Busy Birthday Week

Yep, I hit 40 this week.

It was busy and fabulous.

First I'll hit the busy.

The weather has been great.

It seems the snow has FINALLY passed!

Our weekends are back to working on the Peanut.

The hubby and I finished the framing of the walls.

 You know what comes next?

Hubby and I had to lift and stand them up on the Peanut floor.

So, we lifted, stood them up and I held them while he screwed them in and together.

That's about where we ended on Sunday.

Sunday when we got home, S gave me my big birthday surprise.

He booked an overnight for my birthday at The Stanley Hotel!!

For those not familiar, this is the hotel that The Shining was filmed at, yay!

This is one of my favorite movies, especially being a horror buff.

(Although, the book is a million times better, as usual, lol.)

 

Finding this out Sunday night, I spent Monday in overdrive.

I hit the gym.  I ran a few errands.  I came home and took care of the front and back yards.  I did all of the laundry.  I changed my hair and gave myself a trim.

Oh, there were lots of tasks fulfilled that day.

 

Tuesday was my birthday!

I got up at my usual 5:30 am, fed the pups, did my usual morning routine.

I had my usual Tuesday appointment with my great friend T. and our trainer.

She kicked our asses, really, it was leg and glute day!

Afterwards, I got home, showered, made the husband and myself some nom-nom's, and packed an overnight bag.

We dropped the pups off at the trainer/kennel and headed up to the mountains.

 

I will have more pictures later.  S took a bunch with his camera, but we haven't downloaded them yet.

Imagine waking up in the hotel that The Shining was filmed in, turning on the tv, and seeing this at 5:30am.  

Haha, they had it playing continuously on one channel. 

 Birthday wine at the hotel bar.

 Back home after a fun stay!

It's not as twisted as it seems

I mean look at this face.

I'm all sweet, innocent and girly, right?

(I'll start with this little story and then go into the usual stuffs.)

 You know how we've been working on the gypsy caravan?

Well, this weekend I was finally coerced to a 4-wheeler ride.

I forced him (our friend) to go probably 2mph because going straight up rocky canyons and straight down into them, made me pee myself a little.

 Hey, it was a core workout though.

Anyway, on our adventures, we came across scatterings of bones (coyote, deer, antelope, cow, etc.).

I have an obsession with bones.  I mean, my last foray in education was biological sciences with concentrations in cardiopulmonary science.  I had lots of anatomy and physiology in there.  It's only natural that I love to study it.

I've been really into osteology the past few months.

You know where this is going right?

Yeah, I picked up full vertebral columns, hips, huge vertebrae, some leg bones and even a gorgeous coyote skull that was pretty much bleached white and almost looks fake because it had been in the elements for years probably - with the exception of one little patch of fur on its snout.

I was going to post pictures but I figured some folks would freak over it. 

So I'll only post this one of the "cleanest" bones.

I probably should have stayed around and spent the time trying to get all of the coyote that was scattered around.  I would really love to try and articulate it back together.

Well, enough of my twisted side, on to other stuffs.

I am pleased to report that I am down 6lbs and to 15.9% body fat.

Just what I like.

I have not been eating enough though.

Have to work on that, especially my protein intake.

Lovely Awesome Trainer Physique Pro told me yesterday, "Just imagine what you'd look like if you eat right."

It really stuck with me.

So, that's my goal for the next two weeks = get enough protein and food in.

Why two weeks?

Well, because I'm getting one year older.

The big 4-0.

Can't you tell that I refuse to truly acknowledge my maturity?

Dammit, I want this year to be even better than last year.

I want to wear some booty shorts to the gym and not be embarrassed.

I want to wear tank tops this summer and be like "BAM" with my arms without having to flex to see those little muscles.
One day I will be a She-Hulk!
Then folks can bash me even more and call me even more names on the street.
Gotta love random butt-holes. =)

Hell, I'm even going to my scheduled beating the morning of my birthday to start it off right.  Then, I have a hot outfit picked out to spend my day prancing around town.

I got an unexpected little surprise!

I have been eying these babies for over a year now.

Just out of the blue, I spied a package on our mantle in our living room, leopard tissue paper and a bright, hot pink ribbon.

I asked hubby, "What's that?"

Of course, he played dumb with the "What?"

"What are you talking about?"

He eventually handed it over, and these babies were inside.

Woohoo!  Super excited!

http://www.femmefitalefitness.com/

Who knew that he paid attention?

Hahahaha

And I got one of my reward items that I have been putting off buying myself!

 

What's up?

Well, it seems that I may not be able to compete this year.

~super sad frown face~

With both vehicles fixed, a new fridge to replace the dead one, vet bills, and a few other surprises that we had to spend on, our extra fun money is dreadfully low.

So what does this mean?

It means I'm still working on it.

I booked 10 sessions of training with a certain IFBB Physique Pro anyway.

She is awesome.

She looks over my food journals every week, tells me how to tweak and is honest on how I should be eating, even in the off season.

She does my fat pinches and weight.

(All of the walking and tightening up of diet made me lose 10 pounds in 3 weeks without even trying.  Also estimated, I was at about 16/17% BF almost 2 weeks ago.)

She's super awesome to talk to and KILLS me in the gym. 

Needless to say, I'm still wishing that something would happen to make competing feasible this year.

But let's face it, I still haven't even renewed my NPC membership, lol.

IF something were to happen, at least I know that I wouldn't be that far from whipping myself into competition shape.

In other news, I'm reading this:

I'm usually not huge into "self-help" type books.  But this one intrigued me because I've followed Tammy for years.

 Tammy is the wonder behind RowdyKittens.

It's a quick, fun read.

It also made me think and have a few "aha" moments.

Since it's almost spring here (we're still getting days of snow, blah), 

I'm in a cleaning/purging mood.

I decided to take my years of fitness magazines and bag them up.

I'm also going to do the same with my Clean Eating and other food/recipe mags.

Maybe someone around me would like them, otherwise they are being donated.

They've just been sitting there collecting dust on the shelves and when have I actually gone back and referenced any of them?

Besides, I can go onto any of their websites and browse for recipes, workouts, etc.

And now, I have shelves completely clear!!

Wow.

Thinking I'll be doing more of that and de-cluttering!

 

We've not stopped nor forgotten

X-Posted from Petite's & El Sammy Beasto's Purple Peanut

 

Winter put a big standstill on our productivity.

We were finally able to get out there this past weekend and finish up the floor.

The snow had finally melted.

The last time we went down the snow was up past my knees, boooo.

We packed the framing with 2 layers of 2" foam board and then put down the 1/2" plywood decking.

Then, we wrapped her up because we started to get rain.

Today, ice/blizzard.

Gotta love Colorado, 70 degrees yesterday and 14 and snowy today.

 

Sadly, many of the barn cats were taken this winter.

There were about 12 before the winter and now only 5 left.

Probably by coyotes and such.

I was so sad because this little guy was one of the victims.

Miss you Fluffy. =(

 

It's hard for me to wrap my head around the circle of life sometimes, especially in the rural country area.

There is a momma cat big and ready to burst with new kittens. 

Til next time!

What's Been Up?

I'll graze over the chaos.

Let's suffice it to say that I've spent about $4000 in the past week (fridge died, one vehicle out of warranty and big engine woes - basically 1/2 of it being replaced, vet visit with one pooch, wedding gift for bestie - that I didn't mind spending on, by the way).

I guess it's true that it all happens at one time.

I will need a new pair of sneakers.

After logging about 10 miles of walking a day (not counting any gym stuff), my toes have developed blood blisters and my sneaks are visibly worn down.

Hey, they are over a year old anyway!

Then, I don't want to fork out more cash right now.

Tarjay, I feel you in my future for a cheapo replacement right now.

I am loving the new gym.

It's like a little oasis.

It's never crowded, everyone there is so super nice, and like I've mentioned before, I run into all sorts of pro competitors and awesome NPC gals.

It's very inspiring.

I have been playing with my diet, trying to go vegetarian.

It's super hard because I'm not getting nearly enough calories or protein.

Researching, researching, researching still.

Playing still.

Tuesday, I get to do a body fat with the Coach that I've been training with.

This should be interesting, lol.

During last weekend, while we were being blizzarded (my own word) once again, I decided to relieve my  boredom.

I had bought the bleach kit and dye a few months ago.

So, yep, I did it again.

It looks blue in the pictures, but it's actually purple.

Lighting, ya know.

People get all in an uproar about it, but it's hair folks.

It washes out.

It's not a huge deal, nor means that I'm a deviant.

Well, perhaps I am a deviant in some ways, but I can assure you that the hair did not create that!

 

Oh the pasty horror!

 

Fridge Down! Fridge Down!

That's what happened.

So I got my granny, roll-y cart and walked up to the grocery to get 30 pounds of ice.

That's all that would fit in there.

I came home, dug out our ice chests and unloaded all that was still good.

I'm supposed to get a call this morning telling me when they are coming with the new one today.

Of course, the less expensive one that I wanted wasn't in stock, so yep, had to go with a choice from in-stock models.

You guessed it, way more than I wanted to spend.

But what are you going to do when you need it?

Once again, c'est la vie!

from http://www.develop3d.com/sustainability/whole-systems-thinking-in-design