Tag: blogging

moving forward, Thankful, Thursday

Is it Friday yet…and TF#7

Movin' it with Michelle

 

Anyone else feel like 2019 has been off to a rough start? Between 3 weeks of Bronchitis, getting slammed with a 500/month house payment increase  this year as a result of a mistake in our escrow last year (WTH?), and the never ending debt we have incurred due to moving to Florida (we didn’t get any relocation assistance and moving across country is crazy expensive), and ongoing vet bills for my Sammy (he had two bouts of cancer last year and I just found a couple possible more bumps), we just can’t seem to catch a break. I had hoped at my age I’d finally start to feel “comfortable” but nope…ah such is life. It’ll happen eventually, right?

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Which is a perfect Segway in to my thankful post…because I do always TRY to look on the bright side. So here goes…

  1. Bacon Cheeseburgers. Yup, this girl that eats healthy 90% of the time has a secret weakness for bacon cheeseburgers. It is my favorite comfort food paired with crispy French fries and after the week I’ve been having, I treated myself to this amazing indulgence today at lunch and had no regrets. Ok, I regretted it a little after I started to fall in to a carb coma an hour after eating it, but hey…it was worth it.
  2. Hot showers/running water. After a long day at work I love to take a hot shower and destress. Sometimes I cry, sometimes I sing, and sometimes I just shut my mind off.
  3. Rest days. My legs aren’t quite as sore today, but that good ole right knee that gives me constant issues still isn’t happy with me.
  4. Friends that check on you when you are quiet. These friends are the best, because they can hear you even when you aren’t talking. They just know.
  5. Rain. We had quite the storm roll in at around 3 am this morning and while I am not thankful for the early morning wake up call, our grass looks greener already.

How has your year started out? What is your greatest weakness in regards to food? Thanks for all of your likes, comments and shares. I love this amazing community!

Cheers,

Michelle

half marathon training, Thankful

Wednesday’s Thankful #6

Movin' it with Michelle

Ok guys, I am not going to lie. I am going to have to dig deep to not be a little repetitive in my thankful post today, because I am having a bit of a struggle compiling my list. Sunshine and my dog are a given. Today was a rough day at work, and I’ll simple put between instrumentation and staffing issues this year, I snapped. I snapped at doctors, snapped at coworkers, hell I even snapped at myself for snapping and quickly apologized to the victims of my snaps, LOL.

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My thankful post for today:

  1. My ability to still run off the stress of a bad day even when my legs feel heavier than the sandbags I filled for Hurricane Irma (click link to check out my first month of adventures in FL) back in 2017!!!! I’m in week 9 (having missed 3 weeks due to bronchitis) of training so I can’t quit now!
  2. My husband, who on days like today is extra sweet, extra supportive, and even had dinner ready when I got home from my run.
  3. The fact that my daughters come to me with their problems. The fact they feel I am a “safe zone” shows me I’ve at least done something right despite the struggle of the preteen/teen years.
  4. The roof over my head, and food on the table. I often find myself for wanting more, when really I have all that I need.
  5. HUMP DAY! We’re almost to Friday, y’all!!!

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What are you thankful for today? Do you have a favorite day of the week?

Cheers!

Michelle

moving forward, Thankful

Thankful #5

Movin' it with Michelle

Today was a pretty hectic day, so this post will be short and sweet.

Today I am thankful for:

  1. The ugliness in my life, for it helps me appreciate the beauty.
  2. Two years ago today my husband returned on U.S. soil after being deployed to Iraq for a year. So I am so thankful he came home safely, again.
  3. Quick dinners for busy nights. I made a large batch of meatballs on Sunday so I didn’t have to cook today! Winning!
  4. My dog. Even after the hardest day at work, he’s there at the door to greet me and he makes all the “yuck” go away.
  5. 70 degree evenings. I’ve my slider opened and am listening to the sand cranes wiz by while they sing their evening songs.
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My Sammy, begging for food more times than not, LOL

 

What are you thankful for today? Do you have pets? How is the weather where you are at?

Cheers,

Michelle

half marathon training, moving forward, Thankful

Week 8 long run/Thankful #4

Movin' it with Michelle

I have been down for the count for exactly 3 weeks. My last long run was Christmas where I was able to run 5 miles fairly easily as I’ve been running 3-4 miles for quite some time. I’ve only walked/ran a couple of times since then, so decided I either 1. get off my butt and run (even if that meant some walking due to coughing still), or 2. ditch the notion of running the Gasparilla half marathon on February 24th in St. Petersburg FL. My hubby is also running this race, but is three weeks ahead of me in training and I know he didn’t want to slow down to run my slower pace so I sent him off for his long run so I could run solo.

The temps were in the perfect low 60’s and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. There were however, left over winds from the crazy storms we got last night which took my breath away several times. I ran the first loop (3.2 miles) slowly but I felt quite strong. I started to feel a little light headed, so I ran past my house to fuel and take a potty break. I had a HUMA chia gel which are my go-to for long run fueling, some water, and I headed back out. I did ok until I hit mile 5 and this was my “wall” to today’s long run. I slowed to a pace of 11:54 and mile 6 was an 11:53. Thankfully I caught a second wind and my last mile was 11:14 with an average pace of 11:18. I am learning that it’s not always about pace, and that I need to celebrate the distance.

 

Today I am thankful for:

  1. Long runs=therapy sessions. I am thankful for the hour and twenty minutes I had to myself to think, process issues and just enjoy the sunshine.
  2. The ability to run as I get older. My knees have 30+ years of running in their  history and I often struggle with a short run. Thankfully supplements, creams, and knee braces are my saving grace.
  3. Sleeping in. I know, I used this one yesterday but having the extra day to the weekend did wonders for my sleep deprivation.
  4. Sunshine and perfect running weather.
  5. Perspective. I used to always worry about running faster and running farther. Now I simply try my hardest and enjoy every mile.

Did you work today? What’s your favorite way to release stress? Are you training for any races right now?

Cheers,

Michelle

 

moving forward, Thankful

Thankful #1

Movin' it with Michelle

My friend Maria over @RunningFlaps is posting daily 5 things she is thankful for. While I will be realistic that I won’t post every day, I am going to make a concerted effort to post daily. This will one, help me in my goal of writing more and two, help me appreciate my daily life. Here goes…

  1. I am thankful for my family. They spoiled me with cards and flowers for my birthday yesterday and we have a fun filled weekend planned to celebrate my 46 years on this planet.
  2. I am thankful for my job. While I don’t love it, it helps provide for my family.
  3. I am thankful for living in Florida. Tomorrow I will get my first taste of Vitamin “Sea” in almost 6 months and I really need it.
  4. I am thankful that my almost 3 week cold is finally starting to go away. While I still have my cough, its loosened and lessened and I will celebrate small victories.
  5. I am thankful for the hundreds of Facebook messages, texts, phone calls and messages wishing me a happy birthday yesterday.

What are you thankful for today?

 

Cheers,

Michelle

goals, moving forward

New Year goals and thoughts

Movin' it with Michelle

I started out my 2019 with a nasty cold that has left me down for the count the last two days. Thankfully we were able to ring in the new year with some new friends that are also from the Chicagoland area, and are now Florida transplants as well.

I wanted to start my new year out with a run and list of goals for the year, neither of which have happened yet. So here’s my first draft, or more so a rough draft of some goals I have this year.

  1. Run at least 2-3 per week, and do core daily, even if that’s just a plank daily. I still have the #sixpackbysummer goal, and summer in Florida starts in just a couple of months. I am almost at my weight loss goal from last year, so I will continue to maintain and maybe lose an extra lb. or two.
  2. Sign up for more races, because to be honest its hard to keep my running motivation if I don’t have a race coming up. Our next half is the end of February in St. Pete, Florida. No goal time for that race, just want to finish strong. I missed last week’s long run, but hopefully this cough will be gone by the weekend so I can make up for it.
  3. Love myself more, and put myself first more. It’s always been about my family, my job, etc. etc. I need to make it more about me, cuz hey, my 46th birthday is right around the corner and I don’t have all the time in the world anymore.
  4. Write more, really write…I always wanted to write a book/cook book but here another year has passed and I haven’t pursued either. Again, time isn’t something I can waste anymore.
  5. And lastly, figure out how to make a living doing something I love. Not that my job isn’t important or that I dislike it. But I am ready to either move up in my career, or move on. But of course there are those bills to pay, so we shall see. I am not giving up hope.

What are you goals for 2019? Do you do resolutions?

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Happy New Year everyone!

Cheers,

Michelle

 

Keto adventures, moving forward, running

Milestone Monday!

Movin' it with Michelle

Well wasn’t this a pleasant surprise. My blog 6-7 years old, and is just my tiny little space to share some of my passions so it’s always fun to see it hanging in there between moments of lapse. Life, moving, deployments, and everything else in between have kept me pretty busy. But I’ll always have this little space in the universe.

Today I wanted to get a few miles in after work. I walked the first mile, and once the cloud and thunder rolled in, I ran the last mile and cut it short for safety reasons. The lightning here is no joke!

We’re starting week 6 of Keto and we’re hanging in strong. I didn’t weigh myself this morning but am still at around a 4-5 lbs weight loss.

How was your day? Ever have your run cut short due to weather?

Cheers!

Michelle

goals, moving forward

Thoughts.

Movin' it with Michelle

Man, I’ve got lots of empty notebooks. Every time I buy a new notebook I get so excited that I’ll find the inspiration to start writing and another week, month, year passes without a single sentence written down. I’m praying I can get past that block in the upcoming year. I’m hoping these daily posts will help a little as well.

Here’s my favorite pic from today.

How do you break writers block? Are you reading any good books lately?

Cheers!

Michelle

moving forward, real life adventures

I voted!

Movin' it with Michelle

In all my 20 years of being in the Air Force, I voted by absentee ballot. And I’ll admit, I didn’t vote in the last Presidential election for personal and probably obvious reasons.

So today for the very first time, I voted. My hubby and I went out after dinner to vote in the primary elections and I surprisingly got really choked up. How moving it was to exercise my right to vote and do so physically as a Florida resident. I felt truly honored and patriotic.

Did you get out and vote today? Have you ever skipped voting in the Presidential election? I’ll admit, I had a little guilt that year.

In other news, our run got postponed today due to crazy thunder and lightning storms. Praying for better weather tomorrow.

Also-I’m attempting a writing streak so bear with my random posts that don’t follow any sort of pattern 🙂

Cheers,

Michelle

Celebrate the good, Uncategorized

Things I am celebrating…

Movin' it with Michelle

Sorry for my absence as of late. My days are filled with work, and I spend my evenings with my hubby as we are still getting used to being around one another. Any spare time has been spent with my family. Thus, the blog and my running have taken a back seat…that will hopefully change soon!!

Here’s what we’ve been up to!!!!!

In the last month we’ve eaten tons of amazing food at some very wonderful restaurants, taken an amazing family trip to Disney, and I am currently stepping outside of my comfort zone at my job (time will tell if anything pans out, but I am still celebrating that I had the courage to go for it anyhow!).

I’ve also been cooking a lot more, especially Sunday suppers and I just finished the super fun MasterClass series by Gordon Ramsay. I’ve gone through the instructional videos once, having re-watched the “how to break down a whole chicken” video a few times and attempted my first breakdown on Sunday with success. It wasn’t perfect, but I did it!!

Had a little help from my hubby!!

I have not, however, been running. I haven’t quite figured out where that is going to fit in my already busy day, and I need to figure it out pretty quickly as training for the Chicago Marathon will need to commence before I know it. I think once the weather warms up a little more, and we continue to get more day light, it’ll be a little easier to make the time after work.

How have you all been? Tell me something that’s new with you in the last month or so!!

Cheers!

Michelle