Life Lately

Well I can cross at least one thing off of my goal list for 2012.  I ran 13.1 miles!  Ok that's a bit of a lie.  I ran 11 miles and cried/crawled/limped the last 2.1 miles.  But I crossed the finish line so, count it! Dad and Kris were awesome and came to run with me.  Dad stayed with me the whole way which turned out to be a life saver because I lost all mental clarity at the 12.5 mile marker.  Dad kept saying okay lets try to just run the rest of the way and I kept saying okay jokes over, seriously just go get the car. I'll be sitting right here on the curb.  Don't worry I'm not going anywhere. 

After photo.  Somehow I made it to the finish line without the car helping me out a bit. 

A day on the lake in Utah.  

Coming home to visit the family in Washington for a week.  The welcome committee was prepared.

This was the trail that I planned to run on while I was home.  Planned to are the key words there if you catch my drift. 

My beautiful sister.  

And loving life on the hammock with my fav girls.  The sun wasn't totally cooperating, sorry Isla. 

Buns are my fav way of looking like I'm trying. No shower required.  

Summer life in the northwest is good.  And TGIF.

A Day Downtown

The Capitol Building

A yummy place to eat 

Salmon sandwiches and cherries

View from the new outdoors mall

Temple square

Kids running through the fountains at the new mall

the Temple

It was the perfect day to do some downtown exploring in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Joined the asian tourists at the Capitol Building and then went to have some yummy lunch next to the park.  We walked around the farmers market at the park which has become more of an art and crafts festival which brings the hippies out in full force.  Apparently bras are out of style, have you got that memo yet?  Don't shoot the messenger!  That's just how it is downtown.  We also went to the new outdoors mall and caught a little two year old brave his way into the random squirting fountain with the older kids.  He was quite the entertainment when he got squirted up his shorts then turned around to get it right in the face.  Those damn fountains.  Then on to beautiful temple square where there was a constant flow of brides taking their photos with their families.  That was a happy place.  

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! 

this one's a fighter

source here

A few days ago I was venting to a friend that I've been working out but not seeing any results or weight loss.  His response was, "You're too hard on yourself."  I was a little annoyed.  A lot annoyed.  I think I had some good rebuttal to show that I'm so so far from my goal and I'm just being honest with myself about how far away from that goal I am.  I'm lazy and I eat too much chocolate and I'm not seeing results because I only ran 6 miles instead of 7 on Saturday.

I joined a gym last week....yay!.....and went to a yoga class tonight.  Lights off, some hippy earth relaxing music going, teacher's mono tone voice telling me to feel the energy through my fingertips and all I can think is how all the girls in the room are so gorgeous and done up in their bright pink shirts and perfect ponytails.  My stomach is feeling round. My arms are tired already?? We just started! That guy in front of me is cute.  He's probably looking at the girl to my left though cause she's cuter.  And her hair is down and all sexy curly.  Mines up in this weird bun thing.  I need to clean my room when I get home.  It's such a mess.  The girl to my right is doing a lot of resting poses, but that's okay because she's probably new. That's cool of her to stick it out even though she's tired.

It suddenly just hit me.  I'm so hard on myself.  Why am I letting this complete stranger next to me off the hook for taking a break and even giving her encouraging vibes, but I'm talking myself down in a constant stream of insults. Even during yoga - the land of "follow your body's messages, do what you can today, self acceptance and love and meditation" - and I'm criticizing how big my butt looks in the mirror during Warrior pose.

On the way home this song, The Fighter was on the radio and I just rolled my windows down, music up, and told myself I'm a fighter (cause I am) and its okay to have bad days and be tired like I was today but it was NOT okay to let those other thoughts over run my mind.  So, this one's a fighter.  Let's be nice to ourselves, k?

Life Lately

Loving Black Bean Burgers lately.

Second time seeing Imagine Dragons in a couple months. Obsessed much? I don't care, they're awesome. 

First time seeing a soccer game.  Turns out they're a lot more fun than I thought!  P.S...We beat Toronto :) 

Lay in the grass and look up.  Its good for the soul. 

Yes, I took one of those in the mirror photos of myself.  Stop judging and just look at my cool fishtail braid.  

Its my favorite season here in Utah! 

Going to swim lessons!  Prior to this picture he put on his speedo and goggles and serenaded me with "I'm sexy and I know it". 

Hiking with Dad. The hike was awesome, the tour at the top was not. 

Happy Memorial Day! 

Tip #3 from The Lean

Eat an apple every day! Not new advice but it's a good reminder.  An apple can be 1/4 of the fiber that you need for the day so it helps keep you full.  And you hafta eat the peel.....the most important part.  I've been loving Pink Lady apples lately, they're like juicy candy!  

Just a small habit to be a healthier you every day.  Enjoy :)

TGIF

Source: mereleemade

Hello Friday!  Its a good day - the sun's out, no work and I'm feeling good.  Its one of those days when I actually have motivation to get something done so I better capitalize on that.  I gotta have music up and Tokyo by Imagine Dragons makes me want to dance every time. Its one of those songs where I can't hold back from singing it out (sorry neighbors).  I was loving this video because apparently I'm not the only one that can't fight feeling this song...

Have a good weekend!

Life Lately

At the park.

Doughnuts.  Enough said.

Watching Evan's lacrosse practice.

Ryan and Danielle's beautiful reception.

Took myself on a little hike.  

My running trail.

While I was running there was a couple coming at me sporting their rollerblades and knee pads.  What decade is this?  Do people still rollerblade?  I was so jealous!  I wish I had mine from 6th grade hiding somewhere in my closet.  I thought was pretty rad though.  Hey if people are rollerblading I think its fine for me to use "rad" and wear neon and listen to Michael Jackson.  I can't fight it.  

Tip # 2 from The Lean

Second tip from the book I'm reading for getting healthy is.....Eat Breakfast! You're shocked right? You've never heard that before huh?

I think that's the first rule that every diet book tells you but I still skip it from time to time (or I grab anything I can find while I'm running out the door thinking I can finish my make up and my hair and my breakfast in the car on the way to work - good plan).

You know that by not eating for long periods of time you go into "starvation mode" and your metabolism slows down.  Also, your blood sugar drops and you get cranky and can't think straight (um hello, I know that feeling!).  Seeing as you haven't eaten for 10ish hours, breakfast is a really big must.  

The author of this book recommends whole grains and protein for breakfast and her suggestions that I'm loving lately are:

1. Bowl of brown rice, veggie sausage, black beans and avocado (I know it sounds like lunch but I also eat pizza for breakfast so who am I to discriminate?)

2. Toast and peanut or almond butter

3. Oatmeal (I've been adding blueberries and cranberries - heaven!)

bonus: have a scoop of protein powder in water - not so yummy but just drink it quick

P.S. The author promotes vegan eating so......I'm not gonna argue that either way but I still like "leaning" towards it and I like her food suggestions. 

Life lately

Spring is here!

I've been trying this new thing of working out in the morning. Good thing I took a picture cause it only happened once.

An ad I'm creating at work for International Language Programs.

Etsy orders.  It's so fun to ship all over the world! 

This is what happens when Christmas spills over into Easter.

Happy Birthday to me! 

I have the best friends at work. They decorated my desk for my birthday like crazy as you can see.  Part of it was a Twilight banner that says "One Eternal Party" (that is definitely staying up).  I also got a pin that says Dream Girl which I wore proudly....for awhile. I normally don't see outside people that come into the office but no one was out front when one girl came in so I went out to help her. While we were talking she awkwardly glanced down at my Dream Girl pin (oh yeah I forgot I was wearing it!) and I awkwardly flung my hair to try to cover it.  I'm sure she just thought "wow, where can I get a cool pin like that?"  Right?

Happy Easter,

drink some water. lots of it.

I might have an addiction to health/diet books.  I admit it. I started reading The Lean by Kathy Freston and I'm loving this one.  It's all little tips to ease your way into better habits.  Most of the things she talks about I already know, but its a good, daily reminder.  I'll share some of the good stuff I'm learning with you guys if you're interested.  I'm just gonna assume you're already interested since you started reading an article about water - not the most interesting thing in the world. But get excited about it :) 

I'm a water lover already and her first tip was drink water. So I'm thinking sweet - I'm golden on this one. One of her tips is to schedule out your 8- 8oz recommended glasses so that you get those for sure and then of course drink more if you're wanting it.  I put reminders in my phone so I'm alerted every time that I need to drink.  That's making it pretty easy to get in the habit!

1- 6:30 am - drink when you wake up

2- 8:30 - drink 10 minutes before breakfast

3- 10 am - drink between breakfast and lunch

4 - 12 pm - drink 10 minutes before lunch

5- 2:30 - drink between lunch and dinner

6- 6:30 - drink 10 minutes before dinner

7- 8:30

8- 10:30 - drink right before bed

Bonus: Drink a glass of water before a meal and you'll feel fuller faster. Water keeps all of your body processes at optimum level, including metabolism so it'll help keep those lbs off.  Drink lots of water ladies!