Long Weekends

Want to know something wonderful? I somehow managed to win the lottery with my school schedule this semester. I have Tuesday and Thursday classes, which leaves me with a glorious 4 day weekend. So what have I done with all of my free time this weekend? Nothing out of the ordinary.

Friday means only one thing in this household. PIZZA! Mike put his request in weeks in advance, so there was no question about the toppings on our pizza this week. It just had to be Buffalo Chicken- no questions asked.

This pizza is always a winner and we never end up with leftovers.

On Saturday, Mike and I went to the farmer’s market here in Gainesville, but I was seriously disappointed. Nothing looked good and we left empty handed. Well not entirely, on the way home we stopped at Starbuck’s for a little pick-me-up.

And now we’ve reached Sunday. I started my day off with some yoga and besides that I have designated the rest of the day to truly being a lazy Sunday. The rain outside is helping us out on that one. The only other things I plan to accomplish today are folding laundry, cooking dinner, and partially watching the VMAs. The award show has gotten worse as the years have gone on, but with the rumored N*SYNC performance you know I will be tuning in. The middle school girl inside of me is giddy with the anticipation.

Fitness Friday

Woah! It’s been a whole week since I’ve posted. The start of the week got off to an extremely busy start and then I guess the week just got away from me. I had both yesterday and today off from my internship so I’ve been able to catch up on some studying and school work. This week I tried to eat as healthy as possible in anticipation for the weekend. Today is my birthday so I knew that I would be indulging in some sweets more than a few times over the weekend. Dinner last night was a simple and delicious salad. 

 

It was topped with chicken, hard boiled egg, bacon, and blue cheese. Yummy! And since the house will be full of dogs this weekend I blended up some homemade dog smoothies for the pooches. 

 

These won’t last long. I’m sure the three dogs in the family will enjoy them. 

I got some great workouts in this week. I did overdo it a little with running. I ran three days in a row and my heel was not happy with me yesterday. I decided to take today off completely to rest, relax, and enjoy my day. Here’s what the rest of the week looked like:

• Monday: 12 min. run + back
• Tuesday: 12 min. run + chest + arms + 6 min. stairmill
• Wednesday: 13 min. interval run + 12 min. run
• Thursday: yoga + legs

I’ll be back over the weekend to do a birthday recap! With my sister’s birthday yesterday and mine today there sure is some fun to be had! 

Sweet Weekend

This weekend went by way too fast, and I had so much fun. Mike and I were able to spend the whole weekend together. He has been doing an internship this summer, so our time together has been limited. He got into town Friday evening just in time for pizza. You know the routine, pepperoni pizza and some garlic knots. So good! That night, Mike treated us to some fro-yo. Although we were both stuffed from dinner we couldn’t resist the urge. 

 

Saturday included a run, grocery shopping, Fast and Furious 6, and homemade nachos. Chipper was spoiled this weekend with countless trips to the dog park. He has such a ruff life. Funny, I know. 

 

The many faces of Chipper. Before and after outside playtime. The cold kitchen tile is his spot when we get home. Instant cool down. 

This morning I went to yoga and got a good stretch in. The rest of the day has been spent getting ready for the new week. That includes laundry, meal prep, and homework. The exciting things in life.

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

Just Peachy

My first thoughts when I woke up this morning were, “I think I’ll just lay here awhile.” Do you ever have the feeling when you wake up and stand you are going to realize how sore your body is? I hope I’m not the only one. I knew before I even moved a muscle today that my legs were going to be sore. Yesterday was my first time in a while doing an all out workout that focused solely on my legs. The whole workout I was telling myself, “You are going to regret this tomorrow,” but go big or go home, right? I promise I’ll survive, sometimes it just feels good to whine a little. 

Last night’s dinner was pizza. Shocking, I know, but Friday’s and pizza are just meant to go together. Last night’s pie was a classic pepperoni topped with some of my surviving basil. After dinner the night was spent on the couch watching Netflix. A little celebration for acing my exam earlier that day. 

I signed up to do yoga this morning hoping that it would help to stretch out my sore muscles, but it seemed to be that the class was geared towards building leg muscles. Double Whammy. If I can still move tomorrow, I’m going to attempt yoga again in the morning. If I’m told to sit back in chair pose I may just drop down to child’s pose and refuse to get up. A little dramatic, but completely justifiable. 

Breakfast this morning was my take on a yogurt parfait. I topped some greek yogurt with berries, oatmeal squares for a crunch, and some ground flax. This has become my breakfast of choice lately. I think since it’s summertime I am officially over hot breakfasts. 

Today, my excitement went through the roof while grocery shopping, because I saw Georgia peaches in the produce section. They smelled peachy and weren’t too firm, so I had to put two in my basket. I’m hoping they won’t disappoint. I love the first peaches of the season. Summer is officially here. 

 

Mind Over Matter

This picture pretty much sums up how I (and apparently Chipper) feel about Mondays. Sometimes it’s just so hard to get up and get going after a great weekend.

 

I started off the day yesterday with a yoga class. The class was fast paced and challenging. My shoulders were screaming from so many chaturangas! In class we practiced headstands and I never used to have the urge to do one. The thought of being upside down kind of freaked me out. Now that I know that my body is capable of more challenging poses, like crow, I am going to push myself to get that headstand. I really think it’s all about mind over matter. I need to get rid of those negative thoughts and believe that I can nail that headstand and then I’ll get it. I’ll keep you all posted on the progress. 

The rest of the weekend was filled with adventures at the dog park, laundry, school work, and cooking some delicious food. 

 

Dinner Saturday night was this tasty portobello burger paired with some sauteed summer squash and a salad.

 

A new invention for breakfast. Greek yogurt topped with blueberries, oatmeal squares, and some ground flax seed.

 

Chipper greeting me on my arrival home from yoga. Someone was ready to play. I cannot get enough of this little guy.

 

Dinner last night was this Chicken Florentine Pasta from the Pioneer Woman. I used chicken sausage instead of the chicken breast. It was a quick and delicious meal. I love watching the Pioneer Woman on FoodNetwork. Everything she makes looks so great. I would love to be a guest at her house!

Excuse Me, I Just Burpee’d

I am happy to report that today was a much better day than yesterday. My car started and the day only got better from there. I headed to campus early to fit in a workout before class. Today’s workout was a power workout that consisted of 3 sets of an exercise followed by 20 burpees. This format was repeated for every exercise. By the end of the workout I reached 100 burpees. The workout was quick but intense. I can guarantee that I looked like a crazy person while doing my burpees because as soon as I started jumping my hair would start to fall out of my pony tail. I really do need to find a workout friendly hair style for my extremely thick hair. Any ideas send them my way!

After a quick class, I headed home with plans to take Chipper on a walk. Things have been low key around here this evening. Chipper and I are both sprawled out on the couch relaxing at this very moment. Mike volunteered to make us dinner, so I was more than happy to hand over the reigns. He whipped us up chicken stir fry and it was very satisfying. 

On the agenda for tomorrow is class and then some yoga. I’m excited to get back to yoga after an erratic schedule over the past 2 weeks.

On the Road Again

This afternoon I hit the road, once again, to head to Orlando. I have a flight that leaves bright and early tomorrow morning. I’m headed to Louisville with my mom and sister so we can visit some family. I’m feeling a bit like a world traveler lately. 

Let’s rewind to yesterday… I tried a yoga class at Power Yoga Ocala. I decided to do the “Power Hour” class and it was great. The room was hot, and I quickly turned into a sweaty mess. I am always hesitant to try new a yoga or really any workout class, because I get so accustomed to classes going a certain way. I know this nervousness is silly, but it happens- I can’t help it. The instructor yesterday was very welcoming and friendly, it made for a great yoga experience and helped to ease my hesitation. 

After yoga I was hun-gry! I headed home to put together a quick salad. I topped some mixed greens with leftover BBQ chicken, pecans, blue cheese, and a vinergarette dressing. It was so delicious! 

 

I’m off to double check to make sure I have everything for the trip. I’ll check in from the Bluegrass State!

Spontaneity

Usually I am not a very spontaneous individual. I love planning, making plans, and following those plans. I have an agenda and use it every day. Yesterday I threw all of that into the wind when I got an email telling me that at J.Crew Factory stores everything was 50% off. Nothing like a little shopping trip to screw up your day’s plans. Let me tell you though, it was well worth it! I made the hour and a half trek to the St. Augustine Outlets just to go to one store, that is pure dedication right there. I came away with a couple pairs of shorts, a pair of their skimmer pants that I love the fit of, and a simple white shirt.

When I got home in the middle of the afternoon, I got to baking. This afternoon I am heading to a little end of the year get together with some of my classmates. The party is potluck style and you better believe I signed up to make a sweet treat. After going back and forth about what to make, I settled with funfetti chocolate chip cookies, because who doesn’t love a little funfetti? The recipe is super easy and actually uses boxed cake mix as the base. I may have already tasted one (or two) of these cookies and I have to say they are moist and delicious!

After I finished baking, I ran out the door to yoga. I had seriously considered skipping yoga due to my lack of getting things done earlier in the day, but I am extremely happy I ended up going. The class made me slow down and relax for the first time that day. We didn’t do my new favorite pose, crow, during class but I tried it at the end of class. A little recap of that… Attempt #1: Almost fell right on my face. Attempt #2 and #3: Held it, but not as long as I hoped. I can admit I wasn’t 100% focused when trying crow, as everyone around me was packing up to leave, but I just couldn’t resist practicing the pose some more.

And now to the best time of the week. That’s right, a recap of Pizza Friday. Last night’s pie was the household favorite, Buffalo Chicken. We have a slight obsession with buffalo sauce in this apartment. Mike even made the suggestion last night that buffalo sauce needs to be included in at least one meal per week. While that most likely is not going to happen, we do enjoy it everytime it’s on the menu.

Is your mouth watering yet? I know mine is and it’s 8:40 in the morning. Too bad there are no leftovers.

I hope everyone enjoys their Saturday. I’ve got to get to work crossing items off my to-do list. Up first, ironing these new clothes….uhhh.

Race Recap: Midnight Fun Run

Last night’s race was loads of fun! Mike and I headed to campus a little after 11pm where we just hung out before heading to the start line. We lined up inbetween the 8 minute/mile corral and the 10 minute/ mile corral– what we assumed would be the 9 minute/mile area. We ran the race together for the first 2 miles, and then with a mile left I told Mike he could take off, because I knew I needed to slow down a bit. This was was my first time participating in a race and now I want to continue to improve my running so I can sign up for another one. I was pretty pleased with my time.

 

 

And then here’s us goofballs post race, ready to go home and sleep! But that was next to impossible. I had so many endorphins running through my body that it took forever to fall asleep last night. I guess that’s the one bad thing about a nice race. 

 

This morning I slept in a little bit to make up for being up so late last night, but I had a hard time getting moving. It was definitely a coffee morning. Once I was fully awake I headed to the gym to get in my strength training for the day. Besides fitting in a yoga class either tomorrow or Saturday, not much will be going on besides studying for finals.

 

And here’s me doing crow. Mike wanted to know what it was so I showed him and he snapped a picture. Can’t wait to try it again in class!

Crow Pose Domination

I finally held crow today in yoga! I was so excited. When I came out of the pose I wanted to scream “Woooo,” but I had to refrain. I’ve been trying to get up in crow every week but, I just could never find my balance and would just have to stay on my tippy toes. But, today when I went up I stayed and was so surprised! It’s amazing what the body can accomplish when you push yourself! 

Something else exciting! Mike and I are running in a 5k tonight. The race starts at 11:59pm and is called the midnight fun run. I’m already wondering how I’m going to stay up late enough to make it to the race. This girl is usually in bed by 10pm. But have no fear, I will survive! This morning I went to sign in early for the race, got my shirt, some freebies, and my wristband. 

 

All ready to go!

I plan on relaxing the rest of the day til the race. Since all that’s left in school for the semester is two finals, I plan to start hitting the books hard tomorrow. But until then, I feel a little break is needed.