Simple Sunday

I am pretty sure I have the most sensitive body to caffeine.

I could not sleep last night; I think I maybe slept a couple of hours. I had what was supposed to be a decaf iced Americano around 3 p.m. yesterday, but that cup o’ joe must have been fully caffinated. Finally about twelve hours later, think I dozed off. I am going to be dragging today, but hopefully that means I sleep like a rock tonight.

Despite the lack of sleep I got last night, it was quite the nice little Sunday.

I got up around 6:30 a.m., worked on the computer, had breakfast, and then got ready for church.

When I came back home for lunch, I made a very flavorful salad for lunch.

I will be the first to admit I am not very good at making salads at home. I usually try to combine really bland items resulting in a very lackluster salad, but this one turned out much better.

Taco Salad

spinach, romaine lettuce, diced tomatoes, shredded cheese, roasted chickpeas, salsa, and tortilla chips

These are the tortilla chips I used. They are local and very authentic-tasting. I highly recommend them. We have been buying these Taco Loco chips for years.

After lunch, Craig and I went to Kaladi Brothers Coffee Shop to “hang out” while we each worked on our computers.

I am still trying to trouble-shoot my Ecto problems.

While at the coffee shop, we both had iced coffees. Mine was supposed to be decaf, but it most certainly was not.

I got a nice compliment on my shoes though.

Craig deep in thought while writing cheesy puns to post on Facebook and make his friends laugh. . . . .he’s so punny.

Me all bundled up because it is still below zero these days.

It was nice to get out of the house for a while and do something different. Otherwise it is very easy to get cabin fever. . . . .oh wait, I think I had that back in November.

When Craig and I came home, made dinner, and got ready for the work-week. And so it begins.

Three-day Weekend

Yeah for 3-day weekends!!

That third days make such a difference in how much I can get accomplished! :)

My weekend has been busy but good nonetheless.

Saturday morning Craig and I both got up bright and early to a bone-chilling -12*F! Those temperatures sting!

(I apologize for the incredibly bad/blurry pictures in this post.)


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I cooerced Craig to come with me to Great Harvest.


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It may seem odd to be going to Great Harvest at that time of the day, but we wanted a free loaf of bread!

I got an e-mail saying that Great Harvest was giving away a loaf of bread in honor of Martin Luther King Day!

All we had to do was complete a MLK quiz.

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Craig is the history buff, so he filled out most of it. ;)


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Our free loaf of Unity Bread!


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Then it was time to go for a my Saturday long run.

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Don’t worry, it had warmed up to a balmy -8*F by that time.

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Boy oh boy was it cold!! I only ran 5 miles, but even after 3 miles my legs started to hurt and go numb.

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Craig met me a few times along my route to check in on me because it was still very dark, and I was running a different parts of Anchorage. It was cute.

This is a picture looking into downtown. (Yes, it is a small downtown.)

I eventually came up that hill.

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Here I come! Surprisingly my hands actually get warm enough that I have to take my mittens off, but they can only stand a few seconds of being out in the fridgid cold temps before I have to put the mittens back on.

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My final destination: the coffee shop to meet Craig and warm up!

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Post-run recovery food: decaf coffee, water, and toast with almond butter and raspberry jam.

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The rest of Saturday was busy with running errands, cleaning, and checking things off my to-do list.

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On Sunday morning I went for a one mile run and then headed to yoga at Anchorage yoga for a warm flow class. I liked the intensity: challenging but nothing over the top.


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For breakfast, I had this packet of instant oatmeal from Bakery on Main. It was good. . . .I added banana slices and walnuts to it.


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I was impressed with the ingredients.

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I also liked the nutrition stats.

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After showering and getting ready, it was off to church, and then I met up with a friend at Kaladi Bros.


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Sunday night was nice and low-key because I didn’t have to work the next morning! :)

So what does one do when it is below zero out. . . . .?


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Why go and get frozen yogurt of course?

That’s my “why am I doing this” look.

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Even though I already had ice cream earlier in the day, I told myself that this was “yogurt” and not ice cream. ;)

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While at Yogurt Lounge, we played Bananagrams! Craig won again, but I only had two letters left; I was proud of myself.

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I don’t think I ever warmed-up, but it was still fun.

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After we got back from Yogurt Lounge, we watched the movie Friends with Benefits. It definitely had its moments of vulgarity, but we still thought it was cute.


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This morning (Monday), I got up and made my way to The Dome to do a speed workout.


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I completed the following workout:

1.5 mile warm-up

2 x 800 meters

4 x 400 meters

1.5 mile cool-down

Total: 5 miles

It was a really good workout. I felt good, but sometimes I have to tendency to push myself too hard, so I hope I don’t feel too sluggish the rest of the week.


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After my workout, came my favorite breakfast of a Banana Protein Smoothie and a bagel with peanut butter. :) Seriously, what is it about a bagel that makes is so much better than regular bread?

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Then it was off to my Rolfing appointment. I’ll be honest, Rolfing hurts, but I definitely notice a difference after she is done. My muscles/joints move better and more fluidly. I’m hoping it will help me with my running.


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After that, my day flew by and now it is time to go to bed. :( I am always sad to see the weekend go, but I am thankful I got everything done I wanted to! :)

Cheap Dates

I wasn’t going to go running this morning since I am running the Zombie Half-Marathon tomorrow.

Instead, I was going to take the day off to give my legs some rest before the race tomorrow—even though I am not racing it. I have only run 10 miles within the past couple of months, so I’m not exactly in racing shape. I am going to use it as a training run and run it with a friend! :)

But I woke up at 5:00 a.m.—despite going to bed at 10:30 p.m. and not having to be up that early.

I was too wide awake to fall back to sleep, so I decided to get a quick 3-miler in before I had to get ready. I took it nice and slow: 9 minutes/mile.

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I had two dates with this guy today!


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Yes, that would be the handsome fella I’m married to. (I think he was feeling a little zombie-like this morning. ;) )

Our first date of the day was a coffee date at Kaladi Brothers Coffee.


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We enjoyed some time together just chatting and hanging out before we had to go to work today.

Topic of conversation this morning: who wears the pants in the marriages of different friends and family. (This is kind of fun to debate. I wonder what people say about our marriage?!?!)


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After going to work and working on grades, I was able to meet Craig for lunch as well!


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We packed our lunches and enjoyed them together at Craig’s work.

Craig’s lunch:


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I made these stuffed peppers last night.

I threw a bunch of random ingredients into them: millet + black beans + corn + diced potatoes + cheese + cumin seasoning.

Craig was raving about them all day, so they must have been okay!


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I had the other half of my sandwich from Great Harvest that I didn’t eat yesterday.


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The bread did get a little soggy on one part, but it still tasted good!

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Craig and I don’t have a certain night of the week we do date nights. Often times we go when it fits in-between our other commitments.

Sometimes we will go to really nice restaurant or attend a fine arts performance, but more often that not we usually just have a pretty low-key and cheap date night together.

As long as we are spending time together we are happy. (Sappy? Yes! But true.)

Here are some cheap dates we have had in the past:

- Homemade pizza + movie rental from the Redbox (We also incorporate a walk in here because we live close enough to a Redbox.)

- reading/browsing at Barnes and Noble (or another bookstore)

- go for a bike ride

- coffee date + play a game (or just talk and hang out)

- rent a video from the library

- watch cable shows on Hulu (since we don’t have cable)

- go for a walk

- play disc golf

- go star-gazing (Sadly this is really hard to do in Alaska, but we have done it in Minnesota.)

- bike to frozen yogurt

- play a board/card game at home

- go snowshoeing

- have a picnic

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Question

What are some cheap dates you have done with your significant other?