Moved..

I've moved pages everyone. Here's the new link:

http://jessielovestorun.wordpress.com

:)

It's been a good run

.... just wanted to let all of you know that if you don't see a new post later on today, it's because our computer took a turn for the worse. Lately it's sounding like it may blow up, and feels the need to turn off whenever it pleases. Hubby is checking computer prices on base today. Fingers crossed that he finds one @ a decent price!!


**Oh yeah and real quick. So it's that time again when I need new running shoes. Man that may be one thing I hate about running so much... spending $$$ on shoes. It seems like just yesterday I was buying a new pair. I've absolutely LOVEE my Asics Gel-Neo33 so I've decided to stick w/ em. The only thing is, i'm torn between two different colors.

The hubby and I are feeling the second pair. What do you guys think?

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday Everyone. I hope ya'll had a wonderful weekend full of love, laughter & happiness <3

Weekend Recap:
Sorry, I've been MIA since Friday guys. I've decided because I never have too much happening on Saturday while the hubs works all day and Sunday is his only day off, I probably won't be posting any posts throughout the weekend.

Saturday was uneventful throughout the day. Woke up, had the usual smoothie for breakfast, knocked out 12 miles which felt glorious, and then just laid around until the hubs got home around 6. We ended up ordering Little Caesars Pizza. I had the thin crust pizza with no sauce, a little cheese, tomatoes (which there weren't many on there :[ ), peppers and onions. I had 2 slices, and they were absolutely delicious. After letting our bellies rest a little, we spent the evening playing "Drinking Yahtzee" and watching Season 1 of Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Oh and some chips, okay maybe a couple servings worth were enjoyed as well :).

Sunday I woke up around 6, layed around and then made the hubby some dippy eggs with toast while I enjoyed the usual Blueberry Smoothie. Since Ramadan is going on for the next month, things are going to be rather layed back and consist of just watching movies & cuddling all day. Most places aren't open, and if you do decide to go out your not allowed to eat, or drink anything. There was actually already an American who got sentenced to jail for the month because he was caught drinking water outside. We did end up going to the grocery store to pick up some food for this weeks meals, and the usual produce as well. All in all it was a wonderful day spent with my amazing husband.

Now moving onto today....

Breakfast- 8A.M.

Guys, everything about breakfast today was amazing! I toasted 2 whole wheat waffles, spread jam on one, and then topped the other with 1/3 c. cooked egg whites. It was delicious, and actually kept me full up until lunch. Is it just me, or whenever you cut a sandwich up into tiny pieces you feel like your getting more outta the sandwich? haha.


Workout
Since Ramadan started on Friday, the gym doesn't open until 11. It's been a little hard to adjust. Usually it'd open @ 9 and I'd be done by 10:30 at the latest. Since the change my eating schedule has been off. I've always been one to eat lunch around 11:30-12:00, so now that I end up getting home around 12:30 most days, I haven't been sitting down to eat until 1:00. That may not sound late to some of you, but whenever your body is used to one time.. it doesn't like not being fed @ that time anymore, haha.
Okay, back to the workout. I covered 5.4 miles in 40 minutes, followed by a quick circuit @ the end. The circuit was short & sweet: 10 squats, 10 sit ups, 9 squats, 9 sit ups.. down to 1 rep. I wish I remembered whose page I saw this idea on because I want to give them full credit for it, and let them know I loved it! (If it's you, let me know :) ).


Lunch- 1:00 P.M.

Another Pumpkin Smoothie. I tell ya, this smoothie just never disappoints. I was planning on having some left over pizza, but couldn't resist this temptation :).


**Quick question before I head out to do some cleaning, blah... Have you ever got a tingly feeling throughout your leg while you were running? I had it for the beginning of my run today, and just have no idea why. I've never had this feeling before. I for a second contemplated on stopping but thankfully it went away... Hmm?

Who says you cant...

Celebrate Thanksgiving in the summer?? Yeah I'll get back to that in a minute :) First, can I just tell you I've been awake since 2 this morning. I forgot to take my sleeping pills last night.. FAIL!

Workout
Since falling back asleep was not an option, why not go for a 9 mile walk on the treadmill @ 2 in the morning. Yup, that's exactly what I did and it was glorious! Was done just in time to wake the hubs up for work and kiss him good-bye :)

I laid back in bed, hoping that just maybeee I'd be able to fall back asleep. Needless to say that has yet to happen. I'm actually so glad I couldn't because I was able to talk to this girl.

Meet Sandra, my best friend. We met while our husbands were stationed together @ Camp Lejeune. She's by far the sweetest and most caring person I know. Without each other, I'm not sure how either one of us would've made it through our husbands being away, whether it was for a deployment or training. Since moving to Kuwait, and with her and her husband being re stationed to Hawaii it's been hard to actually talk for a good amount of time due to the ridiculous time difference. I've realized that leaving your best friend may be one of the hardest things to deal with in life. Not being able to have those lunch, and shopping dates, a workout buddy, a person to cry too, a person to laugh @ other people with (don't act like you dont do it from time to time), your beer pong partner, the friend that'll tell you not to wear that outfit. Even though we may be oceans apart, I know that no matter what, or where our lives take us, the relationship we have will never change or become distant.

Breakfast
Ya'll are gonna be so surprised...

Not a Blueberry Smoothie. Yesterday when I was at the grocery store, I spotted these Whole Wheat Waffles and had an instant craving. I had two this morning. One topped with Cinna-Honey and the other with some PB + a little side of Cantaloupe. They were delicious, but didn't do the best job with keeping me full throughout the morning.

I would've had a morning snack, but I've been cleaning all morning. You know those times where all you wanna do is clean for some odd reason... that's been me today. I've done laundry, swept and mopped the kitchen floor, cleaned out the freezer/refrigerator, and wiped down all of our cabinets. I was on a roll, and eventually worked up quite an appetite.


Lunch
Okay back to the whole Thanksgiving thing from earlier. Instead of having a salad, I decided to really mix things up today (who am I?? I've always been one to eat the same thing day after day). I knew I wanted a smoothie, but wasn't in the mood for anything too sweet. I remembered the can of pumpkin in the cabinet from earlier and thought I'd put it to use.

This may be the best Pumpkin Smoothie I've ever made.. and trust me, I've made quite a few. It's so simple to make too:

• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 2 tablespoons chocolate pb2
• Frozen almond milk (I'll freeze almond milk mixed with vanilla extract & splenda... I used 8 ice cubes)
• Cinnamon

I threw it in the freezer for about a half hour, as I do with all of my smoothies just to freeze it up a little bit more. If the picture doesn't look yummy enough, make it an see for yourself!! It's one of those smoothies that you get kinda teary eyed when your last bite is gone :(. Okay, now I'm heading out to the pool to enjoy some sun!

• Have you ever had to move away from your Best Friend?
• Any fun plans for the weekend?
• None here. Hubs works and today starts Ramadan for the next month :(

My very 1st WIAW

Can you believe it's already Wednesday???? Which means we are half way through the week :). I always love Wednesdays, thanks to Jenn over @ PeasandCrayons. A day where you can show your eats from whichever day you'd like, usually Monday or Tuesday. I'm always so inspired by recipes that other bloggers share. This months theme is Food & Fitness which is awesome, because who doesn't love a workout from time to time? :) 

I'm aware that you may have already seen similar pictures, but understand that once I'm on a kick with a certain food... I'm not one to change it up. Just bare with the pictures & enjoy :)

Breakfast: Blueberry Smoothie made with 1 cup frozen blueberries, 1 cup frozen almond milk, 2 tbsp. peanut butter, some cinnamon & Barbara's Original Puffin Cereal grumbled on top.

Post Workout: GNU Cinnamon Raisin Bar. I received these in my latest VitaCost shipment, and couldn't wait to open them. These bars are so chewy and moist, and with 12g Fiber. Try em out if you haven't already

Lunch: Usual salad with Turkey, Tomato, and Mustard (ran out of cucumber :[ ), + a clementine on the side.

Snack: 1 frozen banana, some grapes, 1 tbsp. whip cream, and some more crushed puffin cereal on top. This bowl screams deliciousness!!!

Dinner: Left over Gnocchi with Shrimp, Broccoli & Pesto.

Dessert: 1 clementine, some grapes & more whip cream. (I may or may not have a little addiction to whip cream during the summer.. @least I buy the healthy kind :] )

Now onto the fitness part. Some of you may know, I have a passion for running. Lately I've been trying to incorporate more Circuit Workouts into my everyday routine as well. After a 5 mile run, I whipped up a quick circuit that looked like this:

50 Squats - 4x

20 Push ups - 5x

2 Min Planks - 2x

25 Sec. Jump Rope - 5x

25 Jumping Jacks - 5x

50 Crunches - 4x

10 Standing Calf Raises - 5x

You can change it up however you want. If a 2 minute plank hold is too hard, do a 1 minute plank hold 4x. The whole circuit took me about 25 minutes or so to complete. Give if a try, and if you do.. please let me know how you liked it :)

**Okay, here is the Blueberry Vanilla Bread recipe I promised to share**

(adapted from this recipe @ yummly.com -- Serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons sugar substitute (I used splenda, no calories)
• 3/4 cup almond milk (I'm sure regular, or skim would be fine)
• 3 egg whites
• 1- 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup unsweetened natural applesauce
• 1- 1 1/2 cup blueberries

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Combine all dry ingredients & mix well. Add in egg whites
• Mix all wet ingredients together, and slowly add to the dry mixture
• Pour into loaf pan and bake for about 40 minutes

I wish I had a picture to show you guys how it turned out, but I had totally forgot to take a picture...blogger fail I know :(.

• Do you partake in "WIAW"?
• What's your favorite type of restaurant? Mexican, Italian, Indian, Lebanese, American....

A Package + New Recipe

I wanna start off by saying... Last night couldn't of been more perfect. My package from VitaCost arrived, dinner was delicious & the hubs and I enjoyed a new to us movie.


First, check out all those goodies that came:

**If you haven't tried Eco Bee Farm Raw Cinna-Honey, you must! It's delicious... and addictive**

Does anyone else get completely excited when you receive packages? It seriously makes me all giggly inside & feels like Christmas.

Okay, now onto dinner. One word, AMAZING! I bought gnocchi the other day, and wasn't sure what to make with it. I looked online for recipe ideas and decided to make Gnocchi with Shrimp, Broccoli and Pesto. It's seriously just as good as it sounds. I was kind of skeptical about even making the dish because last time I cooked gnocchi for dinner, hubs wasn't too big of a fan. This time however, he really enjoyed it... WIN! And we even have leftovers for dinner tonight, another win :)

This picture doesn't do it justice whatsoever, trust me.

 

Gnocchi with Shrimp, Broccoli & Pesto- Serves 4

(adapted from this recipe @ CookingLight)

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts water
• 1 (16 oz) package gnocchi
• 2 cups broccoli
• 1 lb. peeled and deveined medium shrimp, thawed
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 4 tbsp. store bought pesto (or you can make your own)
• 2 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

• Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Add gnocchi, and let cook for 4 minutes (gnocchi will rise to the top once done)
• While gnocchi is cooking, sautee' the shrimp and broccoli in a medium pan with olive oil and pepper for 5 minutes
• When you notice that the gnocchi has risen to the top, Drain & place in large bowl
• Once shrimp mixture is fully cooked, Drain and place on top of gnocchi
• Finally, add the pesto sauce & mix well. Top with Parmesan Cheese & serve immediately :)

It's seriously such an easy dish to make, and doesn't take no longer than 20 minutes or so (I may or may not have tried a bit of it this afternoon before lunch when it was cold, and it was just as good). I really hope some of you give it a try, because it definitely wont disappoint :).

 

 

After dinner and dishes, the hubs and I just relaxed and watched a new to us movie called "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close". Have any of you seen in? It's about a nine-year-old boy that searches New York City for the lock that matches a key left behind by his father, who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. By the end of the movie you are just so moved emotionally. The actors do such an amazing job portraying their character. Hubs & I truly think it's a must-see movie.

• Are any of you running the Disney World 1/2 Marathon in January? I'm thinking about flying to the states for it
• What was the last movie you saw?
• Do you eat dessert after dinner?

**Oh and for all of you that wanted the Blueberry Vanilla bread, ya gotta wait until tomorrow.. sorry :)

MIMM #1

The Beautiful Katie @ Healthy Diva Eats came up with a fabulous idea called "Marvelous In My Mondays" a couple weeks ago. 

Every Monday, Katie will be posting something marvelous to start off the week. She is inviting other bloggers to do the same and link up with her. You can share anything positive–a great new recipe, a new fitness routine, a favorite quote, something fun that happened over the weekend, etc…The idea is to start off the week in a positive way!

Before I get in today's post. I wanted to say sorry for being MIA these past couple days. There really was no reason that no posts were shared, except I was just completely drained.


Now onto "Marvelous In My Monday" ...  Since moving to Kuwait a few months ago my sleep has been very non-existant. I couldn't remember the last time I got a full five hours of sleep up until last night. I've always been one to NEED 7-8 hours a night, so you could imagine how big of a toll this took on me. On top of high intensity workouts, and getting things done around the house day in and day out, I've just been feeling so gross and not like myself. Yesterday, the hubs and I finally decided to get me some sleeping medicine, after only getting 2 HOURS of sleep Saturday into Sunday. Yes, only 2 hours.. which were from Saturday @ 9pm-11pm. I'm not even sure how I managed to function all day yesterday, but I guess I'm just that awesome :) haha. We went to bed around 9:00 last night, and I'm so happy to report today that I slept until 6:30 this morning!!! I may not feel completely 100% today, but much better than usual :).

Breakfast
I'm still completely on this Blueberry kick (even made the most delicious, moist blueberry vanilla bread on Saturday... let me know if you want me to share the recipe), so why not have yet another Blueberry Smoothie :). I thought i'd spare you another picture of the bluberry smoothie goodness.


Workout
After letting my belly digest, playing blog catchup and reading e-mails, it was gym time. I decided to do this circuit 3x

100 Jumping Jacks

50 Crunches

20 Tricep Dips

15 Squats

20 Walking Lunges (each leg)

25 Russian Twists

25 Bicycles

20 Standing Calf Raises

10 Push Ups

1 Minute Plank

25 Total Body Crunch

**Do 3x through**

It's hard to tell.. but it did get me all sweaty

After the circuit, I finished up my workout with a 3 mile run on the treadmill :). I just love getting a nice workout in after a "rest day". It gives you such a healthy and positive feeling... am I right??


Oh and I must mention. I had the longest mile walk back to our apartment afterwards. It's seriously so stinking hot out here, like 130 degree temperatures everyday. I swear I broke a sweat in that short amount of time and thought I was going to die... even though I was chugging water. The worst part, Friday starts Ramadan. I've never been here for Ramadan before, but I've been told that you can't have any skin showing when your outside. Ughhh!!


Lunch
Lunch was another salad with tomatoes, cucumber & turkey with Mustard and an apple with cinnamon/honey on the side.

I swear my meals are so predictable. I really do need to try to work on changing them up a bit, but why change if it's working :). Now I'm gonna go watch some movies & enjoy the AC... tough life I know, haha.


**I may or may not have a yummy recipe to share tomorrow. I say that because I'll have to see how it turns out first @ dinner tonight :).


Enjoy your Monday!!

Very Un-Eventful

Happy Friday the 13th. Are you one of those people that get all superstitious about today?? I don't think I've ever been that person... well okay I lied. Whenever my husband and I were flying to Missouri this past September it happened to fall on Friday the 13th. I would've been fine, but the weather was awful! Like pouring down rain, lightening and thundering.. and I absolutely HATE flying when it's poor weather. Okay, well enough of that.. let's get back to today;

Most of you are probably just starting your day, but being that its almost 4pm here I'm counting down the minutes until the hubs gets home :] (2 hrs to be exact.. give or take a minute). My friday's are a LITTLE different then the other days, due to the fact that the gym I go too isn't open. I usually try to get in some sort of treadmill walk (why do i go to the gym when we have a treadmill downstairs you ask.. well the treadmill here only seems to work for walks!!) This morning I didn't even end up eating breakfast until closer to 8:00, which is just completely rare.

Yup, you guessed it... another Blueberry Smoothie.
--And yes, I'm aware it looks kinda gross in this picture.

I seriously just can't get enough of them! I may or may not of had one for dessert last night too :) Okay back to my sorta non-eventful day. After breakfast, I laid around for a little until I realized a.) I was outta blueberries, b.) I was bored, and c.) I needed to find square pillows for our bed. Most places don't open around here until 10 anyways (I know weird, right!?!), so there wasn't really a rush. I slowly got ready, and headed out the door around 9:45.

Sorry for the bluriness.

I went to this shopping department called "Centre Point". It's kinda like it's only little mall. The other day I saw square pillows I needed to get for the bedroom bedding set we had ordered. Well I decided to pass on em, and would get them this week. Go figure, they were non-existant and I ended up walking out empty handed.. even though It was quite hard bc I'm in need of new makeup, but decided to pass and just order some offline (I'm sorry, I just refuse to pay 30 dollars for revlon foundation.. yeah this country is expensive!)

After my non existant luck, I went across the street to the Sultan Center. It's pretty much a grocery store, plus they have home furnishings upstairs as well as a fruit market.

Outside of the Sultan Center. It is truly a beautiful site!

I only went there for a few things aka my beloved blueberries, but ended up walking out with so much more. I don't know about you, but I loveee grocery shopping. I feel bad for the hubs whenever we do our 2 week grocery shopping. I usually have to look @ everything, even if I've already seen it 100x before. Oh well, something may of changed.. you just never know :)

Once I got home around 12, it was lunch. Very similar to yesterday.. which was a salad with this pesto dressing that you can find here. I pretty much followed everything, minus the avocado, walnuts, cheese and just had it on lettuce w/o any meat. It is delicious!! Oh and a slice of bread with some grapes.

I let my stomach rest for a little, and decided to go for a walk on the treadmill. I planned to do an arm/core workout afterwards, but after 90 minutes of walking I called it quits. I ended up covering a little over 6 miles and worked up quite a sweat actually.

Now i'm sitting here eating an afternoon snack of a clementine, grapes mixed with some fat-free whip cream, and deciding on whether or not I have the motivation to clean up the house a little bit... tough decision.

It's friday! Enjoy your weekend :)

Blueberry Smoothie, Yes please!

Happy Thursday! Is anyone else ridiculously tired today, or is it just me?? Before I talk about a delicious smoothie I did have for breakfast, let's finish recaping yesterday :).

Hubs gets up @ 4:30am and out the door by 5am everyday. Usually I'm able to fall back asleep until at least 5:30-6:00, however that was not the case yesterday. For some reason I was wide awake and sleep was no longer an option. I decided to make myself useful, and did the dishes & laundry from the day prior. You would've thought a train had come through our house by the looks of it. It's rarely ever dirty (I kinda sorta have ocd when it comes to things being neat), but somehow with hubs being home and us being lazy all day prior it got completely outta control. I was trying to hold off on breakfast until 7, but ended up eating around 6:30... my belly couldn't wait any longer.

Please do not mind my morning, left over Makeup look.
The smoothie consisted of:
1 cup frozen almond milk, 2 frozen bananas, tsp of pb & some puffin cereal on top

After breakfast, I read blogs/wrote a post, answered e-mails and then headed to the gym. I love my gym; it's small and not many people go there... however I do dislike my mile walk to and from w/ the 130 degree heat!! I completed 9 miles in exactly one hour & 9 minutes... and no I didn't run that extra minute to make it an even 70 minutes, oh well :).

Once I got home, I thought it was probably a good idea to shower since I was quite the sweaty mess (I decided to spare you a picture... you're welcome :]).

Where we live, it's an apartment building filled with other civillian contractors from the states. We all have the same furniture, the same decorations, the same everything. Well hubby and I've slowly started to get things to make it a bit more homie. I mean we are going to be here for quite sometime, it would be nice to have our own things. We're not in any rush though. Well yesterday I decided to finally open the picture frames we bought the other day, and put them up around the house. It seems like all of the pictures I did bring with me, are so outdated. Not quite sure how to get new ones printed off over here, but for now the 2 year old pictures will have to do. (I'm hoping to take some pictures of our home in Kuwait over her soon, so be on the look out!)

After my little bit of decorating, I had lunch. You know the usual, salad with some tomatoes, cucumber & turkey.. ohh and I did throw in a clementine as well.  I was feeling pretty spontaneous lol.

I know my photography skills are.. PATHETIC!

My afternoon was very uneventful to say the least. Did a bit more cleaning, and eventually started on dinner... which will be unpictured, but it was amazing. I followed this recipe from Skinny Taste almost exactly. Only changes I made were omitting the mushrooms (no mushroom fans in this house), and used Apple Cider Vinegar instead of the Red Wine Vinegar. It turned out delicious. Even hubby liked it :) On the side I had some of my leftover edamame from my birthday dinner.

After dinner, hubby and I had a little project to do. We ordered a little black linen cabinet from JcPenney the other day and it finally arrived. Like I said, were trying to make it more homie. Well, our bathroom had no storage @ all and we couldn't find anything. After almost an hour & half, we had a finished product. It's a perfect fit in our bathroom...

So simple & cute :)

After that, we just laid in bed and played our usual nights of hearts. This morning I actually slept in until 6:30!! Kinda a big deal, because lately my sleep has been completely off and I've only been getting a few hours a night.. i know not good! Not to sure what's going on, but it's driving me nuts. Heres is the reasoning behind my day starting off amazing...

Insert: Blueberry Smoothie.
1 c. frozen almond milk, 1 c. frozen blueberries and 1 tbsp. pb

This may be one of the best smoothies I've had in a long time! The other day I bought some frozen blueberries, not even knowing if I liked them or not.. and uh, what took me so long to try!! I could seriously eat it for every meal. Even though I've never had blueberries or blueberry cheesecake before, I'm just gonna say it tastes like blueberry cheesecake :)

After about an hour and half I decided to head to the gym for a workout. I had orginally planned on doing an arm/core workout after 6 miles, but let's just say that plan got completely scratched. Just walking to the gym ended up being a workout in itself. Like I said earlier, i'm tired.. my body, my mind, everything! I was still able to knock out the planned 6 miles, but then called it quits. My legs felt so tired, and just knew there wasn't a reason to continue. Now, I'm lying here about to make lunch.

**Whats your favorite workout?

**Whats your favorite smoothie?



Birthday Surprise

**Before I start this post, let me say I'm sorry. I'm sorry that my birthday only consists of ONE picture. I did such a horrible job with actually remembering to take any pictures of my day... whoops!

Okay back to my short birthday recap. As excited as I've been for my birthday, I was also kinda not looking forward too it. My husbands job has him working Monday-Saturday from 5-5:30. With us being in Kuwait, he also doesn't get off for American Holidays (only Kuwaiti ones)... which means come Thanksgiving and Christmas, I'll be alone since the holidays just happen to be during the week. I've had my debbie downer days when I would just cry thinking about it.. until I finally realized, "Hey it could be so much worse. I could be stuck in the States without him". Well yesterday morning I woke up around 5:30 and walked out to the kitchen and noticed the hubs was fast asleep on the couch. I totally freaked out thinking he must've walked out to the living room to watch sports and had fallen back asleep. I immediently woke him up, and he proceded to act like he was late for work.. 'calling his boss', getting a shower & frantically rushing around the house to get ready. We said our goodbyes and I laid back in bed. Well, wouldn't you know it.. within a few minutes the hubs was back, and with some presents. Here he had taken a vacation day so that he'd be able to spend the day with me. It was the sweetest thing, and I couldn't help but smile!

The hubby did such a great job with presents this year... not like he needed to with a surprise like that :) :). After we laid around for a little, I cooked him some eggs & toast, and fruit for me. After breakfast, I headed down to the gym to get in a quick 8 mile run. I knew we'd be going out to dinner later, so thought it'd be a good idea to just eat lunch @ home upon returning from the gym. I cooked up some chicken, and had a nice chicken salad while the husband had a wrap. We both got ready, and decided to go bowling. We aren't the best of bowlers whatsoever, but we still had a great time.

I am a very easy person to please. I'm not someone who asks for much, or who wants to go all out for birthdays. I'd rather it just be a day full of relaxation. Once we got home, we watched a few movies and I munched on a rice cake topped with strawberry jam, pb & frozen bananas. Around 5:30 we decided to head out to dinner. We haven't tried too many of the places here in Kuwait yet, so sushi it was. For once, I decided to try new things! How could you pick a salad over sushi anyways? We got edamame for an appetizer (which was my first, and I must say I loveddddd it), and then split the California Roll & Philadelphia Roll for our entree. Everything was very good. After dinner, it was time for dessert (even though we were both stuffed). I ended up getting frozen yogurt (Strawberry mixed with Original and topped with dark chocolate chips, and granola... oh and then hubby and I shared a carrot cake cupcake). Once we got home, we laid in bed and played hearts, and I may or may not of eaten an english muffin with honey.

Before we headed out for dinner <3

So theres my birthday recap. It may not of been the busiest day, but it was my kind of birthday and couldn't of been more wonderful, especially having my husband with me <3

Okay, now I gotta get my butt moving & head to the gym. I'll be back later!

A Perfect Sunday

Always remember that...

Seriously, where did the weekend go? Saturday was a pretty relaxed day. Thankfully more sandstorms caused the husband to get off early, so we were able to spend most of the day together. We didn't really have anything planned, just watched movies all afternoon. Later on we decided we'd head out for dinner.

A few of you may of known that I've been having the biggest craving for Mexican lately. We found the only Mexican place to eat @ in Kuwait. Well, let's just say this may of been one of the biggest disappointments EVER! The service wasn't too great, the food was awful (ended up getting sick, and being attached to the toilet.. sorry for the TMI), and just so overly priced. Also, can you believe you had to pay for chips and salsa. I don't know how it is where you guys live, but they were always complimentary @ any other Mexican restaurant I've ever been too. Needless to say, I'll be sticking with my own Mexican meals at home. :( Our evening ended with watching the end too "Happy New Year's Eve". Have any of you watched it? What did you think? I wasn't expecting too much from it, so it was okay.

Now moving on to the Perfect Sunday. Yesterday started my "Birthday Week". Do you and your love ones celebrate it? It's kind of a big deal to me. I just don't think one day is enough for celebration :). I had orginally planned on heading to the gym to knock out a few miles, but decided to pass. We made our usual Sunday Morning trip to Starbucks before heading off to the Avenues, a huge mall about 20 minutes away.

                            Loving my Lite Caramel Frapp & hubby also thought you'd want to see his. He had a Chocolate Chip Mocha Frapp.

After we finished our drinks, we got in a cab and headed to the Avenues. Orginally we had plans to go to "Color Me Mine". Color Me Mine is a place where you can paint ceramic plates, bowls, mugs, anything. I've been wanting to do this for quite sometime, but once we got to the mall we found out the store is currently under construction. Oh well, we did the best next thing anyone would do... get lunch & head to the arcade! I don't care how old you are, no one is ever to old to play some games. For lunch we went with TGIF, and I just had my usual salad. Nothing worth taking a picture of. After lunch we bolted to the arcade.. yes we get excited for it :). Let me start off by saying, luck was with me yesterday. I kicked the hubbys butt @ basketball, won pretty much every game I played, and the hubby & I completely rocked "Deal or No Deal". We won the Jackpot prize of 500 tickets, and then decided to play again for 1000 tickets. Well, it came down 2 boxes.. one worth 1000 and one worth 20). Well the deal was 503 tickets. AHH, even though hubby told me to say "No Deal".. I just could not pass up 503 tickets and be stuck with 20. Ughh.. should've listened to hubby because I so would've been 497 tickets richer!! Darnit, oh well!

                                                               Yeah, Yeah I know.. i'm AWESOME :)

After spending a ridiculous amount of time @ the arcade, we had to wrap it up. We had a 3:15 movie date to catch. We decided on "The Amazing Spider Man". If you haven't seen it.. go see it! I have never really watched a full Spider Man movie through, I know crazy right... you'd think I was locked in a closet as a child or something... but it was such a good movie. I highly recommend it to anyone!

After the movie I could not wait to get back in a cab and head back home. I was so hungry and ready for dinner. For dinner, we decied to try a new to us Lebanese Restaurant. I'm one of those people that get so excited to try a new place, or food.. but when it comes down to order, I just stick with some sort of salad. It truly is something I need to work on.. maybe I'll add it to my New Years Resolution list (yeah I know that's a few months away, but no need to rush into things :)). The whole menu looked delicious, but I stuck with a safe meal.. a tuna salad.

         

(Sorry about the bad lighting, my phone was dying so the flash wouldn't work :() I figured you can never go wrong with a tuna salad.. which I was right & it was absolutely delicious! Ohh and hubby of course wanted to share his food. He decided on some sort of grilled meat. I did sneak a bite, and it was just as good :). I could not of been more pleased with the food, and the waiter. He was so helpful, and so sweet. Also, both the Assistant Manager and Manager took their time to come over to make sure everything was up to par. This is definitely a top favorite of ours in Kuwait, and cannot wait to go back.

After dinner we headed home, and relaxed. I of course couldn't head to bed without dessert. I had an unpictured frozen banana sliced with some pb & sugar-free strawberry jam on top. :)

Well there you have it.. My "Perfect Sunday". I hope all of you had an awesome weekend as well!

--Anyone else hear about Usher's Step-son getting into a horrible jet-ski accient? He was pronounced Brain Dead @ the hospital. How sad :(



One Lovely Blog Award

Good Morning <3 I hope ya'll are enjoying the weekend so far.

Unfortunately, mine hasn't started the greatest. I woke up this morning to a staggering pain throughout my mouth. It's one of those pains where you can't even pinpoint exactly where it is. I did however just take some tylenol, so heres to hoping it kicks in soon! Of course I wasn't able to fall back asleep, so I decided it was breakfast time.

You know those days where you just don't know what to have.. yeah that was me this morning. I made a banana/pb smoothie, decided I really wasn't in the mood. Tried a strawberry/Cantaloupe one, nope not that either. I finally stuck with a clementine and 1/2 serving of Barbara's Puffin Cereal. It may not of been the greatest or filling breakfast, but it shall do for now. I did surprise myself though. I spooned out some peanut butter for my clementine, and didn't even touch it! CRAZY!! Okay, so moving on...

I want to give Chelsea @ http://chelseaeatstreats.com/ a huge shoutout and thanks for nominating me for "One Loving Blog Award".

Here are the rules:

Link back to the blogger who nominated you.

  Paste the award image on your blog, anywhere.

Share 7 facts about yourself.

Nominate some other blogs you like for this award.

Post a comment on each of your nominees’ blogs telling them about the nomination.

Myself, My Mom, and Justin (clearly I was not ready for the picture)

1. I have a twin brother, Justin. Even though we're not as close as we always were growing up, he still means the complete world to me. No matter the distance between us, or if we don't get to talk as much as we had in the past, I know we'll always be there for one another no matter what. We have this unique bond that nobody or anything could ever break.. and I'm beyond thankful for that.

2. I've had 6 or 7 broken arms/hands. I totally forget the exact number, but I mean is there really a difference if you've had that many... nah I don't think so.

3. I can chew a pack of gum in a day. I'm not sure what it is, but I just have to be chewing on something. I've tried to break this "addiction", but it's impossible.

4. I've never colored or highlighted my hair. What you see is all natural :)

5. My husband and I have been together off & on (mostly on) since we were 15 yrs old.

6. When my husband returned home from deployment. It was and always will be one of the most un-real and favorite time in my life. The feelings I felt the moment I saw him are indescribable to any feeling I've ever felt before. I never knew it was possible to have another "first kiss, or first hug".

Yes, she loves Penn State just as much as her Daddy :)

7. We have a 3yr old dog named Roxy. She's a Black Lab/Boxer mixed.

Okay, that's it. Now it's your turn <3

Claire @ Live and Love to Eat

Alex @ The Run Within

Anna @ Fit From The Inside Out

Meg @ A Dash of Meg

Carol @ Lucky Zucca

Chelsey @ Clean Eating Chelsey

Kristen @ Confessions of a (Not-So) Domesticated Newlywed

Okay, now time to get my butt outta bed & head to the gym! Have a great weekend guys! **Oh and if you haven't yet, make sure to check out Vitacost & get your $10.00 off your first purchase!

--Any fun plans for the weekend? I'd love to hear about them :)



Our Mini-Vacation

     A few weeks ago, Joshua and I made a trip to Dubai. His visa had expired, so the company he works for sent us to Dubai for the day. Can't say I was complaining one bit :) :).  Joshua had been to Dubai before while he was deployed, and I've always been completely jealous of him for it. To say I was excited for our "mini-vacation", was an understatement.

Since there are a million things to do in Dubai, we had decided to plan and schedule everything we wanted to do in advance. After we checked in @ the hotel, we headed straight to the mall. WOW! I had never seen anything like it. I was in complete shock.. anyone could notice I was a complete tourist. We were at the mall for quite a while, but had to head back to the hotel to get ready for our Dinner Cruise.

Outside of the boat

The Dinner Cruise was just wonderful! Besides the breathtaking sights & food, my only complaint was that we were the last ones to be sent to the buffet for dinner. Yes the food was great, but by the time we got there, the selection was quite limited... bummer!

The next morning we had reservations to go CAMEL RIDING and dune bashing. Ah, this was definitely the highlight of the whole trip for me. I have always wanted to ride a camel, and to finally say I did is just.. AWESOME! Dune bashing was fun, but by the last 10 minutes of it I started getting really sick. The worst headache I had had in quite sometime. 

By the time that tour was over, we had to head back to the hotel and didn't have too much time to spare before we had to head to the airport for a 6 o'clock depature. We did kill some time by walking around and picking up lunch.
                           So sad we had to leave :(                                                                  One last picture outside of our hotel

        

Hope you enjoyed the pictures <3...

Sandstorms + Vitacost

Good Morning! To those of you who celebrated Independence Day and to those who did not, I hope you all had a wonderful day full of Happiness, Laughter, and Love.

In the Mix;
1 frozen Banana
1/2 c. Strawberries
1 clementine
2 tbsp. pb2
1/2 tsp. of vanilla extra
**oh and can't forget a little cereal crumbled on top**

Today has started off fairly usual to other mornings. I woke up around 6:30 with a rumbling stomach as if I've never eaten before. For breakfast I decided on a Banana, Strawberry, Clementine and Peanut Butter Smoothie... oh and of course my morning readings. (Oh and please do not mind my awful picture taking skills! Maybe one day they will be perfected, but I wouldn't hold your breath)

After doing some cleaning and reading a few blogs, I decided to head to the gym. On my walk to the gym (about a mile), the weather was beautiful. Hot, but sunny. Well after finishing up a 12 mile run and walking outside, I was greeted with a lovely Sandstorm. I wish I had a picture to show you, but just imagine wind + sand = flying everywhere! That may be one of the worst things about living in Kuwait. Some days you have to wear a scarf to cover your face, and sunglasses. Yes, those are the times I feel like I'm about to go rob a bank.

 Now I'm home, freshly showered & about to dig into my lunch:

Salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, and turkey.
Plus a side of toast topped with a little butter

I know this is becoming quite lengthy, but if you're still with me.. thank you! I wanted to briefly discuss an online store called "Vitacost". I see many of you use "iHerb" for products like pb2, and other wonderful items you aren't able to find in stores. As I've never ordered through iHerb, I have through Vitacost.

Vitacost offers over 2,000 of the most-trusted natural brands, and healthy living essentials at a remarkably low price. There is also over 30,000 different items to choose from. If you're looking for health foods & snacks, CHECK. If you're looking for bath and body products, CHECK. If you're looking for natural household items, CHECK. If you're looking for vitamins, minerals, herbs, and sports nutrition supplements, CHECK. Vitacost offers not only low prices, but deals as well. Some deals can be up to 50% off. Also, their customer service is remarkable. My package usually arrives within 5 days after ordering, and am always sent an e-mail to make sure I was properly satisfied.

Can you believe all of this was only $56.00!!

Below is a link for $10.00 off your free purchase, and you'll also notice that if you spend over $49.00, your shipping is free. Check it out, and enjoy :)

$10.00 off your first purchase

If you managed to make it through this whole post, thank you! I hope you all have a wonderful Morning & Afternoon! 



THANK YOU!!

First and Foremost, Thank You! Thanks to all of you who took time to view and comment on my page. You guys truly are awesome!

Okay, I was going to do the typical morning post where you share what you ate for breakfast and what workout you did, but a few of you have asked "What brought me to Kuwait". So here is the story;

Joshua and I outside the Sultan Center in Fahaheel, Kuwait

My husband had been in the United States Marine Corps for four years. Once he got out back in September of 2011 we decided to move from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina to Virginia Beach, VA. We thought with his background it'd be easy to find a job. Wow, were we totally wrong. For me, yes, but for him it was nonexistant. He had turned in so many resumes, and applied to so many places and just couldn't win. Well March of this year, he finally got a call. It was for a Civilian Contracting job. They had seen his resume online, and were rather impressed by his qualifications. They told him information about the company, and where he'd have to go. Well here to find out he'd be here, in Kuwait and doing a rather similar job to what he did in the service. We talked about it that night, but never thought for a second he'd actually be offered the job. Wouldn't you know it, 2 days later he was offered the job. That was wonderful and all, but he pretty much had to give a yes or no answer that day as well.

Obviously, we said yes. The pay is good, and it was just another wonderful journey we'd be on together. The only downfall, he had to leave in less than a month. Ugh, talk about a lot of stress and mixed emotions! Not knowing when we'd actually be returning to the states, we decided to sell EVERYTHING in our apartment. Let me tell ya, trying to sell everything, cleaning up the apartment and still working a full time job, 40-50 hrs a week.. it was hard and very stressful. Once he left, I decided to stay back for the first month and moved back to PA to be with family and friends.

I came out here May 14th, and was completely culture shocked. I had a view in my head of how it would be/how it would look.. well my view wasn't all as accurate as I thought It'd be, haha. For the most part, people are so nice and very respectful. I'm not sure if you guys know it or not, but Kuwait is actually a very rich country because of the oil. Well, some of the "rich Kuwaitis" think it's okay to belittle anyone who is beneath them. It took and is still taking some time to get used too. Anyways.. so far, it's been such an exciting and fun learning experience. We've been able to explore so many nearby towns.. some beautiful and some not wonderful, ha. We've gotten a chance to leave the country and visit Dubai for the weekend (uhh AH-MAZING!). At this time, we aren't sure when we'll be back to the States, but for now that's okay. Were young, and wouldn't change this move for anything! Honestly, I couldn't feel more blessed and grateful for this opportunity we've been given.

Well I hope you enjoyed reading "What brought us to Kuwait". I'll be sharing pictures of our journey as well, but decided this post is quite lengthly already, haha!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE!!