Saturday

Independence Day!

Independence Day!!!
After 7 Years of Finding Myself, I think I am doing pretty well!



As I was lying in bed the other night, I realized that it was the day before my very own Independence Day. When I say independence day, I mean my very own personal independence.

I was with my son's father for almost 10 years. We had only been married for three, but right after my son's second birthday, I started noticing the way I was being treated. I realized that I was allowing someone to verbally abuse me. I lived in fear. Not fear of being hit... I remember wishing he would hit me. I remember cowering in the corner of our walk-in closet while he stood over me screaming. I remember the spittle coming out of his mouth and his pulling his arm back to hit me. I also remember him laughing, a terribly evil laugh as I flinched. He would say, "I'm not going to hit you!" And walk away. Even writing down those words brings tears to my eyes. Unless you live through that terror, you will never understand what it does to your soul.

My biggest revelation was while I was watching Oprah. She had a woman on, and she was talking about verbal abuse. They had a hidden camera in the house to show how cruel Eddie (the husband) was. At one point in the video, the wife, Kim, said she would fear the time of day when she knew Eddie would be home. I remember thinking in my head, "Who would stay in a relationship like that?"

It was at that exact time that I remember looking at the clock. It was 4:22 pm. I knew my husband would be home around 4:30. I shot up and started frantically cleaning and thinking of what to prepare for dinner. My thoughts turned to, "Oh no, he's going to be mad the house is a mess! He's going to wonder what I have been doing for the last 30 min. since I have been home. Why Am I so stupid! I know better!"

Suddenly, I stopped dead in my tracks. There were tears rolling down my face. I sat on the couch and watched the rest of the show. For some reason (maybe God intervened! Who knows) he was late coming home from work that day. As I watched, I realized that I was living as horribly as Kim. When the show, Emotional Torture originally aired, it was Oct. 4, 2004. I didn't leave my marriage until Oct. 26, 2005. It took my son sitting in his high chair saying, "Stop it Daddy, that's my mommy!" for me to realize that I was damaging my son's life too. And honestly, even when I left, I didn't really plan to leave forever. I truly believe God steered my car to my parents house that night! It's pretty amazing how the chips fell.

It's almost comical right now because I am apprehensive about even writing this because I feel like it couldn't have really been that bad. But it was. I have video to prove it. I used to video him during his rants because it would make him stop. Toward the end of our relationships, he kept going even with the camera on. I have not watched the last evening's video in years. I am not sure why I have held onto it. For some time I worried that my son would be angry at me for leaving and his dad would try to turn him against me. I always thought I would have the video to prove it wasn't me who destroyed our family. In my seven years of freedom and peace, I realize that I would NEVER show my son that side of his father. I pray for his dad daily. I pray for him to be a better man and a better husband and father to his new family. I pray that he already is.

For me, I am single and truly happy. I always thought I would get married right away. I didn't want to be alone. And truthfully, I would like to find someone great to share my life with. But for now, I am sharing my life with a 9 year old who keeps me busy and makes me laugh. We have a pretty good thing going these days. I have realized that when a marriage or a relationship ends, it is important to be alone. Everyone needs to heal and figure out who he or she is. For me, it took a little over 6 years for me to find the woman in me who wants fitness and health in her life. I have been happier in the last 9 months than any other time in my life. I wish I had found fitness and the fitness community 7 years ago, but this has been my journey, and now it's Mindy's Fitness Journey!

Giveaway and The crazy life of a teacher!

Time to get Pretty Muddy!!


Only one more day for my Pretty Muddy Mud Run giveaway!!! 




My crazy life of a school teacher...

This week was JUST crazy busy! It was the end of the first quarter of the year, and that meant time for me to write 81 comments about my 5th grade students. I teach Language Arts at a private school.

I haven't blogged in a week! I stopped doing Vlogtober because I couldn't keep up! I only exercised 2 times! And I fell off the wagon with my eating! Grrr!

On top of the crazy week at work, I had to prepare for my son's 9th birthday! Last night I had five 9 year olds at a sleepover. I am very blessed because my parents let us stay at there house because mine is in shambles right now! I had  a plumbing issues that caused me to have to rip up some of my carpet... Does anyone know anyone who is looking to do a home make-over :)  I am ready!!!

Anyway, so I am going to wake up early tomorrow to run! My running group is doing 11 miles tomorrow, I think. I am just a week out of the boot, so I won't be doing that much, but I am going to try for 5-6. I am pretty confident that I can do it!

Tomorrow is also my son's official 9th birthday! It is hard to believe that this little man is really growing up! NINE!!! Sounds so old!!! Yikes!!!

Sunday

Get Pretty Muddy with Mindy

Who wants to get Pretty Muddy???
The race is November 10th in Tampa


This photo came directly from http://prettymuddytampa.eventbrite.com/
I had the opportunity to meet Kevin, who is the founder of the Pretty Muddy Mud Race. It is an all women's Mud Run. Watch my vlog to hear more about it and how you can run it for free!


                         


To sign up for Pretty Muddy and get $10 off
The promotional code is "MindysFitness"

1. To redeem, visit: http://prettymuddytampa.eventbrite.com/  to register
2. Click on “Enter Promotional Code" - be sure to add in "MindysFitness" here as your promotional code
3. Click Apply and the Page will Reset- Showing Mindy's Fitness for $59.50- a $10 discount.
4. Add a Quantity
5. Click Registration
6. Fill out the Registration Information, (Select Team/Create Team and Select Wave Time)
7. Click on Complete Registration

Win an entry to Pretty Muddy!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saturday

New restaurant, PDQ Fresh Food Preview!!

PDQ in St. Petersburg is now open!
4526 4th Street North StPetersburg, FL 33703

I hope you enjoy the pictures and the vlog filmed by my son, Bryce!
The Menu


When I was contacted by  Caroline  from The Tampa Bay Lady Bloggers  to blog about PDQ earlier this month, I was thrilled. My brother lives in North Carolina where they have a restaurant called Tenders. PDQ was started under the name 
Tenders. We have eaten there many times.
PDQ is known for its fresh chicken tenders, made to order sandwiches, hand-spun milkshakes and fresh-cut daily fries. According to their web site, it was founded on the concept that high-quality food, memorable service and genuine hospitality were the cornerstones to a great restaurant.

Well, let me be the first to tell you that they did that and then some!!!

Not only did we LOVE our visit, but my son has decided that he is going to take his friends there for dinner on Friday for his birthday party! I will be blogging about that next week so that you can see what other 8 and 9 years old are saying!

As we walked in, the hospitality was overwhelming! There were so many smiling faces greeting us. Dorothy, from North Carolina and St. Pete's own, Kelsey from Canterbury were two people who wowed us with their kindness and genuine hospitality. It's obvious that PDQ is making great choices with the people they are hiring.
I had to take my picture with them because these two were so memorable! Stop in this week to see Kelsey on the left and Dorothy on the right.


Bryce got a table where he could see two TVs
My son, Bryce, was wowed by the big screen TVs. This kid hates missing a football game, so he was satisfied with that alone! They even gave him a PDQ t-shirt!


 We were told right away about the menu and even heard about some of the "must-try" items. I knew that I need to try the grilled turkey sandwich! YUM! My mom had the crispy turkey sandwich. My dad and Bryce stuck with the Chicken Tenders. Believe me it was definitely a hard choice.

For side items we tried the fresh apple slices with toffee dip (oh my gosh! You have to have this! I cannot wait to go back for more.) We also had their freshly cut fries, and I do think I have a new favorite french fry!!! And my dad tried the fresh coleslaw with blueberries (who would have thought? And so delish!)


They also have a really cool soda machine that Bryce loved using. He thought it was really cool. At first he wanted sweet tea, but when he saw all of the soda choices, he couldn't resist using the cool machine. Grandma helped, but he made sure she knew he could do it by himself! I, on the other hand, had to go with the hand-spun strawberry milkshake... Yes I went off my diet, but there will real strawberries in it! It was to die for!





Another really cool thing was that one of my father's former football players, Jimmy, is the manager there. He is a great guy! Stop in and tell him you saw him and Coach on Mindy's Fitness Journey!



How amazing does this food look!!!! 
And we look PDQ (Pretty Darn Q-ute) 
if I don't say so myself!


Check out our in-restaurant Vlog
It was loud in there, it's kind of hard to hear. Bryce did the videoing... you will see his fingers a few times! :) Oh and by the way, I am not dipping the apples in coffee, it's toffee!

Sunday

Life in Perspective and Giveaway!!!

Down in the dumps? Snap out of it!!!
So I have been feeling sorry for myself....


 

So it's time to move on and make good choices. I am going to tell you my plans tomorrow.  Do you have any suggestions for me? How can I get past this hump and stay focused?

Enter my Ruffles with Love tshirt giveaway! Giveaway ends 10/12


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saturday

Fitness Bucket List and Ruffles with Love giveaway

FITNESS BUCKET LIST: Do you have one?



You can check out my Fitness Bucket List on Pinterest @ 


Ruffles with Love T-shirt Giveaway!
Giveaway ends on 10/12

How cute is this "Football Mom" t-shirt?? I asked Ruffles with Love to put Football Mom on this shirt. She created it with the cute red and white polka bow herself! I love it!

The shirt is a good quality shirt and it washes up nicely. I got great customer service from her as well! 

I am very happy with this product. Please watch my vlog to hear more about it and my giveaway!




Ruffles with Love t-shirt Review:




How to enter the giveaway:


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thursday

Pretty Muddy Run... who's coming with me and My October Goal!

This picture is of my BFF Jodi and I... we forgot
to scrub under our arms... oops! Not really attractive
huh?
Pretty Muddy here I come!


Last night, I had an awesome opportunity to meet a few bloggers and the founder of Pretty Muddy Mud Run. This is a race that is for women only and will be taking place in Tampa on Nov. 10th. I am going to have a discount code soon. 

As you all know, I love mud runs! There is really nothing more fun than playing in the mud with some of your best friends...





I will be sharing more about the Pretty Muddy mud run soon! If you want to find out more about them 
Here are their Social Media Sites:


October is time to get things right!
I am also going to get myself right with my eating. This injury is not going to be my excuse to sabotage myself anymore!!! DONE! No More!!  :)  October Goal: Get back into being healthy, injury or not!

Wednesday

Doggy Diagnosis and My Achilles!!!

I found this tshirt on 

So, I didn't get the news I so desperately wanted to hear! I went to the doctor yesterday and I explain it all here in my vlog:


But it is going to be OK! I know this is going to make me stronger and it will make my story even better!


In Doggy News:

As for Adi, my dog. She has been diagnosed with diabetes. I have now given her two shots of insulin, and I realize now that we can handle this. I went back to my regular vet and everything seemed better once I got there. They really love my dog. Anyone who lives in the Tampa Bay area should check out Dr. Anthony at Forida Vet Clinic in St. Petersburg. Thank you to everyone who offered support!!

Tuesday

Happy Vlogtober!!!

PUPPY LOVE! 

OK, she isn't a puppy, but I have to share that my sweet Adi-girl is sick. I am taking her to the vet today and hoping to find some way to treat her. It appears that she has diabetes :( Think happy thoughts for her! Think positive thoughts for me please!!

In my vlog below you may notice that my eyes are puffy! I had been crying. My sweet Adi is 13 years old, and she has to be healthy! I cannot imagine my life without her! She has an older brother who would just be lost without her!




Here is my vlog from yesterday. It is my response to TGI Friday's response to my vlog from Sunday!