Happy Monday!

Ashlie with her beautiful homemade dessert pizza!

Hope you have a happy Monday!!

Yep

That's right, folks.  I have MONO. Of course I do.

MONONUCLEOSIS, a friend of the Epstein-Barr Virus - which is a virus (duh) so there is nothing they can give me. At all.

Kind of funny if you think about it.  NOT!! 

On the bright side - only 8 weeks of school left.  And 6 midterms.  And 4 finals.  On the downward slide!!

I think I will go take a nap...

Today

For today I just want to be a mom.  No school, no work, no church, just a mom, marveling at how amazing my kids are. I want to freeze them in time.  They are growing like weeds and I am afraid they will be gone when I wake up tomorrow.

That's all.

Nothing New

Nothing new to post. I am stick of studying - again, nothing new to report. So I took off last Friday and spent the day with the fam at Lagoon. We ran into a few of our friends which was so fun!!

It was a nice break. And it was a beautiful day. And we spent 12 whole hours there. So we were all extremely exhausted, a little sunburned and glad we only go once a year!!

Another Weekend

...Has come and gone. 

We watched our little soccer star score 3 goals at his soccer game.

We caught up with old friends over breakfast.

We watched our beloved Utah Utes pulverize Iowa State (have I mentioned how much I love my Utah Football?)

Birthday party for my dad - we are so grateful he is still here (he gave us quite a scare last April with a major heart attack).

That's about it.  Now back to the grind of another week.  At least it is short - UEA for the kids.

How was your weekend?  What did you do?

A Long Weekend

We took off last weekend for a few days of rest and relaxation at our cabin.  Here is what we did...

We photographed two of the cutest boys EVER made!

We played cards with our FABULOUS friend Morgan...

We watched movies...

Giggled like girls...

Practiced our "Strong Man" poses...

Rode dirt bikes and 4-wheelers...

And acted tough...

And posed for the camera...

The dog was banned from the cabin so we kept him outside (yeah, right)...

We carved our names in trees...

We dustied up the 4-wheelers then loaded them up to come home for the winter...

We oohed and aaahed at the beautiful fall colors...

We got high on the clean mountain air...

I heard it was beautiful weather and an amazing weekend.  I studied for my micro test all weekend (which I did not do so fabulous on).  It was nice to get away and fun to have our favorite Morgan with us.  If only every weekend could be that relaxing...

Campbell Cupcakes

Meet Campbell.  I love him - and ADORE him.  He's been my buddy since he was 18 months old (now he's 4).  My good friend Char (his mom) lets me borrow him now and again.  My baby is 7, almost 8, and I miss having my little guy around.  So this day I borrowed Campbell and we made cupcakes.


Campbell and I share a similar fascination/adoration/respect for the cupcake.  Campbell likes them because "they are easier to eat than cake - you just get to hold it in your hand!"  So smart!  I like them because - well, because they are delicious!  And I think the hold it in your hand thing has something really going for it...no forks, plates...genius!

Campbell went to the store that morning and bought us extra special, fancy Halloween sprinkles for our cupcakes.

We baked our cupcakes - this is the first time my cupcakes did not come out disgusting - Campbell must be magic!  He did tell me his mom taught him special cupcake skills.  Knowing his mom, I totally believe it.

The finished product - with two extra specials cakes for hims (his word) mom and dad.

Campbell, thanks for a great afternoon (and some delicious cupcakes)!!

Days Three, Four and Five

Day three - upper body weights 1 hour, run 3 miles.

Day Four - should have done lower body, but was running late, so ran 2 miles (without stopping and in 19:58 - a best for me in almost a year)

Day Five - Rest - long run tomorrow.  I am not going to do weights or a run (mostly because I am behind on my studying, lab paper and midterm prep), but will do an hour of pilates.  Told (of course, by my trainer) pilates are GREAT for runners - they lengthen and strengthen muscles without a lot off stress.  I am a HUGE fan of pilates!

The plan for tomorrow is to run a long run of 4 long miles (if you can call that a long run) then rest on Sunday.

 Start the week over on Monday, increasing the length of each run gradually.  You can email me or leave a comment if you want the training schedule.  I will not bore you (if anyone is actually reading this) with the whole 12 week schedule.  I think it would bore me to write it!

I have one midterm a week in October - two in one week.  Running and lifting helps me deal a little better with the stress.  Not a lot, but a little. 

May all your runs be good ones!

Day Two

 Today is lower body - meaning legs and butt (I am already sore).  I spent 45 minutes on lower body then a two mile run.  My trainer suggested not running a long distance after a leg workout - it is possible to do more damage than good.  I doubt I run far or hard enough to qualify for that.

I am eating what my trainer calls 'clean'.  Lean protein sources - fish, chicken, turkey, non-starch vegetables and healthy fat (olive oil, almond butter) for each meal.  At lunch I add 1/2  a sweet potato.  Dinner is protein, fat and lots and lots of vegetables.  Processed food makes me feel fat and bloated, so I stay away from it.  Also, he suggests eating every two to three hours - between meals have a snack of fruit and nuts (12 almonds, to be precise).  I also use a protein bar for an afternoon snack so I can get in my chocolate fix.

Happy training - I hope someone out there is reading this!

Day One

Here goes day one of training for the 1/2 marathon in January.

First - 45 minutes of upper-body weights
Protein shake for breakfast (one hour before run)
Second - 3 mile run
My trainer told me to run AFTER weights and more fat is burned that running before weights.

Good to know!