A day in my life...

Happy Turday you guys...

It's been a good day, right? Let's see... Here's what my day looked like:

6:50- Hear Shane scratch on the door. Was already awake. Get my butt out of bed and put on clothes.

7:00- Take Shane for walk in snow/rain.

8:00-9:30 - Pick up Dunkin Doughnuts for my friend and I. I had the turkey sausage egg white thingy and a coffee. Visit with her and say goodbye. She's moving tomorrow! :(

10:00- Run to get groceries real quick for tonight's dinner and purchase a USED microwave from the PX. P.S. It was supposed to be brand new. There was butter on the inside. DISGUSTING. Needless to say I'm taking it back ASAP.

10:30- Seth calls...I'm in lala land...

11:30- Clean the kitchen and make this for lunch:

Salad, greek yogurt with blueberry, and wheat thins

This was my Strawberry Spring Salad. It has spinach, red onion, strawberry slices, tomato, feta, and pecans with Balsamic Vin. dressing. Simply delightful.

12:00- Silly and short FRG meeting. Finally picked up shirts that had been ordered half a year ago... glad I got 'em though!

1:00- Worked out on Arc trainer for 45 minutes.

2:00-4:00- Met with 2 clients and got their rears in gear :)

4:00- 8:00- Hung out with Corie. Tanned, walked dog, made dinner, and relaxed with Gilmore Girls. Happiness. This is what we had for dinner:

Whoops!  There's not a big bite missing...your eyes are deceiving you

Greek Turkey Burgers, sweet potato fries, and roasted green beans. Oh, and a Yeungling. The sides were great but I'm not sold on the turkey burger. It had promise but wasn't quite as good as I was hoping. Ohhhh well.. We rounded out our meals with a Reeses Egg, of course!

So that's it folks! Sorry if this post totally bored you out and you feel like you just wasted 5 minutes of your life. 

Have you ever bought anything that was supposed to be new only to find out it has definitely been used??

Any good turkey burger recipes?? 

I am lame.

Um, hi guys... I got no excuses. I'm just lazy. Which is why I didn't post yesterday. And why this post stinks like poo.

Latest news these days...

- I am an Aunt again! Elliot James Reichardt was born early this morning! Can't wait to see pictures of him!

- Seth is due to get the heck out of Afghan-land very, very soon. Like I can count down the days on my short, stubby fingers.

-  I jogged lightly with Shane for 2 miles today with no pain. ( my left hamstring had been giving me some grief since my 13.1 mile run on Sunday) Also did body pump and elliptical :)

- I spent nearly the whole day with one of my favorite clients shopping and eating at Chipotle in Syracuse. Had a great time!

-Now I am watching America's Next Top Model ( don't judge) and am signing out! I hope to actually post for real tomorrow! Night!

Short n' Sweet

Hey guys, this post will be short n sweet. Like me. Just kidding. I'm 5'5". That's not very short. And sweet? Depends who you ask. Ok, I'm stopping now...

I read this while doing devotions this morning:

Loved these verses so much! We are constantly being refined like silver, through "good" and "bad" times and his love is always in abundance to us! Such comfort and peace and joy this brought to me this morning... I hope it blesses you in some way today as well!

Annnyyyyways... So here's today's Breakfast:

Egg sandwich with lots and lots of spinach

 Yum, my body thanked me for that protein after my pizza/breadstick carb fest yesterday. I don't regret one bite though. It probably won't happen again for a while anyways.

Next up was Lunch: spinach salad with turkey, feta, tomato, onion, and broccoli slaw with rasp. vinaigrette dressing. On the side was wheat thins and spinach and artichoke hummus.

Lovin the hummus these days!

 

It's been a good day. I have a recipe to share with ya'll tomorrow for homemade granola bars so stayed tuned for that! I'm tired now and hoping to get some decent sleep tonight. As this deployment gets closer to its end my sleep will become less and less each night I'm thinkin... Thankfully only a few more weeks til I can sleep in peace again :) I love you Seth!!

The 2011 Fort Drum Try Not to Fall on Your Face Because You're Husband's Coming Home Soon and It'd Be Better If You Weren't in a Cast Half Marathon!

Yeah the title says it all. Through 30 degree temps, wind, snow, ice, and many hills... we did it! And we didn't even fall on our rears either!! Success!!! Our stats were as follows: finished in 2:00:08 with a 9:10 min/mi pace. Honestly, I am so glad we did this! It was not easy. But nothing worth fighting for is, right?

Cheesy, but same goes for the end of this deployment. Nuff said.

I was so glad to run it with my good friend. She's a trooper too. At the end of the run I had miscalculated our distance a little so we had to do a couple loops around my neighborhood. This would have been fine but Corie doesn't live in my neighborhood and didn't know where the heck we were. Running is 99% mental so yeah... sorry again Corie!!

Thankfully the sunshine was out and beaming on our freezing faces so that helped. I brought my little hand held water bottle that I bought at Fleet Feet. I took a few sips from it throughout the run. We also didn't have any trouble south of the border which always makes for a more pleasant run :)

Here is what I fueled up on before the run:

Perfect breakfast

Two Kashi waffles with almond butter and a little strawberry jam on top. Strawberries on the side of course and 2 cups o' coffee with creamer.  Then about an hour before we ran I ate a banana and a plum.

And one of these too!

pb and J and blossom cookies!

I made these this morning for a friend but of course had a couple extra for myself :) You can find the simple recipe from this awesome blogger. I definitely had a couple more of these after my run! As well as an orange ;)

I feel pretty good now that I've taken a shower but I'll be doing alot of this:

using the "stick"

and this:

stretch it out baby!

I also plan on splurging on pizza and beer tonight and just takin it easy!

Side note, this morning I was listening to Pandora and discovered this gem. I think it's my new favorite worship song. It must be because I've listened to it like 10 times already :) Enjoy!

Now I leave you with this cutie-pie:

who couldn't love that face?

What has made your weekend awesome?

Getting to talk to Seth, this run, and organizing and beginning my cleaning in the house. Yay!

Cleaning, enchiladas, and running!

My "Spring Break" has officially started!! Kayla's family is leaving for New Orleans today and will be gone through next week. I am picking up some extra hours at the gym with my clients but other than that I will be working through my check list. What check list is that you say? Well... I tend to keep the apartment pretty neat and tidy (though I am by NO means a neat freak) and since Seth's return is coming quickly there's a few things in the house I want to deep clean or "spring clean". Think switching over my wardrobe from winter to spring/summer, gettin down and dirty with my kitchen floor and cabinets, and spiffing up our truck so it looks pretty inside and out! 

I am a "list" person for sure. I feel so accomplished when I can check things off of it! So I'm looking forward to doing just that and having our little apartment nice and clean! There are some rooms I'll save for cleaning right before he comes home like the bathroom and living room. It might not seem to exciting to ya'll but it just means his return is getting closer and closer!!

Oh probably should mention to you that I will not be making my trip down to DE with Corie to run the half this weekend. Due to some last minute conflicts we are just not able to go down. HOWEVER...

We are still running a half marathon tomorrow!! It'll just be myself and Corie and the foot paths of Fort Drum, but we're still doin it. I really do not like when I can't follow through on a commitment so we decided to just do our own up here. I'll just bring along some snacks and mini hand held water bottle and it will be great! Look for a full recap tomorrow!

So let's get to yesterday's food!

Breakfast: I attempted overnight oats. Complete failure? No. Utter success? Not quite.

goey and... kinda tasty...but more just pasty

   I made mine with rolled oats, 1/4 cup of plain greek yogurt, a small scoop of pb, a splash of milk, chopped banana, and cinnamon.  It tasted okay...

Me at 6:30 in the morning... sorry if this makes you want to gorge your eyes out

So of course I ate it. I was trained to eat what is put before me. And I love food. I think I'll just have to play around with some different recipes because the idea of cold and creamy oats in the morning sounds delightful. This was just too... sticky for me :)

About 9 o'clock in the morning is when some serious snacking ensued. I don't even recall everything I consumed but I know a left-over side salad and copious handfuls of m&m's were in there...

So by the time lunch came around I wasn't so hungry. Knowing that I should try and still get something nutritious in my tummy, I heated up some leftovers from Kayla's parents.

Shrimp, veggies, and rice

Yeah I didn't really pack a lunch yesterday but I knew they were kinda trying to clean out their fridge because of their trip  so I figured I'd help them out a lil ;)

The rest of the day was great! Quick phone call from my love, jump-started the volvo(again), and hung out with Corie! She made delicious enchiladas for dinner! You can find the recipe Here. They were vegetarian too but full of lots of flavor!

Now I'm eating some breakfast of Kashi Heart to Heart cereal with banana and blueberries..

                                  

before I take the pup for a run around the neighborhood. It might only be 18 degrees out but it's sunny!

Happy Saturday folks!

Are you a list person?
 What are your weekend plans??

Goodbye Olivia...

I will miss you my sweet little sister!!

I had so much fun with her here visiting me during my last lonely month before Seth returns. I don't know when I'll see her next because she's super amazing and is about to be braver than I could ever be. Yes, she has joined the military. Air force specifically. And she is headed to boot camp in just a couple weeks. She did leave me this sweet thing though...

"Where's my Mama?"

Such a sweet pup!!!

So yes, this is Shane, the latest addition to the Trader family. He is very love-able and sweet. He's also very well trained and hardly ever barks, jumps up, or begs for food. Basically, he's the perfect dog!!

Seth and I are proud to be his parents and promise to take very good care of our little pup! I'm thinking he and I will become very good running buddies :)

So before Livy left I made her some "special" pancakes for breakfast. Ok, they aren't really special at all. I used Wheat Blends pancake mix (sorry, I know I'm lame that I don't make home-made!) and added frozen blueberries and dried cranberries:

Colorful and tasty

I really stink at cooking pancakes (Seth rocks at it though) but in my opinion they still tasted pretty darn tootin' good! I'll definitely be making several different healthy versions of pancakes in the future! 

After I said bye to Olivia I headed to work to play with my little Kayla. We went for a nice 4 mile run with the stroller because the sun finally decided to make an appearance today! Yippeee!!

Next up was lunch: Leftover buffalo chicken pattie sandwich and steamed bell pepper and carrots:

easy peasy

I then did Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown and followed that up with a strawberry banana Chobani yogurt for my muscles. Protein, baby! I love when I'm actually productive at lunch-time. I also got a phone call from this cutie:

What's trippin ya up, honey? ;)

So great day overall. I even got off work a little early and did some extra cardio on the elliptical before meeting with a client. Now I'm chillin for the night with my new pup!!

Hopefully there's a new Office episode on tonight!!

I'll be back tomorrow!

Hey Peeps, sorry about my lack of posts yesterday. It's been busy round here...

My sis leaves tomorrow so i will try to go back to regular posting after she leaves. But for now I'd rather
spend the time I have with her. Might not see her again for a while as she leaves for Air Force boot camp in a few weeks!!

In other news... Seth should be home by this time next month!! Can I get a whoot whoot!!!?
For those of you who are new readers, my husband has been deployed to Afghanistan since May 2nd of last year. I haven't seen him since last November. I can't WAIT to have my best friend here with me and feel like myself again!!

See ya tomorrow with regular posting! Happy Hump Day!!

Chicken tastes better on Mondays

MMmm I devoured some very tasty food today. So let's "dig" right into it!!!

Breakfast: Chobani peach yogurt with blueberries and Heart to Heart Kashi cereal mixed in. Simple and very delicious!

creamy, fruity, and crunchy

Next up is lunch! Homemade buffalo chicken burger with melted colby jack cheese and a smear of non-fat ranch and a big old salad that Livy made for me this morning!

YUM!!

mixed greens, spinach, tomato, onion, pepper, mushroom, and feta

The homemade burgers were really delicious! I got the recipe from this girl. Only 3 ingredients for these burgers which is why I think I really love them :) Ground chicken, buffalo sauce, and Parmesan cheese. Sweet and simple!

I rarely post dinner but it was a winner tonight so here it is!

"healthy nachos"

This tasty concoction consisted of whole grain tortilla chips, spinach, salsa slow cooked chicken, and mild cheddar cheese. YUM!!!!! 

side of guac too, of course :)

Olivia and I declared this a great meal. The cool thing is we could have added a bunch of other healthy stuff to it as well such as black beans,  greek yogurt (in place of sour cream), and pretty much any veggie you enjoy. I always have next time I guess ;)

During lunch I also got a phone call from a VERY important person in my life... SETH!! It was so great to hear his voice because I hadn't talked to him on the phone in at least a week. I loved every second of it. And the best news is... HE WILL BE HOME VERY SOON!! :):):) My grin will be getting bigger and bigger everyday as we lead up to his homecoming!! Love you baby!!!

Olivia and I took Kayla and Shane (my new pup) on a nice 3 mile walk this afternoon despite the dreary weather. Yes, it snowed this morning... but warmed up a bit in the afternoon. Then I trained a client at the gym and did a lil cardio myself: Incline walking and elliptical. I knew I didn't want to run today as I am attempting somewhat of a taper this week because my half marathon is THIS WEEKEND!!! Should be fun because I'm running it with my good friend Corie :)

Do you have any easy chicken recipes you care to share?

Any races coming up you're running?

I'm running the Caesar Rodney Half Marathon this weekend! Located in Wilmington, DE (my hometown) 

And now I leave you with this picture: my sweet Kayla playing in my shoes ;)

LOVE HER!!

Spring is here!!

Happy First Day of SPRING!!!

 We got dealt a pretty nice hand for our first day of spring up in here in the North Country! 45 degrees and mostly sunny! Not too shabby...although I believe its supposed to snow tonight. Oooohhh well..

So here are some pictures from our little outing last night. It was a really fun time and we definitely lived it up and scarfed down a bunch of delicious pizza. I ordered the "Blanco, blanco, blanco"

mighty tasty and cheesy

My sis Olivia, me, and Kim :)

 

After filling our bellies with lots of carbs and cheese we decided to take a walk down to the water to "burn off" about an 18th of our meals ;) We took a few pics...

our bare legs were cooooold!

sisterly love

Today's been pretty chill. Woke up early to the pup licking my face and hands... yeah, gonna have to get used to that I guess!  For breakfast we made oatmeal. I opted for my usual of banana, pb, wheat germ, and brown sugar oatmeal.

Livy had a bowl of oatmeal with lots of berries and walnuts. I'll have to try to remember to take a picture of her meals too! It was very colorful and "springy" looking.

We then got ready for church and I sang on my worship team as usual.  Good stuff. :)

Afterwards we headed to Panera and met up with my friend Corie for some lunch. I had the Fuji Apple Chicken salad and a cup of broccoli cheddar with a wheat baguette. Good fuel for our run that we had later this afternoon!

Corie and I ended up running 6 miles at an 8:30 pace on a path just outside of base. Olivia ran 4 solid miles with Shane!  Yay for getting OUTDOORS and enjoying a beautiful spring day!! The post run endorphins are always nice too :)

I think I needed to hike my capri's up just a little...

So now we're showered and going to be relaxing the rest of the night!

How was your Sunday/ first day of spring???

When you go out to eat do you always get the same thing at a restaurant?

I do almost every time at Panera. The Fuji Apple Salad or BBQ Chopped salad are my go to picks!

Saturday Shout Out

Happy Saturday friends!!

Just a quick update because my sister and I are about to head out on the town for some dinner with my friend Kim!

Wanted to thank Skinnyrunner for my shout out today on her blog! She seriously rocks...

So onto Today's Food!

Breakfast: Introduced my sis to the green monster smoothie! This one contained non-fat greek yogurt, banana, peanut butter, vanilla protein powder, and of course... SPINACH!!! She said she really liked it so now I have a new convert ;)

Also had half of a whole grain bagel with pb for some yummy carbs

After breakfast and some lingering around the apartment we headed to the gym. I trained 2 clients and Olivia joined in on the sessions. It was really fun today! I led my clients in an impromptu mini spin class. I hope to teach that someday soon!

After our great burn at the gym we made ourselves a couple huge, tasty salads:

gettin in our greens plus much more!

I also polished off my bag of whole wheat pita chips and garlic hummus dip. Love that stuff...

 Oh, and munched on some watermelon too to fill our bellies up!

Now we're about to head out and get some yummy brick oven pizza in Sacket's Harbor.  We made an attempt at dressin up a little which is fun especially for me since I basically live in sweats everyday.

self-timer kinda sucks...

And before I take off, enjoy this pic of me and my new pup, Shane!!

Have a great night! I'm certainly enjoying the company of my sister!!

6+6

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!

I didn't even remember to wear green today but I did enjoy a shamrock shake with Kayla and Corie ;)

And this is officially the LAST holiday I'll have to spend without Seth! Whoop whoop!

The weather was gorgeous today! High of 59 and mostly sunny! Kayla and I got out nice and early and ran 6 miles in the good old stroller. The added resistance gives you such a great burn in your arms too.

Later we walked 4 miles with Corie on a local trail and I finished out the day with a easy 2 mile walk while catching up with my mama. So to total that up... 6 miles ran and 6 miles walked. I just couldn't help myself but be outside!!

My breakfast gave me the energy I needed for my run. Enter peanut butter banana oatmeal!

Love this combo!

Lunch was pretty darn tootin good too! Grilled turkey and colby cheese sandwich with spinach, carrots, whole grain pita chips, and garlic hummus for dippin.

Love me some melted cheese

 Yum! Now it's chill time. Community and The Office are on tonight!! Can't wait to watch these shows with my man!! <3

ABC's of Yours Truly

Hey guys! I'll update food/exercise later but here's my ABC's so you can get to know me just a little better ;)

(A) Age: 22 (which is my favorite number, too)

(B) Bed Size: Queen and when Sethy gets back we're buying a brand new bed!

(C) Chore You Hate: Folding the laundry and putting away. Also, cleaning the shower

(D) Dogs?: About to take my sister's golden retriever off of her hands :) His name is Shane

(E) Essential Start Your Day Item: Coffee and devotions(can't wait to do this again with Seth!) and a delicious breakfast

(F) Favorite Color: Green

(G) Gold or Silver? Silver for the most part

(H) Height: 5'4 1/2" - average. longer torso, shorter legs

(I) Instruments You Play: Piano very, very poorly and I sing! (?)

(J) Job Title: Personal Trainer

(K) Kids:  Not just yet. Down the road, of course ;)

 (L) Live: Fort Drum, NY a.k.a. snow country

(M) Mom's Name: Jennifer or Jenny to some :)

(N) Nicknames: Em, Emmers, Emmy, Emmawee, My-emmie

(O) Overnight Hospital Stays? Kinda sorta...nothing too serious though

(P) Pet Peeve: When you talk to someone and you know they aren't listening but just waiting til you're done talking so they can say something. Also, dishes in the sink for too long.

(Q) Quote from a Movie: "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."  - Forrest Gump

"But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who's ever lived: I've loved another with all my heart and soul; and to me, this has always been enough." - The Notebook

(R) Right or Left Handed? Right

(S) Siblings: Megan, Isaac, Hannah, Olivia, Aaron, Timothy, Stephen. Yes, you counted right.

(T) Time You Wake Up? Most days around 6:45.

(U) Underwear: Ummm, yeah...

(V) Vegetable You Dislike: Brussel sprouts aren't my fav. And cabbage

(W) What Makes You Run Late: I'm hardly ever late. A great trait my mama gave me :)

(X) X-Rays You've Had Done: head/shoulder/chest.... I think that's it

(Y) Yummy Food You Make: Big delicious salads, pulled pork,white chicken chili, and brownie sundae's!!

(Z) Zoo, Favorite Animal:  Kangaroos and monkeys (love their blue butts!)

Crows feet and baby einstein

Welp, guys, Wednesday is just about over!!! Only 1 more day then my sister Olivia will be here on Friday to visit me for 6 whole days!! Yipeeee!

The rain and cold weather today couldn't bring me down because I was still flyin high from my conversation last night with my sweet soldier man. Nothing official to update for ya'll, but bottom line is we are almost done with this deployment! It's only a matter of weeks... :)

For once in a long time I wasn't hungry when I woke up this morning so I waited til I got to Kayla's house to have a bowl of cereal and sliced bananas.

Honey bunches of oats and cheerios

Lunch was non-fat greek yogurt with honey and roasted veggies which consisted of bell pepper, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower. Also had a non-pictured Smuckers pb & J sandwich.

lots of fiber and protein

Today's exercise consisted of Jillian Michael's Yoga Melt (awesome workout!) and 30 minutes on the cross-fit machine. I ran quite a bit yesterday (partly with my good friend Corie!) so today I needed to cross-train today.

Kayla and I headed to one of the community centers to play during this dreary afternoon. Always a good time :)

don't mind the crow's feet I'm sportin

my little einstein ;)

Anyways, good day overall. I'm still so saddened by the recent earthquake and tsunami that destroyed so many lives. All we truly know in this life is that God is in control and He has a plan for each one of us. He is also very powerful and should be feared. Let's thank God each day for our many blessings and provisions. I will for sure...

Until tomorrow!

Headache, headache, go away...

This post will be short ya'll. I hate headaches and I have a feeling that shutting my eyes and falling into a deep sleep might help ;)

So with out further ado... Let's get to Today's Food

Breakfast: Half whole grain bagel with peanut butter and sliced banana topped with cinnamon

This p.b. has added flax seeds for some Omega 3's. Lovin it!

 

Lunch: Whole wheat wrap with 2 chicken tenders, a melted string cheese, black bean salsa and guac! This was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! Also had carrots and a few handfuls of Tostitos chips to finish off the guac and salsa. Super great lunch!!!

Winner!

 I also enjoyed this big ol' bowl of fruit throughout the day

apparently Kayla thinks fruit is funny ;)

NOW, I am talking to SETHY!!! <3 <3 <3

Sun Makes Me Smile

This morning I woke up to more flurries but by the end of the day...

the sky was clear blue and the sun was shining!!! It really does feel like God smiles on you sometimes.

Also, got a sweet email from Seth :)

And...in just half an hour the Bachelor finale starts!! I'm team Emily for sure but I think he'll end up

choosing Chantel. We'll just have to wait and see I guess...

Started off the day drinking my black coffee out of this:

No, I am not confused about my gender

I just like drinking out of it from time to time... Pretty soon my sweets will be drinking from it!

I had my spinach egg white breakfast bagel but added mushrooms to it as well. Gettin those veggies in early!

Add caption

Up for lunch I had a salad with lots of "stuff" in it... chicken, broc. slaw, turkey slices, a few cheese squares,  spinach, mixed greens, and more mushrooms. 

randomness but good

and then I had this...

Smuckers pb and j

I love these frozen. And I (obviously) get the wheat bread version :) MMMmmmm

I had a good rest of the day training a client and workin out some on my own. Now time to gear up for BACHELOR!

I did it!!

Post run pic

Finished in 1:31. All 10 miles. That's about a 9:12 mi/min pace, which I'm really pleased with. I wasn't going for speed today, just wanted to make sure I finished strong. I picked up my pace the last mile and a half to about an 8:20 min/mi. Thank you God for legs that can function and get me moving. That was definitely the pick me up I needed today!

I really wasn't planning on running today at all. My left knee has been hurtin as well as my IT Band. Thankfully, today I did not experience any pain before the run or during it. The IT Band is a little sore now but with continued stretching and running-sticking (ha!), it should be just fine. I was just not feeling great earlier today. I felt tired,  unmotivated, and somewhat depressed with the nasty weather we've been experiencing. (Yes, I woke up to snow yet again this morning!) The half marathon is in exactly 2 weeks so now that I've gotten in that run I feel much more confident that I can run the race! Unless, of course, a certain someone decides to show up real early ;)

Before my run, I had breakfast which was my p.b. oatmeal. Then I headed off to church:

Last time having to wear boots? Pleaseeee :)

After church I went to lunch at Panera with a couple friends. I enjoyed half of a bbq chicken salad and a baguette on the side. Post run I've had a banana, skittles, a few pita chips with laughing cow cheese, and the other half of the salad. Yum!

Now it's time to chill and fold some laundry. Easy night ahead, thank goodness!

P.S. Thinking of Seth and the fact that this deployment is almost over is what really pushed me through this long run. Love you honey!!