A Moment of Reflection

As the gloomy days of Fall are settling in, I am reminded of what happened last year around this time.  I was training for the Disney Wine and Dine half marathon and my right calf started hurting.  I was pushing through it for a while but the pain just got worse.  I still don't know what was going on but I was definitely in a lot of pain.  So I went to physical therapy and an orthopedic surgeon and no one could tell me what the issue was or how to fix it.  So I decided to rest.  I rested for about six months.  Not only was I resting but I was also feeding my boredom and SAD.  Not  a good combo.  I gained thirty-five pounds.

I have now lost almost all thirty-five pounds (again...) and I'm starting to get nervous about the winter.  So I thought I would post a before and after picture as a reminder to myself of how far I have come. 

2008

2011

Let me be cliche for a moment and say that knowing my weaknesses is half of the battle.  I'm excited to continue training for the 15k in December and I truly feel that I am capable of continuing on my path to better health.  I have three more pounds to lose to be back at the place I was last summer.  I plan to be there by October 8th.  It's going to be tough but I can do it!

It's my day off tomorrow so I get to run my four miles outside!  Yeah!

~Andrea

First day of 15k!

Good Afternoon!  Today marks the first day of my Hot Chocolate 15k training.  I found a training plan by Hal Higdon that I am following and today's three miles can be crossed off!

I didn't run yesterday so I decided to do today as "Monday."  I ran three miles on the old dreadmill.  I have a meeting with Patrice tomorrow morning so I am not going to worry about strength training because I know she'll take care of business in that department.  I am more than likely going to do the four mile run tomorrow and possibly skip "Wednesday" but it's all still up in the air. 

I felt pretty good about my run this morning.  I just really prefer to run outside, but who doesn't?  I'm dreading the winter since I have to leave for work when it is dark and won't be returning until it's dark as well :(  I am not brave or fast enough to be running by myself in the dark in Woodbridge!  I'm a member of a local running club too but they changed their meeting time and I can no longer meet up with them.

So it's a little embarrassing that I haven't really unpacked from my business trip, but I have rummaged in the suitcase a few times and my Nike+ is MIA.  I fear that I may have left it in a hotel somewhere in Arizona.  I really hope that's not the case!  If it is the case, let it be known that this is on my Christmas list .  Please :) 

Have you started your Christmas list yet?  Only 7 paychecks before the big day!!!

~Andrea

My runs revolve around vices

Good Morning!  I spoke earlier about needing to sign up for another run in order to keep me motivated and running.  There is one thing that I need no motivation to do: eat!  Why not enter a run that promises me lots of delicious foods at the end??

My first half-marathon was the Disney Wine & Dine.  It was not a successful run but the end was amazing :)  The after party was held at Epcot and you got a free plate of food and beverage of your choice at any of their countries. 

Another run I did was the VA is for Lovers 14k, which I really enjoyed.  It was definitely cold but the after-party was worth it!  It was catered by Yuengling and Moe's :)  I also loved that I received a technical t-shirt, medal and souvenir glass! I should do this race again next year....

So the next run I am planning to do is the Hot Chocolate 15k!  It's official, I have registered :)  A finish line filled with Ghirardelli Hot Chocolate, fondue and many other chocolate treats sounds like the perfect motivation for a run.  The race is 10 weeks away and it's time to get running!  I will be setting up a Daily Mile to keep track of my training :)  I'm excited!

What's your vice?

~Andrea

8-Mile

Well I did it!  Eight miles is done and over with :)  This was NOT like any other race that I have done.  First of all, it was trail race.  Second, the trail was barely big enough for your own two feet with a hill on one side and a cliff on the other.  Thirdly, where's my medal? 

So if any of you run, you know that running can often "shake things loose."  Because Alex and I decided to just drive down the morning of the race, we had to get up at o'dark-thirty and get on the road.  This did not leave me much time to do my business.  Basically at mile five I had to find a port o'potty.  I'm just glad that there was one because, from what I hear, going out in the woods isn't too uncommon for trail running.  Let's just say that this plastic hut was NOT brought in for the run; it had been there a while.  There was a good amount of cleaning that had to be done before I could even think about hovering.  In fact, I probably would have been better off communing with Mother Nature.

Anyway, when we got back onto the trail about five minutes later, we got stuck behind some dainty runners.  Let me remind you, there was no space for passing.  Every uphill and downhill they would stop running.  I am talking about hands up in the air and tip-toeing down tiny hills.  UGH.  So I have a feeling my time would have been a little faster if I hadn't been trapped behind them for three miles.  I checked for my time but it looks like it didn't read my chip but I did cross over with my dad at the same time.  His time was 100 minutes.  I didn't achieve my goal but I was still pleased with my first trail run.

Since we were in Richmond, we decided to celebrate with a trip to our favorite place Black Sheep! I finished the race at about nine, so sadly they were only serving breakfast.  Never fear!  We at breakfast and still ordered a battleship to-go!  I had the most delicious breakfast. 

It was called Green Eggs and Lamb.  It was an egg and spinach frittata topped with spicy lamb sausage and pesto.  Alex had some delicious gaitor and yellow grits.  My dad had the Barn and Bay Breakfast sandwich.

Ham, crab, egg and Mmmm

After lunch, Alex and I went back to Maymont House to take the tour and to scope it out as a possible wedding venue.  I really loved the stone exterior and the beautiful backdrop of trees.  Here are a few pictures:

I bet this place is breathtaking in the peak of Fall!

I hope you had a great Saturday!

~Andrea

Butterflies

Good Morning :)  I just checked the weather forecast for tomorrow's Maymont 8-mile run and it is going to be wet.  I guess I have had really good luck with races in the past because I have never run a race in the rain.  I don't usually run in the rain and really don't know what to wear.  I WILL be sure to bring a change of clothes for sure!

I'm starting to get a little nervous about the run.  I have no doubt that I can finish it but it still gets my butterflies going.  To get my mind off of it, let me entertain you with ten silly facts about me:

1.  I do not believe in Turkey Trots that are on any day other than Thanksgiving.  Turkey Trots have been a tradition in my family for a few years and it's one of my favorite traditions.  It helps me to feel less guilty about that second or third slice of pie ;)

2.  I have never broken a bone (knock on wood) but I have cut the tip of my tongue off with scissors.  I'm not even sure how it happened.  I was in middle school and clearly it wasn't my brightest moment.

3.  One of my favorite meals is a cold can of green beans topped with a can of tuna fish and Hidden Valley Ranch dressing.  YUM!

4.  I was in girl scouts even during high school!

5.  I wish I was a calligrapher.  Sometimes I practice writing with my left hand just to see how well I can do it.

6.  I went to three different colleges in four years and I still managed to graduate on-time and with honors :)

7.  I received two magazines today

I was way more excited for BHG!

8.  I don't want a big, poofy, expensive (especially expensive) wedding gown.  I don't see any point in spending more than $200 for a dress you will only wear once.

9.  I love Fall!  I want an outdoor wedding at sunset with beautiful trees all around.

10.  I'm a senior citizen at heart (refer to #7).  There is nothing better than a 9 o'clock bedtime after a late afternoon of scrapbooking.  I also want to learn how to knit, even though I have tried several times and haven't been able to "get" it.

I hope you enjoyed!

~Andrea

My IPOD is breaking up with me

Anger does not make me run faster so it was a slow run this morning.  I do not know why but my IPOD has decided to hate me.  The screen doesn't light up anymore and the right ear bud refuses to stay in my ear.  Here's my run:  right, left, right, push ear bud in, left, right, left, push ear bud in, etc etc etc.  I was so annoyed.  If I was outside running, I would have thrown the IPOD by the wayside.  Instead, I was running on a treadmill and I couldn't bear the thought of my IPOD mocking me from the floor for the rest of my run. 

I'm pretty sad about it all.  Next to my dad, my IPOD has been my greatest running partner.  We have shared many highs and lows together.  It's the end of an era :(  Maymont is going to be tough without some tunes.  My run ended up not being too bad, even though it was slow.  I completed four miles in forty-eight minutes.

The sun setting on my IPOD's life

Today I made some pretty good food choices.  I am finally feeling like my body is getting back into the normal swing of things and I love it!  First of all, I don't think I was drinking nearly enough water so water has been the most delicious thing EVER lately.  Second, I have been missing my veggies!  Most of the veggies I ate on my business trip were lettuce and tomatoes on my tacos.  I'm definitely not my brother; my body cannot handle just meat and carbs.

Mmm mashed potatoes with rolls....

Tomorrow is a rest day for me.  Apparently, I will drive down Saturday morning to do my run.  I hope I won't be too tired.  So after I finish that race, what's next?  I recently found out that my friend Jenny is doing the Hot Chocolate 15k.  I will need another race to train for...why not one with chocolate?  If I decide to do the 15k, I think I will sign up for daily mile to keep me accountable and motivated.

What are you training for?

~Andrea

Hello, Reality...We meet again...

I wish I was still traversing the Arizona mountains or the hills of Blacksburg; but alas, I sit taking redundant calls from US citizens and international visitors all day.  Now that play time is over, it is necessary for me to get back to reality.  First on the agenda, get back to healthy eating and start exercising!

Yesterday started out much better than Monday.  I still hadn't put everything away from our beach trip so I spent Monday morning cleaning my house.  Yesterday morning I got on the treadmill :)  It has been way too long since I have done that!  It felt really, really good.  I still did some cleaning when I got up so I only did thirty-five minutes (3.3 miles).

This morning I let my alarm go off for a while before setting it for a later time.  NO exercise happened.  I don't know what the deal is but I am exhausted and have no motivation to workout.    I need to somehow "reset" my motivation.  Any ideas? 

Eating has been OK.  I did a really great job of eating well for breakfast and lunch on Monday but then I got home extra late and Alex came home with Thai food.  It wouldn't have been too bad except I was beyond tired and had the self-control of a two year old and ate everything in sight.  Yesterday was much better although I went out to dinner with my family to celebrate my brother Sean's birthday.  We went to a buffet but I was able to keep myself under control :)  Of course, there was cake and I had a slice in support of Sean's twenty-two years on Earth.

I have to bowl tonight to make up for a day I missed last week...does that count for exercise?  Some would say yes...

Did you choose sleep or exercise today?

~Andrea

Hokie Dokey

Good Evening!  After a week in Nogales, I went down to Blacksburg to see my first college football game at Virginia Tech.  I was shocked at how chilly it was in Blacksburg!  Hello FALL!  Even though I am shocked about the temperature, I'm super excited about Fall.  I think Fall is truly the best time to run outdoors :)  It should be excellent weather for my run this weekend.

My time in Blacksburg was awesome.  We started the day off with some tailgating before the game.  There was tons of food.  I figured since this was the last day of "vacation" I would go ahead and allow myself a few treats.  There was some amazing pork BBQ as well as delicious pound cake.  I was one well-fed lady!

The game was a blast!  It was a "white-out" and luckily our friend's mom was kind enough to get us some white Hokie shirts to wear.

Here is a little-known fact about me:  I love matching outfits!  I was so excited that Alex and I were wearing matching shirts.  He has let me know this is the one and only time it will happen.  Haha, we will see about that.... ;)

Another wonderful moment at the game was getting back in touch with my marching band roots.  It was so amazing.  Marching band was so much fun!  I'm a definite nerd and I will give you no apologies about it.  I honestly think that I would take reliving a day in high school over a day in college.

Seeing my love after a week away, trips down memory lane, matching outfits, yummy food...It was a win for me and a win for the Hokies.  It was such a great weekend and the perfect end to my "vacation."

What's a little-known fact about you?

~Andrea

Viva la Mexico!

So I went down to Nogales, AZ and the intent was NOT to go down to Mexico because of the increased violence there.  The first night that I arrived, my coworker took me down to the port to show me around.  She took me to the employee parking lot and you could see right through the fence into Mexico!

After I looked into Mexico and did not see live gun-fire, I decided it might not be that bad to visit after all.  

So we walked over to Mexico on my last day in Nogales.  It was way different than the US.  I literally waltzed into their country...no document check or anything!  Immediately you are surrounded by vendors trying to convince you to by their things.  It was bizarre how you would tell them what you are looking for and they would run off to find it and bring it back to you!  Talk about customer service! 

We went down to Mexico the day before Mexican independence day and it was very cool to see the vendors setting up for the big celebration.  It looked like they were going to have a blast.  Of course, I was suckered into getting some patriotic things for Julia.  They had some cool red, green and white drums with different cartoon characters on top.  I was pretty bummed that I only saw Disney Princesses and Dora but never fear!  Once I told the lady that I was looking for Spiderman, she found me one!  Now Julia is the proud owner of a Mexican, Spiderman drum :)

After doing a little shopping, we went to an amazing restaurant called La Roca.  The restaurant is in a cave that was once used as a jail.  They say that the restaurant next to La Roca (that was destroyed in a fire but also set in a cave) was used to imprison Geronimo. 

This is the place that I had chicken mole.  It was delicious!  It's made with chocolate and it was the perfect balance of sweet and spicy.  I bought some pre-made mole sauce from a grocery store in AZ and I'm hoping it will be just as good.  One of my coworkers ordered coconut shrimp from La Roca and it was the most decadent coconut shrimp I have ever had!  There was at least a stick of butter for each shrimp.

Sooo yummy! 

Is it wrong to plan another trip to Mexico just for the food?

~Andrea

Notes from Nogales

Good Evening!  It's been a wild week in Nogales, AZ!  I went for a business trip to meet fellow coworkers in our satellite office and to see how the land border operates.  It's the WILD west for sure!  I saw more action in the three days I was down in Nogales than I saw in two years at Dulles.


The aftermath of an attempted drug smuggling

It was truly amazing seeing the CBP officers and Border Patrol Agents doing their thing on the southwest border.  They have my full and total respect for the jobs they do every day.

Out with BP at the International Fence

The next best thing about my trip was the food.  My coworkers made fun of me the whole time for taking pictures of my food haha.  Here's some highlights:

Mexican BBQ pork on sweet bread with mild sauce and cream

Chicken Mole

Ahi Tuna with Cowboy Caviar

I was instructed as soon as I was picked up from the airport that there was not going to be any dieting while on "vacation."  I thought I was on a business trip but I decided not to argue and just eat whatever was placed before me.  One of the best meals that I had I actually did not document.  It was a Sonoran-style hot dog.  You take a hot dog, wrap it in bacon, put it in sweet Mexican bread and top it off with refried beans, chopped onions, mild sauce and Mexican cream.  Beyond delicious!

I have successfully gained five pounds but tomorrow starts a whole new week!  I look forward to getting back to my normal eats and also doing some running.  Oh yeah, my Maymont 8-mile run is this weekend!!!!!  I'm pretty excited about it.  I'm looking to complete it in under 88 minutes.  I can do it :)

What's your best vacation?

~Andrea

An Evening of Indulgence

Good Afternoon!  I'm writing to you guys from Denver International Airport and I'm pretty much hating life.  Apparently, Denver had some dumb fog this morning which delayed my flight an hour and a half.  That was exactly the amount of time for my layover and I missed my connecting flight :(  So here I sit, for the next four hours, waiting for a flight to take me home.  Lucky you, I will stop giving you the silent treatment and get everyone up-to-speed on my life!

I attended a baby shower last Saturday for a friend of mine and I really let myself have a good time :)  

Rebecca is having a little boy next month (she's the one in the middle) and Becky (on the far left) is another friend that I used to work with at the airport.  As per usual Becky-style, she made a delicious tres leches cake that I simply couldn't resist.  In fact, I inhaled it so quickly that I forgot to take a picture of it.  Another delicious indulgence was a banana cupcake with chocolate frosting, yum!  They were adorable too!

There may have been a chocolate cupcake with peanut butter cream cheese frosting that I ate as well.  I did not record photographic evidence of that either. 

One of the activities that we did at the shower, was decorating onsies for Rebecca's little boy.  Since Rebecca and I used to work together, I decided to base the design on our job.  It was very pleased with the final outcome:



It says "On Duty" on the booty

We also played the diaper game.  You know, the delightful game where they microwave fun-size candy bars in diapers and you have to try to identify the type of candy bar.  It was really gross haha.  At the end of it all, Rebecca gave us all a bag of candy...you guessed it...the fun-size candy bars from the game.  It should have grossed me out but I ate every delicious piece.

It was so much fun to see my friends again!  It was very delicious too.  I need to repent now, haha.

What is the grossest baby shower game you have played?

~Andrea

The REAL wedding crashers

Good Evening!  What a busy weekend!  This past Saturday Alex, my mom, his mom and I went to look at a couple wedding venues.  We went up to Fairfax and looked at the Civil War Interpretive Center and the Old Town Hall.

I really loved the Civil War Interpretative Center.  I really liked that it was a unique space that offered things for our guests to do while the bridal party took pictures etc.  It was also a beautiful mix of outdoor and indoor spaces. 

Port along the back of the building

Civil War Interpretive Center

Historic Blenheim

It's a very small venue and we would have to be creative with the space.  If it had a bigger event space, I would be ready to sign on the dotted line!  The price was oh-so-right though...

Next we went to the Old Town Hall.  Our plan was just to check out the surrounding areas because you have to make an appointment to see the inside, but they were setting up for a wedding and they let us come in and look around :)  It is a unique space.  I really like the idea of getting married somewhere that has history. 

The reception was set up for 120 guests but no room for dance floor :(

Ceremony in the upstairs library

I liked this space too but there wasn't any other space besides the upstairs library and the main room.  The only space available for a cocktail hour would be the small foyer.  The main room was a little on the small side so we would have to be creative with the seating so we could accommodate a dance floor.  Alex and I have both agreed, the dance floor is a MUST :)

Any suggestions on other venues to check out?

~Andrea

Closer to my goal!

Happy Thursday!  This morning was wonderful when I stepped on the scale and I had lost another pound :)  Just one more and I will officially have lost thirty pounds since April (twenty since Patrice).  I'm very satisfied with my progress so far.  If I can get over to my parents house, I will try to post a "before" pic.  The picture that I want to post was from a couple years back (2008?) and I was at my heaviest weight of 235 pounds.  Whew, that was painful to say! 

On the road to a healthier lifestyle, I have found some things that I truly enjoy.  One of them I stumbled upon just the other day because I  had a coupon for them. 

Source



I love almonds and I love chocolate so these are a great fit for me!  What I love the most is that you can have a handful of these babies and there is less than one gram of sugar!  AWESOME!  These are my new go-to for a chocolate fix.  There is also a cinnamon flavor that I MUST try next.

Another fun discovery was kimchi.  We have a very eclectic buffet on the main floor of the building where I work and I go there sometimes for lunch or to grab a snack.  I try to keep it to veggies just so I don't blow my day on items swimming in grease.  On one mission to find veggies I noticed some cabbage and cucumbers in a reddish sauce.  I decided to try it and it was delightfully sour and spicy.  I have since googled it and learned that it is kimchi and I love it!

I have also come to the realization that I want to be am a runner.  I feel like I have finally gotten my running feet back under me and it feels great!  Recently, I have really noticed an increase in my speed and my endurance. I'm really looking forward to the Maymont 8-Miler and have no doubt in my mind that I will complete it :)  My goal is to complete the race in less than 1:25:00.  Only two weeks until the big day!

What's your favorite healthy snack?

~Andrea

Happy Labor Day!

Good Evening!  I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend :)  I won't be going back to work until Wednesday so mine isn't over just yet :)  I took the day off from running today and replaced it with some rigorous housework.  I swept, mopped, vacuumed, and did tons of laundry :(  I love a clean house but I rather not be the cleaner haha. 

After cleaning the house all morning, I went out to a couple stores to pick up a few things.  My first stop was CVS.  I am starting to embrace their rewards program and I had ten dollars of Rewards Bucks that I needed to use.  I ended up getting $40 of merchandise for $20 AND walking out with eleven dollars in Rewards Bucks for a future purchase.  Not too bad!

Next up was Target, which is generally dangerous for me.  I feel like I got some decent deals but I still ended up parting with a lot of cash.  I did try to stick with the sales that offered gift cards with their purchase and ended up with $20 in gift cards. 

I received some coupons for Dairy Queen so tonight we went out for a treat :)  Julia and I shared a double fudge, cookie dough blizzard, which was everything I needed.  It did get me thinking about my journey to a more healthy life.  I was pleased that Julia and I shared out blizzard rather than each having our own.  I was a little concerned about what I ate today and the amount of my activity throughout the day....  If you remember, my goal for August was to lose another ten pounds, which I did not do.  I have only lost eight pounds so I am going to try and step it up and meet that goal before I head down to Nogales, AZ in a week.  Hello again 4AM workouts!

I am going to Nogales for one week to see how the SW border operates.  It should be a pretty fun trip and I fully intend to continue working out and eating right while down there.  I am confident I can meet my goals, I just need to keep my priorities straight!  So I want to lose two pounds this week and lose another six by October :)

Did you labor today?

~Andrea

Meeting of the In-laws

Happy Sunday!  Alex's parents and my parents have now officially met and I think it went very well.  It was a wonderful engagement party and a lot of fun.


 Alex's mom was wonderful and brought a cake and favors for everyone.  It was so nice and I'm excited for our families to hang out again!

This morning I head out to Burke Lake Park with the Lake Ridge Runners and my dad.  It was a really beautiful day for a run.  I was satisfied but not super impressed with my run.  Yesterday, Patrice had me do some leg work with weights so my legs were tired and sore today.  I definitely wanted to stop running around mile three but finished all five.  I love running at BLP but I was a little sad that my new running shoes already have dirt all over them.  Oh well.

Hope your Sunday was a good one!

~Andrea

Mostly Cloudy but All Smiles

Good Morning :)  It's 73 degrees out, most cloudy and I love it!  Dare I say we are in our decent into Fall weather????  I had the most enjoyable run this morning.  I went six miles!  It felt really great and I didn't feel exhausted at the end.  I also did not walk at all and my pace kicked some booty! 

Of course, I ran in my new Mizunos and wore my running pak.

The running pak says that it doesn't bounce while you run and I suppose that is technically true.  It DOES ride up though.  I started with it down by my belly button and two minutes into the run it was almost to my chest.  Maybe if I tighten it up that will help....

The plan for my run this morning was to try a new route.  It involved going down the Prince William Parkway, which doesn't have a side walk.  It was a little scary at times but the shoulder was large enough to put adequate space between me and traffic.  I finished up the route that I planned out and looked at my Nike+ to check the distance.  I had gone five miles.   Emily had six miles planned for today and I thought I might as well do the same :)  So I started running through the side streets of my neighborhood to get that extra mile.

Once I finished my six miles, I went home for some breakfast.  I usually love to fix eggs and sausage on the weekends but after all that running, I didn't feel like being in front of a hot stove.  So Julia had yogurt with fresh berries and granola and I had a delicious smoothie!

Today's smoothie had frozen, sweet cherries, fresh blueberries, fresh strawberries, spinach, wheat germ, chia seeds, almond milk, vanilla protein powder, and baking cocoa powder.  It was soo good!  I can't remember if I have tried cocoa in my smoothies before or not, but I will definitely be doing it again.  I can't wait to try a smoothie with cocoa and put some almond butter or peanut butter in it too.  YUM!

Well I am off to train with Patrice now and then to the running store to check out compression socks.

What's your favorite way to refuel after a run?

~Andrea

If the shoe fits...

Good Evening!  It's been a slow day for me.  The highlight of my day was going shoe shopping with my dad.

We were supposed to go to the specialty running store here in the 'bridge but they closed at 7pm and we didn't make it out until 8pm.  So we went to Dick's.  It was probably all in my head, but I first started out with some sixty dollar Asics and I felt like I put bricks on my feet.  They were not comfortable or coushiny at all.  I continued to try on more expensive shoes with a little more luck. 

Here's what I finally settled on

Mizuno Wave Nexus 5 :)  These were actually a size 9W, which is why I think I love them!  My feet are sausages and I feel like my feet are suffocating in most shoes.  These were very roomy, light, and my feet were breathing happily!

My dad has recently had some pain in his calf and it started about the time he started using new shoes so he came along to get some shoes too.  A lady at the store recommended some Reeboks to him.

That picture isn't the greatest, but these are the Reeboks with the big zigzag soles.  He said they were a little like moon shoes but he liked them enough to buy them.  I hope this is the first step to getting his leg back to normal.  I double checked before we left the store and we can return our shoes within 90  days if they aren't what we want.  I LOVE that.

I was also hoping to get some compression socks but sadly, they only had one pair of compression sleeves.  They were by Nathan and in a size XL/L, which I wasn't confident would be the right size.  I think I will swing by the running store tomorrow to check out what they have. 

I did buy a runner's pak :)  Here's an embarrassing tidbit:  I put my cell phone and ID in a ziplock bag and I tuck it into my sports bra.  This will definitely lead to more comfortable runs in the future.  I'm testing it out tomorrow morning!

What's your favorite running accessory?

~Andrea

Holy Bloom Trip!

So today was double coupon day at Bloom, up to $1.99.  I'm not sure if you clip the coupons or not, but that's pretty good.  Usually stores will only double coupons up $.99 so I made sure that I took advantage of the situation!  The catch was you could only have twenty coupons per transaction and per person.  So what did I do?  Got my lovely parents to meet me at the store so they could "buy" one of my transactions.

I'm sure you all have seen the TLC show "Extreme Couponing."  I am definitely not a contender for the show.  That show actually made me feel bad about the savings I didn't get.  I should have walked away with free stuff or things that they paid me to have!

So what do you think.....

Would you pay $155 for this?  Allegedly, my savings was $125.35.  I spent my lunch break checking out the sale ad for Bloom and comparing it to the coupons that I had.  I made an extreme rookie mistake.  Bloom had Herbal Essence on sale and I had Garnier Fructis coupons; so based on the picture on the coupon, I thought they were the same :(  Oh well, I have no shame....the cashier let me run and get the right one haha.

Another rookie mistake:

It was like playing Tetris in my freezer trying to get everything to fit!  Alex is pretty stoked for the things that I bought....it's not too often that you see coupons for chia seeds or spinach...

Has a TV show made your accomplishments look like chump change?

~Andrea

Back to the Grind

Tonight was my first workout since coming back from vacation and I was really glad that I went.  Exercise is just one of those things that you never regret doing.

The morning that we left on vacation, I got up and went for run around our neighborhood because I knew it might be difficult to get my workouts done while on vacation.  I have to admit that I had Kara in my head that morning.  She's an ulta-marathon runner and she is also the mother of a toddler!  People ask her how she has time to run all the time and her response is "I make time."  If I want to be fit and healthy and want my daughter to see that fitness is important, then I definitely need to make time for it and make it a priority.

This doesn't apply to anything I just wrote about, but aren't we cute? Haha

Last night's workout with Patrice was pretty good.  To be honest, I wasn't hurting as much as I thought I would be.  Don't tell her this, but I thought she could have pushed me more.  I have been toying with the idea of not continuing on with the personal training but investing in some weights for my home instead.  I was thinking about doing it alone for some time and then possibly hiring her again a couple months before our wedding (still no date yet....).  Good idea or no?

After my workout with Patrice, I had a delicious smoothie.  It had frozen peaches, fresh raspberries, spinach, and vanila whey protein.  Yum :)  I really like the spinach in smoothies; you don't taste it at all.  Alex even had some so you know it was at least decent to the normal person.

I do feel that I have come out of my rut a little.  I have felt like there has been a little more swagger in my strut (haha!) and my mood has definitely been elevated.  I did not get up this morning for my workout so I am will work out tonight. 

So I'm feeling good again and I love it!  Today is my "Friday" and it's a holiday weekend so I am off for the next four days!!  Woo hoo :)  My plan for the weekend is to clean my house (read: unpack from vacay), run every day, and do some scrapbooking!  Alex's parents have also set up and official meeting of our families on Saturday too :)  I will let you know how it goes!

What are your holiday plans?

~Andrea