--->(<:STS 6 month alumni April Showers bring May flowers(<: <---

No April showers here but I am sure someone some where is getting some!:D

I have a busy day but just wanted to check in with my best fitness friends!
We started getting the walls ready in the MR for the knotty pine. I am hoping today, that I will have time to experiment a little with the stain I am wanting to try. Last yr. we did our bedroom and I diluted some gray stain and made the boards look kind of old. It looks really good. On these walls I am wanting a really warm feel so since I like the old look I am thinking about going on really light with a gray and then thinning out some sedona red stain and then going over the gray with that. But it is going to take some experimenting to get it right..how I am picturing it in my head anyway so I am praying for patience!:D Something I am not really that blessed with! But with the MR project , I am learning!

Jo-Well of course you should wait till all you can eat crab legs!!!!LOL
It sounds like you had a great day without the date yesterday. It is funny, everytime I go shopping I end up with more work out clothes then anything else. Have you ever noticed that you work out better if you feel like you look cute! Yesterday I had on a really cool flowing purple work out top (that I got at old navy of all places) and I just felt like I looked great so I think that and all your cheering got me through CCC! lol
I know exactly what you mean about wearing certain things to the gym. I wouldn't even wear lycra when I was 20, in public...I am certainly not wearing it now!
We are about 7 miles from the nearest town and that is a town of about 3000 people. We used to tell people directions by saying "go to the red light..." but now they have added a few more red lights so we can not use that anymore! I always joke with dh by saying if this town gets any bigger...I am going to have to move to one with just a stop sign:p

Kim-Happy birthday weekend to DS! How exciting and scary all at the same time. It is funny that it seems like such a milestone when they turn teen. I know I felt like crying when my niece turned 13 a few weeks ago. Too bad we do not live closer. We could totally play match maker because your ds sounds like an active kid just like my niece. I think they would get along great! lol...:p

Cendrine- I have been meaning to ask you if you have tried anything out of the new clean eating mag? I always scan through first to see if there is anything that dh might try too. You know how picky he is! ughh I try to be understanding about that since I was a picky eater too! But the older I get the more trying it gets! Anyway he thought the "chicken fried steak" recipe looked good. The one with the mushroom gravy. I am thinking about that for tonight.

I better be off and get the grocery shopping done for the week!
Hope you all have beautiful DAY!

Rachel
 
Good Morning back at ya!!!! Rachel your enthusiasm is coming through!!!! You got me all excited!!

Anyway quick post to let you know I'm drinking my coffee, then up to do Disc 31 (chest & back) then back to the mall to get my pants measured at lululemon (they do free hemming). I didn't have my Asics on yesterday and the pants are about 4 inches too long. I'm at that awkward height...too short lots of times for regulars and too tall for shorts (I'm 5'3 1/2") I want to be at the mall when it opens at 11 so I'm in and out.

Rachel, I love hearing about the MR and your creative touches! Can you come here and help me! Isn't it fun when you finally get it the way you want! You're inspiring me to get back on some of my house projects (besides cleaning closets! LOL!)

Okay, time to hit chest and back. BBL! Oh and Rachel, love the subject line today!!!
 
Workout done! The first week of Meso 3 I struggled a little because I think I still wasn't 100% after being sick. Today (week 3 90% 1RM) I nailed it! Did all the weight on the card and reps and feel great! And, didn't struggle but knew I could not have gone any heavier - fought for that 6th rep on most of the exercises (especially on the 4th round!). Rachel, you and I must be totally in sync with our energy levels!!! :D We're not even eating Wheaties!!!

Off to the shower! Hello Kim and Cendrine!
 
Jo, I like Fitness freaks rotation, it looks fun! I may not be able to do the whole rotation in its entirety but I have just about 4 weeks left till we leave for switzerland and I could at least attempt it with modifications and all. Gotta think about that some more! Thanks for posting it!
How was your date! How fun all the great stuff you came home with yesterday! It's dangerous to go shopping, but what a great idea to go for a free cup of coffee at Harry and David's, I haven't thought of that before.... LOL!

Rachel you sound very creative about the wood and the staining! Can't wait to see what you are going to do and how it turns out! I have kind of forgotten about the ce magazine, I think I put it with my recipe books and forgot about it.... Will have to pull it out and yes that recipe did look great I remember it!

We did go strawberry picking today. The particular place that we go to gives a tour around the farm on a tractor drawn wagon and they stop at the fields and give you freshly harvested veggies to sample, you can take the leftovers home. Then at the end they stop at the strawberry fields and that's when you pick and eat. It was fun and we had butter lettuce and spinach with carrots, stirfried bokjoy, onions, carrots, and garlic, and strawberries for dessert tonight for dinner. The kids want to go back when the watermelons are ripe.

Well, I'm going to go look at that rotation some more!
 
Just finished disc 36!:D:D Quick post as I got to get to bed, t's 9:30 already past my bedtime:eek: Had people here all day so didn't get a chance to workout until now. I guess I will do MMA Kickbox tomorrow so that I can say that I'm officially done.

I saw Fitness Freak's rotation but thought I was kind of tired of STS workouts and she has some of those in there. Although it may have only been a couple as I didn't look at it that close. I'll probably go with whatever you all do.;)

Sounds like you all busy fun weekends. Going to make it a quick post and get to bed early as I have an earlier morning tomorrow.
 
Good Sunday Evening!

Cendrine, sounds like you had a really fun day! Those are my kind of tours and I can image the kids had a great time! Wow - your trip will be here in no time! How long will you be gone? You can take travel fit with you! :p Do you already have the tripped planned out?

Kim, YEAH on finishing! I say you are finished and Kickbox is just the candle on the top of the cake! I thought FitnessFreak rotation just looked like another good one to do - lots of times the rotations just don't look that good so just wanted you guys to see it! I totally understand feeling tired of STS! I thought you guys were decided on March rotation so I should have said I meant here's another rotation to consider for future if everyone is interested. Of the ones I've looked at lately, the March rotation and FitnessFreak's rotations are the only ones that have appealed to me! (We should create one!!) (I hope I'm making sense! :D)

So we had fun! Went to dinner and DH had crab legs and more crab legs and a 3rd round of crab legs and then he said he had too much! LOL! I had salmon. The view was spectacular and lots going on at the marina to people watch. Afterwards we went and walked a little on the docks. It was about 60 degrees and nice walking weather and not too windy. Lots of times it's really windy on the water so it was very nice and spring like! Back home now in my jammies and wishing I didn't have to work tomorrow! 40/20 is in my line-up tomorrow and one of the abs but I forgot which one!

TTY Tomorrow!
 
Last edited:
Good Morning yall!

Since our job is a little behind us, we took the day off to let them get a little ahead. It was a nice surprise since we did not decide to do so until last night! We are kind of skipping all over the building right now and the next area we were going to did not have lights but they thought they would get them on today so we will give them a chance to move out of our way!

I am still trying to decide what to do today. I am torn. I really want a good relaxing stretch but I would like to throw some cardio or abs in too. I guess it will be "catch as catch can" and I will know how I feel when I get in there! haha
But I will probably end up not doing cardio because it is already getting late and I need to be quick about this. DH and I want to get the walls finished today and go but the wood for the ceiling so I a hoping we can get that done.

Cendrine-I did make the "chicken fried steak" last night but I have not made too many breadings made with bread. They said to cook on med high but mine started to burn almost immediately so I turned it way down and just browned the outside and then finished it in the oven. My food processor did not chop my crumbs fine enough but it was still a really good flavor in the breading. I did not have dried mushrooms either so I do not know how different the gravy would have turned out if I did.
Have you decided if you are going to do a rotation before your trip? I can not wait to see pics from Switzerland!

Jo-I am so glad that your energy levels are up! Doesn't it feel great when you feel great! That is why I am so torn about what to do today. I feel like I would have a great cardio workout and endurance to go forever...but I don't have forever...lol so I will probably rock those abs!
I like fitness freaks rotation too but I will probably do March first. Then that might be my next one. It has a lot of changes that March does not have. Keep my body guessing right!!! I would have missed it if you had not put a link to it, so thanks!

Kim-If you are still on for the March rotation, I am! I am going to start on April 19. I always start on a Monday because Sunday is my rest day. WHen will you be starting? Congratulations on finishing! Doesn't it feel good! I know toward the end I thought I was not going to get it done. I think it is because I went through the whole thing really pushing the whole time and my body was saying...OK I get it!!!!

Better be off to enjoy some form of workout!

TTYL

Rachel
 
Good Monday Morning Everyone!

40/20 and Pilates Abs DONE! Good workout again today. My Pilates Abs workout was probably better than ever since having taken the Pilates class. My focus was stronger and though Cathe cues and explains well, I knew where to focus a little more. (Of course I was dialed-in today too! :p) You may be interested to know that all of the moves Cathe does in her workout we did in the class so it was great reinforcement for me! The class also had a couple additonal tough ones.

Yeah Rachel that you get to take today off! What did you end up doing for your workout? Oh and yes, I love it when I feel like I've been feeling the last couple of days! It's amazing how quickly a cold or a headache or whatever can take you DOWN! Uggghhh!

Kim, I saw the trailer for TBL last night and Danny (I think Danny is his name) from last season (the winner) will be on. Looking forward to it!

Cendrine, what's on your agenda for today?

Off to the shower! Hope everyone has a productive and fun day!
 
So I decided to jump right in and do Fitness freak's rotation! I did SJP cardio premix and Cardio and weights premix today. It was fun and I enjoyed it. Tomorrow is Muscle Max. I thought I would just do this right now since I have exactly four weeks and then when I come back from Switzerland, If you guys want to do Fitness freak's rotation, I just might do it again with you guys. I'll have to modify some, like I think Drill Max is too high impact for now so I will just do a regular step workout for that one.

Jo, I'm glad your date turned out so nice and that the weather played along! We had heavy rain all night, love it!

Rachel, thanks for sharing your experience with the chicken fried steak with me, I'll keep that in mind when I get to it. Enjoy your day off! How fun to have one unexpectedly...

I am busy calling everybody on the baby shower invite list of my friends' baby shower that I'm getting ready for. Can you believe only one person rsvpd? Of course I am getting everyone's voice mail, so who knows how many will call back... Oh well. At least I tried.

Kim, you amaze me with getting your workouts done whenever they fit in even if they are at the end of the day! I think if I had had a day full of business, I probably would have chickened out! Good job for sticking with it!
 
I can officially say I'm done with this rotation as MMA Kickbox is completed! I looked over the rotations and think I will do the March rotation. Rachael, I might start Friday as have more time Fri/Sat/Sun than during the weekdays.

Cendrine Did you ever get the swimming lessons worked out?? we're taking the spring time off from swim lessons and the kids will go again in the summer. You must be feeling pretty good if you're starting a rotation! Hope it all goes well. That's really rude about the RSVP's, I don't understand why people do that:( Is the baby shower on the weekend?

Jo I'm looking forward to TBL tomorrow, it will be good to see how Danny looks. I think it would be very beneficial to attend a pilates class to make sure you get the proper form down. Glad you had a nice evening out yesterday!

Rachael, how fun a surprise day off! Did you get a chance to experiment with the stain??
 
Congratulations, Kim! You are all done! Yay!

I finally did get a hold of the swim teacher, but nothing is scheduled still. He was supposed to get something for April, but the pool host must have fallen through. So I'm looking at June now. Not my preference, but oh,well.

The baby shower is on a Sunday, not this one, but next. I hope people will call me now!

I have good and not so good days as far as my recovery is concerned, and I am only able to do the rotation because I'm subbing some of the higher impact workouts for lower ones. It's nice to have a plan other than my own for a change, it just feels more official and proper somehow.... LOL!

Jo, I forgot to mention earlier, I think I will pack travel fit. My mom also has a bike or elliptical or something I think, plus there is an indoor pool in her community, might do some laps there. I think I'm as planned for now as I'm going to be for this trip, we'll have to figure out a lot of it once we are there. I did realize, looking at the temps that I am going to have to buy a nice jacket that isn't as bulky as the down jacket I've got. It's too cold to get away with a light jacket, so I need something inbetween. Better find that sooner than later.
 
Good Morning Everyone!

Disc 32 Plyo Legs done! It does seem like things are moving quickly through this rotation!

Cendrine, glad FF rotation looks doable for you. It looked like a nice variety and probably perfect for you getting tip-top for your trip! :p How long are you going to be gone? Is your mom healthy conscious like you? Good that you have some low impact options for working out. But maybe you'll be so busy you'll need time to just relax and enjoy with not working out! I can't believe about people not RSVPing! I agree with Kim, that is rude!

Kim, YAHOO on "officially" being done!" I'll bet you feel accomplished! I've been meaning to ask you how your PF is? Are you back to normal or is it still bothering you? I was thinking with spring here you'd want to be out running some.

Rachel, you must have been up and out early! (Or did you over-sleep? :p)

Enjoy the day!
 
Hi!

I did Muscle Max in it's entirety, although I used the door hanging tubing for back instead of bent over rows, since that does a number on my back, it felt good to have it out and reminded me of STS, since that is when I got it! Tomorrow is Step Blast. I can't remember it but I think I won't have to modify too much.

Jo, my mom is far from disciplined when it comes to working out....LOL! She just has really good intentions and now that she is retired I think she has been better, but she doesn't do weight training, just light cardio. But she eats pretty healthy for the most part, so I am sure we won't have issues food wise at all. We'll be gone for almost 3 weeks, and yes, I am wondering if I am going to need to just relax while there with all the other stuff we'll be doing...

I just got an email from my dad, he lives in the southern, italian speaking part of Switzerland. He has been wanting us to stay with him for a few days while we are there. Knowing him from before, I was hesitant, not looking forward to any old flareups of his temper. In his email he was informing everyone that he had some secondary complications as a result of his recent hip replacement surgery. Apparently the two bottom discs of his spine had started a process of fusing together (nature's way of solving disc problems) But because of the replacement it has changed his alignment and it has interrupted the natural fusing process which causes him lots of pain. In addition to that he got hit with a couple other things because his immunity was down and he said it would take him several months to recover. So now I am not sure if staying at his house is a good idea at all. It may be wiser for us to talk him into letting us stay at a hotel so he doesn't have the added stress of being host, which would suit me fine, he always treats visitors better than overnighters...;)
It will be interesting to see how things develop. My mom is super excited and can't wait for us to come. She always makes things really easy for us. She is already looking around for a stroller for dd and things like that so we don't have to lug it along. (dd is not a fast walker yet, at leat not for long distance...:))

I think I found a jacket, so I'm going to go order that now.
 
Excellent job on MM Cendrine!!! You must be feeling on top of the world! :p

I wouldn't worry about trying to workout if I was you, I'd just enjoy your time with your family and if you have time and nothing to do, do something, otherwise just have fun. If it works for you, I would get a hotel with visiting your dad. I agree with you it might be stressful for him to host with all he's been through. So you're mom makes it easy for you and you make it easy for your dad! ;) Well, whatever happens, I guess you'll know what to do when you get there! Your poor dad - that sounds painful and uncomfortable!

I'm going to go spin tonight and then its TBL! Yippeee!

TTYL!
 
Good evening Yall!

Yes Jo I was up and out this morning!
If someone was to tell me that I would have done a Hiit workout on recovery week I would have laughed right in their face:p...but that is exactly what I did this morning and it felt great. DH wanted to get an early start and I had planned to do low max but there was no time for that so I just thought I would try to get a good short work out in and so I decided to do 30/30 and it worked out great! Tomorrow I am going for some stretching because we have another early morning tomorrow. It will probably be that way all week!

Cendrine-I know how you feel about staying with your dad. DH has family in Norway that would want us to stay with them but I think I would be very uncomfortable staying at their house since I do not know them. It has been years since dh has even seen them so I think It would be better if we stayed at a hotel.
Congrats on Muscle Max. I am the same way about a rotation. I do better with a plan. I think that is why I don't do very much on recovery week...no planning! lol

Kim-Yea on finishing the rotation. Didn't it feel good to be done! I do not know why but it felt like more of a feat this time. I did not get to experiment yet with the stain. We got too busy finishing up other stuff. I am excited but nervous too. This is when I wish I could hire someone. SO if they messed it up they could fix it!lol

Jo-Don't forget about the Deadliest Catch tonight too. Why does Lost, TBL, and DC all have to come on , on the same night??? Thank goodness for DVR and reruns!
I don't know why but I just love to watch DC when it is hot outside. I know, I am a weirdo!
You are going to be done with STS before you know it!!! It is going to be nice that you get to spend some recovery time at your moms. It does not happen very often for me but I love it when vacation or a hard week of work falls on recovery week. Vacation so it will not interrupt my workouts and hard week of work so I am not burning the candle at both ends!

This is one of those hard weeks now. It is funny how it goes from nothing to do to too much in the blink of an eye...haha

If I don't get to it in the morning , I will try and pop in in the evenings!

Rachel
 
Oh you guys! Spinning was so FUN again tonight! Actually it was a good thing that Plyo Legs was easier today (remember week 3 not quite as taxing?) because my legs were READY! I love this instructor!

Rachel, okay, I got the TV shows DOWN! So Tuesday night I watch TBL and yes another great episode (did you like it Kim?). Then Wednesday night or some night during the week I watch LOST on my computer on the ABC website, then Thursday night Discovery replays Tuesday's DC. So you know several of those fisherman are based out of Seattle (Captain Phil and sons live(d) here). Two weeks after Captain Phil died the youngest son was involved in a DUI hit and run downtown. A guy I work with, his daughter dates one of Captain Sig's cousins. Captain Keith lives here too. Anyway, probably more information than your interested in.

Oh I have to take a phone call! I'll talk to you all tomorrow!
 
No Jo...I love all the back ground! That is so cool. I love that show. I do not know why it intrigues me but it does!

OK another good recovery week workout! This morning I did 20 pushups then right into no equipment abs and then the extended stretch. I feel like those pushups really got me going for the abs!

Got to go...I will ty to be back in later!

Have a great day

Rachel
 
Good Day!

I was supposed to do MMA Fusion today but accidentally grabbed Boxing instead and was already 1/2 into it when I realized my mistake. Oh well! It was a good workout!

Oooohhh Rachel, good recovery workout! Got you charged and refueled!

Not much else going on today. I'll check back later. It's a beautiful day here and supposed to be about 60 and then in the low 60's the rest of the week! I'm ready for the warmer weather!
 

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top