Today...

This morning was one of those ones where I had to talk myself into lacing up my running shoes and loading up the boys in their stroller for a run.  Most days, I look forward to getting out on the road but I have days every so often where my motivation wanes.  I hardly ever give in to the temptation to skip my workouts because I know how great exercise makes me feel.  Like Dr. Suess says, you can steer yourself any direction you choose.  I chose to steer myself out the door for a run this morning because the brains in my heard told me I'd be glad I did.  I'm not gonna lie, it took me at least 2 miles to settle into my run, but it got better after that and I crossed another 5 mile training run off my half marathon training plan.  It felt good to start my day right.

While I push the boys, I try to help them find cool things to look at.  It helps pass the time for me and entertains them.  Some of their favorites are dogs and big trucks.  I thought this was the coolest thing we'd see all morning:

The boys even let out a "whoa" when I pointed it out.  But we ended up running into this even more exciting thing just around the corner from our house at the end of our run:

I'm not good at photos on the run but this thing really amazed my boys.  Soon my boys will know the names of all these trucks.  I told them it was a bulldozer...hope I'm right!

We also got to see a train as well as seven dogs on our slow five mile journey so overall, I'd call that a success.

This is what I found when I went to get the boys out of their stroller when we got home:

I love Colton's upside-down sunglasses.  Too cute!

Because of my reluctance to get out the door this morning, my later start made my morning more rushed but as part of my new mission to be more mindful, I decided to sit down and enjoy my breakfast of egg whites, and english muffin, and leftover sauteed peppers and onions on a very special 22 carat gold accented plate.  I felt like a princess eating off that fine piece of china.  I'm definitely going to do that more often.

Needless to say, we were late to MOPS but I had a great time, as usual, chatting it up with the other mommas.  Between the chatting and up-cycled can craft that I botched, time flew.  The non-crafty side of me should have known better than to select the canister with rounded edges to wrap with sticky paper.  Duh!  Live and learn.  At least it's recyclable.  Next time, if there is a next time, I'll stick to the simple can.  Like I've said before...I'll run circles around all you crafters.  Just kidding!  :-)  I wish I was more patient with crafts but that's a whole other topic.  

I enjoyed a yummy lunch today that I will definitely be enjoying again sometime soon.  It included super greens topped with cranberries, edamame and chopped almonds with some balsamic and basil.  YUM!

I may or may not have also indulged in a couple of bites of of the boys thai chicken on the sly even though I'm trying to avoid meat.  Baby steps, right?  I've done well with avoiding dairy today and I know I won't be able to go completely vegan overnight but I'm making progress.  

Oh and by the way, I finished The Happiness Project last night and highly recommend it if you haven't read it already.  I've become much more aware of areas where I can work on being more happy and I've also learned to be more accepting of myself as others.  Happiness is contagious so I'm hoping my happiness is rubbing off on you each day.

I've got some tutoring to do this afternoon and hope to also find time to cuddle and play with my boys.  Once they go to bed, I'm hoping to watch a movie before crashing myself tonight.  Got this one from Netflix yesterday...

I'm hoping it makes me laugh.  I loved being pregnant with my boys but am happy to report we won't be adding to our family any time soon.  Two toddlers are enough for now.  Love them!

Life is GOOD!  Do something that makes you happy today and be mindful of the experience.  You won't regret it.

Mindfulness

I'm STILL working on getting through The Happiness Project (I know it's taking me forever...).  The part I'm currently reading deals with being mindful.  I sipped on a little tea from my new mug last night while I read.  

My new favorite mug, compliments of my favorite brother.  

That same mug was filled with some wonderful coffee this morning.

The espresso roast is DIVINE!

I am finding the section on mindfulness to be extremely interesting and decided to look into it more on the Happiness Project Blog this afternoon.   

While I was there, I stumbled upon this mindfulness quiz and it was a total wake-up call.  I am not mindful AT ALL.  I need to slow down, to stop and smell the roses, to live in the moment.  No wonder I often feel overwhelmed or feel like I'm just going through the motions.  I want to work more on living in the moment and appreciating the little things.  I think it will help me tremendously in the months ahead to work on being more mindful not only of the world around me, but also of the God who provides and cares for me.  This book has been so enlightening for me...even if it is taking me forever to get through it.

I loved this quote from the book:

"Mindfulness can bring many benefits. It brings clarity and vividness to present experience. It may help people end unhealthy habits and patterns. It can enhance a sense of well-being and calm troubled spirits."

I definitely need some mindfulness in my life.  How about you?

This morning got to be a little more relaxed than usual since my boys slept in til 7:40.  It has been a long couple of days.  I'm glad they're finally able to rest.  I found comfort with an experiment in the kitchen.

I love making Long Run Cake, a recipe I found a while ago in Runners World Magazine.  It's a healthy cake recipe that's loaded with good stuff I can feel good about eating.  I have toyed with the idea of adding spinach to it for quite a while, as if it wasn't healthy enough, and this morning was the perfect opportunity to try it out.  I still have some tweaking to do since with the ratios, but it shows promise.  It sure is yummy but the presentation isn't quite there yet.  The spinach must throw off the baking powder because it inflated like nobody's business.  Hopefully my boys will help polish it off quickly so I can try it again soon.

After breakfast we headed off to Story Time at the Blue Door.  Today's stories were Whopper Cake, by Karma Wilson,

and Down By the Cool of the Pool by Tony Mitton.

The rhyming is both of them is entertaining and the pictures are quite interesting for the kiddos.  I highly recommend both of them.

The rest of our morning was filled with play time with friends.  Don't know my kids or I would what I'd do without all the wonderful people in our lives.  Check out this cute card one of my friends gave me...

Guess I can work of being mindful of the cuteness factor of my food when I'm eating.  Haha.

I'm hoping to squeeze in a trip to the gym late this afternoon for a cross training session, maybe a spin class since I haven't taken one in a LOOOONG time.  The elliptical is sounding pretty inviting though as well since I could zone out with a book.  Should I be mindful of the book or the workout?  Food for thought...

Stop to enjoy the moment today and remember, like my friend says, "God is good ALL THE TIME!"