Arrived

A little after 8 p.m. this evening, Ryan and I arrived in beautiful Key Largo to spend the holiday weekend with my family.

Eats on the journey to the Keys included a cheese quesadilla with tabouleh from home, a Publix turkey sub with all the veggies and an apple.

Turkey Sub

Apple

I also split another half of a sub with Ryan a little later on.

After we arrived and explored the property where we’re staying, we headed up to our room to celebrate my sister’s birthday.

Birthday Cake

Birthday Girl

We enjoyed homemade red velvet cake with cream cheese icing while my sister opened all of her presents.

Slice o' Cake

I probably had four times the amount of cake pictured above. The cake was sitting right in front of me during the present opening, and I’m not one to resist fluffy cake and creamy icing located within arms reach.

Now it’s time for bed! We’re waking up at dawn tomorrow morning to get a jump start on a day full of scuba diving. Woohoo for vacation! 😀

Something

Warning: This post is totally random!

I’m about to head to the Keys for a vacation full of scuba diving with Ryan and my family and feel jittery with anticipation. I blame my pending vacation for my scatterbrained thoughts, which I figured I would share with you!

Something That Made Me Laugh Hysterically

Click here and simply read the email correspondence. I dare  you not to laugh.

Click here to read another one. 🙂

Something That Makes Me Smile Every Day

Sadie Girl

My Favorite Duo

Something I’m Loving on My iPod

• “Bulletproof” – La Roux
• “I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love With You” – Hootie & the Blowfish

Something That Might Interest You

• Tips for Surviving a Party Weekend in a Healthy Way from Olympic Beach Volleyball Player Kerri Walsh (FitSugar.com)
• 10 Minutes to Great Legs (Health.com)
• 4th of July Healthy Menu Ideas (CookingLight.com)

Something I’m Looking Forward to Enjoying on the Road this Afternoon

Frappuccino!!!

Something I Am Looking Forward to Doing This Weekend

Scuba Diving (Me & Ryan, February 2007)

Now it’s your turn to tell me something…

• What is something you’re enjoying on your iPod?
• What is something that makes you smile every day?
• What is something that made you laugh hysterically?

Feel free to answer any or all of the above questions… or tell me something totally random!

I Won’t Grow Up

This morning started off on the right foot with a five-mile run.

5 Mile Stats

I leashed Sadie up for our usual loop around the lake near our apartment and really enjoyed this run. I had a lot of things to think about which kept my mind busy and prevented me from thinking too much about the actual run itself. A full mind = A fast run!

Note: Save all your thinking for long runs. 😉

Breakfast

Though I really enjoyed our run, my breakfast was definitely the highlight of the morning thanks to the inclusion of two new ingredients in my breakfast smoothie.

Coo-Coo for Coconut

Since Ryan and I are heading south to the Keys around lunchtime today, I wanted to start my vacation a little early with a tropical smoothie. Coconut screams tropical, so I figured adding a little bit of coconut flava would immediately transplant me to a beach. 😉

My smoothie included:

• 1 frozen banana
• 1/2 c. frozen strawberries
• 1 scoop strawberry protein powder (vanilla would also work)
• 1/2 c. light coconut milk
• 1/2 c. cold water
• 1 1/2 tsp. coconut extract
• 4 ice cubes
• 1 tsp. Bob’s Red Mill xanthan gum

Blend baby, blend!

Island Pour

Spoonful of the Tropics

I filled my mega-huge “J” cup with the cold and creamy smoothie and slurped away.

J = Julie's Cup

I enjoyed this smoothie en route to the FedEx store because I had a package awaiting pickup.

In Transit Breakfast

Can you tell I hit several red lights and got bored on my way there??? 😉

Package Pickup

When I picked up my little package, I opened it immediately (as I do with all gifts…unless the sender is smart enough to write “don’t open until Christmas” or something to make me feel guilty for opening it early).

Check out the goods!

Chewy Vitamins

The kind people at Northwest Natural Products sent me two jars of gummy vitamins to sample after they read about how much I enjoyed their L’il Critters Gummy Bear vitamins. Apparently I need to grow up a bit and enjoy some “adult” vitamins. 🙂

Before taking gummy vitamins (I take a multi-vitamin and a calcium supplement every day), I would always forget to swallow a pill. Now that I’ve switched to gummy vitamins or chocolatey calcium supplements, I look forward to consuming something tasty and always remember.

Somethin’ to think about if you always forget to take  your vitamins! 😀

Since I had already taken my L’il Critters multi-vitamin before picking up this package, I decided to sample the VitaFusion calcium gummy.

Calcium Gummy

Two of these chews contain as much calcium as two 6-ounce glasses of milk, and as much vitamin D as 3 ounces of salmon. I’m a big proponent of added vitamin D to my calcium supplements because optimal levels of the  vitamin can aid in the prevention of breast and ovarian cancer. Gotta keep those ta-tas safe!

This gummy vitamin appealed to my candy-loving sweet tooth and tasted delicious. I think I could have eaten half the jar in one sitting, but since it’s a vitamin, I exercised some self control and only enjoyed two.

Question of the Morning

Do you take any vitamins or supplements every day?