A {Body} Pumped Up Weekend Of Fullness

Morning and happy Mond…errr, Tuesday, friends. This week marks the second week I couldn't get my Monday post together because the weekend was the lead car on the busy train. Thank you all for your good thoughts/wishes, I am happy to report I passed the BODYPUMP instructor training I attended all weekend and am super stoked for the next steps. I plan to do a full post on my training, for those interested, but will touch on it for my weekend records today.

Friday night I left work, quickly prepped food for the weekend and then headed to a family friend's home for a fun retirement dinner. They live on the same street as my parents and are moving next month so while it was a celebration it was still sad to know they won't be here later this year. We all enjoyed their food and watching the US women rock it in their quarterfinal game. #USA!

When we got home I was allll ready to head to bed, but then I remembered my college was going to be on the Food Network for Diner Revival. It highlighted a famous dinner in Farmville and I was so excited to see it get a lil spruce up because of some amazing students. I was live tweeting the show and Ty Pennington favorited one of my tweets, woot woot! After the episode I hit the hay and tried to get some sleep before my big weekend. 

I was up super early Saturday morning, to head out west for my training. It was pouring in the morning and I was a bit stressed about being late, but luckily enough people stayed home that I could fly on the roads. I arrived in plenty of time, found a corner, started listening to my music and then BOOM it was time to start the training. I really enjoyed the master class we took and it was awesome starting the morning with such a great workout. We learned more about the class, did our presentations [oh em gee, so scary] and really broke down the movements so we could learn how to teach them better. There was a lot more in the day, but I'll touch on that in another post. I will say, I was pretty tired Saturday afternoon, but my day wasn't done after training. 

I was so thankful we were let out of training early because it gave me extra time to scream home, SHOWER and get ready for a retirement cruise. My original plan was a wet wipe shower at the gym and changing in the car, so I was super stoked to actually get clean and smell good. I chose one of my favorite maxi dresses and a ballerina bun for my quick turn around and was quite happy with my appearance. We boarded a ship in Old Town and then went on a lovely three hour tour of DC. There were yummy drinks and delicious food [thank goodness, because I was starving] and wonderful company. It rained for a good portion of the cruise but we didn't let it get us down, we just embraced it and enjoyed dancing in the rain…literally. #nodebbiedownershere

Man I just love him :)!

The cruise ended around 10pm and after we got home I still had some BODYPUMP homework to get done. I managed to get into bed before midnight and was up bright and early again on Sunday. Everyone was a bit sore from all of our working out on Saturday but we hit three more workouts Sunday, including the fun BODYPUMP challenge. I believe we hit 6,000+ reps all weekend but everyone rocked it like champs. I was extremely nervous about my last presentation but felt good after it was over and was ECSTATIC when I received my 3/3 rating. This was a HUGE step out of my comfort zone and I was extremely worried I wasn't the right person for the job. #teamfitnessisawesome #soexcitednow

Part of my success came from my awesome group. All of the ladies in group four were amazing and we really cheered each other on throughout each assessment. I really liked our instructors too because they had great personalities and were extremely knowledgeable. Their critics were always helpful and they really wanted everyone to succeed. It was very long and tiring weekend, but the instructors and members made it a wonderful experience.

I have to give a MAJOR shout out to the fabulous Nikki of 'From My Life to OUR Life'. Homegirl was the FIRST person I told about wanting to MAYBE try BODYPUMP instructor training and she answered with the biggest YOU CAN DO IT!!! She cheered me on to talk to my instructors, helped me figure out the portal and really pushed me to try something outside my comfort zone. Not to mention she answered EVERY SINGLE ONE of my gobzillion questions and helped quell some of my fears. THANK YOU SO MUCH, NIKKI!!!! And thanks to all of my blog friends that cheered me on behind the scenes when I wasn't ready to put it here on the blog, y'all are the best!

I was on cloud nine after passing so I stopped by Starbucks for quick pick me up and of course, some extra napkins for my car! #napkinhoarder #dontcare #ownityall #lovemycoldpresscoffee

My life wouldn't be my life it I wasn't rushing back from BODYPUMP training to attend some family event. Mama B turns 60 this December 26th, crazy, and decided that this year she wanted a birthday party in the summer, since everyone is always busy with the holidays around her special day. So, we threw her a half birthday party at the pool and it was a wonderful Sunday evening. There were about 40 people in attendance and we served homemade pulled chicken, baked beans, macaroni and cheese [evil cheese tried to choke me out, so scary], coleslaw, broccoli slaw and of course birthday cake. 

Because a party without a cake is just a meeting!

The weather was perfect, the people were fun and the drinks were flowing [cheers to passing] so it was easy to perk up for the party. Mama B had a wonderful time and we all enjoyed celebrating her in the summer. Lady looks good for her age, hopefully I get to keep her genes when I grow old. 

I couldn't help making fun of her, though. She couldn't find her glasses and phone so I put them on and pretended to be her. Babyspice captured this hilarious picture and holy cow, do we look alike. 

Once everyone left, we broke down the party, took things home, cleaned up and then I headed back to the apartment to rest. I thought about writing this post when I was laying on the couch trying to recover but my arms just weren't functioning, haha. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow and made the exactutive decision to sleep in a lil on Monday morning [cheers to a boss being on vacation].

ERRRMAGGEEEER was I sore on Monday. My calves and shoulders were on FIYAAAAH and my body was just tired. Luckily I was able to come home early and I grabbed a quick nap before Le Husband got home. My evening consisted of dinner, blogs and early bedtime and it was fabulous.

Thanks again for all the warm wishes and support, y'all are just the bestestestest < 3!!!!!

It's the FRIDAY Countdown..........

Hooray, it's Friday! I'm so excited. This weekend is going to be super ridiculously crazy and I'm stoked but nervous at the same time. Please send me good vibes if you can, I'm attempting something way outside my comfort zone and appreciate any and all support. We are also celebrating a good friend's retirement from the Army [HOOOO-AH] and Mama B's half birthday at the pool. Talk about packed, phew!

Alright, let's get into some favorites.

Favorite quote of the week: Amen and amen!

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Favorite meal of the week: Full disclosure, it's a deliciously unhealthy meal. Tuesday was a bit of a mess for me and Le Husband and we weren't prepped for a dinner and neither of us had a craving. So, we drove into Clarendon and I remembered this delicious burger joint we wanted to try. Enter the most delicious dinner from Citizen Burger. The onion rings and cocktails were on point and my truffle brushed brioche bun with sweet potato fries were foodgasmic. My waistline isn't happy with me but my taste buds can't wait to go back. #nomnominmybellynom

Favorite activity of the week: Yes, I enjoyed another massage and I am still feeling the rewards and ouches from it. My back and legs were a mess after last weekend and with all the activities I have Saturday/Sunday I knew I needed my body to get right. My masseuse did a fabulous job, but did let me know I need to start coming in for 90 minutes instead of 60. Something about needing more time to workout my knots. #musclesonknotsonknots

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Favorite funnies of the week: Get your laugh on, y'all!

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Favorite links of the week:

+10 things you didn't know you could put in the washing machine.

+ Ways supermarkets trick you into spending more money. #jerks

+ Reasons to be thankful I died of dysentery and navigated high school without social media.

+ Yummy avocado recipes for the summer.

+ I worry for the entitlement generation and the future of our country.

+ This woman had nerves and brains of steel.

Wah-wah-wah-waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahuuuuuuuuurk it out, ladies...

 **linking up  Here  here , here, here, here and, here this week**

Oh-Oh-Oh OWN IT

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I raid napkins from fast food joints or Starbucks EVERY TIME I visit to stock my car. I have napkins stashed everywhere for that unexpected spill that always happens. #napkinhoarder

Last week I burnt something in our work microwave but totally passed it off on an 'unknown'. I was so scared the fire department was going to come in because of the smoke so I just walked away. Nothing happened and I 'helped' clean up someone else's mess with my boss. #oops

I am not a big rule breaker. I like to know what I can and can't do and get nervous when I have to stretch those guidelines. 

Having notifications and unread emails drives me batty. I sometimes miss emails because I'll read them on the phone just to get rid of the red notification number.

I talk to myself in the car sometimes. With  my hands. And big faces.

Traffic makes me rage, literally. I go zero to aggressive driver in point five seconds.

Even though I am a hard worker, I'm not invested at my job and sometimes I'll slack because I'm bored.

I can ONLY eat food in even batches. If I have five M&Ms I'll grab one more so I eat an even number.

Planning is not my thing and something I don't enjoy very much. Well, I enjoy the big aspects but the nitty gritty details is so not my thing. My wedding planner was my saving grace and I felt like such a bad bride because I wasn't all "I LOVE THIS PLANNING THING" like everyone else.

I am jealous of my husband's athletic ability.

When I'm really bored at work I'll cue up old DCC  Making the Team episodes for background noise. Kelli Finglass is my woman crush and it's fun watching the hair flips and high kicks.

Being fake to people I have to deal with is extremely tough. I hate not being able to tell it like it is because I've chosen to take the high road and not start drama. Work fakeness is the the worst to me, though.

I will pull up blogs I no longer follow just to check and see if the author is still as cuckoo bird as when I last read. Seeing how fake people are online makes me realize how good my life is because I don't have to 'pretend' for others. #sadyouthinkthatsspecial

Linking up with *christina* *megan* *kristin* *annie*

C U R R E N T L Y

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Reading - lots of pamphlets and study materials. #almostlikeschool
Anticipating- this weekend because I have so much fun stuff to attend. It's gonna be a bit crazy and nerve racking but I'm excited to get to Sunday night and have a lot of fun and hopefully successful moments behind me. 

Buying - workout clothes and snagging some fun things via sales.

Praying - for all my mama friends. Those that are pregnant, about to give birth or those that are new moms, y'all rock!
Listening - Talking Body by Tove Lo. This song has become my summer anthem!

Watching -A lot of reruns as all of our shows are over for the summer. Who has a summer show recommendation? I started the Astronaut Wives club and it's a lot of fun, I highly recommend it :)!

Devouring -  Watermelon and homemade fruit sherbert smoothies #nomnomnom

Loving - how much my family and friends support me. #luckygirlindeed

Hating - that I went really off my eating plan this week. I let the crazy weekend make me lazy and I'm feeling it on the scale and every morning when I wake up exhausted. Whole30 has really opened my eyes to how food truly effects my body.
Wanting -to really kill it this weekend. #fingerscrossed #willkeepyouposted

Hoping - Mama B's party turns out fabulous and she has a wonderful time. #partylikeitsyourhalfbirthday

Feeling - good about my workouts because I've finally started seeing results.
Wishing - that I could go back in time and listen to my gut and Le Husband. Life would be much easier without past drama.

linking up *here*

Mariachi, Margaritas and the Macarena Make it Better

Hello, ladies! How are y'all today? I hope everyone had a great weekend and start to the week. Thanks for all the love yesterday, I really appreciate your sweet comments and thoughts. This weekend was a tough one athletically and and a bit of downer due to both losses. I know it's not the end of the world or even that serious but I don't know anyone that likes to lose so I had to work through that yesterday.

Saturday started off really well with our coed team but we completely stalled in the afternoon and our day was cut super short due to our lack of discipline. It was frustrating to say the least, especially after everything we dealt with last year. The fact we lost to a team that was not better than us was another hard pill to swallow. I was in a pretty sulky mood and really didn't want to do anything when we got back home. Luckily, it just too a few things to get me out of my funk.

Like homemade pizza and a glass of wine, which we enjoyed while watching Spy Game. Can you believe that Le Husband had never seen it? And would you believe that it's one of my favorite movies? If you haven't seen it yet [how could you not?] I suggest you rent it next movie night, it's a great suspense/thriller and a super fun espionage look at the CIA.

We heard from other people still playing that the finals ended up getting canceled due to tornado [!!!] and severe thunderstorm warnings. We had one of the biggest and loudest thunderstorms I've ever heard but luckily we didn't lose power. The tournament ended up having co-champions because the weather stayed bad into the late evening. #guessitwasntsobadtoloseearly

During the break between storms, I convinced Le Husband that we needed Menchies and being the amazing man he is to me he obliged and drove us up the street in the rain. Luckily it wasn't too bad when we got there and we enjoyed a delicious cup of goodness while watching the rain out the window. On our way back we got caught in a pretty heavy downpour and had to book it into our apartment. I laughed the whole way because it was such silly fun. 

Sunday morning started a bit later then Saturday but it still felt bright and early. Our women's team started the day a lil slow, but managed to pull off three wins in our pool, making us the #2 seed overall. We had to go through some tough competition in the elimination round [including last year's champs that beat us in the 2014 finals] and after some hard work we found ourselves in the finals once again.

We were all confident [not cocky] about our play because things had been going pretty well for us [minus a few drops which hurt every time] and it felt like we had all the pieces to finish the day up with a win. Well, that just wasn't to be and it sucked, big time. We were winning and then a great kick and a dropped ball had us losing by three which really hurt. Our team managed to rally late and got within one run and guess who was up to bat with the bases loaded and two outs??!? Yup, yours truly.

I wish I could say I had an amazing kick that won the game, but I can't. I connected well and picked a great spot for the ball to land but the other team made a good play and we ended up losing by one. It sucked. A lot. I've never been the last out before and it's a feeling I hope I never have to experience again. I know it wasn't just on me, but I wanted more than anything to be great and pull through for my team, however all I could manage was a good kick. Blah, barf, poopy pants, ugh.

Luckily I didn't have too long to stew, because we took Daddy out for Father's day to our favorite Mexican spot. Mama B and Daddy came and watched our semifinal and final [ugh, dagger] and then we whisked him away for a Father's day dinner.

We are so lucky to have such a chill Daddy, he's just the best. He lets us go about our lives and just goes with the flow and is there to help when we need him. I can't imagine life without him and am so grateful for everything he's done for us. 

With everything that happened that day it was definitely margarita time and we all ordered different ones to cheers Daddy. The chips and guac were on point and the nachos and baja tacos were amazing. Compeltely the atmosphere and food to get everyone into good spirits. 

Oh and did I mention it was Mariachi Sunday?!?! Yeah it was and the music was so much fun to listen to while we were eating and just hanging out waiting for the food. The sissys sent out quite a few snap chats with the band in the background. 

The table next to us requested the Macarena and you better believe our table was dancing a long the entire time. Well, not Le Husband. He was quite happy filming behind the camera phone ;)! And yes, there were other tables dancing along, it was just the Brady Bunch. 

This weekend had quite a bit of suck in it, but each night more than made up for the awful outcomes on the athletic fields. Ya win some and you lose some but when you get perspective you realize that life is good and margaritas make it all better :)!

linking up here

Losing SUCKS

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I love you all and hope you had a great weekend! I'll be back tomorrow with the sunshine as normal < 3!

Bang, Bang Middle of Juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuune

WOOOOHOOO, Friday, you're here! While this week wasn't nearly as cuckoo bird as last week, I'm still excited to see your pretty Friday face :)! I'm pretty stoked for this weekend because it's our BIG DC kickball tournament and I'm playing on Saturday[coed] and Sunday [women's]. If anyone's in the area you should stop by and check out what competitive kickball is all about, it's much more intense than you imagine, trust me. I'm also excited to celebrate my fabulous daddy on Sunday, he's just such an amazing man!

Alright, let's get into some favorites, shall we?

Favorite quote of the week: Wouldn't it be wonderful to throw confetti when you were being kind? More people would be kind, right?!?! Do your part and be confetti kind this weekend :)!

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Favorite picture of the week: How amazing is this picture? I love the concept and the story behind it, too. Basically the mothers wanted their girls to know they didn't have to choose between being a princess and getting dirty. From one of the girliest tomboys in world, I applaud their effort and hope this idea catches on like wildfire. #girlpower

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Favorite video of the week: I'm a bit late to this video but I randomly found it on YouTube this week. I've always been a huge LC fan and learned a lot about her success and failures and how hard she's worked to get where she is today. The video is a bit long but well worth the watch. Check out some of her philanthropic efforts *here* and *here*.


Favorite links of the week:

+ When was the last time you just JUMPED IN?!?!

+ The nervous fliers guide to mid air bumps and glitches was such an informational read. If you're like me and don't like flying I highly suggest you check it out, STAT!

+ It's time to BREAK the influence of Consumerism!

+ A new theory on the missing Malaysian plane. Crazy it's still missing, right?

+ How amazing is this new budget friendly line at Whole Foods?!?!?

+ This post was an eye opener into the disease of being busy and how we are all losing our life to doing instead of loving our life and just simply living.

+ A great post that made me so happy I didn't have to deal with these 10 things in college.

Favorite funnies of the week: Babyspice sent me the beer one because I don't drink beer, I think it tastes horrible. Trust me, I've tried every kind and think it all tastes like fart, haha. Am I the only beer hater? #yucko

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Shout out to all my fabulous TEACHER FRIENDS! CONGRATS, you made it to the end of the year! Thanks for all the hard work you put in all year and for all those that spend extra time at home working for their students. Y'all are amazing and I < 3 y'all!

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Favorite Daddy shout out: I can't leave today without giving Daddy B a big I LOVE YOU, shout out. He's such an amazing man and I'm so grateful to him for everything in my life. We have do many fun memories together, but my wedding created some of my favorites ever. Especially our dance off! Thanks, Daddy for being the best guy in the world and for helping me keep my standards high. You are an incredible man and I love you dearly! All my love, POOKIE BEAR!

 

Hope y'all have a rocking Friday and a fabulous weekend!!!!! < 3

**linking up  Here  here , here, here, here and, here this week**

Alaska Cruising {Day 3}: Excursion #1 Icy Strait

Our first excursion on our Alaskan cruise was Icy Strait, Alaska and it was the most quaint towns I've ever seen filled with fun activities and delicious food. We were up for breakfast early so we could be on one of the first crafts off the ship, because we had an early reservation on the Zipline  and we wanted to explore the town a lil bit before our ride.

The day was cloudy and cool, but not too cold. I actually liked the clouds in the back ground because it provided a pretty backdrop for all of our pictures. It was so cool seeing all the starfish up close in the water.

Picture of a selfie!

The selfie!

After we explored the shops we met up with a bus tour for the trip up the hill to the Zipline. During the ride we were given a history lesson on Icy Strait [all the tourist services are locally owned by native Alaskans, so cool] and were told to be on the look out for animals [no sightings, drat].

Once we reached the top it was a short walk to the ZipRider launch. Now, this is no AVERAGE zip-line. The launch is 1400' high and riders descend at speeds of up to 60 mph, soaring 300' above the tree-tops to the Landing Zone on the beach.

I managed to grab a video of the zip-line experience and I hope you enjoy it. Make sure you have the sound down low at the beginning because you'll hear some shrieking and screaming :)! So fun and so fast!

Y'all it was such a fun ride! So fast and so fun and soooooooooo beautiful. I'm so glad I was able to snap a few pictures on our way down,you can barely see Le Husband way out in front. Must be all that muscle weight.

How adorable is my 88 year old grandpa? You rock, T-Bone!

After our family conquered the zip line we continued exploring the base of Icy Strait and grabbed some delicious food. Seafood was EVERYWHERE and the size of fish and grab in Alaskan stunned me. People were literally bringing food in from the water below us while we waited to eat, it was amazing.

HUGE HALIBUT fresh from the sea.

Amazing FRESH FROM THE SEA CRAB!!!!

While we were exploring the area we stopped for some amazing picture perfect backdrops.

FRAMER!

Candid and classic, that's the Bradys.

Christmas Card Perfection!

Brady Totem :)

We all perused the rest of Icy Strait in our own lil groups and Le Husband and I happened upon this delicious lil doughnut shop. I was in need of a lil coffee pick me up so I grabbed a mocha [so good] and we got some donuts and tornado potato to share. My life is changed after experiencing the gloriousness that is a tornado potato, so amazing.

Most amazing potatoes EVER!

After our fun excursion it was time to head back to the cabin, check out our cute lil towel guy for the day and get ready for dinner. Our cruise ship had three extra restaurants on board that you could pay a small fee {$20} for a more restaurant-esque feel. Le Husband and I did a date night at the french restaurant and it rocked our faces off, no joke. We shared escargot, a bouillabaisse, duck and two incredible desserts [lemon creme sorbet and tiramisu], making it a top five meal for both of us. It was a fun date night atmosphere and we even saw whales out the window [spotted by yours truly].

Once dinner was over, Le Husband and I ventured up to the deck to take in the gorgeous sunset. The colors of the sun against the blue of the sky and sea were breathtaking and if you can believe it even more beautiful in real life.

When the sun went down we headed back inside for a night cap and then went back to our cabin to get ready for our next amazing adventure, Juneau.

Linking up with *megan* *kristin* and *annie*