The Lulu

2010-04-19T07:49:00.000-07:00

My lack of posting lately has made me to decide to take an indefinite hiatus from posting. Since my mom retired and I took on some of her responsibilities, I have very limited time to be online at work and I still don't want internet service at home. I don't want to get sucked into the world of the internets (like I most likely would)and waste time online when I could be out doing other things. My life couldn't be better though, I am finally in a place where I am living my life exactly the way I have always wanted to, healthy, positive and happy.

I wish everyone the best! Keep on keeping on:)

I Have a Garden!

2010-03-29T08:03:00.000-07:00

This weekend, my parents came over to help Mike and I with planting our first garden and do some work around the yard. It was a beautiful spring day and it was great to be able to spend it outside.

In the garden we planted snow peas, green beans and two varities of tomaotes. It is small but we didn't want to try to take on too much our first attempt at gardening. We also used 4 bags of steer manure so hopefully our little shit eater Nika will not see it as her own personal buffet. In about 30-45 days we should have come fresh veggies to eat and I am very excited about that.

While my dad and Mike tended to the garden, my mom and I planted some grasses and ground cover and mowed and edged the lawns. I am very fortunate that my parents love to to do yard work so they do not mind coming over and helping, and we will also learn a lot in the process. I think this weekend I am going to plant some annual flowers in the front yard and transplant some of the grasses and in the backyard plant lavender and salvia then I will take some pictures to post.

I love being outside and working in the yard because honestly it doesn't feel like work, yet I feel accomplished and exhausted at the end of the day and it is always a good day if you go to bed feeling like that.

LA Marathon Recap

2010-03-23T07:40:00.001-07:00

Well, it didn't go exactly as planned. I was feeling great in every training runs, I had absolutely no issues while training and I even had my stomach problems under control, yet for some unknown reason, that was not the case during the race.

It started out great but right about the half way point I was already feeling my body starting to breakdown. My foot hurt, my knee was hurting and my hips were sore. None of these issues were too terrible so I hoped that they would just stay at that level of pain but they didn't. My hips and knee were not too bad but my foot was killing me. It was the same foot where I have a sore big toe but it wasn't the toe that hurt, it was under the foot, towards the outside of the foot. It kind of felt like the bone was breaking or splitting, which it obviously was not but that is the best way to explain the pain. The course was pretty hilly so it might have been the terrain that got me, but I was not doing well.

Then at about mile 16, the old familiar stomach cramps returned with a vengeance. I had to stop to use the porta potty 3 times, twice for emergency stomach evacuations. There are always lines at the porta potty's too so that probably took 20-30 minutes away from our time. Mike was great the entire time. He felt fantastic and had no problems, even though he had a problem every run when we were training (go figure). He was also very supportive and kept me from going completely over to the dark side but kept me positive.

At mile 24 my stomach issues magically went away and we ran a pretty fast and strong final 2.2 miles. At that point I was so close that I just ignored the foot pain and kept pushing. The crowds are great at that point too, everyone cheering for you, it really lifts your spirits. I crossed the line feeling pretty darn good and surprisingly I wasn't bothered by my lackluster performance. These things happen and I know I prepared for this race as best I could. Maybe it was the hills or maybe I just had an off day. I don't feel the 4 months of training were wasted though because those were 4 months that I had a blast running with Mike. I had a blast running the marathon too - for most of the way at least. Most importantly Mike had a great time. He ran the whole way with a grin on his face and loved every second of it. He never thought he could do it and he never thought he would attempt it and now he has so his mind is open to a whole new realm of possibilities. I am very proud of him.

We plan on running the half marathon in Fresno in the fall and another full marathon on Arizona in January.

My foot is still hurting but as soon as it feels better I can't wait to lace up my running shoes and get back out there soon!

LA Marathon

2010-03-19T08:07:00.000-07:00

Marathon weekend is here! Sunday at approximately 7:20 AM Mike and I will be heading from Dodger Stadium, along with 25,000 other runners, on our way to the Santa Monica Pier. This will be my 4th marathon and I have never felt more healthy or ready. I have also hopefully learned my lesson and will not be going out too fast so I might actually enjoy the last 6 miles instead of stumbling across the finish line in pain (they key word there is might).

The weather forecast for Sunday calls for a high of 78 degrees and partly cloudy conditions. Slightly on the warm side but since it won't reach 78 until after we are done and it will be partly cloudy, the conditions are quite favorable. The course is brand spanking new and will go through Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Culver City on its way to the Santa Monica Pier. Here is a course map if you are interested. This is the second time I have run the LA Marathon and it was also my favorite so I hope Sunday lives up to my expectations. It is really amazing to have a huge city like that close off roads so we can all come running through, and the spectators and volunteers are always fantastic. I am just excited to take it all in.

Mike and I started training on November 16th and since that time we have run a total of 596 miles (and yes I kinda want to run 4 more miles to make that an even 600, but I won't, grrr). We have also gotten a lot closer during the process and seen each other at our best and at our worst, and we still love each other so that is a good sign:) When we started, the furthest Mike had run was 3 miles and now he is about to run 26.2. It really is amazing what you can do when you put in the time and effort and I am very very proud of him.

Also, we are painfully just short of our $1,000 fundraising goal for ARF. Currently, with online donations and checks we are at $960. I know that money is tight for everyone right now but if you can find even just 5 bucks to donate, you will be helping a very deserving organization and a lot of homeless dogs. 5 bucks would buy a bag of food so don't think it doesn't matter because it does. Here is the link to the online secure donation site. Of course you can also adopt a pet and give a dog a loving home as well, here is a link to their adoptables. I debated on whether to post a picture of one of their dogs in hopes of tugging on some heart strings but decided against it. But then I found a picture of Cinny and changed my mind because she had the perfect sad face for the job. Won't you help Cinny have a better life??
Donate or adopt today! (I am a little stinker aren't I)

2010-03-18T08:41:00.000-07:00

I haven't done any frivolous shopping in awhile and while continuing my very long term search for a close toed nude pump with a rounded toe that wasn't over 100 bucks, I found these shoes that made me swoon:
I love me a red shoe and although I have 3 pairs already, 1 is falling apart, 1 is very high and not wonderful to wear for longer periods of time and 1 is casual so I obviously need this show for my collection. And they are suede and have an adorable little ruffle!

I am just a little bit happier now:)

House Stuff

2010-03-17T07:46:00.001-07:00

This weekend Mike and I did some work on the house that I am quite pleased with.

First, we painted the guest bedroom Sparkling Lake or Blue. I think the hue turned out nice, however we still need to do another coat and put the room back together. Here is the before and after:

The arrangement of the room will pretty much stay the same but I have some artwotk and accessories to put up as well that aren't there yet. I like the color though, it keeps the room bright and sunny.

Then we headed outside for some bush trimming which resulted in the removal of 3 bushes and two more got a serengeti trim. In front of the master bedroom there were 5 bushes, all of which were different. I always hated those bushes and it makes everything look cluttered and unkept. I prefer a more minimal, clean and lower profile landscape so even though Mike started by just trimming them, I decided that 2 of them had to go as well as one under the kitchen window.

The biggest benefit of getting rid of them was that low and behold you can see the beautiful brick that they were hiding! I love this brick too because the bricks themselves are longer and thinner than your average brick, so I love being able to expose them. They need a little pressure washing and sealing but already it is a big improvement.

I also coined the term "serengeti trim". In my mind, I pictured the trees from the serengeti and I wanted the bushes to look more like that rather than your typical round or square bush/hedge:
I think Mike did a pretty darn good job considering my obscure request:

Before he took the two bushed out, all 5 bushed were crammed in that space, overlapping and of various sizes and they looked terrible. I am very pleased now. This spring we are hoping to take out all of the landscape in the front yard besides the tree and grass and start over. Until then though, this will do just nicely.

Nika has been FurMinated

2010-03-17T07:25:00.000-07:00

Labs are fantastic dogs in a lot of ways, however they are terrible shedders and Nika is no exception. If we go one week without sweeping the floors, we could make a replica dog with the fur we sweep up.

Looking into the problem I discovered a product called The FurMinator, great name, right? It is just a grooming tool but it has finer teeth and is made of metal and the premise is the more fur your remove during brushing, the less your pet will shed on you or in your house. Simple concept but I was really impressed with this:
So, I went to Petco to get one and we spent an HOUR brushing Nika on Monday night. We had to take turns because we got so tired of doing it but the fur just kept coming off until the yard looked like this:

Perhaps if we had piled all the hair together it would have more closely resembled the first pic but we had a hell of a time trying to keep her still for that long so if she moved, we followed and thus the fur went everywhere. I also believe we could have gotten more off of her, but after an hour, we were over it.

Her coat was very shiny and silky when we were done though:
She is also shedding less in the house and on us, which is REALLY good. I would reccomend this product if you have a problem shedder like we do. It works on cats too!

Chickpeas and Cauliflower

2010-03-15T08:29:00.000-07:00

I recently have become a fan of Indian food - I know, I am a bit of a late bloomer. I never really liked it before but the older I get it seems the more I seem to broaden my horizons in terms of my palate. I have eaten it at restaurants but I have never tried to make any at home, until this weekend.

My sister and I share recipes and recipe ideas all of the time which is a lot of fun, particularly since we have such similar taste now so I have to give her credit for this idea. You need a a jar of a wet curry sauce(I found one at Trader Joe's but you should be able to find them at any grocery store) that was the base for this dish. I started with roasting chickpeas and cauliflower:

Chickpeas & Cauliflower
(1) can chickpeas, drained and patted with a paper towel to get rid of most of the excess moisture
(1) head cauliflower, chopped into small pieces
to taste:
olive oil
minced garlic
kosher salt
ground black pepper
lemon juice
cumin
red pepper flakes

Preheat the oven to 325. Toss all ingredients into a bowl and spread onto a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, take out and stir and place back into the oven for 5-10 minutes, checking for the browning of the cauliflower. Once the cauliflower has some browned edges, take it out.

I think roasted Chickpeas and Cauliflower would be great by itself, but for the dish I started sauteing the chicken when I put the C&C back into the oven for 5-10 more minutes. Once the chicken was browned I added the curry sauce and then the C&C when it was done. Simmer for 5-10 minutes and put it on top of basmati rice and/or naan bread. There was definite heat that made me nose run (probably pretty mild for most people though, I am a bit of a wimp)but the flavors along with the heat made this one of the best dishes we have made. I think I said "Oh my god, this is so good" a half a dozen times.

Thanks Kristen and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

2010-03-12T09:11:00.000-08:00

I have been doing the majority of my runs around my neighborhood, mainly going from Fruit and Shaw, going West on Shaw to Van Ness and then going North on Van Ness and back. Yesterday I only had a 3 miler to run and in that short distance, 4 cars pulled out in front of me without looking and was very near to hitting myself or Nika.

The problem is people are looking in the other direction (to the left) to check to see if traffic is coming and they completely disregard anything that is happening on their right side. In one incident I literally had to stop dead in my tracks while a van pulled out from an office complex and stood inches from the passenger side for a good 15-20 seconds before she pulled out without ever seeing me. She was also on her cell phone. And then there was an older man who kept inching forward into the road, completely blocking the sidewalk without once looking to his right. The other two incidents were very similar to those two.

Now I understand that people are used to looking to their left because that is where the traffic is coming from but people need to be more aware of what is going on around them. Running down Shaw is not ideal by any means either, but there is a very limited number of running trails in Fresno unfortunately so unless I want to drive 15 minutes to another location everyday, I have no choice and don't feel it should be that dangerous to do so.

To be fair though, I have also had people see me coming and back up so I can run by. I always wave and smile when that happens because I certainly appreciate it. I guess you have to take the good with the bad.

2010-03-11T08:48:00.000-08:00

I have finally decided that the guest bedroom will have a spanish style theme to it. Currently there is a rod iron bed, an antique wood table, an antique crate and a natural wood dresser and soon there will also be these 3 prints I found on Etsy:

When I found the My Pink Turtle Art by Lulu shop on Etsy, I was very drawn to her style. I love the bright colors, I love the dias de los muertos style and the homage to Frida Khalo. I want that room to be bright and cheerful and these will definitely fit the bill without being overly feminine or girly. Mike is half Mexican so he really likes that style too and due to the fact that I still say my house instead of our house on occassion, I really want him to feel included and happy with whatever decorating decisions that are made.

I also got the perfect dress to wear while decorating that room on an Etsy shop:
It is handmade from a group of, oddly enough, Thai women in a village in Northern Thailand. Hopefully that is not just a fancy way of describing a sweat shop. Either way I think it is super cute and I shall wear it with a belt and cute red shoes.

But speaking of decorating, if anyone ever comes across leather club chairs that are reasonably priced, please let me know. I want to make the area in front of the fire place a lounge type area and have been loking for chairs like this that aren't $500 a piece:

I run, therefore I blog about it

2010-03-10T08:28:00.000-08:00

A funny thing happened while training for the LA Marathon, I fell in love with running. Any logical person would probably think they if one is running their 4th marathon and have also run 4 half marathons then they already loved running, but my relationship with running is more complicated than that.

When I first started long distance running I was living in Indiana and was the ripe age of 22. A friend of mine made a flippant comment once about running a half marathon and I said I wanted to do it too, so I trained. She never started training though so I ran it by myself and although I didn't so much feel the complete joy of running, I was happy I stuck with it and I followed through.

Most of the races I signed up, I signed up for were for the challenge. Sometimes I felt like I needed something positive to work towards to boost my self esteem or to feel like I can accomplish something. When I was living in Austin I was really down about school not working out and I didn't know what I wanted to do and I felt like a loser with nothing going for me. Training for a marathon pulled me out of that funk. It was a distraction and with each mile I felt a little better about myself as a person.

Almost every time after I would run a race though, towards the end of the training I would grow tired of it. Tired of all of the miles, tired of my life being focused on that and not being able to do other social things because of it or if I did do social things, paying for it in my run the next day. Once I ran the race I gladly stopped running for a period of time and did other forms of exercise.

I feel differently this time though. The marathon is 11 days away and I have no feelings of wanting it to be over or of being over running. My past few runs have felt great and I am finally feeling that zen when I run where it just feels good to pound the pavement. The runs are not difficult or burdensome and I am healthier than I have ever been before a race. I virtually had no issues this training - no pain in my hips or knees, no lack of energy, no anemia, minimal stomach issues - it has been fantastic!

I went into this training without any time goals or expectations. It is Mike's first so I wanted to just go at his pace so I put no pressure on myself to run a particular pace. If we run it in 6 hours it won't matter, which frees me up to just enjoy running. Having a training partner has also made it more enjoyable. We encourage and support each other and know what the other person is going through so I don't feel like I am going at it alone. It is still a challenge though, which I love. It has also opened my mind to other possibilities, an ultra perhaps? I have been thinking about that for a long time and maybe I have broken through the mental barrier to do it because running doesn't feel like a burden but a joy.

The Dog

2010-03-08T07:25:00.001-08:00

Sunday we took a walk with Nika to Starbucks. She loves these walks and everyone we meet loves her. Everytime we do this we have multiple people coming up to us and talking to us about her. She is quite the charmer. Unfortunately she is also not very well behaved when she is in a new situation or surrounded by people. It is almost too much for her to handle-too many new smells and people and sights-and she gets on sensory overload and forgets her manners. It is nothing terrible though, she will just jump up on us (not other people, thank goodness)and she is so strong that she pulls pretty badly on her leash. That is the extent of it though.

She meet a puppy friend at Starbucks though and charmed an old man and possibly convinced another man to get a lab, then we headed home. On the way home we decided to just keep on walking down to Fresh and Easy to pick up some things for a salad I was bringing over to his moms house later. Mike stayed outside with Nika and I went inside and was perusing the produce when I see a flash of blonde out of the corner of my eye. I look up and there is Nika barreling towards me in the produce aisle of the Fresh and Easy. A second later Mike runs in after her, holding up a collar attached to a leash. Oh dear. She had backed out of her collar (that obviously isn't tight enough)and took off after me.

She ran right to me, wagging her tail just seeing what I was up to. She is funny because when we are at home if Mike and I are ever in different room she spends her time going back and forth between us. If one of us isn't there, she will look for the other and keeps doing this until we are all in the same room togeher and only then will she relax. She knew I was in the store and just wanted to check on me and make sure she wasn't missing out on anything. Mike quickly catches up to her but she isn't great at letting us put her collar on so she does what she usually does and flops down and rolls over on her back so we can scratch her belly.

One of the employees came up and Mike apologizes and starts taking her away when the employees goes "wait! can I pet her?". There she goes again, I thought, charming everyone she meets. So the employee chatted with us for awhile and Nika enjoyed her little adventure.

I can't wait to see what she does next:)

New Shoes!

2010-03-05T08:12:00.000-08:00

I got a pair new shoes yesterday and I haven't been this excited about a show in awhile. They are beautiful, purple and made for trail running and hiking. Meet my Merrell Siren Sport Gore-Tex XCR's:
The reason I am super excited about these shoes is because I have a summer of hiking and backpacking in front and now I finally have the appropriate foot wear to do it in. I haven't done a lot of hiking in my life, but everytime I have gone I have had a great time and in recent years I have really wanted to do more of it but it never seemed to work out. Now that Mike is in my life I not only have someone to do it with but someone to learn from since he is quite the hiker/back packer. He has a great deal of experience and it is a big passion of his that I look forward to experiencing with him. He has been training for a marathon with me for the past 4 months and it will be nice to do something with him that is his thing.

We have 2 trips lined up at the moment. The first I am most excited about. On Sunday June 27th we are going to Half Dome, but we are starting at midnight so we can get up there in time to see the sun rise before heading back down. There is also a full moon that night so it should be beautiful. Now that Half Dome requires permits for weekend half dome trips, it will limit the amount of people up there so we shouldn't see a lot of people either, which will be nice.

The second trip is the 4th of July weekend and it will be my very first overnight hike. I have camped and done day hikes, but I have never backpacked. We will be doing a 2 day, 2 night trip to Ostrander Lake in Yosemite National Park.

Now I just need to wait for my tax return to buy a sleeping bag and I will pretty much be good to go. I already have a good pack that I haven't used yet but Mike got me at REI during their big sale last month. The only thing I am concerned with is being warm. I am in general a person who is always cold so I need to make sure to get a good bag.

I cannot wait to get out there.

Ughh

2010-03-03T09:57:00.000-08:00

For some unknown reason it smells like raw sewage at the office today. The stench is coming from outside the office but the smell is so strong that it is seeping its way into the office and it is kind of making me want to vomit. On the bright side I can fart freely and have a perfectly good excuse if it smells:)

Fit Tip - No Time To Exercise

2010-03-03T07:24:00.000-08:00

Recently I was speaking with someone about finding the time to exercise. She stated that she got home from work at 6 and just couldn't put in another hour devoted to exercise because she didn't have the time or the energy. Like many others, we seem to think of exercise in terms of larger chunks of time. We feel that in order to be effective we should devote an hour to it or otherwise, why bother. Although exercising an hour at time if not more is effective, it isn't the only way.

One thing I do on the days that I have something to after work and can't get to the gym or just want to have more downtime at home after work, is to break up my workouts. I will wake up 15 minutes early and start my day doing 15 minutes of abs or I will wake up a half an hour early (and sleep in my workout clothes to save time) and go on a half hour run in the morning before work. This means I wake up at 5, but once I get moving I actually feel more awake when I make it to work.

You can also use your lunch break as workout time. Yesterday I ran 5 miles at lunch and came back a much happier person. It is nice to get a mental break and be moving for a period of time during the day. Of course you don't have to run but going on a brisk walk can be just as benefical. I come back a little sweatier but the sweat dries, you can reapply make up (if you wear it)and spray yourself with body spray and get on with the rest of the day. By this time you have already worked out for 45 minutes to an hour and can stop there if you wish.

But if you want to, you can still workout after work for a shorter period of time, like a half an hour as opposed to your usual hour. This is when you can get some weight lifting in or some sort of muscle building activity. Total activity time for the day would range from an hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and a half, which is not an overwhelming period of time when you break it up. The great news is that you can even get benefits from exercise in shorter periods of time if you do interval training, which is short burts of high intensity exercise followed by short periods of rest that generally last 30 minutes.

It isn't always easy but most people can find time to exercise. By breaking up your workouts or doing interval training you can get the work done and reap the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

Need motivation? This might help:

Smooth Move

2010-03-02T09:14:00.000-08:00

Good morning! It is TMI Tuesday so it is time to talk about bowel movements, or lack thereof. I have all sorts of stomach issues that range from bloat (severe bloat, like I am 6 months pregnant bloat), gas, constipation, the exact opposite of constipation, and stomach cramps on runs. Running always makes me stomach issues more prevelant too wich really annoys me.

I generally experience every single one of these issues on a weekly basis. And yes I have been to the doctor and he tells me I have IBS, which is a bullshit disgnosis because it means nothing and there is no treatment so I am left on my own to find what works.

Saturday during the last part of my run, I had waves of stomach cramps. I am pretty used to this and there are not as severe as they once were so I just grit my teeth and keep going. I was fully expecting a bathroom trip at the end, but it produced nothing. I then proceeded to eat A LOT. By Sunday nigt I still hadn't had a bowel movement and my last BM was Friday. That is just not right considering the amount of food I had eaten!

I was at the grocery store and was looking for my Yogi Ginger Tea that I like to drink when I have stomach problems because it soothes my belly, but I couldn't find it. I did come across some Senna tea though called Smooth Move (Mike found the name of this product hilarious btw). Senna is an herbal laxative so it is all natural and this brand is labeled organic so that is always a bonus. Drink a glass at night and by morning you should have one on deck it said, although not in those exact words, so I decided to see if i could have a smooth move of my own.

I wasn't expecting much in terms of taste but this was actually really tasty, like I would want to drink this even if I wasnt constipated. Even Mike thought it tasted good. The next morning, the cramps began. So much for the ginger soothing the stomach cramping. It wasn't severe though and within an hour of waking up, it had done it's job. My stomach was a little off the rest of the day but nothing terribly uncomfortable. I would use this product again unquestionably.

2010-03-01T15:08:00.000-08:00

I don't know why this exists but it does and I am amused by it: Bea Arthur Mountain Pizza

Weekend Wrap Up

2010-03-01T08:05:00.001-08:00

I had a great although not very exciting weekend. Friday mike and made apple butter pork sandwiches and sweet potato fries and watched Gran Torino. I had never seen the movie and I cried but I really liked it. Here is the recipe for the prok sandwiches because it is delicious:

Ingredients:

1 pork tenderloin
sourdough bread (or bread of your choice)
Apple butter
1 yellow onion
smoked cheddar cheese
arugula
balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Grill the pork and marinade or use the rub of your choice. Something with a bit of a bite or spice is best. While the pork is being grilled slice 1 yellow onion and add to a pan with olive oil and saute on a low heat until carmelized.
When the pork is almost done take 2 slices of sourdough per sandwich and grill until you get grill marks and the bread is crunchy. It is better to have crunchier bread so it doesn't fall apart when you are eating it. Take the pork off the grill and start assembling sandwiches. Spread apple butter on both sides, add the sliced pork and top with smoked cheese (smoked cheese is the BEST). Add the onion and arugula and splash with balsamic and enjoy! Oh and for the fries, I use 1 tsp of seat salt, 1 tsp, cumin, 1 tsp, paprika, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp chili powder and place fresh rosemary on the bottom of the baking sheet. Place the fries over the rosemary, sprinkle with spices and bake for 20 minutes at 400. Turn them over, add more spice and bake for another 25 or until they are browned to your liking.

Saturday morning we meet up with my mom to do our 20 miler. Luckily the weather cooperated and it only rained the first 4 miles or so. After that it was pretty much smooth sailing until we had to turn around a few places and go a different route because the trail was flooded, until we headed back. From about mile 10-15 there was a really strong headwind that was not fun at all, it really sucked the energy out of out legs and my mom had trouble too. We got through it though and it was one of the best runs we have had. We both felt strong and didn't have any problems and went by pretty fast for 3 1/2 hours of running. I defintely feel ready for the marathon and I know Mike is ready for it too. 20 more days and the training tapering will begin this week! To celebrate the 20 miler we went to dinner at Hunan and had some wonderful chinese food with my parents and ate with glee.

Sunday was a work day after a walk to Satbucks with the Stinker. Nika has been shedding like crazy so there was a lot of vaccuming and sweeping and we also gave her a bath. Then I had tea with Kendall and Ali and ran some errands with Mike, made dinner and watched Marley and Me and cried. I hope Nika never dies.

It was a very good weekend and I am very happy with my life. I wouldn't change a thing about it and I don't think I have ever been able to say that.

2010-02-25T14:13:00.000-08:00

Saturday, Mike and I and our sherpa (my very dear mother) are going to be running our second and last 20 miler before the marathon. Unfortunately the forecast calls for rain, the entire day. So far in my running career I haven't had to do much running in the rain so I am actually kind of nerding out and am excited about it. On Tuesday we did a 5 miler in the rain that was fun, how much worse can a 20 miler be? Maybe running 20 miles in the rain will finally get me over the hump of feeling like a "real runner".

And how great is my mom?? She doesn't care at all that it is going to be raining and is willing and actually happy to ride her bike 20 miles in the cold and rain, carrying a backpack full of supplies and I guarantee there will not be one complaint out of her. I am pretty lucky to have her as my sherpa AND espcially as my mom:)

And speaking of lucky, I had an experience yesterday while on a run that made me feel very lucky that I am able bodied and healthy. We were at the tail end of a 8 miler and I was feeling a little bit sluggish. We were running past the Vet Building in downtown Clovis when I looked up and saw what I believe was a disabled vet in a wheelchair sitting in front of the building watching us run by. I thought about how I would feel if I were in his position, stuck in a chair and literally watcing the world go by. I know personally I would have a very hard time with that. I wondered if when he saw us he remembered a time when he was able to run. I wondered if when he closed his eyes if he could remember the sensation of running; feeling the wind on his skin, the pump of his arms, the power of his legs, the beating of his heart. It quickly snapped me out of my sluggishness and I ran the rest of the way, which was about a half a mile, not thinking about how heavy and tired my legs felt but how lucky I was to have legs that felt heavy and tired.

Pictures of Things

2010-02-24T07:43:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of things that are completely unrelated except their reflection of my life at the moment.

First, I did some re-arranging of our master bedroom so we could put up one of the Valentine's Day presents I made Mike:

Since we got a new dresser I also moved my old dresser to the side of my bed so I could still have that storage and also a night stand. I really like my "art" on the wall there. I am not crazy about my mirror arrangement over the bed though. I might replce those with some round mirrors instead.

I had to take down my three Pancho Villa posters to put the sign up there but I still absolutely adore them and I didn't want to take the down completely so I put the over our new dresser and brought in a snake plant:
And I swear I did not place my cowboy boots there for the pic, they have been there for a few weeks as I keep forgetting to put them away. Not a bad touch though;)

I had dinner with Kendall on Saturday and brought her some flowers from my yard. I also added some branches from another bush to spruce things up:

A few weeks ago Mike and I took Nika to a park near us so she could stretch her legs a bit and have fun. I don't know how much weight she has lost but her diet and consistent exercise has really made a difference and she is looking really good.
Since she is going to be doing a lot of hiking with us this summer we need to make sure she is in shape and ready to go and by the looks of things she is well on her way. She also loves running full throttle.

Nika made a friend at the park, a dog named Nitzy.
She looked like a muppet:)

And in other Nika news, she got herself into a little bit of trouble Sunday night. Mike and I were eating dinner on the couch and Nika has figured out that I drop food while I am eating because she likes to lay underneath the coffee table with her head at my feet waiting for tasty morsels. I don't really mind because I indeed can't keep the food on the fork and it is less for me to clean up. This time however she was fixated on something under the couch. I bent over to see what she was looking at and one of her balls had rolled underneath so I grabbed it and tossed it towards her bed. Well that was stupid of me because she is underneath the coffee table and before I knew it she had scrambled to get the ball, hit the table hard and spilled both of our drinks. There is nothing graceful about that dog, she is a bull in a china shop.

Mike and I jump up to go get towels to pick up the spilled drinks and as Mike is coming back in I hear him say "Nika!" and I ask what is going on and she had taken the pork chop off of my plate and was chowing down. I am convinced she planned the whole thing.

Those are just some snap shots of my life:)

Moroccan Oil

2010-02-24T07:13:00.000-08:00

If you want super shiny and soft hair that smells really good, I highly reccomend you invest in some Moroccan oil. Moroccan oil is an oil treatment for all hair types. I have fine hair strands but I have a lot of them so my hair looks pretty thick and has a tendancy to be oily so I was a little apprehnsive that it would make my hair more oily but it didn't. It is instantly absorbed into the hair, and eliminates frizz, speeds up styling time by 40%, and provides long-term conditioning to all hair types (all of this according to their product description).

I was intrigued, what girl doesn't want healthy, shiny looking hair? So I bought a small bottle to test it out. I got it in the mail yesterday and was eager to try it out this morning even though the weather is less than ideal. I used 2 drops that I rubbed in my palms and smoothed through my hair while it was still wet and blow dried as usual. My hair is super long now and blow drying takes awhile but I really do feel it was sped up slightly by using this stuff, although by 40% may be a bit of an exaggeration.

Once it was dry it was incredibly shiny and ooooh weee, it smells nice. Once it cooled down from the blow dryer it was also very soft and I didn't even need to put the serum on I usualy do to smooth fly aways.

Here is the bottle line though, it is somewhat expensive. For me at least, I don't spend a lot of money on products so 14 bucks for a .85 oz felt a bit ridiculous. However since I only use 2 drops, it should last a decent amount of time and I am quite sure I will be paying 30 for the larger bottle when this runs out. I can't stop touching and smelling my hair and it is a noticeable difference.

I ordered from Amazon and they have a whole line of these products but for now I am sticking with just the oil because it does a fantastic job on its own.

Tip of The Day

2010-02-23T11:05:00.000-08:00

This weekend I was doing some re-arranging in our bedroom and while I was placing a plant on our brand new dresser, I scratched it not once but twice. Sure it was only an Ikea dresser but it was brand spanking new and now had these ugly scratched on it!

I fortunately has just read a post the day before from one of my decorating blogs I frequent that said to use walnuts to buff out scratches on furniture. I am guessing it has something to do with the oil in the nut (?) but I rubbed it along the scratch and the more I rubbed the darker it got until I could see it no longer. Magic! And it only cost the price of 1 walnut:)

Pictures from around the house

2010-02-17T07:25:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures I quickly snapped on my phone yesterday.

First, the daffodils that have sprung up:

There are still a lot of them that have not yet bloomed so I will probably have these flowers to look at for a week or two more.

Second, I bought 2 chairs for the patio at Home Depot this weekend. I love the bright lime green color, they are quite comfortable and only 16 bucks a piece:

I imagine having a cup of coffee and reading the paper there on weekend mornings (you know when I am not running 40 miles a week and have the time for a life) or a glass of wine in the evening. We grill at least 3 days a week most weeks so they will be getting a lot of use. Also in that picture is the table I have not yet painted.

Finally, I finished my art project for Mike:
You may recognize the lyric from the Dave Matthew's Band song Crush. It is one of Mike's favorite songs so even though I had to get a new piece of plywood so it would fit, it was worth the extra effort. We are going to put this up in the bedroom but I wasn't sure how to hang it so we are going to figure that out this weekend and I will take another picture. He loved it though and so do I.

A Little Sunshine

2010-02-16T11:48:00.000-08:00

There have been an army of bulbs that have been sprouting green stalks over the past few weeks in my backyard and this weekend they really started blooming. I now have an army of beautiful yellow, happy daffodils in my backyard, what a lovely suprise!

I cut a few of them and made an arrangement for my mom. A little bit of sunshine on a vase for a happy Tuesday:

Things I Saw While Running Yesterday

2010-02-11T07:49:00.000-08:00

Since it is staying lighter later in the day, Mike and I have taken advantage and are running almost all of our miles outside now which is wonderful and also entertaining. We usually start at the Lowe's on Clovis and Shaw and take the trail from there.

Yesterday we were almost to the first stoplight past Lowe's when we hear and loud thunk along with some screeching tires. I look up to see an SUV with one spare tire on, jumping up onto the curb, correcting and then going back to the road. The car was stopped at the light so I looked over to see who was driving and it was a woman driving looking a bit frazzled. I was expecting to see someone who looked a bit sheepish but I guess she wasn't having a great day, having tire troubles and driving up on curbs and all.

Not to be outdone though, a mere half a block later I hear another crash and look up to see a man on a bike getting taken out by a bush. He was coming around the corner and the bush was encrouching on the sidewalk but really I think this guy was just drunk. He got back up and started riding off and he looked a little...off.

I really am not super comfortable with the section of trail behind American Tires before you get to Clark Intermediate School. There are always some shady characters lurking about. Running there is always better than running on a treadmill though and also more entertaining.

Real Runners

2010-02-08T13:59:00.000-08:00

I still, and probably always will, have difficulty calling myself a runner. I know I put in the work to be a runner and have run many miles in my lifetime, but to do this day anytime I pass someone on the trail that looks like a runner to me, I immediately feel like I am a poser and this real runner will look at me and know it.

I can't see what I look like when I run because I obviously don't run in front of a mirror. Sometimes I will run past a storefront and crane my neck to try to get a look at myself but I don't want to look like a vain egomaniac or risk running into something because I was looking at myself. I am not even sure I really want to know what I look like when I run. Although there is a chance that it would put my fears of not looking like a runner to rest, there is a much bigger chance that my fears will be verified - I look like a dork. Ignorance is bliss and I am ok with that.

The thing about running is anyone can do it so no one teaches you how to run. People act as if you are born with an inane sense of how to run properly but if you have ever seen someone running with an awkward or unusual gait you know that can't possibly be true. Baring any physical disability anyone can get from Point A to Point B in some sort of running state, but looking like a graceful gazel, not so easy. What I do know about me is that some days I do feel a little gazel like - or maybe a slightly less graceful creature like a mule. But other days I feel like I am clumbsily laboring along like Frakenstein. Every step feels awkward and I can't get any sort of flow going as I jerk along. This is running though, you don't always know what your legs and your body are going to do or how they are going to feel so you just have to go with it, hence the mental strength running teaches you. It doesn't matter how many miles you have run in your lifetime either, every runner has those runs. But there is something you can do that can help.

For the past few outside runs Mike and I have gone on we have changed it up a bit and left the ipods at home. We don't talk incessently so there is a great deal of quiet where we are inthralled in our own thoughts and there has been two effects from running without music blasting in your ears. First, I feel like I can more easily find my rythm. When you have music on it can be sometimes helpful and sometimes difficult depending on the beat of the song. My music is never consistent in tempo so there is a constant shift going on while I try to keep a consistent pace. Without music my body relaxes into a pace and rythm that feels more natural because it isn't influenced by anything. My body runs the way it wants to.

The second effect has been that I have felt more like a real runner. For me real or pure runners are the runners who don't need to be distracted by music but enjoy running so much all they need is a pair of shoes and their thoughts to hit the road or trail. In the past I have not listened to music while running for safety reasons (like it was dark outside) or because my ipod was broken or my mom was being my sherpa and I didn't want to be rude and ignore her the whole way. I had never gone sans Ipod by choice though. It feels good to be a minimalist, pure runner and get out there music free. I could hear the birds singing, the rhytmic shuffling of our feet, Mike farting, me farting, it was a beautiful thing.

I have no plans on putting the ipod away entirely, but perhaps doing it more frequently will help me to accept the fact that yeah, I actually just might be a real runner. Whatever that means.

2010-02-08T07:49:00.000-08:00

Well plans don't always work out the way you want them to. Although Mike and I did make it to Costco and quite enjoyed ourselves, nothing else I had planned so much worked out.

I started the art project, primed a piece of plywood and started to place the vinyl letters before I realized that I would run out of some letters. So I went to Office Max to get (2) more sets of letters and went back home and began cutting them out so I could place them without sticking them down. I had everything cut out and quickly realized that I would not have enough room on this piece of plywood for all the words. Shit! Obviously, I didn't so much plan the details of this project very well. I needed to go to Lowe's and get more plywood and paint for the table-which I didn't get to-and find the numbers for my house, which I also didn't get to buying or put up but it was already fairly late so I just wasn't able to get to it this weekend.

The art project is all ready to go now though and won't take long now to put it together once I get the plywood. Oh well, I really just wanted it done by Valentines day anyway.

We did manage to run a 13 miler and a 5 miler this weekend. Next weekend is the first big 20 miler so I am looking forward to that. We also went to my parents house for Super Bowl and had a ridiculous amount of food. My dad made deep fried catfish, hush puppies, chicken wings and grilled beef and chicken skewers and about 10 different homemade sauces and dips. It was delicious and worth having to watch my dad and his 2 friends do shots of whiskey and groove out to John Fogherty at commercial breaks. It was a good game too and Mike won 50 bucks. I lost 10. Boo hiss!

Big Friday Night Plans!

2010-02-05T08:18:00.000-08:00

So it is Friday and my big plans for the evening are to go to Costco and Lowes with Mike and maybe have dinner out, and I am actually quite excited about it and for the record, so is he. Yes we might as well be an old married couple right now but I am ok with that because I am quite happy and content being "boring".

I am always working on the house so trips to those stores always means I aquire something new or that I am starting a new project for the house - and I am having a BLAST working on the house. There is still a lot to do and probably always will be. I plan on pulling out just about all the plants in the front yard except the tree and starting over this spring. I want plants with lower profile and I am just not a fan of the taller shrubs out front right now. They are just ugly and dull.

This weekend though I am going to be working on smaller scale projects like replacing the house numbers and I am going to be building a little art project I found instructions for:
The project here is the statement sign and the link has directions on how to do that if you are interested. I am doing light gray and white paint but I haven't finalized what words I am going to use.

I have also been lusting after these patio chairs at Lowe's that I may have to pick up:
They have a retro flair, I love the bright colors (they also have them in yellow and blue)and they are comfortable. My patio is pretty casual so they would fit in perfectly.

I recently aquired this old cable spool that is in terrible condition but looks similar to this: that I want to slap a coat of paint over and clean up a bit as well.

Those projects, plus a shorter long run of only 13 miles and superbowl party will make this weekend pretty action packed. Old boring couples can keep themselves quite busy!

2010-02-04T08:10:00.000-08:00

Today is my moms suprise retirement party. She won't be completely gone from the office, but she will only come in to run the bids on bid days and deliver office supplies on occassion. Her real work is done though so today the field guys are coming in and we are having cake and my Dad told everyone to bring in gag gifts.

Sometimes I think I must know my mom better than my Dad does though. I wasn't thrilled that we were just doing cake and not lunch, but he wanted to invite the field guys and they couldn't get off during the day for lunch so I understood. Then telling everyne to bring gag gifts is fine, but I think you should balance that with a genuine and nice gift as well. She has worked for my Dad for over 10 years and never got a pay check and she has sacrificed a lot of herself. This business was not her dream but my Dad's dream and she selflessly supported him on it and yes this contributed to her own livlihood, but she never loved it the way my Dad does.

Then the icing on the cake (excuse the pun) was the cake itself. He wanted it to say "We are putting Marty out to Pasture" and put green icing on the cake and a sheep. Ok so I know where he is going with this but I also know my mom and she would probably be offended a bit at the old, useless reference, especially since all the gifts are gag gifts and all she is getting is a crummy cake. She never really felt appreciated for all she has done here so I think this might feel like another instance where she isn't truly being praised or congratulated. This of course is not my Dads intention so I made the executive decision to go a different route. Luckily at Costco you don't have a lot of options so I told him they couldn't do it and got a nice, pretty cake that says "Happy Retirement Marty!".

I also didn't get her a gag gift but a cook book since she has been talking about wanting to get back to cooking nice meals now that she has the time and the book "The Last Lecture" which is about how to live and appreciate every moment. I think she will enjoy them both, especially now that she has the time to read them.

I forgot to wrap the gift though so I made do with an old project schedule and rubber bands. I thought it looked pretty good, considering:

I am very excited about my mom retiring and moving on to a new phase in her life. She hasn't really done anything for herslf since my sister and I were born and it is well overdue that she starts doing what is best for her and finding her happiness. Who knows what she will do but at this point, her options are wide open and that is just fantastic. I also think it will change our relationship. When I see my Mom on a daily basis at work, I don't neccessarily want to hang out with her on weekends. However we don't get into meaningful conversations at work so we miss out on that quality communication and bonding. Last weekend she was Mike and my sherpa when we ran an 18 miler and that was great because we chatted the entire time (no ipod at all!) and then went out to lunch after. That was the quality conversing that I have missed and I look forward to doing more of that in the future as well as having a greater desire to do that because I wouldn't have seen her the entire week.

I think for everyone in the family, my mom retiring is for the best, so cheers to her.

ARF Fundraising

2010-02-02T08:10:00.000-08:00

Please help us raise money for Animal Rescue of Fresno! As some of you may know, Mike and I are running the L.A. Marathon together on March 21st. After adopting Nika, we decided we also wanted to fundraise for this organization since we had such a wonderful experience. ARF is almost funded entirely from donations so they will really benefit from any donation that you can make. ARF primarily gets their dogs from kill shelters so every dog they have for adoption is one that has been be saved from being put to sleep. The more dogs they can adopt out, the more dogs can be saved which requires financial resources from people like you and I.

You can make a secure online donation at here.

Mike, Nika and I greatly appreciate any donation you may be able to make. Thank you in advance for your generosity. Nika would say thank you herself but she is too busy chewing on her kooky chicken.

Dogs and Cats

2010-01-29T10:09:00.000-08:00

Two stories this week, 1 involving a dog and 1 involving a cat, caught my attention. The first is involving a dog rescued from the Baltic Sea after braving a 75-mile journey on an ice floe that started when a chunk of ice broke off from a river and floated out to sea. A Polish research ship soptted him and rescued him. During the rescue he kept falling in the water and going under but they pulled him to safety and he is now doing quite well. Several people tried to claim him but the dog showed no recognition so it looks like he is now a permanat member of the research vessel that saved him. Yay to happy endings:)

And even though I am more of a dog person, I still give credit to cats for their moxie. If you haven't seen this video, here is a cat scaring away a bear and being generally quite the bad ass:

See, I DO take breaks sometimes:)

2010-01-28T09:18:00.001-08:00

There is definitely pros and cons for marathon training at different times of the year. Since the LA marathon has changed dates and it is earlier in the year than it has been in the past, the majority of training is done during the winter. Weather wise this is not a problem as it never gets very cold here and I actually prefer to run in the colder weather. However the days are shorter so there is not enough daylight to run outside during the week. At the begining of the training you aren't running more than 5 miles on any particular day which is do-able on a treadmill because it takes less than an hour.

For the past few weeks however we have been running 7 and 8 milers during the week which is driving me insane. The actual mileage is not bad, my body can handle it fine, but mentally I am so incredibly bored that every mile goes by so slowly that an hour and 20 minutes feels like 3 hours. Last weekend we did 17 outside and I was never bored for a second and the almost 3 hours flew by.

I think a lot of it has to do with my ability to zone out and/or daydream outside. Inside at a gym there are so many little distractions that I can't get into that zone. So last night I just couldn't get myself to do the 8 miles on a treadmill. I decided that I just plain didn't want to do it, it wasn't a crucial run and instead I would just enjoy my evening with Mike, make dinner (I made a GREAT apple salad with arugula, goat cheese and a homemade dressing - it was a clean recipe too) and relax. It was quite nice and energizing because today I look forward to the run (another 8 miler). However that is probably because we dicided to run outside on the trail. There should be just enough light in the day to get it done if we start right after work.

I do not like skipping workouts so I did my pushups in order to do something. That is hard by the way but I am sticking with it. As Mike as my witness, I will do 100 push ups!

So that is what is going on with me.

The real soup nazis, Cambells

2010-01-27T12:56:00.000-08:00

Jezebel reminded me of the existence of this commercial that makes me angry everytime I watch it. The very clear premise is that a "light" meal of 310 calories is waaaay too many calories and a meal of 80 calories is much better for you ladies out there who are watching your figures.

In case you are not aware, 310 calories is in no way too many calories and 80 calories for a meal is ridiculously low. That barely qualifies a snack. As a general rule of thumb, most women should consume approximately 1,200 calories a day or 15 soups in this case. So unless you are eating 15 meals a day, this is not a meal and to market and advertise it as such is wrong.

I have tried these soups myself (before these wretched commercials came out)and I think they taste ok. I am not a big soup eater but they are good as a side dish to a meal or as an appetizer. They could use a dash of hot sauce for some flavor but overall not too bad so it isn't the soup itself I have a problem with but the advertising.

The premise of this commercial is just ridiculous, wrong and sends a bad messsage. Not suprisingly it is directed towards women so ladies if you are eating meals that are 310 calories, open your eyes and take off the blindfolds, you pigs are obviously eating too much and need to cut those calories down to anorexic levels.

My disgusting dog

2010-01-27T07:43:00.000-08:00

As a parent, I am embarassed to admit this but since we haven't raised Nika since birth, I feel a little less responsibility and therefore less embarassment. Nika is a wonderful dog, she is sweet, funny, well behaved and great on a leash. She has a dark side though. She is a shit eater.

We first discovered this when she was in the house one night after being let outside to pee and her breath reeked of shit. We thought it was probably kitty roca left from the cats who used to hang out in the yard. However as time we by we realized that there can no longer be any kitty roca left in the yard and if she is eating shit it is her own. WHY WOULD SHE DO THAT?? Maybe it is because she is on a diet and doesn't feel like she is getting enough food? I don't really know but we try to keep the shit picked up but the dog shits a lot and now we know why, she just keeps recycling it!

Last night I let her out to pee before bed and when I called for her to come back she had a big dried turd in her mouth and tried to get inside. Oh hell no! It looked like a turd cigar hanging out of her mouth and kinda wished she was wearing a little fedora to complete the look. I blocked the door and tried to knock it out with my foot but that didnt work and she is about 50% at dropping things when you tell her to drop it. So I just shut the door and waited for her to figure out that she was not coming in with that thing in her mouth. She dropped it and I let her in but for the love, that is so wretchedly disgusting.

This needs to be a part of the intervention for her disoredered eating. Like the biggest part.

Why Strength Training Continues to Rock...

2010-01-26T07:48:00.000-08:00

Another study has recently come out that touting the benefits of strength training, this time in older women.

Older women who did an hour or two of strength training exercises each week had improved cognitive function a year later, scoring higher on tests of the brain processes responsible for planning and executing tasks. The women who did strength training had improved their performance on tests of so-called executive function by 10.9 percent to 12.6 percent, while those assigned to balance and toning exercises experienced a slight deterioration — 0.5 percent. The improvements in the strength training group included an enhanced ability to make decisions, resolve conflicts and focus on subjects without being distracted by competing stimuli.

Here are some more benefits of lifting weights:

1. You Will Be Physically Stronger. (Duh, but strength helps with your daily activities too)
2. You Will Lose Body Fat.
3. You Will Gain Strength Without Bulk.
4. You Decrease Your Risk Of Osteoporosis.
5. You Will Improve Your Athletic Performance.
6. You Will Reduce Your Risk Of Injury, Back Pain and Arthritis.
7. You Will Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease
8. You Will Reduce Your Risk of Diabetes.
9. You Will Improve Your Attitude And Fight Depression.
10. You Will Increase Injury Prevention
11. you Will Feel Better and Look Better

And let's just be honest, when I follow a man on a weight machine and have to add weight, it just feels good too:)

New Finds

2010-01-25T08:35:00.000-08:00

I tried two different food items this weekend that I now absolutely love.

First, Almond Milk. Only 60 calories per serving (which is less calories than soy and non fat milk)and it comes in regular, vanilla and chocolate. Unlike animal milk, almond milk contains no cholesterol or lactose and it contains far less saturated fat than cow's milk. I got the plain kind and I really liked the flavor as well. With all of my stomach problems, it just can't hurt to consume more products that are more easily digestible.

Second, Soba Noodles. I have been wanting to try these for awhile and since I was making peanut stir fry last night , I decided to try those for the base of the meal. You only have to boil them 4-6 minutes so they are quick to prepare and you can eat them cold or hot, like any noodle really.

Soba noodles are made with Buckwheat flour. Buckwheat is a gluten-free grain that contains no wheat so once again, less digestive issues. Soba noodles, because of their buckwheat content, are a slow-releasing carbohydrate which is great for endurance athletes. I have had soba noodles at restaurants but it was the first time I made them myself.

Once I cooked the noodles I tossed them with a little bit of sesame oil, added the veggies and chicken tossed with a peanut sauce and viola, they were great! Definitely they will become a staple in our house and there are very versatile so there are a lot of options for preparation.

Good food, good health:)

Wait for it....

2010-01-25T08:06:00.000-08:00

It is Monday, I could use a little laugh and maybe you can too. Oh and the funny part has nothing to do with the weight lifting...

Oh C'mon

2010-01-22T09:07:00.000-08:00

I had not one but two buttons on different garmets pop off this week. One was on my favorite high waisted gray pencil skirt that I wear all of the time and the second was a Mossimo (AKA Target) jacket that makes me feel I am wearing a vintage chanel jacket like this:

Of course I wear mine with jeans so I am not nearly as sophisticated, but I like to pretend.

Back to my buttons though. Popping off buttons when you are already bloated from PMS and have been eating chocloate and yogurt covered raisins like they are laced with crack for the past two days does not bode well for your body image. For christ sake I am running 40 miles a week, I should not be feeling this way nor should I be popping off buttons! Alright so I know that these buttons probably did not pop off from gaining weight but from bad sewmanship (is that a word?)but still, hmmph. Hormones are messing with my head. Damn you PMS, damn you!

2010-01-21T07:21:00.000-08:00

You would think that the fact that I work with my mom and dad on a daily basis that we would have decent communication. Instead we apparantly have non existent communication.

I come in this morning and my mom calls and tells me that she is going to get an MRI that morning. Ok first of all I knew she was going to be getting one because she has had a diminished sense of smell for awhile and they are trying to figure out why, but she has known for a week that it was happening today and this is the first time it is mentioned to me. As a daughter, I would like to be informed of this kind of thing instead of being told like a co-worker because the only reason she called was to tell me she might be a little late.

Then she drops the bombshell that they hired someone to take her place yesterday and she starts next week. I must be a really important member of this team and the family for that matter as I was the last to know and I had no idea they were even considering hiring anyone. I know my mom hates it here and I think it is a good thing for her to leave but I am hurt that they didn't even bother to call me on the phone last night to let me know what was going on when every other employee knew. It makes me feel like a very invaluable member of this team and as a daughter it stings to not be informed of what was going on with my own mother.

To My Ladies...

2010-01-20T09:56:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I had a conversation with a woman at the gym that bothered me. I have talked with this person before, she is older and in great shape and seems like a very nice person. She used to be a runner so we have mostly talked a lot about that, but yesterday she made a comment to me about another woman at the gym looking too masculine. The particular woman being talked about has big strong thighs and big strong shoulders and definitely has more muscle than most women and a lot of men. I have always admired her though because it takes hard work and dedication to get into the shape that she is in.

I replied to her criticism by stating she works hard and it shows, but before I even got that sentence all of the way out, she continued by asking Mike that as a man, does he find her too masculine. Well poor Mike is a perpetually nice guy and does not want to put anyone down, plus this is the second time that this woman has critisized another woman to me. I have told Mike about this and that it bothered me the first time, so he doesn't really know what to say. It doesn't matter anyway because he hardly has a chance to stammer out something before she is going on about how her husband doesn't think it is attractive.

Now this is one example of one person and perhaps this woman in particular is just an overly critical person, but I find it incredibly rude and sad to disparage someone behind their back, particularly about their bodies. If you think she is too masculine then that is fine, but you don't need to share your opinion with people you hardly know and try to get them to go along with you in your criticism.

I feel that women especially should not be engaging in this type of behavior. Some women are fat, some women are skinny, some are muscular, some are tall, some are short, some have large breasts, some small, some have big bellies, some have squishy thigs and some have broad shoulders etc. but WHO FUCKING CARES. Let's stop spending so much time body snarking. Instead of using that time to be critical of someone, find something positive to say about them.

Whenever I find myself silently judging someones appearance, which I totally admit happens, I always scold myself for being mean and critical and look for something nice to say (in my mind) about them. The person never knows this is happening but it makes me feel a little better for the initial negative thought and helps me to hopefully get to the point where I automatically see the good in everyone I meet.

C'mon gals, we have enough to worry about, we don't need to be body snarking each other too.

Ain't No Sunshine

2010-01-20T08:52:00.000-08:00

An appropriate song for the weather we have been having lately, plus I love this song. Have a pleasant day:)

Introducing...

2010-01-19T11:33:00.001-08:00

Harper Paisley Lucas! I may be biased but isn't she just beautiful?

2010-01-19T07:10:00.001-08:00

I am overjoyed to announce that my sister gave birth to my first niece, Miss Harper Paisley Lucas, at 5:30 AM this morning. The 18th was her due date so she was pretty much right on time. Harper came in at 6 pounds, 6 ounces and 20 inches long, a petite little thing just like her mom. Both mom and daughter are doing extremely well and as soon as I get pictures I will post them.

I am so incredibly happy for my sister and her husband. My sister is a born mom and is going to do an extraordinary job. Harper is really quite lucky to have the two of them for parents. I can't wait to meet her (although that won't be for a few months) and see my sister being a mother. It is a happy day at Mark Wilson Construction:)

2010-01-18T14:34:00.000-08:00

It is a lovely, rainy day and I am stuck in the office. It is absolutely perfect for putting on pj's, snuggling up with a blanket possibly with a significant other, and/or a cute snuggly dog and watching a movie or tv while you nod off every now and then and when you are awake you are munching on popcorn and sipping hot chocolate. Hmmph. Oh well, I know I am not the only one working and at least I have a job.

All you people not working better be enjoying yourselves for me!

Push Up Test

2010-01-18T08:29:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I did my push up test and I completed 24 military style push ups without stopping. I would have liked to do 30 but came up short. I had also forgotten how out of breath push ups can make you, phew.

According to the website doing 24 gives me a rank of a 3 out of 7. They don't really define what that means in regard to your fitness level though. You do however need to know what your max is so you know what column to start out at day 1. Since I did more than 20 I get to skip the first two weeks and go straight to Week 3, woo hoo!

So today I will be doing 1 set of 12, 17, 13 and 13 followed by another max. 100 push ups, here I come!

2010-01-15T09:45:00.000-08:00

Having a fitness goal or multiple fitness goals help to keep you focused and motivated. Right now I am loving running and I will be focused on that aspect of my fitness for the next two more months. Once I run the marathon though I will be able to focus more on strength and increasing muscle mass.

Yesterday one of my fellow gym rates commented that I was getting my running body back, by which she meant my upper body is getting smaller. That is the first place that I loose mass when I increase my cardio. I love having a strong, muscular and defined upper body though so I don't like it when that happens. I really can't do more weight training because there is just not enough time in the day to do my training runs and heavy lifting so when I came upon this challenge I was definitely interested.

100 push ups is a lot, but it is also do-able with due diligence. I have very narrow shoulders and I am convinced that this makes pushups and pull ups more difficult for me - just don't ask me about the science of that claim:) In any case I have to work a lot harder on gaining strength in my upper body than my legs. I however see people doing push ups and pull ups at the gym and I look at them with awe and jealousy. I can do pushups, but probably no more than 30 at a time, if that. I want to bust them out like a bad ass though! And pull ups, ugh, maybe 3 if I am lucky. But one thing at a time, before I tackle the pull ups I am doing the 100 push up challenge!

"Push ups are one of the basic and most common exercises for the human body. Push ups are not only great for your chest, but do a tremendous job of defining your abs, triceps, shoulders and torso." Indeed! It is a 6 week program of 30 minutes a week and at the end you should be able to do 100 push ups at once.

March 1st will be my final test date. If anyone wants to join me in this challenge, go to the link and get your push up on!

Reviews

2010-01-13T13:33:00.001-08:00

I have had two positive experience with businesses that were new to me this week. When I have those good experiences I feel compelled to write a little blurb about them because a lot of businesses just don't do a good job.

First, I have been on a mission for a while now to find good, not overly expensive, workout clothes. I exercise 6 days a week so I need a lot of clothing so I am not doing laiundry every 2 days. I often go to Target, butI don't find their clothes incredibly comfortable or flattering and Nike and Adiddas are just too expensive to buy a lot of items from. I tried Athleta, a company affiliated with Gap, but when I ordered online I had to return everything because nothing fit me right. Another problem, finding spandex that aren't see through! You bend over at the gym, you don't need to show your crack in the process, people just don't need to see that.

I had been hearing about Lucy Activewear so I browsed their website and since they were having a big sale with free shipping, I decided to order a few items. I was not initially impressed. I ordered a pair of lifting gloves, a pair of spandex yoga pants, a pair of hiking/casual pants a couple of tops. When I checked the status of the order a week later, it still hadn't even shipped and it was supposed to arrive in 7-10 days. I emailed them and asked and they said they were a little behind because of the holidays and they would ship the next day.

Two days later I checked the tracking number they gave me and it still hadn;t shipped. I emailed them again and they immediately got back to me, apologized and told me one of my tops had sold out so they went ahead and shipped what was in stock and asked if I wanted them to see if they could find one at a store they could ship. I said yes and within a few hours they had found one and were shipping it overnight, no charge. Well it was a shaky start but their customer service was excellent so all was forgiven.

I still didn't know about the product though since I had never ordered from them. I got the first package last night and everything fits perfectly, they are well made and nothing is see through. You don't know how hard it is to find well fitting spandex until you have tried and the fact that I found it outline without trying on is a bit of a miracle. So if you are looking for workout gear for the new year, surf on over to their website. Oh and everything is super cute too:)Note though that their regular priced items can run a little pricey so I stuck to the sale items.

Second, Fresh & Easy opened (2) stores in Fresno today. One was in downtown Fresno and the other was on Willow and Shaw. I have been anxiously awaiting the opening of these stores because it was described as a cheaper Whole Foods. I headed over there at lunch to check it out today and it was pretty busy, but the store was nice and the products looked fresh and indeed they were easy to get to.

The store itself is smaller, comparable to the size of a Trader Joe's.
In fact I think the best way to describe it is if Trader Joe's and Save Mart or Vons had a baby, it would be Fresh & Easy. It has the size, lower prices and green atmosphere like Trader Joe's and they also have their own line of products like TJ's. However unlike Trader Joe's they carry national brands like Coke and Quaker Oats, etc. at reduced prices. I love Trader Joe's but I can never find everything I want to do all of my grocery shopping there and Save Mart can be expensive. Mike and I make dinner every night so there are weeks when we go to the grocery store just about every day to pick up this and that for dinners so I am super happy they are also opening one around the corner from my house at West and Shaw in February.
It is a really nice fushion and I will definitely be a regular customer.

2010-01-12T14:44:00.000-08:00

Since I first started really running, which was when I was about 21, I have always run alone. I never had friends that were into it so it was an activity I always did by myself. This was never problematic though, I liked the time to myself to just space out or day dream and listen to music. Besides it always seemed like it would be a hassle to have a running partner(s) because you would have to coordinate schedules and you would also have find partner(s) who ran about the same pace so you. I however would feel a little twinge of jealousy when I ran by two girls or a gaggle of girlfriends or god forbid the cheeky running couple. They certainly looked like they were having fun but I just assumed these were people more social or less motivated people than myself. They needed the distraction of conversation in order to run, right?

I can't speak for anyone else's experience or motives for running with others, but for the past few months I have done nothing but run with Mike and it hasn't been anything like I expected. I was definitely a little nervous before we first started running together. Would he want to talk the entire time? Would I have to come up topics of conversation? Would I *gasp* not be able to wear my ipod?? Every time I saw people running together, they never seemed to be listening to music so would I have to give that up so as not to be rude? Would he run so slow that I would be tempted to ditch him? Or worse yet, would he run faster than me and leave me in the dust?

Thankfully, none of my fears came to fruition. Turns out running with Mike is not that much different than running alone except I have someone to crack jokes to, purge my thoughts to when an important one comes up and occasional say "did you see that???" to. On Sunday we were about half way done with our 15 miler and out of no where a man who was probably around 65 years old who had a very unusual stiff armed gait zoomed past us. Mike shot me a "are you fucking kidding me" look (he was struggling a little at that point)and I laughed. I have been passed by old people during races before and it stings. You just don't know what it is to have your ego deflated until you are at around mile 22, suffering, and a little old lady runs past you, breezily. It sucks but it happens to most runners, especially new ones. I told him that there was no way he was running 15 miles, he was probably going 2 so his legs are fresher. Who knows if that is true or not but it made him and me feel a little better!

For the most part when we run together we both have our ipods on and run near each other, but not side by side. I am still able to zone out, listen to music and essentially be alone with my thoughts if that is what I chose. I now have the option of sharing those thoughts if I chose to do that too. There is also a sense of camaraderie. We are in this together, we will suffer together and we will get through it together. It is reassuring.

He also probably thinks I encourage him more than he does me, but he helps me out more than he thinks he does. Being around him reminds me to celebrate my victories and appreciate that I can run. There are a lot of mental hurdles you have to get through when you train for a long distance race. You have to first believe that it is physically possible for you to actually run that distance. Most people don't even consider it in the realm of possibility to run 26.2 miles and see people who do as freaks of nature. To get your head around the fact that yes, you can run that distance, can be difficult. There is always a nagging thought of failure that follows you around but you have to ignore that voice in order to keep going. It is amazing how quickly we dismiss what is in the realm of our possibility before we even try. Sometimes the mental struggle can be worse than the physical one.

I have never really celebrated my training runs because frankly no one ever really got it nor did I feel like anyone really wanted to hear it. Oh you ran 15 miles, who cares? Stop bragging. No one certainly wants to hear the details if they aren't into running, and understandably so! But because of this in the past I would run 15 miles, smile smugly, then go home and get on with my day. Sometimes I would blog about it, but I could sense the eye rolling when the word "running" came up;) Seeing Mike every week running the longest distance of his life though is inspiring and it helps me to celebrate these victories too. Even better, I have someone to share my reward meals with! It is just a whole lot more fun going to Dai Bai Dang and ordering 3 dishes with someone else than alone:)

I really enjoy having a running partner, more so than I ever thought I would. Perhaps this is mostly due to the fact that our personalities are so compatible that it makes it easy, but in any case I have had a more enjoyable training experience with Mike than I ever did alone. There is something to be said about going at it alone, but it doesn't make going at it with someone (no pun intended)any less of an accomplishment. I am now a part of the annoying cheeky running couple, oui!

Good Morning!

2010-01-12T07:33:00.000-08:00

Seeing as everyday for the past two weeks has been foggy and I have almost forgotten what the sun looks like, imagine my glee when driving to work this morning the sun started peeking out between the mountain range and the clouds, creating a beautiful red and orange sky. When I got to work I rushed to get a picture but was reminded my camera is a piece of crap because this was all I got:
How disappointing, you can't even see the mountain range.

At least I was able to see it in person though. I am starting to get the winter blues from not seeing the sun for so long because an hour in the afternoon just doesn't cut it. I am ready for spring, *sigh*.

FAIL

2010-01-11T11:28:00.001-08:00

If you are afraid of making an arse of yourself at the gym, just know that nothing you can do can ever be as embrassing as this and chances are it will never be video taped for the world to see.

I am not sure what hurts more, his head or his pride. Probably pride. Emotional pain always lasts longer:)

Thank you Fail Bog!

Nika may need an intervention

2010-01-11T07:56:00.001-08:00

Do not be fooled, this is not the face of an innocent dog.

Last night Mike and I went out to dinner to reward ourselves for doing a 15 mile training run, the longest run to date. When we got home, Mike got Nika her dinner and let her in. Instead of knocking him down to get to the food as usual, she walked over to it, sniffed it, ate two bites and walked away. Red flag! She then started wandering around the house, moaning and whimpering. She had never done anything like that so we were both immediately concerned.

She continued this odd behavior and when I got down to her level to see if I could find anything wrong, I immediately noticed her belly was very large and distended. She has lost weight since we took her to the vet and was looking really good and between the time we left and came back, it had gone back to its large size again. Now I was really concerned because bloat is a condition that large breed dogs can get where the stomach is distended from swallowed air and the stomach may or may not be twisted, obstructing veins in the abdomen, leading to low blood pressure, shock, and damage to internal organs. If you watched "Marley and Me" this is what Marley got and it is very serious and life threatening.

We called the emergency vet and they said to wait a little and if it continues to be a problem, take her in but she may have just eaten something that she shouldn't have. We couldn't think of anything she could have gotten into because we close the door to the garage so she is in the backyard when she is alone.

She then started heaving and threw up a little food, but continued to moan and groan. I was growing more concerned by the moment. She walked over to a pile of clothes that were on the floor because I was sorting my laundry and started digging, which was weird, so we watched her with confusion until she wretched on my clothes. Well at least she threw up on the dirty clothes! She threw up again and I went to inspect what she was throwing up and it was just dry dog food but she hadn't eaten since 7 that morning so I was confused. Then a light bulb went on for Mike and he told me that he let her out this afternoon while I was in the shower and she was out there for about half an hour and the door to the garage was open. This is significant because her dog food is kept on the ground in the garage very easy for her to get to.

We suspect that she got into it and binged till her little heart was content. After throwing up she stopped her whining and moaning, calmed down, she seemed to be feeling a little better. She also drank a lot of water though (which is typical of her) and if she had a large amount of dry food and then drank water, that food would have swelled up in her belly. She certainly didn't want to move much though and layed down to stretched her big belly:

This morning I gave her a little bit of food and she seemed eager to eat it as usual and when I let her outside, she immediately crouched down to poop, although I didn't actually see if she was successful so I will have to check later. If she isn't pooping then there is definitely a problem.

I think she dodged a bullet this time though, but we are definitely going to keep an eye on her to make sure she isn't continuing to have any symptoms. It scared the shit out of me though. Although we haven't had her for long she is my baby and I would be devestated if anything happened to her. I would like to think that she learned her lesson but I think if given the opportunity again, she would do the same thing. We are definitely going to be getting a container to out her food in so it doesn't happen again because much like a heroin adict, she cannot be trusted!

Calm and Assertive

2010-01-05T07:19:00.000-08:00

Recently I have started working with Nika on some dog training. Generally, she is a very well behaved dog. She is crate trained and house broken, she doesn't bark, chew things up or do anything destructive. However she pulls incessantly on the leash when we take her for walks, she gets overly excited when we come home and jumps a little and she gets in your space when you don't want her to. And for some reason whenever Mike and I hug or kiss, she runs over and jumps up so she can be a part of it or break it up, I am not sure which. She is either very sweet or a cock blocker.

I really wanted to work with her on the leash pulling though because she pulls so hard and sniffs everything and when she finds something she likes, there is no pulling her away unless you give the chain a big jerk. The walking just feels like a struggle and I get frustrated. This weekend we took her to Oakhurst for a hike and on the trail we passed a woman with a Border Collie that was not on a leash and the woman had that dog trained so well that he stopped, sat down and looked up at her while we passed. Nika pulled us along the entire time. Frankly it was humbling, why can't our dog do that??

I decided that Nika could be like that, she just needed some work and I needed to educate myself on how to do so I dug up a book by Cesar Millan, Dog Whisperer. I remember seeing him on Oprah or something awhile back, but his show is on National Geographic and I don't get that station so I looked the show up on Hulu and began my education.

I quickly discovered we were doing everything wrong. Millan's premise is that dogs are pack animals and you need to be the pack leader and if your dog doesn't know you are the pack leader, they will think they are. So when she barrels in the door first and knocks you over when you open the door to go out, you are not so much being a pack leader? The first thing I wanted to do though was take her for a walk without her pulling so I focused on that.

I put a backpack on her to get her used to it for when we go hiking but also because it makes her feel like she is working and serving a purpose. Your dog shouldn't be your pack leader but should feel like a valuable member of the team. She was fine with the backpack, but getting it on was another story. That dog does not want to stay standing when you are down at her level, she just flops right over and thinks you want to give her a belly rub. Mike wasn't there so I didn't have his help and I struggled for awhile, the whole time attempting to stay calm and assertive (the other premise of Millan's). I finally got it on and out the door we headed to get her leash on. I now make her sit and stay until I tell her she can come to enter and exit the house. This is a work in progress, she trembles with excitement so I have to everything very slowly to not rile her up. For the most part though, she listens.

I put the leash on and we started down the road and immediately, she is pulling me as hard as ever. What I learned from reading and watching Millan's show was that during a walk you should use a short leash and your dogs attention should be on you and not on any other noises or smells. If you have lost your dogs attention, you need to touch her or make a noise to get her attention back. So I held her leash short and as soon as she pulled, I used my foot and gently tapped her side where the bag was. This freaked her out a little but she looked at me right away and she was snapped out of that spell she was under. This happened several times in the first five minutes but eventually she figured out that I was leading the walk and not her so she stopped pulling. Anytime I would make a "chhh" noise, she would look back up at me. When I slowed down or stopped, so would she and she would look at me waiting for me to guide her. We even walked by 3 houses that each have these obnoxious barking dogs, one of which was a German Sheppard that was throwing his body weight against the fence, very aggressively. She started to charge a bit and pull but I calmly pulled her back and got her attention back and she was fine, I was so proud of her!

I definitely have a lot of work to do still but this morning she was just as good on her walk, woo hoo! She really is a great dog but I want to enjoy our walks and when people come over I want everyone to love her just as much, even if they aren't dog people, which means she needs to listen.

With that in mind, these are Nika's New Year Resolutions (in Nika's voice):
-learn how to walk on a leash without pulling mom or dad (picked that up in 5 minutes!)
-stop jumping on people when I get excited to see them
-wait to be invited in because I am a lady and not a bulldozer
-learn to let go of the tennis ball that I like to play with so mom and dad can throw it to me again and I can keep playing
-learn how to not attack my food like I haven't eaten in a week, but approach it calmly because it isn't going anywhere and also so I can taste my food.

I wasn't going to make any New Years Resolutions but thanks to Nika I now have one. Learn to have more patience and stay calm and assertive. Now I know that in certain situations I have a short fuse and can escalate things. This is not my intention but my emotions get the best of me. This is a weakness of mine that I have known about for quite sometime but I haven't really done much about it except to say, I need to work on that!

Nika can frustrate the hell out of me when she doesn't listen, especially when she is all hyper and excited about walks and I bend over to put her leash on, and she bonks me with her head in the mouth or noise. That really makes me mad because it hurts! My reaction is to yell, "NIKA, NO!!". All that reaction does is get her more out of control because she can feel my stress and anger and feeds off of it. She knows I am not calm and in control so she isn't either.

Even though I told myself to be calm and assertive when I got home yesterday at one point she started pushing her way into the house before I told her she could and I yelled "Nika, No!". It had been 5 freakin minutes and I already effed it up and did exactly the opposite of what I wanted to do. So I regained my composure and the rest of the time, calmly reacted anytime she did anything. It definitely helped Nika from getting as crazy as she can get sometimes but beyond that, it kept me from creeping into a bad mood. It wasn't a big deal and I didn't let the emotion of anger or frustration overcome me. Could this help me in other areas of my life, absolutely.

People and dogs aren't all that different when it comes to feeding off each others energy. If I am in a disagreement with someone at work or in my personal life and I don't react in a calm and assertive manner but make snarky remarks or just sound angry and/or bitter, that escalates things. If I remain calm though, chances are so will they and things will be discusses rationally. I know I have a tendency towards escalation with certain people and situations and I know it isn't helpful yet I still do it when my anger gets the best of me. Working with this with Nika, hopefully I will finally be able to put that weakness to bed.

Nika brings a lot of happiness into my life and now she is even helping me be a better person. Dogs rule. Cats just teach you to be selfish and lazy;)

Kick your own arse

2009-12-30T12:37:00.000-08:00

I quite possibly have found the best butt workout of all time. I have always had issues with my booty because growing up anything different can far too easily be misconstrued as bad. A girls self esteem is very delicate from about the age of 12, until the confidence finally (and hopefully) kicks in and this can lead to a lot of ridiculous thoughts and feelings. I used to HATE my butt. It stuck out, it was prominent and I somehow didn't realize this was actually a good thing.

I eventually accepted the junk in my trunk and have actually grown quite fond of it. Instead of making it smaller, I decided to pump that bad boy up and accentuate it as much as possible. I have done a lot of squats and lunges in my day which were pretty effective, but I recently came upon a really great workout for the ass that has worked well for me. If you want a juicy, firm, meaty booty in 2010 I would highly reccomend incorporating it.

I do 12 reps of each exercise, per leg if I am doing each leg individually (depending on the exercise):

Leg Press
Looks like this, but place feet high on the press, your toes should go over the top slightly, so you emphasize your backside instead of your quads, although you are definitely still using your quads for this. Focus on pushing with your heels.

Follow up with a calf press by placing your feet low so your heels are hanging off. Straighten your legs and press up with your toes.

Weighted Step Ups:
You can use a barbell or dumbbells. Try not to use the leg you are dragging behind you to push you up, all the work should be done on the leading leg. Also don't do this move quickly but slowly and in a controlled manner. If you are just starting out you can also do it without weight, or use a lower step instead of a bench.

Plie Squat:
First of all in the above pic girlfriend is not going down low enough, you want your legs to be paralell to the ground. Her foot positioning is right on though, toes should point out and you don't want your legs any closer or further apart than the girl in the pic. You should really feel this on your inner thigh and be sure to squeeze your butt on your way up. To make it more challenging grab a dumbbell and hold it with striaght arms between your legs.

Walking Lunge:
There should be no stopping or pausing during this and make sure your knee does not pass your toes when you are lunging. Lunges should be a standard in leg workouts, they really work the entire leg well, including the arse.

Kneeling Kickbacks:
You REALLY feel this deep in you gluets. You can also do this on your hand and knees on the floor but you have a greater range of motion doing it this way and the added weight makes you work harder. Get in this position and keeping your leg straight, raise it up behind you as far as it will go, lower and repeat. This is a weighted exercise so you need to use a cable machine you can attach an ankle strap to. Use as much weight as you can to make it difficult, but make sure you are able to do 12 reps with correct form. If you do several reps and find your form isn't good because it is too heavy, lower the weight and continue until you get to 12.

Stability Ball Hamstring Roll:
Lay down with your back on the floor and put your heels on a stability ball. Lift your pelvis so your body is straight and in a pike position, arms on the floor at your side helping to stabilize you. Pull your legs towards you, rolling the ball as you go, until you are in the position shown in the picture. Roll the ball back to the starting position and perform 12 times.

Do this workout twice a week for the best results and here is a little inspiration!

Hoarders: Office Edition

2009-12-30T09:31:00.000-08:00

Ever see that show Hoarders on A&E? I think they need an office edition so I can nominate Tennesse. He can't even sit at his desk anymore, there isn't enough room so he works on the table outside his office that was supposed to used for eating lunch:

I think there might be a dead cat in there somewhere...

Truck Woes

2009-12-29T08:55:00.000-08:00

I had to get my truck smogged for my vehicle registration renewal and much to my chagrin, didn't pass. So I brought it in to my mechanic and the news was not good. I need a new catalytic converter (whatever the eff that is)and what's awesome about that is my Dad sold me that truck knowing the converter was bad. The "Check Engine" light had been on since I had it and my dad told me it was just some minor thing that needed to just be switched off and not worry about it. So I didn't worry about it and he had forgottn that the reason it was on was because it needed a new converter. When he found out the coverter was going bad, it wasn't under warranty anymore and it wouldn't be a real problem until it had to pass smog again so he just let it go. Apparently I have been polluting the enviornment for years now, sorry world.

But the bad news did not stop there! My back brakes are also on the way out and need to be replaced. The mechanic even suggested that if I was in a position to make car payments to just trade it in and have the dealer deal with it. I have confidence that I am not being taken advantage of where I go because both my parents go there and have for years and so does everyone at work. Plus with the mechanic suggesting I may not even want to bother to get it fixed, I am pretty sure they aren't screwing me over.

The converter is $2,200!!! However since my dad knew about this before he sold it to me and he didn't tell me about it, he felt responsible and I agreed to let MWC take care of it. That leaves me with the brake issue and other various items, which is about $500. My bonus at work this year was 450, so bye bye bonus! It is a bummer that I won't be getting the cute shoes but at least I have the money to pay for this. I don't need new shoes but I do need a driveable vehicle so I am not going to fret.

I will probably keep the truck for another year and then buy a new vehicle next year. I just don't need a $400 car payment to have to make every month with the mortgage and everything else too. This way I can save some money and put that towards the new car. Plus it gives me a year to figure out what I want because right now I don't have a clue. The whole process completely overwhelms me so I will have plenty of time to do research and really figure out what I want.

Being an adult, priceless.

Salad for Breakfast

2009-12-28T10:13:00.001-08:00

My normal diet of healthy, whole and natural foods has taken a bit of a nose dive this past week. I haven't been eating the way I would like to be eating and I have also not been exercising as much as I usually do. I mean hell you have a plate of cookies and brownies and fudge just sitting there, trying to fulfill its Christmas destiny and be eaten so what are you supposed to do?? Anyway this causes major stress for me. I skipped 2 shorter runs last week because I just didn't have the time due to work, last minute christmas shopping and social activities, however I did get to fit in my 9 miler over the weekend, which definitely helped.

I rely on exercise as some people use yoga and meditation, to get myself for lack of better term, feeling centered. Gawd that phrase sounds so sapy and lame but it does describe the feeling well. I have a bad and stressful day and going for a run or lifting weights calms my mind. So when I skip workouts I start feeling out of sorts and gru-mpy. That coupled with my diet being whack, does not make Kasey a very happy girl. It has only been a week so physically I haven't really caused much damage but I better do something soon or crabby Kasey will be making a grand appearance.

I should be able to get back to my normal workouts this week, plus this is the biggest running week we will have had since we started training, 36 miles with a 14 mile long run, yowzer! And as running goes, your diet seems to naturally fix itself when you stick to your scheduled runs. You don't want to eat anything that will upset your stomach or make you sluggish and at least for me, I also seem to crave more fruits and veggies when I am running. Fruit has never been a problem for me but I could definitely increase my veggie intake. After giving it some thought I came upon a book that suggested having salad for breakfast.

Salad for breakfast sounds strange but food is food and why should we stick to what we are told are breakast or lunch foods? I have breakfast for dinner so why not reverse it? Better yet why not just eat what I want to eat, when I want to it and not be stuck in a food box? Sounds good to me, throw the rules out the window. And let's be honest, I always throw out salad bags that have gone bad so maybe this way I will be less wasteful too!

Starting your day with a serving of veggies is a great way to get fiber and antioxidents, plus your body is dehydrated from sleeping 8 hours a night and needs water when you wake up and veggies are a great way to get hydrated (along with glasses of actual water) since they are full of water. Having salad or veggies would create longer lasting energy and little or no effect on blood sugar, to avoid the dreaded blood sugar crash and cut down on cravings. I also love eggs, which are a great source of protein so adding that to a salad would be even better.

So today I started my new adventure in breakfast and had a mixed green salad with asparagus, raw walnuts and reduced fat string cheese. Not my ideal salad but I had to grab what I had at home. It wasn't weird at all to have salad for breakfast. It was actually quite tasty. Naturally, everyone at work commented but what else is new. I probably won't have salad every morning but I am going to try to make it a staple.

I am slowly, but surely, cutting out all the processed food in my diet and I am feeling pretty darn good. But those brownies were also pretty darn good! Ahh balance:)

2009-12-28T08:07:00.000-08:00

I had a good Christmas. We ate a lot, opened presents and spent time with family, but I won't bore you with the details. I will however bore you with the details of the dog:)

Nika also had a good first Christmas with us. We put some bones and such in her stocking, however she was much more interested in playing with her stocking then what was in it:

My mom got her a whole box of these little squeaky stuffed animals too. I took one out of the box to give to her and she quickly became obsessed with it. Later that day Mike and I were making dinner and in she struts in with the box of stuffed animals that she somehow dug out:

She was quite proud of her herself:

She already seems to be losing weight too, so sometime very soon we will be able to try her out as a running partner. She is so strong and has so much energy that I am pretty sure she will do quite well.

Dinner with the Girls

2009-12-23T08:57:00.001-08:00

Last night I had my very dear friends Melissa and Kendall over for dinner. I have known both of them since our freshmen year in high school, so a measely 16 years:) Melissa lives in LA so I don't get to see her very often, but when she is in town the three of us usually get together.

I wanted to make them dinner instead of going out so they could see the progress on the house and meet Nika and I also wanted to see if all of my cooking practicing in the past 4 months had paid off at all. Melissa is also a new vegetarian so I had to come up with a meatless dish she could eat so I decided on Sweet Potato Burritos. Sounds weird but they were really quite good! Here is the recipe:

Addictive Sweet Potato Burritos
Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans kidney beans, drained
2 cups water
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
4 teaspoons prepared mustard
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
3 tablespoons soy sauce
4 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
12 (10 inch) flour tortillas, warmed
8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.Heat oil in a medium skillet, and saute onion and garlic until soft. Stir in beans, and mash. Gradually stir in water, and heat until warm. Remove from heat, and stir in the chili powder, cumin, mustard, cayenne pepper and soy sauce.
3.Divide bean mixture and mashed sweet potatoes evenly between the warm flour tortillas. Top with cheese. Fold up tortillas burrito style, and place on a baking sheet.
4.Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven, and serve

I used low carb tortillas because they are lower in calories but any whole wheat or flour tortilla will work. I also didn't use 3 tablespoons chilli powder because it seemed like a lot so I used 1 tablespoon instead. Overall I liked the texture and flavor of these burritos. Mashed Sweet potatoes are so gooey and have a baby food like texture so the kidney beans really helped add some more texture to the dish. I should have put a little more cheese in the burritos and when I make this again I would also top with a dollop of sour cream or non fat yogurt, sprinkle a little more cheese on top and smother it with salsa. They would be perfect with those changes but as they were, they were still pretty darn good.

I also made some spanish rice that was ok, but nothing special enough to post and I tried a new appetizer, roasted garbonzo beans. I always seem to have a can of those in my pantry from all of the times I swear I am going to make my own hummus but never do so I put them to some use with the following recipe I got from Life's Ambrosia, my new favorite food/recipe blog (you can also find a link in my blog roll to the right).

Roasted Garbanzo Beans

You will need:
1 (14.5 ounce) can of Garbanzo beans
kosher salt and pepper
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Drain the garbanzo beans, rinse lightly and gently pat dry. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
In a resealable plastic bag shake together flour, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper and granulated garlic. Add garbanzo beans and toss to lightly coat.
Shake off any excess flour. Lay garbanzo beans in a single layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Bake 25-35 minutes, shaking the baking sheet every 10 minutes or so to roll the beans around. When they are done they will be golden brown and crunchy. (Note: Keep an eye on them towards the end, if they look like they are getting too dark remove them, a few of mine burned and let me tell you a burnt garbanzo bean is not so tasty.)

I was paranoid about burning them so I should have left them in a little longer because the darker crunchier ones tatsed better. I would also add more garlic and I should have been more generous with the olive oil. Other than that though, I really liked these and they were quite addictive.

And one of these days I will remember to take pictures of these recipes (the pic of the garbonzo beans is not mine but comes from the blog I got the recipe from). I am usually just so focused on eating that I forget:)

Merry Christmas to me

2009-12-22T07:37:00.000-08:00

I very infrequently shop at White House Black Market. I found a really great dress there once that I love so I get the catalog, however I normally thumb through it and toss it.

Last night though I found the latest catalog in my mail and was thumbing through it when a pair of shoes caught my eye:

They are neutral so they will go with every color and the heel isn't too high so they will probably be decently comfortable, plus I just think they are adorable.

Merry Christmas Kasey!
Aww thanks! They are exactly what I wanted!How did you know??

Running Update

2009-12-21T12:57:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I am already starting my 6th week of marathon training. So far I have run a total of 130 miles, with my longest long run being 12 miles. At the beginning of the training I immediately started having digestion and stomach issues again which frustrated me to no end. I eat so healthy, I just didn't understand what the problem was. I knew that I didn't want to go another whole training program dealing with this crap (excuse the pun). So I read more, did more research and posted questions on running forums for practical advice from other runners who may have experienced similar problems.

Two suggestions from a forum I have started incorporating is eating fig newtons and hummus on pita bread or tortillas as my mid run snack instead of gu's or gels that are specifically for endurance athletes. The new foods taste great and they are more real food than any gel or gu is. So far, they haven't upset my stomach and I haven't felt like I have hit a wall during a run so thats very positive.

I also had been eating peanut butter on toast before runs and read that eating fat prior to working out is not such a great idea. A whole tablespoon of peanut butter has 10 grams of fat (considered 2 fat servings). Then there’s whatever fat is in the bread I was using. Fats are digested and absorbed very slowly, compared to carbohydrates and proteins. Pre- and post-exercise choices should be rich in carbohydrate and protein, but very low in fat. So I switched to just eating a bowl of cereal (corn chex) with fat free milk and since making that change I have had no stomach problems during a long run whatsoever. This is HUGE for me and I hope my new diet continues to work.

I was also fearful that my foot would really start hurting once I picked up my mileage. Well after a back to back 29 mile week and a 30 mile week, I have no change in my foot whatsover. The pain certainly did not increase, even after a 12 miler yesterday and being on my feet in the kitchen the whole rest of the day baking and cooking. Phew! This is also a big relief for me.

The goal of this marathon is not to improve my time. At first it was, but much more importantly is I want to run this with Mike. This is his first marathon and it is not something that he ever thought he could or would do and I want him to have a really great experience. Pushing for a time is unneccesary and defeats the purpose. We are doing this together and that is what is important to me. I don't want him to hate it so much that he quits or regrets doing it. It is a huge accomplishment and I am just thrilled that he is attempting something that seems impossible (even though I know he can totally do it). He is going to be so happy and proud of himself when he runs it and I can't wait to see that.

Super Busy Weekend

2009-12-21T07:32:00.001-08:00

I think I pretty much filled every second that the weekend had to offer with either cleaning, running, a project or baking and I got a crap load of stuff done, which both exhausted me and made me happy.

Saturday morning we had a 6 mile pace run, which is often times harder than the long runs because you have to run faster even if it is for a shorter distance. I haven't done a lot of dedicted pace training in the past but this will teach our bodies to run at the pace we need to run at during the actual race. After that we had yard work to get to. I really wish trees didn't lose their leaves, but they do and thus need to be raked. The lawn also needed to be mowed which my object of interest did while I planted new succulents. And a side note on the phrase, "object of interest", this is how my dad introduced Mike to some of the guys at work. I wasn't there when he said that otherwise I would have probably said, wtf??

Anyway I had a couple of new succulents to plant, like 22 of them. When I hosted my sisters baby shower in October we bought a cup cake holder and I thought it was a shame to use that thing once and then never use it again so I thought it might look cool to use it as a succulent holder for a table centerpiece. I bought 20 little succulents and replanted them in little terra cotta pots and this is how it came out:

I also found an old can when I was hiking around my cabin last time I was in Shaver and I made a succulent planter out of that as well:

Yup, it is a Prince Albert:)I also transplanted 2 large succulents of Mike's that needed new homes because they had grown too big for their pots.

After all of that I had to go to the grocery store to get all the baking stuff that I needed for the following day, as well as the pork for that slow cooker carnitas I was making for dinner on Sunday. And of course Nika get's a long walk every night as part of her new diet and exercise program:)

Sunday we had a 12 miler to run so we headed to the Lowe's parking lot in Clovis to run the Sugar Pine Trail. Mike started out with one problem after another but finally everything smoothed out and he finished the longest run of his entire life at a good pace and no major knee problems. I was very proud of him and very happy that after his initial injury, he has bounced right back. I felt good during the run and I am findiing that starting out at a slower pace is quite helpful for feeling good at the end. Go figure.

When we got back, I checked the carnitas and the pork was just a bit too big for the slow cooker and it was wanting to spill over so I had to ladel some juice out, which I set aside to pour over Nika's food for a little flavor later. This however came back to haunt me when, in the middle of a baking frenzy I went to grab a bowl to put the nuts in and grabbed the bowl of broth accidently and threw it all over the floor. Luckily Nika was there to help me clean it up:

For Christmas gifts for my co workers this year I made mint oreo brownies, pistachio and cranberry chocolate dipped sugar cookies, spiced nuts and cinnamon pecans. The brownies are my holiday specialty and they are super easy to make. Just mix in crumbled mint oreo cookies in the batter, bake and when cooled top with frosting and crumble more mint oreos on top. viola!

The spiced nuts where spiced with a combination of cayene, cumin, cinnamon, brown sugar and sea salt. You make a glaze with the spices and butter (fake stuff, not real) and toast some nuts in a pan and then combine. I like the heat with the sweet:

The pecans are toasted in a pan with "butter" and then toss them in a bag with splenda and cinnamon and I threw them in the oven to tast for 10 minutes and they are goo-ood.

The sugar cookies are my personal favorite and of course quite easy. I buy pre made sugar cookie dough and mix in unsalted pistachio kernals and dried cranberries. They come out looking like this, pretty boring looking:

So I wait until they have cooled off and melt chocolate and dip half of them in chocolate and dust with powdered sugar so they look like this:

Much fancier! I tried to dip some in white chocolate too but the chocolate just did not melt right. I have since learned to melt them with a bit if vegetable oil to make it more smooth. I will definitely have to try that because pistachios, white chocolate and cranberrie sounds super delicious.

And then there was the carnitas, which fell off the bone after cooking for 8 hours. We made some fancy carnitas tacos that were de-fucking-licious:

I finished up last night at 10, making Christmas cards and then passed out. It was a long day, a busy weekend and I want to take a nap now just re-visiting all of it.

Spaghetti Squash Recipe

2009-12-17T11:13:00.000-08:00

Mike and I have Spaghetti Squash about once a week. We love it and have tried it numerous ways but we had the best yet last night.

I was trying to figure out a new way to make it instead of just using the ground turkey and sauce that we had on hand so I decided to pick up some mushrooms and spinach and toss it all with some olive oil and garlic with the cooked squash. When I got home I remembered I had turkey bacon so I decided to toss that in as well and I threw everything together and it was so good, we are making it again tonight.

Here is the recipe (makes enough for two):

1 spaghetti squash
Olive Oil (twice around the pan)
1-2 cloves garlic minced
1-2 cups spinach, chopped
1 portabello mushroom
2 slices turkey bacon
1/2 package ground turkey

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut spaghetti squash in half (so they look like two boobs), scrape out the seeds and place on cookie sheet in the oven for approximately 40-45 minutes. You will know when it is done when you push on the skin with your finger and it easily gives.

Add olive oil and garlic to a medium hot pan. Add bacon, saute a few minutes. Add mushrooms, saute a few minutes more. Add spinach and continue to saute until the spinach starts to get wilty and loses crispness. At the same time brown ground turkey until it is thoroughly cooked but not brown.

Remove spaghetti squash from oven. Let cool a few minutes. Scrape out the insides of 1/2 of squash, add to saucepan. Add cooked ground turkey to saucepan. Mix it all together and heat for a few monutes.

Top with parmesan cheese.

It was fantastic and much lighter than using real spaghetti or noodles. You could also be creative and use tomatoes, arugula, asparagus, peppers, broccoli etc. The turkey bacon flavor really infused throughout the entire dish. You also don't really need the ground turkey but it did make the meal a little more hearty and gives it more protien, which I needed. It is a very flexible dish and super delicious.

Enjoy!

Office Dog

2009-12-17T10:56:00.000-08:00

Nika is having a big day. I am getting a new sliding glass door put in at my house so she got to go to work with me today. I am also taking her to the vet later this afternoon so she has one big day ahead of her. She has already charmed everyone at the office:
She decided she would be santa with her to help everyone get into the holiday spirit. How thoughtful.

She has been helping me type by nudging my arm everytime I stop petting her.

She already fell asleep on the job, tsk tsk.

I wish I could take her to work everyday, but she has to keep the cats out of the yard, a job she is actually good at. She is also good at dragging everything she can out of the garage and onto the lawn. The good thing is she never chews anything so it just gives her something to do. Now if only I could train her to rake the leaves.

Runners Forum/Religion

2009-12-17T09:58:00.000-08:00

A recent post and subsequent posts on a Runners Forum that was discussing things people have heard people shout during a marathon got under my skin a bit this morning.

One person posted: "One at Dallas this year kind of made me angry: "You can do anything because of Jesus" Now, you can believe whatever you want, but dont take away my accomplishment by putting the stamp of your religion on it."

That was fine by me. If you don't believe in god, then that does seem to take away from your accomplishment. It isn't something I feel is worth getting angry over but to each his own. There was some chatter about not letting those things bother you etc. and the original poster replied with:
"Todd - I think its great that you have a strong faith and believe Jesus is with you during your races. I don't believe that, and that should be my perogative - being told that I am only able to achieve something I worked very hard for because of an entity I dont happen to believe in is, to me, insulting."
Makes sense and is respectful of other people's beliefs.

But this subsequent response is what annoyed me:
"Angry? that is strange.
God and running go hand in hand.For those that can run it's a blessing.I would love to see a sign like that, that would be a huge motivational uplifting during a race. Don't give yourself all the credit for training, it goes deeper than that."

Talk about just not getting it. Believe what you want but don't tell other people what to believe. By saying "Don't give yourself credit for the training" he is quite clearly saying that what he believes is right and if you don't believe that, you are wrong. It is people with attitudes like this that turn people off from religion. Be a little more open minded and accepting of other peoples beliefs and be respectful of them and you would be suprised how far that can go.

Barefoot Running

2009-12-16T11:32:00.000-08:00

The trend that is gaining the most momentum in the running community right now is barefoot running. There has been a backlash towards the companies that make running shoes that their shoes do not prevent injury but in fact they cause injuries in running. Some studies have found that running in shoes appears to increase the risk of ankle sprains, either by decreasing awareness of foot position or by increasing the twisting torque on the ankle during a stumble and running in shoes appears to increase the risk of plantar fasciitis and other chronic injuries of the lower limb by modifying the transfer of shock to muscles and supporting structures. The human foot evolved without padded shoes. The structure of the foot and lower leg is very efficient at absorbing the shock of landing and turning the energy of the fall into forward motion, through the springing action of the foot's natural arch. It is only by placing large amounts of padding under the heel that humans are able to land on the heel rather than the ball of the foot. In doing so, the foot's natural motion is impeded and the arch and lower leg are not able to absorb the shock of the landing. Instead, the shock is sent up through the heel, to the knees and hips.

The basic argument is that feet were meant to be run on and when you run in shoes that are built with shock abosrption and all the fancy technology that todays running shoes have, it changes the way your foot strikes the ground. This in turn changes how your body aborbs the shock and how you run, causing injuries. When you run on barefeet or on shoes with little support, your body will run the way it was intended to.

Some examples of this are illustrated in the book Born to Run which I have been listening to as an audiobook. Isolated by the most savage terrain in North America, the subject of this book are the reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico’s deadly Copper Canyons. For centuries they have practiced techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while enjoying every mile of it. They do not wear Nike's or New Balance shows but run on little pieces of leather that offer their foot no support whatsoever. Although barefoot running is not the main subject of this book, the author discusses it quite thoroughly. I have not verified any of this information but the book claims there have been no studies showing today's running shoe preventing injuries but in fact cause more injuries for runners. Apparantly the most expensive, technologically advanced shoes also cause the most injury. Like I said I did not study the articles in depth so I do not know how the studies were set up. There may well be causal relationships involved that are not discussed such as the runners who run more miles are more likely to buy the more expensive shoe and the mileage of the runner is the cause of the injuriesnot the shoe. However it appears that the running shoe is a probable cause of some injuries.

Although there is no clear consensous among experts about this subject, I have to admit that I am intrigued. I believe that the human body is pretty darn good at functioning all on it's own so the idea that shoes may be causing injuries makes some sense to me. Humans seemed to be able to run fairly well and injury free in the past without Nikes or New Balances.

Running in barefeet however is not very practical. If you are running on a street you are likely to run on a surface that has debris (glass, pebbles etc.)which can be painful if your feet lands on them. I also think there might be an issue with running barefoot on a treadmill at the gym. Obviously trail running could also be difficult. I suppose the bottom of your foot would toughen up but running on literal bare feet I would not be a fan of. I really don't want my foot to look like this:

Several companies have come up with shoes that mimick the concept of barefeet but provide a barrier, the most well known being Five Fingers. Their shoe looks like this:

I admit, they are a little silly looking but I am kinda getting over caring how I look to other people. I have looked silly in the past and I will look silly again, a sacrifice I am willing to make if I can run healthy. Besides I wear toes socks and I like them quite a bit and think they look super cool;)

You can't just switch from regular running shoes to these guys though, your body needs to adjust to your new form first and break in your feet again. They reccomend walking around in them first then gradually adding jogging and running and then increasing distance.

I like the back to the basics concept of barefoot running. I don't like that has become somewhat trendy. I would like to try the Five Fingers to see how my feet and my body respond though. Maybe after Christmas I can buy a pair and give them a try. If I do, I am sure to post a review!

Oh Etsy, I Heart You

2009-12-14T14:41:00.000-08:00

Etsy is my favorite online site to buy gifts. You can find pretty good deals, most items are handmade and unique and I like that you can chat with the seller if you need to. Everything I have ever bought from Etsy I have loved, so I decided to get some Christmas presents from there this year.

My favorite purchase is for my moms birthday present (she was born on Christmas). If you know me, you know I love succulents and my love of succulents can be directly traced to my mom. Not only does she have an affinity for these plants but she also has quite a green thumb when it comes to them. I have seen succulent wreaths for awhile and I am completely fascinated with them. I hope to someday make my own but until then I found one for my mom to add to her collection:

This wreath is from a farm in Ohio called The Blossom Farm.

I also got my mon a scarf from a seller in New York:

And I snuck something in for myself too from a seller in San Francisco:

A nature inspired calendar for my office.

I love that I can connect with people all over the country and help support their creative lifestyles and passions and at the same time get unique gifts for friends and family. It is a so much more thoughtful way to find gifts for others and of course yourself too:)

Nika the Stinka

2009-12-14T07:44:00.000-08:00

Well we brought our girl home on Saturday and although the weather was not ideal for bringing home a dog and getting her settled, we managed pretty well and she seems to be very comfortable in her new home.

I cannot believe how lucky we got with her. She definitely came from a loving home because she is sweet as can be and just wants love and attention. Adopting a dog from a shelter you never really know what you are going to get but she couldn't be much more well behaved. She sits when you tell her to about 75% of the time and she is crate trained and house broken so she is fine being left in the crate overnight or during the day (we didn't want to leave her outside in the rain!).

If we are walking around the house doing stuff she wants to be there so she doesn't miss anything but if we are sitting on the couch watching tv she goes to her bed and goes to sleep. she has a very lab like demeanor, always wants a toy or a ball in her mouth and likes to chase after balls (she isnt so good at letting you have them when she brings them back though). She is just wonderful. Her only flaw really is she has the worst gas! That is why we started calling her Nika the Stinka. Saturday night it was just one after the other so we didn't give her any treats yesterday thinking that may be the problem but she kept on tooting. We will try a different food once she is done with the bag she has now but for for now I can just blame it on the dog whenever I get a little gassy:)

Here are some pics I took of her:

Not quite grasping the concept of letting go.

Look at that belly!

Playing with Dad.

Big grin on her new bed:)

She loves her buddy Santa.

She won't let him leave her side!

Crashed out after a long weekend.

Oh yeah, I am a proud mama:)

2009-12-11T14:28:00.000-08:00

Everytime I see this commercial, I really want a Jeep Wrangler.

I also love that at least half of the comments about it are hateful that Jeep is marketing to women instead rugged off roading manly men:)Here are a few of my favorite comments:

"why the fuck would these women get spend a shitload of money and 2 hours in a salon chair just to get in a jeep with its top down and throw it all away. fucking stupid, pointless ad."

and

"lol! If I was a dude who owned a wrangler and saw this ad, I'd be thinking about selling my car right about now."

I would like to know how many people who own Jeeps use them off roading and also how frequently because I am willing to bet that most Jeep owners use them to do daily activities more so than off roading. It is like people who don't think that women should have trucks because it isn't like they use them to haul stuff. Obviously this commercial is directed towards women who want to be like the ones portrayed in the commercial, care free and fun and like to have the wind blow in their hair (ahem, first comment). And (second comment) why is it so offensive that a woman may *gasp* drive the same car as you?

And I want one as a direct result of this commercial so me thinks I must be the target audience. I want to drive around with Nika with the top down and the wind blowing in our faces. Looks like fun!

Introducing....

2009-12-10T11:09:00.000-08:00

Nika!

Mike and I just met this sweet girl at ARF and have put down a deposit and will be taking her home with us on Saturday:) She is a 3 year old yellow lab who was just surrended to the facility on Sunday by a man who couldn't keep her because he didn't feel like he was able to give her the amount of time she deserved. Mike had actually called about another lab I saw on Petfinder but he was already in a foster home and they had decided to keep him so they told him that they just got another lab in and we should come meet her. So we just stopped in and met her and she is the sweetest little thing and we both immediately fell in love with her:)

She is a curvy little gal and could stand to loose a few pounds because she hasn't been on a lot of walks lately and could also use a little leash training, but she has a great personality. She doesn't bark, likes to give kisses and loves to have her belly rubbed, she did that flop over thing several times when we were with her. Since she is an adult dog she should be mostly done with the puppy stage so she will be fairly mellow but still enegertic and should fit in perfectly with our active lifestyle. I can't wait to take her on hikes and walks and to the dog park!

I have been wanting to get a dog for years but the circumstances have never been right and now they are just perfect. I have a great house with a yard, a wonderful man and now a beautiful dog, everything is just coming up roses:)

I am sure there will be a crap load more pictures of her coming your way next week:)

I will take overtraining with a side of anemia, please

2009-12-10T07:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I hit a wall at the gym. The entire week I have felt a little run down and have looked really tired with these ever so lovely dark cicrles under my eyes and have felt a little crabbier than usual. These things happen though and I just kept pushing along with my regular routine. After my 5 miler yesterday(which should have been 6 but I failed to pay attention to the schedule closely enough)Mike and I were going to do legs. On a side noted Mike took a week off from running and he has done 2 runs since the rest and his knee is much better so hopefully that is all he needed. This makes me super excited to have my training partner back:)

Anyway after the 5 miler we started doing leg presses and my stomach was upset and I was crabby and when I looked to see what was next on my workout, I realized I really really didn't want to do any of it. This is very unlike me. Gym time is the time of the day I look forward to the most and I always enjoy doing legs. Mike asked if I just wanted to go home and I stubbornly said no but quickly realized he was right and I should probably listen to my body which is screaming at me to stop. I felt completely exhausted and had no energy to muster up so I somewhat reluctantly went home, had dinner and laid on the couch until going to bed at 9.

There are probably only two things that can cause me to feel this way: overtraining and low iron. This weekend I was literally moving and working non stop and in addition did both of my training runs and another full workout and I did a full workout Monday and Tuesday so my body hasn't had any rest. Exhaustion, lack of motivation and crabiness are signs of overtraining. But I was still concerned with my iron since I felt tired all week, even with caffeine. I then wondered if dark circles could be related to low iron in anyway and it turns out my hunch was right. Low iron levels result in poor oxygenation to body tissues due to lessened blood oxygenating efficiency. One of the areas this shows most of all is under the eyes where vessels tend to clot and pool, thus causing the darkening and eye circle effect. Sooo, it is my opinion that is probably a little bit of both over training and low iron that is making me feel this way.

I had a chinese salad with roast beef last night (btw the preservative free roast beef from Trader Joes is PHENOMENALLY good, best I ever had)and took an iron supplement and I already feel more energetic today. The good thing about iron is that as soon as you get it in your bloodstream, you start feeling better. I also feel I look a little less tired which is a very good thing because when you are tired and crabby the last thing you want to feel is ugly.

It is only my 4th week of marathon training so I need to make sure to address this immediately and make tweaks to my training so I don't crash and burn. I learend this lesson the hard way on several occasions so this time, I listen to my body.

Umm ok, great

2009-12-08T09:26:00.001-08:00

I called PG&E today because I hadn't received a bill from them since September. The first month I didn't get a bill I looked on my account online and it showed a credit, so I assumed I had overpaid and didn't look into it (hey I am not going to complain about not getting a bill). When I didn't get one in November, I was busy with other things and didn't really think about it. When I still hadn't gotten one in December I looked online again and the last date the show a billing for was September.

Ok so something is going on and I better call because eventually they will figure out they haven't billed me and I will get a ginormous bill that I really don't want to deal with. So I call and get tranferred several times and finally get to a guy who is like "uuhh that's weird" and he tells me to hold on. I hear the clickity clack of the keyboard and eventually he comes back on and says that there hasn't been a meter reading on my house since June! Well then what was I paying June through September?! He doesn't really know that but he was going to send a request to the billing department to get it figured out and it could just be a clerical error (like they never put the meter to my account so I had been paying my old addresses bill until some unknown event happened in September and that stopped) or the meter is broken and they will need to replace it.

Fortunately he told me that when this happens they set up deferrred billing so I don't have to pay it all at once, and the money I paid June through September will be applied to that bill. What sucks is that I now have no idea what my bills are going to be like in the summer months so I won't know how often I can run my AC since I have no reference point. Maybe they will be able to provide me with a breakdown of each billing period (if it wasn't a broken meter, if it is then I don't know how they will even bill me) so I can look at what I should have been paying. I also have been very stingy with the heat because I was afraid of a large bill and now I have no idea if that was worth it or not. This part is actually my fault though because I am a dumbass. Last month I was very distractidly looking through my mail and this was a particularly stressful financial time so when I saw another bill I sort of panicked and I saw it was from the City of Fresno for 180 for utilities and I somehow connected that with PG&E (the utility thing I guess or I am just a total dumbbass)and cut off the heat from then on.

They said it might take a week to figure out what was going on and they will either call me or send me something in the mail. Should be interesting to see what my bill is!

For Adam

2009-12-07T14:50:00.000-08:00

Andy Rooney, still at it.

Adam, you are M. Titus aren't you?

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2009-12-07T12:13:00.000-08:00

I love Chicken Tortilla soup, aside from Clam Chowder is the only soup that I really love. This recipe is really simple but is full of flavor and yummy. Great for a cold night and it makes a lot so it is also great for having people over or bringing it to a pot luck.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed chicken broth
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup whole corn kernels, cooked
1 cup white hominy
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
crushed tortilla chips
sliced avocado
shredded Monterey Jack cheese
chopped green onions

Directions
1.In a medium stock pot, heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic in oil until soft. Stir in chili powder, oregano, tomatoes, broth, and water. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
2.Stir in corn, hominy, chiles, beans, cilantro, and chicken. Simmer for 10 minutes.
3.Ladle soup into individual serving bowls, and top with crushed tortilla chips, avocado slices, cheese, and chopped green onion.

The soup turns out to be pretty thick so if you like it really soupy. add more chicken broth or water. I would also reccomend simmering for 45 to an hour instead of only 10 minutes. You can leave out the hominy or substitute pinto beans for black beans etc., make tweaks so it is to your liking. It also isn't very spicy so if you like a little kick add some more chili pepper or add jalepenos. I also reccomend a dollop of sour cream or nonfat yogurt on top.

Please to enjoy!

Love Story

2009-12-07T09:25:00.000-08:00

Last night I watched the movie Love Story with Ali McGraw and Ryan O'Neal. I love this movie, even though it makes me cry everytime I see it. It is on par with Old Yeller as far as tear jerking goes. But aside from the story itself I have a huge girl crush on Ali McGraw, or more specifically her character Jenny in that movie. The movie was made in 1970 and I love just about everything she wears. From the camel coat:

to the red dress she wears to meet his parents and the hockey game outfit, she is my fashion idol. I also love her smart ass personality but her wardrobe is what I have a crush on. I couldn't get many stills from the movie so check out this trailer for more style:

I would also reccomend this movie if you want to have a good cry. If you don't feel like crying, don't watch it. It tells you it is going to be sad with the opening line yet you still hope this time she will be ok. *Sigh* She never is.

The Weekend - and some exciting news...

2009-12-07T07:43:00.000-08:00

This weekend Mike was gone to Arizona to visit his brother and I decided to take the opportunity to get a crap load of work done around the house.

The middle bedroom or office that I have neglected since I moved in had become a complete disaster. It still had unpacked boxes and furniture and all of the random stuff I didnt know what to do with in it and it literally looked like a bomb went off in there. I couldn't even walk through it and I kept the door shut at all times. I swear everytime I would walk by it it would whisper "psst. what about me?" and whenever I would be sitting down or relaxing I would be thinking that I should be working on that room. It was a huge weight on my shoulders and even though Mike offered to help me with it, I felt like it was something I needed to do on my own. It was my stuff, my junk, my problem.

So starting Friday night I cleared everything out of it and put it in the guest room, which then became the complete disaster, but I needed to start from scratch and have room to move in order to get it done right. Saturday I began the procrastination process I have perfected over the years. I started the day early by going to the gym for 2 1/2 hours. I had to run 5 miles at pace for my training anyway and since I was there I should do a leg workout oh and I definitely need to do some abs too and I really should be stretching more. You see I can justify that procrastination because I am doing something productive, it's not like I am just sitting on my ass and being lazy, even if I am not getting done what I need to get done.

When I got home I then started working on another project, bringing all the succulents in from outside for the winter and figuring out how to display them. I put a shelving unit up in the family room against the big blank wall so I used that to put them all on. Of course I had to water them, clean the pots and get all of the dead parts off first though and with abut 30 succulents, that takes awhile. Then I re-arranged that room by moving the bookcase to the other side so I can put my very old desk with the iron work legs where the bookcase was. This also took awhile because I had to try to gently drag the furniture by myself over the hardwood that I didn't want to scratch and that desk was heavy!

But enough productive procrastination as I like to call it, I had to get to work on that room. Now I am not someone who has trouble throwing stuff away, there is not an ounce of hoarder in me, so I quickly had multiple bags of trash, stuff to give to the salvation army and stuff to go to the shredder. Ahhh I felt cleansed and light after that. Then I decided to tackle those damn ugly hideous curtains. Those bastards were ridiculously rigged up. Naturally, my electric drill failed on me too so I had to do all of the unscrewing by hand and there were approximately 6 brackets, all of which had 2-3 screws in them. I was a woman possessed though and those things were not going to beat me, so I didn't stop until I had everything down. Take that you bastard curtains! The next day I continued the process in the guest room so there are no more ugly curtains in my house, woo hoo! Before I knew it, it was 9 PM and I was exhausted so I watched the end of White Christmas, drooled at their outfits, and went to bed.

Sunday morning I had to do just a 6 miler so I went to Woodward and it was pretty chilly but it seems I run a lot better in the cold. I ended up doing 7 because I felt so good (more productive procrastination). Went back home and I had to furiously work before I had to pick up Mike at the airport at 5. In addition to putting the office together I was also re organizing the guest bedroom and all of the closests. This is where the exciting news comes in. The reason I am organizing the closests is so I can make room for Mike's stuff as he will be moving in with me. He has practicially lived there for the past 4 months anyway and even though I have never co-habitaded with a boy, I am absolutely ready for it and excited about it.

I have never felt so myself around someone and the fact that we can spend so much time together and I don't feel the need for space is HUGE for me. Typically the reason I need space is because being around people is very tiring and can be stressful to me. I like to be able to just not have to talk and just be completely relaxed which is hard for me to do around most people besides my family. With Mike though I never feel that stress, I don't have to think about what I say before I say it and I do not put up a wall (which I admittidly do in most situations for reasons I would probably have to go to therapy to figure out but I don't and just accept thats how I am). Part of the reason I was able to take down the wall with him is because he likes to talk about how he is feeling and about what he thinks so I never had to try to figure him out. His motivations, intentions and what he is thinking is always completely clear to me, he is an open book and I have never had that in a relationship. Turns out when you know what the other person is thinking and they don't keep things to themselves, you feel comfortable doing the same, go figure. I don't feel I have to protect myself with him and even though it is scary to make myself vulnerable, it also feels really good.

I guess to some 4 months seems quick, and before this relationship I would be one of those people, but he is my best friend and I love sharing my life with him and it just feels natural to share my house as well. So with that motivation in my mind, I made room in all of my closests and my life for Mike:)

It was an exhausting weekend but well worth the hard work. I will have pictures up soon, I just didn't get around to taking them yesterday. Oh and I also made a really good chicken tortilla soup yesterday that I will post the recipe for at some point today. It is easy but it has a lot of ingredients so it feels like I am a fancy chef when I make it, plus it is just really good:) Perfect for the chilly weather.

Product Rave

2009-12-04T09:23:00.000-08:00

Every so often I will come across a beauty product that impresses me so much I feel the need to blog about it. Since I don't spend a lot of money on beauty products, even though I have always heard good things about Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray at $22 bucks a pop for a 4 oz container, I never splurged and got some. However I was always intrigued that this product allegedly gave you that windswept, salty beach hair look because heck yes I want to look like this:

(Of course when I really do go to the beach my hair ends up looking nothing like this, much to my shagrin)

In the morning it takes me an additional 10-15 minutes to blow dry my hair, which means I have to wake up at 5:30 every morning if I don't shower at night. That is awfully early and sometimes I just want to sleep in just a little bit more. I tried letting my hair dry naturally and it wasn't very pretty, more frizzy and unkempt, so I decided to bite the bullet and try some Surf Spray.

This product is outfuckinstanding and worth every penny. My hair seriously looks like that and I didn't have a professional hair stylist (take that Jessica and Kate). I just groggily spray my damp hair and scrunch it a few times and viola! It holds the waves and is not at all crunchy or hard but feels soft to the touch and shines. You can also spray it on hair that hasn't been washed and it is supposed to work wonders then too but I dont usually go a day without showering so I cannot attest to that but I believe it because if I respray throughout the day, it keeps looking great. I keep waiting for someone to say "Hey Kasey, your hair looks so beachy, did you just come from the beach??" It'll happen. I am sure.

I like my hair long but I am too lazy/busy/unmotivated to spend a lot of time on it so this product is perfect for me. I just wish I had gotten it sooner. Bravo Bumble and Bumble!

2009-12-03T09:15:00.000-08:00

I found this on Etsy and I like it quite a bit. Thinking about getting it for the house...

It is also fairly large (18" x 24") and inexpensive, both of which are always a huge plus for me and my budget. Plus it is kitschy and I love all things cactus:)

On the sanctity of marriage

2009-12-03T09:06:00.000-08:00

Via Jezebel, a clip of Sen. Diane Savino stating why she believes gay marriage should be legal.

If you don't have sound, here are some quotes:

"I'm over the age of 40 and that's all you're going to get from me, but I have never been able to maintain a relationship of the length or the quality that Tom and Lewis have."

"Turn on the television. We have a wedding channel on cable TV devoted to the behavior of people on the way to the altar. They spend billions of dollars, behave in the most appalling way, all in an effort to be princess for a day. You don't have cable television? Put on network TV. We're giving away husbands on a game show. You can watch The Bachelor, where thirty desperate women will compete to marry a 40-year-old man who has never been able to maintain a decent relationship in his life."
"That's what we've done to marriage in America, where young women are socialized from the time they're five years old to think of being nothing but a bride. They plan every day what they'll wear, how they'll look, the invitations, the whole bit, they don't spend five minutes thinking about what it means to be a wife. People stand up there before god and man even in Senator Diaz's church, they swear to love honor and obey, they don't mean a word of it. So if there's anything wrong with the sanctity of marriage in America, it comes from those of us who have the privilege and the right and have abused it for decades."

If you can hear/watch the speech though, I would reccomend it. It plays well with the current push to ban divorce in California (Ed posted about this recently as well)

It's the Sesamoid by golly!

2009-12-01T11:00:00.000-08:00

For the life of me I don't know why it took so long for me to figure this one out but I have finally self diagnosed the pain in my big toe as Sesamoiditis. For about 10 months now I have had pain in what I always refered to as the big toe joint in my left foot. The pain at times would cause a noticeable limp, particularly if I wore high heels for a long period or was on my feet for awhile and I always have to wear shoes around my house because if I go barefoot for long on the hardwood floor the pain would be bothersome. When the pain first started it was much worse than it is now, but it is definitely sore on a daily basis even though I have grown pretty used to it by now.

Here is what the toe looks like:

A sesamoid bone is a bone found inside a tendon where it passes over a joint. A tendon is a strong band of connective tissue which attaches a muscle to a bone. Your body has several sesamoid bones. The largest sesamoid bone is your patella, or kneecap. The ball of your foot contains two small sesamoid bones, the medial (inner side) and lateral (outer side) sesamoids. These sesamoids act as pulleys for the tendons and help flex or curl your big toe. When you run and jump these sesamoid bones absorb much of your body weight. So my poor little sesamoids have been taking a pounding for quite some time.

Symptoms can include:

Symptoms incude:
-Pain when moving the big toe, especially lifting the big toe up -- Yup
-Tenderness to touch at the ball of the foot -- Definitely
-Pain when walking, running, jumping, or standing -- oh yeah
-Swelling--Maybe slightly but nothing major

Oh and here is the kicker, wearing high heels contributes to the problem. Whaaat? you mean my adorable heels are not good for me feet??? Yeah not so much suprised but I own one pair of flats that are 4 years old and all of my pants and jeans I couldn't wear with flats because they would all drag on the floor. The good news is that I can wear whatever I want to work pretty much and even though I like to dress nicely, I can get away with wearing jeans and running shoes for a little while to help it heal.

The other treatments are:
-a special pad to wear that supports the bones
-a shoe insert that limits the motion of your big toe
-custom-made shoe inserts made for you (orthotics)
-tape your big toe to provide support and limit movement
-a removable walking cast to wear until the pain is gone
-anti-inflammatory medicine
-icing after exercise
-getting a cortisone shot

Obviously some of these are a little extreme in my case. I actually dont experience a great deal of pain while I run but it gets very sore later and standing for a long period of time is more painful. When I run I feel like I stretch my toes as a push off and it actually feels kinda good. Basically ibuprophen, tape and ice are my preferred treatment but if at the beginning of the year I am still experiencing pain I will go to the doc and at least get some orthotics. Right now I have only reached $800 of my $1,800 deductible so I might as wait until next year since I probably won't meet that deductable this year.

Anyway I have dealt with it for this long and even though I have done 2 weeks of almost 30 miles each week and havent had any increae in pain then it isn't getting worse and I can handle it as it is. It is nice to know what it is though!

And some pics...

2009-11-30T13:05:00.000-08:00

This is the newest addition to my plant family, the Dragon Tree. I have been looking for a plant like that for awhile and I stumbled upon it at Lowe's and snatched it right up.

I wanted to hang these lighted balls from my Japanese Maple outside but the cords were too short and at least with these balls, a logistical nightmere so I decided to do something else with them and make a sort of abstract christmas tree.

This is one of the cats in the nighborhood that uses my backyard as a sanctuary. The other one is just as fat and orange. I hope he enjoys it while it lasts because as soon as a get a dog no more naps in the sun!

One of my orange trees. In a couple more weeks they should be ready to eat. I hope they taste good because I have a lot of them.

The second orange tree I have that is back in the corner wasn't much to look at but it also has a lot of oranges growing on it. Oranges are one of my favorite fruits so I can't wait until they are ready to eat.

I also have a lemon tree that is about ready to have its fruit picked.

It is really fun to have trees that produce fruit and it makes me want to grow more edibles. Basil, tomatoes, squash, rosemary, jalepenos - I just need to find the perfect spot and learn a little more about planting conditions and my spring I should be ready to plant.

My Thanksgiving weekend

2009-11-30T10:47:00.001-08:00

I had a great looong weekend that went by entirely too quickly. I spent Thanksgiving with Mike and his family which was quite nice. I have never spent Thanksgiving or any holiday for that matter with a significant others family and it was cool to see a different take on the holiday. Besides the typical Thanksgiving faire they also had some mexican inspired dishes (Mikes mom is Mexican) like salsa, shredded beef and chili. All the food was delicious and everyone was very warm and welcoming, in particular the kids. Mike's nieces and nephews were a lot of fun and they showed me some outstanding pictures of Mike in his awkward stages:)

On Friday we went for a nice hike up in Oakhurst and farted around up there some. Saturday we had a pace run, which Mike was not supposed to do because of his injury so he only did 3 miles. Then we went to Big Lots and snatched up some bargains for Christmas lights and decorating stuff (pics to come). On Sunday Mike was my sherpa as I ran a 10 miler which ended well but was somewhat difficult. This is the furthest I have run since my last marathon over a year ago so it isn't very suprising that I struggled somewhat finding my stride. It is really annoying though that for no appearant reason you feel awkward and jerky. At about mile 6 or 7 I had a rough attack of the colon blows, which temporarily was relieved by a trip to the lovely park bathroom. I finished the run on a very high note though and found my natural stride and had energy to spare but then had a second attack that laid me out for a bit. It appears I am still having trouble with my stomach, which is also frustrating. All I can do is keep trying different foods until I find something I can stomach.

After the run it was Christmas decorating time! Mike put up the exterior lights and it made me feel like quite an adult that I was putting up lights on my first house:) I just used white lights so it is elegantly understated (aka boring). Inside I did some things but we haven't had time to get the Christmas tree yet.

Ok a little more detailed then need be but there you have it, my weekend.

Mmmm Sweet Potatoes

2009-11-24T07:35:00.000-08:00

I have been in love with the sweet potato as of late. They are delicious, versatile and so far I have not been able to screw it up.

My love for this root vegetable started with a fry recipe. The potato is pretty sweet, as the name suggests, so contrasting that with spicy cayenne and chili powders results in a great flavor combination. I also like that although I love the way sweet potatoes taste, I can't eat a lot of them because they tend to fill me up fast.

Lately I have been branching out from the fries and moving on to mashed sweet potatoes. Last night I tried this recipe for Sweet Potatoes 'n' Pears. I tweaked the recipe a bit and instead of using brown sugar and butter, I added some low fat vanilla yogurt, pumpkin pie spice and sprinkled it with some crumbled Gorgonzola cheese. Oh my these were good. The cheese mellowed out the sweetness perfectly. The pears were also a really nice addition.

I haven't tried a sweet potato pie yet, quite possibly the most popular way to eat the potato. Actually I have never had any sweet potato pie but I have a feeling it is pretty high in calories and probably uses a lot of sugar and other high fat ingredients I don't need. If there is a lower fat/cal version though, I will find it:) I think sweet potatoes are so good as they are that it seems unnecessary to add much else anyway.

Nutritionally (according to Wikipedia), the Center for Science in the Public Interest compared the nutritional value of sweet potatoes to other vegetables. Considering fibre content, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron, and calcium, the sweet potato ranked highest in nutritional value. According to these criteria, sweet potatoes earned 184 points, 100 points over the next on the list, the common potato. A 100g root is reported to contain 108-121 calories and since they are somewhat high in carbs, they are a runners friend. All in all not too shabby.

If anyone has a sweet potato recipe they would like to share please do!

The Weekend

2009-11-23T07:35:00.000-08:00

What a busy weekend! Saturday morning Mike and I had breakfast with his mom at Mimi's Cafe where we counted the Bump Its that we spotted on waitresses. I think the Bump Its must come with the uniform and they are strongly encouraged to wear them. Some of them look pretty ridiculous and the last time I was ther eI overhead this old man tell one of the waitresses that she looked "so classy!". Too funny. After breakfast we did a little bargain shopping and hit the gym.

Later I went over to hang out with Annie and her two beautiful daughters. Reagan was asleep when I came over but when she woke up she was a little energetic spitfire.

It is so fun to see what her new thing is everytime I visit. This time it was belly buttons (she wants to see yours) and dancing. Well I say dancing but really it is just jerking her hips from side to side which is great because I can totally do that with her and I look like I am just following her lead and no one knows I really can't dance and this is probably as good as it gets for me. Anyway those children are a joy and I love being their honorary aunt.

Sunday we woke up early to tackle our first long run of training, an 8 miler. Unfortunately Mike did not have a good experience. He almost immediately felt a pain on the outside of his knee and it slowed him way down. I felt really good, I seem to run well in cold weather so I went ahead and finished the 8 miler. Mike was able to do about 6 before he had to stop, which is good considering the pain he was in from the very start.

I looked up his symptoms and I am quite sure that he is suffering from a very common running ailment, Iliotibial Band Syndrome. ITB is inflammation of the thick band of fibrous tissue that runs down the outside of the leg. The function of the band is to help coordinate with the thigh muscles to stabilize the knee. Mike's is inflammed which causes him pain when he flexes his knee. We started training this week so his milage was increased from maybe around 10-15 miles to 26. Fortunately it won't end his running career and he needs to cut back on his mileage and there are specfic stretches and strengthening activities that can help prevent it from recurring. He was bummed but when it comes to distance running these things happen and he will bounce back.

After the run we worked in the yard raking leaves and mowing the lawn and did some housework. Since I had been gone the past two weekend things really piled up around the house and it was a lot of work to catch up on. We didn't finish everything we needed to but I didn't want to put it off until next weekend because next weekend I want to get to Christmas decorating and putting up lights for the first time ever on my new house. I can't wait!

2009-11-20T08:21:00.001-08:00

I forgot to post this one yesterday, but if you have ever wondered what a trees vagina looks like, here you go:

And The Pics....

2009-11-19T13:55:00.000-08:00

Shaver Lake early morning:

View from the trail:

Snowy trail:

Huntington Lake:

Me (if you can find me) and the tree (note the spooky fog):

Views of the basin behind the cabin:

Is it Thursday already??

2009-11-19T07:28:00.000-08:00

Well I have had a busy week so far and havent had time nor have I been able to post an update.

This weekend Mike and I went to Shaver and stayed in the cabin and had a great time. The worst pasrt about the cabin is coming home *sigh* I wish I could live up there. It was very cold but beautiful. We woke up early Saturday morning (I wish I had the pictures we took right now, will post later)and drove up to Huntington Lake to hike up to Kaiser Peak. The closer we got though the more snow was on the ground. About 3 inches had fallen last week so it was still quite undisturbed and pristine. We even saw a bald eagle on the coastline at Shaver! We started the hike and got a bit off track because trails are hard to see in the snow, however with Mike's trusty GPS we got back on track and started up the mountain. Most of the way the snow wasn't too bad and there were some amazing views. The day was so clear, you could see for miles.

About a third of the way up though the snow started getting a little too deep and we had to turn around and go back. I can't wait to do this hike in the summer and get all the way to the top. We will probably make it an overnight backpacking trip and go up the back way and do the loop, yay! I have never gone backpacking and I am super excited to do a lot of that next summer.

When we came back to Shaver low clouds rolled in and put a heavy fog around everything. It was really cold but reminded me of the north west in the big trees. We drove up to McKinley Grove to see the huge seqouia trees and there was no one there but us. It looked a little creepy in the dense fog with these huge trees. I had forgotten just how big they are and the fact that they are 2,000 years old blows my mind.

Sunday we hiked around the cabin and just relaxed then reluctantly went home.

Monday I had jury duty and I got in a jury pool for a 11 week trial. Yeah, ridiculous. I don't mind serving but I cant not do my job for 11 weeks and there is no one here who has the time to do it for me. I also cant do my job at nights and weekends because subs and architects aren't open to be able to get things done. I got sat in the jury box, pleaded my case and was dismissed from that case, but I have to call Friday and might have to go back next week.

Tuesday my hard drive crashed on my cmputer at work and I just got it back today. Strangely, I am much more productive when I have no internet access but it has been frustrating to move my office to another area and use my moms printer for things. It is back and running now though so woo hoo!

Marathon training started this week too. So far we have logged in 12 miles this week and will have 28 by the end of the week. It appears I am going to have to tweak the weight lifting portion of working out because we are at the gym for about 2 hours and 15 minutes. I am not sure how long we will be able to do that, chia seeds or not! I dont want to lose muscle though and neither does Mike but it is gonna have to happen. On the upside we will lean out and be very cardiovascularly fit!

My Bench!

2009-11-13T08:53:00.000-08:00

Jon (one of the employees here at MWC)installed the bench he made for my back patio yesterday and I LOVE it:

He was given free creative freedom to make the bench however he wanted to and I although this was not at all what I was thinking, I think he did a fantastic job. It is a lot larger and more ornate than I expected but I think it is beautiful and I am very pleased.

And now I just have to rake all the damn leaves.

A Day Late But....

2009-11-12T08:06:00.000-08:00

In honor of Veteran's Day, here are some clips of dogs welcoming home their soldier owners and children being reuinted with their soldier parents. And yes, I was totally a mushy, crying mess at my desk watching these.

You will want to watch this one with sound:

Aren't dogs great?

And these REALLY got me, especially the first one:

It really reminds you what soldiers and their families (and dogs too!)sacrifice when they are deployed. I for one am thankful that there are people out there who are wiling to do that because I can't imagine how hard that would be.

Now I must wipe the smeared mascara off my face.

Fall Colors

2009-11-12T07:11:00.001-08:00

I snapped a picture of this beautiful tree in my yard before it lost all of its leaves. It is quite nice to see this out of my living room window.

Who Wants a Wii for Christmas?

2009-11-11T08:44:00.000-08:00

I am thinking of selling my Wii. I don't use it very often and I could use the extra money. I have the console, the balance board for Wii Fit, 4 remotes, 1 nunchuck, 1 guitar and around 5-6 games. If you know anyone who might be interested let me know or have them send me an email. I probably spent around 600 dollars for all of it (that is a conservative estimate) but I obviously don't expect to get that much for it. All offers will be considered though! I could put it on Craigslist but I really don't want to deal with meeting with strangers so I would prefer to sell it through friends or friends of friends. It would be a really great Christmas gift!

Ugh

2009-11-11T07:53:00.000-08:00

This has kinda been a bad week for food. Monday Mike picked up a chocolate milk at a convenience store to drink after our workout (chocolate milk is better recovery drink than gatorade FYI and it tastes sooo much better too)and when I opened it I thought it smelled a little sour. I took a drink though and although it didn't taste horrendous, it tasted a bit off. I asked Mike what he thought and he just sort of shrugged and thought it was fine. So I took another drink and it definitely tatsed weird to me so I searched for an expiration date. It has expired 5 days ago. Mike took it back and the guy at the register said "old is gold". Nice try.

That night we had couscous for dinner and it was delicious. As we were cleaning up the kitchen something in the couscous box caught my eye. It was a bug shell. The couscous didn't come in anything but the box (no plastic bag in the box or anything) so I can't say I was that suprised with such easy access that a bug might find its way in there. I shook the box a little and saw two LIVE bugs crawling around. I threw the box away and told myself that we just had a little extra protein for the day.

And just today I drank an Antioxidant Daily Shot that I got in my particpant bag from the Trail of Two Cities (yeah I still got the bag even though I didn't run it. I paid for that stuff!)which is basically natural fruit juice to get a boost of antioxidants and although it tasted fine, the best by date was 29/09/2009:

(Note: that picture makes it look HUGE but is only about 5 inches tall and 3.38 fl. oz)
So far my stomach seems fine but good grief, I need to start checking my food before I eat it!

Getting Ready for a Marathon - What's been on my mind lately...

2009-11-10T10:28:00.000-08:00

I missed the Trail of Two Cities half marathon that I signed up for on Sunday due to a scheduling conflict and although I had the opportunity to run the distance later in the day, I decided not to. I hadn't put in the proper training and I frankly didn't feel like running 13.1 miles. Although I annoyed myself by saying I would do something and then not following through, I will make up for it by running the LA marathon in March.

For the past few weeks I have been mentally perparing myself to gear up for 4 months of training. I have picked a training schedule, typed it into an excel document, tabulated the amount of miles run per week, total mileage for the entire training period (567) and figured out the mile splits (9:09 minutes per mile). For the first time since I started running I have someone to train and run with me which I am quite excited about. It will be nice to have someone to moan and groan with, someone who understands what I am going through and the amount of work you put your body through and someone to help keep motivation high when I just want to sleep in on a Sunday morning instead of getting my butt out in the freezing cold to run a 15 miler.

I feel that I am the most healthy and knowledgable than during training periods in the past. I am consistently eating properly, consistently getting enough sleep, not drinking and basically engaging in a boring yet very satisfying lifestyle:)I am still doing pretty well with sticking with clean eating and we are cooking at home just about every night, which has been fantastic and has kept me healthy (last night we made portabello, eggplant and red pepper sandwiches with whole wheat couscous that was delicious!). I have also made just about every mistake a runner could possibly make in the past so I hopefully have learned my lessons and have that all out of my system. Going out too fast? Done it. Not getting enough sleep? Done it. Not getting enough iron? Done it. Not training long enough? Done it. Not eating the best foods for runners and paying for it with trips to the porta potty? Done that too. Frequently. Ugh.

I am excited about pounding the pavement again and being able to once again call myself a runner. Since I have done this before I do not have any hesitations or doubts or unknowns to contend with. I am just excited to get started again. I have taken enough time off to completley forget how painful the last one was so that means I am ready for the next race:) Kinda like how giving birth works, or so I hear. I will have to ask my sister about that later.

Official training starts November 17th!

The Weekend

2009-11-10T07:51:00.000-08:00

This weekend I was in Austin for my sisters second baby shower. Even though I saw her two weeks ago when she was here for her Cali baby shower (she gets two of everything living out of state)I swear she has already gotten bigger.

They decided to name their daughter Harper Paisley Lucas and I think it's a great name. Some people have told my sister that she is going to be a musician based on her name but seeing as there is no musical ability on our side of the family or Chris's that I know of, we will have to see about that. I personally hope she is an athlete but however she turns out she is already starting out with a nice shoe collection:
These are to match her daddy's vans:

And of course, since she lives in Texas, a girl needs a pair of these:

The shower was really nice and we spent all day Friday shopping for stuff for Harper's room and that all came together nicely too. My sister is due in the middle of January and I cannot wait to be an aunt! The next time I see my sister she will be a mom, which is a bit strange, but she is going to be a wonderful mother. And since I am her only Aunt, I am so going to be her favorite;)

It was a good weekend but it is nice to be home. This weekend Mike and I are getting away up to Shaver and getting a hike or two in before it gets too snowy and cold. We might hike up to Devils Bathtub or if the road is closed up there already we will do Kasier Peak. I haven't done Kaiser Peak yet but I did Devil's Bathtub when I was about 14 or so and it was a really beautiful hike. Either way, I will be happy to be up and out of Fresno and into some nature.

And Now, A Dramatic Reading Of "Poker Face" By Christopher Walken

2009-11-02T10:06:00.000-08:00

Because I find Christopher Walken strangely fascinating and I do not like Lady Gaga's music. Or her name. Or her inabaility to wear pants.

100's Workout

2009-11-02T08:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I tried a new workout that I have been eyeing for awhile called the 100's workout. This is a total body workout that has 9 exercises (lifting exercises)that you are to perform for 100 repetitions aiming to only stop once at 70 reps for 30 seconds before finishing the final 30. Some of the exercises were easier than others but the one thing they had in a common, a long sustained and intense muscle burn. At the end of the workout there will have been a total of 900 reps completed.

I have sort of become Mikes personal trainer so he did all of this with me, bless his heart:) Actually he has been working out with me the past month and I am really impressed with the amount of muscle growth he has already achieved. It has also been really great to share my passion with someone who get's why I love it so much and shares the same passion with me. He is wiling to do and try anything so I feel like I have a partner in crime:)

But I digress, back to the 100's workout! The following is the exercises we performed:

Leg Press
Leg Curl
Upright Row
Dumbbell Press
Overhead Press
Cable Curl
Rope Pressdown
Cable Crunches

Of course you don't perform these exercises at the same weight you normally would if you were doing 12 reps, but you drop the weight approximately in half, sometimes more. The toughest ones for me were the Leg Press, the Overhead Press and the calf raises.

It wasn't exactly what I expected however. I was expecting that the weights would start to feel heavy as the reps increased, even though they were considerably lighter than what I would normally lift. I assumed fatigue would set in and cause them to feel heavy. That wasn't the case at all. The weights never felt heavy, always light, but at about 25 reps or so your muscles start to burn and until you are done with 100, the burning does not go away but intensifies. I felt this was just as much a mental challenge as it was a physical challenge. As soon as that burn settles in you really want to stop, it hurts! But you can physically lift the weight still, it is pushing past the pain and continuing that is the hard part. It is good practice for running a marathon really because although it is a different type of pain, you still have to embrace the pain as part of the process in order to finish.

It is such an exhilirating feeling to take on a challenge that you may have doubts you can accomplish, work your ass off and do it. This is true with any atheletic endevour or anything else in life you ar passionate about. The more you challenge yourself and the conception you have of your abilities, the more interesting life can be.

This was a tough workout but I loved it. I will probably incorporate this every once in awhile to spice things up a bit. The more I push myself, the more I want to push myself further. I am starting to get pumped up for the marathon! God I sound like such a peppy annoying jock. Oh well, I am who I am:)

Snacks, They Can be Good For You!

2009-10-29T10:15:00.000-07:00

I was making some blueberry green tea this morning (which is really good if you like tea btw) at work and looked around and saw that in our little office of 5 people there were doughnuts, danish, brownies and oatmeal cookies (not to mention the halloween candy and M&M's). That is just ridiculous considering the only healthy food in the office belongs to me which means that anything anyone else eats in the office today is loaded with sugar, fat and calories. Now don't get me wrong, baked items are a good sometimes food but this is generally the case here all.the.time. The sometimes foods in this office are healthy. This is not just bad for the waistline though. Eating sugary foods do not help keep your energy up throughout the day and they do not help you focus.

It is my understanding that this is pretty common in offices and even more so for the big offices that celebrate birthdays and just have more people to bring in the leftover sweets from the night before that they bring in so they don't eat it all themselves. I have said this over and over but I advocate snacks throughout the day and don't think you should go more than 4 hours without eating something. Of course I advocate healthy snacking though and not just throwing some chips or cookies in your mouth. If you don't know what to bring try some of these:

- low fat string cheese and a handful of almonds
- low fat string cheese and a small apple
- a small apple and a handful of almonds
- low sugar hot chocolate (if you have a sweet tooth)
- hummus and veggies
- edamame
- cottage cheese and fruit
- pears with low fat yogurt and low fat granola
- celery with peanut butter (low sugar or natural) and raisins
- rice cakes with peanut butter (low sugar or natural) and slices banana
- rice with cottage cheese and low sugar jam
- hard bolied egg
- raw nuts and dried fruit
- whole wheat crackers with canned chicken or tuna (add a little bit of low fat mayo if you wish)

Eating a snack between breakfast and lunch and again between lunch and dinner can prevent you from over eating at meal times and keeps your energy going throughout the day. If you have access to a fridge at your work, even better. You can stock up on Monday and you won't have to worry about thinking about what to bring every morning when you are rushing to work.

Remember, if you are trying to lose weight don't forget to eat!

Some Patio Pics

2009-10-29T07:26:00.000-07:00

Although my back patio is not completely done yet, there is a redwood gate and bench still left to install and planting to do, my backyard has seen quite a transformation. To remind you what it looked like before, take a look at these:

And now, it looks like this:

In this picture you can also see the grass has filled in pretty well:

So that's it. Like I said there are still finishing touches left to go and planting to do but you get the general idea. I am looking at drought resistatnt plants right now but I haven't decided on anything. I really love it though and it looks a lot cleaner.

Before and After: Kitchen and Bathroom Renovations

2009-10-26T08:27:00.000-07:00

After a lot of hard work, here are the results:

Kitchen Before #1:

After #1:

Before #2:

After #2:

Before 3:

After 3:

I haven't decorated the dinning room yet, but it was painted khaki for a nice clean look that can be spiced up with lots of color.
So that's my minty green happy kitchen, now on to the guest bathroom.

Bathroom Before:

Bathroom After:

I am happy with the way the bathroom came together, I wasn't sure if it would or not.

Next up, my golden girls bathroom! I love the golden girls, hate that bathroom:)

Stay Tuned.

Busy Week!

2009-10-22T07:35:00.000-07:00

I have been stressed, busy and busy for the past few weeks but it is all shortly coming to an end. A few months ago I told my sister I wanted to host her baby shower in my new house. At the time I was thinking I had plenty of time to make some updates and get it looking nice by the October 24th deadline. I am a procrastinator though and no matter how good my intentions are I always find a way to put things off, which is what I so predictibly did in this case. What made it worse was that home improvements of any kind generally take a lot longer than you expect, which goes double for me since I have absolutely no experience in such things.

In the span of two weeks I sanded, primed and painted all of my kitchen cabinets which took WAY more time than I thought it would. Getting all of those nooks and crannies is quite the time consuming job. I also removed all the wall paper and painted the walls in the kitchen and dining room. Before this experience I thought painting was just throwing a coat or two on a wall, no biggie. When you involve wallpaper though you step it up a notch. There is removing the multiple layers, scraping off the remaining stubborn pieces of paper, wiping off the wallpaper remover, spackling over holes and indentions (of which there were A LOT), sanding that down, priming and finally painting. There are many steps, all of which take time, including dry time. I was really lucky too because I didn't run into any problems and it still took me what felt like forever.

Then there was the bathroom. I was really unsure how this would turn out because once I got into removing the wallpaper to the drywall, I found some odd things. The surface was completely uneven, there was no consistency whatsover in texture or color. I had to do a lot of spackling and one section of the drywall had to be completely removed and patched because of termite damage. Apparantly it is rare for termites to go through the drywall but my termites were quite the over achievers. For the paint I chose a shade called "Bamboo" to go on the walls which looked a lot like a shade of dog poop when they have the runs. After the second coat though it is more of an avacado and I like it. I also got some accessories so it no longer feels like you are on a dilapidated cruise ship when you go into the bathroom but a nice calm spa-like atmosphere.

On the exterior I got my pavers put in this week and they look beautiful! It makes such a big deifference back there and I love the result. It is isn't completely done though, a redwood bench and gate need to be installed and planting needs to be done but that won't happen before the shower.

Although all of the work is done as of last night at 11 PM, the house still looks like a construction site and is a complete mess so I haven't taken pictures yet. This weekend I will though and get them posted next week. I am incredibly pleased with the results though and for the first time since I moved in, the house feels like it is mine. It is a happy, colorful home that I have fallen in love with again. I still have plans for my bathroom and the two spare bedrooms but for now I am taking a rest from home rennovations. This will come as a great relief to Mike who has generously been with me, paint brush in hand, every step of the way. He very unselfishly helped with everything and never complained. Let's be honest, if I were him I would have at least whined about it a few times;)

My sister flys in tonight and I cant wait to see her and her belly. It will really hit home that she is going to be giving birth in a few months when I see that:)

**Note: I had no time to proof read so if there are a lot of typos, oops!

Mennonite in a LBD

2009-10-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

I have not read this book so I don't know if it is any good but I came across is on Jezebel and I thought I would give a little nod to a Fresno author. Rhoda Janzen (any relation to Dennis Janzen the volleyball coach at FPU I wonder?) was born and raised in Fresno as a Mennonite and due to life circumstances had to move back in with her parents when she was 43 and subsequently wrote the book Mennonite in a Little Black Dress.

In an interview Janzen states:

"I had remembered the Mennonites of my youth as congenial folks, so it wasn't a surprise that I loved them as an adult. What was a surprise was that I loved what they stood for - I loved the faith itself, and the way they consistently demonstrated what they believed. For instance, when my mom learned that an elderly woman from her church was recuperating from a surgery, it wasn't a question of if she would visit. It was a question of whether to bring homemade zwiebach or a tray of platz. It was the genuine human warmth of this community that set me thinking about faith in new ways."

It looks like it would be an interesting read and I know some of you who read my blog are quite familiar with the religion so I thought you might mind it interesting as well.