I finally did it! I got my butt to hot yoga last night, and it was certainly a new experience. I’ve done some yoga before, but only at home, so I would definitely consider myself a beginner. Some of the poses were hard, some were only kind of difficult, but the biggest challenge was the heat. I looked like a tomato walking out of the studio! With one exception, I only took little breaks when the instructor gave them to us. There was one pose that, combined with the heat, was giving my lungs a run for their money, so I had to quit and down some water. Also, I think the heat and my empty stomach combined to give me a tiny feeling of queasiness during that same pose (maybe it’s just a bad posture for me?).

Post-yoga I had to go home because I was too sweaty to go anywhere else. When I got home, I cleaned up and finally decided on a sandwich and some Annie’s bunnies for dinner. My stomach felt kind of weird; I couldn’t decide if I was nauseous or hungry. Once I ate something I felt a bit better, in my belly anyway. I had a mega-headache last night, probably caused by dehydration. I’m still fighting it a bit today, but I’m drinking as much water as I can stomach to fight it. Just thinking about swallowing a pill makes me queasy sometimes, so I’m going to try not self-medicating today.

I think the class was definitely a good workout. I haven’t sweat like that since I was conditioning for tennis as a high school underclassman! The heat, either on its own or combined with the bending, left me with a few unwanted side effects. However, those could lessen if I acclimate myself to the practice and the temperature. I think I’ll try the hot yoga at least one more time, and see how I feel afterward. The 30-day pass is good for all the classes they offer, so I can take unheated yoga classes or a pilates class if the hot yoga doesn’t work out for me. An individual class is $15, so if I take at least one more class it won’t be a total waste of money.

As for tonight, if I can shake this headache, I think I’m going to jump rope. I was reading on yet another blog that said jumping rope is one of the most effective cardio exercises one can do. I’m going to stop by Target on the way home tonight for some holiday wrapping items and pick up a jump rope while I’m there. I wonder if my basement is tall enough to accommodate a jumper of rope?

Tonight:

• Paper Source – I need a Christmas-y rubber stamp and a metallic ink pad
• Target – ribbon & wrapping paper, blank cards, jump rope, and maybe some stocking stuffers
• clean the bathroom – ick!
• jump that rope!
• frozen pizza & salad dinner – because I’m feeling lazy
• Must See TV! Man, do I love 30 Rock!

Happy Almost Weekend everyone!

I am not good at this. Not that anyone other than Scot ever looks at this, but I’m sorry to anyone (esp. Scot!) who does and has been disappointed by the severe lack of posts. I will try and be better at this!

There isn’t any real point in chronicling  the last couple of weeks, mostly because it happened so long ago that I couldn’t give much detail anyway. So, I guess today is kind of like starting over… again.

I think I’m finally going to give hot yoga a try tonight. There is a studio here in Kansas City called Yoga Fix that offers a new student special, which actually makes going to a yoga class kind of affordable. I’ve been wanting to go for a while because I think it will help my back feel better, which, thanks to my sit-at-a-computer-all-day job, has been bothering me a lot between my shoulder blades. I’ve managed to talk myself out of it every time, but I’m being pushed on by Jenna over at Eat Live Run. Eat Live Run is one of my fave food/fitness/healthy living blogs, and she declared Dec. 15- Jan. 15 Hot Yoga Month. What better time to get started! Here’s a link to her post on Hot Yoga Month. I don’t know that I’m going to follow all of her “rules;” for me, just getting active is a big step.

Here’s the plan for tonight:

• race home to change clothes, grab yoga mat, and tend to the doggies
• hot yoga from 6:30-8
• head to SunFresh for a dinner-sized salad from the excellent salad bar
• meet Cody at the Tivoli to eat aforementioned salad and take him home from work (he rode his bike in this weather… brave guy!)

I’m hoping that my package from Mocha Club will be waiting for me when I get home from work, because that means dessert will be hot cocoa from Ghana! Yum yum!

Happy Wednesday!

I am a horrible blogger! I did pretty well for the first week, but the stupid holiday really threw me off. So, here’s a mega-update post.

Day 8 – Most of the day before Thanksgiving was spent getting ready for Thanksgiving. Cody & I were charged with making stuffing for 30 (!) people, and being the weirdos of the family that we are, we opted to make it all from scratch. I found a pretty basic recipe, but nothing is totally basic when it’s prepared to serve 30. It took a lot of time slicing and toasting the bread, chopping up 5 onions in the food processor (my eyes!), and cutting up the celery. I also washed our sheets and some towels, and ended the day with a viewing of Coco Avant Chanel at the Tivoli.

Day 9 – TURKEY DAY! We finished the stuffing, made our second corn casserole for the week, and headed out the door. We went to my parents’ first, and then ate with Cody’s family in the late afternoon/early evening. About 9pm we met Cody’s sister & brother-in-law and my cousin & her boyfriend for a couple drinks. The place was packed, but it was nice to hang out. This year’s Thanksgiving was probably the most relaxed one I’ve had in quite a few years.

Day 10 – Oh, Black Friday. We did a little shopping, but nothing crazy. We bought a new pet food container at Petsmart and ran to Target to pick up a small iPod-docking stereo. The best part? My mom is paying me back for it and giving it to Cody for Christmas. Free stereo! And, I haven’t played it much yet, but we bought the second volume of Wii Fit, too. We did weigh the dogs, which you can do with this one, and they’re fat!

Day 11 – Saturday was a 14-hour work day. I was at the library from 8:30 – 5 and at the theater from 6 – 11:45. Loooooong day.

Day 12 – I worked at the library from 12:30 – 5 and then basically crashed. I think I made dinner, but I couldn’t tell you what it was. Probably Hamburger Helper or Sloppy Joes. You know, quick and from a box or can.

Day 13 – This week I traded my usual evening of Monday for Wednesday at work so I could go see The Swell Season at the Uptown Theater! They are so amazingly good. The music is so beautiful and the whole band just seems to be made up of genuine and heartfelt people. These are people you just want to hang out with. It was definitely worth the hassle of trading nights.

Day 14 – Work and school. Normally my management class meets on Wednesday nights (a total of 5 times in the semester, I think), but my teacher was going to be out of town so we met on Tuesday instead. Class was pretty normal, and we got out about 7:50, so I was home by 8:10. After that, I think nothing happened. I’m usually ready for sleep pretty early.

Day 15 – Wednesday was almost a day off work. I only had to be at the library from 5 – 8:30, so most of my day was free. Bonnie came over with her doggie, Woody, so he could play with our doggies and our neighbors’ doggies. It was kind of crazy. Before she came over, I made us some banana chocolate chip muffins to have for breakfast. After playtime wore all the pups out, we walked over to One More Cup to get some coffee to go with our muffins. Yummy mocha! After Bonnie left, I met Cody at World Market to look for some Christmas decorations, and then we ate some Mr. Goodcents for lunch at the theater. I then ran a couple more errands, and went home to work on the computer. I’m trying to reduce all the clutter in my life, and I chose to start with the computer. Weird choice, I guess. Then I went to work… blergh.

Day 16 – Thursday was a day at work and a late night concert (late for me, anyway). I sort of last-minute bought tickets for Cody and me to go see Spoon, but by the time Thursday rolled around, neither of us was in a very concert-y mood. This was no fault of Spoon; we were just exhausted from the weeks we had already had, and Spoon didn’t go on stage until 10:20. We went because the tickets were too expensive to waste, and managed to get in and out easier than expected. We also got to park for free… score! Spoon sounded great, but we didn’t stick around for the encore (again, tired). We got home and into bed about midnight.

Day 17 – And, finally, we’re at today, Friday. Today is going to be a long day. First, I overslept,  and now I’m at the library until 5 and then heading to the Tivoli until 11:30 or midnight. Fortunately, I don’t have to work anywhere tomorrow, although I should do some homework. We might be going out to Westport for a friend’s birthday tomorrow, but we’ll see. Cody and I both have a lot of homework to finish in the next week. We need all the time we can get.

I’ll try to come up with a goal for tomorrow. That was sort of the whole point of this blog, and I haven’t been too great about it.

Happy Friday!

Yesterday was Monday… and that’s pretty much all it was. I didn’t set a goal or task for the day in advance, and, therefore, didn’t really accomplish anything. I did finally buy the new David Gray and Swell Season albums, but I don’t know that that really counts.

I really struggle in the morning. I have a very hard time getting out of bed, and often leave myself barely enough time to get showered and dressed for work. On Mondays, I work a late schedule (libraries are more like retail than business or government when it comes to hours) and don’t have to be in until 12pm. Sadly, the extra time usually goes to waste, unless you consider clearing out the DVR a constructive use of time.

I spent yesterday morning at home buying digital albums from Amazon and watching No Reservations on The Travel Channel. That Anthony Bourdain is sort of an ass, but he puts on a good television show. I got ready for work, threw a quick meal into a lunch bag, and went on my way.

After work, Cody and I ran to Target to pick up some dog food and a few ingredients for two corn casseroles, one for Thanksgiving day and one for an early Thanksgiving dinner with some friends. Here’s a tip: the linked recipe is courtesy of Paula Deen, and it’s great, but it’s even better with Fritos on top!

Today has been work as usual. I’m sitting at my desk, writing this blog, waiting for 5pm and Cody to get here so we can head to our early Turkey Day dinner. I’m hungry! Lucky for me, I don’t have to work tomorrow, so I’m hoping to do one or two things before I crash after this dinner. On the agenda: at-home pedicure and manicure, catching up on Project Runway.

I’m working on at least one goal for tomorrow, probably either fitness or schoolwork related. Maybe one of each if I’m feeling ambitious!

PS: Sorry for the poor quality of the photos. I am not a skilled photographer, and my camera isn’t exactly what I would call “high quality” or “new.” I’ll try to improve!

My weekend was full of cooking. I did plenty of it, and not much else.

Saturday morning Cody and I ventured to the grocery store and spent way too much money. When we got home, we ate lunch before he headed off to work. Then I got to cooking.

First, I made some mashed potatoes. We had some Yukon gold potatoes laying around that were on the verge of turning. I decided to get them cooked and ready to eat before I lost them completely.

Yukon gold potatoes with the skin, half & half, salt, and peper

After the potatoes were done and my only large pot was clean, I started on my next task: Chipotle Sweet Potato Corn Chowder. I found this recipe while surfing the “Tasty Kitchen” section on thepioneerwoman.com. There are a lot of great recipes in there. In fact, I think the stuffing I’m going to make for Thanksgiving will be courtesy of The Pioneer Woman! Here’s the finished product:

The last thing I made on Saturday was my second Green Monster. I had to work at 4:30pm, so I whipped one up to drink on the way to work.

I took some of my soup with me too. Yummy!

Then on Sunday morning, I got up and made breakfast for Cody and me. I saw this recipe for pumpkin pancakes on Two Skinny Jenkins and had to make them!

I also made us some bacon and topped the pancakes with some Smart Balance and real maple syrup. They were so good! And I followed Tina’s recipe for iced coffee and drank that with my breakfast. It was a perfect Sunday morning breakfast!

Following breakfast I went with my parents to the Kemper to check out the Wyeth exhibit. They’re big Andrew Wyeth fans, and I just like going to art museums (I like the Wyeths, too). After we toured the exhibit, my dad went to a friend’s house to watch the rest of the Chiefs’ game (woohoo!!) and I met my mom at their house to help prep for Turkey Day.

My mom makes these great egg noodles from scratch, and she wanted to show me how she did it. So I helped her make those, as well as the croutons/dried bread for the stuffing. Last, but not least, we melted some chocolate and dipped dried apricots in it as a treat for my grandma (and me, and my dad). Sorry, I don’t have any pictures of this stuff, but maybe I’ll get some on Thanksgiving?

I didn’t set any concrete goals to meet or tasks to accomplish over the weekend. I need to get on it this week!

Today is the day I finally tackle the Green Monster.

I have been meaning to make one of these things for a few weeks now. Pretty much every food blogger I read makes them and loves them…Jenna, Kath, and Madeline to name a few. Angela at OhSheGlows claims they make her skin glow, which would be awesome. I’ve also read that they can help you feel full for quite a while and help combat bad cravings.

Today’s breakfast was my first ever Green Monster.

I made my smoothie with: frozen mixed berries, frozen peaches, a banana, protein powder, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, a splash of warm water (to thaw the fruit a touch), and 2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach. Here’s what it all looked like in our ancient blender:

Once blended, I had more of a purpley-brown smoothie than a green one, thanks to the mixed berries:

The verdict: pretty good! It wasn’t the best smoothie I’ve ever tasted, but it definitely didn’t taste like spinach. That’s the ultimate goal here, right? After looking at this, the bright green ones look more appealing. I need to play with my fruit combos to get something that will look a little greener. Also, I think I need to add a little more protein, either in the form of more powder or some almond butter (both?). It tasted good, but didn’t keep me full quite as long as I would have liked. I’ve been hungry for about the last hour, but fortunately it’s almost lunch time.

I’m going to try to continue making one of these each morning, either as breakfast or to go with breakfast. Simply looking at the ingredients makes me think that there is some nutritional benefit in drinking these regularly. I certainly don’t get enough green food in my life, and this seems like a good way to start.

Earlier this month I had my bi-annual dental check-up. While I didn’t have any cavities, my report card wasn’t entirely good news. I will admit it: I’m a bad flosser. I don’t do it nearly as often as I should (namely, everyday), and it’s pretty apparent to my dentist and hygienist.

Sadly, I’ve avoided getting into the swing of daily flossing since my appointment 2.5 weeks ago. But, at least for today, that’s going to change.

My initial plan was to accomplish today’s goal in the AM, before heading off to work. However, trash day got in the way. After cleaning out the refrigerator and getting the trash put on the curb, I got kind of swallowed up in kitchen cleaning. I started rinsing dirty containers and unloading the dishwasher, which ate most of my mouth-cleaning time. The reason I wanted to do the whole dental routine in the morning is because that is when I will do it, ideally, every day. I am way too lazy at night to floss and rinse with any sort of regularity.

But for today, things went a little differently. When I got home from work, all I could think about was food. So, I ate a snack (Annie’s Bunny Grahams & Dark Chocolate Dreams…yum!) and then we walked down to The Well for dinner and football. I did do a couple of things to help with the mouth situation during the day:

breakfast!

I ate some yogurt for breakfast to get some calcium, and I had an enormous honeycrisp apple for a snack (sorry, no photo). I’ve read before that apples and carrots can help keep your teeth white. I hope it’s true…

After the game (Yay Dolphins!), we went home and I got down to business.

Yes! A new toothbrush from the dentist!

Before bed, I flossed, brushed, and rinsed with mouthwash. So clean! Now I just need to keep it up…

Starting today, Wednesday November 18, 2009, I am starting over with this blog. As of today, I am starting a journey to improve my life and better myself by doing one positive thing each day. I plan to chronicle these events and/or tasks on this blog, hopefully expressing some growth as a person along the way.

Today, I am going to clean out my closet. This needs to be done for a few different reasons:

1. It’s a complete disaster. I’ve gotten really lazy about putting dirty clothes in the hamper, putting clean clothes away, and doing laundry at all.
2. It’s totally disorganized. I live in an older duplex, and while we have ample storage space (thanks to the basement), my closet is oddly shaped. After nearly 2 years living here, I have yet to discover a truly functional way to arrange everything.
3. I need to let go. My closet is full of clothes that I never wear, and will probably never wear again. A lot of them are from high school, and I think I’m holding on to them for all the wrong reasons. Also, during the course of college I put on some weight that I have yet to lose, and many of the clothes don’t fit.

The Before:

Pretty terrible, right? Well, I did spend about 2 hours tonight working on this disaster zone, and while it’s not complete, it’s certainly an improvement.

2 bags worth of t-shirts to donate to the City Union Mission

This is the pile of t-shirts, mostly from concerts, that I would like to have made into a quilt.

dry cleaning pile

I was able to go through all of my t-shirts, and there were plenty of them. I still have more than a single drawer-full of them, even after pulling out 2 bags worth. I pulled a few items out of my closet that weren’t t-shirts to donate as well, but didn’t do a really thorough clean-out. Being on limited time (I had to pick Cody up from work), I didn’t want to bite off more than I could chew. And I know that going through those clothes is going to be a time-consuming ordeal.

Unfortunately, this is not all of my clothes. I still have 2 loads to deal with; one in the washer and one in the dryer. But once they are all washed and dried, that should be everything.

I’m pretty proud of myself for setting a goal and sticking to it. Anymore, I’m not very good at that. I hope I can meet tomorrow’s goal too!