listen

i was supposed to go to the gym this morning...

i didn't make it

and here's why,

in my own

roundabout way...

most mornings

when that alarm goes off

my body is up and ready to go...

but my mind???

well that's another story...

my mind tells me

to pull the covers over my head...

to cuddle up to hk...

just go back to sleep...

but eventually my body wins...

my body talks my mind

into dragging my sorry ass

out of bed

and into the gym...

and my mind is thankful

for it... 

eventually...

but this morning

my body revolted...

my mind was ready...

but my body was not...

i was sore...

i was stiff...

i did some strength training monday...

i ran 36 minutes straight tuesday...

i did a 50 minute spin class wednesday...

i did even more intense strength training thursday...

my body said

"aw hell no"

and if I have learned anything

during this evolution,

it's that you 

MUST

listen to your body...

so i got an extra

hour and a half of sleep...

and my body is thankful

that i listened to my mind...

they sometimes disagree,

my mind and body...

but when push comes to shove,

they know what's right...

i just need to listen to the right one...

accomplishment

today

i stood flat footed

knees locked

bent at the waist

and

touched my toes...

may not seem like much,

but to me,

it was pretty darn awesome...

inspiration

even though she didn't have to work

hk got up at 4:45 and went to the

gym with me on monday morning...

even though she didn't have to work

hk got up at 5:20 and went to the 

gym with me on tuesday morning...

and this morning...

well,

here's what happened...

i was going to get up at 4:45 

and go to the gym for a spin class...

hk was going to go to the gym

at some point today...

in the middle of the night

it came a gally gap slinger...

not really sure where this

term came from, but

i heard someone say it once

about a really bad storm...

lightning

thunder

wind

it was a big one...

and let's just say

thunder shirts were

no match for this storm...

pete and maddie were 

not happy campers...

so there was not a lot of

sleep happening...

when my alarm went off

at 4:45

i said,

"awww hell no"

and reset it for 6:00...

telling myself i'll go to the

5:30 spin class tonight...

alarm goes off at 6...

i wake heather up and tell

her i'm not going to the gym

and that it's 6 and not 4:45...

shower and all that jazz...

while i'm getting dressed in 

the other room

and packing my gym back

for tonight's class,

i'm thinking to myself

what if i just accidentally 

forget my gym shoes and

then i can't go to the gym tonight???

no shoes???

no gym...

i'm trying to talk myself 

out of the gym...

i want to come home...

i want to sit on the couch...

i want to rest...

that's when i hear hk get up...

she's getting herself ready to

go to the gym...

on her day off...

again...

well if

heather anne kimberling

is getting up at the 

butt crack of dawn

to go to the gym by herself

i'm triple checking my

gym bag to make sure

i've got everything i need

because i'm hitting that spin class

and i'm hitting it hard...

so

thanks hk...

i won't get mushy here,

even though you know i want to...

i'll just leave it at that...

super jess

i started this whole thing,
this journey of a better me,
right about the time
this fuzzy headed goofball
came back into my life:

i’ve started

and stopped...

and started again

and gone backwards

more times than i can count…

i've been motivated

and positive...

and lazy 

and negative...

but the one thing i have not done,

and will never do,

is give up...

a couple of months ago,

a facebook friend posted this:

and i wrote it out

on a piece of paper

and it's taped up in my bathroom...

a constant reminder that

life is evolution...

i'm not who i want to be

but i'm sure not who i was...

i haven't smoked a cigarette in

565 days...

i don't drink 5-7 days a week

like i used to...

i don't eat fast food...

if at all possible i eat organic...

this past sunday was the last day

i ate meat...

this morning i did this:

the warrior dash is just

around the corner...

here's my shirt

hk found this awesome blog

that has inspired me...

if she can do this:

then maybe,

just maybe

i can get back to this:

awesome

amazing

wonderful

life changing

things are happening right now...

not to me

but because of me...

man

life is good!!!

reminders

every once in a while

i get a reminder

from the universe

that i am exactly where i am supposed to be...

that i am on the right path...

and that it hasn't forgotten about me...

today

i got one...

while driving home,

down that long stretch of 27

i noticed how beautiful it was...

green grass...

blue sky...

white clouds...

the clouds...

see them all the time...

but for some reason today

i started really

looking...

looking for things...

for shapes...

for faces...

so i grabbed my phone

and just started snapping pictures...

not really able to see

what i was photographing...

and then i start daydreaming...

about all kinds of things...

and before i know it 

i'm home...

gotta feed the dogs...

start laundry...

take a shower...

clean the kitchen...

feed myself...

and as i sit at the kitchen table,

i grab my phone,

and go to my TED app...

(thanks lac...)

and here's the new ted talk for today

cloudy with a chance of joy...

watch it...

do it...

and that's when i remember

the pictures i took...

(i do this a lot,

take pictures while driving

to or from work

or home)

so let's take a look

and see what we got...

the rest were either
of my fingers
or pure sunlight...

i love daydreaming...