What I ate Wednesday

I started the day off right.   I was short on time and I had to get to work so I was banking on a protein smoothie from the store since I had to stop there anyway.   The thing I found though is that there is a lot of fruit in that smoothie so I was sort of turned off by that.   I probably wont get one again because of that reason but I did drink it and it was delicious.   Here is what I brought to work with me.   I didn't end up eating the banana because of all the fruit in the smoothie.    The wrap was a veggie wrap.

 

I also bought a Starbucks Refresher.   I love these things.

After work (2pm) I was famished and quickly scarfed down these:

At 4pm I was hungry again so I had some peanuts.

 

Then there was the Monthly Fleet Feet/Pace Setters Pub Run.   Kim, Matt, and Alicia were all there so it was a lot of fun.   Fun involves beer and food so here is what I ate and drank there:

1 lone beer.   I didn't have time for 2.

Nacho Nacho Man! I want to be your Nacho Man!

There was a taco there at one point.  

So....honestly this isn't a 100% typical day.    I sort of ate around the fact that I would be running at 6pm and then let all hell break loose after I ran.    My motto is  "Eat like you ran 26.2 miles" at all times.   It all will balance out in life. 

Shout out to Greene's Pour House.   It was a new location for the monthly pub run and they did a great job.   I don't think anyone can complain with FREE beer and FREE food.   

Get $#%#@! fast plan.

Kim made a schedule for her and Rachel about a month ago and I sort of just joined in on the fun a few weeks ago.   It's been going well and I guess I do better with running if someone tells me "Do this!"  I suck at making a schedule and I also suck and just winging it so I'm officially part of the "Get @#$@%^#$ Fast Plan!"  

As you can see, this include speed work.   Something that is so foreign to me.   I'm working on it, but I'm not fast.   I'm mediocre at best and I would love to change that.   Here's hoping! 

My long run went great today.   I had 7 on the schedule and we are supposed to get an ice storm later today so I opted to hit it up outside since it has been a while and probably will be a while after today.  

The sidewalks were slippery and a lot of people hadn't properly taken care of their sidewalks after the snow we had a couple days ago so it was a bit of a challenge at times but breathing the fresh air was amazing.   The entire time I felt pretty awesome even with a bit of knee pain toward the end, I didn't want to let up running.   I also have to give some props to Mike.   He got me a pretty pink Ipod Nano for Christmas and I used it for the second time today and I'm in love.  It made my run that much more enjoyable. 

 Thanks lover. (FYI I found out he reads my blog...at least he did one day and then repeated a bunch of stuff to me...I almost died)



I'm officially moving locations at work this week.   I'm sad to leave where I am comfortable but this location gives a lot more opportunity for learning.   I will not work directly with any supervisor and I pretty much am in charge of all up front services all on my own.   I'm a bit nervous!   I'm hoping to get back to my original location after a month or so since this location is a good amount further from my home.    Here's to embracing change! 

If the roads aren't too bad tonight, I hope to get to hot yoga.   I had to miss out last week and I miss it!  I also plan on making a huge pot of veggie and bean chilli today to heat up for lunch all week long too.   It's my absolute favorite and I need to share the recipe I use for it.   

I hope you have an amazing Sunday!

Forgive me, for I have sinned.

I realize that in the past, I have done some things on Facebook that would make me seem, should I say it? 

Annoying. 

I can only promise to learn from here on out that I am straight up annoying sometimes and I'm sure I've lost "friends" because of it. 

1.  I have realized I can go to workout without posting it on Facebook before or after.   Sure there is some accountability when you do that but when I finish a run and am excited about it, pretty much no one else is excited for me and it only comes off as bragging when I post "16 miles done!!!  YEAH BABY!!!" 

I can't promise I wont post race pictures though because those are the only pictures taken of me now that I'm always behind the camera.  

2.  I sometimes complain about stupid stuff.   I almost posted on Facebook just this morning "I hate that Mike works every other weekend" but then I realized, WHAT A LAME STATUS!  No one gives a crap if Mike's working.   Poor Sarah can't get her long run in outside this weekend.   Sarah can't get lunch with her friend.  Boohoo Sarah.   Man up! 

3.  Sometimes I want to bust out and post "Mike got me flowers!"  but then I realize no one wants to see that either.   Everyone wants everyone else to be miserable so any time you post something good is happening, you get no likes or replies because everyone hates you.   Except maybe your mom.  

4.  Kids posts are cute, SOMETIMES.  I will sometimes post a conversation I have had with my kids.   One went like this:

Katelyn Said "Mom, can you teach me how to sew later?"  and in 1/10th of a second Makenzie replied "Maybe later Dad can teach you how to Dougie."   At that moment it was hilarious.   Katelyn and I both looked at each other and laughed.  I still laugh thinking about it.   She has comedic wit and I love it.  

What you will not find me doing is a daily report telling you all about what my kids did that day.  How smart they are.   That they are amazing.   That they are the cutest kids in the world.  

Every parent should feel this way about their children so you shouldn't have the need to tell everyone else on Facebook how you feel about your children.   It should be a given!   Special moments I love seeing.   Funny videos as well.   Please continue to share those with me! 

5.  Telling my spouse I love them so much on Facebook.   Haha.   Just kidding.   I have never done this and I never will.  

My god, you live with the man.   Why are you telling him through Facebook how amazing he is and how much you love him?   Why don't you both get off of the computer and actually say it to each others face.  I think that will enhance that loving relationship even more. 

Once again, I'm sorry for doing any of the first 4.   It's a work in progress.

Are you guilty of any of the above? 

What status updates annoy you? 

Three Things Thursday

1.  I've always sworn off Lululemon.   Their prices are insane and their ethics/morals are always in question.   That is until I found one of their skirts in  my size for cheap on their website.   Cheap at least in the mind of Lululemon.

 I now understand the love.

This skirt is great.   The fit is amazing.   The legs don't slide up.   There is no shifting.   I have a feeling you will see a lot more of this skirt in upcoming race pictures.  

Worst blogging picture ever.

2.  I have been having some knee issues lately and I'm not putting on that many miles so I decided it's time to switch out the old shoes for some new ones I had stashed away.

I have been running in the yellow ones since the the first days of September and they have served me well.   Now, it's on to purple.   The purple are a more "Sarah" color instead of the yellow that screams "Look at how slow my feet are moving!!" as I "jog" along.   What is even better is that I got the purple ones for over half the price of the yellow ones.   Thank you Cyber Monday.


3.   My girls got out of school early today so I had to come up with something for them to do so that I could lounge around and write the forsaken blog post.   Insert Shrinky Dinks. 

They had no idea what I was having them do with "color the paper and you will see!" but once we put them in the oven, it was like magic.   I told Makenzie it would take about 3 minutes for them to shrink and after 7 seconds she asked "Has it been 3 minutes yet?" 

We sat there, just like when I was a kid, peaking into the oven window.   I can honestly say it's still just as fun to watch as an adult as it was as a child. 

Why write a blog if you can't create your own content?

As a blogger, I often check where my hits come from.   I get a lot of people that will make one of my recipes, take their own pictures and put the link of my blog to credit me for the recipe.   Usually I don't have an issue with this.  

Sometimes I will get an email to ask for permission to use my recipe.   Sometimes I don't.   I always appreciate the email and have yet to tell anyone no to using my recipes on their blog.   I'm sure there are many times that people have used a recipe from my blog and given me no credit at all and I have no clue it's even out there.  

That's on them though.  

Recently, I had a hit from a site that I had not seen before.  I went to check it out and found one of my recipes.   It's by far the most popular post on my blog.   It was the Almond Sheet Cake.   Once I found the post featuring this recipe, it bothered me instantly.   She used my picture.   No proof of her even making this recipe.    She also straight up copy and pasted my entire recipe onto her blog.   She did no work on her post at all.   She stole my picture, that I took with my expensive camera.   She took my typing, that I took time to type out and basically took my entire post (Minus my funny jokes.  No?) and put it as her own.   So it got me wondering and I started to copy and paste some of her other posts into Google to see if she took other peoples pictures and posts as well.  

Sure enough!   Straight up copy and pasted from other peoples websites and used their pictures as well!   What was worse is that on most of those posts, she gave NO credit at all so these people probably have no idea that she is taking their content.  

I tried to find a contact button but there wasn't one so I had to leave a comment that was to be "Approved" before it was published.   I explained to her how I felt.   I explained that there is etiquette when it comes to using recipes from other blogs.  I also explained to her that what she did could actually land her a lawsuit.   Was I planning on suing her?  Absolutely not.

I asked her to please take the post down with my pictures as well.   I wasn't mean in my post to her, but I really did want her to understand how much work each blogger puts into their posts and what she was doing is simply unfair.  

When I make a recipe, it takes me hours to get one post out of it.   I first have to buy all of the ingredients.   I have to do a trial and error often times to get the recipe just right.   Once I cook it up, I usually take step by step pictures.    This makes the process of making it 3 times longer because often times my hands are dirty from either cutting meat, dicing onions or mushing things with my hands so with each step I have to stop, wash my hands, dry them, take a picture and then start the process all over again.   Then once it's done cooking, I have to take the pictures of the finished product.   This is a long process in it's own! 

The lighting has to be perfect.   The food has to look just right.   If you want your food to be featured on any other website, it has to be nearly perfect.   

In the end, she did take the post off of her website within 24 hours of me sending her the comment. 

All of my favorite blogs are my favorite because they are original.   They have a person behind them that I can sense through their writing.   They aren't generic just to get followers.   They aren't a cult.    I like some funny content as well.   I like my blogs just like I like my people in real life.   I like them real.  

I know that you're supposed to have a "brand" if you want success with your blog but my "Brand" is me.   I belch like no one else, I swear, I run, I blow snot rockets constantly if I run outside, I drink beer, I care about how I look, I am a mother, I am a wife, I am a friend,  I will help anyone out that needs help, I like random acts of kindness, I am an idiot sometimes,  I'm a giant, etc etc etc.   The list could go on and on.  

In no way would I consider my blog "successful" but I have found some completely and totally fun and awesome people through blogging and I call that a success in its own.   Does Pioneer Woman know who I am?  No.   Does SUAR have any clue that I have a blog?  Absolutely not.   But that isn't what matters in the end.    What matters is that I stay true to who I am, and continue to come up with original posts that maybe 3 people read (Hi mom!) 

Maybe some day Google will have to cut me a check for all this great content. 

Its my last year in the 25-29 age group.

Today is my birthday.   I am officially in the last year of my 20's and am as disgusted with it as I thought I would be.   I can remember back to when I was a child and my parents were in their 30's and they were so old. 

Now that's going to be me. 

This year I want to run with more purpose.   I feel like I just run to run.  Junk miles some would say. 

I want to run with determination.  If only I could have an ounce of her determination.    She lost her shoe at the very start of the race and still managed to get 3rd.   She.Is.Amazing.  This will forever be one of my favorite pictures ever. 

This year I will be more balanced and stick with it.   I am taking yoga, doing weight training and taking spin classes.   I am already seeing improvements and that is always the best motivation. 

I am going to continue to make my life less dependent on things that aren't good for me.   This does not include beer.   I think beer is a great source of vitamin fun.

Less fast food.   It's so easy and so delicious.   I am so much better at this but I could still use improvement against those fries.   They call my name every single time.

I'm the one that was only invited because I was their sister.

That's my list for the year.   I want to turn back the clock a little so I can keep looking like I'm in my 20's another few years at least.  

Start the year off right.

Even though I was up until 12:01 last night I got up early (thanks to my kids) and managed to get myself off to the gym.   I had some groin pain when I did the elliptical the other day so I wasn't sure what to expect but I thankfully didn't have any other pain today.   I hate you random pain that makes me freak out.  

I expected the place to be full with all of the New Years resolutioners but I apparently beat the crowd at 9am and the place was at it's normal capacity.   I started with the bike and I absolutely hated the seat on it so I only made it 20 minutes before I said screw it.   I went over to the treadmill and decided to run for the first time in too long.   Thankfully I can still knock 3 miles out without much of a problem.   The only problem?

Fix your TV YMCA.   I don't enjoy the snow while watching Bravo's Watch What Happens Live Marathon.  

Did you get up and work out this morning?  

Was your gym busier than normal?