Where's the Beach?

Spin Day Today was a super dreary, rainy day. Made it really difficult to peel myself out of bed. Somehow Jason did better than me and got up in time for his 5:30 swim class. I will say that I am at least glad it's not really cold out though. No snow, sleet, or ice to contend with. Just wet. I ended up hitting spin again today. I had sort of thought about weights. But honestly, I really didn't feel up for weights or even looking at the elliptical for a warm up much less a cardio session. Definitely thankful I had spin as an option at least. I definitely worked my booty off and got out some frustration during the workout. I was one hot mess after. Valentine's Surprise & More Housework  Remember when I said we didn't do anything for Valentine's Day ? My gift was Jason going to spin class? Well, he totally surprised me with a gift certificate for a spa session with facial. I am not a big massage fan, but I adore a facial. I never splurge on that. I barely p...

Relaxing Monday Evening Last night Jason made some burritos for us for dinner. Nothing fancy, but they were quite tasty. I don't know exactly what all he added, but I know they had yellow bell peppers, onions, black beans, some leftover enchilada sauce. He toasted them up just the way I prefer too. I made sure to top with lots of jalapeno, but opted not to take photos. We sat back and relaxed and watched Horrible Bosses . I know pretty much everyone gave it a thumbs up. And, for the most part, I thought it was pretty good. But sometimes movies when every single thing goes wrong and keeps piling up get to me a bit. So, by the end I was ready for it to be over. I'm really a terrible movie watcher is what it comes down to. But it was still a nice, relaxing evening. Spin & Biceps Today I hit up spin class again today. I started with biceps before the class: SS - 3 x Hammer curls - 10, 10, 8 Incline curls - 8, 8, 8 Dropset: Dumbbell curls - 6, 8, 10 Jason surprised...

Spinning Today I my legs are not nearly as sore as I thought they might be after yesterday's 12-miler. My left hip is really the only source of pain. My hip flexor is extremely tight. I think I might have started changing up my gait or something to compensate for the sciatica/piriformis pain because I never have hip flexor issues. I guess never say never right? Since I wasn't as tight or sore as I thought, I went ahead and hit up spin class. My other plan was to just do a little on the elliptical to loosen my legs then hit weights. I'm actually glad I went with spin. I really seemed to pull out any kinks. Before spin, I did get in triceps. I just went with a giant set of 3x10 except for the first exercise which was 3x8: Double-arm overhead triceps extensions Double-arm kickbacks Triceps dips Chili Night & House Projects Dinner tonight ended up being Chipotle Tempeh Chili . While it's warmer during the day, as soon as the sun starts to set, the temps go d...

Rocky Start to Rest Day This morning started off a little rocky. I slept terribly last night and managed to finally fall into a deep sleep right around the time the alarm went off. I'm almost always up before it goes off so when it does actually go off, it really startles me. I leave the lights off for Jason, so the room is really pretty dark. I typically don't have issues navigating in the dark, but this morning I was just a klutz. I went to lean down to open Maddie's kennel, only I severely misjudged where I was and hit my cheek bone on the corner of the chest of drawers. Brilliant. I was all out of sorts after that. It ticked me off and stunned me at the same time. I'm really hoping it doesn't bruise up, but it's terribly sore. Speaking of sore, I really thought my legs (quads and hams) would be more sore after yesterday's workout. I mean, I can tell I did a leg workout, but it's my rear end that is really sore. I went ahead with a rest day toda...

Car Update As I promised, here is a picture of the wall I had to scale to get into my cube on Friday. I stood on the chair to get onto the cabinet then stepped over the wall. Thankfully there is another cabinet on the other side (see 2nd picture) that I could stand on then jump off of.   I've had so many of you ask about that status of the car. Well, it's still gone. We have to wait 3 weeks before the insurance company will give us a check for the value of the car. Of course, it could still be found between now and then. I got a nice fat envelope in the mail at lunch today with tons of paperwork to fill out for the insurance company. While I am really really trying to find some humor or even the slightest bit of positivity out of the situation, it really started to sink in yesterday afternoon. I ended up opting out of the Super Bowl party, letting Jason go alone. I wasn't going to be much fun. I'd like to just curl up and have a crying fit to be perfectly honest. I...

Gluten-Free Pizza Hit Pizza Friday was a big success. Sarah has officially declared that Bob's Red Meal Gluten-Free Pizza mix trumps the Bisquick hands down. I made it using the flax egg option so it was loaded with omega goodness too. This mix does make a lot of crust, so we split it into two smaller pizzas baking it and freezing one so she can use later. Thanks so much to my readers who suggested this mix!! We had a great night. We listened to music, played some pool, chit chatted and just had a nice evening. All the dogs got along great too - Sarah brought her ex's dog with her. Heath was so happy to have another playmate. Maddie, could have cared less.   Good Day This morning we got up and just piddled around for a bit before deciding that it'd be wise to head out to the mall earlier rather than later. Sarah wanted to hit up New York and Company. Who am I to deny her this? We behaved ourselves actually and only made two stops: New York and Company and The Limited....

All Dolled Up Last night we ended up joining our friends at the Jingle Belles Bash. It was a fundraiser event to raise money for the Centers of Youth and Families. We were both really glad we decided to get off our lazy rear ends and go to the event. It was kind of fun getting dressed up and going out rather than sitting on the couch in our PJs, per the normal Saturday night. Productive Sunday This morning I was super productive. It was really cold out today, so running wasn't even tempting. I decided to get some house chores done before hitting the weights and cardio. I swept, swiffered, ran some laundry, changed out dishes, cleaned mirrors, and vacuumed area rugs. Then it was time for my workout. I did chest from STS Meso 2 . This week the goal is to increase my weights to 75% of my 1 RM. The only exception is that for the first exercise that was done as a "double wave load" I was supposed to stay at 70%. Flat bench chest press - 12, 10, 8, 12, 10, 8 Flat bench...

Girls' Happy Hour Last night I had an absolutely fantastic time with two girlfriends. We met up at a place downtown called Dizzy's Gypsy Bistro . It's a fun, ecclectic place, but I will say they're proud of their food if you know what I mean. The salsa is great, but not 8.99 great. But it's the company that was most important (and yes a couple of drinks too). We chatted, laughed, gabbed for over two hours before calling it a night. My friend Meg also gave me an early birthday present. She is one friend who absolutely gets me. It's like we've known each other forever. Do you have a friend who absolutely gets you ? Windy 10-Miler I didn't want to mention it yesterday because I was going to be alone - but Jason went camping with his dad, brother, nephews, and brother-in-law this weekend. My sister is staying with me tonight though so I don't feel uncomfortable saying he's gone. Anyway, I turned in around 10 pm and had a really good night's s...

Chili for a Chilly Evening  As I mentioned yesterday, we decided on chili for dinner since it was going to be a chilly evening. Plus, chili and football sort of go hand-in-hand. Oh, and the fridge is rather empty, but we did have what it took to throw together a chili. So I went with a Chipotle Tempeh Chili since the tempeh is gluten-free, and my sister is now on a glute-free diet.    Chipotle Tempeh Chili Ingredients: 1 package tempeh To taste for tempeh: liquid smoke, chipotle flakes, salt, pepper, garlic powder 1/2 red onion, diced 2 tbsp minced garlic 1/2 green bell pepper, diced 1/2 red bell pepper, diced 17-20 oz low-sodium vegetable broth 1.5 cups red beans (1 can, rinsed and drained) 1.5 cups black beans (1 can, rinsed and drained) 1 can no-salt tomatoes 3-4 chipotle peppers in adobe (plus 1-2 tsp adobo sauce), minced To taste: salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, chipotle flakes 3 oz tomato paste Directions: In non-stick skillet, crumble temp...