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!

‘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!