Strength

So, this has been a very trying week...

• My car needs about $1800 of work. Unfortunately, buying a new one isn't an option.
• Because I need a car to drive to work, I had to temporarily rent a car that I nicknamed the "pimp mobile". It was a Chrysler 300 and it smelled like pot.
• A friend offered to let me drive her husbands old Honda (he has a truck) which has forced me to relearn stick shift...I haven't driven stick since I was 16 years old.
• And most importantly, I completed week 2 of Boot Camp.

So, I never thought I would say this but I like Boot Camp...in fact, I sort of get excited about going each session. Although I haven't dropped 15lbs in a week like they do on The Biggest Loser, I feel strong. When I move or walk or run I feel this strength I have never felt before. My back doesn't hurt and I am challenging myself in so many different ways. I am not one to try things that I may not do well and this has forced me to do just that.

Who knew that Boot Camp can be fun...maybe I should have tried this years ago when Karen kept bugging me to try it with her:)

PS: Is there such thing as a workout high because I think I am on it :)

I didn't move here for this!

I was very happy to leave behind the crazy Chicago weather...especially the snow. This morning I learned that snow is possible in NC.


This is my VERY snowy back porch. We have only accumulated 3 or so inches but of course, the world here has shut down. No school and many businesses are either closed or on delay. Being a hospital, we obviously cannot close so I came to work and honestly the roads were fine. A ton of our clinic staff called in (what??) and many patients are cancelling. Apparently, the locals seem to freak out when they see white flakes in the sky. I was forewarned by many coworkers that the worst thing about being on the roads in NC when it is snowing, are the other drivers.

Road Trip

So, I may have mentioned that I "misplaced" my keys at Christmas so my sister was kind enough to let me drive her car back home until I could send her my spare key.  Well, I of course found my keys as soon as I got home but we still needed to exchange cars.  It was a nice treat to drive her Santa Fe but I was ready to have my little Saturn back.  Deb was kind enough to road trip to Beckley, WV today and despite some snowy and wet roads, we made it.  I wish i could say the same for my little car.

About 10 miles from Beckley, my sister said my car started making a terrible noise, the engine light came on and my car began shaking once she started to slow down.  Of course, its Sunday in WV so there are NO service stations open.  After talking with my dad and my brother in law, it was decided it was one of three things all which made it potentially safe for us to drive back to Durham.  On the highway, my car was fine....as we came to a stop it felt like my car was held together by dental floss and bubble gum.  Needless to say, we made it home and tomorrow I will learn how much damage I will be paying for...UGH!

The one cool thing was as we drove home, we continued to pass by signs for the Inauguration.  After many tries we captured a photo that was relatively clear and reminded us that change is on its way!  

Happy Inauguration Day!

Squats and Sushi

So, I am excited that this is not only a long weekend but it is a relatively unplanned weekend.  Sure, there are always things to do around the house, errands to run but there are only a few things that HAVE to be done.  I love it!  Deb D came into town last night.  We did some quick catching up and then I was off to Boot camp Day 3 which is also the completion of my first week in the 6 week program.  

Kindly coach did not make us run outside, instead we did a quick warm up of 200 jump ropes.  He decided we would have two WOD's (Workouts of the day) so we quickly moved into a timed workout of wall ball, step-ups and ring pulls.  We did three circuits of 21-15-9 reps of each and he listed our time.  I actually finished second and I was pretty proud.  WOD #2 was TOUGH!  It was an alternating workout of squats and push-ups. (Michelle and Andy, it reminded me of the workout you two did at the beach last year.)  It started with 50 squats followed by 5 push ups, then 40 squats and 10 push ups.  This continued on until we did 10 squats and 25 push ups.  Let me tell you right now, I have NO upper body strength so I was in pain by the end and I certainly didn't finish 2nd :)

I dragged my exhausted body home, washed up and changed and then Deb and I met two friends out for at Shiki Restaurant for SUSHI!  I have decided sushi is the BEST way to end a workout.  It's healthy, yummy and SAKE makes all the pain go away!!  

Boot Camp Day 2

So, last night was my 2nd day with boot camp. As usual we began with a run but our coach was kind enough to keep it short since it is cold here (according to southern weather people.) Coach Dave said we would focus on arms so I assumed that meant no squats for the night. WRONG! We cycled through four rotations that included 4 minutes of squats (as many as you could do in 20 second intervals with a 10 second break.) We also did kettle bell swings, wall ball, push ups and our newest pain inducer, ring pull ups (gymnastic rings).

Today I am still a little sore from squats but I can still walk the steps at work so I think I will survive. My arms are a bit sore and I am assuming they will be VERY sore tomorrow since I have no upper body strength. Overall, yesterdays workout although difficult, was tolerable. I am thinking that coach went easy on us since it was day 2 and we were all sore.

Session 3: Weights !!

No pain...no gain!

So, I may not have mentioned that I have convinced some family members as well as 6 co-workers to run the Cooper River Bridge Run in April. It's a 10K so I am well into my couch to 5K training program to get me ready for April. Thank goodness I held onto my program from the Soldier Field 10 mile because it was easy to tweak for a 10K.

Stupidly, I also signed up for a 6 week boot camp which started yesterday...BIG MISTAKE!

Crossfit Fitness offers boot camp 3days a week for 6 weeks. I actually thought it would be a good supplement to my running. Well, considering I can barely sit down today...I am not so sure it was such a good idea. The idea behind crossfit is that it is a strength and conditioning program that combines a variety of exercises and movements at high intensity (which is why I cannot sit today.) We are a group of 12 women of a variety of fitness levels and we have a coach who leads us through the exercises. At the end of our warm-up (which lasts about 45 minutes and includes a mile run) we do our workout . The workout is timed and this week it consisted of squats, kettlebell swings and wallball tosses. We do three circuits of eat as fast as possible and in each round the reps decrease from 21 to 15 to 9.

I'm still not sure if my body is going to allow my to run this afternoon. I'll keep you posted :)

Biking, Runnning and Tuna Tar-Tar...OH MY!

So, this weekend was my mom's 64th birthday. Now that I am only a few hours away is it not an option for me to miss any sort of holiday or festivity. So on Friday I packed up and headed to Charleston, SC to see the parents.

Friday: I arrived and was whisked off on a bike ride by my dad who gave me a tour of the area around their house. They live in a development surrounded my bike paths and ponds so it was a very pretty ride. And its true, riding a bike is like...riding a bike. Dad cooked a yummy fish dinner and I ended the night by updating my ipod on mom's computer. Yea for new music and podcasts.

Saturday: After dad and I ran and biked (again) Mom and I ventured to all the neighboring Goodwill stores searching for t-shirts for my sister. Her newest hobby is making t-shirt quilts and she is working on one made of rock-n-roll t-shirts. We found quite a few: The Doors, AC-DC, Pink Floyd. It was surprisingly fun and we found some pretty funny t-shirts along with quite a few family reunion t-shirts...I don't think I could walk around wearing a Trout family reunion t-shirt if I wasn't part of the Trout family. Maybe its just me?!

We also made some time for my mom's favorite treat: ice cream. We headed to Marble Slab where I enjoyed chocolate ice cream with by Reeses cup and marshmallows. Whomever decided chocolate and peanut butter goes together is my HERO!

That evening we had dinner at The Woodlands Resort. All I can say is magnifique!!!

It started with two tastes: First was a spoon with what looked like a square gummi bear sprinkled with kool aid powder. In fact it was a tea flavored cube with powder that fizzed into a lemonade taste. It was a great palate cleanser and yummy too. Then it was this:

It was a single bite of salmon and crepe lasagna. SO good!

We opted for four courses (why not) although in fact we had five because the chef sent out the complimentary carrot soup for mom's birthday. And so begins the best meal ever:

Yellowfin Tuna Tartar, Green Olive Condiment, Blood Orange Supremes, Estate Bottled Olive Oil

Organic Carrot Veloute with Red Crab

Taylor Farm “Mesclun”, Crater Lake Blue, Bourbon Candied Cashews, Prosciutto, Blis Elixir

Caramelized Day Boat Scallops, Wilted Spinach, American Caviar, Champagne Emulsion

Valrhona Chocolate Bonbons, Warm Ganache, Peppermint

Needless to say, dinner was fabulous and I slept so well that night (especially since my after dinner drink was a yummy scotch!!)

Happy Birthday Momma!

House Update

So, I really haven't done much to my house since I moved in. My dad installed a ceiling fan and I have changed some light bulbs but that is about it. I have decided that I need to get moving so I have created a list of things that need to be done around the homestead. Most of it is little stiff like change the hardware on my cabinets or change alight fixture. I am having the most trouble with picking paint colors. I have learned that is just not my forte and I am stumped. Keep in mind, my kitchen cabinets are a light wood, it has minimal natural light so the color needs to remain light and my accent color is red. Any color recommendations for my kitchen are being accepted...I am stumped.

So as requested I am posting some updated pics of my living room. I have done some rearranging and I finally put my Christmas decorations away this weekend. Feel free to come visit!!

Entering the living room

Looking left in living room...the little window looks into my kitchen

Looking from my bedroom

Stacy Bon-who?

So, I moved to Ohio in the 2nd grade. At that time, I began attending school with Stacy Bongini. Stacy's mom and my dad went to high school together. Stacy lost her dad when she was three, so it was just her, her mom (Sandy-you NEVER called her Mrs. Bongini) and her brother, Steve who is the same age as my brother.

I LIVED at their house growing up! Everyone wanted to live at their house growing up. Why?
1) Sandy never cooked so they always ate out. If you were there, you got to eat out too!
2) Their freezer and pantry was stocked with junk food: snickers, Reeses Cups, Little Debbie snack cakes...anything and everything!
3) Stacy had no bedtime so we could stay up as long as we wanted. To a 10 year old, that is HEAVEN!
4) Stacy had two German Shepards: Xito (pronounced Zeeto) and Cujo (like the movie) and they were awesome. The Bongini's never locked their house (there was no need) and if the dogs knew you it was no problem to walk in the back door. If they didn't, your life flashed before your eyes as the dogs would come charging toward your face.
5) Christmas Eve was so fun! Every year since I was 14 or so, I have gone to Stacy's for Christmas Eve. I usually wouldn't go over until after 9 so that she and her family could open presents with her grandparents. Once that was done, Stacy and I would spend the rest of the evening eating cookies, wrapping presents, repeating lines from A Christmas Story and watching the Pope, secretly wondering if he would make it thorough the entire Midnight Mass on TV that year.

To this day, if I am in Ohio (I think i have only missed 2 since 1990) I still go to Stacy's for Christmas Eve. Things are a little different:

• Her mom is no longer with us nor are the dogs
• We are old enough to have wine now instead of soda
• It's no fun watching the new pope...he's a little more functional than PJP2
• We now have little kids (Stacy's cousins)to entertain us instead of the dogs

But we still watch A Christmas Story every year!!

Holidays on the Range!

So, I spent Christmas in Ohio with the family. Although I had no big plans, I feel like it was a full 6 days. My sister has a new house so all 11 of us fit quite comfortably and yes, i got a bed this year. Miracles do happen!!My sister Deb and her fiance, Michael

Tuesday: Arrive around 6pm and went to dinner with Deb, Mike and kids at Pangrazio's Pizza. Our waitress was terrible but the pizza was delish!

Wednesday: My parents arrived at 3am after sitting in snow in the mountains of West Virginia. We went to church (no, nothing came crashing down when I entered) and then I went to Stacy's for Christmas Eve. (see next post)

Thursday: Presents, games, champagne and clams casino...need I say more!!!

Mom and her stocking...she was very excited for her nail file and chap stick!

Dad and brother, Tom. I have a similar photo of them from every year!

Dad and I cuddled up watching The Dark Knight (sooo good!)

My nieces-Sydee, Marina and Nocera...pure entertainment!

Friday: Games and leftovers. I went out that evening with some friends from high school who I had not seen in years. It was so fun!!! When I arrived home, I placed my keys in a spot where I was sure to find them the next day.

Saturday: Keys are lost and I offered $20 to my nieces and nephew if they found them. Attended my cousin's wedding. It was nice but tame compared to the latest weddings I have attended (Thanks Sean and Ali!) I was home playing Scrabble with the family pretty early!

Sunday: Still no keys. My sister kindly offered to let me borrow her Santa Fe since she was going out of town for a week anyway. I will send my spare to her and we'll meet halfway to exchange cars. Apparently, everyone who drives I-77 decided to drive on Sunday. Traffic was backed up for miles and I was stopped for a good hour in the mountains. I finally made it home around 8:30 at night. I quickly unloaded my car and opened a gift bag only to find my keys. Yes, I had them the WHOLE time. I kept looking in that bag but didn't see them. Oops!!!

I am currently test driving my sister's Santa Fe for a few weeks. I am not going to lie, its nice to be in a car larger than a tin can. Not that I do not love my little Saturn...