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finishing chelsea’s run {first 5k}

for those who live in san diego county or for anyone who follows national news you might remember hearing about the tragic murder of poway’s chelsea king two years ago. chelsea went out to run around lake hodges after school one february afternoon and never returned home. poway, the city in which we reside, is such a close-nit city in the country type of town. we have never felt unsafe but when we learned of chelsea’s disappearance i do not believe there was a soul in this town that did not react. friends and neighbors were on the search team in the lake, people were placing blue ribbons on every tree, mailbox, building, shirt, etc. to hold out hope that she was still alive. that was until john gardner was arrested on suspicion and lead them to chelsea’s body. i cannot drive by the lake without looking at her final resting place without busting out in tears. our cousin, amanda, was in chelsea’s class and i vividly remember their graduation ceremony and how emotional we all were as her brother accepted her diploma. chelsea’s parents, brent and kelly king, have created chelsea’s light foundation, a legislative reform to bring awareness, education and other viable remedies to prevent sexual predators from harming our children.

when my friend janelle asked me if i wanted to run the second annual, finish chelsea’s run | 5k run/walk, i did not hesitate. i was actually sitting in the sprouts parking lot with the kids after a shopping trip as i was pondering the run/walk. could i do it? i had not ran since before payton. i glanced across the parking lot and saw a weathered blue ribbon staring right at me. tears started flowing from my eyes and at the exact moment i knew i had to do it. chelsea was there telling me i could do it. i went home and registered for the race and found myself with tessa and her mom at janelle & nelson’s house this past saturday ready to stand amongst thousands of fellow san diegans ready to finish chelsea’s run. when i picked up my race bib i looked around in complete awe, again tears swelled my eyes and at the moment i was proud to be a san diegan, proud to live in such a great county. her parents welcomed and thanked all of us for supporting their cause and remembering their daughter, providing them strength through the past two years and as they move forward. the race began and we slowly started to jog weaving in and out of our fellow racers. about half way through mile one we came around a corner just about to cross the bridge into balboa park, a band rooting us on playing the olympic theme. tessa and i being silly and then whack! i felt like my right foot hit a speed bump and then gravity pulled me closer to the ground. i skinned both my knees and my right shin pretty bad. i just kept laughing because it was only fitting that i would fall. i kept laughing because it was hilarious, especially in the moment. i shook it off and kept jogging/walking. it wasn’t until we jogged down the on-ramp to the 163 that my hip and my knees really started hurting (hips are still hurting from braydens birth). we were also at an incline but it wouldn’t get worse until jogging up quince street. tessa stayed with me and we crossed the finish line together. while our time wasn’t the best, 43:23, it was our first 5k and neither of us run. after the race we met tessa’s mom, dee, janelle and nelson and headed over to first aid to get me cleaned up. we purchased some sunflowers in honor of chelsea and then headed to breakfast. i am proud of this accomplishment and we have already registered for our next 5k in two weeks!

bright and early we all met. the other really neat thing was that it was dee’s 62nd birthday and her first 5k as well. did i forget to mention that she beat tessa and i? yeah, i did. embarrassing and very proud of her!

walking across the bridge. a gorgeous, sunny san diego morning!

getting ready to cross the finish line and nelson jumps out like the paparazzi. i am not looking at him because i am mumbling something obscene.

such amazing friends.

this last picture was taken when i got home. i just wanted to add about the bib and the sunflowers. sunflowers were chelsea’s favorite flower and the bib is the first of it’s kind; completely biodegradable and once you plant it sunflowers will grow. when we crossed the finish line we were given a packet of sunflower seeds to keep chelsea’s light going. the details mean so much and just another way to remember and keep the memory alive of beautiful teenage girl taken from our lives far too early.

are you a runner? check out my friend suzanne’s blog. she’s a crazy marathoner, i love reading her journey through each race.

monday phone dump & greek pitas {recipe}

i’m starting something new, a monday phone dump. by the time monday rolls around i have taken so many cell phone pictures that very rarely get shared, sometimes they make it to facebook but most of the time they stay in my phone. it usually just paints a picture of how our weekend was. so here we go…

i got my hair done, hmm. well my blonde locks were supposed to have some caramel low lights, i think my stylist ran out of that color and prayed the top color would match but it turned out chocolate. i kinda like it, kinda don’t. i never really care, it’s hair & it grows…
i had two cupcake orders. a baby shower and a thank you gift to an ivf doctor.
we made it to happy hour friday night after picking daddy up from the airport, a special treat because we rarely go out as a family. had a 90% blowout. fun.
brayden is finally getting chubby legs. i cannot.stand.it. i lurve me some chubbs.
i got my nails done, went back to shellac vs. acrylic.
ran my first 5k. more on that one later

greek pita’s

what you’ll need:

(i am not giving measurements, i am giving suggestions as to what i used. everyone likes theirs a different way)

whole wheat pitas (i use ezekiel – less calories and they come frozen so you don’t waste them)

baby spinach

thinly sliced onion

thinly sliced tomato

olive tapenade (trader joes – found by the hummus not the jarred variety)

hummus (i used original from tj’s, roasted pepper or garlic would be amazing)

dry salami

feta cheese

*reduced sodium turkey (not pictured, but the next day i added this)

here’s how:

if you buy frozen pita’s remove from the freezer and defrost on a paper towel (don’t get lazy and pop them in the microwave, they’ll get soggy. not sayin’ i’m lazy or anything)
cut your pita in half. carefully open the pocket up.
on one side of the pita spread the tapenade, on the other the hummus.
next lay the meat, veggies and then cheese.
serve with a light salad, some chips, a cup of tomato bisque or by itself.
enjoy!

i am not even kidding you when i say this is tasty. the tapenade is the perfect addition and takes this sandwich over the top. you won’t regret adding this to your lunch rotation.

i am linking up with. . .

parmesan crusted chicken with simple mediterranean pasta

i have been on a roll with craving pasta dishes with a light sauce and bold flavors. when on a playdate last week at my girlfriends house she made me a salad with parmesan chicken, it was delish so that night i scoured our pantry and made some chicken parm cutlets with a mediterrenean inspired pasta. i used the brown rice pasta again, and after this time i am reverting back to my whole wheat. it’s just too sticky and chewy for me. i coated the pasta with a white wine butter sauce, tart capers, sweet sun dried tomatoes, buttery artichokes and some spinach (toasted pine nuts would be fab too!) paired with the chicken it was way better than consuming the traditional chicken parm dish!

have a great weekend everyone. i am doing my first 5k in honor of poway’s chelsea king, getting my hair done and spending some time with the family since jim has been out-of-town all week. oh! and looking at some houses! very exciting stuff i tell you!

make it a great weekend everyone and hopefully wherever you are there will plenty of sunshine!

travelin’ man

if you are my friend on fb then you have heard me whine about being a “single mom” this week. well, it’s not just this week it’s just about every week or every other week that the hubster has to travel to a university across the country. you might be asking, what does the hubby do? well, he has worked for mbe, a ups company, since graduating college in 2005. he has worked in several different departments: international sales, domestic sales, industrial engineering and most recently (last year) back to sales focusing on university sales. he gets to see some amazing campuses but that means he is leaving the three of us behind. during the day it is no big deal but the time 5:30 rolls around mama is looking for a break. i.e. go to the gym, do some grocery shopping, sit in my car with silence, okay maybe i don’t do that but when you are home alone all you want is some damn quiet time in the evening. i love my children more than anything but if a nap gets skipped, or you decide to brave the mall alone and a temper tantrum happens and hearing whining all.the.time, not that my children would misbehave in public or anything. it just makes you just want to put yourself on a time out, which by the way, i just started doing. i tried it last week with payton and it worked. we will see how tonight goes, we just dropped hubby off at the airport for his second trip this week, he was home for all of eight hours before he went to work but decided to come home to see us and have us drive him instead of not seeing us, especially since p woke-up asking where he was. it’s never easy on any us.

do you or your significant other travel? how do you deal with the traveling?

over the weekend getting in as much family time as possible, holding his babies close. thanks danielle for capturing this at ethan’s birthday party!

it’s a weekly thang {weigh-in wednesday}

i know i was absent last week for my weigh-in. i was having a bad week, not because of my weight or the diet, i was just mentally exhausted and physically deflated. i actually ate like crap at night but saturday was the worst day: a cheeseburger (with bread, gasp!), french fries, a cherry coke and then a slice of pizza for dinner. the plus side, it all tasted ahh-mazing. the downside, well, there wasn’t a downside. i didn’t even gain an ounce. after binge snacking all week, a few bad choices for meals i remained at 155.8, so i only gained a few ounces. my friend, tessa, who is doing the diet with me was in vegas for wppi and celebrated her b-day so i took part in the festivities with her knowing she went off the diet. plus, on sunday night janelle and i treated her to a birthday dinner at stacked where we both ate sweet potato fries, a burger with the bread and a tasty libation. all in all, i am okay with the numbers. i started cycle two again yesterday, i ditched making it to the end of cycle four, hoping for a re-energized me! june will be here before we know it!

my starting weight: 170 today’s weight: 154total weight loss for week one: 6 poundstotal weight loss for week two: 3 poundstotal weight loss for week three: 1 poundtotal weight loss for week four: 1 poundtotal weight loss for week five: 3 pounds total weight loss for week six: 0 pounds total weight loss for week seven: 2 pounds
total weight loss: 16 pounds pounds away from goal #1: 13.4pounds away from goal #2: 23.4
i have not written about my body measurements. i didn’t take any until i had already lost seven pounds, i was a little scared to see how, um. . .well, wide i was. ha! yesterday i got fitted for a bra, it was a happy moment, but did i purchase it? no! i can thank a screaming, unmanageable toddler for that one.
bust – 34″ (34C) was 38″ (38D)waist – 32″ was 41″hips – 39″ was 43″ pant sizing – some were size 10’s and one pair of skinny jeans were a 12. all are falling off. size 8’s now fit, not super comfortable only because of my hips which are throbbing everyday, i only hope this means they going back…please!
i am going to take a picture this morning, do i plan on sharing, no. but i finally plan to take a picture to start the second phase of this weight loss journey to the last twenty pounds!
how is your weight loss journey going?