Monday, November 30, 2015

A Different Kind of Christmas

I LOVE CHRISTMAS! 

If it were socially acceptable to start cranking the Christmas jams in September and put up your tree and decorations in October, you better believe I would be ALL over that! #RealTalk - If I'm having a bad day, you will often find the Pandora Christmas station playing to help get me out of my funk - no matter what time of the year it is.

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Maybe it's the magic in the twinkle lights or the generosity of people {except, of course, when it comes to "their" parking spot at the mall or that "super sale" on a prized possession} or that the holiday is a celebration of my Savior entering the world, whatever the case, it makes me heart happy.

And although I love the holiday season each and every year, I am EXTRA excited for Christmas THIS YEAR. Like, legit, I think in my 31 years THIS is the one I am MOST looking forward to. Why you may ask?! Because this one is ALL ABOUT OTHERS!

If you know me (or remember my #Carlees31 project), you know that I have a passion to give to those around me. With that being said, my heart grew three sizes this year when many of the people in my life decided that instead of gifts we could make this Christmas matter MUCH MORE!

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This year, instead of exchanging gifts, my mom, dad, brother, brother's girlfriend, hubby and I are picking a charity that is near and dear to our hearts and we are all donating in honor of that person. My mom picked St. Jude, my dad selected Habitat for Humanity, my brother and his girlfriend chose the Detroit Bully Club, and the hubby and I picked Outside the Bowl. We are all beyond blessed and really don't need more "things", so wanted to spend this holiday season blessing others.

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Last year my sister-in-law adopted a local family in Detroit for the holidays. This year, she asked if, instead of buying each other things, if we wanted to go in with them on a larger family - HECK YES! We will be adopting a mother and five kids together with them and another family couple. The family's wish list is long (including things like snow suits, hats, gloves, snow boots, socks, blankets, outfits, shoes, toys and all things Frozen), but we are blessed to bless others so cannot wait to pamper them with everything they need and more! (Don't worry, we will still be spoiling the nephews with Lego's galore, but the adults have enough "stuff" and are opting to spend the money on those that could really use it.)

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Some of my girlfriends and I decided that instead of presents this Christmas, we are taking a girls trip together. We grabbed up some cheap Southwest flights when they were having a good deal and will be heading to San Francisco for a long weekend come January. The holidays are about spending time together - not necessarily spending money on each other! It is all about presence NOT presents!

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I was stoked when my father-in-law mentioned that instead of gifts he wanted to do experiences. While we are back in Michigan, we will be going with Ryan's family to a Detroit Pistons game with some great seats. I mean, let's be real, would you rather have court side tickets to a NBA game or another trinket that you will never use?! 

But PLEASE HEAR ME OUT... I am not telling you this for accolades or for a pat on the back, I am posting about our ideas as a way to spur you in some of your own acts of giving. Maybe instead of gifts you and your friends volunteer at a local soup kitchen for the holidays or maybe you and your family decide to decorate cookies and take them to your local fire house or maybe you create kindness packages with gift cards, hand warmers and blankets for the homeless along your daily route and dedicate each to a special person in your life... Shoot, if you are looking for acts of kindness, I did 31 of them during #Carlees31 that you could piggy back off of. Chat with those in your tribe and see if they would like to do something for those less fortunate instead of for one another.

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And, I have to say, this different kind of Christmas not only makes you feel great inside, it is definitely a whole heck of a lot less stressful! I understand realize that not everyone will be on board with flipping the American idea of Christmas on its head, but maybe, just maybe, one or two of us will do it and we can start to change the world!

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Is there something you can do this holiday season to help those less fortunate than you?

12 Days Of Carlee's Christmas

As a way to say THANK YOU for helping me hit 10K followers on Instagram, to celebrate the season and to SPREAD THE LOVE, I decided to do the BIGGEST and BESTEST GIVEAWAY that I could manage.

I have teamed up with some AMAZING companies (and had some awesome {brand new} gear around the house) to bring you 12 DAYS of GIVEAWAYS! Yeppers, you read that right... Not just one giveaway, but TWELVE crazy days of giveaways (many of them with multiple winners!)!

I don't want to spoil the surprises, but know that each and every day will be FAN-FREAKIN'-TASTIC.


I am planning to post reminders on my Instagram and Twitter accounts about the giveaways, but they will all be held HERE, on CarleeMcDot.Com, so if you don't already have the webpage in your favorites (or have the app downloaded on your Apple device), you better do it now!

What's the best thing you've ever won from a giveaway?

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Workout Recap - Week 48

Sunday, November 22nd – Travel Day


Monday, November 23rd – 3 mile (crazy) hike


Tuesday, November 24th –  2 mile muddy hike and 3 mile run with the hubby


Wednesday, November 25th – Rest Day


Thursday, November 26th –  McDot Turkey Trot 5K


Friday, November 27th –  Travel Day


Saturday, November 28th – Rest Day, Foam Rolled & Stretched

Let's just say, after months and months of scheduled workouts and just finishing up four races within three weekends, this was my RESET week. Yes, we were active. Yes, I hit my step count goal daily. Yes, we hiked around and saw parts of Hawaii that are off the beaten trail. But my running mileage suffered DRASTICALLY (like I only ran 6 MILES!).

I was originally planning on getting in a decent run on Saturday when we returned, but after getting home around 2am, watching the Michigan football game, putting up our Christmas decorations, vacuuming the house, doing five loads of laundry and working from 2-6pm, I was spent.

Now it's time to get my training plan together for the Los Angeles Marathon (I mean, we are less than 80 days away from the race!). {PS If you haven't registered yet and wanna run it, use code CARLEE16 to save $10 [good until the race sells out, but the sooner you register, the cheaper it is].}

How were your workouts this past week? 

Friday, November 27, 2015

A Better Black Friday

Who is ready to win a $50 Momentum Jewelry Shopping spree?


Throughout TODAY ONLY, post a picture on Instagram of what you did today, Black Friday, to get moving (walking from your car to the shopping mall doesn't count!) and tag @momentumjewelry. That's it! They'll pick a winner and announce it on Saturday morning! The winner will receive a $50 Momentum Jewelry shopping spree! Good luck! #motivate #inspire #giveaway #blackfriday #aBETTERblackfriday

**And PS Just in case you don't win, you can use my ambassador link http://www.designsthatmoveyou.com/friend/carlee to save 10% off of your order(s) until December 15th. [These make GREAT stocking stuffers or BRF gifts, so stock up NOW!]**

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Real Hawaii

Although I have had to work for a few hours over the last couple days (thankfully I can work remotely, so logging in for a couple hours in the mornings isn't terrible, especially when the hubby has to also work or is out surfing), Ryan and I have been determined to still make the most out of our Hawaiian Holiday.

A friend of his is working with the Reef team riders for the next six weeks, documenting real time life on the North Shore. His friend (also named Ryan) is an avid outdoorsman and amazing hiker/ climber (not to mention, self proclaimed billy goat and ridge reaper).

We had the afternoon off on Monday so asked Ryan if he wanted to go on a hike with us. Although he was tired at first, once we got on the road he started to perk up. You see, we were under flood advisories due to the rain and where we were going had a 600 foot waterfall. He had been there recently and it was flowing, but assumed that with all the rain we were getting it would be DUMPING. And, boy, was he right (but I am getting ahead of myself)!

I promised Ryan that I wouldn't spread the word on where we were as to not get it overrun with tons and tons of people (I guess he thinks lots of folks must read my blog ;)), so unfortunately for you, you will have to live vicariously through my pictures or befriend Ryan and have him take you, because you won't learn about the specifics of where we went here.

That's the only descriptor you will get from me ;)

So, Ryan and Ryan are both very outdoorsy guys. Don't get me wrong, I love being outside, but, normally, in a more controlled environment ;) With that being said, they are rough and rugged. I, on the other hand, am always up for an adventure but am like 5% as adventurous as they are. Our "tour guide" said that the hike would be moderate (but, come to find out, everyone jokes about "Mossy Moderate" and how gnarly it really ends up being).

The hike itself was probably 1.5 mile to the waterfall(s). It took us about 45 minutes to get there. And although it wasn't super long, it was LEGIT the most GNARLY hike I have ever been on! The majority of the trail is either alongside or through a riverbed (but, remember, we were in a flood warning, so at points the water was above my waist). The path was super slick and muddy, but AMAZINGLY beautiful. Picture Jurassic Park and you can get a glimpse of what it was like.

You can sort of see some of the falls in the far background

There were waterfalls upon waterfalls!

It was insanely gnarly, but we took the time to enjoy every
step of our adventure!

You can sort of see some of the "trail" to the right of the riverbed

And at this point you are hiking through the water itself

Oh yeah, and then we got to a wall... There was about a 15 foot waterfall and I looked at the hubby and said, "I think I'm just going to have to wait here". He told me that wouldn't be an option because you never know when the waters may rise and it might not be safe to just hang out there. Ryan was already at the top of it (he climbed it without any shoes - I swear he is part monkey). He yelled down to us and said that we were going to make a make-shift harness and I was going to scale the wall with the little rope that was attached to a tree - HA! But, I DID IT! (Not only that, I did it on the way back too!) It was really scary (for me), but I knew these guys wouldn't let me get hurt (and that the end game was going to be too amazing to miss).

So you can't see the waterfall below that I scaled, but this is a
picture of the guys putting away the ropes that we used to assist
me in scaling the wall (the guys were able to get up it like
rock climbers... I needed to clip in and get some help up {and down})

After my heart stopped racing and legs stopped wobbling, we were able to continue on and make it to the waterfall. The pictures don't do it justice and my words are so inadequate, but know that it was BEYOND! The hubby turned to me and said "This is real Hawaii". And I told him, "If I was the cussing type, now would be the time to drop the F bomb".

THIS IS MENTAL!

I wish the picture did God's creation justice, but it just never will!

So much power, so much beauty!





By the time we got back to the van we were soaked, caked in mud, but smiling from ear-to-ear and couldn't stop talking about how AMAZING a 600 foot water fall (especially during a flood advisory) could be.

We thanked the island for the experience and gave HUGE props to Ryan for taking us to see the majesty. (Like I said, I am not going to tell you exactly where we went, but if you were to find it, make sure you go with someone who knows the lay of the land and what they are doing. I never once felt in danger {even though I was scared poop-less at points}, but it can be a very dangerous place for people who don't know what they are doing.)

People leave gifts and offerings all along the trail as a way to
honor the island (mana)

It is ALWAYS worth stepping outside your comfort zone (and off the beaten path) - that's where the magic happens anyway!

Do you enjoy hiking?