Today is my two week anniversary with 24-hour fitness and I love every minute. My trainer is fabulous. We'll be lifting weights and he'll ask me how it's going. I'm actually honest with him and if it's too light I tell him and he gives me more weights. The other day we were doing bicep curls and shoulder presses. The first time we did them I rotated from a 10lb to 12.5lb free weight. This time there weren't any 12.5lb weights so he gave me a 15lb. He said he bet that I could go higher if I didn't know what the weight was. I think that's true. I tend to psyche myself out the higher the weight because I'm so unfit. We did leg presses and I started out at a 5 (funky weight system). He told me I needed to go higher (mostly because I moved the weights with just one leg).
I need to work a lot on my cardio. Right now I'm sticking with the bike and treadmill. I spend most of my time on the bike and then finish up with the treadmill. I tried my luck on the elliptical and failed after 5 minutes. I need to work myself up on that one. Matt thinks it's funny to threaten me with the stairmaster. I work with Matt Tuesdays and Thursday. I'm supposed to do cardio MWF and then he'll give me a work out to do by myself on Saturdays. I thought the twice a week would work best because it would lengthen the time I have with him. It's been going really well. I WANT to go to the gym. The other day I got back from my session and I wanted to go back to the gym. It's crazy. I'm becoming a gym rat. Last night I played volleyball and then went to the gym and did my full cardio. I was going kind of easy at the beginning (what I thought was actually a good pace) and then Matt (my PT) told me I needed to have my heart rate around 140 for good cardio. That was just extra work for me to do last night, but I did it. I'm feeling so good. Last night, before I went to bed, I was actually excited to do triceps pressess/curls and lunges. I hope the madness doesn't stop.
September 22, 2011
September 17, 2011
Investments
I've made a huge investment. Not on some up and coming new company. None of this trading cds for stock depending on the nasdq and s&p (I'm pretty impressed I know all those terms). I just bought a bunch of sessions with a personal trainer. He has practically killed me the last week working with him, but I really feel good, even in this short time. I definitely feel like this is a good decision for me. It cost more than my first car and I don't have any buyer's remorse. I'm going to be sore. I'm going to want to to quit, but I need to do it for me. I'm turning 30 next week. I don't want to be overweight and unhealthy the rest of my life. Nothing that I have done in the past has worked. I was never this committed. I'm going to have to keep reminding myself. I'm going to be working with him twice a week for the 4 months. I'm super excited. Here's to the next 30 healthy years.
September 3, 2011
cheese balls
Football season is upon us. My family happens to be serious BYU fans. This means we all gather at the grandparents to watch the games together. This first game against Ol' Miss was actually quite boring until the 2nd half. But the best thing about going to watch is that I get to make something to take along!
I saw this recipe on one of our favorite cooking blogs the-girl-who-ate-everything.com. It is delicious. I served it with apples and graham crackers.
Peanut Butter "Cheese Ball"
from my friend Jenni; adapted from Nestle
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (not all-natural)
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
3/4 cup peanut butter chips
Graham cracker sticks, teddy grahams, and/or apple slices for dipping
Directions:
Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until blended.
Spoon onto a large piece of plastic wrap; bring up all four corners and twist tightly forming into a ball shape.
Freeze for 1 hour 30 minutes or until firm enough to keep its shape. Place peanut butter and chocolate chips in flat dish. Remove plastic wrap from ball and roll ball into morsels to completely cover, pressing morsels into the ball if necessary.
Place ball on serving dish; cover and freeze for 2 hours or until almost firm. (Can be made ahead. If frozen overnight, thaw at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before serving.) Serve with graham cracker sticks, teddy grahams, or apple slices for
Another new cheese ball that I tried yesterday for a work party and made again for the football game is a Feta Cheese Ball. We paired it with crackers at work, but someone made a comment that it would go well as a veggie dip too, so I brought veggies tonight. My sister and I both think that it would be great on sandwiches, pitas especially (from Allrecipes.com)
Feta Cheese Ball (makes 2)
Ingredients
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
4 tablespoons olive oil
5 green onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 teaspoons dried dill weed
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
Directions
In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, feta cheese, olive oil, green onions and garlic. Season with dill, oregano and pepper. Mix well, and form into 2 balls. Cover, and chill for 2 hours.
Can you believe it? I didn't take any pictures!
I saw this recipe on one of our favorite cooking blogs the-girl-who-ate-everything.com. It is delicious. I served it with apples and graham crackers.
Peanut Butter "Cheese Ball"
from my friend Jenni; adapted from Nestle
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (not all-natural)
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
3/4 cup peanut butter chips
Graham cracker sticks, teddy grahams, and/or apple slices for dipping
Directions:
Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until blended.
Spoon onto a large piece of plastic wrap; bring up all four corners and twist tightly forming into a ball shape.
Freeze for 1 hour 30 minutes or until firm enough to keep its shape. Place peanut butter and chocolate chips in flat dish. Remove plastic wrap from ball and roll ball into morsels to completely cover, pressing morsels into the ball if necessary.
Place ball on serving dish; cover and freeze for 2 hours or until almost firm. (Can be made ahead. If frozen overnight, thaw at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before serving.) Serve with graham cracker sticks, teddy grahams, or apple slices for
Another new cheese ball that I tried yesterday for a work party and made again for the football game is a Feta Cheese Ball. We paired it with crackers at work, but someone made a comment that it would go well as a veggie dip too, so I brought veggies tonight. My sister and I both think that it would be great on sandwiches, pitas especially (from Allrecipes.com)
Feta Cheese Ball (makes 2)
Ingredients
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
4 tablespoons olive oil
5 green onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 teaspoons dried dill weed
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
Directions
In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, feta cheese, olive oil, green onions and garlic. Season with dill, oregano and pepper. Mix well, and form into 2 balls. Cover, and chill for 2 hours.
Can you believe it? I didn't take any pictures!
August 3, 2011
Final thoughts for today.. speaking of..
I'll make these short and sweet since I kind of went into blog overload today.
A dear dear friend of mine asked me to be one of her bridesmaids. I'm so super excited and honored to have been asked. I am turning 30 in a few weeks and have not once been a bridesmaid. I don't know if that's a record somewhere, but pretty random if you ask me. Can't wait to start planning!
Speaking of turning 30 I can't decide what I want to do. My first thought was going to vegas and seeing phantom, my second idea was this huge party with drinks (non-alc), a buffet of appetizers, and some good tunes. Unfortunately, I do not have a sugar daddy and I don't think either of these will fit my current budget. Maybe I'll have to scale back a bit. I was thinking of just getting myself a fancy hotel room and lounging around all day. I do know that it will involve dinner (I'm thinking Macaroni Grill this year) with the sisters and at least cake and ice cream somewhere with a large quantity of personages.
Speaking of sisters.. Janelle (my older, wiser, more beautiful sister) and Katelyn (my youngest, wiser, more beautiful sister) are on their way out RIGHT THIS MINUTE form Maryland to start school this fall (Janelle Grad school and Katelyn Sophmore year, both at BYU) This makes 4/6 of us Gordon Girls here in Utah.
Speaking of school.. I got accepted into UVU's Culinary Arts program. It's a two year program. I have mostly all of the prereqs covered, due to my 7 years of schooling there. I'm signed up to take two courses this fall and then it's on to the actual cooking courses in January. There's a slight hiccup with financial aid, again, due to my 7 years of previous schooling, but I'm hoping to get that sorted out this week.
Finally.. Speaking of this week.. I'm heading down to St. George tomorrow morning for our department planning meeting. I'm not sure how much planning we're going to be doing, or how much I'm looking forward to it. But I am looking forward to staying at a spa, in my own ultra-cushy king bed with a jet tub. all by myself. oh yeah and we're going to see grease.. and I'm getting reimbursed a large chunk of money for gas/travelling expenses and everything else is on the company's dime (minus spa treatments)
That's it. You should feel like you've known me forever. I'm a comment junkie. It makes me feel loved.
side note - I just hit publish post and it gave me an error. I may have had a slight panic attack thinking that this whole thing got lost. Thank you Blogger for saving it as I typed.
A dear dear friend of mine asked me to be one of her bridesmaids. I'm so super excited and honored to have been asked. I am turning 30 in a few weeks and have not once been a bridesmaid. I don't know if that's a record somewhere, but pretty random if you ask me. Can't wait to start planning!
Speaking of turning 30 I can't decide what I want to do. My first thought was going to vegas and seeing phantom, my second idea was this huge party with drinks (non-alc), a buffet of appetizers, and some good tunes. Unfortunately, I do not have a sugar daddy and I don't think either of these will fit my current budget. Maybe I'll have to scale back a bit. I was thinking of just getting myself a fancy hotel room and lounging around all day. I do know that it will involve dinner (I'm thinking Macaroni Grill this year) with the sisters and at least cake and ice cream somewhere with a large quantity of personages.
Speaking of sisters.. Janelle (my older, wiser, more beautiful sister) and Katelyn (my youngest, wiser, more beautiful sister) are on their way out RIGHT THIS MINUTE form Maryland to start school this fall (Janelle Grad school and Katelyn Sophmore year, both at BYU) This makes 4/6 of us Gordon Girls here in Utah.
Speaking of school.. I got accepted into UVU's Culinary Arts program. It's a two year program. I have mostly all of the prereqs covered, due to my 7 years of schooling there. I'm signed up to take two courses this fall and then it's on to the actual cooking courses in January. There's a slight hiccup with financial aid, again, due to my 7 years of previous schooling, but I'm hoping to get that sorted out this week.
Finally.. Speaking of this week.. I'm heading down to St. George tomorrow morning for our department planning meeting. I'm not sure how much planning we're going to be doing, or how much I'm looking forward to it. But I am looking forward to staying at a spa, in my own ultra-cushy king bed with a jet tub. all by myself. oh yeah and we're going to see grease.. and I'm getting reimbursed a large chunk of money for gas/travelling expenses and everything else is on the company's dime (minus spa treatments)
That's it. You should feel like you've known me forever. I'm a comment junkie. It makes me feel loved.
side note - I just hit publish post and it gave me an error. I may have had a slight panic attack thinking that this whole thing got lost. Thank you Blogger for saving it as I typed.
speaking of dessert
See's Chocolates has a recipe portion on their website. Of course each recipe calls for one of their products (not actual recipes for their divine chocolates). I make have drooled just a bit..
you should probably check it out..
http://www.sees.com/index.cfm/about_us/recipes/extra_dark_molten_mocha_dessert
and to give you an incentive to do just that:
Extra Dark Molten Mocha Dessert
•3 See's Extra Dark Chocolate Bars
•1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
•1/2 tsp Instant Coffee Crystals
•1 cup powdered sugar
•2 whole eggs
•2 egg yolks
•6 T flour
•Whipped Topping or Whipped Cream
1.Preheat oven to 425°. Grease 4 ramekins* (3/4 cup size). Reserve one square of chocolate for chocolate shavings.
2.In microwave proof dish combine butter and broken up candy bars. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in coffee crystals.
3.Stir in powdered sugar until well blended. With wire whisk whip in eggs and egg yolks. When well blended, stir in flour. Pour batter into greased ramekins.
4.Bake 12-14 minutes. Make sure sides are firm but centers are slightly soft. Let stand 1 minute. Unmold onto serving plate and top with whipped topping. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings. Serves 4. Enjoy!
*May also be baked in paper lined muffin tin. Pour batter evenly among 10 paper lined muffin cups. Bake at 425° for 8-10 minutes until sides are firm but centers are soft. Let stand 1 minute. Serve Immediately.
Heck I might even make these if anyone comments.
you should probably check it out..
http://www.sees.com/index.cfm/about_us/recipes/extra_dark_molten_mocha_dessert
and to give you an incentive to do just that:
Extra Dark Molten Mocha Dessert
•3 See's Extra Dark Chocolate Bars
•1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
•1/2 tsp Instant Coffee Crystals
•1 cup powdered sugar
•2 whole eggs
•2 egg yolks
•6 T flour
•Whipped Topping or Whipped Cream
1.Preheat oven to 425°. Grease 4 ramekins* (3/4 cup size). Reserve one square of chocolate for chocolate shavings.
2.In microwave proof dish combine butter and broken up candy bars. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in coffee crystals.
3.Stir in powdered sugar until well blended. With wire whisk whip in eggs and egg yolks. When well blended, stir in flour. Pour batter into greased ramekins.
4.Bake 12-14 minutes. Make sure sides are firm but centers are slightly soft. Let stand 1 minute. Unmold onto serving plate and top with whipped topping. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings. Serves 4. Enjoy!
*May also be baked in paper lined muffin tin. Pour batter evenly among 10 paper lined muffin cups. Bake at 425° for 8-10 minutes until sides are firm but centers are soft. Let stand 1 minute. Serve Immediately.
Heck I might even make these if anyone comments.
Random though part 2 - eating dessert first
I had cake (from the retirement party, see below) before I ate my lunch today. It was okay cake.. but I wanted/needed something sweet after I ate my luch. Such a dilemma. So I kind of waited a bit and then hit up the startbursts. I have decided that in the future I should only eat half of my dessert first and then finish it after I eat my meal.. or just have two desserts.
(definitely not the cake I had at lunch, but a possibility of cake that I could have in the future)
(definitely not the cake I had at lunch, but a possibility of cake that I could have in the future)
Random thoughts
I decided that it would be better to post here then to update my status on facebook every 30 minutes.. cause work is SO busy today (consider that sarcasm font)
We had a retirement party this afternoon for one of our secuity guards. That's two things that probably shouldn't be in the same sentence (security guard and retirement). Actually, if I saw any of our security guards in street clothes I would never guess that they're security guards. Now I'm not saying that I'm super athletic and could out run them, heaven knows that, but part of me thinks that security guards should be in good health/shape. Maybe they're "intelligence security guards" (I doubt it). Maybe I should start running stairs.
Current Security Guard (not exactly)
What would get me to work on time (and probably make me feel a little safer)
We had a retirement party this afternoon for one of our secuity guards. That's two things that probably shouldn't be in the same sentence (security guard and retirement). Actually, if I saw any of our security guards in street clothes I would never guess that they're security guards. Now I'm not saying that I'm super athletic and could out run them, heaven knows that, but part of me thinks that security guards should be in good health/shape. Maybe they're "intelligence security guards" (I doubt it). Maybe I should start running stairs.
Current Security Guard (not exactly)
What would get me to work on time (and probably make me feel a little safer)
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