Under the Weather

I always thought I was someone who didn't get sick too much, but it seems like I've been sick quite a bit lately...I'm not sure, maybe it's just me. Whatever it is, I've had a cold since Friday which has been accompanied by mood swings, a stuffy/runny nose, headaches, stomach aches, lots of sleepiness, and a general feeling of being crappy. I just wanted to appoligize and let you know that I'm still alive and be on the look out for some posts upcoming. For now, I'm curled up under a soft and warm blanket with a book and a box of Kleenex trying to fall asleep...I didn't get to prepare a Musica Monday for you this week and I'm sorry about that....I hope to be back in action within a day or two! Seriously, my boss has a cold now too....never a good combination!!

In other news, the apartment is going awesomely and I've finally figured out the new (for me) library's policy for getting books from other libraries! Plus I've been working on some crafts that I hope to show you guys soon :D and Tuesday is my mom's birthday, so...HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOMMY!!! I LOVE YOU!!!

Love,

Sara :)

IDEA Fitness Journal

My boss (who hates when I call her my boss) gets a journal every few months called IDEA Fitness Journal. After she reads through it, she is nice enough to let me look through it as well. I've been a CPT for almost 5 months now and I've learned a lot just through experience, so when we are told that experience is the best teacher, it's honestly true!

 

Anyways, this Journal is interesting because it is written for CPTs and Fitness Studio/Gym owners. There are articles in here about all sorts of things from nutrition to group exercise to senior fitness and just about everything in between. For instance, in the April 2014 issue (which I am currently going through) a few of the articles include "Health Profiles of Extreme Marathoners" and "Personal Training for Tennis Players", along with an article about how important post-workout rest is called "Recovery: The Rest of the Story", even personal trainers are allowed our little puns! But one of my favorite parts of this Journal is how it introduces new ideas (well, at least new to me) in the form of exercises, training methods, as well as nutrition. Below is pictured an article from last year about a food called Freekeh or Freikeh or Farik (depending where you look), which I had never heard of before and found it very interesting Stay tuned for possible recipes later on!

 

I haven't done much journal reading since college simply due to the fact that these articles cost money and that is not exactly something I have a plethora of currently. However, whenever I get my hands on any sort of Journal of this sort, I get this old excitement in my gut that I'm going to learn something good. Yea, I'm a bit of a nerd here, but I'm proud of it and I love that there is always more to learn no matter what field I'm reading up on! What types of reading do you do for your career?

Love,
Sara :)

 

Good Ol' Musica Monday

Oh hello there folks! This Monday (sorry it is a bit late, I am writing this as soon as I got home from work) I wish to share some music with you!  This week I am using the song Love Me Again by John Newman.  I heard this song a few weeks ago on YouTube, and despite being a bit late to the train, I really dig it!  Here is the link so you can listen while reading:

So yea...I really like his voice.  I am just amazed at the many little alterations he does while he sings.  I find it to be rather unique, but I understand that is up for argument.  Any-who, I also like the song because of the lyrics and the emotion he puts behind it.  And I find his dancing rather  classy.  Maybe I should take dance lessons...well that is a project for another day!  Well I will keep this short and simple, so thanks for reading and listening :D If you liked it, cool! If not, tell me why.  And either way, have a great day! 

Dreams: Ideas and Traveling

Sometimes I get ideas. Ok, I get lots of ideas and many of them float through my head and are stored way back in a distant, cobweb-filled corner of my brain to most likely never be seen again. However, some ideas stick with me and no matter what they don't ever seem to really leave. These are only emphasized by me finding people who share my ideas and who are equally as enthusiastic to try and someday put them into action. Now that's the key word: someday. I feel like half of my ideas get thrown out because of a lack of time or money or the drive (honestly I can get pretty lazy some days). However, I have been talking to people especially lately because I was suddenly put back in contact with friends I haven't talk to since I'm not sure when. What happened? Facebook and I had a birthday, and what happens? All those friends you used to talk to send you messages saying 'Happy Birthday! I miss you! We should get together! Where are you now?' I don't mean to sound mocking, but it seems to be what we all end up expecting when our birthdays come around and we go of Facebook. Well, this year I actually went through and answered all of the people that I never talked to and tried to catch up with the ones that I could. I had a lengthy discussion with a friend from Washington about going out and visiting her and another with a high school friend who is now in California (what?!) and moving to New York next year (sweet!). It was actually pretty fun!

Now I'm getting ahead of myself. Back to my ideas. I have these ideas and one big one that I've had for years was to travel to all 50 states and to as many countries around the world as possible. I currently have a severe case of wanderlust! As Matt and my relationship has progressed, we have learned quite a bit about each other and one thing that we both really want to do is travel. When I shared this idea with him, he was super supportive as long as he could come along, which I have absolutely no problem with! Anyways, this is where talking to long lost friends comes in. I talked to this friend in Washington, and I think Matt and I might be going out to Washington for a visit later this summer or this fall if possible! I am super excited to get this traveling started! I know we are still young, but there is just so much out there to see and do and we want to do so much that we better get started soon!

With our first few stops consisting of Chicago, Minneapolis, and possibly Washington (random, but hopefully it works!) I can't wait to see what other adventures the future holds!

What sorts of adventures do your lives have? Remember adventures don't have to be traveling to a foreign country or even to another state, an adventure is whatever you make it and it can really be anything! So, go forth, and be adventurers!

Love,

Sara :)

Musica Monday

It's a great feeling to know when someone has faith in you. I'm not just talking about letting you come to work and take on more responsibility, I'm looking at more the whole boss leaving you in charge for a while....or a week. Yea, I'm the only one at the studio for the next week! It's a bit crazy and I won't lie to being nervous, but I'm excited and super proud that she has that much faith in me that she's willing to leave the studio in my hands for one week. Never would have thought that they would be willing to do this before my one year of working here came up much less four months into actually training! Anyways, most of us experience this at one point or another in our lives, whether it is the first time we are allowed to drive that car by ourselves or the first time our parents don't call us for an eta of being home that night or even when the boss asks us to mind the shop for an hour or two, no matter how small it might seem to onlookers, it really is a big deal! It's moments like that that we treasure deep in our consciousness and look back on whenever we are feeling unhappy to turn around our mood.

I have an old friend whom I haven't seen in years who has been struggling with a lot of stuff lately. I remember her being one who was always able to help me with things when I was in trouble emotionally. We used to run track together and she was the one who could always get me revved up and excited before one of my races, by giving me this feeling, she was able to help me through more than just my races. I wish I could say thank you to her in person but New York is a long ways away and I'm broke...stupid college loans.... Every one of us needs a person who we can turn to for help and someone who is willing to give our egos a bit of a stroke just because that's what we need at the time. If you don't have a friend like that, look at yourself. Are you that friend? Who can you turn to when you are in need of just someone to tell you that you are awesome and to keep trucking through?

This song is by Krewella, and I'm not the biggest on putting up songs that are super popular but I really think that this helps to emphasize what I'm trying to say in this post. So enjoy 'Alive' and remember to keep looking ahead, the world continues and it doesn't do to dwell on dreams and forget to live :P

Love,
Sara :)

Types of Tea and What They Do

Ever since college I have been an avid tea drinker. Between me and Morgan, I think we have eight or nine different varieties of tea in our cabinet at home. Coffee is good and I have stopped a few times this week to get my vanilla soy latte from Starbucks on my way to work, but there is something about a cup of tea that puts a smile on my face.

My first few years in college, I drank mostly green tea due to the fact that we were able to buy a 100 pack (or something ridiculous) at Costco and I could go through a bag each day. Now, being the nerd I am, I did do a bit of research on green tea and was encouraged to find that there were several benefits from drinking this tea. Some of these include: being an excellent source of anti-oxidants, lowers stress, reduces high blood pressure, rehydrates even better than water, and boosts your immunity.

I also did learn that if I had more than two large mugs in a six hour span I got a little twitchy, but this was simply from a caffeine overload in my system.

While green tea was my go to, every holiday season my mom would make peppermint tea. This stuff is delicious and to this day I feel weird having peppermint tea at any time other than during November and December. Peppermint tea is helpful with relieving stomach cramps, so I have been considering using it if my period cramps ever come back (hey, I'm a girl. I'll talk about whatever, not shy about it.). It is also supposed to help with headache problems (helloooooo migraines).

Currently, my favorite teas extend farther than green tea and peppermint tea, into Oolong tea and most Lemon or Peach teas.

Oolong tea, for those of you who aren't big tea drinkers, is a partially dried then steamed tea leaf and has a flavor that is somewhere between black and green tea. It's more floral and smoky and goes will with juicier fruits such as peaches and nectarines. It has been linked in some studies to weight loss, but don't drink this just for weight loss, it can also help to keep blood sugar, cholesterol, and acne in check!

From what I've read, lemon or peach teas really don't offer a lot as far as extra benefits, but they taste really good and like any tea, help with hydration and cleansing your system.

Studies have shown that drinking tea can help reduce your risk of heart disease by 20-25% and lowers your risk of breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, and prostate cancer. So, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things!

What kinds of tea do you drink?

Love,
Sara :)

Eating Healthy on a Budget

We've had nearly two weeks living on our own and we've come up with a sort of routine already. Neither of us tend to be home together a lot just due to the circumstances of our jobs, and that seems to work out just fine. We are great when it comes to communicating and letting each other know when the boys are coming over or other friends or the such.

We have also gotten pretty good at grocery shopping, which is interesting cause when I talk to other people about roommates and cooking and food they seem to do things differently. All I can say is that we are splitting the cost of food and that is working very well.

This brings me to a thought that I had concerning this sort of cooking. Maybe it's the personal trainer in me....idk! Is it possible to eat healthy and not break the bank with organic foods? Turns out yes, it is! Here are a few things I've learned through research as well as just from experience.

1. When going grocery shopping, have a list and stick to that list. It helps to plan your meals ahead of time so you know exactly what you will need.

2. Eat seasonally. Produce is cheaper while it is in season, not to mention it is easier to find and tends to taste a lot fresher. This can also be achieved by going to farmers' markets. I know my area does have winter farmers' market, check and see if your area does! I'm hoping to go this month and see how prices look and see what they have in general!

3. Cook large amounts of food and freeze portions for later. This includes rice, beans, meat, veggies, etc. Honestly, this is very useful. If you are planning on keeping your stuff in the freezer for a while, make sure you put the date on the container or bag so you know how old they are!

So, yea. I hope that these are helpful! Yay for healthy eating while not breaking the bank!
How do you eat healthy? I love hearing responses!

Love,
Sara :)

ps. I am working on making some fun magnets, time has just not been on my time lately....

Musica Monday

Some days just have an upbeat feeling to them. For me, today was one of those days. I went running outside for the first time without a coat today, which was quite exciting. Also, I tried a new app starting this past weekend called 'happiness' which is supposed to help you see the happy parts of your day. I think it is a cute idea, I mean it isn't exactly what I need or anything, but I wanted to give it a shot anyways. All I can say is that this morning I woke up in a very good mood. I mean I was tired, which is why I stopped at Starbucks and got a grande vanilla soy latte (I'd love to someday be able to make my own version....*daydream here*), maybe it's more because of the fact that my mind thinks coffee and therefore thinks "now you're awake!", but I was pretty awake all day. Not only that, but I managed to get my taxes filed (finally) this evening, which is quite helpful!
I'm going to go back to the 90s for today's Musica Monday because there was a lot of more upbeat music that really just seemed very random (at least to me at the time) but to this day, whenever I listen to these songs I still smile or at least have the desire to dance along a little to the beat. Let me know what you guys think :) This song is "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby" by Counting Crows.

Love,
Sara :)

New Apartment and Hopsital Visit

This week has been absolutely crazy! We moved into our new apartment on Saturday and are very pleased with how it looks (there will be a post geared more towards this as we continue to move in and get stuff situated, and when I have a camera that works...) and feels as far as being a 'home'. However, I have not stayed here every night. I had planned on being a bit better with posting since I moved and had less driving time, and that started off great with Monday, but I woke up Tuesday morning covered in hives and went to the walk-in clinic which was not very helpful and found myself in the ER Wednesday morning at 3am, with swollen hands, feet, face, and large hives all over my body. In order to stop the swelling I received a shot of epinephrine, after an IV bag of steroids to try and halt my swelling. I spent Wednesday night at my parents' house once again trying to figure out what it was that had set off this reaction. Turns out it wasn't the new apartment because again around 3am this morning I found myself asking my mother to use her master bedroom tub in order to take an oatmeal bath (those things feel so wonderful on burning skin!) to soothe the rash that had appeared all over my back, arms, and legs. This morning we went to the allergist hoping for some answers. The answers I got were interesting and not what we expected. The theory as of now is that I am actually allergic to a medication that my dermatologist had prescribed for me a month or so ago, when I had developed a cough and this past week had just been when my body and decided it couldn't fight off the infection as well anymore and I kinda exploded in hives. Tonight, I'm back in the apartment (much to my apartment mate's relief) and only have a few markers left of the hives and swollen hands since I stopped taking the medication this morning and went on some pretty heavy steroids to get whatever it is out of my system.
Now, add this to the fact that my boss is gone until Monday and I have picked up a few of her clients and you can probably guess at my current stress level :P. Actually, it's not that bad. I'm not too concerned and I am looking forward to a full day with hopefully a nice run (sadly still inside since Wisconsin weather is being stupid) or at least workout tomorrow.
Anywho, this apartment is really quite awesome and I can't wait to share it with you all! We even have a washer and dryer and dishwasher in the actual room!!! I can't wait to get cooking and decorate this place! Not to mention, there is a Michaels about two blocks down and an Ottos not even 5 minutes away by car, AND a Half-Price Books maybe 10-15 minutes away by car! We picked a nice area! The 15 minute straight shot drive to work is just an added bonus!

How have your weekends been going, dear friendly readers?

Love,
Sara :)