working out makes me sane…

Posted on | May 5, 2013 | No Comments

On Friday after work I was driving away from the rest of the staff after we ate lunch together around 2 p.m. and I had had a great day so far. But my attitude was about to take a turn for the worse.

I was all packed up and ready to go to my BF Jim’s for the weekend and then I thought of all the things I had to do before I got there and stress started to get the best of me. The annoying thing to me about this looking back is that my day at work wasn’t even particularly hard or bad. I love my coworkers and I love holy cow…guess I’ll chock it up to hormones?

I ran an errand and text Jim something like “I don’t know how to go though one more stop at a red light without imploding, wish I could fly to your house.”I was on the east side of Eugene and he lives in deep West Eugene and I had just missed the expressway ramp so I had to go all the way through town.

     chobani, cereal, applesauce, green apples, almond milk, brown rice, asparagus, mushrooms, shells and pasta

At least my amazing Boyfriend went out for groceries knowing what I like! He bought me all kinds of goodies that I love and he cleaned his house so I would feel right at home.  My stomach kind of controls my life in that I get heartburn and upset stomach often and from eating certain foods, greasy, heavy, fried food, fast food, strawberries, tomatoes, sour candy, orange juice, grapefruit, SODA (the bubbles kill me), beer etc. Also when I get hungry I have to eat something pretty much immediately (low blood sugar) or I get sick, lightheaded, often throw up.   When Jimmy stocks his fridge with foods I love and make my tummy feel good it makes me feel so special and thought of.

Anyway by this time I‘m speeding along with the Christian music station blaring just trying to deal with the traffic and this deep feeling of stress and discontent. I was perfectly happy in my feeling of fullness, having just had lunch before leaving work but I was so uncomfortable because of the blaring heat and full on sun. Also I’m PMSing so I start tearing up over nothing and just being generally pissed off all on my drive over to Jim’s house from my work. I gave sarcastic thumb’s ups to far too many motorists failing to merge correctly from Delta to Beltline hwy. I called my mom when I got off the Hwy to west Eugene and she told me to go work out before I even really hung out with Jim. There was no reason to go into his house and complain about stuff or take my random anger out on him so I might as well go sweat it out. I parked my car at Jim’s and walked in to change into less clothes/shoes. Then I left and walked to the gym in his community. And can I tell you IT WORKED! I set the elliptical for 20 minutes on level 16 (highest level) and the “hills” program.  I honestly just wanted to fatigue myself so I could go relax and spend the rest of the evening with Jim in content. At the end of the twenty minutes I was drenched in sweat, tired and HAPPY

friday after

I walked back to Jims and told him I felt much better (especially in his air conditioned clean house surrounded by yummy snacks and puppy). I told him I definitely would have made his night less fun if I came into his house with all my stress.

This is an instance where I really believe working out prevented me from having a miserable night (FOR NO REASON!) I may have even started a fight or argument with Jim just because I was stressed and unhappy.

my favorites

That brings us to this morning. I had a great Friday, Saturday (Disc Golf!) with Jim and always have a great time spending the weekend with him. There is one catch: every Sunday when I wake up in his room and I feel an itching need to move. Thoughts are always racing through my head of what I want to accomplish on my last day off.  Let me back up. I started working out in April 2012 and before then I was just a generally sadder and more anxious person. Let me back up some more. Jim and I have been together since 2009 and I’ve woken up at his house a lot of Sunday’s because used to live there 2010-2011. In November 2011 I was discontented and stressed for no real reason and moved out of Jim’s house to take a break and find myself. Fast forward to this Sunday I wake up and can only cuddle for so long (love you babe!) I get up, change, and take Vito our pug on a 20 minute jaunt, come back and say Hi to Jim then go to the gym for 30 minutes. Today I chose the bike trainer level 16 hills (until I got to height of hill and would have to go down to level 9-12).

boo-tay sunday

earlier this week

What I’m trying to say is that I am a tightly wound up person. I have stress , I carry it with me and I like to drop on the people I love the most, the ones I know will never leave me. Working out makes me a better person. If I had been working out in November 2011 I can say with sureness that Jim and I would have never taken a “break” in our relationship. When I workout I’m able to see the positive and release the stress that is pent up inside. Working out keeps me sane!

tempeh plate from Holy Cow with golden (nut. yeast) gravy and mashed yukon potatos

we’ve been working in the garden

vito makes me smile

In other news Jim and I are really actually moving to New Orleans, Louisiana. I cried on the way home from Jim’s this morning just thinking of how many times I’ve seen everything in South Eugene, every street sign, building, and park. Can you imagine growing up and living in the town you were born in? How many times have I walked or driven across 18^th and Chambers intersection. The answer is once, twice, sometimes three times a day for TWENTY THREE YEARS.  I can’t wait to explore and to feel alive again. Isn’t it wonderful to seek out and find things you’ve never seen before. Every corner I turn I can look and see something NEW! Something I have never seen in my life and new experience I could never find in Eugene. I’m ready.

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

What did you do to celebrate this year?

I drank a raspberry wheat shock top and ordered a big wet veggie burrito from burrito boy.

April Showers

Posted on | April 7, 2013 | No Comments

Life has thrown me a curveball. It hit me in the face. I woke up this morning at Jim’s with a painfully sore spot on my right eyebrow. It must be some kind of hormonal acne and a cluster or pore’s are clogged and swollen making my eye puffy and asymmetrical. It’s not fun. Strangely enough I also woke up with the desire to run! That is very odd for me (but  I have awesome new running shoes) and I decided to listen to my body and immediately started looking up a couch to 5k plan in my head. Even though I thought I was fit enough to skip ahead to training week two the plan advises to start slow so as not to burn out.

Anyway I wanted to pop on here and obviously rant about that but also share that despite my face pain (!) I went no a little beginner’s run walk and went 1.6 miles in 23 minutes. My plan is to try running as my cardio for a week and see how I like it. I’ll do 1.5 miles two more times this week and if I like it I’ll move up to 2 miles next week. I’ll still do 2 strength sessions and yoga but I think it would feel empowering to start running. That’s roughly what a couch to 5k plan would look like for the first two weeks.

Here’s a post a wrote at the end of March to let you know how I’d been eating over Spring Break, since then I’ve eaten a lot cleaner but I didn’t exercise much last week so it kind of evens out.

WIAW

Posted on | March 15, 2013 | No Comments

Wednesday was a fun and interesting day in my workplace! I made myself breakfast and showed up at ten only to leave at 11 because I found out I have to cover for someone in the production shift 4-8. Then I went to Jimmy’s, we got lunch at Mongolian grill and chilled for a few hours and I went back to work (which explains my snacks).. I wrote out captions for all the  pictures so click on one and they become a slideshow -check it out.

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As far as workouts go I’ve been adjusting to a more physical role and work and slacked off on intentional after work exercise this week. I even skipped my beloved yoga Tuesday because I was so tired from hauling huge deliveries into the cafe and restaurant. Looking forward to bootcamp this weekend…

Jim has work off tomorrow and it’s his first Saturday off in a long time! You can bet we will be outside hiking the butte or playing disc golf if there is any sun to soak up

The weeks fly by

Posted on | March 9, 2013 | No Comments

It’s a Sunshiney DAY! Happy Saturday! I haven’t been a very motivated clean eater recently and I believe that turning to that would make all the difference in getting to where I want to be physically. I’ve gained weight and I notice the band of fat back around my lower tummy / my thighs don’t fit comfortably in some of my size 5s. Here we are in March 2013 and I’m weary because April 2012 was when I got fierce about my fitness journey and completely remodeled my habits. I feel so strong when I work out and constantly push myself physically to be the best that I can be. But how can I feel truly great about my one year anniversary of “getting fit” (April 8) if I weigh more than I ever did originally, sure I’m in much better shape but I didn’t reduce my body fat much even though my body looks way better than it did when I started. I feel accomplished because I have built strength but I have a lot more to work on. I have to stop baking (you’ll see the pics of the crap I’ve been eating)

Alas, As much as I’ve been slacking on the clean eating I have still been sweating my ass off. I want to use best help yourself as a place to stay accountable with my weekly activity and to help motivate myself and others to use food as nourishment for our bodies!

Baked Oatmeal Snack Bars

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts [or any nuts you like]
• 1/2 cup dried fruit (any you like – raisins, cranberries, dates, figs, unsweetened coconut)
• 1/4 cup seeds (any you like – sunflower, pumpkin, flax, sesame)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2  tsp kosher salt
• 1.25 cups almond milk
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• I also topped my bars with a small sliced banana and turned the oven to broil for the last five minutes so it got all caramelized!

Here are the ingredients I used ^ It is too simple just bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Cut into 12 squares and each has about 125 calories. Best part is there is no butter or sugar added!

 I’m so happy I have such a healthy, filling go-to breakfast for this week in the freezer. My mom actually saw the first batch of oats bars when they came out of the oven Sunday and told me immediately “make a double batch of that- I can tell we want more than you’ve made-”

Sunday 3/3

45 minutes full body circuit

Breakfast after workout: 2.5 small oat bars with 1/2 c. greek yogurt

Snack: 

serving of Cheetos and maybe 40 green grapes at my Aunt and Uncle’s House

12-25 corn tortilla chips

corn tortilla with slice pepper jack and 2 TBS black beans

1/2 cup  ground beef enchiladas

6 inch Subway Egg and cheese Flatbread with all veggies

another oat bar

Monday:

Bfast: 6 inch Subway egg and cheese flatbread with veg

Snack: 1 oat bar

5 hours of standing and wrapping burritos.

Lunch/Dinner: A holy cow special: Sheik yerbouti (SHAKE YER BOOTAY!) “Velvet Smooth polenta dumplings in a spicy tomato sauce, served on a basmati-lentil pilaf with sauteed seasonal greens and cucumber-yogurt dressing. I also had 2 house made whole wheat tortillas and a macaroon.

When I got home I ate a grapefruit and later had an english muffin with PBJ

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Last night Jimmy took me out on a date to Chili’s (I got the delicious mango-chile tilapia with broccoli and rice) and then OZ  in IMAX 3D! The movie was beautiful and a lot of fun! Then I treated him to Sweet Life- we got cinnamon and pistachio meringues, a chocolate cloud 9 slice, a chocolate cream puff, a lemon bar, and a peanut butter rice krispy bar. It was all shared between us and my parents (rice krispy is Jim’s for work today).

Today I went to class in the morning and then came home to do a six minute boot camp workout. I decided to do it 3 times through with just a minute and a sip of water in between each round. With the mix of squats, moves in plank, lunges, quick cardio intervals and plyometric holds (think squat w/ heel raises) it really got me sweating. Then I took the dog on a walk and did a lot of laundry.

Bfast- 1/2 English Muffin with PB and a banana

1/2 English Muffin with cheddar and runny egg

Lunch: Flour tortilla roll up with  cheddar, brown rice , black beans, roasted cauliflower

6 corn chips

Snack: Almond milk and coffee

8 Pretzels

Fuji Apple and 1 TB Peanut Butter

Weekend Warrior

Posted on | February 28, 2013 | No Comments

SOoo, Ill start by being honest. I don’t actually know what my title refers to in the real world. SOmething about moms who run marathons on the weekends? I’m not sure- what I am referring to is evaluating the success of my weekend based on whether or not I was active both days.  I feel like I sit so much during the week and usually only work out twice . I can always count on Yoga Tuesday and motivating myself to do some kind of DVD workout Thursday (usually).

I never thought I would have a 9-5 desk job. Believe me I don’t have one- but I have something close. On Mondays I come to the Holy Cow office around noon (like today) to do costing for the food business. Then around 3pm I start wrapping wraps/burritos and work until the production shift is over (6-7pm). The same story goes for Wednesday’s. On Tuesday, Thursday and Friday I try to come in early (830-9:30am) and leave early (1:30-4pm) depending on how much work I have to do. I guess that averages about 30 hours a week and many of them are in front of the computer screen. I get up to stretch frequently and get to stand when I work in the kitchen but otherwise I feel pretty contained to a chair. I can never find the motivation to work out after work Monday or Wednesday and I feel my best when I get to work on Monday afternoon a little sore from the past weekend’s workouts.

A glimpse of my last week in workouts:

Mon 2-18: made wraps 3 hours got home late

Tues: Jillian Michael’s Yoga Meltdown Level 2

Wed: made sandwiches 4 hoursgot home late

Thurs: Rest

Fri: Jillian Michael’s Killer Abs Level 3

Sat- Bootcamp Challenge

Sun 2-24- 35 minute full body strength training circuit

I started typing this up this Monday 2-25 but now it’s Thurs 2-28 (the last day of the month!) and I feel I should record this week’s movement as well

Monday 2-25- made wraps for three hours

Tuesday – Yoga, self-led, 40 minutes

Wednesday- 6 hour sandwich shift (felt like a workout)

Thursday- I woke up a little late this morning and didn’t get my workout in like I was planning to because I’m sore from leaning over the lab counter. I get off work at 5:30 this afternoon so If I can muster up a workout when I get off I will do some short HIIT. If not I will count this as a rest day and look forward to an active weekend!

In March I will be posting more about food and want to design a training plan that keeps me as active as possible and striving to be the best person I can be. Today marks the start of a big catering event for Holy Cow that ends Saturday afternoon. I’ll be busy with that until Saturday so I will check back in on the blog Sunday to talk about what I’ve been eating and my march goals!

Rock Steady

Posted on | February 16, 2013 | No Comments

Lately I’ve been feeling a little like this….

Today: Workout here!

Recent eats below

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I have exercised an average of 3-4 times a week since Mid January when I got back to my goals after being sick. Unfortunately I feel lately like I  am undoing all my hard work (exercise) by following it up with a bad diet.

I’ve been snacking a lot and have fallen back into my sugar addiction. My mom and I came up with a pact to have Valentines day be our last day of sugar for the rest of the month and beyond. Valentines day night I indulged in a delicious cubano sandwich > smoked ham, pulled pork, pickle, swiss, and mustard on grilled Ciabatta bread. For dessert I had 10 Andes Mints, 4 Kisses and a half a pound of Fudgy PB Bar that I made for Jim for Valentine’s. I washed it all down with 8 oz. of grapefruit juice. Then somehow at 10p.m. I was hungry again and demolished a whole grapefruit. Then Friday Tara brought over cupcakes and I had two and 2 oz. dark chocolate with pretzels. Today (Sat.) I have eaten breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner and still want something sweet. Hmmm..

Jim did so good this Valentines day! He bought me 24 roses, 2 grapefruits, a lovely card and topped it off with a pkg of Andes only because he couldn’t resist the great deal (I requested no chocolate). I had a very romantic night with him and I couldn’t have asked for better surprises/ or a more romantic day! You really blew me away this year baby! I hope your Vday was as good as mine.

My blank workout plan is going pretty well for me and this week I can proudly say I did 4 workouts so far and have one planned for Saturday. Jillian Kettle Bell DVD, Yoga cut-out from a magazine, Jillian 16 min kill-yourself workout from Self Mag, and Bootcamp workouts. What I need to work on is cutting out extra sugar (I crave something sweet and a lot of time end up baking after 8 pm) and just being more mindful of my cravings. For example I shouldn’t be eating Graham Crackers with almond milk 20 minutes before I go to bed (cough cough Tuesday night).

In other news I got a job that I love where I feel I can use my skills and interact with a lot of amazing people during the day. I am figuring out food costs for Holy Cow restaurant. I work Mon-Fri anywhere from 5-8 hours a day (depending on their schedule and mine) and they tell me that once I am done with this computer project I can hop onto helping in the kitchen, making sandwiches and wraps/ wherever I’m needed up until June! I hope by then I have enough money saved up to get out of Eugene! I will have to see and just take it one day at a time. Holy cow has the best food and the best work family I am honored to be a part of it and get to enjoy the delicious offerings daily. I just need to listen to my body’s natural hunger cues and I’ll be right back on track.

*None of the following photos are my property, they all came from google.

Cold Air

Posted on | January 11, 2013 | No Comments

Well HULLLOOOOO There!

This week I’ve been preoccupied with finding a job. I’ve applied at Market of Choice, Willamalane, a variety of craigslist openings, the Family First center, and even Hometown Buffet! As much as I loved being a nanny I need a higher paying job so that I can move out! Jim and I both agreed to take it as it comes and not worry too much about when we are moving. We are just going to take it one day at a time and when we know it’s time we will be ready financially and emotionally. After finally writing a cover letter for my last couple applications I feel really good about my job search this week and I’m excited for the weekend!

I’m finally over my sickness/cough and I started a month long plank challenge I found reading carrotsncake.com

Monday- timed plank trial  Wednesday- Plank workout (I felt like I was dying during the 6 minute one on Tina’s website) Friday- time trial(beat Monday)

So on Monday I made my family all get down and do the trial with me. My dad is the strong one of the family clocking in at 2:47. I was second with a time of 2:08 and my mom and brother clocked in at a little over 1 minute. I gave my all and didn’t let myself drop until my body was shaking like a leaf. I was really surprised by my time; I guess because I’ve never done a plank for that long. Then on Friday (today) I only clocked in at 1:40 seconds and I think it was because I was 1) watching my interval timer and 2) I gave up mentally before I even really started shaking physically 3) at the end I said to myself “I can’t make it more than 30 more seconds” and caved. This really goes to show that I need to work on my mind-body connection. My body is capable of way more than I give it credit for. Also my stomach was still sore from Wednesday’s killer plank workout so I’m going to let it rest till Monday with a lot of yoga this weekend! And a massage! My family friend Annie is a massage therapist (The best in town) and gifted me a massage for my 23rd birthday. I finally cashed it in this week and my massage and steam chamber time is Saturday at 2pm-can’t wait!

yes she has one of these in her massage studio- (giggity giggity goo)

As far as workouts go I feel like I’ve really slacked off so far this year. I did a little yoga and started the plank challenge but starting tomorrow I’m going to start getting sweaty again like I was in summer! It is time and I’m so pumped to do my new fitness dvds, use my new resistance band and break out my kettlebell and jumprope! Im making a promise to myself to really move my body everyday and focus on more than nutrition in the category of health. Also, I ordered a multivitamin and will post about it and my other resolutions once it arrives in the mail.

And of course FOOD! I’ve been keeping a food journal and it feels good to track what I eat.  I’ve maintained my weight but for some reason I’ve been feeling guilty about little things like drinking coffee, and eating three jolly ranchers(a 70 cal serving). This is just dumb and I think adding more exercise into my routine will curb the guilt. It is all about moderation!

Today:

Raisin english muffin dipped in cinnamon egg and pan fried- topped with peanut butter and caramelized banana

handful of dry roasted peanuts, grapefruit

Mongolian Grill- mushrooms, green onions, green peppers, onion, carrots, spinach, cilantro, peanuts,pineapple, tofu, noodles and sauce – a little white rice with sriracha

2 cups air popped popcorn with nutritional yeast

water

TGIF!

I encourage everyone to kick some ass on Saturday and get in a good sweaty workout!

Sick Daze

Posted on | January 6, 2013 | No Comments

So I think it’s safe to say the cold virus that got everyone else got me as well. I had all these delusional thoughts about my new strong immune system because for the first time in my life I didn’t get sick the whole year of 2012. I’m always the girl that gets sick a couple times a year and coughs for weeks. Lo and behold I felt a tickle in my throat Dec 30^th and have been out for a week. And my oh my the first week of the new year really flew by! I’ve had to postpone all my exercise plans. I still haven’t gotten to try out all the wonderful fitness dvds I got for Christmas from Jimmy. I have felt well enough to go on two long mall walks with my mom. We like to walk indoors because the wind can be so cold. Amazingly it was sunny and 45 degrees today so we were able to go walk  outside(!) around the delta ponds path while my dad took some amazing wildlife photography (lots of cool birds).

Here’s some pics of the birds and my mom and I looking at the birds.

wood duck

photo credit Neil Duerst

While I was sick I decided to eat whatever I wanted and helped my family polish off not one but two half gallons of Peppermint Candy Umpqua icecream.

I got this off googleimages

They use fresh local ingredients so as far as ice cream goes it is pretty real food. Also it has no HFCS and I never had more than two servings in a day if that. It’s a seasonal flavor and will be off the shelves soon! Quickly get yourselves some if you know what’s good for you!

Here’s some snacks and a meal I ate recently:

New Years Eve 2012

Posted on | December 31, 2012 | No Comments

I’ll make this short and sweet! First a family portrait. Haha

I know there is a lot of talk about resolutions this year and how no one ever sticks to them. For most of my life I’ve made the resolution to starve myself or lose 25 pounds or something like that but this year I don’t want to focus on numbers or negatives. I am looking at this new year as an opportunity to start a fresh round of introspection and focus on my health and relationships.

When I came home from Jim’s today there was fortune cookies left over from my parents ordering Chinese, this is the one I got- I think it is a very good message for having patience and trusting in God’s plan for my life.

It was actually my boyfriend ^Jimmy who suggested we commit to a relationship resolution this year. I am really excited about it. Of course we have times when we argue or I get extra irritable for no good reason but man I love this guy and want to give him my best self every moment we are together. His idea is to commit to these 4 things.

- Kiss Everyday. (this is already a given since we make out whenever we see each other) but I want to add hug for 20+ seconds also (extra good vibes)

-Play More. For me this means laughing at his jokes and not talking myself/everything so seriously. Jim likes to joke a lot and I have a habit of shutting him down when I get in a certain mood.

-Laugh Together. Sounds like fun One of the things we already do for this is call each other a lot of funny pet names.

-Love Harder. We both enjoy our quality time together but I want to get more out of it and do more activities.

^we’re pretty good at the whole laugh together thing…

Other resolutions for 2013:

• Keep at Gratitude Journal/List and count my blessings every morning
• Focus on health- Move my body everyday
• Start taking a multivitamin with vitamin D, B12 and Folic Acid
• Start lifting heavy weights- procure a barbell
• Refurbish my awesome trunk/ do one arts and crafts project a month
• Start a new blank workout plan

Reasons to keep a gratitude journal:

Well, according to Bill in Chapter 16 of Transformation, Dr. Robert Emmons, PhD, from the University of California Davis was involved in a large research project on gratitude, and here were some of his discoveries:

“Those who kept gratitude journals on a weekly basis exercised more often, felt better physically, and had a more positive mindset.”

“Study participants who kept gratitude lists were found to be more likely to have made progress towards important personal goals (academic, interpersonal, and health-based) over a 2-month period.”

“A daily gratitude intervention (taking time to focus on and write down things to be thankful for) produced higher levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness, and energy.”

“Those who participate in a daily gratitude exercise have lower levels of depression and stress and are more likely to offer emotional support to others and help them make it through their difficulties.”

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND THANKS FOR READING!

The aftermath

Posted on | December 30, 2012 | No Comments

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So much has happened since I’ve last posted. You can call this my Christmas Recap..Let me start by saying this is the best Christmas I’ve ever experienced. I am so blessed to have the most wonderful family and boyfriend. My heart swelled with joy getting to spend time with them. On December 23rd my parents and brother watched the first two batman movies and we finished with the Dark Knight Rises late on Christmas Eve. (Jimmy had to work Monday night)

-          Also on Christmas Eve……My brother turned fifteen! Happy Birthday Nick!

-          Instead of a cake he got pumpkin cinnamon rolls with caramel sauce- no complaints!

On Christmas Eve day Jim and I attended two wonderful parties. First was his mom’s Christmas get together where Jimmy got to hang out with all four of his siblings and his mom and dad. A lot of extended family was also able to attend and they exchanged gifts after we all ate delicious turkey, ham, macaroni and cheese (Debbie’s signature dish), scalloped potatoes, fruit salad, rolls and more! Debbie asked me to bring dinner rolls and vegan sticky toffee pudding and in addition to that I brought a dessert tray with toffee, cookies, muffins and peppermint bark pretzels. Wish I had pictures!

After that party Jimmy and I rushed back to my parent’s house where he presented my mom, dad, and brother with the gifts he had thoughtfully picked out for them. Then we all rushed to my aunt Kathy and Uncle Jeff’s house outside Creswell for my family’s annual Christmas song sing-a-long. There we enjoyed scrumptious pot roast with veggies and yummy desserts. I was still pretty full from the afternoon but the dessert spread looked amazing! I brought toffee and the plate was devoured very quickly. I remember Jeff saying “This should be illegal” as he hovered over the plate looking perturbed. Hee hee! After eating we sang all 31 songs from the Christmas Songbook and mingled with the family. It was my family, my Jimmy, Kathy and Jeff, My grandparents, my Cousin Max (home from law school in Chicago), Cousin Betsy and Robert, and Cousin Emily and her son Ruben and boyfriend Phredd. Also the dog Freddy! (and cats). Jimmy had to leave the party a little early to go to work graveyard shift in Noti. Booboohooboo. Funny story my mom was playing Santa because Kathy and her kids open presents Christmas Eve after the singing and my mom passed Phredd a gift marked “Freddy” and he opened it to find minty dog chews and shouted excitedly (and sarcastically). HA! We all relaxed and sat by the fire and Aunt Kathy gave me a beautiful black and white throw blanket for watching their house while they were in Mexico.

Christmas day I was up for the second day in a row at 8 am and we got to opening stockings and presents and were all done by nine. At around ten I went to wake up Jimmy (who got off at 5:30a.m.) and we exchanged our gifts privately in his room before grabbing Josh and going to Jim’s mom Debbie’s house down the street for more gift opening and breakfast. I was so surprised by my gifts and got way more than I was expecting. Far more than I deserve. It was a blessed morning and I am so grateful. Breakfast at Debbie’s was croissants, sausage, eggs and hash browns- absolutely delicious. Then we watched the Laker game at noon and I left at halftime so Jimmy could take a nap and I could hang with my parents. Later, Jimmy came over to my parents house to open his gifts from them. Then I went back with him and spent Christmas night at his house.

We finally took down our Christmas decorations at my house today and there are no more sweets left. I’m proud to say I don’t feel I over ate this Christmas (although I did gain two pounds) I’m guessing it’s from drinking wine/ fluid retention. My goal this Holiday season was to taste whatever I wanted but not devour endless sweets. For example the other night I cut a truffle into 6 thin slices and shared it will my parents. Yesterday I passed on a snickerdoodle cookie my brother made because I only kind of wanted it. I will probably drink a glass of wine (or three) the next two nights and maybe have a See’s Café Latte lollipop. I’m feeling really good about staying active (my mom and I have been walking inside malls like old people because it’s cold) and maintaining a balanced diet. And OH MAN I’m glad the toffee is gone! Crap!

Next time I’ll be sharing my Holiday resolutions!