Healthy Living

I'm always striving to be a healthier person. I'm constantly reading material over health and fitness. I realize this surprises no one.

Today, I read an interesting article on Runner's World.com and wanted to share some of the highlights. I can testify that the below tips do work. I practice some almost everyday, and the other tips are ones I know I need to be practicing. The battle of food and weight is a major one in my life, and I know I'm not alone.

50 ways to lose weight, get in shape, and run faster...
(don't worry I won't list all 50)

1. Plan Ahead
The article suggest..knowing when you're eating and what you're eating.
When Sister #1 and I lived together she would tease me over the amount of food I carry to work each day. You see, one of my nightly rituals is to pack breakfast, lunch, and 2 snacks for work. Sure, it's a lot of food, but I don't care. This saves me from running to the vending machine for Pop-Tarts or Peanut M&Ms.
Sidenote: Sister #1 has become extremely healthy, and guess who now takes breakfast, lunch, and 2 snacks to work everyday??? She isn't laughing at me anymore!!!

2. Eat Often
I'm a big fan of this rule. It is suggested you eat 3 meals and 2 small snacks. This works out to eating every 3 hours. Folks, if you let a large amount of time slip between meals, your next meal will not be pretty. You will be so hungry that you'll over eat, and then you'll feel gross.

3. Repeat Yourself
It's ok to eat the same thing over and over. If you find foods that work for you- taste good, satisfy, and keep you full. Then by all means, eat them everyday! There's a reason why I eat a sandwich almost everyday for lunch. I know how many calories are in my sandwich and it keeps me full.

4. Don't Drink Sugar
I get it, I need to cut back on the Starbucks!

5. Practice Long, Slow Eating
The article suggest eating without distractions: no TV, no computer, or newspaper. I will be honest, almost every night I eat dinner in front of the TV. It's a hard habit to break, especially when you eat alone. Also, I am the world's fastest eater. When I was a child my family would remind me the food is not going anywhere.

I'm confident these tips were not new to anyone. However, it's never bad to have a little reminder. Sometimes life gets a bit crazy and we get off track. This happens to everyone. The important thing is to get back on track.

A few of my favorite things

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things......

Stonewall's Bloody Mary Mix
I'm not much of a drinker but while skiing at Tahoe I had a drink of a Bloody Mary. Folks, it was delicious, the best Bloody Mary I had ever tasted. After my trip I stumbled upon Stonewall's mix and decided to give it a try. I was delighted to discover this mix taste exactly like the Bloody Mary I had on top of the mountain at Tahoe.

Easy A
I love this movie. I recommend everyone rent it right now. You will laugh, and then you'll thank me!

Keens Shoes
I know these shoes have a cool name. At the moment, I do not recall their name and I'm too lazy to Google the name. Sorry. But aren't these shoes adorable? I think so too. And since they are Keens, I'm positive they are comfortable. As my mother always says...take care of your feet because you can't buy new ones. Hopefully in the near future I will own these shoes. Well maybe not this exact pattern. Keens offers many different patterns. They have a camo pair that would be perfect for me. It would bring out my Arkansas roots.

Petite Vanilla Bean Scones
Dang you Starbucks, I'm in love with something else. I can't afford to love anything else at establishment. At the rate I'm going, I'll be working their part-time to keep up with my addiction.

Claritin-D
Speaking of drugs...this is my current method of survival. Oklahoma is experiencing an unusually warm spring. This whole week it's been in the mid 80s. I'm sure you all think that sounds awesome, and it sort of is awesome. However, our winter was a puney winter which means nothing died. Everyone, and I mean everyone, is experiencing allegory problems. Also, if this is a look into our summer I'm going to die. I cannot handle another 110 degree summer.

Well there you have it, my newest list of favorites. Love them or hate them. I really don't care.

31st Birthday Party

Last week I had a birthday. I turned 31. Since it wasn't a millstone birthday, I didn't bother mentioning it to you guys. Besides, I was pretty obnoxious about turning 30, so I figured you guys deserved a break on the birthday post. You're welcome.

Ok, back to my birthday party. The idea for this year's birthday party came to me while running a race. I'm telling you, my best ideas come when I'm running. No joke. While running, I thought of this genius birthday party idea. You guys know two of my favorite things are Jazzercise and eating. So why not combine my two favorite things into a birthday party? That's right folks, I had a Girls Night Out Jazzercise Birthday Party. I basically rented out my Jazzercise center for my friends and I to have a private class. The four instructors that taught our class were awesome. They selected some of my favorite routines and songs. I must say, we all had a blast! My 31st birthday was fun and it was a healthy one!

Call me a follower

I have been sucked in like everyone else. Saturday night I finished the first book. Sunday immediately after church, I made a mad dash to Target to purchase the second book. I'm just thankful there are only 3 books.

Last week's greatest purchase

This past weekend I purchased my first DVD Box Set. I know, I'm behind on the times and living in the stone age. But please recall, I am the girl that does not have cable nor an iPhone. Would you expect anything less?

Anyway Sunday night, while aimlessly roaming the aisle of Target, I found a must have DVD Box Set.

Now, before you start laughing at my selection I will have you know that this show is my #2 favorite show of all time. Even after all this time, I still love the show! Sunday night I watched 4 episodes and they were hilarious. Folks, that is good TV! If you are laughing after twenty years, something was done right.

So if anyone out there is looking for something new to watch...may I recommend Designing Women.

I'm ready. Are you ready?

Hollywood News

I feel it's my duty to keep everyone informed. Not just with my life, but the lives of my famous friend. Folks, it's news that's happening around the world! Also, I think it's important to discuss important/current topics. Such as this one....
I found the picture worthy of discussion because it's a picture of Dick Van Dyke cutting his wedding cake. His lovely bride is 40 year old make up artist Arlene Silver. They were married on Leap Day, which I find extremely odd. Why would you get married on a day that only comes around every 4 years? Weird.

In the article, on People.com, the actor's publicist is quoted saying this about Dick's new bride..."It's a really nice relationship, most people like her a lot."
If I were Mr. Van Dyke's bride I'd be a little annoyed. I sure wouldn't want someone blabbing to the world that most people like me!

Beating the Beasts

This weekend Sister #1 and I completed our race for the month of March. As you can see from the picture, we recruited a few extra runners. One being our dad, and one being my boss. Fun fact about these two men: they are beast!
They've been known to bike 35 miles on Saturday, and run a 10K (6 miles) on Sunday. Folks in my opinion, that is the definition of a being a beast!

Blogger World, I'm proud to report that this weekend I beat both of them in this race! I have been waiting over 15 years to beat my dad in a race. Sure, he's almost 60 years old and out of shape...BUT I DON'T CARE! I beat him! You do not understand the pure joy I felt when I ran past him. It was wonderful. Definitely a top 5 moment in my life!

The 6 things you should know...

1. Yesterday, Oreo celebrated their 100th birthday. Happy Birthday!

2. I'm not a huge Oreo fan. I believe when I was younger I didn't like the idea of eating a black cookie.

3. Dr. Seuss recently had a birthday.

4. I'm a big Dr. Seuss fan!

5. Confession: I enjoying browsing this website.

6. I am not getting married.

Life as a Bachelorette

Last August, I bought the below chandelier. I had big plans of hanging it in my home office. I wanted to refinish it to look like an antique. I wanted people to think I discovered the chandelier at a Flea Market, instead of the chain home store Ikea. Folks, I had a decorating vision for this item. But, instead it's been sitting in my home office still wrapped in the box. Mocking me for not being a natural home decorator.


Yesterday, the chandelier was finally hung. It's now in my bathroom. Last week I decided the chandelier needed to be in my bathroom. Why the bathroom? I have no idea. Probably the same reason why I wanted to paint my home office Tiffany & Co blue; or my kitchen fire engine red and the living room yellow. You see, it's a very simple answer...because it's my house and I can do whatever I want!