So a little while back I spoke about Battling mid-life and how one of the things I would love to do is help people. While I have had a successful career in the lab, helping people in general, is something I’ve always enjoyed doing. Be it an inspirational quote, or a quick chat, I love helping people feel better. So, when I was afforded this Exciting opportunity to be an Ambassador for Novo Renew, I jumped at the chance. In the last month or so I have really enjoyed promoting these amazing supplements I just can’t stop talking about, and I don’t just talk about them, I take them as well. I’ve loved the feedback I have gotten from those that started taking them as well, and my favorite customer (My DAD) just ordered a second bottle. WOOHOO!!!
So while I may be tired after working all day, I truly have a passion for Novo Renew, and plan to continue to spending a couple of hours each night working on spreading the word about these life changing, all natural, amazing supplements.
Click HERE to order yours, risk free! Use code Michelle25 to save 25% off of your order!!
Wednesday I went out for my short run after work, and felt incredibly strong. I always wonder how I can pull these runs after working all day, but I got it done and it felt great. Fast forward to today’s long run, and whoa…but we’ll get to that in just a bit. I haven’t gotten a chance to write since my last post about mid-life due to crazy schedules, but just thought I’d share a little about my week last week.
Like I said, my mid week 5k went great. I settled in after the first mile and was able to let go and just run. While I often miss my once speedy average pace of 9:15 for short runs, I will celebrate my time no matter what. I didn’t get to run much for the year of 2016 while my husband was deployed, and 2017 was busy playing catch up for the year I lost with my husband, and moving my family across the country to start our Florida adventures.
This weekend started out really lovely. Friday night I cooked dinner and we relaxed at home. Saturday my husband came up with the idea to drive to Clearwater to watch the sunset and have dinner with one of our neighborhood friends. It felt SOOOO great to have my toes in the sand!!!!
Today was my long run. The last one before the Gasparilla half marathon on the 24th of this month in downtown Tampa. We had ten miles on deck, and I knew as soon as we walked out of the front door, that this run was going to suck. Mile 2 my stomach started to talk to me and we had to make a pit stop at the house after mile 3. (I don’t think Mexican food is a good idea before a long run, especially when its going to be blazing hot with full on sun with absolutely no clouds for miles. Thank God for the breeze!!). Mile six, the same thing happened and we had to swing back to the house yet again. We had gone 7.5 miles and I just didn’t think I could keep going. I drank some Nuun and had some Huma Gel, but I was still grey and pale. My hubby said I needed to stay home, and he was right. He finished out his ten miler, and I spent the next 30 minutes getting my body temperature regulated. Looking at my Garmin stats it showed my heart rate had gone to 195 bpm. Yikes. This will definitely be my last long distance race this season. I’ll stick to 5K and 10K distance until the fall/winter months, or until I cave and get a new treadmill. (My Mom had given me one back in IL, but it was old and just wasn’t working anymore so we had to get rid of it).
For dinner tonight I made Beef bourguignon over cauliflower mash and it was amazing. To keep it keto friendly I omitted the carrots, but I feel like it was missing something with leaving them out.
Please click the links for the recipes!
How was your week/weekend? Are you training for any specific races? How do you handle running in extreme temperatures?
This year on the blog I will be talking more about some good ole real life adventures and life in general. My goal is to write more, and knowing I have struggled with making myself a priority over the last several decades, I thought this would be a good Saturday evening topic.
Looking back on my life, my priorities have always been targeted on something other than me. My husband and taking care of things while he was gone on deployments, my kids and their happiness, and my job and juggling work and home life have always left “Me” at the end of the very long list of things I have been responsible for over the last several years. Because of the large bucket of balls I have juggled over the years, I have lost friendships, and somewhat have sort of lost myself. Now that my kids are getting older (one is grown and so far still out of the house but still struggling to find her way, and one is now 12 and is becoming more independent and self sufficient), I really want to see how I can make ME a priority this year.
Here’s a few things I have in mind for the upcoming year:
I’ve updated my resume and am ready to start looking at progressing in my career. I’ve always taken the back seat to make sure I am home for my family, but I think the time is now to see if I can actually move forward in my career.
I’ve signed up for a half-marathon the end of February with my husband. My training is on hold during the course of fighting this horrible cold, but I’ve still got plenty of time to properly train.
I will make more time for the friendships I’ve made here in Florida. I’ve been lucky enough to be blessed having an old Air Force girlfriend here, and have made a couple of friendships I hope to develop. I’ve learned as you get older, it really is harder to make friends.
Write more, and more often. Be it short excerpts, recipes, or just simple dialog, WRITE.
Above all else, love myself a little more. Stop counting the grey hairs and wrinkle lines, and remember that I have been through so much in my life. I have earned every grey hair and every line that is carved in to my face.
Lastly, continue on with my mantra of “Keep Movin’ Forward.” Yes, I am middle aged, yes, I will be 46 in a little over a week, but my life is far from over. I need to remember that it really is NEVER too late, and I still have time to do the things I want to in this life.
I watched one of my favorite movies tonight, “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” and was reminded that life may not always turn out how we wanted, but if we can touch other people’s lives and make this world a better place we should have no regrets.
What are your goals for this year? Do you have a favorite movie that resonates with you? I’ve thought about renaming the blog…any suggestions?
This week we celebrated our one year anniversary of closing on our house here in Florida.
Hard to believe it’s been a year since moving in!
Work was fairly uneventful which is a good thing.
I got two tough runs in. One solo.
And one with our neighborhood run club. We’ve missed previous weeks due to our daughter’s voice lessons being on Fridays so it was a blast to be able to go!
We had another quiet weekend at home. We incurred some much unwanted debt with our move and our doggy vet bills over this year so we’re trying to get caught back up. We did enjoy another weekend of fun and sun at our neighborhood pool.
Speaking of dogs-can you get any cuter than this?
He’s worth every penny.
❤️🐾❤️🐾
We are on point with Keto eating. We’ve wrapped up our 6th week and I’m down almost 6 pounds and the hubby is rounding out at an 18 lbs weight loss! Our goal is to continue with this lifestyle once we hit our goal weight, but allowing ourselves a cheat day every now and then. Here are some of my easy, go-to meals.
Well wasn’t this a pleasant surprise. My blog 6-7 years old, and is just my tiny little space to share some of my passions so it’s always fun to see it hanging in there between moments of lapse. Life, moving, deployments, and everything else in between have kept me pretty busy. But I’ll always have this little space in the universe.
Today I wanted to get a few miles in after work. I walked the first mile, and once the cloud and thunder rolled in, I ran the last mile and cut it short for safety reasons. The lightning here is no joke!
We’re starting week 6 of Keto and we’re hanging in strong. I didn’t weigh myself this morning but am still at around a 4-5 lbs weight loss.
How was your day? Ever have your run cut short due to weather?
So while most enjoy extended holiday breaks there was no rest for this weary chick. The alarm went off at O’dark 30 and I headed out to work. I was half asleep (as per usual) so didn’t notice the temps until I pulled into the parking lot and noticed the lady next to me getting all bundled up. What the heck was she doing!? This is Florida…it can’t be that cold, can it?
Yes. It can. It was 41 degrees as I stepped out of my Jeep. Brrrrrr. I had to dig out my winter coat from Alaska as my Chicago coat has gone MIA. Temps are going to continue to drop as the week goes on.
I’ve got the hubby on board with working out, at least for now. Since my toe is still extremely tender we did a modified circuit training workout.
I’ve also recommitted to watching my calorie intact and stayed on point until my daughter made white chocolate peppermint cookies. In my defense they were small and I only had two…I’m attempting intermittent fasting again, where I only eat in an 8 hour eating window. The cookie happened during that time so I’ll call it a win.
What are your goals for 2018? Does your spouse workout with you?
Happy Tuesday! Bear with me while I get back into this blogging thing. My goal is to share, inspire, motivate and have a place for me to share a little bit of my adventures with the world!
If you read my last post, you read of my daughter’s life threatening accident. This past week has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride, filled with ups, downs, and more emotional strain than I think I have ever experienced. But in these last few days, I’ve also learned many lessons that I believe will help me be a better Mom, Wife, friend, and person in general.
Firstly, the old cliché that “Life is short” became very real to me this week. I had flashes of losing my daughter more times than I can count, and moving forward I will truly do my best to embrace EACH DAY. I won’t nag my youngest about housework when she wants to put on a fashion show, or worry about whether or not I’ve perfectly folded the tee-shirts and socks. I will spend MORE time living, and less time worrying about meaningless crap.
Doesn’t my dog look thrilled? LOL
Secondly, I was reminded how very important being kind is this week. Be it a phone call, a text message, A fruit basket in the hospital, a card in the mail or flowers for my daughter ALL these acts of kindness helped ease my stress. And in receiving such amazing support, I’ve been given the gentle reminder that support goes both ways. I’ve often let a busy life be an excuse for not reaching out…well, no more.
This.
Thirdly, the saying “Laughter is the best medicine” really IS true. J needed help in bathing again today, and as I helped her get dressed she smiled. Just an hour prior she was irritable and grumpy (expected side effects of the injury and medications she is on), so her smile was welcomed. I offered her my gel deodorant to use, so she took it gently and applied it under her arms. “It feels funny,” she said, and then started laughing. It was a gentle, quiet laugh to which she said, “I don’t even know why I’m laughing.” I just smiled with tears in my eyes. What music to my ears it was to hear her laugh.
Found this on Pinterest
Lastly, do what you love, and love what you do. Having been in the hospital for half the week, and the other half just plain exhausted I haven’t cooked or been running. So tonight my hubby and I tag teamed dinner. He was on grill duty, and I made some yummy sweet potato and red pepper mash. I don’t have an exact recipe, but here goes:
Boil the potatoes in water until fork tender. Reserve about a cup of the water. While the potatoes are boiling, sauté the garlic, peppers and crushed red pepper flakes for 5-7 minutes until tender. (I sauté in extra virgin olive oil over medium to high heat-drain grease)
Combine everything to include the seasonings in to a food processor, and add the reserved water little by little to ensure the taters don’t get runny.
YUM!
Tomorrow I’ll hit the trails running with my dear friend for a nice 13 mile run. There will more than likely be tears, laughter, more tears, and much needed release of stress. But my miles will be dedicated to my daughter, as she is the toughest little fighter I’ve ever met, and I am so blessed to have her in my life.
Thanks everyone, for your continued love, prayers, and support. We are movin’ forward!!!
Today I am linking up with Mar,Cynthia, and Courtney for my first Friday five link up! Please head over and check out their blogs!
I’m super excited!!!
Today’s topic is a day in the life…my life is pretty routine, so please bear with my monotony. The key to the excitement is that any deviation from my routine truly throws me off…ack! LOL
My alarm goes off promptly at 6:03 a.m. every week day for work. If my husband is in town, I allow myself 2 snoozes because I am only in charge of getting myself ready, and taking my oldest to school. After the second snooze, I roll out of bed and stumble to the bathroom. I put in my moisture eye drops (I have terribly dry eyes), turn on my curling iron and hot water (it takes several minutes to heat up) and then use the restroom. After which I get dressed quickly (my clothes are set out the night before-always), put on deodorant, brush my teeth and wash my face. I shower at night…Then it’s quick make up, throw my hair up and I’m ready to go. All in exactly 15 minutes flat.
Just can’t delete my MC audition alarm, lol
Next I grab my Starbucks refresher which has been my BFF since my insomnia resurfaced. I gave up most caffeine quite a while ago, but this has become a necessity to function. I like it because it’s cheaper than going to Starbucks, and has WAY less sugar/crap in it I’ve found. Here’s my favorite flavor!
Yes please and thanks!
My day then becomes rather boring. Monday through Friday, and every 5th weekend I am working. My job is foreign to most, but I supervise an Anatomic Pathology laboratory and although it’s not my life passion I have really grown to love the people and place I work.
My workouts depend on the day/my schedule. Normally Monday is rest/light weights, Tuesday/Thursday running, Friday light weights, and Saturday or Sunday are my long run days with the other day used for walking/rest. My youngest accompanied me on my 4 miler yesterday. It was sheer bliss seeing her smile from ear to ear and giggle for 1.2 miles.
Can someone BE any cuter? Talking about my youngest of course…lol
My evenings are normally filled with kids homework, chores, cooking, etc until about 8 p.m. where I shut down and allow myself time to blog, fb, do SOMETHING I enjoy. We deserve a little down time, right?!
LOL
So that’s my Friday fives!!! So excited to link up this week, and hope you enjoyed!!
What does your daily routine look like? Are you a planner? What do you do for enjoyment?
I knocked out my AB challenge tonight, and even made it to 24 seconds with my plank vs. the required 12 seconds. Weak…I know. But it’s progress so I’ll take it. I also walked 2.5 miles today, and my thumb is healing nicely so I hope to hit the trails next week for a couple miles! I think God was actually doing me a favor this week, as we have sub 0 temps with negative wind chills to add to the winter fun! Those of you that know me, know I struggle in the winter. This winter my goal is to keep movin’ despite the frigid temps, and laugh. and then laugh some more…:-) And for those of you bragging about your warm temps in the winter, I am not affected. Winter is SUPPOSED to be cold and snowy. It’s not always FUN…but it’s winter, and the beauty of a fresh fallen snow is still priceless. My face, does still hurt tho…just sayin’…
Pretty much…lol
Today at work, I had my weekly meeting with my boss to discuss any issues, happenings, budget, etc etc. Often times we get off on a tangent, and today’s tangent coupled with a later conversation that left me smiling. This lesson didn’t hit me until later in the day when one of my peers came to my office red faced and flustered. This woman has become like a Mother to me, so I immediately asked if I could help. She had received the news that her daughter had lost her job, and her heart was heavy trying to carry her daughter’s grief. And instantly I got choked up, remembering last year at this time, when I had found out my position was being eliminated. She and I talked extensively, both being women of great faith and I shared my story again of how I was at my wits end last year, as the time ticked by where soon I’d be jobless. But then I got the call…THE call for an interview for my current job, and everything fell in to place. Nearly 10 months later and I feel like this amazing group of people have welcomed me in with open arms and have made this my current ‘work’ home. It isn’t always about a hefty pay check or lofty raises that make the job satisfying. Nope…
Truth right here…
It’s about the people you choose to surround yourself with, each and every day. In my weekly meeting with my boss earlier today, he verified that he is working on my less than stellar pay, and reminded me that I am appreciated. And that my friends, is enough for me…
So yeah…the pay check would be nice, but at the end of the day it’s about THIS. People, moments, relationships, family, and friends.
First off, as a caveat to my last post, I had it on my heart to post about something near and dear to me.
Support.
I don’t mean in just tough times, because I’ve found that for many it is almost easier to be there for someone when the times are tough and the dark lined cloud of gloom is looming over your head for what seems like eternity…You know those times…Right?
Yup…we all do.
But what I’ve found is how hard it can be to support others in CELEBRATING their triumphs when you yourself have the impeding cloud of doom following you. Jealousy can set in, and being able to be happy for other’s success is well…hard to do sometimes.
I caught myself recently fighting the demon of jealousy to the death as I was SO tired of feeling that way. Someone else will always have more money, be taller, be smarter, have a more glamourous car/home, be able to take vacations, you name it!
No more!
SO. freaking’. WHAT I say to you, dark demon of jealousy that causes the impeding cloud of doom to follow me. BE GONE I say. BE GONE.
I have a pretty darn good life. Despite debt and student loans I’ll be paying until I die, the rest of my life is pretty amazing.
So in the future, my goal with movin’ forward is to celebrate my friends and family member’s joy, and let that nasty cloud rain on someone else’s parade!
Secondly, I’ll be doing my AB challenge again to start the new year off and build a strong core/support for my body as full blown marathon training starts mid February!
