This summer was not AT ALL what I expected it to be. We had plans to hit up Glacier National Park (still on the list for a future summer adventure!). We had intentions of making it to California to see my sisters which has been a summer ritual for a few years. My boys both love the seeing their cousins and LOVE spending time at the beach.

We had plans to head back to my husband’s home state– Oregon– to see friends there and maybe catch a Ducks game. None of these things happened.

Instead, the Great Middle American Road Trip happened. You can read about it here. I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything. Thousands of miles spent crossing America’s breadbasket and back was a really incredible feat. I will never forget seeing my boys smile and laugh with my Grandfather, or listening for the hum of Cicadas, or watching the sun set over the endless fields.

My Very Merry Unbirthday happened. An epic surprise party thrown by my husband where all these amazing people showed up in my backyard. We talked, and laughed, and listened to great music. We ate, and laughed some more. The children played on around us. It got late. It was SUCH a wonderful time, moment, party!!!

Bug hunting happened. Camping commenced. A large overgrown bush at the end of our street became the club house, the science lab, the play place. Bike rides rolled out. Lotoja was conquered. Sunsets were ogled. Farmer’s Market was a favorite.

The other miracle of this summer was spending time with our two sweet little girl friends weekly. There was something so precious in that time spent together. Partially because my life is so saturated with the boy kingdom, partially because it brought the perfect change of pace, partially because we got to spend time with them riding horses and soaking in farm vibes with their grandparents. I hope that I NEVER forget those sweet moments.

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There are some things I simply can’t put a finger on in the goodness that was this summer. For me, it was learning an added measure of patience when life does not go the way you had planned. Patience when things seem to be left hanging and changing and then hanging again.

I’m the first to admit that I struggle with change. I like stasis. I like familiarity. I like routine. Maybe many or most of us do like those things, but I have family and friends who seem aptly equipped to change and refresh and morph whenever life requires it!

Routine can be stifling. Familiarity can be dull. Stasis can deaden. This summer required ME to reexamine some of those long-held beliefs, values, and security blankets. It was fresh, and it was sustaining all at once.

It required me to take a look inward and ask myself to let time pass, let questions go unanswered. I was able allow life to unfold before me without pushing and prodding it to give up its mysteries. And while this summer we spent most of our time at home, which is a change from some of our previous summers. In the end after all was said and done, it was ever. so. good.

So let this be my goodbye to summer. To the slip-n-slide days and the Science Fridays. To the horseback rides, and the flies dancing over the trampoline.

Goodbye to the long sunlight that seemed to glance forever at our life. That gave us every opportunity to suck down popsicles, shaved ice, and milk shake after milk shake.  Goodbye to the evening barbecues that stretched until the bubble of the day’s heat popped, and the cool mountain air descended for the night.

Goodbye to nights spent stargazing and ogling the moon’s surface with our little telescope. Goodbye to sticky skin and sugar stained smiles. Goodbye to gauzy dresses and swimsuits. Goodbye to temperate bike rides and mountain bike races. I will miss you.

Goodbye!!

XX, Megan

Well, this is it friends, the final day of August. I can’t figure out if it is a being-old thing, a being-a-mom syndrome, or just plain reality that summertime literally FLEW by!

We had one of the most wonderful summers on record. You may have already seen my post about our Epic Road Trip, here, or checked out my Fall Style Mash Up, here. You may have already read about the blessed opportunity we had to ride horses all summer, and I’m working on a post about how much this summer meant to us, so more on that later.

How was your summer?

For me, summer also meant taking time to indulge. Maybe a little TOO much in the food department. And while I don’t regret even ONE of my chocolate Reese’s peanut butter cup milk shakes. I AM seeing the results of my laissez-fair attitude toward food– and rich food, and treats, and drinks– NOW. On the scale.

In that vein I bring you the September Sessions. Opportunities to have a good long SWEAT. In fact, we can do it together. Virtually. Come sweat alongside me as I re-lose some of what I’ve gained. I’ll miss those chocolate Reese’s peanut butter cup shakes, but I won’t miss that little tire creeping up around my middle. I’ll miss the anytime snack times, but I won’t miss those flappy arm backs. I’ll miss sugary drinks and sweet bites, but I won’t miss tight pants or button fights.

I’ll be posting a weekly spin workout, and coming at you with lots of other workout tips and tricks. Well… are there really any tricks? The trick is to get up, get out there, and do the work. Like that picture of the hand penned sign at my local gym. Stop Wishing. Start Doing.

NOTE: This is advice from me and from my experience. None of this is directly linked to (but definitely based on) medical or professional opinion, so before you begin this or any other workout program, speak with your physician! This week’s workout BELOW!!!

Today’s workout is an exercise in CONTRAST. Heavy hills and high cadence “descents”.

So strap on those spin shoes (or cinch your tennis shoes down), and come with me!

First, the profile. You’re going to be going from one of your hardest resistance levels, down to a much easier, much faster resistance/cadence. You’re time split will look like this: 3 minutes on heavy resistance (as if you are climbing a hill), followed by 2 minutes of light resistance (as if you are on a true flat and really pumping out the speed).

When we talk about heavy resistance if you imagine you have a sliding scale of resistance 1-10 available on a standard spin bike. 1 being your easiest “gear” and 10 being your hardest “gear”. So in this profile you need to choose two totally contrasting levels of resistance. You need a solid 8 or a 9 (those will be the hills, friends), and you need a 3 or a 4 (this will act as your “descent” or for this workout you can feel for a true flat because you should still feel some resistance against your fly wheel even when you hit those two minute “descents”)

WORK OUT 1:

Warm-up: No gear for 3 minutes, add 1 gear for sprints 30 on 30 off for 4 minutes, add one gear every 45 seconds for 4 minutes. Take all of your gear off for 1 minute, then find that first hill!

3 minutes: 8-9 Heavy Hill Climb

2 minutes: 3-4 A “descent” or a true flat, find that speed, that high cadence. But make sure that you are not rocking around or flopping in your saddle. This will be a sign that you DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH RESISTANCE on your wheel.

Repeat this 2 more times. THEN…

5 minutes: 8-9 Heavy Hill Climb

2 minutes: 3-4 High Cadence “Descent”

Repeat this 1 time. THEN…

Repeat those 3 minute hills and 2 minute descents 3 MORE TIMES.

Cool Down.

This workout should last just over an hour. An hour of true ride time plus about 10 minute warm-up and 10 minute cool down. Feel free to tweak and tune for the time and the ride YOU NEED!

I like to do a spin work-out two to three times a week.

XX, Megan

P.S. Next week we’ll talk about this monster (pictured below). The stair climber. Such an unassuming machine. Some folks may even see it as old fashioned. But will give you a killer workout, no sweat spared! See you next Monday!!!!

Before:

I had some ideas of what I expected of our Great Middle America Road Trip from the get-go. These preconceived notions came from summers traveling from my childhood home in Utah to my birthplace in Huron, South Dakota. We made that trip– often as a mom with four young kiddos in a cream and brown Ford Club Wagon van, three, five, seven times, I don’t know– A LOT.

So when the idea was hatched to take my two little boys and my sister’s two little girls on the same roadie across 957 miles, five states, countless corn fields, and famous mid-western landmarks to celebrate our Grandfather’s 90th Birthday I was interested.

I was also trepidatious. Driving solo for nearly two thousand miles (roundtrip) with four small children sounded BIG and LONG and NOT overly appealing at times. There were several points along the way when my tired 4 year-old pointed out that flying would have been MUCH faster. He was right.

But the thing about flying is that you don’t get into the heart of those miles. You don’t get the full flavor and force of those hours spent looking, watching, staring, smelling, and taking in the land in all of its GLORY. Plus, flying into the heartland into the middle of nowhere can be an expensive endeavor! (We’ve done that before too, but our littlest was still too young to remember.)

I have to be honest that my husband was my biggest fan and supporter. He was my deciding factor. He was stoked that we were taking this pilgrimage. He was happy that our boys were going to be able to experience the sights, and sounds, and places of the Mid-West. He wanted them to be his representatives at the celebration for my Grandfather. He championed the trip from the beginning.

During:

So early(ish) one Wednesday morning we set off! The commentary in my head was something like Tom Brokaw meets Charles Kuralt– telling, direct, frank, but imbued with underlying love and respect and heart-aching humility and pride for the places and people we saw.

When we arrived in South Dakota the love of my extended family was palpable. These are people that I am VERY close to– my mom’s siblings and their partners. But I wasn’t prepared for how much their LOVE ENGULFED me and my children! We were treated and taken care of so well.

The kids swam nearly every day, ate mountains of ice cream, listened intently for the rasp and whir of the cicadas’ song, and gathered buckets of cicada exoskeletons (shudder).

They got a personal tour of Burnison Plumbing and Heating from it’s founder, their Great-grandpa. They played with a set of farm toys for hours, and spent countless minutes chasing treats and prizes by maneuvering Uncle Billy’s pint-sized version of “The Claw” arcade game (quarters already included by Uncle Bill) :). It was magical.

We celebrated Grandpa Earl at the Riverview United Methodist Church, the Church my grandparents have belonged to since before I was born, certainly for as long as I can remember.

We hugged great-aunts age 91, talked to distant cousins who felt like longtime friends, heard stories about Madonna Scherschlict the local telephone operator– “What line, please?”, and remembered my great-grandfather, S.E. Burnison’s service station. We soaked up all the love and care that surrounded us, and hopefully we gave some good love and gratitude in return.

Post-Huron, we headed west into the Black Hills hitting Mount Rushmore, and then on to Yellowstone before traveling past more farms and ranchettes than I can count till we reached home. It was epic.

After:

Upon returning home (12 days later, mind you!) there are still some feelings I will carry with me from our trip.

First, that America is BEAUTIFUL! Her land is VAST, and OPEN, and AWE inspiring. I had the proverbial wind knocked out of me more than once at the sweeping force of if ALL.

I wish I could fully convey how BEAUTIFUL the things we saw and experienced were. I wish I could properly paint with words the blue of the sky that stretched above us on those travel days, the fluff and flow of the clouds. The relative quiet of those untrafficed State Highways– SD 14 was my favorite. I wish I could lay out all of the corn, and alfalfa, and sunflower fields stretching forever into the horizon for you, but you’ve got to see it for yourself.

I wish I had the words to write a compelling story about all of the hard, honest, back-braking work I witnessed as well. From my tiny glimpse into farm life this summer through our good friends, the Bells, I am learning that working on and with the land is HARD. Hard as hell. But so GOOD. So REAL. So RENEWING. Renewing to death, maybe, but that kind of applied work cannot be recreated in any other way. That kind of accomplishment cannot be won other than by hard fought, hand-to-land, hard work.

I saw them. America’s farmers. Repairing wheel lines, opening irrigation on their ditches, directing combines, harnessing the power of huge machines to haul hay. Often they were alone. Sun baked men in cowboy hats and muck boots. Sometimes they worked in pairs, but mostly the farmers and ranchers I saw were alone. Solo on in their work. I hope they are never forgotten.

We live in a beautiful country, with beautiful people, seeking beautiful things. I hope I’ll always remember the wonder and grandeur I felt about the Middle of America. The heartland is a growing, greening, spectacular place. For me, it will always hold a place and a piece in what I call HOME.

XX, Megan