Fudge, Star Wars and Other Randomness

My pistachio fudge turned out pretty good! I actually think it's more of a nougat texture, but it's tasty!

I used this recipe, but I let it cook a little longer than it said because I felt like the mixture needed a little longer to smooth out and become less gritty. If I make it again I would use a larger pan so the fudge would come out a little thinner. It's very sweet, so I think it would be better if it was more spread out. A better pistachio to fudge ratio. 

I cut some seriously consistently sized pieces too. Ha!

We'll see what other people think on Christmas.

The Sound of Music was on tv the other night as a sing along - it was basically movie karaoke. Pretty funny.

Tom and I went and saw the new Star Wars on Monday.

And again on Tuesday.

Tom is a big Star Wars fan, so the fact that he wanted to see it again is a big endorsement for the movie. I really liked it too! Have you seen it yet?

I can't remember the last time gas was this cheap!

I got this body butter as part of an Influenster campaign, and I ended up really liking it. I'm officially out!

I'm still looking for my motivation. It's been really hard to get out the door for a run this week. I made it out on Tuesday for 6 miles around the neighborhood, and I wasn't ridiculously slow, which was nice. My made up training plan has gone out the window this month. I'll be back to an actual training plan in January, so my goal right now is to do what I can so I don't feel like I'm starting over when that time comes.

And since no post is complete without a Buddy picture:

Pistachio Fudge and Yoga!

I've been meaning to get out and meet some people around here. I have my running buddies, but they're a 45 minute drive away since we moved.

This morning I made myself go out of my comfort zone and went to a yoga class outside the house.

Crazy, right?

I was a little nervous because I haven't been to a yoga class in years - I've just done yoga on my own or with videos. It ended up being funny though because for all my worrying, there were only 3 other people at the class, and none of them were crazy yoga masters.

Other than my inability to breathe with the teacher counting, I managed to keep up. Plus, now that I've been to that studio, I won't be such a baby about going again.

Funny story: when I was sitting on the floor during the warm up I looked out the window and thought, "what a pretty view!" All I could see were trees and sky. When I stood up, I realized that the studio backs up onto a cemetery. So maybe pretty wasn't the right word...

This afternoon I got some jambalaya going in the crock pot for dinner and attempted to make some pistachio fudge.

I say attempted because it's still setting and I haven't tasted it yet. Hopefully it turns out and we have something to contribute to Christmas dessert!

Nothing like making candy on your patio!

Last year I made Eggnog Cookies, and man were they delicious! I had to get creative this year since we are still kitchen-less.

How was your weekend? 

Do you go to group fitness/yoga classes? 

Jingle All the Way

I saw snow this morning! It didn't stick around or anything, but it was a nice festive start to my day.

My running group (Rivertown Runners) likes to run with jingle bells the weekend before Christmas, so we were a noisy bunch on the trails today.

We had a pretty good turnout, and it was actually cold out!

I swiped this photo from the facebook page - photo credit to Joe Golden. You can see my black headband 4 in from the left.

For some reason, the run felt tougher than usual, but having people to run with always makes things go more quickly than running alone.

In house news, there hasn't been a lot going on that I can really show you pictures of. Rough electrical and plumbing just don't scream photo op.

Our shower base and tub are in now, one of these days we'll take that window out!

That right there is a 6 foot tub. It's going to be awesome to have a tub that you can actually soak in. I hate tubs where you have to choose whether you want your legs or your torso in the water.

Buddy's very excited.

Our weekend project (well, one of them) is to re-watch the Star Wars movies so we can go see the new movie on Monday or Tuesday while kids are still in school.

Have you seen the new Star Wars yet? Are you going to?

What's the last movie you saw in the theater? We pretty much never go. The last movie we saw in the theater was The Martian, but before that it was the third Hunger Games movie - we average about one per year.

Buddy The Running Dog

Have you seen my motivation anywhere? I seem to have lost it.

The last couple of days I have just NOT been feeling my runs/workouts for some reason. I have mostly been getting some decent workouts in, but I just don't want to.

I took a total rest day yesterday, and was well on my way to saying goodbye to today's run too when I saw this face:

Ooooookay, fine.

We hit the road and ended up having a nice, if slow, run. Buddy was doing really well, and every time I tried to let him take a walk break he would just keep running. He hit a new distance today - 4 miles!

He's a little tired now.

A kiddo in one of my classes gave me chocolate covered pretzels and holiday scented hand sanitizer today. Sweet.

I sent most of my Christmas presents off in the mail today. The woman at the post office was not very friendly (there's a guy who works there who is much nicer), but the end result was the same.

Oh, and if you need/want anything from PRO Compression, they're having their year end sale right now - 42% off (and free shipping!) with code: YEAREND

The code is good until the 31st - go get some socks!

The Best Intentions

I had planned on getting back to the blog sooner. The days around the holidays just go by so quickly!

I tried to update iTunes the other day. The install failed and then I had no iTunes at all. I then spent several days trying to figure out the problem. In the end, I have no idea which of the many things I tried actually solved the problem, but at least I have access to my music and audiobooks again.

Technology is fun like that.

Buddy is the best training partner. I don't know anyone who is always this excited to go for a run.

I have been taking him with me two days a week for 2-3 miles, and he's doing great! He gets so excited when I change into my running clothes, and I always feel bad when I don't take him with me. Maybe someday we'll work up to longer runs.

I couldn't pass these up at the grocery store the other day. They're already gone.

I met up with my old running group again on Saturday. I was really tired, but it ended up being a really nice run on the trails. It was almost too hot by the time we finished. Our weather is really weird right now (way too warm for December), it doesn't feel like Christmas is almost here.

When I got home I hung out (in my running gear) with the lap dog for a while.

And I learned that there is an entire channel just hanging out, waiting for the Star Wars red carpet. Seems weird.

I had a long run on my (made up) training plan for today. I was shooting for 10, but quickly realized that was not going to happen. I don't know if it was the weather, my 7 miles on Saturday, or if I'm just tired, but every mile was a struggle today.

I pushed through and my last mile was actually my fastest least slow, so at least I rallied and finished 8 miles strong.

What's your weather doing? 

How's your running lately?

Goals and Decorations

It's almost the end of the year, that time when everyone starts thinking about the things they've done and the things they wish were different. For me today, that meant thinking back over this year's races.

My main goal this year was to finish my first marathon. I wasn't really focused on getting faster, just putting in the miles to make sure I finished Steamtown upright and happy.

I ran four half marathons this year, all right around two hours. A shiny new PR evaded me all year. I feel like if I'm going to improve my times, it's going to take more than just running. If I really want to get faster, I'm going to need to mix things up, and add some - gasp - strength training. The problem with strength training is that every time I think about doing any, I think "no, I don't really want to do that." So that's something I'm going to have to work on.

We don't have a space for the Christmas tree this year, but I have decorated the lights next to the tv. Plus we put holiday M&Ms in the gumball machine, so that's festive.

I also wrapped a bunch of presents, but it's not the same without a tree. Tom keeps teasing and saying "maybe we'll have a tree next year." I told him there was no maybe about it.

We got all dressed up over the weekend for a holiday dinner. It's the one day a year that we actually dress up, so we made sure to get photographic proof.

And here's an obligatory Buddy picture for you. I know you only read the blog to see Buddy ;)

Time Flies

Well, hi there!

I feel like I haven't posted anything in forever! I keep thinking about it, and just haven't made it to the computer. There have actually been days this week that I never turned my computer on, which is rare.

I can't even say what has been keeping me away, because thinking back over the last few days, I don't really know. I don't feel like I've been doing much more than usual, but I must be, because the days keep flying by.

I've been: teaching classes, moving firewood, helping Tom assemble a garage-in-a-box for the tractor, going to the grocery store, making dinner, doing dishes, doing laundry, Christmas shopping...just living life I guess.

I actually started writing this on Wednesday afternoon, and here we are and it's Thursday. Whoops!

My running has been generally lazy since my run with the group on Saturday, but I did get in a good 4 miles worth of intervals this afternoon. I am still liking my Moov Now a lot, and I will try to get a review up for you. Eventually.

I spent more time than I care to admit carefully peeling that blue Nuun sticker off of a box today so I could add it to my training log.

The box was from this cute skullcap that I won on Twitter last week. Yay free stuff!

In case you're having Buddy withdrawals, here's a picture from the other night when he invited himself onto the couch. 

Anything new and exciting with you? How's the Christmas shopping going?