Category Archives: Daily Life!

Who’s Ready for Christmas?!

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Happy Monday to ya! So the big question of the day today: Who’s ready for Christmas??!! Ummm, MEE! I’ve been asked about half a dozen times this same questions around my office today, and it keeps making me smile.

tumblr_md94h1Rh2I1rhsaeko1_500HA! I love the movie Elf, and I can’t wait to watch it this week. It makes me laugh everytime. You know what else makes me laugh? This adorable gif I came across today. Commence smiling…

ImageProxy.mvc1Isn’t that the most adorable thing ever? Corgies are the best.

So this weekend, I worked out a lot (I taught 4 Jazzercise classes between Friday when I left work and this morning when I came back), so I felt extra inclined to indulge in some cookie baking.

photo(127)Christmas cookies are the best! I made 7 dozen cookies, half chocolate chip, half oatmeal raisin. I’m trying to get rid of as many of them as possible at work today. And I’ll take the extras along with us to my parents house tomorrow morning.

Baking cookies and goodies is one of my favorite parts of the holiday season. I eat a ton of raw dough before I eat a freshly baked cookie, and then everyone else gets to enjoy them too once I’m on sugar overload. So it’s a win-win!

I’m looking forward to baking and cooking with my mom tomorrow once we get to Hartville. We are going to make her famous fudge recipe and homemade Chex mix – both staples at my family’s gathering every Christmas! It’s going to be a fat kids dream, and I’m going to love every minute of it without guilt. I ran 13 miles yesterday, so I deserve some cookies and fudge this week. 🙂

Tonight will consist of my 2nd Jazzercise class of the day, followed by lots of frantic packing so we can leave bright and early tomorrow. And when I say bright and early, I mean between 8 and 10 am because Nick is not a morning person, and it’s always a toss up as to how our morning will go. 🙂  But because of my late sleeper, I will get in a nice run before we hit the road. I’m not sure when my next run will be, so I can hopefully make it a good one.

Have a great Monday!

Favorite Christmas Tunes

Daily Life!, Jazzercise, , , , ,

Happy Sunday everyone! Has this weekend been crazy or what?! My day has, once again, been pretty much crazy, but I don’t care too much. I finally ran 13.1 miles during my long run this morning, so that definitely made me happy for the day. 🙂

I’ve spent my weekend teaching Jazzercise and wrapping a few last minute gifts with Mac. He even helped me open some cards that came in the mail. And I thought this one from my girlfriend Jessica was extra cute!

photo(126) image(19)Mac thought he resembled the polar bear on the front of the card, but I couldn’t see it. 😛

I also mentioned yesterday that I was needing some mommy and Mac time, and I got some between work and Jazzercise on Friday night finally. I took him for a quick jog around the block, and he was so thrilled that I got showered with kisses when we got home.

image(18)I realized mid-kisses that we were by the tree, so I had to snap a photo. He was a lovey boy last night!

Favorite Christmas Tunes

So what are some of your favorite Christmas songs that you can’t wait to hear every year? I’m keen on the classics personally. Anything by Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, or Dean Martin will be playing on my Pandora station non-stop. But this year I decided to venture out of my ‘oldies’ bubble and try to get into some more modern tunes. And it’s all for the sake of my Jazzercise students!

As certified Jazzercise instructors, we are allowed to put some Christmas songs into our classes during December, and I’ve been taking advantage of this! We’ve been dancing to some Michael Buble, Mariah Carey, among a couple dozen other artists I’m loving right now! My favorite song for class is Let It Snow by Chicago. If you’re another instructor reading this, put the choreography from Kelly Clarkson’s Stronger to this song, and you have one killer upper torso routine!

I love, love, love Christmas music, so incorporating some upbeat classics into my class has been fairly simple. Plus, it’s fun to watch my students sing along with the Christmas tunes. I only have 2 more classes to teach before I’m off on Christmas vacation, so I’ll be rocking the holiday music for only a little while longer. But that’s okay since I got a new Jazzercise DVD with 32 new songs on it this weekend! I watched them all today, and I’ve already picked out some favorites to learn asap when we are back from the holidays!

Holiday Schedule

So here’s a quick overview of our holiday week! Sidenote: this is mostly for my own sanity right now. Does anyone else feel like they are going to forget something really important during this upcoming week??

  • Christmas Eve: Head to my parents house early in the morning to have Christmas with my side of the family on Tuesday night.
  • Christmas Day: Head to STL to be with Nick’s family
  • Thursday: Have a big Christmas (gifts and a meal) with Nick’s side of the family. Woot!
  • Friday: TBA – I’m beyond excited to have no plans. Jazzercise? Run? Shop? 🙂
  • Saturday: 10-mile Run at Forest Park in STL in the morning.
  • Sunday: Head back to Springfield!

I wish we could spend more time with my family, but my parents are traveling to Florida on Christmas Day to be with my dad’s parents for a few days. So technically, they are abandoning me, not the other way around. So I guess I shouldn’t feel too bad! HA!

Also, I last minute decided to sign up for the 10-mile run in the Frostbite Series in St. Louis. I thought it would be a good, easy race and great practice for my first Half. It’s on the same course (which I’ve heard is hilly), and it will give me a good idea of how my half marathon will go.

It should be a great holiday, and I’m so thankful that we get to spend time with each of our families. I hope you have some wonderful plans with your family and friends!

Have a great night, and I’ll see you tomorrow!

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!