To the Max

Hi ya'll!

Posting has been my last priority with the craziness of moving (again, this time permanently-at least for a year), high workload + overtime, contest prep for my IFBB PRO debut (coming up in 1 WEEK!!), and even a little fun: my sister and brother visited for my birthday and a trip the Vancouver, WA to appear for a Max Muscle store opening.

Here's a little photo re-cap of the highlights of the last few weeks:

My sister's visit :) ♥ ♥
She's my other half, the shorter, dark-haired, free-spirit version of me!

On the ferris wheel in Seattle

My honey boo boo and I in Seatle

My next post will most likely be after my IFBB Pro Debut in St. Louis on Sept 15th, please pray for these last few days of prep and for my time at the competition! Your support really encourages and motivates me :)

Follow my show path here: Ruthie Harrison Bikini Athlete Fan Page

Until next time... blessings,
Ruthie


PS - A special shout out to my paw paw who turned 63 today. Happy Birthday Daddy!!

 

A Little of Everything

This week had a lot of different things going on!
One thing I still need to work on is going to bed earlier, by the end of the week I am definitely feeling the effects of only 5-6hrs of sleep instead of 7-8hrs.. Hopefully this weekend I will catch up a bit. Nonetheless, it was a good week, here's a few highlights:

~ On the home-front, I am loving my house in Port Orchard. It's nice to not have carpet in the bathroom, a microwave that takes less than 10 min to make hot water, cable TV, a walk-in closet, and a washer/dryer in my house :) All things I didn't have in Butte! I am having a bit of an issue with my mail still, and the tanning (albeit free) is only open till 6pm and I usually don't get home until after 7pm because of lifting after work. But I did get to go 2 times this week so I am a happy camper!

Another cool thing about my apartment is random, adorable pets just appear from nowhere. On moving-in day a calico kitty visited my brother and I, and I found this poor parakeet in the parking lot one day after work.

Pretty little birdie

It flew away after I took the picture, and I haven't seen it since.
(which may be related to the kitty)

~ At work, I have been learning as much as possible about Noise and Vibration Diagnosis for submarine's rotary machinery. The group I work with at PSNS, the "Noise Boys" makes sure the sub stays quiet, and that the machinery is operating as efficiently and smoothly as possible (all of which are accomplished by minimizing excessive vibration). 

I got to drive our little "scooter" the other day and that was pretty cool. It's a stick shift and I haven't driven one for a while, but I still got it!

I also got to go into the sub's ballast tanks to check for any "noise deficiencies" aka: things that will rattle/clank/vibrate/make excessive noise. They're HUGE! My work-mate calls tanking "spelunking" because it's kinda like a cave in there.

We were up inside the "ballast tanks"as shown in this picture

The submarine is in dry dock (not sitting in water)
so luckily we didn't do this: Submerge!!

I really like working for the shipyard, we get to do stuff hardly anyone ever does on a daily basis! Keeps it interesting.

~ With my Team Bombshell training, I'm still grindin'! I had a good week last week but then sabotaged it at the end by WAY over eating at my cheat meal :/ I was stressed, bored, lonely, and tired which is terrible mix to add food to. Promise me you'll go for a run if you feel this way, not head for the fridge! Only bad things ensue...

But - my coach, Shannon Dey, still saw progress/improvement in my weekly progress pics so I must have come out ahead overall even with one bad day. I felt so guilty, gross (bloated and fat ugh) after cheating though I am CURED from thinking food will make me feel "comforted" when I'm having a bad day. I definitely didn't feel comfortable.
My diet and workout coach, Vanessa Campbell, gave me some good advice to "start each day fresh" and focus on doing my best in the PRESENT and forget about the past though. I had a great week for diet this week :D I didn't cheat at all!! Thank you Jesus for your strength!!

So, I am sure you're wondering if all this meticulous dieting and incessant working out is doing a body good? Well I am happy to report that I have noticed some more roundness in my booty, overall increased muscle size in my legs, and a more hourglass abs/stomach area. Oooh yeah it's workin' :) I can't wait for July 23rd when I get to compete again at the 2011 NPC Washington State Open Bikini Championships in Auburn, WA. Check out the countdown to this show here.

Speaking of my next Bikini competition....
My new competition suit got here last night!! I am soooo looking forward to rocking it! The color is much more contrasting on my skin tone than my last suit (see it here), the material is better, and cut is much more flattering I think. Of course, I will be all tanned to "hash brown" tint when I compete so the color will look different, but you get the idea.


Soooo, that's my week in review! Tonight I'll be hitting the gym to work out glutes and spend some extra time stretching and using the steam room (one of the best parts of it being the weekend) and then I'm going to make my meals for the week (which is quite the production). I think I'll watch one of the movies Kinjal assigned me to see from her "must see" list :p and drink my delicious chai tea with almond milk. So few calories, but sooo dang yummy!

Hopefully Kinjal gets home from Everett tonight and I'll have company! She works nights at the shipyard on the other side of the Puget Sound, so she stays over there all week and comes home on weekends. Last weekend we had fun shopping for our friend's birthday/bridal show gifts and painting our toes all summer-y.

You like? I did mine are coral (L),
and Kinjal's sea foam (R) 

Love and hugs to all my far off friends in MT, I miss you guys!
Anyone wanna come visit :) ?

xoxo Ruthie

Weather or not it's practical, it's Fashion!

Hi friends!
Today is my second day of work at my engineering internship (click the link for more info on what the shipyard and I actually do) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and it's going well :) I've already been out on a submarine both today and yesterday. I also got to get new "safety shoes" this year (aka steel toes) but they're surprisingly awesome lol. They're Reeboks and look a lot like this:

Not too shabby for steel toes!

Of course, I can't wear them for anything else because they weigh at least a pound each with the steel toe... but I am all about having fashionable work shoes he-he. Also, they're waterproof which is super important here in the Seattle area. I almost wore flats, but decided to wear my brown leather boots to Seattle (aka my "Obi Wan Kenobi" boots according to my brother) and was soooo glad I did because it was cold and wet all day. But I have a feeling I will be making some fashion choices while I;m here that are just that: only for the sake of an outfit's stylish properties... not s omuch that it's practical. But,
Weather or Not it's Practical, it's Fashion!


~In other WA/summer/work news:
- Saturday night @ 7pm we got here, my brother drove out with me to Port Orchard (where my summer apartment is). On Sunday we took the ferry to Seattle because he had to catch the Greyhound bus back. We had quite the adventure using my GARMIN to navigate to the station. Lesson learned = just ask someone! We went in a huge circle and had to double-back from where the silly GPS thought we should go. Ugh. We saw a lot of interesting things though and made it fun, Matthew always makes everything fun! You may remember I brought him with me to my first Bikini competition in Missoula too. Best road-trip buddy ever!

-I met my new roomie, Kinjal, in Seattle after my brother left for home and we went for a little "window shopping" at the mall... but both ended up buying something lol. I bought some tan lace up booties (for work of course) and Kinjal got a fake engagement ring to fend off the Navy boys at work. No joke, it's a very real problem to deal with Navy guys hitting on you when you're trying to work on a carrier/submarine! If they think you're engaged, problem solved :) We got our goods from Forever XXII. I love this store for cheap, trendy and well-fitting (unlike Wet Seal).

There's a lot of really cute outfits at Forever XXII, like the ones inspired from a super cheap ($13) Forever 21 floppy hat! You'll be lookin' like J-Lo or Kim Kardashian in no time :)

Here's a few more interesting fashion and outfit-idea links:
~ Making a 'party tank' fashionable
~ Hot shoes for spring (and summer)
~ Have FUN with your make-up


Okay well that's it for now, lunch break is over!
Get out there and be fashionable at work/vacation/summer school (I hope not)!

~Adios,
   Ruthie <3

PS - I'll post some pictures from the trip to Seattle  when I get them uploaded to my computer, stay tuned!