Day 42

This morning we got up early and went with my Aunt Betty to learn how to make sugar cane syrup. The place was way out in the country and the folks making the syrup were so nice and hospitable. It is a family tradition and truly amazing how the process works. Every Saturday in the month of November they get together to make the syrup.

It was truly a wonderful experience and the children had a ton of fun!

My Grandfather is doing better and actually got to come home today. He has to wear a defibrillator and also has a stint in his artery. He will no longer be able to drive and he is not very happy to say the least! I’m really worried about him cause he has always been so independent. He is not going to fare very well I’m afraid. I pray for the best, but he is stubborn to a fault.

Another day of no workouts and a less than the perfect diet!

~Rob


                                        Jen stiring the cane syrup and removing impurities

                                       
                                              Huge cast iron pot which hold the cane juice

                                                        My Grandmother with Harvest

Aunt Betty with Jen

Day 41

Today we went to see my Grandpa and he seems to be doing ok. He’s in stable condition and just wants to go home! He looked pretty good for all that he’s been through! We also went and visited my Grandma and some other family members. Eating is suffering to some degree being here and NOT being prepared, but the not working out is the worse!!!

Tomorrow we are going to try and get a workout in. In the morning we are going to go with my aunt and cousin to watch homemade sugar cane made into syrup. We are going to visit my Grandpa when we get back and then hopefully we’ll get a workout in!

Till tomorrow!

~Rob

Day 40

This is a late post, but wanted to keep in order. The day was spent traveling. Finally made it around 8-9pm and went to sleep!!!

~Rob

Day 39

Long day to say the least! My grandpa is hanging in there and is in stable condition right now. It was after 3pm before we were able to leave and we just stopped for the night in Florence South Carolina. We are all exhausted! Our diet hasn’t been the best due to all the rushing, but hasn’t been as bad as I feared either…what’s so frustrating is not getting to work out!!! We brought the TRX and hopefully we will get something in tomorrow after we arrive in Florida and see my grandpa. They said he’s already trying to get the doctors to let him go home!!!

Till tomorrow!

Love those close to you, none of us are promised tomorrow!

~Rob

Day 38

Today has been rough. My mom called and said my Grandfather had a massive heart attack and had to be airlifted to the hospital. He is at the hospital now and they had to do emergency open heart surgery. The last I heard he came out okay and they just have to wait and see how he does over the next couple of days. Jen is putting in for emergency leave and we should be leaving for Florida tomorrow.

My grandpa is one tough cookie…they found him last night in the middle of the floor and he couldn’t move. They finally got him up and moving and he refused to go to the hospital…he just went to bed! I pray he makes it through and I can have at least one more chance to see him!

~Rob

Day 37

Another busy Monday!

I had tons of school work to get completed today and just posted a huge assignment that took most of my free time today to complete. It’s raining outside right now and turning a bit colder. We did manage to get in a GREAT workout, but was totally stressed before doing it. Married life isn’t always candy and roses : ) Life continues on and the stress of everyday life can cause tension in any household!

We worked through it all though and even though a 30 minute workout ended up taking over 2 hours…we completed it! Perseverance!

Last night was another sleepless night with babies crying and needing attention. I know the lack of sleep plays hard on mine and Jens emotions and ability to function, but I wouldn’t trade my life for a hundred million dollars!  I am truly blessed!

Hopefully tonight will bid better for the sleeping schedule and tomorrow will be a brighter day!

Till then!

~Rob

Day 36

‘Free Day’

So today was ‘free day’ and we went to the Farmer’s Market in D.C. and got our usual artisan bread and special cheese. The kids and Jen got a muffin and some gelato, but overall wasn’t too bad a day at all!!! I also made some homemade RAW milk yogurt and have some cottage cheese in the process of culturing at the moment!

Today we also took progress pictures and things are looking good! Next Sunday will mark the middle point of our Body-for-Life challenge and so we are going to strive to make this the BEST week yet!!!

Till tomorrow!

~Rob

Day 35

Today was another fun filled, busy day!!! We did have some excitement as we were getting ready to head to the YMCA fire trucks started rolling into our apartment complex. Apparently someone’s dryer had caught on fire. They were breaking out the axes and water hoses…it was really interesting to watch. Everyone made it out safe so that was really good!

We had a great workout at the Y and decided to try and make our own ‘homemade’ yogurt tonight. We’ll see how that goes : )

Super tired so good night to all!

~Rob

Day 34

What a beautiful day here in our Nation’s Capital! The sun was shining and it was just a beautiful day all together! We went back to the mall today…I know! Yeah, anyway…Jen decided to get her haircut (short) and that took another two hours : ) She looks beautiful, hot and sexy though, so it was worth every minute!!!

This afternoon we finally got in another workout and did the Crossfit WOD! I thought I was going to literally die at the end! I couldn’t even talk…I just laid there! Jen almost threw-up…so it was a rough one! ‘NANCY’ was todays WOD and she was incredible. ‘Nancy’ consists of 5 rounds for time of 400 meter run and 95 lb overhead squats (15 reps)! Now if you’ve never did an overhead squat they are painful with no weight…you start adding weight and they’re ‘intense’!!! We, of course, had to scale it down for Jen and Joshua who did the squats with a bar we have that weighs around 13 lbs. I scaled down to 65lbs instead of the RX’d 95. My legs felt like rubber in the end!!! Heck, still do!!!

Tomorrow is another busy day planned out so I’m off to study for my Crossfit Cert before bed!

Sweet dreams!

~Rob

                                                             Jen's new haricut

Day 33

So Jen had the day off and we decided on a whim to go get new ‘matching’ tattoos! We had to wait for the guy and then had to wait for him to draw out the design we wanted, but in the end they both look amazing!!! Other than the process taking a lot longer than I had anticipated (with 4 kids) the whole trip was great! The place was in the mall, local and the artist (stitch) was terrific! Jen and I are both pleased!!!

Right, so…yeah, what planned to be a quick tattoo stop and then to the YMCA turned out to be an all day mall trip. I was starving by the time I got home. The worst part is we missed yet ANOTHER workout! I had planned on going to the YMCA and then later doing a WOD! I will say though that I don’t remember when I’ve walked so much.

Either way…we have amazing new tattoos and the day ended well! Tomorrow we will hit it harder than ever!!!

~Rob

Day 32

Tonight we had a military family appreciation dinner to attend. It was nice and the food choices weren’t too unhealthy either. Another super busy day and they seem to just keep getting busier! Looks like today will be a rest day as we are running out of time! Joshua and I played around with the TRX some today and our new medicine ball and climbing rope came today from Rouge Fitness so we are super stoked to try them out tomorrow!!!

Anyway, Jen passed her weight and tape today so after 2 years, due to two babies, she is officially un-flagged!!! I’m so proud of her! She also has the next 4 days off…YEAH!!!

Till tomorrow!

~Rob

Day 31

Today was a bit stressful…Jen and I both had major assignments due in class and trying to handle the kids, workout AND stay current in our own classes can be difficult! I finished my assignment a bit ago and actually got in cardio before our last meal, so all is ok in my head : )

Jen is still trying to complete hers…and will probably have to miss today’s cardio/workout : (

On the upside she and the kids are seemingly feeling much better! Also, she has a 4 day weekend this week so that will be REAL nice! Our Body-for-Life challenge is going wonderful and we are right on target to have a wonderful finish!!! Not even half way through and I feel AMAZING already!!!

The kids got their new ghee’s this weekend and look so cool!

Keep rocking on!

~Rob

Day 30

Jen came home early today due to still being a little under the weather. We managed to get in a late afternoon workout and created our own little WOD : ) Jen has a P.T. test coming up soon so we played off that and in hopes of preparing her we created ‘THE JEN’ Basically you have to run for 3 minutes, do 20 pushups, do 20 sit-ups and then repeat for a total of 5 rounds! It was brutal!!! I LOVE these new types of workouts though…we are able to incorporate strength training along with cardio for an intense and insane workout!

We also got our TRX in the mail today… me and Joshua have been trying out all the exercises it can do…that thing is AWESOME!!!

Jen seems to be feeling better and the kids are too…

We decided to wait till this Sunday to do pics and all since we are already a bit late! Stay tuned for some AWESOME progress!!!

Till tomorrow!

~Rob

Day 29

Wow, still sore from the WOD on Friday! We spent some time cleaning around the house…ran to the store and mostly relaxed. This afternoon we decided to try another Crossfit WOD and did ‘LYNNE’ Lynne is 5 rounds of bench pressing body weight and then pull-ups. You load a bar with whatever you weigh and do as many reps as possible and then go and do as many pull-up’s as possible and that’s 1 round. We scaled down cause all we really have set up for here at home are some dumbbells and curl bar. We have a bench and Olympic bar, but the rack is not set up.  

I really thought this WOD was going to be easy, but trust me…it wasn’t!!! Awesome workout again! I love CROSSFIT…I think I have found the perfect marriage between Body-for-Life and Crossfit!!!

Nehemiah had a rough night again so sleep was tough, but we did gain an extra hour and that was supper nice and well needed!

Tomorrow we will do pictures and such since we jacked up our schedule with the change in ‘free days…’

Just got the kids in bed and I still have tons of studying to do…

Till tomorrow!

~Rob

Nehemiah...my little crossfitter and future Body-for-Life Champion!

Day 28

So we decided to go ahead and make today our ‘FREE DAY.’ We went to Pennsylvania today to visit a new Amish Farm that sales RAW milk and grass-fed beef and other healthy foods! It’s about a 2 hour drive and was beautiful. We loaded up on some beef, milk, lamb, cheese, RAW milk yogurt and cottage cheese!!! This stuff is SOOO healthy and so wonderful tasting! We were literally hurting so bad this morning from yesterdays WOD that we could barely walk and there was no way we was squatting anything!!!

Anyway, we stopped at one of the bigger Army bases on the way cause Jen needed a new uniform and we picked up Subway cause we forgot to bring along our shakes…this led to, “Well, why don’t we just make this our ‘Free Day’ cause no ways we are going to be able to work out by the time we get home! Sooo, that’s what we did, we stopped by this Amazing little Swiss Chocolate factory that was out in nowhere land…literally we just drove by the sign on this country road and we both looked at each other like…did you just see that??? We turned the van around and sure enough…a real Swiss chocolate factory right there in the woods!!!

We of course had to go in and check it out : )  This also led to the decision to go ahead and make today our ‘free day’!!! Anyway, back home now…finished up an assignment I had due and hoping to get some rest.

Till tomorrow!

~Rob

                                                The road leading to the chocolate factory

Day 27

Today the sun finally came out for a little while and Jen came home early, but came home due to being sick! She had some coffee and rested a little and seemed to feel somewhat better. I HATE when the kids and her are sick, it just brings a dread and miserable feeling…the sunshine did help though! We ended up getting in an AMAZING workout this afternoon and I mean off the charts amazing!!! We decided to go ahead and try our FIRST official Crossfit WOD…today’s WOD was called ‘Lumberjack 20’ it consist of the following:

 "Lumberjack 20"

20 Deadlifts (275lbs)
Run 400m
20 KB swings (2pood)
Run 400m
20 Overhead Squats (115lbs)
Run 400m
20 Burpees
Run 400m
20 Pullups (Chest to Bar)
Run 400m
20 Box jumps (24")
Run 400m
20 DB Squat Cleans (45lbs each)
Run 400m

We had to make a few adjustments due to equipment and ability circumstances. Joshua scaled down to 10 instead of 20 and Jen scaled to 15. They deadlifted 65lbs and I did 85lbs. They did 15lb dumbbell swing, while I did 35lb. They did a small ‘weighted’ bar for overhead squats, while I did 65lbs. We all did ‘assisted’ pull-ups and they used 10lb for DB squat cleans and I used 20lbs. It was the most intense, incredible workout I have ever done, bar none!!!

I thought I was going to puke, Jen thought she was going to pass out and Joshua was breathing heavier than I have ever seen him breath! We each finished under 30 minutes and now…after the fact, feel incredible…it truly builds confidence! I can’t believe that Jen made it through based upon how sick she had felt earlier…she said, “maybe crossfit fixed me : )”

To find out why it’s called the Lumberjack WOD and why it means so much to us and others click here.

We look forward to our next WOD that we can muster up the guts and find the equipment to do!!! We have another busy day planned for tomorrow…sooooo…

Good night!

~Rob

Day 26

Rain, rain ALL day long…cold, dreary day : (

The kids are fine, just normal colds so says the doc. That’s good news! I managed to get in cardio, but no weight lifting, time just didn’t permit.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better…just have to give a real quick wheatgrass plug here cause well, everyone in my house has been sick this last week or so and even Jen the last two days…everyone that is except me AND…well, I’m the only one who takes wheatgrass everyday!!! So is this the connection…I’m not sure, but if I was a betting man I would say YES! i mean, I am highly favored and God has blessed me too, but making the right , healthy choices does make a difference : ) Either way…Joshua made the connection and started four days ago taking the wheatgrass with me and he’s been better ever since too.

Hummmm

Sleep tight!

~Rob

Day 25

Last night proved challenging again.

Nehemiah and Hadassah were a bit fussy and sleep was hard to come by. Jen ended up with only 4 hours and I slept in order to get 6. Still we managed to get in cardio today and all is good! We made Doctor Appointments for both kids under the weather for tomorrow and hopefully they will be well soon enough! The weather here has turned COLD and kind of brings a depression over the household…we NEED some sunshine!!! Other than that, we hope to make it to the YMCA tomorrow afternoon for a knockout workout! CAN’T WAIT!!!

//ROCK ON\\

~Rob

Day 24

Got an early start this morning and actually got to sleep through most of the night. Nehemiah is doing much better…still a little congested, but in way better spirits!

Jen, I and Joshua did our workout tonight together and tried another Crossfit style workout…we  ran for 3 minutes on treadmill/did 10-15 reps dumbbell bench-press/did 20 sit-ups/did 20 pushups/ repeated for 5-6 rounds as fast as possible!!! It was intense and we were all sweating like crazy!!! I had already did HIIT cardio earlier today also…so this was just a bonus for me : )

Starting a new class today and Jen is finishing up some of school work too. Busy, busy as usual, but shows that a person can STILL find the time to get fit if the desire is there…the DESIRE runs deep for us!!!

Keep working hard and make those dreams come true!!!

Nite-nite…

~Rob

Day 23

So sleep has eluded me once again…actually me and Jen. The kids have been a bit under the weather for a few days and Nehemiah was really unruly last night. He sleeps in his crib next to our bed and last night he was congested and every time he would get close to falling asleep he would start crying. Our bed makes a little squeaking noise each time we roll over or get up and he would jump up and start crying every time we would move. I felt like a prisoner in my own bed!

Needless to say it was after 1am before Jen and I were able to even come close to falling asleep! It was terribly frustrating as well! I felt for the little guy, but wanted to scream all at the same time! He is still a bit congested tonight and may even have a low grade fever so I’m starting to worry about tonight as well… Actually considered moving the crib, but Jen will have NO part of that…her baby needs to be close to Mommy she said!

Anyway, we decided to wait on doing Cardio tonight. It was after 5pm by the time Jen got home, we had some mommy and daddy time : ) got the kids fed and ate ourselves.  Jen has school work that HAS to be turned in tonight and I just completed my final for class today! So add the lack of sleep on top of ALL that and I decided that we probably needed the rest and I see no point in trying to exercise when you are stressed…I have never gotten good results that way!    We HAVE got to figure out a better time plan…and sleeping arrangements : ) Sleep…we need sleep!!!

Either way though…we will prevail…this is one of those times when you have to be prepared for the unexpected and continue unabashed! We will hit it even harder tomorrow and the rest of the week!!!

So I’m off to round up the children and put them to bed…let’s hope!

~Rob