Food, Gym and Snow Discoveries

Good Morning and Happy New Year’s Eve!  Any crazy plans out there?

I have yet to blog about how Christmas went once we got home from Chicago, and figured some of you might be a little “over” seeing people holding gifts in front of a tree.  It is almost a week later.

Thanks to a few calls via Skype, Scott and I finally got to open our Christmas presents last Thursday night.  I will share some of the highlights with you… if it is requested.  Let’s just say someone finally got the hint from my Gift Ideas for Winter Runners post and I am a very happy (and warm) girl!

Three pairs of e-tip gloves, an extremely warm beanie and an insulated running jacket came just in the nick of time.  Last week marked my first official drive across town in the snow!

I did it!

It was a nervous start, since the streets in my subdivision had not been touched after a recent snowfall.  Once I got out of my neighborhood, I realized the roads were cleared and my confidence level went from a 2 to about a 9 in not time.  Taking it extra slow, pumping my brakes, and allowing an extra ten minutes to warm up my car has been key.

The timing of my confidence could not have been better, either.  My mom flew in Thursday afternoon to come stay with us for a long weekend, and I was in charge of most of the driving.

I have really enjoyed having her here, especially since this was my first holiday season sans parents.  She came on a busy weekend, however, with practices and two Pistons home games in the books.  Knowing this ahead of time, she understood my busyness and hung with me and my usual game day routine like a champ!

Breakfast

Friday morning started around 7:30 a.m. and it was nice to have someone else up and at ’em early.  Scott is a bit of a night owl, so I usually spend my mornings on the computer, with the exception of making breakfast in the kitchen.

Being quite the oatmeal fans, both my mom and I were craving something healthy and substantial.  We made a batch of regular rolled oats and threw in a few dried cranberries, slivered almonds and a drizzle of agave nectar just for fun.

The combination was fantastic!

We sided it with a slice of whole wheat toast topped in homemade apple butter.  This spread tasted extra delicious, coming straight from my step-mother’s kitchen!

Mmmmmmm.

(Did you happen to catch my reflection in the spoon? What a creep!) 😉

Breakfast went down with a large cup of what is left of my Mocha Mint Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and kept us warm, until an unexpected adventure surfaced.

Aspen (our grey cat) is certainly a curious one.  Every time we open the front or back door she is there.  I am talking an appearance in like five seconds – tops.

She did the same thing at our condo in Florida, but it has gotten worse ever since we inherited a backyard. Oh, and about that white stuff… apparently is not just intriguing to us.  It looks as though all of our pets are wanting to explore!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7bkac-as3M]

The funny part is that this was me trying to get her after she had been out for about ten minutes meowing on the porch.  Not to come in, but just to meow and discover what is around her.  Eventually, she jumped off the wood and that is when I had to go fetch her.

They are crazy I tell you!

New Gym Discovery

While waiting for our breakfast to digest, I took my mom around on a few errands then eventually made it to the gym.

If any of you have read the About page, you might have an idea where my love for living a healthy, fit lifestyle came from.  Most likely, this lady right here.

Since I promised not to share photos of her in the gym, I settled for her agreeing to sport the latest gift from Drink Chia.  Shout out to my favorite DC crew down in Florida!

While my mom hopped on the elliptical, it was time for me to kill a decent amount of miles on the treadmill.  It has been a while since I have completed a long distance run, so I started back on the trend by completing 5 miles in 45 minutes.  At a 9:00 pace, I’ll take it.

Trying not to go too crazy before having to perform later on, I did a quick arm workout with free weights, a few sets of weighted lunges and a few sets of plank holds.

I reconnected with my mom in the stretching area, and on our way back downstairs she asked me if I ever used the stretching machines. Ummm…. those have been here this entire time?

These are machines specifically made to stretch you out after a hard workout.  Most of the suggested positions are ones I do anyways on my own after running.

Being able to hold yourself up and use the extra body weight for resistance does wonders!

 Thanks mom, for that awesome new find!

Lunch

Lunch came quick after we had both acquired quite an appetite.  We found exactly what we were looking for in the cafe at our gym, and it was the perfect post-workout fuel.

My mom ordered a a salmon sandwich and I ordered a chicken, vegetable and hummus wrap.  Both came with a small side salad with their house vinaigrette dressing.

We got home just in time for me to shower and get ready to leave for the game.  Man, NBA game days seem to just fly by!

I will be sure to recap the rest of our weekend, since it was full of more fun (and holiday inspired) discoveries.

Have a great day and rest of your 2012!