Hero

I'm pretty sure that I have found "the dress." It is different than what I thought I would initially pick out, but then again perfect for me. And when I walked out of the dressing room, my two friends/coworkers loved it. They said it's the most flattering on me. The thing is, I don't think I will ever be the girl who puts on a dress and then cries from it being the one! I just don't think that's me.

I am like 96% sure at this point. Part of me only wants to try a few other places just to put my mind at ease. I think what turns me away is the customer service at the dress store. If they were more receptive, then I probably would be 100%. That plays a huge role for me, apparently.

In addition, I feel like a lot of pressure is put on the dress. I worry a lot about what others will think. And while we're only inviting people to our wedding who love us,  you still have to wonder how people will judge the dress that you picked. I've had numerous people tell me what they envision me wearing. Believe me when I say that I've tried every style of dress because I had no idea what I wanted. It turns out that a lot of times, no matter how beautiful the dress, it simply might not look good on me. I am sure some people might see me in a different style, but they weren't there when I went shopping, so they have no idea. I am limiting showing my crappy iPhone picture of me in the dress because I want people to see it when I have my hair  and make up done. It's only right!

I made our Save-the-Date magnets!

Just waiting for them to arrive in the mail, so I can begin sending them out.

I'm starting to stress LESS about our wedding at this point. I am realizing how good of a day it is going to be and it makes me so happy with our choices thus far. The garden wedding, small guest list. We're having a violinist during the ceremony, and music during the reception is tentatively a solo classical guitarist. We're not doing the traditional DJ, dance floor thing since it just isn't us. I want to feel completely authentic.
We've just about picked a caterer, too. I have to miss the taste-testing due to work, but Mirza will be there.

As for the rest of life...
School, work, CrossFit. That seems to be the run-down.

Saturday marked one month since I walked into the box and did my baseline workout. I know it's still new and fresh, but I am loving it.
Mirza goes,too!

I do need to be careful about doing too much, too soon.
On Friday, we did a Hero WOD. This is a workout that is dedicated to a fallen soldier. They tend to be difficult for this reason.

“Hammer”

Five rounds, each for time, of:

135/95 pound Power clean, 5 reps

135/95 pound Front squat, 10 reps

135/95 pound Jerk, 5 reps

20 Pull-ups

Rest 90 seconds

One of the things we never really worked on during On-Ramp were pull ups. We just didn't really get to it at this point. When I try to do a pull-up without the band, I get about halfway with my elbows bent . He said that's actually pretty good, so he gave me a green band (Brag: Mirza has to use 2 bands!). If you take a look at the WOD again, you'll notice this is 5 rounds of 20 pull-ups. Yes, that would be 100 pull-ups!

For the weight, I only used 45lbs. I mean, my one rep max on a front squat is 85lbs, so obviously I could not do 95lbs for one round, never mind 5. That's what I love about CrossFit: You scale to fit your needs, but believe me, it's still difficult.

All of these shots were taken in-action, so my form looks off, but the trainer is right there and continually says that I have great form, so that's good to know! The last thing I need is to hurt myself. A good trainer who understands form is everything!

If you look pretty when working out...1. I hate you 2. you're not working hard enough!

Somehow, I still smile!

I think I need some better CrossFit outfits. Yikes. Moving on...

I felt incredibly proud of 100 pull-ups total. This entire work out took me 26 minutes when you take out the 90 second rests. During the last round, I literally had to take each pull-up one at a time. Whatever it takes to get it done!

However, I can now say that MAYBE 100 pull-ups was too much, too soon? Yesterday, I could barely extend my arms, could not lift my arms over my head straight, and my biceps were so swollen. I seriously felt like I had compartment syndrome, rhabdo, etc. This makes me sad because I haven't been able to do CrossFit since Friday.

So, I definitely need to remind myself of my edge. But the problem was that I didn't know!! How would I know since I have never done pull-ups! Maybe this is a stupid statement, but it is what it is! 

Either way, I am proud of my 100 pull-ups assisted with the band. I am proud that I am able to move my body and be alive!! That is the point of the Hero WOD. You move for those who cannot.

U.S. Army First Sergeant Michael “Hammer” Bordelon, 37, of Morgan City, Louisiana, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), based out of Fort Lewis, Washington, died on May 10, 2005, from injuries sustained when a car bomb exploded near him in Mosul, Iraq on April 23, 2005.

He is survived by his wife Mila; children Mike Jr., Jacob, and Johanna; mother Dolores; and sister Doreen Scioneaux.