iWill90

This week I was recognized as member of the week for iWill90 Challenge, and wanted to recognize the team of coach's and the program here on my blog.

iWill Fitness is a company committed to coaching people.  Incorporating fitness, nutrition, and your mind into lifestyle fitness coaching.  I have been a part of iWill90 from the beta round.  iWill90 is a 90 day lifestyle challenge, where teams work together meeting and breaking fitness/nutrition/mind challenges throughout the week.  The second round of iWill 90 started in mid January to kick off the new year.

I've learned a lot of things during the first round of iWill90.  To include, recognizing that i wasn't eating enough fruits and veggies each day.  Additionally, the abundance of artificial sweeteners and sugars that are added into many of the things we have daily.  Some things include flavored coffee, toothpaste, ketchup, all sorts of dressings, and many other things that were in our pantry.  This made me realize the importance of reading the ingredients on the foods we are eating.

The second round, I'm focusing my personal goals on getting rid of those artificial sweeteners, and knowing what I'm eating.  If I don't know an ingredient on a label and sounds like chemistry it is very likely not coming home with me.  The team of coach's of iWill brought up the Whole30 program (which I will have a post out in the coming weeks), without the encouragement, knowledge from the coach's and the community I don't think I would have gone through with the Whole30.  I have 4 days left to go to finish up the 30 days and am very happy with my results and the food dependence's I've gotten over!

The fitness/workouts I've been pretty good with myself, which includes running, cycling, and most recently more strength training.  The challenge has been a great way to stay accountable and keep up with my workouts.

The final area of coaching that is the mind.  This area I think is one of the most important areas in any goal setting/meeting.  The end of last year, I came out from running with an injury.  Doctors don't really know exactly what it was, but with a lot of rest and more strength training it has gone well in recovery and I'm back at running.  My mindset through the recovery and build up has changed, I'm listening to my body and enjoy the fact that I can keep moving.  It may not be my fastest or the best time, it may be snowing, but I am still moving and enjoying it.

With this, my running goals have changed for the year.  I have goal races, that are bucket list runs, I want to finish well and strong, the time yes will be important, but not the number one item.  Finishing and finishing healthy is what I am looking to achieve.  Of course having fun!

Thank you to all the coach's and the knowledge you have passed on to all of us!

For more questions about iWill or iWill90 let me know or check out the links below to get in contact with the iWill coach's!

iWill Facebook

iWill Fitness


Thanks for reading!!

Jane

SWEET Workout

Introducing SWEET Workout!

I've been recently chosen as an Ambassador for SWEET Workout!  Excited to be a apart of the program.  SWEET Workout was designed to encourage women and men to make positive lifestyle changes and find motivation to workout/run.  Through the use of social media the group has been growing.

What does SWEET Stand for??

SWEET is an acronym which stands for:

S • Stronger
W • Women through
E • Empowering
E • Education and
T • Training

As part of the program, I will be representing SWEET Workout and encouraging others through the many social media outlets.

To learn more checkout SWEET Workout Website!

SWEET Workout

-Other ways to follow SWEET Workout:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SWEETWorkout

Instagram: http://instagram.com/sweet_workout/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sweetworkout

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/SWEETWorkout/

Jane

Run Ranger Run

Hello All,

      Wanted to share with everyone an event that I'm participating in through the month of February!  The team I joined up with for this event is part of the Colorado Springs Team RWB.  This is an organization that has many chapters throughout the United States.  I haven't yet gotten to participate in any of there weekly events, but hope to once my work schedule changes.  Team RWB's mission is to enrich the lives of America's veterans by connecting them to their community through physical and social activity.  This comes from there website Team RWB, where you can find out more about this organization!

Back to Run Ranger Run!

The History
       In 2012 veteran US Army Corporal Cory Smith, following combat deployment, and the difficulties of the journey home, he decided to highlight this difficult journey by running 565 miles in 28 days.  To read more of the history of Corporal Smith's journey, check out this link.

The Event
       The team pledges to walk, run and/or bike a combined of 565 miles in the month of February raising funds for GallantFew while also increasing the awareness of the veteran transition issues. This is where my part comes in.  So far for this month our team has raised $220 of our $565 goal, and 94 of the 565 miles.  I have a total of 12 miles in for the group.

Event Numbers from 2014

• 634 Participants
• Participants represented in several countries
• 98 Teams
• 1545 Donors
• $123,921 pledged
• 46,857.4 miles logged

I don't do many fundraiser, but want to encourage all those who are reading to view the information and be educated about the transition that veterans have to make coming home from combat deployments and the military.  It is a different life that can take time to adjust to upon return.

If interested in making any donations, they can be done through Crowdrise.

Some information on GallentFew Inc.
      GallentFew is a Non-Profit mission to reduce US Army Ranger veteran unemployment, homelessness and eliminate Ranger veteran suicide by one-on-one mentoring.  To read more information on GallentFew check out the following links: Gallentfew  and The History.

Thank you all for checking out the post,  we are enjoying some great weather here in Colorado and ready to start the weekend.

Jane

The New Year

Over the last year and half, the blog has been neglected quite a bit.  A number of months between blog posts.  I am hoping to change that in the new year.  Maybe every other week to get something even if it is not much at all up on here.

The year has started out well, setting new goals, making new habits.  The laster part of 2014, I was limited to the amount of running I could do.  This was due to a persistent injury with my hip.  Not really sure what it was but doing much better now.  Seeing a chiropractor weekly, adding in strength training and starting to run now just to enjoy the run.

If I will race this year is unknown, I think it is going to be best for me to just build up the miles, not set an end date to be at a certain point but enjoy getting the miles in!  There are so many beautiful places in the area to run that I haven't yet.  The addition to strength training will also be a great benefit to prevent the stagnant routine of just getting the miles in.

I have set some new goals to make habits to eating healthier and cutting out sweets.  I'm not eliminating sweets, just more conscious of how much and how often I indulge in the yummy treats.  A lot of this started through the iwill90 challenge from this past fall and has rolled into the new year.  I want to continue working harding to make the better food choices, without eliminating some of those tasty treats!

There is very little planned for the year, as for travel, kinda going to see how the year rolls out and maybe take more short trips in Colorado!

I continue to scrapbook, keeping memories recording stories! At some point this year I'm going to venture into creating a t-shirt quilt.  I have sooooo many t-shirts that I don't wear, but all tell a story.  The quilt will be great for telling stories.

I have a few pictures below as of recent, but look for more blog posts in the future!

Jane

Brooklyn sleeping under my Study Material

Logan and I out on a short Run in COS

Molly and I running together.  One of the many snowy days, we were running at the gym!

Is August here yet?

Soo close to August! I'm ready, it will mean I will be back on Day shift schedules will be the same, and my summer will officially start.  Ready to spend some more time in the sun!

We haven't been up doing too much the last couple weeks.  We did attend the Pikes Peak or bust Rodeo once again this year.  It did rain the day of the rodeo just like last year when we went, but held out while at the rodeo.

Tonight we went to Margarita Fiesta! A great night, and a lot of laughs and delicious foods and of course Margarita's!!  Sam was awesome and cooked up the taco meat, as I accidentally slept in a lot (there was an alarm set, must have turned it off in my sleep).  One of the difficult things of working nights.  I did get ready in 20 mins and out the door we went!

Last weekend Sam took place in UpaDowna's ROAR in the city event.  This was a type of scavenger hunt that took place throughout downtown Colorado Springs.  All the hunting was done on bikes.  These pictures I pulled from the linked webpage from the event.

Some unfortunate news.  Our pups had there annual exams/shots on Tuesday.  Logan is healthy, good weight, clean teeth, and did well with the vet for his shot.  We found out that Brooklyn has a heart murmur, just developing over the past 10 months.  This we have known is common in her breed, we will be going in for an ultrasound/x-ray later August to find out if what the status is and the level she is at.

Brooklyn has no change in attitude, appetite, or activity level.  We will be watching her closely for any symptoms that may arise, but still enjoying all the time we can with her.

Happy 4th of July!

This year we actually celebrated our 4th of July on the 3rd.  Our small town we live in outside of Colorado Springs had an event on the 3rd.  What a great way to extend the celebration.  Here is a photo taken prior to us leaving to avoid the rain!

Like I said, we left before the fireworks actually started at the Golf Course.  Lucky for us, we were able to see them from our Front Porch Perfectly!!

The last couple months I have been working night shift, it has made for a different summer, defiantly less time spent out and about, and usually starting my day about 5 pm, not much time to get anything done if shopping is needed.  Not to much longer till I will be on days again!!

One thing we did get to do, was see a Lacrosse match in Denver at the Mile High Stadium.  I was fortunate enough to win tickets to this while at an expo in May.  We had a great time attending and watching!  We also discovered an awesome small place that served some great chicken wings!

In mid June we were able to make a quick trip to Texas to go to Sam's Family Cousin Reunion.  It was a great time, beautiful weather, and some beautiful views.  This was also the weekend of the Honey Moon.  Unfortunately I did not get a good picture of the moon coming up over the water, but it was a great site to see.  The humidity was a great welcome, really is a great thing after living in Colorado and having to invest in hand/body lotion all year long!

Unlike last summer here, this summer we have gotten soo much rain!  It has been pretty consistent raining every afternoon.  It has been great, our grass is now green, and the afternoon rains provides some great view for photos.  This one I snapped on the corner of our street.  A awesome double rainbow!

Some very exciting news for us! Sam is getting promoted this year!! It will be a few months till the new rank, but we are excited!  Like I said up top, we haven't really been doing too much this summer.  I have some days off for the holiday hope to catch up on some things, around the house trying to keep quite as the rest of the house sleeps.

I leave you with two pics of Brooklyn and Logan.  Brooklyn is now 3 years old and Logan is coming up on 2.  We haven't had Logan yet a year, despite his shyness, he has learned quite a bit in a short time!  This photo has him doing a high five, he hardly ever does this when new people are around, I have proof of it now!  Love the way he is looking at the camera in this one as well!  And we have sleeping Brooklyn!

Haven't Forgot!

Hello

I haven't forgotten that I do have a blog, just temporarily not looked at recently.  There has been a lot going on. A short recap with some photos.

Well I was about to start my Masters Program this month, unfortunately when I was accepted, to the Systems Engineering Program at Penn State, it wasn't noted that I hadn't had calculus which was highly encouraged for the program.  So starting the first course was a bit rough, and in the end I had to drop it and will have to rethink where I will be going with school.  Something that I feel I may be better at is project management, IA/cybersecurity, so looking into more programs available to continue with school! Sam has also recently started school at Ashford.





April (26) was an exciting month, My cousin Andrea was married, probably on the nicest day of the month in Wisconsin.  I was privileged to be a part of their wedding party.  Had a great time helping with decorating and wedding day.  To the right is a photo of Sam and I at the wedding. Looking snazzy!  Congrats Andrea and Jason!!

   A random photo of Logan and I. He has grown up a lot since first getting  him.  He has learned lie down, and he sure is quiet obedient when treats are involved.  He is still a bit hesitant around new people and sometimes around Sam.   He has become a better companion and fun to be around.  His  his second shedding season has started, so the vacuum and furminator are my friend with him.  Brooklyn and Logan, mhh I would say tolerate each other, they are not ones to lay together, which is fine.  Logan can be a bit more excited and playful when Brooklyn just wants to get away and relax.

A fun photo of Sam and I at the Air Force Appreciation night at the Sky Sox Game.  We are  big kids in this one! The Sky Sox is the Colorado Springs AAA team.  Hear is the Air Force Falcon from the Air Force Academy and Sox the Fox, the Sky Sox team mascot.





Sam probably didn't realize I took this photo.  This was taken at Phantom Canyon in downtown Colorado Springs.  A pretty fun place we don't go to often.  This was probably the best game of pool I ever played, I did though scratch on the 8 ball but soooo close to winning for once!  We stopped here this night after a friends birthday dinner.

SELFIE!!!  Our unit on 15 May, had a down day where we went to the incline in Manitou Springs.  This was my first trip up the incline, and WOW, I don't think I was ready.  I did get to try it out, who knows if I will ever be ready to climb the incline.  Check out the link of Manitou Incline to learn more and see what I'm talking about!  Sure was  a beautiful day and beautiful view looking down over Manitou and Colorado Springs!

Colfax Urban 10 Miler took place 18 May, only three days following my hike up the incline.  My first ever 10 mile race, not my longest race, but different goal distance.  It was a fun race, running through Mile High Stadium in Denver and through different parts of the city. Finishing time was 1:32, just over my goal of 1:30.  The day was beautiful, with temperatures at 9 in the morning I believe up in the 70's.  It was great.  My friend Molly wasn't able to run during this series, but she came along to support my run and see me at the finish line! A great girls weekend.

The last couple months I've started Scrapbooking.  All those photos from our travels throughout Europe are finally going into an album, I never realized how many I took!  It has been fun, and I'm happy to again be creative in this way.  I have noticed I spend less time in front of a television, which I'm happy with.  There are always those days that I do nothing and watch way to many HGTV House Hunters episodes but, hey why not!!

WELCOME Jackson!! We are excited to be Uncle Sam and Aunt Jane to our nephew Jackson!  At this date he is about a week old now and soo tiny, cute! Sam recently went to visit, while I stayed home with work and the pups! We are excited to welcome him to the family! Congrats Maggie and Jeremy on your addition!

That is what I got so far, I will probably do more of these summarizing posts during the summer, we are going to do as much stuff in the area this summer, despite our unique work schedules.  We are excited to be coming up on our 4 year wedding anniversary and our 1 year living here in Colorado Springs area!