Weekly Wins: End of June and BEFORE FAMILY!

Y'all, July is almost here. Say what? Part of me is 'oh my goodness' while the other part is 'yay, family time starts on Saturday' excited! Which of course brings me to my first weekly win!

+ FAMILY TIME ALLLLL NEXT WEEK! Yes, y'all, yes! I am so excited to see everyone and of course snuggle on my delicous niece. CAN.NOT.WAIT!

+ Power came back on quicker than expected yesterday and I was so grateful. 

+ I am training a client today, woop! She isn't my client, but it's money, so I'll take it. 

+ My PT appointment has slowly helped my back issues and I'm really thankful to have such an awesome PT to work with, she's the best. The work she makes me do though, yeah, no. 

+ I gave up two classes and am enjoying the extra night off a week. It had to be done.

+ Having people tell you how bummed they are you aren't teaching the class anymore is nice, though.

What are your wins this week?

Weekly Wins {Summertime is Here}

Hey Friday! You here. I'm happy, They are happy. We all happy. Here's this week's wins:

+ Summer has begun, y'all! I am so excited for my favorite season. Beyond, just beyond. YAY WARM!

+ I've been 99% better about wearing my seatbelt, thanks to you, friends. I appreciate your love and kind yelling. It was needed and I am safer, xoxo.

+ My new gym is pretty awesome and I've gained crucial knowledge in the first week. Hoping this really helps me grow my business and become more successful at training. 

+ I had two new [to me] people in my BODYPUMP and BARRE classes tell me how much they enjoy my teaching style and they love coming to my class. Warm fuzzies all over. 

+ Le Husband and I had a great evening on the kickball field playing a double header. It was really nice to connect and rally the team when other people could't make it to the game. 

+ I finally took the plunge and gave up a BOOTCAMP class at my old gym. The pay scale randomly changed [boo] and the timing just wasn't great for many people. I now get one night off a week, woop!

+Because no one was able to come to the BOOTCAMP class on Weds, I was able to emergency sub a BODYPUMP class at my new gym. I was 20 minutes late because the call came at 6:10pm for a 6:00pm class but I made it over there quickly [with a seatbelt] and the ladies were beyond grateful. I'm happy I could give them a good class and earn brownie points, too. 

+ NO PLANS THIS WEEKEND! ZERO! NONE! YAYAYAYAYAYAYYAYAY!

How was your week? Anything fun this weekend? 

Show UP

Feeling a bit in the weeds recently. A lot going on over the weekend which leaves very little time for planning during the week. Then all of a sudden boom, Monday - Friday appears. 

Lots of running around. 

Not a lot of winning the day. Computer and technology issues make me wanna pull my hair out. Then there's planning to video a new work out but the room is already being used. 

Of course there are all the questions. Do I get head shots? How much should I pay? Should I use my camera for videos instead of my phone? How can I get the stupid converter to work to get NEW music for barre classes? Why is my body rebelling on me all of a sudden?

But, I still show up. 

I still try and I still put one food in front of the other. You can too, friends. You can, too. Here is your daily/weekly cheerleader post. Deep breath, charge forward, make it HAPPEN!

***PSDOTCOM: WHAT's going on with blogger and no email comments? I know I'm late to the problem but is there a solution? How are y'all still responding to comments?***

These Are My Confessions

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... Lately I've been horrible at wearing my seatbelt. I'll drive to the gym without it buckled on the reg now. Which is awful and stupid and just ridiculous, but it keeps happening. I think it's because my hands are always full when I get in the car then I put it in drive and take off. Need to get better. 

... The other day I walked out of the grocery store without paying for something. I didn't realize it until I got to my car and I was just too tired and too lazy to walk back. Even though it was something small, I feel bad. 

... Dinner last night was toasted bread, Chic Fila sauce with chicken at 9:45pm. All the glamour over here.

... I posted a silly video of my dancing in the kitchen on my Instastories and over 180 people viewed it which made smile and laugh. For some of you, that's peanuts, but for me that's the most views one of my stories has ever received. Guess I need to figure out more dance songs, ha. 

... Speaking of a laugh, I had a nice chuckle when I saw WHO was viewing my stories. Talk about some people coming out of the wood work to sneak a peek. Hey, I'll take the numbers from ya. 

... My other blog is failing again. I keep getting distracted and annoyed with WORDPRESS. Such a different platform than blogger, one where you need to BUY a premium site to get anything cool. Which I am NOT doing yet. 

... Speaking of money, I was way over budget in May and am pushing it again. This isn't a 'teehee I bought two extra shirts I shouldn't have', this is a 'damn everyone I trained is taking a summer break and cash flow is tight' over budget. WE are fine, totally fine. My ego. Not so much. 

... Oh and speaking of ego, I let it get in the way over the weekend and it caused a tiff with Le Husband. Which was stupid and mostly on me, but I wanted him to give me some back up and he was just himself and quite. I feel dumb because things have been super awesome lately, we've found our 'this time of life groove' and I messed it up on Saturday night. Everything was fine Sunday, but that's just a night I won't get back. 

That's it for this week....what do you have to confess?

Show Us Your Books {May}

Back at it with my books this month. Linking up with Steph for 'SHOW US YOUR BOOKS". Again I wasn't able to get ALL the books I read this month for the recap, but bright about half. I've been on a BIIIIIG Kristin Hannah kick [just finished another one] and the three books at the bottom were a RANDOM grab because of their covers. #oooops

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As mentioned before, I've been on a Hannah kick so I've snapped up a bunch of her books from the library. This one I hemmed and hawed over, because it is about a couple drifting apart and I wasn't sure I was up for that genre. But, I gave it a whirl and was pleasantly surprised. The story wasn't anything surprising and I was very happy the wife wasn't the pushover she started out to be in the beginning. Lots of little 'relationship' lessons sprinkled in here and there, all on a beautiful Portland backdrop. Five star summer read status.

* * * * 1/2[source] 

One of the reasons I enjoy reading books by Kristin Hannah is her propensity to really challenge the reader with tough situations. This book right here made me put it down a few times because I could NOT believe the situation she dreamed up. A tough situation between sisters, one testing the limits of love. In all honesty, it took me longer than I expected to figure out the twist but once I did I already knew how the book would finish. Not the lightest of reads, but still something you could read through quickly to pass the time.

* * * 1/2 [source]

I had high hopes for this book after reading the summary. A little kid getting lost. Bad people roaming around. A sister fight and a cute detective. All adding up to a great plot I thought. But, it dragged on and on and on. I couldn't stand the mother of the child and the way Michaels wrote certain parts were extremely confusing. I was not a fan of one of the side stories at all. Maybe I'm just a lazy reader, who knows. If you need to just pass the time with something this will work, but it won't leave you with that 'i just read a great book' accomplishment at the end.

* * * * [source]

Reality television in a book is hit or miss for me. Of course the author can take some liberties, but at the crux of the story you KNOW it's bursting the bubble of television shows. Both characters in the book are likable and quite funny, too. I loved all the southern flairs and foods, even though some of the scenery descriptions were long. Not a hard to decipher the plot here, yet still a great way to pass the time.

* * * * * [source]

World War Two told through a woman in Italy. So many twists. So many dark turns. So many times I had to take a step back. I did not enjoy the way the heroine had to suffer in the beginning. It seems trite and honestly just something to make her life harder. There were a few times I was worried about characters and one moment I cried when I realized the tough decisions she had to face. I had to read something light afterwards because this book had me heated about Germans and Italians [back in the day of course]. If you like the Nightingale you'll enjoy this book.

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Not as good as Tuscan Rose, but still a wonderful book. My biggest issue is there were a few times I felt the writer was lazy and didn't bring certain endings full circle. She just left them with people leaving the country or dying. It made me quite annoyed. World War Two experienced in Asia,  China and Australia which was a very different story. Lots of scenery changes and lots of good plot twists. Give it a whirl if you have a long car ride or some time at the beach. 

* * * 1/2 [source]

The last Belinda book and my least favorite. It had a bit of super natural which seemed strange. I understood why she had it happen but it made some things feel inauthentic. I very much enjoyed the main characters growth and again reading history I did not know much about. This book takes place in Spain during Franco's reign. Lots of drama I forgot about. Lots of times I wished people were smarter and left when they should have left. I did not appreciate how one of the stories ended up, it felt fake in a shocking the reader way, which is why I didn't give it four stars. I recommend it, I'm just mad at the author so I'm keeping a half star out. 

There you have it. Some of the books over the last month. What are you reading?

Weekly Wins: ALL CAPS {FINALLY}

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STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!

MY TEAM! THE HOCKEY TEAM I'VE CHEERED FOR SINCE I WAS 18 YEARS OLD. FINALLY!

THEY GOT IT DONE. THEY LIFTED THE CUP! THEY ARE THE VICTORS. I LOVE SPORTS!

C U R R E N T L Y {JUNE}

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traveling multiple weekends in a row, which means summertime.
grilling so many delicious recipes on the green egg [will share some soon].
exploring different avenues to find and retain more clients.
loving all the videos Sportyspice sends us of lil niece.
reading girl wash your face.
anticipating GETTING THE NEWS I CAN WORK MY NEW JOB.
planting nothing. trying to keep a tree alive, though.
playing kickball....of course.

Monthly Motivation: Choose Your THING

Morning, friends! How are you doing today? Hope your week is off to a great start, I'm getting back into the groove after a weekend away with Le Husband. Yesterday's workouts were better than anticipated and now I'm planning the rest of my week. 

Which is where my post comes in. Today is the FIRST day of our Monthly Motivation and I'm super excited to be hosting with Lynn. I honestly thought longer than I should have about what I wanted to share today. There are so many great places to start, so many awesome things to pursue and so much research to read. 

And then the light bulb went off in my brain. With so much to do, how can one be successful? My suggestion:

What do you want to change? Is it drinking more water? Is it eating better? Is it being more consistent with your work outs? Is it leaning up? Getting stronger? Finding a way to make something a routine? Once you decide what you WANT to change, choose ONE THING and make a plan. 

Too many people try to change EVERYTHING and then end of failing because the amount of things to change is too overwhelming. Raise your hand if you've been there [RAISES HAND HIGH]. Y'all I've been there too many times to count. Trying to RESET everything. Trying to get better at everything and IT. IS. EXHAUSTING. And completely unattainable. 

So I learned. SLOWLY. Pick one thing, commit to it and make it a habit before you attempt the next big change. First it was lifting heavy weights with my husband. After six months of committing to getting stronger I started to add in more cardio. Then I began cleaning up my eating and figuring out WHAT works for my body. This was across three years, y'all. THREE! Changing your lifestyle is NOT a quick fix, it is something you have to decide to pursue and then COMMIT to working on day after day. 

Take a moment today and think about what one thing you really want to commit to become more healthy. Then, plan it out. If you're adding more fitness into your routine, WRITE workouts in your planner so you can't flake to on yourself. Maybe you want to drink more water, set your timer on your phone as a reminder every hour. You could want to eat more whole foods and less processed foods, so that means slowly changing eating habits. Plan which processed food you will replace with a healthier version. 

Small daily choices, become weekly choices, which become monthly choices and soon become habit. YOU CAN DO THIS, you just have to believe in yourself and find a plan you believe in. If you want help, email me or leave a question in my comments. I'm passionate about people working to improve their lives and want to help you as best I can. 

What are you choosing to change this month?

TBB {SUMMER LOVING}

1] Walk or bike ride? Bike ride. Burns more calories ;)!

2] Favorite picnic food? Baguette, cheese and prosciutto. I'm on a European picnic. 

3] Pool or lake? L A K E, because duuuuuuhhh!

4] Favorite ice cream flavor? Growing up, Mint Chocolate chip. Now, Salted Caramel. Or GELATO!

5] Ice cream cone or in a dish? Cone, ALWAYS CONE!

6] Flip flops or slides? FLIPS all day errrrrrrry day!

7] Jean shorts or jean capris? Shorts, pants are too hot in the summer.

8] Favorite summer fruit? WATERMELON!

9] Corn on the cob or cut off the cob? Not a big corn girl, but I LOVE Mexican Street Corn.

10] Favorite summertime song? CRUEL SUMMER

11] Favorite summertime activity? Lake living and late night walks outside. 

12] Favorite berry? Normally blueberries, but I LOVE a summer blackberry cobbler. 

13]  Bikinis, tankinis, or one pieces? Gimme that bikini.

14] Dresses or skirts? Dresses or a maxi dress.

15] One word to describe summer? F A B O U L O U S!