Exercise High

I want to simply say that I Love Exercise!  I have been trying really hard ever since last August to go to the gym 5 days a week.  I've been very successful with it actually.  Sure, things happen where I end up only being able to go 3 or 4 days because of school or work or whatever else, but hey, I am still going strong and it has been amazing!   

About 2 weeks ago I made a Serious Accomplishment!

Here is my story.....  Every day I go to the gym I either spend 30 minutes on the elliptical, stationary bike or I run before I start lifting.  Lately I have just been wanting to run around the track more than anything else because it just sounds much better than the Frustrating/Annoying/I-Can't-Handle-This-Stationary-Exercise-Crap-Anymore Elliptical..... and running is a better work out anyway (At least I think so. Maybe it's not. I don't know, ha ha:] ).  Any who, 2 weeks ago after class Mark and I went over to the gym at the University and I started running around the track.  When I run I go at least 3 miles and I am usually way tired at the end.  I got to about 2 miles and felt awesome!  As 3 miles was only a lap or two away I decided to go to 4, then 5!  At that specific track it is 7.5 laps=1 mile. So after 5 miles I kept thinking, "Well, you can do seven and a half more laps!"  

In conclusion, I ended up running 7 MILES!

Wow! I was shocked.  I had never done that before in my life, so I was extremely proud of myself!

I was exhausted afterward so I didn't lift, but instead went to Mark's house and we studied and just relaxed. I haven't had that running "high" again since then(I've just stuck with my 3 recently), but I want to do it again soon! 

Next?......

More pictures of meals I've had.  You can't say you're surprised!

Fajitas Mark and I made for lunch—So good!

This guacamole Mark made was SO FREAKIN GOOD! 

I believe it was the same day I ran my 7 miles, I came home and for dinner I made a HUGE delicious salad with awesome toppings!

Oranges  Apples  Pineapples  Spinach  Bananas  Red Peppers  Yellow Peppers  Orange Peppers

Finally, a few days later I went to Costco with my dad and we got a Broccoli Salad they had packaged up including the sauce.  It was as easy as making cereal.  Throw the stuff in a bowl, add the sauce, and mix.  You're done. It really was so good!  

For dinner I had a Salmon Burger with that broccoli salad!

I would also like to say that the No Sweets Until My Birthday Vow is going great!  Obviously I still crave chocolate and peanut butter (oh how I miss my PB), but Mark and I are still doing fantastically and eating quite healthy!  We have yet to give in!  :D  It is getting easier as time goes by, for sure. Maybe I'll get to the point where I don't want sweets as much as I usually do.  I hope so!

Hope you all have an amazing week!  

Comedy....and Food [of course]

A few weeks ago, my Aunt Jennifer, Dad, Ryan and I  all went to go see Jim Gaffigan live!   Ever heard of him?  If not, all you need to do is go to YouTube and type in "hot pockets". You'll understand how awesome he is soon enough.  Ryan, Dad and myself had seen him once before a few years ago and this show was just as good!  He had new material and also threw in some of the old favorites, like Hot Pockets of course.   Good stuff!   Before the show the four of us went to Mark Street Broiler for dinner and it was delightful!  

Our Beverages

My virgin Piña Colada!   I LOVE them so much!

This one in particular was amazing! Probably the best I've had, actually.

Aunt Jennifer's martini for which I do not recall the name

Dad's Blueberry Martini.  Check out the little blueberries!

I would have shown you guys Ryan's drink, but it was just Dr. Pepper (or Coke, I don't remember).  

We all know what that looks like. 

Appetizer

Obviously it would be their amazing Clam Chowder!

Entrées

My Teriyaki, with pineapple, Mahi with potatoes and green beans!

Dad's weird stew thing. It has clams and/or muscles and whatever else that stuff is. 

Looks nasty, but kinda cool too.

Of course Ryan, who isn't into seafood, got a bacon burger there. 

A bacon burger people! Really?? Ha!

I will say, it does look really good though

After an amazing dinner, we headed to the show and all had a great time

Now, LAST week, I was lucky enough to get another does of comedy.

For Christmas, my grandma and grandpa were kind enough to give me two tickets to go see Brian Regan!  He is hilarious, so I was psyched to see him live!  I didn't take any pictures, but Mark and I had a lot of fun at the show! We walked to the Dick's Sporting Goods after the show so Mark could get his new sweatshirt.  During that process we got distracted by the Jazz game that was playing on their TV, so we had to stay and watch a little.  The game was getting intense and only had a few minutes left, and they kicked us out!  I'm sure the employees just wanted to go home and were closing up shop, but hey man!, we wanted to finish the game.  We ended up calling Mark's dad to give us a play by play over the phone while we made our way back to the car.  I must say, he did a pretty dang good job as a commentator:]

Randomness

Okay friends, I'll just skip the apology for not posting for awhile and get right to the actual blog post, sound good?

Hope everyone had a great time over the holidays!  I sure did.  Everyone was great and I was so happy to see family and just have a good time.  Thanks everyone for such a great holiday season!
I am only going to briefly mention the holidays because it is January, and I am SO done with them. Although the intentions are good and everyone had a great time, it is so stressful too!  Strange how that happens.

First of all.... I LOVE my Vans.  I got my first pair my sophomore year of high school and they have become one of my favorite pairs of shoes ever!  Sadly over the course of 4 years, they have been through rough times. So Mark got me a new pair for Christmas! I was so excited to have the same shoes that I absolutely love, but just not falling apart! 

Old Pair: LEFT (hole-y and dirty, but still awesome)

New Pair: RIGHT (awesomER, no holes and clean)

Christmas morning my family always has tamales for breakfast!  It has become quite the

 tasty tradition over the years.  We have also learned that putting eggs on top is delicious!!

New sunglasses for Christmas. So cool!

Moving on....

What is a Shannah Blog without food pictures, huh??

I snagged some vanilla yogurt and threw in some blueberries. I love blueberries! This was fantastic!

A spinach, pineapple, cantaloupe and blueberry salad I made!

I would also like to say that I am doing a No Sweets Until My Birthday Vow thing (includes no chocolate, candy, cake, ice cream, peanut butter, cookies, pie, etc.)  I had to throw peanut butter on that list because I love it far too much, it is almost like a dessert for me.

I started this on January 2nd and my birthday is on February 25th.  So about 7.5 weeks without my favorite things!  But it is going really well so far!  Yes, of course I am tempted, but I work through it.  It also helps that Mark is doing it with me. That way I can't cave because then I have to report to him that I failed....which is not an option.    

Oh, and I want to show you a pictures of my nails!  A nail tech at my work wanted to try out a fun version of doing Shellac by adding designs and whatnot. So I told her I would be happy to be the guinea pig.

Kinda cool huh?