Denver Date Night: Double Soups + International Love

Posted on February 16, 2012 | 11 Comments

Thursday is one of my happy half days!! I spent the afternoon cleaning the kitchen and sweating it out in the gym. I was so lazy, I did a 3.60 mile warm-up. I know that doesn’t sound so lazy, but it just meant I wasn’t ready to really move it! When I finally got my act together, I mixed up running at a 4.0 incline (8:14 pace) and a Nike Training Club workout.

This Hopscotch to Curl move is my new favorite. You should probably try it! I love double-tasking moves! It was part of a bonus workout I earned. Nothing I love like a workout that earns you badges and extra workouts!

Strawberry milk to refuel! I accidentally dropped the straw in the box after my first sip! What newb!

We decided to take it easy on date night this week since we ate out in the airport and whatnot this weekend so we went “cheap” at Panera.

I love my double soups!! Black Bean + Chicken Sonoma Stew. This is the third time I’ve ordered that soup. And I’ve picked out every single pea every single time.

Guess what? We chose Panera because of its key location — across the street from the library!

We had a hot date reading travel books and vacation dreaming! Don’t you love his hot socks? They’re my fave!

And we came prepared! Did you expect any less? Kevin bought me Jelly Bellies for the first time ever! I’m sure it’s the first time I asked, but still! They were awesome.

Day after Valentine’s Day they had new Hershey’s Kisses out! With coconut. Like we could resist that. And they were so delicious. I’m forcing Kevin to take them to work tomorrow so I don’t finish them off!

I couldn’t resist looking at the DR book! I love looking at the tips for tourists!! Hehe. They make me giggle. The only thing I’d seen was the monument. Ah, the wonderful monument. I was too busy with my M.Ed and my long distance boyfriend to be taking beach trips!

Luckily, the international travel section is in a low traffic area!

These were our top picks. I’dreally like to go to Austria someday and see/hear all the nerdy music stuff.

Plus this paragraph won my heart:

Ahhh… emotions about coffee.

Kevin: “What so like people all over the world like coffee?” Uhhh… yeah. Someday I will win him over to love coffee! I’ll never forget that was Grandma Mary Kay’s only concern about us getting married. Haha. He’ll drink a mocha when pressed, but can barely finish off a Tall.

What city/country would you most like to visit? Vienna, Greece, Ireland, and Spanish-speaking countries are high on my list. I also really want to go to D.C. I’ve never been!

Favorite vacation you’ve ever taken? Probably visiting the States when I lived in the DR. Lol. That sounds hilarious, but I missed Kevin. Not to mention the shopping! ;)

Favorite Jelly Belly flavor? Man, I loved those Juicy Pear Jelly Bellies.

Related Fun Article: Most Romantic Places to Kiss Around the World

 

 

 

 

 

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Posted in Books, Fitness, Food, Running, Travel

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Chocolate, PB, & Fear Vegetables

Posted on February 15, 2012 | 10 Comments

I woke up with a little Valentine’s Day hangover this morning and wasn’t in the mood for anything but my cafe.

(Mischief  Champion)

So I just sat around looking sullen while Kevin ate breakfast and drank a few sips of my coffee. It’s always too hot for me until I get to work!

Around 10AM, my stomach had righted itself, and I dug out my PB Puffins. Yay!! I actually stayed at work for a lunch meeting today! I’m such a young professional! Haha. We ordered Jimmy John’s which I was a little skeptical about, but it turned out okay. Trust me when I say that I Googled the nutrition facts to find something that wasn’t a complete carb trap. The Veggie Club has 773 calories and 38 grams of fat – FYI!

And some chocolate for my afternoon snack!! I love these little guys. They’re on sale this week at King Sooper’s! I remember always wanted to buy the mini chocolate soymilks when I lived in the DR, but I actually did the peso-dollar calcuation (for once in my life) and they were about $3 a piece!!

Today’s workout: 5.10 miles running + a kettlebell workout!

We completed a version of this Summer Bikini Blast workout from MyoMytv. I always study the videos and take notes before I go to the gym. I swear I was even dreaming about kettlebell form last night! I kid you not!

I actually talked Kevin James into trying it! That’s a miracle. He’s usually very skeptical of the tabata-ish workouts I do. It’s probably because I make so many painful noises. I got to practice my personal training skills on him! His squats and lunges made me very nervous!! We really need to work on his form! :)

I will say he took my pointers very well. And he should. They were mostly direct quotes from the like of Jillian Michaels! He did get a little sassy with me a few times, but I know it’s tough being beat by a girl. I got my karma for being a pain because I cranked my neck weird while doing show-off jumping jacks. It takes a special to feel the need to show off during jumping jacks… It still feels weird to turn my head!

Today I conquered one of my fear vegetables. Kale!

Whole Grain Spaghetti with Garlicky Kale & Tomatoes.

It was NOT love at first bite. But after a few tries, it tasted kind of like a crunchy spinach/broccoli type thing. I like spinach and broccoli!! I’ll keep working on it!

My other fear food is edamame. Yeah, I thought it was a vegetable there for a second. Give me a break. It looks like peas! Yuck!

I tricked Kevin into doing dishes while I constructed the ultimate chocolate dessert for him. Really, it was just leftovers of the 2-ingredient fudge and last night’s cake crumbled up in a mini trifle bowl! I licked the frosting knife for my dessert. My life is so rough. Haha.

Kevin also scored these questionable chocolates that I found on my desk this morning….  What a brave soul.

What about you? Any chocolate and/or pb today? Both. Kind of.

Any fear foods/vegetables? Not to be confused with vegetables you dislike. Ones that you are actually afraid to try.

Would you eat a questionable sweet? Just something to think about.

P.S. Thanks for all your sweet requests for the second installment of our How We Met series. These things take time. I have to wordsmith them, unlike my daily onslaught of words posts!

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Posted in Fitness, Food

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<3 Day!

Posted on February 15, 2012 | 17 Comments

Knocking them off the list!

And doing it pink!

Today was our first time trying out the pool at our gym. It was tricky! I had a hard enough time getting my swim cap and goggles on let alone swimming!! I had Coach Kevin at my side giving me pointers (he was a lifeguard and taught swim lessons), but I ended up downing a lot of water up my nose. By the time we got home, I was super nauseated.

My sweetheart made me some Annie’s mac ‘n’ cheese in bed while I digested my chlorine. It passed after about 30 minutes, but I’m nervous about swimming again!!

I think it’s safe to say that Kevin’s a LOT more precise in his cooking than I am. Since we were away all weekend, we didn’t really have time to plan surprises for each other. Instead, we opted to make dinner together. :)

While Kev Kev was working on dessert, I tried out Crunchy Oven-Fried Ravioli from How Sweet Eats. I can’t really report on the recipe since I neglected to cook the ravioli before coating it with the crunchy stuff. And I didn’t measure a thing. Ah, well.

We couldn’t resist a little heart-shaped goodness! A mini chocolate cake for Kevin, and just frosting for me. Two knifefuls! Yum!

Bite.

Sweethearts!

I love a good Peter Pan collar!

And a good twirl!

My other Valentine! :) We’re looking more & more alike, right? His curly ears are almost the exact same color as my curly mane!

Any tips for a newbie swimmer? Especially on goal setting and not digesting the water!!

Favorite type of collar? Peter Pan. Here’s a cool Peter Pan collar DIY!

Do you and your pet look alike? Just checking!

Pssst! In honor of Valetine’s Day, I started writing our How We Met story. Check it out: K&C Part 1: He’s from Winona!

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Posted in Boyd, Cake, Marriage

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K&C Part 1: He’s From Winona!

Posted on February 14, 2012 | 8 Comments

I bet you don’t know how I met Kevin James.

Okay, so obviously my besties know. But in the past, I haven’t felt the urge to shout it from the rooftops usually awkwardly deferring to Kevin or mumbling something incoherent about “through a friend of a friend of a friend.” Which isn’t even exactly true.

Can I tell you from the beginning? Because I’m a hopeless romantic, and I really want to. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that I spent some time in the Dominican Republic.

Sadly, I was far from the beaches in Santiago de los Caballeros

I moved down there almost immediately after college and spent three years teaching in a private bilingual missionary school. When I moved there, it was my first time leaving the United States ever.  Needless to say, it was a bit of an adjustment for this freckle-faced girl from Minnesota!

I was 24, and rapidly approaching 25. 25 was always the age I said I would get married. As I mentioned, I’m a hopeless romantic, and definitely intent on seeing my Cinderella ending come to fruition. But I also have a suppressed rebellious streak which meant I was really savoring my days as an independent woman. I was always flat broke, but if I wanted to spend my last peso on imported Sabra hummus and Dominican shoes – that was up to me!

I remember this was the lovely mug shot I sent with my applications to international schools!

My options in the romantic department were rather limited while teaching in the Dominican Republic. Do you have any clue what the male-female ratio is in a Christian school overseas? It’s not pretty. What about a Dominican man, you ask? “Are you racist?” my students would ask (anything to get me off topic!). While my Spanish was improving daily, I have enough communication issues in my first language! Don’t even get me started on the cultural differences in dating!  Despite many proposals that first year, I managed to stay single and ready to mingle!

I prayed about it that summer while I was home in Minnesota. I really did. I poured my little heart out. I was deeply encouraged by the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1, and I came to a renewed peace that the Lord was in control.

It’s about to get good, guys.

That summer I spent some quality time with one of my best friends forever, Deidre. And when I say forever, I mean forever. We’ve been friends since we were born, and conveniently, our big brothers were too! Deidre and I have this thing that we say,”In the cookie of life, friends are the chocolate chips!” All this to say, that she has always been a trusted confidante and we can talk about anything. In fact, we probably have talked about everything!

One day,  we were having a heart-to-heart-talk one day about my love life and lack thereof. She suggested online dating. As we discussed it further, I was rather intrigued with the idea and figured,”Why not?” I was leaving to go back to the Dominican Republic in a few days, so I considered it to be a risk-free venture. I would have nothing to worry about with stalkers or accidentally being matched with an ex-boyfriend. So eHarmony it was! I signed myself up for some kind of free trial, filled out the lengthy questionnaire, and it was go time!

I can’t believe I remember it exactly, but I do! My first reaction to seeing Kevin’s little profile picture was,”He’s from Winona!” I think I was talking to Deidre, probably via one of our famous rapid-fire Gmail exchanges.

The first picture I ever saw of Kevin James

In the off-chance that you’re not familiar with Southeastern Minnesota geography, Winona is a mere 30 minute drive from my hometown of Wabasha and home of the nearest Target!

The first picture Kevin ever saw of Corrie Anne

August 2009 was the first time I saw Corrie Anne on eHarmony.  Little did I know we would be married within two years.  You see, I was just was just having some fun on eHarmony talking to a lot of different girls.  What do you expect when they send you 5-10 new matches a day?  The first time I saw her, I thought she was cute and her profile was interesting, but I didn’t send a message.  Maybe I didn’t send one because she lived in the DR, which I didn’t even know what “DR” stood for at the time. Or maybe it was something else.  I really don’t remember exactly.  Eventually I gave into those baby blues and that cute earmuffs picture she posted.  At that point there was no turning back because I just made the best decision of my life.

To Be Continued…

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Insta-Weekend: February 11-13, 2012

Posted on February 14, 2012 | 9 Comments

We were unexpectedly called out of town this weekend due to Kevin’s grandmother passing away on Friday morning. We’re absolutely exhausted, but it was a truly a beautiful & sweet weekend celebrating his grandma’s life and sharing with family. I am thankful I had the chance to meet his grandma back in July when we roadtripped it to Chicago. One of the first things I remember hearing about her is that she would be pleased with my “pedigree” because I’m very Irish. I loved seeing all of her stylish photos and the classic family movie!

Our time there was definitely concentrated on honoring family and spending time with them, but I did manage to snap a few photos. My father-in-law actually seemed quite concerned when I wasn’t taking pictures of my food at times. (He’s a new fan of the blog since he was featured this month!)

L: When We Were Strangers. I read this book on the plane to Denver. Definitely a well-written and riveting story of an Italian’s immigrant’s journey; however, it took an unexpected turn around page 200 that I couldn’t quite get behind. Can I just say that at least it had a happy ending?

R: Typical airport pic!

L: Chinese food. We had to travel to all three gates to get this. Haha. Long story, but we love our airport Chinese.

R: Kevin also packed a bag of snacks to keep his wife happy. We enjoyed this endangered chocolate while watching the Westminster Dog Show late Sunday night.

L: My first Valentine’s Sbux!

R: A fun size Valentine’s M&Ms we pilfered from the stash we brought for our nieces/nephews.

L: I was able to carve out 30 minutes each day to hit the gym, and that was it! It also required me setting my alarm brutally early this morning, but I knew it’d be a long day without any activity. On the plus side, I scored two apples and two mini bottles of water! They had towels in the refrigerator at our hotel’s gym. How fancy!

R: The only pop we could get our hands on late at night in the hotel. 10 oz glass bottles of Diet Pepsi.

L: After the funeral, the family shared lunch at Cucian Biagio! It was a beautiful meal with soup, salad, three kinds of pasta, and tiramisu. Kevin didn’t give me his tiramisu. Can you believe the nerve? He doesn’t even like coffee!

R: Girl in Translation was my read on return flight to Denver. I finished it just in the nick of time. I almost had to make Kevin stay on the plane so I could read the Epilogue. Kind of a sweet mother/daughter tearjerker, but is it okay that I’m hoping my next book doesn’t deal with an immigrant heroine faced with an unwanted pregnancy? That said, the two books made my flights go by in a snap, and were at very least. distracting and entertaining.

Good night!! See you around this week.

What’s the best book you’ve read lately? I love suggestions! And happy endings.

What’s your favorite brand of chocolate? I want to try the Endangered otter chocolate. Just because I like otters. :)

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Posted in Books, Family

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Cookie Friday: Heart-Shaped Almond Joy Brownies + Hills & Bells Workout

Posted on February 10, 2012 | 13 Comments

Don’t blame me for the brownie sub on Cookie Friday. The Man of the House was given a list of options, and this was his choice. I wanted something valentine-y, but I figure if I followed the true spirit of Valentine’s Day, I would make what Kevin wants. :)

I think you will want them too.

Almond Joy Brownies (via I Thee Cook — isn’t that a cute blog name?)

Ingredients:

1 box Brownie Mix (19.8 0z)
2 whole Eggs
½ cups Vegetable Oil
¼ cups Water
2 cups Flaked Coconut
1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk – 14-ounce Can
1 teaspoon Salt
½ cups Almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×9 square pan set aside. Mix coconut, condensed milk, and salt and set aside. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions (using the required additional ingredients specified in the package – typically eggs, oil and water.) Note the amounts of eggs, oil and water listed above were what was specified on my brownie mix – you may need to modify based on your box mix. Chop almonds in a food processor until almost fine. Pour half of the brownie mix in the greased pan. Spread all of the coconut mixture over brownie mix, then top with 1/2 of the almonds, and remaining brownie mix. Sprinkle remaining almonds over top of brownie mix and Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until done.

Yeah. I did it. I used a box mix. And for the first time in six months I remembered to look at the high altitude directions. I had to add flour and water! Crazy. I actually wouldn’t suggest cutting these into heart shapes. They’re very soft and gooey. And I totally annihilated the rest of the pan trying to get two decent hearts. Oh well. You win some, you lose some. I don’t have a cute picture of Kevin eating them because he’s at work still, and the carving took some time! :)

Yesterday’s workout:

Thinking about this workout, I was thought,”I’m so glad that was yesterday’s workout.” It was tough.

I’ve been skimming around Myohmytv in my free time and found this 18 Minute Kettlebell Workout Conditioning Circuit.A lot of her workouts require several kettlebells (or being able to do a pushup!), but this one was doable for me and my 10 lber.

You can also go to her website for full directions (myohmytv).

I wanted to add a cardio component, because I’m an equal opportunity exerciser.  If cardio is going to be in short bursts, I need it to be intense in speed or incline. I flipped a coin in my brain and chose incline. I’ve done this incline pyramid once before, but it was a little different because I had “breaks” during the kettlebell portion. This theoretically sounds good, but what I actually ended up doing was sprinting during the “flat, recovery jogs” because I knew a break was coming up.

Hills & Bells Workout (find my mileage in parentheses)

  • 5 minute warm-up on treadmill -  (.56 miles)
  • Set 1: steady pace 1 minute each @ 4, 5 and 6 percent incline
    2-3 minutes recovery @ flat jog (.74)
  • Set 2: steady pace 1 minute each @ 5, 6 and 7 percent incline
    2-3 minutes recovery @ flat jog (.75)
  • 1 set of Kettlebell Exercises:
      1. Vertical Swing Burpee
      2. Bent Over Alternating Row
      3. Super Plank Climber
      4. Stand-Kneel-Stand (right)
      5. Stand-Kneel-Stand (left)
      6. Two-Handed KB Swing
  • Set 3: steady pace 1 minute each @ 6, 7 and 8 percent incline
    2-3 minutes recovery @ flat jog (.74)
  • 2nd set of Kettlebell Exercises (see above)
  • Set 4: steady pace 1 minute each @ 7, 6 and 5 percent incline
    2-3 minutes recovery @ flat jog (.79)
  • 3rd set of Kettlebell Exercises (above)
  • Set 5: steady pace 1 minute each @ 6, 5 and 4 percent incline
    2-3 minutes recovery @ flat jog (.80)
  • Cooldown 5 minute jog  (.54)

My totals: 3.82 miles (overall 7:51 pace) + 1.1 miles in the warmup/cooldown. I was pretty happy with that pace considering the 6,7,8 inclines were brutal. I will say that the flat (.05 incline) jogs felt ridiculously easy since I usually run on the treadmill with an incline of at least 1.5.

More notes: I know this workout sounds complicated, but I get bored with strength training so I like to mix it up. I know some people get bored with cardio so this is probably a good compromise, right? Plus I feel it’s good marathon training to do all the hills and running on exhaustion. I used my tabata timer app for the kettlebell sets. Ideally, I would’ve been counting my apps on that portion as well, but I had a lot going on! Haha. That said, it’s actually not that complicated. I did the workout without notes because even the kettlebell exercises were really simple to remember. If you attempt this, good luck, and bring a towel!

Just a reminder…

(Printables on Creature Comforts blog). Wasn’t that an inspirational finish?

Which are you going to do — make the brownies or the hills & bells workout? Or both. Or just east the brownies. Have a good weekend, guys! :)

Mounds or Almond Joy? I like both. Quite a bit. I hadn’t realized until recently how much I enjoy coconut.

What’s something you could do today to bring you closer to achieving your dreams? I hate to choose the easy outs, but working out and blogging (writing, etc.) are two ways I work on my dreams daily. I’ll think of something else…

 

 

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Posted in Cookie Friday, Fitness, Food, Inspiration