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