challenges and kimonos.

Okay this blog post may go down as the MOST LAME in the history of lame blog posts. To my future self reading this: Sorry 'bout that.
Life is so good lately. Fall can sometimes be very depressing to me but this year I'm totally loving it. (maybe because it's still 85 degrees outside??) Either way, I won't complain.
Enough small talk.
So yesterday I signed up for a little "challenge" at cross fit. I have tried to talk myself out of it all week but finally I just thought I need to suck it up and DO IT. I thought of my word for the year and how I have accomplished a lot of "firsts" this year and why not keep 'em coming?? So the challenge is a body fat percentage challenge and basically you pay to do the challenge and then if you win,  you get ALL the money that everyone has paid. Now if you know me, you KNOW i'm the biggest cheap skate.. ever. It's HARD for me to just "spend money." And I'm not gonna lie the reason I wasn't going to do the challenge is because I just HATE spending money if I don't NEED to.
But then I started thinking. If i truly COMMIT To this and try my absolute hardest, there is a chance I could end up with MORE money than I even had to give up to join. That was the deciding factor.
So I'm doing it. Basically I don't have to change anything about my lifestyle except... FOOD. ugh . the hardest one in my opinion. I workout at least 5 times a week. I get 7 hours of sleep most nights. I deal with stress in a positive way. I live an active lifestyle. It's just..... I love my food. so so much. Basically I work out so I can eat whatever I want. And those habits will not win me the pot of money. How tragic is that?
I'm sticking to "no grain" eating habits and it is going to test me like NEVER before. NO cold cereal. No bread. No rice. No processed sugar. No pasta. the list goes on and on.. luckily I can still have meat, fruit, veggies, a little dairy.. stuff like that. Everyone at cross fit SWEARS by this diet. Not only to lose body fat percentage but  also to FEEL your very best. Like the best they have ever felt. So I'm experimenting. and hoping I survive. ha ha Yesterday was great and I didn't feel hungry once. But the true test will be on the weekends or at family gatherings. I'm a sucker for a treat. So that's my rant.
Nate is so sick of hearing about it and I don't want to tell people about it sounding like "I'm so cool I don't eat grains I can't believe you do" kinda thing. Ya know?   One last thing: You know how everyone says when you want a cookie just imagine how you want to look in a few months and put the cookie down. Well for the next 6 weeks when I want a cookie, I'm going to think of that MONEY pot in my hands and PUT THE COOKIE DOWN. What can I say?  We all have different motivators. ;)

Oh, and here's a little picture for you. For some reason we don't have any awesome pictures from the past weeek or so except this one.
 Of me.
In a kimono. 
Okay, it might not be awesome at all and you can call me crazy, but i think they're a little cute. And yes, Nate tells me my crocheted kimono looks just like the one the 90 year old lady wears who sits next to us at church. But she's pretty rad so I'm taking it as a compliment.

Cheers and Love

end of summer.

I'm not going to lie to you, the end of summer is probably the most depressing thing to me..ever.
But for some reason this year I have accepted it {better} than usual and am kinda just a teency tincy bit excited for fall. (did i just say that??)
Labor day is always so  bitter sweet to me because even though it means a day off of school, it also means that summer has officially left us. Nate and I seriously had the best summer of our lives. We said it over and over this summer that this year was one of those summers we will probably talk about for years and years to come. It was the very best. We did so many things and had countless adventures. We did everything we wanted to and I am so glad. Now its back to the books for me and  driving long hours for Nate. Let's hope we make it through :)

One of the best things that happened in August was that I finally passed the Accuplacer Test!! Oh my heck that test almost was the death of me. I was so happy when I passed that the lady in the testing center had to remind me to *be quiet.* Sorry lady but if it was you, you'd want to celebrate too!

Carson asked me to give him a hand outside at the shop. We hadn't been out there 10 mins before it started DOWN POURING. He was kind enough to give me a ride back in the tractor. :)

one of my very best friends finally got home from her mission czech. So so good to see her! 

We rode the fair rides together because our husbands are kinda wussy. hahah but we still love them.

LOVED the Rodeo!

He has to be in EVERY picture I tell ya :)

Seniors this year and couldn't be happier! I love that little {big} bro of mine.

I got to ride up in the family wagon to Soda and of course we had to watch full house the whole way! 

Baby Boston is the cutest ever. Sometimes he makes me wish we had a baby..but then he cries or has a blow out and I think.. we can probably wait on that a little bit :)

Nate finally got a new truck!He flew all the way to Washington to get it and I missed him. But He loves it and so do I. (And appearanlty he loves carson too?? #akwardfamilyphoto)

Sunday best at the cabin. We never want to leave that place. 

We HAD to Longboard on the last night of summer. It just seemed right. I will mist those warm nights more than anyone.

too much fun

This weekend Nate's grandparents had a little fam reunion at none other than... Lagoon! Now, I'm not one to pay 70 bucks per person to go hang out with some serious white trash. But lemme tell ya if someone else is paying I dare be honest... I LOVE LAGOON!! Nate says I'm a true carnie at heart and he may be true. (I'm already looking forward to the Zipper this weekend at the fair!) But we had so much fun. Nate took some miracle pill from his semi-sketchy cousin. ha ha and they were a dream! Keep this between you and I but Nate gets a little ahem *sick* on the big rides so in the future we will definitely be investing in the so called miracle pill.

Nate & I.. and our third wheel :)

Right before closing we decided to go on the Colossus as many times in a row as we could. Yes, we were even running with the teeny boppers to make sure we could get right on the next one.

Front Row! 

Needless to say when we got home around midnight, we were POOPED. but it was so worth it.

Summer, Please don't leave. 

Loving lately

Lately I love:
-Protein style hamburgers. (OH MY! so so good.)
-Mid-week shopping trips to Ogden.
-Kettle bell swings that make me sore.
-My Yankees hat that for some reason I want to wear every day.
-Gold nail polish
-Baby Lips lip gloss.
-Fresh raspberries.  mmm
-Garth Brooks radio on Pandora.
-Coconut oil ( it has SAVED my sunburn from peeling and I'm so grateful)

i love the lake.

In case you haven't noticed from basically ALL of my posts this summer.. We have spent pretty much all our free days either
a. on the boat or
b. doing something in the water.
 I've been a fish my whole life and I'm glad that doesn't have to stop just because I'm old and married now. ;) This past weekend we spent four wonderful days in bear lake. I love having sandy hair and a freckled nose. It's just part of the summer for me. We got to stay right on the beach so I loved waking up to the brilliant blue lake FIRST thing in the morning. Goll we are lucky to live in such a pretty place. Sure, I would kill to live by the ocean. But this will do for now.
I was on the verge of tears driving through the canyon on our way back home realizing our summer is fading fast. It can't stay forever and that breaks my heart.

A huge storm blew in right after we got done swimming. IT.WAS.SCARY

Profesh tubers.

Ended our trip with a DELICIOUS dole whip. That I had no idea was actually good for you??

like a soundtrack to a july saturday night

Another Perfect day at the lake for the books. I can't get enough of summer. Everything about it. Nate and I keep joking, saying if this summer keeps getting better & better like it has been, we probably won't ever want kids. Ha ha but we are kidding....kinda. :) 

So something pretty big happened this Saturday.. not to brag or boast or anything but.... I CAN OFFICIALLY WAKEBOARD!!!!!

 I guess I'm a little excited. It's been something I have always wanted to do and on Saturday I finally got it down. It was so funny i sat in the water and totally pep talked myself.. out loud. "You got this Maddy. You can do anything. Come on. This is it." hahah talk about a freak but I really think it helped me finally just suck it up and DO IT. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves. My mouth was wide open (shocker huh?) and I was literally screaming out of pure joy.

Call me crazy but I think doing things that PUSH you is good for the soul. It gives you a sense of confidence like "I can do anything I put my mind to--no matter how difficult." Whether it's physical things or church things or people things or work things. It really helps in all aspects. 

& I think that is why I love cross fit so freaking much.(sorry--but i look for any excuse to bring it up.a little obsessive) Each day I go in suspense, not knowing what the Workout that day will bring. One thing I know for sure is that It will Push me beyond my limits and force me to be mentally and physically strong.

We got stranded on the lake at sunset. But with this view who the heck would complain?

Pure concentration.

& pure joy. 

Yep, he's carrying a mountain dew while he wake boards. How the heck?

NAiled it.

Squirt. It's what all the cool kids are drinking. 

These girls are all pretty rad. 

Can't get enough of that summer sun.

Hi, we're in love.