Life and keepin' it real

I am not afraid to admit that I didn't do well on my goals last week and it feels like it is becoming a pattern that needs to be broken! I am not going to report back on my goals and I am not creating new goals for this week. I am taking this chance to re-evaluate and start again! Life happened last week and we took time to enjoy it!

 

It has been crazy busy with getting the boys where they need to be and making arrangements to coordinate with others to help us out but it has been so worth it. It has been so much fun watching them play baseball this summer! It has also been fun getting to know the other families and spending time with these new friends. I am not sure if I am ready for the season to be over next week or not. I will be ready to slow down a bit for a few weeks at least and it will be nice to have normal family dinners again but we will really miss watching them and spending time with all of the great families that we have met this summer.

 

The last several weeks have also been busy because the boys have been doing summer school. These are fun, enrichment type classes that they have been really enjoying. Isaac has been taking a kids cooking class and has discovered a real love for cooking. He is coming home every afternoon with new things that he has made and is excited to share with us. Riley has been taking a couple of classes that have been getting him use to being in the middle school and helping him to know what to expect this fall. He also continues with his saxophone lessons. He is starting to really impress me with the improvements that he has made. He is really enjoying the saxophone and I think we are starting to enjoy listening to him practice!

 

It is so much fun to see the boys learning new things and being active! I do have to admit that at times I feel completely overwhelmed by getting them where they need to be and making sure they have what they need while at the same time trying to prepare meals, entertain Aidan, get my workouts in, clean, do laundry, work, etc. I am sure it is only going to get busier as they get older and we also start to throw activities for Aidan into the mix. I do what I need to do to get it all done! At the end of the day this is how I feel:

 

 

 

Is balance in life possible?

Because of all this craziness I am really struggling to find balance! I don't know if this is even something that is attainable or if I am always going to feel like I am searching for it. I realize that at different points in time there are different priorities- I am still trying to figure out how to focus on the top priorities without losing myself and focus on the day to day priorities. I really hope this makes sense! Maybe this is just me feeling overwhelmed and out of control right now. I feel like there are so many things to do that I can't do any of them well! If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them! Maybe I just need to get into a better routine and be more organized!

 

I think I struggle with all of this because I want to give my kids a good life and I want to be a good, healthy example for them (and maybe I am a bit of a perfectionist as well). I feel guilty when something has to get pushed aside even though I know it should be a priority. Lately I feel like it has been my workouts and my focus on a healthy lifestyle that has been getting pushed aside. I am going to take the next few days to get a new plan in place to refocus and start again. I am also going to take the following advice:

 

the past is in the past- time to move forward

 

 

 

No more excuses! I got in my own way and it is time to fix that! I am not perfect and I have plenty of flaws but I am working on accepting that and moving on.

For me there are routine reminders!   I had a three month follow-up with my surgeon this morning and I am happy to report that everything continues to look great! I feel super emotional on days when I have any of these follow-up appointments because my mind tends to go back to December/January when I wondered, "what if".  It is still so fresh in my mind and it continues to scare me all the time but I am not going to let that hold me back!

 

Scentsy Family Fun Run 5K

 A year ago we were in Las Vegas at Scentsy Convention and they kicked off the Scentsy Wellness program called Committed. This program is not a diet; it's a plan for integrating meaningful habits into daily routine over time. Taking small steps to get on your way to living the life you've always dreamed of!

Over the past year Scentsy has been working to help consultants stay Committed! I am honored to be a part of a company that recognized a problem and decided to do something about it and help it's consultants in whatever ways they could. As a part of Committed they decided to kick off this year's Scentsy Family Reunion with the Scentsy Family Fun Run 5K. Of course I had to sign up as soon as I could! How could I miss out when they were combining two of my favorite things?

We arrived Tuesday night and headed to the convention center for the 5K registration pick-up where we were given bibs, pins, a t-shirt, and a map of the course. Pick-up was super fast and easy. This was the first year for doing it so it was pretty low key. After heading back to the hotel and getting some dinner we decided to walk to where the race was going to be held so we could see how far it was from the hotel and so we could get a feel for the area. It was a beautiful area and seeing it made me super excited for the race!

Wednesday morning the race was to start at 9 but there was a surprise guest coming at 8:30 to kick things off. Tim and I wanted to get something to eat so we got up pretty early so we would have time to get ready and let our breakfast settle. We walked about a half mile to the park where the race was being held and used the bathrooms right away before the lines got too crazy.

Tim ready for the race.

 We did a little light stretching and took some pictures as our group started to arrive. It was already pretty hot and humid so we were making sure to drink before the race too.

Stretching and making sure ear-buds were in place

Tim and me at the Start/finish line



The rest of our "team" that was participating in the 5K

It wasn't long and they had us gather at the stage for the surprise guest to get things kicked- off. Marlo, the Scentsy Wellness Manager talked a little about the program and introduced the speaker...




Marlo

 Ali Vincent was there as the guest speaker!!! I love her and was super excited that she was there. If you don't know who she is, what rock are you living under? Just kidding:) She was the first female biggest loser!

Ali Vincent!!!

 She did a great job getting everyone pumped up and ready to run. She was very motivating and told a bit of her story! What an inspiration for all of us!!

After she was done speaking it was time to head to the starting line and get ready. Being that this was the first year for the race there was one thing that bothered me- they didn't bother to tell walkers to line up in the back! We noticed people around us in flip-flops and jean shorts that were obviously not going to run so we gradually made our way to the front of the group.

Just a couple of rows from the front of the line!

We have never been that close to the start line before! It was pretty cool to be right up in the front!

Just about "go" time!

The view behind us!

 The start wasn't huge- they just did a count-down and yelled "go" and we were off through the beautiful park! Everyone spread out pretty quickly on the wide sidewalks and we passed several people right away. I had my MotoActv watch and about a quarter mile in I told Tim and Matt (one of our team mates that was also running) that we were ahead of pace and that we were starting too fast. We backed off a little as we were running along the river on one side and a large wall to the zoo on the other side. Tim and I talked off and on and we were telling all the volunteers along the course thank you for being there.  As we got farther along the trail the air was heavy! About 1.5 miles in I started to feel the heat! It wasn't long after that when we turned and crossed the river and headed back up along the other side. At points we were feeling some of the breeze but there wasn't much of one for most of the course. There weren't a lot of people in front of us but we weren't able to catch many of them that were! We circled back around the park and crossed the sidewalk where we could see right down the chute to the finish line- too bad we still had a half mile to go at that point! The course bumped out to get that last bit of the distance in there and then came back around. Along this area is where I started to get a side-ache! I made sure to take several deep breathes and it felt better. It wasn't long and we were heading down the chute towards the finish line! We started off too fast and I didn't have much of a kick left in me at that  point! We finished in 27:09 (per my watch). We were very happy with that considering the heat and humidity!

We grabbed apples and water and kept moving for a little while around the park. We congratulated the winners and then were able to visit with Marlo for a while.

Tim, Me, and Marlo

Matt (finished his first 5K right behind us!!), Tim, me, and Marlo

 

Tim and me at the finish line

Matt, Tim and I hung out in the shade for awhile stretching and drinking water. As we were waiting for all of our team who was walking to finish we also got a chance to say hi to Ali! I was so excited I could hardly stand it!!!

 

 

Me, Ali Vincent, and Tim



 

Off course I had to wear my orange Fellow Flower

In the end it was a great race! It was such a beautiful course and it was so wonderful to see people of all shapes and sizes getting out there and doing it together! What a great way to kick off Scentsy Family Reunion 2013!

Time to check-in

Wow! That is all I can say right now about attending Scentsy Family Reunion! I feel so overwhelmed with emotion and information that it is taking me a few days to wrap my head around it all! I came away with a renewed energy and DRIVE to work on not only my business but also to live my life to the fullest and be a better me! I will do a full recap of the Family Reunion as soon as I am able to process it all and get my thoughts together!

It is once again time for me to check in with everyone on the Weekly Chase!

 

Since we were gone for most of the week my goals were a bit different. Let's take a look at what my goals were over the past week and how I did on reaching them:

 

Make healthy choices for snacks while traveling. I did a pretty good job on this! I took along apples, Skinny Pop, and homemade energy bites. I was prepared and that helped me be successful most of the time!

Complete the Scentsy Family 5K and have a good time doing it! (no time goal) Done! I loved that Scentsy decided to kick of the Reunion with a 5K. More to come in another post.

Learn new things to help with our Scentsy Family businesses! Yep! I learned so many new things that my head is swimming with knowledge and ideas of how to use it all in my business and in my life!

Meet new people and network. For sure! It was so much fun meeting new people in our "family" and getting to know others better.

HAVE FUN!!! We had so much fun! It is hard to believe that it is all over for another year. Is is bad that I want to start a countdown to next year already?

 

 

Here are my goals for this week:

Run 3 times

Bike 3 times

2 core workouts

2 strength workouts

Get my Scentsy Family business area organized

Do something everyday to work on my Scentsy Family business

Get 2 parties booked for August/September (Scentsy Fragrance, Velata, and/or Grace Adele)

Post on the Operation Determination Facebook page daily

At least 3 blog posts

 

What are your goals for this week?

 



The Weekly Chase

I have totally lost track of the days and can't believe that today is Monday! Tim was off on the 4th and then I worked the weekend so I feel like it is the end of the week! We had a great 4th of July holiday! We went on a family hike at Perrot State Park and then headed off to watch the fireworks from the top of Grand Dad Bluff.

Aidan did a great job hiking the tough trail!

We even took time to enjoy the beauty along the way!

My favorite boys at the top of Brady's Bluff.

 

We had to get a shot with the beautiful view!

The whole family at the top of Brady's Bluff on July 4th, 2013

Too cute not to include in the post:)

Isaac started out the hike in a "funk" but once we hit the top he came out of it.
He kept posing for pictures on the hike down:)

What a great 2 mile hike!

At Grand Dad's Bluff- waiting for it to get dark!

Thanks to the kind gentleman that offered to do a family shot!!
Grand Dad's Bluff overlooking La Crosse, WI

All of my favorite guys!

Riley, Aidan, and me waiting for the fireworks!

Today summer school started for the older boys which means our schedule is a whole new level of crazy- just in time for the Grandmas to come for the week while we head off to the Scentsy Family Reunion in Indianapolis! Tim's mom is here until Wednesday when my mom will arrive to take over for the rest of the week! Today I have been busy getting boys where they need to be while at the same time trying to get everyone organized for the week, make some food to take, and also pack. I am sure I will forget something in all this craziness but I am almost ready!

 

Before I can take off I need to check in with The Weekly Chase!

 

First off here were my goals for last week:

 

Run at least 3 times Nope! I got in two runs this week and my right leg (upper thigh) started acting up again causing me to limp. I am taking it easy for now to see it that helps.

Bike 3 times Yep! I went with the boys one morning, with Tim one evening, and then we did a family ride on Sunday.

3 strength training sessions Nope- I got in a couple but not the intensity that I would have liked.

3 core workouts Yep!

Try one new healthy recipe Done:) We made pizza using the Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Naan and all but Little Man loved it! Tim and I did light ranch with chicken, red and green peppers, onion, broccoli, and cheese. The boys did sauce with ham and cheese. It was so fast and easy so I am sure we will be doing this again. Now if I could just convince Trader Joe's to get a store closer so I didn't have to drive an hour!!

 

Our Naan pizza before going into the oven.

 

3 blog posts Fail again!

Read with the boys for at least 15 minutes each day We tried but it just didn't happen. We didn't get everyday but we had a couple days that were closer to an hour!

Report back on The Weekly Chase on MONDAY!! Done:)

 

Now for my goals for this week! Tim and I are leaving tomorrow for the Scentsy Family Reunion so that is going to make this week a bit different. We won't be getting back home until Saturday and then Sunday we will have to get the younger boys back from Iowa! Here goes:

 

Make healthy choices for snacks while traveling.

Complete the Scentsy Family 5K and have a good time doing it! (no time goal)

Learn new things to help with our Scentsy Family businesses!

Meet new people and network.

HAVE FUN!!!

 

 

Check this out!

This is what our family calendar looks like for the month of July. Each family member has their own color to help me keep everyone straight. Things are a little crazy this month with every one's commitments.

 

 

Now take a closer look!

Look at today and tomorrow! Two days on our family calendar (in a row even) that have absolutely NOTHING planned!

 

I was almost in shock!

No baseball practice.

No baseball games.

No saxophone lesson.

No commitments!!!

 

The boys and I started off day 1 by sleeping in! Little man must have needed it because it was nearly 11 o'clock when he finally woke up (it was a late night last night)! After everyone was finally up and dressed we headed out for a bike/hike/bike.

 

We biked about a five mile route that put us to a local trail head where the boys have been wanting to hike for the past few weeks. We parked the bikes and headed up the bluff!

 



taking a quick break along the trail

Little man did a good job of keeping up!
This trail was tougher than the past few that we have done.

Isaac enjoying a quick break.

 

Another quick break as we got close to the top.

We made it!

What a view!

The view was worth the hike!

Not a great picture but this was the best of several attempts!

Heading back down the bluff.
Little man was in the lead most of the way down- he said down was much easier than up:)

After a 1.3 mile hike (up and down round trip) we got back on our bikes and headed home for the another 2 mile bike.

After a quick lunch it was time to practice the saxophone...

I can't believe how much he has improved over the past few weeks.
Maybe I need to post a video so you can hear:)

... and get in some reading before Dad got home!



Isaac and I took turns reading for almost an hour:)

On the agenda for tonight: mowing the lawn, running some errands, and then Tim and I need to get in some kind of a workout!  

 

We have had a great day enjoying the beautiful weather! I can't believe that we actually have another day tomorrow that we can do whatever we want- and even better- Tim will be home to enjoy it with us!