Boot Camp Update #3

Today marks the first day of my 4th month of boot camp. I am so glad that I decided to do this! Waking up at 4:30 am and all the aches and pains that go along with boot camp haven't been easy, but the end result makes it all worth it. Since today marks the start of a new month of boot camp, yesterday was weigh-in and measurement day (which I was dreading due to last months results or actually lack there of)!

The results are in: I cut another 20 seconds off my mile time, I lost another 4lbs. and I also lost an inch off each of my chest, waist, hips, and thighs. I definitely needed good results this month or I probably would have had a complete melt down.

While I enjoy boot camp, I think July will be the last month I participate for awhile. Mike and I plan on joining the YMCA. Since I have had 4 months to get a good disciplined work out schedule down, I am planning on carrying that over to the YMCA. My fear is since I will not have the accountability that I have during boot camp, that I will slack off and ruin everything I have worked so hard to accomplish. While I would love to keep doing boot camp, joining the YMCA will be more cost effective.

So, 4 more weeks to go and hopefully I will have even better results to mark the end of boot camp. Right now I plan on putting my before and after pictures along with my before and after measurements on my final boot camp update blog entry. But that is still 4 weeks away and I may chicken out between now and then, so we will see.

A River Runs Through It

A couple weekends ago, Mike and I traveled back to Searcy to spend time with friends and family. On Saturday we headed to Little Rock to meet up with Mike's best friend and his wife, Jamie & Stephanie Golleher. It was a very laid back day spent relaxing and catching up. I wanted to get a picture of the four of us but we were so caught up in conversation that I never got around to it.

Sunday was spent at my brother's new home on the Little Red River. Mom & Dad joined us after church and the day was spent talking, grilling, relaxing, & fishing. Kyle and Dad have been doing a lot of work on the property and even though we were told there is still a lot to be done, I thought it looked great. We definitely had a great weekend!

Here a some pictures from Sunday:

I am actually very jealous of these next two pictures. I can't wait until we have a yard so I can have my own garden. Kyle has a great garden it has 4 blueberry bushes, muscadine bushes (they are what is under the bird house), tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, jalapenos, banana peppers, and a few others that I can't think of now.

Lunch time!

Time to fish!

I think Dad was the only person to catch anything all afternoon.

Finally, I will leave you with some pictures of a few of the critters found around the property:

A Blog for the Homeless

Today on Facebook, National Public Radio (yes they are one of my "friends") posted a link to a story entitled "Homeless Advocate Goes High Tech." I found the title of the article intriguing mostly because I have been following this blog written by Doug S., one of our ministers at church. Doug's blog focuses on the outreach that he is involved in, primarily with Nashville's own homeless & less fortunate.

The article published by NPR is about a homeless man, Eric Sheptock, who through access to the public library is able to be an advocate for the homeless by keeping a blog, twitter account, & Facebook page. Using this technology he can inform people, like you and I, on the struggles and hardships that homeless communities face.

I haven't had time to read his entire blog yet, but I think anything that can educate us on a subject that we are uncomfortable with or ignorant about has to be a good thing. Hopefully his blog will help stop the typical stereotyping and will let us open our eyes and hearts to ways we can help.

There are links to both Doug's & Eric Sheptock's blogs on our page, under "Random Blogs We Enjoy."

Viva La Vida

I have this short list of "Must See Concerts". Last night I got to check one off my list. Mike and I along with some friends went to the Coldplay concert. The show was amazing! If you love their music and you get a chance to catch them while they are on their US tour I would definitely do it. You won't be disappointed! You even get a free CD just for attending the concert.

Here are a couple pictures from dinner at Dan McGuinness before the concert:

What a Sweet Husband!

I have the greatest husband on earth! Friday morning I was having a horrible day at work. On top of me having low morale at the work place, someone stole money from me. So I was just having a really crappy morning. When I was finished with my first client I walked up to the front desk to find this:

Along with the flower was a sweet little note that helped make my morning better. Thanks honey, I love you!

Good Eats

My wonderful husband brought home a free little booklet he picked up at a local restaurant. It is entitled "Eat Up: A Guide to Nashville's Essential Eateries". It is published by a group called nashvilleoriginals.com and lists 31 locally owned restaurants. Once Mike saw the list of restaurants he thought we should just go down the list and try each restaurant. We always complain that we never go out and experience this great city we live in, so this will be perfect.

Here is the list of restaurants:

1. The Acorn

2. Allium

3. Baja Burrito

4. Bound'ry

5. CABANA

6. Caffe Nonna

7. Cross Corner Bar & Grill

8. FIDO

9. Flyte World Dining & Wine

10. Germantown Cafe

11. Jackson's

12. Jimmy Kelly's Steakhouse

13. MAFIAoZA's

14. Mambu Restaurant & Bar

15. McCabe Pub

16. Midtown Cafe

17. Mirror Restaurant

18. Noshville

19. Ombi

20. PM

21. Provence Breads & Cafe

22. Red Restaurant

23. rumba

24. South Street

25. Sunset Grill

26. tayst Restaurant & Wine Bar

27. Tin Angel

28. Turnip Truck (this isn't a restaurant, it is like a small/local Whole Foods)

29. Wild Iris

30. The Yellow Porch

31. Zola

I am so excited about this list of restaurants! We have already eaten at a few of the restaurants, but the majority of the restaurants listed have been on our "must try" list for a while now. Since we have already eaten at The Acorn, it looks like our first restaurant will be Allium. This weekend is really busy and we are out of town next weekend. So we probably won't get a chance to eat there for another couple of weeks, but when we do I will give an update. Also, if anyone would like to join us at any of these restaurants let us know. We always love company!

Boot Camp Update #2

Today marks the first day of my 3rd month of boot camp. So it is time to give an update for the month of May.

I will warn you that I am writing this post emotionally upset with myself. I did not have any movement on the scale or measuring tape this month. I guess I should be thankful that at least the number on the scale didn't go up. But it is so frustrating to think that for the last month I have gotten up at 4:30am for 4 days a week and worked really hard and I didn't have better results.

I do know that all my hard work is paying off in other ways. I was able to cut another 40 seconds off my mile time and I increased my number of push-ups. I probably had too high expectations since the first month I lost 9 lbs., 2 inches from my chest, 2 inches from my waist and cut 2 min. 40 sec. off my mile time. But I am sticking with it and still giving it my all.

I started this boot camp in April because I felt it was time to take control of my weight and quit blaming it on having PCOS. When I made the decision to start working out again I remember thinking that I have just been lazy and how nice it has been to have the PCOS as an excuse. I thought I would work out for a few months and get back down to the size I was at our wedding, a size 4-6. Boy was I wrong! Unfortunately, I may be learning that having PCOS does make it really difficult to loose weight.

I know that I am only starting my 3rd month and it usually takes a few months of training before you start seeing any major results. So I will keep you posted. Thanks for letting me have my little pity party and now I'll put on my big girl pants, refocus, & continue to work hard.

Run 4 Kids

Me, Sharon & Kristin

This past Saturday I ran in the "Run 4 Kids" 5K race. A race which benefits the Tennessee Baptist Children's Home. This is the first 5K race that I have actually ran (only walking maybe a total of 30 secs. during the race)! I finished the 3.1 miles in 35 minutes. Two of my friends from work ran it with me. Once we all finished the race we ate some of the free food and then headed off for a session of boot camp. I think I need a massage!