Which Way To The Gym

I apologize in advance for the brain dump that this post will inevitably turn into from not having posted in a while…

I digress…

Working Out

First things first, we started going to a gym in July of this year. That was what, three months ago now. I am happy to report that I am lifting more weight than my original attempts, and I am pleased to report that I, LD have MUSCLE DEFINITION once again! YESSSSSS! Also, for the first time in a long time – I ran on a treadmill. I will repeat that. I. ran. on. a. treadmill. Consistently. Anyone that knows me, knows this is a big deal – I don’t run. No, I mean like never, ever, unless you count minorly jogging sometimes from bus stop to bus stop to avoid waiting in the elements for the next bus to arrive to get me to work on time. So there’s that. I will admit, getting into shape is work. I don’t just mean the duh, obvious work of being at the gym working out, but the mental struggles that insist on creeping in, intent on ruining my mojo.

The things that start out like…

What?! Go to the gym AGAIN? But you just went yesterday! You’ll be fine if you just skip tonight…or the next night…and the next night…

Sure, go ahead, you deserve to pig out…just put all those calories you just sweated burned off at the gym back on your body.

Okay, fine, I’ll go to the gym, but I am just going to do some pool laps and sit in the hot tub – that’s working out, right? Right!

And that isn’t even all of them, just the ones that went through my head the past couple of days. BUT I did go to the gym last night when the weather was dismal and I had zero energy while Derick stayed home and did school work. So, I’ve got that going for me. One more gym visit than him so far this month, check! Hey – I get competitive. It’s okay. Sometimes it’s the little things.

Anniversary

This month, Derick and I will celebrate five years of being married. Whoa, wait…how did that happen, did I seriously just blink and time fast forwarded five years?! Reflecting right now, it does not seem like it has been that long, but when I think about how long total we have been together  = 10 years!

We had talked about doing a lot of cool things when we hit five years – things like:

• Taking an Alaskan cruise
• Taking a long trip somewhere
• Going somewhere tropical
• Considering starting a family

So, we pared-down our hopes and dreams of grandeur to doing a road-trip for a few days mid-October. When we were driving to Derick's family's hometown (central Wisconsin), we stopped at a rest stop along the way, and picked up a couple every one they had for anywhere and everywhere trip brochures/catalogs. 

After paging through the awesome, glossy, photo-winning books, we narrowed down our trip options to the North Shore, MN area, or northern WI. 

The verdict: Bayfield, WI! 

I have heard so many good things about the area that it was an instant contender in my eyes for a place to spend a few days. We actually just booked our hotel - in Ashland, WI, actually - about a 30-minute drive up the coast of Lake Superior to Bayfield. Most of the places we looked at staying were all booked up for the time we would be traveling there! Crazy! Actually, the hotel we are staying at, is booked for Saturday night for a wedding party's block of rooms, so we might end up driving up the coast a little more to the Duluth-Superior side in MN. 

Things to Do
In order to appear the least bum-like on the weekends, when entering into the autumn season, Derick and I decided to make a short list of some of the things we want to do before the end of the year.

Those items listed out as follows:

• Venture to the MOA - and possibly IKEA
• MN Zoo visit to take advantage of the fall colors
• Albertville Outlet Shopping (more for me than Derick - since he just stocked up on clothes and shoes at Kohl's...although, with my recent discovery of zulily.com, my new clothes budget might be dwindling as well...)
• Apple Orchard - one of my FAVORITE things to do in the fall!
• One last hurrah of fishing and or camping

Sprinkle in a helping of dates with friends, lazy-day weekends (always a fan family favorite of ours) and get-togethers and other obligations, and there you have most of our weekends until the snow flies.

So, that about sums up all the things that are on my mind right now!

-LD