Tag Archives: Jazzercise

Run Around Sunday

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Happy Monday! It was a beautiful weekend, and I’m happy to say that the snow is finally all gone! I was not the least bit sad to see it go. Snow days are only fun if you are a kid and can stay home and hibernate. 🙂

It was in the mid-60’s yesterday, so I did lots of running around (literally!). I started my day with a 4-mile easy run before I headed off to teach Jazzercise. Immediately after class, I headed to Target to get a baby shower gift for my girlfriend, Levie, who’s having her shower next Saturday morning. When I arrived, the store was dead! And it was fantastic! So I spent way too much time and money in there. But I did walk away with a cute gift for the baby-to-come. Success!

I headed back home to shower and have some lunch when Nick decided that we needed to drop his car off at Pep Boys to be worked on. Funny noises + a burning smell = a Sunday trip to the mechanic. Woot. But the trip ended with some awesome sandwiches at Which Wich.

IMG_3074I had the toasted chicken pesto with spinach, and I was in heaven! It was amazing and was definitely worth the multiple trips across town to take Nick back and forth. 🙂 Mac was pretty enthused with all the car rides too.

IMG_3076IMG_3078HA! That little guy could be content hanging his head out the car window for hours and hours.

Breakfast

So breakfast this morning was fun – I got to try Chobani’s new 100 Cal yogurt!

IMG_3082This excites me because the high calorie count in the regular Chobani is what steers me away from this brand usually. BUT, I always feel the need to buy it because it is made with more natural ingredients than my typical stuff. Needless to say, my fridge is stocked with this stuff after my grocery trip yesterday!

IMG_3083I love the inside of the lid “Finally a 100 calories yogurt worth counting.” I loved this black cherry flavor, so tomorrow I’ll be brave and try the pineapple flavor.

IMG_3081I had my yogurt with some oatmeal and a banana + lots of coffee. And I’m happy to say that this mix kept me full all morning!

Jazzercise Run

This morning started with a 3-mile run with Mac. I usually teach Jazzercise on Monday mornings, but I switched today with the 6:45 pm teacher. And I’m an idiot and didn’t write this down in my phone calendar. So I pulled into Jazzercise this morning at 5:30 a.m. and immediately remembered the switch. Oops! I didn’t want the other instructor to know I’m an idiot (or to feel bad for that matter!), so I just headed back home and leashed up Mac for a run instead.

We made it 3.4 miles with a 9:29 pace, which is pretty good for a tiny dog that makes frequent potty stops! I was thankful to get in a good sweat regardless of my poor scheduling skills. 🙂

This evening will now be spent teaching a class followed by an early bed time. I’ve almost got my marathon training plan put together, so hopefully I’ll be able to share that soon! The Little Rock Marathon is only 7 weeks away!

Have a great day, everyone!

 

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!

Anticipating Snow

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Happy Monday to ya! How are we all doing today? It’s been a pretty typical day around here.

I kicked off my morning by teaching a Jazzercise class at 5:40 am. Usually I’m lucky to have two students during my Monday AM class time, but today I had FOUR students! I know it seems silly, but this is the biggest class I’ve had during this time slot! I was shocked and pleasantly surprised! The class definitely pumped me up for the morning.  I love the feeling of getting in a good workout before my work day begins. Some people think I’m crazy for waking up before the sun to run or do Jazzercise, but I love it!

Breakfast

Breakfast was quick and easy today: grab-n-go on my way out the door!

photo(29)After my class this morning, I was starving! I had lots of coffee along with the yogurt, cheese stick, and Clif bar for lots of protein and staying power. I had the banana as a mid-morning snack to tide me over until lunch. The tiny tupperware is full of my vitamins. I’m trying to make it a goal to take all my vitamins every morning this week! I’m a little lazy when it comes to taking all my vitamins, but I know I feel better when I have them with my breakfast. Fingers crossed that this week will help me start a good routine.

As for the rest of day, I’m subbing a Jazzercise class right after work at 5:40 pm. Then I’ll be home by 7 to finish up some things around the house I was too lazy to do last night.

But – most importantly – our first forecasted snow of the season is tonight!

photo(30)It’s supposed to get rainy here with dropping temps overnight, so we may wake up to a dusting of the white stuff.  It’s not a huge chance, but hey, a girl can dream. 🙂 I love snow so much! I’m planning on going for a short run in the morning to catch a glimpse of the snow even though it’s not on my normal training schedule. If I’m really lucky, it’ll still be snowing when I take off around 5:15 am.

Well I hope you enjoy your Monday. Hopefully I’ll be able to report at least a little snow in the morning!