Drumstick Dash Success!

So thankful to have legs and lungs to run!

2011 Oak Apple Run

It was another great time at the Oak Apple Run 10K!

My trainer, Jenna, joined me this year along with her friend Faith.

Carrie was so sweet to get up at the crack of dawn to cheer us on and take some pictures.

Let's get this race started!

 

 Mile 2 - Still Smiling

 Mile 6.2 - Crossing the Finish Line

 Jenna, Tracy, Caren

Carrie, Tracy, Jenna

Afterward we walked to the farmer's market and picked up some local delights!  It was a great start to the day.

10K = 1:08:15 PB (11 minutes miles)

Random thought from my day...

This morning, on my way to work, I was listening to K-love and heard a great message about God and food. As many of you know, I am a BIG fan of food-especially food that is sweet. It tends to get me in trouble and I have been struggling with it more as I try to eat healthier foods and lose some of the left over pregnancy weight.
The guest host today on the Lisa and Eric show was Lysa TerKeurst who has written a book about God and food called Made to Crave. As I was listening to her speak about reading what the Bible has to say about food, she quoted a verse from 1 Corinthians that she has on the outside of her pantry and refrigerator that helps her keep her cravings in check.
1 Corinthians 6:12 " Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be mastered by anything."
I thought it was interesting that this verse could really change the way somebody thinks about food. I could eat anything I have in the house, but it wouldn't necessarily be beneficial to help me complete my day and have the energy to be a great wife or mom which is what God calls me to be.
Food for thought :) Maybe next time I'll choose an apple instead of that cookie...

Quintessential Quinoa

Try something new ~ Quinoa (Keen 'wah)
A seed that acts like a grain.
A complete protein.
High in Magnesium, Manganese, and Copper.
Plenty of fiber.
Won't make you hungry after you eat it.
Gluten Free (Yeah!)
Delicious and easy to make.
Read about the benefits here!

For my new recipe I prepared 1 cup of dried Quinoa (makes almost 2 cups prepared), 1 cup of beets, 8 oz of firm feta, 1/2 cup of yellow pepper, 1 cup of chopped broccoli (stems included), 1/4 cup of chopped kalamata olives, 2 T of olive oil, and salt & pepper.  Try it and let me know what you think!

This is what the Quinoa looks like when prepared: 
translucent in the center with a white ring around it.

Oh - by the way - I used Trader Joe's Organic Quinoa.  Here are some other resources for this marvelous "grain"!

Harvest Feast

Double Click to Enlarge

This past Monday my friend, Amanda, and I made a harvest feast.  It started out as just making soup but it turned into a whole lot more.  We had a grand time.  The Gazpacho Soup was a take on Alli's Spicy Gazpacho Soup recipe.  The red portion is spicy hot and made of tomatoes, onions, Mrs. T's Spicy Bloody Mary Mix, cayenne pepper, and red hot sauce.  The green portion was simply freshly minced garlic, cucumbers, onions, and zucchini.  We placed a dollop of fresh plain greek yogurt on the top.  We then thought that we should have something to sop up the soup with and so we oiled and salted some hearty bread we bought off of the clearance rack at Holiday Market.  We placed the bread on the grill and when it became crispy we rubbed it down with garlic.  This is my version of Fett'unta.  Protein was in order so we grilled some natural Amish bone-in chicken thighs with a mix of herbs and spices.  Lastly, the eggplant was ready so we cut it in 3/4 inch slices on the bias and grilled them up too!  Lastly, to top off the meal we had Amanda's homemade pickles.  It was a perfect combination of tastes!  Needless-to-say we no one needed dinner that night. 

What's On My Plate?

A few folks have been asking me what I have been eating.  Here are a few of my favorites.  I recently recalculated my "Real Age" test and I've seen some improvement. 
Here's where I was at in January 2008.  My current results are:
Calendar age:  36.7
Difference: +0.7
Real Age:  37.4

Black Beans
Avocados
Organic Chicken Thighs - Bone In
Penzy's Seasoning
Mango
Grapefruit
Wasa Crackers
Hummus
Almonds
Almond Milk or Coconut Milk
Dark Chocolate (every day)
Pretzel Loaf
Cliff Bars
Balance Bars
Larabars (Vegan, Gluten Free, Soy Free, Lactose Free AND FLAVORFUL)
Zucchini
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Red Wine Vinegar

These are the foods that make up most of my diet but I do try to incorporate a variety of other foods like fish, vegetables, and an occasional piece of cake!  Oh and my favorite beverages are decaf green tea, rooibos tea from South Africa, Melaluca tea, and any kind of flavored carbonated water such as san pelligrino, la croix, or trader joe's brand.

Good Eats

Grilled Chicken, Avocado, Cucumber, and Lettuce from the garden(ftg).

Spicy Tacos with tomatoes, jalapenos, onion, lettuce(ftg), cilantro(ftg), homemade guacamole, cucumber, and salsa.

Corn tortillas prepared on the griddle pan of the new stove!

Oak Apple Run

Cara and I before the race - 7:15 am!

Myself, Cara, and Natalie after the race!

My trusty old shoes.  They are ready for retirement. 

I have worn holes right through the soles on both feet.

Cara and I sporting our Oak Apple Run T-Shirts.  I'm posting this picture even though you can see my belly.  I'm still losing weight but this year I confidently ordered a Large instead of an XL ;) 

The Oak Apple Run is a certified course.  Once again, I think they were crazy for making the last quarter of a mile an uphill run to the finish!

Jenna (my weight lifting trainer from LA Fitness).  She ran the 2 mile race to encourage her friend who works the front desk!  She is a great trainer - always cheerful, knowledgeable, and always attentive.  We always have a great time!

This year's bib!

Here is a link to my official time

(just a few seconds different than my heart rate monitor!)

10K in 1:10:47

Link to the SparkTeam

Here's the link to the family Spark Team.

http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/groups_individual.asp?gid=38661&gcode=XC6Y9G44UU

When you make your personal spark page, you can choose to only share information with your friends. That way you can keep things as private as you'd like. Let me know if you need help setting things up.

Love you all. Thanks!
Emily Ann

Fall Follies

Hello Everyone - Around the Detroit Area it seems like we have an extended fall - maybe even an extended summer. Today's high was 64 degrees F!

As usual because November marks another year in which I 'turn older' - I've done a lot reflection. This year's reflection has brought about a big change for me - I put in my resignation at my part time job at Portable Church Industries. I've had nine wonderful years there, but it is time for me to only have one job. I wish I could say, "I have no idea what I'll do with all that time," but I do know that I am going to be working on "working out" throughout the year instead of just the summer. In fact, while I was at the Royal Oak Holiday Parade, I signed up for the LA Fitness Club. I can't wait to get started. This time will also give me time to pour into our discipleship initiative at church this year. We are using the The Way of the Alongsider materials (slightly cheesy but it does the job) from the Navigators. My church is committed to making disciples who live in community and who reach out to the community. This initiative strikes a lasting chord with me.

Speaking of Fall - Here are some of the pictures from my trip to Harbor Springs/Mackinaw through the Tunnel of Trees.

I have been a busy bee at school as well. The end of October we had parent-teacher conferences (we do two evening and 1 afternoon session). Our assistant superintedant took a superintendant position in Romeo Schools which left an opening at the central office. Our high school principal moved into that position and now we have a new principal at the highschool. He started this past week - midstream in the year. So much change. Mr. Gawell will be my 5th principal in 9 years. CRAZY. Our open house was this past week and the science department did a real "smash up" job. Instead of leaving our classrooms open like we normally do, we shut our classroom doors and opened up our two biggest labs in which we did demonstrations all evening. The community loved it. We had a lot of fire-related demonstrations: flame tests, fire/music demonstration tube, and how to start a fire in the wilderness. I sang into the fire/music tube and watched the flames create sine waves from my voice. It is really cool. I am going to try to get a picture/video of it the next time we set it up!

Last week I celebrated by birthday. I ate way too much. On Friday I had a huge dinner at PF Changs (mmmm!) and Saturday Bastones. My friend Kim special ordered me a beautiful cake. I ate WAY TO MUCH CAKE!!!! (hence LA fitness). Last night I went to see Tim's musical Urinetown at Rochester High School. The pit orchestra sounded great, the teenager/actors/actresses did a really good job. It was my favorite show yet that I have seen at RHS. Oh - and Alaina called me on gmail Video Chat. It was a really big highlight of my birthday. Next week we will all be together in Chicago. I can't wait!!!

That's all for now - please keep posting. Let us know how you are doing or tell us about something interesting!

Love, Tracy

Update on Chuck Apap

Hi Everyone - This is just a quick update - I thought you might be interested in the article about my Godfather - Chuck Apap - who you prayed for earlier this year. It is a nice article about his recovery from a heart attack, heart surgery, and a mini-stroke.


TN

Believe it or not!

I signed up for the Oak Apple Run in Royal Oak Michigan. It is a 10K (6 mile race) that I plan to 1/2 walk and 1/2 run. I am really excited since it is the first race that I have ever entered. It's just to motivate me to keep walking throughout the week and to kick off my summer running plan.

Joining Weight Watchers Losing Weight & Getting Fit in '08!

Just like the millions of other folks around the world - it is time for me to join the "weight loss - get fit" movement. I am hoping and praying that it can be done this year. I am going to rely on my friends, family, and mostly God to help me through. I just don't have the resolve on my own! Aunt Linda and Aunt Carol have been talking about starting the "New Life in '08" too and I hope that we can all encourage each other.

How I am going to start this journey is with the "You on a Diet" plan by Dr.'s Oz and Roizen. If I need I will join Weight Watchers. I think that I am going to try the on-line version first before going to the meetings since that seems to add to my stress. Mom and Dad have been doing the "You on a Diet" plan for about a year and have had some really good results in terms of weight loss and overall "vim & vigor". I took the Real Age Test today and here are my results:

Calendar Age: 34.1
Difference: +5.7
My Real Age: 39.8

My Real Age was fairly accurate until I started typing in my exercise information. Zero - Zero - Zero - and I watched my age increase. I know that this is a big issue for so many of us. I always exercise (5/week) during the summer - and I actually REALLY enjoy it although it does eat up a huge amount of time! So I am going to pick up a pedometer and just try to start walking more often since I find it impossible to get into my schedule.

Feel free to post a comment, encouragement, information about how your are going to "lose weight & get fit" this year. If you want to post a comment just click on where it says # comments just below this post.

Love you, Tracy