Gobble Gobble

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Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!!  I hope everyone has a wonderful day today.  We plan on spending it by:

• Running in our local Turkey Trot (5k)
• Cooking
• Watching some football
• Hanging out with family
• Eating

Yep, pretty much sums it up!

One thing before I go:  Is anyone else tired of all the Black Friday craziness?  I feel like it’s trying to take over Thanksgiving.  Each year the stores are opening up earlier and earlier (now a lot of them are open Thanksgiving evening…ahhhh the nerve!).

You would think they're trying to run away from zombies. But no, they just want to buy a Tickle-Me-Elmo doll.

So I was really intrigued (and almost relieved) when I saw a commercial on TV for “Small Business Saturday“.

The 2nd annual Small Business Saturday® is
a day dedicated to supporting small businesses
on one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year.

On November 26, we’re asking millions of people to Shop Small^sm at their favorite local stores and help fuel the economy. When we all shop small, it will be huge.

I totally dig that.  Mike and I love going into smaller businesses and honestly that’s where we tend to find the cool, unique, one-of-a-kind items.  So enjoy your Thanksgiving.  Heck, go out and have fun with the crowds on Black Friday.  But try to support Small Business Saturday and help your local economy.

Quotes

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Henry David Thoreau, motivation, quotes

Today is a dreary day.  It’s rainy and a little chilly outside.  And I have no motivation – blah!  I should be doing lots of stuff but really nothing sounds appealing.  Studying for my exam on Monday?  Nope doesn’t sound like fun.  Cleaning the house?  Ehhh it can wait.

So I figured a pick me up is in order!  I know it may sound cheesy but I have a few favorite quotes that help get me motivated.  There are some quotes I like that are geared towards exercise motivation.  Others are just good all-around quotes.  One of my favorites is:

Henry David Thoreau has a lot of great quotes.  So if you’re ever lacking in motivation just Google “Henry David Thoreau Quotes” and you’ll be feeling better in no time!  :)

Another quote I really like is from George Sheehan.  He was a runner and author.  I received his quote from a Runner’s World email:

Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.  George Sheehan

So now that I’m motivated I need to get up and get moving!!!  Feel free to share your favorite quote!  Happy Thursday

The Queen’s in my Kitchen!

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Flowers, Friday

So the Friday before our big snow last week I had just finished up running when I saw some Queen Anne’s Lace flowers (I guess most people refer to them as weeds but I googled them and found out they are called “Wild Carrots”.  Hmm who knew?).   I knew they would die in the snow the next day so I didn’t feel bad taking a few of the flowers from the side of the trail.  I’ve had them in vases on our kitchen shelf for a week now.  And they are still beautiful.

Disregard the countertop and the paint on it - we're renovating

I love how flowers just brighten up a room.  No matter how big or small.  Happy Friday everyone!!

Fartlek Fun

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fartlek, Running, Workout

This morning Mike and I went for a run on the snowy trail by our house.  We ran 4 miles and were exhausted when we finished!  I think it’s because we were running on all different kinds of terrain:  snow, wet snow, ice, snow w/ ice crusts, gravel, mush – you name it we ran on it.  Because our footing was off the entire time I would tense up my body to get the best balance and I think that’s what caused the complete body exhaustion after only 4 miles.

Run:

4.24 miles, 39:46, 9:21 min/mile

Once we hit the turn around point and headed back we added fartleks into the run.

A fartlek, besides being a hilarious word, is Swedish for speed play.  So at random times throughout the run we would sprint until we reached a certain point (a tree, a post, etc).  Then we would return to our normal running pace (or a tad slower) to catch our breath and then do it all over again.  Fartleks are nice because you can get some speed work in while you’re covering some distance (double win!).  And that folks, is a fartlek.

Wouldn't this make an awesome stocking stuffer?

TV Lineup

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TGIF, TV

Mike and I don’t watch too much TV but when we do we make sure it’s awesome  While it is nice to relax in front of the tube every now and then I don’t like to do it for hours on end every night because I feel like such a waste.  We don’t have cable so it’s easier (puh-lease – I would be hooked on HGTV every second of the day if I could be).

HGTV Dream Home 2011: Yes, I’ll take it please!

So anyway, back to our awesome TV viewing – we have two nights of the week that we consider our “TV Nights”.  We LOVE Modern Family on Wednesday nights and on Thursdays we dig the lineup of The Community, Parks & Rec, and The Office.  If you’re not watching these, you totally should be.  They’re hilarious!

Even though we love the whole lineup NBC has on Thursday nights I don’t think it beats the best lineup EVER:  TGIF!!!

Full House:

This must have been from one of the first seasons! Everyone's so young!

I always wanted to be Stephanie.  For one I was a middle child (of three girls too) and two I thought she had the coolest outfits, hair and sayings (remember, “How rude!”??  Haha classic.).

Family Matters:

The Winslows and their dorky neighbor!

Ok, totally embarrassing confession:  my sisters and I loved Family Matters growing up (and I think my parents thought it was an awesome show as well).  So much that we all got Steve Urkel dolls for Christmas one year.  They had a string on the back you could pull to hear such classics as, “Did I do that?”  or “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” in his signature nasal-y voice.

Sorta creepy

Another confession:  My sisters and I also all had matching Steve Urkel shirts.  We thought we were the coolest kids in elementary school when we all wore them to school (yep – that’s right – all 3 of us wore the shirts on the same day.  You can’t get any cooler than that!).  I’ll have to dig up that photo and scan it in here.  Thank goodness I love my sisters because it’s also a really good blackmail photo

And one other classic TGIF show I loved was Step By Step:

TGIF's version of the Brady Bunch

I loved the opening credits of them in the roller coaster.  My sisters and I would pretend to hold up our hands as they went down the hills <— again, totally coolness right there

So there you have it.  One of the best TV lineups ever!  I’ll leave you with one more amazing tidbit I found:  The chart (<– click there) someone made (someone who has way too much time on their hands) that lists every TGIF line up since it started!