I've Been Tagged!

Woo-hoo, I've been tagged by my cousin Ruth! My directions were: Go to My Pictures, then click on the 4th folder, and then the 4th picture in it. Done, done, and done! Here is this picture:

Here are my paternal grandparents, better known to us kids as Papito and Mamita. I was only a few years old when Papito died, so I never really knew him. However, all of us did know Mamita, and when I say she was quite a lady, I mean it. There are many things we all loved about her, but for me, there are three things that stand out the most:

1. She made the best banana pancakes.

2. She always kept a container full of Smarties for her grandchildren, and whenever we would visit, she would make sure to give one to each of us.

3. She was the most incredible prayer warrior I ever had the pleasure to know. Every night, she would kneel by her bed (it didn't matter whether she was home, or staying at one of her children's homes) and pray, often for what seemed like hours. And the beautiful thing was, according to my father, was that she would pray - by name - for every person in our whole, gigantic family. How awesome is that?

When she died in 1991, I know it created a void for so many people. Talk about an inspirational person!

Wow, I am so glad I got tagged - this brought back some great memories! Thanks, Ruth!

Now it is Elizabeth's turn over at The Mommy...etc. You've been tagged!

I Know It's Still Early...

...but I couldn't wait! I absolutely love Christmas! We did a Hawaiian tree, too:

Now if we could just get some snow....just kidding!

Let's Try Something New

I am a shoe lover. Stiletto, boot, wedge, flat, sneaker - doesn't matter, I just adore them. I keep my collection in individual, clear plastic shoe boxes stacked (by color and style, mind you) on the shelves of my closet. My favorites used to be this gorgeous pair of strappy, black leather stilettos that always made me feel like a total babe...something that was much needed on the weekends after wearing combat boots and a fairly masculine uniform five days a week! They looked like this:

But alas, stay-at-home motherhood has prompted me to move on...I now tend to sport a "Mommy" uniform most days, or my workout gear. So, I have a new favorite pair of shoes:

These are my Vibram Five Finger Sprints, and whoa, are they great. I know, I know, they're funny looking, aren't they? It never fails, whenever I step out in these bad boys I get stared at by people who are probably wondering why it looks like I have gloves on my feet. But let's keep it real, the first time I saw them myself, even I had to do a double-take. My initial thoughts? Weird.

When I first started doing the Crossfit thing, I saw tons of people wearing them. They would explain that it was the closest thing to working out barefoot, and I would just think, "why on earth would I want to do that? I have my faithful, broken-in pairs of running shoes - and they rock!"

But as I began progressing in my workouts, I realized that those people had a point. My sneakers actually seemed to weigh me down when I would sprint, or throw me off balance when I would attempt a handstand push-up or do dips on the parallel bars. So I bit the bait, and spent an afternoon navigating the streets of dowtown Honolulu with Isaiah, trying to find the ONE store that actually sold them on the island. (Okay, in all fairness, I could have bought them online - but I hate paying shipping! I guess I'm cheap like that with some things.)

Anyway, we each got a pair - once we finally found the store, that is - and strapped them on for our next workout. And you know what, my skepticism disappeared once I hit the gym. I saw such an improvement in the way I moved - my stride changed, I felt lighter, and my balance was WAY better. Check out our handstand push-ups at the squadron gym:

Not bad at all. But the final test, of course, was when I went on one of my long distance runs. These shoes held up wonderfully during circuit training and sprints around the track, but I wasn't quite sure as to how this whole "barefoot" thing would work when it came to the outdoors. Especially when I would venture off the beaten path. And especially after being spoiled by my comfy, cushiony Nike's.

The first time I tried them outdoors, I went on a two-mile test run. At first, my natural reaction prompted me to overcompensate for the lack of "spring" in my shoes; I would find myself tensing up, or trying to hop up on my toes.

But once I started to relax, everything else fell into place. Nice, quick cadence, a soft landing, a swift and light step, and it was almost impossible for a hard heel strike - oh, and it was an incredible calf workout, too! Over the past months, I have managed to shave a minute off of the running time for my PT test. I think that qualifies as results, don't you? : )

Hey Mickey! Hey, hey, hey Mickey!

Guess what? I actually managed the act of being spontaneous and flexible at the same time! Want to hear more?

(Of course you do).

Well, since you are just begging to find out (ha-ha), here it goes. There was an Air Force convention being held out in Anaheim, California from Thursday through Sunday last week. A few days prior, my good friend Denise came up with the fabulous idea that we should pack up the kids (she has two, I have my three) and catch a hop (for the unfamiliar, that is when you catch a free ride on a military jet) for a little mini-vacation. She figured that we could have some fun and take the kids to Disneyland for a couple of days while the men were at the convention. My immediate answer was no...an organization freak like myself thought it was too "short notice" to actually just pack up and go at the drop of a hat. But lo and behold, I reconsidered and said "what the heck!" - shocking! - and things began rolling from there. And to make it even better, our other close friends Keith and Reshon decided to join in on the spontaneity and fly out with their three rugrats...so you can imagine that we were quite a group! Here are some pics from our trip:

The kids posing before we got on the tram for Disney...don't let Isa's sweet face fool you, she was a wild child!

The boys mugging for the camera...I didn't know until later that we weren't supposed to climb on these rocks! Oops!

Isa and her Papi grinning on Main Street

One of the rides in "Kiddyland"...I ended up going on all of them

Try spinning around in one of these teacups and then standing up...I almost fell on my face!

'Nuff said...

Can you imagine having to be the one to plant this? If it were me, poor Mickey would be missing an eye and probably an eyebrow, LOL....

All in all, we had a kick-butt time over in Cali. Our pockets are a bit lighter but I must say, there are some things that are definitely worth it, and this was one of them. We got back late Sunday night, and I am completely wiped out. Though not enough to stop me from unpacking everything and doing a couple of loads of laundry before I went to bed. You know me, neurotic as always : )