Haha! Um, yeah. I do have a family of six that tries to be active in the church and the CrossFit communities. Not that the daily tasks needed to keep the house flowing smoothly aren't enough to throw us off track quite often... I do apologize for not being more on top of this blog. I really intended it to be a way for family and friends to keep up and feel a part of our lives and then to also spread the good word of Paleo and CrossFit. I failed at both! Here is an attempt to catch you up. I hope you have time! :o)
There are so many plates in the air I often feel I am not up to the task. My only desire is to do them all well, yet to do well in one only leads the others to teeter. I'm left to just keep them all from falling, and then occasionally allowing one to crash, only to pick another one up in it's place.
With that in mind we are currently reorganizing the plates, evaluating the value of each one, and attempting to give the most treasured a more stable stick to stand on.
Our budget is one plate that has been teetering very dangerously. We, like most, have champagne taste on a beer budget. We try to be responsible in balancing our wants and our needs and not going into debt. That plate alone takes a lot of attention! CrossFit and the Paleo diet have been taking a HUGE chunk of our budget.
We aren't flexible on Paleo. We aren't perfect or 100%, 100% of the time. We do the best we can with what we have, and I am learning every month new tricks and ways to keep it as affordable as possible for us. It is just the way we eat now. We all feel better, look better. It is a win-win and totally worth the extra bucks.
CrossFit is more flexible. We were purchasing a family plan so we could all go unlimited. It was a good deal, if you used it enough. We weren't using it enough! Michael was the only one that would make it 5 days a week and even then he would go a week or more without getting to go because of TDY's. With our changes in homeschooling and daily life obligations, I found it hard to attend 3 days a week, and the kids! Ha! Lets just say we are in a difficult time right now trying to teach them responsibility (for schoolwork and chores) and time management. (Yes, I need work in those areas too!) They only made it twice a month! It also takes a huge chunk of time out of our day (the biggest reason I couldn't get there often enough) at a 2 hour minimum from garage there and back. We were not getting our money's worth and it was hurting our wallet, yet it isn't something we want to give up. I LONG to go every day. If I had a different life I would probably be a box rat or CrossFit coach, just so I could workout a lot and help others while I was at it.
We checked out the free gym on post since we heard it had the stuff for CrossFit. Big money saver right?! We would lose the company of great fellow CrossFitters and coaches (boo!!) but gain the money we paid the box... Blah! It didn't have anything set up for kids and it was a total Globo gym. I felt hugely uncomfortable there and was still left with the time issue and the added problem of finding something to do with the kids. (They went with me to the box, they have a room upstairs with a TV and couches, it was great! It was no different then us being home with them upstairs playing while I'm downstairs working.)
So we started researching home gym equipment again. We had looked into this when we first moved here but it just worked out better to go to the box. I think I really needed the time and experiences that I gained from there. Once we added everything up and compared it to the monthly cost of the gym for the remainder of our time on the island, we found we will save $1000's in the long run and still have the equipment to use for the rest of our lives! The savings will only grow over the years!
Now, I admit that I wasn't going to the box just to experience pain and exhaustion It was to experience pain and exhaustion with others! Haha! (Yeah, you do have to be a bit nuts to CrossFit). I also admit that I am still in need of coaching. Competitions of some kind are something I would like to see in my future and that would require instruction and guidance (and TIME). These issues are solved by 1) the fact that Michael and I plan to workout together in the am before the kiddos get up, 2) we both have been doing it enough that we have the basic movements down and can watch each other to correct form, at this point it is just working it over and over to get better, and best of all, 3) the competitions I am most interested in is Olympic weightlifting and the box has recently set up a barbell club that will be working all those movements on a more individual level. As a now non-member, I will pay more for the club, but that is still cheaper than our monthly fee. Bonus, it is only once a week! I can do that!
This is where I will pause for life to have my attention and not overwhelm you all with my rambling. Michael is TDY this week so I will have more time to continue this catch-up session. I promise to get to the rest of the 'plates' we are spinning and picking up very soon. Stay tuned! :o)
