THREE more days

Unbelievably enough, this school year is already coming to an end. On Thursday, my son will spend his last day as a first grader. And on Friday, I will have my first day of what I'm sure will be the longest summer I've ever experienced. Not that I'm not looking forward to this summer. We've got a lot of fantastically fun things planned and potential for a whole lot more.

My BFF from afar is coming to California at the end of July. I'm super excited for her visit. We haven't seen each other in almost a year and I'm ready to spend some quality time with her. She has been struggling with her weight, and we have put on a little competition to keep us each accountable and give ourselves a little something extra to work for. The one who loses the highest percentage of weight (a la Biggest Loser) wins a facial paid for by the other. One, I would L.O.V.E a facial. Two, it would give us a really good excuse to ditch the hubbies and the babies for a few hours. Three, well, I don't have a number three. I'm just excited to see her and spend time with her wonderful family.

I've been continuing to run as the weather permits. It's been freakishly wet and cold here; kinda feels like November. Most days when I can't run I just make sure I stay really busy moving around the house and I do my yoga, which really does get me sweating. I love the yoga stretchiness and really should integrate that into every day. I'm actually going to start staying up when my husband leaves for work at 5:30 am. Currently, I go back to bed until I have to get my son up for school at 6:30. Then sometimes after he gets on the bus I climb back into bed until 8. I think once school is out for summer, I'm going to need that time in the morning to myself and will regret staying in bed until the kids are both awake. That way I can do yoga, watch some morning news, and enjoy my cup of coffee before any of the whining, tattling, and neediness begins.

How does your schedule change for summer break? Do you find it more difficult having your kids home all day long?

Eating Clean

Ridiculously enough, it is hailing right now. Here. In Central California, where it is usually blazing hot already. Here I was, worried about how I was going to run in 100* temps and this morning I had to call the run on account of rain. Weird. I have been getting out there three times a week for the past few weeks, and I feel great!! I'm able to sustain under a 12 minute mile while pushing the jogger for 3+ miles. We actually ventured out last week and wound up covering 4.25 miles. I felt amazing! I FEEL amazing! I have musles in my legs that I can feel and see that I didn't even know existed! Even my arms feel like they are toning up as I have to put forth extra effort now to push the stroller.

The other night while at the grocery store I had to wait in line to return my RedBox movie (I absolutely love redbox). Jacob ventured off with the kids to the magazine aisle and I stumbled across Clean Eating magazine with a delicious looking chocolate pie on the cover. After flipping through it and drooling on every single picture they had in there, I decided I just had to have it. I am so glad I made that purchase. Every page is full of valuable nutritional information. They even have a two week meal plan which outlines breakfast, lunch, and dinner, along with two daily snacks. AMAZING. This week's shopping included my creating a spreadsheet closely following the meal plans and creating a shopping list off of that. This morning I woke up early to prepare my husband's breakfast, lunch, and snacks for the day. He has called me after each meal to give me a quick review. It's pretty simple stuff for the most part during the day. He is satisfied and so am I. But he asked me...What exactly is clean eating?

So I did some extra research. The Clean Eating magazine states that "the soul of clean eating is consuming food in it's most natural state, or as close to it as possible. It is not a diet; it's a lifestyle approach to food and it's preparation, leading to an improved life-one meal at a time." Several websites I've visited have listed the same basic principles:

• Avoid processed and refined foods. Reduce added sugars and enjoy whole grains.


• Drink lots of water.


• Eat five or six small meals per day, never skipping breakfast.


• Replace saturated and trans fats with good healthy natural fats.


• Reduce or eliminate alcohol.


• "If man made it, don't eat it." Only eat foods occuring naturally, no man-made fillers or ingredients.

I'm down with all of that, so we're going to give it a shot. I spent a lot of time in the produce section yesterday stocking up on strawberries, blackberries, zucchini, lettuce, and fennel. I like the fact that I mainly shop in the perimeter of the store and not in the aisles. I like the fact that I have fewer boxes and jars on my countertop after cooking. It feels really good to know that I'm feeding my family good, wholesome food that is prepared at home from fresh ingredients. It has been a slow process but I think ultimately this is what we have been working toward all along, we just didn't know it!