Packing, Packing, Packing

Thursday, THURSDAY WE CLOSE!!!!

Let me start off by saying, I cannot believe closing is already here. As of next Thursday, we will be the proud owners of this bad boy

I have been obsessed (more than usual) with HGtv. I have so many techniques I want to try, including some of this in the dining room:

But we'll get to all that later.... Something tells me there will be a project every weekend.

Of course with all of the excitement, I'm of course SO INCREDIBLY SAD to be leaving downtown. You see our new place is in the suburbs, and if you know anything about living in the city, living in the suburbs is just a whole other world. I'm going to miss a million things about the city...the constant rush, the people, the sites, the fact that I can walk everywhere, even the bums. :(

But it's time to grow up. Not that you can't grow up in the city, we just can't quite afford that yet :) Maybe someday we'll have our house in the burbs, condo downtown and lakehouse in Michigan, but for now we're starting on step one....

Happy Valentine's Day!

This will be short and sweet and to the point.

Happy Valentine's Day Alan, I love you



Taken summer of 2010 in New Buffalo, MI at The Stray Dog

 Ok, one last thing, heres 5 things I love about Alan
1. That even though he's not a cat person, he loves Sphynx and Tiggs
2. That he's very funny, in the smart-makes-good-references-humor kind of way
3. That he waited with me in line at 5:30am to meet Josh Groban b/c he wanted me to be safe, awwww
4. That he's so dang smart. Who else can answer those Pogo questions....not this girl. :)
5. That he is the most self-less person I know

To the world you might be one person, but to one person you might be the world.

Alan, you are my world.

Product Review: Sensible Portions Apple Straws

First, I want to say how excited I am to finally be doing a product review. Did Sensible Portions contact me to do it, no, but that just shows you how much I love these Apple Straws.

First off, I think everyone at one time or another has had these:

Yep, those are Cinnaamon Twists from Taco Bell. Now, I can't tell you if their meat really IS meat or whatever all that hoop-la was about, but I will tell you that I LOVE me some cinnamon twists. (or I did, to be honest I can't remember the last time I've been to Taco Bell)

ENTER APPLE STRAWS

AH-MA-ZING :) Not only are they ah-natural, but they give you the serving size right on the back:

Verdict: Go buy them! You won't be sorry.
 http://www.soycrisps.com/store/html/category.cfm?id=95

It Snowed...a lot

As I'm sure everyone is aware, Chicago got it's 3rd biggest snowstorm this past week. And from my perspective...scariest storm of my life! Now I wasn't stuck on Lakeshore, like these poor people

But I was in my apartment on the 29th floor, trying to watch The Biggest Loser (+6lbs Black/Orange Team, seriously??) but it started thundering and lightening and scaring the crap out of me. I've never thought my windows would blow out until that night. I'm right off the lake, so winds were said to be up to 70mph, hello, scary! I'm trying to find a clip of Jim Cantore's (picture below....*Warning, something is wrong with me apparently*) reaction to the thundersnow, here's a link: http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/02/jim-cantore-thundersnow-blizzard-freakout-video/

So yeah, here's a couple pics of the aftermath

Apparently I really want to give you a hug 

So yeah, the whole thing was pretty wild, but kinda cool that I was still living downtown to be right in the action. :)

Winter Blues

First off, I really need to be more consistent about writing on here. Silly me thought the blogs would write themselves, but apparently I have to do it...weird, huh? :)

I hate complaining, so I'm going to start off with 5 things I'm thankful for today. I usually play this game with my fiance, and yeah he thinks it's dumb so bear with me....

1. That at this exact moment Sphynx is curled up between my typing arms trying to cuddle
2. That I get to see family this weekend (under not so good circumstances, but seeing them is always nice)
3. That the girl who made my coffee this morning made sure I ordered a medium, then gave me a large, just cuz she's nice like that
4. That I had an awesome lunch at The Gage. Their salmon is amazing
5. That my brother and sister-in-law are excited to come help us move

Still here? Ok, good.

I will be heading home this weekend for my grandma's funeral. Like I said, not so great circumstances, but it's always nice to be around family. My grandma has been sick for a while, which I guess makes things a little more manageble (if that's even the right word) So we will be saying our final goodbyes and spending some quality time with family.

Not sure what it's been, but I'm just feeling the winter blues. I never in a million years thought I would miss summer (fat reasons, go figure), but I actually do! What I miss the most is the running. So because I'm in a list mood, I'm going to list what I miss about running:

1. I didn't have to have this huge battle about getting my butt to the gym, in other words, no guilt.
2. I miss the path I ran on:

3. I miss the sense of purpose it gave me. Like when I saw tourists or families strolling along, I felt like an athelete out there training
4. I miss getting revved up for my runs, which 9x's out of 10 involved an Eminem song
5. I miss how incredibly awesome I felt!

So... I'm definitely looking into what races I can set up for this year. Will definitely keep you posted :)

Why Even Try?

I feel like I've done a lot of posting NOT about being healthy :) So today I'll try to get back on track.

I've been struggeling a lot lately, and I think I've figured out why. Last summer I did what I thought I could never do, I ran a half marathon. Yeah my time was nothing to write home about (2:47), but I ran the entire way. I freaking ran 13.1 miles!!! Me???

During that time I was really REALLY trying to lose weight. Not only for the lifelong reasons of losing weight, but also because I knew it would help my running. Who was dying to run in a tank top but didn't want to scare the world away...this girl! I digress, sorry. During that time, I really tried to keep my calories between 1200-1400/day and obviously was killing it in my workouts, usually running 5x's a week. Now, I didn't have a watch (which I'm dying to get the Forerunner *drool*), but I KNOW I was in a negative with calories in/out, which should result in a weight loss. But alas, nothing. To add insult to injury I gained weight in the beginning. I had the usual "It's just muscle" bit thrown at me, but what girl on earth wants to gain weight while doing cardio??

I really wanted 2010 to be a year of accomplishment, to finally be at a healthy weight and to finish a half marathon. I even scheduled "official" runs along with my training, like a 10k and a 10mile run, so I could say I did those too. There's something about getting the bib that makes it a little more official :)

So here I am. The holidays are over and sure I've gained something. Last I checked it was 3lbs, yes 5, 10, freaking 3 lbs! I know it sounds bad, but I would rather have gained something to show that what I did mattered (ok I totally take that back, I don't want to gain a bunch of weight, lol) But seriously, I'm just at such an impass. Why go to the gym, which let's be honest is torture. Why eat 1200-1500 calories/day, which let's be honest is starvation, when it only matters 3lbs worth?

Why even try?

Because it's good for me.
Because what I did last summer was a result of hard work
Because I will not turn out lazy
Because what I do matters, if not now then in the long run

So what now? I'll go to the gym tonight and I will get my workout in. I will start counting calories again (just in case I have to show it to a doctor, lol)

I WILL TRY!

Baby Hanah's Dedication

Like I said before, I live in the great city of Chicago. It's cool in every way EXCEPT...I don't have any family around :( Yeah, it sucks. I used to always think people were weird for wanting to live close to family. You see, I'm one of 6 kids. And yes, we grew up with one bathroom...not cool. But now that we're all grown and moved very far away...and as spacious as my 600sqft apartment is...I still miss seeing my family.

That being said, Sarah, one of my sisters, lives only a train-ride away in Wisconsin. I try to get up and see her every once in a while. This past weekend I was up there for two reasons: Sarah's birthday and her baby Hanah's church dedication.

Hanah is the baby with 2 older brothers, so yes she's definitely a calming presence :)

After church, we went to Olive Garden where Bryan had set up a surprise party for Sarah's birthday. It was really good. I didn't get a picture of the table, but here is their 2nd oldest Gideon who LOVES to eat. CUTE :)

Until next time...