{Fitness Corner} Crossfit So Cal Regionals 2013

So on Sunday, we headed down to Del Mar, CA for the Southern California Crossfit Regionals. It was an intense experience and quite inspiring.



My trainer, Jeremy Kinnick, competed as an individual and was 9th! He is pretty amazing. That was an accomplishment and though he was not invited to compete in the Crossfit Games (The top 3 move on to the Games and he has competed in the Games 5 times), he was a great inspiration and was very classy staying through the end to cheer on others during the awards ceremony. He did not give up and when he finished he went on to cheer other on.



Our gym also had a team, Team Kinnick, compete as well. The top 3 move on to the Crossfit Games and out team placed 5th!. It was so amazing to watch them compete. One of my other trainers was on that team as well. It was fun to cheer them on and see them do an amazing job.



It was pretty amazing to watch these trainers compete. I worked them each week to make myself better and they are doing it each and every day and they do it well. They work hard and they are great roll models at how them treat other teams and individuals that they compete with. One thing that I really like about Crossfit is the community. Everyone cheers everyone on first or last.

{Creative Corner} Teacher Gifts 2013 and a diaper cake

An end of the year gift for Baby Bear's preschool teachers: Inside is a Yogurtland gift card.



A diaper cake for a student.

6 year Anniversary

So Mr. Bear and I have been married 6 years now and have been together 13 years. What an amazing 13 years.

We had a nice little low key anniversary. The evening before, we started off with a movie. We watched 42, then head off for I Love Pie in Claremont for some dessert. Yummy



The evening of our actual anniversary, we had a nice dinner with our girl and our cousin who was staying with us that weekend. Yummy food was had.







My facebook post from that day: "So 13 years ago, I met a boy at a Cinco de Mayo party. He gave me his card and I called him. 7 years later, we were married on Cinco de Mayo. Babe, that was the best phone call I ever made. I love you more and more each day. Here is to a lifetime of Cinco de Mayo's together."

{Fitness Corner} WLC Half way point and Crossfit Open

So I am half way through my second round of the Whole Life Challenge. This time around doesn't feel as bad with nutrition. I think it helps that I knew what to expect and that I tried to keep up with my nutrition even after the last challenge (I wasn't perfect). With the last challenge I lost all the baby weight, this time I just seem to be maintaining, which is great and a little disappointing at the same time. But I realize that I don't have much weight that I need to lose. My goal is really to lose inches. I have yet to measure myself and see how that is panning out. But my mama belly is still sticking around, so that is quite frustrating to me. They say that is usually the last to go. On the other hand, some of my clothes are looser than before and I have some that I have to pin up to stay on me. That has to be a good sign.

I do know that I have become a lot stronger. Since starting the challenge about a month ago I can do kipping pull-ups and toes to bar. Those are pretty large achievements for me. I remember starting crossfit just 8 months ago and both those skills seemed impossible to achieve, they were so hard. I have learned with crossfit everything is possible. On top of that, I am able to do some of the WODs (workout of the day) as they are prescribed. Meaning, I don't have to modify the workout down to my level. I can actually do some of the workouts at the level that they are written. That is huge for me. I was always modifying the workout to my level (which is one of the great things about crossfit, everything is scaleable). Now, I am lifting heavier weights and doing things like pull-ups and toes to bar. I can't do all of the WODs prescribed, but I am seeing progress and improvement as I am able to do some. It feels really good. That is not to say that I am faster, but I am definitely stronger and working harder. It is great to see the improvement happen. I am getting better than I was. That's what it is about.

These accomplishment in my fitness gave me the confidence to sign up for the Crossfit Games Open. Basically, anyone can sign up for the Open and do the workouts. The top competitors move on to Regionals and then the Games (like one of my trainers!). I know I won't move on, but it is actually fun to see where I rank among thousands of people. Last week was the first workout 13.1.

Workout 13.1 (for women)

17 minute AMRAP of:
40 Burpees
30 Snatch, 45 lbs
30 Burpees
30 Snatch, 75 lbs
20 Burpees
30 Snatch, 100 lbs
10 burpees
Max rep Snatch, 120 lbs

I don't know what I was thinking but, I did it. I didn't get to 100 lbs, in fact, I barely did one 75 lb snatch, but the fact of the matter was that I did one. Considering I hadn't done a snatch more than 55 lbs, I was very proud of myself for getting that 1. It was a PR (personal record) and I am taking it. It took me maybe 5 minutes of trying to get that one in, but I didn't give up and got it. Who knew?

I am stronger and feeling great about myself. I just have to keep it up. For me it is all about being fit and healthy to enjoy life and what life has to offer.

{Creative Corner} Valentines 2013

A couple of my Valentine's Day projects for Baby Bear's friends and teachers.

I was inspired by several ideas I found floating around on pinterest and designed a little something myself with Valentine's straw as a gift.







For the teachers, I merged a few ideas from pinterest and designed something for them along with a small gift they could use.

{Fitness Corner} Here we go again

I signed up to do the Whole Life Challenge, an online accountability game, again. My crossfit box is encouraging us to do it once again and even gave us an incentive of an extra day a week during the 8 week challenge. I had great results the first time and looking forward to see myself get stronger and fitter. I don't have any traveling planned this time around like I did the last, so that should help me stay on better track with nutrition.

I tried my best to stick with the nutrition part even after the challenge. The diet follow a paleo-like diet. Over the holidays I gave myself some exceptions, but for the most part I don't eat many starches, grains, or dairy. I have made the occassional exceptions but have maintained. In fact, I have clothes that are loose on me which is great and somewhat frustrating since I bought new clothes not too long ago.

The goals that I set for myself at the end of the challenge:
1. Do 5 unassisted pull ups by June 2013
2. Cook 3 paleo meals a week by the end of December
3. Workout and mobilization for 10 minutes for 6 days a week by end of December

I wasn't really good at tracking my goals. But I think I did pretty decently.

Goal 1: I continue to do crossfit and really see myself getting stronger and better. I can do a few unassisted kipping pull-ups, which is just amazing to me. I get 2-3 in a row and I am working on getting those 5. Actually I am hoping to get to 5 in the next few weeks by my birthday. That would put me ahead of the goal I originally set for June. Even is I don't make it by the end of February, I am still pretty proud that I can do what I can. I never would have thought I could ever do a pull-up unassisted.

Goal 2: I would say that I did this. I do know that when I cook, I cook paying attention to the paleo rules the majority of them time. I allow myself exceptions when we are out and on special occassions. Although I did not track this goal, I do think I did pretty well.

Goal 3: I would say I was pretty close. If not 6 days, I know I got in 5 days a week. I know what is realistic and the whole point was to keep moving. Also I have a renew view of rest days. I am good about moving and getting my workouts and mobilization in, so I am not really worried about this. But it is good to have the goal and keep doing it. With the challenge, I know that I will be more accountable and it will just make me better and fitter and closer to meeting goal 1.

I am excited. My big goal is to feel comfortable in a bikini for the summer. I haven't worn a bikini since I was pregnant, so that is about 4 years now. We have a trip to Hawaii this summer and I would like to get a new bikini for this summer. Let's do this, if I get as good as result as I did last time, I think I will be there. Just need to lose that mama belly.

{Project Organize} A Rainy Weekend

I got a lot done on a rainy weekend...

I am almost complete with organizing the kitchen cabinets. The kitchen was not in bad shape at all, it just needed to be cleaned up a little. Each drawer didn't take so long at all. I still want to buy some organizers for our junk drawer, but it is cleaned up, the organizer bins would pretty it up a bit and help keep it organized. So that is on my list. Not a priority but something to do at some point. There is always more that can be done but not necessary.

I still need to work on my spice/cooking cabinet. I need to find a good way to organize my spices so I can find things. Just the other day as I was cooking, I realized that I had 2 bottles of cumin. I probably couldn't find cumin one day and went and bought another bottle. So it needs helps. I need to determine what is best. I have seen many different ideas on pinterest, but I am not sure which one will best meet my needs and my space. So I will be back to that one. My challenge with organizing is deciding exactly how I want things to be.

I went through my files and recycled a lot of paper! I got rid of paper and files that I no longer needed and got all my files ready for 2013. So my 2012 files are organized and ready for our tax appointment next month. That was a priority and I am glad that I got that done.

I organized my office supply drawer. I bought an organizer for the that drawer and it made a world of difference.

I put together a binder for all our user manuals. I found a lot of great ideas on pinterest and took one on. Check this link out. I just have to print out a cover sheet and find a good place for it.

I got a lot done over the week. It helps to have a rainy weekend to get things done. I feel like I've made a lot of progress. As I keep going through different areas of the house, I am purging as well, so I feel good about sticking to this goal.

My next goals in Project Organize is to organize my recipes. I bought some binders and supplies, so I will be working on this one next. I've started and I wished that I had a before picture, but I will make sure to get an after photo when I am done.

{Project Organize} The Pantry

So I have been working on Project Organize, I have been going through the house and making a list of everything I would like to work on. I have been on pinterest looking at various ideas and inspirations for a more organized home.

I am starting with the kitchen. I look through my kitchen cabinets and fortunately many of them are organized nicely and I am happy with it. However, there are a few areas that need a little help. So I took note:

• Spice cabinet: buy a lazy susan to easily get to spices
• White cabinet: find a good way to organize platters
• Bakeware cabinet: find a good way to organize bakeware
• Tupperware cabinet: get rid of unused Tupperware and organize

I did tackled one of the kitchen cabinets that was in need of help.  I organized the what I call the white cabinet, because it is white. I bought a platter organizer at Big Lots for a few of dollars. Now rather than stacking my platters on top of each other they are stored vertically. It is now much easier to get to them and actually gave more room in that cabinet. So great for a $3 investment.


Next, I organized the pantry over the weekend and I am done with the panty and food storage area.

So my pantry looked like this:



and this



As you can see it is not very large, but it is somewhat deep and I needed to do something so that what was in the back didn't get lost. I often could see what was back there and neglected it. As I cleaned the pantry out, I found some of the things in the back were expired and things I didn't even want to eat. So in the trash it went. I bought some baskets from Walmart, a drawer from Target, and made some labels and now my pantry looks like this...









It is so much better. All of Baby Bear's snacks and cereals are on the same shelf so that she can reach it. She just pulls out the basket to look for what she wants. I took the sugar and flour out of their packaging and pour them into the clear Snapware containers I already had. I bought them from Costco years ago. Then labeled them. It will make it much easier to see how much is left and to scoop out when baking. I don't know why I hadn't done it before.

I didn't spent a whole lot on this, about $25 for the baskets and drawer. So the pantry is done! Now on to finishing up the other kitchen cabinets. I am feeling good about my progress.

Project Organize

Okay, so my big goal for 2013 is to de-clutter and organize! I am calling it Project Organize. So what is the game plan. No real game plan yet. I figured the first step was to go around the house and make a list of everything that I would like to organize and de-clutter. I went through pinterest for ideas and pinned what I thought would be effective for our house. But having them pinned is not enough, having it written down somewhere will help me to start to check things off. So my to do list so far (I am sure that there will be items added to this list over time, but it is a start).

Pantry

• Organize with clear baskets and label basket accordingly
• Label Shelves: Shelf 1 - Baking; Shelf 2- boxed goods and other cooking items; Shelf 3- bread and crackers, nuts, chips; Shelf 4 - Jordyn's snacks, cereals; Bottom shelf- protein powder, other baking supplies
• Organize top cabinet above pantry cabinet: Add shelves and separate out paper goods and plastic utensil from appliances like rice cooker

Kitchen

• Spice cabinet: buy a lazy susan to easily get to spices
• White cabinet: find a good way to organize platters
• Bakeware cabinet: find a good way to organize bakeware
• Tupperware cabinet: get rid of unused Tupperware and organize

Closet

• Organize craft/wrapping area - label drawers
• Use pink and green bins and organize for holiday decor (Valentines, Easter/spring, Summer, Fall/Halloween) with labels 
• Consolidate stuff and remove

Hall closet

• Add Extra shelf
• Add hooks on wall for purses

Entry way

• Bookshelf with 4 baskets with labels (Jordyn's shoes, Dylan's shoes, Sher's shoes, blankets)

Bedroom

• Above closet storage: pretty up with large wicker baskets?
• Buy pretty hamper
• Organize jewelry
• Sort through clothes and give away clothes to Goodwill

Living room

• Get DVD organizer in dresser

So that is the list so far. Many of these things are little things that can be done very quickly. Some of it requires a little more time and effort. Some of them requires me making a decision on how I want things to look. I have a lot of ideas, but with so many ideas and choices and little money it is often hard to just go with something. But now that is out in cyberspace, maybe I will actually get some things done in this year. It is a start.

Another year, a new set of goals

I guess I have been neglecting this blog. Actually, I haven't been a great blogger in general. No one probably reads this blog anymore anyways. But this post is for me to write down my goals for the year so that it is somewhere. Looking back, I guess either I didn't make any goals last year or I forgot to write them down anywhere. The last set of goals were from 2011. Looking at those goals, I only really kept up with the second goal. But it is a new year and time for new goals.

My big goal for this year was one I set for 2011 and did not meet. So it is back on my list and this is the year to really focus.

De-clutter and organize. We have been in our house for 2 years now and I need to get a better hold of the clutter. I need to find a space for everything or get rid of it. We have way too much stuff that we don't really need and it is time for me to go through what we have to de-clutter and to pare down. I have more clothes that I need and I need to better organize our space. Our home is not very big and if needs to be organized. Every room needs some help, some more than others but if I can tackle a space one at a time in small chunks I can make some progress.

I suspect that the majority of people make goals that related to health and fitness and finances. I guess I am no different.

Eat Healthy and Stay Fit. I did really well with this last year. I joined crossfit, which made a world of difference. I complete the Whole Life Challenge and got myself back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I am determined to keep it up with crossfit to keep my body fit. I can do 1 or 2 kipping pull-ups unassisted and I am working toward my goal of 5 by June. I am getting there and I feel myself getting stronger. I need to get back on track with nutrition, I haven't gained any weight, but I went to some bad eating habits over the holidays and so I need to get back on it. Eliminating dairy and grains made a huge difference and made me more congnizant of what I was putting in my body.

So my second goal for this year is to keep up with crossfit and keep getting better and stronger. I want to get 5 unassisted kipping pull-ups by June. I want to do more yoga. I need yoga to keep me balanced and I find that mobility does wonders for crossfit, so it really has so many benefits. Plus, I love yoga. So practice yoga at least 2 times a week (more if possible).

Pay off debt and Save, save, save. I have been working on paying off a little credit card debt that I have accrued, so that is an ongoing goal to pay down that debt. Along with that is to spend less. Since we have so much that I am trying to get rid of I need to find ways to get along with what we have rather than buying new things. I need to get rid of; not bring in new things. So that goes hand in hand.

I also plan to try the 52 Week Money Challenge. It doesn't look too hard and that would be money in the bank for next Christmas, so why not!

Let's do this!! 2013 will be a good year!