We went to Santa Fe...

…and all he got was this hat. 😂

That’s not really all he got. But what kid picks a winter hat as their souvenir from a family vacation? Our kid. 😂

We snuck away and spent 5 days in Santa Fe, New Mexico in October of 2021. It was our first big family trip since the pandemic became reality in February of 2020. It was recharging to say the least — and we made some amazing memories as a family. The OG Meow Wolf did not disappoint!

Our nugget (center) and my hubby (left) in Meow Wolf, Santa, Fe, New Mexico.

We enjoyed our time in Santa Fe so much, we actually have a trip back planned for 2022.

Forty

Are you guys on pins and needles waiting for the election results? We are. How about we talk about something else? Mmmmkay

I turned 40 in September, bringing my #finebyforty challenge to a close. Let’s talk about where I ended up.

From a numbers perspective, I ended pretty close to my final update. I’ve maintained my weight loss and gains, which I feel good about since I spent 3 out of 12 months on surgery-related restrictions and 7 out of 12 months out of the gym due to the pandemic.

Looking back at this journey, I’m proud of what I accomplished. I went into it wanting to make a lifestyle change versus starting another diet and that was a success. Remaining active and eating healthy have become part of my daily life (while still enjoying treats and life).

#finebyforty was the catalyst for some big changes in how I care for myself, and those habits are continuing, which is cool.

Forty has been good to me so far. There’s more gray in my beard and more wrinkles on my face, but I’m good with that. I’ve earned them.

Thanks for being on this journey with me, friends. I have an illustration project I’m wrapping up. I’ll be back later this week to share more about it.

GO JOE! ❤️

Spoiled at 40

Crossed the big 4-0 this month. With the state of the world, this birthday looked a lot different but that’s okay. The people in my life made sure I felt loved and celebrated me hard.

So far, 40 feels pretty damn good. 😊

Work in Progress IV

I told you I’d be back in a minute with a more in-depth update on my #finebyforty challenge and here I am. Like I mentioned in the last post, with Covid-19 happening, I haven’t been to the gym in over six weeks at this point, so my progress on bulking up has been delayed.

My fella and I have made sure to increase our activity level with daily walks, some jogging, biking and we’ve started hiking with friends on the weekends too. That effort has kept our cardio levels on-par or better than what they were, so we’ve both managed to continue leaning out through this gym hiatus. I’m happy about that, but frustrated that my progress on adding muscle mass to my upper body has been halted again (After hernia surgery last winter). It’ll happen in due time though; most important thing is that we all stay healthy.


Same Shorts, 65 Pound Difference

I realized over the weekend that my pajama shorts were the same red shorts from these “before” pictures you’ve seen several times, so I decided to do some side-by-side progress shots.

Left: the “after” shot for the front angle was taken Saturday morning and I’m bloated in my belly. We have a standing Friday night zoom happy hour with our friends, where we catch up, eat dinner and have drinks together. I woke up feeling (and showing) the prior night’s food and beverage choices in my gut.

Right: The “After” picture for the profile shot was taken this morning (Sunday) after a busy day with better dietary choices. The bloat is gone and you can see my baby 2 pack showing through (we’re working on it, girl).

Here are a couple mirror selfies for the week, to prove how extra I am ATM. No, I don’t shave my legs; I’ve just never grown a ton of leg hair and what I do have is blond. :)

The Details

As I always, I can’t really tell you what these numbers relay but I do know that ones that should be trending down are and the ones that should be trending up are at least maintaining.

Measurement

Starting

5/10/20

Progress
Height: 5'11" 5'11" No Change
Weight: 265 lbs. 211 lbs. Loss of 54 lbs.
Body Mass Index (BMI): 36.7% 25% Loss of 11.7% BMI
Body Fat: 36% 25.2% Loss of 10.8% Body Fat
Visceral (Abdominal) Fat: 19% 10% Loss of 9% Visceral Fat
Muscle Mass: 130.5 161.1 Gain of 30.6 Muscle Mass
Bone Mass: 5.6 9.2 Bone Mass gain of 3.6
Max Push-up Count: 9 44 Gain of 35
Max Plank Interval: 25 seconds 110 seconds Gain of 85 seconds
Max Bench Press Weight: 45 lbs. 195 lbs. Gain of 150 lbs.

I'm back!

Hi friends! I’ve resurrected the site after a few months away and, MAN, am I glad to see y’all.

Why the time away and new domain? Life, man. Life.

Over the past year, I’ve been through some big changes and life has been a wild ride. I reached a point where I had too many irons in the fire, so I made a choice to slow my roll on the illustration and blogging front. I was bummed about it, but it was the right choice at the time. And, even better, I’m back now and I feel refreshed and energized and jazzed to the max.

WORK IN PROGRESS - CHECK IN

The last time we spoke (in January, y’all…sheesh) I gave you an update on the fitness journey I started last fall. Let’s start there.

I’m happy to report that I’m still on the grind. I’ll post a more thorough update later, but I’m currently weighing in at 212 pounds, which is a total loss of 53 pounds from where I started in the fall. More than that, I am in the best shape of my life and the strongest I’ve ever been.

There have been a lot of milestone over the past few months, but I’m gonna pause here and just share a few pics from my hiatus to document the journey.

These couple snaps are from today and, man, do I need a haircut.

And here are a few comparisons I’ve posted to social media, showing a current pic versus an older photo.

The left collage is from February 2020 and the one on right is a progress picture from March 2020.

This “after” pic is from this week. I went through my closet and dresser this past week to get rid of the clothes that are too big for me now as I was approach summer. I found this Level 3 tee from the 2010 Day of Caring in the back of a drawer. I had no idea I still had it. I remember that, at the time, I was super embarrassed because I couldn’t fit in the tee, even though it was a size Large. I had to run to Target the night before to find an XXL shirt that coordinated with the official event t-shirts. It fits now though - a decade later!

COVID-19 & LIFE

Obviously life has been different here lately. Before the Tulsa-area went on shutdown, my partner and I had already decided to practice social distancing to the max. By the time Tulsa tightened restrictions, we were already working remote and staying close to home.

We’ve had a lot of pajama days around these parts and lots of puzzles, board games, card games, chess and video games to pass the time.

I’m lucky enough to work remotely full time, so there wasn’t much of a transition for me.

The kiddo is homeschooled through a local charter school, so this was also a pretty smooth transition for him, other than school was put on hold for a few weeks.

My guy has had the biggest adjustment professionally but has sailed through it like the pro he is.

This has been an incredibly stressful time for everyone. I feel fortunate that I’m surrounded by people who have been focused on supporting each other and making the most out of everything. Like I mentioned, we’ve had lots of family time and game nights.

But, when our respective gyms both closed, my partner and I needed to figure out how to adjust so that we didn’t derail our progress while we still maintained our safety and level of activity.

Enter: our new bikes.

In addition to taking longer walks as often as we can, we’ve been putting these babies to work, cycling all over town and the metro.

Between sensible eating, staying active with walking, jogging and biking, we’ve both managed to continue shaving off body fat during this epidemic, which is miraculous to me considering we haven’t been to the gym in 6 weeks and we’re home all day surrounded by food. That time outdoors, and burning off energy, has also helped us manage the feeling of confinement we’re all dealing with.

We can’t wait for life to get back to normal, but we’ve enjoyed the time slowing down and being together too. We are staying safe and taking care of each other. I hope you are too.

I’ll be back soon with a recipe that’s become a family fav through this quarantine; it’s so easy and so good!