Monthly Archives: December 2013

Decisions, Decisions

Daily Life!, Running, , ,

Hey there! How’s your Thursday going?? It’s a cloudy/dreary day here in Springfield. I’m hoping we might get a little sunshine tomorrow before all the rainy gross stuff comes this weekend. Fingers crossed I can get out and do a long run on Saturday before the monsoon!

And speaking of running, I’ve been faced with a small dilemma. I guess I should call it more of an internal struggle. One of my girlfriends and old sorority sisters is moving to the east coast in January. She is already registered for the Little Rock Marathon that is March 2nd. She’s offered to transfer her bib/registration over to me.

imagesI’m struggling with the decision to just stay registered for the marathon (and switch my half marathon training schedule over for a full marathon) or to switch the registration over to the half marathon. But I’m not sure I’m going to be ready for a full marathon by March! In the back of my mind, I want to do it. I want to prove to myself that I can do it. I’m just really stinkin’ nervous to say I’m for sure going to run my first marathon before I’ve completed my first half!

ecard-marathonPlus, training lately has been difficult with the holidays. I want to eat and sleep and be fat jolly. So it’s been a struggle to get out there and run when the roads are snow-covered and it’s 15 degrees! I haven’t made up my mind yet. Maybe after I get in a nice long run this weekend, I can get a better grasp on how I feel about the 26.2.

Breakfast

I started my morning with 4.1 miles in 35 minutes – woot! So by the time I got to work I was hungry. I decided to try out the Pumpkin Spice Clif Bar today.

photo(125)It was good, but I must say, it wasn’t my fave. It was like a yummy and dense pumpkin pie, which I liked. But what I didn’t like were the large chunks of almonds I kept finding. I like some texture, but it was too much.  And I also had some Greek yogurt on the side for extra protein.

image(17)Yum!

Tonight will be Jazzercise along with lots of mommy and Mac. I’ve been missing my little man lately!

photo(52)I need me some doggie snuggle time!

Have a great night everyone. See you on Friday!

‘Tis the Season for Goodies

Daily Life!, Food for Thought, , , ,

Happy Wednesday! Hope you’ve had a great day. Mine was basically out of control, and I’m just trying to wind down in front of the TV with Nick and Mac this evening.

I started my day with a run of 7 miles before coming home to enjoy some hot coffee.

photo(141)Once again, I’m a sucker for the festive flavors! This Vanilla Nut coffee is awesome, and I’ve been enjoying it every morning this week. Now the only coffee flavors I need to find is Candy Cane and S’mores before the season is over!

Food, Food, Everywhere!

This week at work we have had a ton of food around the office. It seems like a mini-buffet has arrived in each department filled with holiday goodies. It’s delicious and also terrible. I’ve left work feeling ill the last 3 days because of so much food in my belly!

image(16)This was right by my desk all day today. I tried to devour the fruit before anything else to be as healthy as possible, but I’m powerless against sweets. Luckily though, since I can’t eat cheese, the meat and cheese tray was a fairly healthy option for me!

image(17)‘Tis the season for goodies of all sorts! Meat and cheese trays especially. And in return, ’tis the season of bloated tummies. I’m having lots of ginger tea tonight to help settle my stomach before bed.

Ozarks Literacy Council

Once a quarter, I volunteer with the Ozarks Literacy Council and take books to a classroom in a local elementary school. I’m given a bag of books to leave with the students to take home, and I also spend about 10 minutes reading to the class and doing an activity. It’s a ton of fun, and I go on my lunch hour since my company is the main sponsor for the books.

Today, I spent my lunch hour reading to my two classes. The kids are around 4 years old, and they are basically the most fun and grateful little people I get to interact with on a regular basis. They always love to see me show up with my bag of books!

Well, today I wasn’t too excited to go read to my kids. Work was crazy, and I didn’t want to rush around with my volunteering, eating, etc. But when I walked in, I was reminded of why it’s all worth my time to go volunteer.

image(18)The kids had all made me ‘thank you’ drawings of snowmen and santas, and my teachers wrote me the sweetest thank you note. I left the classroom smiling ear-to-ear while I got a hug from each of the kids. What a nice little reminder it was to me to see their little thank you gifts. I love my kiddos, and I’m so thankful that I get to spend some time with them during my busy days!

Well have a great evening everyone. I will hopefully see you tomorrow if I can catch a second to breathe!

Ugly Christmas Sweaters

Daily Life!, Jazzercise, , ,

Hey there! How’s your Monday going? Mine has been a good one!

Jazzercise & Breakfast

I started the morning with my Monday AM Jazzercise class. SIX people showed up. That’s right. 6. I couldn’t believe it. I’m usually lucky to have 1 or 2, so this girl was definitely shocked! It was a fun class even though I’m pretty sure all the students were sleep-walking through most of it. 🙂

Once I got cleaned up and to the office to start the day, I was hungry and ready for food! I was rather excited for my morning meal. I found some seasonal flavors of Clif Bars while grocery shopping yesterday, and I couldn’t wait to try them out!

photo(122)This Iced Gingerbread Clif Bar was extra gingery and festive. I loved it!

image(14)I also bought a Pumpkin Pie Spice Clif bar that may be a good breakfast for tomorrow. I’m such a sucker for the holiday flavors! I’m a food marketers dream during the holiday months, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. 🙂

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

Saturday night was a fun one. Nick and I were invited to my friend Carley’s Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party!

image(12)We wore matching sweater vests! Mine is compliments of my mother. She loves her festive sweaters and is kind enough to let me borrow one for this party each year. We were the matchy-ist couple there!

The night went on with lots of eating of homemade goodies and games around the house. Jenga was our main event. 🙂

photo(123)Our game got pretty intense, and this happened shortly after I took this photo…

image(16)I learned that Jenga really stresses me out towards the end of the game!

I munched on veggies and dip along with some cookies and other goodies. Carley goes all out with her hosting, so I love going to her parties!

image(15)

Jessica, Carley & I
Jessica, Carley & I

Jessica was also there with her boyfriend. Jessica is my ‘Little Sister’ from our sorority, Kappa Delta. I was so happy she made it with her boyfriend since I haven’t seen her in ages!

photo(55)Such a cutie! So this night turned into more than just a party – it was really more of a small reunion of friends that haven’t had time to see each other lately. But it worked out great. I chatted with the gals while Nick bonded with the other boyfriends outside. 🙂

It was a great night and put me into the holiday spirit for sure. I hope you have some fun events to attend during the next 2 weeks. We can only indulge ‘guilt-free’ for another week or so. So get together with your friends and family and have some fun!

And happy holidays from the sweater vest couple. 🙂

1512694_10151715644032924_660133676_nHave a great evening!!