New House Perks

December 28th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (19 Comments)

One of the nicest perks of our new house would be the regular running group that came built right in to our neighborhood. They run Monday, Thursday and Saturday mornings and as luck would have it, today is Monday!

I found out about the group from a friend who lives in this neighborhood. He’s been running with them for a while and invited me to join them on a Saturday morning run back in October. I accepted the invite and by the end of the run I was already contemplating what it might take to get our closing date bumped up to that very afternoon.

Seven Saturday Treats

November 28th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Morning Craziness - (10 Comments)

I have declared this Saturday
To be a day filled with treats!
Let’s get started with breakfast
and some yummy morning eats.

Enjoyed first thing
came Treat #1!
Fruit Cereal in peace
Well son of a gun!

Saturday Fruit Cereal

A diced sweet banana and a peeled D’Anjour pear
Tossed in ground flax seed with such ease and such care
Topped with a tablespoon of shriveled grapes and pumpkin seeds
Add a half cup of unsweetened almond milk, that’s what this needs!

Topped with Almond Milk

Post breakfast I was off
on a solo shopping trip
Treat #2 would be from Starbucks
for a hot beverage drip

A NEAT Morning

November 20th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (11 Comments)

Given that yesterday was our Stay At Home day, I decided to take the girls car seats out of the car to wash the covers. Upon removing the Britax Beasts, I discovered they were harboring a small community of broken crayons, cheerios and Kashi granola bar crumb fugitives.

So this morning instead of running past the car wash like I do day after day, I thought my carseat-less vehicle could use a little quality time with the vacuum before I spent a half hour reinstalling the seats.

A Real Rest Day

November 11th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (14 Comments)

I declared Monday a rest day and then went and proceeded to rake and haul leaves for more than three hours, making Monday anything but a rest day.

Today though, is really going to be a rest day. After two days of non-stop action, this house is most definitely showing signs of neglect and lots of comings and goings… why do I feel so stressed when the house is a mess? Is it because stress and mess rhyme? Probably.

It must have been a sign from above that the Garmin 405 was picked up with a dead battery and needs to be recharged.

A Day of Calorie Counting

November 4th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Motivation - (23 Comments)

Today’s day of calorie counting began with a freezing bike ride to the gym. Well, actually it was 33 degrees so I guess it wasn’t exactly freezing. I’m such an exaggerator sometimes.

30 minutes on the treadmill with some speed work intervals (4 two minute sets at 9.3) thrown in to keep things interesting – a total of about 4 miles. I noted today what the calorie total said and it was about 450.

Treadmill dues paid, followed by a Very Cold (but this time welcome!) ride home for my first calories of the day.

Scary Spoon

October 30th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (15 Comments)

Dark, dark, DARK. The mornings are so dark! Come on daylight savings time – Mama’s ready to set the clocks back!

On my bike first thing this morning to ride – in the dark yet again – to the gym to pay my respects to the treadmill. I even dug out my reflective vest to wear on the way there today too.

Flash photography: Friend or Foe?

Flash Photography

Foe. Definitely foe.

If I’m going to run on the treadmill and be a rat on the wheel for 30 minutes, I feel like I have no choice but to run sprint intervals to keep things interesting.

My Boyfriend’s Back

October 21st, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Good Reads - (26 Comments)

It’s been a while since I’ve written on and on about Brendan Brazier, hasn’t it? Well, my boyfriend’s back and you’re gonna be in trouble.

I’m not sure how I feel about referring to Brendan as my boyfriend in one sentence followed by a photo of a knife pointed in his general direction a moment later. Someone cue the Psycho music.

Chopped Apples

Today I put together another Thrive inspired breakfast based on Brendan’s Toasted Apple Cinnamon Cereal recipe.

Warm Fruit Cereal

October 20th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (18 Comments)

Thanks to a surprisingly warm morning, I rode my bike to the gym today.

5 minutes ride there + 10 minute elliptical + 30 minute treadmill + 14 minute long-way ride home = an hour work out that only felt like 40 minutes. That’s just the way I like it.

Juice that is the same color as my counter top is the way I like it too. Aren’t hidden pictures fun?

Hidden Pictures

Zak made juice while I was at the gym and was waiting for me to return. I haven’t made juice in a few days and I guess he had to take matters into his own hands. Oh good! Make me some too while you’re at it!

Let the House Hunting Begin

October 15th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (18 Comments)

Instead of working out this morning, I worked on my to-do list. I think I’m addicted to giving myself too much to do. I can’t seem to stop signing on for things. I’m always volunteering to help, offering to do something for someone, raising my hand when no one else does. I think I always do this because my brain always comes back to – Sure, why not! I’m a stay at home mom. What else have I got to do? Well dummy, you’ve actually got a ton of stuff do.

Orange You Glad It’s Sunday?

October 11th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (18 Comments)

Pineapple, I have someone I’d like you meet. This is my new friend, Breville.

Pineapple, Meet Juicer

Now that my mom has gotten into juicing she’s become my juice muse. She’s turning me on to all sorts of juice books and has inspired me to think outside the romaine bag.

I bought a pineapple a few days ago with intent to ring it out in the juicer. Today was the day my conifer seed shaped fruit had a juice date with some carrots, an apple and ginger.

In the Pineapple Bush