Not So Paleo: A Food Site In The Making

I have been compiling my recipes on another site with a fantastic name! Not So Paleo is where I have been working these days. I really want to blog and do it well. Unfortunately  I think Im pretty clueless when it comes to gathering a following. I don't get Twitter. AT ALL. I have loved the little group and feedback I got on this blog and I would love you to follow me over to a more food focused platform. Will you come?

I may return to this blog later but I'm not sure if I should just post the same stuff in each spot or just bite the bullet and make the total switch. I miss you friends.

Homecoming Parade

Our kids go to a K-12 school in the Hill Country, TX. The school is over 100 years old but has never had a Homecoming event. Without a football team, the school focuses on the stellar basketball program to celebrate "athledemics" at the school. It made perfect sense to have a parade through the small town to welcome all the visitors for the inaugural homecoming. 

The girls were invited to be a part of the parade and each chose to represent in a different way. Our baby dressed up as a butterfly fairy princess in her Disney garb and leftover Halloween props. 

The oldest opted to be a bike rider with all the cool kids and was a little frustrated at the slow pace of parades. She eventually decided next year, she was hijacking a float or pickup truck.

The town is tiny. We had the Longest parade for a 500 person town I could have imagined. There must have been at least 20 floats or riding slots.

 The whole event finished at the school where the girls and boys basket ball teams held hands around a huge bonfire and the local fire department lay in waiting as eager parents doused the pile with gasoline.

Tiny fire guy, giant pile of future fire

It was some good ol' small town fun. Happy Homecoming!

Three Things Thursday

Hello everyone! Are you feeling my frozen fingers? Can you sense my love for the cold by looking at my fancy head wrap? How about my vintage faux fur leather jacket? I'm telling you, It is tough to get out there in this cold and work. The gym has plenty of heaters but yours truly is one of them. This rickety old contraption must need oil because I'm creaking and sputtering to warm up in the mornings.

Three Things, and maybe a few more:

1. Here are the AWESOME Sock(s)! Aren't they AWESOME?! They totally saved me yesterday at the gym as I blasted away on the 24' box. I lost focus and before I could react, down went baby. Twice. I am sure my little wound would have been a trip for stitches had the AWESOME socks not saved me. Now to collect a family of equally super socks.

I have to get faster on those jumps! We also did some super fun rope climbs yesterday. I never thought I would be able to climb a rope. But I CAN!

2. The sunsets have been amazing lately. My camera skills do not do this sunset justice. It was taken in our backyard a few nights ago. 

3. Speaking of camera skills, I just installed my indoor photo studio. It has a high learning curve for sure and I really don't have a clue what I'm doing yet. However, I do like this one of the kids. 

The oldest was helping me in the kitchen last night by making some pico. She unfortunately got some onion in her eye and after recovering, she retrieved some fashion with purpose to finish the job. It is wonderful to have weird, funny, smart kids in the house. They are resourceful and keep me laughing!

Three Things Thursday

1. It's cold in Texas!
Holy cow, I love me some cold weather but it has been a long time since I have experienced a cold snap as long as the one we are having right now. We have been washing clothes constantly because we only have a few long sleeve outfits per person in our family of four. I have the compulsion to go shopping for hoodies and may or may not have spent my Christmas cash on a fancy new coat. My kids are totally tired of missing Recess at school due to the rain and cold as well. Those babies need to run! They come home cranky and wishing for the outdoors.

2. I am creating!
I was recently asked to return to yoga instruction. While I have a great time teaching yoga, it has a different fit in a CrossFit gym. The therapy yoga brings is vital to mobility and joint health so I am creating my own type of class. I won't give too much away, but I am in a creative frenzy structuring a course to help my fellow athletes recover quicker and increase ability in the gym.

3. My "To Do" List Update
I'm working through my "To Do" list for this year. Here is my progress:
Financial:
Pay off all credit cards and stop repeating history (we are on a payment plan to get this done by August!)  On Target
Keep $1000 in savings for emergencies and save an additional $3000 for investments this year On Target
Spend only $100 a week on clean meals for the family Over by $22 last week
Spend only $50 a week on eating out (our main source of entertainment) Over by $25 last week
Keep a tally of all money saved each week through coupons or sales and put the savings in vacation fund $13 saved to date
Keep all found money or store miss-pricing (a terrible habit at our local stores) money in a "found Money" Jar...just to see $15 to date (that's right! check your receipts!!!)

Fitness:
Obtain my Crossfit Olympic Lifting Certification in March
PR my 5k time (currently 28:45)
Run a 10k to create a baseline time
Run a Half Marathon under 2:00 (current PR 2:12)
Body weight lifts on all Olympic lifts and bench press (deadlift is done PR 250)
Power Snatch: 85lb
Power Clean: 140lb
Squat Clean: 120
OHS: 85lb
Back Squat: 165lb
Front Squat: 165lb
Bench Press: 95lbs
Deadlift: 225lbs...most recent :(
Compete in a CrossFit Competition
Abs!
4 days a week Crossfit On Target
3 days a week Running On the schedule for this week but no miles yet

Nutrition:
Complete a true Whole30 Program
Maintain clean eating 80% of the time On Target
Create 30 clean and quick dinners On Target

Home and Family:
Declutter and Organize using this Calendar On Target
Create a meaningful family activity once a month Completed! Movie date to see Parental Control
Create a Mommy/Daughter date for each kid per month
Date night once a month with Mr Dad
Write a fun or special thing that happened each day on the calendar so we can read them at the end of the year On Target and really nice to think about the fun things that happen!


Current Read: Reviewing my Level 1 manual

Current Colors: Black and turquoise

Current Foods: Gala apples and chicken breast

Current Song: Home by: Phillip Phillips

This Week I Ran A Few Miles, It Was Super Fun

Oh running. You know the crazy thing about your body when you are training high miles? Muscles learn the program and you get things done when you consistently run. Over time, a 10 mile run is equally enjoyable as an easy 5k and during marathon training, you wish for those 10 mile days because it's an "easy" day.
When you train low miles or in my case, do little running beyond the occasional 400m track workout, getting back into big miles gets scary and a little daunting.
Mr. Dad has requested I begin training with him for an ultra marathon. A 50 mile train wreck of a race that scares the poop out of me.

 Luckily, we don't plan on committing to a race this year but will narrow it down to a race in 2014. None the less, we must get back to higher average miles asap.

We got out on the pavement for one lonely mile a grand total of one time this week. Mr. Dad and I did put a few other miles in during CrossFit Workouts but only one consecutive mile. I don't know about you but it takes me about 4 miles to really get in the groove. That mile hurt. It was slow. I hated it.
Since I'm stubborn and kind of crazy. I am constructing a training plan to ramp up my miles for the Austin 10 miler in April. Three months should be plenty of time...right? RIGHT!

In CrossFit news, I'm only 2.5 months from my Olympic lifting certification and I really want all my lifts to look kind of acceptable by the time I get there. This week I have been training the squat clean and deadlift with a few power cleans for technique thrown in. Changing form to a more "efficient" stance has proven frustrating because I can't lift as much and I did with my crappy form from a few months ago. My hamstrings hate me but I can feel the growth back there. That makes me thing my growing bootie is helping out too. When I get my body weight on the clean, Im going to do a little bootie dance in the gym. A body weight lift deserves a bootie dance.

Much like when its Peanut butter Jelly time.

Current PR on my lifts:

Deadlift 250lb

Power Clean 140lb

Squat Clean 120lb

Push Press 135lb

Strict Press 100lb (old!)

Snatch 85lb (technique in progress)

Lets Just Start Over...Again

I didn't post anything in December. Lets call is a mix of total life overhaul and holiday guests. I keep telling myself I will make this blog happen! So I'll just try and take it day by day.

Happy New Year everyone. Most Blogs are talking resolutions and goals for 2013. I'm taking a page out of the ubber impressive Tonia over at Racing With Babies and making a "To Do" list. I think it fits more in line with my thinking. If I have must complete goals they happen. If I say take it day by day...it might happen.

My 2013 To Do List:

Financial:
Pay off all credit cards and stop repeating history (we are on a payment plan to get this done by August!)
Keep $1000 in savings for emergencies and save an additional $3000 for investments this year
Spend only $100 a week on clean meals for the family
Spend only $50 a week on eating out (our main source of entertainment)
Keep a tally of all money saved each week through coupons or sales and put the savings in vacation fund (So far: $2.97!)
Keep all found money or store miss-pricing (a terrible habit at our local stores) money in a "found Money" Jar...just to see

Fitness:
Obtain my Crossfit Olympic Lifting Certification in March
PR my 5k time (currently 28:45)
Run a 10k to create a baseline time
Run a Half Marathon under 2:00 (current PR 2:12)
Body weight lifts on all Olympic lifts and bench press (deadlift is done PR 250)
Compete in a CrossFit Competition
Abs!
4 days a week Crossfit
3 days a week Running

Nutrition:
Complete a true Whole30 Program
Maintain clean eating 80% of the time
Create 30 clean and quick dinners

Home and Family:
Declutter and Organize using this Calendar
Create a meaningful family activity once a month
Create a Mommy/Daughter date for each kid per month
Date night once a month with Mr Dad
Write a fun or special thing that happened each day on the calendar so we can read them at the end of the year

I want this year to have organization, to have purpose. This year I want to be RESPONSIBLE for our accomplishments...or failures

This year I am adopting the word RESPONSIBLE as my word. Many people pick a word to give purpose to their goals or focus efforts. I'm joining that crowd.

So, have you gotten busy with a "to do" list?
How detailed do you get?

Work Your Giblets Off

Anyone doing a Turkey Trot or Thanksgiving Day workout? My oldest daughter participated in our local Turkey Trot 5k last weekend. It was her first without me by her side the entire way. She struggled at mile 2 but finished strong with a special recognition for her efforts as a 7 year old. She completed the course in 33:45, a personal best for her. I resist the urge to coach her on these fun runs. I see so much potential, but I don't want to put pressure on her to compete if she is not ready. I love seeing her smile at the accomplishment!

This week at Big Oak CrossFit we are working our butts in gear to enjoy a semi-indulgent holiday. Most of our work this week has been moderate strength and heavy endurance. We switch things up a lot in CrossFit and I enjoy creating WODs (workouts of the day) that catch people by surprise but also allow for lots of learning. We have a lot of new members so teaching the Power Snatch or Deadlift is exciting for me personally.
Today, we welcome the Thanksgiving holiday with an ugly holiday sweater WOD complete with prizes from the giblet bag (prize pillowcase in the shade of brown...with goodies in it). I chose "Tabatta This with a Twist for today:

We took out rows and added jump rope and plank pose. It looks innocent but it is a killer. Add a sparkly holiday sweater and you have Crossfit Holiday GOLD.

I look forward to afternoon classes, they are a fun bunch with lots of hard workers and competition.

As for Thanksgiving day, we celebrated our turkey day on Sunday with the visiting grandparents from Colorado. Since Mr. Dad has to work and we only have morning classes at the gym, I am guessing the kids and I will try and get a bike ride in or maybe the new holiday kids movie

I'm debating on buying a new refrigerator from Sears on Black Friday. I have a tiny 16 cubic foot fridge now. I NEED a big fridge. I think even on Black Friday they are crazy expensive. Mine works well, should I do it?

Do you do Black Friday?
What do you do on Thanksgiving?