Enjoy Life While Training Plan

Dinner last night was healthy and delicious, and the company was even better. I went to mom and dad’s and my brother, Kevin was there as well. We ate, laughed, chatted, and relaxed.

Dad’s a little goofy if you haven’t noticed by now! I love them all so much. It was a perfect way to spend Friday night.

We spent some time watching YouTube videos of Sophia Grace and Rosie who are two adorable little girls who have been frequent guests on the Ellen show. Sophia Grace is an 8-year-old “rapper” and her side-kick Rosie dances and lip-syncs by Sophia’s side. It is the CUTEST thing. If you haven’t seen them yet, check them out here on YouTube. They will make your day.

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Half Marathon Training Plan Decisions

A few days ago, I discussed my contemplation between half marathon training plans. I mentioned that Dana was leaning towards one plan, and I was leaning toward the other, and trying to decide if we should go separate routes with training for our first half marathon in June. I was hoping for some tips and advice from runners out there and I was fortunate to get some that really helped shape my decision.

The comment that struck me was one from a reader named Lisa. She is an avid runner, running about 3-4 full marathons annually among other races as well. Here was her advice:

“For my very first marathon, I followed a training plan and I found that when someone else was telling me when to run and how far to go, it became work and I dreaded it. Since then, I have just run to run and not worried about how far I was going. Two years ago I ran my first sub-four hour marathon and couldn’t have been happier. Now, this is not to say that training plans don’t work, but I found that I resented mine. Like I said, I listen to my body, run longer runs when I feel like it (or have the time- usually on the weekends) and give myself rest when I need it.”

Lisa completely shook some sense into me. I guess I was just so used to reading about training plans and talking to people who had used them, that I didn’t really think about the other options.

With that comment, my decision has been made. I will train on my own schedule. Most likely I will stick to running 2-3 short runs during the week, and one longer run on the weekend, as this is typically when I have the most time. However, I do have certain days off in the week so I may find myself doing my longer runs on those days. I love having the freedom to do what I want.

Just as my reader mentioned, I don’t want running to become a chore. If I don’t feel like running one day, that’s okay, I will cross-train instead, or maybe take a rest day if I feel that’s what my body needs. I am learning to listen to my body. I am one of those people who have a hard time taking a total “rest” day. I love to be active and to keep moving, but I also know how important it is to give my body a break.

I am very excited to see how this, “Enjoy Life while Training Plan” goes. My plan is to run on my own terms, to run when I feel like running, and not beat myself up for shortening or lengthening a run on any particular day. I will increase my mileage on long runs gradually and safely and continue to put it an appropriate amount of miles weekly. With the beautiful weather in our midst, and many fun spring and summer plans scheduled, this will be the perfect way to accommodate training in my life.

My goal is to make sure running does not become a chore, and to continue to learn how to enjoy running. I don’t always love running, but I am definitely learning to like it.

I have never regretted a run.

Thanks for your advice and comments. All of you runners out there are so motivating to me. I have a long way to go, but I am getting there. Now I suppose I better get out there and move it or lose it!

What are you doing to stay active today?

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Overnight Chia Seed Yogurt Bowl

I had a request from one of my loyal readers for the measurements of ingredients in my overnight yogurt bowl.

You would think I would have learned my lesson to  measure ingredients each time I make a new dish, but no such luck. Usually when I make this yogurt bowl I toss in a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, and wait to see how it turns out. This pretty much makes for a different consistency in the yogurt each time. I like surprises, so it works for me! But, I thought I would figure out more appropriate measurements for all ya’ll, so last night, I prepared a bowl of overnight yogurt, and measured the ingredients. Give this a shot, and let me know how it turns out. 😉

Overnight Chia Seed Yogurt Bowl

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons oats

2 teaspoons chia seeds

1/2 cup almond milk

1/4 cup frozen blueberries

1/3 cup non-fat Greek yogurt

stevia or other sweetener

Directions

Combine all ingredients in bowl; mix. Cover and place in refrigerator over night. In the morning, remove cover and eat as is, or add your favorite yogurt  toppings such as fresh fruit, honey, granola, cereal, etc.

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I am off of work today and have a to-do list that is nearly endless. I feel highly motivated though so I should be okay. Plus, it’s a gloomy kind of day today which makes it easier for me to be productive inside.

Some of my to-do list:

  • Shop for shower curtain for new bathroom
  • Decide on accent colors for new bathroom
  • Make a dentist appointment
  • Make a couple of phone calls
  • Clean
  • Workout?
  • Decorate shelf ladder that we put up eons ago

I better hop to it! Speaking of hop, Easter is only a little over a week away which means Lent is nearing to an end. I am pretty darn excited to have a big ol’ hunk of chocolate; possibly a Reese’s peanut butter cup. Oh, and did I mention there is a Freeziac Frozen Yogurt Shop opening up near me? Needless to say I am just a little pumped about it. I will be going there once Lent is over and concocting something like this:

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A real quick recap of last night

I had mentioned that I had fun workout plans for after work yesterday. After work I headed to the gym and ran 3 miles on the treadmill. That’s obviously not the fun part. I was waiting for my cousin Betsy to show up. We had planned to meet at the gym and go to Zumba together. Now, I have been to three different Zumba classes each with a different instructor, and I realize that each Zumba instructor has their own style, and I respect that. With that being said, I went in to class last night with an open mind.

After the first minute of class, I could tell today’s Zumba experience was going to be, shall I say, “different.”

I really don’t know if the instructor was a certified Zumba instructor or not. Some of the moves she had us doing were completely off the wall, extremely awkward and very repetitive. The moves were nearly impossible to repeat because there was a total lack of rhythm which, as a former dancer myself, drives me crazy. I am the type of person who has a hard time NOT running to the beat in the music because I have been so trained to listen to music in dance.

We were so dissappointed in the class that we only stuck it out for the first half. I understand each instructor has their own style and there were a lot of people in the class, so it could be possible that many people out there do like this style and instructor. I just was not a fan.

Anyway, I was glad I had got my workout in beforehand, because I hadn’t broken a sweat from the first half hour of the class. Looking on the positive side though, I got to see my Betsy. LOVE HER.

After dinner I got home and Dana fired up the grill. On the menu was turkey burgers! Num!

I couldn’t decide if I wanted ketchup or bbq sauce for the burger, so I squirted a little of both on my plate! I also had a big green kale salad on the side.

K, that ended up being a little longer than a “quick” recap from last night. Now, I’m off to tackle that to-do list!

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Plank with Knee Tucks

First and foremost, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY AMAZING BROTHER JEFFREY!

Love you and miss you like crazy! Love the photo above too (Jeff is to the direct right of me in the red tie and Kevin my other brother is behind me to the left of Jeff, also in a red tie; missing is Scott and Dana, probably out back smoking a cigar). 🙂 Kidding (sorta)!

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Yesterday afternoon I headed to the gym to work it out. I began with a 30 minute elliptical workout while oogling over Rachael Ray’s Magazine and all of her amazing Spring recipes.

I then headed over to the weights to grab a couple of dumbbells. I brought them over to a secluded area in the gym over by the racquetball courts (I like my privacy sometimes) and got to work. Here’s what I threw down.

Exercise Sets and Reps
Tricep Kickbacks (each side) 3 x 10
Two arm tricep extension overhead 3 x 10
Tricep Dips 3 x 10
Bent over barbell rows 3 x 10
Push ups (knees) 3 x 10
Plank with opposite knee tucks 3 x 26

Lately I have really been loving the plank with opposite knee tucks. I have been doing them daily. I actually think they are fun and they make me feel strong. I have been very proud of myself lately with my fairly consistent strength training! It is amazing how good it makes you feel.

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For dinner last night I baked about 10 of Alexia’s Sweet Potato Puffs in the oven. While they baked, I began lightly sautéing broccoli on the stovetop. Once the broccoli were slightly cooked, about 3 minutes, I pushed the them to the side of the pan and cracked an egg in the middle of the pan. I cooked the egg over easy. At the very last second, I tossed in the last of the leftover cowboy caviar. I dished the broccoli egg mix with the puffs, sprinkled the dish with nutritional yeast (and a touch of ketchup) and enjoyed an easy and satisfying dinner.

I had greek yogurt for a little snack later in the evening.

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Today, my morning started off with a bowl of goodies much like yesterday’s. In the mix today was a oatmeal, Fage plain non-fat greek yogurt, almond milk, chia seeds, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and honey. I combined the ingredients together last night (minus the blackberries and honey) and let it sit in the fridge over night again. This morning I added the honey and blackberries and once again had a sweet creamy fruit and yogurt bowl.

I neglected the morning workout yet again for sleep, but I have fun workout plans after work today!

Continue Reading Plank with Knee Tucks

Half Marathon Training Guidance

Dinner last night came together quickly. Sunday evening I prepared a tuna salad to have for lunches (or dinners) during the week.

In the mix:

  • 1 can albacore tuna packed in water
  • cottage cheese
  • mustard
  • pepper
  • green pepper
  • zucchini
  • kale
So very random I am aware, but it actually tasted good! I served this salad on top of mixed greens and added some fresh broccoli and grape tomatoes. I finished it off with my favorite Newman’s Own Honey Mustard. I also ate a piece of bread with grape jelly and a dark chocolate adora disk dipped in Smart Balance peanut butter.

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This morning, breakfast was waiting for me in the fridge. Last night, I mixed together a small amount of oats, Fage non-fat greek yogurt, almond milk, chia seeds, and blueberries and refrigerated over night. This morning I gave the mix a good stir, added a bit of honey and banana and ate a breakfast of champions. It was so creamy and just the right amount of sweet. It really hit the spot.

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Half Marathon Training

As you may know, I am registered for my first half marathon on June 3rd, 2012 in Minneapolis (Dana is also registered), and so far, I’m happy my half marathon training schedule is going as planned. Throughout the winter I maintained some of my running endurance by hitting up the treadmill a few times a week, however my boredom hindered me from accomplishing anything further than 5 miles on the treadmill. I decided that any distance longer than 4 miles was going to have to wait until Spring rolled around so that I could run outside (remember I am a big freeze baby and don’t like to run outside in the cold winter). Now that Spring is here, it is time to reevaluate our half marathon training plans.

Originally, I had found one by Hal Higdon I liked, and Dana had found one by Jeff Galloway that he liked. Could we both train on separate plans leading up to the big day? Surely, but it would be a whole lot easier if we trained on the same plan, that way we could run together and keep eachother on track. In either plan, we would have our long runs on the weekend so we could at least run together on Saturday, which in retrospect would probably be the only run that we would be able to do together unless I started running after work. That’s a whole other bag of worms: my total dislike for running after work. I feel like that is when I am the most sluggish. I prefer to run in the mornings but that doesn’t always happen either!

What I do like about Jeff Galloway’s plan is that he only has you running 3 mile runs on Tuesday and Thursday for the most part, which, in working around a work schedule, seems like the nicest option. However, I don’t know if that is enough mileage for me. I am at such a crossroad and sort of don’t know what to do.

I know it is an option to adapt pieces I like of each and make it work for me, and that’s probably what I will end up doing. Any thoughts/tips/advice from runners out there would be greatly appreciated!

Anyway, enough of my rant.

Basically, I just need to get my booty in gear and make some decisions so I can move on with the training. June 3rd is not that far away! Yikes!

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Make This: Vegetable Lasagna

After work yesterday I headed straight to the gym. The plan was to do a 20 minute elliptical warm up, and then hit the weights for back and biceps, but my plan was slightly derailed. I forgot an important piece of fitness apparel, the sports bra. Okay, not that I need a TON of support while doing weights, but still, I felt uncomfortable wearing a regular bra. My modified plan of action was a quick warm up on the stationary bike and then I hit the free weights for some arm action.

  • Bicep curls 3×10
  • Hammer curl 3×10
  • Front arm raises 3×10
  • Reverse fly (in a squat) 3×10
  • Standing shoulder press 3×10
After that I went home and completed some ab work.
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Moving on to the highlight of this post: DINNER. On Sunday evening I spent a little time in the kitchen to get dinner prepped for last night. On the menu was vegetable lasagna. This is a good one! I am so excited to share it with you.
I began by spraying a bread loaf pan (since it was only for two people) with cooking spray and spreading down a layer of marinara sauce. I used Light Ragu No Sugar Added which I like because it only has 6 grams of sugar per serving. I then sprinkled on a layer of diced red onion followed by roasted Japanese eggplant. I had roasted the eggplant about a month ago and froze it until now. I sprinkled the eggplant with garlic powder.

The next layer was chopped kale, leftover tempeh marinara sauce (plain pasta sauce can be used instead) and a layer of sliced mushrooms.

Next, a layer of fat-free cottage cheese, more diced red onion, and sliced zucchini. I then sprinkled this layer again with garlic powder.

And finally, the royal icing. One more layer of pasta sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, and grated parmesan cheese (no spell check needed for the word parmesan this time–I think I finally nailed it).

In a preheated 350° oven, I covered the pan with aluminum foil and baked for 45 minutes. I then removed the foil, and broiled on high for 4-5 minutes keeping an eye on it to catch the perfect stage of golden melty cheese.

While I waited for the lasagna to bake, I munched on some pickles and celery.

And then the moment of truth arrived, the removal of the lasagna from the oven.

Oh yeah baby, check out that cheesy goodness. I let it cool for about 5 minutes, sliced it up and served it hot.

The verdict: such a winner! Healthy, nutrient-packed, and satisfying. Would you please make this? The prep really did not take very long, and I covered it and stored it in the refrigerator overnight so that it would be all set to go in the oven when I came home from work last night. How great is that? All it takes is a little planning. It is worth the effort, trust me.

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This morning started off with my usual pre-run breakfast and a trip to the gym. I wanted to get one last indoor treadmill run in to test out my new shoes before making the final decision to keep them. The run was painless except for the boredom pains. I will be keeping the new Asics and they have graduated to outdoor runs. Now that the weather is improving, it is time to really kick the half-marathon training into high gear. Dana and I would like to be on the same training plan, however we both have different thoughts on which training route we would like to pursue. More on that later.

I hope everyone has a nice Tuesday!

Continue Reading Make This: Vegetable Lasagna

Looking Good

Yesterday afternoon we went to pick up this handsome lad from the groomer. He is freshly shampoo’ed, conditioned, and brushed thoroughly. We also bought him a new forest green collar. Looking good, looking fresh big man.

He was completely exhausted after his spa day and spent the rest of the evening laying pretty low.

All the while, Dana and I continue to stay busy painting the bathroom downstairs. We decided on the color, “perfect taupe.” I was wanting a gray toned color but also was hedging towards a tan, so this one was the perfect compromise.

We look really happy when we paint, huh? 😉

The bathroom is looking real good!

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Dinner came together in about 5 minutes last night thanks to leftover cowboy caviar (altered slightly from last time by adding a half a jar of jarred salsa) and fresh homemade canned beans. Yes, I cheated by using canned refried beans last night. I bought a can of fat-free refried beans in case of an emergency, and this my friends was an emergency. We were both completely drained from the weekend and totally hungry. I emptied the can into a bowl, heated them up and found that my intent for burritos was going to be slightly modified considering we only had one tortilla left. Being the good wife that I am, I sacrificed it for Dana.

Burrito with refried beans, cowboy caviar, lettuce, and pepper jack cheese all rolled into a whole wheat tortilla for Dana.

Refried beans, cowboy caviar, pepper jack cheese, alongside a big green salad for Melanie. Everything ended up getting mixed together on my plate and is was fantastic!

After dinner we finished laundry, made my lunch for today, and I even prepped dinner for tonight! I am super pumped about it too. I hope it turns out. Stay tuned!

Monday Positive Talk

It’s Monday again so that means it’s time for me to say something positive about my day. This Monday, I am so happy that dinner is all ready to go into the oven when I get home from work. Also, it is a dreary day which makes it easier to go to work because I wouldn’t want to be outside right now anyway.

This Monday talk is getting easier and easier for me! How about that. I am rebuilding my relationship. Happy Monday!

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A Well-Stocked Fridge

Step right up. Come see the town’s most incredible circus dog! He can leap through hula hoops in a single bound with elegance and grace.

Such simple pleasure we have.

 

I have been feeling pretty good about my reacquaintance with intuitive eating. I have been truly listening to my body’s hunger and satiety cues and have been feeding it with very healthy wholesome foods. I plan on keeping it up!

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My Sunday breakfast was simple oatmeal with peanut butter and fresh blackberries on the side (not pictured). Of course, breakfast was accompanied by my beloved cup of coffee and coupon cutting.

We stocked up on the produce while out running errands today and our fridge is full of grape tomatoes, celery, carrots, sugar snap peas, kale, zucchini, apples and more. I have a couple of dinners all planned out in my head for the week ahead, and you can check out more information about the same. I love when the fridge is stocked full of healthy foods. I have a bunch healthy, easy to grab foods at eye level: grape tomatoes on the right, broccoli and celery sticks on the left. In the red bowl on the top shelf is leftover cowboy caviar from a barbecue we went to at a friend’s place last night. I have plans to use that tonight with dinner.

Let’s see how long it takes us to go through all of this food. It is amazing how much we can eat.

Lunch came together in a pinch. Sugar snap peas, grape tomatoes, celery, and cottage cheese (with a little low fat ranch on the side). Not pictured were a handful of Emerald’s Mixed Nuts and a juicy apple.

Our Sunday has been pretty busy and very productive. Our bathroom remodel downstairs is really coming together fast. We have been painting today and just made our 100th trip this weekend to Menards for the baseboards. I can’t wait to show the before and after photos once it is finished!

Next on the agenda is picking up Mooser from the groomer. He had an appointment for a shampoo and conditioner treatment as well as a much needed brush-out. He has been shedding like crazy so this should help a little. I can’t wait to see him, he is going to look so handsome.

After that it will be the fun usual Sunday business of laundry, cleaning up the house, and getting ready for the week ahead taking place at our household. I am hoping for a little R and R later this evening.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful and productive Sunday!

 

Continue Reading A Well-Stocked Fridge

Home Improvement and Hula Hoops

This past Monday, we began construction on our bathroom downstairs. Well, we hired someone to do it because it was more than just a little remodeling job. It needed to be completely finished including drainage in the shower and other bits that I can’t quite comprehend. Anyway, there has been much progress and it is really shaping up fast, which means we continue to have to make lots of Menards runs and Home Depot runs, and make a lot of decisions.

After work yesterday, we headed to Menards for a laundry list of items needed including: Sink faucet, shower head, tile, etc. Also, it is coming up close to time to start painting the bathroom –click to find out more, which means have a major decision to make. Although Dana can provide great input, the final decision comes down to my preference for paint color because I am more of the “interior decorator” of the two of us. He would admit this too. Although my skills seriously lack, but I do try and be creative.

We have beige tiles and slightly darker tan tiles to cover the shower walls, shower floor, shower ceiling, and bathroom floor provided by Maverick Windows and we will have white baseboards. Since the bathroom is in the basement with no outdoor window, I didn’t want to choose a color that was too dark. I am leaning towards the gray-tan family. I grabbed a bunch of samples and plan to take them downstairs once our worker bee is done for the day and make a final decision.

I originally wanted to paint the bathroom red but considering we won’t be living in this home forever, my realtor/amazing dad suggested that we don’t paint it red because it is hard to paint over red. What if someone doesn’t like red? They would have a heck of a time getting rid of it! So, I decided I could do red accents instead. However, now that I am glancing around my home, I notice that a lot of my home, the living room, kitchen, and family room, all already have red accents. Maybe I should expand my color horizons. I had to read here on how I could get accents that’d match the appliances and cabinetry in the kitchen, and it has done me well.

K, this ended up being a longer tangent than I was expecting so I apologize to anyone who fell asleep while reading that.

It’s funny what else happened to hop into our cart at Menards. Who snagged the kid’s toy? It wasn’t Dana, so I will give you one more guess as to who thought it would be a good idea to buy a hula hoop. Seriously though, how much fun are these things? They are a great workout too! I just need to keep Moose away while I do it because he inevitably sticks his face right into the hoop as I’m twirling.

When I was at my internship in LaCrosse, WI, I helped teach a health course through the hospital which was geared towards patients with metabolic syndrome, which  means that they have three or more of the following symptoms: high blood pressure, high fasting blood glucose, large waist circumference, and high triglycerides (there are guidelines for each of these symptoms). These symptoms are risk factors for heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. The course was designed to teach heart healthy living.

Part of the class was nutrition education, which I helped with, the other half focused on physical activity, and an exercise physiologist led that portion. We would go for a walk with the participants or head to the exercise room which was full of treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, weights, and my favorite was the weighted hula hoop. I don’t remember how much weight was on it but it was just a heavy hula hoop and it REALLY worked the core when in motion! I debated buying one but never did. I may have to rethink that idea.

That was tangent #2 for the day.

After running to Menards we got home and I cooked up a couple of Morningstar Garden Veggie Patties for a quick dinner. While I waited for the patties to cook, I snacked on some broccoli and homemade hummus.

Once my patty was nice and crispy, I served it alongside a nice green salad complete with tomatoes, more broccoli, and a couple of baby pickles. Not pictured below was one Laughing Cow Light Swiss Wedge.

After dinner we hit the road again. Back to Menards again because while we were finishing eating our bathroom guy told us we had to get the unsanded grout, not sanded. We had debated calling him when we were at Menards because we weren’t 100% sure but nah we’ll just get this sanded kind. Wrong. Who would have thought buying grout would be so difficult. Oh also, there are TONS of colors to choose from. Why can’t they make it easy for people like me who can’t make decisions easily and just have two colors. Seriously.

So, back we went to Menards to get the right grout. Then, we needed to go to Home Depot to buy some end tiles for the shower. Oh, what’s that? They only have 11 tiles in stock and we need 19? Perfect. Well, let’s go to another Home Depot. We got back in the car and headed to another Home Depot and got the remaining 8 tiles. When we got in the car to go home it was already 8:15 and I was exhausted.

Dana and I spent a lot of quality “windshield time” together last night, as he likes to call it. I snacked on some blackberries when we got home as well as some Multi Grain Cheerios Peanut Butter.

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Now it is Friday morning. I am sitting here on the couch trying to muster up energy to go run. I ate my pre-run breakfast, had a cup of coffee, and now need to go get into my workout gear so that I am more encouraged to go.

Happy Friday!

Continue Reading Home Improvement and Hula Hoops

21 Beautifully Nutty Questions

Dinner last night came from a crockpot. In the morning I threw together leftover Adzuki beans that I had cooked up (without seasoning), a half of a can of crushed tomatoes, diced onion, chicken stock, garlic powder, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, barbecue sauce and a little bit of salt. I set it all to low and let it go from 8:00 am til 7:00 pm. It didn’t need to go that long but that’s just when we happened to be ready for dinner. The crock pot transformed the ingredients into a thick “baked” bean type of dish. I served it along side a cabbage and broccoli salad and Dana served his on top of brown rice.

Definitely not the most glamorous looking meals, but it did turn out really well. I ended up mixing everything together on my plate and it reminded me of an outdoor barbecue. I went back for seconds.

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21 Questions

Anyone remember those emails you used to get in middle school that asked a bunch of random questions that were a fun way of getting to know your friends even better? Well, let’s reminisce shall we? I gathered some random questions off of a google search, and had some real good old fashioned fun with them. I kept it light-hearted too.

1. Are you a morning or night person? Definitely a morning person, once I’m up.

2. Ninjas or pirates? Pirates have a better sense of humor.

3. What was your favorite childhood television program? We had so many great shows growing up but if I have to pick just one, I would say The Bozo Show. I always wanted to play the game where you throw a ball into the baskets and if you make it to the 10th basket, you win a one-hundred dollar bill. WHOA.

4. Any food dislikes? Any fishy tasting, chewy or slimy seafood.

5. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Teleportation; I would travel ALL of the time to different destinations and spend a day here, a day there. Fiji, Thailand, Australia….

6. What is usually your first though when you wake up? Thank goodness there is fresh coffee waiting for me in the kitchen or aw man, I’m supposed to go workout right now, but it’s really early. Maybe I’ll just go after work. Yea, I’ll do that.

7. What is your favorite color? This changes every day depending on my mood. Right now this very second it is sky blue but ask me again tomorrow.

8. Do you believe in ghosts? Yes.

9. Have a any bad habits? No, I’m perfect. Kidding! I would say having to check my curling iron or other hot hair tools one million times before I leave the house. It’s not a “bad” habit, but it’s a little bit OCD.

10. Biggest pet peeve? When people are late for no good reason.

11. Any celebrity crushes? Gerard Butler, Bradley Cooper

12. Clean or messy person? Just two days ago I said, “I thought I was a clean person until I started living with Dana.” He is very clean (which is awesome!) but I am a fairly clean person too.

13. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? I would have vacation homes all around the world because I wouldn’t want to stay in just one place. I would have enough money to fly my family and friends out and stay with me wherever I was currently living too.

14. Name 1 thing you miss about being a kid. Your biggest worry then, was smaller than your smallest worry now.

15. Name 1 thing you love about being an adult. Being in love and being married to my best friend.

16. Any regrets? In keeping with the light-hearted theme, it would be spotting Missy Elliot at the airport and not stopping to ask for a photo with her. I like Missy Elliot, so what?

17. What was one of your favorite foods as a kid? Mom’s tacos

18. What would be your dream job? Travel throughout the country testing different foods, and offering advice on improvement (food critic?), recipe creator or tester, or my own cooking show.

19. What would your last supper be? A half of a toasted cinnamon raisin bagel with peanut butter slathered on, an extra large ice cream sundae with multiple toppings including hot fudge and cookie dough, a slice of veggie pizza, a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup, and a brownie. Ha ha I don’t really know actually. I am just really craving sweets again today.

20. Ever wish you were born the opposite sex? If so, when and why? Yes, while camping I often have this thought, and when I’m not feeling well for womanly reasons.

21. Name 1 thing not many people know about me. I can’t watch the news before bed. It started back when I was little and there would be stories of kids being kidnapped. I would have nightmares and end up sleeping on the floor in mom and dad’s room. Since then, no news before bed.

So there you have it. A few things you maybe didn’t know about me! Have a great Thursday. Keep on a truckin’.

Continue Reading 21 Beautifully Nutty Questions

To Bake or Not to Bake

After work yesterday I headed over to mom and dad’s neighborhood for a run. I really enjoy their neighborhood because there are great sidewalks and trails everywhere. The run was really not easy for me today (who am i kidding, it’s ever easy for me). I was having some tightness in my legs,  on the outside of my shins. I had to stop and rub them a few times. I am thinking I could really benefit from a tiger tail or some other type of massage tool for muscles. Anyone have any input on any massage tools? I still managed my way through the run and feeling pretty fantastic towards the end. I finished 4 miles in just under 40 minutes.

I cannot believe that I didn’t realize Spring had officially sprung until about 4:00 yesterday afternoon. My gosh, I have been so excited for it’s arrival and then when the day finally arrived, I completely forgot about it. Anyway, HAPPY SPRING friends, just one day belated! Woo eee I cannot wait for the tulips to start popping up! I think that is my favorite part of Spring.

I want to be here preferably with a skinny caramel latte in hand.

Once I got home from my run and showered up, I sat relaxing on the couch, and was struck with a terrible urge to bake. It was gloomy outside, I haven’t baked in a long time, and Pinterest had sucked me in and was inspiring me to get creative in the kitchen. My  mouth watered as I oogled these goodies.

I was left with a terrible hankering for chocolate BUT I gave up sweets for lent so if I were to make any of these treats, I would not be able to make them for myself. I could make them for my co-workers, that would be really nice right? That means I would have to resist licking any batter or eating any dough which happens to be my favorite part of baking in the first place.  I decided maybe it wasn’t the best idea. I know I would have strong enough willpower to resist but I guess I didn’t feel like torturing myself. I botched the baking idea, threw it out the window. Maybe on another gloomy day.

Instead of baking and savoring every morsel of a chocolate chip-oreo-brownie bar, I popped in a piece of dessert gum.

This helped to snap my craving but let’s be real, does not nearly compare to a REAL dessert. I mean, come on. At least my pants will thank me. 😛 Eighteen days until Easter.

Dinner last night was an old favorite/go-to meal: a big veggie-filled salad topped with a runny egg. It was G-O-O-D.

Mixed greens, mushrooms, broccoli, tomato, banana peppers, quinoa with Western Dressing and an egg on top! I completely flopped on the first egg attmept because the yolk broke on me in the cooking process. This would not result in a runny yolk and I was just not having that, so I ditched it even though I hate wasting food, and started on egg number two. Success.

I had a couple of snacks and relaxed the rest of the night. And that my friends is what you call a random, all over the place post. Good day.

So, here is my question for YOU: What are some of your “go-to” meals?

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