Good Times!

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of visiting family and friends and eating, with a little running thrown in. This week is my Taper Week, which means that my miles are lowered because the Marathon is only a week away. It is a recovery period before the big day. This means I am running less, but eating more! However, it is all worth it. Here is (inspired by Kim) what I've been up to for the last week or so! **disclaimer: if you are a vegetarian, you may want to look away, as there are pork pieces below**

I found these at Target! I did not think I could get them anywhere but MN! I must have eaten 30 of them this week!

 I went shopping for rugs. I found the perfect one for in front of the fireplace.

I hung out with some pigs at the Annual Pig Roast. Sorry guys, you are going to be dinner soon. 

There's dinner. Pay no attention to the man with the huge beard. He is participating in MoVember. Or MO-BE-mber. Whatever. 

We drove miles in search of this. When we found it, it was good. 

I ran here. Cape Cod Canal. 

And here. Bristol Rail Trail.

Finally got the big camera out. 

I ate ice cream (among other things) with these girls.

I have not downloaded my Turkey Day photos yet, but good times were had by all!

How was your week? Did you have to work on Friday? What did you do for Thanksgiving?

Busted!

Did you know the average person gains 5 lbs between now and January 1st? If you are anything like me, you probably ate a lot of turkey yesterday. And mashed potatoes, pies, cookies and stuffing. From now until after the new year, it will be hard to stop. Yesterday marked the first day of a long downhill stretch and a rolling snowball of food, eating, making merry, drinking and hanging out with friends (in order to eat, drink and be merry!)

Those 5 lbs which took only a mere month to put on will take at least 3x that long to take off. So, instead of falling into that trap, I chose to join up with Amanda to take charge of that extra weight. I am saying, "back, vile extra pounds, back, I say!" Enter the Holiday Booty Buster Challenge.

What exactly is this HBBC, you ask? Well, you get points for any activities you do as well as extra points if you eat at least 7 servings of fruits and veggies a day. Here are the point breakdowns.

1 Point per mile (run/walk)
1 Point per 3 miles biked
1 Point per 20 minutes of weight lifting, Pilates, yoga, stretching or abs
1 Point per 15 minutes of low impact cardio (i.e. low impact aerobics, easy biking, skiing, skating, water aerobics, snow shoeing)
1 Point per 10 minutes of high impact cardio (i.e.spinning, kickboxing, lap swimming)
1 Per day where you reach a minimum of 7 servings of fruits and veggies (here are details on what is a serving)

It started November 20, but you can join up at any time. It ends January 7th. You can go to Amanda's page for more info, but there are prizes and everything! Or you can just do it to help keep those vile pounds where they belong! I think that keeping track of what you eat and what activities you do really helps to keep you accountable.

I keep track of my miles using Dailymile and RunningAHEAD, because each one gives me a little something different. Both are not only great for keeping track, but they also give you routes to try, race info and information about where your friends are running! And my favorite thing about dailymile is that it tells you how many donuts you have burned (earned) so far!

In order to keep track of my food, I use LoseIt. I know a lot of people have also had success with MyFitnessPal. You can use this app on your phone or the computer, so it's easy to do it every day. It really makes you realize how much better a correct portion size is as well as what you would rather put in your body, for instance a) a glass of wine b) a handful of cheeze-its or c) a cup of baby carrots, 2 tbsp hummus and an apple. I realized that the cream I was putting into my coffee was adding up to 200 calories a day (yes I drink a lot of coffee! Or maybe I should say a lot of cream with a little coffee!)

So, this week (Nov 19 - Nov 25) I ate 7 servings of veggies every day and I ran 25 miles, so I have 32 points so far. My goal for next week, since I am in the taper and will not have high running mileage, is to incorporate something else, whether it's yoga, or some crunches or a few push ups.

Don't forget to go to Jill's blog to check out the other Fitness Friday blogs! Also, it's only 9 DAYS until the marathon! Yikes! Eeek! Egad!

What are you doing to combat the vile pounds this holiday season? Do you have a plan? Are you going to do the HBBC?

Ten Days of Thanksgiving: Days 9 and 10

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope that you are actually reading this on Friday, after you have successfully stuffed yourself with food on Thursday and so you couldn’t get off the couch, even to read blogs (gasp)! Or maybe it’s Thursday and you are tired of watching your uncle Leo yell at the football game, so you have popped online for a brief respite!

Today marks the last two days of Ten Days of Thanksgiving (inspired by Lisa). It has been fun to do this, both to remember the little things and because it makes me realize how many there are! It was HARD to narrow it down to only 10! I hope that you joined along, whether publicly or privately, and that we all keep remembering to be glad of the little things all year round. Happy Holidays!

And now, numbers 9 and 10!

United Airlines: I have to admit, I sometimes use Delta, but generally United carries me across the nation to see the ones that I love. Be it West or East, United gets me to where I need to go. Luckily I travel a lot for work, so when I want to travel for pleasure, I have a few points saved up for fun! Also, earlier this year when my flight from San Francisco to Sacramento (a 30 minute flight) was delayed for a couple of hours, they gave me a $200 voucher for my troubles. Thanks to United, today I am Back East, celebrating the overeating of turkey and the playing of Pictionary with my friends and family. 

In addition to the United plane seen here, I saw Air Force One in San Francisco!!!

Travel: I am thankful for travel for many different reasons. First, I find that travel broadens the mind and opens up the horizons. No matter if you are going to Missouri or France, you learn something about people, history and landscapes, just from going to a new place. And from there, you may learn something about yourself. Other than that, I am thankful that I get to travel. This year I was lucky enough to go on several trips, including a Round The World trip which ended in May! I also got to spend a lot of time with friends and family, which has been great since I am normally so far away from them!

Going boonie bashing with my parents -- Northern CA

Me and Mark Twain -- Hartford, CT

River Float Trip -- Current River, MO

Drinks at Limon with H -- San Francisco, CA

Grandma S's house -- MA

Fishing with Bro -- Marin County, CA

 

Racing with M -- Newburyport, MA

Me and Dad -- Markleeville, CA

Dancing with Penguins -- KC, MO

A's first birthday -- Sacramento, CA

Road Trip to Reno, NV

Cardinals Game -- St. Louis, MO

NYC, NY with the B's

Meetup with Lisa -- Minneapolis, MN

Raise your glass! A, K and K -- East Bay, CA

 I hope that you are having a great day with YOUR friends and family! Gobble, gobble!

Where have you traveled this year? Do you travel for work or for fun? Do you get to see your friends and family a lot? 

12:12 Camera Accessories

This is the last week of 12 Weeks to Better Photos! Thanks Kate for hosting! It was fun to play along and have a "classmate" to study with!  In case you missed it,here are the links to the first 11 weeks:

Week 1: Aperture
Week 2: Shutter Speed and ISO
Week 3: White Balance
Week 4: Flash
Week 5: Composition
Week 6: Shooting Indoors

Week 7: Shooting Outdoors and Macro

Week 8: On The Go
Week 9: Portraits
Week 10: Landscapes
Week 11: Your Daily Environment

Week 12 is really just a rundown of what types of accessories you can get for your camera. So, instead of going into detail about this (you can read the pdf HERE), I am going to talk a little about a couple of accessories I have found to be useful and a couple that I would like to have. If you are a camera person, please tell me what else YOU think I should get next.

My newest lens is this one. It's a 35mm. So far, so good, except I have to keep remembering to take a step back, since my kit lens is an 18-105 and so it gets a little more into the frame.

Source: google.com via Kyria on Pinterest

One of the best pieces of advice I received was to buy a UV Filter. It helps protect the lens from getting scratched and filters the light as well. It screws right on the lens and does not affect the lens cap from going back on.

Source: google.com via Kyria on Pinterest

I also have a tripod, which does wonders when you are shooting landscapes etc, but I have to admit, is a pain in the butt to cart around most of the time.

What I would like to have is:

Because I hate that red-eyed look:

Source: target.com via Kyria on Pinterest

Because sometimes you want a good group shot:

Source: google.com via Kyria on Pinterest

Because I like to throw my camera in my purse:

Source: amazon.com via Kyria on Pinterest

Check out my Photography Pinboard HERE. 

Also folks if you are looking for a new camera, here are a few good deals I have seen lately!

At Target: Canon Powershot. $129.99 for regular priced $179.99 -- 12MP 4x optical zoom

Source: target.com via Kyria on Pinterest

At Costco -- Fujifilm 500EXR -- comes with camera case and memory card -- 16MP / 15x optical zoom *I can't find the price online, but I think when I was in the store, it was about $129.00.

Source: shop.costco.com via Kyria on Pinterest

Do you have a favorite accessory? Is there something that you use all the time and love?

Ten Days of Thanksgiving: Days 7 and 8

Today we have Days 7 and 8 of the Ten Days (crammed into 4 by me) of Thanksgiving (inspired by Lisa).

#7: Fruit: I eat at least an apple a day, sometimes more. I enjoy pretty much all fruit and am glad that we live in a place where we can get it fresh and juicy no matter what season, although I prefer each fruit in the season where it is ripe. I was lucky this year to catch both blackberry and apple season at home, where we can pick them right off the bush and tree. I also very much enjoyed the blueberries and fresh peaches from the farms in Missouri. 

Saturn peaches

California strawberries

Blueberries are like candy!

Picking blackberries for cobbler

#8: Flour: I know that you already know that I love to bake. Actually I tend to stay away from bread-like items most of the time. However, when I get the chance I do love to throw some flour in with a few eggs and make a muffin or a cookie or bread. So, even though I don’t use it very often, I am thankful for flour and for the baked goods it makes. 

Buttermilk flax muffins

Green Tomato muffins

A Few Other Things I’ve Made Using Flour:

Apple Bundt Cake

Blackberry Cobbler

Cake Pops

What is your favorite fruit? Is there a good farmer's market near your house? What carb-loaded goodie do you like to splurge on from time to time? 

An Apple a Day Monday: III

Remember last week when I made the Apple Cake? Now I had buttermilk left over, as well as still having plenty of apples. I didn’t yet know what I wanted to make with these items. I contemplated buttermilk biscuits or buttermilk apple muffins.

(Check out Apple a Day I and Apple A Day II.)

Then, I got the prize in the mail that I won from Corey! Flaxseed Meal! I have never used it before, but have been putting it in oatmeal, on cereal and now in baking…and its great! I used the recipe that was on the back of the bag and amended it a bit to fit what I had on hand. And…they turned out great! Like a nutty, yummy, bran muffin…without the bran! For those of you who are gluten free, flaxseed is GF, so all you need is some GF flour (can sub for oats as well) and you are all set!

Bran Flax Muffins

(aka Oat Apple Nut Buttermilk Flax Muffins [and Squares])

1½ cups flour

¾ cup flaxseed

¾ cup oat bran (I used stone ground oats)

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 ½ cup carrots, shredded

2 apples, peeled and shredded

½ cup raisins (I used craisins instead)

1 cup nuts, chopped (I used walnuts)

¾ cup milk (I used buttermilk instead)

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix dry ingredients (first 7 on the list). 

In a separate bowl, mix the rest of the (wet) ingredients. 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Do not over stir. Batter may be slightly lumpy. Pour into greased muffin tin. Fill cups approximately ¾ full. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Yields 15 medium sized muffins**

**NOTES: I ended up filling 12 cups ¾ full and still having a lot left over, so I used a bread pan and 2 mini bread pans to use up the rest. You could also easily cook these in a 9x13 baking dish and just cut them into squares. 

Next up: The apple craze continues! What else can one make with an apple? Don’t forget to check back next Monday to find out...and for another edition of “An Apple a Day”, which will be a feature each Monday in November.

Have you ever used flaxseed meal? Have you ever made your own oat bars?

Ten Days of Thanksgiving: Days 4, 5 and 6

The list continues! The idea was conceived by Lisa. I am doing the Cliff Note version of her Book, 10 Days of Thanksgiving. Here are numbers four, five and six.

#4: These Legs: In the last 5 months, my legs have successfully carried me hundreds of miles and I want to say, “Thank You Legs, for not giving up out on me”. I am also appreciative of these lungs and this heart. They are hard workers and rarely ever complain. I have been incredibly lucky to be in good health and I realize it may not last forever. I am happy to have it while I do! My grandfather used to say if he had three wishes, they would be: To be Healthy, Wealthy and Wise. I am working on the other two, but the heath thing right now is great!

Hamming it up at the Newburyport Green Stride Half Marathon

#5: Librarians: Thanks to various libraries, I have saved approximately $357.35 on books this year. Not to mention the Audiobooks, DVDs and CDs that I borrowed. I guess the thanks also go to Your Tax Dollars at Work. Thanks to all of you for supporting my book habit in a round-about way. You are contributing to my education and entertainment. Due to a dearth of good books, I have also managed to avoid watching crappy TV. (You can see some of the books I have read this year on my Bookshelf)

My stack of To-Read library books

#6: People Like You: Yes, you. All of you. From people like my Grandma and ST (you know who you are), who never leave comments publicly but always send me notes of encouragement, to people who have never met me before who give advice and antidotes and support. To the runners, the writers, the readers and the everything-in-between-ers. I don’t know where I would be without you all. And to those bloggers who I have met up with, it was like we were old friends, meeting up after a separation. What a great feeling! I can’t wait to meet more old friends!

Blogger Meetup with Raquelita and Lisa in Minneapolis

Do you especially appreciate (or loathe) a particular body part of yours? Do you ever get books from the library? Have you ever met someone you knew from the internet? If so, how did it go? 

Ten Days of Thanksgiving: Days 1, 2 and 3

My friend Lisa is doing a list of 10 things she is thankful for and I thought that was such a great idea. She is actually doing one a day for 10 days, but since I was in questionable internet land, I didn't quite make it on time to do that, so I am going to do my 10 days of Thanksgiving in 4 days this year. Next year I will have to be more organized and make it in 10 days, but for now, this is what we have to work with. You will probably notice that my family and friends will not make it onto this list, but that is only becuase this is a given. Of course I am thankful for them! These 10 things will be more of things that I may not always remember to be thankful for.

So, without further ado, in no particular order, 10 things that I am thankful for, 2 at a time:

#1: Three Grandmas: I am lucky enough to have not one, not two, but three grandmas in my life still. All of them are kind and loving and two of them even know how to use email (which is something to be thankful for in itself!)  I try to see them as much as possible, but they are all busy ladies. Grandma D travels the world and I can never remember if she is in Florida or Spain this winter. Grandma B is an active participant in all the grand children's baseball, football, polo, soccer and hockey games. Grandma S goes to the gym, does volunteer work and makes quilts which are then auctioned off and the proceeds go to charity. They are all still very active!

Gma S and I having drinks on the screen porch by the pond

Gma B and my Bro in San Francisco

Gma D making dinner on a nice summer day

#2: Enough Electronics to Choke a Donkey: I love electronics, but they are not something I really spend money on for myself. I have been very lucky to have people in my life who make it their purpose to keep me in business, electronics-wise. So thanks to my brother, my parents and Mr. L, I am connected with the world, can read, can take photos and can track my running!  Without them I would probably have a free flip phone and a library card and would be running around in circles, lost.

One of my favorite toys

#3: Honorary Nieces and Nephews:  My friends have done me the favor of having kids so I don’t have to. Thanks to them, my Mom has lots of kid’s photos on her fridge. Also this gives me the opportunity to hug and kiss and rile up babies and then hand them back over when I am done. I think really it is a win-win situation overall. So, thanks for getting knocked up girls! You have really done me a favor! 

Little A

Little C

Compiling this list is really a great way to remember how many things there really are to be thankful for! I could probably name hundreds of things. I guess some of them will have to wait for next year! 

Do you still get to see your grandparents? What is your favorite electronic toy? Do you have kids? If not, do you have honorary nieces or nephews? Do you have real ones?