Yoga Thursday

The past couple of weeks I've been trying to do either yoga or pilates to mix up my workout routines.  I tend to get bored really easily when working out.  I'm always trying to figure out different things to do with my weights workouts and with running when it comes to treadmill workouts.  By Thursday night I've noticed that my body is just tired.  It's worn out from a week of workouts and week of working (whether it be a super busy week when I'm on my feet a lot like this week, or a slow week when I'm stuck in my chair at my desk).  Yoga/Pilates really helps my body unwind and helps my mind relax. 

Tonight I did an hour of yoga!

My other favorite part about these Thursdays?? I can do the workouts in the comfort of my own home.  This is especially appealing when its 40 degrees out and raining like today.

(Champ's favorite monkey toy making a cameo)

I started out with a 20 minute yoga for runners workout I found on Comcast On Demand.  It was ok, mostly stretching. Then I moved on to a 40 minute Shiva Rea Surf Yoga.  This was INTENSE!!! It started out a little slow but this lady is hard core!

I knew I was in for it when she pulled this one out! I tried really hard and got up for about 3 seconds haha.  Maybe one day I'll be able to hold it for longer.

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When she did this one I had to just sit there and laugh.  How is that even possible??

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After my hour was up I felt really relaxed and stretched out.  Now I'm ready to push through one more day of work until my 3 day weekend!

Weekend Plans:

Date night tomorrow with Matt. We are going to one of our favorite Italian places for dinner.  Saturday I am hoping to get to the gym early and then run some errands after lunch.  Saturday night my parents are hosting a "wine tasting" at their house for our wedding.  My dad went and got some advice about what wines to serve at the wedding and we are going to try a bunch of them out and pick a red and white for dinner.  Sunday Matt and I might go rock climbing in the morning, then I have some wedding stuff I need to work on (picking invitations/figuring out how many invitations we need) and of course my Sunday cooking for the week!



Sick Run and BBQ

I'm feeling a little better today than I did yesterday.  When I saw the weather report for the day I knew I couldn't waste it sitting inside and being sick.  It got into the 50s today which meant I really wanted to run outside! Before my run I fueled up with a good lunch thanks to my sister. She took me to the coop before I left Pittsburgh to get me some snacks for the car and I just finished them today. Delish!

Wheatberry salad on the side

From inside my building I could see the sun shining, but what I didn't expect was the wind when I actually stepped outside. Whooo baby.  I had one of those runs when no matter which way I turned I was always going against the wind. I finished 3.45 miles in about 31 minutes. 

Windblown with a nice vein popping out of my head.  Every time I run the vein come out!!

After my run I drove over to Matt and my favorite bbq shack to pick up dinner.  This place is such a dive, but they smoke all their own meat and it tastes amazing. 

Smoked ham with mac and cheese and veggies. 

Off to watch some ENews....don't judge I can't help it.  I'm a sucker for all trashy tv.

Sick Valentine's Day

I am officially sick.  I woke up last night around 2am and couldn't fall asleep for over an hour because I couldn't breathe out of my nose.  I'm one of those people that require only two things to sleep: Be able to breathe out of both nostrils and be cold so I can curl up in my blanket.  Along with the stuffed nose came hot/cold flashes.  I still got my butt up at 5:45 and headed to work.  Not the best day but I made it through.

When I walked in the door I was pleasantly surpised by 2 things:

I had a box of organic produce delivered to my house today with a LivingSocial coupon I got a few weeks back.  In the box we got some fuji apples, bananas, carrots, potatoes, pears, kiwis, purple lettuce and rainbow chard.  Normally the box would have cost $25 but I got it for $12.

Only one question....what should I make with this???

Anyone know what to do with rainbow chard?? Thinking about adding it to a soup.

My second surprise when I got home:

He knows me well: roses, chocolates, chocolate covered strawberries, runners world and a card.

These are obviously almost finished.

After oogling all my goodies I headed out for a short run to try to rid myself of this cold. I only ran 2 miles because I was not feeling so hot.  But I'm glad I tried.  Then it was time to start dinner. I wanted to make something I know Matt would like.  He loves comfort food so I searched pinterest and found the perfect recipe.  Healthy Chicken and Cornbread Casserole

I pretty much followed the recipe except I used olive oil instead of butter and I used whole wheat pastry flour for the cornbread to add some more whole grain.

We will have lots of leftovers!

Any tips for the rainbow chard??

How was your vday?

Weekend Happenings

This past weekend me and my dad made our way up to Pittsburgh to help my sister and brother-in-law out with the kids for the weekend. My sister is due with her third in March so she could pop any day! We stopped on Friday night in Somerset, Pa about an hour outside of Pittsburgh so my dad could go to a business meeting the next day.  The ride out was pretty uneventful, but then we had to figure out how to get my parent's dog into a hotel that doesn't allow dogs.  Solution?? an empty backpack:

Poor Bo, but hey it worked.

The next morning my dad and Bo headed out to his meeting while I took advantage of the fitness room.

I did a three minute walking warm up and then finished 3.5 miles before I hit up the continental breakfast.  I had a bunch of cut up fruit with oatmeal on top and then some eggs and a peice of toast with peanut butter.

And then I took a look outside.

Not what I had planned for. It snowed the entire day Saturday and the high was in the 20s. Brrrr. We are not in Delaware anymore.  When my dad got back from his meeting we made our way to my sister's house.  Mia and Giona were there to greet us

I offered to cook dinner that night so I decided to make whole wheat sweet potato pizza.  I made one for the kids and one for the adults and they turned out wayyyy bigger than I had expected. Giona helped me with the toppings.

Sauce and cheese for the kids. Pesto, cheese, zucchini and broccoli for the adults. My brother-in-law had to work at the hospital from 7pm-7am which gave Melissa and I the perfect chance to watch Breaking Dawn Part 1!!!!  Love it.

Sunday was a blur.  We just hung around the house and played with the kids. My dad and I started our trip back to Delaware around 4:30 and got home a little after 9.  Needless to say I was a little tired at work today.  Good thing it was a slow day where I could zone out a lot.  I headed to the gym after work and got a good weights workout in and then did ten minutes each on the bike, eliptical and treadmill.  I have a feeling I'm going to pass out early tonight. I might be using a little wine to make sure I do...unfortunately the kids were sick which means Aunt Meggie is getting sick too.  The perils of being an aunt lol.

Breakfast For Dinner!!

Today was a busy day at work.  By the time I got home I had a huge knot in my back that I begged Matt to attempt to get out for me (he gladly said yes!).  He asked me if I wanted to go for a run, but I just wasn't feeling it today. I just needed to stretch out and relax.  I decided to do a 30 minute pilates dvd followed by 15 minutes of leg strength work.  If I'm ever in a time crunch at the gym I usually skip over ab work.  I would rather get in my arms, legs and cardio.  So I'm glad I have my pilates dvd so that I can concentrate more on my core. 

After my short workout it was time for dinner.  I had no plans for dinner and couldn't decide what to make when I came up with this grand idea....breakfast for dinner.  I've lived with Matt for almost a year and we have never done breakfast for dinner.  When I was a kid we would do it all the time, but unfortunately Matt isn't a big breakfast/bruch person (I'm going to have to work on that).  To my surprise Matt agreed (most likely so I would stop begging him). 

look at that flip

Has anyone else ever noticed that the men in the family always cook the pancakes?? My dad can not cook to save his life but he always cooked the pancakes and he was the master grillman.  It's the same in Matt's family. His mom does all the cooking, but when it comes to pancakes his dad does them every time.  Well our litte family is no different. I do all of the main cooking in the house, not because Matt can't, but because I'm a control freak when it comes to cooking so I would rather do it myself lol.  But when I attempted to cook pancakes it was not so hot.  Pancake batter everywhere and I burnt them...oops. Since then it has always been Matt's job.

I had two pancakes and topped them with all of my favorite things.

banana

apple butter

plain nonfat greek yogurt

peanut butter

OMG amazing.  Matt took one look at it and said "eww what is that?" haha. He obviously doesn't understand my obsession with these flavor combinations. 

I'm heading up to my sister's house in Pittsburgh this weekend with my dad to help her with the kids.  She is 8 months prego and her husband will be working all weekend (they are both doctors...pretty crazy I know).  I volunteered to make dinner on Saturday night too and I think I'm going to attempt to make whole wheat sweet potato crust pizza.  Though the neice and nephew would like it.  We will also be watching Breaking Dawn Part 1 which comes out tomorrow on DVD!! Can't wait!

Falling In To Place

This week has been a rarity in my life...everything has been falling in to place in my life! Usally I'm a walking hot mess but this week things are just going RIGHT.  I submitted my application to UD fot the graudate certificate in biotechnology program and the next day I found this letter in my inbox:

I am pleased to inform you that our admissions committee has voted to admit you into the Graduate Certificate in Biotechnology at the University of Delaware for fall 2012. This innovative 15 credit graduate certificate combines a solid basis of biology coursework with advanced breadth instruction in biotechnology disciplines.  See http://www.udel.edu/professional/biotech/certificate/index.html for a full description of the program.  You will receive an official offer of admission from the UD Graduate School in the near future.

YAY!!!  I had no idea that I would know so fast.  I am very excited now, but I'm sure once I actually start taking classes and working full time I will be thinking "am I crazy?" 

I also had my first wedding dress fitting last night.  It was so great seeing the dress in my size and not 5 sizes too big.  It fit like a glove...literally. The dress was made specifically to my measurments so it was pretty form fitting.  It took two people to get the thing zipped up!  It's a little tight in my rib cage right now so I'm going to try to go a little lighter on my back workouts. No more pull ups for me. 

I'm also loving these new insoles.  The pain in my foot is almost completely gone. I ran 4 miles at the gym today and felt great. I've still been keeping my pace slower than usual just in case.  Even though it was a great run, I'm so sick of running on a treadmill. I miss the warm weather.

Look at that awesome weather. Some rain here, some snow there. YUCK

Me pissed because people don't know how to drive in the rain.

It was taco night in our house aka I couldn't thing of anything interesting to make.

turkey tacos with cheese, spinach and broccoli slaw on a whole wheat tortilla. brussel sprouts on the side. 

Well I'm off to watch the voice. Does anyone else out there watch it?? I like it a lot more than Idol. I love waiting to see if Carson Daily's face will ever show emotion and when one of XTina's boobs will fall out of the high shelf she pooshes them into (barf).

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too much botox...cannot move forehead

Push the button.....Push the button!!!

Today I did a very scary thing.  I submitted my application to the University of Delaware to get my Graduate Certificate in Biotechnology! Ahhhh!!! I'm honostly so glad I'm done with the application process, but now I will be waiting impatiently until I hear a yes or a no. 

In other news, I have run small distances the past 2 days with my new insoles and have been completely pain free :).  I've been iceing my foot every night and applying the anti-inflammatory cream and I am happy to report that I am getting relief finally. I did pretty similar workouts the past two days that consisted of this:

I can tell my butt is going to be hurting tomorrow!

I finished off my workout with a 20 minute run yesterday and a 30 minute run today.  

Updates From The Weekend:

 The lace lanterns were a success! Thank you pinterest!  I'm going to trim around the edges and then hang them with clear sting outside our venue.  Now I just have to make a lot more haha.

Dinner tonight was easy. I made my whole wheat pizza crust up and topped it with turkey sausage, peppers and cheese. YUM

Recipe

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

pinch of salt

3/4 cup warm water

1 tsp dry active yeast

Mix water and yeast together until yeast dissolves.  Let it sit until a froth forms at the top.  In another bowl mix together flours.  Make a well in the middle and add water and yeast misture.  Mix well with your hands and knead until dough is smooth.  Wrap in a greased sheet of saran wrap and put in a warm place for a few hours while it rises.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Roll out dough and place ona greased baking sheet.  Bake 5 minutes, add toppings and bake 5 more minutes. Enjoy!

Tomorrow is my first wedding dress fitting!! I'm soo excited to see the dress that's been stuck in my head for the past 7 months!