This summer began pretty much exactly the way every single other summer has begun for the 20 years since I moved into this house.
After the spring cleanup, planting and landscaping had all been done and there was by now (June) very little threat of frost (haha), there was never really too much else to do besides, working full time and going to school (when I was going to school) or dealing with transportation logistics for all of my children's summer activities (when I had children at home) and of course mowing my lawn incessantly and neverendingly (which typically means 4 evenings a week plus most weekends). And that was pretty much the extent of it, until of course, the grass would die from heat exhaustion sometime around the end of July and shortly after that the leaves would start to fall and then raking season would begin...
So it was MUCH to my surprise when just today, at the beginning of October, I actually looked back on my summer and exclaimed.. "Wow, that was the Very Best Summer Ever!" (or at least in comparison lately!)
I think my summer actually started in April when I stepped on the scale and realized that I had somehow gained close to 10 lbs over the winter. Now I'm lucky that I'm tall and so 10 lbs on me doesn't make a ton of difference, but it was enough of a wakeup call for me to realize I had to make a few changes.
So the first order of business was to find a couple of good workout videos on YouTube, which believe me there is no shortage of! The problem however is finding good quality ones that work for you! But with a little effort I had finally come up with a collection of short workouts targeting different parts of the body that I could string together in order to get some pretty decent full body workouts. But don't let me kid you, I really hate working out!... and so would do it everyday just as soon as I got home from work, before doing anything else, just to get it over with!
But then of all things, my youngest daughter became a BeachBody Coach and so all of her challenge groups helped a lot with my motivation, and when I went out to Idaho to visit her in July we actually went on a couple of JOGS! I hadn't jogged in YEARS, if ever!... and didn't realize that I even could! Anyway, it felt so great and I really began getting hooked on the idea of it.
But the magical part of the summer, after living in this town for 20 years, was finally discovering the magnificence of all the walking trails which line just about every major street in Ada. So that's where I would spend many, many hours on the weekends. Just me and my little jPod! At times it was euphoric!
Anyway, I think I pretty much covered every single trail in Ada. But the path to the Cascade Trail (aka The Bloody Trail of Rape and Death) eluded me...
That is, until I bought this...
And then it became my favorite place to jog!
Or at least until my friend Cheryl introduced me to my NEWEST favorite spot!
I don't know what it is about being out there feeling like you're miles and miles away from everything, even when you're really not. I brought my camera out with me a couple of times just in order to capture some of the lush green I knew I'd be missing desperately once the snow began to fall. What follows isn't necessarily what I'd planned to do with those pictures, but I think overall it works and will definitely serve to pull me out of the doldrums come February!
Anyway, whatever this thing is, I am definitely hooked! Or more likely ADDICTED!
SaturdayAfternoonRockyRoadFever
The title will make MUCH more sense afterwards... :)
Song Credit: "Overdose" by Little Daylight
P.S. Today Cheryl and I took a 2 hour trek through Seidman Park and in a word... A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.!
...
And so now I am REALLY confused as to what my favorite trail is!
Stay tuned for Part 2 of The Very Best Summer Ever!
