North Carolina Wrap Up!

Greetings from South Carolina! We are now visiting with Dan’s Grandparents and spending the night with them before heading off to Sunny Florida!!!! I haven’t been to Florida since I was in middle school, so this is kind of a big deal for me!!!

But before we even talk about today’s events I have to get you caught up on our weekend! Saturday was my BFF’s engagement party and we had a lot of fun.

There were a lot of Dog’s there. 5 in total. The top picture is of Dan and his favorite dog Lucy who is one of the other bridesmaids dogs. The next one is Sam and then Peanut, both of which are my friends parents dogs. Peanut is a big old sweetheart and loves everyone, Sam is a jealous little boy and the second you pet anyone else he’s there demanding attention. But he is also a sweet boy.

Not Pictured are Pacey and Joey (is a girl), who are Lindsey’s dogs and are both little cuties as well.

There were also people at the party, like these pretty girls you may know!

From Left to Right: L.C., Parker, Me, Lindsey, Michelle and Amber.

Those are some pretty cute ladies. Plus Baby K is trying to make an appearance in my bump on Lindsey’s dress.

Then these things happened….

Well it snowed in North Carolina, I think all us Connecticut folk thought we had left that stuff behind.

Then the grill caught fire with the pork on it, please notice my barefoot Dad trying to defuse the situation.

Eventually things got too crazy and it was PJ time and then this happened….

That is Lucy the Dog and Lindsey snuggling the baby and us all sleeping. That is how we ended the night. Clearly there is a reason this girl has been my best friend since the day I was born…..but that is a story for another day. Time to enjoy Biggest Loser with Dan and Memere and Pepere Lapointe.

Happy 13 Weeks Baby K!

Today Baby K hits 13 weeks….we made it to the second trimester people! A new part of the blog will be an update every Sunday on the week before! I plan to include a bump picture, but we are in the middle of renovations and I have a really cute setup that I want to get just right first. With 26 weeks left to go I think we have more than enough time!

In the 12th week I:

• Regained some ability to eat sugar when I was craving this for breakfast and it was acceptable to the baby! 

That is Trader Joe’s Strawberry Yogurt O’s mixed with Malt O Meals Marshmallow Mateys….BETTER THAN LUCKY CHARMS! Served with Vanilla Silk Almond Milk….Perfection!

• Heard Baby K’s heartbeat for the second time! I had my 12 week check up on Thursday so the Dr. used the doppler to listen! 
• Had cravings for foods small children love: Honestly one of my best pregnancy dinner choices! 

Tater tots (which Dan is stealing), and Dinosaur Chicken Nuggets are great. Especially when dipped in Fat Free Ranch and BBQ and hot sauce mixed together!

• Got this really weird rash on my elbow. This thing flares up every time I eat….weird! 

• Spent most of my weekend in bed. Waking up Friday with a flu that really knocked me on my behind all weekend was not fun! I barely left the house and when I did it was to let Mr. Finn Mann outside! He didn’t like it too much out there!

Yes that is him peeing. Sorry, I saw him stand still next to the snow bank and knew it was my chance to get a shot of him compared to all the snow!

Overall it was a great week! I got SOOOO much energy back (until the bug set in) and am feeling great for my race. My long run was supposed to be today, but tomorrow is just as good! Hope you all enjoyed your weekends and weeks. I am looking forward to the week ahead Tuesday we have an Ultra Sound and I am pretty excited to SEE Baby K for the second time :).

The Blizzard….our snow day!

Now the Blizzard of 2013 is over! Dan and Ricky are outside right now cleaning up. I shoveled a little bit this morning just so Finny could use the potty and was so happy I didn’t have to do any more.

Here are some pictures of the aftermath.

Both pictures of our front yard, the first however is a picture of where our front steps and sidewalk are. Now it all looks like one even place…I will not be going out that door until you can clearly see everything! Then I know I will not fall down!!!

Here is our back deck, with Finny looking at me like you are crazy if you think I am doing my business out there!

We opened the garage, I shoveled a little bit and then Finny went outside. When I came back in the TV announced this.

The travel ban was lifted at 4pm, so I think Dan will be on his way to plow out our job soon!

Finny and I have had a nice day! I am still not feeling 100% today so I am taking the day to rest as I have my last long run tomorrow before the half marathon!

This is what Finny has been doing all Blizzard!

Looking at me like, I really dont like this, getting his belly rubbed and sleeping…..tough life for him!

Everyone enjoy your Saturday night!

Doing the right thing…..

Listening to my body. During my half marathon training (THIS TIME) things have to be done differently for obvious reasons. So last night and today when I started to experience severe cramping in my hamstring area I knew it was a rest day! It has become clear that during pregnancy my body need more than one running day of rest. Yesterday I did circuit training with Jeff, but today I need a full day off to just stretch them out and relax them.

Here is how my day went….aside from my legs.

 Got to work this morning and felt tired but good. That all changed when I realized Baby K really hates sugar and I had Ice cream and brownies last night….rough morning. That is when you eat an orange because the baby has an addiction to them and then you send your husband this picture….

Describes perfectly how I felt all day.

The orange teeth really make this shot….my eyes are also telling you I am not above posting embarrassing pictures on the internet for your entertainment. But honestly a year into this blog you should all know how crazy I am already!

Around 11:30 am I was super hungry for lunch and knew that since the baby was revolting against my food sins I would give it something I knew he/she loved.

My artistic shot of my loaded baked potato soup…. I really like this kind because they do not add cheese. But they do add tons of bacon, which apparently I was craving today.

I arrived home from work to Dan plowing the driveway on his quad like this.

Yes that is the back and that is our friend Mikey on the back being Dan’s plowing wingman. I am really glad 6 days from now I will also be on layoff and can see these plans hatch from the beginning and not come in halfway through.

Finally our dinner. I am eating it while typing this, and man did it come out good! I have been wanting to make some of the many paleo recipes people sent me but I have to go shopping for that to happen. In an effort to not have to get out of my PJ’s this concoction was born.

Boil one bag of eggnoodles, drain and remove from heat add 2 jars alfredo, one jar bacon bits….the real kind because they are delicious and a can of corn. It came out amazing and even though the finished product doesn’t look great it tastes amazing!!!

ENJOY YOUR TUESDAY! I WILL BE SNUGGLED UP WITH FINNY WATCHING THE TASTE….what a great idea for a cooking competition!

Also follow me on twitter and facebook for more FOOD RUN FUN craziness!!!!! Links are in the sidebar to the right!

Today I am thankful for:

TODAYS WORKOUT: workout with Jeff…running day off. .25 treadmill warmup. Then 1 hour of circuit training. 

Today I had a lot to reflect on and be thankful for. It was so cold today and snowing, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a great day!

Wake Up at 5am got ready for my workout in which I was thankful for:

-Heated seats and steering wheel on the way there.

5:50am and 21* thanking my car for its features!!!

While working out I was thankful

-Jeff keeps things fun, I wore a bright orange shirt, and he was of course cracking jokes about not seeing me.

-Him giving me the option or lunges or kettlebell squats. After my 6 mile run, squatting with a 12 lb weight seemed awful. Lunges for once made my day!

At Work today I was thankful for:

-Our new phones that ring like we are on the show 24, my job just became that much more important.

-Mom and Dad’s friend came in and bought us pizza for lunch!

I was so excited to eat cheeseburger pizza I may have taken a bit before the picture was taken whoops!!!

– A good customer and family friend came in today and when I was leaving cleaned the snow off the car for me. I had to keep myself occupied so I built a little snowman on our general managers car….

When I got home I was thankful for:

-Our house being so beautiful in the snow.

-Finding Honeymoon pictures that remind you of being warm and in Jamaica!

-And finally: My little Family….they really love each other.

Talk to you all tomorrow I am going to eat some tomato soup and get ready for some Scentsy work!

Wacky Fact Wednesday….

AKA my last night without Dan! I am so excited for tomorrow!!!!! Yes he doesn’t get in until after midnight but it is still one more sleep without him.

Anyway the Facts!!!

Part of the facts are all about Snow, and part all about food. Pretty good mix I say!

1.) Last night it snowed. There is something you must know…Finny HATES the snow. Because of that hatred this happened.

Yes that is my little boy peeing on our welcome mat. However I am pretty sure I would do the same if the snow was rubbing my belly and I just woke up and had to pee. I texted this to Dan with the caption apparently Finny is a honey badger. If you don’t know what I am referencing you need to watch the honey badger youtube video!

2.) In the food world I tried something amazing this morning for breakfast.

The apple juice was not it, but while we are talking about it is is amazing and the only thing I can currently drink that doesn’t have a weird after taste. Water is salty, oj and lemonade are super acidy like you just brushed your teeth then drank them. Apple juice however is heaven.

Anyway my breakfast, a French Toast Bagel with Cinnamon Cream Cheese. Probably the best creation ever! I love cinnamon raisin bagels but hate raisins so these bagels are the perfect thing for me!

3.) Without Dan here it was my duty to clean off my car. Good thing he got me these for Christmas. Warm and dry feet all day and the ability to jump in puddles, plus they look really good!

Really warm Argyle socks are also a must!

4.) Just let the picture tell you

I think I was craving soup today, who spends $11.00 on .69 cent cans of soup! CRAZY but DELICIOUS!!!!

5.) When I got home from work today our Driveway was plowed. I have no idea who did that! THANK YOU!!! Dad usually does if Dan can’t but when he got here it was done, and Dad wanted me to clarify to Dan that he did NOT do this!

6.) And finally it is Wednesday so it is Family dinner night, we had this!

Chicken, veggies and potatoes! MY top two cravings this pregnancy have been chicken and apples. WHAT a great day for that Apple Juice and Coq Au vin!!!! YUMMY!

Have an amazing Thursday everyone! I am going to start my day with training with Jeff…the first time in like three weeks, thanks Death Cold and Morning Sickness. I am really looking forward to that, then working AND THEN PICKING UP MY HUSBAND!!!

Wacky Fact Wednesday….

Today I have 5 facts as usual to share for your viewing pleasure….the last of which is my workout for today which contains some exciting news you may be interested in if you are a runner! That will be continued into tomorrows post!

Here we go….

1.) Last night while watching elections results I wanted dessert, I was glad this was left over from our housewarming!

Homemade Apple Crisp and Vanilla Ice Cream! Thank you Cheryl for brining it!!! Plus what is more American than that? Well I guess apple pie, but this is what I had and really isn’t it semantics!

2.) For lunch Dan and I went to a local New York Style Deli. I was craving some soup but decided on this salad instead and this for dessert…

White cheddar and Chili garden salad. I was glad it was not any too crunchy veggies as my throat was still bothering me. But it was delicious and so was this!

Black and white cookies are so yummy, but the proper way to eat them is bite down the middle then share the outsides with others….Dan.

3.) When we returned to work we had 5 new tiny mascots that are so cute…

I don’t know if you can see the two tiny fish between the rock but if you do how cute are they?!?!

4.) Also at work today we did this…

You see new winter hats came in today and with it being our first snowfall and all I made everyone put on hats and stand in the snow as it fell! There is quite a bit more snow now, but everyone enjoyed a nice break to do something fun and the picture was of course taken by me…thats why it came out so AWESOME!! You will recognize my brother (back left), Dan (back right) and Krystle (the only female). I declined being in the picture due to my cold and looking like garbage because of it.

5.) Finally last but not least I got my workout in tonight.

I did…

The slow pace was due to the fact I am still beyond stuffed up and walked and ran a bit. The low mileage is due to these pretties…

The shoes just became available to the public to buy on November 5th, but I was sent a pair to try and review. I think I am in love with them!!! I will write a full review including how and why I got them to try but for now you will have to wait! Have a great Wednesday everyone!!!

Crazy weather, good food and crappy running!

I added a new layout I hope everyone likes it, it is much more streamlined and I think a better fit for the blog!

The past two days we have actually gotten SNOW! The only bad thing is driving in it. Not because it is dangerous, but because people do NOT know how to drive in snow. We live in New England this happens every year. The snow wasnt even sticking to the highway today and the car in front of me kept slamming on its brakes! Plus yesterday this happened!

I was stuck behind this car for close to 30 minutes, due to some sort of accident less than a mile from my house. The red glow from above the car is because there were about 7 police vehicles and a fire truck blocking the road and I never saw a car accident!

As for the good food, Wednesday I made another salad with taco chicken, which was only made better by Costco peach and mango salsa as dressing!

The salad was baby spinach, red cabbage, raw broccoli and chicken and salsa!

Then there is tonight’s dinner, chinese food! It is my absolute favorite and I was so excited to no have to cook. Laundry and dishes were enough for tonight!

Chicken and broccoli is so good, the only downfall of oriental cafe is they do not have brown rice…sad face! They made up for it by having the greatest take out containers ever! I will def be keeping it after I finish the food and reusing it to bring lunches!

Then there is my run, I took yesterday off because it was family dinner and by the time I got home due to the snow my mom was already here to pick me up! I shoveled our sidewalk quickly and went to my Grandmas! Then there was today, just awful! I do not know what was up with me but my legs and back were cramping, so I stopped early!

I went 1.30 miles in 15 minutes, not bad as it was an 11:32 pace. I was just disappointed, but I do have my trainer workout tomorrow morning and am planning a run after that! Oh well its time to relax now and sleep off the bad run!

Birthday Fun!

So last night was my father in-law Joel’s bday! We went over to their house, where I found out they do read the blog, and subsequently blew up my spot about almost hitting Dan’s car. (Thanks Joel, I will give you a pass since it was your day!) Being at the Mom and Dad K house means we also get to see my sister in-law, her boyfriend, and the cutest guest of the night my nephew dog Sugar. Here is a picture of him from last night.

Doesnt he look just like a baby seal! Too cute. I enjoy holding him like a baby and petting his tummy.

We always have really good dinners at their house and last night was no exception, though I do think Marie was trying to over feed me last night, but I loved every second!

Yes you can be jealous of that delicious chicken parm, and how my in laws always make the best/most amazing salads. They always put things I would never even think of together and it tastes like heaven!

Plus since it was a birthday just when you think we didnt have enough food this happened!

We brought the cake, it was birthday cake ice cream with red velvet cake (my fave, and I didnt even know it was in here, bonus!)from coldstone! So good. Plus that is Dan’s hand on a lighter he was lighting things on fire like a small child!  I think Joel really enjoyed that super large knife as he used it to cut open his presents as well!

It was a really fun night and we stayed until 11 or after i cant really remember because my eyes were closing hard on the way home, I was a tired lady! We woke up to snow this morning, so my day will consist of a treadmill run, cleaning and enjoying my books so i can do my review in training soon.

Running towards the weekend!

This morning I went down stairs to the treadmill (it had snowed last night) and I dont want to chance shin splints because I’m running on super uneven surfaces, or chance my falling down because I am so clumsy! I had to take a picture because honestly who doesn’t want to look at this the whole time you are running?

WHAT?!?!?! EVRYONES DAD DOESN”T LEAVE RANDOM MACHINERY IN YOUR YARD FOR YEARS AND THEN COME TO YOUR HOUSE AND KNOCK TREES DOWN WITH IT!?!?! Preposterous!

I am sure you also noticed the very sweet trailer that says TSI Harley-Davidson. Why no our house doesnt have a garage so we have a company trailer that is OLD and now retired to house our lawnmower! Also my sweet chandelier. The treadmill is indeed in the dining room due to space concerns. It also cannot be placed upstairs at all due to low ceilings and a 6’5″ husband!

Anywho last night I ran 1 mile in 12:20. I will have to take it since I was starting to get sore from the chiropractor. This morning however, I went 2.10 miles in 30 minutes. Not the fastest but I did mix my Couch to 5k program with a Jillian Michael Ifit (pure murder incline) workout! So the pace wasn’t bad for the steep incline adjustments. Plus isn’ t it more about overall time spent running, rather than speed or mileage clocked when first getting back into running?

That is what my books have been teaching me. One thing you must know about me is I love research (nerd alert). I bought Kara Goucher’s Running For Women book (for my nook) and got Runners World’s complete guide to running (hardcover). Thanks to the in laws for the Barnes and Noble gift card my nook book was free and the runner’s world one was discounted with subscription! I will have to review them later, but I am almost done with both! I decided to get them because I want to train correctly this time and avoid injuries. Plus an Alex Karnolt training plan probably is not as good as these plans, I am no expert!

Finally I leave you with this picture and a run down of our weekend events.

Here we have a sleepy Dan cleaning off my beast of a car this morning so I could go to work (on his day off!) I know he loves me and is awesome, because I did not even ask him to do it. Though it probably has more to do with his beloved Maxima being covered in snow.

Tonight we are spending time with my second family (the Karnolt’s), and I could not be more excited! It is my father in laws bday, so it should be fun and full of laughs. I will probably not be taking food pictures tonight as I am not sure they read the blog, and they probably think I am weird enough anyway!

PS- I have Saturday and Sunday off like a normal person….pumped!