5k whoop whoop

Yesterday was one for the books! I completed my very first ever 3 .1 miles (plus some) WITHOUT stopping at all!!!! I have been "running" for a while. I've never really had the ambition to complete a 5k and it's always been a huge mental thing for me. My legs always felt like they were going to fall off, that would trigger my mind to stay STOP, so I would walk for a bit then start back up. Run, walk a little, run a little more, get tired and walk some more and then finish it off with a sprint so I felt good about it ;)
Yesterday Alicia (my running buddy) yay for running buddies! and I started off. We agreed to at least run 1/2 the 3.1 miles and by that half, if we couldn't run anymore, we'd walk for a bit. I have the nike+ app with the chip in my shoes, so I cranked that bad boy on and it alerted me at the half way point. I felt good. My chest wasn't on fire, my breathing was steady and my legs didn't cramp up and I looked at Alicia and she didn't look like she was stopping so I pushed forward. A little later my ankles and calves started burning. Thank goodness a power song came and I totally just started jamming out not thinking about the pain in my legs. I knew if I stopped and walked, I wouldn't be able to start running again. 2.85 miles and the pain had subsided a little and another power song came on, I could see our finish line!!! 3.1 miles, complete!! No walking and our pace was 9:30 the whole time. We finished right under 30 min. What a great feeling. Alicia and I had been talking about doing a 5k last weekend. I just didn't feel ready and was hesitant to sign up. Sadly it got cancelled anyway. There is another one this weekend and I am so signing up! Grit has played such a huge part in all this. It has conditioned my body and I am able to do so much more. I have such a love/hate relationship with it...so much that I signed up again in November.

Hudson-isms

Our little 4 year old is hilarious. He really should have his own show. He's really been cracking us up lately, getting too big for his britches.

*This morning on the way to work, I told him he was going to get to play at his grandma Chita's house while the girls came over to watch our show, The Vampire Diaries. He asked, "what's that about mom?" I told him Vampires! He said, "oh no, I won't be watching that with ya'll." He waited a minute and asked, "is it also about poop?" I laughed and said no, why? "The Vampire Diaries, Diaries mom. Like poop." Bless his heart, diaries does kinda sound like diarrhea. ;)

*My friend Laurel just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Hudson had been around La several times and saw her belly growing larger and larger and we told him she had a baby in her belly. My friend Emily is pregnant with TWINS!! So he asks me almost twice a week WHEN I WAS GOING TO BE PREGNANT. I guess he thought that since my friends were pregnant, I just needed to magically become pregnant too!

*He talks about a brother or sister every now (not so much a sister, mostly brother) I asked him the other day if God were to give him a sister, what would he do? He proceeded to make a list and it was the sweetest ever. Some of the things were: I'd teach her to fight like a ninja turtle, I'd feed her mac n cheese, I'd teach her how to climb a tree, I'd make sure she took her vitamins and I would protect her. -Be still my heart

*He told us his class got a new student yesterday and that he was allergic.... We asked what to? He said peanuts, red juice and cheese. "he's got a necklace that says ALLERGIC" It was really sweet. We asked if he knew what allergic was and he said no, "but I want a necklace that says allergic".

*This past Sunday we went to Home Goods to find a few new decorations for the house. Sometimes he chooses to sit in the basket but the majority of the time he wants to run around and tear everything off the shelves ;)  So he was running around like a mad man and I was trying to stay calm and not yell at him. My phone rang and it was my bff Kristen whom I haven't talked to in a while so I answered and lost track for just a second and poof he was gone. I was talking to her trying to remain calm searching the store. A few seconds later I hear his tiny voice "OPEN!" I saw him by the automatic doors with his hands in the air "opening" the automatic door for people going out. He thought he was magic because every time his hands would go up, the door would open. People were so amused and laughed and said, "well thank you young man!" He was thrilled! Too cute 

He's doing so well in Tae Kwon Do! On Monday, he earned his blue stripe for knowing his stances and his kicking and punching techniques. He also earned his purple stripe for knowledge, reading 5 books. Once all his stripes are earned (we only lack yellow and orange!) He can test for his yellow belt.

Some drills at Kwon Do

Find Wolverine.... He always takes one toy to bed and I always go in after he falls asleep and take it out. (some of them are sharp and I don't want him rolling over on them) It took me a good 5 min to find Wolverine. Precious boy.

Halloween is right around the corner! We're both so excited. Sad Cody will be on shift this year though :(
One guess what the little guy is going to be........yea you guessed it, I'm sure.
Have a safe Halloween!

30th Birthday, Grit update

Day 2 of Grit down! It's probably the hardest I've ever been pushed/pushed myself! The first class I had no idea what to expect. My good friend Alicia signed up last minute and I know two other girls in the T/Th class. The first class was Grit Plyo and it was BRUTAL! My heart rate maxed at 183 and I was seeing stars thinking I couldn't go on or I'd 1. blow chunks or 2. be that girl, who passes out. I pushed through it and finished the class! And even came back for today's class, Strength. This was way better than Plyo but still kicked my butt. Strength targets the big muscle groups. I just ordered a very appropriate shirt, Buck Furpees. This was my first time during burpees, at least more than 2 of them at a time and they suck and I'm terrible at them. I have no upper body strength what so ever! (But I'm working on that!) I get so excited at the end of class because, IT'S OVER and I get to check my Polar heart rate monitor to see how many calories I burned and what my heart rate was. Handy little watch I tell ya.
Holla. Bring on Tuesday's plyo, AGAIN!
My diet has improved as well. Except for yesterday, yesterday was my 30th birthday and I said screw it! Not really, I had a coffee from Starbucks, ate super healthy at Chili's for lunch and pretty healthy at dinner, except that piece of turtle cheesecake my husband forced me to eat at the station. Station 6 is a legit crew, love them all. They all pitched in and bought me THE LITTLE MERMAID!!! and a pretty cool "you know you're 30 when".....card. You can rap the whole Fresh Prince of Bel Air, you rooted for Corey and Topanga, you had a trapper keeper......etc
Speaking of 30, yea I turned 30 yesterday and I'm still able to walk! yay! 30 has never been a big issue for me. Just another year and it's been great so far. I woke up to both my boys in the kitchen with gifts and singing Happy Birthday. I met my mom at lunch where she gave me the most awesome gift I ever could imagine.....

This beautiful diamond was in Gram's wedding ring my papa had given her many moons ago. It turned out just amazing. I had a wonderful day! Thank you all who called, texted and gave me wishes on FB and Insta.
xox.

Hudson is doing so great in Kwon Do. He's listening so well and is really getting the punching and kicking down. At home it's a little different. He's been talking back a lot and telling us "that didn't hurt" when we spank him :-/ stinker. We've had to take a few of his favorite toys away lately and even a Friday night at Chita's house. He straightened up real fast after that.

Whole30 you SUCK! GRIT, we'll see if you suck

Yea that was not for me. I came, I saw, I basically gave up and just started eating a CLEAN diet. I've been doing great so far. No major changes but I feel good. There's an article going around on facebook about how a woman describes her "whole food shopping journey" and OMG can I relate.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-maclean/surviving-whole-foods_b_3895583.html

Hilarious!!
I'm staying away from gluten as much as possible. Except the occasional beer and I have only had once since starting this. Yay. And any and all added sugar! That's been kinda tough considering I had once cup of coffee each morning with creamer and sugar. I'm anxiously awaiting my next lab appointment to see how my thyroid levels are and to see if change in diet has helped at all. This last appointment will be a major game changer and will determine if I will be getting my thyroid surgically removed! If my levels are normal, I will continue on my medication. If they have raised or dipped at ALL, out with the ol thyroid. Eeek

I start a class at the Y on October 1st, (what a lovely birthday present I have given myself) GRIT. I'm taking it with a few friends and actually convinced Alicia she needed to do it to, so for now, she said she was going to sign up....we'll see. Wish me luck






The LES MILLS GRIT™ Series is for you if:




Hudson had his 4 year well check today and I made daddy take him :( 4 shots and he called me after his appointment. As much as he tried to act like it was ok, he was so pouty and made me cry even though I wasn't there to see it for myself. Poor baby! 42'' tall and 41 lbs and of course in the 95% for height and weight. Whata champ. Daddy is taking him for ice cream as we speak.                                                                                       

Coffee.

I want coffee. With cream and sugar, not black!
Wahhhhhhh

Whole30 Challenge

Eeek. Just the name alone scares me.

September 28th will be my 1 year anniversary living with Graves' Disease. When I was first diagnosed, I had no idea what Graves' was or the role my thyroid played. I have done so much research in the past year, I should have a degree in research! Graves' is such a weird disease. Before I was diagnosed, I had a few heart palpitations, I was hot alllll the time, I would just bust out sweating for no reason and I had some serious brain fog. When the Dr. told me I had Graves' and explained it, it all made sense but I asked myself, "now what?" I had three options, radioactive iodine, medication, or a total thyroidectomy (surgery) All of those scared me but the meds seemed like the route to go. Taking the iodine would mean total isolation for 3 or 4 days and no guarantee that it would actually "kill" my thyroid. So I started out on 10mg of tapazole twice a day and would meet with my Dr. in three months for labs and to see what my levels were. First visit back was good, my levels were in the normal range and I was feeling pretty good. I have read other people's journey with Graves' and I felt extemley blessed because some of them had experienced "Thyroid Storm" where they had to be rushed to the hospital because their thyroid was going bizerk causing the rest of their body to shut down. I prayed and prayed that didn't happen to me. I got back in the gym and started eating a healthier diet. Of course, I was selfish and indulged more than I should. I love CARBS and SUGAR and couldn't give up my coffee or bread. I've always been a thin person with high metabolism, I'm thankful I've never had to diet or really watch what I eat but as I get older I am more conscious of what I put in my mouth. Especially having an auto immune disease. I added more veggies, more fruit, more protein but still couldn't MAKE myself give up the tablespoon (is that bad?) of sugar in my coffee or my bread! I purchased several books about Graves' and read in one of them that Celiac Disease, an auto immune disease of the small intestine, means eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye, can cause intestine damage and cause other auto immune diseases. I don't remember being tested for Celiac.
So...
I found this Whole30 book about completely changing your diet and 1. feeling amazing and 2. a cleaner diet helping with lower blood sugar for diabetics, allergies, AUTO IMMUNE DISEASES and a wide variety of other things. So I was interested and bought it on my Ipad. When I got through the first 3 or 4 pages, I was asking myself, WHY AM I NOT EATING A CLEANER DIET!??! I though about all the food I consumed in a day and realized how much of that was processed and contained so much added sugar. I had posted on Facbook that I needed recipes and had a friend message me. She asked why I was needing recipes, that I was already thin and didn't need to lose weight. I told her I wasn't doing it to lose weight, I wanted to rid my body of added sugar and anything processed. I have been working my booty off in the gym and can tell but changing to a cleaner diet I will be able to see more changes and hopefully make an improvement in my auto immune disease and eventually be off medication and not have to worry about having my thyroid removed.

http://whole9life.com/2011/06/whole-30-v4/

I'll be trying to keep up with my progress here. I am trying my hardest to follow this as best as I can and not have any cheat days!

Here's what I had for breakfast:
September 16th
Scrambled eggs, with spinach, smoked salmon and bananas. Naked juice instead of coffee!

Wish me luck! If you have any recipes for WHOLE30, please send them my way!!

4 years old!

So Hudson turned 4 on Saturday and woke up that morning saying, "I'm 4, did I grow?" He kept saying "When I was 3 I did this..." We kicked off the celebrations on Friday night when some family came in town. We went to eat at Chito's and told the waiter it was Hud's birthday. They came out shaking spoons and forks in plastic cups singing happy birthday! They attempted to put a huge sombrero on his head but he didn't like that idea, shook his head and hid his face :(
Then turned around and ate ALL the chocolate covered sopapilla!

Cody's cousin Scott, Christie and the boys stayed the weekend with us and the boys got some quality time together. They are the best, most protective older cousins ever. They played, wrestled, went fishing Sunday afternoon and had the best time.

The party was a SUCCESS! It was probably the smoothest a party has ever gone. The Grand Texan was such a great place to have it. We rented a suite and just let the kids swim, play ping pong and putt putt.
it had a massive slide that I thought he would love but half of it was completely covered and dark. Plus it was super high and I think that scared him. He actually went down ONCE and we missed it.

Carlene's Cakes made his cake for the second year in a row and it was absolutely awesome and delicious! Look her up on Facebook if you ever need a cake. We were so blessed with so many family and friends coming to celebrate with us, thanks to all who came. We sure did miss one beautiful smiling face though. Gram was truly missed but we all knew she was smiling down singing Happy Birthday with us.

After the party we all came back to our house and started cooking! We had a full house. Cody made steaks, chicken, corn, poppers, potatoes and rolls and it was all so GREAT! We played games after and let Hud and the boys play with all his new toys.

Thank goodness Monday was a holiday and I had time to clean the house and get his toy room organized. I ended up bagging 4 HUGE trash bags of toys he has outgrown or never plays with. Donated those bad boys to Goodwill. We met my mom for lunch and did a little shopping. Hud had some gift cards to Toys R Us so we let him do a little shopping. Bet ya can't guess what he bought?!?!? Stealth Tech Ninja Turtles, all 4. He had just enough :)
Hudson is already talking about his 5th birthday.....Lord help us.
Back to the grind! Our Odessa Step Out walk is in *19* days!

Cody & I will be leaving to Fredericksburg this Friday to celebrate 6 years of marriage :)))
xox


"When you lead your sons and daughters in the good way, let your words be tender and caressing, in terms of discipline that wins the heart's assent." -Elijah Ben Solomon