Count Down To Germany

I am very excited because in less than a week I'll be in Germany!! We're leaving from Chicago on the 5th of August.  I'm going with my entire family which means there will be 8 of us all together.  It will be my family, my husband, and a family friend of ours.  We'll be gone for about 10 days, very exciting.  I'm very very excited about the vacay, I really need it this month has been so hectic at work.  I've been so stressed about patients and doing well at my first official job and there have just been some bad patient situations that have happened and I'm ready to escape it for awhile and start anew.  So, until we leave for the trip my goal is to get my house as organized as possible before we leave, which is really a lot of work and I have seriously been procrastinating, but hey guess what I got my freakin desk all tided and reorganized!! See!

                

Now I'll actually sit at my desk and maybe get some work done. I still have a lot more to do with my office, its really one of the worst rooms in the house because its got our mismatched furniture and stuff in it.  I really would like to upgrade my desk to a more sophisticated grown up one, I guess right now its OK for it to be kind of girly and young. Oh well, until I have tons of money to go crazy redecorating my house I'll have to settle with what I've got.  At least having my desk all cleaned is 1 step in the right direction of being more organized before I leave for Germany!

Enjoy your workout

RAINY DAY & YOGA

I totally didn't get up early this morning to do Yoga, but I did do my favorite yoga routine today.  I have this amazing workout dvd with 2 different yoga routines, The Joy of Yoga is the routine on the dvd I really love!
So, I did my yoga routine on my back deck with the rain pattering very peacefully around me.  It was awesome!  I even did some meditation/fell asleep for a few minutes. I really love yoga, its such the best workout.  It involves strength, flexibility, and deep breathing, all amazing things for your body.  It also is so calming and helps you be more in-tune with your own body.  

I've decided that since I love yoga so much I'm going to become more focused on doing yoga and maybe advancing more with it.  I was reading an interesting article about why people end up quitting a workout routine, and it made the point that you should enjoy your workout.  if you aren't enjoying your workout then you are definitely not going to stick with it. So, I really started to realize what types of exercise I really enjoy doing and yoga and running are things I really do enjoy doing.  Running is sometimes hard to get motivated about, but while I'm doing it, its such a satisfying feeling while you're running and afterwards.  

I decided to buy 2 yoga books that look really great.

 

I just ordered them today, excited to get them in to start reading up on yoga practice.  I know the yoga anatomy might freak some people out with the exposed muscles, muscles are like my bread and butter as a physical therapist.  It looks like such a fun book for me!! Very excited to get it in, hopefully soon!  I hope that I get them in before I leave for Germany a week from tomorrow, but we'll see how speedy the mail service is with amazon's free shipping.

So, figure out what kind of activity you really enjoy and focus on, here are some suggestions:

-Running outside (the gym can get so boring and expensive)

-Yoga (can do it anywhere really, just might want an extra mat when you are on wood floors)

-Hiking (always good for the calfs, quads, and helps with balance)

-Biking (amazing how many miles will zoom by on a good day!)

-Rock climbing (total body workout, start indoors, then maybe move to outside, I want to try it sometime soon)

-Swimming (very good cardio great for the  summer)

-Boxing (helps get any pent of energy, especially anger!)

-Rowing (pack a picnic and relax on the water after working up a sweat)

-Skiing (water or snow, you'll be having fun without realizing your working out!)

-Tennis (just run for the ball even if you're not good at it fun to have another person to motivate you too)

-Soccer (just kicking a ball around with another person helps get the heart up and strengthens the legs)

Just a few suggestions, you'll have fun while doing something good for your body!

Already missing New England

Well we got back in from Boston late last night, still very tired from the weekend. I was so tired after work today that I ended up taking a 2 hour nap once I got home, it was a little too long.  We had an awesome trip, crammed in so much in a short weekend.  We wondered around Boston stayed out late with friends enjoying the city.  Though, my husband and I are so over the college type bar scene too loud and not always classy.  We're more into the calm quiet lounge type scene where you can just sip drinks, and not have to yell to talk to people. 

I totally fell in love with the North End of Boston! Its like a smaller version of a European City.  We ate at this amazing Italian restaurant and could actually hear the chef's speaking Italian, which means its definitely more authentic than most the Italian restaurants on the Hill in St.Louis.   My husband and I are hoping to move to Boston once he's finished with his Ph.D.  

Well, lets see it would be awesome if I could get my rear in gear and get my exercise program up and running, but I've been so lazy for some reason.  Tomorrow my goal is to wake up before work and do some yoga on my deck.  Its just hard to do that sometimes when I have to work at 7 am, which means I have to be up by at least 5 doing some exercise.  We'll see if I actually do it!! Maybe that I've written it here I will actually follow through!  Well, I'm sweating from the humidity I need to go lay in bed where the fan is blowing. 

Count Down To Boston....

I'm very excited that tomorrow will be the last day of work for me for this week, and then its off to Boston! We're heading straight to the airport after I get done with my work, gonna take St.Louis' sketchy metro, will be an adventure as usual.  My husband is very excited to be back in Boston for a few days, he'll get to see his parents since he hasn't seen them since Christmas! We're really looking forward to having some fresh lobster maybe some oysters or clams....mmmm clam chowda, very excited!

Hopefully I can keep everyone updated about things , we'll see how much free time I get in before we get back home on Sunday.  I'm so tired already today on top of getting ready to leave for the weekend I had an awful day at work due to having this awful patient....

This particular patient is what we call a "frequent flyer".  They are always in and out of the hospital for no particular reason.  This patient's reason is due to pain med dependency, abuses the hospital system and medicaid/medicare system.  I just hate having patients that are "disabled" but really are perfectly capable of not be disabled.  I have seen plenty of patients with far worse deficits who totally can work and would not consider themselves disabled.   Who freakin decides who's disable and who's not?! I would be so mean and picky about the people I'd choose to actually be "disabled" because really there aren't many that I've seen who really physically are disabled.  If you can wheel your wheelchair all the way down the hall to the elevator then ride it to outside to smoke your damn horrible cigarettes, you are not disable, seriously you can obviously do the things you really want to do.  So seriously stop making us pay for your lazy ass... Sorry just my vent.  Well, I need to get some sleep, I'm tired will be getting up super early tomorrow to make sure I have everything packed before I go to work!

Exciting Find!

I was so excited to find this past Saturday, that my local Schnuck's that is less than 2 minutes from my house now carries OrganicVille products!They have delicious dressings that are dairy, gluten-free, and don't use bad sugars.  They use Agave Nectar in all their products!! I love it!! I hope they start making even more things that I can substitute for bad foods.  I highly recommend this brand for those who love dressings, ketchup, bbq, salsa, and even teriyaki sauces.

Substitute Condiments

So, I was reading through my latest Women's Health Magazine this evening and they had this article on condiments. It was pretty good, except that they seemed to say that ketchup only has 15 calories per serving (which is a small portion). I think regular ketchup should totally be avoided if possible because it totally has too much high fructose corn syrup in it! Avoid too much sugar!! Sugar spikes your blood sugar which is what you need to avoid. Need to keep blood sugar even. Now I have found a ketchup that is 1 gluten free and is made with Agave nectar! Its by one of my new favorite brands OrganicVille!  Its tastes just like regular ketchup, but you don't have to feel guilty about eating with your grilled chicken! 

Figuring out Template

I'm so annoyed that I can't figure out how to get the date to show up on this template! I thought I figured it out!

Confessions of a Control Freak is Having an Amazing Giveaway

Gwen at Confessions of a Control Freak is giving away OPI nail products just go to her site for details to sign up!

Relaxing Saturday

Finally the weekend! I'm so enjoying some time off.  I had such a long week, so exhausted by Friday, so excited to sleep in this morning, even though my husband I woke up before 6 am ;)

So, today Jeff (my husband) and I went took a trip to William-Sonoma to spend our last gift card from our wedding 2 years ago.  We bought this super sweet Italian cappuccino maker: 

Bialetti Mukka Glass Cappuccino Maker

I'm excited to try it out this evening.  supposedly all you have to do is put the water and ground coffee in the bottom and some milk in the glass portion and heat it on the stove.  Then it makes 2 cups of cappuccino, like that!  You can even use soy milk! I hope to figure out how to make my own mochas with some less sugary chocolate syrup.  

I'll tell you the recipe once I figure it out. 

So, after we got the cappuccino maker we went out for some lunch.  We went to what is currently my favorite restaurant.

They have such great sand

wiches and they make their own pasta!  Me and my husband got 2 different sandwiches and just shared a half of each to try the different sandwiches, they are soooo amazing! Not really the healthiest but they use fresh ingredients.  The fresh pasta is super good too, they always have specials for the season because they always use the freshest ingredients.  So, after having a lunch like that Jeff and I aren't really that hungry this evening, I'm thinking I'll just have a martini, maybe some yogurt and popcorn later.  We're just watching "To Be or Not to Be" I love Mel Brooks movies, always classics! 

While we were at the restaurant I picked up a new issue of Sauce Magazine.  Its a free magazine in St.Louis that provides information on the best food and events in St.Louis.  I love the stuff they have, recipes, restaurants, fresh produce, and always new green ideas.  They also have such beautiful photography in it like this one:

Just one of those photos that makes you wanna each something fresh and green!  Maybe I'll make a small salad for tonight? Whateve' maybe just something to drink.... its Saturday right?!

Almost Friday...

I was so excited to come home and see how well my posts have been received so far.  Very exciting!!  Especially since I had the longest day at work 7am to 730 pm!  I don't usually work that long but we had to learn this new documenting program that we're going to be using in a few weeks, and it is soooo freakin complicated. My head felt like it was going to explode after trying to type a simple therapy note.  Oh well, I hope it gets easier....

So, still trying to get a hang of how to put stuff up on my blog.  Can anyone tell me how to make my post not have this "undefined" thing on every post? I hate it! Well, I gotta go hang out with my husband its been such a long day, and he needs some attention.

Target!

I just bought a new cosmetic bag (not that I really NEED a new one).  I thought it would be great for my trip to Germany, its small but big enough I think, at least it will help limit me to how much I pack.  I of course got it from Target, I had to make a run today I needed some more vitamins! Look at how cute it is!

Well, now I'm sitting at my computer drinking a margarita, again more alcohol after a run.  My husband though made the margarita from scratch no pre-mix sugar loaded stuff here.  Its just techila, quantro, and fresh lime juice with salt on the rim!  Its sweet without any added sugar because the techila is sweet (made from agave nectar more on that later) and so is the quantro. Quantro is orange liquor for those of you who like oranges, you can drink it straight up! Mmmm my margarita is good, I'm happy to have married a good bartender. 

AGAVE NECTAR

So, since I figured some of my blog would have healthy tips for people and I find fitness and nutrition something that go hand-in-hand I have lots of knowledge to shard.  To fill you all in on this amazing nectar, Agave.  Agave nectar is from cacti I believe and its I believe 25% sweeter than sugar.  But, what I love about this amazing stuff is that it has a low glycemic index so it won't spike your sugar level.  Spiking your sugar level is what can lead to insulin resistance and that can lead to diabetes! EEk! Believe me I've see some scary shit when it comes to diabetes, limbs fall off, yea I know my job is kind of gross working in a hospital.  I'm sure you're all excited to hear about that.  But seriously since seeing very morbidly obese patients and having to lift them all day (which my day today was full of big fat people who on top of being fat have neurological damage so yay for me! I get to move their 100 pound limbs around) I really am trying to spread the word to prevent obesity and strokes, and all the many peoples that come with a very unhealthy diet! Sugar is actually one of the big culprits more than fat, because sugar causes your blood sugar to spike and store calories, hence store the fat your are eating, so its better to eat them separately and really limit your sugar intake.  Ok I'll come down off my soap box for today.  I need to go help my husband make dinner, we're having fajitas, and I believe he brought me home some whole wheat tortillas!! Yay!

Blog Award

I'm so excited that I have received a cutest blog aware in such a short time of beginning my blog!! I'm still need to find some people to pass the award onto. I will be searching more blogs today and find more people to follow and pass the award on.

This blog stuff is pretty fun! I wish I had more time in the day to read about everyone's thoughts and advice!

So, I know Tarryn commented about having a martini after running and how she attempted some running this AM. I was going to tell her about this free application that one of my co-workers told me that can help you with your workout. Its some kind of program that you can download from itunes that will give you the pace of all your songs. So you can create a playlist that to motivate your pace! I thought that would be the best thing for me cuz I love to run to music and I've just finally started to get back into running. I'm very slow! But I figure something is better than nothing!

Beautiful Day

So far the day has been going well. I had a productive day at work that flew by, came home and took a nap for like 30 minutes before going for a 2o minute run.  Now I'm just chilling on the couch drinking a martini waiting for some guests for bbq! 

I love martinis! My favorite so far is a dirty martini, with vodka.  I know its not the healthiest thing to have after a run, but according to one of my PT teachers (a cardiopulmonary specialist, very big to do) having alcohol in moderation actually raises your good cholesterol, which may be why mine is high in a good way! So, drink up, but in moderation to improve your cholesterol!

Beginnings....

JULY 05

Welcome to my first blog ever!  I was inspired to start a blog after being convinced by my very good friend Tarryn who has her very own fun blog that I of course follow.  So, to introduce myself I'm 25, married to my amazing husband Jeff for 2 years already, and I currently live in the midwest.  I recently completed my master's degree in physical therapy, passed my licensure exam, and started working full time! Believe me very exciting to finish a degree that felt like it would never end and now be working in a career I totally and fully love in every way. 

 I'm sure that I will write a lot about my career because its a huge part of my life and its difficult for me to not talk about the amazing things I see from day to day.  I work at Barnes a very large hospital in St. Louis, its one of the top hospitals in America and so I see a lot of interesting things.  My long time goal will be to have my own practice someday, hopefully in the Boston area.  Until then, I will be working hard at perfecting my therapy skills at Barnes until my Husband and I can move to Boston. 

My husband is from Boston, MA and its a really funny and embarrassing story as to how we met each other.  I was attending my second year of college at Cottey College (an all women's liberal arts college) and joined a dating site for fun.  It was just for the hell of it because a bunch of my friends were doing it and they had these free trials.  Within less than a day of being on the site I had "winked" at my future husband and we were talking for hours online and the phone within a day or two.  Within a week we were pretty much in love, problem though was that he was attending the Air Force Academy with very limited vacation time.  I didn't get to meet him in person for another 3 months, we met at the Boston airport where we couldn't find each other right away and I believe I met his brother, sister-in-law, and parents before I even met him! 

Well, long story short, he eventually decided to leave the academy and go to school in St.Louis where I had transferred to St.Louis University for school and he started at Washington University.   We found a cute apartment together until we got married and now we live a cute condo with our 3 crazy cats!  So, that's some of my background, I'm sure if I have any followers you'll find more about me as time progresses and I post more stuff, hope its interesting.  I'm excited to share my thoughts, favorite things, possibly some health and exercise advice, and just maybe meet some people with similar interests!