Recipes and racing

June 29, 2015June 29, 2015 Movin' it with Michelle

It’s crazy to say that marathon training (and the race) is over. After 18 weeks of blood, sweat, and tears I managed to finish the Grandma’s Marathon with my sister and cross yet another thing off my bucket list. WINNING.

So now what?

First, there’s that on-going pipe dream of writing my own cook book that I always seem to gravitate back to…and that of course requires a LOT of work and time. Having busied myself with full and half marathon training the last several years, that dream has perpetually been put in the back seat. This in part mostly because I don’t cook with measuring…I cook with my palate, embracing the smells and flavors of food and never-ever measure out ingredients. So over the last few years I’ve paid closer attention to my cooking so I can catalog my recipes with approximate measurements so people can replicate my dishes. You can see the start of my collection HERE

And then, there is also that lingering sub-2 half marathon goal that although sometimes seems impossible, it also is something I REALLY want to achieve. Why? Not sure…but it’s a goal I want to smash one day-so last week I went to my first EVER speed work session at the track. WHAT you say? YOU did track work? I did…guilty as charged said the girl who’d never run on a track again after 6 years of junior high school/high school track and 20 years of military running, again, around a track. Although it was a bit soon coming off the full marathon on Saturday, I can honestly say I had FUN…shhhh, don’t tell anyone. Now that my legs are fully rested, I plan on going back on Thursday for some more speed work. YAY.

Lastly, it’s time to kick the last few remaining negative forces that have resided in my brain, out of my head and heart once and for all. I figure if I say it enough, I’ll eventually DO IT. People, friends, life MOVES ON…whether or not I do…so it’s time to quit hanging on to things that no longer exist. All it does, is drag me down…#notimeforthatanymore

What’s on your plate for the remainder of the year? What’s your favorite go-to recipe?

Keep Movin’ Forward!!! <#

Michelle

food, Recipes, running, Uncategorized

Monday Motivation and updates

March 3, 2015 Movin' it with Michelle

So after finishing my temper tantrum from the weekend, I decided this morning to pick myself up and start over today. Despite struggles, single parenting, and normal teenage drama I needed a clean slate. So here….we….go….

This morning I woke up on time, and allowed myself an extra snooze. I smiled as I cuddled my dog, and I took my time getting ready since I only had ONE child to tend to this morning. And it felt great. This is a new day.

Work was great, and I had time to organize and file a lot of paperwork that had been collecting dust on my desk. YAY to organizing, right?!

My hubby offered to take our youngest to ballet even though it’s something I normally do, stating, “You need a break.” He’s right… I do.

Can I get an Amen? Pic: veryfunnypics.eu — Can I get an Amen?
Pic: veryfunnypics.eu

So I cooked the family dinner after work, and jumped at the chance to run. My legs are still very tight from Saturday, so it felt GREAT to stretch ’em out on the ‘mill. WAIT…did I say that out loud? A dready run that wasn’t so dreadful. Winning.

quick dready run that wasn't so dready... — quick dready run that wasn’t so dready…

After my run, I ate dinner, showered, and have been sitting quietly at my computer working on the recipe section of my blog for about an hour and a half. Have you checked it out yet? It’s just a start, but I’d love for you to try some of my favorite recipes! You can check it out here! Feedback, comments, and ideas are always welcomed!

It felt great ~~despite laundry duty~~ to give myself a couple hours to do something JUST for me. Running. Writing. And cataloging recipes. Does it get better than that?

How do you spend your down time? Do you allow yourself time to just do YOUR thing at least once a week? If not, I highly recommend it. I tell ya what…my uninterrupted shower tonight was off. the. chain. LOL

Thanks, y’all! I look forward to hearing from you!

❤ Michelle

Uncategorized, Wordless Wednesday

Today is a new day…Never a wordless Wednesday

February 26, 2015 Movin' it with Michelle

My day started out like any other. My alarm went off just before 6 a.m. although I had been up since 3…WHY? I had terrible nightmares of being tortured and I kept trying to scream for help, yet my scream wouldn’t develop in to any sort of sound. So I kept trying to scream until I woke up in cold sweats and had to walk around the house for a few minutes to calm myself down. Where do these dreams come from? You just never know, I suppose. I maybe fell back asleep for a few minutes, but as I reached over to push the snooze button and peaked down the hall to my eldest daughter’s bathroom I realized she had overslept. Crap…there goes my 8 minutes of snoozing (like it really matters, right?). I got up, woke her up, and prodded down the hallway to wake up my youngest. She’s always smiles in the morning, but something was off today…I asked her several times if she was ok? “I’m fine, Mommy.” We got ready, had breakfast, and did the routine of drop offs as we’ve done for the last 3 weeks.

This...the happiest girl in the world even when she is sick. — This…the happiest girl in the world even when she is sick.

And then I got the call from my neighbor who takes my youngest to the bus. She had developed a fever, had the chills, and I needed to come pick her up. I of course had just made my last turn before arriving to work. I pulled over, called the lab and my boss letting them know I needed to stay home. Thankfully I work with amazing and understanding people. So after my 30 minute commute back home, I picked up my youngest and we spent the day on the couch watching Disney movies. Her fever broke around noon and her appetite came back briefly. We settled back in to our movie watching with my worry alert brought back down to normal and I found myself daydreaming a lot, and thinking even more about this whole thing they call life.

Since retiring from the Air Force in 2011 after 20 years of service I have fought to search for my niche in life. I think I have found it between all my hobbies of running, writing, cooking and photography but still find myself just another 40+ year old woman that is trying to reestablish herself. We tend to lose ourselves in our kids, our marriages and our careers but what really makes US, well, US? Having had been through a lot in my life and overcoming more than can be even put in to words I created my FB page that stems from this blog. I have spent the last 2 1/2 years posting, reaching out to others to remind them they are #more and #worthsomuch and to always #keepmovinforward. It was MY way to give back to the world because I know…I know what it means to hear those words, read that story or hear that song that touches you RIGHT at the VERY MOMENT you need it to. I know.

But since the changes of FB algorithms my reach is down to nil, and the time I spend “talking” to others trying to inspire with my every day life has fallen on deaf ears. I’ve collected the data, studied the stats and compared the amount of time I spent posting anecdotes, quotes, work outs and recipes to my page. And WOW…the numbers are truly nuts. I will stand by the fact that if I can touch ONE life, help ONE person, my goal is complete. But I can’t do this when FB hides the posts of everyone who refuses to pay to promote. Out of nearly 11k followers on FB, I am lucky to ‘reach’ even just 100 people. And this number continues to decline.

Yet for the better part of 2 1/2 years I didn’t blink an eye at getting up early to post something to start people’s days, another lunch time post normally and after work I would try and motivate with my work outs or an inspirational post. At the end of the day there would be a real life adventure, or a truth post, and I would bid everyone goodnight. And it made me happy, every, single, day to reach people.

But with the changes, I can’t keep spending that much time in a venue that doesn’t value my posts ‘worthy’ of being seen. So tonight I posted my last longish truth post letting everyone know I was still there, but that they can find me here. I have a lot to offer, I think…I believe. I just have to find the right outlet. I just want to help people…I want to be that voice that says, YOU CAN. Don’t give up.

So I’ll be blogging more, and FB’ing a lot less…because I know I have things to say and share.

Here’s my day in photos….Thanks for being here, y’all.

For dinner, shrimp over romaine hearts, avocado, cucumbers, radishes and cherry tomatoes!

1:3 interval training, ran one minute hard, 3 at a steady pace for 21 minutes.

Keep Movin’ forward!!!

❤ Michelle

Tagged posts

How well do you know me? 4 things and fun!

January 22, 2015January 22, 2015 Movin' it with Michelle

4 Things You’ve Always Wanted to Know about Me… Or Not

I saw Molly from alsoranagain ‘s blog, post this and thought immediately, FUN!!!! Count me in! How well do you know me?

4 names that people call me:
1. Michelle 2. Chelle Best friend calls me this, as well as some childhood friends. 3. Mom 4. My last name…it’s a military thing.

4 jobs that I’ve had:

1. Fry girl at Hardees-my first job nearly 30 years ago 2. Steak flipper at The Great Steak Escape-I had a mean flip with my spatula, I could also peal potatoes faster than most 3. Airmen (MSgt retired) in the United States Air Force-20 years, and the best job in the entire world! 4. Currently-Histology Laboratory Supervisor. Don’t feel bad if you don’t know what this means-check it on online. It’s a pretty cool job.

4 movies I’ve watched more than once:

1. Chef-my new found favorite movie. Have you seen it? If not, it’s a must see for foodies. 2. Breakfast at Tiffany’s-what more can I say? 3. Pretty Woman-BEST. EVER. “In case I forget to tell you later, I had a really good time tonight.” 4. Ratatouille-My favorite animated movie.

4 books I recommend:

1. The bridge across forever-Richard Bach. Probably my all time favorite book. “There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, they’re necessary to reach the places we’ve chosen to go.” 2. A light in the Attic. Shel Silverstein. It’s truly a magical book. 3. A return to love. Marianne Williamson. This book saw me through many hard times. 4. Care of the Soul. Thomas Moore. #This

4 places I’ve lived:

1. Duluth Minnesota, (born in St. Cloud MN) where I spent most of my childhood years 2. O’Fallon IL, where I learned true independence. 3. Various areas in the Washington D.C. area-one of my favorite places I’ve lived, although would never want to raise a family there. 4. Anchorage Alaska-Where I found myself, and in turn met the love of my life.

4 places I’ve been:
1.  Cancun Mexico-9 glorious days spent with my hubby for our honeymoon                                                                    2.  Santa Monica California-a little piece of heaven if you ask me.
3.  Corpus Christi, Texas-our happy place even in the toughest of times while living in Texas
4.  Canadian Borders-God’s Country

4 places I’d rather be now:
1.  Italy
2.  The Beach-any will do
3.  Fiji
4.  Disney World/Land…either would make my heart happy

4 things I don’t eat:
1.  Coconut-the texture kills me
2.  Water Chestnuts-see above reason
3.  Lima beans if I can help it…
4.  …Gosh, I eat most everything…

4 of my favorite foods:
1.  Fresh seafood of any kind
2.  Brussels sprouts (with bacon of course)
3.  Sushi                                                                                                                                                                                        4. Anything salty, to include chips, fries, and anything truly unhealthy. Darn it. LOL

4 TV shows I watch: (I don’t have cable anymore, and only get one channel, so anything I see is on HULU besides the Fox network)
1. MasterChef-duh 2. MasterChef Junior 3. Chopped 4. Iron Chef

4 things I’m looking forward to this year:
1. Running the Grandma’s marathon (my first time at this race) with my sister!!! 2. Visiting my hometown of Duluth MN for the first time in 20 years nearly. 3. Planning some sort of trip with my family-somewhere with a beach would be great… 4. Continuing my decluttering goal as well as working on building my blog and writing more recipes for my cook book.

4 things I’m always saying:
1.  “Huh?” -I get distracted easily and my attention span is shot, sorry guys…
2.  “Good Morning” – I say it at all times of the day, and 99% of the time with a smile                                                                  3.  “I know, right” – I think I may be a born again teen with a 15 yr old daughter.
4.  “That’s what she said”…because it nearly always makes the most innocent statement, well…funny! 😉

So now it’s your turn!!!!

If you’re reading this, consider yourself tagged!

❤ Michelle

food, Three things

Three Things Thursday

January 16, 2015 Movin' it with Michelle

1. I was tagged to participate in a pretty fun post, but will have to work on that this weekend. HAHA, way to keep you hanging, right?

I did however get THIS cool notification after just over a year of having my blog on WP. 🙂 A HUGE thank you to those who have taken the time to like, comment, and engage with my quirky little place in the world. Mad love to you all!

2. After working 6 days in a row I realllllllllllllllllly wanted to come home and put my jammies on and…NOT. MOVE. But after work I picked up my youngest and ran a couple errands. I knew once arriving home I would HAVE to change in to my running clothes and hop on the mill. I texted my friend Maria, as we had another virtual running date, and got ready. She was running a little late, so I started on my own. Just after hitting the one mile mark (2 miles on deck) I really wanted to give up. My legs were sore after my run Tuesday and I found myself questioning if I’d be ready for marathon training in just ONE month after nearly a month without a single run. My legs were SORE from a 2 mile run…really? But then I got this text…and I knew I could do this. No quitting. (Thanks, Maria…truly!)

3. I admittedly haven’t cooked ~~at all~~ since I’ve been on single Mom duty this week. The kids are happy with left over, sammiches, and breakfast for dinner so it’s been pretty easy. Tonight after my run I decided to make an easy homemade pizza with a little help from the store. My friend Kristina from @Life laugh love run asked for the recipe, so I thought I’d share with you all!

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees, and line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil-set aside while you get your ingredients ready!

1 package of corn tortilla/gluten free tortilla/wrappers

1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce. I am lucky to have an amazing Italian market just 1/2 mile away that makes their own homemade sauce that is totally organic/preservative free!

Your favorite toppings! Here are some of mine:

1 pepper, diced

Several mushrooms, sliced

Garlic-minced

1 package of lean/low fat/low sodium pepperoni. I get mine again, from my amazing grocery store so I know it’s “good” for my family.

Oregano/basil

Mozzarella cheese (I only use a little as dairy and I aren’t friends)

Line the cookie sheet with the tortillas, making sure NOT to overlap. Take 2 tablespoons of marinara sauce, and spread evenly over the tortilla. Add your veggies next, then the pepperoni. Sprinkle lightly with the cheese, and season with basil and oregano. Bake at 425 degrees for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

easy, quick, and healthy! Can't go wrong! — easy, quick, and healthy! Can’t go wrong!

Enjoy!

Have you struggled with winter running or injury? How do you get past the struggle? What is your favorite healthy go-to meal?

Keep Movin’ forward, y’all!

❤ Michelle

goals

Two things Tuesday-Unplugging and Social media

December 24, 2014 Movin' it with Michelle

I have been reading several posts on “unplugging” more in the upcoming new year. This has something that I have been thinking about for quite some time. I started paying attention to how much time I WASTE ensuring I see everyone’s posts on Facebook, twitter, etc. HOURS sometimes each night are spent pouring myself over newsfeeds and tweets, tumblrs and IGs. Ugh…really?

And for what?

Sure it’s fun to keep up with my friends and family who live all over the world. It’s great to be able to see baby pictures and accomplishments. I really enjoy seeing race photos and family updates.

But wouldn’t it be better if I got a phone call or a text, telling all this very same information PERSONALLY to me? If they really wanted me to know what’s going on in their life, wouldn’t they reach out to me vs. having to blast it on social media? And vice versa as well…Couldn’t I just shoot a text out, or make a phone call to my loved ones vs. posting on FB?

Maybe…

But life gets busy, I understand that all too well. It’s hard to keep in touch, it’s hard to fit in a phone/text conversation when our lives are…so busy? Are we really that busy? If we have enough time to sit on social media for a length of time, couldn’t we use that time differently to communication with one friend, family member or loved once twice each week? It’s a catch 22 of sorts, for sure…

So my goal, moving forward is to do two things…this is a two things Tuesday post, right?

1. Unplug more from social media. I will do this by not checking fb AT ALL during the day on my breaks/lunch etc. I will keep my IG account, because I love photography, but the same thing goes. I will only check it after my youngest daughter goes to bed. Both my kids deserve more attention. I will also make an effort to make at least one phone call each week, to catch up with a loved one. I do realize text conversations would better for some, so that works too. Dust off your ear pieces and thumbs my friends. 🙂

2. Continue putting more efforts into my blog/writing of my cookbook venture. I really am proud that I actually stuck with it for the better part of 2014, so I truly hope 2015 rolls in with continued successful efforts.

I hope with my proposed plan of unplugging somewhat will form a habit that lasts a lifetime. Realizing we all have choices, I do know that social media CAN be a blessing so I won’t unplug completely. I will however start living more of MY life, vs. scrolling newsfeeds about OTHER’S lives. No offense, gang. ❤

Happy Holidays, y’all!

❤ Michelle

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