Runny Mind

My mind has been running in all sorts of directions lately.
It seems so easy to become overcome with daily life that you feel it starts to pile up on you too quickly. I've always looked a women who went to school, kept a full time job and took care of three kids with complete awe. It's definitely not a situation I could really handle myself, but talking to these hard working mothers has definitely taught me to keep my complaining in check.

Lately, planning a wedding, school and keeping our home together seems to be the main things filling up my mind. It's a lot in itself, but I feel blessed that the things that are keeping me busy have nothing negative connected to it. It's easy to let the things that overwhelm you over take you. I've noticed when I've allowed this to happen to me the good things can quickly become negative. I don't know why, but an episode of Bridezillas just flashed in my head. You get my point though right? Anyways, I have to admit, one of the main things that has helped me clear my head and keep my negative thinking in check is running.

 When I lost my job back in 2010 I was devastated and even felt a bit lost.  I didn't have an answer for what I was going to do next and I beat myself up about it. During this time I was in the middle of training for my first half marathon and I wasn't going to give up on my goal because I lost my job. For the first couple of weeks It felt like my days consisted of running and crying, but I remember the moment it started to get better. I was doing my favorite run in the foothills of Albuquerque, this run is brutal because it starts off with the first mile going up hill. In the past I've always made it to the top and immediately went to the downhill to catch my breath as soon as I could. However, this time I stopped and turned to the west and admired the amazing panoramic view I had. At this moment, I remembered how blessed I really was. I was given the time to really think about what I wanted to do with my future, and I was done feeling sorry for myself. I went home from my run feeling energized and ready to sign up for a crazy semester of science classes that I needed to get into nursing school.  Running has been amazing at helping me think something through, or just let go of something negative. It's even been there for me after completing a heinously stressful test. I guess to put it simply, running is cheaper than therapy, and it feels good to have something to clear up my runny mind.
Happy Running Amigos! 

Domestically Disabled Post: Crockpot Posole

It was cold here on Monday and I wanted something warm to eat, but I didn't want to put much work into making it. Here is where my Mercedes of crock pots comes in handy. She is 5.5 quart red beauty and she can handle anything.

I whip out this bonita roja with excitement and decide I'm going to fall back on my trusty crock pot posole recipe. It's warm, spicy, yummy and perfect for the winter time. The recipe I use is really easy and leaves your house smelling amazing. I understand that there is the old fashion way of cooking posole, but the red beauty allows me to add ingredients and focus on other things.

Here is what you do:

• Add Pork shoulder and chicken breast cut into cubes into crock pot
• Add a box of low sodium chicken broth (I get mine from Trader Joes)
• 1/2 a teaspoon of Salt, pepper, cayenne red pepper, and cumin 
• 2 teaspoons of dried oregano
• 4 cloves of garlic minced
• A tub of Red Chile  or 2-14.5 ounce cans (I use Bueno Foods Frozen red chile from NM. keepin it local)
• Set crock pot on high for 5 hours 
• After 5 hours add 2 cans of hominy (drained)
• Cook for another hour
• Done! Yummy Posole! 
• Don't forget to heat up some flour tortillas to go with this meal.

I usually add lime, onion and radishes to my bowl of posole before I eat it.  However, you can cook this recipe with a chopped onion if you like.
Also, I've heard you can substitute the meat for tofu, but I haven't tried that yet.

Enjoy! Buen Provecho!

Hot Sock Bun

I love Pinterest!!
I am super addicted to this website. I almost have to peel my hands off the computer to get away from it.  Pinterest is a place oozing with ideas, inspiration, and even good tips on how to clean those pesky streak stains at the bottom of your sink.
The other day I came across a tutorial on how to get great curls in your hair without using heat. It was called the sock bun secret. It's easy and pretty much free. The sock bun secret is great, but can only be used for longer hair lengths. However,  I'm sure a quick Google search can help you find some alternatives.
Here is what I did..
I watched this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I13J7ArHTkM
I then cut the toes of the sock off and wore the sock bun in my hair overnight as it instructed to do so in the video. The Señor got a kick out of my new hairstyle and said my high bun made me look like a sumo wrestler.  Anyways, I used a black sock to make the bun. The cool thing about using the black sock is that you couldn't really tell I had it in my hair. This is a good thing for when I want a curly hairstyle for a night of going out or staying at home. Whatever.
Here is a before photo with my sock bun sumo hairstyle.

Sumo Style

This morning I took out the sock bun and had the biggest Jersey hair curls I've ever seen! I applied some anti-frizz to my mane in order to calm it down and then went on a run.
When I came back I was shocked to see that my curls had survived my cold morning run.
I just added some Tressemé dry shampoo to it and I was ready to go! I showed my Señor my curly mane and he bestowed me with a new nickname...

Brownie Locks
 Clever huh? 

Here are the results of the sock bun!

Pretty cool huh?! And this is my hair after my run!

So yeah, Pinterest has created a new fan of the sock bun. 

Watch the video, try it out, and let me know if it works for you.

Nothing beats an easy hairstyle that doesn't damage your hair.

Have a great weekend!

Videos That Make Me Say WOW!

For the book lover..


For the dancer and the yogi..

2012 Half Marathon Training

I'm back on the half marathon wagon amigos!
After wrapping up my holidays of eating a plethora of tamales and endless bowls of posole. It was time to hop back on the fitness wagon. I might of already said this in an earlier post, but on my first few runs in the New Year I could smell the tamales and posole in my sweat! Yeah, I really ate that much.
Recently during a yoga session a teacher asked us all to set an intention for the class.  I picked to focus on goals for the coming New year. Naturally, one of them was to run a half-marathon. I have been on a one-year hiatus from any sort of race, and have actually missed it. I was sort of plagued by my plantar fasciitis injury last year and racing was out of the question. Now that I'm all healed up, I feel ready to get out there and run a race again.
I've picked out my training program, which is the Nike Women's Half Marathon Training Guide. I will be doing the intermediate level training and will do my best to stick to it. The good thing about this program is that it allows you to shift around your training days, so if I have a big Pharm test and have a 10 miler scheduled the day before, I can switch up the days. By having more control and freedom with my workouts, I will most likely stick with the program.
I've decided I am doing the Run for the Zoo for my next half.  It's a local race here in town that benefits the biological parks, and one of my favorites.  After you finish you get free admission to the zoo on the day of the run, so you can't beat that. I really hope I get to go. After my last half-marathon run I was sick for three days straight due to my lack of cool down.  I will make sure I don't make the same mistake this time. I'm not quite sure yet if I will be running for a PR, which was 1:47.22, or just run it for fun.  I think I will make my decision the day of the race.
I'm excited to have decided to complete this goal. It feels good to actually be training for a half again. I know I can do it. Now I just got to keep with it!
What are you pushing yourself to do in 2012 amigos? Running? Writing? Crafting?
Whatever it may be.. I hope you love it!

Love on the Run

Yesterday on my run around the neighborhood I encountered these great signs that said..
"Love....Take all you need."
It brought a huge smile to my face and added some love to my run.

Three Kings Day and Our First Wedding Gift

This year we celebrated Three Kings Day (info here)  a little early. It's usually celebrated on January 6th, but since this upcoming weekend is going to be busy for all of us we decided to celebrate a bit early. My mother made an amazing mole chicken meal, and we tried the Skinny Girl Sangria mix that my mother won at a white elephant party. Just FYI, it was terrible and I don't recommend it. It tasted like bad white wine and we all gagged a little. After finish our great meal we moved on to the Rosca de Reyes bread. 
At this moment,  I decide to put my older brother on the spot with a memory I have of the Rosca de Reyes bread from when I was 5 years old. Inside each cakes is a baby Jesus. If you find the baby Jesus you get special privileges and have to prepare the tamales for Candlemas. However, since we were too young to make tamales my mother said we would get good luck for the year and be King/Queen for a day.  Moving on with the story, my mother hands us out our cake and wishes us luck in finding the baby Jesus. This was the cue for my brother to start digging frantically through his cake to find the baby Jesus. I'm looking on appalled at my borther while he tornadoes through his cake. As soon as he realizes that he doesn't have the baby Jesus, he starts wrecking through my cake and finds the baby Jesus and takes it!
I....was.......pissed! He had robbed me of my baby Jesus, good fortune and being QUEEN FOR A DAY!!
Of course, my brother trying to save face, denies the whole thing ever happened.
My mother being the sweet intelligent women that she is. Purchased three baby Jesus trinkets in order to save an incident like that from occurring again. Got to love Moms.

Rosca de Reyes bread

After we finished our amazing meal, my father surprised us with an early wedding gift. They had purchased us our first cookware set from Costco.  The Señor and I had been using a variety of hand me down pots that did the job, but nothing beats having a cookware set! We look forward to using the pots and hopefully more Domestically Disabled Post! 

Sweet.

On another note, my sweet mother purchased me a pair of running shoes yesterday in order to kick off my Get Fit Bride routine. We got a great pair of ASICS on sale and I love them. I've always bought my running shoes on sale and I've never been disappointed. ASICS have always treated my feet right and I look forward to clocking the miles in my pink beauties.

Hello 2012!

Hello 2012!
I'm already stoked on you!
It all started with my wise decision to not indulge in too much champagne last night. I woke up rested and ready to enjoy the day. I was able to send off a few Happy New Year emails and squeeze in a run at my favorite trail. The trail was a bit muddy, icy, and snow packed, but that is what made it fun. Even though the trail was a bit treacherous, it was beautiful and sunny out. I didn't clock how far I went or track my pace. I just ran at a pace that felt good and even took a moment to enjoy the beautiful view.

2011 was a an exciting year,  and it was super hard to bid farewell to it, but 2012 is going to be even more promising. I feel that 2011 was a year of learning for me. I went into it with a positive outlook, but was not so sure of myself. I remember being uncertain at the challenging semester ahead and feeling a bit lost.
It seems that sometimes when I find that life becomes a bit challenging I am quick to doubt myself. I'm not sure why this is. It could be because it feels like the easier thing to do. I start making excuses and have them ready to launch as soon as I fail. Crazy right? This is where 2011 really kicked me in the ass.  I remember telling myself after a super cry session after a challenging microbiology test that I was tired of being down on myself.  Even though it seemed like the negative default was the easier path to go on. It was actually the more exhausting and annoying. From that point on, I made sure to rock out the positive way of thinking and being. Meaning, I wasn't just going to talk positive, I was going to be positive. Of course, It wasn't the easiest way of thinking to switch to, but when it started working for me in a good way. I really started to make it a point to start thinking positively.
This seriously changed my life.
I stopped cutting myself short from the start and challenging myself more. This attitude I feel propelled me to get into nursing school. I hope to approach challenges in 2012 with an attitude that I can do it, rather than not. Keep my focus on the things that work with me and not against me. All because it is far too exhausting and annoying to do the opposite.
Welcome to 2012 amigos!

from my New Year run in the foothills.