Author: Varza

Yeah Shopping!!!

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Last night I headed to the new house and found out a few things.

  1. We need a light in the front room
  2. We need some chairs there because there are no seats what so ever in the house – which makes trying to feed a baby very difficult
  3. My child STILL hates his pack n play – he doesn’t want to be in it for more then a few moments… that’s gonna suck for when he has to go with me to the house
  4. Having bottle waters on hand

But all in all – I got a couple things done. I found the paint for his room. It wasn’t the exact colour we wanted but I found a blue paint a few shades darker/brighter on the oops shelf for $5.00. I dropped off the things we have already purchased: the faucet for the bathroom vanity, painting supplies, paint, garbage bags, baby supplies, etc. And I was able to get a couple of things done while DH finished installing the new locks on the house. As well as upping the heater about 5 degrees – because of the weather.

I think the things we found still in the house were the most surprising such as piles of garbage in the basement, a items we had no desire to have. I guess I was a little frustrated because when I sold my last home I made sure everything that was not the new owners was out of the house before hand and left it clean. I mean there was not a pile of trash and dust on the folding counter in the laundry room when we were last there. The sellers were very confidant that they left us a perfect home and also “gifted” us an old lawn mower that doesn’t work very well, a snow shovel (because they have like 10 at the new house) and a kids mattress in the storage room in the basement as well as bunch of other weird stuff. But it will get cleaned – that is why I bought the supplies for cleaning and lots of garbage bags.

We are getting things worked out – we found that to take the floor tiles off of the other tile is going to take a bit more work because it looks like they used globs of gorilla glue to put them in place… which was still sticky. The floor tiles we are taking up only go the edge of the cabinets so we don’t have to worry about having to take them out to re-tile. And I have an appointment tomorrow with not just a drywall person but also a plumber to put a gas line in the kitchen. We were going to do the kitchen and laundry but have decided to forgo the laundry. A gas dryer isn’t absolutly necessary… while for us a gas stove is.

As for today – we are snowed in which is wonderful so I did some administrative items. Trash pick up is now in order, change of address done with the post office (including getting the Lowe’s coupon we need!) and some more. Tomorrow after meeting with the plumber and drywall guy, the LO and I will be heading to The Great Indoors to pick up some drawer pulls then off to Lowe’s to buy some more supplies and tools for the house.

Now time to run because the LO is awake… laterz

And we have a house!

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Now, the first step of making our new home ours is done… paperwork is signed, they moved most of their crap out, got the keys – changed the locks, etc…

So here we go. Its time to get the real work started. Hubby did the first step with changing the locks on the house. Which ended up being a lot more work then before because the doors are older. In great shape but older. And he checked out the hardwood floors under the carpet in the house. I guess someone decided to not clean them before putting the carpet down. If we are lucky and we can just clean them our lives will be MUCH easier but of course, that may not happen.

Today we start the real work. I am waiting for the Little One (LO from here on out) to wake up so I can feed him and then head to the stores to buy what I need to start cleaning and some basics.

Here is our breakdown for now on the work we have to do

  • start cleaning – house has been on the market for a few months and its time to get the dust moved
  • tape first rooms to be painted – the very first is LO’s room and then the rest of the house
  • purchase paint supplies, paint
  • pull up carpet and clean wood – if need be… resurface them (please pray we won’t have to)
  • pull up floors in kitchen
  • take counter tops off of kitchen counters
  • carpet the top step of the stairs to basement
  • remove back splash tiles – bathroom white tile back splash and floor sticky tiles
  • remove tiles on walls in bathroom
  • remove old bathroom cabinet/sink
  • caulking everywhere
  • redo cabinets in kitchen – sand paint
  • possibly redo textured walls in kitchen
  • beadboard!!!!
  • molding
  • build shelving for LO’s closet and office closet
  • install cabinets in laundry room after painting and installing vinyl flooring
  • refloor basement bathroom

And that is the beginning… there is so much more, luckily a lot can be done after we move in but there is a lot that needs to be done before we can move in at all. Including a trip to New Mexico to pick up some furniture and some of my old things that are in Parental Storage at the moment.  Now, time to get the LO’s stuff ready for when he wakes up we can have a quick feeding and then get out the door.

But while he slept, I spent the afternoon learning how to take tile off of the walls without (hopefully) destroying the drywall so we won’t have to take the cabinets out and the reinstall them. I am glad we will be able to do this because it will save us a lot of time and money. Both of which are tight for this work. We have until the beginning of December to move in so we want to make sure certain things get done before we move in with the LO… he doesn’t need to be living in a mess. So, the kitchen (probably minus the counter top), bathroom, floors and his room are the most important. Having the highest priority we are going to be pushing to get them done soon. One of the benefits of having a month to do this, is also the move which will allow us to slowly move things over. Luckily, because we knew would be moving withing 8 months of coming to Colorado we did not unpack a lot of stuff.

Wish us luck! We will need it!!!

I keep saying…

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Its been a long time since I blogged but seriously there is so much going on that sitting down to blog is something I just don’t have a ton of time to do… until now. I am getting ready to start blogging a house renovation that my hubby and I are getting ready to start.

We are in the middle of purchasing a home in Colorado which we hope to have in hand by the beginning of November. Then we start a month of weekend renovations on the house. There are a couple big jobs but mostly repainting, repairing things, etc. But since we are going to attempt to do this out of pocket without racking up a ton of debt it is also becoming a mission of doing the job in many different ways.

1. Conscious of time constraints – we need to be able to do it all within 30 days
2. What can we do for the best with being careful on the amount of money we spend.
3. Uniqueness – watching a lot of reno shows and house hunting there is A LOT of the same things out there with homes.
4. Being smart – there are things we can not do on our own and things that we can do

Unfortunately we can’t renovate the entire house but we are starting with what will have to be done right away before moving in to start making our stamp on it.

Right now we are in the research phase and slowly starting to figure out what we want to do with which areas. The easiest being which paints to use. The house we are purchasing has some interesting colours on the walls, has some very bad painting done throughout the house, whoever lived there LOVED colour blocking and the idea of painting one wall one color and the rest another. As well as textures on partial walls.

So, watch for updates. I will post pictures of the house as we get closer and some info on products we found out there that are really interesting. But a quick run down of other things in my life… I moved to LA to be with my then fiancee, got pregnant, married, had a baby, moved to Colorado, still in school and now a stay at home mom. Unfortunately, I have gained all my weight back from what I have lost but I aim on losing that again so look for more posts on my workouts and dieting again.

Later gators!
Varza

Finally… I made it to the gym!

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For the first time in I don’t know how long but I finally made it. I joined a local Bally’s that is a stones throw from my new place in Los Angeles where I am living with my fiancee Omar. Oh yeah, I moved recently… but he and I are both getting on the healthy kick. Which means, no more frappacinos at Starbucks except once a week – where I will treat myself to their new low-cal ones and only the smallest one which is around 150cals and without whipped cream.

BTW, I noticed the other day when I was at the movie theater, the AMC at Universal Studios now posts the calorie count of their snacks. Very nice!!! Check out the theater near you and see if they do that as well. I am seeing this more and more in places. Outback Steakhouse has a special menu with the nutritional listed on it as well at the location. As them if they have it next time you stop by. They have a decent amount of selections of healthy meals and they have a mark next to the items that can be made low-calorie as well. Its nice to see this happening more and more. Let me know of any others you may see!!

So, I hoped into the car this afternoon – yes, I drove a block to the gym… I suck but it was frakking hot and I didn’t want to walk the streets in my workout clothes which consist of skin tight pants and my flabby butt. 😀
Warmup:

15m30s – treadmill, incline 5, speed 3.0

Work Out:

4×15 @ 30lbs – lat pull down
4×15 @ 30lbs – fly
4×15 @ 35lbs – back excercise

3 x 12 – back extensions – circuit with obliques
2 x 15 @ 45lbs – oblique machine, right side
2 x 15 @ 45lbs – oblique machine, left side

Assisted Chin Ups – counterweighted with 160# (so I lifted around 50-60lbs of my own weight) – 8 then 6 then 7
Assisted Dips – same as above – 9 then 7 then 5

Cool Down

17mins – elliptical weight loss intervals

Finished the workout with a yummy Syntha-6 protein shake!!!

Est. WO Time – 1h15m
Est. Cal Burn – 891 workout/3580 daily total
Est. Cal Intake – 1909… high on protein, low on carbs


Another Step in Life

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My posts on my blog of late have been pretty much non-existant for the past 6 months as I dealt with many things going on in my life. I figured I would take a few moments and write a quick blog to say I am still alive and all that fun stuff. Things have slowed down a little, since I am now a full time student and not working. I will be posting more later.

I will write more later – phone just rang

Dear Hollywood…

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Dear Hollywood Movie Makers,

So… we have come to the end of another “stellar” year of movies! Can you read the sarcasm in that statement? If you didn’t … then at least you are now aware that it was a sarcastic comment. I am writing you to make a request, okay several request, for the coming movie making years. Why am I doing this? Mainly because I am tired of the same crap and getting bored of walking out of the theaters dissatisfied with what I shell out my hard-earned money for.

Request #1 Can you please quit over marketing your films! Especially the big blockbusters like Avatar and any number of big action flicks… especially when they end up being boring because we have already seen the entire movie in trailers, product tie ins, myspace advertisements, etc. I am giving you money to already see a movie that I know all the big parts in? If your movie is really good it will sell itself. I want to see a movie in whole and not be tired of it before it is even out on the screen. This weakens my desire (and others that I know of) to even go see the movie yet alone enjoy it. I can understand that for some producers out there – they may not give a shit whether I enjoy the film as long as you get my money. This lets the world know that you are not movie makers but just cash cows. You don’t care about the film itself or the quality just that you get money to line your pockets. I know many of you learned that market tie ins like shampoo with movie characters on them et al at the altar of George Lucas (I do adore his films, well except for Howard the Dock, but he is the king of product tie-ins IMHO) it gets boring and take away from the magic of the movie itself.

Request #2 Throwing big names together in a romantic comedy does not a hit make. One of the worst rom-coms of the year was “The Ugly Truth” which made me feel that who ever cast it just looked at two actors they wanted and cast them. Not once having them meet in person and didn’t think of the chemistry that is needed to make a good rom-com. Richard Dreyfus and Nia Vardalos had more sexual chemistry. There were a few others over the years that were boring as hell for the same reason. On this note – while I love Amy Adams and she is the new Meg Ryan, please don’t over use her or she may lose her rom-com magic.

Request #3 Please get off the bandwagon of comic book movies – not every comic book needs to be made into a film. As we learned when we watched Daredevil and Elektra. And on that end of things – if you are going to make a movie from the comic quit screwing with the story and trying to make it more… more… more whatever the hell you call it when you mess up the storyline. And making new comics to tie into the movie so that your new cool storyline is now canon is idiotic. I went to see Wolverine to see the Wolverine story, instead of what I remember reading I got a whole new story of blah blah blah… AND! Too many villains means a bad movie. Come on! Spiderman 3 didn’t need 3 villains. Keep to one and focus on that damned story instead of a gazillion other ones and then we get BORED and confused and frustrated and want to write nasty letters online.

Request #4 When you translate a beloved book from the written word onto the screen please, please, please, please try to keep the soul of the book and/or story intact! Lord of the Rings is an amazing movie and they changed parts of it and moved things around but they KEPT the soul of the story alive which why the movies kicked ass and still do! Hire a writer or writers to translate the work who love the original work and don’t mess it up just to make their vision more important then the original.

Request #5 Take a lesson from the past, sometimes a simple story is better than a gigantic movie blockbuster… ie – Marty, made to be a tax right off and ended up winning oscars because it was a GOOD story!

Request #6 quit with the constant movie remakes! Yes, retelling the story of Dracula and the Wolfman over and over is good BUT retelling the story of Texas Chainsaw Massacre as a shot by shot remake… kinda boring. The original was good, it didn’t need to be remade. Oh and neither did Halloween with the whole new origin story. Nor do we need a remake of the following: Karate Kid, Bill & Ted, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Top Gun, etc etc etc… Star Trek did it well – told the beginning BUT with the twist of a new timeline then the original Star Trek so they can start all over again. And that movie showed that unknowns are sometimes better than getting a known actor for a lead. And taking chances – never thought Simon Pegg would be a perfect Scotty but he was! Oh, and I am still waiting for my remake of Clan of the Cave Bear… hello!? Sometimes the remakes are better but most of the time they are just pale imitations – like the Bad News Bears. Can you tell this is a sore point with me? Take a poll online and see how many people really want that remake of Nightmare on Elm Street?

Request #7 Please cut back on the number of movies you release and make better films instead. I only have so much time and money, as I am sure many others do, and would like to see more better films then a bunch of crap that I regret. Not every movie will be good just because you throw a bunch of money at it… most of the time it will still be crap.

Request #8 When you make zombie movies… can we have some realism please! Its zombieland! With 4 humans left roaming the US and they only come across a handful of zombies as they go from Texas to California? And let alone get to LA and there are only several dozens who attack the amusement park? In one of the most highly populated areas in the country?! Driving thru downtown LA and there are 2 or 3 zombies wandering around? Is this Zombieland or Zombie Small Town? Get James Gunn and throw money at him to write another  zombie movie like Dawn of the Dead… now that was a GOOD zombie flick!

I could keep going but I have a life to lead and a plane to catch. Just please Hollywood… I miss good movies. I miss summers when there were multiple big blockbusters that were big not just because you sold it well but because the movie was actually good. I want real story tellers telling movies not just going where the money is… you have to look at some of the smaller budget or the miracle movies that made it big in years past. No body wanted to try to sell a movie about a farm boy on a distant planet  but they took a chance and it paid out or believed in a movie like Marty was something anyone would want to see and it is still beloved today or that a 3 person film (including the director) that cost $11,000 would top the movies of the year or that a film school drop out from New Jersey would have a successful movie franchise because he made a movie he wanted to make or that … I could continue … I miss the Hollywood of Dreams and wish it was back instead of the Hollywood of Fads we seem to have today.

Or maybe I am completely alone on this?

I do want to add a quick thank you to those directors that follow their visions and go for it. Ignoring what may or may not be popular at the time but telling the stories they truly love for the sake of the story not the sake of just what comes into the box office. You make me continue to go to movies and hope for a better future of movies with souls like yours. I will not name names because people know who they are… You keep it alive. Thank you! This letter is not directed at you but those who only seem to care about the money.

Hey! You Still Alive Lady!?

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(this was originally written on 9-26-09 so its old news but I guess I didn’t hit publish, so no need to read it if you know all about my love life crap already)

Yes, yes I am! But life has just been in a transitional phase for me lately and let me give you a little run down.

I have stated in the past year or so that I was ready for a relationship and what not and yes, I got slammed by some people saying you don’t need anyone you can be happy on your own blah blah blah. And I was happy on my own but I also knew I was ready emotionally and mentally for a true blue relationship. Just over a year ago I stated this… and now, now I am with someone who makes me extremely happy. Now, I just have to say – this person is not new in my life. This is someone who I have been attracted to over a course of several years but I never thought I had a chance with – in fact, I tried to pursue it but things just never seemed to happen. The timing was never right… but suddenly, everything fell into place.

And here is why – I realized I was truly ready to let go of the past and move on. I was ready to fully give myself to someone 100%… and after thinking about what I really wanted, I realized that what and who I wanted was already in my life. He was just waiting for me to wake the hell up and really see what was standing in front of me for the past 6 years. Hell, according to him I was the only one not aware of it.

So, am I happy… hell’s yes. More then I could ever imagine. It just sucks that he isn’t closer.

Now, I do not regret not getting together sooner. I look at it as a positive. I have major major trust issues with guys and when you meet someone and then have to build up that trust in a romantic relationship – its not easy. I had 6 years of learning to trust this man and know that he was there for me and I also know that he walked into this relationship seeing my crazy side several times over. It makes it easier to get thru some of the rough patches because we know its worth fighting for and working through. Especially in a long distance relationship when it would be so easy to walk away from something just because there was a misunderstanding… we are using our friendship as a true building block to something more.

I can’t speak for him… I can only speak for myself. And I am not wholey comfortable opening up but I wanted to share this because some of you have been there watching as I struggled to open myself up to something real and go from hiding and being angry to seeing that I was ready to move on. I wanted it known – that when you really are ready, something amazing and beautiful can happen to you.

Now, to see where this goes… this is a journey I am so happy to be on.

2009 Halloween Costume

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I was thinking that this year would be a low-key Halloween. That I would just stay home on Saturday night and hand out candy but I really wanted to go out and have some fun or do something. I mean I LOVE Halloween! Love love love it!

So, a friend of mine and I will be co-hosting a party at my house with bad scary movies and just fun relaxing time at my place (I will be sending out the invites in the next few days to all my local friends!). This also means, that I now have to make a Halloween costume. Now, I could do my Slytherin costume again or one of my other costumes but I want to do something fun and a bit more just wacked out. And in truth – I sold or donated almost all my costumes this past year because of my weight loss. I do still have my Ren Faire costume that I purchased many years ago but in truth, its tight and uncomfortable and I don’t want to deal with a heaving bosom all night long. Especially when my beau won’t be there to enjoy it…

I thought long and hard, should I make something or just buy a costume in a bag or what… then suddenly this morning it came to me… I am going to be a “Grey’s Anatomy Gone Bad” – a bit of a play on the “Naughty Nurse” but with more blood… and more of my body being covered. This of course means that pretty much everything I need will be able to be purchased. Which means, I don’t have to cram sewing into my insane work/working out/school schedule that I have going on. And I can relax over my birthday trip to LA because I won’t have to think about a half-finished costume sitting at home on my floor waiting for me.

So what does one need for a “Grey’s Anatomy Gone Bad” costume…

Scrubs – obviously, some surgery/cutting instruments, props, wacked out hair and blood… lots and lots of fake blood because what is a Halloween costume without fake blood?

Fall Muffins

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Okay, I will say these aren’t oh yummy yummy like blueberry muffins. They are not overly sweet, or sweet at all when you first eat them but they have a flavourful after taste. I made this recipe up today because I was bored and felt like I would share and I named them “Fall Muffins” because the flavor reminds me of the fall…

p.s. if you don’t like them – not my responsibility. I made em, I like em… I posted the recipe… please note there is a splenda aftertaste… but that happens when ever you bake with splenda I have found but its not horrible.

I would suggest trying these with some butter if you want on them, while warm, or a bit of Apple Butter.

Dry Ingredients:

  • 1 Cup – Whole Wheat Flour
  • 2 tsp – baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp – baking soda
  • 2 tsp – cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup – crushed almonds
  • 3/4 cup – splenda
  • 1/2 cup – Quaker Instant Oats
  • 1/2 Cup – Vanilla Whey Protein Powder (I used EAS which is about 120cals a scoop, any other may add calories so just be aware)
  • 1 or 2 pinches of salt

Wet Ingredients:

  • 1/2 Cup – Reduced 2% Fat Milk
  • 1/4 Cup of Orange Juice (used Simply Orange)
  • 1 Large Egg Beaten
  • 1/2 tbsp – vanilla extract, pure
  • 2 tbsp  – I Can’t Believe Its Not Butter, Light Melted or Margarine of Choice (please note that if you go with something different, the cals may be different. ICBINB Light has 50 cals per tablespoon)

Fruit Ingredients:

  • 1 Apple – cubed (I used a medium Gala) and peeled
  • 1 Small Banana Mashed

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place about 20 – 35 almonds into a large bag, with a mallet or something, crush them into small broken almond bits.

Mix the dry ingredients by hang in a large mixing bowl. Put to the side.

In another container pour the orange juice and milk in together. Beat egg in a bowl then pour into the milk & orange juice. Keep the melted margainine to the side in a seperate bowl.

Pour the orange juice/milk/egg mixture in with the dry ingredients and stir by hand until well mixed. It will be lumpy but that is okay!

Pour the melted butter and fold into the mixture.

Add the cubed apple and fold into the mixture.

Add the mashed banana and fold into the mixture.

Mix by hand all the ingredients until you can tell everything is well mixed. It will look kinda of dry when mixed: Add about a dash more of the orange juice and the milk then stir only a few more times.

In a muffin pan, line with muffin/cupcake liners then fill with two large spoonfuls of the mixture into the liners. This will bring the mixture to the top. If you have some left over after filling it – just add a bit more to each one until you have no more left. It will look like below.

0830091814

Place into the oven and bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until you stick a tooth pick in and it comes clean.

This is your final product:

0830091944

Nutritional Information (estimated)

84g per serving

Calories: 175
Fat: 3.75g / Saturated Fat – .75g
Sodium: 114.75mg
Carbohydrates: 24.25g / Fiber 2.75g / Sugar 10.83mg
Protein: 7.5g

Workouts: 7-30-09 to 8-9-09

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7-31-09, Friday

Warm Up
15m – Elliptical, Weight Loss, Resistance 3
5m – Stretching
10m – Ballet Toning & Stretching

Toning

Shoulder Press Hammer Strength ISO, weight per arm – super set with chest
12 @ 20#
12 @ 10#
12 @ 10#

Incline Chest PressHammer Strength ISO, weight per arm – super set with shoulder
12 @ 20#
12 @ 10#
12 @ 15#

3 x 15 @ 20# bar – arm curl, hands wide (super set with curls)

1 x 15 @ 15# dumbbells – curl, right
1 x 15 @ 15# dumbbells – curl, left
2 x 15 @ 12# dumbbells – curl, right
2 x 15 @ 12# dumbbells – curl, left

Leg Press
15 @ 90#
12 @ 140#
9 @ 165#
9 @ 185#
6 @ 205#
18 @ 140#

Abs

2 x 15 – Double Crunch
2 x 15 – Reverse Crunch

Cardio
20m – Internvals, 3.5/5.7 – 1m30s walk/1m run – 2incline/4incline changed with each set
5m – Walking, 3.5mph, 2 incline

Est. Time – 1 hour 40m
Est. Cal Burn 1237

8-1-09 until 8-5-09

Rest/Study for Finals Days

8-6-09, Thursday

Warm Up
10m – Ellitipcal, Weight Loss, Level 3

Workout – groupings are supersets/circuits

4 x 20 yards @ 20# bar – walking lunges
4 x 15 @ 40# – lat pulls

4 x 15 @ 20# – kettlebell/dumbbell swings w/ wide stance sumo squats
4 sets @ 25# ezbar – 21s curls (7 low half curls, 7 high half curls, 7 full curls each set)
2m – Row Machine

Cool Down
Stretching

Est. Time: 1h 10m
Est. Burn: 839

8-7-09, Friday

Work Day – ended up working from 9:30am until 8pm…

8-8-09, Saturday

Warm Up
30m – Elliptical, Glute Trainer, Resistance 7 (324 cal burn)
Stretching

Workout

1 Circuit
15 @ 45# – Lat Pull Down with 1 hand reversed (switch hands each set)
15 @ 40# – Bicep Cable Curl
15 @ 45# – Tricep Pushdown with V Bar

(reduction of weight for the rest of the rounds due to a problem with the popping in my sternum)

3 Circuits
15 @ 45# – Lat Pull Down with 1 hand reversed (switch hands each set)
15 @ 40# – Bicep Cable Curl
15 @ 45# – Tricep Pushdown with V Bar

2 circuits
15 @ 20# – Shoulder Press
15 # 50# – Seated Row

Cardio
30m – Treadmill, Random Inclines, 3.5mph (329 cals burn)
30m – Treadmill, Rolling Hills, 3.2mph (308 cals burn)

Est. Time 2h10m
Est. Cal Burn 1464

8-9-09, Sunday

Warm Up
13m – Elliptical Cross Ramp, Crosstraining, Resistance 6,
Stretching

Workout

15 @ 60# – Laying Leg Curl

3 Circuits

15 @ 12kg – Step Up w/ Kick Back, Left
15 @ 12kg – Step Up w/ Kick Back, Right
15 @ 5kg – Sumo Squat w/ one leg up, left
15 @ 5kg – Sumo Squat w/ one leg up, right
10 – push ups on knees
10 @ 8# med ball – wood cutter w/ squat
15 – Poly Side Skip Jump
15 @ 8# medicine ball – Jack Knife Crunches
3 x 30secs – isometric bridges
2 lengths – walking lunges

Est. Time: 1h20m
Est. Cal Burn: 919