How I lost the baby weight + more!

I’ve had a lot of people asking me lately what I’ve been doing to lose weight, so I thought I’d take to the blog again and do a post on my “body after baby” journey.

First I want to say to any new mothers out there reading this, please don’t feel like you should compare yourself to my progress. This is my journey, and everybody (every BODY) is different. Some people bounce back after one week (ahem, my sister-in-law lol), and for others it takes 6 months or even a year to get back to anything close to their pre-pregnancy weight. And for some moms, they are perfectly content with their bodies after a baby and don’t feel the need to try to lose any weight!

I had some morning sickness in the first few weeks of my pregnancy, so I wasn’t running or eating healthy at all. After that, I never really found the motivation to get back into running or exercising, and eating whatever I wanted was way too much fun! haha So that was my pregnancy. I ended up gaining a lot of weight, but since I don’t know how much I weighed before I got pregnant, I’m not sure exactly how much I gained. But that’s not really important…

After Jack was born, I obviously was just trying to survive, so we ate whatever was easiest. We frequently ate fast food and drank a lot of soda and sweet tea. This went on for about the first 5 months of Jack’s life. It was right after New Years (typical haha) when Chad and I decided to freakin’ get it together and get healthy!

We started with baby steps. The first few weeks, we decided to cut out all fast food and drink only water. You guys, I lost 7 lbs that first week and Chad lost 10 lbs! It’s amazing what drinking water can do for you. After that, it was actually pretty easy for me to fall back into good habits since I had been fairly healthy before my pregnancy. Since starting this process, I’ve lost 40 lbs!

I’m feeling great but still have some goals in mind as far as my post-baby health is concerned. So with all this said, I wanted to lay out the things I’ve done to help me lose the weight. I’m going to do bullet points so that it’s easy to follow.

• Drink only water

Coffee and unsweetened teas are fine also. Every day, I try to drink at least 100 oz of water. I have a 32 oz Bubba mug that I use for my water, and I try to drink 4 of them a day which comes out to 128 oz. I’ve read before that people tend to drink more if they drink through a straw. So if you’re having trouble drinking water, try getting a fun cup or bottle that has a straw! I have so many water bottles (Chad makes fun of me) because I can’t resist buying a fun new one every now and then.

• Meal plan/meal prep like a boss

Every weekend, I loosely plan our meals for the week. I usually grocery shop on Saturday or Sunday, and then use Sunday afternoon/evening to cook and prep my lunches for the week. Now that I have a baby to get ready in the mornings, having my lunches pre-made is the only way to make sure I continue to eat healthy. Here are some examples of foods I eat for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Dinners change a lot, but I usually follow a “meat, veggie, and carb/starch” plan.

Breakfast: Oatmeal made with almond milk, berries, chia seeds, and sometimes peanut butter (make sure it’s all natural with no added sugar!). Greek yogurt (I like Oikos triple zero because it has the lowest sugar content I’ve seen). Occasionally I’ll have eggs with cheese and spinach. And I just recently jumped on the chia pudding train. Chia pudding is weird but so good if you can handle the texture of the chia seeds. You can google chia pudding and find a ton of different recipes, but the general recipe I follow is 2 tbs of chia seeds and 1/2 cup of almond milk. Then you can add whatever sweetener and mix-ins you want!

Lunch: This one gets boring because I pretty much eat the same thing for lunch every single day lol Each day I will have about 3 oz of chicken breast, a green veggie (green beans, brussels sprouts, or sugar snap peas), and sweet potatoes. I prep all of this at the beginning of the week. If I ever slip up and don’t have time to meal prep, I will fix tuna (mixed with avocado instead of mayo) and have an easy veggie like baby carrots, and I’ll throw in a string cheese. Then, I’ll make sure to prep Monday evening.

Snacks: I’m a hard core snacker. I love snacks! My morning schedule doesn’t really allow for a snack in between breakfast and lunch, but if I have to have a snack, I will do something easy like string cheese. I end up having the same snack every afternoon, and I haven’t gotten tired of it yet! I always have an apple (I like Gala) and almonds. It’s a good mix of carbs, fat, and protein. Once I get home from work, I usually grab another snack. My go-to snack after work is some kind of bar. I like protein bars, but you really have to find a good one that doesn’t have a ton of sugar or unnecessary ingredients. My favorites are Quest Bars! But, you can only get them certain places like GNC and some random grocery stores. I also like MuscleTech protein bars which you can get at Walmart. If I don’t have any protein bars on hand, I go for Lara Bars. They are made of very few ingredients, and everything is REAL food. They are high in sugar, but there is no added sugar. It all comes naturally from dates or other fruits that are in the bars. I like to eat Lara Bars after dinner if I’m craving something sweet.

•  Stay away from processed foods

I try really hard to eat mostly whole foods. When I grocery shop, I rarely go down the middle aisles except for a few things. I get most of my groceries from the outside of the store and spend most of my time in the produce section. When I do venture to those middle aisles for something, I always check the ingredients list and don’t pay as much attention to the calories. I look for ingredients that I can pronounce!

• Watch out for added sugar!

You’d be so surprised at how many products have added sugar. Always look at the ingredients list to see if any sugar (or sugar-like ingredient) has been added. All of those boxed “diet” foods have tons of added sugar. Foods that are “fat-free” have added sugar to make up for the taste lost with the fat.

• Give yourself splurges!

One of my splurges comes from coffee creamer. It’s just something I’m not willing to give up! haha But I do make sure to buy sugar-free. Yes, there’s still artificial ingredients in it, but like I said, I’m not giving that once up just yet! I also have a few splurges over the weekends. Chad and I love getting pizza and fries from Stephano’s. We put Jack to bed, turn on Netflix, and pig out! On Sunday’s, we always eat lunch at my parents’ house. Usually Mom cooks healthy foods anyway, but occasionally we have no-so-healthy lunches, which is no big deal. Chad and I also have a tradition of Mexican food on Sunday nights while we watch Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, or whatever we’re watching on Netflix at the time. So for me, the weekends are very relaxed when it comes to food.

• Exercise

Find something that you love to do, even if it’s just a brisk walk! I ran before I got pregnant, so I knew I wanted to get back to that again. I slowly started back running about 4 weeks into my weight-loss journey. I also love resistance/strength training, so I started adding in some at home workouts to my routine. I find them on Pinterest, YouTube, or OnDemand tv. We don’t have a gym membership anymore, but even if we did, I know I wouldn’t make it to the gym. So running and working out at home is what works for me for now!

 

This has been a LONG post, so I’m going to wrap it up!. I plan to keep moving right along with my weight-loss journey. I’m pretty close to my goal weight, but I’ve got a lot of fitness goals that I’m working towards, like faster 5k times, running more half marathons, and going back to cross-fit. I may be back with more updates as I reach my goals!

Thanks for reading! 🙂

Jack – 2 and 3 Months

Well, I missed Jack’s 2 month update last month, so this will be a mega update. haha Months 2 and 3 have definitely been fun! He has grown SO much. I don’t know where my tiny newborn went!

2 Months

At his two month appointment, Jack weighed over 14lbs 11oz and was 24 inches long. He was over the 95th %tile for weight, height, and head circumference. Momma’s big healthy boy!😊

  

During his second month of life, Jack started smiling! He began cooing and “talking” back to us when we talked to him. He held his head up a lot more and we official had to stop holding him “like a baby” because he hated being on his back in our arms.

  

He napped in his crib for the first time, but would only sleep on his tummy.

  

Even though we started putting him down for naps, he still took MANY “chest naps.” They are my favorite 😊

   
    
    
 

Jack went to the nursery at church for the first time

  

And he went to his first football game!

  

Jack started holding his head up a lot better and grasping things… mostly fingers😄

 

He loves being outside, so usually we could calm him down instantly just by walking outside.

  

He really “woke up” during this month, so there was a lot more awake time. To keep him occupied we would let him swing, play on his activity mat, and of course have some tummy time.

Now onto month 3!

3 Months

Jack didn’t have a 3 month check up, but we know he weighs about 17 lbs now! Not sure how long he is… I must have some gooood milk because he is growing like a weed! He’s already bigger than his 7 month old cousin!😂

  
Everyone says he looks just like my dad, which means he looks like me because I’m the spitting image of my dad. haha Here I am at 14 months… 

  

Not sure if it’s a young enough picture to compare Jack to, so I’ll have to find another one.

So during his 3rd month of life. Jack changed a lot!

He got even chunkier! Especially those thighs!

   
    
 

And I’m always asking him how many chins he has😂

   
 

He holds his head up without any help from us. He’s practically a hip baby!

 

He loves sucking/chewing on his hands, and if he get a hold of something, it goes straight into his mouth.
  
I went back to work the week of Halloween, and it has been one of the hardest things ever. But Jack is doing great while I’m away! He takes his bottles just fine now, even though he went through a phase where he straight up refused the bottle.

We also discovered the wubba nub! This has been so great because Jack doesn’t always take a paci, but with the wubba nun he can at least hold and play with the monkey. It keeps him occupied when we’re driving or I have to put him down to do something. 

  
Jack celebrated his first Halloween also!

  
 After lots of costume searches, we finally decided on this family get up…

 
 He was the cutest lobster ever! Here he is with the costume on backwards😂😂
  
And finally, my absolute FAVORITE things about this month is that Jack started laughing!!! I seriously cried when he did this!

Okay, it’s time I end this ridiculously long post. I will do better about monthly updates from now on!

Jack – One Month

  

Jack is ONE MONTH OLD!

  

I can’t believe how fast this month has gone! Being a mom has been the most challenging, exciting, and best experience of my life. It’s amazing the love I have for this little stinker!

  

The first 2 weeks are kind of a blur. All he wanted to do was eat, sleep, and eat some more… and of course pee and poop. He would have a few moments where he was awake and alert, but then he would cry to eat or to be rocked to sleep. We expected that, but it didn’t make those nights where he insisted on eating every hour any easier! 

On the subject of eating, I always knew I wanted to breastfeed Jack. The benifits of breast milk were amazing, and I wanted to have that bonding time with him. Luckily, BF came fairly easy for us. He didn’t have the best latch, which caused some soreness, but other than that, everything went well.

  

Back to those hourly feedings…. there were times during those first two weeks where I felt (quite literally) drained! It felt like all I was doing was nursing or holding him while he slept. He loves sleeping on mine and Chad’s chest, and how can we resist all that cuddle time?! 

  

    
    
 

I was BF on-demand, and his eating schedule changed a lot, so for the first two weeks we didn’t really go anywhere. I was okay with that because all I wanted to do after coming home from the hospital was rest. I may not have slept every time Jack slept (during the day), but even just being able to lay back on the couch helped me to rest.

At Jack’s one week check-up we got some great news… He weighed 8lbs 13oz, which was more than his birthweight! The goal for most babies is to be back at their birthweight by two weeks. So this was very exciting for us and assured me that I was giving him all that he needed with breastfeeding! I had worried that I wasn’t making enough milk for him, but boy was I wrong! haha

He did not like laying on the table at the doctor’s office!  

 

At his two week check-up we were very surprised to find out that he gained more weight and was 9lbs 9oz! Wow, never again will I doubt my ability to feed him! lol At this appointment, the pediatrician checked him all over and told us that he was in the 75th percentile for weight, and the 95th percentile for height (21 & 3/4 in.) and head circumference. Not to brag (just kidding, I am totally bragging!), but the doctor was so impressed with Jack’s growth and said that he was perfect! That made this mamma SO happy! 🙂 

Because he was doing so well and gaining weight, we were told that we didn’t have to wake him up to eat at night anymore. Before this, we were having to make sure he was eating every 3 hours at night. Ironically, that very night he was up about every hour to eat. haha! After that, he started sleeping a little better waking up around 1:30 a.m. to eat. We usually put him down for the night around 10 or 10:30, and he wakes up about 1:30 a.m. to eat and then again around 5:00 a.m. After that, he’s back on a 2 to 2 & 1/2 eating schedule for the day. 

By week’s 3 and 4, Jack started staying awake more during the day. Sometimes he stayed awake the entire time between feedings, sometimes he’s awake for half of that time and asleep for the other half, and sometimes he sleeps the entire time between feedings. We just let him do what he needs to do, although those awake times are some of my favorites! 

We play on the activity mat,

   
   
Have tummy time on the mat or the Boppy,

   
    
   
Or sometimes we just sit around and have photo shoots!

   
    
    
    
    
   
We occasionally go for walks around the neighborhood, but it’s been so hot the last few weeks and I don’t want Jack getting too hot. We had great weather yesterday and today though!

   
   
When Jack was just a few days old, we noticed that he smiled and laughed a lot in his sleep. It was the most precious thing ever!

   
 

Now that he’s a month old, he’s giving us real smiles while he’s awake! THAT is the best thing ever! I’ve tried to capture some pictures and videos of the smiles, but that’s easier said than done.

   
 

    

Well I think I’ve said enough about this guy for now. lol! What can I say, I’m a bit obsessed with him! I can’t wait to watch him grow and learn more. 

Check back here for more updates!

Jackson (Jack) Mills Kennington: Birth Story

Hello! It’s been quite a while since I’ve blogged. Almost 2 years to be exact! I’m not going to give my excuses for why I haven’t been writing. I just want to jump right back into things! Now that Chad and I have a baby in our lives, I want to blog to document our journey. I also want to write about my attempt at getting back into running and strength training after almost a year off.

I’m starting off my return to the blog world with Jack’s birth story!  It’s been almost a month since Jack was born, so I may not remember every single detail, but I will do my best.

My Pregnancy:

Thankfully, I had a very easy pregnancy. I only had about 2 weeks of morning sickness in the beginning. Other than that, the worst of my symptoms was the heartburn, swelling, and some sciatic nerve pain.

Labor and Delivery

Because I wasn’t dilating and had reached my due date (August 7th), my doctor and I decided to schedule an induction for the following Monday. At midnight on August 10th, Chad and I went to the hospital to be checked in and start an iv and take cytotec which was supposed to help my cervix thin. I started taking the cytotec at 12:30 a.m. and took it every 2 hours until 6:30 when they started an iv drip of pitocin. I tried to get as much sleep as possible during that time, but I was way too excited and anxious!

Chad managed to get some shut eye though.

Before starting the pitocin, the nurse checked to see if I had dilated, and I was 1 cm! After weeks of disappointing OB appointments and being told there was no progress, this was exciting news for us! Not long after the pitocin was started, I began having mild contractions. They weren’t very consistent, so my nurse kept having to increase the meds.

Sometime mid-morning my doctor came in to try and break my water. He was unsuccessful and told me he would come back in an hour to try again. If he couldn’t do it, then we were going to have to talk about the possibility of a c-section. When he left, I told my nurse that I needed to go to the bathroom. Because of my iv and monitor, I had to have the nurse help me any time I needed to use the bathroom. Well, I REALLY had to go to the bathroom. Even though I couldn’t drink anything, I was being pumped with a lot of fluids! Apparently, it was enough that my nurse went and got my doctor to come back and try to break my water again. He said that sometimes a full bladder put pressure on the cervix, so maybe this time it would be easier for him to break my water… and he was right! A few minutes later my water had broken, and the intensity of my contractions increased dramatically. They were pretty uncomfortable, but still bearable. I wanted to wait until I dilated more before getting an epidural. I had read that labor usually slows down once you get the epidural, and i didn’t want to slow anything down! So I waited…

Well, it didn’t take long before the contractions were coming on FULL FORCE. Chad tried to distract me by talking, but I wasn’t having it. He tried once to massage my back, but the look I gave him told him to back off. haha All I could do was grip the bed rail and breath through each one. Every part of me wanted to tense up and hold my breath, but I knew that would just make them worse, so I tried to relax. It took over an hour to get the epidural once I asked, during which I was given pain meds to help me while i waited. It took the edge off, but only for about 20 minutes. Finally, the anesthesiologist came in to give the epidural. At the point, I am in so much pain i can barely sit up. My contractions seem to be coming one right after the other with very little time between. The nurse helped me sit up on the edge of the bed. If you’ve ever had an epidural, you know that you have to sit up and lean forward kind of slumped over so that the needle can go in your back easily. I was having to do this all while having contractions, so it was not easy. The anesthesiologist kept asking me where I felt the needle and even asked if I had scoliosis. He was having a hard time with me for some reason. He ended up having to try three different times, and thankfully the third time worked. Now, remember when I said the my doctor broke my water? FALSE. He may have cause a leak, but my water didn’t truly break until I was sitting up on the edge of the bed getting that epidural. And it broke all over my poor nurse’s shoes! haha I was so embarrassed, but I didn’t care. I needed that epidural stat! After about 20 minutes, I couldn’t feel a thing and was finally able to relax. The nurse checked me before leaving, and I was 3 cm dilated.

I slept on and off after that, but everything seemed to be moving so fast. My nurse came in to check me, and I was 7 cm! Then maybe an hour or so later, I was 9 cm! Before I knew it, it was time to push!! We seriously couldn’t believe that we were about to meet our little boy! Around 3:15 I started pushing. By this time, the epidural was starting to wear off. I could feel my feet and pressure from the contractions but no pain. I had no idea how long it could take to push a baby out? I thought it would be quick, but I ended up pushing for almost 2 hours. It was so exhausting. I actually kept falling asleep in between contractions. After what seemed like forever, my doctor came in to deliver our baby! He had me push normally a few times, and then I had one slow, easy push. The nurse told me to look down, and there was Jack!! I couldn’t believe it! The doctor got Chad to cut the chord, and then they put Jack on my chest. I wanted to have that skin to skin time as soon as possible. I held him for a while before letting them clean and check him.

Jack was born at 5:03 p.m., weighed 8lbs 3oz, and was 20 and 1/2 inches long. They put him back on my chest for more skin time. Chad and I just stared at our little boy for the longest time! During this time, I tried nursing Jack. My plan was to exclusively breastfeed for as long as possible. More on the topic later! Then sadly, it was time for Jack to go to the nursery. I was taken to another room where I would stay for the rest of our time at the hospital. They had to keep Jack in the nursery a little longer than normal because his blood sugar was low, but Chad got to go back to the nursery to see him while we waited.

He was perfect!!

The nurse finally brought him back to us with a clean bill of health!

I don’t know what we ever did without him! I’m so in love with my perfect little family.

I’ll have more posts on our new lives with baby Jack, but this one is already long enough.

Thanks for reading!

Faster Than the Speed of Light

Well, my life is currently traveling faster than the speed of light, so of course blogging has to get put on the back burner. But hey, at least it’s HUMP DAYYYYY. YEAH.

Here’s what’s been going on!

Saturday I had 12 miles to run, but since I was doing a 5k mud run I scaled it back to 10 miles before the race. It was raining when I woke up, but I sucked it up and got out there in the dark to start my run. I made it to the bluff along the river in Sheffield around the half-way point. It was the perfect place to stop and stretch before going back towards Tuscumbia. 🙂

I finished my run at Spring Park which is where the mud run started, so it was perfect! I met up with my team (Team Trenholm), and we got registered and ready to go.

It was such a fun experience! We ran the first 1/4 mile through the creek. Literally water was up to our waist the entire time, so it was more of a wade through the creek instead of run. lol There were tons of mud pits, hay bells to climb over, ropes to pull ourselves up slippery muddy hills, but the best part was the gigantic water slide. Our group went down together “train style.” The video was posted to Facebook, and it’s the most hilarious thing I’ve ever seen!

Our team ended up placing 2nd, even though it took us an hour and sixteen minutes to finish! haha I was still proud.

**********

On Sunday Chad and I took the youth to the fair! It was a beautiful day and perfect weather. I don’t particularly enjoy fair rides, but what I do enjoy is fair FOOD! 😉 These guys especially loved their food.

My favorite thing to get at the fair is the lemonade and funnel cakes. But this time, I passed on the funnel cake and got something even better and more fattening… fried oreos! I shared with Chad, and we ate them up in no time.

**********

On Monday, Chad and I finally went back to the gym! We picked up where we left off in the New Rules of Lifting for Abs program. Hopefully this wont set us back too much.

After work, I had a little bit of time to rest at home before having to go to the stadium for our JV game. The game ended around 9:00, and I went home, had some dinner, watched too many episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, and went to bed way too late.

**********

Because of that late bed time, I slept through my morning run yesterday.

I had oatmeal for breakfast before heading off to work.

After work, my cheerleaders had to get pictures taken before rushing to Florence for an extra gymnastics class with the varsity. We’re getting ready for homecoming which is next week!

After dropping one of the girls off at her house, I made it home around 6:15 and at that point, I just wanted to eat and go to bed. So, I fixed something quick, and we ate on the couch while watching more Grey’s and then went to bed.

**********

This morning, I woke up at 4:30, let the dogs out, had some coffee, and then drove to the gym. I had 6 miles to run and hate running in the dark for that long, so the treadmill was my only other option. It wasn’t too terrible because I had my iPad and, you guessed it, Grey’s Anatomy. Obsessed.

Breakfast was oatmeal again because I can’t get enough of it ever. You don’t need to see another picture of oatmeal.

Work was work.

Cheerleaders practiced until 4:30.

And now I literally have 5 seconds to get this post up before I have to be at the church.

Happy Wednesday!!

Short and Sweet

Hey there! This post is gonna be short and sweet.

Yesterday was pretty uneventful, so I wont talk much about the day. But, one kind of interesting thing that happened was the free running form clinic I went to last night. It was at First Place Athletics in Florence and was really helpful. The guy leading the clinic put us through different drills that help improve running form, and then we went out on an easy mile jog to put the drills into practice. I really enjoyed it!

Since I was already in Florence, I decided to stop by Publix to pick up something I’ve been dying to try.

Cotton candy grapes!!! I ate half the bag just last night! bahaha They are SO good.

**********

This morning I got up at 4:30, let the dogs out, had some coffee, and then drove to the gym to try to fit in 5 miles. I made it to 4 miles and then realized I wouldn’t have time to get ready if I didn’t leave right then, so that was that.

I also bought Barney Butter at Publix last night (ummm holy expensive nut butter Batman) and tried it in my oatmeal this morning. I honestly don’t know why it’s so expensive or why people rave about it, because it was not that good. I mean, I’ll eat it…. but I really like Maranatha almond butter much better!

Work today was pretty exhausting. Those kids were hyper. I’m pretty sure tonight’s a full moon.

Tonight I’m finally getting a chance to cook dinner! I just haven’t decided what that’s going to be yet. 😉

This was such a short post, I probably shouldn’t have even bothered. lol Oh well!

Happy Tuesday! 🙂

MIMM [The Weekend!]

Hey there! Happy Monday! Hope your weekend was good! Mine was awesome, and here are some pictures for proof! 🙂

Friday

Cookies at work

NEW SHOES!!

Saturday

10 mile run

Outside all day

Afternoon skeet shooting

Dinner

Treat for running 10 miles 🙂

Sunday (funday)

Also known as the day I don’t really take pictures. But I do have one…

While on a mission to find pumpkin spiced M&Ms, Kayla, Rick, and I found these!!

Other Sunday happenings included:

Church

Lunch at my aunt and uncle’s

Grey’s Anatomy by myself on the couch

Church again where we played kickball for an hour and a half. (My team beat Chad’s team lol)

Fiesta for dinner

Back home to watch Orange is the New Black on Netflix before bed.

Has anyone else been watching OITNB?? I didn’t want to at first, but it’s actually really good!

**********

After a weekend like that, I think it’s time I linked back up with Katie today for Marvelous in My Monday!! 🙂

Friday Feelings

I actually meant to post this earlier, but forgot. Sorry!

Hey guys!

I’m still over here working on this whole “no more diet” thing, but I’m still struggling. There are times when I feel good about what I’m doing, but a lot of times I get discouraged and feel like I’m just making things worse by eating what ever I want. I wake up every morning feeling bigger and bigger. So yeah, it’s a struggle. I’m just trying to give all my worries and anxiety over to God because I know He loves me enough to take it all. (By the way, how freaking awesome is that??)

I’m so used to being an “all or nothing” person, that it’s hard for me to find balance in being healthy and not dieting. If I’m eating healthy, then motivating myself to exercise isn’t as hard. I’m working towards a goal, and all of these things will help me reach that goal.

If I’m not eating healthy (ex. on vacation), then I don’t care if I exercise at all because I’ll start back to being healthy (and exercising) tomorrow, or next week. That’s been my mindset for the last 5 years, so it’s hard to break that mentality.

It’s also really hard to shake the guilt I feel after eating things that aren’t healthy. I usually wont feel this guilt until the morning (or a few hours after I eat), but when it does hit, it hits me hard. I hate that feeling, and poor Chad had to deal with me busting into tears the other morning because I just didn’t feel good about myself. He really is the best for dealing with me, and he knows how to make me feel better. I thank God for putting us together. 🙂

Wow. I have got to stop being so depressing on the blog. I’m usually not the kind of person to constantly write about her feelings, but today and the past few weeks, it was needed. Thanks for reading and for your encouraging words, both on the blog and in person. I just wanted to be completely honest about all of this. I would hate to act like everything was going fine when, in reality, it’s not. But that’s life, and I’ll get through it because I have awesome people surrounding me and supporting me along the way. Chad is definitely my #1 supporter. 🙂

Happy Friday!! 🙂

All Caught Up

Hello, and happy Thursday! Hope your week has been good so far! 🙂 I want to back up a bit… well a lot, and catch you up on all that’s happened…

Friday

Friday was DATE NIGHT for me and Chad! 🙂 He planned it all out, and it was so sweet!

First up was dinner at Umi Japanese steakhouse. I ordered two boring sushi rolls (California and Alaskan) and had a ginger salad as well!

After dinner, we went down to the old train bridge that’s connected to the TVA trail that I run a lot. It was different walking across the bridge instead of running. 😉

We drove towards home afterwards but made a pit stop at Wendy’s first. Chad wanted to get us frosty’s for dessert, which was A-okay with me! I love frosty’s. Then he told me we were going to the park, and I couldn’t help but laugh a little. Not because it was funny, but because the park is where he proposed after dinner on our 3 year dating anniversary. He also had frosty’s delivered (by a friend) to the spot he had set sup. So basically, he was recreating our proposal. It was super cute.

We went home and layed in bed watching TV until we got tired. It was a perfect night! 🙂

Saturday

I was supposed to run 10 miles, but because I had a super long meeting during the day and a 5 mile mud run scheduled for the afternoon, I decided to save this one for next Saturday (which is only supposed to be 7 miles).

Chad and I had a meeting from 8-1:30, which was good. Then, I rode with my fellow teammate Jessica to the race!

We had the very last wave of the day at 2:30. It was so so hot, but definitely worth it to get to experience this race! Our team plus 3 other guys ran with the coordinators of the race, and it was pretty cool to get to talk to them about the course throughout the race. I don’t have any kind of recap on this race. It was purely a fun experience for me. The course is supposed to be 5 miles, and it took us a little over an hour to finish. I don’t even care about time though because it was so. much. FUN! I can’t wait to do another one!

Saturday night, Chad and I went to Casa with Drew, Suzanne, Rick, and Kayla. Then we all went to Mom’s house to hang out and annoy her and Dad. 😉

Sunday

Church

Lunch and Mom’s

Nap/binge watch episodes of The Office on Netflix

Church again

Mexican for dinner again.

…..pretty much my typical Sunday.

Monday

3 mile run in pitch black darkness and 94% humidity. YES.

WORK 7:30-3:00 which is fun of course but completely draining.

Cheer practice until 4:30. Love those girls, but they were crazy on Monday. haha Not in a bad way, just super hyper.

Walmart.

Home to cook dinner. Wait whhhhaaaaaa????? Did you say cook dinner??

YES! I cooked dinner. haha It was just a simple chicken stir fry using a bag of frozen veggies, but after a day like yesterday, it was a wonder I found the strength to put the skillet on the stove.

Chad and I both ended the night with a bowl (or two) of frosted mini wheats spooners. We like the off brand.

Tuesday

I think Monday caught up with me, because I skipped my run and slept until almost 6:00. I never sleep that late on a weekday. I’m usually up at least by 5:30 even when I don’t workout, so I knew I was tired.

I got ready quick and fixed a breakfast that I haven’t had in a long time. Greek yogurt! I picked up some containers of plain Chobani and topped one with granola and some almond butter this morning. I had also mixed in some sugar free maple syrup to make it a little sweeter because plain Greek yogurt can be sour tasting. It was so good! But I’ve been bad about taking pictures lately, so I’ve got nothin’ for you, sorry. 😦

WORK 7:30-3:00

Cheer practice until 4:30

Home.

Dinner was stuffed peppers!

I stuffed them with a mixture of quinoa, shredded chicken, and black beans.

They were good, but sadly, I found out that Chad doesn’t care for quinoa. More for me! 🙂

Wednesday

Woke up late and missed a workout AGAIN. What is wrong with me?? I’m having the hardest time getting up in the mornings!

Breakfast: Oatmeal, blueberries, and almond butter.

WORK 7:30-3:00

Cheer practice until 4:00

Gym to fit in the run that I missed on Tuesday.

Church. We had a Duck Dynasty themed service tonight. Don’t ask why, lol. It turned out pretty awesome though!

Home to crash into bed.

I think I’m all caught up now. I’ll be better about pictures next time so that these posts aren’t boring. 😉

Happy Thursday!!

Five [Awesome] Things Friday

My emotions are alllllll over the place these days. (No, I’m not pregnant) But I did feel like I need to talk a little bit about the good in my life to reassure everyone that I’m not depressed. 🙂

I have plenty of times when I’m feeling down and discouraged, but I’ve also been having random, overwhelming feelings of freedom and happiness.

Even though my life is busier than ever, I feel okay. Thinking back to one year ago, if I would have had this much going on, I would be SO stressed out about missing my workouts (from sleeping in because I was up late at a JV football game for example), not having time to make healthy dinners at home, etc.

But, since I’m working on myself and trying to live a little more of a normal life, these things don’t stress me out as much. Actually, I think it’s making my life seem more exciting. I’m even feeling happier throughout the day at work because every day there’s something different. I don’t wake, workout, go to work, go home, cook dinner, go to bed, all at the same time anymore. It changes just about every day.

I’m not saying that I enjoy not being able to cook dinner for me and Chad every night though (the last time I cooked was over a week ago). It’s just that I feel like I’m doing more in my life than just being healthy.

So with all of that said, here are 5 things in my life that are awesome! 🙂

Running

Even if I miss a day at the gym, I won’t miss a day of running! I’m really loving it right now, and I’m even getting used to not having music. With all the stuff I’ve got going on, it’s a time for me to just be quiet and alone with my thoughts.

I did 4 miles yesterday morning (in pitch black darkness if you can’t tell) in my new pair of Mizuno Inspires. My left foot is still feeling kind of funky and going a little numb, but I’m going to try them out one more time this weekend (and loosen the laces) to see if they work. If not, then I’ll send them back and order them a half size bigger, but I really want these to work!!

Tomorrow is going to be a crazy day for running. I’ve got a 10 mile long run on my training plan, but I’ve also signed up for a 5 mile mud run called The River Bottom Romp. It’s just like all those other mud runs/warrior dashes where you run through mud and water, go through obstacles, and all that jazz. My team is made up of some fellow GWT teachers, so it should be a pretty fun race. I just hope I can keep up with them after a 10 miler! (Maybe I’ll scale back my morning run a bit? Thoughts?)

Spending Time with Family

Sunday lunches, watching football together, sibling hang-outs, Labor Day get-together, etc. All this time spent with my family is making me seriously happy. 🙂

My Church Family

Nothing puts me in a better mood than being at church and worshiping God with people I love. I love that I got to sing with Drew this past Sunday during our Awaken service. While singing “Blessings,” the lyrics just kind of hit me and got me all choked up at the end. It was a little embarrassing to cry while I was singing, but the message I got from the song was well worth it. 🙂

Rest from Workouts

I know that getting my workouts in this week would have been great, but I sure did enjoy getting some extra sleep on the morning I was supposed to go to the gym. 🙂

Chad, duh 😉

I really don’t even have the words to describe how awesome this guy is. 🙂 He hasn’t had a cooked meal in over a week and hasn’t complained to me once. He washes the dishes for me when he can and keeps the house clean when I won’t. 😉 He tells me every day that I’m beautiful and makes me feel loved. And most important, he waits until I get home to watch the “Threat Level Midnight” episode of The Office.  I just love that guy. 🙂

So, even though things are pretty hard right now, I still have plenty of awesome to keep me going. Thank you so much for your comments, Facebook messages, texts, etc. Knowing that there are people reading this and reaching out to help me is so encouraging! You guys are awesome! I guess that makes six awesome things for Friday. 😉