Food Flowers Music

During one of my solo runs this past week I was contemplating professions I would have enjoyed doing in my life.  I shouldn’t speak in the past tense because my life is far from over and I could still do many of these, but one person can not have 5 professions.  I’ll call them interests or hobbies.  Here is my funny and random list of interests I have (:

• Architect
• Interior Decorator
• Real Estate Agent
• Florist
• Travel Agent
• Weather person
• Weight Loss consultant (That’s kind of the one I do!)
• Teacher
• Own a pastry shop and boutique
• Actress or singer
• Author

I could probably think of a bunch of other ones too.  I also know 2 things I wouldn’t want to do.  Anything doctor or nurse related or a hairdresser.  Too messy.

I thought I’d give an update on the house today!  We are going to paint the exterior of our house.  It has wood siding on top and brick on the bottom.  I’d like to paint it close to this color:

It’s an interesting dark gray blue green color.  I love the white trim.  In the farther future I really want to add a wood garage door and front door.  For now, I’ll probably just paint the door red!  I have several garden spots around my house I need to design too.  I have many favorite flowers.  Here are two of my favorite Spring trees I want in my yard.  My parents have both of these in their yard.  LOVE!!!!  Magnolia and Forsythia.

I also love flower boxes and I want to put some on the front windows of my house.  They would look perfect.  When I’m all done with these projects I’ll share the before and after photos.  While I was in Europe I took several flower shots.  Here are a few.  Flower boxes remind me of Espana.

O.K. enough decorating thoughts!  I do have a MONDAY MENU item to share!  Today is RAINY!!  I have the perfect yummy chili recipe that I tried over the weekend.  A friend of mine said her kids loved it.  That really got me!  I LOVE it when my family likes what I make.  It has an interesting SECRET INGREDIENT too!!!  Here is the recipe.  I’d of taken a picture, but it’s chili.  Does that really look good?

Cincinnati Chili

 

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 pounds ground beef

1/4 cup chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 bay leaf

1 ounce unsweetened bakers chocolate

2 (10.5 ounce) cans beef broth

1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

 

Directions

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 6 minutes.  Add beef, in batches if necessary, and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until browned.  Add chili powder, cinnamon, cumin, allspice, cloves, bay leaf, chocolate, beef broth, tomato sauce, cider vinegar, and red pepper.  Stir to mix well.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.  It is best if you now refrigerate overnight.  Remove the bay leaf and surface fat.  Reheat gently over medium heat.  Top with shredded cheddar cheese.  Black beans, sour cream, avocados, and tomatoes also make great toppings.

The chocolate is what surprised me.  I added black beans to the pot too.  I ate it without toppings and it was completely delish!  Hope it warms you to your toes!

Lastly, I’ve been liking the country singer Luke Bryan.  This song brings a smile to my face and makes me happy on a rainy day ***

Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

WELL, happy new month, February 1st!!!  One month into the year and I’m needing to evaluate my goals.  Here are my fitness goals I posted at the end of the year and the grade I give myself after one month.

• Follow 8 week program.  Do not miss a day!  That’s lifting 6 days a week.  C  I followed the program for 2 weeks.
• Run 3-4 days a week. (I’m signed up for a half in January).  D  I don’t think that EVER happened.  I’ll give myself a little credit since I ran a half.  
• EAT CLEAN!  No white flour, white sugar, or processed foods.  C  Excuses, excuses, but moving into an unfinished house is more stressful than I thought.
• 3 treat days a month.  This equals out to 10% of the year.  F  I tried for 3/4 of the month I would say.  That’s an F in my book.
• Body fat at 15% by end of March (My husband won’t like that one).  B  Not sure on this one yet, but I ended the month strong because I was fed up with myself.  I’ll get there!!
• Finish my personal trainer course by March.  B  I started studying again this week, and I’m on track.  We’ll get it done.

That is pathetic, agreed?  I’m not a giver upper and I have a new and revised set of goals to start for February.  Here they are:

• Increase my running miles.  I’m going to start next week with a goal to run 15 miles a week and each week I’ll increase the number by 5.  So, the last week of February I should be running 30 miles a week.  I miss running and I am hopeful the weather will cooperate this month.  I also want to run a 16 mile trail run with my friend the end of March.  I need to get my butt in gear.  I will still lift 3 days a week.
• STRICT EATING!!  Back to no more than 3 treat days a month.  I WILL do this!  Let’s say my weight will be between 125-128 by the end of the month too!  Make it even more exciting.
• Continue with the 15% body fat and personal training studying.

Sounds easy enough.  I weighed in at 131 today and I’m fine with that.  I’m also doing something fun for the year with my Sunday outfits.  I’ll put this post under TUESDAY THREADS as well.  I’m not a fashionista, but I love clothes.  I want to see if I can wear a different outfit every Sunday for the whole year.  For January, I added blue with each outfit.  Here they are:

I’m obviously no professional photographer with my vacuum and boxes in the shot.  This will be my fun challenge for the year.

NOW, to the good and bad news.  Good news first!  I have cabinet doors with knobs and handles being installed right now and my granite is IN!!  The appliances were also delivered this morning!!  BIG HUGE YAY!!!  Bad news…both homes have damage from the snow.  Our awning fell down at the old home which we are renting out and the gutter has fallen off our new home and the window wells are filled with snow.  Take a look!
I’ll be going outside to DIG now!!  Have a Heck of a weeKend!

Motif Monday!

Hello!!  One week in the new house!  We are getting situated and I feel I can relax a little.  First off, I’ve been going crazy deciding on a curtain and rug combo for my dining room.  We have a 12 foot window in our dining room and we’ve been freezing without a curtain.  After searching high and low here is what I FINALLY decided on!

Ballard Designs

Pottery Barn

Here are a few lights I LOVE!  I am for sure using the star light over our staircase.

And, the rug for my entryway!  Sunny yellow is my favorite *

Garnet Hill

I love the decorating part of the house.  I found a most inspiring design I NEED for my house and…I’m going to make it myself!  I LOVE this saying and I want my kids to believe and live this!!

I also LOVE this picture I’ve had for years.  I hung it up in my BOY section of the house.  Take care of each other.

OH, OH…we also got half our granite installed this weekend.  The rest will be coming today.  It still needs to be cut out for the sink and stove top.  Our good friend is helping us with it.  He’s making us a granite sink too!

Typhoon Bordeaux

The lighting is not the best in this picture.  Here is a professional one.  I LOVE the huge swirls.  It’s different than what most people choose.

Lots of busyness going on in our lives.  I’ve enjoyed getting to know the neighborhood and organizing the house.  Funniest thing, we were talking with my parents the other day about what our kids say about us.  Kids are very honest.  This is what my daughter said about me, “She’s a health nut, clean freak, and she gets mad when I cry.”  Nice.

We had another beautiful covering of snow yesterday too.  I’m glad I got a 7 mile run in on Saturday and a relaxing Sunday morning walk with the dog before the snow hit.  Here is the view from my front porch!

Winter Wonderland

Not so much of a FIT message today.  I’ll post a killer “get back in the groove and burn a million calories” workout on WEDNESDAY!!  Life is getting more normal for us.  I’ll be sticking to my goals and getting caught up on my personal training studying that I love.  Have a great day!!  Rainbows are coming SOON*  I need a Breath of Fresh Air!

Where do I begin…???

Happy Thursday to you*!  I feel like I have been in a time warp.  Last week I survived a half marathon, a move, and a nasty ice storm!  We are  definitely being initiated into our new house and driveway this year!  I feel so accomplished though now that I have computer, t.v., phone, and laundry all hooked up!!!

However, the list is still VERY long for what needs to be done.  We are having a FUN adventure!  The kids were in heaven when we went through the frozen food section and loaded up the cart with foods I never buy!!  I can’t tell you how easy and fast it is to whip up some mini pizzas and a can of green beans!  Everyone is getting adjusted and I’ve never been more crazy determined to get everything situated.  My workouts for the last few days have been going non stop, moving and organizing everything in the house.  Everything has to have a spot.  Here are a few pics of the house in progress!  I LOVE IT!!!!

As for the FIT side of life.  Me and my girlfriends had the BEST time on our half marathon road trip.  The weather was beautiful!  45 degrees felt like 75!  I would have liked to have ran faster.  I finished in 1:52.  Pretty good considering my circumstances lately.  We wished we could have stayed longer, but mostly ME wanted to get back to pack, move, and clean!  Here we are:

The yummiest!

Long live girl trips!

I’m missing my usual workouts and eating schedule.  Eating has been o.k. since my choices are limited and I have so much to do, but I MISS the gym and RUNNING!!!  This has been a crazy winter.  We usually run all winter long and it’s been near impossible this year.  Hang in there…this too shall pass (:

Homey touches

WELL…I’m a year older today and we’re all still alive and now the days are starting to get lighter and longer every day!!!  Lots of things to be happy about!  I had a wonderful birthday!  I feel overwhelmed with thankfulness for my friends and family!  What would I do without them?  Here are several pictures of the day.

Our 3rd annual birthday run.  Rain, snow, wind, cold, or shine (hardly) we run on my birthday!

My friend party.  They are the BEST!!

I thought I’d give an update on the progress of the house.  I finally decided on our colors.

Slate-Restoration Hardware

Palladian blue-Benjamin Moore

Swiss Coffee-Benjamin Moore

Here is a small sample of what our cabinets and flooring will look like.

Construction pictures!!

future kitchen

New stairs!

We’re thinking of flooring ideas for the entryway and a section of our great room.  I’ve been so pleased with the tile and carpet in our current home that I want the same thing for our new home.  The entryway will be chocolate brown travertine tile like this:

And the carpet we will use is LEE’S.  I will never buy anything else.  I looked online and they sell it at Carpet One.  We’ve had the carpet in our upstairs now for 11 years and it looks better than any other carpet in the house and it’s in a very high traffic area.  IT IS THE BEST CARPET EVER!!

Someday…I love this living room.  I think we want to do something similar to our fireplace.  Our living and dining room have tons of windows with trees outside that I LOVE!!  Lots of work to do!  For my workout today I even helped out a little!  I moved about 25 boxes of food storage to the new house!

It’s a great adventure and will be so beautiful very soon!!  Warmest, Happiest, holiday wishes!