The scariest MRI machine EVER...and Olive Garden/Fro Yo to make up for it :)

The MRI this morning was probably one of the scariest things I have done in awhile.  I thought I was only semi-claustrophobic, but after this MRI I know I'm fully claustrophobic.  Everything but my head was in the machine.  Here's what it looked like (note that I got this pic online, I was too busy freaking out to take a picture at the place):

Isn't it tiny?!

After having a minor panic attack (and the nurses probably thinking I was crazy) I got through the 20 minutes of torture. 

Then I met Andrew at Olive Garden for lunch, which was a great treat...but still not fulfilling.  This completed the day:

Gotta love the Fro Yo!!

Now an evening of relaxing before it's back to work tomorrow.  I have my cake decorating class, but since it's not until later I probably will work a longer day.  Hopefully with the amount of work I believe I have, the day will go by rather quickly!

Have a great Monday everyone!

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Could you do a full body MRI, or are you as claustrophobic as me?

What Fro Yo flavors/toppings do you like?
For me...anything with chocolate (and sometimes I'm healthy and throw some fruit in there too)

I think I have a PB obsession

I think I have a problem....

....I love peanut butter...

....like eat it right out of the jar love it...and my husband looks at me like I have five heads every time I do it.  But today I decided to be creative.  I was craving Reese's but had no desire to go back to the store after we had already gone to Shoppers and Costco (I don't know how I forgot something as important as Reese's....)  So here's what I did:

Yes...the bag of chocolate chips is HUGE...but it's mostly for baking...and these random cravings I have.

Melt the chocolate chips and PB together and use the pretzels to dip.  It was pretty awesome...but my Reese's craving is still there (darn it!). 

PS...there are still pretzels in that bag, see:

 Well...this weekend was a weekend of cookouts, and I brought these to my friend's house yesterday (notice the peanut butter frosting...I told you I was obsessed!!):

I may have also had one (or five) of the cookies and one (or three) of the brownies.

And here's the recipe:

Cupcakes (from hersheys.com)

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350°F.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.  
3. CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

Peanut Butter Frosting (from Brown Eyed Baker)

1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream (I used skim milk and it turned out fine)

Place the confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do :)

So tomorrow is the big day...the MRI is at 8:00am.  I'm looking forward to the results and finding out what is wrong with my knee and how it can be fixed.  My husband is now telling people that I'm lacking my normal amount of endorphins...hopefully the amount of chocolate I ate the past couple of days will change that...hehe. 

Have a great week everyone!



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How many cookouts have you ever gone to in one weekend? 
I think two is the most I've ever been to in one weekend. One of our friends went to three on Saturday...making us all feel less popular.

Did your parents ever give you treats after going to the doctors?
My Mom would sometimes take us out for ice cream afterwards....so I think fro yo is in my future after this MRI :)

I have crabs...

It's Friday...Friday...talked to the doctor on Friday...

...Sorry about that...back to the real post...

Today was actually an crazy busy driving day. 

Unfortunately I need to get better at taking pictures while doing my day to day tasks...I'll work on it. 

This morning I went to the Orthopedic Dr. about my knee.  He agrees with my PT that my meniscus may be torn (ick) but wants to confirm it with an MRI.  Guess what I'm doing on Monday?!  

After the doctor I drove to my Mom's and we went to Panera for lunch.  I LOVE Panera...like a lot.   Esp. when my Mom buys lunch at Panera (I kid....sort of).  I got the You Pick Two with the Vege soup and Classic Salad with a whole wheat bagette: 

Sorry...I was hungry...

After lunch I went with Mom to her doctor's appointment...where we waited for almost two hours!!  But we got the answers we needed and headed to one of her co-worker's house for a crabfeast/pig roast where I ate soooo much food (obviously my lunch was extremely healthy and lacking protein, so I made up for it). 

Maryland is known for it's crabs, and I had only had a few this summer...so this was wonderful.  They also roasted a whole pig, which means I ate enough pulled pork for a family of four. 

Now I plan to relax, watch Numb3rs and get to bed at a decent hour.  Cookout #2 is tomorrow...and I'll be posting a cupcake recipe...involving chocolate...and peanut butter (stay tuned!).

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Any fun weekend plans/workouts? 

Does anyone else beside me over eat at cookouts?! There's always so much good food, esp. the desserts!

What would you do...

As I was driving home from PT today (which ended up not going so well...my knee still hurts and I can't pool run until I see the Ortho Dr. on Friday to see what he says) I was thinking about what I would do if I couldn't run at all (aka...my injury is that severe) and here's what I came up with (please note that I can be a spaz and this is my attempt at finding good in potentially bad situations that may not even really exist..that doesn't make sense now that I'm reading it ...but go with it!):


- Biking (including spinning): I really enjoyed the spinning classes at my work's fitness center, so I could potentially use that as a replacement.


- Swimming:  Since I was a lifeguard for five summers in high school and college you would think that swimming would be my absolute favorite thing.  Well...it was good for getting kids and adults out of the pool, but I never really enjoyed swimming to stay in shape.  I think if there was some way I could have music and access to a pool it would be more appealing. 


- Elliptical: At least you can read or watch TV while you're doing it


- Classes (including Body Pump, Yoga, Zumba, etc)


- Walking: hahahahahahahahahaha.....oh right...I guess this is still an option.  ::Sigh::


And then there's those other hobbies that I could fill my time with (besides blogging of course!):


- Cooking: It's a given...I LOVE food...and love to eat :)


- Baking (it's different from cooking, trust me):  I would have to give a lot of my baked goods away since I wouldn't be exercising as much ...but I absolutely LOVE to bake (you'll be seeing some recipes this weekend).


- Reading


- Listening to music/going to concerts with the hubby


- Traveling (even if I don't run the race in Vegas...we're still going since the plane tickets and hotel room have been purchased). 
 

See...that makes me feel a little better to see that my life isn't completely over if running was not in the picture. 

Well...after PT, Andrew had made us dinner:

Can you guess which one is mine?

And we had my cake for dessert.  I missed the chocolate, but it was still pretty good.  It was husband approved too:




This may or may not be my second piece...


Well...off to chillax before a crazy 10 hour day at work tomorrow.  No PT...but I believe there is baking in my future. 

Please note I made a mistake on yesterday's post...the TV show we watched is called 'Deadliest Warrior', not 'Ultimate Warrior'.  It was Samurai vs. Viking.  Andrew thought for sure the Viking had it...but he was WRONG...I picked Samurai and won that one (we're not a competitive couple at all!). 


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What would you do if you couldn't run (or do something else that you loved)? 

Are you and your significant other competitive? 

  

Oh My Sacroiliac!

Hi fellow blog readers.  I hope everyone had a great day...I know I did.  Here's why:

1.  There was training at work...which, for some, can be boring.  But for me, it's a change of scenery from my day to day routine. 

2.  After running in the pool with some pain I asked the PT to check if my SI joint (Sacroiliac joint...and yes...I had to look that one up too).  Turns out...it was out...and is probably why my knee was hurting so much today.  I'm hoping the knee pains slowly goes away tomorrow...but I know that my hip and lower back will be hurting because of the realignment in my hip.  The PT said that if it stays in place for two weeks it shouldn't pop back out.  I should start a countdown :)  I still plan to ask for a MRI to rule out any major injuries...but I definitely feel slightly better about my injury.   

3.  I decorated this cake tonight (please note that the random sprinkles are from the movement of the car/bringing the cake inside...I'm extremely Type A and actually have the urge to go and fix it and take another picture..but alas I must resist):

Now it's off to hang out with the hubby (probably watching Ultimate Warrior...he likes the show...I compromise because I'm the best.wife.ever).  Have a great evening everyone!



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What are some of your hobbies (besides running of course...duh!)?

Any fun plans for this week?  Fun workouts?

M.....R......I

So...today started out as a really exciting 'I get to do a million ab exercises and run for 20 minutes in the pool' type of day.  All of those things turned out great...except for the minor twinges of pain in my knee every so often. 

Then, as I'm icing (knee) and heating (back) my PT tells me that he may want me to get an MRI if my knee still is feeling the same (some twinges of pain) at the end of the week. 

Now let me explain a little bit about myself.  Whenever I'm in a situation, I always assume that the worst is going to happen.  Case in point, when the PT told me that there is a slim chance I tore my Meniscus (yes...I had to look up how to spell it) I'm now assuming it's torn and I won't be able run for a long long long long (times infinity) time. 

So the MRI thing is making me nervous. 

I know in reality he's recommending this because he knows I'm on a 'getting better' schedule and wants to rule out different injuries (I told him I needed to be able to run five miles comfortably by the first week of October so I could start training for the Las Vegas 1/2 Marathon....the Full Marathon was a nice dream...but it's not happening)...But...it still scares me to no end. 

Alrighty....I'm done worrying about something I can't control.  Tomorrow will be a better day...one that is full of training (work), cupcakes (this cupcake truck is coming to my work tomorrow!), more pool running (hopefully my knee isn't as sore tomorrow as it was today) and cake decorating. Have a great day everyone! 

Here is a preview of the possible cupcake flavor I may get tomorrow....YUM :)

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Are you a half-full or half-empty kind of person when it comes to injuries?  What do you do to keep your mind off of it while your healing? 


 

"...and I drove out to the county fair..."

Howdy Y'all!  Yesterday was extremely country because Andrew and I went with Megan and Luke to the Howard County Fair.  Here are some pictures to show off the country-ness that still takes place in good old Maryland, HO CO style (NOTE: HO CO = Howard County). 


The first photo op...we had to take advantage of it!



Ferris Wheel!


While we were on the Ferris wheel the heavens decided to open up and it started to pour.  We were pretty wet by the time we found the 4-H building.  We waited there for the rain to die down...

After the heavens opened up...we were soaked!

He loves getting his picture taken :)

 When the rain stopped, we got the usual fair food...ice cream, french fries and funnel cake. After we ate we all walked to see some of the animals.

Pigs!! They looked like they were cuddling.

This goat was for sale...I don't know what I would use a goat for so Andrew wouldn't let me keep him.



Gotta love cows!


And the guys wanted to go on one more ride before we left...despite being full of funnel cake (Men...):

I wanted to post this yesterday, but for whatever reason my pictures weren't loading.  So I'll just have to post twice today (the torture!..haha...just kidding!).   Have a great Sunday everyone :)

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What's your favorite food at fairs? Favorite ride?

Any good Saturday/Sunday workouts? (Please let me live vicariously through you while I can only pool run and do ab work!)

Just keeping swimming....I mean running

I RAN THE LAST TWO DAYS IN A ROW.
It was in a pool...but it was still running!

I also did about 1000 crunches...and my whole body aches.  But you know what else I feel....ENDORPHINS!!!! 

And now I have this cool colored tape that I get to wear on my knee for the next couple of days (it even matches my shorts!...although I'll only be wearing those tonight.):

Well...off to catch up on my TV shows and relax for the rest of the night.  We're going to the Howard County Fair tomorrow (the hubby is craving funnel cake and I'm also craving fried food and semi-safe fair rides), so it will be a fun-filled Saturday (pictures to follow).   

Have a great Friday Everyone!

Anniversary Celebration Continues...and feeling the need to run....

So this post's title may be slightly confusing.  Yes...the 1st Wedding Anniversary celebration continued with this cake we got today (Yellow cake with Reese's PB Cup Filling and Fudge Frosting).  Instead of freezing the top layer of our wedding cake, the bakery made us a small one for our one year.  Can you say YYYUUUMMMMMM?!?!:

But I don't intend to run away...I just want to run, period!  I haven't worked out at all in three weeks, and I feel like my knee is slowly getting better.  I guess rest really does help sometimes.  But I get some pain still and know that doing anything at this point will only set me back further. 

The Physical Therapist that I like the most is gone this week, and I don't want to start anything without asking her first (yes, I'm going to another one this week, but I like my normal PT much better...she's a runner...she understands how my brain works). 

For now...I will eat cake and enjoy seeing my husband stress-free before school starts again for him (he's a high school biology teacher). 

Have a happy Monday everyone!

Year One

Happy Sunday :)  One year ago today I married my best friend and couldn't be happier! 

To celebrate, we had a fun-filled weekend in PA (Friday-Saturday), which included a trip to the Hotel Hershey for dinner on Friday, a super huge buffet and 'The Amazing Maize Maze' on Saturday.  Here are some pictures from the maze (I was too busy trying to out eat my brother-in-law at the buffet to take pictures).: 

The theme of the maze this year was 'Once Upon a Time'...which is kind of cool since we were celebrating our anniversary.  My wedding dress looked exactly like this...sort of...ok not really.   

He was bad so he went to the Dungeon. 

 This was the last piece of the map we found.  It only took us an hour and 45 minutes to do everything...which is pretty good :)

The finishing photo :)  

We went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch today for our actual anniversary.  Here's the cheesecake I got (it was soooo chocolaty and sooooo good...definitely endorphin-filled):



Picture from thecheesecakefactory.com


And after that huge lunch and some grocery shopping, it's time to chillax before the week starts again.  This week I start a cake decorating class...so I plan to post some of my final products from there in the upcoming weeks. 



How are you spending your Sunday?  Do you usually fun errands or is it an actual 'day of rest'?

Running through pain

Sorry for the lack of posts since this blog as started...

Let's recap:

Since my last post, I have managed to injure my right knee, making me unable to run for the unforeseeable future.  According to the PT, I can only do the recumbent bike...which in my opinion is a waste of time.  Because of this thinking, I haven't been working out and my knee has actually begun to heal.  Go figure...if I actually show some patience, things start to go my way. 

Because of this injury, my PT also said to drop out of the Annapolis 10 miler that I was planning to run at the end of August.  This was a big let down because I HATE to drop out of races.  I'm trying to look at the positive because not running the 10 miler means I'll be able to start training for this race in a couple weeks (fingers crossed!): 

 

This is the race I really want to run, so I have to keep in mind when I want to run while injured.  I hope to start biking (the real kind...not recumbent kind) soon so I don't lose the inshapeness (yes...it's a word..I think), but that depends on if I can keep the pain-free feeling for more than one day (I have a tendency to assume that no pain means that it's healed then try to run 5 miles...oops...no wonder it wasn't healing).  

But onto happier things....FOOD.  Esp. Chocolate..which is the only endorphin I can enjoy still the exercising can start again.  We had these fun peeps over for dinner last night and I made this uber YUM dessert . :



Nice face Luke!

 I'm sorry I haven't kept up with the blog, but I promise to be better (plus I'll have tons of time on my hands now that I can't run!). 




How do you handle being injured?  Can you force yourself to take time off or do you end up attempting to run through the pain?