My daughter has an amazing soul. Outside of being incredibly clever and witty, she is the kindest and sweetest 5yr old I know. I call her “Princess”, and for several reasons. However, I have noticed some funny reactions to calling her that, and I had to understand why. What is a REAL Princess? A real princess is not what we all see in our children’s animated movies. Unfortunately, that is the stereotype most envision when the word “Princess” is used….
Tiny handprints on windows, tiny fingerprints ALL OVER the fridge, toys strewn about the entire house, play dough bits, crayon on walls… it all drives me crazy but, I constantly remind myself that it will come to an end one day. There will come a day when my babies have grown and left our home to build their own. Nothing, good or bad, lasts forever. Everything we deal with, on a daily basis, is a temporary season in life… a…
Everybody knows about the days I’m referencing. You wake up, the morning begins, and… every single thing that CAN go wrong, in the most annoying sense, does go wrong. The weather is gloomy/raining, the babies are moody and emotional, the dishwasher breaks, the house gets messier AS YOU ARE CLEANING, the laundry NEEDS to get into the dryer, and you can’t seem to get to anything you need to do because you’re just putting out little fires everywhere. My response…
Hello world! 2022 was a big year for me. Life has been pretty crazy… crazy awesome! I was walking home from the gym and began reminiscing about my fitness journey over the course of my life. I was exposed to the the fitness world when I was in 7th grade and about 12 years old. My teenage years were incredibly transforming because I discovered weights and swimming. In my 20s, it was “go hard ALL THE TIME – Make those…
When planning for this Christmas, I wanted to make sure that good times were had by all. In my opinion, the experience during a holiday will always trump the material things received, and I wanted to make this a memorable event for all. The planner in me wanted to have everything laid out with an itinerary that kept everyone entertained, not bored, but also not stressed. Over-scheduling is always exhausting and not scheduling enough will always have bored guests. We…
I am usually one of those people who has to have everything happen on a schedule, in a very specific manner, and I feel like I should do everything in order to maintain the level of control needed to ensure perfection. Needless to say, that can become very stressful and exhausting when hosting enough people. And on top of all that, I have found in the past, that I miss out on everything since I am so busy making sure…
This weekend, we decided to brave the cold temperatures (low 14/ high 42) and head up to the Grand Canyon for some camping and adventuring. We found some dispersed camping in Tusayan off of Forest Service Rd 302. The camping here is PERFECT! Each site has a fire ring ready for an awesome camp fire, snow covered space and pine trees galore. This area is impeccably serene, inspiring and invigorating. We sat around the fire for a couple hours, eating…
RETURN HOME ON AMTRAK Day 7!! WOOHOO!!! We took yesterday off to explore Dana Point and spend time with friends. Today, we head home. Thank you California for a wonderful trip!! Would we do this again? ABSOLUTELY!! We are already planning our next trip! I think we might do some small day trips in the next few weeks. We’ll keep y’all posted!! Keep on Adventuring! <3
Long Beach to Dana Point Distance – 38.25 Miles Elevation Gain – 1193 ft Average Speed – 9.3 mph Duration – 4:07:31 Day 5 was another successful endeavor! We began our day at another bike shop, for equipment solutions, and a park! Max had a blast enjoying yet another playground while we were at the bike shop. We had some serious ground to cover today, as well as our highest elevation climb of the trip. We made a couple of…
Venice Beach to Long Beach Distance – 35.23 Miles Elevation Gain – 750ft Average Speed – 9.1 mph Duration – 3:52:01 Day 4 we had a super late start due to equipment failure. We had to swing through a couple different bike shops to remedy the situation before the day’s ride. We stopped at a playground to start the day off correctly and began our trek. We were able to experience Venice Beach, Redondo Beach and Shoreline Village in Long…
Thornhill Broome State Beach Campground to Venice Beach Distance – 36.59 Miles Elevation Gain – 884ft Average Speed – 8.7 mph Duration – 4:48:50 Day 3 winds were rough again, but we were able to enjoy the scenery of Malibu, Santa Monica and Oxnard before arriving at Venice Beach. Climbing those hills against the wind has to be one of the most challenging things we have done together. It was an amazing experience to add to our family timeline. <3…
Carpenteria State Beach to Thornhill Broome State Beach Campground Distance – 43.95 Miles Elevation Gain – 920ft Average Speed – 8.7 mph Duration – 5:04:16 Day 2 was challenging as well as rewarding. Upon waking up, we packed up quickly, utilized the showers at Carpenteria State Park (coin operated and SUPER convenient), and set out to conquer the next section of our ride. Our goal for the day, was to make it to Point Mugu State Park for the night….
Santa Barbara to Carpenteria State Beach Distance – 12.31 Miles Elevation Gain – 314ft Average Speed – 9.0 mph Duration – 1:20:33 For our first day, we decided to keep it simple and only ride to the first camp ground we could find hiker/biker camping. We left Santa Barbara, embarked on our first family bike tour with our two year old, and rode south to Carpenteria State Park. There, we were able to secure a hiker/biker camp site for only…
We should all aspire to be more proactive in our actions, more positive in our demeanors, more optimistic with our attitudes, and more dedicated to achieving success through persistency, hard work and exemplary performance. The following concepts I believe to be common sense and try to implement them everyday in anything and everything I do… * Hard work contributes to excellence through experience; * Experience promotes proficiency through the consistent application of knowledge gained; * Knowledge, habitually put…
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” – Robert F. Kennedy Greatness is not primarily a function of circumstance; but largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline that can not be achieved without an enormous amount of hard work. There is simply no evidence of successful high-level performance without experience or practice. High expectations are exceedingly important and you must always expect more from yourself than anyone expects from you. You must dream more, learn…