Monday

Hey yall ! Happy Monday! So one little tidbit of news, I have been searching for a way to keep track of my hits and I saw one on a friend's site:
The Running Addict. She has been having a rough time since hurting her ankle on a run a bit ago- so stop on over and give her some encouraging thoughts! Although she is wordpress, it led me to one simple search and a few seconds later - I have a stat counter!! Hooray! Thanks Friend!

So lets see

Body:

Walk with Jack, 1 mile

Heading to the gym in a little while for some circuit training with Jeffrey! I love workouts with him because we have such a fun time and we push each other to keep up the momentum during our sets. It is also a very different workout than say , yesterday's 7 mile run.

*** update: We did 40 minutes of cardio ( treadmill and elliptical and biking) after lifting weights- shoulders, biceps, triceps, chest and hamstrings with jumping jacks, squat thrusts and abs in between each other's sets**

by the way, my knee was incredibly sore last night- not today much - just a few hours after the run.

Mind:
Reading chapters 2 & 3 of Understanding Food

Soul:

When I can say "accomplishments" - it just boosts my spirits so here goes

Accomplishments:

• Re-arranged our living room furniture ( again!)
• Swept Living Room
• Swept upstairs rooms
• Mopped Kitchen Floor
• Cleaned and organized kitchen stuff
• Cleaned hardwood floors in the living room
• Laundry
• Blog Stat Counter ! Finally!
• Took Jack for 1 mile Walk
• Put in a new wallflower, Black Amethyst

Snow Snow Snow is in the forecast overnight! Only 2-4 inches, but that is the most it will have snowed in the past three years if it comes!

May watch Pineapple Express tonight- did anyone see it? We rented it for $1 at redbox but we don't know if its worth watching?

Food post later this evening!

Smoothie Saturday, Euchre Champs, Banana's Foster Breakfast WITH the alcohol!

After my yoga practice, I knew just what I wanted for Lunch saturday.
It was very fruit and vegetable full!

Smoothie: Ground Flax (Bob's red mill- it's at Trader Joes for about $2-3), organic banana, frozen mango, frozen pineapple, frozen blueberry with protein powder and organic milk.
Veggies: Brussel sprouts steamed with cabbage and a teaspoon or so of goddess dressing and some shredded cheddar. I absolutely devoured this - I don't know why I find it so fantastic but it was gone in about 2 seconds ( okay not really 2 sec. but you get the idea).

We took Lurlota over to Jeff's parents after Jeff's alum basketball team won their first ACC game!

We played Euchre and drank some Chianti. Jeff and I planned on renting a movie and having some wine by ourselves but since we were invited over- we ended up just hanging out at Jeff's parent's house. As you can probably tell, Jeff and his family are very family oriented, it's the most important thing to them which I think is just wonderful. I teamed up with Preston and we won both games!! Woohoo! ( I edited the photo so you could see the wine)

Dinner was a group effort: I put together that salad! Organic mixed greens, english cucumber, green onion, tomato with a little blue cheese. Delish! Jeff did the potatoes- he added sundried tomato and basil dressing after slicing . Jeff's stepdad Preston cooked the potatoes and steaks on the grill and Momma Mo did the mushrooms just perfectly. I normally don't care for potatoes, but these were awesome! Nice work Jeff!

Sunday Morning Breakfast:
Banana's Foster French Toast... the banana... and I sprinkled less than a teaspoon of brown sugar ( there is no more sugar left in this house!)


and just for you SWEETANDFIT , I added a tablespoon of the rum I had on hand....after they had cooked for a 1 minute

So so so divine! In South Africa we had guava fruit, and I have not been able to find it here in the US anywhere. I saw this when we were at the store for something and just had to try it! It is very sweet for a rum but enjoyable. The guava rum definitely added another layer to this dish. The banana's tasted even sweeter but also a slight savory hint from the rum.

I added a glob of (unsweetened) plain nonfat greek yogurt and added some of the bananas foster to it-


That was fantastic as well since the banana's had so much flavor.


Recap

Body:

Circuit Training with Jeff:
We did squat thrusts in between sets of chest fly's, jumping jacks in between sets of leg presses, we did a back exercise that I have never done before-It is the opposite of a push up. You lay on the ground underneath a bar, and keeping your body straight , feet on the floor- you hold the bar and lift yourself up using your back muscles ( your "lats"). It was tough but good! Afterwards, I did 40 minutes on the elliptical.

Yoga:
I did 45 minutes yesterday of a combo of my own practice and my dvd.

I am hoping to get a run in today.

Mind:
Played cards, Euchre!

Read for class next week

Ordered my chef coat for lab ( Jeff helped me find one, how cute!)

Searched for jobs... I found a few natural foods stores that would be fun to work in while in school, I found a few fitness centers that I would also like to work at but I haven't found anyone actually saying they are HIRING!
grr.. I need $$

Soul:
Weekend time with Jeff, and fam, and lots of sleeping in.

Watched Kung Fu Panda- it was interesting. I mean, it was fun to watch but I didn't think it was hilarious.

Guess who ran away again this morning!?!?!!?
Sad face... jack brown pants is just crazy. We gave him a new comforter for his crate and I bought him a new bed that is laying right next to it ( this was about a month or two ago) I have taken him on 1 mile walks several times this past week ( 3 mile walks at my mom's last week!) and I gave him several treats too. I don't know why he runs away when we treat him so well, I feel like a bad puppy parent.
Happy Sunday to all!

Back FROM School...

"back to school... back to school.. to prove to (the world) I'm not a ...foool...." Oh I am nervous but excited and anxious all at the same time for semester to start again! I have found some wonderful opportunities this past month and I am sorting it all out asap!

My class schedule right now is: Perspectives in Nutrition, Principles of Food, 2nd Half of Nutrient Metabolism, and Vitamins, Minerals and Nutricuticals!


Body:
Gym trip-
Strength: Back, Biceps and Quads
Cardio: ten minute walk on the treadmill, 25 minutes on the elliptical , 5 minutes stairs

Got back from class and took Jack for another 1 mile walk ( up hill, down hill, up hill, down hill) . We went yesterday too and the day before. I am trying to be a better puppy-mommy ( even though he runs away from us all the time). I swear, I wish we could have gotten him from his past owners way before they ever hurt him. Apparently he was so mistreated and has a little "running away" habit from whoever had him before Jeff. When Jeff got Jack, he nearly died a week later due to some kind of medical problems most likely from his mistreatment. Its sooooo sad how people mistreat doggies out there- I mean just give them to the SPCA or someone who wants to take care of them! okay- anyways- jack has lots of toys and lots of treats and lots of love here now!

Mind:
Class! as you can see its a full day of courses! Luckily, today was nice and easy to get back into things. My second class let out super early so I made a gym trip, and my third class got canceled ( profs kid is sick- not too seriously though).

I got my first two subscriptions to Southern Living! Thanks to Nana for a wonderful christmas present!

I am reading them now but unfortunately after dealing with an overdraft charge of $35 for a charge to my account that was not authorized! This is the second time this has happened with the account and I am ready to CLOSE IT! FYI Its a wachovia account- my other account only charges a 50 cent overdraft fee--- thats it - not 35 like wachovia!
I was fuming... but i talked to the company that charged me and they are canceling the payment and the bank is putting a stop payment - and I made sure the guy said he wasn't going to charge me for stop payment. I should have gotten it in writing.


Phew... okay blood pressure is going back down as i type.

Soul:
back to school... back to school... easy day but it was fantastic to see all my classmates again!

I went to check a place out for a job and they are "always accepting applications"... not that it means they will hire me but I got one and will turn it in tomorrow.

Made plans to meet Jeff's sister at the gym thursday evening! Woohoo! Should be fun!

I am going to make a list right now of the things that make me feel happy and grateful today because after the bank fiasco I am a little tiffed and need it.. here goes..

1.southern living magazine ...2 of them

2. looked into ACSM certification for fitness... I have been interested in doing this for 8 years... yes 8 years, my first year at Penn State University (Main Campus)- they offered this great discount for certification- and I didn't do it and I slightly "regretted" it but knew it would always be around as an option. Well , I am sick of waiting. I would love to teach aerobics classes, I remember leading warm up and practices and dance routines as captain in cheerleading and loved it, plus I LOVE aerobic exercise so motivating people to do it along with me would be a blast. I could even start a network for this nutrition career I am heading into!

3. Jeff has a new truck... phew! Our mountain getaway is booked! I can't freakin wait- a suite with a hot tub, fireplace, and within 20 minutes of wine country- aaaahhhh

4. I dealt with the fiasco of the bank. Alot of times when stuff like that happens, it made me feel so crappy and depressed and instead of letting it get to me - I dealt with it- I called the bank I called the people that charged me and its not immediately fixed but I dealt with it.

5. I chatted via email with my sister- Hi Christal! I love you! - I will get to see her in a few weekends for my grandfather's birthday, along with my cousin, and aunt. We will also be going to Asheville, NC that same weekend to visit our friends ( their wedding is in Vermont this August, they came here to fry turkeys a few months ago)...

6. School makes me feel like an efficient person- I am super excited for Principles of Food- We learn all the proper knife techniques, baking, leavening agents, cooking terminology and functions, recipes, sanitation, food preparation etc etc. Isn't that AWESOME!?

7. I am going to make lasagna with eggplant this week...

8. YOGA!

okay I think I feel better... time to tap into my breathe with a little rodney yee.

Namaste

Body:
Run: 3.2 miles - I did an easy pace at 8 minutes, then did some speedwork at 1 minute intervals of 6:20 minutes/mile... it felt fantastic!
Biked: 6.4 miles
Elliptical: just to cool down- for 5 minutes

All cardio today, took a break from strength training since I lifted yesterday.

Mind:
Class lasted 30 minutes but I worked after lunch on my project due friday (2 hours) and final touches on my paper due today (30 minutes) and read the sources for my paper due wednesday (2 hrs) - I have lots of studying for my final in one week, and lots for my final in 11 days!

Soul:

It feels so nice to have that paper done ( I found out I did the citations correctly but in the wrong style.. oh well).... I love when dishes are done, I hate when they are just piled in the sink- so that is definately nice! I have to figure out this job thing, I think it will take me awhile. I am most excited that Jeff finally went to the doctor today, he has been sick for what seems like 3 weeks straight and I had it in the middle of that and felt horrible! I needed meds immediately- so I am finishing my last does tomorrow and he went today and sure enough, got the same meds. So it was nice getting to spend a little unexpected time with him and hopefully he will start feeling better soon too!

and I love running..did i ever mention that?