How was your weekend?

Yesterday I went to spin class and foam rolled my IT band for a good 20 minutes. Hurt like a B but I felt like a big girl runner -- except for you know, the whole part about me not running in a month. I've been doing my stretches and going for my 4th Graston appt. today, so here's to hoping we're getting somewhere. Last week Dr cleared me to run 1 whole mile... this week I'm hoping for more, because really 1 mile is hardly even worth it.

I was also planning on trying out the pants yesterday, but this happened instead:


Okay, not quite. But we did have a tornado watch (and maybe a warning at some point?) and lots of rain, thunder, and lightning which I'm told are not the best running conditions. So I stayed inside right next to the windows where it was nice and safe.

Every Monday when I get to work I'm asked how my weekend was and half of the time I can't even remember what we did. But this week I remember.

We ate omelets.


Josh is the best omelet maker EVAR in case you didn't know. He makes really nomtastic omelets.


Then Josh's mom (my BFF Lynda) came over and brought us some belated Valentines presents (AKA candy!) Good thing I didn't try to do anything stupid like give up sugar.

don't mind my Saturday morning bed hair.


About a month ago we had cookies 'n creme ice cream and I said it was my favorite ice cream ever... my BFF remembered and got me these super yummy cookies 'n creme candies!!! What a great BFF! I tried to tell Josh they were horrible and so he probably shouldn't eat any of them but he didn't fall for it, so I guess I have to share:(

I had lunch with my Running Pack.
Before I was side-lined, Jenn and I made friends with a couple girls in our running group named Abbi and Jamie. Even though I've only been able to run with them once, they still include me in the "running pack." :) Abbi has struggled with IT band issues as well and is the one who recommended the pants to me! Unfortunately, her issues are coming back too and she has opted out of the marathon as well... so has Jamie. Jenn is the only one still standing training for the marathon right now! Go Jenn!

We discussed a new plan for our new goal marathon this fall... hopefully our slower rate of increasing our mileage will help us to not to get injured/stay injury free (assuming I ever get over my injury!)

(I forgot my camera... bad blogger! bad!) But I am proud of myself because I decided to be a big girl and tried lots of new foods at our lunch that were previously scary to me... asparagus, egg plant, and squash.
I'm proud to say that I cleaned my plate!

We saw a movie.


It was Josh's turn to pick and I must say he did a great job. I loved it! And I was so surprised by the ending. P.S. I have decided that Liam Neeson must be one of my fave actors cause I have now seen 2 of his movies and actually stayed awake/remember the plot/really liked them (the other being Taken.)

Lola got a sweater.
Every Sunday, Mama (that would be me) goes to the grocery. Usually it's a I-want-to-stab-my-eyes-out trip to Wally World and this weekend was no exception... but this week's excursion was also accompanied by a trip to my fave Tarjay (which makes everything better!) and Lola & Kosmo's fave, PetSmart. I had to go there because a couple weeks ago we got Lola a sock monkey similar to this one:
and her big brother's specialty is de-stuffing and de-squeakerizing stuffed toys. It was inevitable that he would get to it eventually even though we told him it was off-limits. He finally did. He punctured it right in the chest and ripped out its heart. Or squeaker, whatever. So I had to get her a new one because she loves it so much.... and a new sweater!

I've been wanting to get her a sweater for awhile now but her Papa always vetoes it. Which, I mean I do too considering they are 20 dollars and I don't even like to pay that much for my own sweaters. But... it was on sale for 5 dollars which is the same price as a Footlong, so I decided it was finally worth it.

I thought she looked adorable in it!! Even though she is almost too big for it!!! I got her a Small because the Medium looked huge. I thought for sure she could fit into it, but apparently I should have gone with the Medium... little piggy! She probably won't even be able to fit into it by the end of the week, you know how she grows...



Our little Loly Bear is 15 weeks old this week! She has pretty much mastered potty training (I think she only had 1 or 2 accidents all last week!!) and has been sleeping much better! She can also definitely jump onto the couch now. Such a big girl! Love love love her.


How was your weekend?

They found me. Crap.

Not good.

But oh so good.

Blog Award!

I've received my first blog award!! I feel so special! The wonderful Kelly over at Cup of Serenity has given me my first blog award! Go check out her blog!




- Thank the person who gave you the award!
- Share 7 things about yourself.
- Pass the award on to 10 other versatile bloggers.
-Let those other bloggers know you gave them the award.

1. I love rainy days and thunderstorms, especially if I can sleep during them :)
2. My FAVE drink ever is a non-fat white chocolate mocha (or frap) from Starbucks with whip.
3. I love penguins. Srsly.
4. I have an obsession with apples and bananas. I eat at least one of each every day.
5. Chick Fil A or Subway are my default fast food places if I can't decide where else to go.
6. I always fall into the trap of trashy reality TV (The Bachelor, Biggest Loser & Survivor are my faves)
7. I don't know how I got so lucky but I have the best boyfriend and the cutest Boston Terriers in the world... it's crazy.

I'm passing this award on to:

Failed Muffins
Pink Briefcase
Life as a Wife
Sweet Melissa
Oh Dear Drea
A Good Life
Whatever
Josiah's Nest
Adventures of an American Mum
Somewhere Over the Rainbow

What is that?

Oh, nothing.

Just spinach. IN MY BLENDER.

Weird. Gross. Eww. Anything blended together with spinach can't be good!

My thoughts exactly.

But I've been hearing all about these little smoothies called GREEN MONSTERS and because I give into peer pressure super easily and am such a follower because I want to fit in with the cool kids, I decided to give it a try.


So, a handful of spinach, some frozen strawberries, 1/2 a banana, 1 cup of water, and a splash orange juice later...



I had a green monster!

And honestly, besides the fact that I thought it looked disgusting, it wasn't bad.

I actually thought it tasted much like my regular fave smoothies and I didn't even add milk or sugar, therefore I bet it is a million times healthier. Spinach > Sugar+Milk.

So yeah. I think I will experiment with it and try some other ingredients. Perhaps some different frozen fruits, some protein powder.. I've heard of people using peanut butter. Mmm.

And while I'm on the subject of food, here's what we're having for dinner...

Pork Chop Chicken Gumbo

It is really yummy and super easy to make!

Ingredients:

(please note I did not take this picture tonight.. I've been meaning to share this recipe for awhile. So don't worry we are not eating meat that expired at the end of January just FYI)

Yep, that's it. 4 boneless chops & a can of Chicken Gumbo soup.

Put the pork chops in a dish and pour the soup over top of them, like this:


Then bake at 350 for about an hour.

And viola! Dinner is served (I like it with some mashed potatoes and a veggie!)

What are your favorite dinner recipes?

The Pants Have Arrived

My whole body huuuuuurtssss.

I've switched it up this week, because spin alone was just not cuttin' it anymore. So I did group power (weight training) on Monday and then went to my fave 20/20 crosstrain class at the gym yesterday that I usually have to miss since it starts at 4:30. Also did yoga in the basement Monday night with mom, but really we did a lot more talking than yoga and the yoga poses really consisted more of her complaining about her knees and me complaining that I could barely lift my arms above my head and my quads were too sore for warrior pose (or really any pose) than any actual yoga. So yeah yoga kinda failed but a chat with my mom is always good :) I hadn't been to the other two classes in forever and let's just say I am FEELIN' it today. I am sore everywhere OMG.

In other news, when I got home from 20/20 yesterday, I had this waiting for me:


That UPS man is a sneaky one I tell ya.

But whatevs, the pants are here!

umm yes that is a hole in my sock. I hate holes in my socks! why oh why do all my running socks have holes in them?!

They are gonna make me look so hardcore and FAST! I haven't tried them on yet because after reading the awesome reviews, I was afraid they would make me automatically start running and after Sunday's run, I don't think that running is a good idea :( Especially because after Sunday I have had a nagging PAIN in my BUTT (the IT band strikes again! It has progressed from my outer knee up to the right side of my butt!) so not only has the IT band been a pain in my butt the past couple months, it has taken it to a whole new level and now literally is. Awesome.

But yeah, I can't wait to try them out!!!

I have my 3rd Graston appointment today, so I am hoping he can give me some more advice on WHY I AM NOT BETTER YET!!! (sorry I have built-up frustration from not running!) Lots of people have sent me questions about Graston (such as WHAT THE HECK IS IT?!) so I will do a post about it soon and let you know my thoughts on it.

Yesterday I was thinking about my health/fitness/running goals. I briefly joined Weight Watchers 7 day free trial because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I know a lot of people who use it and love it. I have been trying to eat healthier stuff and I thought maybe it could give me information on what I should be eating. I found out that I am for the most part eating healthy. I know, I probably should not make such conclusions after only using it for 1 day, but I eat pretty much the same things all the time as I am a huge creature of habit.I think my problem is snacking and my sugar addiction. So anyway, here are my goals that I came up with:

• quit snacking out of boredom... when hungry, snack on fruits & veggies, not chips (Wheat Thins, pretzels, etc) and chocolate
• mix up my work outs more. Do cardio 3 days a week, strength training 2 days and lots of STRETCHING!!!
• when I can run again, push myself out of my comfort zone and focus on getting faster!
• eat less processed foods and stick to shopping mostly on the outer aisle of the grocery
• get at least 7 hours of sleep a night... preferably 8
• do sit ups, push ups, planks, squats & lunges during commercials of my favorite 2 hour tv shows (The Bachelor & Biggest Loser)... sorry Josh, but I want to quit fast forwarding all the commercials. It will be good for our health:)

I thought briefly about trying to give up sugar completely but I then decided that I would still like to have a boyfriend and family and friends who actually want to be around me.

Ok, I think that's about it! I will end this post with one of my new fave recipes!

EASY MEXICAN


Ingredients:

• whole grain brown rice (I use Uncle Ben's boil in a bag.. super easy and takes 10 mins. 1 pouch is enough, I think it is 2 cups)
• chicken - I use 1/2 or a little more of the can shown above
  
• 1/2 can black beans
  
• 1 can Rotel
• shredded cheese

Cook the rice. Add some chicken. Add some beans. Add the Rotel. Top with shredded cheese. Microwave all together for 1 minute.


I usually eat it with chips (tortilla baked scoops) but it's also good as a quesadilla!

Pic courtesy of Eva the Evo

The best part is that it's really filling so I usually don't have to eat a lot to get full and there's always leftovers!

Happy Hump Day!

Why must I have a conscience?

1. Things I want to do when I get off work:
- watch last night's Bachelor
- sleep
- snuggle with my puppy
- eat cookies and drink a hummingbird

2. Things I will do when I get off work:
- go to the gym for Crosstrain class

3. Things I will do after that:
- please see #1
- minus the cookies

So tired today. Happy Tuesday that feels like a Monday!


*Photo of Lola fixing my moms hair during our yoga session in the basement last night. Don't mind that the yoga mat is still rolled up;)

a new pair of legs.

Last week a girl in my running group, who has also struggled with ITBS, recommended these pants to me:
So even though I'm normally a super cheap person, these $100 pants have been purchased. Oh, except they were on sale for $64!! Score! I knew I had to get them when I saw they were 30% off. Glad I waited a few days :)

Oh, the things I do so I can run. I hope they live up to everything they claim to be. The reviews are awesome and it helps knowing someone that has them... apparently I won't ever want to run in anything else ever again. And they make your legs feel like spring boards. Awesome. Oh, and apparently they some how do the same stuff as kinesio tape for your IT band, hip flexors, knees, etc. So I mean I guess if you add up all the money I will save on kinesio tape and not ever having to buy any other running bottoms forever, $100 doesn't seem so bad... right? And even better when it was really $64 :)

Can't wait til they get here.

I have gotten a few questions about what to do about ITBS from other people struggling with it, so I'll let you know if these pants are worth it. From what I hear, they are magic! Let's hope...

there are many things more important in life than clean underwear.

playing around in the studio. ignore my schmexy double chin.


hi hi hi!!!

hope your weekend has been wonderful. mine's still going... got tomorrow off, which will more than likely be used as a day to finish up the cleaning that got pushed to the side this weekend for more important things. not that clean underwear isn't important, but it just falls by the wayside when you can do other things, like...

go for a run with your mom (!!!!).


yeah, we did. okay, maybe it was more like a walk/jog, but whatevs. the weather was beautiful and we were out there moving. she came over, we took the dogs for a walk around the block as our warm-up and then walk/ran 2 miles. it has been 22 (!!!!) days since i've run so i'm starting off slowly.. and running with my mom forces me to not push myself since she walk/runs. because let's face it, as much as i have hated (hated!) this IT band thing and am paranoid about making it worse, it's gonna take everything i have in me not to try and jump right back into running like i was before.

the triple crown starts this coming weekend with a 5k and i was really hoping to be able to do all 3 races and PR 'em all by like a minute-per-mile (ha ha ha, yeah i have big dreams), but ain't no way i could run a 5k this coming weekend.. at least not safely or to the point of a PR. so, i'm skipping the 5k and thus will miss out on the extra t-shirt you get for running all 3 races (boo!) but... BUT... my mom signed up to do the 10k with me!!!!!!!!!

woohoo! woohoo!!

i am so super excited!! she has never done a 10k, i still get to do a race, and i will be doing it with my mom just for fun! no pressure for a PR, just a fun little 6.2 mile run with my momma! we are gonna have a blast.. march 12th. can't wait. i'm hoping i can also do the 10 miler and then the half marathon, but we'll just have to wait & see.

this is what happens when you ask your photographer boyfriend to take a photo of you and your gorgeous mom. you hand him the camera and he forgoes is usual meticulous self and just snaps a photo without even looking through the viewfinder. thanks, b, thanks.. best photo ever. i's gonna frame it.

speaking of running, my coach (aka josh) gave me the go-ahead to run 2 whole miles without stopping today!!! it was awesome and horrible all at once.

for the first mile and a half it was amazing. i felt like my old self.. even though it was cold and rainy and i was running directly into the wind (which are conditions i usually hate), i was so happy. and then i started to feel a slight twinge in my leg... and i promised myself i'd stop the second i felt anything. so i did. and ughh it was so frustrating. i walked for awhile and then tried running again just to make sure it wasn't in my head.. and unfortunately, it wasn't. so i walked another .75 mile or so to my destination and called it a day. frustrating, but felt good to get back out there even if it was short-lived.

so yeah. other things that take precedence over clean underwear?

cheeseburgers.

somebody (i won't name names but it starts with a j and ends with an osh) has been all about some cheeseburgers lately. you can tell because i'll call him and he answers phone by saying, and i quote, "cheeseburgers!!!".... or his current facebook status says, I don't think I could ever be a zombie. I love cheeseburgers too much! or like right before valentine's day when i said, hey if i were to make a romantic dinner to be eaten by candlelight, what meal would you prefer? thinking he'd be all like steak! or something fancy... no. cheeseburgers was the answer. i think cheeseburgers is the answer to everything around here.

so we went to five guys and had some burgers friday night. muy romantico.

other things that were enjoyed instead of the cleaning of the underroos?

• a family nap on saturday afternoon. it lasted 2.5 hours for me (and a little less for everyone else.) i apparently really needed it and i felt so much better afterwards!!! i made the comment last night as were coming home from dinner with friends, that it was 9:00 and i wasn't even tired! maybe the nap had cured my geriatric-ness?! no,once we got home and i put on my super comfy penguin pj's, i was dead to the world by 9:30.
  
• pizza with friends (as mentioned above.) we tried a new (to most of us) place called tony boom bozz with a big group of friends. delicious pizza with a horrible waitress. still a good time :)
• ICE CREAM for lunch!!! oh yeah! we headed to our favorite ice cream shop (ironically, the one tobey was found at!) but they were closed.. so we headed to our 2nd favorite, zesto's.. where we had our 2nd date way back in the day (aww!) i tried to be "healthy" and got peanut butter frozen yogurt (it was either that our a huge peanut butter cyclone!!) and josh got a cyclone with reese's pb cubs and upside down pineapple cake... it was interesting.

lola bear has been growing, which is also more important than clean underwear. she is pretty much the sweetest thing ever and i think i love her more and more every single day. yesterday she rang the bell twice by herself to go outside and potty. i think she is finally starting to understand that potty outside = good and potty inside = bad. she is also super close to being able to jump up on the couch and it kind of makes me sad.


watch lola grow.. week 7... 14 weeks old. the first picture we took (above) was actually the best.

in the 2nd one she did that cute little head-turn thing.


and then by the 3rd photo she decided she was done.

photoshoot over.


exit stage right.

and just like that it was over.
normally we end up with enough that we could wallpaper the house with kosmo & lola photos.
but just 3 this week.
oh well. we really only need 1 anyway.


i've had a few questions about the watch lola grow photo set-up, so i shall show you.


basically it's two alien bee 800's and two boston terriers on a seamless white background. AB800 #1 is shot through a softbox and lights up the boston terriers, AB800 #2 is shot through an umbrella and lights up the background.

phew. i started this post at 8:38 this morning...and since then, we have totally deep-cleaned the house with round 1 of spring cleaning. and by the house i just mean the main level. which is ironic since the title of this post suggests that i didn't clean today. but i did. for like 8 hours straight. and after i told my mom what all we did it didn't even sound like much (shampooed the carpet, steam mopped the hardwoods, ALL the laundry -- even the underwear, and cleaned the bathrooms) but it took all day long. we did move all the furniture and actually clean under it too, which is why it took so long. and it will be dirty again in like 2 days... but for now, i feel great. i love a clean house.

dinner from applebees carside to go and i am ready for bed. exhausted. goodnight!





out.

Flashback Friday: Summer in Pittsburgh

This week's Flashback Friday takes us alllll the way back to the summer of 2006 when I spent 3 weeks in Pittsburgh with my best friend before moving off to Tennessee. Yes, if you've been following along, last week's Flashback Friday also featured my best friend, as did the week before. I feel as though she doesn't get enough face time on my blog (since she lives in TENNESSEE!!! maybe if she moved home she would get the amazing privilege of being on my blog more... just sayin' ;-))

Anywho. She had taken a job in Pittsburgh at a church summer camp and was living with her aunt and uncle. I love love love her aunt Lisa and all their kids! When I was there that summer they had 6 kiddos, and now they have 7 I believe. It was a pretty epic time and just what I needed that summer.

I will try not to bore with you details that I don't remember anyway about a 3 week long trip, but basically we...

Jumped!... a lot.




For whatever reason, one night in Pittsburgh we started jumping on the bed (middle photos) and took pictures of it.. because we're cool. After that we started jumping everywhere for the longest time... for like a year. We'd jump at Kappa Delta parties, when we went out to eat, anywhere we traveled... It was our "thing." Yes yes, we know, we're awesome.

Spent a day at a lake.


It was pretty cool. Fun and relaxing. We got to go tubing and played volleyball. I think this was also a couple days after I got there so it was fun for me to get to know everybody.

Ate at Steak 'n Shake.


And made ridiculous faces.


Took a road trip to Columbus, OH for a soccer game.


It was a pretty spur of the moment random road trip, but really those are the best kind. Columbus Crew vs LA Galaxy.

Saw Bon Jovi in concert!


We splurged $20 for the nose-bleed section, but it was an awesome time!!

Played with Kristen's cousins.


Mostly David and Calema, they loved us.

Hosted a dinner party.


Photo on the left: Kristen, me, and Andrea. Andrea was our other roommate, and one of Kristen's co-workers.
Middle: me and Kristen with her aunt Lisa who is awesome!!!
Right: Kristen being Kristen.

The dinner party was fun and was one of the last things we all did as a group once camp was over.

Had an on-going rivalry with Derek about Texas.


Derek was another one of Kristen's co-workers who looooooved the USC Trojans... Kristen loooved Texas. I could care less either way about any type of sports, but being the best friend that I am I went along with the whole OMG Texas is WAY better!! thing. The picture on the right is us with Derek's jeep and was the very last photo we took before we hit the road on our way home. Nothing wrong with a little friendly rivalry, right?

So that, in a really small nutshell, was my 3 week trip to Pittsburgh in '06. Oh best friend, I miss our adventures!!! Let's go on another one really soon!