Sunday, December 14, 2014

Welcome to the 80's. Alternatively, Fructose is Poison

the revival of the slack jaw
these are my friends
I planned a lot of blog posts but forgot to actually post them... anyways, they were kind of negative and I was feeling frustrated with myself and how some things have been going and comparing myself to others, which is never good. So I'm not going to post them. I had a pretty great week in Austin for Thanksgiving, even though I was sick the whole time, and I can't believe I'm already going to leave for Chicago in a week! I'm so excited!


In other news, yesterday was our work party, which was 80's themed. I actually had way more fun than I thought I would. Although I (usually...) really like working with kids, there is a lot of drama and management issues going on at work that I don't agree with and it can make it hard to be positive at and about work. Add to that the fact that I live with 2 coworkers, and it can be hard to escape negative situations. It's always a good idea to hang out with my coworkers outside of work!
And I got employee of the year! I really was not expecting it and I do feel really grateful even though only the directors had a say in the decision. I have been doing a lot more work this year and it's nice to know it wasn't unnoticed! I know some of my coworkers work just as hard or harder than I do. I was feeling down again this past week so it was nice to feel appreciated (or as my boss would say, appreciative. He has a way with words).

However, I believe they are trying to poison me.
pure poison
They gave me a basket with mediocre looking fruit (not poison) and then several packages of poison. Including HFCS, artificial flavors and colors, hydrogenated vegetable oils (trans fats), and sugar. Excuse me, fructose. Pronounced fruhktose. Kate and I think it's all part of their master plan. Oh well, at least I have this amazing jacket. It might even be my favorite jacket I own and I have a thing for jackets so that's a big deal.





Monday, November 10, 2014

Meow.

Luda says hi.


I finished Week 1 of the cleanse! I had a few slip ups, but for the most part stuck to it. This week is the hard week though. No grains or legumes. I woke up and ran with the No Meat Athlete running group, and then I just really wanted cookies for breakfast. Maybe because I was looking up recipes to make my sister for her birthday... Anyways, I made my morning tonic (hot water with lemon, ginger and a little cayenne) and then made coconut snowballs. I put equal parts unsweetened shredded coconut, almonds and cashews in the food processor and added coconut oil and a little vanilla and maple syrup. Roll into balls, freeze until firm. They were yummy! But would definitely be better with chocolate. Only 1 6/7 weeks...

I took all my school work and walked to a coffee shop, and stopped on the way for a green smoothie. I wasn't planning on it, but I wanted a treat. Green smoothies I don't have to make taste way better. Then I got some mint tea and did so much school. I still think I need to figure out a better study schedule but it kind of works well for me to just sit down and work for several hours.

Then I made the loaded sweet potato from the cleanse (yummy) and snacked on some carrots while I was making it. I made sweet potato fries with no oil because I don't have any spray oil and Kate's didn't work and I was too lazy to put oil on the old fashioned way. I need to put that on my shopping list. I had some almonds almonds after. The dry roasted almonds are so good... but Kate basically bet me I couldn't lose 6 lbs in a week (well not exactly) so I'm trying not to overdo it on the nuts.

Sunday, November 2, 2014

It's November!

So I was blogging every day, and then gymnastics happened, and then I quit. But I had a green smoothie almost every day! I think I missed two when I just wasn't home or didn't have enough food.
But for November, I'm doing TWO challenges. I know, overachiever. I'm doing the Fresh Start 21 Cleanse again, and I'm also going to run at least a mile every day. I've never made it the full 3 weeks on the cleanse so that's my goal. I told all my roommates so hopefully they won't try too hard to tempt me with delicious treats. I already missed yesterday's run (I was at a gymnastics meet all day) but I ran 9 miles today so it averages out. I'll just have to run on December 1st too.
Hers to November challenges!

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Green Smoothie Day 8

Today's smoothie was kind of a weird idea, but I liked it. It was orange, lemon, banana, spinach and almond milk. I wasn't sure about the lemon juice almond milk combo, but it worked.

Jordan's favorite smoothie was day 6. I'm sitting next to her and I asked her.

Now she thinks she's hearing sounds upstairs and there's no one up there so it's making us nervous. Gotta go check it out.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Green Smoothie Day 7

I had a weirdly rushed morning today, and I'm not really sure how that happened. I woke up early and before I knew it it was time to go! So my smoothie was rushed and there were still frozen avocado chunks in it. Good thing I don't care. And then I put most of it in a big jar so I would have 2 servings, and Jordan got mad because apparently she's not done... So  just made her another one later with extra banana and spinach, since I ran out of mango which was the other ingredient.

I only have one class with one child Tuesday mornings, so I came home and tried unsuccessfully to fix my phone. But I did cut up a lot of veggies I've been avoiding eating because they were too much effort and tried to roast a bunch of other veggies but I had to go before they were done. I forgot the manager meeting was at a restaurant today, so that kind of ruined my day of eating well. I got a giant burrito with grilled veggies and no beans, which I thought was the point of the burrito. It probably wasn't that bad for you but I ate it all. And then coaching was fun. Good thing I'm going to go play gymnastics!

Monday, October 6, 2014

Green Smoothies Day 6

Today was still my weekend, so I stayed in bed extra long and then had cake for breakfast. Or lunch. Whatever, it was kind of all the same meal. So I made my smoothie for an afternoon snack instead. It was pretty good, with strawberries, pineapple, carrot, coconut water, and spinach. Jordan said it was her favorite one yet, but she doesn't want to do it anymore because she hasn't lost 5 lbs. Me neither, so now I can drink the extra smoothie myself and life that 2 smoothie life. I should maybe not eat cake for meals if that is my goal...

I was pretty lazy today, but I did finish Season 2 of Orange is the New Black and do a lot of school work. I'm going back to school! I'm taking two online classes, and it's kind of weird. I'm taking Nutrition and Lifespan Psychology, so two things that interest me and I already have some knowledge on. I like learning but my free time is much busier now!

There has been no progress on the broken phone, except I bought a screw driver. Hopefully I'll have an update tomorrow. It was very warm here today and I went on a long walk and ended up at Fred Meyer in a different neighborhood, which is always fun. I lead an exciting life.

Peace.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Green Smoothie Challenge Day 5

Happy Weekend! I went on my first run by myself in a while today, and it was nice. I went nice and slow and it was a beautiful day to be running through the woods in the park not to far from where I live. Today's smoothie was supposed to be peaches and blueberries, but it said you could substitute mango for the peach. So I just used peach and mango. It tasted a little weird because the frozen peaches I had were who knows how old and probably a little freezer burned, but it was ok. I made Jordan's smoothie when she got home from work. She was very upset about missing it, which surprised me a little bit. I made hers with strawberries and mango and there was a little extra I drank, and I thought it tasted much better.

I also sought professional help and inquired about my phone, and was just told I need a new one. Too bad my warranty just ran out. I'm going to try some sketchy youtube solutions and see if anything happens first, and if not I'll have to find a solution. My savings have been slowly dwindling in the last several months but what can you do.

To end on a good note, I made a cake! Happy Fall!
http://ohsheglows.com/2010/10/10/project-food-blog-4-upside-down-makes-right-side-up/


Saturday, October 4, 2014

Green Smoothie Day 4

Today's smoothie included green tea, blueberries, raspberries (I used mixed berries) and spinach. I actually really liked it! I used a blueberry green tea and it was a nice pick-me-up at work. I don't know if Jordan drank hers because I left for work before she was awake.

After my too many preschool classes, we had the first Star League meet of the season! And I have a team this year. I was so proud of my girls! Except I lost my voice which was super fun. We got 4th place (out of 4) and they were very upset but they did much better than I expected them to.

My phone also broke, just after it was finally working as a phone again, so I need to figure that out. But I did get this picture with my iPod!

Friday, October 3, 2014

Green Smoothie Challenge Day 3

Today's smoothie tasted like a strawberry limeade from Sonic. Except more like fruit and less like sugar. Sometimes I miss the days of being able to go to Sonic and not caring about its affects on my body, the environment, society, etc. Not like there are any Sonics in the PNW anyway. I'm not sure how Jordan felt about it. She's not so into tart things I guess. But she had a rough day so I guess it will always be a mystery, since we had more important matters to discuss in the 30 minutes we were both home together all day. I also ate like crap all afternoon and finished the night with some raw cookie dough leftover from Jordan's birthday last week, so my commitment to health in October has already failed. Ah, well. At least I ate a smoothie along with the crap.

In other news, happy Tag der deutschen Einheit!!! (German Unity Day, for you English speakers)


Thursday, October 2, 2014

Green Smoothie Day 2

Today's smoothie was chocolate cherry. Which I usually love, but wasn't so great today. I think I needed more banana and less berries. I was also using mixed berries that include cherries instead of just cherries, so maybe that was it out maybe I just needed more cocoa powder.
And then I ate a (vegan) donut after so it probably cancelled out. It was very cold again. But warm in the afternoon for the last farmer's market! It will be sad to have to buy all grocery store produce again.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

31 Day Challenge

So, Kate forced me to do this 31 day challenge in October. You blog every day about one subject for the whole month. I'm also doing the Simple Green Smoothies challenge, and making my roommate Jordan drink them too. This is the first time I'm actually following the recipe. Today's smoothie was spinach, banana and berries. It was good but very cold. Have I mentioned how cold our house is getting?
It has been beautiful Fall weather around here lately, with only a few rainy days. We'll see how long that lasts, I think the rain is coming next week.

#write31days


Sunday, July 27, 2014

Pancakes and a Poem

or in other words, I couldn't sleep.

The other night I couldn't sleep, so I just opened my journal and started writing. Kate had made pancakes the day before, which I couldn't eat because they have sugar in them and I'm still in the middle of the Fed Up 10 Day No Sugar Challenge. (I will be getting everyone the DVD for Christmas. you're welcome)



So I had pancakes on my mind. I also wanted to use up the almond/hazelnut pulp leftover from making this caramel vanilla hazelnut milk, which was extremely delicious by the way. And I had bought buckwheat flour a while ago when it was way on sale but I've never actually made anything with buckwheat so I decided it was time. Normal flour would work too though! I didn't add sweetener but once I topped them with sliced bananas and some strawberry peach ginger chia seed jam, they were really good. Here it is:

topped with peanut butter and jam. buckwheat isn't the most photogenic flour...
Banana Peanut butter Buckwheat Pancakes
Makes 5-6 4" pancakes

1 cup buckwheat flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 banana
1/4 cup almond pulp (or almond meal, or the other half of the banana)
1 cup almond milk or other milk
1 T apple cider vinegar (optional)
1.5 T peanut butter
1 T coconut oil
1 t vanilla

optional -
2-3T liquid sweetener (honey, maple syrup, etc.)
1 T chia seeds

Add vinegar and chia seeds if using to almond milk, and set aside for a few minutes until the milk is curdled and the chia seeds have started to gel. Mash a banana in a medium bowl and add vanilla, peanut butter, coconut oil, almond pulp, sweetener if using, and the milk you set aside. Mix well. Add the remaining ingredients and mix. I added some unsweetened shredded coconut too just for fun.
Cook on medium heat. Buckwheat takes longer than normal pancakes so don't turn the heat too high or it will burn before the middle's cooked. I put a lid on the frying pan for a while to help it out.




I also wrote this enlightening poem. Enjoy.

Lavender
the calm
should put me to sleep
but really
it just makes my hair smell good

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Summer!




I had a great and much needed summer break! I relaxed and cleaned the apartment, which I hadn't had time for in forever between working like crazy and running.
Betsy came, and I ran the 50k. We touristed around Seattle and had a pole vault family reunion! 4 of us together, which hadn't happened in over 2 years. We just need Floydface to come visit now. We hiked up to Rattlesnake Ridge, which I'd done a couple times before but it had been raining both times so it was nice to do a it in the sun!

at Fremont Brewing

#pvfam reunion
downtown Seattle
Betsy at the gum wall
we ran into the Pride parade and fest
at the top of Rattlesnake

Luckily the clouds had cleared for the last couple days Betsy was there and we spent a lovely night at Golden Gardens drinking Summer Shandy's and hanging out with some new acquaintances.





Golden Gardens
4th of July was fun. A former coworker Mary, Kate and I went to the house of a couple that goes to Kate's church. I didn't really know anyone, and Kate only knew some people, but it was still fun and there was lots of food. It was drizzling all evening (typical...) but the fireworks were still cool over Lake Union.

I ended summer by actually working at Zootunes, a concert series in the Woodland Park Zoo. We set up a kids area for all the kiddos that get bored. I really liked the band and even stayed after we were done cleaning up till the end! There were the Carolina Chocolate Drops.

I'm excited to be here for summer. Everyone's just so happy here when the weather's nice, and I'm excited to have consecutive days off and more chances to go hiking and exploring the area! It comes with struggles too like finding a new place to live and not actually working a full schedule, but mostly things are going pretty well right now!

right after the 50k. soaked

Yikes


Friday, July 4, 2014

Taylor Mountain 50k Race Recap

Hello! I am indeed alive, and I recently survived a 50k trail run! This is a long one, beware.



I did the Taylor Mountain 50k, which is (unofficially) one of the Issaquah Alps just outside of Seattle. The trails are not that developed because it's kind of unknown, and the race was even cancelled for a while because the trails were in such bad shape! But thanks to the Washington Trails Association, I got to run.
beginning and end of the half marathon loop













Kate was supposed to run with me, and actually this whole thing was her idea, but she sprained her ankle a few weeks ago at work so she unfortunately couldn't. But that meant I got both Betsy and Kate for my crew!


The course was 2 half marathon (13.1 mile) loops and a 5 mile loop.
creek crossing

The excitement started right away at the end of the first mile with the first creek crossing. It got deep in the middle, but I'm no stranger to creek crossings. They were two other slightly smaller ones throughout the course. Then it goes straight uphill in a creek bed. Think mud and rocks. Luckily, the first time up wasn't terrible and there were lots of people around me. The trail kept going up and there were beautiful purple monkshood flowers lining the trail! And blocking the trail... Eventually I made it down to the first aid station! I didn't want anything salty the whole race, only sweet.


pretty much the only trail
with an actual name
We continued down a fire road to the trail at the lowest elevation of the race. It was raining on and off, and started raining pretty hard. I was soaked by the time I made it back to the aid station. I put on my ankle wrap because I knew the way back to the start was very steep. It was a good call. The last 3 miles are brutal. I finished the first 13 miles with my knees hurting from the downhill. After a quick snack, I grabbed my iPod in case I needed it and was off. It was much quieter the second time around! And after a couple hundred people had been through combined with the rain, it was quite muddy. Up to my shins. There was a woman running in vibrams and jeggings and she was struggling walking up the hill through the mud.
preventative ankle wrapping

I made it to the aid station but Kate and Betsy were nowhere to be seen. Luckily I wasn't too desperate, and figured I would see them in a few miles. It was really pouring now, and this part of the trail was literally a river. I'm talking monsoon level here folks. Plus a horse almost ran me over. I'm not sure who thought it was a good day to go riding in that weather. I was really wanting some of my snacks and a change of socks, but I missed my crew again! The aid station was pretty much out of any real food, so I had to grab a clif bar. The 3.5 miles to finish the second loop were brutal. Luckily I saw Kate and Betsy where we crossed the fire road and changed socks. There was about 5 lbs of mud in each shoe.
My eyes hadn't been focusing right for most of the loop, but this part has steep uphills and downhills. The downhills are fast switchbacks, so being able to see is nice. Plus it was basically a slip n slide covered in ankle sprainers, aka rocks. Luckily I did not sprain my ankle but I was hurting. I dropped my waist pack and iPod, and started walking up the fire road for the final 5 mile loop.




My dedicated crew


not a fan of the cold and rain




MUD.
This was right after I pulled myself out of the shin deep mud and was running in a creek bed train in the pouring rain
 I met up with Kate and Betsy and they walked up with me. I took ibuprofen and that combined with the long walking break gave me new life. Plus, there was watermelon at the top! It started pouring again and I started running. They ran a little with me, but I got ahead on the trail. I don't think they realized what I meant when I said "this part's really wet." But they got standing water mixed with horse poop!


this is what it feels like when you finish 31.25 miles
I finally made it back to the start/finish! Alive! It was pretty anticlimactic because they didn't even have the finish arch up anymore since it had been raining too hard. I finished in about 7 hours which was pretty much the best I had hoped for.
 I ate the nutella off a gross bagel and then we left and went to a restaurant in nearby Issaquah. I got a veggie burger WITH CHEESE that I hadn't had in many months. Verdict: the cheese wasn't that great. Not worth it. The best part of the meal was tea. And the fries. I was craving salt at this point!
lunch at the Issaquah Brewing Co.

Betsy warming up at home.            Gotta put my legs up!

We got home and washed everything and I felt surprisingly good. I was a little sore the next two days but not worse than normal soreness!

I'm really glad I did this race, and would take monsoons over way too hot any day. But I'm not sure I'll be doing another ultra any time soon. I got annoyed with training! I'm looking forward to just running for fun this summer and staying active by playing this summer!

Update: here's the course from my Garmin before it died. The distance is not entirely correct because I forgot to turn off auto pause, so anytime I was going too slow (often) the watch would stop - there was 4500ft elevation gain.


http://www.evergreentrailruns.com/images/maps/TaylorMountainHalfMarathon.jpg

http://www.evergreentrailruns.com/images/maps/TaylorMountain5Mile.jpg