11 Things

Happy President’s Day! I’m one of the lucky ones who gets to take advantage of a 3 day weekend. :)

I’m sure you’ve seen the 11 Things Survey take over the blogosphere. I hope you’re not sick of it yet because it’s my turn!

I was tagged by Laurence @ Fit Peanut. First, the rules:

  1. List 11 random things about myself
  2. Answer the 11 questions she asked me
  3. Come up with 11 questions to ask other bloggers
  4. Tag 11 bloggers to do this next

Random Things

1. I will only eat an apple whole if it is impossible to find a cutting utensil; apples are 500% better when cut up.

2. I put Palmer’s coconut butter lotion on my entire body every time I step out of the shower, it’s become habit.

3. I count to 20 before I take anything out of the oven or take a pot of noodles off the burner. I think I’ve mentioned this one before – a little habit I picked up from my mom. :)

4. I always wanted to be a ballerina, but am majorly lacking in the grace department.

Halloween 2010

5. I played basketball, volleyball and ran track in high school.

6. In addition to two dogs and I cat, I had a rabbit, Ralph, and a guinea pig, Sophie, growing up. Not all at the same time.

7. I once died my hair brown …. and quickly went back to blonde.

8. I was self conscious about being tall when I was younger, now I am so thankful for all 5 feet 9 inches.

9. If I see a new flavor of gum in the checkout isle I have to buy it, I just have to. :)

source

10. Growing up, I would order a cheese crisp at every restaurant we went to. We lived in Arizona, cheese crisp were available everywhere.

11. I once ordered a Caesar Salad with ranch dressing. My brother always ordered Caesar Salads, obviously I wanted to be cool like him, but I preferred ranch. ;) – this is what happens when I try to branch away from cheese crisp.

Laurence’s Questions:

1. Dark chocolate or Milk chocolate ?

The darker the better. 75% cocoa is perfect.

2. Do you have any siblings ?

1 brother and 1 sister. Both are married with children, I’m the baby.

3. Harry Potter or Twilight ?

Neither! If I had to choose, I’d go with Harry.

4. Have you ever gone to France (my country!)?

I’ve been many times and love everything about it, can’t wait to go back.

5. Do you believe in friendship between guys and girls?

To a certain level.

6. Left or right-handed ?

Righty

7. If you had a chance to switch bodies with someone you admire, would you do it?

No way. I an appreciate other bodies, but would never want to give mine up.

8. What is the weirdest thing you do in your everyday life?

In my weekday life, go to bed by 9:30 and wake up at 5:00. Healthy living bloggers might not find this odd, but a majority of the population does ;)

9. Did you ever check you ex-boyfriend’s facebook page?

If something is on my feed I’ll look, but don’t go out of my way to check. Have never been happier than I am now, no reason to look back :)

10. If you won the lottery, would you keep working?

If I had young children I would be a stay at home mother. If not, I would use the money to start my own business.

My Questions

1. What do you most love about blogging?

2. What food would you never try?

3. What food did you hate when you were younger that you love/like now?

4. What is your favorite way to relieve stress?

5. Early bird or night owl?

6. What’s your dream job?

7. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

8. Do you keep color on your nails or au naturale?

9. What is your favorite thing to cook?

10. What do you most love about yourself?

11. What is the first thing you do when you wake up?

I tag Abby, Natalie, Laura, Lauren, Sarah and Ashley

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On Top of the World

Saturday morning I was up bright and early to fuel up for the American Lung Association’s Fight For Air Climb. My fuel of choice was a pumpkin yogurt bowl with flax, Ezekiel toast and a banana.

We got to Renaissance Tower right around 8 am – yes, I thought we were climbing Reunion Tower until my fellow climber Kelly corrected me on our way to the climb – I’m lucky she was with me or I would’ve been in complete panic mode when I showed up to Reunion!

Thankfully there was no line to pick up our packets. After pinning on our bibs and strapping on our shoe tags, we patiently/anxiously waited for our start time: 9:17:20. They set off the climbers in 10 second intervals to keep a steady flow up the stair well.

Our nerves increased as we approached the starting line and we discussed our climb tactic. We initially thought we would be able to keep up a steady/semi jog pace up the 116 flights/53 floor, but once we were off that strategy was quickly changed.

It was SO MUCH HARDER than I thought it would be. The stairs were steep and by the 5th floor I slowed down to a leisurely walking pace. They had water and rest stations along the way, but I knew if I stopped to rest it would take a small miracle for me to start again. I grabbed a bottle of water around floor 10 and focused on taking deep breaths and keeping my pace.

It took me just about 10 minutes to get to the top and man oh man was I relieved to finish! They had a great expo at the top with a ton of vendors and snacks to refuel. We stayed for a few minutes, but all 3 of us were more than ready to make our way back down (via elevator) and get some fresh air.

It was an amazing experience and such a well run event! I was definitely more than appreciative to have healthy lungs during the climb and am proud of myself for making it to the top.

I had no appetite at the Expo, but was more than ready for food one I got home. I wanted something fast, easy and good. My min was immediately made up: faux baked sweet potato (cooked in the microwave) topped with black beans, salsa and plain greek yogurt with a side of kale and a sprinkling of  nutritional yeast.

Hit the spot.

I spent the rest of the afternoon horizontal on the couch then met up with Kelly for a movie. We saw Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which exceeded my expectations. I’d heard mixed reviews so was pleasantly surprised!

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

Your Turn!

What’s your favorite FEG meal (fast, easy, good) – clever, right?? ;)

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A Day of Love and Happiness

“A life without love is like a year without summer.” – Swedish Proverb

I hope everyone has enjoyed a day full of love and chocolate! Jarod and I celebrated on Friday with dinner at our favorite middle eastern tapas restaurant followed by froyo and a competitive game of Farkle (I lost, twice). Nothing fancy, we’re easy to please. :)

February is turning into quite the month of service for me. Last weekend I spent the afternoon decorating Valentine’s Day cookies with the women and children of the Carr P. Collins Center and this upcoming Saturday I will be participating in the Fight for Air Climb to raise money for the American Lung Association.

My team and I, the Rough Ridas, are gathering donations and climbing up a Reunion Tower, all 560+ feet, to help fight asthma, lung cancer, COPD and dozens of other lung diseases.

So this is me asking or your help! By making a contribution on my behalf, you will be helping the American Lung Association provide community based education programs, fight for cleaner air standards and fund life-saving research.

My goal is to raise $100 for our cause, but would love to raise as much as possible! Please go to my personal web page and make a $5, $10 or $20 gift – any amount you wish. All gifts are fully tax deductible as The American Lung Association is a 501(c)3 organization and is in fact one of the most recognized nationally for proper management of the resources entrusted them since they began in 1904. You will receive a notice in the mail from me thanking you for your gift which you can then use for your tax filing next year. You may also make checks payable to The American Lung Association (my climb team) and mail them to our local office.

The next time you go out for a jog or finish a killer strength workout, be thankful you can! There are millions of others who suffer from lung disease daily.

Your support makes the every day act of breathing that much easier for many people.

Eat right, exercise, laugh and love … keep your heart and lungs happy and healthy :)

Donate to my Fight For Air climb here.

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An Early Valentine

Yesterday I completely surprised myself and slept in until 8!

Having only 2 eggs and no toast in the apartment, we decided to go out for our morning meal.

I ordered the veggie omelet with a side of wheat toast and fruit.

The fruit cup had almost half a banana on top, but I couldn’t resist digging in as soon as it was put in front of me. :)

I spent the afternoon volunteering for the Salvation Army Junior Auxiliary at the Salvation Army’s Carr P. Collins Center. We put on a Valentine’s Day dessert party and decorated Valentine’s Day cookies with the women and children of the center.

This was my kitchen on Friday night …

I had a blast baking, stuffing goodie bags and buying all the decorations – who doesn’t love Valentine’s Day?!

Such a fun and rewarding way to spend a Saturday afternoon! I’m so thankful for all the wonderful volunteers who helped bring supplies and put on this great event!


What is the most rewarding thing you’ve done lately??

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Match Point

Last night Jarod and I went to a tennis tournament, The Challenger of Dallas.

I had only ever watched tennis on TV so it was exciting to watch the action live. A 120+ mile serve looks a lot more powerful in person! We stayed for a few hours, but wanted to leave a bit early to beat the rush. Definitely a fun and unique way to spend a Tuesday evening!

Flashback to Monday’s dinner. I’ve been having a minor love affair with legumes lately and want to incorporate them in as many meals as possible. Monday night’s legume of choice was black beans.

Quinoa & Black Bean Stuffed Peppers
serves 2 

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup rainbow quinoa – cooked in 1/2 cup water or vegetable broth
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 garlic glove – chopped
  • 1/4 cup diced onion
  • 1 large carrot – diced
  • 1 celery rib – diced
  • 1 medium tomato – chopped
  • 1/2 cup cooked black beans (I used canned)
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 tbs nutritional yeast
  • 2 medium-sized bell peppers (any color will work, but I preferred the red)

I decided to add the tomato at the last minute.

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 420 degrees.
  • Bring water or vegetable broth to a boil in a small saucepan and add quinoa. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes.
  • While cooking quinoa, chop all your veggies.
  • Add oil to a pan and sauté veggies for 10 minutes.
  • Add in spices, nutritional yeast beans, quinoa and mix until just combined.
  • Cut peppers in half and scoop out insides.
  • Fill peppers with quinoa/bean mixture.
  • Bake in a dish, covered with foil for 30 minutes in a 425 degree oven.
  • 9. Remove foil, turn oven up to 450 and bake for 10 more minutes.

I topped  mine with salsa, but I bet they’d be really good with a little cheese thrown on top during the last 5-10 minutes of baking.

Have you ever been to a live tennis match? Which sport would you most rather watch live vs on TV?

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What Weekends Are Made For

I initially wrote a long, wordy, boring recap of my weekend. Then, highlighted the entire post and pressed delete.

Why in the world do you want to know what I did every step of the way, you don’t.

So instead of a detailed recap, please enjoy the following highlight reel:

  • Mat Kearny Concert. One word, amazing.
  • A short, brisk walk; rewarded with warm coffee and breakfast.
  • Dozing off on the couch (multiple times).
  • Saw Haywire. Entertaining, but did not live up to the hype. Can’t complain about looking at Channing Tatum for an hour and a half. ;)
  • A quick, easy and delicious meal that came together in less than 15 minutes. Recipe coming soon.
  • Enjoyed a few glasses of wine and live music. I blame the wine for the horrible photo.

  • Super Bowl watch party with friends wouldn’t be complete without a super spread of food – I’m sure this looks pretty identical to a lot of Super Bowl spread posts you’ll be seeing today. :)

All-in-all I had an incredible weekend full of great food, wonderful friends, zero minutes spent at the gym and a lot of memories made.

Your turn!

What would you include in you weekend highlights reel? 

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“It’s always winter somewhere.”

As soon as I got home from work last night, Jarod and I went out to one of our favorite sushi restaurants, Sushi Axiom, to take advantage of their 5-7pm Hour Hour.

After a quick review of their extremely limited 1/2 price sushi menu, we decided to park ourselves at the sushi bar and order from the regular menu. I now prefer sitting at the bar at sushi restaurants, it’s so much fun to watch the chefs work their magic and see the variety of rolls that are ordered – taking note of what looks good for future visits. :)

We shared three rolls that were all equally delicious.

The Pacific Roll (pictured halfway through eating):

The Atlantic Roll (again, just in time to snap the last few pieces):

The Sashimi Roll

Once we finished our rolls, the sushi chef handed us a sample of their tuna nachos (a 1/2 priced item on the Happy Hour menu) – hands down the best nacho I’ve ever had! I think we will give the Happy Hour menu a chance next time.

We ended the night, once again, with frozen yogurt. What can I say? We love it.

Yesterday morning’s workout was quick and random – in and out in 30 minutes.

I started with a 10 minute jog on the treadmill to warm up, followed by a short leg circuit and one round of Tabata:

3 sets of 15 for each:

  • Leg Press
  • Leg Extension
  • Leg Curl

For the Tabata, perform each exercise for 20 seconds with 10 seconds rest in between each one (click the link for a video demonstration):

I finished out with 1 minute plank hold and 10 push ups. whew!

My saving grace for these workouts is this FREE Tabata Timer app I discovered on my iPhone. It’s free for a limited time so go download it right now!

All you do is push start and you’re ready to begin! The best part is the cute icon that pops up when you’re finished – makes me feel like champ!

Thought of the moment:

I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Puxatony Phil has predicted 6 more weeks of Winter, yet with temperatures reaching 70 degrees yesterday it’s looking like Dallas is well on its way to Spring.

What are your thoughts on Puxatony’s prediction?

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