Non-Running but AWESOME and inspiring blog

If you haven't read this blog then you should :-). The author is the survivor of an almost fatal plan crash and is as I said in the title, an inspiring person to say the least. She's that type of person that makes you realize that your bad days are actually very good days. Don't get me wrong, each situation is different, but her writing and story always make me realize that MOST of my bad days really aren't that bad. An amazing person, she is.

enjoy reading!

nienie dialogues

Pooped!

Until today, it had been 6 days since my last run. Dang, how'd that happen?? I guess time flies when you're busy. We had to watch a friend's daughter for the weekend and since Jon really can't control two kids with his bum shoulder I couldn't really get out. And then two trips to Ikea and playgroups and a 3.5 hour nap got in the way the next two days. It made it pretty much impossible to get a run or workout of some sort in. But that's ok, I'll get back on track and especially so since it's great outside.

I did get outside for a measly 3 mile run but it was a super slow run. I'm feeling super tired this week. It might have something to do with the 'ol POSITIVE I got on Monday morning :-). Finally. I had to wait a week to get it but it's well worth it. I was so relieved to finally get it, obviously, since we've been wanting to be pregnant since September.

I'm only 5 weeks along, and I know it's still super early to tell you guys, but I figured I could write about it and get advice from other peeps who have been or are pregnant and trying to stay pretty active. Last pregnancy I didn't run much at all. My doctors, then, said I needed to keep my HR around 140 and that was pretty much impossible so I got very discouraged. I did play softball during the first Trimester so I guess if that counts as some sort of exercise we'll count it :-). So yes, I am pooped and holy cow I have to go much slower during my runs. I am used to going about 8:30 to 9:00 and today i think I was averaged around a 10:30 or more just so I wasn't huffing and puffing. And I had to include some walk breaks. The nausea hasn't hit, yet, so that makes me happy! I had it pretty bad from about 6 weeks to about 12 with jackson so we'll see if it happens again.

My trip to Ikea with just me and Jackson didn't really work out AT ALL. He was great during the fist part and then during lunch. But then he started to get tired and we got to the marketplace and all he wanted to do was get down and get into things. Needless to say, we went back the next day with Jon because I couldn't get a lot of the things we needed. Lesson learned :-)

Looking to incorporate more vegetarian recipes into the mix so if anyone has any great ones please share!! I was doing really great but then we kind of got in a rut and it's time to get back to about a 50/50. I'm trying to go more vegetarian for health and saving some moola (well, not really saving, but more to spend on organic and range fed meat). Anyway, please share!!!

Great Day!

Even though it's raining cats and dogs, today is already a great day!!!

Making my list for Ikea and we're off to spend the day indoors. Jackson always has fun on these trips because of all the rooms he gets to play in. And I love it because I get to eat some Swedish Meatballs. Yummo!!! While I love the meatballs, I do miss living in Germany because I ate an Ikea hot dog every trip; they serve them Danish style (with french fried onions) = YUM!

We just repainted all of the main rooms in our townhouse so it's finally time to decorate this place. We went from a tan to a gray and it's soooo much better!!! I am need of some storage pieces because Jackson's toys are everywhere; time to corral them somewhere. A new rug, some lamps, curtains, pillows; yes, we need lots of things :-) Shall be a busy day for me today :-)

Have a great day everyone!

Spring and Summer Clothes

I think the entire family is in need of a new wardrobe for this summer. For me I just have to say that I can't wait to be done with this stage of life(sorta) so that I can see a cute shirt and be able to buy it without thinking, wait, I wonder how long I'll be able to fit into that and is it breastfeeding friendly? But holy cow have you seen the cute stuff for boys at Gap lately? I hate spending that amount of money on clothes for kids but wowzers, totally cute!! Luckily Target actually has some cute, non-sport related clothes for boys when I went there on Monday.

But don't forget that it is friends and family weekend at Gap, Old Navy, Banana, and most importantly ATHLETA, starting today though Sunday. Since I'll save 30% I don't feel so bad buying the more expensive stuff for J man :-).

And if I could get this dang positive I know I could actually buy some cute stuff for the summer and not feel bad about it. Although I'll still be pretty small through most of the summer so I guess it doesn't really matter :-)

Loving the weather!

Can I just say I love running outside now that it's spring!!!! I think I'll never really be able to do the whole Crossfit thing as it says because I really do love taking some "long, slow, runs." And by this I mean like 5 miles of 8:30 to 9ish pace. It is the best for me to just clear my head. I need one of those today. It's been a long week and it's only Thursday. I'm a bit on the frustrated side because I am 4 days late but no positive yet. Super frustrating because I just want a definitive answer already. When I was pregnant with Jackson (who was a complete surprise) I just knew I was pregnant because I was always on time; like within the hour. I'm still pretty much the same; always the same time of day and never late. So what gives? I took a test monday - negative. Tuesday- negative. Today- negative. I just don't get it!!!!!

OK, enough of that. I did go for a run this morning. Three miles to the park and then we played for a couple hours and J had lunch. Then we headed back home for another 3 miles. It felt great to be out but I was kind of tired. But it felt so great to be out running in this awesome weather. I really wish it could just stay like this through the summer because only another month or so and we'll have to be at the park by 8 before the slides get too hot to use.

Hope everyone is enjoying the weather!!!

Crazy Deal on a Chariot

I have the same one and I love it. This one is at REI and is a 2009 closeout for $200. I bought mine off of Craigslist last year for $350 and it's a 2005. I did get the bike kit and the jogging kit with mine, but seriously for the most recent model it's a really good deal!

Cheetah 1 Chasis

Best Small Appliance Addition

If you are a yogurt lover like me read on. About, I dunno, six months ago I guess, probably more, I came across a link about making yogurt using your crockpot. I go through a lot of yogurt and it is expensive and wasteful (I wonder how many yogurt containers I've put in the trash?). I tried the crockpot thing and it works. It really does. But it is kind of a pain in the butt; you can't just put it in and leave it. A friend of mine finally bought a yogurt maker, tried it out and loved it. So I finally decided to purchase one of my own. I am totally loving it. It is sooo easy to use and after you boil the milk and let it cool and add the yogurt all you do is put it in the containers and let it do its thing for about 7 hours and out comes some really yummy yogurt! Mine came with seven 6 oz jars. These come in handy for the kid and for the hubby to take to work. For a big bowl I just use one of my pyrex containers.

This is the one I bought:

Euro Cuisine Yogurt Maker

But just today I saw this one and wish I would have seen it before I bought the one I have. It comes with two lids so you can use the little jars it comes with or you can use mason jars (or any kind of large jar). I really want this function!!!

Really, after the purchase cost of the machine is equaled out, you really can't go wrong. Or you can always just use a warm spot to let the magic happen (like a cooler and a warm towel...but who wants to haul up a cooler every few days? Not me.)