60 Days of Insanity - Check!

My last day of Insanity was on Sunday (9/9). I can now say that I survived the Insanity workout. I’ve also submitted the necessary form & photos to receive my free Insanity t-shirt! Just like the back of the t-shirt says, “I earned it.”

On August 6th, I started my last 30 days of Insanity which is a totally different set of DVDs. Needless to say, they are extremely harder than the first 30 days, but I guess that was to be expected. Now I understand why it’s called Insanity – those DVDs pushed me to a whole other workout level & after doing P90X, I didn’t even think that was possible. Throughout the 60 days, I was mostly excited to do the workouts. I had a few days where I just didn’t feel like working out but I forced myself to do it & afterward I felt better having done it. The calendar that I used to track my workouts showed that I missed 4 days due to sickness; I made up 3 of those days with my off days (Sundays) so there’s only 1 DVD that I didn’t actually do. I think that’s pretty good, if you ask me. I was also very thankful to have been able use the high school weight room for most of my work outs & being able to do the DVDs with Dan for the first 3-4 weeks & then with Kateri 3 to 4 days a week thereafter. As I’ve said before, working out with a buddy is so much more fun. Throughout our Insanity workouts (& when I say “our” I mean me, Dan & Kateri) we would take some goofy pictures in the weight room relishing in our post-workout glow. :P For those of you that aren’t on Facebook, here are the photos that were taken:

 

Kateri & I flexing our muscles.

 

I wanted to take a pick of Dan on my back & he wanted to take one of me on his shoulders - so, we did both...

 

 

As much as I don’t want to show you my before photos, it appears there’s no way around it; if I don’t post them you won’t have anything to compare my after photos to. Since I’m happy with my results I’m going to take a deep breath, bite my tongue & post them:

Now for some flexing photos:

 

My favorite results photo. =)

 

Dan said, "Give me some Hulk Hogan."

 

Now that I’ve completed an “extreme workout program,” I’m taking this week slow. I’ve decided to take Monday & Friday off & plan to run outside & hit the gym the rest of the week. I’m also super excited about going to the Body Combat class at Gold’s with Kateri on Saturday morning – it’s my favorite class there. Kateri & I have also talked about starting P90X this month. I really wanted to try P90X2 but, apparently, all of the reviews that I’ve read tell readers that #2 is not a program that you can just pick up like #1 is. They highly recommend completing #1 & then following it up with #2. I’ve done P90X before & I did enjoy it – especially Tony Horton’s comical personality. I’m going to bite the bullet & do what the reviews are telling me; besides, what else do I have to do?

Yep, I'm 30!

My 30th birthday was on Wednesday, August 15th & unlike some people, I usually work on my
birthday. I’m glad that I did because I had a great day – I was spoiled with flower deliveries, gifts from my co-workers, cake & ice cream & a nice dinner with Dan at Clyde’s in Ashburn followed by Sweet Frog. =) As you can see, I was feeling a lot of love that day:

 

I hardly had any room to do my actual work. ;o)



I also walked into my office to find this Happy Birthday banner. =)

I always get excited about my birthday & since it was a milestone birthday I had hinted to Dan several months in advance that I’d like to have a party. He had tried to make it a surprise party like
I did for his 30th birthday last year, but that didn’t quite pan out. I think he was just overwhelmed by
everything; he also had football camp that started that same week so needless to say he was stretched a little thin. The party was on Saturday, August 18th at our house. I have to admit that when I heard it was being held at our house I started to get a little nervous; I’ve never thought of our place as a fun  hang out spot: (1) it’s quite small; (2) we don’t have a large, fully functioning backyard for everyone to hang out in; and (3) Did I mention it was small?

On the day of the party I was pretty excited, not only were we having a party with all of my favorite people but I had to take a skirt back to H&M that I had bought a few weeks before because it was too big. Woo hoo!! Love that feeling. :D

Dan & I did a little decorating before everyone arrived at the house:

 

Our living room.

 

Our dining room with the yummy food.

 

The photo that Dan took of himself - as you can see he was pretty excited!

 

Dan also scheduled everything for Uncle Julio’s to cater the party. The food was amazing & I’m so glad he picked that restaurant; the girls & I frequent there for happy hours which always turn into dinner plans. One of my favorite places....yes, I like it better than Don Pablo’s.

I didn’t take a lot of photos at the party & now I wish I had; I always regret it later. Here are a few photos that were taken:

 

 

A few of our guests. =)

 

Li & Me hanging out on the deck.

 

2 of my favs (Li & Lue).

 

Ice cream cake!

 

Yes, Dan was in charge of taking pictures during the cake - this is why I never make him in charge of photos...

 

Yes, that's my ass - nice job, babe.

Thank you to everyone that came out to celebrate with me. I had a wonderful time. A special thank you goes out to the Hubster for planning everything & picking up on my not so subtle hints at wanting a party in the first place. I love you, soul mate.

Family Photos

 

Dan practicing his swing.

 

Don & Bridger

 

Father-Son time.

 

Sweet little Billy.

 

 

Mom & Winker.

 

Grandma & Grandpa T.

 

Mom & Me.

 

Lover & Me.

 

Mom & Aunt Lori.

 

 

Dad & Uncle Randy.

 

Shoe of the Month ~ September

Well I was hoping to be able to feature a Fall shoe for September since we’re now into the Fall months, but with all of this warm weather what’s the point? I doubt any of you will be purchasing boots/booties any time soon...I know I won’t be. So, I decided to stick with a more summery shoe that’s also a little dressy. September’s shoe is a T-strap Colorblock Pump by Colin Stuart:

 

I’ve never been partial to the super glittered pumps that stores have had out for the past 2 summers, but for some reason the glittered accents on this shoe make me like it that much more. The heel is 5 inches with a 1 ¼ platform bringing you just below 4 inches. I’ve always loved nude shoes, but the colorblocking seems to take it out of the boring, plain old nude pump. One of my birthday gifts was a Victoria's Secret gift card & that may be going towards the purchase of these shoes. =)

Happy shopping!

Red Lights

Dan has always told me that I have a “black thumb” when it comes to traffic lights. My luck didn't seem so bad in PA when we were in college but since we moved down to VA with quadruple the traffic & a gazillion traffic lights, it can get quite annoying. Whenever we’re in the car together, we hit probably every red light there is in-between our destination. If by chance we do catch a green light Dan gets pretty excited & sometimes when we get 2 in a row we both look at each other in amazement like “Did that really just happen?” Now you may think that I’m over exaggerating, but this is the truth. Since Dan isn’t the most patient driver on the road, this totally gets under his skin; he swears that he never hits as many red lights when he’s driving by himself. Yeah, yeah.

Well I can now say that I’m no longer bothered by the obscene amount of red lights that I'm stopped at on a daily basis & I owe this revelation to my brother. During Ben’s memorial service we played a song by Jonny Lang titled “Red Light” which, like all of the music on that day, he wanted played.

Jonny Lang is one of my brother's favorite musicians & I really do love his voice. I'm thankful that Ben introduced this music to me because this song now holds a special place in my heart. Now I’m sure I’ll still have those moments when I’m in a hurry & I’ll get frustrated by a traffic light but for the most part I honestly enjoy them now. I use that time to think about Ben, his sweet smile & reflect on all of the good times we had together. Sister loves you brother...