Mountain Living!

We have been camping out at Eric's cabin for the last few weeks!  I say "camping" because it's a little rustic, but still a beautifully crafted log home with a super effective wood stove and all the amenities.  Eric built it over a decade ago.  It's pretty spectacular up here and a very special place for our family.

 Pretty sweet huh? 

 They are all around us! ! When I wake up on the morning and look out, it's like being in a tree house!

One of Eric's favorite activities is chopping wood. Turning this... 

...into this!

 This sucker gets blazing HOT!

The driveway is a mile long and steep !  I've been going down with Finn and then pushing him and his big old stroller back up the hill. Maybe someday soon we can run it :) He just passes out mostly. 

Kitchen- the old tenants added some charm!

and built this shower for us!

I daresay Miss Molly is happiest of all with our relocation.  She is diligently terrifying the squirrel population daily.  The local critters know her as the fastest furry gray beast in the land...  

Finn on the front porch with my friend Christina.  That pumpkin makes being up here even more fun:)

Good night!

WOD of the week: Murph

I am going to start posting a WOD (workout of the day) every week, drawn from one of the highlights of my week. It could be a favorite, a victory, or maybe a workout at which I failed miserably and need to work on.

Today is a great first WOD to kick it off with:

Gretchen and Chris in the midst of push ups

MURPH 10/22
Run 1 mile
100 pull ups
200 push ups
300 squats
Run 1 mile


For time. 
Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed. Start and finish with a mile run. If you've got a twenty pound vest* or body armor, wear it.
* my beast of a husband wore the weight vest- see below.

MURPH is what we call a Hero WOD in the CrossFit world. They are named and created in memory of fallen servicemen, usually from military branches, also fire and police.

In memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., who was killed in Afghanistan June 28th, 2005. 

This workout was one of Mike's favorites and he'd named it 'Body Armor.' From here on it will be referred to as 'Murph' in honor of the focused warrior and great American who wanted nothing more in life than to serve this great country and the beautiful people who make it what it is.  (CrossFit main site )

G sprinting home

go baby go!

almost done Kyle! (fastest time today!)

My time:  41:41

I suck at push ups.  I need to get better at them, I really have no excuse. They slowed down the whole operation enormously. Pull ups were easiest.  That's odd to say. A year and a half ago I couldn't do one, and today I did 100.

Eric's time: 33:47 (with a 20 pound weight vest, yeah boyeeeeeee!) That's just freakin' amazing. Mr Walden consistently crushes workouts of this variety. 

squats.  Notice Molly cheering me on.  She ran the first mile with me.

PS: cutest. baby. ever.

Glass Half Full

Thank you for your kind comments about my feeling blue and homesick for Colorado.  As promised, here is the full side of the glass- what I will love about living in the comparatively diminutive but gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.  To name a few...

Being close to our family and dear friends

Finn with Godmama Katie

with Aunt Mihr

with his big cousin Sylas

and his Annie

And all of this...

Steadfast Farm

Colorado on my mind

I haven't been blogging this week because I'm just bummed...  I feel some (self imposed) pressure to always have something uplifting or exciting to share.  I'm really homesick for Colorado.  We have been here in Charlottesville for a month and another month and a half being away seems sooooo long.   We are going back after Thanksgiving but then moving permanently back here to Virginia next year. Here is what I'll miss the most when we move for good, which I will follow up with what I will love about Virginia in another post.

My best friend  and neighbor Walter.  Words cant really express what a void in my life there is not having Walter next store.  It's hard for me to think about.

My horse Robin (she'll move here eventually with us, but I hate not seeing her every day!)

The horse community and the wonderful people I've met through therapeutic riding, training and having a horse.

The Tasty Weasel, (our very local bar, a 5 minute walk from our house!) and all our favorite folks there who always know our name...

Our house.  It's nothing special but its been our home for 3 years and we have created wonderful memories within its walls.  And it's comfortable and full of our stuff.

The epic WONDERLAND of the natural landscape.  Snowboarding, hiking, camping the most stunning environment, gorgeous mountains, that feeling of freedom in the wilderness.

Our Twin Freaks CrossFit crew. Y'all rock my world. 

Saying goodbye to a time in your life that you love  is really challenging.  I know another door is opening wide for us, and I am grateful.  But I am struggling with this change.  I'm not ready to say goodbye...

A Day in the Life of the Strong Mama...

This Day in the Life brought to you by Laura at Navigating the Mothership.  Thank you for including me Laura!
Here we go, a lovely fall Saturday in the Virginia hills...

12am- I got into bed

2am- I fell asleep BOOO!

6:30 am- Finn wakes up, I feed him in bed off and on, we both go back to sleep

9am- Finn wakes up, Daddy gets up, changes the boy, dresses and takes him downstairs

10:00am-  I wake up and get dressed

10:30am-  I attempt to make protein pumpkin pancakes, turned out I used Eric's creatine instead of protein powder. Drowned them in maple syrup to take away bitterness, and they were good.  WILL. HAVE. MASSIVE.  MUSCLES!

11:00am-We head to Charlottesville Farmers Market. Colorful fall wares and produce abound!

 mmmmmums

 local apples

 Cuz Sylas finishing up his homemade popsicle

 I was distracted by jewelry while looking for a birthday present for a 5 year old,  ended up getting her the "A" charm on a pink ribbon chain. 

 more distraction

12:00- We went to Xfit Cville for Olympic lifting class.  We worked on snatches.  Finntastic hangs out in his seat and looks cute.

2:00pm- We came back home (home being Annie's for our stay in VA) I fed the boy and ate delicious carrot soup, showered and got ready to go out again!

3:00pm- We left for aforementioned 5 year old's bday party and drove by our future home on the way!

3:15- We arrived at Ava's party.  Her family lives on this gorgeous old estate.  The house mansion is full of eclectic art, statues, and often unidentifiable weird, cool stuff. 

the approach

front yard with bouncy castle and big balls

art

crazy candle face things

Molly dog and statue look alike.  Ava's Gma Trixie said (with thick German accent)  "if you dog kills one of my birds, I will be at your throat!"  They have peacocks roaming the grounds. Hence Molly on the leash. 

Ava's lil brother Liam and Finnster

best baby boy

posing with serious face statue 

by the pool.  Trixie swims in it year round.  Nekkit. 

some of Fabian's fab cuisine. 

5:00- I fed the boy

6:00- It was time to go home and eat dinner part II and hang out with the fam.

salad, cukes, steak

Aunt Sara entertaining the boy                                                      

9:00- I went to Dr. Ho's Humble Pie for a last call beer with Eric and Irish Anne while the Aunties watched Finn.

10:00- We arrive home to boy.  Bath time!

10:30 pm-  The boy is soundly asleep!

Midnight:  Mom and dad hit the hay.