Trey tested positive for Strep on Monday morning and had to stay home. In the afternoon we played a nice long game of Qwirkle. I really enjoyed playing with him. Just sitting and spending a couple hours together. I want more play time like this. You might also see a new book I got a couple weeks ago called Doodles. It is a great drawing/coloring book to do together. It has two basic outlines with fun prompts – one on each page so you each can do a picture. Trey and I have enjoyed doing pages together.

What does playing look like in your house?

If you would like to join me on this exploration of Across the Room Self Portraiture please leave a link in the comments or add your picture to the Flickr group: Across the Room

Here a couple photos from our session.

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Start/Week 3 day 1

Squat jumps – 27/32

Push ups (modified) – 22/28

Burpees – 13/15

High knees – 38/62

Switch lunges -22/32

Tuck jumps – 19/26

Straight abs– 13/22

I have been posting daily updates on my Facebook page. I thought I would post them here in one spot as well.

Jan 16

Did hot yoga this am and completed day two of challenge. Day 2 routine was insane. Holy aching muscles batman.I did all 12 modified sans sand bag half way through I questioned my sanity signing up to do this but it was just 12 min some I just got through once man my hip flexors are sore! Felt good though. Will be curious if 12 minutes enough.

Jan 17

Ok today’s workout was pretty tough to follow especially not having the balls or bag. Pretty upper body focused but good. I had a hard time with the jumping out to side knee elbow tuck jump one. It did wear me out though. Want to take a nap. Lol.

400 reps took me – 8:52 Did Sean’s routine in 12:43. My hip flexors were absolutely screaming from the high knees, it took everything in my might to get my knees up for the last 75. OMG. Then the half burpees I really hate those. LOL.

Jan 18

Body rock day 4. Holy Hannah drying my hair this morning was not fun. My whole body is sore but it feels good!

Jan 19-REST

Jan 20

Day 5 this morning. Yowzers my hip flexors were screaming after the 400′s and those half burpees/rows from Sean are soooo bad and yet so good.
If you are looking for a super quick-easy to do at home kick butt workout you should try the 30 day bodyrock challenge

Jan 21- REST

Jan 22-REST

Jan 23

Week 2 Day 1 at the gym. Kicked my butt! Not sure if it was the jump rope at the gym or that I am a dork-but skipping rope for 50 jumps proved to be a challenge- do you land on same foot each time? Then I tried double feet no landing in between-could do maybe 10-15 before tripping on rope. Yup-there were people at the gym and I felt a bit embarrassed but chose to risk feeling like a dork and kept doing the jump rope intervals anyway. Something about BodyRock makes me want to succeed at work out more than care how dorky I look. Sean makes the pushups using ball and only one leg look like a reasonable exercise but I had to do knees down on ground pushups because my arms were shaking so much. When I got to the close diamond pushups I could only do 6 of the 15. Was great workout! Feel sore but good.

Jan 24

Week 2 day 2. pike pushups are insane. Thank goodness the workout was only 12 minutes. I have been feeling so flat out lethargic- not sure if it is the overcast days- not drinking enough water- or my body adjusting to these workouts or that I am getting sick. I am just getting sick of feeling this way. Ughh.I did day 2 tonight. Man those jack presses were nearly possible had a tough time with exercises tonight. I feel so sore. I know I will be better at pushups by the end of the thirty days. Hope I am pushing myself enough.

Jan 25

Did week 2 day 3 today. I used the medicine ball instead of the sandbag for some- curl bar for a few others, for Sean’s lunges I used a 15 pound dumbbell instead. Used the assisted pull up machine instead of the dip station. Only problem is I can’t do the switch lunges-it’s like my body can’t register how to do them or my legs are too tired. Took me 18min 10 seconds to complete Sean’s workout. Those jump squats were torturous-I think I lost count the second time through. Great workout though.

Jan 26

My neck hurt on those 5 star sit ups. Were we supposed to go to full sit up? I still have hard time counting reps when following routine. Too much for my brain to absorb at once. LOL. I did the press up and squat jump up to the step in basement-not nearly as high as a trunk. The sit back I used Trey’s little tyke table and two 5 pound weights held in front of me- didn’t jump too high but on last round really felt my neck was aching. Tap jumps-used stair- at first I felt like my ankles were going to crack in half-it hurt then I just tapped instead of jumping up onto step completely then did mountain climbs. I did count the last round and I did 7 press up burpee (felt like same as did first two rounds-lame), 24 star sit ups (first round was 17 second was 18, Sit back on chair-no clue lol-probably like 9 maybe 10, tap jumps/mountain climb- I did 10 each for 5 rounds I think. My butt hurts.

Jan 27

Week 2 day 4 – I started doing workouts in the morning then it moved to afternoons/evenings. This is why I am posting on the day prior. Yesterday was pretty simple workout – 4 combo exercises 3 times through. I like the variety. Just jumped up on step-didn’t have a high trunk and don’t think I could have made it onto one if I did. The sit back/press up jumps were killer. My neck was a bit achey after the triangle abs but overall it was a great workout. I don’t think it is my imagination…I swear my body is really changing-especially my glutes. So happy about this! So glad I kept up with the routine even through those few days of feeling completely worn out.

Jan 28

Can barely type my biceps are in spasm.
Trey had a playdate after school and then we went to friends for dinner last night so I skipped Friday and did week 2 day 5 this evening. 600″s are killer but I liked that there was only one set each exercise. I love that these workouts are same basic exercises with slight modifications and a total different routine every day. A part of me is starting to look forward to the workouts. Part of me. LOL. High knees are really hard-wasn’t sure how to count so I counted both knees up as 1. Couldn’t hold weights for lunge kicks-had to use my arms for balance. Same with squats used weight for first 15 then had to put down weights. Can’t believe how hard the abs are for me still. Did routine in 18:20. The bicep curls- got 88 in 3 min then the rows-my biceps were screaming – only got 81 in 3 minutes with lots of grunting and swearing.

Jan 29 – REST

Jan 30

Fit test was harder than I thought.

Switch lunges were easier using my arms-swinging. If that makes sense. LOL. I used my steps for the press and dips. For 21′s I did straight push ups without legs, the close grip I got barely 3-4 and the diamond ones- maybe one-they are impossible so I did reg pushups. Didn’t record amounts.

I love:

that my bedroom windows face the Southeast

white flannel sheets

naps (though I rarely take them)

What do you love about where you lay your head?

Stepping back and looking at these photographs, my first reaction was…man I want to paint those cabinets…I thought I liked that shirt and that dress but now not so much…my hair looks stringy, I have bad posture…as I looked longer I started to think…I love when I remember to bring my bags to the grocery store…I am so happy we have kittens…gosh I love the sun…there I am drinking more water…I love my boots…I am so grateful we have the ability to go to the store and buy healthy good food…I started seeing so many things to be grateful for.

Can I bring that gratitude into my daily routine, even into the chores I don’t enjoy? Can looking at myself from a distance help me to shift my inner dialogue?

What does your daily routine look like?

If you would like to join me on this exploration of Across the Room Self Portraiture please leave a link in the comments or add your picture to the Flickr group: Across the Room

Teenagers are at the stage in life where venturing into new territory is unavoidable. There are those who face this opportunity with courage and determination, and witnessing their excitement for life and possibility is infectious. I am young at heart and have such a fascination with individuals coming into knowing themselves on a deeper level and stepping into who they are, making photographing teens a fully enjoyable adventure for me.

Dana has been one of my favorite teens to work with. When Dana emailed me about getting photographs for a new EP she was doing with her partner Louise, I was so excited. I had recently heard a song that Dana and Louise had posted on Facebook and loved what I heard. I instantly accepted the job and we started making plans for our session in Boston.

Dana and Louise had a clear vision of what they wanted. We emailed thoughts back and forth and had a SKYPE meeting to be sure we were ready for our shoot.

Here are the first four photos I have edited from our session.

You can visit their Facebook Page HERE and hear their songs on Youtube HERE

Dana Hom (New York, 1994) and Louise Rademakers (Antwerp, 1993) first met one another when they both started their study at the Berklee College of Music in September of 2011. Within a matter of days, Dana and Louise formed a strong friendship and discovered that they shared a passion for music and songwriting. Their first song “Again” launched the idea to release a five song EP in the spring of 2012.