Where Have You Been Lately?

Hi Readers!

I am soooo sorry I have been MIA for while. You've probably noticed that posts have been rather sparse the past month or two, but I promise I am still around and still cooking. Although, the whole cooking thing has taken a bit of a back burner these days. I've decided to become a crazy lady and apply to go back to school to get my MBA, train for a 5k, try out kickboxing (and loving it!) and remain sane while doing it all. If that's not crazy, then I don't know what is.

I've always wanted to go back to get my masters, but just kept putting it off. I don't know why. Maybe it was the money. Maybe it was because I was scared to go back after being away from school for so long. To tell you the truth, I really don't know. Then one day, it just hit me - you better go back to school before you get married, have kids and have no energy to actually study. That and I also decided to move back home with my parents to save up some extra money to go back to school. It's not as bad as you may think. I am really close with my parents so we get along pretty well - for the most part! All this studying for the GMAT is killing me though and I am not even married yet or do I have children to chase around. Phew. I have a little less than one month to go before the GMAT and am feeling nervous. Okay, VERY nervous. I paid and arm and a leg to take a GMAT prep class through Kaplan and it's helping, but I just hope it boosts my score enough. I know I can do it, it's just scary. I keep thinking - what if I don't get a good score? What if I don't get in? I know that's not the right thing to think, but those two thoughts keep coming to mind. I have learned to tell myself that, "you got this girl" or "don't worry, if you don't get in this time, you will try and try until you do". Either one of those seem to work, depending on the day that is. I must admit though, I could not be doing this without all the love and support from my family and the captain. Well, he's family too, but he's needs to be mentioned separately. He's always dealing with my freak-outs (and calming me down) and the poor guy hasn't even really gotten to see me lately. At least that's what it feels like to me. Everything will be worth it in the end, I just can't thank him and my family enough for being there and being so understanding during this stressful, yet exciting time. I couldn't do this without them!

the hotel where my GMAT class was being held also had free Wall Street Journals. Best pre-class reading!

lunchtime has turned into study time.

Six weeks ago, I decided it would be a good idea to train for a 5K. Why not? Ever since my sister got engaged, I told myself I would lose another 25 or so pounds to get to my goal before I have to stand in front of 150 people. I am already down about 25 (half way there!) and thought I needed to kick up my workouts. I started seeing a personal trainer at work (he's totally free from Kaiser) and has been a great help. Let's all say hi to Joe - hiiiiiii Joe! I don't know if he'll see this or not, but maybe he will. Okay, back to running. I just finished my sixth week and I am up to running 2.25 miles without stopping! Can you believe it? I can and can't. When I was in junior high and high school, I was the overweight girl who was the last one to finish a mile. And by finish, I mean barely finish. I don't even know if I was really running to be honest. Whatever I was doing was hard and I felt like I was dying. That girl is now jumping for joy as I am currently running faster, better and not even really all that winded. It's amazing what you body can do when you really put your mind to it. As Joe says, it's all about mental toughens. I think he's right. Wait no, I know he's right. Good music also helps keep pace too. I think I might start posting my weekly running playlist. We'll see how that goes. Random thought. Sorry. I have two weeks left until I am ready to run a full 5K, but I will be pushing it this week at the local turkey trot to see how I can do. I will push as hard as I can and know that even if I can't make it the whole way, that soon I will be able to. Plus, the captain told me that when I can run a 5k, that he'd run with me. I can't wait until that day. Maybe I'll be able to run faster then him? Ya right. Have you seen that boy run? He's fast!

this was back after week four or five. You should see me after a two mile run. I am a sweater and not afraid to say it.

I read this every time I feel like giving up or not working out.

I also thought it would be a good idea to try something new and take up kickboxing. One of the ladies I work with recommended that that we try it out and I said why not. Let me just say - it's one of the best, full body, heart pumping workouts I've done. Each one-on one session starts with a jump rope warm up (who thought three minutes of that would be harder than running? Not me!) and then it's an intense, non stop 25 minutes of mitt training. You wrap up your hands, put on your gloves and punch and kick your stress and aggression away. Plus, I am a strong believer that my pink boxing gloves make me fight like Bruce Lee. At least that is what my trainer, Chris, says. He awesome (he also used to be a professional fighter!) and really wants you to learn the moves correctly. He really pushes you hard and knows that you can do it. Just when you think you can't kick or punch anymore, your body kicks it into high gear and you get this new wave of energy. It's awesome. This past week, we added in legs and boy oh boy were they sore the next day. I can definitely tell that the added cardio from the kickboxing is really helping with my running too. I just have to remember to not run the day before kickboxing. Sore + sore + more sore = not a good idea. I'll learn someday. Maybe. I signed up for six weeks of Muay Thai mitt training and kickboxing and I can definitely say I am going to sign up for more. I'm hooked! If you are in the Sacramento area and want to try it out (trust me, you do!), check out Knuckles Fitness here. You won't regret it.

see, told you I had pink boxing gloves.

Jump roping is tough, but I power through it. That is if I don't slap myself in the feet with the rope. That hurts.

So now you know what I have been up to. I didn't want you to worry. Have you been worried? I hope so. Kinda. I've been trying to keep up with blogging, but you know how well that has been going.  I thought I would have been able to post at least once a week. but that didn't really work out. Oops. I promise that after December 15th, I will be back into the swing of things.  I have a ton of recipes that I know you are going to love - especially for the holidays! Can you believe they are already here? I can't. Where does the time go? I know this seems strange, especially considering I am only 27, but the years seem to go by faster and faster every year. Scary. What's going to happen when I am 40. I don't even want to think about it.

xoxo,
Christina