Running thru life... While planning a girls weekend

So my two best girlfriends live no where near me... bummer right?

Well we make it work.  One of my girlfriends now lives in Southern VA (3-4 hours away) but because of our schedules and lives we maybe get to see each other every couple of months.  Because of this we have gotten in the habit of planning a "Girls Weekend."   

For our last girls weekend we went to New York in October, which was actually the perfect time to go.  My friend and I discussed a budget and then I planned everything accordingly.  We left on a Saturday morning and came back on a Monday night. 

We left on Saturday morning on the Trippler Bus.  I booked our tickets 4-6 week before the actual trip.  Our total cost for both of our tickets was 40 dollars (20 for each of us.)  So my husband dropped us off in Arlington and we loaded the bus.  I was happy with our experience.  When boarding the bus you get handed a water.   They also have outlets for you labtop and free Wi-Fi which is a plus.  The bus had a restroom if you really needed to go.  The trip took about 4 hours.  We arrived in New York and we debused at the Macys at Herald's Square in New York. 

We then walked about 3-4 blocks to our hotel.  The Distristk Hotel which is a boutique hotel that I found that was in the fashion distristk that was also incredibility close to Times Square and walking distance to the Empire State Building (which were all on our list of things we wanted to do while we where there.)

The hotel room was perfect for a 2 night visit-  It had a king bed with a nice bathroom.  We spent little time at our hotel room and was definetly an upgrade compared to our hotel room we have 5 years ago when we went to NY which was a nightmare.  Each night was $220 so our total bill was around 560 by the time taxes were added which we splint.  Here is a picture of our room.

So the first night we were there we decided to get a bite to eat and then head over to the Empire State Building.  This is something I wanted to do last time but the wait last time was over three hours!!!  We went late so around 9 o'clock and waited for about 1 hour which actually flew by because my friend and I are both people watchers and kept ourselves entertained by all the different people. 

So we got to the top and it was worth every minute of waiting!!!

We  walked our way back to times square to see all the lights and wander the street.  Little did my friend know but I was on a mission to find this restaurant that we ate at 5 years ago during the snow storm because it was the only thing we could find that was open.  It was amazing 5 years ago... and we did not know if it was because we were so hungry or if it really way good.  But we have some fond memories of this place.

I FOUND IT!!!!

We both spotted it and we started laughing... we knew where we would be eating the following night.

So we head back to our hotel room to have a glass of wine and girl chat around 1 am. 

Day 2 in New York

So part of this trip was to celebrate my friends birthday and she decided that she really really wanted to see Mama Mia.  So we got up Sunday morning, had breakfast at Dean and Dolcas and then headed over to Time Square to stand in line at the discount tickets place.  They sell tickets the day off at a fraction of the price.  The ticket place opened at 11 so we go there at 10:30 with our coffee and waited. 

By 11:15 we had our Mama Mia Tickets in our hand for the 2 pm showing.

We decided to do a little shopping, get a small bit to eat and then go back to our hotel room to fresh up before the play. 

We then went to the Wintergarden Theater (about 6-8 blocks) and there it was

We had the best seats ever!!!!!  Even better than the seat my hubby got me to Wicked!

The show was AMAZING!!!!

After the show we headed over to Tony's for sangria and Baked Ziti... so good!!!

We finished up our dinner around 10:30.  We walked around time squre and then head back to our rooms.

On Monday, we went shopping (which is a must when you go to NYC)!!! 

On Monday afternoon at 4 pm we borded our Tripper Bus to head back home.

We had such a good time, that when I told my mom all about it she wanted to go to NYC... so I will be going again in April.    When all was said and done- the bus ticket, the room, the food, the mama mia tickets (which were a little splurge) we each spent about 400 dollars.  We actually did not buy ALOT of clothes.  Last time we went to NYC  5 years ago the weather was so bad that all we did was shop because the site seeing was out of the picture.  This time it was the site seeing.  I did make two purchases which I love- My fun pink flower sweater and a beatifuly scarf both from the Loft in Time Square.   

 So.... you may ask what we are doing for our up coming trip.  Stay posted!!!

Running thru life.... When I ask you to do good..

So for anyone who knows my husband and I,  you will know that our dog is our child.   Shortly after getting Clemson our parenting skills kicked in.  We decided instead of scolding him when he does something wrong we will used saying to promote a positive attitude all the time.  (We have found when we give him praise and motivation- we do not have to scold him nearly as much!)

So some of them are..."That is not a good choice Clemson."   "We need to make good choices."  "You need to reach your full potential" "bad decision," "Big boys make good decisions, etc"

But my favorite actually comes from my husband....

"When I ask you to do good... I want to inspire you to do GREAT!"

I absolutely love this quote because I relate to it.

"I WANT TO INSPIRE YOU TO DO GREAT!!!"

This is a quote that I can use in every aspect of my life.  So I decided this morning to sit down and reflect how to apply this to every aspect of my life.

- Work
I am currently the only full time midwife at my work meaning that my clinics are booked to the max, and I rarely get lunch or get to sit down, so for me to do GREAT I need to keep myself educated.  This is easily for me to do since I work at a teaching hospital with residents.  I ask to be included on their weekly topic discussions since I am not always able to go to rounds in the morning. 

Home
- Spend more time with my puppy!!  Support my husband during school (This is probably the hardest for me because I am gone anywhere from 12-13 hours each day- then get home and have to make dinner, take the trash out, pay the bills, take care of puppy, and let not forget RUN, etc- but I am trying to make it work)

Social life
-After the holidays were over we have a weekend or two of nothingness which was awesome but it is important to keep social so we have loaded our social calendar again.  YEAH!!!  I have also joined a book club and am looking in to some additional options. 

Health
- I am pushing myself with my running schedule, increasing the water I have been drinking, and making healthier food decisions on my part.  Do not get me wrong... some days I totally am not in to it- but I have to remind myself that I am worth it and I am doing it for my health!

Family
- With a couple recent events with out families we have realized how important it is to spend time with your family because we often take them for granted since they are both so close.  We have scheduled to do something with each of our families for the up coming month. 

When I ask myself to go good... I want to inspire myself to go great!

Running thru life with a healthy heart

February is NATIONAL HEART MONTH!!!!  

Heart disease is THE LEADING cause of death in the United States.

We are only given one heart and it is our job to take care of it. 

I have taken this info from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Website

http://www.cdc.gov/Features/HeartMonth/

"Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US and is a mjor cause of disability."  The most common heart diesase in the US ia coronary heart disease, which often appears as a heart attack. In 2010, an estimated 785,000 Americans had a new coronary attack, and about 470,000 had a recurrent attack. About every 25 seconds, an American will have a coronary event, and about one every minute will die from one." 

Crazy right????

So you might ask what conditions can put me at risk for heart disease?

High Cholesterol

High Blood Pressure

Obesity

Diabetes

Tobacco Use

Unhealthy diet

Limited physical activity

Secondhand smoke

So what can we do?    Lead a HEALTHY LIFESTYLE!!!!

A healthy diet and lifestyle are the best weapons you have to fight heart disease!  That being said below are some recommendations that the CDC makes:

• Cut back on foods containing partially hydrogenated vegetable oils to reduce trans fat in your diet.
• Cut back on foods high in dietary cholesterol. Aim to eat less than 300 mg of cholesterol each day.
• Cut back on beverages and foods with added sugars.
• Add Exercise into your Daily routine
• Cut out smoking 
• Select and purchase foods lower in salt/sodium.
• If you drink alcohol, drink in moderation. That means no more than one drink per day if you're a woman and two drinks per day if you're a man.

GET ACTIVE.... Running is an excellent way to keep our heart healthy. 

So as I am running my 4-5 miles today, I will remind myself that I am doing this for my heart and my health!!!

Running thru life..... Inspiring your Significant Other

So now that my hubby is back in school... he has little time to exercise.  This is a problem for many reasons.  Mostly because I have to listen to him complain.... who says women complain more than men!

When we first started dating and thru the first couple years together- we were workout fens.  I still am... however, my husband is not due to his lack of time.  So we were at our Valentine's dinner and he said.  "You know what you should blog about?"  I of course answered with "What?"  Then he said "How to mange working out when you have schedule conflicts."  I answered by saying I do this every week.

So normally during the week- on Sunday-  I sit down and mentally plan my runs.  I do this based on my week and what I know of myself.  So here is this weeks.

Sunday-  Long run AM  8 miles
Monday-  Long run PM  6 miles (I get off work early on mondays- so I try to get a longer run in since I have time)
Tuesday- Short run PM  (3-5 miles)
Wednesday- Short run PM (3-5 miles)
Thursday-  no run  ( I always take off Thursday because this is the day I normally am delivering babies and by the time I get home... I do not want to move!)
Friday- Long run AM  (I actually am off this day so i will be doing my long run.) 8-9 miles
Saturday- off (I am having a girls weekend so I will be taking the day off)

Things I have learned about planning my running schedule
1) Never run on Thursday evenings...
2) I can not run in the morning on days I work because I already get up at 5 and to run I would have to get up at 3:30... so not happening
3) Be flexible... if an opportunity arises you can modify your workout schedule.

So here is my husband's running schedule if I designed it for him this week. He of course is not running as often as I am so his schedule is a little bit on the light side.  The reason I did his schedule this way is because he sleeps in on Tuesdays because he has class late Monday nigth and sleeps in Thursday for the same reason. 
Monday- Morning short run 5K
Tuesday- off
Wednesday- Morning short run 5k
Thursday- off
Friday- Short run 5k
Saturday- Long run AM

So what is your running schedule to help you balance your life but get your exercise at the same time...

Running thru life... Managing your memories

So with the invention of the digital camera the photo album is now outdated... or is it?

Shorty after getting married I came to the conclusion that I do not have pictures from our couple years of dating because they are all digital and they are all stored on our computer. 

We occasionally get one printed to put in a frame but that was it.

So after making our wedding album- which I ABSOLUTELY LOVE (see below).

I decided to make a album of all our honeymoon pictures.  How did I do this in the modern technology world that we are in today you might ask-  KODAK.  All of the online galleries have capability to make a photobook out of your stored digital pictures.  (Kodak, Snapfish, Shutterfly.) 

So I uploaded about 120 of our honeymoon photos to Kodak and went to work on designing our photoalbum.   You start by selecting which kind of book (hardback vs soft), followed by the design pattern, then you get to pick how many photos on each page and arrange your photos the way you like them.  You can also add captions.  I loved the way our book turned out and more importantly it is something that we can look at and the photos are just not sitting on our computer.

So after our honeymoon album, I decided I like this idea so much that I decided to make a album for each year.  I started working on 2010 album back in October because it takes me a little while to go through all our photos and decide which ones made the cut.  I was done designing the album by beginning of December which was perfect because the albums were 20% off then- what a steal!!!.  So our 2010 album ended in November and was here by December.  The album was a hard bound album made up of 126 pictures on 36 pages which cost $36 (I received 20 % off and also got free shipping because I spent over 30$- what a deal.)   Here is the Cover below. 

We called the book...

The Year of Clemson Puppy 2009-2010

Here are a couple pages just to give you an idea..

And here are some of my favorite photos...

Me and My Hubby at Lake Placcid!!!

Bride and MOH... so Cute!!!

Baby Shower Time...

Clemson Puppy Meeting Hudson Puppy for the First time!!

The Family on Easter

Napa, Ca (So much wine...)

My Bro graduating in Georgia.

Our House....

Our puppy having fun...

Our new kitchen

There are so many more... put I decided to limit my picks. 

I made sure to include an equal amount of family, friends, events, pictures of the house, however, I think Clemson Puppy had the most pictures this year!!

We now have the book on our shelves with out other pictures- I think this is a great tradition and so much more efficient than scrap booking. I can not wait to start working on 2011s!!

Our 2011 album with start in December 2010.  I now know what I am doing do I have made a folder in my Picasa (picture editing) that I place pictures that I would like to considering placing in next years book.  This will make my job so much easier when I go to upload the photos.

Happy Memories.... for all to see

Happy V- DAY

So Happy V DAY

More running gear for my wardrobe... Most people get chocolate or flowers... Not me- I get more running stuff.  I love it.  I mean after all Valentine's day is about taking care of the one you love..  so it is a fitting gift because they are helping me take care of my heart!!!

My hubby and I celebrated yesterday because he has class Monday nights, and I am out of the door at 5:30 in the morning, which does not leave much time for celebrating.  We choose to celebrate V-Day in small ways.  This year we each set a $30 limit!  I got lots of small goodies.  

One was an Iron Man Water Bottle Carrier below.  Since I am running longer distances now- I need water.    (Of course it is pink).

My mother also got me a small something... A new Nike running shirt to wear during my half marathon.  

Also pink....It is like a hot hot pink.  

 

Futhermore, my mother in law also got me a new running shirt.  An Under Armour Big Logo Long Sleeve Shirt.  I ended up wearing in this morning during my workout and loved it!  It is light and breathable.  

So I would like to wish everyone a happy Valentine's Day and thank you for the lovely running gift!!!

Running thru life while decorating a home

We have lived in our house for 3 + years now.  When we first moved in we had very little furniture- a couch, a bed, a kitchen table, and a tv.  Over the past three years, we have gradually accumulated stuff and also used craigslist to help get rid of stuff.  I have done this gradually for two reasons  1) I wait till I find what I want or like before making a purchase- it makes no sense to buy something you are Ok with.  2) Economic stand point- much better to spread the purchases out. 

Finally, our house is starting to look like a home.  However, I have a couple items which we still need. 

One being a book shelf for our basement.  I have been looking for one that goes with the decor we already have done there and did not want to pay an arm and a leg.  My search started about 4-5 months ago, but everything I found was just too expensive.  So I put my search off for a while and decided to work on cleansing the house of items that we did not need and I could get rid of on craigslist. 

In the mean time, I started to clean out the back room in our basement because I am going to make it in to my workout room.  Right now it is set up as an office- but we moved all the office stuff upstairs.  So I had a yucky old bookshelf and a desk that I need to get rid off.  I ended up selling the really old bookshelf that does not really fit anywhere in our house (I used it in college and grad school) on craigslist two months ago.  So I put the money in an envelop for a rainy day. 

That rainy day came last Sunday.  After my run that morning, I sat down to read the Sunday paper.  This is something Joe and I try to do every Sunday morning together.  While looking through the adds, I spotted a bookshelf that would work perfectly at target.  So I went and got my craigslist money along with a small gift card that I got for Christmas and head out to Target.  I went in-searched- and conquered. 

After about 30 minutes of assembly time (and no money spent on my part!!!) we have a new addition to the basement. 

I added some accents to it to help it fit.   What do you think? 

Just goes to show you that patience is worth it.... in everything you do.