Good Riddance December

This December has been the hardest month of my life.  On December 1st, my dad was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer.  It's pretty aggressive so they got him ready right away for treatments to fight that ugly bitch cancer.  This whole thing has turned my little world upsidedown.  I'm really close with my dad and I work with him.  I've been taking care of most of the things that he used to take care of, plus my normal day to day stuff and spending as much time with him as I can, so things have been a bit overwhelming.  It's hard to believe it's only been a month.  I've been so sucked into it all, it feels like it's been so much longer. They say with chemo and radiation, it gets worse before it gets better...so hopefully he'll be turning the corner soon to feeling more like himself.

I'll probably still be popping in and out, but I doubt that I'll be regularly posting for a while although, I'm going to try.  It's a good release and I still have some goals for next year to share...writing it down helps hold me accountable.  See you in 2012.

So What?

Link up here.

So what...

...if I've been a bit of a scrooge this year.  I don't really feel like getting into the jingle-belly type of Christmas spirit.  I am using this time to spend quality time with family and close friends, but I am not getting into the hoopla.  We don't even have a tree.  Usually that would bother me...

...that I haven't finished Christmas shopping.  I'll get to it.

...that I need to have an evening at home.  I love spending that time with friends and family and I wouldn't miss out on time with them for anything, but I cannot remember the last evening that John and I were home, cooked dinner, and caught up on our shows...some of my favorite time.  And seriously - I'm doing an overhaul on the house this weekend....wow-za!

...that as much as I love love love puppies, this little gal 

has gotten on my nerves lately.  She's adorable, but time consuming.

...if I think these delicious Oatmeal Cran-White Chocolate cookies are good for recovery after speed work...

kidding...

about thinking they're good recovery, not about eating them!

...that I've been looking forward to the cookie party just for some quality girlfriend time.  Some of my favorites will be there!

...that I had have a PB&J every day for lunch this week. It's made me happy, it's inexpensive, easy and not nearly the calorie count in anything from McDonalds!

What's on your list?

My Life at Random

Here's a bit of random of what's been going on lately in my corner of the world:

Meet Dakota.

We got her for my dad for Christmas...early.

I forgot how much of a handful puppies are.

John is loving this decision because it has made me put my puppy plans on hold for a bit.

Even though I still talk constantly about my Frenchie obsession

She's exhausting...phew!

I've been running a lot. It's been awesome.  With all the stress that has been going on in my little world, the

has helped push me out the door more times than I can count.  Just knowing two of my wonderful friends are holding me accountable is good enough. Accountability really works for exercise motivation friends!

Saturday, John and I met up with friends Carla and Chris to dust off the ole road bikes.  I've been a mini hiatus, but John's been on a much longer one.  We went out on the West Orange Trail and it's beautiful.  Here are some of the sites we saw:

This bridge is so cool.  It's an old train bridge that now goes over the Turnpike.

And through quaint Winter Garden

I had never ridden the trail before, but we have been planning on doing it for a while.  It was worth it.  I'll be back!

I got to eat at one of my favorite restaurants this weekend!  If you're from Orlando, you have got to try Tibby's in Winter Park on Aloma!  It's yummy New Orleans style food.  I had the shrimp and grits and it was fantastic!

I'm obsessed with this place.  I've been 3 times, tried 3 different meals and have loved them all!

I'm off to get in a run and then a work dinner tonight which I'm pretty excited about!

Holiday Freak Streak

Week 1 is completed for the Holiday Freak Streak.  I've been very busy but, I have gotten out there for at least 1 mile per day...some very slow, easy miles and some speedy miles. The challenge is doing it's job...getting me out there to exercise, even for a few minutes.

Day 1: 3 miles
Day 2: 1.16 miles
Day 3: 2 miles
Day 4: 1.16 miles
Day 5: 3.1 miles
Day 6: 1 mile
Day 7: 4 miles

How do you keep in shape during the busy Christmas season?

Christmas Wish List

My Wish List...

A French Bulldog puppy

Lily needs a brother

A trip to NYC

This house because of the the following pictures (plus location!)

A canal on our favorite lake to go out on.

And for this guy to feel like himself again.

I have a hard time coming up with things I want for Christmas, but these things I'd like very much.  In order from least to most, in case someone's reading this...

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

As promised, here is the recipe for the cookies I mentioned yesterday!  I haven't made them yet and I won't be making them until next week, but who could go wrong with this combination?!

According to the internet, they should look like this.

2/3 cup of brown sugar

2/3 cup of butter or margarine, softened

2 large eggs

1-1/2 cup oats raw

1-1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 ounces Craisins

2/3 cup white chocolate chunks

Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and mix well.  Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a seperate bowl.  Add butter mixture slowly, mixing well after each addition.

Stir in Craisins and white chocolate chunks.  Drop by rounded teaspoon onto ungreased cookie pans.  Bake 10-12 minutes at 375*F. 

Makes approximately 2-1/2 dozen cookies.

Sounded yummy right??  

Stocking Stuffer Swap

I just signed up with Stephanie at Blonde Highlights & Faison at Fat to Fabulous for this fun swap! Check it out!

Miscellany Monday

one.

This past week has been the toughest week of my life.  I'm not sure I'll talk about what's going on, on here, but if you could, please keep my family in your prayers.  God will know what to do...

two.

I'm making some yummy cookies for a cookie party that I do with some girlfriends this time of year.  This year, I'm thinking of making an Oatmeal Cranberry & White Chocolate Chunk cookie.  It sounds so good and Christmasy.  I'll share the recipe later this week!

three.

I'm doing pretty good on our running challenge.  

Day 5 will be completed today at lunch hopefully!  That's the goal anyway!

four.

I'm checking out Spring races.  What are you gals training for?  I'd like to do the NYC Half Marathon (registration opens in 30 minutes!), but I'm not sure I'll be able to pull that off this year.  I've looked a few others, but I figured I would see what my bloggy friends are planning on running, so let me know!

five.

I put a simple wreath together for Christmas on Saturday that I will be showing later this week.  I just want to get it actually hung up before I show it.  I love the little LED Christmas lights.  No tree yet, but I did get our Charlie Brown tree and a couple others out on Saturday.  Our house is starting to look like Christmas little by little.

Back to work on this Monday  morning.  Woo.

A few of my favorite things...

aka, What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving...

...my parents! 

...the nice cool weather we're getting.  I'm not a fan of cold weather, but the temperature change is nice.  Especially for running!

...pretty, sparkly nail polish

...that our Holiday Freak Streak challenge starts tomorrow!  You should join up!

...my awesome friends!

...this picture of Lily!

makes me laugh every time! Not sure why she's making this face but it amuses me.

...houses decorated for Christmas!

...and of course, this guy:

Holiday Freak Streak!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend!  Mine was productive and time well spent with family.  I was so not ready to go back to work yesterday!  We painted the entire house minus the master bath over the long weekend.  I think it would have pushed us over the edge if we painted one more wall, but the color looks nice for selling a house.  I'm pretty impressed that John and I alone completed our house in just two days...that's an accomplishment for ya!

With the holidays coming up, I'm sure I'm not the only one that gets busier and eats a bit more junk food.  It's just too good to pass up!  This year, a couple of my friends and I are doing a running challenge!

It was inspired by Runner's World's challenge, but we didn't see it until yesterday so we made our own official challenge (see, we have a poster).  It starts December 1 to January 1, (2012 ahh!) and we will be running at least one mile, hopefully more, every day.  Even the busiest person can find time to squeeze in one mile a day!  We're hoping this challenge will give us the motivation to keep moving through the holidays.  One of my friends, Krystal, is the most motivated runner I know, so I'm sure she'll be kicking my butt if I try to slack!  Let me know if you'll be joining in and we'll keep each other motivated through this busy and fun time of year!

Pumpkin Galore!

I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is one week away!  I'm excited about it, but also a little weirded out that it's almost here already!  Where has time gone this year?!

I can't wait to start preparing, making goodies and enjoying family and the little traditions John and I have started over the years!  Our first married Thanksgiving!  Nothing in our plans will change from the past few years, but it's still a fun little milestone!

I thought I'd share some dessert recipes today that are or at least look delicious so you can start prepping for them if you're so inclined to try any.

I found this recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake online.  

A local radio station mentioned it this week and it looks tasty and easy!  I haven't tried it yet, but it's tempting!

I've also mentioned the Pumpkin Cookies and Pumpkin Bread here.

Finally, the traditional dessert: Pumpkin Pie!  

(The link also has a recipe for Apple Pie if pumpkin isn't your thing)

And if you're looking for something for breakfast, the lovely Meg from Henning Love posted an amazing Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll recipe too!  I can't wait to try that one this weekend!

What are your favorite Thanksgiving traditions??

Mine is running the Turkey Trot 5K the morning of Thanksgiving every year, then getting ready for the first meal (John's family's) while watching the Macy's Day parade.  And spending the day with our families!

What desserts do you have every Thanksgiving?? 

Life and Running

I realize that lately I suck at blogging.  I'm sorry.  Life has been busy.  Last week was crazy busy again!

I...
...celebrated my grandparent's anniversary at dinner

...worked late, I have my first audit tomorrow since taking over our office manager's role..ahh!

...finally got to spend time with my hubby on Thursday night for an impromptu date night...we made dinner and ate together and got to spend more than 30 min together before bed time ha!  It was fun!

...got to catch up with a good friend at John's game and meet my sis-in-law's adorable niece!

...manually labored all day Saturday and Sunday...got a good workout in involving concrete, sledgehammers, and chainsaws.  Yes, I used those things.  I can be handy!

...almost got a puppy, but things just didn't fall right for this weekend, but maybe soon??

And now we're just about caught up.  All caught up except one thing.  Running.  I got in 2 runs last week.  I took off the first half of the week from running since I ran at Savannah last weekend, and did a 2 mile run as my first one out to see how I felt, then a 6.07 mile run on Friday night.  The run went awesome!  I felt good.  This weather really is my happy level for running!  I'm now trying to figure out what races to run next.  I'd like to keep it at a 1/2 marathon and under.  So far, I'm signed up for the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving and am thinking of another local half a week or so later.  So, here's my question:

What are the fun spring races that your are running?!

I'm looking for a few to keep me motivated!!

Let's play catch up!

Sorry about the silence since last week.  Work has been crazy busy as have my evenings!  I'm hoping to settle down into a better routine eventually but between working late, going out of town a lot and other things, life has been crazy!  How about a cute picture of Lily to get us started??

Friends?

Today is my grandparents 59th wedding anniversary!  We'll be celebrating later tonight!  

How cool is 59 years?  

I say it's pretty awesome!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Catching up:

Last Tuesday, Robin and I took our mother-in-law to a cooking class for her birthday.  We did this last year and had such a good time, we did it again this year!  I thought the class would have posted pictures by now, but I just checked and they haven't.  The theme was Julia Chiles, so you know the food was good!  Our little group of 3 was responsible for cooking rolls, a carrot souffle and a love salad.  A lot of her famous recipes were cooked by each group in the class and we feasted at the end!  Bonus, they give you the recipes so you can take it home and make everything you like yourself!

Wednesday was my last training run before the race.  I got out of work pretty late and wanted to try to beat the darkness so I got in 5 miles...last mile was an 8:40.  Yay! I also found my love for compression sleeves, which I also enjoyed at the race last weekend.  I feel like they helped my calf muscles not to be so sore later and I had no problem with my shins!

Thursday, I went to a huge Tupperware tent sale they have to benefit the United Way each year.  I got a ton of stuff for only $61!  Check out my loot!

I met my friend there and we shopped away.  My second mom works there and it was her birthday so I got to spend some time with her too!  

Friday we were off to the races!  You can read about that here.

Is anyone else loving this time change as much as I am?!  I popped out of bed the last two days!  Last night, I wanted to go to bed before 8 haha.  The time change is helping me get back on my desired schedule!  Up early and to bed early!  I'm even thinking of trying to get up and run in the mornings now that it'll be light out!  Score!

Savannah Half Marathon

This was the first of the Rock n Roll series races I've done.  I've always heard awesome things about them, so I definitely wanted to get in on one.  We had originally planned on picking up our packets on Friday, but John had changed projects and is in the busy stages of a new, big building starting to go up, so, we didn't leave until around 5 on Friday to head up to Savannah.  I knew this ahead of time, so after initially freaking out about not getting our packets at the expo, I called and they said we could pick it up the morning of the race.

We got into town around 10, got checked into our hotel and got everything ready for the next day.  We were asleep by 11.  The alarm went off at 5:30.  We got dressed, ate some food and went to pick up our packets, giving us enough time to walk back to the hotel and to the start by 7.  We were lucky enough to be less than 1/2 a mile from the start.  They only gave us our race numbers before the race and told us to pick up the rest after the race.

We eventually got in the corral and waited for the race to start.  The national anthem started was sung a few minutes before the race start, accompanied by "I Love Rock and Roll", but they finally got it together and knocked off the background music.

I was representing the Disney Marathon.  I wish I had another shirt I love so much to run it, but they give out a comfy shirt!

About 20 minutes after the start, we were off!

Brothers

Go Robin!

We started out running over an overpass, through some sides roads, and then through some neighborhoods.  The residents in this area really came out to cheer!  They were all happy yelling 'good mornings' and clapping for us!  It was pretty fun.  Then we had a bit of time where we were running through industrial areas.  We were keeping at a 10:00/mile since none of us were sure how we'd do that day.  We were feeling pretty good.  Around mile 6-7 we had to make a pit stop to the port-o-pots and then we were on the road again.  

I believe it was around mile 8, we started getting a little more into the downtown area of Savannah and there were crowds everywhere.  It was great and made me want to punch people all at the same time.  I enjoy the crowds cheering.  Love it.  Need the motivation.  And I know watching a endurance running race isn't that exciting for those who aren't passionate about it, but get off the course!  There were people way off the curbs causing us to have to go through bottlenecks every so often.  It annoyed me.  I feel that there should have been race officials making sure people stayed off the course. Disappointed.  Rant over.

I had a side cramp starting at mile 8 and became ridiculously crippling between 10 & 11.  Robin and I fell back from the guys because she was also battling a side cramp and walked a little.  I'm pretty sure it was where we were running in the roads and the slant because they were both right side cramps under the ribs.  Haven't had one of those in forever!

Somehow going through mile 12, the cramp disappeared and I sprinted out the last .2 miles.

I thought the half race course was pretty good. It is in a pretty city, but you don't go through it as much as I expected we would.  The course was pretty flat.  There were a few elevation changes, but I didn't think they were too bad at all.  I would probably rate the race a B+.  I'm not sure if I would do it again there, but I had an enjoyable experience.

BOO!

I hope you all had a great weekend!  I did!  We got a lot done, have a plan, and are ready to tackle the whole finish-up-the-house-projects-we-need-to-do-before-we-sell-it list!  That makes me very excited as it isn't as much as I had built up in my head.  It's quite a bit of work, don't get me wrong, but it's not a horrible amount either!

P90X

I really enjoyed the workouts I did with P90X.  I plan to continue through the next 12 weeks with the program, but with my own tweaks to the schedule.  I will be doing the legs, back, chest and upper body routines every week.  I would like to do the yoga and one of the cardio based workouts each week, so I will have either the plyometrics workout or the kenpo workout, not both.  I would like to continue running and biking and know that if I try to do all 6 workouts each week plus the other things I already enjoy, something will be missed.

I did the leg workout yesterday again because I knew I would be running Savannah this week and did not want to have tired legs, so I knocked it out yesterday.  Today or tomorrow I will do the plyometric workout because that is also heavy leg work and I want fresh legs Saturday, I just have to see how I feel when I get home today.  I'll report on it every now and then and see what kind of results I get at the end of it!

My favorite breakfast

This breakfast is so simple and tastes almost like eating apple pie!  All you need is an apple, cinnamon and vanilla yogurt (greek or regular, whatever your fancy).  Core and cut up your apple, sprinkle with cinnamon and put in the microwave for 1-2 minutes depending on the size of your apple (your apple should be soft but not too soft).  Then top with yogurt and mix!  I love it!

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!  

  

Back from Christina Land

This week has flown by for me.

I've been in my own little land of trying to get through work, my workouts, dinner and sleep this week.  

And healthy eating.  

And you know, I've done pretty darn good.  Not one thing of sweets.  I don't know who I am.  I'm sure that'll change soon.

It is Halloween Monday.  And we have some delicious candy for the kiddos in the neighborhood.  

Reese's Cups.  

The big kind.

I feel like I haven't hardly seen John because he's been working late, we've been eating dinner around 8 and then going to bed shortly after.  

The week has been a blur.  

I'm tired.  

I need to clean my house.  

It's a mess.  

Thankfully we've knocked out a lot of laundry this week.  

I've gotten to the kitchen, cleaned out the fridge and most of the downstairs, but then there's our room.  

I have tons of work to do up there.  I have clothes everywhere!  At least they're clean, right? 

Right.

I've just been focused on getting things done.

That's literally been my week.  

Now, it's Friday!

Time to relax.

Get things done.

Have fun.

Enjoy fall.

Run.

Oh, and my workouts?

I ran.

It didn't hurt.

Happy dance!

I've kept up with P90X.
I had to shorten one day, but it was just a little bit.

I'm sore.

It's pretty darn good.

Still have 2 days left to complete the workout for the full week though.

Honestly

After this week 

I'm happy I made it through them!

Have a great weekend!!!

Good Eats and Exercise

I am exhausted.  The weekend trip wore me out, P90X kicked my booty last night and I have a full schedule tonight.  I'll start out by saying P90X is hard.  They're not kidding when they tell you that.  Oh and I have no chest strength.  So I'm sore today.  Whoa.  I'll give more of a recap next week after I've kicked my own butt all week.  Tonight, I have the plyometric workout for P90X, a short run so I can test out my shin and a bike ride.  We'll see how that goes!

Fortunately for me, I planned chili in the crockpot tonight, so as soon as I'm ready for it, dinner will be served!  I figured I would share the recipe I used, but I will tell you that every time I cook chili it's a bit different.  This recipe normally is a thicker chili.

I start by browning ground beef and chopping part of an onion and green pepper into very small pieces.
Then, I add them to the crockpot with the following ingredients:
1 can tomato paste
1 large can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomato
2 cans chili beans
1 can kidney beans
1-1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon red pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Dash of cinnamon (sometimes I trade that out for sugar, takes the bitterness out of tomatoes)

Put in the slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours (although today I think mine will be cooking longer) or 2-4 hours on high and it will be done!  Enjoy!

Say It, Do It

Last week was an utter disaster workout wise.  I basically got in shoulders, triceps, back and abs...that's all I remember right now, but I was pretty discouraged about the pain while running mixed with an extremely busy and shortened week.  I think my shin is feeling better (I hope) so I'm taking it out for a test run to see.  Fingers crossed.  Anyway, onto this week.  I'm going to be trying the P90X program.  This will be my first try at this workout program.  I watched a couple clips from it and I think it might be something I will like, so I am basing my workouts on P90X:

Monday: Back and Chest, Ab Ripper X
Tuesday: Plyometrics
Wednesday: Shoulders and Arms, Ab Ripper X
Thursday: Yoga X (I need flexibility!)
Friday: Legs and Back, Ab Ripper X
Saturday: Kenpo X (from what I understand, sort of like a kickboxing/cardio workout)
Sunday: Rest

As I said before, I am going to try to get in a couple runs if my leg is feeling ok, so Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday are run days if I'm feeling well.  I'm going to also try to get on the bike once or twice this week.  Hopefully this isn't too ambitious and hopefully I like P90X.  It looks like it has the potential to be a great program.  I'll report back on my findings.  At this point, I'm not committing to the 90 days, I want to try out a week or two before I go all ball to the wall on it!  Look at that...I'm learning!

What's your workout plan for the week??

48 hours up and back...

...to North Carolina.  It was a beautiful time to go up there and we had a great time.  Here's the breakdown of our weekend:
18 hours of driving
12 hours of sleeping
3 hours of sightseeing
15 hours of hanging out with friends and family
We were busy...and we're exhausted today!

We went to Mount Airy which was the inspiration for the Andy Griffin show.  I haven't ever been into the show, but it was neat to see.  We were in the Blue Ridge Mountains where there are apparently a lot of vineyards.  Who knew?  So, I got to knock something off my bucket list!  The wedding was in the middle of a vineyard and the reception was outdoors which gave us a beautiful sunset and an awesome time!  This is probably one of the prettiest weddings I've ever been to...check it out:

 John with the groom.  Not sure why the picture isn't cooperating!

 The bride arrived in a Mayberry Police car!

 Such a beautiful place for a wedding!

The Newlyweds driving away!

 In the vineyard

What did you do this weekend??