Fleming Avenue Relaunch

It may have taken sometime to figure out what God has been preparing me for, but I finally have figured it out. I've always had a heart for giving, praying, and seeing lives be changed. The past 2.5 years have fully molded me for what he has called me to do. I've been called and molded to serve the Lord by serving in Women and Marriage ministries. Hence the time, to relaunch the blog.

While writing on this blog, women to women I hope to get through some of my own hurts, inspire other ladies, and create a community. I want the opportunity to pray with you, cry with you, celebrate life in Jesus with you. I pray that you will feel comfort while reading my stories, feel inspired to change your life, and take a bad situation in your life and use it to Glorify God. Perhaps all of us will learn what it truly means to be a Proverbs 31 women. We will clothe our selfs with strength, and with dignity. We will laugh at the enemy without fears of his weapons, and we will embrace the future.

Photo Credit: Pinterest

xoxo ~Amber @FlemingAvenue

My Family

I absolutely love my side of the family. They are great people and always fun to be around. I love my husbands side of the family too. They are neatly aged that some of Eric's uncles are actually his age or a little younger. It makes for awesome best girl friends for all us ladies. We moved back to Michigan purposely to be closer to the big family. Eric and I have been away from them for several years and the Holidays were just not the same anymore. I know I don't blog here often, but our family means more to me then anything else. Over the weekend was the family Christmas party. Last year we made it up to surprise Eric's mom for Christmas. She was over the roof excited to see us. Seeing family smile takes away any pain you may have been feeling before. Any doubt in your heart...gone. A family members smile cures all. Anyways, this year we had a theme "Christmas Morning". All who were willing showed up in Pajamas, we feasted on coffee and breakfast food, and opened presents. I couldn't help but excuse myself a couple times and cry. We are finally back in Michigan, with our beautiful family, not missing birthdays or holiday dinners. We get to watch the kids grow and perhaps sometime soon start our family and our business.

Jina (Eric's mom) came to visit from Florida and attend the party. Days leading up to the party she stayed at our house and helped put up our Christmas tree and decorations

Before leaving for the family Christmas party, we snapped a photo in front of the tree. The lighting is terrible, but still a great shot.

Here I am with Jina, Jackie, and Andrea

Not everyone could make it to the party, but having as many as we did is always like having a big family reunion. That's Jerry & Jeannie in the front holding hands, the grand parents of it all. 

And because we are who we are, we took a goofy photo for giggles. 

After the party we drove to Jeannie & Jerry's with a few other family members and "watched" football. AKA everyone play on our phones and look at the photos from the party. 

Jina and I realized we had yet to take a selfie together. I know I've said this before, but Eric's mom is my best friend. Her visits are never long enough and she makes everything good and hopeful. (The exact reason we got matching tattoos years ago! ~Ruth 1:16 Wherever you go, I will go, Wherever you stay I will Stay)

This man... Love 

The next day I sat on the couch and soaked in the weekend of memories, with the most perfect cup of coffee in the most perfect cup from Jina. 

Like I said before, I don't blog as often as I would like too. I probably write a short story, poem, or prayer daily but sitting down to publish those thoughts are very hard for me to do right now. However, this is something bigger, and something more. When you get those moments to soak in family and memories, do it! Don't allow anything or anyone to stop you from that. People come and go in life, family is forever. You never know when that will be ripped away from you. So I tell you dear readers, keep ahold of your family, don't be that person that regrets not being with them. More importantly don't be that person that enables someone else to stay away from their family. 

Insta-life lately

July brought a little change in our family, I quit my job of 6 years. With the encouragement of my husband, we both agreed it was time. It was a long time coming, I was overly stressed and the commute was horrific. We are blessed to be in a position to take a few months off, and allow me to enjoy housewife life. Our fur babies, Sophia & Stella have been 2 happy felines having me around the house. If you catch my life on Instagram, this post will be boring!

I get up around the same time my husband does at 4:45-5ish, and put his lunch together and get coffee poured. We leave around the same time, I head to crossfit, he makes the $$. When I get home, I shower, think about breakfast, and drink coffee or tea. Before I start any house work or meal prep, I grab my bible and study, my planner and plan, my journal and dream, and slippers for warm comfort. It's an extra bonus when there is a morning thunderstorm.

AND, if I am so lucky to have a thunderstorm, Sophia runs scared and hides. I find it hilarious when she thinks she is hiding, when her big poofy tail sticks out. Seriously, if you are not a cat person, we can't be close friends. We can still be friends, but your not my homie. Homie? Do people still say that? Anyways...

Occasionally the Mr and I will head to downtown Detroit and explore. While walking through the city, with my Kate Spade clutch, open toed heels, and my favorite dress I felt like Carrie Bradshaw (I'm sure the Sex and the City HBO marathon may have something to do with it). The waitress said to Eric "you kind of remind me of Mr. Big from Sex & the City". How funny is that? I personally think my main squeeze is way more dapper.

When should you switch out your crossfit shoes? I've had the same pair of black and pink nano 2s since the beginning of my crossfit days. When I saw Christmas Abbott post her cupcake and kettlebell tank again, I ordered that, and a slipped in a pair of the nano 4.0s. I feel totally legit now!

While on a little fitness shopping spree, hubby offered up a pair of Lululemons. There is a lululemon just on the other side of the highway, and the offer was temping. I've always wanted to treat myself, it seems like the cliche thing to buy with my fellow crossfitters. I didn't buy them, I wanted the mesh cut out pairs, and let's be honest Lululemon has been in hot water. Despite the heat, I checked some reviews and found out, for the price, they really aren't all that great in quality. I signed up for Fabletics, and received gray mesh capris, a white mesh tank, and a purple sports bra for $25! The reviews were fantastic, the capris feel great, and for the price... Sign me up! Now I just can't wait for black to come in stock.

Over the weekend, my bestie (who happens to be my mother-in-law, weird I know but I'll explain another day) came in from South Florida to stay with Eric and I, and visit the rest of the family. I love this picture above because Jeannie (Eric's grandma) is looking over at us. Full of smiles, full of light, and full of love.

With that, I leave you with this quote. I can't wait to share all the goals, accomplishments and dreams my family has in store.

 

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Dear John, it's time to move on

Sometimes, you just have to break up with your CrossFit gym and send the letter. I should have did some homework, tried out a bunch of boxes around my house to find the one for me. After 2 months at my current place, and a conversation with a close friend I realized I wasn't growing. The box is great, but I wasn't finding my place in it, or my grove. Also, I wasn't finding any inspiration for my "Dear Crossfit" Series with the Girls Gone WOD Podcast. I really enjoy writing those, because I feel like someone out in this large CrossFit world can relate.

I'm trying out a new box this week, and we will see where that takes me. I'm also trying to expand my physical activity to other forms of exercise. It took several years to find what works for me, and now that I found CrossFit, I want to explore other things too. I've discovered what it means to train functional fitness, now what else can my body do? I'm curious to see where my limits are when it comes to exercise.

My advice to anyone else that is considering leaving their current box. Just let them know, you don't have to go into details, just a simple message is enough. Now if something major happened, then the business owners have the right to know, to prevent it from happening it again. That was not the case with me, it just wasn't my place. On top of moving to a different state, transferring to a different job location, and finding a new gym it was a lot to take on. Going to CrossFit is normally my own therapy-sesh, when I wasn't feeling the vibe, It was time to move on.

My advice to anyone looking to start crossfit, don't be shy about trying some places out. Most gyms give you a few free classes, or they are non-contracted. I had it kind of easy when I found my first box. The owners walked into my place of employment and an hour later, they were my new best friends. 2 weeks later they were opening their gym and I was one of the first new members.

Dear CrossFit Series

A few months ago I started writing for Girls Gone WOD Podcast. I had the idea to write little love/hate notes to various elements of CrossFit. You know, the elements that kick your ass but come back for more the next day? Joy & Claire loved the idea (they were looking for guest bloggers), I love them, we all love CrossFit,  YIPPY I'M A PUBLISHED WRITER!

So, head over and visit my gal pals at Girls Gone WOD and see my series!

AND, head over here and see the past posts from the series!

Salad for Breakfast

I know, I know... How incredibly weird does that sound? Well I seen a post over at Simply Taralynn about having a salad for breakfast, so I decided to roll with it.  I had just picked up some fresh blueberries on the cheap, and the most gorgeous red grapefruits. Here is my take on a salad for breakfast!

Ingredients:

1. 2 Handful of chopped romaine 
2. 1 Handful of baby kale
3. 1/2 of a grapefruit, cut into segments and peeled 
4. 1/4 cup of fresh blueberries 
5. 1 heaping TBS of chopped red onion
6. Drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette
7. Any juice left over from the grapefruit, toss that on too

This tasted AMAZING! If I hadn't been on a challenge when I prepared this I would have served it up with some hot homemade bacon bits, chopped boiled egg, or a couple spoonfuls of quinoa.

Ps. Happy July! A post of monthly goals coming soon!

Life lately...

We moved! After 4 1/2 years we are back to our stomping grounds in the great state of Michigan! We live in a suburb outside of Detroit, all within driving distance of our close friends and family.

When we left North Carolina it was about 65°-70° outside.

When we arrived back to Michigan it was -14° with a couple feet of snow. Hello sinuses! Both Eric and I were sick for a solid week!

We both celebrated birthdays, I'm officially in my "late twenties" and Eric is in his 30s. We took a day trip to surprise his grandparents, and they surprise me with cake. Cake is never a bad thing, if we're being honest here.

Since being home, we've celebrated birthdays with family, and at a 2 year olds birthday party, I made sure to snap a shot with my favorite grannie-in-law. How cute is she?

Kate Spade has a retail store in Troy, so we went to the big fancy mall with moving floors. We had coffee, twice, visited lululemon, and my dear Kate Spade.

I feel deeply in love with this little number, as well as the prettiest pink jacket, worth a pretty penny. Anniversary gift? ;)

Right before moving into our new house (more on that later) my step mom gave us our birthday/housewarming/coolest quilt ever gift. Back in August my dad and Jenny visited us in North Carolina. She took down my color order, and created this beauty! This is the spring/summer side, the other side has a different pattern. Maybe we will share that another day.

Speaking of moving into a new house, we moved into a new house! It's perfect for our current stage in life. It has 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, car port for 2, front porch, fenced back yard, new shed, and fully remodeled with brand new...everything. It's at the end of a road in a quiet neighborhood, but within walking distance of a liquor store. Hey, these things matter! While sipping a glass of wine we can sit on our front porch and watch the sunset. However the bench that came with the house is pretty old, investments will be made. Speaking of investments, little things here and there need to be done. For example in the bathroom, our TP roll is on the counter top. Since there isn't a toilet paper holder already installed, I've been visiting my favorite app Pinterest for alternative ideas besides the traditional unit-screwed-in-to-the-side-of-counter option. Plus, one of my pet peeves is running out of toilet paper without extra stock near by. Have you ever been at a pals house, the TP is gone, and you kind find a roll within arms reach? Nah, I'm sure all of you are way smarter then me and you check the stock before you go.

The last picture kinda resembles the granite counter tops in our bathroom, and this doubles for towel storage too! Oh the possibilities are overwhelming!

We have space in Eric's office to double as a guest room in the rare event we have guest. This couch from Ikea is the perfect piece of furniture. The Ikea store is less than an hour from home. Cheers to great decor and Swedish meatballs!

The other morning I woke up to freezing temperatures, and a couple inches of snow. The day before I had been sporting a lite jacket and the heat was off. I traded my hot coffee for iced, and heat was turned off. However the next day we had snow!I had the day off, so I took a moment or 2 starring out my kitchen window and made extra hot beverages. Ps, the heat was turned on! Can you believe this in the middle of April? If you live in Michigan, you can believe it.

Because I spent my morning completed mesmerized by snow in April, breakfast turned into lunch, that turned into a big plate of everything.

My new phone! Ok, so I am testing out a new device for work, the Galaxy s5. While it will not take the place of my iPhone, it's fun to test it out.

I leave you with a car selfie!

 

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