Close Your Legs Woman!

My favorite part of the weekend is sleeping in and having time to enjoy my breakfast in the morning.

Apple Cinnamon Chobani Overnight Oats and Half Caf Coffee

After breakfast, I went up to Wilmington with the MOH to get her and my sister's bridesmaid dresses  (I haven't tried my sister's on yet, but it will happen).  Then Matt and I took Champ to White Clay for a hike since it's 60 degrees out...global warming like wooo.

Along the trail they had fitness stations that Matt and I stopped at to give a go.  Matt took some pictures of me attempting to to a pull up at two stations....there's a similarity between the two pictures.  See if you can pick it out.

One

Two

OMG CLOSE YOUR LEGS hahah.  I'm glad I never attempt these at the gym.  I think I need to work on my form ie keep my legs closed.

Matt schooled me...legs crossed and everything.

Another thing we discovered, Champ loves sticking his head out the window.

When I got home I did this workout from GOtheXtraMile.  I went through the circuit twice and finished up with some ab work for a 30 minute workout.

dead sexy

New Years "Resolutions"

I guess I'm a little late on this one but I've been thinking a lot about my new years resolutions.  They aren't really resolutions to me, more like goals. 

1. Run a half marathon: Right now I have my eye on the September 16th Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Philadelphia.  I think this will give me enough time to train after the wedding to be ready for the race!
2. Stress Less: I think this is one of my resolutions each year, but somehow I always fail haha.  I'm just one big stress ball most of the time.  I should definitely practice yoga more often.
3. Start classes towards getting my graduate certificate in biotechnology:  I still have to finish my application, and still have to get my company's official policy for reimbursement.  There is no way I can afford $1400 per credit...rediculous!
4. Come up with some of my own recipes: I usually go online and find recipes that appeal to me and then alter them slightly or make them exactly as they are.  I really want to get in to being a little more adventerous and making some of my own recipes besides grilled cheese lol.
5. Blog!: I really like blogging so far, but I wish I could figure out how to get more followers! Any advice from fellow bloggers??  At least I know my family and friends look at it pretty often and have tried some of my recipes and workouts that I've posted!

I think 5 is enough! Friday is my rest day so I'm taking it easy tonight watching a movie and drinking some wine.  Tomorrow I'm going with my maid of honor to pick up her bridesmaid dress and my sister's bridesmaid dress. I told Matt that I really want to try on my sister's dress when I get it tomorrow just to see how it looks. Is that weird?? haha

Time to go snuggle with little man:

Heat Wave!

It got up in the 40's today in Delaware.  A real heat wave compared to the rest of the week.  I decided to take advantage and head out for a run around the neighborhood.

I look kind of miserable here but I swear I wasn't. I think I was just concentrating on taking a really bad picture with my camera phone.

Check out my sweeet fanny pack!

Once I actually got outside and stopped taking pictures of myself I ran 3.72 miles in 33.35 (9.02 pace).  I had my ipod on and would pick up my pace every time the chorus of a song would play.  Let me tell you...pumped up kicks plays the chorus 3 straight times at the end of the song. Phew! I got back to the house and warmed up dinner that I had made yesterday.

Spinach Lasagna Rolls.  All I did was take 4  whole wheat lasagna noodles and cooked them according to the box instructions.  I mixed together some fat free ricotta cheese, spinach, garlic salt and parmesean cheese and spread it out on each noodle.  Then I rolled them up and topped them with sauce and mozzarella cheese.  I cooked them in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  I originally got the idea from this recipe.

So we are currently counting down less than five months until the wedding! Yikes! Until now I have been a lazy bride. Oops.  I was not born a planner.  Good thing I have friends, family and a fiance that remind me that this thing is creeping up on us fast so I should get my butt in gear.  I made a list yesterday of all the things I want to accomplish in the next 2 months.  I checked off three things today!

My to do list.  Today I ordered mason jars and ordered floating white tea candles for this:

Think they would be perfect for down the aisle in here:

(outside of our venue)

Firm and Burn

Matt had jury duty today so I went home right after work and took care of the puppers.  I managed to get in an at home workout from fitness magazine.

I actually did this workout over Christmas when my gym was closed and my hips, quads, shoulders and obliques were feeling it the next day.  I decided to give it another go today even though I'm a little sore from my run yesterday!

My Favorite Move:

This spider crawl was awesome. I could really feel it in my obliques and shoulders.

My meals were pretty simple today.  I had Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats for breakfast and peanut butter and apple butter sandwich with an apple for lunch. I also had a few snacks throughout the day including a banana, kashi granolla bar and some dark chocolate.  For dinner I tried a new recipe from www.skinnytaste.com. I love this blog. She has so many good recipe ideas and they are all really easy to make. I made her recipe for Turkey Stuffed Peppers:

Recipe:

1 lb lean chopped turkey meat

1 garlic, minced

1/4 onion, minced

1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp cumin powder

salt to taste

3 large sweet red bell peppers, washed

1 cup fat free chicken broth

1/4 cup tomato sauce

1 1/2 cups cooked rice

Olive oil spray

1/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheese

Heat oven to 400°. Spray a little olive oil spray in a medium size saute pan and heat on a medium flame. Add onion, garlic and cilantro to the pan. Saute about 2 minutes and add ground turkey. Season with salt and garlic powder, and cumin and brown meat for several minutes until meat is completely cooked through. Add 1/4 cup of tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of chicken broth, mix well and simmer on low for about 5 minutes. Combine cooked rice and meat together

Cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise, and remove all seeds. Place in a baking dish. Spoon the meat mixture into each pepper half and fill it with as much as you can. Place all stuffed pepper halves on the baking dish and pour the remainder of the chicken broth on the bottom of the pan. Cover tight with aluminum foil and bake for about 35 minutes. Top with shredded cheddar cheese and enjoy.

Matt has another day of jury duty tomorrow so I'll try to get in a workout after dinner.  It's soooo hard to have motivation that late at night.  Fingers crossed!!

5:45am Wake Up Call!

Today was a slap in the face.  After several days off and getting 9+ hours of sleep every night, it was hard getting out of bed at 5:45 this morning.  By about 8am I was feeling more awake and ready to work.  After work I went to the gym since it was FREEZING out today.  I did 20 minutes of weights and then I did a 35 minute treadmill interval workout that I got from Carrots 'N' Cake.

Time:  Speed

0-0.30:  5.0

0.30-1.00:  5.3

1.00-1.30:  5.5

1.30-2.00: 5.8

2.00-6.00:  6.0

6.00-8.00:  6.2

8.00-10.00:  6.4

10.00-12.00:  6.5

12.00-14.00:  6.6

14.00-16.00:  6.7

16.00-18.00:  6.8

18.00-20.00:  6.9

20.00-22.00:  7.0

22.00-24.00:  6.9

24.00-26.00:  6.8

26.00-28.00:  6.7

28.00-30.00:  6.6

30 min until 4 miles:  6.5

I got home and I was starving.  Good thing I had already made dinner for tonight last night.  All I had to do was pop it in the microwave and eat.

I made Crispy Almond Crusted Chicken Fingers and popped a sweet potato in the microwave for 8 minutes (4 minutes per side) and added some veggies on the side. 

Other accomplishments today: I finally figured out how to add the daily mile widget to my blog so I'll get ot see how many miles I run this year!! I also contanacted an officiant for our wedding and we are meeting with him next Monday night to go over some details for our ceremony.  Matt and I are still out on the write our own vows or do traditional vows question.  I think I might actually have a nervous breakdown if I have to read my own vows because I hate public speaking, but I do like the idea of writing something original that comes from the heart...we'll see.



Happy New Year: Back To My Routine!

The past 4 days have been so much fun and so busy.   We've been through Christmas #3 and #4 with my sister's family and New Years Eve with some of our best friends.

Giona fits in the gift bag! lol

My New Year's Eve cooking went pretty well. I kept it simple this year and just made one sweet dish and one savory dish.  I really liked them and would definitely make both again.

Blue Cheese Ball Recipe



Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars

And some pictures from New Years Eve:

This morning I woke up with lots of motivation to have an active day. After two weeks of family get togethers, my gym being closed and a handful of at home attempts at working out I was ready to run.

I wore some of my new gear that I got with my New Balance gift card!!  I ran 3.38 miles in 29.43 an 8.47 pace. I must have been in need for a run because I usually do not run that fast lol.  Tomorrow is back to work :(  I don't want to!!