7 Days Done. 5 Classes Done. I'm Alive.

Well kids - 7 days down, 23 more to go. I've made it a WHOLE week and haven't died yet. In fact - I feel pretty damn good. I sleep well at night and I wake up well rested. Sure I'd love a glass of wine and a slice of pizza, but it's not killing me. It's making me mo betta. Let's review...

Day 5 (Friday) was a pretty decent day. I tested out my green smoothie recipe again - the one with my frozen kale cubes. HUGE success! Didn't have the chunky part since I'd already cooked it and liquefied it - plus then once I put it back in the blender, it got even more liquefied. Lunch proved a little difficult seeing as we got biscuits and gravy with mashed potatoes for lunch. When I ordered that I hadn't planned on not being able to eat the potatoes, biscuits, or chicken and veggies in the dairy-filled broth. I had a meeting at the beginning of lunch so I missed out on the first smells of the pans opening, and I decided I should do 20 minutes on the elliptical before trying not to eat EVERYTHING in site. I came back in time to see it all put away - grabbed myself some veggies and a salad and warmed up my burger patty. Boom. Made it through. Oh - and it was Girl Scout cookie season. A few people at work have kids selling them, and of course they brought some to work to sell. I wanted to buy 20 boxes and just put them in my fridge until March, but I just don't know about my self control. After work - I didn't get called in, woop woop! - I decided to head to a sculpt class. My ass was still sore from the Power 2 on Thursday - and this made it NO better. I sweat my ass off in class number 3 and then headed home for dinner. I made another green smoothie with kale cubes, cranberries, banana and strawberries, another hamburger, and an apple and my dinner was made. Noms. After a lazy night of watching the Opening Ceremonies and realizing I don't remember anything from high school history/geography, I slept like a baby.

Day 6 (Saturday) I cooked up a couple eggs and had a banana with a cup of coffee and then headed to a Power 2 before I worked my 3 hour stint at the yoga studio. It was more of a Bikram style class - holding poses longer, more breathing, all that business. But it was awesome. I can feel my hamstrings stretching out which makes me happy. All this yoga is clearing my mind, stretching my body and making me feel overall BETTER. Once I finished up there I headed home for some lunch - another spinach salad with tuna, egg and cucumber. Toby seemed to like my salad too - as he couldn't keep his little nose away. I even shared a couple bites with him. After a couple episodes of Dexter, a shower and a little cat nap, I grabbed a quick dinner of  a hamburger (only one more I swear), an apple and almonds and then headed to work. It was a slow night - but once I was home (early) then I headed to bed. There was a party going on upstairs (weird) so it took me a bit to fall asleep. I set my alarm for 8:00 and figured I'd sleep till I woke up.

Day 7 - today! I woke up and was functioning after 7 am and even got some laundry started. It's amazing how rested you can be after eating well and working out. Who knew! I got to meet my lovely Creston lady who's in town training for her new job. We spent some time at Starbucks catching up - over my Blonde roast, no cream or sugar. I'd had a small breakfast - egg scramble with salsa - and was starting to get pretty hungry. After we were done with cawfee tawk (coffee talk - get it?) I headed to the store to pick up some essentials for the week. I picked up some ground turkey, sweet potatoes, peppers, apples, spinach and cauliflower. My #whole30 buddy and I made some turkey burgers today with red peppers, garlic and spinach and some spicy cauliflower "rice." We had a little fruit salad with strawberries and banana - plus some pineapple flavored coconut water, way better than plain coconut water. After an episode of OITNB, I headed to class at 4. Another kick ass sweat session put on by my new yogi (DEFINITELY make a trip downtown for his class... I promise you won't regret it!) and back to watch some Dexter and write to you! I haven't decided what I'd like for dinner yet - I had an apple and a big water after getting back. What I'd really like is some veggies and dip - I realize I can't have the dip portion, but it does sound pretty good. Maybe I'll mix up some red pepper, sweet potato, hamburger and... eggs? With a side of green beans? We'll see. I should probably shower first.

My #whole30 buddy and I have discussed "what happens next" once we're done with our 30 days. Obviously I'll have a glass of wine, and maybe a slice of pizza - but then what? (Whoa - just realized I wrote that at the beginning too. Freudian slip...? Maybe?) I like the way I feel with the food I'm eating, I like the fact that I feel so good after working out and sleeping so well. I can tell that these next 23 days are going to make me BETTER - mentally, physically, emotionally.

"I am just striving to be more me than I have ever been."

I want to be more me. Maybe this eating healthy and working out thing is more ME than I've ever thought. So why not? Why not try.

5/20 - #PLY2030
7/30 - #whole30

Be YOU, and I'll be ME

S

Impossible? Nah - I'm Possible.

Four days down. It's not terrible. Let's reminisce...

On Day 3, I woke up KNOWING that it had been snowing all night and that I’d have to clean my car off in the morning. I also thought my building knew that it had been snowing all night so I was surprised when I went out to clean off my car that the sidewalks and stairs had NOT been cleared off. Plus – the plows had come through, so there was a nice area of roughly a foot that had accumulated at the base of the stairs. Wonderful. I slow motion Tebow-ed into the snow after getting to my car and once I’d cleared it all off I kicked snow away from the tires that the plows had pushed around. Thought I’d be golden. Wrong. That snow got packed and I got stuck. Little Red got herself stuck at a 45 degree angle to the curb and as I was throwing a tantrum (in the car) and getting ready to climb out to scoop myself out, a nice man from down the street told me to get in the car and he’d help me push. Then another nice man was driving by, pulled his car over and got out and helped. Faith in humanity restored. Thanks good Samaritans!

Breakfast consisted of black coffee (tasted like poop) and switched out for some lemon tea, an apple, banana and a hard boiled egg. And I was generally full until it was time for lunch. I headed to the gym for a 30 minute elliptical ride and started a new book – Gang Leader for a Day. Pretty intense so far. I can’t wait to keep reading it. After the gym I headed back to the office for some more work and some lunch. I had some leftover hash from the night before (if it has “hash” in the name I’m going to eat it) and some green beans. The hash was seriously still as good as it was the night before. Making that again FO SHO.

Dinner was supposed to be a birthday celebration at the Olive Garden. I seriously LOVE the OG and the carbs that live there. All you can eat breadsticks, bottomless pasta – I probably would have cried walking in there and just SMELLING that. I searched the menu to find something I could eat and settled on an Chicken Breast with Apricot on top and veggies. It’s a good thing we didn’t go – a girl at work said it probably would have had extra sugar. Didn’t even cross my mind. Looks like I’ll just have to be one of those people who asks “what’s in this” when ordering so I make sure I don’t slip up. Instead of the delicious OG, I ended up with spicy sausage links, a garbage salad (eggs, olives (I ate a couple!), bacon, apple) and a banana. I had some mixed nuts as well as an unsweetened tea before bed. Normally I hate unsweetened things – but they’re growing on me. I have a DEFINITE sweet tooth, but I also have a salt tooth (is that a thing?) so I like switching it up with chips AND candy. Noms.

I didn’t sleep well the night before – probably because I drank non-decaf coffee WAY too late, or because I watched an episode of Dexter. Could be a combination of the two. But I have faith that my sleep habits will only get better as the weeks progress. As far as workouts go, I have worked out in some form for the last 5 days. I like how I feel.

And now on to Day 4. I woke up feeling RESTED. Which is awesome. I didn't even go to bed early and sleep in late. I slept a normal amount and woke up actually feeling ready for the day. I got to work at a decent time AND had breakfast and lunch ready. This #whole30 thing may actually be working. Breakfast consisted of black coffee, a banana, an apple, and mixed nuts. Kept me pretty full. Lunch was a spinach salad with tuna, cucumber and egg. Definitely something to eat again. It was so filling! And so easy.

After work I hit up class 2/20 - a Power 2 class. I haven't taken a Power 2 in a long time... and this one totally kicked my ass. I was dripping in sweat, with shaky legs and dead arms when I left. I may make that a weekly trip. And I may have caught a little pneumonia on my way back - probably doesn't help that I was soaking wet and walked outside in the negative degree weather back to my place. Whatevs. Worth it.

And then it was time for dinner. And I was STARVING. After searching for recipes (thank you Pinterest) I found a recipe for some sweet potato hashbrowns with eggs in the middle. Figured I could use up a half a sweet potato and a couple eggs with that. And over my lunch I found some chicken sausages with spinach in them - so I cooked one with it. It was seriously effing amazing. Maybe it's just because I was starving, or maybe it's because I'm an awesome chef. We'll go with that one. Also - I tried making kale chips. They were the worst thing ever. I threw them away. It made me want to die. I don't know what I did wrong, but damn. Those were nasty. And then I decided to cook some kale and then liquefy it so I can freeze it, and try it in my smoothie in the morning. Details to come.

In class today (while getting my ass kicked) I also had my mind working. We talked at the beginning of class about aspirations. An aspiration is a hope or ambition of achieving something. The example he gave is PERFECT for right now for me. Take a word - let's use "impossible." Change that into a hope or ambition - and you get to "I'm Possible." This #whole30 is not impossible, it's totally possible. And these 20/30 classes are totally possible. Don't forget to dwell in possibility.

I need to keep searching for recipes - maybe some ricing cauliflower this weekend... could be fun. Suggestions are ALWAYS welcome. Just remember the stipulations: no dairy, no sugar, no grains, no white starches, no alcohol (sob). And as my mother said when I told her we were cooking a healthy meal she said “so you’re having water??” Rude. We had some tasteless tea as well!

Day 4/30: check. #whole30
Class 2/20: check. #PLY2030

Good luck to my #whole30 warriors… WE CAN DO THIS!

S

Day 2 - if it's got "hash" in the title, I'll eat it.

All right you guys - day 2 is done. And I'm not dying. Pretty cool right? I mean - I know there's so much that can happen during the next 28 days... but I think I really can do this. I started off my morning (running late... again) by making my breakfast, lunch, and planning my #whole30 dinner date night. Pretty successful morning. But then I had to trek it through the snow - not terrible, city of WDM. You've improved since the last snow fall.

Breakfast consisted of a hard boiled egg (I think I overcooked them a little) and a smoothie. This smoothie was WAY mo betta than yesterday's tragic attempt. This one consisted of a banana, cranberries, and blueberries. Noms. I drank my coffee black again - and didn't hate it, again. I for sure love my coffee sweet... but it's not terrible. The rest of the day went by pretty smoothly, and I got my ass handed to me in my 20/30 challenge. One class down, 19 to go! Zero chaturangas, yet I was still DRIPPING in sweat. Which was really fun considering I had to go back out into the snow to get back to work. Whatevs. I got back to work and ate my pre-made breakfast for lunch - an egg scramble with spinach, chicken and sundried tomatoes and an apple.

I took off work a little early to make sure I could get home without all the idiots out driving around and had time to watch a couple episodes of Dexter before my #whole30 dinner date. On the menu tonight: Sweet Potato Hash with hamburger, peppers, onions, and eggs. Let me tell you - it was AMAZING. Plus - I've got leftovers for a meal tomorrow! My #whole30 buddy and I talked about how this whole "clean eating" thing really isn't THAT bad. I mean - the hardest thing (which is sad) is the booze. With the snow today, all I wanted to do was pick up a bottle (or two) of wine on the way home from work, snuggle up on the couch with Toby, watch Dexter, and watch the snow fall while relaxing with a nice glass (bottle) of $5 Barefoot wine. Meals like tonight make it seem so much easier than it might actually be. Now the key is to PLAN ahead. Dinners like that are awesome. I'm totally full, I have leftovers, and it was delicious. I could have that every day.

AND THEN - while watching episodes of OITNB, I decided to search Pinterest for #whole30 recipes. And seriously - SO MANY RECIPES. I found a ton of them, and they all sounded really good and reasonable. As long as I can "trick" myself into eating healthy stuff, I'll do it. I mean, I saw recipes for cauliflower "rice," cauliflower mashed "potatoes" and sweet potato damn near everything. I like where this is headed. Of course I'm going to miss pizza, cottage cheese, beer - but it's 30 days. And after seeing pictures of a before and after the #whole30, I really am convinced that it works. It's going to be hard - but it won't kill me. It's good for me. And maybe, just maybe, it will change my way of eating for the future.

While surfing Pinterest tonight, I found something that makes this #whole30 thing a little harder. I like to have fun and eat good food. I like to try new beer and new recipes. But I've also got goals. I want to look good in a bikini (they're the worst) and I want to feel good in some bridesmaid dresses this summer. I want to live my life, but I also want to be healthy.

"In between goals is a thing called life, that has to be lived and enjoyed."

Live your life, but be smart about it. Have some fun - make some stupid choices. But stay strong too. Work hard to achieve your goals. TRY. Try hard, you'll get there eventually.

Two down, 28 to go - #whole30
One down, 19 to go - #PLY2030

Stay strong,
S

Day 1: I need to try harder

Well – Day 1 is here. I thought I was SO prepared for it too. Turns out – not even close. After being woken up at 6:00 yesterday morning by the devil child running sprints, I was immediately put in a bad mood. I had a day to sleep in and didn’t get to enjoy it. My original plan was to sleep till I woke up, go on a brunch date, do some grocery shopping for the upcoming #whole30, hit up yoga (pre 20/30 challenge) and then relax and watch the Super Bowl with some last minute beers. And you know what happens when you’re busy planning things? Life. Life happens. And that little life form who lives upstairs began sprints at 6. So I got out of bed (on the wrong side, mind you) and decided to get my grocery shopping done and out of the way. I stopped for a quick pick-me-up at Caribou (last day to have yummy, sweet coffee) and hit up Dahls. Well it was me and the retired crowd at the store, which was fine by me because then I didn’t need to fight for space with everyone and their mom. I’d made a list beforehand so I pretty much KNEW what I’d need when I got there.

My list included the basics: chicken breasts (frozen are so much cheaper), ground beef, frozen fruits (for smoothies), frozen veggies (cheaper than canned? Not surprisingly), kale, spinach, apples, sweet potatoes, bananas, olive oil, and eggs. My PLAN (remember that plan? The one I was busy with when life was happening?) was to make smoothies for breakfast (hence the fruits and kale), chicken and such for lunches, eggs intermittently spread throughout. I added in some avocados (those are a good fat), some sundried tomatoes and some balsamic vinaigrette for this awesome salad recipe I found. I’m golden. I can totes do this. I’m so prepared for the next week I’m impressing myself.

So I went on my brunch date (and was grumpy – sorry about that) to Waveland Café – probably the BEST place for brunch in Des Moines. I wanted some carbs because they are my favorite food – and I wouldn’t be able to eat them for the next month. So what did I do? Biscuits and Gravy on hashbrowns, with two eggs – over easy. I got a cup of coffee and poured in my signature 2 splenda packs (thanks for teaching me that, Dad), and with each refill, I didn’t add anymore sweetener. It didn’t taste terrible, so I figured I’d be good to go with my creamer-less and sugarless coffee in the mornings. Just prepping myself. After brunch I got dropped off so I could continue with my plan. I turned on Dexter (omg it’s so weird) and got started.

So first, I baked my eggs (325 degrees for 30 minutes) and let them cool for 10 minutes in ice water once they were done. I think I only had one half-explode which was pretty impressive considering I’ve NEVER MADE HARD BOILED EGGS BEFORE. Laugh all you want. This was pretty impressive for my first attempt. I can scramble with the best of them – but the rest will take practice. But I can do it. Then I decide to bake some chicken breasts for the week – may as well get it out of the way and put them in the fridge so I’ll just have to grab one and head to work right? I’ve got those done – and by this time it’s time for yoga! Hooray!

I got my sweat on, teared up a little reiterating our intention of “try” and held crow for the longest time yet. At that point – I thought it was going to be a good week. I spent a lazy night watching football – terrible game – and drinking some Angry Orchards and Canoe Paddlers. My PLAN (remember the plan?) was to get up at 5 am so I could work out at 5:45, be done by 6:30, and be good to go to head into work a little early. So you see what happened was… I slept instead. I was warm and comfy and I just didn’t want to be outside in the freezing cold at 5 am. So I slept. I got moving at a fairly decent time, still plenty to get ready for the day. Pack lunch and dinner, make breakfast, get my bag packed for a work out and work, and get on the road. So here are a few things I learned on day 1 of my #whole30.

1)      Kale needs to be liquefied before going into a smoothie, otherwise it’s chunky and gross

2)      I don’t necessarily like avocado in its normal state – I’d rather have it as a spread, or in guacamole

a.      No matter how many times I’ve seen someone cut an avocado, I am unable to do it in a pretty way

3)      Black coffee isn’t terrible

4)      Peeling hard boiled eggs is a pain in my ass

5)      I was not prepared for this week AT ALL.

By following #whole30, you eat 3 meals a day. I’m so used to having breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack (and more snack). That will probably be the biggest challenge for me. That and the fact that I would love a bowl of pasta. But it’s 30 days of my life. I’m sure I’ll feel better in 30 days anyway – it’s just going to be hard. And I would like a challenge. Plus – this is a perfect month to do this. No bachelorette parties, no weddings, no races – just Valentine’s Day where I can stare longingly at chocolate and wine all day long. But it’s okay – I’ll celebrate once I’ve completed my #whole30.

So here’s what made it on my plate today (in case you’re keeping track of me and making sure my food is clean):

Breakfast: smoothie (nasty) with blackberries, kale and banana with an apple and black coffee

Lunch: Spinach salad with chicken, sundried tomatoes, avocado, and cucumber with balsamic vinaigrette dressing with raw carrots, cauliflower, broccoli and celery

Post workout snack: pistacchios and tea (post workout snacks are allowed)

Dinner: hard boiled eggs, raw carrots, half a sweet potato and green beans

 

How’d I do? Plus – I’m not starving… which is good. Maybe this won’t be so terrible after all.

Like I said earlier, I teared up a little during our final discussion of our intention in yoga yesterday. That intention was “try.” Try to be better, try harder, try to improve in every aspect of your life. A very smart yogi told me that. It doesn’t go just for yoga either – it goes for this challenge, it goes for your work life, your personal life, your general OUTLOOK on life. Just try a little bit.

So here goes – day 1: done. Only 29 more to go. I’ve got a #whole30 date night dinner tomorrow… let’s see what we come up with to make. Noms.

 

TRY.

S

Whole Ass It

Hello hello all! It’s odd for me to be writing on any day but Monday – but I had things to do. Like getting over a NASTY cold and putting my Christmas decorations away. Yes I realize it’s damn near February, but I had things to do. Other things. Like going to Hawaii and not sticking around for post-holiday sales where I could get more Christmas decorations for 80 percent off, and a bag or box to keep my tree in. Other things. My bad.

But now I’m BACK! And if you haven’t gotten sick of me yet, well – you just might over the next month. Why you ask? Well. Since you asked – I shall tell. (I know you’re curious anyway.) So – here goes. Beginning on Monday (February 3^rd) I will be blogging DAILY. Because I will have two things that start on that day. The first is a 20/30 Yoga Challenge – 20 yoga practices in 30 days. I don’t win anything, but it’s a new challenge for me. And just think how calm and zen-ed out I’ll be after 20 yoga classes. My plan is to try out as many DIFFERENT classes as possible during that time. I mean – I get it for free anyway so why WOULDN’T I try out new classes? I want and need to build and better my practice as is, so more Power 1.5 and Power 2’s, more Sculpt (Embrace the Suck!), some relaxing Restore, and even some Barre classes. So if any of you would care to join me in this journey, please do! It’s always more fun to challenge yourself like this with friends by your side.

And the other thing that starts Monday… may just kill me. Or maybe it won’t – because whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger… right Kelly Clarkson? (Have I said this before? I feel like I have. Whatevs. Sorry I’m not sorry.) I’ve got a partner in crime or two or three who will be going on this journey with me as well… and this one is the Whole30 Challenge. Again – I don’t win anything, except for probably better health. So what’s the “Whole30?” Well here’s a link for you to check it out - http://whole30.com/ - and it’s pretty scary. Very similar to a Paleo diet, Whole30 takes you back to the Stone Age by not allowing any dairy products, alcohol, grains, or sugars. So pretty much – everything I eat on a daily basis. The part that seems to be the most DIFFICULT part of this – no alcohol. I mean I’m sure I can do it, but sometimes you just want a glass (bottle) of wine after a long day. Or maybe a couple beers while watching football. Maybe it’s a good thing we are starting this AFTER the Super Bowl so I don’t break my streak after ONE DAY. So basically – lots of protein, veggies, some fruit, and some “good” fats. We’re not allowed to weigh or measure at any time during this 30 day trip – which is fine by me, the scale is the devil’s little sister – and no calorie counting during that time. I’ve got MyFitnessPal on my phone so I’ll have to not log anything at that time. It feels a little like I’ll be entering a detox program, which I guess it kind of is. But I have my sponsor’s number – so if I feel like eating cottage cheese and chugging a beer, I’ll just give my sponsor a call and we can go for a run or take a trip to the yoga studio instead. (I use the term “sponsor” very lightly – as I am not in AA or any type of Anonymous organization… but it kind of feels that way.) It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be REALLY hard. But I’m going to do it. I haven’t done anything “hard” for a long time. Like since D2D4. And that was in June. I need to kick my own ass for a while.

Have I ever mentioned that my book club kicks ASS? Well it totally does. And you should all be jealous if you’re not in it. But if you do want to be in it, let me know and I’ll add you in J The more the merrier! I’ve met some awesome girls and deepened friendships with friends I’ve already got. This is probably one of the best things I’ve done. It’s so fun to read a book, talk about it, talk about everything ELSE, and eat good food with awesome people. So last night we met for a couple things – first off: to talk about I Am Malala. If you haven’t read this – DO IT. It may make you feel stupid (because this 16 year old girl knows way more than you knew at 16, currently know, and probably will EVER know) and also teach you so much about the culture in Pakistan, Muslim culture, and the fact that the Taliban is an extremist version of Muslim religion. I’ll be honest – I didn’t really know there was a difference. I associated Muslim with Taliban and just ASSUMED that the people of Pakistan were all a part of the Taliban. Not. Even. CLOSE. It will open your eyes to the fact that ONE VOICE can change so much. This girl is so brave – I mean, she left Jon Stewart speechless because he was in so much awe by what she’s done. I was pretty much the same. It just amazes me. The second reason we met last night – was for a dress drive. One of our newbie book club members sent me the link for GirlUp (http://www.girlup.org) and then more information about the Viva Dress Drive. Why wouldn’t you incorporate the strength of Malala with the giving of dresses to girls who can’t afford their own, into one awesome meeting? If anyone has any other dresses (for girls aged 13-22) that you’d like to donate, let me know. I’ll be sending them in within the next couple weeks. It’s such a great idea – because what girl doesn’t want to get dressed up and feel beautiful?

With all these things I’m trying lately, I thought it only fitting to quote some Hemingway today.

“Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep, really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.”

Seriously though. Just live your life. Live it to the fullest. Don’t half ass it – what a waste. Whole ass your life. It’s the only way to truly LIVE.

Running in circles, coming up tails,

S

Just - Do YOU.

I so apologize for not writing last week, but I was trying to recoop from my Hawaiian vacation! It was amazing. I loved everything about it. I want to go back – NOW especially as I look out the window and see the snow falling. Can’t it just be spring yet? I mean don’t get me wrong – the snow looks pretty, but when people can’t drive in it, that’s where I get annoyed. (I feel like I’ve already written this before… is it déjà vu or is this just being an Iowan?) It’s also really fun when the door opens here and the snow blows in at me. Maybe I should have called in sick…

But anyway – back to Hawaii. I kept notes during our trip to remember what I should write in my blog when I got back. Somehow it got deleted, but I remember the important parts. What I kept noticing, was that every day I used all five senses to capture the vividness of Maui. It was amazing. The sights, the sounds, the smells. The way I heard the ocean every single morning. The sand under my toes. One morning we watched the sunrise, and followed it up by watching the sunset. It was glorious. The food and drinks were delicious – and I tried something new every day. I ate poi, kalua pig, scallops, banana and sweet potato chips, Kona beer, Maui coffee, and so many other things I can’t remember. I went zip lining and it was the coolest thing ever. I went to a luau and watched dances native to Hawaii, Samoa and New Zealand. I rode a bike (for the first time in probably 10 years) down the side of a mountain. I watched the sunrise from ABOVE the clouds at 10,000 feet. I went whale watching. I got a sunburn. I meditated and did a yoga practice by the beach. I spent most of the day at Pearl Harbor. I ate so much fresh fruit and fish. I made the decision that I WILL go back. Everything about that place was beautiful. Even the homeless people living on the beach. I mean – if you’re going to be homeless, Hawaii is DEFINITELY the place to do it. (Not that it’s a choice – I’m just saying.)

I know I’d said I was going to work on my bucket list for 2014… but that didn’t quite happen. We didn’t have much free time so I spent a lot of my free time reading. I started two books while I was there and LOVE them both, I just need to finish them up. So I don’t have my list for you… maybe next time. I mean I still did lots of new things while I was there, so I think holding off on my to-do list for the rest of the year is okay, right? It’s my blog – I do what I want J

So now the snow is REALLY coming down – I’ve gotten texts from people saying that you can hardly see while you’re driving and that it’s as bad as last week. Which is PERFECT because hopefully by the time I head home at 10:30 it will have calmed down. It took me close to 45 minutes to get home during last week’s snow storm and I left work at 4… by that time it had only been snowing for about 30 minutes. We have a guy who works remotely from Georgia working in Des Moines this week. He’s never seen snow. Poor guy. We thought he may miss it – hopefully he went home before all these shenanigans started. Yikes!

Let’s see… exciting things that happened since I got back from paradise… hmm. I did laundry for three weeks’ worth of clothes yesterday – that was exciting. Five loads of laundry later… I’m finally done. I ate at my favorite sushi place when I got back – and it was still delicious. After that I watched Lone Survivor and cried. That movie is AMAZING and everyone should watch it. I can’t even imagine going through all of that. I really did have a pretty lazy week – which was nice. Friday night was spent with a new recipe – Spicy Mango BBQ Chicken and Quinoa (noms) and some more movies. Prisoners and The Butler – both so good. Definitely need to watch The Butler again – if you haven’t watched it yet, DO IT. It’s winning so many awards and it really is a good reminder of how far we’ve come. Saturday I did my time at PLY with some cleaning and Hawaii storytelling, then a quick shift at the mall. I had breakfast for dinner and then IMMEDIATELY took a nap. Maybe I was a little sleepy? I thought about going out for a brief moment, but after I got some old man comfy pants on, I thought eh betta not. ANOTHER awesome lazy night with a bottle of wine and Thank You for Sharing (Mark Ruffalo movie – watch that too) and then of course some episodes of Cops. Makes me feel good about myself. Oh wait – I forgot about the most RIDICULOUS show I’ve watched in a long time. Party Down South. Everyone – please watch this, at least once. It’s literally the southern version of Jersey Shore. It makes you want to punch someone – or yourself – but you can’t turn it off. Throw a little Honey Boo Boo in there and you’ve got yourself a night. It makes my brain hurt just thinking about it.

Yesterday started out with a yummy breakfast – biscuits and gravy over hashbrowns, with two eggs over easy. Noms. I could eat that DAILY. Except then I needed a nap when I was done. I headed home to start on some laundry and cleaning, and at 4 I got my yoga on. Much needed. And since it was damn near 50 degrees yesterday, I thought I’d go for a quick lap at Gray’s Lake. Probably should have done that lap BEFORE yoga, because by the time I was done it was pretty chilly. I think I got myself sick too – running outside with sweaty clothes in January probably wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had. Although – it’s also not the worst idea I’ve had either. It felt good to get a good run done – even if it was chilly. But I got to watch the sunset, so there’s that right? It’s the little things.

After watching The Butler this weekend, it was nice to be reminded of how far we’ve come. And today is now different. With it being Martin Luther King Jr Day, I’ve seen a lot of Facebook statuses, quotes, and other MLK quotes. I thought I’d join in and write one that I really life of his.

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

There’s a thought for you. Do what’s right, always. There will never be a BETTER time to do what’s right, other than right now. Live in the now. Don’t think about what you COULD have done, WOULD have done, or SHOULD have done. Don’t think about what you WILL do, say or want. Live in the NOW. And whatever you do now, well then – that’s right. And it’s right for you.

Peace and love – and stay warm loves,

S

Be Amazing

Happy 2014 friends and family and loves! Hopefully you celebrated the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014 in style. I know I sure did. After an early dinner at Zombie Burger with Buffalo Bacon, Loaded Fries, half a Raygun burger, and double flights of craft beers we headed to a little southside dive for a couple beers and to watch some bowl games. After leaving the bar (at 9:30) we stopped by HyVee to grab some champagne to celebrate the new year and watch the pre-ball dropping festivities. I’m not even mad about how the night ended up. I got a midnight kiss and went to bed. Lame? Probably a little. Awesome? Absolutely. I slept in and was lazy all day and it was awesome. I woke up to snow on the ground which was beautiful – and such a pain to drive through since NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO DRIVE IN THE SNOW. I mean it’s one thing if you have a license plate from Texas or Arizona and you’ve literally NEVER seen snow, but come on. If you’re from Iowa and you’ve lived here forever, you should remember how to drive in the snow. End rant.

So I went through my officially, official list that I made last year and realized I didn’t quite finish MOST of the things on it. Some of them I didn’t get a chance to do because they just didn’t come up – like Norwegian holiday baking traditions and buying a car (hopefully Little Red will make it through the winter!) I may not have done everything – or most things – on my list, but I still felt like I had a GREAT year. So let’s check out the (lack of) damage to this list:

1.       Get my spin certification (finally) – maybe in 2014… I did get back into going to classes though!

2.       Carve a pumpkin – I tried to buy one ON Halloween… turns out they were sold out. Fail.

3.       Build a snowman – with all this new snow I can do it soon!

4.       Go ice skating – I need to either go to a Bucs game and skate after that, OR head downtown to Brenton!

5.       Read 40 books in a year (start there and read more if I can) – I read roughly 20. Book club helped J

6.       Do a wine tasting – or five – I went to Wine Fest… does that count?

7.       Start a new tradition

8.       Learn to play tennis – all right tennis friends… make this happen come summertime!

9.       Learn to golf – samesies to my golf buddies, and my dad.

10.    Skydive – I’ll be ziplining next week in Hawaii… that’s pretty damn close to awesomeness.

11.    Send out birthday and Christmas cards – I sent out some… but not enough.

12.    Send out handwritten “thank you” cards – again – next year. I can do it.

13.    Become a yoga enthusiast

14.    Shop local

15.    Take a cooking class – I watched a lot of Chopped… does that count? J

16.    Learn to bake. Period. Cookies, cakes, pies, etc.

17.    Cook a Thanksgiving meal – turkey and all – I baked a casserole for Friendsgiving… maybe next year I can host!

18.    Attend a book banning rally/meeting and voice my opinion – I read a lot of book banning articles… no rallies

19.    Do the splits – after a couple more months of yoga I’ll get there

20.    Find my favorites – food, song, artist, restaurant – I definitely found a lot of awesome things… no favorites yet

21.    Attend an art exhibit

22.    Go camping and hiking – definitely hiking in Hawaii!

23.    Learn how to sew – I’ve got plans for sewing… maybe I need to get the sewing machine in my possession first

24.    Get a tattoo – I’ve got an idea… or a couple of them…

25.    Road trip to see friends

26.    Write fan mail

27.    Learn how to grill more than hotdogs – I can’t have a grill at my apartment… but I ate steak… samesies?

28.    Reconnect with old friends

29.    See Chelsea Handler – I watched many an episode and follow her on social media sites. Nothing in person.

30.    Assist in the adoption process at the ARL – nope. I’ll be starting back at that soon!

31.    Complete DIY projects

32.    Daily random acts of kindness

33.    Smile, laugh and learn something new everyday

34.    Become a cook

35.    Go to the State Fair – how did I NOT go to the fair?!?! Big fail. I’ll have family in town for the 2014 fair. No excuses.

36.    Participate in Norwegian baking traditions during the holidays – these didn’t happen this year as far as I knew

37.    Volunteer

38.    Make my bed every day – I started out so strong. But a messy bed is so comfy

39.    Do 12 races – yeah I did one. But it was the Dam to Dam sooooo that counts like 5 races right?

40.    Buy a car – stay alive Little Red!

41.    Enjoy a spa day – I got a massage after the D2D… but no full on spa day.

42.    Get organized (in all aspects of life) – meh. Organization is so overrated. Woops.

43.    Buy myself something sparkly – I bought glitter things… does that count?

44.    Read and watch the classics (list to come)

45.    Host a dinner party or two – do book clubs and OITNB/Daria date night meals count? If so – I owned this.

46.    Attend showers, weddings, parties for my friends

47.    Keep a plant alive – I didn’t purchase one… but I did get flowers that I kept alive as long as I could!

48.    Be spontaneous

49.    Go to shows and sporting events – locally famous or a little more famous

50.    Go to the Fleur Cinema by myself – with wine, cheesecake, and an Indie film – I’ll make it happen this year. Great movies coming out!

So as you can see, I didn’t quite finish all 50 – but I had a lot of fun. I ate lots of really good food, saw some hilarious movies, read some great books, spent time with amazing friends, and I was happy. 2013 started off a little so-so, and ended in a pretty kick ass way. I’m so excited for 2014 to be here and to dominate every year prior.

Next week I’ll be in Hawaii – and I’m SO excited to see the beautiful views, eat the amazing food, and check Maui off my bucket list. If I love it as much as I’m sure I will, I’ll have to put it back on my bucket list to go back. While I’m gone, I’ll be coming up with my NEW list for 2014.  And I’m super excited. Leading up to my trip to paradise, I came across this on Pinterest. I don’t think it could be any more perfect for a) a vacation, and b) a brand new year.

Life is pretty amazing. Take a minute each day and remind yourself how amazing life really can be. Have an amazing start to 2014 and the rest of the year. Make some lists yourself. See how well you can stack up against yourself. Make some goals, and reach them. If you don’t – it’s not the end of the world. But if you worked hard and enjoyed yourself, isn’t that still pretty amazing?

My number one goal for 2014: be amazing. At whatever I do. Don’t just go through life, pay attention to the little things. Do amazing things, meet amazing people, eat amazing food, just BE amazing.

Be amazing.

S