A little green, a lot of fun.

Happy weekend!  Last week I might have mentioned I was coming down with something.  Well, this weekend it got worse.  FULL BLOWN SPRING FEVER!

After school on Friday I called up a friend of mine and decided we should have the first fire of the season, however, I needed her help...aka her fire.  :)  So we gathered the crew and made a Hy-Vee run and had a burgers and a bonfire.  *Perfect!

The meal included hamburgers, stuffed with cheese curds and wrapped in bacon.  Wow soo good, then grilled asparagus and potatoes with a side of pasta salad.  Yes, Cali and I know how to prepare a meal for these people! Up next...FIRE! 

A perfectly cool evening, a bit windy, but hey it's March we will take anything!  Then we had strict guidelines, report to  the farm by 9:45 to load up because WE RIDE at 11.   Okay we rode at 11:30 it took a bit longer to get out for the first time this season.  But we rode until 4!  Wow, bottom will hurt for days but it's completely worth it!

I have never crossed a river on horseback, until this weekend :). I have never been so daring on a horse, until this weekend. We didn't hit a single trail, unless we had to, aka the road to get to the woods. 



Of course a day of riding would not be complete unless we had a few stunts.  Ty decided to plank on a moving horse, among many other tricks, however, they didn't turn out so great. :)

We even had a little green river!  Who needs to go to Chicago for the coloring of the river when the big guy upstairs gave us a fantastic show all weekend, and we were blessed with much more than a colorful river!  

As you can see it was just an okay weekend in the woods.  No big deal.  I kid, I kid.  It was awesome!  If my friends had a dollar for every time they heard me say, "ah, this makes me soo happy!"  They would be rich! 

Don't worry though, I am fully aware there will be cold blast before the Spring really sets in.  I am waiting for it!  Until then I will be waiting outside, it's far too nice to waste time being indoors! 





When you wish upon a star...

I am proud to announce a new addition to the family!
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

TWINS! Aren't they beautiful!

I have been patiently and not so patiently waiting for these babies to show up on my doorstep and they did.  I am in love with Nike Free shoes for running.  They allow more movement of my feet and I don't get blisters and such like I would from other shoes.  HOWEVER, warning, these shoes do lack a little bit in support since they are made with the barefoot running technique in mind.  So if you need loads of support, not a good shoe for you. 

In other news... DREAMS DO COME TRUE!

*

*

*

*

*

*
*

*

*

*

*
*

*

*

*



I'm going to Florida!  With the potential to hit up Disneyland which this girl has never been too and even though the calendar did say I was 24 a few weeks ago I can still be a kid at heart.  So in June, the school district is sending me and a group of people to a conference in sunny Florida for about four days.  Now all I will have to decide on is, sandy free beach or once in a lifetime Disney night pass....hmmmm.  Either way survive 46 more days and sunny summer vacations are underway! 

Enjoy the weather, enjoy the time. 

"If it's not a happy ending, it's probably because it's not the end. "

Clean out

I realized that my number one wasteful spending is just going to the grocery store for _________ (fill in the blank)

I strongly dislike balancing my checkbook, or doing anything related to my checkbook.  However to take out and swipe plastic, I've got that down.  So in an effort to practice a little bit more self control I am having a week, maybe two, of clean out the cupboards!  I will go to the grocery store for the necessities.  However, my necessities are not those that most of you think. 
#1. Bread
#2. Yogurt
#3. Fruit
#4. cheese

You read it correct.  Milk is not included.  I don't drink much milk and when I do it is Bean Milk (aka. Soy Milk).  It stays longer so I don't waste as much and I love the extra flavor of Vanilla on my cereal, which is the only time I drink milk anyways. (sorry for the randomness back to business) 

So for this week I have decided the menu is, Hummus and Yogurt for school lunches and enchiladas for meals at night.  I made enchiladas about a month ago in the same attempt to just clean out the fridge.  I was searching high and low for the recipe when I had decided I was just going to wing it.  I took out the can of enchilada sauce and there it was! (on the label) :)
Long story short here is how I make my enchiladas for 1, to eat all week long.

1/2 lb. hamburger meat browned and seasoned with onion and taco/ fajita seasoning
1 can Hy-Vee enchilada sauce
1 8 oz. bag shredded cheddar cheese
6 Tablespoons of green chilli's
4-5 tortilla shells

After your meat is browned and prepared add 3/4 c. of enchilada sauce and green chilli's.  Then add in half the bag of cheddar cheese.  Mix it up.  Spoon mixture onto tortilla shells and place in a 9x9 or 8x8 pan.  Let cool in the fridge.  

Now when Monday night rolls around and I am tired, upset that Monday has shown it's face in my neighborhood again, just almost died from a run, want to go to bed and never wake up but my tummy is yelling *FEED ME!!* I can pop my pan in the oven that is heated to 350 degrees for about 12-15 min.(just to heat through) and bingo!  Meal is made and the microwave will be my best friend for Tuesday- Friday's meals. 
Add in some carrots on the side with Anderson Erickson plain Greek yogurt with about 2 tablespoons of dry ranch dip and a few glasses of ice cold water.  Meal. Done and Done. 

Okay Monday, now that my meals are planned and it has stopped snowing, you may show your face again, but I'm still not going to be happy about it! 

Happy First Full Week of March!

Signs of Spring...

Fever. 


There have been signs of spring off an all winter long.  However, the true sign that I have spring fever are...

These babies don't stand a chance if they are anywhere near me!



My Favorite Jelly Beans EVER!


 
Easter candy in stores.  This is the one holiday that I don't care if the world showcases sooner and sooner every year.  This holiday means all signs of spring are right around the corner and the candy gives me enough of a sugar rush to grin and bear the remaining days of winter. 

Then there is always the need to change your door decoration from winter, aka Christmas decorations that just look wintery so you leave up, to a new spring arrangements. 


All made possible due to the amazing floral arranging skills I got from my momma!

In previous years I have always said that my favorite season was fall, spring was a close second.  Well spring just moved into first place.  Sure I love the beauty of the leaves changing and cheering my brother on in the field.  But this lady loves everything about spring.  March madness and I'm not talking about the basketball brackets, nope.  I'm talking about all the crazy things to spur you into tying up the ends to a school year.  Yes, we have 59 days of school left.  Bring on the spring fever!

HUGE

Well...after a long, long, very long "vacation" from blogging I am attempting to return to the game.  You see I had several questions of why aren't you writing?  What is going on?  Well, I felt bad for writing the same old, blah my life, ugh it's tough, ah a light at the end of the tunnel, wait is this the tunnel I should be in right now...what if...and then this...

So for today let's just say, this song Lincoln Brewster, Whom Shall I fear, put me in the mood to get back in the saddle.  Also I was once again encouraged lately to see that God gives us what we need, when we need it.  I had warned my loved ones that February was going to be a killer month.  Busy with tons of need to do, no way out, you have procrastinated for far too long, business.  Let's just say When the going gets tough, the tough get less sleep than they ever needed, perform things in a record amount of time, have far more energy than they ever imagined, makes time to get the list done AND enjoy themselves.  Because when the alarm goes off, in my head or on my phone, my feet have hit the floor and I demand that God come along.  I've got a day to accomplish.  And get this...he comes along willingly.  Because "When all you are is glorious oh God, victorious and strong, whom shall I fear. When all you are is powerful and true and good in all you do, whom shall I fear."  When the day comes to a close I will have done all I can, because when I was weak, he was strong. 
I think of many parts of my life now as simply mind over matter.  When I run for hours on end, don't worry I will clue you in on my next running adventure soon, it's all about blocking out everything, letting your mind go numb and pressing on, only paying attention to those things that will help you complete the task in front of you...13 miles :).  When I don't want to face the school because of paperwork, meetings, questions with no answers, put your mind over matter, I don't have all the answers I can't fix every kid, but I can maybe be a light to someone.  So block out all those things that make you the doom and gloom of the office and press on...with a smile.  When I get depressed, miss my family, wish life were different, it's mind over matter and that's when I need to hit the refresh button on my faith.  Recall every good, great, abundant blessing God has given me and realize...he's not stopping there. 
So when the going gets tough, remember, we serve an awesome HUGE God.  Nothing is too big for him and you are far too important to him to ever be left out in the dust to face it alone. 

Why...

When I typed in the title for this post, Why..., it gave me a suggestion from a previous post titled, Why am I doing this, so evidently I have been down this road before. 

Work is not great, not even good on most days.  Broken record here.

So what is this purpose?  Why do I do this?

Let's start with the first one.  What is the purpose of all this? 
1. If you don't know pain, you can never fully understand the joy. 
2. Learning to say No.
3. Truly understanding that a workout is not something you do to get skinny.  You do it so your sweat glands cry instead of your eyes.  You do it so your brain stops over analyzing and goes numb.  You do it so you feel the strength surge through your body.  You do it for you.
4. Someone needs me, I just don't know it yet.
5. A coworker saying- "There is a special place in heaven for Krystal."


Second, Why do I do this?
1. Money- Thank God I have a job.
2. I am to strong willed to give up.
3. The hope/ belief it will get better and I want to be around when it does.
4. The people who have been brought into my life because of this job.
5.  The student that needs me. 

In conclusion I have learned that maybe I was put in the job to value my running for the purpose of my health and well being.  Not to run for the purpose of being able to eat more desserts.  ;)

No worries, the body blast is still in full BLAST!  However, my blogging abilities have been cut because welp...time keeps moving faster and faster.  Today, 45 min of running finished off with Zumba in the dark.  I love those classes. We turn off the lights and have black lights and such and dance our hearts out.  I dance harder and with less thought when I dance in the dark.  Sort of like singing in the shower. :)

"Learn to Dance in the Rain."...or dark.

Time

Time is flying by.  The teachers and students have discovered that there are 16 school days until Christmas break, which means 20 days til the second semester starts and I am halfway done with the school year. 

How will I ever get things done?!?!?!

With lists. :) Starting with the grocery list.  Not sure what lunch will be tomorrow since I am out of hummus and apples, my go to lunch.  So I guess it means cereal...oh wait I'm out of that too.  So how about bread with cheese sandwich...gonna be dry no butter in the house.  You get the picture looks like animal crackers and yogurt for tomorrow.  Groceries after school. 

Speaking of lists and time.  I am definitely back in the swing of the body blast.  The HIT routine on Monday, with a 100 workout on Tuesday: 100 Jumping Jacks, 90 bicycle crunches, 80 squats with a 12lb. weight, 70 scissor leg lifts, 60 jumping jacks, 50 bicycles crunches, 40 squats with 12 lb. weight, 20 jacks and a 10 min run to finish it off.  Today, Wednesday, was a 60 min. run which was a total of 6 mi.  This is in preparation for the next challenge.  More information to come.  Lets just say Milwaukee to Chicago relay...killer.  Training starts NOW!

The one time in my life when time stands still, when on the revolving wheel of doom aka. treadmill for 60 min.  Yup passes pretty slow, good thing Friends was on TBS. 

Zumba tomorrow with a Booty Blast- from a fellow blogger, on Friday. 

That's all for now!