I did eat a piece of sprouted grain bread with PB and jam before my workout but after my workout I had this:

(2 carrots, 2 stalks of celery, and half an apple-I could really taste the celery)

Followed by this:

That’s a Grande Soy Latte in my new reusable Starbucks cup!

I needed the caffeine after my night last night . I couldn’t fall asleep and then when I did, I was up almost every hour.  Then Lucy woke up at 4:30 (which she HARDLY ever does).  I was in the middle of a nightmare and I went right into her thinking it was part of the nightmare (which if I just let her settle, she goes back to sleep and I don’t have to rock her).  She fell back to sleep around 4:45 but I was wide awake.  I got 4, maybe 5 hours of sleep last night 🙁

BUT, I got up and went to spinning.  It was a new instructor and I can tell that she was trained by the same guy that trained me.  She has some kinks to work out but she’s GOOD.  And?  She takes away my desire to start teaching again.  The old Monday teacher made me want to teach again because I didn’t like her style. But teaching spin, in addition to everything else on my plate, is not feasible right now or for a loooooong time.  Plus, you don’t get nearly the workout when you teach as compared to the workout you get when you actually take the class.

Yay for meeting a few of my goals this morning-I also folded last night AND got gas this morning (even though I SO did not want to).  Hooray for the year of 30 (Yo30).

Yesterday was a great last day of my vacation.  I went to brunch with some old friends.

At one time I worked with six of the people in that picture (the rest are significant others).  I now only work with 1 :(. One went to Thailand to teach English and travel and is now in school. Another left to go back to school is speech pathology and starts her new job as a speech therapist any day now, and 3 left to go get that start-up feeling back that we lost once we were bought by the man. I also went to college with five people in that picture.  Man, we’re getting old 😉

Lu was there too:

(Caption: “Who me?”)

And she was SUCH a good girl.  It didn’t hurt that Jesse played with her the entire time.  He is SO hired.  Jesse, we will GLADLY pay for your dinner (and Amanda’s too) anytime you want to come out with us.

She got some very fun pancakes:

And was still hungry for CRAYON:

I tried to get a picture of the blue crayon on her teeth with my P&S.

You can see it if you look really closely.

Alright, I need to face the music and actually look at how many emails I have after being out for almost 2 weeks. *GULP*

But first, did you see my challenge? I invite anyone to join.  No need to pick 30 goals but any goal/s would be fun.  And it’s always better with friends!

How is the first working day of the New Year treating you?

Until later!

My friend Ashley made a GREAT connection on her blog-20+10=30. And then it dawned on me:

• I’m turning 30 this year
• I actually REALLY want to lose 30 pounds this year
• AND I realized that I had a TON more goals after my 10 in 2010 post. 

It’s the year of 30!

Since goals motivate me, I’m going to up my 10 in 2010 to 30 goals.  I’ve created a new 20 + 10 page and I’ll be checking in once a week with my goals.  I don’t have to be perfect but I really do want to achieve these goals.

Here’s the 20!

1. Stop putting myself down.  Treat me like I would want others to treat Lucy.

2. Eat something green every day.

3. Eat 2 servings of fruit every day.

4. Completely cut out dairy except yogurt.

5. Get back on my bike.

6. Do something only for me 1 hour each week.

7. Do something with Shaun that doesn’t include me sitting on the computer and him on the XBox or us watching TV for 1 hour each week.

8. Dress nicely, including putting on make-up, at least 3 times a week.

9. Clean out Lucy’s drawers.

10. Clean out and organize the filing cabinet.

11. Complete Lucy’s birth book.

12. Become a faster walker. If you can speed train for running, you can sure as hell do it for walking.

13. Send out thank you notes in a more timely fashion and to everyone that deserves one.

14. Lose 30 pounds or fit comfortably into my size 4-6 clothing.

15. Save my personal money for a new wardrobe.

16. Be on top of my budget and update Quicken every 2 weeks.

17. Severely limit my computer and phone time when I’m with Lucy.  On weekdays, I should never use them when she’s awake and on weekends, I should use them sparingly when she’s awake.

18. Get the bird out 4 times a week.

19. To appease my husband, never let the gas tank get below 1/2 a tank.

20. Improve on my photography.

For reference, here are the 10 from my 10 in 2010 post:

1. Take time out every day to simply enjoy my daughter.

2. Try not to look too far forward or lament the past.  Enjoy NOW.

3. Drink more water-at least 70 ounces per day.

4. Use my juicer A LOT.

5. Go to the gym more often than not.

6. Eat healthfully-don’t put anything in my mouth that I wouldn’t feed Lucy.

7. Save money.

8. Run to the top of Waterdog Lake Road, while pushing Lucy, without stopping and back.

9. Post at least 365 times in 2010.  I can post 3 times a day or skip a day but I want my average to be 1 post per day.

10. Fold my laundry when it comes out of the dryer.

Anyone else want to join the challenge?  30 things to work on and improve in 2010?  Come on, you know you want to!

I went to Crate and Barrel the other day to pick up some gifts and I found that CUTE bowl (and I only got one!) and I saw THE SPOON that I’ve been hearing about for years.  I decided to try it out.  I think I will use this spoon for what it was intended-appetizers.  It’s too small and too much of the nut butter comes off with the first bites.  I like my big spoon where I can control the distribution =D

It’s been over a week since I made some!

Lu LOVED it today.  She’s hit and miss on oatmeal.  Sometimes she thinks it’s great, other times, not so much.  She ate her portion and some of mine today.

I’m keeping breakfast pretty light because I’m going out for “brunch” today at 11 with a big group of friends-most from college!  I’ll be eating lunch and they’ll all be eating breakfast.

Guess what? I folded laundry when it came out of the dryer yesterday!!!  I never understood when people complained of static cling. Now I do!  We can’t use dryer sheets because we’re so sensitive. My Mom got us these dryer balls a few years back to use instead of dryer sheets.  They’re supposed to make clothes softer but it doesn’t say anything about static cling

We went to the bookstore yesterday and I finally found this:

I ordered a subscription on Amazon months ago and they said it would be up to 10 weeks. They were right! I’m excited to read it.

On my last day of vacation here’s what I have to do:

-Wrap presents
-Visit with friends (Yay!)
-Go grocery shopping
-Finish laundry
-REALLY take down Christmas decorations

Do you have to get back to real life tomorrow?  What’s on your to do list?

Ingredients:

-6 ounces of bacon (6 pieces)
-1 onion, chopped
-10 cloves of garlic, chopped
-1 medium leek, finely chopped-whites and light green part
-2 cups chopped celery, including leaves
-3 carrots, chopped
-48 ounces of chicken broth
-~20 ounces of black eyed peas, soaked overnight
-S+P to taste
-Tabasco for garnish (optional)
-Avocado for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

-Cut up bacon and brown over medium heat (I used my kitchen scissors and the worked perfectly).

-Add onions, garlic, leek, celery, and carrots and sauté until carrots are tender.

-Add broth, turn heat to HIGH and bring to a boil.

-Once broth is boiling, add peas, and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until tender.

-Add S+P to taste.

-Enjoy!

Can’t do without the Tabasco!

I know that avocado doesn’t seem to go, but I had cut up an avocado earlier for Lu’s snack and it was a GOOD avocado (Go Costco!), I added it and it was a nice touch. Parm would be good on this too.

Shaun gave it a 3 and said “This is GREAT!!! <5 second pause> …for soup”.  I loved it.  Lu only liked the carrots.  She kept trying the peas, making a funny face and spitting them out.

Good Luck!

And for an added good luck bonus, I made some chard.

I simply sautéed it in chicken broth and when it was done I added some dark agave nectar (about 1 tsp for an entire bunch of chard) and tossed to coat. YOM.

My friend Bethany is here visiting her grandparents and we got to go out to breakfast without our kiddos this morning.  It was FABULOUS.

We totally milked it for all it was worth and walked around after breakfast-we went to Starbucks and then to Molly Stone’s (kind of like a Whole Foods) to pick up the ingredients for dinner tonight.

A day late, but you won’t tell anyone, right?  I was excited to see that Boar’s Head sells half pounds of bacon. The perfect amount for what I’m making.  I inevitably end up throwing out bacon because I can never get through a package before it goes bad.  Not anymore!

I was also excited to see fresh Black Eyed Peas.  So much easier and faster.

They were on a super sale too.  $1.99 per 11 ounce container. Score!

When I got home, it was evident that Daddy and Lucy had had a good time while Mommy was away.

My parents got Lucy that tunnel for Christmas and she LOVES it.  She actually loves every single toy she got this year.

Speaking of which, I need to go through her toys and give away the stuff that she no longer uses.  Maybe that’ll be my next task?

Back in 2005, when Shaun worked on an hourly help desk (oh how times have changed!), he had to work on New Year’s Eve until 6 PM.  We decided to do dinner in and I found a recipe for cooking shellfish in one pot.  I wrote it out on a piece of paper and can’t find the original anywhere.  I’ve modified it quite a bit since I wrote it out 5 years ago.

We’ve had this every year since then, except for the one year we spent in the Mojave Dessert camping for New Years 2007.  It’s our own little tradition and we love it.

Ingredients:

-2 onions, chopped
-1 head of garlic, chopped
-1 lb or 6 links of chicken sausage
-2 TBSP olive oil
-1 pound new potatoes cut in half (or fourths if they’re large). All the potatoes need to be approximately the same size.
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
-1.5 lb steamer clams
-1 lb mussels
-1 lb FROZEN shrimp 
-2 cups white wine
-Juice of 2 lemons

Instructions:

-Slice sausage into 1 inch thick pieces. Set aside.

-Over medium high heat, sauté onions and garlic for 15 minutes or until caramelized. Stirring frequently.

-Layer, in this order: potatoes, salt and pepper, sausage, clams, mussels, and shrimp.

-Pour in wine and lemon juice.

-Cook 15 minutes on medium.

-Lower heat to low and cook another 15 minutes on low or until potatoes are tender.

-Enjoy!

This serves about 4. It heats up well the next day but after that, I think you’d need to toss it.

…and I say “No way!’”

In that bad boy, 1 apple, 2 carrots, 1 medium beet (with stems/leaves), a few pieces of kale, and half a Meyer lemon.  According to this (what a great resource btw), you should only have beet juice in small quantities and never by itself:

“Never drink beet juice by itself. Beet juice should always be mixed with other vegetables and/or apple juice. Pure beet juice (from the bulb or greens) can temporarily paralyze your vocal chords, make you break out in hives, increase your heart rate, cause chills or a fever.

Beets are best used in small amounts. I never use more than 1 to 2 ounces of beet juice (approximately ½ a small beet or ¼ a large beet).

Use moderately. Both the roots and greens are powerful cleansers of the body. Beets are said to really cleanse the blood and kidneys and this is why it is suggested you use beets moderately.

Beets (including beet greens) are high in oxalic acid and therefore should be avoided by those who suffer from or are at risk for kidney stones, gout, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis and those whose stomach is easily irritated…

…Since beets are high in oxalic acid, you should also avoid combining beets with other vegetables that are high in calcium, such as broccoli. Oxalic acid combines with calcium to create an indigestible compound. You should also avoid eating calcium rich food immediately after eating or juicing beets or any food high in oxalic acid. This includes foods like tofu.”

I’m glad I looked that up!  Check out the layers right after I juiced it:

I love the foamy stuff at the end of the juicing process:

It was good.  I think the addition of the greens and the kale made it more “green” tasting and I think that the lemon REALLY helps make the green taste more palatable for me.  I like the green taste but the lemon makes me like it a lot more.

I really wonder how many calories are in a glass of juice like this?  I also wonder if it’s okay for me to juice the night before and drink it in the morning?  I don’t think I’ll be able to do this in the morning before work regularly but I could do it the night before.

HAPPY NEW YEAR by the way!!!! As I mentioned yesterday, we celebrated at home.

I made our traditional shellfish in a pot-I’ve been doing this since New Year’s 2005. (I’ll post the recipe later today).

His:

Hers:

Our desserts:

Chocolate cake for me:

Tiramisu for Shaun:

I fell asleep at 11:30. Opps. I also drank too much Veuve Clicquot.  Double oops.

We LOVE Veuve Clicquot.  It was the champagne that we were drinking when Shaun proposed to me.  We try to get it on special occasions and when we can find it for a reasonable price.  We went to Costco yesterday and they had it for $34. SOLD!  I made out at Costco yesterday.

Apples and Meyer lemons-I never would buy their produce before because it would go bad.  Now that I’m juicing it won’t.  I know that it’s not local, but I did buy organic so I’m okay with it. 

Big ‘ol bag of carrots!

CUTIES!

We went to Costco because Shaun’s 3+ year old XBox died us 2 nights ago.  He used that thing almost every night to play XBox Live with his brothers and friends on the East Coast and we use it to watch DVDs and Netflix.  This was an EMERGENCY and we really didn’t want to spend $330 to get a new one.  I suggested taking it back to Costco to see what they would do.  They TOOK IT BACK.  And gave us a FULL REFUND for what I paid for it in 2006-$550!!!  It had an 20 GB hard drive and we were able to get a 120 GB hard drive XBox for $330!!!  Shaun got 2 games as well and he’s giving the additional $150 to me so that I can get a toy. SCORE!

What should I get?

When Angela posted about her 9 in 2009 and then her 10 in 2010, she inspired me to do the same. 

Sometimes I do New Year’s Resolutions and sometimes I don’t. 

In 2002, I resolved to lose weight.  I went from 200 pounds to 135 by December 2002.

In 2005, I resolved to complete a triathlon. In August, 2005, I completed my first Olympic distance tri.

In 2006, I resolved to  bike 100 miles.  In June of 2006, I completed my first century bike ride.

In 2007, I resolved to finish an Ironman. I did that in June 2007.

My resolutions serve me well-I really like them and stick to them.

So, here goes.  Here’s my 10 in 2010:

1. Take time out every day to simply enjoy my daughter.

2. Try not to look too far forward or lament the past.  Enjoy NOW.

3. Drink more water-at least 70 ounces per day.

4. Use my juicer A LOT.

5. Go to the gym more often than not.

6. Eat healthfully-don’t put anything in my mouth that I wouldn’t feed Lucy.

7. Save money.

8. Run to the top of Waterdog Lake Road, while pushing Lucy, without stopping and back.

9. Post at least 365 times in 2010.  I can post 3 times a day or skip a day but I want my average to be 1 post per day.

10. Fold my laundry when it comes out of the dryer.

I think these are do-able.  The one that scares me the most is number 10!!!!

In honor of Cousin Tessa’s red hair, I made carrot apple juice today!

(I really only had carrots and apples since we’ve been away).  I put 4 carrots and 2 apples in this puppy:

Lu got some too.

We had the same breakfast. Toast with almond and pumpkin butter and our carrot apple juice.

She’s making her grocery list too!

Shaun humored me and tried some.

And then gave it back with the comment, “It’s okay.  It’s not as bad as I thought it would be.”

Lu slept for OVER 14 hours STRAIGHT last night!  She was very tired from our trip. I hope she’s all caught up.  Daddy and she have been playing Legos all morning.

She even helped clean them up-this kid LOVES cleaning up-seriously.  I hope it sticks!

We sang the clean-up song while she put them in the box and then on her own volition she did this.

She needed a little help to get the container up on the shelf.

Now she’s making her to do list for the day:

Here’s mine:

-Finish Unpacking 🙁
-Take down decorations
-Go grocery shopping
-Mail something that needs to be post marked today (I’ll get a years subscription of Bon Apetit!
-Go to the mall
-Cook our traditional seafood feast for New Years

We’re just hanging out here for New Years.  What are you doing?