Rewards and Goals

So I completed my first month of interval fitness training!! YAY and my reward was nike shoes! These are my first pair of nike's and I can't tell you how much of a difference it is to work out in these :) I feel stronger and healthier and hopefully I will continue to stay motivated.



This next month I'm implementing a "monthly challenge" into my fitness lifestyle. This month's challenge is to run our hiking trail. My first time on this trail, I was huffing behind Jake trying to catch up! This last time we went he was the one behind me! So I thought I would push myself a little more.

Since I'm an "Achiever" I like to have goals in front of me and lists to check off. If you're this way I suggest you make something up similar to mine! This seriously is the best way I've found to make my fitness lifestyle into what I have always wanted it to be.

Curried Quinoa

I'm always looking for new ways to spice up salads and find different ways to make quinoa... SO!!! When we went up to No Cal, Jake and I ate at this really cute cafe. It was called "Cafe Del Soul" and we had this curry salad it had all organic ingredients and free range chicken. We had it before our hike and felt very energized. So I was inspired and made my own with a little twist on it. They made it with brown rice where I changed it up with quinoa! Jake gobbled it up which is always a good sign!



What's in it?
1C of quinoa - a super food grain with protein, it has the essential amino acids that make it an unusual complete protein.
2C of fresh spinach - has loads of vitamins and rich in antioxidants
1/4C of our favorite curry sauce (yellow Thai curry from TJ)
1/4C of craisins
1C of chicken (you can substitute with tofu or leave it out)
and a handful of shaved almonds - good for protein and brain power!

This is fairly easy to make you just have to cook the chicken and the quinoa, chop the spinach and mix it all together. I made it within 20 min. So it's fast, easy, healthy, and yummy!

Breathing Clean Air

This last month Jake and I got the opportunity to go and visit my sister Shelley and her family in the Bay Area. It was refreshing to be around family and not do homework!
One of the most enjoyable parts of the trip was going up to Muir Woods which is just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. Jake and I took approx an 8mi hike. It was incredible not just the scenery but the air! We noticed a difference immediately. Anyway here are some pictures from our trip:

Fitness

I found this site through a friends facebook and I think it's awesome! Fitness is something I want to have apart of my everyday life but I often lack the motivation and drive to follow through. Just when my workout routine started to dissipate, along came www.bodyrock.tv I just started today and lemme tell you, I was sweating!
It's a fitness program that is made specifically for people to do at home, there are some great tips and new workouts everyday. It is also free!! Lets hope I follow through with this routine!

To keep me going I decided to make a rewards chart for myself so I log how many times I work out a week and if I fulfill my goals I can go buy myself a "treat" at the end of the month. Yes I feel like a child with a star chart but I need a little motivation to keep me going!



I'm also hoping to make this into some type of competition with Jake. Believe it or not he too could use some exercise :P (and no he's not getting fat!) Jake and I enjoy a little "healthy competition" (no pun intended) we often play trivia and strategy games, even when we were dating we kept a scoreboard of who won the most games. Of course I lost most the time! But it still made it fun.

Well those are just some thoughts... hopefully now that I've put them out there I'll try and keep to my word.

On the Search

Jake and I really enjoy the outdoors and with gas prices so high (its $4/gal out here!) we don't want to have to travel far to enjoy nature. We've found some nice spots that are within a 15min drive from our home.
The first place we found was in Fullerton, it's called "Laguna lake" with plenty of ducks and fish around. As you can tell, Jake really enjoyed being by the water. Us Minnesotan's gotta find our lakes ya? YOU BETCHA

I found a stump that was lovely!

Another and possibly my favorite so far has been Whittier hills

From the top of the hike we can overlook the city of LA and there is a beautiful mosque and burial site

Despite the steep incline and hard work it takes to get to the top, we're still smiling.

We might complain how we're stuffed in a dirty city, but I must admit there are some really beautiful things in Los Angeles.

Recapping 2010

2010 Has been a big year for Jake and I, and I thought I'd start there for my first post. We got engaged in March

Married in July

We moved to LA just a week later, and about a month later we started our Graduate programs.

We've had a lot of fun so far and have made some good friendships. Joseph and Misha- Jake's brother and fiance came to visit us for thanksgiving and I made my first thanksgiving dinner! The turkey was dry... I'll have to work on that. My sister Angie came to visit as well, we can't wait for more! Just so we have an excuse to go to Laguna or Disneyland of course! So many other things have happened and slowly we have made our apartment into a home :)