Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July! The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays, and as much as we loved our Europe trip last summer, Sarah and I were more than bummed to not be in America celebrating the Fourth. It was our last week in Spain, school was extremely busy, as it always is that last week, and we were definitely sulking about not being able to spend a very American holiday in America. We even made an America playlist and jammed out to it while we studied. Needless to say, I am very happy to be in Texas for the Fourth of July this year.

I originally thought I was going to leave Austin around 6:00pm last night after work, but on Tuesday afternoon, I got an email saying the office would close at 3:00pm on Wednesday, so I was free to start my Fourth of July weekend early. I left Austin around 6:00pm on Tuesday night, and surprised my parents by walking in the door around 8:15pm. Yesterday was a day full of shopping and relaxing, and of course, a morning trip to the MAC, where I was at first very bummed when I learned that my all-time favorite group instructor, Felipe, was on vacation. Then I stopped being selfish and realized that he absolutely deserves a vacation, and the two substitute instructors gave me an awesome workout.

This morning I woke up a little before 8:00am, with the intention of making a Fourth of July themed breakfast, but then I realized we didn't have a few crucial ingredients, and a trip to the store was not worth it, so I settled on eating a giant Honeycrisp apple with my favorite crunchy peanut butter, and a side of green grapes.

After breakfast, I headed up the road to the MAC, and got there just in time to set up my station for a 9:00am spin class. It was an interval class, which is my favorite type of class, and the intervals got progressively harder as the class went on. Our very last set of intervals was by far the most difficult, and I was breathing hard and dripping in sweat - a sure sign of a good workout. We put our bikes two levels above our flat road - my flat road is typically at a 12, so my bike was at level 14 for this round of intervals. We would be standing for 20 seconds, pedaling at a speed of 85-105 RPM, and then we would sit for 40 seconds, pedaling at a speed of 100-125 RPM. We repeated that cycle twice before recovering for 90 seconds, and we did that four times. For those of you who may not be familiar with RPM, those speeds are very fast, so I was always more than ready for the recovery portion.

Lunch

After my spin class, I went upstairs to complete about 10 minutes of ab work, and then I returned home for a 3ish mile walk around my neighborhood. I was hoping to run into the annual Fourth of July parade, but I must have just missed it. After a shower and some cleaning up, I made a quick stop at La Madeleine to pick up lunch for my mom and me. My dad is currently playing in a golf tournament, and my brother is in Galveston, so it was just us for lunch today. We both got the Wild Field salad with grilled chicken, and as usual, it was delicious.

And now I'm off to get ready for what is sure to be a fun-filled day. Dylan also went home to Friendswood for the weekend in order to take his final summer school exam, and he's driving over to spend the Fourth on my side of town with me. I'll be sure to give a full report of how we spend this wonderful holiday.

Have a wonderful Fourth of July, and let's not forget to be thankful for all who have fought for, and who will continue to fight for our freedom!