Making 2014 Count

I'm really excited to be getting involved with this awesome blog project that I learned about over at Little Baby Garvin. It's all about how we are going to make 2014 count for us, and the goals and changes that we hope to achieve in the new year. As a sociologist, you'd think that I would be totally over writing anything involving a prompt, but I'm actually really excited to have a direction to guide my post for the new year. So, here it goes!

Goals and changes in 2014:

I'm hoping to learn how to take it slow this next year and stop always thinking about tomorrow, next month and next year when I should be focusing on now. I'll literally be sitting down, full at the end of a meal, and think to myself "I wonder what we're having for dinner". I'm obsessed with stressing about what is to come. The funny part is, that ever since I met my wonderful husband even when things get chaotic and off course, they always seem to work out for us. So, why am I always so concerned with stressing over things? It's time I learn to just live for each minute, as cheesy as that may sound. 

On that note, my workouts and my diet (meaning what I eat, not a temporary plan to lead to weight change, etc...) will revolve around what I need that day and I will focus more on eating and working out to feel good about myself. I know that I feel best after a good workout and a clean meal. Will an indulgence kill me? Will I lose everything if I skip a workout? Nope. However, I will not allow my shoulder to keep me down. My impending surgery had me sitting out too often over the last few weeks and it is time that I get back to focusing on what feels good instead of thinking about swimsuit season!

I also hope to spend more time with friends. Vic and I created a bad habit of bunkering down in the house for weekends of movie marathons, which I love, don't get me wrong! But, I also love having my Rife family over for game night and running with girls. That's why we're having poker night next weekend!

My word(s):

I couldn't come up with just one word to focus on, so I went with two that work together for me. Vic is constantly telling me to relax. It usually has the same effect as telling a woman that she is being crazy. It's like "oh you think I'm crazy? I'll show you crazy!" Well, I get way un-relaxed when you say relax. I'm basically a professional stresser. I could gold medal in stressing if it was in the Olympics. It's time to just breathe and relax. Like I said above, everything has seemed to workout for us, not always any where near how we planned, but I have a beautiful, happy life so what is there to stress about? 

That brings me to my next word: Savor. I want to savor the moment. This weekend, flying with my boys, I thought about this post and what I wanted to write about while I had my hands full of a sleepy, teething, gorgeous seven month old boy. I want to learn to get better at relaxing and being able to savor those cuddles. Savor Saturday mornings with Vic before the baby and the pups need our attention. Savor the sunshine, the sweat after a good workout and the taste of a great, home cooked meal. I need to stop thinking of so much of my life as work and just enjoy what I do on a day to day basis. Once I thought of this idea on the plane, it was amazing how I relaxed, my heart rate and breathing slowed and I went from being anxious about my crying baby on the plane and he and I both drifted off to sleep for the next two hours. Nothing makes me love being a Mom more than sweet, baby snuggles. 

I will make 2014 count by:

Slowing down. I run around the house and work like a crazy person, like it's all a WOD for time and I'm going to lose if I don't move faster. It's silly really. I need to sit down and let the carpet be full of dog hair and the dishes be dirty and not think about the carpet and the dishes, and just enjoy my day more. Ryker will only be an infant for so long. Vic will only have the schedule he does at ODU for so long. The funny part is that I manage to stress about learning to not stress, so I will breathe my way through my silly thoughts and cuddle my boys and the pups more often. Cuddling is always the answer. If things are really nuts and I'm too wound up to cuddle, a run always helps, too!

I also really hope that I can continue logging our journey via this blog. When Ryker first got here, I fell off the wagon big time. I really enjoy the outlet, and even Vic says that I seem more excited on a day to day basis when I'm working on it. I hope one day to figure out a way to save all my posts so that I can have this forever, I'm sure one day when I'm 80 I'll get a good laugh at looking back on our life as newlyweds and new parents!

Well, thanks for reading about my hopes for 2014, maybe it will help you think about how you can make the most of the new year!

1/2/14

Breakfast: Cleanish, 3 eggs scrambled, one bite of Vic's waffle with fresh strawberry sauce

Snack: Clean! Chocolate Chip LaraBar

We went on am awesome 45-60 min walk around Lake Evergreen and even wandered across the icy lake! I strapped Ryker up into his Baby Bjorn with a blanket to keep him warm and he definitely helped make the walk a workout. It was nice getting out of the house and just enjoying the surroundings. 

After the walk we went to Keys on the Green, a restaurant off the golf course by the lake. It was super cute and very woodsy.

Lunch: Cleanish... I split a kale/spinach salad with Maple Dijon vinaigrette and split a bowl of green, pork chili with Vic. I also ordered a bunless burger with green chile and avocado. I may have had a few fries ;) Two glasses of Chardonnay, too.

Snack: 4 oz of turkey, a hot apple pie (the cocktail with sugar free cider and Tuaca)

Dinner: two Portillo's sandwiches and some red. I was very, very bad here. But, if you've ever had Portillo's you know you can't turn it down, especially when it's been flown in from Chicago! I promise to be better tomorrow, tonight that's the best I can do :/ 

Happy January 2!

I think one of my main resolutions for this year, and all the years to come, is to celebrate every day with the excitement and hope we have for January 1. 

I saw a post on Facebook today about how yesterday's food fuels today's workout and tomorrow's body. As boring as it will probably be for you guys, I've decided to use the blog as my own personal paleo challenge log, so I'll be documenting whether I ate clean or had cheats and what my workouts are. I did pretty good yesterday with the New Year's Day party food. I avoided all of the cheese! Well, except the little bit on the broccoli casserole, but I put effort into picking the less cheesy parts. I definitely had more than the necessary amount of champagne, but hey, I did way better than I have the last  6 weeks! Instead of beating myself up every day and bugging Vic about "how fat do I look today?" I'm going to think about the good choices. I think it was on the Against All Grain blog or one of the others that I follow that mentioned how each clean decision is like money in the bank to be spent on cheats. Just like in real life, I need to work on saving money!

Speaking of saving money, have I mentioned before that we're doing the 52 week money saving challenge? You just transfer $1, $2, $3 and so on for each week of the year, adding up to something like $1400 at the end of the year! With hoping to make an easy transition to Colorado in 21 months, I figure every dollar saved will help out. The good/bad news about Ryker being so dang loud and impatient these days is that we can't go out to eat without being embarrassed. That should end up saving us lots! 

I'm also resolving to focus less attention on TV and more on being outside. We're not those crazy people that ignore the baby to play World of Warcraft or anything, but we do enjoy our Modern Family, Parenthood, movies, blah blah blah and a million other shows. Vic and I talked about turning the TV off and playing some good tunes while we play board games and cards more often. Also, we're always trying to be outside with the pups more!

I'm so excited to start today, fresh and new, with a hike here in Evergreen. Of course, it's gorgeous this morning. I hope you're all having a lovely morning and enjoying the new year and don't focus too much on the pressure of starting the new year off right. Just make today the best possible day and start over tomorrow! 

Deuces, 2013!

Well, 2013 was pretty amazing. Ryker, one of the two most beautiful men on the planet, joined me and his daddy (the other gorgeous beefcake) in May. 

He came 7 weeks early and stayed in the NICU for two weeks.

Right after he came home we waited a week or so and headed out to CA to visit my family and went to the zoo! I'm pretty sure this is our first family picture.

Sam gave his little brother tons of kisses when he was angry post bath.

Ryker and his Great-great Grandma hung out at Jamestown.

I fake smiled my way through the first morning back in uniform and back to work.

Angriest lumberjack ever! And we bought new couches, curtains and a new TV!

I competed in my first team crossfit competition and we took fifth of 17 

teams!

Ryker loves standing and his brincolin, or Jumperoo.

We saw Santa!

And we journeyed out to Colorado to see family and check out neighborhoods we want to move to when I get out if the Navy in 2015.

All in all, probably one of the best years of my life! This year I got to travel through the newest part of marriage with my beautiful husband by expanding our family. We love that little wiggle monster more than we could have imagined possible. We've both made awesome gains in our health and fitness travels and I can't wait to see what we succeed at in the upcoming year. I've got a few lofty resolutions that I plan on tackling, I'm so excited to take advantage of new opportunities. I would tell anyone to not wait for January 1 to clean up bad habits, but it's just such a convenient start date! 

Happy New Years Eve, everyone. I'll raise my ever-filled champagne glass to cheers you all!

Oh, Colorado

Colorado is just too much, I can't wait to move here. It's not a very snowy winter right now, but my in-laws are at a higher elevation and they got an awesome dusting right before we got here. 

They just bought an absolutely gorgeous mountain home on the side of a mountain overlooking this view. The windows...oh man, the windows! Vic, his sister and his friend, Danny left early this morning to ski and left the rest of us behind to meet up for lunch later in Breckenridge. My bum shoulder won't let me snowboard. Correction, my bossy husband with my best interests in mind won't let my bum shoulder snowboard. It's ok though, I love exploring Breck's shops. 

Ryker didn't do so bad on the plane, but I still probably won't choose to fly with a baby with the next one. I get so stressed over bothering other passengers, I think my heart rate was on burpee level the whole time. I did get some great snuggles when Ryker would nap on me. It's those snuggles that made me look at Vic and whisper very quietly, "this is what makes me love being a Mommy". 

Ryker got the cutest outfit for Christmas and done awesome toys here. He's currently on his 10th hour of sleep, he's pretty pooped from yesterday. I can't wait to get him up and see him in shoes! 

Well, I'm going to enjoy the view and a Property Brothers marathon with my coffee until everyone gets up. Happy Monday!

364 days to go!

Well, Christmas has come and gone. It's unbelievable how fast the Christmas season went by! I didn't think that Ryker would get especially excited this year, pretty much the only thing he gets excited for is being in the high chair and opening his mouth SUPER wide to get a bite of his dinner. He did play in his big Christmas present with a bow from one of his gifts while Vic and I opened up the rest of ours. I was really surprised at how long we got away with that one! 

He did like trying to pull the tissue paper out of the presents! He let me put that Santa hat on him all day long too, without any fuss.

Vic and I had decided while I was pregnant with the little one that we wanted our Christmas' to be spent at home, with our tree. I can't lie, when we FaceTimed the families I was a little bit jealous of all the hustle and bustle. But, Vic and I pulled out Monopoly while the baby was napping, poured some wine and had an epic tournament. It only took four games for me to finally win one! It may seem like a boring night to some, but listening to some Christmas tunes with my man while a fire burned was really all I needed. 

We are trying to get Ryker to get a solid dinner in these days that isn't just formula (I realized we spend $40 on two bags...which lasts like 38 bottles and not even ten days. WHAT?!) I had made a Pumpkin Bacon soup for Vic and I and set aside some chicken, bacon, pumpkin puree and broccoli to puree for the baby. When I smelled it I figured there was no way he would eat it, it was straight broccoli. He LOVED it! Couldn't get enough in his mouth. After bath time he was very ready for bed with his new toy from my Aunt Sarah.

We were supposed to roast our turkey yesterday, which is actually the same one that we were supposed to do on Thanksgiving. Um...it finally was roasted today. The good news is, it turned out pretty good for my first full turkey, considering I don't own a roasting pan. I was going to have a completely paleo day and be back on track and then Vic came home from the gym with Stove Top stuffing. That s**t s the best. I had three bites and stuck to my yummy turkey and veggies. I skipped the gym today like a lazy bum to the get the house ready for our friend that will be hanging out here with the pups while we go to Colorado next week. We can actually navigate our guest room now and I packed away so many of Ryker's clothes that are too small now. That is so hard! All the cute, itty bitty clothes, oh man. 

Ryker's first Christmas is on the books...I can't wait until next year! I hope you all had a very, Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Hasn't this year just flown by? I swear having a kid makes life go by faster. Even though he has no idea what is going on, I'm so excited to share this Christmas with him. He likes to be held and walk around the house, so I take him over to the Christmas tree a lot and show him the many sports and science fiction ornaments that we have. My tree is so devoted to boy things, I've got my one sparkly, leopard print ornament to represent the estrogen in the house. 

Since it's been way too long since my last post, I'll get you up to date with the other happenings in the Kassel house. Remember when I posted about the competition? Just a couple weeks after that, the paleo challenge at CrossFit Rife ended and everyone had great results! I was so happy to find a way to lose the baby weight and get stronger without being totally miserable. That being said...as soon as I wasn't help to the challenge eating rules I went completely out of my mind. For the last month, Vic and I have basically been eating like I just got out of prison. I've slowly been getting better and better every day and I'm moving back to eating as clean as I had been on the challenge. It's just so silly to not stick with a program that worked so well! It definitely takes some work and planning, but that great confidence that I found about my body is totally worth is. 

On a different note about my body, I had a pretty epic shoulder injury right after the challenge ended. A few months ago, I finally got comfortable with snatches and overhead squats. I had been afraid of both of them because of the shoulder mobility involved, I've always had a bum right shoulder. Well, I went to a WOD based on snatches one morning and went to snatch 55 pounds. The last time before that workout that I had done snatches, I had snatched 55 pounds, and had done 4 rounds of 7 with that weight. So, needless to say, I wasn't worried about being able to get that lift that morning. The first pull, I got to my chest and dropped the bar. It just felt weird. I thought about lowering the weight but figured I'd give it one more shot. Oh, I got that weight overhead....and then I dislocated my right shoulder. There is no other way to say it...holy shit, that hurt. A friend at the gym rushed me to the ER and here I am now, awaiting surgery to reattach my labrum. The doc isn't sure if he'll need to do more until I have another MRI, so I'll let you know how that goes!

Good news is, I got a cortisone shot that has really been helping me regain my range of motion and strength. I've kind of pouted ever since my injury and I've only been to the gym like 7 or 8 times since I hurt myself. But today, on Christmas Eve, I went in and was able to front squat 65 pounds! It's short of what I was doing before, but I'm able to get the bar in front rack which I couldn't do a week ago. Gains are gains! 

My friends Misty, Kristy and I, (yep, Misty, Kristy and Christina, that's a lot of isty, right?) are working together to train for the Shamrock Half Marathon. I'm excited to really hit it when I get back from Colorado for New Years. I've definitely learned how great it is to have the support of friends when it comes to workouts! It can really make all the difference.

I hope everyone has a great Christmas Eve and Christmas! Since we decided that we want to spend Christmas with our tree in our home from now on, we won't be with our families that are out of state. As sad as that is, I love cudding Ryker and singing "Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer" and watching Christmas movies, snuggling on the couch with Vic. Can't complain around here, life is good. 

Ryker: 7 Month Update

I can't believe it is already the day before Ryker's first Christmas. It blows my mind that he is a few days shy of seven months old! My little guy loves standing on our laps, yelling very loudly to let us know he is awake in the morning and he giggles like crazy if you kiss his belly. He's basically amazing. We saw the pediatrician earlier this month for his six month check up and after all of my first mom "Is this ok? Is that ok?" kind of questions, the pediatrician said "I hate to tell you this, your son is absolutely perfect." His adjusted age would put him closer to just over five months but you would never know it! He's met all of his milestones and he has stayed on the weight and height scales for his birth age so we are all good. 

For Christmas, we got Ryker some new books to read before bedtime and a Fisher Price Jumperoo. I searched a whole bunch of reviews and such before I chose which bouncer/exersaucer whatever you want to call them, and the jungle Jumperoo looked like a good choice for us! He likes it for a good chunk of time and then he all of a sudden doesn't like it and is very adamant about getting out. His poor little legs barely reach the floor on the lowest setting, so I think he just gets frustrated. We put the batteries in it for the lights and sounds but we barely ever turn them on, luckily they can be switched on and off and we don't have to constantly listen to it. 

Funny story...our nanny fills out a little form for us everyday with his naps, diapers and his activities for the day. She would always write "30 m en el bricolin" which I read as "brineolin" for the longest time. Of course, since I'm pretty sure brineolin isn't a word, I couldn't find anything about what it was or why you would spend 30 minutes with it. I finally asked a friend at work that speaks Spanish about it and she was like "No! Brincolin, it's the jumper!" So, after learning the origins of brincolin, we now only refer to the Jumperoo as el brincolin. It's just so much more fun to say!

He's starting to enjoy his Bumbo chair more. He doesn't have a whole lot of interest in sitting up on his own, he'd rather be standing so we'll see how long it is before he's just sitting. The Bumbo seems to help a little! A friend from work got us Sophie, the giraffe teething toy and his little friend, this crazy nipple/mushroom looking guy that Ryker really likes. If I put the tray on the Bumbo and put his toys on there he is a pretty happy guy!

We're taking the little guy on his first trip to Colorado soon, I'm so excited for him to see snow for the first time! 

Post Competition Success!!

The Rife Rebels got 5th at our first CrossFit competition!!! I was dumbfounded when they told me, I was like "no we got tenth, no you're wrong" but we did so well towards the end that we shot up to 5th! The other teams from my box did amazing as well, Rife basically killed it! We're missing Georgi in this picture, not sure where she ran off to!

Ryker did so well at the competition. Vic watched football on the iPad while Ryker rolled around on the ground during events and I cuddled him as much as I could between events. 

He loves sitting up like a big boy. I almost packed his Bumbo to sit in but he was fine on his blanket on the ground. Once nap time came around I was just as tired as he was and got some shut eye with him for a few minutes. 

I'm so lucky to have such amazing people in my life! Vic was such a trooper, we had to be up at 5 am and weren't home until after 7 pm. He was so supportive and really helped me push myself. My team and everyone from Rife helped me get past my concerns about my abilities and I killed it! It was such a blast and I can't wait to compete again soon. 

On a baby update note, Ryker can pass his rattle from hand to hand now and repeat back hi! He's still a spit up champ and his high chair hasn't arrived yet so I haven't started solids yet but we have our baby spoons all set! Pumping at the competition yesterday was an interesting experience, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!! 

Happy Monday everyone, start your week off strong and make yourself proud!!

Halloween!!

Ryker dressed up as Woody for his first Halloween! My sister bought him a Woody and a Tigger outfit and I thought for sure they'd still be way too big sine he's such a little string bean. We tried it on him at the last minute and ta-da! Ryker is officially in 6 month clothes, the first time he's fit into clothes that coincide with his age. He's so long now, it's crazy. He also rolls in a million directions, loves sucking his thumb (or your thumb) and will have a conversation with you that generally consists of lots of "hi!" sounds. 

We're currently dealing with some new " wake up mom and dad in the middle if the night thing" that we are not loving. Totally back to zombie mode! Sometimes he just wants to be tucked back in and then he'll fall back asleep, but sometimes he gets stuck halfway rolled over and that one cracks me up. You just have to help him roll wherever he's going and he'll give you a look like "thanks, Mom!" SMS pass right out. It's so much fun having him be interactive and playing. It's crazy how much I love that little stinker!

This weekend I've got a 5 Star Family luncheon with Vic, we got nominated but I'm sure someone is going to beat us out for community involvement but it should be fun. I've got a baby shower tomorrow and the my first legit CrossFit competition on Sunday! I'm so pumped for Sunday, it's definitely going to be rough but it's a team event and I'm excited to compete with our lovely Rife Rebels!!

Happy Friday everyone!!!

Day 2 of the Lurong Paleo Challenge!

Hey everyone! Long time, no see! Life has been pretty crazy here lately, but that's just the way things are with a little wiggle worm in the house! It's crazy how he changes every day. Lately he's become such the morning person, he's always all smiles first thing. There is no better way to start my day than being able to kiss his smiley face while I head out for a great workout!

I've been able to make it to CrossFit Rife 4-5 days a week and I've also gotten in a few races lately, like the 9/11 Heroes Run with the Travis Manion Foundation and Running Dirty in Chesapeake. I've missed the feeling I get when I'm lined up for a race. I still haven't decided on whether or not I'm ready for the half marathon in October, so we'll see. I also got to take part in an All Girls WOD at CrossFit Takeover at the beginning of the month. That was so much fun! Getting to see so many strong women was amazing and super motivating. 

Post All Girls WOD

All the Rife Girls at the All Girls WOD

Clean and Jerks...yuck.

Pull ups were actually the easy part of the WOD, a sure fire sign that I probably shouldn't have used that band. 

After the Running Dirty event in Chesapeake, I fell in the pool of water under the last obstacle and got cleaned off, Vic was a champ and did the pyramid lookin' monkey bars like they were nothing.

Mmm, post run Shock Top!

He dropped so much mud from his beard into his beer!

This week I started the Lurong Living Paleo Challenge. It's basically a challenge with benchmark WOD's to test your fitness improvement and a very strict interpretation of the Paleo diet. I'm really excited about how following this will help with the baby weight. I've got ten pounds left to get back to my pre-baby weight,  154, so there is lots of hard work ahead! Here are my specific goals that I submitted for the challenge:

1. Do an unassisted pullup

2. Lose ten pounds

3. Look better naked

4. Drink one ounce of water for every two pounds of body weight each day

5. Set a new one mile PR

6. Stretch for 10 minutes each day

I'll keep you posted on how the progress on these go!

Since it seems like the weather here is finally starting to cool down Vic and I should be getting the pups out for more walks at night. Since I work in a cave all day the time spent outside with my little family will be really nice. I'm so ready for sweatshirts and Uggs! I love the summertime but Virginia really knows how to teach a girl a lesson about heat and humidity. I'm officially over summer and ready to be chilly. I love fires, our fireplace was one of my favorite parts of our house. Here's to some chilly nights!