I earned my 1st Dan back in January and haven’t looked back.  I won’t lie and tell you I love it 100% all the time.  I have moments where I need a break and I cut my schedule back knowing that in a couple weeks my body and mind will be begging to go back to  3-4 classes a week.

Lately my hips and hammies have been bothering me a lot.  Call it a sign of aging, I’m pretty close to 30 now (I know, haha).  I feel like Barbie must have when I used to try and make her do the middle splits, you know, the way she didn’t bend and I broke her legs off.   It’s not when I’m doing normal day to day stuff, but when I’m at taekwondo.  This is a problem.

Friday, Jenni and I went to yin yoga at the Detroit Flyhouse and I was a little apprehensive because some of the poses stretch things that don’t usually get stretched and I didn’t want to be sore the next day.  You know what though? It was the best thing I could have done.  We did frog pose and even though at the end of the bazillion minutes we held it I actually started laughing because I couldn’t understand why I would do something that hurt that bad.  My hip was screaming afterward but when I woke up on Saturday I didn’t have the lingering pain running down the back of my thigh or the shooting pain in my hip.

Win.

Belt Promotion testing went well.  The kids were so excited and adorable.  My dad called me out to do jump double back kicks on the bag.  Clearly, he doesn’t care about my performance anxiety.  At least now I can function instead of freezing like I used to do when I was a white belt.   Jeff cut his hand up breaking boards and I accidentally punched him in the face during self-defense, you know the usual. He’s one pretest down and 2 to go before he can test for 1st Dan.

Only a couple more months until we do it all again.

Check out Kil’s Taekwondo Livonia, pictures will be up shortly

• I hate touching meat – as in food. Raw meat grosses me out.
• Whenever I see a recipe that I might want to try I look at 2 things.
  Listed Ingredients – if it lists something I don’t know where to find at the grocery store it’s not getting saved
  How many steps – more than approximately 7 is a deal breaker
• I like being barefoot – flip flops come in a close second.  I think feet are gross though so don’t rub them on me
• I want to go rock climbing but heights freak me out a little
• I hate having long fingernails, kind of grosses me out.  I seriously trim them ever couple of days.
• I prefer flat shoes – high heels and stilettos are not my friends.  Only on very special occasions.
• I have a chaotic way of organizing my workflow.  It’s not uncommon for me to be working on 2-5 different projects at the same time because my attention span is tiny.  Most of the time this is ok.
• I’ m very right brain oriented – I’ve taken a couple different tests
• I frequently eat standing up

Right…so that’s enough.  Anything you want to share?  Are you left or right brain?  Here’s a quick test.

I know what you are thinking, why are you doing something you really, really, really hate.  The short and simple reason is because it’s easy.  By easy, I mean that I can do it anywhere at anytime.

I’m going to run a 5k without wanting to stab myself in the face.  Well, I’ll run a 5k, I can’t make promises about not wanting to kill myself while doing it.  I have this deep running hatred of, well, running.

Maybe I’m not doing it right?  I get bored,  about 1.5-2 miles in I just want to stop and walk.  Not because I’m tired but because I’m BORED of running.   I’m tired of the pace or just the repetitive motion, I don’t know.   I never get into it.  I’ve tried keeping track of the number of songs I’ve listened to, I’ve run without my ipod to listen to my surroundings and I’ve even tried daydreaming (which c’mon I’m a professional at, this should pass the time nicely).  I still haven’t found the thing that makes running not so bad.  Not to mention I could use new shoes because my current ones make my arches hurt.

The days that I can’t get to taekwondo or I need to Do Something, I put on my jogging shoes.  I need to find some way to trick myself into making the time pass quicker.  I won’t ever be a marathon runner.  8 miles sounds about as fun as walking on nails.  13 miles? Yeah you might want to keep sharp objects away from me.  We won’t even talk about 26 miles.

By the end of the year I promise to complete a 5k.  I’ve already mapped out a 3.8 mile run around my neighborhood.  Oh boy, wish me luck.

Any suggestions on music I should have on my ipod? Advice on how not to want to do myself bodily harm?

I think Lisa and I are going to do the 5k for the Almost Home Animal Rescue League.  More information about the Rescue Run.  It seems pretty informal which I like.  I’m all about informal. I’m totally going to use this opportunity to ask you to donate too. 
xoxo

On Monday I asked my dad to teach me the butterfly kick.  We looked up a video and he watched it with interest and then he got up, laughed and told me no.  No?!  I’m not exactly sure I know the meaning of the word.  He was half joking, of course, and spent about 2 minutes explaining how I would start. Then he said I’d need more mats.

Ahem…yes, I’m clumsy.

Well now the idea is planted in my pretty little head and I’m going to learn how to do it.  It’s really not all that impressive but we all need some type of goal right?  I found a beginning tutorial using BOB.

But what I really want to do is this, Butterfly Twist.

You’re laughing aren’t you?

© marialaitan.com

Responsibilities start piling up and before you know it you’ve lost touch with people that used to consume your life.  You weed out people you don’t need to talk to and squeeze in minimal amounts of time with others.    Those goofy pictures you saw of adults juggling all these balls and looking frustrated and miserable?  It’s for real, it really does feel like that.

Simply put, this sucks.

(Yes, I’m a college graduate who still uses: For real, this sucks, no way, that’s cool, bummer and many other phrases that would have both my English and journalism professors cringing.  If I close my eyes I can see Lessenberry’s chicken scratch all over this post.)

I’m a firm believer that life doesn’t have to be as complicated as we make it.  I think the first step is to stop being so complacent, letting life’s current just take you.  I’m extremely guilty of this.  It’s much easier than to actually make decisions, especially hard ones.

The past year seemed like a game of monopoly.  Buying properties because it was feasible and it’s a “good time to buy”.  I’m grateful for it all but it just adds a lot more pressure.  More bills to pay, more things to clean, more plans to make and less time to chill.  Yes, I’m 28 and sometimes I would really just like to be 18 again (let’s be honest, I only act my age 75% of the time).  18 was a very good year, the first 6 months anyways.

This is getting ridiculously off track.

Lisa and I have added one more participant to the 3rd annual girl’s weekend.  Sad it’s only one but I’ll take it.  All relationships take time and effort, including friendships.  If you haven’t seen your friends in awhile maybe you need to take a step back, re-evaluate and simplify.  Things don’t make us happy; it’s people, experiences and memories.

*jumping down from my soapbox*

Truth be told, sometimes I miss working in Detroit.  Driving into the city and seeing all the tall buildings and urban neighborhoods.   Of course, I don’t really miss the screaming homeless lady or having to make sure everything in my car was out of sight before I left it in the parking structure every morning.

This past weekend Jenni, Mallory and I took a 3 hour bike tour of Southwest Detroit through the Wheelhouse Detroit.  It was a Groupon we purchased a couple months ago.  It was really interesting to ride bikes through the city with the marketing director for Southwest Detroit.  She knew about the history, the culture and of course, all the authentic restaurants to eat at.

We rode by Grand Central Station, which serves as the gateway between Corktown and Mexicantown; Motz’s for Sliders and through Historic Fort Wayne.

This is the part where I won’t mention that I had to abandon my bike at one point because I lack coordination skills.  I was putting the map back in the basket and all of a sudden lost control of my moving bike.  I jumped off in time before I would have toppled over but it did stop the whole group…this is a time where I wonder how I ever got my blackbelt.

A city that has such a bad reputation still has hidden gems.  I promise you, if you just open your eyes to see past the corruption, the abandoned buildings and people who are less fortunate than yourself, you can find some really interesting and awesome things.

[View with PicLens]

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*Pictures taken by Jenni & Maria - Don't steal, it's not nice.

Green leaf lettuce

For dinner last night we had an awesome salad with Boca Chick’n and fries.  I’m even excited for lunch because of all the fruit I have.

Go ahead, make jokes…you know you’re getting old when you are excited about fruit and vegetables.  Speaking of getting old…

I had a wonderful birthday that actually started on June 10 and led right up to the actual day.

Fondue with friends at the Melting Pot (hilarious times!), Chillin with Lisa, making a cake, birthday wine glass,  BBQ , shopping, Sex in the City 2 (which I pretty much hated), lunch at Slows, sushi, cupcakes and Chuck cooked me dinner.

I think 28 is going to be an awesome year!

He called me as soon as he got home to tell me that our fruits and veggies had arrived.  Even I was overwhelmed with all the produce when I saw it.

2 heads green leaf lettuce
bunch of carrots
2 pears
2 peaches
canteloupe (freakin’ delicious!)
2 cucumbers
3 green peppers
cherry tomatoes
strawberries

This is the bitty box too.  Last night we got into the canteloupe, cucumbers and green peppers.  They were delicious.  I made Boca Chick’n patty sandwhiches on whole wheat buns with tater tots and cucumbers and green peppers.  I was stuffed!

The whole experience was easy and truly painless.  I’m ecstatic to have fresh stuff around the house!

This past week I bought some cucumbers and a green pepper.  I cut them up and ate them for an after work snack.  I had forgotten how good fresh veggies taste.  When my good friend Jenni told me about Door to Door Organics, based in Livonia, I was eager to check it out.

Door to Door Organics delivers organic and locally grown fruits and/or veggies to your door.  Yes! To your front door once a week.  My first thought was, “this is going to be expensive” but really it’s not more than buying them at a store.  For the Bitty fruits and veggies box it’s only $23.  It’s really flexible, I am getting deliveries every other week and if I’m going on vacation or need to skip a week it’s totally possible.   It’s also commitment free so you won’t be locked into a contract.

Fruits & veggies locally grown and delivered to my door?  Yes! Please!

I’m really excited about this.  I get to eat healthy and I don’t have to pick up my own produce.   I’ll keep you posted on how the delivery goes next Wednesday.

*Note: I was not asked to write about this company in any way, I just think it’s an awesome service.

This past weekend Lisa came up to help. Along with keeping up with Chuck at beer drinking she motivated and helped us finish painting and putting most of the CHEAP (read ugly) vinyl tile in. With only one more bedroom to finish we can focus on relaxing a little while we are up there next (Memorial Weekend, Hello Summer!!!!).

Of course there are still many things to do, but nothing that would keep people from coming to visit, well except for the fact we don’t have any furniture yet. So bring a sleeping bag and an air mattress

More photos from the past weekends and from future visits will be added in the cottage gallery.