One of those Days

Today was one of those days where EVERYTHING made me mad.  Seamus bounced off the walls, literally, Declan fussed no matter what I did, the house seemed to get messier and messier and all I wanted to do was have 5 minutes to myself.  5 minutes of quiet, 5 minutes of me.  So I did what any other sane person would do, I yelled and yelled and slammed door and finally left.  Where did I go you ask?  The grocery store, yes, the grocery store.  Anytime I really need time to myself and just don't feel like exercising  (AT ALL) I go to the grocery store and walk up and down every isle and it may seem silly but it gives me time to clear my head and get my mind focused back on taking care of my family and how blessed I am to have money to buy food and the ability to make yummy meals for my family.

I came home renewed and grateful.  I baked a loaf of irish soda bread and prepared some cookie dough from one of our Hemlock Inn recipes that will be baked later tonight or tomorrow.  Tomorrow is another day and I will make the best of it.

Weight In Wednesday

204.2 yay!!  I wanted to be under 200 but I am happy with any loss.  Yesterday was my birthday and we went out to an Italian restaurant in town for dinner (and of course dessert).  I stayed within my points by "cashing" in a few of my activity points.  So this week I plan on trying not to use any of my weekly points and just stick to the daily points and hopefully get under 200.  

I am just over 30 days from the half marathon date!  Still keeping up with running/training on one hand it is getting easier and as the distances get longer not so much.  

Today

I did not feel like running today.  I started out (the weather is BEAUTIFUL) and was running a at pretty fair pace but still thinking about NOT wanting to run and then I rolled my ankle.  Nothing too terrible just enough to stop me and make me walk the rest of the way which I really wanted to do anyway.  I saw some dear and ended up having a nice walk and feeling pretty good afterwards.  I am trying to talk myself into starting the shred to incorporate some simple strength training into my routine.

It is my birthday today so that's fun.  My sweet husband let me sleep in and made breakfast and cleaned the kitchen...no wait that is what I was dreaming of when I was woken and got up with Declan at 5am.  We are going to dinner a little later and then watching Tower Heist :)

My Weight Watchers weigh in day is tomorrow and I am hoping that will be a really good birthday present.

A bit of Everything

• We went to a wedding this weekend and my parents came and watched the boys so Chad and I actually had a weekend to ourselves.  It was a little strange to not be woken up in the wee hours of the morning when my kids for some reason enjoy getting up.  We went to Chapel Hill which was fun to see the campuses (UNC and Duke). Lots of fun and a beautiful wedding all around. We were happy to see our boys on Sunday afternoon though :)

• I lost a little weight this week (206) So at least that's a pound, even with all the YUMMY food that I was surrounded by at the wedding this weekend.  I don't have any major travel plans in the next few weeks so I am hoping to actually stay within my point plus range and get some weight off.

• I ran 7 miles today, ok well I walked some especially in the beginning and then ran the rest.  I read the Hunger Games this weekend and got a little freaked out being on the trail in the woods so I turned around and high tailed it back towards civilization ;)  So my last 3 miles were MUCH faster than my first 4.  I wore a pair of socks that I knew I shouldn't have they are far too thick and make my shoes feel too tight, but I wore them none the less and I have some wicked blisters on my my toes because of it, that and the fact that the trail was SUPER muddy so I ran through a couple puddles and got my shoes ( and therefore sock) wet which sucked big time.  Other than that I feel pretty good.  I walked about a mile cool down and stopped and stretched along the way and then did a long stretch after I came home and took a hot hot hot shower.

• Declan is getting so big!  He is taking after this brother and thinks that it is really funny to stick his tongue out and make spit noises.  Ahhh, life with boys they are both so cute and I can't get enough of them!

(These are not super recent pictures but they are so stinking cute I just love it!)

Weigh-In Wednesday: On Hold

Ok so we have been visiting my parents and getting our house in order to be rented so I was not at home on Wednesday this week and let's just say I really don't like my parent's scale.  I am pretty sure it is heavier than mine so rather than be discouraged I am holding off until next Wednesday when I will be home.  I have not done great with tracking my points this week, I think it is always hard when you are not at your own house with your own food etc.  We have a wedding next weekend so I should get back on track here soon!

In other news, 5k tomorrow!  I have been keeping on track with the Half Marathon training so running is getting easier in a sense even though the distances are getting longer.  I have a hard time motivating myself to run "fast"  when doing my training runs, especially since I run by myself.  I am thinking that this  5k will give me a pretty good example of what pace I am capable of running since I will actually be competing and I do have a rather competitive streak.  I would love to run the 5k in under 30 minutes, but right now I am averaging about 12 minutes a mile, which does not make me too happy knowing where I once was with running....but that is WAY in the past.  So maybe a little competition will get me moving faster...we shall see.  I will post my finish time sometime this weekend!!

February Photo Challenge Days 4-8

Ok Here are Days 4-9....20 Days Left!

 Day 4: Stranger (This was more than a little creepy to take)

Day 5: 10am

Day 6: Dinner (I forgot my dinner so I took a picture of my sweet baby Declan's dinner)

 Day 7: Button (ok lots of buttons)

Day 8: Sun

Day 9: Front Door (We are visiting my mom and dad so it's their door)

We will be back in town in a few days so I will post pictures 10-12 when I get home!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, I am running a 5k Saturday and hoping or a good time!  I will post on that soon too!!

February Photo Challenge

I came across this Challenge on Pinterest to take a picture everyday in February.  Since my 365 for this year has not been doing so well I thought I would try something smaller and since it's my birthday month when better to try.

Here are my first 3 days:

Day 1: My View

Day 2: Words

    Day 3: Hands

Pictures

So lately I have seen lots of pictures of adorable siblings.  An older brother holding his baby brother with a sweet smile is one picture that I would LOVE to capture.  But no, this is what I get:

Now, Seamus loves his brother and always wants to hold him but suddenly anytime there is a camera, even if I have my phone trying to take a picture, he gets mad and makes these wonderful faces.

This one is not too terrible, I did for a moment think he was going to throw his brother off of him.

Seamus loves to just wear his underwear, it is really quite funny and annoying at the same time.  We are constantly asking him where his pants are and then he just runs and hides under a table laughing like the mad man that he is!

So, anybody have any tips are getting siblings, well older siblings, to take pictures?  

I will leave you with 2 pictures I was able to capture that I love:

This one of Daddy and his boys is ADORABLE, this was right after we moved to NC and only really seeing each other on the weekends.

I was able to snatch this picture right before Seamus started yelling about pictures, if only laundry wasn't on the back of the chair but such is life :)

I am one lucky lady!

Weigh-In Wednesday: Success!!

So this morning when I stepped on the scale I saw 207!  That's five pounds since last Wednesday!  I have been doing well exercising but Weight Watchers was just the kick I needed to get my eating on track.  For anyone struggling I highly recommend Weight Watchers.  I tried just counting calories and for some reason that does not work for me.  With the extra weekly points you get on Weight Watchers is allows you to enjoy going out while still being able to lose weight.

We have a wedding to attend President's Day weekend and my original goal was to be at 189, I am thinking that is not going to happen now since I didn't buckle down when I set that goal and am really just getting started.  So new goal is to be under 200, which should be doable since I have just over 2 weeks.  I don't expect to lose 5 pounds every week (wouldn't it be nice though) but I am super happy and the task now is to keep my head in the game so to speak because I tend to be a food rewarder and get lots of yummy stuff when I see a loss on the scale.

 I have decided that my 20 pound reward is going to be a new pair of running shoes.  I am hoping that 20 pounds comes right around the end of February which would also be around my birthday (Feb. 28 for those who care) so I will actually have money to buy them as well :)

With the Knoxville Half Marathon quickly approaching I have signed up for the Marietta Mardi Gras 5k on February 11th in hopes that a little competition will kick my butt into high gear.  I have a real mental problem when it comes to running and I always have.  When I am running I start thinking about why I am running when I could walk and then it becomes an internal battle to keep running, turning my music WAY up helps to drown out my inner voice but it is still a struggle.  Anyone have anything they do that helps keep them running, I am fully capable physically I just mentally struggle!

I am in week 4 of Hal Higdon's Novice Half Marathon program which means only 8 weeks until the race.   I really enjoy this program, especially since they have an iPhone app that tell me how far I have gone and how much more I have to go.  This is actually the longest I have stuck with a program on my own in a LONG time! Second 5 mile long run on Sunday we'll see how that goes.