One Sweet World

Push-ups that is. This is the one exercise that not only I have lived by, but the one that each and every one of my clients HAD to do EVERY single time they trained with me. No exaggeration. Most of them hated it…whined, moaned, groaned and complained…but in the end, they still had to do it. I was able to measure their strength gains by this exercise alone.

One of my favorite client success stories revolved around push ups. She came to me and could hardly hold herself up in the plank position. So, starting there, we worked on her upper body strength and in a couple of months…she was doing her push-ups. She complained all the way through but was really, really proud of herself. Not only had she gotten stronger, but she was starting to see muscles in her arms! This was always the best part of personal training…

Anyway, the reason I’m writing about this is because I came across an article in the NY Times that first made me laugh, but secondly, supported my thoughts on how important push-ups are for EVERYONE…young and old. So, if you’re not a believer or even if you are…give it a read…and then get to doing your push-ups! Next up…pull-ups.

Picture credit.

Here are a few pictures from a couple of weekends ago…when I went up to Keystone Mountain with some friends to go snow tubing. It was alot of fun, but not the best idea to drink a beer before going down…thanks Jeff!! Unfortunately, it wasn’t too clear because a snow storm was moving in…so we weren’t able to see the surrounding mountains. But it was nice to be up there when the snow started falling!

For those of you who may not know what snow tubing is all about…well, you get in an inner tube, and a guy is standing at the top and asks if you want to spin or not. Then he proceeds to either spin you around until your head flies off or gives you a push so you go flying down the hill. We even did one run where the 3 of us held on to each other’s tubes and went down together. I think we may have been the only adults there not accompanying kids, but it was really alot of fun!!

Tubing Hill

Lining up to go down…


View from Gondola

View at the top of the Gondola
Snow Storm Coming In…

Here in Denver, the mayor is encouraging everyone to participate in Earth Hour 2008.  On Saturday, March 29, a global campaign calls on citizens worldwide to turn off their lights for 1 hour, between 8 - 9 pm.  Such a small action can have an enormous impact on our planet.  I’m in…hope you can do the same.

Keeping with the theme of last March…when we dedicated the entire month to ways to live green…I thought I would take a moment to look back and see where we stand a year later.  Although I didn’t finish the Green List (which I just thought was becoming a little too tedious), I have continued to change many things in my daily life.  Not only have I made changes, but I have become increasingly more and more aware of every little thing I do and consume. 

• I try and stay away from any unnecessary paper and plastic.  Avoiding (as much as possible) ’to go’ coffee cups, shopping bags of any sort, non-recyclable items, too much packaging, water bottles, receipts.
• Rethinking the way I consume.  Buying as much locally produced food and choosing less packaged items and/or bulk products.
• Taking time to read labels and find out exactly what is in every item.  Avoiding harsh chemicals and ingredients, instead choosing eco-friendly soaps, cleaners, and health and beauty products. This also includes staying away from additives and preservatives (words you can’t pronounce) in food, choosing less, minimally or non-processed items.
• Taking recycling, reducing, reusing to the extreme.  We recycle more than we throw away.  Buy and use less junk/stuff.  Reuse any paper cups, water bottles, plastic bread bags.  Stopped buying paper towels, ziplocs and ‘virgin’ paper products.  No more toilet paper in plastic wrapping, buying only individual rolls wrapped in paper.
• No more buying bread…only making my own.
• Unplugging all appliances that are not in use.
• CFL bulbs have become the norm not the exception. Latest News on CFLS.

Interesting Links:
MSN
Yahoo!
Lent Goes Green

If only they would have had this when I was in college…

Kind of goes along with that quote below.  This is definitely happening if you’re giving this Alabama girl Vodka!!

I’m pretty sure that I could have been a contender.  And if not me, then I know my sister would have!!

HAPPY ST. PATTY’S DAY (WEEKEND)!!

Official Site

Above photo courtesy of allposters.com.

The following is an excerpt from a new and GOOD magazine that I just discovered at Whole Foods.  I’m a magazine fanatic and this one is really, really GOOD…beautiful layout and design.  And how could you not like a magazine that has the following statement in it!  Oh…and the best thing about it…100% of your subscription payment is donated to a non-profit organization of your choice. 

a Rock Star on Whiskey:

“We tend to drink whiskey onstage, though every now and again we drink tequila, which is probably not a good idea. And one night in New York, we were forced to drink vodka onstage, which was a really bad idea. You’re not supposed to give people from Alabama vodka—there’s like a rule about that or something…”

         -Out of the mouth of Drive-By Truckers lead singer, Patterson Hood

And I couldn’t agree more!

Photo courtesy of The Lazy Environmentalist.

Excuse the language…but that’s exactly what came out of the mouth of this dude about 30 times last night when we went to see Micky & the Motorcars at The Toad Tavern in Littleton, Colorado.  If I didn’t know better I would have thought I was in Alabama.  Seriously, not just because of this obnoxious redneck, but everyone else as well.  And don’t get me wrong…I love Alabama and Alabamians (I am one)…but “we” get such a bad rap.  And after taking a good look around last night, I was assured that rednecks live everywhere.  So does bad hair, Lee jeans, camouflage, and Budweiser.  But I digress.

Micky & the Motorcars (Braun Brother Reunion)

Seeing Micky & the Motorcars brought back alot of good memories.  Three of the guys are from Stanley, Idaho where I use to live and work.  That’s where I first saw and heard them.  They would play at the local burger joint (which was actually the most incredible setting…along the Salmon River with the White Clouds and Sawtooth Mountains in the background) or the Rod & Gun Saloon (our local watering hole).  And since two of the guys are brothers and come from a musically blessed family…every summer they would all reunite to play the Braun Brother Reunion.  This reunion would include Micky and Gary Braun (Micky & the Motorcars), Cody and Willy Braun (Reckless Kelly) and their father, Muzzie Braun.  It was always a treat to get to see all of them play at different venues over the weekend.  But the summer of 2004 was the last time I have seen them.

Street Jam 2004


Camping Out after the Braun Brother Reunion

Their music falls under the genre Americana/Alt-Country or something to that effect.  Whatever you want to call it…it’s definitely not your typical country…but a rockin’ version of it!  They have been living in the heart of this music world down in Austin, Texas for some time.  And I have been keeping track of them since I left Idaho.  Always hoping that they would make it to some place near wherever I was.  But no such luck.  Until last night. 

The crowd, although interesting, seemed to be big fans and spanned a range of ages.  Everyone was excited to see them back in Littleton and came ready to dance and (obviously) cheer them on wildly.  I happened to be sitting next to a couple who had not heard them before and had been convinced to come with a couple of their friends.  Half-way through, the guy next to me said to his buddy, ‘This is great! I’m a believer!’  And by night’s end had purchased one of their cds.  That was really cool to see.  Because I had never seen them in this sort of setting.  When they are in Stanley…yes, they are local celebrities…but everyone knows them.  I’m thrilled that they have picked-up a much-deserved following that is outside of their roots and their home base in Austin.  I can only hope that they will enjoy more success!  I recommend that you check ‘em out yourself.  They also have a MySpace page that has several of their new tracks on it.

“F**K YEAH!! 

“PLAY IT LOUD!!”

(Sorry for the poor quality pictures…back from the days of film!!) 

Almost forgot to share this with those of you still in New York. 

Back in May I wrote about our neighborhood favorite, Brooklyn Label, which we patronized pretty much on a weekly basis.  I was sad to find out this week, that the chef/owner/co-founder (basically face of) had resigned due to partnership issues.  You can see his comment/press release at the bottom of that said post.  Even though we no longer live there…this is one of the things I truly missed about my old home and neighborhood.  I wish the best to all parties involved. 

Another interesting note regarding Brooklyn Label, is if you visit their website after reading my original post, you will notice several pictures that look familiar.  Especially the main image of the cup of hot chocolate.  Needless to say…they did not notify, ask or credit us for those pictures.  Just found it interesting.

Thought it was time for some changes around here.  And since I have plenty of time on my hands these days (until I find a job)…I figured I should try and be productive and do some of the things that I have been meaning to get to for sometime now. 

A little facelift was needed.  So, I’ve been playing with some new layouts and headers.  I like this one for the moment, but I’m sure it will change again. 

Also, I’ve added a new page to start displaying some of my baking.  These are just a handful of items that for some reason I took the time to photograph.  I only wish I had taken pictures of everything.  But will definitely do so from here on out.  With Victor’s help, I will also be working on making those pictures look much, much better.  We can suffice it to say that I’m no food stylist or photographer! 

It’s been nice to hear from so many of you…especially after the hiatus I had taken from posting.  So THANK YOU for continuing to check in.  Hopefully, I will do a better job of keeping this thing updated.  Let me know what you think of the changes.

After talking about it for the past month, I finally built a fire tonight.  Even though it isn’t that cold, I just needed to have one.  It’s been so long since I’ve had a fireplace or been able to enjoy one…so here it is!!  Isn’t it beautiful!