How I Balanced Family, Fun and Fitness this Holiday

Happy Fourth of July!! So this post is a day later than I normally post, but yesterday was the Holiday and I have been busy. This is going to be a post on how I balanced it all this week, including family, fun and fitness, and maybe some pointers for those of you who struggle with balance.I do have to give major props to my husband, because he supports all my crazy ideas and goals. Without him I wouldn’t be able to do half of what I do, well as easily anyways.

Family Time Matters

I am an Army Wife and mother of an amazing three year old boy and as any military wife knows family time matters. You don’t know how much of it you are going to get before a deployment or a training or just the job keeps them away for any given amount of time.This past weekend we definitely took advantage of my husband being off. Saturday we took our son to see Paw Patrol Live in downtown Atlanta. We had a great time! It was the first time we have taken our son to anything like it. It was also the first time my husband had to been to something like it.We went all out for this show for our son. He had a Paw Patrol shirt on. We bought the popcorn and snacks before the show. He had a little pirate flag to wave during the show. During intermission we bought some cotton candy that came with a Marshall Firefighter hat. After the show, we took some pictures with the signs and then stood in the short line to buy some merchandise. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t drastically overpriced (only a little overpriced). He got 2 light-up sticks and a stuffed animal. He was so excited.As soon as we left and started the walk back to the truck he kept asking to go again.On Sunday we took our son to the movies in the morning. It was his third trip to the movie theatre and we watched Show Dogs. My brother has a Pug named Daisy so when the pug came on the screen he says very loudly “Its Daisy mommy!” I was laughing so hard I couldn’t help but just agree with him.After that, we took him up to the park on the Air Force reserve base. We even picked up some ice cream on the way. It was very hot out and didn’t stay out for very long but we played soccer and played on the playground. I, of course, practiced my monkey bars-gotta get in when you can.  Needless to say, he had a great weekend.

Make Time for Date Night

My husband and I have been married for 7 years and try very hard to make time for date nights at least once a month. We are very fortunate to have some very good babysitters and when we can we do take advantage of the family.Our family doesn’t live here but they always want to spend time with our son so we try to use that to our advantage.Saturday night we went to the Atlanta United Soccer game. I am a huge soccer fan and my husband isn’t but we have never been to a professional soccer match so he did want to go to it. I will say since then with the World Cup going on my husband is now watching a lot of soccer!Before the game, we wanted to get jerseys so we stopped at the mall and ended up walking out with matching jerseys and shoes. (Yes we were that couple!) It was so fun to be that way though. We didn’t do it for anyone but for us and we had so much fun with it.After the game, we got to stand by the tunnel when the players went to the locker room and got pretty close to some of the players and that was really exciting.We then went to Marietta Diner for some good food before we made it back home. This date night we didn’t really drink so there were no morning-after hangovers on Sunday when we did more stuff with our son.When I say that my husband is my best friend I mean it and we love to spend time together. We have a lot of the same interests but at the same time, we have our own things we like to do as well. Making time for each other and for ourselves is something we are constantly working on.

4^th of July

I ran in the Peachtree Road Race!! The Peachtree is the nation’s largest 10K. There were so many people there and so much Red, White, and Blue! I met up with one of my friends from CrossFit Passion because she has run it before and I was a newbie. She helped me with my first trip on the Marta and we started the race together. We didn’t finish together but not too far apart either.I came ready for some Independence Day fun! I custom made my tank that says “I RUN FREE BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE” and I received so many compliments you can now purchase it in my Etsy Shop. My whole outfit screamed USA!!While I didn’t run the time I wanted to run I was not unhappy with my first 10K. I didn’t go in with an exact time goal because I didn’t know the course and how many hills but I knew what I ran a 5k in and a half marathon in. My biggest goal was to stay as consistent as possible.I did well until those darn downtown hills!! Definitely walked those for sure. I am looking forward to my next race already even though I am still sore!After the race, I made it home and just spent some quality time with my husband and son who stayed home while I was out running. My husband even got up super early to get his workout in so that he would be home so I could leave at 530am to head to my race.Later that evening we headed outside to set off our own fireworks. We had done some the night before and Shamar loved playing with the sparklers and the poppers. He enjoys watching the fireworks but not the loud noise.As we were starting to set up our neighbors came over and invited us to their house to set off fireworks. There were also other kids there for Shamar to play with. We, of course, said yes and spent the rest of the evening doing fireworks, eating, and playing with the kids.Shamar didn’t go to bed until late and was worn out. He talked about it the entire night and walk home. Seeing the excitement in his eyes is really what makes all of it worth it.We did all this and I still work a full-time job. I work out on a regular basis. My house is a mess most of the time but my family is happy. Making time for those you love is what makes my life full. Remember to always take time for what matters. Life is about family, friends, and Love! Stay healthy my friends.