Today was the first day back to school.

I am not particularly excited, but I’m trying to grin ‘n’ bear it and hope for the best.

Hey at least the weather was nice this morning.

If you have been following for quite some time, you know that I revealed on the last day of school this past year how much teaching stresses me out.

All summer long I have been hemming and hawing about going back to teaching, but when it came down to it, I realized it was too late in the game to submit my resignation notice.

My license would have been suspended for a year, and I would have been put on the “do not hire list” (forever?) for the school district.

It was just too risky, and I was afraid of what long-term consequences I would have had to deal with.

So today starts a new school year and a chance to make the best of my situation. Thankfully I have a loving and caring husband who is going to help me as much as possible!! We are making plans to take at least one (maybe two) vacations this year, find things to keep us busy this winter, and change things up so we aren’t stuck in the same rut all the time.

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Now onto brighter things in life. . . . . running!

It was a crisp 50* this morning during my run. A little cool for shorts.

Goosebumps. . . . .

My hands also turned red from the cool/cold air. (The camera really didn’t capture it that well.)

Maybe I’m a wimp. . . . or maybe I just need to move somewhere warmer.

I went to the track and did one last speed workout before my half-marathon this Sunday.

Workout

2-mile warm-up to the track

plyometrics

6 x 400 meters @ 5K pace (I was aiming for 1:45.)

1:47

1:47

1:42 (Someone else joined me on the track, so I had an “audience” and someone to chase.)

1:44

1:45

1:46

1.5 mile cool-down back home

Total: 5 miles

I really like running 400s. It is just one lap around the track, and I get to run fast!

Overall, I felt good—although I’m sore from lifting yesterday.

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When I got back home, I did some stretching, took pictures for the blog, and checked my e-mail.

Often when I get back from running, I am not craving a heavy/hearty breakfast. Instead, I want something light with some simple carbs.

My latest craze has been graham crackers. They were perfect for my craving this morning. (I just wish they didn’t have artificial flavoring in them.)

I usually enjoy my graham crackers with some milk for my protein source.

Then about 1.5 hours later I ate the rest of my breakfast: overnight oats.

I added a dollop of sunflower seed butter to my bowl after taking this picture.

This is not my favorite brand of sunflower butter. There is sugar added to it, which I can taste. I actually prefer the Maranatha brand that has no added sugar–just ground sunflower seeds!

For the past couple of days, I have been using this Organic Valley “drinkable yogurt” in my overnight oats.

(Pretent you don’t see those yellow leaves in the background. )

Instead of using both the milk and yogurt in my overnight oats, I eliminated those two ingredients and just used this one ingredient.

However, it did cost me a pretty penny. I paid about $4 for this bottle—and that was on sale.

I love trying new products, but I have one rule when I’m tempted to try new things: it must be on sale!

Usually when I go grocery shopping, I find 1-2 new items I want to try, but I always make sure they are on sale. That way I feel as though it justifies me splurging a little.

I had been wanting to try this product for quite some time, so I finally bit the bullet.

The one drawback is the high sugar content, but it does taste good!

I also picked up a couple of other new items recently.

This was another new item I had been wanting to try, but the cost always stopped me. However, Craig was along on this shopping trip, and let’s just say he is much more of an impulsive buyer than I am. (Although, he has gotten a lot better!)

What I particularly love about this Dry Lavender Soda is the lower sugar content. This bottle only has 19 grams of sugar and 70 calories, which is about half of most beverages this size.

One may think the lavender flavor would be a little odd, but both Craig and I love the different flavor!

We have also tried the rhubarb flavor (also very good!), but there’s other flavors I want to try: cucumber, lemongrass, and juniper berry.

The last new item I have recently tried is the Crystal Light Pure powdered drink mix.

It is just like the regular “Crystal Light” flavoring packets you add to your water, but this “pure” kind uses natural sweeteners—there’s no artificial sweeteners in it! Awesome! Plus, I don’t like the taste of artificial sweeteners.

I sometimes get tired of regular water, so it is nice to be able to have something else to drink that isn’t overly sweet or calorie-dense.

I have been wanting to go to yoga for a couple of weeks now, but every time I make plans to do so, I walk outside and the sun is shining in all its glory! No way am I going to pass up a sunny, warm day to spend it inside!! I don’t need to get cabin fever in October!!

So as much as I wanted to go to yoga today after school, I headed outside for a beautiful, sun-filled bike ride! It was glorious!