Author: Angela Pea

Wife. Mother. Engineer. Cancer Survivor. Knitter of Marvelous Things. Rider of Multiple Bikes. Fabulous Cook. Reader of All the Books. Eternal Optimist. Perpetually Happy.
fun

BYOC…

Angela Pea3 Comments

I’m a huge fan of Just Me, Drazil and Sheniqua.  I need a Friday topic to keep me inspired for weekly blogging, so I’m playing along with her Bring Your Own Crazy. It’s five little questions you can answer in your own blog to give your blogging brain a break.

Copy, paste and enjoy!

This week’s topic?  The Holidays

1. How do you feel about NY resolutions? Do you make them? Do you forget about them quickly? Do they help you?

Love them.  I make them every year – at the beginning of December.  Just because I’m a type A personality. I don’t forget them quickly, and yes, they do help me stay focused.

2. Did you put up a Christmas tree? How many? Is it still up?

Of Course!  We have a ginormous Christmas tree in the living room. My living room ceiling is ten feet tall, and the angel’s halo brushes up against it.  There are thousands of ornaments, more than twenty-eight years worth of collecting and creating.  There’s also a small tree in the sun room.  They are both down and packed away – *sniff*.  It’s so sad to take them down every year.

3. How many total Christmases did you choose to have to attend outside of your home?

None!  Christmas to New Year is the Pea Family’s recharging time. We spend Christmas Eve with our most wonderful friends, then we come home, unplug from the world, tackle big house projects and enjoy each other’s company until after New Year’s Day.

4. What are you most looking forward to this year?

Goal Weight! Mountain Biking! Kitchen Remodel!  New Flooring!

5. Repeat question: Summarize your week in real life and in blogland this week.

Real life has been a bit draggy.  It’s hard to come back to work and concentrate after several weeks of celebrating the holidays.  The upside is that the weather has been spectacular – warm and sunny, perfect for getting some outdoor exercise! This week also ushered in the E2E Challenge, another fourteen week journey building healthy life habits.

Bring Your Own Crazy.  Keep the Faith.

EMail Anglea Pea

healthy

How Tough Am I This Week?

Angela Pea3 Comments

Pretty Darn tough, if I do say so myself.

I rode the Marion Sansom Park mountain bike trail for the first time on Saturday.  It’s infamous among the local mountain bikers, and they either love it or hate it. Here’s why:

This is the view over the Dam Drop. Most local mountain bike trails are smooth dirt with a few roots or logs to climb over.  MSP?  Large portions of the trail look like this:

Yes, that’s caliche rock. Gravel. Hard if you fall, which, I did NOT do!  The Architect and Cherry Ames left me behind because I was going too slow.  HA!  They both emerged back at the trail head ten minutes ahead of me with scraped appendages. I got back all in one piece, a testament to my wimpiness superior common sense.

I’m not sure if I love it or hate Sansom Park. I’ll have to ride it a few more times before I decide.

 

We then high tailed it over to the Gateway trail  for a quick spin around.  After MSP it was a piece of cake!  Grand total of twelve miles on Saturday.

 

Tough enough yet?  Monday Mr. Pea decided we should take a ride on Mineral Wells Trailway.  It was another beautiful day, and thank goodness the sun was shining, because the wind was just a bit sharp against the skin. We took all the Pea kids plus a few extras, and made the run to the halfway point and back. The older boys made it all the way to the halfway point; the rest of us turned around a few miles shy because we were getting cold. Grand total of fifteen miles.  (That’s DirtBike ahead of me in the picture.)

 

But wait!  There’s more!  Kettle bell circuit training yesterday.  After that class, I was very, very glad that I kept up with working out over the Christmas holiday.  I was able to push through every rep, every squat and every swing.  Even when the guys were dropping out, I kept going. Whoot!  I am officially a Tonka Truck now.

Be tough. Keep the Faith.

EMail Anglea Pea

healthy

E2E Challenge – Kick Off

Angela Pea7 Comments

“Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow – that is patience.”  ~Unknown~

It’s time! It’s time! It’s time to kick off a new challenge, another fourteen week effort to tone, refine and shed a few more ounces.  Mir, aka Princess Dieter, is hosting again, and I’m delighted to be her co-pilot.

Rules and My Input

1. Item of clothing and a picture of me.  Okay, seriously?  I’m already blowing the first rule.  Sort of.  I want a fitted dress for Easter this year, a sort of classic Chanel, Jacqueline Onassis look  – pale yellow with white trim, perhaps with a jacket.  It’s still December, though, and there are still Christmas clearance items on store shelves. I will keep my eyes peeled for a dress, Mir, I promise!  It will be posted here just as soon as I find it.

I DO have before pictures of me, though. I am really close to goal weight already and I’m at my goal pant size, so I’d like to focus on toning and strengthening my body for the next 14 weeks.  (The nice fitting dress will just be icing on the cake.)  However…some of my kid’s friends and a few co-workers follow this blog on Facebook, and I don’t want these photos popping in their inboxes.  I’ve posted them over at my old Blogger blog, here.

2. Starting Weight: 158.  Thank you, Christmas goodies!  Waist measurement is 31″.  I have other tracking points, but again, the whole kid’s friends seeing this thing makes me shy.  Those numbers are over with my pictures, as well.

3. Goals

Shed at least five pounds, to be accomplished with a combination of sensible eating and plenty of exercise.  Sensible = WW points daily; only eat extras as I earn them with exercise. Plenty of exercise = 50 activity points weekly, with whatever exercise catches my fancy.

Do at least 5 pullups.  Yep.  I’m already working on building strength for this.

Firm up my arms, as in tone them to the point that muscle definition is obvious.  I’ve already started working on this with weight lifting and kettlebell training.

 

 

 

4. Books

I’m starting with The Smarter Science of Slim.

I also intend to read along with Jenny at  A Minute Captured and dive into my Bible this year.

5. My guiding quote is at the top of this post.  It’s one I’ve blogged before, and I love love love it. My journey to healthy has taught me a LOT about patience!  My second favorite quote is my signature.  Keep the Faith.

 

6. My challenge buddy will be Jo!  Yeah!  We’ll be good for each other as we work on maintenance.  I will be in touch, both with blog visits and emails.

7. I promise to visit at least three blogs a week and leave supportive comments.  Or some serious sass and butt kicking if necessary.

8. I do hereby solemnly swear to NOT QUIT.  Amen.

Commit. Keep the Faith.

EMail Anglea Pea