel that I have so desperately been needing. We all came and went from our reserved table in the dining room and I enjoyed a raspberry beer, a greek salad with bread, and spinach perogies (my first perogies ever!) for only nine euros! Once everybody had been pampered and stuffed with delicious food, we wandered upstairs for our pjs and some sangria. As I sat chatting with the group, I was so relieved that none of my fears about spending 24 hours with five females had come true- plus, you know when your nighttime conversation is about twerking and zombies that you have found a good crowd :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We all woke up and met downstairs for breakfast consisting of, orange juice, breads, homemade jam, croissants (mmm my fave!), fruits, yogurt, cereals, scrambled eggs, sausage, ham, sliced meats and cheeses, and full carafes of coffee and hot chocolate</span>. <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Incredible</span>. <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Yet again, all of this was only six euros! Can you say spoiled?</span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I had already decided that I was done shopping and would just look around at the stores we stopped at on the way out of town, but the first store we went to on Sunday morning had my favorite patterns of all! Everybody has their favorite Polish Pottery store, and now I know why; these pieces were absolutely beautiful to me! For the first time, I felt the need to buy entire sets all in one or two patterns- I was in love. So, even though I had already spent what I wanted to spend, I got myself a beautiful colander and a little sugar and creamer set in my two favorite patterns. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The drive home was full of conversation ranging from serious to silly and we even stopped to have a picnic at lunch time. With all the fun we had, I think we were all ready to get home, see our husbands (or boyfriends), relax, eat dinner, and unpack our treasures! We got to Bad Windsheim around 5:00 pm yesterday and all gave hugs goodbye, having survived almost 36 hours with zero accidents, spats, or conflict of any kind (I think that's pretty impressive for any 6 people spending all their time together, not just 6 females)</span>. <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Cody had picked us up the largest size pizza that Best Pizza carries and Kevin came over to enjoy it with us. The boys actually liked everything that I had bought, and Cody was extra excited about the cookie jar I brought home, as I thought he would be. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As if the weekend couldn't get any better, after we got ready for bed, Cody called his grandma and dad, who informed us that the Bengals were playing Green Bay. We then realized it was only 8:00 at night and not 10:00 (as we had both thought thanks to Cody, haha), and we got up and watched the game. I made a double batch of cookies for the cookie jar and we got to see the Bengals beat Green Bay 34-30! We both went to sleep very happy, indeed :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">P.s. If you are wondering why there are no pictures- between all of us, we never took one group photo the entire weekend! I think we were all too busy enjoying ourselves to worry about it :) Plus, I'm already excited to go back, anyway!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I hope all of you had a great weekend and are having a wonderful Monday, as well! </span>AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-39967156274437895222013-09-18T06:35:00.002-07:002013-09-18T09:02:30.428-07:00Mom's Visit to Germany<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">This past week something very exciting happened.... my mom came to Europe for the first time and visited Cody and I!</span></strong></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn7Z-fT-aZwN2i1NQqUpGcNWEYDofUPDe0bKQffp7pfGTBza98YW8Un2qAVrFwMV6UnIXMq7VzCjaXYmyknYQnJi52Dyfznf0l4qtNMCzm3etgHAi-7z6AJKZy9Hp-mjaFs7p6vZmxNic/s1600/IMG_0697.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn7Z-fT-aZwN2i1NQqUpGcNWEYDofUPDe0bKQffp7pfGTBza98YW8Un2qAVrFwMV6UnIXMq7VzCjaXYmyknYQnJi52Dyfznf0l4qtNMCzm3etgHAi-7z6AJKZy9Hp-mjaFs7p6vZmxNic/s320/IMG_0697.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: magenta; font-size: large;">We had a ton of plans and we did almost all of them. Unfortunately, after a beautiful, sunny, and warm week, mom experienced an entire week of cold, cloudy, rainy days. It didn't keep us from anything we wanted to see and do, and we all made the best of everything-- all along making time for lots of pastries, cappuccino, and gelato ;)</span></div>
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<strong>It was awesome to show mom my home, take her to Crossfit classes, and experience new restaurants and places with her. She fully understands why I love it here SO much now, and even joked around about moving here herself ;) I wish! Here is everything we squeezed into her seven-day trip....</strong><br />
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<strong> Tuesday:</strong> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIEN0WSQNpHkuK_Oiu2QyXDo9E5z3I9HlEt0hr9Cgmqzi61e2xqx6umCO0Dn9R3dwyx-iqgLXFRCwnFoicrdx3xx8EDev-_8HOpFD8TtSKqN79FKWTpyoXPySurr3iZAprCVxftLLnUzQ/s1600/IMG_0732.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIEN0WSQNpHkuK_Oiu2QyXDo9E5z3I9HlEt0hr9Cgmqzi61e2xqx6umCO0Dn9R3dwyx-iqgLXFRCwnFoicrdx3xx8EDev-_8HOpFD8TtSKqN79FKWTpyoXPySurr3iZAprCVxftLLnUzQ/s320/IMG_0732.jpg" width="239" /></a>Picked mom up from the airport in Frankfurt, stopped at a market hall and picked up a torte, quiche, and chocolate croissant for brunch, drove back to Bad Windsheim where mom relaxed at home while I went to Crossfit, Cody and mom picked up new chairs to surprise me while I was gone and Cody made us bison burgers when I got home (yum!), then gelato in town at Cafe Rialto and home so mom could finally SLEEP!<br />
<strong>Wednesday:</strong><br />
Early morning Crossfit (mom got to meet some of my x-fit family and watch a fun workout), cleaned up at home and had a big homemade breakfast, went to Kauflands to explore and stopped on postto take Cody lunch, then home to change and off to the Frankentherme where we swam and relaxed for a few hours, then went home and cleaned up for dinner at Franco's (mom's first authentic Italian dinner), and home for MORE SLEEP!<br />
<strong>Thursday: </strong><br />
Left for Newschwanstein and Hohenschwangau in the morning, once we arrived we saw Kurt from Glee! and then walked around Schwangau and toured the castle, we hopped back in the car towards Garmish-Partenkirchen and stopped at a "cheese house" for yummy lunch in the car, then arrived at guest-house and explored town, napped, went downstairs for dinner and live music and dancing at Gasthaus Fraundorfer (mom's first authentic German dinner and drinks), finally time to SLEEP<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgExNnqlH9X7MTd_TRZmY_vWiBiaYwhlz2UN1HnukYj11ovWZB51CakYkFUwMCw3SzeSduQbfRiCZAhUiv2NBQ4KPnX522KizwaLLSHoPfLlVMjb299AzIW4KNuAjRSc_Dsx569Naypwa0/s1600/IMG_0754.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgExNnqlH9X7MTd_TRZmY_vWiBiaYwhlz2UN1HnukYj11ovWZB51CakYkFUwMCw3SzeSduQbfRiCZAhUiv2NBQ4KPnX522KizwaLLSHoPfLlVMjb299AzIW4KNuAjRSc_Dsx569Naypwa0/s320/IMG_0754.jpg" width="239" /></a><strong>Friday:</strong><br />
Had a traditional breakfast in the gasthaus with a retired military couple (so nice and informative!), foggy day but did Zugspitze trip anyway; train up to cable car, cable car up to summit, blizzard at summit, hot chocolate with Bailey's (mmm), small cable car down to attempt to take train, "train goes ka-put," small cable car up to big cable car, fast cable car down to train, train back to station, get on the road home, Cody makes pork tenderloin for dinner, I needed sleep after all those fricken cable cars! (Not a huge fan of hanging in a box on a cable with no parachute blowing around in a blizzard... nein danke)<br />
<strong>Saturday:</strong> <br />
We collectively decided not to go to Weinfest in Bad Durkheim and to explore Bad Windsheim instead, Cody and I went to Crossfit in the morning, then we all did a little bit of shopping, stopped back home, grabbed coffee and a cinnamon roll at Cafe Kiwi, listened to the beautiful organ music in the town church, then went and strolled around the Freiland Museum (loved it!), then back to house for rest, and drove out to Best Pizza in Hohenau (first for all of us!) where mom and I shared the same size pizza that Cody ate all alone, then back home to sleep<br />
<strong> Sunday:</strong> <br />
Finally went for breakfast at Cafe Bohne (surprisingly disappointing, boo), then mom and I went to the PX and Commisary at Urlas (ugh), but finished in time to park downtown in Ansbach and wandered around, grabbed a panini and some gelato for the drive home, once home we got ready for dinner at Colmberg Castle with Abby and Josh, and went to Rothenburg afterwards for our favorite Night Watchman's Tour<br />
<strong>Monday:</strong> <br />
I drug mom back to Crossfit to see some weight-lifting, then we came home and cleaned up, hopped on a train to Ipsheim, then we missed the train back, so we took a train to Neustadt, where we got back on a train to Bad Windsheim (mom definitely got to ride European trains-one of her goals of visiting!), we took a bit to shop around Bad Windsheim, then went home, cooked for Lunch In Hangar, had dinner made by mom (love!), finally relaxed and tried to re-create the bier-likor drink from Garmisch, and went to bed<br />
<strong>Tuesday: </strong><br />
Mom and I had a final traditional German breakfast at home (meats and cheeses on croissants) then drove to Frankfurt where mom took off towards the States :(<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Next time, she will have to make a longer trip!!!</span>AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-91227876732608178782013-08-29T06:55:00.001-07:002013-08-30T02:35:36.597-07:00The Crossfit BootyThis week I asked for requests for a blog topic, and I got one from a friend:<br />
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<strong>Twerkin'</strong></div>
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Obviously, he was trying to be funny, but I can totally work with this!<br />
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So, the definition of twerkin', according to The Oxford Dictionary Online, is "to dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance. (If you need an example, I keep hearing that Miley Cyrus was twerkin', or attempting to twerk, all over the place this week.)<br />
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What is so important about twerkin'??? Well, nothing, actually. Its kind of gross and most people who attempt it should stop. But, it lead my wandering mind to another related topic....<br />
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<strong><span style="color: magenta; font-size: large;">THE CROSSFIT BOOTY!!!</span></strong></div>
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<strong>Oh yes. The elusive and beautiful Crossfit booty. All the ladies want one and all the men want to look at one. It is truly the perfect booty.</strong> <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Here are some examples because I know you want them, its okay, don't be embar<em>ass</em>ed:</span> <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBX-ZMBkfHoPpGXD6yGantgLrrHcsaZNfFmqgYb7XogppXuMdWPkSM_ntaZ_E6ZU7OfWX1ySSHg3sZ9XWqqSvr8bPv0P8Exgwe9lRB4RFLCPR0OkobDWr4F62pwWVUW8L5Y1eAE7XlrGM/s1600/cfb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBX-ZMBkfHoPpGXD6yGantgLrrHcsaZNfFmqgYb7XogppXuMdWPkSM_ntaZ_E6ZU7OfWX1ySSHg3sZ9XWqqSvr8bPv0P8Exgwe9lRB4RFLCPR0OkobDWr4F62pwWVUW8L5Y1eAE7XlrGM/s320/cfb.jpg" width="212" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBBW0zV6xl4-vnoHXdjl9AuFMbei6EnCWZidQ-3HdTQ1WDXFdWPV_NWZtsRRyJSy4aVKKFVr055EDh6p-jdRcl2N_ilF_y-Axtx1xP818wwiPL2ku_12iiuRpridk8AJsOA2OgiRt16rE/s1600/cfbooty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBBW0zV6xl4-vnoHXdjl9AuFMbei6EnCWZidQ-3HdTQ1WDXFdWPV_NWZtsRRyJSy4aVKKFVr055EDh6p-jdRcl2N_ilF_y-Axtx1xP818wwiPL2ku_12iiuRpridk8AJsOA2OgiRt16rE/s320/cfbooty.jpg" width="259" /></a></div>
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Now is the perfect time to revisit <a href="http://aliinillesheim.blogspot.de/2013/06/is-that-paleo.html" target="_blank">my initial statement from June about wanting a Crossfit booty</a> because I have some exciting news!<br />
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I made a shocking discovery when I saw myself from the side in an office that had floor to ceiling windows. It was a butt! My back no longer met the top of my legs with a non-commital half-bump. <br />
At that moment, in that window, wearing those workout spandex (and no they weren't lululemon, so there was no magical illusion taking place), I had my very own, true blue, Crossfit Booty!!!<br />
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<strong>Is it the best Crossfit booty I've ever seen? Definitely not! But does it exist? I think it really might!</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">I</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> also had un-solicited confirmation from a trusted outside source, who is not my husband and is therefore not obligated to tell me that my butt looks good, which means that I am not imagining this new bottom! Whooo hoooo!</span><br />
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I decided I would tell you how it is possible that I could be growing a bubbly bum after only four months of Crossfit, just in case you don't believe me or are curious about obtaining one of your own.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNqdezHqNvN5uTaD2BoJbWWFWK9Db1kT4qF0TVErj8k4ETTzPT-EiL3xndOUuamPdY0xcC1JnvyY8oxo02_hDZ-8WERtAPIlhyphenhyphenoRKjUAeZ7A1KCkfPeuWOIBxobh_LI4OzU0ghwBp_6Ec/s1600/upperlegback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNqdezHqNvN5uTaD2BoJbWWFWK9Db1kT4qF0TVErj8k4ETTzPT-EiL3xndOUuamPdY0xcC1JnvyY8oxo02_hDZ-8WERtAPIlhyphenhyphenoRKjUAeZ7A1KCkfPeuWOIBxobh_LI4OzU0ghwBp_6Ec/s320/upperlegback.jpg" width="315" /></a>The four most important muscles in creating a Crossfit booty are the <strong>gluteus maximus</strong> and the biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus, all of which make up <strong>hamstrings</strong>. <em>Scientifically, glutes move your hips forward and hamstrings bend your knee. Superficially, strong glutes and hamstrings give you perky buns-of-steel. </em><br />
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There are many reasons so many Crossfitters (men and women alike) have such drool-worthy behinds, but one of the biggest contributers is the squat. We do a ton of types of squats: Back Squats, Front Squats, Air Squats, Jumping Squats, Overhead Squats.... the list goes on and agonizingly on. Other exercises that activate glutes are sprints, jumping, deadlifts and lunges.<br />
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I can safely say that I have done <strong>HUNDREDS</strong> of those exercises in the last four months, along with all the other workouts that I have completed which didn't focus on my glutes and hamstrings but used them secondarily. Actually, it is hard to think of movements we use that don't require these muscle groups. This makes total sense because Crossfit specializes in functional movements, which means you will never isolate a muscle to work it out. <br />
I am constantly being reminded to "tighten up your ass and abs" and "use your hips," no matter whether the exercise is lifting a bar overhead or squatting it down. Rob tells us all the time that we, as a society, have forgotten how to use our butts. I totally agree! It is crazy how hard it is to learn to do movements that should be so natural! So much power and fitness is going wasted! Plus, so many butts are going neglected when they could add so much bootyliciousness to the world!<br />
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<strong>I promise that I use my butt every time that I go to Crossfit, and as much as I have to focus on it, I am never thinking about what I need to do to make it look better</strong> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(besides when my coach teases me for my original crossfit booty post or I notice a great one in class-- thats right boys, girls check out butts, too!)</span><strong> but four amazing months later, it just does. Like magic :)</strong><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>P.S. Even when I do have a better Crossfit booty, you still won't catch me twerkin'. Ew.</b></span><br />
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<em>Side note: Do you remember those annoying targeted workouts that are all over the internet? Take a second and browse a few of them meant for giving you a better butt.... </em><br />
<em>They probably contain some sort of squat and some sort of hip extension. After the third time of repeating the whole process you will probably get bored and do something else. If you stick to it, besides your body getting used to doing the same workout over and over again, there is absolutely no way you will do as many reps as you would if you were working out at a Crossfit box. I would doubt that you will be using as much intensity, either. Also, in order to work other muscle groups, you may have to find other isolated muscle workouts and add them onto this butt workout. You don't want a beautiful beach-ready butt and flabby arms, right??</em><em> </em><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>STOP TORTURING YOURSELF!!!! If you want real results, real strength, and real health/fitness, put in REAL work!!!</em></span> </span><br />
<br />AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5278657863433217801.post-78568212736777536322013-08-21T01:30:00.000-07:002013-08-21T01:40:20.523-07:00Whoopsie... I'm not Paleo, I'm Primal!I want to take a minute to correct the mistake in terminology that I have been making. Well, I've actually already tried to change my wording in day-to-day life, but I guess what I want to do is <i>explain</i> the mistake I was making, because it seems like I am far from the only one making it.<br />
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The way I eat is <b>NOT</b> <b>Paleo.</b> It is actually <b>PRIMAL</b>.<br />
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<i>"What's the difference?"</i> you may ask.<br />
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In practice, not much. At least that is the way it seems from the number of Paleo recipes that are actually Primal by inclusion of certain ingredients. Also, there are many people who say that they have their own adapted version of Paleo (much like I did), when they may actually be Primal. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(They may just be doing their own thing completely, but I find that the exceptions most people make to their Paleo-ish diet are more in line with the Primal diet, in general)</span><br />
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Basically, when you research Paleo, you are going to come across people interchanging the two like crazy! And that is totally fine, because in reality, the two diets are based on the same premise and are meant to function in very similar ways.<br />
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But, I suppose in theory, there is more of a divide than most people know...<br />
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I just finished reading <u>The Primal Blueprint</u> by Mark Sisson, which is what led me to understand that what I was actually leaning towards the whole time was a <b>primal lifestyle</b>. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">((Book review coming soon!!))</span><br />
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In fairness, I haven't read books on Paleo all the way through, so I don't feel completely comfortable breaking it down into a science, but I did make some observations from what I believed Paleo to be in my research, and what I learned while reading <u>The Primal Blueprint.</u><br />
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I believe that the differences are as simple as the fact that Primal allows some dairy into the diet, and even very small amounts of quinoa or wild rice for hard-core athletes. Also, Sisson is more laid-back (and in my opinion, realistic) with his rules. The way he explains the Primal lifestyle connects with me more naturally than the way the Whole 30 represents its suggested lifestyle. I don't think many people would, or more importantly would be<b> happy </b>to, live their life as strictly as diets like the Whole 30 preach. I understand the premise of perfection in diet, and I applaud whole-heartedly my friends (and strangers) who can successfully stay with the plan. For me personally, a little more flexibility is necessary so I don't completely crack!<br />
Yet again, it may not be fair to compare the Whole 30 to Primal as an example of Paleo, as it does seem to have some very separate rules from the original Paleo Diet as voiced by Loren Cordain... Basically, it all gets super confusing- and a little hair-spliting if you ask me!<br />
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As you can see, I am no expert in this field, although I do plan to read several more books so I can start to figure this out myself! For a more educated explanation, here is how Sisson writes about the difference on his website/blog "Mark's Daily Apple":<br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit;">A fundamental difference? The role of saturated fats.</strong> Cordain and many within the paleo community continue to harbor a fear of <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/saturated-fat/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #668318; line-height: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_self" title="Dear Mark: Saturated Fat">saturated fats</a> as the bogey that raises <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/cholesterol/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #668318; line-height: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_self" title="The Definitive Guide to Cholesterol">cholesterol</a> and instigates heart disease instead of a critical source of nutrients for neurological functioning and other essential physiological processes. Partaking of only lean meats, eschewing <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/healthy-ways-season-flavor-meal/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #668318; line-height: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_self" title="Make Your Meals Pop!">butter</a> and <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/coconut/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #668318; line-height: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_self" title="Smart Fuel: Coconut">coconut oil</a> (two Primal Blueprint favorites based on health benefits supported by extensive research), restricting <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/egg-purchasing-guide/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #668318; line-height: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_self" title="Egg Purchasing Guide">egg consumption</a> – this is not your Granddaddy Grok’s diet.</div>
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As many critics of the Paleo Diet have pointed out, early humans left virtually nothing of the animal carcasses they were so fortunate to bag. And the fact is they favored not the lean muscle meat but the richer <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/cheap-meats-thrift-cuts/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #668318; line-height: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_self" title="Thrift Cuts">organ meats</a>, bone marrow and even fat deposits themselves. <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/definitive-guide-to-grok/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #668318; line-height: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_self" title="Grok">Grok</a>, after all, was just trying to get enough calories and nutrients to stay alive from one day to the next. The denser in energy, the more valued the food. (And, can we add here, more tasty?)</div>
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And then there’s the <strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit;">discrepancies surrounding other fats</strong>. Sure, there’s a general agreement about the importance of <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/omega-3-fatty-acid/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #668318; line-height: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_self" title="Omega Ratio">omega 3:6 balance</a>, but the particulars diverge. In the Primal Blueprint, unlike Cordain’s version of the Paleo Diet, omega 3 sources like <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/sara-says-eat-fat/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #668318; line-height: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_self" title="How to Eat More Fat">canola oil</a> are suspect. The fact is, the deodorization process that canola oil is nearly always subjected to removes the omega 3 content. But when you’ve written off saturated fat sources (like good old coconut oil), you’re pretty much stuck wading in the murky waters of processed polyunsaturated products. What’s wrong with this picture?</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit;">Also at issue is the role of diet sodas (allowed by Cordain) and other artificial sweeteners.</strong> The opinion of many in the paleo community is that as long as it’s not sugar, it’s acceptable. Working around the problem like this seems to be nothing more than a manipulation. Although the Primal Blueprint doesn’t demonize the occasional use of <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/artificial-sweeteners/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #668318; line-height: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_self" title="On the Question of Sweeteners">artificial sweeteners</a>, it makes the stipulation that its use should be limited to foods or beverages that will inherently add something positive to the diet. In other words, if you aren’t getting anything positive from the meal or drink, you shouldn’t be taking the risk of the artificial sweetener. A better angle? Expand your cooking repertoire. Train your taste buds in the right direction, and don’t let the artificial stuff get in the way of that progress.</div>
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Finally and most importantly, <strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit;">the Primal Blueprint works as a broad, holistic approach to living and not simply a list for eating.</strong> While the majority of the underlying assumptions and suggestions of the Paleo Diet are generally sound, the diet encompasses only a fraction of what it takes to live a healthy life in the modern world.</div>
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The Primal Blueprint recommends wise supplementation appropriate to counter the stressors and toxins unique to our life today. (Grok didn’t have it all bad.) In its fitness and <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/10-ways-to-de-stress/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #668318; line-height: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_self" title="10 Ways to De-Stress">stress management</a> approach, the Blueprint further highlights and capitalizes on our natural physiological functioning. The Blueprint emphasizes the overlap of good diet with essential <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/build-your-own-slosh-tube/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #668318; line-height: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_self" title="Build Your Own Slosh Tube">fitness</a> and <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/relaxation-response/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #668318; line-height: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_self" title="Relaxation Response">relaxation principles</a> to <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/organ-reserve-muscle-mass-aging/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #668318; line-height: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_self" title="The Role of Lean Muscle Mass and Organ Reserve in Aging">maximize muscle mass and organ reserve</a> and to <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/naturally-reduce-inflammation/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #668318; line-height: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_self" title="Flame Thrower: Defend Against Inflammation">defend against the inflammation</a>, sarcopenia and other preventable factors behind the aging process.</div>
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And isn’t it a comfort to know that power over your health is seated in more than diet? The big picture of a healthy, fit and happy lifestyle involves more than isolating a specific issue. <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/what-is-the-primal-blueprint/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #668318; line-height: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_self" title="What is the Primal Blueprint?">The Primal Blueprint</a> was designed for the purpose of offering a guide for all elements of healthy living. Let’s face it, some days life makes it particularly difficult to have the perfect diet. We like to think of the Primal Blueprint design as a comprehensive cover, so to speak. The knowledge and efforts you exert in each area (diet, fitness, supplementation, stress management, <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/sleep-better-tonight/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #668318; line-height: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: underline;" target="_self" title="5 Tips for Better Sleep Tonight">sleep</a>, etc.) can make a difference when the realities of day to day life keep you from doing a 100% in a given area.</div>
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Read more: <a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/whats-the-difference-between-primal-and-paleo/#ixzz2cabuKrX7" target="_blank">http://www.marksdailyapple.com/whats-the-difference-between-primal-and-paleo/#ixzz2cabuKrX7</a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Exhausting, isn't it?!?! </span><b>In conclusion, I just wanted to let you all know that I am sorry for prancing around ignorantly calling myself Paleo... I now know the truth; <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;">I'm a Primal girl at heart <3</span></b>AJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01387106596979413397noreply@blogger.com2