It's Friday, I should be happy..

I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer on a Friday afternoon, but I am going through some drama right now and it just makes me sad.

However, I am not going to let it spoil my Halloween weekend. I am excited to spend the weekend with friends and family and have a spooktacular weekend. Hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween!!

Pic from Google Images

30 by 30 Thursday

First and foremost....How 'bout them Giants?!?!? Mr. Pickle was at the game last night with a co-worker (lucky bums) and said the experience was awesome! And what a win for the Giants!! Hoping for another win tonight!

No new updates really. Still running almost every day. I am trying to vary up the runs with different routes and adding some intervals (where I run as fast as possible and then walk for a few seconds). I actually burn the same, if not more, calories when running in intervals. I have heard this to be true, but guess I always figured the constant running was better. Me, stubborn, NO!

I read in a magazine that it is good to have a list of inspiration for the times you are not motivated to get moving/eat healthy.

The following is the start of my list:
- Other people's success stories - I love reading/hearing other's weight loss successes. I find it very motivating to hear how other people overcame their struggles.
- Fitness/Health related magazines - I feel like I am always reading similar articles, but yet I always feel that the constant reminder is inspiring.
- Friendly competition - I am very competitive, even if it is a friendly competition.
- Fitness/Health related blogs - I enjoy reading what others are doing as far as eating and exercise and love some of the tips and or recommendations I read about.
- Friends who are physically active and healthy eaters - They always know where I am coming from and offer advice. Plus, it is good to surround myself with them because I am more motivated to get moving and less likely to fall into temptation.
- Yoga - Something about paying attention to my inner voice for over an hour makes me feel refreshed and on track every week.

More than likely I will add to this list as I think of other things.

What things inspire you?

Weekend Review

I am still recovering from the weekend, hence the Wednesday Weekend Review!!!

Last weekend was our annual Halloween Party...Disturbia in Suburbia. Of course Friday night and all day Saturday was spent preparing for the party and Sunday was spent recovering and cleaning up.

The party started off with a Giants win taking them to the World Series!!! First game is tonight, GOOOOO GIANTS!!!

Then the party really got started. I'll just get to the pictures (warning, there are a lot)!!

Snooki, Amiga & Rainbow Brite

Green Man & Rainbow Brite


Raggedy Anne & Andy

Pilot and Stewardess

Tiger Woods & Elin


Nerds

Robin in da' Hood and Jesus

Walter (from The Big Lebowski) & Rainbow Brite

Rainbow Brite & Pippi Longstocking


Snooki & Pauly D

Happy Camper, Walter and Pauly D

Rainbow Brite, Pippi & Amiga

Pippi & Jack Sparrow

Sheriff, Robin Hood, Snooki, Amiga & Rainbow Brite

Snooki & Dr. Shots

30 by 30 Thursday

Even though I took a break from blogging, I didn't take a break from exercising (minus a few day earlier in the month when I was sick). Still running, doing the 30 Day Shred (not as much as I should be) and taking my Yoga class. Feeling good and more energized, although getting up before it is light out has proven to be quite the challenge lately!!!

Hungry Girl has pointed out that today is Caramel Apple Day. Mmmmmm. What a great way to enjoy the day and the season. I remember making Carmel Apples when I was younger with my family to pass out on Halloween (this was obviously before you had to be cautious about taking food from strangers). The following recipe came via email today (from Hungry Girl) and sounds fabulous!!!

Deconstructed Caramel-icious Candy Apple

PER SERVING (entire recipe): 208 calories, 5.25g fat, 90mg sodium, 43g carbs, 5g fiber, 30.5g sugars, 2g protein -- POINTS® value 4*

Ingredients:
1 apple (they prefer Fuji, but Granny Smith are my fave), cored and thinly sliced
1 tbsp. fat-free or light caramel dip (like the kinds by Marzetti), room temperature
1 1/2 tsp. crushed dry-roasted peanuts
1 tsp. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp. shredded sweetened coconut

Directions:Put apple slices in a bowl. Drizzle with caramel dip. Evenly sprinkle with remaining ingredients. Dig in!

MAKES 1 SERVING

Starbucks, Computers and Cameras...Oh My!

So I have a few things I have been curious about and thought possibly you all could give me your input....pretty please with a cherry on top?

#1.) How do I order a low fat option of my favorite drink at Starbucks?? I get so lost on all the different options. As of now I order a tall non-fat decaf pumpkin spice latte with no whip. This will change over time to an eggnog latte or white mocha but must be decaf or else I will be one jittery chica.

#2.) For all of you out there that are using (or have knowledge in SLR cameras, which is a good option for someone who wants to take better pictures as a hobby. I love taking pictures (runs in the family I suppose), but I am stuck on whether to get a Nikon 3001 or Cannon Rebel XS. Any thoughts, suggestions, reviews???

#3.) I called Comcast to see if I could get our internet bill lower (we only have our internet with Comcast and cannot do a package deal because Mr. Pickle has a certain football package with Dish). I was advised they couldn't just lower my bill, but I could get it cheaper if I switch from 20 Megabites to 1.5 Megabites. I know NOTHING about computers, is this manageable or not at all?? We just use the computer at home for little stuff like looking up crap on google, checking email/FB, etc.

I would love your advice on any or all of these :)

THANK YOU!!

Pics from Google Images

Back in The Game

Sorry for being MIA for the past week or so. I didn't mean to take a break from blogging, but it just turned out that way.

On to my weekend recap for this past weekend. It consisted of lots of family time with the in-laws (this isn't a bad thing since I like my in-laws)!!

Friday night Mr. Pickle and I were SPENT from the work week so we simply went out to dinner and called it a night.

Saturday morning we went to Mr. Pickle's Uncle's wedding. Mr. Pickle's Aunt passed away over 3 years ago, since then his Uncle was able to find love again. We are grateful he is happy, but of course miss his Aunt dearly. Mr. Pickle's sister made it up from LA for the wedding with our cutie pie of a niece!! We loved having them spend the night (and Mr. Pickle's parents) on Saturday night and hanging with them all.

Sunday morning Mr. Pickle got up and made everyone breakfast. After everyone left, Mr. Pickle planted his butt on the couch and watched football all day while I decided to go see Life As We Know It. It was cute. Afterwards, Mr. Pickle and I decided to try out the new 5 Guys Burger place. I honestly thought the fries were great, but like In-n-Out's burgers better!! We came home and snuggled on the couch while watching tv until it was bed time.

How has everyone been??

30 by 30 Thursday

Here is my activity calendar for September!!! Pretty darn good if I do say so myself.

October hasn't been off to that great of a start since I haven't been feeling well. This week I only exercised on Monday and am probably going to go to yoga tonight. Now that working out is a part of my daily routine, it doesn't feel right skipping it. I hope to be back to normal next week.

Why is it that when I am not feeling well healthy food just doesn't sound good. All I want is warm, fattening, comfort food. Not that it makes me feel better, but it just sounds good.

Next week is a new week!

Feeling Blah

A few people around me have been sick over the last few days and last night after work, I started feeling blah. I woke up a few times last night with that sick feeling and today I can feel it coming on in my head.

The next few days will be spent resting as much as possible (including rest from working out), drinking lots of water, taking in a bunch of vitamins and trying to fend off the cold that is trying to take over.

I guess all the anti-bacterial wipes, soaps and gel didn't help this time :(

Weekend Review

I know I had a three day weekend, but it went by just as fast as a regular weekend!!

Friday

Friday morning I slept in a tad (thanks to my dog demanding attention at 7:00). After loving on my pup for a bit and seeing Mr. Pickle off for work, I got my lazy bum out of bed for a morning run and workout sesh with Jillian. Once I was showered I was off to the mall to spend some gift certificates. I have had the worst luck at the mall lately. I get all these catalogs showing cute clothes and when I get there, they are either out of my size or I can't find anything I was looking for!! I did get a few tops and a clutch on sale at Express.

While at the mall Mr. Pickle called and said the cable guy was headed to our house (an hour earlier than he was supposed to). Now that our roommate has moved out, Mr. Pickle is jazzed about making the extra room him man cave. The dogs and I spent the afternoon locked up one of the rooms the cable guy wasn't in and I watched my first show on Hulu (I could get addicted to that site). After the cable guy left, I spent the rest of the afternoon putting out our Halloween decorations!! L-O-V-E Halloween.

Friday night was date night. I met Mr. Pickle at Best Buy to look at new TVs for his man cave and then we went to dinner. We had plans to watch Get Him to the Greek on Friday night, but Mr. Pickle ordered the wrong show time from Pay Per View. We ended up recording it to watch on Saturday night instead, which was probably a good idea being that I feel asleep before 10!

Saturday

I went to my Grandpa's house for a bit. We went out to breakfast and ran some errands before coming back to his house and doing some chores. I love that my grandpa lives close enough that I can see him often and help him out around the house. I always tell him that at his age (88) he deserves to be taken care of.

Saturday afternoon I came back to my house to the Starvin' Marvin BBQ Team doing a practice cook of ribs. They tried out a bunch of different rubs and sauces to see what their plan of attack is for the next competition. I was def a happy camper that I could be a part of the tasting!!

mmmm. ribs.

Since we were watching college football until 8:30ish and Mr. Pickle wasn't feeling too well, we decided to watch the Pay Per View movie on Sunday. Therefore, Mr. Pickle headed to bed early while I relaxed watching TV and playing on the computer.

Sunday

Sunday morning the cable guy came BACK to the house for a few hours to fix a few issues we were having. We watched the Niners game (holy frustrating game) and headed to Dixon to visit our first real pumpkin patch with some friends. You choose from TONS of pumpkins and get to cut it off the vine. We found a pretty good sized pumpkin and two little ones (for our desks) and the other couples with us found some huge ones. With three couple, we had 22 pumpkins and the total was only $40. We had a blast and were going to go to another pumpkin patch so our friend's little kids could go to the petting zoo, but Mr. Pickle wasn't feeling too hot so we went home early.

Yes I will start my day off with a Pumpkin Spice Latte


Look at all the pumpkins!


Our first real pumpkin patch

Sitting on the hay

We found ourselves some keepers

Miss Sassy Pants (she loves posing for pics)

Sisters with their pumpkins

Sunday evening we finally watched Get Him to the Greek. It had it's funny moments, but I was expecting a lot funnier from all the reviews I had heard.

Like I said, even though it was a long weekend, it wasn't long enough!!