Rants, Recipes, and Running

You may or may not know this about me. But, my passion is music. Once upon a time, I started taking lessons when I was in 1st grade. I kept this up until my senior year of high school. My teacher got me involved in several Piano Guild's and competitions. I even played for 2 weddings while I was in high school. Then I went off to college..... I had a music scholarship for trombone with the Wind Emsemble. This was great, but extremely time consuming. 3 hour rehearsals 3 times/week, plus sectional rehearsals 1/week. With nursing being the degree I was pursueing, I chose to quit band. Not having access to a piano, I just kind of let go of it. However, no matter what - upon visiting home -- my sister Lisa & I battle for "piano time". For we both have a strong love for playing piano! Well, for the past year or so - this "loss" has been hard on me. Seriously. Every week in church, I cry real tears. I miss piano so much. Well...... This weekend, we we...

So today my Wellness Wednesday focus in legs! My favorite muscle in the whole body to work out! Now, obviously running, biking, elipicalling it will tone your legs and burn fat. But, adding some weight/resistance training will really do it! Plus, if you get good muscle in your legs and butt? -- that will burn tons of calories! So here are a few of my favorites. It's my "garage leg burn-out". Meaning...I do all this in our garage. 1. Jump rope 100 jumps (regular jumps - both legs) 2. Skip jump rope x 60 ( Right leg first) 3. Skip jump rope x 60 ( Left Leg first ***The jump ropes get your calves & heart! 4. Lunges 15 each leg (3 times) - holding weight as tolerated 5. Resistance/stretchy band steps    ***Place a stretchy resistance band around your ankles and walk side ways    ***15 steps to the Right, 15 steps to the left 6. Squats + Shoulder Press (15 repititions x 3)    ***Holding a bar or weights squat butt to the floor (knees di...

Ryan & I had a fantastic weekend. Recap-Post to comeWhich was essential! Especailly since this week we are currently experiencing is a rough one! I am taking a quick break for studying for some sanity, however - so here's my 10! 1. What would the title of your autobiography be? Diaries of Dear Abby 2. What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever heard a child say or seen him/her do? Oh jeez, there are so many comments my nephews have said that make me laugh. I don't even know where to start. All of them have their one liners that will never be forgotten! *Tear*. I miss them sooo much! 3. What is your favorite kids game to play? Hmm....I think I'm going to have to say Candyland. I just get excited about the different characters. 4. If you got invited to a potluck BBQ tomorrow, what would you bring? I would whip up some home-made salsa or guacamole. And I would make some type of salad (either an interesting quinoa or taboulleh salad). If they wanted deserts, I woul...

Do you ever find yourself losing sleep over something? Worrying and keeping it in the back of your mind? And then when you finally realize what it is that's causing "stress" - all you can say is "Wow. I need to chill out!"..... Or "My, I'm pathetic". That has been occurring this week. And I thought I would share - because it's kind of comical. First, to give you understanding of my deep concern - our Tomato Plant has been very productive this week. I've pulled 4 fresh, plump, red tomatoes off! And I'm loving it. That's like $4 at the grocery store I'm saving! So, I found myself last night at a happy-hour for Ryan's work - sitting at the table talking about my concern. I found myself saying,:   "What do you Arizonans do with your plants when you leave for the weekend ? Do you get a drip system? Do you have someone care for them while you're gone? Do you think we could just bring our tomato plants and daisies o...

I am beginning a segment! We all know that I'm kind of a health nut. Therefore..... Every Wednesday (hopefully I will stay true to this) I am going to write a "wellness related" segment. I might be a work out plan, a healthy recipe, maybe a home-remedy, or education about something health-related! I hope you enjoy! So to kick this off - I'm going to give a little history on WHY I have chosen to strive for wellness: First off, I was the chubby kid in elementary school/junior high. Not like I was HUGE, but I definitely got the occasional "tease" from my peers. So, high school started and I got determined to start taking care of myself a little better. I "over-did" it. And through that, I feel like I've gained a sense of "wisdom" that I now live my life by:.... All is good in moderation! Striving to be "thin" instead of "healthy" didn't really make me all that healthy! In all honesty, I screwed my...

1. What does your car say about you? If you don’t have a car, what kind of car would be your daily driver? Well, I don't think my car speaks "me". It's a Grand Prix. White. I think I need to drive a something littler. Pure because I need something small and simple to drive. For, let's face it. I am in the ranking for "World's Worst Driver". I need like....a Smart Car. Green. 2. To this point, what has been your purpose on this planet? To be a healing nurse who never treats her patients like a science some sort of medical object/science experiment/"case". And to be a dedicated #1 fan of a wife to Ryan! 3. If you could trade places with any person for any amount of time, who would it be? To be one of these people you see on International House Hunters (home & garden) who up and move to some exotic island, buy a gorgeous plot of land with beach views, and live the dream. Or...more realistically - I'd like to be a Family Nur...

The decision was made that we were due for a night out ! We aren't offically "members" of the group - but through the company Ryan works for, we always receive inoformation on a group called " Tucson's Young Professionals ". It's a group of people in their mid twenties - early thirties that his company hooks their new-hires up with. It's basically a networking organization throughout our city of various companies. They do individual events, and then monthy an event called "First Friday's" occurs downtown at the Art Museum. They have music, a bar, a cigar patio, "speed networking" and every month they exhibit some form of entertainment. The array of people there was interesting.I was expecting all...businessy people. (Wow, wise term.) But there was every profession from pharmacists, nurse (me!), engineers, models, personal fitness trainers, accountants, the list goes on. This Friday they featured " Urban Art ". I t...