Dear Blog its Summertime

Today is June 3rd, 2013 and I am not home.
I am enjoying my summer doing nothing and currently on the couch of my friend's house apartment in Sav.

In my mind my summer began last weekend with my wonderful weekend working with Shannon. That week was the start of my last week of school and it was empowering and beautiful but haven't had time to write about especially since I've told the story of that weekend so many times. I have to sit and kinda get into the mindset of that weekend. And I can't wait to do so cause it was truly beautiful :)

Today is Monday. and my summer began Friday. I worked all day Friday and the end of Saturday for SCAD 2013 Commencement. SCAD puts on a beautiful graduation and I hope the graduation in the fall is just as nice. Working that graduation got me hype and so pumped for my last year at SCAD. It also inspired me to walk not only as a SCAD graduate but a graduate of another school... Yes my friends, talk about grad school has come up again. And I'm praying and watching to see what the verdict will be but I'll be looking into all my options later this year. When I walked in my high school graduation I surely and proudly dropped a tear. Yes my parents were proud but I even more so. It was a super accomplishment and I worked really really hard through the IB program for years!
Finishing my undergrad degree in only 3 years is a greater reality now and I couldn't be more proud of myself. I will be one of thousands sitting before the stage in the civic center ready shake hands and receive my honors. Working graduation I learned about the different color tassels you get by academic school and the designation for graduating with honors which I put below:

Summa Cum Laude - equal to or greater than 3.90

Magna Cum Laude - equal to or greater than 3.70 and less than 3.90

Cum Laude - equal to or greater than 3.50 and less than 3.70  I'm aiming for Magna Cum Laude AT LEAST!! I can't wait to see what's next for me. I know I'll be successful anywhere and I'm excited to see what opportunities God brings my way! The decision will be based on my happiness, its all about me graduating SCAD and making art cause that is what will make me happy.

But now today is Monday and I am a free bird.
Planing things to do or laying in bed cause I can.
Going on roadtrips or watching a movie on the couch.
I am doing what I want to do.
This time in Savannah is my real vacation because when I get back to Florida things will get real.
I'll be back on my school tip and working a job as well.
And next thing you know it will be September and I'm a senior starting Fall quarter at SCAD!
soooooo I am soaking up the fun and sun and FREEDOM in Sav.


Last night I tried Insanity for the first time with my friend Cetina. Armstrong University offers it free at night everyday this summer! I can't do it every night but I intend to do as much as I can. I have never sweat as much as I did that night. I was dripping sweat into my eye and probably could have peed myself lol. Shirt soaked. Heart pumping mad crazy! And the jumping bits get me a little dizzy. But honestly Insanity is do able. There are ample amounts of breaks and lots of room for progress. From the first time I saw Shaun T. on the doctors talking about his workout plan I knew he was legit because his workout plans make healthy sense. Its all about keeping your form and pushing your muscles to the max with 30sec breaks max. You really can do it. You just have to tell your body you can do it. I'm excited to continue his workouts. Plus its entertaining. More fun then working out by myself with the previous workout challenge I tried out. Stephanie's getting this body BEYOND on point ;)

It feels nice to take care of me.
No room for negativity.
No worries hehe
I don't mind waiting on the Lord!
I don't mind waiting on the LORD!!

I Accept the Challenge

Over the weekend my sister posted on her page a fitness challenge from the beautiful Gwen Ro!

I brought it to some of my friends and Shavel and I accepted the challenge. And I tihnk Malikah may have as well I'm not sure. But I know that I AM COMMITTED!

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. PSALMS 37:5

The challenge is 5 exercises, 5 days a week, for 5 weeks. Each week the number of daily reps changes. week one 20 reps, week 2 40 reps and week 3 60reps then 80reps and the last week will be 100reps!! I started on Tuesday with Shavel and we pumped out the work out in her dorm room and took my "Before" picture lol. I really like this fitness challenge because it requires no gym, weights or equipment and I'm very dedicated to getting my behind back into shape before I go to florida that way when I start up Pole Fitness again I don't waste half my summer getting caught up cause I'm out of shape I just want to hop back into Kangoo Jumps and Pole and get even stronger!


So the 5 exercises:
I stretch very lightly before and then blast some crazy rap or dancehall reggae music.
The 20 jumping jacks are a nice way to warm up my entire body. I take my time with each jump making sure my form is on point.
The 20 Burpees.......sigh..... These are tough. The hardest part of the challenge but the most important because it uses my body weight and moumentum and that makes my arms sad and sore. But it really is a whole body workout. I googled how to do them properly before I started the challenge. And I do the traditional push-up not that modified girl one. Its day 2 of my Week one and I still start struggling around the 6 out of 20 rep.... I'm optimistic that this will get easier over time but uhhh yeah idk about reaching 100 reps on the burpees lol.

The 20 squats after the burpees are a nice cooling point and relazation of my arms for a little while. I take my time with the squats and always try to maintain proper upright posture.
Then 20 push-ups after the squats reel in the arms again and engage them while they are still fairly hot from the burpees. I can push out 20 good push ups but after those other exercises I'm grunting and struggling  lol BUT I get it done!
Lastly are 20 situps. My abs are a prized posssesion of mine which are not to par with where I know they can be. So after 20 situps I do 40 more going in different directions then I do some ab workouts I learned from Pilates until I really start to burn n feel them contracting intensely.

I'm very excited about the results of this challenge I'm all about it now! I know once Week one is done I'll be even more involved in the entire process. Today I did something new and I stretched for even longer after the workout. I want to utilize the discipline in this challenge and start strecthing more to better my extension and flexibility.

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I learned that I am truly a relationship type of person. And I keep finding postive things to commit myself too. First it was God and now that I feel that area of my life is in the proper direction I am using this challenge as something other then school to commit myself too. I'm dedicated to getting stronger, more confident and getting my athletic build back to where I know it can be. Yes I'm thin I know but no matter your weight or body type everyone should strive to work out as much as they can FOR THEMSELVES not for anyone else.
I'm going to take a picture at the start of each week and then at the end of the 5 week challenge i'll post them all next to eachother. The key thing is that I'm not flexing in the pictures. I want to see the muscle defined and pronounced without me sucking in or flexing.

I got this!! :)