Foodie Pen Pal Goodies

After taking a few months off, I joined the Foodie Pen Pal exchange again in July.  This exchange is hosted by Lindsay over at the The Lean Green Bean.  It is awesome to be part of, and makes it seem like Christmas is every month!  For those of you that have not heard of Food Pen Pal, here are details straight from Lindsay’s blog:

-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
- Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!

***If you’re in the UK, please contact Carol Anne from This Is Rock Salt at rocksalt@thisisrocksalt.com to get involved!

If you would like further info, check out Lindsay’s blog here.

On to the fun stuff:  what I received from my pen pal, Sydney.  Sydney is the writer at Syd theWyd, but she has not posted since February.  Hopefully she starts posting again because her blog is quite interesting!

 I was on vacation over the week that the Foodie packages were sent out, so I had Sydney send mine to work so it did not sit out on our front step the entire week.  This was great because I had actually forgotten about it while on vacation so I had a nice little gift waiting for me when I got back to the office on Monday.  

The first picture is of homemade S'more bars Syd made for me.  I was thankful I received the goodie package at work because these babies were so delicious that I would have eaten them ALL by myself.  Since I was at work, I shared with my co-workers so I would not be tempted to eat every single piece.

Besides the bars, I got black lava sea salt, black cherry balsamic vinegar, Kokomo Verjus wine, Gatorade energy chews, and a lovely hand written note explaining each item.  The sea salt is good to use as a rub on meats, or to add a little salty crunch to bland foods.  I need to strain the cherry out of the vinegar today, and then the vinegar can be used in as a dressing, or reduced and eaten over ice cream.  Kokomo Verjus is a wine that is more often used in cooking or salad dressings, but it can be drunk chilled.  Syd says it is also delightful if mixed with something carbonated to give it some bubbles.  She added the Gatorade chews because I told her I am training for a marathon.

Other than devouring the S'more bars, I actually have not opened any of my other items yet.  I am saving the wine to have with my bestie who will be visiting this weekend so I will have to report next week how it is.  I think I am most excited to try the vinegar so I am very happy that it is finally the 31st and I can now strain it and use it.  I love cherries and I love balsamic vinegar so this sounds like a match made in heaven!!!

Overall, I am super impressed with Syd's goodie selection.  She chose really unique items, and she put a lot of time and care into hand writing the adorable labels, and my card.  It was also very thoughtful of her to remember my marathon training and add the energy chews.  I am going to be jealous of the person that gets matched up with her next month!

I sent goodies over to Dawn at Spatulas On Parade.  Make sure to check out her fabulous cooking blog for some recipe ideas!  Dawn loves chocolate and lemon, so I themed her items around those two flavors.  You can check out what I sent her by reading her post here. 

If you love food, and receiving packages, I definitely recommend joining Foodie Pen Pal!!  

Wednesday Weigh-In

It’s Wednesday Weigh-In time with Heather, Ash, and Bailey! 

I was 168.5 last week, and my goal for the past week was to lose 1.7 lbs.  I unfortunately did not quite make that goal, but I did still lose 1 lb, putting me at 167.5.  Aunt Flow is visiting this week so I blame her for the smaller than wanted loss.  Hopefully I will lose some bloat weight over the next week, and weigh in next Wednesday around 165.

I will have another post a little later today to share the goodies I received by participating in the Foodie Pen Pal exchange.  It’s an awesome exchange to be part of, but you will have to wait for my next post to get all the deets.   

Ice Age Trail & Goals

Hello, my friends!  

This post was meant for yesterday, but I was so busy at work I didn't have time to get it up.

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.  I sure did!  After being ungodly hot and humid in Wisconsin, this past weekend was surprisingly chill.  It was only in the 60's for the majority of the weekend, and overcast, but it was ok because it made perfect hiking weather!

The Ice Age Trail which, "is a thousand-mile-long hiking trail located entirely within Wisconsin.  It is one of only eleven National Scenic Trails in the country" has a trail near our house so Nick, the dogs, and I checked it out this weekend.  Our first hiking attempt was on Saturday, we even packed a picnic lunch, but I was a dummy and wore shorts.  After about a mile, we ended up turning around because there were too many thorn bushes and nettles to push through with my bare legs. 

Sunday, I was smarter, and put on jeans, and we hit the trail again.  We hiked roughly 7 miles in about an hour and a half.  Half way through, we took a pit stop to have a snack and drink some wine…I mean, who doesn’t take wine with them when they go for a hike?  It was a lot of fun, and hopefully we use the trail a few more times before it snows.  Here are a few pictures from our more successful hike.

Besides hiking, I got all OCD on the house this weekend.  Well, our bedroom and bathroom at least.  In the bathroom, I took everything out of the cupboards, closets, and draws so I could clean and reorganize.  I did the same thing with our clothing closet.  I like to have my clothes color coded so I color coded Nick’s side too, and I also reorganized mine into cold weather/warm weather racks.  It looks so much better now, and it’s easier to find specific items.    

Now, it's goal time.

The only goal I had last week was to lose 1.7lbs.  I will not know if I achieved this goal until tomorrow when I weigh in.  I am little nervous for tomorrow's weigh-in.  I have been doing a great job of eating well and getting exercise in, but it is my week for Aunt Flow to visit, and she always tips the scale for me when she's here... I guess we will find out tomorrow if she ruins this weigh in for me.   

My goal this week is to track every single morsel that I ingest.  I used to be a rockstar at tracking my calories with MyFitnessPal, but lately, I straight up suck at it.  I do well and track everything up until lunch time, and then I just kind of stop.  That leaves the rest of my day unfinished, and I never really know how much I am consuming and how much I am burning from exercise.

Have a healthy week, and good luck with YOUR goals! 

Weigh-In Wednesday

Tuesday Workout:

4.12 mile run – 41:43

30 minute walk with dogs

Hey, hey, hey!  Today is my lovely mommacita’s 50th birthday!!  I am obviously biased, but she is the best mom in the world, and I wouldn’t trade her for anything!  Happy Birthday, mom!!

Now, down to the nitty gritty.  It’s Weigh-In Wednesday linkup time! 

I know I just shared my weight yesterday, when I talked about the weight loss challenge Nick and I are doing, but it just doesn't feel right to not weigh in on Wednesday.  Plus, Nick and I talked about it, and decided we would rather weigh in on Wednesdays over Sundays.  We also are both already down because we flushed out some vacation water weight over the past few days.  So today officially begins day 1 of our weight loss challenge and I weighed in at 168.5.  Nick came in at 241.5.  

To stay on track with our 10% loss goal, I need to be down to at least 166.8 next week, and Nick needs to be at 239.

I tried out my new Garmin Forerunner for the first time during my run last night.  The Forerunner is so awesome, but the run was not.  My legs felt AWFUL last night.  They felt so tired and weak.  I eked out just over 4 miles before I called it quits.  I had planned on running 7 so it was an overall disappointing first run with the GF.  

Today is a new day though so I’ll knock out 7 miles tonight!  

Goals

Oops, I’m a day late posting my goals.  

This week, I am only going to focus on a single goal.  I usually set 3 goals and end up not completing all of them.  This leads me to feeling disheartened, or sometimes like a failure.  I have decided to dial it back for a change, and just focus on one thing this week.

My goal this week is to lose 1% of my weight.  This is only 1.7lbs.  After vacation, I am unfortunately back up to 169.4…wah wah wah… I of course had good intentions going into vacation of eating well and getting in a lot of exercise, but alas, it didn’t quite go as planned. 

Nick is also feeling the effects of the sedentary lifestyle we lived the past week as he had to loosen his belt two notches…lol not good. 

Since we both have some weight to lose, we have actually entered into a little competition with each other.  While I did not join Jess’ fit camp, Nick and I are going to follow the goal model of losing 10% of our weight in 10 weeks.  For me, that is about 17lbs, and for Nick about 25lbs. 

To help motivate each other, we have set rewards.  For each 3lbs that I lose, Nick is going to get me a little something that cost $20 or less.  I have already decided what I want for my first two rewards, so I can’t wait to see the scale drop!  I have a great Cooking Light cookbook, that I LOVE, but I am ready to try some new recipes so these are what I want for my first two rewards:

Without going into too much detail, Nick will receive a little extra-special something in the bedroom each time he loses 5lbs.

To ensure we are not taking advantage of the rewards, we have decided that you can only get a reward of each loss increment once.  So if I lose 3lbs, and receive my rewards, I cannot gain those same 3lbs back and re-lose them for another reward.  Basically, over the next 10 weeks, I can only earn between 5-6 presents, and Nick can earn 5 special acts.  Unless we totally blow the 10% goals out of the water and get increments past 18lbs and 25lbs.

At the end of the 10 weeks, we will have a special reward.  If only one of us reaches our goals, the loser has to take the winner out to dinner.  If we both reach our goal, we’ll take a mini weekend vacation.  If we both fail, which we will NOT, I guess we should both reevaluate our health goals…

Have a healthy week, my lovelies! 

Back to Reality

Hello, my friends!  I have finally returned from my Northwoods vacation.  I thought that I may have a chance to post a picture or two to my blog while I was gone, but there was barely any phone reception where we were staying, so it did not happen.   It was tough getting out of bed to go to work this morning.  It was hard not being able to sleep in, and I knew there was going to be a shit ton of shit to deal with at work.  It also didn’t help that I am going through withdrawal symptoms this morning after drinking for 7 days straight…oops…

Here is a little taste of what my week-long Northwoods vacation entailed. 

The lake at sunset.  I didn't even Photoshop this one. That little dot in the middle is my step-dad, cousin, and uncle out fishing in the boat.

  

Everyone relaxing after a delicious dinner of grilled kabobs and sweet corn made by Nick & I.

Mini-golfing with my nephew, Blake. I learned that mini-golf is NOT the best activity to do with a 7 year old with ADHD... It was still fun to spend the day with the B-Man though!

Super sketch looking, but AWESOME, brewery in Eagle River where Nick and I spent a few hours one afternoon.  They just opened in November 2012, and have a blueberry wheat beer that is heavenly and a chocolate porter that is to die for! 

A picture with my momma on our last night at the lake.

Pretty much the only picture Nick and I took together the entire trip...

The whole crew after our final dinner together Friday night.  The restaurant we went to has such an amazing fish fry, that we waited over 2 hours to get a table...2 HOURS!  It was worth the wait though!

Here is what awaited me when I got back to reality this morning...

I walked in to all of these packages awaiting me in my office.  I still have not gotten to open a single one, and I have already been at work for 3 hours...It probably doesn't help that I'm writing a blog post right now...

The hallway between our office and store looks like a mine shaft.  The ceiling titles are missing, as are the lights, so there are random bulbs hanging sporadically from the rafters.  It's super creepy, like out of a horror movie.  Apparently there is asbestos in the ceiling, but facilities doesn't feel it is necessary to section off the area... 

This is what it looks like in front of the store.  More naked light bulbs, no ceiling, and part of the adjacent wall missing...nbd...

On a sweeter note, these goons were also awaiting our return to reality.

As great as it is to take a vacation, it feels even better to get home to these knuckleheads! We missed our dogters so much!!

 Skittles is the master of awkward sleeping positions.

Vacation Time!

My favorite time of year is finally here! Family vacation to the Northwoods!  A week at the lake, sunbathing, drinking, reading, boating, relaxing, and enjoying my family.  It's almost like Christmas in July.

A picture from last year's vaca, and the only pic on my instagram account...

Since I won't have access to a computer over the next week, I will probably be MIA.  I might throw up a few pictures here and there though.

Something that I am excited to write about soon is that Nick's mom got me a Garmin Forerunner AND a heart rate monitor!  I can't wait to try them out and see how the benefit my training.

So, my dear readers, it is time for me to go.  Have a LOVELY week!!!

NSV

I have a fabulous Non-Scale Victory this week.  I bought a new swimsuit, and I actually like it!  Shopping for a swimsuit is always dreadful, and I put it off until the middle of summer.  Family vacation at the lake is next week though, and I cannot go another summer wearing my faded, saggy, ugly suit from 2 summers ago.

I feel go good in this suit, that I am baring my bod to the internet world!  Feast your eyes on my awful photography skills...

Love your bodies, ladies!  Good luck with your own daily victories!!

Bug-In-Ear Update

As I alluded to in my post last night, I had a bug fly into my ear.  No joking.  It flew straight into my ear.  As in, into my ear canal.  As in, into my head.  I had just gotten back from a good run…5.82 miles in 60:04, a little slower than I would have liked, but it felt great mentally and physically the entire time. Usually, when I get back from my runs, I take the dogs for a 10ish minute walk to cool down. 

We headed out, and did not even make it a block before a bug suddenly buzzes in my ear, and I realize with horror that it is inside of my ear!  I shake my head a few times trying to dislodge it, to no avail.  I freak out, and run back home, dragging the dogs behind me because they want their damn walk.  

I run inside the house in full fledged panic mode because I can feel it moving around, and it was the most bizarre, awful feeling ever, yelling to Nick for help.  He looks in my ear with a flash light, and can kind of see something, but it’s far in.  He tries to pull it out with a tweezers, but he can’t reach it.  By this time, it’s been in my ear for 10 minutes, and I’m sobbing because it hurts every time it moves.

I decide I need to go to the ER, but I recently switched insurance, and I have no idea what emergency room I need to go to.  Of course, I call my mom because that’s what I do in panic situations since mom makes everything better.  She tells me to calm down, and call the member service number on the back on my insurance card to find out where I need to go.

Since I’m such a hysterical wreak, lying on the floor crying, holding my ear, Nick calls for me.  Since it’s around 9:30pm, all of the GHC clinics are closed, and Urgent Care is no longer taking patients, so the helpline puts us through to a GHC nurse.  According to her, we are in luck because there are some home remedies we can try to get the bug out.  If they don’t work, then we can think about going to the ER, but first call her back if the bug doesn’t come out.  We are now 20 minutes into having a live bug in my ear, moving around the entire time.

Remedy #1:  If it’s a moth or moth type bug, or into a dark room and shine a light by my ear.  The light should draw the bug out.  Nick and I sit in the dark closet with a flashlight for 10 minutes.  Nothing emerges from my ear.

Trying to coax the little sucker out

Remedy #2:  Gently poor olive oil into ear canal, and lightly flush warm water into the ear with a turkey baster.  At this point, I’m lying on the bathroom floor while Nick essentially water boards me.  The bug ends up drowning, or suffocating, because it stops moving.  At this point, I’m much more calm because it’s not moving and causing me pain.  Nick and I are actually laughing quite a bit because it’s actually pretty funny, and here he is, pouring water into my ear with a turkey baster.'

Olive oil and water baste

After trying the olive oil/water flush for about 15 minutes, no bug has come out.  It’s no longer moving so I cannot feel it in there, so maybe it’s not in there?  It felt big though, and we saw nothing come out of my ear.

By now, the bug has been in my ear for almost an hour.  We call the nurse back for advice of what to do next.  The ER I would have had to go to was about 45 minutes from home, and it was already nearing 11pm.  The nurse said since the bug was not moving anymore, and was not causing me irritation, I could just go to sleep and make an appointment with my local clinic to get it removed.  If I was uncomfortable with that, I should head to the ER.

I decided I could deal with it for the rest of the night.  Not going to lie, I had some troubling falling asleep knowing there was a mother fucker dead bug inside of my head!!

I woke up this morning with an awful headache, and sore shoulders, neck, and ear.  My neck and shoulders hurt from clenching up every time the little bastard bug moved.  Luckily, I was able to get a 9am appointment at my local clinic to get it removed.  After having a night to sleep on it, all I could see in the situation this morning was humor, and a bit of disgust.  The nurse and I, and the doctor and I, joked and laughed about it a lot.  The doctor was able to just reach in with a tiny forecep to pull it out.  It took all of 30 seconds to get it out.  She showed it to me afterwards, and I wish I would have taken a picture. The bug resembled an earwig, but did not have pinchers.  Gross.

It was definitely gross, but I am glad it ended up being fairly easy to deal with.  It’s now almost 24 hours later, and my neck and shoulder and ear still hurt, but at least it’s over.

Hopefully, if any of you dear readers find yourselves with bugs in your ears, you will remember this post, and will take the necessary steps to get it out.  Actually, hopefully it never happens to anyone else ever!!

Are You Fucking Kidding me?

Remember how earlier today I said I was going to write two post, with a later one being about Weigh In?

Well, a few minutes ago a mother fucking moth flew into my ear. In. To. My. Ear.  I could feel it buzzing around and had Nick tried to get it out.  It didn't work.  It got painful so I freaked out, and we called the ER.  They gave us some home remedies to try. While it's no longer buzzing because I'm pretty sure it drowned in baby oil and hot water, it did not come out.  I am now waiting for the nurse at the ER to call back to tell me what I'm supposed to do next...

More on that crazy shit tomorrow...

Oh, Weigh In. 167.9.  Shitty.  Just like tonight.  At least my run went well.  More on that tomorrow too.

So. Much. Sweat.

Monday workout:

25 minute walk with dogs

30 minutes on stationary bike

Tuesday workout:

3.23 mile run – 33:44

Today will be a twofer day.  Two posts in one day!  One of my goals this week is to blog every day, and well, I didn't post anything yesterday.  There just were not enough hours in the day yesterday, so I didn't have the time to sit down and write anything.

Monday night, I finally went to the gym.  Nick and I walked the dogs before I went, and after that walk, I had a whole new appreciation for the gym.  It was so humid and sticky, and I was drenched in sweat, just from walking the dogs for 25 minutes!  Besides being ungodly hot, the mosquitoes and gnats were out in full force and made the walk a living hell!  It felt glorious to work out in the air conditioned gym.

That being said, I sweat more than I have ever sweated at the gym before during that workout.  When I do the stationary bike, I usually do intervals, but this time I did the fat burn program so I was at a constant resistance rather than getting breaks every couple minutes.  It was definitely a tougher workout, but it is what I’ll be doing from now on.  Even though I was sopping wet afterwards, I felt awesome!

Not the best pic, but do you see all that sweat on my shoulder!  That covered my entire body! In AC!

Tuesday morning, I actually got Nick up to run with me before work.  I usually run in the late afternoon/night, but I’m trying to switch over to the morning.  Once I get home from work, the last thing I want to do is go for a run.  That feeling has been 10 fold now that summer is in full swing and it is so hot outside.  This mentality has really affected my training because I have skipped so many runs by using the excuse that it is too hot.  I hope that by running in the morning, I will just beat the heat, and will have extra energy throughout the day.

I usually don’t like running with Nick because he drives me crazy when we run.  He likes to try to control the run by choosing the route and setting the pace, and it really bothers me at time.  Nick only runs because I ask him to.  He is not running to train for anything, but I am.  When he tries to control the run it frustrates me and I get extremely pissed off at him. 

So, why did I run with him?  I knew there was no way in hell I was going to get out of bed at 5 am if I did not have some support.  If Nick was not going to get up with me, I was just going to turn the alarm off and fall back asleep.  We discussed the control issue before hand, and he agreed to let me run the show.  I did let him control the pace this time because he is a bit faster than am.  I am trying to work on my pace so following his will only help me to run quicker.

    

Even though I have only done it once so far, I definitely prefer running before work rather than running after work.  I felt so much more energized at work yesterday, and it was not so unbearably hot!  I still got super sweaty, as the picture below shows, because it was already pretty humid at 5am, but it was much more bearable.  I wanted to run again this morning, but I forgot to reset my alarm for the early time.  I have to run 6 miles today, and 30 minutes is definitely not enough time to run that far.  

Thanks for taking the time to stop by, and keep your eye out for a Weigh-In Wednesday post later today!

Goals

I didn't want my post to be too long today, so I decided to write a separate one for my goals.

After the busyness, boozing, and fun of last week, it is not too difficult to admit that I did not do too well on the goals I set.

Have a green smoothie everyday.

I did awesome with this one.  The only day I did not have a green smoothie was Thursday, the 4th.  Nick and I had stayed over night at a friend's house, and I did not want to have to take all the ingredients with me. Then we ended up being in Milwaukee all day, and did not get home until after 9, so it just didn't happen.

Start and finish Week 1 of LiveFit.

Fail. I didn't even start.

Don't go too crazy with all the parties/outings.

I would not stay that I went too crazy, but there was a lot of drinking.  I mean, I had alcohol 6 our of the 7 days last week.  I did not get drunk all 6 of those days, but I did still consume some alcohol.  Not really a good thing, but I sure did have fun!

I've been doing well with my running though, and I am gaining back confidence in my ability.  I cannot believe the full marathon is only 3 months away!  Eek!

Anywho, goals for this week.

Blog everyday.

I have gotten into the habit of posting on Monday, then getting too caught up in the week, and not saying anything for the rest of the week.  Plus, next week, I will be on vacation, and I will not have a computer.  I have not tried blogging from my phone, but if it works, I might post a few pictures, otherwise, I'll be pretty silent next week. 

Go to the gym at least 4 times.

My gym membership is wasting away without me using it, and I hate the waste of money.  Now that it's nice and warm outside, it's difficult to get myself to workout inside.  If I do not use the membership though, it's a huge waste of money.  

Buy a new swimsuit.

I have not gotten a new swimsuit the last 2 years.  The ones I have are faded, and don't fit very well any more since I have lost some weight.  I have put off buying a new one long enough.  

Happy Monday everyone!  Good luck with your goals! 

The End of a Marvelous Week

Please excuse my absence, but last week was busy, busy, busy!  It was also awesome.  Here’s the breakdown of the past week.

Monday: It was my birthday so after work, Nick and I went out for sushi.  Then, we went to the Nitty Gritty so I could get my free birthday mug, and beer.

Tuesday:  A friend came over to our house for dinner and drinks to celebrate my birthday.

Wednesday:  Nick and I went spent the night at our friends’ new house.  They are first time homeowners, and I am super excited for them.  The house is adorable, and once they make it their own, it’s going to be even more perfect!  That night, we headed over to the local VFW to watch Rhythm and Booms, eat delicious grilled food, and of course, drink.

Thursday:  The friends, Sarah and Nathan, and Nick and I, headed to Milwaukee for a baby shower.  Our other friends live in Texas, but their family lives in Milwaukee.  They were in town all week, so their family decided to throw them a baby shower on the 4^th so everyone in the area could come.  Once again, there was grilled food, and of course, booze.

With the future momma & papa

Friday:  I had off of work, but Nick didn’t.  We met for lunch at least, and then I headed into Madison to get food for our cookout/my birthday party.  After work, a coworker was having birthday party/cookout of his own so we headed over there for a few hours.  Once again, alcohol was involved. 

Saturday:  Our cookout/my birthday party, which started at noon, and ended around 1am.  It was a perfect day for a cookout, a little toasty, but beautiful overall.  I had a great time, and if it wasn’t so expensive to host a party, I would host one every weekend!  We grilled brats and hotdogs, and a bunch of people brought dishes to pass.  We had a keg of Spotted Cow and jello shots.  We played bags, beer pong, and just sat around, enjoying the fantastic company.  It really was a perfect way to celebrate my birthday.

One of my friends is an awesome photographer, and he was nice enough to do a few shoots

My love and I :)

Sunday:  The craziness of the past week finally caught up with us.  Nick and I were basically useless yesterday.  We camped out in our bedroom, and barely moved.  We basically only left the bed to clean up, use the bathroom, and let the dogs out.  I have never been so lazy in my life.  It was marvelous though.  We dozed all day, watched tv, played with the dogs, and read.  The dogs were just as lazy too.  They only moved to get up to go potty.  Molly is pretty chill all the time, but Skittles is a puppy and loves to play with her toys.  Yesterday though, she had zero interest in toys.  All she wanted to do was snuggle and nap.

This was Skittles almost all Sunday long. She partied too hard!

It was such a marvelous week, and I am a bit sad now that it is over.  It was tough getting out of bed this morning for work since I have been off for the last four days.  I have a TON to do at work this week so it will fly by, and then I am actually off all of next week for family vacation.  My parents, my aunt & uncle, Nick & I, and some of my siblings and cousins, depending if they can get off of work, rent a cabin in the North Woods every July.  It's a week of pure bliss. Lots of reading, boating, fishing, relaxing, eating, drinking, dancing, and having a great time.  I can't wait!

It's My Birthday!

First things first: 

IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!!!  

I’m the big 2-6 this year, which I can’t believe.  I don’t feel that old, not that 26 is old.  Even though I am a homeowner, have a car payment, have a college degree, and my own health insurance and retirement savings, I still feel like a lost 18 year old at times.  It is hard to think that within the next couple years, Nick and I will probably be married and having babies.  That is still a little scary to think about at the moment, since I feel like it's difficult to take care of myself and 2 furbabies at times, but each day I do become more and more excited to be a wife and a mother.

Anywho….enough sappy goo about growing up.

Goal time, baby.

Have a green smoothie every day.

Some days, I get a little carb crazy and do not take in enough fruits and veggies.  Having a green smoothie each day will easily help me get in some EXTRA f&vs for the day.  This morning I had a mango banana green smoothie from a recipe I found on Katherine’s blog.  She’s a pretty cool chick, check her out!  I did add some greek yogurt for more protein.  I thought it was phenomenal, but if you prefer a sweeter taste, you should use sweetened almond milk, or add honey or dates.  

1 C unsweetened almond milk

2 Handfuls of spinach

1 banana

1 C frozen mango

1/4 C 2% plain greek yogurt 

Throw everything in a blender and blend it up. 

2.  Start Jamie Eason's LiveFit program, AGAIN, and actually finish out the week.  And then, finish out the entire 12 weeks!  As they say, third time is a charm!

3.  Don't go too crazy this week... This weekend, I have a friend's birthday party on Friday, and my own birthday party/cookout on Saturday.  Oh, and there is the 4th of July and a baby shower on Thursday.  And, I don't work Thursday OR Friday.  AND, Nick is taking me out for sushi tonight for my birthday, then we are going to the Nitty Gritty so I can get my free birthday mug and beer...  I need to work hard to not eat too much, nor drink too much.  It's going to be tough because it's going to be an AWESOMELY EPIC WEEK!!!!

Happy 4th of July week, my loveies!