Tag Archives: vacation

There’s No Place Like Home

Posted by beautifullystrong in Crossfit Workouts and tagged with , , , ,

Oh mannnnnn, this week has felt like a whole year so far! I absolutely cannot wait for this weekend. Nick and I are heading to the great northern Maine woods to the LOVELY Long Lake cabin that my family owns :)  

**Sigh**

 

How could you NOT relax there??? :)  

I have sooooooo many memories up there, and I’m excited as I could possibly BE to make more this weekend :)  

Crossfit: I did not go last night. But whyyyyyy? My legs were still smoked, and it was date night with Nicholas :) So, I got home at 6pm, chopped and poured the ingredients for soup in a pot (Nick had a little head start on it for me), turned it on low, and did a 12 minute workout in my bedroom; a 12 minute workout that had my heart through the roof, and my clothes DRENCHED! Gross? Sorry…but true! 

Triple Tabata Tuesday! 

4 minutes (20 seconds on, HARD…(ps, I totally originally wrote “20 seconds HARD on”…yeah…this is my day so far)…10 seconds rest, 8 rounds = 4 minutes) one exercise right after another, no stopping for 12 minutes: 

situps (totally reopened that assberry..ouchie)- averaged 11 situps per round, so that would be 88 situps in 4 minutes; which is actually only 2 minutes and 40 seconds of work, the rest is rest. 

pushups- my lowest amount of pushups was 6 per round, with a couple rounds of 10. That is a minimum of 48 pushups in 2:40 min. 

squats- Averaged 14 per round, about 112 squats in 2:40. 

So I don’t want to hear that you can’t get a workout in because you didnt’ have time. Just do tabatas!! :)  

Food: As I said, last night we had my favorite soup ever! Annie’s vegetable lentil soup, with brussels (tons of brussels, they soak up the liquid, amazing!!!), squash, zucchini, onions, jalapeno chicken sausage, little bit of turkey kielbasa. So quick, so easy, and soooooooooooo tasty! 

This morning I felt ambitious :) We woke up at 5am to go watch the sunrise with coffee. Although there were too many clouds to see the sunrise, I loved every second of our time together. Another benefit? We got home at 6am and had plenty of time to cook a big breakfast! I made some sweet potato homefries, and we had our first crack at attempting omelettes :) Whoa MAMA, that was one stuffed omelette!!! Stuffed with chicken sausage, zucchini, broccoli and spinach! After we finished cooking it, which was executed beautifully mind you (with tandem spatula flipping however), plated it, and ran into the bedroom to get my clothes together for work, I hear Nick from the other room, 

“Baby, this may very well be the best breakfast we have ever made!” 

Boy was he right!! Soooooo tasty!!! I couldn’t imagine how anyone would EVER want to eat a bagel with cream cheese (for just about the same calories guys…but WAYYYY less nutrients) over this meal! Yes, it takes a little bit of time…but worth it! Get up 10 minutes earlier…in the long run, you’re not going to realllly notice getting those extra 10 minutes. It’s hard to get out of bed, but once you’re up, at least I am, usually over it. 

Heading to xfit tonight guys :) Looks like an interesting one :) I’ll fill you in tomorrow :) 2 more sleeps till Maine :)

Vacation Recap (with pictures!) :)

Posted by beautifullystrong in Crossfit Workouts and tagged with , , , , , , ,

Mountains, the desert, slot machines, Reno, Folsom, a wedding, Tahoe, Carson City, hiking, quails, blue birds, breakfast on the deck, views, sunshine, amazing people…the list goes on!!

I just got back from my trip to Nevada/California with Nick. AH-MAY-ZING!! (and yes, I know that’s not how to spell amazing…) We did about 3.5 hikes (the first day we attempted to climb C hill in Carson, but the elevation (5500 ft) pretty much stopped me dead in my tracks.) We climbed a mountain in Tahoe with some of Nick’s friends, a crazy hike near Reno that did not involve any pre-made trails (well there were, we just chose to ignore them and climb straight up the side of the mountain instead), and a second visit to C hill to climb the WHOLE thing (sprints included) which nearly killed me, haha.

Let’s see, what else? We went to Reno, NV; later to go to Folsom, CA…how Johnny Cash :-p Went to a wedding, caught the bouquet, and Nick caught the garter. Swam in Folsom Lake AND Lake Tahoe. Played Black Jack at the Nugget, and walked away breaking even. Rode in the back of a truck, on my back, looking up at the stars. Had breakfast on the deck at Nick’s parents house most of the days we were there; watched quails, bunnies and blue birds hop through their yard.

Anyway…too much to write about, soooooo…enjoy some footage :)

 
 

Lake Tahoe...I <3 you Lake Tahoe!!

 

Playing an abandoned piano in Reno :)

 

Hiking at Emerald Falls in Tahoe!!!!

Got to have the 80's jumping for joy picture on top of the mountain!

That's us in the bottom left hand corner! :-D

Hiking just outside of Reno...this is the "make your own path" adventure

I was actually pretty terrified at this point...walking on the edge of an extremely steep mountain, on loose dirt

I was filthy...climbing hand over hand in the loose dirt...my belly was covered in dirt..and so was my face! But I was having a blast!

This is the part where I was sliding down the side of the mountain and Nick seemed to think it was a great time to stop and take a picture while I so very calmly asked if someone could please help me...please?...thanks babe! :-p

Emptying my dirt filled chucks :) Great hike!!

 

So, I had a great vacation…great week!! How was YOUR week?! Fill me in!!

Love,

Jen

A Mish-Mosh of Thought

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Good morning lovelies!!! At this time tomorrow I will be flying high above the clouds on United Airlines heading to the west coast :-) Heck YES! For those of you who don’t know what I’m doing, I will fill you in!

Tomorrow we’re flying into Reno, Nevada where I will have the opportunity to redeem myself in the gambling department (when I went to Vegas, I clung tighter to my money than I think I EVER have…and just happened to take home seven whole dollars from a game of WAR), meet Nick’s Aunt Edna (you have NO idea how excited I am to meet her!!), then head up to Carson City to spend some time with his parents (and hopefully get his mama to show me some baby pictures!! :-p). Then Nick’s friend Sonia is getting married in Folsom on Saturday (I LOVE weddings!!) and then back to Carson City we go on Sunday to spend the rest of our time with his friends and family (Chuck and Erin, I FINALLY get to meet you guys!!! and I can’t wait! :) ). There will be hiking, dancing (I don’t take dancing lightly :-p) and a visit to Battleborn Crossfit in Reno. So, my point in telling you every little detail of what I’m planning to do on the trip, is basically just to let you know that I will be MIA for a week, haha. I will, however, come back with a full review of the trip, with pictures of COURSE!

Your brain on exercise = happy brain!

On another note: A week ago I made a pack with Nick, and I’ve decided I want to share that with all of you. I have come to the realization (in all actuality I realized it a long time ago, I’ve just recently ACCEPTED it) that I am completely intolerable without exercise. How did I function before Crossfit?!! I am fine for a day without it, but on day two I start to feel it, and by day three, it’s completely unavoidable. The part that KILLS me, is that when I’m being a big grumper, Nick is always so patient and good to say, let’s exercise…but it totttttalllly drives me up a wall at the moment. I get all grumpy and think, why is it that I can’t be a functioning human being WITHOUT exercise? Like I have no control? Well, as Nick likes to say, and I think it’s so true,

“That is like someone saying, ‘I get super hungry when I don’t eat…I just dont’ understand why I can’t function like a normal human being without having to eat!!” He likes to point out that we are MADE to move; movement IS functioning like a normal human being. The sooner I learn this (and trust me, I’m getting there) the better off I will be. Doc Franson has said that we need to use exercise as a SUPPLEMENT for a healthy lifestyle. 40,000 years ago, you had to move to eat, or you were eaten. Now, we can drive through a drive-thru and have a bag of “food” thrown through our window…not exactly the same situation. So, just like we would take a whole food supplement to fill in the cracks in our diet, we need to exercise to function as a human. If ONLY I could remember this when I’m grumpy! :-p

You know what though? Usually (there has never been one time that I haven’t) I take Nick’s advice and do something to move, and sure enough, like magic, I am a new woman. It’s like night and day. Now I’m a relatively super happy person…and a lack of exercise affects me THAT MUCH! So, back to my original point to this story (can you tell I’m leaving for vacation tomorrow, my head is not on straight!); I made a pact with Nick that I would do SOMETHING every single day to move my body. I’m not talking about Crossfit level of activity every single day, just SOMETHING. Last night I went for a leisurely bike ride, I’ve done 50 double unders one night, etc etc. Doc Franson always says, “You only need to move on the days you eat.” Well folks, I plan on eating everyday, so I SHOULD be MOVING everyday! I put this in writing, and for the last week have held strong to my promise; and guess what? I feel GREAT! Am I saying that exercise is a cure-all and that I’ll never be upset by anything again in my life? Ha..no. What I AM saying though is that by exercising everyday, eating clean, getting adjusted and attempting to think the purest thoughts, I have the best CHANCE at being upset as little as possible…and even things that upset me will not upset me to the caliber it would if I had NOT done those things.

Try it out! :) When you’re feeling like the world is not looking right, go out for a jog, and assess how you feel when you get back! I guarantee there will be a dramatically positive change :)

Seeing the world through a much clearer lense,

Jen

The Rest Stop

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I tend to REALLY hold onto moments that feel SO good you never want them to end. Those types of moments are special because they don’t happen allll the time, right? Those are the kind of moments that you want to live in forever. Well, I had a boat load of them this weekend, and therefore, my weekend was phenomenal. Did BIG EPIC things happen this weekend?? Is THAT why it was so great?? No, not really…actually, the best things were little pleasures that felt hugely good :)

#1) Windows down. Moon roof open. Open road. Gorgeous man driving :)

#2) Stopping for coffee at a tiny town that if you blinked, you would miss it. Talking to locals, and feeling like I was in some kind of “deep south” movie… coconut creme coffee…mmmmmmm :)

#3) Driving past a house with a huge LOVE sign on the front lawn…

#4) Sitting outside to eat, in Manchester, VT, drinking a margarita, having great conversation, feeling the cool breeze, and you telling me I looked gorgeous.

#5) Sitting around a fire pit at the Equinox Resort/Spa, laughing, loving, and watching some 70 something sorority sisters doing the same :)

#6) Parking our truck in the parking lot of the Equinox, heading to bed after our drinks around the fire, getting a GREAT night’s sleep, then waking up, brushing our teeth in the hotel, and having some complimentary coffee on the deck :) All while enjoying great conversation, and watching the robins make their home.

#7) While getting our coffee, a husband and wife walks in. The wife says,

“Would you like some coffee hunny?”

Hunny: “YES….YES, I do…that is EXACTLY what I need!”

Only to then be told by Nick that his shirt, proudly may I add, stated “SERIOUS COFFEE DRINKER”.

#7) Arriving at the base of Equinox Mountain, taking my money out to pay the $14 to drive up the mountain…only to be told that since we were the first ones, its free :)

#8) Laying on our backs, in a cemetary in a valley of green mountains, crickets so loud that you couldn’t hear anything else…staring up at the clouds that resembled a watercolor painting of whites, greys and black. Best part: both of us appreciating it, and appreciating that we appreciated it together.

#9) Sitting on the top of the mountain, completely alone…the whole mountain to ourselves. Not another person in sight, and only the sound of birds could be heard.

#10) Doing hand stands at 3800ft :)

 #11) A really great kiss, and then the way you looked at me afterward in a parking lot outside of Crabtree & Evelyn.

#12) On our way home, we drove for 30 minutes, took a lunch break; drove for another 15 minutes, and decided to take a nap break. At that very second, we came upon a rest area that ran alongside a river. We pulled the truck over, opened the windows…all of them. Opened the hatch up, got in the back on our mattress…and fell asleep. I was enjoying the moment a little too much to sleep right away, so I flopped on my belly and wrote in my journal, THEN took a nap :)  When we woke up, we were hot, so we ran down the hill, in our underwear, into the river. It felt like summer did when I was a kid.

Then after dunking ourselves into the PAINFULLY cold water (which felt amazing!), we layed out on a HUGE rock for a couple of hours, talking, and just being…listening to the nothingness around us, and finding a sort of meditative quality in the moment.

Favorite part of the trip…

The Rest Stop.

 

Vacation Weight?? Pssshhh….

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Make exercise part of the way you EXPERIENCE your vacation spot!

I’m pretty excited that this is the first year in my life (note: ENTIRE LIFE!!) where I am looking better in the WINTER than I did in the SUMMER! This is the first year that I’m not DREADING bathing suit season (duhn duhn duhnnnnnn!)…as a matter of fact, BRING IT ON!!

Some of you may know that Nick and I are heading to the west coast in 5 whole days (AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!). We’re flying into LA, staying with one of Nick’s friends and then Wednesday morning making our way down the coast to Santa Barbara for 6 whole days! Weather outlook? 65 degrees and sunny across the board (so it says now! cross your fingers and toes!)

Now commonly I would expect to forget about my healthy lifestyle for the week…but no, no…

There will be some food consumed, I’m sure, that is a litttttle outside the lines. There will be alcohol consumed…I’m on VACATION!, but by God, there WILL be EXERCISE (maybe more than usual even!)!!!

While we’re out there, we’re planning on checking out the two Crossfit gyms in Santa Barbara: Crossfit Pacific Coast and Crossfit Santa Barbara. I’m pretty excited about checking out “Pacific Coast” because the two owners used to go to Boston College before they moved out west :) So, so far, the count is 2 workouts.

Another day we’re going to check out his brothers boot camp class. I’m really excited about this! I’m pretty sure Nick and his brother are going to take the world by storm one day :) You can check out Andrew’s site here. Count: 3

We are planning on, at one point, going for a bike ride to tour Santa Barbara. This could be a handful of hours on a bike. While it probably won’t be highly INTENSE, it will be a GREAT workout and an amazing way to see the city! Count: 4

We’re planning on going for a hike. Whether this will be an early morning endeavor or a later in the day deal, the scenery will be BREATHTAKING and the movement ENERGIZING! Count:5

While there will, of course, be long walks on the beach (:-p), sunset sailboat cruises, watching the sunset over the ocean (that will be SOOO bizarre!!), dipping my toes in the Pacific, soaking up some rays of sunshine, delicious meals, meeting all kinds of Nick’s closest friends and wine tasting (way too close to wine country NOT to!)…there is ALWAYS time for exercise it seems :)

Have an incredible day! and if you know Nick, say Happy Birthday!! :-D