Ben and I have been watching the Inauguration events all day today. Neither of us felt like making dinner tonight…I think we both had a little Cabin Fever and were itching to leave the house. The roads were clear, so we placed an order for pizza at Namoli’s NY Pizza and set out for the pick up.
After receiving calls from my manager and auto text from the company regarding the Winter Weather Advisory last night, I still was expecting to go to work this morning. Ben woke me up around 3am and the ground was covered. When I woke up at 642am by the alarm, the roads were covered and I instantly decided today would be a “work-from-home” day! 
Finally after a little pleading from Ben, we set out for a walk in the snow. Freddie has not really ever seen the snow besides a few flurries and he absolutely hated it. He shivered the entre time and tried to pull back towards the house. For the rest of the afternoon he settled down by the fire for a long nap while we enjoyed a big cup of Hot Chocolate with handmade Peppermint Marshmallows!
We ended up with almost 6 inches of snow, but by the evening it had all melted on the roads. I’m hoping to make it into work tomorrow, but we’ll see how the roads are in the morning…ICE is never a good thing!
During my run this afternoon, I realized I have a few obsessions lately…
Running (obviously). I set out for a late afternoon run and took it easy since I’ve got a bad case of shin splints, which I thought had improved. I made it 2.5 miles and decided to stop. I guess this cycle will continue until the days get long enough for me to get some regular and consistent runs in during the week and get my muscles back into shape…and keep them there. I’m currently icing my shins on the couch…no fun when I really just want to RUN!
During my run I had a great playlist. I get sort of obsessive with one particular song and play it over and over again for a few weeks. Today’s selection is Love Story – Taylor Swift…which I replayed 3 times! Other songs that kept me moving today:
~Womanizer – Britney Spears
~Disturbia – Rihianna
~Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) – Beyonce
~Let It Rock - Kevin Rudolf & Lil Wayne
~Run (I’m A Natural Disaster) – Gnarls Barkley
Love Story by Taylor Swift captured my attention since I’m in LOVE with the Twilight series and could pretty much be the theme-song of this series. I finished Twilight last night and stayed up until 1:30am reading. At 9am when I woke up, I picked up New Moon and read until 3pm, stopping only for coffee, oatmeal and bathroom breaks. Ben tried to convince me to ride with him to American Brewmaster for brewing supplies, but I was too engrossed in reading. While he was gone I found the perfect Twilight T-shirt and placed my order. Forks Brewing Co: The Ultimate Thirst Quencher – Reach for a Cold One! I’ve already placed my order online and hopefully it’ll arrive soon.
I’m pretty certain the rest of my Sunday evening (what’s left of it) will be spent reading…I cannot get enough of Edward Cullen! The possibility of sipping on a beer might be in the future too…if only there was a true Forks Brewing Co.
Uggs. I thought I wanted these last year, but honestly they aren’t that cute looking and I honestly was not sure I was cool enough to wear them. But, this year I finally gave in and got them for Christmas! I don’t care how ugly or stupid looking they are…they are so, so, so comfy and feel just like bedroom shoes. I also don’t like wearing shoes in the house and almost immediately take them off when i get home, however, I could leave these on all day!
For the first time this week, I was home before 7pm and excited to have a night of TV and Internet surfing. Since the weather turned cold from our crazy weather from yesterday, I was also craving a hot dinner…perhaps an omelet or leftover chili. I guess this is my usual relaxation…
No sooner than I changed out of my work clothes and was checking my home email did the power go out…no TV, no internet! I light candles and waited a while to call the Police Station to report the outage (yeah my little suburban town still does this) and was told they knew of the outage and had a crew working on it, but it would be another 2.5 hours! That’s after my bedtime.
I decided it would be a perfect time to try a new Yoga class I downloaded that KathEats had recommended. I’m really trying to like Yoga better, not only for the relaxation benefits, but in hopes it will improve my flexibility and in turn improve my running. The class was called Gentle Hatha Yoga and is perfect for beginners. I’ve taken yoga classes before at my gym, but I always have felt funny; like I’m not doing the poses correctly. I very much enjoyed taking the class at home. There is a pictorial guide with the poses if you aren’t familiar with them, but Jackie, the instructor, is very descriptive. Best of all, the 20 minute class is free to download and they have tons.
By the time my yoga class was over, I was getting pretty hungry and decided the power would not be on anytime soon to make a hot dinner. So cold cereal and a small peanut butter sandwich sounded only slightly appealing. We keep our heat set very low (66 F) and I was already chilly…it finally dawned on me the hot water heater is gas and still works. So I enjoyed a nice hot bath by candlelight. I even found the salt scrub in the back of my bathroom cabinet…now my arms, hand, feet, legs and chest are perfectly smooth! The bath did the trick in warming me up too.
Now that I was finally relaxed and settled down with my book, Twilight, that I have not been able to put down. I knew it was getting good and honestly just a little scary. I know it’s a teen love story, but really…vampires, night time, attacks and darkness here. I put it down and started blogging! Good thing I downloaded Windows Live Writer yesterday so I could do that and upload my post when the power was back on! One more reason I love this thing.
Just as I was halfway through this the power came back on! I’m still sitting by candlelight with the tv off as I finish this. Sometimes it’s nice to be forced to relax…even if your idea of relaxation isn’t the same. I’m pretty sure I’m more relaxed now after a hot bath with candles, reading, yoga than I would be with the internet and tv!
Happy Friday!
This is more like a test post than anything. Today I discovered Windows Live Writer and hopefully it will make it easier to post and add pictures. Which means more posts, recipes, pictures and fun updates from us.
If you have a blog, you definitely need to download this. It’s super easy and quick to set up, within 10 minutes of downloading the program I had set up a profile and it found my blog.
Other things I love so far:
Only two more days left in the week…after this week, I’ll be ready for a nice relaxing weekend. Hopefully we’ll have a few updates and pictures that are blog-worthy since my little sister, Lillie, is having her 6th Birthday Party on Sat. And we’ll be cheering on the Carolina Panthers in the NFL Playoff game Saturday night.
Enjoy the rest of the week and Windows Live Writer! I’m freezing with the winds whipping outside…some Sleepytime Tea sounds so perfect, plus it really does make me sleep better!
Heat 1/2 teaspoon oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add half of meat. Cook 10 minutes or until browned; remove from heat, and drain. Repeat procedure with 1/2 teaspoon oil and remaining meat; set aside.
Heat 1 teaspoon oil in pan over medium heat. Add bell pepper, onion, red pepper, and garlic; saute 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add chili powder and cumin; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add meat, sugar, and next 5 ingredients (sugar through beer); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes. Add beans, and simmer, uncovered, an additional 40 minutes or until meat is tender. Serve with sour cream and cheese.
Note: To freeze, cool chili, and place in an airtight freezer container or a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag. Freeze chili up to 3 months.
UPDATE!! The Chili was a success in our new DK Clay pasta blows from my parents! It had an interesting flavor that was very complex...lots of spice and a little sweet from the brown sugar. You couldn't really tell it was made with beer, but I guess knowing it's in there is good enough. It was very very filling and I'm going to freeze half of what we have left for dinner in a few weeks. I'm pretty sure this will become our standard chili recipe with a few modifications.
Ben and I celebrated New Years Eve with 3 other couples. We had an abundance of food & fun! We ate dinner at Maggiano's, Family Style, and surprisingly 8 adults were able to quickly decide on two of each appetizers, salad, pasta, entrees and desserts within a reasonable amount of time. The food was delicious as always, and I always overeat, but I guess that's what New Year's Resolutions are for!
