Finally, right?

I'm back.  Finally.  Really.  It's been for-effing-ever (sorry Stefie!).  Most of the last month has been spent back East with the family catching up, watching my sister graduate, alternatively throwing and attending parties and whipping this wedding into shape.  I'll try to flesh these out into their own posts (goodness knows they deserve them - sidenote: I always say "goodness" instead of "god" because I just don't like to talk about religion or god that way when my feelings change about it all the time, but I just realized that goodness makes me sound like I'm 87.  I guess I'm ok with it.), but my mom threw me the loveliest bridal shower where lots of family and friends came from pretty far away and just around the corner to celebrate my happiness!  I was just blown away.  And instead of obnoxious shower games, we made my chuppah!  Well, started.  I'll post more about that when it's closer to being done and I have pictures for you.  And we ordered our invitations (which should arrive tomorrow or the next day!).  Let me just tell you, they rule.

But, before I went away to lalaland, I promised to post about working out.  At this point it's either hypocritical or entirely appropriate to talk about since I worked out a grand total of once the whole time I was home.  In any case, it's what you're getting.

I never played sports.  My high school didn't even have teams (except for chess, we were national champs all four years I was there I think- Go Murrow Chess!).  The only real hobby I've ever had that was physical (not including my knitting, of course ;o) was circus arts.  If that sounds unusual, it's because it is.  But I loved it, I still do.  However, no matter how much I would love to spend at least half of every day flying on the trapeze, it's expensive and not easily accessible (read: no rig anywhere near where I am).  When I spent a summer teaching trapeze, I loved it and I worked out six hours a day.  Not step aerobics or spin class, but climbing a 30 foot ladder and holding on with one leg, catching kids that decided they didn't need to hold onto an apparatus 15 feet in the air, pulling safety lines or acrobatics training during a period off.  My clothes were falling off of me by the end of the summer.

Best office ever.

I guess the point of all that is to say I don't like working out just for the fun of lifting dumbbells in the air over and over again.  I get bored.  So really, the secret, for me, to working out is motivation.  I have a few things that keep me motivated to keep going back, and I think I'll tackle talking about each of them, some in greater detail over the next few days.  Here's what you have to look forward to:

• Podcasts.  Hands down my biggest helper.  Two in particular have made the elliptical my friend rather than my enemy.
• A workout I like, that I've put together with future goals in mind.
• A nice place to work out in.  If your gym sucks, or it's far, or it's whatever, it's that much harder to go.
• Boredom.  The job hasn't materialized yet, so I'm still home alone all day.
• My wedding dress.  I didn't plan to lose weight for the wedding, and I don't have a crazy goal, but the better I look in my everyday clothes, the better I look in the photos that will hang on the wall forever.
• And lastly, good clothes.  Never underestimate the value of pockets and a decent bra.

Catch you on the flip side, children.