Week In Review +365 Project (62-68)

Shamwalk FINISHED!!

Second 5K down! This time we had the little girls, so J. ran with S. and I walk/jogged with H. My goal was to shave time off my 53:07 from the Frigid 5K two weeks ago - I don't have my time yet for this race, but I know I moved a lot faster! I even found a burst of energy to sprint to the finish line.

Our lovely registration ladies

Number 227!

These sweeties couldn't understand why everyone 

was running by their house!

Lizzy holding a direction sign

Walking in the big woods - 

It's actually a little creepy...

One mile to go! 

Mom made us all proud - 

third place in her age division!

This woman, Janelle, after being told she 

would never walk again, finished the 5K while the 

rest of us cheered her on... It was so inspiring!

We all had a great morning, despite the freezing rain, and when we made it home, we celebrated with home-made bacon cheeseburgers. No calorie counting... just delicious protein! Mom said it reminded her of a sign I showed her that said, "Run like there's bacon at the finish line." :)

Blue Pup

My dog is depressed... she has taken to crawling in things. The other day, Dad searched all over and discovered her in the basket behind the couch that we put spare blankets in. She slept in there for almost four hours! 

On a happier note, I've bought some new shoes for the Shamwalk 5K this Saturday! I wanted to get the green and black ones, but alas, they didn't have them in my size. The injustice.

Have your pets been acting weird lately? Tell me about it in the comments!

Week In Review +365 Project (55-61)

I had a request that I post my +G+ 365 Project photos on my blog so that the readers who don't have accounts can see them without having to click through my page. You can always visit my full album at any time here.

blank paper makes

my fingers itch

I want to write -

fill up the spaces.

don't care if these

words were written

a thousand times before

they'll keep going on

even after I die

trying to fill

every last scrap

of blank paper.

~ Toni Derouin

Lots of Love

Over the course of Valentine's, I had expressed a wish to receive one of the huge valentine cards that you see in the stores, awkwardly placed in the card aisle since they don't really fit well. They are just cool to me, and I've never gotten one. Well, someone was listening! When we went to pick Nikki up from J's, I noticed this large card up on the mantel & thought, "That's odd, J. never mentioned getting a huge card - surely that is something worth mentioning! Why didn't she tell me?" I called her attention to it, and she promptly said, "It isn't mine..." and Nikki said, "It's yours!" While they were out shopping, Nikki had found one and bought it specially to fulfill my giant-card-needing-wish. Isn't that the sweetest?

(To show you just how large it is, I put it on my bookcase)

If you haven't visited in a while, or just stopped in, I have been making some improvements (hopefully!) to the blog. It underwent a major color theme change last week, and today I made the category bar at the top to help you find your way around a bit easier! I also widened the margins so my pictures could be a little bigger... so here is to March being the bigger and better month for the blog! 

Chilling

I figured it out! I was able to send a photo from my mobile to the blog so I can share what I'm doing right now! Welcome to the view from here... just chilling at the coffee shop with Mom. She's doing bills while I surf Pinterest and check my Google+ posts. :)

Having a raspberry truffle latte... yummy! What are you up to right now?

Sweet Memories

N. is away for the week at J.'s, so Mom and I are having girl time all to ourselves. I set aside all dieting rules today and we had a blast... I'm surprised I don't have a stomachache from all the goodies I ate! We made coffee in the French press and poured it into huge mugs from Valentine's day. 

(Proof! Tolkien would be proud - lol)

Mom pulled out the Keebler cookies, double-stuffed fudge and chocolate covered graham crackers. If that wasn't bad enough... she had gigantic marshmallows to boot!

We did a little creative brainstorming and decided to toast them in the toaster oven until perfect golden done-ness (I was all for making a mini fire in the kitchen, but Mom said no...).

Purely delicious. This was not a dessert for campfire vagabonds, nor the fainthearted. It was a masterpiece of golden chocolate marshmallowy goodness that cannot be forgotten. It was a success, and a lovely memory... One I hope we will repeat again. Often. Those things were good!

Frigid 5K FINISHED!

I am still alive! Sorry I didn't post sooner... this girl had to take a nap. But, the main point is, I finished! My number was 26 & J's was 25, so that was kind of cool. We were running in the same age category, which doesn't happen very often! I think there were about 150-200 participants of all ages. The super serious runners were out there in slimline leggings and under armor shirts, while the rest of us varied from yoga pants to sweatshirts. Since we were "walkers" we were in the back of the line with most of the sweatshirt wearers. I wore a pair of gray leggings under my exercise sweats and I stayed perfectly warm in my lovely Columbia jacket from Aunt P. 

When the start gun went off, everybody cheered and even the slowpokes got off to a jogging, jostling start. There was about a three block run down town before we turned off into the residential area, and J. was encouraging me to run as far as the turn. I thought I was going to have to quit the race right there! I breathed in  too deeply and it made my lungs cold, so I had to spend some serious time breathing into my scarf to catch my breath again. I decided right there that I wasn't going to do any more of that, so I stayed at a steady walk for the rest of the way. 

At the 1 mile marker I groaned at the thought of walking another step. I had taped my arches for support, but my calves were pulsing and I still wasn't sure if my throat was OK. J wanted to jog ahead, so I waved her on and set a comfortable pace. I had noticed that two ladies ahead of me kept turning around and encouraging someone behind me to hurry up, but she had the same mindset of not wanting to slip and get hurt. When she caught up to me, we started talking and spent the last two miles walking and discussing how crazy we were to be doing what we were doing. 

Just before the finish line, I saw J. standing there waiting for me so we could cross the finish line together. I felt bad, because she would have had a much better time, but she started with me, and wanted to finish our first 5K together! Getting across that finish line was such a great feeling - I didn't care what my time was, I had actually made it without falling apart! When Mom checked the time charts, J & I had crossed the finish line at 53:07. N. made it at 36:30 and Mom clocked 40:07. 

Mile marker accomplished! Coming up we have the Shamwalk 5K in two weeks... hopefully it will be warmer and I can shave a few minutes off my time. :)

Frigid 5K

Well folks, this is probably the earliest I will ever post something on My Inner Piece of Mind! I don't do mornings...

We are about to head off to the Frigid 5K, my first ever! The temperature right now is 23F and a light snow. The snow isn't great, but the temperature is very good compared to feeling like 16 yesterday! As long as the course isn't slippery, I'm happy.

Here goes - I would totally do mobile uploads, but I haven't figured that one out yet, or even if I can do posts from my "dumb" phone. So you'll just have to wait for pictures!

Au Revoir!

Good Ol' Green Super Juice

Remember a while back when my computer crashed while I was saving the world as Agent Tanya? Even though I still haven't pinpointed the reason why my computer went kerphlooey, I think I may have unlocked the secret to being a great superhero! It's not the suit or the good looks or the money... it's the green juice! Look!

Tony Stark aka Iron Man

Bruce Wayne aka Batman

Alfred isn't a superhero, but he's awesome, so here is a bonus pic.

Since I have a not-so-secret desire to be a superhero, and because losing weight and working out open up all sorts of opportunities... I teamed up with my awesome sidekick, Mom, and made my own green juice:

This, my friends, is kale, turnip greens, carrots, apples, and celery. I've been having a glass every morning for breakfast. I haven't noticed any superhuman strength yet, but I know it's coming. One of these days, something will flash by your window, and when you get up to see what it is, there will be a single kale leaf sitting on the sill with a message written on it: Sleep safe tonight... Super Green Girl is watching over you. If that doesn't creep you out, I don't know what will. Maybe the headline "Celery Stalker Remains Anonymous Terror" will make you turn to me for help. One can hope.

Go, Go, Granola!

When I first tried these, I couldn't believe they were sugar free! There was a pan of them in the refrigerator and I kept taking "just one more." This is a recipe my sister made and modified, and we are going to be taking them with us as snacks for our 5K on Saturday (which is so soon!). 

Picky Girl's Healthy Granola Bars:

(This is a great base to experiment with. Mix & make them your own!)

Ingredients:

1/2 C peanut butter (crunchy or creamy)

1/3 C honey

1/4 C coconut oil

1 1/2 C quick oats or old fashioned oats

2 T wheat germ (we substitute with ground pecans)

1/2 C flax meal

2 T cocoa powder

1/4 C mixed in, like dark chocolate chips, coconut, peanuts, etc. (optional)

Directions:

1. Line an 8x8 in. pan with wax paper & set aside.

2. Mix the oats, wheat germ, flax, and any add-ins in a large bowl. Set to the side.

3. In a sauce pan, heat peanut butter, coconut oil, and honey, constantly stirring until just beginning to bubble. Add cocoa powder and mix thoroughly. Pour the mixture over your dry ingredients and stir well to combine. Dump mixture into the 8x8 and press down with a spatula. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, or if you are impatient like we are, put them in the freezer for 15 minutes! Cut with a knife and store in an airtight container in the fridge. 

Enjoy! What are some of your favorite things to add into granola bars?

Cleaning My Clock

I did it! I tried coconut oil pulling! It really wasn't that bad; since it's my first time, I just swished it for five minutes. I will eventually work myself up to the full twenty minutes, but I wanted to just see what it was like this time. The flavor wasn't bad, and after reading all the benefits that are supposed to result (cavities healing, toxin cleansing, drainage reducing, etc.), I felt like I was dumb to not try it!

I also took some apple cider vinegar, because that has a whole slough of benefits as well, one of which is helping rid your body of cellulite - awesome!

Then, I filled up my arsenal of water bottles... It's convincing myself to drink them that is the challenge! But I am trying to be better. I've also been sipping down herbal teas, like green tea and yogi detox tea. 

In other news, I touched the top burner element on the toaster oven and cooked my hand. Seriously, it  turned my skin brown, and you could smell it burn... way gross. Today it's just red, and sore. I keep showing it to N, so now I will share it with you:

Yesterday, I got a lovely surprise in the mail, by way of a package from my friend Judy! I don't get snail mail often, even though I love it, and I was so happy! 

She sent me a copy of the magazine, Artful Blogging, which had beautiful photos inside:

It inspired me to do a little more in keeping track of how my posts are organized and tagged, so I've been at work updating all my earlier posts with labels to help with searches. Anyone else have a tip on how to get my blog out there and set up in a way that folks want to stop and stay awhile? I would love to hear feedback!