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halibut with broccoli and cauliflower
In What We Eat

Halibut, Broccoli and Cauliflower

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Welcome to Friday Fixins! As you read in Eat Better and Move Better, every Friday we will post a meal we enjoy making and eating. The pictures are real and probably aren’t going to win any presentation awards, but the meals are delicious! My husband and I enjoy cooking and eating healthy.  Because he eats out when he is working, we usually try to cook at the house when he is home.  We follow the meal plan of a lean protein, the right carb, and healthy fat at each meal.  We learned this lifestyle plan from Bill Lawrence who owns Bill Lawrence’s Personal Fitness and CrossFit Meadville.

One of the benefits of being a Pilot’s Wife is that when he has a layover in Alaska, he will bring home fresh fish and seafood. Recently, he brought home wild Halibut. He seasoned it with a touch of olive oil, Nature Seasons, and a pinch of parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Then he placed it on a baking sheet(covered with parchment paper) and baked it in the oven on 400 for 20 minutes. The cooking time may vary depending on the thickness of the fish. We make our broccoli and cauliflower the same way every time 🙂  We usually use a head of cauliflower and three heads of broccoli. We cut it up, mix it in a bowl with olive oil and Nature Seasons, then spread it out on a baking sheet and bake it for 30 minutes at 400 degrees in the oven. We usually stir it up halfway through. The key is to eat a variety of foods and to make that food taste amazing!

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In How We Move

Leg Day

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Before starting any workout, you should do a 5-8 minute warm-up to get your body warmed up. You will not need any equipment (unless you would like to make this workout more challenging) for this leg day.

For Leg Day, you will do these 4 exercises for 1 minute each. Work for 45 seconds, then take a 15-second rest.  You will repeat each exercise for 4 minutes before moving on to the next one.  For example, do skaters for 45 seconds, rest for 15, do skaters again for another 45 seconds and rest, repeat two more times. Then move on to the next movement. The total workout will take 16 minutes. With any workout, challenge yourself to go as fast as you can and are able to keep good form. This is your workout so modify it as you see needed. Put in as much effort as you can to get 1% better.

  •  skater
  •  single-leg glute bridges
  • curtsy lunge
  •  sumo squat

Modifications: Besides modifying the movements as directed below, you can also modify the time as well as the number of rounds you do for each exercise. For example, instead of doing each exercise four times, you can do it twice. Or if you need more, you can go through the workout again for a 32-minute workout.

For the Beginner:

  • skater=step side to side, work on your balance, hold the position for a second or two
  • glute bridges=both legs together for all four rounds
  • curtsy lunge=regular lunge forward holding onto a chair if you need help with balance
  • sumo squat=air squat with legs shoulder width apart

To make it more Challenging:

  • skater=touch the ground each time side to side
  • glute bridges=use a light weight
  • curtsy lunge=use a light weight and do a bicep curl with each lunge
  • sumo squat=use a light weight

Click here for a warm-up and here for leg day movements or click on the links above.

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sister and daughter at Christmas
In Family

Why I Launched on August 8

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On August 8th, when I was three years old, I got the gift of a little sister. I am sure I only picked on her a few times throughout our childhood. Needless to say, although we were a few years apart, we got along very well and became best friends. She went with me wherever I went. Maybe I was made to take her, but I enjoyed every minute with her.

my sister's baby picture

We grew up in a town where many of the kids in my grade had younger siblings in her grade. We grew up in a town where most of the parents were in the same social class and made about the same amount of money. We grew up in a town where there wasn’t a lot of diversity, but no one was cultural bias either. We grew up in a town where kindergarten students rode the bus with seniors in high school and it wasn’t a big deal because everyone had an older cousin to keep an eye on them. We grew up in a town where we walked home safely from school. We grew up in a town where we played outside until dark. We grew up in a town where most parents knew each other and a lot of them even went to school together.

As you read in “How Did I Get Here“, my sister and I grew up close to our grandparents. We took family trips together. We took Catholic school classes together. She was my best friend. I went off to college and even though I was only 30 minutes away, I think she felt left behind.

Stacy's family

After college, I moved away. After a few months in California,  I ended up in Virginia. I begged her to follow me after she graduated, and three years later, she did. I told her you can always go back but if you don’t take the plunge and move away after college, you may never go.

We played sports together through River City Sports and Social Club and Richmond Volleyball Club. She eventually got a job teaching in the same county where I was working. She coached volleyball, I coached basketball, and we coached JV softball together. She was an inspiration to the girls, and we both had a “work hard, be respectful, make good grades” coaching style. We enjoyed the girls, and I think they enjoyed us.

Our dad was fighting lung cancer at the time and after five years of teaching, she decided she wanted to go back to our hometown in Northwestern Pennsylvania to get her nursing degree. She moved back home and helped with Dad for almost two years. After she finished her nursing degree, she decided to come back to Virginia.

my sister and IShe got a job at one of the local hospitals. It was there where she met her husband, who was a frequent visitor because his mother was there battling Crohn’s Disease. After three years of dating, they got married. My dad made it to her wedding day and had enough strength to walk her down the aisle without his cumbersome oxygen tank. In May 2012, he took his last breath. My mom, sister, and I were there to hold his hand as he rose into the afterlife. Although he didn’t get to see his first grandchild, he knew my sister was pregnant. A few months later, she gave birth to the most beautiful baby girl. Three years later, my nephew was born.

In December 2016, we got the most horrifying news. My sister had a cyst. When they removed it, they found out it was malignant. We couldn’t believe it and didn’t want to go through another battle with cancer.

I was so sure she would beat it. Our father fought lung cancer for eight years and even lived another year with a collapsed lung. I had no doubt she would have at least nine more years here on Earth.

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But I was wrong. In May 2018, we (my mom, brother-in-law, and myself) surrounded her as she took her last breath at the young age of 38. I am not sure why God took her. It makes me so sad, mad, and upset. I don’t understand his plan. Her body was ravaged by a cancer that could never be pinpointed. It spread like wildfire. It was devastating. I am thankful she is no longer suffering, but I miss my best friend every day. I miss her advice. I miss her kind heart. I miss her smile. I miss her for the children, her husband, and our mother.

I launched on August 8th, my sister’s birthday, in her honor and memory. She will forever live in my heart, giving me strength and inspiring me every time I look at her pictures and those two little children of hers.

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Stay Strong & Be Inspired, Stacy

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Stacy and Gram
In Family

How Did I Get Here?

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So who am I? How did I get here? And why am I writing a blog?

WHO AM I?

I am from a tiny town in Northwestern Pennsylvania. I went to a small college and graduated with an education degree. Then, I moved to California to teach first grade. Six months later, I moved to Richmond, Virginia. There, I taught special education for eight years, earned my Master’s degree, and became a special education coordinator for another eight years.

Something happened in 2015, and I just wanted out. I needed a change of pace. A friend recommended the Greenheart Travel program, and I decided to go to Thailand to teach English as a second language. I was super excited. I had a friend to travel with and tons of opportunities to meet others.

After months of debate and discussion, I left a 16-year career in education where I was making $70,000 a year and had 14 weeks of sick time built up. I wasn’t sure how things would turn out, and many people thought I was making the wrong decision, but I decided to take a leap of faith and jump. Looking back now, I can’t be more thankful that I did.

Stacy with big stein of beer at Oktoberfest in Germany

In the fall of 2015, I left for what would end up being an amazing adventure. Because I am a Travel Junkie, I contacted friends I had around Europe and visited eight countries along the way (Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Italy, The Netherlands, France, and Spain).  

Then, my friend Katherine and I headed to Thailand where we would end up spending two months working with children and exploring the Thai culture. I remember when we arrived in Bangkok, we met about 30 people who were also there for training. We had a couple of days in Bangkok where we visited Thai markets, ate some interesting foods, and went to a Thai cooking class. Then, we headed to Hua Hin where we had classroom activities. We learned a bit of the Thai language and that was my first introduction to Sabai Sabai [pron. suh-BYE suh-BYE] which means “no worries, no problem, just relax”. After three weeks of training, Katherine and I were placed at an international school. We were only there for three weeks and then it was Christmas break and we had a month off, so we traveled around Thailand a bit and then I decided to go home to Virginia for Christmas.

Thai boats lined up off island of Ko Samui

HOW DID I GET HERE? 

It was Christmas 2015. Our whole family was together including Grandma and Grandpa. We had a great time making pierogies as per our (Polish) Christmas tradition but, I also made mango sticky rice, which was my new favorite dessert from Thailand. We had a wonderful time until Christmas evening when my 90-year-old grandfather ended up in the hospital. He had fluid built up around his lungs and was having trouble breathing. He was in the hospital for several days. I wasn’t sure what would happen, but I felt I needed to stay in the United States and be with him and my family. Therefore, I canceled my trip back to Thailand. After a week in the hospital, they sent him to rehab.

About a month later, in February 2016, our family was at a loss. He wasn’t getting better, he seemed to have lost all hope and wasn’t trying. After several discussions about different options, it was decided I would drive my grandparents home to Pennsylvania. We arranged for Hospice care so that I would have some help. Even though physically he had deteriorated, mentally, he had every desire in the world to go to Fort Myers, Florida to their winter condo like they did every year, but Gram won out, and we headed north.

Gram and Gramps in black and whiteHe was a large, stubborn man and he was very upset that we went north instead of south, but we made it. He was very weak and couldn’t even walk to the door. His heart failure won out because we weren’t even home a week and the good Lord called him to heaven. My grandparents were together just two weeks shy of 66 years. What an inspiring marriage!

Since I didn’t have a job and my house in Virginia was rented for the year, I decided to stay and take care of my grandmother. She needed company, and I needed a place to live. I didn’t know if my grandmother would live for two days, two weeks, or two months without my grandfather, but I decided to stay.

WHY AM I WRITING THIS BLOG?

This blog is a collection of stories from September 2015 to the present day. It is meant to make you want to live life to the fullest, laugh often, love with your whole heart, and constantly learn to be better. It is to share the stories of my Adventures with Gram and my family. It is to show you to never give up on your dreams by sharing my travel adventures, my fitness journey, and my journey in finding love. Hopefully, some of my stories will inspire you to take chances that you’re too scared to take right now. Hopefully, it will inspire you to start a fitness journey of your own. It may inspire you to go see your grandparents or parents. Whatever it is,  I hope this blog at least warms your heart and makes you smile.

Stay Strong & Be Inspired, Stacy

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woman on floor stretching with arm overhead
In Fitness and Nutrition

The Warm-Up

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Before any workout, you should try to do a quick warm-up. In this warm-up, you do each movement for about 30 seconds. Go through it once and if you feel you need more then repeat it. The movements are:

  • Frankensteins (kick leg straight out in front of you)
  • High knees
  • Pull knee to your chest for stretch
  • Butt kicks
  • Hamstring stretch
  • Inchworm
  • Lunges
  • Cossack squats side to side
  • Small arm circles (15 seconds forward, 15 seconds backwards)
  • Medium arm circles (15 seconds forward, 15 seconds backwards)
  • Big arm circles (15 seconds forward, 15 seconds backwards)

Stay Strong & Be Inspired, Stacy

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Stacy and Gram at Pirates Game
In Adventures with Gram

Life Changes

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When I quit my job in the fall of 2015, I wasn’t sure where life would lead. I just knew I wasn’t happy, and I wanted to see the world. I also wanted to find love, and I wasn’t having any success in Virginia. As you read in the post “How Did I Get Here?“, I left a wonderful career in education to go to Thailand to teach English. I came back. I didn’t have a job and my house was rented.

Those life changes led me back to my hometown. It was winter. It was snowing. It was cold, but I decided to make the best of it. Gram and I made fires in the fireplace, and we didn’t really have anywhere to go so winter wasn’t too bad 🙂

snow covered field with pine trees

As time went on, I hung out with old friends from high school. Many of their children were in high school so, I went to local sporting events to watch them. Every time I went to a game, it was like a high school reunion! It was great to see everyone and their mini me’s.

Finally, spring arrived and my high school friends talked me into helping coach my old high school softball team. Also, to fill some time because Gram was fairly self-sufficient, I started working at J’s Ice Cream and Hot Dog Shop where I learned to make ice cream cones. It is definitely a lot harder than it looks! I felt comfortable leaving her for half the day because she would get herself up and dressed, read the paper, and make breakfast. I would work and then pick her up for the softball games. She loved seeing me coach and watching the girls play.

Stacy and Gram with mini ice cream cones

Spring was long, cold, and muddy but, we made it. Finally, summertime. Long, warm summer days and cool summer nights came upon us which was great for sleeping with no air conditioning. That summer, I hung out with one of my high school friend’s daughter. I couldn’t believe she was 21. We had the best time. I introduced her to some amazing 80’s music, and she taught me the names of some of the back roads in town that I didn’t know.

Sunset over Edinboro Lake

That fall, I worked with her at a chiropractor’s office. When we weren’t working, we were out drinking a lot together, and I was drinking a lot on my own. I decided I needed a detox. I set the goal to quit drinking for a month. With the support of family and friends, I made it 34 days without one drink!!

That fall, someone suggested that I try CrossFit Meadville. I was doing workouts at home, but I really missed going to a gym. After the first week, I was hooked! I was sore, tired, and exhausted, but the workouts were awesome and always different. I had a great trainer and the support of other CrossFitters was motivating. I was easy to coach and eager to learn. Bill, the owner of the gym, talked a lot about nutrition and eating right, and I was interested in making those changes. He definitely inspired me to challenge myself.

Stacy doing a squat clean

That year was full of life changes. I went from being a professional educator to becoming a caregiver with minimum wage part-time jobs. I moved from a big city back to my small rural home town. My social life went from hanging out with a variety of friends to hanging out with Gram, but we had some great adventures. We went to Pirates games. We traveled a lot to Virginia to see family. We ate a lot of ice cream. We took a lot of Sunday drives.

She went to bingo every other Monday, which gave me a night free of responsibility.  At first, she could get herself ready and would proudly pack her “bingo bag” with her markers and lucky charms. As time went on, she needed a little extra help but, she still was determined to go. Those Mondays off were very important to me as a caregiver, and I cherished the time off. Even though I felt a little lost, I knew I was on the right journey. Then one rainy, chilly night in December 2016 as she was leaving bingo, she fell and broke her hip. And once again, new life changes were upon me.

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