Texas Heat! No Rain = No Fireworks!

If you're one of our family or friends that doesn't live in Texas.....let me tell you something.....It has been hot, hot, HOT here in Texas!  By noon it's at 98 degrees, and when the sun goes down, we still stay at about 90 something degrees.  Throughout the day, we often linger between 103 to 112 degrees!!!  We haven't been getting much rain which is contributing to all of this heat.  I think we were going about a month and a half without rain for a little while there.  There have been fires popping up everywhere.  We've already had fires that started as close as 5-10 miles from our house!!!  It's been CRAZY!!!

Needless to say, since we've been in this crazy heat/drought/ fires popping up, we weren't allowed to shoot off fireworks, at least in the Houston area.  The Woodlands area (in which we live in is just north of Houston) is on a burn ban and you would be fined HUGE for setting off some fireworks.  The Woodlands, every year, has set up a nice fireworks display for the community for the 4th of July ever since 1975.  This was the first year since 1975 The Woodlands chose to not put on their production which was very sad for me because every year I sit at the Concert in the Park with my family, listen to a live band, and watch the show.  In the downtown Houston area, however, they went ahead and did their traditional fireworks display they do every year.  I guess because you have more buildings than trees.

Of course, I knew that area was probably going to be a madhouse since that was the ONLY fireworks display happening in our area, so Tyson and I just watched it on our T.V. at our house.  We spent the day lounging around at my parents' pool, and then just chilled out at home.  I must admit though, it was nice to not hear fireworks popping off in the middle of the night in our neighborhood.  The biggest reason I was happy about this is because our K9 dog, Rosco, FREAKS out when he hears them.  He would have been barking all night.  Tyson calls our K9 a huge walking contradiction.  He's scared of the vaccum cleaner, and I mean tuck his tail between his legs and run off to hide in a corner scared, he's scared of fireworks, the blowdryer, etc.............yet............he's not scared of running into an unknown, possibly dark building to bite a bad guy.  Silly boy.

Anyways, we're trying to stay cool!  Drinking our fluids and trying to hang out at my parents' pool once in a while.  I don't know how we've been keeping up with our Crossfitting in this heat!  It makes the workouts HARDER!  I can't wait until it cools down... 

Baby, Baby, Baby!

Last weekend me, and my sister's sister-in-laws held a baby shower for Rebecca and Shane at my house.  There were sooooooooooo many people.  Shane has A LOT of family and friends.  I have never seen a baby shower that jam packed before!  I felt so bad because we were crammed into my house, and the air conditioner was having a hard time keeping up with the amount of people, along with the oven going, and our door constantly opening and closing.  Everything went as smooth as it could go.  I am thankful Tyson was there to help.  He's such a wonderful man!  He got up in the wee hours of the morning after working until 3 o'clock in the morning and did the dishes, helped my step mom cook, help me set up, and overall...just helped me throughout the baby shower.  I kept thinking in my head that I don't know very many men in this world who would have done half of the things he did.  I know it was all out of love. :)

Overall, the baby shower went great and my sister and her husband made it out of the baby shower like bandits!  They got SO MUCH STUFF!!!  I think they're pretty much set!  I feel so happy for my sister to be so blessed to have married into such a wonderful, and also HUUUUUUUUGE family.  That baby is going to be so spoiled and loved!  Here are just a few shots from the baby shower.  Rebecca is now 5, almost 6 months.  I can't remember the exact weeks.  There are more photos of the baby shower.  Just go to the top of our blog and click on our Picasa Photo Albums.  Also, last post I accidentally typed in the wrong web address for Crossfit so sorry to those who clicked it and came to a blank page.  I have permanently posted their web address underneath our Picasa Photo Albums address if you are interested in what it's all about and possibly would like to try it.  Sort of free advertisement for them!  HA!

The cake table.  I got them that Mom + Dad = Me frame and put a picture of Becca and Shane with an ultrasound of Braxton!  Cute!  Cute!  Shane's mom and sister-in-laws put together that awesome diaper cake!

Mommy and Daddy-to-be!

Baby Bump!

The cake!

My mom with Rebecca!

Opening gifts.  This gift was a onsie that said, "I'd rather be naked"  HA!!!

Pictures of the sisters!

Summer Swoldiers

Summer is finally here!  Yayayayay!!!  I'm so excited for some well desered R & R, while Tyson will be busy taking summer courses while working.  All of them are night classes though.....BLEGH!.....But a man's got to do what a man's got to do!  This summer we plan on continuing our Crossfit journey on to becoming buff "swoll-diers."  The Texas heat has been kicking my rear end!  Doing what we have to do at Crossfit is hard enough in itself, but out in the HEAT!!!  GAHHH!!  In Texas, we've been hitting some record high heats.  It's only the beginning of June, and we've already been around 100 degree weather!!!!!  This summer is definitely going to be a hot one!  Talk about some serious heat exhaustion issues.  I'm about to place bets on when I'm going to throw up for the first time on one of these work outs.  Tyson already has...so that's one man down.  I see my day coming. :-/  Eeeek! 

Tyson's looking great!  He's putting on more muscle and leaning out if you can see in the pictures below.  He's going to kill me for putting what I call his "stud muffin" picture down at the bottom.  We're both getting stronger and reaching goals we've never been able to accomplish ourselves.  I'm a HECK of a lot stronger than I've ever been.  Bench press is one of my stronger upper body lifts, and just the other day I was able to put the what I call the "BIG BOY" weights on.  They have smaller, plain, black weights that look girly, but then they have the BIG BOYS that are large and colorful that look like the real deal.  Well.....I was finally able to slap those suckers on the barbell and bench it.  It felt so good!!!  Also, I'm able to knock out 10 (CORRECT) strict push ups.  I used to barely be able to get ONE without fighting it. My first few goals are accomplished, but now I'm going to push myself to continue to add more weight on all my lifts and get my first pull up.  Tyson's reached his first goal of getting a muscle up on the gymnastic rings, so he's pretty proud of it.  The trainer got a video of him doing it, but we haven't gotten it yet.  Anyways, below are some pictures to show what we're up to!  By the way, if you live in The Woodlands area and want something that is going to push you beyond your limits, I HIGHLY suggest this place, Lift Strong Run Fast a.k.a. Crossfit The Woodlands.  Check it out! liftsrtongrunfast.com  I LOVE the results I'm seeing on both Tyson and me!

Tyson doing the AMRAP for the day.  The AMRAP included 5 barbell thrusters, 7 chin ups, and 9 kettle bell sumo deadlift high pulls, and you did that set over and over and over for 20 minutes straight.  One of the longest 20 minutes of my life!  Oh...and did I mention that this was AFTER 30 minutes of lifting weights and strength training???  Talk about muscle pre-exhaust!

Me doing the chin ups.  You can see the fight in my face.  This work out hurt so bad.....I'm mean GOOD! ;)

This was this Monday's workout.  After doing 8 suicide sprints, and 3 sets of 10 GHR's and 20 step ups, we had to do 3 rounds of 50 double unders, 20 goblet squats, and run for 200 meters all for time (see how fast you could do it).  Another exhausting workout.

This was during Tuesday's workout.  The trainer snapped a picture of us lying on the ground, worn out.  The trainer told us to look exhausted, and this is what we gave her: me with a smile and Tyson playing dead.





  

Summer Breeze...Makes Me Feel Fine...

Summer is almost here!!!! I'm looking SO forward to it! It means a little break away from kids, more time to spend not being so exhausted, time with family, and more time to see Tyson.

Next week is my last week of school. We have tomorrow off because of Memorial Day then I have only 3 days with my students. Thursday is their last day, while Friday is mine. But, that Friday is going to be a breeze.  It's only half a day and we get to eat a yummy staff breakfast!

Yesterday my family celebrated my dad turning 50 this past Thursday. Here is a picture of us celebrating. I insisted we sing happy birthday to my dad, but we didn't have any candles. My dad solved the problem by putting a lighter above he cake while we sang to him. Hy-ster-i-cal! HAHA! I had to get a picture.

I love any time I get to spend with my family. We bar-b-que and chill out by the pool. My sister came into town, as well as my brother. Well, he's really my cousin, but I consider him a brother. It's always good to see them! My sister looks fabulous with her ever growing baby bump. I got to feel Braxton bop around in there, which is such a magical feeling. It just makes me more anxious to meet his sweet face. We talked about all kinds of pregnancy stuff, which I think frightened Tyson....more frightened by all of the symptoms and details that go into being pregnant and birthing.

It's hard to believe my sister is 6 months pregnant, and she's going to be a mommy! Her sister-in-laws and I are having a baby shower for her at my house in 2 weeks. Next week I will be busy cleaning and prepping! Thank goodness summer break is almost here!

Childhood Home, Baby, and Turning 50

So I'm sitting here, in my sweat, after a HORRENDOUS, but kick your butt, GOOD work out at Crossfit today.....you know....the type that makes you want to cry while doing it, but you feel so accomplished afterwards???  No?  Yes? 

So...I'm sitting here thinking...
I'm sitting here thinking, "Too bad Tyson missed that work out today, and if today's work out was any indication for what's to come at Crossfit for the rest of the week, then he's lucky he's on vacation!!!"  I'm kind of sad that I won't see Tyson for a week, especially since I've felt like I haven't seen him in 2 because of the mix of his job, my job and end of the year obligations, his late night and early morning K9 trainings, and his schooling. ::sigh::  Makes me sad.  Where's Tyson you might ask???  Well, he's off to Florida with his dad!  I'm very excited for him.  For quite a while now, Tyson's been talking about taking Hugh on a trip back to Florida where Hugh grew up as a young boy.  It's just something special Tyson's been wanting to do with his dad.  So, they're going to have some father/son bonding time in Florida.  I can't wait to hear about the trip!  Hopefully I'll see some pictures.  Come to think of it...I should have given Tyson my camera.  But...then again...he's not "snap happy" like me, so he probably would have gotten ONE photo taken.

As you all know, one of my younger sisters is pregnant.  Well, a couple of weeks ago, we found out the sex of the baby and it is a BOY!  I'm so excited and I'm probably just as impatient as my sister to see his cute little face.  The name will be Braxton Talley Bean.  Braxton is a random name that both my sister and her husband shouted out together one day when they were trying to think of boy names.  Since they both so "coinky dinky" shouted that name at the same time, they thought it was meant to be.  Talley is a family name through Shane's side.  Here's a picture of my little nephew!  Love him already!

On another note, my dad will be turning 50 on May 26th!  My dad can't seem to believe it, but I think he looks GREAT for 50!  Especially now that he's clean from smoking for about 3 years now.  I'm so proud of him!  We're holding a what's supposed to be a surprise (but it's not a surprise anymore) birthday BBQ party for him.  I'm trying to think of what to get him for his birthday, but I'm just so stuck.

Anyways!  I have 12 more school days left until I complete my second year of teaching!  YAYAYAYAY!  I couldn't be more excited for summer to get here!  I'm EXHAUSTED.  Tyson is just a couple of classes away from his Associate's and I think he's going to try and knock that out this summer.  After that...it's on to his Bachelor's!  Otherwise, nothing new.  Still staying active and working, working, working!  Hope everyone else is doing well!

New Food Obsessions

So...along with my Crossfitting I've been on this clean eating kick. I've learned your diet makes up 80% of your body composition. Exercising is useless if you don't watch what you eat. Poor Tyson is forced to eat clean with me....of course....when he's not at work; although, I KNOW that when he's at work, he's cheating.......and it's usually probably not his cheat day. TSK! TSK! Right now, I have two clean food obsessions:

Oatmeal and protein powder with cinnamon
and........
Clean French Toast Sticks
      

Mmmm!!! I look forward to breakfast EVERYDAY! I just can't get enough!  I used to not eat breakfast back in high school and throughout college. Shame on me! Now, I can't live without it! I wanted to post my Clean French Toast receipe for anyone wanting to try it!

Clean French Toast Sticks
(Makes 6 servings)

Ingredients:
6 egg whites
1 cup skim milk
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 Tbsp. olive oil
6 slices of whole wheat french bread, cut into 4 slices. (I prefer to use Ezekiel bread instead. It's a protein bread that's whole grain and flourless. Lower carbs, AND there's no added crud to the bread....ie: unbleached wheat flour, hydrogenated oils, etc.!)
3 Tbsp. 100% maple syrup

Instructions:
In a shallow bowl, combine egg whites, milk, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat. Dip both sides of bread evenly in egg mixture.

Cooking in batches, place bread pieces in a single layer in skillet and cook for 3-5 minutes on each side until lightly browned. Serve with syrup.

Nutritional Information (per 4 sticks and 1/2 Tbsp. maple syrup serving):
Now, this is the "overall" nutritional information that the website for this receipe gave me. It's going to be a little different depending on the type of bread and how much maple syrup you use.

Calories: 147
Fat: 3.5 g.
Carbs: 21g
Protein 9g.

Catching Up

I have been slacking on this thing, I know! So sorry! Nothing too new with us. We just celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary end of March. We didn't do anything to celebrate because Tyson had to work. :( I did get a guitar for our wedding anniversary because I've always wanted to learn to play. Now that I got one, it's time to start learning!

Work is going well for both of us. There's nothing new in Tyson's job world, still doing the K9 thing. He's getting ready to go into instructor and F.T.O. school so he can be trained to teach some training classes up at his department, and the F.T.O. school is to train newly hired officers of the department. I'm wrapping up my second year of teaching. Only 30 something more days! C'mon summer! I am also so very thankful that I still have a job and work for the school district that I do with all of these budget cuts occurring. VERY scary!

Crossfit is going AWESOME! We're getting stronger and noticing changes in our bodies. Speaking of stronger!!!!!.........I deadlifted 200 lbs. yesterday, which to me is quite impressive for my size. I'm so EXCITED about that! I especially like that I'm getting that more fit look that I've always wanted to achieve that I couldn't seem to get with cardio and baby weights alone. Our trainers have defintely opened my eyes up to the importance of weight lifting and the significant effect it has on fat loss. I'm losing inches I never thought I could lose, so here's a message to you ladies.....YOU WON'T BULK! You'll just gain lean muscle, rev up that metabolism, AND create that afterburn that allows to you continue to burn calories. Gah! I just love all of this stuff, and I would love to be a personal trainer! Now, if only I could get that OOOOOONE pull-up without a spotter.............. That's the goal I'm trying to reach.