Since October

What has happened since October? Let me tell you...

November:
I can't remember. Thanksgiving was in there. We had some turkey. I'm sure it was tastey.

December:
I got two kitties. Tesni and Ziva. Tesni is my little cuddle-bug, she loves to find an open lap, especially if it's mine. Ziva seeks attention by doing everything wrong. She steals things and breaks things and gets into trouble. Turns out Tesni does that too, but she does it when we're not looking – most of the time.

January:
We got a puppy! Her name is Bree. She's a Bernese Mountain Dog. She is currently 50 lbs and will grow to be about 120lbs.

February:
About a week after getting Bree, we found out... I'm pregnant! We are very excited. However, getting a puppy right in the beginning of the first trimester is CRAZY and not recommended. I got hormonal (ie very moody). Chris left for Texas for a week to do some training for work. It was a rough week for Bree and I, since I was the only one around to deal with her, and we weren't ready to tell anyone I was pregnant, so I couldn't easily ask for help. Now we know how to avoid certain situations that can set me off as I continue to learn how to cope with crazy hormones.

March, April:
Not much here other than doctors appointments and training for the Tulip Time 5k (yes, I had my doctor's permission).

May:
We celebrated our 5 year anniversary by running the Tulip Time 5k (I was under 40 minutes!) and then attempting to eat 5 hot dogs together. Even with Bree's help, we couldn't eat all 5 hotdogs (baby did not pull his/her weight in this eating challenge...). We (let's face it, I) wanted to eat 5 elephant ears, but that seemed even more daunting than the 5 hot dogs.

So there's your quick life summary.

Today's Haul

Today's haul contained the normal stuff: change of clothes, lunch, snacks, computer(s), extra layers for warmth... But then when I left work I decided to take my bird feeder and it's hanging crook home. You can see the 6 foot pole hanging off the bike...

I love my cargo bike.

Check out more here.

Biking

Well, on October 7 I mentioned on Facebook that I was curious about a car-free year.

Starting October 10 I rode my bike to work. And the next day and the next. I haven't told anyone that I'm trying for a whole year, I'm just trying to consistently ride my bike.

I've received some push-back from concerned parents for night riding and we'll see how tomorrow goes (it's supposed to pour all day). My parents are already concerned and my coworkers will think I'm crazy.

Ah, well, here goes!

A few "rules" that I've started formulating, otherwise it's biking or walking for me:

• If it's more than 10 miles away, it's okay to take a car (unless you have the time and are feeling ambitious).
• If you need to take family, friends or pets to the doctor, it's okay to take a car.
• If it's an emergency, it's okay to take the car.

I still haven't figured out how to handle this with Chris. He'll support me riding, but he's not really interested in it for himself... So do I limit dates to the Holland/Zeeland area and just meet him there? Or do I just plan on going on dates in Grand Rapids so that it's okay to drive?

So, there ya go. We'll see how long this lasts!

Discipline

As usual, life is crazy and I forget to update this thing. There's nothing much new in our lives. We're wrapping up RIOT for the year and for whatever reason I decided that we shouldn't have downtime this summer so Chris and I offered to lead a Financial Peace University class this summer at our church. I'm excited to share the knowledge, I just know it would have been good to have some downtime. Oh well, you can't make an impact if you're just relaxing, right?

Speaking of relaxing, I've got Chris inspired to join me in P90X this summer.

I've started the program twice, but never quite finished it. The biggest frustration for me? Lack of discipline.

I want to make that time everyday to work on my spiritual health and physical health. I want to read my Bible (getting better at that) and spend time in prayer. Every day.

I want to eat better so I can not only feel better and play more, but also so that I can inspire my dad, so that he'll commit to succeed in his own weight battles.

I know, I know I don't have much weight to lose. And I don't. I'm a healthy weight, but I can safely shed a few pounds (about 10) and still be very healthy.

It's a fitness plan. I don't want to just lose weight, I want my body to be fit, to be toned, to not limit me when I want to try new things. I want to keep up with my middle schoolers when we're outside running. I want to feel as beautiful as Chris already sees me. I want to climb Wall 8 at Geneva and not have to have my belayer pull me up...

Anywho, Chris has done his best to support me when I try to do P90X, but unfortunately, I just love spending time with him so when he stays up late to watch tv, I stay up even though I need to go to bed so I can work out or spend time in the Word. He likes to make me martinis and margaritas, even though I know it's not in the fitness plan... So how do I get him to stop being a stumbling block?

Ask him to join me.

You may be thinking, isn't Chris a landscaper? Won't he be too exhausted to work out?

Yes, it's true. If we tried to work out every day once Chris gets home, it won't work. The plan? Get up at 4am every day.

It's a commitment. I know it can work. A guy I know made it work. And his 0-30-60 day photos were the extra motivation Chris needed to commit.

I've set up the calendar so we'll start May 16. This way I can wrap up the running schedule I'm currently in, plus give us some time to get a few things done before we start...

So there you have it. I've structured the summer as a big test of commitment and discipline. Which made me appreciate even more one of David's most recent posts:

For Round 2, I wanted to be different. I wanted to be weird, crazy, completely committed, no hollow victory this time. Sure there are times when I want to give in. You can skip this move, you could just eat some of that. It wouldn't be that bad. Get behind me Satan! But really, temptation is temptation. Now I am not saying you are sinning if you don't go crazy and see if you can get absolutely ripped. What I am saying is, if you make that commitment, it is a one time thing. You never have to go back and recommit. You are going to workout for an hour a day, six days a week, for 90 days. You will eat only things that fit into your day and fulfill your macro needs. Making that choice once and for all, you remove the thought of breaking your own covenant. Decide, COMMIT, succeed. You can do it.

Pray for me this summer as I strengthen my discipline.