It seems to always start with a glass of wine and some hot water. That's what I have noticed gets my creative juices going.
This time, I sat in the bathtub, grinning like a fool, laughing quietly at myself for listening to bluegrass-inspired music like the Avett Brothers. I found it tantalizingly humorous that as I sat in the hot water...no I lie, it was lukewarm...I couldn't stop laughing about the fact that in the matter of about five months, I had outgrown my apartment. Between two dogs, Tyler and I and all our new gifts from our registries and a few new pieces of furniture...our tiny one bedroom apartment is feeling homey. And homey can be cozy but all too quickly it can get crowded. I'm surrounded by abundance and it feels beautiful. Abundance of friends, family, love, food and furniture. I get to fall asleep next to my future husband and with two creatures that think we are just the coolest things in the world. How many people can say that? How many people can say that they are living in an incredibly nice, new neighborhood, on their own means and surviving with well-paid jobs? We are looking towards the future, remembering our past that got us here, but never tripping on what we carry from the years gone.
In fact, almost a year ago we were living somewhere completely different, doing completely different things, going towards a completely different goal. I went from being penniless, homeless, jobless and lost overnight to the life that I see all around me right now. I'm planning a wedding to the man of my dreams, sitting on our couch in our apartment, tummy full of pizza and body pleasantly sore from CrossFit. It's crazy how in a year, month or even a day a life can change. And no matter how dark it seems in the moment it gets SO much better in the end, and you realize that everything EVERYTHING e v e r y t h i n g in your life happens exactly the way it's supposed to.
And on a crazy side note..I have come full circle. Again.
When I was little, I had a little mermaid book that I used to beg my grandpa to read to me. He would put me up on his lap, open the book to the first page and read "Once upon a time, there was a little mermaid," here he would flip to the next page, "and she lived in the ocean..." he would start quickly flipping all the pages and talking really fast, "...she liked to swim and she had a friend fish and she had red hair and the end!" And he would shut the book.
I couldn't read and I remember always being frustrated with him and telling him, "NO! That's not the whole book!" He would try to convince me that it was. So I learned to read and write so I could write my own stories and read them to him. Well years later when I moved to Hawaii I started sending detailed emails to my friends and family back home to describe what ridiculously humorous events were happening in my life. My grandpa and gramma encouraged me to get a blog, which started this. All throughout my Hawaii adventures I emailed and blogged and kept journals and when career after career in the marine industry started to fail all around me, those closest to me kept telling me to write. Write when you're happy, write when you're sad, write when you want to write, write when you don't want to write. I did, but mostly when I was sad. In Santa Clarita I dabbled with the option of sending some stuff to local newspapers and magazines but always felt like you couldn't make a career out of writing.
Enter Amber. My dear friend and wife to a friend of mine from high school. They are our neighbors who are also vendors at our wedding. She received a great position at a company called Scorpion Design. I apply and before I know it, I am working at a writer. And not just a little here and there writer, a full-time salaried writer. I have made a career out of writing. I am an SEO or a Search Engine Optimizer. I write content for websites using critical search terms to make them rank in Google, Bing, Yahoo or any other type of search engine. In fact, if I wanted to (and I might) I could probably make my blog rank pretty well! But regardless, I have come full circle. Because my grandpa read me The Little Mermaid when I was little so quickly, he (in an odd way) encouraged me to write my OWN stories that I could read to him. My gramma Dolores used to inspire me to tell stories on her front porch. My dad and family encouraged me to write and keep track of everything and Kelly sparked my interest in creative writing. Now, I get to write everyday. I have been placed on the unlaunched content team for the websites that we are writing for, my sole job is to write content for law websites to make them rank in the search engines and I love it. It is incredible. I am living (another) one of my dreams.
I don't know how many times I have said this, or will say it...what you put out into the universe will come back to you. I have got to do everything I have wanted to do. I have worked in the marine industry, animal care industry and now I get to write. Can you imagine what I will do in a year, five years, ten years, fifty years? Or what YOU will do? So tell yourself and the tell the universe that you will be happy, you will prosper, you will be in love, you will be wealthy, you will have everything you have dreamed...and you will. Believe it, feel it with every fiber of your being, because this stuff really does work. I am proof.
I write all day and I feel like I need to write again when I get home. These are my ramblings from an overly excitable mind, with no flow or rhyme or reason, but just needing to come out of my head and into the tangible.
Is the internet tangible?
Until I need to word-vomit again...so long, farewell. Namaste.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
A short story about CrossFit
Rebounding from my last very angry post about Christmas...I thought that I would be able to start with something a little funny and upbeat.
This is a short story on how CrossFit has completely and utterly ruined the gym experience for me.
A long long time ago when I was a wee lass that couldn't lift a heavy box without asking for help, the idea of starting a rigorous workout agenda sounded daunting. The images of CrossFit that were splattered on google at the the time looked like He-Man and Barbarella just finished a juice fast and were hitting the GloboGym hard for a quick pre-workout before their body building competitions. So needless to say my first CrossFit class at CrossFit East Oahu seemed like a death sentence.
If you have read previous blogs you will know by now that it was so obviously NOT that, in fact it was completely revolutionary for me. It was the start of a life, not a death of one. Well, maybe the death of the wimpy out of shape Bree...but from every death is rebirth right? REBORN was the Bree that entered a CrossFit throw down and that has a goal of power cleaning 135lbs!!
Now...why CrossFit has ruined every GloboGym, regular workout scheme for me ever again. BECAUSE THEY DON'T WORK. There. They don't. Your cardio today, legs tomorrow, three pound baby weights and pully system workout machines are pointless. They are absolutely ridiculously stupid. Sorry. You will never in your life use one of those machines in the real world. You will never need to incline your butt to push something with one leg and your toes pointed forward while staring in a mirror at your own reflection flexing your non-existant muscles in the reality we live in. What will you have to do? Pick up something heavy off the floor? Yes. Throw something that maybe slightly heavy onto an upper shelf? Yes! Lift your sorry ass up onto a higher object? Perhaps? Will you need to walk? Of course. Run? Maybe. Sit down, stand up and move like a normal functional human being? Yes! What does CrossFit give you? Free weights, heavy weights, light weights, pull ups, constantly varied movements that you will need to use in your real world? Yes. Cardio on a treadmill? Hell no! Cardio from lifting, moving and doing things that are FUNCTIONAL. I have yet to do a "cardio" workout in almost a year because guess what? I don't need it.
"Brianna," you may say, "but how are you losing weight if you aren't doing cardio one day, legs the next day, arms the following and abs every other third moon cycle when the rain has come to stay for longer than a harvest?"
*poker face stare*...I have NEVER looked better!! I have never felt better, looked leaner or been more active and healthier in my life! I've lost inches, gained muscle and shed pounds (I have intentionally and knowingly added about a pound onto my body when I was in the peak of my performance...that was all muscle).
"Brianna," you will ask again, "aren't you bulky? Doesn't lifting weights make you look like Barbarella (or He-Man)?"
No. It will make you look toned. It will make you look like you are healthy and active and you can do more than lift a remote off the couch to change the channel. Sure, you can look bulky if you want to, but that requires a lot of time and effort and if you would truly like to look that way, wonderful! That's a lot of commitment and I admire that.
Today I decided that I was bored sitting in my living room and since I don't have a CrossFit membership at the moment I needed to do something. I am one of the lucky ones that has a dumbbell set and kettlebells and boxes in my garage (where's my barbells!?). I did a warm up of 50 20kg American kettlebell swings and decided I would head down to the gym at our apartment complex to see what it was all about. There were a few loose dumbbells and I made up a quick WOD of 5 heavy...for me...push presses (40 pounds), 10 pushups and 15 squats...5 rounds for time. As I'm nearing my 3rd round I'm drenched in sweat, huffing and puffing and saying "SHIT!" loudly every time I drop those weights. I lay on the floor panting before I start my pushups and look around me to see the other people in the gym staring. Someone asked me if the floor was dirty. Dirty? I thought it was clean compared to most gyms! No one else is sweating...no one else seems to be doing a whole lot but walking with workout clothes or staring at a TV on an elliptical machine. There's a girl in the corner doing some HIDEOUS squats. Wait a second...this isn't a box!!
I stop at round 4 and walk over to the girl who is doing squats that are going to throw her back out with a medicine ball that is more suited for her than the one she is currently using. I start to coach her on having her weight in the heels, watching for the butt wink and telling her to stand with the weight in her chest. Her boyfriend pipes up and asks what sports I play. Sports? I do CrossFit! CrossFit? He doesn't even know what it is....so I start YouTubing...doing little demos in the small gym and showing him everything that his personal trainer at *cough* 24Hour Fitness has shown him was wrong. I couldn't help myself. He said he maxed a power clean at 100lbs. I HAD to show him up and give him my max (I couldn't help myself!). I explained everything I knew, showed proof that CrossFit works and pointed them toward a wonderful nearby CrossFit box. Everyone else in the gym was eavesdropping...I hope they take something away from it!!
As I walked back to my apartment I realized that what everyone else is assuming is a workout...isn't. I feel like maybe I helped change someones attitude towards working out and what it really means to be an athlete. Granted, CF has completely blown up even from a year ago with Reebok sponsoring and the ads on TV and all that other jazz...but the heart of CF is still there. It's still about conquering mental barriers about your body and fitness and breaking down physical walls. It's about seeing that true change in yourself. I hate to say it, but I will NEVER be able to go back to a normal gym again. This was an eye opener!
I have no better way to wrap this up than to just say you should try it. You should. It may not be for everyone but it is for a lot of people and there is a reason why it is quickly becoming the most popular fitness routine in the world (no sorry not P90X or Insanity). So...with nothing else to stay...
FIN.
This is a short story on how CrossFit has completely and utterly ruined the gym experience for me.
A long long time ago when I was a wee lass that couldn't lift a heavy box without asking for help, the idea of starting a rigorous workout agenda sounded daunting. The images of CrossFit that were splattered on google at the the time looked like He-Man and Barbarella just finished a juice fast and were hitting the GloboGym hard for a quick pre-workout before their body building competitions. So needless to say my first CrossFit class at CrossFit East Oahu seemed like a death sentence.
If you have read previous blogs you will know by now that it was so obviously NOT that, in fact it was completely revolutionary for me. It was the start of a life, not a death of one. Well, maybe the death of the wimpy out of shape Bree...but from every death is rebirth right? REBORN was the Bree that entered a CrossFit throw down and that has a goal of power cleaning 135lbs!!
Now...why CrossFit has ruined every GloboGym, regular workout scheme for me ever again. BECAUSE THEY DON'T WORK. There. They don't. Your cardio today, legs tomorrow, three pound baby weights and pully system workout machines are pointless. They are absolutely ridiculously stupid. Sorry. You will never in your life use one of those machines in the real world. You will never need to incline your butt to push something with one leg and your toes pointed forward while staring in a mirror at your own reflection flexing your non-existant muscles in the reality we live in. What will you have to do? Pick up something heavy off the floor? Yes. Throw something that maybe slightly heavy onto an upper shelf? Yes! Lift your sorry ass up onto a higher object? Perhaps? Will you need to walk? Of course. Run? Maybe. Sit down, stand up and move like a normal functional human being? Yes! What does CrossFit give you? Free weights, heavy weights, light weights, pull ups, constantly varied movements that you will need to use in your real world? Yes. Cardio on a treadmill? Hell no! Cardio from lifting, moving and doing things that are FUNCTIONAL. I have yet to do a "cardio" workout in almost a year because guess what? I don't need it.
"Brianna," you may say, "but how are you losing weight if you aren't doing cardio one day, legs the next day, arms the following and abs every other third moon cycle when the rain has come to stay for longer than a harvest?"
*poker face stare*...I have NEVER looked better!! I have never felt better, looked leaner or been more active and healthier in my life! I've lost inches, gained muscle and shed pounds (I have intentionally and knowingly added about a pound onto my body when I was in the peak of my performance...that was all muscle).
"Brianna," you will ask again, "aren't you bulky? Doesn't lifting weights make you look like Barbarella (or He-Man)?"
No. It will make you look toned. It will make you look like you are healthy and active and you can do more than lift a remote off the couch to change the channel. Sure, you can look bulky if you want to, but that requires a lot of time and effort and if you would truly like to look that way, wonderful! That's a lot of commitment and I admire that.
Today I decided that I was bored sitting in my living room and since I don't have a CrossFit membership at the moment I needed to do something. I am one of the lucky ones that has a dumbbell set and kettlebells and boxes in my garage (where's my barbells!?). I did a warm up of 50 20kg American kettlebell swings and decided I would head down to the gym at our apartment complex to see what it was all about. There were a few loose dumbbells and I made up a quick WOD of 5 heavy...for me...push presses (40 pounds), 10 pushups and 15 squats...5 rounds for time. As I'm nearing my 3rd round I'm drenched in sweat, huffing and puffing and saying "SHIT!" loudly every time I drop those weights. I lay on the floor panting before I start my pushups and look around me to see the other people in the gym staring. Someone asked me if the floor was dirty. Dirty? I thought it was clean compared to most gyms! No one else is sweating...no one else seems to be doing a whole lot but walking with workout clothes or staring at a TV on an elliptical machine. There's a girl in the corner doing some HIDEOUS squats. Wait a second...this isn't a box!!
I stop at round 4 and walk over to the girl who is doing squats that are going to throw her back out with a medicine ball that is more suited for her than the one she is currently using. I start to coach her on having her weight in the heels, watching for the butt wink and telling her to stand with the weight in her chest. Her boyfriend pipes up and asks what sports I play. Sports? I do CrossFit! CrossFit? He doesn't even know what it is....so I start YouTubing...doing little demos in the small gym and showing him everything that his personal trainer at *cough* 24Hour Fitness has shown him was wrong. I couldn't help myself. He said he maxed a power clean at 100lbs. I HAD to show him up and give him my max (I couldn't help myself!). I explained everything I knew, showed proof that CrossFit works and pointed them toward a wonderful nearby CrossFit box. Everyone else in the gym was eavesdropping...I hope they take something away from it!!
As I walked back to my apartment I realized that what everyone else is assuming is a workout...isn't. I feel like maybe I helped change someones attitude towards working out and what it really means to be an athlete. Granted, CF has completely blown up even from a year ago with Reebok sponsoring and the ads on TV and all that other jazz...but the heart of CF is still there. It's still about conquering mental barriers about your body and fitness and breaking down physical walls. It's about seeing that true change in yourself. I hate to say it, but I will NEVER be able to go back to a normal gym again. This was an eye opener!
I have no better way to wrap this up than to just say you should try it. You should. It may not be for everyone but it is for a lot of people and there is a reason why it is quickly becoming the most popular fitness routine in the world (no sorry not P90X or Insanity). So...with nothing else to stay...
FIN.
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