Website Update

Is everyone able to access my site through www.joggerslife.com?

I recently migrated my website from Blogger to Wordpress, so if you're seeing this post, you most likely need to update your feed.

You can access the website through www.joggerslife.com or through www.joggerslife.wordpress.com

I will be deleting the Blogger site very soon, in order to avoid any confusion!

Maybe I Don't Have Time to Run

But I sure do have time to eat!

Normally, I love possessing the knowledge that I am eating to run. I'm fueling my body so that I can do better on my next workout.

However, since I've only been to the gym twice at lunch during the past 1.5 weeks, and only for strength/core training, I'm not really fueling for any good, purposeful reason. Eating has been kind of just...eating to eat.

Oh, but it has been fun. When is eating not fun? I mean, unless you're on Fear Factor of course.

One main highlight is that I have happily been relatively land-animal-free for the past 3 weeks. I have also been relatively green-smootie-fabulous for the past 3 weeks. I'm finding solace in the fact that although I haven't sweat profusely in way too long, at least I'm not filling myself full of chemicals.

Here's a snippet of my most recent life in food (today's lunch):

Amy's organic cheddar cheese burrito
Birds Eye Steam Fresh cauliflower & broccoli with Amy's Organic horseradish mustard & organic tamari soy sauce
Apple


Tonight, schedule permitting, I will post pictures and a recipe for Roasted Brussels Sprouts. I know, I know.

But these are not your Mom's steamed Brussels sprouts. I promise.

In addition, last night I attempted to make almond butter. At 10:30PM. With a really loud food processor. HA! Take that, loud, piano-playing upstairs people! But, after about 15 minutes of loud food processing, I felt guilty. Because I'm a chronically guilty individual. So, I put everything in the fridge so that I can finish at another time. A more daylight-ish time. Or, when the upstairs Canadians are in Canada again.

*Note to self: start telling heinous stories about the upstairs neighbors!



So did everyone know that I moved all of my coupon info to a new website? From there, you can also access the store to purchase your very own coupon binder. I can't believe how they're selling...it's madness!

And, just in case you thought I forgot you, Amy...I didn't. Your binder is going out tomorrow. I'm losing my mind, but not enough to forget that!

Contests around Blogville

My world continues to spin entirely too fast, but that will not ever stop me from telling you about contests being held around the blogosphere!


Check them out!

Strawberry Shortstuff is giving away the most adorable shirt.

Tales of Expansion is giving away freebies from Bob's Red Mill. So exciting! I love Bob's.

Chic Runner is giving away a $100 gift certificate to Onlineshoes.com. **gasp!** Free shoes??!!

Product Review: Nature's Promise Peanut Butter Honey Roasted Snack Bar

I am taking a break from my crazed life as an accountant to bring you a product review! Aren't you so excited?

But first.

How long can one stare at an Excel spreadsheet without permanently fusing grid lines on the lens of their eyeball? I'm just wondering.

Oh. One more thing.

Why is it that the only thing that I want to consume while I'm feverishly accounting are Snicker's bars? I hate Snicker's bars. They make my teeth hurt. But, for some reason, that's all I want these days. I haven't given into the madness and actually consumed one (for fear of dying from sugar shock).

So now, I'm searching for a non-genetically-altered, relatively chemical-free version of a Snicker's bar.

In my spare time.

I'll let you know when I find it. Spare time as well as the healthy Snicker's bar.



Today, I'm reviewing this Nature's Promise Peanut Butter Honey Roasted Snack Bar. The name is a bit of a tongue twister. A little long for my taste, but that's ok. It's only a minor detail.

Smell: I opened the package and didn't really smell anything until I really tried to smell it. As soon as I got very close, I smelled mostly peanuts.

Texture: The bar is quite sticky due to all of the honey, which is keeping everything stuck together. I was surprised that the peanuts were still crunchy, but that was a good thing. There's nothing worse than mushy peanuts in a snack bar. Gross.

Taste: There wasn't much depth to the taste. It's basically peanuts and honey. The end. I was kind of sad. I was expecting it to taste like peanut butter (as the name would suggest), so I was disappointed. I love peanut butter, but there wasn't a trace of the stuff in this bar.

The Verdict: I didn't hate this snack bar. I just can't say that I'd ever buy it again. I just sort of felt "meh" about it. It was crunchy and a good snack to eat with some yogurt or cottage cheese, but I wasn't really impressed. I wish that it would've tasted more like peanut butter, and less like plain peanuts.

I'm still giving it my Jogger's Seal of Approval, even though it didn't live up to my expectations.

They're kind of high.

I don't blame you, Nature's Promise Peanut Butter Honey Roasted Snack Bar. Your name is just too long. That seems like a heavy burden to bear.

Jumping Hurdles...

I'm trying to keep it all together over here.

In my universe, this time of year means year-end closing for 4 companies, taxes, audits, and an overabundance of sheer annoyance. I always take 2 steps forward...just so that I can take 3 more back.

I need a Valium.

My training is severely suffering this week. Sunday was my fantastic 8 miler. Tuesday my plans for running 6 miles after work were foiled because I left work late, and the dogs were completely out of dog food. Sometimes I need a personal assistant.

Last night, the plan was to make up the 6 miles that I missed. I brought some work home with me (even though I have no place to sit down and comfortably do it, since the new dining room table we ordered 4 weeks ago has still not arrived), so I was comfortable with the idea of taking an hour of my scant free time to run.

I began the run tired. I jogged tired. I gasped and hacked and coughed. Still tired.

Then my shins got tired.

Then my brain completely shut down.

The end.

I proceeded to walk home with my tired body and shins and brain. After completing only 1.85 miles. Pffftttttt!!! I went home and cried.

Then I started working, got about 20 minutes in, and decided that if I remotely changed the resolution on my work computer, it would speed up my connection at home (VPN). Yeah, don't ever try that. Make your resolution changes prior to leaving your real computer at the office. Otherwise, you will cry again, and won't get any more work done for the rest of the night.

It was basically a completely awful and unproductive evening.

I ended the evening with a pity party and a veggie fest of a dinner. I suppose that the veggies were my only positive during for the night. Thank God for veggies. I had grilled zucchini squash w/ mushrooms, mashed cauliflower with cheddar, steamed broccoli, and some of my favorite cottage cheese. My Gazelle's reaction?

"Aren't you havin' any steak?"

"Meh. Steak is for men."

And now, I am trying to put on my happy face because today is our anniversary! He has to work tonight (naturally), so we're doing lunch today to celebrate. It was a lovely surprise when I slugged into work today and found two anniversary cards (a funny and a sweet) and this cute little desk plaque thingy in my purse:



It does make me smile when I look at it. I love the simplicity of it. And the way that he left the price tag on it. It's so...so...him.

Changes

In an effort to make our life together a little more organized, I am making some changes around here. Soon, a new page layout will be unrolled, and you'll be amazed.

I'm not sure if you'll be amazed, but at the very least, you'll be entertained with the new layout. Until the novelty wares off anyway...


In addition, I have moved all of the content regarding coupon binders and tutorials to my coupon binder store website. If you're interested in all things coupon/money saving, please add www.couponbinderstore.com to your blogroll, as I'll be posting any future posts of that nature on my new site.


I'll be focusing my posts on Jogger's Life on the things that I love the most:

Jogging.
Exercising.
Eating.

It's sort of like separation of church and state. Only better.

The Foodie Giveaways are Ridiculous this Week!

I'm getting dizzy with all of the giveaways! My head is spinning! It's insanity!

Most of these don't require that you have a blog to enter, so give it a shot non-bloggers! Have fun!


Missy Maintains is giving away a really cool selection of Michael's Season's goodies.

Run To The Finish is giving away a canister of goodness from My Way Cereal!

Run, Eat, Repeat is giving away a Quaker gift bag.

Julie Go Lean is giving away some of her favorite things...they just so happen to look like some of my favorite things too!

Melon Cauliflower is giving away a selection of goodies in her Survive the Slump contest.

The Hungry Yogini is giving away Barney Butter. I still have not tried this stuff, and I'm still dying to.

Healthnut Em is giving away the most adorable I <3 Oatmeal t-shirt. I must win one.

Jumbo Empanadas is giving away a Vita Mix blender. Fo reals??!! I could totally use one of those for my Green Smoothies!

Danica is giving away a selection of Annie's Treats! It's her first giveaway!

Product Review: Old Wessex Ltd. Scottish Style Porridge Oats

Breakfast in my house growing up was all about cold cereal and peanut butter toast.

Sometimes, I would pretend like I was working on the set of a major cereal box photo shoot. I would make myself the very breakfast which was featured on the front of my cereal box. You know, when cereal boxes used to have pictures of breakfast rather than movie stars and silly looking characters.

Huge bowl of cereal with milk. White bread toast with copious amounts of margarine. A banana. Orange juice.

Amen.

Now that's a health, well-balanced breakfast!

Right Food Pyramid?

The only time when there was a change of breakfast pace was when my dad made pancakes and bacon on Sunday mornings. The smell of bacon would wake my husky little ass up out of bed, I would run downstairs, and the feast would begin.

Most mornings, my mother ate puffed rice cereal. In my opinion, puffed rice cereal is the thing that makes people want to go on hunger strikes. To cease existing. To fall on the ground and plead for something to eat other than puffed rice cereal.

Puffed rice cereal?

Why?!

Some mornings, however, my dad would whip out his culinary expertise (I kid), and surprise mom with a nice steaming bowl of oatmeal.

In my childhood huskiness, when breakfast only included those things which were advertised on the front of the Lucky Charms box, oatmeal was strictly off limits. Moms ate oatmeal.


Now, I'm a fan of oatmeal, but I'm picky. I don't do packets of oatmeal. I don't like how they chop up the oats so much. I like my oats whole and hearty. Husky, if you will.

This morning for breakfast, I partook in a bowl of Old Wessex Ltd. Scottish Style Porridge Oats.



I picked up this container for $3.75 at MOM's (My Organic Market) yesterday. I thought the price was reasonable, and I was ready to try some new oats, so I went for it!

The Preparation:
I cooked my oats in the microwave for 3 minutes at 50% power, stirred, then cooked or another 2 minutes at 50% power. I always cook my oats at 50% power when I'm at work because otherwise, I blow them up and make a mess of the microwave. My boss doesn't really like it when I do that, especially since then it takes me like 10 minutes to clean blown-up oats from the microwave. Not the best way to get my quarterly bonus.

After taking them out of the microwave, I added a tablespoon of almond butter, and about 1/2 cup of almond breeze. Then I sprinkled the top with some HempPlus granola.

The Initial Impression:
I really liked the way that the oats smelled when they came out of the microwave. They looked cooked, but still retained their shape. For me, this is key, because I don't really do mushy oats. I'm just not a fan of the texture.

The Verdict:
I might be partial to these oats due to familial heritage alone, but I love them. I really liked how the individual oats did not mush out. They were actually chewy, which was a very welcome surprise for me.

I will be adding these oats to my short list of foods to buy on the regular. They are hearty, good for you, and chewy. That's fun.

Up and Down. And Up. And Down. And Up...

And down.

That is what I did today for 8 miles.

Hello? Did you hear me?

I said EIGHT miles!

Not 4 miles. Or even 6 miles.

EIGHT miles!!

I did it by myself, and I walked for a total of 3:31, but my pace was still not too painfully slow (for me).

Here she is:



And this picture has been brought to you by MotionBased, thanks to the technological reciprocity that it shares with my cute little Garmin 305.

My Sweet Gazelle bought me the 305 for our anniversary. Knowing how incredibly badly I was jonesin for my very own Garmin, he gave it to me the day that it arrived on our doorstep. One more reason to love him.

So far, I've done 6 runs with 305, but during one of them, my battery died. Hence, I have learned to charge 305 as soon as I arrive home from my run! I am absolutely in love with my Garmin, and I think that everyone should get one of their own.

I also love how on days like today, when I'm running with an overabundance of bodies littered on MY trail around the lake, my beeping Garmin scares everyone and makes them move. Maybe they think I'm harnessing a bomb. I don't really care what they think, as long as they move.

Funny thing happened today. I came across one of those annoying zoomers during the last 1.5 miles of my run. Although I kept a steady (albeit slow) pace throughout my run, I was gassed out by the time that I got back to the lake path for my last 1.5 miles. As soon as I got back on the path, there was a pretty big hill to climb, and I had already done like 12,574 hills during the previous 6.5 miles. I was still running (albeit slow), and this guy zoomed right past me.

He had one of those weird 1995 spiked hairdos. And a very, very flat butt. That's all I saw as he zoomed by.

I am used to people zooming past me pretty often. Most people are keeping at least a 10:00/mile pace, and I'm just not there yet. I've figured out that I have staying power, but I'm not even a little bit fast.

So, Spikey Flat Butt zoomed past me, and I was like "meh...whatever". I already ran 6.5 miles bizotch.

So then at the top of the hill, Spikey Flat Butt is walking. I jogged past him.

A quarter mile later, SFB zooms by me again.

I proceeded to pass him again, as he walked off his tenth of a mile sprint. I don't know...maybe he was doing interval training or something, but that's just not generally something that people do on the lake loop.

We repeated this for for at least 1/2 mile, and finally I got fed up and just jetted past him. I have no idea where the energy came from. Sheer annoyance most likely.

Today's incident reminded me of the last 5K I did wherein this chubby kid kept doing the zoom/walk bit. I would pass him while he walked, then he would zoom past me as I jogged. Then walk again.

Repeat. For 2 entirely too long miles.

Unfortunately, during that race, I didn't have the same annoyance energy reserves as I did today. So, the chubby zoomer finished before me.

Grrr.

But not Spikey Flat Butt. There was no way I was getting crushed again by a zoomer. Especially not by a Spikey Flat Butted zoomer.

Speaking of Peanut Butter

I am crazy about peanut butter. There seems to be a serious peanut butter movement going on in the Bloggiverse lately. All of this talk of peanut butter is making me feel the need to run out and buy every variety of peanut butter that I can find. Or, maybe not. Maybe I'll just enter The Food Snob's Contest.

I am seriously dying at the thought of winning Jungle banana, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, and Raspberry White Chocolate PEANUT BUTTER!

So, please don't enter this contest. Because I want to win. And if you enter, you'll steal my winning entry.

Product Review: Nike Air Pegasus+ 25

In case you missed the news on Wednesday during my drunken shoe porn post, I purchased a new pair of running shoes. One of my favorite things in the whole world. I bypassed all of the spring beauties in my local shoe mecca (a.k.a. DSW Shoe Warehouse), and opted for new running shoes. How very practical of me.

I tried on approximately 8 pair of running shoes that day, and even went so far as to take my custom orthos out of my shoe and insert them into the potential new running shoes.

Gross you say?

Maybe.

But I'm just not taking any chances with my money...in this economy. PS...is anyone else sufficiently sick of hearing that phrase yet? Me too!

The Nike Air Pegasus+ 25 was smack in the middle of my running shoe party at DSW. I ended up trying on several pair before and after, and ultimately went back to the Air Pegasus+ 25 and tried them on again. This time, both feet.

And proceeded to walk around the entire clearance section wearing them.

For about an hour.

Hey, like I said. I'm not taking any chances with my money. In this economy.

After wearing them for 1/2 of my adult life, I felt sufficiently satisfied that these were "the ones", and paid $74.95 for them. I thought this price was very reasonable. Especially considering the fact that I had just worn them for free for the past hour. The least I could do was pay for the rest of my time with them.

Some info about the shoe itself from the Nike website:


Celebrating 25 years in the making, the Nike Air Pegasus+ 25 Women's Running Shoe is the most advanced incarnation yet, including Nike+ technology to help track your training progress.

Nike+ enabled for instant workout feedback when used with a Nike+ SportBand or iPod® nano and Nike + iPod Sport Kit
Built on women's specific last just for her
Breathable mesh with 360-degree supportive overlays
Full-length Air-Sole unit embedded in PU midsole
Women's radiused Crash Pad with women's Fitsole
BRS1000 carbon rubber heel for durability
Waffle pattern outsole for responsiveness and cushioning
Weight: 9.6 oz. based on Women's size 8


Appearance-wise, these shoes are very cute. The green/dark grey combo makes me think "spring". And who couldn't use a little more "spring" in their life?



Speaking of spring.

One of the first tests that I do on all runners before I even try them on is the "spring" test. I bend back the shoe from the toe to the middle, and see how easily it rolls into itself, and then see how well it springs back to normal. According to my PT, this is one of the things that I need to be concerned with because I have a chronically rigid foot. If the shoe is rigid at the mid-foot (arch area to the ball of the foot under the toes), then I'm screwed. Shoes like that cause me to run like I have on cement shoes...all cloppy and heavy-footed.

Out of all of the runners that I did my incredibly scientific "spring" test on that day, these were the ones with the most flexible sole. Some of them didn't even make it on my foot because they couldn't pass my spring test. Poor things. They never had a chance.

The color of these shoes is actually much brighter than is depicted on the Nike website. And, by "dark gray", they actually mean "silver". Because It's not dark gray. Unless I'm color blind or something.

Last night, I inserted my orthos in place of the regular Nike insoles, and prepared for a 4 mile spin in my new Air Pegasus+ 25's. When I got everything all tied up and ready to roll, I noticed a bit of slippage in the heel area...like my foot was too high in the shoe due to my insole, and was going to be uncomfortable during the run.

I also notice this with my standard Nikes...and my Saucony's. I'm thinking that my orthos might be a little too "built up" in the heel. Up until last night, I was just running with them anyway, and not thinking much of the "slippy heel" issue.

Rather than continue being a fu$kt@rd, (thanks GQH-that's my favorite new word) and running with the insoles, I opted to remove them and use the standard Nike insoles.

The Result:

I loved them!

My calves were already sore yesterday when I started running from doing stability work on Moday and Tuesday, but I didn't have any knee pain at all during my run. My calves didn't ache or provide any additional pain...in fact, they felt much better as I kept running.

I found the shoe provided just enough stability for me to feel comfortable, but not so much that it felt rigid. Although Nike is not notorious for their "stable" running shoes, I found that these were a good neutral shoe with a fair amount of cushion to absorb the pounding of my large man-calves on the pavement.

With the subtraction of my insoles, I'm also starting to feel like I'm not so high-maintenance in the running department, and that was an awesome feeling.

The Day After:
My calves are still mildly sore today, but not more than they were prior to the inaugural run of the Air Pegasus+ 25's. No knee pain, no calf pain, and no excessive calf tightness.

My final verdict is that these runners get the Jogger's Seal of Approval. I'll run with them daily now.

Drunken Shoe Porn in Honor of The Gazelle

In honor of my bloggie friend, Gazelles on Crack, I present you with the following Drunken Shoe Porn.

Tonight I went out for drinks for my friend Mandy's birthday. I only had 1.75 beers while at the restaurant, so I was well-equipped to drive home (well after I finished my .75 of the last beer). Naturally, I decided to have a glass of the already opened wine when I got home.

Well...I don't want it to go bad, ya know?

Mmmmm hmmmmm. Right.

After I partook in my glass of half-rancid wine (which I just spelled "whine"), I made good on my promise and began the drunken shoe porn photo shoot.

This is me, almost drunk, with a really bad hairdo. Seriously, non-cyber friends. Could you have told me that my hair looked like s&it tonight? I mean, I knew it wasn't a good hair day, but I had no idea it was this bad.



This is me, almost drunk, holding the red shoe, which was the motivating force which caused this whole silly photo shoot. I just took notice that in this picture, it clearly appears as though I am a pre-op tranny. This upsets me, but rest assured...it's just my ill-fitting jeans.



Here is my extremely large man-calf (the source of all of my running strife), which is only slightly de-manified by the beautiful girly shoe on my hoof.



Aren't they lovely?



And, since I don't ever know when to leave well-enough alone, here are a few of my other favorites. This is the early spring edition...no sandals included, because those are still in storage. Maybe there'll be a spring edition of Drunken Shoe Porn. Oh, the suspense.

Super pointy-toed BCBG Girls, which are surprisingly comfortable, considering the Halloween-ish toe and all.



Nine West patent peep toes. I love these, but they are a bit on the uncomfortable side. Which doesn't necessarily stop me from wearing them. Don't tell my physical therapist. Please.



And, because no woman's closet would be complete without a pair of purple suede peep toes...




Did I mention that prior to my drunken night with da ladies, I stopped at DSW Shoe Warehouse? The heavens parted when I walked into DSW this evening. It was like a breath of fresh spring air. I walked through aisles and aisles of sandals and flats and dress shoes. And, after nearly an hour of wandering the aisles, I came out victorious.

With a new pair of runners.

Typical.



There were like 5,872,928 pair of shoes in the store, and 5,872,900 of them were not runners. But, I walked out with a pair of runners.



And aren't they adorable?!

Product Review: Truvia & Story Time

I must first say that I grew up on artificial sweeteners. My Momma has been type I diabetic since I could remember, so our house was padded with plenty of diet soda and sugar free candy.

In the 4th grade, I went on a field trip to The Burnet Park Zoo, which was a huge deal since I had never been to a zoo before in my life. Or, if I had, I just didn't remember it. I was so excited about the trip, and I loved the fact that my Momma so lovingly packed me a great lunch. She also packed me a root beer soda, which was really a treat, because I very rarely got to drink soda.

Since my school was way too cheap to rent a pavilion at the Zoo, we had to retreat back to the bus to eat our lunch. This was back in the days when the seats on buses weren't 16 feet high. You could see everything that was going on around you without even trying.

In the 4th grade, I was a little on the husky (see definition #1) side, and for some reason, everyone was always worried about what I was eating.

Needless to say, it was 'all eyes on the husky girl' as I pulled out my lunch.


Peanut butter and jelly sandwich...check.

Barbeque chips...check.

Disgusting creme-filled cookies...check.

Waist Watcher Root Beer soda...check!


I got completely blasted by my classmates for having this Waist Watcher soda. They thought it was hilarious that the husky girl was trying to watch her waist. They were relentless. I tried to justify that the name was not "weight watcher"...it was "waist watcher", so this somehow made it more reasonable for a husky 4th grader to partake in this beverage. They didn't see my point.

Oh well.

I thoroughly enjoyed that soda anyway, and I survived the abuse.

The moral of the story is that I am no stranger to artificial sweetener.

You didn't think that was the moral?

Surely, it was.

*****

Lately, I have been trying to cut out all sweeteners, natural or artificial. However, I do still enjoy the occasional cup of coffee--extra sweet, of course. I have been using Splenda religiously for many years, but one day in the grocery store, the giant boxes of Truvia were on sale. I had a coupon. And, you know how I feel about coupons.

Coupon + sale = heaven.

I purchased 80 packets of Truvia ("Nature's Calorie Free Sweetener") for $3.99, and since I was so excited about trying a new sweetener, I was very excited to get it at such a great price.

The following morning, I tried 2 packets in my morning coffee.


Initial Impressions:

The flip-top lid on the box is way cool. I liked the simple design on the box, and the strawberry looks delicious.

Upon opening the packet, I smelled the contents (which is a bad habit of mine), and the granules smelled sweet. There didn't seem to be a strange smell, which was good. I touched the contents of the packet, and they felt like sugar. When I moved the contents around in the packet, it sounded like sugar.

I put both packets in my coffee with regular creamer.

Although Truvia looked and sounded like sugar, unfortunately, it didn't taste like sugar.

I took one sip of my coffee and had to dump the rest out and start over. The taste was so bad that I can't even explain it with words. I opted for no sweetener that morning, since I was out of Splenda because I had given my heart and soul to that $3.99 box of Truvia.

And, because I had no words to describe the wretched taste, I had to ask my coworker to try it as well. I didn't tell her if I liked it or hated it, I just told her that I had "that new Truvia stuff" if she wanted to try it. She tried it, and said that it tasted like "iron".

I'm not sure what iron tastes like exactly, but it's probably not something that I want in my morning coffee.

I Just Thought you Should Know.

I have not died.

I am merely buried in a heaping pile of end of fiscal year paperwork. This will be my life for at least 3 more weeks. Hopefully I will survive.

I shall write something more meaningful later, likely involving Green Smoothies, my new Garmin (YESSSSS!!!!), and how to really piss your neighbors off at 11:30PM.

Thoughtful Thursday

After a brief hiatus from Thoughtful Thursdays, I'm back.

Don't be scared.

1) I've come to terms with the fact that I don't want to be a CPA. However, I still feel like I need to be "something". When I nonchalantly faced My Gazelle with this conversation on Sunday night, he responded, "well, what do you want to do?" My response? "I'm just not ready to speak it into the universe yet!" Then I ran away. Literally. That's just what I do.

I felt like he asked me the formula to calculate the speed of light. Or the correct way to divide a recipe into 2 (this has never been my strong point). I ran away because even though I fully know what I want to be, I constantly struggle with self doubt. I don't know if I will succeed at the things I really want to do in life. I'm an accountant, and I'm good at it, but it's not my passion. I feel like there is more out there for me. I have a strong desire to help. The three career choices that I wanted to pursue as a junior in high school searching for colleges were as follows:

1) Physical therapist
2) Social worker
3) Occupational therapist

I'm an accountant. I often sit back and wonder how I got "here". I consistently failed math from grades K-12. You do the math.

2) Today I am officially almost better after the mysterious debilitating sickness that fell upon me after my run on Sunday. I still have this pesky headache that comes and goes, and the occasional cough, but for the most part I'm doing well. I'm considering a short run tonight to test the waters. On Monday, I was already planning my running schedule this week around my sickness. I announced to My Gazelle on Monday night "I will run Thursday, Friday & Sunday this week...it'll be ok." So, hopefully a run tonight will not set me back, but I'll take it easy just in case.

3) I'm chalking up my quick recovery (4 days isn't bad at all) to my recent commitment to The Green Smoothie Challenge, lots of Airborne, homeopathic nasal spray, the Vick's Personal Steam Inhaler, and sleep.

4) Speaking of The Green Smoothie Challenge, if you haven't tried your first Green Smoothie, please do. The things are not as bad as they might seem. Today is day #5, and I am pretty convinced that the benefits of drinking these smoothies are huge. Anyone who has **ahem** abdominal issues **ahem** should really consider drinking these bad boys. As I mentioned before, it took the first 2 days for my body to become used to all of the veggies and fiber in one shot, but it's been smooth sailing for the past 3 days. I even convinced My Gazelle to try his first smoothie on day #3, and he's been on the bandwagon with me ever since. This is from a man who will only eat broccoli, green beans, and raw carrots.

5) It didn't really occur to me how labor intensive putting together 12 coupon binders would be. Until I had to put together 12 coupon binders. I had no idea that the response would be so overwhelming for my silly old binders. It does make me happy though! It has also prompted me to launch a website specifically for my coupon binders. There is obviously a need for these things, so I shall fill it! I already bought the domain name, so now I'm just getting everything photographed and organized on the website/store. How fun!

6) I never did make those bacon chocolate chip cookies. I need to do that this weekend.

7) Speaking of this weekend. I'm kind of sad because this is the first weekend that my Gazelle will be working a whole weekend after a month of free or semi-free weekends. He would of had Sunday off, but instead he picked up an overtime shift from 1PM-9PM. It makes me sad, but hopefully he's putting aside some cashola for that which I shall never again save on my desktop again.

8) How many blog giveaways do I have to enter before I actually win something? Just wondering. I'm going to start counting entries so that I can come up with some sort of odds like in Vegas. Because I think I've entered about 50 contests in the past 10 days, and no wins yet!

Seriously...ANOTHER Giveaway??

I just have to say that Lucky Tastebuds is giving things away left and right. Now it's a $20 gift certificate to Mix My Granola.com. And I think that's fantastic.

You will too.

I promise.

It's (Almost) our Anniversary

In two weeks, My Gazelle and I will be celebrating our 2 year anniversary. This is fun and momentous, not only because I love him so, but because we have indeed dealt with our fair share of trials and tribulations over the past 2 years.

Mostly during the first 8 months of our relationship.

Mostly due to the fact that I was hormonally imbalanced on tri-phasal birth control (I could write a book about that stuff).

Partially due to the fact that he wasn't "ready" for a relationship.

The fun thing is that none of that even matters anymore. We're happy, healthy, and well-adjusted. And we're both excited about our anniversary. Proud that we made it this far together. Glad to have stuck together through all of the drama.

More specifically, I'm happy to have requested a Garmin 305 for my ever-important anniversary. I know it's probably selfish, but I don't care.

And I'm very happy that it is on the way to me at this very moment.

Actually, giddy is probably a more appropriate word.

Also, I find it ironic that I requested a fitness-related Garmin 305, and My Gazelle requested the equally-as-fitness-related TRX Suspension Trainer. We're total nerds.



The thing is, I'm just wondering if anyone has one of these TRX jobbys, or if they've tried one before. I'm not keen on spending $200 on something if I'm not sure that it'll work. It looks really cool...I just don't know whether it actually works or not.

Virgin Athlete Contest

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.

I love socks.

Considering this fact, there was no way that I was going to let Steve's Drymax sock contest pass me by without an entry. The deadline is tonight at midnight, and I was finally able to put in my entry this morning. The contest is called "Tales of a Virgin Athlete", and in order to enter, one must write a story in 300 words or less that falls in the line of the title theme.

This was no problem for me.

I just had to wait for my mother to email me an appropriate photo depicting my budding childhood softball career. I was quite the athlete. It was apparent to all who knew me.



What...you don't see it?



My mother emailed this beautiful picture to me yesterday morning, but I was at home dying and didn't get the email. When she didn't get the attention that she needed from me, she proceeded to also send this picture to My Sista. According to My Momma, My Sista responded back with the following:

"Hey...I don't remember Beth when she was a beaver!"

Man, I love that girl.


Here is my entry:
-------------------------------------
The fact that I am entering a contest that has the word "athlete" in
the title is laughable. Sure, sure. I jog, I sweat, I lift weights
and do core work. I "train". However, athletes have been doing those
things since they were in their mother's womb.

My first word was "hungry".

Luckily, my father embraced the fact that he was blessed with two
little girls in his world. As soon as we were allowed to participate,
he got my big sister and I involved in softball. On summer evenings,
we would hurry outside after dinner to get in as much practice as
possible before dark.

We would stand in a triangle formation, throwing the ball to each
other on the front lawn. Sometimes my dad would throw the ball really
fast, just to see if we could handle the pain. Sometimes, he'd pitch
us a fast grounder, causing us to scramble to keep the ball from
rolling into the cornfield. He’d get out the aluminum bat, and
Jessica and I ran after the balls as he batted.

I still remember the "clink" of the ball on that aluminum bat.

I was a terrible softball player. Since I was not especially
coordinated, talented, fast, or athletic, I was ousted to center
field. Very few balls ever entered center field. When I did encounter
the occasional fly ball, I would struggle to field the ball solely to
get it out of my area. I knew the ball had no hope with me. I had to
immediately deliver it to a capable, talented, coordinated athlete!

Although I sucked, I loved softball.

The way my Dad laughed as I clumsily floundered for the ball. The way
he never missed a single game.

The way the memories have stuck to my brain like glue.

More Bloggie Giveaways!

I'm not very good at being sick. Well into the throes of Consumption, I'm sure that I would deny the fact that I was inadvertently hacking up my left lung. Sickness is not something that I fall prey to. I generally just calmly plow through life, sickness free. And, if I do happen to end up sick, I never admit it. If I don't admit it, then it never was. Right?

Yes, well.

This is a sickness I can't deny. My boss sent me home from work yesterday because I was clearly going downhill fast. When I arrived home, My Gazelle told me that I was "hot like fire". I guess that's a bad thing in this case. I basically got in bed, and haven't got out for more than 5 minutes since then.

In the spirit of this inexplicable debilitating sickness that has caused me to call into work today for the first time in 2 years, I want to share some cool giveaways with you!


Foods That Fit is giving away a very impressive spread of goodies. That damn Barney Butter has popped up again...and I'm still dying to try it!

Missy Maintains is giving away a selection of Erin's Bakers yummies!

Runner's Lounge is giving away socks. I love socks.

And that is all for now.

I'm going to go die now.

The Green Smoothie Movement

Yes, the pun was intended.



So, I did it. I broke down and replaced the forsaken Magic Bullet Lost in the Divorce. I really tried to come up with another viable solution because The Magic Bullet just conjures up images of many, many protein shakes that replaced actual meals that I should have eaten.

It's all quasi-symbolic. I left my Magic Bullet behind with my ex husband and my eating disorder. And I don't even know what to call that dysfunctional smoothie.

Alas, there was no better solution. I put aside my irrational fear of The Magic Bullet and officially 'moved on' in the appliance aisle at Walmart. It was all very cathartic. There was just no denying that The Magic Bullet is a machine of everlasting joy and beauty.

Especially when you live in a 675 square foot condo, with less than 1 square foot of counter space.



After I purchased the MB, I promptly went to the grocery store to pick up the necessary ingredients for my Green Smoothies. Luckily, my local Giant was having a serious sale on all things produce, so I took advantage of that fact fully.



I picked up a bag of spinach (I'm going to get another bag tonight because they were only $1.99/bag, but my store only had 1), a bag of kale, 4 cucumbers (there is only one naked cuke in the pic), 4 pears, 10 apples (not pictured), 2 bunches of bananas (one ripe and one not so much), 4 oranges, and a box of milled flax seed. I sort of developed this hybrid list of ingredients by combining things that I learned from Krista's Kravings, Oh She Glows, Green Smoothie Challenge, and Strawberry Shortstuff.

This is what I threw in TMB for its' inaugural whirl.



I also threw in a tablespoon of milled flax seed, and since I'm a green smoothie wussy, a tablespoon of honey.

The result was green. Really, really green.



And did I mention that it was green?



The verdict: I'm going to officially sign up for The Green Smoothie Challenge, because my smoothie was strangely likeable. I did find the occasional kale vein that needed to be chewed, and my stomach has done a little extra churning for the past couple of days, but this is a small price to pay for health. My stomach will adjust, and kale veins are good for me.

I know that I don't get enough fruit and veggies in my diet. So do the rest of you who read this post. This is something that I've needed to address for a while, and now I have a good reason to make a new, positive change.