And she's back!

My monkey is back and I can't be happier! Yes, I lose a lot of freedom but that is parenthood and I wouldn't trade it for anything. She was so happy to see me and we missed each other so much. I am back to my routine of cooking and gym as I won't be able to ride much until I either get a trainer or a Nanny.

I already made a vegetable lasagna for the week, I am cooking a stir fry tonight and a few other things to have ready and go back to my healthy vegetarian habits. My gym schedule is ready for the next couple weeks and I can't wait to see how my body keeps changing for the better. Even Michael noticed my legs, besides I keep getting compliments... that was nice to hear.

Next week it will be a ton of spinning at the gym so I don't lose what I have built so far on the bike, that combined with tread mil and swimming and of course my other favorite gym activity "Centergy"!

I got a new book on vegetarian and can't wait to try all the yummy new recipes! I also survived a massive lay off at work so an offer for a permanent position is soon to come. That will help with the finances and my plans of going back to school and moving closer to Atlanta.

Life is good and I can't be grateful enough for all the blessings I have been provided with. Yes I miss my friends and Chicago but if this is where I need to be for now I am OK with that. I hope my BFFs get to come and visit again, would love for my sis to make it too, hopefully I can make it up there soon. 

I guess that's it for now!

XOXO

CM

This woman just speaks to my heart

ADELE - SOMEONE LIKE YOU

My bro in town

So this weekend was definitely another fun one. My brother drove up from FL to visit with one of his friends and we had a blast. We didn't have much time to spend together but we did have fun as always and I got to go zip lining, which was tons of fun.

On Saturday we went to Banning Mills to hike and zip line, this place is beautiful and pretty close from where I live. We got there at around 2ish and were there for about 5 hours, the weather was beautiful, a bit hot but sunny and beautiful.

This was while hiking... I wish I have had my bikini because the water was absolutely perfect! It was so quiet and peaceful, we definitely had a great time and I can't wait to go again and take Sophia.

This was one of the last lines we did and boy was it fun. I definitely want to go back and do some of the longer lines now. We would have done it Saturday we wouldn't been starving.

That night we went out to RA for drinks and then to an Irish bar down in Midtown, it's good to be able to get out with friends.

Thanks Kaco and Tom for an awesome weekend, can wait to do it again ;)

XOXO
CM

Getting there...

So today I did a brick training, 9 miles bike and a 2 mile run. I gotta say, love doing this with my new friend Sharon, she is so awesome to ride with specially with me being a newbie. The ride  went really well, I didn't fall and I was being able to keep moving while pedaling with one pedal while trying to click the second... WINNER!

As usual the start of my run was not pretty and I had to take it easy but once it started raining I guess my mood changed and I enjoyed the rest of the run. Very excited that I have someone to do this bricks with, next week we will probably do a bike/swim - the swim in the lake that is =/

Anyway, I hope I can keep this going after Sophia gets back. My little munchkin is coming back in 2 weeks and I just can't wait to have her little butt up here!

This is all for now... Tomorrow my brother is driving up with one of his friends but that will be an entire post itself ;)

XOXO
CM

BFF Love!

This was a very special weekend, my BFF Shannon who I miss greatly every single day I'm away from Chicago came to visit... with her, her daughter Kali. As usual it was ridiculous fun, but most importantly it felt just like if we had seen each other every single day of these past 7 months. Oh how I miss my BFF, we have so much in common, we love the same things, hate most of the same things and it's just easy to be together and have a great time.

They got here Thursday past midnight after a long 15 hr car ride, I had everything prepared for them to crash but they still stayed up for a bit to catch up. It was nice for them to see where I live, it was their first time here so saying I was excited was an understatement.

The weekend was packed with outdoors fun and adventure, Friday I had to work so unfortunately our only plan was watching Harry Potter in the city and doing dinner at Rosa Mexicano. It was a midnight function so we didn't get home until about 2 a.m. not the greatest idea as we had a 3 hr drive in the morning to Tennessee to go whitewater rafting.

In the A.M. we got up super early and got ready for our next adventure, Level 3 & 4 whitewater rafting, something I've been wanting to do since the moment I got here. We drove for about 3 hrs to Ocoee, TN and boy was it fun! Not only we were told we were the funnest group the guide have had in a while but we rescue a guy that fell of a raft! We were the fastest and strongest paddlers in our group of 8 rafts... Woot Woot! 

Further down the river we went into Hell Hole, all the sudden I hear "DOCK!" that means there is a fall coming or some rock that will catapult you out of the raft... Well our raft got stuck on a hole sideways leaning on a rock and we almost tipped over. Phew, that would have been quite a rescue since there were 6 of us in the boat plus the guide. 

The drive back was a bitch... Our Raft time wasn't until 2 p.m. and the it takes about 3 hours to complete, we were not back to the camp until almost 6 p.m. and pf course then we had to shower, change and then look for a place to eat! We didn't get home until 11 ish and we had an early start the following day... Our plan? A 35 mile ride  on a Tour de Georgia course!

Yes, this is the insanity we were approaching and to add to it it was my 1st ride not only on my new bike which wasn't a big deal but my 1st ride on my clipless pedals. This ride was A BITCH! I could not believe the climbs, I thought I was going to die, lol! and getting back on the bike with the stupid pedals on a hill was not easy... did I fall? I certainly did, but it was not a bad fall and it's definitely out of my system and I am no longer scared... lol! 

Did we finish? No but we did 20 miles of that insane course, on the way back and down we were going almost 40 mph in descent and I had my brakes in as hard as I could the entire way... pretty freaking scary! It was an amazing view, a killer workout and an awesome time. 

I have to say my BFF can rock the cycling look... as well as the freaking climbs! After surviving this climbs we were definitely starving, we drove to this little German town called Helen for some food and beer and boy did this hit the spot!

After this is was time to drive back home, about 2 1/2 hours... Kali was waiting for us after laying in the pool all day! To finish it classy we took her to Hooters. The weekend was over way too soon and I can wait for them to visit again. I miss Shannon more than anything and she is one of the reasons that I have a hard time imagining my life anywhere but in Chicago. I keep saying to myself that this is temporary and it freaks me out that I love my job, that I am starting to like certain things about this area because I do not want to develop any ties that keep me to going back!

Well, this was an awful long post but that's how much fun this weekend was!

XOXO

CM

My BFF is coming to visit!

So this week I am super excited! My BFF Shannon and  her daughter Kali are coming to visit and I have an entire agenda for us =). Since she is bringing her bike we are going to be riding, on top of that we are white water rafting in Helen and probably hitting the wineries too.

I miss her so much and can't wait for her to see my place, the area I live in, the places I go to and what this city has to offer. I wish we had more time than just a weekend but a weekend is definitely better than nothing!

I am looking into routes in the North GA mountains to ride with her, it is supposed to be pretty hilly but absolutely beautiful, not only we will get an awesome workout but we will enjoy the scenery and get some cool pics ;)

Have I mentioned I'M EXCITED?

LOL

CM

QUIT STALKING!

YOU ARE PATHETIC!

Last Sunday!

As some of you know I've been riding for a few months and I am now training for an Olympic triathlon. Until now I had been renting a bike from Trek, they have an awesome program where they actually credit EVERY rental towards the purchase of a new bike. After many weeks of rentals if was finally time to pick up my bike! I introduce to you Lexa SL!

Isn't she beautiful? I am so excited to own a bike again, and this time one I will actually ride. I also went ahead and bought clipless pedals and the respective shoes to make the transition and even though it freaks me out quite a bit I am very excited. I rode a little around my neighborhood Sunday afternoon and it didn't feel that bad.

I can't wait for my BFF Shannon to get here on Thursday, she is coming to visit and since she's driving she will bring her bike with which means tons of riding next weekend! I am so excited to have her with Kali... I miss her so much!

This is definitely a happy week, can't wait till the weekend!

XOXO

CM

A different weekend

This weekend was quite different to the rest of my summer, mainly because it involved a new guy. After several dates "new guy" has been very consistent and remains interested and I guess so do I. Until now all dates had been out and about, but you can only dodge the come to my place thing for so long, lol! So here it was, he was inviting me over to go ride on "the greenway" a bike path near his place, pool and home cooked dinner (he's a chef). What was I supposed to say?

We went for an awesome ride, by the way... He totally kicked my butt because the ride to and from the greenway was hilly as hell. Then went to his place, of course I had to shower which kinda had me freaked out, but he had towels, shampoo, conditioner, etc. set up for me on the second bathroom to give me my space, and did movies and dinner. During dinner we of course had wine and since my place is about an hour away the question came up, did I want to spend the night?

Let me tell you something about me, after long periods of being single I hate sleeping with someone either on my bed or sleeping at theirs! Why is it so hard and awkward for me? I am always extremely aware of me moving and waking the other person up, invading their space, etc. I know I over think it, but I just can't help it. I remember the first night at Dave's, I left at like 5:30 am with the excuse of traffic, really?

So after 7 months of single-hood I decided it was time for me to deal with this again, I like him, he likes me... Just do it! and I stayed the night. It was better than I expected, very nice, he was sweet and made me feel welcomed, but of course I slept horrible because I was afraid to wake him up. I was hot, I was cold, I wanted to go to the bathroom but tried holding it so I wouldn't wake him up... Geez! So guess what? I'm writing this from home, my excuse this time? Church! Lol! I woke up at 7:30 ish and told him I had to get going because I was supposed to meet my girlfriend at church at 9:30 am.

I guess I have to do it more often so I break the awkwardness of it all, in the mean time I will take it easy, I'm sure he will understand. BTW, dinner was delicious... He's fit, stable, handsome, and cooks amazing... Jackpot! Lol

This is all my friends!

XOXO
CM

Will it ever go away?

Today is one of those rough days where I am just overwhelmed by sadness. After infinite attempts to forget him days like today remind me that the process might have been easy and smooth for him, but that for me it's just not that simple. Today I miss him as if I just had left, I am sobbing as I write this because my heart loves him so and for months now I thought that by not writing, saying or admitting this it would go away. All it does is give me this pressure on my chest that increases with time and that just goes away every so often when I pour my heart out crying.

So today is one of those days... I just miss him so, I miss what we had, our family, our jokes, his monkey hands, the way he looked at me and the whole world disappeared, the way he kissed me, held me, the way nothing mattered as long as we were able to be together and hold each other. He was my everything, my lover, my knight, my best friends and I miss him. I sometimes wish I could at least have him as a friend, that he still cared about me, about Sophia, that I could know how he was doing, how Ty was doing. That I would get to see pics of the little man, that I could see them once more at least as friends.

I long for the day this doesn't hurt, the day I am able to remember him with no anger or sadness. I wish I could move on just how he did, quick and easy, although I sometimes wonder if what he has is even real. Anyone that loved how we did cannot just forget and cannot just move on, so I wonder if while he lays in bed with her he thinks of me, while he holds her hand he still wishes it was mine, if he ever misses me like I do.

All I can say is that I will keep working on me, I'll keep trying to heal and hoping that sooner than later I can be free again to love once more as I loved him.

CM

Fun Fun Fun!

What a fun weekend this has been, super active and just fun! It started Wednesday with an awesome date to this Italian restaurant in Atlanta "Veni Vini Dice"... Can I say amazing? The appetizers were incredible, the entree - Ossobucco! it was unbelievable. Awesome wine, because of course my date was very knowledgeable and a Creme Brulee for dessert... Delish! 

Thursday I went to movies under the stars with a friend and they were playing Grease, love doing that, next week is The Wizard of Oz! You bring a blanket, food, some wine and voila... you have a picnic! On Friday (which we had off) we  woke up, grabbed our bikes and went to Stone Mountain. It was my first time there, we rode on the bike path for a while, boy those hills kicked my butt! and then a hike all the way up to the top of the mountain. It was an AMAZING workout! Then pool for a while with Thais and Carmen =)

In the evening, my Wednesday date took me to a Braves game... My very first one, that was super fun! and we won ;) We watched the entire game, drank yard long margaritas, ate jumbo dogs and enjoyed everything a baseball game has to offer, very cool stadium by the way. After the game he dropped me off in Atlanta to meet the girls and went out for a bit to Phipps.

Yesterday morning we went for a 5 mile run.... oh the heat! I thought I was going to die... Then ate a salmon salad that my friend Thais made for us and went to the pool to work on the tan... again! In the evening, another date, lol! First date but was fun, tons in common so he's getting a second one. Tomorrow we are going to ride together, luckily we talked about speed so he's bringing his mountain bike instead of the road bike, lol!

Today it's church and then date number 3 with Braves guy... We are going zip lining, another first for moi! That's after I do my workout, gotta swim some today! and then we are going to hang out by the lake down where he lives. 

I definitely have been enjoying my time off and been keeping a very active lifestyle, I just feel happy! I'm getting in awesome shape, I'm doing things I love, I'm enjoying the city... what else can you ask for?

This is it for now, I hope you peeps are enjoying your long weekend too!

XOXO

CM