Fit with FitBit

A couple of weeks ago I posted about my fun little purchase of the FitBit--we'll I've been using it for a little over 2 months now and it's really eye opening how much you walk throughout the day without even trying!

Studies say that 10,000 steps a day is necessary for "good health" approx 5 miles a day...so that's where my "goal" has been set since I started tracking things.  Here's last weeks progress report-I like getting the little updates on my "progress"

Loving the fact that steps and distance and calories burned are up from last week....

Not so much loving that the sleep duration is down but I guess that will happen as long as I am getting at least 7 hours that will work for me!

How active are you throughout the day? Do you make an effort to walk around the office regularly? Walk down the hall rather than emailing or calling a colleague or taking the stairs?

Cake for the boss

This weekend in the midst of school work I whipped up this....

I was pretty impressed!  Yellow cake "bun", edible Easter grass "lettuce", brownie "hamburger patty", sugar sheet "cheese" and sprinkle "sesame seeds".

Here's hoping the "boss" is as impressed by my baking abilities as Rene and I were when he gets to the office to find this waiting on his desk for his birthday!

Pinteresting Thursday!

Here's what I've been Pinning this week....a mix of a little of everything!

My next DIY item? I think so!

 A couple of quotes to live by....

 Snack to make this weekend? Sweet and Spicy Chickpeas-Yum

How cute would this be on my desk?!  

What I'm Loving

So I'm a bit "off" this week and completely forgot my Wednesday Loving Post...so here it is, better late than never!

I’m loving….that I am only 2 more Starbucks trips away from “gold card”status! that means a free coffee for every 15 purchases! And personalized coupons...I love my coffee!

I’m loving….that I am only 3 weeks away from Spring Break-yeah it’s not much and there’s no big trip like in undergrad but a week of no school work is always nice.

I’m loving…that it’s starting to stay a little lighter later in the day-6:30 last night when I was driving home wasn't pitch black!

I’m loving…that my work trip to Orlando is officially booked-yes it’s work but it’s nice to not be in the office-and of course it’s a plus that the boss is letting me say the weekend and Rene came come hang out at the hotel with me too. Coronado Springs here we come!

I’m loving….that the weather man is calling for temps in the 60’s over the next week-spring is slowly coming, at least I hope so!

Seeing Red

I'm wearing my red today for Valentine's day are you?  Here's wishing you a very Happy Valentines Day.

The Mr. and I will be enjoying a nice quite dinner at home tonight - together!  That's super exciting since we've been only seeing each other a little in the morning and then right before bed.  Yes, we'll still be working on work and school stuff but at least we can enjoy each others company.

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

It's been a little while since my last what I'm loving post, so here goes!

I'm loving--that it's Wednesday!  That means half way done with the week!

I'm loving--The fact that Rene and I have a date day/night planned this Sunday!  It gives me motivation to get all of my school stuff done...we're heading to Grapevine for the Valentine's Wine Trail and then dinner at Simply Fondue! Wine and fondue what could be better?

I'm loving...My APY60 Yoga Program...if you couldn't tell already

I'm loving...that I am halfway through the first mini-semester for the spring!  4 more weeks then "spring break" and another 8 week class then I'm DONE!

and of course I'm loving my wonderful Husband!

New Fave Finds

I usually don't really change up my beauty routine.  I'm a Clean and Clear girl when it comes to my face wash and I've been using it for as long as I can remember.  I've never been a big face routine type of person but as I have rounded into my mid-to-late 20's (eek!) I thought maybe I would try to outrun mother nature and look at an anti-wrinkle type lotion.  There are a million and one different products out there of course but figured that I would give this one a try.

I have really liked the few Philosophy products that I have tried in the past and this one had rave reviews...and let me say they are well worth it!  It's a super easy to use system which consists of 3 parts.  Retinoid solution that is used at night, a moisturizing lotion to be used morning and night and eye cream to be used morning and night.  

Within the first week I will say that I have 100% seen my skin become smoother and more moisturized.  I haven't been using the moisturizer day and night mainly because I tend to get a little oily but the eye cream for sure is an AM/PM for me.  I would highly suggest this to anyone!

My next new find that I love is Baby Lips by Maybelline! 

It's a clinical strength moisturizing lip glass in clear or colored options.  Perfect for the winter weather and come on how cute is the packaging?!

How fun are these?

How fun are these? Rene read about them on a little Disney blog on Friday of last week, so clearly I needed to buy them!

The Steelers one is clearly the cuter of the two!  I can't wait for them to arrive.

MIA.....Again

OK I feel like this post comes up at least once every couple of months, yes I've been MIA!

The semester started this week and I'm feeling a bit behind already (yes it's only 3 days in) but I swapped classes because the professor did not sound like she really wanted to be teaching...and let's face it my last 2 classes I don't want a professor who is awful!

I've been bogged down with work stuff and trying to get ready for the semester so sooner rather than later I will be back and posting on a regular basis.

This semester is actually broken up into 2 mini-mesters...I have 2 classes to finish but they will only run 8 weeks each...lots of reading and lots of writing coming my way!  Graduate is in sight!

I promise this weekend I'll post a little birthday celebration update and updates of life in general...the days just seem to be running together right now!

Return of Green Juice

I switched things up a little bit today after having a bit of smoothie overload to a green juice mixture to start off the morning on the right foot!

Ginger

3 small handfuls of spinach

2 granny smith apples

fresh pineapple

This is I think my fave mix of the greens (lots of spinach but you can't taste it) and it was the perfect way to start off my Wednesday.  Rene of course has to be the over achiever and head to the gym in the early morning while I grabbed an extra 30 minutes of sleep or at least rolling around trying to sleep.  Here's hoping today shapes up to be better than that last 2 days--I'm staying positive!

Happy Wednesday!  

No good very bad day...

Here's hoping that yesterday was not a taste of what's to come this week! As you can tell from this post title yesterday was pretty much the worst!

Not only did I wake of a cold and rainy weather, but a stack of things on my desk that pretty much have nothing to do with me, a doctor who was irate all weekend was blowing up my desk phone the moment I got into the office, and add to that I have to come up with a buisness plan by Wednesday at 3pm which was dropped on me yesterday morning as well....not the best start to the week.

Add to that by the time I got out of the office I was mentally drained and had no desire to do anything, couldn't go to the gym and accepted the fact that I was going to end up breaking my rule (that I had been doing quite well with) of not eating after 7pm.

Rene on the other hand has been quite motivated jumping out of bed and running in the morning this week *he's a morning person to the fullest* I was going to try to get myself up and do yoga at the very least but that didn't happen yesterday or today because I was exhausted....

This birthday week clearly isn't shaping up as I would have liked it to-lets just hope that today turns around a bit.  Regardless of what time I get out of the office today I will be going to the gym and following it up with some yoga---we'll just call yesterday's no workout a small slip up in the routine.

Here's hoping you have a great Tuesday!

Break in the Detox

Friday & Saturday morning I allowed myself to take a small break from my detox of veggies and changed things up breakfast.  I skipped the hot detox tea (though I will more than likly drink it midday today) and had a fruit smoothie instead.  

I still kept with the detox salad for lunch on Friday but splurged and got a buffalo chicken wrap and sweet potato fries at the little cafe last night before we went grocery shopping (everything in moderation).

This morning I whipped up a nice blueberry, raspberry and peach smoothie to start the day but plan on getting back to my green juice and some detox tea a little later in the day and of course a healthy dinner.

Rene and I both noticed that we don't feel hungry or full really throughout the day and also that my stomach -- which occasionally gets upset very easily (sometimes because of dairy sometimes just randomly throughout the day) hasn't been acting up at all this week with the swap in what I've been eating...which is somewhat leading me to wonder if what a couple of friends have said before is true and I may have a bit of an allergy to gluten (it hasn't been in my diet really since the pizza bites).....nothing life or death related but I'm feeling good and healthy and that's what I was going for!

Of course it doesn't hurt that I may have gained between 5-6 pounds of holiday goodness which has since disappeared thanks to us getting back into our "normal routine"...

Next week I'll be alternating juices and smoothies for breakfast and also some fresh hummus and crudites with miso soup for lunches to start getting a bit more protein into my diet since this week it was pretty minimal.

Carb Loading

Don't get me wrong I know that eating healthy is a big part of staying healthy, and processed sugars and starches typically don't do much for my waistline but what can I say I have a weakness over carbs!  In particular pizza or anything pizza-like and pasta (hence Rene's purchase of the past maker for me).

As I go into Day 4 of my detox I figured it was time to reminise about my tasty treats from last weekend.  Mainly the carb loaded delights that we aren't eating right now...First up! Fresh pasta and homemade marinara.  Don't get me wrong I am no  Italian so I make the sauce the way Rene and I like it!

The necessary ingredients, oregano, basil, garlic, onion, red pepper flakes, onion powder, garlic powder, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and tomato sauce...

 And then cook low all afternoon.

 Then the pasta dough-2 cups of flour 3 eggs-pretty simple!

 Refrigerate and then roll and cut and allow to dry!

I will say the first batch was pretty good but next time I will have to make the pasta bit thinner.  For those of you who have never worked with fresh pasta when cooked it expands to about 3 times it's natural thickness...so while it wasn't quite right I'll be working on it for the future.

Then we made pizza pull apart bread - Rene even helped out!

 It only takes 5 ingredients! 

Premade pizza crust

Mozzarella cheese cut into little cubes

Garlic (we bought the pre-minced)

Pepperoni 

*optional marinara or ranch for dipping

Roll out small balls of the crust and flatten into a disk

 Next place a pepperoni in the center (folded works best)

 Add cheese

 Roll and secure

 Repeat and then place in a bunt pan and brush with melted garlic butter.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.  

We learned a couple of lessons from our first try.  As you can see this isn't the ideal turn out.  First we need to press the little pizza bites together more so that they hold a firm shape when removed from the pan.  Second my pan was new and therefore super non-stick and the shape kind of flopped onto the plate and didn't look too pretty and third our oven here at the apartment is awful and it got a little extra crispy.

Nonetheless, it was amazing and we will be making this again for a non-healthy day for sure!

Are you hungry now?

What I'm Loving

It's Wednesday and better late than never....so without further adieu what am I loving today?

.... that the weather in Dallas looks like it's going to be in the 70's later this week!

....that there are only 10 more days til my Birthday and Rene say's he's got a great present for me.

....I'm almost done with my recruiter evaluations for the past year (5 is alot!)
...the gym wasn't crazy packed again today which was nice and stress free

Time for an upgrade

I am sad to say that after about 6 years my iPod has officially died!  Just as I started listening to it again at the gym and poof - it's officially d-o-n-e.

It still works but only plays for about and hour each time it's charged.  Rene has told me it's time to get a new one....I mean I guess it's time since technically my iPod is known now as the "classic" 

(that makes me feel old)

Now this weekend I guess it's off to find a new one.  While I wish that I could get the old iPod nano like Rene has they don't make it anymore...so I guess I'll be getting the new model...not sure how I feel about the touch screen but I guess it's my only choice....

I've also looked at getting the iPod Touch because it does more than just music and really isn't that much more cost wise at Target and Walmart.

I also like that it's a little bit bigger...

Why is it that they keep making evening small and with touch screens?  I am not a huge fan of the full touch screen on anything really-my fingers get cold and don't register on the screen...but I guess I don't have much of a choice in the matter....any suggestions?  I really don't use my iPod for much more than the gym anyhow so is it worth the extra?

Certified!

After finishing up finals this semester I told Rene that I was going to sit and take the next certification with NAPS--my PRC certification (Physician Recruiter Consultant).  This exam was much easier than the 155 question test that I took to get my CTS this summer since it was dealing with what I do on a daily basis!

I am happy to say that with just a little over a week of preparation I successfully passed the exam this weekend!  It's a nice way to round out the year and add a couple more initials to the end of my name.  

MIA?

Yes I've been completely missing since Thanksgiving! Whoops!

It's been a whirlwind of a couple of weeks to say the least with craziness at work (it's audit time so there are a million and ones things to be done)...and school (finals and assessment test for this semester just about done)....Christmas decorating (at least a little bit), Christmas shopping, and baking cookies (for both mine and Rene's offices and the apartment)!

As you can see it's been busy but I figured I needed to post a quick little update!

I am happy to say that all of our holiday cards have been mailed off, the presents are all wrapped and under the tree, and those heading to Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Arizona are ready to be dropped off at the post office on Monday.

The office audit will be officially over this Friday at 5pm....Almost all of the cookies and treats are baked for our offices and by the end of this week it will be the official end of the Fall semester-- so hopefully this time next week it will be calm just in time for Christmas....though we are looking forward to a very low key, wake up whenever, sit in our PJs all day type of holiday.

It will be nice to not have class for 2 weeks and enjoy a little bit of a long weekend coming up though I have a feeling Rene will still be working on the computer most of the time, at least he's in town and not traveling :)

I'll be sure to try to post of pics of the holiday decor and cookies sooner rather than later--until then!

Re-Invent Thanksgiving Leftovers

Lets be honest you can only have so many turkey sandwiches after turkey day...so I always try to come up with some easy ideas to re-invent and re-use those turkey leftovers!

This year we did a whole lot of reinventing! I must apologize though I forgot to snap pictures of a couple of the items.

First off here was our Thanksgiving Dinner--lots of food = lots of leftovers!Re-invention #1 - Sausage Egg and Cheese "muffins"
First take a muffin pan and put a little of the stuffing in the bottom (we used our apple and sausage stuffing) next pour a little egg white or whole egg onto the top and bake approx. 12 minutes at 350 degrees-top with a little cheese and melt. Quick and easy breakfast/brunch!

Next up? #2 - Turkey and Noodles (no picture sorry)
Take turkey bones, sage, and thyme and create a delish stock-simmer at least 2 hours!
Add in some veggies we used carrots, onion, peas, and corn
Next add in your shredded turkey (light and dark meat)
Simmer and then add in your noodles. The longer you cook the noodles the thicker everything becomes rather than a soup it's like a little turkey and "dumplings"

Re-invention #3- Turkey Nachos!
For anyone who has ever been to an Ale House this is a play on their Chicken Nachos

Super simple! Layer tortilla chips, then cheese, turkey, more cheese, jaleponos (optional) and bake!
Serve with sour cream, salsa, and guacamole!

#4 --Cranberry Almond and White Chocolate Chip Pancakes!
(sorry no picture)
Make a basic pancake mix, add in cranberry almond sauce and some white chocolate chips! Delish!

#5-Spicy Pumpkin Soup
See the pumpkins in the mail photo? We baked our stuffing inside the little pie pumpkins then used them in our soup!
First start with a little chicken stock (about 3 cups) add in onion, and pumpkin flesh. Allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes.
Next add in cayenne pepper, salt, curry, and red pepper flakes to your own taste--continue to simmer another 10 minutes until the pumpkin has started to fall apart.
Next in small batches or large depending on size of your food processor, blend until nice and smooth
Return to stove and add 1 cup of heavy cream, and 3 tablespoons of brown sugar, stir until combined.
Our soup is in the freezer for a nice cold day this winter!

And last but certainly not least! #6 - Turkey and Winter Greens Eggrolls!
We used what remained our our winter greens and mixed them with some shredded light meat turkey and reheated it in a saute pan. Next we then took egg rolls and wrapped the mixture up and brushed with a little melted butter and baked at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes!
Served with a little gravy it was a nice crunchy treat to end out the weekend!


And thankfully we used up almost all of the left overs!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

It's the day before Thanksgiving and yes I'm at work but it's Wednesday and here's what I'm Loving!

-- There is no school today which means not only is there no traffic, but also no line at the Starbucks drive thru!

-- We are going to get our holiday/family pictures taken today for holiday cards!

-- It's a day at work where I don't really have to stress out too much and I'll actually leave on time not an hour or two later!

-- No Finance class tonight!

-- I get to start cooking and prepping everything for Thanksgiving tonight! (I love to cook it, but cleaning duties will fall on Rene).

Happy Wednesday! What are you loving today?!

Busy Days = Lack of Posts

I haven't posted recently and it's mainly because work and school are again consuming my life...there isn't a lot of time for much of anything else sad to say...but on a high note it's getting down to the end of the semester (December 19th) and then January 16th it's time to start my last semester of graduate school (fingers crossed at least!).

Aside from that things at the Blanco home are pretty boring.

It is nice that Rene is at least able to come home and eat dinner with me though it's been pretty quiet and lonely the past couple of months.

The weather in Dallas is starting to get cooler, the days are seeming shorter and it's dark when I head to work and then dark when I get home from work. And that all leads to the fact that we are getting closer to end of the year, Thanksgiving, and Christmas--where has the year gone?

I haven't even started to think about Christmas gifts yet!