An open letter to You

Dear You,

For almost half my life, I have cared about You – my best friend.

You are the person I turn to for absolutely everything, big or small, and that means the world to me. I'm not sure how long I could live without being able to tell You my exact, step-by-step thought process about overthinking something that won't be important in 2 months. You save me from my own insanity, and I couldn't be more grateful.

Sitting back and thinking about an awesome memory from a spur-of-the-moment adventure is great, but being able to think back to the nights that all we did was drink wine, tell stories, and laugh is just as great. You have taught me how to take risks, laugh at myself, and forgive.

Every best friend relationship is different—they grow from being new friends, to good friends, to best friends, to basically being sisters. Every step of the way to You becoming my family has been emotional, exciting, and absolutely beautiful. You have helped me see what I can be and how to be a better me. Now it's my turn to tell You how great You are.

Words for when I think of You:

* strong
* beautiful soul
* patient
* quick thinker
* funny
* vibrant
* magnetic
* dreamer
* brave
* fighter

People are drawn to You - to your ideas, to your energy. You create dreamers out of people. I often find myself inspired just being in the same room as You. How do you even do that? I laugh thinking about all the things You have inspired me to do, that I would have never even touched on if it weren't for You.

I have absolutely zero idea what I would do without you, and I have no intention of ever finding out. Sorry love, you're sorta stuck with me, and I know we wouldn't have it any other way.

Love,
Me

*Be the shit, Everyone else already knows you are*

What is your PhD in?

Have you even listened to a TED Talk? Do you know what they are?????

TED Talks are videos that present a great idea in 18 minutes or less. They’re filmed at flagship TED conferences, independent TEDx events, and other special TED programs. Their goal is to share Ideas Worth Spreading — in fields like science, technology, business, culture, art and design — around the world.

I have a friend that is a TED Talk junkie. She loves them. She often calls it her morning coffee - she listens in the while she brushes her teeth and gets ready. I totally believe her when she says that they are amazing and get her brain going - but I had never listened. Many reasons why - the main one? I thought I wouldn't get it, that they would be too deep for me. This friend is on another level with her self-help book reading, analyzing herself, bettering herself.....what if TED Talks go right over my head? What if I just don't "get it"? 

My husband digs them. My bestie listens every morning. I need to check this out. So I did. The first TED Talk I listened to (all on my own) was today. Joanna Lohman. Washington Spirit Midfielder. 

Ok. I get it. This hit me. It did not go over my head at all. It's all I can think about. She talks about the Uncomfortable Ride to the Top. Her Plan A turned into her Plan B and she spent years proving to herself that she could get better in uncomfortable situations. Periods of struggle are where you grow. The cuts, the bruises - they are all lessons. From it Joanna got her PhD in soccer.

My friend might be a Ted Talk junkie, but I am a sports junkie. Big time. I played them, I watch them, I read about them. I mean - 30 for 30 - am I right? So good. Joanna's talk hit me on many levels. She is an athlete, she has worked her ass off to get where she is, she has learned from her experiences, and she loves what she does. So many feels.

Now my wheels are churning. What is my PhD in? What do I love to do? Lots of things of course.....but what do I learn from and where am I growing? I don't have it all figured out just yet, but I do know a few things:

1. I love to make people feel good
2. I like to listen to people
3. I love to cheer-lead
4. I love to be active

Not always sure of my direction, but I'm moving forward and trying ti high five everyone along the way!

Yes. I have two. Yes. I use them both.

Gyms. I have 2 gyms.....what were you thinking? Dirty birds........

Why have two? Glad you asked.

I actually get asked this ALL the time

If you have any sort of job and/or life, then finding time to work out may be challenging. I am borderline obsessed with CrossFit so I work very hard to find the time to go. Having two kids makes that a little more difficult. I want to spend time with them and to get to a class I have to find babysitters. Never fun.

My husband is THE best. Hands down. He is the most supportive dude on the planet. Period. He enclosed the carport (which was just becoming an eye sore dumping ground) and made an at-home gym happen. Thanks babe!

But you own CF Annandale! Why don't you just go there?????

Number one reason is that CF Annandale is not a warehouse CrossFit gym. It's small. It's cozy. We love it. We do not feel it is safe for the boys to come in the evening when there are people doing accessory work, personal training, and also the class is going on. Now the boys are older they also want to play at CF Annandale - climb ropes, jump, run, "lift" - it's distracting to me and everyone else there.

Another reason I cannot always make it to the gym is that Sam also wants to work out and he coaches. Some weeks he coaches 3 afternoon classes and 4 evening classes. That can be a lot. I can't just go full steam ahead and say "I WANT TO WORK OUT. I GET TO GO!" Gotta be fair.

Two nights a week CF is a date night. Monday night my in-laws watch the boys. They cook dinner together, play, talk, hang out.  On Thursdays my mom watches the boys. The time they get to spend every week with their grandparents is awesome. Sam and I were military brats - we did not have these grandparent relationships. We love it. They love it. It's great.

We have already established my CF obsession, so to make that happen I work out at home sometimes. I love it. It cuts down on the time I'm away from home, sometimes the boys join me, and hopefully I inspire the neighbors walking by (hahahahahaha).

So, yes. I have two gyms. I use them both. I love them both. They both offer me health, muscles (working on them), sanity, laughs, sweat, and me time.

hahahahhaha

Support - Knowing what you need and what you give

Synonyms: Encourage, boost, assist, promote

* To bear the weight of; keep from falling, sinking, or slipping

*  To keep from weakening or failing; give confidence or comfort to:

* To act in a secondary or subordinate role to (a leading performer).

* To offer help or advice

 The biggest job of a friend is to support. What does that really mean? It depends on the friend, it depends on the day, it depends on the situation.......it can be really tough to figure out sometimes. 

Things have been pretty heavy over here lately, so I thought I'd write a meaningful post with some humor. Hopefully it reads to you as awesomely as it sounds in my brain. I have a lot of supporters in my life. I could not do it without them.....well I could, but it would not be nearly as comfortable. Comfort is a word that I need for support, if I am not comfortable with you I'm not going to accept or ask for much support. That's just how I roll. The comfort I need is much like a good sports bra.

* Feels like a warm hug. 

*Hard to get out of.  In a sticky situation that support is around  no matter what.

*Keeps me contained when shit gets real.

* Hides nothing - they are so honest. 

*Comes in a variety of styles.  

*The good ones can be hard to find and are irreplaceable

These will do the trick - which one are you?

I need strong people. I need listeners. I need people that will calm me down and help me see another perspective. I need people that can make me laugh at myself and situations. You know what else I need? I really need people that know sometimes I just need to spin.....sometimes I am just venting. I don't need you to solve my problems, I just need you to acknowledge that they suck and it will get better. 

I absolutely love the cute strappy sportsbras. They are like the friend that is fun to go out with, is hilarious on facebook, and serves their purpose as a fun friend. Sorry strappy bra, I'm not running to you when I need support.

Who is this supporting? No one, unless those straps are made out of steal cable

  

I have learned that to get good support you also have to give good support. My husband has spent years teaching me how to hug. Yes. Teaching. I didn't grow up with much in the way of hugging, just didn't really happen. Now I am complimented on my hugs and THAT feels good. Who doesn't love a good hug? Even my 8 year old knows that a one-armed hug is bad. Careful, he'll call you on it too. I have also learned to be a listener. It can be hard, but it's such a great skill to have. So many times people are just looking to say things out loud. They may not need a solution, they just need to hear it. So listen. Smile. Nod. Listen. 

Think about it. Figure out what you need. Be present and find your support strength. Are you a great listener? A great hugger? What do you need back? Do you have people that can give you that? 

Go out there and tackle this Monday!!!!! 

Crossfit Annandale Throwdown 2015

To celebrate buying CFA and our members we had a fun Throwdown and Grand Re-Opening Party! We always say we are going to take pictures and then don't....or we take three and they are awful. This time we enlisted Linette from Wodtography to capture our awesomeness. She did a pretty great job!

The CFA Crew

It was a rainy Saturday and everyone came to work hard and party hard. Here is what the day looked like:

Event 1:

6 Min Cap
25 Burpees
Then find your
1RM clean and Jerk

It was a great way to start the day. A 1RM is always fun, gets everyone cheering and gets the jitters out. Those 25 burpees were not fun - but they never are.

Event 2:

6 Min AMRAP
10 Box Jumps
25 Kettle Bell swings

This might have been one of the harder workouts I've done. It's "only" 6 minutes. There is no stopping. There is no slowing down. Forearms were on fire!

Event 3:

7 min Cap

27-21-15-9

Shoulder to Overhead
Burpees

That last picture is an exactly how that workout felt. Awful. So much pushing, jumping, breathing, sweating......whew!







The final workout was a chipper and went a little something like this:

400 M run
10 power snatches
20 toes to bar
30 front squats
40 double unders
400 M run

Oh, and it was raining

Everyone worked hard and the energy was great!

So far being gym owners has been great. A huge part of everything going so well is the members at CFA. They are great! There are always so many smiles and hugs to go around. Our community is strong in so many ways!

A big Thank You! to the coaches that put on our great event. Sho and Samnang. You guys rocked it!

Thank you to our sponsors too!

Caffeine and Kilos

Cupcaked

Rogue

Natural Grips

Wod Repair Lotion

My Tribe

My last post was August 14th, the day before everything changed.

*I will not get into any specifics, that's not what this about*

August 14th was a Friday. I took the day off from the gym, I took the boys to the pool, we went out to celebrate my brother in laws birthday, it was a nice easy day. The next day, the 15th, we were going out with our besties to plan the meals for our upcoming beach trip. We did this every year and it helped us get hyped for the beach week. We LOVE this trip.

Sam got the first phone call while we were at the pool. We knew something was wrong with our friend and his wife was not answering her phone. We got dried off, went home to change, and planned on heading out to their house to check on everyone. Then the phone rang again. He didn't make it.

Devastation.

Fear.

Loss.

Sadness.

My in laws took the boys and we drove out to the hospital. We were in shock. Not much was said on that drive. We both needed 100% focus to get us there. We needed to be there for our friend. We made a few more phone calls on the drive, cried, and questioned everything.

Over the next few hours we rallied. None of us talked about it, we just knew what needed to be done. We knew how we all thought, felt, and that we all needed each other. Without much talk we moved in together for the week and lived, cried, laughed, remembered.

My Tribe. My family. My best friends.......some of us go back 23 years. We love each other like siblings and at this devastating time we came together like a well-oiled machine. We did it for our friend that lost her husband. We did it for each other. We did it for our children. We did it because that is what you do when everything changes. When one of your tribe is lost.


We continue to spend time together telling stories, remembering, laughing, crying, and being there for each other. It's hard. It will be hard for a long time. It's hard just to write this. So why am I? To remind myself that what I have is special. The people in my life are special. I keep them very close and our friend would be proud of how we came together. I hope that you have people like that. Keep them close. Tell them you love them.

My Mini Tribe