I am having SUCH a hard time!

We are supposed to wait until tomorrow to start posting CHA projects... oh my goodness, I'm about to burst with excitement! We won't be posting sneak peeks of new stuff until the middle of next week. At that time, you'll be able to find the Maya Road sneak peeks here. Don't worry, when the peeks start happening, you'll know! I will be furiously posting my praises for Caroline and Deb... they have amazing insight and they are unbelievably talented business women. I feel so blessed to be able to work for them. I often find myself pinching my arm to make sure that I'm awake. Thank goodness I am because I don't want to wake up and find that the last two years have been a dream. What a nightmare that would be!! LOL

So, since I can't post anything tonight, I'll tell you about what I've been doing lately (NSBR)...

about 7 months ago my dh and I decided that we needed to get in shape. We've always run together but haven't been able to for the last year and a half because of a knee injury he suffered in the summer of 2007. So, we went down the street to check out the local gym (remember that we live in a VERY small town, so we weren't expecting much). Well, let me tell you that we walked into a gold mine. WOW!

The place is called the Old Texas Barbell Company and the owner, Mike Graham, is in the Power Lifting Hall of Fame (for his coaching). To add more credibility to Mike's coaching abilities... his wife Carol Finsrud has been a track star for most of her life. At 55 years of age, she is still competing (largely in part to Mike's coaching). She is the Master's Champion in 9 Track and Field events and she travels all over the world for track meets. Can you believe that we pay $50 a month for the entire family and Mike is our personal trainer? Seriously. He formulates a new workout for us EVERY day. Every day. He has some pretty unconventional training techniques, but I do whatever he tells me to do. After all, he's the pro.

How did I get so lucky? And, he pushes us... hard. Oh believe me, if I'd met Mike 20 years ago, I would've probably been a body builder. I love being in the gym THAT much! As my dh says, "I could easily be a gym rat."

So, about 2 months ago, Nolan and I decided to go on a fitness diet (to go with our workout program). The reason? For me, the reason is that with all the gains in my strength have come new muscle. The added muscle is making me bigger, and so it was either diet, or buy a whole new wardrobe. I don't have the money for a new wardrobe so I had to diet. I haven't lost any weight (I didn't want to), but I HAVE replaced fat with muscle. The diet has been awesome. The first 10 days were hard because I had to limit my carbs to 30 per day (I used to be a carb-aholic). Now I am only eating 50 per day and none of them come from bread, potatoes or grains of any kind.

My husband gets up every morning and makes sausage and eggs (while I take a shower), and then we eat together as a family. It's been such a blessing for us! What a treat to start every day off with the family eating together. If you want to see the diet we're on, just let me know and I'll send it to you. It's really not a diet, it's a new way of eating. We've made a life change here and we're glad.

Well, today I had to work out alone. My dh was busy. At first, I thought I might take the day off too, but a little after 4 o'clock I decided to "just go ride the stationary bike." I usually ride 6 miles, which takes me about 30 minutes. Today, I decided to do 45 minutes and ended up going 10.5 miles. When I got off the bike, I drank some water and told myself, "just do your ab exercises and then you can go home." So I did the ab exercises. As I was walking up to the counter to turn in my workout sheet, I decided that I just couldn't leave the gym without doing the entire workout. To make a LONG story short, when I got home I was soaking wet and I'd been at the gym for 2 hours. I just can't begin to tell you how much I love working out.

If you get to go to CHA, look for my album about lifting weights, dieting, Mike and the change I've made in my life. Fun stuff!

I'll check back in tomorrow to post a new project. Until then, enjoy every moment!