It's been a while, not feeling like myself...

So Wes pointed out to me that I hadn't written anything in a while. It was more of a "have you written lately?" and I had the realization that I hadn't. It had just been slipping my mind. Or felt I had not much to say. Possibly a combination of both. I did however take a few pics over the past week so I thought I would share.

Meet one of my cats, Linus. He likes to help out with yoga. Rolling around on the mat is his specialty.

His next specialty is giving me kisses.

This dish is one of my go to not-feeling-like-making-a-big-ordeal-out-of-dinner-want-something-kind-of-light. I know, pasta is not light, but if you don't eat a ton of it, and with the right sauce or add ins it can be. Here I have spinach with cherry tomatoes that have been halved then sauteed in a bit of olive oil and butter to make a sauce, then shrimp is added (adding in some of the water from the shrimp too) and pasta that is nearly cooked though. Finish off the pasta in the skillet with all the other ingredients. So good.

Really enjoying my new treadmill. Took this the other day. I'm still learning a lot of the programs and playing around with the incline. I'm really glad I have it. I think my elliptical is getting jealous though.

Another meal pic. This was salmon that I baked in the oven with "smashed" red potatoes and green beans. The Man was a little leery when I told him what my plan for the red potatoes were, but he ended up really enjoying them. I'm glad too because it's one of my favorite ways to make red potatoes. 

This picture makes me a little sad. Look at all that watermelon! And it was a really good sweet one too! The fresh pineapple and honeydew were also excellent. Here's why the picture makes me sad. I had went ahead and cut up the entire watermelon with the intention of making watermelon sorbet because I knew Wes and I were not going to be able to eat it all before it went bad since little B doesn't care for watermelon. Travesty I know! Well, I waited a bit to long and checked out the big container this morning, and it had an off smell, and tasted a bit weird. Not at all like I knew it should. Sad, sad day.

As much love as I've been showing the treadmill this week, I decided to take my run outdoors this morning. It was a very nice morning for it too.

One of the greatest things of getting out before the sun is even barely awake is I'm back in my own yard to watch it come up.

Until next time!

What time of day do you work out?

What's your "go to" dinner?

New toy!

Okay, it's not really a toy. It's a price of equipment. But when it arrived this morning I was excited as a 5 year old on Christmas morning. My new treadmill! Isn't she pretty? 

I'm so excited! I can't wait to use it. However it is actually feeling like summer here in the northern states so I'm trying to get in as much outdoor running as I can. So she might have to wait. I'm sure I'll use it on Saturday at least. And it will get plenty of use this winter.

So I said good bye to my old friend. I was actually a little more sad to see it go than I thought I would be.

I'm at peace with it though.

Do you use a treadmill?

What new "toy" have you gotten recently or are looking to get?

Waking up late and and completely random day...

Yesterday started out kind of rough. I woke up an hour later than I normally do. I've started just shutting off my alarms (yes, I have more than one, 6 to be exact, don't judge) when The Man taps me repeatedly to wake up. The great guy that he is never yells or seems annoyed though. Just taps and taps and taps me until I finally regain consciousness. I wasn't going to let that deter me from getting in some sort of run though. Just a quick 2 miles. I always feel better when I get a chance to exercise in the morning. It just makes the rest of my day feel so much better.

Thursday was a rest day, so it was very important to me to not let waking up late keep me from this. And to be quite honest, I am really not a fan of working out in the afternoon/evening. I could do another workout if I felt like it, but by the end of the work day, cooking dinner, doing whatever needs to be done, the last thing I normally want to do is work out. So if I relied solely on afternoon/evening workouts, it would never get done. 

Saw this somewhere, don't remember where, but it is me to a T. It takes all I have to take an actual rest day.

This fountain outside my work is set up every summer. It's such a pretty fountain and waterfall and for some reason they never started it this year. Makes me kind of sad.

Starting up my computer I am greeted with this every day. Picture of us at Target Field a couple of months ago. Was our first trip together to a Sox game. He makes me smile each morning when I see this, even if he doesn't know it.

Randomness on the bathroom door at work. If you can't see, the second figure is wearing a cape.

 Lunch was leftovers of my rice pilaf and steamed broccoli. Again, when you wake up late, leftovers are what happens. That's okay though. I could eat rice everyday really and be happy.

The very last of the Fourth fruit. Thankfully this was it because the strawberries were starting to look a bit rough, but still tasted great. Now onto some pineapple, watermelon, and a yellow honeydew. :)

More random. Wonder where she's going.

Last night we went out to dinner at a little italian eatery then had some great ice cream while we sat in the park. Then we went to play a round of mini golf. It was such a beautiful night and I'm so glad I got to spend it with these two.

Today it's supposed to get up to 93. It's 7 am and only 66 now bit the sun is blinding. I know I should get out and hit the pavent and appreciate the beautiful summer morning but I'm feeling a treadmill workout this morning I think. I'm working out a new schedule for myself to incorporate a bit more cross training back into my workouts. Hoping to start next week. 

What I Ate Wednesday...

Not much new today. I ran 3 miles first thing this morning as usual. My pace was better today than it had been for the past few runs. 10:04 pace. I'm good with that. Still trying to get consistantly to a 9:30 pace though. But at the same time I'd rather work on distance. Can't work at both at the same time, so I've been more concerned about distance. It's getting up there, and I'm actually pretty happy with the progress I've made so far.

So can I just talk about this water here for a second. I'm kind of obsessed lately with anything coconut. Food, water, candy, lip balm, even my lotion. For some reason I'm in love with coconut and I can't explain it. So this water, best one they make in my opinion.

It doesn't look appetizing, but it really was. A limited edition Thomas english muffin in vanilla and cinnamon with a little cream cheese on top for breakfast. I have no idea if you can still get these english muffins, but I keep things like this and tortilla's in my fridge so they last longer. Only one left in the bag though. :(

Simple lunch today. Still working on that fruit from the Fourth of July. It's nearly gone now and I will be deeply sad when that happens because I love those cherries. Grape tomatoes, baby carrots and a roast beef and lettuce wrap round it all out.

Since I have to work at the restaurant tonight, probably little to no supper for me. I'm trying to be better about not coming home from work at 11 pm and wanting to snarf down the entire contents of my cupboards and refrigerator. I'm usually just so hungry after work though. We shall see. Stay strong Rory!

Monday Monday...

Yesterday started out with a good run on the trusty treadmill. I woke up late, but was not going to let that deter me from getting my run in. Almost 3 miles. I admit I did run out of time. Have to get ready for that day job you know.

Experimenting with the whole "freeze your coffee in an ice cube tray and use the ice cubes in milk to create iced coffee". I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk. It was 'eh'. Nothing special, and not sure if I'll make it a regular thing to be honest. Breakfast was some oats, a scoop of vanilla protein powder, a half tablespoon of chia seeds, some cherry flavored craisins and almond milk. I like the whole "overnight oats" thing, but have found, it really only needs a couple of hours, so I make it in the morning after my run and eat it a few hours later at the office.

Lunch was some roast beef wrapped in a tortilla shell with lettuce and mustard. Simple and tasty. I had some left over fruit from the Fourth too. Yay!

Have you seen these? OMG is right. I found them at Sam's Club. I haven't seen them anywhere else, but to be fair I was never looking. Graham wafers, with almond pieces and toffee bits coated in a vanilla coating. I've heard there's a chocolate version too. MUST FIND. The Man wasn't a fan (fine more for me :)). 

Since the little one had a baseball game to finish we cheated and just grabbed some Taco Bell for supper. Chalupas! It's all about that fry bread I tell you what. Mmmmmm.

Until next time!

When you do fast food, where do you go?

Fourth of July Weekend!

We had a pretty busy 4th of July weekend here. First though, do you see the haze in this picture? It's crazy to think this is smoke from the Canadian fires all the way down here. We thought for sure our own hills were on fire again until the news came through that this was Canadian smoke. Sure hope our neighbors up north are doing okay.

We started the weekend on Thursday night as The Man had a couple of softball games to play. I love watching my guys play sports. I also got a beautiful view of the sunset as a storm rolled past.

Since the kiddo was out of town visiting family, Wes and I decided to spend the afternoon shopping then hit up a local golf course to play on the driving range that evening after it had cooled down a bit. Spending time together, that's what makes anything fun as long as you're enjoying doing it together.

Next we drove with the windows down and the music up to grab something to eat because by that time we were starving. I also got a little souvenir from our excursion. New bag of tees and one was warped. I like keeping little mementos like that. It was a good day.

The morning of the Forth, I decided to do almost 3 miles on the good ol' treadmill. Humidity in the garage = sweaty beast. But it makes me feel good so it's worth it.

After relaxing and watching the Sox play taking a nap (alright, he watched and I fell asleep), we headed over to my moms for dinner. We roasted hot dogs over the fire pit and I had brought over some really yummy fruit. My mom and I killed many of those cherries. A random shot of a firework over Wes's head. I just pointed the camera to behind me and started randomly pushing the button. Looks like I got pretty lucky.

Sunday morning was pretty low key. Wes and I went on a run in the morning, nothing major but tried out a new path. I admit I felt like I was dying. Heat, humidity, later in the morning than I'm used to, no music. The only thing that kept me going along was Wes's words of encouragement. Then we had a light lunch and watched some more baseball before heading off to my son's own baseball tournament. We didn't even get to finish the game due to rain and finished it up Monday night. The played they're little hearts out and got second place. So proud of the little buggers!

It was a very full weekend, and so far this week we haven't really slowed down. I'm foreseeing it not being until Friday when we can do our own thing, with a baseball party happening tonight, working my second job tomorrow night, and Wes is playing softball Thursday night. Rest will happen soon, very soon.

Until next time!