Deva by Definition

On life happening and Working Out

Typically, after a long hiatus from any sort of regular workout routine, I put up a post about "getting back into it," along with goals I have for the months ahead. Through the whole wedding planning process, however, a lot happened. Routines were muddled. The Boy went on A LOT of business trips. We made plans to run a race. The Boy got an IT band injury, and my old IT injury flared up.

Needless to say - a lot happened. Life happened. I can honestly say that I only worked out about three times between the relay and the wedding. Part of this was due to the fact that The Boy was traveling the week prior to the wedding (though not wedding week) and I was busy wrapping things up at home so we would be ready. Part of it can be attributed to us leaving to prepare for the wedding the Thursday before the wedding. Most of it, though, is that there was so much going on that when given the choice between working out and sleeping, I chose sleep nearly every time.

Of course, this isn't the first time (nor will it be the last) that my routine has been thrown off. We've gone on vacation and taken time away from working out or eating as healthfully as we do at home. I think of vacation as an exception, though. While on vacation I am likely to want to try new things, visit breweries, taste the local cuisine, all while doing quite a bit of walking. Illnesses and other events intervene with our routine regularly, though we always like getting back into some sort of routine when the dust settles. 

The best examples I have of this, in addition to the wedding, would be when our cat needed to have surgery. For the ten days he had stitches and was in an e-collar, he needed a lot of supervision. He couldn't eat with the collar on, and because it obscured his peripheral vision, tended to walk right along the walls, making quite a bit of noise. Our sleep was not so great those ten days, and we chose to devote a good bit of time to him, all while training for the relay.

All that being said, I've realized over the past year that life happens. Rather than getting back into it, I am finding that I prefer to look at working out and healthy eating as an ebb-and-flow sort of thing. There are weeks I go without doing any sort of technical workout, but we go for hour-long walks after dinner. There are other weeks where I manage to get in five workouts. If I didn't stay flexible with my routines, habits, and expectations, I would probably drive myself a little crazy. 

Life happens. When it does I accept a little change to my routine. It's inevitable. What matters to me is making an effort - whether it be eating a lot of raw fruits and veggies in place of steamed or going for a walk after dinner, every little bit counts. Rather than be all or nothing, I'd rather be fluid and flexible and roll with the punches. I think rather than thinking of now as a time to be getting back to it - with it being regular workouts - I am going to look at how to make activity a part of my everyday, whether it's a walk on my lunch hour or after dinner, yoga, a run, or a trip to the gym. This way, life can happen, and I can satisfy my anxious need to move by doing something, all while handling what every day throws at me.

What about you - how do you handle it when life throws you a curveball? Do you have a regular workout routine?

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The Road to the Relay

Recapping the Weekend: June 15-16

We have been go-go-go since about a week or so before the wedding. Non-stop. This past weekend, we made an effort to slow down, take it all in, eat some cake, play magic, and enjoy the litter of kittens we are fostering (more on that soon, I hope). Last weekend was our first weekend at home since the wedding, and it was busy. We often get antsy when we try to do nothing, so we made a few plans for this past weekend weekend, but nothing major.

Our weekend involved a lot of napping, spending time outside reading, and processing some of the pictures from our honeymoon. I can't believe it's been nearly four weeks since the wedding and nearly three since our honeymoon. I still remember it all like it was yesterday. One of the benefits of our house is our backyard - which is paved and has a small brick patio area in the center. The weather was perfect for hanging out in the yard this weekend, and we spend upwards of two hours per day outside, soaking up the sun and just enjoying the peace and quiet that it allowed.

Of course, that wasn't all that we did. The house definitely needed some deep-cleaning, so with a little elbow grease we got the first floor cleaned and tidied up, and are going to work on the second floor progressively throughout the week. Once we get started it's pretty easy to keep going. We are "tidy as you go" folks, so deep cleaning typically just involves putting things back in their homes if we haven't already and rolling up and cleaning under the rugs in our living and dining rooms. As a result of a bottle of Tonic Water erupting in my hands as I tried to mix a Gin-and-Tonic on Friday, the kitchen was desperate for mopping, so that was accomplished too.

We took a break mid-day Sunday to hit up the gym for some cardio. It was fun to get into a work-out routine while we were planning the wedding and we want to get back into that now that things have calmed down. From the relay up until now, workouts have been sporadic; we have been going for lots of walks, and I have been to the gym a few times, but nothing routine or regular. It was nice to get back to it, and we hope to keep it up!

As a wrap-up for our weekend, we ended up digging out our Magic cards to semi-catalogue and sort out and learn what we have and what we can build (answer: we have many decks. We can build many more). Magic was something we played pretty regularly before buying the house and getting engaged, so now that we have a lot more free time, we hope to get back into playing regularly. It was fun to get back into some old routines and habits, and we're hoping that as the summer continues, we can play more Magic, watch more movies (and catch up on Game of Thrones), and just enjoy being married for a while.

Now, while we aren't totally caught up (there is a lot of mail to go through, and cabinets, and cleaning left to do), we are refreshed and ready for the week ahead. Our next few days will be spent catching up on what we didn't do this weekend, spending time together, playing with our cats as well as the foster litter, and just enjoying our evenings.

What did you get done this weekend? Relaxing? Cleaning? A workout.

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So We Got Married

All in a Week

Bears, the beach, and baseball

If it seems like these posts are a little spread out, allow me to first apologize. There was so much emotion and going-on during our wedding and in the weeks after that I am still processing a lot of it. I am also trying to figure out how to share the details without giving up too much as the time from our wedding through now has been busy, filled with emotions and a lot of goings-on. Those emotions and what has made all of this so special are all things I want to share, while at the same time, keeping parts of it close to my heart for my husband and me to remember in the weeks and years to come. 

With that in mind, up until a month before our wedding, we had no real honeymoon plans. Then, we made a spur-of-the-moment decision and a few clicks of a mouse later, we had planned a mini honeymoon in San Diego. We had two days and a night to spend there together, and to enjoy and explore the city. Rather than pack a lot into our time there, we picked just a few things to do, deciding to fill the rest of our time exploring and seeing what we could find near our hotel. What planned to do was the zoo, Coronado, Embarcadero, and a Padres Game. All of which we were thrilled to be able to accomplish.

We actually ended up spending a whole day at the zoo - we were there before they opened, and stayed right up until they were almost closed. We saw almost everything. After we left, we realized that in our eagerness to see the reptiles we somehow managed to miss the insect house. Looking back on the day, we weren't upset about that: we saw giant Galapagos turtles, kangaroos, baby capyberas, wombats, koalas, and I got to geek. out. over pandas. 

When I say geek out, I mean geek out. I love pandas and have since I was little. I saw the giant panda exhibit at the National Zoo in DC when I was very young, and then saw pandas at the Columbus Zoo again when I was a little older (probably close to seven). To see giant pandas now? I was beyond thrilled, even giddy, so when we saw them not once, but twice in the same day? I was positively in heaven.

In addition to the pandas, I was also beyond excited to see koalas. I haven't seen koalas in I don't know how long. Possibly not at all? So I was excited to learn that the new Australian Outback Exhibit at the San Diego Zoo had opened on our wedding day and that we were going to see pandas. Again with the excited freak out. These were all subdued and were more babbling than anything, but the number of pictures we took just at these two exhibits are numerous, and I am glad we got to visit!

In addition to the zoo, numerous people we knew told us that we needed to go to the Coronado. We did just that during our second day in the city, hopping a ferry over to the peninsula to explore the area. Our real intent in going was to spend time on the beach and to walk in the ocean, which we did. This was a big deal, guys, because I love the beach. Love. We used to go visit the beach in Ocean City, MD, when I was growing up, and it had been ten years since my last trip. Walking into the ocean on Coronado made me feel like a kid again, and I grinned like I had the day we got married. It was breathtaking - perfect weather, perfect sand, and a perfect day to enjoy the sand and surf. We hadn't packed to spend a full day on the beach, so not quite dressed for the occation, we spent a good bit of time just walking around, exploring, and taking photos, right up until our stomachs announced - loudly - that it was lunch, which is when we started to make our way back to the city.

The time we weren't on the beach and at the zoo (or the ballgame, which I will get to a bit later), we explored the city on foot. We stayed in the Gaslamp district, which was incredible. Our hotel had tons of character, and there were several restaurants, galleries, and shops all within a few blocks of where we stayed. We ended up stumbling upon Karl's Brewery for dinner one night, which was delicious, and enjoyed some of the best short ribs I have ever had at a Mexican restaurant another. By chance, we found a Chuck Jones gallery, which had me in awe - I love Chuck Jones' work. We spent a good half hour in the small space, admiring the cels and prints from him and others, including Dr. Seuss.

To wrap up our honeymoon, however, we managed to check another ballpark off of our list. We actually have a goal to visit all of the Major League Ballparks (and many of the Minor League ones as well), so one of the first things we did as soon as our flights were booked was buy tickets to a Padres game. Our last night in the city was spent in the truly amazing ballpark. While its capacity is similar to that of Great American, home of the Reds, the park looked (and felt) huge. It was connected to a hotel, and had towers housing suites while they also served the purpose of holding up the field lighting. One of the sections of outfield seats was connected to an old building, which was incredible. The scoreboard was both old and new, and the atmosphere incredible. Somehow, the game only lasted a mere two hours and twenty-one minutes, but we loved every moment we were there.

Leaving San Diego was hard and easy, if that makes any sense. We had a blast celebrating part of our first week as newlyweds there and saw so many awesome sights - bears, the beach, and a ballgame! We both missed home and our cats, and while we weren't going to get back to normal right away, we were ready for some of our normal life. Things had been busy since before the wedding, so it was nice to come home to our cats, house, friends, and everything we know to be familiar. We may be married, which is a big change, but even as things and our relationship changed, they stayed the same. Our honeymoon was a great cap to an already fantastic week, and we're already looking forward to our next trip together. 

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So We Got Married

All in a Week

So We Got Married

So we got married. It was more than I was anticipating in many ways, exactly what I wanted in most, and better than I could have imagined. As we stood beneath our huppah - lovingly constructed by my father, The Boy's stepfather, my grandfather and brothers - I felt like we were in a bubble of love and tradition. We repeated our vows and giggled as we both tried not to cry from the strong emotions surrounding the commitment we were vowing to, in front of a not-too-large group of our friends and family.

Our wedding, was, for us, perfect. We had a first look that made me grin and helped calm my nerves before the ceremony. Our food was delicious. Our self-dj'd wedding was overall successful, though as a group of introverts (and in retrospect) we should have had more slow dances in the mix. Throughout the evening we both felt surrounded by love and endlessly happy. From our officiant's surprise introduction talking about love and traditions, to the speeches given by our Maid of Honor and Best Man and beyond - it seemed to be a theme. That theme was continued by my father, who spoke about what it meant to him to be dancing with me on my wedding day as he went through a playlist of music all with their own memories of me growing up. All of this took place before he surprised me with the father-daughter dance to Rainbow Connection - sung by Kermit, of course. During that dance we asked everyone to take to the dance floor. Now, we look back and smile on that memory, especially when my father had my husband "cut in." Rainbow Connection was the most danced-to song on our wedding day. It was one of many moments where I felt surrounded by love and support for us as a couple.

The wedding and reception, like all good things, came to an end all too quickly. As our guests filtered out and we were left alone with a few relatives and our bridal party, we enjoyed one last dance together to end our evening. We grinned as we celebrated our accomplishment - not only had we achieved the wedding we wanted, we were married. In that moment even though we were still surrounded by loved ones, we were alone, in love, and encased in love. When I look back on the wedding day, that moment is one of many that stand out in my mind. It was a moment filled with love. The memory reminds me of just how much love we were held in on our wedding day, and will continue to be held in througout the days after. Our wedding day was filled with love. It felt like love. I wouldn't have it any other way.

All in a Week

It has been a while. I blogged about the relay and then disappeared. Getting into the weeks leading up to the wedding, and then the wedding itself made for a lot of time spent offline getting things done, packed, and ready.

Then, wedding week happened, followed by the week after. A lot can happen in seven days. I got married and it was wonderful. I hope to have a post about the wedding up soon.

The following week, we went on our honeymoon - a very brief but fun trip to San Diego (again, I hope to have a post about it soon). I got to walk on a beach and in the ocean for the first time in ten years, and we saw koalas, pandas, and a baseball game. It was a lovely long weekend adventure.

In that very week, the same days after our wedding, my grandmother passed away. It has been a whirlwind of a week, and one full of emotions. We attended my grandmother's funeral on Tuesday and it was a great service - full of people who loved her and were loved by her. She will be missed by many.

So a lot can happen in one week, and while I am still processing, I am feeling the love that surrounds me and my husband and our families. I will be back soon with more posts.