Where's the Beach?

Delayed Ghetto Plane & Long Flight So after the gym on Thursday, I was feeling much calmer about the flight to Seattle. I took half an Ativan to start. We got to the airport on time (one hour early like they say). Then we find that the flight is more than an hour delayed. We should have had an hour and a half layover in Houston. Instead, we had 15 minutes to get from one concourse to the other, which in included a train ride. Thank goodness I'm in shape and don't mind running full speed with two carry-ons! While the Ativan had me fairly calm, the waiting on the first flight started nagging at my nerves. And then the plane arrived...the tiny thing it was. We had to walk out on the tarmac to board. And then the ghetto-ness of the interior just about undid what the Ativan had so successfully done for me. So I took a whole one at that point. Rough looking plane enterior During take-off, Jason looked at me and said, "At least you're not as white as a ghost though...

Since I am out of town and planning on enjoying Seattle rather than being tied to the computer (sorry guys, I would hope you would do the same of course!) this post will be a bit different. No chatting it up about weather (crappy or otherwise), no workouts, no recipes. But, I still wanted to keep up with Fun Facts Friday. Lately I've been really inspired by some of you all. I thought for Fun Facts Friday, it might be fun to do a sort of Follow Friday "thing" and share some of your fave blogs or some blogs/bloggers who've inspired you recently. Please know that this list is NOT extensive, it's not indicative of everyone I follow, nor am I playing favorites (well, kind of). Many of you probably already know these bloggers, but I am always really inspired by them for various reasons, mostly because of their zest for life that is truly infectious.  Lindsay @ Cotter Crunch Dorry @ Living with Healthy Hunger Sarena @ The Non-Dairy Queen Jessica @ EatDrinkBre...

Last Workout It was so nice to walk into work this morning with sunshine. It was really chilly (especially compared to the temps we've been having), but I'll take that over storms right about now. I managed to get everything mostly packed for our trip. I had to leave some things out - hitting the gym and will need to get cleaned up so those things go in last. I must admit something, it's been 10 days since my last rest day. I know that's bad (no scolding). I know I preach the importance of rest days. I try to never go more than 6 days without one. However, in Seattle, I'm not sure I'll be able to get in any workout. I'm hoping to con someone to go for a run with me at least one day (our friends live near the water, so I would love to run that route), but other than that, probably nothing more than walking around the city. For those concerned, I really have listened to my body though and honestly would not have pushed through 10 days if I truly felt the ...

Sunshine and Spin Class Thankfully last night's round of storms seemed to skirt mostly around us. And today, finally some sunshine! I really would have loved to have gone for a run, but the wind was crazy gusting. I like to run, and I'm often a glutton for punishment, but even I have my limits. So, instead of killing myself with a run, I killed myself with a spin class. Thankfully it was finally a different Group Ride track. It wasn't the best track ever, but it was a great class, and I was a sweaty mess after. Too Much to Do Tomorrow we leave for Seattle around 2:30 (CST). That means I have to get my rear into gear and finish packing tonight. It's hard to pack for major temperature differences though. It's supposed to be 50 there. I thought I was mostly done with sweaters and boots. Guess I will have to pull some back out. I'm trying to stick with one color theme for the trip as well so I can take fewer shoes. I am terrible at over-packing. My sister is...

Being Thankful I don't know how many of you read about the deadly storms that rolled through (again) last night. But sadly, 10 lives were lost. I count myself so lucky. My family is all safe, and none of us had any damage to our homes or vehicles last night. We have another round of severe weather heading our way again tonight. The ground is saturated at this point (flooding in lower lying areas). So it's highly likely to see even more large trees topple. On my way to work this morning, I saw two trees down and tons of debris strewn everywhere. We weren't even hit hard compared to many areas. Seeing some of the photos of the destruction definitely made me so very thankful that the most damage we've had so far is hail damage on our vehicles. So minor in comparison. Here are a couple of awesome photos I saw (definitely not taken by me, my butt was inside). Wall cloud photo from KARK ( source) Funnel cloud in my hometown close to Jason's parent's home ...

Socca Sunday I finally got around to making socca last night. We didn't make it to the grocery store, and really need to be using up stuff since we'll be heading out of town mid-week. I had made chickpea flour then proceeded to let it go bad, then bought some. So, I finally decided that it was time to try my hand at socca. Mexican-Style Socca Pizza Ingredients: Socca: 1 cup chickpea flour 3/4 cups + 1-2 tbsp water 2 tbsp olive oil To taste: salt, pepper, chipotle flakes, garlic powder Mexican-style Marinara 1 can Rotel 2-3 tbsp tomato paste Mexican-style Socca Toppings: 1/2 soy chorizo 1/4 red onion, diced 1/4 red bell pepper, diced 1/4 yellow bell pepper, diced 1/2 cup black beans 1/4 cup frozen corn, thawed To taste: salt, pepper, red pepper, cumin, garlic powder Daiya Vegan Cheddar Cheese Directions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees and put in pizza stone (if using one). For the Socca : Whisk ingredients well making sure there are no lumps. Pour batt...

Leg Day Last night we had a lot of fun with our friends. I never did do the dance off game, but got plenty of laughs just kicking back and watching. I really enjoyed getting to just relax and chit chat with friends. We started off sitting outside on the deck until the mosquitoes forced us indoors. This morning I woke up a little before 8. I needed to get my side dish made for today's family lunch. I also wanted to hit the gym for legs. I missed legs last week, so I was determined to get them done today. I did the exercises as supersets of 3x8 unless noted starting with 10 minutes on the elliptical. Squats - 10 reps as warmup SS#1 Squats Stiff-legged deadlifts SS#2 Plie squats Deadlifts - 3x6 SS#3 Single-leg squats Alternating side lunges SS#4 Walking lunges Calf raises - 3x15 My legs were fried and wobbly almost immediately. Good thing I could take the elevator down and not have to walk stairs. Easter Egg Hunts After getting cleaned up in lightning speed t...

Today I really wanted to get in another run. We have more stormy weather in our forecast for Monday and Tuesday. We're heading to my sister's tomorrow for a family lunch, so it was either today or not again until Wednesday. Jason agreed to go with me for 6 miles (it ended up being about 6.4). I had wanted to get started earlier than we did. It was getting hot and extremely humid out. It was also super windy, but the wind actually ended up being a blessing for the most part (other than running headlong into it and feeling like you were running in place). I am fairly certain Jason thought I was trying to kill him today. Of course, he's the one who hasn't ran in several weeks. I enjoyed the run, mostly because we finally got to run together. I was one sweaty mess by the end though. My calves were really tight too. But, overall, I'll rank it as a B+ run. When we got home, I took about 30 minutes to stretch and roll on my TriggerPoint Therapy Kit . It helped pull o...

Riding the Runner's High Wave Well, we all finally got some sleep at last. No more storms last night. I don't know that any of us moved from the time we hit the sack at 9:30 until at least 6 am. It was fantastic! I think the sleep helped with my run today too. It was about 70 degrees when I headed out, but the wind was steady (not gusting terribly just yet). However, the humidity was through the roof. The clouds were pretty heavy, kind of dreary. At one mile in, I thought to myself, "Gonna wrap this one up and make it a short 6-miler." But shortly after that, I hit my groove and I hit it big time. I didn't worry about speed, and only checked my watch to make sure my heart rate wasn't out of control. It was one of those runs that reminds you why you love it so much. I ended up with a very solid, very awesome 9-mile run. I think I may still be riding that runner's high to be honest. I haven't exactly had bad runs lately, but nothing like this one....

Another Gym Day (thanks weather) Seriously, if we don't get one storm-free night soon, we're going to need three padded cells: 1 for me, 1 for Jason, and 1 for the Heath Man. Around 3:30 am, Jason ended up sleeping on the couch with Heath downstairs. When I got up, I turned off both alarms, just not thinking. Jason went up when I came downstairs and he crashed out. Thankfully, I remembered what I had done at 8 and called to wake him up. I think he probably needed the uninterrupted sleep though. Tomorrow I can catch up as I'm off work for Good Friday (TGIT). So, it was rainy this morning and rain chances all day. This meant gym workout. I really would have liked one more day between the upper body weights, but sometimes you just go with it. Today was short, it was just one exercise per muscle group. I did the exercises as supersets of 3x8 starting with 10 minutes on the treadmill. SS#1 Cross-body curls Rear-delt flye SS#2 Lying triceps extensions Standing later...

Storms & Spin Last night was another long one. We had three storm cells move through, bringing in hail, high winds, and more tornadoes. We ended up giving Heath a prescription drug that was supposed to knock him out. But his fear of storms is so bad, that even that didn't help. He still woke up during the last round (somewhere around 2 am) freaking out. So it didn't work, and then the poor little guy was so groggy when we got up, I had to carry him down the stairs. We've given him that medicine only a couple of times before, halving it. We thought the odd grogginess and continued anxiety was because of it only being half the dose. Nope, not the case. I don't think we'll mess with that again. It's not worth it, and I can't stand seeing him so out of it. I had thought about getting in a run today after work. I was kind of itching to run. But we had more rain and thunderstorms in the forecast, so I ended up decided to go to spin and not chance a rainy ...

Tired Tuesday So, the plan was that Jason and I were going to get up around 5:30 this morning and hit the gym. I had everything ready to go. I had even let my boss know I'd be doing 8-5 instead of 7-4. Here's where we went wrong...we both took a Zyrtec for allergies. Of course, we needed it. But it always messes with my sleep in a big way. I was up every two hours throughout the night. At 4:50 am, I made the executive decision to switch the alarm back to normal time and get in some more sleep. My workout ended up being done after work in the end. I would have loved to have run today, but it was gusting 30+ mph winds today. We have another major storm front moving through, possible tornadoes already predicted. Since I am not always a glutton for total punishment, I went with upper body weights today over a run. I did two exercises per muscle group as supersets of 3x6. I did 10 minutes on the treadmill as a warm up. Decline pushups as warm up - 24 Assisted chinups Pul...