Today was a whirlwind! This whole weekend has been running from one thing to the next. We topped off our day yesterday with our family photo shoot. I'll post the results from that when we get them. This morning we did our Primary Program Practice. Did I mention we have over 130 kids in our primary? About 110 should be there in church tomorrow. Could be more. It took ONE FULL HOUR just to get everyone seated properly- on the stand, at the sacrament/clerk tables, on chairs facing the audience on the floor, on RISERS from our local children's choir director, and on the first two rows of pews. And when we get up to sing.... holy shmoly!!!! We are moving mountains of children. They actually do pretty well at getting in place for songs for how young those littler ones are :) But I feel a bit like I'm jumping off a 100 foot cliff tomorrow for our program. I would have a heart attack, literally my heart is having physical issues (Has ever since my miscarriage. Can't seem to control anxiety attacks and I've never struggled with that before.), if it weren't for my amazing presidency. I actually have 3 counselors for this size of primary and I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE them.
Anyway, the whole month has felt a bit like jumping off a cliff for a number of reasons. 3 days ago marked the day I would have likely been induced (always for health complications) and brought baby #4 into the world. I couldn't help thinking about it all day. More than just that day really. Just how differently life would be right now. And now I've gone 7 months feeling not the slightest impression to try for another baby. In fact, we feel a strange sense of closure on that topic. After all the impressions I had had before. I had an x-ray taken of my mangled hips/pelvis a couple of months ago and just cried and cried. They are so much worse just from 3 months of out-of-control pregnancy hormones this last failed pregnancy. All the exercise and healthy eating just makes the bones and muscles stronger, but hasn't fixed anything. I feel like I have no business trying to expand my family ever again :( And I really wanted 4 children. So many other things have messed with my head this month as well. Is it in the air? Has this month gotten the better of anyone else out there? Let's hope Halloween brings more comfort than just comfort food as we close off the month of October :) This goes for all of my presidency- we've all been hit one way or another- one almost lost her little boy and spent 3 solid weeks in the hospital with him. The hospital staff are calling him the "Miracle Boy". It was truly a miraculous recovery.
Anyway, so today I had the Farm Man competition that I raced... raced just to get to it, while my amazing counselors finished up the program practice and the children's pizza party back at the church. I didn't do ANY of my routine races this year, just planned on this one because it was my favorite one last year and I've been too busy to do them all this year. And what-da-ya know it turned out to be the most stressful day of any of my race options, the least convenient race! But it sure felt good to do it. I really felt myself for the first time in what feels like a long time. It's just one of the few things in my life I feel like I can actually do well at. No clue if I placed. They had 7 heats and I didn't pay attention to all of them. I wouldn't have received a metal anyway because, as it turns out, you had to run the 5k that morning in order to place in the XCross Challenge this year. (CrossFit style competition.) That was not the case last year. Last year the top three finishers didn't run the race and I DID run the 5k and took 4th. So if that was the rule last year, I would have taken home the grand prize :( But this year I had my obligations with the Primary that morning that I could not give up entirely. Here are the race pictures:
My friend, Sarah and I before the challenge.
Dean, who used to coach me in CrossFit, receiving his
pitch fork trophy and gifts for taking 1st place in the 5K!
There were 7 waves of competitors. Dean, Chris, and I were in the 3rd.
(Dean on the left, me in the middle.)
(Dean on the left, me in the middle.)
The list of tasks went as follows:
Run from the start line to these "ropes" to do 20 jump ropes.
Pick up a chain and run around a corner to a hay bail obstacle course.
Shovel dirt to fill a bucket (1/2 full for the women).
Our friend, Chris is the one in all black to the left. He often joins Dean's group for
CrossFit workouts and has a garage gym at home as well.
Carry the bucket a distance and drop it and the chain.
Then run to a hay stack pyramid, jump a bunch of tall bails (jump, roll across, land, run, repeat...),
then climb the pyramid, go down the other side, and return.
Dean having just finished the hay bails.
Chris almost to the end of the hay bails- me coming back over the top.
Put the chain back on, carry 4 cinder blocks a distance and stack them up "perfectly".
Throw a pumpkin behind you, high enough to clear the scaffolding.
If you don't clear it, 10 burpees and another shot at it until you get it.
(Dean doing burpees)
Can't see the pumpkin, but this is me tossing it.
Return your stack of cinder blocks to their original spot, in perfect formation.
Put your chain back on and return your bucket of dirt to its home.
Back through the hay bail obstacle course.
Drop the chain and 20 more jump "ropes".
Run to the finish line (same place as the starting line).
The "Wave 3" Fruitland crew!
Lainey, hamming it up for the camera, just ecstatic to be eating cotton candy!
Big thanks to my wonderful husband, Todd for cheering me on and watching the kiddos, and taking pictures. He should have done the race :) He passed his CrossFit L-1 test, as we found out this week! With 100% at that! And then turned around and did his first muscle up this week as well! (They went over some progressions of it at his certification course.) For anyone not familiar with a muscle up, it is a gymnastics movement that happens to be one of the crowning movements in CrossFit. It is very difficult. He's doing pretty darn amazing and I, myself, am loving his critical eye now. I feel like I'm getting better quicker to have his help in each work out. I'm proud of you, Todd, and I love and appreciate you!!!
