I promise there is a waffle under all those blueberries!

First thing, I got to sleep in a little bit this morning because I have nothing to do before my class.  Second, my allergies are killing me!   I find this ironic because I grew up in the middle of a corn field and never had allergies until I moved to Houston.  Thirdly, I had an awesome breakfast.

1 Central Market Organic Whole wheat flax waffle

lots of blueberries heated up until syrupy

AB

honey

1/2 baked cinnamon apple

I piled some of these on after the first picture and then consumed the rest straight from the bowl.

It is also the most beautiful morning out!  On Fridays the traffic mess is delayed a bit, so Trooper and I enjoyed a nice stroll.  The little guy was all frisky in the Spring air.  Needless to say there is no “unmarked” bushes left in Midtown.

Agenda for the day looks something like this:

• strength workout
• class
• CLEAN
• Clean some more (this place is filthy!)
• Lunch
• Run
• Clean
• Grocery shop
• Relax

Tomorrow afternoon the madre arrives, so it will be a busy weekend!  Also, shout out to Cathy who is visiting Htown as we speak!  (Welcome to Texas, you will be called a Yankee)

The blogging may be lacking this weekend, but I will be keeping up on Twitter on the good ol’ blackberry.  If you haven’t already you can follow me by clicking the Follow Me icon to the left!

Happy Friday!  Is is starting to feel like Spring in your neighborhood?

We are finally!  I have even seen sun 2 days in a row now!  This girl would love to lay out at the pool and fix this ghostliness!  The madre said Indiana had good weather yesterday, so I hope my northern bloggers are warming up!

This morning I had the first of my long runs for my next half marathon (the double half Pelican Challenge).  It took me 40 mins of running until my body felt like running.  I probably should have taken another rest day this week, but we cut about 20 minutes of the run instead.  My big toe also really started hurting! I felt like the thing was broken it was in so much pain every time my foot hit the ground.  My husband told me I had turf toe.  I told him only football players get that.  Neither of us know what we are talking about, but I am staying off my feet the rest of the day and hoping it gets better!

Pre-run food was a piece of toast with AB and cinnamon.

This nearly empty jar makes me so sad and so happy at the same time!

The hubby and I then went forth and did 1 hr 22mins for a total of 8.33 miles.  It was slow and I don’t care.  Tomorrow is a 5 mile tempo run, so I wanted the energy.

Let me recap dinner last night:

Greek yogurt, banana, blueberries, tons of cinnamon, and Kashi.

On the side sandwich thin with Laughing Cow and strawberry jam.  The BEST combo ever, if you haven’t tried this- YOU NEED TO!  No joke.

Dinner was fairly small because I mindlessly snacked soooooo much last night.  The hubby wasn’t getting home until late and I just sat in front of the TV and munched.  It was relaxing.  I also watched Lifetime Movie Network for a good couple hours while the hubby was gone.

My snacks are unpictured but I had a few handfuls of tortilla chips, lots of handfuls of Special K cereal (cereal is deadly around me!), 2 of my truffles, and then a late dessert of vanilla frozen yogurt.  Somehow I still managed to wake up hungry this morning so my body must have been hungrier than I thought!

The hubby and I are going to check out a rumored gumbo cookoff and then watch the Boilers!

What are your plans this lovely Saturday?  Lovely because I saw the sun peak its little face out!

Is it just me or is 2010 flying by without me even noticing?  I am one of those people that NEEDS to slow down and smell the roses.  I have actually been pretty angry with myself lately for not enjoying life more.  I use law school as an excuse all the time (and trust me it is a pretty darn good excuse), but law school is NOT my life.  In 20 years my life may have absolutely nothing to do with practicing law and I don’t want to look back wishing I had done all these things or enjoyed where I am right now in life.

That being said, I don’t want to fail out of law school either!  I will straight up admit that I don’t get straight As in law school, which was really hard to accept when I had only gotten 2 B’s my entire life until this point.  But I am glad.  I don’t want my life to be nothing but work, those people aren’t happy, they burn out, and in the field of law there are many horror stories of addictions and falls from grace.

I need to work on my life balance.  These are the things that are important to me (in no particular order):  School, Husband, Dog, Running,  Friends, Developing Life outside of Work/School, blogging.  Right now I wake up, blog quickly, try to hit the gym (usually doesn’t happen), work on reading, go to class, come home, usually get in the workout I missed, and do homework until it is time for bed.  I need to spend more time with my husband and our dog (my little family), I need to spend time being young and going out with friends, enjoying the things that Houston has to offer (even though it isn’t a lot), and I need to find time for myself.  To give you a little glimpse of how long it has been since I have actually done something for myself:  I haven’t had my nails painted in well over  year because I feel I shouldn’t waste time doing that when I have reading to do!

Anyway all my ranting is just me being angry that I don’t have a life or more fun.  I fear that I am wasting my youth (this girl is a young 23) and missing out on life around me.

Do you “stop and smell the roses”?  Do you ever feel like you’re missing out on life?  If not, give me some tips on how I can have more fun and enjoy my time now

Okay, enough ranting.  Food time:

Hump Day’s lunch was yogurt topped with blueberries and Kashi, sandwich thin with Laughing Cow and jam (a little smidge of AB too)!.  Unpictured snacks included some white cheddar rice cakes and an apple.

Dinner was packed up so we could watch the game with fellow Purdue Alum across the street.  I packed a salad and half a tortilla stuffed with hummus and mushrooms

Dessert (unpictured) was hot chocolate with whipped cream and one of my Godiva truffles. I think the hubby has eaten more the my Valentine’s gift than I have- the box is halfway gone!

Workout: Wednesday morning I got up and did 10 mins on treadmill (ouch my leg hurt!) and then 30 minutes of strength moves!  After the hubby got home from work we did a very slow 3.5 mile jog.

Thursday: Woke up, briefed my cases as fast as possible while enjoying this big bowl of cereal:

1 cup Special K Vanilla Almond, 1/2 cup Kashi, blueberries and banana.  So good!  I also sprinkled a little vanilla protein powder on because I think I need to add a little extra with my new training program.  (Soon to debut my training schedule)

I also got to use my lunch gear again!  Makes lunch much better I think:

Excuse the phone photo, didn’t have time to photograph before leaving.  Today included a AB and banana sandwich with a bag of apple slices and side of greek yogurt with blueberries and banana.

While enjoying the wonderful Chobani yogurt I won in a giveaway last week I decided to spread some love and host my first ever giveaway.  But first, oats in a jar.

I filled up about half of this HUGE peanut butter jar with oatmeal then topped with banana, blueberries, Kashi, and cinnamon.

Also started the morning with a delicious vanilla iced coffee.

Now…the giveaway:

KEEN Harvest Collection Beauty Bag (Makeup Bag)

The Harvest Collection is made from recycled bags:  rice bags, retired haul bags, etc.  Who knew recycling could be so cute?

The flip over top closure has weaved recycled bags with hints of fun colors.

This giveaway will be open until Tuesday February 23rd and a random winner will be announced Wednesday February 24th.

To Enter- 3 Ways:

`1. Leave a comment telling me your favorite thing to recycle or reuse.

2. Link to this giveaway on your blog and leave a separate comment letting me know that you did.

3. Follow CardioFoodie on Google Reader/Following program of your choice or let me know if you are already a follower.

Given my school schedule Tuesday/Thursdays I have to pack a lunch and multiple snacks.  Jordan and I traveled outside the loop yesterday to find a Walmart and I bought some pretty cool lunch box gear:

New built in ice lunch holder.  The top also opens to store silver ware.

My lunch was nice and cool without having to pack ice packs.  I had a hummus and mushroom sandwich, with blueberries and carrots dipped in hummus on the side.  Yes, there was a lot of hummus consumed today.  I loved my lunch gear though, and can’t wait to try out the cups with a frozen lid.

Breakfast was boring this morning and consumed on the cold walk to school:

I do enjoy this flavor though.  Zesty, you might say.  My hands were freezing this morning because I discarded my only pair of gloves on the race course Sunday.  It is Houston, and I didn’t expect it to be near freezing!  Spring better hurry its little butt up!

I loved the comments on BBQ joints.  Anyone ever notice how different BBQ is in different parts of the country?

I  like my sauce a little bit sweet with a nice smoky taste.  The hubby and I went to the self-proclaimed BBQ capital of TX and they served their meat with no sauce!  I guess BBQ there meant a slow-smoked process for the meat.  Personally I like the sauce more than any of the meat.

What is your favorite BBQ?  Favorite tastes or region?

Well I woke up this morning feeling like I got hit by a bus.  I did get my butt up, finish my briefs, and make it to an 8:40 am class.  Accomplished.

My breakfast was a Carnation Instant Breakfast-Sugar Free in a to-go cup.

After class I had a nice twenty minute walk home in the wind, rain, and cold.  Is this really Houston?  These temps are annoying!  My entire walk I was Miss Grumpy until I got to my door…

Chobani yogurt!!!  Yay!  I won a giveaway over at Crunches for Cupcakes and my yogurt arrived today.  Nothing like getting some yogurt to brighten your day!

Because my hands were still cold, I decided a big bowl of whipped up banana oatmeal was necessary for lunch:

Yes, this was a good as it looks!

In between sneezes I had a chocolate rice cake for dessert.

Since this girl did Pre Trial homework then crashed last night let me recap dinner:

Leftover Spinach Artichoke Casserole

I had about half the baking dish left of spinach artichoke dip, so I decided to whip up a casserole for the hubby to eat for dinner.

I microwaved dip until warm and then broke it up with a fork

I then topped with some cooked whole wheat penne, 1 chopped chicken sausage, pasta sauce, and covered the whole thing with shredded mozz.  Since the pasta and dip were warm I just put it under the broiler to finish heating and brown cheese.

Wow, this thing came out looking good.  Too bad I had already made myself roasted veggies for dinner.

Baked tofu, roasted butternut, mushrooms with balsamic dressing, and carrots.  Everything was delicious!

And then the snacking began.  I have been in serious snack mood this week.  I ended up eating way too much-like need to put on sweatpants.  I think my body must have known I was about to get sick and needed some extra energy for today.  I won’t go thru all the snackage, but I must mention my frozen yogurt bowl:

Lots of fro-yo, blueberries, butterscotch chips, and agave.  Yummy!

One of my classes was canceled today so I am about to take a nap!

Don’t you wish you were still partying in New Orleans right now?  I know that I sure do.  But…this girl has Admin Law bright and early, so it is back to Monday reality for me!

But first…lets live in the winning moment one more time:

The hubby in his Drew Brees jersey, myself in my Mrs. Brees shirt.  SOOOOO happy for the Saints.  Also happy that Drew Brees is representing Purdue!  And yes, I really am that short!

My eats yesterday were just ridiculous!  But running for two hours gave me a lot of burned calories to make up for.

At the two parties we stopped at I munched on the following:

• roasted chickpeas
• cracker and cheese ball (probably like half a dozen at least)
• chips and spinach dip
• cupcake (made with applesauce, none of the boys even knew!)

I came home for the last quarter of the game to relax and keep Trooper company.  I made myself a huge yogurt bowl.

Sorry the weird lighting in some of these photos, I was playing around with settings on my camera.  This bowl had pumpkin yogurt (greek yogurt + pumpkin+spice), apple chunks, blueberries, Kashi Honey Almond Flax cereal!  So good!  And I was actually full after this bowl, but the game got nerve racking so I snacked away anxiety!

About a whole bag (luckily the small size bag) of pretzel nibblers was consumed and then 1/2 cup frozen yogurt with blueberries on top!  With my belly uncomfortably full the Saints intercepted the ball and ran it for a touchdown.

By this time the hubby had joined us and we were jumping up and down while Trooper stared at us in disbelief.

Onto Monday morning- I didn’t sleep well last night, maybe too excited still?  I just got up at 5:30 instead of laying there awake.  I have intervals on the schedule but my legs were still a bit achy.  I hit the bike for 5 minutes and then did strength!  Woo!  I did a whole 25 minutes of weights, crunches, squats!  I was proud of myself.

Breakfast was lovely berry oatmeal.

1/4 cup oats

1/8 cup oat bran

1-1 1/2 tsp flax

1 cup water

blueberries

almond butter

strawberry jam

Kashi

Now it is time to hit the books again…Boo!

Do you like Peanut Butter? Who doesn’t!  Head over to Une Vie Saine to check out her great PB & Co. giveaway!

How was everyone’s Super Bowl?  Any good eats or recipes you came across?