Fab Sunday

Today has been a fantastic day so far. I slept in, then went to the gym and had a great run on the treadmill. I decided to take it slower today so I could run for a longer amount of time. I started at about 10.5 km/hour and eventually worked by way up to 14 km/hour for a short sprint. When I reached a distance 5 km, I had been running for about 27 minutes which is a pace I am happy with. I remember running a 5K race in Portland and finishing at over 30 minutes, so I have knocked some time off of that. It is easier to keep a good pace on the treadmill, so that helps cut the time a bit. I was on the treadmill for about 45 minutes which included a walking break for 5 minutes.

While I was doing some crunches after my run, I got a text from my friend Jill asking if I wanted to take a walk with her to Starbucks. (Yes, we just got a Starbucks in our town in Germany!). I quickly walked home from the gym, showered up, and got ready. My husband came home from playing tennis and he wanted to come too, so the three of us walked into town for some nice Starbucks drinks and snacks. We took our stuff to go and continued walking around downtown. It is warm out today and it was really nice to be outside. Since we got home the wind has really picked up though! Tonight we are going over to my friend Christy's house to watch U.S. play Canada in Olympic hockey. In our group of 4 we have two Americans and two Canadians, so it will be fun to have a little rivalry going on during the game!

I have not done any school work today, but I am enjoying that fact! I worked on my post test for the class where I work with a partner yesterday, so all of the assignments I am responsible for are completed and posted online. We still have a 12 page case study report to turn in for the final project, but my partner is in charge of writing most of that since she was the teacher who actually worked with the student. Instead of reading for class, I decided to give the book Three Cups of Tea another try. I started it last year or maybe even the year before and never finished. I found that I would go through spurts of really loving it and then not wanting anything to do with it. This time, I am trying harder to really appreciate the writing and pay more attention to the details about Korphe and Pakistan where Greg Mortenson built schools. I have heard both sides when it comes to this book--some people LOVE and ogle over it and others say they couldn't get through it. I want to at least give it one more shot.

I am really trying to figure out something good and healthy to make for dinner tonight. We have recently discovered an obsession with quinoa, so I have been using it a lot lately with different things mixed in. Last night we had chili over quinoa and vegetables, but I am stuck and can't think of what to make tonight! Better get on that soon because hubs need something to eat before he heads off to soccer. Tennis and soccer and walking all in the same day! Busy boy! I am looking forward to cozying up on the couch and reading while he is gone.

I realized that I rarely ever include pictures in my posts, so here is a silly shot just for fun!

 

  

and a picture of one of the cookies that I baked on Friday.

Oatmeal with cranberries, white chocolate, & hazelnuts.

So good!