WWU: 14

Saturday, 4/20 - 30 min elliptical followed by shoulder work (424)

Sunday, 4/21 - Leg workout followed by 10 mins on lazy man bike (389)

Monday, 4/22 - No workout

Tuesday, 4/23 - 30 min elliptical

Wednesday, 4/24 - 30 min elliptical (all 3 treadmills were broken) followed by planks, biceps and reverse crunches (458)

Thursday, 4/25 - No workout...but I did start the 300 Squat Challenge with some co-workers...so Day 1 was 50 squats...I followed that up with 50 stability ball catches with my feet...schedule at the bottom of this post.

Friday, 4/26 - 20 min elliptical, 60 squats, 60 stb.ball catches with feet, 1.5 min plank and shoulder work (359)

Saturday, 4/27 - 20 mins of sprints, 10 mins walking and 70 squats with 70 stb. ball catches with feet (474)...learned a very important lesson this day to never workout on a completely empty stomach...you will feel light headed and queasy...no bueno

Sunday, 4/28 - No workout...80 squats

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
				25-Apr	26-Apr	27-Apr
				Day 1	Day 2	Day 3
				50	60	70
28-Apr	29-Apr	30-Apr	1-May	2-May	3-May	4-May
Day 4	Day 5	Day 6	Day 7	Day 8	Day 9	Day 10
80	REST	90	100	110	120	REST
5-May	6-May	7-May	8-May	9-May	10-May	11-May
Day 11	Day 12	Day 13	Day 14	Day 15	Day 16	Day 17
135	145	155	165	REST	180	190
12-May	13-May	14-May	15-May	16-May	17-May	18-May
Day 18	Day 19	Day 20	Day 21	Day 22	Day 23	Day 24
200	210	REST	220	230	240	250
19-May	20-May	21-May	22-May	23-May	24-May	Congrats!
Day 25	Day 26	Day 27	Day 28	Day 29	Day 30	you just did
REST	260	270	280	290	300	4400 Squats!

April Meal: Hawaiian Chicken with Habenero Pineapple Topping

I made marinated chicken for the first time the other night and absolutely loved it! I used Kroger brand Hawaiian marinade and let the chicken sit in it for 30 mins. It smelled amazing while it was baking and tasted great when it came out. BUT I kept thinking this would be even better with some spicy pineapple topping! So to the internet I went to look for a non-complicated habenero pineapple topping and I found one.

I found this recipe from Alton Brown and even though his is to top off your ice cream, I decided it would be best on chicken...ha ha.

I changed it slightly and used 1 can of pineapple chunks and 1 habenero pepper (chopped), but omitted the mint. I also didn't need to make an ice cream shell so I didn't bother with that stuff either.

I combined the pineapple with it's juice and the chopped pepper in a small sauce pan and let it boil for about 5 mins then simmer for another 5.

I loved the flavors, but next time I might add another pepper, some brown sugar to thicken it and use crushed pineapple instead of chunks.

Oh do you see that green stuff on my plate?!?! It's Erica's Meemaw's collard greens! They are delicious!!!!!

Rick Trevino at The Old Trading Post

After finding out Friday we did not win the "lottery" to meet Uncle Si from Duck Dynasty at the Texas Crawfish Festival Saturday, we decided to make the shorter trip out to Booth, TX Saturday night to see Rick Trevino perform at the Old Trading Post. The performance took place outside on a small stage with wooden picnic tables spread out around the yard...I say yard because it really did feel like someones backyard. There was an open area towards the front of the stage where you could get your two steppin' on, but we did not participate in that...ha ha. Overall, we had a good time and would go back again.

I should also mention that this was the first time I've been out past 1 am in a very very long time...ha ha...I even had my very first Whataburger taquito on the way home...ha ha. Needless to say I slept until about 12:30 pm the next day...ha ha.

the "backyard"... I really liked the lights that they had...they were nice and colorful, but I like the pic in b&w the best

The Andrew Wade Band opened for Rick Trevino and were pretty good.

Rick Trevino

The stupid purple lighting made it hard to get a good picture...he was singing She Can't Say I Didn't Cry

By the end of the night it had become quite chilly and a jacket was definitely needed...

WWU: 13

Friday, 4/12 - 30 mins of 30 second sprints followed by 4 mins of plank work (517 calories burned) the plank work that I've been doing has been one min elbow plank on bosu ball, 30 seconds side dips then hold the other 30 seconds, repeat on other side, and another elbow plank on bosu ball.

Saturday, 4/13 - No workout

Sunday, 4/14 - No workout

Monday, 4/15 - No workout...or does spending all night in the kitchen cooking count????

Tuesday, 4/16 - 30 min elliptcal resistance 7 incline 12 (315 calories burned) I wanted to do a lighter workout since I had been tired all day (and had just woken up from an hour nap) and was full of crawfish. Eventhough I didn't burn as many calories, my HRM said that 45% of that was fat calories...meaning I kept it in my optimal heart rate zone for the majority of the time.

Wednesday, 4/17 - No workout

Thursday, 4/18 - 30 mins of 30 second sprints followed by 4 mins of plank work (539 calories burned) I went to my mom's gym with her and it's amazing how much better running feels on a good treadmill. I was able to do 7 mins of sprints on a speed of 8!

Friday, 4/19 - 45 mins stride machine (470 calories burned)

Fruity Croissant Puff

That picture up there doesn't do this casserole justice. If you like the texture of bread pudding and if you like fruit, then you'll like this dish! I stole this recipe from Erica, but made a few little changes.

Ingredients

5 large croissants ripped into chunks
1 six ounce container of fresh blueberries
1/2 of a small container of  fresh blackberries
10 medium sized fresh strawberries cut into halves
1 eight ounce pkg 1/3 less fat cream cheese
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup 2% milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Spread ripped up croissants into a 9x13 baking dish. Place fruit on top of croissants.

In a bowl, cream together the cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla using electric beaters. Once completely mixed, slowly beat in the milk. Pour milk mixture evenly over the croissants and fruit.

blurry I know...please forgive me :)

Let sit for 20 minutes before baking. Bake for 35 mins. Enjoy!

I cut mine into 8 pieces and loved it so much I ate 2 pieces! Shame on me, but what can I say it was a great brunch! haha...it was brunch because I didn't eat until noon...ha ha. I think this would also be really good with peaches...mmmmm.

Larry the Cable Guy with Bill Engvall and Jeff Foxworthy

Yesterday Barrett, his brother and I drove all the way to Beaumont, TX to see Larry the Cable Guy perform. It was a long drive, but definitely worth the miles...ha ha. My cheeks hurt so bad from laughing for 2 hours straight! I've been a fan of the Blue Collar Comedy for a while now and a few years ago my Dad and I went to see Ron White aka Tater Salad perform, but this was my first time seeing Larry and the guys live. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Kayla Conn opened. She is 15 and from Houston. They said she has opened for Scotty McCreery before and just cut her first album in Nashville that will be released Tuesday. Honestly, she was just ok for me. I might check out the iTunes version of her songs because one that she wrote, Memory for 2, sounded like it could be good. On another note...I thought her camo pants were really cute...ha ha.

Bill Engvall. He was my favorite of the night!!! His material was all new (or at least I hadn't heard it before) and had me laughing from the start. Most of it was about getting older, which kind of does sound like it's gonna suck...ha ha.

Jeff Foxworthy. (sorry for the blurry pic...he was too washed out to get a good one) His first joke was about a family wedding that was BYOLC...bring your own lawn chair. I had heard the story before, but it still had me laughing. Oh the things he claims his family does...ha ha.

Larry the Cable Guy...I believe this was when he was saying Git R Done...ha ha



Laughing at his own jokes. He had a mix of old and new material. His jokes come at you really fast which make them even funnier at times... ha ha.  

All the guys plus the announcer guy...can't remember his name...but he was pretty funny too!

Acting out

I believe this was part of the "I believe..." section

WWU: 11 & 12

3/30 & 3/31 - No workout

Monday, 4/1 - Goddess Workout 3 rounds (378 calories burned)

Tuesday, 4/2 - Friday, 4/5 - No workout

I honestly don't know what happened to me...Tuesday, I was busy making meatloaf and thin mint truffles and waiting for the rain to come that I didn't make it to the gym. Wednesday, right after I got home from work I left to go out to the Dosey Doe Music Cafe. Thursday, I had every intention of working out, I even had my clothes on, but fell asleep until 8:30 pm!!! Friday, spent the morning cleaning before my aunt got there, worked on stuff for her all day (including a delicious lunch at 3 Olives) then after she left I still had brownie pops to dip so by then I was ready for dinner. So let's try this again...seeing as how my mom told me to keep up the workouts because we will be climbing 329 steps at a 14 degree angle to the top of the leaning tower soon!!

Saturday, 4/6 - 65 min elliptical while watching MI: Ghost Protocol...65 min breakdown: 30 mins resistance 7 incline 10, 20 mins resistance 7 incline 14, 10 mins resistance 8 incline 10, 5 min cool down

Sunday, 4/7 - No workout...day of my aunt's party. While I didn't do a specific workout, I still felt like I did something. I had to move furniture for her and worked up quite a swear doing it.

Monday, 4/8 - 30 min elliptical resistance 7 incline 12 followed by 2 chest exercises, 1 triceps exercise and 1 ab exercise

Tuesday, 4/9 - 20 min elliptical resistance 8 incline 12 followed by 1 round of 20 surrender squats (10 each leg)...I wanted to keep doing more shoulder work, but my knees were already getting carpet burn from the squats and with my hand hurting I couldn't do lateral raises or grip the pulley machine. In case you are wondering what surrender squats are...you step back into a lunge, gently place your knee on the floor, bring your other leg down so both knees are on the floor, then step up with the first leg that touched the floor and then back to a full standing position all while your arms raised over your head holding weights.

Wednesday, 4/10 - No workout

Thursday, 4/11 - 30 min stride machine followed by 4 mins of plank work (387 calories burned)

To the Left, To the Left

Now that we all have Beyonce stuck in our heads...I'll get on with it...ha ha. I've never thought of myself as injury prone (that is my brother's role in the fam), but just in the past few weeks I've had three different issues...and all on the left side!!! Tell me how does that happen??? So I got to thinkin' about injuries I've had throughout the years and wouldn't you know they are all on the left. Let's make a list shall we...

Back in the day...

1. Left ankle sprain x3...a massage therapist asked me about this one time because she saw my feet were shaped a little different and that my ankle had been compromised
2. Left big toe nail...was not pretty...couldn't wear anything but flip flops for a week
3. Left shoulder had tendinitis...learned how to dance one armed until it was showtime
4. Left (pretty sure) elbow out of socket...my dad saved me from running in front of a car
5. Threw out my left arm from carrying all my Halloween candy one year
6. Left knee would hurt all the time due to a weak left hip
7. 4 scars on my left knee, 2 on top of each other from tripping more than once while playing basketball in the driveway
8. Laid on a hot curling iron with my left arm...happy thanksgiving to me!

Present day...

1. Did too many bicep curls and wasn't able to use my left arm for a few days
2. Did something to cause pain in my left palm...radiating from the heel of my hand up along my thumb
3. Huge charlie horse in my left quad just last night! Now it hurts to cross my legs ha ha.

I'm not saying I don't ever injure my right side because I find random bruises and scratches every where all the time...I think I even do some of that in my sleep...but I find it interesting most of the big things happened on the left.

Is anyone else like this...do you have a side that is injured more than the other????

It's a Puppy Paw-ty!

One of my Aunts is involved in a foster program for Italian Greyhounds (IGs or Iggys). Back in January she started fostering a female IG named Chloe and then had what they call a foster failure. She fell in love with Chloe and decided to adopt her! Once everything was official, she wanted to have a welcome home/get to know you party. She had met a few other foster people from the group before, but was interested in meeting more and actually being able to have a conversation with them. Opposed to everyone being at a dinner and only being able to talk to the people right next to you.

Here's where I come in... After the baby shower I threw a month ago, she enlisted my help with this party. She had requested brownie pops, a banner and a diaper cake made of puppy pee pee pads...ha ha. After discussing a few things, I was also in charge of making dog treats (like I did for Christmas 2 years ago) and the invitation. Here's how everything turned out...

Created in publisher again!

29 pennants!!! That's quite a lot of cutting...luckily it went by fast.

Used 56 puppy pads...they came pre-folded so I only had to fold one more time then roll just like I would for a diaper cake. The top is a dog bone cookie cutter...ha ha

In the back, you can see the doggy bags that we made. They are filled with the dog treats I made (sorry no pic) and greenies. Also, check out all the gifts the new girl got...lucky girl!

And here we have the brownie pops...these little suckers did not want to work with me. I originally had 25 balls and during the dipping process they kept breaking apart or falling off the stick (which didn't happen last time) so I only ended up with 19 which was still plenty, but still...frustration station.

Just Another Wednesday Night at the Dosey Doe

Last night Barrett, his two friends and I drove an hour in the rain to the Dosey Doe Music Cafe to see country musician John Wolfe play an acoustic set. I was a little skeptical at first because A. I had never been to this place and B. I had never listened to one of his songs. However, the show was awesome!

John Wolfe is a great musician and his stories are funny and down to earth. The music cafe was bigger than I was expecting and you actually got to sit and enjoy the show! Oh and it was smoke free...bonus! He was able to play his entire album and then some. After the show, he was over to the side with his mom selling merchandise, signing autographs and taking pictures...you bet I got a picture with him especially since we were both wearing jean shirts! ha ha.

If you want to check him out for yourself, he will be at the Firehouse Saloon this Saturday night!

Hotel Translyvania, Here Comes The Boom, Wanderlust and The Paperboy

3 out of the 4 movies listed above Barrett and I watched together...can you guess which one he didn't want to watch??? ha ha. Anyways...after each movie he would sum up his review via a hashtag phrase. It was hilarious! What's even funnier is that neither of us actually tweet. We both have twitter (the only reason I have it is for pinterest), but we never use it. So in the spirit of his hashtags, I thought I would sum up these movies like a tweet...ha ha.

{source}

Monsters are funny and just as overprotective as us #i'mnottoooldtowatch

{source}

Way better than I thought! Had me laughing the whole time! #hilarious

 

{source}

What a train wreck, but yet I kept watching #neveragain

 

{source}

Um, wtc??? If I didn't like John Cusack before, I really don't like him now #grossboringandawful

Opening Day/Night 2013

Until my Dad texted me Thursday morning, I thought I was going to miss opening day two years in a row...sad face. Cut to noon Thursday and I had two shiny tickets to the game in my hand!! Woo Hoo! To make the game even better...JJ Watt threw out the first pitch and we kicked some Rangers butt! Ohhhh yeah! Hope you enjoy the pics..

Couldn't get the Opening Day sign on the grass bc the guy in front of me kept getting in my way...grrr

JJ Watt on the way to the mound

He chunked it! 73 mph

Oh hey there JJ! Look at that eye contact ;)

I honestly can't remember the last time there were this many people at a game! Sad but true

Beat the Rangers 8-2!!!!