Christmas Happenings

Merry (late) Christmas!  What a joyous time of year.  :o) I actually look more forward to Christmas Eve rather than Christmas day because of the annual Christmas Eve service and family gatherings on Christmas Eve night.  You know the children's Christmas Eve program I have been working on for months? Well, I used to be IN the choir and not directing it.  What sweet, sweet memories I hold from over 15 years of Christmas Eve programs held at my church.

Here's a quick peek at the Christmas County Spelling Bee (This years play)

The children did a fantastic job and I've been told by several individuals that it was the best Christmas Eve program our church has ever had. I am so proud of the children and  all their hard work. *applause*

After the program, my dear husband and I had to split our family time by first attending a get-together with my side of the family and then a steak dinner with his side of the family.  This was our fourth Christmas together and fourth time making the rounds, so we're pretty used to it. Everything always falls into place and we get to see everyone. :o)

This is my niece, Lucy, and I after the program. (She got her two front teeth for Christmas) tehe!

We made it back home around 10:15pm, when Derek went right to bed while I stayed up to make the french toast casserole for Christmas Breakfast.  I went to bed around 12:30 because I got caught up in preparing the dish and surfing the web. I haven't stayed up that late in so long! At 5:30am, I got a text message from my momma that read, "They're up"(referring to my little brothers being up and ready to open gifts.) So I sprung up out of bed, grabbed my water bottle and a banana and walked next door to join in the festivities.  (Please excuse my lack of photos... my momma was the one with the camera this time, so I don't have any pics yet.)

When I got back home, I put the casserole in the oven, woke up my sleeping hubby and got ready for breakfast at the Kuda's.

 Look at the pretty little ribbons around the silverware. Too cute!

My MIL got me a little somethin' somethin' from Victoria's Secret. ;-)

 And some awesome boots!

With only 5 hours of sleep under my belt, I was a complete zomby until about 2:00 pm when I just couldn't take it any longer. I forced myself to take a two hour nap before Christmas dinner at by brother's house.  The nap did the trick, and I was quite refreshed for dinner. The festivities came to a close after the most delicious dinner at Steve and Erin's house and I slept like a baby all night. :o)

I hope you had a most delightful Christmas and soak up a little R&R over the long weekend. 

Stay tuned... I have to tell you about my accomplishment today in regards to the C25K training!

I Talk to Myself

Good Morning All! Guess what? I have the day off from work today, and tomorrow and the next day and the next day and..... well, I don't have to go back until next Tuesday. :o) Once the hubby was out the door this morning for work, I threw a pork butt in the crock pot and jumped on the treadmill.

During my run this morning, (which, by the way, was the most trying and difficult one thus far) I realized I talk to myself to push myself to my goal.  Haha. Aside from telling myself in my head, "You've got this, you can do it. Pain is temporary, quitting is forever, come on girl, you can do this!", I actually audibly exclaimed at the end of my run, "You did it, Jess! You did it! Yeah!!!"

I'll admit, it made me smile once I realized what I had done. But, hey, whatever gets me to the end, right?!

Lots of cookie baking and frosting are on the agenda today.  I've been baking large sugar cookies for the past two nights and will frost them today. I decided to individually bag each one in a clear cellophane bag and give them to family as part of our Christmas gift.  My littlest brother, Carson, it going to come over in a little bit so we can roll out some more sugar cookie dough, cut out some fun shapes, bake and frost them.  This way, he'll have a plate of nice cookies to bring to the family festivities over the next few days. :o)

Well folks, that's all I've got for now! After lots of cleaning, baking and frosting, I'll be on my way to the final dress rehearsal for the Christmas Eve program.

Remember to take some time for yourself over the next few days and remember what Christmas is really about... the Birth of Jesus Christ! ((HUGS)) and lots of love to you and your families!

Told ya so

irst, my apologies for disappearing on you. The coming week is going to be quite hectic as I prepare for the Christmas Eve program, so I'll be hit and miss on here. But believe me! I'll be running my little heart out to stay on schedule with the C25K training program. ;-) Which, by the way, Friday's run went well. It came easier to me than when I initially started the new regimen last Monday. We'll see what comes of this weeks sessions. *crosses fingers*

I mentioned on my last entry that I was going to see my dear Cousin Matt on Friday. Well, I did!  It was a fantastic visit with him and our dear friend, Ashley.  We had dinner at Thai Basil in Winter Springs where I ordered the chicken summer rolls. The food was fantastic! TCBY was on the agenda for dessert. Afterall, we were celebrating my Cousin Matt's visit.  ;-) I ordered a small eggnog frozen yogurt and I must say that it was amazing and worth every bite!! I love little treats like that.

Now without further ado...  I told you I'd post pictures of my new "do". :o)

*DRUM ROLL PLEASE*

 

I likey! ;-) This is by far the shortest I've ever gone (with maybe the exception of a cut I got as a wee little child- tehe)

Running and exercising is a breeze with this new style.... I just put on a headband and I'm off!

Well, I've got to get back to the grind.... I have 300 pizza rolls to bake for the Children's Choir by 11:00am and must package up the 30 homemade sugar cookies I frosted last night. I've also gotta pack myself a turkey wrap and some fruit,  so I have a healthy choice and can stay fueled during today's big rehearsal.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend before Christmas! I'll report back sometime this week. :o)

I fibbed

I fibbed about posting pictures of my new "do". :o( I'm sorry!! You see, my *new* camera is lacking the USB wire to take the pictures from my camera to my computer. Maybe I'll dig out my old camera this weekend for a few pictures to hold ya over until the new USB wire comes in. :o)

Week 4/Session 3 is on the schedule for tomorrow morning. I'll be up nice and early to pound out a few miles.

I am so, so, so happy that tomorrow is Friday! Hopefully the work day will fly by and I can get to dinner with my Cousin Matt (visiting from California) sooner than later. I can not wait to see him! Eeeee!! ;-)

I'll report back with running results of tomorrows session and hopefully hair pics, real soon.

Happy Friday Eve!

It's gone

My hair that is... it's gone. ;-) I had it chopped off today and am sporting the shortest "do" I've ever had. My DH didn't freak either, which is always good. :o) He's so good to me!

I'm interested to see how "light" and nice it feels to run with my new "do" tomorrow morning. Woo hoo! I love change. :o) The big test will be when I style it myself. *crosses fingers* Lets hope that goes well.

Oh! Just to report back from my last post... I got a full night of sleep and woke up nice and refreshed for a workout at 5:30am. Tomorrow is a C25K day, so I'm gonna hit the sack real soon for another good nights rest.

Stay tuned, I'll be posting pictures of my new "do" tomorrow!!

Let the Butt Kicking Begin!

It's official, the C25K is beginning the butt kicking process.

I just completed Week 4/Session of C25K and am feeling great!  I wasn't feeling so great during the run, but am pumped now that I've completed it.  What an accomplishment!

Unfortunately, I stayed up way too late last night, so I decided to sleep in until 6:30am instead of 5:30am.  Since there is so much sickness going around, I want to do everything possible to boost my immunity, including getting enough sleep at night. Had I gotten up to run, I would have been cutting it close with enough sleep. To make up my morning run, I ran this evening. Usually, I try to avoid running in the evenings since it tends to keep me awake. However, I'm crawling into bed between 9:00 &; 9:30 which should give me ample time to doze off at a decent hour.

On another note, my eating habits are slowly but surely changing. My cravings for sugar and sweets have drastically reduced. Don't get me wrong! I have my moments where I have to have chocolate, or else. That's when I grab a little Hershey Kiss to satisfy that craving. It sure as heck beats devouring a whole snicker bar, right?! Satisfy that craving and move on with healthier choices throughout the day. This is definitely becoming the norm of my eating habits.  It's so neat to watch my cravings change through this journey to a healthier lifestyle.

Well that's all folks! I'm off to bed so I can get a full nights rest and wake up refreshed for a workout.

Change of Plans

This girl is whooped! I've been going to bed pretty late and my body is finally telling me to stop it. I was feeling a little run down yesterday, starting with a headache when I rolled out of bed. It felt like a sinus headache and possibly allergies, so I took a Zyrtec before going to bed last night.  (Note: Zyrtec makes me extremely sleepy and I usually sleep very hard if I take one at night.) My alarm was set for 5:30 this morning, to get up for Week 3/Session 2 of C25K.  I slept through the alarm and woke up at 6:45. UGH.... my morning run was out of the picture. I was completely bummed about missing my run this morning.  :-( 

To make up for the lack of physical activity for the day, I made a conscience effort to eat well. Breakfast was a banana with almond butter and a little granola. The office went to Macaroni Grill for lunch, where I chose grilled chicken skewers with veggies with a side salad. I only had one slice of the hot, yummy bread they put in front of me as an appetizer and a few very small slices of lemon pond cake for dessert.  Again, control is everything. I satisfied my craving while filling up on the healthier selections, making less "room" for the treats. I was full for the rest of the afternoon and didn't need/want a snack before dinner.

I had a feeling of discontent all day since missing my morning run, so I made a point to do Week 3/Session2 when I got home. The music was turned up and I walked away feeling completely pumped and accomplished! :o) YAY!!

Spaghetti was on the menu for dinner. (It's easy and I am lacking time/motivation for cooking big meals with the Christmas Eve program fast approaching.) After running, I lost my craving for it, so I made a big salad and topped it with a little spaghetti and a meatball. It was juuuust riiiiight!

I promised myself a full 8 hours of sleep this evening, so I'll be hitting the sack at 9:00pm.  I should be waking up around 5:30 to do a 20 minute DVD workout session.  Oh boy!  ;-P NIGHTY NIGHT!