Saturday, December 31, 2011

I’m Baaaaaaaaaack!!!!

Woo hoo, just in time….I’m sure you’ve missed me and are just itching to read what we’ve been up to over here in the Butler house, right?? No? Oh well, here’s a recap anyway.

I was crazy busy last week, as was everyone, putting the finishing touches on Christmas. I loved every second spent with family and friends.

All of our homemade gifts were a major hit….so I hope Pinterest gets extra creative in 2012 so we can top it next year! Family calendars full of family photos and everyone’s birthdays and anniversaries (made on Shutterfly) are always a family fave!! Make a mental note of that and keep it in mind for next year. Seriously, everyone loves them!

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I also got hooked up with some awesome gifts. A few of my faves were my new camera lens, a foam roller, our front porch swing, a curling iron, Capturen 003

and lots of running clothes, including this tank:

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{No, that’s not me….you’re right. But YES, I do look just like that wearing it. You know, in my dreams and all.}

We also got our workout on big time last week with three lifting sessions and some runnin like I stole something. I tried my best to run my lil booty off. Jon says I’m never going to be able to get rid of that thang so I may as well quit trying. Ha! 10

He’s probably right.

Sooooo, I’m sure that more than anything you’ve missed my weirdo, self-portrait running photos. Don’t worry, I don’t plan to disappoint… and I even threw in a new angle with a super awkward face for your viewing pleasure.

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In case you’re wondering, I DID in fact receive a pair of UA cold gear running tights from Santa Jon!!  I don’t know if I thought they’d miraculously make me look cooler, but I have a knack for making stuff look dorky, so I’m not so sure my running wardrobe has made any huge strides or anything. They are awesome though. And Big Jon likes that they don’t come up 6 inches above my belly button and look like “grandma panty hose” as he calls them. Doesn’t everyone wear their panty hose, and tights for that matter, like that?? These are almost “low rise”, so they’re perfect if you are trying to pull off the sexy look while running. OBVIOUSLY sexy and running don’t typically go in the same sentence for me, well, ever.

ANYWAY….I did, however, knock out a serious business 43 miles, including a run on both Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. I know that may seem too hardcore, but I really enjoyed all the yummy holiday food that much more knowing I got my workout in for the day. And I woke up super early and ran in the freezing cold so I wouldn’t intervene with any of our plans. When I say freezing cold, I do mean like 30. I may or may not have been a little over dressed and ended up with a serious case of elbow crease sweat. Does anyone else get that?? It is super strange.

Oh, and since it was completely DARK while we were running, I got to use my new headlamp!! I don’t have a pic, but it looks like this:

Pretty sweet, huh?  It was very helpful, and I only had one close call. I tripped over that sneaky, sneaky air and went through about a 10-step slow motion gradual decline towards a faceplant. Thankfully I made an super ungraceful recovery and didn’t have to make any emergency trips to the dentist. Not gonna lie, one of my prouder moments.

So far this week I’ve ran 29 miles, including a 14 miler this morning. This was my first time ever mastering a negative split. Not by choice….someone lit a fire under Crissy’s tail and I was just trying to keep up. I put Ice Cream Paint Job on repeat for the last 4 miles (because I didn’t have enough energy to find a better song & it’s got a decent beat) and glanced down a couple times at the Garmin to see that the first number in our mile pace was at a 7 or 8. Brutal! I prefer to stick to my 9:50-10:20 miles on long runs where I can breathe and stuff, but it’s all good. I guess someone is shooting for a PR in Miami!!

The hubs and I also went with our youth group to a conference in Macon for a couple days. We had a great time!!! There were some jam up speakers who really encouraged my walk, and of course the kids (and uh, me and Big Jon) were super pumped about Lacrae!!! I played it cool and didn’t go to the front row or anything when he was performing, but I did stand up and dance in my seat. My nephew moved away from me and Jonathan told me I should sit down. Whatever, they don’t know GREAT dancing when they see it!!! I really enjoyed hearing Lacrae rap, but his speaking blew me away. He brought up some excellent points that really stuck out to me. I’ll have to blog about that on my next Food for Thought Friday post.

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And if you are bored and wanna check out our family Christmas pictures, just go on over to these links and get a little inside view of all the fun!

Christmas Eve with Jon's Family

Christmas Morning with Danielle's Family

Christmas Evening with Jon's Extended Family

Hope you and your family had a WONDERFUL Christmas and break!!!! We sure did!

P.S. The REFUEL WITH CHOCOLATE MILK GRANT is still going on…..go search for BUTLER and vote for ya girl today! And every day till Jan 15th. Please?? And thank you. (How can you resist my manners? Not to mention I actually DO refuel with chocolate milk after every.single.run and workout!)

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Merry Christmas from the Butler’s!!

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Wishing you a Christmas full of love, rest, quality time with family, memories, blessings, and a sweet celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Friday’s Letters (A Day Early)…18 mile run edition.

(Yes, this is my very first “Friday’s Letters” post….I thought it was the best way to tell the story of my adventure today. And yes, I know it’s a day early, but I’ just ran 18 miles….I can do what I want.)

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Dear 18 mile run….you were very sneaky coming on a Thursday instead of a Saturday this week. I didn’t really appreciate that, but I’ll forgive you since we’ll be busy celebrating Jesus’ birthday this weekend. And, of course, you didn’t disappoint….you certainly were an “adventure” as Crissy likes to call you. 

Dear bread bowl from Panera….thank you for helping me carbo load properly yesterday. I enjoyed every bit of you (without an ounce of guilt!) and thought that little “pregnant with a bread bowl belly” you gave me was cute. It disappeared after about 10 miles.

Dear Mr. Garmin….you might be the most honest lil fella I’ve ever met. Come on, can’t you give a girl a break and cheat just once in a while??

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Dear grey t-shirt….I’m not sure if you were soaked from sweat of the misting fog, but it’s like a cool magic trick that you became a whole new shade of grey after 12 miles.

Dear shorts…Sorry for that sneeze around mile 16. It made me tee-tee a little. (What….Like that’s never happened to you…?!?!)

Dear Georgia weather….You are SO weird. And that is an awfully bold statement coming from someone like me. Not that I mind your mid 60’s humidity 3 days before Christmas, but I must say it feels a little strange to wear shorts and a tank top in December.  I think I might have frightened some on-lookers with my
“tan.”

Dear torrential downpour at mile 16….although I don’t appreciate you SOAKING me, at least you made me pick up the pace for a few minutes.

Dear i-pod….Thanks for hanging on till the end. I noticed that little red bar pop up about mile 14 and got nervous you weren’t gonna make it, but I appreciate you sticking it out with me.  I really needed you today, so thanks for having my back.

Dear Body Glide….Thank you for helping me not chafe and avoid the dreaded fear of a shower burning the snot outta my under-boob chaffing. You are the best $10 I’ve ever spent. True story.

Dear feet….Yes, I too am beginning to wonder if you will ever recover from this marathon business.  7 out of 10 toenails is good, right??

Dear left hip/glute, AKA hlute…Ouchie! Why are you hurting all of the sudden? Me no like you right now.

Dear chocolate milk (have you voted for me today??  you can HERE!!), Epsom salt, & compression socks….I am so glad y’all are my BFFs and truly enhance the quality of my life post-runs. I’m thankful we’re all one big happy family.

Dear the color black….I know you are typically known for being sexy, slimming, and sophisticated. I sincerely apologize for ruining your reputation.

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Dear last little hill….I will always hate you. You and I can never be friends, k?

Dear Crissy….Thanks for knowing your way around everywhere and being our fearless leader. I never know where we are or where we’re going, even though I’ve ran that route about a hundred times. Your legs are great motivation. And thanks for taking that last right to finish up with the fitness trail. I really would have been content hangin a left and callin’ her quits, but thanks for pushing me.  There isn’t anyone I’d rather run 18 miles with, and I think our bond becomes a little stronger with each adventure we share!

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Dear Jay….thanks for randomly popping up on our runs. It makes me feel a lot safer to see your patrol car periodically. And thanks for taking our pictures.  We did miss you & your ‘hawk’ on the run today though.

Dear Big Jon….Thank you for being my #1 fan. For not getting mad at me when I fumble through the house at 6 am on your only day to sleep in.  For giving me ice massages and buying me running gear. For listening to my endless war stories about running. For putting that awesome marathon mix on my i-pod that I’ve listened to on repeat for about 786 times (no, I still don’t know all the words…I think I have a learning disorder when it comes to lyrics.) YOU DA MAN, Big Jon. Love you. (insert dap, pound, hug, and kiss here)

Dear Dana & Ryan….we can’t WAIT to see you all and hang out tonight. Definitely some much overdue BFF time!

Ohhh, 18 miler. You were quite annoying today.  I wanted to punch you in the face several times. But I hung in there, and I conquered you.  Kicked your a…double s…as a matter of fact. It’s runs like today that help me be one mentally tough, bad lil lady.  That’s what’s up.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Healthy Homemade Pizza

I rarely post recipes because I’m not much of a cook and I mostly make healthy, easy, quick recipes that most people already know how to make.

Big Jon & I were planning to head to Atlantic Station tonight to eat @ California Pizza Kitchen, but we didn’t get home till late so our dinner plans were kinda ruined.  I decided to make pizza at home instead, since we already had all the ingredients.

Since the hubby & I both love pizza, I decided to try to figure out a way to make it a healthier option so we can enjoy it more often.  Here’s the low calorie, high fiber, veggie filled recipe I came up with:

low-carb whole grain tortillas

organic pizza sauce

low-fat, part skim mozerella

lowfat cottage cheese (I promise it’s good!)

tons of veggies- spinach, mushrooms, green peppers, broccoli, asparagus, whatever we have in the frig at the time!

Bake for about 7 minutes @ 400. Quick, easy clean-up, & yummy!!  I bet it’s something kids would enjoy helping out with too.

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Happy Tuesday, my friends!!

Monday, December 19, 2011

And these are a few of my favorite things….(Favorite Things Party 2011)

I loved being the hostess for the favorite things party!!  I had everyone bring a yummy snack to share, so it wasn’t really too much work. (Big Jon knocked out a major honey-do list before the party for me. I have the BEST husband.)

We had LOTS of delicious food….

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Here’s how we played:

We had every guest choose a gift they love under $7 and buy 4 of them, then bring them to the party all wrapped up. When guests arrive, have them write their name on 4 slips of paper. We passed around the names and each drew 4 (making sure you didn’t draw two of the same names or your own name). Then we went around the room and each person handed out their gifts to 4 names they drew. After all gifts were passed out (still wrapped), we went around the room one by one and told about our favorite thing and why we chose it. At the point, the four people who received the person’s gift who was explaining got to open.  It was nice taking our time and opening the gifts one by one so we could all ooh and ahh over it.

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And all of the lovely guests with their goodies!!

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My gift was a little goodie bag that included:

The E.L.F. shimmery palette- LOVE it!!

The lip gloss to go with it…

And, a CLIF bar! Haha….

Thanks for coming, ladies!!  Hope you all had as much fun as I did!

“And these are a few of my favorite things….”

P.S. Speaking of favorite things, go check out Dana's blog and enter her giveaway for a chance to win a 31 Organizing Utility Tote…Suh-weet!!

P.P.S.

Don’t forget to VOTE for me (uhhh, every day till Jan. 15th- please???) for the Refuel with Chocolate Milk grant. Just search for BUTLER…. Maybe I’ll win and be able to offset some of my Miami marathon costs. Smile