One week from today...

One week from today, I will be able to cross another thing off my list:  Get my AA.  I will be graduating from American River College with 2 AAs, and rightfully so.  I have been there far too long!

Commercial Music Business and Liberal Arts.  Music Business was what I was going for, but I ended up picking up Liberal Arts on accident.

On May 22nd, at 7:00pm, I will be walking across that stage, at American River College, to receive my degrees.  You are all invited.  I would like to hear my fan club cheer for me as I walk.  :]

I will be starting at Sac State in the fall, and am definitely nervous, but can't wait to begin this new and exciting chapter of my life.

Another goal I have been working on is with my guitar!  I am still working on that thing!  I recently purchased  Left-handed chord book from Lefty's in San Francisco, and that thing is amazing!  It is so much easier to read the chord charts.  Also, with classes wrapping up, I have found some time to spend with my mommy, who is teaching me Mirrors, by Justin Timberlake.

It amazes me how much talent my mom has.  She is brilliant!  I have really enjoyed spending the time with her.

Also, with the tough time I mentioned a few blogs back, playing the guitar has been one of the things that has helped me clam down and clear my head.  I feel so awesome.

I hope to be a better guitar player by the end of summer.

Speaking of summer, I have a trip coming up!  I am taking the week after graduation off of work and hope to knock a few things off of my list.  I am so excited to explore around Washington and possibly visit Canada!  By June, I should have 4 or 5 things to cross off of my Day Zero Project!

Finally, of course I have to talk about the Dungeon!  Alicia is my other half in the Dungeon!  I workout with so many amazing people in there, but she and I tend to workout together the best.  We both challenge each other, which is pretty neat.  We decided to take photos of our "guns" with our trainer, Jamie.  I am really proud of us and our progress!

I also have to mention Vanessa - she is so full of life and energy.  Her smile could light up a room.  She is always full of encouraging words and is another girl I truly enjoy working out with.

I also wanted to discuss my experience with the rope!  I added a goal to my list to be able to climb the rope, and I am getting closer each and every week!  This time I felt much stronger and was able to pull myself even higher than normal.  I actually attempted to climb the rope without any assistance, and failed, but hey, I am still working on it!  What really impressed me was the fact that I was able to hold my whole body up, even though I cannot quite climb it yet.  The photo on the bottom right in the collage is me working on the rope.  I cannot wait to get to goal on this one!

Through all of the tough things, life is turning out to be pretty awesome right now.

-jennilea

We made it to the top!

May 4th was the hike to Horsetail Falls.  We headed out on that early Saturday morning with a goal to make it to the top of the falls.  Right now is a gorgeous time to go because there are so many waterfalls, but we were not sure if we would be able to make it to the top due to the water and how slippery the rocks can be.

There were several points within the hike where our entire group was nearly certain we couldn't make it up.  First, the point we were supposed to cross at had water running over it, so we were going to have to find a new way to make it up.  Then, we encountered a section of rock that was completely slippery.  It would have been just about impossible to make it all the way if the rocks were going to be that slipper.  We sat and watched how other people were able to get around the slippery rocks, and decided to follow the same path.  

Our next challenges would be found in how steep the climb was.  Our simple hike definitely turned into rock climbing.  I was really appreciative of all of my Dungeon training that day, because there is no way I could have pulled myself up without these new muscles!

Finally...we made it...  This is what the very top the of the falls looks like.  

It took us about 2.5 hours to get to the top.  Through all of it, I am so happy that we did not give up!  

After climbing here, we noticed that there are more falls further up!  We are planning another hike sometime soon, and maybe we will find ourselves up higher.

I am happy to be able to cross this off of my Day Zero Project list!  My next hiking goal is to hike Half Dome in Yosemite.  I know nothing about it, but my old supervisor told me to add it to my list, and add it I did!

Other exciting things happened this week as well!  This photo is me, wearing size 7 jeans!  It has been quite a while since I have been able to make size 7 jeans happen.  I am one size away from my goal!  I am pretty sure I will be in these for a while though, because they are still a little tight, but not too tight for me to wear in public.  HA!  Definitely feeling more confident these days, and it is no wonder! 

The Dungeon always keeps me hard at work!  

Speaking of hard work, this is the latest challenge:  The Ultimate Plank!  I feel awkward being on top, but being on the bottom was pretty awesome!  I felt a lot stronger than I thought I was.  Also, I ended up coming home and doing more of these with friend.  You know you enjoy fitness when...

Jamie at The Dungeon has really inspired me to be a better version of me.  I feel healthy, fit, and so much more energy!  Not to mention, I am really loving feeling my new muscles pretty much every chance I get!  HA!  

I am learning so much, and my life is seriously changing every single week!

Not only is she there for fitness, but she is there as a friend.  Jamie literally cares and wants what is best for each and every one of us at the Dungeon.  

We have become family.  We are all in this struggle together and are coming out of it even more hardcore than we were before.

In other news:  There is a zoo in Washington where you can dive with sharks.  I am pretty sure I will be doing that in the near future. 

Stay tuned for more blogging later this week. 

-jennilea

Recap and Progress

First, because the blog has began to get so many hits, I figured now would be a good time to reintroduce what I am doing here.  In January 2012, I began the Day Zero Project.  This project is a list (that I have created) of 101 things to do in 1001 days.  I did not want this to just be a list of random things; I wanted this list to mean something.  To me, this list is about being fearless. 

Taylor Swift says it best: “To me, Fearless is not the absence of fear. It's not being completely unafraid. To me, Fearless is having fears. Fearless is having doubts, lots of them. To me, Fearless is living in spite of those things that scare you to death.” There are far too many things that I am afraid of:  Flying, heights, guns, snowboarding, surfing, etc.  There are so many things that can get you hurt if you are not careful.  My fears are keeping me away from living.  There are more car accidents than skydiving accidents or shark attacks.  The odds seem to be in my favor. 

In January 2012, I began on a journey to challenge myself in my fears, and to stretch myself as a person. I have decided to not allow myself to dream of things that will never happen.  To date, I have completed 63 of my goals, with 6 in progress, and 32 more to complete.  I've traveled to Europe, went skydiving, snowboarding, got fake arrested, held a tarantula, danced with strangers, rode a motorcycle, tried Ethiopian food, based all of my decisions off of a Magic 8 Ball for a day, started this blog…the list goes on.  This has, by far, been my best 475 days of my life!  It has led me to new experiences and some pretty exciting and awesome memories. 

Moving on, I have began reading "The Time Traveler's Wife," and I love it!  There are definitely some odd moments that make you think, "what in the world!?" For the most part, I really enjoy it.  Hopefully it will be finished by next week.

Next, we all know I have been working my butt off in The Dungeon with Jamie and Josh, so this week I decided to take a few progress photos.

I did not expect to see this kind of progress!  
The top two photos are from March.  My friend, Jessica had sent these photos to me, but I hated them, so I never saved them to my phone.  I am happy I kept the messages though because they are a great measurement of where I started.  
My hips and my back are what really amazed me!  I did not realize how horrible I looked while I was in that body, but seeing the progress - wow!
We work hard in The Dungeon, pushing ourselves through the breaking point and into a whole new level of fitness.  Everything is about tightening and toning!

I am finally starting to feel confident in myself, and for the first time, I feel as if my goals are actually reachable.  I am going to love this summer. :]
If you are really wanting to make a change in your body, please contact Jamie on the link above.  You will never regret a decision to make yourself more fit and healthy!

I've also decided to add another fitness goal to my Day Zero Project list: Climb the rope at The Dungeon!  Jamie, let's do this!

In other news:  "The world's most expensive swimsuit is a bikini that costs $30 million. It's made with more than 150 carats of diamonds all set in platinum."
(Follow UberFacts on Twitter)

-jennilea

     

The Breaking Point

Today, I'm going to start with Lifetime Movie Monday!
Title: 12 Hours to Live

My guess: A woman is told (by a psychic) that she is going to die in 12 hours, so she decides to do all the things she has ever wanted to do. She gets crazy, has fun, finds love, and then dies...all in 12 hours...

Actual plot: "Eighteen-year-old Amy is having a bad day. Not only has she been kidnapped by a deranged gunman, but as a diabetic without her insulin, her chances of survival are diminishing with each tick of the clock. FBI agent Megan Saunders isn't walking on sunshine either, since this madman killed her partner when Megan hesitated to pull the trigger. Now Megan won't stop till she nails this guy, but can she save Amy before her time is up?"

Once again, Lifetime has created a ridiculous plot. Ha!

I finished reading "The Lucky One," last week. It was nice to envision Zac Efron as the main character throughout the book. Ha! It was difficult to get into the book, at first, but as I started reading and getting to know the back story of each character, it got much better.  My favorite parts were the flashbacks that Thibault frequently had. I also liked how the author, Nicholas Sparks, wrote the each chapter from the perspective of a specific character. It allows the reader to see the feeling behind the actions.  The book was okay, but not the greatest thing I've read.

This coming weekend, I will go to the library for my next book!

Now, let's get to some Dungeon talk! As many of you know, I've been working out in The Dungeon with Jamie and Josh. Each workout seems to test me like crazy. Last weekend, I hit the breaking point. I was challenged with staying in the squat position while doing 50 reps with arm weights.  The difficult part, if I stood up or sat down at all, I'd have to start all over.  I've done this workout with 30 reps before, and I felt like I hardly made it through those. I definitely failed before hitting 30, so 50 was unimaginable. After failing several times, I got to 43. My Dungeon family was cheering me on, saying I can do it, and offering encouraging words, yet at 43, my legs just dropped. I finally cried. This was the worst feeling of failure. I was so close to the end and tried so hard to push to 50 but I just couldn't.

As I sat on the ground, crying, Josh said "that is the breaking point, and it's a beautiful place to be." At the time, I couldn't understand why it was a beautiful place to be, but shortly after, those words began to have meaning. When I first began, I began feeling tired after the first ten reps and at one point, I was tired after five. In that moment, I had an option to stop and start over while I was still in the beginning of the set, but I pushed on.  I tried, I pushed myself further than I felt I was capable of, I was tired, but determined to make it. When I couldn't make it, I realized I had pushed passed what I thought was my limit and I am much stronger than I had ever believed. With a little more pushing, I will get to that 50.

Jamie walked over to me and said it was okay to cry and to let it out. So, I did, I just cried. She had me do some sprinting and try to control my breathing, then I had to come back, and start all over again. This time, I only made it to 38 before I fell again. I cried so hard. Jamie told me to get up and rep out the last 12, so I did. When I finished, Jamie tooled right in my eyes and said, "I am proud of you. That was tough, but you still went for it. I am proud of you." Those words were golden.

Since then, I've encountered this same challenge. 30 doesn't feel so bad, but 50 is still a challenge - but I have gotten there (tear free).

I love everything I've taken in from this experience. Also, a result update: I've lost 24.5 inches in 5 weeks. :]]

Upcoming, I've decided to add 365 days of Thank You to my list. The goal is to write one letter every day, saying thank you for anything as simple as delivering mail, to more complex and life changing thank yous. This challenge is to encourage growth, development, and to just help me become more grateful for what I have.

Finally, instead of a fun fact, I am leaving you with a verse. I am going through something right now, for which I would love some prayer. This verse just spoke to be and really encourages me when I am in this place of defeat. With God, I am more than a conqueror:

"...in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." (Romans 8:37 NIV)

In the difficult times, I pray we can all find our hope and safety in God. 

-jennilea