Institute and Biking

During the summer months, Institute holds one class and it covers the May Ensign which contains all the April General Conference talks. We've had 3 classes so far and I've been able to attend 2 of them. I am so grateful for Institute and the great teachers that are there. I really learn a lot and can feel the spirit so strongly.

I've been able to read the General Conference talks before class and make my own markings based on what sticks out to me at the time. I'm so grateful for prophets today and for the modern revelations that they receive for us and that we can receive personally for ourselves. God and His Son, Jesus Christ, have not abandoned us, but have set out a plan for us to return to live eternally in their presence. That is an incredible knowledge; that there is someone who loves me and everyone who has ever lived and will ever live so much that He wants us to grow and learn and then return to Him. He has established the way in which we can do so if we have the faith to believe in and to follow Him. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to have the Holy Spirit with me at all times. The peace and comfort which comes from that presence in my life is extraordinary. I strive to follow Christ and His prophets' teachings, and I know that I can ask in prayer for guidance to do those things. I am so thankful for the Church being a part of my life and being a support system for me when I am separated by distance from my family. <3

My goal for the summer exercise wise is to bike or walk to Institute each week. It's roughly a 2 mile stretch, but I don't know how accurate that amount is since I cut through campus to get there from my apartment. When I bike I can get there in about 15 minutes, so it's a good bit of a ride :) I'm also continuing my nightly routine of ab exercises and push ups :) As well as almost being done with the Book of Mormon for the first time all the way through (I'm in Ether :D I know this has nothing to do with exercise but it is part of my nightly routine and I'm pretty excited about it)

Anyways, life is grand and I'm enjoying a break from school before I take classes in July. I'm working, volunteering with Family Promise (which I've been doing for about a year and a half off and on; I just sit in their Day Center and answer the phone if it rings), reading a bunch of books, and having a great time!

my plan

This summer since I'll just be working and then taking classes in July, I've decided to focus on working out. I'll run/bike in the mornings and do crunches/push ups before bed. So far so good :)

Yoga, Cold Weather, and Bangs

Caroline and I finally made it to the yoga class and I really enjoyed it! We worked our hips and legs for the most part and I felt it the next day as I was power walking it across campus! It's been below freezing for three days now and I don't want to be outside for very long so I make sure to bundle up and move it! And this cold weather finally paid off with snow this morning! :)

Oookay, I brought back my bangs! I've been thinking about it and just decided to cut them today, and so far so good. Go check out my facebook page to see the results :D

Going vs Doing

This semester my long time friend Caroline and I are going to go to the REC three times a week. We did this probably three semesters ago, but just haven't had compatible schedules since then. We want to try a yoga class and also do some cardio on the machines. We meant to start this week but here's what happened:
           On Monday, Caroline had to cancel because of school drama, and I had a flat tire on my bike and had to take it to the shop and have to pick it up by 6. Leanna and I decided we would go work out at the REC so that I would get habit of going started. We leave the apartment a little before 4 and drive to the Institute where we park to walk to the REC. By the time we get close to the REC it's 4:20. Leanna's not an A&M student so she'll have to pay $10 to get into the REC, and at this point we may not even get a full hour's workout before I need to rush over and get my bike! So we make an executive decision and say that walking to the REC and back will be our workout for the day :)
          On Wednesday, Caroline is able to go and we plan on attending the yoga class at 4:15. I again park at the Institute and walk over, but unfortunately I had planned to leave my apartment earlier than when I actually did. Caroline had to make a last minute stop at her advisor's office and didn't get to the REC when she had planned. We go in together and by the time we pay our $3 for the class, have Caroline change clothes, and walk to the room it's 4:22 and the door is locked. Apparently yoga participants are supposed to come EARLY... oh well, next time. Caroline didn't have appropriate shoes to go on the machines, so we end up chit-chatting for an hour eating smoothies from the REC :) But hey, I actually made it into the REC this time. The next step is to actually workout while there!

Oh and we're not working out on Friday... so much for the first week of working out. But on the bright side, we can only improve from here!

Cardio Step!

The Student REC Center had a free Cardio Step Mix class this morning, so me and a friend went to try it out. We really enjoyed it! I had never done step before, and the instructor included some kickboxing moves as well. But it was a great start to our morning! :)

So I needed a new watch that I can put on my bike and went to Target to look at what they have. Found a nice $10 one and then HAD to look at the $1 section :) I picked out 5 things to get, go to check out and my total is $1.35--- they were all on sale for even LESS!!! haha. That made my day :)

Feel the Burn!

Leanna and I went for a run tonight on campus. We circled around the Physics Building and Blocker doing sprints up ramps and stairs and doing lines. We did a few squats and lunges. And as Leanna put it, we felt the burn! haha. It felt incredible! :)

Ooo I'm excited for kickboxing tomorrow!

Kickboxing it hard core!

Last week in my total fitness class we did kickboxing. I'd never done it before, but I liked it. Plus it's something simple that I can do at home on my own :)

My elbow hurts :( I don't really know why... I played ping pong on Friday before Midnight Yell, so maybe that made it sore but I'm not sure. I also have some cuts on my leg above my ankle that I have no idea where I got... I wouldn't mind these things as much if I knew where they came from! haha

The Semester of Pain and Gain

I have to ride my bike across campus two days a week so that I have a chance of getting to my classes on time and back to my car to leave for work on time. My classes are back to back so I also have to pack my lunch and sneak in bites between classes (or during class :D).

I'm taking a total fitness KINE course, so once a week we have our work out day. This past week we worked our core- and I'm feeling it!

I'm also in an advanced/rescue scuba course!!! :D So excited about it, but I'm sure at times it'll work me pretty hard as well.

And then you can't forget that I chase after children 5 times a week for my job, that Leanna and I are walking together whenever we find time to do so, and that I plan to attend volleyball each week.

Also add in the fact that I'm not keeping junk food/desserts in the apartment this semester.

Needless to say I'm gonna be sore for the most part of this Fall, but my body is gonna appreciate all that I'm doing!

Last Week of Freedom

Bow-Tie Tomato Chicken Pasta
On Sunday we got home starving and decided to use what we already had to make a simple dinner. So we cooked mini bow-tie pasta and chicken. We used sun dried tomato alfredo sauce and cut up tomatoes and topped it all with parmesan cheese :) It was delicious and hit the spot!

An Evening Walk
I had gotten very little sleep this weekend (but oh so worth it) so instead of doing our Sunday walk in the morning we did it after our dinner. We walked through campus and I showed Leanna where some of my classes are and where the library is. It was a good half hour walk, but at least we're continuing to make an effort to get out there!

School starts today... it's gonna be hectic!

Riding Against the Wind

Went to volleyball tonight, got to play 2 games (somewhat successfully for my no talent at sports). Came home and just really needed to be on my own, so I got my iPod and bike and went on campus.

It felt amazing being on my bike again (but I really need to put air in my tires...). I rode for only 20 minutes or so because I was paranoid about my tires and I have an early morning tomorrow. But riding did the trick :) Getting my heart pumping and being outside helped me to realize why I wasn't feeling that great tonight and maybe by recognizing why, I can figure out how to prevent/overcome it.

line up!

Despite not waking up as early as we have in the past for our Sunday morning walks, we did go out and do it :) It was a very short walk, about 15 minutes, but we did lines behind a building using the cracks as our turning points. So we got our hearts beating a bit and lost our breath haha.

On Friday, Leanna wasn't in town and I went on a Temple trip with the ward (so amazing!) and afterwards a group of us and others who weren't able to go on the trip went and played sand volleyball and go swimming. I actually played this time! :) And getting in the pool felt great despite the fact that I kept getting attacked and dunked haha.

The elementary schools start up this Monday, so soon those kiddos will be making me run and chase after them all afternoon long! I don't want work to start but I know I'll enjoy it once I go :)

Volleyball y'all :)

The public schools are starting next week, which means so is my job. So this week is training and meeting the new hires. So I've been playing gym games and running around in the hot hot Texas heat for the past 2 days. BUT in keeping with our goal Leanna and I walked around our church building for 30 minutes and added some lunges and squats into the mix as well. Go us! Oh and Leanna played some volleyball while I tried to stay awake and not get hit haha. Today was a tiring day for me for some reason.

3 is a Magic Number

FIRST:
Yesterday we went to the Comal River and WALKED!!! Leanna and I decided to count it towards our exercising because we had to walk to the river and back with our tubes and from the river's end back to the beginning which is about five blocks- with our tubes! But it was a fun trip :)

SECOND:
That night we got home and before we allowed ourselves to relax, we went for a walk through Northgate. Just a short walk in the early evening but it felt good!

THIRD:
This beautiful Sunday morning we walked down Bizzel and walked through the Bonfire Memorial and read about each of the 12 fallen Aggies. Such a peaceful place and a perfect beginning to our Sunday.

Walk #1- to the Century Tree

We walked yesterday morning, leaving our condo around 8am and not returning till 10am. We didn't walk for the full two hours, we walked to campus to the Century Tree and sat and chatted for a lot of the time. But I felt accomplished having actually woken up and gone to campus. We only walked which made me feel like I should jog or do high legs or something, to make it more worth my while- but it was a wonderful start to our Sunday! I came back from it feeling good and proud that we actually did what we had set out to do. I won't be back in our apartment officially for another two weeks, but I think that if we remind each other about our goals we'll actually do them :)

Let's Do It!

In the past 2 years I've used this blog as just an archive of my favorite quotes, but as of now I have THREE goals I want to accomplish this semester (and perhaps continue to do- but I'm starting with a semester) and I think a good way to stay motivated is to record how I'm doing :)

ONE: Restaurants

I have this idea that instead of visiting the same restaurants over and over again, I want to eat at all the restaurants in my area at least once. The fast food joints, the chain restaurants, and the hole in the wall's. I'll keep track of the places I've visited and perhaps give a review of whether I'd consider going back.

TWO: Cooking

My roommate and I have decided that starting once a week we will prepare a legit meal. Both of us do not have much practice in the art of cooking, so it should be an adventure :) We'll decide on the recipe for the week, buy the ingredients, and prepare the meal. I'll keep progress of how it goes concerning our cooking skills and the recipes we use.

THREE: Walking

My roommate and I are not the athletic types, but feel we want to be active in some way to keep ourselves healthy. We have decided to walk at least 3 times a week (start with small goals). This might move up to more times in the week, we might alternate between walking in the morning and walking at night, or we might move up to jogging or biking. We'll just try to keep it up and see where time takes us :) . This semester I'll be taking a swimming and a scuba diving advanced rescue course, and I walk/bike to all my classes already, but adding an additional time of day for exercise I think will be a good thing.

Wish me luck! :)