Love Actually

February 14th: the single girl's nightmare.

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Side note: when googling "single on Valentine's Day" (I mean...I didn't do that...that'd be pathetic), I came across this gem of an article.  It is amazing.  I especially like #5.  In fact, I have a side story (to my side note) for you:


I may or may not have recently had an unreasonable crush on J.R. Martinez.  

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In fact, I "liked" him on Facebook, followed him on Twitter (I don't even tweet!), and was thisclose to sending him a letter expressing my undying love for him and explaining how perfect we would be together.  And then he had to go and knock-up his girlfriend.  Whatever.


I am currently accepting applications for another unreasonable celebrity crush.


But I digress completely.


What I was going to say is that I could spend this entire post telling you just how awful it is to be single and drenching your cat's fur with tears while watching The Notebook on Valentine's Day (what, just me?), I thought that I would instead make a list of everything that I love.

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I mean, "It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there.  [...]  If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around.”


My Family

My beautiful parents.

I just don't know where we get it.

I am blessed to have the bestest family in the entire universe.  It makes me sad that we are not in the same town anymore, and I really truly hope that someday we will be again because I love them more than the whole wide world.


My Future Sister-In-Law

She'll fit in just great, huh?

I can't wait for her to "officially" be a part of the family.  I love her to pieces and pieces and pieces.


My Sister From Another Mister

I am so thankful to have the bestest friend in the entire universe.  We can drive each other crazy yet love each other unconditionally more than anyone I know.  She is amazing, and I don't know what I'd do without her.


My Friends

Just another "family" dinner.

Kiara and me.

Mags and me.

Me and Mindy and Petra.

The grad school girls - some of them, at least.

My Cats

You can think I'm crazy all you want, but I don't care.  I love my cats.


My Students & Colleagues

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I get to teach the most wonderful students every single day, and I am so thankful.  Interestingly, yesterday I had an all-day meeting at one of the suburban schools, and I was shocked at the difference; it had been nearly ten years since I had been in a non-urban environment.  Suffice it to say, I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to teach where I do and work with the kids and the teachers that I do.


My Education

There are so many places in this world where education is not a possibility - either because of cost, location, gender, etc.  I am so grateful that I was able to go to school, receive a great education, and further my learning through various ventures.


My Jobs

I know it might be silly to be thankful for seemingly meaningless part-time jobs, but I really enjoy what I do - both with Stella & Dot and with LivingSocial - and they have both given me opportunities to do things I never thought possible.


My Health

This should probably be my number one thing that I love and am thankful for because little of this would be possible without it.  I am so blessed to be able to be as healthy and as active as I am, and I am so thankful since athletics are a huge part of my life.


Good Food

Mmm...  I love food.  Obviously.


Being Involved

Part of the Freedom Writer Teacher family.

Whether it's with Freedom Writers, Planned Parenthood, or See-Us Run Des Moines, I love, love, love doing what I can within my sphere of influence to make the world a better place for all individuals.


Love


I. love. love.

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I may not have "romantic" love right now, but I have a lot of love in my life.  And I love my life.  I love a lot of people, and a lot of people love me.


And you know?  What's meant to be will be - and I am okay with that.


Happy Valentine's Day.

Muscle Exhaustion

Today wore. me. out.

It started way too early this morning - or maybe "family" dinner was just a bit too fun and the Grammy's went just a little too late last night.

I woke up and put on my brand-new outfit:

(Don't worry: I fixed my hair after this photo.  It looked way too stupid.)

I bought this jacket, tanktop, and heels this weekend.  I love all of those pieces and want to wear them pretty much everyday.  In fact, I am thinking about getting the tank in more colors.  It's so cute - and a size medium!

Unfortunately, I had to switch my shoes as soon as I looked outside.  Apparently it had snowed overnight - and was still snowing when I was about to leave - and super-cute heels were just not going to cut it.

I ventured out onto the skating rink of Des Moines streets and headed to La Mie to meet my friend/colleague/co-facilitator of today's all-day meeting.  She was already there prepping and had ordered this delicious breakfast:

But she wasn't going to eat it!  She offered it to me, and of course I said, heck yes!  I love yogurt, fruit, and granola, especially when they're all mixed together!  I inhaled the meal, and then we headed north to Ankeny for our CIML English meeting.

It was a very productive, enlightening meeting, and much, much better than I had anticipated.

Aside from a food-ordering fiasco (um, I forgot to press the "place order" button and had ten people staring at me when the food was supposed to have arrived), the day went really well.

And don't worry: we eventually got lunch.  Jimmy John's.  A 530-calorie sandwich (Beach Club, no mayo).  Ugh.

After the meeting, I sped down I-80 (thankfully the roads had gotten much better) to my oil change.  It was the first oil change since I bought this car, and surprise!  It was free!

Bub - the service manager - totally made my day.

I spent about a half an hour at the dealership getting caught up on all of my Words With Friends games, and then I headed to the gym.  Today was the first day of no boot camp for me, so I almost didn't know what to do with myself.  Good thing I made my workout/meal schedule yesterday!

I hit up a Y Pump class where we killed our quads with squats, our hamstrings with resistance bands, our biceps with the bar, triceps and pectorals with dumbbell extensions and curls, abs with boat pose leg extensions, and lower backs with Supermans.  As if that 45 minutes wasn't enough, I headed upstairs for a little cross-training on the elliptical - 30 minutes.  Finally, I finished off the evening with my Fab Ab February routine: 45 sit-ups, 10 push-ups, and a 35-second plank.

I can barely move.  My muscles are exhausted.

Finally, at 6:30 p.m., I headed home for the day.  I made a poor decision and popped a cookie-dough ball.  I mean, they're just staring at me from the table.  And they're so good.  And I was so hungry.

So, that was my appetizer.

The main course was another helping of Shrimp & Crab Gumbo:

Apparently this is only 221 calories per serving.  I guess that makes sense since the bulk of it is vegetables, but wow.  That makes me happy.

So happy, in fact, that I may inhale another cookie-dough ball before I go to bed.  Or, I may exhibit self-control.

I bet we all know how this will turn out.

Take Me Back to the Start

Today was a great Sunday.

I rolled out of bed around 8:30, intending to fall back asleep on the couch.  Instead, I started goofing around on the computer - blogging, checking email, stalking people wasting time on Facebook, etc. - and soon enough, I was hungry for breakfast.

BFF was out of commission this weekend, so I was forced to fend for myself instead of heading out for our weekly ritual.  So, I checked out one of my all-time favorite blogs, Carrots 'n Cake, for a recommendation and came up with the ultimate protein pancake:

This was super easy; however, if we're being honest, I initially forgot to add the egg whites and had to scoop the half-cooked pancake out of the skillet to whip it up correctly.

Topping it off, I added pure maple syrup and a handful of chocolate chips.  Every time my brother and sister and I head home, my mom makes us breakfast one morning: pancakes with chocolate chips.  So, I recreated it for myself - a bit healthier - this morning.

Yum.

This was so filling that I actually ate half of it for breakfast and half of it for lunch.

Following breakfast, I started tackling by crazy to-do list.  I hosted our weekly "family" dinner tonight, so I had a lot to do in regards to prepping my apartment for company, acquiring the necessary ingredients, cooking everything, etc.

I started by cleaning up the house and saw something funny:

I realized that this is the perfect description for my life.  I'm pretty much like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: I have the stereotypical "girlie" side (hence the sparkly silver high heels - brand-new BCBG) and the stereotypical "tomboy" side (hence the tennies - albeit with hot-pink laces).  I swear: if I'm not dressed to the nines, I'm wearing sweatpants and a tanktop.

Interesting.

I took a timeout from cleaning (well, maybe more than one) to play with my attention-starved feline:

(I know I'm crazy: humor me.  I love his polka-dotted tummy.  And he's so stinkin' cute until he tries to bite your face off!)

I regained my sense of sanity and headed to the kitchen to bake.

I know: me, bake?!

Well, I did.

But first, I dealt with this catastrophe:

I had three things of oregano, two things of thyme, several things of allspice, and God knows how many jars of cumin shoved into my tiny spice cabinet.

Today, consolidation happened.

And then I threw together cookie dough balls - no big deal.

I served them for dessert tonight, and not to toot my own horn or anything, but they were pretty darn well received.  I mean, who wouldn't love eating raw cookie dough - and doing so without fear of salmonella?!

This recipe is definitely a keeper.

After a trip to the grocery store and several peeks at recipes online, I got started on tonight's dinner:

Shrimp and Crab Gumbo.  I had this when I was home last, and it was so good that I knew I had to make it for "family" dinner.  It was super easy (and absolutely delicious), but it was a little time-consuming.  However, I love cooking, chopping veggies, etc., so it was a truly nice afternoon.

I also served grapes (that were on their last legs) and roasted Brussels sprouts that were marinated in sriracha and honey (inspiration courtesy of Pinterest).  They were so good, but next time I'm going to douse them in even more sriracha.

Eric brought over a side dish: black beans, chorizo, onions, garlic, cilantro, jalapeno, and cumin.  It was so, so good.  I probably could've eaten that for a meal!

Four of the five "family" members (does that make us sound like a cult?) chowed down dinner, drank some wine, and watched the Grammy's.

What can I say?!  I'm a sucker for awards shows.

And I knew this one would be a must-see due to the tragic passing of Whitney.  (Side note: I know it was a long-time coming with her drug abuse, but I am still very saddened by this tragedy.  She was so talented, so beautiful, and to succumb to drug addiction - which is what likely killed her - is so heartbreaking...)

I'm going to leave you tonight with this commercial that really hit me:



It is a Chipotle commercial that emphasizes the need for sustainable food systems (with Willie Nelson singing Coldplay's The Scientist).  It just made me think - even more than I already do - the necessity of local farms, local farmers.

I could get on a soapbox about this topic, but I will leave that for another day - especially since I continue to learn more and more and become even more passionate about the need to know your farmers.

So, hold that thought for now.

G'night!

Let's Move!

And now, as promised, the surprise news you've all been waiting for:

I was so excited ever since I found out about this opportunity, and I wanted to share it with you right away.  But, then I thought it might be fun to have a blog post revealing the big news after it happened.

And then I was too tired.

So, here's the big reveal - three days later.  :)

On Thursday, local students were invited to participate in Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign as part of the Healthiest State Initiative (apparently Governor Brandstad thinks Iowa can move from #19 to #1 by 2016; I'm not sure he's accurately assessed what he's dealing with, but I give him props for the optimism).

The event was geared toward students grades six through nine, and we were given 100 seats for our ninth graders.  After requiring students to write a one-page paper about why they wanted to attend the event and what heathy living meant to them, we selected the lucky ones.

We headed down to Wells Fargo Arena first thing in the morning - at 8:00 a.m.  The event didn't start until 11:00, but we had to get 100 kids through secret-service security and seated in a smooth fashion.  Turns out, this was pretty much the most well-organized event ever, and we made it to our seats by about 8:30.  We now had about two-and-a-half hours to kill prior to the event starting, so we were a bit worried as to how we were going to entertain 100 14-year-olds.

Let me repeat: this was pretty much the most well-organized event ever, and there was ample entertainment.  And our kids were so attentive and engaged the entire time.  It was a miracle.

The event started with local show choir groups, drill and drum corps, jump rope teams, breakdancing crews, a capella groups, and more.  Each group was vastly different from the one prior to it, and they were all super exciting.

Then, the celebrities started appearing.  We saw people like Secretary of Agriculture and former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack, Iowa governor Terry Brandstad, Iowa State University head basketball coach Fred Hoiberg, American Idol finalist Katelyn Epperly, Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson, WNBA player Tamika Catchings, NASCAR champion Carl Edwards, figure skater Michelle Kwan, Biggest Loser coach Bob Harper, and, of course, First Lady Michelle Obama.

We had front-row seats in the stands, and I was so thankful: it would have been a long three hours standing!  But while the lighting was great for the event, it was less-than-ideal for photographs.  So, I'm very thankful one of my dearest friends Cindy allowed me to use her photos from the real first-row (and her sore feet!) for blog purposes:

Bob Harper worked us out.  Seriously.  It was one of the highlights of my day.  Even in limited space, we were able to do squats, push-ups, jumping jacks, squat jumps, etc.

How cool is he?!

I'm not kidding you: after my testing on Wednesday (that included lots and lots of squats), my legs were BURNING during this workout.  And, I totally broke a sweat!

We obviously couldn't do push-ups in the bleachers, so he had us turn around and do them against the back of our chairs - genius!

I about died when I saw Michelle Kwan.  I had no idea she was going to be here, and I was jumping up and down when I saw her.  Seriously.  I love figure skating and have ever since I was a little girl, and I vividly remember her at the '98 and '02 Olympics.  So exciting.

The lady of the hour!  Eeeee!

She talked about healthy living, the importance for fitness and how that can be accomplished through any activity, not just by joining a sports team.

She is a phenomenal speaker.

Perhaps the coolest part of the entire morning was the entire arena - students, celebrities, Michelle Obama - doing the Interlude, a dance created by three University of Northern Iowa students in their dorm room.  The dance has since gone viral, being performed everywhere from UNI to Afghanistan to South Africa and beyond.  And on Thursday, we all danced the Interlude with the First Lady:



It was an amazing morning, and I am so thankful I was able to participate.

Now, Let's Move!

Brr!

I know you've been waiting with bated breath for the big secret that was to be revealed on Thursday.  Unfortunately, you'll have to wait for one more day: I want to tell you about today.

If you remember, I posted my race schedule awhile back.  Well...I have not done a phenomenal job of sticking to that.  In fact, I skipped my first race because I was in the throes of boot camp and could not fathom doing two workouts in one day.  And today, I was supposed to run five miles but only did the 5K instead.

It turns out that was the better option, though: I was sick all week, I've only run a few times in the past several weeks due to boot camp, and it was -13 degree windchill.

Did you catch that?

NEGATIVE THIRTEEN DEGREE WINDCHILL.

If it hadn't been for my dear friend Kiara, I would've stayed in my warm bed this morning.  It is all her fault thanks to her that I got my workout in for the day.

Now, what does one wear to run 3.1 miles in the bitter cold of an Iowa winter?  Let me show you.

But first: my apologies for the spandex.  And the hair and make-up: I literally rolled out of bed at the very last minute possible and threw on running garb.

Step One: running tights and running tanktop (the only tops I wear to workout).

Step Two: another pair of running tights and a moisture-wicking top.

Step Three: two layers of socks, a very, very warm hooded workout top, and my marathon headband (because it keeps my ears warm).

Step Four: yet another really, really warm workout top and an athletic hat.

Step Five: yet another hat and a fluffy scarf - because it was the Red Flannel Run!  Kiara and I were going to go get goofy costumes last night, but we decided dinner, packet pick-up, and watching a high-school basketball game (we're conference champs!) were more important.

Step Six: bib number, timing chip, smile, and requisite race picture!

While I was cursing Kiara as I was lying in my warm bed this morning, hoping she would say we shouldn't run, I am very happy that we did it.  It was a fun race - pretty flat - and it went by fairly quickly.  In fact, I believe it was my fastest 5K yet at 32:37.  I understand that this is in no way a wonderful time for 3.1 miles, but I was pretty pleased that my pace was under 11 minutes, and I was also pretty darn thrilled that a.) I survived the race, and b.) I ran it decently considering the fact that I have been sick and have completely neglected running due to boot camp.

I will be back tomorrow with a recap of the rest of the weekend - and, as promised, the surprise from Thursday.

But for now, I'm off like a prom dress.  :)

Exhaustion

Today was long.  I had school, followed by a super sushi lunch with my colleagues, followed by an afternoon of professional development.  Shortly after leaving the meeting, I headed to the gym for my 40-day results.  (Well, technically they were the 38-day results since our session goes until Friday, but who's counting?!)

I'm not going to tell you the specifics right now (you'll have to wait 'til they're "for sure" on Friday), but suffice it to say that I am very, very pleased.

And very, very tempted to continue the program.

I have some serious decision-making to do.

Boot camp/testing went really long today, so I had to speed home and take the fastest shower ever in order to make it semi-punctually to bowling.  While I had a major pounder hittin' me hard for all three games, bowling was, as always, a good time.

I headed home after finally reaching 100 on my last game (really, Emily?!  only 100?!), and I got straight to work on my LivingSocial projects.  I had three separate writings to do today due to a "promotion" I got within the company.

And then, just five minutes ago, I typed up my sub plans for tomorrow because...

...I'm doing something super, super, super amazing.

But, you'll have to wait until tomorrow for that exciting news.  :)

Until then, please let me apologize for tonight's horribly boring, picture-less post.  This girl is w-i-p-e-d.  Ciao!

Fiasco (Lupe, that is)

It was pretty tough to roll out of bed this morning: I still wasn't feeling super hot and ended up pressing snooze a few too many times.  I grabbed a quick Stoke-Your-Fire Cereal and ate it at school.  (I promise this breakfast tastes delicous - I mean, it has to since I eat a few times a week - but every time I bring it to school, without fail, I have students remark about how it looks disgusting.  Cracks me up.)

But, all this "disgusting" eating has been making a difference: today one of my kids from last year passed by me in the hallway and commented on how I'm looking "skinny."

And I was super annoyed during my workout how my "tight" (smaller size than normal) workout pants kept falling down.

Tomorrow, I'll know for sure exactly how much my body has changed: that's when we have our "after" measurements.  I love nothing more than stripping down to my skivvies and having strangers pinch my fat.

Yippee.

For my morning snack, I noshed on an apple and some cinnamon-roasted almonds.  This hefty snack tided me over until about 1:15 - when I finally whipped out the rest of my Taste the Rainbow Salad from last night.

As the day progressed, I felt worse...and worse...and worse.  I was literally screaming all day - although to everyone else, it sounded like a hoarse whisper.  That really took a lot out of me; by the time I left school, I had a pounding headache, and my throat hurt somethin' fierce.  So, I left my workout clothes in my bag and headed home.

When I got home, I inhaled a few mini Oreos that I had leftover from a Super Bowl recipe.

Ugh.

When I entered them into My Fitness Pal, I realized that I only had 100 calories left for the rest of the day.

Yeah, right.

So, I decided that heading to boot camp was a necessity (albeit probably a horrible decision).  So I choked down four Ibuprofen and hit the road.

Shockingly, it wasn't a horrible workout.  I actually did a pretty darn good job for feeling as icky as I did.  I was pretty thrilled that I was able to hold two 30-second side planks, as I'm not sure I've ever been able to do that.

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Toward the end of the 40 minutes, I started slacking a bit.  I didn't do as many roundhouses as I could when I'm healthy, I didn't do my squat/sit-up/push-up/plank abs as quickly as I do when I'm not hacking up a lung, and I didn't pump my legs during those mountain climbers as fast I normally do.

However, I didn't die, so I'm chalking that up as a victory.

When I got home, I immediately got started on dinner: yet another recipe from Kristin, Quinoa Pasta with Sun-dried Tomato Pesto.

My pictures are horrible...

...because it did not turn out as planned.

Everything went swimmingly well: the quinoa pasta turned out perfectly, the chicken came out of the oven tender as can be, the veggies sauteed beautifully.

And then came the pesto.

Apparently I need a straight-up food processor since neither my Magic Bullet nor my blender could mush it up enough.  I tried over and over and over to make it sauce-like, but I was left with chunky ingredients.  And after about five minutes - and countless dirty dishes - I just said, oh well (except maybe in more colorful language).

Even though it wasn't the prettiest dinner ever, it was pretty darn tasty - and weighed in at 487 calories.  And I. am. stuffed.

Before I sign off for the evening, I wanted to leave you with a music video.  My workout station today was right next to the blaring speaker, which would normally drive me crazy.  Today, though, it was greatly appreciated so that I could focus on something other than dying.  About halfway through the workout, I heard Lupe Fiasco's The Show Goes On.  Yes, I've heard this song before, but I hadn't really heard it.

Please watch this - or, if hip-hop's not your thing, at least from 2:09-2:15:



That lyric really stuck out to me.  Remember how I said things were a bit crazy at school at the end of last week?  Well, the craziness resulted in national news coverage over the radio waves and web pages, and the comments that followed the articles (and, interestingly, most of the journalism itself) painted teachers in an extremely unfavorable light.

It is always refreshing to hear that teachers - especially those in urban public schools - are appreciated and are doing good things, no matter the media used to convey that message.

I'll be back tomorrow, obv, but I wanted to let you know that Thursday is going to be an extra special blog post.  Get excited!

I can't wait.

Peace out, yo.