Marriage is "Extremely Difficult"

I felt so guilty all day today, because I took three days of rest over the last week. But the more I battled with myself about it, the more I came to the conclusion that rest is just as important as exercise. Physical rest gives your muscles a chance to recover and gets you ready to be at your best the next time you work out. Mental rest helps relieve stress and gives you more energy for other areas of life. Even rest like spending time away from your significant other can be great to make you appreciate your reunion. And taking breaks from television and Internet can make you more creative with your sources of entertainment.

So today I finally came to terms with the fact that some weeks are just that way. I had a tough week, and something had to give. The thing is, we can't always let it be our workouts that take the back burner. We need balance. Yes, we have to make sacrifices with our time now and then, but we need to rotate those sacrifices. Last week, the fact that I was so tired made my choice easy. Working out would have exhausted me even further, and I still had classes to teach, cheerleaders to coach, and meals to cook. I am excited that this week will be much less busy, especially at work.

Today held two particularly hilarious moments. First, at church, the pastor's sermon focused on marriage, and at one point he mentioned that marriage is "gloriously difficult." His intent was to explain that, while there will be challenges, the love and partnership make it all worth it. After the sermon, I asked Terry what he thought, to which he responded, "Well, I think we're doing well in marriage. I mean, I know it will be extremely difficult, but--" I burst out laughing and reminded Terry that the pastor had used the adverb "gloriously." I have been teasing Terry all day about the fact that he thinks marriage with me is going to be "extremely" difficult.

The second funny moment was actually in pieces throughout the afternoon. I went with three other girls to a murder mystery "dinner"! (Since we had a group going to this event and today was the only option, I did eat out for it, so Terry and I are extending our Let's Eat In Challenge by one day.) We went all out, bought some glamorous outfits at Goodwill, and got into character before heading in, but we found the whole event to be less than stellar. IT was a fun girls' day, though, and it inspired me to want to host a murder mystery when I finally own a mansion (ha!).

A shot of us before the murder!

(Have you seen the movie The Sweetest Thing? We all felt like we were in the scene where Christina Applegate and Cameron Diaz buy crazy outfits to wear at Peter's wedding.)

We were supposed to have leftover chili tonight, but I was beaned-out after our Mexican lunch today. So I opted for something super easy: breakfast for dinner! Banana pancakes - yum! Check out Lisa's recipe here. I added walnuts to a few pancakes and smeared peanut butter on a few others. It was a terrific, simple end to the weekend.

Banana Pancakes with walnuts or peanut butter

We also watched Extract tonight. It wasn't a terrific movie, but I found it to be fairly entertaining and great for a lazy Sunday night. I love most of the actors, but it was a little out there for me. Now we're snuggling up with our DVR recordings of The Daily Show, Colbert Report, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Hope your week starts off great!