8 Miles

Alright, so I know I have some catch up posts to do and I will maybe get to some of those at some point this week (why is it so hard to sit down and download pictures and update this blog!?!?) but most importantly right now I need to document something that happened today. Something that has never happened in my life, and I am so happy and proud of myself.  I ran 8 miles today!!! 8 whole long glorious miles. The farthest I have ever run ever, and on a treadmill (I hate the treadmill).  I have been really trying hard to get back into running and have been committing to running 3 times a week and doing at least one longer run on the weekends. I started running for the first time in my life after Evie was born. I decided that it was time to find a workout that I could do anywhere, anytime and preferably with her. We have awesome running strollers and she never liked the childcare at the gym, so the winter of 2011/12 I downloaded a couch to 5k training program and religiously followed it. I spent many evenings at the gym on the treadmill after the kids had gone to bed. It was hard, and I wanted to quit several times as I usually do with most things but I stuck it out and was able to run an entire 5k by spring. After that I was addicted. I started running outside pushing the kids around in our double Bob while we lived in the rental house over the summer of 2012. I'd run the paths along the creek and got up to running about 3-4 miles a day with that thing. Then we moved into our new house and chaos took over. House projects ruled and my running went by the sidelines. The thing with running for me is that I have to stick with it or I lose it quickly. It is so damn HARD! Then I threw my back out lifting weights in May and was totally unable to run or do much for the entire summer. It was depressing.  We live blocks from our favorite lake that has a great 3 mile trail around it, and I had all these dreams of running the lake all summer long and getting more races under my belt. These things never happened and then winter hit again. Evie started loving the gym's daycare and I decided a couple of months ago that it was time to start running again and once again I got on the treadmill and it was a slow slow process. But a month of running has really paid off because TODAY I RAN 8 MILES!! No walking, all running. And it was awesome. I felt fantastic afterwards (usually I get horrible stomach cramps after a longer run).

The only bad thing about running is afterwards you decide it is totally fine to eat a huge helping of spaghetti for dinner, a glass of wine, a bunch of thin mint girl scout cookies and ice cream with chocolate syrup. But hey, I ran 8 miles today!

Our 'hood

I'm kind of obsessed with our neighborhood. I never dreamed I'd have so many great neighbor friends. Especially after living in our old house for 4 years without ever knowing anyone besides the guy who lived right behind us. This time in our new house it is so different. We've been here for about a year and a half and I feel like we've hit the neighbor jackpot. So many young families in the same stage of life as us and such nice people. The women usually try to get together monthly, for a night of wine and catching up, but we also try to include the families as everyone has young children. On Saturday one of our neighbors hosted a little cookie decorating party and had all of us over for cookies and lunch. Evie was sick so her and Tim stayed behind to work on a new house project Tim decided to start over the weekend (fixing all our trim) but Miles and I went to visit and eat cookies. It was really fun and I loved seeing all the little kids get together. Looking forward to the warmer months when everyone is outside and we don't all have to be cooped up in the house.

February cookie party at Angie and Seth's.

Little Friends

These two have been playing an awful lot together and getting along!! Evie even played her first game of Candyland and Spiderman Match game without destroying the game and without Miles freaking out. It is nice. They play a lot of little pretend games together too, usually on the weekend mornings when the pace of life at our house slows way down. Some of their new favorite games are pretending it's Christmas Eve and Santa is coming - they drag their blankets and pillows out into the living room and make a bed on the floor and read books and hang out together. Another is playing school and Miles is the teacher of course. I love it when they play these little games together without noticing that I am listening and watching. Evie just has stars in her eyes for her big bro. And he is pretty good at protecting his little sister too.

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R.K.T. Class

I signed up for a new class at the gym that I have always been intrigued with. It is a Ropes/Kettlebells/TRX class that meets every Wednesday morning for 45 minutes at the gym I belong to. The best part is that my neighbor Jenny and my friend Terri both decided to try it out with me. We met this past Wednesday for our first class and it was awesome. I'm hooked. The instructor is amazing and there is only 4 of us total in the class so I feel like we get a lot of instruction personalized just for us. I'm hoping it gives me a little extra motivation to get to my workouts in and help me get those buff arms I have always dreamed of! ;)

Meal planning success!

My first week doing The Fresh 20 was a total success!!! I loved it. I loved not having to think about dinners and not having to go to the grocery store even once (well once for coffee). But seriously, it was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders not having to think about what we would have for dinner. The biggest surprise from the week was that my entire family ate vegetarian all week (we signed up for the veg plan) and that the kids ATE ALL THE MEALS!!! It was like an adventure we were all part of. I prepared foods I have never prepared and even eaten and we were all part of this little food adventure team. Eating new foods together was fun. We all discovered that parsnips and portabella mushrooms are delicious and are excited to try more foods. All of the dinners were jam packed with veggies and felt very balanced. I liked it so much we signed up a 3 month subscription. I look forward to more healthy meals in my future without even thinking about it.

The Fresh 20 Night #1

So I heard about this meal planning service from my sister whose friend has been on it for many months now and really loves it. She claims that they have really started saving money on groceries, wasting less, and looking and feeling healthier. I looked it up and immediately became intrigued. It looks quite simply like the answer to my "I'm so sick of figuring out what is for dinner" prayers. And it looks pretty darn healthy and right on track with my wanting to eliminate as many processed foods as possible. Plus now with the addition of our Vitamix, anything seems possible. I know, I know, we are crazy. So before I commit to it fully, I decided to sign up for the free week and do it exactly as they plan it out and make my decision at the end of the week. I picked the vegetarian option as we eat mainly veggie in our household and the classic plan was way too meat heavy for us. Plus, I feel as a vegetarian (mostly) I need to venture out and prepare and eat more foods at home that I would never consider (parsnips). We need to break out of the stir-fry, pasta, pizza rut we are in. And it is 2014, a new year, why not?!?! So I gave it a go. I printed my week off, headed to the store on Sunday and got my week full of dinner ingredients.

Night #1 - Lemon, thyme, potato pancakes with homemade applesauce and plain greek yogurt, with sauteed brussel sprouts. It was easy to prepare, made from scratch and pretty darn good. I'm already ready to sign up for 3 months. I loved not having to think about what was for dinner, and it felt really balanced and healthy. The ingredients and flavors went together perfectly. And it was something I would never ever think about making. Miles ate the brussel sprouts and Tim cleaned his plate and had seconds. We also had some pancakes left over for lunch today.

Fresh 20 Meal #1

Christmas Recap and NYE

I am realizing lately that I am behind on my blog updates and have a harder time sitting down at the computer. We had a very sweet little Christmas at home with the kids. Santa came and spoiled them rotten, and by rotten I mean, they were little angels most of the day and then started suffering from the "I got too many presents" meltdowns that always seem to occur with little kids on holidays and their birthdays.

It was a pretty laid back day as I had been gone the days prior and wasn't around to meal plan or have the house in tip top condition. It was nice though. We just hung out in our jammies all day and played with the new toys. A very relaxing day overall.

Christmas was on a Wednesday this year and Tim had the whole week off. On Friday we loaded up the car to celebrate Christmas with Tim's family at the cabin. Grandma Sue and Papa Wayne had the cabin all decorated for Christmas with a fun all white Christmas tree dressed up as a snowman. The kids decorated cookies with Grandma Sue and we celebrated by opening lots and lots of presents and having a "French" meal. Tim's family does a different theme meal every Christmas and lots of planning go into the menu. It was quite a success this year I think. I'm kicking myself for not taking more pictures. Must get better at that!!! Another thing to add to my 2014 list.

Evie and Cousin Mara

Grandma Sue and the grandkids frosting cookies.

For New Year's Eve we rung in the new year with what is becoming a new little family tradition of ours and made our own pizza from scratch. I broke out the bread machine and made a fresh batch of dough, then we topped it with sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese, spinach, olives and mushrooms. It was pretty delicious. The kids helped with the toppings of course. We had movie night and watched Despicable Me 2 (which Miles LOVES right now). Kids were in bed by 8:30 and Tim and I were both lights out by 10:30. I love being old, married with kids. It is quite nice. 2104 is going to be a good year.

Ringing in 2014 with a home made pizza!