The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.

Hey.  Remember me?  

That girl who used to blog about running.  

That girl who fell of the face of the Earth for quite some time, again... 

Well, I'm back, again.  Hopefully for a while this time.  

To reintroduce myself to the blogging world again, for the millionth time, I'm going to sum things up by using the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good.

I have had a GREAT holiday season.  Most of my time was spent with family, or just relaxing at home.  It has been heavenly, and I am already dreading going back to work on Thursday.  (Nick and) I got a lot of awesome gifts for Christmas including a king-sized bed, fleece Badger blanket, signs for our bar, Dyson vacuum, Just Dance 2014, and a beautiful charm bracelet my mom made for me.  

I have amazing friends, and an awesome family, not only because of their thoughtful gifts, but because they are great people.  Just being with my peeps gives me a warm fuzzy feeling, and I am SO grateful to have such wonderful people in my life.  The holiday season gives me an extra reminder of how truly blessed I am.

The Bad.

Working out and eating healthy are distant memories.  To say I have overeaten, and have been a lazy ass, is a huge understatement.  I have worked out zero times since my last post, and have gorged myself with delicious food.  Do I regret it? Absolutely not.  Do I feel guilty?  Yes.  Am I going to wallow in sorrow for being a bit of fatty over the holidays?  Hell no. Am I over it, and ready to kick 2014's ass?  Fuck. Yes.

The Ugly.

After avoiding the scale for weeks, I stepped onto that bitch this morning. 

176.4

Less than 10 lbs from my highest weight ever.

2014 is upon us.  I am ready to start a new chapter in my life.  I will no longer make excuses.  The time is now.  I vow to start working my ass off, literally, to have the healthy lifestyle I have been lusting after for years.

Happy Holidays, my friends.  I cannot wait to see what 2014 brings all of us!   

Blogmopolitan Quiz

I still suck at blogging, but I found this fun quiz/questionnaire link-up I wanted to share!  

Poet?  Yes, yes I am. 

Anywho, this is a fun link-up to join to get to know your fellow bloggers.  The hostess is Erin over at 

Two Thirds Hazel.  You can find a link to the quiz here. 

Enjoy!

Update

I have come to the conclusion that I suck at blogging.  I post regularly for a couple weeks, then I fall of the face of the earth for a few more...oops.  I will make it a pre-New Year resolution to blog more regularly.  

Now, I'll catch you up on my life quickly.

I have not run in 2 weeks.  I have barely worked out.

After not weighing myself for most of November, I finally stepped on the scale this morning.  Not pretty...174.7.  I am going to go ahead and blame Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, all of my celebrations were great!  Since both my parents, and Nick's parents, are divorced, we had 4 different family events to attend.  Each one was great, and I am SO thankful for both of our families.

Another note on T-Day.  I had the below tights on with a jean skirt and sweater, all set to head to my aunt's house for Thanksgiving lunch, when Nick informed me that I looked like a hooker wearing fish nets.

 Actually, this is how the convo went down:
N: Why the hell do you own tights like that.
A: Why?! What's wrong with them?
N:  Are you being serious right now?
A:  Yes.  I don't understand what you mean.  These tights are cute.
N:  "laughing" Yeah, right.
A:  What?!  Do they look like fishnets.
N:  How do I put this nicely...you look like hooker.

Men!  He unfortunately made me feel self-conscious that other people would make fun of me, damn brothers, that I ended up swapping them for solid magenta tights instead.

Nick and I put up our X-mas tree and decorations this weekend.  They look fabulous, and I surprisingly have not taken any pictures yet. 

I have no idea where I am with my 150 in 15 mileage because I haven't kept track lately.  Therefore, I am just going to start adding from where I left off on my last post. 

I went wedding dress & bridesmaid dress shopping with my future sister-in-law yesterday.  She found her dress, and looks sooooooooo beautiful.  Totes teared up, which then made Jen tear up, which made our consultant tear up...I really want to post a picture, but I'm not going to.  My brother doesn't know about my blog, but you just never know, he may stumble across the picture if I put it out there is cyber-space.

These are the bridesmaid dresses.  The maid of honor will wear the red one, and myself and the other girls will wear brown.  It is a country themed wedding so we will be rocking cowboy boots.  The dresses are so cute, comfortable, and fit so well they will hardly need alternations.  Score!

I've chiseled away a few more items from my 101 in 1001 list:

#5 - Meet with a TIAA-CREF financial adviser about my retirement fund.

I met with an adviser a couple weeks ago just to get more information about my account.  Through my job, I have been putting money away for almost 3 years already, but I never really understood where that money was going, or what it was doing.  The adviser explained everything to me, and I found out I am currently on track to retire at age 63.  Not too shabby, but I wold like to retire younger.  That just means I need to up the amount flowing into my account.  Easy peasy.

#47 - Make X-mas cookies with Nick's mom & grandma.  

Cindy and Vera make some bad-ass X-mas cookies.  They are frosted sugar cookies that are delicious, and look like professionals frosted them.  For the first time, I helped out this year.  Since I actually helped out, I got a share of the entire batch that was made instead of a portion of Cindy's.  Whoever helps make them, splits the entire batch, and then can distribute their portion to whomever they want.  There were 5 of us baking and frosting for 8 hours, and we ended with just over 700 cookies!!!  This means Nick & I took home around 150!  Luckily we have a bunch of events coming up that we can take them to so I am not tempted to eat them all!

Just a tiny sample of what we made.

  #57 - Write a letter to myself to read in 1001 days.

I cried like a baby while writing this...  It will be very interesting to read it again in a few years.

#91 - Buy a king sized bed.

Our X-mas present from Nick's mom is a king sized bed.  The 3 of us went shopping on Saturday to pick one out.  After about an hour and a half of laying on, and bouncing around on, Nick and I finally chose one.  It is already being delivered to our house this Friday, and I cannot wait!

That makes 6 total completed items on my list so I transferred $60 from my checking account into my savings this morning.  (See #4).

Alrighty, I think you're all caught up.  Hopefully I will get my lazy ass to the gym tonight so I can actually start blogging about fitness again...

So Many Weekend Shenanigans!

I am going to attempt to keep this from turning into a novel, but I have a lot to recap from the weekend.

Friday night, I was home alone.  I got delicious take-out sushi, and made my own 6 pack of beer at the grocery store.  I chose 6 different kinds of beer that I have not tried yet so I could work on my 1001 in 101.  Friday, I ended up having 3 of the 6.

Saturday, I had to leave home by noon to meet Nick in Milwaukee.  I had intention of studying for an exam and running.  Instead, I cleaned the entire house, and then worked out like a fiend, which was more fun than studying.  I had the goal of burning 2000 calories last week, so I wanted to rack up some quick Ks.

Nick's mom got me a Garmin Forerunner 10, which I use all the time, and a Polar heart rate monitor, which I never use, for my birthday this summer.  Saturday, I finally decided to bust it out, and figure out how to use it.  To test it, I decided to run up and down our steps to get my heart rate up.  I found this to be a good, quick, workout so I did 2 sets of 5 minutes running up and down the stairs.  I ended up burning 128 calories doing this for only 10 minutes!  Sunday, and still today, my calves are super sore!!

After I ran up and down our stairs like a crazy lady, I wore the heart rate monitor while playing Wii Just Dance.  I danced for 35 minutes and burned 303 calories.  

Then, I decided to do a "long" run, and went out for 2 miles instead of just one.  Not going to lie, it was kind of tough.  Running up and down stairs and dancing before running probably didn't help, but I was still a little discouraged.  I thought 2 miles was going to be a breeze.  My first mile was 10:00 even, and then I had to bust my ass to get a negative split and finish my 2nd mile in 9:48.  To cool-down, I went for a .61 mile walk.  I wanted to walk further to get more mileage in, but it was misting and cold, and I was ready for a hot shower.            

Once I was showered and dressed, I left for Milwaukee.  I met Nick at his mom's house, and we visited with her and his grandma for a while.  Around 4, we left the dogs with them, and headed to Sheboygan for a friend's surprise birthday party.  Nick and I only stayed for dinner and a couple drink, and then we had to head back home.  And by home, I mean to Milwaukee first to get Nick's truck and the dogs, and then home.  We left Sheboygan around 10pm and didn't get home until almost 1am.  

All the girls from the surprise party

Sunday morning, for some horrible reason, I was up at 6am, after only 5 hours of sleep.  Since I couldn't fall back asleep, I figured I should get up and study because I wasn't going to have much time during the day because  Nick's step-mom planned the annual girl's shopping day for yesterday.  After studying for a couple hours, Nick and I headed to Freeport so I could shop with the girls.  

I am not a shopper.  I hate shopping.  Yesterday, I spent over 5 hours at a mall.  Five hours of my life wasted.  Ok, I should't say that.  It is always fun to hangout with my Beck and my future sisters-in-law.  We had a lot of laughs, and I will be getting some awesome stuff for Christmas now, i.e. kickass black boots.  

Nick and I got home last night around 7, and I was completely exhausted.  After lots of driving, not sleeping a whole lot, working out a ton, and shopping for hours on end, I was drained.  I told Nick I was going to take a quick catnap on the couch before I started studying.  Well, a quick catnap turned into Nick waking me up at 10, telling me to just go to bed.

That meant I had to study my ass off for my test today.  I actually just got back to my office from taking it, and boy oh boy do I think I bombed it.  Usually when I think I have done horribly on test, I end up doing ok.  My fingers are crossed that i at least get a B....

That, in short, sums up my weekend shenanigans.  To keep it short, I will write about my goals in another post.

An Adorable (!) LinkUp

Get ready for some freakin' cuteness overload with this linkup!! 

This new linkup is called, "Pets are People Too" and is hosted by Jade and Oak and Karly Kim.  It is a fun way to learn about other blogger's pets, and see a TON of cute pictures.  If you're an animal lover, check it out! 

If you have been reading this blog for more than a day, you should already know that I have two furbabies of my own, Molly and Skittles.  They are two kookie little dogs that we treat like our children.  We even bought a Burley bike trailer so we can take our dogs on bike rides with us...Yes, we are THOSE people, and damn proud of it!

The proof...

First up, Molly Elizabeth McGoo.

Molly is my sweet, old, baby-girl.  She is an 11 year old fox terrier.

Molly was actually originally my brother Dusty's dog when he adopted her from the Dane County Humane Society in 2007.  Dusty's wife is from New Zealand, and they made the decision to move back to New Zealand for awhile after my niece was born.  They did not know how long they would be gone, so they did not want to go through the process of taking an animal into another country.  My parents offered to keep Molly until they returned to the U.S. because they just couldn't see this lovebug back in a shelter.  Plus, she had already been in all our lives for about 2 years, and no one wanted her to go!

 During my 2008 fall semester of college, I opted to live at home with  my parents because I was studying aboard during the Spring 2009 semester, and did not want to have to deal with finding a sub-leaser for my apartment while I was out of the country.  Molly and I bonded over the next 4ish months, and I cried when I had to leave her behind.  When I got back from Italy 5 months later, this little pooch was BEYOND excited to see me, and I cried all over again.

About a month after I returned from studying abroad, Dusty and Kate returned from NZ.  They saw how close Molly and I had become over the year they were away, and they decided she was my dog.  She still gets uber excited to see Dusty and Kate, but she knows who her momma is now.

I've had my Molly-Monster (Nick's father's favorite nickname for her) for over 4 years!  She has seen me at my best, and at my worst, and yet she still loves me.  Molly has snuggled with me while I've cried, and ran around the house with me when I was excited.  She hates baths and the scent of oranges, but loves sleeping under the covers and going camping.

Furbaby #2, Skittles Marie McGee

Nick and I bought this little naughty baby as a puppy.  We bought her on 11/11/12, so we have had her for just over a year.  I call her naughty all the time, but it reality, she's a great dog!  Skittles was so easy to train, that it still blows my mind.  After having her for less than a week, she was already potty-trained, and starting to learn sit.  Nick and I are lucky in that neither of our dogs need to be on leashes.  They always go on leashes when we go for walks, but when we're just outside in our yard, or at someone else's house, they don't need them.  We were worried about trusting Skittles without a lease, but she had a good role model, and always just stuck by Molly's side.

Skittles is one of the quirkiest little dogs I have ever met.  She has just a distinct, silly, personality.  Her favorite activities include parkouring, running with mommy, and snuggling.  She hates wearing her sweater and when you make fun of her when she toots...I call her Princess Tooty Butt and she gets the saddest look on her face.  I feel a little guilty that I am shaming her, but it's just so darn cute and funny!  

Most of time, Skittles drives old Molly crazy, but deep down, I know Molly loves her little sister.  If another dog gives Skittles any grief, Molly is there in an instant to back her up.  

Our little Skittles and Molly mean the world to Nick and I, and we wouldn't trade them for anything!

Picking Up the Pace

Hello, my friends!  

So far this week, I have already gone on three runs.  They may be just over a mile each time, but I am still running!!  What I am most proud of this week, is that fact that my pace and overall time are getting faster each day.  This morning, I saw a 9:06 mile time, and an average page of 8:58! Seeing this improvement is highly encouraging, and makes me excited to start training for another race. 

I am pretty much all out booking it on these short little runs so once I start upping my mileage, I know I may not be able to maintain the same pace.  Truthfully, I am totally fine with that.  These short runs are giving me the confidence that I should be able to run a few miles comfortably at a 10:00/mile pace.  Basically where I was when I stopped running in August.  

By not running for a few months, I thought I had really set myself back.  According to the numbers though, I will be just fine :)

  

I may have taken a hiatus from running, but I'm getting back in game!!

Monday - 11/11/13 (I couldn't find my Garmin so I just had to use runningahead)

Tuesday - 11/12/13

Today - 11/14/13

-----------------------

26.77/150

1.14 Mile Run - 10:13

1.34 Mile Walk with Dogs - 22:27

596/2000
6.19/15

Chilly Run

Brrrrrr! It was a chilly run this morning!  

I put off my run for over an hour after I woke up because I didn't want to go outside.  The last temp I heard on the radio was 17 degrees.  Around 7 though, I knew I had to get to it, or I was going to run out of time.  

Since it was colder than it has been, I made Skittles wear her new sweater today.  You can't see it very well in the picture, but it's neon coral and purple.  Adorbs!  She was less than enthused to have it on, but I'm sure she was thanking me once we stepped outside.   

I thought I was going to have a speedy run this morning due to the cold and wanting to get back inside, but it was pretty average.  I felt like I was booking it, but my pace was right where it has been.  My mile time this morning was actually the slowest one I have had so far at 9:29.  Only the slowest by 3 seconds, that is...  My entire (very short) run was 1.12 miles in 10:32 with an average pace of 9:21.

Have a fabulous Tuesday, everyone!

----------------------

24.29/150

1.12 Mile Run - 10:32

.71 Mile Walk with Dogs - 11:43

360/2,000

3.71/15

Weekend Shenanigans & Goals

Happy Veteran's Day!!  

Thank you to all those who are serving, or have served, this country!

Now, time to look back on the weekend, and forward to this week.  For my weekend recap, I linking up with Sami for the first time.

As I mentioned in my Friday post, Nick and I had zero plans this weekend.  I was super excited about that, but by 8pm Friday night, I was already bored.  

On Groupon, I had seen a buy-one-get-one for a brewery tour so Nick and I decided to cash in on that.  Ashlee was invited too which means I was able to spend an awesome day enjoying a lot of beer with one of my bestie and my love.  'Twas a perfect Saturday, as we hit up both the Minhaus Brewery and New Glarus.

  At Minhaus I tried 7 or 8 different beers.  Though I did not really dislike any of them, I didn't particularly care for them either.  Each one had an extremely sweet aftertaste, no matter the style (porter, hefe, etc.) 

New Glarus is my favorite craft brewer of all time.  I may be biased on this since I was born, and raised, in New Glarus... But in reality, they have delicious beer!!  Nick and I frequent the NG brewery, so this weekend we only stopped by because Ashlee had never been there.  

Nick was not amused with our shenanigans.

Outside of the gorgeous NG Brewery.

After an eventful Saturday, I was ready to cash in on a lazy Sunday.  Nick was a sweetheart and brought me coffee as I reading in bed.  Then he was even sweeter, and made me breakfast in bed!  He's a keep for sure!  After we ate, we snuggled up in bed with the pups, watched a little tv, and actually fell back asleep until 10:30.

It. Was. Glorious!

During the week, Nick and I get up around 5:30.  On the weekends, we usually get pretty wild (NOT), and end up sleeping in until 6-6:30.  It's been ages since I've slept until 10:30, but it felt great. 

Once we woke up for real, we really didn't do too much.  We did clean the house a bit, and I ended up making a bunch of food.  I made beer and cheddar soup for freezer lunches, and butternut squash pasta for lunch/dinner.  I also pre-made chipotle cheddar meatloaf for dinner tonight.  All we need to do is reheat it when we get home tonight.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

And now, onto this week.

I took Skittles running with me again this morning.  I made the decision to stick with running a mile for one more week.  Next week, I plan on starting a training program.  I just haven't decided for which distance yet.  It is going to be 10k or a half marathon, but as the snow starts to fall, I'm probably going to do more indoor running.  I despise running on the treadmill so I might chose the 10k just because my runs will be shorter.

Since I am finally getting back into the workout groove, I need to make sure I am eating well too.  I also want to set some easily attainable goals to help encourage myself.

1.  Track everything I eat.
I've been a bit blasé about nutrition lately, and that needs to stop.  I need to know how many calories I am eating, and how many I am burning.  That being said...

2.  Burn 2,000 calories.
Since I have failed the last few times I have tried to reach the elusive 3,500, I am scaling it back a bit.

3.  Bank at least 15 miles for the 150 in 15 challenge.

---------------------------------
22.46/150
1.15 Mile Run - 10:41
.73 Mile Walk with Dogs - 12:30

5 of Friday!!

{ONE} Baked oatmeal.

Ever since I found this recipe on Budget Bytes (the BEST food blog EVER!), I have been obsessed with baked oatmeal.  Besides blueberry banana, I have also made apple cinnamon, and my latest creation Chocolaty Pumpkin Cranberry.  It is based on Budget Bytes' Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal , but I tweaked the recipe a bit.  Here's my recipe:

1 15oz can of Libby's 100% pumpkin

1/4 C brown sugar

2 eggs

1 t pumpkin pie spice

1 T vanilla extract

1 1/2 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk

2 1/2 C dry oats

Fresh cranberries-halved - As many as you would like.  I used about 1 C.  They are fairly tart so if you do not want too much soreness, use less. 

1/4 mini semi sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Cut cranberries in half so they juice can come out of the them while baking.

3.  Mix pumpkin, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract, and almond milk, until smooth.

4.  Stir in dry oats to pumpkin mixture.  Once blend in, add cranberry halves. 

5.  Pour oatmeal mixture into 9x13 greased baking dish.

6.  Sprinkle top with chocolate chips and bake for 45 mins.

I usually make my baked oatmeal at night, and let it cool for a couple hours.  Once it is cooled, I divide the dish into 8 servings and put each serving in a tupperware container, and then into the refrigerator.  Each container can then be reheated in the microwave for 1 minute, and voila, you have a delicious, filling breakfast!

According to MyFitnessPal, this recipe comes out to 208 calories per serving!

  

{TWO} Only 43 days until Christmas break!!!!  

I work at a college, and the students get an entire months off, but the staff also gets time off.  Twelve days off, counting weekends, to be exact.  Paid days off, that is.  Monday, December 23-Friday, December 27 & Monday, December 30-Wednesday, January 1, I get to sit around at home, in my pajamas, doing whatever I want, and I get paid for it!  If, for some reason, I would have to go into work over these days, I would get holiday pay of time and a half, woot woot!!!  I love my job. 

{THREE}  Thanks to Ashley over at Whole Foods New Body I have found my new favorite snack.  

She posted a great video about the essentials she keeps in her kitchen.  If you want some great snack ideas, check it out!!

The snack she helped me create is Greek yogurt with orange flavored chocolate and walnuts mixed in. 

I crush up one square of the chocolate, about 1/4oz of walnuts, and depending on my hunger level, I mix those into 1/4 C or 1/2 of the yogurt.  It is divine!  It is a filling snack that has the perfect combination of crunch, sweetness, and creaminess!

{FOUR}  No plans this weekend!

This one may make me sound lame, but I am in need of a weekend off!  I often feel that Nick and I never get to just relax and enjoy our house.  It seems like every weekend we are off doing something, which is great because we love spending time with our friends and family, and we love going on adventures, but sometimes it is just nice to be at home.  

{FIVE}  Jeans for $8.

I am rocking a new, well, new-to-me, pair of jeans today, and I only paid $8 for them!  They are Bullhead brand, which I just learned from Googling, are from PacSun and are originally $44.95.  I got them at Plato's Closet, and they are the most comfortable jeans ever.  They have just enough stretch in them that I do not feel like I am going to bust out of them when I sit down, but not too much stretch that they get too stretched out and result in diaper butt. 

I unfortunately do not see the same style, Laguna Bootcut, on the PacSun website anymore.  Which means I will probably never find another pair of them again...sad face!

Have a GREAT weekend, everyone!  

NSV

My NSV for the week is that I started running again!  

I am probably starting to sound like a broken record since this is my third post about getting back into running.   I can't help it though!  Running is my favorite type of exercising, but we have a real love-hate relationship.  I do great and follow a training plan for months, run a few races, and then I completely quit for months at a time.  This has been a consistent pattern for three years and now that I have become aware of it, I am going to make an effort to break the cycle. 

 When I'm in my on-running months, I just feel so much better.  I drop weight so my clothes start fitting better.  My mood improves, and I am happier.  I make better food choices.  I just feel healthier when I am running!

As I alluded to yesterday, I took Skittles running with me this morning.  I was going to run last night, but by the time I got off of work, went grocery shopping, cleaned the house, and made and ate dinner, it was almost 9.  I live in an extremely small town, but I still don't like running at night.  I just don't feel safe.   

Despite the fact that is was only 26 degrees this morning, I put on my cold weather gear, put Skittles on a non-flexie leash, and off we went.  I felt badly because Molly really wanted to with, but she's just too old and slow.  She did get to go on the post cool-down walk though!  

Anyway, Skittles was a trooper!  Based on Nick's experience of running with her, and the fact that she doesn't mark or sniff too much on our walks, I thought she was do just fine, but I was still impressed.  She trotted on my right side a little bit ahead of me, but without pulling.  Having Skittles along actually made me run a tiny bit faster because I could tell she wanted to go faster.  I think she'll make a good speed motivator/pacer!  

Once again, I only did a mile.  This morning the Garmin mileage was 1.09. I did the same route as yesterday, but I must have shaved a few corners for it to have the slight difference.  Overall time was 10:16 with the same average of 9:26.  I did cut a whole 2 seconds off the mile time though.  Yesterday, I hit 1 mile at 9:24 and today I hit it at 9:22.  Tiny difference, but still, progress!

And speaking of Non-Scale, I've decided to start No-Weigh November.  I know we're already a week into the month, but for the remainder, it is no more scale for this girl!  I get obsessive with the scale, and I start weighing myself everyday, multiple times a day, which gets frustrating and discouraging!  I said adios to the scale this morning, and I am having Nick take it out of the bathroom and hide it from me so I won't be tempted!

-------------------

20.58/150
1.09 Mile Run - 10:16
.52 Mile Walk with Dogs - 8:48

Weigh-In Wednesday

171.2
No change from last week.  This means I failed my first Diet Bet.  I think one reason I did so poorly with the Diet Bet was because I didn't check the site enough.  I am a competitive person, and if I would have gone on the site more often to see the status of my peers, it would have motivated me to work harder.  If I saw someone had lost 1.2lbs it would have probably spurred me to be like, well, I'm going to lose 1.5lbs!!  Maybe I will look around for another one to join.   I'm super excited to have started running again!  If you missed my post yesterday, I finally went on my first run in almost 3 months.  It was short and sweet, but I need to basically start over so baby-steps it is.  I planned on running again this morning, but it was pouring rain so I will have to wait until after work.   Since I am only running a mile at a time this week, I've decided to try taking Skittles along with me.  Skittles is just over a year old so she still has TONS of puppy energy.  

The cutest reindeer ever!

Walks and playing fetch just isn't enough activity for her.  We basically have to hide all of her toys and bones when it is bed time, and force her to lay down and go to sleep.  Nick has taken her jogging with him a few times, and says she does really well so I'm going to try it out.  Molly-Beast is too old for running, so she will just have to stick to walking.
Now I just need to work on getting myself to the gym so my membership doesn't go to waste...

So Many Things

Get ready for something big!

This morning, I finally went running for the first time since August 17, 2013!!!

Since this blog is supposed to be about running, and a healthy lifestyle, I figured I should probably start running again....

My run was a little pathetic since it was only 1.11 miles.  But, after not running for almost 3(!) months, running has gotten a little bit tough for me.  I decided to start super easy, as not to discourage myself if I didn't do well, and just run 1 mile for a week, or maybe two.  I'll evaluate how I feel after this, and will then decide to add more mileage, or stick with the mile for another week.

My goal with running such a short distance, is to just get my body accustomed to running again.  Get my lungs used to consistent breathing while running.  Getting my knees and legs ready to carry the extra 10lbs I've put on since August.  Even though I only ran just over a mile, I pushed myself.  I finished in 10:28 with an average pace of 9:26.

I'll be honest, for only 1.11 miles, it was a tough run.  With my plan though, it will only get easier!

In other news, I have started working on my 101 in 1001 list.

31.  Go through my books and clothing, and donate what I no longer need/want. 

Check!  I donated 2 grocery bags of clothing, and 53 books.  For anyone that knows me, the fact that I     got rid of  a handful of books is a big deal!  Yes, 53 is a just a handful for me.

Just a portion of living room that was used during the sorting...

53.  Try 15 new kinds of beer. (I am by no means a beer connoisseur. I just like to drink it)

I had New Belgium Brewery's Coconut Curry Hefeweizen last night.  This is what NBB's website says       about it,  "The aroma is bold and big with coconut and curry tones and a hint of banana from the hefe         yeast.  With a vast spice list of cinnamon, coriander, fenugreek, ginger, kaffir lime, and cayenne pepper       this beer carries a bit of heat but the alcohol soothes the finish.  Coconut Curry Hefe will leave an           inquisitive smile on the drinker's mug."

I didn't think it was spicy at all, but you could taste a lot of cinnamon in the after taste.  I had a piece of       cheesecake while I was drinking the hefe, and the sweetness of the cheesecake really brought out the           sweetness of the banana/hefe yeast.  An interesting beer that I wouldn't mind having again.

54.  Try 15 new kinds of wine.  (Once again, not a wine connoisseur.)

Over the weekend, I had the Little Penguin Pinot Grigio.  Not going to lie, I only bought it because the         bottle was super cute!  I love penguins so this little beauty easily caught my eye is the grocery store.  It         was cheap too, $5.99, but it was also really good!  The pinot grigio had a nice light, not too sweet, crisp       flavor.  I know most white wines are best when chilled, but I had this one at room temperature.  It had a       great taste, and I would think that chilling it would have brought out the sweetness a little more.  I liked         this wine, and I'm excited to try some of their other flavors.  

82.  Buy a new winter coat.

 I have had the same winter coat since high school!!  When exactly I first got it, I cannot remember, but I        have had it for far too long, and it has seen better days.

Exhibit A:  Freshman year of college circa 2005

Exhibit B:  Thanksgiving 2012

Right there is 7 years with the same coat.  Besides having at least 7 years of grime and dirt washed out of it, and the fact that it was slowly falling apart, there really wasn't anything wrong with the red beauty.  I have been saying for past two winters though that I should get a new coat.  This weekend, I finally did.

I got a lime green ski jacket from Burlington Coat Factory for $39.99!  It was a fricken steal!  The jacket has an inner fleece lining and outer shell that can be detached from one another and the sleeve are nice and long, and actually go over my hands a little bit.  Since I'm tall, I have a lot of issues with finding pants that are long enough, and long sleeves, like sweatshirts and coats, and have long enough sleeves.  The coat also has a removable hood which is great for when I forget my hat!

--------------------

18.97/150

1.11 Mile Run

.70 Mile Walk w/Dogs

        

Two Years!

Happy two year anniversary to my love, Nick!  

Two years, two (fur)babies, a house, lots of laughs, a few spats...I wouldn't trade any of it for anything!

I love you, Pookie :)

My birthday this year.

Rhythm & Booms 2013

Photo booth at a friend's bday.

Attempting to take a "family photo" with our first real tree.

Halloween 2012 - a rain cloud and a 70's wrestler.

2012 Depot to Depot 5 Miler

Allie & Adam's wedding.  I am taller than him, but not this tall...it's the heels...

Essen Haus

101 in 1001

To commemorate my 101st (!!) post, I made myself a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days.

Today is the official first day so the end date will be July 29, 2016.  July is my birthday month, and I will actually be turning 29 in 2016...sometimes it is eerie how numbers work out.

Many items on this list coincide with my 30 by 30 list which is great since I will have less than a year to complete that list once I finish this one.

I thought it was difficult coming up with 30 things, so it was extremely tough compiling this list!

There are a lot of things I have been putting off (getting my wisdom teeth out, running a marathon, buying a new coat, etc) so I am excited to get cracking and get things done!

I need to do #57 asap so that is probably the first one I will get started on!

1.     Pay off my SM student loan.

2.     Pay off my ACS student loan.

3.     Owe less than $10,000 on my car.

4.     Save $10 for each task I complete from this list.

5.     Meet with a TIAA financial advisor to make sure my retirement fund is building as it should.

6.     Get Nick’s old textbook listed on Amazon in an attempt to make some money.

7.     Open a joint checking account with Nick that will go towards bills.

8.     Run a marathon.

9.     Run a sub 2:00 half marathon.

10.   Run a sub 30 5K.

11.   Run a race in a different state

12.   Complete the Conquer the Capital Challenge.

13.   Run in a Rock and Roll half marathon

14.   Start doing yoga.

15.   Run at least 1,000 miles.

16.   Get my weight into the 150’s, and keep it there!

17.   Run at least 1 race, any distance, each month for an entire year.

18.   Work on my muscle definition, i.e. abs and arms.

19.   Do Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred.

20.   Complete 150 Miles in 15 Weeks challenge.

21.   Complete Jamie Eason’s LiveFit 12 week program.

22.   Go to an actual running store to buy new running shoes.

23.   Get my wisdom teeth removed.

24.   Get two moles checked out/removed.

25.   Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity regularly.

26.   Donate Blood.

27.   Spend an entire day with my nephew.

28.   Buy Christmas presents for a family in need, or donate to Operation Toy Drive.

29.   Volunteer on the Ice Age Trail to help keep trails maintained.

30.   Pay for the person behind me in a drive thru, coffee shop, etc.

31.   Go through my books and clothing, and donate what I no longer need/want.

32.   Build wall to wall bookshelves in the lower living room.

33.   Set up a more welcoming entryway.

34.   Finishing sewing the quilt I started over a year ago, by hand.

35.   Build a nice patio/fire pit area in our backyard.

36.   Make menu and weekly task boards.

37.   Do the painting for our bedroom that I have had planned for months.

38.   Rearrange our bedroom, and create a reading space for myself.

39.   Get a hotel in Madison for a night so I can take Nick to all my favorite college hang outs.

40.   Go to the Chazen Art Museum with Nick.

41.   Have romantic picnic dinner in front of our fireplace.

42.   Have family pictures taken with the dogs.

43.   Take an out of state trip with just Nick.

44.   Go on a girl’s weekend trip with just Anna.

45.   Host a major holiday at our house for our family.

46.   Get engaged. (C’Mon, Nick!)

47.   Make Christmas cookies with Nick’s mom and grandma.

48.   Bake my own bread.

49.   Start a garden, or join a CSA.

50.   Make a pie from scratch.

51.   Make homemade pasta.

52.   Make sushi.

53.   Try 15 new kinds of beer.

54.   Try 15 new kinds of wine.

55.   Take everything out of our kitchen cupboards and fridge, clean, and reorganize.

56.   Learn to drive a manual vehicle.

57.   Write myself a letter and open it in 1001 days.

58.   Write encouraging notes to strangers and put them in places to be found such as library books.

59.   Alphabetize my books by author, then title, once I have my bookshelves built.

60.   Read 5 books in Spanish.

61.   Meet a blogging friend in person.

62.   Send 10 letters/cards to friends, just because I am thinking of them.

63.   Have Tyler and Amy over again for drinks on the patio.

64.   Find out my blood type.

65.   Join a book club.

66.   Send a letter to a favorite author.

67.   Just get in the car with Nick, and drive.  Find a town we have never been and spend the day touring it.

68.   Ride a horse.

69.   Tube down the Sugar River.

70.   Go canoeing.

71.   Find a Spanish speaking pen pal to practice my Spanish writing and reading comprehension.

72.   Have an entire conversation in Spanish.

73.   Have a wine night with my stepmom.

74.   Go skiing.

75.   Lay outside under the stars with Nick.

76.   Go sledding.

77.   Finally use our free movie passes.

78.   Read 5 books pertaining to food/nutrition/health.

79.   Read 10 memoires/biographies/histories/non-fictional books.

80.   Get new glasses.

81.   Get another tattoo.

82.   Buy a new winter coat.

83.   Complete the series of books I have at home, such as:  Stephen King’s Gunslinger, Charlaine Harris’             Sookie Stackhouse, Philippa Gregory, Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and Mayfair Witches, Terry             Brooks, etc.

84.   Go to 10 new restaurants.

85.   Have a spa day with a friend or my mom.

86.   Go to a state I have never been to.

87.   Spend the weekend in Chicago with Nick.

88.   Spend a weekend in Milwaukee with Nick.

89.   Go on a cruise.

90.   Get my first pedicure.

91.   Buy a king sized bed.

92.   Buy a new computer.

93.   Subscribe to Runner’s World magazine.

94.   Get gel inserts for my flats.

95.   Buy a German textbook

96.   Finish watching Dexter.

97.   Finish watching Breaking Bad.

98.   Watch 10 classic movies.

99.   See a ballet performance.

100. See an opera performance.

101. Go to Country Fest again.

Have a good weekend, ya'll!

NSV - Happy Halloween!

Yesterday, I made the decision to start scheduling out every minute of my life.  I think having a rigid structure will help me with my self-discipline, and help me get back into the healthy lifestyle groove.  Hopefully, this will get me out of being a couch potato, procrastinator, and time waster. 

Therefore, my NSV this week is making a plan, and putting it into action!  

Below, you will see my schedule for the day.  I made it out last night, and plan to make the following days schedule each night before I go to bed.  Today's schedule sucks a bit because I'm stuck at work from 7:20am-6:00pm....booooo!  This means I am unfortunately going to miss the majority of the trick-or-treaters that come to our house...sad face. 

5:30 Wake Up

5:45 Out of bed and into shower

6:00-6:10 Breakfast

6:10-6:30 Get ready

6:35 Leave for work

7:00-7:20 Shuttle Ride

7:20-7:40 Get drawer ready

7:40-8:00 Blog

8:00-9:00 Textbook adoptions

9:00-10:00 Request NBC & MBS returns

10:00-11:00 NACS returns

11:00-11:30 Textbook adoptions

11:30-12:30 Lunch

12:30-2:00 Book counts/start pulling to keep

2:00-3:30 Sort textbook room

3:30-4:00 Coffee break & blog reading

4:00-4:30 Adoptions

4:30-5:30 Follett return

5:30-6:00 Close store/end of month

6:00-6:20 Shuttle ride

6:20-6:45 Drive home

6:45-8:00 Dinner/hand out candy to trick-or-treaters/watch tv

8:00-9:00 Spanish homework

9:00-9:30 Wii Just Dance

9:30-10:00 Read

10:00 Bed

I realize some of the things on my list may not take up the full allotted time.  To ensure I don't waste time, I already have two other projects lined up at work to work on if I finish something early: entering daily logs, and if I finish those, writing a Spanish paper.

Happy Halloween!!!!!  

Weigh-In & Scheduling

After having fairly good weigh-ins for the past few weeks, I'm back at having a bad one.  I weighed in this morning at 171.2.  There is now no way in heck that I can win my Diet Bet.

I have been stuck in a funk for the past few months, and I really thought signing up for a Diet Bet would help me get back on track.  Now that we are not having or going to cookouts every weekend, or going out to the lake to cruise, swim, and drink, I can say my eating habits are back on track.

As for exercise though, I still am in a rut.  I know what I need to do, and how to do it, but I just cannot make myself.  I have a gym membership that I never use.  I have to two strong, sturdy legs, and a whole slew of running clothes to I do not put to use.  I have tons of at-home workouts pinned on Pinterest that I have never attempted.

I think it is time to sit down, and make a plan.

Lately, I have realized that if I do not have a schedule, I can't get myself into a routine.  For instance, at work, if I do not say to myself, "I am going to work on returns this morning from 9-11, order desk copies from 11-12, class from 12-1, lunch 1-:30, etc..," I basically waste the day way.  I work on this for a minute, do that for a second, but I am all over the place.  Instead of finishing one project, I do a little bit on each, which makes it seem like that take much longer to do!

Same as at home.  If I plan to do laundry right away when I get home, then make dinner, then do homework, I do much better than if I do not have my evening scheduled out.  It appears that I desperately need some structure in my life.

As juvenile as it may be, I am going to start making myself daily schedules.  I am going to schedule every minute of my day in hopes that it will help get me back on track!

5 on Friday

{ONE} Nick and I have a rather large master bedroom, and I want to rearrange our furniture to make a space for a reading nook for myself.  I already have the setup planned in my head, now I just need to buy the furniture for my reading area.  Our bedroom is yellow and gray, and these are the items I NEED want.

{TWO}  There will be a total of 6 dogs at our house over the weekend.  Yes, six.  Four more than we already have ourselves.  A week ago, I told friends we would watch their two dogs because they are going out of town, forgetting I had already told my mom at the beginning of the month that we would watch her dogs this weekend...  Good thing Nick and I are dog lovers, and none of the dogs are over 25 pounds!

Sarah & Nathan's dogs: a pug mix and a bug (boston terrier/pug mix)

Chloe

Dozer

My mom's dogs: shih tzus.  One is 14(!), the other is 4.  They are both spoiled rotten, in case you couldn't glean that from the picture, but oh-so sweet!

Zolo & Toby

{THREE}  Epic's construction appreciation event.  Nick is an engineer for a company that builds Epic, the nation's largest medical software developer, in Verona.  Nick is extremely proud of JPC and the work they do for Epic, so I am excited for him that he gets to show it off to his family.  His parents, his brothers, and his SILs, are coming to our house for a cookout, then we're heading to Epic for the event and tours of all the crazy awesome buildings. 

No, no that is not Hogwarts.  It's Epic.

{FOUR}  This sweater.  I MUST have it!  It looks like Skittles!!!

{FIVE}  Stocking up the freezer!  Now that the cold weather is officially here in Wisconsin, Nick and I will be loading up the freezer with delicious cold weather meals.  Nick is making his phenomenal chili, and I will be making a few different soups such as sweet potato carrot,  hot and sour soup, and Thai Coconut Curry...just to name a few.  It's nice to have these soups and chili on hand for quick lunches, or dinner when we're feeling to lazy to cook.  

Happy weekend!