Green Smoothies

So...I am more and more into fitness and nutrition. I am making progress with my goal to become a runner (Went 3.5 miles a few times in the past week and a half!) I have always enjoyed fruits and veggies, but I knew I was not getting them as often as I should. In comes the "green smoothie" fad. I say "fad" because I have been noticing it everywhere all of a sudden. I decided to give it a try to see if it would kick my after the baby weight loss into action.
I went to the store and bought any fruit and green veggie that looked appealing. Spinach, Collard Greens, Green Chard, Kale. I had things in my cart that I had never tasted, let alone purchased, but at least I wasn't going to try and find ways to cook it all. Throw it all in the blender...easy as that.
There are purist out there that only put greens/veggies in these smoothies. I am not one of them. The fruit adds it's own nutrients and it makes them taste great!
I have been making a whole blender full every morning. I drink a full glass with every meal and whenever I feel hungry I drink some smoothie before snacking on anything else. I have also been more consistent with making sure there is at least one fruit and one veggie at every meal...for everyone in the fam. They taste pretty darn good! I keep quoting the latest "Kid History" (episode 6) " I know it is green, but what else is about it?"
I am starting on week two of this new way of doing things. The biggest change I have noticed so far is that I have significantly less cravings. I don't super want dessert or anything "junk foodish". I have lost about 3 lbs and I'm feeling very good. Baby Savvy even likes my smoothies. When ever I turn on the blender she gets all excited and wants to taste my drink :0) Here is what I made this morning:

• 2 large oranges peeled
• 3/4 cup coconut milk (decided to try this on a whim...yum!)
• 1 handful frozen strawberries (from our own garden no less)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp agave nectar
• 2 cups Spinach

Updates

Over the past month or so I have been considering all the things I should blog about. Because I couldn't decide which one thing to do...I did nothing. So now I will touch on all the things I should have.

Utah-
At the end of July we went to Utah for hubby to interview for positions as an OB-GYN. It was a really busy week. He met with at least one group (sometimes more) every day. Some were an obvious "no", but others were harder to decide about. We left with two top places in mind...One in Layton and one in Riverton/West Jordan. 
We visited with family, went swimming at the hotel, met with friends, ate at many of the places that we have missed since moving to Iowa, went to the Utah Children's Museum. All that, and we celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary the day before we left town! Our date the night of our anniversary was to go see "Harry Potter".

Running-
I did a little bit of running while we were in Utah...not much though. When we got home I did a little recovering and signed up for my 2nd 5K. I recently had a personal best distance of 3.5 miles whilst running to show tunes! I considered blogging about that. It was so awesome being out in the cool "fallish" weather and listening to tunes that truly "trip my trigger"...I was practically giddy while running 3.5 miles...crazy.

Fall-
The weather has finally changed! I look forward to it all year. When the sweltering, sticky- humid, days slowly give way to a slight chill in the air at night. Then the noisy cicadas stop humming. The school year starts and we start planning Halloween costumes. When I can go running and not feel like I am drowning, both in humid air and sweat. Cool, crisp, sweater weather. Apple orchard weather. Pumpkin weather. It makes me happy.

Kids-
The school year has begun. Pooka-shell is in 2nd grade and looking so much more like a young lady than she did last year. Bubba-do is in kindergarten. He is loving it and I am missing him being home. Savvy is almost 7 months old. She can sit up, and roll over and is eating solid food.

The job contract is signed! We decided which place was best for us. We prayed about it and attended the Temple in Nauvoo to pray some more. It seemed like the decision was so easy. It all went so smoothly. After all this hard work and waiting... all the smoothness made it seem almost anti-climactic. We are thrilled and thankful. In 9 months we will be back home...done with residency. I can hardly believe it. That means this is our last winter in Iowa. Not sad about that...but it is also our last Thanksgiving here, and our last Christmas, and our last Halloween. Our last New Years, Easter, etc. There are many things I will miss about Iowa....I should blog about that.

The first day of School

This year was a big one. Bubba-do started Kindergarten and Pooka-shell went to 2nd grade! It was exciting for both of them to get ready, pack their backpacks, lay out their clothes etc. The best part was that hubby got to be there with us on the first day. Our bubba looks so small, but so ready to take on kindergarten. Our pooka looks so beautiful...she has grown so much since last year. Us parents shed a few tears as we waved goodbye, but the kids were all smiles. Now it is just me and Savvy at home during the day, kinda strange and quiet. Any hoo... Here's to a great school year!

5k Number two

Have you ever heard of Swisher Iowa? Neither had I until recently. I decided I needed to do another 5k to keep myself in the groove with running. A friend who does races almost every summer weekend suggested this race. Swisher is about 15 minutes from where we live, so I decided to go for it. The kiddos were excited to do the kids fun run 400 meter dash. They were awesome. So far, every time I race, I am reminded just how slowly I run. I am truly a beginner. I think that I tend to forget that I am so new to this...and that I had a baby 5 months ago..and expect my running to be awesome...it is not awesome. The awesome thing is that I can finish a 5k. I need to keep reminding myself of that. My goal was to just do better than the last time (one month ago), and I did. I came in at 36:42...about one minute faster than my first race. I can totally do this :0)...next race 35:00

Miracles and Tender Mercies

Many months ago I posted about the stressful phone calls we have been enduring as we tried to work with the Bank of America to modify our mortgage. This torture has been going on for over a year. They "lost" our information at least three times and made us re-apply each time. As we tried to work things out, late fees etc. kept adding up. A huge chunk of change.

As of July it was looking very possible that we could lose our home. So crazy. We have always paid on time and lived within our means as much as we could. Medical school and residency interviews left us up to our ears in unavoidable debt. Then it seems like The Lord decided we had learned what we needed to from this particular awfulness, and the Miracles began....

We had been fasting , praying and talking to our bishop to get some guidance. On what seemed like a whim, I clicked on a link from our Credit Union to see if they could save us some money on one of our credit card balances. That didn't pan out, but when they checked our credit they noticed it had fallen dramatically because of the mortgage situation. I asked if they could do anything to change our home equity loan. We were referred to a great guy named Matt. I believe he really went to bat for us. Being a local company and knowing what a resident's financial picture looks like was very important. Miracle.

Then while working with a great branch manager (Sandy) at the Credit Union we were told they could re-do our home equity loan if our house appraised for a set amount. In the midst of all this we had some excitement as hubby was being invited to go back home to Utah (all expenses paid thankfully) to interview for positions as an OB-GYN. We were all invited to go with him and were hoping so much that the financial crisis could be settled before we left...so we could actually enjoy the trip. The appraisal was done in record time. Even though the appraisal came in at 5,000 less than what they had said it needed to...the awesome Credit Union decided to re-do the loan anyway. We got this great news the day before we left on our trip. Miracle.

We can now make our payments, stay in our home for this final year, and walk as if a 50 pound weight has been removed from our shoulders. The Lord is merciful. A Prophet of God has counseled us to avoid debt. The only large debt that is considered reasonable is for our education and an affordable home. How true this is. Even though our debts are for reasonable things...I believe we needed this lesson engraved on our hearts to make us better stewards of the blessings we have and will have in the future.

The trip was wonderful. Saw our family and friends that we have missed so much. Hubby met a lot of good people and we think we know where he is going to end up working. The future is bright and Our Heavenly Father knows our needs. Miracle.

Super hero birthday

For weeks I was gathering ideas for Bubba-do's 5th birthday. This was the first time we had done the whole deal with party games and favors etc. He decided that the theme should be super heros. Now I don't like to be super literal when it comes to themed things, so here is what I came up with. Hubby assumed the character of "Evil Dr. Gynostein" (I know...he and the kids actually came up with the name..hilarious) First he dropped bombs (black balloons) that they had to destroy (pop). Then he scattered kryptonite that they had to pick up with tongs and drop in a "safe box" at the other side of a simple obstacle course. Finally, after I revealed the evil doctor's only weakness (silly string) They attacked him with their own cans of the stuff! After each game they earned one part of their super hero costume: Wrist band, mask, and cape. They loved having a cosutme. The masks were bought as is, the wrist bands were those slap on bracelets that I covered in gold glittery foam paper, and the capes were just black fabric with a star sewed on the back. It all turned out so cute! After the games we just had cake and opened presents...simple...fun...fairly easy. Bubba-do just beamed when his big present rolled out...his first big boy bike. He just said "Thanks Daddy!"

Happy birthday buddy. You are now 5 and kindergarten is just around the corner. You are one of the most generous, caring, clever people I have ever encountered. A real super hero.

My first 5K

Ok...I did it. One week ago I actually ran a 5K. To many of my very fit friends (I have more than a few) this sounds like easy peasy...not for me.

If you have read anything from me lately, you know that I have always hated running and have recently become a convert to it. I signed up for this race to motivate me to keep going. I gave birth to our third child 4 months ago and I'd really like my regular size body back.

When I got to the race and picked up my t-shirt I realized that because I signed up soon after having a baby, I had over estimated my shirt size. I gladly exchanged the large for a medium :0)

I felt ready for this race. I had run this course at least once before and it seemed fairly pleasant. It started just blocks from my house...went through some shady parts of a neighborhood..over the I-80 bridge...down a pretty long hill..through a park.. down a tunnel under I-80..up a steep but shortish hill...with a flat road toward the finish. Well, that is what I thought. When the race started I realized I had practiced the route backwards...yep. All those down hills were now up and the shade didn't come until the end.

I had no delusions of winning any prizes for my speed, I just wanted to finish. The heat that morning was stifling...and the humidity...near 100%. I dug in and finished in a respectable 37 minutes. I felt proud of myself and I will proudly wear the t-shirt...but next race I do will have fewer hills......much fewer :0)