Howdy Folks!

Hey guys!! I’m still around… just super busy! *Story of my Life!* ha!

I PROMISE a post tomorrow!! *pinky promise*

Just wanted to remind you to enter my NUUN giveaway before it’s too late!!

Click the image below to enter!!

My Five Friday Faves From the Week

{1} “For the first time in forever….”  I got to see Frozen! We showed it to the preschoolers on Thursday and let me just say … it was AMAZING!! There are just so many things I love about that movie!! I loved it!!  And now you’re singing that song in your head aren’t you?!  You’re welcome!! ;)

{2} Cheese sticks!!! I’ll spare you a picture of me eating these things, but I can’t get enough of them!! They are so good!! I wait until they go on sale and I have a paper coupon and get them for super cheap!!  yeah… remember that post I told you for the bazillionth time that I’m a cheapskate frugal?  ;)

{3} My workout from Monday was another fun one! AND my favorite one from the week… seeing as I only got to work out once during the actual week! Hopefully I’ll be able to get in another 1 or 2 workouts this weekend! *My fingers are crossed!*

{4} My favorite Backfire of the week…When SELF put down tutu wearers, the running community came together in support and now wearing tutus is even more popular… take that SELF!! However, I did learn today that the magazine did apologize. I personally don’t have a tutu, but if I ever dressed up for a race I would definitely be a cute superhero tutu wearin’ runner!! Every one races for different reasons and wears different things, we are ALL out there running none-the-less!! No one has the right to judge someone who is making a healthy lifestyle choice like running a race!! What do you think about this whole situation?  Do you think the apology fixes everything?

{5} Starting yesterday at 4pm I am officially on Spring Break!!! Bring it on!!! :)  In the next 9 days I will only be working a total of 16-22 hours! I’m super pumped!! :)  I have some fun things planned too!  My mom and I are going to have a girls day out and although I don’t know what we are going to do yet, I know it will be a blast! I can’t wait to hang out with her! She happens to be my best friend and I miss her now that we don’t live with my family anymore!

{BONUS}  Don’t forget to enter my two giveaways! They end Monday 3/31!!

And don’t forget to visit the giveaway linkup to see other great giveaways going on in Blogland (or linkup your own giveaway!)

What are your Friday Faves from the week?
What do you have planned for this weekend?
Do you wear tutus?
What food are you obsessed with lately?

GREAT NEWS!! #ffcheckin and an Awesome Workout!

You can save 15% or more on car insurance…

Just kidding! ha! And yes… What you see on my blog is what you get… stupid humor and all! Although I do hold back on my lame jokes quite a bit so that you guys will maybe like me a little bit more and not think I’m a weirdo! ;)

I really do have some awesome great news though! Are you guys ready for this?!  Last year I applied to be a #FitFluential Ambassador and a couple weeks ago I got the official “you’re accepted” email.  I didn’t want to share though until today when I got the official “you’re official” email!  So it’s official… I’m now the newest FitFluential Ambassador!! I’m super excited to be a part of yet another great community!!

Are you a #FFAmbassador??

So, my day today was pretty much amazing and not really for any specific reason… other than I actually got enough sleep for once last night!

**Confession**  I’ve been AWFUL at going to bed at a decent time!!  Most nights I won’t go to sleep til after midnight or 1am! I can blame it on not getting off work til 11pm at my second job, but it’s totally my fault…

Ok, back to my awesome day… I only went to work (educational assistant) for half a day and got off at noon to go to a required training.  Well that training wasn’t supposed to end til 4pm which is when I normally get off work anyways… BUT I got done at 2!!! How awesome right?!  That meant that I got to the gym 2 hours earlier and wasn’t exhausted (in part because I got enough sleep) and got home 2 hours earlier and was able to make dinner when the sun was still shining!

I know some of you are like “girl, why don’t you go to the gym BEFORE work and then you’d be home at 4 every Monday!” lol… well, you may have missed the one few billion posts where I mention I’m a cheapskate frugal, have a bajillion jobs, and don’t even have enough money to fly across the US to Cali this summer which is why I don’t have a gym membership and workout at my college alma mater for FREE… which means my workout window is pretty small as the gym is only open from 10-8.  Such is life and you gotta make the most of what you’ve got, so I’m not complaining! :)

This is the view from where I worked out today… Not too shabby right?!

 

I switched up my workout a little bit… I did a circuit type of workout today…

- Walking Warmup 7min --> .42mi

- Squats (12)(14)(16); Lunges (10ea leg); Wall Sit (30sec); Pushups (10 manly ones) ;)  X 3 repeats

- 30 Day Fast Start with Jackie Warner [Arms only, used 5lbs] (I have it memorized so no need for the DVD ha!)

- Side Lunges (10ea leg); Plank (45sec)(50sec)(1:00); Crunches (20); Bicycle Crunches (16)(18)(20) X 3 repeats

- Run 20:27min --> 2 miles!!! Pretty pumped cuz I’m consistently running 2 miles without any knee pain!!

- Walking Cooldown 8min --> .46mi

- Stretch for 20 minutes

 
Wall Sits!!! (and Nuun Energy!! Don’t forget to enter my giveaway!)

No scientifically proven reason why I did any of the things I did in my workout… just did it cuz it sounded fun! ;) And remember, if you duplicate this workout for yourself cuz it sounds fun, I’m not a doctor or trainer or coach, etc… nor do I play one on tv!  It’s just a workout I came up with on my own and doesn’t guarantee you any kind of results except for maybe sore muscles ;)

I’ll leave you a picture of my dinner…

Chicken Quesadilla, Rice, Mixed Veggies, Salad, and Water

And just a reminder to enter my giveaways going on right now!! They both end 3/31 at 11:59pm!! :) (click the pic to go to the giveaway)

 

How was your workout this fine Monday?! ;)
Are you a FitFluential Ambassador?
Are you an Ambassador for a company/program/blog?
What’d you have for dinner?

Friday Faves Hosted by Five for Friday

Hello R-Luckies!! Welcome to my Friday Faves brought to you by Five For Friday!! ;)

1. My Workout on Monday was probably one of my favorite workouts this year! Everything was just clicking and I felt great physically and mentally!

I warmed up by walking, then I ran 1.51 miles in 17:45 (11:45/mile)
I also did some other weights and stuff, but I was super happy with how I felt during the run!! I’m coming back people!!

 

I also held my longest handstand EVER!!! No wall!! Check it out on Instagram!!  I’m so proud of my 3 second handstand! haha!
If you’d like to see the video, just click on the picture below!

 

Then I came home and ate a favorite meal… chicken cordon bleu casserole with a salad and cottage cheese
while watching a favorite show… Wheel. of. fortune!!! (read that like they announce it on tv! haha)

  

2. My favorite giveaways right now and I’m not biased or anything lol ;)

3. The weather today is gorgeous!!! You better believe I’m getting out there today!!  My favorite workouts happen outside!!

4. Nuun is my favorite electrolyte drink and they just came out with their new Energy drink!
Why yes… I did just buy a sampler pack lol… I couldn’t help myself!! Look at that awesome bottle!

 

5. My favorite down time right now is watching Lost.  I finished season 1 of and can’t wait to get started on the 2nd season!!  Any Lost fans out there?

 

What are some of your favorites this week/weekend??!!

Last Day for the Giveaway!!

I just wanted to remind you all that it’s the last day to enter my giveaway!! You have 13 hours before it ends so head on over and enter!!

Also, Alicia over at Never Ever Been Skinny is hosting a giveaway for one of my Skinny Yoga Mat Straps so head on over and check it out!! :)

Just a Reminder…

AND…

 

ALSO…

AND ALSO…

I promise I have stuff to tell you… I just don’t have time right now!! :)
Have a great week!

Whoopsy Daisy, Sweat Pink Ambassador, and My Big 2-6! :)

Ok… a lot… A LOT has been going on in my life and I feel like I should share!! I think this is going to be done in list format… here we go!!!

NEW ADDITION TO THE BLOG

A couple days ago I got an exciting email!!  If you follow me on Instagram you may have already seen this news… You’re looking at a new SPA sister!!  That’s right… I am now a Sweat Pink Ambassador!!  (Pink Shoelaces are on their way with pics to follow!!) ;) I’m excited to be a part of this awesome community! :)

 

WHOOPS!!  #RRRLINKUP

One of my readers messaged me and told me that that they were trying to add their Race Report and couldn’t because the #linkup was closed!! Whoops!  Sorry about that!  We are now open for business and you can linkup as many Race Recaps/Reports as you want from the month of July!! #nolimits I will also leave up your links for all of August too because I feel bad! ;)  Get to linking up!! :)

WORK WORK WORK…

I went from feeling like a bum with no jobs after graduation in May and like I could blog several times a day if I wanted to because I had nothing else to do… to feeling like I had no time again because I am now employed and have 4 separate different jobs!  I posted about it here in a blog post that you can read if you want.  Currently I am only working 2 jobs but starting mid-August I will be working all 4!! Here are my 4 jobs and my fall schedule:

1. Restaurant Job (Nights and Weekends)
   [I asked for an old job back when I was jobless… read about it HERE]
2. ASL Interpreter (On Call 24/7)
   [I signed up with one agency… hopefully more in the future!!]
3. Preschool Educational Aide (Monday through Thursdays)
   [Job I was doing in May… now full-time tho!]
4. Substitute Teacher (Fridays)
   [I can now sub for any interpreters in the area as well as teachers!!]

We’ll see how long I can keep this schedule up come fall, but I’d rather work as much as possible now while my family consists of two people instead of working and being gone all the time when we start having little additions join our family…
if you know what I mean! ;)

FROGFUEL PROTEIN SHOT GIVEAWAY (11 HRS LEFT)

You have 11 hours left to enter my FrogFuel giveaway!! Entries are really low so you have a really good chance of winning so ENTER NOW!!

DONE WITH REST… BRING ON THE WORKOUTS!

I have been really… I mean REALLY resting it up these days… the only working out I’ve done in July is being on my feet and walking back and forth really fast making food at work! lol… and bicep curls with the ice buckets when I fill the pop machines… does that count?? :-P
Really tho… I feel like I’ve given my knee a fair amount of rest time and it’s time to get legit and start working out again!  I’m not talking straight up running 10 miles tomorrow!! Calm down people… ;)  I want to be smart about this so my knee pain doesn’t come back…
which means I’ll start slow with walking for warmups and cooldowns and working on building up and balancing out the muscles that are heavily relied on while running… among other muscles too… and heavily foam rolling/sticking/ and stretching!  Also… making use of the elliptical and bike!
Hopefully after starting out slow, it won’t be long before I get back to running!! :)  I truly miss it and can’t wait to get back out there and hit the pavement pain free!!

MY 26th BIRTHDAY!

Last but not least… I turned 26 on July 14th!  Crazy how time flies!!  It was a great day filled with fun, laughter, and love! :)  My day started out with presents and then church:

After church… we went to my favorite restaurant… Red Lobster… of course my husband told them it was my birthday when we ordered dessert so they put a candle on top and a group of about 8 employees came out to sing to me… half way through the song, the whole room was singing to me and my face was bright red!! lol… people were paying their tabs and leaving and saying happy birthday when they walked by for the next 15 minutes! I felt like a celebrity!!

Then typically my mom makes me a hoho cake (recipe here) which is chocolate cake with vanilla cream filling and chocolate icing on top!!  Delicious!!  But alas, this year it was just my husband and I on my birthday and he decided to make me a ho ho cake… recipe pending! ;)

Gotta love him!! It was a fantastic birthday!!

 

 

Do you have any “Randoms” to share?

What kind of cake do you usually have on your birthday?

Are you recovering from an injury or still going strong?

Wazzzupppp?!? (and loving life!)

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!! :)

Life has been crazy busy as of lately and I just want to share about it because I feel so blessed!

So why haven’t I been around much lately?

I went from working ZERO (0) jobs to getting a job.. or two… and actually working three separate jobs last Thursday!  Now this isn’t an every day occurrence, but last Thursday I subbed for a preschool teacher working a summer program, went straight to working at a restaurant (same I used to work at before becoming a substitute teacher), and then came home for about 2 hours to be called in to my very first interpreting assignment!!

It was a tiring day but I feel so blessed from all the opportunities that God has provided me so far after graduating May 10th!  I guess you could say I’ve been lucky as defined by my blog’s subtitle! ;)

I’m trying to work as much as possible so that I can pay off my student and car loans as quickly as possible so that I can move on to a new chapter in my life and not have to worry so much about money!  As far as full time interpreting jobs… there aren’t many and interpreting is for sure what I want to do for the rest of my life.  I’ve signed on as a contract interpreter with one agency and am hoping to sign on with more in the fall.  Summer is a slow season for interpreting so I realized I needed another source of income this summer if I am going to pay off my bills.  (Remember substitute teachers don’t get paid throughout the summer!) ;)

With that being said, I’m willing to work in fast food if that is what it takes!  Going back and asking for my job back that I quit almost 2 years ago was humbling to say the least and sometimes you need to come down off your pedestal and realize that you aren’t “better than that” and you need to do what you need to do.  They graciously let me come back and my pay is pretty much what it was when I left… they originally said about 2-3 days a week but I’ve picked up extra hours and have worked an average of 35 hours a week. God has His ways of teaching you lessons that you need to learn!  I will say this… God has provided for me!

In addition to the restaurant job and the one interpreting agency, I was hired on as a full-time preschool aide in a preschool for children with disabilities and typically developing peer models starting this fall!  I’m super excited about it and although it doesn’t pay millions of dollars, it’s a job that I will enjoy and will feel so rewarded every day when I come home!

God is Good… All the time!

Sorry for the lame post with no pictures… I’ll try to make up for it in my next post! ;)  I just felt like sharing everything I’ve been blessed with because my heart is overflowing right now!

I hope you can find the blessings in your life, no matter how big or how small and feel appreciative for them today!! :)

 

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**Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a chance for 3 of my followers to win a pair of Neon Zensah Compression Socks! Click the picture below!

 

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Weekly Roundup: May 27 – June 2

Monday: .5mi in 5:43; BBC Day #5; 30 Day Fast Start – Upper & Lower (3); .5mi in 5:44; Foam Roll/Stretch; Basketball with hubby (45min)
Tuesday: .5mi in 5:52; BBC Day #6; 30 Day Fast Start – Upper & Lower (4); .5mi in 5:56; Foam Roll/Stretch/Stick
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 1.0mi in 11:21; BBC Day #8;  30 Day Fast Start – Upper & Lower (4); 1.0mi in 11:55; Foam Roll/Stretch/Stick
Saturday(6/1): Rest
Sunday: Rest (Family Graduation & Party)

Total for Week = 4 miles 
Total for Month =  May = 5 miles -- June = 0 miles 
Total for Year =  74.57 miles

*** @=outside run (refers to pace) in=treadmill run (refers to minutes)

January 11.57 miles                                                       2011 329.45 miles
February 16.55 miles                                                      2012 178.67 miles
March 15.52 miles
April  25.93 miles
May  5 miles

Last Week's Roundup

 

Reminders

- You have 4 days left to enter my giveaway for a free 1-month subscription to Bestowed Box (1 box): 

- The Race Recap Roundup #linkup is reset and ready for all your new race recaps! :) (if you posted a recap Friday, Saturday, or Sunday it will stay up for this week too!)

 

Blog Posts From The Week

Bestowed Box Review & Giveaway
Five Randoms For Friday

Registered Races

Unfortunately I have no plans to race at all this year… we shall see towards the second half, but I am just trying to get back into shape and figure out my knee pain!

Five Randoms For Friday

First of all… You may notice that my blog has changed and is in disorder… I’m going through a phase where I want to change my blog… I don’t know how long this phase will last but I’ll let you know when I’m finished and my blog is finite! ;)

Also this blog post is a part of the Running Bloggers Fitness Friday Linkup.  You can find their badge on my left sidebar… Now on with my Five for Friday…
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1. It’s been nice out and now that I don’t have homework keeping me inside I get to play outside in the sun! :)  Which means I get to start  “Plankin’ it up outside”

OMG! Look at that skill!! ;)  Don’t ever listen to anyone who tells you I can’t multi-task! 
I’m planking and taking a picture at the same time!! ;)  #PROOF 

2. I’ve won a couple giveaways in the past couple months:  A Nathan Handheld with Nuun, a Twetebird Headband, a Color Me Rad 5k Entry, and KT Tape… I’m one LUCKY Runner ;) tehe!

3. Speaking of headbands… I got my Boston Strong BicBand headband and it rocks… These were sold to raise money for the One Fund, the official Boston Charity (you can read more HERE) … Guess how much money was raised up til I got mine in the mail … OVER $16,000!!

Runners are a special breed… for more than one reason! ;) This looks like a mug shot…
also, I spy with my little eye.. a bottle of NUUN! ;)

4. Does anyone have any Memorial Day race recaps you’d like to share?  Apparently everyone is super busy this week because no one has joined the Race Recap Roundup #linkup Par-TAY!  Get going and linkup your race reports already!!  jeesh! ;)  (It doesn’t have to be a Memorial Day race… just sayin’)

5. LAST but certainly not least… Don’t forget to enter for the chance to win a 1-month subscription to Bestowed! The box is full of wonderful goodies!  CLICK HERE (or the image)
to enter!! Ends 6/8!

 

When’s the last time you changed your blog?
   - Currently ;)

Have you planked anywhere other than a gym/your house?
   - Outside :)

Did you buy a Boston Strong Bic Band?
   - yeppers!

What are your plans for the weekend?