Tag Archives: Antigua

Being Normal Gets Boring, So I Go Back To Being Me: Very Inspiring Blogger Award

TGIF, y’all! Also, Happy 4th of July to my my American friends!

I am so so ecstatic it’s finally Friday! This weekend is going to be extraordinary, but you’ll have to wait till Monday. #sorrynotsorry

Nevertheless, I have something super exciting to share with you. One of my favorite bloggers, Salt *wait… Her name is Lauren! wink wink!*, from Run Salt Run nominated me for a Very Inspiring Blogger Award. I love her blog and have a tremendous respect for her as an athlete and a mommy. I am so so honored that she even thought of me! *Pinky swear!* You should definitely head over to her blog if you still haven’t done so. She is AWESOME! ❤

veryinspiringblogger

 

There are a few rules I have to follow:

  • Thank and link to the person who nominated you.
  • List the rules and display the award.
  • Share seven facts about yourself.
  • Nominate 15 other amazing blogs and comment on their posts to let them know they have been nominated.
  • Optional: display the award logo on your blog and follow the blogger who nominated you.

I came up with 7 FUN facts about me, so you have to promise that you won’t blackmail me with any of these! *I am serious! LOL!* 

1. When my husband asked me to marry him, I never actually said ‘Yes’.

will you marry me

That’s horrible, right?

It may sound strange, but I really had no clue he was going to propose to me that night. I should have known better because Justin even told me to pack a nice dress and a pair of high heels, when we went to Mont Tremblant for 2 days.

You’ll say it was evident. But listen to this, when we were having supper at this super fancy restaurant, he started asking me about how I would like him to propose to me, whether I’d want to ask my dad first, etc. Obviously, any suspicions that I may have had evaporated. So when Justin stood on his knee, it took me by surprise! I got all emotional and I pretty much forgot to answer the most important question of my life.

Fun fact: I am pretty sure that our waiter thought we broke up. Little does he know! *Haha!*

2. When I am scared something weird happens to my face…

Zip-lining

and body…

Jumping over the fire

First picture

It was the first ever time I went zip-lining. I am not scared of heights or anything, but what got me super worried is the wooden block that is supposed to make you stop. I was going so fast that I had no idea how hard I would hit it… It wasn’t that bad after all. *LOL!*

Second picture

This shot was taken this past weekend. I had it all planned out in my head and was supposed to jump over the fire holding hands with Justin, but it didn’t happen. I made sure to jump up high, smile and look all pretty. It seems that the camera man had another plan for me… He decided to take a shot at the moment I was landing and when my face was in the process of registering the heat from fire. Lesson learned: Keep smiling for 2 seconds after you jump over the fire no matter what it takes.

*PS. It’s okay to laugh at my unfortunate photographs… Go on! Don’t feel bad! LOL!* 

3. I almost destroyed someone’s house is Antigua.

ATV tour

On our honeymoon, we decided to go on ATV tour around the island. Two other couples joined in. From what I overheard, it wasn’t their first time driving ATVs. I got all courage I had and pretended to be a big girl who could do it too. Well… It didn’t last long… Not even a minute into it, my ATV swerved and I almost  hit somebody’s house. I am pretty sure that one of the walls would be gone if I indeed hit it!..

Or was it an excuse to hold on to my hubby for the next 3 hours? Hmmm… I guess, you’ll never know. *Wink, wink!*

4. I believe that Monopoly is EVIL.

funny-family-happy-Monopoly-angry

Once during holidays I was naive enough to agree to play Monopoly with Justin’s brother and sister… BIG MISTAKE! I will never play this game again! I swear… You see that girl crying in the corner? It was ME! And that little happy punk was Justin’s little sister who was 13 or 14 at the time… Yes, I was angry with a kid!!! And no, I don’t feel bad, she deserved it! * Love you, sissy!!! Haha!*

5. I was so scared/nervous to introduce my parents to Justin’s parents that I ran away and let them figure it out on their own!

graduation

Justin and I went to the same university (I majored in Finance & Justin – in Accounting), so our convocation took place on the same day; however, his ceremony was in the morning and mine – in the afternoon.

At that point of time, we’d been together for almost 2 years and had established great relationships with each other’s families. Justin’s parents wanted to stay to see me get my diploma too. It doesn’t take much to figure out, our families were bound to meet, which both of us were ready for. Well… kind of! Certainly, my nerves weren’t prepared for that…

What did I do? That’s how it went down: “Hi, mommy and daddy! You look great! Here is Justin with his parents and sister… These are my parents! Oh, so sorry! I already have to go to get ready for the ceremony. See you later! Have fun!!!”

Yup… I’m THAT bad! *Now judge me!*

6. I jumped out of a Jacuzzi and rolled in the snow on 3 different occasions just because someone said I wouldn’t do it.

Rolling in the snow

I was sober and cold. Why would I do this three times? Because whoever was taking pictures couldn’t get a decent shot. It was totally worth it though! Call me a daredevil! *Haha!* 

7. I make weird faces when I am bored. 

Bored

But don’t we all?!

Here are my nominations *who weren’t yet nominated by somebody else*:

  1. Stamped With a Heart
  2. Run For The Pizza
  3. Abs of Steel
  4. Must Love Jogs
  5. Fueled by LOLz
  6. Running on Healthy
  7. Northern Ambitions
  8. Liveng Proof
  9. Daydreams & Shoestrings
  10. The Gluten-Free Treadmill
  11. Fairytales & Fitness
  12. Life Between the Miles
  13. Runaway Bridal Planner
  14. Mar On the Run
  15. NY Life Supply

have a great day

Source

Here are some of my previous nominations:

Anyone else forgot to say ‘Yes’ to man of your dreams? Any horror Monopoly stories? Bad race shots? Spill it out! Haha!

xoxo
Olena

24 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Strengthen Your Core: Spartan 30-Day Bear Crawl Challenge

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY ONE AND ONLY HUBBY!!!

Sandals Antigua

Justin is my best friend. He is my everything. It’s kind of scary to think what my life would be like if a friend in common didn’t introduce us. Let me tell you this. It all started from me receiving a text message from her almost 5 years ago saying something across these lines, ‘Hey, are you single? I work with this guy and I think he’s a perfect match for you!’ How crazy, eh?!

The picture above was taken during our honeymoon last September at Sandals resort in Antigua. It was magical… Here is the view from our room.

view from our room Sandals Antigua

 

*Can you tell I’m nostalgic?!*

There is sooo many things I’d like to discuss today! But I think I’ll have to break it down in few posts in order not to overwhelm you.

So first on the agenda today, the Spartan Sprint is only 2 days away!!!! I CANNOT WAIT! Unlike the Spartan Super I ran about a month ago, this race is shorter: 3+ miles instead of 8+, also the number of obstacles is 15 instead of 21.

Yesterday, I was reading a post written by one of my fellow bloggers from Girl Runs Wild. She was doing a review of her recent adventure: Billy Bland Challenge, which involved climbing numerous peaks starting and finishing at the Moot Hall in Keswick. Her pictures were so beautiful that I couldn’t help but get even more anxious to run my race. The time can’t seem to go by fast enough. SERIOUSLY!

toil and sacrifice

Source

Speaking of the Spartan Race… June is almost over and it means… DRUM ROLL… the new 30-day Spartan challenge is about to begin: to be more precise, in 4 days!!! *Woop woop!!!* 

Spartan30_BearCrawl_Logo_NAS

Source

And the July’s challenge is the ‘BEAR CRAWL’!!!

Start day: July 1
Challenge: Bear Crawls for 30 days

Have you even heard of Bear Crawls before?! *Haha!* Well, I haven’t. And it seems like I’ve been missing out!

Since you are on all fours and moving around, this exercise benefits ‘every muscle in your arms, shoulders, traps, neck, core, thighs, hamstrings, calves, wrists, hands, feet not to mention the anaerobic benefits’, according to WildmanTraining.com. Bear Crawls can be done anywhere, all you need is a little room to move around. *Perfect!*

Here’s how the Bear Crawl done properly:

Previous Spartan 30-day Challenges:

never give up

Source

What are your thoughts? Are you on board with me? Any races this weekend?

xoxo
Olena
 

29 Comments

Filed under 30-Day Workout Challenges, Fitness, Health