October Challenge

We did it! We finished Iron Team 2013 in 1:31 and that's with only one 3 minute time penalty! Our team did SOOOO awesome! It was definitely the hardest thing I've ever done in my life and going into it I was so skeptical! But as the events went on and I kept getting through everything without any penalties, I realized "Hey, I CAN do this!" It was such an amazing feeling!

We ended up being 31/36 but that's ok! The time difference between each team was very close. It doesn't matter to me either way, the only thing I wanted to accomplish was finishing! And we sure did. There's no better feeling that people encouraging you and cheering you on. It's great!

After the competition, we all went out to Looney's and had a good time. I of course splurged and got a hamburger. I did burn over 1,400 calories though, so I think I deserved it! I think we all definitely want to do it again next year. This time we want to get more fire department people on board, considering we were the only fire department team there!

So the other day I went to Dick's and found out that they DO have crossfit shoes! They're sneaky and hide them in the back, so I didn't even know until I saw a manikin wearing them! So I tried on a few pairs and ended up getting these! So far I love them! Very comfortable, nice and flat for lifting, wide toe which is nice for me because I have pretty wide feet, so my toes never feel cramped in these. Not to mention, the purple is so pretty!

Speaking of Crossfit, a lot of people try to get me into it, and I know it's cool, I do like it, but I'm just not willing to pay $100-plus on top of my $83 a month gym membership! It's way too much, but I do what I can on my own, and you don't HAVE to do crossift to own these shoes so whatevssss!

How can I leave this for Crossfit anyways? My gym is so amazing and beautiful. They just made a whole bunch of upgrades to the lifting area which I love! They also got tons of new cardio equipment and put TV's on basically everything!

As snobby and pretentious as some of the people there can be, I still love it. It has everything I need, it's clean, it has pools and hot tubs which is awesome! So I think it's totally worth the $83 a month!

Oh, so CPAT conditioning just started back up again on Monday so I'm super excited about that! I better see lots of candidates there! I really hate the fact that these people have a FREE personal trainer at their hands, 3 times a week, and they still never show up! Then they expect to pass the CPAT with no prior training. Ridiculous. Hopefully we actually have more than 1 girl pass this time!

Saturday was the shooting competition for the Sons of Our Flag Burn Foundation at the trap and skeet shooting range in Glenn Dale. We had a blast. Our team consisted of Kevin, Myself, Charlie, Katie, Pete and our little junior member Aiden. Everyone made out pretty well. A few people got some plaques! I hadn't shot in at least over two year because I remember this picture and that was the last time I went shooting there. Obviously it was awhile ago because I was SO FAT. Ugh... I can't believe I looked like that! So gross.

So of course I had to get an "after" pic to compare. Much better this time around... although I'm still feeling pretty fat lately:-/ I tried really hard today to hardly eat anything and not gorge all day like I normally do!

After shooting, I figured while we were in the area-ish, I'd stop by the Trooper 2 crash site since I do every year now. I like to go and pay my respects, leave some flowers, and just sit there for a moment and remember that night.

It doesn't feel like it was 5 years ago. I just remember being at the firehouse back when I was a volunteer and it was late at night. I wasn't really paying attention to the radio; I'm pretty sure I was sleeping. We ended up getting transferred to 27 and it seemed so weird, but off we went. When we got there, I started reading the print outs for the call... there were tons of them. Back then we didn't have access to the CAD like we do now, so I couldn't just follow the call as it was going out.

I couldn't believe what I was reading, it was so wild. Things seemed so crazy and disorganized, it was so chaotic. We stayed at 27 a little bit longer and then we were released. On our way back, communications called us (the ambo) looking for our location. We were at 495 northbound and Arena Dr. They told us to respond to the helicopter crash.

We were so out of our element being in that area. I had no clue where we were going and we didn't have a mapbook for that area, so we had to use the ADC map which I'm not very good at! At least back then I wasn't.
We eventually made our way to the call and found a spot to park out of the way.

I had never seen so many higher up people in the fire department in one place. It was overwhelming and so hard to believe that this was really happening. I really didn't know what I should be doing. I almost felt like we got pushed to the side somewhat. Our ambulance was used for it's cot, blankets and a place to nap for some people. It was frustrating to me to not be able to help more.

We were there for 8 hours straight. The longest I had ever been on a call in my time in the fire department. The feelings I felt when I left the scene were mixed. I was tired, cranky, angry, frustrated and sad. I wanted to do so much more than sit by my ambulance. I wanted to be involved and be put to use. It was a very draining call, both physically and mentally. It was just very, very sad. And that is why I visit the site every year. I like being able to stand in the same spot where everything took place and just reflect. It's a very eerie but peaceful feeling.


OH, so the title of my blog... I decided on a new challenge. Last time was "No Alcohol April" and this time around I'm doing "Dessert Free October" !!!!!!!!! I know... scary. If you know me, you know I absolutely ADORE sweets. This is going to be tough. I can say no to sweets, the hard part is going to be remembering that I'm not supposed to eat them! I eat desserts so often that it's just like a regular meal to me! So I'm hoping I don't accidentally slip up! And yes, this includes NO HALLOWEEN CANDY!! Best believe, November 1st it's fair game!! Hehehe.

Anyhoo, I just got offered OT tomorrow so I must be getting to bed! Let's hope I can make this month better than last... in lots of aspects!

xoxoxo
Anna