Independence Day in DC!

Hello everyone! Talk about a crazy (but fun!) few weeks. I was out of town for 8 nights and then this past week I've been playing catch up at work and home and still feel like my life is a mess lol.

Last week I had the opportunity and privilege to attend the Marine Corp Educator Workshop Week in Quantico, VA. It was such a great experience! Basically the marines host career counselors, faculty, etc. from various universities to come to Quantico and learn more about the recruitment, selection and training of Marine Corp Officers. This helps us better understand the process so we can advise students who may be interested in the Marines.

It was such a rewarding experience, I can't say that enough. I grew up in a military family (my dad is retired air force), but it was just so neat to actually see the training process up close. It really makes you realize how much so many men and woman put on the line and go through to be able to serve and protect our country.  They treated us so well too and even took us to the Sunset Parade in Arlington where we saw the silent drill team and the marine band perform. We also got to fly in a helicopter!!! This was one of the coolest things I've ever done!

I learned so much and was so sad to leave. I met so many amazing people at the workshop.

Then at the end of the workshop the fun continued as I got to spend the 4th of July weekend with my friend Lu in DC! We had a great time just hanging out and eating WAY too much. ;) We did go for an awesome 3 mile run around the city and had a fun time taking pictures along the way.

It was such a beautiful day! It was amazing to be running around our nation's capital for the 4th of July weekend. I can't wait now to go back to DC and run the Army 10 Miler in October!

The rest of the weekend was full of grilling out, watching fireworks at the national mall, and CAKE BALLS! lol. Yum!

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July!!!! (sorry this post is a week late... oops!)

Recipe- Fish Tacos

Another recipe??? Two in a week, it's a record!

Again, in the spirit of easy, quick, and healthy, I found this recipe on Cooking Light and it's made it into our weekly rotation. I love when you find a recipe to something that you love, so much so that when eat it out you actually PREFER your recipe instead- and that's how I feel about this recipe! I will post the original recipe, but then tell you how I have changed it or substituted items. :)

Fish Tacos with Cabbage Slaw

Ingredients

-4 cups very thinly presliced green cabbage (I buy pre-packaged and usually get the kind with carrots and radishes sliced up as well)
-1 cup chopped plum tomatoes (I've used all kinds of tomatos, and typically by Roma for this recipe)
-1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
-1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (I have used dried and it works too)
-2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (I usually use the kind in the plastic squeeze container)
-5 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
-1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
-1 pound tilapia fillets (I have used lots of different kinds of fish for this, when we recently made it we used red snapper that David had actually caught on a recent fishing trip!)
-1 teaspoon chili powder
-8 (6-inch) corn tortillas (I use whole weat tortillas)
 
Directions

-Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Add juice, 1 tablespoon oil, and 1/4 teaspoon salt; toss well to combine.


-Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle fish evenly with chili powder and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add fish to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from heat, and cut fish into bite-sized pieces.

-Warm tortillas according to package directions (if desired). Spoon about 1/4 cup cabbage mixture down the center of each tortilla. Divide fish evenly among tortillas; fold in half. Serve tacos with remaining cabbage mixture.

Here is the nutritional information if anyone is interested in that!
 

Amount per serving

Calories: 305

Calories from fat: 29%

Fat: 9.8g

Saturated fat: 2g

Monounsaturated fat: 4.9g

Polyunsaturated fat: 1.2g

Protein: 26.5g

Carbohydrate: 30.1g

Fiber: 4.4g

Cholesterol: 75mg

Iron: 1.4mg

Sodium: 445mg

Calcium: 162mg

I love them, and they're super yummy! Plus I eat the leftovers the next day for lunch without the tortilla like a salad almost, and it's delicious. Yum!

So yesterday I went to Body Works plus Abs class with a friend at my gym. I cannot say enough how much I LOVE that class!!! It's such a great way to get in strength training and do exercises I might not think to do on my own. Plus according to the LA Fitness website, it can burn up to 450 calories- yeah! If you are the member of a gym and they have this or a similiar class, I highly recommend it. You will probably leave looking like this though.

I came home and was too lazy to do any serious cooking (as usual) so I decided to have at-home pizza AGAIN. This time though I used english muffins instead of a tortilla, and I used a 4 cheese mexican blend cheese as I was out of mozzarella. It was still yummy!

Today will probably be more of a rest day- maybe take the furbabies for a walk and do my IT Band exercises! Hope you are all having a great day!

Have you ever gone to a Body Works class or something like it? Did you enjoy it?

Recipe- Thin Crust Pizza

I love food. I love eating out, junk food, making comfort food at home, you name it... This has always been where I struggle the most! I have gotten a LOT better in the past few years but it's still a challenge everyday, especially when there seems to be no time in the day to pick up real groceries and cook. So I am all about quick and easy recipes that don't require a ton of ingredients, and still are yummy but much healthier and better for you than eating out!

Yesterday I made semi- homemade thin crust pizzas!

Ingredients: (All the ingredients are too taste, I didn't measure anything out. Sorry!)

- whole wheat tortillas (medium size)
- tomato sauce of any kind (I used leftover spaghetti sauce we had in the fridge)
- shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
- chopped red onions and green bell peppers
- cut up canadian bacon
- seasoning (dried basil, oregano, whatever you want)
- whatever other toppings/sauces/seasoning you want!

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Bake tortillas for a couple minutes on each side until they're a little crispy
- Take out of the oven and cover with sauce, cheese, and whatever toppings you want! Then place back in the oven until the cheese is melted and the tortilla is as crispy as you would like.

This recipe is SO easy and surprisingly yummy! Try it for an easy, quick and FUN weekday meal. I was a little worried it wouldn't fill me up, but since I cut it up into four small slices and slowly ate it I felt pretty satisfied. I also had a side baby spinach and arugula salad with light balsamic and basil vinaigrette.

It smelled so good, Paisley wanted to get a bite herself! :)

What are your favorite pizza toppings? Do you like to make pizza at home or do you always order out?

Oops... Where Did the Time Go?

Wow, has it really been almost a MONTH since I last posted??? Oops!

I am full of excuses....

- I went home for a long weekend for my brothers high school graduation the beginning of the month. I can't believe my little brother is a high school graduate and soon to be college student! I also had to say goodbye to the house I have called home since sophomore year of high school. :( I am so excited my parents will be living closer to us, but sad to say goodbye to that chapter of my life!

- I've been getting ready for my brother to move in with us for the summer! He will be staying with us over the summer while he takes his first college class this summer, and then move on campus in the fall. It'll be fun and I'm excited to spend more time with my brother, but of course it'll be an adjustment!

- This past weekend we had my awesome brother and sister in law (David's brother and his wife) in town. We had a ton of fun going to Universal and Islands of Adventure!

- I am getting ready for some upcoming trips. Next Monday I leave for a week long workshop in Quantico, Virginia, and then I'm staying for 4th of July weekend in DC with my bestie Lu! This will be the second year in a row I'll be in DC for the 4th and I can't wait! Last year we had a blast!

- After DC, I will be back home for about a week and half and head BACK out to go to New York to visit family for an extended weekend. I can't wait to see family I haven't seen in a long time, and I am going to see RENT off broadway!!!! I am so freaking excited! I am obsessed with Rent and know every single word to all the songs. I've only ever seen the movie version though and absolutely cannot wait to see it on stage!

- On top of all that, I'm trying to keep working out consistently of course! It's been tough lately but I'm feeling motivated because... I signed up for a race!

I signed up for the Tinker Bell Half Marathon at Disneyland in January 2012! I absolutely cannot wait! This will be my first time going to Disneyland or California, and I will be getting to see some great friends who also just had a baby. I can't wait to see them and their new little one; I am already counting the days!

This is just a few of the things going on so it's been a little hectic. ;) If you are still around even after my in-excusable absence, I apologize for being totally MIA. I will be getting back to posting as much as I can in between all the craziness happening this summer!

Do you have any summer trips planned? Where to?

Making Our House a Home!

I can't believe we have been in our home now for 3 months! Some days it feels like we just moved in, others it feels like we've lived there forever. We are really loving it though... other than some incidents (like tables being caught on fire in our backyard, rocks being thrown at our glass door, and more recently- black spray paint all over our brand new white vinyl fence... fun...)

When we first moved in we got SO much done in a short period of time- we basically painted almost our entire house. We only have the spare bedrooms and dining room left to paint... we've painted all hallways/staircase, master bedroom, master bath, guest bath, half bath, kitchen, living room, loft, and laundry room. Phew! We also put up ceiling fans in all the bedrooms. After all that, we kind of stalled out... Our dining room is basically empty, we have nothing on the walls, and no lighting in our living room, dining room, or upstairs "workout/loft" area. I just recently bought lamps for our nightstands in the bedroom finally- before that we were basically walking around by cell phone light after we turned off the ceiling light. ;)

Yay for bedside lights now!!! hehe

The other day we finally took some time to put a few things up on the wall, just focusing mainly in the living room and kitchen. Now I am not the best interior decorator and I think the reason I put it off for so long is because it stresses me out. I also hate to spend a ton of money on stuff like this so I always end up with things I don't totally love. I'm trying to get better! I need to spend some $ on bigger pieces of artwork, etc. as I usually end up with framed pictures that are too small and look weird. A lot of my things are handed down as well!

David putting up my "Live, Laugh, Love" sign... I do have an obsession with that "mantra" lol

One of the first things I tried to do was put this little lantern I have on top of the cabinets in the kitchen. I realized since they're upgraded and taller than usual, anything up there was kind of hard to see... I decided I was going to put the lantern in the corner, but I couldn't really see what I was doing so as I went to set it down I hear it fall and go "THUD!" Turns out there is a whole in the corner at the top! lol.



Oops... haha!

Then I decided I'd just take cute pictures of my furballs instead. ;)
AWWW aren't they adorable? I'm not sure where I'm going to put this yet- one of my friends gave it to me as a housewarming gift... love it!



Princess is not as amused...

I decided to take another stab at decorating the cabinets. Thoughts? It's so basic but I think with the granite, color on the walls, etc. it looks okay kind of bare?

 Sorry for the flash but here are some things I added under the cabinets...

 So now I need a favor from y'all... I am COMPLETELY STUMPED as to how to decorate my master bathroom. We painted it and I really don't LOVE the color in there, but I really don't feel like doing it all over again. That room was a pain in the butt to paint!

Any suggestions???

Here is the entry into the bathroom with the closets on either side of the entry...

Help me!!! I have no idea what to do, what color towels to have, style/pattern for soap dispensers, etc. I just am not feeling this room at all! Thanks in advance! :)

Army Ten-Miler in DC!

I am registered for the 2011 Army Ten-Miler in DC (October 9th)! I am so excited for so many reasons!

     1.   I <3 DC! It is hands down one of my favorite places in the country! I grew up in Maryland for 8 years and have so many memories of going to the city... mainly for school field trips to the Smithsonian. I just love it! There is so much to do and it's so different from where I live now.

     2.   I am running the race with two of my awesome friends, Lu and Alexis (Lu and I are in the left picture, Lex and I in the right)! I can't wait to run the race with them, and more importantly, hang out and eat lots of yummy food the rest of the weekend! :)

     3.   The distance sounds perfect (not quite a half marathon but still a challenge for me!) and the course map looks AMAZING!!!! It'll be so cool to run past the Jefferson Memorial, down the National Mall, etc. Ahh can't wait! The ONLY bummer about it is they don't allow phones, cameras, etc. so I wont be able to take pictures along the way, but it'll be worth it for sure!

I think it's going to be a great race. I am a little nervous how big it will be though! This race is so popular I had to go on at midnight the night the registration opened to reserve our spots. It opened Sunday, 5/15 at midnight and it closed at 5:20pm on the same day, 5/15! Crazy!!! It was nuts trying to get registered too... the online system was so bogged down. I was so nervous I would get myself registered and then Lu or Alexis wouldn't get registered before it closed and I'd be doing it alone. lol!

I am also considering doing a half-marathon in November (more on that later) so if so, this should be a good distance to do at that time. We will see how my IT Band will hold up with all of this!!!! I haven't been running hardly at all lately and have been focusing on strength training and spin class, so I will have to start incorporating running back in.

I can't wait to share more about my training for this race and pictures afterwards. For now, I will leave you with some of my favorite pictures of DC from my past trips!

 

Have you ever been to DC? What was your favorite place to visit there? (If you haven't gone yet, you HAVE to go!!)