Falling Off the Face of the Earth

I'll say a little about my trip to Moore, but I think I'm kind of a day late and a dollar short on that one... These last two weeks have been CRAZY!!! Getting everything together for Moore, going to Moore, and then recovering,. Sprinkled in with 2 trips to Laramie to drop of the dog and pig him up, recovering from the Bolder Boulder, and working a full time job... My time management skills are poor on an easy day and these last two weeks were far from easy! I haven't touched my running shoes or the gym since the Bolder Boulder :-( I'm disappointed in myself, but life happens and sometimes you need a little break.

 

 I actually packed my running shoes for our trip to Moore, but we didn't get there the first night till 11, were up at 6 on Sunday, didn't get home till about 10 on Sunday, were up at 8 on Monday, and weren't home till about 9, then Tuesday when we drove home by the time I got back from getting the dog it was after 10 :-( There just wasn't time. I know that Monday and Tuesday morning I could of "made time", but I was EXHAUSTED and embracing every minute of sleep I was getting, plus the hotel gym was out of commission and I wasn't so sure about running outside since I didn't know the area very well... I wouldn't say I fell off the wagon because I'm itching to get my fitness on, BUT I would say that I'm probably dragging behind the wagon holding on for dear life! I made a deal with myself to go to bed early last night and get up and run today, but I didn't fall asleep nearly as early as I wanted too, and I didn't pop out of bed till 7 :-( yes I could of still made a run happen, but it would of been rushed, and my runs tend to be uber crappy when I don't have time to eat before them. And for the first time in FOREVER I feel caught up on sleep and like a real human being again so I don't regret it one bit! Sometimes you need mental health days! I signed up for the community color run tomorrow FOREVER ago (it was the first race I signed up for), so I'm still going to do it, but I'm definitely downgrading to the 5k from the 10k! I'm hoping I don't die!

 

On another note I am jumping back on the My Fitness Pal bandwagon. I only used it for a few weeks, because I thought I could do it without it (and I'm lazy), but I know that I am definitely going over my calories with all my snacking and I need it to hold me accountable! I just realized this morning that in 2 weeks I will be waking up in Vegas :-) I know I am not going to transform my body in 2 weeks (Hell I've had 4 and 1/2 months and haven't made progress!), but I am going to work hard and eat right so I can feel good about myself and the effort I put in when it comes time to put on a swim suit.

 

And now time for a little Moore recap... I don't even know what to say honestly. The devastation is so overwhelming, and heart stopping that it just makes you gasp when you see it. The pictures really don't do it justice. I truly can't imagine being in these people's situation. I don't know how they literally pick up the few pieces of what's left of their life and begin to piece it back together. Yes, I know it is just stuff, but still it's your whole life! I wonder how they do basic things like get to work? Along with their home's there were thousands and thousands of cars that were just smashed into unrecognizable bits. And what about all their work clothes? Yes, there were TONS of clothes donated, but do people donated nice work clothes? Where are they going to live? Yes they are in a hotel now, but is that where they stay for a year or more till their house is repaired? Where will they get meals when everyone leaves? The red cross, salvation army, and butterball have all already left town. What happens to them then when they are still in hotels without kitchens?  My heart just breaks for these people, I really don't know how they do it.

 

The most amazing thing though was the positive attitude that so many of them had! I think after 3 major tornadoes they all just have the attitude that it is just stuff and at least they are alive. When you see how everything is just GONE and what is left is completely mangled you really grasp how much of a miracle it is that the death toll isn't higher. You never want to say only because every single one of the 24 lost is a tragedy, but it really is amazing that the death wasn't in the hundreds. We stopped by the Orr Family Farm on Sunday evening to see if any of the horses were still there and if they needed any vet supplies (they weren't they have all been moved else where), and Dr. Orr happened to be the one we found when we got there. He stopped and talked to us for 15 or 20 minutes telling all about the damage and the day it happened. He said when he came out of his house the first thinig he saw was that all his barns were gone, but one so he immediately began thinking of the elementary school (his property runs right up to Briarwood Elementary)  which he couldn't see either. He said he thought for sure everyone had to be dead, that there was no way they could of survived, and sure enough that is the school where they ALL survived.

 

I had two favorite/most impactful moments from the trip. The first was on Sunday when we were dropping off our people donations to the church, the pastor took the time to stop and talk to me. He was telling me all about the community, and his congregation and then he stopped and he said you know the best part of all of this is that I never had to ask for any of it. All I said was I've got space and all of this showed up. It made me smile somewhere deep inside my soul, I love knowing that there is still good in people, and that things like this still happen. The second moment was Monday when we were helping Dr. Orr clear trees from drive (he's in his 80's so it definitely wasn't something he himself could be doing, although I have no doubt he would of tried!) he came by right before we finished and he said "you know the funny thing is right before my wife passed away she was saying she wanted to get rid of all these trees. I bet she is up there chuckling now, knowing that even though she is gone she is still getting her way." The positive attitude of those who were SO affected blew my mind. I don't know how they do it, I think I would be a bitter upset wreck if it happened to me. Being "Oklahoma Strong" really is a bred of their own. They are pretty amazing.

 

 

Some of my favorite furry friends I met

Donations to the animal shelter, they had another cart of them and we had at least this much that went to the humane society

First pulling into Moore

Driving down one of the Main streets

Pulling into the Orr Family Farm the red barn is a part of a kids play land he had. It had trains, zip lines, merry go rounds, and all sorts of fun things for kids and most of it will have to be torn down and re built

The only barn where the horses survived

More of the kid's area

The piles of debris along the road were huge! And there is still SO much left to clean up

The second tornado also brought massive flooding :-( This was Sunday and the water was just barely below flood stage

Hard to below those were cars

Church we dropped donations off too, there were several other tables, a whole WALL of water, and then they had more tables set up gong down another hall way

More of the donations

 

 

 

 

A whirlwind

Whew! So much has gone on this week  I don't even really know where to start! To start with the amount of donations I have collected for Moore, OK is incredible! The graciousness of everyone involved has been awesome and has really made my heart happy. I have WAY too much to even think about actually shipping, so I secured a ride on a truck for everything.... and I will be joining her! I met a girl from Salt Lake City whose family lives down there and lost everything in the tornado. She had been donating to red cross and encouraging others to do the same, but when her uncle went to them to ask for help they turned him away without so much as a bottle of water because he has insurance. Because of this she decided to take a truck and  trailer full of donations down to hand out to EVERYONE in need. She will be passing through Cheyenne on her way and I will be jumping in with her. I have never met her in person before, but I believe in the power of good and I have faith it will work out! We will spend 1 day passing out our donations and 2 days helping with clean up, and then she will be bringing her mom and cousins back with her since they don't have a house anymore :-( I'm really excited for the trip and for the first time in a long time I can say I'm really proud of myself! I set out with a goal and I made it happen and it grew even bigger than I could of imagined.

On the flip side of this those I have REALLY slacked at working out/eating well/blogging this week. I definitely need to find a better balance in my life, and get better at time management. I have always struggled with time management and I really need to get to working on it. I hate that just because I start getting passionate about something new I let everything else slide. I am also struggling to find a balance with finding time for the BF he has definitely been feeling a little neglected this week, and I can't really blame him. I know I need to make more time for him, but it is all just a part of getting better with my time management.

I haven't ran since Tuesday and even though I ran Monday and Tuesday I haven't had any good runs this week. I went out this morning for a run and it was AWFUL. I broke to a walk at 1.5 miles and quit at about 2.1 and walked back home. I felt like a total loser and I think it was mostly a mental game. It was HOT, I didn't drink enough water before I ran, and I hadn't eaten anything. I was really really really struggling and I decided I was better off calling it quits and trying again tonight when it cools off. I knew I should of gone earlier this morning, but when I got up at 7:30 I was still EXHAUSTED so I went back to bed about 8 and slept till 10 eek! I haven't slept that late in forever! I know I know I should of just gotten up and gotten it done, and I know that is part of my learning time management, but it didn't happen. Tomorrow is a new day and I will do my best to do better!

I'm hydrating up and going to eat a healthy snack that way I have NO EXCUSES when I head out tonight. I NEED to make it 6 miles! I am super nervous I won't be able to make it through the race on Monday, but I know most of it is a mental game and I just need to get my head in a good place and go! The last 5k I did I hadn't ran enough and I DIED at the end, I also think I went out too fast and that was part of why I was so dead at the end. I'm just going to find my happy pace and go with it and not worry about all the people who are going faster than me. I have been doing more strength training so I hope that will help me get through this run! I hate being under prepared and I HATE that I haven't been putting in the effort I should of been. I was thinking on my run earlier how proud of myself I was when I made it 5 miles, and how disappointed I was in myself that I hadn't kept going and kept pushing myself like I should of.

Life is full of highs and lows and I have had both of them today! I am going to just keep plodding along and try to have fun on Monday. It won't be the end of the world if I have to walk on Monday, but I REALLY DON'T WANT TO! And I don't think I will have to. If I can make it 5 miles I can make it 6 miles. I CAN AND I WILL!!

Healthy eating and a little bragging

So this has NOTHING to do with running, working out, or getting in shape but I have to do a little bragging! I had pretty much the world's greatest friends when I was in college. They were awesome and always there for me and I love them from the bottom of my heart. And now some of them are going on to do some super awesome things!!! My friend Joshie just got picked up by the Oakland Raiders!!!! He couldn't deserve it more he has worked his booty off and is going to do awesome I just know it! Good things do come to good people!

fist bumps and wiggles I'm so excited for him!

There are very few sober pictures of me from college (sorry mom) so this is one of the most appropriate of the two of us

Joshie Poo with my Niece and Nephew

 

So proud of him! It couldn't of happened to a better guy and I had to do some bragging :-) Oh and he's single ladies ;-) Our other good friend Mags also got picked up by the Raiders so they will be headed to Oakland together in 2 weeks (there are no appropriate photos of me and Mags to post)! And Josh's roommate got picked up my Tampa Bay so it was an all around awesome day yesterday for the former Wyo O-line!!

 

hopefully Nick can find a bath tub his size in Tampa ;-)

I just stole this picture from fb here's the 3 of them together on pro day they are beasts!! My mom always felt that I was very safe at college since I had such large friends :-)

 

Ok now time to get back on track with things that are relative. I haven't talked much about what I eat on here, but it really is a big part of my life and getting healthy! I am in no way shape or form an expert, but I just try and fill my belly with healthy things. I use My Fitness Pal to track what I eat, and it has really helped a lot! I always thought I could never track my food it would take too much work, but MFP really makes it a lot easier. They have SO MANY foods on there! I have yet to find something they don't have. And I love that it breaks down everything it doesn't just count calories. It also makes me hold myself accountable. If I have to log in that I just ate a cookie, a piece of cake, or a whole handful of candy I am much more likely to turn it down. It takes take a little bit of time and effort, but for me it has been a big help! (I'm really excited/happy this morning can you tell by all the exclamation points I have already used? )

 

One of the biggest things for me is that I try and eat fruit and veggies at every meal. I have heard that some people believe that you shouldn't eat any fruit after noon because of all the natural sugars in it, but my mindset is that its better to fill up on fruit than junk. On MFP I am almost always over on my sugars for the day because of how much fruit I eat, but I figure natural sugar is better for you than the processed refined stuff, so I don't worry about it too much. My morning smoothie alone uses up pretty much all of my sugar allowance for the day. Speaking of smoothies, that's how I get my veggies in at breakfast :-) I'm always late leaving for work so I tend to eat things that I can grab and go. Smoothies are great for this reason, but also because I can pack em with things I don't like and hide it with the fruit, such as spinach. Yuck hate spinach, the only way it's getting in this body is through a smoothie! These last 2 weeks I have also been trying to add a serving of Naked's Green machine serving to my afternoon snack to get in some extra green goodness. I never thought I would be able to drink a green smoothie, but it for real just tastes like apples!

 

One of my morning smoothies. I almost always have banana in them and from there it is just whatever else I have. The white stuff in the middle is coconut oil, smoothies are also how I get my daily dose of that :-)

 

I'm a carb freak. There I admitted it. It's weird though because I am not big on bread. I prefer hamburgers and hot dogs without a bun, I don't like toast, and I prefer my sandwiches as wraps, but show me pasta or rice and I'm all over that! I have been trying to work on weaning myself away from it, but it's hard! Every meal I'm like oh rice would be good with that, step away from the rice Shannon! So now I *try* to replace rice with a second veggie, but sometimes I just really feel like I need some starch in my life to feel full!

 

My other weakness is sweets. I seriously have a sugar issue. I.CAN.NOT.SAY.NO.TO.CAKE. End of story. I love it way too much. I am working on saying no to all the other sweets and trying to eat far less of them, but it's definitely a bit of a losing battle. The biggest thing is I try and keep it out of the house. This is DEFINITELY easier when the bf isn't here. The bf loves sweets more than me, and he eats them one box of twinkies at a time. He has no interest in healthy eating. There is a grocery store not far from my house, and I have been known on prior occasions to drive to the store, buy the individual pieces of cake, and eat it for dinner. So to avoid these incidents I try and keep a few healthier sweet options on hand. I love Jello's sugar free pudding! They are also fat free and only have 60-70 calories in it depending on which ones you get. They sell a cheesecake flavor if you buy the box and make it yourself, and it helps tide me over from cheesecake cravings :-) Anything low fat/low sugar/altered to appear more healthy = chemicals though. Sometimes you just have to pick your battles though! Fruit and low fat cool whip is also another go to treat for me when I am feeling the need for something sweet.

 

The biggest thing to keep my eating on track for me is planning. If I don't have what I'm going to eat planned out for the week there is a good chance I'll sub in crap meals. I like to bring my lunch to work because it cuts out the option to eat crap. I don't have to make any decisions and I don't have to deal with temptation (except cake in the break room). If I bring a healthy lunch, I'll eat a healthy lunch. My lunch is pretty standard I always have either a side salad or carrots/celery, some sort of fruit, and then left overs. Having left overs to eat for lunch makes my life SO much easier. I also ALWAYS pack snacks for myself. I know that I can't go much more than 2ish hours without needing a snack. These past few weeks I have been munching on healthy banana bread I made with a clementine for my morning snack, and for my afternoon snack I eat one of  my banana pb and oatmeal bites with 8oz of green smoothie. Planning saves my booty, literally.

 

banana, pb, and oatmeal bites

My healthyish banana bread

 

This post has gotten ridunkulously long so I am going to continue it tomorrow because I have to get ready to celebrate with Joshie woo! Happy Sunday all!