The kitchen has been my friend

Last week and this week have been all about eating at home.  For one, we are trying to save some money and two, just trying to be healthy.  So I'm not even sure I would call myself a good cook.  Hubby tells me otherwise...I just never really thought I could cook very well.  Most people think it's easier to cook for 2 or more people.  For me, it was easiest for me to just cook for myself.  I'm simple.  Give me some veggies and a little protein, I don't even have to have rice or carbs and I'm ok.  Now with three to our family and each of us with our own unique set of taste buds, sometimes I find feeding this family can be a bit challenging.  I feel like I've been doing ok for the last two weeks though.  

Tonight I just spent the last four hours in the kitchen cooking dinner for the fam bam tonight and then starting right back up again to cook dinner for tomorrow night.  Then of course there is the cleaning up part from the aftermath.  With 5lbs of ribs in the slow cooker, we decided to ask the in laws and nephews over to come help us with the meal tomorrow.  I'm trying out this recipe from Nom Nom Paleo.  

SLOW COOKER KOREAN GRASS FED SHORT RIBS

I hope they turn out ok.  There have been times where I've tried what seems to be an easy recipe, but still managed to botch it up somehow.  

Now that I've had a chance to sit down and kind of decompress, I'm really feeling the tiredness set in.  I need to get more than the 5 hours of sleep I got last night.

I'm going to get in a few minutes of P90x's shoulders and arms and then I'm calling it a night.

It's a love hate relationship

The last few days I've been waking up feeling like I've been run over by a truck.  I'm not sure what the cause is.  It's not like I've been partying or anything or working like a madwoman.  I still haven't been very successful in getting up early to workout, but at least I'm still get my workouts in.  I beat myself up in the morning every time I don't manage to get up when I want to.  Ok, so that's mostly everyday!  When I wake up though, I just want to crawl back into to bed this week, but there is no way I can do that with a little adorable two year old counting on me.  Anyway, when I do take some time to workout while my daughter naps, I feel SOOOO much better.  It really is a love hate relationship with working out lately.  Oddly enough it used to just be a love relationship.  Things have changed though.  Life is different.  I can't spend more than an hour working out, no matter how much I want to.  Sigh....

Holiday rush around

It's been a busy week with Christmas being only 3 days away!  It's also almost time to bid adieu to 2011. 

My daughter and I have been having fun starting some new family holiday traditions.  Things like making our own decorations, to baking cookies and listening to some Christmas favorites.  My daughter's favorite Christmas songs this year are "O Santa" from Mariah Carey, "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" and of course, "Jingle Bells".  

Christmas seems to be very different for her this year than it was last year.  She definitely can comprehend more about what is going on and seems to be so excited about Christmas and all it has to offer.  Of course, I'm trying my best to make sure she knows Christmas is not just simply about the presents, decorations, Christmas music and Santa Claus though, but more about the birth of Jesus Christ.  It's definitely a challenge to find some sort of balance in the world today, but I just keep trying.  I want her to have presents, but not expect them or take it for granted.  I also want her to be able to just enjoy the simple things in life instead of having to be hyperstimulated by all the chaos this world has to offer to kids nowadays.  Sigh...it's definitely a challenge, but it's a challenge that I signed up to take on!  

We are having my parents and my brother over on Christmas Eve and I've been running around the house like a madwoman trying to clean, organize and declutter all the while trying to keep the little one out of trouble.  I still have tons of stuff I need to get rid of somehow, whether it be donating, tossing or selling.  The list of things to do just never seems to end!  I shutter to think of what our house is going to look like when I go back to work full time (God willing).  It's a lot of work keeping up the house, taking care of the little one and trying to do things that I need/want to do on my own.      

Between all this running around I've been trying not to be too busy as to miss a workout.  It's during these hectic times that I value my workouts even more.  Alongside my P90x workouts this week, I've had the chance to head on out for a run twice this week.  My (running) training has been anything but consistent lately.  So far I've only logged about 7.5 miles this week, so I'm hoping to put in at least 8+ miles on Saturday morning.  I'm trying to fight the fatigue that I've been feeling for the second week now.  My mind has been trying to push my body to do more, but my body just does not seem to want to cooperate this week.  Maybe it's because it's just that time of the month or so it's supposed to be, or I'm deathly afraid of the cold, or I just want to stay in my warm bed.  It's just been so cold lately!   

To fend off the cold, tonight I'm loving my thick flannel shirt from J Crew.  I also bought a matching one for my daughter.  Who cares if it's from the boys' department.  (Shhh!!!)  We can rock em'!  I just love plaid!  Now I'm thinking I need to get a pair of plaid running shorts.  

My week so far

Once a month, I get the dreadful feeling of not wanting to workout.  I ALWAYS want to workout!  It's a battle between body and mind on how to get each other to cooperate during that time of the month.  I am just tired this week in general because I did not have a "rest day" last week.  Aside from how I'm feeling, I'm eating like junk this week.  Ok, maybe not THAT bad, but in comparison to my normal days, it's junk!

Yoga was on my P90X schedule today.  I ended up not wanting to do any working out at all.  Mentally, I just wasn't into it.  It's hard to allow myself to take a break here and there, but I guess it really is needed.

I've been debating whether or not I should buy the next P90X2 workout.  I know, I know, I haven't even finished my 90 days of my P90X workout yet.  Ok, maybe I will wait.  One thing at a time.  

What do the rest of my workout week look like?  I'm debating between the Legs and back workout or kenpo tomorrow and then Saturday I need to put in some miles.  I have the Nike+ Womens' Half marathon coming up in January and the Napa Marathon in March.  Since the Nike Womens' Half marathon back in October, I haven't been running nearly as much as I had been.  I couldn't figure out why I mentally had lost my love of running for a few months, but I got back into loving it probably by the end of November.  The longest run I've had since then has only been 10 miles.  So I'm feeling ok about running a half marathon soon, but in order for me to feel ready for the Marathon in March, I need to start increasing my mileage.

On another note...I've been consumed with a DIY project all day today.  Since my daughter woke up this morning until she napped and woke up from her nap, all I did was work on a play kitchen that I am making for her.  I have been working on building her this play kitchen from all cardboard I've collected and things around the house.  I spent the morning cutting cardboard, reinforcing joints and brainstorming on what's next.  Before lunch I dragged my daughter to Michael's to pick up some more glue, paint, fasteners and a glue gun.  After a hard day's labor of love,  here's what I ended up with:

 

It's amazing what a little paint can do!  I'm almost there.  We need handles for the doors, one more shelf put in and then any final touches.  I've been trying to hide it form her until maybe Christmas, but I have a feeling that might end up being a difficult task.  Right now, it's titter tottering on a pile of clothes in my closet.