In the Mountains...

Tommy and I have been in the Great Smokey Mountains this weekend for fun and baseball. Eating has been less than stellar, but I don't think it has been terrible either. My biggest issue has been that we have stayed so busy, that we have skipped meals and then had very later dinners.
This trip has included lots of walking, which has been nice and hopefully will help with the food issue.
Yesterday, we did some hiking through the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. That was alot of fun. I had hoped we would hike Clingman's Dome, but it was closed. We ended up doing a great little nature hike. It was listed as 3/4 mile with moderate difficulty and steepness and was to take approximately 1 hour. We had such a good time, and I know we had our cardio in for the day with that hike.

The trip has also included some shopping at the tangler outlets. I had a great time shopping it up at GAP and Tommy. And its always fun to buy smaller sizes :)

Hope everyone has had a great weekend. We are off to see another baseball game and then the 6hour drive back home!

OH MY BLOG!

I was super excited this morning when I saw that 266 had passed on the OH MY BLOG award to me! I even called my husband at work :) Thanks so so much 266! It really means a lot!

Here are the rules for this awesome honor:

1. Get really excited that you got the coolest award ever!

2. Choose one of the following options of accepting the Oh My Blog! award:

(a) Get really drunk and blog for 15 minutes straight, or for as long as you can focus.

(b) Write about your most embarrassing moment.

(c) Write a “soundtrack of your childhood” post.

(d) Make your next blog a ‘vlog’/video blog where you’re basically talking to the camera about whatever.

(e) Take a picture of yourself first thing in the morning, before you do anything else (hair, make up, etc) and post it.

3. Pass the award onto at least three, but preferably more, awesome bloggers and let them know.

I am going to go with Option B. I do crazy, silly things all the time to embarrass myself so trying to think of my most embarrassing thing is just too hard... so I am going with my most current embarrassing moment :) A couple of weeks ago I was running some errands, and needed to pick up a tag for my new car. In the last year, they have move the town's tag and licensing division to a separate building, instead of in the courthouse where it had been for years. I had grabbed all my paperwork and was heading in the new building when....I ran SMACK into a glass pane! I'm talking BANG, CRASH, BOOM, can't believe I didn't break my nose or something! When I bounced back, I quickly looked to see if anyone had noticed and saw a security guard in hysterics! He was laughing so hard I started laughing at myself. About that time, I huge gust of wind blew through and picked up my cute new flowy skirt and I totally flashed him! At this point, I was so embarrassed I turned around, walked back to my car, and decided I would come back the next day to get the tag! :)

Now, I want to pass this award on to a couple of my favorite bloggers!

Shannon @http://www.superwomanspiritblog.com/

Jessica @http://pudget1.blogspot.com/

Jennifer@http://mynenni.blogspot.com/

Thanks again 266! I really appreciate the award :)

Hungry!

Today I am so HUNGRY! Luckily, I am at work, because I know if I were home I would be munching around the kitchen! Last night, I had the munchies too! I tried to keep it under control with raw veggies, but then I also had popcorn before bed! UGH!
I have made some new running goals in term of speed. I am going to try to figure out how to add them to the side, and then keep track of when I "conquer" the goal :) So far I have been able to conquer a 13 minute mile, 12:45 minute mile, and a 12:30 minute mile. I also killed a 25minute 2mile run yesterday! I love marking them off my list on the fridge at home. I still have so much improvement with speed, but I am making baby steps and that makes me happy!
Tommy and I are heading to the mountains this weekend! I am excited. We are going for baseball, but I am looking forward to some time in the crafting community and a little wine tasting :)

Friday Favorites- Cilantro

This week's Friday Favorite is my favorite herb...Cilantro! I discovered cilantro last summer and fell in love. I usually purchase it at the grocery and it will keep for about a week standing in a glass of water in the fridge. This year I have planted my own cilantro, so maybe I will have my own harvest in a few weeks.
I have found several uses for cilantro including a simple green salsa of tomatillas, cilantro, and onions chopped lightly in my mini-food processor...soo good! I also made a delicious corn salad with whole kernel corn, bell pepper, tommy toe tomatoes, cilantro, red onion, and about a teaspoon of mayo. Let the salad chill overnight and it makes for a great side dish. There are also days when I just chop it up and add to my regular garden salad to give it a kick!
There is something about cilantro that gives dishes a very fresh flavor. I love it!

Do you use cilantro? If so, how? I'd love some new recipes!

Dropo 5k

I am behind with updates this week because things have been WILD!!! Last Saturday I completed my second 5k. It was fun, but not as much fun as my first one! One of my biggest complaints with this race was the lack of traffic support. They did not close the streets for the event, and the few traffic officers present really did nothing to protect the races. At one point I came within inches of being hit by a car driven by a CRAZY yardsale goer :) It scared me to death, and I stopped at that point and walked for about 30 second while I regained my composure.

I thought I had driven the course the night before, but somehow I must have missed a street or turned the wrong direction when driving, because the course I drove was not the course that was ran. I was confused, beyond hot, but somehow I kept going.

I didn't improve my time, but I still finished and that is the main thing for me!

Friday Favorites - Subway's Western Omelet Muffin

I am still getting used to doing the whole blog thing and trying to get into my groove as to what to post about. I've noticed several blogs designate certain days for different topics and I thought doing a "Friday Favorites" would be a lot of fun.

Have you guys tried anything on the Subway breakfast menu? I am usually a bran flakes and banana kind of girl in the morning, but occasionally the Hubby will want to get breakfast out on the weekend. Subway's breakfast menu has offered me a yummy way of doing this without changing much in the way of my afternoon calories. So far I have only tried the Western Omelet with egg whites. I also had them throw on a tomato!

I loved it! The website says it is under 200 calories and less than 4 grams of fat...which makes me happy! I have had this twice with a side of apples and stayed pretty satisfied until lunch! It also inspired me to make an at home version, but I think I will stick to my bran and banana for most of my breakfasts at Home Sweet Home :)

Think about in the morning as I do my Jeff Dropo 5k. The proceeds of this run go towards Camp Smile A Mile, a camp for children with cancer. I think it will be a lot of fun! I'm going to drive over this afternoon and try to map out the course because I have heard rumors of nasty hill...Eek!

Bordom Busters

Karen at Fitness: A Journey Not a Destination did a post a couple of days about strategies for bordom busting to keep from eating. She asked her readers for suggestions about what they do when bored. I started thinking about this last night, and made a list to stick on my fridge. Now when I go to the fridge on a rare bordom attack on a Sunday afternoon I will have a little list of my own busters :)

* Read-- I always have something to read...I'm a librarian :) Sometimes I just need a reminder that reading can be done other than in bed :)

*Browse Magazines/cut coupons-- I Love ALL YOU magazine because of the fun reads and Great Coupons!

*Play outside--When I was a kid I loved to play outside. My playing has changed these days..its more like yard work, but I still call it play.

*Organize-- I think this is my go to for bordom busting...there is always something at my house that needs organized.

*Write cards--One of my New Year's Resolutions was to write more letters/send more cards to friends. And what a great way to fight bordom...send a friend a smile :)

What do you guys do to keep bordom eating away??

Early AM workout!

With the weather getting warmer, I have decided to try to change up my outside runs to the mornings. This will help with both the weather and getting in my evening meal before 7 *I hope*. Currently, I am off on Mondays and always do my Monday run between 8 and 10 AM. So far, all of my Monday runs have been great. Maybe it is because I don't feel rushed like I do after work. I don't get off until 5 most days, so when I run after work and drive home, it is usually 7 or later...then I have to cook and it makes my evening meal later than I would like.

Today I tried out the early morning run and really liked it. I got up at 4:45, did my few morning chores, had breakfast, changed into my gym clothes, packed my work clothes and toiletries and was out the door by 5:30. It takes about half an hour to get to the town I work in, where I plan to do the morning runs, so I got to the park a little after six. I had a great hour long workout that included a 2.5 mile run plus a walking warm up and cool down. My mom lives close to the park so I stopped by her house to jump in the shower and get ready for work, and made it to the library 10 minutes early! Whew! Initially I think this plan will take a little getting used to, but I think overall I will like it and my evening won't feel as rushed. I think it will also keep me from making excuses as the temps go up*they are saying 90s by next week..UGH! I will keep my cross training at the gym 2 days a week, and will probably do my speed intervals on the treadmill, too.
I'm getting really nervous about this weekend's 5k! I think I am more nervous about this one than I was the first one. I will probably be running alone, which is fine. But I am just really nervous. My hubby says I shouldn't be nervous because it is just for fun, but I really wanna beat my other time :)

Wild Week and Yucky Feet!

Last week was CRAZY! It included a great 3 mile run, a dentist appointment, a late night at work, a horrible run (had to stop at 2.25 miles), a doctor's appointment, BUYING A NEW CAR!, a run that never got started because of weather, 8 tornado warnings in three days, and flooding! *whew*
My regular workout schedule was really out of whack :) But that is okay, because this week it will hopefully be more routine and will culminate with a a 5k Saturday morning.

Quick question?? Do you guys have issues with your feet peeling? Since I have started running outside, I have noticed that my feet peel constantly! UGH! GROSS!!! I have never really had this issue before, but right now, between my toes, is disgusting. I bought a pumice stone to help, but this is just crazy! I am almost too embarassed to wear flip flops...almost :)

I think I am going to try to shift my runs to all mornings. I usually do my Monday run in the morning, but the rest of the week I do them after work. With the temps going up outside, I think Im gonna try to move them all to the mornings. If I have to do an evening run, I think it will have to be moved inside to the gym's treadmill (but the treadmill is soo boring to me now!) I have just noticed in the past few weeks that my 5:15 pm runs have become really rough, uncomfortable, and no fun! So maybe this will help!

Hope all is well! ~Jess