Monday, July 11, 2011

Where in the world is....

....The Brick House Mama?

4 Reasons Why I am a Bad Blogger...


Hi! Here I am!

Ok, I have some confessing to do...
LIFE has gotten in the way of keeping you up to date here on The Brick House...
Which is why I always try to point you in the direction of ALL the great resources out there, just in case I am busy rocking a baby, cheering my son on at a baseball tournament, taking kids to camp or just trying to do the dishes :-)...

So do you forgive me?
I do have my reasons you know...

Life Reason #1: Why I am a bad blogger

Meet Collin Jai, my nephew.  This summer he is my our sidekick.  He fits right in with the rest of The Brick House circus.  His little smile and bright blue eyes make me want to stop the world and just hold him. 

So yes, it is a bit of a challenge to blog while coo-cooing at a baby...





OF COURSE, I could not do it without the help of my beautiful daughter, Hannah, who is baby-lover just like me :-)...








Life Reason #2:  Why I am a bad blogger

Since Christmas of last year, we have been preparing for Trevor (right), my oldest, to go on a missions trip to Costa Rica with 80 other young people for 10 days. 
We were excited for him and nervous that he would lose something (like money and couldn't eat!)
He came back with stories to tell and memories of an experience that I am so grateful he had!







Life Reason #3: Why I am a bad blogger


My youngest son, Trent, had the privilage of participating in the Grand National AAU Baseball Tournament at ESPN's Wide World of Sports at Disney for an entire week!  They were completely undefeated throughout all the brackets and worked their way into the championship round.  They ended up with 2nd Place, and we were so proud of their accomplishment!  On top of that, they won the Outstanding Sportsmanship Award!

Life Reason #4: Why I am a bad blogger

I am in search...for a healthier me!
Join me at: SparkPeople.com

Join the Web's Only Nutrition & Fitness Program Just For Teens! Diet
My username is tashabrickhouse


During a conversation with my sister, Kristi, about "the thorn in my flesh"--my weight, she, recommended the wonderful website SparkPeople, a free online weight-loss/diet & exercise tracker.  I spent the first 6 weeks getting to know the program and then determined that I needed to adjust the food calculator to a low carb diet.  An immediate result on the scale confirmed that my body does not like anything in the form of a grain. No wheat, rice, oat and most certainly no sugar...Veggies and low fat protein are my friends...

Then I made a big decision...I began a Couch-to-5k program. Me? A runner?
NO WAY!
Ok, maybe in my almost-35 year-old-crisis-mode I got bold and demanded my body to comply with a very reasonable physical requirement.  RUN!
I remember even in middle school making excuses to get out of running in gym class. 
There are no excuses.

So I started using the C25K app right away (This is a paid-for app, but it is really cheap and well worth it), and love it!  I can play my own music I found some running music on podcast from Podrunner so I was set.

Week 1 was very doable and made me eager to move to week 2.  During week 2 we were at Trenton's tournament, so I opted to run on the treadmill at the gym.  Wrong move (at least for me).  Having never been a runner, and never run on a treadmill, the impact on my knees proved to be to intense.  For the remainder of our stay, I attempted to run in the complex, but I was in some serious pain. 

After reading up on it, I considered giving my knees a break.  I didn't want to lose momentum so this was a hard thing to do.  Lo' and behold, I developed chest cold and there was a true road block.

So this morning, I resumed the program on week 3 day 1 and, whew...I made it!
It was more challenging, and I hope that it was in part because of a week long hiatus.  But I am determined.  Come hectic-schedules or high heat (in Florida), I want to conquor this thing!
"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals." Zig Ziglar

What are you doing this summer? Do you have family traditions or annual summer excursions?