My Zoo!

So for those of you who don't know, I have 3 furbabies (1 cat and 2 dogs). As much as I complain about them sometimes, they are my WORLD and I love them like they are truly my children. They are my best friends!

I have a cat named Starla who is about 11 years old. I adopted her through Petsmart- they work with local cat and dog rescues/humane societies. Poor thing had been given up by her family... I just cannot imagine ever doing this! She is the sweetest cat and snuggles with me every single night (she is the only furbaby allowed on the bed... unfair, I know lol). Sometimes I feel really bad because I don't talk about her as much because she is just such a GOOD girl there is never anything bad to say like there always is with my dogs.  haha.

Then I have Princess. She is about 5 years old and a husky border collie mix (we think). We adopted her from the Jr. Humane Society in Pensacola, FL. She really is a wonderful dog. She was already housetrained and knew basic commands when we adopted her. She never has potty accidents. Her biggest vice is getting into the trash... if you leave any type of trash out, she will destroy. Chocolate is another weakness of hers- she once ate around 100 hershey kisses....

Here is Princess (or Princey, Prince, Princey Wincey, Princey Poo Poo Face.. etc. lol) on the day we adopted her. I was SO excited. When I was growing up we didn't have any pets. I have always been an animal person and would BEG and BEG for a dog every year for my birthday, Christmas, you name it! I remember crying when we would walk through the pet aisle because I wanted a pet so bad. So once my husband and I lived in an apartment where we could have a dog I adopted my first dog!

Here is a more recent picture of Princess. She seems to be bigger and even cuter now, and has really come into her own!

Then there is Paisley... our most recent addition. She has certainly kept our lives interesting! We adopted her from Florida Little Dog Rescue. They are an AMAZING organization here in Central Florida that has saved 940 dogs since June 2009. They are a non-profit group who rescues dogs from animal control, backyard breeders, etc. and gives them a second chance at life. They place the dogs with foster parents to work with them until familes adopt them. You can donate on their web-site to help save a dog from death row and give them a second chance!

Paisley is about 1 year old and is a poodle bichon mix (again, we think). She was not fully housebroken when we adopted her and we are still working with her on it, but she has gotten MUCH better. She is definitely very mischevious and will get into something she's not supposed to if you're not watching her for a second! However, she is such a sweetie and loves to snuggle and give you kisses. Her and Princess play like CRAZY and tear apart the house (and now lawn!!!).

Here is Paisley after she was rescued from death row- she was soooo matted. She had to be shaved down (see picture on the right) and that's how she looked when I first adopted her.

                              

Here she is now with me, so much fluffier and cute!

And all 3 of them together... Starla is a lazer kitty!

Obviously I could go on and on about my babies.

However, the reason I wanted to post about them is because they have been causing so much mischief lately in the new house! This is definitely something I will have to get used to and they will need to adjust to as well. This morning Princess ran smack into the screen door and it pulled up from the bottom- not sure if it's ripped or if I can fix it easily... we'll see when I get home. They have both also discovered toads that have been coming into our backyard. I really believe Paisley just wants to play with them and doesn't quite realize when she steps on them with her paw, it squishes them. She seems confused when they don't move anymore. Oops. :( They both have taken to digging too which is extremely frustrating and then they come in with wet, dirty paws and track it all over our brand new carpet! I also discovered a yellow patch in my grass this morning that I can only assume is from them doing their business out there. Grr.

Even with all the frustrations though, I know that my life would not be the same without them. I love them all so much! They (usually) brighten my day and always make me laugh.

For those of you with pets out there- any advice for a new homeowner on keeping my home clean? Tips/tricks for having a nice yard? How do you keep yourself from getting stressed out when accidents happen?

Spin Class- Sounds Easy Right?

For any of you who have never been to a Spin/Cycle class... it probably doesn't sound that bad right? Just having fun, pushing pedals for an hour or so- nothing to it right? HA! So not true!

I found spin class during my undergradate at my school gym. I still remember the first time I went- during the warm up song I'm thinking "oh this is fun!" and after about 5 minutes I wanted to cry and walk out. I didn't understand why ANYONE would willingly come to spin class, let alone continue to come back week after week! Even more difficult for me to comprehend were the crazies who would do the 5:30 spin class and THEN do the 6:30 pilates class after. Little did I know I would soon become one of those "crazies!"

Spin class to me is one of those classes that gets better everytime you go. During that first class I basically thought I was going to pass out and die the whole time (ok maybe that's a little dramatic), and afterwards I wasn't able to sit without discomfort for probably close to a week. After that FIRST class though I really came to enjoy and love the class. Now I find even if I go for months or even years, I don't have the horribly painful feeling "below" like I did that first time or as much soreness. I actually find if I go a long time without spin class I REALLY miss it! I find it such a great workout. Nothing is quite like it, and it fits in well with a lot of my training plans I have done for running races as a good cross training activity.

So since graduating with my Master of Education in College Student Personnel Administration in December of 2009, I have been sadly without a real gym. I had the gym at my apartment complex before we bought our home, but it just had a few rundown treadmills, 2 ellipticals, a few weight machines, etc. It wasn't bad but it didn't have what I really wanted... fitness classes... specifically... SPIN CLASS!

For the past few months I have been researching gyms and trying to determine if I really thought it was worth the price. Do I really need a gym? I can run for free outside, why should I spend money on a membership? What about contracts? What if I just buy a treadmill? The questions go on and on... However I decided to do some research and find out pricing so I could get back to fitness classes!

Throughout my research I kept coming back to LA Fitness. One of my coworkers joined and she had great things to say about it and the price seemed right up my alley. My friend Jen mentioned she had been interested in joining a gym as well, so she agreed to go with me to check it out and see how we liked it. Well turns out there was a spin class being offered right at the time we were planning on going! Perfect!

Wow. Lets just say spinning was even HARDER than I remembered. During the class I got increasingly worried that Jen was never going to speak to me again after I forced encouraged her to take the class with me. I have to say that I am very proud of her though- she made it through the class with flying colors! She didn't look nearly as bad as I'm sure I looked during my first spin class! This is the same friend that ran her first 5K ever with me last month (see picture). She's had a great year so far- Go Jen! I felt completely exhausted after the class was over, but in a good way. A way that reminded me of how great it felt to push my body in that way, that in my opinion, is so different than running. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE running, but I have also always loved having diverse workouts and not doing the same thing over and over. This was just the change I needed from what I have been doing lately!

I am excited to say I do plan to join the gym and am looking forward to a LOT more spin classes (as well as yoga, pilates, kickboxing, etc) in the future! Now if only I can convince the hubby to come to spin class with me too... ;)

Healthy breakfast... at McDonalds?

OK so the title may be a little misleading. I'm not trying to say that a breakfast (or any meal at McDonalds for that matter) is super healthy or good for you. However I do believe in a little junk food- all in moderation. ;)

That being said, I tried the new Fruit & Maple Oatmeal this morning when I was in a pinch for breakfast. I am normally a creature of habit for breakfast and wont feel right unless I start my morning with a big bowl of the Publix brand version of honey bunches of oats with skim milk. I forgot I had ran out of cereal and was running late to work this morning.

I remembered hearing a lot about this new oatmeal at McDonalds and decided to give it a try since there is a McDonalds right next to my new home (not a good idea...)

I have to say, I really liked it! It was light but still filled me up, which I was worried it wouldn't. From the McDonald's web-site, several nutrition facts web-sites, AND the back of the container (which I appreciate!) they claims that it contains 100% natural whole-grain oats, brown sugar, a "touch of cream," (their words, not mine) diced fresh apples, dried cranberries and two kinds of raisins (regular and golden). You can also get the oatmeal withOUT the brown sugar (which is what I did) which lowers the sugar count from 32 grams (eek!) to 18 grams. Still high but considering it has a LOT of apples, raisins and dried cranberries in there, I didn't think it was TOO bad. It also lowers the calories from 290 to 260 for the cup (40 calories from fat) and lowers carbs from 57 grams to 48.

So while I wouldn't call this necessarily a super healthy breakfast, I think it'd be a good last minute grab for breakfast on the go in a hurry. Definitely better than opting for the Sausage, Egg and Cheese McGridle (not that I've ever eaten one of those or anything...whistle.... lol) coming to 560 calories (290 of those from fat). It also boasts 1110 mg of sodium... yuck!

So I'm curious to hear- what are your thoughts on somewhat healthy meals at fast food places? Do you think there is such a thing? What are some of your go to meals to grab in a hurry? Do you think I'm totally crazy in thinking this meal is somewhat decent? :)

And lastly... I'll leave you with a picture of my backyard this morning... the sky looked really neat with all the rain we've been getting so I had to get a picture of it!

I'm Back!

So for any of my followers if I still have any.... lol... all I can say is I'm sorry I haven't posted in FOREVER, but I am back!

I hope to give my blog a fresh new start (there will probably be a lot of changes in design, templates, etc. in the next few days/weeks) and get back to posting regularly!

Be on the lookout for lots of stories on my healthy living activities (of course running!), as well as the adventures of David and I as HOMEOWNERS now (scary!)!!!

For now, I will leave you with a picture of David in front of our new home!

Too long!

It has been too long since I have posted! I promised myself I'd stay with it this time. haha.

Lets see... what has been going on since I last posted.

Job is going great!! I'm loving it.

David and I are really enjoying our passes to SeaWorld! We go pretty frequently, and were so sad to here about the trainer who passed away. We remember seeing her during the shows, and it really felt like we somehow knew her! We went to the Shamu Show yesterday (Believe) which they are doing "Dry" showings of (no trainers in the water with the animals) and it was amazing... the trainers were still so positive and had so much energy, and the animals seemed to be in good spirits. They did a memorial for Dawn which was very nice.

I got to take my little cousin Gabriel to SeaWorld for a belated birthday present the weekend before last, which was really fun.

Other updates... we got a new TV! We had saved gift cards for the past year to get the TV David has been dying for... and we got a 50 inch Samsung plasma TV and a new stand for it to go on as well. We are loving it! I watched Planet Earth last night in HD and it was fabulous!!! I have all of the Planet Earth shows now set to record on my dvr. LOL.

We've also checked out some new places to eat like Pom Pom's (for yummy sandwiches). It was a while ago though. I need to get better about posting regularly so I can remember the details.

Other news... I cooked TWICE this weekend! For anyone who knows me, they know this is a big deal. It was definitely with David's help. haha. I'm normally much more of a go out to eat, or $5 hot n ready little ceasars pizza kinda girl, but I'm trying to get back to eating healthier and trying to save some $... although the cost of ingredients for things always gets me! So I look for recipes that don't have quite as much fancy stuff. haha.

Saturday night I made baked chicken (OK that may not sound like a big deal to most haha) and we made sweet potato "fries" with them. You cut up a sweet potatoe into fry sizes and then toss with olive oil, garlic and rosemary and bake in the oven for a yummier, healthier version of regular sweet potato fries. YUM!

Then yesterday I made taco rice in the crockpot and put it all in early in the morning, so it was nice and ready for us when we got back from SeaWorld! I used ground beef, taco and ranch seasoning packets, kidney beans, corn, diced tomatoes, tomatos and chilis, sliced carrots, and a little bit of 2% cheese on top! It was really good and filling for soup, and there is a lot left for dinner tonight and lunches.

In other health notes... I have been having issues with my knee to keep me from running. This is EXTREMELY frustrating. It's probably been about a month now! I believe it is the IT band syndrome. I will start off running and it'll feel great and I'll think it's finally better (my knee doesn't just hurt generally at all, I wouldn't even know anything is wrong), and then BAM right at about .67 of a mile EVERY time it hurts out of nowhere. I cannot run through it, it hurts too bad. Once I walk it almost instantly goes away, but as soon as a try to run again after that, it hurts. I've been doing some strenghening exercises that are supposed to help, and have been doing the elliptical, power walking, dvd workouts to cross train. Hopefully I can get back out there soon, as it's making me a not so happy camper!

Well, I think that's all for now. Sorry for the lack of pictures! I will try to update soon WITH pictures. :)

Loving Life!

Well I've been at my new job for 1 week and a day, and I love it! I am just so exciting every morning to go to work (which is saying something considering I have to get up around 5am! that's really early for me! lol). The campus is just beautiful and I'm just continuously blown away by the campus. Did you know that University of Central Florida is the third largest college in the NATION? AND it was only founded in I believe 1963, so it's very young for a university! Just a little tid bit for ya. ;)

Friday was my official orientation through HR and so now I'm having the fun decision of choosing health insurance options, retirement package, etc. Soooo much to choose from my mind is just spinning. Pension or investment plan?? HMO or PPO? hmm!

Well last weekend Melissa (sister in law), Cliff (brother in law, david's brother) and Kiley (our niece!) came to visit us, and we had lots of fun hanging out, playing mini golf, and eating! lol. We are looking forward to another visit from them this coming weekend.

This weekend I've enjoyed being totally lazy and just hanging around, doing laundry, watching, tv, etc. Last night David and I went to eat at Tony Romas (we had a buy one get one free coupon, yay!) and then rented the new Night at the Museaum from Redbox... we really liked it! I loved seeing DC in the movie and am now already trying to plan my next trip back!

I did manage to do a longer run this morning, 6.5 miles or so... longest one I've done since the half and it was harder than it should be lol. My knees and hips are hurting, makes me feel like an old lady.

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, I've been staying pretty busy! I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. :)

Food and Running- my 2 fav things!

haha well running is a love/hate relationship... but for the most part the title is true. :)

I have gotten David to start back up with running and I really hope it sticks! It's so nice to have a running buddy and do something that doesn't cost us anything, and is so good for us! We went out for a run yesterday (I did 5 miles, David did about 2.5) and the weather was so nice and beautiful, david did great! He's having problems with his foot going numb so we need to figure out what's going on with that.

More importantly on the topic of FOOD... lol... we've realized there are a LOT of great places to eat here!!! Not just chain restaurants (although there are plenty of those too) but lots of really neat places that you can't find many other places than Orlando. We decided that we want to try and take pictures and do little reviews of places we eat at in Orlando for this blog, just for fun! :)

Sunday we went and explored Downtown Orlando. We went first to Lake Eola park to check out this farmers market we had heard about... it wasn't that amazing but still fun to walk around.

Afer that we just walked around for like an hour and worked up an appetite! We had no plans on where to eat for lunch but knew we wanted to eat someplace new to us downtown. We walked to the theater which is a cool new theater, the ones where you can order food and they bring it to you while you're watching. Well there are a couple places to eat right next to the theater in the Plaza and we settled on Urban Flats (http://www.urbanflats.net/). It's not a huge fancy place, but a nice little sit down casual but modern feel to it.

They obviously had lots of flat breads on the menu, and sandwiches and salads. I decided to go with the housemade meatball flatwich made with their homemade meatballs in a sandwich of garlic toast and "urban sauce." It came with a side salad called their "urban salad" which had greens, golden raisins, sunflower seeds, goat cheese (I LOVE goat cheese!), and honey white balsamic vinegrette (I'm looking at the website now, NO I didn't memorize that! lol). Let me just say it was AMAZING!!! The best meatball sub I have ever had... the ingredients tasted very fresh and it was cheesy but not overly greasy.

David had the urban 'butter' burger made with angus beef and mushroom rub, with house made blue cheese butter and pancetta, with a side of twice baked red bliss potatoes. I had a bite of David's burger and I thought it was great, and he really enjoyed it as well! I think he liked my dish better though.

Afterwards we got to talking with our server, and he explained to us that they started in Orlando and only have a few branches. They buy their produce from local farmers and bake everything in a stone hearth oven. Everything is fresh in their restaurants, they use 100% whole wheat in their flatbreads, and they are always changing the menu based on the produce and items that are most in season and fresh at that time.

Needless to say, we were very impressed and definitely plan to eat there again!! A+ Urban Flats!

Also, unrelated to the food, but as we were talking with our server we were mentioning how we had just recently moved there and talked about where from.. well it turns out he used to live in Ft.Walton Beach, FL, and his mom helped open up Navarre High School (where David and I graduated!). Talk about a small world!

We're also excited because Cliff and Melissa are coming to visit this weekend, I'm sure we'll have to check out another yummy place to eat. :)

Lastly... I start work on Friday! Yay! I'm so excited to get to know everyone and get settled into my new job.