Tomorrow is my Friday!

Go ahead and be jealous!!  I leave for the beach tomorrow night although it really sucks that we are leaving at like 9pm and probably won't get there until 2:30 am.

Justin left this morning so he could go salt water fishin' with his buddies.

Must be nice!! Our friend Matt sent me this.  I miss him :)

Although it was nice to go shopping this afternoon, go to the gym without having to think about rushing home to make dinner and coming home to quiet :)

Here is the dress and necklace I got.  How cute is the necklace?  This is so not something that I would normally buy (or spend) but we have a wedding next weekend also so I can wear it twice!!  

Both are beach weddings so it is ok that it isn't too dressy :)  I hope my gold heels match.. bc I am broke!  Actually, to be quite honest, I thought the dress was not flattering for me...but after sitting in it for like 30 min (no joke - she was so ready for me to leave!) and trying on lots of jewelry, it grew on me!  At least it's one I can wear more than once. right?

Guess I should be packing instead of reading blogs.

Fruit Flies

Um.....hate em!  I don't know where they have all the sudden come from but they need to leave out the same door they came in. ha!
I have never had a problem with them before, but they have taken over my kitchen.  I never have fruit go bad.  Today I had to throw away two bananas bc I saw a fruit fly had gotten in one. GROSS!

I am so tired and the next days are going to be so busy.  After my day, I decided to come straight home and dive in a bottle glass of vino.  Late afternoon I got a call from the insurance lady at Dr. D's and she informed me that my insurance has "capped" WTF. Really?!  So the last visit I had and the ones here on will be out of pocket. Really?  Just the next two will be close to $800 and that doesn't include the out of pocket IVF that is due May 4th. I started crying when she told me that.  I really hope this works bc we won't be able to afford anything else.  I did not need added stress right now!

Anyways-on to my favorite things of the day. Eats!

Breakfast

Whole wheat tortilla with almond butter, nana, cinnamon and drizzle of honey

 Lunch

Everything bagel thin with 1 wedge of laughing cow cheese, spinach and smoked salmon

with a side of Pita chips!

This was a great lunch.  Smoked salmon on a bagel thin is my new fave!

When I got home from work I had a package from All Bran! Free Samples! Yessss!

 and I got a new Cooking Light.  I am getting ready to do a quick look at the pictures :)

Dinner

Individual Pizzas!

One bbq chicken and a veggie one for me and pep, mush and olive for J

(and my messy pizza stone)

BBQ

 Veggie

It was very good! I think the bbq was my favorite.  I had some fresh, smoked mozzarella! yum!  Although, I wasn't real hungry and shouldn't have eaten much for dinner.  

Exercise: yeah. um.  skipped the gym for wine!  HOWEVER I am doing weights during commercials. Hey.. it's better than nothing!

Justin leaves for the beach tomorrow which means it's just me and Cole :( I hate when he's not here!

Infertility awareness week

Did you know it was Infertility Awareness Week?  I did not until I was reading this blog.  I never realized how many couples were struggling with infertility.  I have read so many wonderful success stories this morning.  It gives you hope that with faith, patience, and time, your dreams can come true!

A quick version of our story:
Justin and I got married in July 07.  I went off the pill in August 07 and we started ttc in December.  I bought numerous ovulation kits, basal thermometer, and started my prenatals.  We tried on our own until my next yearly visit to my OBGYN (August 08).  She put me on Femara and I would go in for monthly blood test to see if I was/had ovulated.  There was never a consistent month of ovulation and I never had a positive on the ovulation predictor kits.  March of 09 I went in for an HSG to make sure there was no blockage in my tubes.  This was so painful (I'm a wimp) but showed no blockages.  She then scheduled for me to meet Dr. Deaton at Premier Fertility Center.  He said my FSH and LH levels were very low and I had irregular ovulation.  So May of 09 I started Ovidrel injections and continued (without success) until July 09.  August 09 we started Hormone injections (Menopur)  where I would have to give myself a shot every night for about 10-14 days followed by dr visits every three days for ultrasounds and blood work and the ovidrel injection. - nothing! We have since done three IUI's (Dec, Feb, and March) so here we are with IVF right around the corner.
My drugstore came last week and I start my first set of injections tomorrow night.
I have so many emotions right now: anxious, excited, scared.....  It has been so hard, emotionally, being let down so many times and I have found myself asking "why" all the time.  I am realizing that we are on God's time, not ours and this is just a bump in the road and is definitely showing/strengthening our Faith.

There is a cool giveaway for this necklace over at Tiffany's blog.  I need want it!!

Also, check out this infertility 101.  It is a myth buster!

Countdown to the beach!

It's on!  I am officially leaving for the Outer Banks Thursday night!! (Justin leaves Wed. morning to go fishing) I am so glad we are able to leave Thurs instead of Friday.  Now I can get my nails done with the girls and hit the beach! Home girl needs a tan!!
I did go out in search for a dress tonight....with no luck.  I did splurge on pair of jeans and of course Justin didn't love them.  Actually he liked them but said there was a wrinkle under my butt.... Isn't that a nice way of saying they're to tight! ha! thanks babe!  I am fed up looking for jeans... will I EVER find that perfect pair?

Today went by incredibly slow.  I was counting down til lunch (my halfway point that I look forward to every day!)  I had left over rotisserie chicken with a side of Green Giant's snap peas, red peppers and potatoes. Yum!

I was so proud of myself! When I got home from Costco, I actually got out my food scale to portion out the chicken!  I struggle with portion sizes and a food scale is a wonderful tool!

I made a quick trip to the gym (3.25 mile run, arms and abs), came home made a salmon dinner

marinated salmon with pasta salad (orzo, evoo, edamame beans, peppers, spinach, herbs and feta)

 oh and a side of asparagus!

Tomorrow is Tuesday (for those who don't know that already!) which means i have to go shopping again in hopes to find a dress for this weekend. Why is it you can't find anything when you have the money or need it?!

What are your favorite jeans?

Seen any cute dresses lately?

Power start

Good Afternoon!
I slept in this morning to the sound of rain hitting the roof....aahhhhh good sleep!
Had a powerful breakfast of : oats with the following mix-ins: egg white, flax seed, quinoa, strawberries, milk and a scoop of almond butter.  My oh my! I was so full! BUT it helped with my great, much needed, workout!
I did 25 minutes of intervals I got from Health magazine then did a 2.8 run at about an 8:45 pace (which is fast for me!) 

Today I am working at CenterPointe, Greensboro's first "high rise" for Parade of Homes.  Basically I just guide people to the model unit and get paid!  Girl needs some extra $$ for the upcoming wedding weekends!

Before heading out I whipped up a delish lunch!!

Smoked Salmon on a Kashi craker with laughing cow cheese

1/4 of a baked potato with fresh herbs, greek yogurt, ff cheese and tomoatoes

YUM-O

Off to Centerpointe then dinner with the girls!!

Tots

Tonight we met my Mom, Dad, and dad's best friend Billy for dinner.  We met at a local place called the Lindly Park Filling Station.  It was so good! The menu looked fabulous and it took me many minutes to find what would be the perfect dinner.  Lets just preface with tots! I mean... who doesn't love tater tots?!

I went with a pita stuffed with red pepper hummus, cukes, tomatoes, peperchini (or however you spell it!) and feta cheese. um .. yum!!

Dad and his friend Billy were our entertainment for the night.  I am not kidding when I say Billy got on the floor to do push-ups.  OMG. I about died....laughing. ha! luckily there was a young couple next to us.  Later our friend Kerry said the girl was like "oh my, is he ok?" she thought he had fallin out or had gotten hurt.  He did two and a half push-ups!  Ok.. so maybe you had to be there...but it was funny.  brooke and I are afraid this is going to be Justin and Kerry 30 years from now!

Best buds! Billy and Dad!

Oh.. and I'm not gonna lie.... I was a member of the clean plate club tonight!!  I finished every tot and my whole pita! AND the best part..... (for the first time in a while..) No guilt!  It was a great feeling!

No Pudge

Have you ever made the "No Pudge" brownies?  They are a fat free brownie that you make with vanilla yogurt.  They are so decadent! Even Justin likes them!
Last time I was at Trader Joe's I decided to try their brand.

I can't give a full review bc all I have tried is the batter ( you know you lick the bowl too!) Not gonna lie.... not nearly as good as the No Pudge

brand.  I'll have to try them tomorrow for the real test :)

Jinxed!

That's me.  Jinxed.  It is never to good to be true. 
Tonight I met two really cool girls for drinks at Cafe Pasta for Schmoozefest.  It was outdoors, good band and beautiful weather.  And best of all:  FREE! You got two free drink tickets and could stand in line for some free pasta. I'm in!

So here is the jinx.  I wore white pants!  My friend said, "I'll be impressed if you can do that with out getting anything on your pants"

I did it!!

.......until I walked in the door.  My lovely dog wiped his nasty face on my leg. OMG. i was so mad!  I survived red wine and pasta with red sauce, yet I can't make it one minute at home without ruining my white pants.  They were immediately thrown in the wash so I am hoping and praying his nastiness came out!

geez!

anywho....let's throw it back to this morning when I experienced my second OIAJ!!

I didn't like it at all :)

Recipes

Food.  That is all I thought about today... and well, pretty much what I think about all day, every day!  After catching up on everyone's blog, I stopped by Simply Recipes for some new ideas.  Man oh man does she have some delicious looking meals!!  I had already planned on having the tilapia we did not have last night so I searched her fish section, only leading me to the cheese section, which gave me the idea for fish quesadilla!

Then, while at the gym (2.2 mile run on treadmill and 20 min on elliptical plus 5 min of jump rope) all I could think about was spinach, and the spinach flat bread from Village Tavern the other night) so this is what i came up with for dinner!

Justin's 

loaded up with ff re-fried beans, fish, green chiles, cheese, peppers and topped with sour cream and salsa

with a side of brown rice

My indecisiveness:

Trader Joe's whole wheat tortilla topped with stewed tomatoes, spinach and reduced fat feta cheese!

AND

Whole wheat tortilla with ff re-fried beans, fish, green chilies, peppers, tomato and ff sour cream

This combo really hit the spot!  So much I'll have the same for lunch tomorrow, but sans the tortillas.  

While I was putting all this together, I roasted the last of my veggies! YUM!  these make great lunch wraps!

Looking forward to Girls night Thursday which means Bible Study Wednesday, which means double studying tonight!  

Good night....going to dream about what I'll have for breakfast!

Oats explosion!

I thought I learned my lesson the past 10 times this happened! I took my eyes off for 10 sec. and this is what happens. ah ya ya! 
I was pretty psyched about my new mug I got while shopping through my grandparents house!  Today I copied Heather and made red quinoa to add to my oats. 

It was a nice addition, along with strawberries, banana, blueberries, cinnamon and a spoonful of almond butter!

Yum!

Back to the grind

Boy was it hard to get going today!  I left the house without my phone this morning so I had to use my lunch break to come get it. It was actually a nice break in the day. 

After telling everyone about the triathlon, all I could think about was my next, much needed, workout! So to the gym it was!  I had a great 3 mile run and about 20 minutes of strength exercises.  It feels good to run again :)  I am trying to get in as much as I can now, bc in about 3 weeks, that will be o-ver :(  My drugstore comes next week!  Dr. D called today and my insurance did not cover one of the meds (it was a nasal spray) so they had to switch to another injection. UGH. That will be fun! not.

Oh-big shout out to my Aunt Ann.  She got a job!! Poor thing has had a rough 2 years and finally, after lots of prayers, she got a great job with great benefits!  We are all so excited for her :)

I did not do my usual grocery store trip yesterday bc we have plenty of food at the house....however, i had to slip in for a few necessities (milk, eggs, fruit...) I unexpectedly bought some ground turkey that was on sale - which changed my dinner plans! I had been thinking about fish tacos all day, but that changed into baked spaghetti.

I love green beans! I could probably eat them all meals of the day :)

Triathlon or Moutain bike ride?

Whew! this weekend flew by, just like the bikers that whizzed past me!  OK, So as I have mentioned in previous post, yesterday was the Belews triathlon. I have so many realizations and comments...where to start?

Lets start off with where I was placed.  When you registered, you gave them your 100 yd swim time.  I used to be a swimmer so I just added 10 seconds to my high school time.  Well, little did I know ( I didn't read the rest of the description/directions) I was going to be placed in the front bc of the time I posted.  I was number 66 out of 5somthing.  I started with the REAL triathletes, with real bikes and real outfits!!! 

I am pleased to say out of 125 women I came in 22 in my swim!!!! hells ya! BUT let's just say the bike was a joke!!  After nearly dying after the swim I headed to the transition

I'll admit, this was an awful transition, nearly 5 minutes!! oops! Then off to the dreaded bike. There are not enough words to describe how awful this was!  First- it started off uphill - strike 1!  Second - I was on a mountain bike - strike 2.  Let's just say the first comment from a fellow biker was " Hellls ya, that's nice ride" I was mortified!! other comments I heard while at least 200 real bikers passed me were " on the left" , "keep pedaling, you'll make it!", "don't give up, you're almost there", "keep it up girl!"  Most people felt sorry for me!  I kept trying to think of clever replies like " thanks, just out for my Sunday stroll!!" or "wanna trade?"  I would say at least 200 people passed me and I was the only mountain bike and only person wearing a tshirt! everyone else had on official gear! ha!

Don't be jealous of my biking skills!

My run was actually pretty good.  I did under a 10 min. pace, which is good for me!

Lessons learned:

1.  Training should begin way before two weeks before the tri!!

2.  Mountain bikes are no good...even with hybrid tires

3.  I hate bikes!!

OH..Breaking News!  I beat my husband by 4 minutes!! You don't understand how great this is!! Thanks to the swim ( I had a 7 min lead) I won!!  He had me by  3 seconds on the bike and 4 minutes on the run... and don't think he hasn't come up with every excuse in the book of why he lost!! (ie: had to pee after swim, therefore longer transition, heavier bike, knobby tires....) but 4 minutes is 4 minutes!!! I love it! His friends are giving him hell!

Anywho... a little sore in the arms today, but otherwise a great day.  Slept in, visit with family, and dinner with friends!

Much luck to my Mother in Law who is competing in the St. Pete Tri next weekend.  After dying through a sprint, I give mad props to a full tri!! I can't imagine!!

Off ot another work week!!

Wetsuit time trials!

Tonight was packet pick up and wetsuit time trials.  I was pretty disappointed that there was no real expo which means no free goodies - basically I got a cap and a gel. boring!  After our carb loading spaghetti dinner we had wetsuit time trials.  I felt like a seal! and was super tired after putting it on!

this is where we will be exiting for transition

trying on our caps!

speaks for itself!

me with my mother in law

Everyone is hitting the sack for a 5:30 wake up call.  Super excited and nervous! I think i am the most excited about lunch and fro yo afterward!! ha!

Wish us luck and Heather, hope to see your smiling face there!!

Bored

I am sitting at work bored out of my mind!  There is nothing to do, it is beau-ti-ful outside and our guests will be arriving in 2 hours.  Oh, I should mention my earlier fiasco.  Yes.  So, I had charged my phone last night (or so I thought) and it started beeping at me around 10:45 - battery dead.  How can this be?! So I skidaddled home to get my charger only to find lots of poo to clean up.  Thanks Coltrane.  ugh. Now that I think of it, he was eating grass yesterday- guess it just hit him. ick. I just cleaned his room.  I left the sliding doors open hoping the smell would go away before everyone gets here!

Anywho. hope everyone is having a good day!

Wet suit temps

Hey Peeps!
So, although the weather is going to be beautiful SaturDAY, it is going to be high 40s at 8am and the water temp is going to be around 62.  UM?? Does anyone else think that is a little ridiculous?  I can handle 69-74 but not below!  Once I found out, I quickly called Off N' Running to see if they had any wetsuits left to rent.  They had 3 left! Lucky me.  So I hurried up there to try one on (hello, workout in itself!).  I ended up browsing the shoes and the nice clerk said that he would give me 50% off the Brooks I like!! Woot! Woot! 

They're a beut!  

However, when I got in the car I peeped in my gym back only to realize that my Favorite were the Glycerin, not the Adrenaline.  I have both, and like both but my faves are the Glycerin. Oh well, they are def. better than the New Balances I have.

Tonight's workout!

I am staring to get anxious about this weekend with the race and getting ready for our guests.  Tonight I skipped Bible Study and feel awful about it, but I know if I went, all I would think about is what I had left to do at home.  So, tonight I made guest beds, laid out towels, dusted, made homemade spaghetti sauce for Friday's dinner and cleaned dining room.  Tomorrow I'll have to squeeze in mowing the lawn, vacuuming and mopping - as I can't do that too early bc we have an old dog that poops inside right after he has come in from being let out. I know.. frustrating as hell!  I should own stock in Resolve!!

Justin was gone again tonight.  One of his company's competitors asked him to go to dinner!  I can't wait for him to get home and hear all about it!!

So for dinner I had some shrimp with homemade cocktail sauce and a big salad!

loaded up with egg white, shrimp, peppers, edamame beans, artichoke hearts, wheat berries and cucumbers - dressed with vinegar, a tiny bit of lf ranch and a tiny bit of hummus!

I suppose I should be cleaning instead of blogging!! Adios!

Detour

Is today only Tuesday?  I feel like it should be Thursday!  After a long day of work I made it to the park for a nice run.  I love this park, a little hilly, but a good run. We usually do a small loop that connects to a big loop.  Well today there was a detour.  It was like they were unpaving (is that even a word!) the road so it was real bumpy and there was a strong smell of trucks and tar - this led me to a detour where I was able to run by a McDonalds, Applebees, and Herbies( a breakfast joint).  It just added a few minutes to my run, which probably is not a bad thing right now! 

After the run I headed back to school to watch the girls Lacrosse team.  I have never been to one before so I had a lot to learn!

Since J had a dinner meeting I headed to Earth Fare in search of Nooch.  After reading all about it, it was time to give it a whirl!  I also picked up some guiltless gourmet chips (out of this world!), a travel pack of Maple Almond butter and they had a special going today for a FREE pineapple! YIPEE!! I love FREE and I love Pineapple!  winner winner chicken dinner!!

Dinner was a veggie wrap that had peppers, spinach and some bean salad with a side of spinach topped with nooch.  Great dinner and the nooch is pretty good!!

I had some of this goodness with a little hummus while dinner was heating up!

Many things to do right now...gots to get busy!