Sunday, June 26, 2011

weekend update with Adara...

This weekend was nothing short of splendid!

On Friday I put in a 9+ mile run with my mom. It was ridiculously hard, and at mile 8 I wanted to keel over from lack of fuel, but I finished and it was a great accomplishment! Then my night took me out with my Auggie ladies for another great night on the town! We always have such a good time and I look forward to every weekend we hang out!

Saturday I went to the Pride Festival in Loring park to watch my friend Amy perform. I have always been accepting of anyone from the GLBT community but this weekend just cemented even further how these individuals have been deprived too much. My goal in life is to be happy and respected and I want that for all other individuals. I see no reason that we deprive these people the right to marry their partner. I don't give a shit who you are, anyone who is in a loving, committed, wonderful relationship should be allowed to bond them self to another individual. I want others to have what I have. I feel so blessed everyday for my husband. He is truly the most caring, enduring, loving man and the comfort I feel with him is amazing. We made a commitment to one another, to love, cherish, and care for one another until we part in death. That right should be given to everyone. We deny these individuals from marrying, yet we allow abusive men to take wives, manipulative women to take husbands, and older individuals to marry underage individuals. As long as a relationship is positive and loving and both individuals are respected, I don't give a crap who is marrying who...and that is where I stand.

Now stepping off my soap box, Saturday night concluded with a wonderful dinner with my husband. When we lived in our apartment, one of us would declare it a night out for dinner and take to the Internet to find an interesting place to eat. A place we have never been to. Since moving in the with the D. Lo, we really have not done this so Saturday night we decided it was time to get back into the swing of things!

We ended up at Psycho Suzi's! SO MUCH FUN! The atmosphere is that of a tropical resort! We both commented on how it felt like when we went to dinner at the Hilton Resort in Hawaii during out honeymoon. And to add to the authenticity, I was wearing a dress I bought on our honeymoon!

We ended up being there for over two hours. It was hella packed but that added to the atmosphere. the food is general American fare. Burgers and Pizza and we started with an appetizer of cheese curds and pickle roll ups! How cool! While it sounds pretty normal, the food was far from your everyday burger and apps! It was so flavorful and delicious...everything we ate was top notch!

We then ended our evening with a drive around Minneapolis, looking at the river and the beautiful condos around it. This too is a favorite past time of ours. And we are dreamers so what better way to dream then looking at ridiculously beautiful and VERY expensive river front condos! We are glutton's for punishment!

The weekend ended with my mom and I going back down to pride to see Amy, then headed to Calhoun to do a nice easy 5k. It is crazy, but the more I run, the more I look forward to a nice relaxing 5k...I never thought I would say that! I just really enjoy hitting the pavement!

Now I am off to enjoy a nice dinner of chicken drummies and pasta salad with the husband! Thanks for Laura and Dave making us chicken drummies one night for dinner, we are now obsessed and love eating them often!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

taking a break...

So today was a great day of tracking my food intake with WW! I really love when I have a successful day and remember to track everything! I enjoyed a movie and dinner out with Alyssa tonight! Just an fyi, Sunmaid Raisinettes are 4p+ for 30...a very nice movie treat and I do not feel deprived! Of course I am also not opposed to sneaking in my own bag of light popcorn but with dinner at CPK before hand, that was not necessary this time!

Last night I did the 30 day shred and it was a nice break from running. And I had planned to do it again today, however, my mom and I are going to meet for our big run tomorrow so I decided that I would take the day off and really give my foot some rest. I just don't get what is up with it. One minute it will feel fine and the next, it feels like a muscle is pulled or something. I am icing, rolling my foot on a tennis ball, and of course resting it so let's hope it pays off! And good thing I am getting a big run in tomorrow cause I am going out with my Auggie ladies tomorrow night and may have a few drinks! Not too many though as Saturday morning I will be up bright and early for a 5k in Sauk Rapids!

Oh yeah, and did I forget to mention that I got promoted at work? I am moving to a new department on the 5th of July! I will be working with store presentation and am super excited for this new adventure!

In addition, Chaz could use some prayers, thoughts, and good vibes. He has been working tirelessly to find a job and nothing is seeming to budge. It is getting just a bit ridiculous over here! So thoughts and prayers would be much appreciated!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

peaches...

Last night I had an amazing run and was really proud of myself for not letting the weather get in the way. I am finding as I log more mile outdoors, I am not a huge fan of running on the treadmill. Needless to say, when I arrived home, there was a break in the rain and the sky cleared up a bit, so I decided to head out. I told the husband my running plan so he could come out in case of bad weather and off I went.

Last week I bought new running shoes, ones with more cushion: Asics Gels. They are much heavier then my Nike Free Runs so I almost feel like I am re-training but honestly, the Nike Free Runs got me where I am and for that I am grateful. I just can’t risk using that little of support on my long runs. Anyhoo, with this whole retraining thing, my first few miles are a bit hard. Whereas I used to punch out 3-4 miles with no stops, I am now having to stop and do some leg stretching. Last night was as usual, the first two miles were little biatches, but then I found my flow! It was an amazing feeling to really empower myself to keep going and in addition, for my body to just get comfortable and happy. Honestly, when running, that happens! You get to a point where your body just gets comfortable and is ready to keep going! I did my run and thought when I mapped it out that it was around 6 miles but I must have missed part of it or calculated incorrectly cause the run ended up being 4.27 miles…that part sucked a bit cause I could have kept going but I am looking forward to my next run and in a few more days, I will try and log a longer run! With my half marathon less than two weeks away, this girl has got to get her shiznit together!

Wednesday 6/22 - 30 Day Shred (letting foot rest, outter edge acting up)
Thursday 6/23 – 30 Day Shred (still more rest! gotta be safe!)
Friday 6/24 – Rest
Saturday 6/25 – 5k in St. Cloud
Sunday 6/26 – 8-10 mile run (let’s hope I don’t die)
Monday 6/27 – Cross training at gym…30 day shred video
Tuesday 6/28 – 5-6 mile run
Wednesday 6/29 – 4 mile run
Thursday 6/30 – 2 mile run
Friday 7/1 – 1.5 mile run
Saturday 7/2 – Rest and Yoga
Sunday 7/3 – Rest
Monday 7/4 – Half Marathon (Happy 4th of July!)

And just one more thing, peaches are really in season! So much in season, I am pretty sure my mouth is sore from the acid as I have been eating so many!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Happy Belated Father's Day to some cool dudes!

I am lucky to have some true gentlemen in my life.


Ones who no matter what they are feeling, take time to care, appreciate, send cards on your birthday, and sign everything with love.

Ones who make you laugh. Ones who aren't afraid to cry. Ones that nourish and provide.



Ones that no matter what, their main priority is their family.


There are some dumb men out there, but I am damn lucky to be surrounded by ones who are sincere and honest, ones who you can really look up to, ones who have changed the mold!


Happy Father's Day!

blessings...

Tonight was a magical night...just a boat load of family fun and togetherness. We met my cousins and aunt to pick out a wedding dress for her (Yes! She is engaged!). And I am over the moon stoked to have a new wedding to provide advice for (or help plan!). I really must consider this as a future profession!

We went to a shop in St. Paul but due to the fact that we need the dress in 4 months, they really could not work within the time constraints. That, and the lady helping us was a Royal Biatch! We found a dress my aunt liked, but she didn't feel amazing in it so we headed over to a shop in St. Louis Park quickly before they closed. The whole experience was completely opposite!

They had racks of dresses that were ready for trying on. Tons of options, not to mention a group of overly helpful staff members doting on Kristie as she was the only bride there. Her first dress was the one, and we all knew it, but she tried on a few more just to be sure. Needless to say, she bought the one!

After that we celebrated with a large family dinner at Pizza Luce. My Aunt, cousins, grandma, mom, Thomas and husband. It was a joyous event. We were all happy and smiling. And it really made me realize how lucky and blessed we are!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

this shit is amazing...

My friends, head to the itunes store of you computer's Itunes. Type in yoga download, and download the free podcasts. There are a crap load, and I mean one large pile of podcasts, and under each podcast is a visual of the different poses. This is amazingness. Never mind the fact that I am always looking for a variety of yoga options cause I get bored. This will be great motivation to work out when I travel or go on vacation...Itunes has made it so easy, and it is free!

counting my blessings...

I know that no matter what I go through, no matter how hard life can be, I am one lucky individual. I have the love of an amazing husband, the support of a great family, and the enjoyment brought from my circle of friends. There are ups and downs, and the sun is not always shining, but I get to wake every morning, go to a job I love, one that provides me with security. I get to come home to my husband, my grandma, and our cats. I get to spend my weekends with my family and friends, and I am blessed to be active and workout, and pursue opportunities, like training for a half marathon.

Monday, June 13, 2011

I think I can...

I think I can 100% say that I have not followed WW for over a month…while a few mornings a week I pop on and fill out the online tracker, I generally forget to go back later and complete my day, and therefore consume much more than I used to. When I don’t track, I forget about those little snack choices made throughout the day and I just can’t seem to get myself back in the motion of writing everything down so those little choices don’t end up being added pounds. I don’t want or need to be insanely strict, but I feel like every night I tell myself I will track the next day, and every day, I fail to track all day. I just need to get back in the groove…I need to get back to paying attention.

Luckily my working out has not faltered too much. I did go through a few weeks where I was only working out once or twice a week but now I am back to working out every day, except once or twice a week. I am training for a half marathon, and that has helped me get motivated, but I just need to really find my niche again. In reality, WW is pretty easy. There are so many foods that I can walk up to right now and know the points off hand. So why is it so hard? Still trying to figure this out but I was reading a blog today that said, you will fail if you have an all or nothing attitude….I refuse to have that attitude. So it has been a hard month. So I have eaten more points and not lost weight. I just have to keep trucking along, my head clear and focused, and jump right back on…maybe that is the key. Maybe in order to make this a lifestyle change, you have moments, weeks, months that you maybe lose focus, but at some point, before it is too late, before all your work is lost, you jump back and smack yourself back into place.

Uh, all a pain in my tush! I did get a new pair of running shoes though! Oh, so pretty! Not gonna lie, with big feet like mine, they never really offer you the cute shoes because the cute shoes never come in Giant size…but this may be proof that they now do! My mom always taught me, it is about the best shoe, not looks, therefore I just go in and ask for the best running shoe in my size. Yesterday I got the best shoe, and they are pretty cute! Win win for Adara!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

just there...

So yeah, the roller coaster of life sure can take some dips. I have been absent this past week from blogging as I was helping my best friend LeeAnn deal with the death of her sister. It was really hard to see LeeAnn go through this pain, and it was really hard to see a bright, fiery, 15-year old girl who will not get to flourish and succeed as she was supposed to. To all my friends and family, please know that you are never alone. There is always someone who cares, always someone to listen.

It is nice to be back to a routine today. I was excited to get back to work and tonight I will go for a nice run. It is super hot and muggy here in the MN so I will have to log this run on the treadmill, which kind of sucks as I am hoping to log my longest run yet. Last Wednesday, my mom and I signed up for a half marathon taking place on July 4th…I have a shit load of work to get up to that point!

I am also back to taking WW more seriously…I have not been very strict with myself the last month and if I were to be honest, I have not really been strict the last two months! But I am ready to jump back in and luckily, I have only put on about 3 pounds. When I eat crap, I just feel heavy and bloated, so for myself, my body, and my sanity, it is just time to hop back on!

We did get to take a break over this sad weekend and head up north to Ely with Laura, Dave, Tonya and Hija…it was an amazing trip and I will put some pics up later this week…a much needed break and something to take my mind off of the tragedy effecting LeeAnn…my mind never wandered far from her though…it is hard to be on vacation while your best friend is hurting…thank Gosh for cell service in Ely so I could at least keep up with her.