I know I shouldn't be... but the travel bug's got me hooked! So during my free time, I'm scanning around for new deals... (Peru's looking pretty good right about now! :D)
Africa's coming up in December, but I'm already thinking what to do for next year... ack horrible! > . < I'll end up being one of those people who end up in debt because they travel too much.
The "list of stuff to do" is slowly dwindling down as December approaches! It's down to 3 now. . . > Long Beach Marathon > Pasadena 1/2 Marathon > Congo Missions
of course there are the new ones creeping up. . . > Moving out (due by 2008) > Classes (due by 2008) > Finally buying that darn laptop! (eh, hopefully due by 2008) > Finally buying that darn slr! (eh, hopefully due by 2008 also)
Yesterday, in bible study we were going over self control, self discipline... and just thinking about how much like the Israelities, we too don't do the things that we know we should do.
David mentioned that sometimes need to be motivated by "the carrot", or basically something that gives us the motivation/hope to carry on. There were other topics that we discussed, but I'll try to keep it concise as to the applicability of this in some of things going on in my life.
A few weeks ago, I was feeling somewhat discouraged about the Congo trip because it felt like I was working towards something that I didn't really know what the goal looked like. And although, I knew the reasons why I was going (help out the missionaries and install a lighting system), there seemed to lack a "heart" moment where I personally felt connected to the what we were setting out to do. That was until I saw a video that was posted about the 2006 Congo Trip. Watching it gave me a deeper understanding and connection of what we were going there for. Not only did it make me excited, but it felt like we were working towards something together - for something beyond ourselves, touching lives and people that we normally wouldn't be able to in the States.
So that's my "carrot" of the week. That's when I realized, how seeing and being connected to the goal is so important, because that sustains you to reach the goal. I wondered about the Christian life. . . and thinking about how it really does comes in crests, dips and equilibrium. . . but if you're able to see and connect with the end goal (to see the kingdom come). . . then that sustains you to follow despite the circumstances. It manifests itself in the choices and decisions you make at defining moments. . .
btw, is it just me or do a lot of mom's have a high pitched tone when they're distressed and need your immediate help to fix things?
meh!!!! i just woke up from a nice nap to get my mom freaking out that she can't reach her vmail. sigh. nap not as great as it could've been. my grooginess has yet to be lifted. but i guess now that it's all figured out ... she can now happily listen to her messages from her friends.
le sigh.
hehe. my friend, yuns (not his real name), says I should just say, "SCIENCE!" if she asks me another electronics related question. lolz. :p
zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. should probably go and buy shoes for tomorrow's festivities. some reason i keep losing what little pairs of shoes i have. they must be swallowed by the shoe monster or something. probably hanging out with the sock monster too much.
I was thinking lately how I should start to do more resistance/weight training (and maybe core...but I've long abandoned that idea lol!).
Two days ago, I tried to do some machines first before doing cardio. I realized I burned out so quickly! That was about 1/2 hr on machines and another 1/2 on elliptical and 5 min on stretching before I called it quits! Typically, I can do at least an hour on cardio, followed by 10 minutes on weights followed by 5-10 min stretching.
Yesterday, I said...screw it, this weights before cardio stuff isn't working for me. So I did my requisite cardio first (biking and running!) before working back up to the machines. Tim was around and figured he'd try to see HOW MUCH I CAN ACTUALLY DO! o.o So... game on? lol. I think the total came out to be something like this:
hip flexor machine : 70-90lbs some shoulder machine: er.. i forgot....60 lb or so ? tricep machine (?): 105lbs er...the butt machine : 250 lbs on each leg! woohoo!...and it wasn't that bad! I guess all that cardio translates into muscles at some point -_-. I forgot how many reps, but I could've piled on till 300lbs probably cuz my legs weren't feeling that tired...
Of course, at some point in the reps, Tim said, "huh I think you can do more." Being the great bf that he is ... he starts piling more weights and hands me the gloves... (har har har) o.o
At those points I was thinking," What the heeezzys!!!" Especially with the upper body machines...but who knew...I did more than I thought I could :).
Anyway...yeah that was kinda cool. My ab work still sucks though. So does my stretching. Not that my weight/resistance training is any better lol. But sometimes, this beats running in a straight line -_-" (Tim, THERE ARE HILLS YOU KNOW! :p Does this mean...I can teach you how to run a 1/2 marathon? ;D) I suppose the whole point of this entry was... doing cardio before weights works pretty well :)
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