Is everyone excited about  it being New Years Eve??

Jason and I had our first kiss on this exact day, four years ago! I can’t believe it’s been that long…feels like it was just yesterday

How are you guys going to celebrate? Be safe out there!

This morning I started out with a 45 minute power vinyasa flow from yogadownloads.com It was heavenly! And I even tried a few poses that I’d never tried before! OH and guess what? I have perfected my side crows pose! Remember, that was one of my goals from the Lululemon party

I’ll show you guys a pic soon!

Breakfast was had after my yoga session:

Pb and J toast with banana on top (I challenged myself to do 3,1-minute plank holds while these were toasting ) along with a huge mug of green tea – still no coffee for me!

I tried not to keep myself busy today, you know..fill up my schedule to the point where I don’t even have a minute to sit down? I took my time getting ready this morning, puttering around the house. I even sat down on the couch for an hour of tv watching, but all of the things I needed to do where in the back of my mind – therefore, I couldn’t relax until I had them done!

Before leaving to run some errands, I ate the rest of the leftover Indian food, as well as the rest of the leftover mashed potatoes Lots of leftovers! Just trying to do my part and eat some of them up!

Nom nom nom. It was yummy. I’m sad to see it go Hehe. I can always make more!

After lunch, I took Jason’s car for an oil change. I then proceeded to go to the mall to see if I could find any cute sweaters…no luck. Is it just me, or Forever21 a bit overwhelming?? Their items are all over the place! Everytime I go in there I do a walk-thru and just look around at some of the items. Then I do a second walk-thru and pick out things that catch my eye. I love that store. The clothes are so cute and playful

I was tired of being out in the crowd (I guess everyone is shopping for a New Years Eve outfit?? ) so I came back home. Not really sure if it’s the no-coffee thing or the cloudy sky outside, but I feel so sleepy! 

Trixie has been having a hard time with her illness. She wakes me up at all hours of the night hacking and coughing Poor pup.

I love her so. Jason and I plan on taking her back to the vet as soon as we have the money. The first two visits kind of tapped us dry. I feel bad that I can’t get her the medical attention she needs…like I’m a bad “parent” or something. Vet visits are so expensive though, and I don’t even have a job right now.

Anywho, I’ll keep you updated.

A pear and homemade granola bar was had while lounging on the couch.

"I spy with my little eye..."

So ripe and juicy! Yummy

As of right now, I am sitting on the couch..nodding off every now and then…while waiting for Jas to come home from work in 20 minutes. I have no idea what we are doing to celebrate New Years. We’ve tossed around the idea of going out to eat, or just staying home and having a date night IN.

I figure if I am going to go vegan, it wouldn’t be fair to try it for a week without eating out at least once. So, either today or tomorrow I will be eating out as a vegan and blogging about that experience. If we don’t go out tonight, we will surely be having “Spicy Tempeh Stir-Fry” for dinner. Here is an old pic of it:

*Sometimes we replace the tempeh with beans, still delicious!*

Well guys, I hope you have a great New Years Eve Please be safe and responsible out there! You going to make any new years resolutions???

I’ll see you in 2011 Have fun!

Ugh. I’ve had a pretty cool weekend, but my stupid camera is doing weird things! So no pics of any of it Every time I would try to snap a picture it would cut off! So then I would charge the batteries, but they refuse to charge. So…RAWR. Maybe it’s because we’ve had them for the past 5 years and they are finally just dying on us…never to be brought back to life again *Sniff Sniff* Boo hoo!

Anywho, guess what?!

I got me some glasses <–I’m meaning to use bad grammar by the way

Whatcha think?? You like? Don’t worry. The sticker on the left lens is temporary! Hehe

It took me over an hour to find a pair that I thought were semi-cute. And these were it. So there you have it

Oh and I was also able to take a picture of the most fantastic dinner I’ve ever made. Friday night was deemed Southern Dinner Night for two reasons:

1. I wanted southern comfort food.
2. I wanted southern comfort food.

But the “healthy” version of course!

On the menu for our southern fare (said in a southern drawl):

Cajun Black-Eyed Peas and Greens (source)

• 1 (14 oz.) can black-eyed peas
• 2  teaspoons  canola oil
• 2/3  cup  chopped onion (1 medium)
• 1/2  cup  chopped red bell pepper (1/2 medium)
• 10  garlic cloves, pressed
• 1  (1-pound) package chopped fresh collard greens
• 2  teaspoons  Cajun seasoning
• 1  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1  (32-ounce) carton fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1  bay leaf

Boil potatoes in a large pot of water, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender and break easily. Drain. Using potato masher, mash potatoes. Add milk, butter, salt and pepper. Stir and serve.

Vegetarian Brown Gravy

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 can vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper

Preparation

Add all ingredients into a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir, cook until mixture thickens, stirring frequently.

And last but not least: The cornbread!

• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1 cup yellow corn meal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 Tbsp. melted butter
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix together wet ingredients into a bowl, dry ingredients into another. Combine all ingredients together. Spray 8 inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Pour ingredients into pan, baking for 20 minutes at 450 degrees. Let cool. Serve hot with butter.

Oh. my. fanny.

This meal was the most delicious southern meal I think I’ve ever eaten. Not to toot my own horn or anything but………………TOOT TOOT! And there wasn’t any meat! Even without meat, the meal was very filling. All of the flavors went together so perfectly. Here is my plate!

Times this plate by 2 please Making the cornbread with honey really gives it a sweet and savory taste. I will definitely be making this meal again soon!

That’s all I was able to capture with the camera :/

If you must know, I spent Saturday volunteering a YMCA fundraiser and then went on a 3.5 mile run with Jason. He and Trixie had a snuggle session in the kitchen this morning:

I’m not really sure what is with our dog. This morning we wanted to eat outside so we took her out there with us. There is a tree over our house (resulting in bad lighting!) and the acorns fall onto the roof making a loud popping noise. Trixie is scared to death of loud noises. This morning she jumped when it happened and at first I thought it was a little funny because she’s such a scaredy dog, but then I saw that she was trembling uncontrollably from it Poor dog! She then started to hide under our chairs and table, almost knocking us and the table over! So we took her back in and ate in peace

That’s pretty much it for my weekend! I’m off to go buy batteries for the camera! And next time you see me, I’ll be inviting you in to take a look at my dojo!

Hope you guys had have (it’s not over yet!) a wonderful weekend! Thanks for all of the kind words on the last post

It’s been a busy, but fun weekend! Jason and I started our weekend by having a date night on Friday.

(Is it possible to look cute while chomping on a tortilla chip that’s almost as big as your face? Probably not. But I can still try!)

–the handsome date–

Just look at that game face. I’m about to DESTROY that froyo fo’ sho’.

After our date, we traveled back home to lounge on the couch and watch a few episodes of LOST, Season 6. This is our first time seeing it! The only thing I don’t like about the “last seasons” of any show, is that the writers feel the need to fill us in on everything we already know! Some of the episodes have been cheesy and mushy. Like, why reiterate Sayid’s love for Nadia? We already know they love each other! LOL, I guess I’m just impatient. I just assume the people who are sitting down to watch the last season have already seen the other seasons too! I digress

Saturday morning we woke up in a fog. Er, I mean to a fog

We may have had some sleepy morning weather, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been sleeping well! For some reason, these past few nights I’ve slept very lightly, waking up at 7:30 or 8 What’s up with that?!

Sleepy weather calls for early morning candles

Ahhh, my first pumpkin candle of the season! Hooray!

While Jason lay snoozing (lucky guy) I decided to go ahead and start on breakfast. Blueberry Almond Coffee Cake!

Oh wait. We are out of blueberries and brown sugar. Boo Then I guess it’ll just be a coffee cake!

..with a nice dose of cinnamon sprinkled on top! Yummy! The smells in the kitchen were amazing. Cinnamon, pumpkin, bread and coffee…oh my!

The recipe is under my ‘Recipe’ tab at the top of the page. Just take out the blueberries and brown sugar to make it a plain coffee cake

That’s when Jason came lolling out of the bedroom. I guess he couldn’t resist the smells either

The star of breakfast this morning:

My two favorite guys. Oh, how I love them

3 slices of coffee cake smothered in pb&j + a sliced pear + a cup of coffee = Filling and delicious breakfast!

(Can I get an ‘Amen’ for the return of pears? Amen.)

After breakfast, it was homework time. Jason sat at the computer all day doing his engineering stuff and I sat on the couch doing my chemistry stuff, that was the majority of our morning!

Lunch came and went, nothing worth blogging about though! Just a Morningstar burger with leftover green beans and 2 homemade cookies for dessert.

–Oh, and have I mentioned that I now have to bribe my dog just to get her to go for a walk? Trixie has become a very lazy, unmotivated dog these past few months. She never wants to go for walks. Ever. After making sure that nothing was physically wrong with her, I decided that she just needed a little motivation.–

After all, don’t we all get stuck in an exercise rut every now and then?

Alright. In order to do this, I’m going to have to play dirty. I go to the store and buy a bag of steak-tasting treats and drive back home. Trixie greets me once I come into the door. I let her smell inside of the bag, put her leash on her and take her on a walk down the street. The bag stays under my arm the entire time. Welp, that took care of that. Trixie is walking just like usual. Sniffing things, going to the bathroom, pulling me along just like the old times. 

She still stares at the bag from time to time, so once we reach our turn-around spot, I give her a treat. It’s been 6 months since she has walked willingly like this!

I know, I know. It’s a food bribe, but I have to do what I have to do! I can’t have my dog lying around forever and ever. She’s got to get some exercise! I’ve decided that I’m going to use the treats only for when she walks, and after 6 weeks of giving them to her, I’m going to see if she will walk without them. Wish me luck!

Moving on…

Dinner time quickly arrived and I’m thinkin my itch for a great Mexican meal hadn’t been scratched just yet…Mexican food was heavy on my mind, and my taste buds were saying “Yes, please!”

Corn and Cheese Enchiladas

These are so easy to make! All you need is the following:

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Stack tortillas, wrap in foil and bake until softened, 8 to 10 minutes.

While tortillas are baking, oil a 7-by-11-inch glass baking dish. Warm 1 Tbsp. oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in corn and milk and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 7 to 10 minutes. Season with salt.

Remove tortillas from foil. Set aside 1/2 cup cheese. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of corn mixture in center of a tortilla. Sprinkle with a heaping tablespoon of cheese. Roll up tortilla and set in dish, seam side down. Repeat with remaining tortillas, overlapping them slightly. Pour enchilada sauce over tortillas and sprinkle with reserved 1/2 cup cheese. Bake until bubbling, about 20 minutes.

This dish goes along great with a simple side salad!

Consider my Mexican tooth satisfied   I may try adding black beans and zucchini to the enchiladas next time just to get some variety in there.

Stuffed, Jason and I went back for some more LOST action before heading to bed.

Today has been a day of errands, a meeting at the Y and a run. On the third mile of our 4 mile run, my knee started to hurt again Instead of letting it get me down, I just took it as a way of my body saying that it’s not fully recovered yet. Which, still sucks…but what can you do? 3 milers seem to be my limit as of right now, but that’s better than nothing! I’ll take what I can get

This Just In:

–Jason is in the living room watching the football game and screaming at the TV (why do men do this? I find it hilarious). Poor Trixie is scared out of her mind, she’s probably thinking that he has finally lost his mind. (No puppy, not yet…but he’s getting there) HAHA –

Whenever Trixie gets scared, she goes under the desk in the office and hides. I just happened to be sitting here blogging and felt something furry slide by my legs.

That’s her “I’m scared!” pant She is so cute sometimes!

Okay, that’s enough air-time for the dog And just so the cat doesn’t feel left out, I’ll post a couple of pics of him too!

(He likes to blog too.)

Time to go hunt for a snack! Toodle-oo bloggie buddies See ya next time!

Do you have an unmotivated pet?

Today was my first day back to school! It’s been over year since I’ve had a class that required me to be on campus at a certain time. Most of my classes have been over the internet or out at different work sites.

I started my day by eating a bowl of cereal in my pj’s, and watching Spongebob on the telly. (We have it on instant Netflix, much to Jason’s dismay ) I have to admit, I <3 that show! It makes me giggle every time I watch it. And who says you can’t watch cartoons at the age of 25?!

Anywho, once breakfast was over I got ready for big-girl school The hallways of the campus were abuzz with fresh, young faces. One could just feel the eagerness and energy of the freshmen wandering around! I loved it.

My organic/bio/general chemistry lasted for an hour and then I thought we were going to be able to go home, but nope! We had lab!! I hadn’t packed a lunch, and the only thing I had to eat with me was this granola bar:

..eaten while on break

Lab lasted for 2 hours and I didn’t make it home from school until 3:30. As you can imagine, I was pretty ravenous. I ate a few random, boring things (peach, cornbread, more cornbread and a handful of chocolate chips.) and began getting my ingredients together to make Double Chocolate Biscotti!! Yum yum.

The batter was extra, super crumbly and hard to work with. I had a hard time making loaves out of the mixture, but I did my best and I think it turned out pretty great!

So mine don’t look anything like the picture that goes with the recipe, but man, oh,man…they taste awesome. Chrunchy, chocolatey goodness. Munch munch munch I ate three right out of the oven.

Once Jason was home, I felt the need to get out and go walking. We contemplated going on the greenway, but I argued that I wanted hills added to my walk…so, we decided to climb Crowders Mtn! It’s so nice to live 10 minutes away from hiking trails

It’s a strenuous 1 mile up. My heart was just a-thumpin’ by the time we climbed all of the stairs to the top. But the view is totally worth it!

We rested and talked at the top for a bit, and then went the steep 1 mile back down. And guess what? No knee pain for me! AT ALL!!!! Woo hoo!

Which brings me to a next point, but first, I’ll announce the winner of the CSN store giveaway:

Random Integer Generator

 5

Here are your random integers, generated with replacement

I used Random.Org–Random Integer Generator option

So, the 5th comment down, not including my own is JaimeRuns! Congrats Jaime! Send me your email so that I can get that gift card to you

Now on to my announcement:

I’ve decided to run a race in every state of the U.S.A.

Te He. Can you see me on the edge of N.C.?   That spot is pretty close

 to where I live. Anyway, I decided to do this because it sounds like

an awesome idea. I only have 1 state down so far, but I am already

planning a race in S.C. for the end of September!

And I think that maybe Whit will be joining me on this journey too!

How fun is this going to be? Um, heck-of-fun!!!!!!

I'll keep you updated   As for now, I think there is

some leftover biscotti chili and cornbread calling my name!

Gotta go!

I woke this morning extra, super early because I had an interview at the YMCA for my internship starting next week. I walked into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee.

Ooooh, coffee! That’s easy..I drink it black…Easy Vegan Decision #1. My mind starts to think, hey…this is gonna be pretty easy.

*Opens cabinet and stares blankly at an array of cereal, grit and oatmeal boxes* Aha! Oatmeal

When made with almond milk (which is the only kind of “milk” I drink) it can be vegan! This discovery leads to Easy Vegan Decision #2.

So I put my pot on the stove–because making oats on the stove is the only right way, if you ask me –and Jason says “Can you make me a bowl too?” Sure thing hon. I pour more oats into the boiling water/almond milk mixture. By now, I’m feeling completely confident and satisfied with myself and my Easy Vegan Decisions. I probably even have a little half-smirk on my confident little face.

That boiling mixture is later turned into this:

Oats+Pb+Salt+Peach Jam+Peaches+Honey Graham cracker crushed on top=Yummy, satiating breakfast

Then it was off to my interview!

It went really well. I think that I am going to love working together with YMCA and bring nutrition education to their clients We even talked about me giving a few cooking classes!

After leaving the Y, I took some books back to the library and headed home to get the grocery list and my reusable bags.

*Tummy grumbles* Arg. There’s nothing at the house I could eat for lunch, my stomach will just have to make it through this shopping trip. Just a quick dip in and back out.

I glance at the list as I stroll down the aisles…Hmmm how about a salad for dinner? With chickpeas, tomatoes, cheese…Wait. You can’t eat cheese today, you’re trying to be vegan for a day! Ok. Nevermind the cheese. I can still have a salad.  Oooh..how about getting some chewy, just-baked bread from the bakery to go along beside? Yes! That sounds wonderful.

I stroll over to the bakery and pick up a loaf of heavenly smelling pull-apart bread. My stomach is beside itself with excitement about this heavenly bread. I turn over to the label and read the ingredients and down at the bottom, I read: This product contains milk and egg ingredients.

Crap. I put the bread down and pick up another type of bread…same thing at the bottom.

I continue until I’ve picked up every kind of bread there is on display in the store. The bakery women are looking at me with concern: Who is that girl? And why is she slamming our bread down and cursing to herself?

Well, Jason will still want bread. So I grab a loaf of a Pane Italiano and then continue on my way.

All is well until I get to the ice cream aisle. It’s marked down to $2.23!!! I let out a squeal of excitement and browse the different flavors..but then I stop. What are you doing?! You are going vegan for a day, Stacey. Ice cream=animal product!

Then it hits me: I’d have to give up ice cream?! Lovely, wonderful, cold, delicious ice cream?!!! I’m not sure my willpower is that strong.

Well, maybe I’ll get some for Jason. Yes, for Jason…he likes it. It’s totally NOT for me. So, what kind do I…er…I mean, does Jason, like?

I pick out my his favorite kind and keep going.

By now, I’m feeling a bit doubtless of this whole ‘Vegan’ thing. I can sacrifice cheese, but ice cream?? I just can’t.

My confident smile from the morning has turned into a semi-worried, forehead-creased sort of look. Now I start to wonder: What else isn’t vegan? Is my Diet Cherry Pepsi vegan? How about this salad dressing? What about those dark chocolate covered caramels I have at home?

My drive home was filled with thoughts of all of the un-vegan things in my cabinets. What would I eat for lunch?

I made a quick Morningstar Chicken pattie on an Arnolds thin bun along with pickle, mustard and ketchup (is ketchup vegan??) And a banana for a side.

It’s 2 o’clock by now, and I’m still pretty hungry. I mindlessly walk into the kitchen and grab the first thing I see that will quiet my growling tummy…a handful of Cheezits. It’s only after I’ve stuffed a handful in my mouth that I realize what I’ve done.

I just failed my Vegan For A Day challenge. Epic fail. I’m so used to going in the kitchen and sticking my hand in any open chip or cracker box that I didn’t even think about it today!

I let myself frown a little, and decide that it’s only one mistake. I’ve been doing good all day, no need to quit now.

Grabbing the blue corn tortilla chip bag out of the cabinet as my substitute, I go into the bedroom,crawl in bed and read my book for a while…

…It’s 5:05 when I wake up.  Jason is coming in the door. I sit up in bed and wipe the smudged eyeshadow off of the side of my face. Though I’m not very hungry, I decide to go ahead and make our salad dinner anyway because he has plans to go out with friends tonight, and I don’t want him to go hungry.

I slice the bread and prepare the salad. All of the ingredients are sitting out on the counter and I’m combining them in a large bowl. Sometimes my hand grazes across the grape tomatoes and I eat a few…a few mandarin oranges here, a couple of chickpeas there…a few pieces of feta cheese.

Ughhhhh. I did it again. I mindlessly ate something cheesy! Darn it. Darn it all to heck <–you like my potty mouth language? At this point, I say “Screw it”.

Vegan lifestyle isn’t for me. It’s too hard and I already eat a healthy, vegetarian diet. The only thing that I will have no problem cutting out is eggs. I hate buying them, they make me feel extremely guilty.

Finally coming to the realization that I just can’t be a vegan (or that I do wayy to much mindless eating of cheesy things) I put my salad together, grab a couple of pieces of the toasted, buttery bread..and sit down with my honey to enjoy my dinner…

And I ate it guilt-free

Happy Monday not.

Is it terrible to say that I’m already ready for the weekend to get here??

This weekend went pretty well! Of course you know about Saturday…on Sunday, I woke up at 7 A.M. to start on some unfinished dietetic projects. Jason woke up and did the same, and we were diligent in our work until 3 [which was when I felt like I was going to pull my hair out!]. I needed fresh air and sunshine before I went freakin’crazy! Those of you that are in school, do you ever just feel like crying after doing a bunch of homework?! It begins to feel like my brain is short-circuiting and is gonna blow any minute.

For a break, we drove to Cramerton to do a hilly 4 mile run. That helped bunches Running always seems to help!

This morning I woke up and turned in more homework and read the news online before school. Breakfast was a simple wheat cinnamon/raisin english muffin with pb and apricot jam and a naner. (Do I even need to state that I had a coffee with it?? )

Just a smile to start my day

There are only 3 weeks (!!) left of school and it’s getting pretty intense in class. Our breaks are getting shorter because we are trying to get everything we need done before summer break. Mid-morning I broke into my brownie Cliff bar (ate half) and then got right back to work on a Portion Control project.

Today we had 15 minutes for lunch…

That wasn’t enough time for me today! I brought sugar snap peas with hummus, a grapefruit, vegetable flaxseed tortilla chips and pudding cup..I only got through the chips, peas and hummus before having to pack back up

The good thing is, is that we had to be back in time for a celebration! One of the students in the program won an award from the Honor’s Society in Raleigh, NC. She was chosen to respresent our school for her outstanding grades and academic achievement.

 Congrats Susan! She was so surprised when she came in the door! Total shock We threw rose petals at her, they crowned her and gave her a sash and even had a cake too! I love my teachers and my director, they are so great.

There was cake to be had….

..and also some fun to be had with the icing too [I like to find ways to entertain myself]

After the celebration, it was back to class! Then, an hour later, it was off to coach Girls on the Run. Luckily, I had time to eat my grapefruit while they played running games.  One of the girls thought I was eating a lemon!! I can’t believe she didn’t know what a grapefruit was! Hehe.

Once Jason got home later on, we went to the gym for an intense workout that consisted of:

• 50 scissor crunches
• 50 regular crunches
• 50 oblique crunches
• 3 sets of 10- V-pulldowns (55 lbs)
• 3 sets of 12 chest press (55 lbs)
• 3 sets of 8  lat pulldowns (62.5 lbs)
• 15 minutes elliptical (hill setting)
• 15 minutes speed walking with5 lb. weights

Holy moly. I have to admit that I was running on pure adrenaline..and I didn’t feel like I was even doing anything during that workout, but oh boy is it starting to hurt now. But it’s a good sort of pain though, and I’m not feeling the stress of school as bad as I was before walking in there!

Dinner was an easy pick: Beer Italian Potato Torta!

You can find the recipe here. Of course, I used a rectangle pan instead of a circle one because that’s all I had. I don’t think it makes a difference either way.

I may have pictured it coming out of the oven, but I totally forgot to take a picture of my plate! I had to servings, served with mixed greens salad…

…and it seems a beer did make it in there somehow

And that was dinner. Now my sweet tooth is in over-drive…wonder if we have any dark chocolate left???

Okay, time for me to stop rambling and announce the Thriv winner!

The winner is……………..

[Drumroll please]

Emily, who said:

Congrats on the successful GOTR 5K, that’s great.

My funniest race story is when I somehow missed the start (I was still stretching by my car and thought it started 15 minutes later than it did) and had to run from my car all the way to the start and then somehow get to the pack of runners. Hehe, it was a bit embarrassing.

Emily, shoot me an email so I can get that Thriv shirt to ya!

And, for the rest of you, do not get discouraged! Guess what? Just by signing up for the Thriv companys monthly newsletter, you will have a chance at winning a free shirt! They give out 50 free shirts a month!! If you are interested in signing up for their newsletter, click here.

Also, I shall be having yet another giveaway coming up reeeallll soon! So make sure you check back sometime this week (wink wink)

Other great things coming up this week:

Jason’s 25th birthday on Sunday. He has politely asked for a pineapple upside-down cake and my mother says she has never been able to make one successfully. Hopefully those genes weren’t passed down to me. I’ll be blogging the whole thing though!

Have a great week! See ya in a few days bloggies

P.S. If anyone knows of a faster way of blogging, please enlighten me…this post just took wayyyyy too long!

Yesterday I ran my first half-marathon and could not be more proud of Jason or myself. Shall I tell you all about it??? Yes, I shall

We hardly got any sleep the night before the marathon…Trix woke us up at 3 AM needing to go to the bathroom and there was no way in heck I could fall back asleep. My alarm went off at 5 and I stumbled out of bed to start coffee (duh).

While that was dripping, Jason got out of bed and turned on some mu-zak to get us going! The house was filled with The Killers, Survivor (Eye of the Tiger!), The Scorpions and U2 I ate a boring breakfast of waffles with jam, pb and a naner…then we got ready to go to Charlotte!

That would be the FitBloggin Thriv T-shirt that we recieved in Baltimore, let me just say that this is the second time I’ve worn it and it’s freaking amazingly comfortable. I sort of wish I could live in it..and I sense that there may be a chance for me to share the comfortability with you guys…..(*cough* giveaway *cough*) So stayed tuned for that!

‘Twas freezing outside when we first got the race! My hands were pretty much frozen solid and I was running around trying to find a bathroom that didn’t have a 10-mile line with it..no such luck

…And then, ten minutes later, the race started! Jas and I started out really strong We talked, looked around at the scenery and just had a fun time running with other runners. Around mile 4 I had to stop and pee. Which meant I also had to stop and wait in line to pee UGH. I hate stopping in the middle of a race for anything! I get the feeling that thousands of people are just zooming by me and I’m loosing huge amounts of time.

Jason told me to calm down and that he didn’t care if we lost a little time…but still…do you guys feel this way??

I used the bathroom and quickly got back into the crowd of runners. We stopped three more times, just long enough to gulp some water and Gatorade, then we got back at it Thank God for training on Cramerton hills! The course wasn’t as hilly as I suspected and my legs didn’t hurt as much as they did on the 10 mile runs I’ve been doing! I felt great and strong the entire time

We finished in 2:18  Fine with me!!

I guess you could say I was “on cloud nine” after the race. My legs didn’t hurt that much and I felt fantastic! I got a little grumpy when I saw that they had already run out of beer and bread!!!! All they had were brown bananas and orange slices I wanted beer and bread. Hopefully next year they will plan it a little better? (Hellloooo, there were like 2,800 runners! They are going to want to eat!)

They did have a band though

We stuck around long enough to hear a couple of songs and stretch then we were outta there to find some real food!

Big Daddy’s it was!

Hello carbs I love you. My name is Stacey and I need you more than ever before…Eggs with spinach, feta, mushroom and onions, breakfast potatoes with roasted peppers (pre-ketchup) and wheat toast. All had with a HUGE Diet Coke. YUMMO! Was delicious in soooo many ways, and just what my body needed.

Jason ordered a big burger and tater tots…the following conversation ensued:

Me- “Jason, gimme some of your tots”

Jas-”No, get your own..I’ starving. I haven’t had frickin anything to eat today” <–said in the voice of Napoleon Dynamite

Me- *slams fist down into stupid tater tots and squished them all*

Ha I made the last part up…he was willing to share. Tater tots always remind me of Napoleon Dynamite. Anywho, I digress!

After lunch we went home and I proceeded to take a 2 hour nap. Trixie woke me up (I guess she needs more attention these last couple of days!) and we decided to take her to the park and get ice cream too!

I got the double chocolate chunk with Heath peices and sprinkles…mmmm…nom, nom, nom.

We bought a grill at Target (fun stuff, I tell ya) and then slowly made our way back home so I could get ready for an Indian dinner with two lovely ladies

I met Whit and Elle at Situl Indian Restaurant in Charlotte for a spicy dinna

We started out with an appetizer that I can’t even begin to pronounce, ’twas yummy. Sorry, but I had no idea what it was! I just knew that it was vegetarian and that I like it

However, I did end up ordering something that I could pronounce…Chana Masala

Served with cheesy, buttery naan and white rice….I’ve died and gone to heaven.

Too soon it was time to say ‘Goodbye’ and head back home. To be honest, my legs were starting to hurt a little and an early bedtime was in the back of my mind (after all, I had gotten up at 5 Am!)…

So, ya know…I finished the half-marathon and can now officially put a 13.1 sticker on the back of my car!

Perhaps a 26.2 sticker is next???

Yes. I believe so.

Thanks for all your support, and stay tuned this week because I have not one, but two giveaways!!!  Love ya bloggies

Well, the weekend is over and it’s back to reality. Jason and I have a great weekend filled with new records, new beers and new dreams How did your’s go??

We started our weekend with a 9 mile run on Saturday morning! The farthest I’ve ever run was 8 miles when I was training for a half-marathon last year, so it felt really great to get out there and go the distance (so to speak )

We headed to the greenway to run it twice.

As you can see, the weather was be-a-u-ti-ful. It stayed in the 60′s all weekend! We were so excited! The first part of the run went really well, nothing new for my legs, but once we got to the second part…and around mile 8 my hips and left knee were getting sore and I could feel myself slowing down.

Jason handed me the box of raisins that I had brought for a mid-run snack, and after popping them into my mouth, I was immediately re-energized and ready to finish the run! [I swear by raisins as fuel for a workout! They have just the right amount of sugar and carbs to keep your body going, and to give you the boost that you need! Plus, they're natural!]

We finished! I was so proud of us I know nine miles isn’t 20 or anything, but it still is a new record for me (and Jason)! And as far as the debate went, I kinda am siding with Jason on this one: you just have to get out there and do it. I knew that my body was capable of it, but I guess it’s not necessary to have a training plan all the time <–is my opinion

After stretching for a good 5-10 minutes, we were on a mission….for food. Good food. Our favorite food.

H&M Deli!

I walked in already knowing what I was going to get, and while waiting for it, we participated in a beer tasting. No pics though Free beer makes me forget that my camera is hanging off my shoulder, haha We did end up buying a case of one of samples! A few Flying Dogs and Raging Bitches left with us <—name of the beer, folks

I had to remind myself to not inhale my food when it came out. If you guys are ever in Cramerton (why would you be?? I dunno) you have to go here! I ordered the Pesto Foccocia sandwich:

Inside that heavenly sandwich is let me try to remember it all : avocado, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, onion, mixed greens and a spinach-artichoke mayo spread…that is to.die.for.

It is a messy, ooey, gooey mess…but that doesn’t matter. I don’t mind getting my fingers sticky and yucky for some good food FYI: I licked the aluminum foil clean once the sandwich was gone

Jas and I also split a bag of chips…

…and a piece of fudge-covered carrot cake!

Yum. YUM.

The rest of the day was spent in our jammies. Don’t you just love days like that?? Jason didn’t have too much homework, so we watched LOST and Paper Heart <—(I have the hugest crush on Micheal Cera!!!!! Gah. I just love him).

_______________________________

Sunday was spent recovering from Saturday

We took Trixie for a walk and went to Cramerton to “look” at houses that are for sale. Just for fun, ya know??

We decided to go to Panera for lunch since we were already out and about!

I ordered the Fuji Chicken Salad minus the chicken, at the recommendation of a friend that works there

‘Twas yummy! I’m pretty sure he hooked me up on the fixin’s though! Thanks friend-o  (Along with was a Diet Pepsi and half of one of their huge chocolate chip cookies)

We also went to the phone store so I could replace mine (dropped it in milk…don’t ask) and then we went to look at more houses

Aww…I made Meatless Manicotti for dinner but can’t find the pics anywhere It was really good too! I found the recipe here.

If there was anything to be learned from this weekend it was this:

1. I love long runs
2. I love good food.
3. I love planning a future with my guy
4. I am already ready for next weekends 10.5 miler!!

Bring it on! Off to school I go! It’s time for our mid-semester evaluations…ugh. Wish me luck

Finally! A chance to blog! My week has been crazy busy. Hopefully ya’lls (<–is an actual word in my southern brain) wasn’t as hectic!

I am so thankful for a chance to sit down and blog..cos I’ve gotta a lot of thoughts churnin’ up in the ol’ noodle I’ll start with my workouts for this week:

There was Level 3 of the 30 Day Shred…

Anyone else out there that felt like crying during this?? Anyone? Anyone? Jillian Micheals is a beast. I had to stop a few times just to keep my muscles from bursting into flames. And though I knew it was going to hurt before I started, I had no idea she would reduce me to mushy, jello-y pulp. I made it through though with a few encouraging words from the boyfriend. “You can do it. Come on babe!” Easy for him to say! He’s relaxing in a comfy chair at the desk!!! 

Wednesday is always my busiest day. There is school, workout, Girls on the Run coaching, studying, cooking and then usually blogging or homework. I probably don’t need to say that the blogging was put on the back burner this Wednesday!

Though I didn’t have time to blog, I would like to talk about my nonexsistant eats.

I usually pride myself in planning my meals and eating food from home during the week. But this Wednesday was the worst food “planning” ever. Here is a recap:

My day started on the right foot with Kashi Go Lean, a naner and coffee.

Then, it was out the door to get to class. We were meeting at the hospital to do clinicals and I wrongly assumed we would be eating at the cafeteria afterwards. The only thing I packed for a snack was a pb&j sandwich with raisin bread!

When 12 o’clock rolled around…I was in the “I’m-so-hungry-I’m-gonna-eat-my-arm” mode. My teacher informed us that we were heading back to the college to finish class, and I was lucky enough to find a grocery store that would supply me with a pear and an Honest Tea (<—love them!!).

The sandwich was gone in a millisecond and the stupid pear wasn’t ripe!

Arg. You can tell from the pic that there aren’t even any juices coming out of it. It was hard as a brick. I threw it back in a plastic baggy and stuffed it into my purse

Our classroom wasn’t open, so I couldn’t get in to get some ice for my tea, so I had to drink it warm. Ugh. It was still tasty though And I love the little messages on the inside of the cap!

So, my only food consumption thus far had been a bowl of cereal with nana and a pb& j sandwich. I’m pretty sure I had burned off the breakfast walking around the hospital. By now, my body is going “What the hell Stacey?! Come on!”

From school, I drive directly to coach for the girls. No snack,  nothing. The only thing that was available to me was that hard, watery-tasting pear in my purse. At 4 o’clock I had to eat it. I had to eat something or I was going to end up stealing from the school cafeteria….and I’m pretty sure there is a law against that

Dinner was quick and easy because I needed it to be! I made tempeh sloppy joes, broccoli and baked red potatoes…

…which I sliced using my new mandolin slicer!! Yes. My name is Stacey and I get excited about new kitchen gadgets

The sloppy joe recipe still needs a bit of tweaking, so I am not going to post it yet. I’ve been combining different techniques  and ingredients to get it just right..but it’s not quite there yet. It was still tasty though! Just needs a little spice.

Wednesday was an “off” day for me..I doubt that I took in enough calories to even fuel a workout. Thursday, Jas and I went to the gym. We did abs (balance ball), sit ups, bicycle crunches, incline push ups (3×15), bench dips (3×15) and then I ran 4 miles on the dreadtreadmill, finishing in 39 minutes.

Tonight? Yoga night!!! Yay

Please excuse my cats enormous head

…ending with a kiss from Trixie

Now for some sporadic thoughts/decisions from moi (<– have no idea how to spell it!)

• I am 90% certain that I am going to go on to become an R.D. after I graduate. It wouldn’t take me that long since most of the classes I have now will transfer…and I figure, why not?…From there, it’s on to exercise science! It’s exciting to think about where the future will lead me
• Eggs are no longer something I will be eating..at least not if I can control it. I have also decided to switch to soy milk. I am not going completely vegan. But, my decisions are based on:  A. I can’t find an egg supplier at my local grocery stores that provide cage-free, free range, n0 -hormones-added eggs. (I used to buy Eggland’s Best, but if you go on their website, you will see that the chickens are “free-range” but kept inside a building..just not in cages. I’m planning on switching to an egg substitute. B. Soy milk makes my skin look better Simple as that. And there is no way I could ever give up cheese!

Oh! And some interesting things I’ve learned in school:

• Caffeine lowers the amount of Iron absorbed in the body. (As does tea). (I’m still gonna drink it though!) No need to worry if you get plenty of Iron..or take a multi-vitamin every day.
• Eating five or six small meals everyday is not linked to weight loss. It’s the food that is actually eaten that has affect on weight loss, not how many times a day a person eats.
• Americans consume six times the amount of sodium intake that is required (!!). 500 mg. per day is roughly the daily requirement. Most Americans are consuming 3 to 8 grams daily. Yikes!!

So that’s that. Just thought it was interesting info and wanted to share Hope ya don’t mind! On the agenda for this weekend:

Saturday- write a paper on benefits of “functional foods”-specifically catechins in green tea–write reports for clinicals–do Algebra homework (ick)–bathe Trixie–strength training–and cook!

Sunday- will not do ANY homework whatsoever–see “Shutter Island” with Jason–blog–6 mile run–have dinner out??

Okay. Phew! Time for some hot tea, dark chocolate and a little time on the couch Have a lovely weekend bloggies!

PS. Can anyone recommend a good protein or whey powder mix for an after-workout snack??? There are so many out there!!

(I’d like to go ahead and apologize for this post being a little scattered! It’s about 6 am, and I just woke up But I’ve missed you guys so I wanted to post before school!)

Sorry for being M.I.A. last week, but it was a very busy one!

Thursday was our 2 year anniversary I woke up to this message on the fridge:

That made it much easier to get through work….I’ve got the sweetest guy ever  We celebrated by drinking beer and cozying up on the couch to watch First 48 together for most of the night…which, in my opinion, is a perfect night.

(Haha. Please excuse that guys mugshot in the background!)

Friday went by uneventfully. We worked on some strength training at the gym after work. Here is what I have done this week:

• Total Mileage: 10 (running, of course!)
• A BUNCH of strength training, I will try to remember it all: 25 lb. bicep curls, 55 lb. chest press, 45 lb. military press, bench dips, bicycle crunches, crunches with an exercise ball, 25 lb. v-flys, 55 lb. lat pulldowns…….I think that’s it!

I have been increasing the amount of weights that I am lifting so I can get more strength and definition in my arms, and boy…let me tell ya, I am sore when I get through. But, a good kind of sore

Okay! On to a more exciting day!! Saturdayyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday=Black Eyed Peas concert. ‘Nuf said.

We started our busy morning with coffee….

…and while pouring, I thought to myself: “Wouldn’t coffeecake go best with coffee???” Especially blueberry coffee cake?

Hmmm just so happens I have blueberries  in the fridge. What a coincidence Ladies and gentlemen (?), I give you blueberry coffeecake:

Mmmmmmmmmm………

That picture should be X-rated. Seriously guys, when this came out of the oven, I wanted to smuggle it under my shirt and take it to a secluded part of the house so I could  have it all to myself…..but I had to share.

It’s very simple to make! Here are the ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 2/3 cup vanilla soymilk (or you can use buttermilk)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 large egg
• cooking spray
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl, mix together. Add 2/3 cup blueberries and toss. Combine milk, egg, butter, vanilla and almond extract in a bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add wet mixture to dry mixture until moist.

Spoon batter into an 8 inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with remaining blueberries. Combine cinnamon and brown sugar in a small bowl, then sprinkle over top of blueberries. Bake for 35 minutes. That’s it!

Sometimes I sprinkle almond slices on top of the coffeecake, but we didn’t have any so I just skipped it My plate (with pb on top):

Two seconds minutes later:

I absolutely hated it.

Jas and I spent most of the morning doing errands, homework and cleaning the house. We decided to break for lunch around 1. I wanted something quick and easy so we could get ready to go to Charlotte. And this was staring at me when I opened the cabinet door:

Add some spinach and black eyed peas (it seemed only fitting!!) and you have a meal!

There were other various snacks throughout the day, but for times sake I am going to skip them! Ya know, just so I can leave room for the good stuff

Jason and I went to a few places in Charlotte to take up time before the concert, we decided to have an early dinner at Big Daddy’s Burger Bar.

I started my meal with a Blue Moon:

Then the food came! I made my own salad with spinach, avocado, chickpeas, cucumbers, strawberries, tomatoes and tortilla strips.

I promise there is a salad under there!

And of course I can’t go there without getting their sweet potato fries

Nom nom nom. Jason had to help me finish these off!

After eating, we went to find parking for the concert and I am so glad we did because the line to the arena was out of the door and almost all the way down the block!!! The tickets said to not bring cameras in, though everyone did anyway..we played by the rules and left ours in the car..but not before taking a quick pic of us to show how excited we were!!

See? Pure excitment

I soooo wish I would’ve brought my camera in Everyone else did. Let me just say the show was A-MAZING. It included a flying motorcycle, a freestyle rap by Will.I.Am and speaker/robot costumes. The newspapers were saying that it was going to be the “ultimate dance party”. It was!!!!! We were on the second level and could look across the entire stadium and there wasn’t one person that wasn’t dancing!

They are so talented you guys. Fergie sounds even better in concert than on the radio, and they had great special effects. They played all of my favorite songs, ending with “I Gotta Feeling”..I was dancing my booty off. No really, I think I danced it off. It must be still in the bleachers somewhere

At the end of the song, thousands of pieces of confetti shot into the air, it was almost magical haha. It. was. great. And though Jas and I pride ourselves on being die-hard rock fans, it’s nice to go see a group I can move to Alice in Chains concert is next!

After the concert, we lazily headed back to the car. My legs were sore from dancing in heels all night and I was ready to go to bed! It was such a great Saturday, and the Black Eyed Peas did not dissapoint.

Sunday was a little more laid back. The weather was awesome, so Jas and I got to the park to walk Trixie:

After our nice little walk, the rest of my day had to be devoted to Algebra. ICK. But oh well! That’s the way life is. I had enough fun Saturday to last me for a good, solid week

Gotta get ready for school! I gotta feelin’…that today is gonna be a good Monday See ya later lovies!