Thankful, Grateful, Hayful.

No matter how busy life is, we always have SO MUCH to be thankful for.  I find myself so overwhelmed with the busyness of life lately and recognize the great gift each moment is.  I take a lot less photos now because we are constantly going and doing, but I just simply refuse to get so lost in life that I don't stop right here and remember how much we all have to be grateful for.

This Thanksgiving I took a break from hosting and we went up to the Flying E.  I was fortunate enough to have several mountain photo sessions over the break so we headed up for a mountain holiday.  Mom and I made a spectacular Thanksgiving feast and we had a great time riding the 4 wheeler, running, moving hay, and spending time together.

I officially turned 40 over the break and did a 4.0 mile run followed by 40 push ups, 40 sit ups, and 40 burpees.  Feeling great and ready for a new decade!

We are thankful for Memaw and Papa, for how much they love us and for how amazing they are.  We are thankful for a place and people to call home.  We are thankful for puppy dogs and 4 wheelers, for pie, and extra helpings.  We are really thankful for fires and snuggles, and moments of rest.

We are thankful for bodies that lift 100# haybales and for the laughter in between it all.  

So many wonderful things to be thankful for this year!

 

Welcome to the 40s!

40 years ago I came into this world on a beautiful Thanksgiving morning.  My Momma always likes to remind me that she had a plastic turkey in jello thanks to me.  It always makes me smile.  40 has always seemed like such a big year to me.  I think its because 40 is when you are truly out of your youth.  30s was fun, but 40s..........in so many ways you have arrived into this Adult hood.

I honestly have never felt threatened or worried about getting older.  I think growing old is a gift and one that we spend a lot of time and money trying not to open.  I say tear that wrapping off and start embracing it. I have been looking forward to my 40s for  a little while now.  I loved my 30s.  I did SO MUCH, and I'm ready to finish that chapter and move onto the next. 

I did a lot in my 30s and when I reflect back on some of the highlights I can’t help but smile.

Had a baby

Ran an IRONMAN

Ran the R2R2R

Ran the Dopey Challenge

Recovered from a Crossfit injury

Remodeled a house

Saw the Bahamas

Saw Scotland

Saw Niagra Falls

Bought a mini van

Became a Yogi

Started a successful Photography business

Got my nose pierced

Got a Tattoo

Shaved my head

Got Mono

Went to New York

Went Parasailing

Went to Los Cabos

Learned to Handstand

Met Ashley, and lost Ashley

Became a Godmother

Read Harry Potter and saw Harry Potter World

Dealt with a Pandemic

Didn’t get COVID

Met Winter and Hope

Saw Horseshoe Bend

Hiked The Narrows in Zion

Saw Carlsbad Caverns

Found my way back to Crossfit

Did my first Crossfit Competition

 And honestly, this is just some of the highlights for me.  So much happened in that 10 years.  It was good and like the song says, “I swear I lived”-and I plan to keep on doing it tackling more goals, having more adventures, making more memories, and continuing to age with grace, strength, peacefulness and like a fine wine. I am finally deeply at home in my own body, life, and space. Man, that took a lot of years and tears, but we got here.  I am now so excited to shift into growth mode and settle into that wonderful place called mid-life. That dash between the beginning and the eternal. 

 One highlight I didn’t mention……

Had my first ever surprise party.

 Yep, Bob threw me a spectacular party for my 40th birthday and kept the entire thing a secret.  The weekend started with him flying in our best friends Steve and Rebekah.  

He managed to keep the entire thing a secret and even got me to the airport before I realized what was happening,  Such a sweet surprise.  That was just the start however.  Bob sent Rebekah and I on a shopping spree and then secreted me over to a surprise party with several of my dearest friends at Bridgit’s house.  All of these people here are my village and I was completely surprised when I opened the door to this crew. 

We enjoyed a beautiful evening with dinner, wine, fabulous conversation and to top it off, Bob hired a dance instructor to come in and give us dance lessons!  Learning to dance is something I have wanted for a long time.  Knowing that he planned it all for me.  Yes, he knows how to make a girl feel special.

I brought in 40 with some of the best humans around and am so grateful to know every single one of them.

I am excited and hopeful to see what incredible experiences my 40s has for me. I am going to start this spring by becoming a yoga instructor.  Shifting more into Crossfit, strength, openness, and awareness is going to take my world in a different trajectory and honestly, I’m here for it.

Excited to continue to grow old with my Bob, raise bold, big, compassionate kids, see the world, and be a part of Kingdom Come.

Age is a gift, and I am joyfully ripping off that wrapping!

Girls Gone RX

As I approached turning 40 I set myself a list of bucket list items a few months ago.  Some of them I have checked off the list while others have not, and new ones have been added!  First Crossfit Competition, CHECK!

As I am getting older the desire to remain and age strong has become a huge priority.  I want to be able to lift heavy things and move my body in all the directions without pain.  Crossfit Raidho has been a huge godsend for me and I am SO EXCITED to watch my strength grow.  In the 6 months that I have been a member I have seen muscles develop and finding power I never knew I had.  Its cool.

These two amazing women are part of my gym and Jessica asked if we wanted to be a team for the Girls Gone RX competition.  This competition is a womens only team even and an absolute blast!  We trained together every week leading up to the event and team Strong as a Mother came together ready and strong.  

Crossfit competitions are a blast because you get to know and train for the various workouts.  This competition had 4 work outs.  

This first workout was SPICY.  As a newer to Crossfit athlete, I am newer to the movement patterns, let alone adding the weight.  At 65 pounds we all knew that getting through those thrusters was gonna be hard.  After our first training session I realized that I was gonna be challenged.

Workout #2 became my favorite..... heres the story.  So we all decided that I was going to be Teammate 2 in the workout.  I had never attempted a 1 rep max weight clean before and 2 weeks before the comp I attempted 125# and failed.  Not only did I fail, but I rolled down and through a weird set of events hit the ground with the full weight of that bar on my right wrist.  It hurt and I was convinced I may have broken something.  Next day I went to my chiro who checked my wrist and found no breaks, but man was it sore.  That 1 Rep Max was now in my head.  For the next two weeks I worked hard to strengthen everything else in the hopes I could do that 125# in competition.  Not only did I do it, but I did it soundly!!!  So great!

Workout #3 was just an epic Ring Row challenge......

And Workout #4 was a BLAST with the synchro burpees and the team deadlifts.  This sport is just so much fun and these ladies made it all the better!

This first competition was wonderful and even though we didn't place we all learned a lot and have even more goals now.  So many strong and incredible women came to play and I won't lie, its really fun to be amongst their ranks!

Little Lions

Just last month Evie got to take part in the Red Mountain High School Cheer Clinic.  This is the second time she has taken part in it and this year she got to do it with one of her best friends, Aria!  I absolutely loved my years as a cheerleader putting on our own clinics with young girls.  It was always such a wonderfully fun time.

Evie has talked over an over again about becoming a cheerleader at some point and honestly, I think this little girl has got cheerleader all over her!

After their day with the cheerleaders, they were ready to be out on the field for the big game.

We all headed to the game and what a fun time we had.  Evie and her friend got pom poms and got to cheer with all of the big girls for an entire quarter of the game.

She flew, did some gymnastics and had a blast.

Meanwhile Lily met the color guard and got to learn how to throw around the RMHS flags. Who knows, I might have a future color guard in the family. 

It was really fun to watch these girls in their future high school on Step up Night.  I am excited to one day find ourselves on this field more regularly!