It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Especially on my fingernails! I love them...

The tips are pink (my favorite color) and sparkly (another favorite thing of mine)! Is it sad that looking at them instantly puts me in an awesome mood?

Going to the nail salon was one thing that I did yesterday afternoon when I left work. I also found my cousin some adorable jewelry (and I should've taken a picture of it). She's getting a very cute matching necklace, earrings, cocktail ring and bracelet. It's in shades of purple and I think she's gonna love it, yay!

I also met Scotty at the gym. I did 10 minute intervals of elliptical and stair mill, what a burn, I was drenched in sweat. I hate how it always looks like I peed in my pants when I get done with cardio. I hope people aren't actually staring at my crotch/ass like I think they are. I used to get so sweaty playing volleyball growing up...and for some reason I always sweat out my ass (literally)...my step dad nicknamed me "Swamp Ass"...nice. Somehow word of this made it to Scotty, so he tends to call me it sometimes too.

After the gym I came home and cooked a big skillet of lean ground beef. I made up some stronganoff pasta for Scotty and decided I wasn't in the mood for pasta. Okay, thats a lie. I could eat pasta every meal of the day. I just decided that maybe I should skip the carbo overload last night since I plan on eating tons of potatoes and baked goods over "Christmas vacay". I couldn't find anything else so I decided stir fry my portion of the ground beef with some onion and mushroons and then add it to a can of tomato soup sprinkled with parmesan cheese. Pretty tasty actually...kinda like a crustless pizza.

I was exhausted after dinner so I just watched a little TV while Scotty went over to the new house to see what work had been done and make sure the subcontractors were getting paid. Shortly after it was lights out Whitney.

This morning it was impossible for me to sleep through the Scottster getting ready for work (haha...he had to work today!). So I made myself a couple of slices of toast with PB and jelly. I took the dog out so she could go #1 and then I went to the gym. I wish I could go to the gym at 9am every day, that is just the perfect time of day for a workout for me. I did 5 miles on the treadmill and some upper body strengthening.

I came home, took a shower, didn't wash the hair, but I did spray on some dry shampoo, that counts right? After Scotty went back to work from lunch what did I do??? Enjoyed another early Christmas present of course...and it could become a new addiction. I got a 1 hour massage and it was pure heaven on earth. It was exactly what my aching muscles needed...come to think of it I might need to incorporate massages into my half/marathon training.

I then ran a few errands and came home and took the pupster for a 2 mile walk. We live on an old golf course and people use the old cart paths as walking trails. We usually don't take walks back there but I decided to give it a whirl.

We walked around a lake...

And then we saw this big guy!

The picture doesn't do him justice...he was huge. I was so glad I had my phone to take a picture, but unfortunately I couldn't get any closer because Mercedes probably would have tried to eat him.

I'm now finished packing and getting ready to jump back in the shower (I promise to wash my hair this time) and get ready to catch this flight outta here! Ready or not, Missouri here we come! I'll probably be taking a blogging break for the next couple of days so Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! Be safe and enjoy every minute of it!

Ta ta for now!
Whitney

Like a kid in a candy store...

Thats me...a grown-up kid in a candy store (hmmm...I wish I had some candy right now). I feel like I'm just about to burst with happiness! 3 more hours and I am on holiday for the next 11 days! Woo Hoo!!! 

I almost forgot that I have to buy my cousin a gift this year...usually my Mom buys for all of her nieces and nephews, but we decided that since we are all adults now, we should be doing it ourselves instead. So all of the cousins drew names...and how terrible of a cousin would I have been if I had forgotten?????? Thankfully my sister sent me a text last night letting me know what she bought for our other cousin and that reminded me that I better get on the ball. So as soon as work is over for the day (noon time, oh yeah!), I'm headed to pick something very cute out for my cousin Mandy. I can't wait to see what she got me because she is an excellent gift picker-outer, so I am going to make sure to get her something extra-cute.


After shopping I'm going to hit the gym for 1 hour of cardio (10 minute intervals of elliptical and stair mill) and abs. Then I'll gather just a few things at the grocery store for dinner tonight and tomorrow night (thats all the cooking that I'm doing for the week!!!). I also promised that since I only have a half work day today that I would sweep the floors so Scotty can mop when he gets home. It has been prearranged in our relationship that floor cleaning is his duty (I despise all brooms, mops and vacuum cleaners), but I'm in such a good mood that it doesn't bother me to help today! When he gets off work at 5:00 I'm going to be going BACK to the gym with him. I'm going to get a full body strength training session in. I know that I can keep up my running plan while I'm up north for the holidays, but strength training might be a little more tricky. So therefore I'm going all out today to hopefully make up for it. I'm also going to squeeze in the nail salon at some point today.


Tomorrow I plan to sleep in an extra hour or so and then hit the gym right after breakfast for cardio and maybe some more core work. I'm having a lunch date with Scotty2Hottie. How fun? A lunch date on a Thursday, we never get to do this because we work about an hour away from one another. Then last minute packing and off to see the fam. So. Very. Excited!!! My Mom asked me a couple of days ago if I had any requests for meals while I'll be there...duh! I asked for grilled BBQ chicken breasts (my step-dad is a grill master), homemade pizza, chili and taco salad. My mouth is seriously watering just thinking about it. My Mom and Mimi are the best cooks in the world...and I think I'm doing a decent job at carrying on the tradition. At least when I want to be and I'm not trying to be all healthy and stuff, lol. 


It is now time for me to get to work and stare at the clock until it finally strikes 12:00 and then I'm outta here! Hope everyone has a delightful day! Ta ta for now!


Whitney

I can hardly contain myself...!!!

One more full day of work this week! YAY!!!


Tomorrow the office is closing at noon and then I have the rest of the day to work out, relax and get my nails done. Thursday will be a lot more of the same except instead of getting nails done I'll be getting an hour long massage...ahhhhh (Christmas present from the Scottster). Then at 9:15 Thursday night we'll be flying into the STL for Christmas. Can't wait! I looked through some pics of Christmas last year to get even more into the Christmas spirit (is that even possible?). Here's what I found...

My family on Christmas Eve...excuse the little brother blowing bubbles. He was at that age where they like to do anything in their power to ruin photo ops...actually he's still at that age!

Goofing off with the little sis and little bro. Don't think I'll ever outgrow that.

And 2 of my favorite guys...Scotty let Jack steer the truck on the way home from Christmas Eve dinner, scary!

Even though I just saw my family at Thanksgiving I can't wait to be back home for Christmas. I can't imagine spending Christmas anywhere else. I love how both my mom and my grandma decorate every room of the house, it makes everything feel so festive. And I can't wait to eat some yummy Christmas food!

Today I'll be anxiously awaiting the end of the work day...when 5:00 rolls around I'll hit up the gym for an hour or so of cardio (running today) and lower body strength training. This morning breakfast was a PB and strawberry jam sandwich on wheat bread. Lunch is probably just going to be a bag of healthy pop popcorn (bad girl), but I packed plenty of other healthy snacks to hopefully make up for it. I just don't want to go stock up on groceries before we're about to leave for over a week...so I'm trying to make meals out of whats available in the pantry. Well, I guess thats all I've got for now...

P.S.- I've also been sure to take my vitamins daily ever since I've been sick. Vitamin C, echinacea and Acidopholus (helps with immune and digestive functioning). I'm hoping that since I've been doing this for about a month faithfully that it will help me from catching anything on the plane or getting sick because of the drastic weather change.

Ta ta!

Whitney

Weekend wrap-up

This weekend was a fun one. Friday night was Scotty2Hottie's office Christmas party (a picture to come later). Great food, great people, great times. I had a delicious salad to start off, followed by a chicken breast topped with roasted olives and tomatoes and topped with melted Fontina cheese (to die for), steamed veggies & mashed taters on the side. Then dessert was a slice of Key Lime pie. It was also good, but a little too tart for my taste. I even purposely didn't eat the mashed potatoes so I could have room for dessert, which might have been a mistake. After the dinner party we went to one of Scotty's co-worker's houses for the "after-party". I was the DD for the night because I had all intentions of waking up early the next morning for my race. Well...everything went as planned, almost. It was pouring down rain at 6am and call me lame, but after such a late night, I just didn't have it in me to run in a down pour. 


Instead we layed around all morning long until the rain finally let up. Around 4:00 we went to the mall to finish up some last minute Christmas shopping. Scotty got me 3 new pairs of jeans (I guess this means that some of my "old faithfuls" are getting tossed) and a pretty new dress for New Years Eve...except I already had a dress for New Years Eve, but oh well, it's always nice to have options. After the mall we went for dinner...a buffet. Scotty was starving, but thats nothing new. So he wanted a place with lots of options, and preferably all you can eat. It actually ended up being a great choice. I started with another salad and then had lemon pepper rotisserie chicken, roasted potatoes and carrots, and grilled mushrooms. It was quite tasty, and believe it or not, I skipped dessert this night. After dinner we enjoyed one of our favorite past times...free entertainment at Barnes & Noble. Thats right, we like to load our arms up with magazines and then find comfy chairs in the back of the store and proceed to sit there for hours reading the magazines, but never purchasing. Actually, I broke this rule on Saturday night. I actually bought the new issue of Runner's World and a 2011 day planner (much needed). Saturday was a rest day.


Sunday we woke up pretty early and took the pup for a short walk...it was supposed to be a long walk but I dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, not paying attention to the weather, and upon going outside, realized that it was approximately 55 degrees and windy...not a good combination. So, I didn't last very long. We went back home and put on some more layers of clothing and hit up my second home, Dunkin Donuts, for breakfast. I ordered the usual, turkey sausage egg-white flatbread (I even splurged and ate the cheese!) and an iced tea. Scotty had a blueberry muffin, turkey cheddar bacon flatbread and apple juice...did I mention I hate him? I'd literally weight 300 pounds if I ate like he did. We then proceeded to spend 2 hours at Lowe's buying supplies for the new house. This included a toilet, 2 ceiling fans, microwave, 2 bathroom faucets, and other miscellaneous things that I know nothing about installing. We then parted ways- Scotty went to actually work on the house, while I went to the condo to work on dinner. I was starving but decided to just graze for lunch. I had a pear and a half and some mountain trail mix (my fav kind). I also started on the veggie beef soup for dinner, which turned out mah-volous. 

 (this is it in the to-go bowl that I take to work, with a classy plastic spoon)

I ate 2 bowls for dinner while watching football...and poor, poor me (and all other Steeler's fans)...our boys lost yesterday, and to make it worse- the Ravens won. We now have even records and need to win out the rest of this season to ensure a play-off spot. After my boys lost the game I was furious and in a really foul mood. Luckily it was only 7:00pm so our condo gym was still open. I got there about 7:30pm and did 45 minutes on the treadmill, lat pull-downs, seated rows, bar press-downs, curls, overhead presses, stability ball crunches and front/lateral raises. After that, I was only a little sad...


I went home and continued to mope a little and read some of my "Health Care Marketing" textbook. Did I mention that I am still working on my B.S. Degree...if all goes as planned I should be done by summer time...fingers crossed. 


Monday came way too soon...I woke up a little later than planned, but whats new? I ate another turkey sausage flatbread from DD on my way to work, except this time I skipped the cheese to save a few calories. Lunch was left over soup and dinner will probably be the same. I'm hitting the gym on the way home from work for lots of elliptical, a little treadmill and a tad of stair mill. I hit the weights pretty hard last night, so probably no weight training today. 


Well, thats my weekend wrap up...hope everyone had a fabulous weekend and is looking forward to the holidays as much as I am :)


Ta ta for now!  Oh and PS--I purchased the new Shape magazine on my lunch break. Brooke Burke is on the cover...she's amazing and gorgeous. Can't wait to go home and read it (although I should actually be studying)! And the bad news is that at the same time I was purchasing the magazine, I also purchased a box of Red Hots...so I am munching on those as I write this...oh well, it Christmas time!


Whitney

Slacker, Slacker

Such a slacker!

Wow, I am officially declaring myself a blogging slacker. I haven't even been doing this very long and already I am slacking off and procrastinating. Oh yeah, thats definitely me! Actually this week has been crazy busy but oh so much fun. I've had an awesome week at the gym (lots of cardio with a little weight training), thats one area that I haven't been slacking in. I've almost completed my Christmas shopping. We had a pretty kick-butt party at work yesterday (my team won the decorating contest, yeah baby!). We've got a little more work done on the new house. And everything is just peachy :)


Well almost everything...On a much less peachy note...my mom told me last night that my great grandma took a fall Wednesday evening while she was laying her clothes out for the next day. This is one amazing woman, let me tell ya. She is 95 years old and fiesty as no one's business. She still lives on her own with the help of a health care provider that comes to see her in the mornings. They basically help her take her shower and clean up her house. She's lucky enough to have all of her children and most grandchildren living within 15 miles of her to help her with her meals, and ANYTHING else she could possibly need. But anyways, she fell while getting her clothes out of the dresser and landed flat on her face. She's pretty banged and cut up but no broken bones which is a blessing. A few years ago she fell and broke her hip and had to have surgery. She was out of commission for a while with that fall, so we're glad that this was more minor. The only thing is that when you are 95 your skin becomes like tissue paper and breaks with the slightest injury. I obviously haven't been able to see her, but my Mom says she looks like she's been in a fight with Ali. Bless her heart! She is one loved lady!

This is her with her birthday cake on her 95th b-day.

And this is her with me, my sister and 2 of my cousins on her 93rd. (thats me on the top right, my sis is in the blue shirt next to me).

Tonight is the Scottster's company Christmas party. I bought a dress earlier this week that I fell in love with. However, when I got it home and tried it on again I determined that it might not be totally office-friendly. But I love it so much I'm not willing to take it back. I think I'll just hold on to it and wear it out for New Years. So that means at lunch today I'll be searching for a more appropriate "office attire" dress.

Tomorrow morning I am running a 5K to benefit the track coach for one of our local high schools. He was on his way to the state track championships and his house burned down. Luckily his wife and 2 small children were able to escape, but I think they lost everything. I wasn't actually planning on racing, not even a 5K, until my half marathon in March, but this is just too good of a cause to pass up.

Then I'll be going to the mall with Scotty to get some new jeans and finish up his Christmas shopping. Tomorrow evening we intend on hitting up Barnes & Noble for some free entertainment and maybe a movie after that.

Sunday, of course, is football day. We'll probably also try to install the new GPS system for the boat (my Christmas present to my babe…of course I already gave it to him because I am THE WORST surprise keeper EVER in the HISTORY OF THE WORLD).

Next week is a short work week. Full days Monday and Tuesday and then the office is closing at noon on Wednesday. I can't wait! Thursday I'm getting an hour long massage (part of my Christmas present from the Scottster) and a manicure with lots of glitter because I love being festive. Then we fly out of here at 9:00pm that evening for a full week and a half back up north.

Lots going on this time of year and I love it! I'm just trying to live it up! Ta ta for now!

Whitney

Weekend fun...

Friday night I was too pooped to do anything exciting. I had a great workout at the gym, a yummy stir fry for dinner and then I was ready for bed. Scotty had to drive to Tampa to pick a friend up from the airport and that took FOREEEEEEVER, so I watched the Santa Claus (I just love Christmas movies!) and then part of the Santa Claus 2 and dozed off waiting for them to get home.

Saturday I had intended to do a little Christmas shopping in the morning and then hit the gym before lunch…things did not go as planned. I ended up doing quite a bit  of Christmas shopping and then stood in line at the post office for forever. I do not recommend going there this time of year, but since we are flying up north for the holidays and can't pack all of our gifts, we have no choice but to mail some. After this I had lunch with the boys at Ruby Tuesdays. A few chips with salsa and some soup for me. We then went home to let the food settle and just hang out for a bit.

Scotty and I then drove to Sanibel Island for a holiday boat parade. This sounded like lots of fun to me, but one problem…it sounded like fun to everyone else too! There was an hour and half wait at the restaurant we wanted to eat at and we ended up not being able to see hardly any decorated boats. We chose another spot to dine at and it was well worth it. Very yummy food. We split an order of hot peel 'n eat shrimp and then I had a grilled chicken salad and Scotty had grilled mahi mahi.

We then made the hour trip back home so I could change shirts before the big GSP fight. I joke with Scotty that GSP is my pretend husband and that no one else can pull off the spandex shorts like he does, hehe.

So here was me on fight night…

I am really into dressing for the occasion. So I bought these iron-on letters and heart and transformed an ordinary gray wife-beater tank into a little shrine to GSP. It was a huge hit…and I know it was the main reason that he won ;)

Sunday we slept in late because we didn't get home from the fight until late. We actually slept past breakfast and went straight to lunch. We picked up wraps/subs at the deli and the went to Home Depot to pick out a sink for the new house…

I love it! I can't wait to see the kitchen on Wednesday when all of the appliances are in, it's going to match so great!

Sunday afternoon I made a big pot full of veggie beef soup and it was pretty yummy. I also decided to make chocolatey, peanut buttery, oaty cookies and rice crispy treats. We each had a couple of cookies and Scotty also had a couple of rice crispy treats but then I packaged the remainders up for us each to take a plate to work. I don't know about everyone else, but in my office desserts definitely get you brownie points, hehe. Here's how the cookies turned out…

YUM!

We watched football for the remained of the day and my Steelers kicked major Bengal tail. I loved it. I'm actually in the running to win the football pool money for the week, however I'm not holding my breath. That just never seems to work out for me :(

I also made it to the gym last night. We have a small gym with the essentials at our condo complex. I was feeling a little antsy and majorly piggy last night after the sweet treats, so I went for a short run and some upper body strengthening. That did the trick, I felt much better afterward.

Today is the start of a new work week and I'm going to be swamped, but I'm happy. That means this week will fly by. Thursday is my office Christmas party. We're having lunch catered in and watching Elf. We're also having a decorating contest with an ugly sweater theme. Friday evening is Scotty's office Christmas gathering, which is much more dressy. We're having dinner and cocktails at a nice waterfront bar and grill. Sooooo….that means I have to go shopping for an ugly sweater and a cute dress this week! Can't wait…guess I should get to planning for this busy week now. Ta ta!

Whitney

TGIF!!!

Sooooooooooooo happy that its FRIDAY! Something must have been wrong with me because I actually fixed my hair this morning...this is a rare occurence. Usually I am rushing around to get ready and it ends up in a pile on top of my head. But not today, I actually broke out the Chi and everything. 


Yesterday was a long day at work and I just didn't have it in me to make it to the gym. I actually would have but when I left work I realized that I left my protein bar at home and I absolutely can't work out on an empty stomach. I have low blood sugar and must eat just about every 3 hours or I become a light-headed, shaky mess. And I most definitely cannot workout without a small meal before hand. So instead I picked up just a few things at the grocery store. I was in and out in less than 10 minutes which was nice.


I went home and whipped up a beef stir fry for dinner. Lean ground beef, onion, garlic and a can of Rotel and mushrooms. I skipped the rice that usually accompanies it and went for a can of hominy as a side dish instead. Sometimes I get on a kick with this stuff and eat it most every day. I think I even get a little sentimental about it. It reminds me of being at home in Missouri when I was a kid. I also ate an extra large apple for an evening snack. Scotty was working late so I had to watch Vampire Diaries all alone. Such a good episode, but it doesn't come back on until the end of January, boo :(  I was also happy to see that the Colts defeated the Titans, not a fan of either, the Steelers have 120% of my heart, but I needed the Colts to win for the sake of my football pool picks.


Due to the fact that I chose to style my hair this morning I was running extremely late on everything else. I stopped at 7-11 to fill up the gas tank and had to find breakfast inside. It was freezing, well in Florida terms anyway, so I chose a cup of fat free French vanilla cappuccino and a package of peanut butter crackers, better than nothing I guess. I could only finish about half of the cappuccino however because it was extra sweet and I don't like it that way. Lunch is a frozen Amy's dish- brown rice, black-eyed peas, and veggies (carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes, onion). I'm not sure about dinner for this evening because we have yet another visitor coming to see us (to be honest, I'm so ready for my life to go back to normal), so we'll probably end up going out somewhere. 


This weekend has quite a bit in store and I'm soooooo excited. Tomorrow we have to blow insulation into our attic (yippee!)....that was said with tons of sarcasm. But after that we're going to Sanibel Island to watch the holiday boat parade. This is how us Floridians do it up holiday style. We aren't participating, just going as spectators, but it should be a blast. We'll have dinner at a waterfront restaurant and watch all the boats parade by decked out with Christmas lights and decorations. Then we'll be heading to Hooters to watch the one and only, my man, George St. Pierre take down Josh Koscheck. It seems like so long since I've watched GSP fight and I sooooo can't wait for tomorrow night! I guess thats it for me....Ta ta for now!


Whitney

The Odd Couple?

Some times in talking to other people and reading different blogs, I start to wonder if Scott and I are an odd couple. I ponder this for several reasons, but there are a coupe that really stick out to me-

1. We don't go everywhere and do everything together. For instance, when we make trips back north to visit family and friends, sometimes we go alone. Whether it is work schedules or simply needing someone to stay home with the dog, sometimes we make that trip by ourselves. Also, Scotty has a lot of friends that he's known since he was a wee-little guy and they like to come visit occasionally. It absolutely does not bother me if they take a day or two trip to Miami or Tampa. There isn't much to do around our parts and Miami is a fun place to be. Why would I want to hang around with 2 guys by myself, and why would they want a girl hanging around as well? It's also hard for us to find time to spend with our families. So even when we both are in our hometowns at the same time, we may not do all of our visiting together. There are several people that we each  have to see in a short amount of time and it's just not feasible to get all of this in together, so sometimes we have to split up.

2. We rarely ever eat the same thing for dinner. I could almost be a vegetarian and meat is his primary food group. Therefore, it's hard to make a meal that we'll both enjoy. I am quite content having salad for dinner and while he might eat a salad for an appetizer, he always needs some sort of protein and carbohydrate (usually potatoes). We used to not even eat dinner at the same time because I would go to the gym before work, he would go after work and as soon as I got home I would be starving for dinner. This would usually be around 6:00 versus his dinner time of 7:30. Now that I've started going after work, we normally find ourselves eating at the same time.

Some times I find myself wondering if these factors make us weird, but I always come to the conclusion that no, we aren't weird. This is what works for us. I wouldn't change a single thing about our relationship. We love spending time together and enjoy doing the same things…working out, going boating, chillin' on the beach, watching UFC, watching football (Go Steelers!), going to the movies, etc. And even after 6 years together, we can still find plenty to talk about and entertain ourselves just staying home doing nothing. I'm glad that I've found this in another person :)

Don't you just love how my sunglasses take up like half my face...Scotty hates those glasses, lol.

On another note, I spent 36 minutes on the treadmill yesterday and another 10 on the elliptical...then I thought my lungs were going to give out. This is getting sooooo frustrating. I'm having to cut my workouts short because my lungs just can't hang. I think that if I'm not almost 100% better by Friday, I'm going to have to take a trip to the doctor this weekend, boo :(


I'm going to keep at it for now though...today is lower body strengthening (curls, extensions, presses, butt blaster, calf raises, squats) followed by 1 hour of spin class. 


I stopped at Dunkin Donuts for the usual egg white flatbread, hold the cheese, and iced tea. Lunch is probably going to be a wrap from Publix Deli and dinner is still up in the air. Ta ta for now!

Whitney

One step at a time...

I guess that's gonna have to by my philosophy. I feel slightly better, the ear isn't quite making me want to die today. I tried some Benadryl last night before bed, advice from Dr. Mom, apparently anti-histamines dry things up while decongestants make things run out...the things you can learn from your mother. It seems to have helped a tad, so I'm going to stick with it. I wish I could've taken more this morning, but Benadryl knocks me out cold, so that probably wouldn't be such a good idea since I had to operate a motor vehicle this morning. Nothing too exciting happened yesterday...got in a good work out, ended up doing 30 minutes elliptical and 20 minutes stair mill. We did skip the 3 mile walk however because it was frigid outside...well, frigid for Floridians anyway. So after the gym I came home and made dinner...just threw together a beef, veggie and brown rice stir fry which hit the spot. I then snuggled up in the recliner with my coziest blanket and a mug of sugar-free hot cocoa and watched the Pats whoop up on the Jets. I don't really care for the Patriots, but I was glad to see them win because I picked them in our football pool and I really need to make up some ground, I'm getting spanked right now. Oooooh...I almost forgot- In between the gym and dinner I met Scotty at the new house to see how the work on the kitchen was progressing...

I was sooooo impressed...I knew that it would look great because I love everything that we picked out. But it is sooooooo much different to actually see it in the house versus little swatches in Lowe's. I can't wait to see the finished product! The counter tops look just like granite, and you'd think they were until you touch them. They are actually some sort of laminate, which was much less expensive. We were going to splurge on granite but then changed our minds because we aren't even sure how long we're going to be in this house...maybe next time ;)

Not much on the agenda for today...just work, gym, eat, watch TV, sleep. I made a pit stop at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast this morning...not donuts for me though. I had a turkey sausage, egg-white flatbread sandwich, minus the cheese and a large iced tea. I'm probably about to snack on a candy cane in a few minutes...what a snack, lol. Lunch is beef pot roast soup courtesy a la Progresso and a string cheese. Afternoon snack will be soy nuts and dinner is probably going to be more soup because it just makes me happy when it's freezing outside. Today is the first "running" day on my half marathon training plan. I'm using a "beginner" training plan that I found, even though I don't exactly consider myself a beginner. But, then again I guess I would be a beginner in "half marathon world". The plan goes like this:
Monday-Cross training (for me this will be intervals of elliptical/stair mill or spin class)
Tuesday-Short distance run 
Wednesday-Repeat of Monday
Thursday-Medium distance run
Friday-Rest
Saturday-Long distance run
Sunday-Recovery run


I'm about 13 weeks out from the race, so I think this will be a good training plan for me. Well, Happy Tuesday to all...ta ta for now!


Whitney

I've got the Monday Blues

Why? Probably because I STILL don't feel good. Maybe I should go to the doc...but I hate going to the doc. Some things are better, but some things are way worse. Today I feel like my head could explode and I can't hear out of my right ear. It feels like it needs to pop but it just won't :(   Cry me a river...seems like thats all I've been doing here lately. I slept in as late as possible this morning. My bed just felt extra cozy and warm and I would have done pretty much anything to have stayed there until at least 10am. But the real world calls, and I had to answer. I grabbed a Special K protein bar for the road, breakfast of champions. I snacked on a banana around 10:30 and now it's a quarter til 12 and I'm starving for lunch. Since I obviously didn't have time to pack a lunch, looks like I'll be hitting the deli for a whole wheat wrap loaded with veggies and maybe some roast beef, but I'm really craving mucho veggies right now. Afternoon/pre-gym snack will be a handful of almonds and a string cheese, since I already have those things here at work. Nothing too exciting, seems like I need to go grocery shopping yet again, imagine that :(   Yesterday was a fairly uneventful, yet fun day. I slept in (my favorite) and had a kind of large breakfast.

 Usually I'm not much of a meat-eater, but I was craving some turkey sausage links. And yes, I did eat all 6 of those...don't judge me, haha. They're accompanied  by some plain oatmeal sprinkled with cinnamon and honey. After breakfast I took Mercedes for a short little walk and then proceeded to get back into bed and watch some old movies. Lunch time came calling around 2:00 and like always, there wasn't much to choose from in our refrigerator/freezer/pantry. So I settled for a bag of Smart Pop popcorn in hopes that we'd be going out to dinner when Scotty got home.

And I was right...we decided on Ruby Tuesday's so we could watch football and eat at the same time. Food and football, I can't think of a better combination. We started with tortilla chips and salsa, and he had his version of a salad.

Thats right...spinach leaves, tons of ranch, sunflower seeds and shredded cheese...thats my boy. Hey, you gotta remember that he only started eating salads less than a year ago. We'll have to work on incorporating more veggies in there, and maybe a little less ranch...but I don't really think that'll ever happen. I ate a few bites of broccoli and cheese soup, but it was really salty and didn't taste so great. So, Scotty being the bottomless pit that he is ordered some chicken spring rolls...and boy was I glad he did. I ate a couple and they were pretty freakin' delish...he on the other hand ate 13...haha. We went home and listened to some tunes and then tuned in to Sunday night football to watch my boys...THE STEELERS, beat the Ravens, barely. Good game boys, and what a killer quarterback we have...thats you Mr. Roethlisberger. Playing through a fractured ankle and broken nose (that kinda grossed me out). 


I'm hitting the gym in about an hour and a half. Today's work out is 45 minutes elliptical, upper body weights and 3 miles with the doggy dog. Not sure about dinner tonight, probably another veggie pizza since I know I have all of the required ingredients...boo...I was wanting something more exciting, but I'll make do. Ta ta for now!


Whitney

Relief (sigh)....

Ok, so I guess I won't quit taking my vitamins. I really loaded up on them when I started getting sick and they didn't seem to help at all. But today I woke up and I feel quite a bit better. This is surprising because as I was sitting at work yesterday morning I gradually was going down hill. I ended up leaving work early, around 1:00. No workout for me yesterday, just to the grocery store (imagine that) and then home to rest.

Usually I despise the grocery store. I would rather walk across hot coals than grocery shop...ok, thats a little dramatic, but it is terrible. This is probably because I always find myself there at the busiest time of day, around 6-7pm when everyone and their mama is also there. Their all rushing around like chickens with their heads cut off. People will almost run you over with their carts and not even say sorry. It's just so hectic and people are so rude, I can't stand it. But yesterday was an exception. I actually enjoyed my time at the grocery store and it started when I pulled in the parking lot. There was an elderly man gathering carts and he was pulling one from the spot I was about to park in. He gave me the biggest smile and wave and just really brightened my day. Once I was inside I hit the deli counter. Another lady and I got there at exactly the same time and she told me to go first. I ordered "half a pound of sweet ham (Scott's favorite)"...and then the lady said "awesome! you might as well keep it out cause thats what I'm getting too!". So then we proceeded to bond over how amazing this ham is. And it really is, I say that I buy it just for Scotty, but truth is I sneak a few slices here and there as well. She wished me a happy holiday and I advanced to the other end of the deli counter where the subs and wraps are made. I had to wait in line for about 5 minutes before it was my turn. The lady at the counter thanked me for waiting patiently and then as she was putting my wrap together she told me that she was having a day from H-E-double hockey sticks. I told her that I was sorry and that mine wasn't so great either because I'd felt like poo for about the past week. But then she got really excited when she told me that she had Saturday off and it was the first one in a while. I put my wrap in the cart and we wished each other to have nice weekends. After I loaded all of my other goodies in the cart it was time to check out. The little old lady, who was very cute and a little pleasantly plump, rang all of my items up and as she got the last one, the December copy of Fitness magazine, she cackled as she looked at the cover and said "Well crap! They didn't tell me they were using me on the cover again!"...we both cracked up and the little guy bagging up my groceries thought we were a little crazy. But he also brightened my day a little. Not sure what sort of illness he had, but I could tell that he had difficulty speaking and seeing as well. Turns out he was due to get off work in 2 hours and he was overjoyed because a new episode of his favorite show "Smallville" was coming on last night. He proceeded to tell me just about everything that had happened this season thus far, and what was going to happen on last night's episode as well. It probably caused me to stay in the grocery store an extra five minutes, which on an ordinary day would've killed me, but I was actually having fun. If this is how the grocery store is every day at 1:30, I wish I could make it there at that time every time I go...but unfortunately I have a job.

Once I got home and unpacked all of my goodies I went straight to bed. I slept until about 7:00 and woke up starving. I discovered that Scott had brought me home a little side dish of my favorite pasta salad from Jason's Deli...

I sorta forgot to take a picture until it was almost empty, but this stuff is the shiznit. Rotini noodles, black olives, broccoli and red peppers in a light Italian dressing. I think I could eat it with every meal...probably not a good idea though. I also snuck a few slices of his favorite ham.

Then I went back to bed for a while longer and woke up hungry again. I usually don't let myself have dessert if it's a rest day from the gym...but I was feeling extra sorry for myself. We also don't really keep dessert in our house so I had to throw some things together and make the best of it...it turned out darn tasty too.

Thats a huge honeycrisp apple diced into cubes, drizzled with honey and brown sugar, microwaved for a couple of minutes...yum!

After dessert I read some magazines and then dozed off for the night (Scotty is in Miami with his buddy from San Diego for the night).

This morning I awoke feeling pretty darn good. Still coughing up some stuff that I won't bother to post a picture of, and my head is still fairly congested. But overall it's a major improvement. I took Mercedes out for her business first thing and then made myself a whole wheat bagel-thin topped with whipped peanut butter and sugar-free blackberry jam.

I didn't actually eat that banana but thought it made the perfect mouth for a smiley face :) I also ate another honeycrisp apple...I really have to eat a lot of these things before they go out of season, they're my favorite.

Now I'm about to head to the gym, here's the plan for today:
30 minutes elliptical, 15 minutes stair mill, leg presses, leg extensions, leg curls, calf raises, butt blasters, hip adductors and hip abductors.

Hopefully I can make it through that without making myself worse again. Tomorrow is morning spin class and then Monday starts half marathon training...can't wait!!!! Ta ta for now!

Whitney

Sleeping would probably help...

So, I don't want to jinx myself, but I think I might be feeling a little better. Just a smidge though, unfortunately. Scotty told me a few days ago that he thought yesterday would be bad for me but that I would notice a huge improvement today...he was right about yesterday being terrible, but wrong about the huge improvement. If anything it's just a teeny step in the right direction, and I can't even tell if it's even that. But anyways, enough of my whining. The good news is that I was able to get in a fairly decent workout last night at the gym. I scarfed down my protein bar on the way there and jumped on the treadmill first thing. Running is more difficult right now than anything...probably because it makes my lungs feel like someone literally lit them on fire and my nose starts running uncontrollably, which is very attractive, let me tell ya. I spent 20 minutes on the treadmill and then switched to the elliptical for 20 more minutes. And guess what...I actually got in my upper body workout as well. Three sets of alternating curls, hammer curls, dumbbell presses, skull crushers, lat pull-downs, seated rows and tricep press-downs. I was pretty beat after all that...not a normal day at the gym for me, but a definite improvement over my 2 mile walk the night before.


I was so looking forward to making myself a tortilla pizza, but unfortunately we were out of mozzarella. I swear to you, we are always out of everything in our house. I just stocked up at the grocery store on Tuesday and our refrigerator is almost totally empty. Scotty can put away food like no one else I've ever known. It's kind of amazing really. I think that I eat a lot, but I will never ever in life have to worry about eating more than he does! I always say, Where do you put all of that food?!?! And his reply is, "Whit, I'm a big guy." Being a big guy is a huge deal, he would probably cry if I told him he looked skinny. Thats so funny, girls love to be called skinny, but that is the ultimate insult to a guy, well to my guy anyway.  Here is a picture of my "big guy" wearing my tube top after a long day at the beach and probably one too many rum runners.

Nothing other than my pizza sounded good but I was starving, so I just settled for a can of soup and a can of hominy. I swear, I am so weird. I bet I am one of the few people who eats that stuff, but it's like comfort food to me. My Mimi used to make fried salmon patties, fried potatoes and hominy for dinner a lot...keep in mind I am from the mid-west, hence all the fried stuff. I threw a couple of chicken breasts and sweet potatoes in the oven for Scotty, but that just didn't sound appealing to me. He is definitely a meat and potatoes kind of guy...actually he only just started eating salads earlier this year, which is shocking to me. Other than that, he won't eat much green stuff...maybe the occasional green bean. His idea of vegetables are baked potatoes and overly buttered corn.


I know I've mentioned before that we have a temporary roommate. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. Our new house was supposed to be move-in ready, but you know what happened to that. And the roommate was supposed to be living in our condo. Well, due to the current situation we are all in the condo right now. And this is not a large condo, please don't think like penthouse suite...it's a 2-bedroom, 1100 sq. ft. condo. The roommate had 2 out of town visitors last night, in addition to Scotty's buddy who is here from San Diego. Well...these out of town visitors wanted to have some fun, nothing wrong with that I guess. So they went out and had some drinks and came stumbling home at around 2:30...keep in mind that I feel like a big pile of crap and all I wanted was sleep. That just wasn't in the stars for me last night. They were soooooo loud and disrespectful I just couldn't believe it. Scott asked them repeatedly to keep it down, but I guess you don't understand the meaning of those words when you are drunk. I couldn't go back to sleep until around 4 or 4:30, and then I had to wake up at 6:00 to get ready for work. I'm not sure if this is totally true or not, but I am sure that I would be 100% well if I wouldn't have been rudely awakened last night, after all the doctor says rest is the best thing for you when you're sick. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Due to my lack of sleep last night, I was reminded of an article that I read in the December issue of Allure magazine. 

 It talks about the top 5 reasons that we might get a less than acceptable night's sleep. I realize that I am guilty of 2 that were on their list. 

 1. Pets in the bed. We let our dog go and do pretty much whatever she wants. Scott loves it for her to sleep in the bed because she is so warm it's like having a little furnace under the covers. But Allure says that dogs snore and are constantly doing something to wake us up. This is sooooooo true. My dog has nightmares...she will be completely out and start making these crazy whining, howling, barking noises in her sleep. And of course it wakes me up and I have to yell at her to stop. She also finds it necessary to groom herself in the middle of the night sometimes....ugh, the things I put up with.
2. TV too close to bed time. I am guilty of this every single night. We have our bedroom TV on from the minute we are in there until the minute our heads hit the pillows. Apparently watching TV makes you more alert, therefore inhibiting sleep. I actually find this to be a little hard to believe. If Scott would allow it I would fall asleep every night with the TV on. I like to hear a little noise in the background, I think silence creeps me out or something.

I Heart Salads

I probably eat more salad than most families combined. And I love all sorts of salads with all sorts of toppings and all sorts of dressings. This has actually been a quality of mine since I was old enough to feed myself. I think that other kids probably thought I was weird when I was younger because I didn't have to be forced to eat salad and other veggies, I actually wanted to. I also got a lot of flack as I got older when ordering salads in restaurants...like "Wow, you must be dieting if you're ordering a salad." No, that's not it at all. I just really love salads. I find them filling, versatile and tasty. Here's the salad that I had last night.

Ahhhh-perfection! Romaine lettuce (I always opt for Romaine, or the triple hearts bag, because iceberg lettuce has no real nutritional value), a torn up tortilla shell, black olives, tomatoes, onion, red wine vinaigrette dressing and some sprinkled parmesan cheese. I always eat my homemade salads from this bowl and if I go to make one and I find this bowl to be dirty I get very upset. Not just because I hate washing dishes, but because this is absolutely THE perfect salad bowl. First off, it's huge, so it can hold a lot of salad. Second, it's the perfect depth. I hate using really deep bowls because all of the dressing just slides right off of the ingredients and pools at the bottom of the bowl (a salad-eaters nightmare, haha). Third, my Mimi gave me this bowl so that just makes it even better :) 


I find myself ordering salads a lot when we go out for food, so I thought it would be a good idea to post some of the worst ones. Keep in mind, not all salads are healthy. Just because there is lettuce in there doesn't mean it's a good choice. And although the following salads are delish, I wouldn't recommend ordering them on a regular basis.


1. The very tasty Oriental Chicken Salad from Applebees. It contains 1,310 calories and 93 grams of fat. Too bad because this truly is one of my favorites.


2. O'Charley's Southern Fried Chicken Salad...to die for. But it contains 1100 calories and 62 grams of fat.


3. Chili's Boneless Buffalo Chicken Salad...ok, I could eat buffalo sauce on just about anything. So when you combine that with a salad, it's all good for me. Unfortunately though it contains 1,010 calories and 68 grams of fat.


4. And worst of all is the Quesadilla Explosion Salad, also from Chili's. It contains 1,400 calories and 88 grams of fat!


Here are some tips to keep your salads more on the healthy side whether you're at home or dining out:
Always order your dressing on the side, keep the cheese to a minimum, choose vinaigrette based dressings versus creamy ones, always opt for grilled protein instead of the breaded, fried kind.


So, there's my nutritional guidance for the day, hehe. I'm still feeling crappy and it is really cold here today (45 degrees when I left for work this morning...brrrrr!). We had a cold front come through last night and we were absolutely dying while walking the baby girl so we cut our walk short :(  We probably made it about 2 miles and that was it. Better than nothing I guess. Today I am going to give it my all to make it to the gym. I just can't stand not exercising...I need it!!! The plan is to get mucho cardio in--stair mill, treadmill and elliptical today...and I still haven't done those upper body strength exercises I've been talking about since Monday, so we'll shoot for completing those too. 


Breakfast today was a pack of whole grain peanut butter crackers, on the run as usual. I also stopped at 7-11 for some fat-free french vanilla cappucino. Lunch is some Parmesan Tomato Soup courtesy of Progresso with a string cheese. I'll have a Strawberry Special K Protein Bar before hitting the gym...and dinner is still a mystery for now. That's all I have for today, but I will share this cutie-pie picture of my baby girl with you. She is not the most affectionate, cuddly dog in the world, much to my dismay. So when she jumps up in the recliner with me without me asking her to, it's pretty darn special. That would be Two and a Half Men on the TV in the background, Scotty's favorite show. Ta ta for now!


Whitney

Being homesick and being grateful

Sometimes I get really homesick living 1000 miles away from all of my family. It usually gets really bad when I spend time with them back in Missouri and then come back down to Florida and it's just me and Scott pretty much. We have friends here and all, but its just not the same as having family around. I'm asked all the time if I will ever move back to Missouri and I do think about it quite a bit. But the truth is that I probably won't. Eventually we will move back closer but right now there aren't many opportunities for us there. I think that Scott and I would both love to make a gradual move closer to home. If I had it my way we'd move from here to Destin, FL then to Atlanta, GA then to Nashville, TN where I could stay forever...I love that city. I feel like I'm constantly thinking about moving, but truth is I should start being more thankful for what I have. I mean, for crying out loud, people take vacations to where I live everyday. It truly is a beautiful place. So, with this post I would like to give a little tribute to southwest Florida because I honestly think I take it for granted all too often.

This is Scott and I doing what we do best...getting our tan on and chillin' on the beach.

I wish that the screen wasn't blocking this one because it was such a beautiful sight. We get a lot of full rainbows in the summertime, also known as rainy season. This was taken from our back lanai.

We also frequently see some crazy animals that us Missourians just aren't used to, and probably never will be. This was taken at a local park. Just a baby...but we saw mama gator that day too.

This was taken on Memorial Day at a local boater's hangout called "The Redneck Yacht Club". Party central with beautiful turquoise waters.

This was just taken on a beautiful day on the water. Love the way there is trees all around this hotel.

This was also taken while out boating on the Gulf of Mexico, love the color of the water in this one.

And this sums it all up. It was taken off the back of the boat. We have some of the most magnificent sunsets here.

Starting today I am making a vow to appreciate what I have and where I am. I'm not going to constantly think too far into the future. It's time to start enjoying the here and now!

Still feelin' like poo :(

AHHHHH...I HATE being sick! I feel so darn useless at everything. So basically I don't have too much to say today. I think I'll be skipping the gym tonight so I can try to get some rest and recover from this crap. Yesterday I couldn't make it through everything that I wanted to do at the gym. I got about a 15 minute run in on the treadmill and then 20 minutes on the elliptical. We did manage to take our dog for the 3 mile loop around the neighborhood, she reeeeeeeally needed it. And I'm hoping to be able to squeeze that in tonight in between all my sitting around doing nothing and sleeping. But that's it for me, not gonna try and push it until I feel better. Last night nothing sounded good to eat, so I just threw together some romaine, tomatoes, onion, black olives, parmesan cheese, olive oil & vinegar and a tortilla shell and called it a salad. It actually turned out to taste pretty excellent, so I had seconds. Then I split a ginormous honeycrisp apple with Scott. 

The other exciting thing that happened yesterday is that we got new carpet installed in our new house. I've probably failed to mention the tortuous experience that we've had with purchasing this house. We closed on it on a Friday back in September. We spent the following weekend painting every single room, Scott's dad even flew in from Illinois to help us. We got all of that complete on the following Monday...Scott goes to the house on Wednesday to find that a water pipe going to the refrigerator had burst and there was about 4 inches of water standing in every single room of the house. It was a total loss and we are still in the process of repairing/replacing EVERYTHING and it is December already. We're getting closer though. The new tile is down, we repainted everything, all drywall has been replaced and the new carpet was installed yesterday. You'll see a picture below, and you'll notice that we still have lots left to do. None of the baseboards are down and the kitchen is still gutted. This weekend it is having some plumbing work and lighting installed so next week the new cabinets/countertops and appliances can be brought in. Ugh...I always wanted to design my own home from scratch, but this project has made me think otherwise. However it is going to look really pretty when it's complete. Thank goodness for insurance!

Well thats it for me today. Hopefully I'll be more interesting tomorrow...if I don't still feel 100% like poo. Hope everyone is staying healthy! Ta ta for now!


Whitney

Not again...

So, I woke up this morning feeling like total crap. I swear, it never fails. Every single time I step foot on an airplane I get sick...it doesn't matter if I load up on vitamins and healthy stuff, I could probably even wear a surgical mask and it would still happen. My head is throbbing, I can't stop sneezing and my throat is on fire. At least I did manage to get a work out in last night, nose dripping the whole time, gross!

10 Minutes on the stair mill
60 Minutes spin class


However, I was a big baby and did not do my strength training that I talked about yesterday. I actually feel 10 times worse today than I felt yesterday, but I'm going to try to make it through a full work out anyways. Today it will be a light run on the treadmill, stair mill/elliptical intervals and upper body strength training. Our dog is also in desperate need of a walk, she's looking a little on the chubby side. So the plan is to also make time for her 3 mile walk around the neighborhood.


I woke up late as usual, thankfully I had taken a shower before bed last night. So I threw my hair into a ponytail-bun thing (I refer to these as crap-things) and straightened the bangs out, swiped on very minimal makeup, and jumped into some jeans, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes. Not having to dress up for work is probably the most awesome part of my job. I made some oatmeal to go- And yes I did get a few weird looks as I was eating from a bowl and spoon at red lights in the car.  But it was very yummy, warm and nutritious. 

Plain oatmeal with cinnamon, 1 pack of Splenda, half of a banana and a swirl of honey. I prefer blueberries but we didn't have any, so I settled for a banana. It is pictured here with my vitamins, I'm really loading up on them today, more so than usual. Hopefully it will help me kick this cold in the butt.


I just had a morning snack of almonds and Diet Mt. Dew. BAD GIRL! I keep telling myself that I'll quit the sodas, but I swear I need that caffeine and I'm just not much of a coffee drinker unless it has 10,000 calories in it...like pumpkin spice lattes and french vanilla cappuccino.

I'm about to head out for lunch. I packed it with me today in my trusty old lunch box. I'm having another wrap, imagine that. Today is chicken, lettuce, tomato and onion with a side of string cheese. I also packed an XL honeycrisp apple...yum! Those are the best! I usually rely on old faithful, the Fuji, but this time of year honeycrisps are more readily available and oh so delicious. Well, thats it for me today. I must be extra boring when I'm sick. Ta ta for now!


Whitney

I'm baaaaaaaaaack!

Ok, so this really isn't meant to be read in that crazy scary horror-film voice, haha. I'm just really happy to get back into a routine and regain some normalcy in my life. Not that I didn't have THE MOST AWESOME weekend just chilling and doing basically nothing too important with my family. They are incredible.


So we flew out on Wednesday evening and I was doing very very well if I do say so myself on the flight. Remember how I said I was terrified of flying, well here's why: About an hour and a half into the flight the pilot came over the speakers and let us know that we were about 90 miles south of St. Louis, so we would be starting our descent. Great! We're almost there...not so fast. He also said, and I quote, "is an ugly evening in St. Louis...light rain showers and 47 degrees". No big deal, right? WRONG! The sky immediately got eerily dark and cloudy and the plan started rocking back and forth and side to side and doing things that should be physically impossibly while 40,000 miles in the air. I have no idea how that plane stayed up, it was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. I had to put my head in Scott's lap (thank the Lord he was there with me!) to keep from tossing my cookies and I'm pretty sure he'll have my fingernail imprints permanently etched in his bicep. It was lightning and pouring down rain all around us and I could tell that everyone else on the flight was getting really uneasy as well. This is usually how I gauge the severity of "airplane situations". If everyone around me is cool then I try to stay cool too, but the instant that I sense someone else stressing...it is all over. I seriously did not think I would ever step foot on the ground again! Finally those wheels hit the ground and I was SOOOOO thankful! One of the flight attendants then came on the speakers and asked everyone to give the pilot a round of applause for getting us safely to the ground. At that moment, I'd never knew anyone who deserved a round of applause more than him...so I gave it to him....for a really long time. 


We got off the plane and I of course, Ms. Bladder the Size of a Pea, had to use the restroom. I was rolling a carry-on, toting my purse, and carrying a book and Scotty's magazine. This is a lot of junk to bring into a bathroom stall, but luckily they have those little metal shelves above the toilets in the St. Louis airport. So I crammed my carry-on in the stall with me, hung my purse up on the back of the stall door, and sat the book and magazine on the shelf. I didn't realize it at the time...but I left the darn book and magazine there in the bathroom stall. Merry Christmas to the lucky finder of those! I had just purchased that book, a friggin' $30 hard-back brand new copy of "Cross Fire", the latest Alex Cross book from James Patterson. Darn it...and I had only made it through chapter 13. This is very upsetting. Oh, and Scott wasn't very happy that I left his Muscle & Fitness in there either. 


We made it to Scott's parents house around 12:00am on Thanksgiving morning. Unfortunately I wasn't able to spend much time there, everyone was pretty much asleep anyways. So I borrowed a car and drove to my parent's house, about an hour and a half away. Sometimes I think it is weird that we don't spend all holidays with each other, I mean we have been together for over 6 years. But it is just so hard to decide what to do when you live 13 hours from your family. Neither of us want to miss a family gathering, so sometimes it comes down to us opting to be apart in order to see our families.


Have you ever had Thanksgiving without turkey? Me neither, until this year! My aunt makes the turkeys and everyone else brings the side dishes. Well, she did everything like usual, but for some reason the little temperature gauge just wouldn't pop this year. We were supposed to eat lunch at noon and the turkeys weren't ready until 2:00. Obviously, we didn't wait that long. So I ate chicken and dumplings (exquisite! great job Aunt Trish!), green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole (extra marshmallows please!) and a homemade roll. Delish...but Thanksgiving is just not Thanksgiving without 2 things, turkey and pumpkin pie. Didn't I mention that I had been looking forward to pumpkin pie for weeks?!?! Guess what? We didn't have that either! Someone was seriously skimping on the deserts this year. We had fruit salad (healthy yeah...but I can't really consider that desert), some sort of cherry/whipped cream thing, and some chocolate peanut butter cookies. Those were pretty darn tasty, but just can't take the place of pumpkin pie! After we ate we chatted for a while and then went back to my mom's house and napped and lazed around all day.


Friday I did manage to squeeze in a quick run on the treadmill, only about 3 miles, but better than nothing. We did a lot more of nothing, played some Mario Karts on the Wii and watched some TV. We also went to my Mimi's house and decorate her Christmas tree for her. See below. It was soooo pretty. She usually does it up in red and gold, but this year she added some lime green accents as well. It was gorgeous.

Much to my Papaw's dismay, Mimi decorates every single inch of their house for Christmas. This is probably my favorite part, hehe. She even decorates her toilets!

Friday night was more eventful. We played "house hockey". The teams were me and Jack, my 8 year old brother, and my sister Mallory and step-dad Bo. No matter what they might say, we beat them 2 to 1, and we probably would have played all night if Jack wouldn't have knocked a mug of hot cocoa into the floor, shattering the mug. Mom called the game after that one. That night my sister and I went and saw Burlesque. And I don't care what anyone might say about me...I LOVED IT. Christina Aguilera was great and looked AMAZING. The costumes and make-up were awesome. It made me want to put a lot of glitter on my face and dance around in a corset. Such a cute story. And my sister loved it too and she's not quite as girly as me.

Saturday me, Mal and Jack met Scott and my future in-laws for lunch at McCalister's deli. I had a delicious chicken cesar salad and shared some salsa and tortilla chips with my sis. We took Scott back to my mom's house with us and had another little get-together/party that evening. My mom and step-dad had a contest going. She made broccoli cheese soup and he made a pot of chili. The goal was to see who had the least remaining at the end of the night. Pretty sure my mom won that one. I love broccoli and cheese soup and hers was to die for. But shamefully, I will admit that I actually had a bowl of each...and a piece of cake. I did get another 3 miles in on the treadmill that day too...like that makes up for it! ha! We played video games until my fingers were numb and I fell asleep on the couch watching "As Good as it Gets".


Sunday we went to church and came home and had grilled hamburgers and left overs and watched football (Go Steelers...you almost blew it though!). Then it was time to head back to the airport. I sat in the front with Mom and Scott and Jack were in the back seat watching DVDs. I looked back there and this is what I saw.

Pure cuteness!


The flight home was much less eventful, a little rocky landing due to more crappy weather, but nothing like the first one!


I didn't want to get out of bed today...not enough time to catch up on rest. But I did. And I was running late as usual. I had to grab a package of pre-made peanut butter crackers...at least they are whole grain crackers I guess. I had to stop and fill up the gas tank or else I wasn't going to make it to work. So I also grabbed a banana and a string cheese at the gas station. I had the banana for a mid-morning snack and relied on old faithful for lunch...a whole wheat wrap with roast beef, lettuce, tomato, onion and black olives. I also splurged and bought a bowl of sliced granny smith apples and purple grapes, yum!

I can't even tell you how excited I am to get back into the gym this evening. I'll be doing 15 minutes on the stair mill to warm up, then an hour of spinning class, followed by upper body strength training.


Not sure what dinner will be, probably just a big leafy green salad. I'm still feeling like Shamoo from all the crap I ate this weekend. Well, hope that everyone out there had a fabulous Thanksgiving. I sure did...and now I'm looking forward to going back for Christmas! Yay! Ta ta for now!


Whitney

3 More Hours...OH YEAH!

What in the heck is better than a 4-day weekend? Maybe a 5-day weekend...but that't it. And only 3 more hours until mine starts! Afterwards I'll be rushing off to the gym- today is a running day, maybe a little stair climbing too. I'll be needing that extra little cardio tomorrow thats for sure. My plan is to wear some skinny jeans to lunch so that way I can't totally gorge myself or else I'll have to unbutton the pants in front of the WHOLE family, and that would just be embarassing. My Thanksgiving ritual is not just with my immediate family, its with the whole darn thing. Grandparents, great aunts and uncles, first cousins, second, third, etc. Even though Scott says nothing past your first cousins count, I beg to differ!


Yesterday was an awesome day. I had this amazing wrap for lunch...

Whole wheat wrap with roast beef, lettuce, double tomatoes, double pickles, black olives and salt-n-peppa. Scrumptious!


I guess the small-town, country-girl inside of me still gets extremely excited to hit the local grocery store deli and get to order a sub/wrap with any sort of toppings you can imagine. In my home town, which is in the middle of nowhere, population approximately 485 people, you go to the local quick-mart and have to deal with whatever they might have...definitely no wraps, and 50% of the time no wheat bread (gasp!). I think their special is fried bologna, cheese and mayo on white bread.

While I was at the grocery store grabbing lunch I picked up the latest copy of my love, Oxygen magazine.

And I must give Robert Kennedy props for the cover girl choice. I love Lindsay Messina. She's gorgeous, has a beyond rockin' body and would make a kick-ass role model for young girls. Seeing this made me wonder who everyone else looks up to as fitness role models. Below are some more of my faves.

My all-time favorite is Jamie Eason. Look at those guns, but even more impressive is her back-side!

Coming in at a close second is Amanda Latona...I strive to have legs like those! 

And WOW...would you believe this woman has 2 kids? (Jennifer Nicole Lee...the amazing!)


Ok, now I'm off to finish my work for the day and then I am outta here! HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING! Ta ta for now!


Whitney