Happy 236th Birthday Marines!

I love the Marine Corps!  10 November 1775 has a special place in my heart.  I have been incredibly busy the past two days, so I will write tomorrow. 

Just wanted to say OORAH and SEMPER FIDELIS!!!  I love the Marine Corps with all my heart!!!

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication

...said Leonardo da Vinci.  I like that quote because I was just telling someone about my style of clothing, which I would describe as simple, classy, and sophisticated.  Then I found that quote and it made me happy :) hehe simple things make me smile...

This morning was a good chest workout-

Wide-Grip Smith Machine Bench Press
Wide and Close Pushups
Cable Crossover
Smith Machine Incline Bench Press
Side-to-side Pushups

Then cardio :)  ...So you don't have to do the regular bench press on the Smith Machine, but if you are a newb like me at benching and/or don't have a gym partner to spot you, it's a great alternative.  I have been doing a lot of workouts lately that are new to me.  I had never used a cable machine, but so far, I have really liked it.  It provides great resistance and you have to keep control of the cables.  Tomorrow is shoulders, so get ready! :P

I then came home, ate, took a shower and got ready for Real Estate Financing.  I love that class.  I am learning so much valuable information.  I will make another post some day about how much I love my Finance major!  My second class got cancelled!  So I went to Food Lion!  hehe... annnnnnd I got Lauren, Amy, and I tickets to the Twilight series marathon at the theater and Breaking Dawn tickets!!!  I'm so stoked...I know I probably sound like a pre-teen/teenage girl, but idc.  Yes, the books were wayyy better than the movies, but I still like to see what I read being portrayed by the actors. 

Tonight Jack and I had tacos for dinner-simple, quick, and yummy :)  Not good for my diet, but it's ok.  Speaking of that though, I can't wait to do my next competition.  I just felt so great about my body that day (probably the only day ever).  Plus, the other girls were super nice and helpful to me.  They knew this was my first competition and they were so accommodating and sweet.  Hopefully this spring I will be doing a bikini competition.  Then, my diet will definitely matter (although it should now). 

Alright folks, that's all for today (school is keeping me busyyy)

Bahahaha

Monday Funday!

Yes another Monday!  Another Monday to start a great week that God has granted us!  Today was an alright Monday.  I had class, then went to the gym for a great arm work out.  I will go ahead and post that :) -

Barbell Curl
Superset
Overhead Cable Curl
Cable Hammer Curls with Rope Attachment
Resume Normal Sets
Alternate Hammer Curls
Bench Dips
Skullcrushers
Seated Tricep Press
Tricep Pushdown with Rope Attachment

I then did abs and a bit of cardio.  Again, if you want me to post pictures of any of these, let me know!   I did 3 sets of 10 repetitions because I used a slightly higher weight than I would if I did a higher number of repetitions.  Remember, in a Superset, you perform the exercise right after one another, then rest.  Whereas, with a normal set, you perform one set of the exercise, rest, do another of the same exercise.  If you follow this, your arms will be killing you by the end!!  I'm going to be so sore, but I'm pumped for chest tomorrow morning!

So this past weekend I didn't do too much.  Friday Jack and I went home and I did our laundry (how can two people have so much laundry?!) and I worked out...and Saturday morning I worked out as well.  Grocery shopping was on the to-do list so i knocked that out!  I was not feeling very at ALL Saturday evening, but by the time I was, a few of my friends were going out in Greenville, so I decided to tag along.  We didn't catch the bus downtown until 12:53!!  But it wasn't too big of a deal because it was Daylight Savings Time!  We got an extra hour at the club! haha...it ended up being a late night, but it was fun.  I really miss hanging out with my high school friends.

This Daylight Savings Time thing has got me all confused!  It's 1738 and it's almost completely dark out!  Ahh!!  I am happy that the sun comes up earlier though-brightens my day :) literally.  DST also signals that it is close to Thanksgiving time and the Holidays!  I love this time of year because I get to see my family in Pennsylvania, eat delicious food, and drink yummy hot cocoa and coffee with delicious creamers!  Mmmmm =)

Sooo I have a test and a quiz tomorrow, so I'm gonna have to cut this short so I can study and eat some brown rice and peas hehe.  Thanks for reading!!!

 freaking adorable!

Helicopters, Jets, & Humvees ... Oh my!

Oh the joys of living less than 2 miles from the largest Marine Corps Air Station is getting to hear the roar of the Jets and the helicopters.  Some are extremely loud...I sometimes forget this when I have been away at school and come back home.  But you know what?!  I love it!  Hearing and witnessing the Harrier fly directly over my house makes me smile.  As the sign outside the front gate says, "Pardon Our Noise, It's the Sound of Freedom."  The sounds of the aircraft are music the ears of the Marines who fight on the ground, for there is nothing Marines like more than to have Marine artillery behind them, Marine intelligence in front of them, and Marine aircraft overhead.  It does get a little annoying when they fly over at a good part of your favorite TV show or when the vibration from the sounds begins to shake the walls, but that feeling goes away once you stop and think about who is flying those aircraft and what it means to the country and the Corps. 

AV-8B Harrier = awesome, amazing, and loud

 V-22 Osprey

I also love when I'm driving down the highway and then I'm passing a convoy of Hummvees!  When my family visits, they get a kick out of that.  And when we are on Camp Lejeune and the road says "TANK XING".  Ya know instead of railroad crossing or something normal, we have tank crossings...gotta love it.  And I do!!

  Guess who was at the gym again today?  Pauly D.  Yupp a Marine who looks just like Pauly D.  Did I tell yall about him?  Ok 2 weeks ago I was at the gym and so was 'Pauly D'.  He had headphones on and was singing extremely loud (attention whore?).  He was singing Selena Gomez "Love you like a love song"!  wtf!! So he comes over to me and this is our conversation-

Pauly D - "Do you like Selena Gomez?"

Me - "No"

Pauly D - " :-O Why not?!"

Me - "Because I'm an adult!"

Pauly D - "Oh so what you only like rap?"

Me - "Umm no I didn't say that.  I just don't like anything I hear on the Disney Channel."

Pauly D - "Oohhhh you got jokes!"

Ok that was the gist of it.  But ANYWAYS...he was there again today...singing the same song!!  Wow...moving on though, today was Back & Cardio so here is my workout:

Wide pushups

Superset-

Bent over barbell/dumbbell row (whichever you choose, but use correct form!)

Seated Cable Rows

Resume normal sets..

Wide-grip lat pulldown

One arm dumbbell row

Close grip lat pulldowns

Stairclimber - 25 minutes

Now, today I did 3 sets of about 8 repetitions.  This is because I increased my weight to about 85% of my max.  On a few, I wasn't sure about the weight I should use and it ended up being a little light, so I did more reps.  The stairclimber absolutely killed my knees...i know I shouldn't do it, but I need cardio.  I just do...and I'm stubborn and can't listen to my body's pain signals.  In my nutrition class though, I had to do a Diet Analysis project that included a 3-day average of my diet.  I found that I'm not getting enough calories, carbs, protein, magnesium, and potassium.  I also found that I'm getting twice the amount of Zinc I need and I'm above the toxic level for Vitamin A (yes it can be toxic!).  I think I am going to take my multivitamin every other day as opposed to every day.  I need to start eating more I guess.  More egg whites maybe or oatmeal.  You've got to give your body the fuel it needs to work and I'm not doing that, so I guess that's partially why I'm not getting as lean as I'd like.  

 Ok this is long enough!  Thank you for reading, and I hope you get something out of this!

Car hunting...

sucks.  oh my goodness!  I just went with my friend Hiep (who I was in the car accident with) to go car searching.  It sucked!  I just feel like car salesmen are dishonest and will say/do whatever it takes to get the sale.  Plus, I felt the cars were over priced (duh!).  So Hiep decided to hold off on the car until he doesn't have to finance anything and he got a Trek bike!  Trek is all Jack and I had growing up...they are fantastic bikes.  After being in the shop and talking about it though, it got me wanting to ride again!  It's been forever since I've ridden a bike.  I think I'm going to bring mine up to Greenville....  =)

Ohh today I have had an awful migraine for some reason.   I don't think I'm dehydrated because I've been drinking lots of water.  Oh well... This morning I worked out my shoulders again and here is what I did-

Seated Dumbbell Press
Rear Delt Flyes
Seated Arnold Press
Dumbbell Front Raise
Dumbbell Lateral Raise

I then did a few ab workouts and did a little cardio.  Since cardio has been difficult for me, I've had a lot of lactic acid built up in my leg muscles...this showed during my cardio.  I started to get that awful itching and burning sensation!  Ugh I hated it.  Just to warn you, starting tomorrow, the workouts will be getting somewhat harder...for the most part :)

This weekend I've got a lot of school work to do...not looking forward to it.  I AM however, looking forward to school being done with.  I have been so stressed out (maybe that's why I have a headache?).  I also have a test and a quiz on Tuesday that I need to study for.  I have no idea what one of my classes is even about!  It's kind of pointless...I mean I'm learning cool things, but not in the type of way that I will be able to use it in the future.  Alrighty well my head is hurting looking at this computer screen so  adios!!!

Discipline

Today was uneventful.  I picked my friend Hiep up, went to school, came home and cleaned.  Yes, I finally cleaned!  Our apartment needed it so bad.  My room could still use a pretty good cleaning.  For dinner this evening, I made myself a turkey burger (but not a burger) with garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and pepper.  I also had sweet potato fries and peas!  It was all delicious :)  I didn't workout today, but I will do shoulders tomorrow morning, bright and early.

So being that this blog is called 'Patriotic Barbie' and I speak a lot about being a Marine's daughter, I do occasionally want to write about small ways that the Marine Corps has shaped my life and who I am.  It actually has everything to do with who I am, but I'm saving that for my NY Times Bestseller :)

Today I want to briefly discuss how my parents drilled discipline into my brother and I.  Jack and I have always been held accountable for our actions and we always knew what was expected of us.  Essentially, there are 3 main approaches to discipline:  1) Character Discipline, 2) Physical Discipline, and 3) Mental Discipline.  I don't think a day went by that Jack and I weren't disciplined on our actions related to the 2 kinds of discipline :)  catch that ok?!

Character discipline substantially rely upon core values and leadership objectives.  From a very early age, I can recall my dad speaking to me and saying things that built up my core values.  I was reminded of one today--one of my management professors was talking about culture in a company or corporation.  She compared a boss keeping their word to their employees, to her friend always saying "Thank you" but never giving anything back.  Now these are not related!!  Obviously a boss should keep their promises that they make to employees.  But if you do something nice for your friend and they always say thank you but never give anything back, oh well!  You shouldn't do good things just to get something in return or just to get recognition for it.  My dad has ALWAYS drilled this into our brains.  You do good things out of the goodness of your heart and when no one is looking.       Of course the Marine Corps' 3 core values are Honor, Courage, & Commitment.  These three values should be in every person.  I try my best to live by them and to keep my integrity and character.


Physical discipline is a BIG deal to me!  I definitely credit my physical discipline to my father.  Clearly, a Marine should be in good physical shape.  Whether you're walking on the beach or carrying 70 pounds of gear 21 miles, it takes toughness to be a Marine.  My dad always had perfect or near perfect PFTs.  He worked out 3 times a day, but not in the weightlifting way.  My dad is a pretty scrawny guy (should I say was since he's retired?!  Shhh) and he always did non-gym workouts-pullups, pushups, crunches, cherry pickers, running, etc.  When I was younger, Jack and I would do sit-ups and other exercises as little competitions!  We made working out and being active fun!  That is key.  It's hard to workout when you don't enjoy it.  I carry his physical discipline with me today.  When I don't feel like working out, I just make myself!  It's always worth it in the end.  And when you don't think you're strong enough for something, work harder!!  You can do ANYthing you put your mind to...for realz!!

Mental discipline can apply to every aspect of life.  It's simply putting mind over matter.  It's studying for a test or quiz, it's doing schoolwork, it's doing what is right in a sticky situation.  Having mental discipline makes you a stronger person.  You'll be willing to do more in life and take chances.  It will also get you through the tough times in life.  Whether you are coming home from a long tour of duty or your parents are getting divorced, being mentally disciplined will definitely help!

Okay, I'm not gonna lie--I started to get a little sloppy and disorganized in my writing at the end haha  I know this is kind of a long post, but I hope you took the time to read it and think about the discipline that you have in your life...

Take care and stay disciplined ;)

November?!

Already?!  And I don't even have a date to the Marine Corps Ball!!  Hehehe I'm just playin...kinda.  But seriously, I can't believe it's November!  Where the heck has the time gone?!  I hope everyone had a safe Halloween.  I didn't do anything, just worked on some homework and cooked Jack and I dinner.  We had a top roast in a soy sauce marinade and rice and veggies!  Oh yeah, good news!  I got an 'A' on both of my tests I had last Friday!!  I was pretty excited.  I have a tough one coming up next week though :S

So besides the Marine Corps birthday, my Dad's birthday, and my aunt Joyce's birthdays all making this month special, we have something for the guys--No Shave November.  Now, I have no idea when this got popular but it was introduced to me my sophomore year of college.  Let me just say, I'm not a huge fan!  Well at least if I were dating someone participating, but I'm not!  So guess what?!  Let it all go boys!  I love seeing how guys in my class look with a beard and seeing how some guys beards grow faster than others.  Personally, I'm not a fan of beards...actually, I'm not a fan of body hair at all :S  okay is this getting to be tmi?!  Yes?  Maybe??  Ok well while we are talking about men, I'm just going to point out something that I've noticed recently.   I am oddly attracted to older men!  Every time I see a guy out of the corner of my eye and think "Ooo who's that?!", I look and he's got to be at least 30!  It's been happening a lot.  Just thought I'd share... =)

Today I worked out chest and triceps!  By the way, that leg workout I posted on Saturday is a great one.  I worked out early Saturday morning, and now on Tuesday evening, I'm still sore!  But anyways, here is the workout I did today:

Wide Push-ups
Flat bench Dumbbell Press
Flat bench flyes
Bench Dips
Lying Tricep Extensions
Dumbbell Triceps kickback

There you go!
Everyone have a fantastic evening!