Holy Heat Wave

It's hot as balls out there. OMG. But I seriously can't complain too much because I would much rather have it like this than snowing. Mama doesn't do snow. 

But I DO do this pretty well: 

This heat is just making me so friggin' lazy!  

The boys and I went to the zoo for a little while yesterday morning. They have 2 brand new baby lions, but we didn't get to see them because by the time we walked all the way to the African exhibit, we felt like we were legit IN Africa. So we peaced outta there. 

I did drag my booty to Zumba later that day and almost died. We hit up the spray park afterwards. 

And now it's blazing hot again, for the fifth day in a row. I taught step this morning, which had the potential of bring completely disastrous. But don't worry- I rocked it, haha. 

I'm teaching again tonight, and my legs basically feel like they're falling off right now. Yet somehow they have enough strength to keep walking to the bulk bag of chocolate chips that I was supposed to turn in to cookies...

And in other news, I got a sweet manicure: 

You like?! 😉

Have a healthy day, 

J

So Long, Summer

I went back to work yesterday.  A full day, and I about died.  Meeting after meeting after meeting.  I'm pretty sure that the highlight of my day was walking in to my classroom after having set up the desks exactly how I wanted them last week, only to find that someone went in there and took all but 5 desks out.  Those 5 were arranged in a neat little row down the center of the room.  Um, bring me back my effing desks.  And thanks, but rows? C'mon.  Everyone knows that rows are SO uncool. So I decided to actually get on top of things for once in my life and make a poster I want for my first day activity.  A very special shout-out goes to whomever took ALL of the supplies out of the supply cupboard.  I'm really looking forward to going out and buying ALL new stuff, breaking a sweat while moving furniture down a hallway, and oh yeah, meeting all of my parents tonight.  Good times. 

On another note, my kid had Kindergarten screening this morning. I'm not exactly sure what they were screening for, especially since his tiny school only has one Kindergarten class, so it's not like there's a lot of options.  He was super excited to go, but definitely started crying when I was about leave.  I was totally unprepared for the tears and it sucked.  And what sucked even more is that when I went back an hour later to get him, the teacher said that for the last ten minutes he kept saying he just wanted to play with his brother. They are gonna die without eachother this year. Poor Ty has to wait for 2 more freaking years before he gets to go.  Horrible planning on my part.  He totally should have been born 3 months earlier than he was. 

Much to their dismay, they are NOT actually twins.

So that's what's happening over here.  On a different note, I did a double workout session on Monday (ran and did free weights in the morning; taught Power Body at night), and then tried a new class last night.  It was a series of one-minute intervals (I'm certain she was lying about them only being 60 seconds) of cardio and strength.  The whole thing was done while holding a medicine ball.  It literally kicked my booty.  As in, my butt is so friggin sore today that going up the stairs is actually a chore.  It's looking like today may need to be a rest day, unless I can squeeze something in before I go to Open House tonight. 

 

Have a healthy day,

 

J

 

 

Good Morning! We made it!

Camping!  And not only did we "make it" as my title suggests, but we ROCKED it.  Ok, so we're not exactly shopping around for deluxe campers complete with strings of lights, nor are we feverishly booking our next trip to the great outdoors; but overall, camping was a huge success.  So huge in fact, that tears were actually shed by the littlest Wheaton when he was told it was time to pack up to head home. 

Of course, as my hot-mess luck should have it, my camera died as soon as I snapped the first picture on Saturday morning, so all memories of our first family camping trip must now reside in our heads.  EPIC FAIL.  So sadly, pictures didn't happen this weekend. But in no particular order, here are some things that DID happen:

• Bodysurfing in the lake
• Building sandcastles
• Neighbors who played their music too loudly til 2 AM
• Baby bunnies
• Live music on the beach
• Doritos, potatoes, bacon, marshmallows, ice cream cones, lemonade, basically every other unhealthy food you can possibly think of
• An air pump that wasn't charged up enough to blow up the air mattress
• A trip to the camp store to purchase a hand-held air pump
• Playgrounds
• Walking in the woods with flashlights
• Basically every other activity that boys enjoy, including but not limited to, both peeing and brushing teeth outside. 
• Mistaking an adult drink for a kid drink... and then being asked to perform a sobriety test in the form of Follow The Leader.  (Just kidding, that didn't happen.  OMG YES IT DID. We were scared out of our minds that our 5-year-old was gonna be wasted. But thank God he was totally fine.  There was hardly anything left in the cup anyway. Maybe the sobriety test was a little over the top...)
• The phrases "I wuv tampin'!!!"  and "Woah, camping is so awesome!!"
• Passing out and completely missing both marshmallows and glow-in-the dark bubbles the second night.

So here we are, home again, and I am fatter than ever.  I'm pretty sure that I gained 50 pounds while away so it's time to get things back on track. 

Here's what's happening on the workout front:

Monday- 4 mile walk (dare I say Power Walk?) with the stroller/ 1-hour Power Body class
Tuesday- (yep, that's today) Arms with free weights/ Zumba = Dunzo!/ Hopefully "hiking"(walking on a trail) with boys later if it's not a million degrees out.
Wednesday-Friday- some running, more weights, maybe another cardio class or 2, hmmm... the possiblites are endless 

What's on your workout agenda for the week???

Have a healthy day,

J

Where Has The Time Gone?

How is it possible that I haven't posted since Wednesday?  Sheesh, my bad.  Oh well... new week, new me.  So here goes. 

"Mom, food with no nutritional value just isn't getting it done... Please. Go. Shopping."

I was thinking about giving this post the title of "How To Healthily Survive a Pizza Hut Lunch Buffet", but seeing as how the boys and I gorged ourselves silly on Friday afternoon, I clearly don't know the answer to that.  You see, they have been so well behaved lately, that I thought they definitely deserved a special treat.  Either that, or I hadn't been grocery shopping in months, so they were actually STARVING.  Ok fine,  you win.  Well, you kind of win.  Yes, it had been a (long) while since the last shopping trip.  But they are pretty well behaved when they're not crying for no reason, punching each other, tattling, or otherwise throwing fits. And the three of us kind of LOVE Pizza Hut, so it was a no-brainer.  (As in, I am way too ashamed of how much I am eating at a greasy buffet right now to take a picture for my blog on how to live a healthy lifestyle type of no-brainer).  Anyway, there is my confession for the week:  I ate Pizza Hut, and I liked it.  I do not regret it.  There, I said it.  And, I may or may not have eaten a piece of ice cream cake later that night.  Wow, I'm on a roll.  Let me stop now before I bare my soul.  This is too much truth for one little paragraph. 

So yeah, that totally happened.  And not going to the gym happened too.  Oh well, life will move on.  And I'm thankful that I can start over today.  Onward and upward.  So here's something cool that happened this weekend: 

Wow, the people who live here must really love working out.
I'll bet they never eat Pizza Hut.

The hubster turned part of our porch in to a workout space!  He was planning on painting the garage this weekend instead, but since it rained both freaking days, he did this instead. Truthfully, this is probably way cooler for him than it is for me, but I still think he did a great job.  He had all of the stuff except for the core ball and the legit looking mats before he started this project, but it was all mixed in with the rest of the crap  boys' valuable stuff out there, so now it's nice and neat in its own little spot.

Here's something we haven't done in a while: Goal Setting Monday!!  Have you figured out what's on the week's agenda yet?  Here are some of my goals (in no particular order):

1.  Teach a great class tonight despite the fact that I am sore as hell from the crazy yoga class I took yesterday.  I went to relax for a minute and stretch out and not focus on the fact that I hadn't been to the gym since Wednesday.  That plan backfired, however, as soon as the teacher announced that "today's class will be pretty intense.  Remember to breathe it out."  Ummmmm.... I was literally dripping in sweat within 10 minutes, and I'm pretty sure that at some points my breathing was more like panting.  The 2 mile walk I took with the stroller when I got home did nothing to help.  Every muscle in my body is sore today. 

2. Clean my house.  I hate to clean, and my house is gross.  I will clean it even though I would rather nap and/or watch TV.  Boo. This goal is not fun, but it will be fun to make a list of each room in my house, and then cross them off as they get done.  Crossing things off lists is fun!

3. Donate clothes to Goodwill.  There are three bags of clothes that are packed and ready to go.  There is a Goodwill collection bin literally within walking distance to my house.  In fact, I think I may be able to see it from the upstairs window.  Said bags have been sitting on the dining room floor for at least a week.  Do you think either of us has grabbed them and dropped them off on our way to work?  No, of course not.  This week, that will change. 

4.  Not eat crap.  I will eat healthy things this week like bananas and Kashi Go Lean.  I will refrain from Pizza Hut.  I will drink a lot of water and will not give in to temptation when things like this show up on my kitchen counter after it has been discovered that baseball practice has been rained out:





And no, I did not eat one of these.  I didn't even have a bite.  And for once I am telling the truth. I have so much willpower.

And there you have it.  I think that's enough for now.  Here's to a productive week! 

Have a healthy day,

J



Food Lovin' Friday- Rainbow Pasta Salad

What's your favorite summer food?  Barbecue chicken?  Corn on the Cob?  I love pretty much every single thing about summer, especially the food selection.  My all-time favorite summer food that I could eat every day at every meal is a fresh pasta salad.  I have been working on mine for a few summers now, and the other night I think I did it.  I made the PERFECT pasta salad.  And now you can too! 

Here's what you'll need:

Cooked pasta (I chose Rainbow Rotini)

Broccoli Crowns

Tomatoes

Red Onion

Fresh Mozzarella

A bell pepper (I had an orange one on hand, but any color will get the job done)

Whatever other veggies you'd like to use (I had some corn, so I threw that in)

Italian Dressing (I actually used Parmesan Italian)

Chop it all up:



I love taking blurry pictures.  But get past that,
and admire the colors. Your salad is
going to look DIVINE.





Fact:  I am trying to stay away from dairy.
Fact:  I LOVE fresh mozzarella.

Add the cheese last.

In fact, I love it so much that I needed to take two pictures.



Throw it all in a big bowl, mix it all together and top it off with the dressing.  Do yourself two favors here. One- don't drown those gorgeous fresh vegetables, and two- don't use fat-free or reduced fat dressing.  It has a lot of chemicals that are just weird.

Almost done...

TA-DA!  How good does that look?!?!

Have you ever eaten something and immediately started looking forward to the next meal so you could eat it again?  Um, yeah.  That's the effect this pasta salad has on me. I kind of couldn't stop thinking about it.

I served it with some Italian Sausage (another summer favorite).  Mine was spicy turkey. 
The grill wasn't loaded up with new propane yet, so I had to make do with the ol' stove top.  It worked out.

So this picture totally reminded me of how I don't want to look in my bathing suit this summer.  And then I was reminded that I needed to hit the gym. 

This is what happened:

Friday- nothing.  I ate 12 pounds of pasta salad and my clothes began to resemble sausage casing.

Saturday- 2 miles on the treadmill and free weights.  A majorly needed sweat session. 

Sunday- Nothing.  Wow, I'm lazy.  Well, in my defense, the hubs was golfing so I couldn't go to the gym. The boys and I took a walk that probably burned about 12 calories. 

Monday- Power Body night!!  Awesome!! 

I'm really looking forward to a great week, and I hope you are too.  I've got some good posts planned, too, so make sure you check back in with me.  And hey- I'd really love it if you left a comment once in a while. Cuz at this point, I have pretty much no idea if anyone even reads this thing...

Have a healthy day,

J