Snowy Sunday

Today has been a lazy kind of day. PJ's and fuzzy socks. Hot cider and cookies.

Even the cats were all about taking it easy today.

Nevertheless! Again working out prevailed and I was able to make it to the gym before the snow really started to fall. Today was Cardio Sunday and I did speed intervals for 3.0 miles, along with 15 minutes on the elliptical. It felt great!

My stomach was rumbling, so I continued my post vacation detox with a delicious and flavorful lunch.

I love kale. I LOVE kale. It has a great flavor when sauteed, especially when topped with balsamic vinaigrette. I sauteed the kale in olive oil, and paired it with chickpeas. A can of chopped black olives caught my eye, and I combined everything on top of a small cup of whole wheat pasta.

Holy YUM! The combination was savory and healthy. I washed it down with a homemade fruit smoothie.

This concoction had one clementine, a handful of strawberries, two bananas, a scoop of peanut butter, ground flaxseed, strawberry greek yogurt and milk.

I also had to partake in some Sunday evening baking. After turning on "Love Actually," I was inspired to make some more of the tea biscuits I had made last month.

Of course I messed up my kitchen. And consumed half a bottle of wine. It makes the baking process so much better!!

I love these biscuits. For as simple as they are, they are packed with flavor, and relatively healthy. I also topped them with almonds and chocolate chips that toasted nicely in the stove.

Happy Sunday everyone! Here's to the packed week ahead!

Skiing Recap

Good Morning!

I love Sundays. Today's plan is a great breakfast (on egg over hard, one slice of whole wheat toast with natural blackberry spread, and a clementine!), picking up the house a bit, hit the gym, then my favorite thrift store for dollar Sunday, Trader Joe's and writing a freelance story for Shout Magazine. Last night was a lot of fun. I had a pretty intense workout in the morning, BodyPump and Zumba back to back. I don't know what happened, but after my workout I felt extremely weak and shaky, and as though I was going to pass out. Luckily I had brought a PowerBar Chocolate Harvest Grain bar with me. My gym was also handing out free samples of Whole Grain Cheerios. I scarfed both of those down so fast!

So skiing! Absolutely one of my favorite winter sports. Granted, I am not the best at it. As a matter of fact, I am extremely uncoordinated and look like an action figurine.

However, I love the way my body feels after 6+ hours of skiing! It was nice to get a workout outside of the gym for a few days.

We drove to Western Nebraska last Thursday from Omaha. Total time: roughly 6.5 hours. Jason's parents live in the Panhandle, so we were able to catch up on some sleep before heading to Denver the next day. We originally had planned on going to Terry Peak in South Dakota, but there was a blizzard moving in that changed our plans. Let's just say that the drive from Western Nebraska to Denver is usually 3-4 hours. It took us 7.5.

Once we got to Winter Park, we were finally able to relax with some friends in a condo for New Year's Eve.

There was outdoor hot tubbing in -20 degree weather.

Crazy tubing! We seriously went so fast that I screamed the whole way down.

Friday and Saturday we stayed in the condo in Winter Park. Sunday we decided to pack it up and head to Copper Mountain for three days of skiing and fun.

It was so much fun! Jason and I got to have some time to ourselves to ski, fall, laugh, drink a bit, eat terribly, and enjoy the fresh mountain air. It was beautiful and absolutely rejuvenating!

I decided to head back to Omaha on Wednesday night so I could make it to work for the last few days of the week.

As we were driving back from Copper Mountain, we of course had to stop at our favorite breakfast place in Denver, a place called Dozens.

It is a local, tiny, wonderful little cafe just down the street from the Art Museum. Jason had an omelet with all the fixins' and toast, and I had strawberry stuffed french toast with ham. Add some french press coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice and I was ready for the long drive home.

We stopped in Cheyenne, Wyoming on the way to take a peek at the downtown area, a place that, as my husband puts it, "time has forgotten." After finally making it to Nebraska, and driving through three states in one day, I made it back to Omaha around 11:00 at night, over 500 miles and 12 hours later. I love vacations!!

Inspiration Board!

Good late morning all! I know I have been behind on the blog, but I still feel like I am catching up on sleep, so the blog will be up and running this weekend! By the way, I have been having my new favorite combo for breakfast: granola, a giant scoop of peanut butter, ground flaxseed, chocolate protein powder and honey. Yum! I feel like a need a healthy detox after a week of skiing and bar food.
Yesterday was gorgeous outside here in Omaha, sunny and in the upper 40s. I managed to eek out a 3 mile run outside! It was so nice to breath fresh, cold air during my run instead of circulated gym air. I am officially registered for two races this spring so I hope the weather stays nice!

Gina of "The Fitnessista" gave me the idea to make an Inspiration Board for 2011. I went through an assortment of Yoga Journals, Shape, Self, The Economist, and other magazines to cut out inspirational words, pictures or phrases to create my own hope for 2011. Hope you enjoy!

I'm Back!

Hello everyone! You all probably noticed that I have been MIA from the blog. I have been on a skiing trip in Colorado! More will come later on today as I have been absent from work and need to catch up. :)

Me in Copper Mountain

Girls in Town!

One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is when my friends come back into town. Two of my best friends, Katelin and Lindsey, were back in Omaha from San Fran and Chi-Town. Combine that with my best friend who lives here, Jean, and it has been an amazing week.

Lindz, Katelin and Me!

We also had to borrow a few boys from the table next to us at La Buvette to take our photo. Yes, were were those annoying girls.

We had an assortment of appetizers, meat and cheese plates, hummus, and hot pressed sandwiches (MY FAVORITE), as well as plenty of yummy wine.

After our night downtown, we headed back to my house to break into my "Three Buck Chuck" wine from Trader Joe's. I'm telling you, this stuff is not bad!

So needless to say, today I have a headache. And I need to pack and clean for tomorrow's road trip to Alliance, and then South Dakota. Jason and I are going skiing over the New Year, and I am so excited to get out of town with him.

I'm also working on an Inspiration Board for 2011. I got the idea from Gina at "The Fitnessista." I am going through a bunch of magazines and cutting out photos, images, and inspirational words that will fuel my resolutions for the New Year.

Here is a preview:

I am excited for the finished product!

I'm off to do some work on my nonprofit project, nurse my hangover away, and gear up for packing, cleaning and BodyPump this evening. More to come later this afternoon!

Cats love (Catnip) Christmas too...

Poor little Ghengis Cat has fallen for the "sauce." Or catnip. My dad got my cats a little stocking with a bunch of new toys, treats and catnip. Below is a video showing just how much Ghengis loves his present!

Too funny!

Here are also a few photos of all the cats at my dad's house...if you think I'm a crazy cat person, consider who raised me that way!!! :)

I just love these little guys! These cats eat better than most children...actually, come to think of it, my cats have more toys that most children!! 

Do you think I have a problem?? :) 

More to come in a bit!

Merry Christmas from the Messy Clem-McClaren House!

Happy Christmas all! Right now I am sitting in my fluffy pink bathrobe that Jason thinks makes me look like a grandma, drinking coffee and watching "Elf."

 I have plans to head down to my dad's house in Palmyra today, but not until I am done cleaning my house and doing some yoga. Yesterday I had a great run, 7.0 miles, in exactly one hour. My speed is getting better! When I do treadmill runs I always mess with the incline and speed to make it as close to running outside as possible. I fueled up for the run with a Christmas Eve breakfast from Jason (English muffin half with peanut butter, one piece of bacon, one egg and cottage cheese) and a juicy clementine. My post run snack was a holiday blend coffee from Crane and a bowl of honey greek yogurt, granola, protein powder, honey and cinnamon!! So yummy! 

Here are a few reasons why I need to clean:

Athena is drowning in a sea of folded and done, but not put away laundry. 

The beds have not been made. 

And I'm not even going to show you the bathrooms. 

However, I did manage to clean the kitchen:

And took a moment to enjoy our pretty ornaments on our lovely and still alive Christmas tree. 

I plan on drinking wine and margaritas, watching America's Funniest Home Videos, and eating sea scallops and tilapia with my dad and brother today. Tomorrow is the big family get together with my grandma and her sister, my aunt and cousins. And Jason too! Have a great Christmas Day everyone!