Christmas is Around the Corner

My knee is a little sensitive today, so I'm letting it rest. I've decided to post about x-mas around my house. We have everything bought for our families, I have one more item to buy for hubs and I think he'll be shopping for me this weekend. Other than that, all I have to is wrap packages. I can't wait! I have something special for him and I think he'll love.

Here are a few pictures of our house here.

Here's one of our bookshelves. It's very festive.


I have a nutcracker. I'm not sure if it would actually work (I bought it in the $1 bin at Target). It looks cute, though.

Our one and only x-mas tree. It is fake and very sparkly.

It's also about 6" tall. Our place isn't very big, so this is all we have room for. Hey, it's a tree!

Our mantel. This is the most Christmassy place in the house.

We've started a section for the cards that we've received.

Gotta have music!

I was playing around with the kittens and taking some fun pictures that I'd like to share. When I got home, I opened the blinds and let the little bit of sunshine that was left in the house. The girls really liked that.

Here's Scouty-Poo (her nickname for no reason) enjoying the sun on her face.

Izzie watching the reflection of the camera screen and the sun on the wall. She was very amused by it.

What's your favorite x-mas decoration?

Back on Track!

Another boring (food) day. I ran out cereal last week (hints the baking for breakfast over the weekend). I was too lazy (and scared of weekend grocery store traffic) to go to the store. So, this morning, I had a big glass of OJ for breakfast and Greek yogurt for my snack.

Lunch was the same old ingredients as normal, but I had it on Rudi's cracked wheat bread. It tasted like it was a deli sandwich. The bread was so soft and fluffy. I can't believe it's been in the freezer for a couple of weeks. I can't until tomorrow's lunch!

The gym was pretty good. I wasn't wanting to go, but I forced myself. Once I got there, it wasn't so bad. I wanted to leave early and go do some grocery shopping. But, before I knew it, I finished everything I normally do. Today I did 25 minutes on the elliptical, 30 minutes abs, and 10 minutes rowing. I'm beat!

My mom came over right after I got done shopping, with my niece. It was nice to see her playing the kittens. She tired them out for me. A 3 year old and 2 kittens playing is very cute! After they left, I had dinner. I wasn't really in the mood to eat, but I was hungry (if that makes any sense). I didn't even want to unwrap my salad from last night. So, I poured myself a big bowl of cereal. It tasted so good, I went back for seconds. I am perfectly full (not so full it hurts, no empty either). I love it when I am able to gage my meals (and my eyes aren't bigger than my stomach).



I am still learning a lot about our kittens. I found that Scout is very curious. She decided to climb one of our indoor trees. Since it's meant for indoors, it's not very strong and can't hold much weight. She got about 1/2 way up the tree and the branches started to bend and she feel out. Of course, she landed on her feet (it wasn't that high up either). Sleeping is getting MUCH better now. I can sleep mostly through the night (Izzie only wakes us up once now).

Well, I think it's tome to cuddle in a nice, warm blanket with my 2 little ones. Until tomorrow...

Last Day Off

Today was a nice and relaxing day (as you can see by the picture of Scout below).

This was a much better morning. No one woke us up. We were able to sleep in (until 10:45!!). I had 2 cups of coffee with a couple of muffins for breakfast.

Lunch was just a full PB&J sandwich (no chips). I relaxed all day long (and caught up on my blogs).

Dinner was much healthier than I have been eating this weekend. I made a salad. In the salad, I had black beans, olives, green pepper, hard boiled egg, cucumber, carrots all on top of the mixed greens with the feta salad dressing. It was so filling, I couldn't finish everything. I'll save the rest for tomorrow.



Here are the recipes to the goodies I made this weekend:

Banana Nut Oatmeal Cookies (so good, I added PB or mini chocolate chips on top to some)

Banana Cake (this was just ok, I wouldn't make it again)

Banana Crunch Muffins (one of the best muffins I've made!)

Another Relaxing Day

This morning I was going to go out to run 5 miles. Our new kittens kept waking us up every hour. I was pretty much wide awake each time. By the time my alarm went off at 7:30 (only 3 hours after going to sleep), I couldn't force myself out of bed if my house was on fire. I was so tired.

So, I let myself sleep in (still getting woken up every hour) until 10:30. I got up and made our Jim's Organic Coffee . I had a cup along with a banana crunch muffin (I'll include recipes tomorrow). It was nice to relax for a few, before I had to get ready to go to my parents for a BBQ.

We weren't able to stay long (I had to take my hubby home to go to work), but we had some great food while we were there. I had some potato salad, and chicken. It was all pretty good food.

Such yummy chicken with a great sauce!

Dinner was some more good food (about 6 hours later). I opened a bag of Seeds of Change rice that they were kind enough to send me.

The rice had a lot of flavor and a great smell. It was very good and super filling. I paired the rice along with some ground turkey sausage and green beans. What a great dinner!

Dessert was a few hours later. I had vanilla ice cream with some chocolate syrup and a tablespoon of PB. What a good treat for myself.

I know I haven't been eating very well this weekend, but I will get back on track on Tuesday. I don't have anything too bad planned for food tomorrow. So, it should be kind of healthy.

Anything good foods at your BBQ's?

The Girls are Home!

This morning, we got up early and enjoyed a cup of coffee along with one of my banana crunch muffins. Afterwards, we went to run some errands. Then, we got to pick up our kittens. The SPCA was pretty busy, but they got us in quickly and we got our girls home fast (pictures at the end). They are so entertaining.

My parent, SIL and niece came over to see them. They did so good with our little niece (and she did so good with them).

After they left, I was pretty hungry, so I had a 1/2 whole wheat (Rudi's) sandwich with some tortilla chips. Today was a non-workout day. It was nice to relax all day long. For my afternoon snack, I had a Skinny Cow. I've never had these before, so I asked my hubby to buy me some for my b-day (which he did a couple weeks ago). It was pretty good. The best thing, one sandwich has only 160 calories. No too shabby for an ice cream sandwich.

Dinner was left over burritos and some water to wash it down. I usually drink water with most of my meals. I find it quenches my thirst better than most drinks.

Now, time to introduce the new members to our family...

This is Scout. This cat is more Jason's than mine. She is very playful and so little. A very skinny cat. She has a charcoal colored coat.

Scout, again, exploring the house.

I know this picture doesn't show it, but Izzie is mainly my cat. She is pure black (maybe 10 white hairs) and very lovable. She's my little love bug. I've already cuddled with her for about 2 hours today. She loves to play jungle gym.

Well, it's time to go back to play with the kittens. I have to try to see if they will sleep through the night. Here's to hoping so.

We're going to a family BBQ tomorrow. Do you have any plans?

An Unusal Uncomfortable Wednesday

I think this was was pretty boring (food wise) because I'm having a baking spree Friday. I'm so excited about getting our kittens Saturday, I'll need to take my mind off of it. This is a great way to do it! I can't wait. I haven't been baking lately (trying to eat better). This 3 day weekend will be a free weekend (I will work out Sunday, though). Sunday will be my first 5 miler. I'm pretty excited about that too.

Before I left work, I finished the rest of the think thin bar. I really don't care for this bar. It makes me feel icky afterwards. Since I was late to the gym (work ran late), I was only able to run 3 1/2 miles. My Monday night spin instructor was teaching tonight's class. It was great!! I noticed that she also had an Insperspire towel. Pretty great! Everyone loves them! I was pretty sweaty when I got home. I relaxed a little (cooling off) before I hopped in the shower.

Afterwards, I made dinner. More mashed potatoes, green beans and some slightly spicy turkey sausage. I bought the sausage last night and cooked them tonight. I've never had this brand before. It was pretty good. It added some flavor to my meal (it was pretty bland last night).


My feet are pretty beat up from running (like many runner's feet are). I decided to try applying some of the Pro Emu lotion on them. I think it works too well. My feet are almost healed. What I'm finding out is that I need those calluses. It now hurts when I run. This stuff works too well. It's such a great lotion. (I'm not getting anything for saying this. These are my true feelings, and I would never lie.)

I'm on a count down, only 3 days until the kittens come home!!

Any fun plans for the long weekend?

Another Birthday!!

This morning, I got up early (not as early as I usually do on Saturdays) and went shopping. Now this wasn't a normal shopping day. We went shopping for something special. We have new additions to our household. Because we weren't able to bring them home, I don't have any good pictures. We adopted 2 black kittens. They had to stay at the shelter to get spayed. They are 2 black (non-related) 3 month old kittens. One is very love able and the other is very playful. I can't bring them home until next weekend. I can't wait an entire week! But, I have to.

Afterwards, we went straight to a birthday party for one of our friends' kids. He turned 5 today. Again, I need to remember to take pictures of things I eat outside of the house. I even had my camera. I guess I was too hungry to take a picture. The food was gone in a second. I had a burrito and some veggies with a little bit of dip. It was all very good.

When we got home, I got ready for my parents to come over and celebrate my dad's birthday (which is actually tomorrow). I fixed him dinner and dessert. Dinner was one of my all time favorites...chunky chili. It is such an easy dish to make. It was a little chilly outside too, so even better.

Dessert was apple crisp. It was also easy to make. I made this last night (because of our busy day today). It was pretty good. It went well with the french vanilla ice cream and whipped cream (which I didn't have any whipped cream).

Apple Crisp:

3 cups apples, chopped

2 T lemon juice

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup quick cooking oats

1/3 cup butter

3/4 t cinnamon

1/4 t salt

Spread apples on bottom of 8x8 (non greased) pan. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Mix remaining ingredients with fork until crumbly. Sprinkle over apples. Bake 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown. Serve warm with whipped cream (and ice cream). (Serves 6.)

Don't forget about my giveaway. Monday is the last day to enter.