Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Walk/Run Fundraiser May 2014

Sunday May 18th I joined my morning crew workout girls to walk in a Cystic Fibrosis Fundraiser and Awareness event for a lady in our community, Jamie Purchase.  My daughter Becca is also a classmate with Jamie's son, Colton Purchase. Jamie is a young mom fighting for her life and just to breathe daily is a very real and hard struggle for her. Before we did our walk/run, Jamie shared her story and the story of others living with CF.  She stated that just for her to breath today was comparable to running a marathon.  She is on the lung transplant and we're praying she gets her pair soon.  Her son Colton is such a sweet boy. And I was so glad that Becca could be part of this too. She decided to walk with Colton when I took off running with my crew.  Did 2.5 miles in 26 minutes that day.  It was a beautiful day and I was so glad to be apart of it and raise some money.  Here are a couple pics from that day.

Mother's Day 2014

I had a beautiful Mother's day weekend.  Saturday May 10th I went for a run at 7am with Cornelius and my friend Bonnie on the trail. Ran 3.5 miles in 40 minutes.  Very proud of that time!  We got back before the girls were up, well Abby was up.  But she's always up early :)  Cornelius made a yummy beautiful breakfast for me. I made the fruit bowl and he did the egg muffin quiche and the protein packed pancakes.  We then all went out in the yard and did some much needed yard work. It was a sunny, cool breezy morning.  I took a few pics of the girls because they are just so precious and cute.  Saturday evening we enjoyed hosting my mom's friends from Honduras. A pastor, his wife and 2 sons.  They were visiting my parents.  After our meal we spent time in worship, prayer and it was powerfully uplifting.  They left around 10:30pm. 
Sunday morning we were up early for me to practice with the worship team and for Cornelius to teach Sunday school. It was just me on the piano and 3 vocals for worship this Mother's Day. My favorite gals, Gina and Elissa, lead worship with me.  After church we went home and enjoyed a simple lunch, took naps, and then Cornelius surprised me by taking me to a late night movie.  All in all, it was a successful mother's day and weekend.  Days when I can be home and lazy and enjoying my family are the best kinds. :)

I am so very blessed.  My girls are my treasures.  Each with such a beautiful heart.  Gifted uniquely.  God has big plans for them.  They are on loan from God to me....I am privilaged to be their mother and pray that all God has shown me, that I can share with them.  Not that they would be like me, but that they would know how awesome our God is and that His promises are true.

Happy Mother's day! 

Full Body Weights and Cardio Circuit

I workout with awesome ladies every morning and have found that some prefer cardio workouts, and others prefer strength circuits. So in this workout, you get the best of both!! I honestly prefer the strength training- I LOVE LIFTING HEAVY.  Makes me feel like a beast! No really, it challenges me in a way that I have never known- seeing how really strong you are and what your body is capable of doing.  Sometimes we limit ourselves because of our mental fear....anyways, that's another topic.

The cool thing about this All Body Weight Circuit is that is incorporates cardio bursts so in 50 minutes I burned 400 calories!!  So for you cardio junkies, it was really good too.  I totally was sopping wet from sweat. 
 Today there were 8 ladies and it worked out great to have 1 more station than there were ladies so that if you got done quicker at one station, you had one that was available to float to.

So here you go! This was todays morning workout:

 8 ladies /9 stations /50 minutes:
FULL BODY WEIGHTS and CARDIO CIRCUIT
 Perform Each Super Set x 3

1. 15 reps Leg Press- then 30 sec. burpees (repeat 3 times)
2. 15 reps Chest Press- then 30 sec. jumping jacks (3 times)
3. 15 reps Lateral Pull down- 30 sec. Jump Lunges (3 times)
4. 15 reps Shoulder Press- 30 sec. squats (no weights on squat)
5. 15 reps Ab crunch - 30 sec. plank jacks (3 times)
6. 15 reps weighted squats- 30 sec. flutter kicks (3 times)
7. 15 each side with Dumbbell Side Bend - 30 sec. skaters (3 times)
8. 15 Bench Leg Pull In - 30 sec. high knees (3 times)
9. 15 reps of weighted Lunges- 30 sec. jump rope (3 times)

I think what made it hard was doing each station 3 times. Doing 15 leg presses then 30 second burpees then right back into 15 reps leg press and then 30 second burpees and then again!  Kim had me do the leg press with 90 pounds added on each side. So that was 180 pounds! (Kim, I think I could have done more!!) 

This morning I had my biocharge drink (amino acid herbal drink) and catalyst 20 minutes before I started working out.
Then after this workout I had 1 cup almond milk (only 30 calories), 2 TBSP of powered PB (super low fat but protein packed), and 2 scoops of my Muscle Gain (vanilla flavor).  Tasted so good! 
Down another pound this week maybe even a little more. :)

*** Just a reminder- I'm not a health expert, nor do I claim to be. But I do see that I'm getting good results and I feel so much better! 

***And another reminder- GOD FIRST and then the rest of my life falls in after Him.....Its hard to balance all this out sometimes.  And I know that I get it backwards sometimes.  But I feel like God is teaching me so much about myself, my will, my mental, physical and emotional strength in this. 

Read this verse yesterday and feel like its fitting for me today:

"Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

Psalm 73:25-26

Spring has Finally Come

It has been a long, cold, harsh winter.  It seemed like winter didn't want to leave us. So having these few beautiful warm days in April was like a fresh of breath air.  A ray of hope that soon summer will be here soon.  So here are a few pictures that show how special this April 2014 were. I am missing some calf pictures- yep, we bought a calf. So I'll have to share about that soon. But here are a few pictures to WELCOME SPRING!