Aloha + Apologies

It happened again. I stopped blogging for awhile. And by "awhile," I mean "over two months."

I'm so sorry! A LOT has been happening. Hear me out, then we can discuss my penance.

Since we last talked, Scott came home from his summer away at school and we spent a month hanging out. Then we packed him up and shipped him out to Hawaii.

Gunner and I then packed out of the apartment, said goodbye to our friends, and stayed with my parents for two weeks. Then WE flew to Hawaii.

The flight was long but uneventful. And Gunner came through it no worse for wear. 

Side note: I will say that seeing my tanned-thin husband walking toward me at the baggage claim definitely made me a little weak at the knees. While I was in Virginia stress-eating, he was swimming and surfing. Yowza. It was all I could do not to cry as I waddled over to him and gave him a hug.

As far as housing goes, we got L.U.C.K.Y. I spent months researching rentals and houses around Oahu. Looking at neighborhoods and rent. I knew we were going to be paying a lot for a little. I'd also seen that housing on Schofield was hit or miss. If you were offered new housing, it was awesome. If it was old housing, it wasn't. Aside from that, the waiting list for housing usually takes months.

I asked Scott to swing by the housing office on the off-chance that there was something available and there was! We're in a three bedroom duplex with a fenced yard in new housing. It's amazing.

Now if we could just get our fuuuurniture. That would be greeeeat. (Said in the Office Space boss voice.)

This makes almost four weeks of sleeping on an air mattress and sitting on a plastic-covered couch. Needless to say, we're so ready for that shipment! The other morning I saw a truck pull up behind our house with crates and I got so excited thinking our shipment had come. Nope, it was the neighbors packing out.

Anywho, I was thinking this blog could take on more of a day-to-day theme, instead of a fitness theme. I think the name, Girl Meets Mile, still fits. I've definitely met my share of miles traveling out here and I know that every day I meet more and more. Miles of road, miles of beach, miles of people, miles of life, etc. (Too corny?)

Oops + Food Photos

I completely dropped off the blog for a month again. I know it impacts everyone's lives, and that it's not just about me. And I apologize.

Ha! Kidding, I know this is relatively unimportant in the general scheme of most people's lives. :)

So...updates. Scott is home, so the eating has commenced. I've managed to still go to at least a few of my spin/gym classes, but it's a lot harder to keep on track when you come home to pumpkin beer and dinner every night. ;)

Side note: spin has been a lot harder to get into lately. The classes book up crazy early, and we all know I won't get out of bed unless my name is on a list somewhere.

I called yesterday at like 3 p.m. to sign up for this morning's class. When I got to the gym, I saw that I had just barely made the cut for class! My name was like..three from the bottom. Sheesh.

Regardless, it was an awesome class. Alyssa was all pumped up from her weekend of excess (she told us she did shots last night...I have NO idea how she was functioning) and made us all work harder. I think I burnt close to 600 calories in the 45 minute class.

Also, Mandy and I wore the same workout top, so that was awesome as well.

I'm actually going to try to go to Nancy's class on Wednesday...I hope I can last the whole time without back-talking.


And now, here's a few photos of the food we've been shoving down our gullets lately:

Pesto, salami and arugula pizza.

Our new popper recipe.

Pumpkin beer and puppy snuggles.

We're big cheese plate people.

First pepperoni bread of the season!

Nothing Weekend + My Fitness Pal

Ah, the weekend. It's so funny how life changes. When you're young and you have an uneventful weekend, you're all "ugh, we didn't do ANYTHING this weekend."

When you're almost 30 and you have an uneventful weekend it's "I didn't do ANYTHING!"

Here's a better picture of the bed!

That's sort of how my weekend went! It's the first weekend since Scott's been gone that I haven't booked myself solid. I went to two spin classes, took Gunner to the dog park, picked up a STEAL at the thrift store, went grocery shopping, made our parent wedding albums, vacuumed out the car and had lunches and dinners with some long lost lady friends! I had a bit of a depression slump Sunday where I watched Disney movies and cried on the phone to the hubs (he took it like a champ), but otherwise it was so nice to be able to watch Law & Order and Sex and the City marathons and sit around in my PJs.

I did make one big change this weekend. Usually, I try to track my activity and food via Weight Watchers. I calculate points for food and exercise and generally try not to live like a jackass. Sometimes I track, sometimes I don't. I'm generally unenthusiastic about it. Apparently you have to actively participate in tracking to lose any weight. I know...who knew?

Here's the whole headboard!

On Friday my friend Aimee came over for dinner. (Stick with me. I know it's a random segue, but I do have a point.) And when I saw her my jaw dropped. She's melting away before my eyes! Every time I see her she's lost more weight. I finally asked her what she had been doing this weekend and she told me she just tracks her calories.

She said it so nonchalantly like she was commenting on the weather. Like, "Oh, it's raining."

So of COURSE I pelted her with questions. What app? How do you do it? Is it hard? How much does it cost?

Aimee told me she uses My Fitness Pal (MFP), a free app. She tracks what she eats, and her activity, and it calculates her daily allowance, etc.

I decided to give it a try. Saturday I downloaded MFP and started tracking calories. I added in what I ate, and calculated the calories I burned at spin (which was a LOT).

Thrift store find. I scored it for $12, marked down from
$36. This crate is usually upwards of $200. We need
it for Gunner's flight to Hawaii. I'm already giving him
treats when he goes in it to get him acclimated.

And it was so fun! For some reason, tracking calories just makes more sense to my brain than tracking points does. Usually I have to check labels for carbs, fiber, protein, etc. But calories is so much more simple. One number. Entered in. Boom.

Also, I've always been suspicious of how much WW penalizes you for certain things. Like alcohol. Or cereal. A 60 calorie beer is roughly the same amount as a regular beer. It's cray. And a non-fat bowl of cereal is as much as some higher-fat breakfasts. 

I canceled my WW account and am now using MFP. I put myself on a faster track, so I'm allotted 1,200 calories a day - and then whatever I burn when working out gets added to that number. It definitely inspires me to get my rear to the gym so I can earn some cals. :)

Also, as a side note, it's official: I'm obsessed with spin. I went to class Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday was a 30 minute ride, Saturday was 60 (which is insanity) and Sunday was 45. I tried to go this morning, but I was too late with the call-in and the class was already full. Boo!

Here's hoping I can get into kickboxing this evening!

Spin + Tacos + Bed

Happy Friday!

My spin instructor, Alyssa, read my blog posts and then friended me on Facebook to tell me how much she liked them! It's not a big deal (it's a big deal) and I'm not getting too excited (I'm so excited). It's not like I'm famous or anything (yes I am) and I'll try to stay humble (I'm awesome).

Black Bean Tacos. I used this recipe. I've made them
twice in two weeks. They're that good. Yum.

Today was the first day back in the saddle in a week. As most of you know, Gunner and I headed down to South Carolina to visit daddy over the weekend, and I came back Monday feeling sick. I took Tuesday off to recover and was sluggish on Wednesday. Yesterday I was...just being lazy. It happens. The key is to forgive yourself. ;)

Side note: last night I made these black bean tacos you see pictured to the right. It's black beans, spices and onion. Then you essentially make your own taco shells in a cast iron skillet. It's amazing.

SO! Spin this morning was hard, as to be expected. Mandy and I kept looking at each other like, "what is happening?!"

We did a lot of hovers today. A hover is when you push back on your bike and hover your rear directly over the seat without touching while lowering your upper body so you're almost face-planting on the handlebars. You keep peddling at a higher tension. It's like a squat on the bike. They're my favorite!

Here's a fuzzy photo of the headboard on the bed.
It's a tufted headboard in grey linen with nail
head accents on the wings. Lovely.

My hamstrings have been really sore all week from putting together our new bed on Monday night. When I got home from SC, I showered and went directly to the travel office on base to book our flights for Hawaii. What ended up happening was I sat in the chair for three hours before they told me the October travel dates weren't up yet.

I then went home and walked directly into our bedroom, dropped my purse by the bed, kicked off my shoes, climbed in and then slept for three hours. I should have known I was getting a bug.

After my nap I woke up refreshed! And remembered our bed had been delivered on Friday. I went to start putting it together and was shocked by how heavy everything was. I spent the next two hours lifting with my legs.

And for any wives out there who have put together heavy furniture while their husbands are away: you're awesome.

Today, I'll leave you with my favorite Alyssa quote from this morning:

"Smile! It burns more calories! Or...wait, are you gritting your teeth?"

Alien Frittata Scramble

I don't usually post food recipes, it's mostly the Instagram photos of what I'm eating. You can feel free to follow my feed, it's just photos of food and the dog. No really, just food and the dog. If you want photos of babies or interesting photo angles...look elsewhere. Food and dogs. Got it? Let's move on.

What were we talking about? Oh! I don't usually post recipes. But I'm going to do one today!

So a little background on this: I'm heading out for the weekend and there are leftovers in the fridge.

Last night, as part of dinner, I used fresh corn, tomatoes, red onion, lemon juice, and cumin to make a tex-mex salad. This morning, I wanted to use it up so I did what you do when you have veggies you need to use.

I made a fritatta.

Or, well, I tried to make one. It ended up being a scramble. A damn good one.

Alien Frittata Scramble

2 eggs
1/4 cup skim milk
1 cup leftover veggies
1 oz. reduced fat cheddar (shredded or sliced really thin)
Pam (the spray, not your co-worker)

Spray a small  pan with non-stick spray. Add veggies, and saute until warm, about 5 minutes. While veggies are cooking, crack two eggs in a bowl. Add milk. Whisk.

After the veggies are cooked, add the egg mixture.

If you can keep it as a frittata, then let the egg cook and don't stir. If you're like me and don't like brown eggs, stir it.

Once the eggs have cooked, add cheese and let it melt.

And boom! Egg scramble that looks like an alien landscape.

New Friends + The 80s

My husband will tell you that I love making new friends. I like meeting new people. If I sell you something on Craig's List and we get along, I'll text you and say, "Let's hang out." If I meet you at a friend's bachelorette party, if you're sitting in front of me at a Nat's game, if your husband is friends with my husband...you get the idea.

Which is why it's no surprise I'm making friends at my spin classes! This morning it was Mandy. We bonded over how much of a bummer it is when someone takes your "usual" bike. Spin class is a lot like the family dinner table. Everyone has their unofficial assigned seat. You don't switch, you just don't. But then one night your parents have dinner guests...and you lose your seat. Today it was this older guy who isn't usually in class. Oh well, pay it forward mister.

Anywho, Mandy and I chatted over our mutual dislike for Nancy and our love for our usual bikes. And then, at the end of class, she brought me a wipe for my bike. It was sweet. I said "have a good day" in the parking lot after class. She asked my name. I asked hers. And we're gonna live happily ever after!

Super stoked about my new spin buddy!

Today was class with Alyssa, my favorite, and it was an 80s dance party. Since I'm working from home today, I was able to stay for the full class! Those last few songs were a beast. It's almost the weekend, and boy did she made us work for it.

And now, an early release workday and then Gunner and I are off to see the Wizard! Well, we're off to see Scott, but you get the idea. :)

The Nancy

When I was younger, my three brothers and I spent our summers entertaining ourselves. Summer mornings my mom would say, "inside or out?" and we would pick if we wanted to play inside or outside. (Running in and out of the house wasn't allowed!). Most of the time, we played outside, making tree forts or riding our bikes. But sometimes we played inside.

One of the inside-games was called "the floor is lava." It's what you would think: you can't touch the floor because it's a bubbling pool of molten volcano lava. We would all climb on a couch or other piece of furniture and pretend that if we touched the floor we would burn to death. It was a blast.

Little did I know this childhood game would prepare me for spin class with Nancy in my adult life. There's no couch, there's a stationary bike. And there's no carpet, there's the handle bars of the bike.

This morning's smoothie! Plain, nonfat
greek yogurt, blueberries, a banana,
some milk, vanilla, and Truvia. It broke
the blender but it was delicious!

And you're not allowed to touch them. The handles must be lava. Nancy doesn't like when you touch them, unless it's a finger for balance. I get that you're not supposed to lean on them so you can work your core, but a fingertip doesn't provide much balance.

I'm not sure if I've ever introduced you all to Nancy. We've talked about Alyssa and how I adore her. Her classes are always packed (I've actually wasn't able to get into one b/c it was at capacity), her music is loud and her "woo"s are cheery.

If Alyssa is the Disney princess, Nancy is the villain. Think Ursula, Maleficent, or the queen with the mirror.

She's small in stature, but packed with muscle. And she wields class like a drill sergeant. She will mock your form, harp on you for resting, and is generally a bugger.

I called early to reserve a seat in Nancy's class and was put on the list. When I stopped by the front desk to get my pass, which usually says a number around 12, I was handed pass #1.

"Am I the only one?"

"No, there are three people signed up. But there will probably be walk-ins."

"No there won't. It's Nancy."

Don't get me wrong, I've taken a spin class with Nancy before. I knew what I was getting into. I just didn't know I'd be one of three people getting into it.


I tried my best to do exactly what Nancy was asking. I didn't touch the handlebars, except for a finger. I kept my back straight, I tried to do the impossible "triple time" while standing. (I'm convinced "triple time" is the Sasquatch of spin. People know a person who knows a person who's done it.)

Overall it was a good class. I left sweating with no water left in my bottle. But I think maybe I'll just stick with Monday and Friday spin with Alyssa. I went to spin on Monday, I just forgot to blog about it. My bad!