Why I (Irrationally) Never Want Summer to End

With August comes many changes, the most notable being children and adults alike heading back to school and cooler weather. In my house, not only does my daughter go back to school, but I do as well.  I also work part time at a youth center as a tutor to gain experience in the education field. With school and a part time job on top of my full time job, as well as Chloe's activities (acro, cheer, volleyball, and Girl Scouts.... Thank goodness for my amazing husband for his help with towing her everywhere!), August through May is very busy in my household! For this reason, I was feeling some start-of-fall stress today. I was thinking of the things that I wouldn't be able to do and quickly came up with reasons why it was OK that this is happening.

My first irrational thought was "oh no! I can't workout outside as much anymore!" Wrong. If anything, the mild fall weather is more inviting for outdoor workouts. I have been in the gym non-stop for the better part of my summer. Only recently did I begin running again. The main reason being that I prefer running outside versus on a treadmill and it was just too hot outside for me to consider running (I'm a wuss, I know). The cooler weather means less humidity here in Kansas, less heat beating down on me, and more outside running time. I also LOVE hiking and biking the trails near here and it seems that I just don't do that at all during the summer months. I know I haven't yet this summer.

The next irrational thought I had was "we are going to have fewer daylight hours once summer's over." That's only kind of true. The summer solstice usually begins somewhere between the 20th and 23rd of June. The solstice brings the longest daylight hours of the year for us. So, *technically* the daylight hours have been getting shorter and shorter since the solstice this last June. And at any rate, I'm in bed and asleep by eight o'clock most nights, so even though I'll miss the extra sun, I'm really not missing those extra hours. If anything, they're kind of annoying to me since I'm trying to sleep with some light in my room (thank goodness for blackout shades!).

Then I thought about an outside activity that I love: Swimming. Namely, splashing in my in-laws' pool or sitting poolside, soaking up that sun that I love so much. Now I truly will miss that part of the summertime. I love being poolside or in the pool. There's something about the easiness of having a good book, a cocktail, and my kiddo laughing and having a blast that screams "lazy summer fun." In all honesty though, when I want to swim laps, I do it in the gym's pool. My in-laws' pool, albeit awesome, is round and doesn't have much room to swim productive laps.

My last irrational thought was out of pure vanity: Wearing dresses. I love dresses. Once it's warm enough, I throw on a dress and flip flops and I wear them until the weather forces me otherwise. I'm not a big dress person in the fall. It may have something to do with the cool chill up my skirt at any given time. Even with tights and boots, it doesn't have the same breezy appeal as a thin summertime dress. The funny thing though is I equally love fall fashion: scarves, jackets, boots, and skinny jeans. Writing this down actually makes me want the cooler weather so I can put on my new scarf that I bought on Tuesday.

While I reasoned with myself, I came up with reasons that fall is awesome. Fall is actually my second-favorite season, next to summer, of course. The turning of the leaves, the cool breezes, the fact that my birthday is technically in the fall.... Fall is pretty darn awesome. So while summer is great, I'm okay with it coming to a close... eventually. I would love maybe one more week of summertime weather. Then, when school and fall activities begin, the season can change and I'll be okay with that.

      Fall in Kansas is always gorgeous. 

    But the summer is so much more fun!

July 22, 2013

Happy Monday, friends!! July is quickly coming to a close. I can't believe it will be August by this time next week. Since the dog days of summer are coming to a close, I like to look forward to what's going to happen this fall. 

Fall for me means a lot of things. The turning of the leaves, milder weather, both my daughter and myself starting school, and the chance to take my workouts outside. I'm currently researching workouts that I can do outdoors that use my own body as weights yet are as interesting as my workouts at the gym. I look forward to it. I think the milder weather will be more than welcome once it's here. 

In the meantime, last week wasn't bad, but wasn't good either. I didn't lose any weight. In fact, I gained my pound back that I lost. This proves that even the most committed have their weak moments. This is a new week though. A new opportunity to make myself proud. A new chance to reach my fitness goals. 

This week, I hope to lose that pound I lost and one more. I'll achieve this by not making the tempting foods that throw me off track (no spaghetti or taco nights this week). I also look forward to making more time for myself so that I can get to the gym. I missed a couple of days at the gym last week due to my second job, which is on hiatus until September. This school year will be tough with two jobs, school, and fitness, but I'm making a vow now to keep up with my jobs, my studies, my family, and my health. I want to have my head held high by the time 2014 rolls around! 

Speaking of fitness goals and holding my head high: I had a great workout this morning! I have rekindled my love for the rowing machine and worked my chest and shoulders today. The past two days if workouts have been stupendous and I can't wait for my weekly cycling class tomorrow morning! 

As part of staying accountable, I've included my workout report from yesterday. The cycling room at my gym has these wicked awesome black lights and my shirt and shoes were glowing bright while I was sweating it out yesterday solo. I also included a pic of the home made lemonade that I made.

For this delicious lemonade, take two strawberries, a mint leaf, a few stevia leaves, and the juice of a lemon (and I lime if you're feeling feisty) and mull it all together. Then pour into water. This has tasted so good that its all I've been drinking the last two days!! Give it a try! Although its not calorie free, it's only about 50 calories and I poured the juices into a large 40 ounce bottle, and refilled the bottle when it was almost empty to get a second bottle of strawberry mint lemon goodness!

I hope you all make it a great week! It's going to be incredible here!!