Heavy & Deep

2013!

I love new beginnings. A clean slate, a fresh start, a chance to look back and reflect, an opportunity to plot and plan for growth in the future. Most of all though, I love looking back and relishing all that I have accomplished in the last year. 2012 was amazing! I tackled so many goals, from running half marathons to PR'ing my 5k time, from moving to a new city to becoming a certified CrossFit Level 1 coach. What the new year reminds me is that LIFE GOES ON. And if we aren't careful, we'll be so busy planning our future and rushing to meet our goals, that we forget the beauty of the present.

What I realized over the course of 2012 is how lucky I am to have made the friends I did while at Fort Hood. It happened slowly, over time, like friendships do. You grow closer over the little, everyday interactions - a joke here, a dinner party there, you share experiences, trials and tribulations. Storms come and with the help of your friends, they pass. Trust is built, memories are made, and suddenly, you can't imagine how any of these people weren't a part of your life.

How did little old me wind up with such amazing friends? I'm grateful, so grateful. :)

In true dork fashion, we dressed up and stayed in! It was a super fun night playing board games, dancing with the kids, and sipping on some libations. 

Ever since they heard I met the cast of the Vampire Diaries, they think I'm something of a celebrity.

 He makes me miss my Ellie pie!

Sporting my new digs. Nike shorts and Reebok 3/4 zip

Somehow I drug my butt out of bed this morning after 4 hours of sleep, to greet the day with a Hero WOD. I wanted to start 2013 off on the right foot. Honoring a hero and raising money for a local cause seemed perfect. CrossFit 254 was hosting the WOD.

"Loredo"

6 rounds for time:
24 squats

24 push ups

24 lunges

400m run

Time: 26:11, Rx

Blessings and prayers, sergeant. God Speed.

They were also fundraising this morning for Ella.  

On January 12, 2013, one of CrossFit 254's athletes, Tanya Taylor, will race in Walt Disney World’s Goofy Race in honor of Ella (who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia one day after her 2nd birthday, April 30, 2012). She will run a half marathon on Saturday and a full marathon on Sunday for a total of 39.3 miles! CrossFit 254 is raising funds to help pay for Ella's medical bills, visits to clinic, gasoline to and from treatment, medical equipment, etc. As you can imagine, the expenses continue to rise as a single income family of four continues to care for their child with cancer. They're hoping to reach a goal of $5000! They're accepting donations here. 

Imagine if everyone pitched in $5?

"In 2012 nature and the mad nature of some human beings caused us to wonder how can we go on. From super storm Sandy to the Colorado movie house shooting and the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, we have been pressed to find some answers to the question, why me, why us, why now? As we come into 2013, we bring with us the need to find answers and the hope to find what can we do to prevent the recurrence of these despairing occurrences. I think we must commit to a commitment to all human beings and a decision to accept our responsibility to nature's outpouring and human misbehavior. I wish that we could say with Horace Mann that each of us should be "ashamed to die until you have won some victory for mankind." I think we must surrender the despair of unexpected cruelty and extend the wonder of unexpected kindnesses to ourselves and to each other. 2013 can bring us the chance to be kind to each other and kind to ourselves. We deserve each other and each others generosity." -Maya Angelou

Do you make New Years Resolutions?