Adding Some Color...

to a blah Monday. Its just been one of those days where I'm cranky for no real reason. Starting out this morning, I just couldn't wake myself up... therefore I got to the gym late and didn't get the full amount of time I needed. Maybe that's it. Or perhaps, its last minute notice about babysitting today. The babysitting itself has been great, we played outside in the backyard... its the short notice part that may have swayed my mood. More likely, its the fact that my "friend" George has chosen to pay another visit. Seriously, again??? I'm losing my freakin mind with this... but its the price I pay for forgetting my pills when we went out of town. And I have zero motivation to do anything today - which I'm not sure if its because I'm cranky or its part of what's causing me to be cranky. Either way, you can call me "Ms. Cranky" for now.

Rather than continuing my crankiness, I decided to get the pictures from Sunday's trip to the tulip fields uploaded. The flowers were beautiful, even though its getting to be the end of the season for them. There were a TON of people there... you would have thought we were on the way to a concert or sports even the way traffic was backed up getting to the parking area. Kudos to the facility for having decent parking attendants & for the 50% off admission they give to military families! There was a little bit of drama during our visit - two ambulances - we saw one lady fall in the mud, not sure what the other incident was.

Here are a few pictures from the day...


Behind the display gardens, they have huge fields of tulips. It was rainbow of colors, but there were so many people milling around that it was hard to get a good picture of them.


It always amazes me all of the different shapes they get the tulips to grow in these days.

That's my son standing under the tree, the evergreen tree. I just had to share this because its so darn funny. He is scared to death of evergreen trees (don't ask, its a weird fear no one can figure out), but this was so tall, he didn't even realize what kind of tree it was.

There's some serious stuff on my mind, but I'm not gonna try to tackle it when I'm Ms. Cranky.

Hope the flower pictures add a little brightness to your day...

~ Julie ~

The Final Week

By this time next week, Around the World will be OVER! Can you believe it?

I finished up with core sets today; so now I've completed core sets, circuit sets & the bike. Here's what I have left:

• 211 sets of free weights
• 12.7 mi on elliptical
• 23.8 mi on treadmill
• 795 floors on StairMaster

Doesn't look too impossible does it?

I ran the numbers - based on my typical pace - and it looks like I need about 13 hours of gym time for the cardio portion & maybe a couple extra hours for the free weights... so 15 hours total in seven days. It seems doable...

But I have a "secret" goal to finish early... I just think it would be really cool to finish early AFTER missing the whole week of spring break. Have I lost my mind? Quite possibly, lol.

Two days of "relaxing" at the gym has helped my body immensly. I have almost no pain or achiness for the first time in DAYS. Maybe that's why I'm feeling so energetic, but I've planned to work out twice a day every day except for Wednesday (and maybe Thursday) til its done.

Time for my cheerleaders to get their pom-poms ready for a busy week! :-)

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After I was done at the gym, we drove off the island to go see the tulips. We are so lucky to have these beautiful tulip fields about 30 minutes from our house. I took a bunch of pictures, so I'll share some after I get a chance to upload them. It was nice to go do something as a family - shocking that we had good weather & the Navy accommodated by giving him a day off at the same time. Unfortunately it was totally unplanned and spur of the moment things such as this lead me to...

Food confessional time AGAIN! This week has been TERRIBLE from a food perspective. Today for example; The Husband wanted to go to breakfast (something we rarely have the opportunity to do) so of course we did. I ordered a prime rib skillet... which was really nothing more than a beef fajita mix with hashbrowns. Plus it came with a side of toast, which I should have had them leave off... but no I ate one piece - which I guess is better than two. This might not have been so bad on its own... but we ended up eating out a second time. Round two I ordered a chicken fajita wrap... which I think was the healthiest thing they had (the other stuff was corn dogs, hot dogs, deluxe cheeseburgers), but still. If all of that isn't bad enough, we bought a small bag of kettle corn, which The Husband and I consumed before we even made it home; I could say he ate way more than I did, but I'd be lying. Small victories, I resisted the fudge & the milkshakes at the tulip fields. I'm thinking maybe I need to start doing a nightly post with my food log for more accountability or something.

Its been a good weekend... but I'm eager to get the new week started. What's going on in your world this week?