3 Perfect 10's!!!

Our crazy BFF, Brent, turned the big 3-0 on November 15!  And of course...we celebrated as one big happy family...off to the ranch we went!!!  Brent and Bria, and their entire family on Bria's side, own a ranch with a beautiful ranch house on it about 10 miles outside of Strawn.  It was built back in 2001, and is perfect for a huge family get together, or a fun weekend trip with friends!  I believe the house has like 15 bedrooms and 18-20 bathrooms...I can't remember the exact number!  There's a study, formal living room, sun room, play room, living room, and a huge kitchen and dining room.  When the family built this house, they built it so that they could all get together and everyone have their own bedroom and bathroom so that they could all stay together and be as one big family during the holiday's or other special time.  They also rented it out for big corporations and church groups to come and have retreats there when the family wasn't going to be there.  It's an amazing home, and even though it's so big, it feels so homey because of who you are there with.  When Bria was thinking about what to do for Brent's b-day, she knew this would be the perfect weekend getaway.  The boys could go out and fish in the tanks, shoot clays, and just ride around being boys.  Us girls could chit chat, cook, tag along with the boys, and just spend time together.

Brent's b-day weekend started off on Friday night with all of us meeting in Strawn at the famous Mary's Cafe.  It's a little whole in the wall (well...not really anymore...it's become so popular and famous that it's grown a ton) place that serves some of the best home cooking you'll ever put in your mouth.  But, what they're really famous for is their chicken fried steaks.  You can get a small, medium, or large and it comes with any two sides of your choice.  Let me just give you an idea of how big these bad boys are.  The large takes up an entire oval plate!  Cody ordered the medium and it took up over half of his plate, the rest was filled up with fries, and a side salad was in a bowl all by itself!  Everyone else ordered a small...and it was plenty of food!  They also bring the gravy out in a big serving bowl so you can put all that yummy goodness on top of your chicken fry...and also dip your fries in it!  I didn't eat...I know...I'm a loser :-(  But...I did get a couple of bites from Cody's plate...it never disappoints!  After a delicious (and filling) dinner at Mary's, we headed to the ranch to unload all of our stuff, change into our comfy clothes, and sit around and just hang out.  After a few minutes of TV watching, the boys went into the dining room to play a fun little game with cups and ping pong balls...I'm sure you know what game that is!  Us girls stayed in the living room and poured up a glass of wine and just talked and relaxed...it was wonderful!  After a little while, the boys challenged us to a game, so we headed into the dinging room to show them up.  We had a blast laughing, talking, teasing, and taunting one another...and after a few more games we decided to have some rematches the next day.  Somewhere along the night, I stumped the tar out of my pinky toe on my right foot.  So...we all laughed some more while I hobbled around the house for the rest of the night!  After I stumped my toe, we went outside for a bit and shot at some cans...then called it a night!

We all woke up at different times on Saturday morning.  But, as we each got up, we went straight to the Keurig to make some delicious coffee!  After everyone was up, we all made breakfast, then hung out in the kitchen and talked for a little while.  Then...the boys decided it was time to head down to the tank to do some fishing!  So...us girls decided to tag along.  The weather was absolutely beautiful.  It was in the low 60's that day and the wind wasn't blowing very much.  So, it was absolutely amazing to sit on the edge of the tank and talk while the boys fished.  It was so peaceful and relaxing just being outside with the sun shining down on us.  It had been a long time since we had all been able to just go somewhere and forget about all the stress and hustle and bustle of everyday life and be out in nature and hang out together.  It was an absolute perfect morning and early afternoon!  After the boys were done fishing, they decided we should drive around to another tank on the back part of the ranch and see what all was happening over there.  Well...we got there and the tank was dry :-(  But...never fear!  They found tons of clay pigeons...some broken...some not...all on the bottom of the tank.  So, they set them up in the trees across the tank and began shooting at them from the opposite side.  We loved watching them pick the clays up and put them in the trees and proceed to shoot at them!  They were so funny...just like little kids!  It's great to be able to get aways and just "be."  We talked some more while the boys played and then our tummies started telling us it was time to eat.  So, we headed back to the house and made sandwiches for lunch.  The boys then decided to play a few more games with their cups and ping pong balls :-) and we started getting some things ready for dinner.  But...we realized we needed to run to the store first for some reinforcements and a few extra ingredients that we needed that we didn't bring from home.  So...off to town we went!  Strawn doesn't really have a grocery store, so we headed down the road to Desdemona (which was about 15 miles away) to pick up some groceries...and do a little piddling!  We got back to the house and then we were ready to start things for dinner!  But...we noticed that the boys were missing.  We had no idea where they might have gone, but we knew that were probably off doing "manly" things!  Brent had asked Bria to make him a Paleo coconut birthday cake, so we were in the middle of doing that and prepping the veggies for dinner when the boys came barreling in the door!  They had been fishing again and Dallas had caught a huge catfish!  They had also caught a few other, smaller, fish...so they decided to fillet them up and cook them for dinner.  We were having steak and chicken...so the fish were an excellent addition!  After everything was ready to be put in the oven and on the grill, us girls went and took a quick shower while the boys played.  We still had some time to kill before we needed to get back in the kitchen to finish up dinner, so we decided to pour a drink and go sit in the sitting room and talk.  It's so nice to just sit back and talk to your girlfriends!  It was much needed...and something we love doing!  We spend a lot of time together...but not a lot of time just being able to sit and talk with no distractions.  So it was amazing and exactly what we needed!  Then, we were off to finish getting dinner ready!  The boys were still playing, but they came over to get the meat ready and throw it on the grill while we worked on the veggies.  After it was all ready, we sat down as one big family and gobbled up our yummy dinner!  Logan and Macee were headed our way...they weren't able to come for the whole weekend...so they were coming on Saturday night after dinner.  We had some time to kill after we cleaned up...so back to the sitting room we went and back to the table the boys went to play some more games!  After Logan and Macee got there...it was game on!  The whole gang included, Brent, Bria, Dallas, Britain, Cody, Me, Josh, Logan, and Macee...Abbie couldn't come cause she had to work on a huge paper for her Master's :-(  We sure missed her!  We were being so silly. laughing, talking, dancing, and playing game after game of beruit...look it up on Urban Dictionary!  I bet you'll find the correlation to the name we all call it pretty quickly!  We seriously had the BEST time!  Oh...we also attempted to do back flips in the living room.  The girls stuck to hand-stand push-ups...we didn't feel like risking breaking our necks!  We got some hilarious video of the boys attempting...and some succeeding doing their back flips...you could also hear lots of giggling in the background!  All of us were just hanging out in our comfy clothes, being with each other, acting like silly college kids, celebrating one of our very best friend's birthdays.  It really doesn't get much better than that!

Sunday morning rolled around and once we were all up, we made breakfast together and drank more delicious coffee.  Bria wanted to make a big breakfast, so we all helped and made sausage, eggs, and...drum roll please...pumpkin pancakes!  Oh my yum!!!  They were delicious and a perfect addition to breakfast.  With it being fall and Thanksgiving being right around the corner...the pumpkin pancakes couldn't have been any more tasty.  Bria even bought gluten free mix so we were kinda close to Paleo...but we weren't really paying much attention to the 'ole Paleo lifestyle that weekend!  After our bellies were full, we cleaned up and got everything ready to pack up and head home.  Before it was actually time to leave, we all just gathered together in the living room and watched the first quarter of the Cowboy's game and talked for a little while.  Then, we all said our goodbyes and headed back to the real world.  I am so fortunate to have these people in my life.  They are way more than friends...they are my family and I love them dearly.  It's not very often that you have such amazing friends in your life...so we are so very blessed that we have so many!!!  Love you Brently...Happy 30th!!!

Helen, Fran, and Angie...OH MY!

If you are a CrossFitter, these three ladies are nothing new to you or your vocabulary.  If you have never done CrossFit before, or have never heard of it (which, by now, would surprise me!), then get ready...cause I'm about to tell you what's up with these three "Girls."  There are many "Girls" of CrossFit, but we have just recently done these three benchmark workouts at Elite within the past two weeks.  We have a "brag board" for both the guys and girls who are members at the gym to write down their times for benchmark workouts and their weight when we get a new 1 rep. max on anything.  Since the girls brag board is fairly new, we have been doing a lot of work trying to get our 1 rep. max for different weight lifting exercises.  And, we have also been doing various benchmark workouts...hence the title...Helen, Fran, and Angie.  The boys are doing these WODs too...they have just had a board up for awhile...but they are improving on their 1 rep. max and their times as they do these WODs more and more.  There also some "New Girls" that have come into the picture since CrossFit first began and blew up.  All of the girls WODs...both the "Benchmark Girls" and the "New Girls" WODs are no joke!  There are also "Hero Workouts" that will just almost push you to passing out!  Which is awesome because it means that you gave it everything you had!  What I love about Helen, Fran, and Angie is that they all have pull-ups and they will all push you to your limits.  The first time I did these three "Girls" was back when I first started at Elite in August.  I was using the green band (the one with the least resistance) to do all my pull-ups.  I had gotten to where I could do a few kipping pull-ups, but not confident in myself to go beyond my comfort zone and just do the workout prescribed.  Now that I can do kipping pull-ups and have gotten so much stronger, I can do these workouts prescribed...and rocked my times!!!  Here is what these "Girls" are along with my times compared to Annie Thorisdottir (the 2011 and 2012 winner of the Reebok CrossFit games for the women's division):

Helen

3 Rounds for Time:

400m Run

1.5 Pood (55lb.) Kettlebell Swing - 21 Times

Pull-Ups - 12 Reps

My time: 9:24
Annie Thorisdottir: 7:40

Fran

21-15-9 Reps for Time:

65 lb. Thrusters

Pull-Ups

My Time: 5:19
Annie Thorisdottir: 2:55

Angie

For Time:

100 Pull-Ups

100 Push-Ups

100 Sit-Ups

100 Air Squats

My Time: 16:32
Annie Thorisdottir: 10:57

Are you sweating reading those?!?!?  I am!  And I also remember exactly how I felt after each and everyone of them!  I had noodle arms and legs and my lungs felt like they were going to explode!  Not so much on Angie...but on Helen and Fran...my lungs really felt like that.  I was also completely exhausted...walking seemed near impossible!  After those workouts...I just dropped to the floor, laid on my back, put my hands over my head, and waited until my breathing returned to normal before I tried to stand up.  It was great!  I knew that I pushed myself to my maximum ability and I had given it all in each and every one of those "Benchmark Girls!"  I am no where near close to Annie's times.  If I was I would be competing alongside her in the CrossFit games!  But, my goal is to improve on my times each and every time we do one of these "Girls," or any other benchmark workout for that matter.  CrossFit is all about doing what you can do for your ability, skill level, and strength...and improving each and every time you walk through those gym doors.  I know that I have gotten better, stronger, faster, and more confident in myself the longer I do CrossFit...and especially since we joined Elite.  I am pushed everyday by Jeremy and Chanan and the people I workout with to do more, go harder, and just be better than I was the day before.  We all push one another to be better and cheer each other on as we accomplish new goals and crush old times and previous 1 rep max weights.  I love the community that we have formed and are a part of at Elite and it's all because Jeremy and Chanan and the awesome people we workout with!  CrossFit is a huge part of our lives...and it's something we love and are passionate about.  I'm excited to get more into the competitive side of it and see how far I can push myself to become better each and every time.  On that note, here's a fun quote to leave you with.  I think it sums up what CrossFit is all about when you are going beyond your comfort level, pushing past the hurt and the mental blocks, achieving new goals, and getting better.  XOXO!

"I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."
~Vince Lombardi

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Yes...you read that title right!  I had been craving something sweet...and I had 2 cans of coconut milk I needed to use.  So, I made Paleo chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream the other day...OMG delicious!  Here's the recipe for the ice cream...

http://beta.primal-palate.com/recipe/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-ice-cream/

And here's the recipe for the cookie dough that swirls into the ice cream (I halved the recipe because I knew the danger of having extra cookie dough laying around the house!  I would have eaten it all!)

http://beta.primal-palate.com/recipe/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-egg-free/

This was such good ice cream!  It was very rich and the cookie dough was the perfect texture.  I actually kept the ice cream in the fridge so that I could just open up the container and get spoon fulls of it throughout the day!  Of course, I shared some.  Everyone said that it was amazing!  So...another sweet treat Paleo style was successful!!!  I promise I'll post some actual meal dishes I've been cooking.  It's just so much more fun to post healthy sweets!  Enjoy!!!

Muscle-Ups...Holla!!!

So...I mentioned in another post that I've been working on getting my muscle-ups.  This is one of the hardest exercises to do in CrossFit.  It requires a lot of upper body strength, coordination, and some gymnastic skills.  I'm strong, but my coordination and gymnastic skills haven't always been the best.  They have, however, been improving since I really started hardcore training with CrossFit.  You can either do these on the bar or on the rings.  It's much, much harder to do them on the rings because you are having to stabilize your entire body with rings that can get away from you in a second with one hint of movement.  Lots and lots of core strength gets added when it comes to doing these on the rings! 

I finally decided that it was time that I started working on getting my muscle-ups...and the rest is history.  I had taken off work one day and really focused for about an hour and a half with the basics of getting a muscle-up.  Jeremy had me doing basic movements so that I would get the feeling for what it was like to really push my hips forward so that I would have enough power to then push myself up on the bar so that I could extend and lock my arms.  After I had worked on some floor work to get the movements, he then put this contraption together so that I could work on the turn-over...the hardest part of the muscle-up.  He put two rings over the bar and then belted me in so that my feet were dangling off the floor and I was holding on to only the two rings.  Then, I was practicing pushing myself up and extending and locking my arms.  It was really hard because I was pushing up my body weight without any other movement.  I wasn't kipping myself up or pushing myself off the ground.  It was pretty much a strict triceps dip on the rings, but the movement started in front of my chest instead of from in front of me.  Even though it was hard, it helped my body to understand the muscle movement so that when I attempted to do a muscle-up, it was simply putting the hip thrust together with the turnover and then getting my arms locked out.

I didn't get them the first several times I tried.  In fact, I didn't even wind up getting them when I was working on them this day.  I might have, but I decided to stop exerting so much energy on them and focus on the WOD...which was Helen...so I needed all the energy I could muster!  A couple days later, I decided to just get back on the bar and not doubt myself.  And you know what...I totally did it!  Not only did I get one, but I got back up on the bar and did two more!  I was SO pumped!!!  Then, I decided I was just going to put my fear and doubt even more behind me and get up on the rings to attempt a muscle-up on those.  And...I got those too!!!  Well...I guess technically I didn't get a complete one.  I got the turnover, but I could get my arms locked all the way out.  I was probably about a quarter of an inch away from fully extending and locking out my arms.  But...I DID IT!!!  I've been practicing more and more and I can get a couple in a row without coming off the bar.  They're still hard for me, but I know with more practice, I'll be able to do more and more.  Jeremy really helped me to understand the technique and also had more confidence in me than I had in myself that I would be able to do them.  That's what good coaches do!!!  Now...Brent wants to put together a CrossFit team so that we can go and compete against other CrossFitters.  Guess we'll see where that takes us!!!

This is not a very pretty muscle-up. But hey...it was my first official one!  The more I practice them...the cleaner they'll be!!!

A Halloween Surprise!

Happy Halloween!!!  Well...a few days ago anyways!  I had just gotten home from the gym and was getting ready to hop in the shower and Cody was packing for his hunting trip in South Dakota when we both got a text.  It was the Jordan clan asking if we were home so they could swing by and show off their precious little ducky!!!  Brent and Bria had taken Jansen to the Wylie Baptist fall festival for a little bit and decided to swing by our house since we live literally 2 miles away.  Of course we said YES!!!  They were rounding the corner of our street when we came outside to greet them.  JJ looked ADORABLE!!!  She was in such a good mood and was just talking and babbling...it was precious.  I called my parents to see if they were home so they could see how cute she was.  They were home, so we walked across the street and showed off our prcious friend's adorable baby girl!  We love Brent and Bria so much...and Jansen is one special little girl...we love her to pieces!!!  I'm glad we headed over there...they took a couple of pics of the five of us!  It was a great surprise on Halloween night...definitely a special little treat!

Sweet Jordan trio with their precious Halloween Ducky!!!

LOVE this pic!  Such great friends...love ya'll!!!

This was taken at the Health Club.  Bria was a 24 KG kettlebell and JJ was an 8 KG kettlebell for Halloween...SO CUTE!!!

Overcoming Obstacles...

There are many times in my life when it seems like I just can't get any better.  I had one of those days a few weeks ago during a WOD at Elite.  I am so competitive...with myself and with others...and I just couldn't seem to get past a workout hump.  We started the WOD off with a dead lift max, after we had done our warm-up of course!  The last time I did my dead lift max, I got 185.  My goal was to increase by at least 10 pounds...but I really wanted to get a 200 lb. dead lift max.  It sounds like a lot to go up 15 lbs...but I have gotten SO much stronger in these past few months...I thought it would be really achievable.  Boy, was I wrong.  In fact, I didn't even improve at all.  I got 185, no problem.  So, I went up to 195 thinking it would be difficult, but doable.  I couldn't even pick the bar off the ground.  Needless to say, I was so mad.  I should have gone down to 190, just to see if I could get it.  But, I was so mad at myself for not getting my initial goal of 195, I just stopped and started mentally preparing for the WOD.  Recently, I've gotten to where I can do my handstand push-ups...which is super exciting!  However, our WOD for this particular day had a lot, 45 to be exact, of handstand push-ups in the workout.  When we did this workout, I had literally just gotten to where I could do these two days before.  The WOD was:

21-15-9 Reps For Time:

Pull-Ups
Box Jumps
Handstand Push-Ups (HSPU)
Toes 2 Bar (T2B)

If you couldn't do a HSPU, then you did pike push-ups.  Well, I could do HSPU at the time, but I doubted myself on being able to 45 of them.  I was also focusing on how fast I could finish instead of pushing myself to do the exercise the right way and take a little longer.  This is a mental thing for me.  Every WOD is for time (unless it's an AMRAP), and I want to be able to finish fast...but I also want to do the prescribed weight and prescribed exercise.  Prescribed just means that you do the workout exactly how it is written with the highest weight recommendation that is given for any exercise that requires you lifting any amount of weight.  Anyways, this particular WOD made me step back and think that I couldn't do that many HSPU after just being so new to developing the skill to be able to do them.  So, I did the modified pike push-up.  Except for the last 9.  I decided since there was only 9, I would attempt to do the HSPU.  And you know what???  I did all 9 of them just fine!  They weren't easy, but I had no problem doing all 9 of them unbroken.  Then, I was double mad at myself!  Mad that I didn't improve on my dead lift max and mad that I cheated myself in a WOD because of self-doubt.  I promised myself, never again would I do a WOD un-prescribed without attempting to do it all out first.  If I, at first tried, and the weight was too much or the given exercise too hard for my skill level at the time, then I would lighten the weight and do the WOD modified.  I am overcoming this obstacle with ease.  The struggle is pushing myself beyond my comfort zone and my mental limits.  Yes, it hurts; yes, it's hard; yes, it takes me longer sometimes.  I just finally told myself that if I was ever going to get better and be at a level where I could compete, I had to just dig in and push past the "I can't" and yell at myself to say that, "I can."  It's working.  It's taking some time during some WODs, my muscles are sore, but when I go in and do something that I really struggled with at one time a week or two later and it's easier, I realized that my body can do way more than I ever thought possible with just a little hard work, dedication, and motivation. 

We all face obstacles and struggle to overcome them.  It doesn't matter where you are in your skills and abilities.  There are several of us that are more advanced in our WODs than others.  But, no matter how good you are, how strong you are, how fast you are, or how new you are.  There will always be something that challenges you and causes you to struggle.  This is when you have to push past the hurt, the burn, and the mental blocks and tell yourself that you are much stronger than your mind allows you to believe.  Find your weakness, work to overcome it, beat it, and do tomorrow what you couldn't do today.

Paleo Treats!

I took off the Monday after Cody's birthday weekend in Ft. Worth.  I knew that we would be getting in late on Sunday night and since we were gone all weekend, I knew that I was going to have a lot of laundry to do, a few chores needed to be done around the house, and I needed to run a few errands.  So, back in September when we planned this whole shebang, I requested that Monday off so that I wouldn't run myself ragged throughout the week after his birthday.  I am SO glad I did.  We were both pooped when we got home on Sunday night.  Unfortunately, Cody didn't take that Monday off.  But, since I was going to be home, I was able to get a few things done for him so that when he got home from work and the gym, he could just relax!  The one nice thing about taking the day off was that I got to go up to Elite and work on some skill work and my bench press max.  I got 120 lb. bench press max by the way...super pumped!!!  I've really been wanting to get my muscle-ups...so I worked on those for about an hour and half before I did the WOD, which was Helen (more on that in another post).  I guess I got up there around 10:30 and was home by 1:00.  Since Cody's birthday had just passed, I decided to whip up some Paleo chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting and take up there to the 5:00 class.  I found the recipe on a blog from a Google search...but my favorite Paleo blog is PaleOMG.  I followed her blog even before Cody and I decided to go Paleo...like for about a year now!  She's hilarious, her recipes are amazing, and she's a fellow CrossFitter.  In fact, she's actually a CrossFit coach and has competed at Regionals...legit!  Anyways, the thing I love about Paleo, is that you are eating super healthy, unprocessed foods (meats, veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds)...AND you can still have treats!  Eating Paleo isn't about depriving yourself of the foods you love.  It's just about finding solutions to making the things you love healthy and unprocessed...and eating them in moderation.  Like...I would never make these just for us to have at home...but I would for a special occasion or a family dinner or get-together!  I just wanted to do something to celebrate his birthday at the gym with all our workout buddies...and there's no better way to do that than with a healthy cupcake treat!  Here's the recipe...

Paleo Chocolate Cupcakes
created by JennyMac's Lipsmack

1 cup almond flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

5 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin tin with 12 papers.  Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl and set aside.  Whisk eggs, oil, vanilla and honey then pour into dry ingredients.  Use a electric hand mixer to combine, breaking up lumps and will help emulsify the eggs.  Use a ice cream scooper to put into muffin cups.  Cook for about 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on cooking rack.  Makes 12.  See frosting recipe below.

Vegan Chocolate Frosting

1/2 cup dairy-free dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup grapeseed oil (I used almond oil and it turned out perfect)
1 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. vanilla
pinch sea salt

Melt the chips with the oil in the microwave for 1 minute.  Stir until smooth.  Stir in honey, vanilla and salt.  Frosting will be very loose.  Dip each cupcake top into the glaze.  I noticed as I was dipping the frosting was getting thicker as I could double-dip some of the cupcakes again makes a thicker fudgy top.

After I dropped them off and chatted for a bit, I headed home to get dinner started.  When Cody got home, he walked in with an empty platter!  The cupcakes were a hit!  Now...go and make these for someone you love.  Or for yourself if you're having "one of those days!"  I promise you won't be disappointed!