Done!

I have officially logged 52 miles this month!!!! I am so excited that I met my goal this month because I didn't last month & I was determined to this month! I finished today with a 2 mile run & a .7 mile walk. I know I have said this before but I HAVE to have a goal in order to be motivated, so I enjoyed joining with @hausofgirls on Instagram the past 2 months. I also went after it this month with weights and did upper body & lower body along with my runs & ab workouts. Now if I could only LOVE eating vegetables, HA! 

I ran outside on Saturday around noon and it was a huge mistake. It was so blasting hot & I was dying. It was ugly. Not to mention my runkeeper likes to pause ALL the time and its annoying. Desperately need a new phone. And need to remember to run at night in the summer. ;)

 

LOVE taking Emma for walks! She loves to power walk!!! 

 

Logged 4 miles yesterday with (of course)  a cool down by the pool! 

Boom. DONE! 

Fishing & Sunsets

On Saturday our friends Chase & Rachel invited us to go fishing. Ty never gives up a fishing trip so we loaded up & headed to Chase's grandfather's farm!

 

Look at that sun! So pretty!!

Ty getting my rod ready! 

The pond! 

I like fishing but get bored quick if the fish aren't biting. Luckily, my first two casts had bites so I got super excited. We fished for about 3 hours & I caught 3 baby bass. 

Here's my first catch of the day... 

All of my fish were little like this one but that's ok :) at least I was catching them!

Ty & Chase ended up both catching 4 pounders at the exact same time so we snatched a pic! 

 

Look at those beasts! (The bass, not the boys)  ;) ;)

When the sun went down, Rachel and I got cold & bored (ok I got bored around hour 2...or 1) so we hopped in the truck while the boys kept fishing after dark. 

The sunset was absolutely beautiful on the farm...

If you know me, you know I'm a sucker for sunsets.

They remind me of my uncle Stu who passed away in 2008. 

So beautiful! God must have been showing off ;)

How can you not believe? Only God could paint that. 

Oh and I love the cows on the horizon. Sometimes I long to live on a farm! 

37 miles

I didn't do a Fitness Friday post last week because I don't think Kristin did one...?? Anyways, I'm here mid-week to update on my 52 miles in May Challenge! I am seriously thinking I might meet this goal! I have logged 37 miles so far! Only 15 more miles to go in 9 days! I can do it!!! I have enjoyed this month of walking OR running! Some days my legs are sore from running or leg workouts so I enjoy walking on those days or doing a walk/run combo! Also, since it is getting HOT here in Alabama, walking is a nice alternative when it's smokin outside! I am not a summer runner, so the treadmill and I have become friends again. ;) I also love walking with Emma so I have enjoyed getting to log those miles as well!!!

In other news, tomorrow is the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! I will miss this group so much, I've had most of them for 2 years!!! However, this teacher is ready for summer. :) 

My week

This is what my week has looked like:

Paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork! Oh yes and I'm still supposed to be teaching, right? 

Right.

The end of the year brings a whole new tired to teachers...

6 more days!

Parmesan Chicken Bake

This is BY FAR my favorite chicken recipe I have tried. It is SO good and is even better as leftovers! I usually use 3 chicken breasts but use the mix the normal amount of ingredients for the topping so each chicken is completely covered! I also use half Greek yogurt & half mayo to make it healthier! If anyone tries it, let me know! It is super easy and I promise it will be a hit!

Fitness Friday Link Up-Week 2!

Yes, it is Monday but Kristin didn't post her Fitness Friday Post until yesterday so I couldn't have linked up on Friday anyways ;). 

Prep - same as last week. I ate leftovers several days this week but the days I didn't, I made sure my salad was ready the night before. I guess cooking a healthy meal the night before and eating leftovers is the same thing as doing prep work, right? I made my favorite chicken recipe on Tuesday night an ate it for lunch Wednesday and Thursday! I need to post the recipe for y'all. It is SO good.

Weight- we all know how I feel about scales. NEXT...

Food - Every day for breakfast I had Cascadian farms cereal. Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday I had leftovers  which included chicken breasts, veggies, & brown rice with a granola bar. Every day for a snack I had a banana or an apple. Friday our PTO served us nachos for lunch so I splurged! ;) The only night I splurged for dinner was Wednesday because I had a girls night and lets face it, girls night & pizza go hand in hand. :)

Water/drinks - I did great with my water this week. I filled my bottle up 4 times most days which equals 80oz of water!! Friday I had sweet tea at lunch so I did not drink it on Saturday like I normally do. I also have been drinking a BOOST when I get home from school as my snack. Anyone tried these? They're loaded with vitamins & minerals and are delish but they are so expensive! I had a coupon for them which is the only reason I bought them! 

Exercise - Saturday (5/4) I took Emma for a walk; Sunday (5/5) I ran & did upper body & abs; Monday (5/6) I walked, did a p90x leg workout, and did abs; Tuesday (5/7)  I ran 2 miles; Thursday (5/9) I did the eliptical and walked; And Friday (5/8) I took Emma for a walk! I am up to 21.4 miles out of 52 in the May challenge with @hausofgirls on Instagram!

Victories - my victory this week was cooking healthy meals and eating on them all week, doing a p90x leg workout (my legs were JELLO the rest of the week) and getting up to 21.4 miles out of 52!

Things to work on - only splurging ONCE a week (not 2 like last week), and trying to do something active every day. I couldn't help it one day last week but I could have at least done abs or upper body on the 2 days I didn't do anything last week. 

It's your turn now! Go link up with Kristin at The Little Princess Diaries:

www.thelittleprincessdiaries.com/2013/05/fitness-friday-on-sunday.html?m=1

{sorry it isn't linked properly, I am on my phone again this week}

Lazy lazy weekend

Well I don't know about where you live but here in Alabama it was a gloomy, rainy weekend for most of the weekend. I got sick at the end of last week and barely slept Wednesday & Thursday nights so Friday after school I fell asleep on the couch at about 5, woke up at 7:30 & ate dinner, fell back asleep until 11:30, only waking up to take a quick shower & jump in the bed.

Tired much?

I slept until about 9:30 Saturday morning and finally didnt feel like a zombie like I did on Thursday & Friday! I laid around all morning watching tv & then Ty & Emma came over later in the afternoon. Ty hit the gym and Emma & I went to the park for a walk. Emma was so excited, she was practically walking me for the first mile. I had a "momma" moment at the park - some guy swatted his fishing net at Emma!!! I guess he thought she was getting too close to him (which she wasn't at all!!). I gave him the dirtiest look and bit my tongue trying not to say a smart remark at him. Really? Rude.

Other than that outing, we've been parked on the couch all weekend. Literally. And I have loved every second of it. Sometimes you need weekends like that. I always feel like we go go go every weekend and never get to just lay around. It was much needed and I am feeling so much better!

Ready to tackle the last 14 days with my babies. Don't get me started on that - I might have a breakdown letting them go...I've had most of them for 2 years. :(

Fitness Friday Week 1 Link Up!

I am linking up with Kristin from The Little Princess Diaries for my first Fitness Friday post!
(www.thelittleprincessdiaries.com/?m=1)
{forgive me, I'm on my phone so I couldn't link properly}

I decided to join Kristin for several reasons:
1. Bathing suit season is upon us.
2. Must wear a Bridesmaids dress in t-minus 58 days.
3. Since I had to cancel my Y membership for a little while, I need some motivation!

I'm going to follow her lead and use the same headings as her! (Hope that's ok Kristin!!)

Prep - All I did this week to prep is make sure my lunch was packed the night before. I'm ALWAYS in a rush in the mornings and I never have sufficient time to pack a salad so I end up grabbing soup or something quick. I made sure my salad & toppings were already in Tupperware in the fridge before I went to bed each night. This helped so much this week! It forced me to eat a healthy lunch everyday and I was out the door in record time each day. :)

Weight - I don't believe in scales so I'm going to skip this part! They anger me because when I think I'm doing so good, the number seems to rise (which is most likely from muscle gain but it still upsets me). I don't own a scale and I don't ever plan to!

Food - I did pretty good this week with my food intake. Each day for breakfast I had either Cascadian Farms or Post Great Grains cereal. For lunch I had a salad with chicken breast, cheese, and raspberry vinaigrette dressing 3 days, chicken 1 day, and homemade chicken salad 1 day. I also had a Nature Valley crunchy granola bar & tortilla chips (just trying to get rid of them) on the side. For dinner on Monday I ate a hamburger without the bun & broccoli; Tuesday I had veggies & then Kashi cereal later (ha-interesting combo I know); Wednesday I had Carrabbas Chicken Marsala & green beans; and Thursday night I made myself an egg sandwich- two yolks & one egg white. Overall I think I did good, other than the tortilla chips :).

Water/Drinks - I fill my 20 oz water bottle 3 times a day and usually drink a separate glass of water at dinner so I think I'm drinking a good amount but I can always drink more! I do not drink coffee or carbonated drinks and only allow myself sweet tea on the weekends (usually just once). This has been my rule for awhile now and I love it. I always look forward to my sweet teas on the weekends! Sometimes things come up and I break my rule but for the most part I strictly drink water during the week. I sometimes have V8 fusion with dinner as well.

Exercise - well, lets just say this week was a bust! Monday & Tuesday my mom was here & so I did nothing. Wednesday & Thursday I did go for a walk but only for a little over 2 miles each day. My hip flexor has been hurting since the middle of last week so I was trying to give it a rest this week but its still hurting so clearly that didnt help. Yesterday I also did upper body with my free weights and an AB workout. I am joining up with @hausofgirls on Instagram again this month and our challenge is to run/walk 52 miles in May. I have 4.7/52 done so far.

Victories - I think my biggest victory this week was eating good. I am proud of myself for not eating pasta every night (which I have done in weeks prior). It's hard eating good protein-based dinners on a VERY TIGHT budget. Chicken breasts are expensive!!

Things to work on - work out/run more next week & continue making healthy lunches the night before.

Head over to Kristin's blog to link up with me!

**i apologize that all my pictures are at the end and not with each section but I'm on my phone & that's the only way to do it! I did try to keep them in order of the headings though. :)

Ballerina

Aubrey had her first ballet recital on Tuesday! Mom came Monday night & spent the night with me for the recital on Tuesday.

After an unenjoyable visit to the doctor that morning, I picked mom up back at my apartment and we were off to see our little ballerina! She is the youngest in her class & naturally she stared at us half the time but it was so cute watching her do all her moves. :)

She takes class at a church and I loved how they prayed before, thanked God for allowing them to be ballerinas and sang songs to God throughout the performance! It was so sweet.