Night full of surprises!!!!

Holiday BOOTIE BUSTER CHALLENGE UPDATE!

December 8th situps and pushups 20minutes- 1
December 8th AKB 1:15 -5 points
December 9th run 7.45 1:02:14 -7.5 points
December 9th situps and stretching 20 minutes- 1 points
December 9th AKB class 1hour -4 points

TOTAL POINTS as of today: 18.5

MORNING WORKOUT

The running part of my morning included a 7.45 mile run!!! I was up and energized this morning, and considering how tired I was last night (and that I had a dopio espresso before class) I don’t know how I got up to EARLY, but I did! I thought I would try an old highschool cross country route this morning, it’s funny too me that this 8 mile course was our LONG run. I was at the top of the hill so I did the course backward, BIG MISTAKE! Thank GOD I had my heed and gels, otherwise I would have died out there! The first 4 miles were all DOWN hill, and you know what that means that on the way back I had to run up hill. I thought it was just a GRADUALE down hill but I was wrong, it was STEEP. Man I stopped looking at my pace, not to get discouraged and trudged up those hills. The last half mile was down hill so I sprinted in and finished hard. I don’t think I have breathed that hard on a run in a LONG time.

Run Stats:
Distance: 7.45 miles
Time: 1:02
Pace: 8:46 ( I was proud considering half the run was HILLS)
Calories: 975

Abs and Stretching -20 minutes
50 straight crunches
50 one leg crunches on each side
50 toe touch crunches (laying on back legs up touching side to side)
50 bicycles
25 lower ab leg lifts
2 minute plank moves

BEST BOWL OF OATS

After that killer run, I made the best bowl of pumpkin oats!!!

The combo:

½ c of oats
½ c soy milk
½ c H2O
¼ c of pumpkin
½ banana
Pinch of pumpkin spice
1/8 banana PROBAR
Handful of flax seed
Handful of Almonds
2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips
Sprinkle of brown sugar

with a spoonful of apple butter

CHIRSTMAS WORKOUT MUSIC

Why not burn some extra calories this season by shaking your bootie to some Holiday Music!!! I found a fun work out CD here to get you moving. You don't have to make time for the gym to burn off extra calories you can dance around the house to your favorite sounds of the season. Check out this CHART below that tells you how many calories you can burn from DANCING. I will be struttin my stuff every chance I GET!

MY MINI BOOTCAMP PART I

To encourage you all this season, I am throwing out some mini boot camp tips. If you don’t know this already I teach AKB (Aerobic Kickboxing) and I consider myself a motivator in the gym and at home! I am going to post some videos these next few weeks to show you some moves you can do at home, that take so little time but get you ready for the NEW YEAR. I want you all to look and feel your best for 2009, it’s your time to SHINE!

This move is real simple. You just need to put your feet under a couch and come up and do four quick air punches side to side. If you have someone to do this with have them hold a pillow in front of you s you can punch it! Do this for 2 minutes and you will feel the burn!



MY CHRISTMAS WISH

What I want for Christmas is to be able to do the inaugural Kaua’i Marathon!!! I absolutely love Kauai, hubby and I went there on our honey moon, and we found our second home away from home. I would love to save up for this marathon, it’s my next marathon goal after the Boston Marathon. Anyone want to go with me????!!!!


STARTING SCHOOL- THE JOURNEY TO BECOMING AN RD

Well I did it I registered for my first college class since 2006! I am on a journey to become a Registered Dietician ( and RD). I am so excited about starting in January!!! I will be taking 3 prerequisites in the next 6 months, before I start my Masters in Dietics. So these next months are going to be a true test to see if I am ready to be back at school. I am taking one class at a time, which I NEVER did in college, I always had 20 units and worked 2 jobs! I know that Anatomy and Physiology will be tough, but it’s only 2 days a week, so I think and hope I can handle it. The class is Friday morning 8am-11am and Saturday mornings 8am-11am (no more sleeping in on weekends). I can’t wait to start; I know this is what I need to be doing to get to where I want to be!

NEW THINGS FOR A NEW YEAR COUNTDOWN

December 9: I ate a GUAVA!!! I have never had one of these and a co-worker brought them in, of course I had to try them, VERY good but A LOT off seeds.

CREATE YOUR OWN COOK BOOK CONTEST WINNER!

The judges are still working at it stay tuned, promise to post the winner tomorrow.

CHRISTMAS CARDS

Well hubby did a great job of designing Christmas Cards! I am so glad we went with Bosco on them, it is so cute. I am going to finish stuffing them and putting them in the mail tomorrow (only 3 days later then I wanted to get them out).

DINNER AND A SURPRISE!

When I got home tonight I made a yummy whole wheat butternut squash qusedilla. I mixed butternut squash puree with s little Colby cheese, black beans, and spread on top of a quesadilla with a little sour cream of course. Then on the side I had a cranberry feta salad. It was the perfect amount of carbs, protein and fats!!!

Then I saw that I got a package from the lovely folks at LARABAR (thankyou!), it included a ton of LARABARS of course and a cute T-shirt ( I be wearing this to work tomorrow!). Along with my new Runners World Magazine I can’t wait to read!

WRAP UP

Well I did my AKB tonight and I was pretty exhausted, I am taking tomorrow off and doing some yoga in the AM. I KNOW my body needs it! I am teaching AKB in the evening so I need to be refreshed. RANDOM THOUGHT: I want to do a half marathon in January I have decided, I think it will be a great way to start the NEW YEAR, and kick off my Boston training, anyone know of any good ones close to SO CAL? Ok I am going to head to bed and watch a little TV and stuff envelopes. Hope you all had a TERRIFIC TUESDAY!!!!

P.S. Don’t forget to leave a comment for the PROBAR contest!!!!

Christmas Decorating Sunday!

Can I have one more day?

O so I wish I had one more day, but then I remember I am thankful that I have a job to go to tomorrow!!! I want to spend some time getting prepared for my first day back at work so I will have to make this post a quickie.

SUNDAY HAPPENINGS

Hubby and I were going to get a Christmas tree at the farm, but then quickly realized that it would be more economical to buy one that will last along time. So we hit up Costco and purchased our first Christmas tree together. While I was there I grabbed yummy samples of course.

For lunch we stopped by my rent’s house to grab my step dad’s truck. While we were there I had a turkey sandwich and a side salad. The turkey sandwich was pretty plain but I like it that way, turkey light mayo and whole wheat bread. I also grabbed an apple to complete the meal.

When we got home after the Costco run, I quickly started organizing my office. Another thing I hoped to do on this Thanksgiving break, and it looks beautiful!!! Now I just have to keep it like this.

My office

My Inspiration Board, do you have one of these?


CHRISTMAS TREE EXTRAVEGANZA

After the organizing I got to working on tomorrows POTM result post for tomorrow morning, and I can’t wait to see the results! I cooked a delicious dish from Mrs. Rachel Ray, Sweet Potato Shepherds Pie. I had a glass of Manage a Trios, that we picked up from Costco one of my faves! I want to go back to Napa; I just love the wine up there.


I love putting together the tree, and I am so blessed that we have one to decorate this year!!! We listened to Christmas music had some more wine, and danced around! Here a few pics from around the house and of the tree, I love to go all out for Christmas without overdoing it!

Bosco wanted to help!

The Hubby and I have a tradition where we exchange ornaments every year, and we have to make them!!!

Well now that the day of decorating and Christmas tree shopping is over I am going to relax and read a little of “At First Sight” the novel I have been reading by Nicholas Sparks. If you haven’t gotten your POTM totals you have until midnight tonight Pacific time!!!

O and about that Christmas shopping ideas check out my friend Rachel’s post about gift guides for athletes!!! Click here

Thanksgiving Running Round Up!

Alright guys here is a list of all that are running tomorrow morning!!!! Feel free to leave a comment if you are not on this list. I wanted to do this so that we can ALL including myself be encouraged and PUMPED up for tomorrows run, to POTM!!!!

Lacey Nicole: 4 miles
Meghann: 11 miles
HangryPants: 5 miles
Andrea (Off Her Cork): between 2.5 and 3.0 miles
dryerlynt: 5 miles
just me: 10k Turkey Trot
Mica: 10 k Turkey Trot
Catherine: 10k
Caitlin (see bride run): 9 miles
therunningaddict: 3.5-4 miles
Kelsey: 6 miles
Me: 11 miles

If you need some good tunes to run with check out the Biggest Loser Workout Mix, I am downloading it right now to have it to run with!!!! I hope you all have a Thankful Thanksgiving, I leave you with this beautiful Thanksgiving day poem. BE THANKFUL YOU CAN RUN & THAT YOU HAVE FOOD:) !!!!

Thanksgiving

Cranberries dripping down my chin

Have stained my pilgrim suit.

I ate too much Thanksgiving day

But I don't give a hoot.

I slurped a pile of dressing,

Gobbled down a turkey thigh,

Dribbled messy cranberries

Devoured some pumpkin pie.

Within me on this special day

It's a thankful heart that beats.

For all the things that I enjoy

But mainly for the eats.

POTM Update & BSI Submission

Wow what a day, so glad it is slowly coming to an end.

SCHOOL THANKSGIVING FEAST

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast at school. There was vegetable soup, corn chowder, and cornbread. Last year I ate too much corn chowder and got sick so this year I stuck to the vegetable soup and had small sample corn chowder.

PROBAR #2 Apple Cinnamon Crunch

Hubby left for Nashville today. I sent him off with some treats, including an Apple Cinnamon PROBAR. Here is hubby’s review all the way from Nashville:

“It didn't taste like apple cinnamon, it tasted like cherry-something.Texture was good but still couldn't get over the cherry-ish flavor bar was big,so that was nice. But with the grams of fat being so high, I would have rather had a good-ol' Snicker bar which tastes exactly what a Snicker bar should tastelike.”

That is one thing I need to research, because I feel like there is A LOT of fat in these bars?

CHRISTMAS PLAYLIST

After work I had a bunch of errands to run before I take off tomorrow. When I finally got home, I blasted my Hairy Conick Jr. Home for the Holidays CD, and got to work on my BSI recipe. Because I am a big lover of Christmas music, I thought I would give you some of my best Christmas CD’s that I think everyone should own.

Amy Grant Home for Christmas
Unexpected Gifts 12 New Sounds of Christmas
Celine Dion These are the Special Times
Chris Rice The Living Room Sessions
Clay Aiken Christmas Album
Christmas with the Rat Pack (my all time fave)
Kenny G Miracles
LeeAnn Womack Season of Romance
Mariah Carey Merry Christmas
Tran-Siberian Orchestra
Chicago Christmas Album
Michel Buble Let it Snow

What are your favorite Christmas CD’s?

BSI SUBMISSION

Thanks Lindsay for selecting Pumpkin for this week’s BSI . Well I love pumpkin, but hate pumpkin pie, I know it’s weird. I wanted to come up with something original and creative. It was hard because I felt like everyone else has already done everything I was trying to come up with. I like to use everything I already have on hand, so with out further ado here it is:

Chicken and Apple Pumpadillas ( yes a pumpkin quesadilla)

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast
Salt
Pepper
Dash of Chili powder
Dash of Cinnamon
¼ cup black beans
¼ cup sour cream
½ cup of pumpkin puree
¼ cup of shredded cheese
2 8inch whole wheat tortillas
1 sliced small apple

Preparation:

1,Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

2. Coat a larger nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium heat. Sprinkle salt and pepper on chicken. Cook chicken breast on both sides for about 5 minute on each side.

3.In a small bowl mash the beans, sour cream, chili powder, and cinnamon. In another bowl stir together pumpkin and cheese.


4.Spread the bean mixture on one of the tortillas, and the pumpkin mixture on the other. Then arrange the chicken and sliced apple on top of the bean mixture and then put the other on top to form a sandwich. Place on the baking sheet and bake until the tortillas are crisp, 5-6 minutes. Cut in to wedges and enjoy!!!

I know it looks weird but the cinnamon and chili pepper were a perfect match and so was the pumpkin and cheese!



OOO this was by far the best BSI meal I have come up with!!! I thought I would need salsa but not need!

PILE ON THE MILES SNEAK PEEK AND UPDATE

Ok so today after I finished my BSI recipe I stepped outside and found a very nice SURPRISE!!!! Thank you CAMELBACK!!!! I am so excited about all that they sent me, in support of the POTM. I will be doing a review on these bottles soon, and hosting a giveaway so keep your eyes peeled.

I have decided to offer a second and third place to the challenge as well. I think that this will give you all more of a push to run hard this last week!!!!! SO keep POTM! There are so many other great things I can’t wait to giveaway.

LEAVING ON A JET PLANE

I love plane rides and road trips. For me it’s a time to catch up on the things I NEVER have a lot of time to do. Read fiction novels, knit, sleep, and chill. Here are a few must haves in the bag:

I pod, New book Nicholas Sparks at First Site (have never read his stuff), scarf I am working on, and a few good magazines, Women’s Health and Running World.



What are some things you like to have with you on a road trip?

Alright it’s 10pm and I still HAVEN’T packed, hubby tells me it’s in the 30’s in TN, so I NEED to pack heavy. I don’t know what I am going to bring as far as running clothing because I HAVE NO WARM running gear! I will have to just layer it up. Have to get to bed at a somewhat decent hour I have spinning and weights in the morning. Good night Ya’ll, O' no hear comes the South out in me…lol….