"Ready or not?"

So this weekend we did something different. And pretty cool, I think! I had heard through my trainer last week that they were going to have a dry/practice run for a boot camp event/"Boot Camp Games" Saturday morning. The actual event was going to be on the 30th in Plano but wanted to get people to go through the course and give them a chance to work out kinks before the actual thing. Boot camp... never done it so I imagined would be brutally tough. My trainer said that I was ready and should give it a try. Hmmm, maybe I should, I thought to myself so I told Hrishi and he and Ella decided to come with on Saturday morning. After a few little back-and-forths early that morning (waking up, thinking to get ready to go but then kind of changing my mind and planning to clean or do something else-which were execuses, really!), we decided we had plenty of time to make it there (about 30 mins drive to the Lifetime Fitness club in Plano) and give it a shot! I got excited all over again because Hrishi was going to do it too! Yeay!! It was really funny to later reflect on the wide range of emotions I had gone through that morning: excitment, feeling enticed to take on the challenge, then getting cold feet, and then finally daring to go. It was kind of like "ready or not, here I come!" type thing. I knew I wanted to do it, it was just a matter of getting my whole self to come to terms with it. Funny how (my) brain works! I'm so glad though my little "brave" side won this battle and we went.

The workout was pretty tough and we've been sore ever since but it was so worth it! So worth seeing I could finish it honorably, I think...! Hrishi did great too! We started with a decathlon (10 different weight stations with various exercises [barbell snatch, barbell skate, rows, barbell lift with lunges, pushups, dumbell squats and raises, plate v-raise, and a couple of others, 10 reps each], then 250 m rowing sprint (I did 500 m the first round as I somehow read the instructions wrong!), ropes, heavy ball toss, moving 10 45 lbs plates across three different height platforms, and finally finished with a weight-slide across the gym. We did three sets of the decathlon, rowing, and ropes and finished the whole thing in 60 mins. It felt so awesome!

Wish we had taken more pictures but we were hard at work so Hrishi snapped a couple after he was done.

And because it was so insanely hard and fun, I signed up for the actual event on the 30th.
Boot Camp games, here I come!! (And if you don't see any posts after July 30th, you know what happened!!! :))

Ella was happy to play in the kids's center while we worked out and then joined Hrishi on the rock climbing wall. Great active and fun morning for everyone!

After a quick shower and healthy snack (soynut butter-fiber-packed jelly wrap packed from home) and a not so healthy McDonald's lunch later on :),  we headed to the zoo. What an awesome time we had there! The weather was perfect, not too hot (well, it was in the high 90's but that's not hot for TX this time of year), and the place wasn't crowded at all.

We love the Forth Worth zoo, it's one of the best I think.  Huge variety of beautiful animals and tropical vegetation entertwined with continental species, a gorgeous combo!

An extra special treat was the dino exhibit! I think the pictures will speak for themselves. Ella was in dino heaven as she is such a dinosaur lover and connaisseure.

(Amazed at how skillfully these gigantic models were placed throughout the zoo creating a perfect jurasick athmosphere with background, sound, and motion.)

Other news: mamaie and tataie are coming to visit in October! Hurray, we are super excited!!! It will be a wonderful family reunion!

I am getting released from nursery (and not because of a certain recent incident when one of my tom-boy little girls somehow managed to get her lip broken while in class, a post for another time!) I'm going back to Relief Society as a compassionate service leader or committee member. I'm really not so sure about the terminology anymore as it seems to have been ages since I attended a Relief Society meeting :)  I've had a bit of an internal battle (yes, another one) about this one lately. As much as I love my nursery kids, it felt at times that I was isolated from the women's community in the ward and longed to be in RS and Sunday School. I knew though a calling is a calling and came from Heavenly Father and never questioned (but complained at times.) I continued to serve (faithfully and dilligently, I hope) my little nursery crowd. However, it's hard to contain my excitement about the new calling! Wink-wink! :)

A few more more pictures: riding the Yellow Rose of Texas train:

My most favorite people:

We finished up this great weekend with a picnic at the park after church (with tuna salad sandwhich, hummus, apples, and soynut butter.)

(I love picnic baskets!)

And while Ella played we did some amazing clouds sight-seeing.
(I'm absolutely mesmerized by clouds, especially on a beautiful bright blue sky background.)

Finally, when you're feeling down (even if for no reason), open your scriptures and say a little prayer. It's all better then.