wellness wednesday: april music

Top 3 Favorite Workout Songs

- April Edition -

Best warm up song:

Anywhere With You- Jake Owen

Sometimes you just need a happy country jam to get you pumped about a work out. 

This song has been mine and Christian's favorite for several weeks now.

Plus, I think Jake Owen is Christian's long-hair, grungy brunette doppleganger so..... 

YEAH I LOVE THIS SONG.

Best power song:

Remember the Name- For Minor

This song is the only thing that got me through a brutal hill in cycle the other day.

Awesome for anything endurance-y. 

(Also great for making up new words.)

Best cool down song:

Lost and Found- Katie Herzig

Just listen to this song and you will understand why it's so awesome. 

And just plan right now on having it on repeat, and making your cool down twice as long as normal.

It's that good.

There you have it.
And y'welcome.

end of the semester blues

I've been staring at a computer screen for about 10 straight hours today. 

Sooooo basically my eyes are shriveled up like raisins and my retinas are bleeding.

And I'm currently 4 finals

(I KNOW!)

3 days, 

And 1 red-eye flight away from seeing all of these dear people. 

In other news, it was officially decided today that my dearest best friend Nicole and I will be reunited in June for her BABY SHOWER!

We've basically been talking about this since we were 10 years old,  
swimming around in her hot tub pretending we were mermaids.

I'd say we've come pretty far, don't you think?

I'm 99.9% sure I'm going to cry like a baby for the entire weekend, and I couldn't be more excited about it. 

things of beauty

It's about to get WAY nerdy up in here, but this was too good not to share. 

You've been warned. 

So maybe I've mentioned before, but for my whole life I've always LOVED animals. 

It verged on obsession all through my childhood, and to be honest not much has changed ha. 

Along those same lines, I also love nature and everything pertaining to it. For as long as I can remember, I have felt such a pull to these things. It's such an integral part of me that it almost feels engrained into my spirit and spirituality. 

(Am I a flower child, or what?!)

 I adore natural history museums, nature documentaries and tv shows, books, newspaper articles.... basically anything that can fuel my intense desire to learn about God's creations, both living and non-living.

Thankfully I have a husband who encourages this and participates in it with me. 

(In case anyone ever doubts that we are soul mates...)

Well, last week he told me about this documentary he saw on netflix called Crimson Wing, and we watched it together on Sunday.

YOU GUYS.

It was seriously the best movie I have seen in a long long time. 

The music was incredibly moving. 

The cinematography is mind blowing. 

And come on... the movie is about FLAMINGOS! 

Their story is so incredible, and just.... 

AH. 

I can't say enough good things about this movie. 

If you have Netflix, go watch it like.... yesterday. 

Or at least watch the preview and be amazed.

Sometimes I wonder why I love these things so much. After years of pondering, I've come to the conclusion that learning about Heavenly Father's creations bring me much closer to Him. 

It invites the spirit into my life, it helps me better understand His power and love for us, and for me specifically. If he can govern this huge flock of flamingos in the middle of Africa to live like this, imagine how invested He must be in OUR lives. 

It's absolutely amazing.

If you are looking for more ways to invite the spirit into your life and feel closer to God, I highly recommend starting with something like this. 

Truly this world is beautiful and amazing, and stands as a gigantic living testimony that He lives, He knows who we are, He knows what we need, and He loves us dearly.

wellness wednesday: people you see at the gym

I REALLY love my gym. 

I've been a member at 24 hour fitness for 11 years now

(Thanks for the early inauguration to the world of working out, mom and dad!)

and in that time, I've seen my fair share of normal people, weirdies and over-enthused meat heads.

Here's a list of people you can expect to see at probably any gym, and people I've most DEFINITELY seen at mine.

-The annoyingly fit old person.

Seriously grandpa? You are running faster than that 25 year old man!
(And I hope I look half as good as you when I'm 70!)

-The meat-head/30 year old single guys who only come to lift, thus they wear their beloved high socks and vans. 

I don't mind that style, but amiright when I think there's a time and place for everything?
And I'm sorry, but your Journey's footwear does NOT belong at the gym

-The women who socialize and don't really work out.
Don't get me wrong, I love the elliptical.
And I love to chat with other women. 

But when you combine the two, you basically get a whole lotta distraction and nothing done.
All those calories you THINK you burn.... well....
You actually don't burn them because oh hey you've been moving at a level 1 pace for the last hour, lady.

-The old guys in cut off jeans. 

Way too short cut off jeans.
Um, the 80's called.....
and they want you back.

-The gym hookers. 

I don't need to say much because you know this type.
And I've probably seen more clothes on a Victorias Secret model.

Yuck.

-The "I'm only here to find a date" college student. 

They work out insanely late

(11 pm?! Even I'm not that crazy!)

Guys are all about muscle-bearing, 

And girls are full blown make-upped, self tanned, and hair did. 

I'm all about not looking like a hag,
But obviously you didn't come here to sweat....

-The all around all-star. 

Aka the incredibly toned woman and and buff-but-also-lean guy who have their ego in check that I imagine and hope that Christian and I will one day be like.
(A girl can dream right?!)

-The Latin men who only go to Zumba.
These guys are my FAVORITE.
Enough said. 

-The regulars.
These are the people you see all the time.
You never socialize with them, but you acknowledge each other with a smile or nod.
You share that mutual "I see you here all the time but I have no idea who you are and I'm cool with that" camaraderie.

-The loud breather.
No like.......
The REALLY, incredibly, obnoxiously loud breather.
We're talking only 5 minutes on the treadmill and they are breathing so loudly that my hair is suddenly re-styled because they are expelling so much air from their lungs.

-The nudists.
These are the people
(unfortunately most often of the older persuasion)
who feel like it's appropriate to walk around the locker room in their birthday suit.
I know you're feeling really invigorated after your Aqua Aerobics class but AHHHHH!
JUST NO!!

Basically the next time you need a people watching fix, 

you know where to come!

(Unless you want to avoid a naked geriatric ward of course.)

remember when

A few weeks ago, I was contemplating chopping off all my hair. 

Remember?

Well, Friday rolled around and that contemplation turned to action.....

And..... well.......

Also, Christian is sick
(We can't catch a break around here!)
We are babysitting a TON this week,
Cramming in hours of work before we go out of town next Thursday,
Trying to sleep and exercise and fight off this dang bug once and for all,
Finally finishing classes,
AND taking finals.

So if I'm hanging around these parts a little less than normal for the next few weeks,
well.....
you've been warned.

wellness wednesday: it actually IS about the bike

 *** Here's a little sob story for you:***
So Christian and I have been diligently attending a Tuesday morning cycle class this whole semester. We LOVE the teacher.... and so does everyone else apparently. 
It's gotten so popular over the last few months, that if we don't get there 20 minutes early (not even an exaggeration), we don't get a bike. Well, real life struck yesterday morning and we only got there 10 minutes early. And much to my dismay, there were no more bikes. I was so pissed. And I'm still kind of irritated. 
So this is why I'm writing this post today ha.

Let's talk about cycling.

This is me just loving on my bike.

And oh how I really do LOVE it.

Cycling is a GREAT workout, especially if you need to switch things up a bit.
Here are some of the wonderful benefits I've noticed, at least for myself:

- I am MUCH more motivated to push myself when I'm on a bike. 

When you're running, for instance, it's super easy to just stop and walk whenever you want to.
(Number one offender right here)

However, when you are on a bike, you can only go so slow. 

In light of that, I usually find myself pushing myself much closer to my personal limit when I'm on a bike. 

(So much so that in the last class, my resistance was so high I literally was unable to pedal at the end of the song. HA!)

- It's so much better for your joints!
One thing that's starting to become more important to me is being able to exercise as I continue to age.

I want to be hiking and biking and swimming and being all kinds of active when I'm 65-70!

Keeping my joints healthy is a big part of this. 

I've got terrible knees, and biking is really helpful for that. 

It keeps my muscles nice and strong without the high impact of say, running.

Win, win!

- You go SO MUCH FASTER on a bike!

And who doesn't love feeling like a speed demon?!?

One downside to cycling is it definitely takes more time to get in a good workout. 

Where running 3 miles may take about 30 minutes, and you burn a good amount of calories, you have to bike TWICE that long to get the same effect. This proves hard sometimes if you are tight on time, but for me, it's SO WORTH the sacrifice!

I'm so happy road biking season is right around the corner! 

the day i was pregnant

Don't be fooled by the title of this post.

My "oven" is most assuredly empty.

However, a few weeks ago, I experienced what I will affectionately join the rest of the world in calling a "pregnancy scare".

(I feel the more accurate term would be pregnancy "holycrapwhatiswrongwithmethereisnowayicanbepregnantholycrapholycrapholycrap" scare.
But that's just me.)

Anyways, I'm usually pretty "regular".
Scratch that.
My body is like clock work.  I'm MORE than regular. If you get my drift.
So when normal things didn't happen when they should have started happening,
and I realized that there were some potential complications that had occurred over that last few weeks.....
I maybe started freaking out a little. 

This is basically how that day went.
While sitting at work:
"Postings jobs doesn't matter right now!

I'm probably going to have a BABY IN 8 MONTHS!"

While taking a test:
"I don't remember ANYTHING I studied about stupid marketing!
And it doesn't even matter because I'm probably going to be a MOTHER before the year is over!"

While out to dinner with Christian:
"So what do you think we will we name the baby?"
(As you can see, I was 100% convinced I was pregnant at this point.
Nothing like THAT conversation to stress a poor young husband out.)

While watching a movie:
"I can't pay attention to the stupid Avengers, because I swear I can feel a fetus inhabiting my womb. In fact, I'm feeling kind of nauseous....
YEP I'M DEFINITELY PREGNANT" 


When I woke up the next morning:
"It's Saturday.
HOLY CRAP I'M PREGNANT"

The moral of the story is:
Basically I'm the most ridiculous woman ever.

Anyways, things returned to normal a few days later.
(Which I was slightly thrilled and also slightly disappointed about.
Guess I'm ready to be a mom? 
Sorta?)
And that was easily the most comical and stressful 48 hours of my life.
Married friends....
Has this happened to any of you?
Or am I the only crazy alwaysthinki'mpregnant lady?

bursting

It was a weekend to end all weekends. 

I was feeling SO MUCH BETTER, which was an automatic high point.

(modern medicine is SUCH a blessing!)

We got to spend every single day reuniting with dear friends and family, including our favorite DC married friends, Christian's mission president and past companions at his mission reunion!

General Conference was exactly what I needed, as I'm sure it was for many.

I'm so thankful we can fill our spiritual cups to the brim every six months. 

I've resolved to be more kind and loving, especially to the children that Christian and I are constantly interacting with. 

As babysitters/pseudo parents, and primary teachers, I've realized this is something tremendously important to be working on. 

 

Now we just need to chug through these last few weeks of school, and Christian and I will be enjoying our one year anniversary (!!!!!!!!) on the beaches in Miami, and soaking up all kinds of sun and fun with our families. 

My motto until finals are over:

Just keep swimming..... 

Just keep swimming....... 

Just......

Keep......

Swimming........

lessons and a sorta foodie friday

Guys, I have seriously been so sick for the last week. 

Like, SO SO sick. 

I'm finally doing a little bit better, but I basically cried every single day at some point, and I've been so weak that I could hardly handle showering ha!

Also, this cough?

It's out of control. It's been so bad at some points that I can feel my ribs pop AND it's so deep and strong that it's made me gag more than once. 

(I'm thinking I have a post-cold/flu bronchitis because literally nothing is helping. Has this ever happened to anyone?)

Anyways, my point in saying all this is NOT for sympathy, but rather to tell you how awesome I am. 

Because for the first time in a week, I attempted to exercise today. 

*ROUND OF APPLAUSE*

Zumba was probably a little too intense after having been sick all week, 

but you can't keep a good woman down!

So I was coughing and coughing in between each song haha I'm sure I looked ridiculous. 

Actually, I KNOW I did because at one point during the class, a lady came up to me all worried and said:

"You really should remember your inhaler next time" 

And I just had to laugh for a few reasons. 

First, my doctor totally gave me a temporary inhaler on Monday, just to help alleviate some symptoms.

(It's complete crap, by the way. All it does is make my mouth taste icky)

HOW DID THIS LADY KNOW MY DOCTOR HAD GIVEN ME AN INHALER?!

AND I definitely don't have asthma, so I thought it was pretty funny that this lady thought she needed to say that to me. 

I then went on to try and explain that I've been really sick and she was all:

"I bet you have exercise-induced asthma"

HAHA. 

This certainly didn't upset me or anything. 

In fact, it made me happy that someone was concerned, because I'm pretty sure I was coughing so hard at one point that I almost puked and THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO AWKWARD. 

More than anything, it gave me a nice valuable reminder 

No matter how smart  or intuitive you think you are, you NEVER know what is going on in people's lives. 

(I'm probably the number one offender of this)

That lady, however good her intentions were, had NO idea that I feel better today than I have in over a week. And that I definitely don't have asthma, I'm just sick. 

There are so many times in life in which we pass judgement and make assumptions about other people, and more often than not, we are completely wrong!

It's harmful both to ourselves and the people we are judging. It can damage relationships, cause a lot of unhappiness, and more than anything, it isn't what the Savior would do. 

This is something I'm sure I will have to work on for my whole life, but wouldn't the world be amazing if we could all be a little better at not judging others?

At simply loving people, regardless of our own personal motives, because it's the right thing to do?

Just some food for thought. 

Speaking of food, wanna know what Christian and I have consumed this week?

Basically we've had to eat out for lunch AND dinner for the last 4 straight days because we have NOTHING to eat.

(although sometimes I think popsicles and applesauce should be their own food group.... which they basically have become at our house....)

and I refuse to go grocery shopping at the moment. 

This has its perks, however. 

All those pesky dishes we normally have piling up?

NONE.

All week long. 

And it's AWESOME. 

Next time I'm sick, remind me of that little blessing wontcha?

on a lighter note....

It's officially, officially official... 

CHRISTIAN AND I WILL BE IN FLORIDA IN 3 1/2 WEEKS!!!!

This is how that makes me feel!!

To our sweet families, the beach, palm trees, sandhill cranes, art deco, crazy drivers, tropical breeze, gators, country music, A1A, jewish new yorkers, humidity, Disney World and all other amazing things about Florida....

WE

ARE

COMING

FOR

YOU.

{ illness } wednesday

The last week has left me completely drained, in every way. 

I've been holed up in our basement apartment, sick as a dog, and expelling everything imaginable from my body. 

(Mucus, blood, vomit, the works)

I've missed a lot of class and a lot of work, and my poor amazing husband was left to take care of three kids on Friday night, Saturday, Saturday night AND Sunday all by himself while I wallowed in my disgusting illness.

He's simply the best.

All this down time has left me thinking a lot. 

About how I use my time in general, and just ways that I can be better and enrich my life. 

I get so sick of this blog, and the blog world sometimes. 

In that way, I'm incredibly grateful that I was sick because I've been able to just set a lot of the social media aside.

It's been refreshing, and I want to figure out some better things to do with my time, especially now that the weather is getting nice and I can enjoy more time outside. 

Some of these things are going to be a big focus of my summer:

- hike, hike and hike with Christian. I want to climb Timp at least twice!

- read tons of uplifting and entertaining books. Religious and non-religious. 

- run, bike, and swim until I drop. And then do it some more. 

- Go on walks with my sweetheart. I miss that about being engaged.

- take our pseudo children fishing, to the park, to Utah Lake, etc.

- go to the ZOO!

- eat lots of snow cones.

- go to an outdoor concert

(Mumford and Sons in Phoenix anyone??)

- pal around with our families in the warm tropics of Florida

(I'm hoping, I'm hoping, I'm hoping.....)

- and just.... have fun. Have a simple summer. One that's uplifting and rejuvinating and doesn't just slay me like the last 2 summers have. 

I'm really looking forward to finishing school and enjoying all that.