Monthly Archives: September 2010

I LOVE LOVE!

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Have you ever had a day that felt so good, sun shining in a bright blue sky, that you felt like the birds were singing their song directly to you? Then perhaps, just the very next day, you walk outside and the sky is cold and grey, a heavy fog covers the ground and you feel like everyone is out to get you? It’s amazing to me how this happens to more people than you realize. So why does it happen? It’s not bipolar disorder guys…it what WE put into the world! Have you ever heard an EXTREMELY negative person complain about how negative everyone is?? Well, LIKE attracts LIKE! If we are positive and grateful and pour love all over EVERYTHING, that is EXACTLY what we get back!! If you really take notice the next time you’re in a great mood, it TYPICALLY (heck, I’ll go as far as to say ALWAYS) is because you’ve been extra generous with you love from the moment you woke up (maybe you stood on your deck at 5am and said aloud all that you were grateful for!) and once you start rolling on that path, it’s all too easy to keep going…eventually, you’ve built up so much love and warm fuzzies that negativity is NO MATCH for the powerful forcefield of love you have around you! Guess what? It works the other way too! Let’s say you woke up this morning and absolutely NOTHING went right in the first hour. Instead of choosing to react to those incidents in a way that doesn’t allow you to dwell on the negativity, you chose the easier path…roll with the negativity. Well guess what?? After a while of playing the Negative Nancy part, it only gets EASIER and EASIER! By the time you get home at 6pm, you feel like you literally have been through the wash, and that the world is crap! Well, the world is EXACTLY the same as it was YESTERDAY…(remember that day that you felt like you were in an 80′s afterschool special?? as in YESTERDAY!)…but your PERCEPTION of the world has changed..nothing else. Well, that should make you feel a HUGE relief, because we have 100% control over our PERCEPTION..it’s the WORLD we have NO CONTROL over!!!

So, on my lunch break I found myself in a little bit of a funk, not even sure why. So I headed over to Borders and started poking around at books (typically a good way to raise my spirits :) ) and came across the book, The Power. It talked about how when we pour love out into the world, we get love back! Duh right?! :) When we pour negativity into the world, we get it back in one form or another! So, by the time I left the store to come back to work, I had a smile on my face! Amazing! I decided that I wanted to come back here and write a post on love and gratitude..and make a list of those “little things” I love (again, this would be my second post like that :-p). Nothing puts you in high spirits like a list of things that make you feel soooo happy…things that you’re absolutely in love with! :)

~If we’re going to talk about things we’re in love with…I HAVE to start with my man! :) Nicholas :) The most incredibly positive, uplifting, enthusiastic, loving person I have ever met :)

~Fall: apple picking, the smell of harvest, apple cider, cool weather, warm sweaters, tights, boots, a fresh start, and pumpkin flavored EVERYTHING (beer and coffee!!)

~October specifically!: family all coming to visit and being able to meet for the first time, amazing seminars, Celtics games, my first 5k!!!

~I LOVE (randomness, hehe) Washington  DC, South Beach (Miami), Vermont and Santa Barbara, CA! :)

~Uplifting, life changing, positive self-help books :)

~PUPPIES!!! Yup, I’mmmm a chick!

~Paleo Pumpkin Chocolate Chip MUFFINS!!!! Recipe HERE!

~ Sitting for 15 minutes in the morning with a cup of coffee and chatting with my mom :)

~Friday nights that we make a little “nest” and drink tea and watch Entourage :) :)

I like how these people think! :)

~ My purple chucks are close to being out of commission, and while I said in my last similar post that I love love LOVED them, I have to say, my pink high tops are chasing them up the ranks :) However, love is abundant and an unlimited resource, so I’ll say I love them both!!!! :-)

~MONDAY NIGHTS!!! Running and cooking with the house to myself till 8…it’s a great time for me to clear my mind and reset :)

~A great adjustment :) I love that I am feeling well enough to know when I have been too long without an adjustment. I am more on the same page with my body (for the most part) and can understand its communications!

~TUESDAY NIGHTS!!! Date night with Nick and Crossfit…and while we’re on it, how about…

~WEDNESDAY MORNINGS!!! Breakfast, and a stop at Atomic on the way to the train.

~A great chat with a friend :) :)

These are just a FEW things that I love!!! It’s funny, Nick teases me that I LOVE everything :) “I LOVVVVE fall, mmmmm, I LOVE this meal…oh man I LOVE that song!!! I love you :) I lovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvve when we eat there! I LOVE Sundays…etc etc etc…you get the point. While he’s obviously not saying this is a bad thing, I need to say that I LOVE the fact that I LOVE so many things!! :-D Life is great, and we could all see that everyday if we looked  :)

I love YOU!! :-D

Love,

Me :-p

Fight Gone Bad FIVE!

Posted by beautifullystrong in Crossfit Workouts and tagged with ,

FIGHT GONE BAD V!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This Saturday, Nick and I loaded into the Expedition to head over to Crossfit Route 1 for the Fight Gone Bad V “competition”/workout. Here is a litttttle snippet! :)

(Since it’s not letting me embed it….here is the link!) http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=748573261079&saved

Instead of throwing a major fit like I may have in the past before a scary workout, I got in the car, wearing my new high socks (to make sure I didn’t wreck my shins during Sumo Deadlift Highpulls), and immediately went to meditative mode. I definitely was wearing some worry lines with gusto…but I didn’t let me head toward grump town this time :)

First time rx’d Fight Gone Bad score: 188. I’ll take it! ESPECIALLY since the adrenaline had me gunning it at full throttle right off the bat, and the fact that I have been in the gym about 5 times in the last month! (Running doesn’t exactly prep you for Fight Gone Bad…) It’s a baseline, and I’m so happy I did it :) :) Definitely blacked out a bit during the first round, but tunnel vision is not always a bad thing when you’re in that sort of situation :)

Enjoy some FGB pictures :) :)

FIGHT GONE BAD 5!!!!

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Tomorrow is the big day…Fight Gone Bad 5! I HOPEFULLY (still need to sign up!!!) will be able to get a spot in at Crossfit Route 1! They’re having an all our PARTY over there tomorrow! The Lululemon girls will be there, along with Jammin’ 94.5 radio station!

So, I sold out…I OFFICIALLY bought a pair of tall socks. Why? Well, I’ve discovered that there is ACTUALLY a purpose to them other than the school girl look that it somewhat mimics:

THEY DO HAVE A PURPOSE!!! So, with the upcoming Fight Gone Bad 5 (FGB5), and KNOWING that in the workout are Sumo Dead-Lift Highpulls (which I ALWAYS destroy my shins on), I decided since I am going to two weddings in the next few weeks, that it would be in my best interest to protect my legs a little :) So, I broke down, and bought a 3 pack of tall socks :)

Whether I actually do the workout tomorrow now is another story…I guess you and I will be equally surprised at the outcome! Starting next week, I’m going to get my butt to the gym more, dang it!!!! I will!! :)

Love you guys,

Jen

WOD-ifying Your Chores…

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Some may call it a “Power Clean”, while others would call it “Cleaning for time…”; no matter how you slice it OR dice it…its seriously intense cleaning, for a very short amount of time…and it WORKS!

After an embarrassing encounter on Saturday afternoon, I started thinking we may need a better system when it comes to cleaning up our house. You see, Nick and I can keep the house clean when we want to, but we also have the incredible ability to take the word ”DISASTER” to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL. Give us 5 minutes, and your house will never be the same…

I like to say it’s because we’re such ”passionate” people. :-p

So, on Saturday afternoon I was curling my hair in the bedroom (I was going to a wedding of a good friend of mine at the MIT Faculty Club…which was SOOOO gorgeous!!!) when Nick comes in and says, “Babe, Amanda’s here…” “Amanda’s here?” I didn’t even really think about it as I was walking over the piles of clothes I had on my side of the bedroom, down the hallway into the kitchen that kind of looked like it exploded. I was so excited to see her :) Then we started talking, and my focus started fading. I slowly became all too aware of the dishes in the sink, the mess on the counter and the enormous pile of boxes on the table that Nick created so that he can set his laptop on top of it and sit with a perfect posture :) I also slowly started thinking back to a week previous when we went to HER house, saw how incredibly well decorated and how pristine it was…and how I MAY have mentioned I was probably never going to invite her over to my house now, haha (and that was in reference to my CLEAN house, which I was insinuating was not as well decorated as hers…heck I would have taken that over what she got!). Now mind you, it is not typically like that…we have finally figured out a way to cook elaborate meals, get Nick off to work at 6:30am and me at 8, get OUT of work, go to Crossfit to FINALLY get home at 8pm where we THEN start cooking dinner and eat at 8:30-8:45pm; AND somehow keep our house under control. However, come Friday we are both DONE for the week, and the cleaning doesn’t typically happen until Saturday (but with a wedding, it was going to have to wait!)…BUT I think we may have figured something OUT!

Yesterday we made a list first thing in the morning of ALL the things we wanted to accomplish that day (and trust me, it was ambitious!). On the list was everything from me going to church, to cleaning out the attic, to house cleaning, running, and coffee with friends. So, when it came time to do the house clean, we knew we couldn’t pull our usual behavior of taking 2 hours to clean up…we put 20 minutes on the timer and devised a game plan.

“Okay Nick, we BOTH tackle the kitchen…5 minutes tops…then I’ll do the bedroom while you pick up the living room and office, and then we’ll both hit up the bathroom!” With everything short of a huddle and clap, we pressed go and boy did we GO! We swirled round and round the room, almost like a dance…somehow managing to not get in one anothers way. After spending 5 minutes total in that room, I broad jumped up two steps between the kitchen and the living room and sprinted to the bedroom. Folding, hanging and sorting, I had the bedroom locked down in a little over 5 minutes, with just enough time to dart to the bathroom to finish up. With just a few minutes over the time limit, we stopped, turned to face each other, and high-fived. We did it…and it was FUN!

SO, the plan is from now on, 10 minutes everyday…for time :) Call us children…but I guess we need to make cleaning a game, or..heck…a WOD…to get it done :) Whatever it takes to avoid having friends drop in on a bombed home…I’m game! :-p

Short Skirts, Tall Boots And Wool :) …Ahhhh Fall :)

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Before I launch off on a marathon of chatter to catch you up on my life, I just want to stop and say thank you for FALL!!!! Cool, crisp mornings that make it nearly IMPOSSIBLE to get out from underneath your snuggly blankets. Soft wool sweaters and tall brown leather boots. Pink cheeks and little traces of your breath in the morning. Hot coffee to warm cold hands. Little kids wearing backpacks with pride. Leaves turning shades or red, yellow and orange. Apple picking and hot apple cider (and once a year, that piping hot cider donut…mmmmmmmmm!). Yep! Fall is amazing…period! I welcome you with open arms :-D !!

Well, it’s official…I have signed up for my first 5k ever!! October 24th, 2010 at 11am, I will be running the Cider Mash 5k at Cider Hill Farms in Andover, MA. The website says it’s the most challenging 5k around…so OBVIOUSLY that’s the one I chose to run :-0, I mean, I hated running before, so why NOTTTT pick the hardest 5k around to kick off my road race experience. HA! Last night I officially ran the most UNBROKEN miles I ever have…3.85!!! Honestly, I am SOOOOO excited because I felt GOOD!!! I felt like I could easily carry a conversation, I felt like I was breathing normally…the only thing that stopped me was my feet. Chucks are not good for running…in case you didn’t know. Maybe its time for some Inov-8′s??

This past Monday was Nick and I’s one year anniversary :) I feel like the luckiest person on the planet to have been able to say I’m his girlfriend for the last year. It’s been the best year of my life to date! :) SO, on Sunday we went up to Cider Hill farms to apple pick, have some hot apple cider, and even, yes even, a cider donut!! I hadn’t had a donut since the PREVIOUS year when I ate a cider donut at Cider Hill. After apple picking we went to Flatbread pizza in Andover. Now, we hardly EVER eat pizza. The last time we ate pizza before this time was literally in March..and we were in NYC, and we were walking by the pizza shop that is supposedly in SpiderMan…so we had to stop. Before that, November. So, pizza twice in the course of almost a year…I would say we’re doing okay. Anyway…it’s kind of a funny story. I’m sure our waitress thought Nick and I were the biggest weirdos ALIVE! Flatbread is this GREAT restaurant, super great atmosphere (wood burning oven, wooden beams, etc), and all natural, organic, local ingredients. SOOOO, for pizza, it’s the healthiest we’ll probably find, and we were okay with eating QUALITY pizza, not just for the sake of eating pizza. Well, there were two size options, small or large. We agreed to order salads first (fresh fiber first!) and then split a small pizza…but then we SAW the small pizza. It was the size of a dinner plate. That was not going to fly… However, instead of trying to decide this ahead of time, we did this as the waitress was standing there. We couldn’t decide on a small or large…we explained that we knew we could EAT the large (its super thin crust and not nearly as large as a large sounds…), but that we were reserved about doing that because we ‘NEVER EAT PIZZA..like ever…”. She was probably like, seriously?? Long story short… we got the large, and ate the whole thing..hahaha. It was delicious, amazingly great quality ingredients, and we enjoyed every bite :) So to me, that’s a win!

Apple picking Fall 2009

 

Apple Picking Fall 2010

Best. Day. Ever.

I’m really excited for next month…not only am I running a 5k, and it’s Halloween month (when I live near Salem MA!!), we’re going to an awesome seminar, and a Celtics game… BUT my family is coming, and NICK’S family is coming, and they’re going to be here the same time!!!!! So much to look forward to!

 

On a Crossfit related note:

I haven’t been going to Crossfit as much in the last few weeks because I’ve been substituting them with runs. I’m trying to get my body used to running 3+ miles (doesn’t sound like a lot, but two months ago, tops, I wasn’t running more than 1 mile at a time…). The last time I was in the gym was Saturday morning. The workout was pretty freakin AWESOME.

1 mile time trial (7:49, my fastest mile yet!)

 max pullups in 2 minutes (31)

max pushups in 2 minutes (31)

max situps in 2 minutes (63)

max squats in 2 minutes (65)

So, obviously this was a workout in itself…but THEN our coach, Raf, wanted to do a challenge. He told us to get into groups of 4 (Nick and I paired up with Kathryn and Evan), and grab a 35# kettlebell for women and 52# kb for men. We all ended up using the 35# since we had just finished a workout that used a fair amount of arms. The challenge? 1000 kettlebell swings for time (amongst your team). It took us 1/2 hour………. and I DESTROYED my hand. I never ever take off my ring on my right hand, and after the workout, not only did I have the entire outside of my pinky finger raw and bloody, but my where my ring hits my palm was destroyed, and there was actual flesh embedded in my ring (sorry for the gore…:-p). It. Was. Nuts. So, I haven’t been in the gym since then because it STILL hurts to take a shower (raw skin), and I look like I have a disease…my hand is literally falling apart. Tonight’s workout has weighted pullups in it, and there are ring dips…ugh…fun times. Help me gain some of the motivation I need to get there tonight…please? :)

 

On a FOOOOOOD related note:

Want a quick, INSANELY DELICIOUS breakfast option?? This morning we had the tastiest, completely balanced breakfast EVER!!

First, hard boil some eggs. I recently found the most PERFECT hard-boiled egg consistancy…here’s my tip: Boil the water FIRST. Then gently place the egg in the water for 8 minutes on the dot…pull it out. Perfect.

While boiling eggs, cook some bacon. We had baked ours the night before, so we just needed to heat it up. Crispy is better for this.

Chop the hard-boiled egg up in a bowl, crumble the bacon, chop up some tomato, red onion and avocado. Mix it all together, and savor every single salty, creamy bite :-D YUM!!! Pictures to come later :)

Bon appetite! :-D

Love,

Jen

 

 

Love and Gratitude!

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I’m FULL of it today! No, not silliness…well maybe…but I’m FULLLL of LOVE and GRATITUDE! I bet some of you are thinking, “Good GOD, what is this girl ON?!” and some of you are thinking this is totalllly normal because you’re the EXACT same way! I tend to be a little more grateful and lovey-dovey on Wednesdays though because I tend to start my morning off REALLY right on those days… I get up early (well we get up early everyday, but still), make breakfast, have time to sit and chat because Nick doesn’t have to be to work early, and I get coffee at Atomic and a ride to the train :) What’s NOT to love?! :)

This Wednesday morning was especially wonderful. We got up earlier than we typically do on Wednesdays and layed in bed talking, it was wonderful. Then we tried a new recipe from Mark Sisson’s cookbook, Breaded (almond flour) poached eggs (recipe coming soon!). Oh MAN! This was fun to make, AND delicious!!! Then Nick made this crazy delicious smorgisborg of goodness that I get to have for leftovers today! There was sausage, and sweet potatoes and a whole bunch of different vegetables, topped with cool, creamy avocado. Clean up that drool spot :-p please.. :)

After breakfast, our morning was accompanied by the amazing soundtrack of NATURE!! Huge blasts of thunder and lightening, which was soon followed by that amazing sound of a riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiDICULOUS downpour :) mmmmm :)

Some of you may be reading and thinking…what’s the big deal? Yeah, doesn’t sound like a bad morning, but it’s not THAT awesome Jen. I disagree! Every single bit of it was awesome, and I am SOOO grateful for every second of it, and here’s what I think: get on board. Get grateful for every single thing in your day that goes good, feels good, ANYTHING! The more grateful you get, the more things in life that will happen for you to be grateful for! Don’t ignore or passively let those little warm fuzzies slide by without notice…grab em, kiss em, hug em, and tell them you LOVE them! :-D

I read this neat little article this morning and I think I may want to even incorporate some of these tactics a little more in my day!

  Gratitude is a great way to really get the advantage of the secret. To really take advantage of it, try saying thank you for everything you have. You may know how wives really appreciates the little things their husbands do for them. So, in turn the husbands keep doing things for them! It’s the same way with the universe. If you are grateful for what you have, the universe will give you MORE things to be thankful about!! Some things someone could do is:1. Every morning, before you get out of bed create that feelings of gratitude. Be thankful of everything you have. Do not just think of things you are thankful for, but FEEL the gratitude.

2. As you get out of bed, as you take on step, think, “thank” and when you take another step you think, “you”

3. As you get ready for the day, go through a list of things you are thankful for, be thankful, for maybe the eyes to be able to read this vital information. Really FEEL IT. You might prefer something else right now, and maybe get different things that you would like later in life, but be grateful for all the things you have now.

     What are you thankful for? Maybe it’s the nice clothes you have, maybe it’s a perfect body, maybe it’s for the blessing of a new day, maybe it’s for your family, friends or the new people you will meet, or even the knowledge of using the law of attraction. Really FEEL it. I can’t stress it enough.

You may find yourself smiling. I’ve actually found myself laughing at times, and it feels AMAZING!!

     Thank you everyone who reads this. I know you all have busy schedules and I’m so happy that so many people take the time to read this. Thank you for letting me spread my journey of the law of attraction around this friendly universe.

So thank you for taking the time to read this this morning, and thanks for being awesome and all you-like :)

Have a rockin’ Wednesday guys! :)

Love,

Jen

Life Is Magical…

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I walked out of church on Sunday afternoon feeling beautiful, unique, and full of magic. The speaker spoke about how we are all magical and special; how we are made of star stuff, the very material that stars of made of. We are the same as flowers that we take the extra moment just to stop and smell, the same as the blanket of twinkling stars in the sky…we are beautiful and magical.

LIFE is magical.

Just yesterday I experienced a magical moment in my day. Whether there is an explanation for this or not, I do not honestly know…but to me, it was magic.

For the last 2 years, since I moved to Massachusetts, I have scoured the beaches for seaglass every time I have had the opportunity. I have an abundance of browns, whites and greens…but I have yet to find the one color I want the most…the illusive blue seaglass.

Yesterday, after visiting the beach with some of our friends, I was changing, cleaning my room and getting ready to begin a load of laundry. As I turned around, there in the middle of my beige carpet lay a piece of sapphire blue seaglass, all alone. How could I have missed that before? The contrast of the blue against the beige was so sharp there is no WAY I missed that! I picked it up and studied it, it most definitely was seaglass. Dumbfounded, I asked Nick if he knew anything about it, and sure enough, he didn’t, and thought it was just as odd as I did.

I have looked for years…and yet, one LITERALLY followed me home. I have no way of explaining it, although I think I exhausted every possibility of an ATTEMPTED explanation. The explanation for this Pisces, however, is that life is magical… Magic is everywhere, every single day. Maybe it was a sign, a sign that I’m on the right path in life…maybe I just stepped on it on the beach and dragged it home…regardless, its magical, and I’m so grateful for all those magical moments in my life :)

Enjoy your magical life :)

Jen

Back To School!

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Recently I have been struggling with a little bit of intellectual insecurity. Ha…how’s that for honest right out of the gates?! :-p 

I have a LOT of really, REALLY smart friends; biologists, chemists, PhD’s, doctors, engineers, marketing masters, business genuis’, etc etc etc; which lately has left me thinking, “What do I have to offer here?” With much thought, this is what I’ve come to…

At this stage of my life, my role is the student. We all go through that phase, don’t we? Some go through that phase longer than others, hehe, but I think I’m okay with that. There are those who teach, and in order for those people to fulfil their role, they need someone to learn from them. Well guess what? I’m REALLLY great at learning! :) I LOVE learning! I am constantly, ever single day, learning something new, and implementing what I’ve learned. Some might say personal growth is my super power :-p Maybe some day, with a fair amount of time given to myself, I will be able to be in the role of teacher, but for now, I’ll gladly take my “seminars” and wealth of knowledge given to me on a daily basis. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to be surrounded by such gifted, amazing, kind, FUN people!

I thought that I wanted my purpose in life to be teaching others; passing on what I’ve learned. Maybe it someday will…OR, maybe my purpose is not so much to lead, but to run along side them and cheer them on through the hard parts. I’m relateable, I’ve been there, I’ve felt it. I’m okay with that. Actually, I’m really okay with that.

Some teach, some learn;  some lead, some follow. To have one, you need the other… 

Love,

Jen