Home Slow and Fast Fish

We left St. George yesterday afternoon and made it home to visit my mom and grandpa right before the sun went down.

Memorial day, is a day we honor those who passed away serving our country and our loved ones who served us.  My mother passed away in 2005 and I still have a hard time standing above her grave. It never gets easier. I miss her smile, her hugs and it absolutely kills me that she is missing out on watching my babies grow. I know she is watching over us but I still miss the physical part of her being next to me. She was an amazing person and is missed everyday.

Back to the day…

On our way out we stopped by Dicks Sporting Goods since they have just opened up in St. George and it is one of Brents favorite stores to meander around in.

Little did he know I knew they sold running shoes there and I picked out a early birthday present!

Man, am I persuasive or do I just have the best, most understanding husband?

One of my friends purchased a pair of Brooks Pure Cadence running shoes and couldn’t stop raving about them. Since I was in need of new running shoes anyway or I may just have the talent to justify any purchase but I’m going with the need thing. Oh, and my husband loves me and thinks my new shoes are hot.

We took them for a quick 4 mile run last night and they felt great! They have just enough cushion without it being to high and a low heel for a quick drop. I also feel that the cushion is right in the middle of my foot, right where I strike. Win. 

I also LOVE the bright colors, perfect for this summer race season yes? Now, I just need a matching top…

After being stuck in the car for 6 hours yesterday I was ready for some real food! ---> gas station snacks just doesn’t cut it.

When we got home I really wanted to bbq but left our fridge with the bare minimum. I had some frozen tilapia and green beans. BAM- Dinner.

I sprayed a skillet with olive oil and dumped the frozen filet on the skillet and covered it with a lid.

We snacked on a little chips and salsa while the fish was cooking

I seasoned the fish with Mrs. Dash Original seasoning and seared each side for about 7 minutes and made sure it was cooked thoroughly before digging in.

I have been on a salmon kick for awhile, I forgot how much I like tilapia! It’s a light fish, packed with protein!

This morning I hit up GPP for the workout and a quick mile run because I had to get home so Brent could go do that whole work thing.

Today has been a whole day of catch up in the house.. but if you came by you probably wouldn’t be able to tell. So we gave up and went to the pool.

With this little diva and rock star dude. I’m literally surprised if I brush my hair. (Some days)…—>random side note: “Someday” is one word “Some days” is two. Cool. Thanks, spell check.

*Notice: T is actually IN the pool. (This is big people) Bee is still playing around with the whole idea, although I did take her down the slide once but didn’t want to do it again.. Hopefully, they warm up to it soon, we have allllll summer….

I taught body pump and now its time to hang out and catch up on a little Bachelorette.

Question of the day:

How often do you buy new running shoes?

Indian Hike

Happy Memorial Day!
Yesterday after I logged off, our tour guides aka Brent's mom, Joanne and her husband Stan took us on a hike to see if we could find some petroglyphs!


JoAnne and Stan- Tourist Guide professionals. 
They have been to the area several times and were very excited to show us. We hiked for about a mile up a desert hill before we reached an archeological site, where college students have been surveying the area for Indian pottery and even human bones!


The area had been cleared mostly but we were able to find several pieces of cracked pottery!

This small piece even had some print on it, which was a rare find.
We had a fun time searching and digging!

We continued about another half mile to get to the petroglyphs. They were hidden on rocks throughout the cliff wall. There were a few other hikers along the narrow, and twisting trail. It was fun to climb around the rocks and find artwork on top of, underneath the huge boulders.


Once the sun was overhead it was starting to warm up a bit so we headed back to the cars. The kiddos were getting a bit restless so we headed back to the condo for a little nap time. They fell asleep in commute after about 5 minutes.

Its been a long time since I went for a hike. I love getting out and about, discovering things along the way makes it go by quick!
For lunch Joanne whipped up some turkey pastrami sandwiches, bruschetta, Asian salad with some of the best watermelon I have ever tasted. My stomach is pretty sensitive to certain foods still since eating paleo so I played it safe and just had some of the salad and made a 3 egg omelet to have along with some watermelon!

The spread!

Brent’s Plate


After our bellies were full we headed out to visit some other tourist sites! Rumor has it that Veyo, UT is home of the most amazing pies!

How could you ever doubt it after seeing this sign?
The twinners fell asleep in the car on the way there so we grabbed a hot pie to go and drove through a cute little city called Pine Valley- It was full of PINES! I love the mountains and the setting of this little town was small and took me right out of the dessert into the wilderness!

I headed into the country store to grab a snack but there were slim pickings…


I was tempted however to grab the stylish rattlesnake tee.

Our guides took us to the site of  the Mountain Meadows Massacre. It was a short mile hike around but this one was paved and a bit easier to navigate the strollers. Once we reached the top there was a memorial with names of those that were killed on the site. There was nobody over the age of 50 listed. I was surprised to see how many children and infants were listed. There were tubes that you looked through tubes to spot the areas where they fought, died and were buried.


After we headed to visit my friend Bridgett  that is down in St. George for a vaca too! We had a quick tour of her parents beautiful home before heading back for dinner!!

I was hungry!!! So it disappeared fast. Not time for pictures… Joanne had made some beef in the crockpot with some cabbage, potatoes and carrots.
Then it was time for dessert! Bring on the pie! They picked out a cherry raspberry pie. I decided raspberry>cherry, but nothing beats banana cream.


This morning I was planning on doing a local 5k, I packed my garmin, iPod, clothes but sadly I forgot MY SHOES!! I borrowed some of Joanne’s shoes for hiking yesterday but they are about a half size to small and not to comfy. So no run for me this morning.  I’ll have to squeeze in a workout a little later when we get home. 
Were off for another little hike then a little brunch before hitting the road home!
Catch ya later!
Hope your loving the long weekend wherever you may be!
Q. Favorite Pie?

On the road

Yesterday was my first time teaching this week, it felt great to hang out with all my pumpers again. I got to the gym a little early to do part of the GPP workout. This workout is one of my favorites because it has different exercises after a 400m run, it makes the workout go by fast! I only had enough time to 1 round of it. It felt great to get moving before having to sit in the car for a few 5 hours.

Breakfast

For Breakfast, I came home and my stomach was grumbling. I reached into my cupboard to grab some PB and it was practically empty.  Peanut Butter  & Co. Makes some amazing PB. The jar always go quick in our house. There was just enough left in the jar for some oats!

 

I took 1/2 C. of Gluten free rolled oats (I used bobs red mill oats)

A little bit of water and popped it into the microwave for 1 minute.

Mixed in a few raisins and 1/2 scoop of vanilla protein powder

The remaining amount of white chocolate PB added the perfect amount of flavor to the oats!

I had my go-to shake of the week on the side to because the twinners decided they wanted some oats as well. After I had a few bites I surrendered it to the twins. Pretty sure moms have to share every meal regardless of what is on their plate..or…. jar.

We decided to head to warmer weather for the 4 day weekend- St. George!! Brent's mom and her husband have a condo in St. George and invited us down for some fun in the sun. The weather is supposed to be great this weekend so we packed up after the twinners nap and hit the road.

2 kids and dogs

Who do you think had the most fun?

Poor Tikka gets a little motion sickness.. between her barfing and the restlessness of the twins it was a loooong ride. We had lots of snacks and toys to keep us busy. I however came to one conclusion.

We need a TV in our car. Keeping two 22 month olds entertained for a 5 hour road trip can be a little tricky… Peek-a-boo anyone?

 

I didn’t have to time to pick up snacks at the store I took the remaining produce out of our fridge and we had some healthy snacks to go!

 

• Fruit leathers
• Almonds with Raisins
• Grapes
• Grape tomatoes
• Peppers
• Celery

Dinner

We stopped for dinner, at Wendy’s right off the freeway.

I ordered the berry salad, it was topped with mozzarella cheese, grilled chicken, blueberries, strawberries and came with a raspberry vinaigrette and roasted almonds.

The trip took us a little longer then expected, but we pulled up right on time for bedtime! We got the kids settled and spent the night chatting up until I started nodding off.

The fam is all starting to wake up! Time for some breakfast! Then we have some fun hiking plans for the day.

Be back later,  Have a great day!

Shake this.

Wow. Sorry, I took a two day hiatus from the blog. Truth be told, each day came down to two options.

1. Start blog post at 11pm and lose sleep..

2. Go to bed at a somewhat decent hour and get a full night sleep.

#2 was the winner both nights, and I don’t feel guilty at all. I had more energy the past two days then I have in the past 2 months. It’s amazing what sleep does in life.

I woke up this morning and got my workout done early. Friday are usually the days I teach attack early but my toe is still hurting.. So I got a sub, again.  It may prevent me from plyo, running, and jumping but I still was able to get some sweat in my eyeballs with this workout. The great part of it is, I was finished in 8:16. Cool, right?

Not every workout needs to be an hour long to be effective. It just doesn’t . I honestly believe you will receive more benefit from these workouts then any other program out there. Just try it. Freals.

So after the sweat fest I came home and made a protein shake.

This shake has been my breakfast, ALL week. Creative, I know.

Buts it is delicious and I’m lovin’ it.

Shake this!

In the mix:

• 1.5 C. Water (Or Almond milk, but I’m out.)
• Handful ice cubes
• `1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• Handful of spinach
• 3-4 strawberries (frozen)

LOVE it.

LUNCH:

Lunch came in a bowl today. It’s a classic, made in 5 minute meal. Thanks to a little prep work earlier in the week!

Green beans, 4 oz. of grilled chicken (later topped with mango salsa), lots of sweet peppers (love these little things!)

Not, much left in our fridge since were taking off for the weekend. Cleaning out the leftovers has been my job this week.

I got shellaced today. This is my first time getting my nails “shellaced” (is that even a word? Well, it is now)

I know I’m just a little over the craze, but so far I love them! Bright colors just in time for summer! Woot! My friend Tonya, (who I worked with for 8 years) did them, so it was some much needed girly time and pampering. Figured she would appreciate doing my nails, rather then my toenails, or lack thereof.

What do you think? I phone pic, does no justice. I picked the glitter blue and glitter pink. The one nail painted different from the others is the cool thing to do now. Didn’t you know? The rumor is they last 2 weeks.. or more.. We will see… 

Do you shellac?

Today is my Daddy’s birthday, I only got to see him for a split second. Since he was taking off up to our family cabin for the weekend and still had yet to pack. (Now, I know where I get my procrastination from… no biggie.)

Flashback wedding photo. I know… he doesn’t look a day over 25. Still does. 

Love this man.

When Brent got home from work we went for a quick 5k jog. We kept it slow and steady, pushing a 100lb stroller helps with that… Sadly, the toe still hurts.. no surprise, but it felt good to shake out the legs.

Random:

Any SYTYCD fans out there? This melts my heart! I love being a mom!

P.S Can you believe she is 29.. and has had 2 kids? Awesome.

Tomorrow, we are taking off to St. George or the ranch.. for the memorial weekend after Body Pump.  I’m excited to have a little fun in the sun! or snow? mmm.. impromptu decision to be made…

Q. Any plans for Memorial weekend? Traditions?

Dinner and a Winner

 

Hey guys! It has been an eventful day and I will just start where everyday pretty much begins.

Breakfast and the gym!

I woke up kind of chilly and wanted something to warm me up. Oats it is.

I whipped up some chocolaty oats, topped with some frozen berries I had stashed in my freezer.

Chocolate Berry Protein Oatmeal

• 1/3 C. Gluten-free old fashioned oats
• Water (depends on desired consistency)
• 1/2 serving of chocolate protein powder
• Handful of berries

Directions:

Heat Oats and water in microwave for 1 minute

Mix in protein and berries

I love raspberries!!

At GPP- We did this workout- however there was no sprinting for me… I ended up on the rower for “sprints”. I mentioned yesterday that I got a few blood blisters from the marathon and the toe that got banged around yesterday… well, last night I woke up around 3am to my right toe just throbbing! I got up took some IBU, cleaned and bandaged it up and elevated it by using pillows and back to sleep I went. When I woke up it was pretty swollen and still had its own heartbeat- I have a toe ring on that toe so I loosened it a little and made an appt. with a specialist for later in the day.

You know what is coming right? Pictures of my feet…. If you don’t like feet or get a bit squimish go ahead and skip on down to dinner. –Yum.

Before-

After anesthetic injection-

Post-

My toe is still numb.. Obviously, I took the night off of teaching pump because I can’t put on my tennis shoes with my little huge green toe. I will probably lose the nail next to it and the one on the other foot to. Do you think I can get a discount on a pedicure? If anything I should give a bigger tip to the poor lady who has to touch my toes. Ha!

Great stuff right?

Well, because I had the night off and Brent was home early from work we decided to go out to eat as a family. We haven’t all been out to eat together what seems like forever! We had purchased a groupon that was only one day away from expiring to Ruths Diner!

 

Ruths Diner is a pretty fun restaurant, that has a interesting history. It is located up Emigration Canyon in SLC. You can choose to eat outside or inside the trolley. It was a perfect day for dinner on the patio and with the twins we figured outside would be our best bet.

It didn’t take 2 minutes before T had spilled a glass of water and Bee had discovered the salt and pepper shakers. Going out to eat with two toddlers can be a bit challenging with their curious little personalites.  Luckily, Ruth’s gives out complimentry rolls that were promptly served and that distracted the kiddos for a few minutes.

After placing our order we took the babes for a little walk around the trolley. A reader came up and introduced herself to me during our little stroll, (Hi, Courtney!!). I love to meet you guys, so if you ever see me, come give me a hug. Okay, not really.. that might be a bit awkward,  but come say hi! Then you can give me a hug. Ha!  You may be forced to take a picture with me and my food . Court, you lucked out… dang!

I ordered a grilled salmon salad.

The salmon was obviously,not grilled.. it was actually smoked? I’m not a huge fan of smoked salmon so I was a little disappointed. The  capers and slivered almonds were a good touch to the salad, along with crisp cucumbers, purple onion and tomatoes. I forgot to ask for my dressing on the side and it was drenched with the raspberry vinagrette- I liked the dressing but not so much that it makes my lettuce soggy.

Smoked salmon.. on my salad.. should never be allowed.

Brent got the Jamicain chicken with some veggie soup.

The veggie soup was impressive. The veggies were perfect! Not to soggy and not to raw. It was packed with veggies and I was a fan.

The teriyaki sauce was sweet and subtle. The pineapple on top of the chicken was a perfect touch. It was a sweet dish for sure. Brent loved it! I stole a few bits since I didn’t love my entrée.

I absolutely love the atmosphere of the restaurant but will have to be a bit more selective on my meal choice. Ruth’s is known mostly for their breakfast and burgers.. so next time I will have to try their turkey burger. (That I have heard is pretty decent.)

It was nice to actually go out just with my little family, it has been awhile since we have taken the babies out to eat. They did okay, I just hope the people next to us didn’t mind the little extra food that ended up on their plates .

Now, is the time we have been waiting for… LULU $50 GIFTCARD WINNER!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Please email me your shipping address and I’ll get it to you this week!

(If I don’t hear a response within 24 hrs I will pick another winner!) 

Q. Did you ever wear a toe ring?

I have had mine on for 14 years…I never take it off.

Q. Do you prefer smoked, baked or grilled salmon?