Recharged

This weekend was a wonderful recharge (for the mind, not so much the body haha) and just what I (and John) needed after this past month.

Friday night, we saw a sea turtle lay eggs.  We didn't see any babies going out to sea, but we know where we're going to look for some next weekend now!  It was a pretty late night getting back to the condo.

Saturday, we woke up and had a lazy early morning, had breakfast with my parents and headed out to surf.  It's been so long since I've surfed.  It was so much fun!  I missed it so much!  It was HOT but so very pretty out:

Some of our amazing friends joined us later in the evening on and we had a fun night of games, laughing and maybe some wine...

Sunday, we woke up to

Feels like 104* at 9am?! WTF?!

So we followed Lily's example 

Thanks for being a good example Lily!

This weekend was just what we needed...even though I'm exhausted today!

What did you do this weekend?

Another weekend...and confession...

Friday night, I was a really awesome wife and cooked a delectable dinner for John (and I).  He LOVES spaghetti.  I could live the rest of my life without ever eating a spaghetti noodle again.  I love pasta...hate spaghetti.  No, it doesn't make any sense...and no I can't explain it, I just hate it.  But, we hadn't spent much time together this week, so we had a little date night and I made us chicken parmesan 

It tasted great...minus the spaghetti.  You can find the recipe I used here.  It was pretty quick, easy, and yummy.

I've been having a lot of trouble getting motivated for long runs during marathon training.  I get my week day speed and tempo runs in all awesome-like, and then the long run comes and I. can't. run.  I realized why I vowed to never, ever, ever run another marathon.  I hated the long runs and how I felt the whole weekend after my long runs.  I mean, don't get me wrong...it feels awesome (to my ego-athletic side) to be able to actually run 20 miles, but I'm then shot the rest of the day...and playing catch up the rest of the week because of it.  So Friday, I decided I to bump myself down to the half marathon.  

I know myself and if I'm already fighting the "long" runs, I'm screwed.  It's not that the 13 miles I was supposed to run makes it a hard, long run...it's the anticipation of those much longer runs.  So...I'm going to be moving myself down to the half.  I can run one of those right now...so my goal will just be speed.  I felt like I didn't want to just give up, but a marathon is no joke and if I'm not all in, I'm going to fail.  Props to those multiple marathoners...I ran one...and one is probably all I want to run. I told John if I get all over-zealous again to take away my credit card - ha.  I won't say never, but I realize it's not something that's working in my life anytime soon.

Saturday morning, we woke up and biked 22 miles instead of the run we were supposed to do, since now the half marathon is the goal.  Biking 22 miles is a breeze compared to running it.  Plus, I'm apparently pretty fast on the bike.  John was totally jealous of my skillz...  Ok, not so much jealous, but I was pushing the pace.  I have an awesome burn line on my back due to the sun-that-hid-through-the-clouds-that-made-me-think-I-didn't-need-sunscreen...what kind of Floridian am I?!  Ugh, it's still painful today.  I'd show you a picture, but the shirt I have on today does not allow for an ideal image of those lines.  I am at work...trying to be a professional here :-)

Saturday night, we had a Harry Potter movie night.  We watched 

and John and I made Harry Potter cupcakes for our friends.  I like to theme things...I'm not that big of a HP fan, although I do enjoy the movies.  We needed to catch the boys up to Part 1, so we can all go see Part 2 this week!

These were my inspiration...from here.

Sunday was a day of fun!  We took the boat out for a while.  It was not so sunny so it wasn't quite as hot as it has been, but it was a beautiful day out with friends.  Then, we went and saw 

I thought it was pretty funny.  That about covers recent evens in my life.

Catch me up on you!

Did you see any movies this weekend?

If so, what?

How were your runs or other workouts?

Have you ever changed your plan part way through training for a race?

Running, Movies and Life as I knew it this weekend...

Workouts:
Thursday: 5K in 25:41.  It was a tempo run day, but I didn't feel like running, so I figured I'd pump out a 5K.  Worked out rather well...8:17/mile pace.

Friday: Ran 12 miles in 1:59:28, 9:57 pace, instead of doing it Saturday.  I probably could have used a rest day because my legs were a bit tight from weights, but it wasn't a bad run. The kicker...this was on the treadmill.  Thankfully my gym has a cardio cinema, so it wasn't bad.  We saw Mao's Last Dancer

...pretty good and based on a true story.  It's actually a lot easier to run in on the mill...you just put your nutrition and water in the cup holders instead of trying to carry them...WIN!  We ran Friday because the waves were supposed to be good at the beach Saturday morning so we readjusted our schedule a bit...priorities you know...


Saturday: Walked on the beach leisurely 2.5 miles. 


Sunday: Does cleaning count?!  No?  It should....

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

This was my view on the way to the gym Friday!  We FINALLY got rain!!!

Saturday proved to be a delightful, relaxing day.  I loved it.  We walked on the beach, swam in the ocean, ate Taco City, watched:

Yay Jason Statham!  The movie was pretty good if you like movies similar to the Transporter movies.  I do, so win for me.

Sunday was spent cleaning, getting the house in order and starting putting pavers down in the side yard.  Remember that rain picture from above?  That was our whole weekend.  Afternoon thunderstorms were back...score!  The bad part was, where John dug up the sod, where there was only dirt, turned into a swamp.  So...I'm hoping the sun dries the dirt so we can lay some pavers this week.

I also made some food in the slower cooker.  Yesterday, I made wings for dinner.  Then we put in a pork tenderloin to cook while at work today!  Yum!  I also prepared meals for the week, so hopefully I can stick to them and have good tasting and good for me lunches this week.

We ended our evening by watching:

I really liked the movie.  It's on more of the serious side...I can definitely see why it won awards.

PS: For all you iced coffee lovers out there...you have to visit the Pioneer Woman and check out her recipe for iced coffee.  I used Dunkin Donut's vanilla coffee to make it and I have been enjoying myself some superb iced coffee...plus, I've already drank my money's worth!

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Any good movie recommendations?

Are you more for running outside or on the treadmill in the summer?

Happy WEEK!!!

So...I'm getting married this week!  MARRIED to my love!  Yay!  I can't wait!

My bachelorette party this weekend was a BLAST!  My friends did a wonderful job planning and that night was just what I needed!  We took a pole dancing class and had such a great time.  There was a lot of laughing and spinning and if you knew us, you'd laugh too :)  I don't have the pictures, but they are in a super secret vault never to be released.  It is actually a fitness studio they teach it in, if you ever get a chance, I'd totally recommend taking a class for a girls night.  I don't dance, like at all, and I loved it!

Thursday night, I enjoyed the Braves game with my friend Andrew and then learned to love nothing other than

frozen yogurt bars----->Now that's my kind of bar!!

I'd never been before and I can't believe I've lived my life so long without going to a place like that.  Me, the lover of ice cream.  But, don't worry.  I've made up for lost time.  I had it again on Friday night :) 

I met a couple of my running girls for sushi and they insisted we take a Friday tequila shot.  I'm not a huge shot drinker, much less of tequila (yuck) but they promised me Patron was the best...so...I agreed if they gave me a lot more lime

Um...more like tequila on the rocks=3 shots?  What kind of shot was that?!

I must tell you, sushi does not help much when it comes to drinks like the one pictured above, but it is pretty

So, once again, I had frozen yogurt bar and that definitely helped :)

I also finished our place cards Friday night.  Three of my bridesmaids came over and hung out and I wrote and wrote, but I think they're cute and more importantly...DONE!  That about checks off my list (hopefully!) But we had a fun girls night x 2.  

It was a wonderful weekend!  Only 5 more days!!!

The ?'s

1. If you won the title of Miss America, what would your platform be?

I think my platform would be health in America.  Our country is so unhealthy.  We have a lazy attitude, we eat poorly and way too much and I think we really need to educate people.  I know people hear about it but we need programs that teach people the value of being healthy and that it's ok to eat things you like, it's just about moderation.  I've never heard a person who has changed their eating habits to a more healthy style and started to exercise, say they regret it.  It just makes you feel better and we need to encourage that, especially for children and future generations.  I feel like we aren't too far off from Wall-E.  You know...

2. Outdoorsy or Indoorsy?

I love being outdoors!  Give me water near by=even better.  We spend every weekend during the summer/fall outdoors...boating mostly, trips to the beach and the football games!  

3. Pajama's out in public..classy or tacky?

Tacky.  It's cute when you're 5 and your parents would take you to the video store I guess, but no.  How much effort does it take to throw on a shirt and pair of shorts before leaving the house?  Not a whole lot and you look a lot better.

4. What's your favorite room in your house?

I'm torn between the bedroom and family room + kitchen combo.  We're revamping the house still and hanging decorations, so I'm just starting to love the house so much more.  We look like we live in a grown up house now...like whoa.

5. Nook, Kindle, or book?

I haven't really used either, so I'd have to stay with book for now.  I've thought about getting a Kindle though.  Anyone out there just love them?

6. Would you rather wear the same outfit for a week or not brush your teeth for a week?

Wear an outfit for the week for sure.  I hate having socks on my teeth!  (That's what I call dirty teeth)  To me that is the worst thing.  Plus, you didn't say I couldn't wash the outfit, so I assume I'd be doing laundry every night :)

7. What's your favorite blog at the moment?

I can't choose just one.  I really do enjoy reading all of the blogs on my reading list.

8. Lately i've been daydreaming about.........?

My wedding and honeymoon...but mostly the honeymoon.  I'm excited to be married to John, and I think the day will be awesome, but I'm over the actual wedding stuff.  I'm dreaming about laying out in the sun on our cruise ship, spending interrupted time together (which we haven't had in forever) and of course, just honeymooning :)  I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him!

The start of a new week!

There are exactly 19 days until Christmas! 

In case anyone is wondering...:)

I thought I'd start today off with a few faces of Lily.  It always makes me happy, and today, since it is Monday and those tend to be a little rough, I thought I'd share a few.

 Last night, Lily begging...not that great of a shot, but it shows her little tongue she gives you that makes her irresistible

  

 Begging Lily...she's got this down if you can't tell

This was Lily this morning.  It was 41*F on my way to work which is wayyyy too cold for these Florida girls. Lily had an arm wrapped around each side of my waist using my stomach as a pillow.  I thought she was too cute :)

Hope everyone had a good weekend.  This one was a little more easy going than the past month has been.  Friday we had my company's Christmas party, it was at one of my favorite steak places, but I took it easy.  We have 5 more "fancy dinners" to hit up by next Tuesday, so no need to overindulge. I'll be sick of eating anything by then.  Ha!

Saturday, I got to sleep in!  What?!  I didn't think I'd see the day when that would happen again.  Of course, it was only until 8-ish, but for me, that's happy.  I got out of bed almost an hour later (woo!) and did my last Insanity workout of the week. (Check out my new Insanity page on the top tabs.  I'm tracking it day by day as best possible.)  Then, John and I went to his parents' house to help with their bathroom renovation.  

Sunday, was wonderful.  Another morning of sleeping in...woo!  Got started about 9 with my day and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, and organized.  The house is finally back in order (almost) from the tiling project AND we got our Christmas Tree!!!  Decorating commences tonight...after workouts.  I'm so excited!!!

Happy Monday!

Monday, all day...

{one}

This weekend was quite productive.  We painted the kitchen and 1/2 the family room, as well as finished off the master bedroom!  Completed a 9.16 mile training run.  We ran to the race (6 miles) and then did a 5K.

 Toasting the newly painted kitchen...

Kitchen, only need to add some doorknobs, change out the counter tops and get a new range/microwave in there and we are good to sell!

{two}

I'm totally excited about the next few weeks!  I have an awesome work schedules because of how vacation, work trip and Thanksgiving fell, but between the next 3 weeks, I'm working only 8 days!  Score!

{three}

I will be here very soon!

{four}

Our 1/2 marathon is only 13 days away!  I'm excited!  Plus, quality time with some of my ladies!!!

{five}

A small part of me wants to train for a marathon again.  The other part of me beats that side down into submission.  Watching coverage of the NYC marathon and the Marine Corps Marathon the weekend before have given me the bug again...slightly.  How long will I hold out?

{six}

I have been fighting it, but tonight, I will lose my battle about going:

It's our new arena.  I just feel like it's a ridiculous waste of money that no one needed to spend in this economy.  Especially for a team that most of the city has a love/hate relationship with. Let's just hope it brings in what the projections were...and then some.

{seven}

I'm tired of the "cold" weather.  I know those of you up north will just laugh at me and my Floridian self, but highs in the 60's aren't my friend.  It's been windy and cold and I'm happy the 80's are coming back.  The cold snap was nice while it lasted, but I'd prefer in the 70's next time please :)

{eight}

Jessica, over at Chronicles of a First Year Teacher, got engaged this weekend!!!  Stop by and tell her congratulations!!!

{nine}

I would be happy with a nap right now.

The End.

Happy Monday!!!

Weekend Pictures

My friend Melissa from high school

Getting ready for the game to start

My love & I

Cornhole...John & I had quite a winner streak going :)

Lots of people

Naptime?  Actually not...for once ;-)

The trash pile...

...be proud you lazy fans...

AND...

Another thing knocked off my 101 in 1001!  Make Gator Cupcakes!

Weekend Recap

Hi my bloggy friends!  It's once again Monday, which means the lovely weekend has come to an end.  What a weekend it was.  John & I drove up to Jacksonville for the weekend to spend time with some friends and tailgate.  We went with the Jacksonville Beach Gator Club on buses from the beaches to downtown and had a l-o-n-g day of tailgating.  We got there at 9am, we left at 9pm.  It was fun, but man, we were we exhausted!  So was Lily after a fun weekend playing with Cady.  Here's Lily this morning at the office, relaxing on her lion...man can I related...

The Gators looked like a football team...with an offense and everything!  They even let Brantley THROW the ball!  Not that they played super stellar, but it's a vast improvement from the Mississippi State game!  Yay!  I will have pictures later to post, I just haven't gotten around to putting them on the computer since we got home late last night.  We would have been home at 7, but poor John forgot his laptop, so an hour in to the drive, we had to turn around and head back to get it.  But thankfully we got it and he is now able to be productive at work today :)

Anyway...back to Game Day...

So we decided to walk around for a while and check out the sites.  It is, after all, called the world's largest cocktail party, so there are always sites to see.  Florida-Georgia has been my favorite rivalry as long as I can remember, until this past weekend. The Georgia fans we were around were rude, crude, and horrible.  Wait until I post pictures, they had trash up to my shins that they just left at their tailgate site.  I have never been talked to the way the Georgia fans were screaming obscenities as we walked by them.  Rivalries are supposed to be fun...not ugly.  We are the SEC.  That should bring us pride in having exciting games to watch and a great history within the teams.  Instead, some ignorant fans ruined my taste for the Bulldogs.  I know not all their fans are like that, and I'm sure there are those Florida fans out there, but how ignorant.  Grr.  The worst were the "ladies".  They were all dressed up so cute, then they opened their ugly, vulgar mouth, and they were only a lady by appearance.  It was seriously ridiculous.  You take a back seat now Georgia...good riddance!  I'm glad we won though!  We needed it after three losses in a row!

I will do my best to download those pictures and have them up by this evening...if not tomorrow!  The next few weeks bring lots of fun and I can't wait!  Tonight, John and I will be watching:

Hope it's worth the wait.  John has been dying to see it.

Happy Monday!

Weekend Recap

Friday, I happily picked up our yummy cakes.  More on that Wednesday!  While eating dinner and cake, I watched

while John worked a little.  He thought it was a horrible movie, but I liked it.  It was the first time I'd seen it, but it had been on our Netflix list for a while, which kept getting pushed down.  I put it at the top last week after I had finalized our NYC plans...just because :)

Saturday morning, we got up and ran 5 miles + the Harvest Hustle 5K which took us to 8.13 miles.  It was a pretty early morning. We got done running, met one of my friends and her hubby for breakfast and then headed home.  I wanted to squeeze in a nap before my awards program that night, but it was a failed attempt.  I blame Lily.  Before I knew it, it was time to get ready for the awards ceremony.  I can now cross off two things from my 101 in 1001 after this evening!  

I found a pair of heels I LOVE to wear

And...

Practice curling my hair and actually did it myself for an event!  I ended up actually pulling it up in a ponytail and putting a flower in it one of the ladies had made for all the presenting ladies, and it turned out pretty cute.  No pictures though, it was a little busy!

After the awards ceremony, we were exhausted but had one more stop to make on our way home...our friend Marc's birthday party! which was a good time.  It's always fun with our group :-)

Sunday, we took the boat out.  It was a nice day.  We had bagels on the boat, cruised around looking for houses that might be for sale...that we can afford...canal lot at least...pleaseeeee!!  The boys did a little wake boarding/surfing, and pizza from Mama Mia's!  It was a great day!  Plus, my love is happy since he's been dying to go out on the lake lately.

Busy and fun weekend!  Back to the work week now!  Happy Monday my bloggy friends, hope it's a good one for you!

Weekend Recap

This weekend was busy, successful and fun!  

Friday, John and I went over to Cocoa Beach to spend some time with my parents.  We went to my favorite restaurant...TACO CITY!!!  Yum!  

We also had wedding missions while over on that side of the state, so Saturday, my mom and I went to meet with the florist.  You remember here when I mentioned our little florist debacle.  Well, we ended up meeting with the less expensive one to see what she could do with the pictures I had.  She did raise her price a little to meet exactly what I wanted, but she is still far less expensive than the other florist.  She's been doing this for 20+ years and explained exactly how she would put things together, so now I feel much better going with her.  Plus, the other florist was too busy to meet with us.  Deposit down.  Florist: CHECK!  Yay! 

 

I also stopped by to pick up more samples of cake.  This weekend, we tried lemon and red velvet.  The lemon was awesome and would be pretty as a wedding cake.  I have ordered chocolate peanut butter, almond, and cookies and cream that I am picking up this week to sample.  Then, the cake will be picked as well!  All we have left is to finalize the caterer, linens and invitations!  I'm so excited almost everything is done!!

Saturday night, I went over to my friends A & J's house to watch the Florida game and enjoy a Mexican Fiesta!  The food and company were awesome.  The game.  Not so much.  Gators...you gotta pull yourselves together!  Ahh!  Hopefully this bye-week does us some good and we're ready for Georgia in Jacksonville in two weeks.  On a happy note: Ohio State and Nebraska lost!  They shouldn't have been in the top 5 anyway in my lowly opinion. :-)

Sunday, we went for a training run.  We did 7 miles and it went awesome.  I think our training gets better every week, as does our pace!  Only 4 weeks left until the race...I'm pumped!  

For lunch, we went to this little Italian restaurant down the street.  It's a neat place with outdoor seating and a live band Friday and Saturday nights.  It's always good, but this time, I tried the Alfredo sauce and penne pasta and it was the best I've ever had.  No exaggeration.  The rest of the day was spend doing some things around the house and watching A History of Violence.  I'd always wanted to see that movie, but never had.  It was good, but a little violent.  I had a nightmare last night about the guy with one eye...ha.  That's what I get for watching something like that before bed!

Good weekend all-in-all.  I hate when they end.  Happy Monday!

Long Weekend Ahead!

Friday is here. Not just ANY Friday though, it's football Friday! That's right...college football kicked off last night, and there's a weekend of football ahead of us! Florida kicks off at noon tomorrow which I'm SO excited about! Way to represent the SEC last night South Carolina. The SEC has one win under our belt! Time to prove that once again, we are the dominating conference! Yeah! :-)

Enough football talk...now to the puppies! Last night, I ended up going to see my friend's puppies alone (John had some work stuff and couldn't get out of the office in time). The mom is pretty, and the puppies are, well, hamsters still. At least I feel like all puppies look like hamsters for the first couple weeks. There are only 6 puppies left, 1/2 of them did not survive, and there are 2 females, with one spoken for. So, she is our option for a new lil American Bulldog. Here are some photos of them:

Mom Dog

*Potential* Future Pup

All the pups-Top left would be ours

Other female...she's pretty

Anyone else see the hamster resemblance here?? So, now it's deciding time. John & I both really would like to have an American Bulldog, but when's the right time for a new pup? They take so much time at first and with the wedding coming up in March...well, it's not the easiest time I suppose. But, I'm sure we will figure it out...puppies ARE so much fun! :)

I'm also going to play along with 5 question Friday, so here goes!

1. What do you do when you have time for yourself? Sometimes I read, sleep, or watch a nice girly movie that I'm sure John wouldn't want to watch.

2. When you look out your kitchen window, what do you see? I'm going to go ahead and consider John's house my house, since it will be soon and I use his kitchen more than mine :) There's a lake out there...sometimes with these annoying geese that poo all over the back porch. Get 'em Lily!

3. Who/What would you want to be reincarnated as? No one. I'll go ahead & be myself in heaven :)

4. What is your biggest pet peeve about other people's kids? My pet peeve is more about the parent's response. I HATE to hear kids screaming bloody murder. Not that parents like it, but I literally leave stores when I hear it. I understand sometimes kids do that and sometimes they are in a mood and the parents can't control it, but take your kid out or at the least, tell them to stop. Just because YOU are use to hearing it, does not mean anyone else cares to hear it through their whole meal. The worst I've run in to was on a plane when this kid was kicking the seats and screaming and his dad was playing a video game with headphones on and mom was looking out the window...neither said anything to their child (which I know because they were across the aisle and I was watching them the whole time). Finally the flight attendant came to them and said, "Is there anything we can do for him? He is disturbing the entire flight." Then they finally helped him calm down and he fell asleep. Really, that's what it takes for you to do something about your kid screaming in an enclosed space...how embarrassing.

5. Regular or diet soda? Not a soda drinker really, but if I do have it, I'm going all the way with regular!

Hope you all have a happy Labor Day weekend!!

GO GATORS!!!