Be nice and get moving

I love to workout. I have for a long time. Several years ago, a few friends and I signed up for our first 5k and we started training. When I started, I honestly had a hard time running a half mile non-stop. I slowly built up to a mile, then two, then 3 and then I could do 3 with some ease. It was a great sense of accomplishment. Especially since I mainly did cardio style workouts prior to that (think Tae-Bo).

About a year and a half ago, I heard about this thing called Crossfit. I really knew nothing about it, but heard from several friends that it was a great workout, fun and encouraging. I was interested, but at that point, not enough to go get on board. It wasn't until about 6 weeks after Mike started it, and came home daily telling me how much he enjoyed it that I decided to sign up as well.

I started in February of 2012 and oh.my.word. I was NOT prepared for how hard it was, how insanely sore I'd be, and how much I'd love every minute of it. It was something that I really enjoyed and it wasn't long until I started seeing results. It also wasn't long until I started hearing all sorts of negative things about it - from all sorts of sources. From men and from women. Things like, "Crossfit is great, if you like looking like a man", "Crossfit girls have NO boobs!", etc, etc, etc. You can see some of the nice comments by just clicking on facebook and going to the Crossfit wall. As soon as they post a picture of a girl, the mean comments start rolling in.

So, I got to thinking about elite female athletes in general. Are the elite crossfitters really that much different looking? Do marathon runners, softball, basketball, volleyball players, gymnasts, swimmers, etc. not have defined muscles, broad shoulders, small chests, and so on? Well, let's see:



And let's see an elite crossfitter:


Now, keep in mind, these are the very best in their sport. WNBA, Olympians, top notch athletes. They train hard, eat as well as you can possibly eat, and they are all in amazing shape, have toned arms, ripped abs, big legs and from the looks of it, fairly small chests. HA!

Someone like myself, I workout hard, but I'm not elite. I have no real desire to be. I like chocolate chip cookies. And bread. And pizza. And Dr. Pepper. But, I also like being in the best shape that I can be for myself. For me, that includes doing Crossfit. For you, that might be running, cardio, the eliptical, Zumba, an at home workout video. And guess what? That's awesome! If you are getting up off the couch several times a week and trying to do what you can to live a healthier lifestyle - GOOD FOR YOU! You should be proud! Keep going - keep encouraging each other! But, let's stop tearing each other down because we don't "like" what workout someone chooses to do. I'm tired of women ripping each other apart because of these things. I want my daughters to be healthy and have a love for fitness. Whatever that is that they should choose to do. If they love softball, I want them to play with all their heart. If they want to run a marathon one day, I'll be on the side cheering for them, if they want to do Zumba, I'll shake my groove thing right along side them! I don't want them to sit around and be lazy because someone has told them that female softball are too man-ish, or Zumba is ridiculous or if they run too much, they will look emaciated. I want them to learn from their momma that taking care of their body is of the Lord and that if our bodies are healthy, we can serve him better!

So, let's just exercise, be healthy and be nice about it. :)

Soap box over. You can go about your day now.

Rocco

I forgot one big thing in my post last night! Well, he's a little thing, but big for our family! :)

We had a new family member join us in February as well. His name is Rocco and he's a Yorkie. I always said that if we ever got another dog, it would have to be able to stay inside, not shed and stay SMALL!! Mike's brother and his wife bought a Yorkie and text me a picture of him back in January and I was smitten. I asked Caitlin if the breeder had anymore and he didn't. So, Caitlin, being the amazing sister-in-law she is, went on the hunt for another breeder that had some available. She found a sweet little boy dog about an hour from their house and even worked a little deal with the breeder. She was quite the bargainer! :) I think we traded about 500 texts those couple of weeks between finding the puppy, her picking him up from the breeder and she and Luke driving to Arkansas to bring him to us. Caitlin was a total rock star and even went to pick Rocco up on Superbowl Sunday - when I'm sure she would have rather been home.

We surprised the girls - they had no clue we bought a dog and when Luke and Caitlin got to our house and walked in with the new puppy, they were shocked and SO excited.

He's a sweet dog. Like any new puppy, he can be annoying. We are still working on potty training him - which has probably been the biggest downside of having a small dog. But, overall, he does well and is getting better at letting us know he needs to go outside. I'm certain he thinks he is the size of a Great Dane. He thinks he's pretty tough, but he weighs all of about 5 lbs. and is as cute as he can be.

Long time, No blog

Oh hi there! It's Chrissy. I blog twice a year. I like keeping my 3 readers in suspense.

WHEW - where in the world did the time go?? My last post was in January and it's not because there's been a lack of great things to blog about. To be honest, I just haven't felt like it. I still love to read and follow all my favorite blogs, but to sit down, gather my thoughts and write something has just seemed like more than I wanted to do. But, I need to update this little space on the web with what we've been doing the past 4 months so that I can look back and read it some day.

So, here goes. Let's see, I started babysitting the sweetest little boy in January. He's Mabrie's age and for the most part, they play great and have a ball together. There's the occasional moments of fighting over a toy or something random - but what 2 two year olds could spend three days a week together and not have a little power struggle every now and then? They keep me on my toes and make me laugh so hard. My little buddy is moving away next month and I'll sure miss him. But I have a feeling that my little one will miss him even more. She wakes up every day asking if he's coming to our house - and on the days he's not, she's not too thrilled.

February was a BIG month! Not only did we celebrate Maddie's 7th birthday, she also asked Jesus into her heart and was baptized!! Her spiritual birthday is the 19th and her actual birthday is the 20th - so there was a lot of celebrating going on that week. We had her birthday party at Simple Simon's Pizza and it was so much fun. A lot of friends came and helped us celebrate her - she's such a joy to our family! Funny and feisty, sweet and sassy. :)



It was an extra special day when she was baptized because she was able to share the experience with her very best friend, Alyssa. Alyssa had asked Jesus into her heart a couple of months prior and ended up getting baptized in March, and Maddie was able to join her! It was a wonderful moment for both families - I pray that they remain close as they grow and always love the Lord and serve him together!



The next big event was Macie's 10th birthday on March 20th! (How do I have a 10 year old already?) She also had her party at Simple Simon's Pizza and had a great day. She loved every minute of it - she's so much like her momma. Loves being around people and having fun. She is in love with owls right now and wants everything she sees that has an owl on it, so I knew the theme had to be centered around that. Her cookie cake was SO cute and she got several gifts with owls - she was thrilled! She is a little ray of sunshine - always smiling, always laughing and has the sweetest heart. We are so blessed!



The end of March brought Easter Sunday. We were home and it was a great day. I love Easter Sunday service - such a celebration and I love seeing everyone dressed in their pretty spring colors. We always go to lunch after church at our friend's house. They are like our family down here and we've kind of adopted them as our own - we love them and are so thankful that years ago they asked us to join in on their holiday celebrations! It means so much to us to have people that we love welcome us to their family events like we are just a part of the fam!



April brought my 37th birthday and we spent it in St. Louis, which always makes me a happy girl! We shopped, ate some of my favorite things and just had a great time with my parents, brother and nephew.

This weekend Mike's family is coming here to see us and our house - they haven't been since we moved in last spring and we are excited to have them! I'm sure we will have a wonderful time and always look forward to time with family. It's Mother's Day weekend so we will get to spend it with Mike's mom - would love to get to spend it with both of our moms, but unfortunately we don't live close enough to make that work.

Life stays so busy, but I have to get better about slowing down and documenting our lives. This is my little "scrapbook" and I love to go back and see what we were doing at certain times. If no one else reads it, at least my little family will have it to look back on. :)

Have a happy weekend! I'll see you again in October. HA! Kidding. I hope.