What motivates you??

I'm curious if anyone has any music that inspires/motivates them in the gym. We are compiling new playlists for our training and need some good motivational music to pump us up! If anyone has any suggestions, please share with us! our favorite band is OAR and that usually gets us ready to go...but we are looking for a large variety so let us know!! thank you!

Getting creative...

So we are on day 24 of our fitness plan and needed a break from our meal plan...so I had to get creative! The result: a yummy salad that hit the spot.

Ingredients
Baby spinach leaves
Granny Smith apple wedges
Dried cranberries
Fat free feta cheese
walnuts (unsalted)

The dressing was a home made cranberry walnut (can substitute Paul Newman's Light Cranberry walnut salad dressing). It was still very healthy and really good. I love experimenting with different foods and creating fun combinations. Cooking has become a huge part of my life since getting married and I like to believe I've taken on the challenge and done well with it for the most part...I wasn't much of cook before June! I guess you'd have to ask my husband to be sure ;)

Progress...

I am slowly becoming a workout-a-holic. I'm looking forward to our workouts more every day (weird, I know). I'm incredibly sore from our fitness plan this weekend, and I can't wait to hit the gym again today after work...talk about a stress reliever! I've also started going to yoga classes with Monica, and what a difference it has made. I feel happier, I have more energy, and I feel very flexible! It's very relaxing and calming, but surprisingly a difficult work out. I've decided I am going to try (notice the key word here is try) to start training for a half-marathon this summer with Monica...thanks for the motivation and inspiration Mon! My plan is to start training & running after our 30-day program is up. Then I'll already be toned and have the lean muscle mass needed to really push myself to run to my limit. However, if I am not physically ready when the time comes, my goal will be pushed back a year :) But eventually I will run a half-marathon....ok now I feel sick that I am sharing this with you because that means I have to get my butt in gear and actually do it. Maybe the accountability will help!

Turkey burgers

We were getting really sick of all the chicken in our diet, so I decided to make some home made turkey burgers. They turned out really tasty, although a little hard to cook on the grill (some fell apart) because they were so freshly made. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey
1 small onion chopped in TINY pieces
1/2 tsp minced garlic
4 tbsp dried bread crumbs
2ish egg whites
3 tbsp BBQ sauce
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp liquid smoke

Mix it all together... make patties and refrigerate so they can settle and stick together better. Then throw them on the grill until golden brown. I topped mine with caramelized onions, tomatoes, lettuce, ketchup and reduced fat cheddar cheese... you can also use FF mayo. Enjoy!!

Happy Friday! I am so excited to see and hang out with all our friends tonight for Joe's birthday. We don't have much planned this weekend except for the SuperBowl, so it will be nice to relax and go with the flow. I hope everyone stays warm!

5 down...

I finally finished the Twilight series and of course, got hooked just like Harry Potter! I don't know what it is about the story....maybe the inseperable but forbidden love the main characters share, or the suspense/action intertwined with the danger and fear of losing each other! Whatever it was, I could not put the books down and am anxiously awaiting the next movie to premier this November. My poor husband, he did a great job putting up with me while I raced through the series...I read 2,492 pages in 5 days! The end had a surprising twist, and an outcome I didn't think possible. Bella and Edward get married and are able to have a child together before Bella becomes a vampire...making their life complete-an unpredictable outcome considering their circumstances. Now I'm reading Midnight Sun, the un-finished story of Twilight but from Edward's viewpoint. Of course, it's just as fabulous and addicting. If you have an open-mind about a creativly written forbidden dark romance, get this series!! This brings my total to 5, 20 more books to go!

Happy Birthday to Al!

Last weekend was full of fun! My sister turned 17 on Sunday, so the weekend was dedicated to her :) Friday night we went to Chino Latino and I had to resist the urge to completely blow my 30 day plan! But we survived....only knowing that I got a day off on Sunday for the fabulous Forepaugh's restaurant. After dinner we went to see Slumdog Millionaire, a movie I have wanted to see for a long time. It was very sad, but a great movie. Saturday we (meaning my sister and I) convinced Jay to go see Twilight with us...ever since I started the books I've been hooked. I finished the second, third, and am almost done with the 4th and final book. They are addicting! Anyways, it was cool to see the book come to life on screen.

Aly only asked me for two things for her birthday, the first was for me to spend Saturday night with her. She picked out a movie (Gone with the Wind) and we had a party with the four of us (Aly, me, my Mom and Jay) until we kicked Jay out for girls night!! My Dad is taking us to Europe next summer as a graduation gift to my sister, so we started to plan our trip. It was so much fun. The second part of the birthday wish was to take her prom shopping. So after our slumber party on Saturday, and Yoga on Sunday morning, we headed to the Mall of America. We had a great time! We found the most beautiful dress and she looked like a princess...it's not for awhile but she wanted to get a dress before the selection was limited, and it was a good idea because everyone seemed to be trying on formal dresses. She also found her shoes, and jewelry, so the trip was a success!

Sunday night we went to Forepaugh's and had an amazingly delicious meal. Jay coaches a baseball clinic on Sunday nights for kids in the community, so we all missed him at our fancy dinner. Forepaugh's is an old, beautiful mansion that was turned into a restaurant, and the food is to die for. (They also say it's haunted-ha ha!) We had a wonderful evening and had great company to share it with! I hope she had a great and wonderful birthday, because she's a great and wonderful person! We really enjoyed our weekend together. Here are a few photos to share: