By Nicole

Week Three: Believe 2/17: Spoil Yourself! - Do something just for you  today! Take a walk, go to yoga, spoil yourself! I loved that Monday was President's Day, and we didn't have to work.  I spoiled myself by sleeping in.  My hubby had to work (poor him), and the kids wanted to stay with Grandma.  I hardly knew what to do with myself the night before... but boy did I enjoy those extra hours of sleep! Aside from taking solo shopping days or getting long run hours all to myself, sleep is my favorite activity. 2/18: 5 Mindful Minutes - Do good to your body,  meditate for 5 minutes and find your zen. Without a doubt, I know I need more mindful minutes.  And I know that my mindful minutes should be spent reading my Bible or praying.  Yet, so many times I spend doing busy work around the house or zoning out on the computer or watching some mindless episode on Netflix.  Not good uses of my time.  This was a good reminder day for me.  I spent time reading in Psalms and th

Today is a day I was able to sleep in until 9:30!  That, folks, is a miracle. And it only happened because the kids are with grandma and Jason had to leave for work at the horrific hour of 5 a.m. This morning, I cleaned my bathroom counter (a rare occurrence).  I made delicious stove top coffee. I hung out with my ducks and chickens and goats for a bit.  I washed the mud and gunk off our running shoes from yesterday's trail run .  I started a few loaves of bread, made quinoa for quinoa cakes , did some laundry, put away some stuff, and found some new Facebook pages to like.  The SITS Girls have a great group, and I am happy to be a part of their network. Now I'm getting ready to steal my kids back because I miss them. Today I want to bake and go on an adventure and clean out the duck pen.  All exciting things. We'll put up a picture later.

Week Two: Nourish  2/10: Go Meatless - Skip meat today! Try vegetarian/vegan meals. I was excited for Meatless Monday, because I always talk about it, and I rarely follow through.   However... this particular Monday, I had pre-made an amazing smelling red coconut curry with lamb Sunday night for a quick Monday dinner.  This was my second lamb experiment, so I wanted to see if I liked it better in curry than I did as chops.  I can leave a lamb chop.   But. I powered through.  I picked out the meat, ate the rest of the sauce and decided to have the full meal for leftovers during the week in my lunch.  The rest of the curry sauce was amazing though, and we mixed rice and couscous and sprinkled fresh cilantro on top.  Delish. The beginning of my Meatless Monday was equally delicious.   Breakfast - Homemade greek yogurt topped with honey and granola for breakfast.  I was in a bit of a rush, so I had to eat it out of the container driving down the highway.   Lunch - Kalamata

Two weeks ago I signed up for the CoreCommit Challenge with Erica from Sweet Life .  I am having a blast! Never, in my entire existence, have I been this consistent with core workouts.  And the crazy thing is, I am noticing great results!   Last Sunday, I went for a "slow" five-mile run.  I've been awful with my mileage lately, I am not even close to successfully completing with Winter 100 Challenge... which I also signed up for!  Anyway, my calves were a bit tight, and I walked a little bit, but for the most part I felt great.  In fact, I got back to the house and felt like I could have ran another mile or two... I was so excited.  Then.... wait for it....  I checked my time... 50:something!  My "slow run" was 10 minute miles!  I about did a jig in the cul-de-sac.  My fastest 5k ever was 10 minute miles.  I can't chalk it up to mileage, so I am definitely chalking it up to these core workouts.  That and self defense class kicking my butt twice a week...

Who wants chocolate?  Or, a more important question... Who wants to run for chocolate? I know I do.  March is coming up fast, and I'm registered... my hubby is registered... so is my 10-year-old!  The Hot Chocolate race is one of my all-time favorites... if I haven't said that enough, click  here and here . If I have said that enough and you know about the run, or you've read the website info or race reviews on Gametiime  and you REALLY want to run for chocolate, then you should!   And you don't even have to be a runner.  If you can walk, jog, or crawl a 15 minute mile, you're golden. Although I don't think they encourage crawling... in fact, I wouldn't recommend it either. Not only am I excited because the race is almost here... I'm a little giddy because I can help make someone's dream of running a Hot Chocolate race come true!  RAM Racing has generously donated a race entry for me to give away!  I've never had a giveaway b