starting a workout regimen

the mr. has decided he wants to lose weight - and i'm along for the ride! i'm excited, especially cause i know this is going to be good for my health. after going to urgent care last month, i want to make sure i incorporate as many changes as is possible for the healthiest life possible. within reason, of course. i still have to -live- my life, after all...

mostly i want to make my changes in the eating category, and the workout category.

i want to get back into the kitchen, making food. mostly, that means i'll be eating more fruits and vegetables, and eating less sodium. tonight, i made a pasta (it was a tortellini filled with sundried tomatoes and the other was a ravioli filled with basil oregano) and steamed a butternut squash. the butternut squash we ate without an butter or brown sugar, like how my mom serves it. it was rather delicious without anythin on it! and in lieu of the regular marinara sauce i would have wanted, i sauteed eggplant, zucchini, squash, onions, and tomato - the only seasoning was some basil and oregano and some garlic to flavor the oil. i covered it and let some sauce build up in the pan, but that was it. no added salt. it wasn't as flavorful as i might have wanted it to be, but there was enough sodium in the pasta fillings to make it tasty. and i like knowing that i'm eating all those vegetables! tomorrow's breakfast will be oatmeal and banana and an apple. yay!

as for the workout, i -love- being active, so this shouldn't be that hard. the worst part is trying to make time for it in the day - but once i'm there, i like the workout! i put my Christmas gift bike into my car and drove over to m's house and we biked down the hill, and then spent 40 minutes biking back up to her house. after that, i came home and cooked dinner (and we both only had 1 plateful - no 2nd servings!) and then we went to the gym. we did 20 minutes of interval training on the elliptical and were gonna switch to another exercise before we remembered that all the surfaces were being refinished, so then we went back onto the ellipticals and i ran for another 20 minutes. the funny thing is, i feel so good from it i want to run some more! after the interval training was over, i was just happy to run for 20 minutes i barely realized it, i just had a magazine open and kept on going, and kept my heart rate up at 160. that's pretty good, i think.

i'm excited cuz i want to be healthy and in shape. i'm looking forward to working out together and eating healthier as well =) i hope i continue to feel good about it =)

merry Christmas!

this year was a good year in terms of gifts... i think i like all the gifts i gave out, as well as i think i'll enjoy all the gifts that came in.

the mr. gave me a pretty nifty mountain bike, which will be exciting (and a little bit scary! but in the good way...). mom and dad got me a serger (to complement the sewing machine she gave me years ago) and a food processor, which makes me really happy! i think the both of us will have fun thinking of stuff we can make with it. so far, we've already committed to making a big batch of salsa =) i got a set of teaspoons for my kitchen from my roommate - and it made me so happy cuz all the spoons from the last set have disappeared, and i prefer eating with the smaller spoons. my brother and a. gave me a bunch of stuff to complement all the sports we've been doing - some ping pong balls and jackets for our new paddles, some boot socks to keep my toes warm, etc. and i got a puzzle book (always a hit!) from the mr.'s parents. i really like that i'm looking forward to using all my new stuff =)

as for the gifts i gave out, i think i did a really good job with the handmade blankets for my mom and for a. - they're nice and soft! my dad really needed the phone i got him, and my brother got the movie he had requested. i finally figured out what to give the mr. and ended up with a compilation of stuff for all of our different activities - a hiking book, a few tickets to the movies, a gift certificate for bass pro shops, and a promise of snowboarding pants when they go on sale after Christmas. for his parents, i got them a dvd set of a tv show they've been watching, which i'm sure they'll enjoy watching. i also gave my brother and the parents dark chocolate to gnosh on while watching their dvd's. yum! i love dark chocolate! and i know they do too!

tomorrow will be the friends' Christmas and i have a book for the host (something she's been looking for all over the place, so hopefully she enjoys it!), and some sheet music and guitar tab compiled for r. and j.

it's nice when you can spend time with family of relatives and also with your family of friends...

Merry Christmas to all!

learning to shop CVS

i love CVS'ing! i bought all the products below and only spent $2 out of pocket. actually, i spent $2 of my $45 CVS gift card that i got for using only $40 of my discovercard cash back. and i got over $50 worth of product! isn't that amazing?

i found all my information at http://moneysavingmom.com. she posts the deals every week and suggests other coupon combinations to be able to save even more! i loves it =)

snowboarding @ summit

oh man... it's been so long since i've boarded. i missed all the mammoth trips last year due to sprained ankles and a month-long bout with pneumonia, so i was really anxious to hit the slopes yesterday with my new board (that i had since -last- season!) and all my new gear.

school got out extremely early yesterday, and i was done with 5th period by 11:13. i headed home and then started up the hill... and then had to put on the chains! the freshman coach and i had a lotta fun learning how to do it, especially when the suv full of guys next to us had no clue and asked us for help =)

boarding was pretty fun, and i pretty much just took it easy... i started trying small miniscule jumps just for kicks, and i think i'm gonna be more confident this season and try to get the cajones to try bigger jumps! my problem is that i'm always scared and so i try to slow down right before the jumps, so now that i know that, i can work on approaching at the right speed =) i'm excited cuz this is the season i'm gonna learn to jump!

anyways, it was really pretty on the hill, watching the sun go down... i'll post the pics soon =)

edit: here are the pics

speed pool

i tried it for the first time last night! j got 3:49, and r got 3:56, but i was able to sink all 15 balls in 2:22!

that's pretty damn good for a first try!

in fact, nuklearkrack told me anything under 3 minutes is respectable.

check it out! i'm respectable! =)

mmm.... dinner...

last night, we ate at mario's place for his company Christmas dinner. we did the chef's prix fixe menu... and ended up with a 7 course meal!

course 1
hamachi (yellowtail) sashimi, topped with bits of grapefruit and micro celery, in a ponzu sauce.

course 2
locally grown arugula on a bed of beets and truffle cheese, topped with hazelnuts

course 3, aka, what i was going to order for dinner before we decided on the prix fixe
yam and ricotta tortellini in a truffle butter sauce, topped with mitake mushrooms

course 4
ginger encrusted salmon served on top of the celery root puree. i wasn't too sure about the ginger part on my first bite - at first i thought it was too strong. but after that, each bite was wonderful!

course 5
maccheroncini latini, i believe it was named. which was basically a unique pasta noodle akin to macaroni, and the sauce was made from oxtail slow cooked in a red wine.

course 6
lamb chops drizzled with a three herb sauce - cilantro, mint, and something else green =) and served over ratatouille. it was my first time having ratatouille (at least named as such) and although i discovered it's just vegetables, it was really yummy!

course 7
dessert was a caramel thing whose consistency was somewhere inbetween pudding and creme brulee... and topped with creme fraiche

after it was all over we were sitting there enjoying the live music and the chef came out to our table and he had a glass of wine with us, and then he sent a cheese plate over as well.

i've never eaten that many courses in one meal, and each one was exquisite in it's own way, and i actually liked every single dish that came out. it was AMAZING!!

it's probably why mario's place consistently wins "best restaurant in the inland empire" year after year after year...

starting fresh

just trying to figure out where my next blog should be hosted....