January Blues

How I am feeling today...

 The sky the other morning

I went to bed and woke up feeling pretty frustrated.  Another Winter weather advisory is part on my angst.

This is my training plan and run from Monday. It was hard and slow and I was super frustrated.  And then yesterday I did nothing. Even my step count was embarrassingly low. HOWEVER- I this morning when I check, I was slightly was encouraged that I am "Right on Target".... trying to trust the process and hope it gets better from here.  Another three miles tonight and my only goal is to do better than Monday even if its just a few seconds.  And to do yoga or stretch before bed.

I did work a little on my crochet project last night (instead of doing anything else productive).  I still have not even completed week 1 (two more stipes to go, week 4 comes out on Friday).  But I am making progress.  I am loving the project and the feel of the yarn in my hands.

A funny story from this morning...

So Monday night when I got home I was missing a slipper. I was fairly certain Bruno was the culprit.  He hasn't actually chewed a shoe in quite sometime.  But he often grabs my slipper and runs away when he's super excited and/or want to play.  It's usually not hard to find as he drops it when he's caught.  But I was perplexed as to where this slipper had gotten too.  I even looked under the couch and our bed.  Under the bench at the table.  I repeatedly asked him where it was, asking him to go find it to no avail.

This morning I was putting out the trash.  On my last two trips to the road with recyclables I let him join me.  He was joyously romping in the snow.  As I was headed back in I noticed him snuffling around in the snow in the front flower bed.  I called him and headed back down the drive to the basement door.  He came running and dropped something at my feet.... MY LOST SLIPPER! I couldn't believe it! 😅  I praised him for bringing it to me.  

I pretty quickly pieced together what had happened.  Monday night after I came home I took both dogs outside.  The romped and played in the snow.  Bruno must have grabbed my slipper in his excitement and then abandoned it in the flower bed.  I am so thankful he returned it to me before tonight's snow came!  I would have been so mad to find it in the spring when all the snow melts! 😂😂😂

6 miles, wildlife and PAMPERED CHEF

My focus this week ^

I did not run at all this weekend so I made myself do my long run last night after work on the canal. It was a little bit hot, and more walking breaks than I would like. But ended happy and proud with sore muscles.

Saw some wildlife...

The turtle seemed very interested in me...but maybe he thought I had snacks....

Super excited to wear my new necklace today!

Tonight I will be doing a LIVE video on my page of one of my September TasteBuds recipes.  I love getting monthly recipes and seasoning samples in the mail each month!  Tonight I am making meatball subs and also the pizza chili to pop in the freezer for later.

I planned to have a Fall Recipe Tasting tonight but my box of goodies won't get here in time.  So I'll be rescheduling and doing the above live video instead. The Shared Rewards party ends tonight at midnight.  You can check out the new catalog and/or order here -> https://www.pamperedchef.com/party/fabulousfall0914  and hopefully soon I will be able to have an in person fall party to show off the new products and recipes! ;-)

I'm also really excited for my next freezer meal workshop...

We had broccoli cheddar soup in the Quick Cooker last night. It was super good! Next time I need to give te bread bowls a try too. ;-)  I am really looking forward to fall soup and baking season!

Wednesday...

Change in routine and seasons always throws me off. I have a hard figuring out how to adjust I guess. 

Yesterday afternoon it was storming and while I planned to go run after work on the canal- I decided to bail because of the weather. 

But after a quick stop at the store- it seemed the weather had cleared up.  I got my running bag from the car and changed. Much to the dogs delight, I took them for a quick walk and then went for a run.

I got my shirt for the challenge and did my first run in it last night!

I made an old favorite- Loaded Baked Potato Chowder for dinner. 

I happened to flip open to this page in my journal this morning. I felt like this was a reminder I very much needed today...

I was listening to another AMR podcast this morning on my way to work. I heard this quote at the end and it stuck with me today-

Enjoy being out there

& moving your body.

And then read this on Hungry Runner Girl's Blog this morning morning too.

As long as we are doing our best and putting in the effort—>  the fitness will be gained!

Reminding myself to enjoy and trust the process.

running and sour dough

Two more miles today. It was kinda discouraging...I'm finding it hard to believe I can get back to half marathon shape. 

We were happy to see the creek receded quite a bit. 

I revived Betty and did some baking... I am very much looking forward to crisp fall baking weather.

This morning I made english muffins. 

I also mixed up a batch of sandwich bread- it is resting in the fridge to bake later tonight. New recipe. I am very excited to see how it turns out.

I can not believe September is nearly upon us. Tomorrow Mikayla starts her first full time job! Two weeks from today Hannah will have her first day of HIGH School! I can not wrap my brain around it. 

Because I am feeling a little bit sad and nostalgic...

4 days in...

It can stop raining anytime now.

I got this flood alert while I was out walking the dogs...

And then was surprised at how high the creek was when we got there!
 

See that little "island" in the middle...that bush is usually on the creekbank- right where I stand normally to let Bruno wade/ grab a drink.  Not today Buddy!

Last night was yoga and dog snuggling...

I laid on the floor for a while after finishing. 

The stretching felt really good though, especially on my left side. 

We had burrito bowls with the Salsa Chicken from the last Freezer Meal Workshop.

Bruce never disappoints me.  Also cooked rice in the ceramic pot over the chicken, stir fried some fajita veggies in my wok. There's a video over on my FB Page- Amy's Pampered Kitchen 😃

Delicious! 

DAY 2!

 Morning light is shrinking- add rain and it was super hard to get out of bed this morning!  Chance declined to walk this morning. It started raining before we hit the top of our hill.  He insisted on going back home where it was dry.  Bruno and I left him happily munching on kibble and headed back out to run.

Today's run felt especially hard.  I felt tired and grumpy. My legs felt like lead. I found myself seriously doubting my ability to do this. Somehow I messed up my watch not pausing or pausing at the wrong time and lost a quarter of a mile. So I have no idea what our actual pace was other then S L O W!

8 years ago today we ran our first ever 5K.  Reminding me I CAN do this.

Stronger than I think- I've come a long way. . .

5 years ago I was on the brink of running my first ever 5K. This picture popped up in my Facebook memories yesterday. On the heels of a really crappy week of running it was really an encouragement to me.


Saturday I had really terrific run with this guy, I was really so proud of him! And me :-P  My sisters and I ran together to kick off our training for the Syracuse Half.  We actually RAN 4 miles! It has been a wicked long time since I have done this. When I run alone with the pup we tend to take a lot of walk, sniff and creek breaks. This felt good to remind me what I am capable of.


While we were running the kids had breakfast on Mimi and Papa's deck.  Well-- all the cousins but Ryan.  He was home in bed.


Looks like there was also some pretty intense checker playing. 😃

Chance was not feeling our run this morning. After he balked twice I took him home about half a mile in and then finished up myself.  I don't know maybe he was worried I was dragging him on another 4 miler.

Again, I struggled with walking but I kept reminding myself of Saturday and knowing I was capable of running a full mile without a break.  I'm excited to jump into half marathon training and crush this Half in November.

Another quicksicle success! This one is my favorite so far! Kiwi-Watermelon.


It was  a bit of a struggle making the bed on Friday night after I washed our sheets. Chance didn't want to move for anything.

He did not move from this spot until Rhett got home a couple hours later :P