One Month

Goal met! Was it easy? No. Did it feel good? Not most of the time. Am I super-duper glad and proud of myself? You bet! That's right, I did it. I ran 60 (60.15) miles in the past month, and that's just good, old-fashioned, shoe-to-pavement running and not even counting the countless bike rides, walks, and workout DVDs I've put myself through either. It's quite amazing the changes I've seen in myself in the past month. I actually have some ab muscles! And I haven't really lost any weight, too, which is good. I've been going for "toned" rather than "skinny". So, I thought that, given this momentous occasion, I would celebrate the 4.06 miles that brought me to my goal with something I've really looked forward to: Oats In A Jar!

I had finished up my jar of Nutella yesterday, just in time for the completion of this milestone. So, I loaded up my jar with oats, banana, raspberries, almonds, honey, and chocolate/butterscotch chips and dug in. I accidentally added too much salt when I was boiling the water for the oats, but otherwise, I can't wait to try this treat out again. Of course, it's going to take awhile. I don't go through jars quite as fast as, say, HEAB, but then, who really does? In honor of HEAB, I made up a little Homemade Almond Nut Butter with what I have left of my almonds and added a little bit of honey into the mix. It tasted amazing! If only I had more than maybe 4 Tbsp in my jar (re-used the Nutella jar for this affair, even though it's probably a sin).

The rest of my day has pretty much been spent making things up for the rest of the week, like baking some tofu I had marinated overnight and watching trashy tv shows. Ah, what bliss. Pretty much the only downside of today was accidentally cutting my finger pretty bad on my food processor. It required a long stretch of applied pressure, but I think I'm safe from any hospital visits or stitches, for now at least. I am due in the hospital Tuesday morning, after all. I also blended some leftover frozen blueberries, pineapple, and raspberries and added in a few ice cubes and vanilla protein powder and stuck it in the freezer. So good, fruity, and refreshing! However, now I am envious of all Vitamix owners everywhere as I frequently had to open up my blender and smush everything around because it wouldn't blend the stuff in the upper levels. One day far from now, maybe, when I'm married and have very generous family and friends giving me fancy, expensive wedding presents?

After watching a bit of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the original of course), I took a reading walk over the same route that I ran this morning. I've just started the third novel of the Hitchhiker books and have a new book that I'm excited to read once I get through the other two that are included in this book (five in one!). So, long reading walks are necessary in order to finish this in a timely matter. I want to finish my current reading pile before classes start up again, when I know that I won't be reading any "fun" books until at least winter break in December.

Random Thought of the Day: I really want Weetabix. Like from the UK. Like I said, random.