Happy New Years Eve!

How are you this wonderful New Years Eve day? Do you have any big plans for this evening? The Aggies have their Bowl Game today so we are having a watch party over here. The first batch of goodies are in the oven right now! Whoop! This evening, my brother and sister-in-law are coming over to help us ring in the New Year.

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Before I move on to 2012 and begin focusing on my goals for the New Year, I thought it was important to look back on the goals I set for 2011. I set five goals for 2011, and I would say I did so-so in sticking with those. If you want a full recap on my 2011 goals, you can check them out here. Here we go...

1. Complete at least 4 half marathons. Technically, I only ran in  two official half marathons (Dallas Rock N Roll 1/2 Marathon in March and the Dallas 13.1 in October); however, I have run a couple of half marathons on my own around White Rock Lake so I give this resolution a half check. Those dang races just get so expensive when I can just go run that far on my own whenever I want. Don't get me wrong, I love racing but I'm pretty picky about which race I shell out cash for.

Kristen and I at the Dallas 13.1!

2. Deepen my Yoga Practice. My goal was to practice yoga more regularly in 2011 and to try out new studios. Again, I give this one a half check. Hey, I'm being honest here. I definitely practice yoga regularly for the first half of the year, tried out numerous new yoga studios, and took from a variety of instructors. However, when I started my new job in April I really started to get more into Pilates. We have an amazing Pilates studio at my new facility and wonderful instructors who I so enjoyed learning from. Since this is a mind/body class as well I still think I reaped similar benefits (increased strength, flexibility, stress reduction, mind/body awareness) that I used to see from my yoga practice. I still love yoga, but as I begin my Pilates equipment certifications, my focus has definitely switched which I am ok with!


3. Be more daring in the Kitchen. I can give myself a full check on this one. I tried out quite a few new recipes in 2011. Some turned out great, and some did not, but hey I tried! I love cooking and trying new things. Some of my favorite include:

Chia Power Balls

Easy and Healthier Bead Pudding

Pumpkin Bread

4. Improve my blogging skills. Hmmmm how are my skills? Well, I definitely didn't post 5 times a week consistently all year (thank you grad school), but I realized that I should never force myself to blog. When blogging feels like work that's when I know I need to take a break. I love this silly little blog, I love my readers, and I love the whole healthy living blog community, but sometimes life just gets in the way. With that being said, I do feel like I learned a lot about blogging this year. I made my first video blog, met lots of new bloggers, kind of improved my writing and photography skills (hopefully), and had a great time along the way. Those are all good things in my book, so I'll take it! Sometimes, you just gotta do what you can and roll with it.


5. Make 2011 my healthiest year yet by achieving balance in life, health, happiness, and mind. 2011 was a great year and I made great strides toward stressing less and enjoying life as it happens; however, I still have work to do in the not worrying department. I admit it, I'm a worry wart and I don't think that's ever really going to change, but so much change happened in 2011 that I really did have to learn how to roll with the punches a little more. I will continue to look for the positive in every situation and focus on the things I can control and not stress so much about the things I can't in 2012. You know what, that's really all you can do! :) This is still my favorite picture!

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Even though I didn't score a perfect 100 on my goals for 2011, I still consider the year an immense success! So many wonderful things happened in 2011 and I feel truly blessed going into 2012! Bring it on!

I'm off to finish cooking goodies for the game and getting ready for company. I hope you have an absolutely amazing last day of 2011!

In health,

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Hello All!

How was your Wednesday? Is everyone back at work, or do you have this week off? Yesterday was my first day back at work but E has the entire week off. Although I'm a tad bit jealous, he is putting his time off to good use doing things like this...

Yep, that's our sink in my manly husbands hands and my lazy dog watching as he carries it away. Hahaha. E is using his time off to do a little bathroom renovation. Luckily, my amazing father-in-law came up to help with the install. We could not have done it without him. The bathroom is still a work in progress, but I will be sure to post pictures as soon as it is finished! :) I'm predicting good things from the three George boys (Champ is supervising)!

Yesterday started out bright and early with a 6am cardio strength class followed by 30 minutes on the step mill. I also taught a hip hop and yogalates class at lunch back-to-back. For my morning snack, I chomped on a blueberry muffin Larabar. Can you say delicious!! I also tried out a Cashew cookie Larabar this afternoon. What can I say, it was a Larabar kind of day. Teaching three classes plus adding in some quality time on the stair mill calls for wholesome fueling. :)


Lunch today was a delicious salad filed with romaine lettuce, avocado, carrots, mushrooms, black beans, and flaxseed. After a holiday weekend filled with holiday food, veggies were definitely in order!


It was so fresh and so clean clean! Does anyone remember that song besides me? I'm totally a dork. When I got home from work today, there was a package waiting for me on the doorstep. My Pilates manuals finally arrived! Yay!!!


I completed my pilates mat certification a little over 2 years ago, and have been teaching mat pilates ever since. Now that I am finished with graduate school, I thought it would be the perfect time to continue my pilates education. In January, I will take my Level 1 (of 3) Pilates Apparatus Certification where I will learn how to teach using the Pilates Chair, Trapeze Table, and Pilates Barrel. Don't know what the heck I'm talking about, check it out!

Pilates Chair source

Cadillac source

Pilates Barrel source

I will also be taking 3 Pilates Reformer Certifications. The Pilates Reformer is probably my all time favorite piece of workout equipment. I currently take Reformer classes two or three times a week, and truly believe it is one of the most effective workouts out there. Here is what the bad boy looks like.

Reformer source

After I take all 6 certifications, I can take my final exam to become a fully certified Balanced Body Pilates instructor. If you want to see a pilates session in action, check out the youtube video below. This video shows a Balanced Body Instructor leading a student through a series of exercises on the reformer.



If you can't tell, I am super excited about completing these certifications. Even though I am finished with "school," I absolutely love learning about health and fitness and can't wait to expand my pilates knowledge.

Do you enjoy learning even in non school settings?

If you're off work this week, what are you up to?

In health,

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Happy Wednesday,

I hope you all had an absolutely amazing holiday. I am back to work today, but I am still basking in the warm glow of the holidays. Instead of boring you with a thousand details about my Christmas celebrations, I thought I could just show you! :)

My parents' Christmas tree.

Christmas Eve dinner

E took all of us out to see Christmas lights on Christmas Eve. It was a little rainy.

My beautiful sisters :)

Champ was pooped after playing all day with his cousin Kona.

This was after Eric had already eaten an entire plate. Nope, I'm not kidding!

One of my Christmas presents from E!!

Santa was goo to me! :)

Cheesin it up!

Family Photo. From Left to right: Greg and Meredith, Dr. & Mrs. George, E and I.

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Family Photo :)

Meredith, Greg and Kona. Aren't they a cute family?

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!

That about sums it up. I hope you all have a great rest of your week. Are you ready for New Year's Eve?  I sure am!

How was your Christmas?

In health,

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Happy Day After Christmas!

How was your Christmas, Hanakuh, or holiday celebration? If you were celebrating yesterday, I hope you had an absolutley amazing day. We were so blessed to spend our day with our wonderful families!

We are about to head out for some Day-After-Christmas shopping so I will be back with a full Christmas recap later, but I wanted to share a delicious and super easy recipe with you guys. For Christmas Eve dinner, I decided to make roasted butternut squash. Someone made it at our office party, and it was too good to be true, so I had to recreate it. Talk about easy and delicious. My younger siblings, who are extremely picky, even ate it!


Ingredients:
2 medium sized butternut squash cubed
1/3 cup Smart Balance buttery spread
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup crushed pecans

Directions:
1) It really helps if you zap the squash in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes before yout try to cut it. Butternut squash is extremely tough and the first time I tried to cut it I almost cut my hand off! Cut the squash up into 1 inch or so cubes.
2) Sprinkle pecans over squash.
3) Mix the remaining ingredients together and pour over squash.
4) Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees or until tender. Enjoy!

I hope you love it! I will be back tomorrow with a full Christmas recap! Have a wonderful day!

In health,

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Happy Friday!

Two days until Christmas! Wooohooo!! I'm so excited to get the party started. I'm working tomorrow morning and then we're heading home to good old CST (that's College Station in local speak)! Since many of us will be traveling home or to relatives houses for the holiday and probably won't have access to our normal gyms or at home workout video stashes, I thought it would be fun to create a total body workout that can be done anywhere.


Hometown workout

Jog, walk or drive (if it’s pretty far away) to a park near where you are staying and enjoy this killer workout no equipment required. If you don't have access to a park, you can just jog around your neighborhood and do the other exercises in your front yard!

½ mile (or 5 minute) jog around the park to warm up

20 walking lunges on each leg

20 pushups from toes or knees

20 bicycle crunches on each side

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** repeat all 3 exercises**

½ mile (or 5 minute jog around the park)

20 step ups on a bench on each leg (drive knee up as you push through your standing leg)

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20 triceps dips off bench

25 jumping jack planks (start in a plank position and then jump out and in with your feet just like you’re doing a jumping jack)

**repeat all 3 exercises**

½ mile (or 5 minute jog around the park)

20 Side lunges on each leg

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Plank walks (start from a plank position and move right hand and right leg out to the side then bring left hand to meet it, continue for 10. Then switch sides and move left hand and left leg out to the side then bring right hand to meet them, repeat 10 times.

45 seconds of flutter kicks

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**repeat all 3 exercises**

Finish up with ½ mile jog around the park and some light stretching!

Voila, you just ran 2+ miles (depending on if you ran/walked to and from the park) and finished a total body strength workout using only your body weight! Your are a rock star! Who says you need a gym to get in a great workout? So now after all of the presents are unwrapped and the turkey is cooking in the oven you and the fam can all go get your sweat on together! I hope my little bros are ready for this. :)

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah!

Do you like to workout with your family when you go home for the holidays? If so, how?

In health,

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Happy Thursday!

How are you today? I'm doing pretty dang good! Almost all of the presents are wrapped for Christmas.

The stockings are hung. Isn't Champ's cute in the middle? (Forgive the blue glow from the TV. Apparently the TCU, La Tech game is much more important than my picture!)


Most of the baking is done (well kind of, it's never really done). The weather is fabulous. Crisp, cool, and the trees are absolutely gorgeous!


Christmas is definitely in the air, and I love it! I can't wait to get home and see my friends a family.

What do you think of the new blog header? I felt like it was time for a change. The background is a picture of White Rock Lake which is my absolute favorite place in Dallas. I pound the pavement around that beautiful lake multiple times a week. How lucky am I? The lake is so peaceful yet full of positive energy all at the same time. When I was deciding on how to design my new blog header, I knew I wanted to include the lake. :) I hope you like it!

So I am usually about 3 years behind every technology trend, but I finally learned how to use intstagram today! I had no idea it was so freaking easy. I mean seriously, why haven't I been using this for months. Check out some of my experiments.




I see a new obsession in my future! Hahaha. If you have an iphone and haven't downloaded instagram (it's free by the way), do it today! You can make pictures that are just bleh cute and fun with three clicks of a button. Beyond cool!

How did you get your sweat on today? I taught a little Dance Cardio Party and Yogalates. My new favorite DCP song is SWEAT by Casely (featuring Lil John and Machel Montano). Take a listen!



Are you ready for Christmas?

In health,

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Hey!

How are you today?

Are you a runner? Has anyone ever asked you why your run, or tried to convince you that you shouldn't?

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I'm a runner, and I'm proud of it. I may have flat feet, one leg that's longer than the other, bad knees, and a couple of stress fractures, but you know what? I don't care. I'm going to run until my body won't let me run any more. I love to run!

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I love the feeling of waking up early and greeting the sun as it rises in the sky
I love the feeling of peace I feel when I'm running around the lake by my house.
I love saying hi to other runners as we pass each other on the trail.
I love running so early that other runners don't say hi because it would sound too loud against the quite of the morning.

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I love how strong my legs are from miles of pounding the pavement.
I love the soreness I feel after a good long run.

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I love the surge of energy I get when my favorite song comes on my iPod.
I love the camaraderie at races, and the encouraging words of veteran runners as they pass you by.
I love running clothes, running shoes, and all the other fun gear that goes with it.
I love that 5 years ago I could barely run 3 miles straight, and now I can run 14 for fun.

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I love the high you have for the rest of the day after a great run.
I love the accomplishment you feel after a race.
I love following a training plan and crossing each run off my schedule.

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I love how running clears my head and leads me to great ideas.
I love that I can run anywhere, anytime, not matter what.
I love that running is my me time.
Most importantly, I love to run because I'm a runner and without it something would always be missing.

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Why do you run?

In health,

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