Anxiety who? Anxiety what?

When I woke up on Thursday morning, one of my first thoughts was, "I can exercise today!" I had told myself that I would wait to exercise until Monday, becuase after all, all new exercise and dieting commitments start on a Monday, right!? LOL! But I couldn't wait for Monday! I was far too curious to see what I had left in me. Had I lost all of my stamina and strength during this 30-day break from exercise while my sprained ankle healed?

After we completed school, and finished all of our house work, the kids and I made it to the gym before lunch time. I texted my peeps, and reached out for prayer. I really wanted this first experience to be successful. I occasionally caught myself thinking, I need this first experience to be successful, but that is a bit dramatic. The truth of the matter is, I knew that even if I couldn't run a 1/4 mile, it wasn't going to be the end of my fitness journey. I would just take what I was given, and then slowly build up my strength again. I didn't need to be a rockstar right out of the gate. But it sure would have been nice. :0)

After I dropped the kids off in the childcare, I stared at the treadmill. It was all very drama in my head, lol. Could I do this? Would I fail? Would I succeed? (boring.) I decided I was never going to find out the answers to my questions until I actually got ON to the machine!

I started walking for the first minute...and continued to the second minute. But then I told myself, GET GOING! And I did. I set the treadmill at a slower pace than I'm used to...a comfortable pace...a 5.0 to be exact...and I was off and running. :0) The first mile came and went, and I was surprised that I wasn't out of breath. The second mile came and went...I wasn't as excited through that one...my body was still warming up, and the excitement of "exercising" was, well, no longer exciting, lol. But by the 3rd mile, I had hit my familiar groove, and I was in the zone. I was tempted on multiple occasions to increase the pace, but I decided not to. I kept telling myself that this was my first time running in 30 days, and to not over do it on the first day. I didn't know how sore I would be immediately following this run, or even the next day. So I kept my pace at a 5.0 for the duration, and at the end of my hour long adventure on the treadmill, I had completed a 5 mile run!



I felt great! It felt amazing to be sweating...it was thrilling to be accomplishing things on the treadmill...it felt good to be doing something positive for my health!

Physically, everything felt good also. So the next day, I headed back to the gym at night, but decided to do my cardio walk on the treadmill instead of a run. I set the treadmill at 3.8 pace, and I bumped up the incline to the max...15. An hour later, I had burned close to 1200 calories! :0)



Again..."It felt amazing to be sweating...it was thrilling to be accomplishing things on the treadmill...it felt good to be doing something positive for my health!"

Because of our plans to go to the desert on Saturday, I did not have time to go to the gym before we left. The best part was, I didn't make myself feel bad about it. I had 2 prior successful days of exercise, and I had house work to complete before we left for the day/night. That was part of the lesson I learned during this break. I needed to find balance in my schedule. I needed to realign my priority structure. Fitness should be a priority in my life, and a part of my almost-daily schedule, but it should not be the item on my list that the rest of the day is built around...twice.

My new plan is to workout once a day, 6 days a week...Sunday will be my day of rest. Most of the days, I will workout at the gym in the evening after dinner, and after Rick goes to bed. But on some days (like today), the other items on my schedule will dictate that I will skip the gym, and instead take the kids with me on a 3 mile run around our neighborhood AFTER school and AFTER housework is completed. No more making myself crazy...and no more rushing the family through our day to make my agenda of 2 workouts happen.

(Embarrassed sigh.)

Dear Lord, please forgive me for being ridiculous.

I Should've Known...

When I ended my most recent family-related blog post, I had mentioned that we didn't really have any plans on the calendar for the upcoming week. Within an hour of me writing that, I received 3 text messages from friends (and my sister, who if you are new to my blog, also happens to be the bestest friend a girl could ask for) requesting our company on 3 different outings. What a fun and eventful week we ended up having! :0)

On Monday we visited the Zoo with the Mason Family...



We rode on the Skyfari...



And we had an amazing opportunity in the "bug" exhibit! The elderly-gentleman-zoo-volunteer spent an enormous amount of time with our families schooling us in all things "ant farm" and "bees". Among other facts, we learned about, and witnessed bees carrying pollen to their hive in these tiny little pockets on their knees...SO fascinating! We then heard all about the mating of ants, their life spans, and their total devotion to their queen. That experience made this visit to the zoo my very favorite...ever. And considering that Beatrice was learning about the letter "H" this week, I was overjoyed that the Hippos were quite active on the morning we were there...



On Wednesday we went to the movies with 2-B, and her youngest daughter. My kiddos have never seen the movie Lion King, and on this day, they finally did. A few things...

1. On most days, the fact that I'm 30 doesn't equal up to me feeling old...but on this day, this experience of watching this movie, made me feel SO old. I can absolutely remember seeing this movie in the theater when I was a child. And here I was watching the movie in a theater...again...but with my own children. Sigh.

2. Totally random...but someone once told me that all of the villains in the Disney movies are female, and are usually a motherly figure. That has always stuck with me, and I have been very mindful of it when watching a Disney flick...but FINALLY...here is a Disney movie where the villain is male!

3. Best opening 10 minutes of a movie...ever. I tear up every time.

After the movie, we walked next door to Ceramicafe where the littles painted magnets...



And then we let them run...



And explore...



Friday's adventure lead us to Julian...which happened to be the first day of Fall...where we went apple picking for the first time with my sister and her family...



The fee was minimal, and the fun was never ending. The orchard was beautiful, and they encouraged us to eat as many apples as we wanted while we were there. And so we did. There was lots of picking...







And lots of eating...



After the picking of apples was completed, we headed in to town. We had some tortilla soup from the Julian Cafe and Bakery...a staple visit for our families...and then we slowly (and sometimes quickly, depending upon "grabby hands") browsed through the country shops...specifically, the candy store :0)...



We ended the day by eating some popcorn while the littles put on a performance for us. :0)



On Saturday, we headed to Morongo Valley (minutes from Palm Springs), to attend the wedding of my Cousin Luke & and his bride, Candace. It was a great time spent with family...



And my littles stole the show more than a few times with their dance moves...



I should have known that our week wasn't going to be uneventful...it never is. :0)

Our 8th week of school consisted of the color black...



Beatrice found all things "circle" in my bag of treasure...



And in our week of the letter "H", we read the book, "Scamper and the Horse Show", and then painted Scamper, the white horse with all of the colors she accumulates on her coat throughout the story...





Outside of school, Rick and I were gifted many more drawings from Wyatt...







And after Wyatt read us one of his library books about "The Lost Tooth Club", we discovered at the end of the story that if you send the publisher a written story or drawing about how you lost your tooth, they will mail you an official "Lost Tooth Club Badge" just like the characters in the story were awarded. :0) Wyatt went right to work...





Beatrice had the honor of being "Cubbie of the Week" in Awana this week. That meant that she got to hold the flag, and then the Bible during pledges, she got to be the line leader all night, AND she got to go to her seat and start eating first during snack time...it's the little things at this age. :0)



And I had a Sugar Shack order this week...32 Wedding Cake cookies. :0)



In our study through the United States, the kids were introduced to the 3rd state in the Union...New Jersey. Among many other things, we learned that New Jersey is where Albert Einstein attended school at Princeton University (and if you are 6-1/2 years old and STILL love/ask to watch "Baby Einstein" DVD's, then THAT is exciting information), and that folks from New Jersey say "yous" instead of "you all", and that the first seeing-eye-dog was brought to America, via New Jersey, from Switzerland in 1929. The kids had a lot of fun pretending they were seeing-eye-dogs...





We also learned about Atlantic City, and the giant National Monument on the shores of Atlantic City...Lucy, the elephant. Lucy is made with over 1 MILLION pieces of wood! Our Lucy's were made of clay. ;0)





And finally, we discovered that the company "Johnson & Johnson" was founded in the state of New Jersey. Beatrice was especially fond of this fact, as all of her "Princess Baths" that she takes at Grammy's house are completed with a dash of Johnson & Johnson powder, and a palm full of their pink baby, ahem, Princess lotion. The Brumbaugh's decided to do a Johnson & Johnson spinoff...we made our own bodywash...



The whole family got involved (never mind Bea's crazy hair, lol)...





Our finished product...



We ended our week of New Jersey with "Italian Subs" for dinner...not to be confused with a "hoagie" from PA, or a "hero" from NY, or even a "grinder" from MA...





The "Garden State" of New Jersey is known for their production of blueberries...so much so, that their "state fruit" is the blueberry. For dessert on state dinner night, we enjoyed a delicious blueberry cobbler...



This next week we get to dive into the state of Georgia! Seeming as though I just vacationed there 4 months ago (has it already been 4 months!? WAAAA! Time flies!) I can't wait to learn more about the history of the state, and recreate some of the food I enjoyed there while visiting. One thing is for sure...NO.MORE.FRIED.CHICKEN. After seeing and consuming countless pieces of fried chicken in GA, I can live without seeing another piece of it for at least a year! Now, buttered grits on the other hand.... ;0)

It's All About Me...

I have loved journaling/blogging about our family over the last few months. I haven't scrapbooked in YEARS, and my blog has been a wonderful outlet for me to be creative, and document our adventures and precious memories. :0)

But now that I have reviewed the previous week's excitement as a family, I will take the time to write about the original purpose of this blog...

Me...and my weight loss.

Unfortunately, there hasn't been too much weight loss going on around here. I've been off my diet this past week (and actually, the past 2 weeks) more than I have been on it.

The result is not terrible though...I haven't gained back all of the weight I had lost this month...just a few pounds. I will consider it a great success if I can even lose just 1 pound in this month of no exercise!

This sabbatical has gone by so much quicker than I ever expected it to! I remember thinking that 30 days with no exercise would feel like an eternity. To not get a good burn...a good sweat...my endorphins pumping. But each day has run into the next, and before I knew it, here I am...48 hours before I can begin exercising again. Thursday is the day I can hit the pavement. But in all honesty, mentally I feel checked out. It probably has something to do with my food choices as of late, but I just feel like I am going to TANK when it comes to getting back into cardio.

In the last few days Wyatt has asked me to chase him down the street for a bit while he is riding his bike...and as I am running after him, I.AM.WINDED. It's not even a great distance...trust me, it's not even a full block. :-0

3 months ago I ran 20+ miles straight, and now I am wondering if I can even run a single mile.

This post may seem more dramatic than the situation really is. I'm not crazy anxious about it all, but apparently these are the concerns that arise in my head occasionally. :0)

Even though I am technically able to begin exercising on Thursday, I think I am going to take the rest of the week off, and see what I can make happen in the gym starting Monday.

I think if I can eat properly, I won't feel so sluggish, and I will have greater success on day 1, day 2, day 3, etc. I would love to be blown away on Monday...to realize that there is still an athlete somewhere inside of me.

We shall see. :0)

Things are heatin' up...in the kitchen!

Looking back on this past week, my kitchen...specifically my oven, was on over drive! That's the makings of a great week...in my opinion. ;0)

I had 2 Sugar Shack orders due this week.

20 Cookie Monster cookies...



And 48, 80's-themed cupcakes (12 of which were gluten-free)...



In the kitchen, Beatrice was in charge of all things lunch...



And Wyatt was the assistant at "Breakfast for Dinner" night. Here he is flipping pancakes "for his ever first time" (as he likes to say)...



Our hummingbird feeder started off in the kitchen...





And then we waited patiently for our feathered friends...



Outside, the kids ventured off with their bikes...





And endured an occasional crash...



We enjoyed a picnic in the park...



And on a drizzly morning, we got to put on our rain boots, and remember why our library is good for more than borrowing books...





Back inside, we enjoyed listening to Wyatt read book, after book, after book...





One of my favorite things about my son, is his passion for drawing. Whether he is in the middle of watching a television show, or has just finished reading a book, he immediately grabs a piece of paper and pencil and starts drawing...







We completed our 7th week of school (this year is going FAST!)...





Beatrice found all things "square" in my bag of treasure...



And in an effort to combine our color of the week (orange) and our letter of the week (G), we sponge painted gourds...





In our elective study of the United States, we learned that Pennsylvania was the 2nd state inducted into the Union...





Rick and I showed pictures to the kids of our trips to the state. I visited my grandparents in PA when I was 17 years old...Rick and I honeymooned in the Poconos...and when Wyatt was just a year old, him and I visited my dad and stepmom at their house shortly after they moved to PA. :0)

The kids learned all about the Pennsylvania Dutch...and their delicious cooking. We baked Pennsylvania themed pretzels using a Pennsylvania Dutch recipe...











We learned that Pennsylvania was the state that Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag, that this state hosts the Crayola factory, and that Pennsylvania is the birth state of the Hershey bar, and home to the "Hershey Chocolate World" theme park...



To finish off the week, I prepared our Pennsylvania feast. It was a perfectly cloudy day for "Chicken Pot Pie in a Pot"...



And a warm piece of "Shoofly Pie"...





Our calendar looks fairly empty this coming week..I wonder what discoveries will be made!? :0)