On the Move to Valdosta
Since my last post was borderline disturbing, with ALL of that food, I thought I would make this post about my quest to get active this year. Also let me add in, No, we don’t have our flight date yet or know exactly when we’ll be home, when we know we’ll let you know! =D
Active, is just something I’ve never been. Sedentary crafter, yes, most of my life. I love to make things and learn to make things, but sadly neither of those require getting physical. This year I decided my New Year’s resolution would be to get active, and so I did. I, along with my best friend Emily, signed up for an 8 week bootcamp. Monday- Thursday 4:45-5:45 AM we were at the gym. I did end up missing a week because I pulled my lower back, but it had been a while so it was bound to happen. The bootcamp was a great start, and definitely brought out a level of confidence I haven’t seen…ever. I’ve started frequenting zumba classes and body sculpt with Josh. I go on walks or runs occasionally during the day or do some sort of workout at home. I feel SO much better and I can fit into tons of stuff I haven’t been able to for 3+ years.
I felt a lot of shame being a spouse of someone who is so active, while being so overweight and inactive. It’s not that I expect us to always have similar interests or anything, but I never want to feel like I’m holding him back and I did. I saw pictures of myself and I looked like a stuffed sausage in my clothes, I was unhappy with the way I felt and I had gained a good bit of weight in a small amount of time. While I’ve been here I ended up on the scale looking at 199- 1 pound short of 200(I’m sure on a bad day I was over). That was quite a while ago now, slowly I’ve maintained my weight loss and at the end of bootcamp she told me I was 166. GOODBYE to those 33 pounds! Now sure, that’s still more than most of my friends weigh on a bad day, but that is some progress! I’m working on it everyday and trying to make better choices food wise, but let’s face it I’m still a carb junky =] It took a lot less time to put these pounds on than it is taking me to shed them but I know every squat, every push-up is worth it.
I know a lot of my friends understand where I’m coming from or can relate. I always just told myself I was going to be a big girl, and nothing was going to change that. I just never realized how steadily the scale was rising. We all have our breaking point where we decide that it’s time. I hope that if any of my friends(or family) feel like they’re struggling or they need motivation that they can always talk to me. I still have bad days where I want to eat a whole bag of sour cream and onion chips and not move from the couch, but I don’t let that happen. I hear/see a lot of excuses from people. I don’t have time to work out, yet your on facebook for half of the day. You don’t have the energy, you would, if you got off the couch. It bothers me, I would rather someone just say “I don’t want to workout” and own up to it. Sometimes you’re just not ready, and don’t be afraid to say it out loud. But just know that the longer you wait, the harder it will be. I believe in me now, and I believe in all of you too!
You are good enough.
You CAN run.
You are beautiful NO MATTER WHAT THE SCALE SAYS!
Mozart Balls in Salzburg and a pretzel larger than Josh’s head =)
Today is Valentine’s day in Okinawa! Yes, they do celebrate it but there is a slight twist on it. On Valentine’s women are supposed to give the men in their lives a gift, something simple like chocolates. But don’t fret ladies, it comes back to us on White day(March 14) which is where the men return the favor ;)
All is well in Oki and today is a gorgeous day. There’s still a bit of chill in the air, but that won’t last long! We are working on getting out of here towards the end of April. I’m growing more and more excited about the idea of getting out of here, and seeing all of my family and friends! We have so many beautiful babies to love on when we get back, I can’t wait. We have web orders right now to New Orleans but we’re waiting on Josh’s actual orders so we have a date for everyone wondering when we’ll be back. Once the time comes, please please be patient with us! We have so many people to see, places to go, and things to eat(you know we’ll be eating EVERYTHING) that we will be quite busy! So for now, I suppose it’s time to start decluttering the house and selling or donating anything we don’t need.
Josh medaled at division matches and I couldn’t be prouder! He got silvers in both rifle and pistol. He’s been the platoon sergeant again for a while but is about to hand it over to someone else so that we can get out of here! We’ve both started working out more. Josh is trying to gain muscle and I’m trying to burn off this fat! I started an 8week boot camp about 5 weeks ago and I’m pretty sure it’s the best thing I’ve done for myself. I have barely seen the scale move, but luckily I’ve lost quite a few inches off my waist and hips! So I’m just replacing that fat with muscle, I’ll take it! We’ve been going to zumba together the past few times and it’s been really nice to have him there. We laugh, sweat, shake it a little, but it’s just nice to do something active with him. Other than that our lives have been pretty boring. I guess what they say is true, no news is good news…
As most of you know, who know us, we went on a Mediterranean cruise this past summer. It was one of those truly life changing vacations. Not because we saw the Colosseum or the Parthenon, but because we made amazing friends and had too many amazing experiences to recant. We made friends with two couples(Kasia and Mario, and Regina and Kevin) who we really ended up getting to know along the way and enjoyed their companionship so much, maybe even too much! We drank too much wine and ate like we would never eat again and every second was amazing. I would say that we laughed too much, but one can never laugh enough. One moment that will forever stick out in my mind was in Florence, coincidentally on Josh’s birthday.. We were walking from the Galleria Accademia towards the Basilica Di Santa Maria Del Fiore(above picture). We had just seen the famous statue of David and plenty more of Michelangelo’s works, but we were rushed and herded through the gallery much like cattle. I was thankful that we were able to see everything we wanted to that day but cruise excursions are so pushy and obnoxious at times. We were walking back towards the square when we heard the most beautiful sound. Once we made it to the street exit we could see there was a man sitting on a park bench beside the Church playing a cello solo. Josh and I stopped in amazement and listened with all of the hustle and bustle around us. The acoustics of the area couldn’t be more perfect and each note rang deep throughout our souls(as cliché as it sounds) in such a moving way. It didn’t take long for my eyes to well up with tears to the point where I didn’t want to speak, because I knew that at any second they would stream down my face. We couldn’t stay long because we had to catch up to the group and get on to the next attraction. I wish I could have stayed and just listened for hours, but those minutes gave me enough to cling to for a lifetime. All day I marveled at the sound I had heard that morning, and ever since it pops up in my mind and I can hear it all over again. Of course we tipped him well, it would have been hard not to. He did what most musicians wish they could do, in less than 5 minutes. This morning I woke up and I’m not sure why but that cellist popped into my head and kept me up for several hours. I thought about the music and about how beautiful that moment in my life was. I thought about how fortunate I am to have had such a moment, and others like it. I thought about how close I felt to Josh in that moment. I wish I could thank the cellist for such an amazing memory. I hope that everyone has a moment as profound that they can relate to and I hope that in some point in our lives you’ll share it with me.
