I have missed you!

So this was what I was getting a lot of the past couple of days… a black screen. I took the battery out unplugged it and let it sit for a while. Then magically it now works again for the time being. I made sure to move everything of importance to an external hard drive.

I did not think I would, but I have missed blogging A LOT!! 

Friday I checked my school’s the UA’s student website and look what had been posted finally!



Where it says “Awarded” has been said “Pending” for almost a month. So everyone I did actually graduate! (Not that I was worried or anything…)

My best friend Perry came in to town for the weekend. She is from Tuscaloosa and we have grown up knowing each other. She moved to Atlanta for school. We decided to go to Mugshots and Sips N Strokes. We finished eating at Mugshots and had about an hour before the painting class started so we went to the wine tasting at Carpe Vino. I had never been there before but walked passed it many times. You pay $5 for each tier. We only tasted the first tier and did not get to the last wine because we ran out of time. They actually give you a good amount to “taste.”

First Tier:

• Le Village du Sud Sauvignon Blanc (France) – $9.99
• Champalou Vouvray (France) – $19.99
• Alpha Box and Tice Tarot Grenache (Australia) – $12.99
• Lamuri d’Almerita Nero d’Avola (Italy) – $19.99

Second Tier:

• Amisfield Central Otago Pinot Noir (New Zeland) – 2007 – $36.00
• Vietti Castiglione Barolo – 2005 – $49.99

Perry and I both ended up buying a Moscato.




This is what the beginning of a “masterpiece” looks like… or maybe not… At least my mom thinks so!




After we finished painting it was around 10 p.m. so I headed home. I had to be up at 6 the next day for the 5 K and I need my sleep or I am one grumpy person.



Here is a breakdown of my results.

• Mile 1 - 13:05
  
• Mile 2 - 24:48
  
• Mile 3 - 45:25

Official Results

I am satisfied with my results. I know I can do better if I would actually run and train. The race was lots of fun. The finish line was inside the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater. They had a band playing and snacks and drinks at the end.

When I left, I  headed across the street to the Farmer’s Market. I got a pound of purple hull peas. I have not cooked them yet. They are in the freezer.

I went home and took a long nap. When I woke up I went to Los Calientes with a couple of friends before we headed to a lingerie shower. One of my pledge sisters is getting married!

After the shower some friends and I went to 1831 and then to Alcove. I ordered a Long Island and was pleasantly surprised when it was served in a Mason jar! So cute and southern.



Monday night I went to my sororities first Chapter of the semester. It was fun going as an Alumni. I am going to be an “active” alum. Our Chapter’s advisor moved to Atlanta and is unable to attend meetings and events. So I am helping her out. I am pretty excited about it!



Sorry no full outfit picture I do not have a full length mirror accessible to take pictures in front of. Also I have not been taking lots of pictures and the ones I do take aren’t great quality but I am working on it!

Yesterday night I met Anna and Stephen for sushi at Chuck’s! Gotta love ladies’ night. It is an every Tuesday night kind of thing for us. We shared the Shrimp Queso and we all ordered our own Super Crunchy Shrimp Roll add cream cheese. Stephen got another roll too. I can’t remember which one. Everything was once again amazing. Chuck’s is never a let down.

I hope everyone has a great night!

I have not disappeared!

I have been having computer issues! I will be back soon, promise!

TV dinner turned healthy-ish

For lunch I tried another Amy’s frozen meal. It was pretty good. The rice and enchiladas both did not taste frozen but fresh.



Here are the nutrition facts:



For a snack I had a cinnamon roll yogurt with granola. I only ate the yogurt that had granola with it… I don’t care for just yogurt. I want a crunch!



After work I almost decided to just stay at home and not go to the gym but I am proud of myself for not giving in! I will say my workout wasn’t as long or intense as it could have been but I am just happy I went at all! Plus my body still feels like I did something so I am okay with it.

This is what I did:

• Elliptical 10 minutes (10 intense minutes! My legs were burning!)
• Shoulder press 20lbs 10 reps 1 set
• Arm curl 12 lbs 10 reps 2 sets
• Triceps extension 65 lbs 10 reps 2 sets
• Leg press 80 lbs 10 reps 3 sets

Running is not fun!

Yesterday for breakfast I had another Kashi blueberry waffle with peanut butter. This is one of my favorite combinations but I like it best with White Chocolate Wonderful PB.



For lunch I had left over chicken salad, pretzel thins and diet citrus green tea.



Last night I ended up not going to the gym and going out to eat with my friend, Leigh. No pictures were taken. We went to Logan’s. I had not been there in probably years. It was good. I had the Teriyaki Chicken. It was lots of fun to catch up and visit with an old friend. She has moved back to town so I am looking forward to seeing her a lot more!

This morning I knew I had to be at the office early so I ran out of the house without breakfast or lunch. This is never a good thing… But luckily the court reporter who was recording the depositions at our office brought everyone Chick-fil-a. I limited myself to having only 3 chicken minis but having a huge platter of them sitting on our kitchen counter was extremely tempting. Thank the Lord for will power and self-control! Now lunch was another story….



The Sunday Morning Roll from Bento… and a ginger salad… and I may or may not have had some fried rice too… You got to splurge every once in a while. Or at least that’s what I say!

At the gym I did this today:

• Treadmill 15 minutes 1 mile 108 calories
• Bike 20 minutes 4.5 miles 100 calories
• Arm curl 12 lbs 10 reps 2 sets
• Triceps extension 65 lbs 10 reps 2 sets
• Leg press 70 lbs 10 reps 3 sets

While at the gym I have come to the conclusion that I do not enjoy running. I just don’t like it. I am not saying I am giving up or will stop running. I will still be doing the 5k on Saturday but I am not expecting a good time but I will finish! I love doing the weight machines and seeing improvements. I like the bike too. I definitely hope it is true what people say about the more you run the more you will like it. We shall see!

Chicken Salad

I woke up extremely sore this morning. I could not move fast at all. I made myself go to the gym today and this is what I did:

• 20 lunges with 7 lbs
  
• Arm curls 10 lbs 10 reps 1 set
  
• Abdominal 40 lbs 10 reps 1 set; 50 lbs 10 reps 1 set
  
• Back extensions 55 lbs 10 reps 2 sets
  
• Triceps extensions 60 lbs 10 reps 2 sets
  
• Bike 20 minutes, 4.8 miles, level 3, 114 calories

For dinner I decided to make chicken salad. I thought that would be good to pack for lunch tomorrow too.

Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

• 10oz chicken
• 3 heaping tbs greek yogurt
• 1 heaping tbs sweet relish
• 2 tbs onion, chopped
• 1 tbs green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 single stalk celery, chopped
• 2 hard boiled eggs
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Boil eggs and set aside to cool. (I am not a good egg boiler therefore, I am not posting instructions on how to do this part!)
2. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. 
3. I like to let it sit in the fridge for an hour or two before eating it.

I hope everyone has a good night!

2 Day Recap

Yesterday was very busy. I worked 8-4 then spent a few hours at the hospital visiting a dear friend. Good news he is doing much better!

For breakfast I had this:



A Kashi blueberry waffle with PB& Co White Chocolate Wonderful

Today I woke up at 6 a.m. and was wide awake so I decided to head straight to the gym.



So yeah this is me right out bed….

I was the only person at the gym for about half of my workout. I loved having my own personal gym for a little bit. This is what I did:

• Treadmill 20 mins fastest pace 4.5 for 8 mins then switch back and forth between 4.5 and 3.5 (1.2 miles 132 calories)
  
• Shoulder Press 20lbs 10 reps 2 sets
  
• Chest Press 25lbs 10 reps 2 sets
  
• Rear Delt 40lbs 10 reps 2 sets
  
• Pec Fly 40lbs 10 reps 2 sets
  
• Abdominal machine 40lbs 10 reps 1 set; 50lbs 10 reps 1 set
  
• Rotary Torso 40lbs 10 reps 2 sets
  
• 20 lunges with 6lb free weights; 20 lunges with 7lb free weights

After the gym I came home and made whole wheat pancakes and Morning Stars sausage.



I did not like the sausage at all. I like Morning Stars’ other products that I have tried but not this one. The pancakes turned out better than expected and the last two I cooked turned out the best to bad I couldn’t wait till I was done cooking before digging in. The leftovers went in the fridge for tomorrow.

Whole Wheat Pancakes
Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
  
• 1 tsp baking powder
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
  
• 1 egg
  
• 1 cup organic skim milk
  
• 1 tbs oil

Instructions:
Mix all ingredients together. Make sure to get all the lumps out and blended together. Spray skillet with a non-stick spray. Pour batter into pan. Cook one side till bubbles begin to form in batter then flip. Enjoy!

After breakfast I headed to the Farmers’ Market downtown. This was my first ever Farmers’ Market to go to. I absolutely loved it!




These are all the goodies I bought! I went to Target to buy the rest of the groceries I needed. I had to dig into the blueberries so I made a yogurt parfait with blueberries, strawberries, granola and vanilla yogurt.



For dinner I cooked crab cakes and roasted potatoes.

Tartar Sauce
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup light Mayo
• 3 tsp sweet relish
• 1 1/4 tsp minced onion
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• dash salt

Instructions:
Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Place in refrigerator and let sit for about an hour or until the rest of your food is done.



Crab Cakes
Ingredients:

• 6 oz (4 oz dry) can of crab meat, drained
• 1/4 c greek yogurt
• 1/4 c chopped onion
• 1/2 small green bell pepper
• 1/4 tsp lemon juice
• dash cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp garlic, minced
• 1/2 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
• seasoning salt
• salt
• pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Mix crab meat, greek yogurt, onion, bell pepper, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, garlic, and egg.
3. Fold in bread crumbs. Do not stir.
4. Sprinkle with seasonings to taste.
5. Spray baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
6. Make patties with the mixture and place on sheet.
7. Cook for 15 minutes.
8. Flip over and cook for another 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.

Roasted Potatoes
Ingredients:

• 7 medium size red potatoes
• sweet yellow onion, chopped
• green bell pepper, chopped
• red bell pepper, chopped
• garlic powder
• fresh parsley
• salt
• pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• light margarine

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Place potatoes, onion, peppers, garlic powder, parsley, salt and pepper into a baking dish.
3. Drizzle EVOO over vegetables and add a little margarine.
4. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes.
5. I changed the setting on the oven to broil at 500 degrees and cooked for 25 minutes with the foil still covering the dish.
6. Take foil off and broil for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are browned and soft.

 


I watched 12 Rounds while eating dinner and talked to Trey. The movie was really good. I wish I didn’t live 3.5 hours away from my love.

Well its off to catch up on blog reading and watch a little tv before bed.