Day 16: Alright, Florida! Now we're talking!

This morning when I woke up to let the dogs out, I was still in a fog, congested, and feeling awful. Then I opened the door, and it was not cold. It was pouring down rain, but it felt kind of nice out! Amazing! My mood instantly lifted.
Yesterday I was talking to Vickie (co-worker from Indiana), and she told me that the auditors were at the Y, so it's been a crazy week. Last year when the auditors came, I was so horribly sick, but I made myself go to work because I organized all of our workpapers, and they needed to work with me.
So a year ago today, I was sick like I am now. Ironic in a crappy way, huh?


So anyway, this morning we had to be up early for the new member class at church. It was really nice! They told us they'd have breakfast and lunch, but I know from church meals that they're not usually healthy... so I ate a chobani blueberry and had some coffee at home. When I got there, I ate a bite of egg casserole and half a banana.... and more coffee.
We've been going to this church for about 6 months, but it was nice to really learn about all of the mission work and committees. I'm not sure exactly how I'll get involved yet, but I see some ways.
For lunch they had subs, potato salad, and pea soup. I had a small piece of a turkey sub and some soup. When we got home, JJ left for work. I decided to go on a 2 mile run, just to see how my body would react. It felt like I was really dragging and running slow ( and of course my Nike+ wasn't working on pace/mileage...). It turns out I actually ran it pretty quickly considering how awful I felt. I think it's because it was nice and warm out, I mean, look at what I wore!!! It was about 75 degrees, overcast and windy. I'm hoping to get up at a leisurely time tomorrow morning and go for a 3.75 of 4.3 mile run, just depends how I feel around the 2 mile mark, when I have to make the decision on taking one road or another. I'm going to plan on taking the 4.3 mile route because I haven't done 6 miles since December 27, and I need to do it next weekend!

I learned how to use the timer on my camera - yay! It's been a while since I ran in a tank and was sweating! JJ got me this running tank for Christmas...I tend to not ever buy V-neck things... but he probably didn't even notice. I kind of felt a little exposed... but the tank is cute, and I won't get bad tan lines!

After my run, I snuggled up with the dogs on the couch and saw that Twilight was on demand. Now I own the DVD, and I've watched it a million times, but for some reason watching it on demand seemed really exciting... I don't know.

I'm about to go make us some dinner, JJ's on his way home. Hope everyone had a great Saturday! Tomorrow I'm going to buy a scale, so weigh-in will be Monday morning - eek!

Day 15: Ahh, Friday... I'm so glad you're here!

I'm so happy it's Friday. Not only so I can get some rest and relaxation this weekend to cure this awful sickness, but because I need to catch up on life! Usually during the week I pay my bills as they come, do some light cleaning, laundry, and errands... but being sick has prevented me from doing all of that. I literally have come home every night, made an easy dinner, then rested. I finally decided to sort through the mail today and tackle the laundry.


Both the lights and darks hampers were totally full, as well as the laundry basket for transporting them. So I'm about halfway through the 5 loads right now. How does JJ produce so much laundry!? I'll never know...


What I do know is Pumpkin is notorious for finding freshly folded laundry and rolling around in it, so I have to make sure she doesn't get up on the bed while I'm folding. If I'm there, she'll just watch me, but if I leave her, she makes a mess. So here she is, acting like an angel, but I know if I leave her in our bed, she'll scratch the clothes into a big pile and plop herself down in the middle.
(please excuse the unmade bed... looks comfy though, huh?)

So let's see... weekend plans are:

Saturday morning - new member class at church

Saturday afternoon - grocery shop, post office, bank, buy a scale and hopefully a 4 mile run

Saturday night - clean the house and cook a decent dinner

Sunday morning - run 4 miles, church, Sam's club

Sunday afternoon - Granddaddy's birthday lunch

Sunday night - Organize tax documents, write up the first Symon Sundays blogging group event email

Hope you all have a nice, enjoyable weekend. And I'm jealous of all who have Monday off ;)

Day 14: Facing the Facts....and Second Chances

Today is Day 3 of being sick. It sucks. I hate feeling like this, but I know rest and medication are my best friends. I've been eating tons of clementines, hopefully the Vitamin C is helping!
Today is also JJ's Grandfather's 85th Birthday!!! We are going to celebrate with him on Sunday, I can't wait! I love being near both sets of grandparents now that we're living in Florida!


Now I'm going to go in a different direction from the norm....
Close to three years ago, I began my weight loss journey. I had so much motivation, I was getting married! I lost 47 lbs. in 9 months, and was so happy. However, I still wanted to continue losing weight to reach my goal of -100 lbs.


So I found another form of motivation, I knew we'd be moving away from Bloomington eventually, and when we moved, I wanted to be at my goal weight. I always felt like I was a healthy person trapped in a fat girls body. I knew what was good, healthy, and smart. I wanted people to know me as the girl I was on the inside when I moved... not the fat girl with a pretty face. So I kept working on it, and lost another 30 lbs. over the next year.


Then about a year ago, I decided to come up with a plan to lose the last 20 lbs. I created a 20 lbs. in 20 weeks challenge. I publicized it on my blog, and it became this amazing phenomonon. I couldn't believe how many people wanted to participate. I spent night and day for 2 weeks getting the group organized. There were around 200 people.


As the Challenge began, I was so excited and ready to do it. Then throughout the first 3 weeks, I just could not keep up. I had hundreds of emails to answer, meal plans to write, nutritional information to figure out for recipes, exercise plans to write, snack ideas, pairing partners and groups, plus I had to exercise and eat well on my own. I answered emails from girls who were gaining weight, girls who were losing, girls who were stuck. It was hard for me to deal with the disappointment of others own weight loss problems while dealing with my own. It was so overwhelming, and eventually I broke down and imploded. I called my involvement as the leader off, and hoped each individual would continue on without the big group. In my mind, I let a lot of people down.


It was so hard for me to admit defeat. But everyone was really understanding, and I so appreciated that. I know many of you still read the blog now, and did well on your own with the remainder of the challenge. I'm so happy for you, and proud of you!


So this brings me to today. Almost a year later. I realized today that in 4 short months I will be 25 years old. Call it a quarter life crisis, but I call it motivation. Why not start this next quarter of my life in a healthy weight. Sure, I'm pretty healthy now, but I am carring 20 lbs of weight that could and should go. So here I am with some great motivation, and I'm excited and ready to do it!
I lost the first 20 on my own. The second, third and fourth... all before I had this blog. I can and will do it on my own, for myself.


So now here's the problem. Remember how I threw away my scale? Yeah. I did. But now I'm going to get a new one, I'm giving my relationship with the scale a second chance. I'm going to weigh myself once a week. And I will not become a slave to the scale. I will not let it rule my mindset and attitude. If I need to keep it out of the bathroom 6 days of the week so I only weigh myself once a week, so be it. It's not weakness, it's planning ahead.
This weekend I'm going to go buy a scale and weigh in on Sunday or Monday morning. I have no idea what I'll see when I do... my lowest weight in the past year that I remember is 171.5, so we'll see where I am now. I'll make sure to post it, good or bad.


I may hit -100 by May 14, I may not... either way, I'm going to try hard, and stay focused. If you want to offer support, I appreciate it. However, this is all on me, as it has been for the past 80.


So to leave myself with some motivation, here's the photo that started this journey. Our engagement party in February 2007....252.5 lbs.

Day 13: January Oats of the Month!

Today has been ok. I had another fiasco with water (sink was leaking on Sunday). When I got home from work, my neighbor told me that he saw water gushing out of the side of the house. He said it was coming from our sprinkler system line, and not the house, so that was good! He turned the water off for us, which I'm so thankful to have observant and kind neighbors!
So anway, we'll have to add fixing the sprinkler system pipe to the list of things to do!


For this evening, still feeling sick and useless, I decided to watch a movie. There are quite a few good ones on demand right now, which is nice. I decided to watch Confessions of a Shopaholic. I read all of the books a few years ago, and saw the movie about a year ago, and thought they were cute. Becky started to get a little annoying, but it's an easy read.


So I think I've posted a few times that I have oats for breakfast every morning. I used to have instant, then I switched to rolled, and a few months ago I made the switch to steel cut. They are a bit more work, but they keep me much fuller longer because they're whole oats, unlike instant which are cooked and cut and dried.


I love to make them all kinds of ways with all kinds of flavors, so I'm going to post a seasonal oatmeal of the month.
This month's is pearberry. I love pears, and they're in season right now! Also, what pairs better with pear than raspberry?? These oats are great, filling and full of flavor.

Pearberry Oats

Makes 8 servings

7 cups water

1 3/4 cups oats

3 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla extract

pinch of salt

2 pears, sliced

1 cup raspberries

2 cups milk, divided

Add water to a large nonstick pot, bring to a boil.

Add oats, turn to medium, whisk continuously for 20 minutes.

Turn heat to low, add brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, salt and pears.

Cook for another 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes.

Turn heat off, add berries, fold in.

Pour into a casserole dish.

Refrigerate until serving.

To reheat, add 1/8 of the oats to a bowl (once cooled, I score out 8 portions in the casserole dish for easy portion control during the week).

Microwave for 2 minutes, add 1/4 cup of milk, stir and eat!

Each portion has roughly 207 calories

Day 12: Sick.

Today has been awful. I woke up at 3am because my throat was on fire. Then I woke up every half an hour or so, not good. So today's run after work was cancelled. I stopped at CVS after work to get some meds (thanks to everyones facebook suggestions!) and now I'm going to rest on the couch.
I hate being sick. My dogs like it though, they can snuggle with me on the couch in front of the space heater...

If you've emailed me in the past few days, my inbox is full... but I promise I'll get back to you tomorrow!

To reply to the book questions - "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro. It is pretty hard to follow because the author is recalling her life, telling little snipets of stories. You kind of get pieces here and there of what is going on, what it's about. It's not until the end that you get clarity and fully understand. It's a science fiction novel about the future and what life is like for a certain type of person. If I say too much I might give it away! I think the general concensus at book club was we liked it, but we wish it got more technical and didn't leave so much up to the imagination and speculation. It was a good book to read during lunch because I could pick it up and put it down often and not feel like I was going to lose my train of thought.

Day 11: Book Club Monday!

I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Work today was good, pretty normal. Tonight I had a great time at book club. We read "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro. We had great conversation and food.

No exercise today, food was ok. Lots of clean up to do. I'm planning on a run tomorrow after work with Lou and then strength training the rest of the week, long runs on the weekend.

Hope you all had a good Monday! It's always good when its uneventful!

Day 10: I Do Declare it's COLD!

This morning I got up at 8am. I left to go on a run. First my Nike+ wasn't working (maybe I have a defective one???), so for the first half a mile I was stopping and starting and stopping and starting. I was also freezing. So I did what I really didn't want to do, I turned around and ran home. I did 1 mile.

Because I was warmed up and wanting to do something, I decided to do the first 4 circuits of No More Trouble Zones and watch an episode of The Office that was in the DVR. Since I have the moves memorized, I usually just do 12 sets of each exercise 2 times per circuit (the ab moves I do 24). It makes working out more fun because I don't have to watch Jillian, I can watch TV or a movie or listen to music. I had this episode of the office going, "Murder." Michael starts everything he says with his Savannah accent and "I do declare..."

I considered going for a run after church, but I didn't want to have to shower again. After church we usually go out to lunch, but today I suggested we just work on cleaning out the fridge to save money and use up groceries. I had some leftover tomato soup, green beans with a sprinkle of romano, a Boca chicken patty with BBQ sauce and 2 clementines. It was random, but good!

I had intended to work on cooking for Book Club tomorrow and baking for my brother in law's birthday, but our sink started leaking. My father in law and JJ worked on it, and it took much longer than expected. They fixed it - yay! - but we had to go out to dinner because everything was all in disarray. We decided on Mama Fu's because

it's fast and close to home. I usually get the basil/vegetable spring rolls in rice paper and wonton soup, but JJ wanted lettuce wraps. I also was so cold, and in the mood for a big warm dish of something.  I love to play with the hot sauces and concoct the perfect mix

I ordered Kung Pao tofu, which had strips of tofu, water chestnuts, carrots and snap peas in a spicy sauce with peanuts and brown rice. I immediately cut the rice in half so I wouldn't eat it all, it's a huge portion! The food was good, but too saucy. I know a lot of the calories in stir fries are in the sauce, so I tried to scrape some off as I ate.

One of my problems is I eat too fast. One of the ways I've learned to change this is to eat with chopsticks. However, since I'm constantly eating with them, I've gotten quicker and better at using them... except with the rice. But that's a good thing!

Tomorrow is going to be just another Monday at work, but tomorrow night I'm hosting my book club!
I will not be working out tomorrow, so I need to keep my calories low. I just realized that my 15k is in 2 months, so I need to start working on running further than 6 miles AND I need to start running at least 3x per week rather than 2x like I have been for the past few weeks. Since the days are getting longer again, I should be able to start running after work 2x per week (even if it's just a quick 2-3 miles). Pumpkin will be happy, I always take her on those runs!

Hope you all had a nice weekend :)

Day 9: How can I warm a house when it's SO COLD?!

Last night I went to bed with a pretty bad stomach ache from that dinner. I woke up with a food hangover. Can't remember the last time that happened. That's a good thing though.... makes me not want to indulge for a long time. It was a fantastic dinner though. If I had stopped and skipped dessert, I think I'd have felt ok this morning. I have a weakness for chocolate cake, but I don't eat much sugar anymore, so I think that's what really did me in.

So since I moved to Florida, I've had to try to wake up at the crack of dawn to go on my runs because once the sun is up and shining, it's just too hot. That was definitely NOT the case this morning! Now I know many of the people who read this blog probably think I'm a pansy, but I moved to Florida... I'm expecting lows in the 40's, highs in the 60's ('cause that's what the almanac says it should be!). Well this week it's been highs in the 40's and lows in the 20's. It's like we're back in Indiana! I mean, look at this radar, see the blue? That's snow! What?!

I did NOT move to Florida to see snow.

However, I'll try to find a silver lining here. As I said, I usually get up around 7am on the weekends to run. Now that it's cold out, I have to wait until the sun comes up so it's a bit warmer. This means I get to sleep until 8 or 8:30. I even get to have a little snuggle time with all the dogs in bed before I go run!

So I set out on my run, started the  Nike+ and once again, around half a mile I checked to see what my pace was, and of course, it wasn't clocking my mileage! Why, Nike+, why?!

              

So I restarted it and it clocked the rest of my run. It was my 4.3 mile course, so in total I did it in 49:20. This is probably one of my slower runs, as you can see I took a couple walk breaks (and since it was later, there was a lot more traffic and I had to stop at intersections). Since it was so cold, my feet were numb and it was actually becoming painful to run. I also felt like knives were stabbing my throat. Awesome.... So anyway, after the few walk breaks, I felt better and was able to complete it. I am actually proud of this run because I was so cold and miserable, mad at the Nike+, and at 1 mile in, I was so close to turning around and going on. But I persevered and finished my run.

After my run we did our usual Saturday grocery shop. This week I didn't have much in the way of coupons or deals, so I spent $70 and saved $20. Not my best savings week, but I still came in well under my budget of $100 (though I'm really trying to keep it under $75/week for Jan. to offset how expensive our dinner was last night).

JJ and I did some cleaning, and then I randomly picked up my guitar and started playing. It's been a long time since I did that! Perhaps one day I'll post some clips of my music. I wrote and recorded an album back when I was 18. I haven't written in a while, but lately I've been feeling more inspired and just might get back into writing.

Tonight we went to Leah and Jay's for their Housewarming Party. I've never lived in the same area as my cousins (I only have 5 between both sides), so it's really nice to have JJ's cousin so close! Leah's become like a 3rd sister to me, and Jay is so fun. They definitely made moving here a lot easier in the beginning when I was so sad and lonely.

We got there early to help with any last minute things and set up our Wii for the party. I tried to stick to eating as much of these 2 platters as possible... however I did eat my fair share of scoops with pesto/sun dried tomato/cream cheese dip.

Now as mad as I am at Florida for lying to me about 60 degree January weather, I can't help but be thankful for things like this.... Today Leah and Jay's neighbor picked some tangerines off their tree and brought them over. It still is so crazy to me that you can just go out in the yard and pick some gorgeous fruit like that in January. I almost walked out with them. Don't they look fake, so perfect?!

So when we got there, I asked JJ to get me a glass of red wine. He poured it, and Leah's friend knocked the glass over, JJ tried to save it from the beige floor and white couch, and it got all over him. Poor JJ!

Tomorrow's fitness plans are up in the air. Part of me wants to sleep in with JJ and the dogs in my warm bed... but I think I might just get up early, run 2 miles as fast as I can and then maybe a few circuits of strength training. Tomorrow night is the pizza bowl qualiftying round where I'm going to be a "local celebrity judge"....hahaha... oh my!

Day 8: Challenges and Changes

I'm so happy it's Friday! I love weekends :) Not only because I'm off work, but because it's when I get to do my long runs, slow cooking, and grocery shop! I also get lots of quality time with my dogs and JJ.

Tonight JJ and I went out to dinner with some friends at III Forks, a new Steakhouse. It was an amazing dinner, but it was extremely rich and calorie laden food. I tried to keep my portions small, just tasting a bit of everything. I think I was really successful up until dessert. I didn't have any bread, I had a salad and then a Filet Oscar. I'm not a beef eater, but when you go to a steakhouse, you kind of should get a steak, right? So since I'm blogging this for Folio (http://www.biteclublog.com/), I wanted to get something different  from everyone else. I enjoyed the first few bites of steak, but then had to give it to JJ. Same went for the crab, a few bites, but crab's not really my thing. I ate all of the asparagus though! And I also got a side of sugar snap peas, which I devoured!

When it was time for dessert, I kind of lost it. I had a few bites of everything, and found the cheesecake to be my favorite. I think I had more than a few bites of that. However, I ate in moderation all day, and I'm shooting for a 6-mile run tomorrow. I know it's all mental, but all I can think is how cold it's going to be!

                                         

So just before I sat down to blog, I walked in the room and stumbled upon Pumpkin and Belle snuggling and JJ and Char snuggling. However, we're only 8 days in and JJ's already tired of the photos?! Not good!

The "Changes" part of this post refers to my blog layout. Today I went back though and tried to put together an index of the posts. You'll see I've got them grouped in most popular health posts, fitness posts, runs/times posts, and then the basic posts of why I decided to get healthy, and the steps I personally took to begin my healthy lifestyle.

I've made it a week with blogging every day... and in just these 8 days, it's really become part of my day. I definitely can see this as a resolution that will be upheld!
I'm so glad you've decided to follow me through the year :)

Day 7: I thought I didn't need an ice scraper here?!

JJ was off today, so he offered to take my car, "The Piece" in for an oil change. The piece is up there in age, so she sleeps in the garage. This morning was the first time it got cold enough to freeze the cars, and of course, it was the morning I took JJ's car, "The Black Bean" to work. As I was scraping my car, I was temped to run inside and tell JJ he lied. He told me I wouldn't even need to keep my scraper living down here!

In honor of the cold weather, I decieded to blog some Christmas photos. Christmas Day was actually about 75 degrees and rainy... not what I'm used to!

My grandparents live in Ft. Meyers, and came here for Christmas. Here's one of Popie and my girls. For some reason all animals seem to love Popie!

My Grandma is a cookie monster, so I got her this cookie selection for her. She was thrilled!

JJ's favorite gift of the day was probably the giant bottle of Maker's Mark I got for him. Should last until next Christmas, I hope!

Pumpkin's favorite was this yellow stuffed monkey from Aunt Vickie. She played with it all day, and ripped it apart by bedtime.

One of my favorite gifts was this homemade cheesemaking kit from my mom. It makes ricotta and mozzarella. I'm really excited to try it out!  She also got me the scarf from a the Fair Trade craft fair.

Here's one of Popie, me and Grandma on Christmas Eve. Our church had a really nice service, and it was so nice to have them here with us.

So I want to thank you all for your face and hand cream suggestions. I'm going to definitely try out as many as I can. I'll stop by some cosmetic counters and ask for samples, and look for coupons for the kind I can find in the grocery store.

Today I had someone ask me about my weight-loss, and more importantly, the diet aspect of it.

For me, eating healthy was only a small part of the journey. The more important part for me was portion control. I could easily eat 2-3 portions of pasta each night along with tons of vegetables and 2 servings of beans or a lean protein and cheese. It seemed like healthy food, and most of it was, but it was just far too much. Cooking is a HUGE part of my weight loss. If you can control exactly what you put in your food and how much of it, you are really going to become so much more aware of the calories and portion size.

You can see everthing I ate as I lost weight by simply looking at the beginning of my food blog, and even up through today. I do eat more now that I did before, but mostly because I exercise more now, and I'm more in a maintenance area rather than a weight loss stage.... though I'm somewhat contemplating kicking it into gear and just working my butt off to lose the last 20. I kick that idea around a lot.

Ok, I feel like I'm starting to ramble now, so rather than ramble, I'm going to go watch the football game and do the first 3 circuits of No More Trouble Zones and Banish Fat Boost Metabolism... good night, it's almost FRIDAY!!!

Day 6: Random!

Ahhh, it's getting late and I'm at a loss over what to blog about today. This is why I never did blog every day, sometimes nothing really happens! I try not to plan things on weeknights so I have time to come home, cook dinner, exercise and spend time with JJ and the girls.

I tried really hard though, and thought of a few things that happened today. Yesterday I blogged Lisa Garza's (The Next Foodnetwork Star) Cassoulet recipe... only it wasn't hers, it was close, but one written by FN. How do I know this? Because she commented on my blog, and then today posted on her Facebook page about the recipe mix-up! She told me that she'd be getting her true recipe up soon, so I can't wait to try it out!

Photo form Foodnetwork.com of Lisa

Later this afternoon, I was contacted by someone from Brucci's pizza through my Bite Club blog (http://www.biteclublog.com/) through Folio Weekly (http://www.folioweekly.com/), a local magazine that I'm a blogger/dinner club host for. Brucci's asked me to be a celebrity judge for their Pizza Bowl, a celebration for their 5th anniversary. It makes me laugh, me a celebrity....

                      

Anyway....Sometimes I find that being the Bite Club host and being a restaurant blogger can be so detrimental to my health and fitness. It can be really hard to find healthy choices when eating out. And how often is the best thing on the menu the healthiest thing? Not often... However, I try to save those meals for days when I do my 6 mile runs, hoping it somehow evens out. It seems to have worked so far. Cutting out the alcohol and bread/roll type appetizers has helped, but then I try to remember that  I should also enjoy myself, take little bites, don't stuff myself, and have fun with it. Food should be fun and enjoyable, not a major stressor in my life. Doing this has made me face my food demons. It's ok to indulge a bit, as long as it's not daily.

I did not work out tonight, but I kept my calories low, so all is well. As I suspected, I was pretty sore from NMTZ today. Last night while working out I caught the first 30 minutes of Biggest Loser, but again, was kind of disappointed when it was 300-400+lb. person after the next. I know they need shock value, and I'd have to check the statistics, but I'd believe there are a lot more people who are 100-150 lbs. overweight that need help than 200-250+ overweight.

I absolutely love the premise, the help, the education, and the heart warming feelings of BL, but I just don't think it's something I can watch and appreciate anymore. It seems like the same information year after year, different people, same issues, problems, results.

The cold weather along with running has caused my hands to become bright red and chapped, even cracking. The only lotion I've found that doesn't burn is this Lay it on Thick body cream from Bath and Body Works. However, I still haven't found a good face cream that isn't too thick or heavy, and keeps my pores from clogging... any suggestions? I have really sensitive skin, and break out easily, so nothing strongly scented!

                                                

This weekend's plans are shaping up nicely. I'm excited, but afraid it's going to go by too fast! Friday night JJ and I along with some friends are going to III Forks, a new local steakhouse. They invited me to their opening, but it was on our anniversary so I didn't go. I'll have a big recap up on the Bite Club blog though.
Saturday we have some errands to run, then Leah and Jay's Housewarming party. Sunday is church and then we might go see Sherlock Holmes.
I'm going to get a 6 miler in on Saturday and hopefully a 4 miler in on Sunday. Hopefully it will warm up a bit by then!

Day 5: Happy 1st Birthday, Charlotte and Belle!

Today was a big day for our family, it was Charlotte and Belle's 1st Birthday! I had a decent day at work, but was so excited to come home and have a little birthday party.

JJ set the camera to delay 5 seconds then take 10 photos 2 seconds apart. 10 photos, not a single good one. Oh well, that's how it goes with 3 kiddos, right? Here are a couple of the 10...

I made a cake for each of them, which I'll post the recipe to on my cooking blog soon. They were really excited to eat the cake, but they were afraid of the fire. I was surprised by that because they both sit in front of the fireplace all night when we have fires going.

They each got a piece after dinner, and I saved the other cake for this weekend. Pumpkin was a little jealous, but she got the biggest piece!

Dinner was a little creation I worked up in my brain over the weekend, an Italian Wedding Stew like dish. For dessert, I had 2 chocolate balls (thanks, Dad!) and a grapefruit that we picked from JJ's grandparents tree.

When my grandpa died, there were only 3 things I wanted of his. First was my bronzed baby shoes, second was one of his light up Hess trucks, and last was this Lenoir-Rhyne Grandpa mug. It makes me miss him, but also remember how awesome he was. And now that Lenoir-Rhyne in a University, it's a bit of an antique!

After eating cake and playing with new toys for their birthday, Char and Belle decided to crash on me while I started blogging. Belle is my little lover, and Char likes to burrow under the blankets. Belle loves kisses and funny noises, and is not shy!

After dinner and playtime, I did No More Trouble Zones. It felt good to do some strength training. I've been really focused on running, and my legs are already a little sore and shakey.
I'm not sure what's on the agenda for fitness tomorrow, I've got to work late to close out the year.

I did find out that my sister and brother in law booked airfare to come visit in April! I'm so excited to see them and show them where we live.

I guess that's about all I've got for today. My girls are very tired, and I am too, so we're off to bed!

Day 4: Monday... I don't like you.

Mondays are always hard... but something about Monday in January after the holidays and in the winter is just so awful. I woke up to a house at 57 degrees (we're anti-heat and air conditioning), so that made it even worse... I'm thinking we should at least set the heat at 60.

If it wasn't for the hot pot of coffee brewing, I might not have gotten out of bed. I decided to try out this new coffee my mom sent me. It's a Fair Trade, Organic coffee. I'm assuming she got this kind because I'm the middle sister, but also because it's a dark blend. The coffee was fantastic! Just what I needed. Belle thought she needed some too...

If you're interested in Lutheran World Relief Fair Trade Coffee, Tea and Chocolate, check this website! You can also check local Lutheran Churches, many sell the Fair Trade products every week or have special events.

Today was one of those days at work.... it was month end AND year end, which in the accounting world is no fun at all. It was really busy, full of hunting down numbers, finding out where they should be and where they were put... not fun! Since I just started in September, I still feel like I'm getting the hang of how things work, so it was quite a challenge. However, I do feel like I learned a lot (the hard way) and will be in a much better position to check myself at the end of each month and year. I guess it's all a learning curve. I take criticism really hard, and don't like to be wrong, so a few times I thought I was going to burst out in tears... but that's life. And it's all part of being a grown up.

When I got home, JJ told me the car battery had died because I left my iPod charger in the car all weekend. Seriously, between the charger and the Nike+ issues, I'm feeling like technology is turning on me!

We jumped my car off his, let it run for a while, got gas and ran an errand. By the time we were home and I made dinner, it was 8pm. I had intended on doing strength training, but I think I'm fried for the day both mentally and physically.

Tomorrow though, I am going to do No More Trouble Zones... which means I'm sure to have a sore butt and legs Wednesday! But it's a good sore.

So last week JJ got something VERY exciting in the mail, his Big 10 Championship ring!!!

It's very shiny and beautiful! It says Big Ten Champions on the front, then TR (trainer) on one side and Wetherington on the other. It's huge, but barely fits his giant finger!

If you weren't a reader when his team earned these rings, check this post out...

It's huge on me. But so shiny, I just can't take it off!

So as promised, here is my January playlist. I've got it bad for the New Moon soundtrack. And Sean Kingston. I'm kind of random like that.

Well I'm off to clean the kitchen and head to bed. Tomorrow is a very exciting day in my little world... I hope to get many awesome photos (if JJ's willing to oblige) of our big day!