BOSTON!!!

So I need your guys’ help, BADLY!!!!!  Is there by any chance anyone out there that registered for the Healthy Living Summit but that can’t go???  My friend and I wanted to go together but I got a ticket and she didn’t…..I’m still torn on going alone or not so I’m really hoping that I can get my hands on a ticket somewhere….ANYONE???

So much to say

WOAH!  Holy hiatus, huh??  For those of you that have been following since the beginning, you may remember that June is the most absolute busiest month of the year for us and this year was no exception.  A LOT has happened since I last blogged so I apologize for not checking in sooner   We have been way busy every single weekend and have had things going on almost every night after work!!

I know it was a loooong time ago, but I never updated you on how the Walk Wisconsin – walking marathon went!  Well….we finished it, but it wasn’t pretty.  Even though it was in June which is normally beautiful in Wisconsin, it was FREEZING cold (it never got above 50*) and it poured the whole day!    Not a big deal….except for a day you’re planning on walking 26.2 miles and spending 8+ hours outside!  YUCK!  But again, we did it and were so ecstatic to be done.  Chad dad and step-mom also did it with us and finished every step along side us.  I was so proud of them!  Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures because since it was pouring all day, I didn’t want to risk ruining my camera…sorry!!!!  You’re not missing much though as we were a wet mess at the finish line.  We were actually kind of thankful when we found out Chad’s cousin is getting married out of town next year when this event is happening

We also attended a Milwaukee Brewer game during my blogging hiatus!!

Brewer fans take their tailgating VERY seriously!  SO much fun

We also went up north to Eagle River, Wisconsin for a few days with Chad’s family!!  I look forward to this every year and it was a blast, as usual.

BAYLEE TURNED 2!!!!!!!!!!  We gave her some ice cream to celebrate

My sister HAD A BABY!!!!!  Quillan Reece   SUCH a little cutie pie – I’m so happy to be an auntie again!!

And I threw a SURPRISE 30th Birthday Party for Chad yesterday!  It was months of planning and HARD work but it all paid off!  He is one hard guy to surprise so it’s been quite the process but thanks to a lot of awesome friends and family members, we were able to pull it off!  We ended up having 50+ people so I’d say it was a success!

We started out bowling with a few friends to get him out of the house…

We had planned on golfing but there was a 60% chance of rain so we played it safe with bowling….I think Chad was a little confused why we’d go bowling on a Saturday afternoon when we hadn’t went bowling in years, but it worked   The birthday boy thought he’d be all cool in his knee high tube socks that I made him wear pulled up!!  lol

I texted the people back at our house setting up for the party at our house when we were leaving the bowling alley so that every could gather in the garage.  We pulled into the driveway and Chad goes to open up the garage door and all he sees are a TON of feet….his first comment was “Whose feet are those and who’s in our garage?”  I think it took him a good couple of minutes to realize they were all of our friends and family and that they were there for HIM!!!  This is a poor picture but here’s the first thing we saw from inside the car:

It was luau themed and gear was definitely in order!

Since it was a birthday party after all, there may have been some of this:

and some of this:

**no animals were harmed in this photo**

What can I say?  I know how to throw quite the party

Needless to say, Chad was COMPLETELY surprised and I think he loved it!!  We are a little pooped from the festivities so all 3 of us (Chad, Baylee, and I) have literally laid on the couches all day long….ah, lazy Sundays!!  Gotta love it!

So, as you can see, we’ve been quite busy!  And this doesn’t even include all the countless numbers of events we’ve had going on after work for Chad’s job, or the move that my company is currently going under – starting tomorrow I’ll be in a completely different building in a completely different area of town which is weird since I’ve been going to the same place now for 6 years!!!  But it’s been a great June so far and we have many more fun adventures in store.

We have Thursday and Friday off and are going to a waterpark in Wisconsin Dells and then going boating over the weekend!  I CAN’T WAIT!  I loooove summer so much!  The good part of living in Wisconsin is that we really cherish our summers because we really only have 3 months of good weather!  So we take advantage

Have a great night and a good work week – it’s GREAT to be back in the blogging world!!

Upcoming Marathon

This is going to be relatively short and non-food related but hopefully you’re okay with that

Sorry that I have been sooooo busy lately…seriously, it is just non-stop around here and I really want to get back to regular blogging soon.  I know, I know, you’ve heard that before but I am SERIOUS people!

So I haven’t talked much about it because running the Half Marathon back in May was first and foremost in my head….but this weekend, Chad and I are WALKING A FULL MARATHON!!!!!! We did it last year as well – see the post here.  It is definitely harder than it sounds.  Last year it rained on us for about an hour, which created the biggest blisters I’ve ever seen on my poor little tootsies.  Let’s hope that doesn’t happen again!  OUCH!  I’m really excited though because it is definitely a huge mental test.  Last year we did quite a few training walks but due to my running training, I haven’t been walking at all.  Let’s hope that my running has helped though!

Also, we had our cousins and their 6-month old over this past weekend and boy was it fun!!!  Baylee’s never been around a baby, baby before (just my 2+ year old nieces and nephews) so I was kind of anxious but she was so adorable with him!

She had to be by him at ALL times!

Our pretend family portrait:

They also have a Boxer that they brought along and it was so much fun watching them run around in our big yard.  Here are the two boxer butts heading out to play

haha – that picture cracks me up!

And if you haven’t seen enough of the pup – here you go!  I LOOOOVE this picture!

Again, sorry this post has nothing to do with food what-so-ever but I guess that’s been my theme lately.  Let me know if you really miss seeing my boring eats day in and day out   I’ll still try to post about new recipes, healthy food ideas, etc when they come up though so no fear!

NIGHT!

Bad Blogger

You guys, I am SO sorry!  Just as a heads up, we are probably the busiest people you’ve (n)ever met when the spring and summer months come!!!!!  We are on the go non-stop and our lives have been crazy busy these past few weeks.

First of all, thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much for all the positive, sweet, kind, flattering, you name it, words about the Half!  I’m still reeling about it and beaming   Ah……memories…….

Speaking of, remember when I told you all about my knee and it’s “issues”?  Well this morning I went to the doctor for a follow up.  For those of you that weren’t reading the blog back then, or for those of you that forgot, last year when I did my 5k I was having a lot of knee pain.  I went in to the Dr and they basically said that my right knee has no cartilege what-so-ever and it looks like the knee of an 80-year old.  This was good and bad.  Bad for obvious reasons.  Good because when I basically heard that I can’t run, I wanted to run more than ever!  Enter: Reason #1 to do a Half Marathon!

After recently completing the Half though (and wanting to train for my next) my gut told me that I really need to go and see a Dr again and listen to what they have to say…..I LOOOOVE running now but if I can’t walk when I’m 40, it’s definitely not worth it!

So my Dr appt this morning was meh…  she told me that I need to go see a Physical therapist and see what they have to say.  She thinks that they’ll be able to give me advice and tips and show me exercises to work around my “condition” as we’ll call it   She hopes/thinks that I won’t have to quit running, but it’s basically at my own risk because she said it is putting a big strain on my body……  So next Monday I go see a Physcial Therapist and will know more then!  **Keep your fingers crossed!!**

Other than that, I have some amaaaaaazingly cute pictures of Baylee to show you but I can’t find my camera cord!!!!!!  I’m actually kind of freaking out about it because I ALWAYS keep it in the same exact place!

We also had a really fun Memorial Day cookout at our house this weekend and I really want to show you guys some pics   WHERE ARE YOU, CAMERA CORD???????? I promise as soon as I find it that I will post pics!  I am SO sorry for being a bad blogger lately!!  Thank you all so much for being patient with me and for keeping reading!  If it helps, blogging sporatically has been a huge stress reliever for me!!  Before I really felt pressure to blog every single evening and it took so much time that I was putting blogging ahead of sleep, preparing my food for the next day, relaxing, Chad time, etc….now though, I blog when I have time and when I feel like it.  Bad for you guys, good for me   So bare with me!

Alright, sorry to jet but speaking of sleep, I need some!

OH yeah, before I forget…..remember when a month or two ago I announced that I was stopping counting calories/points??  Well I was scared out of my mind after counting for 7 years but I’m happy to report that I have 100% maintained my weight!  And am a MUCH happier girl!  I am loving it.  I have fluctuated up and down 1-2 pounds and actually settle in right around 124 which I think is just fine.  I’m just really trying to follow the 90/10 rule and eating great 90% of the time and leave the other 10% for events, eating out, etc.  Woohoo!!! 

P.S. Aren’t you guys thrilled it’s already Thursday tomorrow?  I LOVE 4-day work weeks!

Race Recap

I DID IT!!!!!!!!

I honestly still can’t believe that on Sunday I ran 13.1 miles!!!!!!!  Wow……  I remember back in December when I couldn’t run more than 2 minutes at a time and I just ran 13.1 freaking miles!?!?  Are you kidding me?  Okay, let’s back up a bit.

FRIDAY we drove to Green Bay where the race was taking place.  We shopped during the day, went out for sushi for supper, and then went to a friends house that night to watch a movie and sleep.  We did fit in a movie but unfortunately sleep was nowhere to be found.  I could not sleep AT ALL and neither could Chad and I think we got like 2 hours total

SATURDAY we kind of just hung out in the morning at our friends house and watched the Saturday morning shows on tv.  Around 11 we went to their local YMCA (since we’re members back home and could go for free).  It was so much fun checking out another Y!  I wanted to take it easy but do something to keep my leg muscles lose so I did 30 easy minutes on the elliptical and then some weights.

Around 3 we went to the hotel to check in and meet my COLLEGE ROOMIE!!!!!!!! as she got into town.  I love this girl so, so much!  We were freshman roommates in college and got along SO well and have been best friends ever since!  Unfortunately she lives about 2 hours away so we only see each other a couple times a year, but when we do, it’s a total blast!  She was coming to support me during my half (she’s run a couple half marathon’s and a FULL!) and was going to do the 5k with Chad in the morning!!

At 4 we went over to Lambeau Field to register and check out the running expo.  I got a few things and just looked around and got super stoked for Sunday!  I loved being amidst so many runners and finally “FEEL” like a runner!  Check out our professional photo at the expo!

After the expo, we headed over to Olive Garden to carb load   Unfortunately since there was a ton going on in Green Bay (the marathon, graduation, and a Keith Urban concert) we had to wait for an hour and a half!!  But finally we made it in and got some yummy pasta and breadsticks.

We got back to the hotel around 8:30 and I prepped for the next morning: pinned on my race bib, laid out my clothes, etc.  I was getting SO pumped!  Thankfully I was so tired from the sleepless night on Friday that I slept okay….probably about 5 hours which is more than I thought I’d get.

SUNDAY I literally popped out of bed at 5:30 when our wake up call came.  I was so excited that my nerves didn’t even have a chance to come   We headed to Lambeau Field around 6:30 but unfortunately since traffic was absolutely insane, Chad and Mandy were 10 minutes late for their 7:00 5k!  Oops!  But they kissed/hugged me good bye and were on their way.  My race didn’t start until 7:30 so I had 30 minutes to use the potty, get nervous, and get to the starting line.

The start was absolute INSANITY!!!!!!  There were 10,000 runners and although it’s a really well organized race, it can only be SO organized with that many people!  10,000 runners!!!!!  I crossed the starting line about 5 minutes after the race went off – not too shabby.

Mile 1 – I took off at what seriously felt like SUCH a slow pace….I felt like I was crawling!  I looked down though and somehow was pacing at 8:30/mile!  WHAT?  Normally I start out at 11/mile.  WOAH!  I got so caught up in the excitement and I actually started to cry as I started the race.  It was so emotionally overwhelming that 5 short months ago I couldn’t even run for 2 minutes and now I was running 13.1 miles.  Plus with all the people and families there, I was just amazed by everything and had to just let it all soak in.  The sun was shining and it was a wonderful 45* – perfect running weather!

Miles 2-11 – I know that’s a big gap but honestly, these miles were a blur.  It was so incredibly awesome running with people that I didn’t even notice I was running for the most part.  It sounds silly but it’s true, I was on a true runner’s high and was loving every second of it.  I had a friend that was running the Half as well and we had planned on meeting up before the race and running together, but because there were so many people and it was so chaotic, I never found her.  At mile 3 though, I felt a tap on my shoulder, turned around, and there she was!!!!!!  Crazy, huh?  10,000 runners and she found me!  We ran 5 miles or so together but then ended up splitting up but met up at the end after the finish.

Mile 12 – Chad and Mandy were supposed to meet me somewhere along the course but with then running the 5k, they weren’t sure when they’d be able to meet up with me.  Once I crossed the 12 mile marker, I was losing hope….about 30 seconds later though, I turned a corner and THERE THEY WERE!!!!!  I got a huge grin on my face and kept it the rest of the race.  It was perfect timing because I was starting to poop out!  Here’s me handing off my long-sleeve shirt (smiling the whole time):

At about 12.5 miles was when we entered Lambeau Field and since I knew I only had 5 minutes left, I started to give it my all and sprint through Lambeau.

Mile 13 – Once we got out of Lambeau I knew it was a sprint to the finish so I just bolted.

And then it was over!!!!  I still couldn’t stop smiling knowing that I had accomplished the biggest goal I’ve ever set for myself: running a Half Marathon!!

And now for the exciting part, my time.  Remember how I had set a goal for myself of 2:19?  Well?  I CRUSHED IT!  I finished at 2:11!  I honestly couldn’t believe it – that’s the fastest I’ve ever ran, even during my shorter distances!  Here are the stats, courtesy of my Garmin

• Mile 1 – 10:01
• Mile 2 – 10:03
• Mile 3 – 10:12
• Mile 4 – 10:09
• Mile 5 – 10:08
• Mile 6 – 10:00
• Mile 7 – 9:50 (!!)
• Mile 8 – 9:56
• Mile 9 – 9:58
• Mile 10 – 10:15
• Mile 11 – 9:55
• Mile 12 - 9:51 (!!)
• Mile 13 – 9:47 (!!WOOOO!!)

Can you believe it??  I couldn’t! 

Chad and I at the finish line -

Mandy, Chad, and I : Running Besties!!!

And of course a post race Bloody Mary! 

Obviously, I had an AMAZING experience and loved every second of it.  I can’t wait to do another!!!!!

4 days….

…..until the HALF MARATHON!!!!!!  Can you believe it?  I remember last May when I decided that I might want to someday partake in a half.  Then in December I decided to start running and could only run 2 minutes at a time.  Then in February I started to train.  Wow.  Time flies when you’re having fun, right? 

I am so scared/nervous/excited/anxious for the Half on Sunday.  Actually, mostly excited!  It’s definitely going to be a whirlwind weekend though:

• Tomorrow (Thursday) I’ll be gone all night to cheer on my hubs at his softball game
• Friday I have off of work – in the morning I’m taking Baylee to the dog park, dropping her off at the kennel, and then we’re heading out of town for the Half.  The Half is an hour and a half away from us and we have friends in that town, so we decided to make a weekend of it.  So Friday night Chad and I are hanging out during the day together and having a date night and then going to a friend’s place for movies, popcorn, and sleepy-sleep.
• Saturday morning we are going to the local Y for a light workout.  Then we’re going to bum during the day and might head to the hotel we’re staying at early to swim for awhile since we NEVER get to swim!  Hello, we’re in Wisconsin.  In the afternoon we’re heading to the site of the Half to register and browse the running expo (can’t WAIT for that!!!).  And in the evening we’re meeting a bunch of friends out for supper to do some carb loading
• Sunday morning we have to be at the race site by 6:45am (!?!?!?) because Chad and my college Bestie are running the 5k at 7.  We’ll have to leave pretty early because the race is at Lambeau Field (where the Green Bay packers play) and there are 10,000 runners so it is going to be busy, busy, BUSY!
• And then at 7:30, I start my race!!!  Again, SO flippin’ excited!  As of now the weather looks amazing for the day – 65* and sunny so even at 7:30, I should be good.  I get really, really warm while I run so I think no matter what I’m going to just run in my capris and tank top….I’m sure I’ll be quite chilly at first though….

I can’t wait to report to y’all how it went!!!  My goal time is 2:19.  We shall see

So guess what?  I actually rememered to take pics of what I ate today!  I know, I know….it’s about time.

BREAKFAST

I did something that I RARELY do this morning….stopped at a local gas station to grab a cappuccino.  BUT…in my defense, it was a really dreary, damp, cold morning and I was in the mood   I present to you my newest love: Banana Foster Cappuccino (doesn’t that just sounds amazing??):

I tried a new product this morning: Trader Joe’s Steel Cut Oats

I had no clue what to expect but it came in this little frozen “baggie” and you just put it in the microwave.  Can it get any easier?

After heating and mixing in a banana, here you go:

Verdict?  It was really good but to be honest, I probably wouldn’t buy them again.  I’m so used to rolled oats now and not prepackaged oatmeal that this was really artificial to me.  Plus it didn’t save me any time from just grabbing my bag of oats and popping them in the microwave.

LUNCH

For lunch I just thawed out some leftover Turkey Meatloaf, and had a salad and wheat bun on the side.

SNACK

One of my alltime faves – EDAMAME!!!!! 

And an orange

SUPPER

My supper looked huge!!! but it really wasn’t at all.  I baked up some tofu, some tofu shirataki noodles (mixed with a laughing cow cheese wedge and parmesan cheese), some roasted zucchini, and stir-fried veggies.  I didn’t realize I was having two tofu items until I was cooking   OOPS!  It was delish though!

I also had a bowl of ice cream for dessert but forgot to take a pic

I had SOOO many other things that I wanted to say (an update on my weight since I stopped counting calories, my fastest run ever, pictures of Baylee, etc) but I need to jet.  I want to create a playlist on my iPod for the half and tonight is my only night to do it and it’s already 9pm!

So – I will be back either on Sunday night or Monday (I took the day off to recover) with a whole lotta stuff to say

Body Image

So, if I remember correctly, I owe you all a big announcement?

Well, it’s more of a big thing for me than for you, but since this is a food and fitness blog, I figure this is worthy of a “big announcement” status

So……I actually think I am (FINALLY) happy with my weight!!!!  People, I have been down on myself for 4 1/2 years for not being at my goal weight of 117!  When Chad and I got married 5 years ago, I was 117 and was SO happy.  I maintained it for almost a year actually but then slowly gained 10-15 pounds (depending on the week) and have been trying to lose it ever since.  Back when I was 117, I was on Weight Watchers and was very, VERY strict with my points.  I had a lot of self control because I loved the results and it came relatively easy to me to say “NO” to sweets, etc.  Slowly but surely, that turned into me having “some of this” and “some of that” and before I knew it, I was totally OFF any counting program.  Ever since, I have had such an emotional relationship with food and exercise and everything I did, was to try and get back down to 117.

Finally 2 weeks ago after a very frustrating weigh-in at my weekly Weight Watchers meeting, a light bulb went off in my head…..I currently weigh 124 and I am NOT fat!  Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t think I was fat…not at all actually.  I just didn’t think I was “as small as I wanted to be and as small as I had been”.  Well, hello, I’m also 4 years older!  So not only has my metabolism probably gotten slower, our lives have also gotten much busier.  That means more weekends away, more birthday parties, more cookouts, etc.  I basically had gotten to the point where I looked at our (FUN) busy upcoming schedule and instead of me being excited about all the fun things we have coming up, I was looking at it as a depressing summer because there were so many situations where we’d be eating out, etc and I was never going to lose those last 7 pounds.

This leads me to my other big announcement……for the first time in 7 years, I am not counting POINTS or CALORIES!!!!  Guys, this is HUGE for me!  Yes, I’ve taken some time off from counting here and there, but it was more to let myself go hog wild and eat what I want and not care   This time is different (I hope…..).  This time (I hope…..) it’s for good.  A big part of all this has been the Naturally Thin book I am currently reading that has popped up all over the blog-osphere.  It is amaaaaaazing and is basically showing me all over again how to eat like a normal person.  Brilliant!  I’ve been putting Bethany Frankel’s words of wisdom into practice for 2 weeks now and I must say, it’s going really well and I have maintained my weight, which is my goal.

I had a love/hate relationship with food and kept finding myself binging at times because I deprived myself of the foods I loved and it ended up backfiring on me…..a LOT!  I know it’s only been 2 weeks though so I wasn’t going to even say anything on the blog until it had been 1, 2, even 3+ months but you know what?  This is why I have the blog: for you guys to see me through my ups and downs……if I fail, I fail….so what.  I think for everyone, the most important thing for you to lose or maintain your weight is to find what works for you.  Up until now, counting is what worked for me.  I actually liked counting and it definitely helped me lose weight, but I don’t think it’s realistic for the rest of my life…but that’s me.  Again, we’ll see.  I really hope it works for me to not count because I’m trying REALLY hard to get my relationship with food back to normal.  I’ve been WAY too obsessed for 7 years and I have honestly felt so free these last couple of weeks!

BUT….I really don’t think it would have worked for me if I hadn’t decided that I am finally happy with my body.  I almost cried (okay, maybe I did) when I actually looked in the mirror for the first time and looked at my LEGS as a source of power to help me through my runs instead of cursing them every day for being my problem area…..when I looked at my ARMS and saw what they could do instead of hating my triceps…..and the list goes on.  It was so freeing, to say the least.

Again, I hope this all lasts.  I can’t promise that it will, but I hope it does.

Okay, so there you have it!  That’s my big announcement   I will keep you all posted!!

I hope you have a great start to the week tomorrow (is it just me or do weekends go by even faster now that it’s FINALLY nice outside???).

TGIF

OOPS!  Is today seriously Friday already??  WOW………  this week flew by.  I’m so sorry for not posting all week – every night after work we were swamped and now here it is, Friday already.  Unfortunately I have to head out the door in 2 minutes.  I have off of work today because I am heading back home to visit my adorable niece and nephew!!!!  Yup, I’m watching my niece (who’s almost 3) all day and then Chad is coming after work to help out too.  Then my nephew (almost 6) will be getting home from school so it’ll be a nice of fun, watching the Brewers, and getting a good ‘ole Wisconsin fish fry!

Then tomorrow we are hitting the road (again) early to head up to Chad’s mom’s house.  It’s her Birthday on Sunday so we are going to visit and celbrate!!!!!!

AKA it’ll be ANOTHER busy, busy weekend.  I’m SO sorry for my horrible and sporadic blogging lately!  And I know I’ve kept you all in suspence with my upcoming news but I PROMISE to post about it on Sunday…and you can hold me to it

In the meantime, have a fan-tab-ulous weekend and I will “see” you on Sunday!!!!

Busy Bee

AH!  I have a TON I want to say and had it all planned out but it is getting late and I don’t have time to do a big post….but I promise that I will get to it shortly.  Tomorrow night I’ll probably be MIA because Chad’s cousin is coming into town so we’re going out to eat with her and her husband.  I can’t wait, every time we get together with them we have a BLAST!!!  So I’m sure it’ll be a late night (but hopefully not too late since it’ll only be a Tuesday!!).  But trust me, it’s pretty big and you will want to stay tuned.  (No, I’m NOT preggers, geez!).  Yes it’s big, but not that big!! 

But I do still have a little treat in store for you – I was finally able to photograph a whole days of food again!  Wow has it been awhile…..and no, I probably won’t be doing this regularly just because it takes me SO much time and you know what?  My busy schedule just doesn’t allow that every day…but I will do it when I can and try to keep posting lots of pics in the meantime.  Unfortunately that takes the longest though so you’ll just have to bare with me.  K?

First of all, I got up early this morning (which is OH SO HARD to do on a Monday) to do 20 minutes on the treadmill and a round of strength training in my “gym” downstairs in our basement.

To be honest with you, I’ve always been a HUGE cereal fan (I think because it takes me back to my childhood) but I firmly believed that MILK is what needs to go in your cereal…am I the only one?  Don’t get me wrong, I like cereal toppings on a few things (oatmeal for the crunch, sometimes as a yogurt topping, again for crunch, etc) but this morning I decided to try a Meghann-ified breakfast!!  I knew it was going to be good, but I never thought it would be GREAT!

My concoction was about 3/4 cup Trader Joe’s 0% Greek yogurt, topped with a banana, strawberries, blackberries, fiber one, Go Lean cereal, and PUMPKIN BUTTER!!!!!!  This was SO good and SO filling!  I guess Meghann is onto something   I have a lot of yogurt to use from from my TJ’s trip last week so this will probably be a staple for me this week.

At lunchtime I did 30 minutes on the treadmill reading Fitness magazine, followed by a huuuuuge salad:

• romaine lettuce
• broccoli slaw
• colorful peppers
• carrots
• cucumber
• egg whites

All topped with Sabra Garlic Hummus and Bob’s All Purpose Sauce!  MMMMMMMM

I told you it was huge!!!

Snacks included a Bluberry Cliff Z Bar (which I picked up at TJ’s last week), some raw veggies (not pictured), and a whole lotta edamame.

When I got home I was still ravishing so I had some PB Puffins and TJ’s mini PB cups and some vanilla soy milk.  This was probably my most favorite snack I’ve ever had and I’m not joking….talk about the perfect combo!!!  This WILL become a regular occurrence, FYI.

And supper was TACOS!  I absolutely love, love taco night in our house.  I had 1 hard shell taco and 1 soft shell taco.

I also took Baylee for a 30 minute walk.  It felt so great to get a ton of walking in today and not JUST running.  I’m an avid walker at heart and this is the first year running has been my cardio of choice.  Otherwise walking has always been my “go to” option.

Alright, I’m off to bed early to try to catch up on some sleep, as if that’s possible

Melting Pot LOVE!

WHEW!  Another weekend come and gone   And surprise, surprise, it was another crazy busy one for us….but it was such a blast!  Friday night we hit the road right after work with our friends to drive an hour to go to THE MELTING POT!!!!  We had planned on going about 6 months ago but it didn’t work out.  With our recent FUN-due nights, we figured we’d take this monthly fun-due night on the road and go out!  None of us had ever been to the Melting Pot so it was quite the new experience!!  Unfortunately as soon as I dug my camera out to take pictures, it died   Thankfully my bestie, Renee, is as much of a camera whore as me so she had her camera and took some pictures for the both of us!    Oh my gosh….I can honestly say this was the best eating experience I’ve ever had in my life!!!  All 4 of us fell in love with the place instantly!

For those of you that have never been there, it is an all fondue restaurant and you get 4 courses of fondue (except the salad).  Our first course was a Wisconsin Cheese appetizer in which we got apples, bread, and veggies for dipping.   One of our favorite parts was how they make it right in front of you!  Our second course was a salad.  Our third course was a caribbean oil/broth to cook our meat, which included Shrimp, Steak, Chicken, and Ravioli!!  And last but not least, we all were even more smitten by the fourth course: a S’mores Dessert fondue!!!  This included chocolate, marshmallow cream, and graham crackers with 2 huge plates of dessert items for dipping!  HEAVEN!!!!!

Here are Chad and I falling in love all over again, but this time with FUN-du! 

Our friends having a sword fight!!  LOL

Of course the ladies had an even better time, thanks to 2 bottles of wine!!  OOPS

The 4 FUN-du amigos….

And me cleaning out the last of my favorite course: DESSERT!!!  Okay….don’t worry….I didn’t actually lick the pot!

Although we knew it took a long time, we were shocked when we got out to our car and it was 10:00.  Our reservation was at 7!  So 3 hours of FUN-duing!  WOWzers.  But again, it was such a blast…..I cannot wait to go back!  Unfortunately our budget will not allow us to go very often though – I think it was the most expensive meal we’ve ever had!  But totally worth every penny

Since I drank and ate myself into a wine/chocolate coma, I was a little nervous about my planned Saturday morning run.  And of course when I woke up, it was POURING and thundering…….but it was supposed to do that all weekend so I had no idea what to do.  I’m sorry but I cannot run 11 miles on a treadmill!  Luckily right after I ate breakfast, there was a break in the rain and I headed out.  I didn’t have time to do the full 11-miles but did squeeze in 10!

As soon as I was done I had to get ready and head out to watch my Dad and Brother in a local bowling tournament!  Most of my family came to watch so I got to hang out with them all day.  My brother was even interviewed and on the local News!!  How exciting   They ended up taking 4th!!!  CONGRATS GUYS!!!!!

And as if that wasn’t enough, one of our best friends turned 30 yesterday so he was having a big birthday bash.  Him and his wife conveniently live 2 houses away from us so I headed over there after enjoying supper with my family.  They all went out afterwards but I decided it was time for bed for this gal!  I was SOOOO pooped after the long day.

This morning I was tired and Chad was hungover so we just laid around for most of the day!  I love rainy Sundays like that.  I did do a big grocery trip though this afternoon, which helped me feel better because I finally got out of the house!

Now we are enjoying some Desperate Housewives and will soon be calling it a night.

This week is a little less crazy than the last few so I hope to have some more posts (and pictures, FINALLY) so you have that to look forward too   I’m so sorry for the sporadic posting lately but I gotta do what I gotta do, right??  Right! 

But, before I go, I want to send out my thoughts and prayers for Jenna and her family.  Yesterday when I woke up, the first thing I did was check a few blogs and hers was the first I read.  I immediately got goosebumps (the bad kind) as soon as I read about her brother and what happened.  Thinking about John and what their family is going through actually fueled me through my run.  I thought about it the whole time and couldn’t stop thinking about how short life is and that you should really do the things you enjoy each and every day while you’re on this earth!  Tell your loved ones that you love them.  Don’t sweat the small stuff.  I could go on and on!  I pray that Jenna and the rest of her family are able to keep their great faith and get through this very, very hard time……