Sunday Funday at First Colony Winery

Disclaimer: this post has nothing to do with being a vegetarian or running.  Sorry. =)

One of my friends just got a 7 month old puppy who is soooo cute.  She asked if I wanted to go to one of the many many wineries around Cville with our pups so I drove out to meet her at First Colony Winery. It was a gorgeous fall day, perfect weather to share a glass of wine and relax. 

On my drive out, "10,000 Reasons" came on the radio and has been stuck in my head ever since. I love this song so Im sharing it here! Its one of the songs I wanted our violinist to play at our wedding last month.  Although it was such a blur Im not sure if it happened or not!! :) 

Fall Weekend Fun!

For some unknown reason I've had a really hard time with allergies this fall.  Ive had a cough (that I had checked out with my doc who confirmed it was allergies) for a number of weeks.  So frustrating to a person who loves to be outside, particularly in gorgeous weather! Theres been so many days where it would be perfect temps for long runs but I cant breathe very well right now! Anyway, the fall colors are just amazing so I wanted to go for a hike on Saturday with our little family.  We went up to Mint Springs and hiked up some of the trails.  The view from the top is so pretty and its not too far away so we were able to squeeze it in between football and a surprise birthday party we went to later on. I think hiking is such a perfect activity. Theres no where that I feel more grounded and re-centered than walking through the woods.  I get that from my Dad for sure!! We walked along and Georgia ran along sniffing stuff and having a great time.  It was so nice to talk about future plans and dreams while enjoying the weather, the scenery, and each other.  

Honeymoon Recap: Traveling gym workouts

While we were pretty active on our trip with ziplining, horseback riding, hiking, etc, we made sure we went to the gym on the resort to stay with our routine. I cant tell you the number of times my clients will say they had a hard time getting back into their workouts at home because they didn't stick with the routine while away.

For me, wanting to stay in a routine goes a step further because I teach so many classes each week. Yes, I need to give my body a break, but I also need to stay in shape so when I come back to work, I can still deliver a quality class. Because I tend to be really tough on my body with the number of workouts and classes I do during the week, I did take a break from strength training.  For D, its very  much the same in that he plays ice hockey and to take two weeks off from working out would take a toll on his performance. So he worked out a little more intensely than I did with weights.  I went to the gym three times while I was there (shocking to have done so little!!) and did cardio and some Abdominal work and stretching.
When I got back to teaching upon my return I was pretty sore from Kettlebell class but my body felt really good having had a break from weights.  I was very glad I had continued to workout, however!!!
For breakfast I tried to eat as healthy as possible.  Luckily at the first resort in Guanacaste it wasn't too hard. They had some great healthy options on the menu, from the gluten free pancakes I already talked about to an egg white omelet.  We went to the grocery store in the town of Tamarindo and purchased protein packed snacks to keep us going while there too.

Pumpkin Waffles!

Waffles (Makes six)

2 1/3

cups Original Bisquick™ mix

1 1/2

cups milk

2/3      cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

a little less than 1/4

 cup vegetable oil

2

tablespoons packed brown sugar

1

teaspoon cinnamon 

2

eggs

Powdered sugar, if desired

I used my waffle maker that my mother in law and sister in law gave me for Christmas almost two years ago. I love it!!  These were SO freaking good.  

Honeymoon Recap: Ziplining!

 Ziplining is something I've always wanted to do and I was so excited to find somewhere while we were in Costa Rica to go.  The concierge at our resort connected us with a great company to go with. There were only three other people on our trip, so it was great to have a small group and wonderful guides to interact with.

 So excited to go flying through the jungle!!

 Ziplining was so much fun. I cant wait to do it again. One of the couples on the excursion with us said they have gone in the US a lot, and though they said this is obviously the best one, they recommended a few in the states to try.

 We went on about 12 zip lines, the weather was perfect until about the 9th one when it starting pouring down rain. That made us go really fast and made it a lot harder to break at the end, but it was really fun!!

 Relaxing at the beach on our resort

I had delicious gluten free pancakes with some of the best fruit I've ever eaten! 

 The coastline on the resort property had lots of rocks but also some entry points for swimming. The water was so warm and really clear, though a bit darker teal than in the Caribbean.

Pre Wedding Stress Relief..exists?

We've all heard of bridezillas and even if we know a bride to be who isn't screaming her head off and threatening to uninvited a whole set of cousins (I don't know what they do exactly, I've never seen one, so its just a guess....), pre-wedding stress can exist in a variety of forms. Its important to support our bride to be's and to encourage them to stay as calm as possible. Obviously volunteering to help with wedding (and non-wedding) tasks is essential to defusing stress levels but here are a few other tips.

1. Work.it.out.  We all know how great exercise is on decreasing everyday stress and uplifting your mood. So of course its important to use your workouts to help combat some of the wedding related stress too.  Make sure to include workouts as a priority to your schedule.  If you are getting bored with your own workouts or if you find you need a little more accountability, try working out with a personal trainer either on an individual basis, or small group training. If personal training isn't in your budget (though small group training is VERY affordable), make a point to go to some group exercise classes. Since they have a start and end time, its often a little more incentive to get it done since you have a time constraint.  If you are a friend or family member of a bride, try asking the bride to go on a walk or a hike with you.  I firmly believe that being outdoors really maximizes the mood boosting effects of exercise. There is no where I feel more relaxed and in perspective than in the woods admiring God's creations.

2.  Sleep. I know, easier said than done right? Try to get a little extra rest if you can. Go to bed about 15 min earlier each night if you can.   A few other tips I found useful were to turn off electronics about an hour before you want to go to sleep. There are lots of articles on how the brightness from electronics may interfere with the body's chemical production that can make it harder to fall asleep. Try reading a book or magazine for a few minutes before going to sleep and see if that helps.

3. Eat healthy! Of course this will help.  And its just one more reason to try improving your diet before the wedding. Most everyone wants to slim down anyway and making healthier choices will not only do that, but help your skin and digestive system, and make you feel much better! Veggies all around!! :) (but don't forget the protein and water too!!)

4.  Try to pamper yourself some.  Believe me, I know what its like to be on a budget. An everyday budget and a wedding budget! I'd laugh at all the magazines that talk about scheduling yourself regular massages and manicures and facials and everything.  Um...who has that kind of money? So if you can, try to get a massage for a day or so before the wedding as it will help a lot.  I went to Massage Envy and did one of the introductory sessions so it was about $45 as opposed to lots of spas that were in the $75-100 range. The massage therapist, Brooke, did a fantastic job and I would totally go back and visit again.
Other pampering options: Foam rolling is great for getting to tight muscles and making your muscles feel better, particularly after strenuous workouts.   Try a routine of foam rolling before bed (especially after a hot shower).  

5.  Make a list of your blessings. It can be reasons you cant wait to marry your man, or things you are thankful for that people have done, or anything! I remember the weekends of my bridal showers and my bachelorette party thinking each time, "I am the luckiest girl in the world to have such amazing friends and family. I couldn't be more blessed"  Writing down those memories helps to keep that feeling going.    Theres also a cool new app called Happier that allows you to journal something that makes you happy each day. As long or as short of an entry as you'd like and you can upload a photo too.

I hope these help some of  you who are going through a stressful time, wedding or not!

xoxo,

The new Mrs Bender! :)

Pre-wedding beauty

Ive never had much of a "beauty routine".  In college, I was terrible to my poor face and would sleep with my make up on.  Gross. It wasn't until my junior year that my roommates introduced me to more cleansers and moisturizers than I had ever seen! I still probably used the wrong stuff but fortunately Ive been blessed with great skin. 

Now that Ive gotten a tiny itty bitty bit older I am much better about my skin, particularly my face. I rarely forget to wear sunscreen, and I always take my makeup off at night. I usually just a mascara and eye shadow girl, but if Im doing something else or if its date night I wear a powder foundation and maybe a little more shadow.  

Preparing for the wedding I really wanted to make sure my skin was in top shape. I fell in love with the Simple brand of cleansing cloths. They are perfect for after runs and workouts when I don't have time to take a shower but don't want that crap on my face for the next few hours. They are also great for getting make up off and don't dry my skin out.  I really think they helped keep my skin in great shape before the wedding. 

I read lots of reviews on masks. I couldn't afford to have a facial so I looked at reviews and talked to some professionals about the next best thing.  I couldn't afford that either. So I searched out some options and settled on this mask.  The directions say you can use it 2x per week and I used it 1x per week for the first two weeks and then the last week I used it 2x during wedding week. I liked it, although the scent was a bit strong. I did look at some DIY masks on Pinterest but just didn't have time to make them. I like the idea of something a bit more organic, so maybe in the future I'll try some of those out! 

I also picked up a new body scrub.  I knew going into it I wanted to exfoliate and moisturize my skin to keep it smooth and soft so I found this great one at Ulta.  I really like it a lot and will continue using it for a long time. 

Im also a multi tasker.  There was one night when I had my Crest Whitestrips in, a mask on my face and was exfoliating with the scrub.  Thankfully I didn't confuse which product went where! :)