Make 2012 the year of YOU

Personally, I think it's great to make goals for yourself. So here are my 2012 goals. Maybe this will even be the year I try jelly... that's so a "NO" 

2012: Make it Great!
Health & Fitness

• Stick with my balanced, healthy, clean eating lifestyle. Four months down, I can obviously stick to it!
• NJ Half Marathon: May 6, 2012; Goal time: 2:00.
• Tough Mudder: NJ October 20, 2012.
• I also want to try & find other half's & events to register for! Maybe Warrior Dash...
• Take a Spinning Class.
• Handstand push-up (just because I think it would be cool bean!)
• Kickboxing.
• Run 1,000 miles.
• To lift my own body weight (I'm currently 106lbs... piece of cake).
• No longer needing a resolution pertaining to my health .

Adventures & Fun

• Visit somewhere I have never been.
• Plan a rafting trip.
• Go rock climbing.
• Take a hot air balloon ride.
• Survival weekend...
• Take a cooking class of some sort.
• Take a hike & have a picnic!
• I love doing crazy things that give me an adrenalin rush... so I'll be searching for that next rush. (Last year it was sky diving on my 25th Birthday)

Education & Training Goals
I know I can't take all of these in one year, I just need to pick at least one

• Masters Program:  I’ve been back & forth with Master of Information Systems OR Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing (It's time to finally choose!)
• Computer Software Applications Career Certificate.
• A.S. Science Mathematics - Pre-Nutrition Dietetic Option.
• A.S. Degree in Exercise Science.
• Personal Trainer Career Certificate.

Career

• Push myself professionally.
• Start networking more.
• Get more freelance work.

Home

• Continue to build my positive, healthy & happy home.

Personal

• Be true to who I am, don't let others put me back in "the box".
• Keep believing in myself & don't give up... PUSH! I've made it this far already!
• Stop Over-Analyzing & Start Living My Life! (This one has been done, but I want it here as a reminder)
• Stop being a push over & allowing others to walk all over me & abuse my kindness (this is a BIG one).
• Take time to appreciate those who support me & repay them.
• Quit mumbling when I speak.
• Start tackling my growing "to read" pile of books. I've had a bad habit of adding to it & not reading them.
• Start drawing & painting again.
• Get better with my blogging.

Do you have any goals / resolutions you would like to fulfill?

Peace out Twenty-Eleven

Well another year is closing out. I have to say I'm pretty glad, 2011 has been a roller coaster for me personally. I lost friends, but gained some new ones. I finally opened my eyes & took a look at the big picture, made a lot of life changes, I had some amazing accomplishments / adventures, I have cried,  smiled; It really has been a hell of a year.

Highlights From My Year... the good the bad the ugly...

• Turned the big TWO-FIVE. I celebrated by going Sky Diving for the first time. It was such a rush, I can't wait to go again! I also got to spend a nice relaxing day with close friends!
• I ran my first race ever! Now I'm addicted. Long Branch Half Marathon. (2:27:05.96)
• I was the maid of honor at my sister's wedding.
• Heaven gained two beautiful angels: My Uncle Benny & My Grandmother. RIP
• Saw Linkin Park in concert for the 8,000 time!! ok ok, probably 6th time.
• Finally was able to see Lady GAGA in concert!
• Had the pleasure of going to see Sir Paul McCartney perform at Yankee Stadium. That man puts on an amazing show! (I get awesome points because we share the same birthday!   )
• Went to the Subway Series game with my "Broseph" & "Sis in-law". We even made it on TV!
• Hurricane Irene basically trashed my life. I know others had it worse... I'm grateful my family & I were not harmed. I salvaged what I could out of my personal belongings. I think what hurt the most was throwing out photos & years of portfolio work.
• I moved out!
• I can finally do 25 burpees with jumping up, without collapsing (this was major for me, burpees & I have a love hate relationship.)

The biggest thing to happen to me in 2011 though was my decision to change my lifestyle. I've put so much time, energy & heart into this. I'm so proud of my progress. Seeing such a significant change in my mind & body has been so rewarding. I'm stronger, confident in myself, most importantly, I'm happy & at peace. Never in my life have I had such a positive outlook. I love waking up every morning with a smile, energy, motivation & grateful for all I have! I love the new me, I'm excited to continue on this path! This was the best way I could have ended my crazy year... 2012 bring it on!

Are you ready to tackle 2012 as well?!

Glitter Explosion!

Happy Sunday!! What's left of it anyway.

This morning I woke up bright & early to assemble the decorations on my tree; star, bows, ornaments,  tree skirt. I really just wanted a plain solid colored one, but Wally World didn’t have any, so I decided to go with the shiny one!!

There is one thing you need to know, besides my obsession with hot sauce & pumpkin I'm like a five year old when it comes to anything shiny. Give me tin foil & I can keep myself occupied for hour’s j/k... but seriously.

So I took the skirt outside on the deck to shake off the excess glitter. Let’s just say I now have a bedazzled deck; glitter is EVERYWHERE (except for my kitchen thank goodness). It has also migrated to my bedroom. I think I need to lay off the shiny for a while… we will see how long that lasts.

This is my finished tree 

I love it!!

Now I'm ending the night with this awesome tea!

First time I've had it & it’s now my new fave; it smells & tastes so wonderful. I really should have stocked up on this when I had the chance. Hopefully I can find some stray boxes tomorrow at the store.

Bring on the tree

I decided to do something that would make my weekend, decorating for Christmas. I'm pretty pumped because this is my first Christmas in my new home!

 My Grandparents had offered me their fiber optic tree that they no longer use; I jumped at the chance since it would obviously save money. Trust me I love having a real tree, but I figured this would be good for me this year. So they came over this afternoon with the tree & decorations. They also got me a little house warming gift, the Hallmark First Home 2011 ornament!

I could tell by the smiles on their faces they were overjoyed to see me happy again. They watched as I ran around all excited hang lights & garland around the spiral staircase & putting things on the tree.

Along with the decorations, my Grandma brought me some magazines. She said she read them & they have very good insight on “the thing you’re doing with the eating” haha. I think she is finally starting to realize the benefits it has for me, “Grandma it’s not a diet… my body just can’t handle processed food anymore.”   so at least she’s now starting to get it.


 What's My Tree Theme!

I had three choices; crazy color, animal print or horror movie tree... yes a horror movie tree. My sister & I had one a few years ago. Our rentals let us have our very own mini tree. We took our Mom's plastic clear icicles, dipped the bottoms in red paint, printed out some horror movie poster images, purple lights & a spider web light as the star, along with the box from Hellraiser lol. It was hilarious!

So with my sisters’ vote I went with animal print. I had to settle for Zebra ribbon because they had no leopard  

Now it’s on to making the bows & getting everything together! I will post the pictures tomorrow!

Turkey Leftovers

Wonderful night, just relaxing watching the Labyrinth <3 Within You is one of my fave songs. I still don't have satellite! The guy came to install & you know it's not going to be good when you hear him mumble, "oh s*!t." So still no sports for me . Unpacking has been slow because I've been sick. I was able to get enough energy to bust out Cardio Max this morning... & passed back out for a bit haha.

What do you get from a big bird & only five people... leftover turkey! My Grandma sent me home with some & randomly pico de gallo popped into my head today. So I decided to make my own instead of buying pre-made.

Pico de Gallo
Adapted from Oh She Glows
15 min (prep time)
About 4-6 cups

2- Large FIRM tomatoes
1- Bunch of cilantro (stems removed & roughly chopped) (approx 1/2-3/4 cup)
1- Large sweet onion
2- Jalapeno peppers (if you don't like things too hot, remove the seeds)

I didn't use salt or lime & it still tasted good, but if you want to use it - 1 Lime & use Kosher salt or Sea salt, to taste. I may do this next time.

- Finely chop the onion, tomatoes, jalapenos. Remove thick stems of the cilantro & roughly chop. Mix the onion, tomato, hot pepper, & cilantro in a bowl. (If you wanted to use lime squeeze fresh lime juice on top). Stir well, season with salt to taste if you'd like.

- Seal in an airtight container to keep it fresh.

Tasted just like the store bought kind my Dad use to buy for us. My only issue was chopping the cilantro... definitely not pro at cilantro chopping.

Here comes the turkey! So for dinner I layered some mixed greens, warmed up 2 oz of leftover turkey, 2 Tbsp of my fresh pico de gallo, almond cheddar cheese, & drizzled with a Tbsp of balsamic vinegar. Yummerz! Made my belly very happy! I tend to make one serving dishes because well... I'm serving one haha. I really should start making this stuff enough for leftovers. Save some time.

I went to Sandy's & all I got was this crappy cupcake

Dang good crappy cupcake at that!  I will explain the origin of the "Sandy crappy cupcake" later.

I have part of my extended family coming for a visit tomorrow; my Broseph, Sis-in-law, & L. So a request was made for "Sandy crappy cupcakes". After talk of shellfish cupcakes, a decision was made on Lemon LEMON!

Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme Cake Mix
1 cup water
1/3 cup Mott's unsweetened NATURAL applesauce
3 egg whites
1 container of Lemon icing

Yes this wasn't a "clean" recipe, nothing special. But they were low fat & tasted great. Everyone loved them, even my Grandma & Grandpa! Of course they did, they were made with love. Bee-tee-dubs decorating is my favorite part... can you tell?

“Can’t” can no longer be in my vocabulary

So say bu-bye & kick that negative word to the curb ya’ll.
The “I can’t” statement has ALWAYS caused issues with my progress whether it was a diet/exercise regimen or self-development. It most likely came from the words I use to hear a lot growing up, “You Can’t.”

Negative words I’ve used on myself:
“I can’t”
“You Slob”
“Oh yeah, eat another fatty”
“You’re such an idiot”
“You’re worthless”

Oh yes, I’ve mumbled these to myself, actually more than what I have listed. But I thought about it; did saying those things push me harder to succeed? Give me motivation? Make me love myself? Um that’s a NO. They caused me to lose faith in myself & my goals. What did I do? I simply gave up & hated myself.

If you don’t have confidence in yourself mentally it won’t reflect on you physically. How do you expect to reach a certain life ambition? If it’s for exercise/weight loss; how do you expect to have progress? How do you expect your body to change? Without positive reinforcement how do you expect to succeed? Hey, I had to learn… being hard & doubting yourself is a tough habit to break! I’m with you! I was the poster child for “I hate myself.” I had to work very hard on my mental state of mind & finally take myself out of a very negative environment to get where I am right now…. three months & I’m still learning! You need to take it one day at a time & you can’t just expect it to happen overnight! If it does, then you’re lying to yourself.

The first time I actually said anything positive to myself was when I participated in The NJ Marathon in Long Branch, NJ 5/1/11. This was my first race ever, & I was running a Half! The non-profit I work with was getting participants together to raise money for the organization, so I figured why not. I trained (I will train a lot different next time) & I was ready to go. It was a very emotional weekend. I found out the day before I was leaving for the marathon my Uncle Ben had passed away (My Dad’s best friend from HS & my godfather). While running my mind was on my Grandma, Uncle & my Dad, but I knew I needed to stay focused. At mile 9 I started to lose it & started to cry. Then the words I never thought I would ever say to myself, “You can do this Sandy… Keep going you’re too close to give up now!” The tears immediately stopped & I had this blast of energy come over me & I finished… 2:27:05.96. When we filled out the paper work we had to say what we thought our time estimate would be, I put 2:30. I don’t think I have ever been more proud of myself in my life. I worked hard… I pushed through the pain & sadness… end result… I accomplished something truly amazing.

You need to surround yourself with positive vibes! Never forget that! You know how it feels to see the sunshine after a cold dark day… it makes you feel good right? Well that’s what positive thoughts can do. They will help you feel whole & stay focused on your goals whatever they maybe.

Today was the best day of my life!!

It' official!! This girl right here is now a renter! I was so excited and nervous going through the contract... Only five pages this time unlike the original sixteen page one... Craziness! My move in date is set for November 1st! The only thing that makes me a bit sad is I don’t get to decorate for my first Halloween... But I'll make up for it next year.

So after I happily signed the lease & handed over the checks I went to have some food at the George with the ‘rentals. I decided to allow a little cheat to celebrate. Pumpkin Spiced Martini... Wow. I'm not really a martini girl (jack & coke zero is my drink of choice)... conclusion: delicious - totally worth it. If you know me well... you know I can't turn anything away that has "pumpkin" in it. I love pumpkin as much as I love hot sauce, they are neck & neck on my "top ten love" list.

Um... yum...

Fall is my favorite season; the colors, crisp air, apple/pumpkin picking, apple cider, football/hockey, the food ;) ect... It's all breath taking to me. I enjoy running the Appalachian & seeing all the colors that surround you... ahh drink...it...in.

Also another reason I love fall so much... I live for Halloween. Best holiday ever!! I wish it could be Halloween year round. I usually do some crazy makeup to scare the trick or treaters at my parents with my three best friends. We are known as the Creepy House on Fox Hollow. Some kids are afraid to come in because they know we are outside waiting. We decided to just do masks this year... no makeup :(

HALLOWEEN 2010

(I dress pretty too lol)

I do not buy the glue on scars, I make my own. little liquid latex, concealer, black eyeliner & fake blood.

HALLOWEEN 2009

What is your favorite season & holiday?

- Sandy

Why hello there...

Trying to get this blog up and running with so much going on... my gosh. I haven't even had a chance to make my own design! But I finally got some down time to write my first entry at least. So hello & thanks for stopping by!

Money orders are done for my Condo people! As of tomorrow *crosses fingers* I will be a renter. It's the most rewarding feeling when you have been waiting for a certain moment in your life for so long. I'm doing this for me & on my own... it's wonderful. The dark cloud has lifted from above me & the weight I've been carrying around for about 20 years has just vanished; all the stress, sadness, negativity is GONE! I'm at peace & can finally get back to being ME, start enjoying my life again & living it the way I want too with out the constant criticism! The fun loving, hilarious, spontaneous, hyper girl is back. No Mountain Dew needed =0 shocking I know...



So anyway here is an easy recipe to start with...

Pumpkin Puff Cookies
20 min (cook time)
About 50 cookies (depending on size)
Guilt Free!

1- Box Spiced Cake Mix
1- 15oz can Pumpkin Purée (NOT pumpkin pie filling! I really like Polar & Trader Joe's)
- Pumpkin Pie Spice (OPTIONAL) If you like a little extra spice (I sure do!) add it!

- Preheat your oven to 350*

- Mix all the above together! (I would recommend an electric mixer, It's a little tough to mix by hand, I did because my Dad was sleeping), But I did add 2 or 3 tsp of water to make it a little easier to mix.

- On a baking sheet evenly space a little less than a Tbsp size per cookie (Or if you want bigger cookies go for it!).


They puff up to a decent size. I kept mine in for 20 minutes, using a toothpick to see if they were ready.
Cooking time depends on the size you make your cookies!
With one recipe I got about 50 cookies.

I ate mine nakie, they tasted great. But if you want to ice them go for it...use some vanilla or cream cheese icing with some cinnamon to top them off! Or if you’re looking for a low cal option try Cool Whip Free or this:

1 Jell-o sugar free vanilla pudding snack
1 1/2 Tbsp fat free cream cheese
1 splenda packet
Sprinkle some cinnamon on top or into the mixture
(Thanks Hungry Girl!)

If you are going to use the above icing recipe I would definitely recommend waiting to ice them till your ready to eat... Or ice the cookies & put them in the fridge. You may be able to leave them out, personally I wouldn't.

Enjoy!
Sandy