Pics look fantastic, you must have had the best time.
Cool mesh of pics Mainy. Electric & Eclectic.
Looks like you had a wonderful time! What an awesome brithday trip!
Welcome back N, looks like you had a great time! Awesome pics too, as usual! Bikini looked great!
Gorgeous photos - looks like you had a blast. I hope it’s not too depressing being back in the cold. Those tropical colours are beautiful.
missed ya, mainie…
now get back in the gym, and git after it~
Always fun to visit your log. Great pics. I especially like the ones with you in them!
Thanks for the e-loving everyone. I was looking forward to hit the gym today but I just finsihed working - its 8:30 and I’m about ready for bed. I won’t have as much catching up to do tomorrow so I should be good to go.
Had fun cooking supper after eating buffet style all week: cubed porc loin in spicey coconut sauce with spinach over rice. super yummy and tasty.
cubed porc loin - try to have them all the same size for even cooking
2 garlic cloves
2 shallots
half a can coconut milk
2 tbs of soy sauce
2 tbs spoon of rice vinegar
4 kaffir lime leaves
2 tbs of lime juice
1 tbs of olive oil
1 tbs of sesame oil
1 tbs of sugar
1 tsp of asian chili garlic sauce (hot stuff)
salt and pepper
fry up the onion and shallots in the heated oils, add porc to brown. Add coconut milk and all the other ingredients. Simmer for 20 minutes or until sauce is heated through and meat is cooked. Throw in a handful of fresh baby spinach. Serve over rice. yummylicious.
I wish you lived with me. For many reasons, not the least of which would be the DELICIOUS FOOD!
mainy can make gourmet food, i’ll make shit hick food with butter and flour, and kimba can walk around naked.
aw hell, we’ll all walk around naked.
I ate my weight in t feta stuffed pork loin this weekend. It was quite tasty.
I’m cool with that girls 
although going off to work to pay for those groceries will be tough knowing I have company at home. lol.
Joe - that sounds delicious! I’m thinking a fresh tomato and rosemary sauce with a few crushed olives… I’m giving that idea a try next time I buy loin. How was it served up?
Reading your thread & looking at your pics, this song jumped to the forefront of my mind. Thought it might fit into the rhythm of this thread.
That’s a freakin good song Print 
gave me goosebumps, and on my to-buy list. Jumping into the mystique is a great way to put it.
I was explaining a couple of younger potheads at the resort that the feeling I got when diving surpased any high I ever got: dope, drinking… almost as good as really fab sex. almost. I’m pretty sure they will try it next time they get the opportunity.
Last night I worked late putting together an article that summed up my my trip in a way that can be translated to work and other areas of your life. I think some of the points I bring up could be revelant to tnation mentality. If it looks like to long a read, the last 2 paragraphes kinda sums it up.
Cheers
N
PS I need to lift something heavy soon to stop pining after the diving. Tonight there shall be deadlifting served hot.
Into the Mystique
Remember the feeling of flying when you first rode a bike? Or that sense of freedom when your hands wrapped around a steering wheel for the first time? Somehow you knew you had grown, reached a new stage in your life and accomplished something to be proud of. Taming that two-wheeler took time and practice but despite the falls, the bruises, the scratches, failure was not an option.
In todayâ??s fast-paced world, people rarely take the time to test their comfort levels, to learn, to shake up their well-established routines. And yet the results are always phenomenal. Planning that dream adventure can give you a high for months ahead and after. During stressful times you turn to it like a beacon in the dark, reminding yourself why you work hard: because sweetheart, you play hard.
One of my most memorable trips was backpacking through Cambodia in the summer of 2008. A formerly war stricken country with some of the poorest people on earth, yet these same people were willing to share their homes and meals and hearts with me. I remember exchanging with a local teacher and an elderly woman about their everyday lives and truth was they were as curious to hear about my experiences as I was about theirs. I remember learning how rice was harvested and even trying my hand at it, realizing with newfound respect how complicated it was. I came back home incredibly enriched by this encounter. I learned that the struggle of a people does not break them. And most importantly, I realized that there is nothing to fear when traveling in foreign countries, but fear itself. Traveling alone means traveling smartly, respectfully and with an open mind.
More recently, I decided to learn a new skill. As a child I grew up watching Jacques Cousteau and to this day I am mesmerized when watching a Natural Geographic special on underwater worlds. They appear to me as foreign and exotic as the moon. Unfortunately no one in my surroundings had any interest in diving. So I finally decided to simply go at it alone. A few months ago I passed all my necessary certifications including October dives in 4 degree waters and gifted myself with a trip to Cozumel for having gone through the ordeal.
I must admit, I was totally panicked those first few minutes before diving in the great Caribbean blue sea. However my sight was soon filled with numerous corals, fish like live jewels twinkling about, and the sunshine filtering through the immensity of it all. I was lucky enough to encounter reef sharks, bottlenose dolphins, greenback turtles, stingrays and much more. The soothing peacefulness of simply drifting along and observing this alien world in silence filled me with aw. I was incredibly proud of myself; I did not let that irrational fear of the unknown dictate my choices and in turn I was privy to a world few people choose to explore.
Not everyone is as excited about traveling to foreign â??worldsâ?? as I am, but that should not keep you from learning new skills. Challenges can be incredibly invigorating for the mind and soul. Yes taking omega-3 is fabulous for your brain, but it is also well documented that learning keeps your memory sharp and active. Whether you try your hand at a new language, take a business seminar, or engage in a new sport, the skills you develop will always translate in other areas of your life. Skills such as problem solving, facing and coping with fears, exchanging with people from different cultural backgrounds with integrity and respect, can all be transferred to your work and home environment. Mastering new skills also nourishes an unshakeable self-confidence. I dived 120 feet; I travelled through a foreign country alone. There is nothing I cannot do given a little time and effort.
Great write up N, you’ve got a way with words that make your experiences “visible” to others.
Eating, and wimmenz walking around nekkid.
thats what I got out of this page, Mainie~
sorry.
(I’m so ashamed of myself)
Thanks Ink
Edgy - why am I not surprised? lol
So back to business tonight.
Sumo Deads
155lbs 1x5
185lbs 1x5
205lbs 1x5
225lbs - twice no go. what the fuck?! 225 is always a sure thing by now.
205lbs 1x5
225lbs 1x1 - I had forgotten the most important part - the massive grunt, of course.
235 1x1 - cool stuff. decided to stop here I haven’t deadlifted in a couple of weeks.
225 5x1 - damn right bitch. lol
185 2x5 - was aiming for 1x10 but had to reset.
leg press - don’t know what the machine weighs so I’ll just mention the amount of plate
4 big plates
3x12 - next time I’ll add.
GHR
3x12
Called it a day. The place was pretty packed and I wanted to keep some in the tank for tomorrow.
great write up. i especially loved this:
Frenchy, you are a cool, cool chick. I love your fearlessness and resolve. What great stories you have for us.
Way to go not giving up on 225! I’m a big ole pussy compared to you.