I'm a Single Child Now!

Happy Sunday, my friends! Boy, has this week been crazy. I am so thankful that I don't have anything planned today so I can catch up on some schoolwork and housework, and relax before next week starts.

The past few days have been pretty emotional because my older brother Jay left for college on Friday! I'm really excited for him but it has just been really hard for me because we're so close, and in my opinion, being left behind is worse than going off on a new adventure.

hahahhhah this photo makes me crack up :)

In other news, my new job has been going really well! I love working there and I just have a lot of fun. Although I'm still getting adjusted and feel a little pressured for time, I know I can do it.

This week my senior class also took a trip to a waterpark nearby and it was a ton of fun. The rides were awesome, and although there were three other senior classes there the lines weren't horrible, just not great.

All in all it was a fun day!

Yesterday was also my second cross country meet (you can read about my first meet of the season here), which was about an hour away. There weren't many schools that I was familiar with there because the meet wasn't exactly in our area, but it is one of my favorite races. The course is nice and flat and the weather is pretty cool.

[Sorry I don't have any photos - my family was moving Jay in at college when I was racing!]

During the race my legs did just feel overall exhausted and heavy, but I'm not quite sure what the cause was. It wasn't my best race in terms of how I felt, but my time was better than last year! I got 20:28 for a 3-mile course and last year my time here was 20:45 I think. So I improved by 17 seconds, which is pretty awesome.

After the meet I was absolutely beat. My legs were tired and I was really sleepy since I had to get up earlier than I usually do to get to the meet. I left the house at 6:30am and didn't get home til 4pm - quite the long day! But somehow I found the energy to go see the Lion King with a few friends. I love that move and it was so fun to see it on the big screen in 3D! I also understood a lot more of the jokes that I did when I was little, heh.

simba is so cute!

Movie outfit:

And lastly - recent eats! My breakfasts and lunches usually are the same, so all these photos are mostly dinners and meals on the weekend.

eggs + spinach + shroomies, english muffin + laughing cow + salame

GUACCCC!!!

whole foods salad bar.... HEAVEN

PUMPKIN SPICE BAGEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

oh so good.

chicken rice, pico de gallo, beans + turkey meat, cheese, ww tortilla

another whole foods salad.... so good.

sourdough toast + pb, eggs + ketchup


aaannnd two of my new favorites:

perfect to-go snacks! the chocolate peanut butter is SO frickin delcious. perfect combo of salty and sweet...mmmm!!! And clif bars are my favorite snack when I'm going straight from practice to work. the keep me nice and full, taste great, and are easy to eat on the go.

Time to tackle my to-do list!

Questions of the Day:
Did your siblings leave for college before you did, or were you the first one to leave??
Favorite Disney movie?
Best pumpkin baked good? 

First Cross Country Race of the Season

Happy Saturday! I seriously can't believe that it's been almost a week since I've had a chance to blog. Insane, right?? I'm only getting busier but I really want to try hard to write a post 1-2x a week (speaking of which, if you want to write a guest post for me, shoot me an email!).

Anyway, last Tuesday was my team's first cross country race of the season. The course was a 2-mile course, with the first mile being what we call the "flat mile" and the second mile being the "hill mile of death". The course is the hardest that we run this year because the hills on the second mile are very, very steep. There's one lovely hill in particular that everyone calls the Eliminator.. let's just say that it lives up to its name.

me after the race... legs are dead!

I was really excited to race because I wanted to beat my time from last year, which was 15:14. However, it was much hotter this year than last and by the time my race started at 6pm it was still scorching. There is also no shade on the hill mile, which makes it even tougher. Once I started racing and really feeling the heat, my goal was just to finish strong and not slow down too much on the hills.



My mom took lots of videos on her iPhone so I thought I'd post some of them.

This one was at the end of the race, coming out of the hill mile. 

Most of the race was a blur but I do remember feeling exhausted about halfway through the hill mile. By this point I had lost a few of the girls from my school that were in front of me, and there weren't many people around me because the pack that we started with had stretched out quite a bit. It's really hard to run when you're by yourself and you've already passed all the cheering parents and teammates!

my 'why are you taking my picture?' face

awkwardly fixing my hair... LOL

 Me and my brother Jay with squinty eyes! So cute, I know.

I ended up finishing with a time of 15:21 which I was really proud of! I came in 17th out of the senior girls - only 2 people away from winning a medal!! So frustrating haha - and I am currently the 5th fastest girl on my team this year. Which means that I'm part of the top varsity 7 and get to wear these awesome Nike pink shorts for our next race!

School has also been tough this week because I have been having to stay up pretty late just to finish homework. I really wish I could take a nap or something when I get home but there just isn't time! And next week I start my new job - I'm trying to get ahead on next week's schoolwork so that the two days that I am working aren't ridiculously stressful.

A few nights ago my little Lexy decided to keep me company while I was studying. So cute! Iluhmybaby.

i think she was a little annoyed that I was studying and not petting her, heh.

onto fooooooodd... :) recent eats!

turkey, salame, cheese, lettuce, ranch on whole wheat tortilla

 pizza made with this crust:

It was actually pretty good for a quick and easy dinner!

 lots of frozen yogurt bowls..

eggs + laughing cow on english muffin

lots of protein smoothies..

hummus + turkey + cheese sandwich (photo taken at like 6 in the morning... aka i am not awake. my apologies!)

sunchips and applesauce. clearly i am still in elementary school.

oats with lotsa pb

saving the best puddle for last..

simple greens with mushrooms and newman's own

spinach and mozzarella ravioli

I only took one outfit picture this week, when I wore a new skirt. It's very similar to this skirt and is the same brand - both are super comfy!

Last night my friends and I also made some senior t-shirts (in addition to our class shirts) for the senior trip to a water park next week! I'm really excited about having a day of relaxing in the middle of the week. Thank heavens!

Tell me something good about your weekend (or something fun you did last week)! 
What is the hardest race you've ever run?

WIAW #2 + First Ice Bath!

I miss blogging every day SO much!!! I wish I had the time to blog a lot more because it really is my creative outlet and a place where I can just say what I feel. But, unfortunately I don't have that time :( Right now I leave the house before 8am and get home around 6pm, at which point I eat, shower, read emails/blogs, and then get going on my pile of homework. Even by 8pm I am utterly exhausted.

Getting back into the swing of things with school and practice is really hard. But I know it will get better soon! I just am disorganized and have pushed a lot of things to the back burner, most of which is stuff I would do in my "me time" (blog, write in my journal, read my bible, watch a TV show, cut my nails.. yes, even simple stuff like cutting my nails!)

I am trying to make more time for these things but there's only so much time in a day. I was really happy to write this post today though.

These are yesterday's eats (WIAY!), but to be honest this is pretty much what I eat every day. The dinners change, but my breakfast, lunch, and snack are very similar because I just don't have the time to think up of new more creative things. At least this is including some of my favorite food!

peas and crayons WIAW! join the part-ay! :)

breakfast was scrambled microwaved eggs, tortilla + peanut butter, and fruit (yesterday it was strawbs, today it was watermelon)

weird lighting... there is no good lighting at 6:30 in the morning!!

I have been packing the same lunch for school because of my tummy problems at practice. I have been getting a million cramps but this lunch is easy on my stomach and has lots of carbs that are easy to digest, so most of my cramps have gone away.

Nanner + peanut butter sandwich + chips (sometimes it's cereal, sometimes it's pretzels)

After cross country I've been drinking smoothies because I've been running in the heat and they taste realllyy good. This one included fresh strawberries, greek yogurt, frozen mixed berries, spinach, and almond milk.

At this point I get really snacky (even after slurping up that ginormous smoothie!) and alotta unpictured eating is happening. More pb + tortillas, pretzels, almonds, dry cereal, etc...

Dinner last night was an (unpictured) salad with lotsa veggies, plus a yummy burrito. I chopped up chicken really small, mixed it in with some pintos, salsa, and cheddar, and stuffed it into a whole wheat tortilla.

And dessert was a microwaved s'more with butterscotch and semisweet chocolate chips. You must try this! Oh so yummy.

Now onto running! To be honest, the past week or two at cross country has been pretty awful. My legs constantly feel drained and exhausted even before we start our run, and today was the worst day of all.

I do much better when I am able to cross train, but my team runs 6 days a week and my coach does not put much emphasis on strength training or other cardio. It's run, run, and run some more. I'm feeling a little burnt out already - and we haven't even started racing yet! Luckily today I was talking to an assistant coach about how tired I've been feeling (especially since today's mile repeats were super painful and slow) and he recommended an ice bath.

It didn't even occur to me before that I should take an ice bath, even though I've seen them all over the blog world. I was glad he suggested this - guess it just shows that communication is really important - and I'm hoping it will help me recover more quickly. Any other tips would be welcome! I can't really change how much I'm running since I have to be at 90% of practices to race, which basically means that I can't miss very many. But any recovery tips on fueling, stretching, and pretty much anything would be greatly appreciated!!

I've been trying to take pictures of my outfits to share with you guys but this is the only one I remembered to take this week!

New skirt by Lucky + Target cami = easiest outfit ever. I've worn a skirt or a dress every day this week and am lovin' it. It's a lot cooler than being stuck in jean shorts!

I also got a new backpack and am loving it - the colors are perfect, it's really comfy, and it fits all my stuff.

and one last bit of cuteness before I go...

Lexy in a box! she loves it when we get packages and after my new backpack came in this box she popped right in.

And so prissy Ginnie Mae doesn't get her feelings hurt :)

This was really long post - thanks so much for reading! I don't think I can say enough how much your comments mean to me, I love you guys so much.

Any tips for running recovery? Fueling, stretching, hydrating, icing?

If you are in school, how has your transition back to school been?