Let's Get the Ball Rolling

Hello there!  It has been way too long.  The busy in Busy Bold Blessed is no joke and the blog definitely takes a backseat when life gets crazy.  It's funny though, I've thought about posting a few different times, but I always end up not sure where to start.  So much has happened since I last posted, so I feel like should write an extremely long catch up or post a ton of pictures but ain't nobody got time for that... so then I end up skipping it all together.

So here we are, I'm trying to get the ball rolling with a little something of a post.  So what's new?

In the beginning of December, I went to Disney World with my cheer squad for Pop Warner Nationals.  Our trip had a rocky start when our flight was canceled by a snowstorm and everyone scrambled to find a place to stay for the night.  We just barely got out the next day, our flight was delayed and apparently the airport closed just a few hours after we left for ice and wind conditions.  By the time we arrived at our hotel it was close to 9 pm, we got dinner around 10, and then stayed up till midnight putting the everyone's hair in rollers (for competition curls, obviously :D).  We missed our scheduled practice time, so we ended up practicing at 7 am the morning of the competition.  After practice, the girls all took naps and rested while I soaked up some rays at the pool.  We competed around 2:30 that afternoon and the girls looked amazing!  I have coached the Souderton Braves since I was in 9th grade and finally, in my 14th season, we earned the title National Champions!  Not only did we win our division, but we also won trophies for high score of the day and best choreography!  Talk about icing on the cake!  We beat out squads with much more difficult routines and hired choreographers for those categories.  It still seems surreal!

Everyone was taking pictures of their kids with the trophies, sooooo this happened lol.

The rest of the trip was just as glorious.  It was in the 70s and 80s without a drop of rain the entire time we were there.  Apparently Disney is empty in the beginning of December (since most people take their kids over Thanksgiving or Christmas), so we barely waited in line for anything.  It was a wonderful week with some wonderful people.  Confession: we're already dreaming of next year!

 

 

Wedding planning is full steam ahead, as it should be since the big day is only 107 days away!  We had our tasting at the DoubleTree just before Christmas and we felt like royalty.  The service was over the top, the food was delicious, and we're even more excited about the venue.  Our flowers are going to be done by Jenny Greenwald, a woman who's friends call her "Knockoff Jenny" because she does expensive things for cheap :)  We finally registered (and by we, I mean mostly me with the help of my bridesmaid Leah since Dave thought Bed Bath & Beyond was slow torture).  We started our premarital counseling with our pastor.  We just picked out our wedding bands at the fabulous David S. Diamonds on 5th Avenue during an awesome long weekend in New York City.  My first dress fitting is this Saturday and the guys are going to pick out their tuxes on Sunday.  Oh and our luxury treehouse overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Nicaragua has been booked!  Next up: ordering invitations, booking either a party bus or a trolley, and cake tasting!

Our treehouse with a private plunge pool at Aqua Wellness Resort.

I'm still loving (and simultaneously hating) CrossFit.  Two or three months ago, we did a workout with a lot of pull ups in it and I was struggling hard with two resistance bands.  I realized how much of a weakness pull ups were for me, despite being such a typical move in CrossFit.  Since then I've been spending extra time working on them and I got my first unassisted kipping pull up!  And then I did three in a row!  (And then I ripped my calluses open... good times.)  I love seeing progress in the gym.  I also hit a 15 lbs deadlift PR yesterday morning at 190 lbs!

What else?  Well I'm taking an 8 hour exam in April to hopefully obtain my professional engineering license to further my career.  I joined our church's choir.  Cheer has been on hiatus since Nationals, but we just started our once a week off season practices on Tuesday.  I'm also starting a Whole30 on Monday!  I guess it's not technically a Whole30 because I have some cheats planned, but I want to start getting serious for the wedding and I know the plan works for me.  I won't be blogging much about it (if at all) and I won't feel guilty when I'm enjoying my planned cheats.

So that's that!  Things are busy, but they are great.  I continue to feel so lucky that I've been blessed with such a full life.  Don't forget to like my facebook page if you want to hear from me more frequently!

What's new in your neck of the woods?

Overwhelmed

Ya know, it's weird. The less I post, the more I should have to write about but when I think about my blog I just keep drawing a blank. It's like I have so much to write about that I don't even know where to start. Or if I have some free time, firing up my laptop is literally the last think I want to do. It's crazy to think in April I was posting almost every day. I was definitely less busy then but still, if I really wanted to post, I could find an hour or two each week, right?

My plate is full, it has been as long as I can remember. Starting in 7th grade, I would play one sport for school and then a community sport in the evening. In high school, coaching cheerleading replaced my evening sport in the fall and I also added the musical to my schedule. School work was done whenever I had a free moment and my grades never suffered due to my schedule. College was more of the same. I actually got my best grades during the semester I had 19 credits, worked 2 jobs, participated in club gymnastics and cheerleading and let's be honest... I definitely went out every Thursday, Friday and Saturday... and probably some Wednesdays too ;)

I like to plan things and schedule my days. I'm not one of those people who needs a ton of downtime to sit by myself and decompress. I thrive on social activities and time with my friends. Having an overwhelmingly full schedule usually doesn't overwhelm me.

Except right now.

A week and a half before Folk Fest I had a weird summer cold. I was desperately trying to feel better but I found myself under the weather when I went wedding dress shopping (and found my dress!!!!) and for part of the next week while I was trying to balance cheerleading practices, packing and prepping for Folk Fest, and trying to get some extra sleep. I did get better before Fest, but then I headed off to a magical place where you might drink moonshine for breakfast after you got zero hours of sleep the night before. Folk Fest was amazing, but the week after was extremely rough! I should've taken Monday off and took the week to regroup, but instead I found myself overbooked with a variety of events which lead to eating out all week. Needless to say, I felt like crap. My skin broke out, I was exhausted and stressed out, I hadn't been to CrossFit in 3 weeks (did I mention that it's a bit too expensive not to go?!), and all week there was chatter about coming into work on Saturday. And to top it all off, OMG my wedding is in less than 9 months! I started to question my commitments. Had I spread myself too thin? Do I need to pull back to make sure I'm taking care of my priorities?

At 4 pm on Friday they told me they didn't need me at work. Best news EVER! And somehow my calendar granted me a relaxing weekend without any major plans! Friday night I got together with some of the other coaches and we did a lot of choreography work. Saturday I made it to CrossFit, grabbed some groceries for the week, and caught up on laundry. And Sunday consisted of attending church, grabbing brunch, and starting a new book while I caught some rays. It was just what I needed!

Now a 4 day weekend in Cape May is just a day away! I can't wait to relax on the beach, eat delicious food, and celebrate my 27th birthday in style! And when I come back, I'll be rejuvinated and ready to tackle September and all the craziness that comes with it!

How do you handle overwhelming weeks?

Remember when I used to write blog posts?

Soooo it's been a little quiet around here, huh?  Well, the busy in my blog title is no joke and summer is definitely the busiest time of the year.  I have plans for every single weekend until mid September (and by then cheerleading will be in full swing).  Add planning a wedding into the mix and well, something had to give!

So what have I been up to?

Wedding Planning

We booked our venue, we skyped with a couple who will most likely be our photographers today, and I just scheduled an appointment to shop for a wedding dress the second weekend of August!  A huge weight was lifted off my shoulders once the venue was taken care of.  We are getting married at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in King of Prussia.  The wedding coordinator is amazing, the ballroom is beautiful, and our guests won't have to drive anywhere after the party!  So far things have been easy breezy...

Weddings, Vacations, and Parties, oh my!

I had a blast attending an epic bachelorette party that involved a party bus, a mechnical bull, and a bunch of ladies dancing on top of a bar!

We also attended two weddings in the past month (which are a lot more fun when you're not super jealous that everyone else is engaged or married lol).

 

We spent the Fourth of July visiting some of Dave's college friends in North Carolina.  He went to UNC Charlotte so he showed me the beautiful campus and some of his favorite spots.  We stuffed our faces with southern barbeque, snuck into a hotel pool, rode rollercoasters until I felt sick, saw fireworks, and played some super silly boardgames.  It was a great trip until the 10 hour car ride home, I'll stick to flying thank you very much!

My brother graduated high school!  When his name was announced the crowd went wild and it was just amazing.

 

 

His graduation party a few weeks later was a riot.  He was determined to make everyone sing to him while he was cutting the cake, so we opted for a quick rendition of For He's a Jolly Good Fellow, which was followed by his request for smoke (aka candles), again everyone kept explaining that you don't get candles when it's not your birthday, but we still got suckered into singing our Polish birthday song Sto Lat.  After all the singing was finished, everyone was waiting for the cake cutting photo op, let me set the scene for you... Tom was holding a large knife with my sister very close next to him, he's carrying on, being a ham, and finally I yell, just cut the cake!  Well Tom quickly takes the knife all the way through the cake, making a nice vertical cut.  He then proceeds to take a second go, slashing the knife diagonally through the entire cake which was followed by my mom lunging at him and ripping the knife out of his hands. It was hilarious!

The rest of our free time has been filled with barbeques, pool parties, and various hangouts with friends.  Oh I almost forgot... we also had a giant block party at our house that included multiple bands, a slip and slide, volleyball, crazy good food, and three ice luges!

Fitness & Food

I am still in love with CrossFit, despite my quads being so sore today that I'm hobbling around like a grandma!  I maxed out at 130 lbs on my back squat on Monday!  My max clean was 100 lbs a few weeks ago.  There's so much I need to learn, but some of the basic movements are really starting to click.  My diet has been rather lack luster.  We've been eating a lot of veggies due to our CSA, but vacation included funnel cake at the amusement park, fresh baked bread courtesy of our hostess, bagels and donuts from a local bakery, a giant tub of froyo covered in chocolate toppings, and some mouth watering hush puppies.  Basically I lost all self control, but can you blame me?  Those things were all delicious and I was on vacation!  I know I'm not eating like I should be (hello sugar addition) and the scale is reflecting that!  That would be that big of a deal, but I know how tiny my tummy looks when it's not bloated... and I miss it!  I may be thinking about a Whole30 in the near future or maybe another Whole21, we'll see.

So as you can see, I am busy busy and this weekend is no exception!  Tomorrow night we're headed out on a double date at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants with tasty margaritas and guacamole they make right at your table.  Saturday we're doing the Electric Run in Philly (a 5K in the dark with a creatively lit up course and lots of glow sticks).  And Sunday we're going to see Zac Brown Band.  Next weekend we'll be in Cape May (for the first time since this happened!), maybe I'll get to relax then!

How's your summer going?!

Busy Body!

There’s a reason that busy is in the name of my blog!  I have been crazy busy over the past week!  Last weekend was an epic bachelorette party with lots of wine, dancing, and celebrating.  Sunday was full of Father’s Day festivities including a turkey club feast, followed by a family afternoon nap, ending with ice cream for dinner.  This week has been go, go, go!  Every night has been completely dedicated to prepping for a giant block party at our house this Saturday!  I’m so excited for the party, but it’s also a lot of work.  I worked up a serious sweat mowing our hilly yard in the 95 degree heat yesterday!

Some link love:

• I was featured in SkinnyRunner’s reader roundup!
• Can someone please do this to my hair?
• Do you like cartoons?  How about dogs?
• Have you guys heard of the movie Moonrise Kingdom?  I just heard of it tonight and I need to see it!

Well, time for bed!  Just in case setting up for a party wasn’t enough, I also have a surprise deadline at work.  Eyes on the prize, Saturday here I come!

Anything good on the internet lately?