"not all who wander are lost"

I long to travel. I always have.

My family has never been much of a traveling family. Not that they hate it or dislike it; they actually really enjoy it. It's just not high on the priority list.

That's always been tough for me. I can't just up and go wherever I want to whenever I want to. I just turned 16.

But I yearn to see places. So so desperately. I live in an amazing place. Tennessee is beautiful.

memphis, tennessee

 But it's all Ive ever known. People travel long and far to hike the smokey mountains, picnic by the mighty missisisppi river, walk down Beale street, visit the Opry Land Hotel. I get to do those things all the time. I am lucky. But the beauty of it fades over time like a blind spot. You look right over it. I can't help that. I long to see some place different. I travel to nearby places often (Missisippi, Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas) and it is a lot. I love to travel when I can. And I do get to. But I have started to feel like the walls are closing in on me and I can't escape. I stare at pictures of places that in reality aren't far at all, but impossibly far for me.

I want to be able to go places and experience those places.

i want to eat pastries and sip coffee in a quiet cafe in london or paris.

 breathe in the smoke from a fire crackling deep in the mountains of colorado. 

walk through a forest of evergreens, my hair dusted with snow.

  to sit on a beach of white sand, not a single soul or sign of civilization in sight, and stare into the crystal clear water and the fish whirling around my feet.

 to look out of an airplane and look down and see blue. only blue.

i want to look out over a field and see horses grazing, hay bales, and the only sound be that of the grass swaying in the wind

 i want to drink a strawberry milkshake while taking a walk on the sidewalks of mobile, alabama.

 i want to shop in fun and cute boutiques in charleston, south carolina.

I want to walk down tiny streets of places with names I have never even heard of.

It's hard to be content. It's hard to accept the fact that God has put me here, when I want to be somewhere else, if only for a short while. Don't get me wrong, I love my home. I don't want to move. I love where I am. But I want short snippets of time where i can be a different person in a different place. 

I want to see new things. Taste new food. Hear new sounds. Meet new people. I don't think a person is meant to stay in one place for very long, otherwise man wouldn't have a want to see the world.

I pray that God shows me where he wants me to go. I pray that he is able to show me the absolute wonders that he has made. Not that man has made. Man did not make the earth. God created the earth in a single breath. And look how beautiful it is.

God made this earth for man to enjoy. God made this earth and all that is in it to praise him. Even the stars worship Him. 

His creation amazes me every day. I can't wait to see more of it.

Mark 16:15

2014 Workouts To Make This Year a Better One

I promised in my last post that I would give you workouts...and then I didn't post them! Something must have messed up because they didn't get posted. But I have them now!
Don't freak out when you read all this. It's a lot of information, but that doesn't mean a thing! I don't want to just throw a bunch of random exercises at you at simply say, "goodluck". I want to make sure you know what you are doing and are doing it right so you can get the very most out of each exercise and that all the hard work you put into it doesn't go to waste!

There are 4 different workout sets: abs, legs, arms, and combination. Depending on how long you workout each day, you should exercise no less than 4 times a week, and 5 or 6 times is best. Doing one type of exercise each day would be really good (example: abs on Monday, legs on Tuesday, arms on Thursday, and combination on Friday).  If you feel like you want to do more than just 4 days a week, try jogging around your neighborhood for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour or do a combination set on the days that you want to fill in. Or if you really want to work a certain area, do that exercise set twice a week. (Don’t do an area-targeted excerice (ie abs exercise) more than 3 times a week.) And don’t forget to take a day off. You might want to hurry up and get into the best shape possible, but if you jump right and don’t take any breaks, you might feel more pain then you should. Only some pain is necessary for gain.
You should hurt when you do these exercises. You should feel somewhat sore the next day. You should be tired.  If you don’t feel any of those things than you are either hurrying too much through the excerices, not doing them right, or you need to step it up a notch and do more rounds and reps.
These are workouts are here to help you. It’ll be difficult. Everybody would always do it if it is always fun. The idea is to basically kill yourself for a period of time every day, and before you know it, you will feel so much more alive.

Don’t take a break during the round. Only one minute rest between rounds (the one minute starts as soon as you are done with the reps, not when the maximum minutes is up). Once you can make it through all required rounds in the maximum number of minutes or fewer, add the extra amount to the right (in parenthesis) and work your way up from there. Your goal is to be under maximum minutes for each round for lower amount of reps. Don’t do them sloppily to make sure you get them done. Doing them right is way more important them doing them fast. The time goal is a goal. Focus on doing them right and with good form and technique first, and then focus on getting them done without taking any breaks.

Feel free to comment about any of the ones you don’t know how to do and I’ll fill you in. Or you can try googling them ;)

 

Abs:
repeat 1-3 times
Goal should be to be under 6 minutes or under on each round. Once you make it through all three rounds in 21 or less minutes, add more reps (the ones that are in parenthesis)

Take 1 minute break between rounds.

-30 (or 40) crunches

-15 (or 20) situps with hands on hips

-20 (or 30) bycicles (10 or 15 to each side)

-15 (or 20) vertical leg crunches

-15 (or 25) leg raises (don't let feet touch ground!)

-45 second (or 1 minute) plank

 

Legs
2-5 rounds
Goal should be to be under about 6 1/2 minutes on each round. Once under 35 minutes for all 5 rounds, add extra reps in parenthesis

Take a 1 minute break between each round

-10 (or 15) squats (with weights if they are available and you feel comfortable using them)

-20 (or 30) lunges (10 for each leg)

-20 (or 30) step ups (10 to each leg)

-15 (or 20) reps of the bridge

-1 minute of jumping jacks

-30 second (or 1 minute) WITHOUT STOPPING wall sit

 

 Arms
1-3 rounds
Goal to be under 8 minutes for each round.  Once under 27 minutes for all rounds, add extra reps.

You have a lot more options for arm workouts if you have dumbbells, but there are still ways to work your arms without weight

Pull ups---Pull ups are a great workout for upper body. But they can be very difficult. They are optional on here for 2 reasons. One, not everyone has a place to do pull ups. If you have a pull up bar you use that, or if there is any bar-type thing that can hold your weight and feel comfortable using, use that. Two, pull ups are difficult. At first, just attempt one. Don’t try to go for all 4 pull ups on your first try. Strengthen your arms using the other exercises and then you will be able to do pull ups.

Take a 1 minute break between each round

-20 pushups

-15 dips

-Optional---4 pull ups

-15 pushups

-10 dips

-Again, optional---3 pull ups

-10 pushups

 

 

Combination workout (abs, legs, arms)
Do 2-4 rounds.
Each round should take not much longer than 7 minutes. Once completing all 4 rounds in 32 minutes or less, add extra in parenthesis.

Take a 1 minute break between each round.

-25 (or 35) crunches

-10 (or 20) vertical leg crunches

-10 (or 15) squats

-20 (or 40) lunges

-15 (0r 25) pushups

-45 seconds of jumping jacks

 

 

 

 

If you have any, any, comments, questions, suggestions, criticism, anything, please let me know. This is the first time I have done this and even though I spent a lot of time and thought on this, there is bound to be something you are wondering about. Let me know if I have made a mistake, there is not enough time for each exercise, or something else is wrong. And please let me know how this works for you! I won't know if this is any good if you don't give me feedback! Keep me updated! Love you guys!

The Post-Holiday Helper-Outer

Now, I know how it is. The holidays end, and after several weeks of Christmas cookies, eggnog, hot chocolate, turkey, ham, dressing, bread, candy, chocolate, and every other possible holiday treat you could imagine, we all feel pretty ick. Really ick. Bloated, unhealthy. You want to feel better and eat better but don't even know where to start and those Christmas leftovers are sitting in the fridge calling your name. Maybe you're exhausted too. Late nights of shopping and time with the family can be pretty tough after a week of it. Those bags under your eyes aren't designer, no matter what anybody says.
That's where I am here to help. I fall hook, line, and sinker for all the junk of the holidays and even though it is enjoyable, afterwards it's not very fun. But, there are ways to get back to feeling and looking much healthier and rested and maybe even loose a few pounds and gain a few muscles.
I have some steps for you guys on how to detox from the holidays and a few at home workouts that can give you a bit of a head start on that new years resolution.
Here are a few tips I made to help you to get back into routine and healthy happy spirit.

Those tips are a little booster to a healthier and rejuvenated you. If you follow all these steps (no cheating), you'll be surprised at how much better you feel.

If you want to go crazy and actually start doing what you keep telling yourself you will do, then do a workout. You do not have to be in super shape to do these, no equipment is required, no gym, no nothing. Once you start doing it, you're there, you've done something. The hardest part is actually getting started. The very hardest part. Every time I stand on the edge of that pool, my mind screams "don't get in! It will be awful! It will be so hard! And besides, you have so much other stuff you could be doing". But once I ignore that little voice, and swim a lap, I'm not gonna stop because I am already in. And even if I did quit at that point, I actually did something, which is way more than I would have done if I had just stood at the edge of the pool. Trust me when I say this, the hardest part of a workout is getting off the couch and getting started. 
But...I don't have a workout for you guys yet! Start following those steps above, and in a couple days start on my workouts once they are posted. It's a new year! Make it different! Make it better! If there is ever a time for a change, it's now.