Day 3: Bye, Christmas. Hello, Savings!

Day 3 and I'm still blogging strong!

When I went to bed last night, I intended on a 6 mile run in the morning. When I woke up, it was a different story! Somehow I slept until 9am again, so it left me with not enough time before church. I decided to take the day off.

After church, we went on the weekly food shop. In the past 2 years, I've been really focused on planning out fun, new, creative recipes. This method of menu planning resulted in somewhat pricey weekly shops, but I thought it was worth it for the blog. Since I'm not cooking as often for the blog now, I'm working to plan my menus around the weekly circular, what's in season and on sale. I've always been a coupon shopper, but now I'm borderline obsessed. It can be difficult to save money on groceries when you shop for fresh produce, organic dairy, meat and non-prepared foods, so that's where my little personal challenge comes in!

I love reusable grocery bags. I have millions, and I leave them in both JJ and my car as well as the hall closet so I always have them somewhere!

When JJ and I checkout, he likes to see how close I can get to saving as much as I spend. Only one time have I been even. Today I spent $84.93 and saved $60.46. And this included a little stockpile of toiletries and 2 half gallons of organic milk.

I was so excited to see that today's paper had 5 coupon inserts! There were coupons for Oikos, whole wheat pasta, cottage cheese, baked chips, and many other healthy items!

I always buy my paper at Starbucks before church on Sunday, and make sure to check the magazine rack with the extra papers people have left. There are usually a few sets of coupon inserts in there that people don't want! They're crazy. Or I'm a dumpster diver.... (actually, I usually make JJ look for them while I order our drinks)

While I was clipping my coupons, the girls decided to snuggle up with me. I actually don't have many photos with them yet because it's so hard to get two puppies to sit still. JJ did a great job though, and got this adorable one of us :)  He tried to get one of Pumpkin too, but she lunged at the camera.

Our main goal for the day was taking down our inside Christmas decorations and storing them in the attic. It was really sad to take our tree down and pack the ornaments up. I had a wonderful time in our new house this Christmas season!

This year we got a few new ornaments. Each year JJ and I get one for eachother, and then are usually given a few by some other people. I loved each one we got this year! Here they are:

Starbucks Cup - Each year I buy this ornament. I loved working at Starbucks, and I especially love Gingerbread Lattes, so this reminds me of the great times I've had there.

Seminole Snowman - This was the ornament I got for JJ this year since we went to the Maryland/FSU game and to the Gator Bowl.

New Home - I got this ornament for us, I think it's pretty self explainitory!

Ohio State Presents - My Secret Santa (Carrie) from the December 2007 wedding knot board got this one for me. She's a fellow former Ohioan, and knows how much I love the Buckeyes!

Puppy Love- This is the ornament JJ picked out for me because we got the puppies this year.

White Dog - My mom got this ornament for me from the church Fair Trade craft fair. It was made by someone in a 3rd world country (forget what the tag said) and is purchased from them at a fair price.

I love each and every one of them, and love having a tree full of meaningful ornaments!

JJ was not really wanting his photo taken while taking the tree out...

After lunch I decided to go for a run. I was a little worried my Nike+ was broken, and I wanted to test it out. I thought about running a few houses down, but figured instead I'd just run a couple of miles as fast as I could. I was trying to sync my ipod, and the Nike running website was down! Ahhh, it's like Nike is against me! Anyway, I copied the front page from iTunes. You can see I had an awesome pace compared to my last few runs. Yay! I definitely couldn't keep it up for longer than 2 miles though. I started to get a side cramp around 1 mile... but I'm glad it was still a good run! I thought about doing some strenth training tonight, but I'll save that for tomorrow.

It's been a while since I worked a 5-day work week, but I'm ready for things to get back to normal :)

Day 2: This really is going to be a good New Year!

This morning I slept later than I have in the longest time... I think I got up around 9:15am. Going to the game, watching games, and going on a run yesterday really took it out of me!

I set out on my regular 4.3 mile run with my Nike+ going. When I got to the first mile, I checked to see what my pace was, and realized that it was keeping time, but no pace or mileage! I reset it and it started again.... but when I got home, I realized that again it clocked my time but no mileage. I thought maybe my reciever was broken, but I restarted it once more and it started clocking like normal... so hopefully it will work tomorrow!

So I did my 4.3 miles in 47:37, which is my best time yet! It was a great run. I felt like I was running well, it was cool with a breeze, sunny, around 45 degrees.

Here are my graphics, it's nice to see I ran .03 miles in 48 minutes... haha

When I got back I stretched for a while, but my calves were still really tight. I had JJ roll my legs, and he found quite a few knots in my quads and calves. They felt much better after the rolling though.

Later this afternoon we went out to run some errands. I had to stop by Barnes and Noble to get Chef Michael Symon's "Live to Cook". I will be blogging through the cookbook in 2010 (and throughout the next few years - http://www.ashleescooking.blogspot.com/). I'm really excited about this book because I can tell it will really expand my culinary horizons and cooking technique. There will be a few fish recipes I'll be trying out as well as many bacon variations as that's Chef Symon's favorite food. I'm going to need to make sure I do long runs on the bacon-y days!

While we were there I saw 2010 calendars were 50% off. JJ told me he'd get me a calendar for Christmas, but he forgot, so I was forced to choose one for myself. This calendar is on the fridge, and keeps track of family birthdays and JJ's travel schedule. It's pretty visible and important. I sifted through all of the calendars, and most of what was left was horses, chihuauas, fancy cars, comic book heroes and....

ROB PATTINSON!

This really is going to be a good New Year! I'll get to check out Rob every day :)

We invited Leah and Jay over for chili and football tonight. We usually go out to dinner and then back to our house or we eat here, and I end up putting my pajamas on while everyone else is dressed nicely. Leah asked if we could make it a PJ night, so we did!

I love relaxing Saturdays.

Pumpkin does too!

Day 1: We are the Champions!

Happy New Year!
Last night JJ and I went to Leah and Jay's for New Year's Eve. We played some games, had a great dinner and watched football. It was a nice relaxing evening, which I desperately needed! As much as I love entertaining and cooking for crowds, December really took it's toll on me.

I began my morning with a nice 3.65 mile run. I forgot to stop my Nike+ when I got to my cool down and stretching, so the graphic is a little off. I ran 3.65 in 40 minutes, around 11:15 pace. It was a little slower, it started raining towards the end.

I stopped by Starbucks after my run, and chatted with the Barista. She just moved here in June from Akron, Ohio. It was nice to meet a fellow Ohioan!

Today was a big day for my husband, it was Bobby Bowden's final game with the FSU Seminoles. JJ and I decided to go to the Gator Bowl and watch them play and cheer on Bobby. It was pretty rough, about 50 degrees, windy and pouring down rain. At half time, the rain let up, and Florida State got their crap together! The game was really exciting, and really fun, and they won! I'm really glad JJ was able to go to the game because he absolutely loves Bobby Bowden.

(photo from espn.com of Bobby spearing the field)

Luckily we got home just in time to watch the Buckeyes play in the Rose Bowl! I was quite worried about the Buckeyes since their last game was before Thanksgiving, but they came out with their game faces on and generally kicked ass. Pryor played and amazing game, and I'm sure has everyone in Buckeye Nation pumped for next year.

Since we were gone all day, we grabbed some Chinese take-out for dinner. I had steamed chicken and vegetables with rice. I topped it with spicy mustard and soy sauce.

All in all it was a fantastic day! I'm hoping to do a 6ish miler tomorrow morning, then maybe make some black eyed peas and collared greens (a day late, but we can use the luck and money!)

A Year in Pictures: 2009

2009 Has been an amazing year. Full of ups and downs, good times and hard. I'm really excited for 2010 and all of the possibilities it holds, but I want to look back at 2009 and be thankful for the amazing year it was. I think JJ and I both worked really hard to set ourselves up to be really sucessful in 2010.

Some highlights from 2009 in photos...

JANUARY

We had a huge snowstorm dumping more than a foot in Bloomington. It was JJ and Pumpkin's first big snow storm. We didn't have shovels, so we resorted to digging our cars out with cookie sheets...

FEBRUARY

My co-workers and I decided to do a group Valentine's Dinner at a Japanese Steak House, then dessert and games and Michele's house. I absolutely love my former co-workers, job, and the YMCA. I am so lucky to have worked there!

MARCH

During the month of March, I wrote my cookbook. I am so proud of the way it turned out! I had so much fun making all of the baked goods to model with, and I'm so thankful to The Smiths for letting me use their kitchen for the photos!

APRIL

Easter was so much fun this year! With Becky in Switzerland and JJ in Iowa with the baseball team, I was pretty bummed. However, it meant that I was able to do the egg hunt by myself and look for all 4 dozen eggs. Kris and Dan tried to sabatoge me and cheat, but I was victorious!

MAY

May was an amazing month for both JJ and I. We spent Mother's Day in Cincinnati with my mom. The next weekend was my birthday, which was great. I had a fun party at work and then went out with some of our friends. The next weekend was the Big 10 tourney in Columbus, OH, where the IU baseball team went on to win the Championship. It was probably the highlight of JJ's career thus far, and I'm so glad I was able to go and cheer for the Hoosiers!

JUNE

In June I got the first copy of my cookbook, and continued to edit and re-write recipes.

During this time, we also found out we were moving to Jacksonville, so I began packing up. I had my going away dinner with my co-workers, and a wonderful going away party at work. It was so hard to say goodbye, I can't say enough about how much I love Bloomington!

JULY

In July, my family chose a weekend to all go home and have one last family party before JJ and I moved. My mom wanted us to go to the park and take some family photos, so here are some of the photos she took.

It was really fun spending time together, I miss my family!

AUGUST

As sad as it was to leave Bloomington, it was exciting to move to Jacksonville. JJ grew up in St. Augustine, and had been living far from home for 6 years. He rarely saw his friends during this time, so with his birthday being August 21, I planned a birthday party for him. I surprised him with organizing our Fantasy Football Draft to be that night.

SEPTEMBER

During September, JJ started working his new job, which he really enjoys. We also had the opportunity to spend a lot more time with his family. And enjoy the beach, pool, and lovely Florida weather!

OCTOBER

Wow, what can I say about October.... We got Charlotte and Belle, house-hunted and bought a house, I got my job with Folio Weekly, we moved.... it was an exhausting but AMAZING month!

NOVEMBER

We celebrated our 2nd anniversary 2 weeks early by going to a Florida State game, which they won in the last minute of the game!

We also drove to Cincinnati for Thanksgiving. We had a successful 10k on Thanksgiving Day, and a great visit with the family!

DECEMBER

December was quite busy! We had our second anniversary on the 1st.

We had our housewarming party on December 12.

We had a surprise 25th Anniversary Party for JJ's parents on the 19.

We hosted a Christmas Eve Brunch and Christmas Day dinner at our new house. My grandparents came for Christmas, and were our first official house-guests!

It was a great month!

What a wonderful year!

Here's to a happy, healthy, and wonderful 2010!

I'll see you EVERY DAY 

12.27.09 Nike+ Results

Here's the results from my first run with the Nike+

You can see where I have to cross the street and wait on some traffic! I cross many neighborhood entrances, so there are a few dips there.

I love the Nike+, it gives me the exact information I'm looking for, distance and pace!

As I start blogging daily, I'm going to include my run results and keep track of my pace and PR's. I'm also going to start posting my playlists, which I try to change monthly.

I'm going to blog a few recipes here and there, and then just daily life things.

Is there anything you especially like to see?

Tomorrow I'm going to post some exciting news/plans for the first half of 2010...

Santa thinks I'm a runner!

I must have been a VERY good girl this year, because Santa sure did hook me up with workout gear!


I was elated to open my presents on Christmas and find one gift after the next that I could use for fitness!
JJ got me a running jacket from Old Navy, a pack of 4 Under Armour running socks, 2 Nike Dry Fit Running Shirts, a Nike Dry Fit Running Tank, Nike Athletic Shorts, and a car charger for my ipod since it always seems to be dead!
My in-laws got me a pair of Asics running socks (identical to the pair I have that I love).
My brother in law got me a Nike+iPod running chip and shoe chip holder.
My parents gave me a gift card, which I used to buy a new pair of Nike Pegasus running shoes and a pair of Under Armour running pants.


I'm so glad I was able to get a new pair of my running shoes because it's been a year since I got my current pair, and they're pretty worn. I love the Nike Air Pegasus shoes, they were the best fit for me when I had a custom fitting last year. I highly recommend getting fitted by a professional for your first pair. It might cost a bit more, but if you find a brand/style you're comfortable with, you can buy them elsewhere in the future and pay less.


I already have logged a few runs with the nike+, and plan to post the results as I will be blogging EVERY DAY in 2010. Whew! I'll get today's 6.21 mile run results up tomorrow.


Not only do I appreciate the gifts my family gave me, but it means so much that family believes that I'll contine to run and workout, and they see how important it is to me.

My New Year's Resolution...

I've decided to make one single New Year's Resolution... but it will end up in a million little ones, I'm sure!


In 2010, I am going to blog every single day on Ash is Fit.
There are a few reasons I'm going to do this, and I'll elaborate over the next few days....
For now, have a wonderful Christmas weekend :)

Fernandina Beach Reindeer Run 10k

Last Saturday, my coworker/friend Lou and I ran the Fernandina Beach Reindeer Run 10k. He had never run a 10k, so back in October we decided to sign up. We've been running a little during the week after work, but he was a little apprehensive.
It was a little chilly when we got to the race, about 55 degrees. I just tried to stay warm, he stretched a lot. (JJ took the photos, he's such a great cheerleader!)


Here's me, wondering why JJ was taking photos of me standing around... when I should have been stretching...
Here's Lou stretching...

Waiting at the start line

Santa at the start

Super excited!

The race went through Fort Clinch State Park. It was an asphalt paved road that was in a tree lined grove. It was misty and about 65 degrees. I actually got pretty hot as it became really humid and the air didn't move much. We were about 100 yards from the beach, at some times I could see sand dunes.

Lou finished at 1:06:50

It looks like :54 for me, but my official time on the website was 1:08:51, so I PR'd by about 40 seconds! Had I not been so hot, I think I could have done better. I might have been the only person sweating at the end. People in Florida seemed to think 65 was FREEZING. It's weird...

Overall it was a nice race. I'd do it again next year! However, my housewarming party was that afternoon, so I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day!

Follow me on Twitter!

I broke down and got myself a twitter! If you want to follow me and keep tabs since I'm not posting here as frequently, you can check me out there @ashleezorn


I'll be doing a mixture of general tweets, cooking tweets, and fitness tweets, so it's not just about my health/fitness.


Tomorrow I'm going to get a post up from the 10k I ran Saturday!


Also, if you have any questions or comments, my email is ashisfit@gmail.com