Sunday

Breakfast:
Half Grapefruit and A smoothie: vanilla protein, milk, banana, pb, blueberries


Lunch:
Salmon Burger on a Thin with thawed frozen veggies and the last sprinkling of reduced fat feta...

Snack:
Larabar

Dinner:
no photo- battery- ( i don't think its the camera- i just take a ton of pics and forget to charge the battery!)
Grilled Chicken Breast with lots of veggies


Body:
Walk with Jack (10 minutes). He ran away yesterday when we got to Jeff's parents- STINKER! He stunk when he decided 7 hours later to show up... Thankfully Jeff gave him a bath...

Moving all the furniture around wasn't really all that difficult but it counts!

YogaDownload: Sort of.... I clicked the download link and it kept getting stuck !? I got the pose guide and just followed that. I was surprised at how easy it was to follow without vocal instruction. I wish it worked though- I will not give up.

Meringue and Samba practice thanks to Dancing with the Stars DVD...

Gym Cardio: 30 minutes ellipticizing...

Mind:
Read through the ADA journal for this month again. I really enjoyed an article on refined sugars- detailing exactly what the craze of agave nectar is, difference in all sugars- from maple syrup, honey, white sugar, turbinado sugar , agave etc etc. ! I will try to post a better recap of it tomorrow since I think yall would enjoy it!

Soul:
Jeff is in VA getting his brand new truck!! So excited for him, and I am so excited for us. I can't wait to camp on the beach, cook up deliciousness with his new grill, listen to the ocean while falling asleep...

Laundry and grocery shopping and cleaning and cleaning and sweeping.

I re-arranged our living room and thus will re-arrange our bedroom as well. I haven't decided if I liked it or not yet. One thing is my computer is in a new spot and I don't know if Jeff will see from where he sits now- so I know at first Jeff will probably hate it- but only because he hates change like that unless he can really see the improvement. Anyway, I have the night alone to watch Golden Globes, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters... It seems as though its the calm before the storm with semester beginning this week for me. I also will attempt to "get a job" in the next couple days as well.

We have an busy January- this weekend I believe is our "spa" day and then dinner out with KC Mo and her boyfriend, Jeff's other sister Missy Mo and her hubby Vern and Me and Jeff- The following weekend is our romantic getaway to a cabin in the mountains, the following is the last of january and we will head to my grandfather's for his birthday and then right out to spend the weekend with our friends. I love to travel.

Friday Night - Saturday Recap

I didn't realized how busy we would be yesterday! I will begin where I left off at post-dessert friday night:

Hanz, Tim, Me, Brit, Jeff and Birthday Boy Nick. Not pictured were my drinks, I had a birthday shot with Nick and a rum and diet coke.
Everyone wanted to get food after so we all headed to Armadillo Grill... I had that chicken soft taco and a few chips.

Saturday Morning Breakfast:

I should re-name my blog to "Banana's in A Frying Pan" because they taste THAT good- just like Banana's Foster banana's

Egg White French Toast-
Cottage Cheese
Peanut Butter
1/2 Grapefruit

Disney On Ice:
Hey Gliding Calm: would you ever do something like Disney on Ice? That would be cool to travel and wear those costumes!! I was thinking about you skating during the show!

Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy

Under The Sea with Little Mermaid

Lion King

Tinkerbell

I was starving so I was pretty happy when we went to Panera Bread after this.

Lunch:

Chicken Noodle Soup, Hunk of Baguette, Half a Fuji Apple Chicken Salad.
This was one of the best lunches ever. I loved the warm soup on a chilly winter day and the salad had Fuji Apples, Pecans, Blue Cheese, Chicken, Red Onions and Tomatoes- Delicious! We went right to Truck Shopping after lunch since Jeff will need to buy a vehicle, the accident totalled his truck. So we test drove this GMC Canyon, Jeff didn't like it though

Then it was right to Jeff's mom and stepdads for cards, visiting with his cousin Kristen and their G-Mammy. I had this Cranberry Sam Adam's.

It was decent, I mean I liked it enough to drink the whole one. I wouldn't go for a number two or have it again probably. I like to try things though, for the sake of trying them!

Then I decided to take the night off from blog-picturing. I was having more fun visiting with Kristen, her hubby Bruno, Jeff's parents and Gmammy- We played cards and drank wine and I just felt like I had been taking pictures all day ( I did really- of the kiddos, cars etc.). Dinner was steak, mushrooms, potatoes and onions, bread with olive oil & herb dip, and Caesar Salad ( from scratch- its a frequent favorite there).

Body:
Lots of walking to/from Disney On Ice, around the arena looking at "The Princess Show" , then walking around several Auto-dealerships ( GMC, Dodge, Hummer/Cadillac, Chevrolet) . My knee is still acting up and my toes are still sore.

Mind:
I did alot of thinking/pondering over deals for Jeff's truck-to-be... he was telling me about the differences between full-size, small, mid-size, 4 x 4, etc. I think we are going again Sunday to some other places.

Soul:
Disney on Ice was fun, for the kiddos ( Jeff's neice and nephew). Hearing them laugh was the best part. I didn't think it was an over-the-top performance but it was fantastic to see the kiddos, and Jeff's sisters and brother-in-law.

I can't wait to see what Jeff's new truck will be- we both know it will be 4x4 so we can drive an 1.5 hr to the beach and camp-out for the night. Falling asleep to the waves crashing is awesome!

I love Jeff's cousin Kristen- she is just SUCH a nice, sweet, funny person! She very much is like a female-version of Jeff. And Bruno is fantastic also- I am so happy for them. Jeff and I won the first round of Euchre but his Gmammy and Bruno beat us the other two rounds. Oh well...

We get to go back to Momma Mo's and Preston's on Tuesday for Tree Trimming Night...She is making Pasta Figole soup ( I cannot wait! Yum!)

Semi-Stuffed French Toast

I didn't want to get carried away with my "stuffing" since I was having three slices ( It is low-cal, 7-grain bread) and the egg whites took care of my protein, I was so so excited about the grapefruit I got yesterday as well- so I didn't really need the stuffing but wanted just a little

Three pieces of French Toast , Three Mangos, Strawberry, Blueberries and heated up in the pan, I used some Stoneyfield Plain Organic Greek Yogurt with Cabot Cottage Cheese ( mixed together was about a tablespoon) to spread on as stuffing and sprinkled with cinnamon.

Grapefruit- I only could manage to release three slices from half the grapefruit, I drank the juice and managed to fork out the rest of the grapefruit.

1/4 c Egg Whites with Texas Pete ( yuummm)

All together now... with black coffee and....

What is that dark blue/green thing in the cup below my coffee? you might be wondering....Well, I made the french toast by putting the 1/4 cup egg whites in a bowl ( I put the other 1/4 egg whites into the pan to cook- they wanted some privacy) For the eggies in the bowl, I added a splash of milk, cinnamon, mango, strawberry and blueberries to sweetened up the batter. So when I finished dredging the toast in the bowl and dropped it in the pan- I had leftover "Berry Blue Eggs". So after everything was finished cooking i figured why waste the eggs, threw them in the pan and ended up with those.

Suprisingly, they were actually kind of good!! I would not suggest doing this since I am sure not too many people would appreciate em but they reminded me of the pumpkin egg mix I make often, only blueberry. Almost cake like. Almost.


Body:
Update to Yesterday: Strength: C,S,T,H ....Cardio: Bike 10 miles (20 minutes), Elliptical 20 minutes, Treadmill Run: 5 minutes, Stepmill :10 minutes.

The stepmill was love/hate. I loved the sweat I had going on my arms, BUT I cannot believe how UNSAFE that machine is- There is no "auto stop" on it and its REALLY high up off the ground- you see:
When I went too slow (9): My toes got squished at the crease of the stair...
When I went too fast (15): My toes would bang into the side of the stair...

Even when I was at 11-12 , every other step I would do one or the other- hit my foot for not lifting it high enough or then squeezed my toes in the crease for lifting it too fast. Even though I hate the idea of stopping, there is no way you can balance yourself if you are going fast for awhile and want to slow down- I nearly fell off!

The only good part: I was so freaking worried about falling off and getting dizzy looking at the stairs move and trying to look up but then hitting my foot- I wasn't even looking at how fast the time went by while on it.

I would never recommend this machine because of how dangerous it is- and unnecessary ( I get just as good of a sweat running) but maybe that is why there are only 2 of them in my gym and 35 treadmills and 40 ellipticals... ? hmm... maybe my gyms is just a really old version of them...

So TODAY:

My toes still hurt to curl them, but not as bad as a few days ago after my 5 mile run on Tuesday. So... I would LOVE to run today and get a good cardio session in. I will see how it goes.

Mind:
While normally cleaning would be under my soul section because I enjoy when everything is clean- I have a long to-do-list in my head so it will be another thing to get checked off. I also have some reading to do for the volunteer info and

Soul:

Jeff comes home this evening, his cousin is in town this weekend so hopefully we can meet up with her and her new hubby ( they are staying closer to Jeff's g-mammy for the weekend)

We are going to Disney On Ice tomorrow morning with his neice, nephew, sister(s)?, and Dad. It was his Dad's idea for christmas presents for everyone, and while neither Jeff, Melissa , KC or I would prefer that for a present- It is a way to get everyone together. I don't have kiddos yet so it will be awhile before I have an excuse to go see some Disney performance without looking like an odd 26 year old woman by herself. I am kind of excited about it- the last show I saw like this was the US Olympic Gymnastics Team in Pittsburgh ( I forget which year it was but shannon miller was performing with dominique dawes )... my parents took me and we sat in a box and it is such a fun memory since at the time I was on the gymnastics team! We were state champions in high school 2 years in a row!

My mom ( is in college right now as well! go mom!) and she had her last final for the semester yesterday! I hope you did well Mom! Call me!
So she and I are plotting a christmas shopping trip close to me since she doesn't have any good stores near her- Wooohooo can't wait!

Okay, time to clean!

Greetings from the Lake

Hello !

I decided to hang out at Jeff's Nana's Lake house this weekend for an early family thanksgiving. Before we headed up here on friday evening, I had a snack: A half of a cherry pie LARABAR!! Veggiegirl aren't you proud? I love the cherry pie flavor and I love the ingredients!

So off we drove to the lake with Jeff's two sisters and niece and nephew (all together) in his sister's new minivan! Haha family road trip! It was alot of fun! We arrived to a delicious bowl of country pea and lentil soup and chicken marsala. Sorry no picture, I have yet to take a pictures of food up at the lake until... Today!!

I snapped a quick breakfast photo this morning! I kept reminding myself,

"stick up for yourself", stand up for what you believe in, if I want to take a picture I will and who cares what anyone else thinks!? So I did! After I woke up super late because I wanted to, Haha, I had a small breakfast of coffe, a cinnamon raisin english muffin and a half of grapefruit, I had one tiny piece of bacon but I like my bacon ultra crispy and it was too chewy for my tastes ( I think Jeff likes his bacon chewy..)

In case you didn't notice, I am now on foodbuzz as a Featured Publisher and could not be more thrilled!!! I am so excited in working with them and taking this first step into getting paid ( however much) for writing about food! Woohoo!

Body:
Resting still.. still coughing... still having trouble breathing BUT I DO NOT FEEL LIKE DEATH! Which feels fantabulous! I know 120% that my first workout will be amazing because my body will be completely ready for it!

KC Mo ( my very close friend AND my boyfriend's sister) is going to run the 8K Turkey Trot with me in 5 days ( as long as I feel better)!

I am not sure of the goal time I want yet because I usually do 5 miles in 35-38 minutes on the treadmil but in the cold weather after being sick for 8 days.. not sure how feasible under 40 minutes will be.

Mind:
Getting to work on reading and writing for school right now..


Soul:
I am SO pumped about Foodbuzz , this is actually what I want to be doing in life and it seems like everything is falling into place!

State football game at noon, Jeff LOVES his football team so it will be a fun afternoon!

We have lots of wine and a fire going at the lake all weekend! Nana is cooking Duck Ala Orange.. ? I have never had it but I am sure this evening will be a blast...

Thank you all for your wonderful comments! I LOVE hearing from other people about anything I write and I am so happy I brought back memories of cinnamon sugar toast.. Haha it was the best!
I love you Mom!