Drinking the koolaid…

Three months ago I got tired of going to the gym and being bored.  I’d go, run on the mill for a bit, get bored, go do some crunches, stretch, then maybe if I was super motivated I’d grab some dumbbells and do some biceps curls.  And then to wonder why I didn’t see any results?  A lot of people will read this and make a face, and tell me I have always been in shape.  Trust me when I tell you there is a difference between being skinny and in shape.

 I went and watched some friends do a Tough Mudder race the first week in June.  I went as a spectator because I feared I wouldn’t be in good enough shape to actual participate in the event.  And I was right.  That weekend was it for me, I knew I wanted a change, I just needed to figure out how to get it.  So I literally dropped into my local Crossfit Box (Crossfit Ocean City), and signed up.  Level 2 trainer, and owner Kelley Rakow was there to welcome me with open arms, and get me all set and of course, overwhelm me with information.  J

I had my first WOD (work out of the day) that Monday with my trainer Erik.  Deadlifts…what the heck is a deadlift?!  I now know what they are (thanks Erik for teaching me the awesome form, and I now know my hips are not as wide as I thought) and actually enjoy doing them.  Weird, I know, who actually enjoys working out?  Crossfitters do.  I’ve been off all week due to sick kids and scheduling conflicts and I am starting to twitch and feen for my box.  It is an addiction, no doubt, but at least it’s an awesome, healthy one, that is completely making me a better person in more ways than one.

That’s right, I am a better person because of crossfit.   I am getting in shape (with a long ways to go), I am eating better because I want to and because my trainers know nutrition and teach it, and I AM HAPPIER.  I am pushing through obstacles in my personal life by sweating them out and throwing barbells around.  And throwing them around with a great group of people who I thoroughly enjoy spending my free time with.  I would rather be at a WOD on Friday at 5:30 then at any happy hour this town can offer me.  I am stronger and able to rough house with my two little boys in ways I couldn’t before (an entirely different level of “Super Mom”) and chase that adorable red headed toddler around on the beach without feeling winded. 

I will end with saying this: do something good for yourself.  The secret to being happy is not money, or love.  It’s being happy with yourself FIRST.  Then go after the rest. 

I debated about posting this pic below, but I decided to go ahead and show it off.  The pic on the left is my first day at CF and the pic on the right was month 3.  And I've only just begun.  Also, enjoy the article below as well that explains your first three months at Crossfit.  It’s all VERY true.

 

PS.  I'll be going to Tough Mudder this October, and this time, I won't be spectating.

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joshua-m-brown/crossfit-beginners_b_3867924.html

Crazy can sometimes be a good thing

I believe it is OK to be called crazy when something great comes out of your madness. 

Let me introduce you to my friend SFC Eric Johnson from US Army EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal).  Eric is involved in the EOD Warrior Foundation http://woundedeodwarrior.org/  which is a non profit organization that provides assistance to wounded and fallen EOD Warriors and their families. 

In order to raise awareness and contributions for this organization Eric and some of his fellow EOD warriors have done some pretty crazy things .  The latest and greatest of their crazy adventures: Eric decided to complete the ToughMudder obstacle course wearing one of his EOD issued bomb suits.  Why not, right, (it's only an extra 55 lbs when it's dry...which by the way it was not dry)?  For those of you who don't know what Tough Mudder is, their website claims to be "Probably the toughest event on the planet".  Eric and his team had two goals in mind, raise awareness and money for the EOD Warrior Foundation.  Well, I can tell you as a spectator at this event that Eric and his team completed  the course last weekend (June 2, 2013) in Philadelphia, PA they certainly raised both awareness and money. 

Being a spectator I got to watch in awe, as Eric kept going on this 12 miles course in the scorching heat.  It was in the 90's on Saturday with high humidity, and this course was in an open field with no shade.  Eric and his teammates completed the 12 mile course and 22 obstacles in about 6 hours.  Along the way Eric was greeted by many other participants who thought of him as quite the "bad ass" and just wanted to shake his hand and congratulate him on being such an inspiration to them and to others.  It was great to watch the jaws of spectators, participants, and Tough Mudder employees just drop wide open as they stared in disbelief to what he was doing.  Need a little more insight?  Here he is in action jumping over the the walls of "Glory Blades".

A direct recap from Eric after the event: "I finally have a chance to recap the Tough Mudder for all of you. After a day to recover and think about it, I'm feeling pretty proud of the accomplishment. That is due in large part to my team. I would not have finished without you! It was at mile 2 that I already had doubts about finishing. The heat was brutal and the cramps had already started, but thanks to a little motivation from Leanne..., Steph, Bill and Brook we pushed on. We made a lot more stops than anticipated, but they were definitely necessary. We ended up finishing in about 6 hours. The obstacles themselves were a blast. I didn't get across the rings or the monkey bars like I had hoped, but falling into the water was definitely worth it. The climb up Everest took about a dozen people, but they eventually got me to the top. Walk the Plank was hands down my favorite. Jumping 20 feet into the water and shooting right back up like a fishing bobber was exactly what I expected and a whole lot of fun. I wanted to do it again. I did get killed by the electroshock at the end though...5 times in the hands and face by my count, but made it through without falling on my face. The greatest part of the day was getting to hear the encouragement from all the other mudders and talking to bunch of great people. Not many people knew that we would be out there doing what we were doing and there were definitely some confused looks on peoples faces, but in the end they were all tremendously supportive. Thanks again to everyone for your support! I don't know if this the end of my bomb suit shenanigans, but keep an eye on this page and you'll be the first to find out if we come up with something new."

Why go through something so crazy?  Why push your body to it's absolute maximum?  Well do it because you're crazy for a good cause.  Eric has shirts for sale (that I happen to love by the way) for purchase that basically speak the words of courage right on them.  All proceeds go to the EOD warrior foundation.  If you would like to buy a shirt: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/bombsuitmudder.org/app_251458316228

 

 

The red shirt (shown above) was worn by the Tough Mudder team and has now been made available for sale to the public.

 or donate to:

https:// npo1.networkforgood.org/ Donate/ Donate.aspx?npoSubscription Id=1005354&code=BombSuitMu dder2013

(Select Bomb Suit Mudder from the program designation drop down menu.)

 

More great photos of this event (compliments of http://www.danamariephotography.com  and Andrea Croyle):

 

 

 

 

For more information and photos from this event please check out https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/bombsuitmudder.org

I walked because...

What an amazing day today with some amazing women.  Today I had the honor or participating in the Susan G Komen 5K in Ocean City.  It started out a little chilly but after we got moving it wasn't so bad, and the sun certainly shined on our day.  I actually got a little teared up from time to time reading people's shirts.  Many had who they walked for written on them.  I loved the "survivor" shirts, I wanted to hug them all!  The ones that were more difficult to see were the ones that read: "In memory of my wife, or my mother, sister."  Those certainly brought a tear on. 

After our walk our gang "OC Mommas" went to Station 7 for brunch.  We all shared our storied about who we walked for, and why.  It was a very special moment to share with these beautiful women (some survivors themselves).


Today made me  miss my Aunt Darlene who passed away at 41 from this terrible cancer.  Way too young, and leaving behind a beautiful young son.  She actually had her first mammogram right on time at age 39 but it was too late by then.  This is such a terrible cancer that has plagued so many amazing women.  We all urged each other today to take it seriously and to make sure you do your "self checks", and to continue with your yearly check ups. 
I also walked today in celebration of Dave's step mom who beat this cancer.  It's great to be able to celebrate the victory of someone getting through this.  I will never forget how hard  it was to see what she went through, and is still going through.  I praise God for her victory.
I hope many more will join us next year. 

                          Above is our poster, it has all the names of the women we ran for today

                                                                      All Done!!!

 

Our reward!

An Easter Monday never to be forgotten

This Easter 2013 was a very joyous one for our family, we celebrated with great friends, great family, a new baby boy, but most important, Dave, my wonderful husband and father of my children is here to celebrate with us.  Last Easter Sunday was spectacular, couldn't have asked for a better day.  The weather was perfect, Dave's mom, step dad, sister and her family, plus my parents all got to be together.  What happen the next day, Easter Monday would forever change not only this holiday, but our lives.

I will never forget the phone call from our friend, Eric to my work.  His wife had just drove by a car accident and was pretty sure it was Dave's van.  I'll spare you all the details but that call was followed up with a call from the Emergency Room in Salsbury.  My mom and I left right away.  Dave hit a Maryland state highway Dump truck carrying a directional sign.  Dave hit it full force at 65 MPH, never applied the breaks.  We have no idea what happen, why Dave didn't see it, and quite frankly, it just doesn't matter.  What does matter is he survived, barely but he did.  It took the Hebron Fire department, and the Salisbury fire department 45 minutes to cut Dave out of the van.  He had a punctured lung, two badly cut open knee's (from the dashboard), broken hand, broken leg, and shattered hip (which was the worst of his injuries).  Dave had two surgeries for his hip, one for his hand and the rest of his injuries healed on their own.  Dave was in the ICU for two nights, then in the hospital for a total of seven nights, and then was sent to Health South Rehab for another two weeks. 

He was not allowed to bare any weight on the left side of his body for three months.  Then he slowly with the help of his therapist started to bare weight, week by week, adding 20lbs of pressure to his "walk".  When he did come home from the rehab center he was practically quarantined in our basement.  We had to transform his once "man cave" into his bedroom, fully equipped with his hospital bed, recliner, wheel chair and walker.  We picked the basement for him because there was a bathroom and shower on that floor so he didn't need to do stairs, and an entrance to outside.  It was probably a good four months before he slept in our bed with me...and it killed him to do it, but he just wanted to feel somewhat normal again, and share a bed with his wife. 

Oh, did I mention all this happen when I was 4 months pregnant with Eli?  Needless to say, this was no easy road for us.  Obviously the physical toll it took on Dave, and me being pregnant and chasing around a one year old was tough enough,  add to it the financial burden of Dave being out of work,  we were both just so torn apart in every way imaginable.  The best part about this entire experience was how we got through it all.  Not once did Dave ever cry "poor me".  There were times where he worried about his family and providing for us, and what his future held, but not once did he let any of it drag him down.  Dave and I did the only thing we knew to do.  We turned it all over to God.  In a time like this, I don't know how anyone gets through it with out God. 

We were so thankful and felt so blessed during his accident and recovery.  Thankful God spared Dave and let me keep him for longer.  Thankful the injuries weren't worse, Thankful we didn't lose anything, and blessed.  Soooooo blessed.  We have an amazing family who stepped up and helped with the kids, the most amazing friends who did anything and everything for us, between sitting with me at the hospital during Dave's surgeries, mowing our grass the ENTIRE summer, helping with Noah, making meals, it was endless.  Then we have this absolutely AMAZING Church family.  All I can say is wow.  We didn't feel worthy.  We were prayed for continuously, some church members came and cleaned our house so I didn't have to, there were numerous church donations for us financially.  I'll never forget Dave and I just weeping over a few donations that came in.  It was enough money to pay our mortgage for two months.  No small chump of change.  I feel so in debt to all of these people that helped us.  I hope all of our family, friends, and church family know how special you are to us.  We will never forget the generosity poured out to us, and will pay it forward.

This accident forever changed my family.  God showed through in every way possible.  His presence during this time in our lives was so predominate.  Everything that happen every step of the way we prayed about.  God couldn't have shown through any more then he did.  It gave us such a peace that we were able to get through this, and able to get Dave up and running again and very quickly.

If there is one thing I have learned through this it is that you are not going to keep my husband down!  He HATED being confined the way he was!  His first night home, i found him in the middle of the night, dragging himself across the floor on his "good hip" and up the stairs to let Diego out.  I couldn't believe it!  He was also back on the job site as soon as he physically was able to.  Again, I couldn't believe it.  He was out on the construction site with his walker instructing  his crew what to do.  Once he was on crutches he would crutch his butt to the route 50 bridge to go fishing.  AGAIN, I couldn't believe it!  Even after his hand surgery (which we held off on until he was walking), he still fished with his cast on!  And just about a month ago, he went surfing for the first time.  Not even a year later, and he's back to it all!  He is amazing, and so strong.  The doctors were amazed by how well he did in such a short time.  We know it was only through the help of our Lord, and our Faith in him that gotDave back up so soon.

I won't keep babbling, but I felt it was important to mark this day in our "family history".  I also feel that if in any way his story can help someone else then it is one of the reasons it happen.  I also know that God has big plans for my husband and our family, we will spend the rest of our days learning what that is and working to achieve God's goals for us.  Right now, I know God's telling me to love on my family and not to take one day for granted, it could all end at once.  Love everyone every chance you get, and love on God, after all if it wasn't for him...

If you would like to hear Dave's story directly from him, pease click on this link.  Dave's testimony will be first.  http://sonrise.sermon.tv/4347582

If you look closely, you can see Dave's head.  He was still in there.

 

This pic above scares me...how was Dave in there?

 

The joy that Dave needed, his baby boy

 

First time "up" after his surgery on his hip, he was so scared.

Noah taking a ride with daddy during one of our visits to rehab.  Being away from each other was so tough.

On our way home

My mock on our family bumper sicker...Dave still has this picture on his bathroom mirror.

Dave's bedroom

 

Dave tryig to figure out how to hold our new baby! 

Me and Dave, New Years 2012.  We were happy to say farewell to the struggling year of 2012.

To the Youth in OC, and everywhere else.

A truly sad tragedy hits our youth in the OC area.  Caitlyn Lebo, 19 years old passes away from an expected overdose.  Caitlyn was part of our church youth group for several years  .I always knew Caitlyn had problems.  She was pretty open about the fact that she smoke, and drank.  But I wasn't sure how much further it went, and unfortunately I didn't get to know her well enough to dive into that.  I wish I would have.

As a youth leader, this rocked me today pretty bad when I found out.  Was there more I could have done?  More I could have said?  I've actually been playing back conversations I had with Caitlyn, things she told me, things she told our group.  Truth is, I know for a fact I could have done more.  I bet any youth leader from any church would agree with me.  I became a youth leader because I remember being a troubled youth.  I did things I knew were wrong, and not of God.  I drank, I had sex, and I smoked, and I also attended youth group on a regular basis.  I wish I would have taken those lessons I was being taught and applied them to my life at that time.  Coulda, woulda, shoulda...I'm sure many would agree with me.  So, when I got back involved in church and actually started to apply those lessons I had learned as a youth, I wanted to hopefully impact our youth and maybe reach them on a level parents can't.  If you're a parent reading this, don't get me wrong.  You will have more influence on your child then anyone else in their entire life.  But sometimes youth need another avenue, a responsible adult to confide in that isn't their parent.  I wanted and still want to be this person.

I sit here wondering what lessons Caitlyn learned at youth group and which ones she may have applied.  I know she tried.  I can remember being at Centrifuge with her and seeing her just ball and feel so convicted to do right by God.  That was the moment I felt comfortable that she knew our Lord, and I'm sure she is in a better place now.  Our God keeps all of us as his children, even when we mess up, which we all do, and even if we don't walk with him everyday.  Thank God for that.  Once saved always saved is an amazing gift.  Walking with God will change your life in ways you can't imagine, but no matter how you walk, you will always be God's child once you ask.  If only we were all that loving and forgiving. 

The purpose for this blog today is this: When we are a parent, I believe our children are what drives us.  We love our kids so much we will give up anything and do anything for them.  We want to be better people because of them, we work hard because of them, we stay healthy so we can be around to watch them grow.  My two boys (and my Hubby) are the reason I wake up everyday.  After God, they are who I aim to please every day and who I live my life for.  So when you're Caitlyn's age, or any youth's age what drives you?  Who drives you?  I can tell you when I was a youth it was my peers that drove me.  I wanted to fit in, be cool, and do what everyone else was doing.  It's rare that a teenager stands up for what they believe in solely, it is typically with a pack of friends by their side.  Which is great, so stand up for something great!  Stand up for GOD.

What if I would have said to one of y girlfriends "I think you've had enough to drink tonight, no need to drive!"  Maybe I could have saved someone from a DUI.   Would I have been more receptable to my peers telling me I was being an idiot?  ABSOLUTELY!  I'd espect it from my parents!  But if one of my friends said it...It'd proably have straightened my ass right out.

So here's my message, to all my youth: be a positive influence on your friends.  Tell them if you know what they are doing is wrong, and help them through it.  Don't sit on the sidelines and watch.  Be a difference in their lives.  Be a difference in each other's lives.  Tomorrow is not guaranteed to any of us, so don't wait to become a follower of God, and don't wait to change your life.

I love all my youth, and for those of you who are mourning right now, I am SO SORRY for you're loss, I am praying for you guys and I'm always here (even if I'm not a leader today, I'm always around).  I pray for all of you to have peace about what happen, and to know she is in a better place.  And I pray that God takes this tragedy and turns it around to hopefully save the life of a troubled youth, or friend.