A random day

Not much to report but I don't want to slack too much on the blog. :)

I pat myself on the back a bit because I managed to get my lazy butt out of bed and hit the gym before work. I used to do it almost every day but I've gotten out of the habit. I only ran 4 miles, but I'll take it.

I had a funny dog moment this morning. I walked into my bedroom while I was getting ready this morning, and the dogs were both on my bed. I looked at Jelly, and she was tucked under the covers with her head out, right near the pillow. It made me laugh out loud. She loves burrowing under the blankets, but usually she goes all the way under, so this was especially funny looking. Sadly, I didn't get a picture because I thought my camera was downstairs (and they usually follow me downstairs, hence defeating the purpose).

I'm going out hang out with a couple of girlfriends I haven't seen much of in a while tonight, so I'm super excited for that. I love girls nights!

In other news, I met with a potential bride last night. I'm really excited about the wedding. I used to coordinate a lot of weddings, and I'd like to focus some efforts on getting back into that. I have 2-3 on the horizon this year already, which is great. I can't really do too many or I can't focus enough on any one. But I need to get a new website up and all of that.

I also got to catch up with one of my bestest friends, Sarah, on the phone. I love talking to her! :)

Back to my real job now. :)

Cold, crappy run but exciting news too!

What a change from last week! Last Saturday it was in the 60s, and I ran 12 great miles in shorts! Today it was 23, and I could barely pound my way through 10 miles all bundled up. I'm lying in bed now, trying to pretend like my stomach isn't super upset with me. This is the one thing I hate about running - my stomach is so mean to me after my long runs! It sucks. At least I've got the beagles in bed with me and the sun is shining. :)

Oh, and congratulations to my friend S! She and her boyfriend M just got engaged last night!!!! Yay! In honor of that, I was going to post a picture of them from last year's ugly sweater party (S won, although she was not wearing a sweater), but I'm not sure how she would feel about that. Suffice it to say, she and he both had GREAT costumes!!

So now there are two exciting weddings coming up, A and A's, and S and M's! Yay, I'm so excited for them!!!

New Year's and Soup

I know I haven't officially posted my new year goals yet (probably because I haven't made them yet - I have a desire to be sitting in my living room with a glass of wine while doing it, is that so wrong?) but one thing I want to do is fine something I like doing. One might consider this finding a focus for my blog. :) I run a lot but I don't know that I can count it as a hobby and I don't think it's really interesting to anyone else. We shall see....

I like cooking a lot but I'm kind of intimidated by all the good food blogs out there already. Where are these people taking these photos??? They look so professional.

So, no photo to go along with it, but I made this delicious soup the other night and had it for lunch today. Highly recommend - it's easy, pretty healthy, and tasty. It's from Cooking Light.

North Woods Bean Soup
Yield: 5 servings (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups)

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
1 cup baby carrots, halved
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
7 ounces turkey kielbasa, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 (15.8-ounce) cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 (6-ounce) bag fresh baby spinach leaves

Preparation:
Heat a large saucepan coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add carrots, onion, garlic, and kielbasa; sauté 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium; cook 5 minutes.

Add the broth, Italian seasoning, pepper, and beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.

Place 2 cups of the soup in a food processor or blender, and process until smooth. Return the pureed mixture to pan. Simmer an additional 5 minutes.

Remove soup from heat. Add the spinach, stirring until spinach wilts.

Nutritional Information
Calories:227 (15% from fat)
Fat:3.9g (sat 1.2g,mono 1.3g,poly 1.2g) Protein:18.1g
Carbohydrate:30.8g
Fiber:6.7g
Cholesterol:26mg
Iron:3.5mg
Sodium:750mg
Calcium:112mg

Cooking Light, JANUARY 2002


They provided the calorie breakdown. I think it's kind of low though. Todd got me an iPod Touch for Christmas (so cool!!!) and I downloaded this awesome app called "Lose It" where you enter what you eat and do for exercise and it tracks your calories for you. My favorite feature is where you can enter a recipe and it automatically caluclates the nutrition info per serving. When I put this bad boy in, it was a bit over 300 cal per serving (although I do up the kielbasa by a smidge). Still not bad, but not what they got.

Happy New Year!!!

I just wanted to wish everyone a very happy 2009!!! May the new year bring you much love, laughter, happiness, and good health!

I can't believe 2008 is already over. That year went by SO quickly! Wow.

Like a woman I know said in her blog, it may not be fashionable to make New Year's Resolutions, but I kind of love the tradition. While I don't know that might are outright resolutions, I like to think about the year that just passed and the one about to start and make some goals. I'll post them once I finish. :)

I have a code. (cold)

I've been home sick for two days now. In between naps, I've tried to be somewhat productive. I could have been updating my blog, but I didn't. It's really sunny out and I'd like to go outside, but I'm too lazy and my head is pounding.

Christmas was wonderful. I hope everyone had a very happy holiday season! I got to see both of my new nephews, Luke (8 months) and Nicholas (2 weeks), who are both super sweet. I got spoiled with presents from everyone and ate way too much delicious food. I'd love to be out exercising off the calories, but well, I can barely breathe, so that won't work too well.

So, I might as well go ahead and post some pictures!

Here are some from my night in Granville:








And here is my nephew Luke at his Christening this past Sunday:




And here is my other nephew Nicholas, at Luke's luncheon, held by my mom:



Ok, that's all for now. I'm ready for a nap. And judging by the snoring, so is Jellybean. :)

Testing

Let's see if I can get a photo posted...

These are the ladies (Jelly on the left, Abbey on the right) in their Halloween/Christmas outfits. :)

Hungover!

I had such a blast last night out in Granville. And of course I drank too much. And am paying the price today. :) Oh well - it's only once a year! I'll try to upload and post some pictures later. And I wanted to wish AJ a happy birthday! I already got to wish her one at midnight last night, but still.

I can't believe it's almost Christmas! My family always celebrates on Christmas Eve, so for me, Christmas is tomorrow! Holy cow. I have one more gift to buy and a bit more wrapping to do, but mostly everything is done. I want to make some little gifts for my new nephews, so hopefully I'll have time to do that later today. I never did put my ornaments on the tree...