Pocketful of Sunshine

Summer has finally arrived in Boise! Our daytime highs haven't dipped much below the mid-80s in the past couple weeks, so bring on the sun-river-camping-hiking-biking-boating-fishing fun!

My coworkers and I have a mutual fondness of dogs and outdoor activities, so we have been doing a lot of group hikes lately. Our latest trip was to check out Military Reserve Park, which contains nearly 500 acres of crisscrossing trails. The loop that we took was quite literally uphill both ways, so the final verdict is that the park is awesome. And it kicked our butts. 

Well deserved

We also introduced some friends to Korean-style BBQ over the weekend, with great success. The only part of Korean BBQ that I dislike is the prep work - the amount of time required to prepare everything is disproportionally large in comparison to the meal itself. If it wasn't so delicious, I wouldn't be so willing to make it on a regular basis.

Obsession of the Week: I'll Bark When I Want To...
Please excuse the full title of this video, but it's way too funny not to share! I start giggling every time I think about it, and hysterical laughter ensues whenever I watch it - which has been about twelve times now. I don't want to bark anymore...

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." 
- Albert Einstein

Life in the Making

Please excuse my late post, I wasn't ignoring my poor little blog intentionally! I don't have any weekend news since it was full of the basics (work, laundry, and housework), but the last couple days were fairly busy. 

Monday I volunteered with Paint the Town after work and then got lost not once, but twice on the way back. The sad part of that story is that the house we were painting was just around the corner from our old neighborhood. Ya think that I would be capable of driving myself home... Let's just blame the fact that it was almost 10:30pm before we called it quits for the night, shall we?

Tuesday I went hiking with a coworker before heading out for a 9pm softball game. We played extremely well and pulled an 11-0 win, but we definitely had to hustle for some of those runs! The good news is that I'm actually catching line drives now rather than stopping them with random appendages - you can take my lack of large, unsightly bruises as proof. I am so ready for my day off tomorrow, even though it will still be starting with a 5:45am workout.

My feelings exactly

"Progress always involves risks. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first."

Frederick B. Wilcox

An Ounce of Prevention

Our week and weekend were extremely quiet. I've been striving to stay hyper-focused at work and, while it's been paying off quite nicely, keeping that level of concentration and enthusiasm up for almost nine hours a day leaves me more than a little fatigued. I suppose that a lingering cold and stepping up my workouts might also be contributing factors.

I took some time from my rigorous weekend napping schedule for work on Saturday, date night Saturday evening (dinner + Prometheus, yay!), grocery shopping on Sunday... and that was it. Incredibly unexciting, but I'm working on listening to my body a little better. Mild heat exhaustion on one of our recent excursions was a good reminder of the benefits of this philosophy.

Weekend Snapshots

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard enjoying an early morning stroll

Zoë, shoe guardian

Obsession of the Week: Body Pump

Holy. Freaking. Wow. I adore this workout! I honestly never thought I would say that about a weight lifting class. My coworker suggested this one last week and, although I readily agreed to it, I wasn't all that excited by the prospect. This class had me shaking from head to toe before it was over, drenched in sweat, and eager for more. I headed to work (after getting cleaned up, of course) and was in the best mood that carried over into the next day. The fact that I am now willing to get up at 5am for a few days every week speaks volumes.

Hustle and Bluster

After a gorgeous weekend of 90 degree weather, we had a crazy wind and rain storm come barreling through yesterday. Stoplights went out, trees were down, sections of the city were without power until the wee hours of the morning, and my internet went on the fritz - thus no Monday post. 

Since my thyroid has effectively shut down my metabolism, I've committed to being purposely active (meaning moderate to high intensity exercise) five to six days per week. We started out the week right with a 25 mile bike ride and, despite the electronic issues of last night, I organized my gym schedule for the rest of the week. One of my coworkers joined the gym that I have a membership at and we decided to start taking a couple classes together, so this morning found me awake and headed to the gym at the unholy hour of 5:30am for a combat inspired class focusing on core and leg work through boxing, kickboxing, and Muay Thai moves. It was fun, but slightly much too early in the morning for me to be putting together combination moves with any accuracy. Tomorrow will see me heading to a 5:45am weight lifting class... and then it will be evening workouts for the rest of the week. There are only so many early mornings that this girl can handle since giving up coffee.

Weekend Snapshots

Idyllic

Summer in a bowl

Asleep standing up

"I'll quit coffee. It won't be easy drinking my Bailey's straight, but I'll get used to it. It'll still be the best part of waking up."  

Will and Grace (TV Show)