Twilight

I just finished reading Stephenie Myer's first book of the Twilight series...and I thought it was really good. I'm not sure if it's better than Harry Potter, but it was entertaining! I usually don't read fictional books, but I really got into HP so I thought I would give Twilight a try. Plus, I have a 16 year old little sister who loves these kinds of books..so I'm always tempted! Anyways, one of my New Years resolutions for 2009 is to read 25 books this year. It's not a lot, but I'm really busy and I know it is reachable. I will give any book a chance, although I don't like cheesy romance novels...I think they are a waste of time. I think there is something to be said about a book that can inspire change in you. A book with substance like life lessons. One of my favorite books I've ever read was the Kite Runner, because it's such a moving, inspirational story. It was actually an incredibly sad story, but that's real life...not all stories have happy endings!

Last week I finished reading A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey, a book that was supposed to be based on his life story (we've since learned some parts were fabricated). It had really harsh language that I didn't like, but besides that it was an intriguing and moving story about his struggle to free himself from a life of addiction to drugs and alcohol. I thought it was really well written (besides the language!!) and had a lot of life lessons whether you are an addict or not. It's definetly worth a look at. So far this brings my count to 2 this year...and I'm starting a new one tonight!

Two Harbors

Here are a few pictures from our trip up North last weekend, we had a wonderful visit with Jay's Mom! I was able to take off a few hours early from work on Friday which was nice because we beat all the traffic on the drive up...and I got an early weekend :) The drive up and the shoreline was beautiful! It's so peaceful and relaxing up there...especially when it snowed on Saturday, the scenary was pristine. We stayed at Superior Shores, a 5 star resort right on Lake Superior.

California, Mango & Avocado salad!

This is one of our favorite meals on our fitness plan. It's called the California mango & avocado salad. It's topped with a home made Asian-soy dressing. It's delicious! It is full of nutrients, vitamins, and anti-oxidants. This is one of Justin's favorite meals that I make, and I cook often. We never knew "diet" food could be so yummy! :) Here are a few pictures of Jay preparing the avocados, me making the salad...and the final product, a great healthy meal.

Updates!

We've made some updates! We decided it might be fun to write a little about our selves and add on some of our travels....one of our favorite things! If you look to the left of our posts, you'll see both of our names. You can click on either to read more about us....notice the difference in creativity between the two ;) And you can click under "our travels" to read reviews on the places we go and the things that we see! we thought that would be kind of fun to share. We love to travel and are always looking for new places to visit, so let us know if you have any recommendations! As always, thanks for stopping by.

Percy goes Pro!

Percy Harvin is leaving Gator Nation to go to the NFL...sad news, but we wish him the best and hope he continues to be an amazing football player. Maybe the Vikes will pick him up!! ;)

HAPPY FRIDAY!! So Jay's got the day off again today....so I am going to see if I can persuade my Dad to let me leave early and take a half day to head start our weekend trip up north. I'm so glad it's finally Friday. I'm in the process of doing some updating/facelifting our blog so stay tuned for some new additions :)

I hope everyone has a safe and warm weekend!

Artic Tundra

So it's pretty cold here in Minnesota, and has been for awhile. I find it so funny when I hear people saying they have horrible weather when it gets to 20-30 degrees or snows an inch and everything closes :) The windchill is -45 degrees here today! District 833 is closed which means Jay gets the day off...I wish I could have the day off with him!! We are really looking forward to getting away and spending time together this weekend. We are traveling to Two Harbors to finally celebrate Christmas with his Mom at Superior Shores. We are leaving tomorrow night and will be staying through the weekend. Jay's brother and girlfriend are driving up Saturday to join us so it should be fun! It will be nice to have a weekend away.

The fitness plan is going well...we can both tell we are getting leaner and stronger every day. The work outs are NOT getting easier though! They are so satisfying because everyday the workout is different, so we never get bored. We started out doing 3-4 circuits and now we are on to 5. We do about 5-6 exercises continously in each circuit and then we get a 30 second break between circuits. It feels like 5 seconds! They are fast-paced, and mixing up the excersizes not only gives you a total body workout, but it eliminates the problem of doing the same work out over and over. When you continously repeat your routine (for example, the elliptical or treadmill everyday) your body becomes used to the exercise and after a certain period (usually about two to three weeks) the exercise is not beneficial to your body anymore. With this workout, it's always fun to discover what we'll be doing each day...and it's awesome knowing that a professional trainer put together the routine. Usually, we would stop exercising when we felt tired, or thought we had done enough for the day. Now, we know exactly the right amount of exercises to do and it's all layed out in front of us!

Tebow Stays in Gator Nation!

Today Tim Tebow announced he will be staying with the Gators for his senior year of college instead of going to the draft, so that is great news for the Gators and we'll have one more year of him dominating the football field with his amazingness!! :)