Just wrapped up the busiest part of our wedding season! Chuck was a groomsman for his good friend Paul’s wedding in downtown Washington, DC. I’m so impressed by all these weddings – everyone has done such a beautiful job making them uniquely their own! The ceremony was at a lovely historic synagogue, and the reception was at the swanky Sequoia Restaurant on the Georgetown Waterfront.

Even though we were in DC, we didn’t do much of anything except wedding stuff, which was kind of nice. We are usually stretched so thin. Since we flew into DC, we didn’t have a car to get around, so it was mostly impossible to meet up with friends with any free time. Overall, I think that made for a less stressful weekend. We still saw Chuck’s family, and my dad. Of course, we will be back for Christmas and have a little more time to work with.

In the meantime, I’m glad I don’t have to travel for the next 6 weeks! It’s been so much fun, but I am ready for a little break 🙂

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I am looking into getting a big girl credit card soon, and have gotten rave reviews from friends on the Chase Sapphire card. Does anyone have insight or knowledge of the other card we are looking into – the AMEX Platinum – particularly in comparison to the Chase? We’d like a good, solid rewards system, namely in travel rewards (though cash rewards are nice too.)

Nothing captures the meaning of sacrifice better than this photo – breaks my heart every time. Always thankful to those who serve, past, present, and future 🇺🇸🙏 #veteransday #marines #usmc #veterans #usa

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I work out!

I’ve never been the type to commit to working out, and have always relied on the fact that I’m skinny to avoid doing much about it. Of course, like many women, there are things about myself I’d like to change (and I certainly recognize the value in being healthy), but I never had weight issues as an incentive to get to the gym and actually do something about it.

Now that I’m not working and the gym is free and 2 minutes away, I really have no excuses left. I’m officially letting Chuck be my personal trainer for the remainder of our time here in Georgia. He studied fitness a good bit during his ample free time in Afghanistan this past deployment, and he’s convinced he can help me attain aspects of the body type I want, without turning me into some sort of muscle guru/gym rat…

Half my problem is I don’t even know what I’m capable of! I know I want to be toned, build some muscle, and feel healthy and strong, but it’s not like I am a heavy person who was once thin and has a mental image of what I need to work towards. I have no tangible realization of what I can or want to look like, within the limitations of my body type.  No target weight, no concept of what I’d look like with muscles, etc. So, this could be a very enlightening piece of work!

Yesterday Chuck started me with chest, shoulders, and back. I did dead lifts and baby bench presses, among other things. This morning, I am crazy sore in all of those places, and if there’s one thing I do love about “working out”, it’s being sore! It’s not so bad now that I have someone to guide me. I hate going to gyms alone – everyone watching everyone else, and here I am not having a clue on how to work the crazy looking machines…

Wish me luck!! We will see how this odyssey goes..