Climbing with Kiddos!

With the gorgeous weather we've had lately I've been doing my best to take advantage of it when its around, because let's face it, it's still March and things can still get ugly weather wise. Last weekend my boyfriend and I took our tribe of kiddos (5 of them!) out climbing. I wasn't sure exactly how it was it going to go. I figured with kids ranging from from 4 to 15 it would be an interesting day to say the least. But the day was perfect!

Taken as we were leaving at the end of the day

We decided to go the the Salt Lake Slips (up Big Cottonwood Canyon in SLC) since we were there the weekend before and there is a lot of kid friendly routes. The river was low enough for us to cross and it is a pretty safe place for the younger kids to explore while we were belaying and the older kids were climbing. When we got there, every route except Entre Nous had a rope on it and a group of climbers beneath it. I have top roped this route in the past and remember it being super crimpy. I would've rather started on something a little easier (for the kiddos), but it was all we had. I either took so long leading it, or scared away the mass of climbers with my hideous technique, but by the time I set up the anchor and lowered down, 2 of the easier routes next to us were open. Since there was no one else waiting, we went back up and set up a top rope for the easier routes and left the first one up too. The younger kids got on the easier route Wop Dego (5.5) and the older ones tried Entre Nous (5.8+) and Thieving Magpie the 5.7 that shared an anchor.

My lil man on Thieving Magpies (5.7)

My daughter climbing

Taking a break from climbing (rocks).

Always posing....

My rock star on Wop Dego (5.5)

As you can imagine, the adults didn't get much climb time. Short of leading the routes and setting up anchors and cleaning the anchors at the end of the day, we were pretty much designated belay slaves to the kiddos. But there's nothing wrong with that. All 5 kids had an awesome day of climbing so it was totally worth it. I had planned on taking the kiddos down to Moab this wknd to meet up with some friends and do some camping and hiking, but I've had an unexpected financial obligation pop up. My little princess needs glasses!! Poor baby girl is practically blind in her left eye. So now we're hoping to get the kiddos out for some bouldering closer to home instead this wknd. But not sure if the weather is going to cooperate (see image below....) for us. Keep your fingers crossed!!!

I feel like I'm back in WI with a forecast like this!

How's the weather by you this weekend??

Any fun plans??



2012 Fitness and Health Bloggers Conference

I've recently been presented with an amazing opportunity.  As an ambassador for FitFluential, I have a chance at winning a scholarship to attend the FHBC in Denver, CO this June.  They have teamed up with Refuel With Chocolate Milk to offer 40 FitFluential ambassadors free registration to the conference.

I have been blogging for over a year and have "met" many amazing people because of it. I would love to opportunity to actually meet some of them in person. It would also be an incredible chance to network with some brilliant social media peeps and help take my blog to the next level.

A big thank you goes out to FitFluential and Refuel With Chocolate Milk for offering this amazing opportunity up to 40 of us lucky ambassadors!! I hope I am one of the lucky ones selected.

Are you planning on attending?

Have you attended a past FHBC?

Hopefully I will see you there!!!

Going Unplugged

Yesterday, I took a personal day and unplugged. Closed my laptop and shut off my phone. Luckily it was a gorgeous day outside, so I took advantage and the kiddos and I headed outdoors. We headed a couple miles north to the little town of Mantua to walk around the reservoir. In the summer this is an awesome little running trail (a little over 4 miles all the way around) and biking trail. There's always a bunch of people fishing along the path (which my son loves!) and it's always a fun, family-friendly place to go when the kiddos and I need an outdoor excursion that's close to home.

With very few clouds in the sky and the temps hovering close to 60 degrees it was a dang near perfect day. The battery on my garmin died as soon as it found satellites so I'm not sure of mileage covered plus we made quite a few pit stops along the way. But I think over the course of almost 2 hours, we had to have covered about 2 miles, lol. I think... But anyways, here's some pics of our Unplugged day!

Me and my Princess

My awesome Kiddos

Spear Fishing, lol?

A robin! It's Spring :)

My Keen's look so pretty in the snow :)

Looking for fish...

Our shadow Family :)

King (and Queen) of the Mountain!

Dirty Jeans = Good Day

Lauren's Blog: 5 Year Blog Anniversary and Giveaway

This totally requires a blog post of it's very own instead of some tiny link in the sidebar. You've all heard me rave about Lauren Brook's DVDs. I even gave away one of her DVD's in Favorite Things giveaway way back when. Whether you are a beginner or seasoned KB user, you can get so much out of her workouts. Incredible.

LOVE this DVD

But onto the good stuff! Lauren is celebrating her 5 yr blogiversary with an amazing giveaway. Go check it out here --> Lauren's Blog: 5 Year Blog Anniversary and Giveaway. You could be one of FIVE lucky winners to receive a DVD and a copy of her new book! And one lucky winner will also receive a full nutrition program from Lauren. Awesome!! Go enter now :)

In case you were wondering... An update of my sugar free challenge will be coming soon!!

Day 1 - Sugar Free

During this challenge I will not only be cutting out all traditional sugars, I will be cutting out all artificial sweeteners too (with the exception of my protein powder which uses stevia). I firmly believe that artificial sweeteners are more toxic than sugar in general. There are numerous articles on the dangers of artificial sweeteners; some of these side effects are cancer, allergic reactions, headaches, mood swings, seizures, memory loss, fatigue, anxiety, change in vision,  GI issues, skin irritations, weight gain, depression, and liver and kidney issues. More info found HERE. After I'm done with this challenge, I will go back to using raw sugar (the least processed, the better) and honey in moderation. It's amazing how much your tastes adapt to having no sugar and you get an idea of how things truly taste.

Here's a helpful list of what I won't be eating (shared from my friend Amanda at Run To The Finish):

Syrups (cane syrup, rice syrup, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, molasses, honey, sorgam)
Refined and processed sugars (cake, cookies, candy)
Look through your cabinets, unexpected things like tomato sauce, ketchup and peanut butter can contain sugars we are trying to avoid or just excess sugar. Avoid: Fructose, Maltose, Sorbitol, Evaporated Cane Juice, Xylotol and other sugars end in “ol” or “ose”
Sugar substitutes (Aspartame, Sucralose, Nutra-sweet)
Fruit juice: Yup that's right you need to nix this because of high sugar content

Also - If you are looking for some amazing recipes to substitute some of favorite things or just for some great sugar free recipes - check out Spoonful of Sugar Free. Alex has been sugar free for a while and has created some great sugar free recipes!! She is an excellent resource.


Day 1 Meals:
Breakfast - Oats w/ blueberries and raspberries, chia seeds and vanilla whey protein.
Lunch - PB (just ground up peanuts) on sourdough bread.
Dinner - Just a lot of snacking (apples & pb, bruschetta on sourdough bites)
First day took a little getting used to. Meals are already planned out for the next couple days to make it easier though.

Sugar Free (Again...)

I have come to the conclusion the only time my body is truly happy with me is when I'm Sugar Free. I've done sugar free spurts on and off a few times since my initial sugar detox in 6/11 during Run To The Finish and Spoonful of Sugar Free's 10 day Sugar Free Challenge. Each time has been incredibly difficult, but the results have been even more rewarding. After succumbing to exhaustion this week, I looked around at the empty Diet Coke bottles littering my house and decided something needed to change ASAP. I had been "clean" for over 6 months with no Diet Coke and now it was ruined.

This evening I had posted on my Facebook Page that I would be doing another 10 day sugar free challenge to get myself back on track and had several people show interest in joining me. For anyone else that is interested in participating, I will be posting my meal plans daily and checking in each night to share how the day went. Please feel free to comment on the posts (either here or on my FB page) to keep yourselves accountable! The more, the merrier. It's not going to be easy, but it is going to be worth it :)

Who's joining me??