Family Fun (Ultra Cheese Alert)

This Easter was so much fun. I pretty much spent all day with the family, going to church, eating an Easter worthy lunch, and going Easter egg hunting. Also, about and hour of that time was spent taking funny (and SUPER cheese-y) pictures with the fam. Ch-ch-check it!

ok. this was posed. But she was DETERMINED to get that egg.

My little sister, Tatum, was ruthless. She was pretty much in full on sprint the whole time trying to get to the eggs before everyone else.

All of the sissys. Notice how out of place I look. haha.

Here's were I started thinking of funny, cheese-y poses for us to do.

Heres another

AND ANOTHER! haha

My sisters fell backwards off the bench when I thought it would be a good pose to put their feet up in the air. oops.

She was OK!

Action Shot!

My parents. Aren't they just the cutest?!

Fast forward to today. I was SUPER ready to get back into the swing of things after pigging out on Easter candy and Ham yesterday. So I was happy to have my usual breakfast when I woke up.

Half a cup of fat free cottage cheese with Blueberries mixed in and a sprinkle of cinnamon on top.

Whole Wheat Toast with Blackberry Preserves AND Apricot Preserves. Unfortunately my indecisiveness extends past the breakfast table and into my regular life.

After breakfast I FINALLLY got to the grocery store. I was kind of anxious to go to the grocery store because of a funny story that happened this weekend. First a little back story the guy who works in the produce section of the grocery store is super CUTE, I had a class with him in college, so I know him and everytime I go to the grocery store we usually talk. Ok got that?! Good. Now the funny part:

Saturday night my friend Brittani and I hit up one of our favorite dance spots. We usually just dance by ourselves and generally are bitches to any creeps that try to come hit on us. Anyway, there was this guy that kept trying to get my attention while I was dancing, but I kept giving him mean looks and blowing him off. He didn't stop, so finally I look over to say something......and realize it is my produce boy!! Me being a little "braver" than usual (if you catch my drift) ran over and gave him a big hug to say hi. Now we have made small talk in the produce section of Kroger before, but NEVER took it as far as physical contact (just a hug!) in a CLUB before. hahaha. I guess you could say I was a little embarrassed to see him again in the grocery store.

Well, I successfully made my grocery trip, saw the produce boy, smiled, made small talk, and went on my merry way. Geez, that was awkward. haha :)

Came home from the grocery store, unloaded, chopped, bagged, and stored the groceries. Then made up a quick lunch. I tried a new wrap combo!

• Italian Herb Flat Out Wrap
• Swiss Laughing Cow Cheese Wedge
• Sliced Cucumber
• Sliced Tomato
• Spinach
• Dijon Mustard
• Quacker Oats Cheesey Mini Rice Cakes

YUM! I really liked this combo alot! It was very fresh and just plain good.

After lunch I went to a meeting about proctoring for standardized testing in the elementary schools. It is volunteer and not paid or anything, but it would be fun.

Then I went over to the gym to get a little run in.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to do a long run or a short run, so I decided just to hop on and see how I felt. After a miles I set my goal at 5 miles, but after I finished 5 I wanted to do one more, so I ran 6 miles in all. The only that SUCKS about doing long runs at the gym is that the treadmills are automatically set to cool down after 30 minutes, so I had to constantly reset it to keep it from slowing me down. Oh well.

Now I'm off to cook up some dinner and probably lounge around for the rest of the night. I hope everyone had a good Monday. I know, Mondays generally are bad. But, its almost over!

Lots of Love, <3 Ems.

Overbooked

I totally think that I have a problem with thinking that I can do more than I really can. In this case it I would be talking about being two places at once. Why do I think this is even possible?!

Im sure you are wondering what I am talking about. Well, I just got off the phone with my manager from Stir-fry about my schedule for this week. Of course every shift she asked me to work I responded back with an enthusiastic "SURE!", then when I get off the phone and look at my planner I realize that I have prior commitments to my other job! I have no idea what I am going to do, I am kind of freaking out right now. Hopefully I can get something worked out.

It is such a crummy day today, so I will probably just head over to the gym and cross train instead of going for a run today. Like I said before I ran 9 miles on Saturday, and then on Sunday I did an easy run of 3 miles. I decided to time myself on the first mile, just to see how I could do. I ended up doing the first mile in 8:54!! I was pretty happy with this, even though I wasnt really pacing myself, it was just an experiment. I read in Runners magazine that you should time one mile and then add 1:30 to get your ideal 10-k pace. So my 10-k pace would be around 10:30, but I really wanna do it in less so we will just see how my improvement goes throughout the training.

I woke up this morning and had a great breakfast of some VERY fruity oats. I basically just threw every kind of fruit I had in the fridge in there.

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1/2 Banana
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• 1 tbsp. Maple Syrup
• Cinnamon

For lunch I had a nice melty, grilled sandwich

• Whole Wheat Bread
• Turkey
• Mustard
• Tomato Slices
• Cucumbers
• 2% Milk Cheese
• Spinach

So, I guess I just can't be mysterious with you girls because everyone is asking for details on my cute little baseball player. Well, I saw him every day over the weekend. Including being his last stop before leaving to go back to school last night :). Like I said before I dont really want to rush anything and get my hopes up. But I really like him and what girl can resist a guy that tells you how happy he is everytime he sees you and makes sure to open doors, tell you how pretty you are, and send sweet texts randomly throughout the day?! I'm pretty sure I have had a big goofy smile on my face all weekend. BUT! I dont want to jinx it, we will just play it coooolll! haha. I wont get to see him a lot until he comes home for the summer because of his baseball schedule, but its only a month away :)

Alright girls, time to get going on this day...I feel like I have gotten nothing accomplished but conflicts! haha.

Lots of Love, <3Ems.

DO DO You Got a First Aid Kit Handy?!

But really?! Anyone?! Or at least know how to give a good massage, because I think my legs MAY just fall off at any second. Whew! Those two days of running 6 straight miles are killing me! I decided to take it easy today because I do not want my legs to be hurting this bad on Saturday, so I just did an easy 3 miles today and some on the eliptical. Tomorrow is my rest day, so I dont plan on running at all so that my legs can have a rest.

SO excited to get THIS today:

#217 baby! Im starting to think that I'm in over my head though. Last night I was talking to a friend whose wife is running the race just as training for a TRIATHLON! And then when I went to pick up my number today I started talking to another girl who looked about my age who was running it to. She asked if this was my first 10K and I said yes. I, in turn, asked if it was hers as well and she said "yes, its my first 10k". Automatically I assumed that she had probably ran a 5K before and that this was her first 10K, but no no no...she just ran a marathon. hmmmm oh well, as long I complete it I will be happy, Im not going to worry about pushing myself too hard for a great time. Ive got nothing to prove to anyone but myself, and I just want to have fun doing this!

So after the gym I came home and ate lunch. I have been soooo hungry since running everyday. Its weird because I'm not technically burning as many calories, but I feel like I get so much more of a workout (and I def. sweat ALOT more!). haha. I wasnt really sure what I was hungry for though...so I just stuck to the usual wrap.

• Italian Herb Flat Out Wrap
• Red Pepper Hummus (mixin it up from the garlic)
• Deli Sliced Turkey
• Salsa
• Cucumber (you guys dont even wanna know how I initially had this spelled...lets just say it was slightly dirty!)
• Spinach
• Spicy Mustard
• With a Granny:

I decided that I needed to balance all this fruit out with some veggies. So I added some broccoli and celery with a side of salsa for dipping.

I always use the most random things to put food in. My apples are in a coffee cup and my salsa is in the lid to a jar :) Hey, if the food fits...

After lunch I went to pick up my race goodies and then to the FREE tanning bed. Oh, how I am lovin the free cancer in a box. I know, its horrible. I need to stop...I just need the real sun to come quick! After tanning I headed to work at the mall for a few. I had the most touching moment with my manager. She knew me when I was right in the midst of my ED and she watched me go through recovery. She was a HUGE support and still tells me almost everyday how good I look now and how proud she is of me. Anyways, she was asking me some questions about what I went though (which I have no problem talking about with her) when all of sudden she just stopped and said "I just have to give you a hug and let you know how proud I am of you, I was really scared for you when I first met you, and you have come such a long way since then". I almost started tearing up! I know its a long hard road, and I would be kidding myself and everyone else if I said that I was 100% now, but I know that I will get there and I see changes everyday that get me closer and closer to my goal.

Ok so after work I came home and made up a veggie burger. At the last minute I decided that it might be good with some cheese on it, so I threw it on top of the burger while it was on the grill. Boy, did I regret that decision. The cheese got wayyyy to melty and the burger was almost too messy to even eat! Well, ALMOST...I did manage, of course ;)

• Morningstar Veggie Burger Patty
• Arnolds Sandwich Thin
• Spinach
• Sprout
• Mustard
• Ketchup
• American Cheese Slice

With a beautiful salad on the side:

Now it time to get ready for bed. I have to SUB in Kindergarten at 730 AM tomorrow. Keep me in your prayers...its 5 year olds + Friday the 13th + the friday before their spring break = umm you do the math!

I hope everyone has a great Friday...any fun plans?!

Lots of Love <3 Ems.

Pump, Pump, Pump It Up

Today was day two of trying out the running 6 miles thing, and I actually surprised myself again! I was looking forward to trying again all night last night and I woke up this morning ready to go! When I got to the gym, I saw an old friend and she said that she might do the race with me too, so that was exciting. Anyway, I managed to do six miles straight without walking, but at kind of a slow pace. I completed the six miles in about 80 min. But, like many of you have advised me to do, I'm not gonna worry about my time so much (I mean this is my first race) and just have fun and do it for the experience. I also have taken all of your advice and decided that its probably not the best idea to push myself to do six miles everyday up until the race, so I'm just gonna do a light run tomorrow and then probably just rest on Friday. Im also in the process of making a music mix for the run too. I took RunningLaur's advice and started with some slow music, but its a work in progress right now.

Everyone help out...What is your favorite song/songs to work out/run to. Maybe I could make a "blogger work-out mix CD" .

Another thing that I am LOVING is how running as my primary source of exercise makes me feel. I'm not sure if I have addressed this before, but in the midst of my ED I was working out ALL THE TIME, sometimes I would be in the gym twice a day. I was strictly working out to burn off calories, and I would not leave the gym until I had burned off almost every thing that I had eaten. Even today, when I workout on the eliptical or the other thing-y I do pay attention to how many calories I am burning over most everything else. Usually I try to burn a certain amount of calories before I will leave (of course I eat enough to make up for it now, unlike before) However, I know that this is not a healthy approach to exercise. Anyway, the point of that is today and yesterday when I was running I didnt even hardly look at the calories that I was burning, because I was more concentrated on the mileage. I realized half-way through my run yesterday that I had not even glanced at the calories I had burned and I just got the biggest smile on my face. FINALLY, I am doing something because I enjoy it, and because it makes me feel good. Not because I feel like I HAVE to burn a certain amount of calories. And even though I dont burn as many calories running as I do doing other things, I FEEL so much better and my body feels GOOD! I feel like this is just one more point in my recovery that I am about to hit. Girls, it is hard! Even though I have gained the weight back, I still struggle (I'm not gonna lie and act like my recovery is 100% now) You guys know that it is not all just the weight, it is changing the way you think. And it soooo hard to change when you have so much knowledge of calories, and food, and things like that. Slowly but surely I am getting there, and this is just proof. The past couple of days that I have been running I feel so healthy and happy. I feel more proud of my body now because it is in shape not skinny...and I'll take a muscular, womanly body over a stick thin little girl's body any day!

Wow! what a rant, I usually try to avoid those, but I just had to tell you guys about this turning point in my recovery. I hope it will continue to grow!

When I came home from my run I WAS HUNGRY and I was kinda craving something sweet. So I had my usual, but still yummy grilled PB&J. I wanted to do something different this time, just for kicks. So I added some nice big juicy blueberries on top of my 'Nanner.

I also tried out my new Oikos Vanilla Greek Yogurt:

This is the same flavor that my sister reviewed yesterday. I added some strawberries and blueberries to make it fruit-ier.

Why would my camera not focus?!! grrrr.

Oh my, just look at that gooey peanut butter and the warm melty blueberries. OH-SO-GOOD!

At the last minute I decided to go ahead and plate it up with some cantaloupe. Is it possible to eat too much fruit?! haha.

Now Im gonna surf some blogs and get some ideas for din din. Thanks for all the support and advice about the run. Anymore is totally welcome, I love hearing all the advice from you guys (I really admire all of you!). And dont forget to tell me your fave workout song/songs. I really am gonna make a blogger mix! Maybe distribute them?!

Hope everyone has a wonderful night! Lots of Love, <3 Ems.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

First and Foremost, I must give my humble apologies for not blogging yesterday, I meant to after I got home from work, but it got insanely busy at work and I had to stay late and then the bestie came over right after work so we could have our usual Wednesday night pool and karaoke. haha. I only participate in one of these activities, I'll leave it a mystery as to which one ;)

Here are a few pictures of how my night went last night:

Brittani found her a man straight away...he might be the one!

I was a little jealous.

Brittani KILLED the competition.

I may or may not have been checking blogs on my Blackberry. haha.

My friend Grant is worse than a girl, he took about 9837492 pictures in which everyone he looked at and promptly deleted. I managed to keep this one though!

Ok, ok enough of that...I know what you are really here for!

• Flat Out Wrap
• Spinach
• Turkey
• Salsa
• Greek Style Hummus
• Spicy Mustard
• Golden De-lish Apple
• PICKLES!

Speaking of pickles dont you find it odd when someone like pickles but hates cucumbers or vice versa?! Does anyone feel that way?!

I tried a new type of hummus in my wrap that I found at the store. It was just called "greek style" so im not sure what the flavor really is, it tasted kinda garlic-y. But I LOVED it, I think I may have even liked it better then my usual Red Pepper Hummus.

I did manage to squeeze in a gym trip that included:

• 35 minutes on the eliptical
• 15 minutes on...geez, that other thing. haha.
• Approx. 400 calories burned.

This morning for breakfast I had the usual oats:

There is a seafood restaurant in Charleston that serves a dish called "the bucket of scrapes" and its just a big pail type thing with samples of all kinds of different seafood. This is what I think of when I make oatmeal, because I just throw in anything that I think would be good in oatmeal. So here is my "bowl of scrapes"

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1/2 Naner
• Handfull of Blueberries
• Dried Apricots (NEW ADDITION!)
• Cinnamon
• 1 tbsp. Maple Syrup

Pretty random mix, but yummy all the same :)

OTHER EXCITING NEWS ALERT: I think I may have found some Arnold's Sandwich Thins. I have done the search online for close stores that sell them, but it always says there are none. Well, yesterday I gave it one last shot and it found TWO STORES in my area that sell them. Now, I havent gotten them yet, so I'm not gonna get my hopes up too high, but I am gonna go on the hunt today and I will let you know the results!

It such a gorgeous day outside and I fully intend to enjoy it girls!Plans for today:

• Laundry
• Gym
• Tanning
• Spontaneous trip to Asheville??
• Grocery Trip

Also, Check out the wonderful Erica at Itzy's Kitchen for a great giveaway!

Hope everyone has a bright and sunny day as well! Lots of Love <3 Ems.

Food Porn ALERT!

Oh my goodness...just look at this deliciousness in the form of a pb & j!

Honey Wheat Bread with Chocolate chip cookie dough peanut butter, strawberry preserves, and half a banana. grilled and warm and gooey! :) can you handle another shot?!

BAM!

Time for a close-up

And all together with some cherry yogurt and blueberries on the side. On my wonderful monster plate that I got from my secret cupid! :)

Okay backtracking to breakfast, I had my usual two pieces of whole wheat bread with blackberry and apricot preserves, and 1/2 cup of fat free cottage cheese with cinnamon.

After breakfast I also had a quick gym sess' that included:

• 35 minutes on the eliptical
• 1 mile run (for a cooldown)
• leg weights

Oh yeah and KATIE, you were right. That thing is an arc trainer and looks a little like this:

Has anyone ever used this?! According to the stats on the machine (which seem to be accurate because you have to enter in your weight, age, and sex, and it also has a HRM) I burn WAY more calories on this than I do on the elipitcal, but I am baffled as to why, it doesnt really feel like that much more of a workout. Does anyone know anything about this?!

Ok dears, Im going to hop in the shower and prepare to go to work for the night.

Hope everyone is having a great tuesday! <3 Ems

Happy 277th Birthday Georgie!

Happy Presidents Day Loves! What a weird holiday huh? Just like Sophie said, if we are going to make George Washington's birthday a national holiday why not make all of the president's birthday holiday. Then we would get TONS of days off! :)

I have been in desperate need of groceries, so today was a grocery day. I have had an abundance of apples, but no bananas so I have been replacing what I normally use bananas for, with apples. So this morning I used apples in my oats :)

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 apple
• handful of blueberries
• strawberry preserves
• LOADS of cinnamon

After breakfast I hit up the grocery store. I stocked up on all my fruits and veggies and some other essential items. I also picked up some Tofu, because I have been inspired to make tofu sandwiches by a lot of you lovely bloggers. I just hope I can live up to your expertise.

I dropped off the groceries and then hit up the gym! I got in a pretty good workout and was sweatin' it up in there. It just doesnt feel like a workout to me unless your pouring the sweat! My workout was quick and simple:

• 35 minutes on the eliptical - 300 calories burned
• 25 minutes on the "other-thing-that-looked-kinda-like-an- eliptical-but-I-am-never-quite-sure-what-its-called" - 250 calories burned.

I headed home from the gym and fixed up a quick wrap.

Now I am getting ready to run some candy to the girls at work that my mom sent me to give to them. The girls at work love my mom, because she always sends them "goodies". One of my friends from work actually called to ask me if my mom had sent them any goodies for valentines! haha.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful start to the week. Whether you got the holiday off or not! Lots of Love <3 Ems.

Snowy Day = Warm Eats!

Today is definitely one of those days were you just want to stay in, sip some hot tea, and watch cheesy romantic comedies....I may just do that ;)

What is your favorite romantic comedy???

It also happens to be one of those days to eat warm foods! So of course this morning I had to make me up some FRENCH TOASTS! So I mixed together my 2 egg whites, 1/4 cup vanilla soy milk, and cinnamon...

Placed my whole wheat bread in the mixture...

Flipped it over...

Placed it in my pan, that is sprayed with non-stick cooking spray...

Fixed a nice cup-o-joe while it browned on both sides, and then placed it on my nice big plate...

Wait! Its lonely...it needs a friend ;)

Thats a little better...top it with some maple syrup and blackberry preserves....

And there you have it...the PERFECT warm in your tummy breakkie for a cold snowy day! <333

After breakfast I lounged around a little and decided to get up off my butt and hit the gym. It was another one of those day were I really had to motivate myself the whole way there but once I got there I got in a pretty good workout, which is usually how it happens, once I get jump started I can just keep going and going and going....ok, maybe not THAT much, but you gets what I'm sayin. My workout was:

• 35 minutes on the eliptical
• 30 minutes doing intervals on the bike.

So over an hour...not too shabbyyy for starting out being less than enthused about it. I usually try to spend at least an hour at the gym when I go. I mix my cardio days and weight training days, so on cardio days I'll do an hour of cardio, and on weight days I'll do 30 min. of cardio and 30 min. of weights.

By the time I got home it was starting to full on snow! The college even canceled classes for tonight...which RARELY happens. I think we are supposed to get around 7 inches! I was hungry and in the mood for something warm when I got home so I made a toasty sammie.

This one had deli sliced turkey, spicy mustard, deli american cheese, LOADS of spinach, and salsa. With a side of sun dried tomato wheat thins.

Also, HangryPants is having an almond butter giveaway contest...so go check that out.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday! I'm supposed to hear back about that job that I interviewed for today, so keep your fingers cross for me pahleezzzeee!! much love to you beautiful girlies, mwah! <3

Girl Just Wanna Have Fun-un

Hello beautiful girlies! I hope everyone had a good Thursday. I must say a am a TAD bit jealous of you girls that are in classes all day. I know, i know...your thinking what?! But this is my first semester as a "graduate" and I kinda miss the whole college thing. Girls dont rush to be out of school!! Enjoy while you can, while you still dont have to face the "real world"! haha. In related news I DO have an interview to be the lead teacher of a 2 year old classroom at a center in Charlotte, NC...which is about 4 hours away from home. Im excited about a change, but we will see! I am driving down for the interview on Tuesday and they told me that basically it is just me spending 5 HOURS in the classroom with the kiddos while they watch me!!!!

WISH ME LUCK!

Today has been a pretty chill day. I had the whole day off from work so I woke up and made some "very berrrrry oats". It included:

• 1/2 cup of oats
• 1 banana
• blueberries
• strawberry preserves
• splash of vanilla soy milk
• and CINNAMON

It looked something along the lines of this:

In the slightly annoying words of Miss Rachel Ray: YUM-O!

I then headed on over to the gym for a nice workout:

• 15 minutes on the stairmaster
• 35 minutes on the eliptical
• 3 reps on each of the leg machines (leg curls, hip abductors, hip adductors, and glutes)

When I got home I made up some lunchie. Still not in the mood to try my wraps...hopefully tomorrow :)...you gotta go with your moods ya know?! So I made up a turkey sammie on whole wheat bread and an apple on the side.

Now I am sitting here blogging while I wait for my girl to get over here so we can have a "girls night out". It is def much needed and I am soooo excited. I always have so much fun with her! I went by the store and picked up this little friend as well. I hope no one is offended but I just think it is so cute and FUNNY

"Bitch" wine. haha

You cant really see it too well, but all those little words?! No description necessary...it just say bitch over and over and over! haha. Gotta love it!

Well, girls im off to get all prettied up for a night on the town! :) I hope everyone has a great night and I love you all.

TGIF tomorrow, friends!