Monday, May 30, 2011

Memorial Day

Hope all of your weekends went fantastic. Mine sure did. Today was a little more relaxing than some other days this weekend, but that's ok with me! Abram and I woke up this morning and we made waffles. It had been a long time since we made them and they were delicious! Even Misha got to enjoy one!!
After our breakfast we took Misha for a walk and then went to the gym. I ran 2 miles today and focused mostly on weights & abs. 3 weeks til Florida people!! When we were done at the gym we went over to my parents house and enjoyed some time in the sun at the pool. I joked with Abram that we were GTL'ing (gym, tan, laundry) and yes, I did do a load of laundry today!! After the pool we went home to grab some lunch and then back over to my parents house to enjoy the AIR CONDITIONING (we don't have any and it was about 90 degrees today) Misha was thanking us, she was soooo hot. Mom and I went to the mall and shopped around for a bit, making fun of clothes and trying on funny outfits (I will not post these ridiculous pics) Then dad grilled up some dinner and we ate. Chicken, red, yellow & orange peppers, potatoes, salad and sugar snap peas!
Well, Abram and I are home now for the evening and gonna try not to die of heat exhaustion (jk, it's not that bad....to me at least...)
Question: Have you ever used the phrase 'GTL' in your daily routine? :)

Sunday, May 29, 2011

I love 3 day weekends!

Last night was a lot of fun! We met Wendy & Justin at one of our favorite restaurants, Faccia Luna. It's an Italian place with great pasta and pizza. I had fettuccine alfredo with mushrooms and it was delicious. I ate about half of it because I had every intention on taking Wendy & Justin to Kiwi after dinner for some frozen yogurt. They have never been so I felt it was my duty to introduce them to the sweet deliciousness! I should really be a spokesperson for Kiwi, I sure do bring em a lot of business!! We walked around downtown a little while eating our yogurt and just chatted away! I miss them and our date nights!! Let's all move to Hawaii and live the good life ;)
After we got home from dinner & dessert I started to create my cake for tomorrow. I wanted to make my cake shaped like a star so I cut a star outline from cardboard and started cutting away at the cake. When I started to ice it, it fell apart in a million pieces. FAILURE. I threw it out and called it a night--no cake for us tomorrow!! Sorry mom!
This morning Abram and I woke up early and I made breakfast. We've run out of pretty much every breakfast food. No milk. No eggs. No Van's waffles. Nada. So I made due with what I had right in front of me-1 frozen banana, 5 strawberries and some of my pap's frozen blueberries. I also had an english muffin on the side.
After breakfast we took Misha for a walk and then went to the gym. I ran 5 miles this morning and it was alllllll about the speed baby. I cut 2 minutes off of my last 5 mile run! Go me! After our gym session, we went over to my grandparents house for lunch. I wasn't expecting Tiya and Helena to be there but SURPRISE! They were and we played til it was time to eat :) Today's menu was hamburgers, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, potatoes and chips. Interesting spread but delicious.
Tiya always pulls the camera out of my purse and wants her picture taken, what a little cutie!! Mom and I went to the Bon-Ton to find some deals but we left, what a bust. Well, another great day. I wish every weekend had 3 days to enjoy! Looking forward to what tomorrow will bring!!! Hope your weekend is going as well as mine!

Question: What is your best running time?

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Super Saturday!!

Yeah yeah, I know this post title is cheesy & lame but it was a super Saturday! And it's not over yet! First off, the Bridesmaid's movie last night was SO FUNNY! My mom and I lovvveed it. You must go see it!! This morning Abram and I woke up and went over to my parent's house for breakfast and I made them some baked oatmeal! After we ate we walked around the pathetic thing they called a yard sale in their neighborhood. After only 30 minutes we gave up and decided to go to Sam's Club to get some essentials: almond butter, granola bars, peanuts & powdered sugar. After that we went home and made some lunch. My dad sent us home with some hot sausage's so Abram grilled them up for himself and I had a turkey pepperoni and mozzarella wrap with carrots & cottage cheese!

After lunch Abram and I went our separate ways. He went to clean out his car and I went to Target to get some cake mix for tomorrow's memorial day cake. After Target I went over to my cousin Gina's and we (me, Gina, Tiya and Helena) went to the mall and did some shopping. After the mall we lounged in the yard & played on the swing set. Abram met us over there and the boys did some yard work. Now I am home and ready to go to dinner with my good friend Wendy and her finance Justin! See ya tomorrow!!!!

Friday, May 27, 2011

TGIF!!!

This morning I am in a super fantastic mood! I can't wait to get today over with!! I am ready to have the next THREE days off!!! Can you tell I'm excited? I promised you *more* today since yesterday's post was so horrible short. I am going to be really busy after work so I will start you off with a survey that I got from Christina!

A- is for apple, what's your favorite variety? Honeycrisp

B- is for bread, reguardless of nutrition, calories, or whole grains, what is your favorite type to have a nice big piece of? I LOVE the rolls from Texas Roadhouse w/ the honey cinnamon butter <3

C- is for cereal, what is your favorite kind currently (just one!) Kashi Honey Sunshine

D- is for dounuts, you might not currently be eating them, but what kind do you fancy? I used to like sugar

E- is for eggs, how do you like yours prepared? I like egg white omlets/egg whites

F- is for fat free, what is your favorite fat free product? I like the coco pop (rice cakes) from Wegman's

G- is for groceries, where do you purchase yours at? Mostly Wegman's and Weis

H- is for hot beverages, what is your favorite hot drink? Coffee with splenda and non-fat creamer

I- is for ice cream, pick a flavor and add a fun topping? Cake batter frozen yogurt with rainbow sprinkles

J- is for jams or jellies, do you eat them, and if so what kind and flavor? I just recently started to try and like them, I like sugar free strawberry jam by Smuckers, but then again it's the only one I've tried. I also like apple butter, does this count?

K- is for Kashi, name your favorite Kashi product? Kashi Honey Sunshine cereal

L- is for lunch, what is yours today? An apple, crackers with low fat garden vegetable cream cheese and turkey, raisins, and cottage cheese!

M- is for microwave, what is your favorite microwave meal/snack? I like to microwave marshmallows/peeps and put them on graham crackers with mini chocolate chips (indoor smores!)

N- is for nutrients, do you like carbs, fats or proteins best? I *like* carbs best, but try to eat a lot more protein than carbs.

O- is for oil, what kind do you use? Smart balance vegetable oil

P- is for protein, how do you get yours? Egg whites, greek yogurt, protein shakes etc.

Q- is for quaker, how do you like your oats? Recently it's been baked oatmeal, so good.

R- is for roasting, what is your favorite thing to roast? Green beans

S- is for sandwich, what is your favorite kind? I don't typically like regular sandwiches, but I do like toasted english muffins with melted cheese, turkey pepperoni and ham. I also like cold hoagies, just not lunch meat on regular bread. yuck.

T- is for travel, how do you handle eating while traveling? I eat what I want in moderation, just like always. I want to enjoy myself and not restrict, it's a vacation right?!

U- is for unique, what is one of your weirdest food combos? I used to take a can of tuna and put buffalo sauce on it, then eat it with reduced fat cheez-its!

V- is for vitamins, what kind do you take? A woman's daily multivitamin from GNC

W- is for wasabi, yay or nay? No thank you

X- is for XC foodie, why is she so awesome? I don't really know who she is....

Y- is for youth, what food reminds you of your childhood? Eggo waffles, pop-tarts, cheerios, skittles....

Z- is for zuchinni, how do you prepare it? Grilled or roasted

So there ya have it! A little insight into my life :) After work is over I am going to the gym with Mandi. Then meeting my mom and going to watch The Bridesmaid's and eat popcorn for dinner!! Not nutritious, but always yummy in the tummy!! Have a great Friday! See ya tomorrow with a movie review and hopefully some pictures!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

New white iPhone!!

This post will be short and sweet. I got the new white iPhone from Verizon. It is beautiful. I am too busy playing with it to make this a long post (plus nothing special happened to me today...besides getting my new phone!)
Sooooo, I was able to taste a small amount today. Not much. The girls at work ordered Olive Garden and I couldn't even smell it, now that's bad! If I can't smell the enormous amounts of garlic-we have a problem!
Tomorrow my mom and I are going to go see the movie Bridesmaids and then I am going to enjoy my 3 days weekend! I'm so glad tomorrow is FRIDAY! Sorry this post wasn't the most entertaining. I promise I will make them better this weekend. See ya tomorrow
I will also leave you with a picture, ya can't have a post without a picture :)

Question: Do you have an iPhone? What do you love about it?

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

This was just not my day...

At 5:45 the alarm went off. I woke up and started to put on my gym clothes. This was Abram's idea to hit the gym super early...he still wasn't awake yet. Around 6am he finally he got up and we went to the gym to get our EARLY MORNING workout on. I started off slow but finished strong. I ran 3 miles today-not bad considering on any other day I would still be sleeping at this time! After we got home I made a cake for my FINAL cake class tonight and got ready for work. Then I started off my day with these: Overnight oats. This was my first attempt at these, and they didn't turn out like I had hoped. I used an almost empty jar of Nutella and added in 1/2 cup of oatmeal and 1/2 cup of milk. I tossed in a scoop of cocoa powder and let it sit overnight. It wasn't nearly sweet enough, so, next time I know to add more sugar! Since that didn't hit the spot, I made a quick egg white english muffin and headed off to work! It did the job and kept me full till lunch time. For lunch I had a vanilla greek yogurt, Kashi honey sunshine cereal and a banana with almond butter. I also packed strawberries and brown sugar & cinnamon almonds for snack. Work went fine all day, until 4:30 rolled around and the receptionist for the evening didn't show. So finally when she got there at 5:30 I raced home to make the icing for my cake class tonight (I also had to ice the entire cake) Thank goodness I made my cake this morning, otherwise I would have FAILED! Unfortunately, with all my rushing around making icing and icing cakes and being hangry I didn't have time to eat dinner. So I went straight to class and because I was so stressed about making sure I had everything for class, I lost my appetite anyways.
Class went GREAT. My cake turned out amazing and I can't wait to show it off!! I wanna make a million trillion of these cakes (they remind me of a wedding or anniversary cake or something) So if ya need this type of cake, let me know ;)
After class I came home and Abram made me a grilled chicken salad. I sat down to eat this delicious looking salad and realized I couldn't taste anything. The cold I have had for the last few days has finally worked it's way up into my nose and now I can't smell/taste. GREAT! I ate about half before giving up. I HATE eating when I can't taste, what's the point?!? But it was a beautiful salad, thanks Abram, xoxo!
Now I am going to drink some tea and finally sit down to relaaaxxxx. Hopefully no stress finds me tomorrow and I will be able to taste my food!
Oh! I forgot to show ya'll this necklace yesterday! Sarah brought it back for me. It's a black cat, named Olive. Her kitty is named Olive and I cat-sit for her when she is away, so this was a very cute gift she gave me in return for watching that loveable little kitty.
Have a good night everyone. We're almost to THREE DAY WEEKEND!!

Question: Have you made overnight oats? Any tips?

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Rhubarb GALORE!

Best thing to start my day off with-Misha "riding her bicycle" She will lay on her back with a toy in her mouth and kick all four of her legs and it looks like she is riding a bike. I love when she does this, it's so cute. After Misha entertained me, I took off and went to the gym. I ran 2 miles and then lifted in the girls room for 25 minutes. I came home and made some egg whites with mushrooms and cut up a gala apple. It was delicious.
After breakfast was when the real cooking started! Abram got assigned to making rhubarb pies for work (they do a monthly team lunch) but do you think Abram made the pies? No. Bethany made the pies. ALL THREE OF EM! One rhubarb and strawberry pie, one plain rhubarb pie and finally a rhubarb crisp. They all smelled amazing and it was hard to not dig in.
By the time I got done with the pies it was lunch time! Today I had a La Tortilla Factory wrap filled with reduced fat mozzarella shredded cheese and organic black beans! On the side was carrots and cucumbers. It was delightful :)
I went into work a little early this afternoon. Anne's wedding is this weekend so she had a lot to take care of before leaving tomorrow. For dinner I took cottage cheese, strawberries, raisins and a microwavable sweet potato!! When dinner rolled around I was excited to microwave that baby and eat. Too bad it BURNT to a CRISP and was inedible! Soooo, I ate all the other stuff and some skittles. Dinner of champions I know. At least I got to wear my cute new outfit today! Have a good night-Abram and I are going to the gym @ 6am tomorrow for a change!! Hopefully we can make it up at 5:30 when the alarm goes off.....

Question: Have you ever made rhubarb pie/crisp?

Monday, May 23, 2011

It's Monday.

That's the most exciting post title in the world. I know. But it's all I could come up with for today. Nothing special happened, and it's literally Monday. So here we are! I woke up and made some Strawberry Shortcake Dunkin Donuts coffee, yum. After Abram left for work, I made some breakfast and got ready myself. 2 Van's lite waffles with sugar free syrup and a morning star sausage. I could have left out the sausage today, I wasn't feelin it, but I ate it anyways.
After breakfast I went to work for a little before leaving and coming home to eat some lunch, today I had a dentist appointment @ 1pm so I needed to eat before or else I would have been STARVING afterwards. I had 2 cracker sandwiches which were DELICIOUS. They were Wheat Thins-Flatbread tuscan herb style crackers, smeared with garden vegetable cream cheese and a slice of turkey! SO YUMMY! On the side I had some carrots, cucumbers and raisins (not pictured)
After I went to the dentist I shopped around at TJMaxx and found a couple of really good bargains! I have been wanting a pair of black cargo-ish pants for a while and these are the perfect skinny pair. The tank top is really cute too, and of course moisture control running socks are always awesome!!
I came home and ran 2 miles on the treadmill which wasn't as horrible today. Abram messed around with some of the screws and it must have fixed something. I ran while watching DVR'd episodes of Audrina/Khloe and Lamar-both terrible shows but for some reason I still watch them. There was nothing else on tv so I went into the bedroom and read my book and napped. Now I am waiting for Abram to get home from the gym so we can make dinner and tan! We didn't get to yesterday because we were so busy, and by the time we were able to, it was closed!! Have a good night, the sun is out now and hopefully it stays this way~Misha and I are enjoying it :)

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Runners High!

This day has been non stop busy! We woke up, ate a quick breakfast and then Abram went over to my grandparents house with my dad. They were installing cable in my gram & pap's room so pap could watch tv in the bedroom longer so gram won't have to lift him out of bed before the nurses come for the day! While Abram was working, I was running! I went to the gym and ran and ran and RAN! Today I did 5 miles in 46 minutes and 30 seconds. I was so extremely proud of my self. The last 1/2 mile I ran with a huge smile on my face, I bet all the people at the gym thought I was nuts. I had such a runner's high. After I got home and got ready, my cousin Gina took us over to my grandparent's house for lunch. Wish I was this peaceful in the car....

For lunch we had hoagies. I was hungry for these, and they were so good. I was ravenous so I didn't take a picture of my sandwich but it was big and glorious. After lunch we ate some homemade oatmeal creme pies and whoopie pies. I cut Helena's hair and then we played outside for a while before heading back over the mountain. I played with the girls on their swing set and we drew chalk people all over the driveway before Abram picked me up and we went back to the gym-I couldn't let Abram work out alone! While there a second time I lifted weights and did squats. Now this is the most delicious part of the day: KIWI FROZEN YOGURT!!!!!!!!! We picked up our friend Matt (who had never had it before-crazy, I know) and went downtown to enjoy a large cup of frozen yogurt. Today I got 1/2 angel food cake yogurt and 1/2 peanut butter yogurt. Topped with raspberries, pretzels, yogurt chips, rainbow sprinkles, and small pieces of cake. IT WAS INCREDIBLE. While eating our yogurt we walked around Campus Candy and took in all the beautiful sites...

Now I am home and finally relaxing. I think I will sleep good tonight! Hope you all had a good weekend :)
Question: Do you ever get a runner's high or workout high?

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Sunny/Soupy Saturday!

Happy Saturday people! Abram made coffee this morning (usually it's my job) but I hopped in the shower as soon as I woke up so he made it today. It was yucky terrible horrendous. Guess I will stick to making the coffee from now on. I took one sip and dumped it down the sink. I decided I would get my caffeine from Sheetz instead. As I was checking out, the lady said "would you like anything else?" and I looked to my left, and saw this and said "why yes, I do!" threw it down and went about my day!
I couldn't wait to dig into it for lunch/snack. So anyways, it was sunny today, just like I had hoped it would be! Too bad 9 hours of it was spend being INSIDE. I didn't pack lunch today because THERE IS NOTHING IN MY HOUSE, so Abram brought me some summer vegetable and orzo soup from Wegman's. It was delicious and hit the spot since my throat has been sore the last couple of days. After I ate my lunch, I decided to paint my nails since all the girls were busy with their wedding parties and I wouldn't need to check someone out for several hours. Color is called Cajun Shrimp by OPI. The popcorn was an afternoon snack and it was YUMMY!! Sweet, salty and crunchy, my favorite!
After work I picked up some Chinese food per Abram's request and went home to eat. I WAS HUNGRY! It was super greasy, and my tummy isn't used to a lot of grease but it was still good! After dinner we took Misha for a walk around the neighborhood and now we are getting ready to meet up with friends for some drinks & enjoy what is left of the sun! Hope your having a good weekend!
Question: Have you tried this popcorn? What is your favorite kind of popcorn?

Friday, May 20, 2011

Will the sun EVER shine again??

Sun? Are you there? Will you ever shine again? I miss you. Please come back soon....
Actually, what is really sad is that the only day it's supposed to be sunny is tomorrow and I will be at work, all day. 8:30-5:30. Yep. I'm out of luck, so please enjoy it for me! Rain is so depressing to me. It's not supposed to effect my mood, but it totally does. So a week long of rainy cold days makes a person downright depressed. Another reason why moving to Florida sounds so good~it's the SUNSHINE STATE.
So, needless to say I woke up this morning depressed. I needed something to cheer me up so I made some Dunkin Donuts Strawberry Shortcake coffee with some splenda (yum) and a bowl of Quaker Oat Square cereal. I packed my boring lunch and went to pick up Sarah before work, her car is in the shop so I am her personal escort today. My lunch consisted of instant oatmeal-maple and brown sugar, a 100 calorie pack of brown sugar and cinnamon almonds, a banana and an apple. BORRRINNNGG. I told ya, I need to go grocery shopping! When I ate my banana I felt like a monkey so I made Mandi snap a pic.

After work Mandi and I went to the gym and worrrkkked it ouuttt! I ran 3 miles and did machines/abs in the girls weight room. After the gym I went straight over to my cousin's house for her jewelry party. We had a few drinks and some snacks but now I am home for the night! The world is suppose to end tomorrow, so better have a good night :)
Question: Do you feel better when the sun is shining?

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Is it really ONLY Thursday?!?

I forgot to post last night's cupcake pics that I decorated in class! I only got to decorate 6 of them, so this morning before I took them to work I iced them quickly with white icing. The girls at work enjoyed them!
This morning I was running late since I had to ice the cupcakes so I ate 2 hard boiled egg whites and a morning star sausage on the go! When I realized what day it was, I wanted to cry. IT'S ONLY THURSDAY?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? And to make matters worse, I have to work Saturday too. Oh well, moving on....
I stopped and grabbed a salad from Wegman's for lunch since I have nothing in the house here. I also took an apple from home and some of Target's version of goldfish: chickadees. The salad was N A S T Y !!!
Never. Again. You know what's sad? I've had this one several times before, and it's my favorite. But this time it was so yucky I refuse to ever spend $3.99 on it again!! After work I went home and started baking, AGAIN. This time I am making cupcakes for a party tomorrow. My cousin Gina is having a Silpada Jewelry party and I made "jewel" themed cupcakes. Gold and Silver cupcake liners with decorations for the top! I think they turned out alright....
Dinner tonight was another weekly occurrence, baked fish and veggies. But instead of rice this week, we had homemade macaroni and cheese, it was delicious and VERY filling! After dinner we went tanning and now Abram is glued to the TV watching Harry Potter. It's funny because last Sunday he was telling my dad how he can never watch a movie multiple times. I think this might be the 40th time he has seen this movie. Just sayin. Have a great night, tomorrow is FRIDAY!
Question: Can you watch a movie multiple times?

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Strange Habits

This evening I am blogging from my kitchen. If you remember, a couple weeks ago I decided to boil eggs and leave the kitchen, resulting in a small kitchen fire! This week however, I won't let that happen! So here I am! Blogging in my kitchen while my eggs boil and I make some hot water for tea :) Strange I know. Another strange thing I noticed today was that when I was eating peanuts, I only eat whole peanuts. I pick around all the half pieces and look for whole ones. Not that they taste any different, I just like whole peanuts better!! It's kind of like when you prefer green M&M's to brown M&M's--there is no flavor difference. It's allllll in your head. Same thing in this case!
Now that my strange habits are out of the way, I can tell you about my day! I woke up and ate my cinnamon raisin breakfast cookie that I made the night before. I wasn't hungry at all, and the thought of eating made me sick to my stomach, but I knew I needed to eat something so I ate it! It wasn't bad, but I liked the chocolate chip version better! I went to work til 2pm and then went straight to the gym. I ran 2 miles in 18 minutes and 40 seconds today! Whoop whoop! Not too shabby. I also lifted in the girls weight room for about 20 minutes. It is soooo much cleaner and nicer than the "guy" area. I came home after the gym and started making my cupcakes and icing for tonight's cake decorating class. Abram got home and we made some dinner before I went to class. Tonight we had hamburgers on the George Foreman since it was pouring down rain, sweet potato fries, lima beans and pickles.
The sweet potato fries were not crispy enough for my liking, so I only ate a few. I like crunchy fries so that was a bust. My class tonight was fun, we learned a lot about icing with flowers and other cool designs. Our final class is next week and then I "graduate" Well, my eggs are about done boiling so I can leave the kitchen now. I am off to drink my tea and hang out with the hubs and the dalmatian. Have a great night!!
Question: Do you have any strange habits?

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Learning as I go!

Sorry it took me soooo long to add a new post. I have been playing with blogspot trying to figure it all out. Much more complicated than weebly, but a lot cooler! I will fill you in about my day!

I woke up and went to the gym right away, it was rainy and miserable out so I figured I should get it done before I decide to skip out!  I started out in the girly weight room and did the following:
Triceps: 1 set of 58lbs and 2 sets of 75lbs
Bicep Curl: 3 sets of 45lbs
Shoulder Press: 3 sets of 55lbs
Lat Pulldown: 2 sets of 57lbs and 1 set of 72lbs
Mid Row: 1 set of 85lbs and 2 sets of 102lbs
Chest Press: 3 sets o 75lbs
Leg Press: 3 sets of 80lbs
Finished it up by doing some abs with the medicine ball and running 2 miles on the treadmill (19:10) Not too shabby! I came home and ate some Quaker Oat Square cereal, I needed something quick since it was 9am and I was hungry! I watched my DVR'd episode of 90210, it was the season finale and it rocked :) Did anyone else watch it?!?!
I don't have any pictures of my food today, I'm sorry :( Tonight I made breakfast cookies for our breakfast in the morning. They are cinnamon/raisin ones, I hope they turn out good!! Hopefully I can figure this out a little more so I can make my page better! I'm gonna leave you with these cute faces and a question.
Question: Any tips/advice on how to use blogspot?

Okay readers~these are old posts I have copied over from my Weebly account. I am in the process of moving my (weebly) blog over to blogspot, so be patient with me :)
 
 
 
 
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 This was the most delicious (dessert) breakfast I have had in days :) Breakfast cookie~I got the idea from the Fitnessista! Very filling and tasted just like a no bake cookie! Before my delicious breakfast I ran a miserable 2 miles on my treadmill at home. This thing has been horrible to me lately. It's so hard, it feels like I am running up an enormous hill. I don't know what it's issue is, but I am going to the gym in the morning. This thing is not my friend anymore!
I found out that I have 2 readers (besides my mom and husband) Thank you Brandy and Lori~I'm glad someone is interested in my day/runs/food/baking/etc!!!
I worked til 2pm today, then came home and took a small nap. I had a headache so I dozed off while watching Everyday Italian and Fried Food Paradise! I woke up with some energy so I decided to give the treadmill one last go. I ran another mile and did some sit ups and pushups. I am almost to my goal of 35!!! Only 9 more days to meet all my goals!!
For dinner we had chicken stir fry with broccoli, carrots, green peppers, and water chestnuts. It was delicious!

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After dinner this thing came around, singing it's merry old ice cream jingle. But  I went to Dairy Queen instead with my cousin Gina and her kids Helena & Tiya. They shared their chocolate and vanilla cones with me!! While we were at DQ, my cousin's husband helped Abram level off the yard. It's a work in progress but it's starting to look like an actual yard (we just need some grass....) Abram has torn down 23 trees and he rented a stump grinder last weekend and ripped up 14 stumps! So, we're making some progress I think! Have a good night. P.S. I got asked to bake cupcakes for my neighbor's daughter's baptism AND do a cake for another little girl's birthday-luau themed!! Look at me go :) Watch out Betty Crocker!!

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Question: What home projects are you doing now? Want to do?
 
Hello? 05/15/2011
 
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I really have nothing to say about today. We woke up and I made baked oatmeal-with mashed banana and walnuts this time, it tasted just like banana bread! It was extremely filling! After breakfast we went to the gym, I busted my butt and ran 4.5 miles in 42 minutes and lifted weights in the "girl room" with the machines (I figured out that these are easier on my joints) and then did some squats and went home exhausted! I did a lot of laundry, cleaned a little, took a nap and then went to my parents house and ate dinner. We had flank steak, mashed potatoes/gravy, peas, salad and stuffing. In the first picture, the salad my dad made himself and Abram were bigger than their dinners I think. Second picture is my portion of everything. I don't normally like mashed potatoes, but the gravy looked good so I changed it up a bit. GOOD GRAVY MOM :)

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I also had a second helping of stuffing and some ice cream and cookies for dessert. Ok, so here is my question for today. I am becoming discouraged with writing this blog. Does anyone even read this? I read several of the same blogs everyday and I wonder if anyone even knows mine exists. I am questioning if I should even do this anymore..........

Question: Is anyone out there? Are you reading this? (besides my mom and husband)
 
 
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I woke up at the crack of dawn and mom & dad picked me up. We stopped at Sheetz for some coffee and a granola bar and hit the road! We got to the Philadelphia Premium Outlets at 9:56am and mom and I waited outside the stores mapping our route for the day. While waiting outside for the stores to open, we took a few "excited to shop" pics....I think I know where I get my weirdness from :) and I like it!

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We shopped, and we shopped and WE SHOPPED. I got so much! I had such a great day, these outlets really are the best around! Around 12:45 we got hungry so we went to the food court. We had 3 choices: chinese food, hot dogs, or cheese steaks. Horrible. For some reason we picked the hot dog place. We split a #2: two hot dogs, french fries and a drink. Mom and I were not feelin the hot dogs. We ate about 3/4 of it and decided we were over it. We didn't even finish the fries. We realized too late that if we would have waited, we could have ate at the Cheesecake Factory when we were all done. Kicking ourselves for that one! After we got home, I laid out all my purchases. I got 10 shirts, 3 pair of shorts, a skirt, pair of jeans, running shorts & socks, 2 belts, 2 pair of earrings, gel insoles, a wallet and a pair of shoes!!!! (and soaps for like $1.50)
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Such a wonderful shopping day spent with my mommy <3 I will end with a picture of the softball cake I made for Megan yesterday. Now I am off to relax and dream about how/where I am going to wear my new outfits :)

Question: Does shopping make you as excited as me (and my mom)?
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Happy Friday! This is my breakfast. 2 hard boiled egg whites and an apple. I boiled these eggs last night and caught the stove on FIRE. Yep, a real fire. Smoke alarm went off and everything! I have no idea how it happened but the whole pan/burner was in flames! It was scary, Misha was soooo scared. Poor thing. Guess a fire extinguisher would be a good thing to own, eh?
Today didn't seem like Friday, but I sure am glad that it is! Tomorrow my mom and I are going to Philadelphia to shop at the Philly Premium Outlets~our favorite! We are leaving bright and early, 6:30am. Dad is our driver tomorrow and poor Abram is stuck home with the dogs. But he is also going to grind all the stumps down in our back yard tomorrow and level it out! Hopefully it will look nice at some point this summer.
I decided to make today all about my food. Here is my lunch bag that I take to work with me everyday, and my lunch:

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I packed a Greek yogurt, honey sunshine cereal, a banana with almond butter, watermelon and a pack of brown sugar & cinnamon almonds. The watermelon and almonds were an afternoon snack. After work Mandi and I went to the gym. I ran 3 miles, I ran my first 2 miles in 18 minutes! GO ME. Then we lifted weights in the "girls room" for 25 minutes. Good workout tonight! When I got home I made some homemade pizza dough and popped that in the oven while I started making a softball shaped cake for Megan's cousin :) I think I got the perfect icing color made for the softball, but we'll see. I had to wing it, I had nothing to compare it too except pictures online. I will post pics tomorrow when it's complete. Have a great Friday night! I need my beauty rest, lots of shopping will be happening tomorrow! I hope I can find some good deals!

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Question: Have you ever caught your stove/kitchen on fire??
 
I am WEIRD... 05/12/2011
 
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This is what I did this afternoon at work. I danced with a barbie doll! Sarah captured this lovely pic right in the middle of my dance. Let me explain. One of Billie's clients crochet's things, she has given Billie two of the crocheted dolls she makes. We sit in the back room and laugh and make fun of the doll. We take off it's arms and head, and just do mean things to her. Today, I danced with her. Yes, the title of this post is: I AM WEIRD. Do you still want to read my blog? :)
Other than my weirdness, I had a pretty normal day. Woke up, made some breakfast (2 van's waffles with sugar free syrup and a morning star sausage) went to work, went to Michael's for some baking stuff, came home, walked on the treadmill & made dinner. Dinner was flounder~baked in the oven with garlic, salt, pepper and some parsley flakes. On the side we had broccoli rice and lima beans. Tonight is my "no run" night, but while Abram was mowing the lawn and dinner cooked I walked a mile and a half.

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I took my cake that I made in last night's class to work with me. It was a big hit :) Everyone seemed to enjoy it and Megan even asked me to make her a softball shaped cake for her cousin's 100th hit!! I am honored and can't wait to get baking! These are some of the goods I bought today while at Michael's:
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There I am. Being weird again. Go figure. Abram says I should just smile in pictures, but where is the fun in that? I got a turn table for my cake, a cake leveler, some disposable icing bags, a 16in icing bag with a large icing tip (to make icing cakes easier) some flavoring for my icings (butter & almond) and some parchment paper. The only thing I wanted that they didn't have was a ball shaped cake pan. Oh well, looks like I might have to wing it!! WISH ME LUCK! Talk to ya tomorrow~TGIF.
Question: Do you consider yourself a "weird" person? Do you like making funny faces in pictures or are you strictly a smiler?
 
CAKKKKKEEE 05/11/2011
 
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Check out the new kicks. They are Rock & Candy from PacSun! I love them. Slip on sneakers are so comfortable to wear at work!
Sorry this blog is REALLY late. I have been a busy bee! This morning I woke up and made chocolate chip baked oatmeal again. Mmmm, I love it. It's my new favorite breakfast. (or maybe it will be BessbeFit's protein pancakes?) Next time I make it, I am going to try "banana bread" oatmeal with walnuts!
I went to work til 2, then I came home and ran outside. It was 77 degrees out this afternoon, so this run was a quick one. Literally, I ran a better speed outside today, I don't know why. There were a lot of hills involved too! Guess I just wanted to get home and drink lots of water :) I also had to make a cake and some icing for my cake decorating class tonight. So the rest of the afternoon was spent in the kitchen. Abram and I grilled some burgers and I made baked beans and broccoli on the side. I already started eating by the time I realized I hadn't taken any pictures so, here is my dinner (half eaten) 

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And here it is! The cake I made in tonight's class. We traced a pattern on to a piece of parchment paper with gel icing. Then transferred it onto the cake and iced around it. Not bad for a first timer, don't ya think? I free handed the dots (whoa, impressive huh?) I am exhausted, I am going to cuddle with my puppy, catch up on some blogs and watch a DVR'd episode of the "Voice" from last night. See ya tomorrow :)

Question: What is your favorite (food) decorating technique? 

 
 
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Last night's bachelorette party was a lot of fun. We started the party at Sarah's with some champagne (and some shots) food & fun girl time! After Sarah's we went over to the Ale House for some more drinks and dinner. Mandi and I split a 3 cheese and asparagus sandwich with sweet potato fries. It was really good. After we ate dinner though, we got a little crazy with the cake. At one point, I think I even heard Sarah call me a "hot mess" sorry Sarah. Sorry Ale House.
From left to right: Christine, Sarah, ME, Mandi, Michele, Anne, and Zhanna.

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Congratulations to Anne (and Chris) who get married in May and to Christine (and Mike) who get married in July. Hope you had a good time last night!!!
This morning I woke up (no hangover!!) and was ready to run. All that cake and alcohol need to be flushed outta my system. So I ran for 2.3 miles (21 minutes) outside. It was a nice chilly morning so the breeze felt good once I got started. When I got home I made 2 egg whites, a morning star sausage and cut up an apple. Now I need to catch up on last night's episode of 90210 and clean up the house. My friend Cat is coming over to look at a piece of furniture I am going to give her for her new apartment and eat some lunch with me. Wonder what I should make....? Have a good Tuesday!!

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Question: Do you ever get a little "too rowdy" when your out with friends? Do they get embarrassed of you? :)
 
X-Rated 05/09/2011
 
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Such a beautiful sunny day here in PA! Misha sure is soaking up the sun :) She thinks she is a cat and she lays in our window sill all the time. I don't blame her, it's super warm and cozy up there!
This morning I made baked oatmeal again and enjoyed it after my 2 mile run. I did a quick one on my treadmill while watching Khloe and Lamar on E! I wanted to run outside, but I had to be at work in an hour, so it just wouldn't have worked out. I don't really like my treadmill anymore to be honest with you, it seems like it's harder to run on it than outside. The treadmill at the gym is so much easier to run on too. I don't know, maybe I am burnt out on mine....glad it's summer so I can start running outside in the fresh air instead!
So the reason today's post is X-Rated is because I made a special cake (and cupcakes) for Anne and Christine's Bachlorette party tonight. Took me about an hour to ice it, but I think it looks pretty good for my first time attempting something like this, let me know what you think :)

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Aren't they pretty? I told Sarah I would keep the cupcakes "clean" but I couldn't resist. The sprinkles just make it perfect. At least they are pink!!!! Well, I am gonna relax a while before I head over to Sarah's~where the party begins. Here's to a fun night!!

Question: Do you find certain runs easier than others? The same equipment in different places?
 
 
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Happy Mother's Day to the best, most beautiful mommy in the world :) I always say "I am my mother's daughter" I basically do and say everything JUST like her. I wouldn't wish to be like anyone else! Love you mom!
This morning Abram woke me up bright and early. We ate our breakfast and hit the gym! I made an english muffin with a morning star sausage and an egg white. It was good and filling. I also tried a Phenom that Abram brought home for me from GNC. It was N-A-S-T-Y. I was not a fan. Yuuucckkk. Although I did notice when I was at the gym, my legs didn't get tired while running. Perhaps because it has more potassium than a whole banana! (I'd rather eat a banana, and I am not a HUGE fan of those either...) I also decided today that I know what I want as my birthday/Christmas present......
I WANNA RUN THE DISNEY PRINCESS HALF MARATHON IN FEBRUARY 2012!!!!!

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I will need lots of practice for it, but I definitely think I am capable. We'll seeeeee.....

After the gym we went over to my grandparents house for lunch. We had ribs, asparagus, corn, baked beans and coleslaw. I didn't eat the ribs...I am not much of a rib fan. But the asparagus was awesome, and I really liked that :) After we ate, my cousin Gina and I went to the Bon-Ton (the ONLY store in this small town that my gram & pap live in) This Bon-Ton is awesome. We can always find cute stuff there and it's like a secret. We love our Bon-Ton visits. Today I got these:
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Don't mind those nasty cuts on my ankle. I get a little wild when I shave my legs....ha! After our shopping trip I was SOOO ready for dessert. My aunt Mary made lemon cake with cream cheese frosting. I helped myself to TWO pieces :)
After Abram and I got home I had to make a cake and some cupcakes for tomorrow's bachlorette party. We ate lunch around 1pm so at 7pm we both got pretty hungry. We didn't want to make a full meal because we ate a late lunch. I HATE nights where I don't know what to eat for dinner. I just roam the kitchen and snack on stuff that never really fills me up. Now I have to do laundry and hopefully I will be able to SIT DOWN for more than 5 minutes tonight. I am exhausted. Have a good Sunday night, see ya'll tomorrow.

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Question: What are your emergency go-to last minute dinners?
 
 
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Woke up this Saturday morning and decided to bake some of Chocolate Covered Katie's Cookie Dough Oatmeal! It was really good. Abram and I sat and decided what toppings we would put in next time. After our breakfast I headed off to work for the day. After work Mandi and I headed out to do some shopping. Our friends at work are getting married. One in May and the other in June-so we are having a joint Bachlorette Party for them on Monday! We went downtown and couldn't find any of the stuff we needed so we ended up eating frozen yogurt for dinner.....who says you can't? After our "dinner" we went to the End Zone (a strip club and sex shop) we finally found all of the things we needed :) This party should be exciting. While shopping at a party store, we took these fun pictures (I think I have WAY too much fun shopping!)

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Too much fun!!! Now I am at home waiting patiently for Abram to get home from his Poker night at work. I hope he wins me some $$.
Oh, and I got this awesome idea from Sarah~she buys these really pretty cards at Target and then frames them. Mandi and I both got the Elephant and I got another that says: Forever In Love....now I need to figure out where I should hang them!! Have a great Saturday night!
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Question: Have you ever eaten Frozen Yogurt/Ice Cream for dinner??

 
Sam's Club = FUN 05/06/2011
 
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HAPPY FRIDAY everyone! And this one is for you hungry runner girl, Janae!! In your honor, while shopping @ Sam's Club tonight with my parents and Abram, I snapped this photo. It was funny because on the way over to Sam's I said to Abram, "I haven't taken one picture today, what am I going to blog about?!" Apparently, these gummi bears were calling me over and asked me to take a picture for Janae :) Wish I could send both bags to ya girl!
On a healthier note, this morning I mixed up a strawberry and banana smoothie with vanilla protein. I also had a bag of Honey Sunshine cereal while at work. Today was so beautiful and sunny, Mandi and I decided to skip the gym and run OUTSIDE. We ran in a lot of traffic, but it was actually really refreshing. I love looking around and seeing new things when I run. A change of location makes my run so much easier. After our run I went over to my parents and we obviously had a little too much fun at Sam's Club. Even my dad & mom joined in :)

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Dad loves his sweedish fish. I remember when we were kids he would keep a box of them in his truck and my sister Toni and I would always sneak out and eat some!! Mom knows her way into my heart, marshmallow-y delicious Lucky Charms. I also found these ENORMOUS pickles, they are for you Snooki! BTW, have you seen the size of my arm muscle? Looks like I'm showing some progress from all the weight training!! After our fun at Sam's, we realized we were hungry so we went to a local Pizza Shop and ate some dinner. I had a giant grilled chicken salad. It was YUUUMMMY~I even have leftovers for tomorrow! Well, I'm off to hang out with Mandi & Sarah while Abram mows the lawn and watches manly tv shows. TGIF!!

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Don't worry, none of this food was harmed (or bought) in the process of these pictures being taken. I am sure Sam's was thrilled with our company!!

Question: Do you take random pictures with food in stores/restaurants? Do people look at you funny?
 
 
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Last night's cake decorating class was a lot of fun!! We learned a bunch of basic stuff, but there were tips & tricks I never knew!! After our lesson, she had us practice our icing "stars" on cookies. How do mine look? I already have big ideas on how I am going to decorate the next cake I bake!! Next class I am excited for! We will be learning a really cool transferring technique I never knew existed. Stay tuned and I will share the secret with you next week after class!!
This morning I woke up at 5am, staaarrvvinngg. I have no idea why. I told myself if I can't fall back asleep then I am waking Abram up and making him take me to the Waffle Shop for a big ol stack of pancakes!! I eventually drifted back to sleep and woke up to my alarm at 7am. For breakfast today I made 2 egg whites with mushrooms and red pepper. On the side I had a morning star sausage patty.

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Work today was painful. We didn't have internet which meant no Pandora Radio for us. We had to listen to CD's....not very good ones either. It also took about 2 minutes for each credit card transaction to go thru. I was happy to go home to the sunshine and Misha's loving face when the clock hit 4:30. Today is my "no run" day, so while we were waiting to meet my parents for dinner, I jump roped outside for a couple minutes. I wanted to see what kind of workout it gave me. A 26 year old jump roper = HEADACHE. Guess I will need to find a new way to jump rope. Maybe a soft mat or something to jump on? Any ideas?
We met my parents at Red Lobster for dinner. I had Tilapia, wild rice, broccoli, salad and a biscuit. It was very good! My mom and I originally were going to attempt to challenge each other to a shrimp eating contest (I said I could eat more than her) but after thinking about it, I decided to forfeit and let her win! Maybe I could challenge here to a jelly bean eating contest?

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After dinner we went tanning & grocery shopping. We hit up Weis and Wegman's. I am starting to hate Weis, their produce and other stuff is no good and the prices are SKY ROCKETING! But I did find these sweet babies, and I think all of my dreams might have came true......They were ENORMOUS. Look at em! They are as big as my head. I can't wait to host a bon-fire!! Well, Abram and I are off to watch some tv before bed. Have a great night!

Question: What is your favorite size marshmallow? Mini, large or JUMBO?

 
 
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First off, this is my new friend. His name is Fillip. Sarah brought him back for me from Florida. Isn't he sweet? Misha instantly wanted to rip his face off, that is obviously not allowed. She learned quickly that it was mommy's toy, not hers!
Today I worked a short day, and after my shift ended I got pampered. Megan gave me highlights and Christine painted my toes~sea foam green!!! It's from the new Pirates of the Caribbean OPI line! We also just got this new product in called GROH. It's a supplement that helps your hair and nails grow faster/longer/thicker. We were all pretty excited to start this and see how quickly it makes a difference! I will be sure to keep you updated on the progress!

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Don't get too distracted by the extremely attractive picture to your left. It takes a lot of talent to look this hot :) After I washed this hot mess outta my hair, I went for a run outside. It was sooo windy and sooo cold. I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to run out there today. I think the wind slowed down my time a bit. Is that possible? It was blowing really hard. It took me 19 minutes today. Maybe it was the jelly beans that slowed me down? Who knows.

So anyways, tonight I start my cake decorating class at Michael's. Hopefully I will be able to take some pictures without the other people thinking I'm some kind of freak!! Abram has requested pasta with meat sauce tonight, so I am off to make an early dinner and get ready for my class.

Before I sign off, I just got a very important piece of information....KIWI Frozen Yogurt now offers Angel Food Cake flavored yogurt. I'm gonna try and drag Abram there at some point this weekend :) This sounds like it could be my new FAV!

Question: What is your favorite frozen yogurt flavor? Do you think wind can slow down your running speed?

 
 
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This was last nights dinner. Honey teriyaki chicken, red peppers and steamed rice. It was really good. I didn't follow the instructions on the packet, I kind of made it my own. After dinner we went for a walk with Misha, and since the leaves started blooming again, those stinky white trees fill up our street. If you know what smell and what tree I am talking about.....you know how horrible the smell actually is. The sad part is, the tree itself is so pretty, what a waste making it smell so horrible. Every five seconds I kept saying "PHHEEWW!" and turning my nose up. I think Abram had enough of me by the time we got home!!

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This morning I woke up and couldn't decide what to eat for breakfast. Lately, I haven't been hungry for anything in particular, just hungry. So I decided on an english muffin with one side covered in peanut butter, the other in apple butter. On the side I had a banana and I smeared that with some peanut butter too!
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It hit the spot. After my breakfast I went for a run outside. The weather was perfect for it, and I wasn't feelin the treadmill today. I ran a sort of new route, and I was hoping it would be a little longer than normal but it ended up only being 2 miles. I did it in 18 minutes, so still did pretty well I'd say. I came home and decided I wanted a huge fruit salad, so I ran some errands and ended up at Wegman's. I had planned on getting fruit off of their salad bar, but it would have cost me an arm and a leg (I need my legs for running) so instead, I decided to buy the fruit myself and just cut it up! I got a small watermelon for $2.99, TWO POUNDS of strawberries for $2.49 (with a $1 off coupon) grapes and apples. I am addicted to watermelon in the summer. I can go thru like 3 a week myself. I can't wait to dig in!!!

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I also bought some of this delicious goodness. It was my first time having it, but I've had the cinnamon raisin swirl, so I know the brand is good stuff :) Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Question: What is your FAVORITE summer fruit?

 
GOALS* 05/02/2011
 
Hello Everyone! I don't have a lot to blog about today. This particular Monday was very uneventful. I woke up, and watched the news while I ran 2 miles. I also saw this on Facebook: Sarah says: Fun fact for the day: On May 1, 1945 it was announced that Hilter was dead. 66 years later to the day, Osama Bin Laden is dead. Ironic how history repeats itself. Isn't that an interesting piece of history? I think so! After my run I got ready for work, I only worked til 2pm. Since it was still sort of nice out, I took a quick run around the neighborhood, 1 mile in 8 minutes. Not too shabby! Last night Abram watched his "man" shows while I worked on my pushups & planks, then I read a little and went to bed.
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I've decided I need to buy at least 2 more BIC BANDS, I feel like I am alllwwaayyys wearing this zebra one. And though I love it, I've noticed a lot of my blog pics are of me wearing it. I swear people, I do shower and wear normals clothes most days!
So, last week I mentioned that I was going to challenge myself to pushups and a few other things. Here is what my challenges look like....
By May 24th I want to be able to:
*Do 35 pushups
*Bench 65lbs
*Do 5 sets of 10-Squats
*Do a plank straight thru for 2 minutes
*Run 4.5 miles straight thru once a week
*Do 1 pull-up
Right now I am able to do 20 pushups straight thru, bench 50lbs, do 3 sets of 10-squats, my longest plank has been 1 minute 30 seconds, longest run straight thru I think was 3.2 miles, and ZERO pull ups. Those are the killer. For me to be able to do ONE would be amazing! I am confident I will be able to accomplish these goals and more!
At work, I got a sample of this stuff to rub on my sore hamstring. It seems to be working!

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Well, I am off to read some more of my book before Abram gets home from the gym. I think a Kindle would be a good investment, don't you think? Abram told me he wants tools for his car for our ONE YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY on June 5th! Think I should ask for a Kindle or an iPad touch?

Question: Do you have a list of goals that you set for yourself? What would you consider a "perfect" anniversary gift?
 
Lazy Sunday 05/01/2011
 
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Here's dinner last night. We picked up some fish and fresh produce from Wegman's for dinner. There are 2 kinds of fish, one is Panko & Macadamia nut crusted, the other is herb seasoned. I liked the Panko fish better. On the side are roasted green beans with garlic and sweet potato fries. It was alright, nothing special. Last night after dinner we watched the movie 127 Hours. It was a an okay movie, again, nothing special. I slept good last night, I was tired from my race & I even got a little sun burnt!
This morning I woke up refreshed and ready to go! We dropped off some cupcakes that I baked for my friend's daughter's birthday. Happy Birthday Saiyuri-she turns 4 today!! The cupcakes were just plain, no icing. The kids wanted to decorate them on their own! I got Saiyuri a pinata making kit, a Toy Story book, some sidewalk chalk and animal crackers (I also got a box of them for myself, Abram said I was such a child!!)
At the gym I ran 3.2 miles on the treadmill and lifted weights for 30 minutes. My hamstring feels a little tight today, I hope that goes away quick. I grabbed a couple of forms (for Mandi and I) while leaving the gym to sign up for another race on Memorial Day~4 miles this time! Instant addiction! After the gym I was exhausted. We ate some lunch and then we agreed to go in the bedroom so Abram could watch TV and I would read. Let's just say I read my book for about 10 minutes before falling into a deep sleep. 2 hours later I woke up and ate jelly beans in bed!! Nothing gets better than that!
We went to my parent's house for dinner and had Steak, baked potatoes, broccoli & cauliflower! My mom also randomly bought some cheese and apple butter from a local shop here in town and she had me dipping my cheese in apple butter. It was actually quick yummy~she even sent me home with a jar!

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It was my first time eating apple butter! What other things can I put this delicious spread on? Suggestions? Nothing else happened today, it was uneventful. I got sucked into Lifetime movies with my mom, they are so good to watch on Sundays when nothing else is on TV. Abram and I are home now, I feel like finishing my book and just continuing the lazy theme for the night. Maybe tomorrow will be an eventful day! I'm sad the weekend is over though.....

Question: What day is typically your "lazy day" Do you nap?
 
 
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Today was the 5k Dog Jog! Mandi was running with Juno and Misha was watching from the sidelines, cheering me on the whole time! I was a little nervous before the race, but it was amazing. I finished at 29 minutes and 25 seconds! I was so extremely proud of myself, I set a goal to finish under 30 minutes and I did!!! After I it was all done, Mandi and I could not stop smiling. Talk about runners high! We were instantly hooked. We are already talking about doing another and more miles this time! Our next goal is a 10k!!

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Those names you see on my arm are the doggies that supported me in my race. Honey & Heather, Ziva & Lisa, Red & Megan, Mom & Ruby, Princess/Fiskerton & Beth, and of course, Misha! Thank you all for donating!! It was cold this morning so I had to run with my Northface on. But at the end, I ripped that sucker off!
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Here I am :) Running all the way to the finish line. All those weeks I worried about not being able to make it the whole way....I never once wanted to stop. I could have kept going to be honest with you, as I kept passing people, my motivation got higher and higher. I had THE BIGGEST smile the last mile of the race. What a fun morning! After we were done, Mandi and I headed out to celebrate. We grabbed a couple beers and sat ourselves down to lunch. Huge plate of veggies, an egg roll & perogies! We even sat outside to eat, by the time the race was over it was at least 70 degrees! After lunch we went shopping (I got a dress & pair of jeans) then got Kiwi Frozen Yogurt. It was Mandi's first time! I had the normal concoction of birthday cake & peanut butter with raspberries, pretzels, strawberries, yogurt chips, cake bites, cookie dough and reeses pieces!! I deserved the extra toppings today, don't ya think?! I'm off to enjoy the rest of my Saturday :)

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Question: After your first race, did you instantly become addicted and want to run another?
 
 
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Abram and I got some new flips flops! (please ignore that I need a pedicure extremely bad, I promise to get one after the 5k this Saturday) Summer here we come! They were buy one, get one half off so we got his and hers. And yes, he did also get a pair of sneakers. Finally!! TGIF everyone! Today has been extremely busy for us. I had a strawberry banana vanilla protein powder smoothie for breakfast and a pumpkin Kashi bar for snack around 10am. I got done with work early today, and from there we had a million things to do before tonight....
Gym first. I ran 2 miles in 19 1/2 minutes on the treadmill, then lifted weights for 30 minutes with Abram. We ran home and grabbed a quick lunch! 2 egg whites with mushrooms, morning star sausage patty, and 2 pieces of pesto bread (I was eating one while taking this picture, haha) Sorry folks, it can't wait, it needs to go into my mouth instantly.

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I also received this package on lunch!! MY BOOKS :) I read like a teenager! I got 2 more of my Pretty Little Liars series, Sex & The City book #2 and Carrots 'n' Cake!! I have lots of reading to do this summer, I wonder how long it will take me to read all of these.....
After a quick lunch we met my dad at the high school. Tonight Abram and I are helping him with an oldies concert that his police group throws every spring. We have to set up and take down equipment, run the spot light on the show, etc. And when I say "we" I meant mostly Abram. Because obviously I'm not there helping now, I ran home to "let out the dog" and here I am blogging. Whoops. They won't need me back for a while...I hope.
Tomorrow is my 5k run for Pets Come First. Please all wish me (and Mandi) luck and send me any tips or motivators for tomorrow's run!! I would appreciate it! I know I promised you my exercise challenges in today's post, but I need to go back and help~my husband just sent me a text wondering where I was at. Time goes fast when your blogging :) Have a great night! I will update tomorrow on how my 5k went~I will have plenty of pictures!! Oh, and P.S. Adopt a Pet!

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Question: What are your favorite books to read? Series? Authors?
 
 
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First a big thank you to my good friend Colin for bringing me one of my most favorite things in the whole entire world. Pesto bread. This bread is so delicious people. The insides are swirled with ooey gooey pesto, and the top is covered in asiago cheese. Mmmm mmmm! I only get this a few times a year (and usually it's only a 1/2 loaf) but today I was lucky and Colin brought me my own loaf. LOVE YOU COL!!!! Thanks!
This morning was a quick breakfast of Honey Sunshine Kashi cereal again. But I was HUNGRY by the time lunch rolled around. Today I had a large green apple, cinnamon raisin bagel thin, and carrots. Work was suuuuper slow today. I guess people were out enjoying the sunshine and flowers!!

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These flowers are growing in my front yard! If I remember correctly, they won't last too long, so enjoy em now!!! Abram and I planned on making nachos tonight, but I needed a red pepper. So when Mandi went to Wegman's on lunch, she picked me up this beauty:
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She almost weighed a good solid pound. I think it might also be as big as my head!! After work I got home and read my book in the sun a little before Abram got here. We made our dinner and I was NOT shy about stacking my nachos high to the sky. These were a good version of nachos you can get at a restaurant, but waaaayyy healthier!
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Abram is currently laying on the couch opposite of me in a food coma. Lucky him though, I'm gonna make him get up and go to the mall with me!! He desperately needs a new pair of sneakers. I am sick of looking at his ratty old Adidas! I'm a good wife, I make my husband pretty!! Thursday is our skip day on working out (although I do lift my tiny 8lb weight here at home, with some planks and pushups) Speaking of pushups, I was motivated by Janae at Hungry Runner Girl to challenge myself to do an extreme amount of pushups. My next post will consist of my challenges for myself on working out!! See ya tomorrow!! Happy T.G.I.F!! Oh, and thanks for the note Sarah, we love you too (My friend and co-worker, Sarah, is visiting my sister in Florida right now, lucky girl!!)

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Question: Do you set goals/challenges for yourself and your workouts? In life?
 
Big Balls :) 04/27/2011
 
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You've got sick minds people! These big balls that I'm referring too are the strawberry cake ball truffles I made yesterday for Megan. I was running out of white chocolate, so I decided to make one BIG ball especially for Megan. Isn't it beautiful? It made her tummy hurt (in a good way) I even put hearts on it to show my love for her :) Isn't she cute?

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After the cake balls were made and put away, I decided to spend some QT in the sun with my book....(don't make fun of my book choice, I happen to be obsessed with Pretty Little Liars on ABC and they make a book series! I am on book number 5) I think I even got some sun while I was sitting out there~PA sun doesn't tan my skin too easily! I'm more of a Florida girl!!
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Oh and also, I am very ghetto. I pulled my kitchen table chairs outside to sit on because we have no patio furniture. Well, we do but it's a high top table and 2 high chairs, I desperately need a lounge chair. I will be on the hunt for one before this summer!!

Wednesday morning I woke up, and instantly knew I was not feeling like running today. But, as all other days, I know I just need to get a quick run out of the way and I will feel better. So, I procrastinated by making breakfast first: 2 egg whites with sauteed mushrooms, morning star sausage patty, and an english muffin. Then ran my 2 miles on the treadmill. Now I am off to tan and babysit my cousins for a couple hours while my cousin Gina drops off some balloons to her sister in law Sarah who just had a baby girl. Congratulations Sarah, baby Alyssa is beautiful!!!
P.S. Everyone wish Miss Julie at PB Fingers a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Question: Do you ever wake up & not want to work out? Do you do it anyways, or skip? 
 
Honey Sunshine 04/26/2011
 
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Woke up to this.....and this.....
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Abram always puts her in bed with me before he gets in the shower. We snuggle for about 10 minutes, then I get up and make coffee. She sleeps til 8am, then Abram takes her to work. She's got a tough life :) After Abram & Misha took off, I went to the park to practice running outside~the 5k is in 4 days and I need to master my outdoor running skills. I ran around twice (2 miles) then came home and did a loop around the neighborhood. Not too bad, but still think I need more practice. As soon as I got home I jumped in a cold shower, it felt good. I was HOT. For breakfast I ate Kashi Honey Sunshine cereal. It was my first time having it, and I must say it was very good! I haven't had cereal in a few weeks. Now I am watching my DVR'd episode of 90210 (I'm obsessed, I love this show) After this I gotta finish up my Strawberry Cake Ball Truffles for Megan. Have a great Tuesday!

Question: What is your favorite cereal? Favorite breakfast food?
 
Random Monday... 04/25/2011
 
I don't have a lot of pictures for you today, so I decided to start today with some randomness. Abram and I noticed the other day that Misha knows a select few words. Any time she hears them, her ears perk up and she gets excited *she also gets excited when she hears a yogurt cup being scraped on the bottom, she knows that she can lick it soon* Here are the words Misha knows:
Rides
Treats
Bones
Walks
"Poods" aka Food
"Na-Nights" aka Bedtime
"Sides" aka Outside
We also noticed that all of the words have S's on the end~say any of these words and she is instantly your best friend. Hope you enjoyed my randomness today, there will be more in the future.

This morning I woke up to sunshine :) We even turned the heat off. I hope it's for good! I ran 2 miles on the treadmill (18 minutes) while watching Audrina. I made a strawberry/banana smoothie for breakfast and snacked on a Fruit & Nut Kind Bar. My smoothie was really small today. After work I came home and took Misha to the park to run. We ran the loop one time, which was 1 mile (I'm pretty sure we did it in 9 minutes, even with her potty breaks) She is tough to run with, but she did exceptionally well today. She was exhausted afterwards, poor puppy. No wonder, it was 81 degrees! No complaints here.
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After our run, I prepped dinner and I started on Megan's strawberry cake ball truffles. I also decided to make Abram and I a sweet treat for dessert. Healthified Strawberry Shortcake! I promise to post the recipe. Dinner was delicious, grilled chicken, zucchini & green beans. I covered the veggies in garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil and red pepper flakes and baked them at 450 degrees for about 10 minutes. Soooo good! 
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Don't mind my hunched back, I have wonderful posture. My dad says so! I am crumbling up the strawberry cake and tossing it in the bowl to mix up with cream cheese frosting for the cake balls. Gonna be YUMMY. Hope Megan eats em all and falls over into a food coma and can't cut hair tomorrow. JUST KIDDING MEGAN, LOVE YA! After dinner & some playing in the kitchen, we went downtown to tan. I couldn't wait to get home and eat my strawberry shortcake. Everyone have a good night :)

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Question: Do you ever run with your dog? Do you find it difficult or easy?
 
Happy Easter! 04/24/2011
 
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Happy Easter everyone! Hope you all had a great day with your family! We sure did! Abram and I woke up bright and early, ate breakfast and then went to the gym. I had a great workout today. I ran 3.6 miles (intervals again-with the highest speed being 8.0) and then lifted weights. I think I am getting stronger, I am able to do more/heavier weights!! We left the gym and Abram said "I think I'm drunk off fitness!" That quote totally made my day. We both agreed that we had an awesome workout, we love our Sunday gym days.
We got home and had our protein shakes. Then I made carrot casserole to bring to Easter dinner which was held at my cousin Gina's house. Today was warm~a little rain came down but it wasn't horrible.
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At Gina's we drank mimosas while the girls opened up their Easter baskets. Candy, bubbles & more candy!! The girls of course had to sample one of everything, their favorite being the M&M's.
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For dinner we had smoked salmon, ham, green beans, carrot casserole, pickled eggs, brussel sprouts, potato salad, sweet potatoes, and scalloped potatoes. We have 2 vegetarians in my family so we go heavy on the veggies/side dishes.
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That's Abram's plate. His was sooo much prettier than mine, and well balanced. After dinner we had Italian pound cake that my Aunt Mary made and some fruit salad. Everyone enjoyed the cake ball pops and were amazed at my baking skillz :) Even Koko!
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Yummm yum! I didn't even eat any candy til after we got home, and it wasn't as amazing as I anticipated it being. Maybe I've just weened myself off of it, which I suppose is a good thing! Now I feel another challenge, I'm just not sure what it'll be yet. I have exactly one month til I can eat my beloved Nutella again! I hope it still tastes as good as it did when I gave it up....
Well, I hope you all had a great Easter. We just took Misha for a walk and now it's time to do laundry.
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I love little kid kisses, always open mouthed :) xoxo

Question: What did you all do for Easter? Eat anything good?
 
 
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This is what Misha did all day while I worked. Such a hard life she lives.
I woke up super early this Saturday morning, but I had lots to do before heading to work. I rolled out all my cake ball pops and stuck the sticks in em. These are A LOT of work.....cute.....but a lot of work. After I got outta work I headed home to make dinner & finish up my cake ball pops. For dinner we had perch (fish) I baked it in the oven with garlic salt, pepper & parsley. On the side we had lima beans & garden vegetable rice. Quick and easy!

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Misha spied on us from around the corner. She was eating her food, but was making sure we didn't drop any of ours. She might as well pull up a chair and sit, she eats everything we eat anyways :)
After dinner I spent about and hour & a half on the cake balls. I hope Helena & Tiya like them! I have to make these again on Tuesday, but this time I am making strawberry ones for my friend Megan at work. She gave up a crazy amount of stuff for Lent and her first request are these (along with Mt Dew, McDonald's, chocolate, etc) I am honored she likes them that much. Thankfully I won't have to decorate hers like chicks & bunnies!! GREAT JOB MEGAN~your a rockstar!

I can't wait to go to the gym tomorrow. I feel like such a bum on my days off. We will be going super early since I have to come home and make the carrot casserole for Easter dinner. We are eating early, like, lunch time so I won't have a lot of time in the morning. I hope you all have a wonderful Easter!!! I will be indulging on lots of candy since I gave it up til Easter~I think I might sleep with my bag of starburst jellybeans and wake up at midnight to have a snack :)

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Question: Did you give up anything for Lent? How excited are you to eat it tomorrow? Or will you wake up at midnight & start goin crazy?
 
 
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Misha and I are all packed! We are moving somewhere sunny! Florida, South Carolina & Hawaii are my top choices. Since I have family in Florida, guess we'll go there. The reason I'm moving is because it snowed here today. I threatened to move if it snowed again, and when I was at work, I looked out the window, and there is was....SNOW. I called my boss and gave her my "2 minute" notice. She thought I was kidding....

I wish I wasn't kidding. I wish I really could just pack up and leave, BUT I can't. So I stayed here and worked today, went tanning afterwards, then met Abram at the gym.

....Going back to last night, dinner with Mike was great (although the food was kinda awful) He informed me that he is home for his pre-deployment. The Marines are sending him to Afghanistan to fly helicopters. Scary. He will be gone for 7 months, he is so brave! LOVE YOU MIKE!! BE SAFE~remember to check my blog every day while your over there so you know what I am doing :)

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Isn't he adorable? Yes ladies, he is single. How? I don't know. What a charmer!!

I forgot to mention yesterday, while I was at work Mandi surprised me with a waist band that she made. It's for me & her to use while we are running. It will hold my phone...some money...jellybeans...whatever my little heart desires!! Here's an amazing pic of me testing it out while at work, it works pretty great!! If anyone wants to buy one, let me know. I'm pimpin her out:
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Attractive, right? At least I'm having a good time!!!

This post is all over the place. But today I woke up, made a strawberry & banana smoothie with vanilla protein powder and headed to work. Today I made something new for lunch, it was delish. I am so glad I have a toaster oven at work to use everyday, otherwise I would be pretty upset.


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Multi-grain english muffin, sauce, cheese & turkey pepperoni. MINI PIZZA! Yummm. Carrots on the side~I ate most of them before my mini pizza finished. I also had a side of pineapple. There was so much candy in the break room, I had to avoid it all day since I am not allowed eating any of it til SUNDAY....I ran tonight at the gym, I alternated a speed of 4.0 for 1 minute, 6.5 for 2 minutes and 8.0 for 2 minutes. I repeated that a few times and finished it off with running at 6.5. I met Abram up in the weight room after my run and worked on my triceps for a while. He had me doing a bunch of different stuff. Arms=sore.
We came home and made breakfast for dinner. I work all day tomorrow, so I am off to relax. Have a fabulous Friday everyone!! P.S. I

Question: Do you know anyone who has been deployed? How do you keep in touch while they are over seas?
 
 
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Dinner last night was chicken stir fry with broccoli, peas and red peppers. It was so yummy! We steamed white rice this time since the brown rice turned out so horrible last time. Misha fell asleep during dinner. She tries tricking us with her cuteness so we feed her (it works)

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...and this is how last night ended~coffee frozen yogurt. Abram and I went to our local dairy to get milk and the frozen yogurt was calling my name. It was the perfect ending to my day. Do you think frozen yogurt could be considered a food group? I could eat it as a meal!
After we got home, I did my nightly routine of lifting my 8lb weight, pushups & situps on the balance ball. I am posting this blog early because we are going to dinner tonight with an old friend of mine. I have known him for at least 15 years! Wow, I sound old. I'm excited to see him, he is in the Marines and it's been a year or so since we've hung out. If I'm lucky I will get a couple pictures with the stud tonight :) Love ya Mike!! I don't have a lot to say today. Only 1 more day til Friday people!
I will leave you with this inspirational 'handbook to life' I found from one of my favorites blogs!

Question: Is there one food you love so much you could eat it several times a week? Every day 

 
 
This morning I woke up to......SUN :) It was 54 degrees at 8am. I will be wearing open toed shoes thank you very much! This morning was a smoothie morning. I already had a frozen banana waiting for me and about 6 strawberries left~perfect amount for my breakfast!! So, this was my first time using a frozen banana and when I pulled it out of the freezer (peel and all) I asked myself a question: how the heck am I going to peel this thing? Smart Bethany said "let it thaw and use it later, just use a fresh banana" Stupid Bethany said "peel it with a knife!" So, guess which one I chose?
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Yep. Typical. I sliced my finger up. Don't worry no stitches were required and my smoothie was still delicious. I also added some ice and a scoop of vanilla protein powder. Here I am enjoying it at work! Just me & my smoothie....
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It was a slow day at work. After I got done I stopped at Michael's to buy some yellow and white candy melts, I am making spring chicken cake ball pops for my cousins on Easter! How cute are they?!? When I got home, I decided to run outside. It was sooo nice and warm. I ran 2 miles outside (I hoped it was more than that, but I have to realized running outside is a lot harder/different than running on a treadmill) I am satisfied with 2 miles for today. When I walked in the door, literally seconds later it started raining....HARD! I was lucky I didn't get caught in it, I had my phone with me!!

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Looks like a storm is coming our way!!! It didn't last long, about 10 minutes of hard rain and now it's sunny again. Feels like Florida weather, minus the 90 degrees & continuous sunshine!
Just want to give a shout out to Brandy who so kindly let me know this morning that I have motivated her to run again! GO BRANDY! Glad I can be an inspiration :) Oh, and HI TINA (I know your a blog stalker) haha! No seriously, thanks for following!!
Well, Abram and I are having chicken stir fry with lots of veggies and steamed rice. Then we're gonna go get our tan on. GTL ;) minus the G since I ran outside....and the L since I only do Laundry on Sundays. Soooooo....yeahhhh....I will leave you with a couple pics! HAVE A HAPPY WEDNESDAY NIGHT!!! P.S. Is anyone totally sad the Cory and Leah (from Teen Mom 2 are getting divorced?!)
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Question: Have you ever gotten caught in the rain with your cell phone? Gotten hurt doing something you KNOW you shouldn't be doing in the first place?
 
 
Another rainy cold day in PA. I am starting to wonder if I will ever see Spring. Oh well. This morning I had a doctor appointment bright and early. By the time I got home, I was hungry and wanted something quick so I just toasted a cinnamon raisin bagel thin and cut up an apple. Quick, delicious & easy! Then, I ran....it wasn't any fun today. I don't know why, but I was not feelin it today. I was tired and I made the mistake of trying the pre-set interval level on my treadmill. It was going SO SLOW for the first five minutes, I kept thinking, ugh, I could already be a 1/4 of the way done. So I quickly shut it off and started my normal speed of 6.5-7.0~let's blame the bad tude on the rain!
Today is my co-worker Christine's birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRL!! So, I decided to make her Snickerdoodle Blondies!! They are cooling right now, so when I post the recipe later, I will add a good picture. But for now, here are the snickerdoodles in the making :)
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Don't worry people, I didn't lick off the batter (only the extras once those babies were in the oven) You cannot make something this yummy and not taste it!! And also, just an FYI, I don't always wear a sweatshirt and my hair back, but on days when I don't have to work til 2, I'm lazy, OK!

While the blondies were in the oven, I decided to pay my bills. Being a grown up is fun, isn't it?


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I got an exciting package delivered while I was paying my bills. The UPS man even yelled: It's T-Shirt Timmmmme!!!!
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Oh yes, yes I did. I bought a Jersey Shore themed shirt. Now now, don't be jealous! Just go online and buy it @ Forever 21!!! I can't wait to wear this, I'm so pathetic, I know!! Well, that's all for today!! Enjoy your day, I hope it's sunny where your all at :) Soak some of it in for me!!

 
 
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I got my Easter basket one week early! Mom & Dad are going to Kentucky and they will be gone for Easter Sunday, so Abram and I got our treats a lil earlier than normal. Too bad I can't eat that delicious candy til next Sunday! Oh well, only ONE MORE WEEK and it'll taste better than ever! To be honest, since giving it up, I haven't craved it as much. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it'll taste glorious, but, once you stop eating it daily, you stop missing it. I'm glad I had the will power to last!

Monday morning I woke up and decided to get my run out of the way so I could relax after work, but about 1/2 way thru my run the power went out~just completely shut off with no warning and I will tell you this, the treadmill does NOT slow down, it just STOPS. I almost flew forward and hit the wall!!! Slightly scary I must say!! While I ran today I watched Audrina's new show on VH1, it was not as good as I expected. After that was over I watched Khloe & Lamar, again, still not as good as I had hoped. But it passed the time. After my (interrupted) run, I struggled with what I should eat for breakfast. We have no milk, and I wasn't in the mood for eggs so I decided on *cake batter oatmeal* I mean, honestly, can one ever get sick of eating sprinkles? I think NOT! I will add the recipe to my page. It was very filling and yummmmy!

After work I got home to see that my Bic Bands had arrived!! I bought one for me and one for Mandi for our 5k that we are running in next weekend!! So of course I had to try it on and finish up my run in it to make sure it would stay and not slip out of my hair! It is great!! My new favorite headband to run in, and I must say it is stylish!!

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Check it out! (yes, I am watching Sister Wives in the background!!) No shame~I like those pligs!! haha

For dinner tonight, Abram and I are having sloppy joes, vegetables and some BEETS :) Then we are gonna go tanning so we are nice and tan for Florida in June! Have a great night!!

Question: Do you have a favorite headband/hair tie/sports bra etc that you like exercising in?

 
 
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Here she is!! Isn't she beautiful :) I love it. I can't wait to get it back from being sized!! Here is is with my engagement ring:

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It is perfect, thanks Abram :) It's supposed to be my one year anniversary gift a little early, but he says he still wants to get me something else! I am totally okay with that! The more presents, the better!! Last nights dinner and a movie was great!! The dinner was romantic and relaxing! We love going there, it's not overly crowded and it's just so quaint. I ordered 'Scallops al Mario' I have never in my life seen such big scallops, I mean, seriously:
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It was topped with pancetta and asparagus. On the side it came a bowl of spaghetti with vodka sauce. It was so filling. I also had a side salad and bread with olive oil :) After dinner we killed time at the mall before the movie started and I got these cutie shoes....I used to hate boat shoes, but I have been seeing them everywhere lately and decided that I must own a pair....

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Those are Misha's toys behind me: blue bear and little Misha. Abram has amazing photography skills :) Soul Surfer was a good inspirational movie! It's a must see! We went to the bar after the movie and met up with friends for a few drinks and watched Abram's friend's band play.
This morning we woke up and decided to make protein pancakes, we used whole wheat pancake mix, a scoop of vanilla protein powder, water & one egg white. They were ok, the first few he over cooked, so we smothered them in sugar free syrup, and one was left over for Misha!!
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After breakfast we hit the gym & I worked it out. Let me tell you. I am beat. I lifted a lot more weight than I normally do and ran a lot of intervals mixed between 6.5 and 8.5. It was intense, feelin good!! I just finished eating lunch and now I am off to Target to do some shopping for cleaning supplies and such! Dinner at mom & dad's tonight, talk to everyone tomorrow!!

Question: Have you ever ordered seafood and it came out bigger than your head? Were you scared to eat it or excited? :)







 
Good afternoon friends. This day has been extremely rainy & cold & lazy. Butttt, I have exciting news!! I will highlight it for you later, here's how my day has gone so far:
Slept in, ate 2 Van's lite waffles with 2 Morning Star sausages and topped it off with some sugar free syrup, mmm mmm! Then Abram and I went to the salon and brought the girls some Starbucks (they deserve it, they work so hard!) from there we ran to Wal-Mart to get Misha some new dog food, she's been getting sick off the other stuff we got her, poor pup. I made her 2 scrambled eggs this morning, she loved every bite! Then we (I) went tanning and started our venture to look for a wedding band for me. I should have one by know, I realize this, but I just haven't found the *right* one. We went to 2 stores and at the 2nd store, just as I was ready to leave, we found it!!! It's beautiful and fits so well with my Simon G mosaic cut rose, yellow and white gold engagement ring. I can't wait to post pics!!
Leaving the store in full excitement, we realized we were hungry (I tried to bribe him into going to Kiwi and getting frozen yogurt, but he wasn't havin it!) so we went home and made some lunch. I ate this (which is a typical lunch for me, but you never see it, so here it is!)

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It's my most favorite lunch to make. Whole wheat english muffin with ham, cheese & turkey pepperoni all melted/toasted in the toaster oven. It tastes like a mini stromboli. On the side is carrots (I ate most of them before I decided to take the picture) and vanilla cupcake goldfish. One might say I have an obsession with cake flavor, one might be true :) After our lunch I tried to get Abram to watch Vegas Vacation, but he snuck off into the bedroom to take a nap...I followed shortly after. The rain makes it so easy to sleep!
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Tonight we are going to dinner at Mario & Luigi's (a little Italian place) and then off to see Soul Surfer at the movies. The girl in the movie's name is Bethany, can't be a bad movie if the star of it has an awesome name :) After the movie we are meeting up with friends at a bar in town. Abram's friend's band is playing and I even got Janelle to come with me (my bestie from highschool) Talk to ya tomorrow~no workouts today. Saturday is my REST DAY. Tomorrow will be a brutal day at the gym ;)

Question: All you married friends, do you have wedding bands? Or did you wait to find the perfect one?

 
 
This wonderful Friday morning we woke up to sun again! 2 days in a row! How did I get so lucky? I had extra time this morning so I made myself an egg white/spinach/salsa burrito and had an apple on the side. I worked alllllll day and couldn't wait to get out so I could run & eat pulled pork (Abram stuck it in the crock pot this morning!) Mandi and I decided to skip the gym tonight, she wanted to run outside with Juno (her doggie) and I was ok with just running at home on my treadmill. As I was about to leave work I got a call from my mom so I invited her and dad over for pork! Here's what my plate looked like:
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Mmm, I lovvve my Gram's beets :) The pork was super good too~even my mom was impressed with Abram's pork skills! After dinner we watched Two and a Half Men (WINNING) while mom & I snuggled up under the cheetah blanket and facebooked.
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Dad & Ruby hung out and drank beer. *FYI people, I updated my dad's job under my "we are who we are" page, he was very angry I had the wrong job title for him: he works for HIGHWAY SAFETY...NOT Highway Safety PATROL....sooo sorry dad :) He thinks the way I put it makes him sound like he picks up trash from the side of the road, and the only "patrol" he does is going back and forth from his office to the kitchen-he works from home! I tried to convince him that a trip to Atlantic City would be fun tomorrow-he could gamble and I could shop-but he told me it's supposed to rain and I wouldn't outlet shop if it was raining :( Guess I'm stuck here tomorrow, no shopping for me. But I will go tanning....

Off to watch "The Roommate" with Abram~TGIF!!!!!


Question: Would you prefer to go outlet shopping in the rain? Or stay inside nice & warm?

 
 
Today we woke up and the sun was shining!!! So I decided I was going to wear a bright & springy outfit:
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Preeeetttty huh? So then I mixed up a quick smoothie with a slightly frozen banana, frozen blueberries, 1/2 cup of milk and a scoop of vanilla protein powder. It hit the spot! Our shipments come every Thursday so this morning I did inventory and put everything on the shelves. I HATE PEANUTS:
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They are such a hassle & today I ended up making a HUGE mess. It was fun. I love Thursdays! Today was fruit extravaganza day! Mandi brought in a fruit & veggie platter, we pretty much hogged it up before anyone else even got a chance to touch it, whoopsies. No regrets, the pineapple was delish!
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I got home from work & took a quick run-only one mile. Today is supposed to be my day off but I swear if I don't run I get restless leg syndrome and can't sleep at night! I wanted to run more, it was sooo easy today. Abram surprised me when he got home with a new camera card, it's a 32Gb so apparently it holds alottta pictures. I'm sure I can put that to the test! Tomorrow is FRIDAY~yippee!
Question: Do you ever want to run/exercise on your "day off" ?
 
Pets Come First 04/13/2011
 
Another rainy day in PA! I'm counting down the days til our vacation to Islamorada Florida~65 days! I talked to my sister last night on Skype, I haven't seen her since Christmas, that just blows my mind. That's like 4 months! Wayyyyy too long. We talked about her coming home soon though, my Pap is not doing well so she wants to get home as soon as she can, even if it's for a weekend. Hopefully she can afford to take the time off from her new job and not miss any school!
On a happier note, I ran 3.72 miles this morning. I jammed out to some old school rap, closed the blinds so I wouldn't see the ugly weather and watched silently as Robin Roberts danced with Jamie Fox on Good Morning America :) I am going to babysit my cousins around 10:30 this morning, then off to work til 8pm.
So, if you know me well, or not, I will tell you.....I love Dalmatians. I grew up with one named Annabelle (we called her "Sissy") and when I moved out on my own, I got one and her name is Misha. She is the absolute LOVE of my life, and now Abram's. He takes her to work with him everyday (yes his job allows it) and Misha just loves it. In fact, I think she loves him more now than she loves me. Go figure. So, this is what Misha was up to last night:
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She loves eating anything but her own dog food. Abram feeds himself, then Misha, himself, then Misha. Bite for bite. Maybe that's why she loves him more.....
Speaking of pets, Mandi and I are running the 5k Dog Jog for Pets Come First on April 30th. This will be our first 5k and we are both excited/nervous. Abram's co-worker made this amazing poster to send around:

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Isn't that the sweetest thing? I have a few pledges right now, thank you Heather, Lisa & Megan. The pets thank you too! I'm off to enjoy my baby cousins Helena and Tiya! Have a great Wednesday!!

Question: Do you feed your dog table scraps? Any advice for first time 5k'ers?
 
 
Yes, it's raining here again today. Also, the temperature has dropped significantly since yesterday! Guess I can put my open toed shoes away again....
This morning inside however was a success! I made a yummy breakfast except the whole time I was making it I kept thinking I left something out. I realized what that something was while I was in the shower. I forgot the sausage. Oh well, next time!!

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I made an egg white with spinach and salsa wrap with a cut up McIntosh apple. That funny looking pumpkin in the background is my water. Yes I am a child and I also drink with a straw. We have 3 of these pumpkin cups floating around the house. Abram would always use the one at my mom's house when we went over there, so as a joke she bought him a few. Now it's basically the only cup we drink from (there is also a Disney Princess cup we drink from sometimes too, of course it is also plastic)
Before breakfast I ran 3.6 miles on the treadmill and did some sit ups on the balance ball. I work late tonight so I decided to make some grilled chicken to take on a salad tonight for dinner. I also made Abram a piece so he doesn't have to make frozen chicken nuggets (that is his go to meal when I work late) While looking in the fridge I realized that all of my funfetti granola bars were gone-GASP! We went thru them in 3 days (when I say "we" I mean "I") so I made another pan of those. When I find something I REALLY like I can't stop eating it. Example: I was eating Starburst Jellybeans like they were going out of style for like 3 weeks. One day I realized, that's it. I NEED to stop. So, I gave up candy til Easter. The first week was hard, but now it's like I never even had the addiction. My next move is to give up Nutella for a few weeks. It's insane how many jars of that stuff I go thru. So, the next time I will consume Nutella will be....MEMORIAL DAY! Think I can do it??
Question: When you realize you are over-doing something, do you pump the brakes?
 
 
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Dinner was...delicious. Despite the many mistakes I made through out the cooking process! I made chicken and broccoli with steamed brown rice. My recipe calls for soy sauce, as I am dumping all the ingredients in and add the chicken I realize....this is not soy sauce, this is worcestershire sauce. Greeeeaaat. But Abram saved the day and rinsed the chicken off and I started over. Problem solved. So then, I steamed my brown rice in the rice cooker, and go to get my serving, sit down and take a bite....the rice is as hard as a rock. It was horrible, what a disaster. So I ended up only eating the chicken & broccoli, which was still good on it's own. Sheesh! I should just made Abram take me out to dinner :)
Another mistake I learned today. I did not have my blog set up properly. So now, I think it is. I hope it is. At least I see a comment box on here now. Thanks for the friendly help from one of my favorite blogs, Hungry Runner Girl! So comment away people!!
On another note, when I got done with my meeting today at work, I went on over to Michael's craft store and signed up for the basic cake decorating class that starts in May! I am excited! Came home and it was sooo warm and nice out I took another run. Total miles for the day: 4! My right knee is still a little sore so I iced it with my cooling ice mask for headaches-classy I know. Talk to ya'll tomorrow! Thanks for being my blogging friends ;)

Question: Do you ever make silly mistakes while cooking/baking?

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