Saturday, April 30, 2011

MS Walk 2011

Today Eric and I joined a friend of mine at the MS Walk in Salt Lake City. Her mom has MS and we wanted to help raise money and awareness, so we joined the effort.
The weather was actually pretty good...a little cold, but that's how our springtime is. As we ended the walk and were headed for the car, the snow hit. Later the sun shined, so it was a typical spring day.

Here are some of the pictures from the day.







Friday, April 29, 2011

Friday Night Videos

Looking forward to this movie, for sure!!

Scary!! I think I would have flipped out:

In a few weeks, Eric and I will join another 5K as a fund raiser and to build awareness to the issue of human trafficking and other forms of slavery: Operation 61 on May 14 at Liberty Park - if any body wants to join us)

Finally: since the wedding of the decade was all people seem to talk about these days, I found this Sims 3 parady of the wedding:

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Tuesday's Thought


I don't know who authored this, but here it is:

NOTHING ... is "Impossible"

Impossible is just a big word thrown around by people who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it.

Impossible is not a fact, it is an opinion.
Impossible is not a declaration, it's a dare.
Impossible is potential.
Impossible is temporary.
Impossible is NOTHING!

Friday, April 22, 2011

Friday Night Videos

As mentioned in previous posts, I have been working on losing weight by becoming more active and eating healthy. When I first made the decision to make these changes, a friend of mine posted this video on Facebook and it was like a message that I had made the right decision:

What a laugh! When I was in my 20s, I would ask my dad to help me with my car. When he helped, I was charged with handing him the tools....this video made me laugh so hard when I saw it - especially the last minute of the video:

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Salmon and Rice

I love salmon and rice and enjoy trying out new recipes. Tonight I tried out Cuisinenie's salmon recipe. It was a little too much oil, but I have to say: "Yumminess." I didn't make the rice in her blog; I used brown and wild rice, instead.

Here's her recipe:

1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons dry white wine, or water
2 pounds salmon fillet
Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. with a rack in the center. Make the glaze: In a small bowl, stir brown sugar, olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, and white wine until the sugar has dissolved.
Cut salmon fillet into 4 equal-size pieces; arrange, skin side down, in a single layer in a baking dish. Pour glaze over the fish, and turn to coat evenly.
Bake until fish is opaque but still bright pink inside, basting every few minutes with glaze from baking dish, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Tuesday's Thought

I've been working really hard to change some of my habits - eating healthier and working out more. Sometimes you have to fight old habits and make yourself gut it out. This is a quote I've had hanging in my cubie for a long time:

"What’s the size of your game? The only person who can stop you from becoming successful is YOU. YOU FIGHT YOU. Increase the size of the fight in you and
face the truth about yourself. There is a BIGGER YOU inside that can create a destiny and future that’s staggering if you let it, and let the FIGHTING SPIRIT in you refuse to give up or be denied!" --Doug Firebaugh

Monday, April 18, 2011

My Friend Bethany

I met my friend Bethany when our training team changed departments. When we moved to our new building, almost two years ago, my team was physically separated from each other to help us meet the department we had just joined. I was moved further away from my team and Bethany was my new neighbor.

I instantly like her. She never seemed to mind my inner turmoil; in fact she was very friendly and welcoming and was so real! I always have appreciated her real-ness.

She was our Principal trainer with the new system and she never let her stress outweigh her support of all the trainers. She may have broke down behind the scenes with my boss, but she was pretty good at not showing the world how stressed out she was.

Bethany took a new job this week and I miss my neighbor a lot, so we had a bit of a farewell lunch this past week.

Many of us will be joining Bethany and her family in the MS Walk on April 30. Her mom has had MS for 17 years and we want to help her find relief from the illness, and wouldn't it be nice to find a cure. Want to contribute? Click Here.

Bethany, you are awesome and stronger than you think, and I know you will flourish in the new position! I have loved working with you!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

SLC Marathon 5K

Today was the Salt Lake City Marathon, which includes a marathon, half marathon, 5K and a few other events.

We've been preparing to walk it for a few weeks....It wasn't a super rough course, but there was one incline that was my wall. I had to really push myself, but I did it in pretty good time. I really wanted to set a pace for myself that was my own pace. Not Eric's or the pace of other walkers/runners, which can be hard to do when you're seeing people pass you by.

The goal is to walk another 5K in two weeks (MS walk) and do it in less time.

For me, this was a very personal journey to remotivate myself to get back into shape. I am proud of my accomplishment as I am for the accomplishment of my friends who ran other races. Jessica ran the half marathon and should be so proud! My other friend ran the full marathon.

Here are some of my pictures. I took them using my old camera because I wasn't about to try and drag the big camera during the walk. Maybe another time.
I'll post some of the other pictures as I get them from the company that took pictures.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Friday Night Videos

I'm posting early tonight because I have to be up very early tomorrow morning.

First up: a video sent to me from a friend that I find hillarious; about how a mother taught the birds and the bees to her eight year old daughter.

A very cute music video about photoshopping:

Another hilarious video.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Tuesday's Thought

Today was my first day back to work after a personal extended weekend. I promptly forgot to grab the healthy lunch I'd prepared and packed (boo!). On the drive to work I got a call from a coworker that she would be unable to train the class that I was supposed to shadow (and learn). Lucky for me, I was able to train the first 40 minutes before another trainer who knows the content better, arrived to take over.

I realized I could have trained the content based on the lesson plans - and that makes me a real, honest-to-goodness trainer.

Anyway, all that aside here is today's thought:

Effort
One evening a young man came home in disgust after a football practice. He explained to his father that he felt that it wasn’t necessary to continue practicing because his team had not lost a game all season. The father took his son to his workshop in the garage and place a thin wooden board on the workbench and then handed his son a small penknife. He then asked him to take the penknife and scratch a line across the width of the board. After doing so, he locked the board and knife in a cabinet. This performance was repeated every evening after the young man returned home from football practice. Each evening the young man would walk out to the workshop with his father and draw the knife once along the deepening groove.
Then came the night when there was no groove. The last light effort had cut the board in two. The father looked up and said, “You never would have believed this possible with such little effort, would you? But the success or failure of your life depends not so much on how hard you try, but the accumulation of your efforts, and whether you keep at it.”
The persistent exercise of a little extra effort is one of the most powerful forces contributing to success. Many times we fall short of our objectives because of the lack of constant and determined effort. People of mediocre ability often achieve outstanding success because they don’t know enough to quit. They succeed because they are determined to. They know the importance of continued effort toward their goals. Philosopher James Allen defined it quite accurately: “In all human affairs there are efforts and there are results, and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result.” Every task you perform has an accumulative effect toward the achievement of your long-term goal. Everything counts. The important thing to remember is that you must do something every day, no matter how small, that will lead you toward the final accomplishment of your objective. Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned. You will always get out of things what you put into them. Just like getting interest on your money when you put it in the bank. Each effort that you make toward a desired task will at the end always pay you interest in the form of achievement.
Many people, despite sincere intentions, lofty aspirations, and a knowledge of how to achieve what they want, fall short of true accomplishment because of their unwillingness to put forth constant, never-ending effort. Thomas Edison emphasized this when he said, “I never did anything worthwhile by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by constant effort and hard work.” Your success and progress multiplies itself out of all proportion to the amount of effort you put forth. Rising to the top can always be reached by topping yesterday’s effort.
As you reach for the highest level of effectiveness in you personal and professional life, always keep this thought in mind: It is usually possible to improve a little more by putting in a little extra effort. It’s that “little bit more” that make the difference.
---Alexander Lockhart.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've started making various meals, cookies, muffins, etc, on Sundays and then bagging them up to use during the week to come. It's too much to try and make them on the day I want to eat them....so this is another recipe I made today.

A friend of mine gave me this recipe which I have made my own in a few ways. These are healthier than normal chocolate chip cookies and they are very tasty.

¼ C butter
¼ C Pureed white beans (add water to make it the consistency of room temperature butter(aprox. ½ tsp water))
¼ C sugar
¼ C Splenda
½ C brown sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla
½ C flour
½ C wheat flour
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 C rolled oats
1 C chocolate semi sweet chips

1. Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl: the flours, salt, soda, powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.

2. Puree the beans and pour into a bowl. Add butter and mix the two together. Add the sugars (white and brown) and mix. Mix in the egg and vanilla.

3. Add the flour to the liquid mixture. Mix completely.

4. Add rolled oats and mix thoroughly.

5. Add chocolate chips and combine.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes! (I bake mine for the full 12 minutes and then let them sit to complete the baking in the pan for a couple of minutes before I let them cool)

Super tasty. Thanks, Bethany, for the recipe.

One recipe I made for Valentine's Day was Heart Healthy Apple Muffins. I make them each Sunday and have them through the week. Yummy!

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Eggs and Bacon

Eric and I have been working on making more homemade (healthier) meals. This morning I made a new version of eggs and bacon. I found the idea online and it was delicious.

In a muffin tin sprayed with Pam, place an almost cooked piece of bacon in a ring around each of the muffin cups. Open an egg into each muffin cup, season with salt and pepper and top with shredded cheese.
Put into the oven at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes (I did 18 minutes).

They are super tasty. I will be doing this more often in the mornings during the week as we get ready for work. We'll have a something yummy on the drive to work. Yay!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Friday Night Videos

I want to have spring....and I've been "thinking spring" for a few weeks, now. One of the things that have made me smile, are the springtime videos I've loved.

This used to be one of my favorite songs as a little girl:

Another scene from Bambi:

Daffodils are one of my favorite flowers:

This one made me a little bit weepy...I love dogs. This is one more reason why:

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Tuesday's Thought

I got this a few years ago from a friend of mine. I like to remind myself of some of the things I already know, but sometimes forget:

TEN WAYS TO GET UNSTUCK IN LIFE

1. Stop thinking you are fragile. Test your abilities. The more you assert control over your life, the stronger you will become!

2. Eliminate “wish”, “hope”, and “maybe” from your vocabulary. Instead of saying, “I hope things get better” say, “I will make things better.” Make a decision and then make it happen.

3. Stop worrying about the obstacles. The best antidote for anxiety is action! Stop worrying about how you are going to solve everything, and just take the first step. If you are looking for solutions instead of bemoaning the problem, the solutions will present themselves to you as you go.

4. Do away with ambivalence. Are you doing what you want with your life? If not, then do something about it. You are not a victim…take a stand for what you believe in and be willing to risk a little.

5. Choose a dream and start making it a reality. Once you start achieving small steps towards your goals, you’ll feel like a winner and act like a winner. Don’t try to eat a whole elephant in one giant gulp, but don’t sit there and just stare at it either. Get going and take the first tiny bite.

6. Wing it sometimes! You don’t always have to have a complete plan and “know everything” to begin. Follow your intuition sometimes. Play a bunch. Trust your instincts, and you’ll find that the little inner voice becomes easier and easier to bear.

7. Stop procrastinating. Putting off things is a habit that can be changed. Make and use a list of the most important things to do everyday. Take joy in crossing off the things you’ve accomplished. Items that remain, become tomorrow’s list.

8. Let go of old labels you’ve used to describe yourself. Stop making excuses for why you haven’t succeeded. Try some new positive affirmations. Up until today, you were what you were. From now on you can choose to be the same, or you can choose to change.

9. Conquer your fear of failure. This is nothing more than worrying about what other people think of you. Who cares? Do it for you. If you feel good about it, what does it matter what others think?

10. Learn to cope with fatigue. Your energy level is directly related to your attitude and your finances. You aren’t tire, you’re broke! Learn discipline and master balances in your life. Life is supposed to be fun, but success requires hard work. When you work, work hard. When you play, play hard. Wherever you are, be there!

Friday, April 1, 2011

Friday Night Videos

So, it's the first day of April. I hate April Fools Day, but I do like that April brings a new hope for spring. So I wanted to find some spring videos - getting ready for Easter.

This is Big Buck Bunny and I love, love, love his facial expressions....totally makes me laugh:

I thought this video was pretty cute. Springtime for Pluto:

This scene from Alice in Wonderland is very springtime. It reminds me of this one time when I had surgery and was given too much anesthesia....I had some very interesting visions of flowers eating eachother...I was wide awake and the flowers grew teeth and started gnashing at eachother...freaky!! Anyway, I like this video because it is springtime, to me:

Gene Kelly was just too brilliant, and I love this scene: