New workout routines

For those of you who know me IRL, you know I end up getting bored with workouts fairly quickly. I have to almost constantly switch up my routines so that I will keep up the work and stay motivated. I think I have finally found a system I can stick with! Being in graduate school these past 2+ years has been rough with my working out plans and staying in shape. Last year, some of R's coworkers were talking and the subject of their soccer team came up- well he casually mentioned that I used to play soccer in my younger years. Technically I played 5th grade-through junior year of HS and then a little with the Gamma Phi intramural team in college courtesy of my friend asking me to join up with her. Thanks for that, R!

Anyway, I joined up with the work team and pretty soon, got my hubby to join in the fun with me! I realized fairly quickly that I needed to get more cardio in my routine than I was doing as I was really only doing strength training and a mix of yoga/pilates. I recently started with Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 and then went through the short version of Mandy Ingber's Yogalosophy. (Mandy Ingber is Jennifer Aniston's workout secret, along with several other famous LA residents.) She also happens to be hilarious and motivating, especially when you feel like you can't hold the pose/do any more lunges! I picked up the DVD for free from some credit card points that I cashed in (also scored a gift certificate to R and my favorite restaurant for special occasions-Roy's Hawaiian Fusion).

WOW- finally a combo of workouts that I can feel all over where I need it to be working! My quads and hamstrings feel fantastic today-and usually I can't feel my workouts in that area very well.  I'm excited about my new routine and what I will be able to accomplish again soon with my increasing fitness level. To be completely honest, the last 3 years have seen me gain 3-4 pant/dress sizes and I'm not too happy about it. One of my main goals for 2012 was to get back to my personal happy weight/ muscle tone and it's a work in progress.

Here's my routine:
I take Sundays off; we play soccer on Tuesdays, and the rest of the week I do this combo of workouts. About 3 times a week I try to get into our local gym and work through various forms of cardio.

I have some events coming up in the next couple months that I'm using as my tracking points. First up- a college friend of R and mine is getting married mid-June (sad part is I will be going alone as R's work has him scheduled for a TDY).

Weekend Fun

Hi there! Hope everyone had as beautiful weather and lovely weekend as we did here!

R and I were both free this past Friday night for the first time in a while, so we decided to go out on a dinner and movie date. R chose the restaurant (one of our favorites-Cheesecake Factory) and we chose to go see "Dark Shadows" with the idea of seeing "The Avengers" later on this month.  I'm not sure anyone else remembers this, but in the early 1990s, there was a made for TV mini-series that was made from the original 1960s-1970s Dark Shadows television series. NBC ended up canceling the series after only twelve episodes due to the onset of the 1st Gulf War and news updates meant program interruptions and understandable fewer ratings due to people wanting to see/watch news about the war. I watched the 1991 series with my dad and remember really enjoying the story line!

Source

When I found out Johnny Depp and Tim Burton were recreating the series in a movie, I was pretty excited! These days, I don't get too excited about many things involving vampires (while I'm at it, I am definitively not a fan of Twilight, True Blood, or much of any of the other recent vampire media onslaughts). This version of Dark Shadows starts in 1700s Colonial America and continues in the 1970s, with an Alice Cooper cameo. Ha! I love when he shows up in the most random of places- I still remember him appearing on stage at a Tim McGraw/Billy Bob concert in Austin that I went to with a roommate during college.

While I found the movie pretty entertaining (worth the $12 tickets), it did seem to be a story-line that a viewer would need to know some of the background of the Collins family. Eva Green (Kingdom of Heaven, a Bond girl in Casino Royale) and Michelle Pfeiffer also did a good job of being entertaining (and funny) in the movie. Without giving anything away, I thought the Burton/Depp take on the storyline did the series justice with just enough modern-day entertainment added. For a Friday night, the mall area wasn't all that crowded, except there was a fairly large number of Academy freshmen in line to get tickets to see Battleship (gee, I wonder why? -tongue in cheek) while we were in line to get our movie tickets.

I'm still not sure about Hollywood making movies out of boardgames and according to a sidebar in this month's InStyle, studios are planning on making movies out of Candyland, Monopoly, and Risk in the coming months . . . your thoughts?

Breakfast for Dinner

Last week our local grocery store had a sale for 2/1 eggs, so I ended up buying 2 packs of them. Yesterday, I saw this recipe come in through my email:

Huevos Rancheros with Queso Fresco

The recipe looked fairly easy and it hails from Cooking Light magazine. I decided that we should try it for dinner last night. It was fabulous and delicious! We even had leftovers for R to take to work for his lunch. Have a Blessed week!

A little Texas music

Happy Monday! I was missing home a bit the other day and discovered this video from a rising Texas Country singer (Josh Abbot Band):



As a former violin player (on my life wishlist to pick it back up) I have to say that I LOVE the featured parts of the song where you can really hear the fiddle. As the band "Alabama" once stated, "if you're going to play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band." This statement is so true, and if you ever get a chance to get off the beaten path/main highways and venture to a small-town country fair, you will definitely get a chance to hear some wonderful fiddle music. Cheers y'all!

Recap of family visit in March

 I was going through our camera the other day and found several photos from March (I always download photos at least once a week) when my mom and her fiance came to visit us here on the Mid-Atlantic coast. Neither had ever been to the DC area before, so after winning some money in the Texas Lottery, she called and said they'd like to visit over Spring Break time! They came during our unseasonably FABULOUS weather that lasted all of 4 days, then it became typically spring, colder weather again.

My favorite photo?

Cherry trees behind Smithsonian Castle

And some others:

2nd favorite photo: Mom's fiance wanted a photo that looked like T-Rex was coming after him.  : )

 

Smithsonian elephant posing with Mom's fiance

What to do: Kentucky Derby or Cinco de Mayo?

This year, as you may have noticed, the Kentucky Derby falls on the same day as Cinco de Mayo. There's been some talk of people wearing sombreros while watching the Derby. I have an entertaining image of that in my head. If you're heading to the actual derby in Churchill Downs, you might look a little odd if you choose to wear this next to this. Then again, maybe not:

138th Derby Fashions

Whatever you choose, Happy Derby/ Cinco de Mayo) day! I have family that lives in Kentucky and was originally planning on visiting them this year, but just didn't happen. (If you're reading Aunt Les-my apologies! and we'll see you in Destin). 

What is your preference? Are you planning on going to a restaurant that will be celebrating both? I'll be watching the race on TV with a nice mint julep in my hands (maybe followed by a margarita).

Happy weekend everybody! 

SUYL from Kelly's Korner

Today on Kelly's SUYL, she's doing a link-up for all of us to put where we live/our blogs and a little something about yourself. I'm a native Texan (born and raised), where I went to Texas A&M for undergrad, and was a charter member of the Gamma Phi Beta chapter there.

While there I met fabulous friends, including my husband whom I married on September 5, 2009 (it's a 3-generation family tradition to get married that weekend!). Then we both went to graduate school, and once graduated R's job brought us to Maryland. Life's not always easy, but it sure is entertaining, so if you have been a long-time reader or are just finding me through Kelly, welcome!

The picture above is from the "snowmageddon" of the winter of 2009-10, and we lived in downtown Baltimore at the time and decided to do a walkabout to take pictures and get some food. I don't always write every day, but I do try to write at least a couple times a month.