Loves and Punches xxxxx

The exhaustion that I'm feeling tonight is throbbing in both my big toes. We did kick to knee combos and being the first challenge in a while and coming off of a 4 day hiatus, it left me shaking like a leaf.  

Roxy's Challenge: 

3 sets of 100 punches and 15 burpees on your gloves.  

oooh nellyyyy.....

Everything for me today was in slow motion, my timing with the connection of the kick and the knee was too far apart, the pivoting on my hook was yet again a problem.  I could continue on everything that was extremely lack luster, but I'm trying to stay positive.  I'm going to start pinpointing goals I want to work on and then add on weekly.  This weeks goal is definitely to pivot.  Although the floor is tough because its hard wood, its still no excuse to get lazy.  PIVOT!   

The class has started sparring, but due to other things I have not been able to attend a sparring class. I can't wait until this Saturday, it will be my first Muay Thai sparring match and from this I'll definitely be able to see what needs work. 

Mom and Dad were in town this weekend, it was awesome and restful.  We did our Costco run, which is tradition.  There's something about Costco that brings this safe and comfy feeling inside.  The three of us went counter to counter, tasting all the sample goodness they are known for, then it just seemed overwhelming and we all decided it was leave now or die.  It was one of our mellower visits, but I embraced it whole heartedly.  It was just so nice to pop in movie after movie, eat, chat, repeat.  

It's a weekend that I really needed.  

My eyes are closing, my knees are knocking, and my hands are weak from todays drills--all that and with a nice bowl of pasta in my belly, sleep is not going to be hard to surrender to.

Hugs and punches, xo.

and I need to work on this---and thissss----and that---

FIGHT:
Sometimes when I walk into class I feel like a warrior. My punches seem like they are cutting through the pads, the kicks land in the same place with a satisfying crack, my hips decide to move (which is something that they really don't appreciate doing).  and then there's the today's, where my hooks would be more useful holding cups of coffee, my kicks all land on my toes, and I hit myself in the forehead with the weights during our combos.
Yes, you heard me right......hit myself in the head with a weight.
hard.........
Its days like these that make me taste the blood in my mouth. Make me want to try harder. Push kick until my hips pop out of their sockets or until my hips pop at least 10 times in a row (without me doing my little hip dance before hand).
It's days like these that create the fighter in any walk of life.  It's the valleys that make you crave the peaks. It's the memories of those "can't get out of bed days", that make you proud that you did.
Fucking up is always ok, as long as you learn from it and grow from it.
I always fill a little full of shit when I go off on these sorts of rants.  And you know it's nothing new and I also know, that I don't always walk the walk.  But what I can say is that life works a lot better when you work towards your dreams, no matter what they may be.

FOOD:
There isn't a lot I haven't eaten lately. If there's junk in front of me, I'll eat it. If there's crazy healthy stuff in front of me, I'll eat it.  So the goal is basically, anything in hands reach should be somewhat considered a food group.  Jess was in town and we ate our way up Santa Monica Blvd and down the others.  Mexican, Sushi, Mimosa's, massages, there's something magical about a girlfriend coming in town.
and getting back to reality....

FILM:
Alright, alright, I'm in BBC heaven right now.  After my round with "Daniel Deronda" I fell in love with a British Actress Romola Garai. There is a Masterpiece Version of "Emma" with her in the title role along with Johnny Lee Miller. I'm convinced I was born in the wrong time period, how fabulous would it be to be a Victorian Lady by day, bare knuckle fighter by night? I mean, it's possible right?????  There's also a kick ass Sherlock Holmes with Rupert Everett as Sherlock and it's just fantastically done (and without all the special effects, which I love Holmes not matter who plays the title role, but it should concentrate on the kick ass characters more than the well, millions of brawls--just sayin').  This is the season that I should be hitting up the movie theatre's, seeing every film that's getting buzz this awards season. You know I didn't even know that the Golden Globes were on until they were over?  Anyone who knows me would be checking my head for a fever about now, but the home theatre watching seems to be more my speed.  I'm eagerly awaiting "Sherlock", an updated BBC version, but someone in my Netflix area has it hanging out on their DVD player because there has been a long wait FOREVER.
so for the love of Pete, will ya please mail that mother in?
danke.

It is time to bid farewell, I left my 3 minute peel on for 15 minutes and I have a feeling that the redness may not go away overnight. Ah well, something to go with my head wound :)

Brown butter, Butternut Squash, and Ring Bouncing

FIGHT:
Having a boxing ring in the temp space has been a hell of a lot of fun.  The excitement of the other gals, the new space, and the motivation of the teachers is amazing.  Everyone seems to be riding that high and working at the top of their game.  Saturday & Sunday were fun ring days, bouncing off the ropes following up with a crazy hard cross, footwork, its been awesome and inspiring.

FOOD:
One of my favorite things to make is chili.  Not quite sure when it all started, I used to make the Bear Creek premix back in SLC when I would throw parties. I was the only gal who carried around a crock pot from apartment to apartment throughout my 20's.  Its something that I really love making, sharing, and trying new things to throw into the pot.  This time, I used my Cooking Light's recipe of Chili Verde.  Trader Joe's had some amazing peppers that I sliced and diced. I want to share the recipe, as it is seriously delicious.

Green Chile Chili
1 Tbsp. Canola Oil (I used coconut)
12 oz ground sirloin
1 1/2 Chopped Onion
1 Tbsp. Chili Powder
1 Teas. Paprika
5 Garlic cloves minced
1 bottle of dark beer
1/2 c salsa verde
1 (4oz) can of diced green chilies
1 (15 oz) can no-salt added tomatoes, undrained
1 (15 oz) Kidney Beans
optional: cheese to grate on top and green onion chopped
-In a large pan, add oil and turn to med-high heat.  Add sirloin, cook until done and crumbling.  Add Onion, chili powder, and paprika. Stir occasionally for 4 minutes.  Add garlic, saute for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Stir in the beer, bring to a boil--cook for 15 minutes, or until most of the liquid evaporates.
-add the Salsa Verde, add the rest of the ingredients up to the cheese. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I love to add different things each time and since I looooove the heat, there is always cayenne pepper and jalapenos. And if you are short on time, which I always seem to be, the precut onions and frozen chopped garlic are definitely lifesavers. The beautiful thing about this is it makes a ton, you can share, have a couple lunches, and it freezes beautifully.

Tonight I made Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Butter Sauce.  It took me all of 10 minutes to make, it was delicious, and easy to clean up.  Gotta love Trader's and their delicious experiments. The Sage Butter sauce was courtesy of Epicurious.com.

FILM:
I have been sucked into the world that is "Friday Night Lights".  Anyone who knows me probably can't wrap their head around it, but that first season was amazing.  It seems when things are crazy, episodic TV is just what the doctor ordered, I can veg and be hypnotized.  I'm trying to get the juice and material to hit the storyboards again.

So here I am on a Sunday night, a crazy week of work ahead of me and training at night.  You can only imagine how the house is looking about now and I have one of my best friends coming next weekend, then the following my Parents.  Time to splurge and bring in reinforcements.
Goooooood Griiiiefffff....

Exhausted with a side of Wendy's

LIFE:
Sometimes you have all these things that come into your life and make it really busy. Sometimes these things choose you, rather than you choose them.  Sometimes, your arms ache and you have to buck up because you have a client meeting in 20 minutes.
Sometimes, we have to keep things in perspective and realize how lucky we are.

We are still in the temp space. I've traded off shoes, no shoes, shoes, no shoes.  The hardwood floor makes it hard with the pivoting on kicks because it fees like---hmmm....I don't know...FIRE??????? Last nights class truly was all about upper arms, when I woke up this morning, I FELT SO HUGE!!!! I was like my arm muscles doubled in size and they were these hard rocks that I was terribly proud of.
Until they started to burn.
Then ache...
Then pulse....
I thank the 8hr cancellation policy my teacher enforces, because days like today--I would have flaked and couched out after work.  But since there is that policy,  well, at 10am this morning I was still admiring my guns, nothing had started to have it's own heartbeat yet.

So to class I went, over the crowded Hollywood streets and searching high and low for a parking space that didn't have a "we will ticket the hell out of you if you park here" sign, I finally found myself to the temp space with a full crew. Like always, the pulsing and craziness leaped from my body as soon as the jumprope warm up period ended.
What I didn't expect was the deep hunger that entered my belly as soon as I left the gym.
-double cheeseburger--no lettuce, no tomatoes
-spicy chicken sandwich--no lettuce, no tomatoes
Both devoured by the time I got to Fairfax.
I have no idea what the people driving next to me thought, ketchup on the side of my face, mustard on my arms...
but hell, it was good....it was damn good.
and what do you know, no dishes :)

a tidbit before bed.....

the feeling of a jumprope rapping your cold toes, is a sensation that I could live a million years without....

oooh Mother Mary the pulse....

My first mouth guard....

FIGHT: Its Saturday night and I just finished folding my 4th load of laundry.  After a delicious night of sushi last night (and far too much saki) and the night before celebrating the twins bdays until wee hours of a school night, I embrace the couch time.
The laundry not so much, but it was a necessity.

Today was the first class in the temp space.  It's always so weird in a new space because you feel like you're invading someone's home.  The last gym was very cozy, this one is over double in size--and it has a ring, (YES!!)  It was a foreign concept to spread out during drills, but it was awesome.  This Saturday we were all about the push kicks.  PK Combos with punches and body kicks flowed nicely, but my
hip's have a real issue with extending the way one needs to extend to put some power behind it.  I also held for one of the other teachers, which is always great because I get to watch her footwork, her stance, and the way that you can't tell that she's going to strike.  Leaving today I had my mind full of things that I need to work on, the force of my push kicks, the power of my cross, the snap of my body kicks.  It's the reason that I do this, constantly learning, constantly being humbled, and constantly trying my best.
Plus there's always class tomorrow where I learn a bit more and get a bit better every day.

The coolest thing about next Saturday is that we're starting sparring drills.  This is such a huge thing and I can't even tell you how excited I am to get my ass handed to me.  When I got home and started my crazy laundry day, I jumped online to Fightergirls.com, ordered a mouth guard, along with some kick ass camo board shorts, and some pull on shin guards (my leather ones w/ the Velcro like to shift around too much on my legs, leaving me unprotected during kick drills).

My only experience in sparring was in Boxing, even then it was a mere 3 times. Its scary how quickly everything that you have learned is forgotten the second a fist clocks you in the head.  The first time I was hit, I stood there mute & dazed with my gloves down.  It was as though I was shocked that you  actually get  hit! The second time, I threw some good punches but still took a lot.  The third time I felt the adrenaline and it was AWESOME, as well as exhausting, it was my best of the bunch.
Unfortunately that was 3 months ago.
With Muay Thai it's even trickier.  There are elbows, knees, & kicks to go with those punches, all of which hurt...bad.....
So this is a huge step in the right direction as well as a big challenge for me.  There are 5 classes between now and then, I'm going to make each session count.
It will be awesome.

FILM: Watched "Field of Dreams" as well as "Poltergeist", no there is no hidden connection between the 2 except when I finished the feel good F.O.D. there was this crazy urgency to see that blond girl get sucked into the TV.
God I love that movie.
I'm going to finish the night off in bed watching episode 3 of Walking Dead, we'll see if I can curb the nightmares this time.  Making it an early night, as class is at 11 and I really want to work on the issues I had today.

FOOD:  Tomorrow I'm going to make this very interesting recipe from my Cooking Light Mag.  It's Beef Tangine with Butternut Squash.  The dish has so many interesting spices, a little Paprika--a little Cinnamon--and it's served over a Scallion Couscous.  This will make enough for dinner & at the very least lunch on Monday.  There's also this spicy goat cheese spread with endive that looks amazing.  After trying these bad boys out, I'll post the recipes if they are good.
If they suck, well, why would you want to cook something that sucks?  You sick or something?

Night-night, don't let the Zombies bite.............

the first day back blues

BACK TO WORK!!!
It's never easy settling back into a routine especially when you've spent the last 10 days throwing it out the window.  But I made it--hooray for small miracles--though I would be lying if I said I didn't sprint to the car and speed all the way home.

RELEASE..........
After my 20 minute power nap, I was able to get ready for class, and punch stuff. Ahhhhh, how I love when exercise is disguised by good clean fun.  Even though I could do without the jump rope whacking on my cold toes---oooh the burnnnnnn...

Today we worked on defense combos, which always feel awesome, awesome, awesome.  I love when you can work through a combo enough times to get to a confident place. I have such a great feeling about this year and getting mad Muay Thai skills.  After watching the fight on New Years, I was rudely snapped into the reality of the size of goal I've made for myself.
1 step at a time, the mountain will be climbed.

Since my goal is spread throughout a 2 year time period, I just need to set steps and work towards them. My biggest goal is to start sparing on a regular basis.  In the space that we occupy right now, its not an option.  However--the exciting part of all of this--is my teacher has accomplished a goal of her own and her dream of opening up her own gym has come true.  With the new gym comes more classes and options.  Truly lovely how the universe connects.  Meanwhile, as I pull my floating body back down to earth, this girl needs to work on her low kicks and push-ups.
Oh lorddyyyyyy, the push-up.
My enemy, my foe, my nemesis.
I refuse to spend another year starting out strong then having to drop to my knees mid circuit, its time to do it proper---like a big girl.

MEANWHILE BACK AT THE RANCH:
After class, I made some kick ass pork fried rice, added every veggie I could find in the place, and spiced it up until my nose ran.  It was awesome to have a moment, chomp on deliciousness, and zone out on "Doctor Who".  

Now at 11pm my hips ache, the legs are restless, and my mind wants to pass out.  I'm hoping that in the next 15 minutes, we all get on the same page.
Over and out..............

New Years, New Years, lalalala-la-la-la-la

Well, I expected to completely hate the holidays this season.
Nothing was planned and lets face it, the lack of a plan leaves me feeling very odd, cold, and fragile.  Its as though the Universal Rachel List was shredded in front of my very eyes--causing me to cough, sputter, and pass out.
Basically me without a plan is like a turtle getting its shell ripped off.
Anyway, back to the woman without a plan for the holidays.

CHRISTMAS:
I am going to admit that Christmas Eve was a little odd and lonely.  But it was nothing a couple glasses of wine, a kick ass steak dinner, and a good movie couldn't cure.  The next morning I drank my coffee while listening to rocking Holidays Tunes on Pandora, called Mom & Dad, then packed the car with Johnny goodies to head over to the old homestead to chill with friends.  Opening gifts, we both had our health in mind...the smoothie machine I picked out for him matched the Kettlebell he bought for me.  After uncorking the first bottle of Champagne and popping my Wii cherry, this was officially the most awesome drama free Christmas a girl could ask for.  Movies, grill cheese, tomato soup, and of course 2 bottles of Champagne later, I decided that the downsizing of the holidays was definitely in order because you actually get to enjoy everyone and everything going on.
Everyone left smiling and feeling the love.

THE UNEXPECTED TIME OFF:
Well, enough said.  The times are hard and our industry is definitely feeling the squeeze.  We were told about a week and a half before Christmas that we would be taking time off the week between Christmas and New Years.  My goal was to just work through Christmas this year to be able to have enough vacation time to leave the country next year, so this was a bit upsetting.
Though after living it, I was very grateful for the week of relaxation.
I woke up Monday at 10 am, without an alarm clock, and I met my Partner in Crime for a delicious lunch of cheese enchiladas with mole and a few Margaritas.  Afterwards back at de casa, we watched DVD's and made out on the couch, making it the perfect Monday.  For Christmas My PIC had given me a spa day.  Tuesday, I was able to steam, detox, massage, eat apples, drink spa water, and sauna.  The rest of the week was filled with Muay Thai, films, sleep, and I honestly can't believe how fast Friday came.

NEW YEARS EVE:
Ah New Years, you holiday of holidays.  The holiday where expectations are so high and hopes are dashed by 12:01am.  Where the start of the night you look like a rock star, perfect hair, tiny dress, sipping liquid happiness out of sexy flutes and the end of the night you gaze out amongst a sea of faceless people with mascara bleeding onto your cheeks, a ripped seam, and a stained dress that's cutting off your circulation, with the porcelain goddess down the hall calling for your immediate presence.

This is not coming from a judgy place, I am fondly reminiscing of New Years gone by.....

I couldn't have dreamed up a more perfect New Years if I tried.  One thing that I miss about home is the ability to just chill.  Drinking beers and conversation, throwing darts (don't you find it weird that they provide drunk people with weapons?), playing the jukebox, and singing out loud along with the rest of the bar.  I'm sorry, this to me is awesome....and very, very different than what my life has been the last decade.  My move to LA was so necessary and I wouldn't have changed a day of it.  I have been able to do things that not even I could have conjured up in my wildest dreams.

But its 2011 and I want comfort.
Comfort in my skin, my job, my friendships, my family, and my relationship.
and apply a few mantras:
Back to Basics.
Less is more.
and in the words of the great John Lennon
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans"

Happy New Year everyone!!