At The Park Workout

How's the weekend going, everyone?  I've had a pretty great one!  It all started out with the Living Proof Live, featuring worship with Travis Cottrell and the sharing of the Word of God with Beth Moore.

Yes, that is the woman who wrote the Bible study I am currently doing!  It was an amazing event, where I learned a lot from Beth, had incredibly moving worship experiences, socialized with many incredible women of God, and had lots of laughs (Beth is incredibly funny!!).

If you have a chance to go to a Living Proof Live event, I highly suggest you do.  Since then, I've been watching football (and celebrating the Hokies' big win!), going to church, running some errands, and hanging out with Joe.  Good times!

Another thing I did this weekend was complete a really fun workout.  It's a lovely fall day here (in Florida, that means no humidity and in the 70's), so I wanted to take advantage of the nice weather!

Inspired by Amanda's video Body Weight Exercises at the Park, I went to a local lake with a path around it.  I would run once around the path (half a mile), then complete 15 reps each of:

• Push-ups on a bench (in Amanda's video)
• Tricep dips with hip raise (in Amanda's video)
• Squats (standing beside the bench)
• Crunches (while laying on the bench)

I complete 3 sets of these exercises and 4 laps around the lake.  I had a great time doing this workout!  I got to see some fun wildlife...

had a great time in my total of 2 miles running...

and got to work some muscles I hadn't done so in a while!  If you have some good weather and a park you can get to, I highly recommend this strength + cardio workout combination!

30 Days of Thanks
Here's a quick catch-up on my 30 Days of Thanks!

Day 7: I'm thankful for my co-workers and for my job.  I love helping others, especially when it comes to helping teachers reach their students in new and different ways!
Day 8: I'm thankful for the opportunity (and the funds) to go to the Living Proof Live event.  I'm thankful for the Word I got during this conference and for the amazing women of God that were there.  Praise Him for this weekend!
Day 9: I'm thankful for the season of fall.  Between football, Thanksgiving, the beautiful colors, and all the fun flavors, fall is a great season.  I look forward to taking all of it in for the rest of the month!
Day 10: Sunday is my catch-up-with-mom-and-dad on the phone, so today I'm thankful for my mom, dad, and brother!  My mom and dad are so supportive and loving, and my brother and I have a great relationship that I appreciate.  They're pretty great!

Question for you: What's your favorite outdoor workout?  Did you do anything cool this weekend?

Running with Kellsie's Krew

Hey, everyone!  It's Friday AND this weekend is a 3-day weekend.  How exciting!

I'm especially excited today because I have something really awesome to tell you about.  Remember when I said I'd missed the sign-up for the Disney Princess Half Marathon this year?  Well, I looked in to running it with a charity group.  At first, all of the groups were full.  Then, I heard from one of the organizations!

This year, I will be running the Disney Princess Half Marathon for the Kellsie's Hope Foundation!

I'm honored to be a part of Kellsie's Krew and am so excited to raise money for this great organization!  Let me tell you a little bit about them.

The mission of Kellsie's Hope Foundation is to "assist families in need with gifting, funding trips, and will also fund cancer research and various programs and/or other support for the medical field such as nursing scholarships." (From their website)

You can read Kellsie's full story here, but here are the highlights:

• Kellsie was 15 years old when diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, an aggressive form of bone cancer, when she thought she just had a sports injury.
• She spent a year receiving aggressive treatments, including chemotherapy and surgery to replace 4 inches of her shin bone.
• After that year, she was declared cancer free!  The next three years were great. She went back to school, back to dancing (when she was told she'd never dance again), and became a speaker at events for Make-A-Wish, H.I.S. Kids, and other organizations.  She started college and was maintaining a long-distance relationship with her boyfriend Joey.
• During this time, Joey proposed to her INSIDE Cinderella's Castle at Disney World!  Kellsie didn't know it, but her family was there to greet them as they walked down the spiral staircase in the castle.  How magical!
• Unfortunately, her cancer returned.  It was in her lungs this time, and she had surgery to remove 2/3 of her right lung.  After the surgery, she continued living  her life, including family vacation to Maine and another Disney vacation with Joey's family.
• The cancer returned a third time in the remaining part of her lung.  Kellsie spent much of her time in the hospital receiving chemo and radiation treatments.  She stayed positive throughout everything and was even able to come home for Christmas, travel to Chicago with her family, and take one last family vacation with Joey to Disney World.

Image Source

• Kellsie lost her battle with cancer on June 8th, 2011 after a long, hard fight.  

The foundation was started so that other families with children fighting cancer could make their child's dreams come true.  They also fund cancer research and offer scholarships to people going in to the nursing field (that's what Kellsie was going to school for).  Click here to see some of the recent programs Kellsie's Hope has funded!

And guess who runs the foundation?  Her fiance, Joey!  When I found that out, my heart was just touched!  In spite of his tremendous loss, he is making Kellsie's legacy live on is just a positive way!

I am honored to be a part of raising money for this organization.  I find it so special to be doing so by running through Disney World, one of Kellsie's favorite places!

If you are able, I'd love for you to support me in my efforts to help this organization.  You can give online through PayPal using this link, or you can give by cash or check.  See the details on this website, and just make sure to put my name on it.  Donations are tax-deductible.  If you can't give right now, there will be a link on the sidebar very soon.

Thanks for making it through this post, and thank you in advance for any donations you are able to make!

WIAW #20: Quest Bars

Hey everyone!  It seems like Monday and Tuesday are not good blogging days for me.  I'll work on that for next week.

Today is Wednesday, so it's time for....

Hooray!  Head on over to Jenn's blog Peas and Crayons to see what the rest of the blogging world is eating.

This week, I wanted to talk about Quest Nutrition bars.  Their protein bars are made from (mostly) natural ingredients.  Their slogan is "Cheat Clean," and with flavors like Double Chocolate Chunk and Cinnamon Bun, I can see what they mean!  Most of their bars are very low in sugar, high in fiber, and a great source of protein.  I've heard a lot about them on other blogs, and last week I stopped by GNC to pick some up.

They were buy 3 bars, get 1 free, so I mixed-and-matched to try a few different flavors.  The sales clerk was very helpful and told me the flavors that seem to be really popular.  Here's what I wound up with and what I thought about each!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Quest Bar

I heard a lot of good things about this flavor, so I was expecting a lot.  Let me tell you, it lived up to the hype!

The bar literally tastes like cookie dough and also has the consistency of it.  Yum!  There is a slight protein-y taste to it, but if you didn't know you were eating a Quest bar, you would think it was actually cookie dough. I'd give this one 4.5/5 stars.

Double Chocolate Chunk Quest Bar

This is the newest flavor, and it's been getting good reviews.  I enjoyed this one, but it was not quite as good as the cookie dough bar.  This one was in the fridge with my lunch, so it was a little more solid than the other one.  Maybe that effected my enjoyment of it.  Rating: 3.5/5 stars.

Cinnamon Bun Quest Bar

This was another flavor I'd heard a lot of good things about, and once again, it lived up to the hype.  It was a little softer and had a delicious flavor without overpowering you with cinnamon.  I'd have to say, I think this one was my favorite of those I tried!  Rating: 4.75/5 starts.

Chocolate Brownie Quest Bar

Another yummy flavor!  It really did taste like you were eating a brownie, but again had a slight protein-y taste.  Rating: 4/5 stars.

Overall Thoughts

The flavors of all the bars were really good.  At first, the consistency was a little weird to me (I'm a little picky about consistency).  I got used to it, though, and think I'll definitely pick up some Quest bars again.  They are on the expensive side at GNC, but you can find boxes of 12 for a pretty discounted price online.

Thanks to my lack of posts, I've fallen behind on my 30 Days of Thanks challenge!

Day 4
Day 4 is dedicated to this special man:

My husband!  After two weekends of us being apart, I was especially thankful to spend time with him on Monday.  Joe is very patient with me, encourages me, and makes me laugh.  He's caring, affectionate, and very helpful.  Look at these delicious burgers (ignore the blurry picture) he made for dinner on Monday!

He's always looking out for my best interests and supports me in everything I do.  He's a keeper, and I love him!!

Day 5
On Tuesday, I was thankful for answered prayers.  Driving to work, I just felt really down and couldn't figure out way.  I prayed over the day and asked for God to be with me, and He was faithful!  I am thankful that He listens to us, provides for us, and that His will for our lives is perfect!

Day 6
Today, I am thankful for the luxuries of life.  I'm thankful for the roof over my head, the food on the table, the cars we have to drive, having a job, and having funds for the "fun things."  For example, I went to a play on Saturday evening.

Tickets were not cheap, and it was in Orlando (about an hour drive).  Plus, Joe was away this weekend on a boys' trip to the Georgia/Florida game.  I am thankful that Joe and I are fortunate enough to take advantage of those fun opportunities.

Question for you: Have you tried Quest Bars before?  What's your favorite flavor?  Also, feel free to share anything you are thankful for today!!

Disclaimer: I purchased Quest bars with my own money and am receiving no compensation for this post.  I just wanted to let y'all know what I thought.  All opinions are my own.

State of My Knee Run

Did everyone remember to set their clocks back an hour?  Luckily, my phone and computer automatically updated.  Now, I just have some clocks to take care of in the kitchen (and the car).

Yesterday, I did my first workout post-Lighthouse Loop Half Marathon.  I did what I thought of as a "State of My Knee" run, where I ran a minute, walked a minute for about two miles.

My knee wound up feeling fine!  I was nervous to get back to running so soon, but things seemed to be ok.  I'm still going to be taking it easy the next few weeks and make sure to focus on stretching pre- and post-run, foam rolling, and getting back to yoga.

After the run, I wanted to get in a good ab workout.  Julie from Peanut Butter Fingers recently mentioned the Nike Training Club app, so I decided to download it and give it a go.  I used the Ab Burner workout in the Get Focused section, and it was definitely a good one!  I haven't done ab work in a long time, and the way my abs felt afterward reminded me why I love working them so much!

Ok, time for Day 3 of the 30 Days of Thanks Challenge....

Day 3

In addition to being thankful that my knee is improving, today I am especially thankful for the Word of God and those that preach it.  I started my morning with a great time of Bible study completing my homework for the Breaking Free study...

...then went to church this morning and heard a great sermon.

I'm thankful for the Bible because it contains God's instructions for our lives and many answers to our prayers.  I'm thankful for those who help us discern what the Word says because sometimes, that can be a really hard thing to do!

Question for you: Do you have any favorite workout apps?  What are you thankful for on this lovely Sunday?