The Recap - First Wedding Anniversary

PINTEREST. SAN ANTONIO.

Brian and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary on July 7! It's hard to believe a year has passed. Year 1 of long distance marriage complete. Woohoo!! HOPEFULLY we only have one more full year of the long distance thing. Prayers up! For our anniversary day, we spent most of the day in Corpus Christi because Brian was on the schedule for a morning flight. When I went to pick him up I gave him his homemade anniversary gift. My first Pinterest inspired DIY project success! It was effectively a jar that contained (1) Reasons why I love him, (2) Quotes about various things related to us, (3) Memories I love about us, (4) Songs that remind me of him and I, and (5) Encouraging quotes, phrases and passages. He loved it!! I gave myself brownie points for actually tying my present into the anniversary year 1 theme: paper. Pretty sure Brian knows nothing about anniversary themes.

DIY Anniversary Jar - Front 

DIY Anniversary Jar - Back

After some down time we went to an early dinner with another couple. What?! You shared your anniversary dinner with another couple? Uhhh...yes. While my trips to TX are for Brian and I to spend time together we also like to be social and spend time with our friends, as couples, so sharing a Hibachi dinner with friends for our anniversary was just fine by us! Following dinner Brian and I headed out to San Antonio for the remainder of the weekend.

I had reserved a hotel at Fort Sam Houston sometime early in the year. Not exactly sure why I booked the hotel that I did [probably because it was cheap] but when we arrived Brian could tell I wasn't thrilled. It wasn't dirty or poorly kept. It was just old. Old bathrooms.Old carpet. Just old. Fairly certain the hotel was/is used for barracks. I tried to hide my dissatisfaction but I'm not very good at that. Brian offered to change hotels for Saturday night but I told him it was ok. Needless to say I didn't get the best sleep that night. Brian slept like a baby. He has no problems sleeping in ugly or old places. I shouldn't have had an issue with this place but I did and it carried my mood the entire time we were in the hotel. Sorry Brian!

The next day Brian picked a place for us to go hiking, per my request. We set out for Eisenhower Park and hiked the long loop. It was a good time talking and walking. We got a couple good views of landscape but mostly just hiked amidst trees and rocks. After hiking we grabbed lunch and headed to the hotel for showers (and a nap for Brian). By this point we had decided we would head back to Corpus after dinner, so we checked out of our hotel a night early. From there we headed to the Riverwalk. The plan was to catch a movie, enjoy the Riverwalk and head to dinner. Those plans didn't happen. To our surprise seats were assigned at the theatre so the only seats left were in the front row. Instead of breaking our necks, we decided to forego the movie. Cue my attitude. As we walked the Riverwalk in the heat my attitude rose with my body temperature. My attitude finally subsided after some ice cream and an apology to Brian. I must have been hot and hangry. After my hot mess had chilled we ventured to the Alamo where Brian got his history fix.

Eisenhower Park

Eisenhower Park & Brian

After the Alamo we hopped back in the car and headed to dinner at Pappadeaux's. BEST SEAFOOD RESTAURANT I'VE BEEN TOO SO FAR!! It was delicious! Brian agreed. We headed home to Corpus after dinner, cutting our weekend trip short by one day.

All in all I had a good time with Brian but in the future I plan on splurging on anniversary hotels and reminding myself to keep my attitude in check whenever I find myself hot and hangry.

Highlights - 20, 19 and 18 Weeks Out

Saturday, June 24 - Friday, July 14

JOB REDUCTION. WINGING IT. TEXAS.

I'm three weeks into prep and haven't posted a thing. Oops!! Things have been moving. My main job has picked up, in a good way! Bikini prep is in full swing and yet...I feel like I have MORE time. Why is that you may ask? Because I do. At the beginning of July I relinquished 2 of my jobs. I've officially stepped down as a personal trainer and cycle instructor. I'll still maintain my certs. because I think it's only a matter of time before I get back into them BUT for now I think it's the best move. It has been hard to leave my clients but I think it's time I make more time for other areas of my life, like my family, my full-time position and bikini prep. Last time I prepped I made the mistake of allowing too much on my plate at one time. I don't intend to make that same mistake again. I'm currently down to 1 full-time job and 2 part-time jobs which drastically lightens my load and helps my mood. Who knew?!

On the June 24th I thought I'd be getting my workout plan from my coach. Instead I got a questionnaire via email that stated my plan wouldn't be coming for another 7-10 days. I was slightly annoyed but then realized the fault was probably my own. Since I still had my old plan to follow, I used that for the first 2 weeks (20 and 19 weeks out). I ended up getting my new plan toward the end of the first 2 weeks. During week 3 I was able to follow the new plan, which actually only changed my lifting and cardio. My coach was fine with me keeping the same macros I had come up with on June 24th. Those were derived from the meal plan he gave me the first time so he effectively determined those macros anyways.

During the 2nd week I spent the majority of my time in TX visiting Brian and celebrating our 1 year anniversary. I was able to lift, without having to wake up extremely early to get my lift in before work. That was nice, but short-lived. I'll share more about our anniversary and my trip to TX in another post sometime this week. Promise.

RECAP:
20 Weeks Out - 6 days of cardio (20+ min). 5 days of lifting. Mood: Exhausted 24/7. Macros: 165C/153P/45F. Water: 1 gallon / day.
19 Weeks Out - 3 days of cardio (20+ min). 6 days of lifting. Mood: Excited. Less Tired. Macros: 165C/153P/45F. Water: 1 gallon / day.
18 Weeks Out - 4 days of cardio (20+ min). 6 days of lifting. Mood: Chill. Macros: 165C/153P/45F. Water: 1 gallon / day.
While weight loss isn't my current focus, I'm down 2.2 lbs.

When Will You Begin Bikini Prep?

SATURDAY, JUNE 24. 20 WEEKS OUT.

It's 5 days away from go time. I've been working out regularly and eating somewhat healthy. "Somewhat" won't cut it though. On June 24th, I'll officially be in prep. This also marks the 20 weeks out point from the competition I'm planning to compete in.


Different from last prep, I'll be following a macros regiment rather than a fixed meal plan. I'm hoping this allows me to learn how my body responds to the various combinations of macros. I'm thinking this will allow be a better transition into and out of the competition as well. It'll also allow me a little more flexibility than a meal plan. I'm excited to get started, excited to see the changes and even MORE excited to finish this prep ALL THE WAY THROUGH!! Money has been paid to my coach and all systems are go!

Where Did Your 2017 Cruise Take You?

Western Caribbean: Mexico. Grand Cayman. Jamaica.

How does time go by so fast?!?! I've neglected to post about this trip [or anything else] in over 2.5 months. My bad. Life has been crazy (in a good way). I promise to get better. Starting now.

In March, B and I took an impromptu cruise. 11 days prior to the cruise's departure date Brian tossed out the idea of taking that specific cruise...in 11 days. I quickly hit him with an eye roll and a "boi bye", but this was over the phone so he didn't see the eye roll. I'm sure it was implied.  A for effort on B's part BUT I'm a planner and 11 days to plan, book and prepare for a cruise is not my thing. Turns out I can be persuaded and wouldn't you know it's not all about me. GASP. After a day or 2 of discussions, B and my parents broke me down. Knowing the time B and I get to spend together on real vacation trips will be far and few between at some point, I reluctantly said "let's do it". I'M. SO. GLAD. I. DID.

B and I shared 7 days away from work [mostly] and our hectic schedules. We spent EVERYDAY together and it was well worth the money and uncertainty. B and I booked an excursion at all 3 ports. I'm not sure we'll do that again but it definitely gave us new adventures...

First stop was Mexico. There we went to an adventure park in Rivera-Maya Cancun. In order to get there we had to take a little boat to that area. For a whole 45 mins, I listened to my fellow passengers puke into barf bags. I'm a sympathetic puker so I had to plug my ears and clothes my eyes. Brian found this hilarious. I was not as amused. I made it though...with my breakfast still in my stomach. Once at the adventure park we went zip lining through the trees, zip lining into water, paddle rafting, riding on a dune buggy type thing and then more zip lining! It was a blast!! We napped so hard when we got back to the ship. Let me be honest though, I can nap just about any time. This just gave me an excuse.

Dune Buggy Cruising "safely"

Ziplining

Brian and Sheri - March 2017

Second on our agenda was Grand Cayman. There we did a Jeep Tour and beach day. We visited a place called Hell, drove on the left hand side of the road, tasted (and purchased) flavored Rum and got extra crispy on the beach. It was a relatively low key day. I know Brian was hoping for more off roading in our Jeep, but it was still a good time.

Beach Stop while on our Jeep Tour

In Hell w/ Brian

Last place we ventured was Falmouth, Jamaica. While there we visited Dunn's River Falls (gorgeous waterfall you can hike up) and went to a cultural spot and ate native food, watched dancers and relaxed.  As we were leaving Dunn's River Falls we had to walk through a market to get to the exit. Our tour guide informed us not to stop for people trying to sell us things, as that would make us lose the group BUT wouldn't you know my husband decided to forego that warning and stop and get us little personalized tiki men. So for about all of 1 min I freaked out thinking I'd lost my husband in this market and he was going to get left behind (because I was making the bus), but he showed up eventually and we can laugh about it now.

Sher aka Sheri Tiki

Our balcony view while docked in Jamaica

While on the ship/cruising we ate way too much, napped frequently, went to shows, worked out, and climbed the rock walls. We spent SO MUCH time together (for us). I'm so grateful B had the idea.

The Recap - March 2017

VACATION. QUALITY TIME. GROWTH.

March ended up being a whirlwind of fun! It exceeded and fell short of all my expectations. How so? Well, from my horizons post I wasn't expecting too much out of March: a few days of visiting Brian in FL, to take [and pass] my PMP exam, and to tackle spring cleaning. None of these things happened as anticipated...

I moved my PMP exam...again, due to work/weather concerns this time, but still that was definitely not part of the plan. If I'm being completely honest, I didn't care that much. I've got more time to study [and foster my anxiety...HA]. I'm mildly annoyed with myself for rescheduling but ultimately think it worked out well, given the surrounding circumstances.

I haven't done a thorough spring cleaning yet. I've managed to do some decluttering. Nothing major though. It's in the works.

Lastly, I managed to spend not just a few days BUT a whole 2 weeks and four days with Brian!! A couple days prior to my planned trip to FL, Brian recommended we take a cruise vacation. Sounded like a good idea, next logical question would be...when? To which he responded with a date that was 11 days after his proposal. Boy bye. No way in heck are we planning a cruise that's 11 days away! The planner in me was extremely resistant to the idea. Alas, a few pep talks from my friends, parents and Brian later I changed my tune. With 7 days to spare, we booked a 7-day cruise to the Western Caribbean and I'm SO glad we did. That fun adventure gets its own post though...


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Anniversaries & Flight Selection

MARCH 9...

...is a day for the books. It was a milestone in more ways than one for my little family of two.

March 9 marked the 1 year anniversary of the day Brian and I got engaged AND the day we started living 5 states apart. Yep. It's just as romantic as it sounds. B proposed 4 hours before I was on my flight back to VA from FL, and 1 hour before he had to leave for work. He's a man of many talents, timing isn't one of them. It was a bittersweet day, but an amazing one all the same.

Fast forwad EXACTLY 365 days later, Brian selected his flight platform on March 9, 2017. B found out that he will officially be flying C-130s for the the USMC!! C-130s were his first choice and I'm so thrilled for him that he gets to fly his dream aircraft. I haven't heard him this excited in a long time. Warms my heart to see his hard work finally pay off. I only wish I could have been there but the pic and video I was sent will have to do this time. Soon he'll be off to TX and I'll still be here in VA. The geo-bach timeline is winding down though...even if we still have about 1.5 years left of it!

Brian at his Flight Selection Ceremony (VT-6) 

On the Horizons - March 2017

VISITING BRIAN. PMP EXAM. SPRING CLEANING.

I feel like nothing new has really been going on these days. I work, workout, work some more, sleep and REPEAT. So while nothing new is currently going down, I have some things to look forward to in the coming month!

I haven't seen Brian since January 3rd, so we're due for a visit. In 1-2 weeks, I should be flying down to see him and I. can't. wait! While I don't know the exact date just yet, the plan is for me to fly down the weekend after he finishes primary flight school. I'm hoping for this weekend but based on the weather down there its not looking like he'll be able to get all his required flights in this week. If he graduates next week, the pressure is on me to decide whether or not to go. Why wouldn't I go?! Because the following Monday I take my Project Management Professional (PMP) exam and I KNOW I won't do any review while I'm down there. Brian says he'll make me study...yeahhhh right.

I've been studying for awhile to take my PMP exam, I've pushed back my test date a few times out of fear of failing, BUT I've finally decided to suck it up and go for it. If I fail, I fail and I reboot to take it again. I'm fairly confident I know my stuff  and I score decent on the practice exams but I still get anxious about under performing on the test. Regardless of the outcome, I plan to get my PMP certification by summer 2017. Pray for me!!

In March I also plan to tackle spring cleaning. This may not seem like a serious event to some, but to my organized, moderately obsessive self, it is. I'm looking to declutter and redecorate my closet and bedroom and provide these spaces with more organization. When I'm more organized, life is just better. Stay tuned for a post or two on how that goes.