The Weekend in Review 3 | March 2015

Well hello there, friends.   Another beautiful spring weekend here in Nebraska!

Let’s get to the recap, shall we?

Friday

Sweet, sweet Friday.  I had the day off (thanks to Spring Break) and I had all intentions of getting a bunch of housework completed.   Did it happen?  Nope!  Instead I spent what I considered a much deserved lazy morning of TV watching before I went out for a 7 miler.

That 7 miles?  Basically. Sucked.   My time was terrible!   I like to keep myself at around the 9:30 pace mark for distance runs.  It was a real life struggle keeping that up, but I didn’t stop and I kept pushing as much as my burning legs would allow.

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So irritating, but whatever.  Better luck next distance run!

Following my run I pampered myself to my bi-weekly eyelash fill.  Yes, I get eyelash extensions and I absolutely love them.  Some girls get manicures, some pedicures…me, eyelashes.   I go to Jessica at Living Beautifully and you gals should too!  She does beautiful work and will cater to your requests (full, long, short, natural, dramatic, etc).

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Friday evening Clint and I decided to lay low and not do a whole lot, so I took the downtime and ran to Target to finally buy myself some wireless Dr. Beats thanks to my Beachbody coaching paycheck (we get paid weekly as coaches…. this week I made a little more then expected = winning!)

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Yep!  In LOVE with these little babies.  Now, to NOT lose them!  Yikes.

I guess I was feeling in the spendy mood because Friday night I also committed to a saddlebag purchase for my Harley.  I have never liked saddlebags.  They always took away from the look of the bike in my opinion.  However, after traveling to a few rallys in my first years of riding I realized how desperate I was for some storage.  It wasn’t until my third bike that I reluctantly agreed to put saddle bags on.

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The bags that come with a Deluxe model are just super lame, are they not?  They look ridiculous.   Bad ass bike and then… the bags.     I can fit my leather coat in one.  That is IT.  Period.  Pretty useless if you ask me.

I’ve been wanting to get larger bags for a couple years, but they are just so darn pricey, especially with the hard bags that Clint was trying to convince me of.  I just wasn’t sold on the idea, nor did/do I have the cash laying around to purchase new bags.   Well, last month Clint googled a few photos of the Deluxe model with hard bags for me to look at and I was smitten.

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Of course, mine will look even cooler since I have dual exhaust with the fishtails.   mmmhmmm.   And, more room to store my crap you say?  YES, YES and YES!

…then came the price shopping.

Sorry, Harley Davidson, but this is where you took a long freaking hike.  I know that with Harley you are paying for the name…  and 99% of the time I will gladly pay it.   I like the history of Harley, the story of it’s origination and the overall meaningfulness HD is to ME and my upbringing.

But, when I was quoted $1800 for the bags, brackets and paint to match my bike, I laughed.

Ya… not happening.

So, we found some knock-off saddlebags online for less then 1/3 of that cost and Friday night, I sealed the deal.   Delivery date:  March 30th.

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The only problem?   The custom paint to match my two-toned baby.   That was Saturday’s plan to figure out…

Saturday

I made it a point to get up at 6:30 to hit the gym for my own weight training session prior to teaching Insanity at 8:15.   Goals, yo.  Goals.   Staying focused!

After the gym, I made a quick change in clothing (dry and layers) and hit the road on our bikes to run some errands.  It wasn’t 50 degrees yet, so while the cool air was refreshing after kicking the gyms ass, it was a wee bit of a shock to the ol’ system.   Whew!

We first hit up the D&R Auto Paint & Supply to check about accessibility to Harley’s paint colors.  Most Auto companies create their own paint colors and Harley keeps hold of their paint colors pretty tightly.   D&R told me they’d most likely be able to find the color, but we’d need the exact names of the paint they used for my model and year, so off to Holstein’s we went.   Stopping into that store is never a quick trip.  We know too many people!   Thanks to the service folks I found out the true name for my paint scheme

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White Gold Pearl and Deep Cobalt Pearl.     Ahem… Gold and pearl.

I knew my expensive taste ran deep. 😉

Back to the paint store to get the paint (which is NOT cheap, by the way, but still far cheaper then Harley ever thought to be).  Clint has mad skills and is going to be able to paint the blue and white on my saddlebags, no problem.  What a handy feller.

Then we rode to lunch and then back home for Clint to do THIS:

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Yep.  He tore out a portion of our backyard.  I guess he was serious when he said he was going to put in a 6ft wide sidealk/patio slab.  HA!

Well, ok then….

And soon after we found ourselves heading to Clarinda for a wedding reception.  I was shooting for a dressy yet biker look for the evening.   Pencil skirt, red lace top, leather jacket and heels.  I dug it.

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First, we stopped at Troy and Sara’s for a little baby snuggle time and small talk.

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Nothing cuter then a good looking man holding an absolutely adorable baby.   Little Ady is just a beauty. ❤

Next stop J. Bruner’s for a little shrimp, steak and salads before hitting up the wedding reception for a few beers and mingling.

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And, before we knew it, we were headed right back to the city and in bed by midnight.

Sunday

Laundry.  I haven’t put away ANY laundry since we went to Colorado end of February.   Three large baskets overflowing with clean clothes and a spare bed covered.   I HATE laundry.   Clint continued to work on the yard, hauled away dirt, I did the Sunday duties and worked on some new fitness routines.

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I even completed my FIRST assignment for my Master Trainer Ambassadorship!   I wanted to go ride today, but I have goals to achieve and things had to get done around the house since I am traveling three days this week.  😦

Plenty more days ahead to ride… plus, my soul still feels warm from my all day Saturday solo ride last weekend.  😉

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Cheers to a GREAT week!

Weekend in Review 2 | March 2015

Oh, man.  This warm weather makes a girl HAPPY!

But also makes me want more weekend.

Let’s get started.

Friday

My hair was sending out an SOS, so early afternoon I took off for Clarinda to see Kayla.   I haven’t had a trim or color since January.   YIKES!  My hair was very very happy to see her.  After she was done working her magic, I popped on over to my mom’s to see her pup and hangout for an hour.

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Lucy was playing bashful.

Mom was actually on her way to the grocery store when I stopped by, so we loaded up in the Jeep and made our way across the big city.

Ahem, big city complete with ONE stoplight, on the square, y’all.

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I am posting this photo to show my hand on the steering wheel.  The one she took directly before this I was steering with my knee.  Which happens, a LOT.   Oopsie.   We deleted the evidence.  haha

A trip to the grocery store took well over 30 minutes.  I kept running into folks I knew so of course had to chat!  Was a lot of fun seeing folks I only normally see on Facebook.  ha

I dropped her back off at home and headed down to J. Bruner’s for some appetizers and cocktails with Kayla, Nicole and Tina (mom stopped by later, too).   I planned on two hours.   I should know better…. I didn’t leave town until after 10pm.   😉    I would have stuck around since Clint was also in Clarinda for the weekend, but I teach Insanity at 24 Hour Fitness on Saturday mornings and I would have been sad to miss my peeps.  So, late night travel back to the city, which is not uncommon with me.  It just is usually even later then that.

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Saturday

Rise and Shine!   Insanity at 8:15am and then I had this BRILLIANT idea to get in a run afterwards.   Uh… Dude.  Just, no.   My legs promptly reminded me that I just got done killing them in the gym with Round 11.

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1 mile.  9:17 pace.   I thought I was going to die.

Moving on….

Home for a morning marathon TV session of Ree Drummond’s Pioneer Woman.  I am obsessed.  It’s my Saturday/Sunday morning ritual.  She’s just so gosh darn cute.

Champ also has a ritual on weekend mornings… Sunbathing.

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I had all intentions to get a giant to-do list done after lunch but the open road was calling me for some solo wind therapy.   Clint was gone for a guys weekend that he had been planning for a few weeks (which ended up not being a guys weekend due to others misunderstanding, but I still didn’t want to impose.  Sometimes you just need to chill with your buddies, ya?).

So, I leathered up and took my girl to Southwest Iowa.

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Made my way through the Loess Hills, back roads, wherever my beauty decided to take me is where we went.

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Early afternoon I found myself in Silver City, so I stopped into The Hood (great little bar in that quaint town) and had a Miller Lite while I made friends with another biker couple and the bartender.  We chatted a lot about Sturgis.  Super stoked about heading back there this year.  🙂  After about an hour, I bid farewell and decided Emerson would be the next stop to see Sara, Troy & kids.

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I love that little town of Emerson.   Actually, I love most little SW Iowa towns.   Quiet, cozy, peaceful, relaxing.   It’s nice to get away from the crazy that is Omaha.  I love my neighborhood and the folks we live around and definitely appreciate living in the city, but, getting away is welcomed.   I can’t wait for the day when we finally get to move just outside the city limits back to the country.

After a few beers with Troy, good chats with Sara and gummy worm sharing with little Ms. Kaeleen, I headed back to the city just as the sun was going down.   My favorite time to ride.

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Dusk means the world is just starting to slow down, the chill in the air starts to settle in and the traffic begins to calm.  Peace, serenity and a great time to be alone with your thoughts.   I love riding after nightfall as well, but knew that I needed to get home just prior to that otherwise chaps would have been necessary.  And, if you know me, you know I hate putting those things on.  🙂

Sunday

After some early morning cleaning, I met up with Blair to get in a 7 mile run.  She has her first half-marathon coming up, so I love that she has asked me to join her on a few of her distance weekends.  Super stoked for her to experience her first 13.1!

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After our WINDY as hell run, I came home to find my hubster back.  So, a trip to Subway for a little lunch and catching up was in order.  The rest of the day included running errands, a Goodwill drop-off, grocery store and Champ shenanigans.

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Showing us his best Stevie Wonder moves… or he’s just not impressed.

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Mean-mugging

For dinner I decided to try out the cauliflower pizza crust that I’ve seen floating around the Pinterest/FB world for months.   Wasn’t too shabby.   A few tweaks and I think it will be even better!  Recipe to come soon.

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And, THAT, wraps up my little weekend.   Far too quick, as always.   I strongly believe in four day work weeks in the spring and summer.   Wonder where I can find one of those gigs?

Cheers!

Weekend in Review 1 | March 2015

FINALLY, the weather is turning warm here in Nebraska.  I was riding the winter funk train last week and we were going fast with no stop in sight.   Seriously… worst funk I’ve had in a long time!   Luckily, the weekend really helped get me out of that nonsense.

Friday night after getting home from work, Clint started a bonfire, I grabbed the beer, turned on some solid country tunes and just sat taking in the calm surroundings.

And Champ’s disgusting kisses.

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 At one point Clint went inside to clean up before dinner and I took that moment to really crank the tunes, sing to myself, savor my beer and just relish the peacefulness.

Ahhh…  I needed that.

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After my hour of decompressing we headed out to Maria’s for some good ol’ Mexican food.   Taco’s to be exact.  Holy moly, I know I have mentioned how good that place is in the past, but if you have yet to test it out, please do so.

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Saturday I taught Insanity at 24 Hour Fitness | Cass Street location.  We had a solid class showing and kicked that workouts bootay.  Legit Badasses.

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At 11, I met up with Tyree for some much needed girl talk time.   I think we killed a solid 1.5 hours, if not more.   We met up at Muscle Maker Grill in West Omaha.  This place was so good and strategically placed next to Lifetime Fitness and a few other health and wellness shops.  Well played, Muscle Makers.  Well played.

Go check them out here.

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The rest of my day can be summed up in Bud Light, Vehicle TLC and sunshine.

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After Photo.  She’s downright GLOWING.  As is her owner. 🙂

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And this baby got to see sunshine for the first time in months.  Her heart is happy as well.

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PERFECT little Saturday.

Sunday I was able to meet up with my friend Blair to get in 6 miles at Zorinsky Lake.  It was a gorgeous morning for it, too.  It’s about time I started running again.  I’ve got a half marathon in two months.  EEK!  I HAVE to beat my 2 hour time.  1:59 is my goal time this year. 🙂

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The rest of Sunday incorporated a little shopping, cleaning, laundry… you know.  The usual Sunday stuff.

With that, I will leave you screenshots of my Saturday FB funny.  Hands-down the BEST Insanity conversation I have had to date.  Poor guy.

Cheers!

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Valentine’s & Moonshine

Where oh where did the weekend just go?

Sigh…

To recap:

Friday

Made these delicious raspberry rolls for work.   Easy as 1,2,3.   Typically I like to make my stuff from scratch, but I took a short cut this go-round and used Rhodes rolls.

1. Thaw, roll and spread one 10-12oz bag of still frozen raspberries mixed with 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp sugar and a Tbsp. of cornstarch.

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2.  Roll long ends to meet in middle.   Slice into 12 equal rolls.

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3.  Place into two cake or pie pans, cover and let rest for a little over an hour, bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

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4.   Remove from oven, let cool.  Prepare icing by mixing 6 leftover raspberries, 1 cup powdered sugar and 2 Tbsp milk in a food processor.  Drizzle and serve warm.

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Full recipe can be found here.

Did I mention the pretty Harley flowers I got for Valentine’s Week?  Yep – delivered Tuesday.  What a nice fella.

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Friday after work I had two appointments to take care of.  It’s nice getting off work at 3pm, I tell ya.   One of my appointments was for a lash fill.  I will have to do a post on this process sometime.   My esthetician, Jessica, is the BOMB!!!

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Friday Evening Clint and I went to Village Point for some cocktails and sushi at our fave place, Kona Grill.   We had NO desire to fight the Saturday night Valentine’s Day crowds so enjoying a date a day earlier was perfect.  Less crowded too.

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Rainbow Roll was to DIE for.

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And of course the Las Vegas roll, a must have.

Friday night ended with a little TV, a good book and bed by 10:30pm.  Bliss.

Saturday

Taught Insanity to my 24 hour peeps and did a lot of odds and ends around the house with a movie thrown in for good measure.   I have had Amazon Prime for over a year and never used the free movies.  Now that I have a smart TV I finally got around to utilizing it!  Score!

The boys spent the day prepping moonshine mash.  Appropriate activity for an almost 19 year old and his dad, right?  ha.  Hey, it isn’t anywhere near being alcohol yet, so no harm, no foul.   No negativity, please.

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Sunday

I read a book.  In it’s entirety, other then the 3 chapters I read Friday night.   It was fantastic!  What a lazy Sunday morning and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.   The boys continued working on the moonshining by soldering the new still.  It was an all day event.   Literally.  All. Day.

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While they worked, I prepped my lunch and snacks through Wednesday.  (I hate leftovers, so this is HUGE for me) and worked on memorizing a new Insanity routine to roll out to my YMCA peeps this week!

#practicingwhatipreach

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And THAT, ladies and gents, concludes our eventful weekend.  Real eventful ’round here.  I may or may not have kept the same yoga pants and sweatshirt on that I changed into Saturday after my workout.

Don’t judge.  You know you did it too.

Cheers!

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