A new beginning........

It's been a very long time coming, February 18th this year RJ started a new job at Amcor Plastics in Ames, IA.  He is working 12 hour shifts, 4 on 4 off.  He loves it.  He is already excelling.  The past two years have been very difficult on him.  He felt as though he wasn't providing for our family.  I told him that even on disability he brings home more than I do and he just smiled.  I want him to know that not once has the thought crossed my mind that he let us down, or wasn't doing all that he could do.  I hope he never has to go through anything like this again.  He is such an amazing man with such strength and compassion.  I am proud to be his wife and raise our children together.  I try to remind him that all this time he had to be home was precious time with our little girls.  Even though some days were very hard for him, and hard on them to see him have seizures, he still was able to be with them for the first couple of years of their life. 

I did my first St. Patrick's 5k Bar run last weekend in Des Moines.  It was a ton of fun and I went with a fun group of my peeps.  We all dressed up in costume and headed down to the race.  Ok it really wasn't a "timed" race, but we still did our fair share of actual running.  On the day of the race it was down pouring all day, which made it interesting.  Many of us were wearing ponchos over our costumes but we still had a blast!

Friday night fights......

A couple of weeks ago RJ & I went to the MMA fights in Des Moines with his brother Travis and his fiance Amy.  We had a blast!  This is a picture taken of us that night!!

Another successful bootcamp....

This is our 6pm bootcamp class.  We made it through a year together!!  This coming Friday is our last class for this session (first one this year).  I will post my yearly results then!  I have developed such a bond with these girls and I couldn't have done it without them!!

Survival Fitness Bootcamp final session for 2012......

 Boot Camp 6pm Class

Kelly Nystrom, Sarah Vodenik, (Instructor) Michelle Kelly, Jaime Tullis, Stacy Askelson, Tracie Adams & Carla Houston

Jess Horst & Tina Prouty not pictured.

This is my bootcamp class.  We started together at the very beginning of February and have continued each session of camp together for the entire year.  We have all come very far over this year.  We have all lost weight, gained muscle, have become toned and overall have become healthy.

Most of all we have formed a friendship that is unmeasurable.  Last year I never thought I would make so many new friends and become so close.  I have lost close to 40 pounds since February and many many inches.  These girls have been there for me through it all.  They are very supportive through out all of RJ's medical problems and everything this year.  I want them to know how much they mean to me.  They truly are another family that I am apart of and are much like my own sisters.  Each one of them has pushed me in one way or another beyond my comfort zone and made me want to be better and really have helped me understand just how strong I am.  Although my success is my hardwork and dedication I owe a big part of it to them.  Without them I wouldn't be where I am today, or doing the crazy things we have done together.

I truly Love each one of them, so THANK YOU PEEPS..........

Oh and I finished my final time at 23:02..........     

Boone's Biggest Loser Season #3 Finale..........

BOOTCAMP BABES

Sarah (me!) , Jenny Wright & Stacy Askelson

This season of the Boone's Biggest Loser #3 turned out great.  The picture above is from our finale.  Our team took 3rd place overall, and Jenny took individual 3rd place!  I ended up with an overall weight loss over the last 10 weeks of 8 pounds.  Although I really wanted more I am pleased with the outcome.  It's 8 pounds less than where I was 10 weeks ago, so it is what it is. I couldn't ask for better teammates than I had.  We pushed each other every week to do more and get healthy.  We are all members of Survival Fitness boot camp so we all worked out at least 3 times a week and then tried to get a workout in on the weekends with each other.  We had an amazing season, way to go Bootcamp Babes!

Friday nights at bootcamp.........

So every Friday night for bootcamp we are tested on some sort of running/excercise.  It just so happens that for this session of camp we are being tested on how fast we can complete the following:

75 push-ups, 50 squats, 75 sit-ups, 50 burpees, 100 mountain climbers, 100 skips with a rope and then run 1.3 miles.... in that order...
I missed the first Friday, but the next two I finished in 28:55, then 28:44.  This past Friday I pushed really hard and completed this task in 24:37!!!!!!!!!!!  It was a huge accomplishment for me. 
The other girls in my class have done amazing as well.  Most of them do better than me, but we all push eachother to do our best and to try and beat our times.  Wednesday will be our last day of bootcamp for the year.