How did that happen?

As you can see, I haven't blogged in over a month. SO much has been going on in my life that it's taken a spot on the back burner. I decided to log in just to see when my actual last post was and I noticed I had 6 new followers! How does that happen? Well, to those of you who are new, welcome :)

This past month really has been crazy.

We moved. At the end of May, the hubby and I discussed moving out of our apartment. We threw out the pro's and con's and started praying about what we should do. The third week of June, we decided we were going to move. We contacted the leasing office to find out what our options were (our lease didn't actually end until the middle of September. They said if we didn't find someone to take over our lease, we would have to pay the remaining months rent. That would have defeated the purpose of moving! We gave them permission to start showing our apartment if anyone was interested. That Saturday we got a call that someone wanted to walk through at 1PM. By 2-2:30 we got a call saying they signed for the apartment. They liked the colors we had on the walls so we didn't have to paint them all back to white (YAAAYY!). The leasing office said they wanted to move in at the end of July and asked if it would be enough time for us to be out by the 15th.  We agreed. Later that evening the hubby mentioned that since he was off the following week, maybe if we could be out by the 1st, we would not have to pay that months rent. The leasing office was already closed so we couldn't check on that. Monday morning rolled around, Chad got a hold of them and they said yes; if we could be out by that weekend (the 1st) we would not have to pay any July rent. Sooooo... I was off work Monday, we had a birthday dinner Tuesday night, church Wednesday  night, I had my First Place class Thursday night and then Friday was the weekend. That didn't leave me as much help. The hubby rose to the occasion though. He got us all packed and moved in ONE WEEK!!! He's pretty flipping amazing :)

That week was a great opportunity for him to get everything done since he was off work. His previous positions have been contract spots and were only a few months long. After his last one ended, he searched for a new spot. Really praying for a permanent position instead of another contract. Well, that's exactly what he got. He received the offer in the middle of June and they said he would start on July 5th. Another transition but he is absolutely loving the new job!

For a while now, we've known that the hubby's car needed to be replaced. Aside from mechanical reasons, It was lowered which means you could feel every little bump in the road! Last Friday we went and looked at a car for him... It was a great deal!!! They did a little negotiating and we said we would think about it and get back to them. After discussing it and talking to the bank, a price was agreed on that Saturday. Saturday hubby listed the old car for sale. HIS PHONE DID NOT STOP GOING OFF from the time he listed it until the FOLLOWING day when he had cash in hand for the purchase. That meant he went a few days having to borrow his dad's car, but overall it worked out!

Now we are trying to get settled in to life again.

Hope everyone is doing great - I'll post again :)

Pictures as promised

I was never able to get my camping pictures loaded to my computer, so I have to use my husbands computer because he was able to get them.

I have been off work this whole past week, just spending time with the hubby. We went camping, went to the Reds baseball game, hung out at the pool a few times, met his mom for lunch, visited with some friends, went roller blading, running, watched movies and just hung out. He's so great :) The fun continues this weekend. Right now he's golfing, but then we have an engagement party, then a suprise birthday dinner for a friend. Tomorrow is church and then a wedding in the evening (praying for no rain because it's outdoors). Monday is back to work :( Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my job, but it's been very nice getting to spend so much time with Chad.

Yesterday we ran 6 miles. Normally I wear my knee brace on anything over 3 miles. Yesterday my legs were feeling pretty good so I decided to skip the brace. Throughout the whole run and even after, my legs felt perfectly fine. Today my left knee/leg is a little sore though. I wonder if I will always have to wear my brace?!? When we first got to the park and were stretching, this little pug dog was running around. I thought it belonged to this girl but then she ran off and the pug stayed. He ran over to us and we pet him for a minute and looked to see if he had any tags but there were none to be found. He ran off and we continued stretching. As we started our run, Mr. Pug was back. He would run with me for a minute, get distracted by something, realize I had run off and then run really fast to catch back up. I could hear his little legs coming up behind me. This happened for a little over a mile. I knew there was a water stop at a mile and a half that has a doggy fountain and I planned on stopping to give him a drink. Prior to reaching 1.5 Mr. Pug was distracted by a ditch filled with dirty water. He wanted to stay there and relax so I didn't see him again. I hope he found his owners :(

Okay, so as promised, here are some pictures from this past weekend / week...

And some from the Reds game...

Hiking & a new recipe

With the extended weekend we just had, my husband decided to plan a last minute hiking adventure. We left Saturday morning and went to Red River Gorge and came back Monday afternoon. It was a nice little getaway and didn't take too long to get to :) Pictures soon! I decided to take a few vacation days this week to spend some time with the hubby. After the hiking trip, we gave our cars a MUCH needed wash. I've been wanting to wash mine for quite a while now but with all the rain we've had, it was pointless. Yesterday we spent some QT with a bunch of friends at a MLB game then watched a movie. We watched 127 Hours. Ewww, I had to turn my head towards the end of the movie. Blood makes my tummy turn. Overall it was a good movie though. The rest of the week will consist of hanging out at the pool and having lunch with the in-laws. I need to make some time for running this week. It went from raining all day to being sunny and scorching hot in a matter of days. To get anything under 80 degrees I'd have to get up at 5 or 6 and I don't know if I want to do that on my days off ;)

The latest edition of Clean Eating Magazine is GREAT!!! There are so many recipes I want to try! I made one last week and have another planned for this week. There is also this amazing-looking cherry pie recipe that will be made very soon! I have to substitute the cherry's for a different fruit though; the hubby isn't a big fan of cherry's.

New Potato and Turkey Skillet
From Clean Eating Magazine

Ingredients:
Olive Oil Cooking Spray
1 lb ground turkey breast
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
1 lb new potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
Pinch dried thyme
3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth (I used about a cup to make it more moist)
1 lb Swiss chard, thick stems removed, leaves chopped
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
Pinch red chile flakes, or to taste
Juice 1/2 lemon, plus 4 wedges for serving
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (I used regular shredded cheese bc I don't like feta cheese)

Directions:
One: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Two: Coat a large (at least 12-inch) over-proof skillet with cooking spray and heat on medium. Add turkey, season with salt and pepper and cook, breaking up meat with a spoon until no pink is visible, 5-6 minutes. Transfer turkey to a large bowl returning skillet to heat.
Three: Add potatoes and thyme to hot skillet and season with salt and pepper. Transfer skillet to over and cook until lightly browned and tender, about 20 minutes, stirring once. Carefully return skillet to stovetop on medium-high heat (leave oven at the same temperature). Add broth and bring to a simmer. Add chard and stir just until wilted. Stir in tomatoes, rosemary, chile flakes, lemon juice and reserved turkey. Ensure broth is simmering and transfer skillet back to oven. Cook until tomato skins burst, about 10 minutes, stirring halfway through. Divide mixture among 4 bowls and top evenly with cheese. Serve with lemon wedges.   

I will post pictures of my extended weekend / week off shortly.

Funny Picture

Pictures from the race were finally posted and I had to share one with you. We're not even two miles into the race and the guy next to me starts frolicking and whisping his hair in the wind. I look over to the right and see he was posing for the camera guy. He cracked me up!

½ Marathon Recap

Sunday May 1, 2011 I ran my very first half marathon. I have been really excited about this. My goal for the year was to complete a 10K but instead I did a half marathon. I have already been looking for another half to complete this fall.



I trained for three months for the half and still do not feel like I was fully prepared. Not only was the course hilly, but it rained a majority of the race. My goal was to run a mile, walk a minute, run a mile, walk a minute, etc. until the end of the race. It did not turn out that way. Here’s how it really went.

Mile 1 10:20
Mile 2 10:02

I didn’t want to start off too quickly, so this was a good pace for me. As I was running with the massive crowd, I was just enjoying the scenery. At one point I ran behind this BIG guy who had tidy-whites on the outside of his pants and they read ‘I hope you’re not following too close behind me, I just let a big one’. I just laughed and wished I had my camera on me! I saw a friend of mine on the side of the road videotaping. It was a pleasant surprise. He jogged with me just for a second and told me he was there to tape for his work. After I went on my way I told myself I would find the first mile marker and take my minute walk. I’m running and running and there is no mile marker to be found. I look down at my trusty (and wet) Garmin and discover that I’m already over two miles in. I hoped the rest of the race would go just as nice.

Mile 3 10:48
Mile 4 10:09

Miles three and four I ran and took in all of the people, signs, and bands on the sides of the road. I heard someone by one of the bands make a comment about how none of the runners could hear them anyway because they all had their iPods in. I realized she was right and was extremely glad I run unplugged. It was such a treat to listen to everyone playing and cheering and using their noise makers to cheer us on! I only took a brief walk during these miles.

Mile 5 11:54
Mile 6 10:38

Mile five was tough for me. As I mentioned earlier, this race was hilly! This was the first hill that I had trouble getting all the way up without stopping. I struggled a little but told myself that I was almost to the halfway point. Mile six I started feeling good again and told myself I could make it to the end! Yes, I really do give myself pep talks when I run.

Mile 7 12:49
Mile 8 12:04
Mile 9 11:24
Mile 10 12:21

Mile seven was by far the toughest mile of them all. Rain + steep hill = slow runner. Miles eight through ten did not get any better. I wanted to quit so many times during this period but I knew in the back of my mind I could finish this, even if it took a lot longer than I wanted. I kept seeing these t-shirts and it helped me tremendously!

Mile 11 9:28

Thank you Jesus for downhills! I used mile 11 as an opportunity to make up for lost time from the last four miles. Well, as much as I could at least. I was passing people left and right and wondered why they were not taking advantage of the downhill also. I got a fresh wind in me and really thought I could finish strong! The guy back on mile 10 said that was the last uphill. Well, he was a liar.

Mile 12 11:00
Mile 13 11:12

Back to the hills and back to a slower pace. I took a few walking breaks during this time and kept telling myself I was going to BOOK it as soon as I could see the finish line. I did just that. As soon as I saw the ‘Finish Swine’ I took off and pretty much sprinted the last little bit.

I crossed the finish line, put my hands over my face and cried. I don’t know if anyone else does this or not, but I cried at the last race I did too. They were both tears of joy. My previous race because I got a new PR and hadn’t even planned to try for that. This time because it was the farthest I have run before; and no matter how many times I wanted to, I didn’t quit and I finished. I cried because I passed a few people during the race that were on the sidelines with medics because they couldn’t handle the race and had to stop but I was strong enough and healthy enough to finish. I’m totally blessed and I was just flipping excited because I JUST FINISHED A HALF MARATHON!!! I was stoked when I saw that I got a medal just for finishing! I love running!

I walked through the runners area and headed out to meet my husband. He didn’t run but I guarantee he could have done it with no training and would have beaten my time with no problem. He was right at the end of the pack looking all handsome and holding a dozen roses for me. He melts my heart.
I finally put this little puppy on the back of my car. I was going to wait until the rain stopped and I could wash my car but it doesn’t look like that will be happening any time soon. It’s rained all week and there is rain in the forecast for the next seven days. Here is me looking really rough and soaking wet.



My final time was 2:27:09 which equaled to an 11:14 pace. Post race I took a nap and was SORE… but a good kind of pain. I can’t wait to do my next half! This time I think I will look for a course that is a little less hilly.

Cheesy Stuffed Chicken

I tweaked the recipe a little bit, but the original recipe came from Oxygen Magazine..

Ingredients:
Nonstick cooking spray
4oz skinless chicken breast
1 light laughing cow Swiss cheese wedge (I used the chipotle cheese wedge)
1/4 cup low fat, low sodium cottage cheese (I used fat free)
1/3 cup diced tomatoes
2 tbsp fresh rosemary (I used 1.5 tbsp and thought it was still too much)
2 tbsp oat bran (I used 1 tbsp)
1 cup chopped broccoli
1 cup chopped cauliflower
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, fresh, chopped
1 4-oz sweet potato

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a large baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Cut chicken breast in half and set on baking dish.
3. In a small bowl, mash together the cheese wedge with cottage cheese. Add tomatoes and rosemary. Mix well.
4. Stuff the cheese mixture into one side of the chicken and use the other half breast to top it. Dust the top with oat bran.
5. In another bowl, toss together broccoli and cauliflower with oil and garlic. Place on the baking dish beside the chicken.
6. Bake chicken and vegetables for about 25-30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through
7. Meanwhile, wash and poke a few holes in the potato with a fork. Microwave for about 8 minutes (turning after 4 minutes).
8. Plate the chicken breast, vegetables and sweet potato. Serve.

Nutrition Information:
Calories: 530
Fat: 19g
Cholesterol: 80mg
Sodium: 490mg
Carbs: 52g
Fiber: 13g
Sugar: 12g
Protein: 45g
Iron: 4mg

PS - race recap coming soon!

I have a confession

I know you are expecting my recipe and review today. I have a confession though, I did not make the protein packed cheesy stuffed chicken last night. My husband and I were getting home from work between 5:30-6:00 and needed to run to the mall to exchange a few things. The mall is about a half hour away and we wanted to be sure to catch The Biggest Loser and The Voice. We decided to grab something on the go. Instead of my planned healthy dinner, we had



It was delicious but extremely unhealthy. I have really been struggling this past week with my nutrition. It makes me sad because I was doing so well! When I eat healthy I don't feel sluggish and I have so much more energy! I guess it hasn't helped that work has been so busy I haven't been able to take my normal lunch breaks to the gym. Last night I still wanted to do SOMETHING to get a little exercise so I jumped rope during the commercial breaks of TBL and The Voice.

What do you do when you get in a nutrition/ exercise slump?

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