Out of Towners

Good morning!

Just a quick post to tell you all about my fun weekend…

My sweet grandparents from St. Louis came into town for a visit at the beginning of last week, and I got to spend some quality time chatting the day away on Saturday and Monday.  Monday was Columbus Day, so the girls were out of school, which thankfully gave us an extra day of visiting before my grandparents had to pack up and head back home.

I am hoping we’ll be able to make a trip up there next summer, I miss them so much!

Sunday was a day I spent with just my girls.  The weather was wet and dreary, so we headed out to the mall to stretch our legs and get out of the house.  We started with a stop at Panera Bread for lunch-

I know it doesn’t look like much, but the bread bowl with bistro french onion soup= awesome.  Mer’s autumn squash soup was also delicious, but a bit more of a dessert than a meal.  Colette ordered the chicken noodle, which was literally gone 2 minutes after we sat down.  Yum-my!

We hopped over to Dillards and walked around the home department, oohing and ahhhing over the Christmas decor and fun gifts.  I loved the Mudpie engraved cheese and butter gift sets.   They would make the cutest house warming gifts!

Not to mention, the basket they were in, was too cute.

I also loved all of the blue and white cottage style dishware.  So pretty.

All in all, it was a fun weekend with the family.  Next weekend will be even busier, but I’ll leave it at that for now.  OK, I’ll give you a hint, there will be wedding bells… 😉

Workout:  As for this morning, I started off the day with a Shred workout, (level 1) courtesy of Jillian Michaels.  I wanted something fast and full body, and that certainly did the trick.  I upped my hand weights to 5 lbs this time, and boy was I struggling on the arm workout.  Ouch!

Breakfast:  After that I served myself some over easy eggs and a slice of caramel apple bread.  If you haven’t tried this seasonal bread(I bought it at Target), you are missing out on some serious awesomeness.  Sooo good.

Source

Alright, that about wraps it up for this girl.  I have some major grocery shopping to do.

Question:

• What did you do over the holiday weekend?

Have a great Tuesday!

Amy

New Running Gear

Happy Friday everyone!

I just want to take a minute to thank everyone for their kind words on the 100th post, ya’ll made my day!

*****

I took yesterday off from blogging to spend the day reflecting on the past year, with all of it’s ups and downs, since losing my dad.  Yesterday marked exactly one year since my family lost him to a heart attack, and not a moment goes by that I don’t miss him and think about him.  Time has gone by really fast, and with all that’s happened in the past few years with my dad and Emma, I know how important it is to take a minute and be grateful for life and all of it’s blessings.  So, that’s exactly what I did yesterday- I flipped through tons of photos of my dad, my mom, the girls, Dennis and I, and just felt the love for all of the special people in my life.  🙂

My Dad & Colette at the St Patty’s Day Parade 2009- good times!

Time flies, so take a little time to stop and reflect on what’s important to you.  What a joy and a gift, this crazy journey we call life.  🙂

*****

Let’s switch gears shall we?

On to this morning’s workout: On Wednesday afternoon, I headed out to Sports Authority and picked up something I’ve been meaning to buy for a while now- an armband for my cell phone!  Yay- finally!  No more carrying that giant thing around in my sweaty palms!  🙂

At $29 bucks, it was a little pricier than some of the ones I’ve seen on Amazon, but I knew with Amazon I’d still have to pay for shipping (plus, wait time is no fun), so I figure in the end it was a decent deal.  Also, I knew Yurbuds is a trusted brand that makes quality stuff thanks to reading some recent online reviews.

Yeah, I’m a total dork.

After chomping a coconut cream pie Larabar bright and early this morning, I put in a good stretch and threw on my running shoes.

I was so excited to try out my new armband this morning, as I headed out for a quick and dirty 1 miler.  Just like Monday’s workout, I wanted to run a mile as fast as possible to improve my time.  Well, I guess in all of my excitement, I started waaay too fast, and ended up really winded about halfway through.  I didn’t give up and walk, I kept chugging along (albeit a little slower:) ) and completed 1.01 miles in 10:34 minutes with a 10:30 avg min/mile.  That means this week my overall avg pace went from 12:57(last week) to 11:21(this week)- woot!  I’ll take it!  Of course it’s hard to really say what that number means, because I did cover 5.6 miles last week as opposed to only 5 miles this week, but I’m feeling good about my stamina and speed.  It’s getting easier!  🙂  So for all of you C25K er’s, it does get easier!  I promise!

Oh, and I loved my armband.  It did feel a little weird in the beginning, not having anything in my hand, but I enjoyed the freedom to relax my muscles and feel the breeze… the hot, humid, Houston breeze that is.  😉

Breakfast:  While I didn’t really want anything hot, I settled on quick oats anyway, because well- they’re quick!

I mixed in oats, natural peanut butter, and honey for a sweet and yummy hit of protein.   I also enjoyed a cup of coffee and a small glass of pulp-y OJ.  <— at least I got something cold in there!  Ha!

Questions:

• Bought any new, fun running gear lately?
• Any recommendations on necessary gear?

I’d love to hear your recommendations!

Have a fantastic weekend!  TGIF!!

Amy