Vacation Catch-up! Sandbridge Beach 2015

Hello! I'm back from vacation and figured it was about time I posted something. I think it's probably best if I split this up in to two posts or else this is going to go on forever. This is just gonna be a general one of what we were up to, and the second one will be about balancing out food while on vacation. 

Amanda and I met our dad and step-mom part way during the week since we couldn't leave my mom alone for that long. We headed out Wednesday afternoon and left early Sunday morning. We made great time! I think it's because I drove a majority of the way...

We were staying in Sandbridge, which is about half an hour outside the main Virginia Beach. It's much more private, quiet, and less touristy. We did go to the boardwalk one night for like an hour, and that was enough tourist stuff for us haha! It was honestly packed to the brim, and just people everywhere you looked. 

My step-sister and her husband with their two kids, and my step-brother's adopted kids along with my step-mom's mom were also in the house. It was busy, busy, busy especially with a two-year old and an 8-month old but it was a lot of fun. I haven't gotten a lot of time to spend with my step-sisters kids (the 2 and 8-month old) because they live in North Carolina. Amanda joked around that I made a friend because after awhile Andrew (he's 2) was asking for me constantly! It was super cute we were going to bed one night, and he kept saying "I need to say goodnight to Sam" and wouldn't stop until I came to give him goodnight kisses. He also loved helping me crochet and would climb up to sit with me and watch! 

Okay, so back to Wednesday! We left around 1ish and made it in around 9pm. Layla stayed at my aunt's house so we dropped her off and hit the road. She made her displeasure well-known, though, as I was packing...

Her face when we left her there too was almost enough to make me turn right around and cancel the trip haha! Crazy dog lady problems right there. She ended up having a blast, though, as I knew she would. She absolutely adores my 8 year-old twin cousins, and I knew the three of them would have a ball together. 

Virginia is probably my favorite state to drive through because the mountains are so beautiful! I started singing the Sound of Music because #roadtrippin haha! But for reals, Amanda and I were belting it at the top of our lungs in the car because, well, why not??

Every morning without fail, we were both up between 6-6:30 am even with going to bed between 11-12 the night before. It's funny how getting up to see the sun rise on the beach seemed like such a chore when I was younger. It was nice on this vacation because I would either do a devotional, drink my coffee, or chat with my dad since he was the only other person up that early with us. 

And I would get my daily snap chat of Layla! It was pretty ridiculous how much I missed the little goober. She slept in Hannah's bed and needless to say I was super jealous that I was missing out on waking up to her sweet face. 

This was the view from our back deck. We also had a pool which was great. The routine was beach in the morning, dip in the pool, lunch, go back to the beach, then stay in the pool until dinner. Sometimes we'd go for a night swim too. 

We were only about a block from the beach. It's kinda hard to tell from this picture even though I zoomed in, but you can see the start of the beach from the back deck. 

Thursday night we went out to dinner! I got grilled scallops and they were ah-mazing, you can't beat fresh seafood at the beach. 

And we asked for crayons haha! We all pretended like they were for Andrew but every single adult at the table ended up coloring. Of course, I drew a picture of Layla. 

And got more snap chats! I probably got about 20 pictures of her a day from Hannah but I can't say I was complaining about it. 

 Mostly we just hung out and played games as a family. On the beach, I'd help Andrew or Daniil build sandcastles, went for walks with my dad, or played volleyball with Katya. Amanda and I also took a lot of bike rides in the afternoon or did laps in the pool for small workouts. We didn't even turn on the tv once which was great. We are not that type of family to watch tv when we could be doing other things. 

One of the games we played a lot was Jenga! My dad, Amanda, Katya, and I got really in to it because at one point we googled the record for the tallest Jenga tower and apparently it's only 33 stories high! We were able to get 30 and then 32 before they both fell over. 

Evidence that we nearly beat the record! My dad insisted upon trying until we broke the record but sadly we could only do 32 stories! It was still a lot of fun to try. 

Overall, it was great time to spend relaxing since my classes are starting up soon! I'm very excited and nervous at the same time to start grad school, but as the days go by I'm more certain that it's exactly where I'm supposed to be. 

I'll work on getting the other post up soon! 

Plyo Leg Circuit

For starters, I've been the worst blogger this week so I wanted to actually post something before I jet off to the beach. And then promptly fall off the grid again haha! Whoops but I'm gonna be on vacation so I have little hope that I'll get to posting anything on here. Amanda and I are meeting our dad and stepmom at the beach for a long weekend. They're already there but Amanda and I couldn't leave our mom alone all week. I'm a little nervous with how she'll do but my family is going to be around to check on her a few times a day plus we'll facetime and call her. I'm also sad that this is the longest Layla and me have ever been apart! I know, I know cue the eye rolls but hey the little bugger is my sidekick and I'm kinda (extremely, entirely, crazily) attached to her at this point.

Back to the real point of this post-- leg workout! I've found that my legs respond really well to a mix of heavy weights and accessory work like plyo/cardio moves. A lot of people say they're afraid to add in cardio or HIIT moves because it might decrease their muscle mass but I haven't found that to be the case at all. I'm all about just doing what I like, and what works for my body!

I also happen to like cardio, and particularly HIIT. I add it in a few times a week but one of my leg days I like to add in accessory work like a HIIT circuit such as this one with a focus on legs. I really liked this workout, and did a variation of it this morning! I switch up my workouts a lot so I added in other moves and substituted other ones to keep my legs guessing. If you try it out, let me know what you think! :)

I have to share this from this morning because I just can't get enough of Layla's cuteness haha! I made overnight oats in my nearly empty jar of White Chocolate Wonderful from Peanut Butter & Co, and Layla just knows she has dibs on the jar when I'm done. It was so funny because she's not allowed to beg so she was sitting at a distance, determinedly not looking at me because, again, she knows that isn't allowed. But she would look at me out of the corner of her eye or just casually glance around like she was looking at something else but in reality I know she was checking to see whether I was done or not haha! 

When I finally was I told her "okay, go ahead" so she knew it was okay for her to come over. She absolutely loves peanut butter (wonder who she gets it from...) so I think she gets just as excited as me when I have this for breakfast! 

Andddd then her face when it was all gone! 

Happy Wednesday everyone! 

The Million Dollar Question

I had an epiphany the other day, and I'm not talking about my typical ones like what-if-I-put-peanut-butter-on-that but a real, meaningful light bulb moment. It was a pretty big deal considering what it was about. 

It all started with something very silly with my hair being frizzy from the rain, ladies know what I'm saying? It's just an all around problem living in Pittsburgh which I have dubbed the humidity capital of the world. 

Anyway, I found myself wishing that if I could have sleek, humidity-resistant hair like my cousin then I'd be happier. 

I caught myself mid-thought, and really asked myself that question:

Would I be happier?

This then snow-balled in to other things as I started to ask myself if I could change other things about my appearance, would I? But then the million dollar question was if I could suddenly be at a certain weight, would I change that?

At first you would think the obvious response if you asked any girl that seems a resounding yes, right?

But I realized something very, very important. I don't want that because I want to work for it. For me it's not even about getting to a certain weight, but just being comfortable in my skin. I wouldn't even want that at the drop of a dime because I wouldn't have worked for it. What meaning would any of it have if it was just handed to me?

I want the knowledge that everything I have gone through shaped me, both physically and mentally. That it made me exactly who I am today because I don't think God would have put me in those circumstances otherwise. Everything was for a reason, and at the end of the day I want to rest in the comfort that I got to be where I am today because I put in the hard work and trusted God to get me where I needed to be. I learned, I grew from it, and I don't regret a thing. 

The feeling that I get when I PR in the gym is so empowering because I know that I pushed myself to get to that point. Every day that I get stronger, I know it's because I worked my butt off the day before to get to that place. All of that makes me who I am today, and why I appreciate the things that I do. 

Even last year I didn't understand why God had me in the place where I was. Coming from two years of restrictive-binge cycles, body hating, and valuing my worth by a number, I didn't know what the point was. Well, I do now. Call me crazy but I'm thankful for those years. God taught me some very valuable lessons that will carry with me for the rest of my life.

I wasted so much time wishing to be at a certain weight, to see a number I would like pop up on the scale, and that's time I'll never get back. I'm not saying that in a regretful way or trying to get sympathy, but it's a simple fact. I wasted time wishing when I could have been working. I'm thankful that eventually I caught on to God's plan, but I spent too much time on something meaningless.

I realize that this is an entirely hypothetical question because obviously I would not be able to magically be at a certain weight just by answering the question. The point is it's a huge change for me, mentally, to come to the conclusion that I did. Before, I would've jumped at the chance to get to pick that magical number on the scale. I would've thought that being at a certain weight is all it would take to make/keep me happy.

I honestly have not weighed myself in months. I have found my value outside of the scale, and it has been the best thing for my health. My health, both mental and physical, and strength are my focus now. It's not like I even actively started to avoid the scale on purpose, it really and truly just slips my mind. I don't think about it, I don't feel like I have to do it, and so the thought of weighing myself just faded away.

It took time, it took patience, and it took a lot of faith in God. But I know I'm where I am today because I worked for it instead of wishing.