It's Friday! And I'm so excited that it is.
This week has been SOOOO LOOOONNNGGG for whatever reason. Probably because I'm a little grumpy and tired from eating healthy and working out hard... but, you know, Hawaii and a wedding are great motivators.
I feel I did pretty well this week. I managed to get a good weight lifting day in as well as a handful of runs and even tried Power Yoga at work (more on that in a minute). I ate really well and mostly stuck to my plan (I did have one breakdown where I ate 2 Girl Scout Samoas, but I logged them in my food journal so I'm ok!) despite there being about a million parties and bake sales at work this week. I'm not even joking. About a thousand women are pregnant at work and due very soon so we've had a barrage of Baby Showers this week complete with sugary fruit punches, cupcakes, brownies, regular cakes, cookies, ice cream, you name it and it was there. We are also doing fundraising at work for one of our charities so 3 different groups have had bake-sales and I have a hard time passing up some homemade goodies... but I did! So I'm pretty proud of myself. It also helps to know that I get a "cheat meal" this weekend.
Anyhow, so I joined the gym at work because it's just more convenient and they offer a lot of super awesome classes that I've always wanted to try. I've done Yoga before and I even have been making it to the weekly beginners classes at work but I was getting bored. I decided I would turn it up a notch this week and attend the Power Yoga I class thinking it would be the step up I needed to keep me going. Well, I was a little shocked when I showed up to a HEATED ROOM, but decided I could handle it. I was drenched in sweat 15 into the workout and was ready to fall over after half an hour. It was challenging! The instructor kept us moving pretty much the entire time and any time we held a position it was usually in a difficult pose that really worked you out. I woke up Thursday morning sore from it! But I did like it and I think I'll keep going- but this time I'll bring ice water, less clothing and a towel.
I've also been working on Wedding stuff this week, so mostly right now working on getting all of the addresses I need so we can send out our Save the Date cards and at the end of May our invitations. I'm getting so excited, but also anxious! I see why people elope because waiting for the day to happen is hard!
We are definitely glad it's Friday and have a pretty laid back weekend planned. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will get to BBQ!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
If I had 3 Wishes...
I would use at least one to rid myself and the world of allergies forever. The other 2 I'd really have to think about. But Spring is finally here!
So the weekend was pretty awesome. I love spring and all of the flowers and fun that it brings, and this year BF and I have quite the project on our hands with this new yard. You see, the previous owners did not take great care of it and the projects they did do were done... poorly. Needless to say we have a lot of clean up to do before we can even start making it look the way we want.
I started Saturday morning by taking a nice run around the neighborhood because it wasn't raining! It was actually beautiful outside and I had to take full advantage. After my run I came home and started cleaning up the yard a bit (meaning poo patrol) and then got the cleaning bug and started picking up other things from our yard like the 3 full plastic recycling bins that the previous owners left in the corner of the patio to rot full of yard clippings, leaves and junk. After cleaning outside I moved inside and thoroughly cleaned our downstairs. It felt great to start the weekend off with a clean house (mostly, don't ask about upstairs).
After all of that cleaning I started to really feel my allergies kick into high gear and the rest of the weekend I have been in a Benadryl haze. I tried not to take any this morning so I could function at work, but I may have to give in this afternoon.
Anyhow, we got to see some of our friends Saturday afternoon and do some shopping, eating and movie watching. It was quite enjoyable. Also, BF is the WORST at keeping secrets. Here's what happened:
Saturday night before the movie we were hanging out in the kitchen and we had some music on. One of my favorite songs came on and I said to BF "We should ask Steve to play this at our wedding, that would be awesome".
BF's response was so confusing to me I had no idea what was going on. He scrunched up his face and look at me liked I killed his best friend! Then he said, "Hang on" and jetted out of the kitchen, but backpedaled and came back, looked at me and took off upstairs.
I was calling after him, "What are you doing? What is going on?" only to get back a "WAIT!!!".
BF came down a minute later with his guitar and played the song for me, which made me cry because it was so darn sweet. He then told me that he had been working on learning it for the last 6 months and was having a hard time keeping it a secret because he wanted to be able to play it for me at our wedding. He is just too adorable. I reminded him that he didn't have to tell me the secret and could have just gone along with the Steve thing, but oh well. It was a great surprise anyway.
Easter was amazing and we got to spend time with BF's family and have meal #1 and then spend time with my family and have meal #2. Holiday meals are the best and the worst! I definitely need to eat better this week to make up for it all.
How was your Easter weekend?
So the weekend was pretty awesome. I love spring and all of the flowers and fun that it brings, and this year BF and I have quite the project on our hands with this new yard. You see, the previous owners did not take great care of it and the projects they did do were done... poorly. Needless to say we have a lot of clean up to do before we can even start making it look the way we want.
I started Saturday morning by taking a nice run around the neighborhood because it wasn't raining! It was actually beautiful outside and I had to take full advantage. After my run I came home and started cleaning up the yard a bit (meaning poo patrol) and then got the cleaning bug and started picking up other things from our yard like the 3 full plastic recycling bins that the previous owners left in the corner of the patio to rot full of yard clippings, leaves and junk. After cleaning outside I moved inside and thoroughly cleaned our downstairs. It felt great to start the weekend off with a clean house (mostly, don't ask about upstairs).
After all of that cleaning I started to really feel my allergies kick into high gear and the rest of the weekend I have been in a Benadryl haze. I tried not to take any this morning so I could function at work, but I may have to give in this afternoon.
Anyhow, we got to see some of our friends Saturday afternoon and do some shopping, eating and movie watching. It was quite enjoyable. Also, BF is the WORST at keeping secrets. Here's what happened:
Saturday night before the movie we were hanging out in the kitchen and we had some music on. One of my favorite songs came on and I said to BF "We should ask Steve to play this at our wedding, that would be awesome".
BF's response was so confusing to me I had no idea what was going on. He scrunched up his face and look at me liked I killed his best friend! Then he said, "Hang on" and jetted out of the kitchen, but backpedaled and came back, looked at me and took off upstairs.
I was calling after him, "What are you doing? What is going on?" only to get back a "WAIT!!!".
BF came down a minute later with his guitar and played the song for me, which made me cry because it was so darn sweet. He then told me that he had been working on learning it for the last 6 months and was having a hard time keeping it a secret because he wanted to be able to play it for me at our wedding. He is just too adorable. I reminded him that he didn't have to tell me the secret and could have just gone along with the Steve thing, but oh well. It was a great surprise anyway.
Easter was amazing and we got to spend time with BF's family and have meal #1 and then spend time with my family and have meal #2. Holiday meals are the best and the worst! I definitely need to eat better this week to make up for it all.
How was your Easter weekend?
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Day 2- Remembering Snacks
Yesterday, Day 2, wasn't all that bad. I ate well again and remembered to journal my food and drink enough water and even managed to get out and run a 5k. What did me in was not remembering to eat a snack when I came back from my run.
I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but if I run and don't eat when I'm done I get crazy awful stomachaches. Stomachaches so bad I feel like I have the flu and I'm going to throw up and I can't get comfortable. That happened last night. I came back from my run feeling pretty good. I did a slower pace- 9 and a half minute miles since I haven't been running as regularly just to get back into the swing of things. I did a cool down walk when I got back and stretched and drank water and then went and showered. After getting sweats on, BF and I hung out with the puppies on the couch and watched a "blah" movie that arrived from Netflix. Halfway through the movie I felt so sick I was afraid to move. After about 20 minutes of fighting back my vomit reflex I made myself eat some crackers and drink some water, which helped a bit, but I had that stomachache until I went to bed!
So lesson learned, eat a healthy snack after my runs or workouts!
Today I'm trying Zumba for the first time. I will for sure be in the back of the class tripping over my own two feet, but I'm excited!
I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but if I run and don't eat when I'm done I get crazy awful stomachaches. Stomachaches so bad I feel like I have the flu and I'm going to throw up and I can't get comfortable. That happened last night. I came back from my run feeling pretty good. I did a slower pace- 9 and a half minute miles since I haven't been running as regularly just to get back into the swing of things. I did a cool down walk when I got back and stretched and drank water and then went and showered. After getting sweats on, BF and I hung out with the puppies on the couch and watched a "blah" movie that arrived from Netflix. Halfway through the movie I felt so sick I was afraid to move. After about 20 minutes of fighting back my vomit reflex I made myself eat some crackers and drink some water, which helped a bit, but I had that stomachache until I went to bed!
So lesson learned, eat a healthy snack after my runs or workouts!
Today I'm trying Zumba for the first time. I will for sure be in the back of the class tripping over my own two feet, but I'm excited!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Day 1 of the Freak Out Plan
So yesterday I did pretty well. I ate healthy foods and drank a ton of water, but didn't have time to exercise. I tracked all of my foods in my journal and remembered to take not only my allergy medication but my vitamins! Score!
At work they are doing a running challenge on Nikeplus.com. I joined so I would feel accountable to run a few times a week. The goal is to collectively run 4800 miles by June. The runners with the highest mileage win prizes and get to attend the Olympic Trials in Eugene, OR which is pretty awesome. There are some hardcore runners in my group, but I think if I take the steady approach I'll do well.
Today's plan is to run after dinner. BF and I don't have much planned for the evening so besides running I really need to organize our bedroom. Since I've been traveling a lot I've just been dumping stuff when I get home instead of putting things in their correct space- not a good habit- so I need to do a little tidying up!
Anyway, just logging this so I don't forget what I'm doing!
At work they are doing a running challenge on Nikeplus.com. I joined so I would feel accountable to run a few times a week. The goal is to collectively run 4800 miles by June. The runners with the highest mileage win prizes and get to attend the Olympic Trials in Eugene, OR which is pretty awesome. There are some hardcore runners in my group, but I think if I take the steady approach I'll do well.
Today's plan is to run after dinner. BF and I don't have much planned for the evening so besides running I really need to organize our bedroom. Since I've been traveling a lot I've just been dumping stuff when I get home instead of putting things in their correct space- not a good habit- so I need to do a little tidying up!
Anyway, just logging this so I don't forget what I'm doing!
Monday, April 2, 2012
The "Holy Crap I'm Getting Married in 5 Months and Possibly Going on a Hawaiian Vacation in 2 Months" Freakout/Plan
I am back from travels and so glad to be home in the NW! It's still cold and rainy, but not as cold and rainy as it used to be. Also, rumor has it that we are supposed to start warming up here soon! Fingers crossed.
While I'm glad to be back home I've got some real work to do. While out and about in my travels, BF called to let me know that we may be taking a family vacation with his parents to Hawaii this summer (June or July). I am super excited about it, but also it means that I need to get back into bikini shape quick! On top of that I realized that I will have my dress fitting and tailoring in 3.5 months from now, so TODAY is the first day towards reaching my bathing-suit body goal.
I am committing to make healthy meal choices each day, to take my vitamins and supplements daily (I forget about those a lot!), to exercise in some form at least 5 days a week and to up my water in take. I've started journaling my food so I can hold myself accountable and am giving myself 1 cheat meal a week (sound familiar?). I know I can do it, but for some reason I just fell off the work out and eat healthy cycle I had going on and now it seems like this is going to be hard.
For instance, yesterday I decided that since it wasn't down-pouring, I would run outside around the neighborhood. It was awful! I felt like my legs were running through molasses- I knew I could go faster but for some reason my legs just didn't. That may partially be due to being out of shape and partially due to the fact that the day before I had done the stair-master at the gym and tired myself out. I felt pretty defeated, but I told myself I would run again this week and it would be better. I'm also trying some new classes at my work gym. This week I'm going to lose my inhibitions and try Zumba with one of my coworkers. I bet it's fun, but I bet I will look like an idiot!
Anyhow, wedding plans are coming along nicely. We started doing our registries and have scheduled the cake tasting for a few weeks from now! I pick up our invitations this week so I have started scrubbing through my list of addresses (what a task!). More to come soon!
While I'm glad to be back home I've got some real work to do. While out and about in my travels, BF called to let me know that we may be taking a family vacation with his parents to Hawaii this summer (June or July). I am super excited about it, but also it means that I need to get back into bikini shape quick! On top of that I realized that I will have my dress fitting and tailoring in 3.5 months from now, so TODAY is the first day towards reaching my bathing-suit body goal.
I am committing to make healthy meal choices each day, to take my vitamins and supplements daily (I forget about those a lot!), to exercise in some form at least 5 days a week and to up my water in take. I've started journaling my food so I can hold myself accountable and am giving myself 1 cheat meal a week (sound familiar?). I know I can do it, but for some reason I just fell off the work out and eat healthy cycle I had going on and now it seems like this is going to be hard.
For instance, yesterday I decided that since it wasn't down-pouring, I would run outside around the neighborhood. It was awful! I felt like my legs were running through molasses- I knew I could go faster but for some reason my legs just didn't. That may partially be due to being out of shape and partially due to the fact that the day before I had done the stair-master at the gym and tired myself out. I felt pretty defeated, but I told myself I would run again this week and it would be better. I'm also trying some new classes at my work gym. This week I'm going to lose my inhibitions and try Zumba with one of my coworkers. I bet it's fun, but I bet I will look like an idiot!
Anyhow, wedding plans are coming along nicely. We started doing our registries and have scheduled the cake tasting for a few weeks from now! I pick up our invitations this week so I have started scrubbing through my list of addresses (what a task!). More to come soon!
Friday, March 23, 2012
Here, There and Everywhere
I never thought I'd say this, but Chicago is not bad. Not that I thought it was bad, but it was never on my radar as somewhere that I would enjoy going.
We had work a couple-day-long work meetings in Chicago this past week and I've been happily enjoying sunny weather in the 80's. And then I came home to beautiful Portland where there were piles of leftover snow on the roadways as I drove home last night from PDX and it was misting, as always.
The BEST part of Chicago, besides the weather and the awesome hotel and the food (ok, it was all pretty awesome) was the fact that we could "hipster watch". It seems to me that everyone else in the country is catching the "I want to look like I live in the Northwest" fashion bug. It was 80+ degrees and out and we were watching the kids slowly sweating their way down the block in skinny black pants and long sleeved flannel shirts and big bushy beards with knit caps rolled down their foreheads. Meanwhile, those of us from the ACTUAL Northwest busted out the shorts and capris and rolled up our sleeves as we walked down the sidewalk for lunch in the off chance that our 10 minute walk would expose us to enough UV rays to tint our lily-white skin.
The WORST part of going to Chicago was not Chicago's fault at all, it was mine. I stupidly left my crazy-expensive "I've got idiot adult skin"face wash kit IN THE HOTEL BATHROOM and forgot about it until I landed at PDX late last night. I called the hotel this morning and unfortunately they didn't have it because, oddly enough, they don't typically keep face wash and soaps that people leave in their rooms (weird, right?). So now I have to haul myself to the mall and get another stupidly expense face wash kit for my awesome (sensitive and all of the sudden acne-prone) skin so I won't turn into a giant pimple when I go to New York next week for Spring Break. Oh, the awesomeness of me.
You know you're ready to be home when instead of having a great time during meeting breaks eating and exploring a city (which we still did) myself and my coworkers were busting out our smart phones to share pictures of family, kids, dogs, homes and home projects, etc. We weren't taking pictures of Chicago at all.
Also, I had the bumpiest plane rides ever to and from Chicago- something about the Jet Stream and hot and cold fronts meeting each other. I'm sure there have been bumpier flights, but if you know me well at all you know I'm not the best flyer so it was a little stressful. Nothing makes me appreciate the earth more than leaving it's surface for a few hours!
So I'm back this weekend and hopefully BF and I will get to enjoy our home and puppies and maybe even head out to the coast and do some sightseeing (read: eating and drinking delicious things). Then next week I'm off to Buffalo, NY to see some family and generally appreciate where I currently live even more.
We had work a couple-day-long work meetings in Chicago this past week and I've been happily enjoying sunny weather in the 80's. And then I came home to beautiful Portland where there were piles of leftover snow on the roadways as I drove home last night from PDX and it was misting, as always.
The BEST part of Chicago, besides the weather and the awesome hotel and the food (ok, it was all pretty awesome) was the fact that we could "hipster watch". It seems to me that everyone else in the country is catching the "I want to look like I live in the Northwest" fashion bug. It was 80+ degrees and out and we were watching the kids slowly sweating their way down the block in skinny black pants and long sleeved flannel shirts and big bushy beards with knit caps rolled down their foreheads. Meanwhile, those of us from the ACTUAL Northwest busted out the shorts and capris and rolled up our sleeves as we walked down the sidewalk for lunch in the off chance that our 10 minute walk would expose us to enough UV rays to tint our lily-white skin.
The WORST part of going to Chicago was not Chicago's fault at all, it was mine. I stupidly left my crazy-expensive "I've got idiot adult skin"face wash kit IN THE HOTEL BATHROOM and forgot about it until I landed at PDX late last night. I called the hotel this morning and unfortunately they didn't have it because, oddly enough, they don't typically keep face wash and soaps that people leave in their rooms (weird, right?). So now I have to haul myself to the mall and get another stupidly expense face wash kit for my awesome (sensitive and all of the sudden acne-prone) skin so I won't turn into a giant pimple when I go to New York next week for Spring Break. Oh, the awesomeness of me.
You know you're ready to be home when instead of having a great time during meeting breaks eating and exploring a city (which we still did) myself and my coworkers were busting out our smart phones to share pictures of family, kids, dogs, homes and home projects, etc. We weren't taking pictures of Chicago at all.
Also, I had the bumpiest plane rides ever to and from Chicago- something about the Jet Stream and hot and cold fronts meeting each other. I'm sure there have been bumpier flights, but if you know me well at all you know I'm not the best flyer so it was a little stressful. Nothing makes me appreciate the earth more than leaving it's surface for a few hours!
So I'm back this weekend and hopefully BF and I will get to enjoy our home and puppies and maybe even head out to the coast and do some sightseeing (read: eating and drinking delicious things). Then next week I'm off to Buffalo, NY to see some family and generally appreciate where I currently live even more.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Me at 27- and I'm Back for a Few Days
I honestly don't feel old enough to be 27, if that makes any sort of sense... but here I am. I feel pretty much the same as I did a few years ago, like not much has changed between 24 and now. 3 years isn't that long of a period of time anyway, so it makes sense.
This year I defied convention and didn't really plan any birthday extravaganzas or week-long celebrations like I have in years past. I've just been so busy with everything that my birthday was almost an afterthought, but it's not a bad thing at all.
The past two weeks I've been traveling work meetings right after we finished moving in to our new home while at the same time moving our offices to a new location so my whole life has been in boxes and suitcases. Two weeks ago I went to St. Louis, a city in which I've never really spent any time other than layovers in the airport, and found that it really was a nice place to get away from the dreary NW weather for a couple of days. It was pretty sunny and warmer than I'm used to (so really in the 60's, but that's warm to me!) which was nice and after our meetings we got to take a tour of the Anheuser Busch Brewery in St. Louis. It was actually pretty fascinating and I love that they have the Clydesdale stables on site as well. After that tour we took a private- after-hours tour of the Busch Stadium where the St. Louis Cardinals play and I was surprisingly entertained for someone who doesn't know a thing about baseball or really care to.
I came home for a couple days and then headed out to Phoenix for my meeting and was so happy to be able to pack shorts and tank tops! I even got a slight hint of a "tan" on my pasty-white face and arms! That was worth the trip. But it was a crazy busy week filled with meetings and awards and food and line dancing and birthdays and more food and then some cake with a side of cake and then more meetings. I was more than ready to come home and sleep in my own bed and be able to hang out with BF and the puppies.
Some of BF and my friends came up from Corvallis to stay the night on their way to Seattle so we went out with them on Friday night for burgers and a great Black and Tan brownie with Ice Cream. Like I needed that! Saturday we just did house stuff (more unpacking and finally we got our bedroom curtains up- no more white sheet thumb-tacked to the wall!). Sunday we slept in and went to my parents' house for my birthday dinner. My mom made shrimp and my dad grilled steak and we had some mashed potatoes with gravy, corn on the cob, and some really awesome homemade cornbread. For dessert my mom got a HUGE red velvet cake that we enjoyed with ice cream. I love me some red velvet, but cream cheese frosting is RICH.
After the food came the birthday presents and some would say that I'm completely lame for asking for mostly house-related stuff for my gifts, but I don't really need anything else. I got a garden hose, some garden statues (owls of course, and one lights up!) a double boiler (to make yogurt), some fancy blush that I usually don't buy for myself, movie tickets and some to-be-purchased curtains- my mom wanted me to pick them out so once I do I will have them. It was an awesome night I was happy to just be with BF and my family, it was a nice change of pace.
This week I'm digging out of boxes to get the rest of the house and my office set up. Next week I'm off to Chicago for a few days, and then Spring Break! I took the whole week of Spring Break off so BF and I could hang out and so I could go visit family in NY for a couple days. Fingers crossed that the country starts warming up before the break!
This year I defied convention and didn't really plan any birthday extravaganzas or week-long celebrations like I have in years past. I've just been so busy with everything that my birthday was almost an afterthought, but it's not a bad thing at all.
The past two weeks I've been traveling work meetings right after we finished moving in to our new home while at the same time moving our offices to a new location so my whole life has been in boxes and suitcases. Two weeks ago I went to St. Louis, a city in which I've never really spent any time other than layovers in the airport, and found that it really was a nice place to get away from the dreary NW weather for a couple of days. It was pretty sunny and warmer than I'm used to (so really in the 60's, but that's warm to me!) which was nice and after our meetings we got to take a tour of the Anheuser Busch Brewery in St. Louis. It was actually pretty fascinating and I love that they have the Clydesdale stables on site as well. After that tour we took a private- after-hours tour of the Busch Stadium where the St. Louis Cardinals play and I was surprisingly entertained for someone who doesn't know a thing about baseball or really care to.
I came home for a couple days and then headed out to Phoenix for my meeting and was so happy to be able to pack shorts and tank tops! I even got a slight hint of a "tan" on my pasty-white face and arms! That was worth the trip. But it was a crazy busy week filled with meetings and awards and food and line dancing and birthdays and more food and then some cake with a side of cake and then more meetings. I was more than ready to come home and sleep in my own bed and be able to hang out with BF and the puppies.
Some of BF and my friends came up from Corvallis to stay the night on their way to Seattle so we went out with them on Friday night for burgers and a great Black and Tan brownie with Ice Cream. Like I needed that! Saturday we just did house stuff (more unpacking and finally we got our bedroom curtains up- no more white sheet thumb-tacked to the wall!). Sunday we slept in and went to my parents' house for my birthday dinner. My mom made shrimp and my dad grilled steak and we had some mashed potatoes with gravy, corn on the cob, and some really awesome homemade cornbread. For dessert my mom got a HUGE red velvet cake that we enjoyed with ice cream. I love me some red velvet, but cream cheese frosting is RICH.
After the food came the birthday presents and some would say that I'm completely lame for asking for mostly house-related stuff for my gifts, but I don't really need anything else. I got a garden hose, some garden statues (owls of course, and one lights up!) a double boiler (to make yogurt), some fancy blush that I usually don't buy for myself, movie tickets and some to-be-purchased curtains- my mom wanted me to pick them out so once I do I will have them. It was an awesome night I was happy to just be with BF and my family, it was a nice change of pace.
This week I'm digging out of boxes to get the rest of the house and my office set up. Next week I'm off to Chicago for a few days, and then Spring Break! I took the whole week of Spring Break off so BF and I could hang out and so I could go visit family in NY for a couple days. Fingers crossed that the country starts warming up before the break!
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