Wednesday, July 24, 2013

What I really look like when I'm running

So, I saw this on facebook a while back, and it is so true!


So, I haven't been running in about two weeks. My sunburn killed me. I tried putting on my shoes last week and it hurt to walk, so running was out of the question. I went yesterday, and I was so glad I did. My time wasn't all that great, but it was a good run.



This is how I know I am a runner. I didn't go for two weeks and the break was nice. Every morning I wake up at 4:40 a.m. to go on a run, I don't want to get up. It's not fun. But then I go, and I feel amazing. Well, on Monday, a song came on the radio, and my legs got all tingly, and they were just itching to go on a run. I am a runner.

"You never regret a workout, but you always regret a missed workout." This is my motto. When I wake up in the morning and I don't want to get out of bed, I tell myself this. I know I'll feel so good when I get home. If I hit snooze and go back to bed, I'll get an extra hour of sleep, and I'll wake up feeling even more tired. When I run, I come home feeling energized and ready to tackle the day.

When my knee starts acting up, I get this pit in my stomach that I might not be able to run. That I'll have to start over. When I first started running, I could go for about 60 seconds before I had to stop. Then I got better. Now, I can run for three miles straight (if I wanted to) and I don't want to go back to those 60 second runs. I love where I'm at, and I'm motivated to train for a half marathon. I can do it.

I am a runner. I don't care what anyone else says. I've been running for over a year now, and it's the only excercise that I've done for this length of time without getting bored of it. I can run wherever I choose, and it's so convenient.

When I don't run, I feel super irritable. Running makes me happy. Crazy, I know, but it does. It must be those endorphins everyone talks about. ;-) They really work.

So, get out there and get running. I promise you won't regret it!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Impromptu Wedding

So, Tommy and I made a very last minute decision to get married... In two and a half weeks! So, as long as we can get everything organized, it looks like we're doing it on Aug. 4.

It's so crazy to me! Honestly, I've been the reason we're not married yet. I'm so worried about commitment, even though I have no reason to be. Getting married is just a piece of paper; Tommy and I already have a beautiful son, and it doesn't get much more committed than that. Don't get me wrong, I know that marriage means something, but in today's society, if you change your mind you just get a divorce. When you have a child with someone, it's not like you can just make them go away. You have to see them and hear about them for the rest of your life.

So, aside from my dumb reservations about getting married, we're doing it. We've been together for 9 1/2 years.... THAT'S ALMOST A DECADE! Makes me feel old. We've grown up together. I'm not perfect, and neither is he, but I think we fit well together. I'm excited about the next chapter in our lives, and we're finally making it official. Then, maybe we'll start working on another baby. ;-)

So, with deciding to get married three weeks before the date I've set, comes some very stressful planning. I think we've got the venue nailed down, and it's more than I want to spend, but basically the cheapest we've found. I'm trying on dresses this weekend, which should be fun. Then I just have to figure out decor. Flowers are ridiculously expensive, and I don't have that kind of money, so I'll be doing a lot of DIY decorating projects. I don't want it to look hokey, but just a bouquet is over $100!!!! That's retarded, in my humble opinion. I still have to send out invitations! So, my next couple of weekends will be spent planning. I am truely excited though.

Now, if my sunburn didn't still hurt, I could start trying to lose five pounds before the wedding... we'll see. Probably not going to happen, but a girl can hope, right?

Monday, July 15, 2013

5 pound weekend

I literally gained 5 pounds this weekend. I was doing so good all week (down a pound) and then Friday hit. We had a product celebration in Lake Tahoe, and I told myself I was being good.


I went kayaking, and loved it. Definitely going to have to buy a kayak. (I told Tommy, and he said that he'll just ride in his boat. LOL. Such a guy.) I also ate three, count em, three, brownies. I also ate a bunch of strawberries and canteloupe and told myself it was being evened out. Yea.... it didn't. But I burned some calories kayaking! Obviously, not enough.

Then this appeared on Saturday. 


Worst. Tanline. Ever. I was wearing capris. This is so not going to be cute. And, this was taken today. It has gotten better, if you can believe it. Ouch. 

No working out ensued this weekend. The only reason I got out of bed on Saturday was because we had to be at a family reunion. I was miserable, it hurt to walk, so I consumed copious amounts of alcohol to make it feel better. It worked. Then Sunday rolled around, and I lounged all day. I didn't even get out of my pajamas. It was a great Sunday... then I hopped on the scale this morning.

This weekend was SOOOO not worth a five pound weight gain. I typically will ask myself if a certain food or drink or meal is worth the amount of calories I'm consuming. If the answer is yes, I go for it. If I had been aware of the five pound gain ahead of time, I would have changed course. But, I didn't, and alas, here I am. Going to body pump tonight, although, my feet and legs won't be happy when I put on my tennis shoes, but I'm toughing it out. Time to get back on track!



I need to work on my picture taking skills, because that photo is even worse that my at work bathroom photo. And, I'm not wearing shoes, because of the above mentioned sunburn. I think I got everything from Target, a while ago. (Yay for fitting into some pants I haven't worn in quite some time, even with my added five pounds.) I know that the extra weight will drop fast once I get back on track. It's like my body's way of kicking my ass in gear. I find that once I drink a ton of water and stop eating crap, it'll be gone. Probably even by this weekend if I work for it. So, here's to staying on track this week!

One more picture of my amazingly adorable son. Love him!

Could he be any cuter? :-)

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Let's talk food

I love to eat. That is probably the reason I became overweight. I saw this on facebook, and it is so true.


I need this water bottle. It's on my wish-list.

So, here is an idea of what I eat on any given day.

Breakfast:
  • Fage greek yogurt
  • Kellogg's Smart Start cereal - LOVE THIS CEREAL
  • EAS Recovery Protein drink with milk (chocolate flavor) - only on running days
  • My guilty pleasure: french toast with strawberries. YUM
Lunch:
  • Salad with sunflower seeds, cheese, blue cheese yogurt dressing, and some kind of meat
  • Turkey sandwich (totally in my lunch box today)
  • Leftovers from dinner (easiest lunch EVER)
  • My guilty pleasure: cheeseburger and fries
Dinner:
  • Black bean enchiladas (amazing, vegetarian, and only 300 calories per enchilada)
  • Assorted meats (chicken, pork, salmon, beef) with a starch and lots of veggies
  • Grilled cheese and tomato soup (you can totally make this low calorie)
  • My guilty pleasure: pasta and cheese. I can never pass up pasta.
Here's what we had for dinner last night. It was amazing!



Tommy cooked the salmon on the BBQ. I'm not a big fish fan. Like, at all. But when he cooks a freshly caught fish, it's tolerable. And I made rice with garlic and butter and asparagus. And that white stuff is mayo. Not very healthy, I know, but I think the rest of the meal made up for it. :-)

And, here's what I wore to work today.


Ignore the bad lighting in my work bathroom. :-) Next time, I'll try to get a good one at home before I leave. I got the whole outfit from Kohl's. Love love love that store, especially for work stuff.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Monday, July 1, 2013

I could never be a stay-at-home mom

When I first had my son, I wanted to stay home with him so badly. I didn't want to miss his first word, or his first steps. Well, I missed those things because I am the major bread-winner for our family. Not working wasn't an option for me.

For at least a year, I was resentful of that. I missed Connor so much when I went to work. (I still do miss him.) Luckily, my sister-in-law is a stay-at-home mom, and I knew Connor was with family. And, his cousin, Zayden, is only 11 weeks older than he is, and they are like brothers. It's a gift I couldn't possibly be more happy to have. It still hurt to have to go to work. It hurt when Connor called my sister-in-law "mama." It hurt when he wanted her, and not me, when he got hurt. Those early days were heart-breaking. Fast forward to Connor being a year and a half, and running a muck. I took two weeks off for Christmas, and was so excited to be home with my boy. A week later, I was ready to pull my hair out.

I realized then, that I was not meant to be a stay-at-home mom. It is literally the hardest job in the world. You're home 24 hours a day with your child and have to wait on them hand and foot. You pour your entire soul into this one human-being (or two or three) and the job never ends. When I go to work, I leave at the end of the day. When you're a mom, you're always on duty.

I would love to work part-time and be home with Connor more. I could definitely use a few extra hours a day with him. But could I stay home full-time? Hell no. He drives me crazy some days every day most days. I enjoy being able to enter the adult world and be a working professional. It's like a break, kinda. A break from only interacting with a 2-year-old.

I get great fullfillment from being a mom. I wouldn't have it any other way. And I am eternally grateful to have my son. That doesn't mean he doesn't make me want to pull my hair out at least two days a week.


Love my silly boy. He dressed himself.


Friday, June 28, 2013

First things first

So, instead of introducing myself, I thought I'd walk through what a day in my life looks like (a running day, that is).

4:40 a.m. - Alarm goes off. Snooze that shit.
4:50 a.m. - Get your ass out of bed or you're going to be late.
4:55 a.m. - Chug my cup of coffee and stretch out my bummed knee.
5:05 a.m. - Meet my awesome running partner and bust out four miles.
5:50 a.m. - Get home. Drink water. Shower.
6:05 a.m. - Connor wakes up. "I want you" ensues. I swear these are the only words in his vocabulary, as of late.
6:45 a.m. - Get Connor dressed, grab stuff. Dilly-dally.
7 a.m. - Get in the car and head to drop Connor of at my sister-in-laws.
7:30 a.m. - Head to work.
8 a.m. - At work. Log in. Check my million emails. Design. Communicate. Love my job. It's literally the best job ever. I'm sure I'll talk about it in the future.
4-6 p.m. - Leave work somewhere between this time. Sometimes earlier. Sometimes later. Back to how awesome my job is, I just leave whenever my work is done, or whenever I decide I'll tackle the rest the next day.
5 p.m. - I'm usually home by now. Cook dinner. Tommy leaves at 6:20 p.m., so dinner has to be done before then.
6-8 p.m. - Play with Connor. Watch t.v. Clean. Relax.
8 p.m. - Connor goes to sleep. Love that my boy goes to sleep early so I get a little alone time. Best. thing. ever.
9-10 p.m. - Head to bed myself so I can do it all again in the morning (minus the running, I can only go every other day because my knee sucks).

Welcome to my very interesting and exciting life. I am a working mother trying to get fit and balance the world on my shoulders. We just bought our first house. That was the smartest decision I've made in a while. Had to get into the market before it started going up to where we couldn't afford a house. My son, Connor, is two. He is amazing. Love him more than life itself, but he also drives me batshit crazy. Some days I think he's going to give me a stroke, but I wouldn't have it any other way.


My family

My brother, J, and Connor. My heart melts.