Where has this summer gone?!
How about a little catch up post on all the things that have been going on in the McCormick household over this summer? You know …we are just over here selling houses, fostering all the children, engaging in a brand new community, and trying to pay off debt! Overall it’s been a great summer, but we have had a bit of heartache finding out my husbands mother has cancer and got in a terrible car accident in the span of three weeks. We also said goodbye to our foster girls and sold our second home in AZ in May. We are constantly shifting our perspective and pushing toward joy in all things, but some days are harder than others. Y’all we are not perfect! We are continuing to learn how to handle pain, cause it’s always going to be there. All that to say that we are kind of over 2018, but we are not gonna throw in the towel yet! God is holding us, loving us, and pushing us toward His love on a daily basis. We are growing through the pain and we know that beauty will come from the ashes.
Ok that was a little heavy. How about we chat about the top 5 highlights of this summer!
#1. We moved to Verrado, Arizona! We fell in love with this community when we first moved to Arizona, but we weren’t sure if we would love how far it was from the city. After living two years in the “city” we decided that it was time to move into a community where there was green, mountains and community living! We don’t regret the move for one second! We have made instant friends, found awesome playmates for Rylee-Joy, joined about a 1,000 groups on Facebook and are living outside! This city was made for people who love to do life with others, just like us!
#2. We LIVEDÂ in the pool this summer! We are so blessed to have two large pools in our community that are like resort pools that we don’t have to maintain. We can just walk across the street whenever we want to take a dip. Rylee-Joy is a little fish and could live in the pool, so much so that she learned to swim this summer on her own!!
#3. We had our first watermelon eating contest at our new cities 4th of July celebration! Rylee-Joy almost won 
It was so nice to be able to walk there and have so many wonderful activities put on by the association. The fireworks were in our back yard and they had a taco truck at the local pool. We sadly had to have all the fun with out hubby because he was in Tennessee, but we are already looking forward to next year!
#4. We went to Yosemite with 16 adults and 16 children! It was our annual big camping trip we go on every year with friends from California. This was our 9th year and it was fantastic! Lots of lake play, hiking, sitting, running through the rain, and late night bond fires. We had very little sleep as always, but it was all worth it to spend one whole week outside soaking up eachother. RJ and I also did a little west coast road trip together visiting friends a long the coast. When you live in AZ you have to get out the month of July as much as possible!
#5. The Hubby and I celebrated 11 years of marriage at the W in Scottsdale. I had a free stay there because I led a fitness workout for their employees last spring. It was a super nice hotel, just not the vibe we are used to. None the less we had so much fun together and it was the first time we have gone away just the two of us in over a year. I still can’t believe we have been married 11 years, because I swear if feels like our wedding was just yesterday. I can’t wait to see where God takes us over the next 40+ years!
Overall summer 2018 was great, went a little fast and we are in full swing of a new school year where RJ is in her last year of pre-school and I will be teaching another year. We know that this year has been all over the place for us and we so wish we could have had a little break after the past two years of constant change, but we are learning to roll with it and enjoy each day as it comes at us!
Question: What was the highlight of your summer?Â
]]>Can you believe that we are knee deep into the holiday season? I swear I blinked and before I knew it, we have almost been in Arizona for two holiday seasons! JUST STOP! I am going to soak up my fall mantel for a few more days before the Christmas decorations throw up all over our house.
We are happily putting some deep roots here in Phoenix, but we love our weekend road trips to see our beautiful friends and family in California! With new babies being born, adopted and peeps getting married we head to Cali at least once every other month if not every. Even though we love our Cali community, we are really making some stellar friends here in AZ and God has made our home a place of community and rest.
We pretty much live/gather on our patio these days. Which was one of the biggest reasons we bought the home we did. We knew that 8 out of the 12 months we are here in AZ we will be living outside!
We started hosting our community group from church every Thursday and it has been such a joy to have our home filled with families, littles and laughter. We are going through Paul Tripps book on marriage called, “What Did You Expect?”…so GOOD! These friends have been a God send!
We also just started a new monthly TACO TUESDAY tradition that I just have to tell ya’ll about! So I can not take all the credit for this amazing idea I heard it on the Mom Struggling Well Podcast and it blew my mind. I just knew we had to do it. The idea is so simple! We make tacos (that’s it) nothing fancy. Just meat and tortillas and invite anyone and everyone we know to swing by with their favorite topping/side dish and sit at our table to be fed in all the ways! It’s a great way to get to know your neighbors, co-workers, see friends that you can never get a date on the calendar with and even have your kids invite their friends from school. It’s so important for Hubby and I to invest in the people that God has placed in our lives and we love to do that with food and fellowship:) So the second Tuesday of every month our doors are open and we have a seat for you at our table.
I have continued to host a women’s IF Table at our house once a month and each time we gather I am beyond refresh by the ladies the Lord brings to the table each month.
It’s crazy to see God provide friendship with depth and loyalty so quickly in our lives. I was never scared that we wouldn’t find friends in this new place we call home, but I didn’t think it would happen so organically. God is so good. SO GOOD to us. Even through the yuck and the craziness this past year has thrown at us.
But I have to say community and friendship does come at a price. You have to be intentional, vulnerable, and selfless. Sometimes you will get hurt and it won’t always be sunshine and rainbows. But I can tell you one thing is for sure, that it is better to live with imperfect people rather than alone on an island.
So bring on all your imperfections and flaws….cause I have them too, we can be broken and free besties together!
]]>I know it’s been a while, life has been full, hard and lovely. If you haven’t seen any life updates on my Instagram feed or story, let’s just say our family has entered into a new season of major change. I mean yes, we did move to Arizona a year ago and that was a huge shift, but here we are with another wonderful new adventure!
Our first summer here in Arizona was amazing. We did a lot on our summer bucket list: pool days, California visits, baseball games, movie dates, camping, water parks, vacation bible school and bbqs. We truly soaked up our time together, but NOW it’s August and still 111 almost everyday and I am ready for fall to come soon. I know I still have another month of this heat and I will thrive in it, because we are taking two unplanned weekend trips to CA in September as well as a week long trip to Chicago (give me all the green).
I am glad we did so much this summer, because little did I know God would open up a door for me to start teaching again!! Crazy right? I took a full time job as a Primary Guide (4-6 year olds) at a local Montessori Hybrid here in Phoenix. If you have been following me since the beginning of this blog like 10 million years ago you may remember that I used to work at a Montessori school as a teachers aid. The best part of this job is that RJ get’s to be in my class! I get to be her teacher. The first week was rocky, but each week has gotten so much better. This whole experience has been  a journey for all of us, but we are starting to get into a really good rhythm and I actually have enjoyed my morning commute! I have become addicted to Podcasts and some of my favorites are Revelation Wellness, Mom Struggling Well, Risen Motherhood and Cultivating the Lovely.  What are some of your favorites?!
We have instituted Friday Family Fun nights! One thing that we have made a priority this year is our family time. We have always did a pretty good job at making date nights a priority, but have not spent too much time making family time a priority. We are a work in progress, but we are making FFF nights a MUST! It’s been so great to look forward to after a long week for us all and a great way to kick off the weekend. Plus there is so many places to eat and do here in Phoenix that we always have a new adventure every Friday. I am going to be writing a weekly FFF on the blog soon!
As far as my fitness I have been taking a lot of Cyclebar classes and hitting up the local box gym for HIIT workouts of my own. I also started running again early on Friday mornings with a new friend and even going on hikes! I can’t wait for fall to come so I can get outside more for workouts. It’s been a bit of a struggle to run here in the summer, it’s just so HOT! But I know fall is just around the corner! I work out a lot less these days, which I am so ok with!!
Ever since I went through Revelation Wellness training back in April, my whole mindset has shifted about my entire health and fitness! I have found so much freedom in how I workout and what I fuel my body with. I pretty much stick to a plant strong/ whole food diet, but I enjoy a beer/glass of wine on occasion as well as a good scoop of nitro ice-cream. Just last night at a baseball game I had street tacos, chips, a bite of hubby’s hot dog (cause I had to have a hot dog bite at a ball game) and a margarita or two But that’s not what I eat on a daily basis. I used to shame myself after I would eat like that and as well as kill myself in the gym because of it. Now I am learning to let that go and just LIVE…get back on track! To see food as fuel and for enjoyment. But it’s a learning process friends and I am by no means perfect and have to put myself in check often!
We also lost a dear friend this summer and I am not gonna lie it’s been hard, real hard. But we know that God works out everything for his glory and we are thankful that this place is not our home and that one day we will get to see him again in heaven. But is honestly still sucks!
So there you have it, I started a new job, survived (almost) my first summer in AZ, moved into a new house, completed Revelation Wellness training, shifted my whole health mindset, didn’t run once this summer, and started FFF nights!
Just wanted to pop in and say hi, catch up and don’t worry I will be back soon! I hope you all had an amazing summer!
Question: What was the highlight of your summer?Â
]]>I hope ya’ll had a wonderful three day holiday weekend. Since we just got back from California last weekend (more to come on that) we decided to have a little stay-cation and check out some new fun spots here in Phoenix Arizona!
When we first moved here we would try new restaurants out on a weekly basis (we love food), but we have been spending a lot of our time making our house a home, unpacking and settling in. We actually have loved the slower pace of weekends and the more time at home together. However it was time to GET OUT! It rained all weekend (BOO!) but we still made the most of it.
Friday I had a Lularo Pop Up with a few friends at my house and then the rest of the weekend we ate, played, shopped, swam in our pool (ok just tested it out still too cold) and finally watched the movie TROLLS!!! We all loved it. We actually ended up buying it, cause we knew RJ would want to watch it again. It was one of the best weekends we have had here in AZ in a long time!
Last weekend when we were in California visiting some friends (best weekend ever) I snuck in a 9 mile run with my lovely Cali running buddy Val. It was a beautiful run and I am a little bummed not to have her around for all my long runs. Runs always fly by when you have about 6 months of life to catch up on!
Well this past Sunday I ran 10 miles alone! It was raining so I started the first 3 miles off on the “dreadmill” at the gym and then when I got the courage I headed out in the rain for the last 7. It was just a light sprinkle at first, but then really started to pick up with a strong wind. I listened to a Revelation Wellness podcast to help push me  along, but before I knew it my phone died at mile 5!!! So now I was running in the rain, by myself, with the wind at my face, and I had no music to motivate me. I am not gonna lie I was a little discouraged for a moment. I turned around at mile 5 and then remembered how I had run an entire marathon with no music and IN THE RAIN! Those two marathons were by far some of the hardest, but I finished. So a measly 5 miles was nothing. I had been praying for some SOLO time with the Lord and I sure did get it. I did a lot of praying and listening for the last 5 miles. My body felt great, but as always my hips got a little tight. I really need to work on getting my foam rolling and stretching in EVERYDAY! Since then I have been using BCAA’S like crazy, doing yoga and rolling.
Along with the crazy running, I am also participating in Paige’s Lean Body Bootcamp for the next 6 weeks. I am so excited I jumped in cause this is just the challenge I need to keep me eating clean through the marathon training as well as keep my muscle! Here is what you get in her program:
Lean Body Boot Camp:
- Customized macronutrients (or estimating portions,) with adjustments every 2-3 weeks
- nutrient timing and carbohydrate cycling guidelines and strategies to follow
- Grocery lists, sample meal plans, my meal prep guide, and my travel guide
- Access to your own training platform, thatâ€
s accessible from your computer and mobile phone, with your workouts, video demos, training plans, macros, progress, and more (I pay a premium for this program, and my clients absolutely LOVE the app) - 6 weeks of workouts, with new workouts every week (you will have the choice between the At-Home and In-the-Gym track)
- Daily accountability check-ins, weekly challenges, and bi-weekly in-depth check-ins
- My commitment, coaching, and expertise as a trainer and nutrition coach to help you succeed in your goals
I promise to keep you all updated on the program! So far were in week 2 and I am loving it! I can already tell that I am getting way more satisfied with my crazy training hunger and building back my lean muscle. I have been sticking to three days of running, 2 days of HIIT (aka CYCLEBAR) and 3 days of weights.Â
I am headed to Florida tomorrow and will be working the Run Disney Princess Half Marathon EXPO with Raw Threads. If you are running come say HI!!! This will be my biggest challenge thus far with sticking to clean eats and getting in my workouts. I am going to give myself major grace and do the best that I can. When I get back, I will CRUSH IT!
2 weeks down 8 more to go!!
Question: What is your biggest challenge while training for an event?Â
]]>I know it’s been a while and I have so needed to post, but don’t worry that is about to change! We are finally getting settled in to Arizona and I am LOVING it! I have a fun post in the works about some of the fun things we have found here and also big changes that are about to come.
First, I need to tell you all about the Refresh Summit that is coming up in less than 40 days in Tennessee at Deer Run Retreat center and the thought of it brings a huge smile to my face and my eyes start to get welled up with tears. You see the minute the front door opens and I see the women walk in, I know GOD is about to do great GREAT things and he shows up like no other!!
Alright so what is the Refresh Summit? Well if you don’t know anything about it let me start from the beginning. God put it on my heart over 5 years ago to do a retreat for women that combined faith and fitness in a whole new way. To gather women together under one roof to sweat, worship, eat, laugh, pray, cry and dance together! In short the Refresh Summit is a time to get away with friends old and new, to be inspired to live a life rooted in Christ and to find a healthy balance of fitness and faith!
This year’s theme is HOME….mind, body and soul….. where is your Home?
Here is a short breakdown of this year’s tentative schedule :
Check in is on Friday November 4th and check out is Sunday November 6th around 11am. When you first get there you can enjoy a massage, foot soak, stillness on the porch with a good book, or go for a walk in the forest. Deer Run is tucked into the most beautiful woods of Tennessee and if you don’t get a real fall where you are at (I don’t) than it’s a perfect time to see what real fall looks like. I am already excited about busting out my scarves and boots!
This year we are hosting a Friday night GNI (girls night in). Ladies can get dressed up if they choose for a fancy dinner in, but then quickly change into their cozies for the rest of the evening!
After dinner we will gather in the living room around the cozy fire for worship with Jessica Lamb and a message from Amia Freeman.Â
Right after dinner we will enjoy some HOLY YOGA by candlelight and probably fall asleep at the end 
After Holy Yoga it’s free time where we stay up late into the night chatting about life!
Saturday morning begins with, “Coffee with Jesus”.….some quiet moments with the Lord before we start the day with sweat! Â We begin the day with worship and then get right to workouts and different sessions. This year we will have the following sessions from 9-3pm with a yummy lunch in between:
Bootcamp- with Lindsay WrightÂ
Kickboxing- with ME!
Zumba with- Amia Freeman
Hike/Prayer Walk -with Etta Gibson
Body Image Freedom- with Alice MontegeroÂ
Nutrition with-Â Dr. Megan LittleÂ
When God’s Plans Aren’t Your Plans- Savannah DavisÂ
After the workshops is PURE FREE TIME!!! To rest, relax, get a massage, paint, read your Bible, share a cup of coffee with a friend, go for a walk….it’s whatever you need TIME!
Then we gather for another amazing meal and then enter into a beautiful time of worship and hear from Amia. After our gathering we get ready for a fun night of GLOW ZUMBA PARTY!!!! This year we have a super fun theme planned for the attendees and we can’t wait to see the costumes that come out! Last year was 80’s themed.
Sunday morning comes and no ones wants to say goodbye 
Seriously we have all become sisters by the end and it is so hard to say goodbye! We will start the morning with some deep stretching and worship. We have one last session with Amia and finish the summit with prayer, a continental breakfast, Â and a sweet raffle!
Well that’s the weekend in short…but there is so much goodness packed in there. We would love for you to join us, you can register here!  We have a few spots left and don’t let money be a reason you can’t make it, we do have scholarships available. JOIN US!Â
]]>I feel like I was MIA for the month of March. It has been a fun and crazy season of travel and potty training over here. In my last post I told you we potty trained RJ with the three day method, well we WERE WRONG!!!!! I mean ya, RJ is definitely going on the potty more, but not all the time and there have been way more accidents than I would have loved to see. But so thankful for GRACE and great friends. I had a friend send me the sweetest text:
“ I just saw your post about potty training and take this for what it is but You can change your mind. I wish someone would have told me that with my son. I wish i would have believed them if they did. But I don’t think I would have listened. When they are truly ready, it’s not “training”. It just clicks and they do it. Having accidents on occasion. Not multiple times a day. When they aren’t ready, it’s the biggest pain and mess and heartache.
It’s ok to stop. Even though you threw out the diapers. It’s ok to buy more. It’s ok to tell her you don’t think she’s ready and can try again in a few months. It’s ok whatever you decide. You are not a potty training failure. Neither is she.
Decide if it’s worth it right now. My pride wouldn’t let me see that when John wasn’t ready. Even though I thought he was. I’m praying you can see clearly the route you should take. Love you friend.”
Gosh what a blessing community is in life. I am so thankful for friends who continue to encourage me and cheer me on from the sidelines. So all that to say we are giving ourselves grace in this season (well in every season really) and letting RJ where pull-ups when we are out or maybe even at home sometimes. I keep telling myself, she won’t be in them for 10 years!
I just wanted to pop in to remind you all to give yourselves GRACE! To not beat yourself up if something you are working on with your child or with your self that just isn’t going the way you expected. IT IS NOT FAILING!  I hate that we feel like we “have” to do it a certain way, but we don’t! Find the compromise that will take the pressure off and go with it.
YOU DO YOU!Â
]]>
I just got back from Orlando working the Raw Threads booth for the Disney Princess Half Marathon. It was a lot of work, but as always a fun time! It got me super excited to run my first half marathon this year in town next weekend. I haven’t been running too much, but I feel prepared and I am really running with a friend to motivate her and pace her. We shall see how it goes.
I wanted to write a little post about all the fun things that you can do with your family in Arizona if you are planning on going out there for Spring Break or Spring Training. We have been going for about 7 years and we always have such a good time. We love that the spring training games are really cheap (about $15-$20) and when your not enjoying the games there are plenty of other things to do.
1. Topgolf– A fun place to eat with the family while you enjoy some time at the driving range.
2. Desert Rose Steakhouse– Yummy Sunday brunch, lunch, dinner, and outdoor yard games to play with the whole family.
3. Water Parks- Wet and Wild Water Park is one of our favorites!
4. A Hike at Thunderbird in Arrowhead– The Hikes here are amazing, but you better get up early before it get’s too hot!Â
5. KTR Chandler -A one of a kind, state of the art 60,000 sq.ft. facility for the entire family to enjoy… at a price you can afford! It is so fun! It is fun for the WHOLE family! Toddlers, teenagers, and adults!
Question: Would love to hear what fun things you have done in Arizona over Spring Break!Â
]]>
This past weekend I gathered twelve of my closest girlfriends (my little women tribe) around my dinner table for a “Healthy Home Dinner Party”. I don’t know about all of you, but I am pretty sure I get invited to some kind of multi-level marketing party every other day. Don’t get me wrong I am all for helping out my friends make some extra money on the side, hello we live in CALIFORNIA, I just don’t have the time to go to all of them. But I want to support my friends that are working hard and promoting products that I truly believe in and use myself. If it’s anything to do with health, simplifying life, making life easier or helping others, I am all in.
Well that is how my Healthy Home idea was born and it was a way to have the perfect girls night in  I invited a few local ladies who’s businesses I truly support, to share their passions with my friends over a four course dinner. Cause everything is better with food and wine right?!
I invited my best friend Ginger with Crafted Gatherings @craftedgatherings to come over and do the fall tablescape for our dinner and once again she did a fabulous job! I feel like we could have had a wedding reception in my dining room. It was perfectly fall and welcoming, better than I could have ever imagined.
We started the evening with a little yoga in my garage lead by my beautiful friend Heidi that works at a local yoga studio in town. It was the perfect way to kick off the evening!
Then it was time to enjoy some food. I invited my friend Justine Campbell from @alowellness who is an R.D. and Holistic Nutritionists to help me prepare a four course healthy and delish dinner! It was so fun cooking with her in the kitchen and learning some fun new recipes. We paired each meal with a wine and everything tasted amazing.
As we sat around the table we played a few fun games to get to know each-other a little better, because it’s always fun to have prizes at a party! I found these two games on Pinterest.
In between courses we enjoyed a little very casual chat about oils from my friend Cynthia @kitchenblogger (go follow her on IG)Â and she was burning Young Living’s seasonal scent throughout the house the whole time and it made me want to curl up on the couch with a cup of coffee and just get cozy.
Lastly we heard from my friend and business partner Megan, @themegababe about Norwex cleaning supplies, if you haven’t heard about them you are missing out big time and they have changed my life!
We finished the evening talking around the table till 2am! It was truly a beautiful refreshing time of being still and chatting about all things LIFE and health. I couldn’t have pictured a more beautiful night and I am already planning our next Spring one!
Question: What is the last multi-level marketing party you went to?Â
]]>
Can I just talk about “real” friendship for just a moment. I feel as I have gotten older and I have come to a new season in my life (motherhood) I have learned a lot about who I am as a friend and what it is that I look for in a friend. I went through a friend break up this year and it was a rough one. I know that everything happens for a reason, but while I was going through it…it SUCKED! Now months later coming out of it, it has taught me who I am and what true friendship looks like. I am actually thankful for it!
I am blessed with some wonderful community of friends and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I know that a lot of people are just a one on one kind of friend and having multiple friends scares them or it is just not their thing and that’s cool. I love having friends in my life to hold me accountable, to lift me up when I am down, to laugh with, to cry with, to tell me to suck it up and keep going, to encourage me in my marriage, tell me that I need to slow down, challenge me as a mother, and to sweat with of course!!
Friendship isn’t always easy because let’s face it we are HUMANS and humans fail. I think friendship is about give and take and quite honestly not judging one another and letting each other be who they are without feeling bad about themselves. True friends are intentional and put one another first over themselves. I am not perfect at friendship by no means. But I am beyond thankful for the friends that I have and I pray that this year and the years to come that we grow closer in community with one another, because life with friends is sweeter and just more fun!
“A long marriage is two people trying to
dance a duet and two solos at the same time.” ~Anne Taylor Fleming
Today we celebrate 8 years of beautiful marriage! Of course no marriage is perfect and we learn something new about each other everyday. We have had our share of arguments, hours of laughter, tears and adventures! Most of all I am blessed to have a God fearing husband that wants nothing more than to love RJ and I more each day. I can’t wait to celebrate with him today!