Friday!!

Yesterday, Dan got his first paycheck!  We are officially a dual income family again.  And!  We are going on a date tonight to celebrate.  I am so excited to re-introduce date nights into our schedule.  I wish we had time for weekly date nights, but my goal is twice a month.  Don't have date nights?  Read this article.

Yet another reason why I'm so excited for date night, is because we are again on a very low carb diet.  We splurged for the holidays, so now we are cutting back.  But, tonight is our cheat night!  Having a planned cheat night has definitely kept me accountable for our diet, and has given me an added bonus to our date.  Do you schedule cheat days??

Today is also, my last day for my Push up challenge for this week.  So far, its going ok.  The first day was hard, but I made it through.  Wednesday, I didn't read the workout and only rested for 60sec and not 90, so by the end of it I was thinking this was a bad idea.  Once Dan pointed out my error, I was again excited for Day 3 today.  2 minutes rest here I come!  Dan decided that he was going to do the challenge with me, but his initial test he got 75, which put him at week 6. He was very surprised that he got so many, and he's certain he can get 100 in no time.

Its been 2 weeks since Dan and I have both been working, and we seem to be adjusting to the new schedule pretty well.  Dan is getting up with me in the morning, which is really nice.  Plus, we go to bed around the same time, which means we get our "pillow talk" time back.  Daisy is doing fine being in her room while we are both gone, but Penny is needing a lot more play time being cooped up in her kennel all day. 
I've taken on a little more of the cleaning through the week, but with the dogs up during the day, and both of us being gone, things are staying cleaner.  We definitely have less dishes.  Plus, I can get some alone time during the week to work on some of my projects.  I'm slowly going down my cleaning list, including dusting chandeliers, washing walls, and organizing closets.

Dan seems to be enjoying his job.  He's a little tired of training, which I don't blame him.  Training is so boring and tedious, especially when you have experience in that job previously.  He really likes the company, and I think he's enjoying being out of the house, doing his own thing, being productive to society. 

So far, this year is turning out great.  I just wish the weekends would slow down a bit.

Fitness Tests

I have been inspired by my friend Katie do a 100 push up challenge and a modified 200 sit up challenge.  I'm modifying the sit up challenge because sit ups aren't good for your lumbar region of your back, and I have enough back problems as it is.  So, I will be doing front and side planks, holding for 10sec for 3 sets, 15sec, ect.  The challenges last 6 weeks.

I did my initial test for the push ups, and I got 14 traditional push ups!  For week one here are my three days:

Day 1 - 6 sets resting 60 secs: 10, 12, 7, 7, and max
Day 2 - 6 sets resting 90 secs:10, 12, 8, 8, and max
Day 3 - 6 sets resting 120 secs: 11, 15, 9, 9, and max.

This is a quick and easy thing I can do before or after work and feel like I've actually done something on the days I don't make it to the gym, or in addition to.

You should join me on theses!   It will just take you 15min 3 days a week, and by the end your arms and abs will be in great shape!

Year of Progress

With it being the new year, I thought I'd update everyone on how I was doing on my Goals list I created in September.
I have not run a 5k, but I did start to get back into running, just to sprain my ankle in December.  So, I'm back off running and am trying to get back into it.  I also have not tried GeoCashing and I didn't make it to either a college or high school football game.  I also decided not to do the Red Cross Disaster Training due to stress at work.
However!  I did change my name on my work badge and my license, and am on track to get my passport.  I've given to 2 charities, am still attending the Clinical Pharmacology Course, and am still on track to pay off my car.

So, for the Resolutions for the New Year, Dan dubbed last year as "The Year of Perseverance" and this year as "The Year of Progress."  In keeping with that theme, here are my resolutions:

1 - Keep mastering techniques at work to develop myself as a scientist.
2 - Start working out again and introduce more vegan meals into our diet to stay healthy
3 - Devote more time to myself and my hobbies.
4 - Meet our financial goals for the year so we can continue to work to being debt free.
5 - Be a better friend and wife.

That's it.  I've never really been a New Years Resolution person and always found myself setting goals in the summer.  None of these goals are "measurable," but I will know how I'm personally progressing which is the theme.

I wish everyone luck with their goals, and if you think of ways to help me with mine, just let me know!

A Texas Christmas

As probably every already knows, Dan and I were able to go to Texas during my year end vacation to visit my sister's family.  It was my Dad's gift to pay for us to go, and we had a great time.  I honestly wish we could've stayed longer.  I miss having so much time with my family.  I love being on the go and seeing my nieces and nephews.  Plus, I got some good time in with my parents and sisters. 

We got to Texas on Dec. 26th and opened gifts with my sister's family.  Afterwards Dan and I needed some quiet time so we went out on a date to Outback.  I ate like a horse, but it was fantastic to have a good meal after the 18hr drive.  We went to bed at 7pm and slept until 10.  We were exhausted!!

The next day we took a trip to downtown San Antonio and got to see the Alamo and the Riverwalk.  The Alamo was definately on my bucket list, but I didn't plan on ever being there to see it.  So, it was really neat to see the history and layout of the buildings.  The riverwalk was gorgeous.  We went on a boat tour around and learned about the buildings.  We left thinking we would be able go to back one night to see all the lights, and check out a restaurant and a bar, but we didn't have the energy or time.  Downtown San Antonio is really nice.  Its fairly clean, everything is in walking distance, and there's a lot of history.

Tuesday was my niece's baptism.  I got to start the day off with a little shopping with my mom and sisters while Dan went to the gym.  I found some really good deals at Target.  It felt good to have some girl time, and I always love to shop.  Afterwards, we got ready for the baptism, followed by dinner at CiCi's Pizza.  Definitely not the best pizza in the world, but its a good deal for a group.  They must tailor their pizzas to kids, because I don't know many adults who would go for mac and cheese pizza.  Blah.

Wednesday was our last full day there and we got to go to a Wildlife Park.  You drive around the park in your car and you get to feed the animals.  It was so much fun.  A majority of the animals would eat out of your hand, and a few would even stick their heads in the cars to get the food! 

My favorite animals were the zebra and bison.  The zebra are just like horses, just much prettier. And the bison have such long tongues, and are very gentle.  Dan's favorite were the Texas Longhorns.  Their breath smelled like rotten spinach and made me gag.  But, they are massive.  I couldn't believe how big their horns are.  The weirdest part was for lunch there, I ordered a grilled chicken salad, and they gave me chicken salad (like with the mayo and grapes) on top of a house salad with honey mustard.  Texans really don't know what health food is.  We did go to an awesome Mexican restaurant that night.  I ate so much I was stuffed!  They had borracho beans, which is my new favorite mexican dish.  I can't wait to try and make it.  They cook pinto beans in beer, and add in bacon, onion, and tomatoes.  Yum!

Dan and I ended our trip by spending Wednesday night in Austin with his old college roommate.  We had such a great time hanging out.  It felt like we were back in college.  I wish we could've stayed a couple nights in Austin to get to see the city and spend more time with his friends.

I must admit that I learned a lot about Texas while I was there.  There was so much diversity, and no, not just Latinos.  There were so many types of restaurants there.  Anything you could want to eat, they have.  Texans also love their IHOP.  Every 3rd billboard was an American Flag with nothing written.  There were several Obama is a socialist billboards.  But, everything is Texas branded.  Texans are very proud to be from Texas, and its neat to see.  Not many people are proud to be from Indiana.  It was funny to see a church commercial relating feeling lost in life to missing a deer hunting.  LOL.  Oh, Texans also don't have an accent that I noticed.  However, the people in Arkansas do.

Overall, we had a great time and are so excited to go back, but next time we are going to fly!  It is not worth the time it takes to drive. 

Hello!

Miss me?  Haha.

Its definitely been a while since I've posted.  Here is what has changed!

Dan turned 27 so we had a big party to celebrate.  The theme was favorite historical character.  This was emotional for me because earlier this year we didn't know if he'd make it to 27.

Speaking of, Dan had his 6 month oncologist appointment and his test came back clear.  His next appt is in March.

Penny is now 6 months old.  She has learned how to sit, shake, and high five.  We are working on staying and laying down.  She's now fully potty trained and asks to go outside.  She wakes up early every morning between 7 and 8am, so I will never be late for work.  She also LOVES the snow.

I'm now a named hasher!  :)  I haven't hashed since being named, but I'm blaming it on the cold and snow.  I'm really looking forward to some warmer weather so we can start hashing again.

Dan and I went on vacation!  We went to Washington, DC for the Rally to Restore Sanity.  We couldn't hear very well at the rally, but afterwards we were able to walk around DC and see a lot of the sights.  We had a lot of fun, minus me getting car sick on the way home.

Some sad news.  My grandma passed away.  She was an amazing lady and she is missed very much.  I have so many wonderful memories of my time with her.

Some more happy events.  We were very fortunate to have another chance to have our pictures by MLP.  She did an great job, as always.  She's launching a new website next year.  Keep your eye out for a neat video she put together.  Again, I recommend her to anyone!

And, the big news is that Dan got a job!  He starts Jan. 3rd and we can't be more excited.  Its such a great way to end the year, and start 2011.

Phew...I think that's about it.  I'm currently on vacation until Jan 3rd.  I'm sure we will be very busy with Christmas and New Years, especially with our upcoming trip to San Antonio with my fam!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Fostering

Things have been pretty hectic at our house lately.  Not soon after Sierra found a new family, we were asked to foster a cat from Minnie's first litter.  3-spot (Tiger as named by his family) has found his way home and its amazing how much he looks like Buggs, just with a tail.

 It's definitely been an adjustment for everyone.  El Tigre took about 5 days to adjust to everyone.  Daisy still isn't too sure about him, but he and Buggs are friends, and he'll even let Penny play with him a bit.  His mom has to move in with her grandparents and can't have him anymore.  Her friends are hoping to move into their new place in October, and then he'll go to them.  If not, we'll be searching for a new family for this handsome fellow.

In other news, Penny is almost 14 weeks old!  She's getting so big.  She's still hyper as ever, and isn't needing to nap as often.  She comes (mostly) when she's called.  She's getting the potty training thing down with very few accidents.  She even came upstairs to tell me she needed to go out.  She knows the word "no" and doesn't challenge you.  She's a dare devil and enjoys jumping on the couch so she can jump on Daisy's back to play.  She's hilarious, but a handfull.  BTW, she does this to herself on a daily basis.

Healthy Snacks

I wanted to share a couple new recipes I've created lately.  The hardest times for us to eat as we should are breakfast (pre-coffee, do I need to say more??), post-work out (completely exhausted and now I need to make something??), and night time (my butt is not getting off the couch!)  These recipies are great to snack on.

Roasted Walnuts - You can also use pecans or almonds.

Preheat oven to 400F.
In a bowl combine:
2 cups nuts
3 Tbsp brown sugar splenda
1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp white splenda
1/8 cup melted Olivina
Mix together ensuring the sugars get all melted and gooey, coating the nuts.
Spread mixture in a single layer on a cookie sheet.
Bake for 7-10 min, or until you start to smell the nuts.  Do not over cook!
Immediately remove the nuts from the pan.  I put the pan in the freezer to quickly cook and stop the cooking.  Plus they are immediately ready to eat!  These are great in a spinach and strawberry salad.  Store in a sealed container, in the fridge if you don't devour immediately.

Protein Ice Cream - It doesn't have the creamy nature of ice-cream, but it definitely satisfies the cravings.
Peanut Butter Chocolate
In a good blender combine:
4 cups of ice
2 scoops chocolate protein
3 Tbsp peanut butter
1/2 cup unsalted peanuts - optional
1 cup milk - almond milk also works
1 Tbsp cocoa
3 Tbsp Splenda
Blend until well mixed.  You can stick in the freezer to re-freeze, but protein freezes quickly, so I wouldn't leave it in the freezer for more than 30 min.

Vanilla Blueberry
Blend together as above:
2 scoops Vanilla protein
4 cups frozen blueberries
1 cup almond milk
3 Tbsp Splenda

And finally, our new favorite breakfast treat.
Oatmeal Raisin Bars - Tastes like pumpkin spice bread.
Preheat oven to 350F

In a bowl combine:
2 cups old fashioned oats
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Cinnamon to taste
3Tbsp brown sugar splenda
1 scoop vanilla protein
1/3 cup chopped nuts
1/3 cup raisins

In a separate bowl combine:
1 egg white
1 whole egg
1 1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp EVOO
1/2 c apple sauce

Mix together the two mixtures and pour into a greased 9" pie pan.  Bake at 350F for 35-40 min.
Store in fridge.  Makes 8 bars.  Microwave 30 sec to reheat.
To change it up you can substitute the apple sauce for pumpkin or mashed ripe bananas.  Yum.  Great for breakfast on the go, or for a quick snack.  You can also add your favorite fruit - apples, cranberries, ect.