Back at it!

That's right, I'm back at it....

At what you ask?

At running....

I did a 5K on campus on December 5th and it was SOOOOO COLD!!  My lungs burned for hours afterwards and the whole race was treacherous!! I hated it.

After that, I didn't run for about a month and a half... I know, crazy.  I went from running 4-6 times a week to nothing.
I loved sleeping in and not braving the cold... but I wasn't feeling well about it.  I was lethargic and really had very little energy.  I just could not bring myself to run outside in the freezing weather.  I knew it wasn't good for my lungs and I was risking injury.
So, two friends at work kept mentioning this half marathon and how they'd start training on the indoor track at work until the weather got better to run outside.
And so I did it.
I signed up for the half and started going to the track before work in the morning.  On MWF when Maddie goes to preschool, I go at 6am with a friend from work (who doesn't have to be up until 8 for work, but goes with me to keep me company, which is so nice!!) and on TTH we go at 7am!

The half marathon is pretty great too.  It is in NH around Lake Winnepesaukee and you can be a "Wish Maker" by raising money for the "Make a Wish Foundation" while running.  The minimum donation is $150 which is so do-able!
So I am doing it... Here's my fundraising page if you're interested.   If you're not familiar with this foundation, which I am pretty sure most people are - but, I learned more after one of my best friends, Meredith, took a job granting wishes for them... They grant wishes for terminally ill children.  I can't imagine having a child with a terminal illness, but I do know that I would want every day of their life (however short) to be spectacular... and this foundation helps do just that!    Can't get much better than that.

I think my next half-marathon after this one will benefit the Children's Hospital in Boston if they do that.  I owe a lot to that hospital and I know exactly what those kids and parents go through and just how awesome the doctors, surgeons and nurses are... so yes,  I really like doing these things that have a purpose!!!

I've also decided that I'd like to partner my training with the remainder of my weight-loss.  Now, don't get all worried about me... I'm fine!  I just still have about 7 lbs to go to get to where I was at before I had Maddie.  And yes, I know I look fine.  I do know, however, that I can look better and feel better.  My jeans can fit better, my shirts can fit better and I FEEL better if I were down those 7 pounds.  I know already that in training for the last half marathon, I didn't really lose a ton of weight, but I did tone up.  I'm not one for watching what I eat.  In fact, I usually exercise so that I don't have to watch what I eat...
However, after getting this snazzy new phone (it's an andriod and has an app for that!) I downloaded an app called MyFitnessPal.  This might sound much like a commercial in a minute, but you'll see why.  I LOVE IT!!!
You enter your weight, your height, your daily activity (if you sit at a desk most of the day or are active) etc.  Then you tell it what your goal is (to lose weight, to maintain your weight, to gain weight or whatever your goal might be) and it calculates what your daily caloric intake should be in order to achieve that goal.
After it does that, you're all set!
You just enter the foods you eat after every meal and it calculates all of your nutritional information - telling you how many calories you have for the rest of the day.  It also asks about your cardiovascular activities and strength training activities.  Once you enter those, it adds calories etc. to your goal for the day.  I'm not crazy with it, but it is totally helping me learn what foods are healthier, what options would be better for me, and keeps me from overeating!!

There are a few things I love about it... besides the obvious!  Firstly, it has a bar code scanner.  So, if I don't feel like entering all of the info from my salad dressing bottle (all of the info meaning, brand name and type) I can just scan the bar code, it finds the dressing and adds all of the nutritional info for me!!
Secondly, it has ALL SORTS of food in there.  For example: we have a coffee shop near us called "Mary Lou's" and they sell specialized coffees.  I figured I'd have to enter every ingredient individually, and nope!! I typed in "Minty Lou" and the thing had all of the nutritional information for my specialized coffee!!! Incredible!!!  Also, at work, I eat in the cafeteria each day (it's free and they have a salad bar that rivals Ruby Tuesday's!) Sometimes they have things on there that I'm sure wont be in the app... but sure enough, it links with Sodexho (our food service provider's) nutritional info too!!

Another great thing is that you don't actually need the app on your phone.  You can go to www.MyFitnessPal.com and do it all from your computer.  There you can connect with other people, (like me!) using the program and encourage each other along the way!!

The other great thing is that when you're below your calories for the day, it pretty much yells at you!!! So it keeps you responsible and healthy when using it!!

So.. if you're looking for a great app or just want to log online to try something new like this... I seriously recommend it... Its got me all fired up!!

Christmas Part 2... at the Blackwell's

Can it really be over a month after Christmas?
It is... and I never updated with the Part 2 of our Christmas.

Well, on Christmas morning, after Maddie realized that Santa had come, we all got up.  I made Monkey Bread (a tradition that both our families had done growing up and I have continued to keep it going!)  We opened our presents.
Maddie was excited but not in that annoying "give me more presents" way that kids can be.  She was happy to watch us open presents too.  She'd remind us that it was our turn if she had opened a few and we hadn't.
I think both Ryan and I would have been fine if neither of us had anything under the tree - we were so content watching her enjoy everything!

After opening all of the gifts, we had a lazy but great morning together.  After lunch we packed up and headed to the cape to see my parents.
Our plan was to stay one night with my parents and wake up on the 26th and celebrate Christmas then with my sister and her family and my parents.  It was great.
We all went to church (it was a Sunday - and my parents' 40th wedding anniversary) so that was really special to be with them for the whole day.
The tree was packed.  Between Becky and her boyfriend and us, there were six kids and a whole lot of presents!!!

This was actually well after Christmas day but how stinkin' cute is she!?!

The girls had so much fun playing together... it doesn't show very well simply because they were exhausted!! But they are so cute together!!

We actually got snowed in the next day and played cards and games all day... so much fun...   The kids were all so great and I really really really love our family time together.

Christmas at the Surgens'! Part 1

I said earlier what a great age Madison is at... how fun Christmas time was... Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were so fun!!

On Christmas Eve, we celebrated and exchanged gifts with Ryan's parents.  They gave us a sweet new camera, so we tried our best to document!!  After a great day with them, we went to our old parish for 5pm church, then went to Ryan's cousins (Jane and Bob's) house for an annual Christmas Eve party.  All of Ryan's male family members play the guitar (they get together almost weekly to "jam") so they brought guitars and we all sat around and sang Christmas Carols.  It sounds hokey, but it was so fun!! And of course, my 2 year old who knows almost every carol just loved it!!!

After Jane and Bob's party, we went home (it was roughly 10pm by the time we got home!  2 hours past Maddie's bedtime!)  We did all of the traditional things little kids do before bedtime, and she fell sound asleep by 10:30pm.

This is her laying out her stocking....

She could almost fit inside her giant stocking!

of course, cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for his reindeer!

Then on Christmas Morning... this is what she woke up to:

She came into the bedroom and said, "Mumma, Santa put M&M's in my stocking, just like I asked!"   So cute!!!

Stay tuned for the opening of gifts and Christmas at the Blackwell's!

giveaway from a friend

I love blog giveaways - although I haven't won any yet, but I think it's great that people do this!!!

Here is one of my bff's blogs and she's doing a fun giveaway!

You've Been Running Through My Mind....