So I'm just going to jump right in

Hello all. Happy 2015. Shit, I think I haven't posted in like 6 months or... 9. Whatever. I've been busy, what can I say. When you have two kids the time seems to move at light speed.

Well, two things to start off. I'm still Crossfitting after 4 years and I'm still cooking and trying new recipes. I'll admit the recipes are not 100% paleo but there is a definite influence there. I'm more about gluten free and just good clean tasting food. I'm proud to say 99% of it is clean, ie., no hard sugars, no wheat, no fried or junk ingredients. And yes, I'm still gluten free after 3 years. It's really not even a choice anymore, nor is it something I even think about. I'm smart enough to know by now what to eat and what not to eat. With that being said, I have a ton of new recipes, some my own, some from paleo cookbooks that you may or may not have tried. I'll get to posting them soon.

Sigh. As far as the crossfitting... well, yes, I'm still a crossfitter. That won't change. I have however cut back significantly on my weight training. It seems as though I'm not recovering as well as I used to. Not sure what changed or dare I use age as an excuse, but it's the truth. But hey, I'm 43 and I can still put up a 3rm squat clean at 85. I don't go all out doing the hero or lady wods anymore. And you know what, I'm sure that seems like a shite comment but hey, I'm not working towards the games or competitions. I just want to stay fit and do something I really love. And honestly after all these years I still love it.... even if it's about 2-3 days a week. I still love wrapping my hands around the bar and pushing myself. I just don't do it 6 days a week. Kudos to you that do. Like my husband who still gets out there at 6:30 am 5 days a week and works until he's sweating in a 20 degree garage. Ok, we did get new garage doors so maybe its like 35.


Anyway, my kids should be home in a few, hence, my me time is coming to an end.

So, here I am

Happy 2014... eight months late. I can't believe I haven't posted since Christmas. I can't possibly bore you with all the details of the past months, or can I? Actually I can't even remember so there you go. We did celebrate the New Year in the mountains with good friends which was fantastic. The rest of the winter was, cold. Snowy. Cold. Oh yeah and snowy. Lets not go back there anytime soon.

So my reason for posting was I just remembered August 10th was my 4th year of Crossfit. Four years. Still going stron...... eh, medium. And that lead me to remembering my blog. Not that I totally forgot it, just been busy is all.

Lets see, my little guy will be starting first grade in a few weeks which means for the first time in 9 years, I will have no children home with me during the day. Let me repeat I will have NO CHILDREN HOME WITH ME. Do I sound excited? Truth be told, I'm 50/50. Sad to see my babies grow up and move on, but happy to see my babies grow up and move on. It will be an exciting time for my little guy and I'm looking forward to his experience with full day schooling. He's always been home with me, at least part of the day for the past 7 years and it will be an adjustment for all of us. Me moreso than him. I may cry, but they will be tears of joy. Yeah, joy.

Anyway, so on with my workouts. I'm still Crossfitting after 4 years. I still love it, I still look forward to a good hard workout, although my tastes are changing. Most days I would much rather do strength work than a metcon. I mean, lets face it metcons suck. Not that I won't do one, but in the summer I get a chance to work in other sports too like rock climbing (which I love), riding the bike, kayaking, walking/running, hiking, skateboarding and hopefully soon surfing and hang gliding. So it's not like I don't get decent workouts in all the time. Rock climbing is a new experience for the Chase household and we all had a great time. The kids took to it rather well and put in some good hard work. I was surprised there was no fear or tears. Me, I almost cried the first time I let go of the wall to repel down. That was hell-a-frightening, but I got over it and had a great time.

Well, my time has run out. Things to do. Hopefully I'll get back on in a few and update on the new fantastic recipes I've come across. Two hints, Against All Grain and Paleo Happy Hour. Love.

Christmas is the time to say....

no thank you! Sigh. Why is it so hard to say no to the peppermint mocha lattes, warm apple pie with vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate torte after all these years? Oh I know, because I'm human. Right. I'm not gonna lie, I've gained a few pounds, just a few and no one would probably notice but hell, once I start down that path of "I'll just have a bite, It's just one Milky Way or Hey, I have a gift card!"and yes,  I'm talking to YOU Starbucks! It's makes it that much harder to say no. I'm sorry, I love you peppermint white chocolate mocha latte.

Ok, so I'm trying to make piece with myself about enjoying the holidays, not meaning I'm going to eat my face off because the gluten free gods know I can't really do that. Just that I'm not going to stress over the fact I had a 'real' cookie or a slice of heavenly wheat flour and sugar filled apple pie. I'm going to make old fashion Pilsbury sugar cookies with the kids (and their friends) because not everything needs to be about me and what I can and can't eat. Is it healthier for the kids to eat my usual almond flour, maple syrup sweetened cookies? Probably but hey, it's Christmas and with the limited time I have to spend with them while they are little and somewhat adorable, I'm going to use it wisely.

So I'm finished shopping. Can't friggen believe it. First time ever. Well, I'm 99.5% done. I have a few little teacher gifts to get and something for the inlaws' inlaws. I'm hosting Christmas Eve this year which means lots of planning and cooking and baking and cooking and baking and tequila here and there to calm the nerves. The menu is set for the most part and it should be delicious. Not quite as 'clean' as it should be but gluten, refined sugar and over processed free. If I remember I'll try to take some pics and post the recipes, at least for the dishes Bob and I created on our own which include a citrus kale salad with walnuts and shallot and sweet potato casserole with baked apples and pears. Fabulous.

Workouts have been pretty decent. I'm going with my own programming for a few weeks. Not quite as intense as the strength bias program, but along the same lines by making sure I work in deadlifts, shoulder press and back squats every week. I've been feeling great so I must be doing something right. I figure after 3 years I should be able to program myself a few times a week and follow Outlaw for cleans, snatches and conditioning in between.

Holy Yoga!

Decided to do yoga 'for athletes' this morning. Wow. I'm sorry, I just can't bend like that. What do you mean put my hand behind my back and grab the other hand under my crotch? Oh no no no no, that ain't happenin my friend. It was insanely hard but I felt GREAT 5 minutes after. I really need to get back to doing it at least once every 2 weeks or so. Even if I have to modify a bit.

Lets see... my diet. Well, it has been shitty as of late. Actually since Halloween. My kids brought home 15lbs of candy. Seriously. It was obnoxious. If I was a good paleo/primal practicing mom I would have let the kids trade it in for a toy or money if they agreed but I'm not, so yes, I still have candy in my pantry. They haven't really touched it in weeks but it's still in there. The chocolate lover in me refuses to throw it away. The other reason for my poor dieting is just plain ole lack of control. 'Sure I'll have baked pineapple butter sugar dough casserole, hell give me another scoop! And add some of those oreo crumble truffles and a piece of pumpkin pie.' Yep, that was Thanksgiving this year for me. Not one of my finest moments. And yes, I paid the price that night. Hello gluten baby. But, my workout the next day was pretty good thanks to all the extra calories and carbs. I did Dirty Diane in 8 min. Not the best time, but I felt good and sometimes that's all that matters. In all reality though, the diet isn't that bad. I've been snacking more than usual but dinners are still on track. Stuffed chicken breast with artichokes and sun dried tomatoes, big salad with egg, avocado, pears and prosciutto over arugula and baby spinach.... still awesome. And I promise next time I do the chicken (since I've made it a few times now) I'll post the recipe. It's pretty damn good if you like artichokes or are looking for a different way to serve chicken. Lets face it, chicken is boring, the more recipes the better.

Speaking of new recipes. I've just about had it with eggs. I've done every possible combination known to man and some days, the thought of eating another egg makes me cry. So after taking a short break, I made eggs for breakfast today. And a thought occurred to me while deciding if I wanted fried or scrambled. Why not just saute my meat and veggies, in this case shrooms, green peppers and ham and just break the eggs in over top. If they break I'll have a loose scramble, if they don't I'll have a yummy fried egg. They actually came out terrific. One egg yolk broke the other didn't so I had this nice mix of runny yolk with my sauted veggies. Delicious. It's the little things.

Off to go shopping. 85% done. Go me.

Thanks for giving... and all that

Yeah yeah, I'm here. Still cooking, crossfitting, painting, dj'ing, skateboarding, writing... although not blogging. DJ you say? Yes. And I'm a natural if I must say so myself. I'm actually doing it right now (via the iPad) as I type this and it still sounds pretty good. Anyway, life has taken me in a different direction lately. Blogging, as much as I hate to say, has taken a back seat. Something has to give. I'm not Wonder Woman. Well, I'll never admit it publicly. The only reason I'm writing now is because my husband recently asked me if I've added a certain recipe to my blog. God no. I can't seem to make the time anymore. Not sure what the hell happened but needless to say, I haven't been able to get one up in months. I know, thats what she said.

So what have I been up to. The long short of it is. I don't know. I just don't. One day I'm happily scribbling down my recipes on a note pad beside the oven and cramming in the last season of Game of Thrones and Grey's Anatomy, next thing I know it's the day before Thanksgiving and I'm Christmas shopping my face off. Yes, I actually started earlier this year than ever. Doesn't mean I'll be finished sooner, I just won't have to spend endless amounts of time on "Huh, I wonder if dad would like a Pepperidge Farm beef stick this year?" Shudder.

We have added a new member to the family this past few weeks. George the Elf. He hasn't caused any mischief yet but I think he just needs a little time to adjust to his new family. I'm guessing he may start off small by tying everyones shoelaces together or something. Small yet insanely annoying. If you were thinking we may have gotten an animal, hell no. I'm still enjoying not cleaning up shit after 8 years.

Wods have been ok. Still plugging along 4-5 days a week. This time of year it's a little harder with my limited alone time I've been using it to shop and get holiday stuff done. Also the kids always have those 'parents come in and help bake, clean, make, craft, watch days' at school. I've volunteered quite a few times and figure next week I'll put in the last of my required hours for the year.

Still doing Outlaw programming although supplementing with a little strength bias here and there to work deadlifts back in. My back has been bugging me for a while and I wasn't quite sure why. I now know it's because Rudy doesn't program deadlifts very often and the lack of was hurting me. So now I do some 5x3's once a week and it's helped already. No need for the old lady heating pad anymore. Nothing new to report on the PR front, still working my cleans and snatches. They are improving slowly. I'm also still coaching my mom friend. She's doing well, hanging in there and doing whatever I tell her to do which is nice.

Oh well, time to head out got to pick up the kids. Recipes should start again soon.

Hello? Is it me you're looking for....

Wow, ok so it's October and my last post was the first week of August. So what have I done on my summer vacation?

The summer ended with a fantastic vacation in The Outer Banks NC. Between the fabulous weather, good friends, excellent meals and the fact that all our children were content to spend every waking minute playing nicely on the beach or in the pool, it was one of the most relaxing vacations we have had in a very long time. Anyone with small children will know 'family vacations' are usually anything but. We did not get to take surfing lessons but did get a fun 1/2 hour on the wave runners with the kids. I was with my daughter this year who had to keep reminding me I was going too slow. Yeah, 37 on a wave runner is fast enough for me. All I heard was 'daddy got his up to 42!'. Hey how about a thank you for taking me out on the wave runner for my birthday!?

Yes my kids both had birthdays in the past 2 months too. My daughter is now 8 and the dude is 6. And let me just tell you before you get any crazy ideas about having 9 girls between the ages of 8-10 over for a sleep over, DON'T DO IT. It was a waking nightmare. They all arrived about 7 and I lost control about 7:15. It was a crazy high pitched scream festival filled with candy, makeup, nail polish and drama. Oh the drama. They of course had a blast, Bob and I on the other hand were awake until 3am when I finally yelled at them to go to bed or I was going to start calling their parents to come pick them up. I now understand why parents shill out $300 on parties at Bounce U and other germ infested money suckers. It's totally worth it even if we all catch some flesh eating bacteria. Bud's birthday on the other hand was great. He had a few little friends over had some ice cream cake, candy and chased each other around with plastic guns and foam swords. A little boys dream.

Workouts. Well, between coaching my moms, vacation, Bob taking time off and having only 2 hours of free time, they have suffered. I've definitely lost some strength this summer which was apparent 2 weeks ago when I struggled to get a 185 back squat. My 1rm a few months ago was 205. I am however gaining in cleans and snatches and hit a new 3rm pr on clean and jerk at 95. The Outlaw Way programming has really helped me with that. And with the amount of back squat programming they do I should be up to 215 but like I said, I haven't been the best student. Hopefully I can get my shit together and get back on track. What I need to do is get started earlier so I can get my strength done first then do a metcon with the moms when they get here. The problem has been scaling. Some of the Outlaw stuff is way too much for them even scaled down. We've been managing but it's time consuming to find a good sub, watch and correct while I'm trying to do my own thing. What I'll probably have to do is take rest days and just teach, then on days they don't come over, do my own wods. I do enjoy it and so do they I assume... Even when I'm beating them up. Bob and I have been riding the bikes a least once a week putting in about 12-15 miles each time. That has been great and am looking forward to getting a road bike some day. I can't believe I just said that.

And believe it or not, I bought my own long board last week and bombed my first big hill that same night. Yeah, I wasn't supposed to do that but hey we all have to learn some time. Luckily for me when I got 'the shakes' (and if you have ridden a skateboard before you know exactly what I mean) I was able to keep it loose and not fall on my face doing 30 miles per hour. Yes, I bought a brain case too. Once I hit the bottom the street starts to go up a bit so I was able to naturally slow down without having to bail in someone's front yard. I'll tell you what, even though it was scary as hell, it was so god damn exciting that I couldn't stop smiling. Although, I won't be doing that again anytime soon. I might be dumb but I'm not stupid.

Skateboarding love

Thank god for vacation bible school camp. For 3 hours a day for the next 2 weeks my house will be quiet and clean. I won't have to listen to 'but she, well I, can we, it's my turn', well,  at least for a few hours a day anyway. Pure heaven.

*Edit - it's been 8 days since I started this post so technically I have 2 days left of my meager alone time in which I still can't seem to find time to actually get a post completely written and published.

Nothing special to report on the wod front. Still plugging away at The Way's programming. They've been ok. And by ok I really mean heavy and time consuming. Finally finished the Smolov squatting series. Man that sucked. I think I managed an average of 100 squats a week all between 80-90%. I did do my 1rm retest the other day and am still stuck at 205. Maybe it just wasn't a good day. Next time I'll have to actually eat breakfast first. I know. Duh. I'm so used to working out fasted that it really doesn't seem to affect me so much anymore with the exception of the strength test days... as it would seem.

The summer has been flying by and what have I been doing? Well, I took a few days off to move the kids rooms and paint. My daughter has graduated into the 'big room' and has been enjoying rubbing her friends faces in it. Not only was it a ton of work moving the furniture from room to room but I had to pick the hottest week EVER to do this. It was 100 degrees and a million percent humidity.

Bob and I decided to drain and move the pool since it was ever so slowly rolling down the backyard. That was a big pain in the ass, but it's level now and if the sun ever comes out again we'll be able to enjoy it once more.

My other new found passion this summer has been something quite unexpected for me, skateboarding. Bob got himself a long board for father's day this year and has spent most of his free time this summer cruising around the neighborhood while trying to teach the rest of us how to do it. As expected I was the most reluctant to just hop on give it a go so needless to say it took some a lot of liquid courage in the form of tequila before I would even let Bob talk me into it. My kids however fell in love with it immediately and my daughter now has her own board. Bud soon to follow I'm sure. Me on the other hand, well, I've been practicing the past few weeks and with my 7 year olds encouraging words, I have finally gotten to the point where I can ride down my street by myself. Let me tell you, the first ride was so fucking scary and yet exhilarating at the same time. Now I'm hooked.  And hell, it's just another fun outdoor activity the family can do together. Anything to get Bud away from the incessant use of technology.

With that, my free time has come to end, time to get the kids.