Author: cheriarmour

Stress Dreams

| cheriarmour

I’ve stressed dreamed since some point during high school.

In high school, I would dream that I’d get a report card and I would have all F’s and D’s on the report.  I would dream that I was being attacked by dogs during exams.

In college, even though report cards weren’t a thing and we’d just go online to check our grades and transcripts, I would dream that I’d failed classes.

When I first started teaching fitness, I’d dream that I was late to class (huge no-no) or that Yoga music would come on for a Zumba class.

I’ve stress dreamed (dreamt?!) that I’ve shown up late for races, another thing that could screw up a race day in a heart beat.

And now, I’m stress dreaming about the wedding.  The last few nights have been horrible.  Absolutely horrible.  And it’s not because I have a single doubt in my mind about this guy…

Knife…Pictured here holding a knife he just added to our Zombie Apocalypse bag.  (Seriously, and I have not seen him beam like this or talk about any object like this since the last fancy pocket knife I bought him.)…

But it’s more because I want everyone to have a good time.  I want to look pretty.  I want everyone to have enough food.  And I want for us to have good memories of the day we got married.

So last night, I dreamt that the day was here, my shoes had not yet arrived in the mail, and that I had no one to help me the day of.

Eek!  I talked it over with a planner who happened to come into my office at work, and she eased my worries a little bit.

But what I need is to chill chill chill, have a tea, and hear about your stress dreams.

What do your stress dreams revolve around?

 

10 Fitness things I could not live without.

| cheriarmour

I thank goodness that I was born in such an amazing time, with such insane technology, that I can exercise pretty comfortably without injury ::knock on wood::.  HRG blogged on this a few days ago, and I just had to follow suit!  So I present to you, 10 fitness things that I Could not Live Without. 

1.  My iPhone. 

I don’t always listen to music, but I think the combo of the safety factor, music, apps, at the occasional Netflix when I’m stuck on the treadmill in the winter is really nice.  During the infamous Greensboro Marathon of ’13, I was able to call Austin (sobbing, mind you) that I was really sick, and that my finish would be later than predicted.  I thank God for that and that I didn’t have to worry him for hours.

2.  My Garmin.

photo 1Now of course, as soon as I started writing about this, my Garmin started acting really strangely, and at one point I thought it had completely died, but I used it yesterday, and I think it’s going to be okay for the next little bit here.  It needs to be okay because we just bought a house and that means you have to be really really smart with money for a second while you pay for this little thing that crops up, and that little thing that crops up.

3.  Not technically a fitness thing, but pedicures.  So, over the past few months, I’ve definitely dialed back on the pedis for money’s sake, but I went on Monday night to get a mani/pedi, and I forgot how good they are for the feet, and for the soul/sole.  Seriously, I forget that between teaching a LOT of classes a week, and trying to stay up with my running, your feet can use the help of a professional.  And that’s just what I did, especially since we were going to be taking our engagement photos.  It was awesome.

4.  Hydration things.  More specifically, the hydration backpack.  Yes, it looks really silly, and it kinda smells now that it’s been through some times with me, but I would never ever have survived a single North Carolina summer without it.  It’s convenient, it has a LOT of hiding places, and it frees up your hands to do things OTHER THAN grasping a water bottle.

5.  Good running shoes.  Thank God for the opportunity and the education I’ve been given on running shoes, because I think a good pair of running shoes can mean the difference between loving to run, and hating it because everything hurts and feels terrible while you run.  No, running shoes will not inherently make running amazing, but it makes the ride a little more enjoyable.

foam rolling

6.  The foam roller.  I think that there are some folks who still don’t really know what this thing is.  It is the most incredible little piece of equipment.  It’s cheap, and the best thing to do for sore muscles, pressure points, knots, or anything that comes up when you’re really feeling horrid.  And if you’re training for anything right now, you know that will happen.

7.  The treadmill.  Okay, okay, okay, hear me out okay?  Most of us runners refer to the treadmill as the “dreadmill” because of how boring it can be.  But it can be really really useful, especially when it’s really really hot, and really really cold.  (Anyone flashing back to the Polar Vortex of early ’14?)  There would have been no way, a few of those days, that I could have gotten a run in, and I would have gone crazy.  Especially the day when poor Austie was stuck on the road for like 6 hours trying to get home during the snow.  I needed an outlet for sure.

8.  Compression gear.  <-In general.  Compression socks.  Compression tights.  Will save your LIFE.  I started sleeping in compression gear during my first marathon and it heals.  I swear, it heals.

9.  Nuun, and other forms of electrolyte replacement that have  been invented that don’t contain corn syrup and Red 40.  This stuff is great to replace some of the stuff you sweat out, but also kind of great in real life.  You drank too much?  Nuun.  You have the flu and you can’t really eat anything?  Nuun.  You want to spice your water up and make it a little tastier and interesting?  NUUUN.

10.  Rundies.  Runderwear.  Banish them pantylines and they’re wicking.  You don’t have to go commando in your tights any longer folks.  Rundies are the way to go.  They’re expensive – but SO worth it.  I actually have started wearing them with regular things because of the lack of pantylines that is involved with them.  What a wonderful, wonderful invention.

What’s on your fitness must-have list?

Blogging the Bach.

| cheriarmour

Pretty sure that’s what bloggers say when they’re talking about blogging about the Bachelorette, but I’m literally talking about my bachelorette celebrations that I had all weekend in Charlotte.

I made it clear from the beginning of planning this shindig, that I wasn’t really the type of lady to want to go to a Chippendale’s Show.  I really don’t like the idea of a Magic Mike type gentleman rubbing all over me.  It’s not that nudity in itself offends me, but being touched and swung around by a random guy baby oiled up just doesn’t do it for me.

So after this perk of my job…

Snake Turtle

(This reptile lady came to the Y on Friday for the kids, and showed them slithery crawly things).

And this one….

Sno Cone

(I went for a run after work, and sort of stumbled on the campers eating shaved ice and running around in bounce houses).

I trekked down to Charlotte in the pouring rain for my bachlorette, and we started Friday off by going to the Harris Teeter for some food for dinner and Saturday morning’s breakfast.  What was really really neat was that my friend and bridesmaid, Melanie, opened up her family home to us in Charlotte and allowed us to stay there, so we wouldn’t have to spend a million dollars on a hotel and eat out for every meal, which is like my worst nightmare.  Not because it’s super unhealthy, it doesn’t have to be, but because with my gastritis, I really can’t take eating out left and right without being really uncomfortable and ill the next day.

So we cooked dinner, drank some wine, and caught up on friend things on Friday night and planned to get sweaty on Saturday.

Lucky for us North Carolinians, we have the White Water Center available to us, and after waiting for the rain to let up, all of us caravaned over the the Center.  I’ve been once before to actually do some rafting, but this time, we went and spent time on an obstacle course, walking around, eating at the little restaurant they had on campus, and my fave, ziplining!  The second we got there, I almost regretted not rafting, so we started talking about how we will be back to raft.  I’ve never considered myself much of a naturey outdoorsy person, but something about being at a place that let’s you get physical and push yourself will really bring it out of you.

Panorama

After almost a full day at the center, we headed home to freshen up, and officially got the party started, in the best way that a few 20-somethings with full-times jobs can.  It’s funny – had we been doing this four or five years ago, we would have TURNT UP no question, but the turnt level was pretty mild.  We drank, we danced, and generally just really enjoyed each other’s company.  It just felt good to get all the people I care about (minus some really important ones that couldn’t make it) in the same spot, and getting them to know each other.  It was really cool to see the ease with which these folks were able to get along with each other, and it makes you feel confident in your friendships.

Bach

Finally, on Sunday morning, we woke up, grabbed showers, and met with Austin’s mom and my mom for a kinda bridal shower thingie.  It was SO nice, and once again, having all that love in the same place was really trying to make my head explode.

photo 5 (2)

18 days and counting….!!!!

How was your weekend?

Remember the big announcement that wasn’t?

| cheriarmour

A month or two ago, I blogged, incredibly disappointed about a big announcement I’d wanted to make.

We found a house in a really cute area of town, went to go ahead and sign on the dotted line, and we couldn’t do it.

2380 Y_sch9At some point during the process, it started to appear that the purchase we were about to make was not smart as far as our cash was concerned, and we had to back out of the deal.  I was sad, just because I’d started to envision our lives in the house, but it was the best thing for us.

So in the mean time, we’ve been searching high and low for a house.  There was the house of horrors on Peartree.  I never saw this house, but Austin visited a home where the poor woman living there was an actual hoarder.  There was also this house that looked so so cute on the outside, but was so 90s inside, that everything in the home would have to be replaced should we ever want to have people over or you know, sell it.

So the process has been really annoying and nothing at all like it is on Million Dollar Listing.  I think part of the unpleasant parts of looking for a house also were fueled by the fact that I’m completely over renting.   But I digress.

So all that to say is.

Well, uh…

We’re under contract on a house.

WE ARE UNDER CONTRACT ON A HOUSE.

And I ain’t no fool, so I’m not gonna post the address.  But what I WILL do is show you my favorite part of the house.

New HouseThe kitchen, the kitchen, the kitchen!  That island is NO joke, and I cannot wait to put my dips on it.  Dips is what I’m excited about people.  Lining dips down the counter maybe a casserole or two, while my friends laugh with champagne flutes.  We don’t drink out of champagne flutes, but you get it.

Gah so excited!

Feeling the itch…

| cheriarmour

I’m not really sure what the photo company that Reebok uses for the Warrior Dash is up to, but a few mornings ago, I woke up to an email containing the photos from one of the first races I did over two years ago. Warrior Dash

This picture made me smile for a few reasons.

One, because I barely have any memory of this race. I think I might have fallen down and sprained my ankle a little bit during this race, but I really, for the life of me, can’t remember!

The other reason is Austin’s incredible facial expression. I think we were both having a great time – we typically do every time we do something active together, but what an incredible facial expression, right?  This is going to be my husband!

Feeling the itch.

I ran a ton of races back to back in the spring, and my body decided that it was ready to take a break after all of that, and that’s probably good since I had a wedding to plan and all that good stuff.  But today, I was at the Whole Foods, and I saw a flyer for a race I’d run in October of 2013.  I also saw another ad for the Greensboro Marathon, and part of me was a little tempted to maybe take on that challenge again – but no, right?  I need to focus on everything that’s going on here.

But I really am starting to feel like I’m ready to get back in the racing game.  My runs have been good – the heat has been tough, but I’ve been really comfortable with how my body has seemed to adapt to time/distance even though we haven’t been there in a while.  I know for a fact that I have Ragnar in November, but does a challenge in October sound cool?  Not sure yet.

Who’s racing in the fall?

 

 

 

Wedding insanity has begun…

| cheriarmour

We are less than a month from my wedding, and the insanity has begun.

Friday, I didn’t go to work (I was on duty on Sunday, and I’ve been told I was hitting it a little hard at the office 🙂 ), so I took off to Charlotte with Michael (a bridesman who has been incredible at keeping me on track), to pick up my wedding dress.   Michael is amazing. We have been friends for like 10 years, and he allows me to be me, which is a quality that is sometimes difficult to find in friends.

Now keep in mind, I haven’t really seen my dress since December, and it was INCREDIBLE.  I really really wish I could share a pic, but I will let you be surprised.  But suffice it to say that I’m feeling REAL body confident – the dress fit like a glove, and really flatters me.  I’m excited to see what it looks like with hair and makeup, and I’m excited to see what Austin thinks, day of.  So from here, I’m having a few alterations done, having the dress cleaned, and that will be DONE!

After driving all over creation to get the dress, we hit the Harris Teeter to order flowers, which is saving us SO much money, and I finished out Friday by hitting a Zumba party at the Cary Y.

Zumba Party

It was really cool because I was able to see other instructor’s choreo and decide what I’d like to steal, and what I can take from their style.  The BEST part though, was the fact that Vinh, a talented young instructor, revealed a coconut bikini and grass skirt, and proceeded to teach ALL of his songs in that.  I was crying laughing, and he wore it to the little mocktail party we set up after, where there was a card waiting for me to wish me the best at my new job.

Cookie Cake

Between all of that, my brother was in town for his orientation at NC State, and we spent a lot of time doing all of that fun orientation stuff, getting him sheets, getting him to where he needed to go and…oh.

I found a house we really really like.

Eep!

I’ll keep you posted.  How was your weekend?

Brother Picture

Botched + Second Breakfast

| cheriarmour

First all, let me tell you about this app I discovered.

I registered me and the hubster for Fitbits for our wedding.  While we’re kinda like waitinnnng for one of our awesome friends to bestow upon us gifts so we don’t get “marriage fat” like a lot of folks say that you do when you get married, I’ve downloaded this app, called ‘Moves’ that I heard about in Shape Magazine last month.

It’s on your iPhone, and it tracks your movement throughout the day.  My goal is 10K steps, and I may up that to 20K once I get my Fitbit and can track when I’m not carrying my phone on me.  What is great about things like these is the fact that you never realize how sedentary you are until you have the numbers to back it up.  As a really active person, it’s pretty nuts that I sometimes have to hop up from my desk and do a lap to get my steps in.

Moves AppWhat I think is really cool, is the point in the day where I have run more steps than I’ve walked.  It always makes me think that my main mode of transport is my two legs, and that is really the coolest feeling – that I am really self-sufficient in a sense.

**

So part of the  other thing I’ve had to adopt doing is this concept of “second breakfast”. I used to have to do the second breakfast thing when I was working in the bakery at Whole Foods for a little while, post grad-school.  If you didn’t know, if you work in a bakery, you have to wake up at ungodly hours in order to have breads, coffees, and sweet things out.  So I used to eat something light and quick before work, and then during my break around 10 am or so, I would eat second breakfast, which was a more substantial meal.  Since I sometimes drop by my job super early or try to take an instructor’s class, I’m starting that second breakfast thing.  Usually my breakfasts are super healthy and involved a fruit and/or a smoothie.  But sometimes I go to Whole Foods and get one of these…

SconeWell, two things.  I ate one a few days later.  But yum to that breakfast!  I wish I could live off of breakfast foods and sweet things.  But alas, scones aren’t very good marathon fuel, so I have to eat other things sometimes.  Bummmmer!

***

I think you guys have me pretty well figured out by now.  I love love love reality television, and I will watch anything once.  Except the NFL.  So over 4th of July weekend, I started watching this show called ‘Botched’ which has changed my life for good.

The premise of ‘Botched’?

The premise involves two famous plastic surgeons, who we know as husbands of Real Housewives, Terry DuBrow and Paul Nassif, high skilled surgeons, who are consulted to do revisional surgeries, or basically, to fix surgeries once horrid surgeons have screwed it up.  It is so so frightening to know that there are doctors who run around screwing up people’s bodies, but they’re out there, hacking folks’ bodies left and right.

Now I’m pretty cool with my body, and I take good care of it, but once in a while, I think about getting my breasts reduced and lifted, or getting my nose fixed to look like my sister’s who I swear got the good nose.  But after watching hours of ‘Botched,’ I say HECK NO.  What a scary show!

What is your favorite breakfast food cuties?!

 

 

Blogmopolitan Quiz…round 3!

| cheriarmour

In order to save money, I don’t have subscriptions to a lot of magazines, but if I had all the money (and all the time) in the world, I would totally do it.  One of my really really shameful pleasures is Cosmo mag.  Yes, I’m completely aware that there is really not a whole lot of substance that comes out of a Cosmo mag, however, I’m continually impressed by the women that they put on their cover.  You may not always be a fan of the women, but the one thing they all have in common is that the women featured on the cover are strong, beautiful women who’ve been through things, and have conquered, or have worked through their demons.

Some of my faves include the Demi Lovato cover, the Khloe Kardashian cover, and the P!nk cover.

Demi Lovato Cosmo coverAnd because you guys are so awesome, there’s a look at Demi, and a look at my engagement ring.  Free peeks!

Okay, so one part of the issue I like is the Cosmopolitan Quiz, which usually is at the front of the issue.  And I did one of these quzzies and did a part two from Two Thirds Hazel a few months back.  So here, I present to you the Blogmopolitan Quiz, for the third part!

The Blogmopolitan Quiz 2Enjoy!  Much more about your favorite blogger!

Now tell me something random about your Wednesday!

Weekend recap.

| cheriarmour

I feel like every weekend is really nuts for me at this point, what with us being like a month out from our wedding.  Last week, this fear that no one would show up to our wedding overcame me, which one of my bridesmaids informed me was a normal fear.  But now, all these last minute things are starting to come up and I’m just hoping that we can get it together.  Whew.

So over the weekend, one of my bridesmaids, Ashley, came to spend some time with me.  I think it was good, I needed some friend time, and she needed a break from her insane commute in Northern Virginia, so it all worked out amazingly.

So Ashley came in on Friday evening, and was able to stop by my job to see my new office, which I was really really excited to show her.  One really cool thing about the weekend is that Ashley is going vegan, so instead of doing our usual where we eat everything in sight when she comes, we spent a lot of time snacking at the Whole Foods.

So anyhoo, that first night, we met up with Matthew, my former boss, and noshed on some salads and drinks.  That night, we ended up at the Borough, and met new friends.  I also saw a nose job nose in real life, and it was really scary.

Saturday, I ended up going to work for a little while, and teaching a Zumba® Fitness class where, because of the coffee I’d had earlier that morning, I sweated more than I think I’ve sweated teaching a class all summer.  After a nap, I took Ashley the new vegan to the Remedy Diner, a diner downtown that incorporates a ton of vegan and vegetarian stuff in their menu.  I can’t even tell you what I ate, but I know it was dang good – I’m trying to make it a point to try everything on the menu before we leave Raleigh at some point.

After delicious vegan things, we met up with friends for drinks, and proceeded to run around downtown like we were 22 again – we danced, I saw a bride leaving her wedding reception and I wished her well, and I didn’t go to bed until 3am.

photo 2

I think sometimes when you’re  grownup, you forget to stop and act like a crazy college student and actually have FUN on the weekends, so this weekend was a nice reminder to do that once in a while.

What did you do this weekend?