Happy Thursday

G'morning! Hope this Thursday is treating you well. It's actually super nice outside & I wish I could go out and play...but alas, I must sleep..so I can be nocturnal for one more night & then its my friday. Yay! I am looking forward to that!!! SO much..much more this week than ever. :) :) :)

Last night was equally busy & laid back, I delegated some of my responsibilities to someone else so I was just a regular nurse for once. I don't get a lot of nights like that. I somehow was able to keep a semi-positive feeling even when people tried to get in my way.
I started out my day with a 2 mile run... that seemed a lot harder than it should have been, and a divine strawberry,raspberry,banana protein shake--YUM! Had a much needed conversation with my love. And then on my way to work I decided to get a coffee & this sweet older gentlemen in front of me at starbucks bought my drink for me! Made me feel good...he had no idea that I was just starting my day & heading to work.

Just a little something I am trying to keep in mind these days...in a lot of ways it applies to so many corners of my life.

Perfect.Life.

Mmmhmm..

What the seed?

Has anyone else heard about Chia seeds lately? Its weird I've been hearing about them more and more lately in random situations. To be honest, I don't even know what they are or where they come from or what they are good for. Decided to do a little researching to figure it out.
Chia is grown commercially for its seed mostly grown in southern America and Australia. An ounce of seeds contain 4g Protein, 11g Fiber, and 9g Fat. They can be eaten dry, whole as a seed, soaked in fruit juice, or ground and put into baked goods. According to one site, Chia seeds are popular for weight loss. I assume because of the fiber, protein, fat content...they are probably filling and in conjunction with that reduce food cravings. They are also the richest plant source of Omega-3's. Interesting... I bet it would be a good addition to oatmeal!

13.1

A few weeks ago my bestest friend ever sent me the sweetest thing in the mail! It was totally unexpected! So simple, and so perfect. 13.1 miles! Yayyy! Realizing again that I ran that far all at once, makes me super psyched for my next one & the training that is in store for me :).

Get it done!

I got all my invites sent out for Lacey's Bridal shower! Sent the last one today! Whew, much more stressful than I anticipated...that probably has to do a little with my procrastination techniques that I am so good at.. but wee won't get into that.

I was hoping for a Standby from work tonight... apparently they don't like giving me standbys. I haven't had one in at least a year. I really just dont want to be at work. In fact I'd like to be a little south from here... 3 hours south to be exact. But anyway. So I did a bunch of situps and mountain climbers and jumping jacks... I'm sore today so I didn't go for a run at the gym. Tomorrow will be the day. I made a Training Tracker (aka an excel file with an awesome name ;)) last night so I can get back on track for another 1/2 marathon! Anyone want to do it with me?!?! You know you do!! I need to find a couple other races in between now and then though... a 10k and a 5k would be nice! If you have any bright ideas let me know!!

I picked up some perfect bananas from walmart when I picked up the rest of my invites...and when I got home I made a wonderful banana strawberry protein shake. Yum! Now its time to make my lunch for tonight instead of waiting around for staffing to call me cuz its past the time when they usually call. Super bummed about that.

Baby Garden

My little baby garden :) Aw... I got a Sun lamp to put on it so my herbs will grow better. Wh-hooo, worth it for 2$ at walmart! I'm putting it to the test.

A picture of my work of art, as promised.

Green thumb

I have really been wanting to grow something lately. So part of my day today consisted of stopping at the Fred Meyer garden center. I found some beautiful Dahlias, oregano and parsley and a long planter. I'll have to take pictures tomorrow, its too dark right now & I totally forgot to take them earlier. Go me! Danielle already has some herbs planted in bell jars on our kitchen table & I love them. So I'll share that picture :)

Can't wait for everything to grow!! Makes me feel like Summer is even more here :)

Fondue Night

I've been meaning to take Dan to Fondue in Portland forever now...but we haven't been able to yet. So I was chatting it up with my friend Geneen at work about possibly doing fondue in Seattle sometime and she let me in on the secret! There's one in Tacoma! Amazing! I've been wanting to have Danielle go with me too since we had that fondue night at our house last winter. I checked our schedules and we all happened to be off on Friday so Danielle and Geneen and I all went out for Fondue Happy hour, it was fun to hang out with the girls. I was hoping lace would be there in time to go but she didn't get off work til later. 

We had a couple drinks and ordered way too many cheese and chocolate fondues, it was amazing. Plus pretty drinks with heart shaped strawberries! My fave.

Let's Eat!

Mmm I had a yummy salad tonight! After the gym I was STARVING. After waiting in line at safeway for what seemed like AGES.... I came home and inhaled my leftover Panera bread salad. It's the Strawberry Poppyseed, it pretty much has everything but the kitchen sink in it. Blueberries, pineapple, walnuts, mandiran oranges, chicken... Love it! My indecisive self couldn't decide what I wanted when lacey and I went there a couple days ago so I ordered a salad, soup and half sandwich..of course my eyes were bigger than my stomach so I only ate the soup and sandwich and brought the salad home. Yum! I also cut up some cantaloupe (weird...since I usually don't Love cantaloupe), and had a mini corn tortilla with a little cheese and salsa. And now I'm cooking pesto-basil tilapia. I told you I was starving!! 

So I saw a whole shelf of Zico- coconut water at the store. Seems so appetizing, tastes sooo nasty! In my opinion.. its like very slightly flavored gooey water...thats what it tastes like to me. Obviously I don't have a distinguished palette :). Lol.

My workout today consisted of some weights---they were pretty half-hearted sets. Then 35 minutes of 10-13 on the Elliptical, and a 2 mile run. My legs are hurting today! need lots of water and maybe some Ibuprofen & ice. So I'm considering a September 15 1/2 marathon with Candy.. Its the Beach to Chowder run in Longview. I also want to find a 10k in between now and then. Hmmm... The search is on!!?

Planning, planning, planning

This week my cousin Lacey came over for a couple days since she had the weekend off. We hung out, relaxed & got our nails done, watched a few things, planned some of the wedding details that start to pop up around the month away mark (34 days!), went over some of the bridal shower plans with her, tested some random recipes (FAIL!), ate some awesome food, made some fun crafts...and a little shopping.

It was nice to get things organized in my head a little bit & make a pretty good list AND mark some things off! Wh-hooo! A little busy-ness helped get me up a little bit from my funk. All this change with Dan not being here and work being all crazy and uncooperative... its been a little too much lately. Lets just admit it in case I haven't already... I really miss him! Anyway. Got my butt off the couch and got to the gym today for a 50 minute workout! Wh-hooooo! Felt good and it kinda stretched out my back so it isn't hurting so bad. 30 minutes of level 10-15 on the elliptical and 25 minutes of running = One Sweaty girl! :) Off to the Showers & for a yummy strawberry protein shake! And hopefully a SKYPE session with my Love a little later :).

Summer Bucket List 2012

No excuses this year :) Happy Summer Solstice! To celebrate I made a sweet list of all the things I want to do or at least try to do so that I don't get to the end and feel like I've wasted it. 

          Float the Deschutes River 
                                     Find a Triathalon to sign up for & start training!
                                                                           Make an amazing Picnic
                                           The drive in & tailgating
                     Go to the beach for a day 
                                                                                               Living Room theater
Fondue Happy Hour!
                                                      Plan something for my Birthday
                                  Go through Storage unit and get rid of stuff
Pay off 2 loans!
       Lacey's Wedding/Bach Party/Bridal Shower
                                                   Pull off a Surprise
   Garage Sale/Good will 
                                                                                        Take More Pictures & Smash Book them! 
                                                                                    Run a 10K for a cause
                                 Trail Running
Try new Drink Recipes 
                                                                               Reread my fave Book 
                                                        Make a New Cocktail
      Take a Road Trip!
                                                                                         Swim in the Ocean
                                          Go to a Concert
    Go to a Fair 
                                  Skinny-dip  ;)
                                                 Eat dinner on the Deck
                                                                                Buy Fresh strawberries 
Build a campfire
                                                                Go boating
                                                                                                         Go camping for a weekend
     Keep track of Miles Run, Swam and Biked per week
                                                                         Re-vamp cover letter & resume!
* Find a job in Oregon
                                       Get a New license, switch address to Krin & Kendall's new house
              Go Geocaching
                                                                      Draw a mural with sidewalk chalk

                                                                      Ride a Ferris Wheel
                      Go Fishing
Fly a kite
                                                         Join Toastmasters & learn how to public speak
                        Watch Summer Olympics
                                                                                        Grow an herb /flower garden
Spend a week just hanging out at lacey's pool & the fruit stand
                                                          Hang out with a Kitten and puppy
                                 Have an outdoor full on BBQ/Cookout
     Make a Summer 2012 Playlist mix
                                                                                                Spend the whole day barefoot
                                                   Make 4 DIY's off of Pinterest
                                                                                                      Make Homemade popsicles
                                                                              Have a Water Balloon fight
                                            Play paint twister
                                                                  Go on a bike ride
                            Go pick strawberries
                                                                                                     Make Cake Pops
                                                      Make Fresh squeezed lemonade
                              Pick wildflowers for my table
                                                                             Plan a vacation
Paint plates/ceramics

Hello Summer!

The song thats taking me away this week :)

It's Thursday & My weekend!

I finally got an appointment made with Alisha ( my Lovely hair stylist)! I've been meaning to do it for months now. I've made several appointments but I had to cancel all of them for one reason or another. It's been crazy lately! And you know us night-shifters...it's hard to schedule stuff in the daytime! I'm pretty sure everyone should switch their schedules for ME for a change ;). Anyway, I'm trying to grow my hair out again so I just got a little bit off, it looks more than it actually is because I had her curl it for me since I don't curl my hair very often. 

Tomorrow night My roomie & a few girls from work are supposed to go to Happy Hour  Fondue up in Tacoma! I'm psyched! It's been awhile since I've had fondue, I'm ready for another fix that's for sure.

Short visits

I'm pretty sure he loves it when I take his picture :) Too bad for him! :) {Heart}

Chelan

 The first week of June I was able to go to Chelan convention. It was a much needed break away from life & everything. The past few months at work have been hellish beyond explanation. It's getting harder and harder to keep up the positive attitude to counteract all the negative, awful situations..but I am working on it. One day at a time right? Anyway, both my sister's were there and my parents so I got to spend a lot of time just catching up. Heard a lot of good things, now just to apply them to life. :) Lacey came for Saturday & Sunday, and Luke came with her on Sunday. It was super nice to see them!

Lacey & I hanging in her mum's trailer

The happy soon-to-be MARRIED couple :)

Me & my Grammy

The 'Couve

Hanging out at my sister's today. I came to help her pack up part of her house since they are moving outta this place into a house they are buying in the beginning of July! Packing sure is stressful. Attempting to imagine what can fit where in how many boxes just seems like too much to fathom at times. We had Teriyaki for lunch.. well she had Sushi, I had teriyaki- she's crazy I say. Now I'm taking a break from the packing...mostly because there is no place to put the boxes that I am packing! On a side note, today is national peanut butter cookie day??? Who knew! I need a peanut butter cookie. STAT! ;) I should go work out today... but I just have not been feeling it lately. Maybe it's the after- race lull? Whatever it is, this uninspired me, I don't like it!

Fighting Uninspiredness

It's nice having days off. I'm just feeling kind of lame as of late...maybe the remnants of too many bad work days/weeks. So I'm fighting the uninspired feeling a little.
* Read Runner's World
* Pinterest
* Etsy dreaming
* Healthy living Magazine catching up
* Put on work out clothes and attempt to convince self to go for a quick run (fail!)
* Read my favorite blogs
* Text my boy and bug him at work (:
* Make ice cold Raspberry lemonade Crystal light after drinking a Venti iced coffee (It just feels good..admit it)
* Mark a few things off my To-do list
* Call the Best friend & make plans for soon-to-be visit  next month (YAY!)

and if all else fails...eat a cookie ice cream sandwich and make delicious fettuccine for dinner.