Afterburn and Spin with Andre

Yesterday was my first day of Afterburn workouts with Tracy. It was AWESOME! Much better with a partner and at the gym instead of home and alone. We were drenched! I thought I would pass out on several occasions (no joke). We did the 18 minute HIIT cardio afterwards as well.

Today we did spin class. First time I've been in probably 9 months or so. Just my luck, Vicky was on vacation and her replacement was Andre. I heard people grumbling about him before he arrived, but he seemed quite pleasant when he talked to us while we warmed up.
AND THEN...

HELL arrived. No kidding. I said the longest repetitive continuous prayer I have ever prayed in my life "Please God, Please Please Please do not let this ogre see any weakness in me. Please don't let him come over here and make me "try" to work any harder. I'm going to die...I'm going to die...I'm going to die..." repeat prayer, etc

I think that if all I did was take a spin class with Andre twice a week and nothing else, I would be a ripped shredded piece of fitness perfection. Thankfully he's not returning until her next vacation ...ONE YEAR FROM NOW!! Phew.

Party and Camping: Successful!!

What a great weekend we had! The party was a huge success. Turning 70 has the benefit of bringing out all the friends - I can only hope for that many friends at that age! Not as many people dressed Western as I would have hoped, but for the most part everyone at least had on a cowboy hat or a kerchief. We even had bales of hay and a couple of goats to set the scene. The goats were a HIT with Mai. You can see in this last picture that they finally wore her out. Instead of trying to keep them from eating Grandma's roses, she just plopped down on Sam's (dog) gravestone and gave ol' Freddy dirty looks. I was in first place in the sunflower spitting contest until the Big Dog himself stepped up to the plate. My FIL killed us all in the final round. We had a blind wine tasting contest. I had to spit out the most expensive one it was soooo nasty. I guess I'm a cheap date. I chose the $3.99 bottle as the best.

The camping trip was wonderful. Some people who had been there since Thursday or Friday had already left by the time we arrived on Sunday, but we still had a good group around the fire. We spent lots of time fishing, throwing rocks in the river, took a hike up to Brice Falls...I was so disappointed that my MANY pictures I took on the hike did not accurately show how beautiful it was up there. It was magnificent. Dad brought his new river raft and gave us a taste of all the fun we'll have next Summer with it.

Today is the start of a new season for us. Tracy's kids start school today so we have our first official Afterburn workout today and will be following Alwyn Cosgrove's masterminded killer workouts for the next 16 weeks. Tomorrow brings us the beginning of school open houses and such. I think I'm going to be at their schools more than them these next two weeks.

Off to slam a Met Rx and get the kids up and ready to hit the gym...they are soooo not going to be happy with the early rising that starts today :-(

Are you ready boots? Start Walkin'....

Tomorrow is my Father-in-Law's 70th birthday bash. It's western themed so Mai finally got to get her pink cowboy boots today. The designs on the side light up when she walks. She's one happy cowgirl! I had an idea to make candle holders out of beer bottles. I tried to age a picture of my FIL and then I burned them around the edges and glazed them to the bottle. I think I've decided to make them vases, though. My wild flowers are ready to be shared and I don't think we'll actually be needing candles during the party.
Then it's up and at 'em on Sunday morning to leave for a camping trip down South with my Dad's family. Talked Ron and Jenny into coming for a day since they didn't want to deal with a 2 y/o and a 6 wk old in a tent overnight. So....mucho more time for me and baby Evan for two weekends in a row!

I am addicted

I went from not ever owning a cell phone to this...

http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/9058/palm-treo-700wx-review/
I've always said I would never get a cell phone, but Steve always makes me carry his cell when I leave the house and then I apparently drive him nuts by forgetting to take it out of my purse to give it back to him, or leave it in the car, etc. So he bought me a Palm Treo this weekend. Got him a free Chocolate in the process. I'm addicted to it - now if I can manage not to drop it or lose it within the week, it will be the start of a successful relationship.

Lasting Change

Lasting change happens when people see for themselves that a different way of life is more fulfilling than their present one.
- Eknath Easwaran

Finally

FINALLY one of my sunflowers bloomed!! I was at my Mom's this weekend and her flower garden is always soooooo beautiful. ALL of her sunflowers were out and being sunny and I was so sad that mine were still hiding. But all that has changed - I've got a HYUGE one that should peak out any day now.

August is going to be FUN!

Probably my last blog entry for awhile. I've been sick all week, but feeling a bit better. Seems like mornings are the worst, but still making it to the gym. Hopefully I'll continue to feel better today so we can make it to the baseball game tonight. Respect the Mullet and $1 beer night - very high class :o)
We've got 2 family reunions and a birthday party all out of town this month and hopefully some good quality cuddling time with Baby Evan. A big 70th birthday bash for my Father-in-Law in town. Two camping trips (I'm looking forward to these most) - one with my Dad's side of the family down South and one up North in Washington with one of my favorite cousins and her kids and their family friends. Should be a good sized group - they've reserved 10 spots. In the midst of all of that, training and getting enough work done on my scheduled work days that I'm able to keep my loooong weekends free for fun.

Getting where I want to be:
In His peaceful presence,
Julie